"How can any dragon trust her?" Puffin asked. Her snout raised into the air and she watched the air with hatred in her dark-blue eyes.

Gelid looked around the courtyard. There was a small group of icewing dragonets surrounding the Tree of Light. One was trying to climb up as a shadow flew past overhead, loosing his footing and fell into the flurry of small wings. Puffin couldn't have been talking about one of the dragonets, surely.

"Trust who?" Gelid asked, looking up at the older icewing.

Puffin nodded to the sky.

Above, Mist flew laps around the towers of the palace swiftly, despite her weight. Her wings seemed more than able to support her. She zoomed over them, starting another lap and she swerved around the next tower and behind the snow rooftops.

The sky was blue but slowly turning grey with the arrival of clouds. She guessed it was the beginning of snowstorm season.

"She's..." Gelid struggled to find an appropriate answer. She admitted to herself that she didn't trust Mist a week ago until that night she followed Mist to Rain's Merriment. Mist did understand the results of her actions, even if it took a few hours for her to realise it. Mist didn't seem to harbour any threats or danger to Queen Blizzard, just other icewings that stepped on all of her scales.

So Gelid wasn't quite sure how trustworthy Mist was in her mind.

"Agonising? Cruel? Has no resentment and only cares about herself?" Puffin suggested coldly. A cold stream of frosty air shot from her nose in a heavy exhale. Gelid had to agree with the middle option but the latter was, as far as Gelid was concerned, not as true as it seemed.

"Well, if Queen Blizzard trusts her then it might be a good idea for us to do the same. I mean, she is a princess," Gelid said, wondering how much of that she believed. How much would Queen Blizzard have to trust Mist for the rest of the icewings to follow up?

"A princess shouldn't attack her own - except if it was for a good reason and she doesn't have any," Puffin said boldly. Gelid had to agree with that. "Have you seen the way she looks at everyone? It's like suddenly she's queen and everyone should be bowing to her. I, for one, am never going to bow to her."

Gelid questioned Puffin's sudden agitation. Gelid initially knew Puffin as a lot more...well, kinder than her present behaviour and if she wasn't then she excused herself from the presence of other dragons and came back with cooler scales.

"Is this about Squall?" She pressed, watching Puffin's expression.

Puffin's eyes narrowed to black slits, even as she still gazed at the sky. Her snout curled down with gritting teeth.

"Yessssss," Puffin hissed slowly, the edges of her teeth glimmered through her snout. "He's a kind dragon, just following orders and doing whatever is asked of him. And now, because of her, he may never walk or fly properly again. How many icewings lives does she need to ruin before someone does something?"

"If you're threatening the life of a princess or plotting it, I'm afraid I'll have to turn you in," Gelid said. Though, some small, squashed part of her agreed with the idea.

Puffin sighed, her expression relaxing as she looked down at her talons. "Apologies. I didn't mean it that way. I'm just saying that needs some...obedience lessons. Just someone to order her around for an hour a day."

Gelid laughed. "Order Mist around? You-" Puffin glared at Gelid. "You're serious...really serious. Ahem." Gelid faked a cough to remove the laugh from her throat, resettling her pose.

"Of course I'm serious. She needs someone to whip her into an icewing shape. And her scales too. Her scales are soooo creepy," Puffin said, lifting a talon and inspecting her scales.

"You can't change a dragon's scales. Maybe their behaviour but definitely not their scales," Not unless you rip them off. Gelid thought gruesomely. She begun to think of a skywing that lived long ago but was distracted by Puffin talking.

"I know, but..." Puffin stared off into the distance. You would if you could. Puffin didn't need to finish her sentence for Gelid to understand what she was saying.

It was clear as ice that Puffin didn't like Mist with one inch of her scales. Not one.

"You were right to stand up to her," Puffin commended to Gelid.

"I did what I felt I had to do." Even if now I feel a bit bad for doing it. Gelid thought.

"That's as much as any of us can do right now," Puffin said. "Where are you going again?" She asked, quickly changing the subject.

"To the rainforest. Queen Blizzard arranged a meeting with Queen Firefly to talk about the recent events. We're leaving today. At least the rainwings and the sandwings haven't lost their heads over this Mirror Incident like the skywings have," Gelid said. "I thought you're coming along."

"I wish." Puffin breathed deeply. "I'm overlooking Squall's rehabilitation, which includes battle training. My poor, poor Squall." She added affectionately with a shaking head.

"A little penguin whispered in my ear that you and Squall are getting married. True?" Gelid asked.

