Tern's Migration

= Tern's Migration =
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== Description ==
Tern has always been made fun of. For his unusual black pattered scales, for his low rank among the tribe, and for his missing frostbreath. He wants to know why he became this way, what happened to his egg during incubation. However, after his mother and queen refuse to tell him, his patience grows thin. Accompanied by a sweet RainWing and a troubled SeaWing, he runs away from the Ice Kingdom, the only home he’s ever known, in search of the truth.
Takes place a hundred years after the events of Darkstalker.
== Prologue ==
==== One Hundred Years After the Events of Darkstalker... ====
Queen Alpine whirled around and raked her long, serrated claws across a black dragon’s snout. He cried out in pain and backed up, holding his bleeding face. She summoned the cold within her and released a blast of frostbreath, freezing him solid in a matter of seconds. Panting, she looked down at her talons. The sharp scales usually shone with polished silvery blue, but today they were covered in a glove of red, the blood of these thrice-cursed NightWings. As she launched herself at another NightWing, she couldn’t help but wonder: how have I gone from the gentle dragon I was before I took the throne to one who freezes a NightWing without batting an eye?
         She spotted General Cloud, who, despite his fluffy namesake, was one of her best soldiers.
         “Cloud,” she roared. His head whipped around to look at her, then gave the fleeing NightWing in front of him one last swipe and bounded over.
         “Yes, your Majesty?” he asked, clubbing his tail over a black dragon’s head, knocking him unconscious.
         “What news of the troops?” she asked. Her army was obviously much better trained, but the NightWings vastly outnumbered them. Their powers certainly don’t help. She had fought a distraught-looking NightWing with pretty little silver scales in the corners of her eyes, an odd but beautiful trait some NightWings had. The NightWing had been able to intercept most of her attacks all while supposedly listening to her thoughts and getting visions of the future.
         “We are vastly outnumbered, your Majesty. We have already sustained casualties larger than any other battle in the war so far.”
         Alpine didn’t know why they were still in a war with the NightWings. After her great grandmother, the animus queen Diamond, lost her son and current animus to the NightWings, the next generations of IceWings and NightWings had continued the two queens' struggle for power and vengeance over the IceWing's last animus for over a hundred years. Why are we fighting a war our ancestors started? The IceWings haven’t had magic in over a hundred years and killing ours and their descendants isn’t going to bring to bring it back. It’ll only spill more IceWing blood.
         Queen Alpine had watched as the already devastated number of IceWings in her army has slowly deteriorated to the even scrawnier numbers she had today.
         She was just about to call the retreat when a roar rang over the battlefield. It was distinctly IceWing, and the writhing mass of black and white dragons stilled to watch.
         A pearly white dragon with hints of pink, purple, blue, and green in her scales lay on the ground, panting. A big, muscular, black dragon stood a few paces from her.
         Alpine didn’t need to see his face to know who he was. The unusual dark grey scales of the dragon standing over her was clearly the mighty warrior prince of the NightWings, Duskseer.
         The Icewing laying there was her best friend, Nova. They had been friends from the moment they had met, in the art cave of the school.
         The grey dragon took a step toward her. Alpine sprang into the air silently, soaring across the air to reach her friend, but her husband, Bear, who wasequally good friends with Nova, reached her first. Bear lunged toward Duskseer, but the grey NightWing intercepted his lunge, using Bear's own momentum against him. Bear’s head slammed into the ground with a sickening crack. His corpse flopped onto the ground as Alpine let out a strangled roar. Shocked gasps flooded through the battlefield. She landed next to her fallen husband and knew immediately that he was gone. The lively light had drained from his usually cheerful eyes. She stood, hunched over his body, and slowly turned her head to face Duskseer.
         Quick as a snake, Alpine lunged across the clearing and landed on top of him, digging her serrated claws into his shoulders.
         “Wait!” Nova called weakly; her voice filled with pain. Alpine turned to look at her. She’s egging! She realized with a start. A black egg with silver speckles already laid next her. “Don’t kill him. he wasn’t going to hurt me; he was going to help me!” She tightened her grip on Duskseer’s writhing body.
          “Why would a NightWing help an IceWing?” she hissed, but the pieces were already starting to fall into place.
         “Because he loves me. And I love him. He is the father of my eggs!”      
         Nononono.
         Alpine looked Nova right in her fearful eyes and with a crack, snapped the prince’s neck. Nova cried out and reached a trembling talon towards his convulsing corpse. There. Now we’re even.
         Alpine slunk towards the shaking dragon. She spoke in a grating, grief-filled voice directly into Nova's ear. “I thought we were friends, Nova. But then you betrayed me. You betrayed all of us by falling for a stupid NightWing. And the prince, of all the NightWings you could have chosen. You had so much potential, Nova. There were so many suitors who would have made you happy in the Ice Kingdom. But what has this dragon done for you? Nothing. He’s dead and has caused you more anguish than you ever thought you could feel, hasn’t he?” she said, genuinely sad. She stepped off his lifeless corpse and froze it. With a rattle of her spikes, she turned to address the crowd of black and white dragons.
         “This,” she snarled, “is why we have rules. NightWings, your commander is dead. Fly home now and tell Silentwings that the war is over. I expect her, her generals, and as much treasure as they can carry at this spot before the second moon begins to wane.” The black dragons hesitated, unsure.
         “GO!” she roared, pouring all her rage and pain into her voice. They didn’t need telling twice. The black dragons fled battlefield in a tangle of limbs and wings.
         She turned back to Nova, who had dragged herself over to Duskseer’s corpse and was sobbed over it. Two eggs sat where she had laid them, surrounded by a purple mixture of NightWing and Icewing blood. A strange egg with a black and white marbled pattern sat beside the silver speckled black egg.
         “Take this mess,” she said, gesturing to Nova, “to the Prison Caves.”
         “Uh, is that really necessary? I mean, the Prison Caves…” Cloud’s voice faltered at the glare on Alpine’s face. “Yes, your Majesty.” He ushered Nova up into the air and she cast one last look at her eggs. Alpine felt a flash of empathy. No empathy. Empathy makes you weak. I lost someone I loved, too. Two someones, actually, She thought, drowning out the sorrowful wailing of her own heart with a furious shake of her head.
         As the Royal IceWing Army counted their dead and tended the wounded, Alpine laid under the crook of Bear’s white wing. She shook with silent sobs and, as the ice claimed his body, strengthened her hate for the NightWings and resolved to kill every last one of them.
         After the army left, it was just her, the eggs, and countless black and white corpses. With her bloody serrated claws, she dug a hole. After it was big enough she folded Bear’s limbs in the traditional burial position, his narwhal horn spear between his talons. After burying him, she plucked a nearby silverweed flower from the frozen ground and placed it over the mound of frozen dirt. 
         She picked up the speckled egg. Its smooth shell was soft, like most eggshells were when they were first laid. Cradling it between her talons, she flew to the nearby ocean and chucked it into the crashing black waves. The NightWing-like egg will never survive that. She thought with a flash of glee. NightWings are weak. It probably wouldn’t have survived anyway. She did a banking turn and flew back to the marbled egg.
         “I want to see what you hatch.” She told it, picking it up. It was surprisingly light compared to other one, and she carried it back to palace with ease. She was a bit worried the Great Ice Cliff would shoot it, but she passed over the large ice wall and it remained dormant.
         Above the Great Ice Cliff, she twisted her body to face the direction of the Prison Caves. Nova, we were friends, and you betrayed me. I may never see you again, but I will keep your remaining egg safe- the one with the most IceWing. He will never know his real mother, and I will not pose as his. 
         She looked down at the egg. The NightWings will never have him. 
== Chapter One ==
==== One Year Later... ====
The tiny, nameless dragonet stirred in his egg. The pressing dark was familiar to him, but today is made him feel unwelcome, unloved. He dug his tiny, smooth claws into the hard shell that separated him from the outside world and to his surprise, tiny pinpricks of light shone in through the darkness. Glorious light. He could hear voices outside the shell through the holes.
         “Cliff! It’s hatching!”
         “So?”
         “What do I do with it?”
         “I don’t know, bring it to the queen?”
         “Alright.” His egg lurched suddenly and he retracted his tiny claws from the shell. “Hey, little egg. Good luck hatching!” The first voice said. It was kind, not like the other voice, which sounded bored and rough. The nameless dragonet squeaked a response.
         They arrived at the ‘queen’ a few moments later. He dug his claws in at a different spot in the shell, desperate for more light. The voice made a delighted cooing sound.
         Suddenly, several new voices rang through the air.
         “My queen, the royal hatchery guard has arrived with the strange egg.” I’m strange? He thought.
         “Very well. Bring her in.” the voice was old, like a tree groaning just before it fell. He didn’t know how he knew what a tree sounded like, but it just fit in his head.
         His mount walked forward, then lurched downward. “Queen Alpine, your Majesty, the egg you requested we incubate is hatching.” To help prove her point, he dug all four of his talons into the shell.
         “Thank you, Avalanche. Place the egg down.” Avalanche obliged and his egg dived down and landed on the hard ground.
         The dragonet had had enough. He wanted to see Avalanche and Queen Alpine and even Cliff. He wanted to feel the outside air and bathe in his newfound light. He shoved his head upward and with a satisfying crack, the top of the shell splintered off.
         He poked his head tentatively up through the top of the eggshell and looked around with his purple eyes. A large silvery blue dragon adorned with silver and sapphires sat on a big throne made of ice in the front of the room. Is that my mother?
         With a satisfying crack, he pushed through the rest of the shell. A gasp flooded through the room. His scales were a washed out blue, but each of the sharp scales that lined his back, neck, and tail were edged with black, giving him a snakelike pattern. His claws weren’t serrated, and his forearms, wings, and back legs were covered in smooth, pebbly scales instead of the sharp ones most IceWings had. His horns and spikes were the same color as the rest of his scales, but they faded to black at the tips, and he didn’t have the tail spikes that IceWings should.
         She looked down at him. “Hm, looks IceWing enough. Ivory!” she called sharply. An IceWing with a sad aura and matte white scales snapped her head up.
         “Yes, your Highness?” she asked tentatively.
         “You lost an egg recently, correct?” Ivory nodded with a surprised look. “You and Sleet will be this dragonet’s parents. Tell everyone he’s yours and raise him not to know any different. Begone now and take this dragonet to your place of residence.” She flicked her wing dismissively. Avalanche shot the dragonet one last longing look then bowed and walked away.
         The dragonet looked up at the white dragon as she stood before him. Ivory picked him up and studied him carefully. He giggled and batted at her pearl teardrop earring. She looked surprised, maybe a little scornful, but she whisked him out of the throne room with a deep bow to the queen.
         “Ma?” he asked, climbing up her arm to her back.
         “I guess so,” she said coldly, removing his tiny claws. “Queen Alpine didn’t say you had a name.” she tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Tern. I’ll name you Tern. Like an Arctic Tern, you won’t ever have a place to truly call home. You’ll always be migrating.” He chirruped happily and settled into the crook of her long neck. She sighed and turned into the section of the palace where Second Circle dragons lived. She set him down on the block of ice she slept on. He immediately curled up, intent on a nap, but Ivory had other ideas.
         “No. You don’t get my bed.” She set him down on a measly pile of snow in the corner of the room. “Until you get your own room in the wingery, you stay there.” She growled.
         Tern sat in a dejected puddle of melted snow for the rest of the night, shivering. An adult IceWing had come in just after Ivory had fallen asleep, regarding him with a scowl and yelling at Ivory. Lots of yelling at Ivory. Tern had thrown his black-patterned pale blue wings over his head, falling asleep like that.
         The next day he had been brought to the wingery and given a block of ice to sleep on. Each of the tiny ice dragons had scowled at him, taking one look at his black pattered scales, and decided that he wasn’t good enough. Tern couldn’t help but wonder, is this how my life will be?
== Chapter Two ==
==== Five Years, Two Months Later... ====
         Tern stared at his name, carved in ice, at the bottom of the block of ice. At least I have to look up at it. Some dragons have to look down. It was true, Tern could tilt his head slightly up to view his name where it sat in the middle of the Fifth Circle. His siblings, Floe, Caribou, and Silverweed were way above him. Floe was still in the dragonet rankings with him, but she was third place in the First Circle, and Caribou and Silverweed were both in the adult rankings. Caribou, who was the oldest of them, was sixteenth in the Second Circle, and Silverweed was tenth in the Second Circle. Their mother, Ivory, was ninth in the First Circle, and their father, Sleet, was somewhere in the middle of the Second Circle. We’re a high-ranking family. He thought proudly, then caught sight of his name again, his wings drooping. They’re a high-ranking family.
         With a sigh, he turned around and ran straight into Floe.
         “Oh! I’m sorry,” he said, bowing deeply and spreading his wings. His necklace with five circles dragged into the snow.
         “Get up, get up!” she hissed softly, glancing around then quickly pulling him up by his elbow. “You know you don’t have to do that for me,” she said, smiling as much as she dared. Her single circle necklace twinkled in the fading sunlight. Tern nodded.
         “Force of habit.” He looked away.
         “Come on, let’s go hunting!” she said, nudging his shoulder with her elegant snout.
         Floe radiated beauty and power. Her always pristinely polished scales were the shiny white of fresh white snow, with an under shading of pink. Her eyes were what differentiated her from the rest, though. They were a deep, stunning cerulean, unlike anyone’s in the tribe. Sort of like me, he thought ruefully.
         “I can’t,” he said, backing away from her playful -and forbidden- touch. “I have to study.”
         “I’ll study with you! Come on, it’s the same test!” she looked at him with hopeful eyes.
         “No, Floe, I can’t drag you down anymore. You’d probably be top of the rankings if it weren’t for me.”
         “Don’t be ridiculous. I moved down a spot when I got in a fight with Berg. That had nothing to do with you.”
         “Maybe, but you still haven’t moved back up!” Floe rolled her eyes.
