Blaza rested near the pool.
Normally, she did not like water too much; it was often cold or lukewarm. But this pool was a hot spring, set at a boiling temperature. Just right for a fire dragon.
Blaza slipped into the spring, the steaming water lapping at her scales. She bathed herself everyday, on the brink of dawn. She loved how the sun rose up red like a rose, bringing sudden colors to the world. She loved the way the hot spring felt on her body, cleansing her of filth.
She let out a sigh and reclined back on a rock. She was fairly tall for a young dragon, about 12 feet from snout to tail. She was quite physically capable, too, and she often won many of the summer games her clan held. This often attracted the eye of many a male dragon looking for a mate; her people highly valued physical strength. But if any young dragon would attempt to curl up next to her, he'd often wind up with a scratched snout.
She continued to rest. By this time, the sun was all the way up. Unlike the soft humans who dwelled in the plains and plateaus down the mountains, her eyes were not affected by the sun's intense light.
However, something was wrong. She leaned closer, squinting her eyes. Then her eyes went wide.
The sun was still red.
She did not know what was wrong, but it obviously meant trouble. She clambered out of the pool, shook herself off, and took off flying towards her clan's main area.

Ren was with his Dragon hatchling Headron. Headron ran around Ren, happily wagging his dragon tail. Ren laughed. Headron could be so silly sometimes.
"Calm down Headron! We're almost there!" Ren laughed. He continued trying to walk without tripping over Headron as he made his way to the hotsprings. But when he got there, no one was there waiting. Where did Blaza go? Something was wrong. Ren shaded his eyes, looking up towards the intense sun. His eyes went wide. It was blood red. Headron was not aware of the danger, and splashed into the hotspring, lapping up the warm water. "Headron, come here!" Ren ordered. Headron looked at Ren with surprise. "I mean it," Ren said. Headron came to Ren's side, and Ren picked up the hatchling, running. Ren had two things that had to be done quickly: report the trouble to Ryuu, and find Blaza as soon as possible.

Ren was with his Dragon hatchling Headron. Headron ran around Ren, happily wagging his dragon tail. Ren laughed. Headron could be so silly sometimes.
"Calm down Headron! We're almost there!" Ren laughed. He continued trying to walk without tripping over Headron as he made his way to the hotsprings. But when he got there, no one was there waiting. Where did Blaza go? Something was wrong. Ren shaded his eyes, looking up towards the intense sun. His eyes went wide. It was blood red. Headron was not aware of the danger, and splashed into the hotspring, lapping up the warm water. "Headron, come here!" Ren ordered. Headron looked at Ren with surprise. "I mean it," Ren said. Headron came to Ren's side, and Ren picked up the hatchling, running. Ren had two things that had to be done quickly: report the trouble to Ryuu, and find Blaza as soon as possible.

Blaza arrived at her tribe's area. She could already see many of her kin crowded around a rocky cliff, where the Alpha - the ruler of their tribe - lived with his mates.
Blaza managed to squeeze through the crowd to the front. She happened upon her two friends in the clan, Kara and Hajax. "Kara! Hajax!" She called out, "What's going on?"
Kara turned to her. "Blaza! It's good to see you're alright."
"What do you mean, 'alright'?"
"When the sun came up red, we'd found a bunch of the tribe members dead. But, hush, the Alpha's up there now!" Blaza turned as a fierce-looking dragon with a scar from his right eye to lip and a regal bearing strode forward onto the rocky ledge.
"Dragons of the Wildflame Clan!" He roared with great force. "Today, a great atrocity has happened to our people. Something has happened to the sun, and what's more - FIVE OF OUR MEMBERS ARE DEAD!!!"
The dragons roared with hatred. "Killed by none other than the Fire Circle! But," The Alpha said, "We will not secede. They think they can kill us? Well, THEN WE WILL KILL TEN FOR EACH ONE OF US DEAD!!! WHO WILL STAND WITH ME?"
All the dragons roared approval. "Then let us BEGIN!!!"
They were going to war.

"But how can we jump to conclusions so quickly!?" Cried Barann, one of the clan's philosophers. His wisdom was widely known, and he was the only one the Alpha would take criticisms from. "We never saw who committed these crimes!"
Goran sighed. He liked Barann, but often times he felt like he just HAD to have an answer to everything. "Well, who else would it be, Barann? Who else would do this other than the Fire Circle? Even if I'm wrong, it would be good to wipe those fiends off the face of this world."
Goran was fitting on his war claws - steel things that went over a dragon's talons - while Barann paced nervously. "We can't just start waging war on them out of the blue! They're so powerful, and you can't send everyone in the tribe off to war! What about the weak or old or children?!"
"They will stay behind. Everyone else will go off to fight."
"But yo-"
"I SAID THEY WILL FIGHT!!!" roared Goran, and Barann froze, sweat streaking down his scales. "I'M NOT SURE IF YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN, BARANN OF THE WILDFLAME CLAN, BUT I AM THE ALPHA! MY WORD IS LAW!"
Barann flinched backwards, a terrified look in his eyes. Goran immediately calmed down. What was he doing, yelling at his best friend like that? Even if he were the Alpha, he had no right to do such things. He immediately felt guilty.
"I am sorry, my friend, but this is how it must be. We go to war tomorrow."

* * *

Blaza lay by the pond for what might be the last time. She was worried.
She trusted the judgement of the Alpha, of course. He was probably right about the Fire Circle being the ones who did this, but to send everyone to war? This worried her. The Fire Circle had immense power, or so folklore went. Even though there were many warriors in the Wildflame clan, they were likely no match for them.
She hoped the Alpha would see reason. She loved her home, and she didn't want to die away from it.

Ryuu Sasuke, queen of all the dragons, was startled when her great grandson barged into the throne room with his baby dragon Headron.
"Grandmother!" Ren cried, "The Fire Circle attacked!" Ryuu quickly stood up from her throne. Beside Ryuu were Ren's grandmother and grandfather, Hope and Riauga, as well as Ren's father Kadmi.
"What happened?!" Ryuu demanded. Headron was cowering behind Ren as he explained.
"Headron and I were supposed to meet Blaza at the hot spring this morning! We arrived, but Blaza was nowhere to be seen! I looked up and the sun was red! The Fire Circle attacked!" Ryuu turned to Kadmi.
"Kadmi, you and I are going to the Wildfire Tribe to speak to the Alpha. Ren, you stay here with Hope and Riauga."
"But Grandmother-!" Ren moaned. He hated having to stay with his grandparents. "Please, let me go with you!" Ryuu knew that bringing Ren would be dangerous. The one thing the Fire Circle wanted most was the Dragon's Fire. Just like Ren, Ryuu had the dragon's fire, but her fire had been given to her so long ago, Ren's fire is still new and can be taken so easily, and Headron was the same as Ren. But Ryuu could see that Ren was serious about coming along.
"Alright Ren. You can come. We are leaving now!"