Glow watched in horror as Clay was thrown into the arena. The blood and sand clumped around his claws, and Glow was desperately thinking of a way out of this. What could I possibly do?! I can't kill Clay! He's my friend, and Pyrrhia needs him! And I can't even kill Peril, even if I wanted to. Glow then looked over to see Peril striding into the arena. When she saw Clay, it was as if every emotion in existence hit her at the same time. But when she saw Glow with her new injury, her face adorned anguish.

       "I should have guessed." She said, low so that only they could hear her. "The only dragon who can touch me. No wonder she wanted me to stay away from you."

       "I guess you should have." Clay retorted. Peril visibly flinched.

       She looked over at Glow, guilt and shame dancing across her face and swimming in her reluctant blue eyes. "And the only dragon who ever stood up for me or acted like my friend." Peril stared straight into Glow's uncertain amber eyes. "I'm sorry, Glow. This is all my fault."

       Tsunami was dragged onto the balcony, wrapped in chains and seething with anger. Corona, Evenstar, and Frigga were not far behind, looking helpless as they realized what was about to happen. "There you go, Peril. Those are the dragons you have to kill before I set your mother free. Have fun!"

       Glow stepped towards Peril, without fear and without hesitation. Peril sidled away, looking nervous and uncertain. Glow felt a little better now. She doesn't want to hurt me. She doesn't want to hurt either of us. They're my friends. I can save them both if I can figure out how. But the real question that was brimming in Glow's mind was if it would be without cost, or if Glow would have to sacrifice something for it.

       Peril instead slid towards Clay, and he shot towards the opposite wall. Peril hesitated, but then put on a burst of speed and pursued him, while Glow could only watch, unable to realistically do anything. Clay waited until she was close, then body-slammed her into the ground.

       The crowd roared with shock and excitement.

       Peril lay there gasping as Clay got up and ran back to that side of the arena. This was the first time since Glow had first met Peril that she saw how scrawny Peril was and how physically unfit she was. Her fire was the source of her power, and she lived on a diet of dubious black rocks. It was obvious that her muscles and body strength were underdeveloped and hindered. This was the first time someone could fight Peril and win.

       Clay crouched and waited for Peril to attack him again. She slowly got up and walked towards him again. Only this time, she stopped a short distance away. "I'm sorry." She said regretfully. "I know you're mad. I made a mistake. I just – I thought you were trying to get away from me."

       "Well, I am now." Clay said. Glow winced. She could see how Peril's betrayal had stung him.

       "I don't want to kill you." Peril said, clawing the ground in frustration.

       "Buuuuut you have to." He finished.

       "I had a whole plan. A plan where I saved you after Kestrel, and you liked me best of all." Peril said.

       "Peril, that's insane." Clay responded. "I don't care if you save me. I want you to save my friends. That's what's important to me."

       Peril suddenly snarled. "I'm your friend! You don't need them!" She leaped at his head, and Clay lifted himself upward, throwing her over him and into the wall with a thud. Glow had to shift backwards to avoid the impact. She felt completely helpless. There was nothing she could do. They would kill each other, and Glow would have to be forced to either kill one of them, or let herself be killed by the other. Clay darted to the other side of the arena again before Peril was about to get back up to her feet.

       "I'll stick with the friends who aren't trying to kill me, thanks." Clay called.

       "I'm not – well –" She stamped her feet again. "It's not fair! The others can have any dragon! I only want you!" She opened her wings and leaped, diving on him with her claws outstretched. Glow was holding back tears in her eyes. She was watching her friend fall apart right in front of her. This wasn't like the times when Kite or Corona had an episode. This time, there were real consequences outside of the current situation and there might be no way to save or help either Peril or Clay.

       And that was the worst part.

       Clay snatched a clawful or sand and threw it into Peril's eyes. Peril shrieked and blundered sideways in the air. Clay threw himself up to grab her shoulders and fling her into the ground. He rolled her on her back and pinned her down, looking her dead in the eyes.