         “Honestly, brother, you worry too much! The rankings shouldn’t rule your life! They’re there so the queen knows who’s loyal and who’s not.”
         “Guess I’m not very loyal,” Tern said ruefully, turning to look at his name.
         “That’s not… it just… well… to be honest, I don’t think the queen likes you too much. It has nothing to do with your loyalty.”
         “No, just my scales.” He said miserably, wings drooping.
         “Come on, just a flight?” she asked hopefully, after a moment.
         “Floe… I need to study.” He said, hoping she’d understand. She nodded solemnly.
         “I will help you.”
         “What? No, Floe-”
         “That’s an order.” she said, her eyes twinkling mischievously. Despite himself, he smiled. “To my room!” she plucked a light globe off the tree and Tern followed her, his own bobbing lightly above his shoulder.
         After studying with Floe for an hour or so, he flew through the darkness to his igloo, located just outside the palace walls. He crept in, hoping his igloo-mates would be asleep already. He covered his light globe with his wing, then opened the icy door very quietly. He slipped in and nearly walked straight into Brumal, who was very much awake. With a frustrated, apologetic mutter, he bowed slightly and walked over to his bed.
         Tern shared his igloo with Brumal, Chill, and Berg, who all place higher in the rankings than him. Brumal was strong, but he wasn’t very smart. Chill was an average level IceWing who just wanted to make it through school and join the army, where she hoped to move up in the rankings. Berg was cunningly smart, but she was very impulsive and often got into fights which dragged her and her opponent down in the rankings. Their only similarity was their aversion to Tern.
         Tern pushed his light globe so that it floated over his tiny nightstand. With a sigh, he began picking all the tiny, sharpened icicles off his polar bear skin rug that covered his icy bed. Tern tolerated the cold all right, but for some reason he couldn’t handle it as well as other IceWings. He also couldn’t exhale frostbreath very well either. And that made him a target for the sharpened-icicle trick, which only worked if they were hidden by the deep polar bear fur. He heard groans behind him. They aren’t too happy I discovered their little plot. He though as he picked up a particularly large icicle off the rug.
         After he finished picking them out, he settled himself on the rugs with a long sigh. The rest of the IceWings had settled themselves on their ice blocks and were now snoring- quite loudly. He turned over so that his blunt spikes faced them.
         Tern looked down as his talons, willing them to change. His smooth black claws shone back up at him. Why are you smooth? You shouldn’t be smooth! His pale blue scales shone in the dim light, outlined by the black ones. Why? Why aren’t you normal? Why aren’t I normal? He ran a claw down his tail, down to the regular tip. He shifted his weight. Why aren’t I like other IceWings? I don’t want to be special- I want to fit in!
== Chapter Three ==
==== The Next Morning… ====
         The morning light shone through the ice-paned window that faced Tern’s bed. The thoughts from last night rushed back into his mid as he woke up. He opened his eyes and looked around. Brumal, Chill, and Berg were gone. Strange. He peeked through the window and was met with the sun, which shone from its spot in the middle of the sky.
         “It’s noon already?” he gasped. He has spent so much time thinking last night that he slept in! Scrambling off his bed, he grabbed his light globe and homework slabs and stepped straight onto the icicles he had chucked across the room last night, which had inconveniently stood up by a particular trio of nasty IceWings.
         “OW! Son of an iceberg, that hurt!” He hissed, as he tenderly plucked the now purple icicles out if his feet and tottered out of the door. Even my blood is the wrong color.
         The snow felt wonderful to his bleeding feet as he stepped into the light. The sun was at its highest peak in the sky, bathing the yard of igloos in its warm, golden light. The snow reflected it back cheerfully, giving the day a vibrant white glow.
         Tern flapped his wings scarcely as he glided past the palace to the school.
         The Academy for IceWing Excellence and Advancing in the Rankings was the one place Tern felt at home. He loved learning, unlike most IceWings, and cherished each book and icy slab filled with knowledge. He excelled at school, but unfortunately, his tendency for staying up late often made him late to school.   
         Tern burst through the door.
         “I’m sorry I’m late!” he yelped before anyone could say anything.
         “To Principal Saxifrage’s office, now.” The teacher snapped, pointing a talon towards the door. Tern ducked his head and shuffled out of the door.
         Ugh! Why do I always get myself into situations like this?!  Tern dragged his aching feet across the cold, icy floors of the school. With a sigh, he turned and knocked on the door.
         “Come in,” a cold voice called. Tern walked through the door and stood at the secretary’s desk. Tern bowed, catching sight of his Third Circle necklace. “He’s ready for you.” He flicked his tail and went back to looking at his book.
         Tern summoned all his courage as he walked through the door to Saxifrage’s office. Taking a deep breath, he pushed through the door.
         Saxifrage’s face fell as Tern pushed through the door.
         “Oh, Tern dear, what now?” she asked, motioning for him to take a seat. Her Second Circle necklace stood out from her light purple scales, edged with grey.
         “I was late.” He said grumpily, dreading Saxifrage’s ‘motivational speech’ that was coming up.
         “You know, you have to wake up and join the rest of the modern IceWings. We didn’t survive the NightWings’ oppression and thievery so that dragonets get to be lazy and sleep in! I know your scales are different, but that’s no excuse to be late o school all the time!” Tern felt anger bubbling inside of him.
         “Why does everyone think my scales have anything to do with anything?!” he shouted. “I’m an IceWing, just like anyone else, no matter what color my scales are!” and just you wait, he added silently, I will become the best IceWing the tribe has ever seen. I’ll be at the top of the rankings, everyone will love me, and the queen will have no excuse to hate me anymore! 
         With a soft snarl, he gathered his wings, whirled around, and burst out of the office. The secretary looked up in surprise as Tern ran past him, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t stop until he was well out of the school and flying away.
         What am I doing? He stopped with a start. Running away from school? Not great for the dragon who wanted to be first in the rankings. With a sigh he turned and soared back in the direction of the school.
         He touched down in front of the door and saw Saxifrage standing at the door.
         “I figured you come back soon.” She said icily. “How about you take the rest of the day off, and come back tomorrow, on time, might I add, and I won’t report this little ‘incident.’ Deal?” Tern nodded vigorously. “Good. Now shoo.” Tern turned and shot up into the sky.
         He touched down a few minutes later, next to his mother, Ivory. She sighed as he walked up to her.
         “Mother.” He bowed.
         “Tern. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked coldly.
         “Just a few moments of you time, please. I have a question gnawing at my mind.” Ivory nodded. “Why am I different from all the other IceWings?” Ivory didn’t answer, and Tern looked at her. Was it just him, or did her matte white scales just get a little paler?
         “Mother?” he asked, after a few more moments of her not answering.
         “I cannot answer.” She said, turning away. “I do not know.” Tern’s hopes fell. His resolve strengthened.
         “Thank you for your time, mother.” Was it just him, or did she flinch just the tiniest bit? He whirled around and went to find Avalanche.
         He landed at the palace gate a couple minutes later. The guard looked up questioningly as Tern approached.
         “What business do you have with the palace?” he asked, after proper greetings were exchanged.
         “I’m here to see a friend. She works in the Royal Hatchery.” The guard nodded.
         “Come in.” opened the gate and Tern walked through, then flew up to the balcony where he knew Avalanche would be guarding the eggs.
         He knocked on the door. “Come in,” a muffled voice called. Tern pushed open the door and walked in.
         “Oh! Tern!” Avalanche swept him off his sore feet into a hug, her large light gray and purple wings wrapped around his.
         “Avalanche! Most undignified!” he cried, pushing away. He lowered his voice. “I don’t want to drag you down.” Avalanche rolled her periwinkle eyes and shrugged.
         “Tern, I was at your hatching. I couldn’t care less about you ‘dragging me down’.” He smiled. “Now, surely you haven’t come just to bask in the warmth of my ‘undignified’ embrace, have you?”
         Tern shook his head. “I want to know why I’m different.” Avalanche’s face fell.
         She turned away and resumed turning the silvery eggs. “I knew one day you would demand to know that.” She turned to him with sad eyes. “But alas, I cannot tell you what you seek. Only the queen can.” Why?
         “Fine then. I shall ask her myself.”
         “Tern, that’s not a promising idea. A Fifth Circle dragonet asking for an audience with the queen?” Avalanche reasoned.
         Tern stomped his foot. “Avalanche, I’m sick of being treated like I’m a dragon from another tribe. If I just knew where I came from, maybe I could fix myself. And if the queen won’t tell me, I’ll go gallivanting about the continent, searching for answers.” Avalanche sighed.
         “You’d better put in a request, then. It always gets busy this time of year.”
== Chapter Four ==
==== Six Days Later… ====
         Tern shifted his weight nervously. He had put in a request for an audience as soon as he had finished talking with Avalanche, and after five days of waiting for an answer, an IceWing messenger had arrived at his door, much to the bewilderment of his igloo-mates. The ice slab Tern had been handed said to be present at the Great Hall before the sun reached its highest point of the next day, and Tern had scrambled to get ready. He had taken a swim in the most crystalline waters he could find, polished his scales smooth for seemed like hour with freshly fallen snow, and he even put on his tanzanite earring, which only wore to parties and other special events, so not very often.
         Bu now he stood in the Great Hall, waiting for the presenter. Suddenly the door cracked open and a light blue head popped out.
         “Her Majesty Queen Alpine requires your presence.” Tern nodded and walked slowly and purposefully toward the door.
         “Presenting Tern, Fifth Circle dragonet of The Academy for IceWing Excellence and Advancing in the Rankings. He bowed and walked back over to Tern, nudging him with his spiked tail. Tern felt a flash of envy as he walked the past the spike adorned IceWing. He turned the corner and let out a small gasp.
         Queen Alpine radiated menace and power, and Tern immediately regretted meeting with her. She was massive, showing her old age. Her silvery scales were worn and sinewy but she clearly could squash him like a hare. She wore a silver crown adorned with sapphires which matched her eyes, as well as a pair of silver bracelets and the silver necklace with the snowflake pendant all the IceWing queens before had worn. A silver band shaped like a narwhal slithered up her tail, studded with blue gems. Suddenly his tanzanite earring seemed like a pebble compared to her jewelry getup.
         He bowed deeply, pressing his snout into the frozen floor beneath him.
         “You may rise.” Her voice was soft, but he could hear it clearly. “State your case.”
         He lifted his head, still crouched in a bow position, his wings spread wide. Alpine’s tail twitched upwards and Tern arose fully.
         “Your Majesty, I am here to ask you of my past.” He said, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. She raised her head slightly.
         “What of it?”
         “All of it, your Highness, if you please.”
         She answered with a haughty tip of her snout. “What makes you think you were raised differently than any other IceWing?” she asked. “You should not stick your snout in places it does not belong.”
         “B-but my queen, surely something happened to my egg? I am so different from other IceWings.” He said, deflating a bit.
         “You were hatched in my Royal Hatchery under the care and supervision of my egg guards, and you ask me if you were raised correctly? Frankly, I’m a little insulted.” She said.
         Tern threw himself into a prostrate position. “I am sorry, I did not mean offence.”
         “Apology accepted. Now, get back to doing whatever it is modern IceWing dragonets do.” She said, humor in her voice that didn’t quite meet her eyes. Tern nodded and lifted himself off the floor, feeling dejected.
         He had gone to queen searching for answers, and she had taken it as an insult and then laughed at him!
         I am so done with this treatment, he thought, fury building up behind his thoughts. I can’t take it anymore! He flew back to his igloo.
         As he walked in, he caught his igloo-mates setting up icicles on his bed again.
         “Oh! Tern! We, uh, we thought you’d be with the queen for longer!” Chill said nervously.
         Tern’s anger fizzes up again. “Why do pick on me all the time?!” he roared. “Why can’t you all leave me alone?!” the three of them stared at Tern, dumbfounded. He usually never fought back.
         The silence only lasted a moment though. “Wow, Tern’s session with the queen must have gone really badly!” Berg sneered.
         “Yeah,” Brumal said, “did you get banished or something?” he asked as Tern packed all his belongings into a large sealskin bag.
         “No. I’m going hunting.” Tern snapped. “Keep your seedy claws off my things.” He snatched his hunting knife from Berg’s talons.
         “Why do you need a this to go hunting?” Chill asked, picking the small stone swooping bird Floe had carved for him.
         “Um, it’s… a good luck charm?”
         “What about this?” Berg asked, taking out a jar of scale conditioner.
         “Stop that,” Tern snapped, taking it out of her claws. He quickly shoved the small stuffed arctic fox he often slept with into his bag.
         Not quickly enough.
         “Ha! Tern sleeps with a stuffed arctic fox!” Brumal hooted, laughing so hard he fell onto Tern’s bed, then jumped back up with a yelp as an icicle stabbed his posterior.
         Tern growled as he slung the sealskin bag over his shoulders and wings.
         “Hey, bring me back a seal!” Brumal called after him. Berg snapped at him, and he fell silent.
         “He’s not actually going hunting, butterfly brain,” she said, “he’s running away.” 
== Chapter Five ==
==== Three hours later… ====
         Tern wasn’t sure where to go. He was hyped about his adventure earlier, but he’d never really what he’d do when he actually ran. And now he was perched on the sheer top of the Great Ice Cliff, looking out over the vast, unexplored world of Pyrrhia. He’d seen it on maps, sure, but seeing the tundra in real life was so much better than looking at a scrawled map.
         His eyes darted around, searching for prey. He preferred land animals to sea animals, but if he couldn’t find a squirrel or hare, he’d just have to settle for a fish.
         Wait- was that a flash of white over by that large cluster of rocks? With a deep breath, he soared off the Great Ice Cliff into the snowy tundra.
         He landed on the snowy, rocky ground, which was painfully sharp underneath his feet, which were still sore from his igloo-mates icicle prank. He noticed a dark blue spear embedded into the closer side of the rocks, facing the Cliff. He walked around the rocks and walked straight into the shock of his life.
