Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire or any of its characters.

Chapter One

When Carnelian awoke, she found herself in a strange place. Everything she could see was a dark, uniform gray. Mist spiraled at the horizons, hiding whatever was there from her view. For a few moments, she was confused. Three moons, she thought. Where in Pyrrhia am I? How did I get here? She might have thought it was a dream, but nearly all her dreams were about battling and no one ever wondered things like this when they were dreaming.

She tried to think back, to see what the last thing she could remember was. Oh, right. She'd been heading to class in that stupid Jade Mountain Academy, or whatever it was called. History class, if she remembered correctly. She'd seen some sort of commotion outside the history cave. Her NightWing clawmate had been collapsed on the floor and, as she might have expected, everybody else was worried about her. The rest of her winglet had been gathered around the black dragonet, minus Umber the MudWing, who was the only one of the bunch Carnelian could stand.

"Hey, Carnelian," Qibli the SandWing had called. "Don't go in there."

"Why not?" she'd demanded, impatient to get where she was supposed to be going. Queen Ruby had just denied her request to go home, so she supposed, out of loyalty to her queen, that she'd have to put more effort into her studies and earn her approval that way. She would much rather be fighting, but no one else wanted to fight anymore. Typical.

"Uh," the SandWing said, clearly making something up on the spot. "One of the torches got all smoky, the whole cave smells. Needs to air out."

Carnelian was fairly sure he was lying, but she sniffed the air just in case. "Smells fine to me," she growled, but of course, no one was paying her any attention anymore. Kinkajou, the constantly chattering RainWing, was too busy trying to get Moon out of the corridor, and everyone was fretting over the NightWing again. They started discussing who else was in the cave, but it really didn't matter. Everyone was supposed to be in the cave. It was almost time for class. If Carnelian had to go, everyone had to go. That was only fair.

"You're an idiot, SandWing," she declared. "It's perfectly fine in there." He was probably trying to play a prank on her or something. She wasn't falling for it. She took a step into the cave before any of the other dragonets could say anything else.

"No!" Moonwatcher cried behind her, but Carnelian only snorted. What was wrong with that NightWing now? She talked all night in her sleep, always about things that made absolutely no sense. Now she was freaking out over a problem that wasn't there. She was clearly delusional; Carnelian was surprised that none of the Dragonets of Destiny had noticed yet and started fussing over her, the way they fussed over everyone who had even the tiniest problem.

I deal with my problems all on my own, Carnelian remembered thinking. Why is it so hard for everyone else to do the same?

Then, all of the sudden, there was a bright flash of light and a sound like thunder. After that, a flash of pure agony went through her entire body. That was the last thing she could recall.

By all the stars, what was that?

Carnelian shook her head, confused. She felt as though she should know the answer to this question, but she didn't. It was how she felt every time she walked into a classroom and tried to learn something. Stupid. Ignorant. Dim-witted.

Maybe if she wandered around for a little while, she would find some clue as to where she was and how she got here. So she got to her feet and stomped off in a random direction. First school, now here. I knew I shouldn't have left the Sky Palace. Everything went wrong as soon as I did.

For the longest time, she didn't see anything different. She wandered aimlessly through the gloom and the darkness, her annoyance slowly giving way to anxiety. She could see no way out of this place. She was starting to fear that she would be stuck here forever. Even being trapped in a cave with my boring clawmates was better than this. There, I knew I could leave eventually. Here? I'm not sure.

Finally, Carnelian saw something other than gray ahead of her: a speck of red. She quickened her pace, a wave of relief coursing over her. From this distance, she couldn't tell what it was, but it wasn't mist or empty space, so it was a start. As she approached, the red dot grew into the vague shape of a dragon, then into the clear image of a SkyWing. Carnelian briefly wondered if it could be her reflection. It was coming toward her at about the same speed that she was moving, and it was the same color as she was. A reflection wasn't as good as a real dragon, but at least it would mean that there was water or a mirror here, which was far better than just empty gray space. But as they closed the remaining gap between them, Carnelian saw that the other dragon was far bigger than she was, and she had yellow eyes rather than Carnelian's orange.

"Oh," the other dragon said abruptly. "You're not the one I was looking for."

With that statement, the bigger SkyWing turned to leave. Startled, it took Carnelian a few moments to find her voice. "Wait!" she shouted. The other dragon paused, glancing bad-temperedly over her shoulder. "Do you know where we are?" Carnelian asked, in a quieter voice. "I just got here, and I have no idea what's going on."

The older dragon tilted her head at Carnelian, scanning her from horns to talons, snout to tail-tip. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice harsh, but also curious.

"Carnelian," the dragonet said, lifting her chin. "Soldier for Queen Ruby. I am also, quite reluctantly, a student at the Jade Mountain Academy. Who are you?"

"Jade Mountain Academy?" the other SkyWing echoed, her forehead creasing with confusion. "Three moons, I must have been here longer than I thought. What is this academy you speak of?"

Carnelian regarded her with suspicion. "Tell me who you are, first."

"Kestrel," the larger dragon said after a few moments. "A member of the Talons of Peace. Or, I was, anyway. You may have heard of me, depending on how old you are."

"I have heard of you," Carnelian said, surprised. "You were a soldier for Queen Scarlet, but after she tried to kill your dragonets, you disobeyed her and fled. One of your dragonets is dead, but the other became Scarlet's champion, Peril. But…" Carnelian paused, starting to feel uneasy. "I've also heard that you're… dead."