       "I know I don't know much about anything, but I think it doesn't have to work like this." He said.

       "It does." Peril said, trying to push him off her. Her talons shoved and pushed ineffectually at him. It was clear that in a real fight, Clay would have easily won. Peril was too weak to fight him. "Dragons kill each other all the time. In war, in here, anywhere, for no reason at all. That's how we are. Especially you and me. We're the same. We're dangerous."

       Glow had had enough. Tears streaming down her face, she rushed forward and pulled Clay off of Peril. "Stop this! Both of you!" She cried, her jaw wretching in pain while she spoke, her broken tooth fumbling against her lip. She pried Clay off Peril, although he didn't really put up much of a fight. Glow thrust herself between the two, tears falling down, pulling some of the blood on her jaw with them. "I know you're upset, and you both have every right to be. But I can't watch this anymore!" Glow cried, struggling to annunciate properly with her missing teeth and bleeding gums.

       Clay took a step back and Glow turned around to face Peril, who gave up trying to fight and just sat there crouching in her own pity. Peril turned her face away, unable to look Glow in the face. "Peril, you know that isn't true." She said plainly. Peril only flicked her ear indignantly. "I know you don't really think that. Scarlet thinks that's all you are, but do you really believe that?" Peril didn't respond.

       Scarlet smiled coldly. "Oh, but it is, I'm afraid." She cooed. "Her mother didn't even want her!" She hissed. Glow didn't even acknowledge her (even though she really wanted to tell her to shut up). This clearly bothered the queen. "Don't you all want to know what really happened to the SkyWing eggs before the brightest night?" That got Glow's attention. She turned her head towards the queen "It's quite a thrilling story." Scarlet cooed.

        Glow was so tempted to respond, but she didn't. The queen looked even more angry as more smoke began curling around her horns. "Tell me something. Throughout your entire life, were you ever given a choice?" She said, not even acknowledging Scarlet. She wants me to react. She wants to distract me. Peril finally looked up to meet Glow's gaze. "And if you were given a choice, is this the life you would have chosen?" Peril tilted her head back to the sand, not saying a word.

       Glow backed away, giving the copper dragon space to breathe. Glow didn't know what talking to Peril would accomplish, but she could see that this was her lowest point. This was the point where if Glow says the right thing, she could change everything. I can save her. I can help her. "I'm going to give you something no one else ever has." Glow said confidently. Peril's blue eyes lit up with confusion and hope. "Not friendship. Not family; but a choice. Think about this logically – what makes you think that Scarlet will honour her word?" She pressed. Peril finally stood up and stood level with Glow. "What makes you think she'll just let Kestrel go after all these years of hunting her down? What honestly makes you think she won't just kill her after this and then lie to you again?" Peril nodded slowly, as if she knew that Glow was right, but didn't want to accept it herself.

       "You have a choice. You can free yourself from this. You don't have to kill dragons for someone else's amusement. You don't have to believe your talons can only cause destruction. You don't have to be forced to do anything murderous or evil ever again." Glow promised. "We can save Kestrel, and we can save you. You can come with us. You'll have a family, friends, you can use your talons for good. You saw the good it can do!" She exclaimed, pointing at her shredded ear. This is what got Peril's attention, as she stared at her talons uncertainly. "That's not the only thing you can do. You can blow glass, you can cook, you can become a smith! You don't have to live this way. You can be free; you can choose a better life now." Glow extended her wings as much as she could, trying to make a welcoming gesture to her. "You can choose your destiny now. Come with us." She said. Peril looked unsure, but her steaming blue eyes sparkled with hope. "Come with me." Glow said definitively.

       "She's right, Peril." Glow heard Clay behind her say. He stepped forward to stand beside Glow. "That's not how I am, no matter what happened when I hatched. I can't feel this killer inside me that's supposed to be there. Maybe the dragonets are supposed to show everyone how to get along without a lot of killing."

       Peril couldn't help but smile hopefully as steam poured out of her eyes. Glow saw the closest dragons in the audience were leaning in and listening intently. Queen Scarlet was most definitely not among them, smoke circling her snout and horns furiously.

