I do not own Wings of Fire.

To those of you who have been reading this before I posted the prologue...sorry this isn't a new chapter, but I think it'll be pretty interesting anyway! I was thinking, and I wanted to make this story as close to the real Wings of Fire books as possible, so of course that meant I needed a prologue! And also some descriptions regarding all of the dragon tribes...so enjoy!

MUDWINGS

Description: thick, armored brown scales, sometimes with amber and gold underscales; large, flat heads with nostrils on top of the snout.

Abilities: can breathe fire (if warm enough), hold their breath for up to an hour, blend into large mud puddles; usually very strong.

Queen: Queen Moorhen.

SEAWINGS

Description: blue or green or aquamarine scales; webs between their claws; gills on their necks; glow-in-the-dark stripes on their tails/snouts/underbellies.

Abilities: can breathe underwater, see in the dark, create huge waves with one splash of their powerful tails; excellent swimmers.

Queen: (Not going to say)

RAINWINGS

Description: scales constantly shift colors, usually bright like birds of paradise; prehensile tails.

Abilities: can camouflage their scales to blend into their surroundings, use their prehensile tails for climbing; have venom in teeth.

Queen: Queen Glory.

SANDWINGS

Description: pale gold or white scales the color of desert sand; poisonous barbed tail; forked black tongues.

Abilities: can survive a long time without water, poison enemies with the tips of their tails like scorpions, bury themselves for camouflage in the desert sand, breathe fire.

Queen: Queen Thorn.

SKYWINGS

Description: red-gold or orange scales; enormous wings.

Abilities: powerful fighters and fliers, can breathe fire.

Queen: Queen Ruby.

ICEWINGS

Description: silvery scales like the moon or pale blue like ice; ridged claws to grip the ice; forked blue tongues; tails narrow to a whip-thin end.

Abilities: can withstand subzero temperatures and bright light, exhale a deadly freezing breath.

Queen: Queen Glacier.

NIGHTWINGS

Description: purplish-black scales and scattered silver scales on the underside of their wings, like a night sky full of stars; forked black tongues.

Abilities: can breathe fire, disappear into dark shadows, if hatched under the moons, they can read minds, foretell the future.

Queen: Queen Glory (?).

Prologue

There was a prophecy, spoken of many years ago by a NightWing who believed he could see the future. There was a prophecy, repeated over and over by the multitudes of dragons in Pyrrhia, in lines of haunting rhyming. There was a prophecy that promised an end to the battle and bloodshed that raged over the once fairly peaceful lands every day, taking the lives of many dragons who didn't really know what they were fighting for, or why. There was a prophecy that spoke of five destined dragonets, who would hatch on the brightest night of all, who would fly over the land and somehow end the war after twenty years.

It was a prophecy that dragons both loved and hated. Those who hated it would stop at nothing to prevent it from happening, even if it meant killing innocent dragonets who might be born on the brightest night. Those who loved it wrote songs about it, rallying music that stirred hope into the souls of all who heard, promising a better life where there was no endless fighting.

When the war has lasted twenty years, the dragonets will come.

And so the battling pressed onward, and each victory was something to be celebrated, and each loss, while a setback and a punishment in their favor, was to be celebrated too, because it was one step closer to the brightest night, to the end.

Some dragons believed so fully in the prophecy that they turned away from their tribes, ran away to join a relatively new, shifty underground peace movement that was intent on making the prophecy come true. At the time, they were so secretive that very few dragons actually knew they existed, let alone where they were. Many believed that the Talons of Peace were simply a myth, created to bring hope to those who didn't believe. Joining them was not only mad, but suicidal.

In fact, by joining, many dragons were no longer considered part of their tribe. It was a traitorous thing to do, and unlikely anything would come of it. A band of misfit dragons, anyone would be lucky to even locate them. And they were untrustworthy, cautious of all. If you did succeed at finding them, it was likely they would turn you away, and then you would have nowhere to go.

That was, if the Talons of Peace was even real.

It definitely was. Being a member of the movement himself, Webs should know. Only a few years back, he'd decided that he was tired of fighting for Blister, a dragon he'd never even met himself, and with little regret, he'd left behind his new family and fled the Kingdom of the Sea, eager to find and aid the Talons of Peace immediately.

He'd been one of the lucky. Although most of the rumors about the group were completely false, everyone was correct when they said it was difficult to locate the Talons of Peace. But at the time, the group of dragons had been fairly near the Sea Kingdom, and within several days of abandoning his tribe, Webs, had found them and joined them.

