Chapter Sixteen: Snowstorm

Snowstorm flew off north, towards the Ice Kingdom, the land where he once lived. The land where his mother had died from her battle wounds. The land where his queen had made the horrible decision of trying to take over the Rain Kingdom. The land where the queen he hated most lived. The last kingdom he was in before he turned into a DeathWing.

I'm coming home, but no one will know who I even am. I can't wait to see my family and my friends though. Well, at least those who survived the war three years ago, he thought.

His heart burned with rage and revenge towards Queen Subzero. He flew for about an hour and was finally up in the Ice Kingdom, his old home.

Here I come, he thought, as he swooped down towards the ground.

His heart suddenly filled with joy as he saw his family pass by him.

"Guys! It's me! Snowstorm!" he told them, and they turned to look at him.

"SNOWSTORM!? What happened to you?" his sister, Sleet, shouted.

"I, um, turned into a DeathWing," Snowstorm said.

"Whoa, first of all, where were you?" his father, Hail, said.

"Oh, I slept for like 11 months in this cave," Snowstorm replied.

"Where was the cave?" his brother, Vit, asked.

"In the southern part of the Claws of the Clouds mountains," Snowstorm said.

"Ok, guys, I have to go for a bit. Don't worry, I'll be right back!" Snowstorm told his family.

"Where are you going?" Sleet asked.

"Just going to visit my least favorite queen," Snowstorm said, and he flew towards the IceWing palace.

It was in the center of the Ice Kingdom, so it was only a matter of minutes before he reached the palace. Snowstorm stormed through the palace doors.

"Hey you, where do you think you're going?" a dragon stopped Snowstorm.

He recognized him as Lemming, one of his good friends, who was at the top of the first circle before he had left.

"Hi, Lemming," Snowstorm said.

"Who are you and how do you know who I am?" Lemming asked.

"I'm Snowstorm," he said.

"Sn-Snowstorm? No WAY! I am sooooooo happy to see you! What's up?" Lemming said.

"Welp, I gotta go talk with the queen, but I can come back to chat with you if you want," Snowstorm said.

"Sure, man!" Lemming said, and he stepped aside, allowing Snowstorm to pass by. Snowstorm quickly flew into the throne room.

"Queen Subzero! Give me the Ice Stone," Snowstorm said as soon as he landed before his least favorite queen.

"NO, you weird dragon! Who are you?" the thirty-five year old queen demanded.

"You have no right to know who I am after you made the stupid decision to send the IceWings to war against the RainWings," Snowstorm said coldly.

"Oh, stop it already. I'm getting extremely tired of your ignorance and disrespect. I'm the QUEEN of the ICEWINGS, and that's no way to talk to me. Guards, take him away!" Queen Subzero said.

IceWings immediately came rushing in. Snowstorm recognized them as the same horrible guards who always were so completely loyal to Queen Subzero. He hated them almost as much as he hated the queen herself.

Snowstorm activated his firescales and punched one guard who flew backwards and crashed into another, setting them both on fire.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" they screamed.

He then pushed one into the queen, who quickly started running.

"Medic!" she called, as she ran out the room.

Snowstorm used a venomous stinger and stabbed a guard who came running in, trying to ram him. This time, a guard shot frostbreath from long range, but Snowstorm put his talons up and the frostbreath immediately melted on contact, due to his firescales. He then blasted intensified frostbreath at 2 guards, who both fell down, screaming in pain. Snowstorm then flew out of the room after Queen Subzero. He used his super speed to catch up to her.

"Hand over the Ice Stone," he told her.

"No, I'm good," she said.

"I shall avenge my mother's death!" he screamed, as he lunged at the queen.

"Oh, so you're Snowstorm. Always going on and on about your dead mother. Can't you understand that war and death happen all the time, and that it's no one's fault?" Queen Subzero said.

Queen Subzero kicked Snowstorm to the ground, and then flipped a switch. Suddenly, an avalanche of ice spikes and snow came raining down on Snowstorm from above.

"I enhance my firescales!" Snowstorm said as he sliced a gigantic spike and it came crashing down on the queen.

"No! Mommy!" a voice said.

Snowstorm turned around and saw the queen's daughter AbsoluteZero, who was going to be the next queen.

"Pathetic," Snowstorm said as he walked towards the struggling queen.

All of a sudden guards came rushing in holding Hail, Sleet and Vit. Snowstorm turned and saw that his family was on the verge of death.

"No! Stay away from them!" Snowstorm yelled.

"What are you doing Snowstorm?" his father Hail asked him.

"Why are you doing this? Why?" Sleet questioned.

"It's because of our mother! Subzero made her die!" Snowstorm yelled in agony.

"Not in the way that you thought," the queen said trying to stand up.

"What do you mean? You sent us off to war and put her in the first troop! And when I came around later, I saw her dead body. YOU made the decision, it's YOUR fault," Snowstorm said.

"Yes, maybe it was my fault, but you do not understand. And if you don't shut your mouth, your family will not live to understand," the queen said, grabbing Vit by his neck.

