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Beaten.

Mangled.

The snow falls down onto my body, now too heavy to move. A searing burn emanating from my forehead; my heart broken. I look out onto the world from this perch and an unexplainable hatred boils. The southern jungles, a battlefield for my brethren, forever strained blood red by their own horrors. The desert, left ruined and rotting; abandoned by their caretakers what feels like eons ago. And the mountains that surround me on all sides? The snow melts off them, as if they were weeping.

There is a literal weight now on my shoulders; the family crest now melded to my head, a father's punishment gone too far. Lost to suffering, given into anger. And I'm just left here to ponder the childhood memories he left behind. To wonder why he went so far.

As to what turned him into a monster.

***

A snowball hit me right in the face, stinging it with the bitter cold. A young dragoness could be heard giggling a just a few feet over. Of course, I couldn't blame her for starting a snowball fight. She was an Electrolitian, a race of crocodile-dragon hybrids (with a horse's mane that ended in a long fluffy tail!), and, like a lot of them, lived in their desert kingdom.

"Ha! I got you!" she cheerfully exclaimed.

I wiped the snow off my face and spat out the snow that had gotten in my mouth. "It was a lucky shot Maine!" After which I got pelted with another snowball right to my face...again.

"As you were saying?"

I shook it off and tackled her, the two of us rolling around in the snow of the castle courtyard and laughing the entire time. We swiped at each other with our claws and playfully nipped each other, until Maine pinned me down with a smug look on her face. At least until I spouted wisps of my ice breath at her, causing her fall back and pounced on her.

"Not fair!" she said, pouting.

I just grinned and told her, "Whatever it takes to win, your exact words." Which is when I felt a kick to the stomach, and slumped right down on top of her. "Not exactly what you had in mind?" I told her with a forced smile.

She giggled, "Not quite." She squirmed trying to get out from under my weight, unsuccessfully. "What are they feeding you? You weigh a ton!"

"Beef."

She rolled her eyes. "And you probably go back for fourths don't you?"

"I'm a growing dragon. I need my protein."

"Can you please get off of me?"

I laughed and got off of her, followed by bowing and imitating a snooty noble, "As you wish, Princess of the Electrolitians."

Maine responded with a bow of her own and a horrible British accent, "Thank you Prince of Dagonia." The two of burst into laughter.

"Um...excuse me?" we heard from behind us. We turned around to see a nervous nimble (or, as I once heard a human call him, a wyvern). He was looking down and holding his wings behind his back with his bat-like claws.

"Percy it's just us," I told him.

"It's just..." he stammered, "Been a while..."

Maine jumped right in. "I haven't seen Azure here for at least a month and we're still up to our old antics."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah. You and Uncle Cronos haven't visited us in a few months," and I saddled up next to the nimble and put my wing around his shoulders, "And I'm getting stale without my racing buddy."

The nimble perked up at the mention of a race, after all Nimbles were known for their flying capabilities. "First to do a lap around the castle wins?" Percy challenged, a bit of his shyness had slipped away.

"My mane's going to get all messed up!" Maine shouted in disgust.

"Didn't I already help with that?" I teased her. She stuck her tongue out at me as Percy and I laughed. "Fine. You can be the referee," I told her. "Just don't give the win to Percy."

Percy had a slight smile on his face, maybe a look of confidence (if such a thing were possible), as the two of us readied ourselves. Legs and wings stretched, Maine started the countdown as we glanced at each other. At the sound of go, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me...and Percy stumbled a bit.

Spreading my wings, I quickly took off. Each wing flap was a strain, pushing harder and harder against the invisible ocean of the air, but, once at a high enough altitude, the wind gently caressed my body and wings, carrying me gently along it's currents. Of course wind currents alone couldn't help me win a race, as indicated by Percy zooming past me.

I pushed my body, practically flailing my wings about trying to gain more and more speed. We ducked in and out of the structures of the towers, flew high above into the clouds and back down, under the sky-bridges that connected the higher up floors, and circled around the castle's main spire...all while I struggled to keep up with Percy. I was panting and my body was screaming for me to stop, while the Nimble had barely broken a sweat. Whether it was intentional or not, he pulled back a little as we got close to the courtyard, and I got back there first.