       Although Glow knew Scarlet was only getting more annoyed, she could see a plan brewing in her evil yellow eyes. "Aw, now isn't that sweet?" Scarlet sneered. "Well, then maybe something else will get you to snap. Or at least make something interesting happen." Scarlet groaned. She grinned at Glow, and she had a crawling feeling she was really not going to like what the queen was going to say next. "Now, we all remember how Burn killed that IceWing and the egg he stole from my palace six years ago, right?" She called, but no one answered back to her. Annoyed she continued. "Well, the IceWing died, but I don't remember Burn saying anything about seeing the egg shatter, now did I?" She challenged. Burn coiled her tail threateningly. With the way Scarlet looked at Glow right now, she realized something horrifying that she'd been trying to avoid this entire venture. She knows! She knows I survived! "Who's to say that the dragonet from that egg isn't still alive? It's a real shame really, but do you want to know why?" She called. Glow suddenly felt small. She felt smaller and more frightened than Kite. "And here's the thrilling part! That egg that IceWing stole from me was a royal egg, and she was to be my daughter. At least, if I hadn't decided that I would rule forever, that is!"

       Glow couldn't believe it. Scarlet knew. She knew all along that Glow was the missing SkyWing from the prophecy, and she was waiting until this moment to reveal it. This was it. In just a moment, everything Glow worked so hard to keep secret would come out, and she would be in more danger than she had ever known. "The SkyWing dragonet of the prophecy would have been my daughter. It would be a shame if she died before she could challenge me for my throne. Or maybe she's hiding somewhere in the shadows, waiting to proclaim herself this world's heroic savior. It would be quite the shame if she died before she could even be a dragonet of destiny, no?" Scarlet hissed, much to Burn's discomfort. And not only that, Scarlet, the most heinous and evil queen, possibly even more than Burn herself, was the reason Glow existed at all. Queen Scarlet, the evil queen of the SkyWings, was Glow's mother.

       She had a monster's blood in her veins.

       She wanted to curl up and disappear. She wanted Peril to burn her alive and kill her, right then and there. She couldn't live knowing where her blood tied her. She didn't want to think of the possibility of becoming like her, that the evil would someday taint her and poison her sense of justice. She didn't want to exist at all in that moment. She just wanted all of this to be some sort of horrible nightmare. It can't be...it-it just can't be! She wanted to fly up there. She wanted to fly up and claw the queen's face off and make sure that no one would ever recognize her corpse. "Oh well, I say she'll soon die a coward's death if she's still out there." Scarlet jabbed, her knowing yellow eyes fixed on Glow.

       But she wouldn't. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't break down. She wouldn't lose herself right now. She wouldn't attack her and reveal her identity to the SkyWings, or Burn's soldiers.

       That's exactly what Scarlet wants her to do. She wants Glow to reveal herself. She wants her to try and kill the queen in retaliation. But she wouldn't. For once, she was not letting her anger get the best of her.

       Not for Burn. Not for Scarlet. No one would make a fool of Glow ever again.

       She was stronger. She was braver. She was better than that, and she proved it by not even reacting to everything the SkyWing queen threw at her. She was the nobler dragon.

       "But enough of that, I'm getting bored. Hurry up and kill someone!" The evil queen called from her balcony. "You have her at your mercy, MudWing. Use your venom! That was thrilling, and I didn't even get to see it the first time!"

       It took Glow a moment to register what exactly Scarlet had just said, after her venomous goading. Wait, what?

       "Did she just say what I think she just said?" Clay asked.

       "But if the venom didn't come from her, then where –" Peril said.

       Glow and Clay whipped around towards the balcony as Glory suddenly reared up in a blaze of sunflower gold and cobalt blue, as if the summer sunrise itself had awakened. She snapped her chain like it was nothing and shot off the marble tree. Her mouth was wide open, unhinged like a snake's, and a jet of black liquid shot out of her two longest fangs with a hiss.

