Chapter One
Lynx soared high over the mountains, seeking peace in the feeling of the cold air beneath her wings. The Ice Kingdom was always beautiful, but especially so at this time of day; the light of the setting sun glittered pink and gold off every shining surface, casting a rosy hue on her entire world. Taking in the lovely sights around her, Lynx could breathe easier. Things will get better soon enough, she reassured herself. A world this beautiful couldn't be cruel enough to let us keep suffering much longer. We aren't used to dealing with sickness; that's why no one's figured out the cure yet. But there is one, and we'll find it. Soon.
The IceWing dragonet still couldn't believe how quickly the plague had descended on them. Queen Glacier was the first one to get sick; she'd started coughing and showing signs of fever four days ago. Since then, the disease had spread quicker than a rumor, and now most of the noble IceWings suffered from at least one of the symptoms. Lynx was lucky; since the dragonets had more contact with each other than with the adult dragons and extra care had been taken to distance them from those who were ill, most of them were still healthy. Only Opal and Sleet had been unfortunate enough to catch the plague before they'd realized how it spread.
Now all the sick dragons stayed as far from the dragonets as they could, and since almost all the adults in the palace were ill, the young ones were mostly left to their own devices. The training rituals ceased, the hunting parties were forgotten, and their tightly structured lives crumbled apart as all attention became focused on curing the disease.
Maybe I should hunt something while I'm out, Lynx mused. That's not what I came out here to do, and I know the other dragonets can hunt for themselves, but bringing back a big bear or walrus might boost morale. I know I'd be really cheerful if someone else brought me food. Maybe she couldn't do anything to find a cure or stop the plague from spreading, but hunting was definitely within her power. I'll see what I can find, she decided. If no one else wants my catch, I can always eat it myself.
Angling her speckled wings to catch the breeze, Lynx moved out farther toward the sea. Most of the really good prey lived near the water, which was something she'd learned quickly as a young dragonet. Every time the older dragons sent the young ones out for a test, she would fly to the coast as fast as her wings would carry her, and there was almost always something waiting for her there. Time and time again, she would impress her elders with her catches, which allowed her to climb the ranks quickly. It was how she'd earned her second-place spot, and working hard had let her keep it.
Now she caught sight of a polar bear, moving carefully along the edge of the ice in search of its own prey. It was looking down at the water instead of up at the sky, a fatal mistake in a dragon's world. Lynx swooped down to kill it, ending its life as swiftly and painlessly as possible with a strike to the back of the neck.
Wow, this one's bigger than normal, she realized as found herself straining to lift the carcass into the sky. It took a few tries to get going, but she managed it, and spent the rest of the flight home feeling triumphant. I can't wait to see how happy everyone will be when I bring this in, she thought. The Great Ice Dragon knows we could all use something to celebrate about.
Shrill voices greeted her ears as Lynx soared in through one of the palace windows. The room she'd entered was near the base of the dragonets' residential tower, where the young IceWings usually gathered to study or socialize, depending on how busy or strict their days had been. Now that the adults weren't hovering over their shoulders all the time, searching for flaws in their perfection, the dragonets were more lax in their discipline than they usually were. The youngest two were tussling over the bones of a rabbit, each complaining loudly when the other took them away.
"I had them first!" Crevice shouted. "Give them back!"
"You don't have them anymore!" Freeze shouted back gleefully. "They're mine now and you can't make me give them up." She marched away from her brother, dragging the bones with her.
"Come on, now," Lynx said. The two dragonets turned to look at her, surprised. She shoved the bear she'd caught in front of her, sitting back and watching in satisfaction as they both gave delighted gasps and came running over toward her. "See? There's nothing to fight about," she said. "Plenty of food for both of you."
Freeze and Crevice both dug into their meal, all arguments forgotten. It was odd how quickly the two had adjusted to the lack of structure caused by the adults' absence. The older dragonets tried to keep up the authority system, greeting each other with the customary phrases suited to their rankings, but as soon as the formality began to slip away from them, the younger ones noticed it and became bold. Now they dared to wrestle and argue like lower-born dragonets instead of pushing down their anger or hiding it behind the impossibly calm masks the adults always forced them to wear.
Lynx didn't mind it. She had come from a family of minor nobles, working hard to earn her place in the palace, and she still remembered what it was like to live alongside the peasantry. Everything was a lot less formal and rigid, and she could see why the little dragonets preferred it over their normal lives. But she knew they would be in for a rude awakening when the plague ended and the adults came back, ready to resume their disciplined lives as though nothing had happened.
"I see you calmed the beasts," Snowfall snorted. Lynx looked up to see the IceWing princess (and the only dragonet who outclassed her in the rankings) standing in the doorway. She looked tired and irritable, her tail flicking sharply from side to side. "They wouldn't listen to me when I tried to shut them up earlier."
Lynx felt her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. They must be getting really rebellious now. I've never seen them dare disobey Snowfall. "Maybe you should try being nicer," she suggested. "That usually works for me."
"I shouldn't have to be," the princess snapped. "I'm at the top of the rankings, and there are dozens of dragonets between me and them. They should listen to every word I say!"