Percy landed ungracefully, slipping and falling onto his butt. He just grinned and looked up at me, "That was fun."

Though my panting, I told him, "Yeah. And I still can't keep up with you." I offered him my claw and helped him onto his feet.

The nimble shrugged. "Maybe...but you did win."

I laughed a little, "Because you pulled back at the last second."

"There was a headwind that I got caught in," he said. "You won fair and square."

"Sure ya did."

Maine butted in, putting her wings around the two of us and bringing our heads a little too close for comfort, and telling me with a slight hint at sarcasm, "If you really want him to kick your butt again, be my guest Azure! That was some race after all."

"Uh...no thanks, I'm good," I replied. "Maybe instead we could play a board game?"

The two of them looked at me a little disappointed. "But it never snows..." Maine complained. She was from the desert after all, a place that, between the heat and the fact that it rarely rained (let alone snowed) there, seemed alien to me. And Percy...he was also from a more southern region, the neighboring kingdom of Windrak. Even with it being a nation built on top of mountains, he said that it rarely snowed there.

I sighed. "Alright," and I nudged Maine, "How about you two race?"

She just looked at me, flicked her head which caused her soaked mane to fly all over the place and get me and Percy a little wet, and said, "And mess up my mane?"

I just faceclawed. Didn't we just do this? "I need to rest for a second then," I told them and sat down underneath the castle's balcony, where something that looked like a large porch lied. The two of them followed me and took a seat on either side of me.

"So..." I began, "What brings you guys here?"

"You're just asking this?" Maine scoffed.

With a chuckle, I replied, "I don't really question when good things happen."

Percy asked innocently enough, "What if the good thing was a trap?"

"Uh...I never really thought of that," I admitted, to which we all laughed a bit at. "But in all seriousness, it's been a while since all three of us were together."

Maine nodded, "Yeah, my mother didn't really say much now that I think about it."

"And neither of my parents really wanted to talk about it," I told them. "I heard my dad say there was a big battle of some sorts in the mountains, but that's it."

Percy added, "I overheard my dad and older brother talking about something like that."

"What did they say?" Maine asked, the two of now having our eyes glued to the shocked nimble.

"Well...um..." he stammered, "They said that...um...there was a massacre at Qr-liagg..."

Maine looked a little confused, "That's the city with the wolves, right?"

"Yeah," I replied. "It's not that far from here really..."

Percy continued, "But...they said that...that it was the Rebellion."

"I thought the Rebellion was a rumor," I stated.

Maine agreed, "Yeah. I heard there were trade caravans that went missing and that some crazy conspiracy theorists thought it was the beginnings of a rebellion."

"My dad said the Rebellion was made of former slaves," Percy added in.

I sighed. "It's still pretty barbaric that we're the only large nation to still practice human slavery isn't it?"

Percy added, "But...in those other countries there's still slavery, it's just..."

Maine just groaned, "Come on guys! If I wanted to talk about politics I would have stayed inside with my mom and Azure's dad."

"Alright..." Percy agreed and continued with his story, "But they were talking about how it wasn't just humans or wolves that were found there," Percy told us.

"You mean like dragons?" Maine asked.

"Well, Qr-liagg is part of Dagonia so I think there would be some dragons there," I told her, "But I have feeling that's not what you're getting at Percy."

He nodded in agreement. "They were saying there were Reptilades found there."

I could feel the blood drain from my face as my skin turned pale. "The...Reptilades?" I stammered out. The Reptilades, the barbaric race of human-like dinosaurs that occupied the depths of the southern jungles. They were said to attack anything, or any one, that entered their territories, even entire squadrons of trained soldiers have been known to vanish if they ventured too deep. And the survivors of these attacks have claimed they ate the dragons they captured, and some said that they weren't above cannibalism either. But the worst were the stories of sacrificing their own kind, or worse dragons, to their gods, ripping out the still beating heart of the victim and claiming it to be an honor.

"What's the matter Azure, scared?" Maine taunted me, shaking me from my thoughts.

"Me? Scared? Ha! Now there's a laugh," I told her, putting on an air of fake confidence, and quickly adding "Besides, all Nimbles are half-Reptilade, and I'm not afraid of Percy."