       Burn shoved Queen Scarlet in front of her and shot into the sky. Glory's venom struck Scarlet on the side of her face. The SkyWing queen let out a blood-piercing shriek.

       The stadium erupted into hysteria. All the dragons tried to take off at once, crashing into each other and trying to get away from the RainWing and the SkyWing queen, including Burn. Coward. Glow thought callously.

       Glow leaped up, but to no avail. "Wait!" Peril grabbed Clay and touched the bindings on his wings, and then Glow's. Both broke apart instantly, although Glow felt the searing heat. Thankfully, there was no injury for once on this whole trip.

       "Thank you." Clay called, lifting off.

       Glow looked Peril in the eye before she lifted off. "You did a good thing, Peril." She said, making Peril smile. "But you'll have to do far more than that to atone for betraying us." Glow reminded, taking off.

       Glow followed Clay closely as he landed next to Glory. All the guards had taken off and scattered after Burn flew away, so it was empty. Scarlet was batting at her face and screaming, teetering close to the edge of the balcony. Glow silently hoped she would fall off and break her neck on the sand below.

       "Glory! You're awake!" Clay cried joyously.

       "Of course I am!" She flared, tugging on Tsunami's chains. "You couldn't tell I was faking? I was waiting for the right moment to do something. Did you seriously think I was asleep this whole time?"

       "Uh –" Clay said.

       "You looked pretty asleep." Tsunami agreed.

       "Well, that's great. For the first time in my life, I pretend to be as lazy as everyone thinks RainWings are, and you actually believe it. I'm glad my friends have so much faith in me." Glory said.

       "Well, it wasn't really that. It was more that they probably thought you were drugged. They were really worried about you." Glow interjected. Glory looked at her indignantly. "If it helps, I had a feeling you had a plan, and it looks like I was right."

       "I'm sorry, but who are you? I mean, thanks and all, but seriously." Glory responded.

       "Well, we don't really have the time to introduce ourselves formally, so all you need to know is my name is Glow." Glow answered.

       "Glory." The RainWing said simply.

       Glow heard the sounds of unlocking metal, and turned around to see Corona unlocking Frigga and Evenstar already free. Glow only stood there gawking at her. "I had a spare." Corona answered with a smug grin. Glow stuttered to find a response. Corona rolled her mischievous black eyes. "Like I said, you can't afford to be bad at being a thief."

       "You sly dingo." Glow said in sheer admiration at Corona's skills. Corona merely shrugged with a smirk and wink at Glow, making her feel a little flighty.

       Glow turned her attention to the dragonets behind her, beckoning Corona to come forward once she was done. "Well, you never told us you could to that," Clay said, pointing at Glory's venom-spitting teeth. Beyond them, Scarlet crashed into her throne and continued screaming even louder. Her golden chainmail was beginning to melt into her scales.

       "I never could before." Glory said.

       Evenstar padded up to her, examining her. Glory recoiled, not trusting the small NightWing. "Easy. I'm a friend, Glory." He reassured. The RainWing didn't look convinced. "Fascinating. There is such limited information on RainWings. Perhaps sometime in the future, you'd allow me to ask you some questions? I'm genuinely interested." He asked.

       Glory simply nodded absentmindedly. "Sure, but right now, could you help me with this?"

       Clay tried to grab the marble tree and hook it under Tsunami's chains. Evenstar looked closely at the chains, examining for a weakness or something they could use to free her. Corona stood there bewildered. "Or, you could use a ke –"

       "So how did you do that?" Clay asked.

       "Oh, well, there's a logical scientific explanation and seriously, right now you want to have this conversation?" Glory said.

       "You scared off Burn," Tsunami said. Glow took great delight knowing there was something Burn was afraid of. "But she won't stay gone for long."

       Clay gave the sky a concerned glance. "Peril! Get over here!" he shouted.

       "No!" Tsunami exclaimed. "Not her! Keep her away from me!"

       "We need her help." Clay insisted as Peril landed beside him.

       "Or, you could, you know, use a k –" Corona said impatiently.

