A Brighter Future Ahead
AN: Funny story: this chapter was actually written the day after the last chapter was posted. It didn't make sense to post them that close together, so I was going to wait a week before I posted it. In case it isn't obvious, I forgot it existed, so here I am, just finished writing another chapter for this story, and I haven't even posted the previous one. I was really, really confused there for a minute when I realized that.
Anyways, evil plotting ahead!
Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. My OCs Copperhead and Zephyr belong to me.
Anaconda:
The Queen paced in her chambers, irritated at the news she had just received from the Rainwing she had sent to retrieve Darkstalker. She had just sent Fathom to retrieve the Nightwing and was hoping he would succeed. Darkstalker's disrespectful words to her wasn't the cause. Clearsight was becoming a problem.
Unfortunately, she couldn't simply remove this problem because doing so would turn Darkstalker against her. Fortunately, she did have a plan in the works, but that required Darkstalker to be away from the Rainforest for a few days. Sending him to 'oversee' preparations for the invasion of the Mud Kingdom was the perfect excuse. Clearsight had probably already convinced him not to fight, but once there, he'll find he had no choice.
That wasn't the only cause for her foul mood, though. She hadn't seen Copperhead outside of business interactions since that incident after Cobra's capture. She felt bad for hurting him like that, but his mistake cost them dearly. Her plan wasn't ready to be initiated yet, but because of him, she had to expedite things that shouldn't be.
She finally stopped her pacing and sighed heavily. She knew what she had to do, but she always hated doing this to her. "Zephyr," she called. The young Skywing perked up at hearing her name and got up from the scroll she was reading over in the corner to attend to what was needed of her. "I want you to prepare an enchantment for our Clearsight problem. I want every trace of what you did to Darkstalker out of her visions."
Zephyr looked down in both regret and shame. "I'm sorry I didn't think of that before."
"That's quite alright, dear," she replied, comforting the crestfallen dragonet. "You're still young. Experience will come with experience, after all. Just make sure to word it right, and if you're not sure, come ask me. I'd hate for you to have to do this for a third time."
Zephyr nodded and bounded out of the room leaving the curtains swishing. After a moment, her head peaked back in. "Did you want me to do anything about the other two?"
"No," the Queen replied. "Their isolated location will take care of them. Though, if you see Copperhead, will you tell him I wish to speak with him?" Zephyr nodded once more and left while humming some tune or another.
The Queen sighed again. She really did hate bringing Zephyr into this mess. She had saved the young Skywing's life because she had needed an animus, but she didn't expect to become so attached to her. After all, she wasn't going to send a dragonet into war—it didn't sit right with her—so she decided to raise her until she was old enough. That decision ended up being her own undoing, for despite the fact that Zephyr was originally meant to be her weapon, she realized that she became so much more than that in time. She became her daughter in every way except blood, and Anaconda absolutely loved her despite her origins.
That was when she decided that she would find another animus to carry out her plan—preferably one that was already old enough. What better animus than the most powerful dragon on Pyrrhia? Fathom was a nice bonus, but she doubted the Seawing would do her dirty work willingly, so all of her hopes were on Darkstalker. The Nightwing wouldn't shy away from getting his claws dirty if he believed it was for the right cause.
Just in case there was a line even he wouldn't cross, she had Zephyr. The little Skywing had come up with the ingenious suggestion of giving him an alternate personality that would take over when he was angry enough. The…physical change he underwent wasn't expected, but it was a nice touch, she had to admit. Though, she did worry that was a sign that he might become unpredictable in the future.
She was gazing out of the window when she heard someone enter. She looked over her shoulder and saw that the dragon she was just thinking of had finally arrived. The Seawing was nowhere to be seen, but that suited her just fine. She turned around and addressed him, "I see you've finally deigned to grace me with your presence."
"I won't apologize," he said calmly. "It seems I have my own rather sizable problems now."
"Ah, yes," she said thoughtfully. "What happened yesterday, I assume you mean?"
He nodded and looked away, distinctly uncomfortable. "…Yes. And until I figure out what's happening to me, I don't think it would be a wise idea for me to fight in any battles." When he finished, he observed her with a hint of suspicion, no doubt waiting for her to deny his wish.
"Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose it would be for the best," she relented with a disappointed sigh. "However, there's still something else you could do for me." He raised an eye ridge but didn't speak, so she continued. "The Mudwings are readying an assault which we're not ready for. I was hoping that you could go up to our defensive lines and…supervise, so to speak."
"You're hoping the Mudwings will see me and think twice about attacking," he guessed.
"Indeed," she affirmed.
"And if my presence doesn't sway them and they attack anyways?" he countered.
"If that happens—I and I do stress the if—then do what you will. If you wish to sit out, so be it, but you'd be a great help in the battle if you feel well enough to join." Anaconda watched him once she finished, and he finally relented with a sigh.
"When do you want me to leave?" he asked.
"The sooner the better," she replied while returning to her desk, her back momentarily turned. When she turned back around, he was gone—the only sign of his passing being the still-swishing curtain. She looked at her map of Pyrrhia with a sinister smirk. With a quick flick of her talons, she left four slash marks over the Mud Kingdom. One down, she thought to herself. Five to go.
AN: Don't you just love when you can't actually tell who the good guys and bad guys are supposed to be? It makes everything interesting, that's for sure.
Anyways, I have a poll posted on my profile. It isn't too important since it doesn't have anything to do with any of my current stories, but I was just curious as to which ship is the most popular: Moonbli, WinterWatcher, or Qinter. Go vote on that poll if you want to, but like I said it isn't that important. It's mostly my own curiosity.
And finally, the next Perspectives chapter, 'Captured' is being written. I originally thought it would be about a 4k word or so chapter, but I'm at 5.5k right now, and I'm not even halfway done yet, so it's going to be a long one. Be patient please. It's coming.
Until Next Time,
AdmiralCole22