"Well...um..." Percy stammered before starting up his story again, "Either way, my dad said they were able to track down the tribe that helped the Rebellion. Their leader is supposed to be coming here..."

"For execution?" was my immediate and hopeful response.

Percy shook his head, "For a trial."

"Well..." I said jumping off my seat and stretching, "I think I'm ready to play some more. Anyone want to build a snow drake?" The two of them practically trampled over me to get back to playing in the snow. Of course, I now had other things on my mind, which playing with Percy and Maine did help; however, when I thought the nightmares I had creeping around in my head had vanished, another one took it's place only moments later. It was hard for me to stay focused, much to Maine's glee as she pelted me with more snowballs.

Eventually, it became late and we had to go inside for dinner. Around the table were our all our parents, my father (of course) was at the head of the table. My father spent it talking politics with my Uncle Cronos, while my mother spent it talking to Maine's mother about...whatever dragonesses talk about (probably make-up). All the while, Maine didn't believe I wasn't afraid of the Reptilades and was feeding Percy and I with all sorts of horror stories about how they would hide in the bushes and wait for their victims to pass by, tearing them limb from limb or how they boil the scales of their bodies and turn them into stews. But worst was...

"Terrornite!" Maine exclaimed, grabbing her unused napkin and draping it over her face. Her mother yelled at her take it off, which she did (eventually), and then went back to continuing on with her latest story, "Terrornite! Then demon king of the Reptilades!"

"Demon King?" Percy stammered out.

I rolled my eyes, "Come on Percy, you had to have heard this one before. It's right up there with the boogey drake." Percy shook his head, and I commented, "I swear she tells this story every time she's over here."

"And you're always scared of it," Maine made fun of me.

"Am not!" was my immediate gut-reaction.

Then, Maine got a maniacal grin on her face, where upon rows of crocodile teeth were exposed, "Then you won't mind if I continue!" I gulped and nodded, upon which Maine laughed and continued, "It was a thousand years ago they say when an evil witch created a vessel with the energy to grant eternal life!"

"That doesn't sound scary at all. Lost your touch?" I couldn't help but interject.

She stuck her tongue out at me, "Oh it gets better." That I knew from experience. "The vessel itself was so large that it had to be turned into a giant mask. And she lured the leader of a small tribe of Reptilades to her lair, tempting him with promises of power. When he put the mask on, it started to drain his life energy and giving it straight to her."

"But...how does that..." Percy started to question, but was immediately cut-off.

"However! The witch's plan back fired. No one knows exactly what happened. Some say it was the Reptilade's willpower, others say the witch's vessel couldn't stand the energy necessary, but either way the witch's energy turned on her, tearing her apart piece by piece."

"And what emerged from that day was the Reptilade known as Terrornite, a monster that knew no bounds! Due to the mask, he constantly stuck in a state between life and death..."

"Like a ghost?"

"Just. Like. A. Ghost." She stated, emphasizing each word and getting closer to Percy with each one as well. "First dragons would just go missing during the night in nearby towns. But then they came back, their eyes glowing red, and their bodies paled and shriveled, as if they just rose from the grave. And they would go through the towns devouring any dragon fast enough not to get away!

"But soon the Reptilades themselves found Terrornite and worshipped him as a god. And that was when the real trouble began. Terrornite was a creature whose brutality knew no bounds. Using his army of dragons and devoted followers, the monster left entire forests barren and desolate, not a single living soul in its wake.

"The king sent waves after waves of soldiers at the behemoth, who just laughed at them. Without lifting a claw, he crushed them, tore them limb from limb, or even ate them in a single gulp. And if he was feeling lazy, a single glare was said to reduce the weak to ashes. No one survived his attacks, and anyone who stood to oppose him ended up a bloody stain with their body parts scattered across miles..."

I clutched my stomach, and put one of my claws up to my mouth, "I think I ate too much..." And then I hobbled away the table. Why did I even let her tell that story? I couldn't even count the number of sleepless nights I had because of that story.

"Is something wrong Azure?" I heard from down the hallway. Of course, me not going for seconds was more than just rare and getting out of dinner because of stomach ache? It was like trying to get out of school by using the common cold.

