EDIT* A/N: I just need to quickly say do NOT READ this if you haven't read books 1-10 otherwise some parts will spoil some parts of the main series and might make you confused!
Two dragons fly high over the sky, entering the hot dry desert winds facing the orange line of the horizon. One full moon illuminated in the sky, bringing the stars to shame.
Mist hated the desert. Don't get her wrong - she liked the sandwings, Queen Thorn was a nice dragon to be around, but it was just the sand and the heat that was unbearable. Both the heat and sand roasted and scratched her scales, and they left an annoying itch that she swore turned her scales red with irritation. Or maybe that was just her red scales reflecting her anger.
The rainforest was better, she preferred it. Her scales weren't constantly on fire, and the colours soothed her sight and mind. And the birds, gosh the birds! They were all so beautiful, and their songs were serene.
She looked up to the dragon above her, an icewing, her father, Prince North. He eyed the pale sandy horizon fiercely with his black eyes. Everyone always said she had her father's eyes, which was hard to argue with.
They were travelling back to the Kingdom of Ice from the rainforest after realigning their alliance and friendship with the rainwings. That part always left her scales red. Mist thought that her aunt, Queen Blizzard used Mist and her father - the Queen's brother, to do these kind of things that involved the rainwings because of her half-rainwing heritage. She couldn't argue with her queen, though, as much as she wanted to, and Queen Glory was always happy to see her.
Her father swooped down beside her, and she felt the coldness of his pale blue wing hit her back, it felt better than the desert heat at least. He flicked his head at her and looked at her face, before trailing his gaze down the side of her body. Mist watched him in the corner of her eye.
"You're silent." Said North, looking at her.
Mist closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating on her scales. Don't show, don't you dare show, she thought. The one thing she hated about rainwing scales was that they changed with her emotions, especially if they strong, which was very, very often. Plus, her father knew exactly how to read her and her scales.
"Are you mad at me?" He asked.
Mist sighed, looking at him. "No, I'm not mad at you, I can't ever be mad at you." She reminded herself of the story her father always told her about how he met a rainwing, her mother, that faithful day of going to the rainforest for the first time.
Her mother's name was Hibuscus, and she was a healer for Queen Glory. He always said that her ever changing scales was captivating, but it was mostly how she spoke to him with such openness and happiness that melted his heart. Ugh. That part always found a way to give Mist a headache. Queen Blizzard didn't mind the interaction, of course, not that she had much control over her own brother's love life.
Her father always loved her mother, always, Mist could always tell by the way he spoke about her and the way he would smile at the sky whenever he reminisced. And he loved Mist, too, well, she hoped that was true.
Mist sighed again, though softly and at herself. Her mother died to a dragonbite viper when Mist was almost one year old, leaving her father to take care of her.
So no, Mist could never be mad at her father.
"I just hate these diplomacy missions Queen Blizzard sends us on." And travelling through the desert, she thought. She wished they could've just taken the tunnel created by a nightwing animus, but with the constant reports of sandwings from the Talons of Power ambushing travellers through the tunnels, they just couldn't risk it. Queen Thorn always sent dragons to go find them, but the dragons either turned up with nothing or not at all, most likely dead or convinced to join the Talons of Power.
"I just feel that Queen Blizzard is using us to secure our relationship with the rainwings," Mist explained. "I know she's your sister but still...it just doesn't feel right."
"I know what you're thinking, but she's not using us. I've known her since I hatched, she's not that kind of dragon," He looked at the horizon. "She just knows that you like the rainforest. Plus-"he smiled at her-"you know Queen Glory likes to throw a nice dinner for us and chat together. And Princess Firefly certainly enjoys your company."
That's true. Princess Firefly was a hybrid, just like her, and a princess, which was a bonus, so she knew exactly what Mist felt being both a hybrid and of royal blood. Princess Firefly was a rainwing and nightwing hybrid, which was surprisingly appropriate because Queen Glory ruled both the rainwings and nightwings in the rainforest.
That left Mist content and silently happy as she flew. Her father must've noticed her scales and stayed silent, knowing that he positively changed his daughter's emotions.