"S-Snowstorm, always do what's right, brother," Vit said, as he fell to the ground, dead.

Queen Subzero then kicked Vit's body off of the cliff behind her, and into the ocean below.

"NOOOO!" Snowstorm screamed, but the guards were holding him back.

Snowstorm punched them with his firescaled talons.

He then ran straight towards Queen Subzero, who was holding his father and his sister by their necks.

Queen Subzero seemed to panic, as she dropped the case that held the Ice Stone, which was now in the middle of the two dragons.

"Snowstorm, calm down," Hail said.

"Think about what you're doing, like you used to, back when you were here," Sleet told Snowstorm.

"I know, and this is what's right," Snowstorm replied, and he kicked Queen Subzero in the face, making her back up to the edge of a cliff, and the edge of the Ice Kingdom and all of Pyrrhia.

The queen blasted frostbreath at Snowstorm, tore Sleet's wings, and then turned around and dropped Sleet off of the cliff and into the water far below.

"NOOO!" Snowstorm screamed.

He charged at Queen Subzero, and tried to push her off of the cliff. The queen dodged the attack, and Snowstorm fell off of the cliff but quickly flew back up. When he landed, he saw Queen Subzero choking Hail. Queen Subzero was backing up towards the cliff.

"If you drop him, then this will happen," Snowstorm said.

Suddenly, AbsoluteZero was in Snowstorm's talons.

"Let go of him and I will give you back your daughter," he said as his claws sliced opened AbsoluteZero's snout, and blue blood came oozing out of the new wound.

"NO! Stop! I'll let go of your father!" the queen desperately said.

Hail fell to the ground, but he was already choked to death. Snowstorm let go of AbsoluteZero, and bolted for the Ice Stone.

"I've got it!" Snowstorm said as he got there faster and grabbed the Ice Stone.

"No you don't!" the queen said as she jumped and started tugging at the Ice Stone.

"Mommy!" AbsoluteZero said as she ran towards the fighting dragons.

"No! Don't, it's dangerous!" Queen Subzero yelled.

Just as AbsoluteZero dove for the Ice Stone Snowstorm's tail whacked her and sent the 3 year old dragonet flying and dangling on the edge of the cliff.

"NO!" the queen yelled as she let her guard down.

"Yes!" Snowstorm said as he harshly seized the Ice Stone.

"What?" the queen said, noticing her mistake.

"Time to finish you! Animus stone, bind her wings! Rip her claws out! Make her kneel to me!" the defeated queen stood on her knees and could barely look up at Snowstorm.

Snowstorm shoved her to the ground.

"Tell me you're sorry about my mother, that it was stupid of you to attack the RainWings! Say that you apologize for killing my family and that you deserve to die for it!" Snowstorm yelled.

"Snowstorm, you don't understand. I didn't attack the RainWings because I thought we would beat them. I used it as a distraction for what really happened… I trapped all of the dragons in the first fleet so that I could kill them and scatter their bodies," Queen Subzero said.

Snowstorm was enraged.

"Tell me, tell me that was a joke! Tell me that you didn't mean to kill my family! Tell me that you will rip your own heart out for your actions! TELL ME!" Snowstorm yelled, and he choked the queen.

"I… can tell you… anything… but it won't be true…" the queen said, struggling under Snowstorm's tight grip on her neck.

"Animus stone, multiply my strength by a hundred!" Snowstorm yelled, as he delivered a punishing blow that sent the queen flying off the edge, knocking AbsoluteZero with her.

Snowstorm saw the queen mutter something that he couldn't hear, as she fell through the air, her wings bound. He saw that she had fallen on AbsoluteZero, making her unable to fly due to the weight.

"Make Queen Subzero no longer an animus," Snowstorm said, looking down the edge.

He saw the bodies of Queen Subzero and AbsoluteZero fall into the water, far below.

Snowstorm turned around.

His work here was done.

"IceWings! Bow to me, I am your new king!" Snowstorm yelled.

"For Queen Subzero!" an IceWing yelled as he charged Snowstorm, but Snowstorm easily sidestepped and burned the IceWings wings. He then shoved him off of the cliff, drowning him as well. He turned around and saw the IceWings with terrified looks on their faces.

"All hail King Snowstorm!" he heard an IceWing cheer, their voice quivering with fear. Many more soon joined in.

"Be ready for me to call you at a moment's notice. We are at war! If you find a NightWing with a metallic dragon, and a RainWing with flowers on her back, attack them. Also, do not refer to me as King Snowstorm, but as The Almighty DeathWing, when other dragons are around. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" they said, their voice still quivering with fear.

Snowstorm remembered his dead family, and silently cursed the late Queen Subzero for killing them.

"At least I have the Ice Stone," Snowstorm said to himself.

He looked down and saw the Ice Stone, which had a small crack down the middle.

Oh no, what have I done? My tribe… they are falling apart, Snowstorm thought.

Little did he know that it was because of him, tearing them apart from the inside.