       "Their chains and bindings." Clay said to Peril. She clearly hesitated. "Please, if we're really friends." He added.

       "Orrrrrrrr, you co –" Corona said frustrated.

       "All right." She said, glancing at the screaming dragons behind them. She touched the chains around Tsunami, and they instantly shattered and fell to the balcony floor with clatters and clanks. Clay held Tsunami's wing bindings away from her scales, and Peril burned right through them.

       "Well, nevermind then." Corona said annoyed.

       Glow put a reassuring wing over her disgruntled SandWing friend. "Corona, just let her have this." She said. Corona responded with a groan and Frigga padded beside them.

       "Now we get Sunny." Clay said.

       "Hold on a moment, MudWing." Frigga cautioned. She pointed at the sky at two figures flying towards them.

       Glow recognized the rippling red scales of Charcoal and the yellow scales of Flashover, and was overjoyed to see them again. "Guys!" She cried, flapping up to meet them. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you two!" She cheered.

       "We're happy to see you too, Glow." Flashover agreed as they lofted down on the balcony.

       "What are you doing here?" Glow asked.

       Charcoal stepped forward. "We're here to help you." She said.

       "Ore and Combustion already grabbed your stuff to make sure you wouldn't forget it. They're waiting up north for you somewhere safe." Flashover explained.

       "Then we must hurry." Frigga said.

       They all lofted into the air, following behind Peril and tailed by Flashover and Charcoal. The air was full of beating wings and panicked dragons of red, gold, and pale yellow flying and colliding with each other. A SkyWing accidentally brushed Peril and clutched his leg screaming as he hurtled down towards the arena.

       Tsunami, Glory, and Clay were close behind as they soared up to the feasting hall. Glow felt better now that they had a real chance of escaping and saving everyone. She imagined Sunny's smiling face as her rescuers came to her aid and felt her chest grow tighter.

       Peril reached Sunny's cage first. Glow saw Sunny's beautiful shimmering golden face peering through the bars hopefully. Her moss-green eyes lit up with pure joy as she saw Clay come towards her.

       Glow felt her heart stop as she came close to her cage and heard her sweet mellow voice. "I knew you'd be all right!" She cried as everyone crowded around her cage, Clay, Tsunami, and Glory closest. "I knew I shouldn't be worried. I just kept thinking about the prophecy and how we can't die because we have to stop the war."

       Tsunami snorted, but Glow could feel her breathing become shallow. Her smile could light up all of Pyrrhia if they could see her. Peril hovered in front of the cage and sliced through the bars. The metal sizzled and then quickly fell to the floor below.

       Sunny flung herself into Clay's outstretched arms. She smacked him happily with her unbound wings. Her joy made Glow absolutely speechless and it was as if nothing else mattered. It wasn't until Corona nudged her harshly that she noticed she was staring.

       Sunny looked around for a moment, her face drooping in fear. "Wait, where's Starflight?" She asked.

       "We lost him." Glory said.

       "What?" Sunny exclaimed.

       "Stop that." Tsunami said, whacking Glory with her tail. "She means Morrowseer came and took him away. He's fine. Better than us, especially once the dragons stop panicking and start looking for us. Let's head for the river." She flew around towards the cliff, sending grains of bloody sand sprinkling from her wings.

       "But – he just left?" Sunny asked. She stopped Clay in midair. "Without us?"

       "He didn't have a choice, Sunny." Clay said, gripping her talons in his. Sunny's disappointment broke Glow's heart, although seeing Clay and Sunny holding each other's talons like that made her feel a little weird. Now I understand what Peril was feeling. She thought guiltily.

       "Clay, wait." Peril said. Her copper wings shuddered and she clenched her talons, as if she were about to split in half. "My mother. If Queen Scarlet isn't dead, the first thing she'll do is kill her."

       "She's right." Clay said as Tsunami and Glory flew back to see why they weren't being followed.

       Charcoal gasped with horror. "Father! Father's in prison with Kestrel, isn't he?" Glow suddenly remembered his joking face down there in his cell. "We have to free him!"

