Rising Flames

Sequel to Dark Seas and Stone Cold. I didn't end up editing this before posting, unlike most of the other two, so there's probably a few typos.
== Prologue ==
Phantom’s wings ached as wind passed by them, her eyes stinging from smoke. She shut them as tight as she could, trying to keep the noxious smoke from entering. When she opened them, her tears muddled the sight of her older sister, Crescent, flying not far ahead. To her sides, just visible in the orange glow, were shadows of wings. About a dozen NightWings, flying alongside the two, barely skimming the treetops.
As the smoke thinned, Phantom’s eyes looked down. The lush canopy of the rainforest was quickly disappearing, being replaced with the smaller trees of the swamps. The young NightWing’s eyes looked forward. Towards the horizon, the blues and purples of the dawn began to light up the great marsh, where the trees thinned to nothing. Phantom’s breath grew quick and heavy.
Crescent tilted her head behind her, getting glimpses of her younger sister through each wingbeat. Phantom was starting to lag behind the rest of the group, unable to keep up with the fully-grown dragons.
“We need to slow down!” Crescent called out to the NightWings in front of her. “Phantom is falling behind!”
Her voice seemed to get lost on the roaring winds. The NightWings kept their pace.
“It’s alright!” Phantom panted. She grit her teeth, her wings almost burning from the abuse. The group wasn’t flying at the leisurely pace Phantom was used to. They were flying for their lives. “I’m fine!” she called out to the NightWings, even as her wings skipped a beat, causing her swooped down almost enough to touch the treetops.
Phantom regained her pace. It seemed like the rest of the NightWings were even further ahead, though Crescent had slowed down just a tad. Phantom might have still been a dragonet, but she wasn’t so young that she didn’t understand what was going on. They had to escape the rainforest, had to escape the IceWings. Or else they were dead. The smoke of the burning rainforest once again brushed her nostrils, an eerie reminder of her time on the volcanic island. Another home, lost to fire.
“We’re almost there!” Crescent yelled back. “Just a little further!”
Phantom’s head bobbed up and down, her wings barely able to move. Almost there. A hint of vibrant violet and red hues lit the sky ahead.
A scream suddenly pierced the air to Phantom’s right, and she a flash of white. The NightWings started to change direction, almost flying into each other. Crescent suddenly tilted to the left. Through the star-speckled wings of the NightWings, whites and blues became visible, rising out of the trees.
“IceWings!” a voice screamed out. Whatever flight formation the NightWings had, it had dispersed into a mess of black and white. Phantom’s eyes went wide as she tried to suddenly change her direction, barely escaping the clutch of serrated claws as vivid blue eyes stared down at her.
Red and blue blood quickly stained the scales of dragons as they engaged in battle. Leathery wings blocked Phantom’s view, and Crescent’s tail was gone, her dark scales mixed in with the rest of the crowd. Phantom tried to rush towards where she’d seen Crescent last, but the grey body of a NightWing suddenly knocked her to the side, almost sending her crashing into the treetops. She swooped up, narrowly avoiding an IceWing, the soldier’s eyes darting towards her as she swung her tail out at a NightWing.
Phantom kept flying. Scales, fangs and claws were everywhere she looked, with no escape in sight. She tried to regain her orientation. Crescent. Where was Crescent? Claws suddenly raked across her scales, and the dragonet let out a scream, diving away from the pain. Red blood dripped from her ashen spines. She didn’t have time to look for her attacker, unable to do anything but keep flying, trying to avoid crashing into someone, attempting to escape the maze of dragons.
The dragonet’s eyes suddenly locked on an IceWing, his narrow blue eyes meeting hers. His horns and claws were painted black as a NightWing’s, and as he opened his fanged jaws, she saw that his fangs had been painted similar, now mixed with red blood. His wings opened wide, blotting out the sky, and he swooped down at Phantom.
Phantom’s claws shook in terror, and she raised up a wing, trying to change her flight direction to bring her away from the IceWing. “CRESCENT!” she screamed, her heart racing as the IceWing closed in on her. She felt his claws pierce her tail, digging into her scales.
Suddenly, his claws let go, and she heard a furious roar, like the sound of ten lions. She looked behind to see Crescent’s talons crashing into the IceWing’s side, blue blood in her jaws as she clamped down on the back of his neck. Phantom stared as her sister threw the IceWing to the side.
The IceWing let out a sharp hiss, and quickly snapped back at Crescent’s, throwing her off him mid-flight. Crescent swooped around and attacked again, trying to tear her talons in the IceWing’s wings. Phantom couldn’t tear her eyes away as the IceWing suddenly swooped upwards, his spiked tail crashing into Crescent’s neck, knocking her to the side. The IceWing quickly followed up on his attack, and slammed down into Crescent’s back, grabbing ahold of her chest and neck with his foretalons. The two hit into another pair of fighting dragons, knocking them away.
Crescent tried to get free, but the IceWing held tight. His hindlegs wrapped around her, black claws tearing away scales and flesh from Crescent’s thighs and belly. She yelled out, throwing out her wings and trying to roll midair. The IceWing didn’t let go, his talons only digging further into her flesh.
“Crescent!” Phantom yelled out again, now afraid for her sister’s life rather than her own. She flew towards the two, almost getting knocked aside by an IceWing chasing after a NightWing.
“Get out of here!” Crescent yelled at her sister. “Follow Deathbringer’s orders! Get to the marshes!”
Phantom stared. She couldn’t leave Crescent. She flew down, trying to follow the two. Crescent finally broke free of the IceWing, twisting midair and diving down. The IceWing followed, blood in his jaws. As they dove, he grabbed ahold of Crescent’s forearm. Crescent tried to snap back at him, but he brought his jaws forward. His fangs clenched around Crescent’s throat, tearing through it, his snout covered with her blood. With a sudden motion, he dropped Crescent.
Phantom’s claws went still as her sister’s body fell through the canopy, crashing into the forest floor below. The IceWing looked back towards her, Crescent’s blood dripping from his fangs. Phantom had no time to grieve. Fly.
She took off, weaving in and out of NightWings and IceWings. Tears started to fill her eyes. Which way were the marshes? She caught a blurry glimpse at the oranges of the dawn, and headed that way.
Phantom pushed her way through, finally breaking out of the crowd of fighting dragons. Not far in the distance, towards where the sun was soon to rise, a few mudhuts pierced the horizon. No time to think of anything else, her wings beat, her fatigue suddenly gone. Wind rushed past her wings. Keep flying.
The NightWing dragonet suddenly heard a roar from above her. She tilted her head, and glimpsed up to see the painted IceWing, quickly catching up to her, his fangs stained with Crescent’s blood. Phantom’s wings beat faster, her heart barely able to give more. She had to get away.
But the dragonet’s small wings were no match for her attacker. The IceWing swooped down, diving for Phantom. Phantom screamed, and his claws raked into her wings, grasping ahold of them. She used her other wing to twist around, trying to get away. Her eyes focused on his white forearm, and she desperately bit out, sinking her fangs into his scales.
The IceWing let go of her with a roar, and swung his sharp tail at the dragonet. It hit the side of her back, spikes sinking into her wingblade. She screamed again, and tried to fly away. Already on her back in mid-air, there was little chance of her regaining her balance. She futilely waved her wings, trying to propel herself away from the IceWing. Gravity brought her down, and Phantom started to spiral down towards the ground.
Realizing that she was about to crash, Phantom closed her eyes, bringing her wings around her in a curl. She slammed into the ground, the mud of the marsh helping to break her fall. It sprayed all over her wings, covering her snout in mud.
Wincing, Phantom used her foreclaws to brush the muck away from her eyes, letting her see. The IceWing was hovering in the air a small distance back, and landed barely a few tail-lengths away from Phantom. She stared into her sister’s killer’s eyes. There was no mercy there.
Phantom whimpered, and tried to back up, sinking further into the mudhole. She closed her eyes, talons jittering. This was the end.
After a few moments, Phantom opened an eye. The IceWing hadn’t moved, still glaring at her. She blinked, confused. Wasn’t he going to kill her? In the skies, behind him, the remaining NightWings were flying towards her, neck-to-neck with their IceWing attackers.
“Stay back!” the Black Prince ordered the rest of the IceWings as they approached. “Don’t come closer!”
The IceWings suddenly parted into two groups, flying to the left and right as the NightWings continued their path forward. They circled around before landing by Crescent’s killer, forming a line of dragons behind him. Phantom felt the warm breath of a NightWing over her, as more of her tribe landed in the mud beside her.
Suddenly, light flooded Phantom’s eyes from the east, the first rays of the sun breaking dawn. She looked towards it. The small MudWing village she’d seen had grown closer, and she could see the small figures of MudWings in the distance, staring at the standoff of IceWings and NightWings.
“The treeline,” Phantom whispered, turning back towards the IceWings. Behind them, smoke and fire rose from the burning rainforest. The Black Prince and the line of IceWings were parallel with a lone tree that had jutted its way out from the rainforest’s border. The border of MudWing territory. She’d made it.
The Black Prince turned around, glaring at the bloody IceWing soldiers. “Kill any NightWing who crosses the treeline back into RainWing territory, but don’t put a single claw across.” His ruthless eyes turned back to Phantom. “We can’t have war with the MudWings.”
Phantom’s gaze landed on clouds of black wings in the distance, escaping the canopy of the forest. More NightWings who’d escaped. More survivors. The dragonet suddenly felt a drop of water on her snout, dripping down her scales. Rain? It was quickly followed by another, dripping into her muddy wings. She looked up to the sky, and another drop hit her eye.
The drought was over.
= Part 1 =
== Chapter 1 ==
Sunny shivered from the water in her wings, the dim lights of the Scorpion Den not far in the distance. Rain, she wondered, looking up. It had been raining for the last leg of their journey, an odd occurrence in the desert. She looked over at Clay. At least he didn’t seem to mind too much. It was probably for the better, with all the SandWings taking cover, they hadn’t encountered anyone during the flight.
“Follow me, your majesty,” Acacia called back as she swooped down. The walled city was quickly approaching, and Sunny could see a gate in the distance. Behind that, mist obscured the rest of the city’s crumbling stone houses and soaked tents. Even if it early morning, the downpour still cast the city in shadow.
“Your majesty,” Sunny sighed. She didn’t deserve that title. She’d lost the throne that her mother had worked so hard to rebuild in weeks.
“Sunny, don’t worry,” Clay said, trying to offer her comfort. “It’ll turn out alright. We have friends in the Scorpion Den, we’ll be safe here.”
“And you still have Six-Claws’s army,” Acacia quickly pointed out. “Aloe doesn’t stand a chance.”
Sunny shook her head. Acacia had been such a help the last few days, even if Sunny had barely known the palace guard. Acacia was right, of course. Aloe’s plan had failed — even if she’d taken the palace, her troops were vastly outnumbered by those still loyal to Sunny. Sunny had been her goal, and she’d failed. But that wasn’t the problem.
“I don’t want more dragons to die for me,” Sunny sulked. “Armadillo, Creosote . . .” How many more would die before this was over? And for what? Sunny wasn’t her mother, and never would be. She couldn’t lead the Sand Kingdom.
The three landed by one of the Scorpion Den’s gates, their claws sinking into wet sand. They’d have to finish this conversation later, but it wasn’t like the outcome would change from the last fifty times they’d had it.
“Wait, why are we going through a gate?” Clay asked Acacia, slightly alarmed. “I thought we wanted to keep a low profile.”
“Don’t worry,” Acacia assured him, shaking water from her wings. “No one has guarded these gates in years. Not since the Outclaws left.”
“Left?” Sunny asked, confused. “Aren’t we trying to find Kudu and the rest of the Outclaws?” She looked up at the wall, tall gates rising above her. Drops of water fell into her eyes, and she looked away. It was nothing like when she’d first come, following the three NightWings that had tried to kidnap her.
“Well, yeah, Kudu’s Outclaws are still around,” Acacia explained, “but they’re not — not the same as Queen Thorn’s. She brought the most of the Outclaws to her to the palace, and the few who stayed behind lost most of their members and power. Vulture and his Talons of Power came out of the shadows and took over for a while, but after his and Cobra’s deaths, they fell back too.”
Acacia glanced back at the attentive Sunny, rain dripping from her horns. “Not to criticize your mother’s decisions or anything,” she continued, “but it really took a toll on the Scorpion Den. The Outclaws and Talons are still around, but the city’s kinda fallen into chaos. There’s a few more factions now, constantly fighting with each other. It’s why I left for the north in the first place.” The SandWing’s eyes went up to the top of the wall. “So yeah. No guards.”
The three walked under the gate, the cover giving them but a few seconds of relief from the rain. Sure enough, there were no guards. Stalls lined the street, many of them partly collapsed from the rain. Sunny carefully stepped over a river of muck and trash, holding her breath at the reek of sewage. The smell seemed even worse than the last time she’d been here.
As the three walked on, Sunny’s eyes caught on a two pairs of black eyes beneath a soaked cloth. Two dragonets, huddling together for warmth in the rain. As the three passed, small claws quickly scrambled to pull the cloth down over their snouts. If they’d recognized Sunny as their queen, they didn’t show it.
Sunny had thought that places like this no longer existed in the Sand Kingdom under Queen Thorn’s rule. Was she wrong? Why had the Scorpion Den been so neglected? She sighed. She supposed that ruling a kingdom was far more difficult than ruling a single city. Sunny herself could barely rule a school; she had no grounds to criticize her late mother.
“This way!” Acacia called, turning off the main road. “The Outclaws lost control of the oasis after Queen Thorn left, so they’ve had to move. The oasis itself changes talons every so often, last I heard it the Stingers were in charge of it, but who knows.
Sunny ducked under a soaked canopy, shaking her wings off. She shivered as the rain chilled her scales. She knew from her meeting with Glory that most of Pyrrhia had been in a drought since she’d taken the throne. If the rain wasn’t just focused on the Sand Kingdom, hopefully her worries were quelled. Assuming she’d made it back to the rainforest safely.
The three walked out from under the canopy, back into the pouring rain. Crumbling stone walls rose up from either side of them, enveloping the three in the narrow alleyway. Acacia’s barbed tail waggled up and down directly in front of Sunny’s snout, water dripping from it. Hopefully the Outclaws would have somewhere drier than tents for them to get their much-needed sleep.
“Stop right there!” The voice of a dragon rang out through the rain, making Sunny jump. Acacia stopped in her tracks, causing Sunny to back up so not to run into her barb. Clay bumped into Sunny.
Sunny peered around Acacia’s wings, trying to see what was happening. The alleyway ended right in front of her, opening out into a larger street. Flooded water rushed down the broken cobble, loose stones and small trinkets stuck in the brown flow. Four SandWings stood on the same side as the three, blocking Acacia’s path. Sunny’s gaze landed on one holding a spear, the pointed tip almost up to Acacia’s neck.
Acacia nervously took a step back towards the alleyway. “We’re not looking for a fight,” she whispered, keeping her barbed tail tucked behind her. “This is Outclaws territory, right?”
“Not anymore,” the SandWing with the spear hissed, her tail swishing back and forth. “The Bloodhatched own this road now.”
“The Bloodhatched?” Acacia asked, unsure.
“Yeah!” one of the SandWings in the back called out. “We’re the next-and-coming thing! B-L-U-D-H-A-C-H-E-D! That means —”
“Shut up,” the first SandWing snarled at him. She turned to Acacia and gave her a sniff, then peered behind her, squinting at Sunny and Clay. Sunny tensed up. If they recognized her, what would they do?
“Whatcha doing with a MudWing?” the SandWing snorted as she saw Clay in the back. “Anyways, you all are trespassing on Bloodhatched territory. You can’t do that.” She twitched her tail, and the three SandWings behind her raised their barbs, baring their teeth.
“We’re sorry!” Sunny blurted out as the SandWing twisted her spear. “We didn’t mean to trespass. We didn’t know this was your territory!”
The SandWing tsked and twisted her tail again. Sunny winced as she prepared for an attack, but the three backed off.
“I get it,” the SandWing with the spear yawned, twirling her spear in a circle. “It’s all cold and wet, and you wanted to get back to whatever dump you live in real quick. So you think that a quick shortcut through Bloodhatched territory wouldn’t do you harm. So, tell you what? We’ll all turn our heads and forget about this, so long as you give something in return.”
Something in return? Sunny wondered. Did she want some sort of favor?
Acacia slowly moved her paw to a drawstring pouch on her side, and offered it out to the SandWing. The SandWing grinned and eagerly accepted the pouch. She opened it up spilling out its contents into her paw. Shimmering coins.
“That’s it?” the SandWing snorted at the measly bribe. “Seriously?”
“We were in a rush,” Acacia pleaded.
The SandWing narrowed her eyes. “Inspect the other two,” she ordered. “See if they’ve got anything worthwhile.” She grabbed Acacia and pulled her from the alleyway, onto the street.
Sunny walked forward, trying to keep her head low as the SandWings examined her. She hadn’t had time to grab anything before leaving the palace.
“Ooh! Look at that!” one of the SandWings shouted, pointing a talon at Sunny’s neck. “How much do you think that’ll sell for?”
Sunny glanced down. She’d hidden the fake Eye of Onyx, but had forgotten that she was wearing the moonstone pendant that had belonged to Queen Thorn. “Please let me keep it,” she whimpered, placing a paw over it. “It belonged to my mother.”
“Liar,” the SandWing growled. “I’ve seen that before! Thorn used to wear it around. Where’d you get it? Did you steal it from the palace?”
“Wait just a sec,” another one of them said, “she’s got no barb. And she’s with a MudWing.”
“So?” the other snorted. “My cousin don’t have a barb. He got it torn off by Burn herself in the war.”
“Yeah, but you know who doesn’t have a barb? Queen Sunny doesn’t have a barb. Look, she matches the posters!”
Sunny backed up, wincing. She’d been found out. “Are you sure?” she shakily tried to lie. “Why would Queen Sunny be here?”
“You’re right,” the speared SandWing whispered, letting go of Acacia. “I think this is Queen Sunny.”
“I’ll bet Rattlesnake would pay a bunch to get her claws on this one,” one of the SandWings mused.
“What?” another one said, his claws shaking. “No! She’s the queen! We can’t do that. What if she orders us executed? We’d all be dead!”
“Lizard-brained,” the speared SandWing hissed. “She doesn’t have any power here. Especially not if Aloe’s got the palace now. But we’re not selling her to Rattlesnake. I don’t make deals with that oil-scaled brat.”
“But we’d get rich!” the other SandWing argued. “What else are we gonna do with her? Throw her in a cell? How long before someone finds out and we all get slaughtered?”
Sunny started to back away from the two as the continued arguing, but she felt the warmth of another one of the SandWings against her side, preventing her escape. She had to find a way out. Maybe she could offer them something after all?
“I can help you if you let me go,” Sunny suggested. “If you want money, I’ve got it.”
The speared SandWing thought about this for a moment, staring at Sunny. “If the rumors are true, you don’t have access to the treasury anymore. If we let you go, you could just send a bunch of guards and get us all beheaded.”
“What?” Sunny asked. “No! I wouldn’t do that! I don’t kill dragons!”
Another one of the SandWings laughed. “A queen who doesn’t kill? What is Pyrrhia coming to?”
“We’re Dragonets of Destiny,” Clay quickly spoke up. “We stopped the war. You can trust us.”
The speared SandWing looked curiously at Clay. “Dragonets of Destiny, huh? How much do you think you’ll sell for? Probably not so much, now that the war’s over, though I heard Queen Scarlet would give a fortune to get her talons on you.”
Suddenly, the sound of wingbeats punctured the downpour. The shadows of dragons appeared through the mists across the road. Seven SandWings broke through the fog, Kudu’s stern glare at the front.
“Outclaws!” the spread SandWing yelled upon seeing the approachers. “Quick, scram!”
The SandWing behind Sunny shoved her aside, running past Clay into the alleyway. The other three all took off in various directions, the speared SandWing flapping as she flew into the mists.
Kudu landed by Acacia and Sunny, keeping her tail from dipping into the murky stream that had enveloped the road. She looked much like how Sunny had seen her last. Her eyes crusted and narrowed from age, Kudu towered over the three. Her eyes focused on Sunny, water dripping from her scales, her gaze commanding the young queen to meet hers. Out of the corner of her eyes, Sunny saw a gold band around Kudu’s foreleg, two dragons engraved on it, just like the one Thorn had occasionally worn.
“So you’ve come to the Scorpion Den,” Kudu growled, her voice rumbling. “And the first thing you do is get caught by ruffians.”
“Kudu, don’t be harsh,” a voice from behind her said. A second SandWing landed by Kudu, a head-height beneath her. He smiled, rolling his eyes. “Her majesty must have travelled quite a long way to grace us with her presence.”
“Her majesty,” Kudu repeated with a sneer. “She’s barely older than a dragonet. Had it been Queen Oasis or Thorn, those four would’ve had their guts scattered across the stones.”
“Pyrrhia could really use a few more queens that don’t like gut-smearing,” the second SandWing tsked. It was difficult to see in the mist, but Sunny’s eyes were drawn to a pale-pink blotch on the left side of the SandWing’s neck, where his sandy scales had been discolored by a burn scar. “I’m Cheetah, by the way, Kudu’s second. This is Kudu, leader of the Outclaws.”
“We’ve met,” Kudu snorted. “Back in the palace. Is it true that Aloe has it now?”
Sunny opened her mouth to reply, but Kudu cut her off before she could answer.
“Of course it’s true,” Kudu sniped. “You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t. You need my help, is that it?”
Sunny sighed. “Yes, please,” she replied. She didn’t particularly like asking this dragon for things, but it was what she had to do right now. It wasn’t just her who was at stake, the entire kingdom was.
“Hmph, the Queen of the SandWings, begging me for help,” Kudu said, a smirk showing through her pout. “And why should I give it to you? Did Queen Thorn send help when Vulture took over the oasis? I don’t remember her lifting her claws.”
If Kudu wasn’t going to help in the first place, why had Armadillo sent us here? Sunny wondered. “Please, Kudu,” Sunny grovelled.
Kudu tapped her claws, pretending to think about it. “Alright,” she finally replied. “I’m not going to send my dragons to help you get your throne back. Six-Claws is still in charge of the royal forces, isn’t he? He’s should be enough. But I’ll let you stay with the Outclaws if you want, and provide you protection. In return, I want you to promise me you’ll get the Outclaws back in charge of the Scorpion Den once you’re rid of Aloe.”
Sunny nodded. It wasn’t as if she had much other choice, did she? And if she did somehow become queen again, that was at least one good thing she could do with that power.
“Good, then let’s get to it. Cheetah, do we have a place for these three to stay?”
“We’ve got quite a few empty rooms given all the dragons you’ve scared off recently,” Cheetah replied with a smile. “It should be plenty space for these three.”
“Lead them there,” Kudu ordered. “I’m continuing the patrol. I want those Bloodbath ruffians off our territory for good.”
Cheetah bowed his head while Kudu took off into the rain, the other Outclaws following behind her. “This way, your majesty. Come quickly, I’m sure you want to be out of the storm.”
Cheetah turned around and spread open his wings, spraying water onto the soaked dragons behind him. With a few flaps, he took off, crossing over the river of muck. Sunny quickly joined him in flight, trying to keep up with the SandWing before he disappeared entirely into the mist.
Clay and Acacia followed behind Sunny, into the Outclaws’ section of the Scorpion Den. The four stayed low, barely skimming over cracking sandstone roofs, the alleyways beneath far too thin to fly through. Sunny’s eyes didn’t catch on a single pair of scales during the short flight. No SandWing wanted to be out during the storm. Yet, the city was far from deserted. Every so often, Sunny would notice small flickers of flame within the window-frames, indicating that there were dragons at home.
Finally, the four landed by what Sunny presumed to be the Outclaws’ current base. A small block of the town, set apart from the rest by the bright flames within almost every hole to the inside that hadn’t been boarded up. It was almost like a bright beacon to the rest of the city. The Outclaws at least knew they had safety in numbers, and weren’t afraid of robbers or attackers in the middle of the night.
Cheetah led the three to the compound’s entrance, a small guarded archway, flanked by stout towers to each side. Two spear-wielding SandWings at the front scanned the visitors as they walked inside, but didn’t bother to apprehend them. If either recognized Queen Sunny, they didn’t acknowledge it.
The inside of the compound was far less spectacular than the SandWing palace. The four entered into an open-air courtyard, which the rain had turned into a murky pond. Cheetah headed towards the right side, splashing through the water as he headed to a door on the other side of the water. Sunny cringed as she lifted her tail up, and walked into the cold puddle, grime sneaking between her scales. It wasn’t like she wasn’t already soaked. At least Clay would enjoy it.
The water wasn’t very deep, reaching about halfway up to Sunny’s underbelly. When she finally reached the other side, Cheetah already had the door open. He led the three into a damp hallway, dim torchlight spread throughout. Many of the glass-less windows had been boarded up, but water still crept in through the wet wood. He took them up a small staircase, and into a small room.
“Well, here’s your new home,” Cheetah smiled. “It’s not quite as comfy as the palace, but it’s dry. Better than the ones with windows.”
“It’s cozy,” Acacia frowned.
Cozy it was. More of a closet than a room, it seemed barely large enough for just one dragon to sleep in. Nothing like the fluffy mattresses of the palace, the floor was just cold stone.
“It’s fine,” Sunny replied with a smile. She’d slept on a cavern floor for the first six years of her life, this wasn’t worse than that.
“Yeah, we don’t get visiting queens that often,” Cheetah chuckled. “Sorry about Kudu’s behavior, by the way. She’s normally not quite that bad.”
“What was with that?” Clay asked. “It seems like she doesn’t like Sunny very much.”
“You don’t know?” Cheetah replied, slightly surprised. He gave Acacia a glance.
“I told them a little bit on the way here,” Acacia said quietly. “But it’s been a while since I’ve been back to the Scorpion Den.”
Cheetah nodded. “It’s not really you she doesn’t like,” he told Sunny. “It’s your mother. She left the Scorpion Den and took basically all the Outclaws north to the palace. The few who remained had lost their leader and their support. After Thorn left, Kudu was pretty far down the chain of command, but rallied up the leftover Outclaws. It was difficult, though. Since Thorn hadn’t ever officially given up leadership of the Outclaws, not everyone really thought Kudu was the true leader. She petitioned Queen Thorn a number of times to get full control, but Thorn refused to acknowledge her. She only just got official leadership, after Armadillo, who was next in succession after Thorn, gave it to her. Although I’m pretty sure he just wanted to get her off his scales, haha.”
“What’s she got against Sunny, then?” Clay frowned. “She isn’t involved in the Outclaws.”
“Dunno,” Cheetah said, shuffling his wings. “I think she blames Sunny for Thorn leaving, and was never a fan of Thorn spending so much time and resources looking for Sunny. Don’t get me wrong though, Kudu’s not a horrible dragon, just not the best leader.”
Cheetah cranked his neck behind his wings, looking towards the hallway. “Sorry to cut this short, but I should probably get back to Kudu myself. I hope you sleep well, your flight must have been exhausting.”
“Thank you,” Sunny replied, lowering her head respectfully.
“It’s my honor to host our queen,” Cheetah replied with a grin. “I’ll see you tomorrow; I’ll make sure to show you our mess hall.” He waved a paw goodbye as he turned around in the cramped corridor, barbed tail swishing as he left the three in their damp sleeping chambers.
== Chapter 2 ==
Midnight paced up and down the ruined stone aisle. The pavement was cracked and full of holes, small weeds sneaking out wherever they could, hungry for sunlight and water. The latter at least was in plenty. Crosswinds had seen an exorbitant amount of rain in the past few weeks, almost unheard of so close to the Sand Kingdom. The roof of the crumbling temple that Ecru had made her home wasn’t quite up to the non-existent building code, and the broken glass windows let in the cold and wind. Under the parts of the roof that still remained, water had flooded down the floor, forming puddles almost wherever one stepped. The only part of the temple that Ecru had managed to keep at least moderately dry were the scrollracks behind the altar. The racks themselves stank of rotting wood, but at least the scrolls seemed to have survived.
At first, Midnight had been excited for the rain. She was half-SeaWing, after all. They didn’t get much rain in Crosswinds, so the extra water had made for quite an exciting time. More importantly, it meant that Torrent and Slate had succeeded in ending the magical drought, without her help. Or it had ended by coincidence. Either way, Midnight was relieved.
But after a few weeks, the rain was starting to get on Midnight’s nerves. What a lousy half-SeaWing she was, getting annoyed at a little bit of water. But it seemed to be slowing down, at least. It wasn’t the worst part of the last few weeks, anyways.
One of Midnight’s claws suddenly landed between the cracks, getting caught on the underside of a tile. The hybrid yelped as she tripped forward, barely catching herself with her other forepaw, almost slipping on the slick stone. She winced, her talon burning. Carefully, she pulled it out from the crack. No blood. She waggled the talon back and forth. It hurt, but it still moved, the webbing connecting it to her other claws stretching. Midnight sighed. At least it wasn’t broken.
“Are you alright?” Ecru called out, worried. She lifted her head up from Gazelle’s scales, checking to see that Midnight wasn’t hurt. The three silver moons that hung from her right ear shook wildly, as if they’d been agitated. The golden ring where a snake wrapped around itself that hung from her neck bounced against her sandy-brown scales, brushing one of the numerous animal head tattoos on her neck, this one an eagle’s head.
“I’m fine,” Midnight muttered. “Just stubbed a claw.” Her eyes met Ecru’s bright amber gaze. One could look past her strangely stocky body shape and curved horns without a second glance, but her odd eyes gave away her MudWing heritage. At least in Crosswinds, a SandWing-MudWing hybrid wasn’t too odd an occurrence.
Midnight couldn’t say that for herself. A NightWing or SeaWing alone would stand out among any number of SandWings and MudWings, and a dragon with prominent hybrid features from both sides had no chance of remaining inconspicuous. Midnight had learned to ignore the stares, and to snap back at the annoyingly invasive questions. Can you tell me the future? Where are your gills? Why would your parents have made something like you, didn’t they know you would never be normal?
Midnight slowly limped over to Ecru and Gazelle. After the incident with Aloe a few weeks ago, Ecru had offered to take the two in. Midnight had felt it was a bit too early for her to move in with Ecru, but she was glad to take up the offer nonetheless. Ecru didn’t officially own the temple, of course, but no one else seemed to want to go near it. It had been built over a hundred years ago by a cult, and most dragons tended to stay away. It was already on the outskirts of town, and there were rumors it was haunted.
When Midnight had asked Ecru if the rumors were true, she just shrugged and suggested that if there were angry spirits, they probably wouldn’t like trespassers. It was why she always made sure to leave out small offerings of food and incense every day. A bit too superstitious for Midnight’s taste. If there were ghosts in the temple, Midnight would’ve preferred to just get it over with fight them herself. Although, how would one fight a ghost? She’d asked Ecru, who’d mentioned a few ancient rituals involving animus blood, but had suggested that it was far easier to make friends with them. Well, if the ghosts ever got angry, Midnight did have animus blood.
The weeks in the temple had been rough on Midnight, but far worse for Gazelle. Her condition and health had worsened after being moved, and now she couldn’t even stand. The elderly SandWing’s memory had faded, and had started to call Midnight and Ecru Magma and Erosion, respectively. Midnight was worried, but what could she do? She sighed. She knew exactly what she could do, she just wasn’t sure she could bring herself to do it, or for that matter, if she should. Only a few words, and Midnight could heal Gazelle’s pain.
Gazelle let out a weak wheeze before resting her head back down. The SandWing’s eyes were glazed and unfocused, like she couldn’t even see the world in front of her. Ecru placed a paw on Gazelle’s neck, feeling it carefully.
“Is she alright?” Midnight asked, a sliver of frantic worry slipping through her voice. She hobbled up the step, shaking her paw. Gazelle might not have been Midnight’s blood mother, but the SandWing was the dragon who raised her.
Ecru rested the side of her head right above the burn scar on Gazelle’s neck. Slowly, the SandWing breathed in and out. “I don’t know,” Ecru replied honestly. “Her cough has gotten worse. Maybe she’s sick?”
“She can’t be sick!” Midnight yelled. The young hybrid clenched her claws, scratching the stone. She winced as she accidentally applied pressure to her stubbed claw. She took a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm. “She can’t be. She’s already in such poor health. If she gets sick, she might . . . I don’t know if . . .”
“Midnight,” Ecru quietly replied, “it’ll be alright.”
Midnight shook her head. It was too late, tears were already forming in her eyes. “N-no, it won’t,” she started to sniffle. “It won’t.”
Ecru slowly got up, careful not to disturb Gazelle. She placed her head on Midnight’s neck, the other hybrid a good head-height taller than her. Her wings fluttered against Midnight’s. “It isn’t too late.”
Ecru felt Midnight’s wings tense up, and Midnight pulled back a little from the embrace. Small drops of water were rolling down the dark scales of Midnight’s snout. She shook her head. “No,” Midnight whispered, her breath starting to speed up, her heart racing at the forbidden thought. “I can’t. I can’t ever do that.” She’d wanted to, so many times. A little bit of magic to save Gazelle. At the cost of her soul.
Midnight looked down at her talons, now trembling from just the thought of using magic. She didn’t even know how to do it. Maybe she wasn’t even strong enough. She might not be able to even if she wanted to. “But Torrent. He said, he said —”
“It’s your choice whether you want to use your magic, not Torrent’s,” Ecru said. “And if he tries to hurt you for it, we can stop him. You’ve taken down plenty of bullies before. He’s no different.”
Midnight shook her head again. Using her magic was off-limits. “I can’t,” she fret. “You know the legends. I’ll lose my soul like every other animus. The only way I can remain safe, remain sane, is if I don’t do it.”
“That’s not certain,” Ecru replied. “There are animuses who haven’t turned evil, they’re just not as famous as the ones who have. Jerboa, Vine, all the IceWing gifts.”
The IceWing gifts. That was right. Maybe if Midnight only used her magic just this once, it would all be fine. Her soul would survive.
“Maybe,” Midnight whispered, her heart thudding against her chest. Could she actually do it? What would it feel like? If she did it, would she feel a piece of her soul ripped out from her? Right now, she was mostly terrified, but a small feeling tugged at the back of her head. Excitement. “What if I hurt you? What if I hurt Gazelle?”
Ecru thought about it a moment. “I don’t know,” she responded honestly. “Right now, I can’t imagine you ever wanting to really hurt me, but . . . it’s a risk.”
Midnight looked down at her talons again. She could help Gazelle, but what if it only meant that she killed Gazelle and Ecru in the future, and destroyed herself? That couldn’t be worth it. How likely would that be? What kind of monster would her magic make from her?
Ecru placed her wing around Midnight again, seeing her indecision. “Even so, it can’t be right to leave a dragon in pain when you can help them. Even if you have to risk yourself.”
“But I’m risking you.”
Ecru shook her head. “No. I’m ready to take that risk. I know how much Gazelle means to you, and I want her better again. But I don’t want try and force you to use your magic. It’s your choice. It’s a big choice. What you do, it’ll affect you, me, Gazelle. Maybe all of Pyrrhia. But I believe in you. If you affect Pyrrhia, however you do it, I think it’ll be for the better.”
Midnight turned to look at Gazelle. The elderly SandWing lay almost still on the ground, her belly barely lifting from her shallow breath. Midnight couldn’t just let her die. Not if she could do something to stop it. If she started to lose her soul, she’d just have to live with the consequences and bear it. She took a deep breath, and stepped up closer to Gazelle, staring down at her adopted mother.
“Alright,” Midnight finally said. “I’ll do it.” She stared down at Gazelle, squeezing her eyes close, trying to imagine Gazelle healthy and alert again. A dragon that Midnight could depend on, who could protect Midnight instead of a dragon needing to be protected.
Midnight opened an eye. Gazelle seemed to be in roughly the same state as before. “It didn’t work,” she whispered. She glanced back towards Ecru. “She didn’t heal? What if Torrent was wrong? What if I’m not an animus after all?”
“You can’t just think about something happening,” Ecru gently reminded Midnight. “I think animuses normally have to say something, and have to choose an object to enchant.”
“Hmm,” Midnight replied. Even if she put up appearances in front of her father, she had spent so long worrying about her magic that she didn’t actually know how it worked. She’d avoided reading any scrolls discussing the details, afraid that she’d become too curious. Now that the time had arisen, she didn’t actually know what to do. “I think you know better than me what to do. You’ve read some of Torrent’s scrolls, right? Can you try guiding me through it?”
Ecru nodded. “I can try. First, you need to find what you’re going to enchant and choose the spell.”
Midnight looked around the ruined temple, before her eyes landed on Ecru’s snake necklace. “What about that?” she asked, pointing to it. “Or your earrings.”
Ecru looked slightly squeamish at the thought. “Er, that’s probably not the best idea,” she quickly replied. “An enchantment could disturb the sanctity of it. It’s a bit visible anyways, and it would be easy for it to fall into the wrong claws.” She pondered this for a moment. “Ooh, I have an idea!”
Ecru quickly walked behind the altar, to the scroll cases. Her paws immediately went to work, digging through the scrolls to find what she was looking for. After pulling out the right scroll, she grabbed a small pot of ink before returning to Midnight’s side. Careful to keep it on a patch of dry floor, the hybrid rolled it open.
Midnight looked down to the scroll, expecting to find some sort of instruction manual. She frowned as her eyes quickly scanned over the parchment. “It’s blank.”
Ecru nodded. “It is for now. But I figure it’ll be safer this way. Everyone expects cursed jewelry, but no one expects a cursed scroll!” She poked her claw into the ink and started to write.
“I’d prefer not to call it cursed,” Midnight grimaced. “But that sounds good.” Midnight looked back at the scroll once Ecru had moved her talon away. “Cindime Dybo Ndmi. Three moons, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s code,” Ecru replied. “I just switched the syllables around in each word. Medicine, Body, Mind. It’s so that no one else knows what it does.”
“Seems a little overkill,” Midnight said. “Alright, what now?”
“You have to say that you’re enchanting it, and what you’re wanting it to do.” Ecru noticed Midnight opening her mouth, ready to speak. “Wait. You have to word what you say carefully. You need it to heal both the body and mind, but also have to choose how it activates. I’d suggest making it so that the words have to be read aloud by a dragon holding the scroll.”
Midnight nodded, mulling over the exact phrasing she wanted to use. “Okay, anything else?”
“I think you’ll feel really tired afterwards, especially since it’s your first time. Are you sure you’re ready?”
Midnight winced. “I’m don’t know,” she replied. “I don’t know what it will feel like. Will it hurt if my soul is destroyed?”
Ecru closed her eyes. “I don’t know. It sounds bad, but not in a painful way. More in a cold way. Magic is a lot of responsibility. You have to only use it for good, and choose who gets to reap its benefits. You’re sure?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be,” Midnight gulped. She stared down at the scroll, ink still drying. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.”
Ecru walked over to Midnight, placing a wing over her. Rain pattered on the broken roof, echoing through the abandoned cathedral. What if something goes wrong? Midnight wondered. What if I accidentally hurt Ecru?
Ecru placed her paw in Midnight’s and slowly brought it to the scroll. “You can do this.”
Midnight’s talons trembled. Her first spell. The start of her descent into evil and darkness. She hadn’t been strong enough. She’d given in to it. “Okay,” she whispered. “I enchan- I enchant this scroll so that if someone reads the words written here on it while holding the scroll, the dragon they are looking at is healed, both their flesh and their mind.” There were so many ways that could go wrong. But Midnight just had to hope.
Ecru looked over to Midnight after she’d said the enchantment. Had it worked? “Are you alright?”
Midnight frowned. “Yeah. I think so. That wasn’t so bad.” She glanced to look at Ecru and blinked a few times before promptly collapsing against Ecru’s side.
“Eek!” Ecru responded, putting out a paw and wing to catch Midnight. Hugging her close, Ecru gently set Midnight down on the ground. She gave the young a prod with her snout. Midnight didn’t move.
Ecru put a paw on Midnight’s chest. She was still breathing normally. That was a relief. She turned to the scroll, lifting it up in her talons, and staring at the words. It didn’t look particularly different. Maybe it was just a trick of Ecru’s imagination, but it seemed heavier. If Midnight had gotten tired from the enchantment, did that mean it had worked? There was only one way to find out.
Ecru turned to Gazelle, carefully resting her tail over the collapsed Midnight. She hadn’t ever used animus magic before. She didn’t think that using an enchantment would compromise her soul, but how could she know?
“Moons above, please protect Midnight and I from the cold and darkness of magic.” Ecru locked her eyes on Gazelle’s shaking body. That’s what the spell needed to work, right? She took in a deep breath.
“Cindime Dybo Ndmi.”
== Chapter 3 ==
“C’mon Tiger! You look as scared as a scavenger right now!”
Tiger shivered as she stepped through the charred rainforest, crisps of leaves crackling under her paws. Skytaker wasn’t wrong, she was scared. “There’s nothing wrong with being scared,” she justified herself. “Fear is a natural chemical reaction that keeps dragons alive.”
“Scaredy-sloth,” Skytaker teased. The hybrid turned around, tauntingly sticking their tongue out at the RainWing as they walked backwards. Tiger rolled her eyes.
Skytaker turned back around, before a sudden huge figure popped out at them out of the corner of their eyes. The hybrid yelped and leaped away, landing in a pile of grey ash. Wafts of the powder were kicked up by Skytaker’s landing, covering the normally red-and-black scales of the hybrid with grey ash.
They quickly jumped up, talons out, ready to face their attacker. The hybrid swiped a paw, only to feel it scratch the bark of a tree. When the clouds of ash cleared away, there was no dragon in sight. Only the charred remains of the rainforest.
Tiger rolled her eyes and stifled a laugh. Skytaker glared at the orange and black-striped RainWing, before letting out a small sneeze.
“See?” Tiger responded. “Natural chemical response.”
“I wasn’t scared,” Skytaker growled. “See? If the tree had been a dragon, it would’ve been disemboweled.” Skytaker pointed a wing at a few claw marks on the tree.
“Shouldn’t let trees sneak up on you in the future,” Tiger suggested. She glanced up as a few sprinkles of rain fell on her snout. The drought had stopped right after the IceWings had set fire to the rainforest, and it had rained for weeks straight. Now, it had slowed to just a small sprinkle. It was good for the regrowth of the forest. Small hints of green saplings were sneaking out between Tiger’s talons.
“It’s eerie,” Tiger muttered. “The rainforest is so dead and quiet. I can’t believe it’s the same place I grew up in.”
“It’ll grow back eventually, right?” Skytaker asked. “Look, I can see little plants and all. And I thought I saw a bird earlier.”
“Yeah,” Tiger sighed. “It’ll grow back, eventually.” She noticed that Skytaker was already walking onwards, past the tree they’d hit. “Wait, maybe we should turn back.”
“It’s fine,” Skytaker dismissed Tiger’s concerns. “There’s no one else around here, see?”
“What if we’re caught by a professor?” Tiger asked nervously. “We’re not supposed to leave the academy by ourselves. We could get suspended! Or even worse, an IceWing soldier? We’d be captured or killed!”
“Pshaw,” Skytaker snorted, waving a wing to brush away some of the ash. “If we run into an IceWing, I’ll just fight them. Ooh, or maybe you can use some of the venom I’ve heard so much about! I’d love to see an IceWing’s face get melted.”
Tiger almost gagged at the thought. “C’mon, this place is still dangerous.”
Skytaker shook their head, and brushed off a bit off ash from their conch-shell earring. “Nope. Remember, you lost the bet. You’ve gotta come with me.”
Tiger glowered. It had been a foolish thing to do, but Skytaker wanted to play Queens and Generals with real stakes. Tiger had been sure she could beat the hybrid this time. She’d kept a journal with all of Skytaker’s tactics from previous games, and had figured out a response to each of them. Skytaker, of course, had done something new and unexpected. And had won. Now Tiger was stuck exploring the charred rainforest with this brazen dragonet who didn’t even care that they could get suspended.
“Anyways, how would they even suspend us?” Skytaker asked, tail swishing as they walked further into the forest, Tiger hurrying to catch up with them. “I’ve got nowhere else to go, and you don’t even know where the RainWings are all hiding.”
“By kicking us out and keeping us from coming back,” Tiger responded. “I’d have to survive. Outside Jade Mountain. On my own.”
“What, I wouldn’t be with you?” Skytaker asked.
“You would be the one who would have gotten me suspended in the first place,” Tiger snorted. “Anyways, I’d go looking for the rest of the RainWings, and I don’t want you to scare them off.”
“Hmph,” Skytaker said, dipping their tail in ash. “Well, I think they should all stop hiding. They could totally get rid of the IceWings if they knew how to fight. All of them could just turn invisible, sneak up on the IceWings, and fire their venom away. Hey, maybe if you find them you could bring me to them! I’m good enough at Queens and Generals, I bet I could help them win.”
“Playing Queens and Generals is far different from a real war,” Tiger warned the hybrid. Still, she didn’t doubt Skytaker’s skills. If they cared enough to put their mind to it, Skytaker could be a frightening strategist. If they were just a little more mature and had some proper general training, Tiger would almost feel sorry for the IceWings. Almost sorry. She had little sympathy for the dragons who had burned down her home. For Queen Blackice, who’d murdered their beloved Queen Glory and paraded her head on a pike for all to see.
“Ugh, I’ve been so antsy recently,” Skytaker said, stretching their claws. “Battle training has been so boring, and I hate that we’re not even allowed to hunt outside the mountain anymore.”
“There’s good reason for that,” Tiger replied. “Peril and Anemone scared off the IceWings, but they could still be around here.” She scanned around the charred forest, as if expecting an IceWing to jump out at her at any moment.
“Nah, not here,” Skytaker replied. “What would be the point? They know Jade Mountain is off-limits. Queen Blackice flew away with her tail between her legs.”
“Queen Blackice wasn’t at the battle,” Tiger reminded them. “If you’re antsy, you should try finding a hobby. I’ve been helping Mastermind with research a lot recently.”
Skytaker snorted in disdain. “Why do you even hang out with that creep?” they asked. “He killed and tortured RainWings just like you.”
“He said he was very sorry, and that he didn’t realize he was hurting them,” Tiger responded.
“Uh-huh,” Skytaker skeptically replied, “I wonder what Kinkajou would think of that.”
“I doubt Kinkajou thinks much at all,” Tiger snapped back. “She can barely read.”
“She’s smarter than she lets on,” Skytaker responded. “Pretty devious too. I think her f — hey, did you hear that?”
Tiger turned around. “Pawsteps?” she asked. She listened closer, trying to pinpoint where the sound had come from. A small hill not very far from the two. She squinted, staring up at it. Had they been followed?
Suddenly, a loud crash sounded through the rainforest, followed by the sound of a yelling dragon. White scales suddenly rolled down the hill, as an IceWing fell head over tail. At the bottom, the IceWing smashed into a pile of ash. Tiger coughed and turned her head away from the cloud rising up.
When the cloud cleared, Skytaker and Tiger saw a young IceWing, scales now more an ashen-grey than white, shaking as he got on all fours. Skytaker rolled their eyes. “Ermine, what are you doing here?”
The small IceWing flapped his wings, trying to dust himself off from the ash. He glared at Skytaker. “I should ask you what you’re doing here. You know you’re not supposed to leave the academy by yourself! And especially not going into the rainforest! You’re not trying to defect to Queen Blackice, are you?”
Tiger sighed. She was just going to let Skytaker deal with the IceWing.
“Why would I defect to her?” Skytaker laughed. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m a hybrid, and Tiger’s a RainWing. We’d be killed or enslaved if we tried. We’re just here on a walk. Being stuck in the caves gets so boring.”
Ermine stuck his snout into the sky with a indignant snort. “Hmph! I don’t believe you! You’re up to something, I know it!”
Skytaker shook their head. “Fine. Don’t believe me. It’s your loss. C’mon Tiger, let’s go a bit further. At least until Ermine is out of earshot.” The hybrid started to walk away, Tiger behind them.
“You know I’m not gonna just let you go like that!” Ermine hissed, scampering behind Skytaker. “You’re not supposed to leave the academy. That’s breaking the rules. Going into the rainforest is super-dangerous, and I’m going to tell the teachers what you did.”
Skytaker suddenly stopped and whipped around, causing Ermine to crash into them with a squeal. Before the IceWing could jump back, Skytaker grabbed one of Ermine’s horns and brought it to the ground, twisting Ermine’s head and causing him to fall to the ash-laden forest floor.
The hybrid placed their other forepaw on Ermine’s exposed belly, stretching out their claws so that they poked into the IceWing’s sensitive underbelly. Ermine squirmed, terror in his eyes as Skytaker lowered their head, baring their teeth.
“You’re not gonna tell any of the teachers that we were here, you got it?” Skytaker threatened, running their talons along Ermine’s scales. “Or else.”
Ermine vigorously nodded, cowed into submission. Skytaker blew a puff of smoke into Ermine’s snout before letting him up. The IceWing meekly started to get back to his fours.
“Skytaker,” Tiger scolded the hybrid, “don’t threaten him. If you kill him, I’m not going to back you up.”
“Relax, I’m not gonna kill him,” Skytaker laughed. They turned to Ermine to a toothy grin. “I’ll just play with him a little bit.”
“The whole point of Jade Mountain Academy is teaching dragons how to solve problems without violence,” Tiger replied. “It’s like you’ve learned nothing.”
“Not my fault,” Skytaker yawned, flicking their tail through some ash, spraying it at Ermine. “If I’m not learning, then the teachers just haven’t done their job right.”
“Teachers can’t force you to listen to them,” Tiger responded. “Their words can only reach receptive ears.”
Skytaker frowned. “Alright,” they said, “then if you’re so much in love with the mission statement, how would you solve this problem without violence? Go ahead, my ears are receptive.”
Tiger turned to Ermine, giving him such a cold stare that the IceWing shivered. “Ermine isn’t going to tell on us, because if he did, the teachers would know that he left the academy without permission himself. Isn’t that right?”
Ermine winced. He hadn’t thought about that. “Yes ma’am,” he grumbled.
“See?” Tiger said to Skytaker. “No violence.”
“Fine,” Skytaker conceded. “That worked this time. I still think my way was easier.”
“It might have been easier, but that doesn’t make it a better way,” Tiger lectured, getting a roll of Skytaker’s eyes. “Violence breeds violence. There’s a reason Pyrrhia is like it is today, and in order to change our world, we must first change ourselves.”
Skytaker sighed. It was like getting a talking to directly from one of the teachers. “Yeah, yeah, sure.”
Tiger started walking back towards the academy. Jade Mountain would normally be blocked out by the green canopy of the trees, but now the treetops were spares and charred, undecorated brown and black twigs. Beneath the snowy mountain, the academy would be bustling and thriving.
“I think we’ve gone far enough,” Tiger said, glancing back to see if Skytaker and Ermine were following. “If there are IceWing soldiers around, I don’t want to be caught.”
As soon as Tiger turned back, her snout suddenly ran up against something hard. The RainWing dragonet let out a squeal as she jumped back. She rubbed her sore snout with a paw, then looked up to see what she had run into, expecting that she’d accidentally hit a tree.
Tiger’s jaw dropped as she saw the teal scales of a dragon appear in front of her, familiar emerald green eyes staring down into her own. It took her a few moments to absorb the shock, before she finally came to her senses. She bowed her head to the ground, talons shaking.
“Y-your majesty,” Tiger chattered. “You-I didn’t realize—”
“Three moons,” Skytaker replied as soon as they recognized the RainWing, far less deferent. “Glory? Er, aren’t you dead?”
Tiger shook her head. That wasn’t possible. Queen Glory couldn’t be alive. Her head was on a stake above the IceWing embassy in Possibility. Starflight had at first thought it was magically disguised, but there’d been no sign of Glory since the attack. Sunny’s story had checked out. Glory had left the SandWing palace and ran into Queen Blackice’s ambush.
“Am I?” Glory asked. Tiger raised her head up to see that Glory’s expression was one of mild curiosity.
“Yeah,” Skytaker replied, quite confused. “Very dead. Your head is up on a stake, and Seahorse and Torrent confirmed it wasn’t a fake.”
Glory looked from side to side, between Tiger, Skytaker, then Ermine. “Well, I came back. What of it?” she asked, not seeming to think twice of her reanimation.
As the queen turned it, Tiger caught a glimpse of a something on Glory’s neck that she hadn’t seen before. A black tattoo, in the shape of a circle. That was odd. Why would Glory have gotten a tattoo?
Tiger shook her head. As curious as she was about Queen Glory’s strange tattoo and her survival, Glory was still her queen, dead, alive, or dead-then-alive.
“My sincerest regret for Skytaker’s rudeness, your majesty,” Tiger profusely apologized. “They meant you no disrespect. We’re just quite surprised to se —”
“Shut up,” Glory snapped, silencing the RainWing. She glanced up to the night sky. “Three moons,” she commented. “The number of moons here is wrong. Where’s the fourth?”
“Your majesty, there hasn’t been a fourth moon since the Orb in the Sky, three years ago,” Tiger quietly explained. She was starting to get worried. How did Glory not know how many moons there were? Had she lost her memory somehow? If she’d somehow been brought back from the dead, that seemed plausible. Assuming that being brought back from the dead was plausible to begin with. Even animus magic couldn’t do that.
“Quiet, you stupid dragonet,” Glory sighed. “I was asking the hybrid.”
“What she said,” Skytaker responded, frowning. Calling Tiger stupid seemed awfully out-of-character for Glory. “So, like, how did you come back? Did you fake your death somehow, and this is a super-secret plan to stay hidden while Queen Blackice thinks you’re dead? We won’t tell.”
Glory rolled her eyes. “I’m tired of this wretched place,” she said, to no one in particular. “We have what we need for now. Take the dragonets back to the Empress. They might come of use.”
“Wait, wha —” Ermine started to say, his eyes wide. He didn’t have time to finish his question before slumping to the ground, three sleeping darts in the back of his neck.
Tiger looked around as she suddenly saw invisible RainWings appear from the shadows. She tried to say something, but it was too late. The charred forest around her started to spin, and Tiger fell to the ground as her vision faded to black.
== Chapter 4 ==
The sun set over the shore of the Great Five-Tail River as Midnight and Ecru strolled through the Crosswinds market. The yells of shouting vendors and the smells of roasted SandWing and MudWing delicacies filled the dry dusk air. Most of the rest of the city was choppily divided between the two tribes that lived in it, but the market was a place that an informal truce held. Not that altercations never occurred here, of course, but it tended to be a mostly safe place.
Yet, things hadn’t gotten much better for Crosswinds since Aloe had taken over the palace, now two months ago. Many of the SandWings who’d supported Aloe and had joined her against Queen Sunny’s forces had been captured, and were still prisoners of war. While the call for Crosswinds’ independence from the Sand Kingdom had united both SandWings and MudWings together, there were plenty of SandWings who didn’t like the idea of finally letting MudWings stay for good. The river had also flooded from the sudden rain, and a lot of the buildings on the banks were still being repaired.
But at least for Midnight, Ecru, and especially Gazelle, life had improved. Midnight’s enchantment had worked as desired, and Gazelle was healthier than Midnight had ever seen her. After they’d moved back into their old house, the elderly SandWing had as much as either of them on the repairs. Her mind was sharp again, and even the burn scars on her neck and the claw scars on her tail looked like they’d faded. Things were looking up for the three.
“Oooh, maybe we can get that!” Ecru suggested, pointing to a small marketstand. A MudWing waved his paw at her, moving his wing aside so Ecru could see better the three roasted crocodiles on a rack behind him, each of them almost as long as a dragon.
“Hmph,” Midnight frowned as she noticed the price. “Too expensive.” The jewelry that Torrent had given Gazelle had run out long ago, and most of what they had Midnight had paid for herself.
“C’mon, we are celebrating, right? Gazelle’s doing well and you’re back in your old house. Not that I’m happy you’re gone, of course.”
Midnight sighed, considering it. “Well, Gazelle is able to work now, and I don’t need to spend as much time caring for her. So maybe we can afford a little extra. Why do you even want crocodile anyways? You don’t eat meat.”
“For you, silly,” Ecru grinned. “I know you like it, but haven’t had it in quite a while.”
“So you’d be buying an entire crocodile, just for me, with my money?” Midnight asked.
“I’d pitch in, of course.”
“Hmm,” Midnight mused. “Alright. But we’re not buying there, and not a whole crocodile. Somewhere less expensive.” She motioned Ecru to move on, ignoring the disappointed look of the MudWing vendor.
The two walked further along the market streets. A few of the stalls on either side of them were already starting to close up. It was dusk already. If they wanted to get something, they needed to soon.
Midnight’s eye got caught on a small stall that she hadn’t seen before. The shoddily-made wooden posts were caught between a fruit vendor and a SandWing selling fish. The tarp which covered the stall from the sun seemed to be nothing more than an repurposed small blanket, with the low sun shining beams of light through little holes. The wooden stand in front of the stall was covered with an assortment of dusty objects. Old tarnished coins made of an unknown metal, a chipped stone statue of a four-legged animal, green copper twisted into what might have been a tool. Nothing that looked too precious, but who could know?
What really surprised Midnight was the stall vendor herself. Obsidian black scales were visible from behind the assortment of objects. As Midnight peered closer, the vendor raised her head, looking over to Midnight. An older NightWing stared back at Midnight, a huge red scar where one of her eyes would’ve been. She tsked as she scanned Midnight up and down, judging the hybrid.
“You’re a NightWing,” Midnight commented, somewhat surprised.
The vendor’s ear twitched. “And you’re a mongrel,” she muttered. “What of it?”
“Nothing,” Midnight replied. “Just don’t see many NightWings around here. Are you new? What brought you to Crosswinds?”
“No IceWings here,” the vendor muttered. “Too hot for them. Barely got out of the rainforest alive. But I got my revenge. I was part of that expedition that ran into Blackice, years ago. One of ‘em got my eye then. But I got his guts this time around. It was glorious.”
“I’m so sorry about that,” Midnight said. She’d heard the news when it had happened. Queen Blackice’s attack on the rainforest. So many NightWings killed. Midnight had been mildly worried herself, but like this NightWing, she didn’t think that the IceWings would come up to Crosswinds. But no one would’ve thought they’d go down to the rainforest either.
“Shouldn’t have made it out, but I did,” the vendor continued. “Most of the other NightWings went for the Mud Kingdom. I didn’t. Flew directly to Darkstalker’s Teeth, like the old legends say. Dragons these days don’t listen. IceWings don’t go there. But it got boring and lonely, only one other NightWing there with a strange SandWing. Pretty sure the place is haunted. So I flew back across the desert to here. Brought these goods from there. Lots of interesting ruins. You look familiar, mongrel. Do I know you?”
Midnight shook her head. “Maybe you knew my mother?” she suggested. “Her name was Nightreader.” That would be an interesting coincidence. Midnight had wanted to visit the NightWings in the rainforest to learn more about her mother, but she hadn’t felt safe leaving Gazelle in Crosswinds, even if Ecru was there to help. And there was always the worry that the NightWings would reject her for being a hybrid. 
The vendor thought for a moment. “Yeah. That name rings a bell. Never talked much with her. Much too close to Morrowseer for my taste. She ran off with Stonemover, didn’t she? The queen was more angry than the volcano. Still, I envy her. We all wanted to get off that island. So she made eggs with a SeaWing and had you? Where’s she now?”
“Dead,” Midnight responded, Ecru walking up behind her to peer beneath your wing. “Eight years ago. Funny enough, it was an IceWing who did it.”
“Pity,” the NightWing replied. She glanced over to Ecru. “You looking to buy? I’ve got lots of antiques. Genuine NightWing made. Some might even be cursed.”
“Cursed?” Ecru asked, her eyes wide open in fascination.
“We’re good,” Midnight quickly said. “We don’t need any more curses.”
“Mmm, that’s a shame,” the NightWing sighed, shaking her head. “Dunno how much longer I’ll be here. If things get rough, I’m going back to the Teeth. Plenty of scavengers there.”
“Thank you for the talk,” Midnight smiled, slowly moving away. “Sorry, things are closing up so we need to get going.”
The NightWing nodded as the two headed off again. Midnight glanced at each of the stalls, dragons starting to pack up their belongings for the night. So far, she hadn’t seen any more vendors with crocodile.
“She seemed nice,” Ecru said. “Except for the scavenger-eating business. I don’t see how anyone can eat them. They’re almost as smart as dragons!”
“Yeah,” Midnight replied, not paying much attention to Ecru’s complaint.
Ecru looked over at Midnight curiously. “Something on your mind?”
“Oh,” Midnight said, “not much. Just —” she lowered her voice a little bit, glancing around to make sure no one was too close. “— the whole cursed thing is on my mind. It’s just like, one little enchantment did so much to improve all of our lives. Gazelle is better, which means now I can leave Crosswinds if I wanted to visit the NightWings or SeaWings. I have this power to do, well, anything. To improve everyone’s lives in Crosswinds. To stop Queen Blackice? Why did I wait so long, have Gazelle suffer so much, until I decided to use my magic?”
“Because it’s dangerous,” Ecru whispered. “I don’t blame you for waiting. Animus magic can be really, really, scary, and it can have unintended consequences. You’re not wanting to use it again, are you?”
“Nothing in particular,” Midnight quickly replied. “Just small stuff. Like I could get us so much money we could buy all three of those crocodiles. And if we, you know, ever wanted to make eggs…”
Ecru smiled, but Midnight could see the concern behind it. “Midnight, you have to be careful. I know you think magic could make all our problems go away, but if you do things wrong, it’ll just make many more problems. Every time you use it, it’s risking yourself. It risks me and Gazelle. There’s a reason IceWings limited themselves to just one enchantment in their lifetime.”
“I know, I know,” Midnight sighed. “I don’t want you to worry. I promise, I won’t ever use it haphazardly, and I’ll think long and hard before ever actually doing anything. It’s just that now that I’ve used it, now I know for real what I can do, it’s like so many doors have been opened to me. So many opportunities. And if things get too bad, and I lose my soul and all — well, there’s always Torrent.”
“Midnight, don’t say that,” Ecru frowned. “You’re not going to lose your soul as long as you’re careful. And Torrent’s not going to kill you. I don’t want that, and he doesn’t want that.”
“I dunno, he keeps saying he’s gonna,” Midnight replied. “He’s going to find out that I healed Gazelle, you know. I don’t know when he’s coming back, but he’s seen magic before. He’ll know.”
“I’m not worried about him,” Ecru said. “I’m pretty sure he always knew you’d use your magic eventually, and I don’t think he could bring himself to hurt you. There’s a reason he keeps giving me scrolls on animus legends and animuses he’s killed.”
“That’s not what he keeps telling me,” Midnight muttered. “Ooh look! A crocodile stall! And at a good price! Be right back.”
Ecru stayed in place as Midnight ran over to the stall, talking with the MudWing vendor. The SandWing-MudWing hybrid fiddled with her moons earring, sighing. She didn’t want to say it, but it was frightening, Midnight wanting to use her magic again so soon. It had only been a few weeks. Midnight didn’t seem suddenly more evil, but Ecru didn’t think it had been long enough they could tell yet.
Midnight quickly came back to Ecru, now holding a shank of roasted crocodile beneath her wing. “See? Not a whole crocodile, but not as expensive!”
Ecru nodded with a worried smile. “Midnight, have you been hearing voices or buzzing sounds recently?”
“Buzzing sounds?” Midnight asked. “Do you think we have hornets? And no voices except those coming from dragons. Why?”
“Well,” Ecru said, “I’ve been reading a bit more about animus magic since you healed Gazelle. Animuses hearing buzzing noises and hearing voices come up weirdly often. And Torrent mentioned in one of the scrolls he gave me an animus named Sunscorcher, your ancestor, who heard the same things.”
“Ah,” Midnight replied, somewhat dismayed. “No. I haven’t heard anything like that. You read through Torrent’s scrolls?”
“Well, yeah,” Ecru uncomfortably squirmed. “I don’t think you’ve lost your soul or anything, I just felt like I should be informed. You’re not angry, are you?”
Midnight sighed. “No. It’s fine. I get it. You’re worried about me. That’s fair. I’m just don’t think Torrent’s scrolls are the best to read through if you want an unbiased opinion on animus magic. You don’t think I made the wrong choice, did you?”
Ecru shook her head. “No. Of course not. You helped Gazelle.”
“So, is animus magic good or evil?”
“Torrent thinks it’s evil,” Ecru responded.
“Well, what do you think?”
Ecru paused for a moment. “I don’t know. There are a lot of legends about animus magic, and strange theories. Some of them think it’s evil by nature. That it’s some demonic force that’s granted to dragons in order to corrupt them and take their souls. But whether it’s good or evil, I think it’s how you use it that matters.”
“Yeah,” Midnight replied, concerned. She tore a piece of the crocodile meat off and swallowed it down whole. “Still. If animus magic is evil, what does that make me?” She glanced over to the west. The sun had just dipped below the horizon. “C’mon. It’s getting late. Let’s go.”
The two headed out of the marketplace, Ecru following closely behind Midnight as they traversed the narrow alleyways, the quickest way back to Gazelle’s house. Mold and grime still covered some of the lower parts of the houses. They were still near enough to the river that the flood had affected this area. Occasionally, Midnight saw a house that had partially collapsed from water damage. She tried to remember if this was a SandWing or MudWing part of town. It didn’t matter much either way. Neither Midnight nor Ecru were fully either.
Ecru is right, of course, Midnight decided. Every use of magic hurts my soul. Still, it was tempting. There were so many wonderful things she could do with her magic. Was her soul really worth that much? Maybe she could try and find a way to limit her uses of magic. Only once per year? That seemed so long apart, but the ancient IceWings only used it once per lifetime. There had to be a compromise.
“Hey, did you hear something?” Ecru suddenly whispered.
Midnight glanced back to the other hybrid, then looked around the alleyway. By now, night had fallen, and it was difficult to see, even with Midnight’s feeble darkvision. Buildings rose up around the two, some giving off faint candlelight. Midnight squinted as she scanned. No movement.
Midnight shook her head. “Maybe a rat?”
“Maybe,” Ecru replied. This part of Crosswinds wasn’t too dangerous at night, but that wasn’t saying much.
Midnight continued along the alleyway, now walking slightly faster. Maybe they should’ve flown back from the market. There wasn’t anywhere good to land around Gazelle’s house, and Midnight hadn’t particularly wanted to broadcast her presence to all of Crosswinds, but it probably would’ve been fine.
Midnight lowered her head, her breaths quiet as Ecru followed behind her. She shouldn’t be nervous. If worse came to worst, she still had her magic, right? She could think up something. Well, not if she was dead. And if she did use it, she didn’t know how long she’d be out of commission again. It had taken a couple days to recover from her first enchantment.
Snapping her out of her thoughts, Midnight heard a small rustle from behind her. She whipped her head around, expecting to see an attacking dragon. The only dragon there appeared to be a surprised Ecru. Midnight breathed a sigh of relief. Probably just the wind.
Ecru’s eyes suddenly went wide, Midnight momentarily confused by her expression. Midnight opened her mouth to say something, but Ecru was faster.
“Get down!” Ecru yelled, not giving Midnight a chance before Ecru jumped on her, pushing Midnight towards the side of the alley.
Just as soon as Midnight’s scales slammed against the side of the alleyway, a glint of light passed in front of her eyes from where they’d been heading, a sharp whizzing sound cutting past Midnight before she heard a clang at the other end of the alley. Ecru let out a scream, and Midnight smelt the tang of iron. Sticky blood ran between her talons and side as Ecru’s body hit into Midnight’s.
Midnight had only seconds to examine Ecru’s wound. An almost perfectly straight line had been cut along the top of Ecru’s wingblade and along her side, piercing through the scales and flesh. The wound was thin, but deep. A moment later and whatever had cut through Ecru’s side would’ve cut through Midnight’s neck instead.
Midnight turned towards where the flash had come from, further along the alley. Her breath quickened as she saw the shadow of a dragon at the end. What could Midnight do? Use her magic? No, she’d be left defenseless if she fell unconscious. She opened her jaws wide and shot out a small blast of flame. Just after lighting up the alleyway, the flame dispersed into a cloud of noxious smoke, filling the narrow alleyway between them and their attacker. Midnight pushed Ecru to the other side of the alley, right before hearing another clang from behind them as an object wooshed through the smoke.
Ecru winced, gritting her teeth as she felt blood dripping from her side. It had cut through scale, skin, and muscle altogether, but right now, all she could think about was trying to escape. She pushed Midnight with her wing as she struggled to get up, and started back to where the two had come from as fast as she could, making sure Midnight was following behind her.
Midnight heard another clang as the smokescreen started to disperse, this one just a clawlength from her snout. She didn’t have time to look behind her. They needed to get out of here. Midnight pushed Ecru towards another alley intersecting this one, pulling her tail in tight. This one went downhill. West, towards the river.
Midnight’s eyes once more caught on Ecru’s injury as they ran down the alleyway. The hybrid was clearly in pain from it, and with each one of Ecru’s steps, more blood leaked out, crimson lines dripping from her sandy scales. What if she’d been poisoned? A humid burst of wind blasted against Midnight’s snout.
“Turn!” Midnight hissed. Ecru’s tail whipped around as she moved into another alleyway, her barb almost brushing Midnight’s scales. Midnight followed, pulling her wings in to keep them from hitting the narrow alleyway.
She glanced behind her. There was no sign that they were still being pursued; no steps of paws on the ground. But that only made things more worrying. They’d barely heard their attacker before, how could the two expect to hear anything now? What if their attacker had taken a shortcut through the maze of Crosswinds’ alleys?
“We need to get to the riverbank,” Midnight said, her heart racing. They’d be out of the alleyways and in the open, but was that a good thing? Was she making a mistake that would end up getting the both of them killed?
Ecru turned again, their route turning downhill again. Midnight’s heart skipped a beat as she saw a shadow cross the path in front of them. Was that their attempted killer? Her claws went stiff as she prepared herself for another attack, not knowing if this was where she was going to die or not. It didn’t happen. Maybe a different dragon.
Finally, the alleyway opened up, and the two came out to the riverbank, the Great Five-Tail River rushing far past them. The largest moon was full, moonlight shining down on the bank, lighting their path.
The two walked up to the bank of the river, roaring as it cut through Crosswinds. If their attacker was nearby, there was no way they’d be able to hear his pawsteps. Not that they’d been able to anyways.
Midnight scanned the buildings on the riverbank left and right, looking for any sign of the dragon that had attacked them. Crosswinds was motionless. There was no one there. At least no one she could see. Midnight glanced over to Ecru’s wound. Her entire backside was stained red from her blood. She’d lost quite a lot. Midnight had to do something. She had to find a way to get rid of the assassin, fast. Was there an enchantment that could do it? A weapon that would give them an advantage. She tried to think, but her mind was clouded by fear, her breaths short. 
No, she couldn’t. If she enchanted something to kill the assassin, she could be knocked out, and wouldn’t be able to help Ecru’s wound. But if she healed Ecru, the assassin would kill them both. Her magic was useless. There was nothing she co —
A movement between the buildings caught Midnight’s eyes. A glimpse of metal. She had barely a moment to try and move, turning to the side, before it tore through her wing, barely missing her neck again. Midnight screamed out as metal ripped through her leathery membrane, staggering back.
“BREATHE!” Ecru yelled at Midnight. The MudWing-SandWing hybrid turned and grabbed ahold of Midnight, tackling her, shoving the two of them into the rushing river.
Midnight had just a moment to take in a breath of air before the water grabbed ahold of her, pulling her down into its depths. Her eyes started to adjust to the darkness of the river. Blood spilt from Midnight and Ecru’s wounds, a monochrome cloud flowing downstream in Midnight’s nightvision. The taste of iron brushed against her tongue.
A stray current suddenly tossed Midnight with it, causing her to tumble, her head almost reaching her tail. She felt the water sneak between her paws, the webbing between her talons and along her spine opening up. Almost instinctively, she paddled her paws, turning herself around.
Scales suddenly brushed her tail. Ecru was being carried by the faster current beneath Midnight, gently going with the flow. Midnight opened her mouth, trying to shout something out to her, but only felt water rush in, her tongue going to her throat to protect her from choking. She waved a paw, trying to get Ecru’s attention, but she didn’t respond. That was right. Ecru couldn’t see here, not at night. 
Midnight swooped down, her tail swishing from side to side as she placed her paws on Ecru, grabbing ahold of the hybrid, who relaxed at her touch. Midnight knew that she’d have to resurface herself in a few minutes, but at least until then, she could get the two of them as far downstream as possible. Hopefully out of sight from their attacker.
Finding the fastest part of the current, Midnight wrapped her forepaws around Ecru, holding her close while her finned moved up and down, their webbing almost making them fins. She extended her wings, propelling the two of them forward. Her SeaWing instincts took over, and soon, Midnight and Ecru were rushing alongside the water. The swimming would have almost been peaceful if not for the terror that they were being followed and the taste of blood on Midnight’s tongue.
After Midnight felt like she could hold her breath no longer, she headed back up towards the surface, pulling Ecru with her. She stuck her snout just barely above the waves, taking in as large a breath as she could before plunging back. Ecru did the same, and the two continued on through the river.
Midnight tried to think about the layout of Crosswinds. Downstream was unfortunately further from Gazelle’s house, but they’d be more likely to lose the assassin this way, rather than trying to swim upstream. There was a place further downstream that the river was still flooded, and its banks reached up to the buildings on the shore. If they got out there, they wouldn’t be seen if their attacker was watching from above.
The two kept swimming, Midnight pulling Ecru along, occasionally resurfacing. Every so often, Midnight would glance down to Ecru’s wound, ignoring the pain from her own. The bleeding had mostly stopped, but Ecru had lost a lot of blood, and Midnight could tell she was struggling to keep the current from tearing herself away from Midnight. Ecru had to be alright, didn’t she? But what if she’d lost too much? No. Midnight didn’t want to think about that.
After what seemed like an eternity to Midnight, they reached the flooded area of the river. Midnight tilted a wing to the side and moved out of the current, up towards the northeastern shore. Water parted as she resurfaced, heaving in a deep breath. Ecru staggered up behind Midnight. Abandoned buildings towered up above the two, moon-lit river-water reaching up their sides and splashing their walls. Most of their floors were flooded, and in many of the small inlets, grime and rubbage had been washed ashore.
Midnight stopped as soon as she reached dry cobble, shaking grime from her paws. She looked back to Ecru, struggling just to walk. She crouched down, letting Ecru lean on her.
“Climb on,” Midnight suggested. Ecru complied, grasping ahold of Midnight’s shoulders and lifting her body onto her. Midnight stood back up, grunting from Ecru’s additional weight. She silently thanked Torrent for passing his size onto her — there was no way Ecru could have carried her instead.
“Thanks,” Ecru panted. Most of the blood from her wound had been washed from her scales by the river behind them, although there was still a red line where her wound was. Her claws clutched around Midnight’s scales, holding tight to them as she kept herself stable on the hybrid’s back.
“Are you alright?” Midnight asked. “Give me just a sec, maybe I can figure out how to heal you.”
“Heal me?” Ecru replied. Her head was spinning, and it took her a moment to understand what Midnight meant by that. “W-wait, you mean with animus magic?”
“Yeah,” Midnight responded. “I’m not a doctor, but you’ve lost a lot of blood. I don’t know how much. You need immediate attention, or you could . . .” Midnight knew that dragons could die from blood loss, but she didn’t know any of the details. How much had Ecru lost? How much was too much? Was there any way a non-magical doctor could help her?
Ecru shook her head. “No. Don’t. You can’t use more magic, not so soon.”
“I have to,” Midnight protested. “You can’t even walk. This is what I’m supposed to use my magic for, right? Saving lives?”
“Please,” Ecru said, clutching Midnight’s neck and holding her horns against it. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“And I don’t want to lose you either,” Midnight responded. If Ecru died, there was no bringing her back with magic. That was one of the rules.
Ecru shook her head. “You have the scroll you healed Gazelle with. It’s back at her house. You can heal me with that.”
“It’s an hour walk with you on me, and we should’ve tended to your wound earlier than this, and I don’t know if —” Midnight choked up a little, “I don’t know if you’ll make it that far.”
“I’ll be fine,” Ecru whispered. She squinted at the walls of the buildings around her. “I’m still conscious. I’ll keep talking to you, just to make sure you know that. I don’t want you to have to use your magic again. And if you fall unconscious like last time, I can’t carry you back.”
Midnight clenched her talons. She didn’t like the risk in that. It would be better to just heal Ecru now; she hadn’t felt anything different since her previous use of magic. It had to be worth it if it would save Ecru. But if Ecru wanted her to wait, she would. Not because she agreed, but because Ecru wanted it.
“Alright,” Midnight said. “We’ll go back. But if you fall unconscious or we’re attacked again, I’m going to use it.”
Ecru nodded. “Deal,” she quietly huffed. She laid her head down on Midnight’s neck. For the sake of Midnight’s soul, she had to stay awake. She started to count out numbers, whispering them to Midnight’s scales. Just stay focused on counting.
Midnight took a step forward, up into the city. She was so tired from the swimming already, her legs aching, the cut in her wing burning. But she had to keep going. For Ecru’s sake, she needed to get back to Gazelle’s house as soon as possible. Once they got there, they’d have the scroll. They would be safe.
Midnight slowly made her way back to Gazelle’s house, pushing through the pain in her legs. Her heart raced at every movement in the shadows, every possible glimmer of wings in the sky. If they were attacked again, what could the two do? Midnight could stop their attacker, or heal Ecru, but not both. Something that could bring the two back to Gazelle when touched? Would Gazelle wake up? Could she heal them both there with the scroll?
Suddenly, Ecru’s counts stopped. Midnight’s blood ran cold, her limbs stiff. “Ecru?” she asked, starting to panic. “ECRU?”
“Hmm?” Ecru muttered, raising her head a tad. “Oh. Sorry. I must have fallen asleep.”
Midnight’s breath was still quick, her paws shaking. “I thought, I thought —”
“I’m sorry,” Ecru replied again, suddenly realizing what Midnight must have thought for that short moment. “Really, really sorry. Keep going, please, I’ll keep counting.”
Ecru started back at one while Midnight turned her head forward, trying to take deep breaths to calm herself. She just had to keep on going forward.
Finally, Midnight reached Gazelle’s house. They’d made it. They’d gotten back alive. Here, they had to be safe.
Midnight pushed through the final steps, Ecru clutching on tight as she muttered numbers. It was hard to see Gazelle’s house in the darkness, but Midnight could still tell that the run-down place was home. They’d had to replace the rotting door, and in fact much of the wood in the place, but this was still where Midnight was raised, where Torrent had left her as a wee dragonet.
Leaning back a little, but careful not to drop Ecru, Midnight moved one of her forearms to the pouch against her side, digging through coins until she found her key. She glanced behind her as she unlocked the door, heart racing. Until they were actually inside, they weren’t safe. Their attacker could hit her while her back was turned. She kept trying to turn the key, almost breaking it.
Finally, the door unlocked, and Midnight slammed it open, bringing Ecru inside before slamming it back shut, locking it. She breathed a sigh of relief, and set Ecru down on the floor, the hybrid gently sliding off Midnight’s back.
“Don’t worry Ecru,” Midnight said, trying to comfort her. “It’s alright. We’re here. It’ll all be better soon.”
Midnight turned, staring directly into a surprised Gazelle’s eyes. A candle had been lit next to her, shining dim light on the three of them. For a dragon who might have been the oldest on Pyrrhia, Gazelle didn’t look it, at least not anymore. Her dull scales now seemed to flush and glimmer, her muscles ripe with energy.
“You’re back,” Gazelle whispered. “I was worried when you didn’t come back earlier. What happened? Are you okay?” Her eyes followed to Ecru’s limp body on the ground.
“We were attacked,” Midnight replied. She darted behind Gazelle to the scrollshelf the SandWing had recently repaired, pulling out scrolls, opening them, then frantically dropping them on the ground. “Where’s the healing scroll?” she asked, her breath short.
“Bottom shelf, on the left,” Gazelle answered. “Attacked? I knew Crosswinds wasn’t a safe place for hybrids. We should’ve left here years ago.”
Midnight pulled out more scrolls from the bottom shelf, finally letting out a sigh of relief as she found the right one. She turned to Ecru, making sure to stare directly at her. “Cindime Dybo Ndmi.” She paused a moment, unsure if the scroll was having any effect. It had to work, didn’t it? It had worked on Gazelle.
The cut on Ecru’s back started to close back together, scales mending. Ecru seemed to relax. Midnight began to ease up. Ecru was alright. She was healed. They were safe. “It wasn’t a normal attack,” she tried to explain to Gazelle. “Not by a gang of dragons. This was targeted by someone who knew how to kill. An assassin.”
“An assassin?” Gazelle asked, frightened. “Like someone paid to kill you?”
Midnight nodded. She glanced over to the house’s windows, already boarded up. “Maybe. The dragon tried to kill me, not Ecru. Ecru got her wound by pushing my out of the way.  I didn’t get a good glimpse, only wings in the shadows.” She looked over to her wing. Now that she’d started to calm, she could no longer ignore the pain from the slice in it. She raised up the scroll again. “Cindime Dybo Ndmi.”
Immediately, the wing membrane started to bring itself back together, the wound quickly closing up. “Douse the candle. We could be attacked. We need to take watch tonight.”
Gazelle nodded, and with a quick puff, the candle was out.
“Ecru, are you alright?” Midnight asked, still worried. “Did the scroll help you get your blood back?”
Ecru nodded, Midnight’s darkvision letting her see the motion. “Yeah,” Ecru huffed. “Much better. Honestly, I think I feel better than before I was attacked. Maybe I had a cold or something.”
“Great,” Midnight sighed. She walked over to Ecru, and wrapped her wings around the hybrid. Ecru rested her head in the crook of Midnight’s neck and wingblade, her heart still quick. They were alive, but this wasn’t over.
“I can watch,” Gazelle suggested, getting on all fours. “You two need to get some rest.”
Midnight nodded. She would be thankful for it. She and Ecru walked over to the woven rug in the center of the house’s one room, and laid down on it, Midnight’s wing still over Ecru. Midnight wasn’t even sure she could sleep tonight.
“Oh,” Ecru suddenly said. “The crocodile. We lost it.”
Midnight hadn’t even thought about that. She must have dropped it after they’d been attacked. Maybe it was still there, back in the alleyway. “It’s fine,” Midnight replied. “I’m not hungry anyways.”
Ecru murmured something, bringing herself closer to Midnight. Hopefully, they’d make it until the morning.
== Chapter 5 ==
Rain. There had been so much rain. Like the Eye of Onyx had caused Pyrrhia’s skies to just store up their rain during the weeks Calamity had used the weapon. Pyrrhia’s weather was a spring, and this was the consequence of pulling too hard on it.
The boundaries of individual mountains were faded, clouds gathering between each of their nooks and crannies. Far below, the dragons and their prey would both be wet and cold, huddling together for warmth and dryness. No SkyWings or birds flew above, the dark skies occasionally let up by a flash of lightning. A burst of thunder shook through the palace. Water poured from the heavens, as if a god had accidentally knocked over a bucket, and now could do nothing but see their creations below drown in the aftermath. What would they think? Would they feel sympathy? Pity? Would they do nothing but shrug their wings, and decide to start over again on the world? Or maybe the bucket wasn’t even knocked over by accident. ‘Good riddance,’ the god would say. ‘Too much suffering in that world.’ Then the god would wash their claws clean of the blood, and go back to whatever gods did for fun.
These were silly thoughts. Aurora knew better than to think of gods. To a scavenger, a dragon was a god. With a single bite, a dragon could decide a scavenger’s fate. It was life or death in the scavenger’s eyes, but to the dragon, it was just another meal. Similarly, to a dragon, a queen was a god. And to a queen? An animus was a god. Aurora saw the way that Queen Scarlet looked at her. The fear in the queen’s eyes. The dawning knowledge that she’d let something far more terrible than even her into her palace. That her life was in Aurora’s jaws, and that to Aurora, she was little more than a scavenger.
And what was a god to an animus? Aurora knew. She’d seen it. She’d been hatched to it. It’s power flowed in her violet blood. The great IceWing animus queens knew. They worshipped it. They feared it. But just like it, Aurora wasn’t of this world. That gave her an advantage. And given enough chances, even a scavenger could kill a queen.
Aurora placed her paw out. Raindrops gathered in her sky-blue scales, forming a puddle. More dripped down her horns, gathering on the end of her snout before falling down, hitting the stone beneath. From there, they gathered in rivulets, crawling down the side of the rocks before spraying off the cliff’s edge, into the forests below. And then, they were gone. Their brief encounter with Aurora was gone. Just her presence had diverted their path, changed their futures.
“I can hear you talking about me,” Aurora said, her voice cracking through the rain. 
Even though her head didn’t turn, the two SkyWings, hiding beneath the safety of the palace roof, knew they’d been caught. They quickly scampered away, frightened by the mere rumors of what Queen Scarlet’s new advisor could do. Aurora didn’t follow them. Why would she? Right now, every SkyWing in the palace was talking about her. The hybrid with mysterious powers who’d shown up one day, who’d walked through her chains and had been made Queen Scarlet’s advisor.
Even without looking, Aurora could tell that most of the SkyWings on the same part of the balcony as her were either staring intently, or attempting to hurry past her on their duties, avoiding any sort of glance at her striking blue scales, standing out among all the reds and oranges. She didn’t care. The SkyWings could think what they wanted of her. A queen doesn’t care what a scavenger thinks.
Even so, Aurora hated this place. Everywhere she looked, there was another dragon. Another striking glimpse Red, orange, yellow. She didn’t see the difference. None of them were anything like her. None of them were hatched in the same world as her. Here, she was living among aliens, creatures who resembled her only in shape. The Crystal Caverns had been empty. Pristine. Untouched. Nothing like this place, where she couldn’t go a minute without hearing pawsteps, or being woken from her sleep by the sound of chattering dragons. Were these were the creatures Calamity had tried so hard to save?
“AURORA!” a voice screeched, jarring Aurora out of her thoughts. The hybrid turned around with a glare. The voice belonged to the one dragon in this palace she was supposed to pay attention to.
Queen Scarlet trotted down the inner balcony, head held high. Six SkyWings flanked her, shuffling on two legs with their claws holding onto a cloth above the queen, protecting her from any stray raindrops. A seventh crouched behind her, his neck strained from the weight of a heavy metal box chained to it. Two more SkyWings darted in front of Scarlet, using fine silk rugs to cover and soak up any puddles that would dare to stand in the queen’s path. One looked nervously at Aurora as he approached her, but quickly turned away, afraid of what would happen if Queen Scarlet’s paws got soaked on his watch.
“Your majesty,” Aurora grumbled. She lowered her head in some half-hearted semblance of a bow. “Do you want something?”
“I’ve had to walk all around the palace looking for you!” the queen snapped, baring her fangs. The little bit of skin that was left on the right side of her face peeled down, exposing more of her jaw than Aurora cared to see.
Aurora wondered somewhat, purely out of curiosity, if she’d be able to heal the queen’s venom scars. She probably couldn’t restore any sort of nerve function without Calamity’s guidance, but she might be able to hide some of the damage. Not that she particularly cared to spend that much time and effort on Scarlet’s vanity. From what she knew, the queen’s wounds were well-deserved.
“I’m sorry to make you walk,” Aurora responded, not really that sorry. She was surprised Scarlet walked at all instead of just having a procession carry her around. The hybrid flicked her tail back and forth, waving the ball of spikes on the end through the air. “I assume this is something urgent?”
“Yes!” Scarlet hissed, narrowing her amber eyes. “Terribly urgent. The rain has been such a downer lately, and we’ve had to cancel all the arena battles!”
Aurora openly rolled her eyes. That didn’t sound urgent. Her eyes caught on one of the SkyWings in Scarlet’s precession, who seemed to be staring at her with a look of morbid shock. “That’s unfortunate.”
Queen Scarlet bristled, her wings whacking two of the dragons carrying her water-cover. Aurora didn’t change her expression. The fate of all Pyrrhia is at risk, and the only thing this dragon cares about is having her bloody games. Aurora had little but contempt for the SkyWing queen at this point. Yet, Calamity had given her orders, and even if it meant putting up with Queen Scarlet, she had to follow them.
“You’re my advisor!” Queen Scarlet growled, irritated. Aurora should have been sniveling in fear at being reprimanded, like all the other SkyWings in the palace did. She’d make sure someone got reprimanded, even if it wasn’t Aurora. “You can’t be my advisor if you don’t give me advice!”
“Well then,” Aurora sighed, “what advice do you want?” Calamity had told her to be Queen Scarlet’s advisor. Not her slave.
Queen Scarlet’s claws tensed up, and she whipped her tail back and forth, smacking the dragon behind her in the eye. He stifled a squeal, and Aurora noticed a small grin cross Scarlet’s face at the sound of his pain. This wasn’t about the rain. It was about Scarlet needing to have power over Aurora.
“You’re my advisor,” Scarlet snapped. “If I knew what advice I wanted, I wouldn’t need an advisor.”
Aurora’s eyes caught on another SkyWing, this one not in the Queen Scarlet’s precession. Around the balcony, more and more dragons had paused their work, or paused their pretending to work. They were watching the confrontation, wondering what would happen. She didn’t like all the stares.
“If you want advice on how to have fun while it’s raining, then you should ask your old advisor,” Aurora answered. “I’m not the right dragon for that.”
Scarlet bared her teeth again, the rubies over her eyes flickering as they moved. “I have a policy against not letting dragons in the arena go.”
Aurora shuffled her left foreleg, the chainlinks on her cuff clinking against each other, glowstripes lighting up at random. She glared back at Scarlet, baring her own teeth just enough to give the queen the faintest hint of white fangs. Aurora placed one paw forward, and saw the queen take a small step back. Every other dragon nearby could see it too. Smell the scent of fear coming from their beloved queen. SkyWings giving Aurora horrified glances, exchanging quiet whispers. Queen Scarlet was afraid of Aurora, and now everyone knew it.
“Then here’s my advice,” Aurora responded. “Change that policy.”
Queen Scarlet stared back at Aurora. Aurora waited, wondering how the queen would respond. She didn’t seem used to taking no for an answer. Would she back down? Get angry? Break out in tears? Aurora was almost curious.
“Just get rid of the rain,” Scarlet finally growled out. “That’s an order. I’m celebrating my reascension tonight with a feast. I don’t want it to be raining.”
Aurora snorted. She didn’t particularly want to comply with this wretched dragon’s instructions, but Calamity had told her it was important they worked together. And refusing a full-on order would definitely run contrary to that. The fate of Pyrrhia was far more important than Aurora’s distaste for Scarlet.
“Fine,” Aurora responded. “Give me the Eye.”
Queen Scarlet narrowed her eyes. “Grouse. The box.”
The submissive SkyWing behind her stopped rubbing his bruised eye and quickly walked forward, almost tripping from the weight of the heavy metal box around his neck. He plopped it down on the ground in front of Aurora, and turned to Queen Scarlet. A huge iron padlock clanged against the box. Aurora stared down at it.
“Your majesty,” he gulped, turning around with a bow. “The key, please?”
“I don’t need it,” Aurora said, not giving Scarlet a chance to turn around and get it. The hybrid placed a paw on the box. Without any resistance, her paw sank through the metal, into the box. An easy trick that Calamity had helped her learn long ago.
The watching SkyWings let out a collective gasp as Aurora’s paw came out of the box, a golden chain between her claws. Even Queen Scarlet seemed impressed as Aurora pulled the chain up, the smooth Eye of Amethyst appearing from through the sheet metal, dangling from Aurora’s paw. Most of the SkyWings here had only heard rumors of Aurora’s powers. Aurora didn’t care. This was nothing but a useful parlor trick. None of these dragons had any idea what magic could really do.
“It’s not right that you can use it, but it’ll kill me,” Queen Scarlet grumbled, her jealous gaze focused on the Eye. “I’m the queen. You’re not even a SkyWing.”
Aurora shifted her weight up, standing up on her hind legs. She raised her paw towards the sky, the Eye of Amethyst in it for all to see. Small bolts of electricity arced between the amethyst and Aurora’s scales, and the faint smell of ozone entered Aurora’s snout.
“There’s a lot in this world that isn’t right,” Aurora responded. A faint violet glow pulsed through the amethyst, and a brisk breeze whipped through the balcony, spraying rain against Scarlet’s snout. The queen turned her head, her venom-scarred face fully exposed to Aurora. The breeze strengthened, and for a moment, it seemed like the SkyWings were all going to be thrown over the inner edge of the balcony. 
Then as soon as the breeze had started, it ceased. The downpour of rain began to dry up, grey clouds parting to make way for the sun. SkyWings stared up through the open-air roof of the palace in wonder, the golden veins in the palace floor glittering.
“I can’t believe we had something like this in our treasury the whole time,” one of the SkyWings holding up Scarlet’s cloth whispered. Queen Scarlet tossed her a glare, and she stiffened up before bowing her shaking head to the ground in apology for talking without the queen’s permission.
“Hmph,” Queen Scarlet muttered, hiding her fascination. “It’s not that amazing. If I was an animus, I could do better.” She turned to Aurora. “Now put it back.”
Aurora placed her paw back through the walls of the box, returning the Eye of Amethyst to its container. 
“I expect to see you at my feast,” Queen Scarlet glared at Aurora. “Don’t try anything funny there.”
Aurora nodded, turning back to her cliffside perch without Queen Scarlet’s dismissal. The Claws of the Clouds stretched out before her, the sun now shining down above Sky Kingdom.
----The feast was open to the sky, just like most everything else in the Sky Kingdom. Just that was strange to Aurora. She’d spent so much of her life in the tunnels of the Crystal Caverns, cozy and quiet. Here, it was all open. The sky was so huge, it made her dizzy when she looked up at it. An enemy could attack her from any direction, and Aurora would have nowhere to hide, no tunnels to turn into. Well, she could always phase into the ground, but at least when you got deep into the Crystal Caverns, that could be even more dangerous.
The banquet’s location was pretty enough. Three long tables had been set side-by-side, and each had circular stone slabs alongside them, seats for Queen Scarlet’s guests to sit in. And she had plenty of guests — it seemed like every dragon in the palace was here. Red and orange scales blended together from Aurora’s point of view, the banquet tables a mess of flapping wings and shouting voices. Aurora again felt a hint of longing for the Crystal Caverns, silent and serene.
Her eyes glared towards Queen Scarlet, who was seated at the head of the center table, perched on a more embellished seat, a large cloud-shaped pillar much like her throne, a comfortable cushion between the queen’s scales and the hard stone. A fine silver tray with long legs was placed on the table in front of her, where it would raise her food up so she could eat perched above the rest of the feast, her bejeweled scales and her venom-scarred face visible for everyone to see.
At the moment, Queen Scarlet wasn’t eating, her tray and every other dragon’s plate empty. Most of the dragons seemed to be chatting it up with friends. Queen Scarlet herself seemed to be having a conversation with the only other dragon at the feast who wasn’t a SkyWing, a yellow SandWing with black diamond across his wings and scales. He glanced over at Aurora as he saw her, but turned quickly back to Scarlet.
Aurora grunted, irritated. She didn’t like being around so many dragons. Right now, all she wanted to do was go back to her room in the palace, or even better, back to the Crystal Caverns. But with Crystal and Calamity gone, there was no one left for her in the Caverns. And she needed Queen Scarlet’s help — Calamity had told her that Scarlet would be the key to challenging Queen Coral, and that she’d need to be patient, waiting until the time was right for the challenge. Aurora was tired of being patient. How would she know when the time was right? And after she took the SeaWing throne and activated the Eye, like Calamity had told her was necessary, how would she know what to do then? She sighed. She just needed to trust that Calamity had done what he’d needed to.
Aurora glanced around the tables, feeling a gurgle in her stomach. Some feast this was. There was no food. Her eyes caught on a few large carts toward the edge of the tables. Exotic meats from all over Pyrrhia, roasted so finely that the smell just barely reached Aurora’s nose from here. That’s what she was looking for.
The hybrid took off, soaring over the banquet tables as SkyWing eyes stared up at the sky-colored dragon. She landed next to the carts, spooking the SkyWings tending to them with her unexpected fall from the sky. She took a whiff. She was hungry, and it smelled so good.
Aurora reached out to the nearest plate on the cart, and grabbed the hunk of meat on it. Some sort of leg. Bison? Scavenger? Alligator? Aurora wasn’t sure, and she didn’t particularly care. She immediately tore into it, sharp fangs ripping through soft flesh and crunching through bone. After gulping down the meal, she grabbed out at another one of whatever she had just eaten, paws sticky with juices. Before taking a bite out of it, she glanced back. The crowd of SkyWings had gotten strangely quiet, and their eyes had turned to her.
“What?” Aurora growled, digging out a chunk of meat between her fangs with her tongue.
A blood-red SkyWing standing beneath Queen Scarlet was the first one to speak. “Y-you can’t eat yet,” he said nervously.
Aurora narrowed her eyes. “Why?” she snorted, her eyes glancing towards the hunk of meat in her claws. “Are you going to try and stop me?”
The blood-red SkyWing shuffled his wings, flustered, and took a frightened step back. “No! I just-” He glanced up to Queen Scarlet, looking to her for support.
“I just asked a question,” Aurora muttered, confused. Red juices dripped from her blue jaws, and she licked them up with her tongue. She turned back to her second leg, about ready to eat it. Why was everyone still watching her?
Queen Scarlet let out a raucous laugh, piercing through the silence. When no one else took up her laugh, she glared out at the crowd of SkyWings.
“Laugh!” she ordered. Immediately, the crowd went up in an uproar, all laughing as loud as they could.
Aurora stared, absolutely bewildered. What were these dragons finding so funny? She went back to her second leg, quickly crunching through it and gulping it down.
“Quiet!” Scarlet shouted suddenly, and the crowd went silent. She glared at Aurora. “No one else eats before me.”
“That’s stupid,” Aurora replied loudly, swallowing down her second leg. She turned back to the cart, tempted to get a third.
Queen Scarlet snarled. “Those are orders, you savage. You eat with everyone else. Vermillion, give her your seat.”
The blood-red SkyWing quickly nodded, and scampered off to an empty seat further down the table. Scarlet put a paw out to the now empty seat next to her, clearly expecting Aurora to sit down there.
Aurora glanced back to the cart again, and grumbled. She needed to stay allies with Queen Scarlet, no matter how inane her rules were. She trotted over to Scarlet’s pillar, and plopped herself down on Vermillion’s seat, pouting as she stared directly across at the SandWing.
The SandWing quickly scanned Aurora up and down, an expression of mild amusement on his face. “I see you’re also not from around here,” he opened, trying to give the blue hybrid a friendly smile.
Aurora’s response was a glare. She wasn’t interested in small talk with this unimportant dragon.
“Not particularly talkative, is she?” the SandWing said, looking up at Queen Scarlet.
“Peril was much friendlier,” Queen Scarlet lamented. “Aurora, meet Smolder. Smolder, this is Aurora.”
“Prince Smolder, at the moment,” Smolder grinned. “I’ll enjoy my royal title as long as I can, at least until Aloe gets booted out of the palace.” The SandWing reached his paw over the table, offering it to Aurora to shake.
Aurora stared at the SandWing’s paw, unsure what to do with it. “What do you want?” she growled.
“Nothing, just a little conversation,” Smolder replied. “It’s nice seeing someone else like me here, a stranger in the Sky Kingdom.”
Aurora glared again. “I’m nothing like you.”
Smolder opened his mouth to respond, but Queen Scarlet interrupted him. “Don’t bother,” she sighed. “She’s not going to open up.”
Aurora narrowed her gaze, staring into the SandWing prince’s dark eyes. A simple dragon who knew nothing of what was at stake, just like the rest of them.
“Ooh, food!” Queen Scarlet said gleefully as a SkyWing brought her a plate full of garnished meats. She quickly dug in, while more food was placed on the tables.
Aurora stared down at her plates. She was still hungry, but the raucous noise of dragons around her made her almost nauseous. She slowly started to chew through a slab of meat as the dragons around her all conversed. Aurora could only catch glimpses of phrases through the mess. Smolder and Scarlet were discussing something about SandWing politics. The nondescript SkyWings at Aurora’s sides were talking about a recent arena battle. Aurora didn’t care, and she could barely even hear.
The hybrid looked down to her plate, and licked up the last little morsels from it. Now what? She thought about leaving again, but Queen Scarlet had wanted her here. She needed to stay, for whatever stupid reasons.
Aurora traced a talon in a square around her silver plate, bored and exhausted. What was that colorful metal she liked? She tried to remember its composition, the crystalline structure. Years of instruction from Calamity had made using her artifact this way almost second-nature. Where she moved her talon, a layer of square-shaped metal started to arise from the silver plate, oxidizing into beautiful rainbow colors, glimmering across its surface. More of the metal started to grow at Aurora’s will, the square expanding outwards. More squares started to grow from her intentionally-placed imperfections, her bismuth crystal now looking like a bunch of cubes stacked placed each other, pushing each other out of the way in a mess as disordered as it was beautiful. Colors shifted from side to side of the shimmering surface as Aurora moved her snout, checking her creation from all sides.
The sound of talking dragons started to quiet again. Aurora raised her eyes. Everyone in her vicinity was staring at her work, jaws open in amazement at her use of magic. With a snort, she quickly covered the bismuth crystal with her paw, turning it to water with a splash.
“What?” she growled, her eyes darting between the staring dragons until it landed on Queen Scarlet.
Queen Scarlet winced as Aurora’s creation collapsed in her paw. Such a beautiful crystal would’ve been good for her collection. “Most of the dragons here haven’t seen such magic before,” she snorted. “If you’re going to show off in public, expect a few stares.”
Aurora grunted, causing Queen Scarlet to roll her eyes. The queen glanced out over her subjects. It was about time for her speech.
“Attention!” Scarlet screeched out, silencing the already quiet crowd. “For those worms whose heads have been buried in rocks, this is a feast for my Reascension Day! Two years ago, on this very day, I challenged my ungrateful daughter to the throne. I easily won, tossing that brat off the mountainside, and retook my throne, putting an end to the chaos and horror of my soft-scaled daughter’s short reign.”
There were some nervous murmurs of agreement at this point. Queen Scarlet continued.
“Now, this Reascension Day is special for not one, but two reasons! The first reason that the dragon whose completely unprovoked attempt on my life caused me to lose the throne in the first place is now dead! Glory’s head has been torn from her torso, and the RainWings that followed her now cower in terror!”
Scarlet raised her paws, and a large cheer arose from the crowd. She smiled, happy to see all her subjects in agreement.
“Unfortunately, the dragon who killed Glory was not me. Queen Blackice stole that chance from me, and won’t even give me her severed head. Also, we need more prisoners for our arena, since my daughter released most of my stock after the war ended. So, I’ve decided to declare war on the IceWings.”
Nervous whispers started to be passed around the crowd. Another war? So soon? Who would die this time? Scarlet narrowed her eyes.
Aurora started up at Queen Scarlet, shocked. This was wrong. They were supposed to go to war with the SeaWings, not the IceWings!
“Great, now that we’ve got that out of the way, it’s time for me to say the second reason why this Reascension Day is so thrilling!” Scarlet shouted. “We have a very special guest with us tonight, someone who was very important to my victory over my daughter. Let me introduce my new advisor and champion, Aurora!”
The SkyWings started to applaud while Aurora stayed sitting on her stone seat. She didn’t like this attention. Everything she’d done before for Calamity had been discrete.
Queen Scarlet’s glare turned to Aurora. “Stand up so they can see you,” she hissed.
Aurora reluctantly stood, her eyes darting around the crowd. So many SkyWings. And the noise. All their mismatched claps, their yells, their flapping wings. It was giving her a headache. She could feel herself getting dizzy, the scales and voices all blurring and melding together. She needed to get out of here.
“Thank you!” Queen Scarlet shouted. “That’s all, you wretched lizards. Go back to doing whatever stupid things you do.”
Queen Scarlet glanced back to Aurora. She was already gone, the tips of her horns disappearing into the ground.
----Aurora phased out through the wall of one of the palace’s balconies, making a SkyWing shining the floor scream and fly away in surprise. Aurora took a deep breath, talons shaking. With everyone at the feast, the palace was almost empty, except for a few stray dragons. Good.
The hybrid looked around the balcony, trying to orient herself. Where was her room? The palace was odd. In the Crystal Caverns, no two surfaces and caves were the same. The tunnels were constantly shifting, but to an experienced set of eyes, there were even patterns there. But the palace felt like a hall of mirrors, with symmetric square blocks Aurora could never tell the difference between. It was disorienting.
“Are you lost?”
Aurora turned around, looking up at a bright orange snout. A SkyWing Aurora hadn’t met before. Or maybe she had, and Aurora just didn’t recognize her.
“Yes,” Aurora replied, looking up to face the SkyWing, who stood a good heads-height over her. “Who are you, and what do you want?”
“The name’s Cyclone,” the SkyWing replied. She turned her head from side to side, revealing a huge claw scar over her right eye, where the eyelid looked like it had been fused shut. She lowered her good eye towards Aurora, carefully examining the hybrid. A metal plate of armor covered the SkyWing’s back, rattling as she moved. “You’re Aurora, aren’t you?”
Aurora stared back, unresponsive. This was unusual. Most of the SkyWings who’d known her name here ran away at first sight. “Yes.”
Cyclone smiled, her expression devoid of the usual fear and terror that plagued the SkyWings here, even when they weren’t near Aurora. Aurora looked up to her scar again. It wasn’t that of some quick claw wound in battle, it was deep and straight. An intentional mutilation. Here was a dragon who’d seen violence, one who wasn’t afraid of death.
“I saw you use your magic down at the banquet,” Cyclone continued. “It was pretty. Not a lot of dragons here have seen anything like that before. Have you noticed?”
Aurora was silent. Was Cyclone threatening her? Aurora couldn’t tell. She glanced behind her, trying to figure out where in the palace she was.
“It’s impressive,” Cyclone said. “I can see why Queen Scarlet took such a liking to you. Her previous advisor had similar powers, although he hid them well.”
At this point, Aurora wasn’t really listening anymore. She peered around Cyclone. That was where she needed to go, right? “I don’t care,” Aurora replied. “What do you want?”
“Nothing much,” Cyclone said. “I’m not looking for your help, if that’s what you’re asking. Or your magic. It only causes trouble. You’re like me, and like him, an outsider who ended up working for Queen Scarlet. I’m just curious about the mysterious new hybrid who talks back to Queen Scarlet without fear.”
“Alright,” Aurora responded. She started to walk around Cyclone, in the direction she thought her room was. Was it this floor, or the floor below?
“Hey, wait up,” Cyclone said with a frown, armor jingling as she trotted after Aurora. “Are you going to answer my question?”
“No,” Aurora growled. Why was this dragon bugging her? “To me, you’re some random SkyWing. You’re unimportant to my goals.”
“See, you’ve already started to answer me. Now I know you’ve got goals,” Cyclone teased. She let out a deep laugh, grinning.
Aurora snorted, swishing her tail back and forth. She flexed out and ruffled her wings, when she suddenly felt Cyclone’s paw brush her wing membrane.
Aurora immediately tensed up, her claws scratching the floor. She jumped back with a hiss, her teeth bared. Cyclone’s paw fell through Aurora’s wingblade, passing through it as it phased through her.
Cyclone caught herself, her paw hitting the ground in her surprised. She looked over at the growling hybrid, fangs out.
“Relax,” Cyclone said, her grin fading. “I’m not your enemy. I just wanted to give you a warning. The Sky Kingdom isn’t a friendly place to outsiders. No matter how much magic you’ve got, you’ll need friends to survive here.”
Aurora glared at Cyclone, the hybrid starting to close her jaws. She frowned. That was right. Her quarters were on the floor below this one.
Without warning, Aurora phased through the balcony floor, suddenly dropping below. Cyclone stared down as Aurora’s blue scales sank beneath her. The SkyWing shook her head with a sigh.
“What are you doing with her, Scarlet?” Cyclone murmured to herself as she started to walk away. “Looks like you’ve bit off a bit more than you can chew, this time.”
== Chapter 6 ==
Sunny shuffled down the stairs towards the dining hall, sending back glances every few moments towards the SandWing behind her. She sighed, seeing his close gaze on her. It was almost impossible to get any privacy in the Outclaws’ stronghold. Kudu required that one of her SandWings was watching Sunny at all times, even in the stronghold. She claimed it was for Sunny’s protection, but Sunny sometimes wondered if it was to make sure she didn’t leave. She’d tested that a couple times in the weeks she’d been here, but the SandWings assigned to watch her had just followed her out of the stronghold without a fuss. Still, she hadn’t gone beyond the borders of the Outclaws’ territory in this whole time, into the rest of the Scorpion Den. She wondered what they’d do if she tried to go that far.
Kudu herself had behaved roughly the same since Sunny had arrived. Mean and vindictive. Sunny had found friends, of course. Acacia had remained as helpful and loyal to Sunny as before. Cheetah had done a great job of defusing uncomfortable situations with Kudu. Even some of the SandWings Kudu had placed to watch Sunny had opened up to her.
And of course, Sunny still had Clay. She’d suggested that he go back to Jade Mountain Academy, but he’d stayed with her all these weeks. It made her wonder if he still had a crush on her. Although she was happy for the comfort and safety of the MudWing, she was still worried about the Jade Mountain Academy. The two had learned of Queen Blackice’s failed attack on it a few days after it had happened, but there was still the risk that she’d attack again. And how were the students doing? They were all probably frightened out of their minds, stuck in the school knowing that a roaming IceWing soldier could pick them off if they just took a step outside.
Then there was Glory. Neither Sunny nor Clay had believed it when they first got the news. It wouldn’t have been the first time they’d been tricked into thinking Glory was dead. And Queen Blackice had refused to allow anyone to closely inspect the head — so it could’ve been enchanted. But time had gone on, with no sign of Glory anywhere. And Queen Blackice’s telling of her death matched up. After she’d left the SandWing palace, she’d been captured as she’d come out of the rainforest and taken to the old volcanic island. There, Queen Blackice had torn her apart, leaving only her head intact.
A horrible way to die. Sunny still whimpered, imagining her sister’s last moments, her fear and abandonment. And Sunny felt like she deserved some of the blame for it. Had she seen the warning signs, had she captured Aloe, had Glory stayed overnight at the SandWing palace instead of going back, maybe she’d still be alive. Sunny hadn’t just failed the Sand Kingdom, she’d failed her sister, and all of the Dragonets. Clay had tried to assure her that she was in no way responsible, but Sunny just couldn’t get the thought out of her head. What if she had done something different?
Just thinking about Glory brought tears to the Sunny’s eyes. She quickly wiped them away, hoping the SandWing behind her hadn’t seen. She had to move on, from Thorn and now Glory. Like when Dune and Kestrel had died. She’d gotten over that, eventually. She had to stay strong, like a queen would.
Sunny stepped down into a ray of sunshine peeking through one of the boarded windows, glimmering off her golden scales. She squinted as she entered into the mess hall, sun in her eyes. Around twenty dragons were sitting around two stone tables, raucously conversing with each other, laughing and chatting as they banged their talons against the stone. Sunny turned back and forth, trying to find Clay. Once her eyes caught his, the MudWing waved a food-stuffed paw, beckoning Sunny over.
Sunny quickly waddled over, resting her hind down on the cold floor as she folded in her wings, scooching between Clay and the SandWing sitting next to him. Her gaze landed on Kudu, who gave Sunny a glower. Sunny ignored her, turning to Clay.
“These are good,” Clay said with a grin, handing Sunny what looked like a huge green pepper. “They’re peppers, stuffed with pork.”
Sunny nodded thankfully, and gave the pepper a sniff. It didn’t smell bad. She took a small bite out of it, and it was thankfully not as spicy as she’d worried. Or maybe she’d just gotten used to the spicy foods in the Scorpion Den.
“Thanks,” Sunny smiled, taking another bite. She chewed it slowly. How long would they be here? How long would it be before Sunny returned to her home at Jade Mountain? If she ever returned, that was.
Sunny glanced up as she saw another SandWing walk into the room; Cheetah, carrying a small cloth sack. Other Outclaws suddenly started to crowd around him excitedly, blocking out Sunny’s view. What was going on?
Cheetah dropped the sack, spilling its contents on the floor. Sunny, curious, tried to peek around the mess of scales and wings to see what had been in it. She caught a glimpse of a parchment papers of all shapes and sizes, with dragons’ names written in ink on the front. “Letters?” she asked, realizing what they were.
Cheetah pushed his way through the crowd until he reached Sunny. He waved two letters between his talons. “This one’s for you, Sunny,” he said, handing her the letter, “and this one is for Kudu.”
Kudu looked at her letter, examining it closely with a frown. She handed it back to Cheetah, unopened. “Check for poison,” she ordered him.
Sunny winced. She’d already started opening her letter. She glanced down — no sort of powder or anything like poison on it. If there had been, it would’ve been too late already.
Cheetah nodded with a smile. “Of course. Give me a second.” The SandWing quickly pushed his way back through the crowd, before disappearing out a doorway.
Sunny looked down at her letter. She might as well read it. Her eyes scanned down to the end, opening wide at the name.
“It’s from Six-Claws,” she whispered excitedly to Clay. “He’s alright!”
Clay peered over the letter as Sunny read it. “It’s an update on what’s happening in the palace,” Sunny explained out loud. “Even though Aloe got control of the palace and brought a lot of her SandWings inside, Six-Claws’ forces and most of my army have surrounded it. They’re keeping it under siege. And look! Apparently Six-Claws has been negotiating with Aloe’s general, Leopard, and she’s told him Armadillo is still alive, just being kept as a hostage!”
“That’s great news!” Clay remarked.
Sunny nodded. At least that was one dragon’s death she wasn’t responsible for. Her smile suddenly faded. “What about Creosote?” she asked. “The letter doesn’t mention him.”
“They wouldn’t bother taking a lowly guard hostage,” Kudu snapped. “He’s probably dead by now.”
Sunny’s gaze turned back to the table, and she placed down the letter. If she hadn’t been so lizard-brained and had realized the battle with Aloe was a ruse, how many dragons would still be alive? Creosote, Glory . . .
“It’s alright, Sunny,” Clay said, putting a wing around the hybrid. “We’ve got them surrounded, right? Maybe this will be over soon.”
“Doubt it,” Kudu muttered. “You’re not winning at all. Sieges against SandWings are useless; Aloe could last years in the palace with just a little food and water.”
Sunny whimpered. This wasn’t any better at all. How had she messed up being queen so badly?
“It’ll be okay.” Clay tried to comfort Sunny again.
“No it won’t,” replied Kudu. Clay shot her a look. She wasn’t helping here.
Sunny kept her head down as Cheetah walked into the room, Kudu’s letter in his paws. “No poison I could find,” he said, passing the letter over to her.
Kudu carefully peeled the letter open, squinting as she double-checked Cheetah’s work. When she started reading it, her already dour expression wrinkled up, her tongue flicking out, irritated.
“Whoever sent me this just wants me to pass it on to Sunny,” she grumbled, passing Sunny a cold glare.
“Oh,” Sunny sighed. “Who is it from?”
Kudu quickly scanned down the letter, her eyes opening wide as she saw the name written at the bottom. Her expression seemed to change to one of surprise, her jaw dropping far enough Sunny could see each of her chipped fangs.
“It’s from Jackal,” Kudu quietly said.
“Jackal?” Sunny asked. Who was that? Why were they sending Sunny a letter, and how did they know she was here?
Kudu scoffed. “Of course you don’t know who Jackal is,” she snorted, almost angry at Sunny for not knowing. “Jackal was the leader of the Outclaws before Thorn. She disappeared after handing off her position. No one has seen or heard from her since, so we all just assumed she was dead. But if she’s coming back now . . .”
A glint of greed and excitement passed through Kudu’s gaze. “I’m going with you,” Kudu grinned. “I want to know what Jackal wants.”
Sunny shuffled uncomfortably. Wasn’t the letter for her?
“Jackal wanted to meet with Sunny,” Clay quietly reminded Kudu. “I think it’s her choice whether you can join her or not.”
Kudu let out a snarl, baring her teeth at Clay. “I’ve waited over a decade for this. I’ve been protecting you for a few moon cycles, the least you can do is let me join you.”
“It’s fine,” Sunny sighed, not wanting to provoke yet more conflict. “She can join me.” What is Jackal like? she wondered. The dragon who’d been leader of the Outclaws before Thorn. Would she be like Sunny’s mother? Or entirely different?
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Cheetah asked, a concerned expression on his snout. “Look at the meeting place. It’s practically on the other side of the city, almost to Talons of Power territory. What if someone sees Sunny?”
“We’ll disguise her,” Kudu snorted. “It won’t be hard.”
“What about Clay?” Sunny wondered.
“Bringing a MudWing would attract far too much attention; he stays,” Kudu ordered. “Jackal isn’t the type who wants eyes on her. Even when she was leader, she stayed in the shadows and worked through her subordinates.”
Sunny uneagerly complied. She didn’t really want to be stuck alone with Kudu, but Clay would attract more attention than just an odd-looking SandWing.
“She wants us to meet her later this evening,” Kudu snapped at Sunny. “Meet me back here in the afternoon. Don’t be late.”
----The meeting venue itself wasn’t particularly inviting. Sunny looked up to see a daunting building, crumbling like most of the rest of the Scorpion Den. Shattered windows had been boarded up. A wooden plank had been nailed across the doorway, but left enough space for a dragon, even one Kudu’s size, to creep in beneath. Even compared to the rest of the Scorpion Den, the building was unfriendly.
Sunny heard a crack, and her head twisted to the right. She saw a flash of yellow scales further down an alleyway, and heard the voices of dragons. Were they being followed?
Kudu’s head turned as she saw the SandWings passing, but she quickly looked back to the building, ignoring the other dragons.
“Do you think Jackal lives here?” Sunny quietly asked, trailing behind Kudu. “This doesn’t look very comfortable.”
“Of course not,” Kudu scoffed. “She’s been hiding out for over a decade. She’s not going to risk someone prying through the mail and discovering where she lives.”
Kudu lowered her head and crunched her wings up, crawling beneath the board over the door. Her fin rubbed against the top of the wood, and Sunny winced as she saw a splinter poke into Kudu’s fin.
“Hurry up,” Kudu growled as Sunny walked up to the doorway, hesitant to enter into the dark building.
The small hybrid barely needed to duck, and quickly passed under the plank, joining Kudu on the other side. A long hallway extended out from the doorway, mortar crumbling between the walls. With all the rain, mold had started to grow on the inside of the cracks, filling the hall with an unpleasant moist smell.
“Where is she?” Sunny whispered anxiously.
“She’s not going to come out until she knows you’re here,” Kudu growled.
“What if she doesn’t show?” Sunny asked. “What if she wanted me to come alone.”
Kudu’s already grouchy face contorted into a snarl. “She’ll want to see me,” Kudu hissed. She raised a forearm, showing off the golden bracelet on it. “She knows I’m the leader of the Outclaws.”
Sunny shuffled uncomfortably. Kudu didn’t want to show it, but Sunny could tell that Kudu herself was worried Jackal wouldn’t want to see her. Sunny hadn’t meant to increase her nervousness.
Slowly, the two walked down the hallway. Every so often, Sunny would hear a shuffling sound in the distance. Just a rat, or were there other dragons in this building? She didn’t know.
Finally, Kudu reached the end of the hall, in front of a single rotted door. Without hesitation, she shoved it open, walking into the room beyond. Sunny scrambled to catch up, not wanting to be left alone in the dark corridor.
The hall opened up into a huge room, stories high. Faint light coming in from holes in the roof and walls allowed Sunny to see, just barely. Her eyes landed on crates stacked up one to three high against the walls of the room. Was this some sort of warehouse?
Kudu paced into the center of the room, growling as she whipped her head around. “Jackal?” she hissed. “Where are you? We’re here!”
Sunny walked over to the crates, her curiosity getting the best of her. Something seemed weird about them. An odd smell. She took in a couple deep breaths through her nose. It was oddly like dragon fire, the same sort of sulfurous smell that lasted in her mouth after she used her fire-breath. But there was no warmth or fire around here.
Sunny looked down at one of the crates, the only one in its stack. The smell was definitely coming from the crates. She peered closer, putting her snout against the wooden top. There was an odd black powder smeared on the top, but nothing like dust. That was really odd. Why wouldn’t there be dust if these crates had been abandoned here? It meant this place wasn’t abandoned. And someone had moved these crates. Multiple dragons had. That’s why Jackal hadn’t appeared — it wasn’t a dragon who’d been missing for over a decade who’d sent the letter. This was a trap.
Sunny turned around, about to yell something out to Kudu in warning, when she felt something sharp poke against the back of her neck. Her scales suddenly tensed up, her heart starting to race. She took a frightened glance behind her to see a scaly tail poking out through the top of one of the crates she hadn’t inspected, lifting up its lid. The SandWing’s barb was positioned directly behind Sunny’s skull. The threat was clear. If she spoke, or moved, she’d be killed instantly.
Sunny’s talons shook as she stared back at the unsuspecting Kudu. What could she do? They’d walked right into a trap. More than anything, she wanted to yell out and warn Kudu, but she couldn’t do that. She stared at the SandWing, hoping that Kudu would turn and see her, notice the barb, and realize what was going on.
Suddenly, the door that Sunny and Kudu had walked in through slammed shut. Kudu turned instantly, and Sunny knew that it was too late to give out a warning. Crates against the wall started to open, and the heads of cloaked SandWings poked out, golden medallions hanging from their necks. Six, maybe more. Sunny and Kudu had no chance.
Kudu turned back, baring her fangs at the now approaching SandWings. She brought her tail in the air, swinging her barb through the air in front of her as a warning. The SandWings kept approaching as Kudu started to back away, closing a circle around the SandWing. Sunny wanted to yell out as the circle began to tighten. Surrender! she wanted to scream. But with the barb against her neck, she could barely make out more than a squeak.
Kudu suddenly let out a roar, charging towards one of the SandWings. She swung her tail, barb flinging behind her and hitting a second in the neck as she tackled the one on the edge of the group. Her fangs immediately went for the cloaked SandWing’s neck, blood gushing onto the black fabric, Kudu’s talons tearing through flesh. For just a moment, Kudu’s ferocity almost convinced Sunny that she might have a chance.
Sunny’s hope faded as quickly as it came. The four other SandWing pounced at Kudu, trapping their comrade beneath their claws. Wind picked up their cloaks, hiding the scene in a mess of black as their tails repeatedly jabbed forward, Kudu letting out a cry with each stab. Their claws raked into her, and whenever the cloaks lifted up, Sunny saw a mess of yellow and red. She started to turn her head, wanting to look away, but the barb against her neck pushed harder, reminding her not to make any movements.
Fortunately, it was over as quickly as it began. Kudu’s roars turned into yells, before finally falling silent. The SandWings backed away, dragging their cloaks through a pool of blood. Kudu’s corpse was left behind, a mess of red and gold laying on top of the just as dead SandWing beneath her. The cloaked SandWing she’d stabbed in the neck was lying by her side, also not getting up.
“So do each of them get a four part of a skull?” a low, whiny voice asked.
Careful not to move her head, Sunny’s eyes shifted towards the sound, emanating from the entrance to the room. Two SandWings walked in through it. Each had similar cloaks and medallions to the other SandWings, except with their hoods off, revealing both their faces and the tattoos of skulls along their neck. Sunny squinted, not fully able to see them in the low light. “Qibli?” she asked, confused.
“Oh shut up,” the second SandWing hissed. As the two walked closer to Sunny, she could clearly see that her original guess had been wrong. These two SandWings were far larger than Qibli, and far more menacing. “I’m nothing like that traitorous scum of a brother. If I ever get my paws on him, he’ll pay for Mother’s and Grandfather’s lives ten times over.”
The first SandWing nodded with a grin. “Gonna kill him ten times. First I stab him with my barb. Then Rattlesnake stabs him with her barb. Then . . . who stabs next?”
“You shut up too,” Rattlesnake hissed. “First off, I’m the one who gets to stab him first. And you can’t actually kill a dragon ten times. You don’t get ten tattoos for killing Qibli. He’s not worth ten dragons. Not even worth one.”
“You’re Qibli’s siblings,” Sunny whispered, shaking. “Rattlesnake and Sirocco. He’s told me about you.”
“All great things, I’m sure,” Rattlesnake snorted. She looked behind her wing, over at Kudu. “Wow. This plan worked out great. The leader of the Outclaws dead and the queen captured. Vulture would be proud of me.”
“Of us,” Sirocco butted in.
“You didn’t do anything,” Rattlesnake snapped. “Well, our part of the deal is done. Let’s take Sunny back. I’ll bet Aloe will pay a fortune for her. Cloak her.”
Sirocco pulled off his cloak with a grin, putting it over Sunny’s snout before she could get out another word. A paw pushed her head to the ground, her eyes stinging from the scent of Sirocco’s unwashed scales as Sunny’s vision went dark.
“Get her out of here,” Rattlesnake’s muffled voice said. “Then light this place up.”
== Chapter 7 ==
Midnight stood on the banks of the Great Five-Tail River, paws shaking uncontrollably. She looked up to see the roofs of Crosswinds towering above her, their peaks reaching up to the moons, staring down at her like the gaze of a three-eyed dragon.
“Ecru?” Midnight yelled out, her voice shaky. “Ecru? Where are you?”
There was no response, Midnight’s voice only echoing through the alleyways. “Ecru? Ecru? Ecru?” the echoes squealed back at her mockingly.
Midnight’s head whipped around as she thought she saw a flash of scales behind her. Where she looked, the view seemed exactly the same, buildings preventing her from seeing any further. “Ecru!” she yelled again.
Midnight suddenly felt a claw grab ahold of her tail, and she let out a scream. She turned, expecting to see the assassin’s claws clutching her. Instead, her tail was as normal as always.
“W-who are you!” Midnight shouted. She tried to turn, but wherever she looked, the buildings of Crosswinds blocked out her view. “Show yourself!”
Midnight felt a pulse of air against her snout, and started to hear the slow breathing of a dragon. She looked around, trying to find where it was coming from, but to no luck. Where was she?
Midnight glanced down, staring at her forelegs. Red lines appeared on them, blood gushing from the wounds. It crawled up and down her legs until her dark blue scales were coated in a sticky red. “Stop!” Midnight screamed. “Go away! I’m an animus! I’ll curse you!”
The breathing suddenly stopped, and everything seemed to go quiet. Midnight looked down again. The blood was all gone.
Midnight felt a tremor creep up her skull, her snout clenching up in pain. Her ears started to ring, a high pitched buzz creeping into her brain.
H͓͉̖̦͈̰͎̐̽̍̾̒̆͘͠ȅ̴̝͇̥̬͉̬̦̬̊̊̃͟͞ļ͎̝͙̺̞͈̒̌͊̒̈́̆̚͘͜p̶͚͚̣̯̓̍͗̓̀̇ͅ
“What?” Midnight asked, unsure where the buzz was coming from.
Three moons, why are your thoughts so loud? I can hear you all the way from Crosswinds. Just wake up already.
Midnight’s eyelids fluttered open, her heart racing and her breath short. She stared up at the roof of Gazelle’s ceiling, light shining against her scales.
“Midnight, are you okay?”
Midnight turned to see Ecru’s snout over her, one of the hybrid’s paws on her scales. Midnight tried to take in a deep breath.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” Midnight tried to smile. “Just a nightmare.”
Ecru nodded, relieved. “What was it about?” she asked.
Midnight didn’t really want to relive it so soon, but she knew that Ecru put more faith in dreams than her. “Not really symbolic or anything,” Midnight explained. “Just about being attacked last night. There was the assassin I couldn’t see, then I had blood all over my forelegs, then there was some buzzing. And someone told me to wake up. Was that you?”
“Me?” Ecru asked, confused. “Er, no, I don’t think so.”
“Huh,” Midnight mused. “Do you think it means something bad?”
Ecru pondered this for a moment. “Well, you reliving last night seems normal at least,” she answered. She frowned, curling her talons.
“You look concerned,” Midnight said.
Ecru shook her head. “No. It’s nothing.”
Midnight nodded and rolled over, getting onto her belly before standing up on all fours. “Well, that’s good,” Midnight laughed. “I don’t want it to be prophetic. One attack was enough.”
Ecru frowned again, glancing towards the boarded windows of the house. “Do you think we’re safe here?” she asked quietly. “The assassin is still out there. Even if they give up, whoever sent them after us won’t.”
Midnight looked over towards Gazelle, who was quietly reading a scroll as the two talked. If Midnight was in danger here, then so were Gazelle and Ecru. She had do something about it, if not for her own sake, for theirs.
“No,” Midnight replied. “They might know that we’re here, and they could attack again. Even tomorrow night.”
“We should investigate,” Ecru suggested. “I want to figure out who attacked us.”
“You don’t think it was Aloe?” Midnight asked. “She knows who I am and has a pretty clear incentive. I helped Torrent escape her.”
Ecru thought for a moment. “I don’t know,” she responded. “Given the news and the siege at the palace, Aloe has far larger problems than you. I could see her going after Torrent, maybe, but not you. Also, I don’t think the weapons were coated in venom. SandWing assassins normally do that.”
“You don’t think the assassin was a SandWing?” Midnight asked, surprised. She supposed it wasn’t that strange. There were plenty of MudWings in Crosswinds, and that included assassins. Even a few SkyWings. “But why would a MudWing want me dead?”
Ecru shrugged. “Maybe they don’t like hybrids? Or NightWings? Or maybe they found out you were an animus.”
Midnight shook her head. “How would they find that out? I don’t think anyone but us three and Torrent knows.”
“Torrent has his map,” Ecru suggested. “What if someone else got ahold of it, or someone has something like it that could find animuses? ”
Midnight thought about that for a moment. Someone other than Torrent, hunting animuses? That made things far more dangerous. She wouldn’t have even been able to use her magic anyways if the assassin had been protected from it.
“Alright,” Midnight decided. “I still think Aloe is the most likely culprit. But we should investigate.”
Ecru grinned, almost excited to be solving this gruesome mystery. “There might be clues back where we were last night,” Ecru said. “Maybe the assassin dropped something.”
“Do you think it’s safe?” Midnight replied with a frown. “The assassin could be lying there in wait.”
“I don’t think we’ll be attacked in broad daylight,” Ecru said. “There will be other dragons around.”
“Hmm,” Midnight thought, fretting. What if they were attacked anyways? What if the assassin followed them back to Gazelle’s house afterwards? It would be safer for them to just stay here. But they had to do something — they couldn’t just be basking lizards, waiting to be snapped up. “Okay. We’ll go search. But keep your eyes peeled.”
Ecru smiled. “Great! Race you there?”
Midnight gave Gazelle a quick wave goodbye before exiting their house and heading to the nearest clearing. She hesitated a moment as Ecru opened her wings, getting ready to take off. Was flying a good idea? They could be spotted easier. Maybe they should walk again?
Ecru took off, and Midnight let out a sigh. She couldn’t live like this, afraid that every action she took would end up getting the both of them killed. She spread her wings and took off after Ecru towards the alleys where they’d been attacked.
----The two landed just uphill of the alleys they’d been attacked in last night, the sun high in the sky, illuminating the crevasses between the buildings. Midnight stared at the roofs. They weren’t towering to the sky like they had been in her nightmare. The wind on her scales and the faint smell of sewage told her this was real.
“I shouldn’t have stayed in Crosswinds after what happened with Torrent and Aloe,” Midnight muttered as the two walked downhill, trying to remember exactly where they’d been attacked last night. “I should’ve known it wouldn’t have ever been safe here.”
“Where would we go?” Ecru asked. “Possibility?”
“Maybe,” Midnight sighed. “Maybe Jade Mountain. That’s where my uncle is.” Torrent had warned her not to go to Possibility, afraid that Crystal would find her there. Was that still a concern? The drought was over, which probably meant that Torrent had triumphed over Crystal. But Midnight hadn’t seen her father since — one of Midnight’s neighbors mentioned seeing a SeaWing while she and Ecru had been in hiding. Which meant he was still alive. Why had he come back?
Midnight made a sudden turn, freezing up as she saw the alley beyond. Even without the streaks of blood, she was able to recognize it as the alley where they’d been attacked. She gave a quick glance behind her, checking for other dragons. Only Ecru was there. At this time of day, there were no shadows to hide in.
“Here we are,” Ecru frowned, peering down at her own blood stains. She looked over at her back, where she’d been sliced open. The healing magic had done its job well; there wasn’t even a scar left.
Midnight closed her eyes and sighed. At the moment, there was nothing to be worried about. She walked further along the alley, looking back and forth for any clues. A few more drops of blood here and there. But nothing that looked out of place.
“I can’t find anything,” Midnight grumbled. “Just a bit of blood. No thrown weapons.”
“How do you think the assassin attacked us then?” Ecru wondered, walking over to Midnight. “What if they used their mind to slice us open?”
Midnight snorted. “That’s silly. Not even the NightWings have claimed that they could do that. And I’m sure I saw some flashes of something metal go by me. It’s more likely that the assassin just picked up whatever was thrown at us after we swam off.”
“Covering their tracks,” Ecru mused. “That’s not good. How many things were thrown at us?”
Midnight tried to think back. There were two in the alleyway, one down by the river? No, that didn’t seem right. There were more, weren’t there? She sighed. “I have no idea,” she replied. “It wasn’t really something I was keeping track of.”
Ecru frowned, tapping a claw against the ground. “Alright,” she said. “How about we retrace our steps, and see if we can find anything else?”
Midnight nodded, and the two headed down the alley, trying to retrace their steps from the night before. There was little but a few splotches of blood from where they made their dash downhill. Eventually, Midnight and Ecru reached the banks of the Great Five-Tail River.
Midnight dipped a paw in the water, opening and closing her talons to let it rush against her webbing, small pebbles catching against her claws. She turned around, facing the buildings of Crosswinds.
“This was where we were,” Midnight stated. “I think the assassin was . . .” she waved a paw, pointing to a large breadth of area between the buildings. “. . . somewhere in that direction.”
Ecru paced back and forth along the riverbank, her snout to the ground. “Can’t find anything here either,” she sighed. “No sort of metal weapons.”
“I’m sure the assassin threw something at us,” Midnight assured Ecru. She looked from the buildings to the river. “What if it fell in? They might not have been able to retrieve it.”
Ecru thought for a moment. “It would’ve gone downstream. It could’ve gotten caught by something, but if it didn’t, it’s long-gone.”
Midnight nodded. “I can see underwater alright, so I’ll go down and back and see if I can find anything.”
Midnight jumped into the water with a splash small for a creature of her size, wings opening up like huge fins. She swam down towards the bottom of the murky river, scanning it and the nearest side for any sort of object. Nothing here. She hit her tail against the bottom of the river, trying to clear away dirt just in case it had gotten buried. All it did was kick up more dirt and scatter a few tiny fishes. Midnight shook her head. Maybe further downstream?
Midnight slowly swam downstream, weaving and scanning left and right, looking for anything interesting. A piece of bone sticking out of the dirt caught her eye. Not really what she was looking for — she didn’t think she’d had a bone thrown at her. As she swam on from the bone, something at the bottom of the riverbed glinted. Something metal and circular, just barely poking out of the dirt.
Midnight didn’t want to get her hopes up. What if it was just a coin? It could’ve fallen out of Midnight’s pouch. Yet as she got close to it, it became apparent it was a lot larger than a coin, closer to the size of a dragon’s paw. She wrapped her paw around it, then gave out a small yipe, bubbles rising up above her. She glanced at her paw. The object had cut the inside of it, and a little bit of blood was coming out from a thin red line. This was definitely whatever the assassin had used.
More carefully, Midnight pinched the flat edge of the object with her talons, and carefully pulled it out from the riverbed, displacing dirt as she did so. A thin silver disc shaped like a flat ring was exposed, with a blunt inner edge and an outer edge sharper than an IceWing’s claws. Midnight frowned. She hadn’t seen anything like it before.
Midnight rose back up to the surface, taking a deep breath as she broke through it. She quickly swam back over to Ecru, holding the disc in her claws. “Found it!” she yelled out victoriously.
Ecru held out a paw and grabbed onto Midnight, helping pull her out of the water. The dripping wet hybrid placed the disc down on the ground, letting Ecru get a look at it. Sun glinted off the metal, distorting through drops of water left over from the disc. This was what had almost killed them.
“It’s so sharp,” Ecru whispered, tilting her head as she stared at its edge. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“And light,” Midnight whispered. “Someone trained could throw something like this fast, and far.”
“You could put it on your tail too,” Ecru commented, poking her tail through the center of the ring. “Then swing it around. It’d be sharper than an IceWing’s spikes.”
“Dangerous,” Midnight muttered. “And well-crafted. Someone spent a lot of time on this. Which meant whoever hired our assassin probably has a lot of money. Hence why I think it’s Aloe.”
“The SandWing treasury was almost barren after the war,” Ecru reminded Midnight. “And how would Aloe get funds out of the palace? I don’t think she’d risk it just to kill you.”
“Maybe,” Midnight replied, not convinced.
“We should ask Gazelle,” Ecru suggested. “She’s been around forever. There’s a good chance she’s seen similar weapons.”
Midnight hadn’t considered that before. For Midnight’s entire life, Gazelle had been losing her memory. Midnight often forgot that Gazelle had been alive for so long, and that she held a wealth of knowledge and experiences from that.
“Good idea,” Midnight replied. She carefully picked up the metal disc, placing her tail through the hole in its center so that its blunt inner edge pressed into her scales.
“Remind me not to twine tails with you,” Ecru joked. “I think I’d lose mine.”
Midnight smiled half-heartedly. It was a bit too soon since the attack last night for her to make jokes like that yet. “Alright,” she said, opening her speckled blue wings up. “I think we’ve found all we can.”
----Gazelle lifted the silver disc up above her snout, squinting as she stared closely at it. “Hmmm,” she mused.
Midnight and Ecru looked up at her patiently, waiting to hear the ancient SandWing’s words of wisdom.
“Nope,” Gazelle replied, shaking her head. “Sorry. Haven’t seen weapons like it before.”
The two hybrids gave out a mutual sigh. “Alright,” Midnight grumbled, taking the weapon back. “Thanks anyways.”
“If you’re looking to find an assassin, might I suggest the Scorpion Den?” Gazelle said. “Someone there might have some idea what this is, or where it came from.”
“The Scorpion Den?” Midnight replied, concerned. Gazelle was right. If they wanted to find a dragon who knew who this weapon belongs to, the Scorpion Den was the right place to go. “But it’s dangerous. Filled with theives, spies, plots, and . . . well, assassins.”
“It’s our best lead,” Ecru quietly said. “I’ve heard that the rumors are a bit exaggerated. The Scorpion Den isn’t that bad, as long as you keep your head down and don’t get involved with anyone bad.”
Midnight shook her head. “I don’t know,” she stated. “I don’t want to put you in more danger just for me.”
Ecru frowned, flicking her barbed tail back and forth. “This isn’t just for you,” she snapped, a hint of anger in her voice, “the assassin could have very well been after me, or the both of us. Staying alone would be more dangerous. And even if they were just after you, I’m not staying back just to see you get hurt. I’ve been involved in this from the start; I’m not going anywhere.”
Midnight uncomfortably shuffled her paws. She was the animus, not Ecru. She could probably defend herself. She looked down into Ecru’s eyes and sighed. Ecru wouldn’t leave her alone unless Midnight said she could come. And it would be less scary with Ecru coming along. “Alright,” Midnight agreed. “Just stay safe. Gazelle, will you be alright by yourself?”
The elderly SandWing chuckled. “I’ve been doing much better since you healed me. I took care of myself for quite some time, I don’t think I’ll have many problems. I think it’s you that you need to worry about.”
“If the assassin comes back?” Midnight asked, still concerned. She knew that Gazelle had been capable at one point, but Midnight still wasn’t sure. It felt like most of her life, she’d been taking care of Gazelle, not the other way around.
Gazelle craned her neck high, until her horns touched the ceiling. Midnight had forgotten how large the ancient SandWing was. Gazelle whipped her tail around in front of her, flashing her barb and her scar-less tails. “I can defend myself. You should take the healing scroll.”
Midnight wasn’t sure of that — the assassin had been almost invisible. Gazelle couldn’t fight someone she couldn’t see. But hopefully, with Midnight and Ecru gone, the assassin would leave Gazelle alone.
“Alright,” Midnight reluctantly replied. “I’ll take it with me.” If they ran into the assassin again, they might need it.
“We should go as soon as we can,” Ecru suggested, “just in case the assassin comes back tonight.”
Midnight nodded in agreement. “So we leave now.”
Gazelle smiled. “Let me get you some food and water for the trip. I know the flight isn’t that long, but you’re not a SandWing. You need to stay hydrated in the desert.”
Midnight smiled and went to the scrollcase, rummaging through it, looking for where she’d hid the healing scroll. She pulled it out, opening it up. Just this one enchantment had saved their lives multiple times over.
Midnight rolled the scroll closed as Gazelle finished up, and handed Midnight two leather pouches. One with food for the trip, and the other heavier, a filled waterskin. Midnight took them and strapped them over her back, letting them hang beneath her.
“Thanks,” Midnight said. “We shouldn’t be too long. A few days there and back, maybe a week at most.”
“That’s good,” Gazelle gently smiled. “Stay safe, and be back soon.”
“I will, I promise,” Midnight replied. “Thank you. For everything.”
Gazelle nodded knowingly. With a last look back at her, Midnight left their Crosswinds house, side-by-side with Ecru. The sun was already dipping down in the sky, getting ready to set. Midnight took a deep breath. It was time to finally leave Crosswinds.
== Chapter 8 ==
Tiger’s head swirled around, everything moving and blurry. One of her paws clutched up as she put it out for support. It felt like the whole world was moving our from under her, swaying and rolling her back and forth. The RainWing closed her eyes tight, trying to blot it out.
“You’re finally awake?”
Skytaker’s voice pierced into Tiger’s head like ice, finally bringing her to consciousness. Tiger grumbled groggily as she opened an eye. The world started to become brought into focus. She could see two crimson figures of Skytaker, strange lines behind the hybrids. As Tiger squinted, the two Skytakers became one, and the lines coalesced into shining black bars. Beyond that, pitch-black darkness filled with specks of white light, like stars in the sky.
“What took you so long?” Skytaker snorted. “We’ve been waiting forever for you to wake up.”
Tiger placed a paw on her head. We? Who else was there, Sepia? She started to remember what had happened. They’d gone down into the rainforest, and Queen Glory had been there. They’d been shot with sleeping darts. That explained why she was still so tired.
“We?” Tiger asked groggily. “Oh. Ermine was there. Where is he?”
Skytaker rolled their eyes, and pointed a talon to behind Tiger. Tiger followed it until she saw Ermine, quietly huddling against the bars, the tip of his snout pointing between them. The RainWing glanced around, trying to figure out where she was. A quick look made her realize they were in some kind of cage, large enough to fit three dragons in. The black bars rose up straight in a circle around the three, until they curved and met up above them, forming a loop where a chain ran through, hanging the cage from a ceiling far above. That explained the swaying feeling.
Tiger glanced down to the floor of the cage, the same black material as the bars. A small hemispherical white stone was embedded within it, giving of the light that allowed them to see the cage at all. She gently ran a claw against the black stone. The surface was strangely smooth and glassy. The cage was made of obsidian.
“What’s going on?” Tiger asked Skytaker.
Skytaker shrugged their wings. “No clue,” the hybrid responded. “We haven’t seen any other dragons since we woke up, although sometimes we think we can hear the sound of other dragons in the distance.”
They moved their paw towards the outside of the cage. Tiger gave it a closer look. It was all black outside, with the faint speckles of light. Likely from other cages with similar light sources. It was as if they were hanging in the middle of a moonless night sky. A small burst of wind caused the cave to sway, as if confirming this.
Ermine let out a nervous whimper, causing Tiger and Skytaker’s attentions to turn to him. “What if Blackice captured us?” he asked nervously. “We’ll all be dead.”
“That’s stupid,” Skytaker replied confidently. “It was clearly Glory who kidnapped us, not Blackice. We saw her.”
“What if Blackice reanimated Glory somehow, and made Glory her slave?” Ermine wondered, folding his wings in to protect him from the wind.
Skytaker seemed to consider this for a moment. It would explain why Glory had been acting so weird.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Tiger explained, looking around at the other points of light. Were they in some sort of huge underground cavern? If they were, there had to be walls at some point, and the lights would be dimmer in one direction unless they were at the center. “Even animuses can’t bring dragons back to life.”
“There are rumors,” Ermine whispered, his teeth chattering, “that Blackice discovered mysterious magick during her exile to the far north. That she’s seen things that would make a dragon’s head explode.”
Tiger let out a snort in disdain. That sounded more like a story that older dragonets told younger dragonets to scare them than anything based in truth. “I don’t think that’s true, but I know Queen Glory well. I think this is odd behavior for her.”
“Kidnapping us is a little more than odd,” Skytaker muttered sarcastically. “And where did she take us? I’m pretty sure a place like this doesn’t exist in the rainforest. Unless there’s some secret RainWing prison that no one’s told me about.”
“It doesn’t as far as I know,” Tiger confirmed. “Look at the cage. It’s made of obsidian, so maybe it could’ve come from the NightWing’s volcanic island. Although obsidian isn’t really a suitable building material, so I’m surprised something like this could’ve been constructed at all. See how flat the floor is?”
“See?” Ermine suggested. “It’s magic. There’s even a moon globe that’s not actually a moon globe.” He pointed to the glowing white hemisphere with the tip of his tail.
Tiger sighed. She hadn’t really wanted to consider magic as a possibility. It made everything confusing and nonsensical. Logic, reason, and deduction no longer seemed to apply. 
“Alright,” she conceded. “Maybe an animus did construct this. I can’t see another way an underground, or even above-ground, chamber this large could’ve been constructed by mundane methods. Maybe I’d be able to identify the age of the construction based on its architectural style if I saw more of it, although animuses tend to defy their time’s zeitgeist.”
“It’s not the time to identify the architectural style,” Skytaker muttered, lifting their paws up and down anxiously as they started to pace around the cage, rocking it even more. “We need to get out. We’ve been taken prisoner! Do you think I could melt the obsidian with my firebreath.”
Tiger shook her head. “I disagree. We need to figure out what’s going on first. Why did an animus build a ginormous secret chamber where dragons are being kept prisoner? Even if we get out of this cage, where will we go? How will we get out? We’d probably just end up captured again, or even worse, dead.”
“We could also be dead if we wait,” Skytaker retorted. “Glory, Blackice, or whoever is behind this might be planning to keep us alive. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather die trying to escape than being killed as a prisoner. I’m gonna melt this thing.”
Without another word, Skytaker turned their snout towards the bars, and took in a deep breath, preparing to shoot flame at it. Right as they were about to exhale out fire, the cage suddenly lurched, almost causing the three to fall over. Tiger noticed the chainlinks clanking, the specks of light in the sky moving downwards. Their cage was rising.
“Oh no,” Ermine trembled. “We’re being pulled up. They figured out Skytaker was trying to escape, and now they’re going to kill us!”
“I didn’t even do anything,” Skytaker pouted, glaring up at the chain. They looked back at the bars. It was too late to try and melt them now.
Slowly, the cage rose above the other lights, only seeing the black ceiling of the chamber above them, and a growing light up where the chain was hanging from. Tiger patiently waited as they were pulled up, until it was clear that the light at the ceiling was from a lit chamber, the colorful snouts of dragons peering over its edge.
Finally, the cage reached the top, and the three dragons were pulled up into almost blinding light. As their eyes adjusted, they saw a ring of RainWings circling them, all staring at the three silently. One RainWing took ahold of a large circular slab of stone, and pushed it beneath the cage, sealing the circular hole that the cage had been pulled out of, hiding the prisons beneath.
Another RainWing turned a nearby crank, and the cage lowered down to the stone. He walked over to the cage, and held out a key, touching it to the cage’s bars. Immediately, the bars of the cage started to slide, opening up the side of the cage.
Tiger stared. How were they sliding? There were no grooves for the bars to move in, and they’d been fused together at the top of the cage. Magic? Had an animus created this entire dungeon?
The room the three were now in was far more welcoming than the cold darkness beneath them. The walls were painted a clean white, dressed with purple and gold fabrics. A faint light seemed to shine from all around them, but as Tiger moved her paw, she couldn’t tell where its source was. There were no shadows cast by her paw, leading to an intense feeling of wrongness wherever she looked.
“Move,” the RainWing with the key grunted, glaring at the three dragons, still inside the cage. “Follow me.”
Tiger quickly complied, taking a step out of the cage onto what seemed like a rug. She carefully lifted her talons up, not wanting to accidentally tear the fabric. She started to walk after the RainWing, Ermine quickly catching up to her so not to be left behind. Tiger glanced back to see Skytaker was still in the cage.
“I want some answers first,” Skytaker growled, baring their fangs. “Where are we? Why did you dart us? Where’s Glory?”
The RainWing leading them frowned. “You’ll get answers soon,” he said. “Come on. The Empress is this way.”
The Empress? Tiger wondered, confused. She hadn’t heard of anyone called that before. And why were there so many RainWings? Is this where they’d all disappeared to, after the IceWings attacked the rainforest?
She looked around at the other RainWings guarding them, just standing by and staring as the three walked along the rug, down a hallway. Tiger stared at their faces. Why were none of them familiar? The rainforest was big, but not that big, and she’d lived most of her life. She should’ve at least recognized someone.
Finally, her gaze landed on dark purple scales. “Mangrove!” Tiger said, finally seeing a dragon she recognized. “What’s going on?”
Mangrove’s snout furled at the mention of his name, and a hint of confusion crossed his expression, hints of orange forming on the tip of his nose. He opened his mouth, about to say something, but a glare from the RainWing leading the three shut him up.
“Mangrove,” Tiger said again, trying to get his attention. She was slightly frantic. She hadn’t known Mangrove well, but being completely unresponsive was out of character for him. “Are you okay? I’m happy you got away from the IceWin—”
“Quiet,” the RainWing leading them hissed. “Move along. No talking.”
Tiger shut her mouth, giving Mangrove one last hopeful glance. He said nothing, only staring with the same blank gaze as the rest of the RainWings. Hopefully, this would all be sorted out soon enough.
Skytaker’s pace suddenly quickened, allowing the hybrid to walk side-by-side with Tiger. They gave Tiger a cautious glance. “The Empress,” they whispered, before turning their gaze down to the rug.
Tiger followed it. Ahead of them, the rug brandished the figure of another RainWing she’d never seen before, her scales a regal violet, embellished in gold stars and spirals like a SeaWing’s wings. Her snout seemed to stare up from the rug, like her golden eyes were watching the three approaching dragonets. A crown of golden leaves and vines rested upon her horns. Certainly befitting whoever the Empress was.
Two wooden doors blocked the end of the hallway, neither with any sort of handle. The RainWing leading the three stood in front of them, not opening the doors. Tiger looked down to his paws. A circle of golden paint glittered on the floor around him, the RainWing in the center.
“Well?” Skytaker asked, confused as to what was going on. “Are we visiting the Empress or not?”
“Wait,” the RainWing growled.
Skytaker rolled their eyes, tapping their tail against the tassels of the rug. Suddenly, the two doors opened up, seemingly on their own. The RainWing walked out of the circle, through them.
“Magic,” Ermine whispered.
Tiger frowned. Was the Empress an animus? She hadn’t realized the RainWings had any.
The wooden doors led into a strangely circular chamber, the decorated walls curving around. In the center of the small room, another golden circle was painted on the ground, which the RainWing leading them quickly stood in. The three walked in after the RainWing leading them, Tiger glancing back. The other RainWings, including Mangrove, had all stayed behind. She gave him one last look before the two wooden doors closed, no dragon having touched them.
The room suddenly gave out a lurch, and Tiger put out a paw to keep herself balanced. Were they moving? Tiger stared around at the room, quickly swiveling her head around. She couldn’t tell anymore, but it had felt like they’d suddenly changed speed, like if your wings caught a burst of wind while flying. Was it just the room, or the whole . . . palace? She didn’t know they were in a palace for sure, but it had dungeons, nice rugs, and an Empress. So it was probably some sort of palace.
After about a minute, the room gave another lurch, and the two doors swung open, revealing a red rug, leading up a staircase. Tiger looked back to the RainWing.
“Move,” he growled again.
She sighed, and complied, followed by Ermine and Skytaker.
The stairwell was short, and as the three reached the top, Tiger felt a familiar warmth reach her scales, and looked up to see the glint of sunlight above her. The RainWing dragonet sighed in relief. She’d been worried she’d be trapped underground or in a strangely uniformly lit corridor forever. She was glad to see the sun again.
“It’s hot,” Ermine complained quietly to Tiger. “And humid. Like the rainforest.”
The staircase opened up into what looked like a huge greenhouse. Short plants and grasses covered a large floor, almost but not quite creeping up into the red rug that marked their path. Tiger touched her talon to a violet flower on the side of the rug, letting the smooth petals touch her scales. Beyond it was a small field of grasses and flowers, ending in a wall of huge triangular glass panes, matched together at the edges. Tiger looked up from there, to see that the panes had been placed in order to create a huge hemisphere, surrounding the greenhouse’s floor. The sun shone from high in the cloudless sky, glinting and reflecting off the panes.
Out from the edge of the greenhouse, Tiger could see that they were positioned in some sort of tower, far above the surrounding land. A ring of steep green hills rose up around the edge, the palace built in the center. Tiger could just barely see four more towers below the edge of the glass, one for each cardinal cardinal direction. Separate wings of the palace, perhaps? Whatever this place was, it was larger and more magnificent than any description of a queens’ palace she’d ever read. Befitting for a RainWing titled the Empress.
Lush green forests reached out beyond the steep hills, until they flattened off into white sandy beaches. Beyond that, crystal blue water stretched out to the horizon, gentle white waves lapping against the surface of the beach. Not a cloud or storm in sight. Wherever this was, it seemed like paradise to Tiger. Was this where the RainWings had escaped to after leaving the rainforest? Was this their new home? If it was, Tiger didn’t blame them for staying hidden, not wanting the Blackice’s IceWings to ruin it. Still, there was something odd about it. Some sort of déjà vu.
“It’s beautiful,” Skytaker quietly said, staring out at the island alongside Tiger.
Tiger nodded, trying to think. What was bugging her about it?
“Eh,” Ermine muttered. “It’s alright. Seems too warm for me.”
Tiger traced out one of the coastlines with a talon. She could’ve sworn that she’d seen the coastline somewhere else before. The southern edge of the rainforest? No, that couldn’t be it. This was an island. What islands had she visited before? She’d been on a few trips to one of the islands off the southern coast, but this couldn’t be it.
“Keep moving,” the RainWing leading them growled again. “Don’t keep the Empress waiting.”
Tiger started walking down the red carpet, towards the center of the greenhouse throne room. She tried to think. What other islands had she visited. The only one she could think of was . . . the volcanic NightWing island.
Tiger’s head immediately turned back to the side, staring at the coastline. It matched, at least she thought it did. And the steep hills she seen surrounding them — those weren’t hills. This was the center of a volcano’s crater.