"True!" Puffin said with a sudden burst of excitement, almost leaping off her tail. "It's very true. Her majesty, Queen Blizzard approved, and we're getting married in a month, most likely two if Squall doesn't recuperate his strength in time."

"And you're moving into the western palace with his family?"

"The Sterling Palace," Puffin beamed. "It has the most exquisite and rarest animal pelts in the entire kingdom. I think I'm going to like there..."

Puffin went on and on about the beauty of the Sterling Palace, explaining every single pelt found in the palace, the nobles that lived there, and the names of the dragonets she'd pick when she had them. Gelid was happy that Puffin's sour expression and tone went away.

As time went on, more icewings gathered and waited in the courtyard, waiting for the esteemed Queen Blizzard to finish preparing and fly towards the rainforest. Clouds began to accumulate overhead, covering the sky in thick grey blanket. Snow fell lightly in small puffs and exquisite snowflakes, marking the beginning of the snowstorm season.

Gelid hoped they'd leave quickly. She never liked seeing the palace layered in deep snow and she was always glad that she wasn't one of the miserable icewings that worked on clearing the snow every other day of snowstorm season.

Puffin grunted after some time and walked off, with Gelid wondering why she left without a proper farewell. Then she spotted Mist and instantly understood.

Mist shook off the snow on her wings as soon she landed and examined all the waiting icewings that murmured quietly. She spotted Gelid and trudged towards her.

"When are we leaving?" Mist asked her with no hint of tiredness in her breath. It was as if the few hundred laps around the palace did nothing to her stamina.

Why couldn't Mist at least try to be polite to the other icewings? If they were ever going to be her future subjects then it would be best to get to know them.

"Soon. Waiting for Queen Blizzard. She's still using the conveyance mirror." Gelid pointed to the palace. "You're coming too?"

"Of course I am. I've got nothing better to do. Firefly and I have some catching up to do," Mist briefly explained. "Maybe I might talk to her about-"She glanced at the nearby icewings"-...never mind." Mist began to walk away to an isolated part of the courtyard.

"Wait, Mist." Gelid called, herding her away from the icewings. She stopped by the block of ice that Mist was carving into. It roughly formed an indescribable dragon shape as a dragon standing with their wings tucked beside them. "Are you going to tell Queen Blizzard about the thing - your father?"

Queen Blizzard did take a brief look at the note but didn't anything of it or asked questions. Or she pretended not to care or think of it.

"Are you going to?"

"I promised that I wouldn't. This is something between you. So either you decide it's worth telling Queen Blizzard or to keep quiet about it."

Mist gritted her teeth, looking at her talons. "I have no idea what to tell her, if I should. The note could be lying."

"But?" Gelid prompted.

Mist watched the other icewings as she talked. "But it might be true. If he's an animus then he could've faked his death somehow and tried to tell me but clearly I missed it. If he's alive then he's out there somewhere and I'm going to find him."

"By yourself?" Gelid thought about helping Mist but Queen Blizzard needed the protection and Mist seemed more than able to handle herself. She imagined Queen Blizzard's relief if she saw North again.

"Yes...maybe. If I tell Blizzard then I could command a squadron to find him...but nothing comes to mind of where to start so it's best if I keep it to myself - ourselves," Mist corrected, turning to the palace.

Queen Blizzard finally shot out of the palace and landed in the courtyard with her wings still spread. "Alright, icewings, we leave this instant!" She ordered, lifting into the air.

Gelid lifted into the air after Mist.

The band of icewings then started their journey towards the rainforest.


Gelid watched as Queen Blizzard polished her scales, staring at herself through a mirror. Not a conveyance mirror, just an ordinary mirror. Translucent leaves allowed whatever sunlight to beam into the room, making Queen Blizzard's scales sparkle and sparkle even more on her polished scales.

The meeting only lasted for a short time, starting instantaneously when the icewings arrived to a point where Queen Blizzard wanted to pause the discussion and continue it the next day because of tiredness. Gelid had to agree. She wasn't tired but she could tell by Queen Blizzard's lack of consistent talking that she was exhausted.

Queen Firefly gave her a room in the treetops to rest. Gelid didn't need to sleep as often as other icewings so she mostly stayed by the doorway in silence during visits. But now, being in the rainforest with Mist, made her more alert. The last time she was here Mist attacked her queen and Gelid failed to do her job.

But also, the last time she was here she found - or rather, was found by a friend and she promised to visit him again the next time she got.

Gelid was subtly torn by her job and a promise, hoping her struggling thoughts weren't too loud.