Turning around, I saw that my mother had followed me out. Thankfully, she had waited to we were out of ear shot of everyone else, or at least far enough away from the dining room that the others would be too focused on other things. Of course, I replied with, "No, I'm fine Mom. It's just an upset stomach."

She laughed a little, "Azure I've seen you eat entire banquets."

"Well..." I walked towards her, my ears flopped down against my head, "You promise not to tell Dad?"

She hugged me with her enormous wings, "Sweetie, I don't even want to imagine what your father would do if he even knew half the stuff you told me."

I laughed a little at her comment. "I guess you're right. Well...I heard there was a...Reptilade coming here."

"Is that why Maine was telling those tall tales?"

I shook my head. "It was Percy that told us. He overheard Uncle Cronos talking."

She nodded. "It is true, but there's nothing to be scared of."

"But...But!" I tried to protest, but my mother hushed me.

"The Reptilades are a lot like you and me, sweetie. They just look a little different."

"But they eat dragons!" I yelled.

"Oh, that's just an old wive's tale. Just look at Percy and your Uncle Cronos. They aren't trying to eat us."

I looked down, "But they're only half-Reptilade..."

"What difference does that make?"

"Well..." I thought for a second. "They're still dragons..."

"I know quite a few dragons that think otherwise."

"Still," I tried to argue. "They aren't giant monsters with razor sharp teeth and claws and giant red eyes or hide in the bushes to kidnap you or try to make you into a stew or sacrifice you or try to put curse on you or..."

"I think I get it," she interrupted me. "Though, I once knew a Reptilade, and I can tell you that none of them are like that."

I looked up at her, wide-eyed, "Really?"

She smiled a bit, "Yeah. We met while I was studying at the university. She said that her parents objected to her learning "witchcraft," but she still went anyway. And she was talented too. Whenever we used to practice, I remember her being leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else there."

"Why I haven't I ever met her? You met Maine's mom at the university and you're still good friends with her."

She got a sullen look on her face and solemnly stated, "She wanted to visit her tribe after her first year. We tried to stop her, since there were rumors that slavers were in the area, but she ignored us. The last I heard from her was a letter she sent a few days after she left."

"Oh, I'm sorry Mom..."

It looked like she forced a smile onto her face. "Don't be. It happened years ago, way before you were born or I met your father. Now," she let me go and started heading towards the dining hall, "You head to your room. After all, you are sick," she winked at me, "I'll see if I can sneak out some steak for you."

"Thanks Mom," I said running up to give her a quick hug, and then rush up the stairs to the comfort of my room. The place in question had blocks strewn across the floor and built into pseudo-structures, various pieces of paper with marks and drawings of all sorts on them and several quills arranged on desk by the window, a pile of old board games sloppily stacked on top of each other, and a fake crown that hadn't been used in ages just sitting on a night table, cold to the touch. It's not like I didn't have a thousand different ways to entertain myself in here until my mother showed up again.

By the time dinner had ended, it was getting late. The moon was high in the sky, and I had to light a few candles using matches. But mom finally did reappear, with a giant piece of steak drizzled in a sweet glaze that I could smell across the room.

"It's a little cold, but here," she said, stretching her foreleg out to hand it to me.

I took it in claw and started devouring it. "Thanks Mom!" I said with chunks of food still in my mouth.

"Chew before you speak, you're royalty," she scolded.

I gulped down the next piece of steak, "Sorry Mom."

After a few more bites, my mother told me, "Maine and Percy are staying the night."

"Really?"

She nodded, "There's going to be a trial for the Reptilade tomorrow. Maine and Percy arrived early, at your father's request. The governors are coming tomorrow morning."

I choked on my steak, "They are?" My mom nodded, and I pleaded, "Don't tell me their bringing their families..."

"Sweetie, I know you don't get along with them..."

"Mom, the last time they were here they burnt my parcheesi because I got a lucky roll," I reminded her, annoyed to say the least.

"Sweetie, it's just for a few days."

"Can't I stay with someone else for a few days?"

"I wouldn't trust anyone other than Maine's mother or your Uncle Cronos to take care of you for that long, and they're both here," she told me. I sighed, my ears plastered against my face just knowing the sheer torture I would have for the next few days. My mother just booped my forehead, "You don't have to play with them. Maine and Percy are here."