         A bedraggled RainWing stood in front of him, lily-green and white with unsettlingly unfocused sepia eyes.
         “Jaguar?” she asked, staggering back, as he let out a yelp. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed. Tern jumped back.
         Uh… what do I do? All of the sudden I have an unconscious RainWing in my talons! The lily green faded from her scales and they settled on a chilly blue. He noticed she was shivering. Well, I can’t just leave her here! He began dragging her out from behind the rock. He heard a twang and turned to see a blue spear flinging itself at her. Without thinking, he threw himself in front of the spear. It hesitated just in front of his chest, as if it couldn’t decide whether it would be better to kill and IceWing and a RainWing or if it would be better to let them both live. Thankfully it chose the latter and just dropped at his talons. He bent to pick it up, but as soon as his talons brushed it, is faded. Animus magic is so weird.     
         He positioned himself so that the Cliff couldn’t shoot her without shooting through him first. Thankfully, it didn’t and he managed to get to a cave that had spotted not too far away. He dragged her farther into the cave, just to be safe.
         He stepped on something hot. With a hiss he dropped the RainWing’s shoulders gently and jumped back. After rubbing his burn vigorously with his cold scales, he turned to find out what it was.
         A fire! He recognized the low burning coals from a drawing he had seen once. How do you start a fire? Something with my breath- but not frostbreath! He grabbed a couple of twigs from a pile nearby and set them on the coals, then blew on it vigorously. It turned a bright orange, then the twigs caught on fire and Tern jumped back, startled.
         “Um, sticks… more sticks…” he mumbled as he searched for them. Luckily, there was a pile of thicker sticks and even a couple of logs piled nearby. He put the thick sticks on top of the small twigs and blew on it again. After he nearly blew himself unconscious, the thick sticks caught on fire. Yes! He left the logs where they were and grabbed the RainWing gently around the shoulders and pulled her so that she was curled up as close as she could be without burning herself.
         After he was certain she was comfortable, he flew out of the cave to find her a rabbit to eat when she woke up. She was a bit on the thinner side.
         He returned with a rabbit and a fish a little while later. He flew back into the cave and landed by the fire. No! No! Don’t die! He furiously threw more tiny twigs onto the rapidly dying fire. Luckily, they caught fire really quickly, and he placed more thick sticks on it. This time he went the distance to put the logs on it, splitting them with his teeth (ouch) and them placing them gently on the fire.
         He heard a spluttering cough behind him and whirled around. The RainWing had woken up, and her scales were blue and lily green. RainWing scale colors mean something, right?
          Her sepia eyes darted around the cave, not seeing Tern, who was hidden in the shadows, away from the fire.
         Ducking his head, he emerged from the shadows. The RainWing yelped and scrabbled back and pressed her back against the wall, eyes wide.
         “Don’t hurt me,” she whispered.
         “I won’t,” he reassured her. “You hungry?” she nodded, her scales still a marbled pattern of lily green and blue. “Come sit by the fire, you need to warm up.” He said, holding his talon out to her. Her eyes widened and she sidled up to sit in front of the fire, on the opposite side of Tern.
         “So,” he said, after a little while of silence. “I’m Tern. I’m an IceWing. I’ve never been outside the Great Ice Cliff before now.” She nodded.
         “I’m Indri. Um, I’ve never been in the Ice Kingdom. I was trying to get in, but it was too cold and there’s no fruit growing.” She said softly.
         “Oh! Food! Here, I have a rabbit and a fish.” He held them out and Indri shuddered.
         “Do you have any fruit?” she asked.
         “Uh, it’s the Ice Kingdom, we don’t really grow much fruits up here.” He said. Her stomach growled loudly and her scales flushed hot pink. Embarrassment? He wondered.
         “Um, well, fish isn’t furry, so I guess I’ll cook that.” She said quietly. He handed her the fish on a stick and she tentatively held it over the fire.
         A few minutes later she asked, “Is it cooked?” she looked over at Tern and then her scales paled to white and a sort of sick looking green. He was eating his rabbit.
         “Um, I don’t know. We don’t really ‘do’ fire in the Ice Kingdom, nor do we cook our meat. But maybe just make it blackish on the outside and we’ll go from there?” he asked. Indri nodded, still looking sick.
         They eventually decided that it was cooked when the skin was a dark brown- the whole cave smelt like burnt fish scales.
         “So, um, who’s Jaguar?” Tern asked after Indri finished, still smacking her lips softly with a disgusted look on her face.
         “What?” she asked, her head snapping up and her scales turning an eyeball-scorching mixture of pale pink and hot pink.
         “You called out his or her name when were sort of, um, delirious.”
         “Oh. Well, er, Jaguar is my papaya.” Tern raised his eyebrows. It was news to him that RainWings named their fruits.
         “Er, okay,” he said awkwardly, sorry he’d asked.
         Indri laughed, a delighted and adorable noise. “No, sorry, ‘papaya’ is RainWing slang for a dragon’s true love.” Her scales shifted from the pinks to a calm mixture of taupe and light gray, mixed with hints of pale pink along her wings, frill and sides.
         “I wasn’t going to say anything, but that’s much for tolerable than the bright pink you were earlier.” Tern said, trying to hide this strange feeling of disappointment he had.
         Indri looked town at herself. “Yes, I’m probably the mutest thing in the rainforest.” Tern nodded.
         “I’m probably the strangest looking creature in the Ice Kingdom.” He said sadly.
         “Really? You look normal to me. Here, step into the light.” Tern bowed his head and stepped forward into the firelight. Indri let out a little gasp.
         “Yeah, I figured so.” He said, stepping back into the shadows and laying down. “Weirdest creature in the entire world.” Indri was silent. I knew she wouldn’t be any different. I shouldn’t have trusted her. I should have-
         “Do you know why?” she asked suddenly.
         “What- I, well, no. I actually ran away after I asked the queen to tell me, and she told me it ‘wasn’t where my snout belonged’ even though it clearly was, because I’m me!” he snarled, throwing up his patterned wings.
         “May I ask, what exactly are you planning to do?” Indri asked. Tern was shocked. He had never met a dragon as kind to him as this one. Even Floe had her moments of snippiness.
         “I, uh, no. I was sitting on the Great Ice Cliff, pondering that exact thing, when I saw you.”
         “Oh. Well, I suppose we’ll have to think of something.” Indri said, standing up shakily. We?
         “Wait, um, you’re coming?” he asked with an awkward cough.
         “Of course! You saved me; I have to find some way to repay you!” Indri said, as though nothing stranger had ever been said.
         Would going away count? He thought, even though his icy heart longed for her to stay. Company who didn’t snap at him or tell him how to move up in the rankings or order him around. She was just so easygoing. “Um, er, you don’t need to; it’s all fine.” He said, trying to act casual.
         “Nonsense.” She said, spreading her wings experimentally. “Everyone needs a companion.” He tried to swallow the smile building within him.
         ‘Well, I guess if you would like to, who am I to stop you?” He turned his face away from the accusing firelight. Stop it! He imagined all his happy feeling in a pile under a large, snowy mountain. He imagines stomping his foot and sending an avalanche to cover them up, until they’re buried far below layers and layers of packed snow.
         They sat in silence for a bit. “We should probably go to sleep. Big day tomorrow.” Tern said, looking at Indri, who had her taupe back to the fire. She didn’t respond. “Indri?” he walked around the fire to peer at her.
         Her eyes were closed and she breathed in a great sigh, shivering as Tern’s cold scales touched her wing. He backed up and sat on his haunches.
         Can I take him out? He stalked to the other side of the cave where his sealskin bag laid. Carefully, he moved aside the blanket covering Taiga. The little arctic fox was made of a large patch of worn gray silk that had washed up on one of their western beaches. Where it had come from, no one knew, but Tern had taken in and sewed it into this little fox. He originally made it to be a gift for Floe, but he had, ashamedly, grown rather attached to it. He curled down into the shadows, tucking it into the crook of his elbow.
         With a large yawn, he slipped into sleep.
== Chapter Seven ==
==== The Next Morning... ====
         Tern awoke to a low growling sound. He crept to the mouth of the cave, quietly, bag in hand. An IceWing was outside, battling a full-grown snow leopard. Floe! He’d recognize her pink tinged scales anywhere.
         With a growl, the snow leopard threw itself at Floe. She stood there, rooted to the spot, and when it reached her, she threw her talons around its neck and broke it with a clean snap.
         Tern jumped out of his hiding place, startling Floe. She whirled towards Tern and slashed her claws at his nose, snarling.
         “Tern!?” she cried, jumping back. “Everyone’s looking for you! Why are you here?”
         “Uh- hunting?” he said, rubbing his nose.
         “With Taiga?” she asked teasingly, pointing to the fox in his talons.
         “Well- uhm, fine. I ran away. I need to find out why I’m like this. I can’t stay in the Ice Kingdom anymore.” He said, head drooping.
         “I understand. But Tern, you should have told me. Here, take this leopard.” She motioned to the leopard still laying in the snow.
         “I can’t.”
         “Yes, you can.”
         “No, I’m going to fly over the ocean to reach the Sky Kingdom. I do not want to brave the temperatures of the Kingdom of Sand. The leopard will be too heavy.” And my new companion is a vegetarian.
         “Oh. All right. Well, I have to get back to the palace, but I’ll tell Mother, Father, Silverweed, and Caribou that you’re all right.” She said, turning to pick up the leopard and fly away.
         “No! I mean, please don’t, I don’t want them to follow me.” Floe nodded.
         “Fine." She snorted, but then her face softened. "Be safe, brother. I hope you find the truth.”
         “Thank you.” He bowed to her, and she dipped her head in response, picking up the leopard and flying away. Tern stared longingly after her.
         “Who’s that?” Indri asked quietly, emerging from the cave, and giving Tern a miniature heart attack.
         “My sister. It’s lucky you didn’t come out earlier, she would have finished what even the Great Ice Cliff couldn’t.”
         “What’s the Great Ice Cliff?” Indri asked. Tern was confused.      
         “I found you right in front of it- it’s enchanted to shoot spears at any dragon who’s not an IceWing.”
         Indri paled, her scales going white. “That’s horrible! Why would any tribe do that?!” She cried; the first enthusiastic statement Tern had heard from the quiet, shy dragon.
         “To keep invaders out, clearly. Now, come on, we’re going to fly over that ocean to get to the Sky Kingdom,” Tern said, pointing a wing at the glittering ocean and the distant landmass behind it.
         “Oh.” Her talons subconsciously moved to a cluster of lupines and started weaving it into a circle. He watched as she lifted a crown of dark indigo flowers to her head and set it over her horns.
         “Wow.” He said softly.
         “What?” she looked up, surprised.
         “I don’t think even Floe could make a flower crown that quickly.”
         She raised her eyebrow at the name but didn't prod. “I guess I just do it a lot. I love flowers, I’m almost always wearing them.” She said meekly. Tern stood up and Indri flinched. Still smarting from the Great Ice Cliff, I suppose. 
         “We’d better get going.” He said, grabbing his sealskin bag and dropping Taiga into it from its place in the crook of his wing. Indri cocked her head slightly but said nothing. Tern slung his bag onto his back and leaped into the air. Indri followed, her wings quivering slightly with effort. He turned and took off toward the distant Sky Kingdom, its mountains looming in the morning sun.
         Indri’s flight wavered, and she stopped. Tern looked back over his should, saw her stopped, and flew around to talk to her.         
         “What’s wrong?” he asked.
         “I have to get Carnation.” Tern raised his eyebrows.
         “Is that your mother? Do they have a weird slang term, too?” he asked sarcastically.
         “No, he’s my parrot. I left him on the edge of the Kingdom of Sand.” Tern groaned.
         “All right, fine, let’s go.” He started winging off back towards the snowy tundra. Indri followed.     
         As soon as they arrived at the desert, where the snow gave way to sand, Tern immediately hated it. His scales felt hot and sweaty, like each of them were melting into a puddle of slush.
         ‘Ugh! Find your bird and let’s get out of here!” Tern said, shaking the disgustingly warm sand off his cold talons. Indri nodded and whistled.
         A minute later a red bird appeared, winging across the desert at an insane pace. It landed on one of Indri’s horns and sampled a lupine, then spit it out again.
         He was a vibrantly red parrot with green and blue wings and tail feathers. His grey beak clicked as he gently nibbled Indri’s ear.
         “I left him here because I didn’t want him to get hurt or frozen in the ice. But I didn’t far get far, anyways. Hey, want to see something he can do?” Indri asked, her eyes shining. Tern shrugged.
         “Ok- Carnation, speak.” The red parrot began to babble- or rather, speak his mind.
         “Indri! Bad companion, bad companion! He eats leopard!” he croaked. “Big shiny diamondy! EAT US!” he shrieked hysterically.
         “Hush. What do you mean he eats leopard?” she asked, shooting him a nervous glance.
         “Stowaway leopard! HUNGRY!” he squawked. Stowaway leopard?
         “Crazy bird, I have no leopard. Let me show you.” He turned to his sealskin bag and opened it to show the bird. “See? No leopard.”
         “Um, Tern? There is a leopard in there.” Indri said nervously. What? He flipped the bag around and peered inside. Sure enough, two bright blue eyes peered out at him.
         “LIAR!” Carnation shrieked. Tern rolled his eyes.
         “Featherbrain, I didn’t know it was in there.” He didn’t why he felt the need to defend himself from the bird.
         He gently lifted the leopard out of his bag. It was a snow leopard, like the one Floe… had killed. Oh, no. That stupid snow leopard must have had a kitten. 
         “Oh. We should take it back.” Indri said, leaning forward to scratch her chin.
         “We can’t. she’s an orphan.” Indri’s scales turned bright lime. Surprise?
         “W-well, I suppose I could have another pet.” She said, reaching for her. “Come here, little one.” The snow leopard growled, climbed out of Tern’s talons onto his back, and purred.