Though, a thought rattled her mind. "Did you know that Princess Firefly is going to challenge Queen Glory for the throne soon?" Mist asked, peering curiously at her father.
"No. Queen Glory doesn't know otherwise she would've slipped it to me. Did she tell you?" He asked.
"Yes, and I watched her scales turn yellow and purple and blue and back to yellow again. She's nervous, but also excited." Mist described.
Princess Firefly was a bundle of joy, always full of energy, yet also mature and grounded when she needed to be. She mostly looked like a rainwing but the bottom half of her legs and tail were always black, matching the colour of her father, King Deathbringer's scales.
Mist regularly thought of contending for the throne of the Icewings because she was the niece of Queen Blizzard and eligible for the throne. But then she thought of the responsibilities, and having to care for the ENTIRE kingdom, not to mention maintaining peace with the tribes and whatnot. It sounded so time-consuming and frustrating. She'd rather fly in the open sky or in the rainforest.
Her father seemed okay with the fact that she didn't want the throne, especially with the chance that she may lose and die. Just like how Princess Firefly might too, that's if they do it the way every other tribe does it: a fight to the death for the throne.
Not wishing to dwell on that, Mist stayed silent for the remainder of the flight, watching the orange line of the horizon slowly faded and left them. The desert heat was swept away, breathing dry but cool air onto her scales. That felt much better.
Her father stopped in the air and hovered all of a sudden in front of her. He waved a hand of talons at her, signalling her to stop. Mist hovered, beating her wings silently in the night.
"What is it? What do you see?" Mist asked in a whisper. Her father had his head turned away and at the ground. She followed his line of sight but saw nothing but the pale sands below. No...there was something. Something that matched the same pale colour of the desert moved and stirred.
Sandwings... Mist thought. She watched them, trying to focus her eyes on what they look like. Maybe they were sandwings she'd met before on her trips to Queen Thorn's palace. But they had something behind them or following them, something black.
"Talons of Power," Her father realised.
"Talons of Power..." She echoed, realising that the sandwings were wearing black drapes, a symbol of the Talons of Power. "They can't see us, surely...right?"
Her father didn't answer but instead paused and hovered in the air of her.
"They spotted us." He said, turning his head towards her.
"We can take them, a couple of dragons aren't difficult to fight-" More movement caught her eyes. Something bigger than a sandwing was headed towards them and whatever it was very fast. A skywing, but this skywing was large, larger than most of the dragons Mist has seen.
Her father turned towards her, and then carefully clutched the sides of her face with his talons, looking directly into her eyes.
"Listen to me, fly inland near the border to the skywing land and then fly directly to the Kingdom of Ice over the sea between the borders," he pointed off to the horizon on her right. "You'll be safe. We can't fly together or the skywing will catch us, I'll...just follow my instructions." He explained, his gaze trailed down before it found its way back to her.
He took a pair of copper bracelets from the scales of his front legs and passed them to her. "Take these and put them on."
Mist was confused, and she took the bracelets from his talons. They fitted perfectly over the scales above her wrists. "Wait, what are you going to do? Where are you going?"
He paused, then looked over his shoulder, then back at her.
"Just do it, okay? You'll be safe, and I'll get to the palace as soon as I can."
"Promise?"
The beating of the wings grew louder, Mist definitely recognised them as the beats of skywing wings.
"Just go." Her father ushered, he turned back around.
Mist wasn't sure if she should leave him. It definitely sounded like he was going to fight them, especially with the sandwings getting closer and closer to them, but she couldn't just leave him out here along and against dragons that'd kill him.
"Go!" He shouted.
Mist obeyed, soon diving through the wind. She thought of twisting back to help him but remembered his instructions. Instead, she looked back. The skywing was within wing-length of her father and as she dove further away the two dragons became silhouettes in the darkness.
It was too dark to see so Mist thought that the skywing collided with her father and fell, until the skywing erupted fire from the skywing's teeth and shot through the sky. The beam of fire was interrupted by a frost breath, so Mist knew her father was still alive.
He'll be safe, Mist reassured herself. She embraced the darkness and the wind under her wings and flew, never looking back.