"Why?" Freeze piped up cheekily, peering at them over the back of the bear with wide blue eyes.
"Because that's the way it is," Snowfall growled.
"Not anymore," Crevice said, shrugging.
"Maybe not right now," Lynx said carefully, "but everything will go back to normal once all the sick dragons get better. So even while they're gone, we should live by the same rules as always. Once you start being rude and naughty, you're not going to want to go back to being good."
"That's because this way's better," Crevice said, nodding smugly.
"The adults disagree," Lynx said. "And if you do bad things when they're around, they're going to punish you. They'll make you stand in the warrior stance for hours until all your muscles are sore, and they'll make sure you never get high enough in the rankings to be able to boss everybody around the way Snowfall does."
The princess glared at her as the dragonets burst into fits of giggles.
Sorry, she mouthed. Although she frequently teased Snowfall and didn't normally regret it, the other dragonet looked extremely weary at the moment, and Lynx figured that provoking her wasn't the kindest thing to do. The princess shrugged half-heartedly in response as if to say, don't worry about it.
"I'll be the bossiest dragon in the tribe," Freeze said, lifting her chin in a regal pose. The effect was somewhat undermined by the polar bear fur sticking to the edges of her face. "Not even Crevice will dare disobey me."
"You'll be royal," Crevice said, nodding solemnly. "Her Majesty, Queen Furface."
"Hey!" Freeze protested as her brother crumpled to the ground, laughing. "You'll pay for that, Commander Crookedspikes!" She lunged at him and he ran around to the other side of the bear to hide from her, shrieking all the while.
"All right, now you're getting really loud. Go eat your bear and leave us in peace," Lynx told the younger dragonets, shooing them away with her wings. To her great relief, they obeyed without protest, their bellies too full for a real fight. Snowfall was leaning against the doorway now in an uncharacteristically sloppy posture, her talons pressed against her forehead in an apparent effort to ward off a headache. As the dragonets moved out of earshot, she closed her eyes and sighed.
"Are you okay?" Lynx asked, concerned.
Slowly, Snowfall shook her head.
"Was it news from Hailstorm?" Lynx asked tentatively. Because he had recently turned seven, the older dragon was allowed to visit the sick, and he'd gotten into the habit of stopping by their tower to bring them updates whenever he heard anything new.
The princess sighed again. "It's my mother. Hailstorm told me…" She paused and swallowed hard, then opened her eyes and met Lynx's gaze. "He told me that she died."
Lynx's heart plummeted. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she whispered, reaching forward to take Snowfall's talons in hers. She'd known that Queen Glacier was sick, but she hadn't realized just how ill she was. "When did it happen?"
"Yesterday," Snowfall said, clearing her throat. "Hailstorm said she was doing okay in the morning, but sometime during the day she took a sudden turn for the worse and then…" She raised her wings and let them drop in a hopeless gesture.
Lynx felt awful. She hated seeing other dragons feel sad. Sometimes she could cheer them up, but death was something that could never be healed with a few words and a smile. It took time, and often a lot of crying and grieving along the way.
"I know anything I say will probably make it worse," she ventured, "but if there's ever anything I can do to help you, just let me know, okay?" She knew Snowfall wouldn't appreciate a hug or any other sentimental reassurances, but she had to try something.
"You can't," the princess said, turning her face away. "There's nothing anyone can say or do that will bring her back. But…thanks."
They stood in silence for a while, which gave Lynx a chance to think. If dragons are dying that fast from the plague… what does it mean for our tribe? Is everyone who's sick going to perish before we find a cure? Are we going to lose our entire nobility? Our entire tribe?
I can't let that happen, she thought.
"Hey Snowfall?" she asked. "When you talked to Hailstorm earlier, did he say whether or not he was planning to come back later tonight?"
"I think so," her friend replied.
"Good," Lynx said decisively, "because I'm calling a meeting in my room. When Hailstorm gets back, can you bring him and come?"
Snowfall narrowed her eyes, and Lynx half-expected her to complain about a lower-ranked dragonet telling her what to do. But when the princess spoke again, all she said was, "Why?"
"I don't know if there's anything we can do about the plague, but if there is, we're going to find out what it is and do it," Lynx said. "I'll look through every scroll I own and see if our tribe has ever dealt with anything like this before. I want you two to bring ideas."
The older IceWing laughed bitterly. "Not sure how well that'll work out."
"Well, it's better than doing nothing," Lynx said firmly. "Come on, can't we at least give it a try?"
Snowfall rolled her eyes. "I think it'll be a waste of time," she grumbled. "But I suppose."
Lynx gave her a brilliant smile. "Thanks," she said, heading for the stairway that led up into the higher levels of the tower. There were a lot of scrolls in her room, and if she wanted to be finished looking through them all by the time the other two came to meet her, she'd better start now.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. If you liked it or have some suggestions to offer, please review! Any and all feedback is welcomed and greatly appreciated. If you like my writing style and want to read more of it, please check out my other Wings of Fire fanfiction, Wings of Spirit. Until next time!
-Blaze
