Argil

Argil trotted through the marshes of the MudWing kingdom. He was finally going to do it.

He was going to kill Queen Fawn and take her throne.

She was such a weak leader. She hadn't even thought to put patrols near the Rainforest and stop those wretched NightWings from invading her Kingdom.

No. She would have to go.

He sighed wistfully, wishing his sibs could join him in his conquest. But Coyote had offered to take over as bigwings for a little because she didn't feel comfortable putting anyone in danger. But her voice had oddly had something else to it, a layer of fear that wasn't coming from the invasion he was about to make.

He shook his head. She was probably just watching out for Bhumi, who'd been pinned down the last time they took on a group. But still...

No, he chided himself. Your sibs LOVE you.

"Halt!" A guard cried, standing outside the palace.

"No, I don't think I will," Argil said, leaping onto the guard. The guard yelped in surprise as Argil's claws dug into his skull, which was unprotected.

He wiped the blood off his talons, continuing his journey. The guards didn't even wear any armor. It was like they were just hoping that the other dragons weren't going to attack. But hope wasn't enough. The MudWings couldn't survive on hope alone.

They needed a strong leader, one who would take care of them. Protect them.

And Argil intended to do just that. The other guard jumped in surprise at the sight of her companion laying dead on the ground, bleeding out from several wounds on his head.

"HALT!" She yelled, rushing up to where Argil stood. 

Argil took one look at the dragon. She couldn't have fire-proof scales. Then he took in a deep breath and sent a plume of fire straight into the guard's face. The flames quickly claimed most of the dragon's snout, and she fell to the ground screaming. 

Argil watched the guard fall to the ground with mild amusement. He'd murdered countless dragons before, but he didn't really think of it as murder, or even killing, just getting rid of any pest that was a problem. All of the other tribes wouldn't hesitate to do the same thing the first chance they got, so he was merely doing it first. 

He remembered the first, it was hard to forget your first. It had been an IceWing, a female who'd looked faintly pretty if he could remember correctly. He'd found her organizing her room alone, but she clearly didn't live alone due to the size of the house. 

Argil had fully intended to get rid of every dragon in the house that day, but he didn't. He'd bitten out her throat, that's what he'd done. She'd fought back, he had to give her that much credit. A valiant effort, but it had not been enough to save her life.

She'd just been breathing her final choaked breaths when what Argil could have only assumed to be either her brother or boyfriend had walked in. He'd walked in with his mouth open like he was about to ask a question, but it had died in his throat as he stared at the sight in front of him.

And Argil had fled. But now he wasn't going to flee. He had one goal. He was going to fix his tribe, no matter what. He took a step forward and pushed open the gate, a grin plastered on his face.

No one even approached him as he made his way into the palace. It was simply a beautiful clay building, made with tall towers and sweeping terraces. He already liked this place, and couldn't wait to show it to his sibs. Bhumi would love to run through the lotus gardens that he was walking through right now.

He reached the door, where there was another guard, who was actually napping on the job. Argil took out a device from a bag he carried around his neck. He was so close to the palace he didn't want to cause a disturbance. So he carefully loaded a dart into the tube, aimed, and fired. 

The already sleeping dragon fell without a sound, and Argil slept over his slumped body in the doorway, reaching down and jabbing his claw deep into his neck as he walked. The dragon's breathing became slower, but that wasn't Argil's problem. 

All of these guards were weak and stupid; sleeping while guarding the queen's palace? What was he thinking? He deserved to die, and that's what he was doing, slowly, bleeding out on the ground. Actually, this one of Argil's cleaner murders, all accomplished without a scream or any resistance from the victim. 

A win-win, Argil thought as he stepped into a large opening room. Several dragons were walking around, but none even raised an eyebrow at him walking in. But he knew that half of the dragons here had probably attended several of his speeches or rallies and supported his views. He grinned at his own cleverness. 

This queen is dead, he thought as he stepped into the center of the room. "ANNOUNCEMENT!" Argil shouted, drawing the attention of all the dragons in the room.

The room fell silent as all the MudWings in the room stared at him, glancing hesitantly at each other and whispering things like "What's going on?" "Is he supposed to be in here?" and "Um, someone call security."

"This is an intruder, everyone please remain calm. This is Argil of the Strong Theory Union. If you wish to remain with your lives and agree with my views, please make yourselves known. I will be taking this palace by force if necessary, please remain calm." Argil said, showing off the bag he was wearing that had the Srong Theory Union symbol on it. His union, he might add. 