She reached the skywing kingdom by the time the sun lit the horizon, spreading light like fire over the mountains. She saw a few skywings between the crevices of the distant mountains but either they didn't notice her or they didn't care. She ignored them and turned to fly towards the sandy banks of the coast and over the sea. Now that it was day, she looked over her tail periodically throughout the flight, thinking she heard loud wingbeats following her. But there weren't, she didn't anything other than big birds in the sky with her.
The blue waves of the sea started to turn into long slates of ice, indicating to Mist that she was close to her home. She couldn't stop now, even when her wings ached for a rest. The snow-covered tundra zoomed behind her and before she knew it, she passed over the great ice wall and into the safety of the icewing kingdom.
She welcomed the sight of other icewings walking and flying around. They were carrying out their usually duties, unaware that their prince and princess was in danger.
Mist landed on the icy ground of the castle courtyard and stamped into the castle, ignoring the protest of the icewing guard outside the walls.
I'm half rainwing and a princess, I'm hard to not notice and everyone knows me. Guards shouldn't tell me to wait! Mist swallowed the scold she would've given to the guard. He's only doing what he's told to do, it's hardly his fault. She assured herself.
Her eyes stopped at the tree of light but ignored it and trudged away, looking for her aunt, Queen Blizzard.
First she thought she heard Queen Blizzard's fair voice in the upper chambers of the castle but it turned out to be a pair of bickering familiar voices that were easily distinguishable close by. They were in one of the reading chambers.
The reading chambers were opposite the library lest to make room and make sure reading dragons weren't always slumped next to the bookcases. Mist twisted her head to the arguing voices.
One of the icewings was an easy white colour throughout and had thinner spikes on his neck. The other was slightly bigger and had a sky-blue hue on his scales. They didn't notice her enter the chamber or standing there, a tail-length away from them.
Mist felt something explode in her throat and clenched her jaw before she bellowed. "PALE! FROST!"
Simultaneously, the two icewings spread their wings and almost leapt into the air in surprise.
Mist stamped loudly on the ice floor approaching them.
The whiter dragon squinted at her, assessing her from talon to tail.
"Mist-uh, Princess Mist?" Pale asked. "We thought something...that something might've happened to you. I thought you were suppose to arrive yesterday. We-"
Mist clasped her talons against the side of Pale's snout and pressed him against the interior ice wall in the palace.
"WHERE WERE YOU!" Mist stared at the writhing dragon below her, stuck in her talons and held with a strength that she didn't know she had.
She knew that, despite her rainwing blood (rainwings are usually portrayed as the smallest of the dragon species), she was actually quite burly and strong. She used this to her advantage in fights where she'd surprise her attacker or even in training.
Pale made a whimpering sound and tried to grab her arm but his talons slid off the bracelets that belonged to her father.
"Pleaff Prinfess, you're cruffing mah frnout," pleaded Pale in muffled voice.
"You were supposed to wait for us, you were supposed to wait! Now," Mist shuddered. "Now North is either dead or dying and that's because of you!"
"North? As in Prince North?" Wondered Frost. The bigger dragon stood almost like a statue watching her. "He didn't return with you?"
"No." Mist held back a snarl. "Because you didn't wait for us like you were SUPPOSED to! What were you two thinking? Running off without us, when the Talons of Power are burying in the world. What was so important that you had to leave?"
Frost opened his mouth and was about to speak when a new voice spoke for him.
"Because I told them to." Said the new dragon. It was Queen Blizzard. She probably heard all the noise and came to investigate.
Mist's immediate thought was to bow but she stopped herself, feeling too angry and wanting to stop herself from yelling instead.
She released Pale from her talons. He rubbed his snout where Mist pinned him and carefully stepped away from her. He stood next to Frost, looking glum with himself. Both Pale and Frost bowed their heads to the arrival of the queen.
"What?" Mist said to Queen Blizzard.
"It was a priority. Queen Thorn told me members of the Talons of Power were spotted close to our borders. Frost and Pale were in Queen Thorn's stronghold, so I sent them to investigate. They returned here to tell me that they were inconclusive." Queen Blizzard said.
"And you didn't send them back to us? Do you know what you've just done?"
