Chapter 6

Now we get to see some action in the arena! Spoiler alert: no killing, because I'm not like that.

So many questions going through Windracer's head, and the one that kept popping up the most was, Why didn't Dune tell us?

If Dune had known about Ocotillo and Storm's relationship, then he would have had to know that Ocotillo's dragonet would be half IceWing. Perhaps he didn't tell the dragonets, or the other guardians, for the sake of the prophecy. It never spoke of any IceWings, which Windracer now realized was because of the ongoing grudge between the NightWing and IceWing tribes. Maybe Dune was trying to protect Arid, like her parents had done when they had her egg.

Either way, it provided the much-needed explanation for why Morrowseer wanted Arid killed. He had to have figured out somehow that she was half IceWing.

Windracer didn't know how he couldn't have figured it out himself. All of the clues were there, and he had missed them. The spikes, her sharp claws, the pale blue of her wings and underbelly, the fact that SandWings and IceWings were allies in the war. Perhaps his love for Arid had blinded him to her "abnormalities," as the guardians called it.

The young hybrid's thoughts dissolved at the sound of dragons talking in the arena far below him. Windracer crouched to peer over the edge, hanging onto the rock spire tightly with his talons. Dragons were starting to fill into the seats of the arena. Nearly all of them were SkyWings, but he spotted the pale yellow of SandWings here and there as well. There were even one or two MudWings.

He didn't know how long it took for the stands to fill, but the sun was blazing directly overhead when two of the guards let out a trumpeting roar. All of the other dragons snapped to attention. Across the stadium, heads bent, wings tipped, talons were crossed, and silence fell as everyone waited.

Queen Scarlet stepped out onto the large balcony and spread her wings, catching the sunlight in the reflection of her orange scales. The fire-breathing hiss of all the gathered dragons greeted her as a sign of respect.

Windracer squinted at the dragons around the queen. Several large SkyWing guards (Windracer thought he recognized Scorch among them) took up positions along the balcony, two of them moved to pull something forward into the sunlight - a dragon that was nearly covered from head to tail in heavy chains, her mouth clamped shut tightly with an iron muzzle. Even from way up high, Windracer could see the dragon's scales colored a familiar white, pale yellow, and blue.

The guards linked the chains to metal loops that looked as though they had been most recently added. The heavily restrained Arid growled as she tried to pull free, but the thick chains held fast.

Queen Scarlet stepped forward and gestured to Arid with her wing. "Well?" she said in a sly, smiling voice that carried across the arena and up to the prisoners. "What do you all think of my new pet?"

Pet! Windracer thought furiously, forgetting all about Arid's IceWing heritage. As if Arid's nothing but a possession!

Dragons in the lower seats began to applaud, and soon the whole stadium thundered with the beating of wings and talons. Queen Scarlet settled herself on a large flat boulder, looking pleased, and flicked her tail for silence.

"Bring in the combatants."

Inferno suddenly swept in from the tunnel, waving to the crowd. Once again, the stadium filled with applause, this session louder and more thunderous than the last.

Meanwhile three of the SkyWing guards flew up to Ocotillo, unclipping his wires and hooking them to a ring in the center of the ledge. The SandWing had just enough time to whisper to Windracer, "Wish me luck," before the guards grabbed him and swooped him into the sands below. They dropped him in a heap in the middle of the arena.

Windracer leaned himself over the edge of his platform as far as he could go, without the dreaded feeling that he was going to fall, so he could watch what was happening. He saw Ocotillo look up at Arid from his place in the arena and found himself wondering if the SandWing recognized the chained dragonet as his daughter.

One of the SkyWing guards stood in the center of the arena and clapped his wings thunderously until the audience was quiet. He bowed to the queen and announced, "After four wins, Ocotillo the SandWing - formerly, and unwisely, a soldier in Blaze's army - has been challenged to a match with the Queen's Champion, Inferno. Claws up, fire ready! Fight!"

He sprang out of the arena, leaving Inferno and Ocotillo facing each other. Ocotillo sank down to the ground, hissing. Inferno stalked toward him, smoke curling around his horns.

All at once, the two dragons clashed.

