A/N To anyone reading this: this is my first ever story, so please, bear with me... also, English is not my first language, so I may make mistakes... thanks!!!

It was late at night, and a single candle burned at the SandWing queen's desk as she sat, thinking about the war with the IceWings she found herself in.

"This is our third failed battle with the IceWings in two months," Lizard, the queens trusted advisor, said. "And of the five hundred dragons we sent, only about forty survived."

Before he could continue, there was an urgent knock at the door. It flew open, and a bedraggled messenger stumbled in.

"Queen Gazelle," he huffed, sand and sweat dripping from him. "I come with disturbing news."

"Well?" Lizard asked, flicking his tail at the newcomer. "What is it?"

"It's Queen Blizzard, she said she will be launching another battle against us in one month."

The room descended in silence, before the queen spoke.

"Then we will be needing some more soldiers, I assume?" She asked, her voice smooth and strong, like one would expect of a queen.

Lizard cleared his throat, and answered, "yes, my queen, we do, but were are we going to find hundreds of SandWings with military training by next month?"

Queen Gazelle moved her golden eyes away from the messenger, who was still panting, and fixing them on Lizard's light brown ones.

"Were we always find discarded SandWings nobody cares about," she said, a wicked gleam in them. "In the Scorpion Den."

"Lizard," she suddenly commanded, and he snapped to attention. "I will be making a new law, active from tomorrow morning."

"One that states that every dragonet with only one or none parents alive, between the ages of five and seven, must go for military training for a month, and then serve a year in my army, before they can go back to their lives. Any dragon who disobeys this law gets killed."

"Killed, my queen?" Lizard asks, a pen in one talon and a scroll in the other. He had paused in his writing to look up at Queen Gazelle.

"Yes, killed," the queen said again, and Lizard finished writing. He handed the parchment to Queen Gazelle, who opened up a drawer and took out her royal seal.

"Tell General Marage to get his men ready," Queen Gazelle said to the messenger, who folded his wings back and nodded. "Tomorrow they will be picking up the new recruits."