The rest of the journey there seemed uneventful, but as they crossed the desert to the borders of the ice
kingdom Glory couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching them from within the sand, observing their
movements.
"Does something feel… Odd?" She asked Deathbringer, who of course, was still by her side.
"No? c'mon stop worrying so much, besides, we're almost there." He said, looking forward as the desert began to
disappear behind them.
"I'm sorry, it just seems too… Quiet." She whispered the last part, suddenly not wanting to break the silence.
For the next while the only sound that could be heard was the steady hum of wingbeats. after a while, the sun
began to sink below the horizon, and in the distance a small stone building could be seen. Just a dot on the
landscape, but it was an important one.
"There's the meeting place" Deathbringer broke the heavy silence, "Looks like Glaciers already there…."
As they drew closer Glory could see it too, several icewing soldiers surrounded the building, watching them as
they approached.
"Hopefully she wasn't here for that long, don't want to run into any….. trouble" Glory muttered as she drew
closer.
The Icewings stepped aside as Glory landed in front of the entrance. "Maybe you should wait here…" She
said as she turned to Deathbringer.
"And leave you alone in there with a VERY scary Icewing? I dont think so. Besides, the rest of the guards can
keep watch…." And with a flick of his tail, all of the rainwings that had at one moment been behind him, were
gone, watching from some unknown position.
"Let's get what we came here for…." Glory said as she headed for the door, followed by Deathbringer. When
they approached, one of the Icewings stepped to the side and opened the door to let them enter, and after they
had bundled inside, it shut behind them limiting the light that could illuminate the hallway that stretched in front of
them.
It seemed colder in here, but then again, the Icewing queen probably wouldn't want to be stuck waiting in
some hot, stone building. They came to the end of the hallway to where it opened up into a spacious room that
looked as if the walls had been covered in a layer of ice. And as Glory peered closer, she noticed that it was. A
thin layer of transparent ice covered the walls and floor, making it feel like a fridge, obviously made to keep the
queen the middle of the room, sat a very annoyed looking Icewing. She was huge! and…. Sparkly.
A few rays of light were able to filter through several small windows in the wall, reflecting on her scales.
"You're late." Said a voice that after a moment Glory recognized as Glaciers. The icewing sat up, and stared at
the two new arrivals.
"We didn't mean to keep you waiting, and we are sorry for any inconvenience….." Deathbringer said, before
Glory could reply.
"Well you're here now. I guess you want what you came for…" Glacier said, as she took a small bearskin pouch
from somewhere behind her, and then she opened it to show the contents.
Inside, the small pouch was lined with ice, just like the walls of the room they were in, but thicker and
covering the ice was a layer of snow.
Padding….. Glory thought as she inspected the contents. Sitting in the soft layer of snow, was what she had
come all this way for. A small bud, that looked, and was made out of complete ice.
"It's beautiful….." Glory said, taking a closer look. She jumped back as the pouch was shut, and then quickly
handed to her.
"I assume that you know how to take care of it? I don't want something this valuable going to waste…."
"Wel-" Glory tried to say, but was cut off again.
"Don't worry, we've had our best dragons making preparations. Everything's ready for it's arrival…."
Deathbringer said, trying to reassure Glacier, and have her forget the risks.
"Well then. We're done here." Glacier said quickly, before sweeping out of the room and down the hallway. As
Glory and Deathbringer followed, they emerged from the door just in time to see the rest of the Icewing guards
winging away back to their kingdom.
"Well, now we've just got to get it back safely….." Glory said, looking off to where the desert would sit in between
them and the Rainforest.
"Don't worry." Deathbringer said, leaning closer to her. "We got here fine, we'll get back fine…."
"I hope you're right." Glory said, looking at the pouch she held. "When we do, this will all be worth it…."