Chapter Text
The Sun had long since settled in the SkyWing Kingdom and in Queen Scarlet's Arena things were tense as usual yet one chained MudWing was softly sighing.
Clay was thinking back to his encounter with Peril he just had, 'what a peculair SkyWing I hope to see more of her' he thinks. As the winds flow by though he is reminded of his current predicament being a prisoner at Scarlet's arena on the pillars overlooking the sandy bloodpit. His wings,neck,tail and talons all but constricted to the chains and tied to all the other pillars in the arena making it so any sudden move would not just signal the death for him but for all other prisoners.
At that moment however his attention was drawn to a conversation between a young looking IceWing and older looking SandWing whom where gossiping and nodding towards another pillar next to him. Clay could only pick up snippits of the conversation like 'that weird thing' and 'the wing colors aren't natural', he turned to follow their gazes and saw what appeared to be a dragon unlike something he had ever seen.
The dragon in question was about the size of a six year old average NightWing with a slender yet strong physique that suggested a specialization in stealth, the dragon had black scales all over his body yet on his face an imprint of a white mask was made with scales. His wings weren't normal as well as they were blue ish almost like a phantom given live and on his talons Clay saw what appeared to be custom steel claws that almost looked like an extension of the dragon's body.
Strange Clay though normally those would have been taken of seeing as no weapons are permitted in the arena yet here they were on a dragon he had never seen before.
As Clay continued staring at the dragon he was suprised when he spoke up and said 'hey your name is Clay of the MudWings correct?'.
Clay a bit taken a bit back by the sudden start in conversation moved a bit his chains rustling as he said answered 'yeah that is me and who are you?'.
The mysterious dragon took a moment before answering with a calm expression 'Shadowslash of the PhantomWings I doubt you have ever heard of it.'
Clay's looks shifted from suprise to curiosity as he said 'The PhantomWings I have never heard of them before on Pyrrhia are you sure you are from around here?' his curiosity evident with every word.
Shadowslash softly scraped on the pillar as he sighed and said 'Yes we are it's just that our tribe has been scattered and off the grid so to speak ever since the 'incident'.' a look of melancholy appeared on Shadowslash's face before adding 'But that is not what I wished to talk to you about, I wanted to know more about that SkyWing you spoke to earlier this night.'
'Oh you mean Peril, what about her?' Clay said.
Shadowslash's face turned a bit more serious as he said 'There is something holding her down, a twisted worldview or an inner rot so too speak. I would like your help in figuring out what form it takes.' the wind blowing softly through both their chains as if noticing the sudden change in tension.
Clay was taken a bit back by this sudden change in conversation sure he had noticed subtle clues of what Shadowslash was talking about. Like the fact that Peril was constantly looking around at the other prisoners or that the guards that are circling the prisoners constantly had a subconscious reaction of fear when their gazes met with Peril's but nothing as extreme as what this PhantomWing was suggesting. Finally after much deliberation he spoke and said 'Well the fact that she was constantly looking at the prisoners reminded me a lot of how a head guard would act around prisoners.' Clay said with a thoughtfull expression.
'So like a prison warden?' Shadowslash said meeting Clay's eyes.
'Yeah exactly like that.' Clay said nodding in acknowledgement of Shadowslash's wording choiche.
Shadowslash upon this conformation quickly checked if there were any SkyWings circling around before lifting one of his talons in the air the chains rustling in process as he said 'Peril of the SkyWings, keyword for plane 'prison', main sin wrath, secondary sin sloth, party members: Clay.'
A blinding flash of light happenend and before Clay knew it he was somewhere else.
The surroundings of the arena and pillars had shifted into lines of old rusted cells with chains hay beds and all. Blood covered most of the surfaces of the walls and faded notices some barely legible others completely unreadable clang to the walls like threats.
Before Clay had any time to take this in Shadowslash forcibly made Clay duck and hide behind one of the benches literring the prison.
Clay turned towards Shadowslash with a bit of anger in his face and tried speaking up but Shadowslash quickly placed a talon on his mouth as he nodded towards a SkyWing guard that was approaching.
As the SkyWing guard made it's way past Clay and Shadowslash he could make out something shocking about the guard. In place where eyes would be was a blackish shadowy fog almost making the guard look more like a nightmare or puppet than a living being.
When the SkyWing guard had passed both of them Clay spoke up a look of utter bewilderment on his face 'What is this place and why did you bring me here Shadowslash?' Clay said.
Shadowslash turned towards him and said 'This is a 'Plane of Perversion', Peril's Plane of Perversion to be precise.' that triggered a shocked reaction of Clay as Shadowslash added 'And as for the reason I brought you here well according to the PhantomWing guide to breaking a Plane of Perversion at least a minimum of one partner is needed with four partners being the max.'
Clay shocked by the revelation quickly looked at the notice's posted around the prison with one in particulair catching his eye, it read 'A notice from your warden Peril, any prisoners caught not wearing any prisoner tags or wandering the halls without express permission at night will be chased and brought to the 'physical correction combat chambers'. If I personally see you do this then I will chase you and will hurt you so stay put! Signed Peril warden of Perilious Prison' there was also a small ps on the notice though that read 'if you do break these rules however it would be quite fun I need something to make my time worth here after all. signed Peril.'
Clay upon finishing reading the notice turns to Shadowslash and says with a bit of a dissapointed look 'Is this really how Peril looks at the world a place where she needs to relieve her boredom with violence?'
Shadowslash met Clay's dissapointed look with one of his own and says 'Yes it unfortunately is for now at least, if you are willing to help me out we can fix this broken worldview and make Peril a better dragon.'
Clay nods as he starts moving noticing that the chains that binded him previously in the arena are gone and says 'Got it then we best get to work.' whilst walking towards the exit of the cell he and Shadowslash appeared in determination settling on both of their faces as they get ready to face whatever horrors await in Peril's Plane of Perversion.