Ocotillo didn't bother to try and use his tail stinger, just his claws and teeth like Inferno was doing. The younger and more well-trained SkyWing dodged each swipe of the SandWing's claws, lashing out with his own talons and leaving a large gash on Ocotillo's leg. The older dragon roared in pain as Inferno swung around and struck his opponent's side with his tail. That was enough to make Ocotillo topple over, dazed and disoriented.

Windracer's stomach felt heavy. A stupid trip, and it was all over. Ocotillo was completely exposed, leaving the door wide open for Inferno to go for the kill. He couldn't imagine what Arid would be feeling if she knew the SandWing Inferno had been fighting was her father.

Suddenly, one of Windracer's wires jerked sharply, nearly pulling him off of his rock spire. Digging in his talons, he looked to his left to find Storm thrashing in the net of wires. Some of the other prisoners, including Windracer himself, were scrabbling to hold onto their rock towers as the weight of the dragon threatened to drag them all down.

Windracer had been so focused on the battle, he didn't notice Storm waking up from her nap. He realized she must have thrown herself off of her prison cell, trying to get to Ocotillo. But the wires held her fast, and she was fighting like an insect caught in a spiderweb.

All of the SkyWing guards lifted off at once, heading up to where Storm was struggling. Ignorant of the approaching dragons, the IceWing cried out, "Ocotillo!"

Every other dragon in the arena, including Inferno, had their eyes locked on Storm. Her call brought Ocotillo to attention, and the first thing he noticed was that his opponent was distracted. Seeing his opportunity, he lashed out, shoving Inferno off of him and into the sand with a *thump*.

Inferno roared with rage, clawing frantically at his opponent. Instantly, every dragon's attention was back on the fight.

Except Windracer's.

The moment he heard Inferno holler, another set of visions plagued him. A dead SkyWing, chaos erupting in the arena, the piercing eyes of an angry IceWing.

When Windracer regained his senses, Storm had been placed back on her platform and Ocotillo had Inferno pinned below them. The young SkyWing struggled, but Ocotillo was heavier and held him down with ease.

"You know you've lost," the SandWing spoke for all to hear. "And frankly, I don't wish to kill you. We can end this now, if you yield."

There was a stunned silence across the arena. Windracer noticed Queen Scarlet standing up to argue with Ocotillo. But before she had the chance, Inferno shifted his head to the side, avoiding Ocotillo's gaze, and growled out through his teeth, "I yield."

All the SkyWings in the audience erupted into protest. A satisfied Ocotillo lifted himself off of Inferno, and the young soldier padded out of the arena, his head hung down low in an effort to hide his shame.

Windracer watched his cousin leave the arena before shifted his gaze to the other three dragons he knew down there.

Ocotillo, who looked pleased.

Arid, who looked surprised.

And Queen Scarlet, who looked...furious.

After the protests in the audience died down, Ocotillo was flown back to his tower and locked down again. Windracer couldn't help but ask why, since the SandWing had technically won the fight.

"I did," Ocotillo said. "But I didn't kill him. I'd never kill another dragon unless I absolutely I had to. No doubt Scarlet is probably going to keep me here instead of setting me free."

Windracer's thoughts drifted back to Arid. "Ocotillo, did you notice the dragon Scarlet had chained next to her? The one she said was her..." He winced, then choked out the last word. "...pet?"

Ocotillo didn't say anything, he only nodded.

"That was Arid," Windracer said, his voice wavering with dread. "That was your daughter."

Ocotillo's eyes went wide with both shock and realization. An angry shriek from Windracer's left brought both dragons' attention to Storm. The IceWing was so angry, Windracer thought she'd start spewing fire instead of ice.

"Of all the selfish, conniving, weasel-faced firebreathers in Pyrrhia!"

"Storm, please," Ocotillo said, surprisingly calm after such a revelation. "Not in front of the young ones." He gestured his talons to Windracer.

The hybrid gulped nervously as the IceWing eyed him angrily. "L-look, I...I don't want any trouble, really, I...I'm a friend of your daughter's. I don't hate IceWings, even though I'm half NightWing and NightWings have hated IceWings for centuries, but I don't know why, and really, it's kinda hard for me to hate something when I don't have a good reason to, I mean..."

"Shut up," Storm commanded.

Windracer obliged. He'd been rambling again.

"You know he has a point, Stormy," Ocotillo said. "How can you hate something without reason?"

"A NightWing stole Prince Arctic," Storm hissed. "It says so in the history scrolls. Queen Diamond told all her subjects about it."