“It can’t be,” she whispered out loud, provoking a confused glance from Skytaker and a glare from the RainWing leading them. Tiger shook her head. She’d been to the volcanic island not that long ago, when trying to rescue some of the NightWing library to take to Jade Mountain. It had looked nothing like this. Solidified lava flows, smoke and smog, and not a touch of green anywhere in sight. How could this be the same place?
Ermine’s words rang in Tiger’s head. Magic, it had to have been magic. Had an animus done this? And if so . . . how much of their soul had that animus lost?
Tiger’s gaze turned down the red path. The plants and grass seemed to shrink further on, until the path split into two pieces, separating to make way for a huge glass orb, floating just above the ground. Its surface was milky-clear, and Tiger’s eyes seemed to be instantly tranced by it. The three walked forward, staring up at the huge orb, multiple times the size of the largest dragon.
“What is that?” Tiger asked the RainWing leading them. As her eyes scanned to the top of the orb, she saw curved glass lenses, floating and slowly turning in the space above it, going all the way up to the top of the greenhouse.
“Keep moving,” the RainWing growled again.
Tiger sighed. She wouldn’t get any information out of this dragon. Maybe this Empress would be more open.
As the three circled around the orb, Tiger took another gaze out onto the island below. Were there options other than animus magic for what had happened to it? Maybe they’d somehow travelled far into the future — it would explain all the RainWings she didn’t know, and how this structure that had clearly not been on the NightWing island the last time she’d been there had appeared. But then, why was Mangrove here? And how was Queen Glory alive?
As she turned around the final stretch of the orb, the two red carpets rejoined, and came to their end. In front of the three, a mass of vines grew up from the ground, twisting and braiding each other in order to form a huge throne. The rug Tiger had walked across earlier had been unable to capture the sheer beauty and formidability of the dragon sitting there. The Empress gazed down at the three from the throne, violet scales highlighted with glittering golden stars and spirals, as if the metal itself had been placed there. Her golden crown of leaves sparkled in the sunlight, the same color as her piercing eyes.
Queen Glory sat impatiently at the left side of the Empress, the tip of her tail flicking as she saw the three approach, a mild frown appearing on her snout. She looked much the same as when Tiger had seen her before her supposed death — blue-green scales with frills the color of the sunset, eyes the colors of emeralds. Yet, something seemed different about her. For one, Tiger noticed that the black circle tattoo that she’d seen on Glory’s neck back in the rainforest was now missing. But it wasn’t just that; why did Glory look so annoyed to see Tiger? She’d never been a ball of joy, but she’d been patient with Tiger at least. And it was odd to see her clearly below the Empress, had Queen Glory given up her throne? Tiger wanted answers to what was going on here.
“Welcome, dragonets,” the Empress said with a smile. Tiger looked up to her. Who was this RainWing? “I’m so sorry for your unkempt welcome to my domain. I am Empress Liliana, ruler of this place.”
“Who?” Skytaker suddenly asked. “I haven’t heard of you before.”
A flash of irritation quickly crossed Empress Liliana’s face, the scales behind her golden eyes slightly orange. She sighed.
“Empress Liliana,” the Empress replied. “I normally don’t grant dragons an audience with me, but I felt awful about your mistreatment and thought you deserved some explanation. You’re not prisoners here, but guests, and I really hope we didn’t get off on the wrong foot.”
Foot? Tiger wondered.
“Are your guests normally drugged and put in cages?” Skytaker questioned.
Tiger gave them a glare of warning. Were they trying to make enemies with Empress Liliana?
Liliana sighed again, tapping her talons on her throne of vines. Even with her regal appearance and her brilliant scales, Tiger could tell she had emotions under there. And Skytaker was quickly turning them to anger. Had she been Queen Scarlet, she might have thrown them in the arena already.
“Again, that was a horrible misunderstanding,” Liliana continued. “Glory.”
Glory looked up at her name being called, making eye contact with the violet empress. “Yes, your majesty?”
“Apologize at once to the dragonets,” the Empress ordered.
Glory frowned. “Your majesty,” she replied, “I did what I thought was right. I knew our Tiger, and thought she’d be useful. She’s quite the —”
“Quiet,” Empress Liliana ordered with a snap of her tail through the air, silencing Glory. “This isn’t the place to discuss such matters. Apologize.”
Tiger saw Skytaker toss her a concerned glance. She nodded. She’d heard what Glory had said. Queen Glory thought Tiger would be useful. Normally Tiger would have been unconcerned with this, even proud to be of use to her queen, but with all the strangeness that was going on, Tiger was unsure.
Glory gave out a huff, and turned her head towards the three dragonets, looking at Ermine, Skytaker, and finally Tiger in turn. “I’m sorry,” she grumbled.
Liliana smiled, light bouncing off the gold in her wings. “There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” she said to Glory, almost patronizingly. The Empress turned back to the dragonets. “Are you satisfied?”
“No!” Skytaker shouted out. “Why did you drug us in the first place? Where are we? What’s going on?”
Liliana opened her mouth, almost like she was surprised with the number of questions Skytaker was asking. “Please, I’m sure you dragonets are very confused right now, but one question at a time.”
Tiger took the chance to ask hers. “Is this the NightWing island?” she quickly asked. “Why is it all green?”
The Empress thought about this for a moment, and Tiger could see her concerned expression turn to one of surprise. “That was two questions,” Liliana smiled, her eyes devoid of menace. “Not one.”
“Sometimes the answers to two questions are intertwined like two tails stuck together,” Tiger retorted. “If I ask both at once, I might understand more.”
Liliana shook her head and smiled again, pearly fangs grinning. “You don’t need to be humble, my dear. You asked the second question because you already knew the answer to the first one.” She turned towards Glory. “I see what you meant. She’s quite impressive.”
Tiger shuffled uncomfortably. She didn’t like the two RainWings treating her like this, especially when she was still in the dark.
“Alright,” Empress Liliana said. “I’ll answer your question, but prepare to be shocked. The three of you have in fact been taken to a different world by General Glory, one much similar to your own in some ways, but also quite different.”
Tiger stared up at Empress LIliana, gold veins glittering through her violet scales. A different world, Tiger wondered, starting out the edge of the greenhouse at the greenery of the volcanic island. Was that true? It made more sense than any of the other explanations she’d considered so far, but it was so out there. Like a dragonet’s dream.
“Another world?” Ermine squealed. Tiger could see his shock in his eyes, how the IceWing dragonet’s worldview had been shattered. Before, he’d only known of Pyrrhia, and while huge, he could manage thinking of the entire continent as a place. His actions, or the actions of any other dragon, could easily reach the most desolate corners of the continent. But to learn that there was more than that, so much that would always be out of his reach, might be shocking. Tiger was long past that revelation — she’d stared up at the stars from the treetops since she was no larger than a dragon’s paw. She’d studied the ancient NightWing scrolls, and knew how they were able to track and predict their movements if one didn’t include the strange days of the Scorching. She knew that some scholars had thought that the stars in the sky were the same as Pyrrhia’s sun, and that they circled or were circled by their own worlds, where other dragons might live.
Liliana nodded. “Yes, that’s what I said. Welcome, dear dragonets, to my wonderful world, Antigonia.”
Antigonia, Tiger thought, whispering the name under her breath. Even if she’d suspected that there were other worlds before, she’d never before considered that she might ever touch one with her own paws. Tiger slowly lifted her paw up, flexing her talons. Toxin would be so excited to hear that Tiger had been to another world when Tiger got back to Jade Mountain.
“Wait just a second,” Skytaker said. “If you’re from another world, does that mean we’ve been abducted by aliens?”
The Empress let out a hearty laugh. “Oh, I’m not sure I’d call us aliens. At least from what General Glory has reported to me, the dragons of Antigonia are the same species as the dragons of your world.”
More than just the same species, Tiger wondered. Antigonia seemed to have many of the same dragons, like Glory, Mangrove, and apparently Tiger herself. Were there only RainWings? Or were the other tribes also present?
“How did you get to Pyrrhia?” Tiger asked. “There isn’t air in the space between stars, so how could you fly?”
“Pyrrhia?” Liliana questioned. Her grin seemed to have suddenly faded.
“It’s our world’s name,” Skytaker answered.
Liliana frowned. “Of course it is,” she replied. She quickly doused her grimace, and returned to her mild smile. “I’m actually not quite sure where Antigonia is in spatial relation to your world. In fact, I used my magic to get from Antigonia to your w - to Pyrrhia.”
“Magic?” Ermine asked, quickly perking up at the mention. “You’re an animus?”
So Ermine was right after all, Tiger thought. There is animus magic involved.
“A what?” Liliana asked, a puzzled grin on her snout. “An aminus?”
“Animus,” Ermine quickly corrected her. “Dragons that can use magic. They can enchant things to have whatever property they want, but if they do it too much, they start to lose their souls.”
So that’s another difference between this world and ours, Tiger pondered. Was Liliana an animus, or did the RainWing have some other sort of magic? And if she was an animus, and she’d used magic to create this tower and travel between worlds, what did that mean for her soul? Tiger looked up at the shining Empress. Was there evil in her gaze?
A few of the scales on Liliana’s paws started to change from violet, to blue, and finally to green. The confident Empress’s expression turned to a look a concern. “More dragons with powers like mine? Are there many of these animuses on Pyrrhia?”
Ermine shook his head, not thinking twice before he answered. “Not many, your majesty. I only know of one, but she’s a jerk. The Ice Kingdom used to have a lot, but now they’re gone and we’ve been trying to get more for forever.”
Tiger noticed Skytaker shooting Ermine a glare. She wondered why. Had Ermine given away too much information? The Empress seemed friendly enough, but Tiger understood why Skytaker would mistrust her.
“Oh dear,” Liliana pondered. “That’s quite alarming. It explains much about the state of your world. For uncivilized dragons to have the same powers as I do, I’m surprised your world hasn’t torn itself apart by now.”
“Uncivilized?” Skytaker asked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The Empress shivered, closing her wings around herself. “Oh yes. From what Glory has told me of Pyrrhia, it’s a horrible place where dragons are constantly at war, where violence rules over reason and logic. I’ve heard you even still perform the barbaric practice of eating humans - er, I suppose you call them scavengers.” Liliana appeared disgusted at even the mention of this, looking slightly queasy. “Quite abhorrent. Those days are long gone from Antigonia, and now, humans and dragons live side-by-side, and even hybrids like you can roam free!”
Skytaker averted their eyes from the Empress uncomfortably. “Things are getting better,” they replied, “it’s alright for hybrids in Possibility, or at Jade Mountain.”
Liliana tsked, shaking her head disparagingly. She turned to Glory. “No, no,” she sighed. “I think that he — she —”
“They,” Tiger quickly interrupted.
Liliana frowned slightly. “— that they’ll be much safer here in Antigonia. Not just the hybrid, but the RainWing too.”
“Wait, I don’t want to stay here!” Ermine quickly protested, not realizing that Liliana hadn’t included him. “I want to go back to Pyrrhia!”
Tiger glanced over towards Ermine. Of the three of them, she was surprised Ermine was the one who wanted to return so soon. With Queen Blackice in charge, he had no place to return to in the Ice Kingdom, and he’d never seemed to have found a home in Jade Mountain.
Empress Liliana sighed. “Are you really sure you want to go so soon? You just got here. And from what I’ve heard of your world, it’s not a safe place for dragonets like you.”
Ermine opened his mouth, a bit hesitant.
“Yes!” Skytaker blurted out. “Pyrrhia is our home, and Jade Mountain too. That’s where our friends are! Of course we want to go back!”
Liliana tapped a golden talon on her vined throne, slowly moving it back and forth. Tiger waited patiently, staring directly at the Empress’ eyes.
“Alright then,” Liliana finally replied, lifting her talon. “I can return you, but it may take some time. The magic is a bit finicky, and it took quite some time for me to find a world with living dragons at all.”
“Can we explore Antigonia until then?” Tiger asked hopefully. This was a whole different world than Pyrrhia. Even if they were going back, Tiger wanted to take her chance to learn as much about it as possible.
“No,” Liliana quickly replied, shaking her head. “Most certainly not. I can’t risk letting dragons from Pyrrhia roam free here. Your barbarism could cause quite a lot of trouble, and I don’t want my subjects being . . . exposed. The three of you will remain as guests in the palace for the time.”
“Please, your majesty,” Tiger pleaded. She’d probably never get another chance like this again. “I promise we’ll behave. Well, I promise I’ll behave.”
The Empress shook her head. “My word is final. You are not to leave the palace. Now, I would love to chat more with you children, but I have a lot to discuss with General Glory, particularly about this animus magic. Prismatic, can you take them to our nicest guest room?”
“Yes, your majesty,” the RainWing who’d led the three in said with a bow. He turned to the dragonets with a glare. “Follow me. The Empress wants to be left alone.”
Tiger sighed, her head drooping, and started to follow Prismatic. She glanced back towards the glittering entrance. What else could she say?
Skytaker and Ermine reluctantly followed, returning back around the huge orb on the red carpet they’d walked in on. After they got about halfway around it, Skytaker sped up to Tiger, matching their pace with her.
“Guests are able to leave anytime they want,” the hybrid muttered, just quiet enough that Prismatic couldn’t hear. “We’re not guests. We’re prisoners.”
== Chapter 9 ==
Queen Scarlet scratched her talons along the stone surface of her throne. One of her guards winced, her claws creating a screeching noise almost as horrible as the despots own voice. The SkyWing queen’s tail twitched back and forth, her body tense and impatient.
“Where’s that moons-bewitched mongrel?” the SkyWing queen hissed, glaring at one of the guards.
The young guard let out a small whimper. “Y-your majesty, would you like me to go search for Aurora?”
“Sure,” Queen Scarlet snorted. “She’s probably still asleep in her room. Fetch her at once.”
The SkyWing quickly bowed, his metal helmet almost falling off his snout. “O-of course, your majesty, right away.” He started towards the doors of the throne room and cast aside a glare from one of the other guards, jealous that she had to stay with the queen.
As soon as the SkyWing reached the two great doors, he let out a scream and dove to the side. Aurora’s blue snout poked halfway through the door way as the hybrid phased into the throne room. After her head, two disembodied paws stepped in through the doors, followed by the rest of Aurora’s body, tail twitching through the doorway, chainlinks clinking against the throne room floor.
“Finally,” Queen Scarlet muttered, with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, “you’re here.”
Aurora walked forward, until she stood beneath the throne, staring up at Queen Scarlet’s talons. Crumbling stone rose up on either side of Scarlet’s platform in the shape of clouds, giving Scarlet the funny appearance of just lying on a cloud.
Scarlet glanced back towards the doors, the guard who’d dove out of Aurora’s way getting back on his paws. 
“Don’t do that in the future,” Scarlet ordered Aurora, “the weird passing through doors and walls thing. It creeps me out, and you even scared my guards, although a mouse would probably scare these cowardly dimwits.”
“Your palace has too many doors,” Aurora replied. “My advice is that you remove them.”
Queen Scarlet narrowed her eyes, glaring down at the sky-colored hybrid. Aurora hadn’t exactly refused to obey her order, but certainly hadn’t responded with the ‘yes, your majesty, of course, please don’t kill me’ that she expected of all her subjects.
“Advice not taken,” Queen Scarlet snapped. “I installed these doors a few years ago, when I moved my throne inside. It makes it harder for enemies to shoot venom at you if there’s a closed door between you and her.”
The two guards exchanged a glance. Queen Glory might be dead, but Queen Scarlet seemed to have a permanent fear of RainWings. Not that they blamed her; everyone was constantly reminded by the venom-scarred side of her face. When Queen Scarlet added in the doors, she also removed most of the mirrors in the palace. Where she’d previously spent hours gazing at her own beauty, now Queen Scarlet couldn’t stand the look of herself.
Aurora flicked her tail back and forth, long spines sailing through the air. The guard closest to Queen Scarlet kept her eyes focused on the end of Aurora’s tail, just making sure it didn’t get too close. Close to the guard herself, of course — if Aurora decided to attack Queen Scarlet, the guard doubted there was anything she could do to save her queen’s life.
“Well?” Scarlet growled. “Aren’t you going to say something?”
Aurora stayed silent, her tail still swishing. Did Queen Scarlet want her to tell her she’d stop phasing? That was stupid.
Queen Scarlet set out an exasperated sigh. “It’s my hatchday,” she hissed at Aurora. “You’re supposed to say ‘Happy hatchday, Queen Scarlet!’ I was even kind enough to remind you since you’re new here, even though every one of my subjects has my hatchday memorized in accordance with the law. Do you know the penalty for forgetting my hatchday? It’s —”
“—death,” Aurora said, interrupting the SkyWing queen. That was the penalty for everything in the Sky Kingdom. Being thrown into the arena, which was basically the same thing as death. “Happy hatchday, Queen Scarlet.”
Queen Scarlet gritted her teeth, muttering something to herself. “You’re welcome,” she snorted. “Now, as is tradition, we’re having a set of special arena battles today in my honor. I’m quite excited, and I won’t let your forgetfulness ruin my special day.”
Aurora sighed. Why did Queen Scarlet call her here for this? She was supposed to be her advisor, not the head of her party planning committee. It wasn’t like Aurora had ever had a real hatchday herself. Time ran strange in the Crystal Caverns, and a day there could be a year on Pyrrhia. There was little point in keeping track.
“I’ve called you here because I want this hatchday to be particularly thrilling,” Queen Scarlet continued. “Glory is dead, so we have multiple things to celebrate! So, I’m having you participate in one of the battles.”
“What?” Aurora asked, unsure if she’d heard that right.
“It should be no danger at all for you,” Scarlet said. “With your magic and all, I don’t think you’ll be in danger. Don’t worry, you’re not disposable to me. But think of the action! Few SkyWings will have ever seen anything like what you can do before, and we’ve never had anyone like you in the arena! A hybrid too, that’s certainly a bonus.”
“I’m not doing it,” Aurora growled. “I’m your advisor, not your slave.”
The two guards gave each other a glance. Someone refusing to follow Queen Scarlet’s orders never ended up well.
Queen Scarlet frowned, turning her head down to glare at Aurora. “Of course you will!” she huffed. “You’re my subject, and I’m the queen. You have to follow my orders.”
Aurora’s claws tensed up, scratching against the stone floor of the throne room. The white glowstripes on her body and legs started to flash, quickly lighting up and turning up. “I’m not your subject,” she hissed, “nor your spectacle.”
Queen Scarlet’s eyes opened wide, her glare turning murderous. The guards gulped as they saw her claws stiffen up, her teeth baring. The queen’s patience with Aurora had just about run out.
“It’s my HATCHDAY!” Queen Scarlet yelled, spittle landing on Aurora’s snout. “Either you are loyal to me, or you are my enemy! If you refuse, I’ll have to-I’ll have to—”
Aurora wiped the SkyWing’s sulfurous spit off her scales as Queen Scarlet struggled to think of a punishment. It wasn’t like she could throw Aurora in the arena — the hybrid would just phase out and escape.
Aurora glared down at the ground. She could escape this all right now. Just leave the Sky Kingdom behind, and go find some caves nearby to live in for the rest of her life, where no one would bother her. She could spend the rest of her days making beautiful sculptures from rocks, ones that would never reach the light of day or the eyes of any other dragon. Bright lights flickered across her scales. It would be so easy.
No. She couldn’t do that. She had a duty, one that had been ingrained in her since before she hatched, from her mother’s whispers to her egg. A duty to Crystal, to Calamity, and to all of Pyrrhia. Calamity had told her — she was the only one who could save them now, and to do that, she needed to be allies with Queen Scarlet. Activate the Eye of Amethyst, give Queen Scarlet the Darkstone, and obtain the SeaWing throne. That was her role to play in Calamity’s plan. And if she flew away now, there was no one left who knew of the Horror that awaited them beneath Pyrrhia. Crystal and Fracture were dead. Calamity was trapped. And even if Ink had found something out before Aurora had taken his pale eye, he was dead.
“Fine,” Aurora muttered.
“What was that?” Queen Scarlet hissed. “Give me enthusiasm.”
Aurora grit her teeth together. “I said I’ll do it,” she hissed. “I want you to enjoy your hatchday, your majesty. I’ll fight in your arena.”
Scarlet’s mood changed faster than a stray wind, her growl immediately shifting to a sadistic grin. “Good,” she smiled, “I knew you’d come around to the idea. I’m sure you’ll love it, who doesn’t enjoy the thrill of battle; the fire coursing through their veins?”
Aurora swished her tail, remaining silent. She didn’t. Her mother might have enjoyed it, but Calamity had trained Aurora to kill quickly and effectively. To never give her opponent a chance to fight back. To only fight when necessary for survival, whether that was her own, or all of Pyrrhia’s.
“These will be the most thrilling hatchday battles I’ve ever had!” Queen Scarlet boasted. “Once she hears of it, that traitor Peril will be so jealous of the arena. She’ll be regretful she betrayed me, and will come back to me, begging me to let her fight again as my champion!”
Aurora sighed, glancing back and forth to the two guards. If Queen Scarlet wanted her to play the part of one of her SkyWing subjects, then what choice did Aurora have?
----The raucous cheering and roaring of dragons seemed to come from all sides, penetrating Aurora’s ears. The hybrid squished her head between her forepaws, trying to block out the sound. Why were there so many dragons? Why did they all have to be so loud? She hated this. How was this Queen Scarlet’s idea of a fun hatchday celebration?
A loud roar cast itself over the crowd, and suddenly, the arena fell silent. Aurora took her paws away from her ears, looking out over the arena. There were so many dragons in the stone seats surrounding the sandy pit, even more dragons than in the palace at its busiest times, somehow even more dragons than at the Reascension Feast. Every unfamiliar snout in the crowd was just a generic SkyWing to Aurora, colored in the shades of fall, or the shades of fire. Their faces blurred, although some of that might have been the smudged and scratched glass in front of the queen’s balcony.
“I hate having to look through this thing,” Queen Scarlet muttered, tapping a talon against the glass. When she lifted her talon up, Aurora noticed a small blemish in the glass, made from her sharpened talons.
“It keeps you safe though, doesn’t it?” Aurora glanced to her right to see Smolder, craning his neck around her to talk to the queen. “And we need that, today of all days.”
Aurora peered through the glass at the now crowd. If they needed it for their own safety, shouldn’t there be a shield in front of the crowd, too?
“Yes, yes,” Scarlet grumbled. “I know that better than anyone else.”
The queen suddenly stood up, and let out a quick cough. She let out a roar so loud Aurora had to turn her head away again. Why was everything so loud in the Sky Kingdom?
“Are you all ready for my hatchday celebrations?” the queen yelled out to the crowd. She paused for a moment as the crowd let out another cheer, making Aurora feel slightly dizzy. Queen Scarlet smiled at the applause, basking in the attention, spreading her wings out. Aurora glanced up at her, the venom-scarred side of her snout visible. It only seemed to make the queen appear more threatening.
“Vermillion!” Scarlet screeched. “Get down here!”
The blood-red SkyWing quickly flapped down from above the arena, short of breath as he landed in the sand. Aurora squinted as she stared at him. Had she met that dragon before? She wasn’t quite sure.
“Today!” Prince Vermillion huffed, glancing around at the crowd. “We have some special guests in the arena! As a hatchday present to my mother, I bought her prisoners from Queen Blackice! RainWings that were captured in the attack on the rainforest! In our first battle, we’ll see how us SkyWings would have fared if we’d led an attack!”
The crowd looked up, and Aurora followed their eyes to see SkyWings unchaining a number of RainWing and SkyWing prisoners, maybe half a dozen of each. Aurora stared up at them as the guards flew them down. Most of the RainWings had metal rings around their snouts. That was right — RainWings shot venom. Aurora knew that. She’d been captured by Queen Glory’s guards not long ago, and one of them had hit her with venom when they’d tried to prevent her escape. It worked on organic materials like dragonscale, but was ineffective against metal.
After setting the SkyWings and RainWings down on opposite sides of the arena, the guards unlatched the RainWings’ muzzles, letting them fall to the sand before the guards flew off as fast as possible, not wanting to get shot with venom themselves. But the RainWings didn’t try to attack — Aurora noticed that they all stayed huddled together in a group, terrified of what was to come. Aurora frowned. She could tell that the RainWings she’d fought had been given at least minimal battle training, but these dragons weren’t fighters. They were frightened civilians. The SkyWings, on the other paw, had their claws out and teeth bared. Aurora wasn’t sure what exactly they’d been imprisoned for, but they knew that surviving the arena was their only chance at freedom.
“Alright, you vicious monsters!” Vermillion yelled out at two sets of dragons, in opposite corners of the arena. The SkyWing prince already had his wings out, and was flapping to get away. “Claws up, fire and venom ready! Fight!”
As soon as Vermillion called fight, the SkyWings charged forward. Aurora’s eyes focused on the red and orange dragons, rushing forward as fast as they could. That was smart — the RainWings could shoot venom further than the SkyWings could shoot their fire, so they needed to close the gap as quickly as possible.
Aurora turned to the other side of the arena. The RainWings should have been shooting their venom across the arena, making sure none of the SkyWings got close. But these dragons weren’t trying to kill their opponents — did the RainWings know anything about how Queen Scarlet’s gruesome arena worked, and how they were able to win their freedom? Instead, the RainWings dispersed, trying to run away or find an escape. Colors shifted across their scales as one-by-one, they started turning invisible.
The crowd started jeering. “Where’s that venom? RainWings are cowards!”
Aurora grimaced. The RainWings might have been invisible, but the SkyWings had already been tracking them, and any one of their movements kicked up sand from the arena. Their camouflage might have worked well in the rainforest, where there were plenty of non-uniform colors among the trees for a RainWing to hide in, but not in the dull, monotonous arena. Even from here, Aurora could see pawprints in the sand and dust clouds, outlining the shape of hidden RainWings. Sunlight glinted off of the metal that bound their wings.
The hybrid’s eyes glanced over to Queen Scarlet. The queen’s snout was pressed up against the glass, her eyes wide-open. What was the point of the arena? Was she trying to learn RainWing battle tactics? If so, this seemed like a non-ideal way to do it.
Aurora’s head suddenly jolted back to the arena as she heard the first blood-curdling scream, almost drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. There was a flash of red down in the arena, as a SkyWing pounced one of the invisible RainWings, ripping into the poor dragon’s neck with fangs and claws. A second SkyWing tackled the same RainWing, wrestling with the other one for the honor of the kill. Aurora’s gaze shifted again as she saw a flash of flame not far away, two RainWings that had been invisible hit by the blast, their locations revealed. More SkyWings took them on. The arena had become a blood-bath.
A quiet whisper snuck into Aurora’s ears. She turned towards Queen Scarlet, her eyes locked on one of the RainWings being torn limb-from-limb. The queen’s teeth were bared, eyes wide open, paws shaking against the glass. Words formed from the queen’s mouth.
“Die Glory, die Glory, die Glory” the queen whispered over and over again, her fangs grinding against each other as her talons screeched against the glass.
Aurora gave the arena another look, her stomach turning as she saw life draining out of another RainWing. The crowd let out another cheer. This was pointless, senseless violence, fueled by Queen Scarlet’s lust for power and revenge. Were the dragons in the crowd the ones that Aurora was trying to save? Dragons who used each others lives as their own entertainment?
And Aurora had been the one who’d put Queen Scarlet back on the throne; who’d made these arena battles to continue instead of putting an end to them by letting the battle between Scarlet and Tourmaline take its natural course. The hybrid’s throat suddenly felt dry, her scales warm. She looked down at her paw to see her talons shaking, glowscales flashing. What was going on with her?
Aurora let out a short growl through her fangs, shaking her head. She’d put Queen Scarlet back on the throne because Calamity had told her to. It had to have been the right thing, vital in his plan, or else he wouldn’t have had her do it. This arena battle — it had to be somehow important, somehow needed to save more lives. Aurora couldn’t experience shame and guilt, not now, not with Calamity gone. She just needed to follow the plan. Just for a little longer.
The hybrid took in a deep breath, and turned back to the arena. At this point, the fight seemed to be over. The SkyWings, talons stained with blood, stood over the corpses of RainWings. Aurora glanced over them. Strange. There seemed to be one more SkyWing than had been brought into the arena. She passed over the SkyWings with another glance, noticing one with a strangely curled tail, small fins behind her ears, and oddest of all, without blood on her claws. A RainWing who’d disguised herself as a SkyWing in the turmoil. Not that it would help her much.
Vermillion fluttered above the arena. “The SkyWings have won!” he shouted, invoking a cheer from the crowd. “Not much of a surprise, of course — everyone knows how lazy and stupid RainWings are.”
Aurora noticed a snarl from Queen Scarlet out of the corner of her eyes. She didn’t seem particularly happy about that comment; if the dragon who’d ruined her face was lazy and stupid, what did that make her?
“But that’s just the start of our battles!” Vermillion continued. “Only one dragon today gets the chance to earn their freedom by proving themself the strongest. It’s time to see allies become enemies! Prisoners! You’ll now fight each other until only one remains! Claws up, fire ready! Fight!”
Just because they’d fought against the RainWings each other didn’t mean there was any sense of camaraderie among the SkyWings. They turned on each other instantly. Aurora didn’t want to watch, but her eyes were focused on the sole RainWing. Maybe she’d be able to get out still?
No such luck. One of the SkyWings chased after her as she backed away, cornering her against a wall. He pounced, and that was it for her. Aurora turned away to see Queen Scarlet, having calmed down since the RainWing fight, a vicious grin across her snout.
This fight seemed to be over almost as soon as it had begun. Only a single SkyWing was left standing in the middle of the arena, blood that wasn’t his own dripping from his claws. He let out a roar, lashing his tail across the sand. The crowd burst into applause.
“Congratulations to Falcon for that thrilling battle!” Vermillion exclaimed as the applause died down. “I expected nothing less from one of the most vicious serial killers the Sky Kingdom has seen in years! I know my bets are paying off tonight!”
Falcon let out another roar, baring his fangs at the crowd.
“But we can’t let such a villainous dragon go free so easily, can we?” Vermillion asked the crowd. “Certainly not! I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night! If Falcon wants his freedom, he first needs to get through Queen Scarlet’s new champion!”
Whispers of confusion and unease started to go through the crowd. Queen Scarlet hadn’t had a champion since Peril; they hadn’t heard anything about a new champion.
“Welcome Aurora of the Hybrids, Queen Scarlet’s Champion, to the arena!” Vermillion yelled out. The crowd erupted into an uneasy cheer.
“What?” Aurora exclaimed, standing up. She turned to Queen Scarlet with a glare, teeth bared. “I’m your advisor. Not your champion.”
“No reason you can’t be both,” the queen snorted. “You said you’d participate in an arena battle, didn’t you? Hurry up and get down there, the crowd is waiting.”
“I’m not your champion,” Aurora snarled, glowstripes flashing on and off.
Queen Scarlet glowered. “Just accept it. It’s my hatchday! And this is your hatchday present to me!”
Aurora’s talons tensed up. She hadn’t agreed to this. She opened her mouth to argue, but after a short hesitation, closed it. She needed to stay allies with Queen Scarlet. For Calamity’s plan.
Aurora turned, and spread her wings open, walking through the glass panel and gliding down to the arena floor as the crowd looked on in wonder. Her landed in the sand, only a few tail-lengths away from Falcon.
The SkyWing grinned as he examined Aurora. “A hybrid?” he sneered. “What are you, some sort of freak? What’s that chain on your foreleg? Does Queen Scarlet drag you around by it?”
Aurora kept her expression stiff as she stared up at Vermillion. The crowd’s roars were making her dizzy.
“Look at you, you’re weak,” Falcon goaded. “I’ve killed plenty of dragons, but never a hybrid. I’ll have fun tearing you apart.”
“Alright!” Vermillion yelled. “Let’s see if Falcon can earn his freedom! Claws up! Fangs ready—”
Falcon rushed forward with a roar, leaping at Aurora’s neck. Just as his claws were supposed to make contact with her scales, they passed through her, feeling no resistance at all. Falcon’s eyes went wide, the SkyWing’s confusion the last thing he’d feel. Aurora glared up at Queen Scarlet’s balcony, making eye contact with the queen through the glass pane.
“—fight!” Vermillion finished.  
The fight was already over. Aurora stepped out of Falcon, walking towards the edge of the arena. All the color had drained out of Falcon’s scales, leaving behind a shimmering grey. Falcon’s body landed on the sand with a thump that reverberated through the arena, his claws still outstretched. His body made no movements as Aurora walked away, his corpse solid metal, standing still in the middle of the arena.
The crowd went silent, shocked at the display of magic. Aurora had finished even before Vermillion had told them to fight. Worried whispers passed around.
A muted voice reached Aurora’s ears as she reached the edge of the arena. “That wasn’t violent enough!” Queen Scarlet screamed. “I want more blood! More gore! Release the rest of the prisoners! I want to see her fight them all!”
Aurora stepped into the wall of the arena without another word, the last thing Scarlet seeing of her being a flick of her tail.
----A knock sounded on the door to Aurora’s chambers. The hybrid glared from the small bed she sat on. Who was that? She didn’t want company after the arena battle today. Maybe if she pretended she wasn’t here, whoever was knocking would go away.
Another knock on the stone door. Aurora’s talons scratched against the wall of the chamber. It was probably one of Queen Scarlet’s guards, planning to take her to the queen so that Scarlet could reprimand her. Aurora had known Queen Scarlet would be angry at her leaving the arena after such an anti-climactic fight, but she hadn’t cared at the time. She still didn’t. And it’s not like Queen Scarlet could actually do anything about it. She couldn’t hurt Aurora. Aurora had no friends or family that Scarlet could take prisoner. Well, she still had family, but she wasn’t even sure herself where Torrent and Midnight were. Nor did she care.
“Go away,” Aurora growled after hearing a third knock. “If Queen Scarlet wants to scold me, she can do so to my snout.”
“I’m not Queen Scarlet,” a voice boomed through the door. “I’m here to fetch you either.”
That perked Aurora’s curiosity, just a little bit. Most of the SkyWings in the palace seemed to avoid Aurora unless they were ordered to talk to her.
Aurora got up from the stone bed, and opened the door, wondering who it was. After it was open, Aurora was left looking up at a huge SkyWing, with a scar over one of her eyes.
“Do I know you?” Aurora asked, peering around the SkyWing to see metal armor on her back. She looked familiar.
“We talked after the Reascension Feast,” the SkyWing replied with a smile. “I’m Cyclone, remember?”
Aurora looked up at Cyclone blankly. “No. What do you want?”
Cyclone let out a hearty laugh. “That’s what you said to me then, too! Well, I saw what happened in the arena today—”
Aurora growled, and started to close the door on Cyclone. She didn’t want to hear it.
“Hey, wait!” Cyclone said, putting her head between the door and its frame, stopping Aurora from slamming the door with her skull. “Ouch. I just wanted to say I thought what you did was pretty funny. Turning him to lead? Good style.”
“Osmium,” Aurora muttered, correcting Cyclone.
“Either way, Queen Scarlet still hasn’t figured out how to move him,” Cyclone chuckled. “For now, he’s just stuck in the middle of the arena.”
“She’ll just order me to get rid of him,” Aurora snorted. “I’ll turn him to water or something.”
“Either way, it was quite interesting for a rebellious act,” Cyclone grinned. “Made quite the impression on me, as I’m sure it did on the rest of the arena. Why did you decide to participate in the arena in the first place?”
Aurora squished the door on Cyclone’s head a little bit more, making the SkyWing wince. Aurora sighed. It didn’t seem like she was planning on leaving without getting some answers from Aurora.
“She ordered me to,” Aurora growled. “I didn’t want to. I think it’s disgusting, the way all of you treat dragons’ lives as entertainment.”
“Don’t worry, you’re far from the only one,” Cyclone answered with a smile, twisting her stuck head a little bit. “We’re all under orders to watch her arena battles, and to cheer and all. If we don’t go, we might end up being the spectacle rather than the audience. But what I’m wondering, why didn’t you just refuse her order? Based on what you did in the arena today, I doubt Queen Scarlet could actually make you do anything. Does she have hostages? Or is it something else?”
Aurora frowned, not offering a reply to Cyclone’s question. Why was this SkyWing so curious about her? Did she want something from Aurora? Could she be part of the Talons of Peace, working against Calamity?
Cyclone waited a moment, still offering a smile out to Aurora. She moved her head again. “Do you mind if I come in?”
“Why?” Aurora questioned, narrowing her eyes.
“Well, having my head squished in your door is a bit uncomfortable,” Cyclone replied. “I just want to talk. I think I might be able to help you.”
Aurora stared directly at the SkyWing, her scarred eye pressed against the doorframe. Was that her only intention? Helping? Aurora didn’t think she needed help. What could Cyclone do that Aurora couldn’t?
“You’re having trouble working with Queen Scarlet, right?” Cyclone continued. “She’s not an easy dragon to stay around long, especially if doesn’t think she can control you. I know her well.”
Aurora tapped her tail on the stone floor. She didn’t have Calamity’s guidance anymore. She didn’t want help from an outsider, but the stakes were high, and Aurora couldn’t fail this mission. If Cyclone could help keep Aurora as Queen Scarlet’s advisor, it might be worth it to let her help.
“Fine,” Aurora hesitantly agreed, letting the door open.
Cyclone let out a sigh of relief, shaking her neck before shuffling into Aurora’s chambers, glancing around it. There wasn’t much there. It’s not like Aurora had belongings, or needed any treasure.
Aurora closed the door behind Cyclone, quickly turning to cautiously watch the battle-worn SkyWing. If she tried anything strange, she knew by now what Aurora could do.
“So,” Cyclone asked again, sitting down on the cold stone floor, “why are you following Scarlet’s orders?”
“I need to stay on her good side,” Aurora answered. She saw no reason to hide the truth. What could Cyclone do with it? “It’s what Calamity told me I had to do.”
“Calamity?” Cyclone curiously asked. She hadn’t heard that name before. It didn’t sound like a normal dragon name — possibly a NightWing?
“My father,” Aurora responded. Torrent may have been her father by blood, but Calamity was the one who’d raised her. “I’m following the instructions he gave me before his . . . death.” Was death the right word? He was already dead.
“So you’re joining Queen Scarlet as part of a dying father’s last wishes thing?” Cyclone asked, almost amused.
“No,” Aurora responded, giving Cyclone a stare so cold that it sent a shiver through the SkyWing’s scales. “I’m trying to prevent the end of the world.”
For a moment, Cyclone wondered if Aurora was joking. Her expression and tone made it quickly obvious that she wasn’t. Cyclone’s expression of amusement turned to worry and shock. 
“The end of the world?” Cyclone asked, her tone becoming a hushed whisper. “What do you mean? What’s going to happen? How long do we have?”
“You don’t need to worry about it,” Aurora replied. “It’s not your concern. You’ll be dead long before it happens.”
Cyclone frowned. “That’s no reason for me not to worry. What about my loved ones? I have a dragonet, will they be alright?”
“They’ll also be dead.” Aurora said. “And your dragonet’s dragonets. Even if I succeed, every dragon on Pyrrhia will die. That is just the natural course of your world.”
“Ah,” Cyclone said, uncertain. Weren’t there other reasons to be worried about the end of the world? The destruction of all dragon civilization, everything that had been built in the last five millenia. Why did Aurora care? Was she immortal? Cyclone would’ve believed it, given the powers she’d shown already. “So, what’s with your magic? Are you using an enchanted artifact? Or are you an animus yourself?”
Aurora remained silent.
“You’re free to not answer if you don’t want to,” Cyclone said, trying to bring her smile back.
“No,” Aurora replied. “I’m debating whether or not I should tell you. It’s probably fine. Calamity would have warned me if you were important. I’m somewhat of an animus, although I’m not quite sure about the permanency of my powers.”
Cyclone nodded, considering this. “So you have an artifact that lets you use animus magic?”
Aurora opened her mouth, slightly surprised how accurately Cyclone had guessed how the Darkstone worked. She nodded.
“I know more about this stuff than you’d think,” Cyclone grinned. “Had an old flame with something similar. Magic isn’t foriegn to me.”
Aurora squinted. That explained some of Cyclone’s boldness in talking to Aurora. Did that mean that Cyclone had encountered someone else with a Darkstone? The last Aurora had heard, Polar had the second Darkstone. Was there a third Aurora hadn’t known about?
“And you used an artifact to do what you did in the arena, correct?” Cyclone pressed. She gave Aurora a quick glance. Aurora didn’t have anything else in the room, so there weren’t many options for enchanted artifacts. “So which one is which? Is the black stone on your necklace the one which lets you walk through walls, or is it the shackle around your legs?”
So her friend doesn’t have a third Darkstone, Aurora decided. If the friend did, Cyclone would’ve known that the Darkstone was what gave Aurora animus powers. “The shackle.”
“Curious design,” Cyclone laughed. “Odd fashion statement. Most animuses just choose jewelry or weapons; something a bit less conspicuous.”
Cyclone’s interest in Aurora’s aesthetics seemed like an oddly trivial subject, but Aurora answered anyways. “It’s partially symbolic,” she explained, giving her paw a shake so the three chainlinks rattled. “It keeps me chained to my body and to your world. It also has the advantage that I’m able to feel it constantly. It and the enchantment on it was my design, but my father helped me with the project.”
“Chained to your body?” Cyclone asked.
“Just as I’m able to change things around me, I’m able to chain my own body,” Aurora explained. She put her forepaws out in front of her, and touched the tips of her talons together. Her talons suddenly began to grow as she pulled her paws back, until her claws were almost as long as her forelegs. Cyclone stared in wonder. Aurora quickly moved her paws back together, her talons shortening to the natural length. “I made variety of modifications when I was younger.”
“Really?” Cyclone asked. “Other than the hybrid stuff, and your strangely flashing glowscales, you look like any other dragon. I would’ve expected stuff like super-hard scales, or giant tail-spines. Is it internal stuff, like increased stamina?”
Aurora shook her head. “Mostly not battle modifications. The changes I made were usually for my own comfort. Primarily my endocrine and sex organs, but also things like horn size, vocal chords, and snout structure.”
“How did you do that? It sounds complicated,” Cyclone questioned curiously. She glanced down at Aurora’s metal cuff. What was the enchantment on it? If Aurora had wanted to chain her body, why hadn’t she just done what Soar had done, and write down enchantments? Was there something different about the way she did animus magic?
“I can’t do the reverse process on you, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Aurora answered flatly. “Dragon biology is very intricate. It took years and many attempts, a lot of which would have destroyed enough of my internal functionality that it would’ve killed me if I hadn’t had Calamity around to heal me. You’re staring.”
Cyclone glanced away from Aurora’s cuff. “Sorry,” she laughed. “I’m just surprised. You’re not the first dragon I’ve met to be dissatisfied with their body’s sex like that. A shame that you can’t repeat the process though; my dragonet — well, they’re not really mine, but they might as well be — has similar feelings.”
Aurora looked confused. “You don’t?” she asked.
Cyclone shook her head. “There are certainly things I dislike about my body,” she replied, pointing a talon to her mutilated eye, “but that’s not one of them. It’s not very common as far as I can tell, although I suppose dragons wouldn’t talk about it here. The Sky Kingdom isn’t particularly tolerant of differences.”
“Huh,” Aurora replied, with mild surprise. “I just assumed all dragons were like that, and I was just lucky enough to be able to change myself.”
“Really?” Cyclone laughed. “How many dragons do you know?”
Aurora put out one of her forepaws, and counted on her talons. “Two. Maybe more now. Until a few months ago, I hadn’t had any extensive conversations with anyone but my parents. Why?”
Cyclone frowned. Only two dragons in her entire life? Aurora’s expression indicated that she didn’t see anything wrong with the number.
“That’s horrible,” Cyclone frowned. “Why would your parents keep you isolated like that?”
“I have a purpose,” Aurora explained. “I needed to be trained for my destiny.”
Cyclone shook her head. “It’s still awful. Keeping a dragonet trapped like that, not letting them be around other dragonets — destiny or no destiny, that’s no way to treat a dragonet.”
Aurora’s tail twitched. Cyclone seemed to be judging Crystal and Calamity’s parenting, but the SkyWing didn’t understand. Aurora was needed for the plan. She had to have been isolated, for the sake of Pyrrhia. “Did you socialize your dragonet?”
“Oh,” Cyclone chuckled, mildly uncomfortable. “Not much, but I didn’t really have a choice.” Cyclone saw Aurora’s expression, accusing her of hypocrisy. “It was different though! I only took care of them for a year before taking them to a better home, and we were on the run during much of that time.”
Aurora twitched her tail, staying silent.
Cyclone sighed. She’d asked Aurora a lot of questions about herself, she should probably give something in return. “Are you curious?”
“Yes,” Aurora stated.
Cyclone glanced back towards the door, just to make sure it was shut. “Alright,” she replied in a hushed voice, “but you have to keep this secret from Queen Scarlet, or any other SkyWing for that matter. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” Aurora answered again.
Cyclone nodded, glancing back towards the door again. “Years ago, back before Ruby took the throne, my dragonet had been imprisoned here in the palace. Well, they weren’t mine yet, but that’s besides the point. I used to be one of the highest-ranked SkyWings here, General Cyclone. After we all thought Queen Scarlet was dead, a friend and I freed my dragonet, and I took them far away from the Sky Kingdom, where we’d be safe. I regret not having done it earlier. It was the best year of my life. But after Queen Scarlet came back, I decided to give my dragonet up to a home where they’d be able to be around other dragons their age. Someplace safe.
“Afterwards, I returned to the Sky Kingdom, but the friend I mentioned was gone. Queen Scarlet demoted me and took my eye as punishment for ignoring her and not trying to rescue her after her supposed death.”
Cyclone sighed, looking directly into Aurora’s eyes with regret. “I suppose that maybe I do want something other than just talking with you. I want to warn you about Queen Scarlet. You might have powers, but she’s dangerous. Everyone close to her — me, Soar, Vermillion, Peril, and far more dragons than I can count — ends up hurt, doing things they eventually regret. If you’re not willing to stay away from her, and get out of the Sky Kingdom now, at least stay wary of her. Since she rose back to power, she’s been more fickle than ever, afraid everyone around her is a traitor or a RainWing in disguise.”
Aurora frowned. Queen Scarlet might be a horrible dragon, but Aurora didn’t exactly have a choice, did she? She had to work with Queen Scarlet for the plan to succeed. Even if Aurora lost her soul from it, her course was set. This was how she could save Pyrrhia.
“Thank you for letting me talk,” Cyclone said with a smile. “I hope you heed my advice. But please don’t tell Queen Scarlet that we’ve been chatting. She hates me enough already, and might get even more suspicious.”
Aurora nodded, and Cyclone glanced back to the doorway.
“I should probably get going now,” Cyclone continued. “But you can talk with me anytime you want. Alright?”
Cyclone waved her paw in a quick goodbye, then got up and opened Aurora’s door a crack, checking that there wasn’t anyone on the other side watching. As soon as she knew it was clear, the SkyWing left the room, leaving Aurora, once again, alone.
== Chapter 10 ==
“And I thought Crosswinds was hot,” Midnight muttered, lashing her tail to cool herself down. “It feels like my scales are going to melt.”
“At least we finally made it,” Ecru suggested optimistically as the two walked through the unguarded gates to the Scorpion Den. “I’m just glad we’re not flying across the desert anymore.”
“We still have to go back,” Midnight complained with a huge sigh. “You’re not the one with black scales.”
The flight across the desert from Crosswinds had been uneventful for the two. No assassins, no battles. Midnight a paw on her pouch, where the silver disc they’d found was kept inside. The Scorpion Den was supposed to be a hive of assassins and villainy; someone had to knew where it had come from.
Beady black eyes turned as the two hybrids stepped into town, scanning Midnight from the shadows of the road. Dragons seemed to step out of her way as she passed.
Midnight sighed. “So much for trying to keep a low profile, I guess?”
Ecru remained quiet, keeping close to Midnight. Compared to Midnight, she just looked like a strangely colored SandWing here. Her tattoos and jewelry barely stood out among the SandWings, many with weirder tattoos than her own or necklaces clearly meant to be threatening. But to most of the dragons here, Midnight looked like a NightWing, quite the rare occurrence in the middle of the desert.
Midnight scowled. In Crosswinds, most of the dragons were so used to seeing her around they barely gave her a second glance. Now half the Scorpion Den will have heard rumors of a NightWing or a NightWing hybrid passing through by sundown. If their assassin was trying to find them, they wouldn’t have a very hard time.
“C’mon, let’s hurry,” Midnight muttered. “I want to get out of here as fast as possible.”
Ecru nodded. “Where should we start?” she asked.
“An assassin’s guild would be best,” Midnight replied in a hushed voice, “but I’m not keen on going around asking everyone where to find all the assassins.”
“Maybe a market square?” Ecru suggested. “I think I saw one on the flight in.”
Midnight nodded in agreement, and the two were off, Ecru trying to remember where the market had been. Glares and whispers seemed to follow Midnight wherever she went, but it was either they travel down busy roads, or they walk down dark alleyways, and Midnight wasn’t keen on getting attacked.
Eventually, the two reached the marketplace, dragons yelling as the scents of cooked and raw meats filled the air.
“Doubt that there’ll be any crocodile here,” Ecru joked as the two skirted around the edges.
Midnight smiled. The nearest crocodile meat was probably in Crosswinds. “Any idea what we’re looking for?” she asked.
Ecru squinted, and placed her paws on Midnight’s back, trying to use her to get a better view over the market. “Over there!” she suggested, pointing to a small store on the edge of the market square, with a tilted sign nailed in over it. “Weapons. Maybe they sell the disk thingies!”
Midnight nodded, and the two kept walking around the edge of the square. Midnight kept her body against the walls of buildings when she could, trying to get some cover from the sun. Was this how NightWings were supposed to blend into the shadows? She didn’t think she was doing a very good job at it, based on the number of eyes watching her pass.
As the two reached the weapon shop, Midnight’s eyes suddenly locked contact with a SandWing, sitting just outside the door of the shop. He raised his eye ridges up, and Midnight saw his coiled tail twitch. She frowned. Was that just his curiosity, or a sign of aggression and a threat?
Ecru walked past the SandWing, giving him barely a glance, and pushed open the door to the weapon shop, letting Midnight inside. For such a small room, Midnight was surprised at the amount of sharpness in here. Every shelf seemed to be covered in blades, making it difficult to Midnight to carefully scooch past the entrance without being poked. The weapons ranged from metal claw extensions to a huge spear much longer than any dragon, stretching from one corner of the wall to another. Midnight wouldn’t even have been surprised if the shop had animus-touched goods, although likely hidden in the back.
The shopkeeper glanced up from behind the desk at the far end of the room, an older SandWing with a small glass monocle over one of his eyes. His expression turned to a frown as he saw Midnight. “What do you want?” he asked cautiously. “I don’t like browsers.”
“Er,” Midnight replied, staggering towards the shopkeeper, twisting and turning to avoid being poked by one of the numerous blades between them. “I’ve got a weapon I’m trying to identify, and thought you might be able to help.”
“That’s all?” the shopkeeper asked, relaxing a little bit. “I suppose I can do that. Show me.”
Midnight pulled the silver disc out from her bag, and carefully placed it on the counter. The shopkeeper immediately stiffened up.
“That’s a chakram. An assassin’s weapon,” he growled at Midnight. “We don’t sell to assassins here. And certainly nothing like that.”
“Ah,” Midnight replied. That was disappointing. He might have been able to tell them who the assassin was if he’d sold it. “You don’t happen to know who does sell stuff like this, do you?”
The SandWing snarled, and Midnight saw his tail flash behind the counter. She took a step back.
“I don’t care what you’ve gotten involved in,” the SandWing glared. “But I don’t want to be swept up in it. Get out. Now!”
Midnight winced as he bared his fangs at her. Grabbing the disk from the counter, she turned around with a sigh, and carefully shimmied out of the shop, meeting Ecru at the front.
“Well, that didn’t go exactly as planned,” Midnight grumbled.
Ecru shook her head. “Maybe there’s a weapons shop for assassins somewhere else?”
A loud coughing suddenly caught Midnight’s attention from nearby. She turned to see that the SandWing who’d been loitering outside the shop was just getting up.
“Pardon me,” he said with a sly smile, “but I overheard bits of your conversation inside. You’re looking for an assassin? I might suggest visiting the Talons of Power.”
“The Talons of Power?” Ecru said, surprised. “Wasn’t that the group that tried to overthrow Queen Thorn?”
“Yeah, a few years ago. They still have power over much of the city, and generally have good prices,” the SandWing grinned. “Their headquarters is due east of here.”
“We’re trying to find a particular assassin,” Midnight quickly clarified. “Not hire one.”
“But thank you anyways,” Ecru added. “We’ll certainly go check them out.”
“My pleasure,” the SandWing yawned, before sitting back down by the store’s entrance.
The two walked away, Ecru drifting slightly off towards the east.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Midnight asked. “The Talons of Power aren’t nice dragons. We could get hurt.”
“As long as we’re their customers, they wouldn’t harm us, right?” Ecru asked. “And what other leads do we have? There might be assassins there who know who the chakram belongs to.”
“Alright,” Midnight cautiously agreed, turning down the path to the east. But what if our assassin is there? Midnight worried. What if they were walking into a trap?
Before Midnight knew it, the two were standing in front of a huge archway, a black gate slightly open before them. Two bored-looking SandWings stood in front of the entrance, each with a small medallion hanging from their necks, engraved with a vulture. They turned as Midnight and Ecru approached.
“Halt,” one ordered half-heartedly. “You’re not allowed in here.”
“This is where the Talons of Power are, right?” Midnight asked, trying to peek beyond the gate. “We want to talk with someone there.”
“For what?” the guard asked with a sigh. “Rattlesnake is very busy at the moment.”
“We’re looking for an assassin,” Ecru replied. “Someone told us to come here.”
The two guards looked at each other, trying to figure out who had to do the work of going all the way to the interior compound and back.
“Fine,” the second guard grumbled. “Hand over weapons.”
Midnight winced as she pulled out the chakram. “I need this,” she said. “I have to show it to Rattlesnake.”
The two guards glanced at each other again, and shrugged.
“I’ll hold it for you,” the second guard said. “Can’t have anyone trying to assassinate Rattlesnake. I might get fired.”
Midnight looked carefully down at the silver disc. Right now, it was their only lead; she didn’t want to part with it. But how else could they get in? With a sigh, she handed it over.
“Thanks,” the guard grumbled, pinching it between her talons so not to get cut on the edges. “Follow me.”
The guard led the two hybrids past the gate, into the interior courtyard. Dry, cracked dirt spanned what might have been a garden, with the occasional weed poking up. The plaster on the mansion beyond the courtyard peeled from the sunlight.
“Looks deserted,” Ecru commented, peering into the house to see if anyone lived there. No movement at all.
“Hard times. They keep reducing my wages,” the SandWing guard grumbled. The guard made a sudden turn before they reached the house, pushing open the gate to a small alleyway, leading behind it. “We used to blindfold dragons if they came this way, but it’s a pain trying to lead them down here if they can’t see.”
The alley twisted and turned. Midnight shivered. It was like the alleys of Crosswinds they’d been attacked in, only even more cramped. What would she be able to do if they were attacked in here? Magic her way out somehow?
Finally, the alley ended in a tall wall, a door made of the same bricks slightly ajar. Had it been closed, Midnight doubted she would have seen it herself. A secret door — although it was a bit less secret when it was left open like this.
“Don’t touch anything,” the guard ordered the two as she let them through the door. Two more lay beyond, these ones with small indents arranged in lines on them. Statues lined the hallway beyond, their eyes now just holes. There were probably jewels there at one point, Midnight guessed. Were they stolen, or pawned?
The walls of the complex seemed to have been carved out by talons, with scratch marks on almost every surface. Hints of the gold that used to be there still remained, small slivers glinting in the dim light. At one point, whoever had lived here had been as rich as a queen.
The two were brought up to a pavilion held aloft by once beautiful columns. Midnight walked carefully across the uneven floor: some of it was still lined with cracked marble tiles, but other parts had the tiles peeled from the surface. Dirty mirrors covered the ceiling. What might have been an impressive palace in its full glory looked like a dump.
Two large SandWings sat on small cushions in the center of the room, fabrics ripped and torn by talons. Each had a cloak resting by their side, and one seemed to be waving his wing around to try and cool himself from the desert heat. More SandWings rested around the corner of the room, their cloaks still on, vulture medallions hanging from their necks.
“Hey,” Midnight whispered to Ecru teasingly, “they’ve got tattoos like yours!”
Ecru glanced at the necks of the two SandWings in the center. Each were covered in tattoos of dragon skulls. She rolled her eyes back at Midnight. “Yes, except my tattoos are just heads, not skulls.”
Midnight grinned, and glanced over to the guard. The guard let out a loud cough. “Rattlesnake,” she spoke, “you have guests.”
One of the SandWings in the center twisted her head towards the three arrivals, glaring down menacingly.
“We’re busy,” Rattlesnake hissed. She squinted as she saw Midnight. What was a NightWing doing in her palace?
“They’re looking for an assassin,” the guard quickly explained. She sighed, irritated that she’d come all this way. “I can escort them out . . .”
“What’s a NightWing doing, hiring an assassin from us,” Rattlesnake asked, mildly amused.
The second SandWing suddenly spoke up. “I think she’s a hybrid,” Sirocco suggested, “her paws are funny.”
“Shut up; no one cares what you think,” Rattlesnake snarled at him. “Alright, NightWing. We’re both very, very busy right now, so make your request quick. Who do you want dead, and how much will you pay for it?”
For the leader of the Talons of Power and a queen of assassins, Rattlesnake was surprisingly unintimidating. Maybe it was the palace crumbling around her, or the way her guards seemed to be tired of her orders.
“We’re not trying to hire an assassin,” Midnight explained once more, “we’re just trying to figure out who hired one to try and kill me.”
“Oh,” Rattlesnake frowned. “It wasn’t us. We haven’t had any requests regarding NightWing hybrids. So you can go now.”
“You should ask the Outclaws!” Sirocco exclaimed. “Their leader just died in a tragic fire accident.”
Rattlesnake glared at her brother. “If by ‘accident’ you mean ‘she got on my nerves too many times’, then sure. We’re the ones claiming full responsibility for her death, remember? We want everyone to know it was us.” She turned to the two hybrids. “Why are you still here?”
Midnight sighed. She and Ecru hadn’t come all this way just to be told to leave. She opened her mouth to say something, but Ecru got there first.
“There’s something else,” Ecru pleaded. “We have a weapon from the assassin, and are trying to get it identified. We thought that you would be an expert on weaponry, and that you might be able to tell us where it’s from.”
Rattlesnake snorted, not impressed with the flattery. “Does we look like a charity? I don’t do favors for dragons unless I expect to get something in return.”
“I’m willing to pay,” Ecru said, pulling out her pouch. “I have money.”
“You don’t have to,” Midnight quickly said to Ecru. “You don’t have much, and I’m sure we can find someone else that will help us for free.”
“Shush,” Rattlesnake snarled at Midnight, immediately interested in the prospect of money. “Let her speak. Is that all you’ve got?”
Ecru winced. She hadn’t been planning to offer the entire pouch. “Yeah,” she replied. “It’s not much, but I hope it’s enough to get a little of your expertise.”
“We don’t need it!” Sirocco interrupted again. “We’ll be drowning in treasure again as soon as we take Sunny to Al—”
“SHUT UP!” Rattlesnake yelled at Sirocco. “Don’t say stuff like that to outsiders. Funny-looking SandWing, show me what’s inside your pouch.”
Sunny? Midnight wondered. Queen Sunny? Was she here?
Ecru walked forward, and presented her pouch to Rattlesnake. The SandWing panned through it, unimpressed. Rattlesnake had seen far more treasure in her time.
“You were right, it’s not much,” Rattlesnake rudely replied, grabbing the pouch from Ecru’s paws. “But this shouldn’t take long. Where’s the weapon?”
The guard brought over the chakram, carefully passing it to Rattlesnake. The SandWing dangled it between her talons, looking at it closely.
“Haven’t seen anything like this in a while,” Rattlesnake commented. “Mother used to use them, but I’ve never seen anyone else able to. It’s not her, mind you. She’s dead.”
Ecru looked up at Rattlesnake expectantly. Rattlesnake glanced down with a sigh. Clearly, she expected more than that.
“It’s not SandWing craftmanship,” Rattlesnake decided, tapping the chakram. “The metal’s a weird alloy, and it’s too flat and sharp. It’s much lighter than Mother’s too. I’ve seen a few weapons similar to it in my time, and they were all NightWing-made, so that’s my guess. NightWing-made.” She passed it back to Ecru, not particularly caring if Ecru was the one holding it rather than the guard.
“Is that all?” Midnight growled, annoyed that Ecru had payed so much just for that. “Can’t you tell us more for the money we gave you?”
Rattlesnake glared at Midnight, baring her fangs. “I have a no-refund policy,” she snarled. “This is some NightWing-versus-NightWing affair. If you want me to know more, maybe you all should stop being so secretive.”
“It’s fine, we have another lead now, right?” Ecru quickly said to Midnight. She wasn’t sure how much longer Rattlesnake’s hospitality would last. “Thank you for helping us, Rattlesnake.”
“Hmph,” Rattlesnake snorted. “Great. Now go.”
Ecru turned around, ready to leave, Midnight hesitantly following her as the guard headed back with them. Midnight frowned. It was NightWing craftmanship? Why would there be a NightWing after her? Right now, the NightWings were living on the border of the MudWing territory, trying to stay safe from Queen Blackice’s forces. Why would someone order Midnight assassinated? Had they realized she was an animus? In that case, why hadn’t the NightWings asked her to try and help them in their battle?
And then there was Sirocco had said about Queen Sunny. Was Queen Sunny in the Scorpion Den? She couldn’t be allies with the Talons of Power — they were the group that had tried to overthrow her mother. Were the Talons trying to keep Aloe in charge? Was Sunny here, in the compound?
“What’s the matter?” Ecru asked Midnight, seeing her expression. “We know it’s NightWing-made, right? That has to narrow it down.”
“Not just that,” Midnight whispered, lowering her voice so the guard behind them didn’t hear. “Didn’t you hear what Sirocco said? They’re giving Queen Sunny to Aloe.”
“They could be trying to capture her,” Ecru said, “but I don’t think we want to get involved in royal politics. Sunny is smart, right? She’ll be alright.”
Midnight shook her head. “I don’t think they’re trying to capture her, I think they already have. That’s why they’ve been talking about being so busy. And you heard what they said about killing the leader of the Outclaws, right?”
“Yeah,” Ecru replied quietly. “Maybe they have her.” She paused for a moment, starting to get concerned. “. . . Midnight, what are you planning? This is a bad idea.”
“I have to do something,” Midnight muttered. “Queen or not, Sunny is my cousin. I can’t just leave her here to die.”
“Please try not to get us killed,” Ecru gulped. “Rattlesnake might have seemed nice, but these are murderers and assassins. They’ll definitely kill us if we try and free her.”
“Maybe I can trade something for her,” Midnight replied, an idea popping into her head. “I’m going to try and talk to Rattlesnake again.”
Midnight suddenly turned, walking back towards the pavilion. The guard opened her mouth to ask her to stop, but Midnight interrupted her. “I want to make a deal with Rattlesnake about something else!”
The guard sighed, and looked towards Ecru. She couldn’t stop both of them on her own. Ecru shrugged, and went after Midnight, the SandWing guard following along again.
Rattlesnake seemed quite displeased when they burst into the pavilion again, interrupting her conversation with Sirocco. “What now?” she hissed. “I don’t have time for you.”
“I want to make a deal,” Midnight replied, walking up to Rattlesnake, close enough that some of the hooded dragons around got up, worrying she was going to attack. She glared into Rattlesnake’s eyes, both of them at the same level. “I overheard you saying that Queen Sunny is here. I’m willing to trade for her.”
Rattlesnake gave Sirocco a sharp glare, making sure her brother knew this was his fault.
“Trade what?” Sirocco sneered. “We saw how much money you had. There’s no way you’ll pay more than Aloe will.”
“My brother is right for once,” Rattlesnake said. “A piece of the SandWing treasury and prestige with the new queen? I doubt you have anything worth more than that.”
Midnight took in a deep breath. Was she really willing to offer this? If it was to save Sunny, she thought she was. “Not money,” she replied carefully. “I’ve got . . . connections. If you’ve got favors you want done, priceless artifacts you want delivered, or anything else like that, I can offer you it.”
“Midnight!” Ecru exclaimed, suddenly realizing what Midnight was offering them. She couldn’t use her magic, especially not for these dragons. What horrible thing would they want her to do? “You can’t—”
Rattlesnake stared back at Midnight, carefully trying to figure out what exactly Midnight was offering her, and if she could hold up to the deal.
“Can you bring Mother and Grandfather back?” Sirocco asked quietly.
For a moment, Midnight saw a hint of grief pass over his snout. Was that what he wanted, more than anything? It was better than riches or murder. Midnight almost agreed before remembering the first rule of animus magic. It can’t bring back the dead.
“Er, sorry,” Midnight replied awkwardly. “Anything but that.”
“Anything?” Rattlesnake spat, her eyes narrowing on Midnight in suspicion.
“Not anything,” Midnight quickly backtracked. She started to feel a lump form in her throat. “Anything within reason. Good reason. I have morals too, I won’t kill dragons, er, get dragons killed.”
“Aww,” Sirocco muttered, “but that’s all the fun favors! Ooh, can you make Grandfather’s palace beautiful and wealthy again, like before he died? That would be nice. It used to be so much prettier.”
Rattlesnake’s eyes glinted with greed as they scanned Midnight again. Midnight gulped. Rattlesnake had figured out what exactly Midnight had meant by doing ‘favors.’ She’d realized Midnight was an animus.
Rattlesnake flicked the end of her tail twice, and the cloaked dragons surrounding the room all got up at once. What was she going to do?
“Y-yeah, sure,” Midnight hurriedly replied as she took a step back. “I can do that. Restore your palace to its original glory. You give us Sunny, and I’ll do that for you.”
Rattlesnake flicked out her tongue, pausing for a moment to think about Midnight’s offer. If she accepted it, the wealth they’d lost would be returned to them, their compound and home restored. It was tempting, and safe. But on the other paw, in front of her was an even better deal. What if the Talons of Power had their own animus to do their bidding? Rattlesnake could have everything she’d ever wanted. They’d be the most powerful group of dragons on Pyrrhia — far greater than anything Grandfather had ever imagined. It was riskier, but how could Rattlesnake pass up a chance like that? Her sharp talons danced across the floor, covetously reaching towards Midnight.
“We can also come back later, if you want more time to think about it!” Ecru squealed, realizing that the cloaked SandWings were starting to move towards them. “See you later?”
“What? No, this is a great deal!” Sirocco exclaimed, grinning happily. “Sister, we have to accept! The compound restored? Lots of treasure! Even more than what Aloe will give us!” He looked confused as he saw the cloaked SandWings walking towards Ecru and Midnight.
“Shut up, you dimwit!” Rattlesnake snarled. “How do you think she’s going to restore the palace?”
“Um . . .” Sirocco replied, trying to think of ways to restore the palace, “her connections?”
“No,” Rattlesnake hissed, “with magic. She’s an animus.”
Midnight took another step back, before glancing behind. Two of the cloaked Talons were behind her, flanking Ecru on both sides.
“Really?” Sirocco asked, surprised. “Those are real?”
Rattlesnake rolled her eyes and groaned. “Yes. What do you think killed Blister?”
“Oh,” Sirocco replied, thinking about it for a little as he scratched the side of his head. “Yeah. Right. What if she’s lying about her powers though? I thought that’s what the NightWings did.”
“I’m not taking that risk,” Rattlesnake hissed. “This is why I’m in charge.” She pointed a talon at Ecru. “Grab her.”
Midnight whipped around, and immediately, two of the cloaked SandWings grasped ahold of Ecru, their tail barbs pointing up at the hybrid’s neck. Ecru froze up, her eyes staring at Midnight, pleading for help.
“Let her go!” Midnight growled at Rattlesnake, her heart racing. “She has nothing to do with this!”
“I’m not stupid,” Rattlesnake snorted. “If I let her go, you’ll use your magic to kill us or escape. Now don’t try anything funny, or your girlfriend dies. Agreed?”
Midnight glowered. This is my fault. I should have listened to Ecru. We should have made a plan, and now Ecru’s in danger because of me.
“Sirocco,” Rattlesnake ordered. “Throw the animus in the oubliette. Keep constant watch on her.”
“But howwww,” Sirocco whined. “The oubliette is dark. I can’t see anything from above.”
Rattlesnake groaned. “Throw a light down there or something. I’ll keep the other one here right by my side, so that if anything goes wrong, I can kill her.” She glared at Midnight as she said this. “I’ll deal with the them after we get Sunny off. I can’t have two schemes going on at once, can I?”
== Chapter 11 ==
The oubliette was surprisingly only the second-worst prison Sunny had been in. First place had to go to Queen Coral’s ‘guest rooms,’ where Clay had almost drowned. The birdcage she’d been held in while in Queen Scarlet’s palace had been pretty bad, but at least she’d been fed well, and she’d even managed to make some friends, so that was third. And the SandWing palace, where Smolder had kept her during her short stay there, hardly counted.
Still, just because no one was drowning in the oubliette didn’t mean it was comfortable. Sunny barely had room to stretch her tail out from end to end in the small room, and there was little light coming in from the grate far above. Murky water smelling of sewage rose up to her paws, although it had the odd effect of keeping her cool in the hot desert air. Still, if they had another sudden torrential rainfall, then the water might rise above her head. It seemed unlikely in the desert, but the possibility still lingered over her head. If that happened, the oubliette would definitely rise to number one on the list. Sorry Clay.
Sunny glanced up towards the grate far above her, locked down in case she tried to climb the narrow walls. What was Clay doing, right now? She’d only been gone one night. Had the Outclaws realized that Kudu was dead? Or did they just think that Kudu and Sunny’s meeting with ‘Jackal’ had gone on for the whole night?
Clay would be worried, Sunny knew that. But how worried? Would he be worried enough that he’d try and figure out where she’d went? What if he tried to pose a rescue mission? Sunny wanted to be rescued, of course, but would Clay put himself in danger? Of course he would. What if the Talons of Power were prepared for the Outclaws? What if Clay died?
Sunny’s fretting was disrupted by a sharp yell from above the oubliette.
“You don’t need to push me! I’m going down willingly. Hey! Don’t touch my stuff! It’ll curse you if you open it. Do you want to die of your limbs falling off? I didn’t think so.”
The gate clanked open, and a rope was tossed down. Were they letting Sunny out? Did that mean they were bringing her to Aloe?
No. Another dragon was being thrown into the oubliette. The light from the grate was blotted out by another dragon’s scales, the other prisoner slowly climbing down the long tube. Sunny backed up into a corner as the second prisoner reached the bottom of the rope, and splashed into the water.
“That feels nice,” Midnight sighed as shook her wings, letting the water touch them. “It reeks, but at least I’m not going to get heat stroke here.”
Sunny looked over the new prisoner. Dark blue scales, webbing, and a love of water. A SeaWing? But no glowstripes. Did that mean . . .
The light above them was suddenly blotted out again, the grate screeching as it put back over the oubliette. Midnight and Sunny glanced up to see Sirocco’s snout pressed against the metal, his eyes wide open and focused Midnight.
“What are you doing?” Midnight yelled up at Sirocco.
“Rattlesnake told me to keep constant watch on you,” Sirocco proudly replied. “I practiced my staring contests recently! I always beat Rattlesnake.”
Midnight rolled her eyes and huffed. “I think Rattlesnake meant for you to order your guards to keep watch over me.”
Sirocco shook his head slowly, keeping eye contact with Midnight. “Rattlesnake told me to watch you! Cause you’re a sneaky animus and she only trusts me to keep you from cursing her.”
Midnight shook her head and turned to Sunny with a glance saying something like ‘look at what I have to deal with.’ Upon seeing Queen Sunny, Midnight’s eyes opened wide in surprise, and she suddenly bowed her head, her snout touching the surface of the rancid water.
“Your majesty,” Midnight said quietly, raising her snout to shake off the water, “it’s an honor to meet you. I was hoping that we’d meet while I was heroically freeing you from your captors, but it looks like my rescue mission failed.”
“Oh, er, thank you,” Sunny chuckled. She didn’t even know this dragon, but she was quite appreciative that she’d tried to rescue her. “You don’t have to bow though, or call me ‘your majesty’ or anything like that. Just Sunny is fine.” Sunny winced. Here was another dragon who’d tried to help her, and ended up getting hurt from it. “Sorry about you getting captured for my sake.”
Midnight shrugged. “Sorry for failing. To be honest, my plan wasn’t very well thought-out.” She glanced up at Sirocco. “I’m pretty sure they’ll kill me or my mate if I try and use any magic. I’m Midnight, by the way. I’m Stonemover’s niece.”
Sunny let out a small gasp. Stonemover’s niece? Did that mean this hybrid was her cousin? Sunny hadn’t ever really considered the possibility that she’d had extended family other than Stonemover and Thorn. She’d known it was possible, of course, but she’d never really asked. Thorn had been orphaned, and Stonemover wasn’t really the talkative type. Up until her mother’s death, Sunny had just been content with having two not-awful parents: it was more than the rest of the Dragonets’ families.
“I’m Stonemove—” Sunny started to say excitedly, before Midnight shushed her with a talon in front of her snout.
“Shhh,” Midnight interrupted, pointing her talon up to Sirocco. “He’s watching.”
Sunny looked up. True enough, Sirocco’s eyes were still focused on Midnight. If the SandWing learned out that Sunny and Midnight were related, that could mean that the secret of Sunny being a hybrid might get out. Although from what Qibli had told Sunny about his brother, Sirocco wasn’t really the type of dragon who could put two and two together.
“I’m Stonemover’s dragonet,” Sunny whispered giddily to Midnight. That was silly. Midnight probably knew that already. It was why she’d told her she was Stonemover’s niece in the first place. But Sunny couldn’t help it.
Midnight glanced up to Sirocco again, still staring. He didn’t seem to care at all that they were whispering. Midnight could probably enchant something without him realizing it. But how could she rescue both herself, Sunny, and Ecru? And what if she fell unconscious again?
“I know,” Midnight replied.
“I didn’t realize I had any other family,” Sunny quietly continued, “much less other hybrid relatives. Do you live in the Night Kingdom?”
Midnight shook her head. “No. I don’t remember my mother, and haven’t seen Stonemover since I hatched, so I don’t know much about my NightWing relatives. I’ve got quite a lot of family on my father’s side though.” Midnight thought for a moment who was included in that — the SeaWing royal family, Crystal and Clarity, Fracture . . . “Although I’d stay away. He and his side are a bit of a mess. I try not to keep in contact.”
“Oh,” Sunny replied, mildly disappointed. But at least she’d found a cousin! And a hybrid one at that! “You’re an animus? Did you get that through Stonemover?”
Midnight shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Could have come from either side, or maybe both. Not something I have a ton of experience with though, so I don’t know if it’ll be any help in getting us out of here. Last time I did something, I kinda blacked out.” She looked up towards Sirocco again. If he’d heard anything she’d said, he hadn’t reacted.
“Maybe we could go to Jade Mountain after this is over!” Sunny suggested happily, momentarily forgetting that both of them might not get out of this alive. “I could take you to visit Stonemover. We have other animuses there too you could meet.”
“I know,” Midnight smiled, remembering all the blotches there on Torrent’s map. “Although I’m also a little busy at the moment. Truth be told, I didn’t actually come to the Talons of Power so I could rescue you; it was just coincidence that you were here. I’m looking for an assassin who tried to kill me.”
“Huh,” Sunny said, thinking. She didn’t really know much about assassins, the only one she knew was Deathbringer, and he seemed nice enough. “Maybe you can ta—”
A loud thwack of scales on metal sounded from up above, and the two hybrids suddenly looked up to the grate on top of the oubliette. Sirocco’s head had been whacked hard against the grate, and he was no longer staring at the two. Someone pulled him off the grate before unlocking it. The rope fell down the tunnel, reaching Sunny and Midnight’s paws.
“Hello!” Ecru called, peering down into the oubliette. “Is it rescue time?”
Midnight grinned. “What took you so long?” she teasingly yelled back up as she grabbed ahold of the rope, using that and the small walls of the tunnel up to climb up towards Ecru.
“Had to make them think I was running for the exit,” Ecru replied, giving a glance over towards the compound. “Wasn’t quite sure where they put you until I saw Sirocco. Did you know there are some very angry spirits haunting this compound?”
Ecru put her forepaws in Midnight’s as she got to the top, helping her out of the oubliette and into the courtyard above, surrounded by a ring of palm trees. “They’ll see us leaving if we try and fly out,” Midnight commented.
“I’m pretty sure they’ll see us anyways,” Ecru replied nervously. “I wasn’t super discrete in my escape.” She looked down into the oubliette, to see Sunny down below, deciding whether to climb up or not. “Ooh, who’s that cutie?”
Midnight thwacked Ecru lightly with her tail. “Don’t flirt with my cousin,” she snorted with a laugh.
“It’s not everyday I meet a queen,” Ecru grinned. “Your majesty, please start climbing. We can’t rescue you as long as you’re in there.”
Sunny grabbed ahold of the rope and started climbing up the oubliette. She was grateful the walls were dry — if they’d been wet, she’d probably slip on them.”
“Seriously though, how long do we have?” Midnight asked. She grabbed ahold of her satchel, checking that the chakram and the healing scroll were still there.
“Not long,” Ecru answered. She glanced to her side. Sirocco was starting to get up. That was good — Ecru hadn’t wanted to hurt him. But the courtyard would probably be the next place Rattlesnake would look.
Midnight followed Ecru’s glance to Sirocco, and walked over towards the SandWing, putting a paw on his throat. “Don’t move,” she said threateningly. She looked back towards Ecru. “Looks like we have a hostage now.”
“If we can get to the Outclaws, they’ll protect us,” Sunny suggested, climbing over the edge of the oubliette.
“Do you think we can outfly the Talons?” Ecru asked. “I doubt they’re very aerodynamic in those cloaks of theirs.”
“STOP!”
Just as Midnight was opening her wings, she looked back to the door of the compound. Rattlesnake had just stormed through it, quivering with rage. Cloaked SandWings started pouring into the courtyard behind her. If they got into a fight, the three hybrids had no chance of winning.
“You stop!” Midnight shouted back. She clenched her talons around Sirocco’s neck, making the SandWing whimper. “He’s your brother or something, isn’t he? You let us go, or he gets it.”
Rattlesnake glanced down at her brother, staring back up at her with pleading eyes. Her snout suddenly turned up, into a cackle of laughter.
“Seriously?” she snorted, as if Midnight’s threat was just a funny throat. “You think I care about him? You’d be doing me a favor if you tore out his throat. All he’s done since I took over the Talons is mess up my plans and pretend we have the same authority. Just surrender already, so we don’t have to do this the hard way.”
Midnight looked to her left and right as the cloaked SandWings started to come forward, surrounding the three on both sides. She pressed her talons into Sirocco’s scales, expecting at least some reaction from Rattlesnake. There was none.
“She’s not bluffing,” Sunny quietly whispered. “Their other brother goes to my school. He’s told me about them, and they’d kill him in a heartbeat.”
Midnight growled, and loosened her paw. There had to be something they could do to escape! Midnight was an animus — there had to be something her powers could do.
“Stand down,” Midnight hissed, the SandWings starting to close in on them. She reached towards her satchel and pulled the chakram out. “All of you. If you don’t, I’ll enchant this weapon to hunt down and kill every dragon who’s ever worn a vulture medallion.”
Rattlesnake’s grin suddenly faded. Ecru looked over towards Midnight, worried. She wouldn’t actually do that, right?
“You’re bluffing,” Rattlesnake snorted. “I don’t even know if you have magic, and you don’t seem like the dragon who’d commit mass murder. NightWings are liars, and I never saw any of it.” She glanced at the cloaked SandWings, who’d all gone still. “Get them!” she snapped.
“Is that a risk you’re willing to take?” Midnight asked, looking around at the cloaked SandWings. “Wanna find out how much of my soul I have left?”
Rattlesnake stared back at Midnight, the air tense. A few of the other Talons of Power started to back away.
“Your choice,” Midnight said. “It’s just your entire organization and your own life at stake.” She held the chakram up high, so that all the SandWings around could see it. “I enchant this chakram to—”
“ALRIGHT THAT’S ENOUGH!” Rattlesnake yelled, her talons shaking, eyes wide with fear. She snarled, her fangs twisting with rage. “Have it your way. Get out of my sight.”
Midnight smiled, and put the chakram back down. “Good choice. Next time you try and overthrow the royal family, maybe consider what happened this and last time first. Ecru. Sunny. Let’s go.”
Sunny breathed a sigh of relief. Was that it? Had they escaped? She hurriedly opened her wings wide, glad to be able to stretch them all the way out, and took off into the warm desert sun. Ecru followed. Midnight waited until the two were in the sky before flying up to meet them, keeping the chakram in her claws to remind the glaring Rattlesnake what could happen if she tried to follow.
“The Outclaws are this way,” Sunny quietly suggested. “I should get back there.”
“We’ll go with you,” Midnight replied. “I don’t want Rattlesnake to try and nab you on the way back if we leave.”
Sunny nodded, and started towards the west of the Scorpion Den, glancing behind her every so often. Midnight and Ecru were still there, and no one else seemed to be following. Just by looking at Ecru’s expression, Sunny could tell that things between them had gotten tense. Sunny understood. Her father had left her mother out of fears that he’d lost too much of his soul.
“You weren’t actually going to do the enchantment, right?” Sunny meekly asked Midnight after a while. “I know the Talons of Power are bad dragons, but killing them all . . .”
“That guard who let us in seemed nice,” Ecru said quietly, her words almost getting lost in the wind.
Midnight shook her head. “No, of course not,” she replied, glancing towards Ecru. “The whole thing about losing my soul was also a lie. I’ve only done one enchantment in my entire life. But Rattlesnake didn’t know that. To be honest, I’m not even sure I could enchant something that . . . big.”
Midnight looked over to Ecru again. She still seemed worried. Midnight sighed.
“Look, even if I was able to enchant something to kill them all, there’s no way I would ever do something like that,” Midnight assured her. “Just because they’re bad dragons doesn’t mean they deserve to die. If she hadn’t let us go, I would have enchanted the chakram to lightly touch the snouts of everyone around to make them fall asleep.”
“I know, I know,” Ecru replied, trying to smile. “Don’t worry, I think you did the right thing.” 
Ecru glanced back towards the compound, now far behind them. It had been scary seeing Midnight like that. Even if it was just Midnight acting, Ecru was terrified that one day, if Midnight wasn’t careful with her powers, it wouldn’t just be a performance. That she would become the evil murderous animus in all the legends, the ones that Torrent believed it was every animus’s destiny to become. And if Midnight continued down that path, was there any way Ecru could stop her? Or would Midnight be lost, forever?
== Chapter 12 ==
The Empress’s guest room was the nicest prison that Skytaker had ever been in. To be fair, Skytaker had only been in two other prisons before — the hanging cage in the enormous cavern beneath Liliana’s palace, and another cell in the Sky Kingdom that Skytaker didn’t remember. The chambers were spacious, covered with beautiful rugs that Skytaker kept catching their claws on, and fitted with three beds too large for a fully-grown dragon. A scrollshelf filled with stacks of bound scrolls (apparently called ‘books’) took up much of one wall. Smaller chambers spread off from the back of the room, giving the three dragonets space from each other if needed.
Like most of the palace, the room was furnished with purple and gold. Two curtains parted to reveal a huge stained-glass window, giving the three a colorful view over the island. Skytaker had tried to break through it early on, in hopes of escaping, but the glass hadn’t cracked. Neither their firebreath, Ermine’s frostbreath, or Tiger’s venom had made a scratch. Ermine guessed that it was enchanted, much like the tapestry of Empress Liliana hung directly across from the beds, her eyes looming over the dragonets as if watching their every move. Skytaker had tried to pull it down multiple times, and had even ripped it to shreds, but it always reappeared, in perfect shape, within a day.
At least the three weren’t only confined to the room. The door out was usually unlocked, although there had been a few times which one of them had tried to open it and it hadn’t budged. The three seemed free to roam the palace, although none of the RainWing guards or servants ever said more than a few words to them. Still, the palace was particularly difficult to navigate. The only way that they were able to get between floors was the circular room they’d been taken through when they’d arrived. It also seemed to operate magically — if one stood in the center and thought of a particular room, it would let them out on the floor the room was on. Unfortunately, that meant that the three could only go to floors that they already suspected existed. Just by guessing, they’d found rooms such as the dining hall, the library, the kitchens, the armory (guarded by RainWings), and even the exit (also guarded by RainWings). But the dragonets knew there had to be far more rooms in the palace than the ones they’d seen, and they had no way to get there unless they already knew what they were looking for.
At this moment, Skytaker was coming back from one such search. They’d managed to find the palace’s ballroom, which seemed to be filled with strange music that appeared to emanate from everywhere at once. Not particularly useful for an escape, unless they wanted to challenge the Empress to a dance-off.
The hybrid looked around the guest room. The windows were open, and the room was lit with colored sunlight. Ermine was lying on his bed, wings spread out as he fiddled with his talons.
“Where’s Tiger?” Skytaker asked Ermine, not seeing the RainWing.
Ermine lifted his head up, avoiding the piercing eyes of the Empress on the tapestry. “She’s in the library,” he grumbled. “She finished all the scroll thingies in here so wanted to get more.”
Skytaker snorted, flicking their tail. “It’s just like her to check out the library while we’re all imprisoned.”
Ermine sniffled, taking a peek out the window. “It’s not so bad,” he replied optimistically. “The food is better than at Jade Mountain. Even if we can’t leave, at least we’re safe here.”
Skytaker snorted. Ermine might be content just being alive here, but Skytaker wasn’t. “We’re still captured,” the hybrid argued. “Everyone back in Pyrrhia has to be worried sick about us! We’ve been gone for weeks. Four of them, in fact.”
Ermine shook his head. “There’s no one worrying about me,” he said glumly. “My parents are dead.”
“Hey, I don’t have any parents either,” Skytaker replied. “I’m talking about everyone at Jade Mountain. My winglet, the teachers. My friends. They probably think we’re all dead by now. Poor Sepia. Although I’m sure Changbai’s secretly a little happy they don’t have a clawmate anymore.”
Ermine was quiet for a moment, the IceWing’s face downcast. “I don’t have any friends.”
“Wait, really?” Skytaker said, surprised. “I know you and Changbai don’t get along, but I thought you hung out with the other IceWings a lot.”
Ermine shook his head. “Not anymore,” he sighed. “They all started hanging out with their own winglets.”
“Well, what about you?” Skytaker asked. “Newt’s your clawmate, right?”
Ermine let out another deflated sigh. “They don’t like me.”
Skytaker gave the IceWing dragonet a glance of pity. Did he really not have any friends waiting for him back at Jade Mountain? Skytaker hadn’t really know Ermine that well — until now, they’d never had a reason to get to know him.
“Hey, if you want, I can be your friend when we get back,” Skytaker suggested. “I’ll introduce you to the rest of the Silver Winglet. That way you have something to look forward do.”
Ermine looked over to the crimson hybrid, a little glimmer of hope in his eyes. It quickly faded. “If we get back.”
“When we get back,” Skytaker assured them. “I still have plans for what I’m gonna do in Pyrrhia. I’m not letting some glittery RainWing stop me."
They glanced back to the doorway. “I think I’m gonna join Tiger in the library; see if there’s anything useful there. Like a really big book I can throw at the Empress’s head when she isn’t looking. Wanna join?”
Ermine looked over at the tapestry of the Empress, eyes looking straight at him. Hopefully, she hadn’t heard that. “Yeah, alright,” Ermine replied. He didn’t have much else to do.
The two headed over to the moving circular room. By now, Skytaker had a pretty good idea of how it worked. They stood in the golden circle outside its doors, and waited for it to arrive.
It wasn’t very long before the doors opened up, and the two trotted into the circular room, Skytaker taking their place in the center of the room, standing in the gold circle, Ermine right next to them. The doors shut again, and Skytaker imagined a library in their head. The room started to move again, taking them to their destination.
The room suddenly gave another lurch, breaking Skytaker’s concentration. The doors swung open, and Skytaker’s blood ran cold. Empress Liliana stood outside the two doors, smiling calmly as she saw the two.
“Hello, dragonets,” Liliana greeted them as she stepped into the center of the room, the points of her sharp glittering talons barely touching the floor. The door closed behind her, the red carpet to her throne disappearing behind it.
“Y-your majesty,” Ermine stammered. When he’d first met Queen Glory, Ermine had found it odd using Queen Glacier’s title for a RainWing. But with the Empress, it was different. Her glittering presence was formidable and intimidating. Whereas Queen Glory had spoken to the Jade Mountain students like they were her friends and equals, in Empress Liliana’s presence, Ermine knew he was just a subject under her command.
“This room is awfully convenient for traversing such a big palace, isn’t it?” Liliana observed. “Just think of where you want to go, and you’re there.”
Skytaker flicked their tail. Personally, they would’ve preferred an open column instead of the room, so that dragons could just fly up and down from floor to floor. Although, they supposed the moving room would be a lot more useful for dragons who couldn’t fly, like Toxin. Open air sure would have made it easier to explore the palace though.
“Where are you going?” Empress Liliana asked Skytaker with a smile.
“Oh, er, just the library,” Skytaker gulped. “Lots of scr-books there. Love reading! The bigger the book, the better!”
If Liliana was suspicious, she didn’t show it.
Ermine glanced back and forth between the two. “Let her use the circle first,” Ermine whispered nervously to Skytaker, “she’s the Empress.” He knew that would’ve been the correct thing to do for Queen Glacier.
Skytaker glared at Ermine as the room started moving. She wasn’t their queen. In fact, she’d been the one to kidnap them all in the first place! They didn’t owe her any respect.
“It’s quite alright for the hybrid to go first,” Liliana said, overhearing Ermine’s whispers. “I have a difficult meeting coming up. A little bit more time to prepare myself won’t hurt.”
“Yeah,” Skytaker grumbled, trying to focus on the library. They wanted to get away from the Empress as soon as possible.
An uncomfortably long amount of time passed before the room came to a stop, and the doors opened on the library corridor. Skytaker rushed towards the doors, Ermine following behind them.
“Farwell, dragonets!” Liliana called out with a wave of her paw as the doors closed on her. As soon as they shut, Skytaker turned around and stuck their tongue out mockingly. Ermine’s eyes opened in surprise. How could Skytaker so such rudeness to the Empress, even when she wasn’t in sight? Weren’t they afraid?
After their bout of rudeness, Skytaker started to head back down the hallway towards the library. Ermine thought for a moment, and quickly flicked their tongue out defiantly at the doors before scrambling back towards Skytaker. A small grin formed over the IceWing’s melancholy expression. Defiance to royalty felt surprisingly good.
Skytaker pushed open the doors to the palace library. Even Ermine’s eyes opened wide in wonder as he saw it. Just like everything in the palace, the library was grandiose. Bookshelves lined a huge corridor, splitting off into smaller corridors. Even more bookshelves lined a golden balcony above the two dragonets. Every shelf was stuffed with books, each book itself stuffed with bound scrolls. Ermine found it hard to even believe that this much knowledge could even exist.
Skytaker and Ermine walked down the corridor. “Tiger?” Skytaker yelled out, his voice echoing throughout the library. “You here?”
“Shush!”
Skytaker looked down one of the smaller corridors. At its end was a small wooden desk, where Tiger appeared to be hunched over a book, her wings curled up.
“There are so many of them,” Ermine whispered, pulling a tome out from a shelf as they passed, pausing to read its cover. “Fly Lobby Litigation.” What did that mean?
“Really looks like your kind of place,” Skytaker commented, scanning around at all shelves. “But you shouldn’t be wasting your time here when we’re trying to escape. Unless one of them has a map of the palace, they’re all—”
“Useless,” Tiger finished for them. “I know.”
Skytaker raised an eyeridge, surprised that Tiger agreed with them. They’d take it. “I explored the palace a little bit more,” they said, “I found a place that lets me look over the edge. I could only see one way in and out — the entrance that’s guarded by RainWings constantly.”
“I’m not just reading for fun,” Tiger told them with a glare. “I was trying to learn more about Antigonia to see if I could learn anything that might help us. It’s worked before.”
“But all the scroll books here are useless?” Skytaker replied.
“Not entirely,” Tiger sighed, “but most of them are. Ermine, show them.”
Skytaker turned around to see Ermine frowning, the IceWing rapidly flipping through the book. He glanced up. “She’s right,” he replied, “it’s more nonsense than Webs’s scrolls.”
Ermine threw the book down on the ground, landing open to a section in it’s middle. Skytaker looked down to read it.
Resolution possession discovered surrounded advantages has but few add. Yet walls times spoil put. Be it reserved contempt rendered smallest. Studied to passage it mention calling believe an. Get ten horrible remember pleasure two vicinity. Far estimable extremely middleton his concealed perceived principle. Certainty listening no behaviour existence assurance situation is. Because add why not esteems amiable him. Interested the unaffected law friendship add principles. Indeed on people do merits to. Court heard which up above hoped grave do. Answer living law things either sir bed length. Looked before we an on merely. These no death he at share alone. Yet outward the him compass hearted are tedious.
That was enough for Skytaker. The hybrid shook their head, unsure if they were reading this right. “Are they all like this?”
“Not all of them, but most,” Tiger replied glumly. “A lot are jumbled and nonsensical like this. Some are worse, so bad you can’t make out words.”
“Could it be code?” Skytaker suggested.
“It’s possible,” Tiger said. “I tried a few things, but I couldn’t find any meaning. The only ones that are readable are dated 4993 years after the Scorching and later. A year after Queen Oasis’s death.”
“Are those ones useful?” Skytaker asked.
Tiger shrugged her wings back and forth. “Depends how you define useful. Most of those ones seem to be praising Empress Liliana. Thanking her for bringing peace and prosperity to all of Antigonia, she’s a wonderful ruler, we’d all give our lives for her, blah blah blah, and so on. It’s really vapid.”
“Maybe she is a good queen? Or empress?” Ermine suggested.
“Doubt it,” Skytaker muttered. “Everyone there is probably too afraid of her to say anything bad about her.”
Ermine shuffled uncomfortably. Dragons in the Ice Kingdom were allowed to say bad things about Queen Glacier, it was just considered really rude, and you could be dropped in the rankings. But it wasn’t like she beheaded them or anything. Did Liliana do beheadings? Probably.
“I finally found a history book though,” Tiger said. “It took way too long, but it might be helpful. It’s clearly propaganda, but maybe there’s some truth.”
“How is a history scroll going to help us escape?” Skytaker sighed.
“I don’t know,” Tiger hissed, her orange stripes suddenly darkening to a shade of red, her black and red scales matching Skytaker’s. “But we’ve been doing things your way, and so far it’s gotten us nowhere.”
Skytaker winced. Tiger wasn’t wrong. Nothing Skytaker had done so far had worked. “Okay,” they apologized, “sorry.”
Tiger took a deep breath, her red scales turning back to their resting orange. “I don’t know if anything in the book is going to help us,” she continued, “but knowing more about Antigonia and the Empress can’t hurt if we want to escape. The first thing I found was a map of Antigonia.”
“If we escape the palace, that could be useful,” Skytaker suggested, trying to get onboard with Tiger’s strategy. “We don’t know which way land is from the island.”
Tiger nodded. “That’s what I thought. Although I’m not sure how much I trust this map.”
“Why?” Ermine asked, curious. “Is it incomplete?”
“It’s better if I show you,” Tiger answered, pulling the book off the desk and onto the floor, placing it in front of the other two dragonets. She opened it up the cover, where a map sprawled across the inside of the front cover and the next page.
Skytaker squinted, unsure exactly what they were seeing.
“It’s like someone took a map of Pyrrhia, tore it up, and put it back together again,” Ermine whispered.
Tiger nodded. Many of the coastlines on the map were familiar, but in all the wrong places. The Ice Kingdom had been turned to its right, and placed on the east coast of the Sky Kingdom. The Sea Kingdom had been split up haphazardly, part of it where the Ice Kingdom had been, and another part in what might have been the Sand Kingdom. The map seemed to been split about halfway across on the left page, leaving a huge rectangular gap of ocean in the middle of the continent. The small peninsula that had been at the southwest corner of the Sand Kingdom now appeared in two places, both tilted, and in one place the coastline jutted out as a straight corner. The Claws of the Clouds had been rotated, the entire mountain range disconnected. Only the southern parts of the Ice Kingdom seemed unchanged, the head decapitated.
“Are you sure this isn’t just some weird joke?” Skytaker asked. “I’ll admit I’m not an expert on geography, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like this.”
“I think the palace is here.” Tiger said, pointing towards a small island just north of a rotated MudWing coastline placed around where Possibility should have been. “I recognize it from some of the maps of the old NightWing island.”
“That’s not far from the mainland!” Ermine exclaimed. “We could even fly there in maybe a few hours!”
“If we got out of the palace,” Skytaker replied, “and if this map is actually accurate.”
“It checks out with the rest of the history in the book,” Tiger said. “There was even a battle along a perfectly straight coastline once. No one seems to care how weird it is though.”
“A battle?” Skytaker asked, surprised. “You mean the Empress has enemies? She doesn’t control all of Antigonia?”
“She does,” Tiger explained. “The book starts with her taking over in 4993. But there weren’t any battles. It was completely peaceful. All the queens literally just . . . gave up their power to Empress Liliana, who basically appeared out of thin air. And thereafter she ruled Antigonia.”
“What?” Ermine said, shocked. “No. That’s a lie. IceWing queens would never give up their throne to a RainWing.”
“That’s what the book says,” Tiger grimaced. “Not just that. Apparently Liliana can speak to scavengers too, and they all did the same thing. All their leaders gave up their powers to her, and suddenly she’s Empress of Antigonia.”
“Scavengers have kingdoms?” Skytaker snorted with a laugh.
“Apparently they do here,” Tiger continued. “I’d believe it. Have you seen a scavenger den before?”
“Winter took our winglet on a field trip to see one once,” Ermine grumbled. “He wouldn’t let us eat any though.”
“You said there was a battle, though, right?” Skytaker asked. “If everyone just ‘peacefully’ decided Liliana should be their ruler, why was there a battle.”
“After Liliana took power, there was a very short war,” Tiger said. “A group of rebellious dragons and scavengers combined tried to fight Liliana. They were utterly crushed. Massacred. But the leader of the rebellion apparently escaped, a NightWing. The book calls him ‘The Trustbreaker’ and apparently the Empress has been looking for him ever since.”
“Spooky name,” Skytaker commented. “Hey, if this ‘Trustbreaker’ is still around, you think he can help us?”
“If I were him, I’d have gotten as far away from here as I could,” Ermine muttered.
“If the Empress can’t find him, I doubt we can either, especially from within this castle,” Tiger reasoned. “But I found this.”
She flipped through the book again, until she came to an illustration. A huge orb, with glass lenses floating above it.
“Hey!” Skytaker said. “It’s that thing that’s in the throne room!”
Tiger nodded. “There aren’t many details, but it’s called the Obscura. Apparently the Empress uses it to keep peace on Antigonia, but I wasn’t able to figure out what it does.”
“Peace,” Skytaker snorted, sarcasm dripping from their voice. “I’ll bet it’s some sort of horrible weapon she threatened all the queens with. We should go check it out!”
“That sounds like a terrible idea,” Tiger said skeptically.
Skytaker snorted, and turned towards Ermine.
“I’m with Tiger on this one,” Ermine said. “What if we get caught?”
Skytaker shook their head. “She’s gone, remember? She was in the moving room with us.” They looked around at the other two, still skeptical of the plan. “C’mon! This might be the only chance we get. You both want to escape as much as I do, don’t you?”
Tiger exchanged a glance with Ermine. She hated just the idea of sneaking up into the throne room while the Empress was gone, but Skytaker was right. They might not have another chance. “Alright,” she agreed. “We’ll go with you.”
Ermine sighed. It was too against one. “Fine,” he grumbled. “But it’s your fault if we all die.”
Skytaker grinned. “Then it’s settled. C’mon, let’s hurry!”
Tiger placed the book back on the shelf, remembering its location. She didn’t want anyone else to realize what she’d been reading. She quickly trotted after Skytaker and Ermine, Skytaker already in the golden circle outside the moving room.
The doors opened again. It was empty. Ermine let out a sigh of relief as Skytaker ran to the circle in the center.
“Throne room,” Skytaker said, thinking out loud. “Greenhouse thingy. Obscura.”
The room gave a lurch, and started moving upwards.
“What do we do if the Empress is in there?” Tiger asked. She glanced towards Skytaker.
“Can’t - talk,” they responded, putting their paws to their skull. “Must - focus - on - room.”
Tiger rolled her eyes. She’d figure something out.
The doors opened up, revealing the red carpet. Skytaker blinked in surprise.
“Wow,” the hybrid said. “I can’t believe that actually worked. I thought it would be locked or something.”
“Don’t need to lock your rooms if everyone is too scared of you to disobey,” Ermine quietly said as the three stepped out onto the staircase up.
The throne room was fortunately empty when the three dragonets arrived, just a faint wind blowing through the greenhouse.
“There it is,” Tiger whispered, looking up at the huge orb, far larger than any dragon. It’s milky white surface seemed to shift around, and the lenses above it slowly rotated.
Skytaker walked up to the orb, raising their head up. “So, what exactly do you think it does?”
“It might be cursed,” Ermine gulped. “I wonder if the Empress has lost a lot of her soul.”
“I’d bet all of it,” Skytaker grumbled. “I bet she’s done something horrible to Glory, to make her like that.”
Tiger walked around the orb, staring into the clouded surface, obscuring whatever was inside it. She squinted, trying to see what was beyond the strange clouds. “Not just Glory,” Tiger responded. “All of Antigonia. The messed-up map we saw — all of it could be the result of some horrible spell she put on the entire world.”
Ermine’s eyes opened wide. “The entire world?”
Skytaker thought about that for a moment. “I don’t know,” they responded. “Not to defend the Empress, but if she put a spell on the entire world, how come she needs whatever this big orb thing is to keep peace?”
“What if the orb thing is the spell?” Ermine asked.
Skytaker squinted, cocking their head at the orb. Suddenly, they opened their jaws, and shot a blast of fire at the orb. When the flames cleared away, the orb was completely unchanged. They sighed
“This is a different world,” Skytaker pointed out as they took a step back. “It could just be really weird compared to Pyrrhia.”
“If the Empress enchanted the entire world, she’d have lost all of her soul, and then some,” Ermine gulped. “There’d be nothing left of her. That’s what my grandmother told me. There was an IceWing prince who tried to make a Gift as large as the world, but instead, his body turned into a lifeless husk. After that, I never took too much polar bear again.”
“What?” Skytaker asked, not quite sure how the two were connected. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Maybe this thing has all of the Empress’s powers in it. If we destroy it, we could stop her!”
“Then how could we get back to Pyrrhia?” Ermine asked.
“Good point,” Skytaker sighed. “Tiger? Any ideas?”
They looked over to the RainWing, who had been strangely quiet. Her eyes were focused on the Obscura, her snout almost pressed up against the orb. Like she was in a trance, she raised her paw up, moving it towards the orb.
“Tiger, don’t touch it!” Skytaker yelled out. They started running towards the RainWing, but they were too late. Tiger’s paw touched the orb, and it immediately started to glow, blinding white light forcing Skytaker and Ermine to turn away.
When the light had faded, the orb was no longer clouded, it’s surface now a sky-blue. Tiger, on the other paw, had turned a dull grey, her paw held up against the orb, her eyes staring directly into it. The lenses floating above the orb started to spin faster, moving closer until they were aligned directly above the orb. The Obscura had been activated.
“Tiger!” Skytaker shouted, walking towards the RainWing. The hybrid looked over towards Ermine. “What does this color mean?” they asked, almost frantic. “Tiger never turns a uniform color!”
“I don’t know,” Ermine whimpered. “I’m an IceWing.”
Skytaker huffed, and continued towards Tiger. “Tiger, are you alright?” they asked. What had the Obscura done to her?
“Quiet,” Tiger hissed, her eyes still focused on the orb. “I’m fine. I’m just . . . trying to focus. It’s weird. It’s like I’m in two places at once.”
“What is it doing?” Ermine asked. “Why is it blue now?”
“I don’t know,” Tiger growled. “It might be the sky. Or the ocean. I’m not sure. Ermine, stop asking questions.”
The surface of the orb suddenly shifted, and the lenses moved. Ermine’s eyes suddenly went wide as he saw an image of himself in the orb, Skytaker standing besides him. He moved a paw, and the image on the screen seemed to move with it.
“Hey, it’s us!” Skytaker said, pointing at the Obscura. “Look, there’s the orb and Tiger!” Another orb was on the image of the image, and another image on that image. Skytaker shook their head, blinking. “Weird. Tiger, how did you do that?”
“I’m not sure,” Tiger said, her eyes focused on the orb. “All I did was think of Ermine. I can see the rest of you now, even though I’m also looking at the orb. It’s strange.”
“Try thinking of another dragon,” Skytaker suggested. “Um . . . how about Tsunami?”
The image suddenly shifted again, turning dark. An obsidian cage just like the one the three had been in appeared on the orb.
“Let me out!” Tsunami’s voice roared from the orb. Her image appeared on it, her claws around the bars of the cage, fruitlessly shaking them. “I’ll kill you!”
“Wait, she captured Tsunami too?” Ermine asked.
“It might not be our Tsunami,” Skytaker replied. “Just like there’s a Glory here too.”
“I want to see if Toxin’s here,” Tiger said. The image changed, lenses turning above. Toxin’s image appeared on the screen. The RainWing-NightWing hybrid appeared to be walking through some sort of village in a clearing, the image following her movements. Other dragons of all tribes were walking from side to side around her, their heads down, voices quiet.
“She’s got both wings,” Skytaker pointed out. “So she isn’t our Toxin.”
The three tried a few more dragons next. Some of them didn’t have an image appear for them — Skytaker wasn’t sure if that meant their were Antigonian counterparts were dead, or if they just didn’t exist. Most seemed to be in villages like Toxin, some in larger cities with a strange amount of scavengers. All of them had their heads down, nervously glancing from side to side every so often. A few others were in the dark cages beneath the palace, usually solemn.
“I think I understand what the Obscura is,” Skytaker said finally, as the three stared at a sad-looking Sepia, “and how she keeps peace with it.”
Ermine looked over to the hybrid for an explanation. Tiger’s eyes stayed locked on the orb, her scales still a uniform grey.
“It’s a way for her or her subordinates to spy on dragons, anywhere, at any time,” Skytaker explained. “If she finds someone acting out of line, she has her RainWing guards throw them in the dungeon for a while. That way she can prevent insurrections and rebellions.”
“She can’t spy on everyone at once,” Ermine replied, doubtful.
“She doesn’t have to,” Skytaker continued. “As long as everyone thinks that she’s watching them, and knows that she could, they won’t do anything that attracts attention, like plotting a rebellion.”
“How come Glory and the RainWings work for her, then?” Ermine asked. “I don’t think they’d go along with that.”
Skytaker frowned. That was true, Glory didn’t seem like the type of dragon to follow Liliana willingly. “She’s still an animus, so I’ll bet she’s brainwashed them somehow. That’s probably why the queens gave up their powers to her.”
The image on the orb suddenly shifted again. Ermine jumped as he saw Empress Liliana appear on the screen. He let out a sigh of relief as he realized she couldn’t see him back.
The Empress was standing in the center of the moving room, slowly taking her somewhere. Skytaker frowned. She couldn’t still be there, after all this time, could she?
The moving room suddenly stopped, and the doors opened, revealing the red carpet leading up to the throne. The Empress was coming back.
“Quick!” Skytaker yelled out. What would she do if she caught them? They glanced around, looking for a place to hide. “Hide behind the throne!”
Skytaker and Ermine suddenly ran towards the throne, when they realized that Tiger was still on the Obscura. “Tiger!” Skytaker hissed. “We’re out of time.”
Tiger’s paw started to shake. “Skytaker,” she said, a hint of fear in her voice. “I can’t move.”
Skytaker opened their mouth, glancing towards the red carpet. They didn’t have much time before the Empress was here. They ran back towards Tiger, and grabbed ahold of the RainWing’s tail, trying to pull her away. For a moment, she wouldn’t budge, her paw stuck to the surface of the orb, but with a sudden lurch, Tiger popped off the orb, rolling into Skytaker.
The orb stopped glowing, going back to its cloudy resting color. Tiger’s legs shook as she tried to get up, black and orange colors starting to return to her scales. She fell flat on the ground, not having the strength to walk.
“Ermine, help me carry her!” Skytaker hissed at the throne as they tried to get under Tiger’s front paws, the RainWing grasping onto her.
Ermine poked his head out from behind the vines, hesitant. If Empress Liliana caught him, he’d be dead. But if he just hid behind the throne . . . No. He shook his head. He couldn’t just leave Tiger and Skytaker out there to be caught.
The IceWing ran back out, and lifted Tiger’s hindlegs onto him, grabbing ahold of one paw. The RainWing winced, her belly on Ermine’s sharp spines. Skytaker and Ermine walked towards the throne of vines as quick as they could without dropping Tiger. Ermine’s heart raced. Was that the glittering violet Empress he saw behind him out of the corner of his eye?
The two finally reached behind the throne as the Empress walked around the Obscura, Ermine swishing his tail in at the last second. Skytaker breathed a sigh of relief, as they set Tiger down as quietly as possible.
Ermine put his eye up to a small hole between the vines making up the throne. The IceWing felt his teeth start to chatter as the Empress approached, golden crown glistening over her violet scales. Every step brought her closer to the throne. Ermine stared. She was going to find them.
“Your majesty!” a dragon’s voice barked. Empress Liliana suddenly whipped around. Ermine glanced to his right. Skytaker had their eye through another crack, and was holding Tiger up so that the RainWing could see.
General Glory poked her head from around the Obscura, heading towards Empress Liliana. “We brought him up.”
The Empress remained still at this, and Tiger’s eyes were drawn to her tail. Red, green, blue, purple, and finally, black. Anger, fear, sadness, guilt, and hate. Her emotions were hidden from Glory, but not Tiger. Tiger stared. What could make the stoic Empress feel all that?
Empress Liliana’s paws went to her crown, adjusting it. Her body went stiff, and she held her head aloft.
“Bring him in,” Liliana ordered.
Glory bowed, and beckoned behind her. Behind the Obscura, six spear-wielding RainWings walked forward, a hooded NightWing in the center of the spears.
“Take off his hood,” Liliana ordered, her talons clenching. “I want him to see me.”
One of the RainWings ripped the blindfold off the silvery-black NightWing. He stared up at the glittering Empress, eyes wracked with fear. He turned his head back and forth. “Where am I?” he asked. “What is this place?”
“It’s my palace,” the Empress hissed, lashing her tail against the throne, startling Ermine. “I built it after you betrayed me. I’ve waited so long to see you again, Trustbreaker.”
The NightWing blinked, no hint of recognition in his eyes. “Trustbreaker? Who are you?” He suddenly saw Glory behind him, out of the corner of his eye. “Your majesty!” he said, turning around and bowing. “I’m so glad you’re safe! Where are we? How are you alive?”
Empress Liliana was silent for a moment, as the colorful scales on her tail faded away. “. . . really? You . . . don’t remember me?”
The NightWing looked over towards Empress Liliana. “Er, I don’t,” he responded. “I’m sorry, you must have the wrong dragon. My name is Duskwind, not Trustbreaker.”
The scales on Empress Liliana’s tail started to turn a dark red. Liliana took in a deep breath, and they started to return back to violet. She let out a sigh, and walked forward, the guards letting her get close to Duskwind. She put her paws on his head, causing him to nervously stiffen up, and tilted his neck to the side, squinting as she stared at his eyes.
The Empress took a step back, looking over towards General Glory. “This is the wrong one. He doesn’t have the silver scales. Apparently there’s a Duskwind on Pyrrhia too.”
Glory lowered her head to the ground. “My sincere apologies, Your Majesty. This mistake won’t happen again.”
Liliana shook her head. “No. It won’t.”
“He could be useful,” Glory suggested. “Might he know things that our Trustbreaker knows? We could predict his movements.”
Liliana squinted at Duskwind, considering this. “Doubtful. They must be far different dragons by now, except in appearance.” She gave out another long sigh. “I’m sorry about this all,” she said to Duskwind. “It appears we nabbed the wrong dragon.”
“Haha,” Duskwind laughed, very confused at the entire situation. “It’s, uh, no concern. Can I leave now?”
Empress Liliana smiled. “No.”
She suddenly opened her jaws, and a burst of venom shot from her fangs, so fast Tiger could barely see it. It hit directly into Duskwind’s eyes, and the NightWing started screaming in agony as the venom ate through his flesh, his voice echoing through the greenhouse. The dragonets wanted to look away as his face melted away, but couldn’t.
Empress Liliana took a step back as the NightWing kept screaming, and the guards raised their spears. Blinded, Duskwind tried to run, only impaling himself through the chest on one of the spears. He put his claws up to his snout, trying to smear the venom off it, but it only made things worse, his talons and paws dissolving with it. Liliana only grinned as the NightWing suffered, and Tiger saw hints of yellow run through her tail.
Finally, his screams subsided, the venom finally reaching into his brain. He flopped down limply onto the spear, little left of his face but bone and flesh.
“That was satisfying,” Liliana commented. “Dragonets, you can come out now. I know you’re there.”
Skytaker stared at the Empress, blood running cold. Had she known the three were behind her throne the entire time? The hybrid slowly walked out into the open, followed by Tiger and Ermine.
“How did you know we were there?” Skytaker asked quietly. Had they not hidden as well as they’d thought?
“Tiger used the Obscura,” she answered, smiling gently at the three. “It’s magically connected to me.” Liliana chuckled. “You’re quite lucky, you know that? Few people other than myself ever get to experience it. It’s quite something, isn’t it?”
Tiger stared up at Liliana with a glare, quickly glancing towards Duskwind’s corpse, red blood leaking out of where he’d impaled himself onto the crimson carpet.
“I’m so sorry you had to see that,” the Empress tsked, shaking her head. “Dragonet’s shouldn’t be exposed to such violence.”
“Who was he?” Tiger asked pointedly. “Why did you kill him if he wasn’t even the right dragon?”
Liliana’s smile morphed into a slight frown. “Your world’s version of an old lover. No one important. Haven’t you ever wanted to kill an ex?”
Tiger stayed silent, refusing to reply to Liliana’s question.
The Empress laughed. “You’re probably too young to understand such matters. But Pyrrhian or Antigonian, this dragon is extremely dangerous. I needed to make sure he was out of the way, permanently.”
She sighed as she looked over at Duskwind’s body. “General Glory, escort the dragonets back to their room, then come with me to the war room afterwards. We have important matters to discuss. Dragonets! I’m letting you off easy this time since I didn’t tell you not to, but no more snooping around, and don’t use the Obscura again.”
Glory walked over to the three, glaring down at them. Tiger sighed. Back to their room it was.
As the three were escorted back by Glory, Empress Liliana glared down at what was left of Duskwind’s face. “You cant hide forever, Trustbreaker,” she growled, her tail pitch black. “And when I find you, you will pay for what you stole from me.”
== Chapter 13 ==
“Nice place,” Midnight commented as she looked up at the gate to the Outclaws’ compound.
Sunny nodded. It might not have been the SandWing palace, and her quarters were cramped, but it was nice, especially compared to the caves she’d grown up in. She winced. Just the thought of the other Dragonets, and of Glory’s fate, was painful.
The two SandWings standing guard at the compound’s entrance turned alert as they saw Sunny approach, Midnight and Ecru behind her.
“Your majesty!” one of them barked, mildly concerned. “You’re supposed to be under watch at all times by an Outclaw! Who are these strange dragons?”
The other guard glared at the first. “Didn’t you hear? Her majesty left with Ecru yesterday and has been missing since.” He bowed his head, even lower than Sunny’s, in respect.
“Oh,” the first guard said. “Er, my sincerest apologies—”
“It’s fine,” Sunny stated with a smile. “Would you please find Clay and Cheetah for me? I have bad news to share.”
The first guard quickly bowed before running off, leaving the second behind, unsure what he should be doing. He carefully watched Midnight and Ecru as they followed Sunny into the compound courtyard. Should he be letting strange dragons in? The rules pretty explicitly told him not to, but Sunny was the queen.
The three only had to wait in the courtyard for a moment. “Sunny!” Clay shouted as he burst through the doors to the compound, Cheetah behind him. He ran up to Sunny before wrapping his wings around her in a hug so tight she could barely breath. Sunny wrapped her arms around his neck, holding her head against his scales.
“I’ve been worried sick about you!” Clay huffed, his scales finally relaxing. “There was an explosion where you were supposed to meet, and you didn’t return, and—”
“It’s fine, Clay,” Sunny cut him off, keeping herself close to him. Her disappearance must have put him through a lot, especially after losing Glory so recently. “I’m fine.”
The two held their embrace for a while, small tears starting to roll down Clay’s neck. At least they still had each other. Were Tsunami and Starflight like this too? In Jade Mountain, feeling like they were the only two dragons who could ever understand each other? Sunny wondered how long it would be before the four of them would finally be all together again.
Sunny finally let go of Clay, taking a step back as his wings unravelled from around her. She looked over to Cheetah, already knowing what the Outclaw would say.
“Where’s Kudu?” Cheetah asked nervously, looking over towards the entrance to the compound. “She’s not here with you.” He glanced over to Midnight and Ecru. “Who are these . . . new dragons?”
Sunny shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I’m so sorry Cheetah. It was a trap. Kudu is dead.”
Cheetah’s anxiety faded, being replaced with a solemn expression. “I see,” he said, lowering his head. “Jackal returning was too good to be real. You’re absolutely sure?”
Sunny nodded. “I saw her die. She didn’t go down without a fight.” She shook her head back and forth. “This is all my fault. Had she not come with me, she never would have been in danger.”
“No, it’s not you,” Cheetah grimaced. “She should have taken more Outclaws with her. I suggested it, but she wanted to go with only you. Maybe if I had pushed her more, things would have turned out differently.”
Clay stepped forward, glancing between Sunny and Cheetah. “Please don’t blame yourselves,” he pleaded. “What happened wasn’t either of your faults. It was a trap, right?”
Cheetah nodded, letting out a wistful sigh. He looked up at Sunny, wiping his eyes. “How did you escape?” he asked. “Please, tell me what happened. Everything. From the beginning.”
“It was the Talons of Power,” Sunny answered. “Rattlesnake and Sirocco. They set the trap in the warehouse, and had their goons kill Ecru and capture me. They were going to trade me to Aloe, I think. I was in their prison for a night, and then they threw Midnight in. She’s my—”
“—friend,” Midnight quickly interrupted. “I’m her friend. Well, not exactly a friend friend, but we have a mutual friend at Jade Mountain.”
“I then rescued both of them,” Ecru grinned. “I knocked out Sirocco and freed both of them.”
“How did you get out of their compound?” Cheetah asked, mildly surprised. “It’s supposed to be one of the most well-defended places in Pyrrhia, although I’ve heard their defenses have faltered since Vulture’s death.”
Sunny opened her mouth to respond, but Midnight interrupted her again.
“We took Sirocco hostage,” Midnight answered. It was part of the truth. “At least until we were able to get out. We couldn’t take him here.”
Cheetah’s gaze narrowed, keeping his eyes locked on Midnight, frowning. He could tell she was hiding something. Midnight kept her expression as motionless as possible. He might have been Sunny’s friend, but Midnight didn’t trust him yet. What would he do if he found out Midnight was an animus? Would he just let her go, or would he try to capture and control like Rattlesnake had? Or would he even try to kill her?
“Is that it?” Cheetah asked, turning to Sunny. “I’m surprised you got out so easily. Rattlesnake is ruthless.”
Sunny nodded uncomfortably. “Yeah. I guess we got lucky,” she lied. She didn’t want to lie to Cheetah, especially about the circumstances around Ecru’s death. But she understood. Midnight was an animus. That wasn’t something she wanted to tell others lightly. Sunny would give Clay all the details later, while they were alone, but Cheetah would just have to hear the abridged version for now.
“Well, I’m glad you got out safely,” Cheetah said, keeping his stare locked on Midnight. “All of you. Rescuing the queen makes you a hero in my eyes, and likely in most of the Sand Kingdom’s. I’m Cheetah, by the way, second-in-command of the Outclaws.”
“Er,” Clay said, frowning, “if Ecru is dead, doesn’t that make you . . . leader?”
Cheetah frowned, like he was considering this for a moment. He shook his head. “Not yet,” he replied. “I would like some time to mourn Kudu before I take on that position.” He looked back towards Midnight. “Who are you, I must ask? You don’t look like you’re from around these parts.”
“Actually, I live relatively nearby,” Midnight smiled, hiding a glare of daggers behind it. “In Crosswinds. I’m Midnight, and this is Ecru.”
“Ah,” Cheetah replied. “Crosswinds. Of course.” He glanced over to the compound. “It’s starting to get late. Would the two of you like to stay for dinner? It would be wrong of me to not invite you after what you’ve done.”
Midnight frowned. She didn’t like this. Being offered something for free in the Scorpion Den, by a dragon who’d spent the last few minutes glaring at her? It sounded like a bad idea.
“Of course!” Ecru answered. “We’d love a good meal! I don’t eat meat, is that a problem?”
“Er, not at all,” Cheetah smiled. “I’m sure our chef can find something for you.”
----The dinner was practically a feast. Even Sunny noticed — the Outclaws’ chef was going all out. In celebration of Sunny’s rescue, or as a way to sooth everyone’s grief? But for all the celebratory food, the tone of the meal was quite somber. By now, the news of Kudu’s death had passed through the Outclaws, and instead of the raucous meals Sunny was used to here, the SandWings all had their heads down in silence.
Sunny looked across the table, to Midnight. Her cousin’s eyes were focused on Cheetah, glaring at the SandWing. What had he done to anger her so much? Ecru seemed just as oblivious to her mate’s anger, eagerly eating the special meatless meal that Cheetah had had prepared for her.
“So, what brings you to the Scorpion Den from Crosswinds?” Cheetah asked the two newcomers with a smile. “The flight across the desert isn’t fun. Are you planning to be here for long?”
“No,” Midnight answered. “This place isn’t really for us, and I’ve got someone to get back to.”
Cheetah frowned, mildly concerned. “Wait, are the two of you not toge—”
“My mother,” Midnight snapped back with a glare. “I take care of her.”
Ecru turned towards Midnight, placing a wing around her back. “Midnight, be nice,” she whispered. She turned back to Cheetah with a smile. “We came to the Scorpion Den searching for information. It’s how we ended up with the Talons of Power, we were hoping Rattlesnake could help us.”
Cheetah chuckled. “I suppose that didn’t work out? Rattlesnake isn’t really the helpful type of dragon.”
“It did work out, in fact,” Midnight stated. “We got the information.”
Ecru nodded. “Sirocco accidentally let slip that Her Majesty was imprisoned there. Midnight tried to rescue her, but they didn’t take kindly to that. Ooh, Midnight! Show Cheetah the chakram, maybe he knows something!”
Cheetah opened an eye curiously. “Chakram?”
Midnight sighed, and pulled the metal disk from her bag, flashing it in front of Cheetah’s eyes. “Someone attempted to assassinate me with this,” she explained. “Rattlesnake thinks it’s NightWing made. We’re planning to go find the NightWings to see if they know anything.”
Cheetah nodded. “Last I heard, most of the NightWings are in camps near the southern edge of the Mud Kingdom, southeast of Queen Moorhen’s palace. I’d strongly suggest leaving as soon as possible.”
Midnight snorted. First Cheetah wanted them for dinner, and now he wants to get rid of them?
“Do you mind if we stay the night?” Ecru asked politely. “It’s been a long day.”
Cheetah shook his head, tapping his talons on his plate. “Unfortunately not. We’re at capacity right now. Kudu believed that there was strength in numbers, and well, we certainly have the numbers.”
“Wait, could they stay with Clay, Acacia, and I?” Sunny suggested to Cheetah. “It’s a little cramped, but . . .” Sunny’s explanation trailed off. Midnight was her cousin, and the only family member other than Stonemover that Sunny knew of. She wanted more time before Midnight left, to at least get to know her a little.
Clay looked over at Sunny with a hint of skepticism, his mouth stuffed with mutton.
Sunny sighed. Their room was already cramped with just the three of them already there, they couldn’t fit two more dragons. “Maybe more than a little cramped. But I’m sure we could find something.”
“I really think you should leave tonight,” Cheetah frowned.
“Really?” Midnight asked, suspicious. “And why is that?”
“If you’re trying to find the NightWings, you’ll need to do it soon,” Cheetah explained with a sigh. “Queen Moorhen is dealing with unrest in the northern MudWing territory. She’s likely going to kick the NightWings out of her territory soon to avoid a war with the IceWings she can’t handle. If they leave, you might not get another chance.”
“Oh,” Midnight replied. That was a good reason. “Wait, what do you mean, might not get another chance?”
Cheetah grimaced. “The NightWings only have one safe place left to go. Jade Mountain. And unless they want to abandon the weak and young, that means a few days flight through the Claws of the Clouds. Neutral territory. It’s pretty clear from her troop movements that Queen Blackice plans to attack them there, and slaughter them all.”
The small group of dragons fell silent. Midnight suddenly felt sick, just staring down at her plate almost made her vomit. Queen Blackice was planning genocide. The entire tribe that Midnight’s mother had come from, gone.
“We’ll leave after dinner,” Ecru said, almost choking on the words.
Midnight had known that there weren’t many NightWings left, even before Queen Blackice’s initial attack on the rainforest. She’d always wanted to meet the NightWings, the tribe she’d come from. But it hadn’t occurred to her that this was her only chance. That soon, there could be no Night Kingdom left for her to visit.
Cheetah nodded, smile gone. “I wish you good luck. Both of you. I’d suggest flying at night. The desert will be cooler, and you won’t be seen by IceWings patrolling the rainforest.”
Midnight felt a lump in her throat. “I have to do something,” she whispered. Moons above, she was an animus! Even if using her powers were dangerous, she couldn’t just leave the NightWings to die. There had to be something she could enchant, something that would turn the tide of battle.
“I know,” Ecru replied quietly. “We can talk about it later.” She looked up to Cheetah and Sunny, and bowed her head. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
The rest of the meal was quiet, Midnight and Ecru quickly finishing their food, knowing that their time left was short. After they finished, Midnight got up, leaving the dining hall with a short goodbye, Ecru following behind her.
The two hybrids stepped out into the Outclaws’ courtyard. Midnight looked up into the desert sky, the sun set out to the west, leaving behind a halo of oranges and yellows, fading into a deep blue. Stars were starting to appear in the dusk sky, small dots of light, like the golden specks beneath Midnight’s wings. Even if Midnight was half SeaWing, even if she could count the number of NightWings she knew on her claws, she still owed them something, didn’t she? If it was to save the lives of an entire tribe, her tribe, would she sacrifice her soul?
“Midnight, wait!” a voice called out from inside the compound. Sunny stepped through the door, into the grassy courtyard.
“Hi, Sunny,” Midnight smiled. Even if Queen Sunny didn’t look like it, she was half NightWing too. Did she want to go with them? Midnight doubted it. Sunny had her own kingdom to take care of, an usurped throne to take back.
“Hey,” Sunny replied. “I just wanted to thank you before you go. For rescuing me, and all that.”
Midnight laughed. “To be honest, it was really Ecru who saved you. I just yelled at Rattlesnake enough.”
Sunny nodded. “I’m glad I have more family. And someone who isn’t a total jerk.” Even if their parents were kinda awful, Clay had his sibs, Tsunami a whole menagerie of brothers and two sisters. Glory had had Jambu. Even Starflight had Fierceteeth, as awful as she was. But Sunny had been an only dragonet. After Queen Thorn took the throne, all the other Dragonets of Destiny all had their siblings to meet and bond with, but not Sunny. “It might be too much to hope, but after this is over, can we meet again?”
“Of course!” Midnight replied. “Don’t worry, I won’t die on you. You better not die either. Come visit Gazelle Ecru and I in Crosswinds sometime, alright?”
Sunny grinned. “I will. And after I retake the palace, I’ll invite you there.”
Ecru bowed her head in front of Sunny, and laughed. “This is still a little surreal for me,” she said. “Growing up a hybrid in Crosswinds, I didn’t imagine in my wildest dreams that I’d end up rescuing the Queen of the SandWings and dining with two of the Dragonets of Destiny. I’m glad I got to meet you.”
“Me too,” Sunny replied. “And not just because I would’ve been shipped off to Aloe and probably would’ve died if I hadn’t met you. Good luck, both of you.”
Midnight paused for a moment, before suddenly remembering Sunny. “Oh, wait!” she said. “Er, maybe this is a little out of place, but I had a request from a hybrid named Slate a while back. If you do get back on the throne, he wanted you to try and make things better for hybrids in the Sand Kingdom.”
Sunny looked back, and nodded. “I’ll try,” she promised. “If I can get rid of Aloe, I’ll do that.” Sunny hadn’t wanted to take the throne, and had even considered giving it up, but was there any dragon but her who would be able to champion that cause? Queen Thorn, maybe, but her reign had been too short, and she’d had bigger priorities in her three years. Queen Sunny frowned. If she got back on the throne, that was some good she could do.
“Alright,” Midnight said, looking up towards the desert sky again. “We really need to get going. See you soon, alright?”
Suuny smiled, and nodded. As she walked back towards the Outclaws’ compound, Midnight and Ecru opened their wings, a burst of wind hitting Sunny’s back as the two took off, the moons lighting their path to the east.
Sunny glanced back, and sighed. She’d failed in her short time as queen. But maybe she could make things right.
----Winds whipped around Midnight’s wings as rain flew into her eyes. Rivulets of water dripped sideways along her scales as she flew through the storm, leaving from her tail and spiraling down through the sky below. A flash of light lit up the sky, and a few seconds later, thunder shook through Midnight’s scales.
“They don’t call it a rainforest for nothing!” Midnight yelled, turning her head back towards Ecru.
Ecru nodded, her wings out, moving back and forth as she tried to keep herself stable in the ever changing winds.
Midnight looked down towards the ground. It was difficult to see at night, especially during the storm, but the charred remains of this part of the rainforest were far below. The rainforest had looked healthy when they’d entered, but the last few nights of flying revealed the great scorched gap in its center. Where the IceWings had set it on fire, destroying the home of both the RainWings and NightWings.
Midnight felt a shiver in her scales. How could dragons be so horrible? She knew about the 2000 year grudge between the NightWings and IceWings, of course. She tried to imagine herself in the IceWings’ paws for a moment — surrounded by the fading remnants of magic, memories of a great dynasty long lost. Constant reminders of what the NightWings had stolen from them. Midnight could understand their anger. But even in a million years, Midnight couldn’t imagine being driven to this amount of violence. Not just attacking innocent NightWings who weren’t liable for the crimes of their ancestors, but murdering and enslaving RainWings, peaceful dragons who had absolutely nothing to do with the entire mess.
A cold thought suddenly came over Midnight, one that she hadn’t put together until now. The NightWings had stolen their animus magic from the IceWings, and it been passed down through generations. Through the Darkstalker, through Sunscorcher, through Stonemover. Midnight and Queen Sunny were the end of that bloodline. Midnight herself wasn’t sure which side of her family her magic came through, but what if it had been the NightWings? Did that mean that she was responsible for this, that she carried the burden of Foeslayer’s ancient sins? What if the only way to make this right, to save the NightWings, was by Midnight giving herself and her magic up to Queen Blackice?
Midnight looked down at the scorched forest once more, blackened stumps of trees rising up from the ashes. She doubted that Queen Blackice would be satisfied with her giving herself up. It was more likely that the IceWings would just kill her outright, or worse.
Another blast of rain hit Midnight’s already soaked scales. She tried to shake the water off, but there was no point. She sighed. Why would the assassin be a NightWing? SandWing or IceWing Midnight could understand, even a MudWing. But a NightWing? Was this about her mother and uncle fleeing the Night Kingdom? She supposed it made some sense — they’d taken Stonemover’s animus magic with them, just like how Foeslayer took Arctic’s magic. Were they trying to get it back? Trying to kill her then didn’t make a lot of sense. Wind suddenly hit from above, causing Midnight to tumble through the sky for a moment, before flapping back up to Ecru.
“This would be so much easier if I used my magic to find the assassin,” Midnight grumbled. “Far less wet too.”
Ecru gave her a look of concern, the hybrid’s expression barely visible through the rain.
“I’m not going to do it,” Midnight assured Ecru. “I know. Soul and all. But it would be easier.”
“It’s a shortcut,” Ecru reminded her. “A dangerous shortcut. Hey, we wouldn’t have saved Sunny if you’d used your magic.”
“True,” Midnight replied. “We also wouldn’t have almost died in the Scorpion Den. And not just because of Rattlesnake — I still think Cheetah poisoned my food.”
“It was probably just bad,” Ecru said, rolling her eyes.
Midnight tsked. “I had cramps so bad I had to use the healing scroll on myself.”
“We should’ve waited thirty minutes to fly,” Ecru remarked.
Midnight shook her head and turned back to the forest. Leafless trees poked up like twigs, and fallen logs crisscrossed the soaked ashen ground.
Ecru rubbed her claws together. She knew Midnight wasn’t serious about just using her magic so freely, but it still worried her. Before she created the healing scroll, Midnight rarely discussed magic, but now it seemed like she joked about using it for everything.
“Midnight,” Ecru said quietly, Midnight barely hearing over the storm, “if you do use magic, can you promise to at least talk it over with me before you do?”
“Yeah, sure,” Midnight agreed. That seemed reasonable. She knew as well as Ecru did the dangers of animus magic. Making sure to talk it over with her was probably a good idea, especially if she did start to lose her soul.
“Thanks,” Ecru said with a smile.
The storm only got worse as the night went on, strong winds turning into great gales. The rain was so heavy that Midnight couldn’t even see the rainforest below anymore.
“Maybe we should land?” Ecru yelled out, her voice barely reaching Midnight even though the two were barely a few wingspans apart.
Midnight paused for a moment. This was far from ideal flying weather. She needed to get to the NightWings as soon as possible if Queen Moorhen was kicking them out, but there wasn’t much point in this weather. She wasn’t quite sure they were going in the right direction anymore, or if they were even making progress against the strong winds.
“Alright,” Midnight yelled back, turning around so she could see Ecru, similarly struggling to keep fly. “Let’s find a place to—”
The sky lit up as lightning struck, a large crack sounding almost instantaneously. Midnight stared behind Ecru. In that moment, she’d thought she’d seen the silhouette of black wings and a dragon’s figure in the distance.
“Eek!” Ecru said, glancing over to where the lightning had struck. “That was close. No point in going to the NightWings if you’re fried!”
“Quiet!” Midnight gulped, staring back behind Ecru, straining her ears to see if she could hear whoever was behind them. No luck; she couldn’t detect anything in the storm. “I think we’re being followed.”
Ecru went silent, and Midnight knew she was thinking the same thing. Who could be following them, remaining undetected up until now? There was only one answer that made sense. The assassin.
Midnight’s breath got faster, her heart racing. Had the assassin seen that she’d seen them?
Midnight suddenly stalled, dipping her wings down towards the ground, gesturing for Ecru to follow. She did, quietly heading down to the rainforest with Midnight. Midnight squinted. Where was the ground? How far were they?
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning cracked in front of the two, causing Midnight to yell out, flapping her wings in surprise and twisting away. Out of the corner of her eye, black star-speckled wings appeared above her.
Midnight suddenly screamed as she felt the scales on her neck ripped open, metal streaking through her flesh. She turned and tried to dive downwards as she saw wings descending, black scales and talons around her view.
“Midnight!” Ecru roared as she heard the yell, blindly staring in the rain. Where was she? Ecru tried to go towards where she’d heard Midnight’s scream, but the winds wrapped beneath her, twisting her around. She stared into the darkness. Without night vision, how could she see either of them?
Midnight tried to call out back, but felt the sharp talons touching her head, trying to tear in before the wind pushed her away from her attacker. She turned back at the assassin, barely visible in the night. He rushed towards her, this time the winds slamming him into her. Midnight felt his wet scales against hers, and talons tore into her wings and forelegs, the assassin using all of his claws to immobilize her. Midnight let out a roar, trying to alert Ecru to her location, then bit into the attacker, tasting his blood in her mouth.
If the NightWing felt anything, he didn’t yell. Midnight suddenly felt a sense of dizziness, as the attacker started spiraling downwards, pulling her down with him. Rain hit her eyes from all directions, Midnight barely sure which way was down and which was up. Her heart raced. She had to do something, or she’d be flung into the ground. The healing scroll couldn’t help her then.
Midnight heard Ecru yell out again, this time even further. Midnight tore her jaws away from the NightWing, spitting out his blood. She turned her head to where she thought his was, and opened her jaws wide, like she was about to spit fire on the both of them. A blast of warm smoke hit the assassin’s snout, and he suddenly let go, not wanting to go up in flames with her. Midnight spread out her wings and kicked him off, for a moment, believing her fake-out was a minor victory.
As she turned, wind starting to lift up her wings, she felt something suddenly tear into her wing membranes. She glanced back to see a charred tree branch behind her. Lightning lit up the sky, Midnight realizing that she was sailing through the top of the leafless rainforest.
Midnight yelled as a treetrunk sailed past her, hitting the edge of her other wing. She flapped, trying to regain control and slow down, the winds pushing her forward, into another tree. Barely able to slow herself down, the trunk whacked into her side, and she grabbed her talons into its charred wood, trying to hold on as she plummeted, branches barely able to break her fall.
Finally, Midnight hit the ground, landing in a pile of wet ash. She winced, trying to pull herself to her paws. Ecru’s calls had disappeared, lost in the storm. Midnight let her head fall back staring up into the storm, rain falling into her eyes. Everything hurt. Could she have broken something? She breathed heavily, trying again to move, even as the wounds on her neck and her wing screamed at her not to. She turned, suddenly feeling her leather satchel against her side. The satchel. With the healing scroll.
As Midnight’s talons reached into it, pain suddenly ripped through the top of her snout, a metal disc hitting the side of the tree. Her eyes went wide as she saw the shadow of a dragon through the rain. She had to get up now.
Body burning, Midnight stumbled as she got to her paws, trying to run away, burnt sticks cracking under her paws as she struggled to find any sort of cover. One paw reached into her satchel, rolling open the scroll. She roared in agony as she felt another disc hit her, this time in her hindleg, and she fell to the ground.
Midnight glanced behind her, the assassin closing in on her. No. She couldn’t stop now. She had to make it out of this alive. For the NightWings. For Sunny. For Ecru. For Gazelle.
Midnight dragged herself behind a scorched trunk, offering her just the smallest bit of protection. “Cindime Dybo Ndmi,” she whispered, staring back at her tail. The pain suddenly started to subside, the wounds in her wing and neck closing. She grimaced as she grabbed ahold of the chakram in her leg, ripping it out to allow the cut to heal.
As soon as her leg started to work, Midnight leapt back to her paws, sprinting away on all fours, holding the scroll in her mouth. She heard another metal disc shot at her, but the wind and rain ruined the assassin’s aim, the chakram barely grazing her wing. She looked left and right, the barren remains of the rainforest extending in both directions.
Just beneath the roar of the rain, Midnight heard the gargling of water. A river. Wings tucked in, she ran towards it, knowing the assassin was just moments behind, and that a misplaced step could mean her end. Trees rose up before her, and she weaved in and out, trying to make her a hard target, even more difficult to see and hit in the wind and rain.
Midnight’s paws suddenly splashed into water, almost ripping them away from her. Small branches and stones hit her scales, being swept away by the flooded river. A treetrunk floated along the river, forcing Midnight to jump over it to not getting knocked over it. She kept trudging forward, water getting deeper as she moved, trying to wash her downstream
Before she dove into the river, Midnight glanced back. At the edge of the stream, barely visible in the storm, the figure of the NightWing assassin stood between trees. Midnight turned and jumped in, the river immediately sending her tumbling. More rubble and scorched wood hit her scales as she was pulled downstream.
Will the assassin see me under the water? Midnight wondered as the river took her, short of breath. She rose up, taking a short breath above the surface. No sign of him anywhere around.
Not long later, Midnight swam towards the edge of the river, taking all her effort to pull herself out of the water. She panted as she splashed through it. Had she lost him? If not for the storm above, there’d have been no cover for her in the burnt forest.
Midnight walked into the forest, rain pattering around her. All her scales were on edge, talons shaking. What if the assassin was still in hiding, waiting for her to come out? The healing scroll dripped limply from the hybrid’s mouth.
As Midnight walked through the rainfall, there was still no sign of the assassin. But no sign of Ecru either. What if the assassin had gone after Ecru? She could be in danger. Midnight winced. What could she do? If she yelled out Ecru’s name, the assassin might hear her. But how else could she find Ecru?
Midnight’s thoughts went back to the scroll in her mouth. That was a way she could find Ecru. Using her magic again. An idea for a spell had already popped into her mind. Midnight winced. She’d just promised that she’d talk to Ecru before doing another spell. But Ecru wasn’t here right now to talk to, and this was an emergency.
Midnight kept pacing. She could keep walking around. Maybe she’d find Ecru. But it was just as likely she’d find the assassin. And if she didn’t get out of the rainforest before morning hit or the storm went away, the assassin would be able to find her. A growl rose up through her throat. Was there anything else she could do?
Nothing else came to mind. Midnight took the scroll from her mouth, and took in a deep breath. Another enchantment. Another piece of her soul, gone. But she didn’t have a choice.
“Sorry Ecru,” Midnight whispered, walking up to a blackened tree. Careful not to tear the scroll, she opened it up to a blank section. She placed a talon against where the last chakram had grazed her wing, and pressed her talon into the wound, wincing from the pain. She could heal it later.
Midnight moved her bloody talon to the scroll, writing three smeary words with it. Ntpoi. Ndif. Tionrecdi. Point. Find. Direction. The blood ran down the wet scroll, barely visible. She hesitated. Should she really be doing this? This was a life or death situation. Why even have her magic if she couldn’t use it for times like this?
Midnight moved her claw to her wing again, and drew an arrow on the scroll with it next to the words. She closed her eyes. There was no other way.
“I enchant this scroll,” Midnight slowly whispered, “so that if someone reads the words written here on it while holding the scroll, the arrow points towards the dragon they picture in their mind.”
Midnight suddenly lurched, the world around her starting to spin. No! No! I can’t faint now! As her vision went blurry, she looked to the healing part of the scroll, then to her talons. “Cindime Dybo Ndmi.”
The dizziness stopped, much to Midnight’s surprise. She moved her head, glancing around to make sure the assassin wasn’t nearby. Something still felt off, like the world around her was weirdly fuzzy, but this was good enough.
Water dripped from Midnight’s scales as she pictured Ecru in her mind’s eye, involuntarily smiling as she thought of her. Hopefully Ecru wouldn’t be too angry at Midnight for this. She probably deserved it though. “Ntpoi. Ndif. Tionrecdi.”
The red arrow on the scroll suddenly started to move. Midnight lay the scroll flat, watching as it turned around. To her right. That’s where Ecru was.
Now, the assassin. Midnight took a deep breath as she tried to remember what the NightWing looked like. She’d only gotten glimpses of him in the storm, but hopefully that would be enough. Black scales. A pouch around his neck. There’d been an odd mark on his neck, just a tiny bit darker than his scales, that Midnight had barely seen — a circle? She hoped that was right.
The arrow spun around, and Midnight let out a sigh of relief. He was back towards the river. In the opposite direction as Ecru. She was safe from him.
Midnight rolled the scroll up, trudging through mud towards in the direction the scroll had pointed its arrow at Ecru. She glanced up into the rainy sky again, lighting up before she heard a crack of thunder. If the assassin tried to look for her in the skies, she doubted he’d be able to see her.
Midnight walked through the storm for the better part of an hour, rain pouring the whole time. She tucked her wings in, shivering. At least there was rain at all. It was better that it didn’t clear, so she remained undetected.
Midnight suddenly felt something poke her paw, almost tripping. She glanced down. A large stone was embedded in the ground below — no, not just embedded, but placed. Similarly placed stones formed a circle in front of Midnight, rising up in a few places to form what looked like a wall. Something had been built here.
Midnight stepped into the circle, looking around. Through the charred trunks, she glimpsed the edge of another stone structure downhill from her, this one rising up almost to where the canopy could have been. Some sort of shelter? Midnight pulled out her enchanted scroll, and once again said the words to find Ecru. The arrow pointed directly at the stone structure. She had to be inside there.
The outline of the structure appeared more clearly as Midnight approached. She touched her talons to the stone walls, some scorched by the recent flames. It was old, much older than any building she’d seen in Crosswinds. She looked up, the sides of the structure gently curving up, parts of it falling off, before meeting in a tall spire at the top. A few more of the smaller stone rings were scattered around this one, like similar structures had been built around it, but all but this one had fallen. Who built this? Midnight wondered. RainWings?
Around the side, Midnight spotted what looked like an entryway, a small rectangular outcrop from the structure, the broken remains of a roof over it. The hybrid walked over. It was wide enough for a dragon to enter comfortably, but strangely flat, and Midnight would almost need her belly pressed to the ground to sneak into the crevasse. The two sides were uneven. Maybe there’d been a landslide here, something that covered most of the entrance?
Above the entryway, the old stone looked like it there’d been a small facade. Midnight pressed her talons to it, feeling out the remains of what could have been a carved dragon, now worn away to barely an indentation. Whatever this place was, it was ancient. Midnight felt a shiver rise up through her scales, this time not because of the cold. Something about this place creeped her out.
Midnight glanced down, peeking her head into the low entrance, covered in mud. There were paw tracks through it, and she could see that someone had dragged their tail in the mud. Midnight rolled her eyes with a smile. It had to have been Ecru. She loved ancient ruins, and was a bit more fond of mud than Midnight was. The hybrid grimaced, and stuck her head beneath the outcropping’s entrance, crawling through wet mud into the ruin.
“It would’ve been nice if you’d been in an easier to get place,” Midnight sighed, grimacing as she squirmed through the mud. It seemed to be getting everywhere, beneath her wingblades and between her legs. Blegh. Still, this was a good place for Ecru to have gone — it would provide shelter from the storm and if Midnight had been trying to find Ecru without magic, there weren’t many other landmarks in the rainforest she could look for.
Finally, the ground started to slope downwards, Midnight able to stand fully upright again, not having to swim through mud anymore. The entrance opened up, revealing a circular space, the inside of the ruins. The ceilings of multiple floors had been broken apart, including the ground floor, which had collapsed under the weight of the dirt.
“Midnight!” Ecru’s voice shouted excitedly.
Midnight looked down to see Ecru on the ground beneath her, where dirt had fallen in, the rain turning it into a huge mud pile. Ecru waved her paw, grinning. “Down here!”
Midnight let out a happy sigh of relief, and jumped down, gliding to the basement floor. Four corridors led away from it in every cardinal direction, possibly leading to the other stone circles at one time. She ran forward through the mud, meeting with Ecru and wrapping her wings over her, smearing even more mud over the hybrid’s scales.
The two held each other close, Midnight’s breathing slowing down as she relaxed. Ecru was safe. The assassin was nowhere to be found. Everything was alright.
“I’m so thankful you’re okay,” Ecru said quietly, putting her forepaws around Midnight’s neck. “You were attacked, and I couldn’t see you, and then you were gone and I was alone, and I thought you were—”
“I know,” Midnight replied. “I couldn’t find you either. But I got away, just barely. The assassin is still around, though. I don’t know how much time we have before he finds us.”
Ecru nodded. “I came here because I thought this place was interesting,” she whispered, her breath quickening. “It’s some sort of temple. But it’s weird, and wrong. Awful and creepy. There’s something here, and I don’t know what. I think something, something horrible happened here. I wanted to find out, but the longer I stay, the more I feel it.”
Midnight nodded. She wasn’t sure quite how or why, but Ecru seemed to have a good sense for these sorts of things. And if even Midnight had felt something was off when she came in, it was no surprise that Ecru was super-freaked out about it.
“Alright,” Midnight replied. “We should leave then.” She paused for a moment. Ecru didn’t know how Midnight had found her. Did she just think that Midnight had come across the ruins on accident? For a moment, Midnight considered keeping it that way. If Ecru never knew that Midnight had used her magic again, she wouldn’t be afraid that Midnight had lost more of her soul.
Midnight sighed. This was Ecru. She couldn’t lie about this. “Ecru, before we go, I need to tell you something. I used my animus magic again, this time to find you.”
Ecru’s anxious expression turned to one of distress and disappointment. Midnight turned away, not wanting to meet her eyes. “Oh.”
“I’m really sorry,” Midnight apologized. “I know I told you that I would talk to you before I did another enchantment, and I didn’t. But I wasn’t sure where you were, and the assassin was probably coming after me, so I couldn’t think of anything else I could do that would get us both out of here alive.”
Ecru sighed, tapping her claws against the mud. “Midnight,” she said quietly. “Look at me.”
Midnight raised her head up, staring directly into Ecru’s eyes, her jovial luster gone.
“I want to make sure you understand the stakes behind this,” Ecru continued. “I know you’re excited about finally being able to use this power you’ve been afraid of for so long, and that a whole new world of possibilities has opened up before you. But you need to be really, really careful. Even if you ignore the whole soul thing, animus magic is still dangerous. Something made in a fit of fear or rage could cause irreversible consequences. And as Torrent said, the more magic you use, the easier it gets to use it. I don’t know if you can see it, but you’ve changed since creating the healing spell. Where you wouldn’t have touched magic before, you’re now seriously considering using it.”
Midnight opened her mouth. She wanted to say ‘The reason I’ve been using magic is because I’ve had to! Because our lives have suddenly been put in danger!’ but knew that wouldn’t help. Ecru was right. Midnight was thinking about using magic more, and Ecru was correct to urge caution.
“Alright,” Midnight replied. “I’m sorry.” She could tell that Ecru was unhappy with Midnight breaking her promise. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to do that again. “The enchantment I made — it’s something that directs you towards the dragon you’re thinking of. I was wondering about how the assassin might have found us so easily, or how he followed us all the way from Crosswinds without being seen. What if he has something similar?”
“It’s possible,” Ecru said. “What can we do then, if he’s just going to keep going after you forever? Can we confront him?”
Midnight put a claw to her snout, where the wound the assassin made had been before she’d healed it. “No,” Midnight answered. “He’s an assassin going after an animus. He could be well-prepared. He could even have something like Torrent’s dagger. If we try to confront us, I don’t think things will work out well. We need to just keep flying, as fast as we can. Maybe someone at the NightWing camps will know who he is, and how we can stop him.”
“Alright,” Ecru begrudgingly agreed. “Then let’s get out of here. The temple is cracked at it’s roof, we can exit there.”
The two flew up to the top of the ruins, Midnight poking her head out the crack. Rain pattered down on it. She sighed. This would be a long flight.
== Chapter 14 ==
Queen Scarlet’s throne rose high, fluffy clouds flanking her sides. The throne room was once again open to the sky like the rest of the palace, and Queen Scarlet could see all of Pyrrhia beneath her. The distant isles of the Sea Kingdom to one side, the snow-covered glaciers of the Ice Kingdom to another. All of it was hers. All of the world was hers.
“Your majesty,” a faceless SkyWing said, handing her a scroll through the clouds. “You’re beautiful.”
Queen Scarlet smiled as she felt her snout, taking the scroll and unrolling it. She accidentally dropped one end off the throne, and it sailed down through the clouds until the queen couldn’t see it anymore, the scroll stretching all the way from the sky to Pyrrhia. She stared down at the scroll, trying to read it, but the letters seemed to blur together. She squinted, unable to figure out what it said.
“What is this?” she asked, turning back to the dragon who’d given her the scroll.
Where the faceless SkyWing had been, there was now a far too familiar dragon. Queen Scarlet’s blood went cold as Glory loomed over her. The RainWing’s fangs were as long as daggers, drops of viscous venom trickling down. Scarlet screamed as a dribble hit the side of her head, scales and flesh instantly burning away.
“GUARDS!!!” Queen Scarlet yelled, turning away from Glory. The two guards in her throne room stared up at her, doing nothing. “What are you doing? STOP HER!!!”
The guards’ red scales suddenly changed, shifting from red to unfamiliar greens and blues, frills appearing behind their ears as they revealed their RainWing forms. Queen Scarlet screamed again, and stepped back, falling from her throne, through the clouds below.
Queen Scarlet’s vision turned white as she sailed through the clouds, weaving in and out. Everywhere she looked, turquoise scales appeared. “Leave me alone!” Scarlet roared. “Haven’t you taken enough from me?”
Scarlet suddenly landed, tumbling forward into a glass wall. She stood up, brushing herself off. The SkyWing arena spread out below the balcony, her hatchday battle playing out again. Aurora was in the stadium, fighting a huge SkyWing. The crowd cheered, their roars filling the balcony.
“More blood!” Queen Scarlet yelled out. “More violence!”
The huge SkyWing lowered his head down, and Aurora placed her paw against his snout. It suddenly started to disappear, each of the SkyWing’s scales turning into a butterfly. In a burst of color and wings, both he and Aurora were gone.
“Lame,” Scarlet grumbled. “Butterflies are not thrilling.”
The SkyWing spectators all looked up at simultaneously, turning their heads to stare at Queen Scarlet. Just like her guards had, each of their scales started to change color, until the arena had become a sea of RainWings. Queen Scarlet let out another squeal as their jaws opened, shooting venom out at her.
Scarlet put her paws up, tensing up as she tried to protect her face. The venom splattered against the glass shield, dripping down it until it filled the arena’s sand pit, now a pool of boiling venom. Scarlet suddenly turned around as she felt the presence of a dragon behind her. She breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Aurora’s light-blue scales.
“Aurora,” Queen Scarlet whispered. “You have to help me. They’re RainWings. All of them!”
“I know,” Aurora said, her voice unusually malicious. Queen Scarlet’s eyes flew wide open as Aurora’s scales changed color, turning turquoise as frills appeared. Where Aurora had been, Glory’s evil expression replaced her.
“NOOOO!!!” Queen Scarlet screeched as Glory’s paw grabbed her neck, pushing her through the glass shield, dropping her below. Glory let out a cackle as Scarlet fell, her wings unable to keep her from falling. She screamed as she felt two paws grab her, pulling her down into the pool of venom, her limbs and bones melting away, the RainWing venom reducing her to nothing.
Queen Scarlet let out a gargling sound as the venom drowned her, tearing her throat and organs apart from the inside out. She tried to flail, but had no claws left to flail with, disappearing in front of her very eyes.
“Your majesty!”
Queen Scarlet woke up with a roar, lashing her claws out wildly, tearing through scales. The SkyWing who had been holding her jumped back, a thin line of blood dripping from where she’d scratched him.
Queen Scarlet huffed in and out, hyperventilating. She looked around. She was in her bed, in her locked palace room, her concerned guards surrounding her.
