Hello readers, I am sorry for not publishing another chapter, but I have been busy with high school. Chapter development will probably be slower due to that I will be part of my freshman football team. I still don't know if I'll commit to the sport the whole time I'm in high school, but I won't let it slow down my chapter development too much. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will see you guys soon.

Celsius

The bell rang, and Celsius was off to his last class for the day: Combat Class. He was very excited, due to being the first one out of the previous room and rushing through the hallway, avoiding his fellow IceWing classmates.

As he walked down the hallway, Celsius' mind was on the event when he gave her his drawing. Celsius knew it wasn't the best thing he ever drawn, but the image in his head told him that he couldn't let a unique dragon like Glacier not be expressed through art. The IceWing agent then skipped to the part where she was surprised and impressed by his drawing of her, but there was thing that Celsius thought was odd.

Even though he knew he might've been hallucinating, Celsius swore he saw Glacier blush slightly for a brief second. Even as he thought of this, Celsius knew that it couldn't be true and that she was most likely thinking about another IceWing in her life. It's best if I don't research deep in that compartment, Celsius thought, approving it in a split second, that isn't my business. He abandoned the thought almost immediately.

As he continued to travel down the narrow path, his tail curled up and his wings folded, he noticed that he felt the presence of being watched. The first instinct in his mind was to pretend that he didn't notice the watchers. Looking out of the corner of his eye, Celsius saw who was watching him.

It was the IceWing, Narwhal, that Celsius had heard about a lot. This IceWing was Princess Glacier's brother, loyal to the royal lineage and ferocious in battle. This is what Ridge had explained the Celsius during lunch, before Glacier came over and ruined whatever else Ridge was going to explain.

The IceWing Prince was frowning at Celsius, then looked back down at the IceWing beside him. That other IceWing is definitely telling rumors about me, he thought, but decided to ignore it. There wasn't really anything that could bother Celsius, besides the fact of being betrayed, which only happened once in his life, but Celsius didn't like to talk this.

"Hey, Celsius," a voice called from behind, and Celsius turned his head slightly to see Ridge walk with him, side-by-side. "I just wanted to say good luck with Narwhal, he can be really tricky."

"I bet," Celsius responded, grinning. "But I can be trickier." The IceWing agent was looking at Ridge, but his fellow IceWing had an expression of doubt of his face. "Don't believe me?"

"Well... I haven't seen your, um, fighting style," Ridge explained while Celsius listened. "Also, you were from the seventh circle, so you probably don't have the quality fighting trainer that Narwhal has."

"Well, I guess that's all true, but there's on thing you should keep in mind," Celsius said, stopping in his tracks. A couple of IceWings glared at Celsius as they passed by, clearly not approving for what he did.

"What is it?"

"Looks can be deceiving." This was the only thing Celsius said, and Ridge thought about the phrase for a moment. By the time Ridge tried to ask what that meant, the IceWing agent was gone, off to his class. Celsius was smiling to himself due to how easily someone could become confused.

It was only a few minutes before Celsius made it to the training arena. The room was massive, that's for sure. The ceiling was ten dragons high and made out of ice. As Celsius looked around, he realized it was more like a stadium. Stands were placed around the massive arena, being seats for any IceWing who would spectate at these events. The fighting area was a big patch of snow, with red dyed ice circling around as the boundary.

Pretty cool, Celsius thought, then heard the faint sounds of footsteps. He turned around, just in time to see Glacier and the other IceWings come parading out the hallway and into the arena. The first look he got from Glacier was a skeptic, aware gaze from her eyes. Celsius knew that he was definitely going to be on her radar from that look, but decided to ignore it. It was only a few minutes of waiting before the bell rang and combat class began.

"Alright!" a voice yelled, grabbing the attention of even the IceWings who were bored out of their minds. "Today we are going to work on claw to claw combat on the arena! Rules are that there is no stabbing or deep slicing with claws. You will also fight until I say that the loser has had enough pain or the fighting has gone too long. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," the class responded in a strong voice. This seem to please the IceWing trainer, because he immediately picked the two first candidates. "Narwhal and Ridge, come up to the combat circle."

Not realizing that Ridge was besides Celsius, the IceWing agent looked at his friend, giving him a nod, and Ridge gave one back. From the other side of the combat circle, stood a IceWing, who was slightly bigger than Ridge, but most likely stronger, too.

Narwhal seems to take out his opponents with more brute strength than strategy, Celsius observed, frowning. This seemed to get Glacier's attention for some reason, mainly because he saw her scowling at him from the corner of his eye. She probably thinks I'm underestimating her brother, and she's right. Even though Ridge told Celsius that Narwhal was a tough opponent, it didn't seem like the same point of view to the IceWing agent.