         “No! Snow leopard, go to her! Bother her with your furry warmth!” he demanded. She purred violently and sunk deeper into the crook of Tern’s neck, digging her tiny pinprick claws into the cracks between his scales.
         “Looks like she’s yours. What are you going to name her?”
         “How about Temporary?” he growled. Indri rolled her eyes.
         “Think about it.” She said softly. Arg! How does this dragon so easy calm my feelings?! Her stupid, soft voice just… urg! 
         “Let’s go.” He growled, trying to retain the fury he had left. He had to block out his feelings, his pain, his… everything, or else the world (or his parents) would find and exploit it. He was sure this dragon was no different. “We’ll fly to the Great Five-Tail River and camp there, then head to the Sky Kingdom after that.”
         “I don’t mean to, er, be nosy, but what are we going to do in the Sky Kingdom?” Indri asked, in her irritatingly, yet calming soft voice.
         “I don’t know where else to start. I need to know how to find out what happened to me, why I’m different, and how to fix it.” Tern admitted with a frustrated growl. Indri reached out with a wing like she wanted to embrace him but wasn’t sure what he’d think about it.
         “We’ll figure out how.” She said reassuringly, pulling her wing back. Tern was genuinely confused. This taupe dragon kept surprising him. Why would a dragon from a completely different tribe care to help him? Any IceWing in the kingdom would tell him that it didn’t matter and that the only thing that mattered what your rank was. Tern’s wings drooped.
         “Let’s just get to the river and plan from there.” Tern twisted around and grabbed his bag, flinging over one shoulder. He made no move to grab the cat. “I hope you can hold on, cat, because we’re flying now.” He grumbled, unsure of why he cared. Tern leapt into the sky, Indri on his tail.
         They landed on the bank of the Great Five-Tail River an hour later. The lush green grasses on the bank were welcome compared to the burning sands of the desert. Tern set a wing down on the grass and the snow leopard scrambled off and she stalked off into the foliage.
         Indri landed on the grass, panting. Her bird collapsed onto the ground next to her.
         “OUT OF SHAPE!” he scolded. “LUNATIC GLOBETROTTERS MUST HAVE GOOD CORPUSES!”  
         “Stop it, Carnation.” She tapped the bird’s beak lightly. He muttered something the hopped up to perch on her horn. Tern snorted back laughter.
         “Ice Monster likes my voice!” Carnation cooed.
         “No, I don’t. And what in the name of all things cold is a corpus?” Tern growled. A crunching sound made him turn. The little leopard trotted back into the clearing, holding two small sunfish. Indri curled her snout and picked a purple fruit off a tree nearby.
         “Here, Carnation. Have a persimmon.” Carnation plucked it from her talons and shoved into his beak. Now it was Tern’s turn to grimace as Indri delicately nibbled on one. He turned to the leopard.
         “Could I have one?” he asked her. She mrrwed and shoved a fish in his direction. His eyebrows nearly flew to the moons in surprise. “T-thanks.” He said awkwardly, digging into the small fish. Maybe there is some use to keeping her around.
          He laid down on the grass and closed his eyes. The leopard finished her fish and curled up in the crook of his elbow, were Taiga usually was. He curled his head around to touch his back legs and curled his spike-less tail over his nose. 
== Chapter Seven ==
==== The Next Morning… ====
         Tern woke up confused. He’d had a dream about an emerald green SeaWing with bright yellow phosphorescent stripes wearing an earring made of black stone. Odd specificity. 
Tern reached up and felt his ear, realizing he still was wearing his fancy tanzanite earring. Eh, it was mine anyways. He rolled over, the spikes on his back tearing up the grass. Great, now I have to go for a swim. He thought, glancing back at his grass and dirt covered spikes.
         He stood up and knocked the cat from back accidentally. He had forgotten she was there. She hissed in retaliation, and he raised his talons innocently. Great. Now I’m apologizing to cats. He turned around and ran into Indri. ARG. WHY am I RUNNING into everyone?!
         “Good morning.” She said with a yawn.
         “You too.” He growled bitterly. Her eyebrows furrowed, and he immediately felt horrible. He leapt over her and positioned himself to dive into the river. Wait, what is that? It lunged out of the water and tackled him. He hit the ground with a thud and the breath was knocked out him. It held Tern down by his shoulders, and Tern found himself looking into the face of an emerald green SeaWing with bright yellow stripes… and a black earring.
         He threw his attacker off and flew into the sky, slamming himself down into the SeaWing, claws extended. He yelped and rolled out of the way, slamming into Indri. She cried out and toppled into the river.
         “I can’t swim!” she cried, water rushing into her mouth. Tern leapt over the SeaWing and dove into the river after her. He wasn’t the best swimmer, but he could swim, which made him better than Indri. He caught up to her flailing limbs and got his face smacked by her wing as he reached for her. The claw on the tip caught the scales under his eye. He roared in pain, and she froze. He grabbed her shoulders and dragged her to the bank, fighting hard against the strong current. She came up, coughing, and he dragged himself out after her. He opened his bloodied eye and saw the SeaWing facing off with the baby snow leopard. The SeaWing lunged at the tiny cat, who leapt onto his head, growling. The SeaWing thrust his head forward forcefully, and she went flying off. The green dragon jumped forward and pinned her down, ready to eat her.
         “NIPPY!” he roared, leaping forward, and pinning the SeaWing to the ground with his claws.
         “Whoa, dude, uncool!” The SeaWing growled, pushing ineffectively at Tern’s claws.
         “You want to know what’s ‘uncool’?” Tern hissed dangerously, “Coming here and attacking me, pushing Indri into the river, and trying to eat Nippy!”
         “EATING NIPPY, BAD! ICE MONSTER LIKES NIPPY!” Carnation squawked.
         “Shut UP, bird!” Tern growled. “So?” he swung his head back to the SeaWing.
         “Everyone knows this is my stretch of river! So why are you here?” he growled back.
         “You can’t ‘own’ a stretch of the Great Five-Tail River! It belongs to the SandWings and SkyWings!”
         “Whatever, dude. Can you let me up?” Tern stepped off the SeaWing, who flung himself up. Tern stalked back over to stand beside Indri and Nippy.
         “You named your leopard ‘Nippy’?” Indri whispered. “That’s adorable.” Tern scowled.
         “What is a weird looking IceWing and a RainWing doing together?” he asked. “That is like, super weird.”
         “What is a SeaWing doing in a river on the opposite side of the continent from his kingdom?” Tern shot back, his words dripping with venom. The SeaWing opened and closed his mouth a few times.
         “My parents kicked me out.” He said abruptly. “Well, I kinda sorta ran away on my own. They didn’t like me; they were bullies.” He turned and showed Tern a scar running down his side. “Eventually I’d had enough and moved to the farthest body of freshwater I could find.”
         “That’s- not a reason to attack us.” Tern said, distracting himself with the clearing the purple blood out of his eye.
         “Sorry about that.” Indri said softly, resting her wing lightly on his. His breath caught in his throat and he pulled it away quickly.
         “Okay, buddy, you just got to tell me- what up with the black edged scales? I mean, it’s a cool look, don’t get me wrong, but really, very weird.”
         “My scales have nothing to do with you.” Tern snapped. He stalked away to check on Nippy.
         “Sorry, he’s sensitive about his scales. We’re trying to figure out why he’s like that and how to fix it.” He heard Indri apologize.
         Fury coursed through his veins. She did not have to apologize for him! he whipped around.
         “Maybe if you spent your life being mocked, undermined, and moved down in your tribe’s hierarchy repeatedly to the point where you just can’t take it anymore you would understand why I’m ‘sensitive’ about my scales! And Indri, I don’t want the entire continent to know what who we are, what we’re doing, and what we ate for breakfast!” he snarled, and launched into the sky, away from the two dragons. Stupid Indri. Leaking out information everywhere we go. He thought, but part of him felt bad for what he had done. No! I was perfectly justified in everything I did! She was the one who apologized for me and explained my whole ‘situation’!
         He banked a turn and flew over the heads of the two dragons chatting below him. She’d probably be happier with his stupid company than mine. Tern didn’t know why that made him feel so bitter inside, like he’d eaten a piece of a rotting carcass.
         Tern flew for a while, trying to clear his head. He peered down at the ground below him, lost in thought. He watched absently as the green grass turned yellow, then faded into sand.
         Sand? He stopped flying with a jolt, hovering in place. I’m in the desert? He flew in a wide circle and stared at the yellow grass. He couldn’t even see the shimmering water with his sharp IceWing eyes.
         The sun beat down mercilessly on his scales, which were pouring sweat. Suddenly the yellow grasses in the distance seemed a lot closer. He could see Indri and that stupid SeaWing standing on them, looking up at the sky.
         “Indri!” he called. “I'm sorry, that was stupid of me, I’m coming!” he thrust himself forward, towards the wandering dragons. Suddenly there were four more dragons there, all IceWings. He recognized the matte scales of his mother, and the pale grey scales of his father, Sleet. Silverweed’s shimmery white scales stood beside Caribou’s light grey ones.
         Then his vision went blurry, and he collapsed into the sand next to his translucent family. Ivory looked down at him with concerned eyes, then she, along with the rest of the world faded to black. 
== Chapter Eight ==
Some Time Later…
         Tern opened his bleary eyes and found himself staring into a SandWing’s. He sat up with a yelp and bared his teeth, then grabbed his head in his talons as pain stabbed through his eye sockets.
         “Calm down, dear,” A SandWing standing over a pot of something said. “Khamsin is all bark and no bite. He won’t hurt you.”
         “Yes.” The SandWing standing over Tern said. “You’re very lucky we found you, or else the sunstroke would have killed you.”
         “Yes, father?” A small, sad-looking SandWing poked her head into the door.
         “This IceWing had a bad bought of sunstroke, would you fetch some water?” The Sandwing nodded and pulled her head out of the door with a mournful glance at Tern. What’s her problem? He wondered.
         “Well, you’ve met Khamsin and Dyssodia, and I’m Simoom. Welcome to out humble hut.” She spread her wings. ‘And of course, our servant, Squirrel.” A small pale orangey-yellow SkyWing with striking pale blue eyes nosed his head in with a soft clatter through a doorway draped with hanging beads.
         “Yes, Madam?” he asked. There was a kind of lingering sadness surrounding him.
         “Oh, nothing, dearie, just introducing you to our newest guest.” Squirrel shot a fearful glance at Tern. What is it with these dragons? “Would you like some snake soup?” Simoom asked, holding a coconut bowl. Squirrel’s head withdrew out of the room quickly.
         “Uhm, sure, thanks.” He took the bowl from her outstretched talons as she watched him carefully. He sipped the soup. It tasted strange, like the wrong herb was put in. The pieces of snake slithered down his throat, and Tern could feel its scales. He shuddered and looked up at Khamsin.
         “It’s, er, delicious. Thank you.”
         “No, thank you, son,” he said, leaning in, as Tern’s eyelids drooped and he collapsed back onto the pallet he was laying on, asleep.
         Tern awoke with a start. His head was heavy, like someone had poured sand down his eye sockets. He was chained to a palm tree outside of Khamsin’s hut.
         “Let me go!” he roared, “Khamsin! Simoom!”  A sandy-colored head poked out of the door.
         “Khamsin.” He snarled. “You shifty SandWing. I should have known not to accept food from a SandWing.” Khamsin shrugged, stepping out of the hut, and walking over to Tern.
         “Well, maybe it didn’t work out for you, but it sure worked out for me! You see, Squirrel is nearing the end of his ‘hired’ time, so we need a new servant. Preferably one who we don’t have to pay for.” He leaned in with a smug grin. Tern threw his head back and laughed, trying to cover his nervousness.
         “You really think I’m just going to roll over and accept my ‘destiny’? No. I will fight every step of the way, you walrus breath.” Khamsin looked down his nose at Tern, his eyes dark and defiant.
         “Well, then. I suppose we’ll have to take the fight out of you. Simoom, no food or water for him until he relents.” He called, walking back to the hut. Tern bared his teeth at his retreating form, wishing he could shoot venom from them like Indri could. Not that she would.
         Tern felt hot and uncomfortable in the hot desert sand, but at lease he wasn’t in the direct sunlight. The palm tree was low, and a cluster of cacti grew not too far from him. Tern dragged himself over to them and settled in the shade.
         Tern tried, and failed, to use his nonexistent frostbreath. He imagined a glacier coming up and out of his throat, like Floe had tried to teach him. He managed a few pitiful snowflakes, which melted as soon as they hit the hot, dry desert air. He curled up with a sigh and tried to conserve the cold inside him.
         He was there, lying out under the cacti for three days. Every day Khamsin came out and asked if he was ready to resign to his fate. Every day he snarled and swiped at his smug snout, no matter how tired or hungry or thirsty he was. At least the desert got colder at night, and he did manage to catch a lizard sunbathing on a nearby rock yesterday.
         But on the third day, Tern was spent. He knew he couldn’t go much longer without drinking, and his scales felt as though they had melted off long ago, replaced by hot sunbaked stones. So, when Khamsin came out that day, he was ready.
         “Tern. Are you ready to embrace your destiny?” He asked, eyeing Tern’s poor condition. Tern pulled himself painfully to his parched feet. His scales were bleeding, and his purple blood stained the sand underfoot.
         “You know good and well that I can’t survive for one more day without water.” He said, flicking his bloody tail. “Give me water, and I’ll tell you.” His brain felt cloudy as Khamsin snickered.
         “Well, if you want to be stubborn, I’ll give you but a taste. Those cacti have been full of water the entire time you’ve been out here.” Tern looked at them. They were full of water? Agonizingly slowly he walked towards them, feeling like he was walking through a glacier. A very hot glacier. He broke off a piece and the spines dug into his scales, but he didn’t care. Water glistened at the edges of the green plant, and without restraint, leaned forward and licked it, then bit into the fleshy middle, avoiding the spines. The water moistened his parched tongue, and his loosely bound wings wrapped themselves around him, wanting some of the water for themselves.