“Was it a dream?” she asked, talons shaking, teeth chattering. “Are you RainWings?” She squinted at the SkyWing in front of her, half expecting his scales to change color.
“Er, no, your majesty,” he gulped. “I’m a SkyWing.”
Queen Scarlet scowled. It had been a dream. Glory was dead. Scarlet had gone all the way to the IceWing Embassy in Possibility, just to see it herself. Unless, of course, it wasn’t actually her head. It wouldn’t have been the first time Queen Scarlet had seen a fake Glory head. She started to shake at the possibility, and took a deep breath to try and calm herself.
“Why did you wake me?” she snapped at her guards. There were more of them here than normal.
“The Eye of Amethyst,” the guard who’d woken her replied nervously. “It’s gone.”
“WHAT?” Queen Scarlet screeched. Her face contorted into a lop-sided snarl. “Aurora. Find her and bring her here. ALL OF YOU!”
The SkyWings looked back and forth between each other, unsure which was more dangerous to their own health — trying to capture Aurora, or risking Queen Scarlet’s wrath. They all decided on the latter, quickly dispersing from Queen Scarlet’s bedchambers. The SkyWing queen huffed angrily.
The Eye of Amethyst, stolen again. What other culprit could there be? The image of Aurora turning into Glory popped up into Queen Scarlet’s mind, and her talons started to shake. Queen Scarlet didn’t know where Aurora had come from, or why she was really helping her. What if Aurora was a RainWing, hiding in plain sight? What if this was all just a plan by Glory, to get close enough to Queen Scarlet that she could finally finish the job?
Queen Scarlet suddenly saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head around, staring at a painting of herself.
“Who’s there?” she yelled, locking her eyes with the painting, neck stiff with fear. Her gaze turned to the painting’s snout, her beautiful, unblemished scales taunting her. “Show yourself!”
The painting didn’t move, and Queen Scarlet let out a low growl. She had been sure she’d seen something there. A RainWing assassin, hidden in her room, come to kill her, to end the royal SkyWing lineage. Well, Scarlet wouldn’t go down without a fight.
With a roar, Queen Scarlet leaped at the painting, talons out as she grasped onto it. Expecting to feel scales, she tore her claws through the image, ripping the fine paper as she tore through the image of her own neck. With a snap, the frame broke into two.
Scarlet stared down. No RainWing. Had they moved out in time? She scanned around the room, looking for any signs of movement, and places where a hidden RainWing would be. Her heart raced. Beneath the bed? Hiding in a pile of treasure? Behind her?
Suddenly, the door opened, and Queen Scarlet let out a shrill scream, terrified as she turned to the entryway. Two SkyWing guards stared back, unsure what they’d done wrong now.
Queen Scarlet’s scales shook, breathing quickly as she tried to calm herself. “RainWing,” she whispered. “There’s a RainWing in the room.”
The guards looked at each other, then at the torn up painting the queen was standing on. “Your majesty,” one said, “there’s no RainWing here. Glory is dead.”
Queen Scarlet just stared. What if the guards were the RainWings?
“Your majesty,” the other sighed, “we found Aurora in her room.” She gestured to a tired-looking Aurora behind her. “The Eye of Amethyst was with her. We, er, left it there. Thought you wouldn’t want us touching it. Um, cause, we’d soil it with our dirty peasant talons.”
“You TRAITOR!” Queen Scarlet screeched as the guards stepped to the side, motioning Aurora into the room. “You stole it!”
Aurora growled, flexing her claws. Why had she been woken up for something this stupid? “I didn’t steal it,” she snarled back. “I didn’t take it from the treasury. Someone else must have put it in my room.”
“Where were you last night?” Queen Scarlet hissed. “I didn’t see you.”
“In my room,” Aurora replied, exasperated. “I was asleep.”
Queen Scarlet narrowed her eyes, grinning. She’d finally done it, she’d caught Aurora right in the act! “And how do I know you were in your room, you can walk through walls and turn invisible!”
“What?” Aurora asked, confused. “I can’t turn invisible.”
Queen Scarlet flicked out her tongue. Aurora sighed. Was there anything she could do to convince Scarlet that she hadn’t stolen the stupid Eye?
“If I had taken the Eye of Amethyst, why would I have left it in the middle of the carpet of your guest room?” Aurora said. “I would have left the palace, with it. It was clearly placed there by someone else.”
“So you did take it!” Queen Scarlet squealed. “You just admitted it!”
“No, I—” Aurora started to say. She sighed. Was there any point in trying to convince this stubborn SkyWing? She really didn’t think so. But she needed Queen Scarlet. That’s what Calamity had said. “I have no motivation for taking the Eye of Amethyst,” Aurora explained. “I just returned it to you, and I’m trying to offer you help.”
“You haven’t been any help,” Scarlet growled. “You’ve been a lousy advisor. Queen Blackice was the one who killed Glory. You’ve done nothing for me but ruin my festivities.” She squinted at Aurora’s strangely colored sky-blue scales. If she could walk through walls, Scarlet would bet she could change her scale colors. So she was a RainWing! “You’re just trying to steal my throne!”
“No.” Aurora gritted her teeth. “I’m have to become Queen of the SeaWings. Not SkyWings.”
“So you think a lousy RainWing like you can be my equal?” Queen Scarlet screeched, lashing her tail against a pile of treasure, spraying it across the floor. “You’re not worthy to be my equal! You’re just a thief! Guards! Arrest her for treason!”
The two guards on either side of Aurora gulped, looking at each other. “Please come with us,” one suggested to Aurora, her teeth chattering. “We’ll, er, show you the way to the dungeon.”
“A RainWing?” Aurora asked Queen Scarlet, utterly confused by all this. “Why do you think I’m a — nevermind. I see no reason to converse this with you. There’s clearly nothing I can do to convince you of my innocence.”
“Please?” the guard asked again, seeing that Aurora had completely ignored her. She winced, then looked over at Queen Scarlet’s terrifying snarl.
“I said, TAKE HER AWAY!!!” Queen Scarlet screeched. “Are you disobeying me? I’ll put you in the arena! For treason! All of you, treason!”
The guard sighed. Being turned into metal would probably a faster death than the arena. The guard carefully reached out, saying her goodbyes as she tried to grab ahold of Aurora’s wing. Her paw passed through Aurora’s scales, unable to touch them. The guard stared down at her claws, expecting them to turn into metal. She breathed a sigh of relief as nothing happened to her scales.
“Er, your majesty,” the guard said quietly, “I can’t touch her.”
Aurora took a step forward, staring down Queen Scarlet, leaving the guards behind her.
Queen Scarlet looked up. “What are you doing?” she snarled. “You’re my subject! Go to the dungeons!”
“I am not a SkyWing,” Aurora snarled, slowly walking forward. “I wasn’t even hatched in your world. All your power over these dragons is built on lies, but you cannot control me.”
“Stop!” Queen Scarlet ordered. “I command you! Stop right there! Don’t come any closer.”
Aurora stopped closer, only a tail-length away from the SkyWing queen.
“STOP!” Queen Scarlet screamed, putting her paws and wings over her head, cowering in fear. “DON’T HURT ME! PLEASE! DON’T HURT ME!”
Aurora stared down at Queen Scarlet, placing a paw down through the SkyWing queen’s wing, phasing it into her. How many dragons had pleaded for her mercy, only to receive nothing? More than any dragon, Queen Scarlet deserved no mercy.
Queen Scarlet let out a shrill shriek, almost crying as Aurora passed through her, her words turning into an incoherent mass of noise. She kept screaming for a few moments, the guards just staring, knowing there was nothing they could do.
After a few moments, Queen Scarlet’s screams stopped. She stared down at her talons. She was still alive? But how? She turned around. Aurora was walking away, back turned. She’d passed through Scarlet like the queen was nothing but air.
Her course unaltered, Aurora stepped into the wall of Queen Scarlet’s bedchambers, into the outside of the SkyWing palace. She looked down, a sheer cliffside wall stretching down far beneath her, a wooded ditch beneath the palace. Aurora opened her wings, and let the wind push beneath them, lifting the hybrid up, the palace and Queen Scarlet behind her.
Aurora rose into the sky, flying through a cloud, water droplets forming against her scales like tears. She clenched her talons. What was even the point in trying to advise Queen Scarlet if the SkyWing queen wanted to hate her? No matter what she told Scarlet, she seemed to refuse to believe anything Aurora said.
Aurora growled. Just thinking of the queen made her blood boil. Scarlet had nothing in her head but thoughts of her own position and grandeur. How could she be a good ally to Aurora? How could the fate of the world, even the fate of this single kingdom, rest on such a horrible dragon? Someone who killed and tortured for her own amusement, who cared less for her subjects than her bottle of scale polish. Aurora was supposed to help her, but she didn’t understand how! Didn’t Queen Scarlet understand what Aurora could do? And yet, Aurora was just a source of entertainment, a toy that Queen Scarlet could throw in the arena.
Aurora hissed. Well, if Queen Scarlet had thought she was just her toy, she’d shown her wrong. The clouds beneath her parted, revealing a grassy slope beneath, a herd of goats grazing. As Aurora descended, the shadow of her wings passing over them, the goats fled, leaving the slope alone to Aurora.
She folded her wings in as she landed. The SkyWing palace was still visible from where she was at, flashes of red and orange buzzing around it as the sun rose. Another new day for the Sky Kingdom.
Aurora gritted her fangs together. Maybe Cyclone had been right. Maybe she should just leave Queen Scarlet. Aurora didn’t need her. She was Queen Coral’s granddaughter — hybrid or not, she could just challenge Queen Coral her right there and then. It might take a while, but Aurora could probably find a way to grow gills, or figure out something to let her fight underwater. It would be better than trying to deal with a queen who wouldn’t listen to anything Aurora said.
The wind flew through the grasses, pressing against Aurora’s scales. Cold. She put her talons around a blade of grass, careful not to break or tear it. Beautiful. Alive. She looked up, the great blue sky above her, infinite in every direction.
Aurora sighed, her mind drifting back to her hatchplace. She hadn’t been allowed to stray too far from Calamity’s location in the Crystal Caverns, but he’d occasionally guided her and her mother into its depths. At first, all the exits led to darkness. The Mausoleum was usually still intact here, but outside it was nothing but pitch black. Aurora had been taken into these worlds, never straying far. Other than the darkness, the terrain around the Mausoleum was usually similar. Occasionally, there were even the ruins of a long dead city.
It had annoyed Aurora how little she could see of the worlds, especially those with the cities in them. Until she’d been allowed to go out into this Pyrrhia, it was the only glimpse of dragons and dragon civilization outside Crystal and Calamity that she’d seen. The bones weren’t all that interesting, but the cities were. The rubble of buildings, some that Calamity had said were as tall as the sky before their inevitable fall. Strange metals twisted into all kinds of strange shapes that made Aurora want to study their structure for hours. Huge steel boats that Calamity told her would lift into the sky just by thinking about it. Calamity had warned her that this Pyrrhia would be far different, and that the Pyrrhias with the great cities were worlds that hadn’t worked.
Aurora had wanted to look at the steel boats and the weird metals for a lifetime, but they could never stay long. Calamity never allowed much light, so as soon as they saw any sort of strange lights, or heard the buzzing, they had to leave. That meant that the Horror was coming. At least, that was what Calamity called it. He said that it had a name that was too unpronounceable for any dragon to speak, and so long that you could spend a lifetime trying to say it and be bones before you were done. Aurora had seen it only a few times, and had never gotten near, but that was enough. Streaks of colorful lights across where the sky should have been, whispers and screams of a thousand dragons. She could even hear it now. It got louder every time she used the Darkstone, closer to her, closer to breaking into this Pyrrhia.
There were only so many worlds that Calamity could show Aurora. He said there’d been many, many more, but there was even less left of them. He’d shown her, going as deep into the Crystal Caverns as they could, each step more dangerous than the last. Then there was a point where they couldn’t go any further, where the tunnels turned to lava. Aurora had suggested that she could turn the lava to air to help get them through, but Calamity had just smiled, and told her there was no point. That there was nothing of value beneath there.
Aurora let go of the blade grass, a cloud passing above her. That was what awaited this Pyrrhia. No more grass. No more sky. Just darkness and death, brought to a fiery end by lava. Her claws started to shake as she thought back to Queen Scarlet. She’d been unable to follow Calamity’s orders. After aligning with Queen Scarlet, activate the Eye of Amethyst, give Queen Scarlet the Darkstone, and obtain the SeaWing throne.
But Aurora had been unable to keep Queen Scarlet as her ally. She’d been too short-sighted, too short-tempered. It was her fault. She’d failed. Failed Calamity. Failed this entire world. Because of her, this Pyrrhia, as disappointing as it was, would end up dead. Aurora felt her breath start to go short, talons shaking faster.
“No,” she growled to herself. “No. I haven’t failed yet.” She took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Queen Scarlet was still alive. It might be more difficult now, but what Aurora had done had to have been reversible. The fate of this world depended on it. She had to be able to regain Scarlet’s favor.
Aurora clutched her paws around a small rock, talons still shaking. She clenched her claws tight as she started to change it. “Focus,” she hissed. “Don’t listen to your emotions. Your fear and guilt don’t matter. Not now.” 
She kept taking deep breaths, what could she do? Would a simple apology be enough? What if she offered to give Queen Scarlet another arena battle, where she made this one more spectacular? Could she steal Glory’s head from the IceWings? Would that work?
“Who are you talking to?”
Aurora looked to her side, startled. A huge armored SkyWing had landed in the field from above while Aurora had been distracted. Cyclone.
“Myself,” Aurora stated, her expression going stiff and emotionless. What was Cyclone doing here? Had she heard about what happened?
Cyclone’s gaze turned down to Aurora’s claws, where something glinted between them in the sunlight. “Woah, is that . . . ?”
Aurora looked down, following Cyclone’s gaze. Where the rock had been, there was now a huge diamond, as large as her paw. She glared at Cyclone, and the glittering diamond suddenly transformed into a dull black and grey stone. Aurora closed her paw, crushing it, leaving grey marks on her sky-blue scales.
“What do you want?” Aurora growled. “Did Queen Scarlet send you?”
“No, she didn’t send me,” Cyclone replied calmly. “I’m not here to hurt you, Aurora. I doubt I could.”
“Then why are you here?” Aurora snorted. Did Cyclone intend to help her figure out how to regain Queen Scarlet’s trust? Given the SkyWing’s earlier suggestions, Aurora doubted it.
“I heard about what happened,” Cyclone explained. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Aurora answered. “I’m just figuring out what to do. You know Queen Scarlet. If I offered to participate in her arena, would she let me be her advisor again?”
Cyclone frowned, mildly disturbed at that idea. “Maybe, maybe not. She’s very fickle, and not particularly predictable. She’s not really a stable ally. I don’t know what you’re planning now, but if I were you, I’d find someone else to help you.”
Aurora sighed. Why was she even bothering to explain this to Cyclone? “I can’t,” she stressed. “Calamity gave me orders. I have align with her. As long as I follow his orders, it will all work out in the end. It’ll save Pyrrhia.”
Cyclone raised an eyeridge, giving Aurora a skeptical glance. “There’ll be a point where you’ll need to make your own decisions.”
Aurora flicked her spiked tail across the grass. Why didn’t Cyclone understand? This had nothing to do with her making decisions or not, this was the path that Calamity had told her would lead, eventually, to the breaking of the cycle. Calamity was the one who knew what decisions to make, not Aurora. Why was Cyclone so insistent on separating Aurora from Queen Scarlet.
It suddenly hit her. Aurora frowned, turning her head to look Cyclone in the SkyWing’s eye. “You did it, didn’t you?”
“Did what?” Cyclone asked, looking puzzled.
Aurora squinted, trying to read the SkyWing. Was Cyclone flustered? She couldn’t tell. “Framing me for stealing the Eye of Amethyst.”
“Why would I do something like that?” Cyclone questioned.
Aurora could tell now. Cyclone was nervous. Still, most SkyWings seemed nervous around Aurora. Aurora flicked out her tongue, narrowing her gaze. “You’ve been trying to get me away from Queen Scarlet. Maybe you want to weaken her. Or maybe you thought I would end up killing her. She has no heirs. Who would become queen in the aftermath? You?”
Cyclone stared at Aurora for a moment, then let out a long sigh. She chuckled sadly, shaking her head.
“Alright,” Cyclone admitted. “You’re right. It was me. I wasn’t expecting you to figure it out so quickly.”
Aurora stood up, and Cyclone suddenly tensed up. Aurora took a step towards the SkyWing, glaring up at her, deciding what to do with her.
“Aurora, please wait,” Cyclone quickly responded, her heart leaping into her throat. “Do you want to know why I did it?”
“No,” Aurora replied. She didn’t care. Regardless of Cyclone’s intentions, she’d put Calamity’s plan and the fate of Pyrrhia into jeopardy.
“You’re partly right,” Cyclone said rapidly, taking a small step backwards, down the slope. “I didn’t want Queen Scarlet to have another powerful weapon on her side. That’s why I originally talked to you. You don’t understand how horrible Queen Scarlet is, not really. We had a brief period of hope while Queen Ruby was there, but you destroyed it. I hoped that you were going to kill her, and that someone, anyone, would replace her.”
Aurora glared, unimpressed with Cyclone’s ramblings.
“But it wasn’t just that,” Cyclone continued. “After meeting you, I wanted to help you. I can see that you’re not a bad dragon. Like what you did in the arena. You’re not like Queen Scarlet. I didn’t want you to end up like me, or Peril, or Soar, filled with regret for the things we’ve done in Queen Scarlet’s name, things we’ve done that we can never undo.”
Aurora scratched her claws through the grass, tearing a few blades from the ground. “Any guilt I feel is unimportant in the grand scheme of things,” Aurora growled. “It doesn’t matter how I end up feeling, or even if I end up surviving. And you don’t get to make my decisions for me.”
Cyclone shook her head, sighing. “I suppose. It’s not like anything I did or didn’t do actually matters. Given how many advisors, generals, and champions Queen Scarlet has gone through, something like this would have happened to you eventually.”
Aurora glared up at Cyclone, baring her fangs. She opened her paw, scrunched up grass falling out.
Cyclone laughed again. “So, what now?” she asked. “Are you going to kill me? I probably deserve it. I’ve done things so horrible I can’t fall asleep. And apparently, I’ve inadvertently caused the world’s end. But I hope you know I just wanted to help you, to be your friend. So please, at least make it quick.”
Aurora stood still for a moment, debating. “No,” she finally replied. “You’re not part of this. You’re not important, or Calamity would have mentioned you.”
Cyclone let out a sigh of relief. As much as she thought she deserved it, the SkyWing didn’t want to die. Suddenly she felt something squeezing against her paws, and looked down to them. Stone had grown up from the ground beneath her, wrapping around her paws, partway up her legs. “Wait, what are you—” 
“Consider this a warning,” Aurora interrupted her. The stone finished growing, trapping Cyclone’s legs to the ground. “If you get in my way again, I will kill you.”
“Aurora, wait!” Cyclone called out as Aurora started to walk away. She tried to walk forward, but was unable to get her legs out of their rock prisons. She shook them, trying to break them free.
Aurora glanced back as she opened her wings, glowscales occasionally pulsing beneath them. “Stay out of this.”
Aurora leapt from the mountainside, wind lifting her blue wings up. She stared straight ahead, eyes focused on the SkyWing palace. Whatever it took, she would regain Queen Scarlet’s favor again.
== Chapter 15 ==
Skytaker paced back and forth. As large as their palace room was, it was still far too small. They hated it. Feeling confined, feeling trapped. Jade Mountain Academy had been alright — at least until the Queen Blackice’s attack, they’d been allowed to freely roam the land outside the caves. Then Skytaker had won their bet against Tiger, and they’d gone into the rainforest, and gotten in this whole mess. The hybrid pouted. All they’d wanted was a little bit of fresh air, a little bit of freedom, and now the three were trapped in a different world.
Tiger watched Skytaker pace from her bed, sighing. They were clearly distressed. Not that she blamed them. “You alright?”
“No!” Skytaker huffed, turning around, whipping their tail against the tapestry of the Empress. “I’m not alright! We can’t just do nothing!”
“What are you thinking, Skytaker?” Tiger asked, mildly concerned. “Don’t do anything rash.”
“I’m not going to,” the hybrid grumbled. “Maybe I’ll try finding some more rooms. I have a few new ideas.”
“Then I’ll go with you,” Tiger suggested, the RainWing stretching out, climbing from the bed. “I want to make sure you don’t get us in more trouble.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Skytaker replied, trying to brush Tiger’s words off. Yet, she was right. This was their fault to begin with. If they had just stayed inside like the teachers wanted them too . . .
“Ermine, are you coming?” Tiger asked, glancing over to the IceWing.
“Huh?” Ermine said, a little surprised he’d been asked to join. “Are you sure this is a good idea? What if we get in trouble for snooping?”
“We’re already being held prisoner here,” Skytaker grumbled. “It’s not like Liliana can do much worse.”
Ermine’s eyes opened wide in terror as he began to think of worse things the Empress could do to them. “But what if she throws us in the scary dark dungeons?” he protested. “Or she tortures us by pulling out our talons one by one? Or wha-what if she forces us to eat fermented shark for the rest of our lives???”
“I feel like the talon-pulling is worse than eating fermented shark,” Tiger said, skeptical.
Ermine shook his head wildly. “You’ve never had to eat fermented shark,” he whispered, horrible memories resurfacing in his eyes.
“Well feel free not to join us if you don’t want to eat rotten shark,” Skytaker replied. “But I’m going, regardless. I’m not just letting her keep us here. Not after what we saw her do.”
Ermine winced. At least until Duskwind’s murder, he’d hoped that he might be safer here than on Pyrrhia. But now, he wasn’t so sure. “I’ll go,” Ermine said quietly, following the two out of the room.
Skytaker led the three to the moving room, standing in the center as soon as the doors opened. They squinted, focusing on the term they thought would bring them to a new room. The circular room suddenly lurched.
“What did you think of?” Tiger asked curiously.
“War room,” Skytaker replied. “I had a few other ideas in mind, but the Empress mentioned it. I’m sure it’s a real room.”
“I hope she’s not there right now,” Ermine gulped. “I doubt she’d be happy for us to walk in on here.”
“War room,” Tiger mused, as the doors of the room opened, and the three walked out into a hallway they hadn’t seen before. “Do you think there’s a war going on? None of the books mentioned one.”
“If there wasn’t a war, she would’ve called it a peace room,” Skytaker snorted, looking around the hallway. “Which one do you think it is?”
“Probably that one,” Tiger said, pointing towards two large doors at the end of the hallway, past another rug bearing the Empress’s image. “Stay here. I’ll check if it’s empty.”
Ermine stared as Tiger’s orange and black scales suddenly faded into the color of the palace’s walls, the RainWing practically disappearing. He tried to keep his eyes on her as she quietly walked down the hallway, but other than the rug strangely blurring for a moment, couldn’t keep track of her. One of the doors opened a crack, before Tiger reappeared, appearing from nothing.
“All clear,” she said, motioning the two forward.
Ermine and Skytaker slowly walked up to the war room, Ermine peering around the entrance. “It’s smaller than I’d have thought,” he said quietly.
Skytaker followed as Ermine and Tiger entered. Ermine was right. The war room was a relatively small room. The walls were covered in a clean white sheen, and the only furnishings were a tall table in the center, surrounded by maybe six short stools for adult-sized dragons to sit on.
“If it’s small, that means that she doesn’t have many top generals,” Skytaker reasoned. They put their paws on the table, and climbed up, trying to see over the top of the tall table.
“Does that mean that the Empress doesn’t have a large army?” Tiger asked.
Skytaker shook their head. “No. It could just mean that each general has a large force they control. Maybe Liliana doesn’t trust very many dragons.” They finally pulled themselves up to the table, looking over its surface. Their expression suddenly fell. “Oh no.”
“What is it?” Tiger asked, getting up on a stool and trying to get over the table, quickly followed by Ermine, wanting to see what Skytaker was so worried about. As soon as they saw the table, they understood. The surface of the table was divided into two halves, each with a map painted on it, and a number of small figurines of dragons placed down. One of the maps Tiger recognized as the odd, sewn together map of Antigonia that she’d seen in the books. The other, all three could easily recognize.
“That’s Pyrrhia,” Ermine whispered, with a gulp. “She’s planning to wage war on one of the kingdoms? Why?”
“Do you remember what she said when we first met her?” Tiger frowned, looking back and forth between the two maps. “She said that the Pyrrhian dragons were barbarians. I think she wants to conquer Pyrrhia to make it part of her own kingdom.”
“She can’t just do that!” Ermine protested. “We have seven kingdoms for the seven types of dragons. It’s what we’ve had since the Scorching! She can’t just take over all of them!”
Tiger sighed, rolling her eyes. What had the IceWings taught Ermine before he came to Jade Mountain? “Ermine, we haven’t had that since the NightWings joined the RainWings. Three years ago.”
“Oh,” Ermine responded, thinking about that for a moment. “Yeah. That’s right.”
“Anyways, from what I can tell, Empress Liliana united the seven kingdoms and a bunch of random scavengers here on Antigonia,” Tiger continued. “It seems reasonable to suspect that she’d do the same to Pyrrhia, if given the chance. Which apparently, she’s been given.”
Ermine frowned. “If she’s able to attack Pyrrhia, does that mean she’s lying about not being able to take us back there?”
Skytaker snorted, unable to hold in a laugh. “Seriously? You didn’t realize that until just now? Of course she’s lying! You’ve seen all the weird magic stuff in this palace, right?”
“Skytaker,” Tiger scolded the hybrid. “Don’t be mean.”
“I realized that,” Ermine glared. “I’m not stupid. I know how magic works. Just, now we know for sure she’s lying.”
“Moving on,” Tiger sighed, “the books say that the Empress has control over all of Antigonia, all seven tribes. The Obscura verified that. Presumably, that means that her army is the size of seven kingdoms. With every kingdom but the SeaWings and SkyWings currently embroiled in some sort of war or rebellion right now, there’s no way we could defend against her.”
“Unless Pyrrhia had some sort of warning,” Skytaker replied. “Which is presumably why she’s keeping us here, instead of sending us back. Right now, no one on Pyrrhia even knows Antigonia exists.” They looked down at the map again, taking note of the positions of the dragon figurines. “But I’m not sure that her plan is to conquer Pyrrhia kingdom by kingdom. Look at the positions of her troops. All the ones on Pyrrhia are located right around the Sky Kingdom, at Queen Scarlet’s palace. And they’re all RainWings. Why would she attack there with only a small part of her full army?”
“She could be trying to get a stronghold there by taking over the palace, then spreading out to the rest of Pyrrhia,” Tiger suggested.
Skytaker shook their head. “I don’t think so. If that was her plan, she shouldn’t have gone for Queen Scarlet. Her only resistance would be a united front by Pyrrhian dragons, and Queen Scarlet is far less likely to get into an alliance than any other queen. She’s stronger than the rest. Especially if the Empress is only attacking with a small portion of her army, she should’ve gone for the Mud Kingdom, since they’re already fighting off a rebellion. The SeaWings and IceWings will think they’re safe, and the RainWings and NightWings are in no position to put up a fight. The only likely alliance would be a SandWing-SkyWing one, which neither Queen Sunny or Queen Scarlet would ever agree to, whereas in this case a SandWing-MudWing one is possible. A SandWing-SkyWing alliance could only happen if Queen Sunny abdicated the throne to Aloe, or if—”
“Alright, we get it,” Ermine interrupted with a huff, flicking his spiked tail back and forth. “Maybe the Empress doesn’t know much about the politics of Pyrrhia. Or maybe her army is so big she just doesn’t care.”
“No, this is weird,” Skytaker pressed, the hybrid’s eyes focused like lasers on the maps. “If she was overconfident, I’d expect she’d just attack all at once. Which is tactically the right choice, otherwise she gives Pyrrhia time to respond to her attack. This doesn’t make any sense, given the size of her army. What does she want with the Sky Kingdom?”
“Maybe she’s looking for Trustbreaker,” Tiger suggested. “He could be there.”
Skytaker frowned. “I don’t think so. Sending an entire dragon after a whole dragon seems like a poor strategy unless they’re, like, able to fight off an entire army or something like that. She already sent General Glory after Trustbreaker and brought a dragon that she thought was him into her palace.” Skytaker huffed, fidgeting with their earring. There had to be something here they were missing. “If I remembered more about the Sky Kingdom, I might be able to figure it out.”
“Skytaker, I know what you’re thinking,” Tiger said, turning to the hybrid with a glare. “Don’t do it. Remember what happened last time.”
“I know what to expect now,” Skytaker protested, turning back to the RainWing. “I think I’ll be better able to handle it this time.”
Tiger shook her head. “It won’t help anyways, and you know that. I don’t want you out of commission for the next few days.”
“Hey, excuse me,” Ermine said, confused and slightly annoyed about how left out of this conversation he was, “what are you talking about?”
“It’s personal,” Skytaker grumbled.
“Not really your business,” Tiger added.
Ermine scoffed, pouting as he looked back down at the map.
Skytaker let out a long sigh, taking their paw away from their earring. “Either way, we need to get back to Pyrrhia as soon as possible. We have to warn everyone about Liliana’s invasion. We need to escape the palace somehow.”
Ermine squirmed. “What if Antigonia is more dangerous outside the palace? The dragons in the Obscura all looked scared.”
“Ermine’s right,” Tiger added. “We know almost nothing about the outside world, and how similar or different to Pyrrhia it is. We might not even be able to find a way back to Pyrrhia out there.”
“We have to do something!” Skytaker protested. “If Pyrrhia is in danger, we have to at least try and help it. I’m not letting Empress Liliana hurt my friends. At least if we leave the palace, there might be other dragons that can help us. Dragons who don’t like Liliana’s rule, like those part of Trustbreaker’s rebellion. We need to at least try.”
Tiger sighed, remembering the images she’d seen in the Obscura. Sepia, Toxin, Tsunami . . . Maybe it was hopeless, but Skytaker was right. They couldn’t just let the same thing happen to Pyrrhia, not if they knew there was a chance.
“Alright,” Tiger agreed, “I’ll help. Like Ermine said, we can fly to the mainland from this NightWing island; it’s only a few hours south of here. Do you have a plan to escape?”
“Maybe,” Skytaker replied. “There’s only one entrance in and out of the palace, from what I can tell, and I’ve been watching it. It’s guarded by two RainWings, and they stagger shifts, so for a short period of time there’s only one.”
“That’s not a lot of guards,” Ermine said. “For an entire palace? Queen Glacier’s palace had way more.”
“The Empress isn’t worried about being attacked by anyone,” Skytaker reasoned. “And she isn’t worried about anyone getting out of the horrible cells beneath the palace.”
“Better for us,” Tiger replied.
Ermine frowned, staring down at the map again. “I don’t know,” he worriedly gulped. “Do you think all three of us can take on an adult dragon? These aren’t the RainWings on Pyrrhia. They look like they know how to fight.”
“And I won’t be able to sneak past one either,” Tiger said. “They’ll know if I do.”
“Yeah,” Skytaker grumbled, seeing the two dragonets’ point. “Even if we got a surprise attack and one, they’d probably alert the rest of the guards.”
The three were silent for a moment, unsure what to do. How could they get out of the palace?
“Skytaker,” Tiger asked, “is Mangrove one of the RainWings who guards the entrance?”
“The dark purple one? I think so. Why?”
“If he’s alone, I might be able to convince him to let us go,” Tiger answered. “I know him, at least a little. He’s not the type of dragon who’d want us to be captured here.”
Skytaker thought about this for a moment. The dragons in Antigonia seemed so different than their Pyrrhian counterparts. General Glory seemed nothing like Queen Glory. Yet, maybe there weren’t all so different. The Tsunami in the Obscura seemed like she was a lot like the headmaster back at school.
“Alright,” Skytaker replied. “We’ll try it out.”
Tiger glanced over to Ermine, the young IceWing still staring at the map of Pyrrhia. “Ermine,” she said quietly, “are you in? If we’re going to escape, all three of us need to be on board.”
Ermine sighed. What was the point in him going back to Pyrrhia? The palace had surely repaired itself by now, but with everyone he knew dead, and Queen Blackice ruling over it now, he had no home. Maybe Jade Mountain Academy would at least be better than this.
“Okay,” Ermine hesitantly agreed. “I’ll do it.”
“Great,” Skytaker grinned. “Then we make our escape tomorrow. Tiger, tomorrow, you go and talk to Mangrove. Then when he’s alone on his shift, we’ll all escape.”
“Yeah,” Tiger frowned, uncertain this plan would work. Could she really convince Mangrove to let them go? “Just in case Empress Liliana decides to check in on us with the Obscura, let’s not talk about the plan until then. We need to act normal.”
“What if she’s already listening?” Ermine gulped.
“In that case,” Skytaker growled, placing a talon on the Sky Kingdom, “then our plan has already failed, and Pyrrhia is doomed.”
== Chapter 16 ==
Sunny stared up at the ceiling, her eyes tracing out the blemishes of the cracked sandstone above them. Next to her, Clay’s scaly body rose and fell, his wing brushing against Sunny’s. Clay’s loud snores echoed through the small room, interspersed every so often with Acacia’s snoring, the two soundly sleeping dragons creating a cacophony of noise. Sunny smiled. It seems like Clay had really enjoyed the feast put together for Sunny’s rescue.
Sunny let out a long sigh. With the two snoring dragons, Sunny wasn’t sure she’d be able to get to sleep tonight. And not just because of Clay and Acacia — Sunny had a lot on her mind from the day. Midnight and Ecru, putting everything at stake just so they could rescue her. Wasn’t that what Sunny was supposed to do, as queen? Put everything at stake, devote her entire life to rescuing her kingdom? And here, she was just hiding in the Scorpion Den, waiting for other SandWings to give their lives to take back the palace.
Yet, at least now Sunny knew she wasn’t alone. When Sunny had first discovered her NightWing heritage, she hadn’t heard of any hybrids before, except in myths. It wasn’t something that was supposed to happen. The guardians had taught them that there were seven tribes, and they were all separate. The Dragonets of Destiny were supposed to bring peace between the tribes and create a better world, but they weren’t supposed to unite them. The guardians had just let the five believe that love stayed within the same tribe. They didn’t tell them that love outside of one’s tribe was bad, per se — Webs even admitted later that something had gone on between him and Dune. But it was unusual, and some days, Sunny had even felt like living proof that hybrids shouldn’t exist.
Yet as time went on, Sunny had met other hybrids. There weren’t many others, but she occasionally came across them. RainWing-NightWing dragonets in the rainforest kingdom, a passerby in Possibility, Skytaker becoming a student at Jade Mountain Academy, and now Midnight and Ecru. She really wasn’t alone.
Her mind kept travelling back to what Midnight had asked her to do. Make things better for hybrids in the Sand Kingdom. In the short period when she’d been on the throne, Sunny had thought that the best she could hope to do was live up to her mother as queen. But maybe she could do better if she became queen again. Her mother had been a good queen, but she hadn’t been perfect. Queen Sunny could try and succeed where Queen Thorn hadn’t. She could work to give hybrids and non-SandWings rights. She could pay more attention to the Scorpion Den and Crosswinds. And maybe she could even create a better system, where daughters didn’t have to kill their mothers, and fights over succession would never happen again. Maybe that was too much, but if Sunny became queen again, she could at least try. To live up to the queen Midnight and Ecru had seen her as; to make the Sand Kingdom a better place. Queen wasn’t the position from which Sunny had wanted to achieve her goals, but if she had that power, she had to use it for good.
Sunny suddenly lifted her head up as she heard a noise from the door. It slowly opened, revealing a SandWing behind.
“Cheetah,” Sunny said, relieved as she saw who it was. “What are you doing here? Why are you up so late?”
Something seemed different about Cheetah than earlier. Not just his mood. She glanced down to his forelegs, a glint catching her gaze, to see him wearing a golden band with two dragons engraved on it. Just like the one that Thorn and Kudu had worn. Could it be something that belonged to the leader of the Outclaws?
Cheetah sighed. “Sunny,” he said, his normally cheery tone sharp and serious. “Come with me. We can do this either the easy way, or the hard way.”
“What do you mean?” Sunny asked, confused. “What’s going on?” Were they under attack? She stared down at the golden band again. How had Cheetah gotten it back? Kudu had been wearing it when the Talons had killed her. Did they have extras somewhere? Or . . . was he given it back?
“Cheetah,” Sunny whispered quietly, “did the Talons of Power give you the band back?”
Cheetah flicked out his tongue. “Yes. It was part of our deal. Now come on. I don’t have all night.”
Sunny winced. Cheetah was the one that betrayed them. Had he forged the letter from Jackal, and led them right into the Talons’ trap? “You planned for me to get captured.”
“Don’t act so impressed that you figured it out,” Cheetah replied, the barb on his tail gently swinging left and right. “But yes, it was me. You see how the Scorpion Den now? That wasn’t your mother’s fault. It was Kudu’s, weakening the already skimpy Outclaws and engaging in pointless fights with the Talons of Power. I’ve been trying to get rid of her a while in more peaceful ways, but I guess it came to this.”
“You killed her!” Sunny said, shocked. “She trusted you, and you went behind her back to kill her!”
Cheetah snorted. “If she fell for a trick that stupid, I think it’s more her own fault than anything.”
“What do you want with me,” Sunny growled. “You already got what you wanted, didn’t you? Kudu out of the way?”
Cheetah shrugged. “Well, yes. The problem is, I made a deal with the Talons of Power, and I can’t back down on it now. This would have been so much easier if you’d just stayed put and let the Talons give you to Aloe. I have to return you to them. Sorry.”
“Cheetah,” Sunny pleaded, “you don’t have to do this. You’re the leader of the Outclaws, you can just not complete that part of your deal.” Sunny prodded Clay with the end of her tail. Why wasn’t he waking up?
Cheetah shook his head. “No. We’ve had strife between the Outclaws and the Talons for long enough. But we’re a new generation now. We can set that aside, and make the Scorpion Den whole.”
“You don’t need to work with the Talons for that,” Sunny protested, trying to wake Clay up again. “If I become queen again, I won’t ignore the Scorpion Den like my mother did. I promise.”
“I wish I could believe you,” Cheetah continued, looking down at Sunny, “but I can’t. You know as well as I do that you won’t be able to hold the throne, even if by some miracle you did get Aloe off of it. You’re too weak, too compassionate. Dragons like me would take advantage of that.”
Sunny winced. She was a Dragonet of Destiny, she’d saved the world, and was the rightful queen of Sand Kingdom. How come everyone still treated her like a helpless dragonet? Was it because she was small? Because she had no barb? Or because she relied on her friends?
Sunny put a claw on Clay’s side, trying to shake him awake. He kept snoring, eyes closed.
“You won’t be able to wake him up,” Cheetah sighed. “I gave him and Acacia heavy sedatives at the dinner. I didn’t want them interfering.”
So that was why he tried to get Midnight and Ecru to leave so quickly, Sunny realized. She’d gotten lucky the first time. Now, there was no one left to help her. Sunny stared down at her small claws. Maybe she should have paid more attention to Kestrel’s fighting lessons.
“Now either you come with me willingly, or I take you,” Cheetah ordered. He started to walk forward into the room, careful not to trip over Clay’s tail as he stared Sunny.
Sunny’s heart raced. Could she try and fight him? She didn’t want to, but was there any other choice she had? But what if he decided to hurt Clay? Maybe she should just go willingly.
Cheetah took another step, practically standing over Sunny. Sunny stared down at his golden legband, his forelegs shaking. Suddenly, he fell to the right, whacking his head against the wall before slumping down to the ground.
Sunny stayed still for a few moments, as Cheetah’s head lay still on her. “Cheetah . . . ?” she asked, confused. There was no response. Sunny pushed his head up with her paws, and shimmied out from beneath him, dropping his head to the ground with a thwack. She stared as white foam started to form at his mouth.
Sunny put a talon to Cheetah’s neck. His pulse was gone.
“He’s dead.”
Sunny almost jumped as she heard the voice. She glanced up to the doorway to see the shadow of a dragon, walking in through the door to reveal herself as an elderly dragon. For the age and wear visible on her scales, she was strangely small, not even that much larger than Sunny herself. She cocked her head as she looked over at Sunny, squinting to see. Sunny shivered as the SandWing examined her, and every one of her motions judging Sunny’s appearance.
The SandWing walked into the room, her paws making no sound as they moved. She climbed over Cheetah, more foam spilling from his mouth, eyes empty. Just like she’d thoroughly examined Sunny, she did the same to Cheetah’s body. When her gaze landed on his forelegs, her mouth twisted into a frown.
“I’ll take these back now,” she tsked, lifting up one of his forelegs to take the golden band off his corpse. After putting it on her own leg, she turned to Sunny with a chuckle. “Poison in his wine. Oldest trick in the scroll. Thorn wouldn’t have fallen for that.”
“Were you—”  Sunny stammered, “did you kill him?”
“You’re welcome,” the SandWing replied, lifting up one of Cheetah’s hindlegs, as if she was searching his body for other belongings she could take. “Impersonating me in a letter was bad enough, but working with Vulture’s spawn was going too far. I couldn’t let him soil the Outclaw name any longer.”
Impersonating her? “Wait, you’re Jackal?” Sunny asked. This tiny elderly dragon had been the leader of the Outclaws before Thorn? Sunny glanced over at Cheetah’s foaming mouth again, and scooted away from him, not wanting to be so close to the body.
“Surprised?” Jackal chuckled, rummaging through Cheetah’s body. “And you’re Queen Sunny. How’s the palace life treating you? I don’t think I could ever get used to that.”
“Wait, did you know about his plan?” Sunny questioned.
“There’s little that goes on in the Scorpion Den that I don’t know about.”
Sunny stared at Cheetah. “So you let Kudu die.”
“Not much of a loss,” Jackal yawned, finally deciding there was nothing left of interest on Cheetah, and standing up. “Kudu was the same as him. Vain and power-hungry. She couldn’t even see past Cheetah’s trick.” Jackal shook her head with a sigh. “Thorn’s successors have been quite a disappointment. Now, Six-Claws? That would’ve been a dragon worthy to lead the Outclaws if he hadn’t stayed at the palace. If you ever get tired of him, please send him over!”
Sunny followed the golden band with her eyes. “Are you the leader of the Outclaws now?” she asked. Hopefully, this violent chain of succession was going to be over soon.
Jackal chuckled, shaking her head. “Oh no. I’m far too old for this sort of thing. I’ll just let the Outclaws sort themselves out.” She cocked her head, staring and Sunny with a snort of disdain. “So you’re Thorn’s daughter, queen of the SandWings.”
“Er, I guess,” Sunny answered, suddenly uncomfortable from Jackal’s stares. Was she planning to loot Sunny, too? “I mean, I’m Thorn’s daughter. Not quite sure if I’m queen anymore.”
“Nonsense!” Jackal snorted. “You look nothing like her! Where’s that barb? And I see none of her unbreakable will! Her awe-inspiring presence!”
Sunny sighed. Jackal wasn’t wrong.
Jackal shook her head. “You’re not even defending yourself from me! When she was your age, Thorn would’ve snapped back, told me how wrong I was in an instant. It’s not hard to see that she wasn’t the one who raised you. Thoroughly unimpressive!”
“I know,” Sunny responded, staring down at the ground. She wanted to argue, but Jackal was right. She wasn’t like Thorn. “I’m not my mother. I don’t have the strength to hold the throne. I can’t fight Aloe. I was far better being a school-teacher than a queen.”
“Mhm,” Jackal agreed. “You’re weak and compassionate. Just like Cheetah said. Would you have killed Preyhunter?”
“Preyhunter?” Sunny asked.
“Yes, Preyhunter,” Jackal laughed. “Young NightWing. Bent tail. He kidnapped you before Thorn attacked him. He tried to fight back. Didn’t end well for him. If you were in your mother’s place, would you have killed him?”
“Me?” Sunny said, slightly alarmed. She remembered him well. She’d been afraid of Thorn when she’d first met her, after she’d killed him. Thorn had explained why — sometimes leaders had to show their claws. “Of course not! I would’ve tried to figure something out, something that didn’t involve violence or death! He was mean and horrible, but if he’d lived, he might have been able to adapt to the rainforest. I wouldn’t have been able to kill him. I know. I’m too weak and compassionate to be queen.”
“Quite possibly,” Jackal yawned. “Queen Thorn was strong and could do what needed to be done to reunite the Sand Kingdom. Queen Oasis was powerful and prideful. A threat to the Sand Kingdom was a threat to her, personally. Her mother was similar, she kept the SandWings in line with her brutal justice. You know as well as I do how Burn and Blister ruled. Do you understand why Blaze was so popular?”
“She was pretty and kind?” Sunny suggested.
“She wasn’t one of her sisters,” Jackal laughed. “Sure, she let Queen Glacier walk all over her, but she was slightly less murderous than the other two. Now, what happened to all those queens and princesses? Was their strength enough to let them keep the throne?”
“No,” Sunny replied. “They all died. But they were still strong enough to hold the throne for at least a little while. They were leaders, all willing to get their claws dirty to keep control. Unlike me.”
Jackal shook her head. “Wrong. Oasis died because she was too prideful. Burn died because she was too confident. It had nothing to do with their strength.”
“So what does this have to do with me?” Sunny sighed, exasperated. “Is this just a long-winded way to tell me I’m going to die even quicker?”
“The Sand Kingdom’s rulers for the past century, even longer, have all been strong and stern, and what has that gotten us?” Jackal laughed. She flicked her tail barb at Cheetah’s corpse. “Chaos and violence. Your mother was the right queen at the time, someone to reunite and repair the Sand Kingdom after two decades of war. But maybe the Sand Kingdom needs a weak and compassionate queen right now. A dragon who would’ve hugged Preyhunter instead of stabbing him through the heart.”
Sunny paused for a moment, reflecting on Jackal’s words. She wanted Jackal to be right. She really did. She wanted to be a queen who refused to kill, who could end this horrible cycle of violence.
“Tell you what,” Jackal suggested. “If you want, you can come with me. I’ll train you in stealth, intrigue, and combat, just like I did Thorn. I can’t make you into her, but I can help you understand her. And maybe that’ll help you understand yourself.”
Sunny thought about that for a moment. Right now, she was just hiding while Six-Claws attempted to besiege Aloe in the palace. Maybe this was her chance to do something. Her chance of getting back on the throne. “I’d be grateful.”
Jackal grinned. “So you have a little ambition after all? Well come on, let’s go. Don’t want to be out here when the sun rises. Can’t have everyone thinking I’m alive, can we?” The elderly SandWing grabbed ahold of Cheetah’s tail, dragging his corpse out of the room.
“Wait, where are you going?” Sunny asked.
“I’m heading back to the Claws of the Clouds,” Jackal said. “Much more peaceful there, if a bit cold for a SandWing.”
“Can I try and wake Clay up first?” Sunny turned to Clay, trying to shake the snoring MudWing awake once more.
“No,” Jackal snorted. “Did I offer to train him?”
Sunny hesitated, staring down at Clay. She didn’t want to abandon him again. Not now, not after what happened to Glory.
“This is a one-time offer,” Jackal warned impatiently. “You’re free not to accept it, but I’m leaving now.”
Sunny sighed. “Sorry, Clay,” she whispered. She thought for a moment, then put a paw up to her neck, carefully taking her mother’s moonstone pendant from her neck. She placed it around Clay’s head, and took a step back. This way, at least he’d know she was alright. “I’ll come back for you, I promise.”
Sunny got up on all fours just as Jackal had finished dragging Cheetah’s body to the doorway. Silently, the hybrid queen left the room, without giving so much as a glance behind her.
== Chapter 17 ==
Dawn broke as Midnight and Ecru reached the Mud Kingdom, the rains finally coming to an end. The charred remains of the rainforest loomed behind them, and the swamps ahead. Far up against the horizon, on her left, Midnight even thought she could see the spires of Queen Moorhen’s palace.
Midnight turned her head back as dawn arrived, light spreading over Pyrrhia. There was no hint of a NightWing following them. Maybe he’d given up? Midnight doubted it. The assassin had tracked them all the way through the Scorpion Den and into the rainforest. He was probably just biding his time, waiting until it was dark again and he could finish Midnight off.
Eventually, the NightWing camps came within sight. Right on the border of the MudWing territory, a small tent city lay sprawled about the swamps. The previous night’s rains had soaked the ground, now covered in the kingdom’s namesake mud, and many of the tents had been blown apart, pieces of torn fabric lying around the camp. Down below, Midnight could see the figures of dragons wallowing through the mud — mostly NightWings, but with the occasional RainWing, with dull tones of color blending in with the gloomy scenery.
One hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty dragons at most, Midnight thought. Even compared to Crosswinds, this place was tiny. There were over five times as many SandWings in Crosswinds alone than there were NightWings here. She knew that not all the NightWings that had escaped the rainforest were here — some were safe at Jade Mountain, and others were probably hiding with wherever most of the RainWings were — but it was still shocking. Almost everything that was left of the NightWings was right here, all beneath Midnight’s eyes.
“You alright?” Ecru asked Midnight. “We’ve been flying in circles above it.”
“Oh, sorry,” Midnight replied. Her heart pounded in her throat. She’d always wanted to visit the NightWings or SeaWings, to learn where her parents came from, but now that she had that chance, she was terrified.
“What is it?” Ecru asked softly. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
Midnight took in a deep breath. “It’s just . . . strange. I’m only half-NightWing, and I haven’t actually been around more than one NightWing before. I feel like I should be one of them, but they’ve all lived very different lives than me. The volcanic island, the rainforest, and now this. My only connection to them is through my scales and my mother. What will they think of me? That I’m one of them, or a half-not-NightWing hatched from a traitor?” Midnight sighed. “Maybe I’m thinking about this too much.”
“You’ll be fine,” Ecru reassured Midnight. “They don’t hate hybrids. Queen Glory’s mate was a NightWing, did you know that? And see all the RainWings? Just relax, and be yourself.”
“Yeah,” Midnight responded. “Let’s go down.”
The two landed, mud splashing up to Midnight’s already dirt-covered underbelly as she reached the ground. That was right. Mud Kingdom. Maybe they’d be able to visit the Sea Kingdom after this, and she could wash off?
Midnight and Ecru walked into the camp, crowded around by haphazardly placed tents. NightWings and the occasional RainWing stared on silently as they walked inward. Unlike the bustle of the Scorpion Den, this place was eerily silent. No conversation, no shouting. Even Midnight’s sense of smell seemed to be dulled here. NightWings covered by so much mud Midnight could’ve mistaken them for MudWings walked back and forth through the small trails, many carrying food or water with them. Tiny dragonets and elderly dragons peered out from tents, watchful eyes following Midnight and especially Ecru.
“Who are you?”
Midnight looked down to see where the voice had come from. A NightWing dragonet stared back at her with sullen eyes, blocking her path. She stared up at Midnight, clearly expecting an answer.
“Er, I’m Midnight, and this is Ecru,” Midnight introduced the two of them. Had the dragonet realized she was a hybrid? Midnight stretched her talons through the mud, feeling it push against her webbing.
The dragonet peered around Midnight, getting a look at Ecru. “Why is she here?” the dragonet asked, more out of confusion than malice. “Why are both of you here?”
“She’s with me,” Midnight smiled. “There’s someone we’re looking for here.” She reached into her pouch and pulled out the glittering chakram, the dragonet taking a step back as she saw the blade. “Don’t worry, we’re not here to hurt anyone. Do you know who this belongs to?”
The dragonet frowned, then looked behind her. “You should talk to Deathbringer about it.”
“Deathbringer?” Midnight asked, trying not to laugh. “What kind of name is Deathbringer?” A seemingly too obvious name for an assassin.
The dragonet glared at Midnight. “He’s our leader. He’s been in charge of us since . . .” The dragonet’s voice trailed off. Midnight understood what she meant. Since Queen Glory’s death.
“Where can we find him?” Ecru said. “We’re kind of in a hurry.”
“He’s running battle training right now,” the dragonet sighed. She pointed a talon out. “Go that way until you reach a clearing. It’ll be obvious.”
Ecru smiled. “Thank you—”
“—Phantom,” the dragonet said. “Good luck.”
Phantom quickly scurried off, ducking beneath Midnight and Ecru’s wings to get beyond them, before disappearing into one of the tents.
“So, off to find ‘Deathbringer’,” Midnight said, turning in the direction Phantom had suggested. “Looking for a dragon named Deathbringer sounds like a horrible plan.”
“Midnight, I think he was Queen Glory’s mate,” Ecru whispered.
“Oh,” Midnight winced. Their king. Oops. She hadn’t meant to disrespect him. “Alright, good to know.”
The two went off into the camp, in the direction that Phantom had pointed them. Midnight occasionally looked around, getting cautious stares back by the NightWings and RainWings, covered in mud. Many of them had started to grow thin, and a number had injuries. Torn ears, scales scarred from flame or frostbreath, and even some with missing limbs. All of them seemed miserable.
Midnight stared. She couldn’t just leave these dragons like this, especially if they were going to have to make the flight to Jade Mountain while being attacked by IceWings. Soul or no soul, if she could find a way to save them, she needed to do it.
Eventually, the tents and cloths parted, revealing a muddy clearing. All around it, NightWings and RainWings were preparing for battles. Bright flashes caught Midnight’s eyes from one corner, where dragons were waiting in line for their turn shooting venom or fire at a stone target. Not far from there, multiple pairs of dragons were rolling through the mud, grappling each other and carefully placing their talons around each other’s necks to simulate a real fight. RainWings were practicing camouflaging, sometimes against the mud, other times changing their scales to look like less-spikey IceWings. Midnight looked up as a burst of wind hit her snout, two NightWings practicing maneuvering around each other while they shot blasts of smoke.
“On your hindlegs! Talons up!”
Midnight and Ecru turned as they heard the orders barked. A NightWing stood in the mud in front of two lines of dragons, NightWings mixed with RainWings. As soon as they heard his command, they all lifted their forepaws from the ground, placing them in the air.
“Swipe left!” the NightWing in the front ordered. “Swipe right! Bite!”
Midnight frowned. The NightWing looked strangely familiar. He was far from the largest dragon there, but she could tell he was the best trained of all of them, every one of his movements somehow radiating both grace and control.
“I think that’s him,” Ecru suggested. “Deathbringer.”
Deathbringer turned around towards two of the dragons in the line. “Peacock! Clawbiter! Keep your balance! Use those tails of yours!”
“Yessir!” the two dragons, a NightWing and a RainWing, shouted. They tried the motion again, clawing out and biting while on their hindlegs, this time keeping their tails out. Deathbringer nodded approvingly.
Ecru let out a small gasp, and pointed to Deathbringer with a grin. Midnight followed her gaze, seeing what Ecru was so excited about. Clinging to Deathbringer’s back was the smallest dragonet Midnight had ever seen. Shades of green and blue-grey seemed to swirl around her scales, sticking out from Deathbringer’s dark black. The dragonet turned her head, staring directly at Midnight, and let out a high-pitched squeal.
Deathbringer immediately turned his head, wondering what the dragonet had been alerted to. He sighed as he saw Midnight and Ecru, clearly not all too excited for visitors.
“All of you, five sets of twenty of those! Mix it up occasionally if you want by changing the strike order.” he ordered the NightWings and RainWings in a line. “Then fly three circles around the camp, as fast as you can. After that, you can break until I get back.”
“One!” the lines of dragons shouted as they rose to their hindlegs again, clawing and biting. “Two!”
As they continued, Deathbringer turned, walking over to the two hybrids. The dragonet scrambled up his scales, causing him to wince a little as her claws dug into his neck, small flecks of white appearing on the dragonet’s scales before being washed away in a blur of the blue-grey.
“Your dragonet is adorable,” Ecru smiled.
Deathbringer tried to fake a smile, but it quickly ended in a sad sigh. He examined the two hybrids, his expression serious and melancholy. “What is it you want?”
“I’m Midnight, and this is Ecru,” Midnight introduced. “We’re from Crosswinds. I have something, and I’m wondering if you could identify it for me.”
The dragonet suddenly let go of Deathbringer’s scales, and Midnight saw him instinctively reach out to catch her. Instead, she spread out her wings, gliding down into the soft mud. The dragonet shook her wings off, her scales now shining a bright gold through the coating of dirt on her. As Midnight reached down to her satchel, the dragonet jumped on her tail.
“Firefly, get off there,” Deathbringer sighed.
“Moose!” Firefly shouted back, mud dripping from her tail as a few more colors entered her scales, swirling around in circles.
“It’s alright,” Midnight said with a smile. “I’ll be fine.”
Midnight reached down into her satchel, pulling out the silver chakram. Deathbringer immediately tensed up, not so happy about something so sharp being so close to his dragonet. 
Midnight handed it over to him. “A NightWing attempted to assassinate me, using one of these,” she explained. “I was hoping you might know who this weapon belongs to.”
Deathbringer stared down at it, his face contorting into a smile. The NightWing let out a weak laugh, shaking his head. “Of course I know who this belongs to. It’s mine.”
Midnight suddenly tensed up, spreading out her claws and baring her fangs. Firefly’s scales suddenly started pulsing with bright waves of reds and greens.
“Don’t worry,” Deathbringer quickly told her. “I’m not the one who attacked you. My assassin days are long over.”
“You were an assassin?” Ecru asked, slightly surprised. Firefly’s scales calmed down again, colors dulling into gentle waves.
Deathbringer nodded. “At one time. I’m surprised you found this. Quickstrike and I were the only two NightWings who were taught how to use these, and this was definitely made back on the NightWing island.”
“Quickstrike?” Ecru questioned. “Could be the assassin?”
Deathbringer chuckled. “No. Quickstrike was my mother. She’s long dead. Unless she rose from her grave, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t her. I doubt she even got a grave.”
Firefly started to climb up Midnight, digging her sharp claws in while smearing mud over Midnight’s scales.
“Come on, don’t claw our guests,” Deathbringer said, grabbing Firefly and pulling her from Midnight’s back. Her scale color instantly changed, falling back to the blue-grey she’d been before. Small whisps of a lighter-blue started to circle around her scales, creating spiral patterns as they twisted in and out. Deathbringer glanced up at Midnight and Ecru. “Both of you, please come with me to my tent.”
Midnight and Ecru followed Deathbringer as he left the small training field, walking with him towards his tent as Firefly climbed over his back.
“Is she a hybrid?” Ecru asked.
Deathbringer nodded, letting out another melancholic sigh. “Yeah. She’s Glory and I’s little princess. I suppose she’s queen now, although Greatness, Jambu, Grandeur, and I are filling in for most of those duties. You’re both hybrids, aren’t you?”
“Mhm,” Midnight replied. “I’m Nightreader’s daughter.”
“Nightreader?” Deathbringer said, slightly surprised. “I remember her a little, though I wasn’t around when she and Stonemover left. Morrowseer sent me after them, you know.”
“You were around when she was?” Midnight asked. “Wow, I didn’t realize you were that old.”
“Well, long story short, I accidentally fell down a hole when trying to find them, and woke up a few years later,” Deathbringer replied. “I guess it’s just a danger of messing with animus magic. That, and I have perpetual dragonet-face.”
Messing with animus magic, Midnight repeated to herself.
“Do you have a lot of hybrids here?” Ecru asked.
“A couple,” Deathbringer answered. “Sunflower is somewhere around here, and Toxin is at Jade Mountain. All the younger ones are hidden away in the south. I’m planning on taking the dragonets too young to fly there in a few days.”
Deathbringer stopped, and lifted up the ripped cloth of a tent out from the mud, opening it up for the two. “Here we are,” he said. “Go in.”
Midnight and Ecru entered. Other than mud, there didn’t appear to be much inside. A small raised platform of dried mud for Firefly to sleep in. A few weapons on the other side of the tent. Midnight stared as something familiar caught her eyes. A silver chakram.
Midnight walked over to it, pulling the assassin’s chakram from her bag, and holding it over Deathbringer’s. Other than the mud on Deathbringer’s, the two looked almost exactly the same. Same color of metal, same size, same cut in the center.
“Do you have any idea who else could use a weapon like this, and had access to the NightWing craftmanship?” Midnight asked Deathbringer, turning to him.
Deathbringer thought for a moment as Firefly jumped from his back and ran over to Ecru. Ecru put her paw out for the hybrid dragonet to jump on, Firefly’s scales turning into a sea of yellow as she grabbed ahold of Ecru, pink starbursts occasionally appearing on them.
“I can’t think of any other NightWings who are trained in these, but it’s possible your assassin could be self-taught,” Deathbringer responded. “Or taught by someone outside the Night Kingdom. I know some SandWings can use these too. But I’m the only NightWing assassin we’ve had in a while. Do you have any more details about him?”
“I could never get a good look at him,” Midnight answered regretfully. “He attacked us first in Crosswinds. Stayed in the shadows while throwing the silver discs at us, almost killing us. We escaped by going into the river. Most of the chakrams he threw were gone by the time we came back to investigate, but this one was in the river. We didn’t see him again until we were flying over the rainforest last night, during the storm. He hid until he got close enough to attack me during flight, and tried to throw me against the ground. I got free, but he threw more of the discs at me in the woods. I barely got away.”
Deathbringer nodded, considering this. “That sounds a lot like what I’d have done, except I might have added some poison to the blades. Stayed in the shadows, only striking when your opponent doesn’t expect it. Retreat and come back another day if I failed. It’s the NightWing way. Honestly, it sounds like your assassin was NightWing trained.”
Midnight glanced over towards Ecru as she heard a laugh. Ecru and Firefly seemed to be playing a game of ‘splash the mud at each other.’ Midnight smiled and rolled her eyes.
“We had a dragon named Duskwind disappear from the camp,” Deathbringer mused. “I wonder if this could be connected.”
“Was Duskwind the assassin type?” Midnight asked.
Deathbringer shook his head and snorted. “Far from it. I figured he got caught by IceWing soldiers, but they don’t cross the border.” He sighed. “This is the worst time for something like this to happen.”
“Queen Moorhen is kicking you out, right?” Midnight replied. “Is there any way you can just ignore her orders? I know she’s busy in the north.”
Deathbringer shook his head, grimacing. “It wouldn’t end up well for us. Queen Blackice is getting restless. If Moorhen decides to send down troops, we’d fight them, and the IceWings would come in to slaughter us regardless of who wins. We have to leave, and don’t have many choices. If we go to where the RainWings are hiding, we’ll just lead the IceWings too them. Darkstalker’s Teeth are all the way across the desert, and we’d be totally open to attack. That leaves crossing the Claws of the Clouds to reach Jade Mountain.”
“Will everyone be able to make the flight there?” Ecru asked, looking up from Firefly.
“I don’t know,” Deathbringer said. “Like I said, we’ve been trying to get the weakest dragons and the youngest dragonets to the RainWings without being detected, but it’s not enough. Travelling will be slow, and the IceWings will attack. We’ll be slaughtered.”
Ecru and Midnight went silent. Firefly ran back over to Deathbringer, her scales blending into shades of green as she nestled around his paw.
Midnight took in a deep breath, closing her eyes. “I think I can help you.”
“Midnight,” a concerned Ecru said, looking over to her mate with worry, “you said we would talk about this before you did something.”
“It’s fine, it’s not that,” Midnight replied calmly. Midnight reached down into her satchel, pulling out her scroll from it. She’d already lost those parts of her soul. Giving them to Deathbringer wouldn’t lose her any more of it. “The scroll is animus-touched,” Midnight explained. “It’s able to heal dragons, or point you towards whoever you’re thinking of. I know it’s not a lot, but it’s something.”
Deathbringer stared down at the scroll, amazed. He’d be able to heal everyone before the flight. Figure out which direction Queen Blackice was coming from. Silver rings started to move around Firefly’s scales.
“Thank you so much,” Deathbringer whispered, a glimmer of hope appearing in his eyes. “This might save us.” He glanced back up at Midnight. Stonemover’s niece. “Are you an — sorry, you don’t need to tell me. This could be enough.”
Ecru flicked her tongue out, deep in thought. “Actually, would you mind doing a favor for us?” she asked.
Midnight turned towards Ecru, unsure of what she was planning.
“Of course,” Deathbringer replied. “Although I doubt there’s any way I could repay you for this.”
“Well, since you’re an ex-assassin, maybe you can predict what our assassin is going to do,” Ecru suggested.
“Maybe,” Deathbringer said. “What are you thinking?”
Ecru smiled. “I think we can lure our assassin out.”
== Chapter 18 ==
As Aurora phased into Queen Scarlet’s throne room, the queen let out a high-pitched screech, placing her wings over her snout as if to protect it from Aurora. The six SkyWing guards in front of her throne turned immediately, holding spears pointed out towards Aurora. Evidently, Scarlet had decided to try and get some extra protection.
Aurora sighed, and lowered her head to the ground, bowing in front of the SkyWing queen. “Your majesty.”
Queen Scarlet stared down, peeking out from behind her wing, unsure what Aurora was doing. Her tail carefully curled around the box on her throne, now holding the Eye of Amethyst. “Traitor!” she hissed. “What are you doing here? Do you want to be thrown in the arena?”
Aurora flicked her tongue, knowing how empty Queen Scarlet’s threats were. There was nothing she could do to hurt her. She lifted her head, seeing the guards immediately step towards here.
“Your majesty,” Aurora grovelled, lowering her head again, holding back a growl. “I apologize for my . . . confusing behavior this morning. I wanted to assure you that I meant you no harm, and had never planned to hurt you, my queen. I was framed for stealing the Eye of Amethyst by someone hoping to drive a wedge between us in order to weaken you to attack.”
“You were framed?” Queen Scarlet snarled. “By who?”
“Cyclone, your majesty,” Aurora continued. She quenched the small pain of guilt she felt for revealing Cyclone’s treachery. Aurora had to tell Queen Scarlet. How else would Scarlet believe her? Cyclone had chosen to interfere, and she would have to face with whatever consequences she got. “You already knew somewhat of her disloyalty, correct? I dealt with her.”
Scarlet frowned, starting down at Aurora. Aurora raised her head to meet the queen’s remaining eye, the two remaining in locked in eye contact for a moment.
Queen Scarlet suddenly let out a shrill laugh, sneering at Aurora. “What, you think I’m stupid? You blame this on some dragon you know is traitorous, then kill her so she can’t speak up? I’ve done the same thing before! You can’t fool me!”
Aurora huffed, trying not to bare her fangs. Why didn’t Queen Scarlet understand that if Aurora wanted her dead, she’d have done it already? “I didn’t kill her,” Aurora grumbled. “She’s still alive, on a hill not far from here, unless she escaped already. Your majesty.”
“Oh,” Queen Scarlet replied. She frowned, considering this for a moment.
“Your oh-so-great majesty, I’ve done nothing but help you,” Aurora continued, gritting her teeth as she said the words. “I stole the Eye of Amethyst in order to save your life. I have even returned to you now. I only wish to serve you, majestic queen of beautiful shining scales.”
“Enough with the flattery,” Queen Scarlet snorted. “You’re no good at it anyways. But you’re right. I will consider reinstating your position.”
Aurora let out a sigh of relief, finally relaxing. Queen Scarlet was once again on her side. She was still able to fulfill Calamity’s instructions.
“However,” Queen Scarlet growled, “I will need you to re-prove your loyalty after this incident.”
Aurora frowned. This wasn’t her fault. How come she had to prove herself again? “What do you want?” she asked, irritated.
Queen Scarlet smiled, light glinting from her gemstones. “I just received news that a rogue SkyWing has been making a bit of a disturbance in my northern territories. I want you to handle the situation for me.”
“Can’t you just have soldiers stop them?” Aurora sighed. What did Queen Scarlet need her for? Was this just a way of showing off Aurora as Queen Scarlet’s new toy?
Queen Scarlet shook her head with a laugh. “Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a tricky situation. Someone with your sort of skillset is needed.”
Aurora flicked her tail. If she needed to do whatever Queen Scarlet wanted to her to do in order to get back in her favor, she’d do it. On the bright side, she’d be out of the palace, and away from all the dragons here. In particular, away from Queen Scarlet. “Alright.”
“I’ll have two of my guards join you as an entourage,” Queen Scarlet smiled. The guards suddenly looked up at her, all nervous. She scanned them, deciding who would have to go.
“I choose you, and you,” Scarlet said, pointing a talon at two. The two guards she picked winced, while the others all relaxed.
“I don’t need company,” Aurora protested. “They won’t be of any help in a fight, and they’ll just slow me down.”
Queen Scarlet shook her head. “No, no, I insist. They know the Sky Kingdom better than you do.”
Aurora flicked her tongue. Queen Scarlet probably just wanted to have dragons to keep an eye on her. In fact, this whole thing was likely just to keep Aurora out of the palace for a while. So much for that peaceful, solitary flight. “Fine,” Aurora grumbled.
“Good,” Queen Scarlet replied, content with Aurora’s begrudging willingness. “Now, off you three go!”
Aurora turned towards one of the walls of the throne room, ready to walk through it and out of the palace. As she neared the edge, she heard a loud growl from Queen Scarlet. Aurora glanced behind her. What was it now?
“Ahem,” Queen Scarlet hissed. “Aren’t you forgetting two someones?” She gestured towards the two guards she’d chosen to go with Aurora.
Aurora rolled her eyes, glancing over to the two uncomfortable-looking SkyWings. That was right. They couldn’t walk through the wall. For a moment, she considered trying to phase the two through, but she doubted Queen Scarlet would like that.
Aurora sighed, and turned towards the door, the two SkyWing guards following her until they reached the open-aired part of the palace. She spread her wings, glancing back at the two nervous SkyWings.
“Stay away from me,” she hissed, taking off in a flurry of wind.
----The three travelled north, the two SkyWings making sure to keep a long distance behind Aurora, cautiously murmuring to each other while the hybrid stayed ahead. Every so often, Aurora glanced back, grumbling as she saw that the two were still behind her, carefully watching her. She hated this, being kept under Queen Scarlet’s eye like a dragonet. Still, she had to regain Queen Scarlet’s trust.
The winds around Aurora grew colder as the three flew further into the mountains, sharp cliffs jutting from the side of the stone as they formed a plateau. The dragon settlements seemed to grow thinner and thinner as they flew on, a small village built along the plateau edge the last one Aurora had seen for a while. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Aurora spotted more and more scavengers, often times herding yaks. She even managed to spot a tiny scavenger-sized village. What was it that Calamity had told her about scavengers being as smart as dragons?
Eventually, Aurora heard one of the SkyWings yell something out at her. She slowed down, looking back with a stare which said What is it now?
“We’re, um, just about there,” one of the SkyWings said quickly as he approached Aurora. “I’ll fetch the dragon we’re meeting. Stay here please.”
Aurora snorted as he flew off, the other SkyWing guard glaring over at him as he flew off, annoyed he left her with Aurora. As he flew out of sight, she glanced over to Aurora, opening her mouth to say something.
“I’m not interested in conversation,” Aurora tonelessly said, cutting her off. She sailed down to the plateau, landing in a field of dry grasses as she waited for the guard to return.
Aurora grumbled impatiently. Who knew that being Queen Scarlet’s ally would involve so much waiting? Waiting until it was the right time to follow Calamity’s orders, whenever the ‘right time’ was, waiting for whoever this SkyWing was fetching. It had been so much more convenient back in the Crystal Caverns, where Calamity had been able to control how fast time flowed in there relative to the rest of Pyrrhia. He had given Aurora plenty of time to learn how to fight and how to use her enchantment, and afterwards, there hadn’t been much waiting between different assignments Calamity had sent her or Crystal on.
Finally, the SkyWing came back, returning with a second SkyWing. The two landed by Aurora and the other guard, the newcomer walking up to Aurora without hesitation. Aurora glanced up at the newcomer, a red and orange SkyWing who met Aurora’s gaze with a fierce stare. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the Darkstone, hanging from Aurora’s neck.
“You’re a hybrid,” the newcomer said with a frown, tilting her head left and right as she inspected Aurora, her odd-colored scales clearly giving it away. “You’re the dragon Queen Scarlet sent?”
Aurora sighed. “What do you need me to do?”
The SkyWing flicked her tongue. A grin suddenly appeared on her snout, stretching from side to side. She let out a laugh. “Queen Scarlet sent you? Seriously?”
Aurora glared. What was so funny?
The SkyWing shook her head, letting out another snort. “I’m sorry,” she laughed. “This is just too much. I should introduce myself. I’m Kite.” She tilted her head, as if expecting Aurora to know who she was.
Aurora stared back at Kite. “Okay.”
Kite looked Aurora up and down again, letting out another laugh as she did. “You’re Crystal and Torrent’s dragonet, aren’t you? How are they doing?”
Aurora stiffened up as she heard her parents’ names, taken slightly aback. This SkyWing knew who they were? “Crystal is . . . dead. Torrent is not.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Kite replied. “They lived with me for a few months. I’m surprised they didn’t mention me.” She frowned. “But let’s get down to business. There’s a SkyWing I need you to get rid of.” Kite looked to Aurora’s left and right, like she was trying to find something. “It’s just you? No MudWing or gryphon? No dagger?”
“I can handle whatever it is,” Aurora stated. She wasn’t particularly interested in meeting her parents’ friends. If Kite had been important, Crystal or Calamity would have told Aurora about her.
“Are you sure?” Kite asked. “When your parents came, one of their friends ended up very badly burnt. So far, we haven’t had any deaths, but some of my SkyWings have gotten quite injured.”
“I’m fine,” Aurora growled, tired of all the waiting. If there was going to be a fight, she just wanted it over with.
“Alright,” Kite replied. “I suppose Queen Scarlet’s champion should be able to take care of something like this. Follow.”
“I’m not her champion,” Aurora grumbled as Kite took off.
Aurora and the two SkyWing guards followed behind her, travelling along the plateau until they reached what looked like a small statue. The three landed in the grass nearby, and Aurora couldn’t help but look over at the statue. A dull marble gryphon. Aurora squinted. It looked oddly familiar. A lot like Griffin himself.
Calamity had made the odd request that she enchant Griffin to do what she wanted. Aurora still wasn’t quite sure why. If Calamity needed her to kill Loresearcher, she could have just waited until Torrent hadn’t been there, and she could’ve used her magic freely. But Calamity knew far better than her what to do. If he needed her to do that, then there had to have been a good reason.
“The Feathered Spirit,” Kite commented, noticing Aurora looking at the statue. “My great-grandmother told me about him when I was younger. SkyWings used to believe that the world would one day end in fire, and that he’d appear at the end of it, spread his wings, and Pyrrhia would be reborn from his feathers. He rules over the reincarnation of the world, or something like that. No one really worships him anymore though. There was a prediction that the world would end a few hundred years back. Obviously it didn’t happen. My great-grandmother told me that some SkyWings thought it predicted Queen Fen’s conquest of the Sky Kingdom, but that sounds sort of silly.”
“Oh,” Aurora snorted. That explains it.
Kite sighed, staring up at the statue. “Well, I suppose you can finally avenge her for me,” she said. She pointed across the plateau, to a steep cliff at the base of the mountains. “There’s a cave there. That’s where she is. Good luck.”
Aurora walked over towards the cave, the two guards following her behind from a distance. A small dark entrance, between the mountain-slopes. A nice hiding place for whoever was unlucky enough to be in there. She stepped into the cave, not bothering to try and remain quiet.
The cave was dark, but Aurora’s limited nightvision quickly adjusted, revealing a large oblong chamber. Small pools of water were scattered around, Aurora’s reflection looking back at her. A lot of the ground was filled with dull rubble, but small shinies poked through it. Aurora swept some of the rubble aside with her tail, seeing gold coins and gemstones buried beneath it.
She frowned. Something seemed weird about this place. Off. She picked up one of the coins with her talons and held it in front of her. As she focused on it, the golden surface started to change to a glimmering silver, before suddenly being overcome by the gold again. Aurora flicked her tongue, squinting at the metal. If she couldn’t change it, that meant it was magical. An animus had enchanted it.
Aurora tossed the coin into the rubble, and walked on, further into the caves. Most of the other rooms were just like the first one. Filled with rubble and the remains of treasure. Looted, perhaps? Aurora had thought she understood dragons’ obsession with treasure. It was pretty, the way light glinted off of it. The way you could make it into different shapes and cuts, each capturing different aspects of the material and the light on it. Gemstones of a thousand different colors, their internal components forming beautiful lattices that few dragons could ever get to play with. But why did Queen Scarlet hide most of her treasure away when it could be out in the open? What was the point in her having so much gold and diamonds? It would have been more interesting to mix it up with pyrite and zirconia.
Aurora’s ears suddenly twitched, and she came back to attention as she heard a movement in the cave beyond her, the sliding of rocks. That was right. She was here to do Queen Scarlet’s bidding.
“Stand down,” Aurora wearily ordered. She sighed. “In the name of Queen Scarlet, surrender yourself now.”
Aurora started to walk forward as she heard a response.
“Don’t come closer!” the dragon in the cavern yelled back, almost sobbing. “I don’t want to hurt you! Please, just go away!”
Aurora flicked her tail. Something about that voice sounded familiar. One of the dragons she’d met in the palace? No. She remembered this voice. This was someone important.
A wave of heat hit Aurora as she turned the corner, putting up a wing to block it. When the hybrid turned to look into the cave, the dragon looking back at her just as surprised as she was.
“Aurora?” Inferno exclaimed, meeting Aurora’s eyes with an expression of shock.
Aurora stared back at the SkyWing. The fireborn who had come down to talk to her when she’d left the Mausoleum. One of the five. What was she doing here?
Aurora’s gaze went down to Inferno’s paws. One was clenched around something, paw so tight Inferno’s own talons were digging into her scales. A purple glint caught her eyes. The second Darkstone. Aurora glanced back up, Inferno’s face rigid and contorted, her talons stiff. Something about her seemed different than before.
“Aurora,” Inferno whimpered, gritting her teeth like she was struggling to get her words out. She shook her wings, as if trying to get free of something. “Please. Please help me.”
== Chapter 19 ==
Tiger and Ermine turned with a jolt as the door to their room opened. Ermine tensed up, talons shaking. Had the Empress caught figured out their plan? Were they going to be tortured in horrible ways?
Ermine breathed a sigh of relief as Skytaker walked in. Just Skytaker. The IceWing raised his head, glancing back and forth between Tiger and Skytaker. All three of the dragonets were on edge today. Today was when they were going to try and escape the palace.
“It’s your time, Tiger. Talk to him,” Skytaker whispered. “We’ll wait here.”
“Shouldn’t we go with her?” Ermine asked.
Skytaker shook their head. “Shh.” They pointed a talon to the tapestry of Empress Liliana on the wall, twin eyes staring down at them.
Ermine stared up at her. At any time, she could be listening in to them. The IceWing frowned. Maybe they should’ve found a way to disable the Obscura. Although if they did, they probably would’ve found out . . .
“Are we sure about this?” Tiger asked, looking back towards Skytaker and Ermine.
Skytaker quickly nodded, and Ermine sighed, offering a hesitant nod.
“Alright,” Tiger replied, turning towards the door, working hard to suppress the green tint over her scales. All she had to do was talk to Mangrove.
“Good luck,” Skytaker whispered, as Tiger closed the door behind her.
Tiger looked left and right on the hallway, checking twice for any invisible RainWings. If Skytaker was right, and they probably were, Mangrove would be resting in his room right now. Down in the guards’ chambers, one of the floors Skytaker had found. Tiger stepped in front of the door to the moving circular room, entering it and stepping in the middle ring when it arrived.
Tiger quickly checked around the room, feeling her heart rate rise. Why was she so nervous? She was just going down to Mangrove for a chat. She took a deep breath, trying to think of wherever the guards slept, picturing it in her mind. The room started to move. At least she was able to get down there.
When the door opened, Tiger carefully slinked into the hallway. Just like most of the rest, the hallway was furnished with purple and gold, rugs picturing the Empress wherever Tiger stepped. Didn’t she get tired of looking at her own snout? Identical doors stood up to her left and right as Tiger quietly walked. Which room had Skytaker said it was? Five down, on the left side.
As Tiger reached for Mangrove’s door, she suddenly heard one of the other doorhandles move. She immediately dropped to a corner of the hallway, changing her scales to fit the wallpaper’s pattern.
Tiger held her breath as the door opened, a tired looking RainWing stepping out from inside. Tiger tried to keep still — this was far from the ideal hiding spot, and if the RainWing decided to look too closely, there was no way Tiger would remain unspotted. The RainWing slowly turned, gaze passing over Tiger, then turned to the left. Without another word, the guard walked down the hallway, stopping in the gold circle.
As soon as the guard was gone, Tiger let out a quiet breath. She’d almost been caught. She stood up, looking at Mangrove’s door. If she was unable to convince him, this would definitely end up with them being caught. How come Tiger was the one who had to talk to him? Skytaker was better at that sort of thing.
She carefully opened up the door, peeking inside. The room itself was small, lit only by the strange ambient light that seemed to permeate the palace from nowhere. A hammock stretched from one end of the room to the other, a violet RainWing lying in it. Mangrove.
Mangrove raised his head. “Who’s there?”
Tiger took in another deep breath, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her. She glanced around. No windows, no openings for fresh air. Did the RainWings not get sun-time? “I’m Tiger,” she replied. “You’re Mangrove, right?”
“Tiger,” Mangrove whispered, repeating the name like he was unsure of it. “Yes. I’m Mangrove. Do I have orders?” He raised his head, looking down at Tiger from hammock, eyes dull and glossy. He frowned as he saw who she was. “You’re one of the Pyrrhians. I have orders not to talk to you.”
“Then I’ll do all the talking,” Tiger responded. This was going to be difficult. “Do you have orders to keep me from talking?”
Mangrove stayed quiet, unsure what to do.
“I had a question to ask,” Tiger continued. Would this work? “Do you know a dragon named Orchid?”
“Orchid?” Mangrove asked, suddenly forgetting that he wasn’t supposed to talk to Tiger. “No, I don’t know anyone named that.” He thought for a moment, the question still on his mind.
Tiger frowned. Was Orchid not here in Antigonia? She looked up towards Mangrove, noticing that a few of the scales on his paws had started to turn a blue-green. He was confused. “Are you sure that’s true?” Tiger pressed. “Orchid. You two gathered fruit together.”
Mangrove shook his head, the hammock shaking from his paws. “I don’t—I don’t know her,” Mangrove whispered, shaking his head. “I don’t know anyone named Orchid.” He looked down at his blue-green paws, unsure of himself.
“You do,” Tiger said again. “You know Orchid. Think harder, where do you know the name from?”
Mangrove paused for a moment, putting his forepaws on his head as he rolled over on the hammock, more of his scales turning aquamarine. “Orchid?” he asked quietly, confused. He shook his head, then turned to Tiger with a glare. “No! I don’t know her! I shouldn’t be talk to you, Glory told us the Pyrrhians were dangerous!” He glanced down at his scales. “What did you do to me?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Tiger replied. “I just asked if you knew who Orch—”
“Don’t say that name!” Mangrove hissed, jumping from his hammock, staring at Tiger. Tiger took a step back, as Mangrove shook his head again. “My shift is about to start,” Mangrove huffed. “I need to go.”
He started towards the door, before Tiger interrupted him. This could be their only chance to escape. “Orchid was your mate,” Tiger said quietly.
Mangrove turned around, staring at Tiger. The teal scales had risen up to his torso. He opened his mouth, about to say something to Tiger, before turning around, walking off, leaving Tiger behind.
Tiger paused, closing her eyes. That wasn’t how she’d expected this to go. But it seemed like she’d gotten through to him, at least a little. Was it enough?
Tiger headed back to the three’s room, careful not to disturb any of the other RainWing guards on the way there. At any second, around any corner, she expected the Empress or Glory to jump out and say that Mangrove had told them everything. But they didn’t. The palace was silent.
“How did it go?” Skytaker asked as Tiger stepped back through the door.
The RainWing shut it firmly behind her, knowing it wouldn’t help if the Empress was listening in with the Obscura. She looked over at Skytaker grimly. “I’m not sure if it was a success or not.”
Skytaker frowned. “What happened? Is he going to help us or not?”
“He ran off before I asked him,” Tiger replied, “but something strange happened. I mentioned his mate, Orchid, to him, and he said he didn’t remember her, but some part of him clearly did. His scales showed it. I think he’d help us if he could remember.”
“Have the RainWings been brainwashed somehow?” Ermine gulped. “Is the Empress changing their memories?”
Tiger grimaced. “Maybe,” she said. A spell on the entire world. “I have an idea, but I’ll explain it later.” If the Empress was listening in on them, and Tiger was right, it might make things even worse.
Skytaker nodded, understanding what she meant. The less they talked, the smaller chance they’d be caught. “No matter what, we still need to go forward,” they stated. “For Pyrrhia. Now we wait.”
The three waited in silence, all tense. Tiger tried to do something normal, like reading one of the books, but she couldn’t focus. The words seemed to flow off the page, and she kept reading the same passage over and over again. It wasn’t just the three’s fate that rested on this plan, it was the fate of Pyrrhia. What if Mangrove tried to talk to the Empress about his strange memories? What if he didn’t remember Orchid in time? Even if they escaped, how would they get back to Pyrrhia?
Tiger shook as she felt a talon on her back. She turned to see Skytaker, motioning her with their paw. Ermine was already by the door. It was time.
Nervously, the three walked to the entrance to the moving room, Skytaker standing in the circle to summon the room. As the doors entered, Tiger froze up. Another RainWing, one she didn’t recognize, was standing in the center, staring curiously at the three.
“It’s fine,” Skytaker whispered under their breath. “It means we’re on time.”
The hybrid walked into the circular room, standing a tail length from the RainWing guard. Tiger and Ermine quickly followed, Tiger trying hard to quench the green in her scales. This was part of the plan. This RainWing was the guard leaving the shift, meaning that Mangrove was alone.
The doors shut, and the room moved. When the doors opened again, Tiger peeked out to see the same hallway she’d visited earlier, where the guards rooms were. Hopefully the next guard wouldn’t be back soon.
Skytaker stepped into the center, and the doors shut again. The three remained silent as the room moved down to the entrance. This was it. They were almost out. All they needed to do was to convince Mangrove to let them pass.
Tiger’s heart skipped a beat as the doors opened, a whiff of fresh air entering her lungs. The outside! Sunlight dripped down in front of her, only a more few steps. Her scales glittered with golden flakes. She’d never been so excited to see the sun.
As the three stepped out towards the entrance, a RainWing moved in front of them, Mangrove’s silhouette blocking the sunlight. “Halt,” he growled, holding out a spear. He glanced down at the three dragonets, frowning as he saw Tiger.
“Mangrove,” she said quietly, glancing down to his paws. They were still covered in blue-green, like he’d stepped in algae.
“What happened to Orchid?” Mangrove asked warily, his spear shaking. “W-where is she? Why can’t I remember?”
“We can help you,” Tiger answered, “there’s an Orchid back on Pyrrhia, where we come from.”
“Do you know how to get there?” Skytaker quickly questioned.
Mangrove shook his head. “You can’t,” he replied. “Her majesty is the only one who can open a gate.”
“Maybe we should just go back,” Ermine quietly suggested. “We could try looking around the palace again.”
Skytaker shook their head. “We can’t,” they growled. “There’s no way she’d use her magic to let us go back. Maybe there’s another way, somewhere in Antigonia. Trustbreaker got to Pyrrhia, right?”
“Mangrove,” Tiger said again, staring up at him. “We’re going to escape the palace. We need to warn our kingdoms. Our Pyrrhia.”
Mangrove shuddered, his scales flashing sea green. “I need to with you,” he pleaded. “I need to find Orchid.”
Tiger glanced back towards Skytaker and Ermine. Taking Mangrove with them hadn’t been part of the plan, but having an Antigonian dragon on their side could be helpful. “Alright,” she agreed. “You can come with us. We’re going to the mainland.”
Mangrove slowly stepped aside, dropping his spear as he let the three pass. Tiger stepped into the sunlight, taking a deep breath of air as her eyes adjusted to it. Her scales felt calmer at once, and she stretched out her wings, letting the sun beat down on as much of her as possible.
“Quickly,” Skytaker said, “we’re flying this way.” They opened their wings up, and took off towards the south of the island.
“Ugh, I haven’t flown in months,” Ermine grumbled as he followed the hybrid, sunlight glinting from the IceWing’s scales.
Tiger followed, Mangrove behind her, the four staying low to the ground as they crossed the volcanic island. Tiger peeked back, giving a glance to the Empress’s beautiful palace. Now that she was outside of it, she could see it’s location more clearly. The palace was nestled in the center of the volcano’s caldera, over a crystal blue lake, lush green hills rising up over it. Her eyes looked up to the top of the palace, where the narrow tower spread out into the huge glass greenhouse. Where Empress Liliana’s throne was, where she could be watching them with the Obscura right now.
Tiger turned as the four flew over the island. It really was the NightWing volcanic island. Tiger had only visited once, to get some scrolls, but she recognized parts of it. The ash-laden cliffs where the tunnel to the rainforest had been was as green as the rainforest itself, cliffs leading down to golden beaches. When the four finally set out across the water, the sun glimmered off its crystal-blue surface. Had this been what the NightWing island had looked like when the NightWings first arrived? A paradise as beautiful as the rainforest?
“How far is it to the mainland?” Ermine asked Tiger, interrupting her thoughts.
Tiger turned away from the island, the tip of the palace barely visible. “Only a few hours, if the map is right. Mangrove, do you know?”
Mangrove didn’t respond. Tiger turned, to see his head staring down at the water. “Orchid,” he muttered quietly. “Orchid, where are you? Orchid, Orchid, Orchid . . .”
“Doesn’t seem like he’ll be much help,” Skytaker commented.
Tiger sighed. “Hopefully the confusion will clear over. I think he’s trying to reconcile his memories.”
“Oh yeah!” Skytaker said. “You said you had a theory for what happened to him. You gonna share it, now that we’re out?”
A warm breeze hit Tiger’s scales, sun beating down on them. It was so warm and tropical here, just like in the rainforest. But that wasn’t right. They’d been pretty far north on the map. There shouldn’t have been warm winds. It didn’t make any sort of sense.
“I suggested earlier that the reason the map of Antigonia was so weird was because the Empress put a spell on the entire world,” Tiger answered. “Nothing we’ve seen indicates that the physical rules of Antigonia are any different than Pyrrhia. Under that assumption, for example, the weather here, so far north, should be much colder.”
“We haven’t seen very much of Antigonia though,” Skytaker replied skeptically.
“I saw a fair amount in the Obscura,” Tiger rebutted. “And not just the physical world, but the dragons themselves. Mangrove is starting to remember Orchid being his mate. He also doesn’t think that Orchid exists. I think he’s right. The reason he doesn’t remember Orchid is because whatever enchantment the Empress made changed Antigonia so much that Orchid ceased to exist, and never did. But Mangrove still has some memories of the world before the enchantment. It explains why all the books written before the Empress’s takeover are unreadable. That history was written over by whatever she did.”
Skytaker went silent. The only sounds were the lapping of the waves, the warm wind, and Mangrove’s murmurings of Orchid.
“I still think you’re wrong,” Ermine said quietly, Skytaker and Tiger turning to look at him. “Not about there being a spell on the world. But I don’t think Empress Liliana did it.” He paused for a moment. “I don’t think she’s an animus.”
“You don’t?” Tiger asked, surprised.
Ermine opened his mouth, about to explain what he meant, when Skytaker interrupted him. “Hey, you two, I think I see land!”
“Land?” Tiger asked. The RainWing followed Skytaker’s gaze. Sure enough, far in the distance was a line of land.
The line on the horizon grew larger as the four flew on, Mangrove continuing his mutterings to no end. Ermine was the first to spot the dragons waiting for them.
“Um, Tiger, Skytaker,” Ermine whimpered, slowing down a tad, “I think those are RainWings?”
Tiger squinted, making out small strangely-colored blotches on the cliffs in front of them. “He’s right,” she said, a hint of lime running through her scales. Had they been caught? “Skytaker, what should we do? If they haven’t seen us yet, we could turn back.”
Skytaker stared into the distance, their normally confident expression faded. The hybrid sighed. “No. There’s no point. They’re waiting for us. The only thing we can do is surrender.”
“Oh,” Tiger replied. If even Skytaker was giving up, that wasn’t good.
As the three got closer, Tiger recognized two of the dragons on the cliffs. Glory and the Empress. They really had been caught. They hadn’t been able to make it back to Pyrrhia. If the Empress attacked, no one could stop her.
When they reached the cliffs, the RainWings walked back, giving the four room to land. Glory’s tail flicked, her ear-fins a bright orange as she glared up at the dragonets. Empress Liliana just looked up with a disapproving sigh, like the three were her misbehaving dragonets.
“I’m quite disappointed in the three of you,” Liliana tsked as the four had landed, shaking her head. “I thought I told you not to leave the palace. You disobeyed me, your empress.”
“You’re not our empress!” Skytaker spat.
Liliana smiled, flicking her tongue. “We’ll see.”
“We know you’re lying about needing time to take us back to Pyrrhia!” Skytaker growled, baring their fangs. “We’re not your guests, we’re prisoners.”
Liliana let out an exaggerated sigh, tossing a glance to Glory, standing stern and stiff next to her. “I admit it, you’re right, but I can’t let you interfere, not now. Please dragonets, don’t worry. I promise that you won’t have to remain prisoners much longer. I’ll send you back to your home.”
“Is that because you’re planning to conquer Pyrrhia?” Ermine asked, looking up at the RainWing empress.
“Not conquer,” the Empress replied. “I only plan to free your world from the evils of dragonkind.” Her eyes turned to Tiger, so far the RainWing only staring up at her silently. Liliana shivered, like Tiger’s stares creeped her out. “What?”
“Do you plan to do to Pyrrhia whatever you did to Antigonia?” Tiger asked hushedly.
Empress Liliana’s eyescales furrowed, her expression turning to a grimace. “So you figured it out.”
“Tiger?” Skytaker said, gulping. Had the Empress not wanted them learn her secret? What would she do to keep it from being shared?
After a moment, the Empress’s smile returned. “So smart. I suppose I shouldn’t be at all surprised!”
“Why haven’t you done it already?” Tiger questioned. “Are you looking for something in Pyrrhia? Is it in the Sky Kingdom?”
“Quiet,” Empress Liliana hissed, glaring at Tiger. She smiled again. “I’ll tend to your questions in time, but right now, I have someone else to deal with.”
The Empress walked forward, moving around the three dragonets until she was less than a tail length away from Mangrove. She grabbed the RainWing’s jaw, lifting it up until the two were eye-to-eye. “Now, what happened to you?”
“Where’s Orchid?” Mangrove whispered, his head shaking in Liliana’s paws. “Orchid? Where are you?”
“He’s a traitor,” Glory growled, stepping forward. “I can put him down if you’d like.”
Tiger’s eyes opened wide. Were they going to kill Mangrove? She gritted her teeth. She’d dragged the RainWing into this, trying to force him to remember. He was innocent. Tiger was about to say something in protest, but Liliana said it first.
“No need,” the Empress calmly replied. “He’s only a bit confused. Aren’t you, Mangrove?”
Mangrove let out a small whimper as she tightened her talons around his jaw. “Please tell me, where is Orchid?” he asked, his voice shaky. “What happened to her? I can’t find her.”
“No dragon named Orchid has ever existed, sweetie,” Liliana said. “Not within your lifetime. Are you thinking of the flower? Do you want some? I can do that.”
“No,” he squealed, trying to turn his head away from Liliana’s grip, talons shaking. “She’s real! I remember Orchid, she’s my mate. I love her.”
Empress Liliana sighed. “You really are in a bad place. Look at your scales! They’re all sea-green! This is why I told you not to talk to the Pyrrhians.” The Empress stood back on her hind legs, and took her other forepaw, placing it above Mangrove’s eyes, between his horns.
The paw on Mangrove’s head suddenly started to glow, a white light spreading out from her claws. He whimpered again, his eyes suddenly jolting from side to side. His scales started to change colors, violets and blue-greens shifting to a lime green, the color glowing bright for a moment before fading, finally overcome with a dull grey.
The Empress took her paw away from Mangrove, the white light on it fading. Tiger stared on, shocked. What had she done to him?
Slowly, purple started to seep back into Mangrove’s scales, his eyes focusing back on the Empress. His talons stopped shaking, his breath calm. “Your majesty,” he said slowly.
Empress Liliana smiled. “Hello, Mangrove. Do you know any dragon named Orchid?” She took her paw from his jaw, letting him step back.
“Orchid?” Mangrove said, thinking about the name for a moment. He shook his head. “No, your majesty. I don’t know anyone named Orchid. Who is she?”
Liliana flicked her tongue as Tiger stared back at Mangrove, heart racing. There was no trace of confusion in Mangrove’s scales. He’d forgotten her.
“She’s no one,” Liliana answered. “Glory. Escort these dragonets back to the palace. Make sure Mangrove gets a good night sleep.”
== Chapter 20 ==
Midnight cautiously stepped through the undergrowth of the rainforest, the dim moons lighting her way. The three had chosen a small section of the rainforest that had been mostly untouched by the fires, most of the wood barely scorched. Here, Deathbringer thought it would be easier for him to hide. Of course, that also meant that it would be easier for the assassin.
Midnight felt Ecru’s wing over her, and she took a deep breath.
“You’re shaking,” Ecru whispered.
Midnight nodded. She was nervous. What if things went wrong? What if Ecru ended up dead? “Yeah, just on edge.”
Midnight suddenly shuddered as she saw a blur of black from the treetops above her. She looked up to see Deathbringer’s snout looking down from the leaves.
“I think here is probably good,” he said. “There’s a clearing just beyond those trees. If the assassin wants to stay hidden, he’ll probably attack from the other side of it. You’ll have a bit over cover where you are.”
“Won’t he have cover too?” Ecru asked.
“Well, yeah,” Deathbringer clucked, “but he won’t be expecting an attack from above.”
Midnight peered out from beyond the trees. Sure enough, there was a small moonlit clearing in the rainforest before it continued on the other side. That would be all the distance that was between her and the assassin. She pulled out her scroll. The ink arrow pointed directly across the clearing. That’s where he’d be coming from.
“Thank you for all your help,” Midnight called up.
“It’s nothing,” Deathbringer grinned. “Stuff like this is what I was hatched to do. NightWings have to help each other out in times like this.”
Midnight glanced back down to her scroll. She’d be sad to see it go, but Deathbringer would need it more than her. Midnight started to pace back and forth along the edge of the clearing, staring down at the scroll, watching for any twitches in the arrow. Deathbringer brought his head back into the foliage, the NightWing immediately disappearing into the darkness.
“Are you sure about this?” Ecru asked quietly, following Midnight with her eyes. “It’s not too late to turn back.”
Midnight sighed, turning back on her path. “I’m sure,” she answered, leaves crackling beneath her paws. “This will be our best chance. If we can’t stop the assassin now, we’ll just have to keep flying. I can’t live with that kind of danger.”
“Alright,” Ecru replied. “We’ll win. I know it.”
But what if we don’t win? Midnight wondered. What if we have to escape again? How desperate would they need to be before Midnight used her magic again? Would she risk trying to stop the assassin directly with her magic, even knowing he could have protections against it? How much of her soul would she need to lose before this was over?
A cloud passed over the largest moon, the colors of the rainforest turning to grey. Midnight kept pacing, maybe a hundred times, even a thousand. The hours went by as the dirt compacted beneath her paws, creating a dense line in the forest floor. Slowly, the arrow started to turn from side to side as she walked down the line, at first, an almost invisible deflection, but steadily growing larger as time went on. Midnight regretted not enchanting the scroll to also show distance.
Finally, Midnight stopped. The arrows tip had moved far enough. “I think he’s close,” she announced. “Ecru, you should back up.”
Ecru complied, nervously taking a few steps back into the forest.
Midnight stared out into the clearing, moving next to a tree. She lifted a wing up, covering her head and neck with it. Deathbringer had told her that’s where the assassin would aim, so maybe covering it would help.
Midnight’s heart skipped a beat as she heard a rustling out from across the clearing. The assassin? Or Deathbringer? She clutched the enchanted scroll close to her, her only protection against the assassin.
Suddenly, Midnight let out a yell as a disc ripped through her wing, right below her neck. Her heart started to race, blood dripping down her wing, and she took off, running across the line she’d made in her pacing. Trees passed by her as she ran, and she saw another glint of metal fly from across the clearing, right before it hit her right foreleg, causing her to trip and slam her head into the ground.
“Midnight!” Ecru yelled out, running forward to help her.
Midnight put her bleeding wing over her head, trying to cover it again. She turned towards Ecru, seeing the hybrid running towards her. “Ecru, stay back!”
A loud thump sounded from across the clearing, and Ecru glanced over towards it before finally reaching Midnight. A flash of black suddenly leaped out from the trees above them, gliding down into the clearing.
“I got him!” Deathbringer yelled back, lowering his dart gun. “He’ll be out for a while.”
“Midnight, the scroll,” Ecru said. Midnight groaned, trying to pull herself up to her paws. The scroll had been trapped beneath her when she’d fallen.
Ecru put her paws on Midnight, gently lifting her up from the ground. As soon as she saw it, Ecru pulled the scroll out from beneath her, whispering the words needed to activate the healing enchantment as she stared at Midnight.
Midnight’s wounds started to close up, and Ecru sighed in relief. “Are you okay?” Ecru asked.
Midnight nodded, wincing as the last of the cuts disappeared. “Yeah. All better now. We did it?”
“We did it,” Ecru grinned. “Deathbringer got the assassin.”
Midnight smiled, getting up on her paws. This was it. They’d gotten their assassin. They’d won.
“Hey, you two?” Deathbringer called out from across the field, a hint of concern in his voice. “You should probably come over here, I, er, think I know who your assassin is.”
“Really?” Ecru said. “That’s great!” She helped Midnight up, the two walking across the clearing towards Deathbringer, wings sparkling in the moonlight.
Midnight frowned. Why did Deathbringer sound so worried?
“I’m not sure ‘great’ is the way I’d put it,” Deathbringer responded. He stepped aside as the two approached. “I think this certainly poses more questions than it solves.”
Midnight lowered her eyes towards the ground, the assassin gently breathing as he lay still in the undergrowth. When she saw him, she immediately looked up at Deathbringer, then back at the assassin, then at Deathbringer again
“Well, this is certainly . . . odd,” Ecru frowned.
Midnight turned back again, barely able to believe her eyes. The assassin’s neck caught her gaze. A weapons pouch, exactly like the one she’d seen back in Deathbringer’s tent. Far from the only thing that looked exactly the same. Other than a circular tattoo on the assassin’s neck, there was no difference, even down to the NightWings’ scars.
Midnight had been right. The assassin was Deathbringer.
----“And you’re sure that he can’t escape the chains?” Midnight asked Deathbringer as the three left the tent. Sunlight hit Midnight’s weary eyes, causing her to squint as she trod through the mud. The three of them had been up all night, bringing the assassin back to the NightWing camp. Midnight was starting to wonder if the healing scroll could be used as a full night’s rest.
“I’m positive,” Deathbringer replied. “I don’t think I’d be able to escape myself!” He chuckled, shaking his head at the strangeness of the whole situation.
Midnight glanced back towards the tent. How could there be two Deathbringers?
“Is it actually you?” Ecru suggested. “Are you sure you don’t have an evil twin or something like that?”
“I’m almost certain I didn’t,” Deathbringer answered. “I’m pretty sure Quickstrike would’ve said something.” Deathbringer lifted up the weapons pouch that had been hanging from the assassin’s neck. “And I found this on him. It’s exactly the same as the one I’ve got back in my tent. A lot of the weapons inside are the same, too.”
The three thought about this for a moment. Midnight looked up at a fluffy cloud, one of the moons still visible in the daytime. Who had sent Deathbringer’s clone after her, and why?
“Maybe he can shapeshift using animus magic!” Deathbringer exclaimed. He opened up the assassin’s pouch, rummaging through it. Was there a small piece of torn scroll in there? “He could have turned himself into me to try and confuse you.”
“Maybe,” Midnight frowned. “But I’m pretty sure he was already you when I saw him back in the rainforest. It’s why I thought you looked familiar.”
“Well, he could’ve changed into me before going after you,” Deathbringer replied. “If you’re going after an animus, who better to be than the sexiest assassin on Pyrrhia?” He grinned and turned to his side, expecting to be scolded or berated. Instead, he saw nothing but the musky swamp air. He turned back, the smile gone from his snout.
“It’s not impossible,” Midnight said, considering it. “Ecru, did you sense any animus magic on him?”
“Me?” Ecru asked. “Er, no. Not animus magic. There was something strange about that tattoo though. Hey, let’s call him Tattoo Deathbringer, so we don’t confuse him with normal Deathbringer!”
Deathbringer stepped into a small puddle, his light pawsteps barely creating a splash. “I don’t like this,” he huffed, clearly troubled. “How come there are two of me?”
“Hey, what if you got magically split into a good Deathbringer, and an evil Deathbringer?” Ecru suggested. “You’re the good Deathbringer, and he’s the evil one.”
Deathbringer snorted. “Well, I admit, I have been feeling less villainous since I quit assassination. Quite a few ethical problems in that industry, you know? Kingship suits me better. And hey, my name works for both!”
“How long do we have until he wakes up?” Midnight asked Deathbringer. “I want to interrogate him. That’s the only way we figure this out, for certain.”
“Pretty soon,” Deathbringer answered, “but he’ll be woozy at first. I don’t know how coherent he’ll be.” Deathbringer considered this for a moment. “Actually, I do. I got hit by a sleeping dart a while back. I was pretty coherent when I woke up. A side effect of all my training, I suppose.”
“Then we should probably head back to see him,” Midnight replied. “I don’t want to keep him wai—”
Before Midnight could finish her sentence, a loud blast of wind blasted her from behind, a great roar piercing her ears. She turned around as mud sprayed up against her scales, tents being blown away as dragons yelled out. A bright blue light had risen up like a pillar from the tent they’d left the assassin in, the sky around them turning neon blue. Midnight looked over at Ecru and Deathbringer, trying to say something, but the roaring drowned out her voice.
As suddenly as it had appeared, the roaring stopped, leaving Midnight’s ears ringing. The blue light faded. Midnight jumped as she felt something splash in the mud in front of her. She looked down. A bird had fallen from the sky above them.
Even before her hearing had returned, Midnight started running towards the tent, miraculously still intact. As the ringing stopped, she heard Ecru and Deathbringer’s paws behind her. More birds lay dead on the ground, settling in the mud. NightWings and RainWings around them were yelling, unsure and afraid.
Midnight pulled open the flap to the tent. The chains they’d captured the assassin in were lying on the ground, shattered. In the center of the tent, where the assassin had been, there was now a glowing blue disk the size of multiple dragons, the same unnatural color that the sky had turned. The edges were slowly shrinking, crackling with energy.
“Wow,” Deathbringer commented, mesmerized by the strange lights, “I didn’t know I could do that.”
“He escaped,” Midnight growled, clenching her talons. Had all this been for nothing? She pulled out her scroll, whispering the words needed to activate the finding enchantment, picturing Tattoo Deathbringer in her head. The arrow started to spin around rapidly, unable to locate him. “All this was for nothing.”
Ecru inched closer to the disk, putting a talon close to the edge. Energy crackled, lightning forming a small arc between the blue light and her paw. “Tingly,” she frowned. “I think he escaped through here. Maybe we can follow him if we’re quick enough.”
“What do you mean, through there?” Midnight asked, staring at the disk of lights. “See all the lightning? That thing looks like it wants to kill us.”
Deathbringer’s eyes opened wide. “It’s a portal, like the tunnels Stonemover made!” he exclaimed excitedly.
A portal, Midnight thought. She lifted her scroll up, arrow still spinning. If it was a portal, where was it to?
“If it’s a portal, then I’m going in,” Midnight announced, stepping up to it. “I’m not giving him up.”
Ecru stepped next to Midnight, the two facing the portal together, slowly shrinking. “Then we should go now. I think it’s going to disappear soon.”
Midnight nodded, giving a worried side-glance to Ecru. “Are you sure you want to join? Whatever is on the other end could be dangerous. My scroll isn’t working, so I can’t even tell what direction it leads to.”
Ecru snorted. “Of course I’m going with you!” she grinned. “I’m not just letting you go in there alone. Also, there’s no way I can see a portal and not want to know what’s on the other side.”
Midnight looked back to Deathbringer, the NightWing still staring at the glowing disk of energy, blue light reflected in his eyes. “Are you coming with us? The assassin is your doppelganger, after all.”
Deathbringer shook his head, smiling sadly. “A few years ago, I would’ve gone in an instant,” he sighed. “While I wish I could figure out why there’s another me, I have to take care of my kingdom and Firefly. I can’t just leave them behind.”
Midnight nodded. She understood. Had she not been able to heal Gazelle, she wouldn’t have ever left Crosswinds in the first place. She rolled up her enchanted scroll, offering it out to Deathbringer. “Here. You need this more than we do. I told you how to use it, right?”
“Yeah,” Deathbringer said, bowing his head as he took it from Midnight. “Thank you so much. Good luck.”
“You too,” Midnight replied, wincing as the scroll left her talons. The thing that had protected her and Ecru on their journey so far wouldn’t be able to protect them any longer. They had to be more careful from here on out. But if it would save the NightWings, Midnight was willing to part with it. She wanted to help others with her magic — this was how she could do it.
“We should go,” Ecru whispered. “It’s getting smaller.”
Midnight gave Deathbringer a wave goodbye, turning back towards the crackling portal, towering above her. She took a deep breath, and placed one of her forepaws over Ecru’s, holding her tight. “Together?”
Ecru smiled. “Together.”
Then the two stepped into the disk of blinding light, leaving Pyrrhia behind.
= Part 2 =
== Chapter 21 ==
A warm wind whipped across Midnight’s snout, the smell of salt in the air. She opened her eyes, only to close them again as the evening sun blinded her. She turned away, batting away a small group of dragonflies that had decided to land on her horns. An expanse of tall amber grasses stretched out before her, breaking up glittering blue water. Something felt different here. Clearer. Cleaner. Like she was finally free. The hybrid took a step forward, only to hear a squelch as her paw sunk into wet peat. She sighed. Not free of mud.
“We’re still in the Mud Kingdom,” Midnight declared, looking over towards Ecru. Her hybrid mate seemed quite satisfied in the mud herself, stomping around it gleefully. Midnight’s gaze turned to the ring of blue light, shrinking until it disappeared in a small burst of light. “I guess the portal didn’t take us very far.”
“I’m just glad we survived the trip,” Ecru admitted. “You never know with creepy blue portals. One false step, and the other half of me might be halfway across the Mud Kingdom. Hey, is that salt?”
“Mhmm,” Midnight replied. Her gaze went back to the sky. There was no sign of black wings or the shadow of a dragon anywhere. Was Tattoo Deathbringer lying in wait somewhere, or had he fled? “We could be near the Sea Kingdom.”
“Yeah, that would make sense,” Ecru agreed. She stuck her head into the wind, letting it whip past her horns. “Although the Bay of a Thousand Scales is to the north-east of the MudWing coast, right?”
“It is,” Midnight confirmed, not quite sure what Ecru was getting at.
Ecru lifted her head up, checking the sun’s position. “Well, these are warm evening temperatures, which means the sun should be in the west. Which means that the wind is coming from the west, not east.”
“Weird,” Midnight frowned. Something did feel strange about this place. She could hear everything better, see everything better. What was it?
“It’s possible the sun is actually more to the north, but that would mean it being winter, and it’s not winter,” Ecru continued. “Unless we time-travelled. But then it would be colder here.”
“Or there could just be a marsh on Pyrrhia that’s near a western coastline,” Midnight suggested. “Or the wind is just weird today. Wind does that.”
“Hmm,” Ecru replied, still uncertain. “Maybe.”
Midnight took a step forward, and spread out her wings. “I don’t know why, but I feel so much more alive. You think that was a healing portal or something?”
Ecru shook her head, splashing her tail through water. “I don’t feel much different.”
“Maybe I stole all the healing from you,” Midnight joked. “But really. My mind feels clear. Like someone cleaned my ears.”
“I’m not cleaning your ears when we get back to Crosswinds,” Ecru laughed, looking around the marsh. “So, we should probably get going. I don’t want Tattoo Deathbringer anywhere around when nightfall hits.”
“Good idea,” Midnight replied. “Towards the sea? I’ve always wanted to visit the Deep Palace.” She started walking in the direction the wind was blowing from, splashing through the mud and water.
Ecru smiled, following. “Midnight, I can hold your breath longer than you can,” she gently reminded her. Maybe Ecru felt the same, but she could tell something had changed for Midnight. She seemed happier, like a weight had been lifted from her wings.
The sun lowered further in the sky as the two hybrids traversed the salt marsh, until their shadows stretched across the golden grasses. Eventually, small lumps rose above the horizon, soon coalescing into the repetitive shapes of a city. Rounded mudhuts on the outskirts gave way to square adobe structures. Each was retained the same cubical shape as the others, but their sizes varied from ones Midnight could comfortably walk around in even with Ecru riding her back, to building with doors so tiny a dragonet could barely enter. The broad houses seemed to block all view of the interior city as the two approached, barely catching a glimpse of a brown tail from the outside.
“I guess we’re in the Mud Kingdom after all,” Midnight admitted. “The question is, where in the Mud Kingdom.”
“We could ask someone to tell us,” Ecru suggested. “Maybe ask if they’ve seen any NightWings, too.”
The two stepped into one of the city streets, stepping onto mud hardened and flattened by years of use. For what looked like a large city, it seemed strangely quiet to Midnight. Where was the shouting, the noise, the smells? As she curiously examined one of the tiny houses, a MudWing caught her eye.
“Hey!” Midnight yelled out, running over to the MudWing, who gave her a quick glance of alarm before turning his head back to the ground, continuing on his path. Midnight run up to him, walking side-by-side. “You, do you live here?”
The MudWing tried to turn his head away, even as Midnight attempted to make some sort of eye-contact with her. “Quiet,” he hissed. “No loud noises during the evening.”
Midnight frowned. “Fine,” she grumbled. “Do you know where we are? This is the Mud Kingdom, right?”
The MudWing lifted his head up, giving her a glare. “Don’t talk to me,” he growled. “I’m on duty. I’ll report you.”
Unsure what the threat meant, Midnight let the MudWing go, seeing him quickly turn a corner, walking away from her as fast as he could without running. She clicked her tongue. “Well, he was unfriendly,” she commented, turning to Ecru.
“Shhhh,” Ecru whispered at Midnight. She pointed a talon around the corner of a building. “Over here. Quietly.”
Midnight raised an eyeridge. “You too?” she asked. “I really didn’t think I was being that loud.” She carefully walked over towards Ecru, peering around the building, curious what Ecru had seen.
“Scavengers!” Ecru murmured excitedly. “Look!”
Sure enough, three scavengers were walking down the street, in Midnight and Ecru’s direction. Midnight had seen a few before, but there weren’t many to be found in Crosswinds before. She wondered what they were doing here: she’d never heard of scavengers intentionally going into a dragon city before. Were they trying to steal treasure?
“They should probably hide,” Midnight said quietly, not wanting to scare them off. “I’m surprised no one has eaten them already.” She looked back towards the unfriendly MudWing, already walking off. “Oh no, they’re going towards him, and I’d bet a few scales that he’s the scavenger-eating type.”
“Maybe I can scare them in the other direction?” Ecru suggested. “Ooh, I’ll surprise them when they come around the corner!”
As the three scavengers walked past the corner of the house, Ecru suddenly reared up, and let out a loud “Boo!” One of the scavengers jumped back and let out a high-pitched squeak as he fell back on his butt, while the other two stared up at Ecru in surprise. Yet, instead of running away, the scavenger who’d fallen just stood back up, and squeaked something angrily at Ecru. The other two just shook their heads as if they were more disappointed than scared, calmly turning away and continuing down the street with their third companion.
“No loud noises during the evening,” Midnight sneered, dripping sarcasm. “That MudWing might even report you.”
“Wow,” Ecru said, flabbergasted. “I couldn’t even scare a scavenger. Did you see that? They didn’t even think I was a little bit scary.”
Midnight frowned as the scavengers walked off into the distance, not even a little bit disturbed. Her eyes landed on one of the tiny adobe houses. “Hey, do you think they live here? I’ll bet that’s what those little houses are for! Maybe they don’t eat scavengers in the Mud Kingdom.”
Ecru gave Midnight a strange look. “No, they definitely eat scavengers in the Mud Kingdom. I have seen way too many MudWings in Crosswinds eat scavenger. Ew. I’ll stick with plants and the occasional mushroom, thank you very much.”
“Hmm, maybe this is like an experimental community where they don’t eat them, and instead build them cute little houses?” Midnight suggested. “Hey, maybe there are more vegetarians here!”
“Maybe,” Ecru replied. She wanted to be as excited as Midnight, but something seemed strange here. She glanced up at the evening sky. Two of the moons were lagging behind the sun on it’s journey beneath the horizon, while the third was just becoming visible. “C’mon, maybe we can try asking someone else.”
The two hybrids walked further into the streets of the adobe city, going up to some of the MudWings and trying to ask their questions. But each of their responses were similar to the first. A nervous glance before scampering off at best, and a scowl with a threat to ‘report’ at worst. No one here seemed willing to even talk to the two hybrids.
Finally, Midnight turned the corner to see something she hadn’t expected — on the corner of a street, a dragon who wasn’t a MudWing at all. Although many of the RainWing’s scales were brown, she clearly wasn’t trying to fit in, with odd-colored scales peeking out beneath the suit of dull armor she wore. A spear was fitted into the RainWing’s paw, and she sat back on her haunches, like she was observing the passersby.
“Hey!” Midnight opened with a friendly smile, looking up into the RainWing’s armor. “Thank the moons. Are you from the camp?”
The RainWing stayed silent and still, her eyes darting towards Midnight to give her a strange look.
Midnight sighed. “Alright, I’m not sure why everyone here is being so silent, but could you at least tell us where we are? The Mud Kingdom?”
The RainWing glowered, and Midnight stepped back as the spear swung out, prodding the hybrid in the snout. “Beat it if you don’t want to be skewered.”
Midnight placed her paw against the spear and slowly backed up to safety, next to Ecru. “Wow. Everyone here really is mean.”
“Yeah,” Ecru replied, as the two quickly left the RainWing behind, narrowly avoiding stepping on a group of scavengers who turned around the corner at the wrong time. “It’s so weird. I’d at least expect a few vendors, or con artists.” She peeked down a small alleyway. Empty. Ecru sighed. “I never thought I’d miss con artists so much, you know? Half the fun was figuring out how they were conning you.”
“Maybe the Mud Kingdom is just really different than you expected?” Midnight suggested.
Ecru shook her head. “I don’t think so. I have friends who’ve been there. There’s a huge difference between the city around Moorhen’s palace and the Diamond Spray Delta, but this is entirely different.”
The two kept walking through the city, getting more and more lost in the maze of streets. The adobe houses seemed to repeat themselves wherever Midnight looked, each road intersecting at a perfectly right angle with the other. Gradually, the sun sunk beneath the horizon, and evening turned into dusk. And like all the city’s residents ha been swept away by a burst of wind, the streets were empty.
Without dragons and scavengers populating it, the city had become a labyrinth. Midnight and Ecru walked out in the center of one of the intersections. Midnight turned, staring at each of the four directions in turn. Featureless cubic buildings lined every direction along the straight roads.
“I don’t even know which way we came from,” Midnight admitted, her voice projecting out into the cool night air. “Do MudWing cities normally look like this?”
“No,” Ecru answered. “Adobe buildings are pretty common in the south, but this is too planned. Cities are usually more chaotic than this.” A blast of wind whipped against Ecru’s scales. “Speaking of chaos, where did everyone go? Dragons are normally out after dusk in Crosswinds.”
“To sleep?” Midnight suggested. “Maybe they have to get up early.” She turned her head towards at Ecru, who seemed strangely distracted, the hybrid’s eyes focused on the sky. “What is it?”
“Look,” Ecru whispered, pointing a talon at the top of a building.
Midnight squinted, a white light coming above the building, into focus. “It’s a moon. It’s the smallest one.”
Ecru shook her head. “No. I saw the smallest one rise not long ago. And two more set after that.”
Midnight’s eyes darted to the other moon currently visible in the sky. Ecru was right. It was about the same size as the moon currently rising. “Are you saying there’s four moons?”
“Yeah,” Ecru said quietly, touching her paw to her right ear, where three silver moons hung from. “Four moons.”
“Maybe it’s like the fourth moon a few years ago,” Midnight suggested half-heartedly. “It might just go away.” She winced. Why was she trying so hard to pretend like this place was normal? “Oh, who am I kidding! We stepped through a glowing blue portal after seeing a second Deathbringer, and now we’re in a city unlike any in the Mud Kingdom with four moons over it. Ecru? I’m pretty sure this isn’t Pyrrhia.”
The wind blasted into the two again, Ecru’s moons earring jiggling. She suddenly turned her head, hearing the shout of a dragon through the wind.
Metal clinked as two RainWings came into sight, each holding out a spear as they approached the hybrids. Midnight took a step back as once again, a spear swung out towards her. “Hey! Watch where you’re pointing that.”
The RainWing narrowed his eyes. “Stop. You’re out after curfew. Both of you.”
Ecru took a step away, only to see that the other RainWing had moved around them, and now had her spear out and ready, glistening with a strangely-colored liquid in the end.
“So now someone is talking to us,” Midnight muttered bitterly. “Couldn’t your city have a welcome center, or something like that? I can’t exactly follow the rules if I don’t know what they are.”
“Give me your names, identification numbers, and places of residence,” the RainWing demanded. “Do you work here? Work passes too.”
“I’m Ecru, and this is Midnight,” Ecru smiled, introducing herself. “We don’t know what an identification number is, but my favorite number is three. We’re from Pyrrhia.”
The two RainWings exchanged glances, immediately stiffening up. “Do you think they crossed over?” the one in the back asked worriedly.
The other one shook his head. “Probably just malfunctioning memories. We’ll take them back to the Empress to get fixed.” He glared, baring his fangs at the hybrids. “Stand down, or when you wake up, you’ll have holes poked in you.” The RainWing jabbed his spear again, this time almost hitting Ecru in the neck.
That was the last straw. Midnight suddenly jumped out at the RainWing, landing on the wooden spear and snapping it in two. “Don’t touch her!” she snarled, barreling into the RainWing, knocking him into the hard ground with a clank.
The RainWing let out a yell as Midnight pinned him to the ground, struggling under her as she bared her fangs. Almost immediately, the second RainWing brushed past Ecru, placing her the tip of her spear at Midnight’s head. “Stand down,” she hissed.
Ecru took a step forward, trying to position herself between Midnight and the second RainWing. “Can we please just calm down, and lower our weapons?” Ecru pleaded. “I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding.”
Ecru let out a squeal as the second RainWing swung her spear, whacking Ecru’s head with the blunt end. Ecru winced, and put a paw up to her snout, a trickle of red blood running down it when she pulled it away.
“Should I sedate the one who attacked you?” the second RainWing asked. “She looks like the more dangerous of the two.”
“Yeah, I am the dangerous one,” Midnight snarled back, the spear just inches from her neck. “Let me go or I’ll curse you.”
“Don’t sedate her!” the RainWing that Midnight had trapped beneath her quickly answered, ignoring Midnight’s threat. “If she fell asleep on me, I’m pretty sure I’d be crushed.”
“Didn’t you hear me?” Midnight asked. “I’m an animus. I’ll enchant your tongue so everything you eat tastes like camel dung.”
“Shut up,” the second RainWing hissed, raising her spear to whack it across Midnight’s head. “You, other hybrid. Tell your mate to get off my partner if you want her alive by the end of this. The Empress won’t notice if only one of you comes with us.”
“Midnight?” Ecru gulped, talons shaking. “Maybe we should surrender.”
Midnight snarled, and snapped at the RainWing holding the spear up to her neck. “How about you surrender, and I’ll let your partner go, and we never see each other again.”
“Ow!” the RainWing beneath Midnight suddenly yelled out. “She’s digging her claws into me! Alright, just put her to sleep!”
The RainWing holding the spear suddenly brought it down, scales flashing gold and red. Ecru jumped forward, trying to stop her, but she was too slow. The glistening metal tip of the spear easily punctured through scale, and the RainWing heard a loud yelp from beneath her.
“What was that for?” the RainWing beneath Midnight said woozily, looking up at his partner, scales turning a dark grey. The spear had landed in a crack between his armor, sinking into his flesh. Within moments, his head flopped to the ground, the RainWing’s mutterings turning into snores.
“Huh?” the second RainWing said, confused. She was sure that she’d aimed at Midnight. She looked back down again, only a moment before the flash of steel shot up from beneath her, slicing across the side of her neck. She let out a roar as she leaped away, fangs out.
In the space between her and Midnight, a small figure crouched against the ground, holding a slim metal sword in one hand. Ecru was just barely able to catch a glimmer of moonlight on the masked scavenger’s face before it leaped from the ground, so fast it became just a blur in the night. The RainWing stepped to the right, but not before another gash appeared across her scales, this one beneath her left-wing. She turned, swiping her paw at the scavenger, but was too slow, and just let out a squeal as her talons met steel.
The RainWing took another step back, hissing as she stared the scavenger down, long brown curls of hair falling from behind her mask. The scavenger leaped forward again, but this time, the RainWing’s scales faded to the colors of her surroundings, and the scavenger’s sword ripped through nothing. The scavenger effortlessly landed on the ground, skidding as she put a gloved hand to the floor, raising her sword up into the air. She turned her head to the left and right, the RainWing nowhere in sight.
“Wren, venom from your left!” a voice called out from above the crossroads. The scavenger immediately leaped forward as a shot of venom fizzled against the ground where she’d been a second earlier, somersaulting across the mud roads, almost into Midnight. The scavenger dropped her sword, exchanging it for the hefty tip of the spear that Midnight had broken earlier.
Ecru glanced behind her as she felt the burst of wingbeats. A similarly-masked black-winged dragon leaped from the houses above her, landing nearby. “Roll left, jab up!” he called out.
The scavenger immediately followed his orders, rolling to her left as she narrowly avoided another blast of venom, then jabbing the spear up. It hit scale, and the RainWing yelled out as it poked into her side, her scales turning a dull white. A few seconds later, the RainWing fell on her side, the scavenger leaping out from beneath her, dropping the spear as she lifted her sword from the ground, quickly sheathing it.
The masked dragon stepped over to the fallen RainWing, giving her a push with his paw. “Yep. Asleep. She won’t be waking up anytime soon.”
Ecru breathed a breath of relief, and grabbed Midnight’s claws, helping her to get back on her paws. “Thank you for rescuing us,” she quickly said, wiping blood from her head as she turned to the masked dragon. “We were really in trouble there. Hey, does this mean that you have to flirt with me now? Cause I’d like that.”
Midnight gave Ecru a playful thwack with her tail, careful not to accidentally touch her already hurt head.
“Don’t worry,” Ecru grinned. “I think we’ve rescued each other too many times for there to be any competition. You’re doing just fine on your rescuing game.”
“I don’t think you’re my type anyways,” the scavenger replied.
Midnight’s head swivelled down as she stared at the scavenger, blinking a few times before she was fully able to connect the words and who spoke them. “Wait, you can speak? How — actually, you know what? Nevermind. I’ve seen two of the same dragon, a glowing blue portal, four moons, a scavenger-MudWing city, and violent RainWing police today. I’m not the least bit surprised by this.”
“Told you they were smart,” Ecru quietly smiled.
The masked scavenger looked up at the black dragon, moonlight glinting off silver scales at the base of his wings. “Who did you say these two were again?”
The black dragon turned his mask towards the two hybrids. “They’re not from around here. Midnight, don’t freak out. There are a lot of humans — what you call scavengers — that can speak Dragon here, and many dragons that speak Human. It’s normal. This is Wren. She’s a friend.”
“Friend is a pretty strong term to describe our relationship with,” Wren replied, turning her head left and right as she checked the streets. “C’mon. We need to get out of here before more of the Empress’s goons come after us. Question time can come later.” Wren quickly turned, running into a nearby adobe building.
“Follow,” the black dragon ordered. “You can trust us.”
Midnight exchanged a glance with Ecru, before the two caught up to the black dragon. Midnight frowned. It wasn’t like they had much other choice, especially if there’d be more dragons after them soon.
The adobe house was empty, and the scavenger walked through it, leading the dragons into a small closed off square in the back, walls of mud enclosing around them. Wren grasped her hand around the edge of a huge dragon-size door, pushing her whole body against it to get it open. Inside, a dark well descended down, the stairs slanted from years of use. The black dragon shut the door behind him, enclosing the group in darkness.
Midnight put a wing around Ecru as her eyes adjusted, carefully guiding her down the stairs. “Watch your step,” she said quietly. She glanced back at the black dragon, and opened her mouth.
“This is a different world altogether than yours,” the black dragon explained, cutting Midnight off before she could speak. “You entered it when you followed Deathbringer into the portal.”
Midnight frowned. “How—”
“Mind-reader,” the black dragon answered, tapping a talon to his mask. “It comes in handy. For example, Wren here would be dead many times over if I hadn’t read those RainWing’s minds.”
“Thanks,” Wren muttered, pulling her own mask off. “Really feelings glad you saved me back there just to hear more of your bragging.”
“I’m just disappointed I didn’t get mind-control powers right now,” the black dragon retorted.
The stairs finally flattened out, and the four walked into a dark tunnel. Dampness seemed to creep from the walls, mixing with the smell of death and decay. The black dragon slowly lifted his mask up, and picked up a torch from the ground. With a burst of flame, the torch was lit, and the tunnel was filled with light. As Midnight stared down it, a cold shiver shook through her scales. The bones of dragons and scavengers covered the walls of the tunnel as far as she could see. Her gaze unwittingly fell on a skull, the dragon’s eyesockets staring back at her.
“Oh wow,” Ecru whispered. “This is so cool.”
Midnight turned herself away from the skull. Not quite the words she would’ve used to describe it.
The black dragon handed the torch off to the scavenger, and the four continued down the tunnel, quickly splitting into two. The black dragon turned to the right.
“These are the catacombs,” he explained. “Well, they are now. Apparently this used to be the old city, until the Empress built the new one on top of it. It’s so confusing down here that they’d have trouble following us, even with the Obscura.”
An Empress, Midnight wondered. Talking scavengers. Four moons. This really is a new world.
“Yep,” the black dragon replied. “We’d been following the two of you since you entered the city, trying to figure out what you were. Your thoughts really stand out among everyone else. You’re from Pyrrhia, right?”
“Wait,” Wren frowned. “Are you sure they haven’t just regained their before-memories, and you’re reading them wrong?”
“I’m sure,” the black dragon said. “Absolutely. Their Pyrrhia is an entirely different world than ours. The resemblances are coincidental.” He turned to Midnight to explain. “This world also used to be called Pyrrhia, funny enough. But that was back before the Empress, and I can’t remember much of anything before that. Only a few can.”
“Before the Empress?” Midnight asked.
The black dragon nodded, before suddenly stopping. He raised up a talon, and shut his eyes. “C’mon,” he said, a slight bit of panic in his voice. “They’re coming down here. We need to go faster.” He lowered his head, allowing Wren to leap up on it, and started to run.
Midnight and Ecru followed, almost losing track of the two a few times as they turned around tight corners, up and down slopes. Unlike the city above, the catacombs were a mess of tunnel, with barely rhyme or reason to them. In a strange way, it felt more like the winding alleys of Crosswinds.
Eventually, the group slowed down, and the black dragon walked into a small off-shoot chamber, with a comforting lack of bones in it. “Alright,” he panted. “I think we’ve lost them. We should be safe here for the night.”
Wren leaped from his head, walking to the corner of the room. She grabbed into a loose brick, and pulled it out, revealing a small chamber behind it. Midnight’s gaze landed on a large sack, Wren needing to drag it across the floor. “Supplies,” she explained, pulling out a loaf of bread that seemed far too large for a scavenger. “We’ve been trapped here before.”
Midnight turned to the black dragon, who had already start to settle himself down. “Now that we’re safe, can we have an explanation?” Midnight frowned.
The black dragon nodded. “That would probably be a good idea. We’ll tell you what we can. I think you might be able to help us figure out what the Empress is planning.”
“Planning?” Ecru asked, slightly worried.
“She’s been preparing to move troops to Pyrrhia,” the black dragon continued. “Your world is in danger.”
Midnight grimaced. Pyrrhia, in danger? An attack from another world? That wasn’t good. The continent was already fractured, in three wars. But what would a leader from another world want with Pyrrhia? “Who are you?” she asked. “And what is this place?”
The black dragon grinned from ear to ear, raising his head to meet Midnight’s gaze. “Glad you asked. I’m Darkstalker, leader of Trustbreaker’s Rebellion. Welcome to Antigonia, or at least what’s left of it.”
== Chapter 22 ==
Deathbringer stared as Midnight and Ecru disappeared into the glowing blue ring, clutching the animus-touched scroll. His eyes seemed unable to move from the ring as it shrunk, finally coalescing into a point and disappearing in a small flash. A warm wind lifted under the tent. No trace was left behind of the portal or the dragons who entered it. Deathbringer wondered — would he ever see the two hybrids again? Would he ever find out why there was a second him?
The NightWing shook his head, letting out a long sigh. If Glory had been here, what would she have done? Deathbringer knew. She would have dove straight into the portal, and Deathbringer would have followed. He would have followed her anywhere. To the edge of the world, and beyond. He shut his eyes. Why hadn’t he gone with her to her meeting with Sunny? If he had, would things have turned out different? Or would they both had ended up dead, Firefly left without a parent?
Deathbringer turned away from where the portal had been, light glimmering from the flaps of the tent. Right now, his duty was protecting all the dragons that Glory had left behind. He shut his eyes. “Glory,” he whispered, “I swear on your grave. Even if it costs me my life, I will make sure that the RainWings and NightWings have a bright future. All of them. I’ll make you proud.”
With that, Deathbringer wiped a paw across his eyes, and stepped into the light. Tents all around had been blown over by the blast of air, and dead birds littered the ground. The nearby dragons were running around through the mud, frantic. Deathbringer glanced up to the sky. The blue light was gone.
“Everyone, quiet!” Deathbringer yelled out, trying to project his voice out over the chaos. “Calm down! Is anyone hurt?” If a dragon had been caught in whatever killed those birds . . .
The roar of the dragons quieted. Deathbringer’s eyes darted around. No one seemed dead. There were no corpses that had splashed in the mud. He breathed a sigh of relief. They’d been lucky — the sky had been clear.
“Over here!” a voice yelled. Deathbringer’s eyes immediately darted over to a young RainWing. “Someone help!”
Deathbringer quickly flapped over, landing in the mud. The RainWing was holding onto a log, struggling to lift it up. Beneath it, a mud-soaked cloth was wrapped around a black tail. An elderly NightWing glanced up at Deathbringer.
“Finally,” the elderly NightWing grumbled. “I’ve been trapped under this log forever.”
Deathbringer looked over to the RainWing, and put his forepaws around the log. “On three,” he ordered. “One, two, three!”
The two lifted the log up, waddling half a tail-length away before setting it down in the mud. The elderly NightWing sighed, pulling his tail back in and giving it a look. “It better not be broken,” he grumbled.
“Take him to our healers,” Deathbringer told the RainWing, already looking to see if there was anyone else around here who needed help. It seems like the blast of air had been mostly contained to the tents in Tattoo Deathbringer’s immediate vicinity, and the unlucky birds in the sky above. “If there’s no one else in danger, I need a few dragons to volunteer to help clean this up.”
A few NightWings cautiously raised their paws after a few moments of hesitation, and Deathbringer smiled. “Thank you. If everything else is good, I have other stuff to attend to.”
Deathbringer quickly turned. What was next? He needed to check on Firefly. He’d left her in the care of a NightWing named Greyhorn during the previous night, and new she’d be glad to see him.
Deathbringer made his way over to his and Firefly’s tent, as dragons around him continued to work, trying to repair their tents from the recent storm and the blast of air. He sighed, knowing it was almost futile. Soon, they’d all have to leave the Mud Kingdom anyways, and abandon the camp.
Deathbringer lifted up the flap to his tent, putting on a smile. “Hello, Firefly,” he said cheerily. “Daddy’s back!”
Firefly leaped from where she’d been sleeping, running through the mud before she grasped onto Deathbringer’s leg, pink roses suddenly unfurling across her scales. “Ouch,” Deathbringer winced with a grin. “Claws.”
The tiny dragonet started to climb up Deathbringer’s leg, until she reached the NightWing’s neck, grasping onto him with little talons. Deathbringer shook his head, and rolled his eyes.
“She was crying all night,” a voice grumbled.
Deathbringer looked up to see Greyhorn, an elderly NightWing resting in the mud across the tent, the dirt somehow making her scales seem even more dull than normal. “Were you, sweetie?” Deathbringer cooed, putting a paw against Firefly to keep her from falling. “Aww, I’m sorry I left you alone for so long.”
Greyhorn snorted contemptuously, invoking a look from Deathbringer. “She shouldn’t cry so much,” Greyhorn scolded him. “If she’s going to be queen, she’ll need to learn how not to cry all the time. No one is going to take orders from a whimpering dragon.”
Deathbringer shook his head, unconcerned. “I’m sure she’ll be as strong as both her parents when she gets older. That’s right Firefly, won’t you?”
Firefly let out a quiet growl in response, perching herself on top of Deathbringer’s neck, grasping on to both sides.
Deathbringer let out a yawn, shuffling his wings. “Thanks for taking care of her, Greyhorn,” he said. “It means a lot to me.”
Greyhorn let out a hmph, then nodded, quietly exiting the tent. Deathbringer let out a small sigh as the flaps shut behind her.
“We really should sleep, shouldn’t we,” he said to Firefly, doubting she really understood him. He hadn’t gotten any himself last night, not with having to deal with his doppelganger. “But we probably shouldn’t. We can’t waste a day of training, not when we have so few left.”
Deathbringer’s eyes looked down to the scroll Midnight had given him. Right now, the little magic it contained it was their only hope. Would it be safer with him, or not? Thoughtfully, he placed it with his other stuff. This way, it wouldn’t get lost if he accidentally set it down somewhere.
The sunlight hit into Deathbringer and Firefly’s eyes as they left the tent. Right now, they needed better fighters, to protect the old and weak. But the scroll changed Deathbringer’s battle plans. It only needed line-of-sight to work, which meant that during the inevitable fight, he’d be able to heal NightWings on the front line when they got injured. It meant that they’d be able to take more risks. Deathbringer had spent a lot of time teaching his fighters how to keep themselves safe in battle, and attack from a distance, like how he did things. Now he could have them focus more on claw-to-claw combat, knowing they could be easily healed. It might not be enough, but it was something.
Deathbringer suddenly jumped, seeing icey-blue scales in the corner of his eye. He turned, and let out a sigh of relief. It was just Firefly’s tail, hanging down across his neck. The dragonet had changed colors again.
“You look like an IceWing,” Deathbringer teased, scratching Firefly beneath her snout as dim flashes of green lit across her scales. “Don’t worry. Daddy’s not angry with you.”
The two slowly made it across the camp, eventually reaching the clearing that Deathbringer had designated for training. Plenty of NightWings and RainWings were already there, practicing even before Deathbringer arrived. He understood. All of them had the same drive he did — to protect their friends and families, even if it cost them their limbs or lives. Deathbringer smiled. As long as he could magically heal them, only the latter would be an issue.
Deathbringer stepped in front of a line of dragons, all nodding their heads to him. “Sorry I’m late,” he apologized. “Something came up. But we can start after me.”
Firefly clung onto Deathbringer’s neck as the ex-assassin demonstrated a few battle techniques. Ducking from a swipe, biting the arm, and rolling the opponent over. Deathbringer closed his eyes as he imagined taking down his opponent. Normally, it was easy to imagine Blackice. Even though Deathbringer had never seen her, he had some idea of what she looked like, although is imagination likely took some creative liberties. Like a younger, crueler version of Queen Glacier, with painted black accents on her scales. Reportedly, she’d gained venom and burn scars after attacking the rainforest, along with losing a leg and a wing. At least Glory had managed to get some damage in.
But today, the dragon who Deathbringer imagined wasn’t Blackice, but off-puttingly, himself. He shook his head after performing the maneuver. Hopefully, his trainees hadn’t noticed he was off. If not for the previous day’s events, he would’ve thought it to be some sort of metaphor of self-loathing, maybe even the remnants of a vision. But here, it probably just meant that he was slightly disturbed at meeting himself. That was alright. It wasn’t every day that you got to meet your own clone.
“Sir! I have messages for you!”
Deathbringer glanced over to the side, as the shadow of wingbeats landed beside him. A young MudWing waved two thin scrolls in his snout, anxious to give them off.
“All of you, keep practicing that!” Deathbringer ordered, the line of dragons eagerly practicing on their own. He turned to the messenger, and took the scrolls from MudWing’s talons. “Thank you for that.”
“I’m so sorry,” the MudWing honestly replied as Deathbringer glanced down at the first, bearing the royal MudWing seal.
Deathbringer sighed. “You’ve done enough,” he said. “There wasn’t anything more you could do.”
The MudWing bowed his head, then opened his wings. “If there’s any more news, I’ll bring it to you right away.”
After the MudWing left with a burst of wind, Deathbringer peeled away the seal. Grimly, he opened the scroll. The message was short, and Deathbringer already had a good idea of what it said even before he read it.
King Deathbringer,
Under royal orders, you are to leave the Mud Kingdom, along with the other dragons in your constituency. You are to be cleared from the area by the sunset of the tenth day from the sending of this letter. I have attached a map for your use, drawn by the best of our cartographers, of the area from the western edge of our border to Jade Mountain.
My sincerest apologies,
Her Royal Majesty, Queen Moorhen of the Mud Kingdom
Deathbringer let out a huff, grimacing. If not for the map, he would have torn the scroll right then and there. “That coward,” he growled, clenching his talons through soft mud. “She doesn’t give a damn if we’re all slaughtered.”
Firefly’s snout nervously peeked down from Deathbringer’s neck, dark red stars forming across her scales. Deathbringer took a deep breath. “You’re right, Firefly,” he said quietly. “There’s nothing to be done about it. We already knew this was going to happen.”
Deathbringer set the scroll to the side. He hadn’t been expecting another scroll. When his eyes landed upon the blue seal of the second scroll, he almost jumped, and threw the scroll a few feet away from him. A few of the training dragons looked over, unsure what was going on.
Deathbringer lifted Firefly from his back, placing her on a very confused NightWing. Taking a deep breath, holding it in, he grabbed a stick from the ground, and poked the scroll with it, until he could see the seal again, now half-covered in mud. The seal of the IceWing royal family. It was from Queen Blackice.
Slowly, Deathbringer opened the scroll with his stick, gently prodding beneath the seal until it rolled open. He squinted, staring at the scroll, and let it shake a little. No poisonous powder, at least nothing visible. He inched closer to it, finally letting in a small breath. No strange smells. He glanced over the claw-writing, unwilling to touch the scroll with his own talons.
To the Assassin King,
I have contacted you because we need your help, and you need ours. I shall keep this message short, in case it is intercepted. In three days time, I would like you and the leader of the RainWings to join us where you failed your final mission.
The enemy of an enemy is a friend,
Storm
Deathbringer stared at the scroll for a few moments. It didn’t sound like it was from Queen Blackice, but he didn’t want to take any chances. Who else would have the royal seal? Suddenly, it came to him where he’d heard the name Storm before, his blood running cold. Storm was Glory’s name. The name she’d used when she’d first met him, disguising herself as an IceWing. Was this some sort of prank? Or a trap?
Deathbringer thought for a moment. If it was a prank, whoever had written it had certainly done their research. And if it was a trap, it was a weird one. Why would Queen Blackice send a message with her own seal if she was pretending to be a potential ally? And why would she use the fake name belonging to a dead dragon? Deathbringer started to suspect it was real, but that just made him think it was probably a set-up again.
How would Queen Blackice even know about Deathbringer’s final assassination attempt, where he failed to assassinate Blaze and the Dragonets? She’d been banished on an island north of even the Ice Kingdom then, along with all of her closest allies. Deathbringer paused. He could go to the meeting, but that would mean leaving the dragons here alone, during their last days of training. Deathbringer looked over the measly forces of NightWings and RainWings under his command. Even with the enchanted scroll, he was desperate for allies. They needed help if they were going to survive this, and maybe this was it. Or maybe he’d end up with his head next to Glory’s.
Deathbringer read the letter again. That was right, they wanted him to bring Jambu. Maybe Jambu would have some advice on what to do. Deathbringer chuckled. Now he was so desperate, he was turning to Jambu? He sighed. He needed to go to the rainforest anyways — he’d planned on taking Firefly and the last few dragonets and eggs at the camp there to keep them safe. He supposed could just take them tomorrow, and say goodbye to Firefly a bit earlier than he had hoped.
Deathbringer turned back to the crowd of dragons, still practicing their fighting skills. But until tomorrow, while there was still light in the day, they would train.
== Chapter 23 ==
“You’re not supposed to be here,” Aurora growled, eyes locked on Inferno. “Calamity didn’t warn me about interacting with you again.”
Inferno stared at Aurora pleadingly, her paws shaking. Her head suddenly twisted back and forth, like it was jerked by some external force. A splash of shimmering liquid rose up as Inferno pounded her paws, Inferno’s normally white claws stained by molten gold. “Stop!”
Aurora paused. Why hadn’t Calamity told her about Inferno? Had he just not thought she was important enough to be a part of her mission? She might have been one of the five, but their part to play was over. They were irrelevant.
But . . . what if Calamity hadn’t warned her because he didn’t know Aurora was going to be here? What if something had gone wrong? The thought chilled Aurora.
The chill was immediately washed away as a sudden blast of warmth hit the hybrid. Aurora looked back to see that the aura of heat around Inferno’s scales shift colors, whisps of smoke rising through the cavern. The fireborn’s fire-red scales had suddenly changed to a bright blue. It was like a blazing bonfire had been lit in the center of the cavern.
Aurora took an instinctive step back, placing a wing in front of her to shield her from the heat. But just as soon as the blue hues had appeared, Inferno’s scales and flames turned back to their normal cool red. 
“P-please,” Inferno whimpered, like it was a strain for her to make even a single word come from her throat. “I’m not in control anymore.”
Aurora narrowed her gaze. Not in control? Did that mean that something had taken over Inferno’s body? Calamity had that power; did that mean that he’d left the Crystal Caverns inside of Inferno? No. If Calamity was controlling Inferno, he would have let Aurora know it was him. It was something, or someone, else. If it wasn’t Calamity, that whoever it was wasn’t part of the plan, and didn’t matter. Aurora just needed to treat this situation like she would normally.
“I’ve been ordered by Queen Scarlet to bring you to her court,” Aurora stated. “This includes whatever is controlling you. Come with me peacefully, or I’ll be forced to subdue you.”
“You’re working with Queen Scarlet?” Inferno asked. Even if the two had previously been enemies, the SkyWing had a look of almost betrayal on her snout. “How could you? Don’t you know wh—”
Inferno’s scales suddenly jolted, a tremor running through her body. Her jaws opened themselves, and with barely a hiss of smoke as warning, a great blast of orange fire burst from her throat. Heat surrounded Aurora as the fire engulfed her, the sky-blue dragon lost in the cone of flames.
When Inferno’s breath finally ran out, and the flames subsided, the only thing left in her path was a black scorch mark on the cavern wall. Inferno stared at it in horror. “Wait, no! I didn’t—”
“You seem like less of a pacifist than the last time we met,” Aurora commented as she walked in through the cavern wall behind Inferno. “I’m surprised at your willingness to fight.”
Inferno turned around, almost jumping as she saw Aurora. She let out a sigh of relief, before her expression quickly changed to a frown. “You’re one to talk! I remember what you did to Ink. And you came here to fight me!”
“Ink attacked me,” Aurora responded. “And I didn’t come to fight you. I came to capture you by whatever means necessary. You’re the one who attacked me.”
“I’m not!” Inferno replied. “I told you, it’s not me! It’s—”
Inferno’s legs suddenly propelled her forward, her golden claws reaching out to attack Aurora, smoke and flame rising from them. She twisted her head back and forth, trying to open her wings and get away, but she no longer had any control over the rest of her body. “Get away!”
Aurora stood in place as the fireborn leaped at her, making her body incorporeal. As hot as Inferno’s talons were, they could do nothing so long as they couldn’t touch her.
Pain suddenly ripped through Aurora’s head as Inferno’s talons entered her. The hybrid tried to move or scream, but her body couldn’t respond. Images started to pour through her head, blinding her to the world. The smell of seared flesh. A thousand wordless whispers. Calamity’s voice, asking for someone’s name. A dead IceWing princess. Dark clouds of stone forming in the sky. A flash of pink scales, talons around Aurora’s neck.
The images switched to bits and pieces of Aurora’s own memories. Crystal’s cold scales, holding her close. The sound of her own screams, violet blood dripping from her mouth. A city of dragon bones. A sculpture of Crystal and Calamity, made from ice. The blue blood of an IceWing, pouring down Aurora’s talons. Scrambling beneath her mother’s wings in terror. The taste of blood and feathers. A salmon-colored snout staring down at her, the SkyWing’s weight crushing Aurora’s neck.
Stop it. Aurora’s talons grasped at the pale pink scales, digging into them. Get out. More visions. A scavenger’s greedy eye. Talons around Calamity’s neck. A pleading NightWing with the sunset in his scales. A young Inferno, hiding beneath a slab of stone. A glass palace reaching up to the sky.
The salmon claws tightened. Aurora could feel her consciousness fading, scattered and scrambled. Tourmaline, falling as slow as a feather. The unintelligible yells of Crystal and Calamity. An eye, crushed in Aurora’s talons. Tortured whispers of voices Aurora would never know. The heat of lava, slowly rising. Torrent’s yells and Nightreader’s frightened eyes. Calamity gentle voice, telling her it’s okay, she can try again. The salmon SkyWing, teeth bared as he choked the life from Aurora. Darkness.
“ASH, STOP IT!”
Inferno’s voice pierced through the black veil, and Aurora saw a blurred image of the fireborn take a step back, moving her claws away from Aurora. Aurora’s head pulsed like it might split in two. She stared at the ground, for a moment, unable to do anything but breath.
“We don’t need to fight her!” Inferno shouted to herself. “You were going to kill her!”
The moment passed. Aurora lifted her head up, the world around her still blurry. Pain jolted through her scales, her flesh burnt from Inferno’s attack, though it barely bothered her. She took a deep breath, trying to push what she’d seen from her mind, already trying to mend her worst physical injuries.
“Ash,” Aurora whispered, blood running cold. She turned towards Inferno, taking a few steps away from the fireborn. “Did you - did you say Ash?”
Inferno nodded, unable to get the words out. She lurched towards Aurora again, and the hybrid jumped back, slamming into the cavern wall.
Aurora’s eyes opened wide. She knew that name. Something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong. And Calamity wasn’t here to tell her how to stop it. Her breath started to shorten, talons shaking, teeth chattering. How long had it been since she’d felt such fear?
Aurora tried to still herself. What could she do? She could phase away. Return to the Crystal Caverns. Abandon her mission. Would Ash be able to follow her? What did Ash want with her?
She shook her head, taking a deep breath. No. She needed to keep her resolve. She couldn’t abandon her mission. She still had things to do. She glanced at Inferno, the fireborn shaking herself. Aurora had just let her guard down. Inferno wasn’t a real threat, but Ash was.
She needed to examine the situation. So far, every fight she’d been in had been easy. But she’d been trained for stuff like this. Ash hadn’t been able to hurt her until Inferno touched her. So trying to fight by phasing wouldn’t work. But as long as Inferno couldn’t touch Aurora, she was safe.
Aurora bared her fangs, crouching down, ready to jump away if Inferno tried to leap. Ash would want to attack her immediately, but Inferno was still in control. Which meant she had time to prepare. A black sheen started to cover Aurora’s scales, growing over them until there wasn’t a hint of blue left, only the a small glitter of color from the hybrid’s eyes. A heat-resistant alloy, something that Inferno’s talons wouldn’t be able to break through.
Aurora slowly lifted one of her paws up, straining against the weight of the armor she’d created. She’d be less mobile in this, but the most important thing was to avoid another psychic attack from Ash. Why hadn’t she known about him? Even Torrent hadn’t reacted to Inferno — had Ash not shown up on his map?
The hybrid raised her tail through the air, as the alloy-covered spikes on it extended, huge black hooks forming on the end. Aurora’s talons similarly lengthened, becoming covered with similarly shaped spikes and hooks. The battle-ready Aurora took a step forward, eyes glinting. If Ash couldn’t touch her, then hopefully, he couldn’t hurt her.
“Aurora . . .” Inferno whispered, her hopeful expression turning to fear as she saw herself reflected in one of Aurora’s blade-like talons. Aurora wasn’t planning to save her. She was planning to kill her. “Wait!”
No hesitation, Aurora thought to herself, hesitate, and you die. The stone beneath Aurora’s paws shifted, propelling the hybrid up and forward, her heart bouncing up and down in her chest. Her wings stretched out, but provided little lift with the heavy armor, and she crashed down towards Inferno.
Inferno’s expression suddenly shifted, and the SkyWing’s claws stretched out, leaping into the air. She made contact with Aurora, the hybrid slamming into her like a boulder. Inferno’s talons screeched as they raked across Aurora’s armor, smoke sizzling ineffectively. Aurora’s forepaws wrapped around Inferno, the SkyWing letting out a yell as sharp hooks dug into her either side, keeping her in place.
A moment later, the two slammed into the ground, Aurora crashing down into Inferno as molten gold splashed around them. Aurora’s weight pinned Inferno against the ground, crushing her as she tried to move.
“Stop!” Inferno cried out, her arms flailing, her talons grabbing onto Aurora’s snout. The sight of one suddenly flashed in front of Aurora’s eyes as Inferno tried to poke it into the holes in her armor.
Aurora twisted away, rolling off of Inferno, back onto her paws. She barely had a chance to look back before Inferno leaped onto the hybrid’s backside, Aurora feeling the armor heat up against her scales, starting to burn. Molten gold splashed as she staggered forward, trying to get Inferno off her. Inferno grabbed onto one of Aurora’s arms, using her other forepaw to claw at Aurora’s eyes once more. But when she reached them, all she heard was the screech of stone.
Aurora closed her eyes as armor covered them. She couldn’t have a single weak point, not if she was really fighting Ash. She would just need to fight this battle blind. Her tail lashed onto her back, the hybrid able to feel resistance as it sunk into scales and flesh. The hooks extended inside Inferno, and Aurora twisted her tail away, dragging Inferno off her back as the SkyWing let out an ear-splitting scream, the sound muted beneath Aurora’s armor.
Before Inferno had a chance to do anything, Aurora leaped on top of her, using her tail to guide her. A blast of flame started to heat up the armor, and Aurora slammed her paw down just beneath the source of the flame, whacking Inferno’s neck as she let out a choking noise. The scales on Aurora’s belly started to burn. She had to keep focus. Inferno’s talons grabbed ahold of Aurora’s snout again, letting the hybrid know where they were. Aurora moved her talons to Inferno’s forelegs, the weight allowing her to easily slam them into a pool of gold. Her hooks latched onto them, piercing through Inferno’s paws as the SkyWing screamed out, extending through to the ground. Aurora’s hindpaws moved until they found Inferno’s, stabbing through them until all four of Inferno’s legs had been hooked to the ground.