Taking their positions, Celsius watched the two IceWings take on their different stances. Almost instantly, Celsius saw several flaws with the stances.

Even though Celsius studied that IceWings have the best fighting forms, what he saw in front of him was completely sloppy. What do they train here? Celsius thought, wondering if he should talk to the trainer, but he would most likely be rejected and scolded for questioning the teacher's methods.

The first thing out of form was the wings. They were folded in, instead of keeping the body parts spread out. For one, this would make the enemy think that their IceWing opponent was much larger than they actually were. The form on that part made Celsius sick to the stomach, but he hid his disgust very well, even though it was hard to contain such a strong emotion.

There were a few more errors in the form, but they were all minor, and Celsius decided to focus on how they fought when in actual combat.

"Talons up. Teeth bared. Fight!"

Once the trainer gave the two IceWings permission to fight, the cheering from the spectating IceWings began to rise up. Most were cheering for Narhwhal, but only a few (including Glacier) were supporting Ridge.

So I guess that's who she likes, Celsius thought, then immediately mentally slapped himself. Stop thinking like that! I'm only here to protect, not get invloved with anything else unless I have to. Celsius then took mental notes as the first blow took place.

The first attack was from Narwhal, which was a very impressive move. It was a lunge towards Ridge's wings, and Celsius saw the same weakness Narwhal did.

From the looks of Ridge's form, the IceWing agent could understand why Narwhal was easily able to beat his opponent. One main weakness was that Ridge used his wings to much during the fighting. Flapping them back and forth, it was keeping the IceWing off-balanced and into more danger than what was there.

Narwhal grabbed Ridge's arm after Ridge tried to swipe at his opponent. Pulling Ridge's arm towards him, Narwhal caused Ridge to stumble forward, and there rest was history. With one easy blow to the face, Ridge then stumbled and fell back first, causing a silent moment within the stands. Celsius turned to look at the trainer, who just nodded in approval with no emotion.

Turning back to his friend in pain, Celsius studied the wounds of Ridge. The first thing he immediately saw was the ice, blue blood oozing from his nose. It trickled down his snout and face, and soon starting dripping to the ground when Frigid got up from the snowy ground.

Looks like Ridge broke the bones in the front of his snout, Celsius analyzed. Glacier must've of guessed the same thing, because she looked genuinely concerned for her friend, and soon gave a glare at the trainer, who received it clearly.

"Ridge, go to the medic and meet us back when they fix you up," the trainer said in a strong, confident voice. "I will then schedule a rematch between you and Narwhal." The trainer looked at Narwhal, who was looking at the claw that delivered the punch to Ridge's snout. "Now, who wants to duel Narwhal?"

The response was silent across the crowd of the young IceWings, who either looked nervous or scared to have the thought of battling the Prince of the IceWings.

The IceWing trainer looked disappointed by the result he was getting, and Celsius could tell that things were going to be a downhill spiral by the looks of the other IceWing students. They looked down at their claws or began chatting nervously with their friends, away from the hearing of their superior.

"Okay," the teacher's voice boomed, startling several IceWings. "Since you are all afraid of dueling another IceWing, we will fly around the Academy until class ends." Following the sentence were a series of groans and complaints. Celsius looked at Glacier, and she looked irritated at everyone around her, as if it was their fault for causing this to happen.

Hmm, time to show Narwhal how to properly fight, Celsius thought, a smirk growing on his face. "I'll duel Narwhal!"

Celsius knew that it would be crazy for any other IceWing to do it, which was the response from his class, but the IceWing Agent didn't care. Moving up to the trainer, Celsius made out a sign of approval from his current superior, and then made his way to the fighting ring.

The first reaction Celsius got from Narwhal was a hint of surprise, followed by respect shortly after. The IceWing Prince then made his way to the otherside of the circle, ignoring the fact that his friends were snickering on what they believe was Celsius' stupidity.

They believe I'm insane, and their theory is half true. Celsius wasn't exactly sure why he was challenging the most fierce opponent in the Academy, but the IceWing Agent always liked a challenge. It gave Celsius a hint of excitement, something that he never got often, but it something for him to savior in a time like this.

Feeling the cold powdered snow on his claws, Celsius felt his mind sharpen as he analyzed every move Narhwhal made. Watching his stance, the IceWing agent saw every weakness and flaw Narwhal, so Celsius knew it was going to be an easy fight. His opponent also analyzed him, but was most likely not having any luck with any flaws. Celsius practiced his blocking and attaking to perfection, so there was no way he could lose.

Getting into his stance, Celsius spread his wings, and lowered his chest towards the ground, giving him room to launch for an attack. They next thing he heard was a murmur of confusion from some of the other IceWing students, but most just watched with curiousity, including the trainer. The teacher was frowning at him, most likely wandering why the hell Celsius was doing what he was right now.

