Chapter Four

“Come in,” a voice said dryly from the other room. Chiara marveled at the Leothren home. It was a palace made from a combination of wood, snow and ice. She had never known anyone was capable of building such a thing. The snow was compacted in such a way that it did not fall to the wooden and clay ground. Chiara found it ironic that the snow actually made the inside of the dome less cold than the outside, considering how cold the snow was.

          Chiara hung back, waiting for Chief Warrick to pass through the entrance before she followed. She kept her head held high, willing herself to not be an embarrassment as she represented Leothra. Chiara had never done anything as important as this in her life. She puffed out her chest with pride as she strutted past the Leothren high guard.

          She stopped right behind her father and continued to stand when she saw that Chief Warrick had not sat down and neither had any of the guard. Chiara longed to sit. Her legs were sore from the long and freezing walk to the Snow Dome. The Leothren had forced them to walk the distance, not trusting them to fly. Chief Warrick forced them to obey and Chiara had with the others although she couldn’t deny that she had been reluctant for good reason. The Leothren had wide and large fluffy paws. They covered more surface area than any Leothra’s paws Chiara knew. She assumed that because of that the Leothren were able to walk on top of the snow for the most part. Chiara and the other Leothra weren’t built for the snow so she had to leap the entire distance, each time falling into piles of snow. Her entire body was numb.

          Chief Warrick dipped his head in mutual respect, but not low enough to be considered bowing. He spread his wings slightly. “I am sorry to intrude on your territory, Chief Danian. Dragons attacked our home and destroyed it. The jungle is on fire and the Dragons roam, hoping to kill us. I humbly come here in favor that you may take mercy on me and the rest of the Leothra. In return I will give you amnesty for when you had taken the Northern Forests from us.”

          It unnerved Chiara to see her father talk that way. He never apologized and he was always confident. It was as if the Dragons had not only taken away their home and the lives of who knew how many Leothra, but also the old Chief Warrick. The Warrick in front of her was not the same and Chiara knew something had changed in him but she couldn’t figure out what.

          Chiara looked up at Chief Danian, who scoffed. “You try your best to humble yourself yet you are still so arrogant. It’s so much a part of you that you cannot even realize it!” She glared, her dark blue eyes as cold as ice. “Do you *really* think that I would accept that? The Northern Forests rightfully belong to us. They were Wronia’s birthright as the jungle was given Wrener,” she hissed.

          Chiara recalled learning about the two twins, Wronia and Wrener who were both dead and had been dead for centuries. They had been born at the same time and the chief before them, Tilitanabo, had been the last single chief of the once one species, Leothr. He had not wanted to give the rights to the leap to one of them and not the other so he decided to split the territory in half. She had found the history interesting as she had been taught it when she was one along with all of the other fledglings. It had been reinforced as she grew up, so that both the Leothra and Leothren may always remember the Tale of the Two Twins.

          Chief Warrick lifted his head, his gaze steady as if he tried to hold back his tongue from arguing. “Please. From a Leothr to a Leothr. The Dragons are a common enemy. They see no difference between the Leothra and Leothren. The Dragons will fight and wipe out both *sub*species unless *we* do something about it.”

          Chief Danian sat in silence. Chiara took the time to wonder how old she was. Her wings were long and ragged and her fur was pure white except for her grayed muzzle and faded dark spots. She had wrinkles around her eyes and a collar made from what she assumed were sapphire and diamond. *She’s ancient! I’ve never seen a Leothra that old. I wonder if maybe Leothren have longer lifespans than us.*

          After a while, the chief of the Leothren spoke. She growled, “Do not dare call us both the same. Leothren will *never* stoop to your level. Leothr is of the past and does not exist now. It is Leothra or Leothren, no inbetween. Dragons will never be able to survive out here. We are safe. Why should I care if the whole lot of you is killed off by them? The Dragons must have some reason for attacking you and I am not surprised that they are in the first place.”

          Chief Warrick snarled. “I should’ve known better than to come here to ask for your help! Leothren have always been too cowardly to do anything. You wouldn’t lift a claw to save your own leap if you had to risk your life to do so.” He turned to leave. The Leothren high guard bristled, unsheathing their claws in case Chief Warrick attacked. “Come on, let’s go leave this wretched wasteland. Let it never be said the Leothra tried to make peace! It is your fault the leaps will be divided forever.”

          As Chiara followed, she could hear Chief Danian retort, “And I will hold that fault to my grave gladly.”

          Gurani and Kilopia walked behind Chiara as they padded after their chief. Chief Warrick stalked through the hall to the entrance, Eserla and her section following. He lifted his great lime green and blue wings and flew off into the sky, not waiting for the North Section to escort them. Chiara was glad that she wouldn’t have to trudge in the deep snow on the way back.

          They glided through the air, taking currents that led to where the rest of the Leothra had stayed. Chiara landed. She walked a few paces. Seeing the Leothra made her worry yet again about Cephas. She bounded through the snow to get away from her leap. She wanted to be alone to think.

          A flash of magenta caught Chiara’s eye and she squinted into the distance. On top of a snow drift was a pink blob. She made her way towards it, wary as she didn’t know if it was a Leothra or something dangerous. *I don’t* think *there is a such thing as a large pink penguin. But yet again I hardly know anything about the other territories so I could be wrong.*

          When she was close enough Chiara could see that it was Ruyi. “Ruyi, what are you doing here?”

          Ruyi jumped, the white snow stuck to her legs and the edges of her wings. She quickly pressed them to her side. “I could ask the same about you,” she said, sounding nervous. Chiara didn’t know why and she was concerned.

          “I came to think. Is everything alright?” she asked.

          Ruyi nodded. “Yes, yes, everything’s fine. Now please, leave.”

          Chiara looked at Ruyi. Now that she got a closer look she realized the snow on Ruyi looked odd. It was covered in spots. *I never heard of spotted snow before! Maybe she was rolling in snow filled with pebbles?* Still, something seemed off and she wasn’t sure if she should go.

          Chiara was hesitant. She wanted to respect Ruyi and leave her be. But another part of her was curious and something seemed fishy about her. She knelt down and managed to grab a pawful of snow. She chucked it at Ruyi, who yelped when she did so.

          Chiara blinked in amazement. Where the snowball had fallen to the ground was pink. On Ruyi’s wing where she had hit her was silver. “What in flaming bowerbirds-?” Chiara exclaimed to herself in wonder and amazement. “You’re melting!” Her eyes widened. “Chief Warrick needs to know about this. If you’re melting, who knows if other Leothra are melting as well!”

          Ruyi practically pounced on Chiara. “Don’t!” she yelled.

          Chiara dodged. “I have to!” she turned to fly back to their leap.

          “I can’t let you!” Ruyi growled. Her voice deepened until it sounded nothing like her own. She leapt and pinned Chiara to the ice covered ground.

          Chiara struggled under the grasp. “Let go of me!” she commanded.

          “I’m not who you think I am,” Ruyi whispered, unfazed by Chiara’s attempt to push her off. “I’m not Leothra.”

          “What are you talking about?” Chiara asked, alarmed. “Of course you are!”

          “No, I’m not. My name is Casus, spy of the Leothren.”