"Moons," muttered Glory, looking at the ground.
The body lay in front of everyone, evidence of a brutal murder.
"This is bad, Winter. Very, very bad. Bad for your sister, bad for the peace of the rainforest, bad for everyone," she continued.
"The Nightwings are going to set their heads on fire," Qibli said, before putting a talon on his chin pensively for a moment. "No, hold on. They are going to set the closest Icewing's head on fire. I hope your skull is as thick as it looks, Winter," he added.
Winter scowled at Qibli.
Nico and Piper stood off to the side, wondering what to do. They could go search for the killer or stay put. Piper wasn't expecting a simple bomb at a faraway school to blossom into such a huge plot, with murders, attempted murders, some family drama, a past war, all that. It was rather overwhelming. Nico didn't really put much thought into that.
Right here, right now. What to do... Am I stupid? Name? Don't know. Ask? Maybe...
"Maybe I'm just stupid, but what is the name of your sister, Winter? We've come all this way and I still don't know that somehow," Nico said to Winter.
"Icicle," he growled.
"If she finds you guys, she will definitely massacre you all if it means no one interferes with whatever she is doing. Come, let's put you somewhere safe," Glory said, motioning towards the direction they just came from, back through the hanging vines and jutting branches.
As they landed back at the royal pavilion, Kinkajou met them, bouncing up and down like an dog that is greeting their owner after a long day after work.
Nico wrinkled his snout at her enthusiasm.
"What happened!? Will you tell me?" she squealed, scales shifting through the colors of the rainbow, as blinding as Times Square at New Year's Eve. "Did you guys find her? Wait. Winter looks mad. Does that mean you find her? No, wait, Winter always looks mad," Kinkajou said, before drifting off.
Piper chuckled at Kinkajou's obliviousness, before stopping after realizing it wasn't a funny situation.
Deathbringer was swearing up a storm, pacing around with excessive footwork as he tried to contain himself from damaging anything.
"By yourself?!" he roared at Glory. "With these incapable dragonets as 'bodyguards'?" he asked, throwing up air quotes to make his point.
Nico scoffed. "I'd argue you're more incapable than me."
"Dragons my age are seasoned warriors where I'm from," Winter added.
"Don't get your tail tied in a knot and horns in a twist, Deathy," Glory said. "You know my top-secret invisible guard was with us."
"But I wasn't," Deathbringer protested. Glory gave him what looked like a mix of a sad and exasperated look.
Piper watched their conversation with interest. Nico was studying the flowers climbing up the tree supports.
"You can't always be there for me. You need to trust that I can take care of myself," Glory pleaded. Deathbringer sighed.
"The important thing is that we know the Icewing was here recently."
"She is? Actually in the rainforest? Right here right now?" Kinkajou squeaked.
"Yep."
Winter looked dejected in the corner as if any mention of his sister was painful.
"We need to organize search teams. Deathbringer, you come with me," Glory stated, lightly brushing her tail with Deathbringer's. "In the meantime, I think the safest place is the dragonet wingery. I'll even double the guard in case Icicle shows up. We don't want any more dragons dying on our talons today."
Winter gave an indignant look before throwing out his wings and protesting. Nico looked around, as did Piper.
What's a wingery.
"You can't lock us up with a bunch of newly-hatched dragonets! I need to look for my sister!"
Oh. Fan-freaking-tastic.
Glory and Winter started a heated argument. Qibli knocked Winter down, leaned down and whispered something into his ear.
"She's not going to give in," Kinkajou said. Moon nodded.
"What of us, then?" Piper asked. "Do we go with them, or do we just roam the rainforest like none of this ever happened?"
"I guess as long as you don't actively search for Icicle, and don't tell anyone until this is resolved, then it's alright. It's not really like I'm in a position to make many demands," Glory said, casting a dark glance at Nico.
Before Winter, Moon, Kinkajou, and Qibli left for the wingery, Nico pulled them aside.
"Is there anywhere you want us to wait for you? Or help you with, since we won't be going with you to that kindergarten?"
They gave him a puzzled look. "Or wingery, as you guys call it here."
"You can wait for us right outside the wingery. Or at the base of a big tree near the waterfall not too far from here. I have a hunch that you guys should wait there," Moon said quietly.
Nico nodded, and they separated, the Jade Winglet to the wingery, and the demigods to the location Moon talked about.
When Nico and Piper arrived at the location Moon described, they were quite surprised to find it was the very place where Nico had decided to set up.
"How did Moon know this is where I live?" Nico asked Piper.
"You don't know that. It could be for something else," she replied.
Nico huffed, then sat down.
Thankfully, it wasn't long before Qibli, Moon, and Kinkajou appeared, followed shortly by Winter. Piper greeted them warmly, but Nico did not.