Aurora allowed the hooks to disconnect from her paws, and stepped back until she hit the cavern wall. Her talons were still shaking. Had she won? Slowly, she removed the covers over her eyes, allowing herself a glimpse at what she’d done. Inferno was lying on the cavern floor, belly-exposed, whimpering. Boiling crimson blood mixed with molten gold in a pool around each of her paws, a thin black spike running up through each of them from the cavern floor, hooked on the end.
Aurora breathed a small sigh of relief. So she hadn’t killed her. If she had, Ash might have been able to escape, but here, it seemed like he was trapped. Still, her talons wouldn’t stop moving back and forth. Why was she still terrified?
Inferno’s head suddenly whipped up from the ground, staring directly at Aurora. The hybrid staggered back, burnt scales slamming into the wall. “I don’t know what Calamity told you,” Inferno calmly stated, “but you really didn’t have to go this far just to stop me. Now you’ve hurt poor Inferno.”
Aurora trembled as she stood back up, pain coursing through her entire body as she struggled to move in the armor. She walked forward, until her head was almost over Inferno’s. The SkyWing seemed to grin as Aurora put a black paw against her snout.
“I know what you are,” Aurora whispered. “You don’t get to speak. I won’t make the same mistake that Calamity did.”
Where her paw touched Inferno, a black ring of shimmering stone grew, tightening around Inferno’s snout in a muzzle. Inferno’s expression shifting, pained whimpers returning to her voice as her eyes looked pleadingly up at Aurora.
Aurora glanced towards Inferno’s paws, spikes running through them. That was right. That was probably painful for her. Aurora moved her paw down between the SkyWing’s horns, down to the side of her neck, and concentrated for a few moments. She needed something that would both dull the pain and keep her unconscious. Taking pity wasn’t part of Aurora’s mission, but if Inferno was kept unconscious, it would be easier to transport her back to the palace.
Inferno woozily lowered her head to the ground, her eyes shutting, not opening again. Aurora pulled her talons away. She walked a few tail-lengths back before turning her armor to cold water, splashing down over her scales. Pink and red had seeped into the blue, warped and disfigured from touching the hot armor. No matter. The wounds were light, she could heal them later.
Aurora looked back at the sleeping Inferno, heart still pounding. She’d been trained to suppress her fear on her mission, but that had all fallen apart. The mission. Her duty. This changed it all. If Ash was really here, if he’d somehow made it to this iteration, did any of it matter anymore?
“Calamity,” she whispered to herself. “Please. You have to tell me what to do.”
== Chapter 24 ==
A large bang reverberated throughout the guest room as Skytaker slammed into the door. For a moment, it seemed like the door would be torn from its hinges, before Skytaker bounced back, skidding onto the ground. They growled, backing up again until they bumped into an unimpressed Tiger.
“There’s no use,” the RainWing commented. “It’s clearly magically locked, like the unbreakable window or the tapestry that keeps reappearing.”
“You don’t know that,” Skytaker snorted. “Maybe it’s just a really big bolt. Hey, do you think that the door will burn?”
Tiger winced, shaking her head. “That’s a horrible idea,” she muttered. “You really have no sense, do you? It’ll set the entire room aflame. Regardless, even if we manage to get out of this room, we won’t be able to get out of the palace. And even if we got out of the palace—”
“—we wouldn’t be able to get back to Pyrrhia,” Skytaker replied. “Yes, I know. But at least if we get out of this room, we’ll be able to try something. Using the Obscura again, getting more intel on the Empress’s plans or whatever her powers are.”
Ermine’s head peeked over side of the bed at the mention of the Empress’s powers, eyes going wide as he stared down at the other two dragonets. “Oh no,” he fretted. “But what if she discovers us? What if we learn something that we’re not supposed to know?”
“Huh?” Skytaker asked.
“She’ll make us forget,” Ermine answered anxiously. “She’ll use her freaky powers on me, and then I’ll forget just like Mangrove, I’ll forget Jade Mountain and everyone there and all the IceWings in the Ice Kingdom and both of you and she’ll make me forget my parents and then I’ll be stuck in Antigonia forever not even knowing who I am.” Ermine dug his snout into the feathered mattress, cold tears running down it. “No one will know I’m trapped here, not even me.”
Skytaker walked over towards Ermine, placing a paw over his head as the IceWing sobbed. “Don’t worry,” they tried to reassure him. “I won’t let that happen. I promise, we’ll get out of here, memories and all.”
“How can you say that?” Tiger asked, a few of her black stripes turning sea-green. “You’re making a promise you can’t keep. I see no reason why escaping is the likeliest outcome. Do you expect us to get out of here on sheer willpower alone?”
“Just because you’ve given up doesn’t mean I have,” Skytaker remarked. “We failed last time, but we got out of the palace. That’s an accomplishment. We can still get out of here.”
Suddenly, the door to the room swung open, and the dragonets’ heads swivelled to see it. Ermine’s tears suddenly stopped, the IceWing too terrified to make a movement.
“No, you can’t,” Empress Liliana remarked as she stepped in through the doorway, multi-colored light glinting from her crown. She gave the guest room a quick scan, glossing over Ermine and Skytaker, before finally meeting Tiger’s eyes.
“Y-you,” Skytaker stammered, eyes wide. The hybrid bared their fangs, letting out a low growl. “What are you doing here?”
The Empress stared down at Tiger with a bored look, walking up to the trembling RainWing dragonet. “I promised to answer some of your questions, didn’t I? I plan to make do on that promise. Come with me.”
The Empress turned her back, Tiger just staring breathlessly. The Empress was going to answer her questions? Just like that? No, this had to be some sort of trap. Except they were already trapped. Was she trying to separate the three? “Can Skytaker and Ermine come with me?”
“No,” Liliana answered, without a second thought. “Just you.”
Tiger frowned. Why would the Empress need to separate them? It wasn’t like she couldn’t just do it by force if Tiger refused. So there was no reason for her not to go along. She glanced towards Skytaker, hoping for their input.
Skytaker spread their claws out, crouching down. There was no one in the hallway behind the Empress. She was alone, without any guards. If there was any chance the three could fight her in battle, now was the time.
“If you try to take me on in combat, I’ll crush you,” the Empress threatened, not even bothering to glance back towards Skytaker. The hybrid’s eyes darted to her forepaws, as they saw a small arc of light cross between two of her talons.
Skytaker sat back, tucking their claws away. So the Empress had powers other than the memory manipulation. At least they’d learned something.
“Even if you did manage to subdue me and escape the palace, I’m the only one with the power to return you to Pyrrhia,” the Empress continued. “None of my subordinates have it; they only are able to create a way back to Antigonia if I mark them. Be patient. In time, you’ll be free to return.” She turned her head towards Tiger. “Well? Are you coming, or not?”
“I’ll come,” Tiger hesitantly agreed. Trap or not, this might be her only chance to ask the Empress directly. She ran up to the Empress, beneath her wing.
“Wait!” Skytaker yelled out as the two exited the guest room.
Liliana extended her wing, and the door closed behind them, blocking off whatever Skytaker was about to say. Tiger stared as a loud bang sounded from the door. She would have to do this alone. She took a deep breath, staring up at the glittering Empress as the two walked down the hallway. The Empress stepped into the golden circle in front of the doors to the moving rooms, and Tiger posed her first question.
“How come you know you’re the only one with a way back to Pyrrhia?” Tiger asked. “Maybe there are animuses on Antigonia you don’t know about.”
Empress Liliana smiled as the doors opened wide, stepping into the circular room, positioning herself in the center. Tiger didn’t budge. If the Empress wasn’t going to answer her questions, she wasn’t going to willingly follow her.
“I looked into it a bit more after you mentioned it,” Liliana replied, motioning Tiger to follow. “None of the Pyrrhian animuses are animuses here. In fact, I’m pretty sure that animus magic was removed from my world.”
“Removed?” Tiger asked. She frowned, slowly stepping into the circular room, the doors closing behind her as it started to move. “Were you the one who did it?”
Empress Liliana chuckled. “No. It had nothing to do with me. It was that way since long before my birth. I suspect it happened not long after the Scorching.”
It was only a moment before the circular room stopped, and the doors opened again. The Empress stepped out onto a sunlit balcony, Tiger following behind. She hadn’t seen this floor before. She put her claws up on the balcony’s rail, peering over the edge. Beneath her, the palace opened up into a flat courtyard, filled with rows and columns of RainWings, as far as Tiger could see. Each held a spear in their claws, striking at the air with it in unison. Glory’s orange crest was visible across the courtyard, shouting out orders.
“An army,” Tiger whispered.
“I have some powers,” Liliana continued. “But they’re nothing compared to what an animus could do.”
“Then how did you do what you did to Antigonia?” Tiger asked. “Everyone’s memories, the map, the queens abdicating their throne. That was you, wasn’t it?”
Liliana smiled. “I answered one of your questions for free, but if you want to learn more, I’ll need something from you in return. I’ll make a deal. If I tell you what you want, you will answer some questions for me.”
“Deal,” Tiger replied, without a moment’s pause.
The Empress stared for a few seconds, slightly taken aback. “I’m surprised you agreed so quickly.”
“And I’m surprised you proposed such an offer,” Tiger retorted. She narrowed her eyes. If the Empress was willing to let Tiger ask anything, that meant she didn’t see the three dragonets as a threat, but if she wanted to ask questions, she thought they knew something important. A potential weakness she was trying to cover for? In that case, the questions the Empress asked would be as important as her answers.
A sly smile appeared on Empress Liliana’s snout, and she let out a laugh. “So Glory really did bring you here for a reason! I shouldn’t have underestimated her, or you. Go on, ask what you want.”
Tiger paused. Did she really have permission to ask anything? No. If she asked about an escape route, a secret weakness, or something like that, then the Empress would just keep an extra eye on that.
“Did Antigonia used to be like Pyrrhia?” Tiger asked, repeating what she’d said back when their escape had been foiled. “And did you use your powers to make Antigonia how it is today, firmly under your control?”
“That’s two questions,” Liliana mused. “Though I suppose it would be difficult to answer one without the other. No. I didn’t have powers when I made Antigonia how it is now, I instead used an ancient artifact. I believe you’d call it animus-touched. However, you’re more or less correct; Antigonia was much like how Pyrrhia is now, before I changed it.”
An animus enchantment, Tiger wondered. Something from Pyrrhia? Or something that had been made before animus magic disappeared from Antigonia?
“My turn,” Liliana smiled. “Do the NightWings have powers on Pyrrhia? I’ve received conflicting reports.”
Tiger glanced up at Liliana. A question about Pyrrhia. A strategic question, maybe? Did she think NightWing powers were a threat to her? Skytaker would’ve been able to figure that out, they’d always been better at reading dragons than Tiger.
“Some do,” Tiger replied truthfully. “They only just started to regain them over the past few years, since they’d lost them when hiding from the Darkstalker.”
“Really?” Liliana chortled. “They hid from Darkstalker? It’s quite difficult for me to imagine that, given the absolute failure of his ‘rebel’ group.”
“You know the Darkstalker?” Tiger asked. Wait, did that count as her question? “How? He died long ago on Pyrrhia.”
“Perhaps,” the Empress replied. “I don’t remember hearing Trustbreaker ever speak of him, so he might not have made a mark on this world. But he wouldn’t be the first dragon from long ago who’s now alive. When I used the Wishstone to create a better world — the name I have for the artifact I mentioned — one of the strange side-effects was accidentally recreating dragons from the past, who should have been long dead. The current residents of Antigonia are dragons and humans pulled from all periods of time, although most wouldn’t have their memories.”
The Empress shook her head, tsking. “I was young and naïve. At the time, I didn’t have a clear image in my mind of what a better world would look like, and so, things ended up like this.” She turned to Tiger. “I hope that satisfies your curiosity. Now, did you know the NightWing you saw me kill, or anyone who looked like him?”
Tiger thought for a moment. “I saw him a few times in the rainforest,” she replied. “Duskwind. But I didn’t know him well. I’m not even sure I ever talked to him. He’s Pyrrhia’s version of Trustbreaker, isn’t he? Does Trustbreaker have the Wishstone? Is that how he got to Pyrrhia?” Her eyes looked down towards the army of RainWings, training beneath them. Was that what she was looking for in Pyrrhia?
“So you figured out I don’t have it,” Empress Liliana smirked. “Good job. Yes, Duskwind was your world’s Trustbreaker. I believe that Trustbreaker has the Wishstone, and that he used it to escape Antigonia to Pyrrhia after his rebellion failed. I didn’t know where it was for a long time, but I used the powers I gained from it to travel to many different worlds. Your Pyrrhia was the only one with living dragons I could find, and I could sense the Wishstone’s presence. Something that powerful is difficult to hide, if you know how to look. Now, how many animus dragons do you know of, and where are they?”
Probably looking for potential threats, Tiger suspected. If she lied to the Empress, would she know? Likely. Tiger still didn’t know any of the details behind whatever powers she’d gotten from the Wishstone. She closed her eyes, trying to remember.
“I can think of three,” Tiger replied. “Two at Jade Mountain. A SeaWing, Princess Anemone, and a NightWing named Stonemover. The third is a hybrid, Princess Aurora. I don’t know where she is.”
“That’s it?” Liliana asked, mildly surprised. “So it’s not common.”
“Those are the only three I know of,” Tiger clarified. “There could be others, each with the same power that created the Wishstone you’re looking for.” Maybe she could scare the Empress away from attacking Pyrrhia, if she knew there were dragons there as powerful as she was.
“Doubtful,” the Empress replied. “They lose their souls, don’t they? The dragon who created the Wishstone used practically his whole soul to do it. Regardless, along with the hybrid in Crosswinds that Deathbringer found, that gives at least four animuses. Each of which could interfere.”
“What do you plan to do if you find the Wishstone?” Tiger asked.
The Empress raised her head, looking out to the sea. “I think you already have an idea. I’ll transform Pyrrhia, but this time, I’ll make things better than Antigonia.”
“So you’ll take everyone’s memories, make them all your slaves—” Tiger started to protest.
“No!” the Empress hissed. “I told you. That was a fluke. Something that I would have corrected here by now, if Trustbreaker hadn’t stolen the Wishstone from me. I know better now. I might need to change a few memories or personalities here and there, but it won’t be the same. Your world is much like the world I used to live with, where humans lived in terror, and dragons were constantly at war. How many wars is your Pyrrhia fighting right now? Antigonia may look bleak, but can you honestly say it’s not better than that?”
Tiger paused. Ermine’s parents. The destruction of the rainforest and attack on the NightWings and RainWings. And not long before that, twenty years of war. Objectively, how could she disagree? Empress Liliana might have violated the individuality and sense of self of everyone on the continent, and everyone seemed unhappy, but at least they were alive.
Tiger shook her head. Just because Antigonia was marginally better than Pyrrhia didn’t mean that it was the only option. If she’d learned anything at Jade Mountain, it was that. There was a better way forward, a Pyrrhia where everyone was kind and peaceful, not because they were forced to be, but because they wanted to. And if the Empress had her way, that future would disappear, for all of them.
“Fine,” the Empress snorted. “Reject my ideals, or accept them, it doesn’t matter. I’ll succeed, regardless.” She turned to her army of RainWings, and let out a sigh. “Thank you for your time. I plan to leave for Pyrrhia tomorrow. The next time we meet, both our worlds will be better places. General Glory will watch over the three of you while I’m gone. Please escort yourself back to your room.”
Tiger nodded, bowing her head as she turned away from the balcony, the army shouting from behind her as metal clanged. She learned something. Now, she knew how the Empress could be stopped. However, whether or not the three dragonets could stop her was a different matter.
== Chapter 25 ==
Midnight took a frightened step back, staring up at the black dragon with new eyes. “You’re the Darkstalker?” she exclaimed. The evil animus to trump all evil animuses, the dragon who Torrent couldn’t even stop while he was sleeping, the hybrid whose hatching had led to two-thousand years of wars between the NightWings and IceWings.
“Wow,” Ecru remarked, taken aback. “I’m really regretting asking you to flirt with me right now.”
“Just Darkstalker, actually. No ‘the.’ You know me? Do I lead a famous, highly successful rebellion on Pyrrhia?” Darkstalker smiled. His smile quickly faded as he read Midnight and Ecru’s minds. “Oh. That’s a little . . . wow. Okay.” He glanced towards Ecru. “Wait, seriously? I did that? I think you’re just messing with me.”
Midnight glanced up at him, concerned. She took a deep breath. Tattoo Deathbringer was different than Pyrrhian Deathbringer. Maybe this Darkstalker was different than the one she’d heard so many stories about.
“Please, don’t worry,” Darkstalker said reassuringly. “I’m not an evil nightmare dragon. I wouldn’t kill a bunch of IceWings for whatever reason. I’ve got no problem with IceWings. They seem pretty chill.” He grinned at his own pun, but Midnight and Ecru’s expressions didn’t change. “So, am I really that awful on Pyrrhia? Hey, we’re related? That’s pretty cool. See, I can’t be that bad.”
“Please stop with the mind-reading,” Midnight winced. “It’s getting disconcerting.”
“Sorry,” Darkstalker replied, “but your thoughts are pretty freaked out right now, screaming my name, so it’s pretty hard to ignore.”
“Your father was an IceWing prince who betrayed his kingdom and took IceWing magic,” Ecru quietly explained. “There was a war, and you were going to kill your queen. The entire NightWing Kingdom fled from you. A SeaWing prince named Fathom probably brought you down. There are a lot of gruesome legends about you, but they’re of limited historicity.”
“Limited historicity,” Darkstalker mused. “So they’re probably not real. Wait, I’m half-IceWing?”
Ecru shook her head. “Something you did was bad enough it made the NightWings leave Pyrrhia, and have two tribes treat you as a legendary evil for two-thousand years.”
Darkstalker paused for a moment. “Well, that’s not the me here,” he finally replied, glancing down at Wren. “The rising up against my queen thing, yes, but the Empress deserves it. And I don’t kill unless it’s necessary for the rebellion. Wren, am I anything like the legend?”
Wren rolled her eyes. “No,” she replied. “You’re annoyingly bossy and totally self-centered, but you’re not quite effective enough to be hiding in childrens’ nightmares.”
“See?” Darkstalker replied. “Even Wren doesn’t think I have the capacity to do such evil. In fact, I think your two-thousand year old legend is wrong, since that sounds nothing like me. Also, what’s an animus? You keep thinking about that term, and I don’t know it.”
Midnight tilted her head. “You . . . don’t know? Magic? Enchanting stuff?”
Darkstalker shook his head. “Nope. I can’t do that. Only mind-reading.”
Midnight let out a sigh of relief. If Darkstalker was telling the truth, that meant he couldn’t use magic like his Pyrrhian counterpart had been able to. He didn’t have the power that he’d used for evil. And he also couldn’t lose his soul to magic. Maybe he really was different here.
“You can’t see the future?” Ecru asked, surprised. “The legends always said you could.”
Wren let out a laugh, drawing Ecru’s eyes down. “This world has no future,” she explained, shaking her head.
“What Wren is trying to say is that there’s something wrong with this world. We have no past, and no future,” Darkstalker quietly explained. “We also aren’t sure how much longer this continent will be habitable. The Empress has been trying to fix things, but even her powers aren’t enough. Midnight, you’re an animus?”
Midnight closed her eyes, very much starting to regret being around a mind-reader. Her most important secret, and it had already been revealed. “Yeah,” she responded uncomfortably. “I’m able to do enchant things to do whatever I want them to do, at the cost of pieces of my soul.”
“That sounds pretty powerful,” Darkstalker replied, “I’d be able to do a lot of great things here if I were an animus, but as far as I know, there aren’t any here. Ooh, you have an enchantment that heals anyone? That seems pretty useful. I’m surprised you can make things that powerful.”
“Yes, but as I was saying, it’s very dangerous,” Midnight muttered. “Because of the whole losing your soul thing.”
“With a power like that, we might be able to win the rebellion,” Darkstalker mused. “Hey, if you’re ever interested in freeing a continent from a ruthless dictator, would you mind using your powers for me? I’ve got a lot of great ideas.”
“Er—” Midnight replied uncomfortably.
“Stop it!” Ecru hissed, baring her fangs at Darkstalker. “Thank you for saving us, but you can’t just tell Midnight what to do, and how to use her powers for you! Aren’t you listening?”
Darkstalker frowned, and opened his mouth to say something, but Wren responded first.
“There’s no point in this argument,” the scavenger said. “I doubt magic would work on the Empress anyways. She has her own powers that can counteract most anything.”
Darkstalker sighed, taking a step back, and sitting down on his haunches. “You’re probably. Sorry. We’re just . . . desperate.”
Midnight stared down at her paws for a moment. She took in a deep breath, trying to focus. “Yeah,” she replied, her voice hushed. “I don’t think it would work anyways. There’s something odd that I’ve noticed ever since we got to Antigonia. Whenever I think about using magic, I no longer have that strange surge of power that normally would come to me. I don’t have any desire to use it anymore, like I did back on Pyrrhia. I didn’t even realize that I did want to use it before I came here. My mind feels clear.”
“So you’re saying you can’t use magic?” Ecru asked, surprised. She considered that for a moment. It was a good thing, wasn’t it? It was dangerous, and if Midnight couldn’t use it, she couldn’t lose herself to it. Yet, if not for her magic, the two of them would have been dead by down. Without it, they needed to be much more careful. “Maybe there’s something wrong with magic in Antigonia. That could be why Darkstalker doesn’t have it.”
“Meaning that if Midnight lost her magic when she came to Antigonia, I’d be able to use magic if I went to Pyrrhia?” Darkstalker asked.
Midnight suddenly tensed up. Another Darkstalker on Pyrrhia, magic and all?
“Hey, I told you, I’m not your evil nightmare dragon,” Darkstalker replied, mildly offended by Midnight’s thought. “I’m just trying to save this world.”
“I can attest to that fact,” Wren affirmed. “As irritating as he can get, Darkstalker is the best leader our rebellion has had since Trustbreaker. Which isn’t saying much.”
“Rebellion?” Ecru asked. “Against the Empress, right? Who is that? Whoever is in charge of those RainWings that attacked us?”
“Yep,” Wren frowned. “Empress Liliana. She’s the sole ruler of Antigonia and everyone in it. She controls the RainWings that tried to take you to her, along with pretty much everyone else in Antigonia. Dragons and humans alike all bow to her.”
“Years ago, the queens all stepped down to her,” Darkstalker explained. “Probably through mind-control or blackmail or something else. Her closest ally, a dragon named Duskwind, better known as Trustbreaker, started a rebellion against her. They fought bravely, but vastly underestimated her. They were slaughtered, and Trustbreaker disappeared. The Empress and the remaining rebels searched to the edges of the world to find him, but he was gone.”
“You said Duskwind, right?” Midnight asked, surprised. “That’s the name of the NightWing who disappeared from Deathbringer’s camp. What if the Empress found him on Pyrrhia?”
Wren stood up straight, placing a hand on her sword. “You think the Empress caught him?”
Darkstalker shook his head. “Doubtful. We would have known by now if she had.”
“Maybe it was our world’s Trustbreaker,” Ecru suggested. “Like we have a Darkstalker and a Deathbringer too.”
“Regardless, even if he’s gone, we still fight in his name,” Darkstalker continued.
“You’re missing the most important part,” Wren interrupted. “The oldest members of the rebellion claim that Trustbreaker told them secrets about the world. That the Empress used her magic to do something horrible to the entire world, and that we’re all living in a fake world, with fake memories.”
Ecru frowned, and touched her paw to the ground, scratching her talons against it. It certainly felt real.
“Fake memories?” Midnight asked. “And you’re sure this Trustbreaker is telling the truth?” Using magic on an entire world? If an animus did that . . . would they even have any soul leftover?
“Pretty sure,” Darkstalker responded. “Sometimes dragons regain memories that shouldn’t be there. Usually not much, but enough to piece some stuff together.”
Midnight paused for a moment. “So you think I can help you get rid of the Empress. Even without my magic.”
Darkstalker shrugged his wings. “Maybe. Maybe not. But we need someone to stop her. Ever since she took over, Antigonia has been dying. Plagued by storms, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Even the Empress isn’t able to do much more than delay it. But if we can get her to undo whatever magic she did . . .”
Midnight shook her head. “You do realize what you’re asking of me, right? Ecru and I have been fleeing for our lives over the past few weeks. We’re only alive because I had my magic, and I don’t have it here. You had to rescue us from two RainWings. We’re not even battle-trained. We can’t solve your problems just because we’re from a different world.”
Wren stepped forward, glaring up at Midnight. “You’re wrong,” she stated. “We’re not asking you to solve our problems. We’re asking you to solve your problems.”
“You mean getting back to Pyrrhia?” Ecru asked.
Wren shook her head. “In the morning, after we leave the catacombs, there will be a blue light in the sky to the north. Our intelligence has told us that the Empress is opening another portal, this time, large enough to fit an army of RainWings.”
“She’s invading Pyrrhia,” Midnight whispered in realization.
“Why did you think she sent the assassin?” Darkstalker prodded. “She wanted you out of the way. And, well, looking at where you ended up, she succeeded.”
Midnight turned towards Ecru. “We have to get back to Pyrrhia,” she said, “so we can . . .”
“Use your magic,” Ecru sighed, closing her eyes. “I know. Just . . . be careful. Consider it talked over with me.”
“I still don’t think it will work,” Wren replied.
“Maybe not directly, but the Empress sent Deathbringer after me for a reason, right?” Midnight asked. “I have to be at least some sort of threat. Along with the rest of the animuses.”
“There are more?” Darkstalker asked, almost surprised. “Pyrrhia has multiple dragons as powerful as the Empress?”
“Well, less than we used to, thanks to my father,” Midnight replied, trying to remember the blotches on Torrent’s map. “There’s you, but you’re in some sort of magical slumber. I remember five at Jade Mountain. Three of them are my uncles or aunts, I think, I only know one of them and he probably won’t be helpful. The other two might. The fourth I don’t know, and the fifth . . . my half-sister. She’s evil. Not helpful.” Midnight winced. “The Empress really chose her timing well. A bunch of NightWing and RainWings are going to be travelling to Jade Mountain soon, and there’ll probably be some battles with the IceWings. It’ll be difficult to get their help, even if they’re willing.”
“Which of course assumes we can get back to Pyrrhia, and get to Jade Mountain in time,” Ecru sighed. “The Empress is creating a portal, right? Could we go through there?”
“It’s too late for that,” Wren replied. “We wouldn’t get there in time, and even if we did, we’d have to get through the Empress and her army.”
“So we can’t stop her,” Midnight grimaced. “Yay. Another war on Pyrrhia.”
“War implies that one side is capable of fighting back,” Darkstalker snorted. “I think the proper term for this is a ‘slaughter.’”
“Really making me feel better,” Midnight muttered. “So, what do we do? You’re the glorious leader of the rebellion. You have a plan, don’t you?”
“I’ve got a lot of plans,” Darkstalker sighed. “Whether they’ll work or not is a different question. For now, we should sleep before going to headquarters tomorrow. I’m sure everyone will be glad to see me. It might be the last good rest you get for a while.”
Midnight stared down at her paws. She’d hated her animus magic for all her life, and now that she really needed, that all of Pyrrhia really needed it, it was gone.
Ecru let out a loud yawn. “Good idea. We didn’t really get any sleep last night. Midnight, c’mon.”
“Yeah,” Midnight replied as Ecru placed a wing over her, pulling Midnight close. With all that was going on, could she really sleep? As Wren doused the torch, and the catacombs turned black, a wave of fatigue finally washed over Midnight. She rested herself down against Ecru, beneath the hybrid’s wing, her eyes already closing.
----The night was uneventful. Just as Darkstalker said, the catacombs were too maze-like, and no one happened upon them during their sleep. Eventually morning rose, and torchlight woke Midnight from her slumber.
She stared for a moment at the glittering torch held by the scavenger, before shutting her eyes again, hiding her snout beneath Ecru’s wing in hopes that the light would go away, and she’d be able to go back to sleep. No such luck. As Wren lifted Ecru’s wing up, Midnight’s memories of the previous day quickly returned. She couldn’t sleep, not with Pyrrhia in danger.
“Fine, fine,” Midnight grumbled, gently shaking Ecru awake. She lifted her head up, already trying to suppress her thoughts so that Darkstalker wouldn’t barge in on them. She frowned as she looked around the small chamber, not seeing the black hybrid. “Hey, where’s Darkstalker?”
“Already left for HQ,” Wren tsked. “Didn’t want to stick around just to see the two of you snoring away, so left me here. C’mon. I’ll lead you there once you’re both up.”
After fully waking, Midnight and Ecru quickly got their share of the rations, before Wren stuffed them back in the wall. In case they ever needed to use this as a hiding spot again, Midnight presumed. She glanced up to the cavern. It was so dark underground, she had no idea what time it would be outside.
The two dragons followed the scavenger as she led them through the winding catacombs. Wren seemed to know the place better than the back of her own hand, but every turn seemed to look the same as the previous one to Midnight. Every so often, Midnight or Ecru would catch a glimpse of something that wasn’t bones — a remnant of the hold city, like a half-destroyed adobe house or something that seemed dragon-made, like a weapon or decayed scroll.
“So, is like the talking scavengers thing something that the Empress did?” Midnight curiously asked Wren. “Cause the scavengers on Pyrrhia don’t talk. They just make weird squeaking noises.”
Wren let out an audible sigh, echoing through the quiet catacombs. “That’s the Human language,” she replied. “Each of those squeaks means something, just like your words.”
“Huh,” Midnight mused. “So, er, just to be clear, I’ve never eaten a scavenger before.”
“Only because I stopped her,” Ecru quickly added, getting a glare from Midnight in response. “Hey! It’s true.”
“Really, I don’t care,” Wren responded. “I’ve always cared more for dragons than my own species for whatever reason. Some stupid before memories. I was captured by the Empress once, and she told me a little bit about it. Said I reminded her of herself.”
“Does the Empress like scavengers more than dragons?” Midnight asked.
Wren turned back, giving Midnight a strange look before realizing her confusion. “Oh. Of course you wouldn’t know. The Empress is a human.”
“Wait, really?” Midnight said, mildly shocked. “I’ve been imagining her as this super-scary RainWing this whole time; you’re saying a scavenger conquered the continent?”
“Well, she’s not always a scavenger,” Wren explained. “She can turn into a super-scary RainWing. To be honest, she’s mainly appeared in dragon form the past few years. I think she’s decided it’s more intimidating if you’re not a third of half your subjects’ heights. And she didn’t really take over Antigonia alone, either. Trustbreaker helped her, before he turned against her. That’s why everyone calls him Trustbreaker. He’s not just broken the Empress’s trust, but by originally helping her, the entire continent’s.”
Wren turned her head away from the tunnel and put her hand up as a blast of wind whipped through the catacombs, blowing her hair back. “We’re almost here. Watch your step; you won’t be able to fly here. The winds will slam you into the cliff.”
“Cliff?” Ecru questioned. The three turned another corner, and Ecru saw what Wren had meant. Sunlight hit her eyes as a vicious wind slammed against her, almost knocking her back into Midnight. The tunnel suddenly ended, giving way to a vast blue sky.
“THIS WAY!” Wren yelled, getting down on all fours to crawl the remaining length of the tunnel. “TURN LEFT, THERE’S A LEDGE!”
Midnight ducked her head down as the wind blew over her, tucking her wings in so they wouldn’t catch it. Were they that high up? Wren crawled around the corner, the two dragons following until their heads poked out from the tunnel.
Midnight let out a gasp as she stared down. From all sides of the tunnel exit, up and down, left and right, a sheer cliff extended, perfectly flat. The cliff extended on for what seemed like the height of a mountain, before abruptly reaching a grassy field. As Midnight stared out, white clouds turned into dark storms, all beneath her. The MudWing city had been that far up?
Midnight turned to the left as the winds barraged her, making her way into what looked like a downwards-leading staircase carved into the side of the cliff, one side open to the winds. As she dared to poke her head out from the small inset, the cliff seemed to extend as far as she could see, the edge as straight as a blade. Above the horizon, the sky was lit it in a radiative blue, just like the flash of light above the portal had been. Darkstalker had been right. Someone was creating a portal to Pyrrhia, far larger than than the portal Deathbringer had used.
“THIS WAY!” Wren called out, making her way down the staircase backwards, careful that the wind didn’t whip her away. Midnight and Ecru followed the scavenger, the stairs at once both too small for dragons and too large for scavengers.
Midnight stared out from the cliff-face again. Wren had been right. There was no way Midnight or Ecru could fly in these winds. Even the strongest SkyWings could barely stand these. They’d be dashed against the cliff. Midnight suddenly understood what Darkstalker had said about a fake world. A perfectly smooth cliff-face like this couldn’t have happened naturally, and the winds it caused would have only been seen in a hurricane. This had been created magically.
The three were silent as they descended the staircase, winds roaring past them. It felt like they had been walking for an hour, yet still, it didn’t look like they were any closer to the bottom. Finally, the staircase opened up into a large hole, a cavern leading back into the cliffside.
Wren mentioned them inwards, and the three turned a corner, finally putting them out of the windstorm’s reach. “Here we are,” the scavenger said. “The rebellion’s headquarters.”
The smaller cavern opened up, and Midnight stared as she turned her head up, surprised by the sheer size of the cavern. It reached far above her head, giving her enough space to not just easily fly in, but to fly across. Dragons of all tribes and scavengers alike swarmed the headquarters, making it look more like a small city than a base. Stone and wood platforms extended erratically from each wall, haphazardly placed ramps and ladders extending through the nearest ones.
An IceWing suddenly swooped over Midnight’s head, and she looked over to see a small group of scavengers riding on his back. He landed on one of the platforms, letting a few scavengers off, before flying back across the cavern.
“How do you stay hidden?” Ecru curiously asked Wren. “I’d think that the Empress would have discovered your entrance by now. No offense, but a tunnel cut out alongside a huge featureless cliff-face isn’t exactly hidden.”
Wren shook her head and laughed. “Hidden? It’s pointless. The Empress could just watch anyone leaving and entering anyways. Honestly, Darkstalker likes to brag, calling this a rebellion is a bit of an exaggeration. We’re useless, we’d be crushed if we actually tried anything. The Empress just keeps around to use as scapegoats and occasionally terrorize; we don’t pose a threat.”
“We pose a threat now!” a familiar voice yelled out, from over the ruckus. Darkstalker walked out from behind a group of MudWings, waving a paw at the newcomers. “Welcome to our humble city of freedom!”
Wren frowned as she glanced around the cavern. “What do you mean?” she asked warily. “Darkstalker, why is everyone so excited? It’s usually dull around here.”
Darkstalker grinned devilishly. “Someone important was captured. Apparently, he literally just stumbled into our talons.”
“Important?” Wren asked, a concerned expression coming over her face. “Who?”
Darkstalker turned back at the group of MudWings. “Bring him out!” he ordered. Immediately, two of the MudWings pushed forward a familiar NightWing into view, forepaws and hindpaws bound together, a muzzle around his snout.
“Wait, you caught him?” Midnight said, surprised.
As the prisoner saw Midnight and Ecru, the NightWing’s expressioned turned to a savage glare. Midnight took a step back, baring her fangs back at him.
“The Empress’s greatest assassin, bound and captured,” Darkstalker grinned. “I present to you, Deathbringer. Not so bad for a useless rebellion, right?”
== Chapter 26 ==
The lush green rainforests of the Southern Isles spread out beneath Deathbringer, glittering golden beaches surrounding their coasts on all sides. If there were RainWings hiding beneath his wings, Deathbringer wouldn’t have been able to see any traces from up here. He had a good idea of where most of the RainWings were hiding, but unless an IceWing tried to burn it down again, or a NightWing accidentally sent up a smoke signalling their location, it would be impossible to find the makeshift village.
Deathbringer glanced anxiously behind him as he glided over a reef, the water a luminescent green. No one appeared to be trailing behind him. Now, more than ever, he had to be careful. If he led Queen Blackice’s forces to the RainWings . . . he glanced down to the harness against his chest, where a small green snout peered back up against him.
“Nyar?” Firefly asked, shaking her wings as she tried to wiggle out of the harness. “NYAR?”
“Yes, we’re near,” Deathbringer smiled, a beautiful pink rose unfurling on Firefly’s back. He patted her head with a paw, gently running his talons along her snout, brushing against a small silver teardrop scale behind her eyes.
The NightWing dragonet hanging the harness to the right of Firefly suddenly let out a loud squeal, and rolled from side to side, rocking Deathbringer mid-air.
“Don’t do that,” Deathbringer scolded the dragonet, “you can’t fly, you know, and that water is further down than it looks from up here.” His eyes went towards the NightWing dragonet to Firefly’s left, who’d been sound asleep for the flight. The dragonet swished his tail, but didn’t stir more than that.
The three youngest dragonets, all too small to fly, Deathbringer thought. Here, they’ll all be safe. He hated having to take dragonets from their parents, not knowing how long it would be until they’d meet again, if ever. Himself included. He was the only parent Firefly had left.
Deathbringer suddenly tilted left, diving around the crest of a mountain-ridge before descending. He checked back behind him once more, eyes watching out for just a whisp of white scales. Seeing none, he quickly soared into a small clearing of trees, splashing down into clean water as the rainforest enclosed his view.
Firefly’s tail dipped down into the water, and she swung it back up, splattering droplets of water on father’s snout.
“Not now,” he whispered back to her, quickly stepping beneath tree-cover, staring up at the sky, checking for wings of enemies. That had been the life he and Glory had wanted for Firefly. A carefree life in the rainforest, where the three of them could’ve taken trips down to the coast. All of them could have splashed around in the water together, without worries or fears. Everyone was going to be happy, NightWings and RainWings alike. But now . . .
Deathbringer slowly walked down the now-familiar trail, knowing where it was even though it was barely a deer-path. The three dragonets bounced up and down on the harness as he pushed past ferns and trees. It was better to walk, if he landed too close to the RainWings, it was more likely they’d be found.
Deathbringer suddenly froze up, as a rustle sounded through the undergrowth. Had he been followed. He slowly turned his head, staring over at where the sound had come from, and grabbed a silver disk from his pouch. Firefly let out a small whimper. His eyes narrowed on the space where the noise had come from. Nothing was there. Had it just been a small animal? No. It was too loud. Whatever it was, it was dragon-sized.
“Don’t attack!” a voice squealed. Dark-blue scales started to appear from beneath the trees, like they were slowly being painted onto the landscape behind them. “Not an IceWing!”
Deathbringer breathed a sigh of relief, and lowered his weapon as a RainWing came into full view. Liana. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Liana shook her head. “Lower the dart-gun!” she called out. “It’s just Deathbringer!”
A rustle sounded from the trees above Deathbringer, and he looked up to their branches to see more RainWings coming into view, each holding out a dart-gun, ready to fire. Firefly let out a happy squeal as she saw them, clapping her front paws together.
“We didn’t mean to scare you either,” Liana laughed. “We’re all just a bit on edge.”
Deathbringer smiled. He knew the feeling well. “I’m glad you all are being careful. I’d have been a bit worried if I could’ve just walked into the village freely.”
Liana nodded. “Dart training has become practically mandatory, and we’ve got more lookouts than ever. To be fair, it’s a lot easier to check for intruders when you don’t have much space to guard. C’mon. Come with me. Everyone else, get back to your stations.”
Liana swiftly turned, heading down the path. Deathbringer panted as he followed the RainWing, struggling to keep up with the three squirming dragonets attached to him. As he looked to his left and right, RainWings appeared out from the trees, staring down and giving him the occasional wave hello. Deathbringer sighed. Whereas the rainforest had been so lively, now, everyone looked frightened and scared. He didn’t blame them.
The ferns and branches parted, and Deathbringer stepped into the makeshift village. Hidden against the mountainside, wooden platforms had been clumsily built up into a tower, vines and hammocks hanging down from the edges. While the jagged cliff of the mountainside protected the village from prying eyes, it also cast a great shadow, although the stack of platforms wouldn’t have let much light through to the bottom ones anyways. Solemn-looking RainWings with dull scales had been packed into the platforms, some of them barely able to sleep in the darkness without being prodded or pushed by neighbors. A few black splotches stood out between the lusterless dragons — NightWings, or just black RainWings?
“If you’re flying upwards, keep the structure to your right,” Liana warned Deathbringer. “Try and keep the dragons flying downwards to your left. Hatchery and dragonets are second platform up. Stay away from the top two platforms, that’s where the sick are.”
Deathbringer glanced to the fringes of the platform structure, seeing what she meant. RainWings and the occasional NightWing were flying up and down between platforms in a tight circle to keep out of the sunlight, and out of the eyes of any dragons above. Even with those rules, many seemed awfully close to crashing into each other.
“Thank you,” Deathbringer replied, spreading out his wings as he stepped up to the base of the structure. He took off as a RainWing dropped down to his left, narrowly avoiding the collision. As Deathbringer passed the bottom platform, he couldn’t help but look to his right. A hundred eyes seemed to stare back at him, a murmur travelling among the crowd.
Why did the RainWings have to suffer for this? Deathbringer wondered. This is the NightWings’ fault. We tried to invade them, and they let us live here peacefully. We’re the ones who invoked the IceWings’ wrath, who extended the war. They’ve done nothing wrong.
Deathbringer landed on the second platform, wincing as splintered wood poked between his scales. He carefully walked across, looking left and right as dragonets of all ages lifted their heads, wondering what their king was going here.
“King Deathbringer!” a voice called out. Deathbringer turned towards it to see a RainWing dragonet, maybe half his height, running across the platform towards him. “Please, have you heard anything about Hornbill?”
The dragonet stared up at him with pleading eyes. Her friend? Deathbringer wondered. He didn’t even recognize the name. If Hornbill had appeared at his camp, he probably wouldn’t have known.
“I’m sorry,” Deathbringer grimly answered. The dragonet’s expression fell, her scales morphing into a deep blue. Deathbringer closed his eyes. “Maybe Hornbill is at Jade Mountain?” he suggested. “You should ask Greatness the next time you see her.”
“Maybe,” the dragonet replied, the blue on her scales starting to fade. She turned around, running back to the rest of her friends.
Deathbringer watched as she told them what he’d said. Had it been right to give her hope? Maybe Hornbill was at Jade Mountain, but Deathbringer had no idea. If Hornbill wasn’t dead, they’d most likely been captured by IceWings, taken back to the volcanic island as a prisoner, a hostage, or a slave. He supposed it was better than what Hornbill’s fate would’ve been if they’d been a NightWing. They wouldn’t have been taken back alive. At least this way, maybe there was a chance of rescue. Of course, for that, they needed to fight and win against the IceWings.
Deathbringer’s mind drifted back to the letter, as he approached the hatchery. An IceWing trap, or potential allies? It didn’t matter. He knew he had to go, whichever it was. If it was just his own life on the line, he’d gladly give it. Whatever it took, whatever risk there was to him, he had to win against Blackice. It’s what Glory would have done, right?
Deathbringer stepped up to the hatchery, peering inside. It was smaller than the one back in the rainforest had been. Ferns and leaves softened the wooden floor, while woven vines created an enclosure to keep the dragonets from escaping. A tiny RainWing met his eyes, flicking out a forked tongue. Deathbringer smiled. The hatchery might have been a step-down from their previous home, but it was something. Did any of these dragonets even know what was happening in the outside world? Would they grow up in this cramped cage, or would they be free to roam the rainforest as it rose back up from its ashes?
Firefly made a small squeal of annoyance as Deathbringer unlatched the two NightWing dragonets from their harness, placing them down into the hatchery as other dragonets started to crowd around the newcomers. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your turn,” Deathbringer said quietly. “You’ll have as much time as you want to play with your new friends, won’t you?”
A deep blue color started to drip down Firefly’s scales as Deathbringer lifted her up. The NightWing took a deep breath. She knew. “Goodbye, Firefly,” he whispered. It wouldn’t be for very long, would it? Just a couple weeks. And she’d be safe, that’s what was important.
Deathbringer started to set his dragonet down in the hatchery, trying to place her in the small opening of the ropes. Small claws started to dig into his scales, Firefly refusing to let go. The hybrid let out an angry squeal.
“Please, I promise, I’ll be back soon,” Deathbringer whispered. He paused — would he really be able to keep that promise? What if he was flying into a trap, and he didn’t make it back? She’d grow up without either parent. He supposed it shouldn’t have mattered; the RainWings didn’t even do families. They’d take care of her well. Yet, Deathbringer suddenly found that he couldn’t let go, that he was holding as tightly to Firefly as she was holding him back.
Deathbringer sniffled as he tried to set her down again. “No matter what happens to me, I want you to live a good life,” he said. “I know you’re going to grow up, and you’ll be a wonderful queen, just like your mother. You’ll be stronger than either of us. Glory would—” he whispered, choking on his words “—Glory will be proud of you. We both will be.”
Tears started to run down Deathbringer’s face and neck, as blue and pink ribbons climbed up Firefly’s legs from where she grabbed her father. He grasped his talons around her, shaking as he set her down into the hatchery. Would he ever see her again, at the end of this?
Finally, Deathbringer let go, lifting his claws from the hatchery. Firefly let out a loud squeal as Deathbringer sat back on his haunches, sobbing. He suddenly felt wings wrap around him, as another dragon’s head rested against his neck.
Deathbringer turned to see blue-grey scales through his tears, as Jambu held him tight. “I miss her too,” Jambu said quietly, trying to comfort the NightWing. “We all do.”
Deathbringer nodded, returning the hug as he placed his head over Jambu’s shoulders, between his wingblades. They’d been so happy. They would’ve been a family, but now . . .
Jambu waited patiently as Deathbringer cried over him, Firefly wailing in the background. “Don’t worry, your little majesty, Uncle Jambu is here,” he said.
Eventually, Deathbringer raised his head, wiping the tears from his eyes. “We should go,” he murmured. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to leave her if we don’t.”
Jambu nodded, letting Deathbringer up as he waved goodbye to Firefly, the dragonet trying to poke her head out from the hatchery. Deathbringer gave her a final glance back as he pulled himself away. He had to leave. She had to be safe. He had to make the world safe for her.
“I have some news I need to share with you,” Deathbringer spoke as they reached the pavilion edge, straining to get each word out of his throat. “Is there anywhere private we can talk?”
Jambu grimaced. “Er, no. Nowhere private. We’re kinda at maximum capacity here. The pavilion up is a little quieter though, less dragonets.”
Deathbringer took a deep breath as he followed Jambu up to the next platform, unable to avoid glancing back at the hatchery. Firefly’s screams had stopped, and he could no longer see her through the vines. Hopefully, she’d play well with the other dragonets.
“So, what type of news is it?” Jambu asked anxiously as the two landed by a small group of RainWings sleeping in the dark shadows of the platform, huddled up next to each other. “Good news, or . . . bad news?”
Deathbringer paused. “Good news, I think,” he said. It all depended on who the letter was really from.
“Really?” Jambu exclaimed, a hint of his usual jubilance coming through. His grim cobalt scales started to flush a familiar pink, his tail twitching. “That’s great!”
“Maybe,” Deathbringer replied, unwilling to get his hopes up too much. “Queen Moorhen plans to kick the NightWings out.”
Jambu frowned, the pink disappearing as quickly as it came. “That’s not good news.”
“It’s not just that,” Deathbringer continued. “We already knew she was going to do that. I got a scroll, from the Ice Kingdom. Someone there wants to meet with us. I think they’re also one of Queen Blackice’s enemies, and want to ally with us.”
“Allies?” Jambu replied, eyes opening wide as the pink started to return. “In the Ice Kingdom? That’s great! We need to go meet them as soon as possible!”
“I know,” Deathbringer sighed. “I’m just . . . worried. What if it’s a trap? They used the IceWing Royal Seal, and it was signed Storm, the fake name Glory used when I met her. They want to meet me somewhere around the place we met, where I failed my final assassination.”
“If they’re using Glory’s fake name, that means they know us, so they’re friends, right?” Jambu suggested.
“Maybe,” Deathbringer said. He hoped so. But he couldn’t be as trusting as Jambu. Queen Blackice had used the old NightWing island in order to ambush Queen Glory, and attacked the rainforest with fire. This could just as easily be a trap. “We need to be there soon, maybe two days. That’s when they want to meet.”
“Two days?” Jambu asked. “Wait, this is the Ice Kingdom, isn’t it? That’s really far. The only day we can get there that quickly is if . . .”
“The tunnels,” Deathbringer grimaced. “We’ll have to use them.”
“They’re heavily guarded by IceWings,” Jambu gulped.
“And if Queen Blackice set this up, they’ll know we’re coming,” Deathbringer continued. “Are you up for it? It’ll be dangerous, but they wanted you there.”
Jambu thought about it for a moment, flicking his tail. He narrowed his eyes, and the pink on his scales flashed hints of red. “Yes,” he growled, baring two sharp fangs. “I’m one of the best dart-gunners in the rainforest. You’ll need me. And I want to get back at the bug-eaters who killed my sister.”
Deathbringer nodded, in full understanding. He’d always wondered how Jambu and Glory could be siblings, yet so different. But for a moment, he’d seen that same determination in Jambu’s eyes that Glory had. Maybe it was just a lack of sun time, but Jambu seemed angrier than before. Good. He’d need it.
“Then get your darts ready,” Deathbringer smiled. “We attack at nightfall.”
----Deathbringer squinted as he saw brights lights dotting the horizon. As he flew closer, he was able to make out the shapes of white orbs, illuminating twig-like trees, many scorched or felled by the fires. The silhouettes of IceWings walked among the ash-laden ground, the moon globes projecting their shadows onto the trees.
Deathbringer silently circled above the soldiers’ camp, far enough up that any onlooker would only see the star-speckled bottoms of his wings. The area beneath him was almost unrecognizable after the fires, but he could pick out bits and pieces of familiar terrain. This camp was almost directly on top of the tunnels Stonemover had made, so many years ago.
There were a number of tents to house soldiers, but all of them had been positioned away from the tunnels themselves. It didn’t make tactical sense, but Deathbringer understood — the tunnels gave off an eerie feeling, and no one wanted to sleep near them. However, that didn’t mean they were unguarded. Maybe a dozen IceWings stood in front of each of the two tunnels, moon globes illuminating the surrounding area. Deathbringer stared over at his target, a huge boulder perched over a small waterfall.
Deathbringer swooped down, making his way to the edge of the circle of light the moon globe had created. Keeping his head close to the ground, he crawled forward, ash coating his underbelly as the IceWings came into view. One turned their head, and Deathbringer quickly ducked behind a large stump. The soldier’s eyes passed over him, the ex-assassin hidden in darkness and shadows.
Where was Jambu? Deathbringer wondered. He’d told the RainWing to sneak up from the ground, but Deathbringer hadn’t seen him from overhead. That was probably a good thing — if Deathbringer couldn’t see the camouflaged RainWing, that meant the IceWings couldn’t either. Still, was he in position yet?
A loud crack sounded, and Deathbringer winced as he heard one of the IceWings yell something out. He snuck closer as their attention was drawn away, maybe six of them running off into the rainforest after the noise. If that had been Jambu, that wasn’t good.
Suddenly, one of the IceWings that had remained at the tunnel slumped to the ground, catching Deathbringer’s eye. A sleeping dart. Had Jambu thrown the stick as a distraction?
“We’re under attack!” one of the IceWings yelled out, before falling down himself. Deathbringer’s heart raced as he pulled out his own dart-gun, aiming it towards another one of the IceWings still at the tunnel, running towards it. Jambu had fired too soon — he needed to get into the tunnel before the IceWings who’d gone after the stick came back.
Deathbringer let out a puff of breath, and another IceWing fell. The NightWing’s paws clambered through the ash as he weaved between the trees, moon globe glinting in his eyes. An IceWing turned their head as they saw Deathbringer coming, yelling out a curse as Deathbringer leaped into plain sight, a few tail-lengths from the tunnel. Three IceWings still on the tunnel, six more to be here in a few moments. He had to do this quick.
One of the IceWings let out a roar as he jumped at Deathbringer, trying to grapple ahold of his neck. Deathbringer quickly ducked, three small knives appearing between his claws. As the IceWing toppled over him, he brought his talons up, flinging the knives into the IceWing’s neck.
Almost immediately, the remaining two IceWings attacked, serrated talons scratching against Deathbringer’s scales. As Deathbringer pulled a second set of knives from his weapons pouch, fangs bit down into the back of his neck, cold air filling the wounds on his scales. He lifted a forepaw up, clamping it down on the side of the IceWing biting his neck, and twisted, sending the IceWing crashing into the second soldier and into the side of the boulder. The motion coming naturally to him, Deathbringer flung the knives from his other forepaw, blue blood splashing as they sailed into the IceWing’s throat.
The third IceWing suddenly threw her fallen comrade off her, opening her jaws as a horrible hissing noise came from them, mist enveloping her fangs. But before she could fire her frostbreath, she slumped to the ground, another dart in her backside. Pink scales appeared over the top of the boulder, as Jambu leaped down from it, dart-gun between his claws.
“Not bad for a not-assassin, huh?” Jambu grinned.
“Yes, yes, very impressive,” Deathbringer snorted. “I didn’t have time to make snarky comments to them.” He glanced back to see the remaining IceWings out of the corner of his eyes, running back towards the two from Jambu’s distraction. “Alright, looks like their hospitality has ended. Into the tunnel!”
Deathbringer scrambled after Jambu into the tunnel, the IceWings running after the two. “Faster!” Deathbringer yelled, yelping as the IceWing in the front let out a blast of frostbreath, chilling his tail even though it fell short. He took a look back as he ran, to see that the IceWings had filed in one-by-one, grabbing ahold of spears and other weapons. Deathbringer’s heart raced as he saw the moonlit exit of the tunnel in front of him, scales still shaking. How long had it been since he’d done something like this?
Jambu and Deathbringer burst out into the Sand Kingdom, running out onto a platform, the tunnel in a dune behind them. A large group of surprised-looking SandWings stared at them from the edges of the platform, grabbing ahold of spears in confusion.
“We’re friendly!” Jambu yelled out as he rushed towards the SandWings. “Don’t attack!”
Deathbringer paused for a moment, staring at the SandWings, the shadow of the palace in the background. Whose soldiers were these? Sunny’s, or Aloe’s?
Another hissed sounded from behind Deathbringer, and he made his choice, leaping forward after Jambu. “We surrender!” he said as an IceWing snapped at his tail. Even if these were Aloe’s guards, he would prefer to be her prisoner than Blackice’s.
As soon as Deathbringer squirmed past the front line of SandWings, they lowered their spears in unison, pointing them towards the end of the tunnel. The first IceWing ran out, before suddenly stopping himself, almost running himself into a spear. The SandWing holding it growled, baring her fangs as she prodded it, the IceWing soldier taking a careful step back as the IceWing behind him ran into him, the spear almost puncturing his scales.
“Stop!” the IceWing in front yelled out as he walked back towards the exit, the circle of SandWings closing in on the intruders. He caught his breath, and bared his fangs at the SandWings.
“Those dragons intruded on our territory,” he hissed, pointing a talon to Deathbringer and Jambu. “They killed two of our guards. Give them over.”
The SandWing holding the spear up to his neck snorted. “Really?” she asked bitterly. “I didn’t realize that RainWings were no longer allowed in the rainforest.” She glanced down to the sandstone platform, and suddenly jabbed her spear at the one of the IceWing’s forelegs. He let out a squeal and stepped back, a trickle of blue blood running down his scales.
“As a matter of fact, I think that you’re intruding on Queen Sunny’s territory,” the SandWing continued. “I’d advise you to leave right now, if you don’t want trouble.”
The IceWing narrowed his gaze. Finally, he turned, pushing the soldier behind him back towards the tunnel as he whipped his tail around, almost hitting the SandWing’s snout with his spikes. “Fine,” he growled. “This isn’t over. Queen Blackice will hear about this.”
“About you intruding on our territory?” the SandWing asked. “I sure hope so. I would think she’d want to discipline her soldiers for such a horrible incursion.”
Deathbringer breathed a sigh of relief. They’d gotten through, and these were their allies.
“Nah nah nah nah,” Jambu taunted as the IceWings went back into the tunnel. “You can’t catch us, and now you’re gonna get in trouble!”
Deathbringer smiled. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless. “Thanks for the help,” he said to the SandWing, lowering her spear as she turned towards them. “Although we may need an escort on the way back. I doubt they’ll let us through again so easily. Can you take us to General Six-Claws? We need to speak with him immediately.”
“Of course, your majesty,” the SandWing replied, bowing her head. She looked over at the guard next to her, his spear still diligently pointed towards the tunnel. “Please, escort King Deathbringer and Prince Jambu to General Six-Claws.”
== Chapter 27 ==
Inferno awoke to a blast of cold wind, roaring in her ears as the sight of a grey sky greeted her eyes. Was she flying? The SkyWing looked down, wondering where the ground was, then down, and down, and down.
A horrible clenching feeling rose up through her belly as realized where she was, a place her mother had only told her about. Far beneath her, her gaze landed on Queen Scarlet’s sandy arena, empty except for a glittering metal statue. She felt dizzy for a moment, almost stumbling off the thin platform of stone, before something caught ahold of her legs. A warm ring of stone circled around each of the SkyWing’s legs and her tail like shackles, fused to the spire beneath her. Another similar ring enclosed her entire body, keeping her wings from extending, while a final ring was wrapped around her snout, visible from the bottom corner of her eyes.
As her attention was drawn to her paws, she suddenly winced, gritting her teeth as a sharp pain appeared through each of them where they’d been spiked. She looked down at one of her paws to see cracked scales and a large circular scar on it.
“They won’t get infected. I healed them as much as I could without being able to touch you.”
Inferno turned her head around as well as she could in her restraints to see Aurora, flying in place a few tail-lengths away from the spire. The SkyWing tried to say something, before remembering the stone ring around her mouth, her words only coming out as loud grunts.
Aurora frowned. Who was it trying to speak to her? Inferno, or Ash? She slowly raised her claws, a large spike of stone extending from one of them. Inferno grimaced as the spike reached her head, prodding the muzzle. Immediately, the stone ring dissipated into water, fizzling away as it splashed Inferno’s snout.
“Speak,” Aurora ordered, still holding her spike out, prodding Inferno with it.
“What are you going to do with me?” Inferno whimpered, looking down at the arena again. “You’re not going to make me fight there, are you? I won’t do it.”
“That’s up to Queen Scarlet now, not me,” Aurora stated coldly.
Inferno shook her head. “No, please,” she gulped. “Don’t leave me in Queen Scarlet’s claws.” Was she really at the mercy of Queen Scarlet, to be put in her arena, after hating Peril for what she did there for so long?
“I won’t let Queen Scarlet kill you—” Aurora replied.
“Oh,” Inferno said. Did that mean Aurora was going to protect her? “Thank you.”
“—because if you die, the spirit inside you could get free,” the hybrid continued. “However, whatever else Queen Scarlet does is irrelevant.”
“Ash,” Inferno frowned. “His name is Ash.”
“Yes, I know who he is,” Aurora said blankly, as if it was obvious. “Hence why I’m not letting Queen Scarlet kill you.”
“How do you know about Ash?” Inferno asked. “It’s not like you could have ever met him.” She paused for a moment, as a tense feeling gripped her neck, her jaw and vocal chords starting to move on their own. Not now! she thought intensely, trying to get the message to Ash. I’m trying to talk to her!
The grip didn’t subside, and Inferno’s wings and shoulders tensed up, her head whipping to the side. “H-he wants to talk to you,” Inferno sputtered out, barely able to get the words out as Ash took control of her head and neck.
Aurora narrowed her gaze, bringing the spike on her claws up against Inferno’s snout, accidentally poking it as Inferno’s head thrashed back and forth. A small trickle of blood ran down Inferno’s chin as she stared into Aurora.
“I don’t know what Calamity said about me,” Inferno spoke, the tone in her voice suddenly grim and calm as Ash spoke through her, “but I’m not—”
Ash was cut off as Aurora poked the spike against Inferno’s head, a new ring of stone quickly growing around her snout. It tightened, forcing Inferno’s jaws closed.
“You’re not part of the plan,” Aurora growled, speaking directly to Ash as she brought the spike back. “I don’t know how or why you’re here, but I won’t let you get in our way.”
Inferno tried to say something as Aurora turned, the SkyWing’s voice muffled. Without another word, Aurora glided back towards the palace. The hybrid frowned. She was already having enough difficulties working with Queen Scarlet. What did it mean, Ash being here? Did Calamity know, and just not tell her because he wasn’t important? Or was something wrong?
Aurora looked down at her paw as the spike on her claw crumbled into dust. She opened it, taking a moment to stare at the glittering dark-purple stone within, flecks of melted silver on its surface. Inferno’s Darkstone. Aurora’s own Darkstone swung back and forth on her neck from the wind. She thought that she remembered Calamity saying something about the second one ending up with him, but instead, it was here, and now Aurora had both. Should she fuse them both together? Or destroy Inferno’s? Or try and get it to the Crystal Caverns? Or her memory wrong? Why hadn’t Calamity told her what to do?
Aurora reached the outside of Queen Scarlet’s throne-room, phasing through the walls, barely slowing down. Two SkyWings standing in front of the throne let out shrill screams as Aurora came gliding at them, while Queen Scarlet herself let out a yelp as she jumped, almost falling from the top of her throne. Ignoring them, Aurora landed, chainlinks clinking as she landed on the gold-embedded floor.
“Your majesty, I’ve returned,” Aurora bluntly said, remorselessly interrupting whatever conversation the two SkyWings had been having with their queen.
Queen Scarlet put her claws over her chest, catching her breath after being spooked. She took a deep breath, before glaring down at Aurora. “I thought I told you not to do that.”
“I succeeded on the mission you gave me,” Aurora said, ignoring the reprimand as the two SkyWings backed away. A familiar metal box rested on the throne, within Scarlet’s reach. So she had decided to keep the Eye of Amethyst by her side. “The fireborn Inferno is currently imprisoned above the arena. She should be secure as long as you don’t let any stonemasons near her.”
“Ah, so I heard,” Queen Scarlet replied, turning her head so that Aurora could only see its unscarred left side.
“Then you consider my loyalty re-proven?” Aurora asked. “I’m reinstated as your advisor?”
Queen Scarlet frowned, pausing for a moment as she considered this. Aurora front lip moved back, baring her fangs just a tad, glowstripes lighting up. Calamity had told her to be Queen Scarlet’s advisor, but hadn’t told her exactly how to do it. If force was required, so be it. Queen Scarlet wouldn’t want the left side of her face as scarred as her right.
“Fine,” Queen Scarlet finally answered, unaware of the hidden threat behind Aurora’s query. “You’re my advisor again.”
“Then I’d advise you neither to free or kill Inferno,” Aurora quickly said. “That includes freeing her temporarily in order to fight in the arena. Don’t let any dragon lay a claw on her. I’m worried something terrible will happen if you do. Leave her care to me. Give me time to investigate.”
Queen Scarlet was silent for a moment, tapping her claws on the stone clouds of her throne. “Alright,” she agreed.
Aurora blinked. Had Queen Scarlet actually taken her advice, without any pushback or groaning? That was a first.
“Fireborns are dangerous,” Queen Scarlet grumbled, as if explaining herself. “Awfully fickle. And have an irritating habit of thinking for themselves when you don’t want them to. Not like you; you’re rude and rebellious, but at least you’re clear about what you want.”
Aurora stared. What was that supposed to mean? She didn’t think for herself? A few weeks earlier, she would have just ignored the insult, but something in it seemed to jab at her now. She’d been relying on Calamity’s orders, and had thought they’d been clear, but with Ash, she had no idea what she was supposed to do. What would lead to the correct outcome?
The sparkle of Inferno’s Darkstone caught Aurora’s eyes again. She was supposed to give the Darkstone to Queen Scarlet, but which one? She’d thought that Calamity had meant her own, but now she didn’t know. The two were the same, weren’t they? No matter which one she gave up, she’d have one, and Queen Scarlet would have one. Was she supposed to have one? Was this the right time to give it up? Would she need to use animus magic again, in the future? Would she be able to use animus magic even without the Darkstone, now that she’d worn it for so long? How could she make a decision without the advice of a dragon who already knew what the future held?
“Well?” Queen Scarlet grumbled, seeing Aurora freeze up. “Is that it? No more advice for me?”
“No, something else,” Aurora replied, heart racing as she extended her front paw out, the hemispherical scar on her neck burning. Maybe Queen Scarlet was right. She had to think for herself. “I have a gift for you.”
Queen Scarlet peered down from her throne as Aurora opened her talons, presenting the Darkstone to her. She bent her head to Aurora’s claws, giving it a sniff before plucking it from Aurora’s paw with two of her talons.
“I haven’t seen a gem like this before,” Scarlet said as she lifted it up to her left eye, curiously rolling it back and forth as she stared into it, a speck of light glinting from its center. “What is it? Is it animus-touched?”
“It’s better than that,” Aurora said. Had this been the right choice? “Queen Glacier spent a lifetime making it, before it was stolen from her.”
“Queen Glacier,” Scarlet mused with a smile, amused at the prospect of having something stolen from one of her ex-rivals. She tilted her head down to Aurora, staring at her neck. “It matches the one on your necklace. Hmm, I’m not sure. I think the color goes better with blue and silver than gold and scarlet.”
Aurora opened her mouth, about to remark that Queen Scarlet was in fact orange, and not scarlet, but thought better of it. “It’s not animus-touched,” she said instead, “but it gives its wearer the power of animus magic.”
Queen Scarlet’s eyes opened wide, grinning covetously as she brought the Darkstone close to her. The SkyWing guards who’d overheard the conversation stared at Aurora, terror in their gaze as their queen let out a cackle, clutching her talons tight.
Aurora stayed silent. What would Queen Scarlet do with animus magic? From what she knew of the SkyWing queen, terrible things. Had this been the right choice? Aurora shut her eyes. Calamity knew the future, and this is what he’d told her to do. Whatever Queen Scarlet did, it had to be better than the alternative. Aurora didn’t even know if Queen Scarlet would have a chance to use animus magic. Had Calamity wanted Aurora to heal Scarlet, or just let the SkyWing queen succumb to the Darkstone’s poison and die? There didn’t seem like much point in giving Scarlet a Darkstone if it was just to kill her, Aurora could have done that far more easily. Yet, wouldn’t Calamity have told her if he wanted her to heal Scarlet? She gritted her teeth. Yet another choice she had to make.
“Will it only give me animus powers, or will it affect my egg too?” Queen Scarlet suddenly asked.
“Egg?” Aurora asked, confused. She hadn’t heard anything about an egg.
“Yes, egg,” Queen Scarlet sighed. “What did you think I meant? I learned I was with egg while you were gone. I need a new heir after the disaster that was Tourmaline, so we had a small arena spectacular to celebrate, with a fun new obstacle, thanks to you.”
Aurora grimaced, mildly disgusted. Something seemed wrong about giving animus magic to a queen who thought murder was a celebration, but she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind.
“A shame you had to miss it,” Scarlet tsked. “It took almost a dozen SkyWings to bring General Cyclone down. Ex-General now, I suppose.”
Aurora froze up, clenching her talons. Queen Scarlet had Cyclone killed?
“You look less happy than I expected,” Scarlet taunted, looking down at Aurora with a bored expression. “She’s the one who framed you in the first place. Are you annoyed you couldn’t see her die yourself?”
Aurora took a deep breath. Queen Scarlet was right. Cyclone hadn’t been anything close to a friend. She’d been nice to Aurora, but that was only to betray her and serve her own ends. Aurora hadn’t meant for her to die, but Cyclone had known the risks of what she’d done. Regardless, her death was immaterial. It wasn’t part of the plan.
“I don’t care,” Aurora grumbled. She turned away from Scarlet, walking towards the back wall of the throne room, ready to leave. She’d said and done all she’d needed to, for now.
“What, you’re not going to at least congratulate me on my egg?” Queen Scarlet growled. “It’s traditional for my subjects to do that, you know.”
Aurora’s tail twitched with her talons. She wasn’t Queen Scarlet’s subject, and she didn’t see why Queen Scarlet having another dragonet was something to congratulate her on. Still, she’d had enough conflict with the SkyWing queen for today.
“Fine,” Aurora muttered reluctantly, glaring at the queen’s good eye. “I’m quite glad that you managed to get with egg. That must have been quite the feat.”
Queen Scarlet frowned, not quite sure if that was a compliment or an insult. “I’m considering naming her something like Amethyst. After the Eye of Amethyst. It feels appropriate, doesn’t it? A good-sounding name, too.”
“Is it because she won’t be purple?” Aurora asked.
Scarlet gave Aurora a strange look as the hybrid turned back, walking through the throne-room walls without another word. She had far more important things on her mind than Queen Scarlet’s dragonet. Right now, she needed to figure out what to do about Ash. What would Calamity have told me? she wondered as she spread her wings.
== Chapter 28 ==
“You did what?”
“It was just a simple exchange of information,” Tiger replied, rolling her eyes at Skytaker. “She asked me some stuff about NightWing powers and animuses, and in return, I learned about most of her plan.”
“So now she knows about the only dragons on Pyrrhia who could potentially stop her,” Skytaker muttered. “And what do we get in return?”
“A lot!” Tiger exclaimed. Ermine peered over the bed, curious to hear what Tiger was going to say. “First off, I know how she did what she did to Antigonia. She used an animus artifact called the Wishstone, that lets her do anything.”
“Animus magic that lets you do anything?” Ermine whispered, eyes wide open. “You can do that? I wonder why we never got any IceWing Gifts like that.”
“Probably because whoever made it would’ve lost their entire soul,” Skytaker remarked. “They’d have been like, ten times worse than Albatross, Darkstalker, and Fen combined. A thousand times worse. And if that artifact got into the wrong dragon’s talons, say, a RainWing with a penchant for authoritarianism . . .”
“She doesn’t have it anymore,” Tiger continued. “Trustbreaker stole it. The Antigonian version of the dragon called Duskwind we saw her kill. But now I’m sure that’s why she’s going to Pyrrhia. She thinks the Wishstone is there, and she wants to get it back.”
“That explains the troop positions,” Skytaker reasoned out. “She’s not aiming for a conquest of Pyrrhia. She thinks the Wishstone and Trustbreaker are somewhere in the Sky Kingdom, so she’s focusing there.”
Tiger nodded. “She doesn’t need to wage a war against the entire continent to take it over, all she has to do is find the Wishstone. Which means all we have to do is stop her is finding it first.”
Skytaker snorted, shaking their head. “Which is why you shouldn’t have traded information with her. Even if you’re right, and she wasn’t lying about this whole thing, the only reason you would’ve said this is because she doesn’t think we’re a threat.”
“Maybe, but we can be a threat. We’re in a better position than we were before,” Tiger replied.
Ermine clutched his claws against the wooden end of the bed, talons screeching as they raked across the wood. “Not if we can’t escape this palace,” he sighed. “And now the Empress knows about our animuses.”
“Only the ones I knew about,” Tiger replied. The black stripes on her scales started to shift to the same orange as the rest of her scales. Why didn’t Ermine and Skytaker understand how important getting this information was? “Anyways, I don’t think what I told her was very useful. All I said really was that the NightWings have powers and that there are a couple animuses at Jade Mountain. She mentioned finding another one, so I think she has some way to look for them anyways. Besides, now we know that she’s worried about animus magic on Pyrrhia.”
“Still useless unless we can get back to Pyrrhia and warn someone in time,” Skytaker grumbled. “How long until she leaves?”
Tiger winced. “Er, around now. She’s likely gone already. I don’t think we’re going to make it to Pyrrhia before she does.”
“Hooray,” Skytaker sarcastically muttered. “Now our one way of getting back to Pyrrhia is gone.”
Ermine thought for a moment, tapping a talon against the wood. “Hey, if she’s gone, does that mean that we can escape?”
“She’s bound to still have guards keeping us from leaving the palace,” Tiger replied. “And she said that Glory is going to keep watch over the three of us.”
“Keeping watch,” Skytaker repeated. The hybrid’s eyes suddenly lit up, and they raised their head, earring jingling. “Hey, if Liliana’s in Pyrrhia, that means she can’t stop us from using the Obscura, right? She’ll know we’re using it, but it’s not like she’ll come all the way back here just to scold us.”
“Unless she put some horrible spell on it to keep us from using it,” Ermine whimpered. “And we’ll be cursed if we try.”
Tiger shook her head. “She’s not an animus. I think she just has a bunch of enchantments on herself and animus-touched objects like the Obscura. And she can’t change any of that unless she gets the Wishstone.”
Ermine shrugged his wings, still skeptical. “Alright, but I call not being the one to test it out.”
Tiger walked over to the door, and placed her talons around the handle. It easily opened, and she breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn’t been locked in here.
“Then the throne room it is,” Skytaker commented.
Something about the palace seemed quieter than normal as the three travelled up to the throne room, but Skytaker couldn’t put their talon quite on what it was. Was it that the Empress had left, along with her army. Or was the palace itself waiting in anticipation for something?
The three dragonets came up the carpet to the throne room, Tiger spreading her wings out as she felt sunlight hit her scales through the warmth of the palace. She hadn’t used the Obscura, but she’d come up here on a few days when the Empress hadn’t been around, just to enjoy the sunlight and plants while she basked. She scanned over the throne room, her eyes landing on the Obscura. The huge image of a muzzled black dragon stretched across the orb’s surface, slowly moving. Tiger froze up as she saw the grey scales of a RainWing next to it, her paw pressed up against it.
“Someone’s there,” Tiger hissed, backing up towards the stairs. The odd-scale color made it difficult to figure out who it was, but she was quick to recognize Glory’s shape. She pushed Skytaker back, accidentally causing them to bump Ermine. Ermine let out a yelp as he tripped over the stair, sliding down a few.
Glory suddenly turned her head, backing off from the Obscura as color rose back up through her scales. She frowned as she saw the three dragonets, trying to back away. “Oh. It’s you. The Empress put me in charge of Antigonia while she was gone. Also, to keep an eye on three of you.”
“Yeah, that’s why we’re here, to help you keep an eye on us easier,” Skytaker quickly said.
Glory snorted. “Fine. I’m not one for dragonet-sitting anyways.”
Tiger looked back up at the Obscura again, the image having gone blank. She’d only seen him for a moment, but she knew the dragon on the image well. “You remember Deathbringer? He was your mate.”
“He still is my mate,” Glory replied, giving Tiger a strange look. “If you’re trying to do what you did to Mangrove on me, don’t bother. The Empress has already told me about my past.”
Tiger walked up to the Obscura, Skytaker and Ermine following behind her. Glory knew about her life before the Empress, but still chose to work with her? That had to be wrong.
“If you try and escape again, I won’t treat you as kindly as Liliana did,” Glory warned, turning back to the Obscura. “You’ll end up in the dungeons.”
Glory stiffened up as she touched the glass orb, the color draining out from her scales. A distorted Deathbringer appeared back on the screen.
“Can you take his muzzle off?” a voice asked. The image shifted, as a few more dragons came back into view, revealing the speaking dragon. A young adult with dusty scales and tattoos of animal heads on her neck, and a three silver moons hanging from one of her ears. “I want to ask him questions.”
“Sure,” another dragon said, a handsome black dragon with a line of long black spines running down between his horns. He glared at Deathbringer. “Don’t try anything funny.”
“Are you worried about him?” Ermine suddenly asked, the image going blurry, sounds becoming muted.
Glory turned to the young IceWing, a hint of green appearing her grey scales. “No,” she lied, her scales betraying her feelings. “He’s gotten out of trickier situations before.”
“Who were those dragons?” Skytaker asked, squinting as they stared at the Obscura, trying to make them out. “The brown one was a hybrid, right? The other one too, maybe.”
Glory sighed, pockets of orange appearing across her grey back. “I don’t know the brown one. The black one is an annoying pest, the leader of the so-called rebellion. Now shush.”
She turned back to the Obscura, trying to concentrate. The greens and oranges on her scales disappeared, and the image became clear again.
“I’m not going to answer your questions,” Deathbringer growled, his voice reverberating throughout the entire greenhouse. “Nothing you can do will make me talk.”
Suddenly, claws flashed across the orb, Tiger jumping back at the surprise. The black dragon’s paw slammed across Deathbringer’s snout, causing him to let out a yelp. When he lifted his head back up, blood dripped from three gashes across his face.
Glory’s talons clenched up, her body turning as red as Deathbringer’s blood. She backed away from the Obscura, seething as the image disappeared. The dragonets took a step away from her as she glared, sharp fangs bared.
“I’ve see enough,” Glory hissed. “I don’t know why the Empress hasn’t gotten rid of the rebels already.”
“You know, if you’re in charge of Antigonia while the Empress is gone, couldn’t you just do it yourself?” Skytaker slyly suggested.
Tiger and Ermine exchanged a glance. What was Skytaker trying to get out of this? Even if Glory was gone, it’s not like they could get back to Pyrrhia.
Glory paused for a moment, thinking. “That’s a surprisingly good idea,” she acknowledged. “We have some reserve troops here. I’ll get them rallied.”
Skytaker smirked as Glory started to walk back towards the stairwell. “Good luck!” they called out.
“Thank you!” Glory replied sarcastically. “Even if I know that you’re just trying to get me out of the palace so you can escape, I appreciate the sentiment. There will still be guards here, and even if you did leave, I’d just find you again, so it’s pointless.”
“Don’t worry, I know!” Skytaker called back as Glory walked down the stairs. As soon as she was gone, they turned back towards the Obscura. “Tiger, can you look at Deathbringer again? I want to see that brown hybrid again.”
“Maybe there are just more hybrids on Antigonia,” Tiger suggested. “It would make sense, since there aren’t any separate kingdoms if everyone is under the Empress’s rule.”
Skytaker shook their head. “No. Not that, her earring. I wanted to make sure I saw it right.”
“If you say so,” Tiger sighed. She took a deep breath as she pressed her claws up against the Obscura, thinking of Deathbringer. Almost immediately, she froze up, orange and black scales changing to grey as Deathbringer once again appeared on the orb.
“There, see!” Skytaker said, pointing at the hybrid. “Look at her earring. Three moons!”
“What is it?” Ermine asked, confused for a second. “Oh,” he replied, as he realized it. “Yeah. Three moons.”
“Antigonia has four moons,” Skytaker pointed out. “So why would a dragon have an earring with only three on it?”
“One fell off?” Ermine suggested.
“Or, they’re from Pyrrhia,” Skytaker said, huffing. “They must have gotten to Antigonia somehow, just like us. What if they know a way back?”
Ermine’s eyes opened wide. “Wait, what happens when Glory finds them?”
“She’ll bring them back here,” Tiger replied.
“I know,” Skytaker smirked. “Genius, right? I think we might have found our way out.”
“I’m not going to let the Empress hurt Pyrrhia,” another voice from the Obscura said. Skytaker and Ermine looked up as Tiger shifted the focus, and another dragon came into view. A large dragon with dark-blue scales stepped up next to the sandy-brown hybrid, with straight horns and webbing on her paws. Tiger let out a small gasp.
“Another hybrid?” Ermine asked.
“A NightWing-SeaWing,” Skytaker remarked. “There can’t be that many of those in Pyrrhia.”
“There was that one who visited with Polar,” Ermine replied.
“Hey, Tiger, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Skytaker questioned. “Did Toxin mention her?”
Tiger nodded as the image on the Obscura faded. “Ink’s sister.”
Skytaker grinned smugly, raising their crimson head. “I promised I’d get us out of here, right?” they said. “Well, now our greatest hope is coming right to us.”
== Chapter 29 ==
Familiar hills spread out beneath Deathbringer and Jambu as they flew north, into the cold wastelands on the Ice Kingdom/Sand Kingdom border. Deathbringer hadn’t come here often. Other than a few old IceWing monuments and mines, there was little in this area unless he wanted to go north, into the Ice Kingdom itself. And with the Great Ice Cliff in the way, there was no point in doing that unless he wanted a ice spear through his neck.
A cold wind bristled against Deathbringer’s scales, the NightWing shivering. The talks with General Six-Claws had gone well, and he understood the urgency. They’d hopefully have help from him getting back through the tunnel. Even Queen Blackice wouldn’t want to start a war with Queen Sunny’s army, would she?
“Hey, look,” Jambu called out, pointing a talon down.
Deathbringer followed the RainWing’s gaze to a small platform at the base of a small cliff. “What is it?”
“Don’t you remember?” Jambu asked. “That’s where we stayed the night when we went to the Ice Kingdom. Me, Glory, and the rest of the Dragonets. You didn’t sleep there. But you came and attacked Princess Blaze.”
Deathbringer looked behind him as the two flew past the empty landmark. From the different perspective, he could see that Jambu was right. Which meant that they were on the right track. The IceWing fortress ahead was where he’d first met Glory, three years ago. Which meant that whoever was trying to contact them was probably there.
“She’s really gone,” Jambu spoke solemnly, his words disappearing into the wind. “I keep expecting her to come back from just having been playing a really long hide-and-seek. But she’s not coming back, is she?”
“She isn’t,” Deathbringer replied. He opened his mouth to say something again, but quickly closed it. What else was there to say?
“Things haven’t been so good without her,” Jambu sighed.
“Yeah,” Deathbringer spoke. She hadn’t just been his mate. She’d been the core of their team. Even in her absence from Jade Mountain, the Dragonets of Destiny had relied on her as much as Deathbringer and Jambu had. Queen Blackice probably didn’t know it, but killing Glory was probably the best tactical move she could’ve made. Without her, they were broken.
Eventually, the two came up on the fortress, sitting amidst the ice like a huge stone turtle, its shell impenetrable. No smoke rose up from its chimneys. Was it empty? As Deathbringer and Jambu circled around it, Deathbringer suddenly spotted movement along the snowbanks built up on its outside.
“Quick, get down!” he hissed at Jambu. “IceWings!”
Jambu’s scales shifted to the grey of the sky as he followed Deathbringer down to the surface, landing behind a tuft of snow. Deathbringer held his breath for a few moments, claws on his weapons pouch, shivering as cold snow crept between his talons.
Jambu’s snout, now as white as the snow around around him, peered around the corner of the snowpile. “I don’t think they saw us,” he whispered. “They’re just standing there. They’re guarding the door.”
Deathbringer winced. He hadn’t seen any dragons other than those two. Were their potential allies wanting them to meet inside the fortress? He hadn’t seen anyone outside it. “We should try what we did in the rainforest again,” Deathbringer suggested, opening up his weapons pouch to grab a dart-gun. “Distract them and sneak in while they’re not looking.”
Deathbringer paused for a moment. “Jambu?” he asked, unsure why the RainWing hadn’t responded. He glanced over towards the prince, no longer able to see him. Camouflaged? “You’re still there, right?”
No reply. Deathbringer grimaced as he peered around the corner, seeing a white Jambu walking out towards the front of the fortress, disguised as an IceWing. This wasn’t good.
“Hello, fellow IceWings!” Jambu shouted out as he walked up to the two guards, a bit too cheerfully. The huge stone fortress loomed over him, dwarving the pale-white RainWing as he stepped in front of the doors. The IceWing guards narrowed their gaze, crossing their spears over the entrance. “How are you doing today?”
The two IceWings looked at each other, unsure who this strange IceWing was, and why he was here. “Did Queen Blackice send you here?” one asked.
Jambu thought for a moment, Deathbringer tensing up, not knowing what Jambu would say. If he gave them away, this entire mission would be in jeopardy. Deathbringer raised his dart gun, ready to fire.
“Yeah, she did,” Jambu lied. “Routine checkup. Need to make sure you have enough fish.”
The guards fidgeted uncomfortably. Deathbringer winced. They weren’t buying it.
“She’s a really good queen, isn’t she?” Jambu quickly remarked. “A great queen.”
“Um, yes,” one of the guards replied gruffly. “The best queen we’ve ever had.”
The other guard let out a sigh. “I’ll need your name,” she said. “I’ll get Hemlock to see you in.”
“My name?” Jambu asked, thinking for a moment. “Oh. Yes. I’m Penguin.”
“Penguin,” the second guard said, eyeing him suspiciously. “Alright.” She quickly opened the door, the end of her tail disappearing as she closed it.
The other guard immediately shuffled to take her place, his spear out as he blocked the door, staring uncomfortably down at Jambu. “So, er, Penguin,” he said. “It’s, um, really great that Blackice got us in another war, isn’t it? I’d just been so bored since the War of SandWing Succession ended.”
“Yeah, really great!” Jambu replied, gritting his teeth while trying to use his cheery voice. “I really just love how she killed Queen Glory, since she was the best si-RainWing queen ever. Not that I liked her. I’m evil, so of course I’m really happy about that.”
The guard stared at Jambu for a moment. Deathbringer slapped his talons to his face. This really wasn’t going well.
“Ah, yes,” the guard agreed. “Yes. We’re all evil and murderous here, right? Very much so.”
The guard yelped and jumped to the side as the doors suddenly swung open behind him. The other guard stepped out of the fortress, followed by another dragon, a large IceWing with piercing eyes and four silver circles hanging down from her neck. She squinted as she stared down at Jambu, the RainWing shuffling back as she examined him.
“You can drop the act,” she growled, glaring at the guards. “This is one of our guests.”
“Oh, thank the Great Ice Dragon,” the guard who’d remained outside said in relief. “I didn’t think I could keep that up for much longer.”
The IceWing with the Fourth Circle necklace took another step forward, and bowed her head to the snow. “You’re free to show yourself, Prince Jambu. I’m Hemlock, warden of this fortress.”
“Oh,” Jambu said, slightly disappointed that his disguise had been seen through. “Um, thank you.” Jambu shook his tail, and a familiar pink flooded his white scales, until he stuck out like a strawberry in a snowfield.
“I’m glad you were able to come on such short notice,” Hemlock said, finally raising her head back up. “We weren’t sure if our message reached you. The IceWings of this fortress are enemies of Queen Blackice, and we’re looking for RainWing and NightWing help to take her down.”
“But we were looking for your help,” Jambu frowned. “I hope that’s not a problem.”
“I also hope it isn’t,” Hemlock nodded. “Are you the only one here? We were expecting more of your leadership.”
“He’s not the only one,” Deathbringer said as he cautiously stepped out from behind the snow, dart gun in his paw. He glanced around the area. He hadn’t spotted anyone but the three IceWings at the front so far, but he couldn’t be sure. What if there were IceWings under the snow, waiting to capture them? “I’m with him too, though we didn’t have time to invite Greatness or Grandeur.”
“That’s probably for the best,” Hemlock replied, offering a quick bow to Deathbringer. “Bringing all your leaders here could’ve been a disaster if Blackice found out about this meeting.”
Deathbringer clenched the dart gun in his claws, wary. They hadn’t been attacked yet, but he still didn’t trust that this wasn’t one of Blackice’s tricks.
“How did you realize I was a RainWing?” Jambu asked curiously. “I thought my IceWing disguise was pretty good.”
Hemlock smiled. “I was here with Princess Blaze when you and Queen Glory visited us three years ago. I didn’t know at the time, but word eventually got around.” She raised up her Fourth Circle necklace, almost with pride. “This fortress has been commanded by me and my family for generations. Deathbringer, you’re the assassin that wounded Princess Blaze here, weren’t you?”
“I was,” Deathbringer cautiously replied. “We made up, eventually.”
Hemlock nodded. “I helped tend to her wounds. Not that it matters now. That’s all in the past; Blaze, Glacier, and Glory are all dead. I’m personally more interested in the future. Please, come inside.”
Jambu started to follow as Hemlock turned, before Deathbringer grabbed the edge of Jambu’s wings, pulling him back. “And how do we know we can trust you?” Deathbringer asked. “If this is Blackice’s trap, we’ll all be killed the moment we step inside.”
“You’re careful, aren’t you?” Hemlock asked, swishing her tail.
“Don’t pretend you’re surprised,” Deathbringer retorted.
Hemlock nodded, peeking behind Jambu and Deathbringer. Once she was satisfied that they weren’t being watched, she turned back to the door. “You can come on out now!” she called. “It’s safe.”
Deathbringer watched the doors curiously as Hemlock grinned back at them.
“Contrary to what Queen Blackice claimed,” Hemlock stated, “there were survivors of the attack on the palace.” She stepped aside and gestured her wing at the door, bowing again. “I present to you, Prince Hailstorm of the IceWings.”
A tall IceWing stepped out through the doorways, turning his head away from the sun as it shone down into his eyes, like he hadn’t seen it for a while. As he adjusted to it, he looked down towards Deathbringer and Jambu, bowing his head, his piercing blue eyes almost glowing in his skull. Unlike Hemlock, no silver circles hung from his barren neck.
“Wow,” Jambu whispered, eyes wide as he stared up at the IceWing prince’s silver scales, “he’s so shiny. Can we keep him?”
“No,” Deathbringer answered, returning a bow to Hailstorm in return. “Prince Hailstorm. I thought you were dead.”
“Everyone keeps doing that,” Hailstorm smiled, flicking his tail. “Please, come inside. Hemlock is on our side. We have much to discuss.”
Deathbringer nodded, finally lowering his dart gun. That explained the royal seal. This couldn’t be a trap. Prince Hailstorm had to hate Queen Blackice as much as he did — his family’s death was on her claws.
Deathbringer walked in through the doors of the fortress, Jambu following. The IceWing guards shut the doors behind them as they stepped into the fortress. Without the fires heating it, it seemed just as cold as the outside. Deathbringer glanced around as they walked through dim corridors. While there had been SandWing tapestries during Princess Blaze’s stay, they’d all been removed. Now, the decor was as cold and empty as the snow.
“He can keep me instead,” Jambu suggested to Deathbringer. “I wouldn’t mind.”
Deathbringer ignored Jambu as the four stepped into a chamber off the side of the corridor, a small room equally as barren as the rest of the fortress, barring a small stone table in the center. Hemlock gestured her wing towards it, she and Hailstorm taking positions at one side. Deathbringer sat across from them, his haunches resting on the cold floor.
“I want to make my intentions clear,” Deathbringer quickly opened. “In case you weren’t aware, Queen Moorhen has ordered the NightWings and RainWings to leave the Mud Kingdom. We’ll likely be travelling west, to Jade Mountain. With a group of our size, that means multiple days flying through neutral territory, and we’ll inevitably be attacked by Blackice. I’ve been training dragons, but it’s not enough. We came here because we were hoping you could provide military support.”
“We aren’t fully organized yet,” Hemlock admitted, “but Queen Blackice’s army lacks cohesion. There are plenty of soldiers and veterans from the previous war who are unhappy about their superiors being slaughtered, or being ordered into another war. Half of her troops are conscripted, and would turn on her in a moment if they were offered another option. Many still remember the Battle of Devil’s Eye, and why Blackice was exiled in the first place. Some don’t view her reign as legitimate. We’ve created a network that’s managed to evade Blackice’s eyes, with all her attention on the rainforest.”
“So you can get me a real army?” Deathbringer asked.
“We can put together an army,” Hemlock carefully replied. “But make no mistake, our forces are still weak compared to Blackice’s. And I’m not willing to send out IceWings just to be slaughtered for another kingdom. I want a victory.”
“You’re just going to let the NightWings die?” Jambu said, shocked as reds and orange seeped into his pink scales.
Hemlock paused. “Even if I’ve forgiven the NightWings for what they did, and would be more than happy to work with them to bring down Blackice, many IceWings, including potential troops, still harbor resentment. They won’t put their lives on the line for them.”
“Are you sure?” Hailstorm asked, uncertain of Hemlock’s claim. “Few commoners ever get to touch the Gifts other than the Great Ice Cliff. I think it’s mostly the aristocrats who care about the old Darkstalker feud. The aristocrats hate Blackice the most, but—”
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Hemlock calmly interrupted, glaring at Deathbringer. “You know what I mean. Rumors abound that the Night Kingdom prolonged the War of SandWing Succession to almost two decades. Many IceWings are willing to turn a blind eye to Blackice’s atrocities because they blame the NightWings for the deaths of their friends and family members. Some even say that it was a NightWing assassin who convinced Blackice to turn against Blaze’s SandWings at the Battle of Devil’s Eye. And the NightWing who’s the most culpable for the continuation of the war happens to be right here. Deathbringer, if more IceWings knew your history before becoming king, they’d want your head on a pike.”
“Did you just bring us here to berate me?” Deathbringer growled. “Even if the NightWings interfered to make the war longer, the IceWings and Queen Glacier were the ones who actually chose to fight it. And over what? A few slivers of useless land? That’s not my fault.” He clenched his claws, defending himself even as Hemlock’s words got to him. Yet, she was right, wasn’t she?
“Please, stop fighting!” Jambu squealed. “I thought the past was behind us, right? We need to focus on saving the NightWings and RainWings and fighting Blackice, not on blaming each other.”
“Prince Jambu is right,” Hailstorm said. “We can decide who is to be blamed for what after Blackice is toppled. Until then, it’s pointless.”
“I’m right?” Jambu replied, surprised Hailstorm had agreed with him. His scales blushed reddish tones in embarrassment.
Hailstorm smiled and nodded. “I think you might be the wisest of us all. It’s this sort of vengeful thinking that got us here in the first place.” The prince raised his head as he turned to Hemlock and Deathbringer. “I plan to reveal that I’m alive and actively working against Blackice once we’re ready to fight. I’m hoping that a royal family member leading the fight against my cousin will propel IceWings, commoners and aristocrats alike, into action. But Hemlock is right. We need an actual battle we can fight and win.”
Deathbringer frowned, thinking. He understood Hailstorm and Hemlock’s logic. They needed numbers, and more IceWings would fight if it was against Blackice rather than for the NightWings.
“I think I have a proposition that will satisfy all of us,” Deathbringer finally said. “If there’s a full-on battle, it has to be at Jade Mountain, where Greatness is. We have powerful assets there defending it — more NightWings who can fight, along with an animus and a fireborn.
“An animus?” Hemlock exclaimed, surprised.
“An animus won’t be enough,” Hailstorm pointed out. “Since Blackice took over the palace, she’ll have plenty of animus-touched artifacts of her own. Not all the Gifts are as peaceful as the Moon Globes, I’m afraid. Queen Glacier used them sparingly, but we have a number which were made for combat.”
“It’s possible we can counteract them,” Deathbringer replied. “Unless he’s moved, there’s a dragon with some sort of anti-animus artifact at Jade Mountain. Although he might be more trouble than he’s worth.”
“There’s also the captured NightWing scientist that Blackice has been using to create weapons, like the vials she used to burn the rainforest with,” Hemlock added.
“Alchemy,” Deathbringer said with a smile. “We know. Thing is, the NightWing who taught Alchemy everything he knows just happens to be residing at Jade Mountain, and last I heard, he was looking for a chance to redeem himself in front of his dragonet.”
“Mastermind?” Jambu frowned.
Deathbringer nodded. “So, how about it? If your IceWings can help safely get my dragons to Jade Mountain, we’ll be able to fight Blackice there.”
Hemlock smiled. “If we fight together and use all the resources at our disposal, we may be able to win. I think you’ve given us a bit of hope. I’m willing to put forward troops towards that. Hailstorm?”
“I’m in agreement,” Hailstorm replied, a hint of hesitation in his words, “but I’m not sure we’ll be able to get Blackice there, too. It’s too obvious a trap. The Black Prince closest to her, Hoarfrost, was one of the our greatest generals before his exile, and is really the brains behind everything she’s done. From the intel I’ve gathered, Blackice is rash and quick to act, while Hoarfrost manages to hold her back somewhat. He’ll caution her not to attack, and if she does, he might be able to turn her defeat into a stalemate, or even a win.” Hailstorm looked over towards Deathbringer. “We need him out of the way.”
Deathbringer frowned, before suddenly realizing what Hailstorm was asking. He let out a chuckle. “Well, I’m a little out of practice, but back in my day, I was the best at getting dragons out of the way. Even if I generally tried to avoid outright killing during my missions, I think I’m willing to make an exception for Hoarfrost.”
Hailstorm nodded. “I was hoping you would say that. I don’t like assassination, but against Blackice, it seems . . .”
“Only fair,” Jambu growled, the normally pink RainWing now tense, his scales a shade of red. “If you’re assassinating him, I want to join.”
Deathbringer looked over at the RainWing in surprise. “Are you sure?” he asked. “You understand we’re not going to be using sleeping darts, right? This is a mission to kill.”
Jambu seemed to shiver at the word kill. He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. “I know,” he replied. “But if Hoarfrost is Blackice’s brains, that means he’s the one behind the plan to kill Glory and burn the rainforest, right? I’ll let you do the killing, but I want to help however I can. ”
Deathbringer tapped his talons, concerned. He didn’t begrudge Jambu wanting to avenge his sister, but this could be dangerous. What if Jambu accidentally gave him away? What if Jambu got himself killed? Deathbringer didn’t want to put him in danger
“I promise I won’t be useless,” Jambu said. “I can camouflage and tree glide and back you up with sleeping darts. That’s something, right?”
“Yeah . . .” Deathbringer mused. He had been a lot of help getting through the tunnel. “Alright, sure. You can come with me.”
“Yay!” Jambu shouted, like a dragonet getting permission from a parent. “You won’t regret it! I’ll sneak behind all of the IceWings and pew pew pew, they’ll all fall before us!”
Hemlock gave the RainWing a strange look. “I’m glad you’ll have help,” she said to Deathbringer. “You might need it. Hoarfrost was last reported to be residing in the palace and taking care of Blackice’s affairs there.”
“Wasn’t it destroyed?” Deathbringer asked.
Hemlock nodded. “It was, but it’s grown back by now. One of the Gifts. Speaking of Gifts . . .” She reached into a small satchel at her side, and pulled out two bracelets, setting them down on the table. “. . . you’ll need these if you want to go to the palace. They’re enchanted to keep you warm while you’re inside the Ice Kingdom, and will let you over the Great Ice Cliff. Ironically, they’re called the Gift of Diplomacy.”
Jambu reached out to grab one, dangling it between his talons before tossing it over one of his front legs. “Oh wow!” he exclaimed. “I feel all warm now!”
“Please keep them safe, and bring them back,” Hemlock winced. “They’re very old and important to my family — they’ve been used for thousands of years to let dragons into the Ice Kingdom, from Blaze to Foeslayer, and even further back. My mother would rise up from the grave just to kill me if one got lost.”
“Thank you,” Deathbringer replied, putting the bracelet on, surprised as he felt warmth spread through his body. Jambu was right, these things did work well. That was reassuring. If they didn’t work, the two wouldn’t make it past the Great Ice Cliff alive. “We’ll make sure to keep them safe.”
“I’ll go along with you,” Hailstorm added. “You’ll need someone to guide you to the palace, and get you inside.”
“Are you sure?” Hemlock asked, concerned. “We need you safe. We can’t let Blackice discover you.”
“I’ll stay out of sight,” Hailstorm assured her.
“I’m going to get a personal tour of the Ice Kingdom from a prince!” Jambu exclaimed.
Hailstorm cocked his head, unsure why Jambu was so eager. “Aren’t you also a prince?”
“Ooh, that’s right!” Jambu replied, as if he’d forgotten. He grinned at Hailstorm. “This is the most excited I’ve ever been for an assassination!”
== Chapter 30 ==
“He’s the one who was after you, wasn’t he?” Darkstalker asked, already knowing the answer to the question. “It looks like he was pretty out of it, and practically let himself get captured.”
Midnight stepped forward, examining Deathbringer. The assassin’s eyes followed her as she walked around him, before taking a step back. The first time they’d captured him, he’d been asleep. Now, he could talk, and finally explain why he’d attacked Midnight. Not that she really needed an explanation anymore.
“Oh no,” Ecru suddenly exclaimed. “Look at his neck! He doesn’t have a tattoo!”
Midnight looked, and winced. The tattoo they’d seen on the assassin was gone. “Wait, are you saying—”
“He might be Pyrrhia Deathbringer,” Ecru suggested. “He must have come in after us.”
Midnight shook her head. “No, that can’t be it. We saw the portal close, right? And the only reason they managed to capture him was because of the sleeping dart.” A horrible thought crept into Midnight’s mind. What if the two Deathbringer’s had switched places, and the Deathbringer that had been darted was actually the Pyrrhian one? And evil Deathbringer was still on Pyrrhia, with Firefly?
“Can you take his muzzle off?” Ecru asked Darkstalker. “I want to ask him questions.”
“Sure,” Darkstalker replied, grabbing ahold of the muzzle. He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t try anything funny.”
Darkstalker pulled off the muzzle, and Deathbringer let out a cough, smacking his gums together as he whetted them with his forked tongue. “Thanks for that,” he said, stretching his jaws. “That was tiring.”
Ecru walked up in front of Deathbringer. “Alright. If you’re actually the Pyrrhian Deathbringer, then tell me, what did your dragonet say when she first met Midnight?”
Deathbringer blinked, and snorted. “What kind of question is that? How am I supposed to remember something that small?”
Ecru shook her head and sighed. “The real Deathbringer wouldn’t have forgotten that.”
Deathbringer bared his teeth, snarling. “You barely knew him.”
Ecru grinned smugly. “See? Now I know for sure you’re evil Deathbringer.”
Deathbringer spat at Ecru’s claws, glaring as he snorted contemptuously. A few of the other dragons started to gather around, watching the scene.
“You do realize I could have just told you that, right?” Darkstalker sighed. He picked the muzzle back up, ready to put it back on Deathbringer.
“And yet, you chose not to,” Midnight pointed out. “Wait. I have some things to ask him.” She squinted. Something seemed different about this Deathbringer. Less sad. “You seem angrier than the other Deathbringer,” she pointed out.
Deathbringer raised his head, glaring at Midnight. “I’m not angrier,” he scoffed. “Just more refined. I dropped the goofy, quippy assassin look years ago. Now I’m a hardened criminal, haunted by my horrible past and the terrible things I’ve done.”
“Huh,” Midnight replied, curious what made this one so different than the Pyrrhian one. “Was it because Glory died?”
Deathbringer jolted up, eyes wide, as if what Midnight said had struck a nerve. “Glory’s dead?” he asked, shocked. “What happened? Are you serious?”
“Last I heard, she’s still alive,” Wren shouted up at the dragons. “As far as I’m aware, she’s terrorizing Antigonia, as usual.”
“Oh,” Deathbringer said, relaxing. “I was worried for a second there.”
So they’re still together here, Midnight considered. Was it like that for a lot of dragons on Antigonia? Was there an Antigonian Midnight with Antigonian Ecru? Odd. “Who do you work for?” Midnight asked. “And why did you come to Pyrrhia to try and kill me. It was me you were after, right? Not Ecru?”
Deathbringer raised his head, and let out a chuckle, like he was in on a joke that Midnight didn’t get. “I’m not going to answer your questions,” he growled. “Nothing you can do will make me talk.”
Darkstalker suddenly raised his paw, and whacked it across Deathbringer’s snout. The NightWing let out a yelp as claws stuck him, tearing red gashes in his scales.
“You’re going to tell us what you know,” Darkstalker hissed. “Right now.”
Deathbringer gritted his teeth, raising his head. Blood dripped down the side of his snout. He flicked his tongue, licking a few drops of it as it neared his mouth, then let out a laugh, his voice echoing through the cavern.
“I’m not going to tell you anything,” Deathbringer spat. “I’ve experienced far worse than that. It’s why I’m so hardened and stoic now.”
The assassin let out another yelp as Darkstalker struck him again, tearing new gashes in his scales. The hybrid grabbed Deathbringer’s chin, baring his fangs as he brought his eyes just inches away from Deathbringer. “I promise you,” Darkstalker threatened, “you’re getting treated like royalty compared to what I could do to you.”
Midnight exchanged a worried glance with Ecru. This was the dragon who’d tried to kill them, but Midnight didn’t like the idea of torturing him. Especially with how similar he looked to the other Deathbringer.
Darkstalker released Deathbringer’s head, taking a step back. He grinned as he looked over at Midnight. “Wow, I’ve always wanted to interrogate someone like that. Anyways, I read his mind. He works for the Empress, and was ordered to hunt down animuses. You were just first on his list.”
“That’s not fair,” Deathbringer grumbled. “Mind-reading is cheating.”
“Yeah, well I don’t play by the rules,” Darkstalker remarked. He gave Midnight a worried expression. “Don’t give him any sympathy. Even if he doesn’t look like it, he’s one of the Empress’s most dangerous weapons. Capturing him is a huge gain.”
Midnight nodded. Still, what was the point of Darkstalker attacking him if he could just read Deathbringer’s mind. “Why is the Empress hunting animuses?” she asked Deathbringer.
Deathbringer tensed up as he saw Darkstalker raise his claws again. He let out a sigh. There wasn’t much point in trying to hide things from a mind-reader. “She doesn’t want interference in her plan.”
“And what’s her plan?” Midnight asked.
Deathbringer tilted his head back and forth, and shrugged his wings. “Dunno. She’s looking for something and someone in Pyrrhia, her old mate, Trustbreaker. I don’t have may details. I’m just an assassin. I was supposed to be priming Pyrrhia for her entrance by getting rid of the animuses, but you caused me a lot of trouble. Good going on that, by the way. I haven’t botched an assassination this badly in years. Although if you think about it, I’m the one who caught me.”
“Is the Empress planning to make Pyrrhia like Antigonia?” Midnight interrogated tersely.
Deathbringer smiled, flicking his tongue. “No,” he chuckled. “She’s going to make it better.”
Midnight tensed up her claws as she stepped back. This was about more than just her. Her entire world was in danger.
“I’m not excited to see what the Empress’s idea of better is,” Darkstalker commented. “Seeing how she screwed this world up so badly already.”
Midnight flicked her tail, sitting back on her haunches. “I’m not going to let the Empress hurt Pyrrhia.”
Deathbringer let out another laugh. “What, you think you’re going to stop her?” he smirked. “It’s already too late. You saw the light, didn’t you? By now, she’s already there.
The cavern seemed to go silent for a moment. Ecru placed her wing over Midnight, pulling her close for comfort. Was that it? Was there even a Pyrrhia left for the two hybrids to return to?
“Shut up,” Darkstalker growled, breaking the silence. The assassin let out another yelp as Darkstalker whacked him once more.
Midnight turned away, not wanting to watch anymore. “We’re doomed,” she whispered to Ecru, her wing still over Midnight as the two stepped away from Deathbringer, further into the busy cavern.
“We’re not doomed,” Ecru tried to reassure Midnight, even though her voice lacked confidence. “Deathbringer said the Empress is looking for something and someone, right? That means we have time to find our way back to Pyrrhia.”
A SkyWing dragonet swooped down above Midnight, quickly followed by an IceWing. She turned her head as wind brushed against her, leaning into Ecru. The two walked across the bottom floor of the cavern until they reached the other side, laying down next to a cold wall of stone.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Ecru asked, staring up into the great open cavern, a wooden walkway swinging a few dragon-heights above her head as a SeaWing walked across it.
“Huh?” Midnight replied. “What is?”
Ecru smiled, and stretched out a wing. “This place. A small pocket of peace and unity. See?” She pointed at one of the large ledges, where the SkyWing and IceWing had flown to. Two scavengers were trying to throw some sort of object back and forth, while the dragons tried to grab it mid-air. “They’re playing together. All of them. I’ve never seen anything like that on Pyrrhia, even in Crosswinds.”
“Are you trying to cheer me up by saying it wouldn’t be so bad if the Empress took over Pyrrhia?” Midnight asked.
Ecru lightly whacked Midnight with her wing. “No, silly,” she scolded. “I’m just saying that maybe there’s hope for Pyrrhia. One day, we could have a place like this there.”
Midnight grabbed Ecru’s wing, playfully pulling her close. “That’s what Sunny — Queen Sunny was trying to do, isn’t it? With Jade Mountain and all. Except why do you think everyone’s living in harmony here? It’s because they’re all scared of the Empress. If she was gone, do you really think they’d be like this? Or would it just go back to the murder-fest that Pyrrhia normally is.”
“That’s pessimistic,” Ecru replied, pulling her wing from Midnight’s grasp. “In that case, do you want to save Pyrrhia from the Empress? What’s the point if our world, our species, is hopeless?”
“Now it really sounds like you’re trying to dissuade me from going back,” Midnight laughed. “I don’t think it’s hopeless. I know not all dragons are evil and violent. I can even list some, if you want. Sunny, Clay, Gazelle—”
“I’m offended you didn’t put me first,” Ecru teased.
Midnight shook her head. “Sorry. You’re bad to the bone. But I do think there are good dragons. And there are enough it makes me wonder why Pyrrhia got so bad. Was it because no one listened to the voices of kindness and reason? Or was it before that? Maybe it’s just the entire queen system. Dividing dragons up by the way they look, deciding that the ones in charge should be the physically strongest instead of the smartest or kindest . . . everyone says that we needed that to fight off the scavengers, and maybe we did.”
“And it worked,” Ecru pointed out. “We won. Dragons are really good at fighting, just like the system intended. So good at fighting, in fact, that we can’t stop.”
“So we have to take down the system,” Midnight laughed. “Get rid of the queens. No more tribe-based territory lines. Kind of makes me wonder if Aloe was really right, trying to give independence to Crosswinds.”
“Don’t tell me you’re an Aloe supporter now,” Ecru snorted. “Over you own cousin? Your heart is as cold as stone.”
“Yeah,” Midnight smiled. “I’m worse than you. Not even sure if I should lift a talon, just to save my continent from total domination.”
“As long as the Empress is in power, things will be the same,” Ecru prodded. “Pyrrhia will be stuck, just like the way Antigonia is right now. Maybe there’ll be small pockets like this, hiding from her eyes, but the world won’t be able to change.”
“Which means I should try and stop her,” Midnight said. “I could use my magic back on Pyrrhia. And that’s probably the only way.”
Ecru’s expression fell. “Yeah,” she replied glumly. “This is a magic-using situation. I could feel it, back on Pyrrhia. When you enchanted something, you took one step away from me, and one step towards . . . something else.”
“You meant that figuratively, right?” Midnight asked. Ecru stared up at her, her expression grim. Midnight felt a shiver run across her scales. “You can feel it.”
“Yes,” Ecru whispered. “It’s big. Bigger than Pyrrhia. Like a huge cold shadow, everywhere I go. And whenever you step towards it, it moves towards you.”
“What is it?” Midnight asked, heart racing. “What’s moving?”
Ecru shook her head. “I don’t know. But it’s not here. I think this world is safe.”
Is that why I feel so much better in Antigonia? Midnight wondered. “Safe? What do you mean s—”
“RAINWINGS!” a shrill voice yelled, piercing through the cavern. “WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!”
The cavern immediately burst into chaos, with scavengers and dragons of all colors and shapes running and flying around wildly. Midnight whipped her head around as a MudWing ran past her, almost whacking her with his wing. She looked around, not able to see anything in the commotion. “RainWings? Where?”
“Maybe they’re invisible?” Ecru suggested. “C’mon, we should find Darkstalker.”
Ecru ran into the crowd, Midnight struggling to keep up with her as her hide disappeared into the midst. “Wait!” Midnight called out, trying to follow, almost stepping on a fleeing scavenger. She weaved in and out, trying to figure out what was going on. Finally, she stood up on her hind-legs, perching a heads height above the crowd. Over towards the other side of the cavern, Darkstalker caught her eye.
Midnight got back on her front paws, and ran to the edge of the cave, pushing against dragons as she tried to get through. There wasn’t any fighting, as far as she could tell.
Finally, Midnight reached Darkstalker, standing over a bruised and bloodied Deathbringer, muzzle still on him. She looked to the left and right, breathing a sigh of relief as Ecru burst out from the crowd.
“What’s going on?” Midnight asked frantically, turning to Darkstalker, clutching his own head in pain. “Where are the RainWings?”
“Right here.”
Midnight almost leaped into the air as emerald scales appeared behind Darkstalker, a frowning RainWing coming into view. Midnight took a step back, only to feel something sharp poke against her. She glanced over her wings to see a RainWing behind her, holding a spear up against her neck. More RainWings started to appear in a circle, shouting and clearing the fleeing dragons away, until only Deathbringer, Darkstalker, Midnight, and Ecru remained inside the circle’s center.
“What’s going on is that I’ve had enough of this stupid rebel play-pretend,” Glory growled, glaring at Darkstalker.
“Stay back!” Darkstalker yelled, claws still on his head. He moved closer to Deathbringer, putting one of his hind-paws over his neck. “I’ll kill him!”
If Glory was at all disturbed, she didn’t show it, her scale-color unchanging. She lashed her tail, baring her fangs. “You’re a mind-reader, aren’t you? In that case, I think you understand well what I’ll do to you and this entire ‘rebellion’ if you don’t take your talons off him this instant.”
Darkstalker stood still, claws tense as he read Glory’s mind. After a long moment, he finally moved his claws away from Deathbringer, sighing. “I surrender.”
“Good,” Glory smirked. Not a single dragon budged as she walked over to Deathbringer, carefully removing his muzzle and his bindings.
Deathbringer smiled as he looked up at her. “I knew you were going to come for me.”
“I couldn’t let these savages hurt you any longer,” Glory admitted, giving Deathbringer a peck on his bloody cheek. “Try not to get caught next time.”
“I got darted by the other me,” Deathbringer replied weakly. “Did you know he’s just as hot?”
Glory snorted, crouching down to let Deathbringer climb on her back, lifting him up. The other dragons just stared, wondering what their fate would be.
“Really?” Glory asked Deathbringer. “He’s hotter than you, and is a better assassin? What did you get?”
Deathbringer winced as he grabbed onto Glory. “You.”
Glory smiled, before quickly hiding it in front of Darkstalker’s gaze. “I’d been so worried about you,” she said to her mate. “Being in that awful backwards Pyrrhia place for so long.”
“I missed you too,” Deathbringer replied, clutching onto her.
Glory grunted as she lifted Deathbringer up, then turned, glaring at Darkstalker, Midnight, and Ecru in turn. “You. Show me that earring.”
One of the RainWings prodded Ecru with a spear, and she stepped forward, tilting her head for Glory to see.
“Both of the hybrids are from Pyrrhia,” Deathbringer quietly said to Glory.
“Really?” Glory scoffed, giving Ecru’s moon earring a tug, pulling her head down. She stared into Ecru’s eyes, Ecru gritting her teeth as Glory pulled.
“Stop it,” Midnight hissed. Glory let Ecru go, before turning to Midnight with a curious stare.
Glory shook her head, sighing. She raised her head. “Escort everyone here to the palace!” she barked out to the rest of the RainWings. “Place them in the dungeons. The Empress will decide what to do with them when she gets back.”
“The dungeons?” Midnight asked worriedly, draping her wing around Ecru and pulling her back. At least the dungeons were better than being assassinated.
“Not you,” Glory smirked. “You’re much too important. I’ll be taking care of the mind-reader and the two Pyrrhians personally.”
== Chapter 31 ==
Inferno opened her eyes as she felt the repetitive blasts of wingbeats against her scales. The wind roared past the pillar of stone, and she stood up, the stone shackles uncomfortably pulling against her legs. A small stone spike touched her muzzle, and it dissolved.
“Drink,” Aurora ordered. She carefully placed a bucket of water on the tiny platform, right in front of Inferno’s head.
Inferno looked down to see crystal blue water in the bucket, her throat aching from the cold dryness of the wind. She dipped her head down eagerly, lapping up what she could get as the water boiled, bubbling before rising up from Inferno in a burst of steam. Just like that, the water was gone.
Aurora swooped down and grabbed the bucket, circling once around the spire before placing it back down, now filled again with water. Inferno drank more, as much as she could get before it boiled away, warm steam creating a wreath around her head.
“Thank you,” Inferno said, trying to smile at her captor.
Aurora’s cold expression remained unchanged, and she reached out an extended talon again, ready to re-muzzle Inferno.
“Wait!” Inferno hurriedly said, tilting her head away as much as possible. “Ash is staying silent for now. He says he won’t talk, so you don’t have to muzzle me again. He still wants to talk with you though, if you’re willing to listen to him.”
Aurora paused, considering this for a moment, before retracting the spear on her talon. There wasn’t really any good reason to keep her from talking. It might be better if Aurora tried to interrogate her. Ash wouldn’t let her say anything too critical, but she might be able to figure something out from what they refused to talk about.
“Do you know who Ash is?” Aurora asked. That was the first question. Calamity had said that none of Nightreader’s five knew anything beyond what Fracture had told them, but Ash might have revealed something beyond that  to Inferno.
Inferno frowned, confused. “Of course. He’s my brother. We shared an egg, and I stole his fire, and he died. But his soul was able to somehow jump into my body because we were in the same egg, which is why he can speak to me.”
Aurora snorted. So Inferno didn’t know anything. “Ash,” she growled, speaking directly to him, “is that what you’ve been telling her?”
Inferno relaxed as she let Ash take over her head and speak, almost used to the sensation now. Her mouth opened with out her input, vocal chords tightening.
“She filled in some of the details, but yes,” Ash replied through Inferno. “It’s true, in a manner of speaking.”
Aurora flapped her wings slowly, keeping eye contact with Inferno. “Explain.”
“She’s a reincarnate of Magma, and thus Ignite,” Ash said, “so in that sense, I am her brother. It’s what makes her such a good receptacle. That, and her few memories when she was br—You’ve been lying to me?” Inferno shouted, suddenly taking back over her body. “For my entire life?”
How could he? Inferno wondered, feeling cold, at least on the inside. She whimpered. I should have known. Why had I trusted him? She sighed, knowing the answer. Because she’d thought he was his brother. “If you’re not my brother, than who are you?”
Inferno tensed up as Ash spoke through her again. “Fireborns reincarnate. Your souls tend to linger around more than most dragons. As I said, I’m the brother of one of your previous reincarnations, Ignite. There’s no reason for you to feel so betrayed, since it’s still half-true.”
How could I not feel betrayed? Inferno wondered.
“Half is a generous percentage,” Aurora remarked, not reacting to Inferno’s internal conflict. “Ash. Which iteration are you from? It’s not this one, is it?”
Inferno’s head shook. “No,” her voice said. “I’m from the one Calamity told you about, most likely. As far as I know, that’s the only one I survived hatching in. In the others, Ignite killed me in the egg. See? That parts mostly true also.”
“I thought it might have been one before that,” Aurora replied. “Calamity would’ve killed you in any ones after that, even if you had survived.”
Ash let out a laugh through Inferno, as if that prospect was funny. “I’m glad I made that much of an impression on Cal. I thought he would have forgotten me by now.”
“It wasn’t long ago for him,” Aurora replied. “Under thirty-thousand years.”
“Thirty-thousand years?” Inferno said, speaking over Ash. “Calamity was that old?” How long ago was that? The Scorching was five-thousand years ago, and there weren’t records of anything before that . . .
“Is, not was,” Aurora corrected Inferno.
“Wait, didn’t we kill him?” Inferno asked. She shivered as the image of the battle in the Crystal Caverns came to mind. Ink’s horrible death, Crystal’s front leg burning to the bone. But they’d won, hadn’t they?
“You didn’t,” Aurora snorted. “You just trapped him. If you’d managed to kill him, every dragon on Pyrrhia would be aware by now, or more likely, dead. That’s the way the enchantment works.”
“I killed him once,” Ash pointed out through Inferno. “It’s why he’s so angry at me.”
Inferno shook her head, trying to get control of it back. “Does that mean that everything we did . . . was for nothing?”
“Yes,” Aurora replied unflinchingly. “Doing nothing seems to be the purpose of everything Fracture’s done. So you succeeded at that.”
“So Polar and Ink died for nothing,” Inferno whispered. “Toxin lost her wing—”
“Don’t expect any sympathy from me,” Aurora growled, interrupting Inferno. “You killed my mother. Ash. Why are you here? What happened to the iteration where you killed Calamity?”
Inferno sulked as she sunk back in her body, Ash taking over her head and neck again. “I decided to have a try at watching over my own iteration after killing him,” he responded. “I figured out a way to use animus magic directly, at the cost of my body, but with the additional advantage of getting rid of animuses entirely.” Inferno felt her wings shrug in their shackle around her waist. “But something went wrong, and things were cut short over there, and I had to escape over to your iteration. Sorry if I got in Calamity’s way. How’s that going, by the way? Thirty-thousand years and it’s still here? Looks like the starvation thing isn’t working out.”
“And what do you plan to do in this iteration?” Aurora asked cautiously. “Do you plan to try and kill Calamity again?”
“Nothing of the sort,” Ash replied. “I swear, I really don’t have any plans.”
Aurora raised an eye-ridge, skeptical. “Is that why you took the second Darkstone?”
“I’m really just trying to survive,” Ash tsked. “Pyrrhia is a cruel world. I thought that Inferno being an animus would be helpful.”
“I don’t believe you,” Aurora stated, unconvinced.
“Yeah!” Inferno suddenly exclaimed. “I don’t believe you either, given that you lied to me my entire life about being my brother. Aurora is right not to trust you.” Her head turned as Ash spoke. “It’s still only a half-lie,” he reminded her.
“I have half a mind to just keep you here forever,” Aurora said to Ash. “Maybe move you into a more secure prison so that you can’t mess things up.”
“Wait, please don’t!” Inferno’s voice replied, Aurora unsure if it was Inferno or Ash speaking. “Maybe you can get Ash out of me?” She paused. “Wow. I’m hurt. I haven’t been that bad to you. I think you’d miss my company if I left.”
Aurora shook her head. This was getting confusing.
“I’d find other company, instead of a lying not-brother,” Inferno retorted. She let out a sigh. “It’s possible to get me out, but it would be difficult. And I don’t think Aurora would be willing, would she? I’d be more dangerous outside of Inferno.”
“Quiet,” Aurora hissed, almost angry. A sharp spike shot from her talon, poking Inferno in the snout. Either Inferno or Ash tried to say something as the muzzle grew, locking their snout closed. They looked towards Aurora, letting out a muffled noise.
“I’m busy enough trying to complete my mission from Calamity,” Aurora snarled, lowering her talon. “You’ve told me enough to let me know you’re nothing but a nuisance and a distraction. I don’t have time for you right now.”
With that, Aurora turned, sailing down towards the SkyWing palace, leaving Inferno and Ash behind.
== Chapter 32 ==
Cold winds blew down from the Ice Kingdom, flickers of snow thrown into the moonlit air. The Great Ice Cliff stretched as far as Jambu could see to either side. Somewhere, it hit both sides of the sea. From a dragon’s eye during flight, it wasn’t so large, but Jambu could tell how tall it was just by how it dwarfed the few trees at its edge, many times their height.
“It’s so big,” Jambu stated in amazement. “We don’t have anything this tall in the rainforest. Did someone make it?”
“It was enchanted,” Hailstorm replied. It had been two years since he’d last gone over the Great Ice Cliff in this direction, and Winter had explained to him what it’s purpose was. “Our Gift of Defense. If you fly over it and you’re not an IceWing, it will shoot icicle spears at you. Don’t worry, the bracelets you have on will protect you.”
Deathbringer placed a paw around his bracelet, holding it a bit closer as they passed over the wall. He let out a sigh of relief as it didn’t fling icicles at them.
“How do visitors from other tribes get in, then?” Jambu asked, confused. “Do you have a lot of these fancy warming bracelet thingies? That would be useful.”
“They don’t get in,” Hailstorm remarked, shaking his head. “That’s the point. It keeps us safe, and isolated from the other kingdoms.”
“Oh,” Jambu replied. He looked back down at the cliff, already disappearing behind them. “That’s kind of sad.”
“Why do you think that?” Hailstorm asked curiously.
“Well, the IceWings must get so lonely, not being able to bring dragons outside their kingdom to see it,” Jambu answered. “Like, what if you have a RainWing friend, and he wants to visit?”
Hailstorm let out a sad chuckle. “We’re not really supposed to have RainWing friends. I don’t think Queen Glacier would’ve allowed it. IceWings don’t like other dragons on our territory.”
“Really?” Jambu questioned. “Aww. You should change that! Even if there have been a lot of challenges, the NightWings bring a lot to the rainforest. Like scrolls! I can’t read, but the NightWings would sometimes read everyone stories during suntime.”
“If I’d stayed on the NightWing island all my life, I never would’ve met Glory,” Deathbringer commented. “Also, I probably would’ve gotten some horrible lung disease.”
Hailstorm let out a long sigh, his silver scales glinting in the moonlight. “You don’t need to convince me. I remember enough of my time as Pyrite to know that you’re right. But a lot of IceWings don’t think there’s anything to be gained by letting non-IceWings into the Ice Kingdom. I disagree. I think the IceWings, maybe more than anyone, need to see other perspectives. I’ve seen for myself the harm caused by rigid class hierarchies, adhering too strictly to traditions, and a warped view of meritocracy based on obedience.”
“Mhmm, meritocracy,” Jambu said, nodding along even though he didn’t know the word. “You’re hot when you speak like that.”
Hailstorm gave Jambu a confused look. “IceWings are cold, though.”
“Sure,” Jambu grinned. Deathbringer rolled his eyes.
Hailstorm tried to puzzle out what Jambu meant for a moment, before returning to what he was saying. “If we win, and Queen Blackice falls, that means that I’m going to be placed in charge of the Ice Kingdom, since there are no more female heirs. It will fall to me what changes to make, and how to make them.”
“So you’ll let other dragons in?” Jambu asked.
Hailstorm smiled. “Well, I’d like to. Although I think that might be a bit difficult, with the Great Ice Cliff and the freezing cold. It’s not like we can just make more of these bracelets.”
“Actually . . .” Deathbringer replied, recalling something Peril had mentioned about Turtle’s enchantments. “I might have a way to do just that.”
The three continued talking as they flew even further north. The few trees that they’d seen south of the cliff had disappeared, replaced with a vast land of inhospitable snow and ice. As dawn approached, a shimmer of light arose from the horizon with the sun. Like a prism, the morning’s first light glinted and reflected through the crystalline palace, casting an array of colors and shapes all across the flat snow. Smaller houses of ice spiralled around the palace, the peak of it almost touching the sky. Jambu had to look away as a ray of reflected light hit his eyes.
“It looks a lot better than when I last saw it,” Hailstorm commented. “Looks like the repair enchantment finished up. Follow me. We can’t get too close, or we’ll be seen.”
Hailstorm lowered a wing and tilted to the right, dropping in altitude as he headed towards a set of mountains on one side of the palace. Deathbringer and Jambu followed, the NightWing’s eyes cautiously staring at the magnificent palace. For a palace made for so many dragons, it was quiet. Not a single IceWing seemed to be walking in the city surrounded it.
In fact, the only dragons Deathbringer could see were the black heads of NightWings, posted on pikes around the front gate. His blood ran as cold as the ice. He couldn’t recognize any of their faces from here, but he knew many of their names. Dragons who’d lived their own lives, who’d had their own friends and families just a few moon-cycles earlier, were now nothing more than ghoulish decorations.
Deathbringer’s fangs clenched as the palace went out of sight, snowy peaks hiding it from his sight. Hailstorm landed on the shores of a small pond of ice at the bottom of a frozen waterfall, touching down in the snow. Deathbringer and Jambu landed beside him, the magical bracelets keeping their paws warm.
“This way,” Hailstorm said as he stepped onto the frozen pond.
Deathbringer looked down at it cautiously, as he placed a paw on the ice. “Is this safe?” he asked. He didn’t want it to crack, although with the bracelet warming him, freezing water might not be an issue.
“Definitely,” Hailstorm replied. “It’s frozen solid.”
Deathbringer stepped onto it again with another paw, before his front legs spread apart as he slipped, and he fell forward.
“Ow,” he said as his head hit the ice. He lifted his paw back up, and stepped again, digging his talons into the ice this time to keep himself from slipping. He’d need to be more careful.
“Wheeeeeee!” Jambu squealed as he flung himself across the slick surface at high speed, only stopped by running into a surprised Hailstorm, tumbling over the IceWing prince. Hailstorm let out a yelp of alarm as Jambu hit him, falling flat on the ice.
Jambu landed on top of Hailstorm, giving him a huge grin. Hailstorm kindly pushed him off, shaking his head to get back up. “I probably should’ve warned you, the ice is slippery if you don’t have serrated claws.”
“You’re slippery,” Jambu grinned as Hailstorm walked back to were he’d been before. At this point, Deathbringer had made it across the ice.
“Stand back,” Hailstorm warned them. He opened up his jaws, and let out a blast of frostbreath beneath him. Suddenly, the ice melted away, revealing a dragon-size hole. Jambu took a step forward, and peered down. Not far below the surface, the hole turned, becoming a tunnel leading towards the palace.
“It’s a secret tunnel, made when the palace was,” Hailstorm explained. “Only the royal family can get into it, by using our frostbreath. It leads throughout the palace. It’s how I managed to escape the palace after Blackice’s forces attacked it. It should get you into and out of the palace without being noticed. Here, give me your bracelets.”
Jambu took his bracelet off, letting out a sudden whimper as the cold finally reached to him. As fast as he could, Hailstorm set it down, and breathed a puff of frostbreath on the ice. He placed the bracelet back on Jambu, the RainWing letting out a sigh of relief at the warmth.
“This way, you’ll be able to get in and out of the tunnels by yourself,” Hailstorm explained. “Just tap it against the walls of ice, and they’ll melt for you.”
“Wait, why would we need these if you’re coming with us?” Jambu asked as the IceWing prince did the same to Deathbringer’s bracelet.
Hailstorm shook his head. “I’m not going with you. I’m not an assassin, and I don’t have camouflage, so I’ll be more easily spotted. A lot of IceWings would recognize me, and I don’t know who I can trust anymore. I’ll be waiting out here until you return.”
“Oh,” Jambu glumly replied as his wings turned bluer than the ice. “Okay.”
“C’mon, Jambu,” Deathbringer said as he turned around, climbing down into the tunnel. “Don’t worry. We’ll be in and out before you know it.”
“Good luck,” Hailstorm smiled as Jambu followed Deathbringer. As Jambu looked back, the icy cover of the tunnel started to grow over, and before he knew it, the two were shrouded in darkness.
Jambu let out a sigh and reached his hindpaws to the floor of the tunnel, digging his talons in. Even though it was ice, it was strangely not-slippery. Enchanted, too? The RainWing prince turned around, and fumbled out, grabbing onto Deathbringer’s tail.
“This way,” Deathbringer said, walking forward as his nightvision adjusted. He winced as Jambu gently grabbed onto the end of his tail with his mouth, using it to guide him in the dark as the two descended.
The descent itself wasn’t very long, and Deathbringer guessed that they weren’t far beneath the floor of snow surrounding the palace. From there on, the tunnel was flat Yet, it felt like it was an hour of walking in the dark before Deathbringer finally saw light, and Jambu dropped his tail. From there on, the tunnel rose up in a steep climb. After a few steps forward, Jambu suddenly froze.
“Get back!” Deathbringer hissed, pushing Jambu back down as he grabbed a chakram from his pouch and ducked down. The side of the tunnel had suddenly become transparent, and the tail of an IceWing appeared in front of him. He readied the weapon, heart racing as the IceWing turned.
Even though the IceWing seemed to look directly at Deathbringer, they didn’t make a movement. Deathbringer frowned. Weren’t they going to sound an alarm or attack? But without any indication whatsoever that they’d seen Deathbringer or Jambu, the IceWing stepped away.
Deathbringer cautiously peered his head up again to see another IceWing looked at where he was, not reacting at all to his presence. Slowly, he reached out, and touched the glassy walls of the tunnel, leading further up into the palace.
“I don’t think they can see us,” Deathbringer frowned. He tapped the walls, making sure not to touch his bracelet to them. Nothing happened. “The walls must be reflecting or opaque on the outside.”
“So we can see them, but they can’t see us?” Jambu asked, pushing Deathbringer up so he could see. “Cool!” He waved a paw at the two conversing IceWings, getting no reaction, then stuck out his tongue at them.”
“Nice,” Deathbringer grinned, sticking his tongue out himself. “Make sure not to touch the ice with it. C’mon, we should go. Maybe we’ll be able to see Hoarfrost from the tunnel.”
“What happens if I touch the ice with it?” Jambu asked, now curious as the two climbed up into the next floor of the palace. He frowned, moving his head closer right before Deathbringer whacked him in the snout with his tail.
“It’ll stick,” Deathbringer explained. “Maybe the bracelets will stop that, but maybe not, I don’t want to have to deal with figuring out how to get your tongue off. I’d probably have to breath fire on it, and I doubt you want it crispy.”
“Eek!” Jambu gulped. “Alright. No licks. Hey, would it stick if I licked an IceWing?”
Deathbringer rolled his eyes as the two stepped up onto the next floor, where on either side he saw two rooms with nothing but ice sculptures in them. The tunnel was probably hidden within the walls and floors of the palace. “I don’t think Hailstorm would appreciate it if you licked him.”
The two continued through the palace. In contrast to the usage that Deathbringer had heard about under Queen Glacier, now, it almost seemed empty. He supposed that he shouldn’t have been surprised. Queen Blackice had killed almost all the nobles who’d been living in the palace at the time, and in the weeks after had promoted her top supporters to take their places. She might have killed more IceWings than she’d NightWings with that. Who in their right minds would want to live here so soon after a massacre?
It didn’t take long for Deathbringer to figure out the answer to that question. Through the walls of the tunnel, he laid eyes on a small group of IceWings, deep in an argument of some sort. At the center, a gaunt IceWing stood silent, crisp black painted on his spines like he’d just put it on. Deathbringer recognized him from the description. While the other IceWings yelled, he made no motion to speak, yet the conversation seemed to revolve around him. One of the original IceWings who’d been banished alongside Blackice, who’d fought alongside her during her encounter with Queen Battlewinner, and the dragon who’d helped Blackice plan Glory’s murder. His talons clenched tight around his chakram. This would feel good.
“That’s him,” Jambu whispered, seeing Hoarfrost’s expression. “That’s Hoarfrost.”
Deathbringer nodded. “He won’t be for much longer,” he growled. He started to bring his bracelet to the wall of the tunnel, before thinking better of it, and pulling it back. He winced. He’d almost made a fatal mistake in his rage. “We need to wait until his meeting is over. I don’t think I can hit him from this distance with all the other dragons around. After that, we can get him.”
Jambu nodded and the two patiently waited as they discussed, for what seemed like an hour. Deathbringer twiddled his claws, careful not to touch the bracelet to the ice, while Jambu played with Deathbringer’s tail.
“Ughhh,” Jambu finally groaned, his scales turning a red-orange. “I didn’t realize assassinations would be so boring. What are they taking so long to discuss?”
“Probably their plans to kill us,” Deathbringer replied. “Wait, look, they’re moving!”
He pointed a talon as the group of IceWings started to shuffle. He held his breath, only to grit his fangs. The group was moving away from the tunnel.
“What should we do?” Jambu asked.
“Follow,” Deathbringer muttered. They’d be out of the safety of the tunnel, but it was their only option. “Make yourself look like an IceWing again, and look busy. I’ll sneak around. I’m good at that.”
As soon as the IceWings went out of sight, Deathbringer placed his bracelet to the tunnel, and a hole instantly started to melt in it. He climbed out as Jambu’s scales changed into a blue-white. Deathbringer quickly walked over to an archway, peering into the room the IceWings had left from to see their backs.
Suddenly, Hoarfrost stopped. Deathbringer’s heart raced for a moment, and he pulled his head back, making himself thin as he flattened himself up against the wall. His breath became shallow and quiet as he stilled it.
Finally, he braved another peek. As the larger group of IceWings had walked off into a corridor, Hoarfrost was nowhere to be seen. He frowned before his eyes caught on a door, about at the point Hoarfrost had turned. He must have gone into another room.
Deathbringer quietly walked up to the door, steadying his claws as he opened it. The light from the hall outside seemed to vanish as he stepped into a dark corridor. Careful not to make a sound, he stepped forward, talons around his weapon. Where had Hoarfrost gone?
A few more tail-lengths, and the corridor turned. Deathbringer glanced around it to finally see his target. Hoarfrost was turned away from him, a short distance down the dark icey hallway. The IceWing was sitting back on his haunches, his neck angled so that Deathbringer could just barely see his arteries. This was his chance.
The assassin raised his paw, talons stilling, right before he flung the silver disk forward. It made no sound more than a whizz through the chilled air, only seconds before the sharp edge embedded into Hoarfrost’s neck.
Suddenly, a crack echoed through the darkness. Where the chakram had hit, ice splintered, lines spreading out from it. Hoarfrost turned his head, his image scattered across shards of ice. A mirror.
“I’ve been expecting you for a while, Deathbringer,” Hoarfrost said, his sound seeming to bounce and echo, hitting Deathbringer’s ears from all directions. “Queen Blackice warned me that visitors could sneak in through the tunnels, so I kept an extra close eye on the entrance.”
Deathbringer heard a door swing open, and the patter of claws walk through. It was a trap. Deathbringer snarled, and suddenly rushed forward, as Hoarfrost’s image in the mirror disappeared. He looked to his right to see a hundred Hoarfrosts, all staring back at him. He whipped out another chakram and threw it at the closest one. Another mirror of ice cracked.
“I’m honestly surprised,” Hoarfrost mused, the reflections all tilting their heads. “I figured Prince Hailstorm would come eventually, but I wasn’t expecting you to get all the way up here. Nor to risk your own life. I suppose not even the NightWing assassins are exempt from the lack of discipline and forethought.”
Deathbringer stepped into the room of mirrors, his own reflection joining Hoarfrost’s. His talons shook as he grabbed another chakram, trying to pinpoint Hoarfrost as the real one. He clawed at another, his talons only scraping on ice.
“It was your mother who trained you, wasn’t it?” Hoarfrost asked. “I met her once, many years ago. None of this would have happened without her pushing Queen Blackice over the edge, you know. A NightWing got her to finally get rid of the SandWings holding our army back. Isn’t that funny? I think she’d be proud of what we did.”
“Shut up,” Deathbringer growled. “If you’re trying to taunt me, it won’t work.” A group of IceWings appeared in the reflections, claws outstretched as they saw Deathbringer. One blasted frostbreath, only to hit one of Deathbringer’s own reflections. The IceWings that had been talking with Hoarfrost. So this really had been a set-up. He hoped Hailstorm was alright.
“If I was trying to taunt you, I don’t think Quickstrike would be the one who to do it,” Hoarfrost answered. “It would be your mate, Queen Glory. Aren’t you curious to know what happened? How Blackice lost a wing and a leg? I was there, when she died.”
Deathbringer suddenly flung out another chakram, and a hundred Hoarfrost’s jumped in surprise before it hit another ice mirror. So Hoarfrost didn’t know which one of him was the real one, either. “You’re too confident,” he snorted. “You’re taunting me, but all I have to do is fine you before they find me.” His gaze fell on the group of IceWings again, starting to spread out. He frowned as he recognized a familiar face among them, with horns a bit too curved to be an IceWing. Had Jambu followed them in?
“I’m fine. I have a head-start. Now, your mate’s death wasn’t quite as exciting as Queen Blackice claims,” Hoarfrost continued. “I shouldn’t tell you, but a dead dragon can spill no secrets. There was no glorious battle. Queen Blackice didn’t best Queen Glory in combat.”
Deathbringer suddenly whipped around as he felt cold air near his tail. He pulled it in to see an IceWing slam into one of Deathbringer’s reflections, before turning. Deathbringer twisted to the side as the IceWing leaped forward. This one was real. He stepped to the side, grabbing another chakram.
“She died frightened, chained to a cavern wall, trying to spit venom at Queen Blackice. Her own venom burned a hole in her throat. And Queen Blackice made the, dare I say, mistake of plunging her own wing and leg into lava instead of just letting the venom run its course. Ironic, isn’t it? It was their own actions that got themselves hurt.”
Deathbringer’s paw clenched up as he threw the disk, flinging it into the side of the IceWing’s neck. He winced as the IceWing turned with a roar and pounced. His aim had been just barely off, and he hadn’t hit an artery. Serrated claws grabbed at his backside as he ducked under the IceWing’s neck, grabbing onto her back. A hiss suddenly sounded, as a second IceWing prepared to shoot a blast of frostbreath. Deathbringer twisted his weight to the side, flipping the IceWing he was holding over, between him and the other one, who’s frostbreath instantly paused so not to hurt his ally in it.
It was in vain, as Deathbringer slit her throat with another disk, before throwing the same one at the second attacker, this time his aim accurate. As soon as he got up, another IceWing crashed into him. As he struggled, Deathbringer’s eyes met with the still-disguised Jambu’s, his reflection staring at him in shock.
Jambu’s talons shook as he saw the IceWing’s fall, blood from their necks. Why did it have to be like this? Why did so many dragons have to die. As more IceWings attacked Deathbringer at once, the RainWing prince backed away behind a set of mirrors. What could he do? He didn’t know how to fight. He couldn’t help Deathbringer.
Jambu glanced to the side as he saw Hoarfrost move between the reflections. He squinted. Something seemed different about one of the images. It was like during hide-and-seek games in the rainforest, where you had to find an almost-invisible RainWing by figuring out the tree which looked just a little bit funny because of the hidden dragon wrapped around its truck. Except now, it was the opposite. There was only one real Hoarfrost, and the rest were images that looked just a little bit funny. As the one Hoarfrost that seemed odd stepped out of view, ducking behind a mirror, Jambu quietly followed.
A multitude of Hoarfrost reflections turned to look at Jambu reflections as he stepped around the corner. Jambu froze up as he stared back at the lithe IceWing. This one was less fuzzy than the others. It was the real one.
“You’re not one of the IceWings I met with,” Hoarfrost frowned. “You shouldn’t be here. Who are you? A guard?”
Jambu’s blood boiled as Hoarfrost spoke. He’d heard what the IceWing had said to Deathbringer. This dragon had helped kill Glory. He was responsible for her death. Without another thought, he bared his fangs, unable to hold back red seeping into his scales.
“I’m Penguin,” Jambu hissed as he opened his mouth, and venom shot directly into Hoarfrost’s eyes.
The cave seemed to go silent for a moment, before Hoarfrost let out a shrill scream. His claws went to his face, but only making things worse as the venom smeared on his scales. The Black Prince turned, trying to run, but slammed into his own reflection. The venom dug deeper, and the IceWings attacking Deathbringer went quiet as Hoarfrost’s agonized cries filled the room.
Jambu tried to turn away, but was only met with one of Hoarfrost’s reflections everywhere he looked. He closed his eyes, heart racing. He shouldn’t have done that. He couldn’t have done that.
“No,” Jambu whispered. “You’re not ever ever ever supposed to use venom on a dragon.” That’s what he’d been taught from the day he hatched. He opened his eyes as Hoarfrost fell to the ground, and felt a lump rise up in his throat.
Jambu felt queasy for a moment, right before throwing up his last meal on the ground, staggering back. Hoarfrost’s screams stopped, his body lying motionless on the ground. Jambu had killed him.
“We need to get out of here!” Deathbringer yelled at him. The assassin stepped back, and let out a blast of fire. One of the IceWings squealed and backed away as it grazed him, and Deathbringer’s flame hit the ice, causing it to fog up as reflections disappeared.
“Y-yeah,” Jambu gulped. He turned as he saw an IceWing coming towards him, then vanished, his reflection disappearing. He snuck past the IceWing, back to where Deathbringer was still fending for himself. “T-this way,” he called out, a disembodied voice leading Deathbringer towards the exit.
Deathbringer threw another chakram as a distraction before running after Jambu. The reflections started to vanish as the two ran down the dark corridor, IceWings scrambling after them. Jambu re-appeared as they exited the open door, his scales now a dark green.
Deathbringer shot back another blast of fire as they headed towards the palace wall they’d come from, Jambu whacking a front leg against it to reveal the tunnel. After he got inside, Deathbringer backed up, blasting fire again as the IceWings ran into the room. They ran towards the tunnel, but the wall started to close, filled in with ice.
Deathbringer stared for a moment as an IceWing banged on the tunnel wall, trying to break it open. Another one ran around to the other side, trying to figure out where the two had gotten to.
“I killed him,” Jambu whispered, eyes wide open. “I-I shouldn’t have . . . the venom . . . I killed . . .”
“C’mon, Jambu, we need to go,” Deathbringer said hurriedly, pushing Jambu forward. “They’ll be after us soon. We can debate the ethics of assassination later. We need to find out if Hailstorm is alright. We need him.”
Jambu stayed silent and shocked as he walked forward, following Deathbringer’s orders as he stepped down the tunnel. Hoarfrost had died, right in front of Jambu’s eyes. He’d taken a dragon’s life, just like that. He was a murderer. An assassin.
Jambu’s scales slowly shifted colors as he fumbled his way back through the tunnel, even though he couldn’t see them. Disgust turned to fear and guilt, before he settled on a quiet grey. Eventually, the two reached the end, and as Jambu bumped into a familiar IceWing they let out a collective sigh of relief.
“Hailstorm!” Jambu said. “You’re alive!”
“You too,” Hailstorm smiled in the dark. “I was spotted, but escaped down here. I was worried something had happened to the two of you.”
“Something did,” Deathbringer responded. “Jambu managed to take Hoarfrost out, but he was waiting for us. We were also caught. How’s the situation up there?”
“Not so good, especially if reinforcements are coming,” Hailstorm admitted. “There were half a dozen dragons when I got down here, and I’m sure they’re still up there, waiting for me. They can’t get in here, unless Queen Blackice returns to the Ice Kingdom. But we can’t get out.”
Deathbringer frowned, thinking about the situation. “I think I might have something that can help us out, just for this purpose,” he explained. “But we’ll need to fly up as quickly as possible. We’ll only have one chance at this.”
Deathbringer fumbled through his pouch before finally finding what he wanted. A small canister, easily able to fit in his paws, with a woven rope attached to it. “Mastermind made me this years ago after getting the materials from a MudWing I convinced to defect. I think it still works. Hailstorm, when I tell you to, open up the tunnel above us. Then both of you close your eyes and hold your breath.”
“Close our eyes?” Jambu asked. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Trust me, you’ll want to,” Deathbringer replied.
“Okay,” Hailstorm said, getting in position right beneath the hole. “Tell me when.”
Deathbringer took in a deep breath. “Now!” he said. Hailstorm shot a blast of frostbreath up, and light started to stream in as the ceiling disappeared. Deathbringer immediately let out a puff of flame, lighting the fuse, quickly diminishing.
As soon as Deathbringer saw the snout of an IceWing poke down into the hole, he threw the object up over the edge, shutting his eyes tight and taking in one last breath. A huge bang reverberated through the air, followed by a flash of light in front of Deathbringer’s eyelids, smoke stinging them even closed. The IceWings above all started yelling, and he heard a few run crash into each other in their blindness from the smoke bomb. Hailstorm and Jambu climbed out, Deathbringer following them as they took off.
After a few wingbeats, Deathbringer opened his eyes, wiping them as he looked back. A huge cloud of grey smoke covered the lake below, the figures of IceWings running around. He turned forward with a grin, seeing a relieved Jambu and Hailstorm flying ahead of him.
“Well, can I declare that mission a success?” Deathbringer asked as the three turned south, heading away from the palace.
Hailstorm smiled and nodded. “I think so. I’m just relieved we got out alive. But I think that the hardest challenges are still ahead of us.”
Deathbringer’s grin faded. Prince Hailstorm was right. They may have taken out Queen Blackice’s second-in-command, but she was still out there, her armies roaming large in the rainforest and around Jade Mountain. They still had a battle to fight. But now, they had a chance to win it.
== Chapter 33 ==
Midnight stared up at the Empress’s palace. It seemed to reach up to the sky, the greenhouse at the top touching the clouds. The island surrounding the palace was probably the most beautiful landscape Midnight had ever seen, a paradise in the midst of Antigonia.
“Move along,” Glory growled as she whacked Midnight with her tail, pushing her, Ecru, and Darkstalker towards the entrance. Two RainWings at the entrance backed up, bowing their heads as Glory approached the palace doors. “I want to tend to Deathbringer’s wounds. You’ll have plenty of time to stare at the palace. From the inside.”
Midnight glanced back as she stepped in, clear sunlight replaced by an ambient glow that seemed to come from everywhere. Deathbringer was still on Glory’s back, even though the NightWing seemed far more perky now. He gave her a grin. Midnight didn’t say it, but she was pretty sure Deathbringer was able to walk, and was just having fun riding Glory around.
“You were a lot nicer in the stories I heard about you on Pyrrhia,” Midnight said to Glory, annoyed.
“I’m also far more dead on Pyrrhia,” Glory retorted as the three walked down one of the hallways, until they reached a golden circle in front of two doors. Glory stepped inside it, waiting.
“Oooh, sick burn,” Deathbringer commented.
“Please shut up,” Glory sighed. “I’m already starting to regret rescuing you.”
The doors opened up, and the five stepped into the circular room. Glory walked to the center, and the doors shut closed again. Ecru gave out a squeal as the room lurched.
“It’s magic,” Glory explained, rolling her eyes. “It moves up and down to where I want it to go. Useful for our human visitors, since they can’t fly. Right now, I’m putting you with the other Pyrrhian guests.”
“There are others?” Ecru asked, surprised. “Have you been nabbing dragons from Pyrrhia, or something?”
“Only three,” Glory replied. “And only by accident.”
Midnight frowned. The moving room, the light without any light-source, it all had to have been done by magic. Maybe even the entire palace. It reminded her eerily of the tales she’d heard about the Summer Palace, and of course, it’s creator . . .
She looked over towards Deathbringer. He was just resting on Glory’s back, calm and oddly non-murderous.
“Okay,” Midnight said to him, “I hate to remind you, but why aren’t you trying to assassinate me right now? It would be pretty easy.”
“My mission was to assassinate animuses. And as long as you’re in Antigonia, you’re not an animus.” Deathbringer shrugged his wings. “Regardless, I think the Empress would prefer you alive and captured anyways. Don’t take me for soft, but I try not to kill when I don’t have to.”
“Given the number of times you’ve almost killed me, I won’t make that mistake,” Midnight replied.
The room stopped, and the doors opened again. “Follow,” Glory demanded, leading the three into another long hallway. She turned after finding the door she wanted, and knocked on it with her claws.
“You have guests!” Glory called out.
The door suddenly shot open, and Glory jumped, almost knocking Deathbringer off her back. In the doorway, a black dragonet looked up, with crimson streaks across their scales. Two more dragonets crowded behind them to see the visitors, an orange RainWing with black stripes, and a small pale IceWing.
“These are them?” Midnight asked Glory, concerned. “They’re just dragonets.”
Ermine suddenly ran past Glory and Deathbringer, wrapping his front legs around a surprised Ecru in a tight hug. “Another Pyrrhian dragon,” he whispered, almost crying. “I never thought I’d see one again.”
“They saw something they shouldn’t have,” Glory answered Midnight. “Namely, me.”
Ecru gave Ermine a friendly pat on his head, unsure whether or not to push the clingy IceWing off.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Glory said as she turned around, slapping Darkstalker with her tail as she walked past him. “Enjoy your new home. You’ll be here for a while.”
As soon as Glory had gone back into the circular room, Tiger stepped forward. “I’m so glad you’re finally here,” she said, relieved. “I’m Tiger. The IceWing is Ermine, and the hybrid is Skytaker.”
“We’re students at Jade Mountain,” Skytaker quickly added. “But we were captured by General Glory, and we’ve been held here for weeks. They’re probably more worried about us than the Jade Winglet now. At least they usually come back.”
“It’s your fault we got captured,” Ermine grumbled, finally letting Ecru go and backing away.
“Hey, you could have chosen not to stalk Tiger and I,” Skytaker retorted. “You just wanted to tattle on us for going into the rainforest.”
“I’m Ecru, and this is Midnight,” Ecru quickly interrupted, trying to get a few words in between the bickering. “How did you know we were going to be here?”
“I used the Obscura,” Tiger explained.
“Wait, hold on, the Obscura?” Darkstalker asked, stepping forward. He turned towards Ecru and Midnight. “That’s the thing that the Empress uses to spy on everyone. I’m surprised you got a chance to use it. I’ve always wanted to try it out.”
“Who are you?” Skytaker frowned. “You’re not from Pyrrhia, are you?”
Darkstalker shook his head. “Nope. I think that Liliana wants to use me for my mind-reading powers, so I guess I ended up here. I’m Darkstalker.”
Ermine let out a shrill scream, and leaped away, hiding behind Skytaker. “D-D-DARKSTALKER???”
Darkstalker glanced to Midnight. “Did I really do so many things on Pyrrhia to make me that hated?”
“Yes,” Midnight answered. “Ermine, you don’t need to worry. He’s not as evil as his Pyrrhian version. He’s not an animus here either, since animus magic doesn’t work on Antigonia.”
Tiger frowned, considering this for a second. “You’re wrong,” she stated, getting a confused look from Midnight. “The Empress said that too, but she also told me how she used an enchanted artifact to change Antigonia. It definitely still works here.”
“Have you tried?” Darkstalker suggested to Midnight, suddenly curious.
“You’re an animus?” Ermine asked, poking his head out from behind Skytaker.
Midnight tensed up, feeling everyone’s eyes suddenly on her. She’d kept her powers a secret. No one except for Ecru, Gazelle, and Torrent had known about them before she left Crosswinds. And now, it seemed like every dragon she met found out.
She let out a sigh. “I’ll try.” She looked down at the rug, sporting an image of Empress Liliana. “I enchant that image to turn into . . . Queen Sunny.”
Ecru winced, seeing Midnight try to use her magic, but nothing happened. The image didn’t change, one bit.
Midnight shook her head. “Nope. No magic. I don’t know why, but it feels like I’ve lost the connection to my powers.” She turned towards Ecru, recalling what she’d mentioned back in the base. Whatever horrible thing she’d been drawing upon to use her magic, it wasn’t here.
“The Great Ice Dragon really has abandoned this world,” Ermine whispered, getting a strange stare from Ecru.
The group was silent for a moment. Midnight knew why. Her magic had been the biggest advantage she’d had, their greatest chance at stopping the Empress. At least until they got back to Pyrrhia, she’d have to survive without it.
“You really are Ink’s sister,” Tiger said quietly, looking up at the NightWing-SeaWing hybrid.
Midnight froze up. “What?” she asked, staring down at the RainWing. “How do you know that name?”
“He visited Jade Mountain not long ago,” Skytaker explained, “he hung around our winglet.”
Midnight shook her head in disbelief. “Are you sure you’re from the same Pyrrhia as I am? Ink is dead.”
Tiger fidgeted nervously. She looked towards Skytaker, silently asking them explain it.
Skytaker sighed, and took up the slack. “Er, yeah. He is now. Toxin told us that he sacrificed himself to save Pyrrhia, and his father had a funeral for him.”
“A funeral,” Midnight whispered, still not sure what they were saying. Finally, it clicked, and it made sense. “That’s why Torrent came back to Crosswinds,” she said to Ecru, distressed. “I’d thought Ink was dead, this whole time, but he wasn’t, and now he is dead. I never even knew him.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ecru said, placing a wing over Midnight and pulling her close to comfort her.
Midnight lowered her head, and let out a sigh of despair. “No, don’t be. I’ll be fine. It’s hard for me to grieve for someone I already thought was dead, even if he was my sib.”
