Chapter 9

Now things begin to really take a turn for the better. Well, for the dragonets of destiny, anyway.

Windracer avoided another claw swipe from Frost. He should have guessed. Two dragons fighting for the freedom of a family member, pitted against each other in the arena to determine their loved one's fate.

But Frost's sister was already dead.

Had Scarlet planned it all along? Kill Sleet before the deciding battle, without Frost knowing?

What if she had done that with Auburn, too?

Windracer forced that question away into the back of his head. First, he had to focus on not dying, and then he could think about finding his mother.

But what if he didn't have to fight Frost? If he told the IceWing what had happened to Sleet, would he stop and maybe even turn on Scarlet? It was a long shot, but Windracer knew he had to try.

"Frost, stop! We don't have to fight!"

As he would have expected, the IceWing prince didn't listen.

"Yes we do!" Frost snarled. "Dragons fight every day! I've killed every opponent they put me up against, I can handle killing one more!" He blasted frostbreath at the hybrid, prompting Windracer to roll out of the way. The ice from Frost's attack hit the wall underneath the queen's balcony. Frost fired again, and Windracer rolled the other way, the frostbreath adding more ice onto the wall. The cold structure traveled up to the talons of the chained dragonets, but Scarlet and Burn remained unfazed.

Windracer went to roll again, but Frost anticipated it. He grabbed the hybrid in his talons and slammed him down, pinning him into the sand.

"Fight back, you weasel-brain!"

Although startled by Frost's yell and angry gaze, Windracer shook his head. "No. I won't fight you, Frost. This isn't what Sleet would want."

Frost's eyes went wide for a moment before he glared at Windracer. "How do you know about Sleet?!"

"I met her while trying to escape," Windracer explained. "I was afraid at first, but she was nice to me. I helped her out of her chains, so she could escape with me and my friends. She knew about Queen Diamond, everything you think you know about NightWings is not true. Scarlet found us trying to get away. She ordered her guards to attack me, but Sleet saved my life. I tried to save her, but she didn't make it."

After waiting a moment to catch his breath from rambling, Windracer looked the IceWing straight in the eye.

"Frost, your sister is dead."

The IceWing prince hesitated, but then shook himself back to his senses. "Liar!"

"I'm not lying," Windracer insisted. He wished he had something that would show Frost it was true, but for now his words were his only proof. "I don't care what you do to me, but I won't fight you. It's not what Sleet would want, and it's not what I want, either."

He noticed the closet dragons in the audience were leaning in, listening intently. He hadn't been speaking for the whole stadium to hear, but at least a few had.

Queen Scarlet wasn't among them. "Hurry up and finish it!" she called from her balcony. "You have him at your mercy! Freeze his head off! Slice his throat! Kill him!"

Windracer looked up at his friends, thinking it was the last time he'd ever see them. That's when he saw Arid. She had lowered her head enough to reach up with her front talons and attempt to pry her muzzle off. A patch of ice from Frost's breath had formed in front of her, its cold temperature chilling her scales. But she paid no attention to it, she dug her claws into the space between the muzzle and her snout and pulled as hard as she could. Miraculously, the muzzle broke off, and Arid reared back and let out an angry roar.

Burn and Scarlet stared wide-eyed at the SandWing, who glared at both of them. Arid opened her mouth, and sucked in a long breath. Expecting her to breath fire, Scarlet lifted her wing to shield herself. But instead of fire, a cloud of glittering smoke came out of Arid's mouth. The second Arid's breath hit Scarlet's wing, patches of ice began to freeze over the queen's scales.

Scarlet stared wide-eyed at what was happening to her. "Ice? How did you...?!"

She didn't get a chance to finish her question, as Arid readied another frostbreath. Burn shoved Scarlet in front of her and shot into the sky. The SkyWing queen barely avoided being hit a second time.