Queen Blizzard didn't answer. She waved her talons at Pale and Frost, gesturing for them to leave. Hastily, the two dragons left, leaving Queen Blizzard and Mist alone.
Queen Blizzard approached Mist, not like she was queen but like a friend. She took one of Mist's talons and pressed gently between hers, and she sat, inviting Mist to do the same. Mist did sit but took her talons back, snarling under her breath.
"So tell me, what did happen?" Asked Queen Blizzard.
Mist loathed Queen Blizzard's method of talking to her. Mist admitted that she was perhaps a tad aggressive when she interacted with other dragons beside her father. But her aunt's method was to appear as calm as possible when speaking to her, which, with Queen Blizzard's radiating queenly aura, was actually effective. Mist hated that.
Mist exhaled heavily. She couldn't be mad at her aunt, it was just too difficult when her aunt appeared so calm.
Mist explained the story to Queen Blizzard. She started where the night had officially started in the desert sky. Then when the sand wings and the skywing flew towards them.
Mist inhaled deeply and swallowed the lump in her throat. "He told me to fly towards the sky kingdom and then here."
Queen Blizzard listened to her intently and she nodded. "What happened to North, Mist? What happened to my brother?"
"I don't know." I'm wasting my time, Mist thought. She stood up and stopped herself from pacing. "Which is why we should sending a search party instead of sitting on our tails and doing nothing. I should be doing something. I should out there right now looking for him. We should out there."
Queen Blizzard hushed her. "I know and I'd agree. I can't risk you. I need you to stay put here while I-"
"What?" Mist couldn't believe her ears. Was Queen Blizzard, her aunt, telling her to stay in the palace while something could be happening to her father? "No way! I'm not staying here while my father is being slaughtered right now!"
"Mist, listen!" Ordered Queen Blizzard. She exhaled heavily, running her talons over the crown of icewing spikes behind her head. She resettled herself, looking calm and composed. "I know, I know, trust me, you're doing what you think is right. I'd like nothing more than to go out there myself and personally pull the scales off the dragons working in the Talons of Power."
"So what's stopping you? What are you afraid of?"
"We don't know what the Talons of Power wants. We don't know what happens to the dragons that go missing and their numbers only grow. We think that they convince dragons somehow, to join them, to do whatever they want. We don't even know who's in charge, just that they know what they're doing." She explained.
Mist thought she saw Queen Blizzard shake for a moment but when she checked again, her aunt was frozen like a statue.
Talons like an arctic fox tapped quietly by the entrance of the reading chambers. Both Queen Blizzard and Mist twisted around to look.
It was a dragonet, or at least one that was as small as a sixth year dragonet. Her scales were grey and icy, like a cloud reflecting in the jagged surface of a glacier with black dots as eyes.
"S-Sorry, your majesty, uh- majesties." the dragonet gave a sloppy bow, almost fumbling and rolling over her head. "Is this a bad time?"
"Not at all, Gelid, tell me what's the matter." Queen Blizzard calmly asked.
"Queen Thorn is requesting your audience through your conveyance mirror."
"Thank you, Gelid, you may go now." The dragonet bowed again, then looked at Mist and then left as silently as she entered.
"I need to speak to Queen Thorn, tell her what has happened and see what we can accomplish together. Mist, promise me you'll stay in the palace until I say you can leave. The Talons of Power are not to be trifled with." Queen Blizzard said.
Mist grumbled.
"Mist. Promise me."
"Fine. Fine. I'll see how long I can last without dying of boredom in my chambers."
Mist left before Queen Blizzard did, heading to her chambers and closing the door so she could have peace.
She first settled on her bed of ice wolf pelts but she couldn't sleep. Her scales jumped frantically, especially around the copper bracelets. She lifted her head up and peered at them, whirling her talons in a circle to watch as light reflected off the bracelets' smooth edges. Something didn't look right.
Being a hybrid, Mist was often stared upon for her unusual appearance. Her icewing blood gave her right arm and wing white icewing scales and crown of spikes behind her head. While her rainwing blood gave everything else. She didn't have frost breath but she could spit out a chilling venom that didn't burn but froze anything it touched. It wasn't particularly useful but Mist figured it was better than nothing.