Out of the corner of his eye, Celsius then saw Glacier, who was skeptic as ever. She was watching the IceWing agent, and didn't intend to stop gazing at what Celsius was doing. Celsius took this chance to use her precise watching and gave her a indirect grin, but Glacier immediately got the message. Instead of scowling at Celsius, Glaicer did something that caught the IceWing off guard. Celsius immediately saw the blush that formed on Glaicer's cheeks, and he finally knew that he was losing his mind.

"Talons up! Teeth bared! Fight!"

Celsius began circling around at the edge of the fighting circle as he began to think of an attack plan. The pieces of plan connected in his brain while he watched Narwhal, who was about to attack. The next thing Celsius knew was Narwhal's first attack coming into play.

Time slowed for Celsius as Narwhal tried to rake Celsius's face from the right as Celsius rolled to the left, avoiding the attack. Celsius then used his tail to hit Narwhal's back leg, and it was a hit. Narwhal let out a shout of pain and tried to use his tail to land a blow on Celsius, but Celsius was already out of range. Then, Narwhal tried to ran towards Celsius and lunged to grab him, and Celsius knew this fight was victorious for him.

Almost immediately after Narwhal lunged, Celsius used his tail and bound his opponent's two claws together, as if he was cuffing the IceWing Prince. Celsius then pulled his tail towards him, causing Narwhal to stumble forward, right into Celsius's trap. The IceWing unwrapped his tail around Narwhal, only to grab the IceWing Prince and throw him out of the ring a good ten feet. The IceWing Prince landed, unfortunately, on his wing, crushing it underneath his weight. The IceWing Prince yelped in pain as the crowd of IceWing students gasped in surprise. The trainer immediately ran over to the hurt IceWing and checked the crushed wing with worry and anxiety.

Celsius walked over to Narwhal as well, but the IceWing Prince growled at him, causing Celsius to take a step back.

"Thanks for crushing my wing," the IceWing growled. He tried to stand up, but gasped in pain, and the trainer forced him down onto the floor with his belly on the ground. "Now I'll to walk to palace."

"Um, sorry?" Celsius suggested, but Narwhal just hissed at him. "Besides, that wound is minor, you should be fine in about a week."

He got a surprised response from not only Narwhal, but the trainer as well. He looked up at the undercovered IceWing agent in curiousity, but didn't ask him anything about how he knew, to Celsius's relief.

The bell then ringed, signaling the end of class, and the end of the event that just happened. Celsius sighed as he went back to the stands where he placed his bag. As he went up the steps, each time making a low, short sound of banging metal against metal. Once he picked up his bag, he felt a claw grab his arm, alerting him of a enemy. He immediately grabbed the wrist of his supposed enemy and looked at him, but it wasn't a him at all.

It was the IceWing Princess, Glacier, and Celsius immediately let go of her wrist. At first, Celsius just supposed that he was going to be met with a furious expression. As he looked up to meet Glacier's face, he saw the exact opposite of what he expected.

Glacier's face was shocked, but underneath the amount of surprise she showed, there was a small blush on her cheek. It was only a instant before the blush disappeared, and the only expression she showed was suppressed anger.

Instead of being shocked like a few second ago, she was now scowling at Celsius, but the IceWing Agent had that image printed in his mind, now and forever.

"Follow me," was all she said, before stalking off, taking another exit outside the stadium.

What is she up to? Celsius thought, but shrugged it off. This was the chance he was looking for and he couldn't let it go to waste. He hurried after the IceWing Princess and soon caught up, walking side by side with her. She was very serious, but also very relieved at the same time, even though her face was hard to read.

Thank the moons for the agent training, Celsius thought, then realized that Glacier slowed down, and he complied. Walking at a slow speed, Glacier then tapped Celsius, and they turned down the road, away from the Academy, and towards the palace.

The sun shone brightly in the sky as the pair of IceWings walked, now passing members of their tribe as the city came into view. They moved on slowly, looking slowly at their surroundings, well, more Glaicer than Celsius.

This triggered a series of events in Celsius's mind. What is she worried about, and why is she taking me so far from the Academy? Celsius frowned at the IceWing Princess, but decided it was best if he waited for her to start talking. He waited patiently as she continued to look around for another minute, trying to find any sign of whatever she was worried.

After a long minute of waiting, she then looked back at Celsius, and gazed into his eyes. This startled the IceWing, as if she was looking right through him.

"So tell me, what type of stance was that?" She asked curiously. "And how exactly did you best my brother?"

Done, and I'm super sorry for not updating for three weeks, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I will do my best to keep on track for updating stories, but High School is keeping me busy.

Anyways, I'm sorry for being inactive and I want to thank you all for being patient with me

Zmike