Seeing Frost distracted by what was happening on the queen's balcony, Windracer threw the IceWing off of him and started desperately digging around in the sand. If he could find something, anything, to enchant, he could free himself, his friends, and all the other dragons being held prisoner. Finally, he found a small rock, which he palmed tightly. "Free every prisoner in the Sky Kingdom!" he shouted.

And just like that, the metal clips on his wings vanished. He looked up to the queen's balcony to find his friends free of their chains. The sound of wingbeats prompted him to look up. All of the prisoners were flying off of their rock spires without any chains or wires holding them down. Windracer scanned the flying dragons, hoping to find his mother among them.

He didn't get a chance to find her, however, as an infuriated Scarlet jumped down into the arena and charged at him. Windracer spread his wings to fly away, but the queen was too fast. Within seconds, he was pinned down into the sand for the second time that day.

His secret was out. Scarlet was now aware he was an animus.

"You think by freeing every prisoner in this kingdom, that you've saved all of Pyrrhia?" Scarlet asked. Her tone was unusually calm, and that terrified Windracer. "I can always capture more dragons for my arena. And next time, you won't be there to save them." She leaned down so all Windracer could see was her eyes. "How thrilling it would have been to have you fighting in the arena. I should have killed you last night when I had the chance, but that pretty little princess had to go and interfere with my plans. What was her name? Sleet?" She then grabbed Windracer's neck in her talons, and got ready to snap it like she had done with Dune. "Well, she's dead now. Pity her attempt to save you had been in vain. Now, say goodbye, half-breed."

Windracer shifted his eyes to look at his friends, who were being pinned to the walls by Scarlet's guards. He focused his attention on Arid, who was thrashing like mad, trying to get to Windracer. He didn't want Scarlet's eyes to be the last thing he saw before he died.

Just then, Scarlet was pulled off of the hybrid. Windracer looked up to see Frost holding the queen by the neck and glaring at her.

"You killed her?"

Scarlet shook her head, her widened eyes showing fear for the first time since Windracer saw her.

Frost snarled. "I heard you! You said her name! You killed her!" He pried Scarlet's mouth open with his talons, and, without hesitation, breathed his frostbreath down her throat.

Windracer turned his head away, his eyes shut tight. He could hear Scarlet screaming, the sound becoming more hoarse and cracking as the ice overtook her from the inside.

The stadium erupted into pandemonium. All the dragons tried to take to the sky at once, crashing into one another and clawing viciously to get away from Frost and the dying queen.

Finally, the noise stopped, and Windracer opened his eyes in time to see Frost let go of Scarlet's head. The queen fell into the sand, her mouth wide open, the scales of her head and neck a chilling blue instead of her normal orange. Icy mist seeped from her mouth, her teeth resembling icicles. Her piercing yellow eyes were now a pale blue, frozen over by a thin layer of ice.

The queen of the SkyWings was dead.

Frost panted heavily, his eyes locked on the dead queen for a few moments before shifting his gaze to Windracer. The hybrid gulped soundlessly, waiting to see what the IceWing prince would do next.

Frost raised a talon to point at Windracer. "Just this once, NightWing," he snarled. "For Sleet." Then he spread his wings and flew off, leaving Windracer shaken, but alive.

His vision had come true. The arena had erupted into chaos, Frost was the angry IceWing, and Scarlet was the dead SkyWing.

The guards on the balcony were all standing shocked at what had just occurred, when another SkyWing, a dark orange, just like Scarlet, landed on the queen's throne. "Release them at once!" she commanded.

Hesitantly, the guards released their hold on Windracer's friends, bowing to the new arrival. "Yes, Princess Tourmaline."

"It's Queen Tourmaline," the former princess corrected. "Now, grab all the jewels and gold you can find and start renovating this arena. We'll have no more of these gruesome battles! And go clean up that mess down there, the look on Mother's face is freaking me out."

Windracer flew up onto the balcony as soon as the guards dispersed. "I'm so sorry about all of that," he said. "I only wanted to free my friends, and Scarlet..."