This dragon couldn't be Kestrel. She had to be lying. Dead dragons couldn't walk around and talk to living ones. Unless… No. It couldn't be. Panic started to rise within the SkyWing dragonet. No, no, no… That can't be right. It just can't.

"Well, looks like it's time for a rude awakening," Kestrel observed briskly, without even a hint of sympathy. "I'm not the only one here who's dead. You're dead, too."

For a few heartbeats, Carnelian didn't feel anything at all as she struggled to process Kestrel's words. Then the shock hit, making her legs get all weak and wobbly. She half-extended her wings to catch her balance. When she looked up to meet Kestrel's eyes, searching for a sign that maybe this was some sick joke, the older dragon's gaze was emotionless.

Some sympathy would have been nice, but there was also something calming about the blankness in Kestrel's eyes. Toughen up, lizard, they seemed to say, but without the contempt that normally would have accompanied the phrase. Carnelian took a few deep breaths, trying to regain control. It took several minutes, but eventually she managed to still the trembling in her talons and her wings.

"I don't even know what happened to me," Carnelian admitted. "But I suppose it doesn't matter. And I shouldn't fret over being dead, either; it clearly isn't as bad as it's made out to be, if I didn't even realize I was dead when I woke up here. There's nothing I can do about it anyway."

Kestrel tilted her head to one side, seeming almost impressed. "You accepted that faster than most do," she said. "But I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything less from a SkyWing."

So I'm not the only dragon who isn't all about embracing the other tribes' strengths and realizing we're all the same, Carnelian thought. There are some dragons who still believe their own tribes are the best without a doubt. The idea was refreshing.

"So, do you know why we're here?" she asked Kestrel. "I thought we were supposed to be reborn after we died. I'd assume I have to wait a little while, since I just died (it sounds so weird when I say it aloud, she thought), but you died months ago. Why hasn't your spirit returned to Pyrrhia?"

"I don't know if all that rebirth stuff is true," Kestrel replied, "but I do know that there is some way to move on from here. I haven't found it yet, but there would be far more dragons here if we all just stayed here for eternity." She was quiet for a moment. "I haven't met anyone I knew in life, yet. Just a few unimportant dragons who died in the war."

"We must be here for a reason," Carnelian said, trying to be logical. "Other dragons might send you to do pointless things, like go to school, but I doubt the universe would."

To her surprise, Kestrel barked a laugh. "I like the way you think, dragonet. But if there's a reason, I haven't figured it out yet. If you'd like to try to answer that question yourself, be my guest."

"I will, then," Carnelian said, not sure whether to feel flattered or offended. "Is there anything else I should know about this place? Like, do we need to eat? Or sleep?"

"There's no food here," Kestrel said. "So no, we don't need to eat. I'm not sure if we need to sleep, but I sleep anyway. There're only so many hours of seeing blank space that I can take in a row."

Carnelian laughed. Despite herself, she was starting to like this dragon. "All right," she said. She hesitated, then added, "Thank you for telling me all this. As much as I hate to admit it, I would be completely lost right now if I hadn't met you."

Kestrel shrugged. "Don't thank me. It's not like I did you any real favors. I can't get you out of here, and I don't even know which direction to point you in."

"Still, I'm far ahead of where I was twenty minutes ago," Carnelian argued. For whatever reason, it seemed important to make this dragon see just how much she had done for her. It was an odd sentiment; usually, Carnelian hated thanking anyone for anything. "I didn't even know I was dead."

"Well, you do now." Kestrel turned again to leave, then hesitated. "By the way… be careful. Not everyone here is as friendly as me, and considering the fact that no one has ever called me friendly in my life, you'd better watch your back. Some dragons here aren't just mean. They're dangerous."

Carnelian shivered, suddenly feeling cold. "I'll keep that in mind," she said.

But in truth, her mind wasn't on the dangers of this new world she found herself in. The word 'friendly' had stirred something in Carnelian's memory: her first day at Jade Mountain Academy. That bubbly RainWing and her crazy NightWing companion had been trying to guess her name. "Maybe her name is Friendly," Kinkajou had said, giggling madly. "That would suit her so well… I'm sure she would love to be called Friendly. Let's do that until we find out her real name."

At the time, her words had angered Carnelian, but now the SkyWing felt something worse. There was an aching feeling in her chest that reminded her of grief. Three moons, she thought. I can't be missing those ridiculous dragons, can I? That would be a new low for me. But all the same, she was struck by a sudden dread at the thought of being alone.

"Hey, listen," she said to Kestrel, trying to sound reasonable. "I know you probably don't want any companions, but if this place is so dangerous… don't you think it would be better to stick together? Besides, I meant it when I said I was going to try to figure out why we're here. Don't you want to know? Don't you think that might be the key to figuring out how to leave this place?"

Kestrel was silent, her forked tongue flicking in and out of her mouth as she thought. "Fine," she said at last. "You're right; we'd probably be able to accomplish a lot more together. Besides, you still haven't told me about this 'Jade Mountain Academy' you went to before you died, and I was serious when I asked you about it. You can tell me as we walk; there's nothing to be gained from loitering around here any longer and I'm quite impatient to be on my way."

"Where are you going?" Carnelian asked.

"Nowhere in particular," her companion admitted. "But I don't pretend to know all the secrets of this afterworld. I'm sure there are still things here that I have left to find, and I intend to find them."

"Then I guess I'll find them with you," Carnelian said, and they set off into the gray oblivion together.

A/N: Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed the first chapter (or have any constructive criticism to offer), please leave a review. Have an amazing day!

-Blaze