"Why does this place feel so uncomfortable?" Winter asked.
"I live here," Nico said.
"Wait, you do?" Moon asked.
"Yeah. I was kind of surprised when you told Piper and I to wait here for you guys. How did you know?" Nico asked.
"Again, Nico, you don't know that. It could be for something else. Stop accusing people," Piper added.
Moon looked uncomfortable for a moment, but Piper continued talking.
"How was the wingery?" Piper asked.
Winter rolled his eyes, as did Qibli, but Kinkajou started hopping, eager to tell.
"We met some super duper cute dragonets in the wingery, and we got them to play hide and seek with us, but I told them to count to one thousand to give us time, then Winter blasted the floor with frostbreath and punched a hole for us to escape through!" she squealed.
"Then we came to our agreed spot," finished Moon.
"This is the tunnel to the Nightwing island," Kinkajou said with a quiet, wavering voice. Her head drooped, as did her wings.
"Whoa, I didn't realize. You were one of the Rainwings they -" Qibli said before drifting off.
"- imprisoned and experimented on," Moon finished. "It's alright if you don't want to come with us. You can wait here, or return home or to the school. We understand if it's too - too anything, really."
Nico and Piper were shocked at this revelation of Kinkajou. For a dragon so bubbly, they didn't know her horrid past.
She gave them a look of determination. "No. I'm coming. It's alright."
"Why don't you hate them?" Nico asked. "After what they did to you?"
"They aren't my favorite dragons. Except for Moon, of course. Oh, and Deathbringer. He's pretty great. I guess it's because they are trying to change, and now that Glory is their queen, they won't do anything bad anymore."
"We'll see about that," Winter added with a small snarl.
"Sheesh, you sure hate them," Piper responded.
"Come, look at this! There is a leaf that has been squashed, and it looks fresh. So some dragon might have gone through this tunnel," Moon said.
They all came over and looked at it. Winter leaned down and sniffed, then thought pensively briefly.
"That's my sister's scent. It looks like she went through to the Nightwing island. Why? I may never know," Winter announced.
They slowly crept through the tunnel, the unsettling, muffling air closing on them, wrapping them like a blanket meant to suffocate and kill. The dark walls were freezing to the touch, but the air was hot, almost uncomfortably so. They huddled together to fend off fear and anxiety. As they passed into a cavern, their talons instantly sank into a layer of ash. Moon and Qibli breathed out a small plume of fire, illuminating the cavern. Shivers crept down their spines and a small gasp escaped from Kinkajou. In front of them, lay the form of a huge dragon, wings splayed and talons reaching towards them.
"It's ok," Moon breathed out. "He's dead. Whoever he is, he's dead. This is just a cast."
"I wonder who it was," Qibli asked, reaching forward, and tapping the talons.
Color slowly returned to everyone's face. They moved past the dragon back into a tunnel on the other side.
Nico cast a glance back at the shape of the dragon. He could sense the body in there, as well as the soul that once possessed this body. This dragon was burned and buried alive. Piper kept her eyes forward, wanting to forget that harrowing sight.
They broke free from the narrow tunnel. The sky was ashen, cloudy. The ground was sweltering. The ocean crashing in on all sides. A single mountain jutted into the sky, lava spilling out, or glowing through cracks. Melting, dripping, cooling, the whole island looked dead and alive at the same time.
"Who could bear to live here?" Piper asked.
A flurry of emotion flew through Winter's face as he gazed onward.
"Look at their fortress! Totally destroyed," Kinkajou said, pointing towards the volcano. There lay a wrecked structure, melted or collapsed on one side, falling apart on the other.
"I had no idea! I've seen the island in their heads, but I never felt this - mother never said - it's horrible!" She gasped.
"You saw in their heads? Would you like to come again on that, Moon?" Nico asked.
Everyone looked at him.
"Looks like I was right, Piper. She knew."
"I can't read your mind, I swear! It's all cold and dead in there, like Winter!" She protested.
"How did you know about where I live? Why is the tunnel right next to where I live? You knew!" Nico roared. "You knew! What have you seen in my head? Tell me!"
"Guys, we can't fall apart right now. Nico, you just have to trust Moon on this one. It's not like she had a choice to be hatched with this power," Qibli said, raising his voice to ease tensions.
"Imagine having your home devastated like this. Poor Nightwings," Kinkajou said.
"Poor Nightwings!" Winter exploded. "Are you serious? They deserved this! After what they did to you! After what they did to us!"
Oh boy.
"Everyone! Calm down!" Piper roared over everyone, flooding their minds with her charmspeak.
