Aquis’ scales are burning. She feels so dry. The volcanic lands of lava and heat flow like ancient, slow rivers along the vast landscape of smoke and ash. Volcanoes of obsidian and stone jut up like mountains across the land like looming gods, constantly spewing heat and ash, along with occasional globs of liquid rock. Aquis wasn't built for this. But she offered to go anyway. She knew that her heat-headed sister had a complicated relationship with her parents. The moment she hatched, she had been sent off to the temple in the Forestry territories, as a representative of her peoples. Once every hundred years, a dragon of each species was sent to the temple of life below the vast branches of the fabled Tree of Eternity to grow alongside the various other species of dragons, to grow with them and form bonds transcending clan and scales. She herself never met her parents, but according to Smokewind, she was lucky not to. A parent willing to give up their own child and never see them again was not a parent that she would want.

  Aquis sighed. She was getting distracted. She needed to get the egg from these lands, from the temple of death. She knew little about the 10 temples, each run by a single clan. The temple of life, the temple of death, the temple of space, the temple of time, the temple of knowledge, the temple of the ocean, the temple of order, the temple of emotion, the temple of storms, and the the temple of dreams. She had only been to the temple of life, where she had spent the past 3 years of her life worshiping the mighty god of life, and the temple of oceans, though she was apparently only a hatchling and was shipped to the temple of life the moment she got there. In some temples, the gods themselves could be found speaking to the mortals there. Sometimes they appear to be human, while other times a dragon. Humans and dragons alike worshipped at the temples, serving the gods and the peoples together.

  This temple, though, has few humans inside. After all, it's hard to get humans into a supervolcano.

  Below her, the supervolcano referred to as the Everblaze Peak, was seemingly empty from the outside.But that was only until you looked closer. Dragons sleep along the sides of the volcano. Dragons that look as if they were part of the volcano itself. Most of them are staring at her. Golds and yellows and reds and oranges gaze up at her with interest. Then she notices a particularly large group of dragons flying up to meet her. And this isn't the kind of large meaning there is a lot of them. No, there are only two dragons. But these are big dragons. At least fifty times her size. She's the size of a large dog, which is actually quite big for her age, but these dragons are the size of buildings. Something about them, though, reminds her of Smokewind.

  The two massive magmatic dragons stop in front of her and she gets a chance to take them in. The male is a strong, thickly built dragon with scales like obsidian and a yellow glow like liquid clow between scales like cracked stone. He has a large, strong jaw, but gentle eyes, like Smokewind's eyes. The woman is more elegant, with sleek, snakelike features. Her glow is a soft red, and her eyes are piercing. She has the same build as Smokewind. She can definitely see the resemblance. These must be her parents.

  “Are you the one who has come for the egg?” The woman asks, looking down at her with an almost disappointed expression. She probably wanted to see her daughter, she guessed.

  “Yes.” Aquis replies, trying to sound brave and confident, and not doing a great job at it. “Smokewind…”

  “Didn't want to see us.” The male responds. He has a low, gentle voice she only half expected from one of his frame. He sighs. “I told you it would be that way, Ashpur.” The woman, Ashpur, sighs.

  “Yes, I just assumed they would have sent her anyway. It would have been the logical choice to sent her.”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “She was supposed to.” Aquis said, feeling rather uncomfortable before these behemoth's gazes, but continues none the less. “But she didnt want to. She was afraid. So we swapped places instead. She got the egg from the Temple of Knowedge.” She fidgeted with her claws a little. She didn't want to offend these powerhouses, but she felt she needed to ask. “May I… may I know why she might not want to see you?” Ashpur nods, then turns to the male.

  “Before that, I am ashpur, and this is my husband, Saizmen. As you might have guessed, we are Smokewinds parents. And as you also might have guessed, she doesn't like us too much…” Ashpur explained.

  “Shes still mad at us for giving her to the Temple instead of raising her ourselves.” Saizmen continues solemnly. “We couldn't have given her the life she wanted. Ashpur is the high priestess of the temple, and I am the Lavaflow Elder. We are simply far too busy to be able to care for her and give her the affection she deserves. We tried to tell her that, but last time we got to speak to her, she stormed out of the room before letting us explain ourselves.”

  “I understand.” Aquis says. “My name is Aquis. Smokewind is practically my sister. I'd do anything for her. And I see you care deeply for her. She deserves to know you care about her. Is there… anything you want me to pass on?” Aquis felt rather bad for these two dragons. At first they seemed like huge, intimidating creatures that could crush her like a gnat. No doubt they are very proficient in various spells and techniques. But now she saw through that facade. They were just two desperate parents, hoping to bond to a child that would never hear them out.

  “Yes…” Ashpur said, then hesitated. She turns to Saizmen with a pensive expression.

  “What… should we say?” She asks him, and he thinks for a moment. He then turns to Aquis.

  “Young Miss Aquis, would you give us a moment? We will retrieve the egg for you and think on what to say while we get it.” Aquis nodded.

  “Ill wait up here. please be quick though, my scales are drying up and cracking, and its starting to hurt.”

  Ashpur nodded at that, her expression turning to that of a doting mother.

  “Oh, you poor thing. How about this, you go fly to the edge of lavaflow territory over to the lands of Forestry territory, and wait for us there. Then you can land to rest your wings. We will come meet you there with the egg, alright?”

  Aquis nodded. “Thank you, priestess Ashpur. I will wait for you there.” Without another word, Aquis turned and flew away.

  It was 2 hours later that the dragons came to her. Aquis was resting on a large cool rock, looking out to the land of smoke and ash that heavily contrasts with the verdant forest behind her, like night and day. The two dragons land on either side of her on large boulders that looked small underneath them, trying not to set the grass ablaze with a tail flick.

  “We have the egg, young WakeWing.” Ashpur says softly, taking a black egg out of a pouch on her chest. She holds it out to Aquis, who takes it delicately in her much smaller talons. The egg is as big as her head, but she holds it with care.

  “Thank you, priestess.” Aquis says with a small bow, which Ashpur waves off.

  “Nonsense. Just call me Ash.” She says warmly, and Aquis can't help but smile.

  “Here, take this.” Saizmen says, holding out a letter. It can't be made of normal paper, since it's not burning in his grasp.

  “It's a runic letter. I doubt she can read so young, so it'll speak the message to her through magic. This is our message to her. Please, aquis, get it to her.” Aquis nods, tucking it into the pouch she has tucked under her wing.

  “I will.” She says. She flaps her green wings. WaveWing's aren't excellent fliers, since their wings are built for swimming, but they have the advantage of being born with fully formed wings.

  Saizmen lowers his colossal head down to look into Aquis' eyes and smile sadly.

  “Aquis, if you ever need help, know that the Lavaflow's will always be at your side. You are forever welcome here.” He says softly, warmly. She nods. “I'll get this egg and this message back to this spire, Elder, if it's the last thing I'll do.” She says confidently. She turns, flaps her wings, then soars off into the sky. She had just made the biggest promise of her entire life. Little did she know it would be the last promise she ever broke.