       Peril suddenly looked over in shock. "Wait, One-Eye's in prison?!" Flashover exclaimed.

       Glow scratched her head nervously. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that." She said sheepishly.

       Peril flapped her wings panicked. "Well, then we have to get him out, too!" She cried.

       "Well, this is just thrilling, isn't it?" Corona said, but then quickly cringed. "Ugh, I feel unclean. Promise me you'll never let me use that word ever again." Corona said to Glow.

       "Promise." She said quickly, cringing equally.

       "Tsunami," Clay said, interrupting them. "We have to get Kestrel out."

       "Why? What do we care? Kestrel was awful to us." Tsunami challenged.

       "We care anyway. We can't help it. Even you." Sunny said softly. Glow's heart fluttered. She's truly something special.

       "I don't." Glory said. "She was going to kill me. Remember?"

       Glow remembered the brief time she spent in the cell with Kestrel and sighed. "I'd like you to know, Glory, she wasn't exactly happy or comfortable with that. She'd have preferred not to if she had a choice." Glory snorted skeptically. "Although, I can't really say I blame either of you." Glow admitted. "I'd rather just leave her too, but this isn't really about us."

       "She didn't raise us to care about her. Kestrel was just keeping us alive, and if that's what she wants, the best thing we can do is run away right now." Tsunami argued.

       "I'd like to be something more than alive. I'd like to be the kind of dragon she doesn't think I am – the kind they write prophecies about. That dragon would rescue her no matter how awful she is." Clay said fiercely.

       Tsunami lashed her cobalt blue tail, nearly knocking Glory sideways. Although she was still covered in Gill's blood, she still shone like glimmering sapphires in the sun. She glared at Peril for a good long moment, and Glow felt uncomfortable with the level of hostility thrown at her.

       "Fine." She finally growled.

       "Not me." Glory said. "Do what you like, but I'm not a big mushy ball of forgiveness like you are, Clay." She calmly met his gaze, although her scales were rolling red and black like volcanic ash clouds. Glow thought about what she would do if she lived with someone like Kestrel, or even worse, Scarlet. She lowered her head quietly.

       "Then take Sunny, go to the cave at the bottom of the waterfall and wait for us." Tsunami said.

       "Can't I help?" Sunny asked. "I think I could –"

       "Yes, by not getting yourself killed." Glory said.

       Glow turned behind her. "Then take Frigga and Evenstar, too. They'll be able to keep you safer." Glow ordered.

       Glory looked as if she were about to object, flecks of green sparking in her scales. "I trust Frigga with my life, and my trust is not something I give away easily. She'll keep you safe." Corona assured. Glory nodded, and the four of them shot down the tunnel faster than anyone could catch.

       "This way's the fastest." Peril said. She flapped her wings, soaring up the cliff that looked over the feasting hall. Glow ignored the roars and screams coming from the arena. Glow took some comfort that no one seemed to be looking for them, although it wouldn't be like that for very long.

       Clay hung behind and Glow ignored him, still following after Peril. She realized that this wasn't the same prison cell that held them earlier. Scarlet must have moved Kestrel in case one of us got the clever idea to rescue her before the match. As they scaled the cliff, they circled above the grate that held Kestrel and her eyes lit up in recognition.

       But down the hall, Glow heard the sounds of footsteps. It echoed around the halls and Glow realized how little time they really had.

       Burn only needed to collect her soldiers – a shield to protect her from Glory's venom – then she'd come find them. Especially since she doesn't care about whoever's lives she puts in danger for the sake of a stupid throne.

       But Glow wasn't worried. In fact, she was excited. If Burn had the wise idea to attack her again, she'd be ready. Iron talons or no, Burn would make the biggest mistake of her life.

       As soon as they would lock talons, Glow wouldn't hesitate to kill her. She was going to be ready, and Burn was finally going to pay for her heinous crimes on all of Pyrrhia.

       Whether that was now or eventually, it was inevitable.