Ecru looked over at the saddened Midnight. Even if she wanted to hide it, she could still easily see Midnight’s distress.
“Don’t you have a half-sibling?” Tiger asked, not reading the room very well. Did Midnight not know about her too?
Midnight tensed up, baring her teeth. “I don’t count Aurora as family,” she growled. “I’ve got a far nicer cousin. How do you know so much about my family anyways?”
Tiger shifted her eyes away uncomfortably. “Aurora caused a big commotion when she attacked and killed a few RainWing guards. I’m involved in the whole thing because my friend Toxin was in some sort of prophecy with Ink.”
“Your dad’s also been brooding around Jade Mountain for a while,” Skytaker added. “He’s kinda a mood-killer.”
“I’m just glad we’re getting rescued,” Ermine said as he finally gained the courage to walk out from behind Skytaker. He looked up at Ecru with hopeful eyes.
Ecru let out an uncomfortable laugh. “By the look of it, we might need rescuing ourselves.”
“We’re not going to have another chance to escape,” Skytaker quickly pressed, raising their head high to try and meet eyes with the adult dragons. “The Empress is already in Pyrrhia, and we don’t have long to stop her. But if she’s gone, maybe we can get free.”
“She’s looking for something there called the Wishstone,” Tiger added. “It’s an enchanted artifact that can do anything. When she uses it, she’ll completely destroy Pyrrhia, and make a new world from its ashes. You have to help us!”
“I know,” Midnight sighed. “We understand the urgency. We know she’s gone, and that we have to find the Wishstone first. But I’m not even sure how to get out of the palace.”
Skytaker smirked, like they’d been expecting this. “I’ve got a plan,” they explained. “The three of us got out of the palace before with cunning and talking, though it won’t work again. But now we’ve got some more muscle. I think we can get out, this time, by fighting.”
== Chapter 34 ==
Hissssssssss . . .
Aurora’s eyes opened wide. She stared at the stone wall opposite to her bed. Something was wrong. She could feel it.
Hissssssssss . . .
Aurora clutched at her ears as an intense pressure built up in them. She could feel the blood rushing in and out of her head, hear each of her heartbeats. Something about this felt familiar, but something was new. What was it? Was it Ash?
The hybrid raised her head up, turning it to the left and right. It wasn’t difficult to figure out the direction it was coming from. Without another thought, Aurora followed it. She stepped through the wall of her room, out into a hallway, then through another room. A SkyWing let out  a shriek as Aurora walked into her chambers, seeming appearing from nowhere. Aurora paid her no mind, and walked through the bed until reaching another wall, which she promptly disappeared into.
This time, the ground gave out under her, and a chilled wind brushed her. As she finished phasing, she spread out her wings to keep herself aloft. It didn’t take long for her to figure out the disturbance: directly in front of her, towards the front of the palace, a huge pillar of light rose into the sky. The pillar was a brighter blue than the bluest sea, and was so wide two dozen SkyWings could have fit along it.
Aurora frowned. Something seemed all too familiar about it. She thought she’d seen a light like this in one of the dead iterations she’d visited with Crystal and Calamity. From a distance, it didn’t seem so big, but here, it was huge.
A roar of dragons off to the side caught Aurora’s glance. Four battle-claden SkyWings flew at the pillar of light, as if they hoped to fight it somehow. They never even reached it — once they reached about three times its width away, the SkyWings suddenly went still, falling out of the sky. Aurora watched them drop, until they hit the ground with a loud crash.
She frowned. Was it a weapon of some sort? She saw more SkyWings walk out of the palace, all seemingly drawn to the light as she’d been. Not just guards, but palace servants or slaves (Queen Scarlet didn’t seem to care for the difference). So they could feel it too. None of the others tried to attempt what the first four dragons had done, just watching the pillar in anticipation.
“Your excellency!” a dragon called out. Two SkyWings flew up to Aurora’s height, nervously glancing towards each as they approached her.
Aurora sighed. “What?” she muttered.
“H-her majesty wishes your presence,” the other explained. “She hopes you can explain . . .” he gestured to the pillar. “She’s in the old throne room.”
“Fine,” Aurora replied tersely. The old throne room. That was the one open to the sky, facing the arena. Without another word, she turned to the right, flying downwards until she reached the ledge.
The old throne room itself seemed barren and empty, since Queen Scarlet had moved the throne itself inside, for fear of a RainWing attack. Now, there was nothing in it except for a concerned Queen Scarlet and numerous SkyWing guards.
“I’m glad you’re finally here,” Queen Scarlet muttered, clutching the locked box with the Eye of Amethyst in it close. She peered around the edge of the balcony, staring at the blue pillar. “What is that thing?”
Aurora glanced back at it again. Nothing seemed to have changed since she’d last seen it. “I don’t know,” she responded truthfully. “It may be dangerous.”
“May be dangerous?” Queen Scarlet spat. “Of course it’s dangerous! I sent a few SkyWings over to inspect it, and they all died! What if it starts to move towards the palace?”
Aurora was silent. What could she say? She didn’t know any better than Queen Scarlet what the pillar of light was, or why it was here. Maybe it would just go away.
Queen Scarlet let out a sigh, rolling her eyes. “Fine. If you don’t know what it is, then there’s no point in you being here. Come back when you have some advice to give me.”
“Are you firing me?” Aurora asked, concerned.
“What? No,” Scarlet snorted. “But if this thing goes on much longer, I might order you to investigate yourself. You’d be able to survive that, wouldn’t you?”
Aurora flicked her tail. It depended on what was killing the SkyWings. If it was some sort of radiation, she’d be able to stop it with enough armor, although that would make it impossible to fly in. Would phasing keep her safe? She wasn’t sure.
Aurora looked back at the light again, frowning. The timing seemed almost uncanny. What if Ash was causing this, or if there was at least some connection? She opened her wings, and took off from the ledge. She would hear what he had to say about it.
The arena was a directly in front of the ledge, so that even if she wasn’t down there watching the fights close-up, Queen Scarlet would be able to watch over the tangled web of prisoners and decide which ones to use in the next fight from her throne, at least before she’d moved it. When Aurora flew up to the spires the prisoners were perched on, the web of metal was much less dense than Queen Scarlet would have liked it to be. Since the war had ended, it was more difficult for her to procure non-SkyWing prisoners, and there were only so many SkyWings she could sentence before she ran out of subjects. Plus, SkyWing versus SkyWing fights were just less thrilling.
Yet, there was one prisoner who wasn’t in chains. Inferno would’ve melted them anyways. Aurora flew over to her, the fireborn’s eyes watching closely as she approached. Aurora stretched out a talon, and a pole of stone poked against the muzzle. The stone turned to dust, and Inferno let out a sigh of relief. Aurora stared down, like she was expecting an explanation.
“Ash is asking if you can feel it,” Inferno said quietly, her voice almost a whisper.
“Of course I can feel it,” Aurora snarled back. “Every dragon in the palace can feel it. Does Ash know what it is?”
Inferno paused, listening to Ash as he spoke inside her mind. Aurora waited impatiently for her response.
“He’s not sure,” Inferno finally replied. “He says he’ll need to get closer.”
“He wants me to let him go,” Aurora frowned. Was he just trying to escape? Or hurt her? She wasn’t sure, but she didn’t trust that he didn’t pose a threat. “Let me talk to him, directly.”
A few moments passed before Inferno responded, shaking her head. “He says that he can’t, and that if it’s what he thinks he is, he’ll be exposed if he tries to control me.”
“Exposed?” Aurora asked. “Exposed to whom?”
Inferno’s mouth went tight. “He just says he needs to get closer to figure it out,” she repeated.
Aurora flapped her wings as she looked towards the blue pillar of light. She didn’t like freeing Inferno, but if she wanted to find out what was going on, she wasn’t sure she had another choice. If Ash was telling the truth, than it sounded like he wouldn’t risk trying to take over Inferno, but she couldn’t be certain.
Aurora brushed the prison spire with her wing, and the stone cuffs around Inferno’s limbs retracted, freeing her legs and tail. She glared at Inferno, speaking to Ash. “Don’t try anything. If you try and touch me, I’ll turn Inferno’s scales to lead, and you’ll be unable to move at all.”
Inferno nodded. “He says that he doesn’t want to try taking over me anyways. He’s afraid.”
Afraid? Aurora wondered as she got rid of the stone ring around Inferno’s wings. Afraid of what?
Inferno spread her wings open with a sigh of relief, stretching them wide. She turned to Aurora, after giving them a few flaps, like she was making sure they still worked. “Ash wants to approach from the ground. He thinks it’ll be safer.”
“Fine,” Aurora replied. “Don’t get too close to the light. It killed a bunch of SkyWings who got near it earlier.”
The two quietly glided down towards the light. Was it just Aurora, or did it seem brighter than it had been before? A safe distance away, they landed a small valley with some tree-cover, continuing walking towards the pillar on land. Sticks cracked and burned under the two dragons’ paws as the pillar grew closer. Inferno stared up at it, the light as blue as her eyes.
“Stop,” Aurora suddenly ordered, stretching out her wing in front of Inferno. Inferno squealed and jumped back, almost running into the hybrid’s wing.
“Please give me more warning next time!” Inferno said, distressed. “I could have burnt you!”
“Look,” Aurora said, pointing a talon on the ground a few dragon-lengths in front of her. Inferno followed it. A small bluebird was lying on the ground, dead. As Inferno raised her head, she could see more dead birds along the path to the pillar. “Is Ash close enough?”
Inferno took a step back, closing her eyes as she silently communicated with him. “He thinks it’s a gateway. He says . . . someone from his iteration is coming after him, whatever that means.”
“A gateway to another iteration,” Aurora repeated, looking up at the blue light. She definitely wasn’t imagining it. It was getting brighter. “So someone, or something, is going to come through. Are they a threat?”
Aurora waited a few moments for Inferno to respond. She didn’t. Aurora glanced over to her. The orange glow around her scales had changed color, glowing as blue as the fireborn’s eyes. A wave of heat from her passed over Aurora, causing the hybrid to step back. Inferno’s gaze seemed to be held in a trance, her eyes focused on the pillar.
Aurora stared at the SkyWing as Inferno suddenly started to rise up in the air, floating a few feet off the ground as the air around her started to crackle. Aurora was still. Should she do something? What?
As soon as it had begun, it was over. Inferno dropped to the ground, falling flat on her underbelly. The blue light around her disappeared, along with the blue pillar. A cold wind rushed past Aurora from the direction the pillar of light had been. She looked towards it, to see that high up in the sky, a huge disk had appeared, glowing the same color that the pillar had been.
Suddenly, Aurora heard a great roar of dragons from above. Like a swarm of locusts, hundreds of colorful dragons appeared from the blue disk of light, flying down towards the SkyWing palace. For a second, Aurora just stared as the horde of RainWings went through the portal. Then she realized it. The SkyWings were under attack.
“I need to protect Queen Scarlet and the Eye,” Aurora said out loud. Queen Scarlet was the key to Calamity’s plan, she knew that for sure. She needed to stay alive. Aurora opened her wings, and took off.
“Wait!” Inferno called after Aurora from below. Aurora paid her no attention. Ash could wait. Her mission came first.
As Aurora rose into the sky, RainWings funnelling out from above her, she could see mixes of reds and oranges surrounding the palace. That was good. Queen Scarlet must have ordered her army to get ready for a fight after Aurora left, even without knowing that the blue pillar had been a portal. That bought Aurora some time.
RainWings and SkyWings clashed over the palace, and the thunderous roar of battle filled the air. RainWings descended over Aurora’s head in a storm, and a cloud of dragons appeared around the front of the palace. Aurora dove straight towards it. For a moment, there was calm, and then Aurora was swarmed by the onslaught.
Everywhere she looked, dragons were fighting. She swerved to her left as two dragons fought talon-to-talon, crimson blood spraying through the air. To her right, a SkyWing latched teeth around a RainWing’s neck, trying to tear out her throat. The two locked in combat and spiraled down, whacking Aurora to the side. She growled back at them as she quickly regained her flight balance, continuing on through the swarm.
A loud horn sounded from above, and almost instantly, the RainWings all vanished, leaving only distortions in the air where they’d been. The SkyWings looked around in confusion, before they started to plummet from the sky. Aurora saw a few try and defend against their attackers, clawing through scales and blood. An order was yelled out, and the SkyWings started to shoot fire and smoke around them, rendering the RainWings visible again in the cloud of smoke. Aurora held her breath as she flew through one, grazing a camouflaged RainWing with her tail as she flew past him.
Aurora suddenly let out a yelp as she felt a burning sensation on her side. She quickly concentrated, phasing through whatever had landed on her, and drops of venom splattered down onto a SkyWing below. She gave a short glance back to see that a black scar had spread out on her scales where the venom had hit. She could heal it later. Right now, she had more important things on her mind. A thin sheen of metal started to spread out across Aurora’s scales, until she flew through the battle like a shining silver star.
That would be enough to protect her from more venom attacks. Aurora looked around at the SkyWings, most of which were already wearing light forms of metal armor over a lot of their scales. There were screams of dragons hit with venom filling the air, but not as many as Aurora would’ve expected. Although if it slowed them down, they at least had a chance to defend against the armor. Aurora wondered if Queen Scarlet had them trained and prepared specifically for an attack by invisible, venom-shooting RainWings. Even Aurora hadn’t expected a RainWing attack on the Sky Kingdom, but maybe Queen Scarlet’s paranoia of Glory and RainWings had come in handy after all. They were able to fight back.
A bright blue flash suddenly drew Aurora’s gaze, followed by a crack and the yells of SkyWings. In front of her, at the border of the palace, bolts of lightning arced through the air, passing from one SkyWing to another, avoiding the RainWings. Aurora quickly morphed her metal armor to a ceramic one as she flew closer. The smell of burnt flesh rose up in Aurora’s snout, and SkyWings began to fall from the sky. Whatever had done that, it wasn’t natural. 
Aurora squinted as the blinding light faded. Ahead of her, by the palace walls, Aurora spotted an empty space among the battlefield, cleared except for one dragon. A violet RainWing surrounded by a blue aura, golden stars and stripes glimmering over her scales. A twisted crown of golden vines and leaves spread over her head. This was the dragon who’d caused the lightning, and likely the one in charge of the RainWing invasion.
Aurora was suddenly knocked to the side again, and she felt talons trying to puncture her armor, teeth cracking as they tried to tear into it. She hissed as a RainWing tried to claw at her eyes, then created a huge spike on the side of her armor, piercing through the RainWing’s flesh. The RainWing gave out a final cry of alarm, before Aurora shook herself mid-air, and the RainWing slid from the spike, a gaping red hole in his chest.
Almost immediately, three more RainWings tried to take his place. Aurora let out a roar of warning as they tried to grapple her, before her ceramic armor stretched, and a dozen more spikes expanded from it. One of the RainWings let out a yell as she was stabbed in her wing membrane, while the other two quickly turned tail, not wanting to approach Aurora. Aurora started to descend from the additional weight of the spikes and armor, gliding down towards the palace.
“Aurora, wait!”
Aurora glanced back to see Inferno. The fireborn was trying to make her way through the battlefield, dragons clearing a path for her as smoke rose up from her scales. Venom splattered against her, almost instantly boiling away and leaving nothing but small welts. She dove down as Aurora continued her downwards trajectory, gliding by her side.
“What do you want?” Aurora sighed.
“You need to stop!” Inferno pleaded.
Aurora turned her head away from Inferno, ignoring the SkyWing as she flapped her wings once more, barely giving her enough lift to let her crash down on one of the palace’s many balconies with a thump, armor scraping against stone. Without delay, she got back up to her paws, and walked across to the edge of the balcony. In a straight line in front of her she could see the old throne room’s balcony, with nothing in her way except a huge gap filled with RainWings and SkyWings.
“If I had the Eye of Amethyst, I’d be able to fly with my armor on,” she muttered to herself, not heeding Inferno’s warning. She could phase, but that took up her concentration, and was risky with the unknown threat of the crowned RainWing. “Maybe I can add hydrogen gas under the armor, to make it lighter than air. But the lightning—”
“Listen to me!” Inferno yelled out. She gritted her teeth as she grabbed ahold of Aurora’s armored tail, trying to keep her from flying out over the edge. Aurora turned back as her armor heated up, teeth bared.
“Just look!” Inferno asked Aurora, as she let go of the hybrid’s tail.
Aurora looked over at the old throne’s balcony. Queen Scarlet was still there, surrounded by dozens of SkyWing guards. The SkyWing queen was shaking, more terrified than Aurora had ever seen her. She listened, trying to make out Scarlet’s words through the ruckus.
“I knew it!” Queen Scarlet screamed, as one of the SkyWings tried to comfort her, covering her with his wings. “There were RainWings everywhere, invisible! They were spying on me, and Queen Glory is going to kill me! She’s coming to finish off the rest of my face! Please, save me! I’ll give you my kingdom, I’ll give you anything!” She clutched the box containing the Eye of Amethyst, like it would give her protection.
Suddenly, the crowd went silent. The RainWings and SkyWings in front of Aurora started to clear away. The crowned dragon landed on the queen’s balcony. Instantly, the SkyWings guarding Queen Scarlet ran towards her, attempting to attack the intruder. A mistake.
The Empress extended one paw, and a bolt of lightning shot from each of her talons, arcing from one SkyWing to the next as light danced around the balcony, before extending into the palace. A rumble shook the ground, and Aurora saw cracks rise through the stone beneath her. The stone started to give, and Aurora jumped back as the edge of the balcony crumbled away.
She looked up. Cracks had expanded, dust and rubble leaking out of the palace. She stared as a line expanded around one the palace’s nearest tower, wrapping around it in a circle. A creak sounded through the air as the tower fell inwards, and with a huge crash, reverberating through the air, it slammed down onto the palace. SkyWings that had been hiding inside flew up, letting out screams as more of the palace started to collapse, another tower falling as centuries-old stone slid and tumbled. Like a landslide, chunks of the palace detached from each other, sliding down the mountainside before settling in ruins in the valley below.
Finally, the dust cleared, revealing what little was left intact of the SkyWing palace. With a whiff of smoked flesh, each of the guards fell down, dead, leaving only a shaking Queen Scarlet, hugging the box as she lowered her head, trying to protect it with her wings. She turned away from the Empress, as if hoping that she wouldn’t be there if Queen Scarlet couldn’t see her.
“I might have to take you up on that offer,” the Empress replied. “You surrender yourself, your kingdom, your throne?”
“YES!” Queen Scarlet squealed, teeth chattering as tears ran down from her face. “Please, don’t hurt me! No more venom, please!”
“Surrender accepted,” Empress Liliana smiled as she sat back on her haunches. “I’ll keep you alive. Where’s the Wishstone? Is it in that box?”
“What?” Queen Scarlet asked, confused. She looked up at Empress Liliana, her fear already starting to subside. Scarlet frowned. “You’re not Glory.”
Aurora stared down at the scene, and made another motion to go forward and attack the Empress, before Inferno tugged back on her again.
“It’s too late,” Inferno whispered, talons shaking herself. “Ash says it’s too late.”
“It’s not too late,” Aurora growled as she spread her wings. “Queen Scarlet is still alive.” She looked back to see the Empress, shaking the metal box with a frown, as if trying to guess at its contents without opening it. She set it down, shaking her head.
“Stop!” Inferno squealed. “You can’t go down there! Ash says you can’t win. We need to fly away, as fast as we can!”
“I can’t let this interfere with Calamity’s plan,” Aurora replied, staring at the Empress. If Queen Scarlet was killed, Aurora couldn’t serve her.
“You’re my prisoner, right?” Inferno desperately argued. “Well, if you go and fight that RainWing, I’ll escape! You can’t have that happen, right?”
Aurora gave Inferno an annoyed look, then turned back again.
“Even Ash is pleading!” Inferno replied, voice shaking. “Ash is afraid. He wants you to protect him. Even if we weren’t on the same side, I need you to protect me too.”
Aurora paused, still focused on the Empress. Ash was asking her to protect him? A chill ran up through her spine. Was this really an enemy she could beat? “We were always on the same side,” she said quietly. “The side of life.”
“If that’s true, then you need to protect us,” Inferno pleaded. “So we can live.”
Aurora hesitated, still focused on the Empress. This wasn’t part of the plan. Ash, the RainWing attack. None of this was. Which meant that anything Calamity had told her might not even apply anymore. Calamity couldn’t have predicted this. Which meant she was truly on her own.
Aurora’s blood suddenly ran cold, terror rushing through every bone in her body. The Empress had turned, her gaze now focused on Inferno and Aurora.
Aurora took a step back as more of the balcony crumbled. Fight or flight? She tried to make a decision as she saw the Empress raise a paw up, lighting crackling between her talons. What was the right choice? Fight or flight? Aurora was frozen in uncertainty.
“AURORAPLEASE!” Inferno screamed out.
As the Empress extended her talons, Aurora dug her own into the ground. Inferno turned away and shut her eyes as lightning shot from them, preparing for her death as a loud crackle burst through her ears.
Inferno waited for a moment, then opened her eyes. The crackling was still there, but Inferno’s insides had been fried. Inferno turned around. In front of her, a huge wall of bismuth and grown up between the two of them and the Empress. Interlocking squares expanded and contracted above Inferno’s eyes, all the colors of a RainWing glittering as the sun shone down on it.
Inferno stared on in wonder for a second, before Ash spoke to her again. Her expression fell. “Ash says that won’t hold her.”
“I know,” Aurora replied. On cue, a crack started to rise up in the stone wall, and a square chunk fell off, landing by Inferno’s paws. A bolt of lightning shot through the missing panel, hitting the side of the palace. Aurora lifted her talons from the ground, and stepped back from her crumbling creation. “It will hold her long enough to help us escape. Hydrogen should work.”
“Hydrogen?” Inferno asked, confused. “Why don’t you just take off your armor? You’ll be able to fly then.”
Aurora shook her head. “Flying won’t be fast enough.” She frowned as she stepped over towards Inferno. There was no telling if this would work, and if she messed up, Calamity wasn’t there to save her. “Can I trust Ash? If I touch you, will he attack me?”
Inferno shook her head. “He says he won’t. He says he’s not able to do much in his current form, and needs you on his side for this.”
Aurora considered it for a second, as another huge bismuth crystal crashed down beside her. They didn’t have much more time. She didn’t like putting herself at risk like this, but it didn’t seem like she had better options.
“Turn around, facing away from the wall, and crouch down,” Aurora ordered Inferno. “I’m going to climb on you. Ash. You have some control over Inferno’s scale-temperature, don’t you? Reduce it as much as possible, so my armor doesn’t heat up too quickly.”
“Climb on me?” Inferno asked as she complied, confused. She let out a grunt as she felt Aurora place a paw on her back, her legs almost buckling under the weight of Aurora’s armor. Even with a layer of ceramic between them, the feeling of having another dragon touching her was weird.
Aurora shifted so that her underbelly was between Inferno’s wings, and grabbed onto the SkyWing’s front legs. Her armor started to grow, creeping around Inferno until a tight cone stretched backwards from her tail. Inferno struggled, as she heard another crash from behind her. More chunks of the wall were coming down, and she squealed as a bolt of lightning shot past her side.
“What are you doing?” Inferno asked, trying to move her tail, which was now stuck in place. “How does this help us to fly?”
Rings of ceramic extended around Inferno, holding Aurora tight to her. The cone on the end of Inferno’s tail kept growing, until it reached almost her body length, before enclosing back around itself. More bolts of lightning shot over them, and Inferno saw a cracks start to form in the base of the wall. It was about to fall.
“Hydrogen is flammable,” Aurora explained. She dug her tail in, and turned the air inside the tapered cone to hydrogen.
Inferno let out a shrill scream as the gas ignited, and the two were propelled forward, off the balcony. She tucked her wings in and closed her eyes as Aurora grasped onto her, turning the cone downwards, and they were lifted into the sky, a trail of gas left behind them. A loud crash sounded over the roar of the continual flame around Inferno’s tail, and Inferno opened her eyes to see the bismuth wall behind them finally fall, arcs of lightning cracking between the palace and the arenas, the prisoners’ spires crashing down.
Aurora looked back, her eyes meeting with the Empress’s, the RainWing’s figure shrinking into the distance as the two were propelled forward faster than any dragon could fly. As they trailed across the sky like a shooting star, RainWings and SkyWings alike stared up at them from the ruins of the SkyWing palace below.
== Chapter 35 ==
Deathbringer let out a sigh of relief as the fortress came back within sight, and he dove down towards it, alongside Hailstorm and Jambu. The flight back from the palace had been tense, the three worried that at anytime, they’d be caught and killed. But they hadn’t been accosted by Queen Blackice’s soldiers — he guessed they’d managed to travel faster than the news of Hoarfrost’s death had.
As they were seen descending, a few IceWings walked from the front of the stronghold to greet them, Hemlock among them. Deathbringer gave once last glance behind them, just to make sure they weren’t being followed. He landed, his paws touched snow, and a grin crossed his face. It might not have been the largest victory, but this had been a victory nonetheless. Finally, they’d dealt a blow against Queen Blackice.
“I’m glad you’re back safely,” Hemlock greeted them with a relieved smile. “I was worried something had happened to you. Were you successful?”
“We completed our main objective,” Hailstorm carefully replied, tucking his wings in as he landed on the snow. “Hoarfrost is dead. But it wasn’t clean. All three of us were spotted.”
“All three?” Hemlock frowned. “So they know you’re alive? You’re sure of it?”
Prince Hailstorm nodded. “I’d hoped to keep it hidden, but the news is bound to have gotten to Blackice by now. I doubt she’ll be too shocked. She has to already know Prince Winter is still at Jade Mountain.”
Hemlock considered this for a moment, the IceWing turning her head back and forth as she thought. Finally, her expression changed to a grin. “We can use this to our advantage. If we reveal your presence now, and attribute Hoarfrost’s death to you, instead of two outsiders, our potential allies will be thrilled. Do I have your permission?”
Prince Hailstorm nodded. “Better that we do it soon. I don’t want to hear what tale Blackice spins about Hoarfrost’s death.”
“Excellent!” Hemlock replied. She turned to one of the IceWings next to her. “Go draft a letter for me, declaring Hailstorm alive and asking our allies and Blackice’s enemies to join us in battle. We need this done as soon as possible.”
The IceWing bowed, before scampering off into the fortress. Hemlock turned back to the three, frowning as she saw Jambu’s expression. His scales were covered in a mix of blues and purples, and even an IceWing could tell that the RainWing looked strangely grim.
“What’s with him?” she asked Deathbringer. “He seems less . . . excited than before.”
“He was the one who managed to kill Hoarfrost,” Deathbringer explained. “I’m glad we brought him along.”
“Him?” Hemlock said, shocked. She turned to Jambu, and gave him a pat on his back with one of her paws. “Congratulations! If you were a high-born IceWing, Queen Glacier definitely would’ve brought you up in the rankings for such a heroic feat!”
Jambu shied away, his scales turning an even more vivid color. Hemlock gave him a quizzical look, unsure why he wasn’t as excited as she was.
“He’s a RainWing,” Hailstorm tried to explain, “they don’t do stuff like that a lot. This is the first time he’s ever killed someone.”
Hemlock frowned, not really understanding. “Wouldn’t that be cause to celebrate?” Seeing Hailstorm’s expression, she just shook her head, ignoring the topic. “Regardless, we need to plan if we want to time our battle right. Blackice is rash, but she’s predictably cruel and chaotic. Deathbringer, can you come inside? I want to discuss tactics with you, in the little time we have left.”
“It would be my pleasure,” Deathbringer replied, walking with Hemlock inside the fortress. The crowd of IceWings that had come with Hemlock followed the two back, leaving Jambu and Hailstorm alone outside of the fortress doors.
Hailstorm looked over at Jambu in worry. Ever since the assassination, Jambu’s tone had changed. The RainWing had been quiet and distant, like he’d only now realized that it would take violence for them to defeat Blackice. Hailstorm almost missed the RainWing prince’s silly flirtations.
“Are you alright?” Hailstorm asked. He placed his wing over Jambu, like he was to warm him up.
Jambu scooped his claws through the snow, and let out a long sigh as it fell through his talons. “I don’t know,” he replied, his voice hushed. “I just — killing dragons is one of the worst offenses anyone can commit in the rainforest. It’s such a horrible thing to do, to take someone’s life.” He looked up at Hailstorm, staring into the IceWing’s eyes. “And now I’ve done it. I’m a murderer. How can I lead the RainWings after this? I should be exiled instead.”
Hailstorm shook his head. “Queen Glory killed, didn’t she?”
“I know,” Jambu grumbled. “But she only did it self-defense. This was different. This was an assassination. Hoarfrost didn’t attack me, we went into his home and I killed him.”
Hailstorm thought about that for a moment. “I think that’s only partially true. It’s hard to remember now, but I was there when Queen Glory almost killed Queen Scarlet with her venom. That wasn’t self-defense. She did it to try and save her friends. This wasn’t much different, was it? Hoarfrost was a horrible dragon, who helped kill Queen Glory, and was going to kill more NightWings and RainWings. By killing him, you stopped that. You saved them.”
“I guess,” Jambu sighed, some of the dismal tones in his scales decreasing as his mood became lighter. “That makes me feel a little bit better. But I don’t like being told it was a good thing. Hemlock and Deathbringer are calling me a hero for murder.”
Hailstorm smiled, and wrapped his wing closer around Jambu. “I think it’s good you feel that way. There’s nothing wrong with you, just because you don’t think what you did deserves to be called heroic. It’s something wrong with the Ice Kingdom, and the Sky Kingdom, and really the rest of Pyrrhia. Everyone in this world seems to think killing is the right and only way of action. Maybe, sometimes they are. The War of SandWing Succession wouldn’t have ended without Burn and Blister dead. Blackice and Hoarfrost might need to die for the RainWings and NightWings to be saved. But that doesn’t mean we need to glorify murder and violence, when they should only be used when absolutely necessary. I think we should praise peace, love, and forgiveness instead.”
Jambu’s colors started to soften, blues disappearing as pinks and magentas started to shine through his scales. He smiled, and nestled his horns beneath Hailstorm’s chin. “You’re really wise, you know that?”
Hailstorm let out a laugh, patting Jambu on his neck. “I’m really not! I’ve just made a lot of mistakes, and I’m trying to make up some lost ground before I become a leader. There aren’t any female heirs left, which means I’m going to have to be in charge of the IceWings, at least temporarily, if we win.”
“Wow,” Jambu replied. At least he’d have Deathbringer and Grandeur and Greatness all sharing their position until Firefly was old enough to be queen. “That’s a big job. Hey. Do you think I’ll be able to see you again after this is over?”
“I hope so,” Hailstorm responded. “I promise, if we win, and Blackice is ousted, then one of my first acts will be opening permanent diplomatic relations with the RainWings and NightWings. I want to make sure something like this never ever happens again. I’ll dig out a hole in the Great Ice Cliff if I have to.”
Jambu folded his wings in, and leaned up against Hailstorm’s neck. “Mhmm,” he grinned, as he dug his claws into the snow. “And I can come in, and see the Great Ice Palace? A proper tour, this time?”
“Of course,” Hailstorm replied, placing one of his paws around Jambu’s neck. “A real tour.”
Jambu smiled as he placed his claws over Hailstorm’s, interlocking talons. “That would be nice . . .”
----Deathbringer stared down at Midnight’s enchanted scroll, his paws sinking into the mud where he stood. Three days had passed since he’d left Hemlock and Hailstorm at the fortress. Getting back through the rainforest had been far easier than getting through — Deathbringer wasn’t quite sure he could ever repay Six-Claws. Even if the SandWing army was busy fighting their own war right now, Six-Claws had been more than willing to send the two with a SandWing escort large enough to deter any attacks from the few IceWings remaining around the tunnels. Two dozen dragons, all who’d volunteered to stay with Deathbringer and Jambu and serve as their personal guards indefinitely, either out of a desire to do good in Pyrrhia, or just getting bored of the siege. It wasn’t much, but Deathbringer would feel safer having them flying beside him.
Still, the little resistance they’d ran into worried him. It meant that Queen Blackice was likely no longer at the NightWing island herself, and most of her troops had moved northwest, towards Jade Mountain. Just as he’d predicted, she planned to position herself between the Mud Kingdom and Jade Mountain, to ambush the dragons at Deathbringer’s camp before they reached safety. Not that much of a surprise. Deathbringer had asked Six-Claws to send a letter to Jade Mountain, warning the dragons there of what was going to happen, and requesting for their support in the battle. Everything depended on that. If his forces at Jade Mountain didn’t fight alongside him, or if Hemlock’s troops weren’t able to rally and fly through the volcanic island in time, he’d be faced with a crushing defeat.
Deathbringer took in a deep breath as he stepped from his tent. All around him, dragons were pulling their tents down, SandWings helping NightWings and RainWings gather their belongings. From the corner of Deathbringer’s eyes, he spotted a NightWing mother, helping her two dragonets gather scrolls and jewelry. The little that they’d managed to take with them after losing their home in the rainforest, and before that, their home on the volcano. Deathbringer wondered which of the three would survive the journey. He looked back down at the animus-touched scroll, rolling it open as his gaze fell on the healing enchantment. He wouldn’t let any of them die.
“Ntpoi. Ndif. Tionrecdi,” Deathbringer whispered, trying to picture Blackice in his mind’s eye. The red arrow twisted, and he followed it, putting the sun behind him. Due west. Between them, and Jade Mountain.
Deathbringer walked through the camp, watching as more dragons prepared to leave. He’d asked that they take only their most precious belongings. The fabrics that they’d used for the tents would be left behind in the mud. Queen Moorhen could clean it up herself. The flight would still be slow; they could only go as fast as their slowest dragonet.
He stepped into the muddy clearing where he’d trained his soldiers. He smiled, as he saw most of them were already there. He shouldn’t have been surprised. They all knew what today was, as well as he did.
Deathbringer stepped out in front of them. NightWings, dotted with RainWings and SandWings were all lined up in rows. A few held makeshift spears or wore rusted armor, but most would just be using their claws, teeth, and scales. They were hardly an army, less than a hundred in numbers. But they were what Deathbringer had.
Deathbringer lifted his head, looking back and forth across the . “I don’t have much to say,” he spoke. “The only thing I can say, is thank you. You are putting your lives at line. Many of you don’t have to be here right now. You could fly east, hide in the woods, or return to the Sand Kingdom. But you didn’t. You chose to stay. When the history scrolls speak of us, they’ll remember your courage, your sense of justice. How brave dragons gave their lives to protect the innocent. Keep that in your heart when you fight, remember that you’re fighting so that they can live. And even if it kills me, I’ll do all that I can to protect you, just like you protect them. That is what we are. Protectors.”
The crowd of dragons went silent. There were no cheers, just a solemn moment of contemplation. Deathbringer understood. These weren’t warriors. These dragons didn’t want to fight. They only fought so that others could live.
“C’mon,” Deathbringer said, looking at the camp around him. “It’s time to go.”
It was another hour before the group finally took off. Other than a small rear guard, the dragons Deathbringer had trained took their position at the front of the group, to defend the refugees in the back when the time arose. Deathbringer stared back at the flattened camp behind them, a mess of cloth and wood. His thoughts went to Firefly. This had been where she’d hatched. More than anything, Deathbringer hoped that the rest of her dragonet years would be spent in the rainforest, being raised by him. At least she was safe.
The travel was slow. It took a lot longer for a few hundred dragons to move than just one. Most of the NightWing population was here. At least what little was left of it, after centuries of starvation on the volcano, and Blackice’s genocide in the rainforest.
When it finally felt like they were going at a steady pace, darkness started to fall. Deathbringer had considered trying to fly in the dark, but they had too many RainWings among them for that, and if they slept during the day, they’d be both grounded and tired if the IceWings attacked. It wasn’t like he could hide this many dragons. Here, they had the advantage if Blackice attempted to attack them.
The first night, they slept by the western edge of the Mud Kingdom. Deathbringer could even see Queen Moorhen’s palace from here. MudWings walked around the city surrounding it, oblivious and uncaring to the plight of the dragons just to their south. Occasionally, he saw one approach the camp, only to retreat again. Moorhen wouldn’t be happy that they were still in her territory, but Deathbringer less than cared. She could tolerate a single night of them sleeping there.
It was only on the second day when they finally left the Mud Kingdom. Deathbringer stared as they passed over the borders of the marshland, and the land began to dry. Trees started to dot the landscape as it rose. They were no longer in MudWing territory. This was neutral land. This was where the real fight begun.
The sun was low in the sky as they passed into the foothills east of the Winding Tail River, where the edge of the rainforest creeped over. Here, at least, the fire hadn’t reached. The trees were still lush and green. A gentle whiff of the coast even reached Deathbringer from here. He looked down at the scroll. It still pointed west, towards Jade Mountain.
A loud yell suddenly sounded out from in front of Deathbringer. He looked up to see a NightWing, fresh blood dripping from his scales as he flew towards the group. One of the lookouts Deathbringer had sent ahead.
“We’re under attack!” he yelled again, as he got closer. “IceWings!”
Deathbringer looked left and right. IceWings? he wondered. Where?
“Get in defensive positions!” Deathbringer ordered his soldiers, regardless. “Get ready to fight!” Where were they? Queen Blackice was still to the west, so their main army couldn’t be here.
Suddenly, an IceWing shot down from the sky, diving down at the lookout. The IceWing grabbed onto him mid-flight, tearing through his wings as they fell through the sky. The lookout managed to turn around, throwing the IceWing off him as another NightWing flew forward to join him. The IceWing began to retreat, flying backwards. It couldn’t have just been one, right?
Deathbringer’s eyes tracked where the IceWing had come from, until his head pointed straight up. Fluffy white clouds filled the sky, slowly travelling across the sky. Deathbringer squinted, as he saw a hint of movement between the whisps of white.
“They’re in the clouds!” Deathbringer yelled out. “Fly up! Protect from above!”
His order came not a moment too late. As his troops flew away from the front of the mass of civilians, forming a layer above them, IceWings started to rain down from the sky. Claws clashed as they dove into the protective layer. Deathbringer stared, and was just about to join them in battle, before stopping mid-flight. He winced as he clutched the scroll. He needed to watch the battle, give orders, and heal. Right now, he couldn’t fight himself.
Deathbringer took a moment to examine the enemy forces. The IceWings had stopped descending, and now formed a white film on top of the blacks, greens, and golds of his own troops. There were far less of them than he’d expected — even less than his own number of fighting dragons. A flash of black scale-paint caught his gaze. One of the Black Princes, but not the queen herself. So this wasn’t the full army, but a small group that had splintered off. Deathbringer bared his teeth, and clenched his claws. He felt cowardly, way back here where no one could hurt him.
Deathbringer’s heart raced as he spotted a NightWing falling from the sky, unable to keep aloft as an IceWing tore at her wings. Deathbringer’s talons almost ripped through the scroll as he whispered the words needing to activate the healing enchantment. “Cindime Dybo Ndmi.”
Almost instantly, their fight was turned around. The wounds on the NightWing healed, and a new vigor overcame her. She rotated around mid-air, tearing at the IceWing as streaks of blue appeared on his wings. Deathbringer smiled, remind himself of how important his position in the fight was.
Another battle came under his gaze. He winced as an IceWing shot a blast of frostbreath, covering a RainWing’s wings. The RainWing turned as white as the IceWing as he started to drop like a rock. Deathbringer whispered the words, not quite sure if it had done anything for a moment. Right before the RainWing hit the treeline, his wing stretched out again, and he swooped back up, into the fight.
Deathbringer continued like this, yet it seemed that whenever a dragon was healed, another one got injured. Still, the battle continued. No matter what Deathbringer did, it felt like they could make no progress. He thought that the number of IceWings was slowly diminishing, but he couldn’t be sure. Worse, his own inexperienced troops were being pushed down, and the ground crept closer to Deathbringer. Soon, the IceWings would have his dragons pinned against the ground.
They needed to take out the leader. Deathbringer started to focus his attention on the Black Prince, a colossal IceWing who seemed to never tire. The IceWing had just engaged in combat with two NightWings, and even with the disadvantage of numbers, was still winning. As blue blood dripped from the Black Prince’s wounds, he tore his teeth into one of the NightWings, tearing out a chunk of wing membrane.
Deathbringer grinned mischievously. He would never expect what was coming to him. Deathbringer looked at the NightWing the Black Prince was attacking, and started to say the words to heal him. As the battleground shifted from a stray burst of wind, the two dragons turned around mid-combat, the NightWing disappearing from view.
It took a moment for Deathbringer to realize what he’d done, and he whacked his snout with his talons. “Moons,” he winced, as the IceWing’s wounds started to heal, the Black Prince letting out a huge roar of vigor. Deathbringer had healed the wrong dragon.
Deathbringer quickly healed the two NightWings on him, but the damage was already done. The Black Prince had new-found energy, and the battle kept raging on. Slowly and slowly, the IceWings pressed down on Deathbringer’s forces, pinning the civilian dragons beneath to the ground.
Then, an IceWing fell from the sky. Deathbringer stared as he watched the IceWing fall. Her wings were still outstretched as she tumbled down, trying to glide as she crashed into the trees below. Deathbringer frowned. That was odd, he hadn’t seen any wounds. As he looked away, another IceWing suffered a similar fate, disengaging from the combat he’d been in to try and make an emergency landing.
Deathbringer heard a whizzing sound, and saw a flash of movement in the sky. Just moments later, two dozen IceWings started to follow suit, trying to escape combat as they glided down to the rainforest floor, trees breaking their fall. What was going on? Deathbringer looked over at the Black Prince, across the battlefield, but he seemed as confused as Deathbringer was.
“Push them up!” Deathbringer yelled out. With just a couple dozen IceWings down, the stalemate was broken, and the tide of the battle turned. Deathbringer didn’t have time to puzzle out what was happen: he was too focused on healing his dragons in battle. He knew he wouldn’t be able to save everyone in the battle against Blackice, but at least in this skirmish, none of his troops would die. They started to push back, and the IceWings rose up in the sky, away from the civilians.
Deathbringer glanced down as he thought he saw a flash of movement beneath him. One of the fallen IceWings had landed in a small clearing between the treetops, unmoving. Deathbringer stared for a moment. Had the IceWing died? No. The soldier was . . . sleeping?
Deathbringer jolted as he heard another whizz run past him, and something shot up into the air. A second wave of IceWings started to glide down from the sky, barely able to keep themselves aloft as they dove into the foliage. What was going on?
“Miss me?”
Deathbringer turned around, only to see the air behind him shimmering. Blindingly pink scales started to appear, and suddenly rushed at Deathbringer. Deathbringer winced and turned away as Jambu gave him a mid-flight hug.
“Jambu?” Deathbringer asked, pushing the RainWing prince off him. “What are you doing here? You were supposed to be in the south.”
“Helping you, of course!” Jambu grinned. “Look!” He pointed a talon to the rainforest floor. Suddenly, colorful scales started to appear through the trees, RainWings removing their disguises. Jambu made a motion with his wing, and dart guns were lifted into the air. In unison, they were fired, and sleeping dots shot up past Deathbringer, hitting a few of the IceWings nearest to the ground.
Deathbringer grinned, and suddenly returned the hug Jambu had given him. “Wow. You’re amazing.”
“I know,” Jambu beamed, basking in the praise. “They all wanted to do something to help too, but they don’t know how to fight claw-to-claw, so we decided on this! They’ll support you from below. We’ve actually been here for a while, we just had to wait until they got close enough.”
Deathbringer nodded, then turned to the crowd of dragons. “Civilians, land in the rainforest!” he yelled out. The dragons beneath him all started to descend, getting down beneath tree cover as quickly as possible. “My troops! Start to descend, stay above the treetops!”
He turned to Jambu as his dragons followed his orders, forming a protective layer over the RainWing dart-gunners and the civilians beneath them. The IceWings followed, following down even with their greatly reduced numbers.
“Jambu, are they ready?” Deathbringer asked, as he descended himself to the treetops.
Jambu nodded, and stretched out his wings. “Fire!” he called out.
The RainWings brought up their dart-guns, and sleeping darts filled the air. Deathbringer smiled as he saw the Black Prince tense up. Within a few moments, he, along with the majority of the remaining IceWings, started to slow, their movements becoming droopy. The Black Prince stretched out his wings, trying to keep himself aloft for a few more moments. He started to fade into unconsciousness, and glided down, whooshing past Deathbringer as he crashed into the foliage.
The few IceWings left were frozen for a moment. They were outnumbered. Their leader was gone. What could they do?
“Do you surrender?” Deathbringer yelled out as he flew upwards. There was no response, but he saw an IceWing drop his weapon. Then another one. The rest quickly followed, and NightWings engulfed them as they were brought to the ground.
“We won!” Jambu said, excited. A cheer rose up from the NightWings, RainWings, and SandWings alike. Deathbringer grinned. Jambu was right. They’d won this battle, fully and completely.
Deathbringer paused for a moment. Hemlock had mentioned that much of Queen Blackice’s army had been forced into service, under the threat of death to them or their families. “Of the IceWings who haven’t been sedated, tell them that Prince Hailstorm has returned, and is challenging Blackice’s illegitimate reign. Give them the option of joining us and swearing loyalty to him. Tell them that they and their families will be protected. If they refuse, sedate them, and keep them under constant watch. Re-sedate them if they awake. We need all the allies we can get.”
Jambu nodded, and turned away, gliding down to deliver Deathbringer’s message. The NightWing let out a tired sigh, as the sun started to set in the west. This was just the first battle.
NightWings and RainWings alike celebrated as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, and they made camp beneath the treetops. Even Deathbringer couldn’t help but have a small smile on his face as he walked out into a crowd of soldiers and civilians alike, and cheers greeted his ears.
“To King Deathbringer!” a NightWing yelled. “To our victory!”
“To King Deathbringer!” more dragons shouted, like a chant rising up through the rainforest. Deathbringer shifted his wings anxiously. He hadn’t meant to be a king. To be honest, he was far more comfortable in the shadows, whether buildings’ or in Queen Glory’s.
“To Queen Glory!” a RainWing yelled out. More dragons joined her in the chant. Deathbringer felt a pain of hurt in his chest, and he could tell that he wasn’t the only one. He stared down at the sticks beneath his paws, cracking one. They missed her too, and the three brief years of peace her reign had brought.
Deathbringer raised his claws, and the crowd immediately went silent, expecting a victory speech. Instead, he had little to say. “Anyone in need of healing, please come see me as soon as possible.”
Deathbringer turned away from the group, who quickly resumed their cheering and celebration without him. They had the right to celebrate, but he couldn’t. He just felt empty. This wasn’t a fight for valor, or riches, or glory. It was a fight for survival.
Light faded from the sky as blues turned to black. The trees opened up, and Deathbringer stepped out onto a small mound on the edge of the rainforest. He stared, stars dotting the sky until they disappeared at the jagged peaks to the west. The Claws of the Clouds. Two twin peaks rose up, piercing the constellations. Jade Mountain was so close, but so far away. They just had to get there, and that would be it.
Deathbringer suddenly whipped around, as he saw motion from the trees. He breathed a sigh of relief as a RainWing stumbled up the hill in the darkness.
“Jambu,” Deathbringer said. “What brings you here? Shouldn’t you be celebrating?”
“I needed to tell you something,” Jambu replied. Deathbringer couldn’t tell what color his scales were, his emotions hidden by the greyscale of night vision. “I, er, did as you asked. But none of the IceWings defected.”
“None of them?” Deathbringer asked, surprised. Had Hemlock been wrong? “Are they all that loyal to her?”
Jambu shook his head. “I don’t think so. They didn’t seem that way. Just afraid. That’s all. I’m going to party now. You should too! We won!”
Just afraid, Deathbringer wondered, as Jambu walked off. His talons started to shake as he realized what that meant. If they joined him and Hailstorm, and they won, they’d be free and safe. If they joined and Blackice won, they’d all be dead. He’d essentially asked them to place bets on who they expected to win the fight.
Which meant not one of them thought Deathbringer could win.
Deathbringer rolled out the scroll. The arrow still pointed west, and as he raised it to the sky, he could see it align perfectly between Jade Mountain’s two peaks. The cheers and laughs of dragons faded into the darkness as he stared.
It was far too soon for celebration. With Queen Blackice still lying in wait, the worst was still ahead of them.
== Chapter 36 ==
Ermine slowly crept up the stairs, shaking as he stepped out into the greenhouse. Light glinted off his white scales, and an unnatural warmth touched his cold blood. The plants seemed to creep and grow around him as he walked forward, the lenses above the Obscura spinning and rotating. The image of a SandWing appeared within it, before shifting to a scavenger, then to a SkyWing.
Glory stood in front of the Obscura, her scales a pale grey as she placed her talons along the face of the sphere. Ermine creeped closer, shuddering and making himself small. He looked left and right, wondering if there were any guards around.
“What do you want?” Glory growled as she heard his clawsteps. She took her talons away form the Obscura, and the image faded. She turned around, staring down at a frightened Ermine. “Where’s the rest of your little crew?”
“I-I just wanted to talk,” Ermine replied, tucking his head beneath his wings.
Glory frowned, squinting at the IceWing. “Talk?” she asked, not quite sure what he meant. She sighed. “I mean, I’m a little busy running an empire here, but sure, go ahead and waste my time.”
“Oh,” Ermine shifted uncomfortably. “I was j-just wondering, do you remember the other Dragonets of Destiny?”
Glory’s tail twitched. “If you’re trying to do what you all did to Mangrove, I already told you it won’t work. I still have most of my memories from before. The Empress returned a lot of them to me, and filled in a bunch of the gaps.”
Ermine shook his head. “No, I’m not trying to get you to help us or turn on the Empress. I’m just . . . curious, since you’re so different than the Glory I saw at Jade Mountain. I saw Tsunami in the Obscura, imprisoned, and I know the Glory I remember wouldn’t have let that happen to her friends.”
“Well, she wouldn’t be have been able to stop it either,” Glory pointed out. “Because she’s dead. Regardless, they’re not my friends anymore. Many years ago, I tried to contact them, but none of them remembered me well enough.”
“Oh,” Ermine said. “That’s kind of sad.”
Glory stared down at the small IceWing, irked by the look of pity he was giving her. “It’s not,” she assured him. “I have a different life now, that I’m happy with. And they have their own lives now. Some of which are happier than others.”
“You watch them?” Ermine asked. “Do you still miss them?
Glory grimaced. She hadn’t thought she’d let that slip. She sighed, shaking her head. “Yes,” she admitted. “Of course I do. But sometimes things happen, and friends just drift apart over time. There’s not much that can be done about it.”
“Even though my Glory had drifted apart from the other Dragonets, they were still good friends,” Ermine pointed out. “They had thought they always would be. Then . . . she died. By the same dragon w-who,” he paused, choking up a little, “who killed my parents.” He shook his head, tears forming in his eyes. “She was more than a friend to the other Dragonets. She was family. Even if they didn’t speak as often anymore, the other Dragonets wer-are heartbroken. The whole school could feel it.”
Glory’s expression softened a little, feeling a little sympathy for the IceWing dragonet. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m at least a little glad to hear that they missed me.”
Ermine raised his head, meeting Glory’s eyes. “If you ever wanted to . . . I think the Pyrrhian Dragonets would be really excited to see you again.”
Glory hesitated. For a second, Ermine could tell she was considering his offer. Then, she shook her head. He let out a sigh.
“Sorry,” Glory replied, hiding a hint of shame. “I can’t. I’m no longer the dragon I used to be. I’m just not sure I’d live up to their expectations. Now, my place is here, by the Empress’s side, with Deathbringer.”
“Alright,” Ermine said glumly. He closed his eyes. “May I-may I use the Obscura?”
“The Obscura?” Glory asked, confused. She looked behind her, up at the humongous cloudy orb. “Why?”
“I wanted to see my parents again,” Ermine quietly replied, his voice barely a whisper. “They were killed back on Pyrrhia.”
“Oh,” Glory said, understanding. She closed her eyes, and sighed. “I suppose that’s alright. Just . . . don’t expect too much. They might not be on Antigonia, and if they are, they might be nothing like their Pyrrhian counterparts.”
“I want to try.” Ermine shook as he stepped forward, lifting his head up, the Obscura towering over it. His talons shuddered as he slowly brought them up to the orb. Glory stepped back as he touched it, and an image appeared on the glass.
Ermine just stared as two IceWings appeared on the image, resting together on the cold floor of a house. Neither made any movement, nor did they speak a word. They just stayed still, like they were waiting for something. Glory glanced over at Ermine, frozen up. Tears started to spill from the IceWing dragonet’s eyes, but the only sound Glory heard from him was a quiet breath.
One of the IceWings raised her head, and looked around, as she could sense her dragonet’s presence. She whispered something unintelligible to her mate, but he just shook his head. She placed her head back down, and let out a quiet sigh.
“It’s me,” Ermine whispered, voice shaking. “I’m here.”
Glory grimaced. “They can’t see you,” she explained.
Ermine didn’t respond. For what seemed like an eternity, he just stared, his deceased parents’ likeness right before him. His paw moved along the sheer surface of the glass, like he was trying to touch them.
Finally, he fell backwards, and the image disappeared. He stumbled, and gently landed on the lush ground of the greenhouse, dirt coating his scales. Glory sighed, shaking her head. He’d used the Obscura for too long. She should’ve stopped him earlier.
Ermine stared up at the ceiling of the greenhouse, sunlight distorted by the glass and his watery eyes. Here, his parents were still alive. He’d gotten to see them, one last time. Slowly, he raised himself to all fours, barely able to walk.
“Thank you,” Ermine whispered, wiping tears off his scales.
Glory’s wings were tucked into her side, and she stepped off the path so Ermine could walk back. “It’s nothing,” she said quietly. “I’m glad you got to see them again.”
Ermine nodded, and his paws heavy, paced past Glory. Once he’d walked back down the stairs, Glory turned back to the Obscura.
She shook her head and sighed as she stepped up to the clouded orb, and placed a paw on it. Her scales turned grey as Clay’s image appeared on the surface.
----Skytaker whipped around as they heard the door to the guest room open up. The four other dragons inside all turned with them, unsure who the dragon on the other side would be.
Ermine stepped inside the room, all eyes on the IceWing dragonet. Skytaker frowned. His head was down, his eyes still moist.
“What happened?” Skytaker asked, concerned. “How did it go? Do you think she’s distracted?”
“Yeah,” Ermine sighed. “Probably.”
“Probably?” Skytaker questioned.
“She is,” Darkstalker interrupted them. He looked over at Ermine, as he read his mind. “You don’t need to feel bad for tricking her. It’s silly for you to feel any sympathy for her, just cause she did one kind thing. She’s still the Empress’s evil enforcer.”
Ermine turned his head, avoiding any eye contact. “I know,” he replied, unassuredly.
“Then we need to get going,” Skytaker said anxiously. “We might not have long. Follow.”
Skytaker sped out from the room, the other five dragons following. Tiger grabbed off two books from the desk before leaving. They might need a map. She shut the door behind them, staring at it for a moment. It had been their home and their prison for a while now. For better or for worse, this might be the last time she’d see it.
They walked down the hallway, Skytaker standing in the golden circle to summon the moving room. Midnight gave Ecru a worried glance. Can she sense the animus magic used here? Midnight wondered. And if they succeeded in escaping, that meant that they had to go up against the dragon who enchanted the place. Had the Empress lost her soul from using the Wishstone? Or was it still around? What had happened to the animus who’d created an artifact that could do anything?
The doors to the room opened, and they stepped in. Skytaker walked into the center, imagining the entrance. Sunlight, and freedom. The room started to move, and before they knew it, they’d opened again. They stepped out in front again, triumphantly. Hopefully, this would be the last time.
A whiff of fresh air reached the SkyWing-NightWing hybrid’s snout, and they grinned. Without hesitation, they waltzed down the entrance, until a glimmer of sunlight hit their snout. Two spears suddenly shot up in front of Skytaker’s eyes, and they took an instinctive step back.
“Halt!” a RainWing yelled. The two dragons guarding the exit stepped forward, growling at the six. “What are you doing?”
Skytaker walked a few paces back, out of the light. They swished their tail. “Escaping,” they grinned.
Darkstalker and Midnight suddenly leaped forward, claws outstretched as they engaged in combat. Skytaker smiled. Now, they had two dragons in the group that could fight.
The RainWing on Darkstalker jabbed her spear at him as he pounced. His paws wrapped around it mid-air, already knowing when and where she was going to attack. The spear snapped as he landed on it, a piece flying up towards the wall. The RainWing’s scales immediately faded away, as she became invisible. She ran around Darkstalker’s side, hoping to confuse him for a moment.
“Won’t work on me,” Darkstalker growled, whacking his tail into her neck like a SeaWing would. He leaped onto her back, tearing off scales as flashes of white burst through them. She tried to twist around to the left to push him off, but he had already shifted his weight to the right. She rolled over, and Darkstalker landed on her side. His claws went around her horns, and with a sudden twist, the RainWing’s neck cracked, falling limp on the ground.
“Midnight, duck!” Darkstalker yelled out.
Midnight ducked, and a splattering of venom shot harmlessly between her horns. Just a moment later, and it would have reached her eyes. She leaped forward, and tackled the RainWing as the guard prepared to do another shot. She grabbed his neck as his talons raked along her side, and shoved him to the ground.
“Head left, right claws down!” Darkstalker suggested. Almost immediately, the RainWing snapped up at Midnight, barely avoiding the attack by moving her head to the left. She slammed her right claws down, talons wrapping around the RainWing’s throat. Midnight clenched her talons, poking them into the RainWing’s neck. The RainWing wriggled, staring up at Midnight as his scales turned a terrified pale green.
“Now tear it out!” Darkstalker yelled.
Midnight looked over to him, with a disgusted stare. “What? I’m not going to—” She let out a yelp as she felt the RainWing’s talons scrape beneath her wing, drawing blood. She turned to the RainWing with a snarl. “Do you want me to kill you?”
“If we leave them, they’ll alert Glory,” Darkstalker pointed out. “We can’t let them go.”
Ecru took a step forward, and picked up the broken half of the spear that the RainWing on Darkstalker had been wielding. She prodded the RainWing in the side with it, making him yelp. A few moments later, he laid his head back, and his eyes closed. “That should keep him asleep long enough, right? She’ll figure it before too long, anyways.”
Darkstalker shook his head scoldingly, and sighed. “Maybe.”
Ecru frowned as she stepped over to the RainWing that Darkstalker had killed. She put her talons on the RainWing’s eyelids, and gently closed them. “Sorry,” she whispered. She glared over at Darkstalker in disapproval. “That was unnecessary.”
“They’re all evil anyways,” Darkstalker replied. “I saved you from them earlier, remember?”
“We can discuss this later,” Midnight snapped. She thought for a moment. This felt too easy. “Hey, how come there were so few guards?”
“Not much point in having more than a couple,” Darkstalker responded. “They can hunt down anyone who escapes with the Obscura.”
“Most of them also went to Pyrrhia with the Empress,” Tiger pointed out. She stepped forward, relaxing as the sunlight hit her scales. “Which is where we need to go.”
Ermine twitched his tail as he walked a wide berth around the dead RainWing. “But how are we going to get back to Pyrrhia?” he asked quietly. “We don’t have any magic.”
“Can I suggest something?” Ecru said. She let out a sigh. “I’ve been thinking about this since Midnight and I crossed over. This world is pretty similar to Pyrrhia, right? I remember hearing about a place on Pyrrhia that’s supposedly where other worlds intersect our own. I don’t know how true it is, and I think it’ll be dangerous, but if there’s nothing better, I think it’s worth of a try.”
Tiger’s eyes suddenly went wide, and she stared over at Ecru. Her stripes started to take on a green hue. “The Mausoleum of Queen Frost.”
“You’ve heard of it?” Ecru asked, surprised. “It’s not common knowledge. How do you know?”
Tiger shook her head, like she didn’t want to speak of the place. “I researched it when I was helping out Toxin and Queen Glory. Toxin went in there. She told me about it after getting back.”
“She went there?” Ecru replied, shocked. “Like, inside? I’d considered visiting it when I was younger, but I learned it was a place of evil energies. I didn’t want to . . . awaken anything I shouldn’t. I’m still not sure it’s a good idea, but if we have nothing else . . .”
Tiger nodded in agreement. She glanced over towards Midnight. “That’s where Ink died,” she whispered.
Midnight stared down at the RainWing dragonet, taking aback. “And that’s where we’re going?” she asked Ecru. “That’s our best option?”
“I’m sorry,” Ecru grimaced. “It’s the only thing I can think of.”
“It’s not far from this island,” Tiger added, looking down at the book in her paws. “It’s in the Neck of Pyrrhia, so if it’s in the same place here, it’s only a short flight.”
Midnight sighed, shaking her head. This felt like a bad idea. A really bad idea. “If it’s our only option,” she replied, clenching her talons. “Then Tiger, lead the way.”
== Chapter 37 ==
Dawn rose as Aurora and Inferno finally started to descend. The blast of flame around Inferno’s tail subsided, leaving smoking scales. The two had shone like a comet overhead, a fourth moon that night for the SkyWings and MudWings that had seen them pass. The Claws of the Clouds far beneath them, they began to fall through the air.
Inferno opened her eyes drowsily. Pain jolted through her tail, like her scales had been torn off. It had kept her awake that night, but it wasn’t like she’d had anything to distract her from the pain except for the mountains below, whizzing by faster than she’d ever flown before. With the roar of the flame on her tail, there was no chance of Aurora hearing anything she said, not that she expected Aurora would be interested in conversation anyways.
As the mountains grew closer, Inferno felt Aurora move above her. Aurora’s armor started to retract, until she broke free of Inferno. The hybrid spread out her wings, trying to slow her fall, and Inferno did the same. Moonlight reflected off a field of white snow, and Inferno tried to move herself towards that, already going too fast to fully stop in time.
Inferno crashed into the snow, barely breaking her fall as it melted and boiled around her. She enclosed her wings around herself, and after a tumble, ended up staring at the night sky, snow piled up everywhere she looked.
Aurora hit the snow after Inferno, the hybrid gliding down over Inferno’s view for a second before a thwump shook the ground. Inferno raised her head, and tried to get up, but let out a sharp yelp as she tried to move her tail. She looked over towards it, to see her tail twisted in an unnatural fashion.
“The force of the blast probably broke it.”
Inferno looked up to see Aurora standing over her, the occasional dim flash from her glowstripes lighting up the night. Aurora stepped into the hole in the snow surrounding Inferno, stepping over her. Inferno froze up, trying to not to move with Aurora so close, afraid she’d burn her.
Aurora bent her head down to inspect Inferno’s tail, as Aurora’s own spiked tail whizzed back and forth over Inferno’s head. Inferno tilted her snout to the side, afraid that one of the spikes would hit her and catch on fire.
“Hold still,” Aurora ordered, moving one of her paws to grab Inferno’s tail.
“Don’t touch it!” Inferno squealed. “You’ll get hurt!”
Aurora raised her talons up, staring at them for a moment. Inferno saw the color shift from the usual white to a shining silver, the moons visible in her talons’ reflection.
“I’ll be fine,” Aurora replied. “I reinforced them. They won’t burn. I can make your tail feel better, but only if Ash doesn’t try and attack me psychically again.”
Inferno closed her eyes as she heard Ash in her head. “He says he won’t,” she said quickly to Aurora. “He promises. But are you sure you won’t get burnt?”
“I can heal it if I do,” Aurora said. She reached her claws down to Inferno’s tail, grabbing ahold of it.
Inferno flinched as she felt strange talons on her sore tail, the base of her tail twitching to the side. Pain shot through it, and she gritted her teeth together.
Aurora sighed, exasperated. “I told you not to move.”
“Sorry, sorry!” Inferno apologized. “It’s just . . . I’m used to burning everyone who touches me. It’s weird having someone who can.”
“You won’t burn me,” Aurora assured her again. Aurora suddenly dug her talons into Inferno’s tail. Inferno closed her eyes and tensed up as pain shot up her spine, digging her talons into her scales, trying not to move.
Then, the pain stopped. Inferno opened her eyes again as the sensation of Aurora’s talons disappeared. Had Aurora healed it?
“Wow, it feels better already!” Inferno replied, astonished. She tried to move her tail, but didn’t feel anything moving. She tried again, unsure what was going on.
“I told you not to move it,” Aurora snapped back, growling. She tightened her grasp around Inferno’s tail, wriggling in her talons. “Next time, I’m shackling it to the ground.”
“Oh,” Inferno gulped, immediately stopping. She winced. She hadn’t burned Aurora, had she? “Sorry, I didn’t feel it moving, so I was just . . .”
Aurora sighed. “Yes. I haven’t actually healed your tail. I just gave you a local anesthetic in it. You won’t feel pain in your tail anymore. Or much of anything.”
“Oops,” Inferno grimaced. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Aurora grumbled. “Just hold still. I’m going to fix the most critical components, so it will heal on its own after I’m finished.”
Inferno rested her head, peeking around Aurora’s tail every so often. With no sensation in her tail, she couldn’t tell at all what Aurora was doing. She just had to trust her. Inferno frowned. This was the dragon who’d hurt Ink, who’d almost brought Jade Mountain down on top of them. Could Inferno really trust her?
You don’t have much choice, Ash reminded Inferno. If she wanted to kill you, she could have done it easily by now.
I know, Inferno thought back.
Inferno looked up again. “I didn’t realize you had a healing artifact,” Inferno said quietly.
“I don’t,” Aurora responded. She raised her left forepaw, chainlinks jingling from the shackle on it. “Just this one.”
“What does it do?” Inferno asked curiously, staring at the dangling links.
“The actual enchantment is more specific, but it lets me control and change matter,” Aurora explained, placing her paw back down on Inferno’s tail. “Animus magic is dangerous, especially for me, so Calamity said it was important to have something that lets me do a lot. This way, I have control over the process of healing, instead of some vague magic deciding how to do it for me.”
“Like Polar’s diamond,” Inferno replied, thinking back to it.
“Yes,” Aurora said. “Exactly like that.”
“How do you know how to use it?” Inferno wondered. “Healing like that seems . . . difficult.”
Aurora gave a confused glance back towards Inferno, wondering why she was asking her so much. Was Ash asking her to learn about Aurora in hopes of eventually using that knowledge against her. Aurora frowned. It was possible. But as long as Inferno and Ash were Aurora’s allies, it might be useful for them to know what she could do.
“I was taught,” Aurora replied. “My mother and her father were biologists, and Calamity has a store of knowledge far greater than any dragon on Pyrrhia.”
“Oh,” Inferno said uncomfortably. A hint of remorse showing through her voice. She remembered the battle against the two of them in the Crystal Caverns far too well, but until now, she hadn’t really thought of them as . . . actual dragons. They’d had their own interests, their own family. “It must have taken a long time to learn how to do that.”
“It did,” Aurora stated. “Crystal and Calamity trained me for years on how to use it, since the day they helped me with the enchantment. It took my entire life.”
“That sounds lonely,” Inferno replied quietly. She started to understand Aurora. Her entire life had been spent with her parents, telling her what to do, preparing her to do their dirty work for them. She’d been isolated, not knowing anything of the world outside Crystal and Calamity. The only right and wrong she’d known of were what they’d told her. Could Inferno really blame Aurora for anything she’d done?
Aurora paused. Lonely? She shook her head. “No. I was never lonely, until I was forced to leave.”
Inferno looked away, uncomfortably. The sun had started to rise in the sky, casting a firey glow across the mountains. Aurora having to leave had been her fault. She didn’t regret what she’d done, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty.
Inferno suddenly frowned, as she stared towards the south. “Hey,” she spoke up. “I think I recognize that mountain. I’ve just always seen it from the other side before.”
Aurora was silent, as she continued healing Inferno’s tail.
“The Talons of Peace live just over that ridge!” Inferno pointed out. She let out a small chuckle, shaking her head. “It’s where I grew up. I guess I’ve really come full circle. I wasn’t sure I’d ever come back here.” Inferno looked back over towards Aurora. “Hey, when you’re done healing me, maybe I should give my mother a visit. Even if it’s only been a few moon cycles, it’s felt like I haven’t seen her for forever. What do you think?”
Aurora paused. “I would visit my mother, too, if you hadn’t helped kill her.”
Inferno let out a sigh. She’d walked right into that one. She peeked her head under Aurora’s legs, seeing the hybrid’s claws still deep in Inferno’s tail, even though she couldn’t feel a thing. “You must really hate me. I guess I probably deserve it.”
“My own emotions towards you are irrelevant.”
Inferno tapped her claws on the ground, looking up as the sun rose. “You’re not going to try and hurt her, are you?”
Aurora took her claws away from Inferno’s tail, and gave Inferno a puzzled look. The hybrid’s tail-spikes swished dangerously close to the SkyWing’s neck. “Why would I do that?”
“Revenge?” Inferno suggested. “That seems like something an evil murderous dragon would do.” She thought back to what Aurora had said to Ink at the Mausoleum. “Or even a not-evil one.”
“Why would I do that?” Aurora frowned. She set down Inferno’s tail, and carefully stepped off her, up onto the melting snow. “It doesn’t seem very useful. Is there a good reason to kill your mother?”
“Probably someone has one,” Inferno mused. “But please don’t.” She started to turn herself over, looking back at her tail. Even as it prodded against the ground, she couldn’t feel a thing.
“Okay.” Aurora followed Inferno’s gaze, to the SkyWing’s tail. “I healed it enough for now. I wouldn’t recommend flying while it’s still numb.”
“That’s alright. I’ve had enough flying for now. We can walk. I’ll try not to burn down a forest.” Inferno smiled. “Thank you for healing it.”
Aurora didn’t answer, and the two walked across the snow, melting under their paws. The Talons of Peace were on the other side of this ridge. Inferno’s home.
----Inferno took in a deep breath as she stepped into the clearing in front of the Talons’ cave, trees hiding the entrance from above. She turned back to Aurora, and smiled. “Smells like home.”
She turned back, and triumphantly walked towards the entrance, Aurora following behind her. She peered inside the entrance of the tunnels, twitching her tail. “It seems smaller than I remember it,” Inferno commented. “Makes me feel like a dragonet again.”
Aurora squinted, giving Inferno a confused look. “Didn’t you say you were gone only a few moon-cycles? And you’re fully grown.”
“I was being metaphorical,” Inferno laughed. “I know I haven’t actually gotten larger.”
Aurora shook her head in disapproval as the two entered the tunnels. The light grew dim, and the sound of dragons echoed throughout. Inferno squished up against the side of a tunnel as she heard a dragon approach, careful to make sure she didn’t catch anyone by surprise.
A SkyWing walked around the corner, feeling a wave of heat as he approached Inferno. He gave her a concerned stare, and she smiled and waved her paw in response. He gave an uncomfortable wave back, before walking past Inferno and Aurora.
More dragons turned and stared as the tunnel grew. Inferno slowly stepped through the crowd, offering an “excuse me” or “coming through” as a warning to any dragon who she passed, just to make sure they didn’t accidentally step closer to her and accidentally touch her.
Aurora couldn’t help but glance around as the two walked through the tunnels. It felt like there were just as many eyes on the strange hybrid as there were on the fireborn. She didn’t like this. She was no strange to tunnels, but Aurora hated having so many dragons all cramped into one.
“Inferno, you’re back?” a surprised SandWing said, staring at her for a moment before her eyes turned to Aurora.
“Yep!” Inferno replied. “For now, at least. Hey, do you know if Clarity’s here?” She turned back to Aurora. “She’s your aunt, right?”
“Not at the moment,” the SandWing cautiously answered. “Sorry.” She quickly scooted away, pushing herself against the wall to stay as far away from Inferno as possible.
“Oh well,” Inferno tsked. “I’m sure she would’ve been happy to see you.”
Aurora squinted. “Was that sarcasm?”
Inferno shrugged her wings, and slowly turned another corner. She let out an audible groan as she saw the MudWing standing in the corridor. “Oh no,” she winced. “Aurora, look down, and don’t make eye contact.”
Aurora gave Inferno a funny look, but did as she asked. The two slowly walked past the MudWing, Inferno trying as hard as she could not to garner his attention. Just when she’d walked past him, and she’d thought they were free, he turned, and Inferno heard his voice from behind her.
“Inferno!” Ochre greeted her. “My beloved princess! You’ve returned for me!”
Inferno groaned. “No, I haven’t,” she grumbled.
Ochre stepped closer to Inferno, forcing the SkyWing to scooch up against the cavern wall to avoid touching him. Not that she would burn him (or really cared about that at this point). He raised his head, and Inferno noticed that he’d placed his claws against her tail without her feeling it.
“Why do you scorn me?” Ochre asked. “I’ve never been anything but kind to you!”
“Please go away,” Inferno sighed, trying to creep along the wall, as Ochre kept following her. She pulled her tail inwards, baring her fangs slightly. “I’m pretty sure I’m a lesbian anyways, and even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be interested in you.”
Ochre looked back towards Aurora, whose head was still down like Inferno had instructed, then back towards Inferno. “You’re in love with a female mongrel?” he squealed angrily. “That’s so stupid! She can’t even touch you! I can touch you!”
“Actually, can touch me,” Inferno replied. She paused a moment, before suddenly realizing what Ochre had implied. “Wait, no, we’re not in love! She’s not my mate! Just a friend.” She glanced back at a confused Aurora. “Actually, we’re not even friends, more like rivals who are banded against a common enemy!”
“I take interest in you because your shell houses my adoptive father’s deceased brother-in-law,” Aurora corrected Inferno.
“Yes, that,” Inferno replied. She glared at Ochre. “I’m leaving now.”
Inferno turned, walking along the tunnel. She stretched her wing out as Ochre tried to follow, and he let out a cough as he breathed in the smoke surrounding her.
“You’re so mean!” Ochre cried. “No one will ever love you that way!” He took another step forward, and let out a yelp as he tripped, falling face first on the ground. “My snout!” he wailed. He tried to move his talons up to feel the damage, but found that he couldn’t move them, as stone rings had shackled his paws to the ground. “Help!”
“Serves you right!” Inferno yelled back as she turned a corner, and Ochre fell out of her sight.
Aurora stepped past Ochre without another look back at him, following Inferno. As they got far enough away from him, Inferno let out a giggle.
“I hate him so much!” Inferno laughed. “I’ve always wanted to do something like that.” She smiled. “I know I don’t deserve it, but thank you. Again.”
“He grabbed your tail,” Aurora muttered. “Right after I’d healed it. Also, he was annoying.”
“I know!” Inferno grinned. Her smile suddenly faded. “Er, he’ll be able to get out of there eventually . . . right?”
Aurora considered it for a second. “Yeah. He can cut off his own paws.”
Inferno stared at Aurora, a mild look of horror coming over her. “T-that’s horrible.”
Aurora tilted her head, then shook it back and forth. “No. I’m making a joke. If they dug these tunnels; they’ll have something to cut stone away here. Was it funny?”
Inferno let out a sigh of relief, relaxing. “Yeah, you’re right. You scared me for a second there.”
“I could get rid of his paws if you needed me to,” Aurora pointed out.
“Please don’t,” Inferno gulped. “No taking off limbs. C’mon, I should say hi to my mother.”
“Alright,” Aurora replied, following Inferno as they descended further into the tunnel system.
Inferno closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as she stepped up to the small entrance to her and her mother’s old cave. What would her mother think about her coming back? She hadn’t been particularly emotional about Inferno leaving the first time. Would she even be happy to see her?
Inferno peeked her head into the cave, slowly checking where her mother was. Goat was resting on the floor, twiddling her talons with a bored look on her face. As she felt Inferno’s warm presence enter the room, the SkyWing raised her head to look up at her dragonet.
“Hi, mother,” Inferno greeted her, trying to force a smile. She glanced around the room. It was much the same as she’d left it, except for a few unusual belongings on Inferno’s shelf of rock.
“Oh,” Goat replied, raising her head. “You’re back.”
“Yeah,” Inferno said. It was like her mother hadn’t even noticed she’d been gone.
Goat glanced over to Inferno’s rock bed. “You can’t sleep here, if that’s what you want. Coyote is sleeping here now. He wouldn’t appreciate living in the same room as you. I wouldn’t either. I enjoy the privacy.”
“I know,” Inferno sighed. “That’s alright. I wasn’t planning on staying. I think I’m going to go back to Jade Mountain after this, to enroll there if they’ll still let me.”
“Did you do something there?” Goat frowned. “I’ve heard stories. How Peril is killing IceWings near it.”
Inferno shook her head. “It’s all fine. I’m sure if I told you, you’d get bored.”
“Probably,” Goat replied. “Go have fun.”
“Thanks,” Inferno said.
Goat gave Inferno a impatient look, and didn’t make a response. Inferno opened her mouth, trying to think of something else to say, but wasn’t quite sure. What else was there for her to say?
Knowing the conversation was over, Inferno promptly turned around, walking back out of her old room, past Aurora. She kept her head down as she started back out of the tunnels again.
“Was that it?” Aurora asked Inferno, surprised that the reunion had been so short.
“Yeah,” Inferno replied. She glanced back to the room, her mother already gone from her sight. “That was it. I was hoping for a bit more, but it wasn’t like I was expecting hugs or anything.” She chuckled at her own joke.
“Is she not talkative?” Aurora queried.
Inferno shook her head. “She’s plenty talkative. Just not around me.” She glanced back at Aurora with a grin. “No matter! Onto Jade Mountain, right?”
Suddenly, there was a flash of movement in front of Inferno. Inferno turned her head around as a small furry creature crossed her path, and the fireborn jumped back in alarm, about to run into it. Aurora let out a sharp yowl as she felt Inferno’s numb tail brush one of her front legs, blue scales burning as she pulled them back away from the SkyWing.
“THREEMOONSIMSOSORRY,” Inferno squealed, staring back at Aurora’s wounds. “Are you alright? Please be alright. Do you need anything?”
Aurora took a step back, and placed a paw over the scorched scales. “It’s not a concern,” she said. “It surprised me.” She took her paw away, the burn already mostly healed.
Inferno winced, placing her claws over her snout. “It still hurt though, didn’t it? I’m so so sorry. I haven’t been on guard around you, and I let you get too close, and now—”
“It’s not a concern,” Aurora interrupted again, slightly exasperated. “It’s a minor burn. I’ve experienced far worse.” She looked down at Inferno’s tail. “It’s my fault your tail is numb anyways. Why did you jump back?”
“Oh,” Inferno said, heart racing, breath shallow. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. It was alright. She hadn’t hurt anyone. She pointed a talon up the tunnel. “Look!”
Aurora followed Inferno’s gaze, landing on a small furry animal. “A cat. How magnificent.”
“Not just any cat,” Inferno pointed out. “His name is Sapphire. He’s Trustbreaker’s cat, meaning that he must be here. We should go say hello!” Inferno’s smile suddenly faded to a frown. “Huh.”
“What is it?” Aurora asked. She peered around Inferno. The elderly tabby was slowly walking away from them, like he was trying to guide them to somewhere.
“It’s Ash,” Inferno said quietly. “He’s talking to me. He says that he knows Trustbreaker, and that apparently he’s involved in this whole mess, with Ash and that RainWing.” She clenched up her claws. “I don’t like Trustbreaker being at the center of all this. I trusted him more than anyone else here.”
“Really,” Aurora replied, giving Inferno a look of skepticism.
The SkyWing smiled. “I know. Trustbreaker. It’s ironic, isn’t it? I feel like I should’ve expected this.”
Aurora remained quiet, not having anything more to say.
Inferno turned around, tucking her tail in close to her. “C’mon. Let’s follow Sapphire before he gets away. I want to hear what Trustbreaker has to say.”
Inferno and Aurora walked after Sapphire. It wasn’t very hard to keep up. The cat was slow enough that Inferno could follow him at her desired pace: slow enough everyone had ample warning before she got close to them. Dragons pulled themselves against the walls and tucked in their wings and tails as she passed, giving her wary glances.
Finally, Sapphire reached his desired destination — another small room, dug out with the rest of the complex. The cat trotted in, before climbing into a dragon’s black paw. Trustbreaker raised Sapphire to his head, letting the cat climb between his horns, staring down at Aurora and Inferno as they entered.
“It’s a pleasant surprise to see you again, Inferno,” Trustbreaker smiled, sitting back on his haunches. “I’d been worried about what happened to you after Toxin told me at the funeral. I’m glad to see you’re okay.”
“A funeral?” Inferno asked. She closed her eyes as she guessed who it was for. “For Polar, Ink, and Fracture.”
“And one more,” Trustbreaker said warily, his eyes on Aurora as she walked into his line-of-sight. He frowned. “You’re Torrent and Crystal’s dragonet, aren’t you? Inferno, what is she doing here?”
“I’m getting answers,” Aurora snapped, answering for herself. “We don’t have time or patience for introductions.” Aurora dug her claws into the ground, and a spike of stone suddenly shot up from the ground beneath Trustbreaker’s head, stopping just a few claw-widths from his neck. “Tell us what you know about Ash.”
Trustbreaker tensed up, and Sapphire crept back along his head, hissing his claws extended against Trustbreaker’s scales. “Ash?” Trustbreaker asked, taken aback.
“Aurora!” Inferno scolded. “Don’t threaten him!” She turned towards Trustbreaker as Aurora retracted the spike. “She’s right though. I think you’ve been . . . keeping stuff hidden from me. Did you know about Ash the whole time, and that he isn’t my brother?”
Trustbreaker looked down at the floor, averting his eyes from Inferno’s gaze. His talons tapped uncomfortably on the ground, and he shuffled his wings. He let out a long sigh, as Aurora impatiently swished her tail back and forth.
“I suspected it was him,” Trustbreaker finally answered. “Even if I can’t read dragons’ minds, I knew there was something strange. Although I suppose Ash isn’t really much of a dragon anymore, is he?”
“Not much of a dragon?” Inferno asked. Is he talking about you being dead? Are you dead?
Somewhat, Ash responded. Death was a way around the rules surrounding animus soul loss.
You’re an animus? Inferno wondered.
Not anymore.
Trustbreaker shook his head, drawing Inferno’s attention back outside her body, away from Ash. “I’m so, so, sorry,” the NightWing whispered. “This is all my fault. I’d been pretending that nothing had happened, and you’ve had to suffer the consequences. I don’t think there’s anything I can do to repay you.”
“Does this have to do with the alternate reality you came from?” Inferno asked. “Fracture told me about it.”
Aurora snorted as she heard the name Fracture. “Of course that’s what he told you.”
Inferno looked over at Aurora. Was she implied that Fracture was lying? “That’s what you and Ash were talking about though, right? You said something about iterations, and how he was from another one.”
“Yes,” Trustbreaker answered. “Ash is from another iteration. Another world. The same one I’m from. Antigonia. That’s what it was called when I left it.”
Inferno closed her eyes, as she heard Ash speak to her again. “Ash wanted to tell you something,” she said to Trustbreaker. “He says . . . Liliana has come to Pyrrhia.”
Something seemed to change in Trustbreaker’s expression, like his blood had become as frozen as an IceWing. He took a step back, eyes wide with fear. Sapphire’s whiskers flattened back. Trustbreaker closed his eyes, a lump forming in the NightWing’s throat. “If she is here, then all of Pyrrhia is in grave danger.”
“Is Liliana the RainWing with the crown and lightning powers?” Aurora asked Inferno. She turned to Trustbreaker. “If she is, then she attacked the Sky Kingdom with an army of RainWings. She captured Queen Scarlet, and destroyed the palace. I couldn’t even do that without the Eye of Amethyst.”
“Sort of,” Trustbreaker responded. “She’s only sort of a RainWing. One of the powers she gained was shapeshifting. When I had last met her, she changed relatively frequently between that and her original scavenger form.”
“A scavenger form?” Inferno chortled. She raised her claws to about the height of her knees from the ground. “You mean one of those little things? The ones that wave around pointy metal sticks and squeak at you?” She giggled and looked over at Aurora. The hybrid’s expression hadn’t changed, and apparently didn’t find this as funny as Inferno did.
“Tell us everything,” Aurora ordered Trustbreaker. “I know the story up to Ash’s betrayal of Calamity. I need to fill in the gaps. Who is this Liliana, and why did she attack the SkyWings?”
“Ash’s betrayal?” Trustbreaker asked, somewhat confused. He looked over to Inferno, like he was gazing directly into her, trying to see Ash. He let out a sigh. “Alright. Inferno deserves an explanation, at least. Of how I came to this world, and how, I believe,” he frowned at this, “how Ash came to you.”
Inferno stared curiously at Trustbreaker, and felt Ash’s presence shrink away. Was she finally going to get answers to this? What Ash was? And in some sense, who she was?
“The world I came from, Antigonia, used to be just like this one,” Trustbreaker explained, “but with one major exception. There was no animus magic on that world — as I later learned, the last animus had cast a curse over the entire continent, causing it to disappear at the end of the Scorching. It meant that unlike in this world, there was never a Darkstalker, and NightWings still lived in our original kingdom, not on the volcano. Imagine my surprise when I went to the old NightWing city here, and found only ruins. But most importantly, it meant that the NightWings in my world still had our mind-reading and future-telling powers, since we still hatched under the moonlight.
“I hatched under a single full moon, and was given the name Duskwind by the Night Kingdom’s eldest prophet. I gained the power to read minds, but as I grew, my powers started to wane. After a few years, I was unable to read dragons’ minds at all any longer. But I could still read the minds of animals.” Trustbreaker raised a paw, and Sapphire leaped down onto it, turning around in a circle before jumping back up on the NightWing’s head. “Something like that is not uncommon, but I doubt it’s been discovered in this continent so far. Prophets who plan desperately for the future as dragonets find themselves able to a myriad of futures, and prophets who only think about the long-term can see decades and even centuries ahead. Mind-readers who want to know how things came to be are only able to see memories. I never found myself at home among other dragons, and so my powers changed until dragons’ minds were no longer open to me.
“However, that allowed me to discover things that no one else had. After coming across a settlement and glimpsing into their thoughts, I learned that scavengers are far more like dragons than other animals, with a structured language of their own. Just like here, most dragons saw scavengers as nothing more than a potential food source and annoyance, but I knew better. Eventually, I ended up rescuing a scavenger named Liliana from SandWings who tried to eat her. I was poisoned in the fight against them, and would’ve died. However, Liliana stayed by my side, and knew how to cure SandWing poison. She nursed me back to health, and as I read her thoughts, I discovered something new — if I tried, I could communicate with her, just with my thoughts.
“I decided to stay with her, not seeing any reason to return to the Night Kingdom. We used my mind-reading to teach each other our languages, until we could speak to each other. We became the best of friends, and then mates. But Liliana had ambition. She wanted to make a world where dragons and scavengers could live together in peace. I agreed, and went along with her. I went behind my queen’s tail and learned from secret NightWing scrolls about an ancient animus artifact called the Wishstone, something that could make it’s user’s dreams reality, something that could do anything. Liliana realized that this was the solution to our problems, and with it, we could create the world she desired.
“We sought the Wishstone for years, travelling to the far corners of our continent and beyond. We almost lost our lives numerous times. But we found it, protected by a secret cult of dragons who’d sworn their lives to keep anyone from using it. We managed to trick them, and Liliana took the Wishstone. With no way to escape, she used it.
“But things went horribly wrong. Liliana had been unsure what world she’d wanted herself, or how to create it. The Wishstone mangled our Pyrrhia into a world of endless chaos, where space and time had no meaning. The two of us tried to fix it with the Wishstone, again and again attempting to recreate the world we’d once had, ripping apart and putting back together our mistakes. We weren’t even sure what our world had been, and couldn’t fully agree on what world we wanted to go to. After what might have been an eternity, or the blink of an eye, we managed to get some semblance of order, something livable. We settled on an imperfect world called Antigonia, an unstable continent plagued by earthquakes, volcanos, and storms as large as the Sand Kingdom. Miraculously, we’d somehow succeeded: scavengers and dragons were united together on this world.
“But the peace was artificial, and it didn’t last long. The world turned into competing factions of dragons and scavengers, a war on the scale of the Scorching but with no clear sides, losers, or victors. Liliana figured out a solution: she kept using the Wishstone, but now only at a smaller scale. She tried to figure out ways to keep the peace, and eventually ended up declaring herself Empress of Antigonia, crushing all who fought against her. She created a strict society where she could watch everyone at all times, using that fear to punish dragons and scavengers who stepped out of line.
“She began to use the Wishstone more and more, for larger and larger things. I became disillusioned with the empire she’d created, seeing how unhappy and constantly afraid everyone was. Eventually, I stole the Wishstone from her, but was afraid to use it myself for fear of destroying Antigonia. Empress Liliana declared me as Trustbreaker. I led a great rebellion against her, but we were defeated by her loyal army, and the many powers she’d given herself with the Wishstone. After that, I lost hope. Ash explained to me that there was another world out there, somewhere I could start anew, and keep the Wishstone safe from Liliana. I fled, and Ash took me to this world, before disappearing himself, presumably managing to survive on his own for years, until he found you.”
Trustbreaker let out a sigh, his tale finished. He looked over towards Aurora. “Is that sufficient?”
“Yes,” Aurora answered, like none of this was at all surprising to her. “That is sufficient.”
“Thank you for telling me,” Inferno said sympathetically, trying to take in all that he’d said. In that case . . . what was Ash? “I didn’t know any of this about you. It sounds like you went through a lot.”
“Yes, quite a wonderful story,” a fourth voice said.
The three’s heads whipped around to see Empress Liliana up against the cavern wall, smiling as she slowly clapped her front paws together.
Immediately, Aurora ground her talons into the floor, and spikes shot out of the stone behind Liliana, piercing through the RainWing’s scales in a thousand places. She moved her claws again, and more spikes shot out from the other cavern walls, stabbing her again. Aurora created a film on the spikes’ ends, causing the spikes to instantly ignite as it touched the air. Inferno turned her head away, bright flames and smoke blocking her view.
“Not really the welcoming I was looking for, but thank you nonetheless,” Liliana snorted.
The smoke cleared, revealing that the spikes and fire had done nothing but harmlessly pass through the RainWing’s body. Aurora took a cautious step back. Was she phasing?
“Just a projection,” the Empress smiled, answering Aurora’s question. She waved her claws, passing through the spikes. Aurora retracted them back into the wall. It didn’t seem like they’d be much use.
“What do you want?” Aurora growled warily.
Empress Liliana shook her head. “Nothing, yet. I just wanted to announce my presence and see what was going on. But I have to thank you both — you’ve led me right to the dragon I wanted to see.” She waved her paw, and her figure started to disappear, the stone wall becoming visible behind her. “I’ll see you all soon.”
The three were silent, all staring at the place where Liliana’s projection had been. Aurora stilled her talons, hiding her fear. Now, she knew what she was up against.
“How soon?” Inferno asked, her voice almost a whisper.
Right on cue, the cavern began to shake. Aurora spread her paws out to keep herself stable. She saw Sapphire extend his claws into Trustbreaker’s scales, hissing as he kept himself from falling off him.
“We’re under attack!” a voice sounded from the outside of the cavern. Riptide peeked his head in, frantic as he was shook up and down. “An army of RainWings! Get out of the caverns!”
Aurora looked up at the ceiling, as more dust fell. The Empress was trying to draw them out.
“I need to stop this before anyone else gets hurt,” Trustbreaker winced. “This is my fault. Aurora, can you take me to the surface?”
Inferno looked over at the NightWing. “You can’t!” she protested. “She’ll kill you!”
Trustbreaker shook his head, and Sapphire let out a hiss as a rock landed on Trustbreaker’s back. “I need to stop her. I won’t let her touch you.”
Aurora turned to Trustbreaker, and nodded in understanding. She stretched out her claws, offering them to the NightWing. “Hold on.”
“WAIT!” Inferno squealed, taking a step towards Trustbreaker and Aurora. She tried to push Trustbreaker away from Aurora, before remembering what would happen if she touched him. Instead, she stood frozen as she stared at the two. “Don’t go!”
“I’m so sorry for everything,” Trustbreaker said grimly, grasping ahold of Aurora’s talons. Sapphire tightened his grip on the NightWing’s head. “I never meant for you to get involved in this.”
Inferno could do nothing but watch as Aurora pulled Trustbreaker towards the wall, stepping into it as she phased both him and Sapphire through it. The world went dark, and they rose up towards the surface, as the caverns rumbled around them.
It felt like an eternity before the darkness faded, and light once again hit Trustbreaker’s eyes. He stepped out of the mountainside a few dragon-lengths from the entrance to the cavern, Aurora walking out beside him. A cold wind brushed past the two, and the shaking in the ground stopped.
Trustbreaker turned. A small group of dragons was funnelling out of the caverns, in too much of a hurry to have noticed the two phasing. As they looked up to the sky, a dark cloud covered the mountainside. RainWings filled the sky, their wings blotting out the sun. Trustbreaker closed his eyes, and let out a sigh as he saw a single dragon leaving the swarm. A violet RainWing with a golden crown on her head descended to the clearing in front of the mountain.
“I have to end this,” Trustbreaker said to Aurora, as the RainWing beckoned him forward with a paw. He turned, and gave Aurora a smile. “Don’t interfere, but keep Inferno away from her.”
“Alright,” Aurora replied. She frowned, as she saw him move his claws to his head, picking Sapphire up from it. He offered the cat out to her, the tabby’s eyes staring up into her own. Aurora hesitantly extended her talons, grabbing Sapphire by the back of his neck, not quite sure how to hold a cat.
“Thank you,” Trustbreaker said, almost relieved. “Keep him and Inferno safe. I have hope for you. Don’t repeat your parents’ mistakes. Follow your heart.”
Aurora remained silent as Trustbreaker turned away from her, watching as the NightWing walked towards the Empress. She frowned.
As Trustbreaker approached the Empress, a blinding golden light showered Liliana. The shadow of her form started to change, her wings and tail retracting into her body, as it shrunk. Scales smoothed out to skin, and she raised her front legs until she was standing on two. The other Talons whispered as she transformed.
The light faded, leaving Empress Liliana in her scavenger form. The golden crown of leaves and vines had shrunk, and now sat atop black hair. Violet robes flowed around her. She looked up at Trustbreaker, the NightWing now towering over three times her height.
“Long time no see,” she smiled, speaking in perfect Dragon, “Duskwind.”
== Chapter 38 ==
Deathbringer raised his head as a droplet of water fell on his snout, twisting along his scales, leaving behind a wet trail before it dripped off him. He blinked as another droplet fell into his eye. The last glimpse of sun disappeared behind dark clouds as he flew westwards. He looked forward. Clouds as black as night swirled around ahead, pierced by the twin peaks of Jade Mountain. Its slopes were obscured by lesser peaks in front of them, craggly and jagged under the shadow of the storm.
Deathbringer looked down at the enchanted scroll again, as dark blotches of water spread out on its surface. The arrow still pointed forward. Queen Blackice’s troops were between them and the safety of Jade Mountain, waiting between the slopes, just out of view.
More rain started to pour from the sky, beating down on the wings of the dragons Deathbringer led as they got closer and closer to the mountain. Much more, and they’d be forced to land. Deathbringer clutched the scroll, trying to keep it dry. Hopefully, it had been made well.
“This is it,” Jambu said quietly, Deathbringer barely able to hear the RainWing prince as he floated up next to him. “Jade Mountain.”
Deathbringer nodded as he glanced over towards the RainWing. The pink on his scales had faded, leaving behind only a nervous green. Deathbringer didn’t blame him. He was afraid, too. They were outnumbered and untrained. And while they were just trying to survive, the enemy wanted them dead. Deathbringer doubted there was little Queen Blackice wouldn’t do.
“Jambu,” Deathbringer said, his voice shaky, “if I die here, I want you to take care of Firefly for me.”
Jambu shook his head. “Don’t think that way,” he replied, forcing a grin as he tried to remain optimistic. “You’ll get out of this alive. We all will.”
Deathbringer smiled. He knew that wasn’t true. Healing scroll or not, he wouldn’t be able to save everyone, not this time. “I sure hope so,” he sighed. He stared out at Jade Mountain as rain pattered down, remembering what Hemlock had said to him. “But if this was really caused by my and my mother’s meddling during the War of SandWing Succession, it would only be fitting if this was where I met my end.”
“Don’t think that way,” Jambu said, concerned.
Deathbringer turned back to the dragons behind him. NightWings and RainWings alike flew through the rain, towards Jade Mountain. Deathbringer lowered his wings, and flew down in a tight circle around the front of the group, motioning for them to stop. Flying in place in front of them, water dripped from his horns.
“Blackice’s armies are ahead! Prepare for battle!” he shouted. “Any dragon who can fight, continue on forward with me! Dragons who cannot, stay on the ground below! Dart-gunners stay low and shoot from beneath, while claw-to-claw fighters protect them from above and the front, like a wall!” He paused. “This will be the final battle! If we make it through this, and get everyone to Jade Mountain, we’re safe!” He didn’t need to say what would happen if they lost. They already knew. “Now! Forward!”
Jambu flew by Deathbringer’s side as they moved forward, winds pushing them along. Deathbringer stared as many of the dragons split off from the group, gliding down towards the ground. That left around two-hundred in total, including the NightWings and RainWings he’d trained, the SandWings from Six-Claws, and the RainWings who Jambu had brought. A sizable number, but it wouldn’t be enough. Hopefully, his allies were ready.
For a moment, the world was still. The winds seemed to pause, and even the rain grew to the quiet sound of a stream. Jade Mountain loomed over them in the distance, clouds swirling around, snow dotting its peak. The Winding Tail River snaked through the mountains to Deathbringer’s right, and emptied out into the ocean to its west, mist rising up its surface.
Then, the ground started to rumble. The roars of dragons started to pierce the rain, and white wings and scales rose up from the slopes of Jade Mountain. Deathbringer could only stare in horror as IceWings filled the skies, like two wings wrapping around Deathbringer’s troops. One thousand dragons. Queen Blackice had really brought all her troops to this battle, just like Deathbringer had expected.
This was it. If they won, Blackice was defeated. If they lost, they were all dead. Deathbringer stretched out a single talon as the IceWings began to pour over the mountain-ridges like a flood of snow. Deathbringer squinted. He could spot a few dragons with black paint in the crowd, but none of them looked like Blackice herself. Where was she?
“Hold your position!” Deathbringer yelled out as he circled in front of the dragons. “Dart-gunners, get ready to shoot!”
He paused, as he glided behind the front line, readying the healing scroll. Again, he was hiding in the shadows while other dragons fought for him. He looked beyond the dragons in the front. The IceWings were pouring over them, like the crest of a wave about to wait. He stared for a few moments, almost lost in the mesmerizing flow, before finally giving his orders.
“FIRE!” he yelled. Darts flew up behind him, right before the wave of IceWings crashed.
IceWings turned in surprise as they felt themselves pricked. Deathbringer smiled as chaos started to ensue among his enemies’ front ranks. A layer of IceWings peeled off, struggling to keep aloft as sleep overtook them, and they fell towards the river. The IceWings behind them momentarily stopped, crashing into each other and the falling IceWings. Queen Blackice hadn’t been expecting that.
A roar sounded out from the back of the army. One of the Black Princes had come forward, leading more of the forces forward, trying to draw them out of their confusion.
“Reload your darts!” Deathbringer ordered out, flying back and forth above the RainWings. He looked towards the Black Prince. There were only moments before the armies clashed. “Fire!”
More darts shot out, hitting the approaching IceWings. Enough to slow them down, as more fell from the sky, but not enough to stop them. A roar to battle sounded out as the IceWing army struck through their fallen compatriots, pushing them aside as a tendril of dragons struck out at Deathbringer’s front line.
Finally, they clashed. Within moments, the air was filled with the roars and cries of dragons. Red and blue blood spilled as dragons tackled each other mid-flight. Rain poured down, fogging up the air until Deathbringer couldn’t see anything but the shadows of dragons, with the occasional blast of firebreath lighting up the fog like a lantern. He pulled out the drenched scroll, saying the words to activate healing as he tried to find injured NightWings or RainWings, but in this weather, it was hard to tell the difference between his allies and enemies.
An IceWing shot out from the mist, blasting frostbreath across two of the RainWing dart-gunners, their scales turning as white as the IceWing’s as they yelled out. Almost immediately, one of the other RainWings shot a sleeping dart, hitting the IceWing square in the neck before he could do any more damage.
“Keep calm!” Deathbringer yelled, healing the two RainWings. “Don’t let them get to you!”
Another volley of darts flew as more IceWings started to break through the front ranks. He saw a young IceWing grab onto one of the RainWings, tearing at the RainWing’s throat with her teeth. The RainWing’s scales suddenly went invisible, throwing off the IceWing. The IceWing suddenly let out a piercing scream, as venom hit her neck, melting into her throat.
Deathbringer did nothing but stare as the IceWing died, plummeting to the ground. His claws shook as the scroll rested in them. He could’ve saved her, but he didn’t. She was an enemy, but Deathbringer couldn’t help but feel guilty. Had she joined Blackice’s army willingly, or had she been forced into service? He shook his head, trying to cast off those thoughts.
More IceWings started to come back into the fight, the dart-gunners starting to move their attention back from the front lines. IceWings started to engage with RainWings untrained in combat. Deathbringer could heal as many RainWings as he had time for, but it wouldn’t be enough. And now, he couldn’t heal his front lines.
Deathbringer gritted his teeth as he dove to the side, an IceWing flying past the RainWings, coming after him. He shot out a blast of fire as the IceWing turned, barely singing the dragon’s scales. The IceWing dove down, and grabbed ahold of Deathbringer’s wings, tearing at him with serrated claws. The smell of blood washed down Deathbringer’s snout. Deathbringer tried to bite back, keeping the scroll tucked away, but the IceWing reared back, escaping his jaws. Every moment that he wasted in this fight was a moment when dragons that he should have been healing were dying.
Suddenly, the IceWing’s movements became sluggish, and he dropped towards the ground as he backed away from Deathbringer. Deathbringer glanced to the side, seeing Jambu wave a paw at him, dart-gun in his talons.
“Thanks!” Deathbringer called out, relieved. He turned back, seeing blood dripping from more of the RainWings, scales as white as their enemies. He located the most serious injuries first, wincing as he saw dragons half-covered with frostbreath, or with their guts or bellies ripped open. Had these dragons known that this was what war would be like? When Glory had let the NightWings into the rainforest, had she known that they’d be bringing the Ice Kingdom’s wrath upon the RainWings?
Even as the battle got bleaker, Deathbringer’s army could do nothing but keep fighting. Dragons started to fall too fast for Deathbringer to save them. With their enemies only a tail-length away, the dart-guns had become useless. Battle cries had turned to screams, and the stench of death rose throughout the battlefield.
Suddenly, a bright light flashed through the sky, and the clouds lit up. Lightning hit from above, dragons yelling as it hit directly in the midst of Blackice’s army. Smaller bolts shot off from it, travelling between IceWings, and thunder crackled through the air. Deathbringer stared as the clouds started to swirl, IceWings thrown back and forth, crashing into their own allies. Another bolt of lightning struck, and on the other side of Queen Blackice’s troops, a battle roar sounded.
“For Prince Hailstorm!” IceWings painted in all the colors of the rainbow suddenly shot out from behind Jade Mountain. The new dragons flew down, wings spread wide open as they attacked the back of Blackice’s army from the mountainside. At their front, a shining sliver IceWing swooped down, frostbreath glittering as the IceWings he led pierced through the enemy forces like an arrow.
“He made it!” Jambu shouted excitedly.
Deathbringer nodded, grinning as Prince Hailstorm and Hemlock led colorful IceWings straight through the battlefield, creating a hole in the center of Blackice’s swarm as their formation fell apart. He heard a yell of orders out from one of the Black Princes, trying to move the IceWings attacking the RainWings and NightWings back, RainWing dart-gunners shooting at them as they attempted to maneuver. The winds seemed to fight Blackice’s every move, scattering her IceWings across the battlefield in a whirlwind as Hailstorm’s IceWings were pushed by the winds behind them.
“Not just them,” Deathbringer pointed out to Jambu, gesturing across the battlefield. “Look!”
Not far from Hailstorm and Hemlock’s forces, more NightWings and RainWings flew around the mountain, heading straight into battle. Princess Greatness let out a roar as her dragons joined Hailstorm’s. Together, the newcomers spread out, fighting through and around the crowd of Blackice’s IceWings, forcing them into small separated clusters as the wind swirled around them, crashing them into each other.
“Fire at the IceWings without paint!” Deathbringer ordered at the RainWings. Darts shot off, and IceWings fell to the ground as they were hit.
The piercing dagger of the newcomers shot through Blackice’s troops. Jambu waved happily as he saw Hailstorm and Hemlock flying towards the two, Blackice’s dragons fleeing out of their path as they careened through the battlefield.
“Sorry we were late!” Hailstorm called out as the RainWings flew aside to let them through. Hailstorm and Hemlock soared through the gap, quickly closing off. “It took a while to gather them all and get them here.”
Deathbringer shook his head, smiling. “No, you were just on time. This way, they’re scattered.” He looked over at the battlefield, using the scroll to heal a couple of the injured IceWings on his side. 
“You’re still outnumbered,” Hemlock commented warily. With the new forces, the dragons on their side had almost tripled, but they still had barely over half the number of dragons Queen Blackice had. “We have the upper claw now from position alone, but victory is far from assured.”
Hailstorm nodded in agreement. “It’ll be close, and I’m still not sure what Blackice has planned. So far, it doesn’t look she’s made an appearance.”
“There’s at least one Black Prince on the battlefield, and we captured one yesterday,” Deathbringer explained. “And she wouldn’t be in the air, would she? She can’t fly.” Deathbringer felt a small tremor in his heart as the roar of battle clashed in front of him. If Glory had managed to kill Blackice, and had survived, none of this would’ve happened.
“She has magic,” Hailstorm warned him. “I don’t even know what she can do.”
Jambu poked his head into the conversation. “Hey, speaking of magic, how did you do the lightning thing?”
“It wasn’t him,” Hemlock laughed. “I just followed Deathbringer’s advice. I managed to convince a few of the dragons at Jade Mountain to help you out. I have to admit, it didn’t take much.”
Jambu looked out towards the battle, when another bolt of lightning struck, a thunderclap piercing the air as the lightning passed through some of Blackice’s IceWings. The sizzle of burning flesh filled the air. He squinted as two dragons flew through the aftermath, a pink and blue SeaWing trailing behind a bright orange SkyWing, smoke wreathed around her scales. Peril let out a roar as she flew through the dragons, not even having to do raise her claws as enemy soldiers fled left and right to get out of her way. Anemone raised her front claws, and the storm intensified, winds throwing dragons into one another.
The animus and the fireborn flew through the battlefield, RainWings, NightWings, IceWings, and even a few SandWings following their lead, Deathbringer’s forces attacking the dragons left behind them. Queen Blackice’s army began to dwindle, as more of her IceWings were shot with sleeping darts, the mountainside below littered with whites. Deathbringer quickly returned back to healing, checking back on Anemone every so often, but for a moment, they seemed victorious. It wasn’t long before Queen Blackice’s numbers had been reduced beneath their own.
A flash of black paint caught Deathbringer’s eye. He’d finally caught a glimpse of the Black Prince again through the rain, a few IceWings surrounding him like a guard as he flew towards the edge of the battlefield. Deathbringer smiled, and pointed Jambu towards him.
“He’s retreating!” Jambu said happily, as more IceWings followed, heading towards the north of the battlefield. “We won!”
Deathbringer stared at the Black Prince for a few moments longer, trying to catch a hint of distress on the IceWing’s face. He frowned. Something strange seemed to be happening. One of the IceWings behind the Black Prince had brought something forward, and had given it to him. Deathbringer squinted. Water and paint dripped from the Black Prince’s wings onto a silver surface. He raised it up high, a glittering silver snowflake like a shield. Lightning struck the river, and the multifaceted sheen on the snowflake shield seemed to glimmer.
Deathbringer’s scales seemed to tense up involuntarily, as the air seemed to instantly drop in temperature. A chilled wind blew past Deathbringer, pushing him forward, and the scent of snow filled the air. The snowflake started to shine through the rain, like a bright beacon in the sky. A yell shot through the air, and Blackice’s IceWings suddenly turned, diving up and down, towards the Black Prince.
Deathbringer looked over to Hemlock, about to ask her what was going on, when he felt serrated claws against his scales, pushing him towards the ground.
“GET DOWN!” Hemlock yelled out, grabbing onto Deathbringer and pushing him away. A gust of wind seemed to pull them closer to the Black Prince, and Deathbringer’s scales shook, his teeth chattering like he’d been doused in freezing water. He winced as Hemlock’s talons scraped against him, closing his eyes to the cold as it rushed over him. The blue light grew behind his eyelids, and the surprised yells of dragons reached his ears. He gritted his teeth as cold sunk beneath his scales, and jerked back as he felt something frozen and solid stop his flight.
When Deathbringer opened his eyes again, he no longer felt Hemlock’s talons on him. In fact, he no longer felt much of anything in the back half of his body. The battlefield quieted, and flakes of snow landed on the NightWing’s snout. His teeth chattered as he turned around to see that his torso, hind-legs, and tail were all trapped beneath a layer of ice. He tried to tug his tail, but it wouldn’t budge.
His gaze turned on Hemlock’s. Her eyes were wide open in a frightened stare, claws and wings outstretched as she reached towards him, unmoving, embedded in the ice. She wasn’t the only one: a huge frozen cone, like an icicle, stretched out from a point at the Black Prince reaching all the way to the other side of Jade Mountain, the end of it reaching the clouds. All throughout, dragons were still and unmoving in the ice, instantly frozen solid like fish who’d slept in a frozen lake and had been trapped inside. Birds were still and flight, and the trees caught beneath the ice no longer moved in the winds of the storm. Deathbringer’s gaze looked to the single SkyWing on the battlefield — even Peril was stuck inside the ice, motionless as it refused to melt even from her burning scales.
Deathbringer tried to move his hindquarters again, but they didn’t seem to move. He gritted his teeth as he looked over at the grinning Black Prince, letting out a cackle as he lowered the snowflake shield, even as many of his own soldiers were frozen along with it, unable to escape the cone with the short warning he’d given them. Dragons began to resume fighting around the edges of the ice, and more of the IceWings came forward, talons out. Deathbringer winced, trying to figure out how many troops he had left. Not that he could do them much good stuck in here.
“Deathbringer!”
Deathbringer turned to see Jambu and Hailstorm, flying up from around the edges of the ice. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least they hadn’t been caught.
“Hey Jambu!” Deathbringer called out to the RainWing. He turned back, trying to tug his tail from the ice. “I’m a little stuck, you mind helping me out?”
“It won’t work,” Hailstorm responded, shaking his head as Jambu grabbed onto Deathbringer’s talons, flying back as the RainWing tried to pull him away. “The ice is magical,” Hailstorm explained. “It won’t let you free until it’s stopped.”
“You know what it is?” Deathbringer asked, craning his neck to try and get a peek at the Black Prince.
Prince Hailstorm nodded. “The Gift of Cessation. One of the animus Gifts that was made in war-time, with a very specific purpose.” He frowned. “It doesn’t kill your enemies, but it’ll keep them in place long enough for, say, raiding a town, or positioning your armies advantageously.”
Deathbringer gulped, glancing away from Jade Mountain. “Or destroying a part of their army, massacring civilians and dragonets, then coming back to finish the rest off.” He felt his talons clench up, and Jambu’s scales started to turn green. “How do we stop it?”
Hailstorm looked over towards the Black Prince. The IceWings around him had started to fly out over the battlefield, attacking the remaining parts of Deathbringer’s army. He frowned. They’d even been willing to use it on their own army. “Someone has to take it from him.”
Deathbringer tried to move his tail again, and sighed. “And that’s not going to be me, I guess. Or Hemlock. Jambu? You can turn invisible, can’t you?”
Jambu nervously tapped his claws together. IceWings swarmed around the Black Prince. It would be difficult to get through them, even with camouflage. And even if he did . . . would this mean killing again? But if he failed, how many dragons would die? “Y-yeah,” he replied, trying to keep up a cheerful grin. “I’ll do it.”
“I’ll try and keep them distracted,” Hailstorm suggested. “That way, you can get through.”
Jambu winced. “Are you sure?” he asked Hailstorm. “What if you get hurt? For me?”
“I’ll be fine,” Hailstorm assured him. “I was one of the best fighters in the Ice Kingdom. I doubt these seal-brains will be able to touch me.”
“Please hurry,” Deathbringer interrupted. “I really don’t want to be stuck here if I’m attacked, and I think I might be getting frostbite.”
Hailstorm nodded, and turned towards the Black Prince. Dragons flew around the edge of the ice, Blackice’s armies pulled back. Fighting had come to a stand-still, but not for long.
“Hide, then fly around the back,” Hailstorm said to Jambu. “Stay safe.”
Jambu nodded, and his talons clenched, his scales faded away, until there was but a shimmer in the air, and an odd reflection in the ice. Hailstorm felt a burst of wind brush his scales.
“Remaining dragons, to my side!” Prince Hailstorm yelled out, his voice reaching as far as he could throw it. The scattered soldiers turned, finally hearing orders. “Remaining dart-gunners, stay behind! Everyone else, approach with me!”
With the wind behind him, Hailstorm glided across the side of the ice, giving a glance. They couldn’t win as long as everyone was stuck inside, especially with Peril and Anemone unable to fight. The two of them had been the key to their victory. Eyes trapped in ice seemed to stare patiently as dragons joined by Hailstorm’s side, flying down to become a wall of colors and scales, swiftly approaching. RainWings gathered behind, gliding as dart-guns were readied.
It was only seconds before the Black Prince noticed the regrouping army, roaring as they charged down through the air. The Black Prince grabbed ahold of the snowflake shield, flapping his wings once to glide back as he yelled out orders. IceWings gathered around him in a tight shield by the point of the ice cone, protecting him from the oncoming army. Hailstorm glanced to the side, looking for Jambu. He couldn’t spot the RainWing prince at all. That was probably for the better.
“ATTACK!” Hailstorm yelled out, picking up speed. Cold winds whipped past his scales, and he opened his jaws, breathing in as he felt a chilled frostbreath come up. The IceWings on the other side tightened their formation, growing as the gap narrowed. Within just a moment, the two sides were so close together that Hailstorm could reach out his talons to touch them.
Then, Hailstorm lifted his wings up, and frostbreath shot over an IceWing he might have known. The IceWing yelled out in pain, and threw herself back, the formation collapsing. With the rain now cleared, darts shot over Hailstorm’s wings with stunning accuracy, IceWings falling ot their sleep. More dragons clashed claw-to-claw, and fire and ice filled the air.
Still, the numbers weren’t in Hailstorm’s favor. With every enemy who fell, two more seemed to take their place. He let out a roar as tail-spikes raked his neck, blue blood spilling from silver scales. He turned, trying to pierce the attacker with his claws, but caught onto another IceWing. In the dense mess of wings and scales, he could barely fly, not even enough from to make a beat. He through himself at an IceWing, tumbling mid-air before catching the wind again as gnashing teeth and claws tore into him.
Through the chaos, Hailstorm glimpsed caught a glimpse of the Black Prince, snowflake shield in his talons, backing away from the front lines. Where was Jambu? The RainWing was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, a piercing scream filled the air. The Black Prince wailed like a dragonet as RainWing venom covered his front arm, white scales melting away as it spread. As the tendons in his claws dissolved, the shield fell from his grasp, a clunk sounding through the battle as it hit stone by the riverbed.
Invisible wings through the air shimmered as Jambu dove down, landing on the riverbed. He grabbed ahold of the shield, raising it up for Hailstorm to see, like it was floating in mid-air. Jambu shook it, pressing it to his ear. How was he supposed to deactivate it, and free the dragons stuck in ice.
“Get out of there!” Hailstorm yelled, throwing a dragon to the side as he tried to break free of the crowd, almost getting through the defenses. Jambu looked up excitedly, attempting to listen what Hailstorm was saying, the IceWing prince’s words lost in the sounds of battle. “Get away!”
A thunderous roar filled the battlefield as the Black Prince’s screams turned to a frightening roar. Jambu leaped out of the way, squealing as he felt frostbreath crawl up his tail, freezing the end of it. The Black Prince dove for the glimmering shield, and his talons tore into Jambu’s scales as the RainWing prince rolled to the side, tucking the shield close to his belly.
Jambu panted heavily as he rolled towards the riverbed. The Black Prince turned to stare at him, and Jambu felt sticky red blood smear across his scales, rendering him visible. The IceWing seethed, lumbering over Jambu’s height as he limped over towards the RainWing, the flesh on the paw that Jambu had hit with venom seared away, almost to the bone.
“Give it to me,” the Black Prince hissed, trying to meet the invisible RainWing’s eyes. “Give it to me, and I’ll kill you quickly.”
Jambu paused, shaking as he backed away. The IceWing flexed his wings, red blood dripping from his black fangs. Invisible, he could escape, but with his own blood coating his scales and the glimmering shield in his talons, he had little choice but to fight. Hailstorm’s silver scales flashed out of the corner of his eye, before being covered up by white wings.
“They won’t make it in time,” the Black Prince sneered, taking another step closer, licking his fangs as tail-spines scraped the stone. “You’re alone, RainWing. No one can help you. Give me the shield.”
Jambu shuddered, unable to hold his camouflage as bright green splotches of terror came through on his scales, mixing with the red blood and making him look like a strawberry bush. If he dropped the shield, he could get away. He could live. But how many others would die for it? Hailstorm and the others seemed to be pushing through the defense, but the Black Prince was right. It wouldn’t be fast enough.
“Time’s up!” the IceWing roared, seeing Jambu’s attention drawn away from him. He lifted up his talons and reared up, before lowering his head, frostbreath shooting from his jaws down onto Jambu.
Jambu heard Hailstorm scream something out, but there was no time for him to hear it. The RainWing turned away as freezing death breath rained down upon him, raising the snowflake over his head to shield it. Hailstorm ripped away at scales, trying to get through as he saw mist of continued frostbreath cover the rocks below.
Jambu closed his eyes, shuddering as he waited for the cold to overcome him. After a moment of confusion, he opened them back up. Cold crept around his scales, but he could still feel. He looked up to see the IceWing’s frostbreath swirling around the shield in a spiral, the metal snowflake absorbing the cold. It started to glow a bright blue, like the color of glittering ice. The Black Prince stopped, and Jambu felt the winds pick up around him, snow settling on his scales.
“Wait, no, I don’t want to do another freezing everyone thing!” Jambu squealed out, shaking the shield back and forth, trying to stop it. Realizing there was a better option, he lowered the shield down, pointing it at the Black Prince. “Freeze!” he yelled.
The Black Prince stared at Jambu blankly for a moment, the snowflake glowing between them. Jambu suddenly let out a squeal of pain, as his talons went numb, ice climbing up them where he was holding the shield. He shook it, trying to let go, and the shield fell to the ground, still glowing.
Jambu barely had time to look back up before the Black Prince leaped, fangs bared as he roared, and barrelled into Jambu. Jambu screamed out as talons tore into him, and the IceWing’s jaws clamped down on his neck. Jambu turned his head as fangs sunk down into his scales, piercing and cracking as he felt cold air sink into his wounds.
He tried to turn away, only to feel a paw slam down on his chest. Serrated talons grabbed in, pain seared as they raked along his underside. His scales turned whiter than the IceWing’s, and his underbelly clenched up as the Black Prince grabbed ahold of it, about to sink his talons into Jambu’s guts and tear them out.
Suddenly, the Black Prince seemed to change his mind, and whipped his head around, throwing the small RainWing to the side. Jambu let out a yell as the ground tumbled around him, and he slammed into on the hard rock with a crack in his wing. Red blood dripped down the back of his neck as he tried to crane it up, barely able to get a glimpse of Hailstorm and their allies breaking through the barrier in a hole, pushing the enemies back as they dove down towards the Black Prince, still accosted by enemies.
Even through the pain, pinks and golds shone through Jambu’s scales. Hailstorm was rescuing him! It was all going to be alright.
His expression then changed to horror as he saw the Black Prince reach towards the ground, picking up the glowing snowflake shield in his claws. He raised the Gift of Cessation up towards the attackers, and a cold wind whipped around him, snow coating Jambu’s burning wounds.
“STOP!” Jambu screamed out at Hailstorm, realizing what the Black Prince was about to do. They were flying right into a trap. “Go around!”
But it was too late, and the blue light shone brighter. Jambu tried to turn his head, shooting venom towards the Black Prince as his vision blurred, but it landed on the ground in a fizzle, the RainWing prince too weak to hit his target. Sleeping darts flew through the air, but were whipped back by the winds, snow swirling as the shield pointed directly towards Prince Hailstorm along with the rest of the soldiers behind him. The light became blinding, until all Jambu could see was the shining blue beacon.
Then cold water splashed over Jambu’s head, and cerulean wings blotted out the light as a roar came from the river. The Gift of Cessation activated, and a glittering cone of ice spread across the battle field. But instead of the eerie quiet and stillness of the frozen dragons, Jambu still heard the roars of battle.
Thin sheets of ice crumbled, a few dragons around the edge of the battle caught in them, but the freezing had stopped before it had hit Hailstorm and his soldiers. A huge blue SeaWing flapped his wings as he hovered between Hailstorm and the Black Prince, a dagger in his talons. The ice had stopped a few tail-lengths from his snout, unable to penetrate an invisible field around him, protecting him and all the dragons behind him from the Gift’s freezing.
The Black Prince took a wary step back, looking towards the shields, wondering why it hadn’t worked this time. Torrent glided down, splashing in the banks of the river, glaring at the Black Prince.
“And this is why animus magic shouldn’t be in the claws of queens,” Torrent grumbled, like this whole affair was just proving his point. He flashed his dagger through the air, steel glimmering as he bared his shark-like fangs. A locked scroll case hung from his neck. “You’re not even a real prince, are you?”
The Black Prince snarled, turning away from Torrent as Hailstorm landed on the other side of him. In unison, the two princes took a step closer to him, and he tried to take a step back along the riverbank. The IceWing swished his spiked tail back and forth, a warning for the two not to get closer.
Instead, Torrent leaped forward, jumping into the air as the huge SeaWing came crashing down on the Black Prince. The Black Prince swung his tail back up in surprise, and Torrent let out a seething hiss as it whacked him in the ribs. But the damage was already done, as the shining blade scraped the metal shield, and the magic flooded out from it.
The fury of hundreds of dragons rang through the battlefield, as the ice holding the armies still disappeared and the battle resumed. The Black Prince let out a cry of anguish, and winds started to swirl around the battlefield, Anemone’s storm returning as she was freed. Lightning and thunder crackled through the air.
Torrent bit down on the IceWing’s neck as he was distracted, the Black Prince whacking him back with a wing, trying to swing his tail again. He pulled it back, only to feel the SeaWing’s talons digging into it, blue blood running down his talons as Torrent swung the Black Prince to the side, right into Hailstorm’s claws.
“Help!” the Black Prince squealed out as Hailstorm grip tightened around his horns, flecks of paint falling from them. “Defend me!” He looked up hopefully towards the barrier of IceWings, only to see that it had all but vanished, his forces once again outnumbered by the freed dragons, screaming and fleeing as Peril soared through them. There was no one left to help him.
Torrent grabbed the Black Prince’s tail with his hind claws, pinning it to the ground as the IceWing flailed his limbs back and forth, wriggling in the two princes’ grasps. Torrent stared into the Black Prince’s eyes as he raised his dagger. Queen Blackice wouldn’t have ever risen to power if Crystal hadn’t killed Queen Glacier. Which meant that he shared at least some of the blame for this whole mess. Well, now he had his chance to fix it, at least a little bit.
Torrent sliced his dagger down, gutting the IceWing in a single motion. Hailstorm grimaced and turned away as blood splashed on his face, though it seemed barely visible on Torrent’s scales. The Black Prince convulsed, before falling limp to the ground.
Hailstorm dropped the Black Prince, staring at him for a moment just to make sure he was actually dead, prodding him with a claw. After the War of SandWing Succession, it barely fazed him anymore, though he worried for the RainWings’ sake. Torrent picked up the Gift of Cessation again and tapped it with his dagger just for good measure, while Hailstorm ran over to Jambu.
“Jambu!” Hailstorm cried out as he leaned over the RainWing’s body. The RainWing prince’s scales had gone white, one of his wings contorted behind him where he’d landed on it. A small pool of his own blood had started to form around his wounds, staining Hailstorm’s talons. The RainWing seemed motionless. Hailstorm placed his talons on the RainWing’s chest, feeling a gentle breath. So he was still alive.
“C’mon, Jambu, you have to wake up,” Hailstorm whispered, cradling his talons around the RainWing’s head, gently stroking through the fins around his ears. “It’ll be fine, just keep conscious. We’ll get you help, okay? Just stay with me.”
Hailstorm’s talons shook as Jambu’s breath got lighter and lighter. He hadn’t meant for this to happen. This had been his fault. He’d been supposed to protect Jambu. The RainWing prince wasn’t trained for the battlefield. Tears started to form in his eyes. He shouldn’t die here.
Whether out of desperation, or regret, Hailstorm put his snout up against Jambu’s, his heart heavy and racing in his chest. His talons shuddered as he felt the weak RainWing beneath him. With hope all but lost, Hailstorm gave Jambu a small kiss on the side of his snout.
Much to Hailstorm’s surprise, Jambu’s eyes suddenly fluttered open. His strength returned, Hailstorm let out a small yelp of surprise as Jambu put his paws on the IceWing’s neck, rolling him over and giving him a huge smooth on the IceWing’s snout, interlocking his talons with Hailstorm. Quite uncertain how that had worked, but not missing the opportunity, Hailstorm returned the kiss, wrapping his cold wings around Jambu in an embrace, blood-stained claws stroking along Jambu’s scales. For a moment, the two were still and calm, even as the chaos of the battle roared around them.
Finally, it ended. Hailstorm stared into Jambu’s glittering pink eyes as he backed from the now pink RainWing, holding him still for a moment. Hailstorm looked down at Jambu’s broken wing, miraculously healed. “How did I . . . ?”
Jambu giggled and pointed his talons up. Hailstorm followed them across the battlefield, his gaze finally landing on a black NightWing. Deathbringer grinned from the distance, waving his paw at Hailstorm and Jambu, scroll in his claws.
“Oh,” Hailstorm said, blinking as he realized it. “Deathbringer mentioned having a healing scroll. So the kiss wasn’t necessary.”
Hailstorm let out a small yelp as Jambu pushed him to the ground, kissing him again. The RainWIng beamed, his scales almost glowing pink as he nuzzled against the embarrassed IceWing’s neck. “No,” Jambu teased, “it was very necessary.”
As the two kissed again, Deathbringer turned back to his scroll. The battle wasn’t won yet. Even through all this time, the arrow hadn’t moved, pointing towards Jade Mountain. Queen Blackice was still out there, away from the battlefield. Deathbringer’s blood ran cold.
“We need to go after her,” he said, turning to Hemlock. “Queen Blackice."
The now unfrozen IceWing nodded. “We need to end this here. We can’t let her escape.”
Deathbringer shook his head, gulping. “Not just that,” he explained. “Why do you think she’s at Jade Mountain? What does the she want there?”
Hemlock frowned, as she realized it. “The academy,” she whispered. “The dragonets.”
“We need to go,” Deathbringer said, as the two sped off. All the commotion had shifted the battle towards the north, and there were only a few more dragons fighting on their path. Wind rushed past as they flew towards Jade Mountain.
“She wouldn’t attack there,” Hemlock winced, the speed of her flight showing how unsure of her own words she was. “It’s guarded well, and almost impossible to enter, and we would’ve noticed if she’d gone there with any decent-sized number of soldiers. She can’t enter.”
“What about animus magic?” Deathbringer asked, heart racing. “Does she have something that can make dragons invisible?”
Hemlock shook her head. “IceWings aren’t much for being stealthy. It would be a waste of a Gift. And that SeaWing is guarding there too, the one with the anti-animus dagger.”
“Torrent,” Deathbringer winced, looking back towards the battlefield, a speck of blue visible through the rainstorm. “The one who helped get rid of the magical ice trapping everyone? He’s down there right now.”
Hemlock let out an anguished yell, a mix between a groan and a roar as the two rushed towards the mountain. “I know, I know,” she winced. “More trouble than he’s worth. That’s what you sa—”
A bright flash of light suddenly interrupted Hemlock’s speech. Deathbringer felt an odd feeling crawl up his scales, and tried to brush it off. The unnatural feeling of slime crept between his talons, like something was crawling over his scales. He looked down as he tried to wipe it away, but saw nothing on his scales. The shadows between them seemed to grow like a pitch-black film over the NightWing’s dark exterior.
Deathbringer turned back towards Jade Mountain, only to see that darkness had crept over the valley in front of him. For a moment, the battle went silent as a huge violet orb started to rise over Jade Mountain like a second sun. Black flames seemed to creep from its surface and the stench of death rose from the ground. Deathbringer shuddered as the unearthly feeling of animus magic wormed its way through his scales, whispers in his ears. The cold sun grew higher in the sky, its light raining down upon the battlefield.
“Close your eyes!” Hemlock suddenly yelled out. “Don’t look! It’s not real!”
For a moment, Deathbringer couldn’t look away, the violet flames over Jade Mountain burning an image in his eyes. Worms seemed to climb up around his neck, and he felt his throat constrict. Then, Hemlock’s ears pierced his mind, and he shut his eyes tight, trying to blot out the world around him. The sensation on his scales disappeared, the light unable to break through his eyelids.
Then, he heard the first scream. A dragon on the battlefield behind him yelled out, his voice quivering. “STOP! STOP!”
Don’t look, Deathbringer remembered, keeping his eyes shut. Whatever it is, it’s not real. Trust Hemlock. He paused. Could he really trust her? What if this was a trap by Queen Blackice all along? What if she was betraying him? No. That couldn’t be.
And then, the entire battlefield behind Deathbringer joined the first dragon. Screams of pain and terror filled the battlefield, dragons crying, calling for help. Agonized howls rose up in a chorus, Deathbringer’s blood curdling. Had he caused this? How could he look away? How could he not help? Had all this been his fault?
He turned his head behind them, trying to keep his eyes shut like Hemlock had asked. The violet light seemed to stain his eyelids, and in its reflection, he saw dragons dying. Every dragon he killed seemed to be outlined in light, staring at him, pleading for mercy, pleading for death. Glory’s eyes pierced his, her screams filling his ears.
Then, it faded. For a moment, Deathbringer was still inside his mind, his heart racing. Cold winds seemed to grip his wings, holding him aloft. Finally, he opened his eyes.
The screams and wails instantly flood Deathbringer’s ears again, and he stared at the scene of terror before him. The violet rays had disappeared, but the dark sun was still in the sky. In the battlefield in front of him, almost every dragon had landed, some on top of other. Some former enemies hugged each other for comfort, while others threw themselves at their opponents jaws in a suicidal rush. Dragons writhed on the ground, clutching at their eyes as they screamed. RainWings, NightWings, and IceWings alike pounded their heads in sheer terror, swatting at the falling raindrops like they were venom.
“What’s going on?” Deathbringer asked to Hemlock, voice shaking. What had happened? The battle had come to a complete standstill, only a few dragons left able to fly. Dragons on the ground tried to crawl away, but few found the strength to even raise their limbs.
“I didn’t think she’d use it,” Hemlock whispered, gliding down towards Deathbringer. Her voice was quiet, expression cold and empty. Whatever she’d seen, it seemed to have shaken her to her core. She pointed up at the dark sun, its light cast over the battlefield. “The Gift of Terror. It’s one of the Second Gifts.”
“Second Gift?” Deathbringer asked.
Hemlock grimaced. “The IceWing animuses were only allowed to use their magic once throughout their lives, usually for something big that would greatly benefit the entire tribe, at the cost of their soul. But sometimes, this was broken, always for a great or terrible reason. Queen Diamond’s Gift of Vengeance came from her hatred and desire for revenge. The Gift of Terror was created in a civil war long-passed, by animus who made their Second Gift out of fear for their own life. Any dragon who sees its rays are plagued by horrific visions until it’s . . . deactivated. Not even Queen Blackice’s own armies escaped it.”
“How do we deactivate it?” Deathbringer asked, staring at the battlefield. Whether by luck or an early warning, some dragons still roamed the battlefield, and small tussles started to resume. And unfortunately, it looked like more of Blackice’s troops had been left able to fight than his own. On the other side of the battlefield, across a sky filled with enemies, he spotted Torrent, the SeaWing standing in front of a frightened Jambu and Hailstorm as IceWings tried to pile on him.
Hemlock looked back at Jade Mountain, the twin peaks piercing through the horizon like two horns, the dark sun above them. “The dragon who activated it has to be killed. It’s why I didn’t think Queen Blackice would use it.”
“So she’s made herself a target,” Deathbringer frowned, turning back to Jade Mountain. He clutched a silver chakram in his talons, almost snapping it in two. “She wants us to come for her. She’s baiting us.”
Hemlock nodded. “So what do we do?”
Deathbringer winced. They could go across the battlefield and try and get Torrent, but how much time would that take? How long did they have, with Queen Blackice already in front of Jade Mountain Academy, only terrified dragons able to defend against her? Even if this was a trap, they didn’t have any better options. “We have to stop her.”
“Agreed,” Hemlock sighed.
The two took off, the valley silent as they soared up towards the twin peaks. Storm clouds swirled around it, rain pouring down as bolts of lightning flashed through the sky. Violet light rained down, and terror and rage clutched at Deathbringer’s heart. This was the dragon who’d killed Glory.
Deathbringer wiped the rain from his eyes as he and Hemlock approached the mountaintop. Violet light pierced through the rain like a dark haze, and mists rose up. The stench of fear itself seemed to emanate from the mountain, and the sickly sound of cold silence creeped through the noise of the storm.
The figures of three dragons were visible through the mists as Deathbringer and Hemlock descended towards the welcoming platform, situated precariously over a cliff’s edge. The place where dragonets would first enter Jade Mountain Academy, devoted to peace and learning, would be stained with either red or blue blood today.
The two landed, talons splashing down in cold rain, running down off the platform towards the three mist-shrouded figures, creating an unnatural waterfall over the cliff’s side. Deathbringer turned back at the academy’s entrance, upstream of the platform that the caves wouldn’t flood. This way, he’d be able to stand between Blackice and the dragonets.
Deathbringer’s eyes stared as his gaze met the eyes of dragons in the yawning entrance cavern. Stalactites reached down like knives, and dragonets and adult dragons alike remained motionless in the gaping maw of the academy.
“Run!” Deathbringer yelled at a SandWing dragonet. “Get into the caverns where they can’t find you!” If the dragonet had heard him, he made no response. The SandWing’s eyes were still and cold, the violet light of the dark sun reflected in them.
“They can’t,” a voice said.
Deathbringer whipped his head back to see the three figures walking forward from the edge of the cliff. He put his claws around his silver disk, ready to throw it at any moment.
“They were too close to the Gift of Terror,” the voice sneered, the mists breaking around Queen Blackice’s snout as she stepped through them, her gait an unsteady limp. Her cruel blue eyes pierced through the fog, but Deathbringer’s gaze wasn’t focused on that. Just like the reports had said, Queen Blackice’s front-right leg and right wing were now nothing more than blackened stumps. Her tail slowly waved back and forth, the spines on the end almost mesmerising. A chain was wrapped around her other front paw, water dripping from the iron. “Now they’re frozen in fear. They can’t move at all. All they can do is watch in silence as their worst terrors devour their brains, until the day my heart stops beating.”
Deathbringer felt his talons clutch around the chakram, and his claws almost instinctively moved back. He’d make sure that day would be today.
“Don’t be hasty,” Blackice snapped, her eyes narrowed at the NightWing assassin, a threat implicit in her voice.
That’s right, Deathbringer remembered, his breath quickened. She’s brash, but she’s not stupid. She knows I can kill her. She wouldn’t have come out here without a plan. His talons lowered, the silver disk cutting into his scales, the enchanted scroll soaked and drooping in his other paw.
“Blackice,” Hemlock growled, stepping forward. The IceWing tyrant turned her head, giving Hemlock a look tantamount to boredom. “The IceWings have deemed your rule unjust and illegal. Your title is stripped. You have no more power over the Ice Kingdom.”
Blackice shook her head, and let out a quiet chuckle, flicking her tongue over her pearly fangs. “Which IceWings?” she asked. She gestured out towards the battlefield with her wing. “The cowards writhing in fear, fleeing from the fight?”
“They’re only afraid because you’ve abused the ancient animus Gifts,” Hemlock accused Blackice. “They’re only supposed to be used in dire need. We were in peacetime.”
Queen Blackice narrowed her eyes, serrated talons scratching through the running water. “The IceWings are in dire need, don’t you see? My mother, and those before her, held us back from our full potential for far too long. We cowered behind our wall while our enemies roamed freely, living in a borrowed luxury as our kingdom collapsed into ruin. Twenty years of a war we couldn’t win, not because we didn’t have the power, but because my mother didn’t have the heart to win it. But I was victorious. I killed the NightWing queen twice, and still you refuse to fall before me?”
“Yeah,” Deathbringer growled. “We’re not going to just let you kill us. You know, you should’ve just spent the rest of your days out on that barren iceberg you got sent to. You made a mistake, killing innocent dragons, and now you’re gonna regret it.”
Blackice’s frown suddenly twisted into a warped smile, and she let out a laugh. “You really were a good match!” she sneered. “Your RainWing said the same thing right before I tortured her to death!”
Deathbringer’s heart pounded, blood dripping from where he clutched the chakram, though the pain barely registered over his rage. He raised it up again, eyes wide. “I’ll kill you!” he yelled out, water dripping along his eyes. “I’ll finish what Glory started! This time, I’ll take off more than a wing and a leg!”
Hemlock stretched out a wing warily, keeping it in front of Deathbringer as she kept him from throwing the chakram. His talons shook, it taking all his effort not to throw it right into Blackice’s grin.
“No, you won’t,” Blackice tsked. “You won’t kill me. Alchemy. Come forward.”
A quiet whimper sounded from behind Blackice. She turned around with a hiss, and whipped the iron chain she held, pulling it closer. Out of the mists, a small NightWing shuddered as he stepped up to Blackice, the third dragon, a Black Prince, looming behind him, a copper medallion swinging from his neck.
Alchemy stared up at Deathbringer quietly, like he was surprised to have seen another NightWing, though it took a few seconds for Deathbringer to realize that Alchemy was, in fact, a NightWing. His scales were barely black anymore, now covered in frostbreath scars, and there were nothing left of his long straight horns but stubs. In the same places where Queen Blackice had her injuries, Alchemy’s front leg and wing had been removed, frozen and cracked off. Chafing rope had been strapped all around the NightWing’s body, with hundreds of glass vials attached to it, filled with a liquid that seemed to glisten in the violet light.
“Do you understand?” Blackice grinned, eyes wide open like she was obsessed with her own horrific plot. “If you kill me, Alchemy will crack one of his vials. Each is filled with an potent explosive, and with so many, we’ll all go up in flame. And not just you two, since I’m sure you’re both so heroic you’d be willing to sacrifice yourselves in an instant, but every dragonet and dragon frozen in fear at the cavern entrance will perish a horrible firey death. How many NightWings do you think are there? How many will die? Even in death, I win.”
“You’re a monster,” Deathbringer whispered, staring over at the shaking Alchemy.
“Blame my mother,” Blackice snorted, “or maybe yours. And if you’re wonder whether Alchemy would actually do that, yes, he certainly would. I’ve trained him well. I doubt the poor creature wants much more than death at this point, regardless. It’s why I had to remove his claws, you see.”
“So we’re at a standstill,” Hemlock replied. “You can’t leave this place, or we’ll kill you as soon as you get far enough away from the cavern entrance. But we can’t kill you as long as you’re here.”
“Or, we capture her alive, and see her brought to justice for her crimes against NightWings, RainWings, and IceWings alike,” Deathbringer pointed out.
A slim smile formed on Queen Blackice’s face, like this was exactly how she’d been expecting things to go. She shook her head, and let out a laugh, distorted by the mists. “I highly doubt you’ll be able to do that.” She turned back to the Black Prince, gesturing him with her remaining wing. “Go forward.”
The Black Prince only took a single step before Deathbringer’s claws twitched, and the IceWing’s eyes opened wide in surprise. A cling sounded from his medallion as metal hit metal. The Black Prince’s talons went up to his neck, as blue blood started to pour down it.
“Now there’s no one left to help you,” Deathbringer said, pulling another chakram from his pouch. “This is it for you.”
Queen Blackice let out a cackle. “You arrogant fool,” she hissed. “You think we weren’t prepared?”
Deathbringer looked back to the Black Prince, barely able to stand as blood gushed from his wound. The amulet drenched in his life fluids had changed color, now a glistening silver. The Black Prince opened his jaws, eyes straining as his voice came out, barely even a whisper.
“I swear my blood to the protection of the royal family.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the air seemed to grow still. Deathbringer stared as he saw a raindrop in front of his eyes, frozen, unable to fall. The blood on the Black Prince had stopped with the rain, and the stench of iron filled Deathbringer’s snout.
Then, a raindrop rose up from the ground. Deathbringer’s eyes followed it as it fell back up towards the sky, and blood rose back up into the Black Prince’s neck, the wound on the chakram repairing itself. The wind was sucked away, the very air around the Black Prince distorting. His talons shook with power, lightning crackling through them as he stared at Deathbringer with glowing golden eyes.
The Black Prince’s neck suddenly cracked to the side, and Deathbringer saw one of his forelegs bulge out, the muscles on it visible and writhing beneath his scales like snakes. Hemlock stepped back as his legs started to grow, drool dripping from the Black Prince’s jaws as his body twisted back and forth, growing to twice its size. White scales shattered as they grew, spots of blue-colored flesh creeping beneath them, bulging out in patches. The Black Prince, or whatever he’d become, opened his twisted jaws, fangs shimmering like golden treasure.
A high-pitched shriek suddenly pierced the air, vibrations through it pulsing. Deathbringer gritted his teeth, placing his claws over his ears, clutching them tight as the Black Prince screaming. Even Queen Blackice winced, trying to cover herself from the sound. After a few moments, it stopped, and the huge Black Prince stood in place, neck twisted to the side.
Deathbringer cautiously removed his claws, staring up at the Black Prince, lightning arcing between his talons. A furious sound rang through Deathbringer’s ears, quickly quieting down. The Black Prince’s expression didn’t change, like he no longer had any notion of what was going on in the outside world.
“Well, that’s new,” Queen Blackice mused, her voice muted, a hint of surprise and possibly worry. “I was just expecting him to get big and be able to read minds and tell the future, but it appears that there’s a new strongest dragon in Pyrrhia. Isn’t that interesting? Kill them.”
The Black Prince’s head snapped to the other side, still at a unnatural angle. His eyes swivelled around in a circle, before landing on Deathbringer. A strange golden light started to shine from the back of his maw.
“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Hemlock yelled as she jumped to the right. Deathbringer was already off his paws, and had leaped to the side not a moment too soon. A ball of golden flame leapt from the Black Prince’s maw, his jaw breaking from the force with a snap, landing where Deathbringer had been.
Deathbringer let out a yell as the ball of flame exploded, and he was thrown across the platform, sliding through the slipper water. He got back up to his paws, staring back at where the fireball had hit. A dragon-sized crater had now been carved through the platform, with a scared-looking Hemlock on the other side.
“Ha . . . ha . . . ha . . .” The Black Prince twisted his neck again, a voice rasping in the back of his throat that could’ve been a laugh.
Queen Blackice grinned, eyes wide as she pulled Alchemy back from the battle, not wanting her living bomb to accidentally activate. She stared up at the Black Prince, amazed that such a powerful creature was protecting her.
Deathbringer moved to the side, Hemlock following until they were on opposite sides of the IceWing. He frowned, taking out a few more of the chakrams from his pouch. He’d need them. The Black Prince’s eyes split, one of them following Deathbringer, and the other Hemlock, his head hanging limply between them.
“I’ve killed bigger,” Deathbringer finally said, a faint smile forming as he saw a hint of concern on Blackice’s snout. “Hemlock! Aim for the pendant!”
Hemlock charged forward, sliding through slick water as she opened her jaws, and frostbreath came out of them. The Black Prince didn’t even make an attempt to avoid it, doing nothing as it covered his neck, no sense of pain making him take a motion. Hemlock jumped back. “Now!”
Three chakrams left Deathbringer’s talons, whipping through the air as they sailed towards the Black Prince’s neck. A spurt of blue blood flopped onto the wet ground as two embedded themselves in his neck, and the third hit between them, aiming right onto one of the frozen necklace-links.
Deathbringer let out a cry of victory as he saw it crack, but had little time to celebrate it as the Black Prince’s paw instantly slammed up into the necklace, clutching around it. The white scales suddenly glowed red, smoke rising into the air. When his paw left the necklace, the chainlinks had been melted into a hunk of metal, fuzed together with his scales.
“Once more!” Hemlock yelled out, preparing her frostbreath again. She jumped to the side as two silver chakrams suddenly flew past her, digging into the side of her legs as blue blood dripped into the water below. She winced as she took an unsteady step back, only to see that the chakrams were flying through the air again, reversing their direction as they soared back over her horns, scraping them. “Look out!”
Deathbringer dove down as his own chakrams flung themselves over him, sliding through the water. He rolled to the side and yelled out as one cut along his wing. The chakrams shimmered in the violet light as they flew off the edge of the mountainside, until they were out of view.
Deathbringer rolled back, getting to his paws as Hemlock stumbled back. He quickly whispered the words to activate the healing enchantment, and the wounds on her legs closed up.
Almost immediately, Hemlock leaped at the huge Black Prince’s throat, claws out and ready as she attempted to tear the chain at his neck. His neck whipped around, and he stared for a moment, not even making a motion to move as she soared through the air, fangs bared. Then, a moment before her claws touched, he disappeared.
Hemlock let out a yelp of surprise as she crashed into the ground, sliding across the wet surface before turning around. Deathbringer grabbed another chakram, eyes darting from side to side as he looked around. Where had he gone?
Then, a blue light shimmered from behind Hemlock, and the Black Prince appeared from thin air. The IceWing’s tail whipped, and Hemlock let out a yell as the force flung her across the platform, landing on one of the edges, dangerously close to the cliffside. As she looked up, eyes wide, the Black Prince instantly appeared in front of her, faster than any dragon could move. She screamed as his huge paw wrapped around her head, clenching it tight.
“HEMLOCK!” Deathbringer yelled out, flinging his chakrams at the Black Prince’s front leg, hoping to force him to let go. The Black Prince’s head twisted to the side, and more talons stretched out. Lightning crackled, and shot from his claws towards the chakram, immediately vaporizing them before the bolt slammed into the cavern ceiling.
A crumble sounded from behind Deathbringer, and he whipped his head around to see that part of the entrance cavern’s roof was collapsing, a huge rock falling from it. His eyes went wide as he saw two dragonets, frozen in fear as the rocks were about to fall down on their head. Deathbringer’s legs went into motion before he had a chance to think about it, and he rushed towards the cavern as the rock fell down.
A huge chunk of the cavern roof fell through the air as Deathbringer’s talons grabbed onto the dragonets, pushing them back as hard as he could. They toppled to the ground a tail-length away, falling into another dragon with a clunk. He let out a yell as the rock landed on his backside, bones cracking as it pinned him to the ground. Blood poured from him as he felt his vision grow dark. His talons scrambled around the stone, before finally clutching against the wet scroll he’d dropped. He whispered the activation words as he looked down at his own talon, the pain subsiding as his bones and organs healed themselves.
Then, a nauseating crack sounded through the air. Deathbringer looked back, barely able to see anything with the rock pinning him down. He felt himself get queasy as he saw bits of bone and brain fall from the Black Prince’s talons, enclosed in a fist around what was left of Hemlock’s head. He said the healing words, but it was far too late, and Hemlock didn’t move, her head crushed.
Blue blood and shards of bone still coating his scales, the Black Prince raised his paw, and swiped his tail. The rest of Hemlock’s body slipped off the cliff, Deathbringer staring as it fell from view. He teeth chattered, as he tried to reach for another chakram, his pouch pinned beneath his neck. He couldn’t grieve. Right now, he just had to survive.
“Ha . . .” the Black Prince said. “Ha . . . ha . . .”
As he tried to open the pouch, the Black Prince disappeared. Deathbringer blinked, before a blue light flashed at the entrance to the cavern. The Black Prince reappeared, the twisted head staring down as both eyes swiveled. Deathbringer hadn’t been fast enough. Huge cracked talons wrapped around the boulder, blood and bits of bone smearing across its surface. The Black Prince made something like a grin as he lifted it up as easily as one would a pebble, his other front claws grabbing onto Deathbringer tail. With a twist of his front leg, Deathbringer was thrown across the platform.
Deathbringer rolled over, trying to get back on his claws. He healed himself, before letting out a scream. The Black Prince teleported above him, landing on Deathbringer’s ribcage. As Deathbringer felt his ribs crack under the weight, he used the last of his breath to whisper the words activating the healing. He immediately healed before the Black Prince pressed down again.
“Cindimedybondmicindimedybondmicindimedybondmi,” Deathbringer stared at his talons as he whispered the words over and over again, the constant healing the only thing keeping him alive as the Black Prince crushed him. Golden light streamed down from the monstrous IceWing’s golden eyes, electricity crackling across Deathbringer’s scales.
A quiet laugh filled the air, though Deathbringer could barely listen. Water splashed as Queen Blackice stepped over to Deathbringer, staring down at him with cruel blue eyes. She grinned as she saw his desperation, the words continuously whispered over and over again.
“You really thought you were going to beat me, didn’t you?” Queen Blackice smirked. “You were close, I’ll give you that. You did far better than I thought you were going to do. But you lost. I won. It may have taken two thousand years, but I won the war. Me! I’m the greatest! Two millennia of IceWing queens couldn’t do what I’ve done! I won! I won!”
Queen Blackice squealed in joy, almost dancing as Deathbringer chanted the healing words like a mantra, no room to reply to Blackice’s gloating or even look at her as his lungs were crushed over and over.
“After this, I’m going to kill the rest of the NightWings,” Blackice chuckled, peering over at Deathbringer again, beneath her huge protector. “I could probably have my huge monstrous friend here kill them all in a single blast, but where’s the fun in that? No, no, I need to do it myself.” She frowned for a moment, deep in thought. “Ooh, but you had a dragonet with that RainWing queen, didn’t you? So she’s the queen now, isn’t she? But if she’s only half-NightWing, so I only need to half-kill her.”
Tears started to fall from Deathbringer’s eyes, as he kept repeating the words. If he died here, who would stop Blackice? Firefly . . . she had to survive. He couldn’t let Blackice hurt. He felt his breath falter, his words momentarily interrupted by a bloody cough as the Black Prince pressed down harder.
“But which half?” Blackice mused. “I could take off a wing and a leg, but that’s not a half. Barely even a quarter. What if I had her other wing, and the rest of her legs? How about that? You’ve held her. You know how much she weighs. Do you think the her limbs are about half of her?”
Deathbringer let out a whimper as the Black Prince pressed down. For just a moment, he glanced to the side, but was unable to meet Blackice’s eyes. Blood started to drip from his mouth as he was crushed, his voice just a whimper as he quickly turned back to keep healing himself.
Blackice giggled. “She’s so little though. It wouldn’t take long, would it? I would just have to snap, snap, snap.” She raised her claws up, making motions with them. “I would keep you around to watch, but I’ve gotten tired of you. You’re too much of a pesk. Hey, maybe I’ll keep your head around! You and your mate can watch as I do it! How about that?”
Blackice stared down at Deathbringer, eyes wide open in a grin, before something caught her attention out of the corner of her gaze. She turned around, seeing Alchemy’s eyes wide open, staring at her. She frowned as she saw both his wings tucked against his side, his claws shaking as water ran over them.
“Hey, how’d you get your wings back?” Blackice asked, confused. She frowned, seeing that the leg she’d frozen off had come back, along with his horns and talons.
Alchemy took a cautious step back. The NightWing stumbled, one of his hind paws unintentionally slipping over the edge of the platform, the chain around it pulling him back. Blackice’s expression suddenly changed, a hint of fear in it. She quickly quenched it, baring her fangs.
“Come back here, Alchemy,” Blackice hissed. “You’re mine. If you don’t come back to me right now, I’ll hurt you worse than I’ve ever done before. You know I can do it, don’t you? Remember all the times I’ve hurt you, and how you’ve never been able to hurt me back? Come back, right now.”
Alchemy shuddered, his breath speeding up. The NightWing looked down at his paws for a second, almost surprised at the talons still there. Then, he shook his head and tucked in his wings, and stepped back over the cliff.
Blackice’s eyes went as wide as the full moons, and she let out a scream as she saw Alchemy’s body disappear over the edge of the cliff, the chain on it going taut. She looked back at Deathbringer, barely a moment to say anything as Alchemy’s falling weight pulled her away. Deathbringer dug his claws into the Black Prince’s neck, grasping onto the necklace in an attempt to hold him long enough as Blackice screamed out. Her single front paw tried to grab onto the slick stone, but wasn’t enough as the rain washed her grasp away, screeching as Alchemy’s weight tore her from the side of the cliff.
Blackice’s screams filled the air as she swung out her wing, unable to generate enough lift with it as Alchemy’s weight pulled her through the air. “NO!” she screamed at him, as the NightWing plummeted towards the trees beneath, his wings stiff against his side. “FLY!”
A final shrill scream of terror rose up the mountainside as Alchemy slammed into the bottom of the cliff. The NightWing’s eyes stared up as his torturer as the vials around him shattered from the hit, the liquid in them instantly igniting as they touched air.
“STOP!” Blackice squealed as fire engulfed Alchemy, the ground filled with it as it rose up towards the falling IceWing. “I ORDER IT! BUT I WON!”
The roar of wind and flames filled the sky, as a column of fire rose up from the edge of the cliff, reaching the clouds. Deathbringer turned his head away as it blinded him, the heat licking his scales as the edge of the cliff crumbled. He looked back to see the platform falling, the mountainside brought down upon Queen Blackice, burying her and Alchemy beneath the rubble from the explosion.
Deathbringer turned as the weight left his chest. The amulet around the Black Prince’s neck had turned copper, and the IceWing had shrunk to his normal size, before falling off Deathbringer. Wounds around his neck turned blue as he succumbed to his fatal wounds in a puddle of blood, washed over the edge of the cliff.
Deathbringer pushed the weight of his body off him. His talons shook as he stared up into the sky, a cloud of smoke billowing up into the fading storm. The dark sun had disappeared, and a ray of true sunshine hit Deathbringer’s eyes. The ex-assassin stared into the distance, still shaking as the Claws of the Clouds rose up before him, the mist dispersing. He shuddered as a cry of victory sounded from the battlefield, and the dragonets behind him looked around and whispered in confusion, wondering what had happened.
Deathbringer let out a sigh as he stepped over to the edge of the cliff. Tears ran down his scales like rain as he pictured Firefly in his mind’s eye, and he granted himself a smile. 
Finally, it was over.