And now he'd been assigned a guardian of the yet-to-hatch dragonets of destiny, a position that was a very honorable one to have among the Talons. Along with four other dragons, he would watch over and protect the five special dragonets until they were ready for the prophecy. He'd never been good with little dragonets, but he was sure that with extra help, he wouldn't have too big a problem.

Tomorrow was the night. Three large moons would gleam promisingly in the clear night sky. They were almost full now. A cool breeze drifted across the silent peaks of the mountains, but deep underground in one of the secret caves, Webs was protected from the chilly wind. Only a distant moan from some far off cavern told him of the wind, and the slight rustling of leaves echoing from the tunnel to the left that led to above.

Tomorrow was the night. The brightest night. Tomorrow was the night when finally the end of the war would seem tangible. Tomorrow was the night when the five lives that would save many more would finally hatch into the world. Tomorrow was a night when nobody should die, no battles should be fought, and no blood should be spilled. It was a night when all should be celebrating, a victory for all, no matter what princess they supported. It was a night of new hope, a new age, a time to leave the past darkness behind.

And everything was already going wrong.

Webs was despairing, which was the opposite of what he wanted to be on a night like this. The MudWing egg was safe, unscathed by its journey from its home, but Asha was dead. It was hard to imagine that the sweet, caring, and lovable MudWing was dead. He remembered the desperate but calm look in her eyes as she handed the egg with utmost care to him upon entering their cave. She was covered in blood, her snout glazed with an expression of pain, but she didn't rush to attend to her wounds.

"I'm sorry I won't get to see them grow up," she whispered hoarsely, as she settled to the ground of the cave.

"Don't speak like that," Webs scolded gently. "We'll get you cleaned up, and then you'll be fine."

She gave him a wry smile - or an attempt at a smile - before replying, "I'm afraid that's not true." She broke off to cough, hacking up blood, and Webs realized how truly terrible her wounds were.

"Tell the others I said goodbye," she whispered, a haunting echo breathed out before death.

She was dead before her eyes closed.

The memory would probably be burned into Webs's mind forever, no matter how he tried to think of other things. And he didn't know that the night would only grow more despairing.

There was shuffling coming from the entrance tunnel to the cave where Webs stood. He was sure it was Kestrel, but his heart beat frantically with an intimidating warning, it's someone else, someone else coming to ruin the prophecy and to kill you.

"I stand with the Talons of Peace," Webs hissed out, trying to cover his terror with menace. "Kestrel?" - he prayed that it truly was her - "Is that you?"

"We await the wings of fire," came an answer, and Webs relaxed, relieved to hear Kestrel's familiar voice. Though she was grumpy and rather mean, her company was much better than standing alone and waiting apprehensively. Stepping into her line of sight, Webs tried to clamp down his joy at seeing her, peering behind her shoulder to see Hvitur, their IceWing guardian, emerge behind her. But oddly, he wasn't there.

Seeming to read his mind, Kestrel tossed a fragment of eggshell at his feet. "Not that it'll do us much good now," she snarled. "Hvitur is dead."

No, thought Webs in horror, staring at the eggshell. First Asha. Not Hvitur too! Please say, at least, the SkyWing egg survived. By the moons, the world can't be that cruel.

"But - the SkyWing egg - "

"Broken," Kestrel said. Webs thought he detected a glimmer of regret in her voice. "Gone. It's over, Webs."

"It can't be!" he protested. All his life, this is what it had been adding up to! It couldn't just come to nothing! "Tomorrow is the brightest night. The three moons will all be full for the first time in a century. The dragonets of the prophecy have to hatch tomorrow." The prophecy can't be wrong. It's the future, isn't it?

"Well, one of them is already dead," Kestrel said, and Webs felt momentarily alarmed with the anger he saw in her eyes. "I knew I should have stolen the SkyWing egg myself. I know the Sky Kingdom. They wouldn't have caught me a second time."

Webs grimaced. If she'd gone, Hvitur would still be alive, and the SkyWing dragonet too, maybe. But maybe not. Asha returned to her kingdom too, but she died...

"Asha is dead, too," Webs told the SkyWing.

"Asha?" Kestrel repeated, and a she breathed a small plume of flame. "How?"

Webs sighed. A battle had been going on this night, when no blood should've been spilled, and nobody should've died. "Caught in a battle between Blaze's and Blister's forces on the way here. She still made it with the red MudWing egg, but she died of her wounds soon after."

"So it's just you, me, and Dune to raise the little worms," Kestrel growled.