"What's with that face?" Queen Blizzard asked, not looking at Gelid but fiddling with a bone earring in her ear.

Seal guts. Could Gelid not keep a straight face? "Nothing of importance, your majesty."

"Was that about the discussion? You're welcome to input. You are a first circle member after all," Queen Blizzard said, unlatching the earring and the other earring, dropping them both into small box. She then slid the box into a pouch.

I think you mean I'm scrapping at the very bottom. First in the second circle almost sounds better than last in the first circle.

"It's better for more...communicative dragons to do the talking, such as yourself and Queen Firefly. I'm just there to look scary," Gelid said.

"Yes, indeed you are," smiled Queen Blizzard.

And that was the end of that conversation. Though, outside, Gelid could hear Queen Firefly and Mist talking.

She ducked her head through a pair of draping cloths covering the doorway and listened carefully. Queen Firefly and Mist were on the platform above.

"I never asked: how is it that you and your mother are both alive when you're queen and she's not?" Clearly that was Mist's voice. But there was something so casual and calm in her tone that Gelid hadn't heard before.

Queen Firefly thought for a long moment, tapping her claws on the platform before speaking. "It's all about the Royal challenge," she said. "The queens before my mother had a tradition that the former queens would choose the challenge and reveal it to the challenger when the day came."

"Of course, 'the rainwing way', as many have said."

"Well...my mother did that the day after I announced my challenge for the throne. I was expecting something like 'what would I do if a tribe wanted war on the rainforest?' or 'what kind of punishment would you give this dragon if they did this thing?' but...it was not what I was expecting," Queen Firefly said, her voice almost reducing to a mumble.

"Was it a fight?" Mist asked.

There was a long pause before Queen Firefly spoke. "Yes...it was a fight."

"Between who?"

"Between me...and my mother."

Mist gasped. Gelid sensed the worry in her tone. "But you - her - your mother-"

"Yes, we're alive still," Queen Firefly interjected. "But at that time...I didn't know, I wasn't ready, a fight was the last thing I expected." She sighed.

Queen Firefly continued. "She said to me 'the challenge that I, current queen of the rainwings, has chosen for you is: a fight to the death'. The whole kingdom gasped. I gasped. I didn't - I knew I couldn't but there was no going back. So we fought, and the only rule was she couldn't use anything other than our talons, teeth and strength. The fight went on for a while until...I had my mother under my talons.

"I had her scales under me, her blood on my claws and...every single eye in the kingdom on me. I had the chance. I could've killed her."

"Well clearly you didn't," Mist said. "What happened?"

"I couldn't. I just couldn't. Not when my father was watching. Not when the entire kingdom was watching. Not when I was the killer. So I said 'no, I'm not going to kill you.' Then my mother asked 'why not? Do you think this kingdom deserves a weak queen like you? One that can't even complete the challenge of becoming?' And I said to her 'maybe it does deserve a weak queen. But I'd rather be weak than one that cannot see the future of her actions. I'd rather be weak than compassionate, weak rather than smart.

"I'd rather fail the challenge than lose one of the most important dragons in the rainforest - the entire continent even.' And then I started walking away, thinking that I'd never make a good queen. Then mother said to me 'congratulations, my daughter, Firefly. Queen Firefly' and she bowed. She bowed at me and I started crying.

"She chose that challenge specifically to see what I'd say and do."

Gelid had heard that Glory gave the throne the Queen Firefly after the challenge but she never heard it in this detail. It sounded devastating. What if Firefly really killed Glory? Gelid guessed she still had the right to the throne but she'd live without ever knowing the true intention of the challenge.

Would I rather have a queen that can kill and do what is required of her? Or a queen who knows the difference between necessity and desire? Between following orders of the one before her or making her own?

Gelid couldn't imagine making those choices as a queen. Thank the moons that Gelid wasn't of royal blood.

"I'd say a throne well deserved," Mist said, followed by what sounded like Mist wrapping a wing over Queen Firefly. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

Queen Firefly exhaled deeply. "You're here now, which is more than I can ask for."

Now it was getting awkward. Gelid didn't want to listen anymore but she knew that even if she ducked her head back inside that she'd still be able to hear their voices.

Then she spotted Pale halfway across a bridge approaching Queen Blizzard's room and an idea struck her.

Gelid ducked her head back in. Queen Blizzard was organising a bench beside the mirror. "Your majesty, can I call in that favour?" She asked Queen Blizzard.