Windracer knew the story of Prince Arctic. It was in one of the scrolls Webs would give him whenever he brought food for the dragonets. According to the text, Arctic was an animus IceWing prince who was supposedly kidnapped by a NightWing named Foeslayer, with whom he had dragonets, passing the animus genes to the NightWings. But Windracer was the kind of dragon who liked to believe there was more to what was written - surely there had to be more to the story than that.

The hybrid chanced a few words. "You don't know that for sure. The queen may have been lying."

"And how would you know, NightWing?" Storm asked. "That all happened two thousand years ago, you can't prove what's real and what's not."

"You're right," Windracer admitted. "I can't. Not now, anyway. But believe me when I tell you, Storm, Arid is my friend, and I do not think ill of any IceWing."

Ocotillo stretched his neck to look at his mate. "Please listen to him, Storm."

The IceWing snorted, but her gaze on Windracer softened a little. She glanced at the SandWing. "Only for you, Oco."

A noise down below brought their attention to the arena. Dragons were once again filing into their seats, but they seemed quieter and more subdued than they were for the fight. Scorch and a few other SkyWing soldiers dragged two large boulders out onto the sand. One of them twisted three large iron rings, similar to the ones that held Arid on Scarlet's platform, into the ground in a triangle before attaching thick chains to them.

"What's going on?" Windracer asked nervously.

"It looks like they're holding a trial," Ocotillo replied. "Didn't know they'd be holding one today. Must be a recent addition."

Windracer had a bad feeling about why.

Just as he feared, Auburn was hauled into the arena, muzzled and chained so she couldn't move or breathe fire. The guards pulled her over to the iron rings, chaining her in place.

A horrified and helpless Windracer couldn't help but whisper, "Mom."

Ocotillo and Storm heard him. The IceWing looked skeptical, but the SandWing look horrified.

Queen Scarlet entered, with a still thrashing Arid being brought in and rechained to the platform on which the queen stood.

The SkyWing who did all the arena introductions climbed onto one of the two boulders and spread his blood-red wings.

"That's Vermilion," Ocotillo whispered to Windracer. "Queen Scarlet's oldest son. He always argues for the prosecution."

"I take it you've seen a few trials here?" Windracer asked.

Ocotillo nodded. "Only SkyWings get trials. Rumor has it that Scarlet only likes them because of the drama."

The crowd's murmuring died down as another, much older SkyWing climbed onto the other boulder. His scales were more of a purplish shade, and he was lacking both of his wings.

"That's Osprey," Storm pointed out. "He argues for the defense."

Windracer was surprised that Storm was actually speaking to him in a non-threatening tone, considering how much she'd acted like she wanted to kill him only a few minutes ago.

In any case, the trial was about to begin. Queen Scarlet beat her wings, and all the dragons turned their attention to her.

"Loyal subjects," she said. "This dragon, Auburn, once of the SkyWings, stands accused of the highest treason - disobeying me, and contaminating our beautiful and perfect SkyWing genes. Vermilion speaks for the prosecution."

"Your Majesty," Vermilion said, bowing and crossing his talons. "The facts are clear. Auburn had an egg with a dragon outside her species, disobeyed your order and fled the kingdom. She has been living on the run for the last six years, aided by her sister, Kestrel, and the Talons of Peace, who also refuse to follow Your Majesty's orders. She deserves a long, painful execution. There is no need to drag this out."

The dragons in the seats hissed and flapped their wings. Auburn looked around fearfully, not for her own life, but for her son's. Even with death staring her in the face, she needed to know that her dragonet was still alive.

"Well said." The queen nodded to Vermilion. "Now Osprey may speak for the defense. Or not, if he'd prefer to sleep through this trial, too."

The crowd laughed appreciatively.

Osprey stretched his neck toward the queen, the toward Auburn, as if he were trying to get close enough to see their faces from his boulder.

"Your Majesty," he said in a voice creaky with age but still loud enough to carry to the prisoners up above. "I do have one or two words to say in the prisoner's defense."

Queen Scarlet's tail lashed slowly behind her as she stared him down. "Certainly," she said. "That's what you're here to do. Go ahead."