An uneasy silence followed as everyone tried to rationalize why their bodies weren't under their control for a few moments. A blast of sulfurous smoke came from a vent and everyone moved back, coughing.
"Piper? What was that?" Qibli asked.
"Nothing," said Piper.
'Charmspeak.'
Moon decided to keep it to herself though.
They quietly trudged through the ash and black sand, tension as thick as the air around them.
Moon suddenly stopped them, before turning towards a dark tunnel.
"I thought I heard something here," Moon said.
"I sense a life force in there," Nico announced.
They soon heard scraping as the limping silhouette of a dragon slowly appeared through the smoke.
They have found her.
"She's not alright. Her brain's all foggy," she whispered to Winter. He watched in horror as details on his sister slowly became clear through the hazy air. Bloodshot eyes, almost solid blue at this point, streaks of mud, ash and blood, blue and red marring her body.
"Sister! Are you - " Winter managed out before she cut him off.
"Why are you here? To ruin something else, someone else? Aren't you already satisfied with the guarantee of your brother's death?" she snarled.
Everyone watched in confusion and horror as Winter and Icicle faced off.
"What's wrong with you? You look terrible!" Kinkajou blurted out.
"Ha! It could be worse! I could look like you," she retorted.
"I want to help you find Hailstorm. If he is still alive - "Winter reasoned.
"I don't need your help, of all dragons!" she snarled in response, cutting Winter off.
"What did Scarlet say?" Winter asked, spreading his wings to block her from leaving.
"I haven't spoken to her," Icicle said, swaying on her feet. "I can't... I don't want to see her... to admit I failed... your fault... what if he's dead?"
She staggered forward, unsteady on her feet. Winter leaned forward to catch her, but she snapped her teeth at him.
"She hasn't slept. Not since Jade Mountain!" Moon said in realization.
Icicle gave a small look of pride at everyone. "If I can't sleep, then Scarlet can't get to me. She can't visit my dreams of I don't have any!" she laughed.
"How do you stay awake for so long?" Kinkajou cried, almost as if Icicle's sleep deprivation hurt her.
"Whenever I get tired, I lie down beside the lava until the pain wakes me up," she said, turning her body to show them.
Everyone saw the blisters and burns plaguing her body.
"We need to know if she hasn't killed him already," Winter said.
"Do you know where she is? If we can get to her and find him - " he added desperately.
"No. If it were that easy I would have done it. All things considered, there is only one way to save him, and that's killing the Rainwing queen."
"Nuh-uh! I'm not letting you kill Queen Glory," Kinkajou said, puffing her chest out and flaring her ruff.
"Hah! How, you preposterous pink pest?" Icicle barked.
Kinkajou lunged at Icicle, flying past Winter. Kinkajou knocked Icicle down and wrapped her talons on Icicle's throat.
"No one threatens my queen!" Kinkajou roared, surprising everyone with her resolve and ferocity.
"Get off me! Icicle roared, talons reaching up towards Kinkajou's soft underbelly. Her talons were suddenly chained to the ground with bones. Bones began appearing out of the ground, locking Icicle in a cage of bone. It then began constricting around her.
"What!?" Icicle roared. She roared in frustration, pain, and hatred. Something small whistled through the air and planted itself in Icicle's neck. She gasped before her body started shutting down.
The scene around them morphed as 9 dragons of regal gold and red appeared.
"Icicle of the Icewings, you are under arrest for murder and attempted murder," Glory announced.
"No!" Icicle roared. "What's happening!? What have you done?"
"It's a tranquilizer dart. We find it makes transporting prisoners much, much easier. You'll wake up fine in a few hours," Deathbringer said happily.
"I can't sleep! Don't make me sleep!" She begged, lying on the ground constricted in a cage of bones.
"No!" she shrieked, again and again, before fading as her head slumped and her consciousness faded.
Winter leaned down and whispered softly right before Icicle drifted off.
"Tell Scarlet that if she can prove Hailstorm is alive... I'll kill Glory for her myself."
"Don't even think about it, Winter," Nico said dangerously. "Maybe I haven't told you, but I can also hear through what I have summoned.
On cue, the bones separated, before sinking into the ground.
"On a separate note, who is Scarlet?" Piper asked.
"Doesn't matter," Glory said happily. "We have reports from the current Skywing queen herself, Ruby. Scarlet was executed in a rather brutal fashion. Witnesses say that she was and I quote, hit by lightning many times."
"That doesn't seem like normal weather," Nico thought out loud.
"You are correct in that. Apparently one of her rookie soldiers in being questioned, as he was the first to reach her. They say he was the one that 'called down' the lightning," Glory responded.
"Sounds like bull crap, but what the queen says is what the queen says," Deathbringer added.