== Chapter 39 ==
Dark, barren land stretched out to the horizon on all sides, jagged hills like fangs. Midnight stared straight ahead as a column of black clouds billowed up as tall as mountain, lightning crackling beneath them. Smoke, or rain? She wasn’t sure. But it was foreboding, especially if that was where the Mausoleum was. In another world, that was where Midnight’s brother had died.
Midnight glanced to the side, Tiger flying out behind her. The three dragonets were doing a good job at keeping up with the adults, especially for not having flown much for a while. Maybe because in some sense, this journey was even more urgent for them. If Tiger was at all scared, the RainWing didn’t show it on her scales, kept at their base orange and black colors.
Tiger’s head turned as she saw Midnight looking at her. She tilted her head to the side, unsure if Midnight wanted something from her or not.
“Er, Tiger,” Midnight spoke, slightly uncomfortable. But if this plan failed, who knew if she’d have another chance to ask about this. The deepest black. With three moons, midnight was never that dark, at least not for another forty years. “You knew Ink, didn’t you? Was he . . . well?”
“Well?” Tiger asked, unsure what Midnight meant about the question. “I don’t think so. He’s dead.”
Midnight winced. “Er, not like that. Was he happy? Was he nice? What was he like?”
Tiger blinked. That was a large question. “I only knew him for maybe a week,” she answered. “And a lot of that time was spent not around the winglet.”
“Oh,” Midnight replied awkwardly, “sorry.”
Tiger shook her head. “I can try and tell you,” she continued, thinking for a moment. “He was friendly. He came in and played Queens and Generals with our winglet, then introduced us to a SkyWing named Inferno. I wasn’t really sure how they knew each other — I think they were both part of the Talons of Peace? They both shadowed our Winglet, trying to decide if they wanted to enroll in the academy or not. We didn’t know him long, but everyone he met seemed to like him. Even Polar warmed up to him.”
“So he wasn’t . . . evil?” Midnight asked warily. “He didn’t secretly plot to kill anyone?”
“I don’t think so,” Tiger said, taken slightly by surprise. “He seemed courageous. I think he knew he was going to die.”
“I guess I’m slightly relieved,” Midnight said with a sigh. “About the not evil part. Both me and my father had no idea what happened to his egg after Griffin took it. Since we never heard about him after that, we assumed that Crystal and Aurora caught up and killed them both. Torrent thought it was . . . better than the other option, them taking the egg alive and turning Ink evil like Aurora. But I guess they escaped.”
Tiger shook her head. “Ink and Aurora sounded nothing alike.”
“You met her?” Midnight asked, slightly distressed at the notion.
“I didn’t meet her, but she visited Jade Mountain,” Tiger explained. “She almost caused an earthquake. Ink fought with her, but it didn’t go well. He got injured pretty badly. Toxin said that they met her again by the Mausoleum, but she just left instead of stopping them.”
“Hmm,” Midnight frowned, suspicious. “She just left?”
Tiger nodded. “Your dad said she went to the Sky Kingdom after that.”
“The Sky Kingdom,” Midnight snorted, suspicious. “She can’t be doing anything good there.”
Tiger thought about it for a moment. “Hey,” she realized. “That’s where the Empress is taking her army. They were going to attack Queen Scarlet.”
“The Empress?” Midnight shivered. “That’s not good. An alliance between her and Aurora sounds bad. Two of the evilest most powerful dragons joining up? I hope they don’t end up meeting.”
“It won’t matter if we find the Wishstone first,” Tiger suggested. “That’s the goal. If we get it, we can use it to stop the Empress.”
“Yeah,” Midnight smiled. “Good plan.” Of course, that depends on us finding a way back to Pyrrhia first. She let out a sigh. If only she had her magic right now. “Thanks for telling me about Ink. Sorry for bothering you with this.”
Tiger shook her head. “No, it’s fine. It’s nice to talk to someone else for a change.”
Midnight looked up. The clouds above them were looming like a huge wall, lightning storming through the sky. Beneath them, darkness shrouded the hills where the mausoleum was held. For a moment, Midnight thought that she saw snow lining the ground, but the grey flakes landed on her dark scales, without a hint of cold or water in them. This was ash, not snow. It was like the world itself was broken.
Skytaker gave a nervous glance back, frowning. They hadn’t been raised with horrific stories of the Darkstalker, but they’d learned enough about him at Jade Mountain that they really didn’t like how the black dragon had been watching them this entire flight, a greedy curiosity in his eyes. Skytaker warily kept their eyes on him as he moved closer.
“You don’t have to be afraid of me, you know,” Darkstalker smiled.
“You say that after reading my mind,” Skytaker retorted. “Are you trying to get me on your side or something?”
Darkstalker shook his head. “Aren’t we already on the same side?”
Skytaker frowned, and Darkstalker let out a sigh as he read the SkyWing-NightWing hybrid’s thoughts.
“Alright,” Darkstalker said. “You seem like the one in charge here, so I just figured I should talk to you if I wanted everyone else to hate me less.”
“Flattery won’t work,” Skytaker stated.
“I’m not,” Darkstalker assured them. A puzzled expression came over his snout as he squinted, examining Skytaker. “You don’t have NightWing powers, do you?”
“Me?” Skytaker asked, surprised. They snorted. “Doubt it. I don’t even think I was hatched in moonlight. Why do you care?”
“You’re also half-NightWing,” Darkstalker pointed out, “like me. Although, I was really wondering because your thoughts are weird.”
“Weird?” Skytaker frowned.
Darkstalker nodded. “Unusual. I don’t mean to pry, but your thoughts have this odd quality to them. I can’t really put it into words, but they’re some how . . . cleaner? More direct? Your mind is less full than everyone else?”
“Now you’re saying I’m stupid?” Skytaker sighed, rolling their eyes.
“No, no, not that,” Darkstalker smiled. “Exactly the opposite. Your thoughts are clear and more direct. Like there’s more space for you to think.” Darkstalker thought for a moment. Skytaker shivered, like their soul was being stared into. “Your earring?”
Skytaker moved their claws towards it protectively, like they were trying to hide it from Darkstalker. “What about it?”
“Feel free to tell me to go away if you don’t want to talk about it, but it crossed your mind,” Darkstalker explained.
Skytaker sighed, seriously considering the option. “Yeah. I think it’s enchanted.”
“See, that’s interesting!” Darkstalker pointed out. “We’ve learned something already, from talking! If it’s enchanted, then that means that animus magic still works in Antigonia, even if it isn’t Liliana’s. But animuses like Midnight and apparently me just can’t use it here. What do you think that means?”
Skytaker thought about it for a moment. They looked away from Darkstalker, knowing he was invasively listening to their every thought. “I don’t know.”
“Here’s what I think, and I think you agree with me,” Darkstalker grinned. “There’s something that lets dragons use animus magic, but whatever does that, it isn’t here or doesn’t work here. But, whatever causes magic to actually work is still around in Antigonia. There are two separate things, and one of them is missing.”
“I’m not an animus,” Skytaker responded cautiously. “I wouldn’t know.”
Darkstalker nodded. “So, what about your enchantment? Do you know what it does? If you’re not sure, I might be able to help.”
“I know what it does,” Skytaker sighed. “I don’t know where it came from, but it blocks some bad memories.”
“That explains it,” Darkstalker said, gliding a little closer to Skytaker. “Maybe your mind is clear because you don’t have those memories weighing you down. Can I touch it? There’s something I want to check.”
“Touch it?” Skytaker asked, confused. They paused, a little bit concerned. “I guess. Just don’t remove it. I tried taking it off with Tiger once, and it wasn’t fun.”
“I promise,” Darkstalker replied, getting close enough his wings almost touched Skytaker’s. The SkyWing-NightWing hybrid turned their head away as Darkstalker prodded the conch earring with a talon. “Is there something inside?”
“Yeah, that’s where the enchantment is,” Skytaker replied. “What did you check? Did you find anything weird?”
Darkstalker tilted his head back and forth. “Not sure,” he replied. “Something feels familiar, though. Do you think I enchanted it? Other me, I mean?”
Skytaker let out a laugh, and shook their head. “You’ve been dead for two-thousand years.”
Darkstalker shrugged his front legs. “Oh well. I guess not. Well, thank you for letting me touch it.”
“Hey, you don’t get to leave yet,” Skytaker grinned, before Darkstalker flew back. “It’s my turn to ask you weird questions.”
“That’s fair,” Darkstalker answered, nodding his head. “Alright. What do you want to know?”
“So, how come you killed so many IceWings if you’re half-IceWing yourself?” Skytaker interrogated.
Darkstalker smiled. “No clue. I’m not your Darkstalker, remember?” He gave a quick glance back towards Ermine. “I don’t have any particular hatred towards IceWings, if that’s what you’re asking. Here, it’s more RainWings than anything. The Empress, in particular.”
“What are you going to do after we defeat her?” Skytaker asked. “If you’re in charge of the rebellion, does that mean you’re going to become the ruler of Antigonia or something? King?”
“After?” Darkstalker laughed, giving Skytaker a funny look. He shook his head. “To be honest, we’ve been fighting her so long, we’ve almost given up on there being an ‘after.’ Whatever it is, it’s going to be better than now. Being king . . . that’s an interesting thought, but I don’t think the rest of the rebellion would be happy with that. We’ve had enough of empresses and kings.”
“So, you don’t plan to replace her, or anything like that?”
“No,” Darkstalker stated firmly. “Even if I somehow end up in charge afterwards, I wouldn’t ever become like her. I’ll admit, I do have some ideas of my own for what to do with Antigonia, but I just want to make it a better place. A fair place, where no one has to live in constant fear.” He gave Skytaker a glance, reading their mind. “You’re wondering how. Well, there’s the Obscura. Whoever controls it will likely be able to stay in power, for at least a time being. The rebellion has occasionally argued over what to do with it, and there’s a lot who want to destroy it, but I think it would be stupid to throw something as powerful as it away. Even if we win against Liliana, we’ll need that sort of power to keep Antigonia from descending into chaos.” He chuckled. “I wasn’t really expecting to try and formulate political plans today.”
Darkstalker looked over at Skytaker again. The dark clouds were looming closer, the dragons quickly approaching the storm of ash. Darkstalker frowned as he read the hybrid’s mind. “I see you’re already starting to think up emergency plans to take me down if I betray you. I really am hated on Pyrrhia, aren’t I?”
“Oh,” Skytaker winced, feeling a tad guilty. This Darkstalker hadn’t done anything horrible, like the one on Pyrrhia. Maybe it wasn’t fair of them to judge every word Darkstalker said like he was a threat. They were probably reading too much into this, too wary of this Darkstalker having power. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Darkstalker grinned. “It’s what I would’ve done. And you’re right. I really will be a threat, when we get to Pyrrhia.” He raised his talons up, staring at their tips. “I’ll be an animus. But it sounds like as long as I’m in Pyrrhia, everyone there won’t be able to look past what other me did, or what legends say other me did. Maybe I’ll have to enchant everyone to like me, or something.”
Skytaker stared at Darkstalker with an expression of shock, and started to open their mouth to say something, before Darkstalker interrupted.
“Don’t worry, it’s a joke,” Darkstalker assured them. “Animus magic turns you evil, right? Well, I’ll just have to be careful.”
Skytaker turned back, and the six headed into the billowing clouds, smoke and ash entering their lungs. Skytaker let out a cough as they felt it, holding their breath. Darkness clouded their gaze, stinging their eyes.
“Follow my voice!” Ecru yelled out, the MudWing-SandWing hybrid invisible in cloud. “Head down!”
Ermine let out a yelp as lightning cracked through the cloud, lightning up behind his eyelids. He whimpered as he dove, the other dragons diving along with him. For a moment, he started to get dizzy, as the noxious fumes filled his lungs, stealing the oxygen from them. A dry scorching heat hotter than the desert sun crept between his scales, ash coating them.
Then, the six burst through the bottom of the cloud. Ecru opened her eyes, then let out a screech as she saw the ground heading quickly towards her.
“Up! Up!” She lifted her wings, the winds suddenly calm, flapping them as she kept herself from crashing. Finally, she curved around mid-flight, and ungracefully fell into the ground, a huge flat field of white between two valley walls. Ash leaped up around her in a puff, and she coughed as it covered her scales.
As the other five landed, Ecru raised her eyes to the sky. Only a dim glimmer of sunlight reached the ground through the clouds of ash, illuminating the area in a hazy glow. The dark clouds surrounded the group in every direction to no end. They had landed in a small hidden pocket of air, air-borne ash flowing over the surface of an invisible sphere, tossing and turning as lightning flashed every few seconds.
Ecru got to her paws, letting out a puff of breath to get the ash off her snout. Straight ahead, exactly where she’d expected it, a small structure stood, white flakes reaching up its walls. Ecru walked closer, closing her eyes as its presence made itself known to her. Seven pillars surrounded the front of the building in a semicircle, though there didn’t appear to be any stone dragons on top of them, no queens decorating them. Even so, this was definitely the Mausoleum of Queen Frost.
When Ecru opened her eyes again, she had walked up to the doors of the Mausoleum. A thin sheet of ice covered it, a faint tingle running along her scales as she pressed her paw against it. Not cold, but warm. She looked up, reading the two names above the doors. Two names? she wondered. Not four? She was well-acquainted with the old script, and read them quickly. Frost was one, of course. The second IceWing queen, the Mausoleum’s namesake. But the second . . . she squinted as she read it.
Ash.
Ecru raised her talons, the white substance running through it. Not snow, but ash. She took a step back. A different world, with a different history. What had happened here? She stared at the scenes carved into the door. An IceWing and a SkyWing killed another SkyWing wreathed in flame. The SkyWing tore something out from a MudWing’s chest, and ate it. The SkyWing killed the IceWing. Then . . .
Ecru stared at the final scene for a moment, shivering even in the warmth of the ash. She pressed her claws against the fourth scene, trying to make sense of it. The SkyWing was there again. A circle had been carved in the metal beneath the ice, drawn around the SkyWing like a sphere. Tendrils seemed to rise up from the ground around the sphere, clutching onto it, like they were trying to break through. Ecru frowned. She could tell that something important was going on here, but she couldn’t tell what. Some sort of ritual?
“So this is where you were going. I assume you’re not just sightseeing?”
Ecru whipped her head around as she heard the voice, her attention drawn away from the carved scene. The other five got closer together, and Ecru saw Midnight bare her fangs, staring down the valley. Clawsteps had appeared in the ash, where the unfortunately familiar voice had come from.
Emerald scales became visible amidst the ash, General Glory frowning at the six escapees. She flicked her tail, four more RainWings appearing in a line across the valley floor. Apparently, their escape hadn’t been as clean as they’d thought.
“How did you get here so fast?” Midnight growled. Glory wasn’t supposed to have checked the Obscura for at least a while after their escape. She shouldn’t have been able to get here so quickly.
“We trailed behind you the whole time,” Glory sighed, tsking. “Deathbringer and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what your next escape plan would be, and honestly? We were expecting a lot more finesse than just whacking our guards until you got through. You didn’t even make this interesting.”
“It was my plan,” Darkstalker boldly claimed, the NightWing-IceWing hybrid stepping forward, in front of the group. Skytaker opened their mouth, about to protest, before Darkstalker gave them a warning glance. “Tell you what, Glory? I’m the leader of the rebellion. How about we settle this, just us. One-on-one fight? Get revenge on me for brutalizing your mate?”
“I’m not stupid,” Glory snorted. “The others will just escape while we’re fighting.” She flicked her tail, and the RainWings behind her stepped forward. “Take them alive.”
Midnight bared her teeth, carefully watching the RainWings movements as they walked through the ash. “Ecru, get the dragonets inside. Darkstalker, what’s their plan?”
“Frontal attack,” Darkstalker replied as he read their minds. “You take the two on the left, I’ll take the ones on the right.” He moved up next to Midnight, crouching as he kept his gaze focused on the RainWings in front of him, slowly approaching.
With a quick growl, the two RainWings in front of Darkstalker leaped. One came down, talons out, almost scratching the hybrid’s side as he narrowly dodged, ramming himself into the other one, knocking her down. As he dug his claws into her neck, the other RainWing pounced on his tail, forcing him to jump away, only getting a narrow scratch on the one he’d pinned down.
Midnight stayed still as the two RainWings tried to circle around her. She stretched her wings, glaring. She wouldn’t let them pass. As soon as one approached getting past her, she leaped out, biting at her neck and tumbling the RainWing over. The other one darted forward, and Midnight rolled to the side, feeling sharp claws against her scales.
“Midnight!” Ecru squealed out, as she saw her mate injured, blood dripping into ash.
“I’m fine!” Midnight shouted back, throwing the RainWing to the side. She bit out at the other one, grabbing ahold of her then throwing her to the ground.
Ecru looked back towards the two doors, coated in a sheen of ice, running her talon along the thin crack. She pressed against it. They wouldn’t open.
“Tiger?” Ecru asked, turning to the RainWing dragonet. “Do you know how to open them?”
Tiger closed her eyes, trying to remember exactly what Toxin had told her. They’d gotten in, so how could she? She turned around, eyes focusing on Ermine. “IceWing blood.”
“Blood?” Ermine squeaked, staring at Tiger. He looked down at his own scales. “You mean me?”
Tiger nodded. “I don’t know if Darkstalker’s will work, and he’s . . . busy.” She jumped back towards the door as his tail flung out towards her, locked in battle with the two RainWings, trying to protect them. “It has to be yours.”
Ermine squirmed. “W-will I die?”
Ecru grimaced. “I don’t remember hearing tales of IceWings being sacrificed to get into the Mausoleum. Although to be honest, I don’t remember hearing about anyone going inside it at all.”
“You’ll be fine,” Tiger assured Ermine. She hesitated. Was she certain of that? He was pretty small for his age, so not a lot of blood. “Toxin said Polar did it, and he didn’t die until later.”
“Later?” Ecru asked. She glanced back towards the doors, the images imprinting in her mind. Maybe going into the Mausoleum wasn’t such a good idea after all. But what choice did they have?
Ermine whimpered, as he stepped up to the doors, ducking as a RainWing’s claws swiped over him. He looked back to see Midnight, grabbing ahold of the RainWing’s tail and pulling her back, swinging her into one of the RainWings attacking Darkstalker. The two of them were being so brave, protecting the three dragonets they barely even knew. And here, Ermine was just letting them fight for him, while being too cowardly to spill a little of his own blood. He took a deep breath, as he placed his talons against the sheet of ice.
“H-how do I do this?” he asked.
“Cut yourself, and smear the blood on the ice?” Skytaker guessed. “I can do it for you, if you want.”
Ermine shook his head, and poked a talon between his scales. He winced as he tore it into blue flesh, and a drop of blood came out. He brought his claws to the ice, wiping blue between the doors. That hadn’t been so bad.
Ermine suddenly let out a high-pitched wail, even Glory turning in surprise to look at him. Blue blood was spilling from his foreleg, drawn onto the ice. It started to fill up the indentations in it, draining out like it was drawn to the ice. He leaned forward, onto the doors, as it crawled up the outline of the indentations, in two huge rectangles, one around each door.
One of the RainWings that had been fighting Darkstalker suddenly darted past him, trying to tackle Ermine and pull him away. Darkstalker turned, reading his mind and taking the opportunity, jumping onto the RainWing’s back. The RainWing tried to turn, but Darkstalker’s claws were already on his neck, and with a quick snap, he broke it, and the RainWing fell down.
“Got one!” Darkstalker yelled out to Midnight, who was starting to falter. Even with her size advantage, she wouldn’t be able to fight long with two enemies at the same time. “Wanna trade?”
“Fine!” Midnight called back, jumping behind the RainWings as Darkstalker switched with her. She leaped at the other RainWing that Darkstalker had been attacking, mashing claws as she reared up, grabbing ahold of each other’s forepaws. She twisted her tail out, for balance. In a fight of sheer strength she could win.
The RainWing suddenly reached out at Midnight, snapping at her face. Midnight let go, twisting around, and slammed her tail into the RainWing’s jaws, hearing a yelp. She turned back, stepping forward as the RainWing tried to get off the ground.
“Duck!” Darkstalker yelled out at Midnight. Midnight turned to him, ducking, only to see talons leaping over her head, scratching along the top of her snout. She looked up as emerald green scales ran over her, Glory landing on the other side of Midnight.
Ecru stared up at the doors, looking on in amazement as Ermine’s blood began to glow. The ice touching it started to melt like the blood was fire, and water dripped into the ash as lines began to form around the doors and their hinges. Ecru pressed her back up to the huge doors, pressing her paws into the ground as she tried to open them.
“C’mon!” she called out to Skytaker and Tiger, quickly joining her. “Push!”
In a few moments, the three had managed to get the doors open, just wide enough for a dragon to wriggle their way inside. Ecru gestured Tiger and Skytaker in, getting the dragonets inside the Mausoleum, before looking back towards Ermine.
“Ermine!” Ecru shouted, seeing the IceWing laying down, the ash rising up over his head. His eyes were closed, and blue blood had stained the area around him. She took a few steps, about to grab the fainted IceWing, when sharp talons raked into her snout.
Ecru jumped back, putting a paw up to her bleeding snout. She looked back, directly into Glory’s eyes, the emerald RainWing’s sharp fangs bared wide. She took a step back, claws shaking.
“Get away from her!” Midnight hissed, leaping at Glory. She rammed into her, pushing the RainWing towards the Mausoleum. Ecru let a faint smile out, breathing a sigh of relief as Glory turned around, focused on Midnight. Ecru tried to move around Glory, towards Ermine, only for another one of the RainWings to snarl at her. She winced as she took a step back, regretting not learning how to fight.
Suddenly, Ecru felt something push back against her. She turned to see one of the doors, seemingly on its own, gently nudged her scales. Her eyes went wide, and she pushed back against it. “No, no! It’s not time yet!” Ecru squealed. “Midnight! You need to get inside! They’re starting to close!”
Midnight looked over, only to yell out as Glory swiped back at her. She jumped to the side, but Glory didn’t move, standing over Ermine. “We can’t leave Ermine here, alone!” Midnight called back, trying to reach for the IceWing dragonet, only for Glory to attack her again.
“We won’t!” Darkstalker shouted, running over towards Midnight, the two RainWings attacking him following. He snarled as he jumped at Glory, biting at her neck. Too quick for him to respond, she grabbed onto his head, throwing him to the side. He got back up almost instantly, claws stretched out. “Go! I’ll stay with him!”
“What?” Midnight protested. “No! Leaving both you and Ermine here is even worse! We’re all going together!” She turned and dove into the ash as a RainWing jumped at her, talons scraping along her tail, taking off a few scales.
“You need animus magic to stop the Empress, but you don’t need two, right?” Darkstalker asked. He tried to run into Glory, but she leaped onto his back, pulling him onto the ground, clutching at his chest with her claws. “Antigonia is my home, for me to defend! You go to Pyrrhia, and I’ll work things out here!”
“I’m not leaving you both!” Midnight called out.
“Midnight, please!” Ecru pleaded, pushing back against one of the closing doors, Tiger and Skytaker trying to hold the other one open together. It wouldn’t be much longer before there wouldn’t be enough space for Midnight to get through. “They’re closing! We need you!”
Midnight glanced back, claws shaking as she saw Ecru’s expression. Her heart raced. If she left now, she’d be abandoning Darkstalker and Ermine. But if she stayed . . . she wouldn’t have another chance to get back to Pyrrhia, and all would be lost. She gulped as she made her choice, and jumped through the closing doors, pulling her tail through as they squeezed around her. Ecru let out a sigh of relief, almost crying as she let go of the doors, hugging Midnight tight.
One of the RainWings tried to leap through, but it was too late, and the RainWing backed away as the doors started to close around her neck. Midnight turned back, Glory’s eyes glaring with vitriol at the four dragons.
“Promise me you’ll win!” Darkstalker called out at Midnight, grinning as Glory shoved him to the side, and one of the RainWings pinned him down. “Promise me, for both our worlds!”
Midnight tried to force a smile, turning to a grimace as she stared back at Darkstalker. The only other animus she’d ever known. “I promise! I’ll win!” she yelled back. “As long as you promise me that you keep yourself alive, and protect Ermine until then!”
Darkstalker smiled. “Deal!” he yelled out.
Midnight took a step back as one of the RainWings snarled, fangs bared as she tried to push the doors back open. But the two great doors closed, and she disappeared with them. The crack between the doors turned into a line of light, before fading, and the four were drenched in darkness.
== Chapter 40 ==
The dragon and the scavenger stood, facing each other. Trustbreaker stared down at Liliana with huge eyes, as big as each of her fists. She looked back, golden eyes twinkling. An arc of lightning crackled between her bare feet and the ground, snapping as it hit the calm meadow of grass. The Empress’s RainWings and the Talons of Peace surrounded the two in a wide circle. The bolt of electricity reflected in Sapphire’s glimmering eyes as Aurora hold him, still.
“I know why you’re here,” Trustbreaker said, sitting back on his haunches, his head lowered. Even though he was three times the scavenger’s size, and could have snapped her up in a single bite, his pose was deferential, scared, subservient. Another bolt crackled, though the sky was clear. “I’ll surrender myself to you, as long as you leave Pyrrhia.”
Liliana yawned, and sat back, swinging her legs up as she landed on the grass. She crossed her arms, robe flowing with them. “Really?” she asked. “You think you have that much power over me?”
A grim look came over Trustbreaker’s face, and the NightWing stared directly down at the scavenger. “Even if you’ve hidden your mind from me, I know you better than anyone else does. You want me to come with you willingly. Not taken by force.”
“Do I, now?” Liliana echoed, unimpressed. She shook her head. “I’m not going to leave Pyrrhia. I’ve found a world in need, one worse than Antigonia.” She held out a hand, gesturing around the circle of silent dragons at the Talons of Peace. “They tried for twenty years to stop a war between dragons. And just three years later, and three more years have started. Pyrrhia needs me. I’ll be able to make this world a perfect utopia, for humans and dragons alike. You can’t object to that, can you?”
“You’re trying to convince me?” Trustbreaker asked, surprised.
Liliana smiled, and reached a hand up to the NightWing, ready to take a claw in it. Electricity crackled between her fingers. “Did it work?”
Trustbreaker frowned, a concerned look coming over him. He lifted his head up, black scales sparkling with hints of orange in the sunlight. “Liliana,” he replied, hesitantly. “Remember what happened last time.”
“I was young and naïve then,” Liliana said. “Both of us were. We’d seen the world, but not enough of it. But now, I can do it. I know I can.”
“It’s not that!” Trustbreaker huffed, annoyance and pleading mixing in his voice. “You’re playing with others’ lives. Controlling them. I’ve seen it; it’s wrong.”
“What’s wrong is this world,” Liliana sighed. “The needless pain, the endless suffering. I can fix it. Whatever your qualms are, my methods worked back on Antigonia. I’ve grown, Duskwind, and you’re the one I have to take for it. Because you stole the Wishstone, I figured out how to do things without it. I did what your Talons couldn’t. Antigonia has been at peace since you left.”
“Please, Liliana,” Trustbreaker whispered. “This world has problems, yes, but destroying and rebuilding it from scratch doesn’t fix them.”
Liliana frowned, getting back up to her feet. The grass around the area where she’d been sitting had become blackened and charred. “It does,” she said. “It will. I have great ideas, and I’ve had a long time to think about them. I can make it work.”
“I know,” Trustbreaker said, lowering his head. He laid himself down on his underbelly, almost meeting Liliana’s gaze eye-to-eye. The NightWing let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have betrayed you. We should’ve worked together. Things wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
“We still can work together!” Liliana assured him. “It’s not too late.”
Trustbreaker shook his head. “No. Not like this.”
Liliana turned her head away, staring down into the grass. She held out her hand, a beam of sunlight dripping from it. Both her and Trustbreaker remained solemn and quiet for a moment, not a word to say.
“I missed you,” Liliana finally spoke.
Trustbreaker nodded, his voice quiet, yearning for a time long passed. “I know. I missed you too. I wish things could just go back to the way they were.”
Liliana turned her head, taking a step towards the NightWing. She put her hand on his neck, gently running it over his black scales as she stared up into his eyes. “They still can.”
Trustbreaker sighed, looking down at Liliana. Suddenly, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Fire-red scales had appeared at the entrance to the Talons’ caves, a panting Inferno walking out.
Trustbreaker turned to the scavenger, gaze now filled with urgency. He opened his mouth. “Lily—”
Suddenly, Liliana’s hand clenched, grasping around a black scale. Golden light streamed from her eyes, and lightning crackled, travelling from her toes to her fingertips. Trustbreaker’s eyes went wide for a moment as she sent it into his neck, multicolored bolts of electricity bursting from his scales. A loud snap ricocheted across the meadow, and the smell of burning flesh rose up from the NightWing.
“TRUSTBREAKER!” Inferno screamed, running towards the NightWing as Liliana pushed him over, and he flopped limply onto the ground, blood dripping from his mouth. Aurora turned her head, but Inferno was already past her, wings flapping as she half-landed, half-fell by Trustbreaker, the grass around her paws turning to ash.
Inferno stared down at the NightWing beneath her, talons shaking as more blood leaked from his jaws. “No, no,” she whispered, wanting to put her claws around him, to shake and hug the dragon who the closest thing she’d ever had to a father, to hold him close as he died. Tears ran from her eyes, instantly boiling as they hit her scales, rising up in a cloud of mist.
“Don’t worry,” Liliana smiled, taking a step back from Trustbreaker as a bubble of blood burst from his mouth. “When this is all over, I’ll bring you back. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t let you betray me again.”
“Please, don’t!” Inferno cried, turning to the scavenger. “Bring him back! Don’t let him die!” She looked towards Aurora, wanting her to do something.
A golden light shrouded Liliana, and the scavenger let out a deep breath as her figure grew. Her fingers sharpened as they turned into talons, wings forming beneath her robes, covering her as scales formed in her skin. When the light was faded, Liliana had changed back into her RainWing form, the same smile on her face. She stared down at Trustbreaker, shaking her head as if pitying him.
“It’s been twenty years,” Empress Liliana said to the dying NightWing as the light faded from his eyes, smile turning to a frown. “You don’t know me anymore. You think I did all this, just for you?”
The Empress turned towards Inferno, extending her claws. A bolt of lightning shot out from each of them, and Inferno let out a scream as they sailed towards her, closing her eyes. But when the SkyWing opened them, instead of hitting her, the lightning had enclosed around her on all sides, forming cage. Inferno turned her terrified gaze towards Aurora, eyes wide as the cage rose into the sky, the SkyWing floating up with it.
“No, Duskwind,” the Empress laughed, turning the cage, forcing Inferno to look down at her. “I didn’t come for you. I came for the Wishstone.” She tilted her head, greedily staring up into Inferno’s blue eyes. “Hello, Ash. It’s been a while.”
= Part 3 =
== Chapter 41 ==
Skytaker stood as still as the air around them, the winds as dead as the land around the Mausoleum. The hybrid stepped forward, placing a paw up against the two great doors, cold to the touch. A silence crept between the four dragons in the Mausoleum, so quiet Skytaker could hear the pounding of their own heart.
“Ermine,” they whispered, turning their head to rub their horns up against the door, trying to hear whatever was going on outside. Nothing. They looked over towards Tiger, only her outline visible in the darkness. “We can’t just leave him here.”
“Skytaker—” Tiger started to say, knowing the hybrid knew just as well as she did that what they were saying was irrational.
“I promised I’d help him go home!” Skytaker cried out, almost a wail. “I’m the one who convinced you to go into the rainforest in the first place. It’s my fault he’s stuck!”
Tiger sighed, and gently placed her wing around Skytaker, though it offered little relief from the odd chill inside the Mausoleum. “It’s not your fault, and he’s not dead. We’ll go back for him after we save Pyrrhia, okay? But right now, we don’t have time. We need to get away before Glory tries and opens the Mausoleum herself.”
Skytaker’s claws raked the stone surface of the ground. “You mean if she uses Ermine again,” they growled. “You don’t think that—”
Skytaker cut off, unwilling to say the final part. Tiger winced, thinking the same thing. Ermine was small and had already lost so much blood when they opened it the first time. If Glory tried to open the doors with him, this time, it might kill him.
“I don’t think so,” Tiger whispered, glad Skytaker couldn’t see her scale colors in the dark. “She wanted us alive, right? She wouldn’t kill him. She could get another IceWing.”
Skytaker closed their eyes, doubting Tiger’s words. Did Glory really want all of them alive? They hoped so. They let out a sigh. At this point, they couldn’t turn back. “In that case, we need to get out of here, and defeat the Empress as quickly as possible, so we can rescue him.”
Tiger nodded. What else could the four of them do? She turned back towards the Mausoleum, reaching out in the dark until her claws felt scales. “Should we go ahead?”
Skytaker’s feeble night-vision helped them make out the outlines of Ecru and Midnight in the dark, and they stepped over towards the two, hunched over the edge of something. Skytaker peered down, stone’s crumbling beneath their claws. In the center of the Mausoleum, a faint cold wind seemed to emanate from a huge pit in the floor, like the quiet breath of an IceWing. The sloped ran down into the ground, at an angle such that a dragon could carefully climb down. Beyond that, Skytaker couldn’t see, a creeping darkness shrouding their view of beneath.
“What’s wrong?” Skytaker asked, lifting their head up. Midnight and Ecru seemed strangely quiet as they perched over the edge of the pit, staring down into it. “That’s where we need to go, right?”
“Yeah,” Ecru replied, her voice faint. “Down there. Midnight, can you feel it?”
Feel what? Skytaker wondered.
Midnight nodded, her solemn expression starting to turn into a grin. “Yeah!” she answered, her voice suddenly elated. “I think my powers are starting to come back! Maybe I’m able to use magic from here!”
Ecru didn’t seem to share the same excitement as her mate, her wings folding in as she grimaced. “Maybe.”
“It’s really dark,” Tiger observed, not able to see much else. Careful not to fall in, she poked her head down into the hole, and stretched out a claw. A quiet ping sounded as she touched it to the side of the slope, and a red crystal suddenly lit up under her claw. Tiger winced and turned away from the bright flash, casting crimson light over the Mausoleum for a few instants, before fading into darkness again.
“Ecru,” Tiger replied, opening her eyes once more. “Do you really think this will lead us back to our own world?”
“I don’t know,” Ecru admitted. “It’s just a hunch. But if Midnight can feel her powers returning, I think that means we’re getting closer.”
“Hey, you think I can use it from in here?” Midnight suggested. “I could make something that would let us get Ecru back, then teleport us all back to wherever we wanted in Pyrrhia.”
Ecru squirmed uncomfortably, shifting from side to side. “That might not be a good idea.”
“It won’t hurt to try,” Midnight replied. “I enchan—”
Midnight let out a small mmph in surprise as she felt talons around her snout, Ecru forcibly pushing it close. Midnight glared, leaping back and pushing Ecru’s forepaws off her mouth.
“What was that for?” Midnight snarled.
“It would hurt to try,” Ecru said quietly, her eyes focused on Midnight as she grabbed one of Midnight’s front paws. “Remember? Animuses lose their souls when they do magic?”
“Oh,” Midnight replied. She blinked a few times, shaking her head as if to clear smoke around it. “Yeah. You’re right. I guess I forgot about that. You’re not angry, are you?”
Ecru let out a sigh. “I’m not angry, Midnight. Just worried. That’s a weird thing to forget.” She turned her head down towards the pit again, staring into it. “You promised you’d talk with me before doing any magic, remember?”
“Yeah,” Midnight grimaced. “Sorry. But don’t you think it would be useful? We finally have an advantage against the Empress here.”
Ecru didn’t raise her head, still staring down into the pit. “I think-I think we should try and make it through this without using magic. At least until we get back to Pyrrhia. Okay? Just a hunch.”
“Hm,” Midnight frowned. “I guess. If you think that’s what we need to do.” She looked back towards the two dragonets. “Ecru has a good sense for this kind of thing.”
With that, Midnight turned around, placing her front claws on the edge of the pit, lowering herself down until her back claws touched the ground. A flurry of red light glimmered as she passed over the crystals, lighting up the tunnel. Midnight slowly started to walk backwards into the pit, until she was just out of sight from Ecru at the top.
“C’mon!” Midnight called up. “It gets flatter down here!”
Ecru continued to stare as Tiger and Skytaker climbed down into the pit, following along Midnight’s path so they didn’t slip. Once they had gotten down, Ecru stuck a talon into the pit, briefly hesitating.
When Midnight had started to try and make her enchantment, something had caught Ecru’s gaze out of the corner of her eye. Movement, like something had creeped up out of the pit, a dark shadow drawn to Midnight, the crystals turned black beneath it.
Ecru sighed. Maybe she was just nervous. Maybe it had just been a trick of the light.
But other than the crystals, what light was there to trick her eyes?
“You coming?” Midnight yelled back up, her voice faint as it echoed through the tunnel. “C’mon, we don’t know how long it’ll be before Glory manages to get in here!”
Ecru took in a deep breath, and turned around, putting her thoughts behind her as she climbed down into the pit herself, a frigid tingle rising up her tail to her horns.
“Yeah, I’m coming!” Ecru called back as she descended.
The tunnel seemed to burrow down into the ground, winding back and forth like a worm crawling into the mud. Who had built it? Tiger wondered. Or was it natural?
It certainly didn’t feel natural to the RainWing. With every step she made, going deeper into whatever was beneath Antigonia, a chill seemed to run up her scales. Red lights from crystals seemed to taunt her, lighting up as she approached as if to guide her further down. The only experience Tiger could think of that was comparable to this was when she’d gone through the tunnel to the Night Kingdom on her scroll-saving mission. A space that shouldn’t have existed, torn in the very fabric of reality. Where did it come from? Why is there another world, just like Pyrrhia? Could there be more?
Eventually, the tunnel opened up, enlarging into a cavern. Tiger felt the surface beneath her claws change, becoming slick and smooth. She glanced down, expecting to see ice from what Toxin had told her of the Crystal Caverns. Instead, a black glassy surface spread out beneath her talons, covering the walls of the huge cavern. Obsidian appeared in spikes and waves like the stormy surface of a lake, frozen still in volcanic glass.
Tiger almost jumped in the air as she heard a crunching sound from behind her.
“Eww,” Skytaker grimaced from behind Tiger, shaking their paw back and forth. Small fragments of broken bone scattered across the ground. Tiger’s eyes followed one fragment before landing on a dragon skeleton, laying eternally still on the obsidian ground.
It wasn’t the only one. A few more skeletons remained scattered around the cavern. Tiger shivered, and took a deep breath to try and calm herself.
“Huh,” Ecru mused, staring at one of the skeletons as she stepped into the cavern. She prodded a thin wing-bone with her talon. “I wonder which one it is?”
“Which one?” Midnight asked, glancing back.
Ecru nodded. “I’ll bet these were some of the dragons that died in the battle carved on the doors. What do you think, Tiger?”
“Me?” Tiger asked, pushing back the specks of green on her scales. “U-um, I don’t know. Maybe one is Queen Frost?”
Ecru nodded, quickly stepping around Midnight, walking further into the cavern. Tiger watched as the hybrid nimbly stepped onto a bridge of obsidian, jutting out across a huge pit. Tiger cautiously followed, glancing down into the pit. Sharp spikes of black obsidian filled it, and part of a skeleton caught her eyes at the bottom. She shivered again. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Going to the place where Ink and Polar had died, even if it was its Antigonian counterpart.
Halfway across the obsidian plank, it stretched out into some sort of platform. Ecru stopped there, looking left and right at two skeletons. She squinted as she examined them, poking and prodding the bones of horns.
“A MudWing and an IceWing,” Ecru finally decided. “You can tell most easily by their horn and skull shapes. The IceWing is Queen Frost, but who is the MudWing?” She casually picked up the MudWing’s skull, squinting as she looked through the eyeholes. Tiger clenched up her claws, half expecting the skeletons to come alive.
“Mica or Calamity,” Tiger whispered. “Can we keep going, please? Something about this place really unnerves me. I want to be out of here as soon as possible.” She glanced back towards the cavern, Midnight and Skytaker trailing behind them, as red lights danced around the surface.
“Yeah, of course,” Ecru replied. She squinted as she stared at the skull, as if deciding whether or not to keep it. Finally, she placed it down. “So, onwards?”
Tiger nodded, and Ecru continued along the bridge. A gaping hole opened up at the other end, more crystals lining the stone. Toxin had mentioned this to her, that beyond the crystal bridge in Pyrrhia, there was a huge hole, descending deeper into the caverns. But Toxin hadn’t gone into it, meaning that past this point, Tiger had no idea what to expect. Hopefully, this one would lead to the one on Pyrrhia.
Lights fluttered around as Tiger stepped off the bridge, a hazy glow suddenly obscuring her vision. “Ecru?” she called out, rushing forward towards the hybrid’s tail, disappearing in the mist. She grabbed ahold of it, afraid of losing her in the fog.
“I’m still here,” Ecru replied, turning around. “We should stay close together. I don’t want anyone to get lost.”
The two waited a moment for Midnight and Skytaker to catch up, the four huddled together in the mist. All together, they began to walk forward. Red lights seemed to guide their passage, the walls of another tunnel enclosing around them.
“You alright?” Skytaker whispered to Tiger, walking side-by-side with the RainWing.
“Me?” Tiger asked, gulping. “Yes. Of course. Why would you think I’m not alright?”
“Your scales are green,” Skytaker pointed out, poking Tiger on her front shoulder. “That only happens when you’re scared.”
Tiger winced, cursing her scales for giving her emotions away. “Well, we are in a very creepy mist in a tunnel we can barely see. Given that two dragons died the last time someone went into the Pyrrhian version of this place, I’m a bit spooked.”
“Hey,” Skytaker said, looking straight into Tiger’s eyes as they smiled. “It’s fine. I’m scared too. This is kinda scary, right? Maybe we can do something like sing songs to help distract us.”
“I doubt that will work,” Tiger grumbled.
“I’m willing to give it a try,” said a voice from behind them.
Tiger let out a yelp as she looked back, to see Midnight looming behind her. She let out a sigh of relief. Maybe she did need a distraction. “Alright, but I don’t know how to sing. Someone else can.”
“Hey, Midnight?” Ecru interrupted, looking back at her, obscured through the mist. “I just wanted to let you know, I can’t feel Antigonia anymore. I’m sure of it.”
“You mean we’re almost back to Pyrrhia?” Midnight suggested excitedly.
Ecru grimaced. “Well, no. I don’t feel like this is Pyrrhia either. We’re . . . somewhere else.”
“Oh,” Midnight replied, disappointed. “Well, that’s alright. I guess we still need to keep going.” She looked down at Skytaker. “You suggested singing songs, so you get to start.”
“Sure!” Skytaker grinned. They let out a cough to clear their voice, then raised their horns up high, puffing out their chest. “Oh, the dragonets are coming! They’re coming to save the day! They’re coming to fight, for they know what’s right, the dragonets hooray!”
Tiger gritted her teeth as Skytaker repeated the song over and over, the four continuing through the mists, down the tunnel. As Midnight joined them and the song burrowed itself into her head, Tiger shook it, like she was trying to throw it back out. Skytaker was right, singing had distracted her from the looming mists, but at what cost?
After the two sang that cursed song at least twice as many times as Tiger had claws, Ecru finally came to a stop, and raised a claw to silence the two. Tiger let a groan, cradling her ears in her talons. She wouldn’t have been surprised if her scales had turned white at that.
“Is that the only song anyone in Pyrrhia knows?” Tiger asked Skytaker.
“I know a few more!” Skytaker snorted back.
“Quiet!” Ecru pleaded. “I’m trying to figure something out.”
As the other three approached Ecru, they realized her dilemma. The path had split in two, and Ecru stood at the fork in the tunnel. They needed to choose which way to go.
Ecru squinted, hard in thought. Tiger saw the hybrid place her talons along the two paths, as if she was trying to feel the stone to figure out which path would lead them home.
“Nope,” Ecru finally said. “No idea. I can’t feel Pyrrhia in either direction.”
“So we don’t know which way to go?” Skytaker asked. “Great.”
Tiger glanced back at the path behind them, slowly snaking upwards in the mist. “We could leave a marker behind, and go back if one of them leads us in the wrong direction.”
Ecru thought about this for a moment, before shaking her head. “Good idea, but I’m not sure it’ll work.” She pointed a talon up at the path they’d come from. “Look, it’s circling down and to the right. We just went down.”
“You’re saying the path changed while we weren’t looking?” Tiger asked in surprise. “It went down, but now it’s going the other way?”
Ecru nodded, and Tiger sighed. It looked like this place wasn’t so straightforward as she’d hoped.
The RainWing dragonet stepped out into one of the two tunnels, then the other, holding her talons out, as if to sense what Ecru had been feeling. She put a forepaw in each one, then switched them back and forth while the other three stared at her, wondering what she was trying to do.
“This one is warmer,” Tiger observed, pointing a talon at the tunnel to her right. “Maybe it’s closer to the surface. I think we should go that way.”
“It goes down,” Midnight pointed out, poking her head in the tunnel.
“The other one changed directions, so I doubt that matters,” Tiger replied. “I don’t think space works the same way in the caverns as it does normally.”
Midnight shrugged her wings, glancing towards Ecru for advice. She found none. “Don’t see any better options. To the right it is!”
The four started to descend down the passage to the right, Tiger leading the way this time. By now, her fear had gone, replaced with boredom and annoyance at the repeated verses of the Dragonets are Coming. “I wonder if time works weirdly here too.”
“It certainly feels like we’ve been walking for days,” Skytaker grumbled. “What I wouldn’t give for some fresh air.”
Midnight grinned. “Well, we could always . . . sing another song!”
Tiger let out a groan. “Please, no more Dragonets are Coming.”
“Don’t worry, I know more,” Midnight assured her. “A hundred dragons chained in Queen Scarlet’s arena, nervously waiting their turn! One falls down, goes splat on the ground, now there are ninety-nine! Ninety-nine dragons chained in Queen Scarlet’s arena, nervously waiting their turn! One falls down, goes splat on the ground, now there are ninety-eight! Ninety-eight dragons chaine—”
Tiger bared her fangs, glaring at Midnight. “Don’t make me use my venom.”
Midnight rolled her eyes. “Hey, if you want to walk through the creepy mist in silence, fine by me. Just trying to lighten the mood!”
“You did a very good job, sweetie,” Ecru smiled.
As the four descended further into the tunnel, Tiger felt the strange chill disappear from her scales, replaced by a blistering heat. Were they getting closer? She hoped so. Maybe warm weather had blown up to the southern Ice Kingdom from the desert. Tiger turned the next bend, before suddenly letting out a yelp and jumping back, spreading out her wings and whacking Midnight in the snout.
“Hey!” Midnight snorted. “What was that for?”
“Look!” Tiger suggested.
Midnight poked her head around the turn, and frowned. The dim light seemed to become bright, and the tunnel dropped off further, an orange glow masking the red of the crystals. Heat burned against Midnight’s face as she peered down. The tunnel ran down a bit further, before being completely filled with orange magma.
“Well, guess this is a dead end,” Midnight sighed. “Great. Now we have to go all the way back up.”
Skytaker crept beneath Midnight’s wing, taking a look for themself at the magma. They squinted, staring at the black crusted surface, orange cracks scuttling across it. A small bubble rose up, popping beneath them.
“Hey,” they gulped, looking over at the side of the cavern, noticing that the magma was slowly inching up the tunnel walls. “I think it’s rising.”
Midnight frowned, noticing herself that Skytaker was right. “Well, it looks like it’s doing it pretty slowl—”
Midnight let out a yelp as the ground beneath her suddenly started to rumble. She took a quick step back as it shook, pebbles starting to jitter up and down beneath her claws. She looked back towards the magma as a rock fell into it, and it suddenly splashed onto the side of the tunnel. Skytaker leapt back just in time, narrowly missing it.
“Maybe we should leave!” Ecru yelled out, backing up the shaking tunnel. Her scales seemed to jump as she looked back, seeing that the magma was starting to rise up the tube, far more quickly than just a moment ago.
“Don’t need to tell me twice!” Midnight responded, already on her way back.
“Run!” Skytaker squealed. Behind them, the magma splashed up, as if it was trying to reach out for the four dragons. Pebbles rolled beneath their claws as they scrambled after Midnight, magma rising.
Tiger’s heart started to pump as she climbed back up the tunnel. Didn’t it seem less steep on the way down? Magma suddenly sloshed as the cave seemed to lurch to the side, splashing against the wall. Tiger went up, more rubble falling as the four ran up the tunnel, heat pressing against their scales.
The tunnel seemed to twist away from them as they tried to escape it, turning and steepening at every move, as it shook. Green fear covered Tiger’s scales as she felt the warmth of the magma right behind her, leaping up to get away from it. Red lights seemed to flash on and off, pulsing angrily. Was the tunnel trying to kill them?
Suddenly, Tiger felt the ground slip beneath her talons. She let out a yell as rocks rolled down beneath her, and she fell flat on her underbelly. She clambered to get up, only feeling more of the ground give way beneath her. She looked back, breath quickened, to see the magma rising up after her, splashing and sloshing around the tunnel as it climbed up, ready to engulf her.
“Tiger!” Midnight squealed, turning back as she saw the RainWing fall. Her eyes went wide as she saw the orange glow appear, the magma about to eat the RainWing dragonet. She stared. What could she do? She felt her mind go numb as a quiet hum seemed to break through her skull, a static buzz filling it. She opened her mouth as an enchantment seemed to come to her mind, something that would stop the magma and save Tiger.
Midnight suddenly felt herself shoved to the side, Ecru running down past her. Ecru scooped her neck down as the tunnel around rumbled angrily. She bit onto the RainWing dragonet’s scruff, scales cracking as she grabbed ahold of Tiger, pulling her out from the cracked and slippery ground. With a leap, Ecru spread out her wings, using them to propel her back up the tunnel, a wide-eyed Tiger hanging from her jaws, tail curled up. Magma splashed up, Ecru letting out a shrill scream as droplets splattered against her out-stretched tail, burning scale and flesh.
Ecru threw Tiger back onto the solid ground, wincing as she tucked in her tail. Tiger and Ecru immediately went running, no time for them to deal with the burn as the magma kept rising. Midnight let out a sigh of relief, clambering up behind them.
Midnight didn’t look back until the four had reached the fork in the tunnel, panting and out of breath. Her heart raced as she glanced behind her. The heat had faded, and the orange glow was once again only red. There was no more hint of rising magma.
Skytaker collapsed on the ground, as Midnight turned towards Ecru, wincing as she saw her tail.
“Are you alright?” Midnight asked, examining the burns.
Ecru nodded, looking back at them herself. “Just small ones,” she smiled. “Nothing to worry about. We can keep going; I’ll be fine.”
“That’s good,” Midnight said in relief, letting out an exhausted breath. She turned back at the passage again, just to make sure the magma hadn’t followed them. Still, nothing. She looked back at the two tunnels leading away from the fork. “So, should we go down the other one, then? I wanna get out of here before the lava catches up to us.”
“Magma,” Tiger quietly corrected. She frowned as she scanned around the fork in the tunnels. “It doesn’t look like the intersection we were at before. Do you think it’s the same one?”
“Huh?” Skytaker asked. “You think it changed?”
Tiger nodded. “We saw it before. I wonder if the intersections between tunnels move around and split, or it’s just the distances and angles between them that change.”
Skytaker considered this for a moment. “I think we should assume the intersections stay the same. Otherwise, there’s not really much point in trying to find our way around. Let’s go down the one to the left this time,” they replied, pointing to the tunnel they thought they hadn’t gone down yet. “It’s cooler, so maybe no magma.”
Tiger peered into the tunnel. “It goes downwards,” she frowned. “What if the magma rises up to the fork? Then we won’t be able to get back out.”
“The other one is also going down now,” Midnight pointed out. “So there’s not much we can do about that. But if we want to figure the way out, I could try using my magic.”
“Don’t use it for this,” Ecru grimaced, shifting uncomfortably. “We still have this tunnel, and it could lead out.”
“Or it could lead us to another death-trap,” Midnight grumbled. This would all be so much easier if Ecru would just let her enchant something.
“C’mon,” Skytaker said, already walking down the tunnel. “We should go.”
The colors of the crystals seemed to change as they walked down this path, a gradient ranging from red to violet as they went further and further along the tunnel. Tiger flitted her wings as they walked, the gemstones blinking at her touch. The color-change had to be a good thing, right? That meant they were going somewhere.
The air seemed to stiffen up as they walked, the scents becoming stale and dusty, like a decrypt library. Tiger felt a shiver run along her spine. At least it wasn’t warm, like the other tunnel. The RainWing’s claws ached as she kept her pace in tune with the others, the tunnel long and monotonous, seeming like it would never end.
But eventually, it did. The tunnel opened up into a huge cavern, the stone walkway turning into a bridge of crystalline glass. Tiger carefully looked down and back behind her as she began to cross it. Like a clear reflection of the cavern they’d seen beneath Antigonia, glittering spikes rose up from down beneath the bridge, sharp and glistening.
“This one isn’t obsidian,” Tiger pointed out, trying to remember the details of what Toxin had told her about the interior of the Mausoleum. “Maybe we’re getting close to home. Our own world.”
“Maybe,” Ecru replied, bending her head down to sniff the bridge beneath her paws. “I’m not sure. It feels closer than Antigonia did.”
“So Pyrrhia might be just up the tunnel!” Skytaker grinned, fangs glistening. “It feels like it’s been forever.”
“Mhm,” Tiger said, as the four crossed the bridge into a cavern with glassy crystal across its walls like ice. The RainWing’s own reflection peered back at her as she stared, goading her own.
Tiger frowned. If they were really in their own world, what had happened to Crystal, and Ink, and Polar? There were no stone corpses or bones to be seen, and Toxin had said no one had been willing to go back into the Mausoleum to remove them. Shouldn’t they be here, too?
The four slowly walked around slabs and spikes of crystal, reaching from the roof of the cavern to the floor. Soon, it began to contract, once more forming a tunnel, this time, leading clearly up. Hopefully, back to the surface. Another chill ran across Tiger’s scales as she began to climb the tunnel. What was it? The temperature? Her own fear? A premonition of things to come? No, unlike Toxin, she had no NightWing blood inside of her.
The group let out a collective sigh of relief as they climbed up into firm ground, their own world’s version of the interior of the Mausoleum. Tiger glanced over to the left as the outline of something rectangular pierced her vision, a faint light the color of a winter sky illuminating her view. Her claws ran across smooth ice, and she let out a yelp as she saw cold black eyes staring back at her from within.
“What is it?” Skytaker asked, turning their head to peer over Tiger’s wings. “Oh, cool!” The hybrid snuck up closer to the coffin of ice, examining the preserved body of Queen Frost within. White scales glistened as they moved their head, though Queen Frost made no movements, dead long ago.
Tiger let out a sigh of relief, even as she cautiously glanced over to the coffin. This day, or whatever length of time they’d been down there, had already been weird enough. She didn’t want to be caught unaware by an ancient queen suddenly returning from the dead. Still, Toxin had mentioned Queen Frost’s final resting place in her account of the Mausoleum. It being here was a good sign.
“Huh, that’s weird,” Ecru tsked, swishing her tail as she moved her claws up to the doors of the Mausoleum. Tiger turned away from Frost, immediately seeing what Ecru was talking about. The SandWing-MudWing hybrid’s talons ran along a cracked line in the ice and stone, crumbling as she touched it. The line straddled back and forth as it climbed up the two huge doors, like an earthquake had damaged the structure. Toxin hadn’t mentioned that, though Tiger wondered why she would. It was an ancient building, of course there was some damage. That was only natural.
“Well, I’m glad to be back,” Midnight grinned, lifting her forepaws up and pushing into the two doors. For a moment, they didn’t budge, and Tiger was afraid that they’d been trapped within. Then . . .
CRACK
Midnight let out a squeal as one of the doors gave way, sending her hurtling forward as stone and ice crashed down, rubble sent up through the cold air in a burst. Tiger coughed as the tiny particulates of dust entered her snout.
“Midnight!” Ecru yelled, leaping forward into the cloud. “Midnight, are you alright?”
Another cough echoed through the Mausoleum, and Tiger heard a stone roll down. Midnight carefully got back to her paws, her shadow visible in the cloud of dust.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Midnight grimaced, pebbles rolling off her scales. “A little dirty, that’s all. Remind me again, how did this thing stay up for five-thousand years?”
“Magic, I thought,” Skytaker pointed out. “Hmm, you probably shouldn’t have done that.”
“I didn’t think it was gonna fall,” Midnight snapped back. “Well, maybe once we’ve stopped the Empress, we can hire a repair team. C’mon, let’s go. I’m ready to stretch out my wings and get some good old Pyrrhian air beneath them.”
Midnight stepped out of the Mausoleum, the pale light from inside the Mausoleum glinting off her wings as they reached from side to side. Tiger squinted as she walked forward, fainter and fainter as the Mauseolum’s glow faded and she went into the night.
“It’s dark,” Skytaker grumbled as they followed Ecru, Tiger behind them. “I guess none of the moons are up yet.”
“Yeah,” Tiger replied in agreement, looking around the Mausoleum. Though the ground was cold, she wasn’t stepping into any of the snow she’d expected around the Mausoleum. Beyond the seven pillars in a semi-circle around the entrance, the glow faded, and she couldn’t even see the walls of the valley around the structure. A half-broken body of a MudWing statue stared up at her, fallen down from her perch. Tiger glanced up to see where it had fallen down from, only for her blood to run cold, her scales turning a barely visible pale green as she saw the sky. Her claws started to shake, the feeling of dread quickly returning. Her voice came out in a whisper. “N-nor the stars . . .”
“What do you mean?” Skytaker snorted. “There are always stars.” They looked up at the night sky, only to see exactly what Tiger had described. Where the sky after dusk would normally be dotted with wide swathes of light from the stars, moons, and galaxies, here it was . . . empty. Just a plain black, like someone had spilt ink over the heavens, drowning the world out in darkness.
Tiger almost jumped as she heard a crunch from in front of her. Midnight had stepped out from beyond the circle of pillars, her paw landing on something. Tiger’s eyes focused as Midnight picked it up, a white cylindrical shape cracked where she’d stepped on it.
“It’s a bone,” Midnight gulped, holding it out behind her to see it better in the light of the Mausoleum. Her tail whipped around her, and she shivered as she felt the smooth porous texture of more bones run across her scales, rolling across each other.
“A dragon’s wing bone,” Ecru unhelpfully added. “Maybe . . . maybe there was a battle here recently? With Queen Blackice?”
Midnight shook her head, her stretched out wings drooping with her expression. “I don’t think so,” she replied, her exhale like a long, quiet, sigh. “I th-I think we were too late. The Empress. She must have gotten the Wishstone. And thi-this is what’s left of Pyrrhia.”
A long silence ensued between the four, as they reflected on Midnight’s words. Tiger stared, shaking. The Empress had destroyed Pyrrhia. Everyone Tiger had ever known, back at the rainforest, at Jade Mountain. All were dead, just bones beneath a starless sky. Other than these three, every dragon Tiger had met, every one that Tiger hadn’t met, was gone forever. Four dragons was all that remained of their entire world.
Tiger began to cry. Skytaker placed a wing around her as tears ran down her scales, the RainWing as blue as the sea. The sea. Was there even an ocean, now? Were there still fish, or was her world now just shadows and bones? Was the rainforest just ash and dust? If Tiger dug through the bones long enough, would she find dragons she knew? Toxin? Sepia? Both had to be dead, by now. Through her blurred vision, Midnight and Ecru held each other. They were the last dragons on Pyrrhia.
A warmth spread up against Tiger’s scales, curing her momentarily of the cold, the external chill at least. She looked to see a column of flame rising up from Skytaker’s mouth, into the sky like a beacon. Her eyes followed it into the sky, illuminating a perfectly jagged shape like a building, above the horizon. A building, that far up?
“Skytaker, do that again,” Tiger asked, wiping tears from her snout. “Point away from the Mausoleum.
“A-alright,” Skytaker glumly responded, unsure how that would help. They opened their jaws, more flame brushing over the wingtips of one of the statues. Tiger followed it, able to see for an instant into the darkness beyond the Mausoleum. Bones of dragons scattered across dead, cracked ground, but there was more. A strange black stone lined a path away from the Mausoleum, and Tiger saw a glimpse of oddly uniform structures, rising into the sky many times the height of a dragon like giant rectangles. Ecru and Midnight followed her gaze.
“It’s a city,” Tiger said. “Those buildings definitely aren’t natural. But it’s huge. It’s not Possibility, is it?”
Ecru shook her head. “There hasn’t been a city near the Mausoleum in many thousands of years,” she said. “And I’ve never heard of anything this . . . tall. Even the greatest of palaces don’t begin to compare.”
A small smile spread over Tiger’s snout as her tears stopped to drip. “There’s nothing like it on Pyrrhia. Which means . . .”
“We’re not on Pyrrhia!” Skytaker finished gleefully. “This isn’t Pyrrhia! It’s somewhere else!”
“That’s why we didn’t see any stone corpses on the way up,” Tiger grinned. “We’re in a different world.”
“Which means we’re back where we started,” Midnight sighed, pessimistically. She shook her head from side to side, scratching at her ear as if a bug had been caught within it. “Somewhere else that’s not Pyrrhia.”
“Better than Pyrrhia being destroyed,” Ecru smiled, prodding Midnight with her snout. She stepped out into the black stone path leading towards the city, brushing away a femur. “So there’s not just two worlds, but three.” She frowned. “Makes me wonder what happened to this one.”
“Whatever happened, I think it happened long ago,” Tiger replied, taking a deep breath as she tried to regain her normal composure. “The Mausoleum being so cracked proves that. Maybe there was a war, or a huge earthquake that rattled the world until everyone died.”
“I’m just glad it’s not Pyrrhia,” Midnight admitted. “Better this world than ours.”
Skytaker unwrapped their wing from around Tiger, and walked forward, up to the edge of the darkness, poking their head into it. “We could investigate,” they suggested. “I’ll bet there are some clues of whatever happened to this world around.”
Tiger curled her tail, shrinking back. This world seemed so dark, and something felt off. Though, it was either this or going back into the tunnels, which weren’t much better. “I don’t know,” she murmured, her voice echoing into the distance.
“C’mon!” Skytaker grinned. “If we can figure out what happened here, maybe we’ll be able to save Pyrrhia from the same fate.”
Tiger frowned. That was a concerning prospect. If this really was a world parallel to theirs, did that mean Pyrrhia would end up like this, one day? She didn’t like it.
“Alright,” Tiger sighed in agreement, her worry and curiosity getting the best of her. “I guess.”
“Great!” Skytaker smiled, walking out along the path, bones crunching beneath their claws occasionally. They let out another burst of flame, lighting the pathway up. “Ecru, switch off with me in using flame so we can see!”
“Me?” Ecru asked, turning towards Midnight. Exploring this place didn’t seem like a good idea, but Skytaker had already gone off. She sighed and shook her head as she saw that Midnight was following along. “Well, if you insist.”
Hard stone poked against Tiger’s talons as the four continued along the path, her claws already sore from walking so long in the tunnels. She looked left and right, but there wasn’t much she could see beyond the limited range of visibility Skytaker and Ecru’s flames offered, darkness quickly dowsing them out. Slowly, the city got closer, geometric shapes growing up on either side of the road, huge flat planes reaching up to the side forming the walls of buildings. In many places, the smoothness of stone had been broken by the collapse of rubble, metal beams warped from the passage of time and the weight of collapse. The street quickly joined with others, though many of the paths had been blocked by behemoths of fallen buildings, slowly crumbling to dust.
Something glittering stuck out towards Tiger, buried against the side of the ground. She slowly climbed over a huge slab of concrete towards it, flame lighting her path. She frowned as she reached a shining metal hull, twice the height of a dragon. Something smelled strange about it. It reminded her a little bit of the scent of the NightWing island, the smell of smoke and sulfur. Had dragons made this? As another light revealed more of its structure to her, she noticed another piece of the same metal, that looked like it had been ripped off of the larger hull at one point, this one long, flat, and triangular. Her gaze caught on her own wing. Had whatever civilization lived here made some sort of machine that could fly, like a metal dragon? It seemed ridiculous, but if the dragons here had made buildings so tall, why couldn’t they create flying metal? If there were still remnants of the technology of this civilization here, how much could Pyrrhia learn from it? Would it help them prevent this world’s fate? Or would it cause their own demise . . .
“Tiger, c’mon!” Skytaker yelled. “You’re falling behind!”
Tiger twisted her attention away from the metal hull, climbing back over an array of small poles to reach Skytaker. More bones littered the path. Whatever had killed these dragons, they hadn’t had much time to react to it before they died.
“Hey, do you hear that?” Midnight asked, lifting up her head. “I think there’s some sort of weird buzz, like bees, but I haven’t seen anything, you know, alive since we got here.”
Ecru opened her mouth to say something, but Tiger responded first.
“I’ll bet it’s electrical,” the RainWing explained. “Mastermind told me about a bunch of the experiments he was doing with it. Sometimes it causes weird buzzing like that. He’d be so excited to hear that this civilization was using it.” She paused. “Oh, don’t touch it. It might kill you.”
“Great,” Midnight grumbled, looking around nervously. “Will do.”
“Maybe we should go back,” Ecru suggested. “I don’t want us to get lost in the dark here, and I don’t think this will help us get back to Pyrrhia.”
“Every second we spend here is another second the Empress is free on Pyrrhia to find the Wishstone,” Midnight added, nodding in agreement.
Skytaker twitched their tail, as the light of their flame went out, and the four were plunged in to darkness. “Are you sure? We kinda explored all the tunnel passageways down there, at least as far as I could tell. What if there just . . . isn’t a way back to Pyrrhia?”
Skytaker winced as they said what all four were thinking. Sure, Ecru and Tiger might have been right about the caverns leading to the caverns in another world, but what if they weren’t connected to Pyrrhia? Then, all this, Ermine and Darkstalker’s capture by Glory, the descent through the caverns, had been for nothing. Pyrrhia wouldn’t be warned in time to stop the Empress.
“There might be another way back,” Tiger quickly added. If Skytaker lost hope, then things weren’t looking good. “This world has a lot of weird technology, things I couldn’t have even dreamed of. Maybe there’s something that can help take us back to Pyrrhia, if we can just find it.” Truth be told, Tiger didn’t want to leave so soon. There was much knowledge here in the ruins of this dead world. How could she just leave it all behind?
“Or,” Midnight stated, stepping forward as she rubbed the side of her skull with a paw, whacking at her ear, “there’s a far easier way back. This world hasn’t had animus magic removed from it.”
Ecru tossed Midnight a concerned look as another flame from Skytaker lit up the city for a moment.
Midnight shook her head back and forth, like she was trying to get water out from her ears. “We could be back in Pyrrhia instantly. All I have to say is ‘I enchan—’”
As the words seemed to pour from Midnight’s mouth, Tiger felt her scales clench up, gritting her teeth as her heart started to pound without any knowledge of why. Her breath started to quicken as an ice-cold chill wormed its way up her spine. Her talons shook from left to right as she felt something looming over her, like a dark cloud of fog descending over an island, ready to swallow it whole. She let out a quiet whimper as the ethereal terror gripped her neck, talons slithering through it and into her skull.
Apparently, she wasn’t the only one of the four who felt the presence.
“MIDNIGHT NO!” Ecru screamed out, the words leaving her jaws as her hindlegs propelled her forward. As the darkness surrounded them, Ecru blindly barrelled into Midnight, her talons grasping ahold of her mate’s scales.
Midnight toppled over onto the ground, Ecru landing on top of her. As Midnight turned, Ecru reached out towards where she thought Midnight’s snout was, grasping ahold of it with both of her foreclaws, tightly holding it closed. Midnight twisted around, trying to throw Ecru off her as they rolled against rubble, rusted nails scraping against their scales as Ecru tried to keep her grip.
Midnight let out a suppressed roar as she rolled over on top of Ecru, still holding onto her snout. Midnight talons swiped down as they tore into the side of Ecru’s neck, causing Ecru to let out a squeal of pain as claws ripped into scale, blood running along Midnight’s unstained talons.
“Midnight, stop!” Ecru cried out, as Midnight tore her snout from Ecru’s claws. For a moment, cold eyes stared down at the hybrid, brown scales tinted green in an uncanny light.
Midnight blinked for a moment, standing still, as her breath started to quicken. She stared down at her talons, taking them from Ecru’s neck, shaking as crimson blood dripped from their tips.
“Three moons,” Midnight whispered, looking down at Ecru’s wounds. “Three moons - what did I—” She took a few steps back, staring at Ecru, hurt by her own talons.
Ecru slowly got back up to her paws, wiping blood and tears away.
Ḧ̴̡̻̖͇̪̊̓͘͢͞ė̶͉̮͕̜̠̣̞̉͐̄̑̎͊͐͟͞͠l̶͈̣̦͈͙̤̥̝͌̌͛́͋̇̀̅͢͝p̸̛̩̲̲͖̗͍͎͆̇͐̊̂̃͘̕.̴͖̞̺̪̗̥̖̪͖͗̅̏̅̈́̀͢͠
“Are you okay?” Midnight gulped, taking a step towards Ecru. Ecru involuntarily flinched at the movement, moving back. “You’re hurt. I’m so, so, sorry. I don’t know—”
Ecru shook her head. “It’s fine,” she winced, wiping the blood away from one of her tattoos. “Just some scratches. It wasn’t your fault. I jumped on you.”
Midnight shook her head, ashamed. “No, no. I shouldn’t have started to enchant something. I didn’t realize it, the words just . . . came out. And then I hurt you, and for a moment, I didn’t know, I just—”
“It wasn’t you,” Ecru whispered. “I know. It wasn’t you, it was something else.” A chill ran across her scales, as she looked at Midnight. A sudden realization hit her. “I can see you.”
Ecru frowned as she turned to Skytaker, their mouth closed. If Skytaker wasn’t using their fire to make light, and Ecru herself certainly wasn’t, then who . . .
A speck of color caught Ecru’s gaze out of the top of her field of vision. She looked up, the other three dragons following her line of sight. The sky was no longer a uniform black. Colored specks of light had appeared across the dome above them, like shining stars slowly moving through the air, twisting and turning as they seemed to converge on the four, multicolored glows passing around their scales.
P̸̡̢͓̩̦͔̮̎́̀̄͘͞ͅl̡̥͎͓͙͙̃̔̓̅̄͛e̛͚̟̠͓̪̹͈͙͚̊́̈́͊̓̿͊̐̎͟á̢̙̱̤̝̎̀͆͊̋̓̐̃s̵̨̛̩͙͉̝̙̺̺̝͑̔̏̐̋̂e̩̰͈̖̣͎͚̿̀͞͞͝ͅ s̛̩͎͉͓̗̟̥̗̯̓̉́̈̑a̶̡̫̤̪̟̺̯̠͛̀̈́̄̿͝͝v̧̲̺̣̻̖̑̄͌̋͋̉̚ȩ̢̢̖͓͉͉̯̲͌͗̇̽̽̀̐̆̕͢ ų̢̡̯͉̫̳̭͍͉̉̎̃̈͘͝ş̛̛̪͇͔̮̰̱͈͒́̔͋͌͒͝.̵̺̺̪͍̐̈͂̌̏͟
“It’s here,” Ecru quietly said, the blood on her neck running down her side.
“What’s here?” Tiger asked, looking around at the encroaching lights. She scratched at the side of her head. There was a weird noise there, some sort of hum. The electrical wire that Midnight had heard?
As a million lights danced around the sky, blinking and forming like watching eyes, Tiger felt her blood run cold. Something was very, very wrong here, and in this world. She took a step closer to Ecru and Midnight across the rubble, Skytaker following as the four huddled together, staring at the enticing lights piercing the darkness.
“Your magic Midnight, I think it called it,” Ecru gulped.
W̴͎̙̲̯͚͔̃́͛̂̽̀̋͡h̝̹̳̼̰͍̅̔͋̂̈́͑͐̃̕͝y̜͉̤̰̺̬̣͛͑͒̑͐͠͝͠ ã̹̹͈̟̻͉̯̋̿͘͡r̩̖͉̹̲̱͕̜̣̓͗̋̏̓͘͘̚͠ę̷̻͖̣̠͕͎̱͋̎̐̈́̎̚͠͠͠ y̴̩̜̻͕̪̍̊̈́̇̕͟͜͠͡ȯ̵͉̞̠̦͈̌͂̽̉ṷ̶̧̡͇̟̫͑͗̀͒̆ ḩ͕̳̩̟̯͚̈̀͂̕͢͝ě̴̢̳̼̻͙̲̼̋̈̎̑͢r̶̼͓͓͖̃̌͂̅̚͜ę̷̢̩͚͖͖̰̱̲̄͂́̀̈͂̎̌̉͢͝?̢͈̳̟͎͋̈͌͂̍͜
“Me?” Midnight replied. “How could I—”
“What did she call?” Skytaker stammered, turning back and forth. Their gaze landed on a building, only a short distance away from the four. Would the walls provide any shelter? If they could just get to it . . .
Y̴̡̪͉͚̠̘̠̍̓̔̐̓͟͝ọ̶̙͚̬͉̭̟̙̀̀̑̀̒͞͞ͅu̢̧̦͉̱̹̘͑̆̌͂͆̄͜'̷̲̲͖͕̮̳̒͐͆͡͞r̸̨̖̫̯̼̮̟̃̾̈́̍͛̐̏̿̄e̢̞̞̖̱̩̗̦̿͊̈̊̎͊͢ ģ̶̨͉̰̦̣̪̹̳̑̓͊̆̊̾̒͐͘o̖̘̭͉͓̟̙͙̙̽͊́͗͌͊̇̈͠ì̷̢̜̞̺̿͒̉̾͆̊͂͢n̨͚̺͔̖̗̪̊̏͗̿̋̽̈́̉͊̕͢g̴̛̜̪̯̪̩͉̬̑̑̃͞ t͚̰̟̲̠͕̹̘̾̀̉̓͆͜o̸̙̤͍̱̺̽͒̈́̐̇̾̃̋͡ ḑ͎͈̭̱̲͙͖̿̐̐̌͊͡i̶̢̨̛̛͚̤̠̣͌̑̿̐̋͂ȩ̬͙̮̲̖͍̲͊̆͂̉̐̿͘ͅ ẗ̖͖͙͖̓̅̚͘͢͝ō̶̢̢̬̖̦͚͚̙̈́͐͆̓͐͘̚͠ǒ̸̧̼̪̠͔̘͕́͆̔̓̚,̴̡̤̯̮͍̣̄́͒͂̓̃́ i̴̡̡̥̩̟̤͛̐̽̇̔̽̐̊͒̆͟ͅf̨̧͇̫͎̖̥̻̀͌̊͊̿͗̚ ỵ̶̧̛̭̙̝̊͒͊̇́̏́́͛͜ò̲͔͚̤̖̤̤̫͔̓͊̎̓̂̃̂̉͢ǔ̸͕͚̤̞̲͆̔̃͆̑͑̽͠ ḍ̵̲̙̯͔̯̥̈̔̄͗̇̏ǫ̮͖̦̲̖̽̆̔̽̂̂̀͘̚͟͡n̝̪͙̫̫̩͗̃̉̿́́̊ͅ'̵̼̝͖̻̉͛̓͐͌̈̃͢͢͝t̬͍͓̞͇͔͔̦̯͛̂̏̇̈͊͠ l̷̩̗̯̔̈́̄̔̔͟͠͝ͅe̛̛̙̭̞͔̜͍̙̹̊̽̎͊͟a̢̟͉͔̔͛͆̀̽̄͜v̫͇͔͇͛͋͋͌͛̈́̕͢͠͞͝ȩ̫̺͕̤̑͆̅̊͒͝.̴̨͉̟̰͉̳͎͑̀̽́̎̀̄̑͘͞
Tiger suddenly let out a scream as motion grabbed at her eyesight. Swirling black ooze began to rose from the ground a few tail-lengths from them, forming a pillar of darkness. Many-colored lights rose up and down within it like bubbles, flashing and speaking as they moved. For a second, Tiger was frozen in place, captivated as smaller tendrils seemed to leap and reform from the ooze, a vibrating tentacle, constantly moving, with no fully defined shape or size. As it swelled and swayed, a second rose up from its side, then a third, though with no true boundaries, Tiger had little way to distinguish which was which, or if they were all just part of the huge mass surrounding them, coating the sky with the glowing bubbles trapped within its body.
Ẁ̡̝̗̝̲͙͉͛͑̿̔̿̓̊͋̀͢h̡̡̥̦͙̦̬́̎̉͆͐͆̽̕ỹ̸̗̥̯̺̻́̃̂̀̏́̇͘ a̶̼̟͙̐̑̀̍̈̒́̂͗̋͜͢r̶̛͕̯̭̫͖̰͖͓̋̆̃̈͘ȩ̵͚̱̠̟̙̦̹̫̰͋̀̑̒̂͠͝ ẏ̨̪͔̱̮̖̍͊̇͜͢͞ō̠̥̲̦͖̜̝̰̜͔̌̾̓͡ų̴͕̳͎̱̇̾̈͂̉̐͑͛̚ ĵ̷̢̨͖̥͓̑̅͆̈́͒̄̚͡ů̶͖̪̯̹̝̈́̓̉̀͊̊̇ş̵̛̜͚̟̜̘̦̇̾̇̌t̵̤̥̬̰̩̞͖̍̆̏̑̆̇͢͢͞ s̨̭̲͍̤̪̙̐̽̋̄̚͘͢͟t̢̡͚͖͎͚̮̞̤͉̀͐̄̓́̕ą̢̣̞̘̗̥͉̉̈́̂̔̽̽͟n͔̜̙͔̳̜̰̗̏́̿̀͛̐̊͐̕͝ͅd̟̝̱̜̜͊̓͒̑̍̊͋̑́i̸̭̪͇̫̮̖͋͛́̈́͞͝n̢̢̳̘̞̰͕̯̟̪͊́͊̉͌̀̓͗̓̕g̵̢̜̪͕͎̳̤̹͍͖̀̍̉͠͡͝ t̬̙̞͙̥̪̣͍͈͈̾̿̅̂̏͌́̂̌͝ḩ̢̜̤͕̜̠̗͊͋͒̑͂͢͡͞e̷̙̝͖̳͂̑̈͘͟͠r̵̛̥̖̟͙̩͍͓̰̓̑͒̈́́͌̕͟͡e̡͚̞̖̪̼͚͑̔͌̂̓̕͘͠?̛͚̯̬̱͙̓̇̂́̓͟
“Tiger, run!” Skytaker yelled out, talons digging into Tiger’s wing membrane knocking her away from her trance.
For a moment, her claws seemed to move without her input as she tried to flee from the tentacles, quickly risen up behind her to maybe ten or twenty times the width of a dragon. They started to move towards her as she fled after the other three, following them as they scrambled towards the relatively intact building.
One of the black tentacles shot down with extraordinary speed into the ground, although Tiger was unsure if it had really hit down or if another one had risen up to meet the one above. A blast of force and rubble knocked Tiger to the side, stale wind blowing her as she followed Skytaker. She let out another scream as a second one almost brushed past her wing, black ooze dripping as huge bubbles of light reflected in her eyes. A lamppost fell onto the ground, glass cracking as pieces hit into Tiger’s scales, though the pain was barely apparent in her terror. She ran between the winding tentacles, smaller falanges reaching out as if to grab her and pull her in. Just get to shelter, just get to shelter.
R̨͕̫̗͈͈̭̞̺̄̎̇͗͊̏͑͒̎͜͡u̖̼͍̠̙̯͂͑̾͆͂̍͂̏̽n̠̮̝̠͎͉͂̅̂̈̃̓͌̓ń̴̡͓̞͇͈͚̋́͌̈̈͌͘͟ͅͅĭ̧̡̨̼̯̳̙̺̠̩̅̎̂̓͗̔͞ň̸̞̺̗͈͚͈̍͛͒͆́̓̅͘͝ǧ̶̡͚̟̭̹̤͎̫͌̄̑͐͛́͜͡ͅ w̢̡̛̛͙̜̜̝͊́͒͘͟o̬͓̠͈͕͋͊͂̾̚n̢̜͚̞͉̩̪̔̿͐̐͐͡’̸̢̡̤͍̫͓̉̒̒̈̏̆̅̉͞ͅť̨̼͉͓̠͍̩͕͌̋̏̚͠ͅ w̧̯̭͓̜̟̼̼͛͑́͒̔͂̇̄̚͝o̷͍͈͖̮̣̊̅̐̏̕͡͠r̛̪̫̪̹̱̤͈̝͉̓̒̍͐̎̋̽͢͡k̷͎̟̜̻̙͗̌͑̏͆͆̈́́͘̚͟.̗̩̤̬̘̟̫͗̀̆̏̑͢͡ A̷̛̺͖̖͈̖̔̉̐̆̾̓̆͝͞ļ̢̤̞̘͕̦̭͖͊͊̂̂̑͗͆̔͜͡l̡̢͈͓̳̝̄͒̑̓̉͂̌̂̐̆͟ ơ̷̛̯͚̝̩͚̻̄̎͐̒͂̂͘͟f̛̟̘̗͖̳́̃̀̄̔͘͜͝ͅ ṳ̸͈̪́̑́̒͐̾͢͢s̗̥̱͚̣̭͂͆̀̌̎͋ t̴̡̩̜̜̲̬̗̑̂̊̌̃̂̚r̸̬͚̬̼͕̐͋̆͊̔͆̒͘͞i̛̻̙̜͗̽͛̆́̎̚͢͢͝ę̣̠̱̺͖̟̝͉͇͒͋́͂̔͛̉̍d͎̜̠͈̹̀̆͂͒͡ ẗ̸̨͓̤̩̗̦̙̳̤͈̍̿͐͡h̵͙͈̭̗̩̀̓͋̌̀́à̧̦͍̣̮͖̻̠̤̽͂́̚ẗ̴̨͚͙̞̙͈͓̝́̀̔̽̇́̚.͔͖̙̦̖̱̠̬͔̜̀̀̀̃̓̋͘̕̚͝
Midnight let out a yelp, and Tiger looked up to see that another pillar of slime had struck above the dragons, a spear of darkness piercing through the building the four had been trying to get to like it was scroll-paper. A huge chunk of stone fell from the wall where the tentacle had hit, Ecru grabbing onto Skytaker and pulling them back from the collapsing structure. A rumble seemed to shake through the ground as the stone hit ground, flying pebbles and rubble scattering across the floor. Tiger’s breath went quick as she lost all hope. If the . . . thing that was attacking them, whatever it was, had struck through the building like that . . . nothing they could do would stop it.
Still, as useless as it was, Tiger turned, following the four as they tried to run down the street. For a moment, she looked back to see the tentacle wrapping around the building it had entered, ooze crawling over it as lights blinked over its surface. In only a few moments, the entire skyscraper had been overtaken, just a pillar of black in the sky. Tiger’s teeth chattered as she ran after the others. This thing was massive, unimaginably big. There was no escape.
Suddenly, the other three stopped, claws screeching on ground. It took Tiger only a second to realize why. In the alleys between the buildings, the blackness had risen up, light-dotted walls rushing out towards them. Tiger turned back to see that a similar wall had risen up behind her, blinking lights staring at her expectantly. All the streets had been blocked off.
Ś̡̨̛̘̲̲̬̼̦̽̉̏̀̈́͂͘͟͝ͅô̵̢̨͉̝͔̳͈̅͒̅̕͜͞r̡̧̡͉̣̱̼̺̪̎̒̈̋̐̅̚ŗ̤̘̘̩͓͇̘͙̞̌̔̌̎̀͛͆͑͑͘y̷͎͕̤̼͉̲̿̒͌̎͐̍̑͘.̡̲͇̦͉͓͛̓͐͛͘͟ Ţ̶͉͚̟̱̃͊͌́́͘͠͠ͅh̞͙̬̝̾̍̂̐̋̋͜͠ͅẹ̹̥̪̳̜̫̉͗̌͊̎̉͜͞ͅr̶̠̳̱̱̮̜̥̰̖̒͐̍͂̓͒͗͘͝͝ȩ̱̰͔̹̙́͑̐̈́̇͂͠’̧̟̤͕̤͈͎͈͎̦̒̒̃̆́͒͐͘s̴̨̲͖̲͍̙͍̗̉̃̑̐̃͊̈̄͢ n̺̦͎̝̘̺̲̬̪͛̇̒̊̇͌̆͜ờ̴̝͔͔̭̳̼̮̥͓̅̄͟͡w̶͙̫̹̲̣̰͙͎͒̂͗͘̕͟ḩ͖͈̥̅̐͗̅͐̔̿̅͊͢e̡̬͈̦̥̭͋̋͗͑͢͝r̛̺̗̰͔̟̥͍̤͚̠͐̏̌͐̉͌́ẽ̢͉͕̺͙̮̹͓̃̓̊͐̕͢͝ t̨̪͇͇͙̝͒͋͐̆̚ö̸̡̡̬̘͈̪͖̮̠́͆̽͒̊̒̂̓̒̚ f̡̣̲͕̜͈̙̭̣̎̓̂̓͛͂̽͋͠l̷̳̮̲̲̩̯̣͉̏̀̔̅̏͆̔͟y̹̝̞̯͈̬͉̓̽̈̓̓̀͑̊͘͡.̱̠̯̩̻̗̅͛̈͐̃̓͝ͅ
Tiger looked up in the sky to see that the lights had moved closer, conjoined with the walls, forming a dome of darkness around the four, standing in the asphalt crossroads. Tiger stumbled back, into Skytaker.
“Stay back, whatever you are!” Midnight yelled out at the black ooze. She opened her wings as she put Ecru behind her, not that it could do much good in protecting her.
Filaments of darkness started to creep down towards the four, spiraling out of the sky as they circled, growing and throbbing as they expanded into tentacles. Bubbles of light popped and flashed as the circle began to tighten. Tiger whimpered as she held onto Skytaker, while more filaments began to rise up from the ground. This was it. They weren’t even going to make it back to Pyrrhia alive.
Then, a strange burst of light caught Tiger’s attention. Between the cracks in the road, glittering golden specks started to floaming up, the tentacles seeming to twist and shrink away wherever the calming golden light shined. She stared as a few pieces of the specks came to rest against her scales. Sand?
Ecru let out a cry of alarm as one of the tentacles suddenly lurched out towards her, forming a twisted spear as it stabbed down towards the four, like it would pierce them. But before it could, a wave of sand reached up from the ground, solidifying instantly and forming a hard golden plate between them and the tentacle. The darkness bounced against it, barely making a dent as it curved around, but not before coming back again to try and devour the four. Where it tried to hit, another plate of glowing sandstone rose up, and a third as it tried to creep around it. Individual grains of sand began to fall upwards in a huge circle around the four, pushing back the black ooze as it tried to reach in.
Within a few moments, a dome of glowing sandstone had surrounded the four, the light so bright Tiger had to squint to see. Her claws still shook, her heart still raced, but she felt a hint of relief, the pale colors on her scales fading. They’d been saved. But by whom, or what? This world seemed deserted. Who could survive with something like that here?
The sound of clawsteps reached her ears, and she turned around. Seemingly from nowhere, a dragon was walking across the inside of the dome towards the four. An IceWing, though any scales were barely visible through the shell of grey stone covering his body. A golden glow reached out of cracks in the pieces of stone, creaking as he walked, his entire body a beacon of light in the dome, so bright that Tiger even had to turn away for a moment for her vision to adjust. She squinted as their rescue came closer, trying to make out his features. 
As he approached the four dragons, the IceWing stopped, and his expression contorted into a smile, stone cracking, crumbling, and reforming as his jaws moved. He sat back on his haunches, sand moving in a swirl around his talons. 
“You wanted to know what it was, Skytaker?” Polar asked. “Meet the Progenitor of Animus Magic. The Great Ice Dragon.”
== Chapter 42 ==
“Purrrr.”
Aurora turned head down towards Sapphire’s glistening eyes, staring back up at the dragon. The two were alone in the grass, a moment of calm wind after all that had happened. Sapphire cocked his head, giving Aurora a look she could only describe as judging, then lifted one of his paws up, cleaning off its backside with his tongue.
Her gaze lifted up across the calm meadow. The shaking had stopped as quick as the Empress had come and gone. Panicked Talons of Peace strutted around, talking to each other, but they were all just blurs of scale and color to Aurora’s eyes.
Aurora hadn’t acted fast enough, though how could she have? The Empress had disappeared in a flash as soon as she’d captured Inferno, along with the rest of the RainWings. Teleported away, by one of the many powers the Wishstone had granted her. Had Aurora been closer, maybe she could have done something. If Inferno had just stayed in the caverns, like Trustbreaker had asked her to . . .
Aurora felt fear, the same sort of terror that she’d felt when she’d faced Ash. It wasn’t a common emotion for her. Up until her meeting with the Empress, few dragons on Pyrrhia had posed anything resembling a physical threat to her, past her slip-up with getting captured by Glory, and Ash’s attempt to break into her mind. Even the remaining animuses on Pyrrhia seemed feeble and unaware of the true extent of their abilities.
But the Empress was something else. She knew her own strengths and weaknesses, and as far as Aurora had seen, had a variety of versatile enchantments she’d given herself that gave her complete physical dominance and control over any potential opponent. Like Aurora herself. Aurora wouldn’t be able to get rid of her as easily as she’d stopped Inferno and Ash, or Ink with Shapeshifter’s mask.
It was strange, feeling this sort of fear after being trained to hide it for so long. It wasn’t the same as the fear she felt when she’d fought Ash, the instant rush of blood that told her that her life was in danger. Nor was it the same fear that she felt when Calamity showed her the Horror, the terror of a cruel, impersonal reality, the knowledge that any action she made was but a futile gesture to a world that neither knew nor cared for her existence. This was a calm fear, the quiet sort of anxiety that one gets when they know a great hurdle is ahead of them, something that would loom in the back of her mind until it finally reached its conclusion. The fear that something mattered, something that mattered to her.
It was exhilarating.
“Meow?”
Aurora looked back at Sapphire again, the elderly tabby pawing at her scales, asking something from her. Aurora let out a sigh.
“I failed Trustbreaker, didn’t I,” Aurora mused. “He tasked me with protecting Inferno, and the Wishstone within her. And now, the Empress has them.”
“Meow.”
Aurora clicked her tongue. “You’re judging me, aren’t you.” Sapphire stared back as Aurora tossed him a glance. For a moment, a twinkle in his eyes reminded her of Trustbreaker.
Trustbreaker himself caught Aurora’s vision. A group of Talons had gathered around their former co-leader’s body, a pool of blood staining the grass around his mouth red. There wasn’t much Aurora could do about that.
Aurora shook her head. It was senseless for her to be talking to a cat, even if it had been Trustbreaker’s pet. One of her eyes turned down towards Sapphire, still at her paws. Could she just . . . eat it? No. That felt wrong. Trustbreaker had asked her to keep Sapphire safe. But why? Aurora frowned. Trustbreaker had been able to mentally communicate with him. What if he’d left something of his inside Sapphire? A final command, a secret to defeating the Empress? Had there been a reason he’d asked Aurora to keep him safe?
Aurora slumped her head down on the grass with a sigh, meeting Sapphire at eye-level. He stared back, not particularly interested in giving up his secrets.
“You know, you don’t have much room to judge me,” Aurora said, doubtful the cat could even understand her. “Thanks to you, everything’s messed up in this world now. You shouldn’t have left Antigonia.”
Sapphire twitched his tail, uninterested in Aurora’s scolding.
“Do you know how important my mission is?” Aurora asked. “The one that Calamity gave me?”
Sapphire tossed Aurora a look she decided to interpret as confused.
“Fracture wouldn’t have explained it to you,” Aurora replied. “The truth. The truth about animus magic.” She pressed the tip of one talon to the Darkstone, a small jolt of pain running about the nerves in her neck. “It was ‘given’ to dragons, like the IceWings claimed, a curse disguised as a gift. A temptation of power that few could resist.”
The cat’s gaze was focused on Aurora now. Something she’d said had caught his attention.
“Are you wondering what gave it?” Aurora asked, with a smile. “A thing so terrible it’s beyond comprehension. A twisted darkness living beneath the ground, though whether it’s living or not is hardly a sensible question. A consumer of worlds, feasting on the souls of dragons, eternally trapped and tortured within. One might even call it hell itself. I call it the Horror, because that’s what I felt when Calamity forced me to lay my eyes on it, when he dipped me into its depths and I heard the pleas of dragonets, cries of terror, a neverending scream of a billion souls.
“Every time a dragon uses animus magic, it gets closer to waking once more, tainting the souls and whispering into the minds of its victims. Eventually, it will awaken, like it always does, and this world will be devoured. It cannot be stopped, only delayed. Calamity used my unwitting father to get rid of most of the animuses in the modern age, but it won’t be enough. It won’t ever be enough. Eventually, the Horror will rise, and the world will end.
“That is why my mission is so important. Calamity needs me to delay the apocalypse, at least until he’s ready for it. Do you understand, cat?”
Sapphire stared back at Aurora, so small she could crush him under a paw. Aurora flicked her tail, spines waving back and forth through the air. A glint of understanding flashed across the cat’s slitted eyes. Maybe there was something left of Trustbreaker in him, after all.
“Are you surprised?” Aurora asked. “Fracture knew, but he didn’t tell you, did he? Of course he didn’t. Even with all the understanding he had, that spineless worm prefers the end of the world to Calamity’s methods. Though I doubt this matters much for Antigonia. It seemed from my discussions with Ash that he severed the connection between the Horror and Antigonia using his own magic, though I doubt the Horror would’ve let Antigonia go if not for another world it could feed itself upon. Why even bother?
Aurora grimaced, as she let out another long sigh, staring at Trustbreaker’s corpse.
“Of course, with the Empress here, I doubt even Calamity is sure what’s going to happen anymore, let alone me. All of Calamity’s plans might have gone to ruin. Everything my mother and I did, all for nothing. I’m sure Fracture is laughing in his grave.”
“Meoowww.”
Aurora frowned at Sapphire. Was he trying to tell her something? As she guessed it, she shook her head.
“You think I should try and stop her. The Empress. I’m not sure I can. She’s far more prepared than a simple animus for me. Even if I did stop her, I’m not sure if I should or even could continue my instructions. The Sky Kingdom is in ruins; Queen Scarlet is probably dead. Without Calamity’s guidance, I’d likely just make things worse.”
Sapphire paced back and forth, as deep in thought as Aurora. He turned back to her, and let out a sharp ‘meow!’
“You want me to take this one wingbeat at a time,” Aurora puzzled out, not quite sure if her ideas were being communicated by Sapphire, of if these were her own thoughts. “If the Empress wins, there’s no chance of anything good happening. Calamity’s plans will definitely be in ruins. And . . . I’ll probably be destroyed in the process. You too. And Inferno.”
Sapphire raised his paw, and made a gesture to Aurora she didn’t understand.
“Inferno,” Aurora mused. “You’re right. I did promise you I’d protect her. And she’s still my prisoner.” Aurora looked out towards the north, snow-capped mountains piercing the clouds. Back towards the Sky Kingdom. “It’s odd. When I followed Calamity’s plans, it was never about him, or me, or anyone. I was . . . afraid. For the entire world, a Pyrrhia full of dragons I never met and never would meet. But it’s not about that anymore. I don’t care about the world. I’m afraid for Inferno. I’m afraid for my own life.”
The words felt strange to Aurora as she spoke them. All her life, she’d been told to devote herself to saving Pyrrhia, no matter what harm came to her in the process. That she shouldn’t care about her own life, a speck in a sea of others just as unimportant as her. She couldn’t tell what, but something had changed. This had nothing to do with saving Pyrrhia anymore. Now . . . she wanted to live.
“Climb on my back,” Aurora ordered Sapphire, lowering her underbelly to the ground. She extended her claws, and a feline-sized set of stone stairs rose up from the dirt. Sapphire eagerly climbed them, leaping up onto Aurora’s backside, claws digging into the spaces between her scales.
Aurora shook herself as she extended her wings. She didn’t know where the Empress was, but the SkyWing palace, or what little was left of it, was her best guess. The wind whipped beneath her wings, before she saw blue scales rush over towards her.
“Wait!” Riptide called. “You! With Trustbreaker’s cat!”
Aurora rolled her eyes and turned to glare at the Talons’ leader. “What do you want?” she growled.
Riptide panted as he stopped down in front of her, Aurora’s wings still extended, itching to take off.
“You were with Trustbreaker, right?” he asked, frantic. “Who are you? Who were those RainWings? What’s going on?”
Aurora blinked, a few of her glowscales flashing. Ignoring Riptide, she turned away, leaping forward as a gust of wind lifted her into the air. Sapphire clinged on tight, the old tabby tossing a glance back at the SeaWing beneath them.
“What’s going on?” Aurora laughed, calling back to Riptide, down below. “It’s the end of the world!”
== Chapter 43 ==
Sandstone walls rose far above Leopard’s horns as she walked through the palace. Her eyes traced along the grooves in the thick bricks. Whichever queen had built the stronghold, it had certainly been built to last. Except for two easily guardable entrances, a couple balconies that had been walled-off, and the secret passage through the dungeon, there was no way in or out of the palace unless you could fly through solid stone. Fire didn’t melt the mortar, and the strength of ten dragons barely made it budge. For Leopard and Aloe, it was a perfect barrier between them and the outside world. A lavish prison for the SandWing queen, protecting them from the huge army situated on the outside.
Leopard caught a glimpse of movement through one of the small slit-like windows in the hall, free golden scales on the other side. Leopard felt her barb twitch. Not because she was threatened by whoever it was, but because of her irritation. She barely could even remember how many moon cycles they’d been trapped in here, kept under siege by Six-Claws’ army outside. Sure, they held the center of power in the Sand Kingdom, the next-best thing to having the Eye of Onyx itself, but they couldn’t do anything with it. All they could do was wait, until . . . what exactly? Until Sunny gave up? Until someone rescued them?
Leopard sighed. Absolutely nothing happened in the palace, nothing for the past however long Leopard had been waiting. Eat a few rations, play a few dice games with dragons she could barely tolerate, comfort Aloe. For a war, it was ridiculously boring.
There was very little that Leopard hated more than boredom. She could probably list them on one paw. In fact, since she didn’t have anything better to do, she decided she might as well. Boredom was third, after rotting fish, then Blister. And Blister was dead, so it was just rotting fish. That’s how much she hated boredom.
Just the idea of boredom reminded her of old memories, of her dragonethood spent on Blister’s island. She certainly hadn’t chosen to be hatched there. Blister definitely wouldn’t have chosen it either — her parents were two guards who’d had an affair against Blister’s rules, and to make a point to everyone else, Blister had killed Leopard’s mother before Leopard had even hatched. Her father, whoever he was, hadn’t come forward to receive the same punishment. Leopard had been raised communally by the rest of the small army residing there. She supposed that Blister had let her live so that she’d become friends with Aloe. Not because Blister actually cared about Aloe having a friend, of course. What better way to control your dragonet than by threatening their loved ones?
But funny enough, what Leopard remembered most was the boredom. That was Blister’s favorite punishment. Separating Leopard from the others, throwing her into a dark, damp cell, and just leaving her alone. Hours, days, even weeks if Aloe did something particularly bad. It blurred together, a endless droll of time. No day or night, no way to keep track of how long it had been until she was finally let out. Even the hunger or dryness in her throat became a welcoming distraction to the monotony of her own mind.
At least she wasn’t stuck in a cell this time. The SandWing palace was certainly a prison, but she wasn’t alone. Aloe was here.
A half-dozen SandWings stood at the primary entrance to the stronghold, weapons ready. The doors had been barred with wooden furniture that could be quickly set on fire. If there was an attack, and an enemy got through, they wouldn’t have a particularly fun time running through flames.
“Is he ready for me?” Leopard asked to one of the SandWings in front of the door. A few of them were slowly dragging away the blockade, making enough room for her to slowly slip through.
“Yes,” the SandWing tersely replied. The other dragons in the palace didn’t make particularly good conversation. They’d been too well-trained by Blister, albeit in a different way than Leopard had been.
“Good,” Leopard smiled back. She had to admit, these meetings were a bit of a bright spot to her. A beautiful storm, crashing through these doldrums.
The door opened a crack, giving Leopard just enough space to slip into the courtyard. Short walls had been built around it, more for decoration than anything. They wouldn’t stop a dragon flying into the courtyard, at least. It made a nice meeting spot, a neutral ground. Plus, it was pretty.
Leopard stretched out her wings, beams of desert sunlight warming her membranes as she glanced around the courtyard. Her gaze landed on a small cluster of plots, where desert plants had grown up, untrimmed and uncultivated in the current times. Small magenta fruits blossoming at the top of a cactus brought a small smile to her snout, and she carefully plucked one off, wondering how it could take.
“You’re not taking advantage of my hospitality, are you? You’re supposed to be under siege, you know. Starving.”
Leopard looked up to see large wings cast a shadow on the ground as a scarred dragon landed down in the courtyard. She smiled. Even if the two of them were enemies, she’d formed a cordiality with Six-Claws during the siege. Their meetings were the most interesting part of Leopard’s days, and the only chance Leopard got to learn about what was happening outside of the palace.
“You can have it if you want,” Leopard grinned, holding up the prickly pear. “Here, catch.”
Six-Claws instinctively flinched as Leopard pretended to toss the spiny fruit. She laughed, and threw it to the side.
Six-Claws sighed as he relaxed, shaking his head. “I’m joking, you know. I really don’t care if you eat it. Letting you have a piece of fruit now or then doesn’t really change your situation.”
“A bit spiny for me,” Leopard clucked, taking a few steps over towards Six-Claws, until they were at a good speaking distance. At this point, neither of the two was particularly worried about a sneak attack from the other, or any dragons leaping out from behind the palace door or from over the courtyard walls. As much as they both hated boredom, neither of them personally cared to end this war with such a dishonorable tactic. “So, any news?”
Six-Claws raised an eye-ridge. “You’re asking me to give intel to an enemy? I’m pretty sure that’s treason.”
“Depends who’s queen,” Leopard grinned. By now, this dance had become familiar to the two.
“You could get all the news you wanted if you and Aloe leave the palace,” Six-Claws pointed out. “I’ll add it to your terms of surrender. Free news scrolls for the rest of your lives.”
“A generous offer, but we’ll pass,” Leopard snorted. “You know we can just get someone in and out of the palace to get it anyways.”
“Really,” Six-Claws said, skeptical of that claim. “We’ve got a tight watch.”
Leopard smiled. “We’ve got our ways. Anyways, if you tell me, you’ll be able to spin your story however you want. That’s an advantage for you, isn’t it?”
“Good point,” Six-Claws nodded. “Alright. Something interesting happened. Queen Blackice was killed, just yesterday.”
“Wait, really?” Leopard asked, somewhat surprised. Queen Blackice, dead? That was interesting. “An assassin? Or something else? She wasn’t turned to stone like poor Thorn and Blaze down in the treasure rooms, was she? Details, please!”
“Not an assassin,” Six-Claws laughed. “Defeated in battle. Deathbringer, Hailstorm, and Jambu brought together a coalition of RainWings, NightWings, and IceWings. Along with a few of my own valiant troops, of course. They fought over Jade Mountain. Blackice, was . . . well, let’s just say that what’s left of her is scattered across the base of the mountain at the moment. Even in death, Glory got her revenge. Hailstorm is King Hailstorm now, at least until he or Prince Winter has a dragonet.”
“Fascinating,” Leopard replied, her eyes lit up at the explanation. She wasn’t particularly good cave-fellows with violence and death, but she loved the idea of battle and adventure, or really anything interesting at the moment. “I wish I could’ve seen it.”
“From what I heard of the battle, you probably don’t,” Six-Claws clucked. “Not a friendly one. Blackice was aiming for total annihilation of the NightWings, and used copious amounts of animus magic, countered by the alliance’s own animus-touched artifacts. That stuff is dangerous.”
“Magic,” Leopard whispered. She hadn’t seen much of that before, beyond the dolphin necklace Aloe wore. A simple protection enchantment. Not particularly flashy. Although, if Aloe was ever caught in the middle of a battle, maybe it would be pretty impressive. The pale SandWing flinging her barb, claws outstretched as streaks of flame rose up around the obsidian diamond pattern across her scales, dragons falling left and right as Aloe walked through, untouched. Leopard salivated a little, just thinking of it.
Six-Claws gave her a funny look, then shook his head with a sigh. “Honestly, I’m considering trying to make a forge with the queens and kings around the continent. A treaty banning animus magic in battles. Since Queen Thorn’s death, we’ve had enough of this. So, are you going to surrender now? With Queen Blackice dead, your only allies are gone.”
Leopard smiled. Back to the dance. “Surrender?” she laughed. “Because of Blackice? You can’t be serious. Queen Blackice made it very clear to us that her only ally was herself. We just made a temporary deal, one that we fortunately won’t have to fulfill our end of now. You’re not implying that the alliance that defeated her is going to come after us now, right? Cause that would be—”
Six-Claws closed his eyes, flicking his barb at the thought. He gritted his fangs. “No,” he answered, fully certain of his words. “We’re not doing that. Even if they’re Sunny’s allies, this is a SandWing matter. We’re not going to bring the other tribes into this. Not again.”
The silent threat of another War of SandWing Succession passed between the two quickly. Neither wanted another twenty years of war.
Six-Claws shook his head, and sighed. “You know, if you and Aloe surrender to Sunny, there’ll be favorable terms. Not just for you, but for Aloe, and everyone with her. I can make sure of it.”
Leopard returned a gentle smile to him. “I know. But Aloe can’t exactly surrender to a queen who isn’t here, can she?”
“She’s not dead,” Six-Claws assured her, glancing up towards the blue sky as if Sunny was going to descend from it any moment now. “She’s only been missing for a fortnight; it doesn’t mean she’s dead. She’ll be back. I know it.”
Leopard doubted that. According to what Six-Claws had said, the leader of the Outclaws had been found dead, with Sunny missing. If she hadn’t shown up by now, with a heavy ransom on her return, chances were she was gone for good. Unless . . . Six-Claws knew something he wasn’t telling her?
“Maybe she flew away; decided she didn’t want to be queen,” Leopard suggested. Seeing Six-Claws’ snout curl, she shrugged her wings. “Maybe not. But hey, I think that Aloe would give you and Sunny favorable terms of surrender.”
Six-Claws shook his head. Like Leopard had expected. Neither of them really wanted to fight, but neither of them was willing to back down. How long would it be before they were forced to come to blows? It seemed inevitable, unless Sunny stayed missing.
The two were silent for a moment, and Leopard’s gaze traced back to the cacti. Not much else could grow this deep in the desert. Even the fruit was covered with sharp spines.
“I’m bored,” Leopard grumbled, just stating what was on her mind to break the silence. “I’d expected something a bit more interesting.”
“You don’t want interesting,” Six-Claws responded. “This siege isn’t particularly thrilling, but it’s far better than a real war.”
“A real war?” Leopard asked, unsure of what Six-Claws meant by that. “Are you implying this isn’t a real war? Not taking us seriously, huh. That overconfidence will lead to your downfall, you know.”
Six-Claws shook his head, and couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “You haven’t seen real war. There’s been a few deaths, sure, two battles, but that’s nothing compared to the bloodbath that was the War of SandWing Succession. That was a real war. Slaughter and starvation, pillaging and ravaging. Dragons dropping from the sky like flies. And even that barely compares to Blackice’s short reign of terror. More dragons died in a few moon cycles than in the first year of the War. Here, I could count the number of dead dragons on all four paws.”
“I thought we agreed that there was between twenty and thirty dead on both sides, in both battles?” Leopard wondered, confused.
“My paws,” Six-Claws chuckled. “Not yours. But the fact that we can count the dead says something. Both Sunny and Aloe managed to keep casualties to a bare minimum. That’s not a normal thing in warfare.”
“Hm,” Leopard replied, considering this. It was true that Aloe had been trying to get the throne back with as few deaths as possible. It’s why she’d made the deal with Blackice to begin with. She’d hoped that by taking the palace, she’d be able to capture Sunny unaware and win quickly. Of course, things hadn’t worked out as planned. But more than anything, Aloe didn’t want to be like Blister. “I think I agree. I hope . . . I hope that if there are any future battles, we can continue this. Take prisoners instead of killing or maiming. Exchanging and freeing them.”
“I hope so too,” Six-Claws responded. “Though things rarely turn out that way. Dragon nature, I suppose. But . . .” Six-Claws raised his head, staring at Leopard, almost begging to her. “You have Aloe’s ear. You might be able to convince her to step down.”
Leopard shook her head. “I can’t, and won’t. You know that.”
“I know,” Six-Claws sighed.
Another moment of silence passed between the two.
“There’s more news,” Six-Claws said, his already grim expression growing grimmer. “It might just be an overblown rumor, but I’ve fear that Queen Scarlet has been dethroned.”
Leopard tilted her head, folding her wings in. She would’ve expected Six-Claws to be more excited about that. That was odd. “She didn’t have any daughters or sisters, did she? You told me she killed them all. No one to challenge her.”
“It wasn’t an heir,” Six-Claws explained. “Nor even a SkyWing, if this is all true. An army of RainWings appeared, apparently out of nowhere, and their leader, a RainWing known only as the Empress, took the throne. Deathbringer has no idea who she is or where the RainWings came from.”
“The Empress,” Leopard repeated, eyes growing wide as a toothy smile crossed her snout. A mysterious RainWing army, taking down Queen Scarlet? This was interesting. “Tell me more.”
“She supposedly possesses some sort of sorcery,” Six-Claws continued, Leopard attentive. “She carries bolts of lightning in her claws, and can shed her scales like a snake to reveal fur or skin. She can disappear instantly, and appear in another place.”
Leopard stared into Six-Claws’ black eyes. After a few moments, she let out a laugh, bawling as she shook her head.
“You almost had me convinced!” Leopard chuckled. “Shows what I get for trusting an enemy to give me my news. What next? Can she control dragons with her mind?”
“I wasn’t joking.”
Leopard’s laughs stopped, and she went silent. Six-Claws was still grim. If he was just pulling a prank on her, his expression didn’t show it. He was telling the truth.
“Are you sure?” Leopard asked, suddenly concerned. “It’s just rumor, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Six-Claws grimaced. “Probably grossly exaggerated. But I’ve heard it from enough sources, I have to wonder. And after hearing about Deathbringer’s battle with Queen Blackice, it’s difficult to discount it all as falsities.”
“Queen Blackice? Don’t tell me she’s involved in this. She didn’t turn into a RainWing and escape, right?”
“Very unlikely,” Six-Claws answered. “But during the fight, Queen Blackice had one of her underlings use an animus-touched object called the Gift of Guardianship. It lets the wearer become as strong as the strongest dragon in Pyrrhia while they are protecting their queen. And according to Deathbringer, the Black Prince who used it became huge, could control lightning, and could teleport instantly. A good dragon was lost to the Black Prince’s rage, and even with an animus-touched artifact of his own, Deathbringer only survived because Blackice was killed, and the Gift ceased working. At the moment, its effects can’t be replicated, since the IceWings currently don’t have a queen, but it makes me concerned: what if this Empress is the strongest dragon Pyrrhia? How else could the Gift’s powers be explained?”
“Hm,” Leopard frowned, flattening her sail. “Still. This all happened in the Sky Kingdom, right? The Empress is halfway across Pyrrhia, so unless she comes for us, we should be fine. For now.”
“Maybe,” Six-Claws responded. “So far, she hasn’t made any movements on the other kingdoms. But if it becomes apparent that she’s going to attack the Sand Kingdom, we might want to consider figuring things out here before then, or consider a truce.”
“A truce,” Leopard said, considering it. Could they really afford that? Right now, the only advantage she and Aloe had over Sunny was the palace. If they gave that up . . . what did they have? Still if a super-powered dragon with an army of RainWings attacked the palace, they didn’t have much else of a choice. “I’ll bring it up with Aloe. Thank you for the news.”
“Of course,” Six-Claws replied, trying to force a faint smile. “It’s all bad for you, so it’s my pleasure to bring it. However, I should go. I promised my army a gourmet meal. Water as far as the eye could see, and fresh meat piled high. We’re gonna cook it, so if you smell roasted meat, it’s probably just us. If you’re interested in joining us . . .”
“You’ll add it to the surrender conditions,” Leopard laughed. “No thanks. We’ll survive on our own. Sandstone is pretty tasty, you know.”
She waved a paw to Six-Claws as she turned around, feeling a brush of wind against her scales as he took off. The doors opened a crack for her as she headed back into the palace, saluted by SandWings guarding it.
She wondered how much of what Six-Claws said was true. Queen Blackice’s death was believable, but the stuff about the Empress? It seemed almost ridiculous. Yet, as of yet Leopard hadn’t heard Six-Claws lie to her about anything. Could he be withholding information? It was certainly possible. They were still enemies, after all.
Leopard attempted to put the talk behind her as she climbed the stairs to Aloe’s room. Not that she didn’t enjoy Six-Claws’s company, of course. It was mostly the opposite. How could she talk so casually, be so friendly to a dragon that she may end up facing in battle one day? What would she do if she had to kill him?
Leopard slowly opened the doors to the room she and Aloe had been staying in. They hadn’t taken the queen’s bedchambers. A bit too easy of a target, in case Sunny sent an assassin after them. Instead, the two had chosen a small room, probably a servant or advisor’s chambers. The straw bed was small for the both of them to fit in, but Leopard found it quite cozy. Neither of them were particularly used to living like royalty.
Aloe herself was laying on her back, wings tucked into her side as she read a scroll. Her hindlegs kicked up into the air as she swung her tail back and forth. Not a particularly queenlike position.
As Leopard closed the door behind her, Aloe’s expression lit up, excited to see Leopard. The dim candlelight of the windowless room tinted Aloe’s scales just a bit more yellow than they were in the sunlight, flushing her pale colors with the hues of orange flame, bold black diamonds breaking up the uniform color. She wore none of the golden jewelery that she usually did when presenting herself to a crowd, except for the dolphin pendant hanging from her neck. That, Leopard new she never took off.
Leopard leaped up onto the back of the bed in a single bound, careful not to catch her claws in the straw. She looked down at Aloe for a moment as the princess reached out with her forepaws, pulling Leopard’s head down to her underbelly, her eyes staring up at the base of Aloe’s neck. From this point of view, Leopard’s gaze could easily see the dark scar running up and across Aloe’s neck, where one of Rift’s brothers had sliced her scales open with a dagger. The one blemish on her protected body. It had healed up nicely since the attack, but Leopard couldn’t help but wonder why the enchantment had decided to fail her then.
Leopard fell down onto the bed as Aloe’s wings wrapped around her, twining their tails for a moment. She took in a deep breath. Even with the lack of water to wash themselves with, Aloe still seemed clean, her scent as light as flowers.
“Are you okay?” Aloe asked Leopard.
“Hmm?” Leopard said, lifting her head up to meet Aloe’s eyes. “Oh. Yeah. Just the talk with General Six-Claws is still on my mind. He . . . suggested we surrender. Said things would good for us if we did.”
“Oh,” Aloe frowned, the moment between the two gone. “You told him no. Right?”
“Of course, of course,” Leopard assured her. “I asked him to surrender in kind. He said no too.”
Aloe’s tail twitched. “We’re going to win,” she replied. “We are. And when we do, I’m going to make sure nothing like this happens again. No more succession crises. No more terrible choices. No more violent gangster rulers.”
“Mmm,” Leopard nodded along. Aloe could get a little carried away, but she understood.
“I’ll make sure Shore is free from this,” Aloe continued. “The Sand Kingdom will be nothing like what my Blister wanted it to be. I’ll reverse what Thorn did, and the sisters and Queen Oasis before her. I’ll tear this horrible palace down brick by brick if that’s what is needed.”
“I know, sweetie,” Leopard replied. “I know you would.”
“The SandWings will be free,” Aloe said. Leopard felt Aloe’s tail tense up around her own, as she came to a concerning thought. “Possibility . . .”
“You won’t need to worry about Possibility,” Leopard laughed. Aloe had promised some of the northeastern SandWing territory would be given over to the IceWings when she’d made her deal with Blackice, without realizing that half of Possibility was still technically SandWing territory until Six-Claws had mentioned some of the politics around Possibility to Leopard. Thorn had considered giving it independence, but knew that if she did, Queen Scarlet would’ve immediately claimed the whole city as her own.
“I won’t?” Aloe wondered, looking over at Leopard with a confused frown. “But I made the deal. Queen Blackice—”
“Isn’t going to be a problem anymore,” Leopard smiled.
“Not a problem? What do you mean?”
“According to Six-Claws, Blackice was killed in battle just yesterday,” Leopard explained. “There was a large battle at Jade Mountain. For the moment, Prince Hailstorm has taken the IceWing throne. Apparently he survived the massacre at the palace.”
Aloe paused, staring at Leopard in disbelief. Leopard waited a few moments as Aloe processed what that meant to them.
“Good,” Aloe finally stated. “I’m glad she’s dead.”
Leopard nodded in agreement.
“Blackice was merciless,” Aloe continued, clutching her talons around her pendant. “She was moralless. She murdered every dragon she came across in the IceWing palace, or in the rainforest, adult and dragonet alike. We should never have worked with her to begin with, and if Blackice hadn’t been killed, I would’ve torn her apart myself if given the chance. Blister was a scheming pile of—”
“Aloe,” Leopard interrupted quietly. She placed her own talons around Aloe’s, shaking as the pendant dug into her paw-scales. “It’s fine. She’s dead. She’s not coming back.”
Aloe blinked, then closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, as she allowed her talons to unclench, lowering her snout into Leopard’s paws. “I said Blister. Didn’t I.”
Leopard nodded slowly. “I get it.”
Aloe shook her head. “They sound the same.” She shook her wings, changing the subject. “If Prince - no, King Hailstorm is in charge of the throne now, we should establish formal diplomatic relations with him. We need strong allies, or at least a few dragons who aren’t our enemies.”
“Don’t you think it’s a bit early for that?” Leopard frowned. She didn’t like the idea of getting the IceWings involved again, not until this was over. “We’re not really in a position where I think anyone would recognize us as in control.”
“It’s not,” Aloe pressed. “With Sunny missing, we’re as good as won. We just need to wait for General Six-Claws to realize it.”
Leopard sighed, thinking back to her conversation with Six-Claws. From what he’d said, she thought it would be quite a while before he finally gave up. “Maybe becoming queen isn’t such a good idea,” she muttered, almost without thinking.
Aloe tensed up, her barb instinctively curling inwards. “What do you mean?” she asked, a hint of frantic in her voice. “You promised. The three of us. We all promised, that I’d become queen of the Sand Kingdom, and then we’d be safe. No one would control us, or anyone in the Sand Kingdom as long as I lived.” Her breath started to quicken, almost hyperventilating. “You can’t be - you can’t—”
“Aloe, please, I’m not,” Leopard calmly assured her, wincing. “I’m not breaking my promise.”
“Good,” Aloe huffed, her emotions whipping around from fear to anger. “With Blister’s ashes spread throughout the Sand Kingdom, I’ll make sure she’s watching. She’ll be certain to see when small, useless Aloe does what Blister couldn’t ever do. I’ll be Queen of the Sand Kingdom. I’ll erase her name from history, all while she’s watching from whatever hell she lives in. They’ll talk about the three princesses, Blaze, Burn, and the third one no one remembers, then Queen Aloe succeeded them, best of them all! I’ll make sure - I’ll make sure —”
“I know you will,” Leopard nodded, trying to make her voice sound as soothing as possible. She stroked her talons along Aloe’s side, letting them trace between her scales. “It’ll be great. I know. But . . . that wasn’t the only promise we made. The three of us promised we wouldn’t win the throne like she was trying to do. We wouldn’t start another war involving all of Pyrrhia. The two of you wouldn’t repeat your parents’ mistakes.”
Aloe’s talons shook as she felt Leopard’s slow breath against her, the stroking of her talons helping her settle down. “I haven’t broken that promise.”
Leopard hesitated for a moment, before trying to push those thoughts away. “You haven’t,” Leopard replied with a smile. Still, she wondered. Aloe had made the deal with Blackice. They hadn’t brought the IceWings into their war, but it had been close. What if things had gone differently, and Blackice had won?
It didn’t matter. Blackice was dead, and what had happened couldn’t be changed. They just needed to be more careful in the future.
The Empress crossed Leopard’s mind again. She wondered — what would happen if the Empress came for the Sand Kingdom? Then a Pyrrhia-spanning war would happen regardless, and there was little the two of them could do about.
== Chapter 44 ==
“Polar!” Tiger and Skytaker shouted out in unison, almost laughing in relief as the glowing IceWing stepped towards them, finally becoming visible.
“You’re alive!” Skytaker continued, rushing forward and wrapping their forepaws around Polar. The hybrid’s claws scratched against stone, covering Polar’s body in huge patches. Skytaker sniffed. For some reason, the IceWing smelt like the desert.
Polar chuckled uncomfortably, gently pushing Skytaker away as he backed up. The golden light from between the cracks of stone cast a shadow down from Skytaker, into the base of the dome.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” Tiger asked, confused. “Toxin said—”
“Fate had other things in store for me,” Polar smiled, lifting up a paw. A glittering diamond was embedded in its center, trapped in the stone covering the IceWing’s scales. “Pretty fortunate for the four of you, I’d say.”
Tiger smiled. “Toxin will be so happy to hear you’re alive. How did you—”
Before Tiger could finish her sentence, she let out a yelp as a chunk of sandstone hit her backside. She looked up to see that a hole had formed in the roof of the dome, a black inky tentacle squirming through it. She opened her mouth, about to scream, when Polar extended his talons. The light around him grew blindingly bright, as golden sand whipped around the darkness, covering it up as it solidified into stone.
“I can’t explain now,” Polar grimaced. “I can’t keep the Horror at bay much longer.”
“The Horror?” Ecru asked, somewhat unsure what to think of all this. “I thought you said this was the Great Ice Dragon.”
“It is,” Polar sighed, slightly exasperated. He quickly scanned the roof of the dome for more cracks. “The Horror is just what we call it. A bit more to the point, you know?”
“We?” Midnight wondered, not seeing anyone else in the dome with them. “Who is we?”
“As I said, I’ll explain later,” Polar replied, the IceWing’s voice almost a growl. “Right now, I have to get you out of here. Get behind me, all four of you. When I say so, we’re going to run. Stay behind me, but not too far behind me.”
“Wait, we’re going out there?” Midnight stammered. “You can’t be serious.”
Polar snorted. “Well, if you want to stay here, be my guest, but I doubt this shell is gonna hold for long. Get a move on.”
Midnight frowned as she walked up behind Polar, joining the dragonets. She didn’t even know this dragon. But at least Tiger and Skytaker seemed to, and it wasn’t like she had any other choices.
“It’ll be alright,” Ecru tried to assure Midnight. “We’ll be alright.”
Polar lifted his wings up, spreading them out wide. The ethereal golden glow sharpened around them, and he took a step back as his claws tensed.
“NOW!” Polar yelled out, rushing forward. With a flap of his wings, a hole formed in the sandstone dome. Waiting on the other side, black shadows creeped in, swarming towards Polar. 
The IceWing flapped his wings again, a golden glow shedding them as he moved his wingtips up and down in a fine motion. Shimmering sand swirled up from the ground, weaved by Polar’s magic into the air. The darkness seemed to retreat backwards as the sand curled into the air, twisting and twirling in spirals. It quickly solidified into stone, forming the roof and sides of a curved tunnel over the exit, extending out in front of Polar.
Polar sprinted into the tunnel he created, more of it forming as he ran. Tiger and Skytaker ran off behind him, so close the stone spikes on the IceWing’s tail almost whacked Tiger in the snout. Midnight and Ecru hurried behind, Midnight risking a glance back as she ran, heart pounding.
Cracks had formed in the dome behind them, Polar’s magic not enough to keep the Horror at bay there. Black tentacles creeped behind them. Midnight let out a yelp as she saw one fling itself towards her, before turning away at the last moment as sand rose up to greet it, solidifying and blocking the attack. Midnight winced as she felt it grit against her scales, polishing them roughly.
“Don’t look!” Polar yelled back to her. “It’s under control!”
Midnight turned back, squinting at Polar as he continued to sprint. He hadn’t looked back at all; in fact, he seemed focused on creating the tunnel above them. How did he know what was behind him?
The group turned suddenly, as Polar led them down another street, heading back towards this world’s Mausoleum. Ecru caught a quick glimpse of the city, lit up by the glowing sandstone. As she’d seen earlier, deserted buildings reached up to the clouds, even as the ground was covered in the bones of the dead. But now, the Horror covered it all. Inky darkness squirmed over every surface, black shadows against the black sky, also covered by it’s unfathomable expanse. Colorful lights were swept around in its fluid body, whispering as Ecru stared. Their glow provided the only sense of scale and shape in the uniform black, the close ones outlining the rectangular buildings.
“I didn’t realize . . . ,” Ecru whispered, not sure whether she was feeling wonder or terror. She’d sensed it when Midnight had used her magic, but this was so much to take in. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
“No time for sightseeing!” Polar yelled back. “We’re almost there!”
With the pace that they were running, and their path already lit, it wasn’t long before the blinking buildings of the dead city had been put behind them, and the group was on the path back to the Mausoleum. Midnight’s heart raced as she spotted the stone pillars in front of them, and the fallen doors beyond the ancient statues. She panted, taking another glance back as she leaped over a fallen queen’s torso.
Ȳ̥̝͓̱͇̦͓̮̉̔̀̓̑ŏ̡̺̙͎̜̜͕͇̘̺̎̆́͐͠͝u̧̞̼̙͙̰̅͒̒͐̎͌͟͡ ç̡͖̱͙͈̄͑͌͋͆͋̇͆̐a̛̫̜̫̗̻͉̳̼̼͕̽́̅̀̌ň͔̤̪̺̻̮̥̫̰͌̈́̄̚͡ͅ’̧̯͍̘͍͚̦̲̙̝̀̑̅͊̅̒̅̇͘t̴̡͔͚̳̟̬͍̙̔̉͆̈́̀̑͋̏ é̸̡̡̡̻̰̣̫̘̉͗̈́̾͂͜͜s̶̢̯̼̣̒͌̀̓̋̇̒͒ͅc̛̛͔͉̪͔͈͚͊̉̓̆́a̷̡͉͙̠̜̣̦̗̗̽̀̀̆̚̚͡p̵̳̩̯͙͛̽̑̾̄̚͢ͅe̤͉͖̫̝̺͌͐͂̿̅͌̏ i̹̻̤̘̝̎̔̋̒͟͠t̡̢̘̼̩͑̔͗͌̑̾̌͗͗̐͜,̡̣̣̬̳͆̾̓͋͜͞ a̝̰̳̝͉̜̘̙̬͒̂̽͑̂͌͞ͅn̛̝͓͇̦͖̦̘̍͊͆͆̒͐͠i̴̡̟̯̞͚̜͈͐̍̀́̓̿͌m͍̮̭̦͔̍̀͋͊͠u̵͔̗̣̮̱̪͐̓͊̄̈́̽͌́̾̚ś̢̬͇̘̹̦̫̗͐͐̈͋͛͟͟͞.̴̧̟̥̮̙̱̓̃͂̒̄̓͌͆ I̸̡͙̮͎̥͖̺͑͌̀͘͘͝͡t̸͓̝̜̪̫̼̞̬̒͗̈̚͜͞’̛̜̟̱͕̪̱͍̌̀͂̆̂̀̀͡͞ḷ̶̡̫͎̲͕͇͛͊̏̄͜͡l̢̤̜͈̗̟̪͌́̇̓̿͢͞͞ a̵̯͈̹̤̦͈͚͒̎͛͋̾͊̓͗̊͜͝l̛͎͈̬͙͇̜̮͋̂́̆͗̿̉̀͘w̗̱̠̦͈̻̾͗̂͗̑͢͞á̸̬͙͓̝̫͚͚̻̞̃̈̑̎͟y̴͕̣̗̗̳̪̭̍́̓̐̉͗͑͞s̪͈͉̩̝̫̋͑̀̍̊̕͟ b̡̛͇͍̫̟̙͌̋̊͊̉͊̊̎͘e̗͕̬̦̹͊͂̄̀͜͝͝ w̢͚͔̰͚̹̿̏͌̆͂̽͊̉̋͝ï̶̡͇̬̜͍̝͖̪̮̀̔̇̈́̍̀͂̿͆t̵͉̫̰̤͇̓̈̅̎̾̍̋͠͡h̢̰̰͔̺̬̭̉̔̌͑̓̏͢ y̶̨̧̯̹͈͕̟̘͌͗̊̇̌͠͡o̵̡͓̠͓̘͖̭̽̽̑̆̽͐̈̕͟͢u̧̬̟̭̖͎̯͖̔̎̐̆͌̀͒͜.̷̡̛̟̗͍̘͎̎͗́̐͂͊͂̕͠ͅ
“Into the crypt, now!” Polar ordered. He stopped as he reached the entrance, whipping around to face the Horror, sand whipping around his wings. Tiger and Skytaker rushed past him, leaping over the door that Midnight had knocked down into the Mausoleum.
Midnight turned back, giving Polar a glance as she ran past him, Ecru grabbing her in a hug as she leapt into the Mausoleum. As soon as they were through, Polar backed into the ruins. Sand rose up into the doorframe at his command, solidifying into a thick, glowing wall.
Midnight’s teeth chattered, staring at it, half-expecting for it to be broken, the five devoured into the darkness of the Horror. But nothing happened. All was still.
“We should hurry,” Polar said, letting out his own sigh of relief. “We need to get you all back to Pyrrhia. You have your own mission, don’t you? It’s why you came down here.”
“You can lead us back?” Skytaker asked, slightly surprised.
Polar nodded. “C’mon. Follow me.”
Midnight looked over at the stone-covered door as she followed Polar and the others down into the tunnels again. A chill ran down her spine, across her tail. She could still feel its presence on the other side, even as the whispers faded.
“Was that really the Great Ice Dragon?” Ecru asked as they descended through the tunnel. More of the strange crystals were popping up, but with Polar’s faint golden glow, they didn’t do much to light up the path.
“Yes. The IceWings had it right,” Polar explained. “Though what they imagined their god to look like was a bit off. Not an ice dragon at all, but I suppose you could call it ‘great.’ All legend is based in fact, I suppose.”
“How is it the Great Ice Dragon, then, if it’s neither a dragon nor made of ice?” Midnight frowned. She tried to remember what Ecru had told her about the Great Ice Dragon. One thing in particular stuck out to her. “Is that . . . where animus magic comes from?”
She felt her stomach turn as Polar nodded. Her magic, her powers. It didn’t come from her, but from that horrible . . . thing? Thanks to her father, she’d never been fond of her powers to begin with, but now that she knew what caused them, she wanted no more than to tear her brain out from her skull, her powers with them. Even here, she could still hear the quiet buzz, the hum that had in the back of mind there since she’d healed Gazelle, except for her short time on Antigonia. Maybe Torrent had been right, all along.
“You’re right, sort of,” Polar started to explain. “It’s a little more complicated than the Horror just granting powers. Have you noticed all the crystals in these tunnels?” He brushed his tail against one, causing it to light up quickly. “They’re called Darkstone. A bit of a misnomer, since not all of them are dark, but the ones in Pyrrhia’s Crystal Caverns are. They were created by the Horror. I’m not exactly sure how to explain it, but IceWings originally got animus magic by living near them, in the hills south of the Ice Kingdom. They slowly mutated the IceWings until the Horror got access to their minds.
“The Horror itself can’t use animus magic,” Polar continued. “Not that it needs to. We’re not sure why. In all honesty, we barely know what it is, or even if it’s alive or not. Kinda difficult to study. Maybe it’s not intelligent enough to use magic itself, or maybe that’s just a condition on its powers. However, it’s able to grant the wishes, so to speak, of dragons who are connected to it. That’s how animus works. If you’re connected to it, you can ask it for something, and it’ll usually say yes.”
“I think I understand,” Ecru remarked. “Every time an animus uses their magic, their connection to the Horror grows. And eventually, they lose their souls to it, while the Horror moves closer to Pyrrhia.”
“Wow. You’re pretty much right,” Polar responded, grinning. “I’m surprised you figured that out just from what I told you.”
Ecru frowned. The group had entered the glassy caverns, and Polar stepped onto the crystal bridge. Hopefully, he knew where he was taking them. “I could feel it when Midnight used magic.”
“You could feel it?” Polar asked, flicking his tail. “What do you mean by that?”
Ecru squirmed uncomfortably as she crossed the bridge.
“She tends to notice things other dragons can’t,” Midnight answered for her. “Subtle things, like being able to tell when dragons have died in a place.”
Polar stopped, considering this for a moment. “Ecru, can I see your eyes?”
“My eyes?” Ecru asked. “Er, sure.”
Polar turned, lifting Ecru’s head until their snouts were pointed at each other. The stone around his talons scraped her jaws as he stared, his eyes locked with hers.
After a few moments, Polar dropped her head, turning away. Ecru let out a sigh of relief.
“What is it?” Midnight asked, a bit concerned for Ecru.
“Nothing abnormal,” Polar laughed. “Interesting. Déjà vu, perhaps? I thought she’d have something like Fracture or Ink’s powers, but I guess not.”
Midnight perked up. “Ink?” she asked. “You mean my brother? Did you know him?”
Polar chuckled. “That’s right, I never properly introduced myself. Tiger and Skytaker met me at Jade Mountain, but you don’t know me. I’m Polar, Fracture and Clarity’s dragonet. I was one of the five dragons that my father sent down here to stop the drought, with Ink, Toxin, Inferno, and of course, Slate. You don’t need to introduce yourself, Midnight, I already know who you are. This way.”
He turned, squeezing into a small passage that Midnight swore hadn’t been there before. The other four followed him into it, climbing up loose stone.
“You seem different, though,” Skytaker mused.
“I do?” Polar asked. “What is it? The stone on my scales? The glowing?”
“More than that,” Skytaker pointed out. “You’re not as, er, mean.”
Polar nodded in agreement. “You’re right. I’m not. Time works differently in the Crystal Caverns. It’s been far longer for me than the rest of you. I suppose that changed me a bit. Got a bit more sense of . . . perspective.”
Polar glanced back, stretching his claws out to help the others up a steep slope. When he got to Tiger, she gave him a cautious stare, hesitating to take his claws.
“You want to ask me something,” Polar suspected. “You’re free to do it.”
Tiger curled her claws. Something about this whole thing was wrong. “Toxin told me what happened. How did you survive?”
Polar smirked, and turned around, weaving past the others in the tight tunnel to get back to the front of the train of dragons. “I’m pretty sure you already know.”
Tiger stopped, giving Polar a wary look.
“C’mon. I saved you, remember?” Polar sighed. “I’m not leading you to your doom.”
“That’s what I don’t understand,” Tiger frowned. “Why would you save us?”
Polar shook his head. “Just because things are more complicated now doesn’t mean I’m your enemy. I’m still on your and Toxin’s side. I promise, I don’t have ulterior motives in bringing you back to Pyrrhia safely. The Empress is my enemy. I don’t want her transforming Pyrrhia either.”
Tiger felt a cold feeling of dread creep up through her talons. She finally asked the question she wasn’t sure she wanted an answer to.
“Did Polar really survive?”
Polar stopped. The cavern went quiet as he turned around, meeting Tiger’s eyes.
Tiger growled, baring her fangs. “I want to know. Who is talking to me right now? Polar, or Calamity?”
It was a few moments before Polar responded. “I’m still myself. I hope that’s enough for you.”
Polar turned back, continuing to walk down the tunnel. Tiger glared at him as she followed. It was true. Polar had been saved by the dragon who Ink had sacrificed himself to stop, and had aligned with him. She quenched the maroon hints of rage coming through on her scales.
“Er, I think I’m a bit out of the loop here,” Midnight said, very confused. “Who’s Calamity?”
Tiger opened her mouth to respond. “Calamity was . . . is—”
“I can tell her,” Polar interrupted, receiving a glare from the RainWing dragonet. “I was with Toxin during the battle, remember?” He took a deep breath, before looking Midnight directly in her eyes. “Calamity is the dragon who killed Queen Fen. The dragon who killed Princess Blister. The dragon who created your father, the dragon who caused the drought. The dragon who send Crystal and Aurora to kill you, Nightreader, Loresearcher, Queen Tourmaline, Queen Thorn, and Queen Glacier. The dragon who Ink, Toxin, Inferno, Slate, and I failed to destroy. The dragon who Ink gave his life in order to bind and defeat. The dragon who saved my life after I threw it away trying to stop him, and now, the dragon who saved yours.” Polar tilted his head. “Is that a sufficient explanation?”
Midnight felt her breath go shallow as she tried to take in everything that Polar had told her, not quite able to fit it in all at once. Calamity was the final piece in the puzzle of her life, and her family’s history.
“Yes,” Midnight whispered, talons shaking. Confusion, fear, or anger? Some of all three. Calamity was behind not just her family’s massacre, but far more than that. Even as she felt hatred creep through her, she was uncertain what to feel. How could Polar align himself with someone like that, even if Calamity had saved his life?
“That’s good,” Polar replied. “It’s alright to hate him. He deserves it. But things are rarely black and white.”
Midnight’s talons raked across the stone, and she turned her head away, not able to look Polar in the eyes. Part of her was furious at Calamity even for just having a claw in Polar saving her. Was he trying to make her feel indebted to him? There was no way, especially with three of her family members dead because of him. Why hadn’t he let her die, then? What was he trying to do? Were they walking into a trap?
Ecru put a wing around Midnight, and she relaxed a tad. She hadn’t even heard about Calamity until a few minutes ago. Yet, she had to wonder: what would her life have been like if her mother hadn’t been killed? A parent other than the brooding Torrent and the elderly Gazelle. A family, with two siblings. What would that have been like?
Then she probably wouldn’t have met Ecru. She sighed, shaking her head. There was no use wondering what would’ve happened. She probably would’ve be nothing like the dragon she was today.
Midnight’s head suddenly perked up as something started to vibrate beneath her paws. The small pebbles on the ground had started to shake. She looked around, seeing that the other dragons had noticed it to.
Ecru suddenly let out a yelp. Midnight looked to the ceiling to see that two huge rocks had fallen down from the dark crack of the tunnel above them, let loose by the shaking. Midnight tried to jump out of the way, but the tunnel ahead seemed to squeeze against her, scraping her wing membranes as she tried to get past.
Not a moment too soon, Polar stretched out his talons, a golden beam of light shooting from them. It hit the boulders directly, and they exploded into particles of find sand, falling harmlessly on Midnight’s wings. She let out a sigh of relief, shaking the sand from her scales. The ground had stopped shaking.
“Keep moving,” Polar ordered, like the earthquake had been nothing. “We’re almost there.”
Midnight started to bare her fangs and bark back a reply, before thinking better of it. Even if he was working under Calamity, Polar had saved her now, twice.
She noticed Ecru glancing backwards out of the corner of her eye. “What is it?” Midnight asked.
“I thought I saw something,” Ecru frowned. “Just for a moment. A flicker of a shadow, creeping towards us. I saw it earlier, too. Polar, is the Horror still here?”
“Yes, but we’re further from it now, and it’s weaker here,” Polar replied. “It’s fine. You’ve got nothing to worry about as long as you’re with me, so long as the Horror remains asleep.”
“It fell back asleep after we woke it up?” Skytaker asked.
Polar shook his head, and laughed at the idea. “No. You didn’t wake it up. It takes a lot more than a single enchantment to do that.”
“You’re saying that was it sleeping?” Midnight stammered, shocked. “Where it consumed the entire city? Three moons. I don’t want to see it awake, then.”
“Don’t worry,” Polar chortled. “You wouldn’t be able to see it for very long. It only wakes up when it’s feeding.”
“What does it eat?” Midnight winced, already suspecting the answer.
“Souls,” Polar smiled.
Tiger stared forward as they climbed the path, folding her wings into her side. “The Great Ice Dragon lives trapped beneath ice,” she whispered, paraphrasing the legend. “When the world ends, Pyrrhia will got hot, the ice will melt. She’ll be free once more, and she’ll take the IceWings to an eternal paradise.”
“Almost right,” Polar clucked. “But not just the IceWings, and while having your soul devoured over a few millenia might seem eternal, it is far from a paradise.”
The group reached a fork in the path. Polar quickly looked back and forth, squinting as if he was trying to listen for something, then turned to the left.
“This way,” Polar said. “We’re almost back to our world.”
Midnight panted as they climbed up another slope, the tunnel spreading out as it grew wider. The surface quickly transitioned to clear crystal, shining like a mirror in front of Midnight’s eyes. She stared at it, brushing her tail against its sheer surface. Even if it looked like ice, it wasn’t cold to the touch.
The path flattened out, and Midnight turned forward. A thin bridge of crystal, like the ones in the other caverns, stretched out in front of them. Her eyes traced out across it, until finally reaching the other end. She stopped, heart pounding.
“Midnight, what’s wrong?” Ecru asked. “You’re shaking.”
A all-to-familiar dragon stared back at her from across the bridge, horns and scales that haunted her dreams since her hatching. Midnight stood frozen in fear, only able to look as Crystal’s laughing snout stared down at her, cackling as her talons clenched around the hilt of her twisted dagger, pointed towards Midnight’s skull.
== Chapter 45 ==
A slow, blissful breath moved in and out of Aurora’s lungs. For just a moment, she was at peace. Brisk wind billowed under her wings, membranes flapping as she soared the northern air currents. Snow-capped mountains spanned the ground below her like a dragon’s spine, trees, rivers, and lakes dotting the valleys between them.
A small bit of fur itched between Aurora’s horns, a little reminder of her duty. For a moment, she was about to brush it off with her claws, before recalling what it was. Sapphire had laid down on the top of Aurora’s skull, making a small place for himself as he clutched between her scales, threatening to peel a few off with his sharp claws. Even the back and forth rocking and the winds clambering to pull him into the open sky until he was just a blotch on the mountainside didn’t seem to scare him. Aurora supposed that she shouldn’t have been surprised. He was used to flying with Trustbreaker, no doubt.
Aurora didn’t know where the Empress had gone, but the SkyWing palace was her best bet. It wasn’t really Queen Scarlet’s anymore, but she didn’t want to call it the Empress’s palace just yet. Although it wasn’t really much of a palace anymore, after the Empress’s devastating magical attacks on it. Regardless, that was where Aurora suspected she would be. She hadn’t taken her entire army to the Talons of Peace, which meant some of them had stayed behind.
Clean, untouched air entered Aurora’s throat, and her glowstripes gave off a happy flutter. Happy. That was odd. She hadn’t felt happy in a long time. Not since she’d left her family in the Crystal Caverns, and not for a while before that. She pondered the emotion for a moment, wondering why she was feeling it.
A thought bubbled up in her mind. This was the first time she’d ever enjoyed flying aboveground. It had taken her a while to get used to it. There was so much . . . stuff. Everywhere she looked, there was just more. An infinite expanse, above and to all sides. She hadn’t been used to it. She hadn’t been prepared for it. But she’d started to get used to it, this worlds open spaces and sunlight. Something about it just felt . . . right? Right. This was where a dragon was supposed to be, with the world beneath her wings, so high above she was but a speck in the sky. Not trapped in the bellows of the ground. Up here, she was free.
Freedom. Maybe that was also why she was happy. Not just because of the geographic freedom, though that was certainly a part of it, but she was free of her duty. Specifically, her duty to Calamity, and to Pyrrhia. With the Empress here, there was no way she could complete Calamity’s plan. It wasn’t something she had to worry about, something constantly lurking across her mind. She’d failed, and that was . . . freeing.
The mountains beneath caught her gaze. They were so beautiful! Greens and whites and blues, all in harmony. Shadows moving, tracing across the individual cracks and crags between the mountainsides. Peaks reaching towards the sun, glittering snow melting as the day progressed. There was nothing like it in the barren caverns, nothing so expansive and eternal.
But if Trustbreaker’s words had been true, the supposed eternity wouldn’t be very long. The Empress posed a threat to even Pyrrhia’s landscape. Aurora would likely be dead before the Horror ever arose, but the Empress was immediate. Maybe that’s why she was going after the Empress. She wanted to save Pyrrhia for its beauty, so that she could experience more of it herself.
She frowned, as she thought of what the Empress was doing now. Trying to get the Wishstone out from Inferno, presumably. What was going on there? Was the Empress hurting Inferno? Torturing her, even? Aurora felt another emotion spark as the idea crept into her head. Anger. Boiling anger towards the Empress, for capturing and hurting Inferno. Why was she feeling that? In the grand scheme of things, Inferno was just one dragon. She didn’t matter. Yet, Aurora was still angry. Had she become . . . attached to the SkyWing?
It was true that her feelings about Inferno had changed. While she hadn’t really noticed her at the time, she recognized the SkyWing’s pacifism and bravery now. Where she’d stood up to Aurora and defended Ink at the base of Jade Mountain. Where even knowing Aurora could’ve killed her in the blink of an eye, she met with her in front of the Crystal Caverns in order to try and make peace. Her calmness while she’d been Aurora’s prisoner, her willingness to treat Aurora as more than just a temporary ally and ex-enemy.
Aurora’s talons began to shake, her glowscales blinking on and off as she felt her breath quicken. What was going on? Was that why she was going after the Empress? Because she wanted to save Inferno? Because she cared about her?
She shook her head, clenching her claws as she pushed the thoughts back down. There was something wrong with her. She wasn’t supposed to care about individual dragons. She couldn’t care about them if she was to complete her mission. Crystal had told her. Attachments were a weakness, and would just interfere with her goals. That was the only way she could’ve been able to let her mother die.
The moment had passed. Aurora decided it would be bad if she did any more introspection on her motives, and why she was going after the Empress. It was just an extension of Calamity’s orders, trying to stop the Empress so that his plan could continue. She turned away from the mountains, looking into the cloudy sky.
Movement caught her gaze. Other dragons, flying her way. A few dozen of them, from what she could tell. Reds, oranges, and yellows. SkyWings on the wing.
The dragons’ course didn’t change as they approached Aurora. She frowned, talons twitching. There were a lot, but unless they had any sort of magic with them, she’d be able to take the group down easily, or just phase through them. She prepared for a fight, though the SkyWings looked more wary than vicious as she passed closer to them.
She glanced over at the crowd of SkyWings. Only a few seemed to be soldiers. The rest were just ordinary dragons, even a few dragonets. Did she recognize any of them? She wasn’t sure, but it seemed likely these were some of the SkyWings that had been in the palace during her time there. Some certainly seemed to know her, based on their quick looks away as they caught her gaze. These were refugees, escaping the fallen Sky Kingdom.
One of the older dragonets said something to what might have been his mother, a short argument. Ignoring her advice, he courageously glided over towards Aurora, actually brave to speak to her. Aurora felt a tiny bit of admiration for the dragonet. Everyone else had usually been too scared of Aurora, her powers, and her connection to Queen Scarlet to talk with her willingly.
“Er, your, er—” the SkyWing dragonet stammered, not sure of the proper title for Aurora.
“Aurora,” Aurora responded. She was technically a SeaWing princess, and Queen Scarlet had given her a title at some point, but Queen Scarlet wasn’t much of a queen at the moment and Aurora didn’t want to bother with formalities.
The other SkyWings slowed down, watching the two anxiously, careful to keep their difference.
“Aurora,” the dragonet continued. “I just to, um, warn you about going that way. Not that you need warnings or anything, but the SkyWing palace was destroyed, and an army of RainWings are inhabiting it. They attacked SkyWings in the lands around it, which is why we’re fleeing south.”
“Is the Empress there?” Aurora asked. “The one with the crown and lightning powers. What about a fireborn? Is Queen Scarlet still alive?”
The dragonet shook his head. “Sorry. I don’t know. It’s dangerous. We flew away before getting a good look.”
Aurora nodded, before turning away. She frowned, wondering if she should say something in response. “Thank you,” she decided on.
The dragonet quickly flapped back to the group, who quickly continued on their way. Aurora heard someone say, “You know who she is, right?” but wasn’t quite sure which SkyWing it was. Not that it mattered much.
As the refugees flew south, Aurora continued to the north, Sapphire clutching her scales. So the Empress was still at the palace. That meant that Aurora was on the right track.
----The flight to the palace took longer than Aurora had expected, but the world hadn’t been destroyed, so she supposed there wasn’t any harm in her taking her time. She could’ve figured out a way to shoot across the sky like how she and Inferno had gotten to the Talons of Peace, but then she would’ve had to worry about healing herself after getting to Liliana, and she was too worried that the small, elderly Sapphire wouldn’t have been able to survive the heat and acceleration.
Even before she spotted the palace ruins, she spotted RainWings on patrol, guarding the lands and skies around it. That wouldn’t be a problem for her, of course. From the battle she’d seen, they were just RainWings, no special powers or anything like that. Unless she slipped up again and accidentally got sleep darted like when she’d met Queen Glory, none of them posed a threat to her but the Empress herself.
She heard a purr from above her snout, reminding her of Sapphire’s presence. That was right. She’d carried him all this way, but if she was going into battle with the Empress, she couldn’t take him with her. Her healing abilities were slow and limited as was, and she needed to make sure she wasn’t distracted by trying to keep him alive. She spotted a landmark she thought she could remember, a spire of stone that stuck out of a forested valley like a claw, and landed down by it.
Carefully, Aurora wrapped her talons around Sapphire’s small body, pulling him from her head. Not without pain — the cat seemed to refuse to let go of her, yowling and scratching as she tried to get him off. After some effort, she managed to set him down at the base of the spire.
“If I survive, I’ll come back for you right here,” Aurora stated, hoping he could understand. “If I don’t come back, I’m likely dead, and the Empress has won.”
Sapphire let out a yowl, trying to leap back towards her. Aurora turned the stone beneath him to water, soaking the unhappy cat in it before he could latch onto her again.
“If I bring you, I don’t think you will survive,” Aurora continued. “You saw how easily she killed Trustbreaker, yes? That would happen to you. Stay here.”
Aurora turned away, leaving Sapphire behind as he climbed out of the pool of water. With a flap of her wings, she took off, turning towards the palace to the north.
It wasn’t long before the RainWings on patrol saw her. She didn’t pay them much attention as they soared down towards her, claws out and ready to attack. So the Empress didn’t want interference.
Venom shot at her from the side, on target even with the wind. She phased through it, causing it to land harmlessly on the ground. Another RainWing tried to grasp onto her with claws. She let him fly through her, before whacking him in the side with her tail, quickly growing metal hooks from its spikes. The RainWing let a cry as she ripped out scale and flesh from his side, diving away from her.
The first RainWing shot venom at her again, now noticing clearly how it just went through her. After a couple more attempts, the RainWing finally gave up, gliding down to the ground to help her fallen companion.
By this point, the palace had just come in view, with a swarm of RainWings overhead, like a huge cloud over the Sky Kingdom. The palace itself had seen better days. Since the Empress’s attack on it, more of the numerous towers rising up from its balconies had fallen, outwards or inwards. The great tiered open space on the inside had been filled with rubble, ancient rocks and stone toppled to the ground. RainWings perched on every surface, the army making the ruins their temporary home. Aurora spotted what looked like a chunk of cloud on the ground. It seemed like Queen Scarlet’s throne had been thrown out. Not that Aurora cared too much. She had no sentimentality for the place, and Queen Scarlet’s vicious rule there.
A few more RainWings tried to accost Aurora on her flight there, meeting similar results as the first ones. It didn’t take long before they gave up trying to harm her, and settled for flying a distance away from her, cautiously watching as she headed towards the palace. She looked around, trying to find where the RainWings were most densely packed, before noticing what was left of the arena. RainWings filled the seats, watching the pit of sand below, rubble cleared away. That was probably where the Empress was. Ironically, it seemed like Aurora would be serving as Queen Scarlet’s champion after all.
No one tried to stop Aurora as she soared over the arena, her sky blue scales unique, but not enough to camouflage her descent. She looked down into the arena as she landed.
The Empress’s glittering eyes stared back up at her, her golden crown of leaves and vines shining in the sunlight. So she’d returned to her RainWing form. She made no attempt to attack as Aurora fluttered downwards towards the arena, instead gesturing for her to land. Still, Aurora saw a crackle of lightning arc from one side of the arena to the other. An attempt at intimidation, or a threat?
The Empress wasn’t the only dragon in the sands of the arena. Backed up against one of the walls, tendrils of smoke rose from Inferno’s scales. Her blue eyes lit up as she spotted Aurora, and she tried to take a step forward, but Aurora quickly noticed she was unable to move. As she took a closer look, Aurora spotted thin green vines, like tendrils, wrapping around Inferno’s neck and legs, tightening as she struggled. Whatever they were, they were clearly magical — any ordinary plant would’ve instantly burned at Inferno’s touch. Still, she seemed unharmed.
“AURORA!”
Aurora turned at her name being called. Not far from Inferno, another dragon was held prisoner in the vines. Queen Scarlet clambered out as Aurora approached, vines tightening and almost choking as she struggled to get free.
“HELP ME!” Scarlet squealed at Aurora. The queen’s former regality and menacing appearance had been much reduced since Aurora had last seen her. Her scales were dirty and covered with sand, the unscarred side of her snout stained with tears. Her scales seemed to be shaking in terror, and every so often, her eyes darted towards the Empress or one of the RainWings, instantly flinching and cowering, like she expected venom to come raining down on her at any point. “PLEASE, SAVE ME! THEY’RE GOING TO KILL ME MY SCALES THEY’LL RUIN THEM I’LL MELT I’LL DIE I’L—”
“Quiet,” the Empress commanded, her voice penetrating through the stiff air. She raised a single talon, and vines wrapped around Queen Scarlet’s snout, sneaking in through her teeth. The SkyWing queen froze up as she felt one crawl down her throat, silencing her. She stood still, shaking, staring at Aurora in terror.
Aurora looked back as she landed in the sand, though her gaze wasn’t focused on Scarlet, instead, at the metal box at Scarlet’s paws. So the Eye of Amethyst was still in there. She shouldn’t have been surprised. Had the Empress taken it for herself, Calamity would’ve had access to it, and would’ve used it to kill her. But since it wasn’t the Wishstone, the Empress had no use for it.
“You have a lot of guts, coming here,” the Empress snorted, taking a step in the sand towards Aurora. “You do know who I am, don’t you? I remember seeing you, when I destroyed the palace.”
“I know who you are,” Aurora calmly replied. She took a step to her right, keeping her gaze locked on the RainWing. The Empress made a similar movement, keeping her distance from Aurora, while remaining attentive on her. So she was also exercising caution. She didn’t know the full extent of Aurora’s abilities, and Aurora didn’t know hers.
“You should’ve stayed away!” Inferno suddenly cried out. “You shouldn’t have come. Ash said you can’t beat her!”
Aurora didn’t turn to look at Inferno, even as she heard the SkyWing’s voice call to her. If she lost her focus for even a moment, the Empress could take advantage of that.
“I don’t care what Ash says,” Aurora replied. “If I ignore her, she’s going to destroy Pyrrhia.” And you, most likely. She continued circling around the Empress, making her way around the arena.
The RainWing flicked her tail, smirking. “Destroy Pyrrhia? That’s a bit of an over-exaggeration. I don’t plan to destroy Pyrrhia. I plan to make it better. To get rid of the pain, the violence. To make a world where everyone lives in harmony. If you’re fighting against that, then can you really say you have Pyrrhia’s best interests at heart?”