"The seeing your friend favour?" Gelid nodded. "Of course, go right ahead"

"Thank you." Gelid swooped past the cloth drapes, feeling the cloth brush over her wings and spikes. She called out to Pale. "Pale, protect the queen until I get back."

Pale looked surprised, as if he was only taking a stroll. "Erm, will do." He said, hurrying over.

Gelid spread her wings and glided off the platform, lifting into the air as soon as she couldn't see Mist and Queen Firefly.

She heard Pale ask something but Gelid was already too far to respond so she continued on her path to the nightwing village.

The flight there seemed shorter than flying from Vine Square and she never saw any guards patrolling. She guessed the celebrations made the entire forest uneasy, especially as all the queens attended, and sure enough, there was havoc and panic that was blamed on the Talons of Power. That was what prompted the Mirror Incident. The Talons of Power got their scruffy, rotting talons on a mirror to use and redirect their anger in a 'useful' way.

There hadn't been any reported disappearances lately or attacks or sightings from the Talons of Power in the last three months. Gelid wondered if they were waiting until the continent was in enough chaos to strike, like Hyena mentioned, like the events in the desert all those decades ago when Queen Thorn's reign had only started.

Gelid considered commandeering a squadron to hunt them down. Queen Blizzard would've allowed that motion but her queen's protection was more important.

Gelid flew slowly over the village until she arrived at the centre where the ground was flat and empty and sunlight streamed to the floor.

Where would Lava be right now? He mentioned his job as a day patrol so was he patrolling somewhere in the forest? Had Gelid come at the entirely wrong time? Should she have awaited until dusk when Lava would mostly return to the village?

Maybe she was a complete narwhal for not thinking this far ahead.

An orange skywing flew overhead, not acknowledging Gelid even though she stuck out like an oasis in a desert. The orange dragon kept flying and Gelid watched, wondering what in the blazes a dragon like that was doing in the nightwing village. Then she remembered that she was in the village too.

Her gaze followed the skywing until it shifted on a slow, moving figure sitting and peering into an open store front. Lava! Her mind almost sung ignobly.

Gelid bounded to the brown and red dragon, soon catching his attention.

"Oh!" Lava blurted, his face then glittering with a smile. He returned his eyes into the store that smelled of sweetness. "Make that six please," he said, then changing his mind. "Actually can you hold this here for later? I'll pay now." His claws opened a bag that hung around his neck and he shuffled a few coins and pressed them on the store front bench.

Gelid then realised that it was a food store and almost wanted to wrack herself with her own tail for her slow realisation. Of course it's a food store. It's smells too weird to be anything else.

The store occupied a small section of the market and was almost cave-like apart from vents along the sides and one on the ceiling. There were small circular pastry items on shelves with the ones furthest fuming with steam.

Gelid noticed the blacksmiths directly behind this shop, only separated by a gap that allowed dragons to wander between the two freely. Forgelight wasn't there and the darkness coated the soundless metal and stone.

A nightwing with silvery underscales and glittery black eyes had a small, foggy smile as he hummed, swiping three pastry things from a shelf at the rear next to fireplace carpeted with small glowing charcoals, and then another three from a shelf to the left into a green-leaf bag. He slid the bag under a shelf, came to the storefront and collected the shiny coins.

"How long?" asked the nightwing.

Lava tilted his head. "Maybe four hours?" he answered, unsure.

The nightwing shrugged and begun slicing some kind of soft, flat and thin square on a side bench.

"You're here!" Lava said to Gelid, reigniting his excitement. "This is great!"

"I should've sent a message ahead that I would be coming to the rainforest. Things have been a bit chaotic recently," Gelid said.

"So what? You're here now and today is going to be awesome," Lava said. "Come, come, you should meet my friends." He beckoned, standing and flicking his tail to a spot outside the markets.

He guided her to a small, dusty garden with small brown and golden grassy, spiky and shrewd plants and a single marshy green cactus in the middle with no thorns. Outside the garden were stone benches, all empty except for a middle bench with two nightwings sitting and staring at a wooden board with smaller carved red and blue wooden pieces.

One had pure black scales with black eyes, whereas the other had lighter, greyer scales and midnight green underscales.

The pure black nightwing looked up from the board as Lava and Gelid approached, and he tapped the bench, alerting the other nightwing. They looked no older than nine, possibly even eight but around the same size as Gelid.

"Blackout! Deception!" Lava called cheerfully. What kind of name was Deception? Were the parents intentionally making no other dragon trust their offspring? "Meet my icewing friend I told you about!"

They looked more interested then, their eyes widening and tilting over Lava's wings to gaze at Gelid.