I looked up at her, "Yeah."

"Now," my mother got up, "I'm sorry, but I need to get ready bed. I'll be standing there all morning with your father greeting all the guests. Dear Lord will that get boring after the thousandth guest."

I grinned. Royal families seemed to stretch on to even the seventh cousin three times removed, so she might not have been exaggerating. "Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight sweetie."

As my mom exited the room, I yawned a bit myself. I played around for a little bit longer, but soon realized that playing around in the snow had taken more out of me than I thought. I circled around my nest, making sure no candles were still lit before I went to bed, and snuggled up under the covers.

But as I laid my head down to rest, I heard a scream from down the hallway.

I exited my room and rounded the corner, following a trail of blood. My heart was pounding, and I was trembling at the dissonant voice. There was distinct crunching noise, like a heavy branch giving way and then snapping combined with what sounding like rocks grinding against each other.

Opening the door, some...creature stood there, hunched over and gnawing at the bones of its helpless victim, the body torn in two with the guts and entrails scattered in pools of blood along the destroyed bedroom. The body was still begging for mercy; my mother was still begging for mercy, the moaning giving way to shrieking as she saw me.

The creature noticed and stared at me with demonic red, pupilless eyes behind a black horned mask. Standing up, it towered over everything in the room, revealing it's anthro tyrannosaurus rex form, and slowly lumbered over to me, grinning with sharp teeth.

Reaching down with its long spindly arms, the monster picked up me easily as I frozen in fear. The creature opened its massive maw, showing rows upon rows of saw-like teeth, and bit down into me, tearing me to sheds. My scales, muscles, and bones starting to peel and fly off, as if they were held together with duct tape.

I woke up screaming.

I sat up in my nest, panting...and then I looked down and groaned, seeing that my tossing and turning had torn the sheets of my nest to shreds. I got up and made my way down the hall to get another pair of sheet, but, I as I passed my parent's room, I couldn't help but crack the door open a little. My mother was sleeping soundly in the embrace of my father. I smiled slightly at the sight; it was just a nightmare after all. I closed the door and continued down the hallway. I was ten now, no matter what kind of nightmare I had. If Maine ever found out I crawled into bed with mommy, I'd never hear the end of it.

I tore the old sheets off, having it in a balled up bundle in the corner, and lazily threw the new ones on. Flopping onto my nest, I tried to get comfortable, snuggling up against the warm fabrics; however, my mind seemed to have other ideas. The images from the nightmare floated around in my head, almost laughing at my feeble attempts to go back to sleep.

It was a going to be another sleepless night because of that story...

I stumbled out of my room the next morning, with bags under my eyes that must have made me look like an elder dragon. After taking a quick steam bath to help wake me up, I walked out to the foyer to see most of the guests had arrived...or at least I assumed they had arrived since the foyer had so many dragons in it that it was like looking into a kaleidoscope.

"What are you doing here?" I heard from one of the dragons. I turned around to see a golden dragon, with a less then pleased expression. I wanted to tell him I lived here but that would reflect bad on my parents (and a punishment from my father that I didn't want to think about). But before I could answer, he just continued on, "Bah! It doesn't matter."

He picked me up my scruff, which caused me to shout at him, "Hey! Put me down!" No one really seemed to notice, as he dragged me to the giant living room behind the staircase and tossed me in.

"Now be a good little dragon and play with all the other hatchlings," he said, slamming the door shut.

"I can't wait to see what my parents do to him," I mumbled to myself with smug satisfaction; however, that's when I noticed all eyes were on me. There weren't as many hatchlings as there were adults in the other room, but, either way, having an entire room stare at you isn't pleasant. I even heard a few of them laughing. Soon enough, they all returned to whatever they were doing, some louder than others.

I combed the room, weaving in and out of groups of obnoxious brats talking about something their parents got them or let them get away with hoping to find Percy or Maine. After all, if I was stuck here, I'm sure Percy and Maine must have gotten mixed up in this, and maybe we could sneak outside somehow.

But while doing so, I found an odd one out. There was a gold dragon (which actually looked like a younger version of the gold dragon that threw me in here) sitting by himself in a corner. It was when I started to approach him that dragons started to give me curious glances again, and, when it became clear that I was trying to approach him, a few even stopped me.