Aurora snorted, shaking her head as she dragged her tail through the sand, spikes marking a path through it. “That’s ironic.”
“Ironic?” Liliana asked, frowning. “What do you mean by that?”
“The two of us,” Aurora explained. “You didn’t come from this world, and nor did I. Yet, we’re both trying to save it. The fate of Pyrrhia comes down to a battle between two beings who aren’t from it.”
“Hmm,” Liliana mused, continuing her circling. Aurora spotted something new in her eyes. Respect? Hesitation? She seemed a little more guarded than before. “I suppose I underestimated the dragons here. I was expecting to meet resistance, but I wasn’t expecting such a strong challenger so soon. Aurora, is it? Your SkyWing friend mentioned your name. We don’t need to fight. I want to make a deal with you.”
“A deal?” Aurora asked. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll let you have Queen Scarlet, and whatever is in her box,” the Empress suggested. “When I remake this world, I’ll leave the two of you alone. In exchange, you leave me alone. A non-aggression pact.”
Aurora continued circling around the Empress. She considered the deal. But only for a moment.
Aurora shook her head. “That’s not a sufficient deal for me. I need this world intact for Calamity’s plan to continue. Along with you out of it.”
“Calamity?” Liliana asked. “So you’re not working alone? Who is that?”
Aurora let out a sound somewhere between a wheeze and a laugh. She snorted. “You really don’t know? So you don’t know why there are other worlds, and yet you plan to conquer them? Ash didn’t tell you anything.”
The Empress’s snout furled. For a moment, Aurora could see the fear in her gaze, her sudden realization that she’d stumbled into something far greater than herself, that she was again just a powerless scavenger in a hostile world. Her eyes darted towards Inferno, glaring at Ash. But it didn’t last long, and Liliana regained her determination.
“Well, I’ll have plenty of time to ask Ash all about it. I’m sure he’ll be willing to explain. I take it that there’s no sufficient agreement we can come to?”
“This Pyrrhia is under Calamity’s domain,” Aurora stated, delivering her ultimatum. “Return to your own, and never come back, and you’ll be left alone.”
The Empress sighed. “So we’re unable to reach an agreement. In that case, fighting will be our only option. A brutal test of strength and magic that delivers no verdict on the correctness of our ideals.”
“I have no interest in correctness,” Aurora said. She risked a quick look down. The tracks of her tail had met up with themselves. She and the Empress had circled all the way around the arena. “Your ideals will fail regardless of the outcome of this battle, correct or not.”
Aurora stopped her walking, and turned to face the Empress directly. A layer of ceramic began to grow over her scales, covering her sky-blue scales with thick earthy plates. She took a step forward, the battle armor stiff as it scraped against itself.
The Empress smiled as she raised up her talons. A glow quickly travelled between them, and not a moment later, an arc of lightning shot towards Aurora. Thunder crackled across the arena, Inferno wincing at the great noise. Sand flew up into the air, the great light blinding.
The Empress lowered her paw, and the sand settled. She stared, expecting Aurora to have been obliterated by the blast. Her expression quickly contorted into a frown. Aurora hadn’t moved an inch, her armor not even scorched. Instead, the sand in a spot a few tail-lengths away from her had been transformed into hard glass. Liliana had missed.
The Empress bared her fangs, and raised her talons to try again, another bolt of lightning shooting towards Aurora. Yet before it touched the hybrid, it jolted to the side, flung into the same place where the previous bolt had hit. The Empress looked down at her claws, wondering if her powers had stopped working properly.
Aurora swept her tail over the sand, getting rid of the glass. Sunlight glinted off metal, a pole buried beneath the sand. The Empress blinked, unsure what it was, before realizing what Aurora had done.
“Lightning rods,” the Empress chuckled, shaking her head. “That’s why you were circling around me. You placed them around the arena.” She smiled. “I’m impressed. You managed to nullify my lightning so easily. I suppose I shouldn’t have expected obtaining the Wishstone to be so easy.”
Aurora remained silent, focused on the Empress. While Aurora had only one, albeit very versatile, enchantment on her, Trustbreaker had said that Liliana had a multitude. Lightning, shapeshifting. What would she do next?
There was a flash of blue light, and suddenly, the Empress was gone. As Aurora saw another flash behind her, she whipped her head around, but was a moment too late. The Empress had re-appeared behind her, and her talons slammed down into Aurora’s hips, not giving her enough time to phase.
The thick ceramic armor cracked at the force, the Empress’s single blow as powerful as a boulder falling from a mountainside, with the strength of a hundred dragons behind it. Aurora managed to leap away as scales and bones cracked beneath the RainWing’s talons, splintering into shards as Aurora’s hind-leg tore itself apart, her body unable to withstand the force.
Instinctively, Aurora’s training went into effect. The instant she felt the pain, she detached the nerves in her leg, all sensation removed from it. Metal rope shot from both sides of the flesh where the leg had parted from the rest of her body, sowing it back up and binding it to the rest of her. She dissolved the splintered and destroyed bones, replacing them with new titanium poles, screwing into what was left of the flesh. Metal scales reappeared to replace the old ones, all in the blink of an eye.
The Empress leaped again, bringing down her claws again. This time, Aurora was ready. From each of the lightning rods in the sand around her, sharp metal poles wove up through the air, impaling the Empress before she could land. A hundred different spikes pierced through her scales, holding her a few feet above the ground as crimson blood leaked from her body. Aurora stepped back, unsteady on the temporary leg she’d created. She stared up at the Empress, the poles wrapping themselves around the RainWing and through her flesh, trapping her.
It didn’t last long. Another blue flash lit up the air, and the Empress was gone, leaving a mess of bloody metal in the air above the arena. She teleported behind Aurora again, the RainWing’s body healing almost instantaneously, and brought down her talons again.
But this time, Aurora was ready. Metal twisted up from the ground, impaling and trapping Liliana’s claws. Aurora moved back as the Empress snarled, ripping her paw from the metal, cracking and breaking from the force.
The Empress shook her paw, a flash of blue surrounding it as it teleported away from the metal, bloody spikes falling to the ground. She instantly healed the wounds, laughing.
“I have to admit, this is somewhat exciting,” the Empress chuckled. “Don’t you agree? I haven’t had anyone been able to physically withstand me for quite a while.” She cocked her head. “However, the fate of Pyrrhia is far too important to treat as a game.”
Aurora stared blankly at the Empress. She didn’t find the fighting to be particularly enjoyable. Though, she supposed Queen Scarlet was getting the thrilling arena battle she’d wanted from Aurora. “If this is how the fate of this world is to be decided, let it be done so quickly.”
“My pleasure,” Liliana sneered, vanishing in a flash of light. Appearing behind Aurora instantly, she struck down at the hybrid again, only for her talons to pass straight through her. Metal cylinders rose up beneath Aurora’s paws, as she used them to propel herself away from the Empress.
With another flash, the Empress appeared behind Aurora, reaching out again. Again, Aurora was quicker, dodging the strike and rolling down into the sand. She sent another field of spikes up after the Empress, only for the RainWing to teleport out of the way before they could hit. Aurora cocked her head to the side as the Empress reappeared in the sand, her tail twitching in excitement.
Aurora frowned. Neither of them were getting anywhere at this rate. She needed more information on the Empress’s healing and her other powers if she wanted to counter and figure out a way around them.
Something suddenly wrapped around Aurora’s metal leg, pulling it towards the ground. The Empress flexed her talons, and thorny vines burst from the sand, climbing up around Aurora’s scales, latching into them to hold her in place. That was right, she’d done something similar to hold Inferno and Scarlet in place. Aurora stared up at the Empress as the smirking RainWing stepped closer, not yet phasing out.
There was a clink as Aurora felt the vines pull her metal leg against one of the buried lightning rods she’d made, wrapping around it to hold it in place. A small bolt crossed the Empress’s talons, indicating her plan a moment too early. Aurora extended a front paw, thick copper wire winding up from her hindlegs into her foreclaws, sharp metal rods shooting out from them at the RainWing.
An arc of electricity shot from the Empress’s claws into the lightning rod, thunder crackling through the arena. Within a moment, it travelled up through Aurora’s hind-leg, into her claws, and across the wires connecting her back to the Empress. The Empress let out a shrill shriek in surprise as her own bolt struck her, flesh burning as she short-circuited herself.
In the RainWing’s moment of surprise, Aurora extended the metal leg, propelling herself through the air at the Empress, smoke and ozone swirling around her. Without the Empress having enough time to react, Aurora reached close enough to use her powers on the Empress. She flung herself through the RainWing as she turned the Empress’s body into water, splattering across the sides of the arena into wet splotches of sand.
Aurora twisted around, sand whipping up as she landed into the ground, looking back around the arena for any trace of the Empress. For just a moment, she’d wondered if she’d actually been able to destroy her, but it didn’t last long. Aurora gritted her teeth as she saw droplets of water rising up in the air, coming back towards the center of arena until they formed an shimmering orb of water, floating at dragon head-height above the sand. Whatever healing or shapeshifting enchantment Ash had done on her, it was versatile enough that even turning her body into an inanimate substance couldn't kill her. She quietly cursed Calamity for training Ash so well.
The orb of water stretched back out into the shape of a RainWing, liquid become scales as the Empress reappeared. The Empress shook her head and laughed, before vanishing as their battle resumed.
Aurora jumped to the side as Liliana teleported in front of her, striking down with her talons. The hit itself missed, but Aurora felt a sudden tug, looking down to see that Liliana had grabbed her nerveless metal leg, still extended. There was a quick whip and a crack of metal as the leg snapped, and the Empress threw Aurora across the arena, into the wall on the other side.
Instead of slamming into the wall, Aurora quickly phased through it. The Empress scanned around the arena, unsure where Aurora had went, before the hybrid leaped up from the sand, claws outstretched as she attempted to grab onto Liliana again. This time, the Empress was faster, vanishing in a flash of blue.
Aurora extended her wings and whipped around mid-air as the blue light signalling the Empress’s return flashed beneath her. Diving back down, she turned the air beneath her into thick metal spikes, the Empress yelling out as she teleported into them. Aurora flapped her wings before the Empress could hit her, the RainWing appearing in a mass of sharp metal that Aurora had created, poking out of her in a myriad of directions, so much that Aurora couldn’t tell if her scale color was grey or purple.
The Empress teleported again, this time a distance away from Aurora as her healing went into effect, the numerous bloody holes in her scales patching themselves up. She bared her fangs as a piece of metal fell from her eyes, glittering gold once more. With a snarl, she curled her talons.
Aurora suddenly froze, her body unable to move from whatever the Empress had done to her. She felt her legs slowly start to move, like they were being pulled by some invisible force. Aurora phased into the air, hoping that would stop the Empress’s telekinesis, but to no avail. A smug grin replaced Liliana’s scowl as she started to contort Aurora’s three remaining legs, realizing that her control over the hybrid was working after all. A crack sounded as one of them broke, sending a pain through Aurora’s nervous system that the hybrid quickly broke, losing feeling in the leg. Aurora felt a sudden pang of fear, unprepared, but quickly quenched the feeling. She couldn’t let herself be distracted by emotions in the midst of a battle. She had to keep her mind sharp.
Focusing on using her powers on the area around her instead of just herself, Aurora envisioned a pattern into her mind, and hundreds of tiny metal spheres appeared in front of and around her, blocking the Empress’s view of her as they chaotically whirred around. The Empress’s concentration faded as she became unable to keep track of where Aurora was, and the hybrid fell to the ground. The spheres fell with her, rolling across the arena ground.
In the moments she had, Aurora tried to quickly repair the damage the Empress had done to her body, creating a new metal leg from the old one while repairing the broken bone as fast as possible, wincing as she fused the nerve back together. All temporary healing measures. She wobbled as she stood back on all four legs, facing the Empress. This battle had gone on too long, and the extreme stresses and accelerations her body had gone under meant that parts were starting to succumb.
Liliana smiled. She’d noticed the same things that Aurora had. “This battle seems to be a test of endurance,” she laughed. “I can tell you haven’t actually healed yourself. You’re just creating quick modifications to keep your body working until the battle is over. You don’t have an enchantment that lets you do that? A shame.” She shuffled her wings, glancing back at them. “I’m perfectly fine. You realize now you can’t win this, don’t you?”
Aurora bared her fangs. She’d seen enough to know that the Empress was right. Without an instant healing enchantment, Aurora was at a disadvantage. Additionally, with the teleportation, she had no way to trap the Empress. There was nothing she could do to win with just her transmutation powers. She glanced over towards Queen Scarlet, against the side of the arena. If she could get to the Eye of Amethyst . . .
“I think it’s time to finish this,” the Empress snorted. “You’ve been too much of a pest, I’m afraid.”
The Empress’s wings outstretched to the side, leathery membranes filled with blue light. A terrifying pressure suddenly creeped over Aurora, heart racing. Fear. But why?
Aurora took a step back as a blue ring appeared in the center of the arena, a glowing blue pillar climbing up from it to the sky. Aurora’s talons shook and her eyes went wide as the portal opened, colorful lights blinking within it. A snake-like tentacle crawled out from portal, spiraling up into the sky as bubbles popped in it.
W̸̮̰͇̰̥̓͛̅̾́̆̔̈͆̚ḥ̻̤̪̭̥̱͑͐̄͗͞e̷̙̤̖̥̣͚͈̞̜̍̽̍̂͂͊̏͗̚̚ͅr̸̡̧̞͇̫̩͔̼̓͛̅̀͆̔͘͝ͅę̻͔̜̩͎͋̾͗͋̍̋́̚͟͠ â̴̢̺̭̜̪̘̾̐͒͋͜͞͡ŗ̷̛̖͈̥̪̰̗͐̿̄̕̚͟͢e̶̢̫̼̣̫͈̠̾͂̒̿̎̀̈́̅͜͞ w̜̱͙̦̳̉͌̽̂͢͞ẻ̫̦̳̥̭̦͔̒̑̓̐̃͂̐͟͡?̨̛̛̯̪̟͈̥̙̞͈͈̽͌̏́͑͐ W̶̞̗̹̦͚̔͊̋̓͊̋̔̿̐ḩ̛͓̤̼͈͐̄̓́̓̓̊̓͝y̸̙̻̼̲̦̌͑̌͊͐͊͑͢ͅ i̧̻̦͍̬̼͈͉̭͐͒̏͆͒̒̏̿͘͡s͙̦̠͎̫̜̙͗̈́͑͆̅̏́͘̕͢͞ t̜͖̙͉̹̲̭̾̀̈͛̓͒̕͢͡͝h̢̡̛͈̝͚̮̭̯̯͑̑̄̽̋͟e̡͈̤̙̘̻͙̗͌̾̂̓͠ŕ̴̯̜̮͙̤̳̐͊́̎̚͟e̸̛̻̼̥̯͎̣͛̆̕̕ ḻ̢͉̦̬̃͒͛̓̍͋̕ỉ̧̩̣͍̗͚̖̯͙͂͗͐̇̓̽̏͟g̸̹̰̘̯͖͚͈̬̰͐́̐̈͛͆͜h̡̝̩̪̝̭̣̲̰̟͑͌̆̇̐t̶̡͔̠͉̼̻̫͆͑͒͘͡ͅ?̷̢̜̪̯̝͙̲̠̓̉͑̎̌͐̀͂͛͐
Smaller tendrils split off from the dark tendril, like they could smell Aurora’s Darkstone. She leaped out of the way as it slammed down into the ground around her, circles of sand flung up into the sky along with the remainder of the metal balls. It turned, snaking across the ground, seeking out Aurora as she leaped away from it, setting up crystalline barriers to block the darkness. It broke through them, the crystal only holding it long enough for Aurora to run around the side of the arena.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING???” Aurora screamed at the Empress, dodging another attack from the Horror as more tentacles burst from the portal.
“I discovered a bunch of these worlds while looking for the Wishstone,” Liliana calmly explained, creating another portal in front of Aurora. The souls of dragons screamed as the Horror reached towards Aurora, blocked as she created another easily broken barrier between her and it. “Opening up portals to whatever that thing is is certainly an effective way of inspiring fear in your subjects, wouldn’t you agree?”
“You’re an idiot!” Aurora yelled back at Liliana. Her heart pounded as she sprinted across the sand towards Queen Scarlet, weaving in and out as the shadowy tendrils slammed into her path. More tentacles were spilling out of the two portals the Empress had made, creeping up into the sky like a blooming flower of darkness, reaching up towards the clouds. “You have no idea what forces you’re playing with! Are you trying to kill not just us, but all of Pyrrhia and Antigonia alongside us?”
Liliana frowned, a bit concerned at this prospect. She lowered her wings, trying to close the portals she’d created, but more of the Horror kept streaming out, like water flooding through a dam. “I can stop it. I did before.”
“That’s because Ash got rid of animus magic on Antigonia!” Aurora screamed, frantic at this point. “To stop this! Idiot! Idiot idiot idiot!”
Aurora side-stepped as another tentacle almost hit her, her scales feeling like they’d been frozen off as it almost touched her. She leaped forward, extending her wings as she saw Queen Scarlet in front of her.
“SAVE ME!” the SkyWing queen wailed, spitting the vine out from her mouth.
Instead of grabbing Scarlet, Aurora jumped down into the box at her paws, phasing through the metal as she pulled out the Eye of Amethyst. She whipped around, turning towards the Horror, darkness into the sky as it started to spread. This wasn’t supposed to happen, none of this. The Eye of Amethyst shouldn’t have been activated for hundreds of years. But what choice did she have?
Aurora held the Eye of Amethyst up with with one forepaw, golden wings on the edge of the glittering purple stone. Scarlet cowered behind her with a squeal as bolts of energy travelled from the ground to the Eye, through Aurora’s talons. The Horror had grown larger than one of the mountains itself, a black cloud across the sky.
“COPPER AWAKEN!” Aurora screamed out, dragging her talon clockwise around the stone. A vertical line appeared on the surface of the amethyst, becoming a glowing blue pupil. It moved from one side of the stone to the other, looking back and forth between Aurora and the Horror. Aurora felt Copper’s presence in her mind, the ancient SkyWing animus as frantic as she was. She’d face no resistance from him.
Aurora raised the Eye up, and a wave of pressure started to expand around her. The ground itself began to shake, rocks rumbling as snow shook loose from the nearby mountains. Aurora focused the Eye on the air above her, a golden glow shimmering as wind began to curl, turning around in a huge circle above the arena. Queen Scarlet let out another yell, but Aurora could barely hear as the roar of the wind and screams emanating from the Horror clouded her ears.
The winds grew faster, moving around and around as dark tentacles thrashed at the sides, trying to escape. Aurora concentrated as a tornado formed, swirling as it contained the Horror. The pupil on the Eye’s surface glinted, and the winds pushed it the darkness back into the portals, squirming as it tried but failed to break through. Aurora gritted her fangs as she felt ground beneath her rumbling, Pyrrhia itself beginning to tear itself apart as the pressure wave she’d created expanded, the power of the Eye of Amethyst expanding to cover the continent. Too soon.
Aurora let out a roar as the wind shoved the darkness back through the portals, tentacles trying to break through. She gave the shocked Liliana a desperate stare, pleading for her help. The Empress complied, and the two rings of light closed. The winds went calm.
Aurora stared down at where the portal’s had been for a moment, trying to detect if there was any trace of the Horror left. There wasn’t. She let out a sigh of relief, before turning to glare at the Empress.
“It’s still shaking,” Liliana muttered, the ground beneath her vibrating back and forth. She tsked, chuckling. “Well, I suppose that crisis was averted. Shall we resume?”
Aurora opened her mouth, not even sure how to reply to that. She wanted to continue the fight, even after that? “No.”
“You don’t have a choi—” the Empress started to snarl, getting ready to attack Aurora again.
Aurora stuck out her talons, and a huge crack appeared beneath Inferno. Inferno let out a scream as she started to fall into it, unable to fly with her wings bound by the vines.
“NO!” Liliana yelled. She teleported mid-leap, grabbing ahold of Inferno before she could fall into the crack, yowling as her scales burned and healed and burned.
Flapping her wings, Liliana pulled Inferno from the put Aurora had created, gritting her teeth as she finally let go, the scent of roasting flesh surrounding her. The Empress looked back to where Aurora had been, before gritting her fangs together in annoyance. As she looked back up, she saw Aurora, disappearing into the sky.
Aurora winced as she created winds beneath her with the Eye, the arena already small beneath her. The Empress stared back, a speck below. She’d decided not to follow.
Good. Aurora’s thin wing-bones had been broken in numerous places, and she needed to regenerate her leg along with various other parts of her body that the Empress had injured or destroyed. That would take time.
A small hairline crack appeared in the mountains beneath Aurora, and she saw boulders tumbling down, taking trees down with them. She glanced to the Eye of Amethyst, the pupil staring back up at her. With it fully activated, she had no choice but to let it go to completion, regardless of the disastrous effects that would happen to Pyrrhia. Well, another piece of Calamity’s plan completed, albeit a bit early.
Aurora glanced back at the arena, disappearing behind her. None of the RainWings had bothered to follow. If she’d learned anything from this, it was that Liliana was far more dangerous of an enemy than she’d initially thought.
== Chapter 46 ==
Wind roared past Sunny as she trudged up the mountainside. White flurries of ice stung as they hit her eyes. She winced as she looked down at her claws, barely able to feel them as powdery snow covered her yellow scales. For a moment, the wind settled, and Sunny was able to catch a glimpse of the mountain above her, snowy peak rising high in the sky, piercing the misty grey sky above. The Claws of the Clouds.
Sunny groaned as she saw the winding path ahead of the two of them, leading to the peak, though she could hardly call the thin icy trail a path. Any dragon in their right mind would’ve flown up to whatever was at the top, and the only reason that she and Jackal weren’t was because of the crushing pack on Sunny’s back. She winced as it rubbed against her spine, pinched between the heavy weight of whatever was in the huge bag, so long it stretched from Sunny’s horns to her hips. The leather strip chafed against her thin underbelly scales, holding the pack and her wings tight to her torso. The pack had Jackal’s ‘belongings,’ whatever those were. It certainly felt like she’d filled it with rocks.
Jackal herself seemed to be faring fine with whatever she was carrying. Even though the eldery SandWing was somehow smaller than Sunny, she carried the weight between her wings like an ant lifting a stone ten times its weight. She made it seem so easy.
Another wind blasted against Sunny, threatening to tilt her over. She nervously glanced to the left of the narrow path. The snow seemed to drop off in a steep cliff there, and if she went over the edge, there wasn’t much chance of her throwing the pack off in time to unfurl her wings. At least the strong winds couldn’t lift her over the edge, with whatever Jackal was making her carry weighing her down.
Sunny shivered as the wind seemed to blow straight through her scales, trying to douse the SandWing warmth inside of her. She could swear that an icicle had formed on the end of her snout, even though she couldn’t see it. She tried to keep in mind why she was doing this, holding the thought between her eyes like a flame to keep her warm in the snow. If she wanted to save the Sand Kingdom from Aloe, she had to change. She had to be strong, like her mother. And Jackal was her best chance at that.
“How much longer do we have to walk?” Sunny yelled out to Jackal, a few paces ahead of her, but still disappearing in the wind. It might have just been clouds of snow covering the sun, but it seemed like it was getting dark, the white snow turning grey. “We’re going to be there soon, right?”
Jackal turned her head back, eyes barely visible as snow started to pick up. “You need to know when to be patient, beetle,” she cackled. “You’ll end up dead if you rush too quickly into things.”
Sunny frowned. She didn’t like being told that. She’d been patient most of her life, just waiting to leave the caverns, for her life to finally begin. And with night approaching, was this really the right time to be patient?
The snowstorm got worse as it got darker, so cold Sunny could swear her wings had frozen off. This was a place for an IceWing, not a half-SandWing. White snow seemed to blow from every direction, a cloud all around Sunny. She couldn’t see the cliff anymore, and the path in front of her had disappeared beyond a couple tail-lengths. She tried to lift a wing to block out some of the wind, before remembering the pack strapped to her back. It was just enough to throw her off balance, and she fell to the side, the pack pulling her to the ground.
The fall was gentle at least. Sunny landed in freezing snow, cushioning her as she rolled onto her side. She tried to pull herself up, back on all fours, only to realize she wasn’t strong enough to get the pack back in the air. She let out a groan. When would this day end?
Instead of just getting back up, Sunny tried to roll onto her underbelly, getting the pack on her back before standing up. With the soft snow not giving her claws a good hold, it took her a few attempts, but she eventually managed to get back up to her paws. Her scales shivered, covered with wet snow and ice.
“Jackal?” Sunny yelled out as snow clouded her vision. She couldn’t see the SandWing any more. She could barely even see the path. But Jackal was still nearby, right? “JACKAL? JACKAL!”
Her voice echoed emptily through the mountainside, but Sunny received no response. Then finally, a low rumble seemed to make its way back towards her, careening across the snow. She frowned. Was Jackal growling at her? She wasn’t sure, but it didn’t sound like the rumble was coming from a dragon.
She looked over to the right, up what she could see of the slope above her. The rumble grew to a roar, and her heart started to pound as she saw movement above her, loosened snow tumbling down the mountainside. An avalanche.
The sudden terror gave Sunny a new burst of energy, her fatigue forgotten. Her legs seemed to take off as she sprinted back along the path, a wave of snow crashing behind her. She had to get out of the way! Sunny tried to get her wings free of the pack, but it wouldn’t budge, the strap too tight for her wings to get loose of it. Her claws slipped as she tried to tear through the leather. How was she supposed to get this thing off? She felt a pang of regret for not watching closer how Jackal had gotten it on her in the first place, but didn’t have long to think, as the snow slipped out from under her paws and a blast of freezing cold engulfed her.
Sunny tried to let out a yell, only for snow to fill her mouth. She quickly closed it as the snow wrapped around her, throwing her around as it lifted her, rolling and tumbling her back and forth. She winced as she felt something hard whack her in the side, but whatever it was got quickly thrown in the other direction by the avalanche. Something else, maybe a rock or a tree hit her leg, catching onto a claw and ripping it off, though Sunny barely noticed the pain with the numbness in her talons. She felt herself rattled back and forth like a rock in a stream, the avalanche cruel and uncaring to the dragon caught in its midst.
Then, it stopped. The snow settled, and for a moment, all was still. Sunny felt the cold encroach her, surrounding her from every side as she was held suspended in it. Her breath went still, and even the pain in her torn claw was subtle and still. All was calm, and Sunny was calm within it as even the cold began to fade away, the air stripped away from her lungs in the tumble.
She felt an anxious thought rip through her. What had happened to Jackal? Had she been caught in the avalanche too, that Sunny had caused? Sunny moved her paws towards where she thought was up, pushing snow aside as she tried to climb out of the pile. She grabbed onto something. A tree trunk, maybe even one that she’d hit. She winced as she pulled herself up, the pack still weighing her down. She couldn’t die here, not like this. The Sand Kingdom needed her. The other Dragonets of Destiny needed her.
Sunny groaned in pain as she hoisted herself up, but her horns finally broke through the surface of the snow. She wheezed as she took in a deep breath, then took in another, unable to get enough air in. Things began to clear up for her, and she cringed up as pain ripped through her torn talon, blood dripping onto the snow. With the darkness around her, she had no idea where she was. But she had to keep going.
“Jackal?” she called out, quietly this time. There was no response. Sunny kept limping across the field of snow, guided only by moonslight. The cold and pain bothered her immensely, but not so much as the fear that Jackal had died because of her. “Jackal?”
Sunny pulled herself over the snowfield, trying to catch any sign of a dragon buried in the snow. She kept whimpering Jackal’s name. Could she be here? Her limbs began to give out, Sunny stumbling into the snow snout-first. She closed her eyes.
Jackal was strong, far stronger than Sunny was. If Sunny had survived the avalanche, then Jackal certainly had, also. And if Sunny hadn’t found her by now . . . she wiped frozen tears from her eyes as she headed towards the mountainside. She needed to find someplace to shelter for the night, until it was morning, and hopefully, the storm was over.
Sunny wasn’t sure how long it was before she found the cave. An hour, or six? She could barely see the moons with the snow covering the sky, and if the sun was rising soon, there wasn’t any sign of it. Eventually, she happened on a small hole in the side of the cavern, protected from the snow by a nice overhang. She stumbled into it, collapsing against a wall. She just wanted to sleep.
Sunny tried to pull the pack off again, but couldn’t figure out whatever mechanism let it off her. Maybe it had gotten torn off in the avalanche, or it was hidden beneath her sail? Whatever. She dug her talons into the leather strap, attempting to tear it. She winced as they shook from the cold, Sunny barely able to control them from the shivering. She tried to tear, but with no luck. Her talons just scratched the thick surface, skidding across the wet leather. Why hadn’t she gotten them sharpened?
Biting through the leather also had no effect. Sunny bared her fangs. She just wanted to get this stupid thing off her! Desperately, she lifted the shaft up, and blew flame down onto it.
Sunny yelped as the flame hit her own scales, burning them. She gritted her teeth. That had been a stupid idea. Of course all it had done was burn her. The leather was wet. She sighed as she reached towards a nearby pile of snow, placing it on her burn to sooth it. She barely noticed it alongside her aching legs and numerous bruises and scratches from the avalanche.
Well, if she couldn’t get the pack off, she could empty its contents. Maybe there was food, or some cloth to bandage her claw up with. She twisted around, trying to reach towards the rope holding it closed. Instead of managing to un-knot it, her shaking talons just ripped through the pack. Oops.
Sunny rolled herself over onto the side, letting the contents of the pack spill out onto the cave floor. She squinted as she stared at them, not quite sure if she was seeing things right.
“Rocks!” Sunny squealed, almost in tears as she lifted a stone up, claws shaking before she dropped it again. “She made me carry rocks!”
She tried to rummage through the pile of rocks, looking for anything that might have been of use. There was nothing. Nothing but useless rocks. She couldn’t eat rocks, she couldn’t use them to make her talon stop aching and bleeding!
“Stupid!” Sunny groaned, flinging one of the rocks across the cavern. “Stupid rock! Stupid stupid rock!”
Calling the rocks stupid didn’t make her feel much better. She lowered her head on the pile of rocks, closing her eyes as they poked into her scales. A bed fit for a queen.
It was just moments before Sunny drifted into sleep. Snow and ice filled what little dreams she had, her sleep light as she swam in and out of it. Her talon throbbed as she turned, her wings barely a blanket over her in the cold.
A noise and movement at the cavern entrance woke her. She opened one eye to see a large shadow against dawn-lit snow, the edges blurry. She squinted, trying to focus the outline of the blur. A dragon? Had Jackal come to find her?
No. A bear stood at the entrance on its hindlegs, a scar across one eye. White snow powdered the huge grizzly’s brown fur, its head reaching above Sunny’s horns even when she was on all fours. It glared at her, claws glinting as it took a step towards, beckoning a fight.
“I-is this your cave?” Sunny asked it, doubting the bear could understand her. She quickly got to her paws, backing up against the cave wall. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude. I can leave if you want.”
She tried to slowly inch along the wall, the bear blocking the only exit to the small cave. Maybe if she moved slowly, it would leave her alone? Even small, she was still a dragon. The bear wouldn’t want to risk a fight—
The grizzly let out a roar as it charged forward, leaping on Sunny as it grabbed at her neck, trying to wrap around it and throw her to the ground. Sunny let out a yelp as she felt thick claws dig into her chest, ripping through scales as the bear slammed her into stone. She twisted her tail as the bear shoved her, attempting to stab the grizzly with where her barb might have been. It didn’t flinch, instead latching its jaws around Sunny’s neck.
Sunny let out another cry. She had to fight back. Without thinking, she twisted her head down and let out a blast of flame, hitting the bear directly in the back even as it singed Sunny’s snout. She winced and turned as the bear let out a howl of agony, releasing Sunny as it dove towards the other side of the cave. Even wet, its fur had caught fire, quickly spreading across its body as it thrashed.
Sunny couldn’t look as the bear was burned alive. She felt the heat of the flame as she turned away, wet tears freezing against her snout as it howled. It was a few minutes of agony before the cries finally went quiet, the grizzly still. She hadn’t meant to kill it, especially not like that. She’d just wanted to be left in peace.
The aroma of the burnt meat reached Sunny’s nose. Against her own will, she felt her stomach gurgle, her jaws water. Her snout twinged. She was hungry, so hungry. She hadn’t had any food since the the feast with Cheetah and Midnight. Jackal said that there was food up where she’d been taking Sunny, but how long would it be before Sunny got there? She couldn’t fly with her wings bound, and didn’t even know where it was. She had to regain her energy if she wanted to make the trip, instead of ending up dead on the mountain.
She glanced towards the bear. It’s skin had been blackened and crisped, but there had to be something filling on the inside still, right? She winced. She felt so guilty about the whole thing. She hadn’t wanted to kill the bear. They weren’t truly at odds, it was just a tragic mishap. But it had been her or it. And was there any point in really letting its body go to waste . . . ? The smell was so tempting to the starving, delirious hybrid.
She gave in. Hardly even reluctantly, Sunny tore into the bear’s flesh, digging past the charcoal taste of its skin to the scorched and cooked meat below. Blood dripped from her fangs as she ripped its body apart, fat dripping down her throat as she swallowed it down. She gorged herself, bones cracking as her talons became stained with crimson, skin crackling.
Finally, she was full. She lifted her head up, letting out a fulfilled sigh. Her exhausted energy supply was already starting to return. She even felt slightly warm.
Another movement caught her eye. Something in the far back of the cavern, hidden by the shadows. Sunny bared her fangs, extending her blood-soaked claws. Another bear?
Her heart seemed to stop when she spotted it. A grizzly cub, smaller than her paw. It cowered against the cavern wall, trying to remain as still as possible, knowing that it had no chance if Sunny decided to attack it.
Sunny stumbled back, staring at her own claws as she realized why the grizzly had attacked her. A mother, trying to protect her cub. More tears fell from Sunny’s eyes as she was overcome with guilt. She’d killed the cub’s mother right in front of it’s very eyes, then ate it as it watched.
She turned, rushing out the cavern entrance, stumbling through the snow. She hadn’t had a choice. She’d protected herself. She hadn’t known. Sunny sprinted as snow lightly fell, the dawn sun rising over the mountain, running from her own shame. What had she done?
She washed her talons and fangs through the snow, trying to spit out the taste of blood, hiding it. She had to move on. She’d just done what any dragon would’ve done. Self-preservation. But the mother bear had done what any mother would’ve done, protecting her cub from an invader. What gave Sunny any right to live, while the bear died? Even though they both had the right intentions, the situation had ended in horrific tragedy.
But Sunny could do nothing now. The deed was done. She just had to keep moving.
With the snowstorm over, the path up the mountain was clear, no longer endless. A light dusting whitened Sunny’s scales as she climbed the mountain. Though the weight of the rocks no longer burdened her, the guilt seemed to have replaced it. The Claws of the Clouds were beautiful, but deadly. A lesson Sunny would never forget.
The building at the end of the path wasn’t actually on the peak, as Sunny had initially thought, but tucked against a cliff-face right below it. Three crumbling white stone walls formed the rigid exterior of it, the fourth formed by the cliff itself. Whatever this place was, a monastery, a fortress, or Jackal’s hideout, it was both large and imposing even though it seemed to blend into the mountainside whenever Sunny looked away. Boarded up windows watched Sunny as she sprinted towards the entrance, two thick doors with faded carvings across their surface.
“Jackal!” Sunny called out, not making the mistake of saying her name too loudly again. She grabbed ahold of one of the two knockers at the doors, a dragon’s iron face staring back at her from each one, one grinning and one growling. She banged it against the door, stiffening as she heard the loud noise reverberate through the building.
The doors creaked open, and Jackal’s snout poked through, staring up at Sunny.
“It took you long enough,” Jackal snorted. “Don’t lag behind next time.”
Sunny’s snout contorted in pain. Sunny had searched for Jackal for what seemed like hours. Did Jackal just not care what happened to Sunny at all?
“It wouldn’t have been so hard if you hadn’t made me carry rocks up the mountain!” Sunny wailed, distressed. “I almost died! We could’ve just flown!”
Jackal tsked. “Speaking of the rocks, where are they? Your pack is empty.”
“I left them,” Sunny growled. “Did I mention that I almost died?”
“You LEFT them?” Jackal squealed, eyes going wide at the thought, seemingly far more concerned about the rocks. “What do you mean you left them? Those were valuable! Gold ore and gemstones instead!”
“So they were treasure?” Sunny asked. She frowned. She had a distaste for the stuff. “Sorry, I guess. But it’s just treasure. It doesn’t actually do anything, just sits around being shiny.”
Jackal bared her teeth. “Doesn’t do anything? A single one of those rocks could be the difference between a dragonet starving to death or feeding a family for a greater moon.” Her eyes narrowed. “If you wanna be SandWing queen, you better recognize that enough treasure could buy your own life one day. If you deal it out wrong, you’ll have your head served to your successor for breakfast. What do you think killed Queen Oasis? Not just scavengers, it was treasure.”
“You care an awful lot about it for a hermit,” Sunny grumbled.
Jackal glared, flicking her barb back and forth. “Go back down the mountain right now, and bring it back. Every last stone.”
“Seriously?” Sunny squealed, her fin bristling.
“Until you do,” Jackal snorted, “I’m not letting you in. You wanna be trained? First, you learn to respect the treasure.” She glanced up at the sky. “Better hurry unless you wanna spend another night in a cold cavern.”
There was a large bang as the door slammed in Sunny’s snout, snow shaken from the rooftop onto her. She gritted her teeth. Maybe training with Jackal wasn’t a good idea after all.
Still, Sunny had to persevere. She had to retake the throne. For the good of the Sand Kingdom, and to avenge her mother. Jackal was the dragon who’d raised Thorn, made her into the queen she had been. If bringing Jackal a few rocks was the key to Jackal’s help, she’d do it.
The misfortune that had plagued Sunny the previous day had seemingly disappeared, and the snowstorm didn’t return. Though the journey back down to the bears’ cavern was tiring, it was little else.
When Sunny got back to the cavern entrance, she had to take in a deep breath to keep her composure. Could she bear to face the cub again? See the grief in its eyes, the terror that it had got from her burning its mother alive and eating her?
She was fortunate that she didn’t have to. The cub had fled the cavern while Sunny was gone, leaving only its mothers carcass behind. Sunny felt another pang of guilt. Would the cub survive all by itself? If she’d wanted to rescue it, it was too late now, though she doubted it would have wanted her to rescue it. Likely, it wouldn’t survive to adulthood, starving to death, succumbing to the cold, or being eaten by another predator. The world, to dragon and beast alike, was cruel.
Sunny gathered the rocks, trying her best to ignore the carcass. After a number of tries, she managed to fit them all back in the pack. She heaved it up as she got onto all fours, and left the cave. She hoped she wouldn’t have to return again.
The climb back to the peak was easier the second time around, even with the rocks weighing her down. She knew where it was, how far she had to go. It was slower with the load, but the snowstorm didn’t pick back up again. Finally, she reached the doors to Jackal’s stone building, as the sun lowered beneath the horizon.
She knocked, and the doors opened again.
Jackal squinted as she scanned Sunny, a content smile coming over her as she saw that Sunny had brought the treasure rocks this time. “Good,” she clucked. “You’re ready to start your training.”
Jackal reached down towards Sunny, tugging ahold of the leather strap around her wings. Almost instantly, it fell off, the pack rolling onto the ground. Sunny stared at it, blinking. How had Jackal done that so quickly?
Sunny frowned as Jackal let her into the building, pulling the pack of rocks into the doorway. Faded colors of paints and drawings lined the walls, the dying images of dragons staring at her as she passed them. Numerous weapons seemed to line the hallway wherever she looked. Disks like the ones that Deathbringer threw, silver spears, sharp knives to double one’s talons. Spiked chains, and blades that fit on wing membranes. Was this what Jackal was going to teach her how to use? Was she sure she wanted to learn how to use them, how to cause more death?
“Was the whole leaving me behind thing part of my training?” Sunny asked Jackal with a grimace. “Did you send the bear to teach me a lesson about how sometimes you have no choice but to fight an enemy, or something like that?”
“Bear?” Jackal scoffed. The elderly SandWing gave Sunny a funny look, before shaking her head. “What are you talking about? You were just too slow to keep up.”
Sunny grumbled unhappily. She’d had a hard two days. She didn’t care for Jackal’s berating.
“Do you want to leave?” Jackal yawned. “You’re free to go at any time, but you won’t be allowed to ever return.”
“Of course not!” Sunny answered. “If I wanted to leave, I wouldn’t have gotten you your stupid treasure.”
“Fine by me.” Jackal shrugged her wings, then turned into a narrow corridor. How far did this structure go into the mountainside? The thin passages seemed to wind without making any sort of sense.
Jackal pointed out a small room to Sunny. “Your quarters,” she explained. “I’ve left some smoked meat for you there, though your breath smells like you’ve already had your fill. We start training at dawn. Get a good night’s rest. You’ll need it in the morning.”
----Sunny let out a battle roar as she charged towards Jackal, though to her ears it sounded a bit more like a hearty squeak. It was the first day of her training, and she’d been exhausted even at the start of it. Jackal had taken her down to one of the many rooms of the building, a large cubic chamber filled to the brim with weaponry, the floor covered with stiff woven grass. Today, Jackal said that she was going to teach Sunny the basics of claw-to-claw combat.
As Sunny rushed into Jackal, the SandWing seemed to move like water, ducking beneath Sunny’s wing as the very last moment. Sunny felt her scales tense as she stumbled past Jackal, and the smooth part of the SandWing’s barb dragged along her side.
“The basis of every fight,” Jackal stated, “is claw-to-claw combat. The most important weapons are your natural weapons. What are they?”
Sunny turned back, panting. She swung out at Jackal, trying to rake her scales. Jackal didn’t even let Sunny touch her. “Claws,” she huffed. “Fangs. Fire-breath. Barb, if I had one.”
“Wrong,” Jackal snorted. When Sunny swiped against her again, she suddenly found herself blinded by Jackal’s wing, obscuring the SandWing’s body for just a moment. Out of nowhere, Jackal’s tail swung into Sunny’s front legs, pulling them out from under her. Sunny fell to the ground, head whacking into the floor.
“Your natural weapons are your whole body,” Jackal explained. “Wings, tail, even your sail. Not to mention your brain. They have to be in sync. Close-range, or long-range?”
“Both, right?” Sunny asked, charging Jackal again. This time, instead of feinting away, Jackal met Sunny head-on. Sunny swiped to the left, this time, her claws managing to land between Jackal’s wings, on her back. Jackal’s forepaws wrapped around Sunny’s neck and torso, and her tail swung.
Almost instantly, Sunny was flipped onto her back, Jackal turning and landing on top of her underbelly. Fangs wrapped around Sunny’s neck as one of Jackal’s hindpaws slammed into Sunny’s stomach, raking along them. Sunny squealed as she tried to throw Jackal off her, rolling and trying to scratch at Jackal’s head to no avail. One of Jackal’s forelegs wrapped around Sunny’s, pinning it down.
Jackal finally got off Sunny, but only when she decided to herself, quickly leaping back onto all fours as she got distance away from her. “Correct. Keeping your distance gives you a chance to hurt your opponent without being seriously hurt yourself, but most fights end up with one dragon on top of another. Learn how to use your opponent’s body against them, to control it like it’s an extension of your own.”
Sunny looked down at her underbelly, gritting her teeth as she saw surface-level scratches welling up with blood, dripping onto the floor. “Ow,” she winced. “You actually hurt me. I thought we were just training.”
“If you want to win in a real fight, you need to train in a real fight,” Jackal retorted. “If you ever expect your enemies to play fair, you’ll end up dead. Get back up.”
Sunny gave Jackal another look. Something about the elderly SandWing reminded her of Kestrel’s training, though with Jackal smaller than Sunny, how poorly Sunny was doing was a bit more shameful. Maybe if they’d listened more to Kestrel, things would’ve gone differently. Maybe Glory would have still been alive.
----Sunny flinched as Jackal placed the silver disk in her talons. This wasn’t a dull practice weapon. If she learned how to use this, she’d be able to use it to kill.
“I’m not sure I’m ready . . .” Sunny gulped, pinching the disk on its side, careful not to touch the blade.
“No one is ever ready,” Jackal responded, picking up a disk of her own. “You’ve seen these before?”
Sunny nodded. “Yeah. Deathbringer uses them.” An assassin. Was that what Jackal was training her to be. “He almost killed Blaze with one.”
“Almost,” Jackal scoffed. “They’re called chakrams. There’s no reason you use one, unless you’re trying to kill your opponent. Hit an artery in the neck, they’re dead. Anywhere else, and you’ve done little else. A poison can be added to the blade, but poisons are complicated. Antidotes and resistances built up over time.”
Sunny stared down at the silver disk, seeing her own eyes reflected in its image. If that was the case, she didn’t ever want to have to use one of these. But what if she had no choice?
“Spin it around your tail,” Jackal commanded.
“My tail?” Sunny frowned. “But Deathbringer used hi—”
“I said, your tail,” Jackal tsked. “You keep mentioning your lack of barb. Well, this will give your tail something else to make up for it. Spin it, and when it’s going fast enough, send it flying.”
Sunny sighed, and placed her tail through the hole in the chakram. She tossed Jackal a nervous glance as the SandWing backed away. Probably for the best. Ducking her head down and sticking her tail in the air, Sunny swirled her tail around in circles. The disk started to spin.
Suddenly, it fell off from her tail, a bit earlier than Sunny had wanted. Sunny let out a yelp as it span out, flinging across the room, ducking her head and hoping it didn’t hit Jackal. When she opened her eyes, it was only a few paces away, and fortunately, no one had gotten hurt.
“Hmph,” Jackal scolded. “You need to keep it on for longer, fast enough it’ll slice through whatever you want. Then you can worry about aiming. Keep trying.”
Sunny walked over towards the chakram to retrieve it, only to hear Jackal scoff again. She glanced over to her mentor. “What did I do wrong now?”
“The way you’re walking,” Jackal clucked.
“The way I’m walking?” Sunny groaned. Was there anything she was doing that Jackal didn’t thing she was doing poorly? Was there a problem with the way she breathed?
“I can hear your claws clunking about from here,” Jackal answered. “You’ve never hunted before. You don’t want to alert every dragon in the Sand Kingdom to your presence whenever you walk, do you? Be silent, and attack from the shadows, when they least expect it. Light steps, light breaths, and you can fire off one of those disks from a tail-length away.”
“Assassinate them,” Sunny muttered.
Jackal shook her head. “Assassins get payed to kill. This is just a way to fight. How you use it is up to you.” She chuckled. “Being queen though, that’s an assassin. Getting payed taxes to inflict death on your kingdom’s enemies, internal and external. Try the disk again.”
----“What’s this room for?” Sunny asked as Jackal led her into it. She glanced around it with a frown. After a few days with Jackal, the lack of weaponry in the room seemed more odd than not.
“How to fight wasn’t the only thing I taught Thorn,” Jackal explained, tail twitching. “I’ve been focusing on that with you because you’re so . . . lacking in that area.” She scanned Sunny up and down, squinting as she circled around the hybrid. “I’ve got it. I want you to pretend to be a cute, useless dragonet.”
By now, Sunny had known Jackal long enough to realize that she wasn’t joking about that. She frowned. “Why?” she asked. “Everyone’s thought of me as a cute, useless dragonet all my life.”
“And that’s an advantage,” Jackal declared. “If that’s the impression you give off, then they’ll be less at guard around you, even if you’re queen. And when the time comes—”
Jackal’s tail suddenly whipped out from beneath her wing, her barb jabbing straight towards Sunny’s leg. Sunny let out a yelp as she saw it coming, instinctively leaping into the air to dodge. When she landed, her claws wrapped around Jackal’s tail, pinning it to the ground.
Jackal smiled as Sunny stared down at the tail, barb oozing poison. A few days ago, she wouldn’t have noticed Jackal’s attack until it had already hit. But now . . . did that mean that Jackal’s training was working? She’d become faster, more attentive.
“—you strike.” Jackal pulled her tail back, dragging Sunny inwards as she jutted a wing out.
Sunny winced as Jackal’s wing whacked her in the snout, stumbling back and letting go of Jackal’s tail. She touched her nose, feeling a trickle of blood from the strike. Maybe she shouldn’t get too full of herself, just yet.
“It’s why I pretend to be a feeble, elderly dragon,” Jackal smiled, giving Sunny a glance of cunning. “Stay in the shadows, and let your enemies underestimate you.” She clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “It took a me a while to learn that lesson. Aahhh, those were the days, strutting around the Scorpion Den like I was in charge of it. You knew Vulture? That snail-licker used to be quite the hunk, and quite a formidable rival at it. Mmm, I can’t say what I enjoyed more, our fights, or what we did after the fights. Well, not always, sometimes during when we—”
“THREEMOONS please don’t make me think about that!” Sunny quickly interrupted wanting to barf at the image Jackal had so graciously formed in her head. “I’ll do the impression, okay? Just please never mention that again.”
Sunny unhesitantly put on her best dragonet face, opening her eyes up wide and crouching her head down to make her look even smaller than she was. “I’m Sunny!” she squealed gleefully. “I’m really excited by everything! Wow look, a frog! I want it as a pet!”
Jackal snorted. “Not terrible,” she judged. “Except for the brittle sarcasm and self-loathing in every word.”
Sunny paused, letting Jackal’s critique sink in. “It’s not—” she started to try and argue, unsure how to finish. Jackal was right, wasn’t she? That was why Sunny had come with Jackal. She wanted to become strong, like her mother. She wanted Jackal to turn her into someone else, someone who could be the queen the Sand Kingdom needed.
“We’ll work on it,” Jackal sighed. “Try again. But this time, like you’re actually attempting to fool me.”
----The days seemed endless on the mountaintop. Sunny slept and ate, but only at Jackal’s will. They rarely left the great building, so large and empty it seemed like Sunny never ended up in the same room twice. Not that she had much time to think about the passage of time. Jackal kept her busy, barely a moment to herself. And Sunny learned, as much as what she could. The skills Jackal had taught Thorn. And what Thorn would’ve taught Sunny, had Dune not taken her egg.
“Did you take Thorn here?” Sunny asked Jackal one day, or maybe one night, as they were eating. Bruises and cuts lined Sunny’s scales by now, every muscle in her body aching. “Is this how you taught her?”
Jackal nodded. “Not everything, of course. I’ve learned my own lessons since I took her under my wings. I’ve changed too. But yes, she came here. She was much like you.”
“Like me?” Sunny replied, surprised. Thorn had been like her? Over-excited, happy, seeing the best in the world? What had happened?
“Not exactly like you,” Jackal laughed. “Not a hybrid. She was an orphan in the Scorpion Den. A bit rougher around the edges, but she had that glint in her eyes. Young, hopeful, and naive. She managed to see the best in dragons, somehow. That if someone just gave them a push towards it, we could live in a far better world. I caught her trying to steal from me. Not a good idea, as you might imagine. But she had potential.
“I trained her a lot like I trained you. I made sure that the next time she stole from me, she wouldn’t get caught. I’d been getting tired, and the Outclaws needed a new leader. I wanted to roam the world, to be free of the burden of power. I shaped her into the leader of the Outclaws. Someone who had what it took to survive the Scorpion Den, but who would try and make it a better place for everyone. To fix my own mistakes. She was my greatest success, even more than the Outclaws themselves.” She chuckled. “She went far beyond my greatest expectations, of course. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect her to become queen. Though that was more your doing than hers, wasn’t it, Dragonet of Destiny? Morrowseer even managed to hide you from me. Makes me your grandma, doesn’t it?”
That night, or whenever she finally got to sleep, Sunny stared up at the stone ceiling. This is what Thorn had done, to become the great queen that Jackal had made her into. Was that what she wanted? To become Thorn? She knew Jackal was willing to do it, and if she let Jackal, she’d succeed. Slowly, she was becoming more and more like Thorn.
She remembered the bear. The mother, and her cub. What if there was another way out of that? A way that she just couldn’t see, not yet? As much as Jackal had taught her, she didn’t think Jackal could teach her that.
Faint candlelight outlined Sunny’s talons as she put them in front of her snout, staring at them. For a moment, she could imagine red blood dripping down them. And yet, it didn’t disturb her. Was that her destiny, to become like her mother? Someone who could kill when needed.
“If you want to lead dragons, you have to show them your claws sometimes, beetle.”
Thorn’s words echoed in Sunny’s head. She saw it again, as her mother’s barb pierced Preyhunter’s heart, the NightWing screaming in terror as he died. His head turned, his eyes staring at Sunny, pleading for her to save him. But it was too late.
The world is better off this way. My friends are safer now that he’s dead.
She could already feel her sympathy for Preyhunter fading. He’d threatened her mother. Whatever Preyhunter’s ideals had been, they’d clashed unreconcilably with Thorn’s. She’d had to kill him.
The scene played again in Sunny’s head as she drifted off into her dreams. This time, it wasn’t Thorn on top of Preyhunter, but Sunny herself. The NightWing’s talons sliced at Sunny’s underbelly, raking them.
She made a decision. To protect herself. Sunny twisted her tail, the silver disk around it piercing through Preyhunter’s heart. He screamed as he died, over and over. Sunny stared down as his scales melted into fur, flames reaching up between Sunny’s talons, engulfing her as she ripped out his innards, swallowing them down.
This time, she felt no shame. She ate the cub too.
----“I’m leaving.”
Jackal lifted her head up, squinting at Sunny. If she was surprised, she didn’t show it. “Are you sure?”
Sunny paused, hesitating. She closed her eyes, nodding. “I am. Please don’t be offended, I’m very thankful for everything you’ve taught me. It’s just, after last night . . . I’m not sure I want to be made into my mother.”
“You’re not sure?” Jackal scoffed.
“I don’t want to be made into my mother,” Sunny said again, this time, even more sure of her words. “I loved her, but I don’t want to become her. Even if that’s what it takes to rule the Sand Kingdom.”
Jackal grinned, sharp fangs beaming. “Beetle, I doubt I could make you into Thorn, no matter how hard I tried. Catch.”
Sunny flinched as Jackal tossed something shiny to her, but managed to grab it. She looked down to see the golden chain of intertwine dragons that Thorn had wore.
Sunny shook her head. “I can’t take this. I’m not worthy enough or tough enough to be the next leader of the Outclaws. Besides, I don’t want to lead them.”
“What, think I’m making you in charge?” Jackal snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re queen, not the leader of some pitiful band of thieves. I’m too old for it myself. I’m just giving it to you to decide who the next leader will be. I’m sure you’ll choose a worthier successor than Kudu or Cheetah. So, where you going next?”
Sunny furled her snout. She hadn’t really thought about that. But she already knew the answer. There was only place she could go from here. “The SandWing palace. I’m going to take back the throne.”
Jackal nodded, like she’d already known what Sunny’s answer would be. “Good. A last word of advice — I may have taught you how to fight, but you need to choose for yourself when to fight, and when not to. Choose well.” She glanced over towards the huge doors of the mountain fortress, beckoning Sunny away. “If you leave, you won’t ever be able to come back. This decision, like so many others, is final.”
“Will I see you again?” Sunny asked.
Jackal smirked. “I’ll be watching you from the shadows. Know that. If your eyes ever do land on my scales once more, you won’t recognize me. Now go. Fulfill your destiny.”
Sunny bowed her head in respect. She might not to have Jackal finish her training, but Sunny was grateful for all Jackal had taught her. Maybe she didn’t need to fully become her mother to take keep the throne. Maybe this would be enough.
Sunny raised her head, and turned. The doors seemed to swing open for her, the freezing wind blasting against her snout. She spread her wings, now free, and stepped into the snow. A strong gust lifted her immediately into the sky, snow blinding her for a moment.
When Sunny glanced back to the mountain peak, there was nothing there. The cliffside fortress, and Jackal, were gone. For a moment, she wondered: was the building just been covered in snow, or had it actually disappeared?
Then Queen Sunny turned to the west, Pyrrhia’s great desert stretching out beyond the mountains all the way to the sea. It was time for her to reclaim her throne.
== Chapter 47 ==
With a jolt, Midnight extended her claws, preparing for a fight. Crystal didn’t move, and it didn’t take long for Midnight to realize why. She was turned in stone, her white scales now grey, her dagger caught within her talons. The IceWing’s stare was empty and lifeless.
Midnight shivered. She’d gotten over the initial shock of seeing Crystal, though her heart still pounded. She gave Crystal a wary glance. No flinches, not even breathing under the stone exterior. She felt Ecru wrap a wing around her as she shivered. Even in death, it was difficult to see her mother’s murderer right in front of her eyes.
“Sorry,” Polar winced. “I should’ve given you some warning.”
Midnight took a step forward, onto the crystalline bridge, placing one paw after another as she kept her gaze fixed on Crystal at all times. She wasn’t the only dead dragon in the cavern. In order to cross the bridge itself, Midnight had to walk around a slab of ice, with a long-dead NightWing preserved within it. A dragon’s skeleton rested not far from Crystal. Midnight had a sinking feeling that she knew who it was. Her brother. This was a place of death.
“I didn’t realize my step-mother had ended up like this,” she mused as she walked up next to Crystal. She squinted as she examined the IceWing’s eyes, similarly preserved in stone. Dead. “I suppose I could’ve guessed, based on what Tiger had said.”
Her talons shook as she stared at Crystal. Part of her wanted to throw her to the ground, to beat her until she was just unrecognizable chunks of stone. To obliterate her until there was nothing left of her in this world.
“It’s ironic,” Midnight muttered. “Both my father’s mates ended up dead this way. Trapped in stone. Orca’s curse on our family.”
“Careful not to poke yourself,” Polar warned her. “The enchantment is still around.”
Midnight glanced down at Crystal’s talons. The dagger that she’d embedded Torrent’s pearl had been partially covered in the stone, but the tip still remained intact, exposed metal glinting in the ethereal glow.
“How did she end up getting it to work on everyone?” Midnight asked Polar. “My father told me it only worked on animuses.”
“Loophole,” Polar smiled. “The dagger the pearl is embedded in just needs to touch an animus dragon’s scale, and it’ll turn whoever it pierces to stone. She put one of Aurora’s scales in the dagger after Aurora had been fully exposed to the Darkstone, and made an animus. It’s strange,” Polar said, stepping up to Crystal himself. He flicked his talons against her horns, scraping against the stone. “I hated her for so long. Killing her was the only way I could redeem myself, redeem my family to Queen Glacier’s eyes. And now, Queen Glacier is dead, and I have to live with the snow-eating traitor.”
Midnight turned towards Polar. “Er, she is dead, right?” she asked, somewhat concerned. “Like she’s not alive and trapped in there or anything like that?”
Polar shook his head. “Quite dead. The enchantment killed her. Her insides are stone, too. It’s the same for your mother too, if that’s what you’re asking. There’s no way to bring her back, not truly. I myself only survived because of the diamond stuck in my paw and Calamity’s help. Lucky, or unlucky, depending who you ask.”
“So Calamity is still around,” Tiger frowned, stepping over the bridge.
Polar glanced back to the RainWing, and nodded. “He is. It’s pretty difficult to get rid of him for good, thanks to the enchantment on him.” He whacked Crystal in the head, beaming. “Trapped in here though, thanks to Ink. He’s not getting out anytime soon; it took him five thousand years for the binding to wear off the last time. But you’re free to ask him questions, he’s surprisingly interested in this whole affair with Antigonia.”
“I don’t want his help,” Midnight snarled, glaring at Crystal again.
Polar laughed. “If you say so. I wouldn’t trust a thing he says. He’s about as manipulative as my dad. However, the four of you are caught up in something pretty big, so I’d ask anyways. Think of it as my help, not his.”
Midnight snorted. “That doesn’t make it much better. You’re on his side.”
Polar tossed her a glance, stone cracking as he tilted his head. “I’m not on anyone’s side. Queen Glacier, Fracture, Calamity. We’re all just pawns to dragons like them, playing their games with us. Fracture knew about the Horror, and kept it from us to throw us up against Calamity. He could’ve told us, given us the choice to choose a side, but he didn’t. And look how things turned out for me.” He frowned. “Even if it didn’t end up being much use, I tried to give my life in Ink’s place. I should’ve died. Not him.”
Midnight closed her eyes. She hated the idea of letting Calamity help them with their problem. A manipulative dragon who was responsible for her family’s death. But she couldn’t hate Polar, just for surviving, especially after what he’d tried to do for her brother. And if talking to Calamity was going to be the difference between stopping the Empress and not, she couldn’t refuse it.
“Fine,” Midnight grumbled. “Someone else, ask. I don’t want to talk to him.”
“Can you — can Calamity tell us about the Empress?” Skytaker quickly asked, question already prepared. “What are her weaknesses and strengths? How do we stop her?”
Polar thought for a moment, like he was discussing with Calamity in his mind. He grimaced. “Er, Calamity doesn’t actually know who the Empress is.”
“Liliana?” Skytaker suggested hopefully.
“Do you mean Liana?” Polar asked back. “Lily? Lilac?”
“No,” Skytaker sighed. “Her name is Liliana.”
Polar shook his head. “No clue. She isn’t or hasn’t ever been important enough for him to know her.”
“That’s useless,” Skytaker grumbled. “Well, she’s pretty important now.”
“Wait, you mentioned Calamity is interested in Antigonia,” Ecru suddenly brought up. “But doesn’t know the Empress? What about the carvings on the Mausoleum door there? I think they are different than the ones here, at least from what I’ve heard of them.”
Polar smiled. “He says that’s a good question. How much do you know about the Legend of Calamity?”
“Queen Fen’s sib,” Ecru replied. “She was planning on conquering Pyrrhia, but before a decisive battle, Calamity betrayed her. He wrapped the MudWing’s Eye, the Eye of Coal, around her neck. It killed them both, just like the Eye of Onyx killed Blister. There’s another legend about Calamity too, during the Scorching. Which one is this Calamity? Or are they both—”
“The same?” Polar asked. “Yes, and no. This one is the one from the Scorching. Tiger, you know that legend, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Tiger frowned. “You were there with me when we read it. Well, Polar was there with me. Calamity was one of the animuses who created the Seven Eyes in order to win the Scorching. They knew they were going to lose their souls after the enchantments, so they enchanted the Eyes to kill them. But Calamity did something that kept himself alive, or half-alive at least. After the Scorching, he and his mate, a dragon named Ignite took the Eye of Amethyst and made earthquakes with it. Four dragons, Princess Frost, Starweaver, Mica, and Falcon went after him, killed Ignite, and trapped Calamity. Princess Frost was the only survivor, and later became queen and made the mausoleum.”
“Pretty good,” Polar nodded, approving of the retelling. “You’re wrong about me being an animus, but a lot of it got preserved.”
Midnight took a sudden step back as she realize what was going on. Polar wasn’t speaking through his own body anymore. She readied her claws, in case Calamity made a motion to attack.
“Don’t worry, I mean you no harm,” Calamity chuckled through Polar. The IceWing’s scales started to glow brighter through the cracks in the stone. “I wouldn’t have had him save you just to kill you myself. Let me answer your question. Ignite had firescales. She killed her brother in the egg, and stole the fire from him. Maybe not in that order. But Antigonia was a world where things happened differently. Against all odds, Ignite’s fireless brother survived till their hatching. The only he survived, the only way he could have survived? He is an animus, and enchanted himself to be unharmable while still in the egg. His name is Ash, after what his sister almost turned him into.
“I met him with Ignite. I have to admit, his survival was a surprise for me, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with him. So I had him join Ignite and I. I taught him about his magic, and where it truly comes from. He was my protégé. Someone I made to be like me. A fatal mistake. 
“He betrayed me when the day arrived, and fought against me with Frost. He didn’t just trap me within Starweaver, but he destroyed me, and killed Frost. Ash wanted the world as his own, and by getting me out of the way, he became the god of it.”
“What about the final image?” Ecru asked, trying to picture it again. “I didn’t see what it meant. I thought it was some sort of ritual. There was a sphere around Ash, and tendrils grabbed the sphere. I think it was the . . . thing we saw beneath.”
“The Horror,” Polar grinned, Calamity twisting his snout into a wide, toothy smile. “I can’t really say for certain — I was dead — but my guess? Ash made an enchantment, something so terrifyingly powerful that just one single use of magic awoke the Horror, summoning it up into Antigonia after it devoured his entire soul in a single nibble. How Antigonia is still around after that, I have no idea.”
“The Wishstone,” Tiger whispered. “That’s what he made. What the Empress is looking for.”
“Maybe,” Calamity replied. “But, I can tell you this: however dangerous the Empress is, an animus as intelligent and manipulative as Ash, without a soul, is far worse. Good luck!”
“You’d know,” Midnight growled. “So, how do we defeat the Great Ice Dragon, or the Horror, or whatever it is?”
Polar shook his head. “You can’t. That’s Aurora’s duty. Preparing Pyrrhia for—” He stopped. “I’m sorry. Calamity won’t let me tell you any more.”
“Of course he won’t,” Midnight huffed. “Maybe if I think of the right spell . . .” As Midnight considered the option, she suddenly felt her breath quicken, as a buzz rang through her ears. She glanced down to see that the rocks beneath her were shaking up and down. Just by considering an enchantment, she’d brought the Horror closer.
“You’re still in its domain,” Polar warned her. “And as I said, you can’t. The only reason dragons have animus magic to begin with is that it gives it to them. Regardless, anything you can think of, Calamity has tried it already.”
“I don’t believe you,” Midnight responded. Calamity had said Ash had done something he didn’t know, right? Then maybe, just maybe, Midnight could figure it out. She decided right there and then. No matter how long it took, she’d find a way to stop the Horror, and stop Calamity with it.
“We should probably go, if we don’t have anything else to ask,” Tiger said, glancing around. Calamity didn’t seem like he’d be much help in their fight against the Empress.
“One more thing,” Midnight snarled. “Why did Calamity have my mother and brother killed? They were innocent! They had nothing to do with you!”
Polar grimaced. “Your hatching was . . . a focal point. Nightreader’s death was needed to keep her from being a moderating influence on Torrent and his hatchlings. If you’d grown up with her, you’d all have been as normal as your family could’ve been. Without her, each of Torrent and Nightreader’s dragonets would have changed Pyrrhia in their own way. Had Loresearcher survived he would’ve conquered Pyrrhia in order to raise a united army to defeat Calamity, Crystal, and Aurora. It wasn’t personal.”
Midnight let out a furious roar, claws extended, teeth bared at Polar. “It wasn’t personal? You killed my mother! I would’ve had a happy upbringing, and you destroyed that intentionally?”
Polar took a step back, guarded. It looked like Midnight was just about to attack. “Not me, I’m just the messenger,” he quickly added. “I had nothing to do with it. I’m not happy about what Crystal did to me either. She tore me away from my family, too. I understand your hatred for him.” He glared at Crystal’s stone corpse, as if to make the point.
Midnight slowly relaxed her claws, breathing heavily. “Sorry,” she huffed. “It’s just . . .”
“I understand,” Polar smiled. “I’m not happy about being stuck with him either. Believe me, I’d wrangle Calamity too if I had the chance, and Calamity had a body to wrangle. Come on. You all have a world to save. Follow.”
Polar led the four up through the Crystal Caverns, Darkstone speckling against the walls as they climbed the passage back to the surface. Midnight stared down at the ground. It was like an old wound had been ripped open. Her mother had been killed, just to make her life miserable.
It wasn’t long before the interior of the Mausoleum was up above the group. Polar pushed on the bottom of the ice coffin, Queen Frost’s body staring down at them as he shifted it over with ease. The four climbed out into the interior behind him. Ecru felt herself relax. She could feel it now. They were almost home. As they stepped up to the doors, she noticed Polar, staying by the side of the coffin.
“Are you coming with us?” Ecru asked him. “We could use your help.”
Polar shook his head. “I wish. I can’t leave the Crystal Caverns, not for long. Calamity can’t extend his spooky ghost powers that far. I’d end up trapped in stone if I went with you. Not much help at all.”
“Oh,” Ecru replied. He was trapped here, forever. Like a prisoner.
“But if you want to do something to thank me, there’s something you could do,” Polar suddenly said, his expression lighting up. “There’s a dragon named Slate in the Northern Mud Kingdom. Could you tell him I’m still alive, but trapped here? I’d really appreciate it. Some company would be nice.”
“Of course,” Ecru nodded. “It’s the least we could do.”
“Wait, Northern Mud Kingdom?” Skytaker asked. “Do you just mean the parts near the Sky Kingdom?”
Polar smiled. “I forgot. It hasn’t happened yet. I think you’ll understand what I mean when the time comes. Unless the world ends, in which case it won’t matter.” He waved his claws, descending back into the tunnel, as Queen Frost’s icey grave slid back over him.
Midnight flicked her tongue. She was ready to get out of here. And see if Pyrrhia had been recreated by the Empress in her absence. She pressed her claws against the two doors, this time, hoping they wouldn’t break. They didn’t, moonlight fluttering in with a freezing wind as snow covered their talons.
The first thing Tiger did after stepping out through the doors was look up at the night sky. Stars dotted the celestial sphere, and Tiger quickly scanned all sides of it. “Three moons,” she whispered. “Three moons! Three! Not four, or zero! Three! This is it! Pyrrhia!”
She ran out of the semi-circle of pillars, the ancient queens staring down as she and Skytaker leaped into the snow, rolling and laughing. Tiger’s scales glittered gold and pink as fluffy white fell from them.
“I’ve never been so happy to be on Pyrrhia before,” Skytaker grinned, shaking snow off their wings. “It’s been so long!”
Midnight stared up at the sky. She wasn’t as relieved as the dragonets, though she supposed she’d been in Antigonia for a far shorter time. But now, things were different. She knew the terrible truth behind animus magic, and the murder of her family. And they still weren’t out of the storm yet.
“This is far from over,” Midnight muttered to Ecru. “We still need to get the Wishstone before the Empress does. Or else . . . there might not be a Pyrrhia for much longer.”
== Chapter 48 ==
Inferno’s claws were shaking, teeth chattering at what she’d just seen. What terrible thing had the Empress summoned? Why had it freaked Aurora out so much? Sand fell into the crack as it slowly seemed to widen. Inferno watched as Aurora became a speck in the distance, disappearing behind the edge of the arena. Would she be back?
“AURORA PLEASE!” Queen Scarlet screeched, straining against the vines holding her. “PLEASE DON’T LET ME DIE I DON’T WANT TO DIE RESCUE ME!” Tears started falling from the SkyWing queen’s eyes. “I’M GOING TO DIE THEY’RE GOING TO BOIL ME IN VENOM MY FACE THEY’LL MELT MY FACE!”
“Four moons!” Liliana groaned, placing her paws over her ears. “Just, shut up already, will you? Or I’ll melt out your tongue first.”
Queen Scarlet stared, jittering as her mouth closed. That shut her up quickly. Inferno stared at the brutal tyrant, reduced to a gibbering mess. Inferno almost pitied her. She frowned. She felt weird, having any sympathy for such a terrible dragon.
“Clean things up,” the Empress ordered to a few of the RainWings who’d watched the battle, flapping a wing at them. “I don’t want anyone stubbing a toe on the orbs she created.”
The RainWings obediently got to work, trying to remove the objects Aurora had created during the battle while flattening out the sand. A couple grasped their talons around the lightning rods in the ground, attempting to pull them up. It barely budged.
“Your majesty,” one of the RainWings gulped. “We, er, can’t get these out.”
Liliana rolled her eyes, and they scrambled out of the way as she grabbed ahold of the lightning rod, attempting to pull it up herself. Instead, she just snapped off a piece, lifting up a brittle pole as long as she was. She stared down into the hole beneath it. There was still more beneath it, and it had been connected to the others. She’d have to tear up the whole arena if she wanted to get them out.
“Nevermind,” the Empress muttered. She glanced around, trying to find her crown. It seemed like it hadn’t regenerated with her. “Someone, fetch me a new crown. I want to look my best when I’m holding the Wishstone. You, SkyWing queen,” she said, glaring at Queen Scarlet. “What was in the box? I want to know what she has now. Can it heal her?”
Queen Scarlet shuddered, opening her mouth, before snapping it back closed.
Liliana groaned. “You have my permission to speak,” she sighed. “Go on.”
“It’s the Eye of Amethyst!” Queen Scarlet rapidly replied. “It’s an ancient animus-touched artifact that chooses queens.”
Liliana looked over at the crack through the arena, still slowly widening. Sand seemed to be spilling down into it. “It seems to do quite a bit more than just choose queens,” she frowned. She turned in the direction where Aurora had flown off in, squinting to see if she could still see her. “Well, if it can’t heal her, I suppose that’s the end of that.”
“She’s going to come back for me,” Inferno said. “You didn’t kill her.”
“She doesn’t have healing powers, like me,” the Empress retorted. “You saw how hurt she is. She’s not going to survive her injuries.”
Inferno smiled, shaking her head. There was no way that would kill Aurora. “She will. Having been her enemy at one point, I don’t envy you. She’ll come back, prepared.”
Liliana snorted, turning to Inferno. “Doubtful. She won’t get another chance. I’ll have the Wishstone before that.”
Inferno looked up into the Empress’s eyes. “You said it was Ash you wanted. Do you need him to get it, then?”
Liliana chuckled. “Sweetie, he is the Wishstone. They’re the one and the same.” She walked up to Inferno, tail dragging through the sand. The vines tightened around Inferno as Liliana placed a talon on Inferno’s neck, sizzling and healing as she dragged the claw up to Inferno’s chin. Inferno gritted her teeth, unused to the odd sensation.
“Ash is quite a tricky little fellow,” Liliana smirked, grabbing Inferno’s neck, leaning in so close Inferno could smell the RainWing’s breath, cold on her scales. “Very cunning. But you know that by now, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Inferno lied, her ears twitching as they folded back. She was right. Ash had pretended to be her brother for Inferno’s entire life.
“He’s the real villain here,” Liliana continued, her smile turning into a scowl. “He has been for years. He plays his enemies against each other, treats us like toys.”
Don’t listen to her, Inferno, Ash said into Inferno’s mind.
Inferno frowned. So now he decided to say something? I’ll listen to whoever I want.
“He’s talking to you, isn’t he?” Liliana asked. “Don’t listen to anything he says. Don’t trust him. He’s betrayed everyone around him.”
Even Calamity, Inferno remembered. That was why Aurora had been so freaked out about him.
I had a good reason for that, Ash responded, I had a good reason for betraying Liliana, too. They’re both your enemies, remember? Not me. I’m your—
Don’t say brother, Inferno answered, baring her fangs at Liliana. Don’t say brother.
“Creating the Wishstone must have taken his soul,” the Empress mused.
“It didn’t,” Ash growled, suddenly taking control of Inferno’s voice. “My soul is mine. Based on how you almost destroyed this world just a few moments ago, you still don’t know the first thing about animus magic, Liliana. It doesn’t destroy your soul, it exposes and takes it. By enchanting myself into the Wishstone, I kept myself fully intact. The first thing I did afterwards was sever my world from animus magic, getting rid of my own animus powers, making sure my soul was once again all mine, and preventing more animuses from ever being created. The Wishstone accesses the powers of animus magic and the underlying nature of our reality directly, without the Horror needed as an intermediary.”
“There you are,” the Empress snorted. “Finally, you got the courage to speak to me? Impressive. How do you know you really still have a soul? Can you feel it in your chest? Oh wait, you don’t have one.” She laughed. “Whatever a ‘soul’ is sounds like such a vague concept. Can you smell it? Can you eat it?”
“Yes, in fact,” Ash replied. “They taste pretty good. I had control over your world, remember? If I had lost my soul for real, then the Pyrrhia you crawled out of your mother into would’ve been far worse than it was.”
If you’re the Wishstone, why can’t you just use it to stop the Empress? Inferno asked him.
As long as I’m in my current state, of being trapped in you, I don’t have that power, Ash explained. It’s why I entered you in the first place. No one can use me, Trustbreaker, or anyone else. And, well, no one can touch you. Almost no one.
“You could have told me what was going to happen when I used the Wishstone!” Liliana growled. “You were the one who destroyed our original world! You tricked us!”
“How was I supposed to know?” Ash shouted back, Inferno’s fangs bared. “You think I wanted that? No one, not even Calamity had created something like the Wishstone before. When I had used it before, I always had a clear intention in mind, unlike you and Trustbreaker’s messy thoughts and desires. Half of what you wished for conflicted, and barely a quarter was even possible! There was a reason I had an entire cult of dragons protecting the Wishstone from falling into anyone’s claws or hands, but no, you just needed to try and make your perfect world!”
“You turned Duskwind against me!” Liliana accused him. “I loved him! None of this would’ve happened otherwise! I wouldn’t have had to kill him!”
“I’ll admit, that was partially my fault,” Ash responded. “But I only opened him up to reason, showed him all the terrible things you did to Antigonia. Are you just going to keep blaming me for everything that went wrong in your life, or are you going to actually do something?”
The Empress’s expression contorted into rage, and she spat venom into the sand. “I will,” she snarled, taking her other foreclaws, and stabbing them into Inferno’s head.
Inferno let out a squeal as the Empress’s claws dug into her, though they didn’t break scales, instead passing into her. She tried to move away, scream, but her body refused to move. A jolt of energy burst through her from Ash to the Empress, images and sounds flickering in front of her. Wet tears on skin. A dying young NightWing with sunset in his scales. A hundred portals, with nothing but lava and darkness. The rotting body of a dead scavenger. The roar of clashing dragons. A vast emptiness, nothing in all directions. Failure.
Inferno opened her eyes. She was no longer in the arena. A familiar grassy hillside, circles of flowers dancing around her paws. Sunlight shined down, a river weaving through the valley.
She turned to see Ash. A small SkyWing with pale salmon scales. His talons shook, eyes wide with fatigue. This was the landscape that he’d made whenever he’d spoken to her in her dreams.
“You chose this place?” Liliana laughed. Inferno covered her ears as her voice seemed to boom from everywhere throughout the dreamscape, grass shaking from the sheer force of the sound. “Of course you did. Our first sight of the new world we’d created.”
Ash glanced over towards Inferno, his talons shaking. “Inferno,” he said, trying to keep his voice to his usual calmness, “you need to—”
“Stop telling me what I need to do!” Inferno growled back. “You keep doing that! Lying to me! Controlling me!”
Ash’s expression grew grim. “I’m not—” he stammered. “I just wanted to help you.”
“Well, look where your help got us!” Inferno snarled. “I’m sorry you don’t have a body of your own, but that doesn’t make it right for you to make me do whatever you want!”
“Don’t worry,” Liliana’s voice boomed, laughing. “He won’t be in you much longer. I need him.”
Inferno yelled out as the ground beneath her started to shake, grass torn up as a giant hand burst through it, fingers grasping around Inferno like she was a piece of fruit, grabbing her and pulling her into the air. Through the fingers, two humongous eyes stared down at her, as a gargantuan scavenger lifted her into the air, the ground spinning beneath the SkyWing. She spotted Ash, caught in another hand, trying to escape it.
The scavenger laughed as the hands squeezed around the two, Ash crying out in pain. Lines of glowing rope appeared between Inferno and Ash, stretched taut as the hands pulled apart. Ash screamed out again as Liliana tugged on the ropes, pulling him away from Inferno
“Don’t let her take me!” Ash squealed at Inferno. “Please, don’t let her take me!”
Memories flickered in front of Inferno, hers and Ash’s mixed together. Goat, yelling at Inferno, calling her a monster. Ash pleading to Liliana, asking her not to force him to do this. Blurs and screams, the lights of a fire flickering in the village where Inferno hatched. Scales sizzling as Ash’s head was pushed to the ground, Calamity’s head shaking in disappointment. Inferno crying, tears boiling off her scales, Ash’s wings around her. Ash screaming as his limbs moved themselves, Calamity yelling. Ash warning Inferno about Ink. Inferno, unable to even speak to Slate and the screaming Toxin as she felt Ash take Polar’s Darkstone. A small Inferno, asking Ash who he was in her dreams.
“He lied to you,” the Empress said, “just like he lied to me. He betrayed us both.”
Inferno felt herself tense up as she was thrown out of the memories, something jolting through her body. The Empress’s eyes stared down at her and Ash as one of the ropes snapped, Ash screaming as the Empress dragged him towards her.
Memories flooded back again. Talons around Calamity’s neck, Ash yelling furiously as he reached into the MudWing’s form. Coyote’s howls of pain as Inferno bumped into him. Ash crying as his neck burned, his sister choking him while Calamity watched. Inferno screaming as Trustbreaker fell onto the ground, blood spilling from his jaws.
She felt rage well up in her talons, and for a moment, she wanted to set them on the Empress, to let her burn for what she’d done to Trustbreaker. That’s right. This isn’t about Ash. This is about Trustbreaker.
The sunset-glinted NightWing, laughing alongside Inferno in the Talons of Peace. Trustbreaker, promising Ash that he’d be free, and no one would ever control him again. A young Inferno crying as he left the caverns, Trustbreaker promising her that he’ll be back soon enough. Trustbreaker crying to Ash, asking him if there’s any way to fix what he and Liliana had done. Inferno grinning as Trustbreaker gave her a geode, telling her that she wouldn’t be able to burn this present. Trustbreaker, holding Ash tight in the middle of the night, four moons above as they flew away from the Empress’s glass palace.
The Empress pulled her talons out from Inferno’s head, a disgusted look on the RainWing’s face as Inferno opened her eyes again. She was back in the arena, vines still tight around her.
“He’s been terrible to you your entire life,” the Empress snarled. “You should be glad to be rid of him.”
“You’re right,” Inferno replied, heart pounding. “I won’t forgive Ash for that. But it was you and Calamity who taught him to be controlling.” She frowned. “So I won’t forgive you either. He and Trustbreaker were my only friends, in the Talons of Peace. And as bad as Ash has been to me, there’s no way I’m letting Trustbreaker’s murderer take my brother from me just to be worse to him than he was to me. He’s not yours, just to do with what you like, and nor is Pyrrhia, or Antigonia.”
Liliana gritted her teeth. “It doesn’t matter,” she snorted. “Make your brave speeches all you want. Ash is the Wishstone, and thus, I need him. You won’t be able to hold up forever, and once the last rope snaps, the Wishstone is mine.”
Inferno smiled. “I don’t need to hold up forever. Just until Aurora comes back, and kicks your tailvent.”
== Chapter 49 ==
Aloe stared down at her golden plate. Who else had eaten off this piece of treasure? Had her mother, her grandmother, and the predecessors before her all dined on this shiny piece of filth?
The royal banquet room of the SandWing palace had a dragon at every place of the table, but it was silent. No joyous conservation, no playful banter. These dragons had all been trained far too well for niceties like that.
This was the day of the week that they got their rations. A SandWing went around, dropping a small hunk of dried meat on each platter, and pouring water out into each cup. The water was the most precious. In the rains after Aloe had taken the palace, they’d managed to gather a lot, but she was still wary. If something went wrong, and the water was lost, they’d be through.
She stared down at the food, picking at the meat, and nibbling at the chunks. It tasted like more salt and less meat. As per her orders, it was the same amount as every other dragon here. Dining with the queen would make them more loyal to her, especially if they saw she was getting the same treatment as them. Still, Aloe wasn’t hungry.
“Well, at least it’s not fish!” Leopard chuckled, gobbling down her meal. A murmur of agreement rose up among the other soldiers. None of them wanted more fish.
With Leopard, the silence had been broken. More of the soldiers started to murmur and speak up, though rarely louder than a whisper. Aloe sighed as she picked at her food, dribbling a few drops of water on her tongue.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Leopard asked, sitting directly across from Aloe. “You didn’t laugh.”
Aloe glanced over at the SandWing who’d been passing their food around, frowning as she saw his scarred scales. She turned back to Leopard, a glance of understanding passing between them.
“You still don’t like Quill?” Leopard asked her.
Aloe nodded quietly. “He was one of Blister’s most loyal soldiers,” she grimaced.
“And now he’s one of your most loyal soldiers,” Leopard assured her.
Aloe stared down at her talons. That didn’t make her feel much better. She let out another distressed sigh. “I just want to get this whole thing over with. Before it escalates more.” She shook her head. “Ugh. Why couldn’t have Sunny just accepted my challenge?”
“I think she’s a bit smarter than Burn,” Leopard smiled. “She might have suspected something.”
“Burn?” Aloe asked. “My aunt?”
“Remember?” Leopard replied. “Your mother killed her by giving her two Dragonbite Vipers. I don’t think Sunny would fall for a . . .” She winced as she saw that Aloe had cut off her eye contact, staring back down at her meal. Oops. She hadn’t meant to compare Aloe to her mother. “Oh, I just meant Sunny . . . it’s not really trickery, you just have . . . er, sorry.”
Aloe looked down at the plate, sulking. Her own reflection appeared in the shimmering gold, a black diamond pattern stretching across her neck.
“Really sorry,” Leopard apologized again. “I didn’t mean that. It’s not the same, at all. Look, we’ve been together all our lives. I know you. You’ve got so much more than Blister. You’re strong, smart, kind, and beautiful. Not like her.” She smiled, hoping that she’d catch Aloe’s eyes.
Aloe glanced up to Leopard, and let out another sigh, averting her gaze once more. “Thanks,” she mumbled half-heartedly.
Leopard closed her eyes, and decided not to say anything more. She didn’t want to make things any worse. She shouldn’t have brought up Blister.
They stood in silence for a few moments, Aloe poking her meal quietly. Her wings drooped down as she lost herself in her thoughts.
Eventually, Aloe raised her head back up. “I want to go see Armadillo.”
“Armadillo?” Leopard asked, surprised by the sudden turn-around. “A-are you sure? Why?”
“The best way to win this war is by figuring out my enemy. Maybe I can get something useful out of him.” She poked at her meat again. “I’m not really hungry or thirsty anyways. I’ll give him my rations in exchange.”
“Alright, good idea,” Leopard grinned, glad to see that Aloe was being at least a little less sulky. “You want to go now?”
Aloe nodded, and stood up, grabbing her plate in her jaws and her cup in her talons. Careful not to spill the precious water, she walked out of the banquet room, towards the dungeons. Leopard followed.
The dungeon entrances were locked, and after Sunny’s escape through them, every gate was guarded by two SandWings with loud bells. Aloe didn’t want enemy troops sent back into the dungeons getting into the palace. The gates opened for her and Leopard as they passed through each one, SandWing soldiers bowing to their queen. The air became cold and musky, the light dim, as they descended into the sprawling dungeons beneath the palace.
Aloe knew which way to go. After they’d conquered the palace, the assassin that Aloe had sent after Sunny had been freed, and Armadillo had been imprisoned in his place. Thorn and Sunny’s advisor.
He looked up as they came across him. The imprisonment hadn’t been good for him. Since being captured, he’d lost a lot of weight, scales outlining his bones. His gums were dry and cracked, fangs yellow and dusty. Still, even in his sorry state, he smiled with power and regalness.
“It’s been quite lonely down here, you know,” Armadillo grinned, his voice hoarse and dry. “I’m glad I finally have visitors, though you weren’t the ones I was hoping for. No chance I’m lucky enough that the two of you are trying to use these tunnels to escape, am I?
Aloe passed the plate of food between the bars holding Armadillo prisoner. She kept the glass of water in her talons. “A goodwill gesture,” she explained. “If you tell us what we want to know, I’ll give you the water to wash it down with.”
“A hard bargain,” Armadillo muttered. He eagerly grasped at the food, devouring the meat down quickly, a lump in his throat. He let out a scratchy cough, staring pleadingly at the water.
“SandWings can go a long time without food or water, can’t they?” Aloe tsked. “This should be a commodity to you.”
“That is true,” Armadillo slowly answered. “So, what do the two of you want to know? If you’re wondering Sunny’s weaknesses and how to win the war, even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you.”
Aloe squinted. “I know you’re lying. You have something in mind, don’t you? A potential weakness. I just need to figure it out.”
Armadillo shrugged his wings. “If you say so.”
“Why didn’t she accept my challenge?” Aloe asked. “That’s what the normal thing to do would’ve been.”
Armadillo laughed. “She’s not really a normal dragon. I’m really surprised you don’t know that by now, though I suppose her not accepting it is partially my fault. It’s obvious from a glance. She’s small and somewhat stunted. She’s not a great fighter.” He glanced up at Aloe, examining the SandWing. “Though looking at your own feebleness, she might have had a chance after all.”
“Hey, cut the sass,” Leopard growled, instantly coming to Aloe’s defense.
“It’s fine,” Aloe calmly replied. “He’s right.”
“It makes me wonder,” Armadillo tsked. “If you didn’t know she wasn’t a great fighter, how come you challenged her? You seem like a smart dragon. Why did you think you’d be able to win against her in a one-on-one fight?”
Aloe stiffened up, feeling the weight of the dolphin necklace around her neck. She shook her head. “I’m the one asking the questions here. Not you. What about Sunny’s personality?”
Armadillo laughed. “You’re asking the easiest questions. I didn’t even know her for that long, but her personality is barely a secret. She’s famous. Where on Pyrrhia have you been for the past three years, under a rock?”
“On a secret island,” Aloe truthfully replied. “We didn’t get much news of the outside world.”
“Hmm,” Armadillo said. “Will I get the water if I answer this question?”
Aloe nodded.
“Good,” Armadillo smiled. “Sunny is kind, nice, and always looks for the best in everyone. An optimist. She’s smart, but she isn’t cunning. She also an idealist, she wants a peaceful world where everyone is happy. She wasn’t meant to be queen, and never wanted to be. I figured that was why you got Thorn killed, since it’d be easier to take the throne from Sunny.”
Aloe shook her head. “I had nothing to do with Thorn’s death.” She frowned. “If Sunny doesn’t even want the throne, why doesn’t she just let me have it?”
“For one, she thought you’d killed her mother,” Armadillo answered. “I believe you, that you didn’t, but the timing was pretty suspicious. Second, you’re Blister’s dragonet. There’s no way Sunny would ever let anyone like Blister rule the Sand Kingdom.”
Aloe flinched at the name, taking a step back.
“Sunny should get to know Aloe first,” Leopard quickly added. “She’s not like Blister, at all.”
“Maybe ordering her to give over her throne and sending an assassin after her wasn’t the best first impression,” Armadillo snorted. “Can I get my water now?”
Aloe paused, clutching the glass. For a moment, she considered still withholding it, making him give more information. That was what her mother would’ve done.
She passed the glass of water to Armadillo, and he eagerly took it, pouring it down his dry throat in a single swig. He let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“Wait,” Leopard said, “I want to ask a question. Not about Sunny, or our war. Do you know anything about an empress? The Empress?”
“The Empress?” Aloe frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Er, Six-Claws told me that a RainWing army had taken over the Sky Kingdom, led by a RainWing known as the Empress,” Leopard quickly explained. “Apparently she has some sort of magic.”
Aloe flicked her tail, annoyed. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? This is is important.”
Leopard guiltily glanced away. “I wasn’t sure if it was true or not. I didn’t want to accidentally lead you astray.”
Aloe tapped a claw on the stone floor. Did Leopard not trust her to judge herself whether it was true or not?
“Six-Claws isn’t the type of dragon to lie about something like that,” Armadillo spoke up. “I don’t know anything about this Empress, but if Six-Claws said it, he probably believes it.”
Aloe turned back to Armadillo. She didn’t believe him. She stared directly into his dark brown eyes, looking for any flinch or sign that he was lying. He glanced back, smiling impatiently as he scraped his tongue along the bottom of the glass, trying to get out any last droplets.
“I think I figured it out,” Aloe finally said.
“Figured what out?” Armadillo wondered, raising an eye-ridge.
“Sunny’s big secret,” Aloe continued. “Her weakness.”
Leopard turned to Aloe, watching her along with Armadillo.
“She’s a hybrid,” Aloe hypothesized. “You are, too.”
“Are we?” Armadillo repeated, not giving anything away.
Aloe nodded. “Our assassin mentioned didn’t have a barb, and was cloaked at the time, like she was trying to hide her body. You said she was stunted. Both of you have strange scale colors.” She smiled. “And you’re desperate for water.”
Armadillo’s snout twitched at that, the movement barely visible to Aloe. That confirmed it. She was right.
“You’re worried,” Aloe replied calmly. “You don’t have to be. I won’t tell. Leopard won’t either.”
Armadillo flicked his tongue, surprised by that. “Really?” he remarked. “If what you say is true, and I won’t guarantee it, it would be an advantage to use that against her. Many SandWings would be unhappy with a hybrid queen, if something like that ever came to light.”
Aloe shook her head, and laughed. She turned away from Armadillo, gesturing Leopard to follow.
“I can’t,” Aloe called to Armadillo as the two walked out of his view, her necklace jingling against her scales. “My own dragonet is a hybrid. If I used that against Sunny, I’d never be able to look at her again.”
== Chapter 50 ==
Midnight stared at the pine-covered ground as the four flew across the Sky Kingdom, the Claws of the Clouds rising high their right. She’d never seen pine trees before this. There was so much of Pyrrhia that she’d never been able to see, places she’d only been able to hear about from Gazelle and her father, landscapes she’d only seen in scrolls or in her dreams. With having to take care of Gazelle, she hadn’t been able to leave Crosswinds. She appreciated everything that Gazelle had done, and loved her like a mother, but still, she wondered: if her actual mother hadn’t been killed, if their family had stayed together, would they have roamed the world? Would her parents have shown them the places they’d visited? She could almost picture her mother flying next to her, explaining to Midnight about that one time she’d visited the Sky Kingdom, telling her about the history of the land.
She spotted something strange beneath her. A large fault in the ground, a crack running down from the Claws of the Clouds to . . . she couldn’t see the end of it. Maybe it went all the way out to sea. Near it, trees had been upended while rocks fell down into the abyss. It had to be pretty big for her to see it from all the way up here.
She frowned as it moved into the distance behind them. This had been the fourth one she’d seen today. Were there a lot of earthquakes in the Sky Kingdom? She hadn’t heard anything about it. Strange.
Tiger nervously cocked her head left and right, quickly glancing around for any sort of intruder. “Are we sure this is a good idea, to be flying during the daytime?” she asked. “Queen Scarlet doesn’t like intruders.” She winced. “RainWings worst of all.”
“I doubt we’re going to be the top thing on her mind,” Midnight replied, trying to reassure her. “Especially with the Empress causing so much trouble. I’m not even sure Queen Scarlet is in power anymore.”
“Really?” Tiger wondered. “Did something happen to her while we were in Antigonia?”
Midnight shook her head. “All the villages we’ve passed since entering the Sky Kingdom were recently deserted. Just a hunch, but with what you said about her map of Pyrrhia and that, it makes me think that something big happened.”
“On some level, that worries me more,” Tiger murmured. “Queen Scarlet was bad, but she wasn’t ‘destroy the world’ bad . . .”
“Agreed,” Midnight grimaced. “It just means we need to hurry up and fly faster.”
With a swoop of her wings, Midnight rode an air current forward towards Ecru, leaving Tiger behind with a tired sigh. She fell back towards Skytaker, giving the hybrid a glance.
“Are you doing alright?” Tiger asked them, concerned. “You’ve been quiet.”
“I’m fine,” Skytaker nodded, forcing a smile. “All my time in the Sky Kingdom outside the palace was with Cyclone. Good memories, just . . . nostalgic ones.”
“Not just the Sky Kingdom,” Tiger said, giving Skytaker a worried glance. “At least from how it sounds, we’re going towards the palace. That’s where we’re most likely to find the Empress.”
Skytaker sighed, lifting their head as they stared forward. The SkyWing palace was probably right on the other side of these mountains. It wouldn’t be long before they’d be there. “It doesn’t matter,” they answered. “I don’t remember any of my time there, anyways. Not that I want to.”
Tiger nodded. Of any place on Pyrrhia, this was the one that Skytaker wanted to visit the least. She didn’t blame them. The two were silent for a moment, cold winds whisking past. Tiger spotted another crack in the ground ahead of them. Why were there so many of these things?
“Hey,” Skytaker said to Tiger. “How do you think Ermine’s doing?”
Tiger felt a tad of purple shine through on her scales, before she quickly hid it. “I . . . I have no conceivable way of knowing that. He could be fine. He could be dead.”
Skytaker twitched their tail. “That’s pessimistic. You don’t really think he’s dead, do you? I think he’s still alive, safe, and waiting to be rescued.”
That’s optimistic, Tiger wanted to retort. She wasn’t quite sure why it mattered what either of them thought. What mattered was the facts. And the two of them didn’t know the facts. “A-are you feeling guilty about him?”
“Of course I am,” Skytaker grumbled. “I promised him we’d all get out. I promised him. And we’re here, and he’s still there.”
“It wasn’t like we could’ve done anything about it.”
Skytaker sighed again. “Yeah. I know. But we’re doing something about it now, aren’t we? I’ll do whatever it takes to get him back.”
But what will it take? Tiger wondered. She shook her head. The closer and closer they got to the Empress, the more uncertain Tiger became about what they had to do.
As Midnight flew up behind her, Ecru glanced back with a smile.
“How are they?” Ecru asked Midnight.
“Tiger and Skytaker?” Midnight asked back. She looked back over her wing to see the two dragonets talking with each other. “Fine, I think. They’ve been through a lot. Maybe more than us.”
Ecru nodded in agreement. “It’s starting to get late,” she pointed out. “I think we should find a place to make camp.”
“Make camp?” Midnight frowned. Ecru was right about it getting late at least. Midnight could already see the sun just barely dipping below the horizon. “It can’t be much further to the palace.”
“We’ve flown all over Pyrrhia and Antigonia in the last moon cycle,” Ecru reminded her. “The dragonets haven’t flown this much since before they were captured. And they have smaller wings.”
“The fate of the world depends on this,” Midnight retorted. “This is more important than any of us.”
“Which makes it even more important to sleep now,” Ecru clucked. “We can’t fight the Empress when we’re exhausted from a long day of flying. We have to be at our best. Also, we need time to prepare.”
Midnight shut her eyes as wind blasted against them. “Fine,” she hesitantly agreed. “But if the world ends while we’re asleep, it’s your fault.”
Midnight gestured for the others to follow as she dove down with Ecru, scanning the ground for a nice place to sleep. Eventually Midnight settled on something — a tail-thin valley between two cliff-faces, full of trees. If one of the Empress’s scouts passed overhead during the night, there’d be no way they’d be caught.
While the other three looked around for a nice place to sleep, clearing away rocks and looking for any sort nasty bugs they didn’t want to sleep in, Midnight walked further into the valley, cliffs rising high above her. The sun had set by now, only a faint dusk glow filling the sky. She scanned the bushes for any sort of food or water. Berries or a wild pig would be a nice meal, though she wasn’t sure she wanted to cook prey she caught, for fear of being caught herself. Eventually, she saw a small rustle in the bushes. Something to eat?
Midnight held still, lowering herself to the ground. She wasn’t really quite sure how to hunt, but this sounded like how she was supposed to do it. She waited patiently until the rustling grew closer.
“Meow?”
Midnight squinted as a tabby slowly walked out from the bushes, staring back at Midnight. That was right. She’d forgotten to hide. She sighed, chuckling to herself. She couldn’t eat the cat anyways. It was both far too small, and more importantly, far too cute.
“What are you doing here?” she asked it, grinning. It purred as it looked up at her. Weird. “Huh, surprised you’re not running away. Are you used to being around dragons?”
The tabby turned, walking back into the bushes. Midnight smiled as she followed it, pushing aside the leaves. “Hey, where’d you go? Don’t worry, I’m not going to eat you.”
Midnight glanced down, expecting to see the cat below her.
Instead, Aurora’s vivid violet eyes stared back up at her.
----Ecru leaped into the air as she heard a furious battle roar rip through the forest, eyes going wide.
“Midnight!” Ecru yelled out, recognizing the voice. She gave a quick glance back towards Tiger and Skytaker. “Stay here!” she ordered them, before rushing off deeper into the valley.
Her heart pounded as she stumbled through the underbrush, twigs and branches whacking against her wings as she sprinted towards Midnight as fast as she could. What if she was in danger? Had they been caught? Midnight let out another roar, Ecru shaking as it got louder.
Finally, Ecru burst through a pair of bushes to see Midnight in a clearing in front of her, furiously attacking a dragon on the ground.
“You!” Midnight roared, swiping her paw down at Aurora, the attack just phasing through her half-sister. “YOU! I’ll kill you!” She attacked again, biting down, only to wince as her jaws slapped against themselves.
Aurora sighed as Midnight attacked her once again, talons unable to make contact. Sapphire licked his paw, bored.
Aurora glanced over at Ecru as Midnight let out another roar. “Tell her to stop,” she grumbled.
“Midnight!” Ecru pleaded, wincing as Midnight tried to headbutt Aurora, whacking her snout against a rock.
“I won’t!” Midnight hissed, panting, trying to attack again.
Aurora twitched her tail, spikes shaking back and forth. “I have no desire to fight you.”
“Oh, really?” Midnight growled. “You don’t have a desire to fight? Well, guess what, I do! You tore apart my family! You killed my brother!”
“It was an accident,” Aurora coldly responded. “You were the one who was supposed to die.”
Midnight’s eyes went wide, seething as she stared down at Aurora. “Then I’m going to make you regret messing up,” she threatened. “I enchan—”
“MIDNIGHT!” Ecru squealed, rushing towards Midnight, and grabbing onto her snout. She turned Midnight towards her, staring into her eyes. “She says she doesn’t want to fight!”
Midnight glowered for a few moments, talons shaking. Ecru felt her fangs grit together, and for a moment, Ecru was afraid Midnight was going to attack her.
“You promised,” Ecru whimpered. “You promised, you wouldn’t use your magic.”
Midnight’s talons twitched, but finally, she took in a deep breath, and relaxed. Ecru let go of her snout.
“Stopping her was a good choice,” Aurora replied. “A moment later, and I would’ve killed her. Get off me.”
Midnight glared as she took a step back from Aurora, wincing as she felt something poke against the back of her head. Rubbing beneath her horns with a paw, she turned to see what it was. Stone spikes had risen up and circled around the back of Midnight’s head and neck, ready to impale her. 
As Midnight skirted around the spikes, Ecru managed to get a better look at Aurora. There’d been a reason why the hybrid had been lying on the ground, not fighting back. She didn’t look in good shape — a few of her limbs had been twisted out of place, metal casts covering parts of others. Slowly, bits of flesh and scale were reforming, replacing the metal as if they were growing.
“Do not mistake my current physical injuries for weakness,” Aurora stated, looking up at Midnight, moving her body as little as possible as she spoke, “and do not mistake your magic for strength. The moment I consider you a threat is the moment you die.”
Midnight bared her fangs again, wings clenching against her torso. She opened her mouth to speak, but Ecru got there first.
“Alright, thank you Aurora, we’ll keep that in mind,” Ecru smiled, trying to defuse the situation. She glanced over to the spikes behind Midnight. The two of them needed to tread carefully here — she didn’t doubt that Aurora could make good on her threat. “How about we all just back off? We can go camp somewhere else.”
“That deal is sufficient,” Aurora replied. Sapphire walked up next to her, licking one of her horns. “I don’t want my half-sister’s interference.”
“Don’t call me that,” Midnight growled. “We’re not family. But fine. As long as you stay away from the Empress and the Sky Kingdom, we’ll let you be. For now.”
Aurora shook her head, barely rotating it to the left and right, so not to move her neck much. “Those terms are not acceptable. I plan to go after the Empress again as soon as I’ve healed myself.”
Midnight narrowed her gaze. “So you’re on her side?” she hissed. “Of course you are. In that case, the two of us are enemies.”
Ecru winced. Midnight, why can’t you just be quiet for a moment! she thought. Telling Aurora that they were enemies sounded like a great way to get killed. She nervously glanced over to the spikes, expecting them to impale the two of them any moment now.
“The current existence of Pyrrhia is important to me,” Aurora answered. “I have no intention of joining the Empress’s side.”
“So why are you going after her then, huh?” Midnight pressed.
“To kill her.” Aurora flicked a talon, pressing it to the Eye of Amethyst. The glowing slitted pupil on it rotated upwards, looking back and forth between Midnight and Ecru. “My injuries are the result of my previous failure.”
Midnight squinted. Aurora was fighting the Empress? She shook her head, having difficulty comprehending that. The Empress was evil, and Aurora was evil, so they should be working together.
“We’re not enemies then,” Ecru quickly explained. “We just got back from Antigonia. The world that the Empress is from. We’re also trying to stop her.”
Aurora gave the two of them a skeptical glance. They really had no idea what they were up against. “You should stay away. If you attack her, you’re incapable of winning. Likely, you’ll just make things worse.”
Midnight frowned, glancing at Aurora’s Darkstone, next to the Eye. “I’m more of an animus then you are. I have a better chance. And I don’t trust that you have nefarious intentions in attacking the Empress. I bet you want the Wishstone for yourself.”
“I don’t need it,” Aurora retorted. “If possible, I would like to destroy it, if that can be safely done. And from what I’ve heard of your magic use, or moreso lack thereof, if you use it for something too big, it’ll leave you exhausted and possibly dead. It’ll taint your soul, and based on the Empress’s own powers, it may not even work. If you enchant a spear to strike her through the heart, she won’t die. I turned her into water and she survived. I’m not even sure there’s anything that can kill her.”
“Looking at your wounds, you don’t seem very capable yourself,” Midnight frowned. “Three moons, what did she do, tear off your leg?”
“Twice,” Aurora answered. “With everything I’ve learned about the Empress’s powers, strengths, and weaknesses, I think I have a decent chance next time, particularly with the Eye of Amethyst activated.”
Ecru thought for a moment, glancing down at Sapphire. The cat stared back at her, as if trying to tell her something. “A decent chance,” she whispered. A decent chance that their world wouldn’t be destroyed. She didn’t like those odds. “Hey, maybe we could work together.”
“No!” Midnight and Aurora growled in unison.
Midnight turned to Aurora, glaring at her. “No. Way.”
“Hear me out. You can share with each other what you both know about the Empress,” Ecru suggested. “You’ve got a lot of power combined. Plus, this way Midnight can make sure Aurora doesn’t get up to anything nefarious, and Aurora can make sure we don’t get in her way. I think it’s a good idea.”
Aurora thought for a moment, cocking her head. She turned to Sapphire, as if to ask him what he thought about the idea. Finally, she nodded. “I’m willing to do that.”
“I’m not!” Midnight huffed. “Ecru, she killed my brother! And she helped kill my other brother!”
“I had little to do with Ink’s death,” Aurora explained. “I fought him, but I wasn’t there in the Crystal Caverns when he helped kill my family. And you might have helped kill Loresearcher too, if you’d known what terrible things he was going to do when he was older. He would’ve killed our father, in front of Ink and I.”
“That doesn’t make it right, at all,” Midnight snapped. “We’re not ‘even.’ And you’re one to talk about doing terrible things.”
“Midnight, I don’t think we can win on our own,” Ecru pleaded. “You don’t have to forgive her or even stop hating her, but you were the one talking about how the fate of the world depends on this, and how it’s more important than any of us. She fought the Empress already, and survived. I think she’s our best chance. Maybe our only one.”
Midnight groaned, passing Ecru an irritated look. Now Ecru was turning against her? She shook her head as Ecru’s words sunk in. She didn’t like it, but Ecru was right. Aurora was stronger than any of them, and she’d lost against the Empress. Without her help, what chance did they have?
“Fine,” Midnight grumbled, irritated at this whole thing. Of all the dragons in Pyrrhia, why did it have to be her? Midnight would’ve far preferred Darkstalker. Antigonian or Pyrrhia. “She can join. But she’s not part of the team.”
Aurora flicked her tongue. “Team?” she asked. “There’s not . . . more of you, is there?” She felt a little bit of disgust at that notion.
“Yeah, there are,” Midnight answered. “Six of us. Big team.”
“Well, four at the moment,” Ecru added. “Ermine and Darkstalker are still in Antigonia. They didn’t make it.”
“Hmm,” Aurora said, considering this for a moment. “Can Sapphire join your team?”
“Who’s that?” Midnight asked.
Aurora pointed a claw at the elderly tabby, sitting down next to her head.
Midnight squinted. The cat? “You’re . . . you’re joking, right?”
“I am not,” Aurora answered. “Sapphire is very smart. He knows far more about the Empress than either of us do.”
Cats and dragonets. Midnight was less and less sure this was going to work. “Is he evil, or something?”
“Only if you’re a bird or a mouse.”
Midnight frowned distrustfully. “Fine. He can join, but you can’t. I’m going back to the camp. With my team.”
Ecru sighed. She couldn’t blame Midnight for her reaction to Aurora, but it felt like she was making things overly difficult. Both for the group, and Midnight herself. She turned to Aurora. “Do you need help moving? I could help carry you.”
“No.” Aurora poked the Eye of Amethyst, and the pupil suddenly started to glow brighter. Ecru watched in amazement as small curls of wind picked up from beneath Aurora, and she rose off her bed of leaves, the winds keeping her levitating a paw-width above the ground. Not moving a muscle, the winds started to slowly carry Aurora after Midnight, over towards the camp. Sapphire leaped on to Aurora, careful to avoid any of her wounds.
“That’s creepy,” Midnight muttered, seeing Aurora float her way across the valley floor.
Aurora just glared back as she followed, not bothering to reply.
When they gotten back to the camp, the dusk glow had all but faded, replaced with the light of the moons and the occasional flash of one of Aurora’s glowstripes. Midnight twitched her tail. How come Aurora had gotten glowstripes, and she hadn’t? She supposed that they probably got annoying after a while, especially flashing at random. That would make for a confusing conversation in Aquatic, not that Torrent had bothered to ever try and teach Midnight that.
Midnight pushed through the brush hiding the small clearing that the four had chosen as their resting place for tonight, Ecru following right behind her. The two dragonets immediately turned, happy to see that Midnight and Ecru were the intruders.
“You’re back!” Skytaker said, relieved. They grinned, seeing that the two were unharmed. “We were worried about you for a bit there.”
Midnight grimaced as she walked into the center of the clearing, turning back. Aurora floated between the bushes, before the wind gently settled her down in a small patch of grass. Sapphire leaped off her, turning to look at the two new dragons.
“Who’s that?” Skytaker asked, glancing down at Aurora. Out of the corner of their eye, they saw Tiger take a step back, her scales turning green as she realized who she was.
“You brought her back?” Tiger stammered, eyes wide with fear.
“Blame Ecru, not me,” Midnight snorted. “Everyone, this is Aurora. My half-sister.”
Aurora tossed Skytaker and Tiger a thoroughly unimpressed look.
Tiger stared at Aurora, quenching the green in her scales only for it to be replaced with red. “She’s a murderer,” Tiger hissed. “She killed two RainWings and nearly killed another.”
“Yes,” Aurora snorted. “I did. I was sedated, captured, and attacked when I woke up a bit too early for their liking. What would you have done?”
“I would have spared their lives!” Tiger huffed. “I wouldn’t have—” She suddenly stopped talking as a cold feeling ran through her blood. How many RainWings had died during their escape from Antigonia? At least one that Darkstalker had killed, maybe more. She hadn’t done it, but was it fair for her to judge Aurora for doing the same thing, while ignoring what Darkstalker had done just because it benefited her? She stopped talking.
“Midnight, what is she doing here?” Skytaker asked, slightly concerned.
Midnight turned to Ecru. “You explain,” she grumbled. “You’re the one who suggested this.”
Ecru let out a sigh. Hopefully, Midnight would eventually forgive her. Or they’d all be dead, or have lost their memories, and it wouldn’t matter. “Aurora is also trying to stop the Empress. I think she might have some information about how we can defeat her.”
“Defeat her? Is this is your entire crew?” Aurora scoffed. “I was expecting a bit more than two dragonets given that you had Darkstalker on your team.” She frowned. “And Calamity didn’t mention either of you, which means that you’re likely unimportant to Pyrrhia in the scheme of things to come. I suppose that means your deaths would be inconsequential if the Empress kills you.”
“We’re not inconsequential,” Skytaker hissed, flashing their claws. “We’re not useless either. We were in the Empress’s palace for at least a moon cycle or two. We know some of her secrets.”
“Explain,” Aurora commanded.
“Well, she’s looking for something called the Wishstone, first of all,” Skytaker stated. “She’s going to use it to re-create Pyrrhia.”
“It might be with a dragon named Trustbreaker,” Tiger added. “Which means we need to find him, and the Wishstone, before he does.”
Aurora snorted. “I already knew all that. You’re too late.”
“What do you mean?” Skytaker asked.
Aurora turned her head towards Sapphire, and a wind lifted the cat into the air, floating him in front of the dragonets. “This is all that’s left of Trustbreaker. The Wishstone is in fact a SkyWing named Ash, and his spirit had been residing in Inferno’s body since she came to the Talons of Peace. The Empress captured Inferno, and at the moment, the two are currently in the ruins of Queen Scarlet’s arena.”
“We knew about Ash,” Tiger added, her eyes on Sapphire as Aurora set him back down. “Calamity told us.”
Aurora’s ears perked up at that. “You spoke to Calamity?” she asked. “Calamity spoke to you?”
“We had to go through the Crystal Caverns to get back to Pyrrhia,” Ecru explained to her. “Polar and Calamity helped us through.”
“What did he say?” Aurora interrogated, trying her best to hide a hint of desperation. “What were the instructions he gave to defeat the Empress? Did he ask you to pass any messages on to me?”
Midnight growled. “There’s no way we’d pass on any messages regardless, but he didn’t say anything helpful, or give us instructions. All he did was tell us Ash is worse than the Empress. Pretty bad advice, given only one of them is currently trying to destroy the world.”
Aurora’s snout curled. “That’s not good. Why didn’t he say anything?” She shook her head, and her blood ran cold. “It means . . . he’s abandoned me. He’s abandoned this world.”
How could he do that? Aurora thought, talons trembling. How could he give up hope? Didn’t he know a way to fix this?
A small in Aurora’s head whispered to her: if Calamity had given up, then Aurora had given up herself. The Horror would destroy Pyrrhia, and there was nothing she could do about it. And that meant she was free.
“Good!” Midnight cheerily replied. “Great! I hope he stays trapped in your stupid mother forever, and never touches Pyrrhia or any dragon on it again! I don’t want his help anyways! Or yours, for that matter.”
“Fine,” Aurora bristled. The winds lifted her off the ground, and she started floating away from the group.
“Wait!” Skytaker quickly protested. They couldn’t just let Aurora go. She was their only chance of stopping the Empress. “We could use your help!”
Aurora sighed, plopping herself back down on the ground. She glared at Skytaker, waiting patiently.
“So, how come the world is still around, if Liliana has the Wishstone?” Skytaker asked.
“It’s still in Inferno,” Aurora answered. “I think the Empress needs to remove it. Which might be difficult, but I doubt there’s much time left. As soon as she gets it, I expect she’ll use it. From what I could tell, she’s more of the acting before thinking type.” She tossed Midnight a glance as she said that.
“And how long will it take you to heal yourself?” Ecru wondered.
“It will only take the night to return my body to sufficient fighting shape,” Aurora replied, “but the Empress can heal instantly.”
“Is that it?” Skytaker questioned. “What else can she do?”
“Shapeshifting. Teleportation. She can control and create lightning, though I believe I’ve negated that. She can control and create vines, which appear to be fireproof. Telekinesis. She’s extremely strong, taking my leg off in a single hit. She can create portals. Trustbreaker mentioned that before he took it, she had the Wishstone give her a lot of powers in order to keep control over Antigonia. So maybe even more beyond just what I saw.”
“Three moons,” Midnight whispered, shocked. For just a moment, she was slightly impressed that Aurora had managed to fight her. “There’s no way we can fight against that.”
“Yes, that is what I said,” Aurora sighed. “You will all die. Quickly. I can only think of three dragons on Pyrrhia that could survive a battle with her: myself, Calamity, and Darkstalker.”
“Wait, what about our dad?” Midnight questioned. She frowned. Our dad. She wasn’t quite sure she liked the sound of that. “Torrent. If we could find him, he could stop her.”
“He was at Jade Mountain when we were captured,” Tiger pointed out. “He might still be there.”
Aurora shook her head. “I can’t say for sure, but it’s unlikely his dagger would be able to negate her powers, given the way she got them. From what I gathered, the Wishstone alters reality directly, without involving animus magic. So her powers aren’t actually enchantments. The Wishstone itself is enchanted, so he could use it on that, but the enchantments almost certainly conflict, and if Torrent’s dagger can’t work on Calamity’s enchantment, it probably won’t work on the Wishstone either.”
“Huh,” Midnight responded, considering that. Her father had mentioned something like that before. When her mother had attempted to use his dagger to destroy the Obsidian Mirror, the emerald on it had cracked instead.
“Midnight. Exactly how many times have you used animus magic in your life?” Aurora asked her. “And what did you use it for?”
Midnight twitched her tail. “I’m not telling you that. You might use it against me one day.”
Aurora sighed, clenching her claws. Was Midnight trying to be as hard to work with as possible?
“Midnight, just tell her,” Ecru asked. “She’s trying to help us, remember? This might be important.”
Midnight glowered. “Fine,” she muttered. “Twice. The first one was an enchantment that lets you heal dragons, the second one points in the direction of whoever you’re looking for. I don’t have them right now, though. I gave them away.”
Aurora considered this for a moment. The first one might have been useful, although Aurora wasn’t a fan of automatic healing enchantments. “And what was your recovery time for each of them?”
“I was out after the first one for a while. Around a day. I didn’t have much recovery time for the second though, I just felt pretty woozy for a bit. Maybe I’m getting more used to it?”
Aurora shook her head. “That’s not the case. The recovery times were different because the first one was a complex enchantment requiring more interpretation, whereas the second one was simple. Similarly, you should’ve felt more harmful mental effects from the former than the latter. The more complicated the enchantment and the less experienced the animus, the more time it will take to recover.” She thought for a moment. “I plan to attack the Empress as soon as I’m recovered. In that time, you likely have the energy to perform one complex enchantment or two simple ones. Choose wisely.”
“Wait,” Skytaker spoke up, “can’t Midnight just enchant something to kill the Empress? That would solve all our problems.”
“Only if it worked,” Aurora answered. “You could enchant a spear to stab her through the heart, but she’d certainly survive that. As I mentioned, she survived being turned into water. Maybe there’s something more direct and complex that would work, but maybe not. She might have some way out of it, and then Midnight’s enchantment would be wasted.”
“What do you suggest, then?” Ecru asked.
“Self-healing would be useful if Midnight wished to survive a battle with the Empress,” Aurora considered. “However, those are complex and easily prone to misinterpretation.”
Midnight recalled what her father had told her about Erosion’s fate. “Yeah, I think I’ll pass on that one.”
“Another option is something that will give you an invulnerable body. It’s simpler, and less open to errors. I wouldn’t enchant your body itself, however.”
Midnight thought about that. Aurora was probably right. If she wanted to fight with the Empress, she needed some way to not die, and if she didn’t want some way to heal herself, invulnerability was the next best option.
“Ecru, what do you think?” Midnight asked. “I know I’ve . . . concerned you with how willing I’ve been to use magic, especially now that we know where it comes from. I wanted to make sure you were fine with this.”
Ecru hesitated, but quickly nodded. “Yeah. You should do it. If we don’t manage to stop the Empress, I’m not sure there’ll be much of a soul for you left to lose.”
“Great,” Midnight grimaced. She glanced up at the night sky, getting darker by the moment. “I guess I’ll do the enchantment, then go to sleep. Rest for tomorrow. Who here wants to keep watch on Aurora first?”
“It’s pointless to keep watch on me,” Aurora remarked. “It would take mere seconds for me to kill all of you, whether you watch me do it or not.”
“And that,” Midnight glared, “is why we’re keeping watch.”
== Chapter 51 ==
General Six-Claws paced back and forth across the tent. A SandWing soldier stared as he made tracks in the ground, his barb dragging through the sand. A cold night wind blew through the flaps of fabric, chilling their scales.
“I can’t say this siege is particularly interesting,” the soldier sighed. “How much longer do you think we have before they give up?”
Six-Claws shook his head. “I doubt they will. The palace had been prepared for something like this. We just thought that we’d be the ones inside the walls. Unfortunately, I think we have a lot longer to go before they finally surrender.”
“And how long before we give up?” the soldier questioned. “We’ll have to declare Sunny dead at some point, and with her lack of immediate relatives, there’s no one else to prop up as her successor.”
Six-Claws knew that was true. Thorn had been an orphan. Maybe Sunny had relatives on the NightWing side of her family, but the Sand Kingdom would hardly accept them as a queen. If Sunny didn’t return, there was nothing else they could do but accept Aloe as their queen.
“She’s not dead,” Six-Claws said, trying to reassure himself. “She’s only been missing a fortnight.”
“The scene at the Outclaws wasn’t very hopeful,” the soldier muttered. “With Cheetah found dead, and Sunny missing? I think an assassin got to her.”
“I’m not giving up yet,” Six-Claws muttered. If she was dead, who would be hiding it?
Six-Claws continued his pacing. As he reached one end of the tent, the entrance flaps suddenly flew open, revealing a young SandWing, looking up at Six-Claws with wide eyes.
“Sir!” the SandWing shouted. Six-Claws winced as the voice pierced his ears, turning his head away. “You’re being summoned!”
“Summoned?” Six-Claws frowned. “By whom?” The only one with the authority to summon him was— 
“Queen Sunny!” the SandWing yelled back. “She’s just returned from hiding in the Claws of the Clouds!”
Six-Claws’s grim expression suddenly turned upwards, into a huge grin. He glanced towards the soldier back in the tent with a look that said ‘I told you so’, before rushing out the tent flaps.
It didn’t take him very long to figure out where Sunny was. The camp seemed to have come alive beneath the shadow of the palace, with SandWings crowding and jostling to get a view of their queen. Had Six-Claws been the last dragon to know she’d returned? He pushed a few SandWings away with his wings to get past them, peering over heads and horns until his eyes finally landed upon Queen Sunny.
Her eyes turned and landed on him, and she quickly started towards her general, dragons moving out of her way. Six-Claws grinned as she approached.
“Your majesty! You’re back!” Six-Claws smiled, wrapping his wings around her in a hug.
“Yeah,” Sunny answered, pushing his wings away. “I am.”
“I’m so glad you’re alright,” Six-Claws grinned. “We were worried about you for a moment. What happened?” He glanced down at her foreleg. The golden band indicating leader of the Outclaws was around it.
“I met . . . someone,” Sunny carefully replied. “She helped me. I stayed with her for a while.” She glanced around at all the clambering dragons, whispering and talking. “I’m surprised so many dragons still serve me. General, do you have a line of communication open to Aloe?”
“I do,” Six-Claws replied. Something seemed off about Sunny, but he wasn’t quite sure what. It was odd. “I meet with her general, General Leopard, every so often. We exchange information, and occasionally prisoners.”
“Good,” Sunny said. “I want you to tell her that I accept her challenge for the throne.”
The crowd of soldiers immediately fell silent. Six-Claws stared down at Sunny, his sail falling flat on his back. Sunny looked around. Why were they all so shocked?
“A-are you sure?” Six-Claws stammered.
“I am,” Sunny grimaced, flicking her barbless tail. “Every SandWing here has risked their life for me and my mother. The least I can do is the same for them.”
Six-Claws winced. “Maybe we should discuss this somewhere a little more private?”
Sunny sighed. “Fine.”
Six-Claws forced a nervous grin, and gestured Queen Sunny to follow him. The crowd broke for them as he headed back towards his tent. He looked up at the palace walls, rising above him. He wondered if the news that Queen Sunny had returned would get back to Aloe soon. Was Leopard watching them from up there?
Six-Claws opened up the flap to the tent, shooing the other SandWing in there out as Sunny looked over the sparse chambers. Her eyes landed on a small painting of three dragons on familiar scrollpaper. Ostrich with Six-Claws and Queen Thorn, was the title. She remembered Ostrich showing it to her after making it at Jade Mountain Academy. How long ago had that been? Could Sunny ever return to that life?
“Sunny,” Six-Claws frowned, “I think it’s very . . . valiant of you to want to challenge Aloe, but if you die, we all lose with you. Everyone is here because they chose to be here.”
“And now, I’m choosing too.” Sunny sat back on her haunches. “If you’re afraid that I can’t win, I think you’re wrong. I’m not the same dragon I was when we first met, and I’m not the same as when I lost the throne. The last two weeks, I’ve been training, and learning how to fight. From the best. I saw Aloe myself, she’s no Burn. Even before training, I think we were evenly matched. I could win in a one-on-one fight.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Six-Claws replied. “But only if it’s a fair fight. I have a really bad feeling about this.”
“What do you mean?” Sunny frowned. “A bad feeling?”
Six-Claws tapped his talons on the ground, sighing. “It’s just a hunch, but Leopard has said a few things which make me think there’s more to Aloe than meets the eye. I’m not sure what, but it’s awfully suspicious how quickly she demanded a challenge initially, especially considering that Aloe herself isn’t particularly physically strong. She’s also no Blaze. She wouldn’t have challenged you unless she thought she was going to win. If you accept the challenge, I’m almost certain that you’ll be heading into a trap.”
Sunny opened her mouth, just about to argue back. How could she back down again? All the training she’d been doing the past fortnight had been to learn how to fight, specifically to challenge Aloe! If she didn’t fight her, all that just seemed . . . wasted.
“So, what would you do instead?” Sunny huffed.
“This,” Six-Claws replied. “Did you here the news about what happened while you were away?”
Sunny shook her head. She hadn’t had any contact with the outside world since she’d left the Outclaws with Jackal.
“There was a battle between Queen Blackice, and forces led by King Deathbringer and King Hailstorm. If you can’t tell by the latter’s new title, they won, and it looks like your students will be finding bits and pieces of Blackice for years to come. They’re alright, by the way, a bit traumatized, but none of them died, thank the moons.”
A small load seemed to lighten off Sunny. She’d been busy with all the events in the Sand Kingdom, but what was happening in the rainforest had stuck at the back of her mind. “Good. I’m glad she got her dues, even if it can’t bring Glory back.”
“With Queen Blackice dead,” Six-Claws continued, “Queen Moorhen busy with her rebellion, and whatever is going on in the Sky Kingdom, there’s no one else for Aloe to turn, with Queen Coral, King Deathbringer, and King Hailstorm all in support of us. She has no more allies.”
“And?” Sunny asked. “What does that mean we should do?”
“Wait it out,” Six-Claws suggested. “They’re under siege. They can’t hold on forever. Eventually, they’ll give up, especially now that you’re back.”
Sunny considered this. “No.”
Six-Claws opened his mouth, but Sunny didn’t let him speak.
“Every day that Aloe is on the throne is a day where the kingdom doesn’t have leadership,” Sunny explained. “A day that I can’t help the kingdom recover from war and poverty. I’m not willing to let the Sand Kingdom suffer that long, and the longer it takes, the greater the chance is that some other disaster happens and the tides turn again. No. I want to finish this now.”
Six-Claws felt his expression droop. He didn’t to outlive both Thorn and her daughter. He wouldn’t let Aloe kill Sunny, not while he was still alive. But what could he do to stop Sunny? “You’re queen,” Six-Claws pleaded, “it’s your choice. But in the strongest terms possible, I would advice you not to accept the challenge. You will die. Aloe will become queen.”
“So we invade,” Sunny suggested. “We take the palace back. We fight.”
Six-Claws let out a sigh of relief. “It’s not . . . impossible. But the problem will be getting in. The palace was built to be practically impenetrable to anything larger than a scavenger. A frontal invasion won’t work, and the secret tunnel you used to escape is heavily guarded. Getting in would be like throwing dragons at a mountain.”
Sunny thought about it. Had Jackal taught her anything for this? Could assassins get in? Aloe’s had gotten in, but that had been before the palace had been boarded up so closely, like it was now. Maybe, maybe not. An idea popped into Sunny’s head.
“I think I might know a way,” Sunny said. “How do you feel about building a new palace once this is all done?”
Six-Claws gulped. Whatever this was, he wasn’t sure he liked the sound of it already. “What are you thinking?”
“I can’t say I’m too happy about taking one of her ideas, but Blackice managed to take out Icicle by destroying a lot of the IceWing palace, and flying in her troops through the hole.”
Six-Claws frowned. “We’d need explosives, and a lot of them. This isn’t an ice palace, this is solid stone, and its lasted a long time without any magic. We don’t have whatever Blackice used, and with both her and the NightWing who created them gone, I don’t think we could get more. Maybe Mastermind could help reverse engineer them, but it’d be a large project to make enough for our purposes. It’d take nearly as long as the siege.”
Sunny smiled. “I don’t think we’ll need them. It just so happens that I know a pair of siblings with a lot of explosives, and an even greater need for treasure.”
== Chapter 52 ==
Ecru stared as the sun rose up in the east, the pink colors of the dawn sky shining over the ruins of the SkyWing palace. Sunlight slowly lit the nearby forest, shining through the foliage as it illuminated Ecru’s scales. A thin wire bracelet glinted against Ecru’s scales, barely visible against them. If they failed, this could be the last time the sun rose over Pyrrhia.
“Midnight, stay safe,” Ecru whispered, turning to her.
Midnight smiled, trying to mask her fear. “I’ll be fine,” she answered, raising up a paw with a bracelet matching Ecru’s. “This is going to work.”
Ecru wrapped her wings around Midnight, placing her head on her neck. She let out a quiet sigh as tears ran from her eyes. Invulnerable or not, this was dangerous. Aurora had said that the bracelets she’d made them were strong enough no normal dragon could hope to tear them off, but what if the Empress could? What if something else went wrong?
Midnight hugged Ecru back. “It’ll be alright. I’ll be back, soon enough.”
Ecru nodded, wanting to believe that. She didn’t want this goodbye to be permanent. She turned towards the arena, sunlight glinting across its walls. She could feel it. This was a place of death. She didn’t want Midnight to join the myriad of dragons killed here.
As Midnight and Ecru shared a moment, Aurora stared down at Sapphire. She couldn’t take him with her. She placed a talon between his ears, gently stroking his fur.
“Skytaker,” she said, turning to the hybrid. “Take care of him, until we return.”
“Alright,” Skytaker answered, glancing down at the cat, and giving Sapphire a gentle smile. Sapphire purred as he walked over to Skytaker, rubbing his back across their legs.
Aurora paused. Trustbreaker had given Sapphire to Aurora to take care of before he’d gone to face the Empress, and gotten killed. She wondered: would she share his fate? She wasn’t sure she wanted to die. Crystal and Calamity had kept her locked away for her entire life up until now, and all the time since then she’d spent trying to follow Calamity’s orders. But there was so much left on Pyrrhia she hadn’t experienced. Sunrises, mountains, oceans. Palaces, delicacies, scrolls. Would she ever be able to experience that, once this was done? Like a normal dragon would?
No. She wasn’t a normal dragon, and never would be. Her parents had assured her that. Midnight and Ecru’s embrace caught her gaze. She had a duty, a mission. In the grand scheme of all of Pyrrhia, her own life and her own happiness was worth as much as one of the worms beneath her claws.
“Tiger, are you ready?” Midnight asked, after finally pulling away from her embrace.
Tiger nodded. “I think so.” She closed her eyes as her scales changed color, blending in with the forest around her, until there was barely a faint outline of a dragon left where she was. She suddenly regretted not playing more camouflage games back in the rainforest.
“Great,” Midnight sighed. She turned to Aurora, frowning as she saw her half-sister. “Then I guess it’s time to go.”
There was a gust of air as Tiger took off into the sky, Midnight unable to see the RainWing dragonet against the sky. Midnight and Aurora took off after her, the sun in their eyes as they flew towards the arena. Midnight’s heart raced as she risked a final look beneath her, Ecru, Skytaker, and Sapphire staring back up at them.
Columns of the palace lay in ruins as they approached, RainWings staring at the two hybrids from beneath. A few fluttered their wings, and one almost made a motion to attack, before being pulled back by a friend. They knew there was nothing they could do to stop Aurora.
“I hope we’ll be enough of a distraction to cover Tiger’s advance,” Midnight muttered. She had lost sight of Tiger by now, which hopefully meant that no one else had noticed her either. But with all the RainWings around, what were the chances of one noticing Tiger? Tiger had said that the Pyrrhian RainWings trained themselves through dragonet games to keep themselves hidden and find other camouflaged RainWings, but games didn’t seem like something that the Antigonian RainWings would do. Midnight let out a roar, telling them ‘look at me!’
She glanced over at Aurora again. She hadn’t responded.
“You don’t care about what happens to Tiger, do you,” Midnight muttered. Of course Aurora didn’t care.
“I care insofar as the fate of Pyrrhia depends on her,” Aurora remarked.
“Lovely,” Midnight replied, disgusted. “You really don’t care about anyone but yourself, do you?”
“My own eventual fate is also inconsequential,” Aurora sighed. “Is that something Gazelle and Torrent taught you? How to care?”
“I guess?” Midnight answered. “It wasn’t really something anyone taught me. It’s just something all dragons have. Except you, apparently.”
“Crystal and Calamity taught me not to care,” Aurora said. “Caring about the fate of individual dragons would only be a distraction. It’s not something that would change the overall fate of Pyrrhia, as a whole.” She paused, frowning. “I think I would like to care. About Inferno. About myself.”
Midnight gave her a skeptical look. “If you’re expecting sympathy, you’re not getting any from me.”
“I don’t require your sympathy.”
Aurora extended her wings out, slowing herself down without bothering to use the Eye of Amethyst to do it. She glanced down as the interior of the arena had come into view. The crack through it was slowly continuing to widen, the width of a couple dragons by this point. On the other side, the Empress stood next to a vine-wrapped Inferno, grabbing ahold of the SkyWing’s head. Inferno seemed to shake as the Empress’s claws dipped into her head.
“SHE’S HERE!” Queen Scarlet suddenly screeched at Aurora. “SHE’S HERE TO KILL ME SHE’S GOING TO KILL ME!”
Hearing Queen Scarlet, Liliana pulled her talons from Inferno, shaking her head as Inferno breathed hard. Both looked up to see Midnight and Aurora approaching, Inferno with relief, and the Empress with annoyance.
“I’m surprised you’re back so quickly,” Liliana commented, flicking her tail. “I was expecting you to die. And who’s your friend? I don’t think I’ve seen her before.”
Midnight bared her fangs. “Really? You don’t know me? You sent an assassin after me, and he almost succeeded.”
“Aah!” the Empress smiled. “I think I know who you are now. Midnight, is it? You should consider it an honor that I considered you enough of a threat to send Deathbringer after you.”
“You should consider it an honor when I smash my talons through your neck,” Midnight hissed.
Aurora snorted at this, the two landing at the opposite side of the arena from the Empress. Ceramic armor began to form over her scales. “That’s surprisingly violent.”
Midnight glared at Aurora. “A dragonet killer has no room to talk about being violent.”
The Empress yawned, as she flicked her talons, the vines pulling Inferno back away towards the sides of the arena. She walked forward, stretching out her claws and wings. “So, are the two of you just going to quibble all day, or can we get this over with? I have a new world to build.”
“Gladly!” Midnight growled. She stretched out her wings, and half-flying, half-running, charged at the Empress. Midnight let out a furious roar as she leaped forward, talons outstretched, reaching towards the RainWing’s neck.
With a flash of blue light, the Empress was gone, and Midnight’s claws hit sand. A moment later, the Empress re-appeared above Midnight, and flicked her tail, whacking Midnight in the side with it. It hit with the force of a hundred dragons, and Midnight sailed across the arena, sand floating up in a cloud as she skidded through it, before slamming into the arena wall with a crack.
A few moments later, Midnight got back to her paws, grinning. There was not even a single scratch on her. The enchantment had worked perfectly. “It’ll take more than that!”
Midnight leaped across the arena again, heading down towards Liliana, mildly annoyed that she hadn’t turned her opponent into a splash of blood on the wall. She teleported again, but this time, Midnight was ready. She twisted around, grabbing ahold of the Empress’s neck, and ripped out her throat with her talons, throwing a bloody chunk of the RainWing onto the sand.
The Empress teleported just far enough to get out of range, the wound healing. “I could say the same,” she sneered, as soon as it had healed enough for her to speak again.
Midnight jumped again, tail whipping as she grabbed onto the Empress’s wings, trying to pull them apart. The Empress grabbed ahold of Midnight’s head, her talons glowing. With a huge flash of light, lightning shot out of her claws, directly into Midnight. Thunder shook as sand whipped up across the battlefield.
A few moments later, the light faded. The Empress stared down with a content grin, only for Midnight’s claws to rip into her snout, crying a cry of shock. Midnight bit down on her neck again, pushing the Empress into the ground with a roar.
There was a flash of blue light, and Midnight yelped as the Empress disappeared. She glanced around to see that the Empress had reappeared on the other side of the arena, next to Aurora.
Aurora leaped to the side as Liliana struck down, hitting the armor on her tail. She winced as it quickly cracked, and the Empress’s talons struck straight through flesh. Pain coarsed up Aurora’s spine to her head, and she quickly blunted all her nerves in the back end of her body, landing nearby in the sand. Metal bands shot out of her tail-stump, latching back onto the remainder of her tail, pulling it back towards her as she reattached it with strands of metal.
The Empress charged forward, and Aurora raised her talons. Copper rods around her jumped up into the air as Liliana jumped into them. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, hitting the rods and Liliana with them. She let out a yell as a whiff of burning flesh entered Aurora’s nose.
Liliana teleported again, flapping down towards Aurora. Aurora moved her talons, and wind blasted upwards, between the Empress’s wings, throwing her off-balance enough for Aurora to sneak out beneath her. The Empress flapped wildly for a few moments, before teleporting again. This time, Aurora shot up a blast of stone from her armor. The Empress hit it instead of Aurora, taking off a good chunk of Aurora’s armor and scales.
“Midnight!” Aurora shouted as she dodged another one of the Empress’s attacks. “You’re supposed to be defending me!”
“Great, I have to defend her now,” Midnight grumbled as she ran over towards Aurora.
Aurora twisted around, rolling as the Empress tried to grab at her with her talons, tearing off another piece of armor. The Empress teleported in Aurora’s way, and Aurora extended her talons at the Empress, a blast of wind coming up from her, roaring as it even managed to push the Empress away.
Aurora leaped to her talons as the Empress appeared on the other side of her, and slapped her tail in the sand. Huge hardened spikes shot up from the ground, impaling the Empress in a dozen different places as they moved her away from Aurora.
“Hey!” Midnight shouted, as the spikes whacked into her scales, not breaking through, though they pushed her away from Aurora. “I can’t defend you if you keep throwing spikes at me!”
“You’d have been safe from the spikes if you hadn’t flown off to attack the Empress by yourself,” Aurora growled, sending up another few spikes as Liliana teleported away, catching them through her again. “The plan was that we attack together.”
“And we would’ve attacked together if you had followed me!” Midnight retorted. She lifted her wings, gliding towards the Empress, in the middle of a mass of spikes.
Meanwhile, Inferno stared at the three, shaking as the vines wrapped ahold of her. Thunder crackled as blue lights flashed. For most of her life, Inferno had been told she was one of the most dangerous, most powerful dragons on Pyrrhia. But as the three fought, spikes flung into the air while normally mortal injuries were treated as scratches, Inferno suddenly felt ordinary. Firescales or not, she’d die in an instant in the arena. She really couldn’t hurt these dragons. Her scales were nothing compared to the power of animus magic.
Something suddenly set Inferno’s scales on edge. She glanced behind her to hear clawsteps through the sand, and noticed a small distortion against the arena wall. She opened her mouth, about to say something.
“Shhh,” Tiger whispered. “It’s Tiger. I’m trying to free you. Pretend not to notice.”
Inferno nervously looked back to the battle, keeping her eyes focused on the three, while pretending not to know that there was someone beside her. She felt the vines move against her scales, as Tiger tried to pull them off her.
“Be careful,” Inferno winced. She didn’t want Tiger to accidentally get burnt. She held herself as still as possible as Tiger moved vines. Was her being too still suspicious?
“I will be,” Tiger quietly frowned. “I don’t know if I can get them off just by moving them. It’s weird that they’re not burning . . . hold very still. I want to try something.”
“Alright,” Inferno gulped, not quite sure if she could hold any more still than this. She tried to freeze all her limbs as she felt Tiger pull one of the vines away from her, dipping her head down towards it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw fangs reveal themselves from the camouflaged scales, and a small black liquid run down one, falling towards the vine.
A blue light flashed behind Aurora, and she tensed up as she felt the Empress hold onto one of her talons, trying to pull off another one of her legs. She quickly separated the toe from the rest of her body as the Empress pulled it free, then twisted around, grabbing ahold of the Empress’s foreleg instead. In just a few moments, she’d turned it into lead, and the Empress tilted off balance from the increased weight, tripping onto the sand, where steel spikes burst into her legs.
It wasn’t enough. The Empress shook her metal claw, and it transformed back into flesh. She reached out, clenching her talons. Aurora felt her muscles freeze up, unable to move as the Empress used her telekinesis to hold her in place. The RainWing ripped herself away from the spikes, the wounds quickly closing up, and reached up towards Aurora’s neck.
With a roar, Midnight barrelled into the Empress, knocking her away from Aurora. The telekinesis faded, and Aurora felt herself suddenly able to move again.
“You’re welcome!” Midnight growled, swiping at the downed Empress. The wound made from her talons instantly healed, and she kept hitting the RainWing, over and over again, unable to do any lasting damage.
“I could have phased through that,” Aurora sighed. She glanced over at Midnight and Liliana fighting. Why hadn’t the Empress teleported away? Suddenly, she noticed a vine creeping out of the sand, wrapping around one of Midnight’s hindlegs. Of course. If the Empress couldn’t hurt Midnight, she’d try and trap her. Aurora sprinted over towards her half-sister, using the winds to give her a boost. “Midnight, move your leg.”
Midnight glanced at Aurora for a moment, not quite sure why Aurora would tell her to do that. It was a moment too late, and the vine wrapped itself around Midnight fully, the Empress teleporting away. Midnight tugged on it as Aurora went over to help her.
“I can free it myself,” Midnight growled, trying to pull her hindleg free. She didn’t want to give Aurora a chance to use her magic on her. She opened her jaws, shooting a blast of fire at the vine to try and burn it.
“No, you can’t,” Aurora hissed. Midnight’s fire stopped, the vine unharmed. Aurora grabbed ahold of the vine, and it dissolved into water.
Suddenly, another vine burst out of the sand where Midnight’s had been, snaking into Aurora’s jaws and down her throat in an instant, her eyes going wide open.
“Don’t move,” the Empress smirked. “How fast are your powers, Aurora? Do you think you’d be able to recover from vines thrashing around your throat and insides? What about your brain?”
Aurora stared, remaining absolutely still as she felt the vine moving up her snout. She wasn’t sure about the answer to the Empress’s question. She could get rid of the vine, but how much damage would the Empress be able to do before then?
“Midnight,” the Empress smiled. “If you don’t surrender, I’ll kill her.”
Midnight shook her head. “What, you think that’ll stop me? Please, I tried to kill her myself just last night.” She ran at the Empress, swiping her talons across the RainWing’s chest. She was sure Aurora would have agreed with her. The fate of the world was far more important that just one dragon.
The Empress raised her claws, and Midnight suddenly felt her body stiffen up, unable to move. She twisted, trying to turn as the Empress lifted her into the air, and spread out her talons. Midnight winced as she felt her limbs tug to the side, the Empress attempting to rip them from her body.
Liliana frowned, spreading out her talons again. Nothing happened. She tried a third time, and sighed as she finally realized that this was useless.
“Na-na,” Midnight taunted her, “you can’t hurt me!”
The Empress scowled, and spat venom onto Midnight’s exposed underbelly. It harmlessly dripped from her scales. “And it appears you can’t hurt me either.”
“I’ll just have to outlast you then,” Midnight smiled, trying to swipe her talons. The Empress stiffened up as she tried to remain concentrated on the telekinesis, keeping Midnight in place.
Liliana sighed, smiling as she shook her head. “You’ll have to do far better than outlasting me if you hope to stop me.”
Suddenly, vines leaped out from the walls of the arena, grabbing ahold of Midnight’s limbs and body, wrapping around them. Midnight yelped as she felt herself pulled back, trapped against the wall. Aurora stared, unable to do anything with the Empress’s threatening vines creeping throughout her body.
“No!” Midnight hissed. If they were trapped, then they’d lost. “Not yet! I enchant the Empress’s scales—”
The Empress opened her eyes wide, a glint of terror in them as she realized what Midnight was going to do. Enchant her. Would it work? She didn’t know. A moment too late, she started to try and shapeshift, hoping that getting rid of any scales would prevent the enchantment from working at all.
“—to,” Midnight continued, “to . . . to . . .” Her head started to sway to the side, and her vision went blurry. Before she could complete the enchantment, her head slumped down, and Midnight fell unconscious. The air of magic around her fizzled out.
Aurora winced. This was why she’d suggested Midnight save her second enchantment instead of using it on Ecru. She’d done too much, and now, she couldn’t do anything more.
“Well,” Liliana tsked, gently bringing the knocked out Midnight to the side of the arena wall. “I expected something a little bit better than that.” She looked back towards Aurora, waving a claw from side-to-side in a simple threat. Aurora didn’t move. “I suppose it’s time to finish this.”
She turned towards Inferno, the glaring SkyWing still wrapped up in vines. Next to her, a RainWing stood on her hind-legs, holding a struggling dragonet in her talons.
“Let me go!” Tiger squealed, trying to scratch at the RainWing’s paw. She swung her tail and hindlegs from side to side, trying to get out of the grasp.
“Thank you for coming all the way to Pyrrhia, just to warn me,” Liliana smiled, walking over to Inferno. “It almost makes up for the mistake you made by managing to lose them in the first place.”
General Glory frowned, wincing as Tiger scratched her. “There should still be two around here, somewhere. Skytaker, and the other hybrid who came with Midnight. Neither are animuses, but they could still be dangerous.”
“It won’t matter soon enough,” Liliana responded, staring down into Inferno’s electric blue eyes. “I just need a little more time with Ash and Inferno, and the Wishstone is all mine.”
== Chapter 53 ==
Two SandWings looked up to the sky as a black shadow passed over their heads. One took a step back, tail flicking against the dark gate. She carefully placed a claw to the rusted vulture medallion around her neck. Trouble.
Dragons seemed to fall out from the sky, the winds blasting past the two guards’ snouts as they stared. Two dozen SandWings, with even more up still in flight. Not just Outclaws, but royal soldiers. The two guards exchanged glances. Rattlesnake was not going to be pleased.
Queen Sunny stepped out from the crowd, General Six-Claws looming behind her. A golden band on her foreleg glittered in the sunlight.
The small queen stepped up to the two guards, raising her head up to look them in the eyes. If she was scared, she didn’t show it. The guards nervously looked back, shifting back and forth.
“I want an audience with Rattlesnake and Sirocco,” Sunny demanded. “Now.”
One of the guards gulped. The normal routine would have been for one of them to notify Rattlesnake first. But it wasn’t like the two of them could stop Sunny from entering, with so many dragons backing her up. The guard suddenly regretted not having taken a different job.
“Well?” Sunny growled. “I’m waiting.”
The other guard quickly nodded. “Right this way, your majesty.”
Keys rattled, and the gate swung open. Sunny followed the guards, her entourage behind her. She glanced around the decaying palace as she was led through it, cracks in the walls, gemstones peeled off broken statues. Just two years ago, it would have been far more impressive than the SandWing palace, filled to the brin with fabulous treasure and wealth. But Vulture was dead, and everything he’d obtained had been squandered by his grandchildren. Sunny wondered how much they’d sell the palace to her for. She might need a new one after this was done, even if this place needed some heavy remodelling.
When Sunny entered the pavilion, her eyes immediately landed on Qibli’s two siblings. Rattlesnake held a live mouse over her mouth, dangling it by its tail as it chittered. Sirocco seemed to be poking at it while his sister swiped at him with her barb. Before she could drop it, her eyes shifted to the entryway, to Sunny and the small army she’d brought with her.
Rattlesnake froze, staring as the cloaked SandWings guarding the two stood up at attention. Sunny quickly judged the numbers. She had three dragons to every one of the Talons of Power, with even more outside, waiting. They were at her mercy, and they knew it.
Rattlesnake let out a yelp as the mouse bit the sensitive scales at the end of her claws, jolting and accidentally flinging it to the side. Sirocco jumped after it as scampered off, trying to catch it, or possibly squish it.
“What is the meaning of this?” Rattlesnake asked cautiously, careful to suppress a growl. She waved a talon as she stood up from the torn pillow she’d been sitting on, and her cloaked guards backed away. “Queen Thorn never interfered in the Scorpion Den’s affairs after she left.”
“I’m not Queen Thorn,” Sunny remarked.
Rattlesnake frowned. “If you’re here to enact revenge, or kill us, we won’t go down without a fight. Dragons will die. Do you want needless bloodshed?”
Sunny shook her head, smiling. “Are you talking about throwing me in your dungeon and trying to sell me to Aloe? You’re far from the first dragon to imprison me, and you’ll probably be far from the last. If I killed everyone who did that, I don’t think there’d be many queens left. No, I’m not here to destroy the Talons of Power. I want you on my side.”
Rattlesnake blinked, opening her mouth. She was quite unsure what to say to that. “You . . . want us on your side?”
“Yes, that is what I just said,” Sunny sighed. “You kidnapped me because you thought Aloe was going to reward you, right? Whatever Aloe offered you, I can give you more. The palace has enough treasure to make your compound beautiful again. You can eat better than—” she winced as she Sirocco finally caught the mouse, quickly closing his jaws around it, “—vermin.”
Rattlesnake twitched her tail, glancing at the myriad of SandWings behind Sunny. Were they just here to protect the queen, or were they here make her comply? “Grandfather wouldn’t stand for us working with you.”
“Your grandfather is dead,” Sunny coldly answered. “He’s not here, so you have to make your own decisions. I want peace in the Sand Kingdom, from Possibility to Darkstalker’s Teeth. Our families have been at each others’ throats for three generations. Can we put aside our feud, and put the Outclaws and the Talons of Power at peace?”
Rattlesnake grimaced, remaining silent. Sunny was right. But the Talons of Power had almost nothing left but their pride, and with this alliance, even that would be gone.
“Sister, can we do it?” Sirocco asked hopefully. “I want to eat fancy again, and have lots of shinies! Please?”
Rattlesnake sighed, placing two talons to her snout. “Fine,” she eventually grumbled. “What do you want?”
“As I said, your support,” Queen Sunny answered. “I want the Talons of Power to support me in my upcoming battle against Aloe. Your SandWings are stealthier than my own soldiers.”
Rattlesnake glanced behind Sunny’s wings. She definitely recognized a few familiar faces in the background, more than just Six-Claws. “You have Outclaws with you, don’t you?” she asked. “If you’re just looking for assassins, they would be fine.”
“That’s not all,” Sunny continued. “I want some of whatever you used to blow up that warehouse with Kudu.”
Rattlesnake scoffed. “So you know about that. It’s dangerous stuff,” she remarked. “You sure you’re really ready to handle it?”
“What’s your price?” Sunny asked, unimpressed.
Rattlesnake smirked. “In addition to enough treasure to make this place as glittering as it was two years ago, I want a place on whatever council you choose after you win. Something nice and cushy. And a pardon for both me and my brother.”
“Deal,” Sunny answered, barely having to think about it. She didn’t like having to pay out SandWing treasure to these two, but if that’s what it took for her to secure the throne, so be it. She’d have plenty of time to make up for it. And better to have Rattlesnake on her council, where Sunny could keep a close eye on her.
Rattlesnake opened her eyes, slightly taken aback that Sunny had accepted so quickly, without any haggling. Maybe she should’ve started off with something even more in her favor. “Alright then,” she smiled. “I’ll show you to my dragonpowder supply. I think you’ll be pleased.”
Sunny raised up a wing as she followed Rattlesnake, signaling for the rest of the SandWings not to follow her. Whatever Rattlesnake was going to show her, she wasn’t sure she wanted the entire Sand Kingdom to know just yet. She continued after Rattlesnake, the young queen, staring at the cracking halls of the palace as Rattlesnake led her down a slanting tunnel once lined with jade and gold.
“Dragonpowder?” Sunny asked, once the two were out of hearing range.
“That’s what it’s called, the explosive,” Rattlesnake explained. “The name came from the scientist we got to make it. After she was exiled from the Mud Kingdom, Vulture picked her up. He hired her, and let her continue the work she’d been doing. The dragonpowder isn’t super useful by itself, so he didn’t end up using it when he tried to coup your mother, but she recently finished the first fully-working prototype.”
“Prototype?” Sunny asked, peeking into one of the open doors down the hallway. It was empty except for a few dusty crates covered in cobwebs.
“You’ll see,” Rattlesnake grinned. “You made a deal with the right dragons. Over here.”
Rattlesnake reached into a pouch on her side, pulling out a huge iron key, and inserted into a lock on a rusty metal door. After fiddling with it for a few moments, she finally managed to get it open, gesturing Sunny in.
Sunny had to take in a small gasp as she took in the entire room. It was larger than the pavilion, a huge cubical expanse, all beneath the surface. A large cloth hung from the ceiling at the back end, separating the room into two pieces. Benches were stacked with crates and beakers, strange twists of iron scattered around so haphazardly Sunny had to be careful not to step on any of them.
A large clang sounded from the back of the room, making Sunny almost jump. Smoke from a forge rose up through a vent in the ceiling, and she spotted a small MudWing with burnt-orange at it, stoking flames as she melted down iron. An iron mask covered her snout as sparks flew all around her.
“We store most of the dragonpowder somewhere else,” Rattlesnake replied as she shut the door behind her, “it would be too much of a fire hazard to keep it in here.” She looked over to the MudWing. “MALLARD! YOU HAVE A GUEST!”
“I’M BUSY!” the MudWing called back, another clang sounding from the forge.
Rattlesnake sighed. “IT’S QUEEN SUNNY!”
The clanging stopped. Mallard was still for a few moments, before placing the hot iron down, and removing her mask. She squinted. “Queen? Why didn’t you say so?”
Sunny glanced over as Mallard hobbled over. The MudWing scientist seemed somewhat worse for wear — her snout and neck were covered in so many burn scars that Sunny wasn’t quite sure what was scale and what wasn’t, and it looked like she’d lost her sight in one of her eyes. One of her paws had been fully replaced by a rusted iron contraption that seemed to screech and clang whenever she moved. She certainly looked a lot older than Sunny guessed she actually was.
“Your majesty,” Mallard said, bowing her head to the ground. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
“Yes, yes,” Rattlesnake scoffed. “Now, go and show her around. We’re making a deal with her.”
“Of course,” Mallard grinned, showing Sunny a few missing teeth. She turned, walking back towards the forge as Sunny followed. “This is my laboratory. Many many years ago, at the start of the War of SandWing Succession, Queen Moorhen commissioned me to help make her weaponry. I have to admit, I got a bit more creative than I intended, and I ended up making the highly explosive dragonpowder that Rattlesnake surely mentioned to you.” She wiggled her missing paw, showing the prosthetic off to Sunny. “Highly explosive, see? You know what Dragonflame cactus is?”