"An icewing," said the slightly greenish nightwing. Gelid still had no idea who that was but she did have one out of two guesses. "That's cool," she said casually.

Lava whispered into Gelid's ear and said. "Don't mind Deception. Her name doesn't suit her and she's very friendly."

"Noted," Gelid replied, and Lava smiled.

Lava sat next to who Gelid assumed to be Blackout. Gelid sat across from him and next to Deception.

"Where's the food?" Blackout asked Lava.

Lava showed his empty talons and looked at them, as if, for a moment, he forgotten about the food and then remembered where it was.

"Ignore him. He's just sour that he's losing, again," Deception smirked to Blackout.

Suddenly Gelid felt like a dragonet again.

"Am not!" Blackout said defiantly, slamming his talons on top of the bench, making the board rattle. "I'll have you know that the best players often lose the most pieces before striking and taking out their opponents' queen and castle!"

Taking out the opponent's queen? Was this some form of twisted military plan being joked about as a game? Who were the nightwings fighting against? The Talons of Power?

"Mmhmm, totally," Deception almost rolled her eyes.

Blackout resumed to sit reasonably mannered and his tongue flickered in and out, watching the board sharply.

Deception tapped the wooden checkered board, then moving a blue painted wooden of dragon with a spear carving from a corner and swiftly switched it with a red carving of a dragon spurting fire from their snout, next to a miniature castle. "Hah! Seized! I win!"

Whatever Deception did made Blackout roar and he pointed his snout into the air, sending a plume of fire above their heads. Deception started laughing. Lava snorted, rolling his eyes.

"What's this?" Gelid finally asked, unsure if she was missing something important here.

Deception closed her snout with her talons and then breathed. "Scales and Castles," she answered, unbinding her snout after recovering from her laughter.

Blackout closed his snout with smoke piping from between his lips and he crossed his talons, looking unhappy.

"What's Scales and Castles?" Gelid asked further.

Deception looked at her with wide eyes and then at Blackout, who then mimicked the same expression.

"You've never played Scales and Castles?" Deception asked, sounding as if Gelid had just stabbed her tail with a dagger. "What - how - how have you lived without playing a round of Scales and Castles?" She started keening.

"Um, no."

"Scales and Castles is a nightwing past-time, Deception. Remember? I told you the mudwing dragonets didn't have this game either," Lava said. His gaze then shifted to Gelid. "It's a board game where each dragon starts with twelve pieces at one side,-"he pointed at the board"- each one having their own abilities. The goal is to attack their castle or take their opponents queen to their own side of the board." He explained.

"Sounds complicated," Gelid said, already forgetting what he explained.

Blackout huffed, agreeing with Lava.

"It is not!" Deception said. "It's easy to learn. It's almost like speaking."

"She just wants someone else to feel intellectually superior over," Blackout said, grinning. "Don't be suckered into the game," He said to Gelid.

Gelid noticed herself relaxing, even around the new nightwings. The atmosphere of the nightwing was a lot more pleasant than the ice kingdom, especially with the tension between many icewings and Mist. And the nightwing village was incredibly calm and empty, with almost all of the nightwings sleeping.

She guessed Deception and Blackout were also part of the day patrol with Lava.

"You're smart, just not when you're playing this," Deception said.

"I'm not particularly good at the game either. Deception is the champion of Scales and Castles," Lava said.

"I think you mean to say the Queen of Scales and Castles."

"Yeah, that."

Then Gelid heard a faint rumbling.

Blackout put a talon over his stomach and the rumbling stopped. "So what are we going to eat?" He asked eagerly.

"Actually, I was hoping we could go hunting," Lava said.

Deception shrugged. "Sure, I could use the exercise."

"Hunting?" Gelid pondered. How long would that take? Would they be gone for long? What about Queen Blizzard?

"Yeah. Not in the rainforest but outside, along the border is deer and goats and large peacock birds and..." Blackout almost trailed off. "Oh! And very tasty capybaras! OK! I'm in, lets go hunting!" He said, convincing himself.

"I don't know if I should, Queen Blizzard wouldn't want me gone for very long," Gelid said, unconvinced.

"Queen Blizzard?" Deception asked but Gelid didn't quite hear what she said over Lava's voice.

"Come on. We won't be gone for too long. If we don't catch anything we can have pies," Lava said. The nightwings stared at her, waiting for an answer.

As long as I'm not gone for long...I suppose some hunting would take my mind away from everything that has happened so far.

Gelid agreed and the small pack of dragons took off into the skies of the rainforest and towards the border to hunt prey.