"Don't go near him," a crimson one warned me.

"That's Vicious," an emerald green one joined in. "He's nothing but trouble."

I just looked at the dragon, an outcast really, and turned to them. "He can't be that bad," I told them.

The crimson one whispered, "They say he once tore the wings off of a dragon that won a race against him."

And then the emerald one fed the fire, "And he hurt his brother so bad that he was in a coma for weeks."

I started to head in the other direction. I needed to find Maine and Percy, and I didn't exactly want to test if those rumors were true. So continued to worm my way through the room, searching for them and calling out for their names only to have it drowned out in the clamor.

But the clamor did abruptly stop, as all eyes turned towards the front of the room. The other dragons were either horrified or disgusted at what they saw, but I couldn't get a clear view of them.

"Now Tyi. Scar," I heard a gruff voice say, "Stay here until things are sorted out."

"But Dad!' I heard one of them complain.

There was a hearty chuckle, followed by, "Relax. If any of them lay a finger on you, I'll deal with them personally." And then the door shut, and a low murmur crept over the room.

I couldn't make out what anyone was saying, not even who these Tyi and Scar were. So curiosity got the better of me, causing me push my way through the crowd. Though my thoughts turned elsewhere when I heard from across the room, "I said go away!" followed by a loud crash.

And the squawk that I heard I knew all too well from Maine playing practical jokes. Of all the dragons it had to be, it was Percy shouting.

I ran to the other side of the room, where Vicious had started to pummel Percy. I could already see bruises and gashes across his body. I didn't think; I reacted, head butting the dragon off of my friend.

"Azure! Boy am I glad to see you," he sighed in relief.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, offering him my hand.

He stood up and wobbled, "Yeah."

Of course it didn't take long for the golden dragon to recover, roaring at the top of his lungs and drawing our attention. He glared at me through eyes so full of rage they didn't seem dragon at all, and ran towards me and Percy. I pushed Percy out of the way and braced for impact, the tackle sending us rolling around the floor.

We swiped at each other, claws clanging against the floor and gauging out wounds while kicking to try to throw each other off. With some effort, I was able to eventually pin him down, taking the opportunity to chomp down on the dragon, tearing chunks of his flesh away, while using my talons to claw at his hind legs.

The moment was fleeting as he threw me off and caused me to smack into the wall with enough force to cause the nearby painting to fall to the floor, the frame breaking upon impact. Dazed I looked up to the dragon was limbing towards me. I got up, and offered an olive branch, "Enough's enough. I hurt you pretty bad. Just leave and my friend alone and..."

But he pounced before I could finish, holding me against the wall. "Stupid bitch!" he shouted, and slashed my face, nearly gauging out my eye. I kicked at him, clawed at him, to get him to put me down. He just laughed. Then I smirked, releasing a few wisps of frost from my maw. The response I got was different what I expected, a cocky smile, almost daring me to do it.

I released the torrent of ice down onto my foe, and a wispy vapor settled around us, obscuring all from what was happening for a few moments. I felt his grip loosen.

But when the mist cleared, Vicious was relatively unscathed. The only sign that anything happened to him was that frost was now decorating his snout. And he laughed, glaring at me. My heart was pounding, and I clawed and kicked desperately at him. But he held me out reach, making any attempt to have him put me down in vain.

He then threw me to the ground, with enough force that the crash could be heard across the room. "That's it? That's all you got?" he shouted as I desperately tried to get away, scrambling around like a newborn. He just lead me into a corner. "Let me show you what a real dragon can do!"

He inhaled deeply, readying a breath attack of his own, bracing for whatever he planned to do. But Vicious was cut short as a blur of brown, red, and grey flew across the room, smacking him square in the jaw. He flew across the room and landed with a crash into the wall on the opposite side. The gold dragon was about to continue his assault when a vase fell and broke on top of his head, which of all things was the one thing to knock him unconscious.

But looking at the creature that saved me had me even more horrified than anything else. The legs were human, but the body was reptilian. His long tail snaked along the floor, while the head seemed miles above, decorated with spikes. And he gazed down at me with golden, almost feral, eyes.

A Reptilade now loomed over me.