Osprey cleared his throat before speaking. "Consider first the charge of contaminating the SkyWing blood. Auburn was sent through the breeding program, on your orders, where she unexpectedly met and fell in love with a NightWing named Killer. She brought forth one egg, which turned out to be the wrong shade of color."

"How do you know of this?" Queen Scarlet asked, smoke seeping out of her nostrils.

"Auburn was a close friend of mine," Osprey answered. "She trusted me to keep her secrets, and I did. When you ordered the destruction of all the SkyWing eggs that were due on the brightest night, Auburn did what any mother would do. She tried to sneak her egg out of the kingdom. But you cornered her in the palace and ordered her to destroy the egg and kill the dragonet inside it."

"No," Windracer whispered.

"But she refused," Osprey said. "As I expected her to. She fled into the mountains with her egg. You told your guards - I know, for I was one of them - to find her, destroy the egg and bring her back for trial. I was the only one who stayed behind. When the other guards caught her, she had decoyed them with a rock. You ordered the guards to search the mountains, but neither an egg nor a dragonet was ever found. Auburn escaped before her trial and was never seen again until this day."

There was a heartbeat of silence. Even Arid had stopped thrashing as she listened.

"Sounds guilty to me," Queen Scarlet said cheerfully. "We'll execute her tomorrow."

"NO!"

Windracer nearly launched himself off his tower, like Storm had earlier, his shout of protest carrying throughout the area. He could see Auburn shift her gaze up to his position, and she started fighting against her chains with more ferocity.

A pair of SkyWing guards flew up and grabbed Windracer. He expected them to muzzle him, but instead they unclipped his wires and carried him down to the arena, plopping him into the sand next to Auburn. The chained SkyWing reared up, pulling against her restraints in an effort to get to her son. From the look on her face, Windracer guessed she had feared he was dead that whole time.

"You have some nerve interrupting a trial, half-breed," Queen Scarlet spat in anger. "I should execute you both right now."

"I won't let you do this," Windracer said bravely. "All Auburn ever did was try to protect me! Is that a crime?"

Arid looked quite surprised. She'd never seen Windracer this courageous or determined about anything in all the years they'd known each other. There was a glint of pride in her eyes, along with what Windracer could have sworn was attraction, but he ignored it for the time being.

Queen Scarlet growled. "Look at the trouble you've caused," she said to Osprey. "Listen, half-breed, no one in this kingdom ever gives orders to me, let alone a dirt-eater such as yourself. If you know what's good for you, you'll shut your little yapper and don't ever talk again unless I ask you to!"

Auburn roared unintelligibly through the muzzle.

Windracer looked up at his mother, then at Arid, and finally at Scarlet.

"Put me in the arena. I'll fight for my mother!"

Auburn stared in shock. She shook her head as frantically as she could with the chains restraining her movements.

Queen Scarlet looked amused. "Only the Queen's Champion can stand for a prisoner, fool."

"Then I'll make you a deal," Windracer offered. "If I win the fight, you let Auburn go free. And if I lose..." He forced himself not to think too much about the consequences of such. "...I guess we both die."

Queen Scarlet snorted in disappointment. "That doesn't sound thrilling enough," she said. "How about this? You lose, and I'll not only kill your mother, but all of your precious little friends as well?"

Windracer's heart sank like a stone, deep within the pit of his stomach. If he agreed to this, it would not only put his and Auburn's lives on the line, but Arid's, Bog's, Lagoon's, Marmoset's, and Mango's.

But what other choice did he have?

With no way out, the hybrid finally uttered, "Fair enough."

Satisfied, the queen clapped her wings together. "Guards, take the prisoner back to her cell." She flicked her tail at Auburn. The SkyWings came toward her, visibly unhappy about the delayed execution.

"As for this one..." Queen Scarlet pointed at Windracer. The hybrid shut his eyes and lowered his head as she spoke the words he was dreading most.

"Prepare him for the arena."

In this story, calling a dragon "half-breed" is about the same as calling an African American the n-word. Using the term "hybrid" is perfectly okay.

The reason I didn't give Inferno firescales is because he would have been way too dangerous if he had them.

Auburn - Valka
Windracer - Hiccup
Arid - Astrid
Lagoon - Heather
Bog - Fishlegs
Marmoset and Mango - Tuffnut and Ruffnut
Killer - Stoick
Inferno - Snotlout
Scorch - Spitelout