         Khamsin watched in feigned boredom as Tern sucked the moisture from that piece, then grabbed another and rubbed it all over his scales.
         “My answer is no.” he said, grabbing another piece.
         “Wrong answer, IceWing.” Khamsin said, his calm mask slipping to reveal a face of untouchable rage. Quick as a snake, released a stream of red-hot fire straight onto the rest of the cacti, which immediately burst into flames. Tern scrambled away, still clutching the piece of cactus.
         “Now. What’s your answer?” He growled, stalking towards Tern. He saw the flickering glow of white-hot flames rising in Khamsin’s throat.
         “Stop!” he cried, flinging his talons out, dropping the useless piece of cactus which he had involuntarily squeezed the water out of.
         Khamsin, miraculously, listened and took a step back, swallowing the fire building in his throat.
         “Good idea, Tern,” he cooed, his sickly-sweet façade back. “We’ll fight. If you win, you go free. If I win, well, you’ll be forced to ‘embrace your destiny’. What do you say?” Tern shrugged.
         “Fair enough. Take these off and I promise you’ll never see me again.” He shook his wings at Khamsin. They were really aching to fly.
         Khamsin snickered. “You talk pretty, but no. I’ll take the chains off, but no way am I letting your wings stay free.” He walked forward and Tern swiped at his face. Khamsin just chuckled and wrestled with Tern’s wings. Tern shook them, making it as hard as possible for him to bind them. Soon enough, despite his best efforts, his wings were tied with long lengths of rope.
         “There. Now, you suffer out here a while longer, and I’ll go tell Simoom the news.” He left with a chuckle.
         He returned an hour later with Simoom, Dyssodia, and Squirrel. Dyssodia and Squirrel looked like they had been forced to go, their faced unhappy. Simoom stepped forward.
         “The rules of this duel are simple- you do not have to kill to win, first to admit defeat or be knocked unconscious loses.” Squirrel walked over to Tern. How did I get myself into this situation?  He though miserably.
         “Good luck,” Squirrel said as he undid Tern’s chains. “You’re going to need it. Khamsin fights dirty, and Simoom won’t hesitate to step in if she feels like he’s going to lose. But Khamsin has one weak spot- at the base of his neck, there’s a spot that had been struck by a SandWing barb. It was healed of course, with brightsting cactus, but it’s still tender there.” Tern nodded.
         “Thank you. When I win, I will free you as well.”
         “I couldn’t bear to leave Dyssodia. Although I feel she would have no problem leaving her parents.” He got a moony look on his face. Oh, great.
         “Alright, I will free both of you.” He said, trying to put on a brave face. Squirrel nodded and flew back over to Dyssodia, and after a minute of him muttering softly into her ear, looked up at him with an excited face.
         Tern stepped up in front of Khamsin, painfully aware of how bedraggled he must look. He had tried to scrub his scales with sand, but that just made them hurt, not polish them. And he had tried to wash the dried blood off them too, with no avail. I look like I’ve already lost. 
         “Claws up, teeth ready… fight!” Simoom called. Tern flung himself at Khamsin, who… just stood there. Huh? Tern came within a tail’s length and Khamsin suddenly leapt into action, flinging sand into Tern’s eyes. Tern halted with a screech, blinking his agonized, bloodshot eyes furiously. Khamsin flung himself at Tern, tail poised in front of him. Tern recovered from the sand attack just in time to leap over Khamsin and slash at his wings before Khamsin reached him.
         The SandWing roared in pain, and then he heard an unfamiliar hissing noise. Snake?! He moved to avoid it and then suddenly the tip of his tail was on fire. Now it was his turn to roar in pain. Tern spread his wings to as far at the rope would allow, then used them to glide bumpily across the clearing. Khamsin hissed as Tern landed on his back and clawed at his neck.
         He started throwing his rear end in the air, trying to dislodge Tern. He held fast, his claws digging into the SandWing’s uncomfortably warm scales. Khamsin dropped his head and for a brief second Tern saw a patch of raw, gross looking scales. He reached forward with the last of his strength and bit down with all of his might. Which was fine, aside from the disgusting taste of SandWing blood, until he heard a sickening snap. Khamsin dropped below him, and Tern looked at him in horror.
         He heard Dyssodia gasp and suddenly talons pulled him off Khamsin’s back. He found himself staring into Simoom’s dark, merciless eyes.
         “You killed him, now I will kill you!” she lunged forward with a maniacal scream, and Tern stood like a seal facing an orca. Suddenly, something small and orangey-yellow collided into her. She shrieked, and then there was another snap.
         Squirrel stood up from Simoom’s suddenly lifeless corpse, looking severely traumatized. “I-I can’t believe I just d-did that.” He stuttered.
         “Everyone has a first time.” Tern shrugged, tried to hide his panic with nonchalance. And I certainly didn’t mean to kill him.” he peered down at Khamsin’s lifeless face, whose jaw was slack, his tongue lolled out. “I’m not particularly upset, though.” A rustling in the trees caught his attention.
         “Who’s there?!” he snarled, getting into a defensive crouch. Tern got the biggest surprise of his life when suddenly a white dragon appeared, clutching the tree. She tumbled down and laid on the sand in front of him.
         “Indri?!” he asked incredulously. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
         “Saving you,” she said, quivering. “although it seems like you have it under control.” She said, shooting the corpses and Tern’s bloody talons a sad and disgusted glance.
         “How did you find me?” he asked, still shocked.
         “Her.” She said, opening his sealskin pouch, which he hadn’t realized she had. Nippy tumbled out. He picked her up and she rubbed her tiny face along his, purring. “She scented you, and me and Sunfish followed her.”
         “Wait, Sunfish? The SeaWing is still with you?” he groaned.
         “Yes. Turns out he wants to come with us. He has nowhere else to go.” Tern rolled his eyes.
         “Where is he now?”
         “Looking for oases with Carnation.”
         “We can stay here. This hut no longer has its owners anymore. Except Dyssodia and Squirrel, but I don’t think they’d mind.”
         “Alright, but we’d better find Sunfish first.”
         Suddenly the thought of flying through the desert again made Tern want to dig a hole in the sand and just lay there for the next century. He nervously tugged at his earring, which, miraculously hadn’t been stolen from him.
         “I- uh, well, I’m really thirsty, and I haven’t eaten in three days-” he was cut off by the rumbling of his own stomach. Tern turned his head away in embarrassment.
         “Yeah. Go, um, take care of yourself.” Indri said awkwardly, her wing tips leaning forward to touch his. It took all of Tern’s willpower not to stare up them incredulously.
         “Er, okay, thank you.” He turned toward the hut, shooting a glance back at Indri, who’s scales were back to taupe, with a bit of more vibrant pink edging her frill and wings.
         It was too hot in the desert, but inside the hut it was significantly cooler then outside.   
         As he stepped into the hut, a wave of exhaustion washed over him. The pallet in the corner became more and more appealing as he found a jug of water and some bits of dried meat. He finished the water and nibbled on the meat, which tasted suspiciously like snake, and laid down on the pallet. Just to rest my eyes. He curled up into a tight ball and draped his wings over his head. The darkness that had threatened to surround him now rushed in, and he let sleep take him. 
== Chapter Nine ==
==== The Next Morning… ====
         Tern woke up to someone quietly sweeping. He peeked his eyes open and saw Indri, running a stiff-bristled broom across the floor. She looked over at him and the tips of her frill and wings turned pink. She quickly changed her whole color to and eyeball-scorching neon yellow, stamping out the pink with violent aggression on her face. Now Tern was fully awake.
         “That was an interesting performance.” He said, lifting his head from his prostrate position.
         “Oh! Tern! You’re awake!” she looked embarrassed and relieved at the same time. “Dyssodia said you were okay, but I didn’t believe her!”
         “I’d be okay? What did you think?” he asked, genuinely confused.
         “Well, you’ve been asleep for three days.” Indri said, resuming her sweeping. Tern’s eyeballs nearly fell out.
         “Three days?!” he stuttered. Indri nodded.
         “Dyssodia told me what happened, and it makes sense that you would sleep for that long. Your body isn’t used to the heat or not eating and drinking like that.”
         “I’ve gone longer than three days without food.” Tern said, remembering the harsh punishments in his snowy homeland. “But never water.”
         A crash drew his attention to the front of the hut. Sunfish darted in through the beaded passageway.
         “Oh, hey bro, you’re awake!” he said, noticing Tern.
         “Yes, but now I wish I wasn’t.” Tern said dryly.
         “I’m sorry my awesomeness scared you away!” he said, sitting on his haunches and grabbing a piece of meat from the counter. Tern rolled his eyes.
         “Uh-huh, sure. Hey, Indri, does Squirrel or Dyssodia know where in the desert we are?” he asked Indri, trying to contain his annoyance at the daft SeaWing.
         “She said something about a den of scorpions being nearby, and that the desert stronghold was a day’s flight north, but other than that she said her parents never let her leave the hut.” Tern frowned. How had he gotten from the edge of SkyWing territory to the southernmost part of SandWing territory? We’re close to the mountain range, where Agate Mountain, the tallest in Pyrrhia, is, his countless geography lessons bouncing around in his head.  
         “Did you know that Agate Mountain collapsed a hundred years ago? It’s not very well known, I guess, but one of the first places I went to see when I started my journey. Only I found just a collapsed mountain and a black leather-bound scroll.” Indri said wistfully.
         “What did the scroll say?” Tern asked. Indri shrugged.
         “I can’t read.” Tern snorted a laugh.
         “Awk! Danger scroll!” Carnation swooped in and landed on Tern’s shoulder.
         “That was anticlimactic. I could teach you, if you’d like?” he said, flicking the red bird away.
         “Sure!” Indri said, yellow and pink flashing through her scales.
         “Well, do we have any ideas of where to go next?” Tern asked, heaving himself to his feet and stretching out his wings. Both of them shook their heads. He flicked his tail in annoyance.
         “Well, I’m going outside.” He shouldered past Sunfish and stepped outside into the aggravatingly hot desert.
         “Oh, I miss the Ice Kingdom!” he said aloud as he began sweating as fast an ice cube melting.
         “Hey! Glad to see you’re up!” Squirrel said, walking up from behind him. Tern jumped and turned around.
         “Oh, yeah. I had no idea I’d sleep so long.” Tern said, glad once more his scales couldn’t change color. Squirrel cracked a grin.
         “You saved me and Dyssodia. She actually had already had my egg, and we had no idea how we going to tell them.” He flicked his tail at the two corpses, barely visible above the sand that had blown over to cover them.
         “Er, well, congratulations.” He said uncomfortably.
         “So where are you three heading next?” Squirrel asked, flapping his large yellowy wings to sidle up next to Tern as he leapt into the air.
         “I don’t really know.” Tern said, tilting his wings to catch a burst of desert wind. “I left the Ice Kingdom to find out why I’m different from other IceWings, but all it has gotten me is captured and nearly killed.” Squirrel nodded thoughtfully. Tern sensed a story coming
          “I wasn’t going to say anything, but they are odd. I, actually, was just like you, you know. You probably haven’t seen many SkyWings if you’ve lived in the Ice Kingdom your whole life, but most of us are an orange or a red, maybe with a bit of yellow splashed in, but never completely peach like me. I can’t breathe fire either, which isn’t much of a problem in the desert. But I still wanted to know why I was different, so I left the Sky Kingdom and went in search of answers.
         “I stumbled upon an animus living in a cave near the land portion of the Kingdom of the Sea, you know, where the base of the tail would be if Pyrrhia was a dragon?” Tern nodded. “Get this: he was a SkyWing.”
         Squirrel paused to let that sink in. Tern cocked his head, confused. “Why… is that strange?” Tern asked.
         “Well, Skywings don’t usually tolerate dragons who are overpowered, such as animi. They usually throw dragonets off a cliff to ‘dispose’ of them. So, it was strange that this one survived.” Tern nodded, intrigued.
         “I didn’t ask how he survived, but he offered to reveal the answer to my question in exchange for my service to Khamsin, whom he owed something to. Turns out I hatched in an egg with a twin, who was a firescale.”
         “What’s a firescale?” Tern asked.
         “A SkyWing with fire in her scales. Anything and everything she would have touched would have burnt into a crisp. Far, far too dangerous to be kept alive.” He paused, as though contemplating something. “Maybe that’s why my parents never had another dragonet, no matter how much I begged.”
         “We’d better get back.” Tern said, stopping to hover, staring at an oasis crawling with SandWings. Squirrel nodded and flew in large circle to face the hut.
         They touched down in front of the hut and large, furry thing flew out of the hut and attached itself to Tern’s face. Squirrel roared and leapt forward.
         “Squirrel, stop! This is Nippy, my snow leopard.” Tern said, shielding her with his wing. He skidded to a stop to avoid crashing into Tern’s outstretched wing and coughed bashfully. Nippy pushed away from Tern’s chest and started yowling and hissing at him.  
         “I think you’re being scolded,” Squirrel said, laughing as he brushes sand off his scales.
         “Yeah.” Tern said, peeling her off his chest as she hissed and spat. He placed her on the ground gently and the tiny leopard clambered onto his back. “Fine, stay there!”
         “She looks small. Is she young?” Squirrel asked as they walked into the hut.
         “Yes. She actually an orphan. Right before I left, my older sister killed her mother, and she snuck into my bag.” Squirrel nodded thoughtfully.
         “There you are!” Indri said as he walked into the hut. Tern felt his face flush.
         “Well, yeah, I went for a flight with Squirrel.” Indri nodded. “And I know where to go next!” he said, giving a little hop.
         He froze. Him, and IceWing, hopping with excitement? I must be going soft.
         “Where?” she asked, half excited, half wary.