So when she saw the copper bracelets on her father, they were perfectly fit over his scales. There were indents and rises over the bracelets, almost like her father had another layer of perfect icewing scales that had a coppery colour. But as Mist looked at them again, the bracelet on her left leg was smooth, fitting perfectly over her rainwing scales. That explained how they never fell off when she was flying.
Huh, weird, Mist mused. Maybe they're animus touched so that any dragon can wear them. What a weird enchant, and where would father even find these?
Mist propped the bracelets off to inspect the interior but as she did, she thought she saw something white and reflective fall out, like a piece of paper. She looked around her scales, even lifting the edges of the wolf pelt but she found nothing.
Maybe my imagination, Mist thought. She inspected the bracelets and planted them as a neat pile beside her, hoping she could sleep better.
It didn't. She couldn't think of anything else than what might've happened to her father. What if the Talons of Power killed him? Or worse, what if they managed to chain him up like a prisoner and tortured him? What if they were brainwashing him to become one of them?
Mist couldn't take it any longer. She bolted up and paced, deciding if she should leave or stay. Queen Blizzard wanted her to promise that she'd stay within the ice kingdom until she gave the all clear, but if Mist went alone then she could search for North. She knew the last place she saw him and she bet none of the Talons of Power would expect for her to come back. Now was the perfect time to go looking.
Mist concluded it: she was going to go looking and no one was going to stop her. She whisked the bracelets into her talons and put them on. She took one last glance of the room and left her chambers.
Before she knew it, the wind was beckoning her wings and she flew towards the desert in the golden sunlight.
She found him. Really found him.
Or rather, she found his corpse.
She spotted it while high in the sky. The desert sands were pale and the sun was high but she was accustomed to the light shining into her eyes was produced by the reflectiveness of icewing scales. She lived in a kingdom full of them. His body was closer to the coast and the skywing kingdom, which Mist assumed he tried to flee and fly the same route she did before something killed him.
The sands heat drained the energy from her body as soon she landed on a short wavy hill.
Half of North's body had been swallowed by the sand. As Mist took a closer look she realised why no other dragon might not has spotted his body, sand had covered most of his scales, brought in by the desert wind. Mist felt her own scales being shot by the tiny grains of sand just standing there.
Clearing the sand from his arm, she pressed her talons against his scales. All coldness was gone, instead the hot desert was already cooking his body and the sands taking and hiding him. She couldn't carry his body back, she was strong but not this strong.
I'm sorry father, I knew I should've stayed and fought by your side. Mist dropped her head in a low bow, but as she did, she saw something unusual on his head. She gently turned his head over from the sand. Between his pair of icewing horns and his eyes was a large burn mark where scales had melted and turned black.
So that's what the skywing did to you, Mist thought. I'll find them for you father and kill them all, even if I have to do it alone. She turned her father's head a few more times, peering around his snout and then carefully dropped his head to the sands. There was nothing she could do for his body anymore.
The only thing Mist could do was to find solace for her father and herself, making sure her escape would not go in vain.
Something surged through her wings, as if the desert sands had just returned her energy to her after realising her valiance.
She heard the subtle footsteps in sand and turned to look. A dragon was almost snout-to-snout to her. Mist was about to spread her wings, about to use her freezing venom, about to leap into the air but she was too slow.
Something hard thumped her on the side of her head, she met the desert sands below and everything fell black.
Mist awoke to a smooth, chilly floor. Was she still in the desert, or somewhere else? Her eyes flickered, washing away the blur in her eyes little by little. She thought was still in the desert because of the sand in front of her but as her vision cleared, they were actually two dragon faces staring at her.
Sandwings, Mist realised. With a sharp jolt in her body, Mist bolted upwards, throwing her talons at the sandwing closest to her. She thought of clawing her and then attacking the other but she was jerked back by something strong. Her talons scraped on the ground and she groaned, feeling as if her scales and muscles were about to pull away from her bones.
The dragon closest to her didn't move, and softly said. "Whoa,"
The chamber had a smooth floor but rocky walls of a lighter stone Mist had never seen before. The only part of the chamber that told Mist that this was a prison was an open hallway with bars of metal separating it from this chamber.