“Unfortunately,” Sunny frowned. She spotted a dried specimen of the plant at one of the tables. “I was there when Queen Scarlet attacked the Summer Palace with it. We also had someone use it at my academy.”
“Magnificent,” Mallard nodded. “That’s where I got the inspiration from. Early in the war, back when the MudWings had been on Blister’s side, the SkyWings used it in an attack on us. That power — I wanted to be able to use it for more. And so, I did! I studied the cacti, and managed to isolate the natural explosives within them. Some old SeaWing chemistry helped me figure out an artificial way to create the dragonpowder, something far more controllable, condensed, and volatile. Unfortunately, I ended up getting banished from the Mud Kingdom. I was so close! All my scrolls! My research! Practically all destroyed!” She tsked. “The war would’ve ended a years earlier Queen Moorhen kept me around.”
“Hm,” Sunny noted. She wondered if the NightWings had been involved in her banishment. It had all the familiar signs on it. She decided to hold her tongue.
“So,” Mallard continued, “I eventually made my way to the Crosswinds, you see? Where else could I go? And at my lowest moment, Vulture found me. He understood my potential, in a way that Queen Moorhen never did. He gave me a home, and paid me to continue developing the weaponry while supplying me with anything I needed. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to complete things before his death. Maybe things would’ve been different if I had. Er, not that there’s anything wrong with you or your mother, of course! I have to admit, I’m glad I’m going to be working for a queen again! I’m excited to see the first use of the weapon!”
“The weapon?” Sunny asked, slightly confused. “Do you mean there’s more than just the powder?”
Mallard chuckled. “Oh, of course. Dragonpowder is just a fancy explosive by itself. But it can be controlled. Sure, you can throw a lit barrel of powder on a wooden house and it’ll go up in flames, but the weapon can take down a castle.”
“Well,” Sunny joylessly replied. “That happens to be exactly what I’m looking for.”
Mallard grinned as she led Sunny over to a large lumpy object around the size of Sunny herself, covered in a white cloth stained with black. The MudWing bowed beneath her wings as she stepped to the side of it.
“I present to you, the Iron Dragon,” Mallard smiled, a proud glint in her eyes as she lifted off the cloth, revealing a huge black iron barrel fixed to a wooden frame. The MudWing picked up a large iron sphere, larger than two of her paws put together.
Sunny stared at the weapon for a moment, circling around as she examined it. Finally, she reached the barrel. “And this can take down a castle?”
Mallard nodded. “I’ve tested it myself, outside of the Scorpion Den, of course. No wall can stand in my dragonet’s way.”
Sunny raised her eyes to see Rattlesnake at the end of the room, another cloth separating off this part of the laboratory from the rest. Rattlesnake grinned as she let loose a blast of fire, and the cloth went up in flame.
Sunny stared at what was beyond the cloth. Dozens more copies of the weapon in front of Sunny were neatly organized, lined up in rows and columns like soldiers, setting out to battle. An army of Iron Dragons.
“After this,” Mallard smirked, “warfare on Pyrrhia is going to be changed forever.”
----Moonlight fell on the SandWing palace, while deep blues the color of SeaWings covered the dawn sky. Queen Sunny stood at a small hill, staring up at the flickering lights in the slit-like windows of the stronghold. Beneath her eyes, SandWings quietly rushed back and forth between the walls, silently as the moons lit their scales. Not just the royal army, but Outclaws and Talons of Power as well, all under Sunny’s command. For a moment, Sunny couldn’t help but stare at the architectural feat of the palace, large column-like towers peaking, faded murals lining a facade. A symbol of SandWing royalty dating back millenia.
It had taken too long to bring the Iron Dragons here. They’d had to make the final trip under the cover of darkness, but even then, Sunny was uncertain. How many dragons would die if Aloe was prepared for this, and the two armies faced full-on battle? How many dragons would die otherwise?
Sunny tilted her head as two dragons approached her. Rattlesnake and Mallard climbed up the small mound Sunny stood atop, both bowing to their queen.
“It was very wise of you to let the Talons of Power join your side,” Rattlesnake remarked, lifting her head back up. “We’ll bring you victory.”
“I know,” Sunny answered. It wasn’t losing she was worried about anymore.
“I finished showing your soldiers how to operate the Iron Dragons,” Mallard grinned, occasionally stepping from side to side, unable to hide her excitement. “They’re not hard to use, just don’t stand behind them when they fire.”
Sunny nodded. “Mallard, do you want to go somewhere safer for this? The battle will be starting soon.”
Mallard scoffed. “And not see the first time my invention is used in battle? Of course not. I’ve been working on this for decades; I wouldn’t miss this moment for the world. I’ll just stay back and watch, no need to get my talons dirty.”
“Alright,” Sunny answered. “Have fun.”
Sunny looked down to the the dragons, running around beneath the palace walls, until her eyes caught on the one she’d been looking for. Six-Claws. The sky was already starting to lighten. She needed to talk with him soon.
Sunny slowly walked down to her general, sand sliding beneath her claws. General Six-Claws looked back up as she came into view, giving her a concerned smile.
“Is everything prepared?” Sunny asked him.
Six-Claws nodded. “All of it. The Iron Dragons are in position.” He gestured around him. Huge weapons had been placed in a line, iron balls at their side with dragonpowder at the ready. All had been aimed up at the palace, pointed towards the impenetrable walls of the stronghold. “Just like you wanted, this is the least populated side of the palace at the moment. It’ll be more difficult for anyone to see us down here, and there’ll be less casualties.”
Less, but still some, Sunny thought. By giving the order to fire those things, she would be taking lives. “Thanks,” she quietly replied. “Even if we are seen, I think we’ll be fine. Aloe won’t know what they are.”
“Probably,” Six-Claws remarked. “Though she might get her forces at the ready.” He frowned. “Sunny, I’m a bit worried. I think we’re relying too much on Rattlesnake. I don’t think we can trust her.”
“I know we can’t trust her,” Sunny said. “Qibli told me enough about his siblings. If it looks like we’re losing, she’s going to turn tail and join Aloe. Which means that we just have to make sure we’re winning.”
Six-Claws grimaced. He knew Sunny was right, but he still didn’t like working with the Talons. He turned back, scanning the stronghold’s thick stone walls, his eyes moving up to the top, where a thicker stone roof protected the dragons inside. “It’s far more beautiful without the spikes and heads. I’ll be sad to see so much damage to it.”
“I won’t,” Sunny stated. “It’s a symbol of the old regime. I’m ready to see it go.”
Six-Claws squinted at Sunny. Something had changed in her. She was far from the same dragon she’d been when Six-Claws carried the news of her mother’s death to her, at Jade Mountain Academy. So much had happened to her since then.
“It’s almost sunrise,” Sunny stated, giving Six-Claws a funny look, unsure why he was staring at her. “I think it’s time.”
Six-Claws nodded, and the two walked back up the hill, meeting Rattlesnake and Mallard at the top. Sunny lifted her head up as she stepped in front of the three, SandWings below all looking up to her. Their queen.
“You ready for this?” Rattlesnake grinned, giving one of Sunny’s hindlegs a poke with a talon. Sunny didn’t flinch. “This is going to be so exciting. We’re making history here, you know? We’re gonna be in the scrolls for this.”
“They’re all ready,” General Six-Claws nervously told Sunny. “They’ll fire on your signal. Just give the word.”
Sunny stared at the palace. Was Aloe in there, watching? What about her mother, encased in stone?
Mallard grinned giddily, eyes wide open as the lightening sky caused her creations to glimmer. “Queen Moorhen is going to regret ever letting me go. Today, we’re bringing in a new age for dragons, for Pyrrhia. With this battle, the Age of Iron begins.”
The sun rose up in the east. Pink hues fell down from the sunrise, coloring the walls of the ancient SandWing palace. A beam of sunlight fell on Sunny’s army, the Iron Dragons black against the golden sand of the desert. The golden bracelet of the Outclaws glinted against Sunny’s golden scales. This would be the last time the sun rose over the SandWing stronghold.
Queen Sunny took in a deep breath as she made her decision.
“FIRE!”
== Chapter 54 ==
“Well,” the Empress laughed. “I have to admit, you did a really good job, a lot better than I expected.”
She looked at each of the three in turn. Aurora glared back, still as a statue with the Empress’s vines wrapping around her legs, her jaws open as one wriggled down her throat. The unconscious Midnight let out a groggy muttering in her sleep, head down on the sand. Tiger moved from side to side, attempting to get out of Glory’s tight grasp.
Inferno felt her claws shake as the vines pulled against her. Aurora had failed. All of them had failed. The Empress had won.
“I don’t know how you got back to Pyrrhia,” the Empress chuckled, “but you somehow managed to do it! And you fought me! The two of you gave me a good battle, rest easy knowing that. And Tiger! You almost succeeded!”
Tiger’s orange and black resting color shifted to red and green. “What are you planning to do to us?” she snarled.
“Nothing,” the Empress smiled, shaking her head. “I plan to rewrite this world, and you with it. However, I’ll reward you, for your bravery and courage. I think I’ll keep you around, instead of taking you out of existence. You won’t retain your memories, of course, but don’t worry, you’ll still be alive.”
“You’re despicable,” Tiger spat. “You’re planning to make this world like Antigonia?”
“You’ve grown feisty,” Liliana replied. “But no. Antigonia was a failed experiment. I wasn’t creative enough the first time around, and trying to fit my ideals with Trustbreaker didn’t work. I wasn’t prepared, either. No, this time, I plan to change the dragon and human species entirely. No one will ever want to fight, and everyone will love each other, and obey me with every bone in their body. No starvation, no war, no kingdoms. I’m going to get rid of emotions like hate, fear, and sadness. I’m going to make a utopia, and you should be happy you’ll get to be a part of it.”
“You’re going to take away all free will,” Tiger gulped. “That’s not right. It’s not right, forcing everyone to change like that, controlling them like you controlled Mangrove.”
“I know not everyone wants it, but they’ll be happier for it,” the Empress smiled. “Everyone will be happy in my world, all the time.”
Tiger stared. A world where everyone was happy. But if everyone in that world had to be like Mangrove for it to work, forgetting the things that they loved, forgetting themselves, how could that be a good thing?
Inferno raised her head. “It won’t work like you want it to,” she quietly spoke. “The world you create — it won’t be the one you’re hoping it will be. It’s not that simple.”
The Empress shrugged her wings. “That’s possible,” she acknowledged. “But even if I fail, I’ll have the Wishstone. I can rewrite this world as many times as I want to, until it finally works.”
“Even if that means destroying everyone on Pyrrhia?” Inferno asked, one final plea.
The Empress’s stare grew cold, as she grimaced. “Yes.”
She walked forward, until she was eye to eye with Inferno. Glory pulled Tiger away, taking a few steps back from the two. Inferno tensed up as she felt the Empress’s talons clutch around her jaws, digging into her scales.
“Ash has held out long enough,” Liliana growled. “It’s time.”
Inferno whimpered as she felt Liliana’s talons enter her head, her vision going black as the Empress forced her into Ash’s mindscape. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the familiar valley once more.
But this time, it was different. The ground was covered in a layer of soot, the kind river dried up. Smoke and smog filled the air, the peaks in the background cragged and unfriendly. A flash of lightning lit up the dark sky, thunder booming as Inferno looked down, Liliana’s hand clenching around her. The giant scavenger’s head rose up into the clouds, huge glowing golden eyes staring down, beams of light illuminating the treacherous landscape.
Inferno turned to see the Empress’s other hand. A small salmon-scaled dragonet huddled in her fingers, whimpering as he shook. Burn scars covered his body, blacks and reds across his distorted scales. He tucked his wings against him as his teeth chattered, the SkyWing’s leathery membranes more holes than wing. He tucked his snout beneath his wings, trying desperately to hide under them, even though his eyes poked out from the burnt off parts of his membranes.
Inferno wasn’t sure what to think. Ash had lied to her all her life, controlled her. He’d made her anxious and scared, his own fears becoming Inferno’s. But he’d also been one of her only friends in the Talons of Peace. When everyone else had despised her and wouldn’t talk to her, he comforted her. Whenever Inferno’s mother screamed at Inferno, scolding her for how she’d ruined her life and killed everyone in her village, telling Inferno how she was a terrible monster whose only purpose was to destroy, Ash had been the one to tell Inferno that Goat was wrong, and that even if she’d killed her brother, he forgave her, and that death wasn’t her destiny.
She gave the whimpering dragonet another look. She pitied him.
“I won’t let you take him from me,” Inferno snarled into the storm above her, Liliana’s eyes shining. “I won’t let you control him.”
Liliana laughed, her voice booming like thunder, as she pulled her hands apart. Ash screamed, as strands of glowing rope appeared on Ash, one connecting him to each of Liliana’s fingers, pulling him into her. A single rope stretched between Inferno and Ash, stretched taut.
Memories started to flash in front of Inferno’s visions, and she shook her head. Stop! she wailed. When her eyes opened up again. It was Ink’s kind eyes who stared down at her. She paused, taken aback for a moment. Just a memory. He was dead.
She was in the Enclave’s jail cell, with Toxin and Ink. Not long before the battle with Calamity. She felt her talons clench. She hadn’t really understood what friendship was before she’d met Ink. Her mouth opened, in the memory, just as she was about to tell him about Ash. Then . . .
NODONTTELLHIMDONTTELLHIMABOUTME
Inferno felt her body wrench as Ash’s frightened presence took ahold of it. She tried to move, her claws not able to respond. Ash’s fear pulsed through her scales, ripping through her as her heart started to pump so fast it might break. Her throat began to tighten up, the airways closing as Inferno tried to speak. Her eyes went wide, her tail whacking back and forth.
“Inferno, what’s wrong?” Ink asked.
“She’s choking!” Toxin yelled.
Inferno beat her tail from side to side. Just let me tell him! We can trust him!
As she choked, the vision became hazy. When it reappeared again, she was somewhere different. The Crystal Caverns. She saw Slate in front of her, yelling as tears fell from his eyes. His voice seemed muted to Inferno, unable to comprehend the words, just hearing his grief and anger. Toxin whimpered in the background.
“I didn’t mean to—” Inferno whispered, before she felt pain jolt through her body, muscles flexing and contracting against her will. She tried to let out another yell, but not even her voice would work.
We’re leaving, Ash said. Her body turned slowly, as one of her legs moved forward.
No! Inferno tried to yell back, only able to speak in her head. All she could do was watch as another leg moved. Stop! I have to stay! I have to help them! Toxin is hurt.
You can’t do anything to help them. Ash kept walking. It’s over. You brought me here. To him. I don’t want to ever see him again. I’m not letting you do that.
Inferno blinked again, and the memory changed once more. To Magma’s cave. A SkyWing with a spear stood across from her.
“Stop!” Inferno squealed as the SkyWing prodded her with the spear. It touched her scales, the tip harmlessly melting as it prodded her. “Go away! I don’t want to hurt you!”
Another SkyWing roared, letting loose a blast of flame on Inferno, as if that would do anything. Inferno felt her talons twinge as Ash’s presence beat down on her. Don’t hurt them, please! she pleaded. Don’t do this!
I won’t let them hurt us, Ash snarled. I won’t let them. No one will hurt us.
Inferno could do nothing as her wings opened up, stretching out. The two SkyWings reared back, as Inferno leaped forward. All it took was a single swipe of her talons, and an earsplitting scream came out from one of them. Scales had been burnt wherever the talon touched, the wound instantly cauterized. The other SkyWing let out a yell, immediately dropping her spear and rushing back.
Inferno stood over the SkyWing, still whimpering from his burn wounds. Her eyes blazed vivid blue as Ash moved a talon. The SkyWing let out another scream, this one of terror.
Don’t kill him, please, please don’t kill!
Ash moved Inferno’s talon, until it was just a claw-length from the top of the SkyWing’s head. The SkyWing’s eyes went wide.
Fine.
Ash moved the claw back. The SkyWing took the chance and scrambled to his paws, rushing back away towards the entrance of the cave. Inferno tried to move herself again, before realizing that she still couldn’t.
Ash? she asked. What are you doing?
Ash walked forward, until Inferno stood up against a small pool of water. His movements had become less erratic. He lifted Inferno’s claws up, giving them a small stare, before looking down into the pool, at Inferno’s reflection. Inferno felt her heart start to race, Ash feeling a twinge of shock at the sight of Inferno’s snout.
I haven’t had a body in so long, Ash whispered. But now, I’m free. I’m free to do whatever I want.
Ash? Inferno gulped. Please, let me have my body back.
Ash tilted Inferno’s head, staring at it as the reflection moved in the pool. Inferno could feel his anger. You did this to me. It’s your fault.
Inferno shut her eyes. When she opened them again, she was back in Liliana’s hand. Lightning cracked.
“Why?” Inferno yelled, her voice drowned out by thunder. “It wasn’t me! I didn’t kill you! You lied to me! You’re not my brother!”
The dragonet Ash’s head lifted up, meeting eyes with Inferno, blackened scales covering his snout. When he saw her, he jittered, ducking his head beneath his holed wing again. He wasn’t scared of the Empress.
Inferno closed her eyes, and when she opened them. There was only darkness. And then. She heard a scream. A dragonet’s scream coming from her. Talons touched her scale, grasping her, clawing at her. With every touch, she screamed louder as she felt her scales burning, fire coursing across her body as they raked her. The heat was unstoppable, everywhere. This wasn’t her memory. This was Ash’s.
She tried to claw into the darkness, only to feel her talons scratch a hard, impenetrable wall. The other talons grasped her neck, and she felt that burn too, scales and flesh peeling away. Soon, there’d be nothing left.
STOP! she pleaded, Ash’s thoughts her own. STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP! DON’T KILL ME! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!
Then, it stopped. She stopped dying. She felt whispers in her mind, voices too quiet to hear. Claws touched her, her scales blazed, but she didn’t die.
Time passed. The walls cracked. A small hairline, at first, and light flooded into her eyes, too bright to see anything at first. The eggshell began to open up as she slammed another talon on it. Finally, it opened, and she tumbled out onto ground, whimpering as she touched hard rock. A different hurt, the airs against her raw skin, ravaged by fire. Everywhere, spreading from where the rocks poked her to each scale on her body.
She stared. For the first time, she saw herself — she saw Ash’s tail, attached to her. Salmon scales had been replaced with reds and blacks from the burns of a million scratches. Her entire body hurt. She opened a wing, wet with the egg juices. There was little left of the membranes, most of it burnt away. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she knew she was a SkyWing, and she knew she would never be able to fly.
She looked back at the eggshell, as another snout poked out from it. Her blood ran cold. She was looking at herself. A SkyWing dragonet, with fire red scales and vivid blue eyes stared back at Ash, flexing her talons, blood boiling off them.
Your sister, Inferno realized. Ignite. As she stared into Ignite’s eyes, she felt something in common, something far more than just looks. She was Ignite. Ignite was her. The two were one, and had already been one.
Memories, this time her own, Ignite’s, lept into her head. She remembered Ignite’s hatching, now from her own perspective. She looked back at the eggshell after climbing out of it, and her eyes landed on what was inside. A small, maybe dragon-shaped, crisp lay still at the bottom of the eggshell. She prodded it. Ash. In this world, he hadn’t survived.
Fire. She looked up as it rose over the horizon, a bright flash of light contained in the flame as it billowed up, a cloud of bright fire spreading out in a hemisphere from the top of a column. Heat and wind pushed her to the side, Ignite’s tiny wings opening to catch it as the newly hatched dragonet glided away from the mushroom cloud. Flame and wind. It was beautiful.
As bright light flooded her new eyes, the memory faded. She looked up to see Ignite again, this time, an older dragonet. She was in Ash’s memory again.
Inferno let out a cry in pain as she felt claws around her, no, Ash’s, tail, the grasp burning her. She stared at Ignite’s talons, squeezing into her already scorched tail, smoke rising as the burnt scales burnt further.
“You’re coming with me,” Ignite hissed. A chill ran down Ash’s spine, and Inferno turned around, desperately trying to get away. One of her talons landed on Ignite’s underbelly, and Inferno screamed again as she felt her paw burn.
“Let me go!” Ash’s voice yelled out. “Let me go, please!”
“I’m not letting you ruin this chance for me,” Ignite snarled, grasping tighter as she placed a talon to Ash’s wings, burning another hole in them. Ash screamed more as she tried to pull him, charcoaled scales crumbling off.
“I’ll go, I’ll go, I will!” Ash cried.
Ignite glared at him again, before finally dropping his tail. He tucked it between his legs, shaking.
“What are you whimpering about, anyways?” Ignite snorted. Inferno saw a twinge of envy in her gaze, her glare almost hatred. “I can’t kill you, can I? You’re lucky. Unlike me, you can’t die. And you can actually touch dragons, even though you’re too ugly for anyone to want that. Now, follow.”
Ash whimpered as he tripped onto the ground, his head whacking the floor. When Inferno’s head had raised up again, the scenery had changed. Ignite was still there, but now, years older, maybe a few years beyond Inferno’s own age. Inferno shivered. Now that Ignite was older, the comparison was even more frightening. Ignite was her crueler, spitting image.
A stray wind blew across Ash’s stinging scales, picking up a flurry of sand, blowing through the holes in his wings. The two were in a desert together, sand turned to glass beneath Ignite’s claws. Now, Ash looked up at another eerily familiar face.
“Who is this?” Calamity asked, squinting as he tilted his head. His two eyes tilted as they stared into Ash’s own. He was younger than the Calamity that Inferno had met, with his body completely corporeal. Still, he felt the same, the aloof smile, the cold, uncaring voice. But now, she felt . . . curiosity.
“My brother?” Ignite asked, frowning. She poked Ash in the side, causing him to let out a cry of agony. “Don’t pay attention to him. He’s useless. He can’t breath fire, and he can’t fly.”
“Your brother,” Calamity repeated, a toothy grin coming over the MudWing. He took a step forward, craning his head around Ash, examining him like a piece of shiny treasure. “You’re sure? He’s your brother?”
“Of course he is,” Ignite scoffed. “I’ve known him since we hatched together.”
Calamity traced a talon along Inferno’s neck, causing Ash to whimper as it dug into blackened scale. “How did he survive? You should have burnt him. This doesn’t look like anything a hatchling could’ve survived.”
“Dunno,” Ignite frowned. “He can’t die for some reason. Why are you paying attention to him? Look at me, I can do this!” Ignite shut her eyes, and suddenly, the air around her turned shifted hues, blue flames rising up around her.
Calamity didn’t notice, enamoured by Ash. “He can’t die, huh?” he asked.
Suddenly, Inferno let out a scream as Calamity’s paw darted forward. Ash’s head tilted down, and she stared. He’d stabbed his claws into her chest, slicing through her heart.
“He really can’t,” Calamity replied, blood spurting from Ash’s chest as he pulled them back out. Inferno stood still, the normally mortal wound causing nothing but pain, something Ash was used to at that point. “Interesting.” He smiled. “Ash, I think you’re an animus. Very interesting. I think you’re going to be quite useful to me, you know that?”
A flash of light lit up in the distance, and Ash turned his head away, his eyes shutting. When they opened once more, a dragon and a scavenger stood above him, staring down at him. A younger Liliana, in scavenger form, rode on Trustbreaker’s neck. She leaped down with ease, landing on her feet and hands.
“This is it, Duskwind?” Liliana asked in Dragon, her voice strange and squeaky to Inferno’s ears. “It’s a lot less . . . spectacular than I thought it would be.”
Inferno felt Ash try to move, unable to. She suddenly realized why. Although she could see, hear, smell, and feel the world around her, she had no body. She was looking out from behind a glassy surface. The Wishstone.
Duskwind glanced back nervously, fidgeting with his talons. The doorway behind them had been blocked off with rubble. “The cultists are going to be able to break in soon. I don’t think we have much time. We should hurry and use it. We might not get another chance.”
“Yeah,” Liliana frowned. “A perfect world, huh? One where dragons and humans all live in peace.” She reached out, and fingers grasped around Inferno’s vision.
Who are you? Ash asked Liliana.
“Three moons! It can speak!” Liliana said in alarm, jumping back, almost dropping the Wishstone. “Can you hear it?”
Duskwind shook his head, and slowly crouched by Liliana, touching a talon to the Wishstone.
Why are you here? Ash asked the two. You shouldn’t be here.
“You’re the fabled Wishstone, isn’t it?” Liliana asked. She smiled. “We’ve been searching for you for a long time. We’re going to make this world better.” She squinted, and Inferno felt the vision of a happy, peaceful world suddenly pop into Inferno’s head.
You shouldn’t do this, Ash gulped. This is dangerous. I don’t know what will happen.
“We can wish for anything, right?” Duskwind asked him. “You just need to grant it.”
This is big, Ash replied. It scares me. Please don’t make me try it.
Liliana shook her head. “Sorry. We’re not giving up now, right Duskwind?” The NightWing nodded. “We’re going to change Pyrrhia, for everyone here, for everyone we lost. We’re going to make a perfect world, a utopia. If that’s too much for your powers, then well, I guess nothing will happen.”
No, Ash protested, that’s not what I’m worried about. A strange energy seemed to pulse through Inferno, coursing through her as Liliana and Duskwind both projected their wishes into her. For a moment, she felt everything, every atom, every dragon, every scavenger, Ash’s memories far from able to hold all it in his head, just a shadow of the experience. She saw Liliana’s desire, and Duskwind’s desire, both attempting to force themselves into reality. STOP! Ash screamed. PLEASE STOP!
It was too late. Unable to reconcile the visions with each other and with reality, the magic went into effect. With nothing to interpret it, nothing but Ash’s mind to control it, it broke loose. Dragons ripped apart, faded from existence, as all that was in this world became no more. There was nothing Ash could do about it, only able to watch as everything disappeared in front of his eyes, leaving only Liliana and Duskwind holding the Wishstone. When Inferno looked out, there was nothing but darkness. A great void. The world was gone, and they were all that was left.
Then, she was somewhere else. She saw her body move. Her own body, but not her own. She felt no experience of her own mind moving it. She realized where she was. She was in Ash’s memories, trapped inside Inferno as he watched her move.
She was in the Talons of Peace. A glance at her paws, far smaller than they were now, made her realize that this was when she was a dragonet. Maybe two years old, at most. A force moved her body, her limbs propelling themself forward without any input. The same feeling that she got when Ash had controlled her — Ash felt the same way whenever he wasn’t in control?
Inferno walked down one of the narrow hallways. Ash could feel her anger. Why was she angry? She couldn’t tell. It seemed like she was just a blinding mess of dragonet rage. That was weird. Inferno had always been taught to not be angry, hadn’t she? Because otherwise, she could a hurt a dragon, and they’d be scared of her.
A SeaWing yelped and leaped to the side of the cavern as he saw her coming, the young SkyWing dragonet grumpily walking past him as he pushed himself against the cavern wall. Ash could smell his fear, his terror as he waited patiently for Inferno to walk past. She did, without any injury.
And then, after turning the cavern, Inferno stopped. Her head turned upwards, her glare focusing on a huge SandWing, dwarfing the dragonet. Inferno went still as she realized who it was. Coyote. The SandWing she’d burnt, when she was young.
The SandWing looked back down at the dragonet, not particularly scared or impressed with her. Scars covered his body, scratches and burns from the war. But one scar was suspiciously missing, the burn scar on his tail. The one that Inferno had made. She began to realize what memory this was. This was when Inferno had burnt Coyote.
How had it happened? Inferno couldn’t remember exactly how. It was one of the gaps in her memories, something that she’d figured she was too young to recall, as traumatizing as it must have been. Goat and Ash had told her the same story, that she’d just accidentally bumped into him when she’d turned a corner. She felt a chill come over her. She was standing right in front of Coyote. She couldn’t accidentally bump into her from here.
Anxiety filled Ash’s thoughts as he sensed Inferno’s rage. Inferno, he said in the memory. Please, stop. You’re angry. Take a deep breath, calm down.
That was weird. Inferno had only remembered Ash speaking to her in her dreams, at least before he’d spoken to him when Aurora had almost toppled the cave down.
“You made mommy cry!” the young Inferno squealed, hissing up at Coyote. “I hate you! I don’t want you to be my daddy!”
Coyote frowned. “Go away,” the SandWing growled, baring his fangs at Inferno. “You’re just a dragonet. Don’t get into adult business.” He turned his back to the SkyWing dragonet, beginning to walk away.
“No!” Inferno squealed, reaching her talons out. “I hate you! I hate you!”
Inferno! STOP! Ash yelled out, his voice filling the dragonet’s head.
Inferno’s talons grasped around the SandWing’s tail, halfway to its base. Smoke started to rise up from Coyote’s scales, and he let out a high-pitched scream. He tried to pull his tail away from her, the barb swinging left and right, but Inferno refused to let go, more of it burning as Coyote tried to scramble away.
“LET GO!” Coyote wailed. He raised his claws, about to swipe at Inferno, but even in his agony, lowered them, whether because he didn’t want to strike a dragonet or realized that would just burn his paw. “LET GO! PLEASE!”
Inferno, please, let go! Ash cried into her head. Suddenly, Inferno could feel Coyote’s pain too in her memories, Ash able to feel it as she touched Coyote. Please, stop hurting him! Stop! Stop!
Coyote continued screaming, Ash’s yells joining him. Inferno felt him try to take control of her body, but he couldn’t, the pain breaking his concentration, unable to do anything, just watching as Inferno grasped Coyote. Inferno refused to let go, her claws digging further into the SandWing’s tail. A crowd started to gather around the two, brought by Coyote’s agony. Dragons stared at Inferno in shock. What could they do? They couldn’t pull her off.
Then, Ash and Inferno felt a large, hard, object hit her head, and Inferno let out a yelp. A rock fell at the dragonet’s paws, and she let go of Coyote’s tail in surprise. He scampered off, whimpering as he tried to find cold water to dip it in.
Inferno turned around. Goat glared down at her, her eyes red and furious. She picked up another rock, flinging it at Inferno. The dragonet let out another cry as it hit her, blood dripping from her head.
“Never!” Goat hissed, claws trembling. “Never touch anyone, again! So help me feathered spirit, if you do, I’ll wrangle your neck myself!” She glared at the crowd, and breathed a puff of flame. “Go away! This isn’t your business! Inferno! Back to our cave, now!”
She turned, and Inferno followed. Ash stared, sheer terror in his own mind. What sort of monster was Inferno becoming?
“I should have flown up in the sky and dropped you from your eggshell,” Goat muttered, loud enough for Inferno to hear. “That’s what everyone else would’ve done. And now I have to pay for my mistake.”
The scene changed, as the caverns became a beautiful valley, a river running through it. Ash’s dreamscape. She was still seeing his memories, with a young Inferno standing before him, unable to meet his eyes. She could feel Ash’s thoughts as he saw her. He couldn’t see anyone but Ignite.
Ash stared at his talons, shaking. This was the night after she’d burnt Coyote. She could hear his thoughts. He was scared. He felt powerless, without agency, just like when Ignite and Calamity had controlled him, when Liliana and Duskwind had controlled him. He was trapped in Inferno’s body, and there was nothing he could do to prevent her from hurting dragons.
“Are you angry at me?” Inferno grumbled. “Everyone is angry at me. Everyone hates me. They have always hated me, even mother, and now she hates me more. Do you hate me?”
Ash trembled. “I-I don’t hate you,” he replied. I’m scared of you. “But you can’t hurt dragons. Never. Never ever.”
“Why?” Inferno grumbled. “They hurt me.”
“They’ll hate you, they’ll be scared of you,” Ash responded. “You have to be calm, kind, and careful, or they’ll hurt you more. So never, ever, do anything like that again, alright? I won’t let you become anything like my sister. You’ll never hurt anyone.”
Inferno tilted her head, confused. “But I am your sister. How can I not be like myself?”
Ash stared, and Inferno’s blood ran cold. Flames spread across the dreamscape, the grass turning to crisp darkness, and Inferno heard thunder above her. Once again, she was in Liliana’s hand, clutching around her.
Ash, why couldn’t you have just been truthful? she wondered. If you told me how much you hated being trapped in my body, I would’ve helped you. You didn’t have to control me, I would’ve shared with you. But instead, you hurt me. You made me afraid. Why?
She stared at the whimpering dragonet, has body blackened as he shut his eyes, trying to pretend that Inferno wasn’t there. He was terrified of Inferno.
The final rope of light snapped, and Inferno’s eyes fluttered open, this time, in the real world. She let out a yell as the Empress withdrew her talons from Inferno’s head, a round clear stone within her claws. For the first time in years, she couldn’t feel Ash anymore. His presence was gone.
Inferno clutched her head as memories and emotions Ash had hidden from her rushed in. Anger. Frustration. Hate. She hated the Empress, she hated Coyote, she hated Goat, she hated Ash. She felt her breath become unsteady, her claws wrapping around sand, like she wanted to do nothing else but to strangle the life out of a burning dragon. She let out a terrifying scream of rage, so powerful even the Empress jumped back in alarm.
Flames flared up around Inferno’s scales, the sand beneath her melting and turning into glittering glass. A red glow around her from the fire turned to yellow as she yelled, then to white, and finally, a blue aura surrounding her, engulfing the Empress, the RainWing’s scales burning away. The vines around Inferno started to burn, crisping and turning into ash as they crumbled onto the ground. All of her power, her flame, her anger, was free.
As the Empress screamed, burning away, Aurora took the chance. She placed her talons on the vine running down her throat, instantly turning it into air. She dove towards Midnight, groggily raising her head as the heat woke her up, and wrapped her talons around her half-sister. With a pull, Aurora phased Midnight through the vines around her, and flapped her wings, strong winds pushing the two towards the arena wall. In an instant, they were gone, phasing through the stone.
Then, it faded. As soon as it came, Inferno’s blue flames faded away, smoke once again rising from her scales. She took a deep breath, becoming calm. As the glow from her scales faded, her eyes landed on what was left of the Empress: a pile of ash on the sand, the pale spherical orb of the Wishstone resting on top of the mound.
Inferno fluttered her eyes, and took a step towards the Wishstone, reaching out her talons. But before she could touch it, a scavenger’s hand reached out from the pile, grasping onto the stone, fingers clenching around it. Another hand rose up, and Inferno felt her limbs stiffen up. An invisible force suddenly flung her against the arena wall, stone cracking as she fell to the sand.
The Empress, now in scavenger form, climbed out from the pile of ash. She shook herself off, before raising the Wishstone up in front of her eyes. She grinned greedily, eyes wide as she stared into it. She had it. Now, she could do anything she wanted. With the Wishstone, she was a God.
The Empress lifted her head, hair falling down as she rose up into the sky, RainWings in the arena seats staring as the morning sun glittered down on her, bowing their heads as if in worship. A new golden crown of leaves appeared on her head.
She looked back down to the sand for a moment, offering the mortals beneath her a final glance. Aurora and Midnight were gone, having escaped while the Empress had been distracted. “No matter,” she smiled. “I got what I needed.”
Holding the Wishstone out with both hands, white light started to glow from within it, swirls and arcs of the light suddenly pouring out from the wishstone in a spiral around the floating Empress. She tried to envision all her desires. This time, she would be more careful. She would make a world that could work, one where everyone could be happy. White mist started to pour out from the Wishstone, spreading across the arena, then the Sky Kingdom, and then, all of Pyrrhia.
This time, she would make a utopia.
== Chapter 55 ==
“Leopard,” a voice whispered. “Leopard, c’mon, wake up.”
Leopard’s tired eyes slowly fluttered open to see a pale SandWing dragonet above her, black diamond scales jostling her awake. Aloe glanced around nervously, careful that they weren’t being watched. A drop of water from a stalactite, splattering in Leopard’s snout.
“Mm, what is it?” Leopard murmured, still half asleep.
“It’s time to go!” Aloe huffed, careful to keep her voice quiet. “We’re escaping tonight, remember?” She frowned. “You fell asleep, on the night we were escaping.”
Leopard slowly got to her paws, stretching out as she stumbled onto the hard, stone ground. Another drop of water dripped down on her from above. It seemed like the caverns were always wet and soggy. Not surprising, with the ocean on the other side of the stone.
“Sorry,” Leopard apologized, trying to shake herself away. “I thought it was tomorrow.”
“It is tomorrow,” Aloe sighed. “It has to be today. Blister’s is returning tomorrow, so we need to be out before then.” She walked to the natural entranceway, a slanted hole in the cavern wall, and nervously glanced to the left and right. Upon finding no SandWings hiding in the shadows, she continued out into one of the large tunnels that had been partially natural, partially excavated. “Come on. We have to hurry, or the guards will notice I’m missing soon.”
“Yeah,” Leopard murmured, still half-asleep, swaying from side to side as she followed Aloe in the tunnels.
Aloe sighed as she glanced back to Leopard. She knew how important this was. Their chance to escape, to finally be free. Why couldn’t she act more like it?
Dark walls closed in on them as Aloe nervously traversed the corridor, Leopard trailing behind. This was probably the most dangerous part of their plan. If they woke up a guard, or someone on watch saw them, they’d fail. They’d be punished, and wouldn’t have another chance to escape until Blister left again. If even that.
Aloe turned into a smaller corridor, off the main one. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw the dim torches lighting it, a number of them already out. No one really came down here much — for most dragons, this was a dead end. But as the three had recently discovered, there was a secret exit, only for the bravest and the fastest swimmers. Aloe didn’t think even Blister knew about it, not that Aloe would ever tell her mother.
Aloe turned around as the tunnel started slanting down, a trickle of water coating the floor. She looked back at Leopard, giving her a grin as the two met eyes. “C’mon, almost there.”
Leopard turned too, and the two started to walk backwards, Leopard making sure to give Aloe a wide berth, so not to accidentally trip and cut Aloe with her barb. That would certainly ruin their plan — they’d have to go back for brightsting, and someone would definitely see them if they did.
The slope began to get steeper, and Aloe grasped onto rocks in order to climb down the tunnel. Flying would’ve been preferable, but the tunnel was far too narrow for that. Suddenly, Aloe let out a small yelp as she felt her talons slip out from beneath her in one paw, the slick rock difficult to stand on. She quickly grasped onto the side of the tunnel, stumbling as a few displaced pebbles tumbled down. Pausing, she let out a sigh of relief. That was close.
“Be careful,” Aloe warned Leopard. “It’s slippery.”
Leopard nodded in agreement, and the two continued downwards, moving at a snail’s pace down the slope. Aloe only finally let herself relax, just a tad, when the bottom was in sight. Letting go of the rocks, she flipped onto her back, tucking in her wings as she slid down the rest of the way, scales protecting her from any scrapes.
Leopard cautiously followed, eventually touching the bottom and turning around, glad to no longer be on the slope. The two stared out into the cavern below, opening up into a hemi-spherical chamber, filled with a pool of water.
Aloe frowned, looking around, slightly worried. Where was he? She inched forward, glancing down into the deep blue water, the scent of salt and the ocean rising up from it. They were so close. She dipped a claw into it, a ripple running across its surface.
Suddenly, the surface broke, as jaws snapped up out of the water, droplets flinging everywhere. Leopard squealed, and Aloe leaped back, heart pounding. Milky-green scales rose up from the pool, starbursts glowing on the SeaWing’s flapping wings, splashing cold water onto Aloe and Leopard as he laughed playfully. A thin chain hung from his neck, a golden dolphin with ruby eyes swinging from it.
“Moons, Rift, you scared me!” Aloe huffed. “I could have stabbed you.”
“Sorry,” Rift laughed, unable to get over his surprise attack. He settled down in the water, glowstripes lighting up the dim cavern. “I just got a little bored. What took you all so long?”
Aloe tossed an irritated glare at Leopard, rolling her eyes. “Someone fell asleep. Tonight, of all nights!”
“Sorry,” Leopard whimpered, crouching back. “I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s fine,” Rift grinned. “We’ve got quite a while until dawn. We’ll be out of here and in the Summer Palace before the light of morning hits the horizon.”
“The Summer Palace,” Aloe smiled, eyes opening wide in amazement. She’d heard so much about it from Rift. A miraculous structure created by magic, far taller than the tallest tree. She shuffled her wings, just imagining it.
Leopard snuck up to the pool of water, craning her head over it. “Is there really an exit?” she asked Rift. “Out to the ocean?”
Rift nodded. “I checked it out. There is one, but it’s too far for a SandWing to swim on a single breath, so Blister hasn’t found it you.”
Leopard gulped. “If it’s too far for a SandWing, does that mean we’re going to drown?”
Rift shook his head. “Not with me. I’m a fast swimmer. I’ll take you through the exit fast enough, don’t worry.”
Leopard glanced nervously back at the pool. She really didn’t want to drown here.
“You can trust me,” Rift smiled. “You’ll be fine. Hop on.”
The SeaWing prince crouched down, spreading out his lit-up wings to make it easier for Leopard to climb on his back. The SandWing hesitantly did so, careful to curl up her barb as her talons dug into Rift’s scales.
“I’ll be back for you,” Rift told Aloe. “Just wait here. Leopard, you ready?”
Leopard nodded, and took in a huge breath, sucking in as much air as she could, until the scales on her cheeks puffed out. As soon as she was finished, Rift leaped into the pool, cold water splashing onto Aloe’s snout.
Aloe looked down as the two sunk into the pool. White light glimmered from beneath where Rift’s scales acted as a beacon, before getting dimmer, and finally disappearing. Aloe let out a sigh, and sat back on her haunches.
The young SandWing princess’s talons nervously tapped on the ground, Aloe fidgeting from side to side. She peered over the pool again, trying to spot Rift. She couldn’t.
Had something gone wrong? Aloe wondered. What if Leopard drowned?
She began to fret, pacing back and forth, when finally, Rift’s had popped out from the surface.
“Alright, your turn!” the SeaWing prince said. “Climb on! Leopard is waiting at the other end.”
Aloe let out a relived huff, and climbed onto Rift’s back, holding on tight.
“Take a deep breath,” Rift warned her. Aloe did as he asked, sucking in air until she thought her lungs would burst. Then, Rift jolted forward, Aloe clinging as he splashed down into the pool.
Cold saltwater stung as she opened her eyes, a faint glow from Rift’s scales lighting up their way. She winced from the pressure as Rift started diving down, her ears hurting. It was only a few moments before the bottom of the pool was in sight, and Rift turned, weaving around underwater stalagmites into a small hole. Aloe ducked against Rift, her horns scraping against the rock as he swam into the tight tunnel.
Small bubbles started to escape from Aloe’s jaws as Rift swum back and forth through the tight tunnel, weaving in and out. For a moment, Aloe started to get worried, but then it started to open out into a larger underwater cave. The SeaWing’s flippers and wings propelled the two up, and Aloe’s eyes widened as she saw moonlight above them. They were almost on the outside of the island.
With a splash, Rift burst into the air, before landing on his belly in the water. Aloe let out a gasp, taking in air as she stumbled off Rift’s back, onto a sand bar. She crawled up it, breathes fast, when she finally wiped the saltwater from her eyes, able to see the land in front of her.
Her heart seemed to skip a beat, and she felt her talons shake as the scene in front of her finally unblurred. She took a terrified step back into the surf. More dragons than just Leopard stood a short distance up the beach, black beady eyes staring at Rift and Aloe as they surfaced.
“Well, this is a surprise,” Blister remarked, eyes focused on her daughter. Her voice seemed to slither like a snake, just the menace within it hurting Aloe’s ears. Her tail curled all the way around Leopard’s neck, constricting around it with Blister’s barb resting beneath her chin, the tip just a claw-length from puncturing her scales. “Out for a midnight swim, are we?”
“Y-you weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow,” Aloe whimpered, taking another step back into the ocean. They’d been caught. Who would pay for it, this time, and how?
“I lied,” Blister replied. Her tail grasped tighter around Leopard, the young SandWing holding absolutely still as the barb twitched. “Do you need me to remind you what I said I’d do if either of you ever escaped? I told you I’d kill Leopard.”
Leopard let out a squeal of terror as she felt Blister’s barb prod her throat, not quite enough to puncture it.
“No!” Aloe cried out, tears running from her eyes. “Please, please don’t!”
The half-dozen SandWings behind Blister stood still, none of them making a motion to stop her. Leopard wouldn’t get any help from them.
Blister smiled. “It good that the three of you didn’t get very far. If you’d gone beyond the island’s shore, I would’ve had to stay true to my word. But this means I don’t have to kill Leopard after all.”
Blister’s tail uncurled, and Leopard let out a gasp of air as she landed on the sand. Aloe stared down at her claws in the water, heart racing. She let out a sigh of relief. None of them were going to die.
“However, that doesn’t mean the three of you are free of punishment,” Blister continued. “Guards, take Leopard to the dungeons. She’ll be good insurance that Aloe won’t try anything like this again, anytime soon. Rift. To me.”
Leopard let out a defeated whimper as two SandWings grabbed ahold of her, dragging her off, her tail making a trail through the sand. She wondered: how long would she be down there this time?
Rift took a step forward, through the water, raising his head high. If he was afraid, he didn’t show it. As he walked onto the dry sand, Aloe saw something in the water glitter in the moonlight. His dolphin necklace. She carefully placed her talons around it, trying as hard as she could to make sure her mother didn’t notice.
Blister looked up at Rift as he stood in front of her. Two guards grabbed onto his wings, holding him in place. He just looked down. He wouldn’t give her any satisfaction from this.
“You’re going to regret ever hatching,” Blister snarled, flicking her tail. Rift tensed up as the smooth part of the barb brushed against the side of his neck. “I was hoping that having Leopard’s life on the line would be enough to keep you from leaving the island, but apparently not. I’m going to make sure you never swim again.”
“No!” Aloe squealed.
Blister turned to one of her guards. “Quill. Hold her. I want her to watch.”
Quill bowed his head, and walked down to the beach. Aloe stumbled back, into the water. Could she try and fly away? No. She’d be out-flown, and Blister would kill Leopard if she did. She could do nothing but struggle as Quill grabbed her wings, talons digging into her membranes as he lifted her into the air.
“Watch,” he growled.
Aloe twisted from side to side, trying to get free. She flashed her barb, only for Quill to drop one of her wings to hold her tail in place. He moved his other forepaw to her neck, dangling her by it.
“Stop, please!” Aloe squealed, coughing. “Mother, please! Don’t hurt him! It was my idea to run away, I should be the one punished, not Rift!”
“I know that, darling,” Blister smiled, flicking her tongue out. “I am punishing you. I’m teaching you an important lesson.”
Aloe whimpered, the necklace tight in her claws. “Lesson?” she gulped. “What lesson?”
“The lesson is not to have friends someone else can hurt,” Blister frowned. “And to never disobey me again.”
Blister’s tail twisted, the barb pointing towards Rift. Aloe tried to look away as she stabbed it down, but Quill kept her snout pointed forward.
Rift let out an ear-splitting shriek as Blister’s barb stabbed into his gill, injecting poison as she scraped it down one side of his neck. He writhed as the two soldiers held him down, one grasping onto his horns to keep his head from moving. Blister’s tail tore through scale and flesh, crimson blood dripping from his wound, staining the sand.
As soon as his screams started to quiet, Blister flipped her tail to the other side of his neck. Her barb pierced into his other gill, and he screamed again, so loud Aloe hoped someone on the next island over would hear it, come to his rescue. Aloe attempted to turn her head once more, but she couldn’t. Blister stared at Aloe. This is your fault. You did this to him.
Then, a loud crash seemed to break through the island, a great rumble. Aloe’s eyes fluttered awake, the SandWing’s heart racing. She was in her bed, Leopard at her side. Just a nightmare. A memory. Blister was dead. She couldn’t hurt them any more.
Aloe frowned. Was the crash part of the nightmare? She didn’t remember that happening before. That was odd, maybe—
The SandWing palace shook again, the walls and bed shaking as another loud crash shook through it. Aloe’s talons tensed up, fully awake. That was definitely not part of her nightmare.
“Leopard!” Aloe gulped, placing her talons on the SandWing next to her, trying to jostle her awake. “Leopard, get up!”
Leopard groaned as she opened her eyes, letting out a yawn. “Hmm?” she asked Aloe. “It’s early.”
The muffled yells of SandWings sounded from beyond the two’s door, and Aloe heard a group run past her in the hallway. The palace shook again, dust falling loose from the ceiling.
Leopard turned around in alarm, raising her head. “What’s going on?” she asked, suddenly fully awake. “Are we under attack?”
Aloe winced. That was what she had been afraid of. This didn’t feel like another earthquake — the one recently had been a constant rumble, before it quieted. And she hadn’t heard her soldiers get to arms at that. “I think so,” she said. “But how?”
Leopard grimaced, and got up from their bed, heading towards the door. “Careful,” she warned Aloe. She opened the door, craning her head around, into the hallway. No one was there. If this was an attack, Sunny’s soldiers hadn’t made it here yet.
Another rumble sounded, Leopard suddenly losing her claw-hold on the stone. The shift threw her across the hall, to the outer edge. She squinted as she grasped onto one of the narrow slits in the edge of the palace, catching a glimpse of the outside. Out of the corner, she managed to catch a glimpse of a small group of SandWings. All of them were surrounded a strange metal object, like a cylinder. Leopard stared for a moment, then, one of the SandWings puffed fire on it.
Immediately, the cylinder shot out smoke and flame, and Leopard let out a yelp in surprise. Something heavy hit the palace wall, stone and bricks falling from it. It shook again, and Aloe walked up to another slit, staring with Leopard.
“What are those?” Aloe asked, after the smoke cleared, staring at the Iron Dragons.
“I don’t know,” Leopard replied in a hurry, “but I think Sunny or Six-Claws is using them to attack the palace. At this rate, they’ll be in soon.”
“She’s destroying,” Aloe whispered, shocked. “She’s destroying her own palace.” She’d thought she had an advantage, holding the stronghold. It was supposed to be impenetrable. But now . . .
“It’s not too late,” Leopard said, seeing the sudden look of defeat on Aloe’s snout. “If it’s just a small hole, we’re still in the advantage. We need to rally our troops, as quick as possible. We can defend against this.”
Leopard turned, running down the corridor, as Aloe quickly followed her. For a moment, Leopard’s words inspired a glimpse of hope in Aloe. Maybe they could get out of this fine, or even win right here and now.
Another blast shook the stronghold, and Aloe stumbled forward, almost into Leopard as they turned a corner. A small group of SandWings were coming their way. Aloe’s troops, coming to check on her.
“Get everyone into position!” Leopard commanded. “We need to focus our defenses on wherever they’re trying to break into from.”
“They’re coming in from the bottom floors,” one said. “They broke through on the south side.”
Aloe’s head turned to the SandWing, recognizing him from her dream. Quill. She held her breath, waiting patiently behind Leopard.
“Then we’ll keep them from getting any higher,” Leopard replied. She pointed to a small sandy-brown dragon. “You. Organize everyone on the floors beneath us, get them up. Then block off the stairs, make it difficult for them. Buy us time. We retreat up to the third floor, and fight them there as they come up.”
The SandWing bowed, before rushing off. This would be a dangerous job, but someone needed to do it. Blister had trained these soldiers well. After experiencing her, there was nothing that could break their spirits.
“C’mon,” Leopard said to the rest of the group. “It’s time to fight back. The nearest stairwell up is this way.”
Leopard continued rushing down the corridor, Aloe right behind her, as the rest of the SandWings followed. More shakes rumbled through the palace, as the south walls started to crumble. Still, Aloe suddenly felt more confident as the stairwell came into her vision. Leopard’s plan was good. There were few dragons as dependable as she was in a time of crisis, and Aloe wouldn’t have chosen anyone else. Not even Rift. They just needed to reach the stairs, and get more soldiers up to the third floor with them, and they’d be able to fight the attack off.
As soon as Aloe reached the stairwell, she let out a yelp, as she suddenly spotted more dragons out of the corner of her eyes. Four SandWings in black cloaks had been hiding around the corner, and as soon as Aloe got close enough to them, they leaped at her, throwing her to the ground. Aloe twisted, trying to get them off as she felt tails twist, four barbs stabbing down into her.
“Aloe!” Leopard yelled, jumping on one of the SandWings’ back. She grasped the cloak, her talons pulling back around a strong chain. The SandWing tried to gasp, shaking back and forth as Leopard choked him, shaking from side to side as he tried to hit her against the corridor wall.
As she felt her back hit the stone, Leopard whipped her tail up in the air. Her aim was true, and the barb landed in the cloaked SandWing’s heart. He let out a cry, as Leopard threw him forward, pulling her tail back out. As he died, Leopard jumped towards Aloe, ready to fight the next one.
She didn’t have to — the other three cloaked SandWings were scattered around Aloe, quickly dispatched by the rest of the troops with Aloe and Leopard. Leopard rushed over to Aloe, tail curled defensively on the ground.
“Are you alright?” Leopard asked. “Are you hurt?”
Aloe shook her head as she slowly got back to her paws, clutching at her dolphin necklace. Spilt venom dripped from her pale scales, but none of the barbs had pierced her. Without the necklace, she wouldn’t have had a chance. “I’m fine.”
Aloe glanced down at the cloaked SandWing nearest her, blood spilling from his pierced neck. She watched as it dripped onto a golden chain, his black cloak stained. The stench of warm iron hit her. Carefully, Aloe crouched down to examine the chain. A shining medallion hung from it, a vulture imprinted on its surface. Aloe lifted the cloak to see tattoos lining the SandWing’s body, black dragon skulls.
“Assassins,” Aloe frowned.
“I didn’t think Six-Claws would have resorted to them,” Leopard grimaced. “He’s not that type of dragon.”
Aloe shook her as she stepped over to one of the slitted windows. She stared out as SandWings flew around the palace, looking for a way in. Her eyes caught on one, standing on top of a mound with a few more dragons near her, including a MudWing.
“It wasn’t Six-Claws,” Aloe said. “Sunny’s back.”
Leopard clenched her talons. She’d really been hoping that Sunny would stay dead, and that this would be solved without any more bloodshed. It looked like that wasn’t going to be the case. “We need to hurry. Upstairs.”
Aloe and the rest of the soldiers with her followed as they climbed onto the third floor of the palace. Angled walls seemed to crowd them in as they rushed towards the center, where Leopard thought they’d be the most safe from any more shakes.
Aloe glanced around nervously. More SandWings rushed up another set of stairs, joining her group. It wouldn’t be enough. Had the orders gotten delivered? Or was most of her army still downstairs, in the rest of the palace?
Another rumble shook through the palace. Aloe glanced up, to the stone ceiling. The stronghold was designed to be hard to get into, but it was just as hard to get out of. “The walls aren’t defending us anymore,” Aloe whispered. “The palace has become a death-trap. We’ve lost.”
Leopard stared at the staircase. If there were more SandWings on their side coming up, they’d be able to make a stand here. They’d have a chance. But . . . none came. “We haven’t lost,” Leopard said, trying to remain hopeful. “As long as you’re alive and free, we haven’t lost. We could . . . abandon the palace. Escape.”
Aloe shook her head. “How? How can we get out?”
“The dungeons?” Leopard grimaced. “The passage that Sunny escaped through.”
“No,” Aloe sighed. She laid herself down on the ground, her underbelly to the floor, staring up at all the SandWings around her, watching her carefully to see what she would order them to do. Where had Quill gone? She couldn’t see him in the small group. “If she escaped from there, she’ll have the arena watched. We can surrender. I’ll give myself up, and maybe the rest of you can go free.”
“Aloe, no!” Leopard gulped. She wouldn’t let Aloe be a prisoner, not again. “We’re not doing that. We’re not giving up. There still has to be a way.”
“It’s hopeless,” Aloe glumly muttered. She stared down at her claws. They seemed to blur in front of her, the points gone soft. She looked over towards Leopard. That was strange. Leopard seemed to look the same, a strange foggy hue covering her body.
Apparently, Aloe wasn’t the only one who could see it. More of the soldiers started to murmur as white mist began to fill the room, scales and other features blurring.
“Mist,” Leopard frowned, waving a talon through it. It didn’t feel more humid than usual, but it obscured her vision, at least a little bit. Her expression lit up. “Mist! Aloe, do you know what this means?”
“No,” Aloe asked, unsure why Leopard was suddenly so excited.
“I think the weather is on our side,” Leopard grinned. “They’ll be coming in here, barely able to see! Maybe we can find a way to sneak out!”
“Maybe,” Aloe continued, her mood lightening, just the smallest bit. She tilted her head as she stared through the mist, the outlines of dragons fuzzy within it. She’d lost the palace, but that didn’t mean this was over. Maybe, Leopard was right. Maybe, they could escape.
== Chapter 56 ==
Midnight’s eyes suddenly fluttered open to see sky-blue scales above her, two vivid violet eyes staring down at her. A thin bracelet rested in Aurora’s jaws as she stood over Midnight. The animus glanced down to see that she’d been turned over on her back, with Aurora’s talons piercing her chest.
Midnight let out a yelp as she sat up in alarm. She swiped her talons at Aurora, raking across her half-sister’s chest, violet blood spilling from the wound. Aurora leaped back in surprise, jumping off Midnight.
“Stop it!” Aurora hissed with Midnight’s invulnerability bracelet in her jaws, stumbling back. She placed her talons to the shallow wound Midnight had made, glaring as she worked to heal it up.
Midnight placed her claws on her chest and underbelly, expecting to feel pain where Aurora had stabbed her. Instead, when she brought up her talons, she saw no blood. She growled as she twisted her hindlegs out under her, getting up on all fours, her teeth bared.
“You betrayed me!” Midnight accused Aurora, stumbling woozily, eyes focused on the invulnerability bracelet. Aurora must have taken it off. She clutched at her underbelly again, still unsure why there wasn’t any wound. “You tried to kill me!”
Aurora spat the bracelet out of her jaws, landing covered in spittle at Midnight’s front paws. “I wasn’t trying to kill you, you idiot, I was waking you up,” she huffed, exasperated. “If I’d been trying to kill you, you’d be dead.”
Midnight’s heart raced as she picked the bracelet up, trying to shake off Aurora’s spit. Careful not to take her eyes of her half-sister, she put it back on. She frowned. Her heart was still pounding, breath short, and it showed no sign of slowing down. “What did you do to me?”
Aurora rolled her eyes. “As I said, I woke you up. You shouldn’t have tried to make a third enchantment. You fell unconscious, and I had to add something to your blood to get you back up again. It’s why I took the bracelet off.”
Midnight frowned. She really didn’t like the idea of Aurora adding something to her blood. She glanced up to see a stone wall above her, lights dancing in the sky. Not far away, she spotted the ruins of the SkyWing palace, towers collapsed across the ground. They seemed strangely blurry, the distance between Midnight and the palace covered with an odd mist. It took her a moment for her to realize where she and Aurora were: they were on the outside of the arena walls.
“What happened?” Midnight asked Aurora, heart still pumping overtime. “Did we win? What’s with all the mist?”
“We lost. The Empress got the Wishstone, and is using it to recreate your world,” Aurora answered. She glanced around, dragging a talon through the air. “The mist is getting thicker, and once we’re no longer able to see through it, that will be the end.”
“There has to still be time to stop it!” Midnight said in alarm, flapping her wings anxiously. “We can’t have lost yet!”
“Yes,” Aurora sighed. “If there wasn’t time, I wouldn’t have bothered to try and wake you up.”
Aurora took a few steps back, and pointed her talon to a crumbling section of the arena wall. Above it, Midnight’s gaze landed on a bright light, almost blinding. As she squinted, trying to make out the figure within it, it focused into a crowned scavenger floating above the arena, a large white orb in her hands. Mists swirled around her, being thrown out in a spiral above Pyrrhia.
“That’s . . . ?” Midnight asked.
Aurora nodded. “Empress Liliana.”
Midnight tensed, glaring up at the Empress. She flapped her wings, about to take off and attack, when claws on her tail held her back. She turned around to see Aurora, keeping her from flying.
“Wait,” Aurora said.
Midnight sighed, and rested her wings on the ground. The beacon of the Empress glinted out of the corner of her eyes. Every moment they wasted talking was a moment closer to the end of the world. “What is it?” she asked, flicking her tail impatiently.
“Listen to me,” Aurora continued. “This time, you need to stick to the plan. You’re offensively useless. You need to be my defense.”
A twinge of anger rose up in Midnight. How come she was letting Aurora, of all dragons, tell her what to do? Her half-sister had helped destroy her family. Midnight didn’t care if she’d had a good reason or not.
Yet, Aurora had been the one to take her out of the arena, and had woken her up, when she could have just let Midnight lie there, sleeping. Right now, maybe Midnight just had to put their parents’ feud behind them. And against her own thoughts, Midnight felt a little bit of empathy for Aurora — having Torrent as her father had been hard enough for Midnight, even if he rarely showed up. How terrible would having Crystal and Calamity as Aurora’s family have been?
Regardless, the two needed to be allies, at least for the moment. If they didn’t stop the Empress, there wouldn’t be a world left for them to fight in.
Midnight grimaced. “All right,” she finally said. “I’m . . . sorry for attacking you earlier, and rushing forward. This time, I’ll stick to your plan.”
If Aurora accepted Midnight’s apology, or even cared that she’d given it, she didn’t show any indication. She took a step back, and dragged a talon along her scales. Immediately, grey ceramic armor began to form across her scales. A last line of defense, in case Midnight failed. Her wings spread apart, almost hitting Midnight in the snout. The Eye of Amethyst dangled from her neck, the pupil on it staring up at the blinding Empress.
“Let’s go,” Aurora commanded, wind picking up beneath her wings. Midnight lifted her own, only to feel a swirl of air beneath them, as Aurora created an updraft to pick her up. She sighed. This was it.
The two rose up over the arena walls, until they were eye-to-eye with Liliana, clutching the Wishstone, her eyes glowing a bright white. For a moment, Midnight was unsure if Liliana had even noticed the two approaching dragons, but as they neared, she turned her head, letting out a sigh.
“Are we really doing this again, Aurora?” the Empress asked, pulling the Wishstone closer to her. White light seemed to extend from the hand holding it, ropes pulling it in as it seemed to fuse with her skin. “I’m busy. I need to focus on creating our new world.”
Aurora had no reason to reply. This time, she led, wind from behind pushing her and Midnight out towards the center of arena. Ceramic needles extended from her talons, hundreds of them splaying out as they jutted forward, piercing Liliana. With a flex of her talons, she changed the spikes’ substance, and with a sudden blast of light, they exploded.
Bright orange light filled the misty air, and Midnight was forced to look away as smoke hit her eyes. A heat as intense as Inferno’s wracked her scales, though she felt no pain. Sand flew up from the arena floor, exposing the metal rods that Aurora had placed earlier. More waves of light and heat careened through the arena, the walls cracking and crumbling from the force. Aurora hovered in place, the Eye of Amethyst keeping her from being blown away with them.
When it finally cleared, there was nothing left of Liliana, only the Wishstone remaining. The winds pushed Aurora forward, claws outstretched as she attempted to grab ahold of it, but with a flash of blue light, it was gone.
The Wishstone reappeared on the other side of the arena, Aurora grimacing as she saw bone, flesh, and skin reforming around it. Apparently, completely destroying her body wouldn’t be enough to even delay the Empress enough to get the Wishstone from her.
In just a few moments, the Empress had fully reformed, eyes still blindingly white as she stared, like she was focused beyond Midnight and Aurora. There was another blue flash, and the Empress had reappeared behind Aurora, slamming down a finger against her armor.
This time, Midnight was ready. With a roar, she threw Aurora aside, crashing into the Empress, careening towards the ground. Hurricane-strength winds shot from above her, and Midnight wrapped her wings around the scavenger, the two of them flinging into the ground together, what little sand left being thrown up around them in a spiral.
Midnight rolled to the side to see the Empress impaled on one of the metal rods Aurora had made, piercing all the way through her ribs. It still wasn’t enough. Liliana sat up, the rod snapping in two, and pulled it out from within her. Her arm swung back, and she flung the rod up at Aurora, still in the sky. A crack seemed to shake the air as it left her hand, a shockwave causing more of the arena walls to crumble.
Midnight leaped to the side, directly into the Empress’s aim. She felt her heart skip a beat as the rod hit her instead, but harmlessly bounced off her wing membrane. Aurora landed in the ground behind her.
The Empress leaped, jumping at Aurora. Aurora placed out her talons, readying winds to force Liliana back, while Midnight reached out a paw, wrapping her talons around Liliana’s torso. It came off in her talons, and Midnight let out a yelp of shock and disgust as she dropped the scavenger legs to the ground in surprise. She was about to apologize, only to see the Empress’s legs reforming midair.
More spikes shot up from the ground, piercing Liliana and cracking as they slowed her down. She tumbled to the ground only for Midnight to jump on top of her, trying to hold her in place. Aurora backed away, running around the arena, over towards Inferno, creating pawprints in the sand.
“Hey, what are you doing!” Midnight yelled at Aurora. “I’m supposed to be defending you!” She yelped in surprise as the Empress disappeared out from under her, teleporting once to the center of the arena, then again towards Aurora. The Empress swiped down her hand not holding the Wishstone, ready for it to hit Aurora’s armor . . . only for it to miss by a full tail-length.
“Stay back!” Aurora warned Midnight. Midnight suddenly felt herself lurch towards the center of the arena, like the arena floor had been tilted out beneath her. Sand started to fall from the sides of the arena, showering the center in a pile. Midnight squinted. She could barely make out what was happening on the other side of the arena, fog obscuring her vision.
The Empress teleported again, trying to hit Aurora. This time, she went too far, missing again. She tried again, about to hit Aurora in her tail. Aurora just swept it away, and the Empress whacked her own knee, causing the leg to fall off, rolling into the arena center as a new one form.
“What did you do?” Liliana asked Aurora, almost frantic. She tried teleporting again, but ended up completely off target.
“I realized how to nullify your teleportation,” Aurora answered, with just the smallest smirk. “I added a lot of dense mass to the center of the arena. Just enough that the increased gravity throws your teleportation off.” 
Liliana’s fingers tensed around the Wishstone as Aurora stepped back towards the edge of the arena, becoming only a shadow with the occasional glowscale lighting up in the fog. Aurora was running away?
The Empress shook her head, and let out a chilling laugh. “So what? You’re far too late. Making it harder for me to teleport won’t be enough to stop the Wishstone.” She shifted her balance, leaning forward to stare up at Aurora, the flat arena feeling suddenly sloped from the change in gravity.
Aurora didn’t move. Or if she did, the Empress couldn’t tell. The fog had gotten thick, and it was difficult for her to see even the walls of the arena anymore. With an annoyed kick of the sand, Liliana teleported forward, trying to attack Aurora again. The shadow got closer, and Liliana walked up towards, the Wishstone glowing bright in her hand.
Then, the shadow split into two. Liliana tilted her head, unsure what was going on. The figures of two dragons walked down the arena, and it was a moment before the Empress could recognize them.
Inferno stumbled weakly, careful not to trip down the slope, while a hybrid held on to her paw, a dragon that Liliana hadn’t met before. Ecru smiled as she sat back on her haunches, the bracelet around her foreleg matching Midnight’s keeping her scales from burning.
“And what do you hope to do?” Liliana asked, unimpressed. “You can’t stop this.”
“But you can stop this,” Ecru said to the Empress, one final plea. A faint orange glow surrounded Inferno’s scales, casting light on the three moons hanging from Ecru’s ear. She held out her other front paw, offering it to her. “Trustbreaker tells me he would forgive you.”
Liliana laughed, shaking her head. She raised the hand not holding the Wishstone, bolts of lightning crackling within it, ready to strike them both. But before she could use it, Ecru jumped forward, pulling Inferno with her as she tumbled into the surprised Liliana.
Liliana felt a talon on her head, letting out a surprised yell. Her vision shifted, and suddenly, the three were no longer in the arena. Liliana felt her heart pump as she saw grass beneath her, the mist rising up from it. Her hand was no longer around the Wishstone, instead, she clutched a whimpering dragonet by the heart. Ash looked back up at her, shaking as she pulled him closer, black scars covering him. White strands of light wrapped around Liliana’s arm, tying Ash’s crumbling wings down, keeping him next to her.
“What is this?” Liliana asked, glaring at the SkyWing across the meadow from her. “What are you doing?”
“He’s not yours,” Inferno said, shaking her head. “This world isn’t yours. Let him go.”
“I’m not going t—” Liliana let out a yell, clutching her head in pain as she saw Ecru, rainbow lights dancing around the hybrid, whispering and laughing at Liliana. “STOP IT!”
Ecru walked forward, lowering her head until she stared directly into Liliana’s eyes, the scavenger trying to look away. “Do you fear us?”
“GO AWAY!” Liliana screamed, unable to move. When she looked at Ecru again, the hybrid’s sandy-brown scales had changed to a shade of black with just a hint of orange glowing through, her snout narrowing as her head and body grew larger. Faint teardrop scales rested behind her eyes.
“Liliana, please,” Trustbreaker said. “This isn’t right. You know that.” He extended a talon, only for Liliana to slap it away.
“You agreed with me, once!” Liliana shouted. “You were on my side!”
Ecru changed again, her head narrowing as her snout seemed to be sucked into it, her face becoming flat as she stood up on two legs, now Liliana’s height. Short black hair fell from the top of her head.
Liliana stared, shocked at who Ecru had become. “Father?” she asked. “But, you’re—”
“I’m dead,” he stated, nodding. “Lil, please. There’s other ways to create the world you want. You don’t have to—”
“I do!” Liliana screamed back, placing a hand around Ash’s neck, the dragonet’s eyes wide as she choked him. Tears fell from her eyes. “I tried! I spent decades on Antigonia, trying, and it didn’t work! This is the only way! A world where you don’t—”
Inferno suddenly leaped forward, grabbing Ash’s tail. He let out a muffled cry as she tried to pull him away from Liliana, the ropes connecting Liliana and Ash suddenly twisting and writhing. Liliana felt the meadow disappear out from beneath her, and when her eyes opened again, flames and smoke filled her vision.
Screams pierced the air, and Liliana stared as her father clutched her hand, pulling her through the smog. A thatch house went up in flames in front of her stinging eyes. She tugged, trying to go back, but her father wouldn’t let go of her hand, no matter how much she tried to pull away.
“Let me go!” Liliana yelled.
She tripped to the ground as her father pulled her away, scraping her knees against the grass. When she looked up again, pairs of black wings circled over the small village, the fire lighting them in the darkness. Terror and yells filled the night sky as a blast of flame fell down from above, setting more of the village aflame.
“Lil, we have to hurry!” her father said, getting her back to her feet, tears staining his eyes. “We need to get to the tunnels, now!”
Liliana sniffled as she turned away from her burning home, a sense of urgency finally taking over her panic. Her father pulled her as they ran through what was left of their hometown, chunks of wood falling down around them. Liliana felt embers thrown up in her face, yelping as she put a hand up to block them.
They turned a corner, running down a small alleyway. Liliana stared at the ground. In front of the two, her eyes landed on a badly scorched body, a human burnt beyond recognition, flesh peeled and cracking. She couldn’t help but look. Had this been a friend? Someone she’d known? Her father tugged her back. She could only wonder.
Eventually, the cliffside the village had been built beneath came in sight. It hadn’t been enough to protect them. Liliana spotted a few people, rushing into a small hole in the cliff face. Safety.
Liliana started to sprint across the last stretch, when she heard a cry, and her father grabbed ahold of the back of her shirt, pulling her back. Gusts of air whipped against her hair, and black wings descended into the space in front of her. Her heart raced. The largest dragon she’d ever seen was standing between the two humans and the tunnel entrance. His eyes were as black as his scales, his rippling back alone as long as the village square.
“It’s quite hard to believe it was your whimpering species who killed the SandWing queen,” the NightWing said, though Liliana hadn’t understood the growls at the time. “I’ll ask nicely: do the two of you have the scepter? No? A shame.”
“Lil, when I say so, you need to run,” her father said, stepping in front of Liliana. He pulled out a small blade from his side, barely even a sword. “Get to the tunnels.”
The NightWing lifted a claw, as if he was comparing it to the sword. “Hmm. Really don’t think that’ll do much.”
“No!” Liliana cried, running back to her father. “Please, don’t leave me here!”
Her father didn’t turn away, eyes focused on the NightWing ahead of him. “I’ll meet you in the tunnels,” he promised, even knowing he wouldn’t be able to keep it. He pushed his daughter away again, taking a step forward, swinging the blade. “GO! NOW!”
Liliana’s father suddenly rushed forward, blade out, the huge NightWing mildly surprised that he was attacking him, and not the other way around. He swung the sword, slashing at the dragon’s claws, even managing to draw blood.
The NightWing swiped back as Liliana sprinted around the edge of the square. His tail suddenly swung out above her. She managed to duck into time, rolling beneath it and getting back up. The tunnel was almost right in front of her.
Her father dodged the hit, running beneath the dragon’s neck. He lifted his sword up, trying to slice through the soft underbelly, only to let out a yell as one of the NightWing’s hindpaws grasped ahold of him. The sword fell to the ground.
Liliana turned, unable to look away as she saw her father stare back. “DADDY!” she cried, standing at the front of the tunnel. Tears fell from her eyes, this time, not from the smoke. Her father smiled, trying his best to hide his terror.
The NightWing shook him up and down. “Nope. No scepter. And I can’t say you look particularly tasty.”
With a single clamp of his jaws, the NightWing bit off his head. A moment later, he spat it back out, Liliana screaming as it fell to her feet.
I have to create a perfect world, Liliana thought. One I can finally bring him back in. I won’t let you stop me from doing that.
Smoke and tears filled her eyes, and the scenery changed. It was years later, and an older Liliana panted heavily, ducking behind a stone. Her bare feet felt sand on them, and she moved her hand to a blade, pulling it from a sheath. She grinned with excitement as moonlight glinted on it, and her other hand went to a vial. SandWing poison. She spread it over the blade, the poison dripping.
She turned around, peeking out from behind the rock. Three SandWings lay resting. They wouldn’t know what was coming for them.
Liliana leaped out, carefully sneaking across the desert floor, her hands to the ground as she crawled. Her heart raced as she got closer to the three. She raised her blade as she approached the closest one. Where would she stab it? The heart? The brain?
Then, the SandWing’s eyes opened, and the dragon let out a surprised roar. Liliana swung the blade, but the SandWing pulled her head back. The other two were instantly awake.
Liliana rushed forward, trying to stab the SandWing in the eye, but wasn’t fast enough. The SandWing’s tail swiped, barb almost stabbing Liliana herself, but she leaped to the side, only for the tail to whack her in the back of her legs. She fell on the sand, the blade falling from her hands.
She turned, trying to reach for it, but the SandWing was quicker. The blade was raised into the air three times Liliana’s height, and the SandWing sniffed it.
“It’s poisoned,” the SandWing said, surprised. She squinted at Liliana, who’d turned, trying to run away. “SandWing poison. Hey, you think that’s how they got Oasis?”
The sword was flung into the sky, far out of Liliana’s reach, while a second SandWing pushed her into the ground, his talons wrapping around her, keeping her from moving. She dug into the sand, trying to burrow away, but the claws clenched up.
“Makes me wonder how it got the poison in the first place,” the SandWing holding her grumbled, still groggy. “Ugh. I was having a good dream. What should we do with it?”
“Eat it?” the third suggested. “I heard they’re not bad as long as you take the clothes off first and burn away the hair.”
Liliana let out a scream as she felt talons pull on her hair, almost ripping it from its roots. She shuddered. Just like her father, this was how she was going to die.
Then, the moonlight suddenly was blotted out. The three SandWings looked up to see a pair of black wings overhead. An orange-tinted NightWing landed, his eyes focused on Liliana. She shuddered. It felt like the dragon was staring into her soul.
“What do you want, NightWing?” one of the SandWings hissed, waving her barb in the air.
The NightWing took a step back, nervously shifting his talons. “Please,” Duskwind gulped. “She’s afraid. Let her go.”
“She?” the SandWing holding Liliana asked, poking her in the back with a claw. “The scavenger is our catch.” He bared his fangs at Duskwind. “If you want it for yourself, you’ll have to take it from us.”
Liliana’s eyes caught Duskwind’s again. When she blinked, the two were somewhere different, years later.
A vast emptiness beyond all understanding. A void of nothing. Everywhere the two looked, there was but a blank slate. They looked back at each other, Liliana’s hand and Duskwind’s talons intertwined, the Wishstone held in them.
“What have we done?” Duskwind asked, his teeth chattering. “W-where did everything go?”
“Hey!” Liliana yelled, glaring down at the Wishstone. “You! Talking stone! What did you do?”
Liliana and Duskwind felt a whimper in their mind. I told you! Ash whined. It’s not supposed to be used for this! I control the magic, there’s no safeguards on it! You told me things and I didn’t know and I wasn’t sure what to do and then I got all confused but I had to do it and now—
“What happened!” Liliana asked, looking around at the nothing. “How do we reverse it?”
I don’t know! Ash responded. I don’t know if it can be reversed! Why didn’t you listen! Why won’t anyone listen to me!
“It’s gone,” Duskwind gulped, talons shaking against Liliana’s calm fingers. “Pyrrhia. Everything. Everyone. It’s gone, it’s all gone.”
Liliana stared into the nothing. Their whole world. She’d destroyed it.
“It’s gone!” Liliana shouted.
The vision had changed again. Moonlight glimmered into the greenhouse, reflected and refracted through the glass panels. The Obscura took up the centerpiece, the throne pointed directly at the huge orb, like a giant version of the Wishstone.
Liliana stared eye-to-eye with another RainWing, her golden crown above her horns. Glory stared back at her, tail twitching.
“Are you asking me where it is?” Glory questioned the Empress. “I don’t know. The only one who’s been in here other than you and I was Duskwind. I don’t know where he is either.”
“I don’t care about Duskwind!” the Empress snarled, pacing back and forth. “He’s been unhelpful at best recently. I need the Wishstone! Where is it?”
Glory glanced over towards the Obscura, gesturing Liliana towards it.
Liliana winced. She should’ve thought of that. She stepped over to the orb, her scales turning grey as she placed her talons on it, thinking of Ash. The picture appeared on the surface. The Wishstone was over the sea, a NightWing clutching it in his talons.
“No,” Liliana said, breath suddenly quickening. “No. Not Duskwind. He wouldn’t—”
“It looks like he did,” Glory pointed out. “Should I send dragons to apprehend him.”
“He has the Wishstone,” Liliana gulped, talons shaking it. “If he uses it . . . no, he wouldn’t. He’s too scared.” She clutched her head, placing her paws beneath her horns as she got up on her hindlegs, shaking her snout back and forth. “Why? Why him? Why now? What did I do wrong? Why would he betray me?”
She shut her eyes tight, trembling. When they opened again, her hand rested on Duskwind’s neck, on black scales.
“Lily—” the NightWing said, his pleading eyes one desperate, final attempt.
Liliana glared, anger coursing through her. He’d betrayed her. She wouldn’t let him do it again. When she brought him back, after she’d made their perfect world, he’d forgive her for this. She’d make him.
Lightning shot up through her fingers, and Trustbreaker’s eyes went wide as she stared up into them, frying his throat and insides. Rage and anger coarsed through Liliana’s body. Hate. Not for anyone, but hate for this world, and every way it had hurt her. She let out a scream, and cracks started to spread apart through the vision, the dying Trustbreaker falling to the ground in pieces. And then . . .
Liliana opened her eyes. It was cold. White fog surrounded her, so thick she couldn’t tell where she was. She tried looking around, but only saw a white light in her hands. The Wishstone, still attached to her. She brought it close, dreaming of her new world. She was almost there. It was almost reality.
Liliana tried to get to her feet, only to find she couldn’t. She looked back, but couldn’t see anything. She was being held to the ground by Aurora’s gravity well. So this wasn’t a vision. She was back in the SkyWing arena, though it had almost faded from existence. It wouldn’t be long.
“It’s too late!” Liliana yelled out into the fog. “I’ve won!”
If any of the dragons that had fought her were still around, they didn’t reply. She could see nothing, hear nothing. Just the white emptiness, a fog that stretched over the world as the healing light of the Wishstone touched every piece of it.
Liliana laughed, a laugh of victory. Everyone else was gone. She was alone, all alone, and no one could stop her. She kept laughing, her voice echoing through the empty fog, the sound of it the only thing she could hear. She tried to shift her arms, but even her strength wouldn’t cause them to budge. She stayed still, her head against the ground, the gleaming Wishstone full and round in her gaze, like Pyrrhia’s fourth moon.
Her laugh started to falter, her vocal chords strained. Small tears welled up in her eyes, her laugh becoming choked, almost a cry. The mist grew thicker.
Then, she suddenly went quiet. A figure appeared through the mist. She wasn’t alone.
A young dragonet shuddered as they slowly made their way towards Liliana, careful not to get too close to the gravity well, just enough so that Liliana could see their red and black scales, almost glowing in the light of the Wishstone. Skytaker trembled as they raised their head as high as they could, in a triumphant stare over Liliana.
“What are you smiling about?” Liliana asked the shaking hybrid. “Why are you smiling?”
Skytaker opened their mouth, pausing a moment before they spoke. “I-I p-promised,” they smiled, almost a laugh. “I promised Ermine. I promised him.”
Liliana stared at Skytaker for a moment, a long moment passing between the two as they slowly disappeared out of view, the mist so thick Liliana couldn’t even see the dragon right in front of her.
Then something poked Liliana’s ear. With the last of her effort, she turned her head as she felt a small piece of metal stabbed through it. An earring.
Her gaze fell upon an elderly cat, slitted eyes staring back at her as Sapphire fell from her neck, laying down next to her. For a moment, it seemed like the tabby was crying.
Liliana’s eyes glazed over as her memories faded away, her desires vanished. The dim Wishstone rolled out from her hands. She smiled as she stared into the cat’s eyes.
“Duskwind. You rescued me again.”
== Chapter 57 ==
Queen Sunny closed her eyes, as the ground beneath her shook. She opened them to see a flash of light and smoke, as a cannonball soared into the palace wall. Stone burst loose as it crumbled, falling to the ground in pieces, the fighting dragons below dodging it. A mist had risen up with the dawn sky, the figures of the fighting SandWings hazy.
“Aim higher next time, scum!” Rattlesnake hissed at the one of the soldiers commanding the Iron Dragons. “We’re taking the entire wall down!”
Six-Claws glanced beneath his wing, checking to see if Sunny was alright. If she was disturbed, she didn’t show it. The hybrid’s expression was frighteningly emotionless.
“This is going better than expected!” Rattlesnake grinned as she bowed to Sunny, her tone immediately changing. “We’ll bring this old dump down in no time!”
“It’s going exactly as well as expected,” Mallard tsked, like she’d been slightly offended by the comment. Rattlesnake ignored her.
Sunny let out a long sigh as another shot fired, crashing through another segment of the palace wall. At this point, most of this side of the palace was open to the air. Aloe’s forces had defended, as expected, but they hadn’t seemed organized as far as Sunny could tell. Just small groups of dragons, caught unaware, orders not yet received.
“It’s going well,” Sunny settled on. A tower started to crack, dragons beneath it shouting as they flapped out of the way. She wondered — was her mother’s frozen statue still in the treasury? Would it be destroyed along with the palace? “With the palace gone, I guess that I’ll have to get a new one made. This really is the end of the previous regime. Now, I’ll have a chance to be a new queen, for a new Sand Kingdom.”
“Way to think on the bright side, Sunny!” Rattlesnake smiled. “Just make sure to keep your promise to me.” The threat there was implicit — break it, and the Iron Dragons will get used on whatever palace Sunny builds.
“I will.”
Another shot fired, not far from the cracks in the tower. The shouts of dragons reached Sunny’s ears as the tower finally broke of, falling to the ground in a huge chunk. Sand flew up into the air. Sunny squinted, trying to figure out if anyone had been under it. She couldn’t tell with the mist in the way, her vision blurred.
“Hm,” Mallard frowned, slightly annoyed. She shook her head. “It’s gotten foggier. This weather isn’t ideal for aiming, which is turning out to be a lot more difficult than I’d hoped. We should stop using the Iron Dragons until it clears.”
“Really?” Rattlesnake groaned. “Aww. But it was just getting fun!”
Six-Claws turned, trying to catch Sunny’s gaze. “I’m in agreement with Mallard. If we keep using them, we’ll hit our own troops when they enter.”
“That’s fine,” Sunny responded. Six-Claws felt himself tense up. She was fine with hitting her allies? Sunny gave him a glance, noticing his worry. “I mean, it’s fine to stop them. We’ve done enough damage. We can get in now.” She raised her wings, ready to take off towards one of the numerous holes in what was left of the wall. “Let’s go. I want to find Aloe.”
Six-Claws shifted from side to side. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked. “It’s probably best if you stay safe, out here.”
Sunny shook her head. “Everyone else is fighting, risking their lives for me. I should do the same for them. Queen Oasis fought at the head of her army, not behind it.”
“Yes,” Six-Claws grimaced, “but—”
“I’ll be fine,” Sunny assured him, already knowing what he was going to say. But she wasn’t Queen Oasis. “I learned how to fight, and I’ll have the three of you at my side, protecting me.”
Mallard opened her mouth, raising a talon. “Er, two of you, if you’d please, your majesty,” she chuckled. “I don’t think I’d be much help. Plus, I should stay out here in case the fog lifts and we want to start firing again.”
Sunny nodded. “Two of you,” she said to Six-Claws.
“Alright,” Six-Claws sighed, realizing he wouldn’t be able to convince her otherwise. “Let me at least get us some backup.”
Sunny didn’t protest, and Six-Claws called another half-dozen SandWings to his side. As Six-Claws explained what he wanted them to do, Sunny stared at the palace. Somewhere in this was Aloe. And once she was dead, this would all be over. Sunny could be whatever type of queen she wanted to be.
“Let’s go already!” Rattlesnake huffed impatiently, her snout nudging Sunny’s wing with a grin. “C’mooonnnn! It’s boring out here. I can barely see the action!”
Rattlesnake was right. The fog had gotten even thicker. Sunny could barely see the walls of the palace, though the dragons directly around her were still visible.
“Yeah,” Sunny agreed, pushing Rattlesnake away. “We should go.” She took off, Rattlesnake behind her. Six-Claws gritted his fangs as he and the other SandWings joined them, trailing behind.
A moment later, the broken wall came within sight, dust still crumbling down from it. The group landed on the edge of a hallway, the sparse corridor cracked in two. Sunny glanced around as she walked forward. Where would Aloe be?
Her eyes suddenly spotted a SandWing on the other side of the corridor, the fog obscuring all but the dragon’s outline, and she bared her fangs. Was it Aloe?
“Over here!” the SandWing called out to them. “Follow me!”
Sunny sighed. It wasn’t Aloe. She started towards the SandWing, only for Six-Claws to rudely push her aside, rushing towards him. The SandWing let out a yelp of surprise as Six-Claws leaped on him, throwing him to the ground.
“He’s not one of ours!” Six-Claws yelled back. He swished his tail around, until the barb was just a talon-length away from the SandWing’s neck.
“Wait! Stop!” the SandWing yelled back. “I’m not here to fight!”
By this point, Sunny and the others had walked up to the the, the SandWing uncomfortably still beneath Six-Claws’ talons, knowing that he could be killed in an instant. Sunny paused — it was true that he hadn’t put up any resistance when Six-Claws had attacked him.
“Did Aloe send you here to surrender?” Sunny frowned.
The SandWing shook his head. “No. My name is Quill.” He paused, glancing around, checking to see if there were any other dragons nearby. He grimaced — he couldn’t tell with the mist pervading the palace. “I’m . . . I’m a spy. The Talons of Peace stationed me with Blister and Aloe during the War of SandWing Succesion. I was on their island for . . . a long time. Longer than I thought I would be.”
“The Talons of Peace,” Sunny snorted, her gaze narrowing. She brought her snout closer, baring her fangs. “I can’t say that makes me trust you any more. Did you happen to know a dragon named Morrowseer?”
Quill shook his head. “No. I mean, I knew of him, but we never met. I worked under Clarity directly. I had nothing to do with the Dragonet Prophecy, I was just a spy. I want to help you win.”
Sunny glowered, flicking her tail across the stone. He seemed to know more about the Talons than she would’ve expected, but it could still be a trick. That’s what she would’ve expected from Blister. “And how will you do that?”
“Aloe is trying to hide on an upper floor,” Quill explained. “I can take you to her. She’s who you want, right?”
Sunny paused. She didn’t like the idea of placing any trust at all in one of Aloe’s soldiers, and one in the Talons of Peace at that. She felt herself tense as scales nudged her side. She glanced at the culprit — Rattlesnake again.
“We should follow him,” Rattlesnake suggested. “If he’s lying, well . . .” she licked her lips and waved her barb in the air, “I’ll make sure he’s the first to die.”
“I’m not lying,” Quill said.
Sunny considered it, unsure. His story did check out, and if he really was telling the truth, how could she pass up this opportunity? If he led them to Aloe, the war would be over, one way or another.
“Fine,” she finally agreed. “But if you’re trying to lead us into a trap, Rattlesnake gets her way with you.”
Quill gulped as Rattlesnake beamed out him, flashing her talons. “This way,” he hurriedly said, pointing his claw further along the corridor. “There’ll be resistance, but I don’t think Aloe has gathered all her forces yet.”
Six-Claws slowly got up off Quill, letting the SandWing to his paws. Sunny stared as he walked off into the mist, the others following him. Betraying his own leader — it was dishonorable. Yet, she supposed that Aloe deserved a taste of her own poison. Refusing to fight on fair terms, sending an assassin, and ambushing the palace?
The walls of the palace seemed to enclose around them, rumbles as Sunny heard the occasional crack from pieces breaking off. The roars of fighting occasionally touched her ears, but with the fog everywhere, she couldn’t see anything but the dragons around her. They were going in blind.
“It’s lucky we have him,” Six-Claws murmured. “We’d never be able to find Aloe in here otherwise.”
“Too lucky,” Sunny grimaced. She wouldn’t ever trust the Talons of Peace again. She looked back to see the leader of the other Talons smiling, Rattlesnake’s tail twitching, just waiting to be poked into someone. She was really enjoying this, far more than Sunny was comfortable with.
“I know you can’t help but stare at me, but you might want to keep an eye ahead of you, your majesty,” Rattlesnake suggested.
Sunny quickly whipped her head around, wondering what Rattlesnake had meant by that. Quill and Six-Claws had suddenly stopped, and in the fog ahead, Sunny thought she saw movement, blurred shadows gently floating through the mist.
“Is this a trap?” Sunny hissed at Quill.
Quill shook his head. “No! It’s not! Aloe isn’t here, she’s up ahead.”
Sunny crouched back, Six-Claws stepping in front of the group as the shadows moved closer. Neither party of dragons seemed to want to get close enough to the other, staying back hidden in the mist.
“We’ll have to get past them,” Sunny stated to Six-Claws. “We need to move ahead before Aloe changes location.”
Six-Claws grimaced, but nodded. He swung his wing, gesturing the dragons behind him forward, and they marched towards the enemy forces. Sunny stayed directly behind Six-Claws. He didn’t seem interested in letting her lead the charge.
It was only a few moments, and the other SandWings came into view. One let out a roar as they turned, also battle-ready. Sunny quickly judged the numbers, trying to figure out the positions and fighting styles of each enemy in turn, just like Jackal had told her to do. They had no leader, whereas Sunny’s forces had her. She estimated she would win.
The two groups clashed, the lines mixing up. Whether the SandWing recognized her or not, one leaped at Sunny, talons out, aiming to kill. Before he could hit, Sunny blasted out a burst of flame, a small flare in the mist. The SandWing let out a yell, temporarily blinded as he turned, closing his eyes when he landed.
His claws didn’t even touch Sunny, the nimble hybrid shifting her stance to the right. As he skidded into the ground, she jumped, landing on top of his back. He let out a surprised yell as Sunny wrapped her foreclaws around the larger enemy’s neck, clutching around him as she twisted to the side. Her hindlegs went to his underbelly, all of her claws digging, piercing his scales.
The SandWing tried to shake Sunny off him, but every time he attempted to get back up, she pulled him back to the ground. Her talons dug in further, large scratches now running along his scales. He squealed, and suddenly whipped his tail in the air, trying to stab Sunny with his barb.
Use your opponent’s body against them. Make it an extension of your own.
Jackal’s words resonated through Sunny as the barb sailed towards her side. With a small twist at the last moment, she shifted her weight, pushing his own underbelly in the way. He let out an ear-splitting scream as he jabbed himself in the belly with his own barb, injecting poison into it.
Sunny loosened up, thinking the fight was over. A moment too quick: the SandWing pulled his barb out from the gash in his belly, and finally got out of Sunny’s grasp, getting back onto all fours, Sunny now under her back beneath him. Through the pain, he charged forward, trying another attack.
The slightly surprised SandWing queen stretched out her hindclaws, ready to grab ahold of the soldier again with them, before the SandWing was suddenly thrown to the side, another dragon on top of him. He let out a yelp as he was shoved to the ground again, fangs sinking into his throat. His cries stopped just a moment later.
Rattlesnake smiled and stared at Sunny as she opened her blood-stained jaws, giving the neck of the dead soldier beneath her a slow lick. She put her claws on the SandWing’s horns, jostling his head back and forth. “We fought together!” Rattlesnake grinned. “That means we’re besties now!”
“Sunny, are you alright?”
Sunny glanced away from Rattlesnake to see Six-Claws, coming towards her. The short fight was mostly done. Sunny had been right — they’d won.
“I’m fine,” Sunny answered, getting back on her paws. She looked back down, feeling something sticky on her talons. Blood. Not her own. “I told you I learned how to fight.”
“Yeah,” Six-Claws replied, not quite sure he was happy about that. “I saw a little. That’s a lot like how Thorn fought.”
Sunny frowned, glancing back to the dead SandWing, Rattlesnake still playing with his head. Was that what she wanted? She shouldn’t have been surprised, since Jackal had taught both of them. “I guess.” She looked back down the corridor. Was it just her, or had the fog thickened even more? “We need to keep going. We don’t have time to tend to wounds.”
Quill raised his head and popped back into view from beyond the fog, having fortunately survived the battle. “We’re almost there. There’s some stairs. I’ll go up them first, so they’re not expecting you.”
Sunny’s tail twitched. This felt more and more like a trap. “Fine.”
Quill walked off into the mist, Sunny and the others following from as far away as they could while still being able to see him, which at this point, wasn’t very far. He turned a corner, stepping around the bodies of a few cloaked dragons. Sunny squinted at them. What were they doing here?
Rattlesnake offered up an explanation without being asked. “Awwww, they died!” she tsked. “I was hoping they’d get Aloe’s head for you.”
“You should have told me you were sending assassins,” Sunny muttered.
Rattlesnake shrugged her wings, staring up at Sunny soppily. “Sorrrryyyy,” she apologized, not really sounding like she meant it. “It was supposed to be a surprise, your majesty. I thought it would’ve been a good early hatchday gift! Are you going to punish me?”
“No,” Sunny sighed. She didn’t like how Rattlesnake hadn’t told her about them, but she supposed it didn’t matter much. If Rattlesnake had asked, Sunny probably would’ve agreed. She just wanted this to be over.
Quill started up the stairs, casually walking up them. The others followed, trying to be as quiet as they could in the mist. Slowly, Sunny peeked her head over the edge of the next floor. She could barely see anything, except for a few dragons her and there. Aloe was supposed to be among them, but where was she?
“Where were you?” Aloe asked, frowning at Quill as she saw him approach, the dragons on the stairs hidden in the fog. “I didn’t order you to leave.”
“Sorry,” Quill sighed. Not offering up an explanation. “For everything.”
Aloe tilted her head, confused as to what he meant. Then, a roar sounded through the mist. A moment later, she was staring eye to eye with Sunny. Unlike the fear that she’d seen in Sunny’s eyes the last time they’d met, now, there was none. Only coldness. Aloe clutched her necklace, stepping back as more SandWings appeared behind her. With a battle cry, they rushed forward, meeting Aloe’s forces as barbs swung, claws flashed/
“Aloe, stay back!” Leopard shouted, pulling Aloe back into the mist as dragons ran towards them, meeting their own defenses. She turned to the SandWing princess, talons shaking. “You need to escape,” Leopard gulped. “You have to get out of here. I’ll position our troops here to cover you.”
“What?” Aloe stammered. She shook her head, shuddering. “No. Please, no. I can’t do this without you.”
Leopard grimaced, wrapping her wings around Aloe, the mist so thick they see only the shadows of the other dragons around them, the shouts muted, like the two were the only dragons on Pyrrhia. “You can,” Leopard smiled. “You’re capable. I know that.” She rubbed her snout on Aloe’s, giving the princess a kiss on it. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you soon enough.”
Aloe whimpered, shaking her head as tears fell from her eyes. This was turning out all wrong.
Leopard gave Aloe a gentle push with her talons, unwrapping her wings. “Go! Now!”
Aloe hesitantly nodded, before turning around, scampering off into the mist. Leopard let out a pained sigh. She had to survive this. For Aloe’s sake.
A moment later, Leopard looked back to see that Sunny had broken through the ranks, Rattlesnake and Six-Claws standing behind her. Leopard raised her head, lifting her wings in the air, fog wrapping around them to make her look larger. “Sorry,” she said to Six-Claws, “I’m not letting you pass.”
Sunny glared as she saw Aloe’s pale tail disappear into the mist. “She’s escaping,” she hissed.
Six-Claws shook his head, giving a pained sigh. “Leopard,” he pleaded. “You don’t have to do this. You can surrender. We’ll let her live. Right, Sunny?”
Sunny didn’t reply. Six-Claws felt his throat go dry, tensing up. Please, Sunny, he thought. We have a chance at peace.
Leopard shook her head. “I do have to do this,” she replied, not waiting for Sunny’s response. “Unfortunately, I think this is what it’s come to.” She kept her wings raised. Aloe, please hurry.
“Ugghh,” Rattlesnake snorted, rolling her eyes. “You two are so dramatic. I hate it.” With a sudden flash of her tail, she pounced forward, jabbing at Leopard’s wings.
Leopard was ready. She turned to the side as she folded her wings back in, grabbing ahold of Rattlesnake’s neck and throwing her to the ground. Six-Claws made his decision, coming to Rattlesnake’s defense, leaping at Leopard.
“Sunny, go after Aloe!” Six-Claws shouted as he tried to grab Leopard’s tail, hoping to control her rather than hurting her.
Sunny nodded, and rushed off in the direction that Aloe had gone. A moment later, and she’d disappeared into the fog, so thick that Rattlesnake, Leopard, and Six-Claws couldn’t see any other dragons in sight. The clashes and yells of the fighting around had become muted, dull murmurings, leaving only the three of them, all caught in the mists together.
Leopard leaped back as Rattlesnake got back to her paws, quickly glancing back and forth between the two. She lowered her head, keeping her claws outstretched in front of her. Both Six-Claws and Rattlesnake were experienced fighters. Leopard doubted she could win this fight — right now, her main goal was to keep the two from joining Sunny to go after Aloe. That, and staying alive. Six-Claws would accept a peaceful surrender from her, right?
Rattlesnake suddenly jumped forward, surprising Six-Claws as she rushed at Leopard again. Leopard yelped as Rattlesnake’s tail whipped up, and ducked her head beneath the attack, the barb scraping against her horns. Rattlesnake immediately twisted her back around, stretching out her hind legs to kick Leopard in the side, talons drawing blood as she scraped the SandWing’s neck.
Leopard pulled back away, opening her jaws to release a batch of flame, when Six-Claws rammed into her side, her fire harmlessly missing Rattlesnake. Leopard twisted as Six-Claws landed on top of her, wreathed in smoke and fog. She felt claws grasp her wingblades, trying to keep them pinned to the ground. Instead, Leopard lifted her hind paws, squishing them in between the gap between her and Six-Claws, and grabbed the inside of his thighs, causing him to let out a squelch of pain. His weight moved to the side as he instinctively tried to get away from the sharp talons, and Leopard took that moment to prop her wing beneath her, turning Six-Claws over onto his back.
She placed her claws at his neck, holding it in place by his throat. “Surrender,” she growled. She didn’t want to make do on the threat, but if it was Six-Claws or Aloe . . .
Leopard let out a sudden scream as fire hit her backside, scorching her sail. She rolled to the side, leaping off Six-Claws to get out of the blast of flame, wincing as she hit her burnt back against the stone floor. She got back on her paws to see Rattlesnake, stopping her flame as it started to hit Six-Claws instead.
Six-Claws winced as he got back to his paws. Leopard had taken the brunt of Rattlesnake’s fire, but she hadn’t been careful not to hit him. Not that he should have expected anything different from her.
“Mmm, you’re more fun than I thought,” Rattlesnake smiled, licking her fangs. “A nice appetizer, before the main event.”
“If you try and hurt Aloe, you’ll have a far harder time than you think,” Leopard snarled. She leaped at Rattlesnake, swiping at the SandWing’s neck. Rattlesnake ducked out of the way, shoving Leopard to the side. Leopard winced as she felt Six-Claws’ talons rake her backside, and she turned, threateningly swiping her barb in his snout.
“Wouldn’t be much fun if it was easy!” Rattlesnake laughed, taking the chance to attack Leopard herself. She bit down on the back of Leopard’s neck, sinking her fangs deep into the SandWing’s flesh.
Leopard let out a yelp, and moved, trying to pull away. It was to no avail, as Rattlesnake clamp held her in place while Six-Claws swiped at her side. She roared at him, grabbing onto his forelegs, only to notice that Rattlesnake’s tail had swung up behind her, aiming for her heart. She closed her eyes while Six-Claws grasped back at her, unable to move. At least she’d bought time for Aloe.
Suddenly, Six-Claws jutted out his wing, whacking Rattlesnake in the snout. The surprised Rattlesnake let go, and Six-Claws used his own tail to bat Rattlesnake’s away. A moment later, Leopard yelled as pain coarsed through her side, poison injected into her. She looked down to see Six-Claws’ barb embedded beneath her wing.
Leopard’s breath started to speed up as the poison spread, and she began to feel woozy. She tried to move, stumbling forward as Six-Claws pulled his barb out from her. A moment later, she fell to the ground, flat on her underbelly, her breath slow and quiet.
Six-Claws stared at her for a moment, then raised his barb into the air. Leopard’s crimson blood dripped from its point. “Sorry,” he grimaced. He hadn’t wanted to do that.
“Is she dead?” Rattlesnake asked, poking Leopard with a talon. She scrunched up her snout from where Six-Claws had hit her. Her tail twisted, as she wondered if she needed to finish the job.
The fog around the three seemed even thicker than before. Not even a shadow of another dragon was in sight, and Six-Claws could barely even see Rattlesnake and Leopard anymore.
“I didn’t hit her heart,” Six-Claws replied. “She needs medical attention, as soon as possible.” He grimaced as he turned away. “But we need to help out Sunny first.”
As Six-Claws took a step into the fog, he suddenly froze up. His claws went to his throat, as blood poured down it. Pain suddenly coarsed through it. His airways tightened up, and his claws traced the outline of a barb. He turned his head, staring back at Rattlesnake in shock.
Rattlesnake smiled as she ripped her barb out from Six-Claws’ throat. “She’d very much appreciate it if I did that, wouldn’t she,” she whispered, bringing her head up against Six-Claws’ as blood started to pour from his neck. “It’s quite unfortunate that Leopard managed to kill you in the fight, isn’t it?” She flicked out her tongue as she gently placed Six-Claws’ head on the floor, staring down at him to make sure she was the last thing he saw. “But casualties are to be expected in war.”
Rattlesnake placed her talons on Six-Claws’ eyelids, shutting them closed for good. She raised her head. Sunny would be grateful to Rattlesnake for this victory, and now, it just so happened that she had an open position for a new general.
----Sunny ran through the palace, barely able to hear Aloe’s clawsteps in front of her, much less see her. Her talons clenched up. She wouldn’t let her escape. This war would end here, today, at any cost. After this, no more dragons would die for her.
“Come out and fight, me, coward!” Sunny yelled. She recieved no response from Aloe, just her clawsteps getting further away. She seethed. Aloe had been so willing to challenge Sunny to begin with, why wouldn’t she now?
Sunny turned as Aloe did. A set of stairs rose up in front of her. So she was going up. Was she trying to escape? Or did she want Sunny alone? Either way, Sunny climbed the stairs. When she reached the top, she was in an oddly familiar room, though she couldn’t quite put a talon on where it was, with most of it hidden behind mist.
She heard heavy breathing in the opposite corner, though the mist seemed to mute even the sounds. Sunny rushed towards it, only to hit a wall. She stared as she placed her claws on it, trying to figure out where Aloe had gone. She squinted as she saw heavy stone in front of it. It looked like this was an exit that had been blocked off.
Sunny’s talons traced along a crack, her heart racing. She wouldn’t let Aloe escape. Finally, she felt the crack widen, a small hole in the bottom where the wall and blockade had crumbled from the attacks on the palace. Sunny snuck beneath it with ease, and ran out on a balcony. She suddenly realized where she was: this was the balcony that Aloe’s assassin had attacked her on.
The sound of wings beatings barely reached Sunny’s ears. With a roar, the hybrid leaped forward, grabbing onto scales as Aloe tried to lift into the sky. Her claws held on tight to Aloe’s hindlegs, and the two tumbled down to the cracked balcony together.
Aloe turned her head around, a frightened expression staring up at Sunny, pale scales lightened by the mist. Sunny let out another roar, swinging her talons down at Aloe’s neck, aiming to slice through it. Instead, she didn’t even cut through scales.
Sunny tried again, biting down at the SandWing’s throat. Her teeth didn’t cut, and she felt one crack against the scales. Aloe twisted beneath Sunny, trying to throw her off, and Sunny felt Aloe’s tail whip up. She slammed a hind-paw against the tail, holding it to the ground so the barb couldn’t move.
Sunny raised her head up as far as she could, and let out a blast of flame, the fog lighting up for a second as it engulfed Aloe’s snout. Sunny shut her eyes tight as the backlash from the flame hit her, holding it for a few moments until she couldn’t any more, her snout lightly burnt.
When it cleared, she opened her eyes. Aloe was still struggling beneath her, but was completely unharmed. The blast of fire had done nothing.
“Why won’t you die!” Sunny growled, swiping her talons again. She thrusted her forepaws onto Aloe’s throat, trying to choke her. Aloe just stared back as tears began to fall from Sunny’s eyes, the Dragonet of Destiny hyperventilating as she attempted to throttle the life out of Aloe.
Sunny panted as her grip relaxed, and she felt a metal chain beneath her claws. That had to be it. Aloe had something enchanted that kept Sunny from hurting her. Before Sunny could try and tear it off, Aloe suddenly twisted her tail out from Sunny’s hindpaw, and Sunny let out a yelp as the barb almost stroked beneath her underbelly. Aloe used her frontclaws to shove the smaller Sunny off her, immediately turning to get back on all fours.
Sunny reached after her again, only for Aloe’s tail to whip, forcing Sunny to dodge. Stone crumbled, and Sunny saw Aloe leap from the balcony, her wings spreading wide. A moment later, and she was gone, swallowed up by the fog.
The fog thickened even more, and the sound of wingbeats faded. Sunny had failed. Aloe had escaped. A vibration shook through Sunny’s claws as the the balcony began to collapse.
Sunny lifted up her claws, staring at them, the only thing left in the mist that she could see. They were coated with red blood from her previous fight, already starting to dry.
If you want to lead dragons, you have to show them your claws sometimes, beetle.
As the SandWing palace fell around her, Queen Sunny wondered if she had truly become her mother.
== Chapter 58 ==
Aurora stared down at the center of the arena as the mist began to clear. The world was still around. She still had her memories. So, they had stopped the Empress. Pyrrhia had returned to normal.
More dragons came into sight. Ecru, her claws still around Inferno’s paws. Midnight, on the other side of the tilted arena than Aurora. Tiger, still held in place by Glory. Scarlet, shaking as the mist rose. Skytaker, unconscious on the slope. And in the center: Liliana lay side by side with Sapphire, her eyes glazed over, her head still, with a permanent smile on her face. All of them had survived.
Sapphire wheezed, the aged cat unable to move, barely able to breath. Aurora walked forward, down into the center of the gravity well. When she reached the Liliana and Sapphire, she dug her talons into the ground, getting rid of the mass she’d added. Midnight let out a yelp of surprise as she felt herself thrown off balance.
Sapphire breathed easier, and the cat slowly got to his paws. Liliana did nothing but follow him with her eyes, a blank stare, the milky Wishstone resting by her hand. More fog lifted, and the rest of the arena was revealed, the RainWings who hadn’t fled from the battle sitting around the stadium, watching, wondering what would happen now. For a moment, everyone was silent.
“Well, I suppose that’s that,” Glory sighed, breaking the silence, dropping Tiger.
The RainWing dragonet rubbed her neck before rushing over to Skytaker, going to check on them. The hybrid murmured something that Tiger tried to listen to, but didn’t rise.
A few of the RainWings in the arena made small motions. Glory raised her head, extending her wing. “Stand down,” she ordered. “We’re surrendering. We lost.”
“What happened?” Aurora asked Tiger demandingly. “What did they do to her?”
Tiger winced. Skytaker had asked her to keep this secret, but it was a bit too late for that. “Skytaker has an enchanted earring,” she quickly explained, pointing to the small conch shell earring now piercing Liliana’s ear, a bit over-sized for the scavenger. “It suppresses their memories of their time in the Sky Kingdom. Specifically, their time spent trapped in Queen Scarlet’s prisons. They’ll be alright, this isn’t the first time this has happened. They’re just in a little shock.”
Queen Scarlet raised her head, upon hearing her name mentioned. She stretched her wings out, finally freed from the vines. Tiger turned to glare at the SkyWing queen, so full of hatred that even Scarlet flinched, covering up the un-melted side of her face.
“It’s my dragonet!” Scarlet snarled, finally regaining a little bit of her normal composure. “I’m free to do with it what I wish! I didn’t give it permission to have a name.”
Tiger bared her fangs, causing Scarlet to let out a short squeal and jump back.
Glory flicked her tail. “You know, since the Empress was defeated, that means I’m in charge of whatever is left of Antigonia now.” She squinted at Scarlet. “Which means I don’t need to keep the annoying SkyWing who keeps screaming at me alive any longer.” She opened her jaws, tilting her head, threatening a venom strike.
Queen Scarlet let out another scream, scrambling away until she bonked against the arena wall. She hid her snout beneath her wings, trying to protect it. “AURORA, SAVE ME!” she cried out. “SHE’S GOING TO MELT MY FAAAACCCCEEEEE!!!”
Aurora tensed up her talons. She’d had enough of being ordered around by this infuriating dragon. She glared at Queen Scarlet, a wind picking up around her. “Shut up, before I kill you myself.”
Queen Scarlet squeaked in terror, her good eye going wide. “You’re my advisor! I’m the queen! Y-you can’t disobey me. I’ll fire you again!”
Aurora glanced over to the ruins of the SkyWing palace, and the pupil on the Eye of Amethyst looked up at the hybrid. “You’re not currently queen. You were deposed by the Empress. You’re unimportant now, and I will deal with you later. If you know what’s good for you, keep quiet.”
Scarlet whimpered, but did as Aurora asked. There were no guards around her, and she was surrounded by enemies that could kill her in an instant — or more worryingly, melt off the rest of her face. Using the little self-control she had, she decided to hold her tongue.
Ecru let go of Inferno, and walked across to the center of the arena. Liliana still hadn’t moved, and Sapphire purred as he saw her. She bent her head down towards the Wishstone, and reached her claws to pick it up.
Aurora noticed her out of the corner of her eyes, and flicked her tail. Ecru yelped as spikes suddenly rose up around the Wishstone, almost stabbing her through the paw.
“I’m not letting anyone use it,” Aurora growled, giving Ecru a warning stare.
Ecru shuffled back quickly, frowning. “I wasn’t planning on it!” she protested. “I just wanted to move it away from the Empress!”
“Yeah!” Midnight hissed, making Aurora turn around to see her, teeth bared. “Don’t you dare threaten her, or I’ll . . . I’ll make you pay.”
“You wouldn’t be able to,” Aurora stated, keeping her eyes locked on Midnight. She knew the composition of Midnight’s bracelet — she’d made it herself. Even moderately injured from the fight with the Empress, she could use that to her advantage. Winds whirled, blowing against Midnight’s scales, pushing her back.
“Wait, stop!” Inferno cried out, rushing up between Aurora and Midnight. She looked to each of them in turn. “Both of you, please, don’t fight! We won, right?”
Midnight stopped trying to move forward, and Aurora’s winds grew lighter, but neither seemed quite willing to back down yet.
“How about this?” Inferno asked. “I’ll take the Wishstone until we figure out what to do with it. Ash is - isn’t - was my brother anyways, and I had him for years. Any objections?”
Queen Scarlet coughed, and opened her mouth, about to say something. Aurora seethed, and turned to glare at her. “Well, I thin—”
“No one cares what you think!” Tiger yelled back. She opened her jaws, jutting her fangs up, and suddenly, venom shot out. Queen Scarlet screamed in terror, staring as she saw it flying towards her, unable to move in her fear.
The venom fell short, about a tail-length away from Queen Scarlet. The SkyWing queen stared at it.
“A warning shot,” Tiger growled, her stripes turning dark red. “Next time, I won’t miss you.”
Inferno let out a sigh of relief, and looked back at Aurora. She hadn’t said anything about whether she was willing to let Inferno take the Wishstone or not. Inferno smiled, and slowly walked towards the center of the arena, reaching down towards the Wishstone, Aurora’s eyes focused on the fireborn.
As Inferno moved her claws towards the mess of spikes surrounding it, Aurora didn’t make any move to stop her. Instead, the spikes retreated back into the ground. Inferno held her breath as her claws wrapped around the surface, a tingle of magic flicking through her body.
The surface of it started to glow, and Inferno shut her eyes. Aurora cautiously hesitated. A moment later, and more white light spilled out of the Wishstone, coalescing in the shape of a young dragonet. When Inferno had opened her eyes, her talons were gently grasping the glowing heart of a translucent Ash. The salmon dragonet’s scales were no longer covered in burns, and as he stretched out his wings, the membranes were whole. He stared back up at Inferno.
“I’ll be taking care of you from now on,” Inferno smiled. She carefully opened her claws, and the Wishstone heart hovered in place, white lines extending from the points of Inferno’s talons to wrap around the stone. The young Ash turned his head, looking around nervously at the myriad of dragons staring at him.
Midnight glared at Aurora before turning to look at the Empress. She hadn’t changed her expression at all, still just staring at Sapphire. “So, er, what do we do with her?” Midnight asked.
“Can you remove her powers?” Inferno asked Ash. “Please?”
Ash thought for a moment, before nodding. “I can,” the dragonet said. “If you will it.”
“And is there a chance you’ll accidentally destroy the world?” Midnight quickly added. “I don’t want that.”
“No,” Ash replied. “There’s no chance of that. Not with something that small.”
Removing her powers is hardly small, Midnight frowned. We couldn’t even manage to hurt her with them.
“Alright,” Inferno responded. “I’ll try.” She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. The strands of white rope between her and Ash’s heart seemed to glow brighter. For a moment, Midnight had to look away as Ash glimmered as bright as a moon.
“There,” Ash said, after the light had faded. “I did it. They’re gone.”
Tiger turned to Liliana, narrowing her gaze at the scavenger. “That’s not enough,” she added. “She’s done a lot of terrible things. She deserves to be punished. Maybe even executed.”
Midnight stiffened up at the idea of that. Did they really need to kill her? What good would that do? If they’d had to kill her to stop her, then Midnight wouldn’t have had a problem with that, but now, she was defeated. There wasn’t anything she could do to hurt them anymore.
“Execute her?” Glory asked, tsking at the notion. “Why? She’s done a lot of terrible things, but sometimes you have to do that, to make peace and stability. Antigonia wasn’t an easy place for that to happen in, and she did the best job she could.”
Ecru winced. “Yeah, I really don’t think there’s much point in executing her,” she gulped. “She can’t do anything, not without her powers. She’s just a normal . . . scavenger now.”
“We could make a compromise,” Midnight quickly suggested. “I don’t like the idea of her going free, after all that she’s done. Maybe we can put her in a prison, like what most kingdoms do.” She couldn’t help but remember what purpose the arena she was standing in normally served. Just thinking about how many dragons had been killed here made her sick. She wondered how awful Ecru must be feeling right now.
Tiger snorted. “You would be saying that if Deathbringer had killed Ecru,” she retorted.
Midnight flinched. “That’s not true,” she muttered, somewhat offended at that. Yet, she suspected Tiger was right. Had Ecru been killed by her, Midnight would likely be tearing Liliana’s throat out right now.
“That still wouldn’t make it right to kill her back!” Ecru protested. “Even if she had killed me. That sort of revenge just creates a cycle of violence that never ends.”
“How many dragons do you think she’s killed!” Tiger huffed. “How many do you think she would have killed, gotten rid of in her attempt to remake Pyrrhia! She needs justice done to her, and there’s no one other than us on Pyrrhia who’s able to do it!”
“That’s not justice,” Midnight growled back. “That’s just murder. If we want justice, we take her back to Antigonia and let the dragons and scavengers there decide. Or, we let one of the queens here ch—”
Midnight jumped as she heard a sudden squelching sound. The dragons all turned, shocked to see that stone spikes had thrusted up into Liliana, impaling her in half a dozen places. Red blood ran down the stone as her head dangled lifelessly.
“Settled,” an exasperated Aurora sighed, not particularly interested in this conversation. “I killed her. Is everyone happy?”
Midnight tensed up, her talons raking against sand and stone. “Why did you did that!” she hissed, anger welling up in her chest. “We were talking! We were going to decide! It’s not justice if you just murder her!”
Aurora shrugged her wings. “I don’t want justice. I just don’t want her interfering with me.”
“You have no right to decide that!” Midnight snarled, taking a posturing step towards her half-sister. “Of course you’re going to go around, just killing whoever you like.”
“Yes,” Aurora responded, turning to Inferno, not particularly caring for Midnight’s criticisms. “Inferno. If you misuse the Wishstone, I will kill you, just as I killed her. Understood?”
Inferno gulped, glancing at the floating Ash, at first taken aback by the threat. She stared at Aurora, and saw. The hybrid’s eyes weren’t full of anger, or fear. She didn’t want to have to kill Inferno. Instead, Inferno saw . . . trust.
Inferno nodded. “I understand,” she replied, giving Aurora a cautious smile. “You’re putting a lot of trust and faith in me, by letting me have the Wishstone. I won’t let you down. Thank you.”
Aurora blinked, like that had been the answer she’d been expecting. “Good.”
Aurora stretched out her wing, placing the end of her membrane over Liliana’s corpse. Sapphire immediately leaped up on it, climbing Aurora’s wing up to her back. When he’d leaped up between her horns, Aurora unfurled her other wing.
“Scarlet,” Aurora snarled. “With me.”
Queen Scarlet lifted her head with a jolt, and eagerly nodded. A moment later, and the two had lifted off into the sky. Sapphire turning his head, as if to say a goodbye to Inferno.
“Wait, we can’t just let them leave!” Midnight huffed. “I’m not letting her get away with this.” She opened her wings up, trying to take off after the two, only to be pushed back down by a strong wind. Midnight bared her fangs as she tried again, unable to get aloft. This isn’t over.
“It’s alright,” Ecru said, staring back after Aurora. Their alliance was over.
Tiger walked up to Liliana’s corpse, and slowly pulled Skytaker’s earring out from the scavenger’s ears. After cleaning it off with her tongue, she went back to Skytaker, putting it back on the murmuring hybrid. Part of her was glad they’d been mostly unconscious while Queen Scarlet had been around.
“Ahem,” General Glory spoke up, getting the others’ attention. “Now that that’s done, if I could make a suggestion, there’s a large army of RainWings in this world that don’t belong here. I think it’s in our mutual interests that they go back.”
Skytaker murmured as they raised their head, squinting as the light focused. They looked up at Glory. “Is Ermine . . . ?”
“He’s alive,” Glory quickly responded. “Darkstalker too. Both are being held in the dungeons, and no harm has been done to either of them.”
Skytaker smiled, relieved. “So he can come back. Like he’d wanted to.”
“Hm,” Midnight said, thinking about Glory’s suggestion. “Antigonia will need new leadership, won’t it.” She turned to Inferno, eyes lighting up as she had an idea. “Hey! You should give the Wishstone to Darkstalker and his rebels!”
“No!” Tiger, Skytaker, and Ecru all said in unison.
“D-Darkstalker?” Inferno gulped, staring at Midnight in shock. “You mean the one with the evil scroll that we had to keep from Torrent so he wouldn’t accidentally awaken and wreak havoc on Pyrrhia?”
“Yes that Darkstalker, but the Antigonian version of him,” Midnight answered. She looked around at the others, all staring at her in shock at the idea. “He’s not that bad! He’s not evil! He helped us!”
“Yeah, but he’s not that good either,” Skytaker mumbled.
Ecru winced. “I have to agree. No offense, Midnight, but giving the Wishstone to him is a terrible idea.”
“Fine,” Midnight huffed, throwing her forepaws up in the air.
“You’re right about Antigonia needing new leadership though,” Tiger pointed out. “I think it will fall into chaos without everyone being frightened of the Empress.”
“I know it’s not my place to propose someone,” Glory spoke up, “even if it is my world, but why don’t you choose the SkyWing? You all trusted her with the Wishstone to begin with.”
“Me?” Inferno squealed, shocked at the idea. “Oh. Are you sure? I really don’t think I’m fit for the job. I’m not sure I could lead a kingdom, much less an entire world.”
“I think you could do it,” Skytaker said in agreement. “I didn’t know you for that long, but you fought against Calamity and the Empress. You’ve been through a lot, you’re kind, and you’re not power-hungry like Liliana or Darkstalker. Of everyone here, you’re the most fit for it.”
“Um, I think you’d be a very good leader,” the young Ash added, nodding. “You wouldn’t hurt or control me like Liliana or Calamity. I trust you.”
Inferno thought about it for a moment. Maybe they were right. Maybe she would be a good leader for Antigonia. But she wondered — did she want to be? She’d have to leave Pyrrhia behind. She’d have to go to a new world, with new dragons and scavengers, and different problems. It wouldn’t be easy. But she’d be able to help everyone there. Where the Empress had forced everyone into an unsteady peace with fear, Inferno could teach them to love. To show them other ways than controlling others, the way Liliana had controlled Ash, and Ash had controlled Inferno in turn. She’d have a chance to change Antigonia from how she’d seen it in Liliana’s and Ash’s memories. It would be hard, but if she succeeded, it would worth it.
“Alright,” Inferno finally said, smiling. “Antigonia, here I come.” She squinted at Ash, drifting in the air. “Er, Ash, how do I get me and all the RainWings to Antigonia?”
“Just think it,” the small Ash answered. “I can guide you through it. And all of you will be back.”
“Yeah,” Inferno said, taking in a deep breath. A different new world. Far away from Pyrrhia, if there even was any measure of far. “Um, Skytaker, Tiger. I guess this is goodbye. Tell Tsunami I’m not going to end up joining the academy afterall. Oh, and if you see Toxin or Slate, tell them I’m alright.”
“Polar too,” Tiger quickly added. “Oh yeah, he’s not dead. Just a little . . . crumbly now.”
“That’s good news!” Inferno laughed. Slate would be glad to hear that.
Tiger waved her talons soppily. “Well . . . goodbye.”
“Bye!” Skytaker added. “You’re welcome in the Silver Winglet whenever you want, okay!”
Inferno grinned. “I’ll make sure to visit.” She looked back at Ash. “So, just will it, right? And we’ll all go back?”
“Yeah,” Ash answered. “Back to Antigonia.”
Inferno nodded, and closed her eyes. She tried to will it, and the light between her claws and Ash got brighter. White light seemed to fill the arena, a few of the RainWings yelping as the glow covered their outlines. Inferno smiled. Goodbye, Pyrrhia.
When the light had faded, they were all gone. The arena suddenly felt empty, with just Midnight, Ecru, Tiger, and Skytaker remaining.
Midnight let out a tired sigh, opening her wings. “Well, I guess that’s over,” she remarked, almost surprised. Ecru nodded in agreement. Midnight turned to the dragonets. “I think it’s time to you two back to school. I’ll bet the teachers are all worried sick.”
“Gazelle will be so happy to see us again,” Ecru remarked.
Midnight smiled as the morning sun shone down over the ruins of the palace. “I have to admit, I’m already starting to miss our tiny home in Crosswinds. I wonder if they still have crocodile at the market. It’s still in season, isn’t it?”
== Epilogue ==
Aloe had stopped only to sleep on her flight across Pyrrhia, and had barely got any at that. She was too tired to even cry any more. With each beat of her wings, it felt like they were going to fall off. She was starving. But eventually, the Bay of a Thousand Scales came into her view, islands ranging from small to huge dotting the blue waters.
Still, something seemed different on her flight. Normally sandy beaches had given way to rocky coasts, sediment exposed. Rotting fish and displaced seastars caught her eye every so often. With her mind so occupied by her defeat and concern over Leopard’s fate, it took her a while to realize what was going on: the sea level had fallen.
Why? she’d wondered at first. But it wasn’t too much longer on her flight before she saw something strange: a huge crack had opened up through the center of an island, leading own into the ocean floor. At edge of the island and the sea, water rushed into the crack, like it was flooding whatever was beneath it. Aloe had seen more of them on her flight over Pyrrhia, but she hadn’t put two-and-two together until then: water filling the newly opened trenches in the ocean were causing the seafloor level to drop. Well, that was a problem for Queen Coral. She didn’t have time to think about it.
Finally, she spotted the familiar island. After her mother’s death, the first thing that she and Leopard had done was explore the surrounding area. They were quite familiar with the nearby archipelago now. They’d even visited the Summer Palace, though Aloe felt a pang of regret that she’d never managed to see it in all its former glory, before it’s destruction at the claws of the SkyWings. Even the most sturdy, the most hidden, or the most guarded of palaces could fall like birds from the sky. Just in the past three years, the Summer Palace, the SkyWing Palace, and now the SandWing Stronghold had all fallen. The NightWing island had been wreathed in lava, and the RainWing pavilion went up in flames. The IceWing Palace had been destroyed, though the enchantments had quickly built it back up again. She supposed that left only the Deep Palace and the MudWing Palace. And with open rebellion in the northern MudWing territories, along with water sinking into the cracks in the ocean, it didn’t seem promising that those would stand tall for much longer, either. It was like the world was descending into chaos. Maybe Pyrrhia was nearing its end.
Of course, Aloe had her own dragon she chose to blame. Her mother.
Aloe’s wings flapped a few more times, panting as she struggled to make the last stretch of the flight. She was almost to her home. Her prison. The small island where she’d been raised was right in front of her. She felt a chill as she remembered all the time she’d spent here with Blister. It doesn’t matter, she reminded herself. Blister is dead. Now, the island is mine.
Her wings started to falter as she got close, and she let gravity push her to the ground, almost diving as her vision went blurry. She placed out her legs as she approached one of the beaches, the water now dragonslengths lower than where it had been originally. She aimed herself towards the soft sand, and quickly spread her wings open, trying to break her fall.
The sudden jolt blew her up, knocking her off-balance mid-air. Her tail twisted, and she rolled into the sand, yelping as she hit it hard. It was fortunate she hadn’t hit rock. Instead, the small granules covered her tired body as she rolled over herself, small stones and pebbles digging into and scratching her scales. Finally, she settled, her wings splayed open.
Her breath slowed as Aloe stared up at the sun, high in the sky. It was like she was sinking into the sand, finally at rest. She was back home.
Without the energy to move another muscle, Aloe closed her eyes. It was over.
----“Aloe?”
Aloe opened her eyes, her vision blurry as she tried to make out the shape of a dragon above her. The sun had moved through the sky, evening approaching the island. She squinted as she tried to make out who was standing above her. Where was she again?
Eventually, she made out the milky-green color of the scales above her. She felt a webbed paws on her neck, a concerned dragon trying to jostle her awake.
“Rift!” Aloe spoke, finally coming to her sense and realizing who it was. More tears fell from her eyes as she wrapped her forelegs around the SeaWing’s neck, over the blackened venom scars across his gills. She started to sob as he helped her to her paws, leaning her head into his neck.
“It’s alright,” Rift calmly replied, placing a paw on her back.
Aloe shook her head, crying as more tears fell into the dry sand below, wetting it. The dolphin necklace on her neck swung from side to side. “It’s not,” she whimpered. “It’s not alright. Rift, it was terrible! Sunny wouldn’t accept the challenge and we had to make a deal with Blackice and we got the stronghold but were under siege there and then Sunny disappeared and came back and she attacked us and the stronghold got destroyed by her weapons and then—” she choked up as she tried to explain “—Leopard was there and we had to escape, and she, she held them off so I could escape, and she could be, she could be . . .” Aloe cried, not able to say it. “And it’s my fault. I couldn’t win. I let this happen.”
Rift wrapped his wings around Aloe. “It’ll be alright,” the SeaWing prince said, his voice as soothing as it could be alright. “It’ll all be okay. You did great. You did the best you could.” He paused, a sense of urgency suddenly in his voice. This wasn’t the right time, but . . . “Aloe, there’s something important I have to tell you. Bl—”
“Mommy!”
The excited yell of a dragonet interrupted Rift. Aloe raised her head, hearing her dragonet’s voice. As she looked over the beach, a small dragonet, maybe the age of two, came bounding across the sand, practically leaping, practically flying as she flapped her undersized wings. Aloe sniffled and rubbed the tears from her eyes as she saw her, smiling and raising her head.
The small hybrid dragonet leaped into Aloe’s paws, toppling the exhausted SandWing over. Aloe hugged her tight, not wanting to ever let go. Her talons gently caressed the dragonet’s pebbly scales, kneading over a range of colors from a bright sandy yellow to a deep sea green, distorted black diamonds dotting her scales, with starbursts on the underside of her wings showing she was an heir to two thrones. A few of the dragonet’s glowscales lit up happily, Rift smiling as he read what their dragonet had said in Aquatic.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Aloe said, trying not to choke up. She raised the dragonet up, unable to help but giving a huge smile. “You’ve grown so big since I left!”
“Coast, I told you to wait,” Rift sighed, shaking his head. “Mommy and I have important things to talk about.”
“It’s fine,” Aloe grinned, pulling Coast back in again, squeezing her so tight the dragonet tried to squirm to get out. Aloe felt her breath settle, as she started to calm down. For a moment, she believed Rift’s words: maybe everything would be alright.
“Where’s other Mommy?” Coast asked, poking her head out from Aloe’s wings to try and figure out where Leopard was. Rift winced.
Aloe started to cry again, unable to hold back as tears fell on her dragonet’s snout. Coast looked up worriedly, wondering if she’d said something wrong.
“Aloe,” Rift said, trying to calm her down. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Leopard can handle herself in a fight. You know that.”
Aloe shook her head. “It was a mistake,” she sobbed. “Going after the throne was a mistake. We should have just stayed here, or gone off to live in the Summer Palace, but now I’ve lost Leopard. It’s all my fault. I’m done with this. I just want Leopard back.”
“Grandma says she’ll help you win!” Coast suddenly exclaimed, excitedly.
Aloe’s heart skipped a beat, her eyes going wide. She looked to Rift, talons shaking as she tried to process what Coast had said. “S-she means Queen Coral, right? You visited Queen Coral?” Rift stayed silent, opening his mouth, before closing it again. Aloe shook her head, teeth chattering. “N-no. No, that’s not possible. Grandma is dead. She’s long dead, very dead, very very dead.”
“I was trying to tell you,” Rift gulped. “I thought—”
“Quiet,” a voice from behind Aloe hissed. “I can tell her myself.”
Aloe shuddered, almost dropping Coast. A voice she knew far too well, a slithering voice that seemed to wrap around her scales, choking her and draining the air from her lungs. A voice that Aloe thought she’d never hear again.
Aloe’s blood ran as cold as ice while she turned her head around, slowly, hoping this was just a dream. When she had finally looked behind her, she was eye to eye with her mother. Blister floated a few talon-lengths above the ground, her body so translucent that Aloe could even see the waves through the diamond pattern on her scales. A golden aura surrounded her body, as specks of shining sand seemed to float down from her talons.
Still, Blister looked almost just like herself before the Eye of Onyx had zapped her into oblivion. Her beady black right eye glinted greedily at Coast, her stare as menacing as ever. Other than her incorporeal state and the golden glow, the main difference was her left eye: unlike her right, it was instead light blue. It moved independently of the right one, from Aloe, to Rift, to Coast, and then back again. Aloe tensed up as its gaze fell on her. It felt almost as if someone else was watching her through her mother’s ghost.
“You really made a mess of things,” Blister contemptuously snorted. “You should have been able to easily win against Sunny, and now, you come back to me, crying over that pitiful SandWing of yours? It’s difficult for me to call such a weak idiot my daughter.” She grinned, flicking out her tongue as sunlight shone through her sharp fangs. “Well, fortunately for you, you no longer have to worry about failure. Now, mother is here to tell you what to do.”
== Post-Epilogue ==
Inferno shuddered as Glory led her through the greenhouse. Maybe it was the strange feeling of having plants all around her, a normally burnable rug beneath her claws and a quite flammable area just a few tail lengths away. Even if it wasn’t actually burning thanks to Ash giving her full control over her firescales, reflexes made her afraid that she’d accidentally turn them back on again, and the beautiful throne room would be turned to cinders.
Or, maybe it was all the dragons. RainWings lined the red carpet with barely a wingblade between each of them. Every pair of eyes was on Inferno. Inferno stared at each of them, more dragons than she could count. Not in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined this scene. For a moment, her gaze was caught beyond the greenhouse walls. The beautiful blue ocean stretched out as far as her eyes could see. This was her new home.
Inferno slowly walked around the Obscura, staring up at the huge orb. She glanced behind her, to the smaller milky orb still visible within the young Ash’s heart. He seemed as nervous as she was, worriedly glancing from RainWing to RainWing.
Finally, Inferno stopped. She looked up, raising her head to stare at the Empress’s throne. Vines swirled up from the ground, weaving to form huge branches, like the throne was itself built from a tree. Both natural, and regal. She wondered why Liliana had designed the palace this way, with so much light and greenery. Was it just for the RainWings, or was it for her?
Inferno turned around as she heard the sound of movement. The RainWings had all lowered their heads to the ground, kneeling their front legs as they bowed to Inferno. Inferno opened her mouth. “You don’t—you don’t have to—” she stammered, not sure what to say in front of them all.
Glory bowed her head too, lower than the others, before raising it again. She pointed a claw to throne. “Antigonia needs a new leader,” she remarked. “It’s yours, if you choose to take it.”
Inferno shook her head, glancing at the floating dragonet Ash. “I can’t,” she replied. “I won’t. I won’t be a queen, or an empress.”
“They’ll need someone,” Glory replied. “They need someone to look to. Without a leader, the continent will collapse into chaos, dragons and humans at war, tribe versus tribe, sister versus sister. You’ve seen in Pyrrhia. That is what Antigonia will become.”
Inferno opened her mouth, trying to figure out how to respond, when more dragons at the back of the greenhouse caught her gaze. Deathbringer waved a paw as he walked forward with a confident smile. He gestured behind him to two more dragons as they walked up the red carpet to the throne. Ermine seemed even more nervous than Inferno, the young IceWing’s eyes darting back and forth. He didn’t seem particularly partial to crowds. Darkstalker confidently stepped behind Ermine, his head held aloft like he half expected that all the RainWings were bowing to him. Wren rode his neck, the scavenger’s legs wrapped around the hybrid.
“I brought them like you asked,” Deathbringer grinned. He bowed his head to Inferno as well. “Er, your majesty.”
Inferno winced at the epithet. “None of that, please.”
“So, you’re the new empress?” Darkstalker asked, with an expression that was either impressed, jealous, or maybe both.
Inferno shook her head once again. “I’m not!” she huffed. “Really!”
Darkstalker gestured out to the bowing RainWings with a wing, Wren taking the chance to leap down from it, smooshing a few flowers beneath her feet. “It looks like they think you are,” Darkstalker remarked. “Empress Inferno. That doesn’t sound bad.”
Inferno sighed, exasperated. “I can’t be empress,” she argued. “I don’t have the first idea how to run a school, much less an entire empire!”
“Hmph,” Darkstalker snorted. “Well, if you don’t want to rule, I’d be happy to do it. I am the leader of the factions that rebelled against Liliana. For a long time, I might add.”
Glory suddenly stepped between Darkstalker and Inferno, her fangs bared at the hybrid. “Don’t you dare,” she hissed. “I’d drip my head in my own venom before letting you take over.” She turned to Inferno. “If he gets the Wishstone, Antigonia will be far worse than it ever was under Liliana.”
“Yeah,” Wren muttered, Inferno glancing down, slightly startled at the scavenger speaking in Dragon. “Sorry Darkie, but I don’t want another dictator either. Liliana was enough.”
“I wouldn’t be a dictator,” Darkstalker argued. “I would run things like how I ran the rebellion! I was good at that!”
“Please stop,” Inferno sighed, cutting off both Wren and Glory. She looked to Ash. “No one is getting the Wishstone. No one is becoming empress or dictator or whatever. Ermine.”
Ermine raised his head, slightly surprised that Inferno had spoken to him. “Um, yeah?”
“I can send you back to Pyrrhia,” Inferno suggested. “Wherever you want. Would you like to go to Jade Mountain? Or the Ice Kingdom? It’s now under King Hailstorm’s rule.”
Ermine paused, staring as he tried to decide. He glanced down at his talons. Was there a place for him still, in Jade Mountain, or the Ice Kingdom? Finally, he shook his head. “I, er, I want to stay here. In Antigonia.”
“Really?” Inferno asked, surprised. Hadn’t Skytaker been trying so hard to get Ermine back? “Why?”
Ermine grimaced, then turned to the Obscura, the huge orb filling up the center of the greenhouse. “My parents,” he admitted. “On Pyrrhia, they’re dead, but here . . . I know they won’t know me, and that they won’t be the same dragons they were there, but I want to stay with them.”
Inferno nodded, and gave the dragonet a smile. “That’s fine,” she replied. “And if you ever change your mind, just tell me. As long as I have the Wishstone, it won’t be hard to get back to Pyrrhia. I’m sure Skytaker and Tiger would be excited if we visited.” That reminded her something. She looked over at Ash, and the SkyWing dragonet lifted his head up to meet hers, floating a bit higher. “Ash, did you think about what I asked you about? Do you think you can do it?”
Ash tilted his head from side to side, considering it. “Um, I think I can, sort of. Animus magic can’t, or more aptly, won’t, bring back the souls of the dead, but Calamity taught me it can create new ones. If I do what you asked, it will effectively be creating two new beings with the same memories as the old ones but with new souls, though I don’t think you’d be able to tell the difference.”
Inferno grimaced, thinking about it. Bringing back the dead. No, not bringing back, creating new life. She wasn’t sure she liked it. It felt unnatural. It felt wrong, to force two new souls to become two old beings, like mind-control. Like how the Empress had manipulated the memories of the dragons in Antigonia with the Wishstone and the powers she’d been given. Normally, Inferno wouldn’t have considered it. But this felt . . . different. Like a just punishment for the two of them, playing Feathered Spirit.
“Alright,” Inferno decided. “Let’s do it. Ash, are you ready?”
Ash nodded, and lifted his paws, closing his eyes. “Go ahead.”
Inferno took in a deep breath, as she willed her wish into existence. Ash’s heart became bright, the bowing RainWings forced to look away from the blinding light. Two columns of light appeared in front of Inferno, quickly coalescing into two dragon-shaped blobs. A moment later, the light had faded.
A black NightWing with orange-tinted scales and a violet RainWing covered with golden stars stared blankly for a moment, before blinking, confused what had happened. They looked around the greenhouse, then to Inferno, unsure where they were, and how they’d gotten here.
“I’m not dead,” Duskwind remarked, mildly surprised. He gave Liliana a nervous glance then turned to Inferno with a small smile. “Inferno. You got the Wishstone.”
Liliana frowned. “And you decided to bring me back with it?” she asked. “I’m surprised. What’s going on? Is death and failure not enough punishment for me?”
“It’s not,” Inferno stated. “You’re right. I’m punishing both of you. I need your help.”
Small speckles of sea-green appeared on Liliana’s snout, trying to figure out what Inferno had meant by that. “My help?” she scoffed. “And what makes you think I’m going to offer that?”
“Because you want to do what’s right,” Inferno replied. “Each of you.” She stepped back, and whipped her tail against the throne. It suddenly burst into flame as she allowed her firescales to work, rising up the vines as the throne as it formed a warm beacon in the greenhouse, all eyes focused on Inferno.
Inferno looked at everyone in a semi-circle around her. Liliana. Duskwind. Glory. Deathbringer. Darkstalker. Wren. And finally, Ash. “Except for Ermine, all of you have done wrong to this world,” Inferno continued. “In your quests for power and control, each of you have hurt the dragons and humans living here. You’ve tried to force your own visions upon them, tried to make them into how you thought they were supposed to be.”
She paused, and closed her eyes. Blue flames suddenly shot up from her scales, an aura of fire surrounding Inferno. She clenched her talons, and the fire turned a brilliant pure white, spreading up to the throne behind her, going up in white flames, but not burning. Liliana gulped, wondering if Inferno was about to kill her for the second time.
“I’m giving all of you a chance,” Inferno finally explained. “A chance for redemption. I want to make Antigonia a better place, a world where dragons and humans live in peace. Someplace where everyone is happy, and can choose who they become, and how they live their own lives. Maybe I’m optimistic, but I think that the Wishstone gives me the power to do that, without forcing dragons and humans to be the way I want, and without making them do what I tell them to.
“But I can’t do it alone,” Inferno said. “I don’t know this world. I don’t have the experience, and I don’t know everything. I can’t decide everything myself. So, I want your help. You can choose to join me, and help me make Antigonia a better place. Or you can live the rest of your lives out in peace. I won’t stop you. I won’t choose for you. If you help me, the path in front of us will be long and hard, but I think we can do it together.”
Inferno held out her paw, as the white halo of light around her made her seem like she was brighter than the sun itself. She smiled. “So, who’s with me?”
----Aurora closed her eyes, taking in deep breathes as she walked through the forest. Thunder crackled in the sky above, raindrops pouring down through the trees. Water dripped from the IceWing-SeaWing hybrid’s scales. For a moment, she could forget where she was. For a moment, she was just lost in the storm.
“I’m cold,” a voice mumbled, interrupting Aurora’s thoughts.
Aurora let out an irritated sigh, her peace disturbed. She turned her head to glare at Queen Scarlet, Sapphire holding onto her horns with his claws. The chainlinks around one of her legs jangled, as her Darkstone swung side by side with the Eye of Amethyst.
“What?” Queen Scarlet muttered, avoiding Aurora’s glare. The SkyWing queen shivered, tucking her scarred head beneath her wings. She hobbled on three legs as she walked through the mud after Aurora, the fourth one taken up by a small orange egg, carefully tucked within her claws. Queen Scarlet’s own Darkstone wrapped around it. “I’m cold,” Scarlet grumbled again, not particularly caring for her egg’s safety. “And wet. I don’t let being wet. Can’t you stop the rain?”
“Be quiet,” Aurora snorted, turning her head away from Queen Scarlet. She tilted her gaze up to the sky, Sapphire hanging onto her in order to avoid falling down her neck. Water fell into her eyes, her scales soothed by the rain, cold, and wind. The small pupil in the Eye of Amethyst looked up with her as lightning flashed above her. “I like the rain. It’s peaceful.”
“I’m queen,” Scarlet grumbled. “You’re supposed to do what I say.”
Aurora whipped her head back, Sapphire letting out a surprised meow as Aurora bared her fangs at Scarlet. She slammed a paw down into the mud, and Queen Scarlet let out a screech of terror as spikes rose up from the ground between her and Aurora. The SkyWing reared up on her hindlegs, only for a spike to stab up towards her neck, stopping a claw-length from puncturing her throat.
Queen Scarlet stared at Aurora, holding herself absolutely still, wobbling from side to side as she tried to stand upright. She held out her forelegs in surrender, careful not to drop her egg.
Aurora lifted her head up, keeping her eyes locked with the SkyWing queen. Her glowscales flashing angrily. “The terms of our relationship have changed,” Aurora hissed, the spikes on her tail whipping from side to side. “I’ve had enough of being ordered around. By you, by Calamity, by anyone. If you want to be queen again, and you don’t want to end up in an unmarked grave, or a fucking puddle, you will do exactly as I say from now on. Is that clear, you fucking psychopath? Or do you think it would be thrilling if I tore your beating heart from your chest?”
“Yes!” Queen Scarlet squealed, nodding her head as fast as she could. “Absolutely clear. Perfectly clear. Clear as the ocean. Clear as ice.”
“Good,” Aurora snarled. She lifted her paw, and the spikes retreated into the earth. Her claws twitched as she turned back, her breath as fast as her heart. What was she experiencing? It took her a moment to figure out the word. Anger.
Aurora shut her eyes again as the two continued walking, not a peep out of Queen Scarlet. The rain was peaceful. Calming. She liked it.
It wasn’t much longer until Aurora re-opened her eyes. The rain had started hitting her head harder, no longer protected by the foliage above. The forest had opened out into a large clearing, where dragons had gotten rid of the trees long ago. A small village rested in the center of the clearing, with a beautiful view of the mountains above them. SkyWings tended to cattle, kept in small pens. More oranges and reds were visible beneath the grey sky, dragons running back and forth along the village’s streets. This was a good place. Aurora liked it too.
“We’re almost to Aeolus,” Aurora remarked. “Say nothing. I don’t want you ruining this.”
As the two walked down from the forest, every dragon they passed turned and stared. A young orange SkyWing bowed his head nervously to Queen Scarlet. A visit from her couldn’t be good.
“Gather everyone in the village to welcome their queen,” Aurora said to the SkyWing. “I want to be heard.”
The SkyWing nodded, quickly scampering off. Aurora saw him run off to the nearest dragon, quickly passing the news. She immediately stopped what she was doing, going to find more SkyWings.
By the time the two reached the village, a small crowd had gathered around them. SkyWings walked behind them in a precession, led by Aurora through the town. More dragons stared from their windows at the two, before running out into the rain to join the others. Whatever was going on here, everyone wanted to see it, out of fear, curiosity, or both.
Aurora kept walking. It was only when she reached the other side of Aeolus that she stopped. A large swath of grassy land rested in front of her, the sea barely visible to the southeast, the mountains to the northwest. Perfect.
Aurora turned, Sapphire peering out over her head. The crowd had since grown. A few hundred SkyWings stood huddled on the edge of the village, as thunder and lightning crackled over their heads. Aurora spread out her wings, causing all of them to look to her.
“Bow,” Aurora commanded, her voice echoing out through the rain. The dragons who’d heard her at the front all complied, lowering their heads to the ground. From there, more got the message, bowing to Aurora, until finally, the SkyWings at the back bowed. Aurora stared at the mass of SkyWings, all groveling to her. She received no joy from this sort of demonstration of power. However, she felt . . . excitement? Like something big had happened, or was about to happen. Or was happening. And she was the one to do it.
Aurora looked over at Queen Scarlet, her egg set down between her paws. The only dragon who wasn’t bowing to Aurora. “Bow,” she demanded. She wanted the SkyWings to know who was in charge here.
“I don’t bow,” Queen Scarlet whined. “I’m queen, queens don’t—”
Queen Scarlet let out a sudden cry of pain. She stared down at her front paws, as blood ran down her orange scales, pouring into the ground below. A spike of stone had risen up through each of them. Scarlet whimpered as her claws shook, the movement only causing her more pain.
Aurora tilted her head, waiting patiently for Scarlet to comply. An expression of agony came over Scarlet’s snout. She lowered her head to the ground, trying as hard as she could not to scream out in pain at her impaled paws. The other SkyWings watched, all silent.
Finally, Scarlet’s head reached her egg. Aurora retracted the spikes, causing more blood to spill out, until the grass around Scarlet was stained red, the bottom surface of the egg crimson. Her scales might not have been scarlet, but her blood certainly was.
Aurora lifted her left forepaw up, the chainlinks dangling in the air. The SkyWings all raised their heads, a whimpering Queen Scarlet sinking down onto her hindlegs, trying to not put any pressure on her bleeding paws, raindrops falling through them.
“If you are going to be queen again, you’ll need a palace,” Aurora said to Scarlet.
“A palace,” Scarlet suddenly said, gritting her teeth in pain. “A new palace. I-I would like that.” A hint of excitement came over the pained queen. “A-an arena?”
“No. The Sky Kingdom is done with arenas,” Aurora growled, loud enough for the SkyWings in front to hear her. “If you want one, then you’ll be the first dragon to fight in it.”
Scarlet gulped, quickly shaking her head from side to side. “N-no. I’m good. No arenas.”
“I’m glad we’re in agreement,” Aurora stated. She looked back over the crowd. “Stay back.”
Queen Scarlet stared as Aurora walked forward, a distance away from the village, wondering what the hybrid was planning to do now. Rain spilled down her scales, Sapphire peering down.
Aurora took a deep breath, focusing as she put her claws to the ground. A new palace, for the SkyWings. The ground began to rumble, and every SkyWing in Aeolus watched as slabs of metal started to rise out of the ground, in a humongous square around the clearing. Whispers passed between dragons as four thick metal walls rose into the air. Aurora’s talons shook as they kept rising, slanting towards each other.
SkyWings stared as their new palace formed from the ground, metal created beneath ground rising up. The four slabs met at a point, before they kept going, new slabs forming as Aurora created more metal to be pushed upwards. The slabs only stopped when they reached the same square as where they’d begun. A huge silver pyramid rose into the sky, with a second inverted pyramid resting on top of it. Like an flat-edged hourglass, touching the clouds.
Aurora finally looked up at it, admiring her claw-work. The palace was beautiful in its simplicity. She placed her claws on the metal surface, causing gold to shoot up into the surface, colorful gemstones decorating the new palace. Flattened squares of metal punctured through the two pyramids, forming floors with small balconies outside it. Aurora twisted her talons as she envisioned her creation, and a triangular door opened up on the bottom floor.
In just a few minutes, the Sky Kingdom had a new throne.
Aurora looked back to the crowd of dragons, SkyWings agape, some in shock, some in wonder, and some in fear. “Spread the word of what has happened here!” Aurora yelled out. “Tell dragons far and wide, that your kingdom has been hatched anew, by the talons of Princess Aurora!”
Aurora grimaced. She hated this kingdom running thing already. Giving speeches, forcing her subjects to recognize her as their new leader: it wasn’t what she’d wanted to do. Still, she thought it was the right decision. Whether or not she was willing to accept any more of Calamity’s orders, she still believed in his mission to save Pyrrhia, and this was what she had to do to fulfill it, particularly after all the disruption that the Empress had caused.
“Y-your highness,” Queen Scarlet whimpered, lowering her head to Aurora. “The Eye of Amethyst. Is it time to release its full power? F-for the Sky Kingdom? After my-our kingdom is reunited, we can help you. We’ll help you challenge Queen Coral.”
That was right. Aurora lifted the Eye up, Copper’s pupil staring back at her. There was no stopping it after it had been activated, at least not without Calamity’s help. Aurora had only managed to keep it suppressed, a slow activation. For a moment, she wondered if this was the right time. Was this when Calamity wanted her to do it?
No. From now on, she would make her own decisions on how to save Pyrrhia. If Calamity wanted to stop her, she’d let him try. She knew his secrets, his strengths, his weaknesses. He wouldn’t interfere any longer.
“It is time,” Aurora confirmed, no doubts left. She took a step forward, and the eye began to glow. Golden winds swirled beneath her, lifting Aurora up into the air. The storm howled above her, as the SkyWings lifted their heads up into the sky, trying to see Aurora through the rain and wind.
As Aurora levitated mid-air, a pillar of jagged crystal shot up from the ground. When it reached her, the winds gently set her down on its flat surface. She looked from one side to the other. From the ocean to the mountains.
“This is the SkyWings’ darkest hour!” Aurora yelled out, as rain poured onto her open wings. “But with your kingdom restored, it shall soon be your greatest! It is time to bring the Sky Kingdom to its formal glory!” Aurora felt a hint of pleasure as she saw Queen Scarlet squirm at that, whether because she’d realized that Aurora was taking a jab at her, or because Aurora had used the word ‘glory.’ Or maybe she was just still in pain from the holes in her paws.
Aurora held the Eye of Amethyst high. She placed a talon to its surface. “Copper of the Seven,” she ordered, as golden light began to pour out from the Eye, “I command you, let the earth shake with your power. Let Pyrrhia be torn asunder.”
A wave of power suddenly spread out from the Eye of Amethyst, almost knocking Aurora off her crystalline perch. Dragons gasped as it washed over them. Another wave hit, and another, moving out over Pyrrhia’s surface, until they covered the continent in the Eye’s power. The ground began to rumble, SkyWings losing their clawholds in the mud. Aurora raised the Eye, and the cracks in Pyrrhia began to expand, growing more and more. Golden winds picked up around Aurora, and for a moment, she was at the center of a maelstrom.
Aurora extended a talon, and the ground split by the mountains. A she dragged her claw in a circle, the crack began to grow, Pyrrhia crumbling at her command. She traced her talon out, as the great split in the ground circled with it, spreading around the edge of Aeolus. She split Aeolus from the sea, and finally, brought her talon back to where it had started. Lightning crackled through the sky as the huge crack in the land spread, separating Aeolus and the new SkyWing palace from the rest of Pyrrhia. A great chasm.
Aurora moved her claw towards herself, and SkyWings yelped, leaping back as a huge hole appeared beneath the pillar of crystal. Aurora stared down into the pit, Copper’s eye shaking as his power was exerted. When it was finished, and she reached the edge of the Eye’s power over the land. She took it off.
For a moment, Aurora stared at the eye, holding it in her talons, dangling it out in front of her, as if she was daring Calamity to reach through it and strike her down like he had Blister. She bared her fangs at him. When he didn’t, she opened her claws.
The Eye of Amethyst tumbled down through the air, Copper’s pupil looking back up at her in alarm. Aurora stared back, just watching as it dropped into the pit, more waves of power extending from it. Finally, the feint ethereal light faded from her view. Aurora clenched up her talons, and the pit was covered with a thick sheet of transparent crystal.
Calamity couldn’t touch her now. Aurora was free.
A bolt of lightning struck the palace behind her, rain spilling down the metal edges. Thunder shook the metal, causing it to vibrate. Aurora lifted her head up into the sky as the glow of the lightning faded. She spread her wings, the sound of the metal like music, with her as its conductor.
“Long live Queen Scarlet!” the crowd started to chant, more and more SkyWings joining in, the entire town of Aeolus joining in beneath Aurora’s paws, as Pyrrhia shook and crumbled. “Long live Princess Aurora! Long live Queen Scarlet! Long live Princess Aurora!”
Aurora smiled as Sapphire purred, his fur soaked with rain. Water fell from her scales. Though chainlinks dangled from her leg, the enchanted chains were a symbol of her complete and total freedom, not of her bondage. She was Calamity’s pet no more.
Category:Content (Lapisdragon3)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Genre (Adventure)
Category:Genre (Tragedy)