         “To find the animus in the cave!” he said, feeling excitement building. He quickly stamped it down again. He might refuse to help us; Squirrel is SkyWing just like him, I’m from a different tribe. His worries rushed into his mind like an avalanche.
         “What’s an animus?” Indri asked tentatively. Tern blinked, dumbfounded. She doesn’t know what an animus is? 
         “SOUL!” Carnation shrieked.
         “An animus is a dragon who can cast spells on inanimate objects, forcing them to do his or her bidding.” Dyssodia said, coming through the beaded passageway. “But as they use their magic, it slowly eats away their soul.”
         “Really?” Tern asked skeptically. He’d heard of animus magic and knew that the IceWings had had it up until a few generations ago, but he didn’t know that darker bit of information.
         “Yeah, a SeaWing animus a couple of decades ago apparently lost the entirety of his soul and killed their queen, Lagoon, as well as the majority of the SeaWing royal family.”
         “Albatross.” Sunfish said, walking in and looking pale. “He killed everyone at the party that night, including the two SkyWings who were there on business. Every SeaWing knows the tale. Thank goodness the Animus Slayer was there to save us.”
         “The Animus Slayer?” Tern asked, confused.
         “Indigo the Animus Slayer. She killed him with a spear, saving the kingdom.” Sunfish said.
         “I heard that she ran away with the next SeaWing animus and had a bunch of dragonets with him.” Dyssodia snorted.
         “No, she left with an animus named Fathom on some diplomatic meeting to the Night Kingdom, to help some other animus or something. Apparently he was a manipulative monster and killed both of them, thus ending the line of SeaWing Animi. We still test every year so that we’ll never be caught unaware, but they haven't resurfaced yet.” Sunfish argued.
         “I didn’t know the NightWings had an animus?” Squirrel piped up.
         “Wait, what?” Tern sputtered. “They have an animus?”
         “No, Fathom killed him, and he never had any dragonets. The NightWing line is over.”
         “How long ago was this?”
         “A hundred years, give or take.”
         “Can’t animus powers be inherited even after a generation hasn’t had it?” Tern asked.
         “I think.” Dyssodia said, giving him a look.
         “Did the animus have any siblings?” Dyssodia’s eyes widened.
         “Yes! He had a sister, I think, White-something.”
         “Did she have dragonets?”
         “I don’t know.” Dyssodia said, deflating. Tern frowned.
         “Ah, whatever.” He turned to look at Indri. “Start packing. We’ll leave at sunset.” She frowned but dipped her head slightly and shuffled off, Carnation started shrieking bloody murder at him. He swatted the bird away and he squawked one last insult and flapped away after Indri.
         “Why are you so mean to her?” Dyssodia demanded. “She’s done nothing but care for you since you killed my father and you’ve repaid her by acting like she’s your servant!”
         Tern was shocked. “Me? I never asked for her to come! I was going to go alone!” he snapped, indignant.
         “Crocodile dung. No dragon wants to be alone. And even if you think you do, deep down, even you know you don’t. Come on,” she added, seeing him open his jaws to argue. “You keep Nippy around even though you didn’t ask for her to come.” She stuck her snout in the air and walked past him, brushing her intensely warm scales against his. He turned his head and watched her leave, annoyed at her for being annoying, but also maybe because… she was right? No, I couldn’t care less about some sappy old RainWing in love with someone else. He reassured himself, flicking his tail irritably.
         He flicked his thoughts aside and went to grab his bag from under the pallet. He slung it over his shoulder ad turned around and ran into Indri. She was now wearing a crown weaved from yucca and some type of yellow flower. He flicked his light blue ear at her in acknowledgement of her presence but said nothing. A few of her pebbly scales turned deep blue and the tips of her frill turned red, but she said nothing, just twitched her frill closed. He left the room bitter. It was her fault! She had decided to come along and since it was his quest, she was inferior to him!
         He went outside and sat under a palm tree. Its shade was welcome. He didn’t want to be inside, where it was cooler but there were more dragons. He let his tight wings droop and become so loose they flowed like water around his ankles. He shut his eyes and pictured himself swimming in the cool waters of the Ice Kingdom, rubbing his hot scales against the chunks of ice that floated around in the water. He imagined surfacing, needing air… and immediately found his make-believe, judgmental, family members staring at him with ice-cold eyes.
         He blinked his eyes open, waking up from his daydream. or daymare? He thought to himself, rolling his eyes. He pulled himself to his feet, pulling up his wings to rest on his sides.
         He walked inside, despite his better judgement, to search for Indri and Sunfish.
         “Indri? Sunfish?” he called, stepping into the coolness of the hut.
         “Yes?” Indri answered curtly, poking her head out of a door. Hilariously, Carnation poked his head out just above hers’.
         “Are you ready?” She nodded.
         “But I don’t know where Sunfish is.”
         “Bah, leave him. Let’s just go.” He said, rolling his eyes. Indri squinted at him.
         “You’re joking, aren’t you?” she asked cautiously. Tern was tempted to say no, but technically he was only half joking.
         “Yes. I am.” He said awkwardly.
         “Not.” Carnation muttered. That bird is smarter than we think. He mentally snarled.
         “Okay, good. I’ll go see if I can find him.” her head withdrew back to the room and he heard her calling his name. 
== Chapter Ten ==
==== Thirty Minutes Later… ====
         Tern crouched and took off, then turned around and hovered in place to wait for Indri and Sunfish. Nippy was safe and snug in Tern’s bag, and Carnation flew alongside Indri. Indri and Sunfish joined him in the air. He looked down at Dyssodia and Squirrel, watching as they twined their tails together, wings tangled, Squirrel whispering something into Dyssodia’s ear. She giggled and blushed and Tern felt an amazingly strong sense of longing. Wanting someone to love him the way Dyssodia loved Squirrel. The way Ivory loved Sleet. The way that no one had ever loved Tern, not Floe, not his parents, not even Avalanche loved him like that. And he wanted to loathe Dyssodia and Squirrel for having what he wanted but he couldn’t will himself to.
         “Come on, Tern,” Indri’s voice called from above him, jerking him out of his thoughts. The same feeling flared up in his chest as he flapped hard to follow her. Longing. Quickly he tried to shove it down, deep into the depths of a snowy avalanche of other, less intrusive feelings.
         He was following the others so absentmindedly that he didn’t even realize where they were until he saw the ocean approaching on the horizon.
         “What? Indri! This is the wrong direction!” He moaned. She stopped flying and hovered in place. Carnation squawked.
         “Well, you didn’t tell me where we were going, and when you didn’t say anything, I assumed we were going the right direction.” She spoke calmly, but the tips of her wings and frill were a deep, irritated orange, like the sunset over the arctic ocean. He sighed, too tired to summon any rage.
         “We just have to fly in the opposite direction for a while. The animus lives in a cave near the plains at the base of the Mud Kingdom. Across the continent.” Sunfish groaned. He wasn’t a particularly active dragon, and one could tell he’d eaten plenty of fish in his life.
         “It’s already afternoon- why don’t we turn around and fly some more back towards Squirrel and Dyssodia’s hut, then stop about halfway. I think I saw a waterfall and stream back in that direction.” Indri flicked her tail back in the direction they had come. Tern nodded.
         “We’ll then fly over Squirrel’s hut, stop at an oasis for water, and continue on to the end of the Great Five-Tail River and stay for the night. Then, one or two more days of flying, and we’ll reach the cave.” Tern confirmed, slightly less annoyed. He whirled around in the air, facing towards the hut. “And I’ll lead.” He took off at a fast pace.
         Indri and Sunfish followed more slowly. Tern closed his eyes and felt the warm wind whistle through his stunted spikes, shaking them about. Somehow, the warmth wasn’t bothering him as much as he thought it would.
         A while later they arrived at the waterfall. It was small, a small trickle of water flowing over a pile of rocks. A small oasis pooled at the bottom. Sunfish and Tern glanced at each other before tearing across the sand in an attempt to reach the water first.
         “Well, that’s not very gentlemanly.” An orange SkyWing with a yellow stripe down her side floated down to land in front of them. She was stunning. Some of her dark orange scales were plated with gold, and she had tiny rubies inlaid in between scales under her eyes. Some gold was even studded through her wings, giving them a NightWing-ish look. A gold chain with some sort of black stone bird pendant hung from her neck.
         Tern and Sunfish came to a screeching halt, mesmerized. The SkyWing cleared her throat. “Let the RainWing drink first, or I won’t allow you to stay at my waterfall.” She spread her huge orange wings and used them to gently but forcefully shove both dragons aside, making a pathway for Indri, who blushed and shyly walked past them, dipping her head slightly at the SkyWing. Tern watched, drooling, as she dipped her snout in the crisp water.
         “There. Now you boys can drink.” She moved her wings away from Sunfish and Tern and they stumbled to drink as well. After they finished she spoke.
         “I saw you fly over earlier, why are you back?” She asked.
         “We were flying in the wrong direction.” Tern said sourly. The SkyWing laughed.
         “Well, what are you doing here? A SkyWing in the middle of the desert?”
         “Well, technically this is the edge of the desert, but I work as a sort of fixed place merchant. As you can see, it’s worked out quite well.” She spread her gold splattered wings out in a display.
         “How did you get the gold in your wings? It looks like it would be too heavy to fly.” Tern asked, finished drinking and far too sophisticated to dive into the water and splash around like Sunfish.
         “Can’t a girl keep her secrets?” She asked playfully, tracing his jawline with her tail.  
         He pushed her tail away awkwardly. “Er, alright. We’ll just spend the night outside by the waterfall and be out of your scales tomorrow morning.”
         “No need. I’ll be coming with you. Gets boring around here after a while.” She said, turning to walk back to her little cave behind the waterfall. “And you can come in. It’s bigger than it looks.” She disappeared inside the cave, hips swaying and tail twitching. Tern noticed three small, connected bands of gold on her tail, studded with rubies. He cocked his head at the oddness of her fashion statement.
         “Come on, dudes, let’s go.” Sunfish said, drifting through the water towards the entrance. Indri followed him on land.
         “Wait, come on, we don’t even know if we can trust her!” Tern threw up his wings as both disappeared into the gaping maw of the cave. He growled softly and followed them. A sign with a woodpecker-shaped hole and black lettering hung over the entrance. Flicker’s Fantastic Glassworks.
         “Indri?” he called tentatively into the dark cave. He crept into it, his scales prickling at the closeness of the cave walls. “I thought SandWings all had claustrophobia. Doesn’t seem great for business.” He muttered to himself.
         “Most do. But I’ve found it to be useful in warding off thieves. And the ones who want them enough usually brave their fears to buy my wares.” The SkyWing’s face appeared right before Tern’s. He yelped and leaped back, landing painfully on his tail.
         “Don’t do that!” he growled, standing back up. She shrugged and withdrew back into the shadows.
         There was a hissing sound, and then a lantern was lit. and then another, and another, until ten lanterns flickered, illuminating the space and revealing it to be a huge cavern. But the size of the cavern wasn’t what took Tern’s breath away. The lights emanating from the lanterns bounced and refracted through hundreds of tiny glass sculptures. Lights of all colors painted the walls of the cavern, glowing like the Northern Lights back home. Nippy shoved her head through Tern’s bag and looked around. Her eyes found the lights dancing around the walls, and she leaped out and scrabbled about the cave, trying to catch them.
         “Woah.” Indri said. “I didn’t know anything could outshine the rainforest.” The SkyWing lifted her wings in an elegant shrug.
         “SandWings will pay anything to make themselves look pretty. And some have more money than brains. Especially the ones in the palace.” She folded her wings neatly by her side. “So. There are a couple rooms over there. They’re all for storage, but there is room in each, just in case. And please contain your cat.” Her eerie blue eyes twinkled as she whirled around. “Make yourself at home.” She retreated into a passageway, tucking her wings in to fit through the narrow space.
         Tern spotted a small cave mouth behind a shelf full of glass IceWings. He took it as a good omen and shoved the shelf a to the side a bit, squeezing in his wings to fit through the opening. He laid down on a dusty carpet and laid his head down, feeling miserable. Nippy curled her furry body around Tern’s horns and fell immediately asleep. Nothing dampens her spirits. He thought grumpily, but he slowly lowered his head as not to disturb her. He closed his eyes and folded his wings in close.
         “Tern?” he slowly opened his eyes to glare into Indri’s sepia ones.
         “What?” he asked grouchily. “Have you come to torment me further?” She frowned.
         “No. I came to apologize.” Tern’s frown deepened. Were all RainWings this… mentally unstable? What did she have to apologize for? Tern was the one being an… icicle in the tail. He truly hadn’t been very charitable to her, for all she’s done for him.
         Something in him snapped. “No, I’m the one who should apologize. I was rude to you when we met Sunfish, and every moment after.” Indri looked taken aback, her frill turned bright pink, then its regular gray-faded-into-pink, then bright pink, and then her scales settled on an interesting mix of bright pink and gray. “Trying to decipher your scales is like trying to understand scavenger speak.” He grumbled, snoutpalming. Indri chortled.
         “Then don’t.” she walked around him, her tail bumpily tracing his jawline, like the SkyWing had. He pulled away, disturbing Nippy, who let out a yelp then settled down again.
         “Has it occurred to you that we don’t even know this SkyWing’s name?” he asked, trying to change the subject. Indri chuckled.
         “She told me her name was Flicker. Like the bird.”
         “Like what a fire does.” He said, laying his head back down. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to sleep.” Indri nodded curtly and left the room. He closed his eyes, but he couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t move, either, with Nippy on his head. So, he thrashed his tail and eventually somehow managed to fall asleep.
== Chapter Eleven ==
==== The Next Morning… ====
         Tern opened his eyes… and found himself staring into bright blue ones. He scrambled to his feet, throwing Nippy off his head. Flicker was sitting in his room, the gold in her tented wings beside her shining like molten gold in the torchlight.
         “Don’t do that!” he growled, embarrassed at being caught off guard.