We're the ones who have the least amount of experience with dragonets, Webs thought. And the ones who are only going to watch them for the Talons of Peace, and for the future.

Asha and Hvitur were the ones who'd wanted dragonets.

Webs realized that Kestrel was still talking. "We'll be long gone before the Talons of Peace return for the dragonets."

"No!" Webs hissed, angry for the first time in a while. It occurred to him that, in her anger, Kestrel had expressed a desire to kill all the dragonets and flee. But they couldn't do that! They couldn't disappoint the Talons of Peace! "Keeping the dragonets alive for the next eight year is more important than anything. If you don't want to be part of that - "

"All right, enough," Kestrel snapped, and Webs snapped his mouth shut, satisfied with her reaction. "I'm the strongest dragon in the Talons of Peace. You need me. It doesn't matter how I feel about the last little dragonets." She shot a look at the fragment of egg on the ground, rubbing her oddly scarred palms together as if she were angry at the dead SkyWing dragonet. "Although I thought at least one of them would be a SkyWing."

Does it have to be a SkyWing? Webs wondered. It says five dragonets of destiny. Maybe, maybe, it doesn't have to be a SkyWing. I mean, the prophecy has to give leeway for an accident, right? Maybe it foresaw the death of the SkyWing dragonet, and it's testing us? Five dragonets. We need five.

"I'll find us a fifth dragonet," Webs said, filled with determination as he pushed past his SkyWing companion, his wings scraping against the wall of the cave. The rustling of leaves grew louder as he approached the entrance.

"There's no way back into the Sky Kingdom, brainless," Kestrel said from behind him. "They'll be guarding the hatchery closely now."

It doesn't have to be a SkyWing, Webs assured himself before replying. If the prophecy failed, then it might be his fault, like it seemed everything always was. "Then I'll get an egg somewhere else." It was a grim thought to have, and even grimmer to actually execute. He would separate a family today, and drag an innocent dragonet into a destiny that wasn't meant for them. The RainWings would likely be the easiest tribe to steal from. "The RainWings don't even count their eggs - I could take one from the rain forest without anyone noticing."

He knew the SkyWing wouldn't be thrilled with that plan. "Of all the horrible ideas," Kestrel shuddered. "RainWings are wretched creatures. Nothing like SkyWings."

Perhaps that's for the better, then, Webs thought. We don't really need another Kestrel, do we? And this dragonet is going to still save us.

"We have to do something," he replied, sweeping his tail on the ground. He hit something and sent it skittering across the floor, and with a shudder realized that it was the fragment of eggshell. He tried not to think of the dead dragonet it had once held. "In eight years, the Talons of Peace will come looking for five dragonets. The prophecy says five, and we're going to make it come true ... whatever it takes."

And leaving Kestrel looking after him dubiously, Webs climbed out of the entrance tunnel, and after making sure there were no dragons in sight, took off, beating his wings frantically in the direction of the rain forest and the Rain Kingdom.

This was the night when the future looked the brightest, and tomorrow, the three moons, full, blossomed brightly.

But things had never looked darker.

Some distance away, a dragoness the color of the blood that was being spilled emerged from the shadows. With light footsteps she came to stand by the body of a fallen IceWing, a broken beauty who'd met his death, flung from the tops of a very high cliff, killed in mercilessly by the very queen the SkyWings supported.

With emotionless eyes, she gazed down at the corpse, when a flicker of red caught her eyes. She put her talons on the ice-cold scales, and shifted the body aside, careful not to further splinter the fragments of egg underneath.

A smile stretched across her snout as she pushed the dead IceWing away and took in the sight below her; hundreds of splintered pieces of SkyWing egg, and the twisted body of a tiny dragonet, eyes squeezed tight and snout full of fright, covered in a thin line of liquid. If not for the surroundings, she could've been sleeping, but the SkyWing knew that this one was definitely dead.

And that was magnificent, and totally okay.

Gathering the splintered fragments in her hand, she gently stroked one of the dragonet's twisted wing. "Perfect," the dragoness purred. "You are exactly what I was looking for."

Author's Note: Dramatic music! Most of the dialogue in the first section of the prologue is not my own, all those words belong to Tui T. Sutherland, who also happens to own this book series.

To everyone who read the first two chapters before I posted this: I know this may seem totally unrelated to everything happening in the other chapters, but I promise it's not! It's actually quite a big part of the story, and kind of a foreshadowing of what is to come...BUT I CAN'T SAY ANYTHING ELSE.

Anyway, I updated all errors in the first chapter! Thanks for reading! Hopefully you can expect a chapter three soon!