Surprisingly, the crowd remained silent in shock. Finally, a shill voice cried. "Someone call security!" 

That broke the moment. The entire crowd turned, advancing on the panicked-looking maid that had snapped. She let out a scream as she disappeared underneath a pile of other bodies. Argil just watched in mild amusement as the entire crowd dissolved into chaos and bloodshed. 

He patiently waited for the fighting to stop and for the remaining dragons to stand up. They all glanced around nervously before looking up at him again in adoration. Argil didn't have to ask to know which side the crowd was on. 

Argil grinned down at the crowd. "Shall we continue?" He asked. 

The crowd roared in response, and he continued walking. Behind him, he heard a loud noise as several guards hurried forward into the room. To his surprise, one of the guards stopped in her tracks and squealed like a schoolgirl.

"Oh my moons is that Argil?" She asked. 

Another guard screeched to a halt beside her and gave her a confused look. "Like Argil from Strong Theory Union?" He asked. 

Then he looked up and gasped. "It really is! I'd know him anywhere! Sir, can I have your autograph?" 

Argil scoffed. "Of course, but now is not the time." 

"Oh," the guard said, averting his gaze as he remembered where he was. "Does that mean I have to arrest you now?" 

"No necessarily," Argil said smugly. "Join me. Together, we can overthrow Fawn. The MudWings need a strong leader, one who can properly embrace change! And I intend to be that leader."

There was much whispering amongst the guards and then one stepped forward. "Okay, we'll join you." 

He grinned down at them. "Of course, now where is that queen?"

They didn't even hesitate to lead him up to a large, polished hawthorn door. Argil could see it was locked from the inside, but that wasn't enough to stop him. He breathed out a burst of fire on the door, which reached such a temperature that it instantly singed a hole into it. 

He kept it up until the door fell away smoldering at its hinges and he stepped into the room. Sitting in the corner of the room, looking terrified, was the Queen herself. She froze at the sight of Argil, and he smirked as he approached. 

She was huddled together with her husband, King Bayou, and her daughter, Princess Hazelnut. "What do you want?!" She snarled. 

Argil laughed. She had no one to protect her. She'd killed all of her siblings over the years to secure her throne, and what were her husband and one dragonet going to do? He had the royal guard on his side. 

"Oh, you know full well, Fawn. Times up." 

With that he lept on her, tearing her from the embrace of her husband. "Stop!" King Bayou screeched as Argil dragged Fawn into the center of the room. He then proceeded to twist her body, forcing her head to the ground.

"Your nothing," he whispered in her ear, leaning down to her level. "You can't protect your tribe, and in the end, you couldn't even protect yourself. Any last words?" 

Fawn's eyes went wide with tears. Blah blah blah pathetic. "You... Won't... Win... War isn't the answer..." Argil rolled his eyes and cut her off. 

"Wanting peace isn't enough to save our tribe. We need a strong leader, one who will take action." With that, Argil bit Fawn on the back of her neck. Hard. 

She screamed, but it quickly turned into a panicked gargle as she spat up blood, and went still. Argil grinned and stood up, bright red blood dripping from his mouth.

King Bayou gasped and charged toward Argil, but he snorted and sidestepped, throwing the king off-guard. He stumbled and Argil used that opportunity and threw him onto the ground, sending a burst of flame after him. He screamed in panic as the flames quickly started to claim his entire side and wing. 

Agril threw himself into the flames, knowing that they wouldn't affect him, and he savaged the king's exposed throat. When he stood back up, quite a crowd had gathered in the doorway. "Clean this mess up," he snapped, voice full of content. 

He reached toward the bloody corpse of Fawn and lifted the crown from her head, placing it on his own. Then he turned to the remaining royal in the room, Princess Hazelnut.

She was sitting very still, her eyes full of tears. Argil watched her for a moment, debating if it was worth killing her too. He'd already killed four dragons today if he remembered correctly. She was small and thin with light brown scales and a darker brown stomach, her coloration really did remind her of a Hazelnut. 

Her eyes were bright, grass-green; and even though they were filled with tears, they were quite pretty. Argil had an idea. He walked up to her and picked her up. She tensed as he started walking out of the room. "Where are the dungeons?" Argil asked a guard. 

No, not a guard. His guard. They were all his now. He was safe. They were safe.

He was in control.

⊰ ꩜ ⊱

A/N

Hehe lol another early update. the art up there is argil and all of his sibs.