         “Well, you are my guests, and I can do anything I please in my own caves.” She said, standing up and examining her tail bands with feigned interest. Tern rolled his eyes.
         “Fine. I’m leaving though.” He gathered up his things and pushed past her, feeling heat rising from her scales like a SandWings’, oddly. She turned around to watch him leave. She’s one strange egg…
         Shaking his head, he emerged into the cave. Indri and Sunfish were sitting among the glass figures, eating something.
         “So how do you make these?” Tern asked, picking up a small red deer from a shelf.
         “Top secret. No one else in Pyrrhia knows how to make them. And besides, you need a specific… skill to make them.”
         “What skill is that?” Tern asked, setting down the deer and picking up a small bird. A tern. He’d recognize the dark-capped head anywhere.
         “Like I said, top secret.” She said, sounding uncomfortable for the first time. He shot her a glance, setting down the tern, and went over to sit beside Indri.
         “How’d you sleep, bro?” Sunfish asked, handing Tern a piece of dried fish.
         “Fine, thanks.” He grumbled. It was hard to hate someone with manners, even if they weren’t IceWing manners. He gnawed on the fish, handing some to Nippy. He turned and saw Indri grinning from ear to ear.
         “What?” He asked, getting defensive.
         “You’re actually making an effort to be kind!” she said, her scales flashing yellow and pink.
         “I may not be unnecessarily pleasant, but I do have manners!” he said frustratedly. Then seeing the downcast look on her face, he immediately felt horrible. “You should try to look this happy more often. It’s a good look for you.” He awkwardly stumbled.
         “What, this?” she asked, shifting her scales to vibrant pink.
         “Maybe tone it down a little?”
         She shifted her scales to a painfully bright lime green, mixed with hints of vibrant orange and neon pink. He shielded his eyes.
         “Definitely not toning it down.” Tern gasped, covering his eyes. Indri chuckled and her scales shifted back into her regular gray, taupe, and light pink combination. He lowered his wings.
         “Woah, IceWing, what’s up with the wings? And the scales?” Flicker asked from the corner of the room, where she was shoving various objects into a bag.
         Tern folded his wings wing in self-consciously. “I don’t know. We’re going to find out.” She cocked her head.
         “How?” she challenged.
         “Can’t a dragon keep his secrets?” he asked, jabbing her in the chest, feeling the coolness of his scales colliding with the heat of her’s. She sneered.
         “Fine. But I will find out soon, as I’m going with you.” Tern rolled his eyes. Two naive dragons were enough for him. He did not need a smooth-talking, suave SkyWing added to them.
         She must have seen the look on his face. “I am coming. In exchange for my shelter.”
         “Dusty dusty!” Carnation coughed. “Birdy lungs BURNING!” Tern rolled his eyes. The bird was as dramatic as he was annoying. Nippy jumped off Tern’s head and grabbed the bird midflight, wrestling him down to ground through muffled squawks of “Owie!” and “Off, off!” and “Bad kitty!”
         “Contain the cat, Ice Monster!” he shrieked, his beak pressed against the floor. Tern chuckled and called the leopard back. Carnation flew over and sat on Indri’s horn with an indignant caw.
         “Okay, let’s get out of here,” Tern said, stretching his wings. Indri nodded and the three of them followed Flicker out of the cave. Once they reached daylight again, Tern stopped them.
         “Just to be clear,” he said, shooting a look a Flicker, “I’m still in control of this mission.” Flicker dipped her head. He spread his wings and with as much majestic energy he could muster threw himself at the sky. He heard the others flapping behind him as he winged east.
         “We should be there in about two days, if we don’t have to make any stops or pick up any more hitchhikers.”
         He could almost hear Flicker rolling her eyes.
         They flew for the rest of the day without a hitch and stopped at the edge of SandWing territory. The Claws of the Clouds Mountains loomed around them an all sides as they stopped in a small valley between a couple of mountains. After everyone had been fed, Flicker lit a fire, and everyone except Tern curled up around it. They hadn’t set an official watch, so Tern volunteered himself and Sunfish to watch. He didn’t quite trust Indri not to fall asleep on hers, and he didn’t trust Flicker at all.
         He wasn’t tired, as usual, but it was quite lonely on his self-appointed watch. He felt an emotion he was familiar with but hadn’t felt in a time: loneliness. The only company he had was the armies of crickets warring vocally in the bushes, the mice and rats pursuing them, and the owls pursuing them. He laid down and curled his smooth tail over his snout and set his purple eyes skyward.
         The sky was painted black, but hints of purple and navy and green shown through, like a NightWing’s scales. He felt called to them, like he was meant for them, and them for him. He wanted to stretch and soar in the starry expanse, twisting like a penguin in the chilly arctic waters. But he restrained himself. IceWings were exceptional at restraint. And discipline. But he kept his gaze skyward until it was time to wake Sunfish for his watch.
== Chapter Twelve ==
==== The Next Morning… ====
         Tern ended up taking Sunfish’s watch, too. He hadn’t felt like going to sleep then, but he sure paid for it now. He felt asleep on his wings, like an albatross.
         “Hey, what’s up?” Indri asked, flying next to him, and gently tapping his wing with hers.
         “Tired.” He yawned. “I took both watches.”
         Indri scrunched up her snout. “I still don’t understand why we need watches. I mean, who would attack us?”
         “An IceWing patrol looking for me. A NightWing patrol, or a lone NightWing, because all NightWings are horrible. A SkyWing, alone or not, for being in their territory. A SandWing, because we drank from their oasis or ate their pet something or dug up their sweet potatoes. The list goes on and on.” Indri frowned.
         “Alright, but if you want, I can take one.” Tern nodded, too tired to argue.
         “Thanks.” He dipped his head.
         They flew on for a little while longer before Indri broke the silence.
         “What’s that?” She pointed to his necklace, the five circles shining in the sunlight.
         “This necklace represents my place in the tribe. Every IceWing dragonet is given a chain with seven circles looped together, like this one. One circle means you’re a First Circle dragon, two means you’re a Second Circle and so on and so forth. The queen will remove or add a circle depending on your behavior. So, if I broke an ice sculpture or disrespected an elder or something, she’d move my name, carved onto an enchanted wall, down a spot or two, or, depending on the severity of the crime, a whole circle. Then she would add a circle and the rest of the tribe would treat me accordingly.”
         “So, your whole tribe would treat you with less respect than another dragon because you broke an inanimate object?”
           “Yes. Or other crime. Any IceWing would hate to be looked down upon. It’s a constant strive to be better.” He puffed out his chest.
         “So… you don’t rank that high, then, do you?” Tern deflated.
         “Unfortunately, Queen Alpine doesn’t seem to like me very much.”
         “Well, that’s not nice.” Indri flew over to fly beside Flicker. RainWings never cease to dumbfound me. Imagine calling a queen ‘not nice’!  He shook his head.
         “Hey, there’s the east coast!” Sunfish called, pointing to the shore. Tern’s mood shot up. They were almost there!  
         “Where’s the cave?” Flicker shouted.
         “It’s supposed to be somewhere around here!” he roared back.
         They soared over the plains, searching for the cave.
         “Here! I found it!” Tern called, standing on a boulder, and spreading his wings. He looked back around his shoulder at the others, who had gathered behind him.   
         “Thank you.” He told them, shoving his wings behind his back, and turning to look at them. “The fact that you’ve all journeyed with me all this time, not stopping because the road got hard, or the wind turbulence got bumpy, or-”
         “I’m going to cut your horrible speech off now, before it gets any worse. Just go on in, we’re following.” Flicker said, her eyes glowing with amusement. He rolled his eyes and faced the cave again. It was located in a ditch and looked like a massive dragon had reached down and scooped out a bunch of earth with a single talon.
         He gulped and crawled into the slat. He heard the others sliding in behind him. Surprisingly, the inside of the cave was not small, but it wasn’t as large as Flicker’s. torched lined the walls, and racks of scrolls covered every wall. A small desk with paper all over the place sat in a corner, and a table with a dead chicken was pushed against a wall. A fire burned in a fireplace near the chicken table.
         “Hello? Is anyone here?” Tern called, slinking into the cave. He pushed a scroll aside. Flicker started picking up scrolls and placing them on the desk.
         Suddenly, something grabbed Tern’s neck. He gagged as invisible talons wrapped themselves around his windpipe, trying to suffocate him. A knife on the chicken table floated up and aligned itself with his neck, ready to cut through his scales.
         Then, the area where the mysterious dragon was shimmered into existence. Red scales appeared. Indri?
         Tern watched, woozy from lack of oxygen. The scales shimmered again, and a full-grown SkyWing with vibrant orange scales, pointed yellow eyes, and a ton of gold jewelry appeared.
         “What are you doing here?” he growled, shoving his snout near Tern’s and enveloping him in chicken breath.
         Tern pointed to the talons gripped around his throat. The SkyWing released his grip enough that Tern could breath. He greedily gulped up the air, preparing a response.
         “Hey.” Flicker said, sauntering forward. “They’re with me. Let them breath.” She waved her tail and the SkyWing released Tern’s throat.
         “Flicker. Didn’t know they were with you. Sorry, little buddy.” He said, patting Tern’s head. Tern frowned.
         “I’m not a ‘little buddy.’” The SkyWing lowered his head so their eyes were aligned.
         “When you’ve lived two hundred years, most dragons become a ‘little buddy’.” He sneered. “Now, to whom do I owe the pleasure?”
         “Tern, Indri, Sunfish, Nippy, and Carnation.” Flicker said, pointing to each as she went.
         “I’m Arson. And why have you come to my humble home?” he asked, still sounding annoyed.
         “Tern here would like a spell.”
         “I can speak for myself.” Tern pushed her talons away and started. “I would like to know why my scales are different.”
         Arson pushed his neck into an elegant curve. “I, too, would like to know that, so I will grant that to you. And what do the rest of you want?” Sunfish stared to speak but Indri placed her trembling tail over his jaws.
         “We just came with Tern. We want nothing.” For once, Arson smiled.
         “I like you. You’re sure you don’t want anything?” The tips of Indri’s frill turned pink.
         “Well, a flower crown that never rots would be nice.” Arson grinned.
         “RainWings are so pure. Any particular flowers?”
         “Cornflowers, roses, and lilies?”
He grabbed a stick off the ground. “I enchant this stick to become an indestructible crown of real cornflowers, roses, and lilies, exactly how Indri of the RainWings would want it to look.” The stick morphed into exactly how he described it. He handed it to Indri, who had a massive grin on her face. She replaced the wilted one she had on with the indestructible one and grinned.
         “Thank you!” she said excitedly, her scales turning yellow and pink.
         “Alright, and Tern. I don’t have anything all that special for you, just a pre-enchanted scroll with answers about anyone’s past or present.” He walked over to one of the many shelves and grabbed a scroll off it. He shoved all the other scrolls off the desk and unrolled the one in his talons. Loopy handwriting was scrawled all over the page.
         Arson picked up a quill and dunked it into a pot of ink.
         “Reveal the reasons… of Tern of the IceWings’… scale discoloration …and loss of frostbreath.” He muttered as he wrote.
         His eyebrows shot up as Tern heard writing scrawled across the page that wasn’t Arson.
         “Well… this is a… a surprise.” He said. “Tern… your father was a NightWing.”
== Chapter Thirteen ==
==== A Few Seconds Later… ====
         Tern’s world came crashing down around him. He could feel Indri put her wings around him and could hear her trying to console him, but he didn’t register it. A NightWing? Ivory fell for a NightWing? That didn’t make any sense; she had Sleet. Then… was Ivory not his mother? On one talon, he would be relieved if his mother didn’t actually hate him. On the other talon, why had she gotten rid of him, then?
         He snapped back into reality as he realized Indri was shaking his shoulders.
         “Tern. Tern. Tern! Hello… earth to Tern?” He shook his head.
         “Who are my real parents? Are they still alive? Where are they?” he shot questions rapid fire at Arson.
         “Calm down. I’ll ask the scroll.” He said, writing down Tern’s first question, muttering as he went.
         “One of your parents is alive, a female IceWing named Nova. Your father… ooh, interesting.”
         “What? What?” he asked.
         “Your father was a prince. Prince Duskseer of the NightWings, which means…”
         “I’m NightWing royalty?” he asked, astonished. “Wait, where is my mother?”
         “I’ll ask the scroll.” Tern searched around for a place to sit. He was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded.
         “Tern! Your mother is being held prisoner in a place called the ‘Prison Caves’. I don’t know where they are. Do you want me to find them?” Tern shook his head. He knew the prison caves.
         “You alright, bro? You’re looking a little pale.” Sunfish asked, looking up from the chicken he had begun to eat.
         “I know where the Prison Caves are.”  He said, slowly turning to look at the group of dragons. “No one can come with me. They’re in the Ice Kingdom. There’s the regular dungeons, under the palace, and then there’s the Prison Caves. They’re for criminals too dangerous to be released into Pyrrhia for any of the tribes. Some of the cells were enchanted so that we could keep dragons from other tribes. It’s probably the most heavily guarded place in all of Pyrrhia.”
         “Well. That’s not good.” Flicker said after a moment. “I’ll come.”
         “It’s in the Ice Kingdom, you can’t come.” Tern pointed out again.
         “I- I have my ways. I’m coming, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.” Tern flicked his tail.
         “Fine. But if we confront my fami- my adopted family, I’m doing the talking.” She nodded.
         “Let’s fly, then. We have a long way to go.” Flicker said.
         “Wait- what about the wall that kills non-IceWing?” Indri asked. Tern snout palmed.
         “I totally forgot about the Great Ice Cliff. Guess you’re not coming along.”
         “Arson?” Flicker asked, cocking her head. Arson shook his head.
         “The IceWings knew magic. The spell on the wall is most likely unable to be broken by anyone but the queen herself, and someone with an enchanted talisman probably wouldn’t even be able to pass. But I can give you these, enchanted to make the wearer invisible.” He handed them a pair of silver bracelets. Tern slipped it into his bag.