"My, she really looks weird, weirder than me, I mean." Said the sandwing furthest away from her. Looking at him now, he really did look weird. His body was longer than the average sandwing and it didn't look like he could fold his wings so the wing tips touched the ground instead. He didn't have the rough sandy colour like the other sandwing in front of Mist but was almost wood-like and bronze.
"That, Torrid, is because maybe you haven't noticed that she is half rainwing and half icewing. And maybe we should take you to the doctor to get your eyes CHECKED!" Said the female sandwing in a harsh voice.
Torrid didn't look flustered but raised his long neck at the hostile sandwing, as if he was used to this. "Amber, I did notice, I'm just saying she looks a little weird and that maybe, just maybe out of some logic, my eyes are just fine." He said in an offended tone.
Amber exhaled sharply and shot an irritated glance at Torrid and then looked at Mist. "What's your name, strange dragon?"
Mist grumbled. There was a chain around her neck that felt as if it pulled her eyes out when she attempted to attack earlier.
"None of your business." Mist responded.
"Look, Amber, Torrid." She pointed at herself and then at Torrid. "Wasn't that hard. Now tell us your name."
"Hey! I didn't allow you to introduce myself to this dragon." Defended Torrid.
"Shut up, Torrid, go outside and watch for Hyena. He'll be back as soon as he's done burying that icewing in the sand." Amber said. Torrid grumbled something under his breath and but left, squeezing himself through the only clear entry from the metal bars around the chamber.
"What?" Mist shot upwards. "You can't do that! That's my father you dim-witted penguin!"
"Oh, it is?" Amber asked, though, looking sarcastic. "My condolences. I don't really care. Now, your name before I start ripping your talons off."
"Princess Mist of the icewings, dung-scales, don't get used to the name because I'll be out of here soon." Mist said.
"Oh, a princess! Torrid! Get a load of this!" Amber called out. Torrid shot a glance at Mist through the bars. "We have a princess in our-"Amber muffled her own laughter with her talons"-mist! Get it? Because mist sounds like midst."
"Haha, very clever," Torrid responded but didn't laugh.
Mist snorted. Ridiculous.
"Well it was funny to me," Amber said.
"I'll give you this last warning," Mist said sternly. "Queen Blizzard will come looking for me and when she does, she will gladly rip every scale off your bodies no matter how loudly you scream. You better let me go right now."
"Now why would I want to do that?" Said a new voice.
Torrid neck twisted back behind him down the hallway that Mist couldn't see. Quickly, he lowered his head and made himself as small of possible. A sandwing bigger than Amber squeezed past Torrid and stared at Mist through the bars with a frustrated and tired expression.
The sandwing had darker sandy colours with a sandstone sail. He could've easily been mistaken for a mudwing at first glance. She guessed this dragon was Hyena.
"Queen Blizzard was the one that wanted you here in the first place." Hyena said. "She knows exactly where you are and knows who's keeping you here. In fact, she just paid me a large amount of coin, insurance that I'll continue to do as she pleases."
No way! Mist wanted to scream. She'd known her aunt all her life, sure she wasn't Mist's favourite dragon in the Pyrrhia but Blizzard didn't appear to be a scheming dragon. But what do I know about her? Mist thought. She put me in here. She was using me and North to get close to the rainwings. Their tribe is basically best buds with her now, even with me gone.
"Now with you out of the way, Queen Blizzard can remain to be queen for as long as she wants."
"She-she knew I'd leave the palace and come look for North, didn't she?" Mist asked.
Hyena looked unsure for a moment. "Yes, exactly, she knew because you're like paper to her: easy to read and even easier to rip apart. Here." Hyena threw the pair of copper bracelets at Mist. They slid across the stone floor and stopped by her talons. "You can have these pathetic things back. Copper's not worth much anyway."
Mist put the bracelets over her scales, above her shackles. She settled herself, resting her head on top of her bracelets; the last thing she has of North.
"Come now, Amber, Torrid, leave the princess to sulk." Hyena called. Quickly, the sandwings left her, erupting silence over the prison.
I'll get out of here, Blizzard, and I will come and kill you. For my father and for me, you'd better watch out. I may not want to be queen but I definitely don't want you to be.