Survivor- Battlewinner's Story

=== Survivor- Battlewinner's Story ===
A Mini-Winglet by Wisdomseeker of the NightWings
(This story take place twentyish years before Wings of Fire, The Dragonet Prophecy)
“ROARWR!” 
Battlewinner whirled to face her next opponent. The IceWing leaped at her, serrated claws outstretched.
Queen Battlewinner was on the continent. She was supposed to be in the northern bit of the Kingdom of Sand, searching for an unclaimed section of land that the NightWings might be able to settle on. But she must have missed her intended destination, because she and her companion, Risktaker, had ended up running into a group of IceWings, who had unfairly decided to try to kill them.
The IceWing she was fighting landed on her, pinning her to the frozen soil beneath them. He snarled at her, then slashed his claws at her snout. The rough edge of the claw dug a bloody trail into the scales in Battlewinner’s nose and close to her eye. She roared in pain and anger, but was able to knock the IceWing soldier off of herself. She jumped to her talons, growling dangerously at her attacker.
Just then, she heard Risktaker yell, “Battlewinner! Help!”
Battlewinner spun around, waving her tail in a dangerous arc and smashing the IceWing soldier in the face and rushing toward her mate.
Two IceWings, pale blue and white scales gleaming in the morning light, were circling Risktaker, spiked tail raised and hints of frostbreath coming out of their snouts. One opened her mouth, preparing to cover Risktaker with ice.
Before Battlewinner could think properly, she beat her wings rapidly and dove toward her friend, hoping to block the spray of deadly freezing breath from his scales. She opened her mouth in a roar as she stood in front of her comrade. 
That turned out to be the worst mistake she had ever made.
The jet of frostbreath missed her friend… but didn’t miss Battlewinner. 
The cold. It was cold. Freezing her throat, her teeth, her tongue as the frostbreath entered her mouth. She collapsed, clutching at her neck as the ice crept farther down into her body. 
She heard Risktaker scream, “No! Battlewinner! Please be okay!” and felt his strong talons running along the length of her snout and neck. Battlewinner moaned softly, and Risktaker made a pitying noise.
The IceWings, probably taking Battlewinner for dead, lept into the sky and flew away, swinging their tails behind them in the hope of slashing Risktaker. He ducked, avoiding the spikes, and glanced fearfully up at the sky.
“We have to get home. Now. Or more IceWings might find us. Plus, you got frostbreath up your snout! Who knows what that might do to you?” Risktaker said anxiously, pulling Battlewinner to her icy talons.
I know what will happen to me, Battlewinner thought, even with the fire burning inside me, I’ll still be dead within a day. Aloud she said, “I..must...get back...to the island.” Her voice scraped her throat, making the ice coating it tingle painfully.
“Yes, yes we must,” Risktaker said in her worried, thoughtful voice, “Let’s go immediately.” He flapped his wings, offering his tail for the queen to hold on to. She grasped it gratefully, and beat her own wings in sync with Risktakers’s. They took off into the bright morning air, moving north and east.
A few hours later…
Battlewinner shivered, as she had been doing insistently for almost a half an hour now. The ice was spreading, past her throat and into her stomach. She felt nauseous as the cold froze her organs together. 
Then, she heard Risktaker say from in front of her, “There it is! The Night Island! Come on, Battlewinner, we’re almost there!”
She sped up hopefully. It was there, from volcanoes to lava fields to the NightWing fortress. Black swarms of NightWings flew around like flies, alighting on rocks or perches to keep watch.
Just then, two NightWings flew up from the island toward them. Battlewinner recognized them as Ghostspeaker and Shadowtail. 
“Who is it?” Shadowtail asked as they approached, peering through the haze of volcano smoke at them.
“King Risktaker and Queen Battlewinner, back from the continent. But we need immediate medical help. Queen Battlewinner was blasted with frostbreath by an IceWing in her mouth. I’m not sure what I can do for her!” Risktaker exclaimed.
Ghostspeaker was as silent as ever, but her eyes and mouth opened in shock. Shadowtail, however, said in a high-pitched voice, “Should I get Mastermind, Your Majesty?”
“Yes, yes, please, anything to save her!” agreed Risktaker.
Shadowtail shot off into one of the entrances in the mountain, and Ghostspeaker took one of Battlewinner’s talons, guiding her slowly toward the fortress. They landed on one of the balconies that jutted out of the massive structure.
They hurried through the gaping entrance, with Ghostspeaker and Risktaker holding Battlewinner up as her insides froze solid. 