         “And I can’t see Queen Alpine breaking the wall for me, let alone letting me save my mother from the Caves.” Suddenly a thought occurred to him. Why is my mother in the Prison Caves?
         “Probably for hatching an egg with NightWing blood.” Flicker said. Tern hadn’t realized he had spoken aloud.
         “Well, dudes, The Great Ice Cliff doesn’t cover the entire border of the Ice Kingdom.” Sunfish said. “You bros could fly over the ocean, out of range of the Cliff, and land by the caves.” Tern blinked.
         “How did you know that?”
         “Arson just looked it up.” He flicked his thick tail at the scroll Arson held. Arson frowned.
         “That was my line.” He grumbled. “But anyways, here’s a map of where you need to fly.” He picked up a small pebble and it magically morphed into a piece of parchment.
         “One thing before we go- do I have seer powers? Untapped mind reading?” Tern asked Arson.
         “It’s possible, though unlikely. And even if you do have any, your IceWing blood has diluted the NightWing blood, most likely either weakening it, or by some freak of nature, retaining it and saving it.” Tern felt himself wishing for a larger NightWing heritage, surprising himself. Great Ice Spirits, everything makes sense now! The insomnia, the moon watching, the calling to the night- it’s all in my blood!
         “Let’s go. As you said, Flicker, we have long flight ahead of us. Indri, stay with Sunfish and Arson. He’ll protect you until I come back.”
         “Alright, one last thing. Tern, take this.” Arson handed Tern a piece of chalkboard. “This is enchanted so that any message you write on it will be transferred to this one.” He held up another board. “And vice versa.” He wrote ‘Hello’ on one, and a message magically appeared on the other. He handed Tern a piece of chalk.
         “Thank you.” Tern squeezed out of the cave with them close behind. “All of you. I’ll see you soon.”
         Indri shuffled forward and threw her wings around Tern. He felt her shiver, but he was oddly comfortable in her warm wings. He curled his around hers and embraced her.
         “Come back alive.” She said, pulling away to look at him. He nodded.
         “That’s the plan. Now, come on, lovebird, let’s go.” Flicker said, dragging Tern into the sky. He waved, then turned and flew towards home.
== Chapter Fourteen ==
==== Two Days Later… ====
         Tern and Flicker flew nonstop for two days, stopping only when the needed a drink as the flew across the vast desert. Well, Tern flew. Flicker pretty much just glided on her humongous, nearly full-grown wings.
         But when they finally arrived at the tundra at the end of the desert, Tern was exhausted. He collapsed onto the partially snowy ground and rolled like a dog. It was undignified, yes, but so were NightWings, and he was, technically, a NightWing.
         After a moment, Flicker kicked him. “Get up.”
         “Why?” he demanded, piling snow on his sore wings.
         “We still have to cross the ocean. I can’t get past the cliff, remember?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. Tern groaned.
         “I can get over the Cliff. You fly over the ocean.”
         She kicked him again.
         “Fine, fine, I’m coming.” He moaned, standing up and stretching his wings. Flicker lifted off, and Tern followed, ready for an hour of flying.
        
         And hour later, the landed on the snowy shores of the pine forest.
         “The trees will provide us cover. The caves are north-west from here, probably a half an hour walking.” Tern told her. She nodded briskly and started walking. Tern scrambled to catch up to her.
         After a while, Tern caught a shaggy goat and they feasted on it while they walked.
         The pine forest ended, and a cliffside came into view. At least a half a hundred IceWings milled about, guarding the various cave entrances.
         “Let’s come back at night. It’ll be easier to sneak then.” Flicker said. Tern nodded, and they retreated back to the forest.
         That night, with one waxing moon’s light to guide them, they snuck out of the forest, flew to the top of the cliff, and huddled behind a couple boulders.
         “We need to find out which cave your mother is in.” Flicker said. Tern was about to respond when a group of IceWings flew in from somewhere else in the kingdom. Tern recognized one of them: Queen Alpine herself was leading the group.
         “Any sign of the dragonet, Tern?” she asked after the guards finished bowing.
         “No, your Majesty, the half-breed hasn’t shown his face. But we have increased the guards as you requested.”
         “Good. Notify me as soon as he shows. Because he will, and when he does, he will join his traitorous mother. Traitors produce traitors, I suppose.” She sighed. “As you were. I’m going to see her.” She flew up to a cave just below Tern and Flicker’s hiding spot. She smashed her tail into the ice, shattering it with a large crash. Foolproof. If anyone tries to escape, the guards are alerted. If anyone comes in from the outside, the guards are still alerted. And even if someone tried to burn their way through, their fire makes that hissing sound when it’s in their throat.
         She sauntered out of Tern’s line of sight and into the cave containing Tern’s mother. He lots of unintelligible roars were exchanged and then he heard Alpine gather herself and walk out of the cave, shouting one more thing at the prisoner inside before flying back towards the palace, but not before refreezing the barrier.
         “You ready?” Flicker asked. Tern nodded. They slipped their bracelets on and flew down to the little ledge in front of the cave containing Tern’s mother.
         “How are we going to get in?” Tern asked.
         “Like this. Back up.” Flicker slipped off the tail bands and her entire wings took the impression of molten gold and heat blasted from catching Tern off-guard.
         “What the walrus?” he whisper-screamed. Flicker put a talon to the ice wall and it immediately melted and flowed over her scales, evaporating with a soft hiss.
         Tern bounded in. A scrawny but beautiful IceWing was curled in the corner, chained to the wall, her back to Tern. Her scales were dirty but Tern could see hints of pink, purple, blue and green underneath the dirty but pure white scales.
         “Go away, Alpine. Haven’t you tortured me enough?” she rasped.
         “I’m not Alpine.” He said, slipping off the bracelet and feeling a flash of pity for this miserable creature. Her head shot up, her ears twitching with recognition.
         “Duskseer?” the hope that filled her voice nearly crushed Tern’s heart.
         He shook his head. “His son. Your son.”
         Tears filled her navy-blue eyes as she turned to look at Tern. “You- you’re alive?” Tears were filling Tern’s eyes now, much to his dismay.
         “Yes.” She stumbled forward as far the chains would allow and collapsed into his wings. He could feel the bones underneath her scales. “Tell me everything. You name, how you grew up, everything.”
         “Not here. We need to go.” He said, realizing her had miscalculated the amount od awkwardness this situation would have created for him.
         “I can’t fly. I can barely stand up, and you’re not big enough to carry me.” She looked heartbroken.
         “Good thing I brought a SkyWing.” Flicker walked into the cell and burnt the chains. Her tail bands were back and her wings were shining with those spots of molten gold, like nothing had happened. 
         Nova was bigger than Flicker but less than half the weight she should have been, so Flicker was easily able to manage her weight with her huge wings. She melted Nova’s chains and then the three of them flew out of the cave.
         “Hey! Stop! Who are you?” one of the flying guards called, winging over to them. Tern silently cursed her. Nova released a stream of frostbreath that hit the guard as she came into range, freezing her wings solid in a matter of seconds. What!?
         Nova must have seen the horrified look on Tern’s face. “They have enchanted narwhal horns that cure frostbreath injuries.” He nodded, still staring at the frozen guard.
         The stiff-winged guard fell out of the sky and onto the other guards, attracting their attention. A squadron of twenty guards came flying after them, leaving the rest to guard the other prisoners.
         “Hey! It’s the half-breed!” One of them roared, and they put on some speed.
         “How are we going to lose them?” Tern roared to Flicker.
         “Uh, fly as fast as we can?” she responded.  “I don’t know! They’re fully grown, and even though I’m a SkyWing, with your mother’s weight on my back, I won’t be able to stay ahead of them for long!” The three of them turned to fly over the ocean.
         “We can’t really fight them… well, Flicker could. Do that fiery thing you did back there!” Tern said.
         “I can’t without burning your mother!” Flicker cried.
         The Great Ice Cliff was coming into view. They picked up their pace, and a few minutes later landed on the sand outside of the range of the Cliff. Flicker gently set Nova down and ripped off the tail bands, quickly flinging them down.
         The spots of molten gold on her wings spread and covered her entire wing, the fire inside shining against the membrane. The IceWings all stopped short, spraying Flicker with snowy sand as they landed, spreading out to surround them.
         “Give it up, SkyWing! You’re outnumbered!” Flicker spread her smoking wings into an attack position. Three of the IceWings launched themselves at her. She lunged forward as each of them collided into her. A moment passed, then they collectively screamed, black bubbling burns crawling up their bodies. The smell of burning scales filled the air, making Tern nauseous. The rest of the IceWings stood there in shock as their comrades writhed on the ground as they died.
         “We can’t win this!” one of them called, and the rest of the IceWings gathered up their fallen comrades and flew back over the Cliff, shooting reproachful glances at Tern.
         “That was horrible.” Tern said, pressing a talon to his forehead.
         “Well, come one, let’s go before they send a bigger force.” Flicker said, sliding the tail bands back on.
         “I know where we can spend the night.” Tern said, standing up. 
== Chapter Fifteen ==
==== Two Days Later… ====
         Tern collapsed onto the rock that hid Arson’s lair.
         “Seriously, you should grow some bigger wings. It would make flying way easier for you.” Flicker stated ever so unhelpfully as she touched down beside him. She, unlike him, had barely broken a sweat the entire flight.
         “How helpful. Thanks, Flicker, for your wonderful wisdom.” He panted sarcastically. Nova slid from Flicker’s back.
         “Thank you, Flicker.” She said, patting her broad shoulder.
         “Arson?” Flicker called, sticking her head in the cave. She came out with a face full of smoke. “Arson! If I weren’t a firescale I would be dead right now!” she roared, coughing, into the cave. Arson slunk out, covering his ears.
         “Sorry, sorry. Hey, it’ just Tern and Flicker.” Sunfish crawled out besides him.
         “Where’s Indri?” Tern asked, worry spiking up in him. Did something happen to her? Oh, so help me, if something happened to her while she was under Arson’s supervision animus powers or not I will RIP off his long, pointy SNOUT!
         “Right here, overprotective.” Indri said, shifting her scales from camouflage to regular and tapping him on the head.
         He relaxed his wings. ‘Oh. Hi. Um, this is my mother, Nova. Nova, this is Indri, my…” he hesitated.
         “Girlfriend? Oh, Tern, like mother like son!” She trilled, leaning into him.
         “Nononono, friend. Just friends.” Indri and Tern said at the same time. Nova looked at them with an amused expression.
        
         “What now?” Tern asked after telling his story to Sunfish, Indri, and Arson.
         “Well, I think it’s safe to assume that Queen Alpine will continue to hunt for you. The question now is where to hide.” Arson said through the chicken he had summoned and was munching on.
         “Well, there’s only one tribe I know Alpine would never go to herself. The NightWings.” Tern said, sighing.
         “Well, what does that mean?” Indri asked.” Tern looked up.
         “It means we’re going to pay the NightWings a visit.” 
== Epilogue ==
==== Earlier That Morning… ====
         Queen Silentwings let out a big breath as the black dragon in front of her babbled on.
         “So, your Majesty, we were hoping you could assign more guards to patrol around the poorer area of the marketplace?” The NightWing in front of her asked, tilting her head.
         “Yes, yes, I will assign ten more guards to the poorer area. And have the shopkeepers calculate all they have lost to the thieves. I will pay them back in full.” She said, waving a talon at her. A big grin spread across the NightWing’s face.
         “Thank you, Queen Silentwings! You are surely the best queen the NightWings have had!” She groveled, and practically skipped away.
         Silentwings rubbed her forehead. Every long hearing day wore on Silentwing’s nerves, and her treasury was dwindling. Without the commerce coming in from the old NightWing kingdom things had been arduous. The NightWings, once the most revered tribe, had been humiliated after the loss of the final battle of the war between them and the IceWings. They had also lost tons of treasure in reparations, and they were already struggling with the move to the island.
         This thrice-cursed island is stealing out powers. No, the IceWings were the main reason Darkstalker went mad. They’re the reason we’re losing our powers. She thought, growling.
         Though the island was habitable, with lush green prey-filled forests and a mountain, with easy access to Pyrrhia’s southeastern coast, when they moved they had lost their hatching peaks, where NightWings had been hatched for generations. And with the loss of the peaks came the loss of their powers.
         Silentwings rubbed her own teardrop scales, seized with a sudden gratitude for them.
         “Queen Silentwings, I had a vision.” Snowstorm, her granddaughter and strong seer, walked in. They had found her egg in the cold waters of the ocean as they flew back from the meeting with Alpine, and guessing the father, SilentWings had taken her in as her own, swearing vengeance on the IceWings. She was the dark grey of her father and had white speckles, like snowflakes in a snowstorm, covering her body. Her wings were white with black star spots, like a reverse NightWing’s. Silentwings had raised her along her own mindreader daughter, Dawnflight.
         “Very well. Please tell me.” She said, leaning forward.
         “Offspring of the bitter armies,
         Looking for the past’s lost keys.
         Fleeing from a hail of foes,
         Covered in ice and powdered with snows.
         He seeks but safety with his father’s kin,
         Searching for his long-lost twin.
         Shelter him with care and know,
         He holds the power to stop the snow.”
         “What is that supposed to mean?” She flung herself back onto her throne.
         “I think it means another like me is coming. Someone born of snow and night.” She turned to face Silentwings, excitement and wisdom far beyond her five years reflecting in her dark blue eyes.
         “I think it means I have a brother.”
==== The End! Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for the next book, A Reason to Be Courageous! ====
==== If you enjoyed it, please, please, please, leave a comment! It's really encouraging to know that people are out there who like my work! Even just a simple 'Cool' or 'I like it" would really make my day!! You might want to ping me, however, if you want a response! ====
== Art! (TYSM for everyone who contributed!) ==
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