Turns out, even drunk, criminals are great at escaping.

For instance, right now.

Everyone was having a blast, and I am certain that I won't be able to hear myself for days.

At least, that's what I thought.

Because as soon as a couple of dragons dancing next to the entrance stopped moving, everyone who noticed it stopped as well.

By the time the band stopped playing, everyone was hearing the shouts and grunts from behind the door.

"They found us," I heard Caracal say, and the haze that had smothered my brain instantly disappear.

You see, Witching Hour is technically an illegal club, so everyone was already prepared for this.

And so everyone silently started moving at once.

I raced over too the bar, grabbing a started looking Foxtail and slamming my talons over his snout.

"Follow me," I whisper to Foxtail, and he nodds slowly. I let him go.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a couple of burly thugs move towards the door, ready for in case the enforcers brake through.

I look around, and spotted a light sandy dragon, not unlike Caracal, and hurried over to him. A couple of other dragonets were already there.

He gestured for us to follow, and we snuck behind the bar. There, barely visible in the poor lighting, was a trap door.

He opened it with a grunt, and as we started dropping in, I heard the entrance door burst open.

And then all hell broke loose.

I pushed Foxtail in just as as an enforcer came sailing through the air, landing with a thud next to me.

He groggily opened one eye, and I quickly gave him a punch right between the eyes. He blacked out after that.

"Get in!" I yelled as the last two dragonets came running towards me. But before they could reach me, someone threw a metal net on them, causing them to fall down hard.

I'm so going to regret this... I though with a growl, and left the safety of the bar to run towards them.

"Run, now!" I scream as I pulled the net off, but before I could follow, a dark beige dragon pulled me up by my tail, causing me to scream in pain.

"I got one!" She yelled, but didn't get to celebrate the victory before she dropped me, clutching her forleg in pain. Crimson drops of blood was seeping through her scales at an alarmingly fast pace.

I turned around, and saw an aghast looking Foxtail standing before me, his teeth slightly red.

"Come on," I pulled him, but another enforcer quickly blocked our path. It was only then that I noticed the silence in the room.

Everywhere, dragons were laying in puddles of blood, and even though most of them were Scopions, as we locals call ourselves, there were more than enough enforcers in the mix to give me a tiny bit of twisted glee.

"Now, were would you two be off to?" One of them asked, and a golden band on his forearm caught my eye.

I've seen this dragon plenty of times before. He was usually at the gates, giving orders to who ever happened to be in close proximity to him.

Marage, if I remember correctly...

"Nowhere an oversized lizard such as yourself would be invited to," I spat at his talons for good measure.

Marage didn't even blink, though several of the other enforcers pointed their spears towards me.

"You have spunk, little vermin," he said, and I felt like his eyes were looking right into my soul. "Unfortunately, spunk isn't tolerated in the Queen's army."

He spun around and walked towards the door.

As one, all the other enforcers descended on us, trying to either pin us down or get roped around our talons.

Foxtail was subdued very quickly, but I hardly noticed. I was too busy giving a couple of dragons marks to remember me by.

A scratch here, a couple of slashes across the eye there, but all too soon, I felt a weight land on my back, pinning my wings closed.

I screamed, fought harder, even broke one of the enemy's front legs. She wasn't going to walk on that anytime soon.

I've always been told I was a wild dragonet. An "out of control sandstorm" to be precise. That's what my dad used to call me, before he died.

Ever since the death of my parents, I've been trying to live up to their expectations, even in the small ways.

So when the enforcers finally got my legs tied up, and my tail in a safety cage, I started spitting insults.

I was kind of proud of myself that when the older dragons decided to tie my mouth shut too, they were all as red as SkyWings.

They deserve it, these bulging blobs of lama dung...

From embarrassment or anger, I didn't know but even though I was hoping for the former, the latter seemed much more likely.

By the time they threw me in the cage, I looked more like a caterpillar than a dragon.

"Here, let me help," Foxtail offered as soon as the enforcers were out of earshot. He swiftly bit through the ropes, and before long, I was helping him with his.

"Looks like we're in trouble now, hey Diamondback? Might as well give up," he sat down with a sigh, but I refused to give up.

"Don't you dare say that," I growled, and he jumped into the air. "It's my fault we're in this mess to begin with, so I'm gonna get us out."

"How are you going to do that?" Foxtail sounded alarmed, and I leveled my gaze with his.

"By doing what I've been planning to do all my live," the enforcers came back, and I dropped my voice. "By killing Queen Gazelle."