Battlewinner was miserable. Not only because she knew she was going to die, but because she was so cold. She had never been cold before, since she lived on a smoldering volcano island, and it was an extremely unpleasant experience. She desperately hoped Mastermind would be able to help her.
They rushed slowly through the halls of the fortress, if that was possible. Many NightWings bowed as she came by, concern and worry on their faces. 
Finally, they entered the throne room. The immense space was completely empty, except for the black stone statues of past NightWing royalty lining the path up to the throne. Their emerald eyes glittered at her and their diamond underwing scales flashed, hurting her frosted-over eyes. She quickly passed them, and hurried to the end of the hall.
Battlewinner settled heavily on her throne, her wings drooping around the base of it and her tail curled along the uneven rock floor. Risktaker sat down next to her, and Ghostspeaker stood at attention at the door to the room. 
Battlewinner shivered fiercely, even though the throne room was stiflingly hot. Her scales were starting to frost over, coating them with a small layer of pale blue. Her large body doubled over in violent coughs, the ice in her throat scraping as she did.
A few minutes later, the hurried noise of running talons punctured the silence around them. Risktaker stood up and faced the door as Mastermind and Shadowtail rushed in. 
Mastermind took one look at Battlewinner, then said in a scared voice, “Your Majesty! Are-are you alright? Your scales are covered in frost and your tongue is iced over! Shadowtail has told me what happened but I didn’t expect anything like this! But,” he continued hurriedly, “I think I have an idea. Although it probably won’t work…” he trailed off, his eyes downcast.
“What?” rasped Battlewinner, wincing at the pain of speaking.
“It might kill you, though,” Mastermind warned.
“Try...anything...worse than this,” Battlewinner tried to explain with as little words as possible.
“Well, alright, then. Maybe, if we can find a big enough cauldron, you can submerge yourself in lava to, well, create a balance of sorts. If we can do it, I mean.” he said in his timid-but-in-the-way voice.
“Yes...try...,” Battlewinner agreed.
“...The lava thing?” Mastermind guessed, “Alright. Shadowtail, Ghostspeaker, go fetch a large cauldron. The largest one we have. I’ll get Strongwings and we can fill it up with lava. Risktaker, stay with her and make sure she stays alive until we come back.”
He flapped his wings and rose into the air, followed by Ghostspeaker and Shadowtail. They reached the hall and turned their separate ways, rushing away tensely.
Battlewinner sighed, or tried to. The sigh changed in her throat to a huge fit of sparatic coughs. Risktaker stood up, took one of her talons in his and leaned into her, hoping his body heat would help soothe the chill.
“Thanks...trying...help,” Battewinner said, the ice blocking her speech.
Battlewinner had more coughing fits, and each time she did, Risktaker would gently squeeze her talon, whispering encouragement to her.
A few minutes later, which seemed like an eon to Battlewinner, Ghostspeaker and Shadowtail returned, lugging a giant stone cauldron behind them. They laid it in the middle of the throne room and sat down, panting.
A little while after the cauldron had been delivered, Battlewinner and Risktaker heard the noise of stamping talons and scraping stone. Mastermind, his assistant Strongwings and several other NightWings came into the throne room, each one carrying a large bucket of lava. They carried them carefully, avoiding the molten, burning, painful liquid inside.
The other NightWings bowed at their queen, but, once seeing her condition, let out involuntary gasps of horror. 
One by one, the NightWings poured their lava into the cauldron until the magma almost reached the brim. 
Slowly, Battlewinner stretched out one claw and dipped it into the lava. She waited for the clawtip to burst into flames and melt away, she waited for the agonizing pain, she waited for the feeling of knowing she was definitely going to die.
But her claw did none of those things. It stayed black, frosted over with pale blue.
Her clawtip survived.
Hurriedly, at the sight of her success, Battlewinner put her whole talon in the boiling magma.
And her talon survived too!
Then her whole foreleg slid into the melted rock. And that survived!
Pretty soon, Battelwinner was entirely engulfed in the bubbling lava. She felt warm and cosy. Well, as cosy as you can get in a stone cauldron filled to the top in boiling lava.
Mastermind was thrilled. “It worked! I said it would work from the beginning!”
The laughter and sighs of relief filled the throne room, its echoes reverberating back at them.
Battlewinner was also relieved. 
She was going to live.
To survive.
With a smile, she slid her head under the lava and laughed.
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Fanfictions