"No need to apologize," Tourmaline said. "I'm nothing like my mother. The only reason the SkyWings have been so mean and bloodthirsty is because we've had her sitting on the throne for so long. I can assure you, things in the Sky Kingdom will be much better with me in charge. Speaking of which, I heard about Auburn's trial." She patted Windracer's shoulder. "And in light of what Osprey said, I'm dropping all charges on both you and your mother."

Windracer's voice caught in his throat for a moment, but he managed to blurt out, "Thank you!" He then turned to his friends, all free of chains and guards. He rushed toward them, finding Arid first and seizing her talons in his own. "You're okay!"

"Course I am," Arid said, squeezing his talons in response. "I was waiting for the right moment to do something."

"How in all of Pyrrhia are you able to do that?" Bog asked, pointing at the ice on the balcony that had come from Arid's breath.

"I never could before," Arid said, shrugging. "I didn't even know I could do that in the first place. I'm not even sure how I did it. All I remember is feeling really cold, and then, poof! Frostbreath."

"The ice," Windracer jumped in. "Dragons draw strength from their natural habitats. I bet you had to encounter ice before your frostbreath could develop."

Realization dawned in Arid's eyes. "But, that would mean..."

"Arid!"

The sound of Ocotillo's voice caught Windracer's attention. He turned around to find both the SandWing and Storm landing in the sand of the arena. Ocotillo rushed onto the balcony, stopping just in front of Arid. He glanced at Windracer, who nodded, seeing the question in Ocotillo's mind.

This is my daughter?

Immediately after Windracer's confirmation, Ocotillo threw his wings around Arid. "I'm so glad you're safe."

Arid pulled back and examined the SandWing. Unsure, she whispered under her breath, "Dad?"

Ocotillo nodded before holding his daughter close. Storm padded past Windracer, her eyes glaring for a moment, before joining her mate and daughter, folding her wings around both of them.

Arid looked at the IceWing, confused at first. She asked, once again in a whisper, "Mom?"

Storm locked eyes with Arid, who sucked in a breath. They were the same striking blue as her own.

So it's true, Arid thought to herself. I'm half IceWing.

Windracer sat down quietly as he observed the family reunited. He was about to look to the skies to see if he could find his mother when Auburn suddenly charged in out of nowhere and hugged her son tightly in her wings.

"My baby!"

The hybrid cried out in surprise, but immediately hugged her back after getting over the shock.

Auburn smiled at the feeling of Windracer's talons on her back. "I thought you were dead."

"I thought you were dead," Windracer replied. He kept one eye on his friends, to make sure they were alright, then buried his head into Auburn's shoulder.

All too soon, Auburn released her son from her embrace. "We need to go." She briefly locked eyes with Tourmaline, warily frightened of the new queen.

"You don't have to rush," Tourmaline offered. "Stay until you've all recovered your strength. It'll be easier for you to travel then."

Windracer bowed his head. "Thank you, Your Majesty." He turned to Scarlet's body, which had yet to be removed by the guards. "But there's something I have to do first." He leaped down into the sand, padded toward the body of the dead queen, and pulled out one of the rubies from her golden chainmail. "I enchant this ruby to teleport my leather bag, and Queen Diamond's diary, into my talons."

A moment later, Windracer's bag and a scroll bound shut with some rope appeared in his claws. Windracer checked inside his bag to make sure all of the contents were still there before he hung the bag around his neck. He then set the ruby down in the sand, pulled the rope off of the scroll and unwound it. After reading it over to make sure he had the right scroll, Windracer picked up the ruby. "Now I enchant you to spread my voice to every dragon in Pyrrhia until I say stop, and then become a normal ruby again."

If he did it, he'd be exposed. Everyone would know he had NightWing powers, and that he was an animus.

But between his own freedom and the freedom of every dragon in Pyrrhia, that was a risk he had to take.

Arid, Bog, Lagoon and the RainWing twins stared at their friend in shock. Only the IceWing-SandWing hybrid was able to find her voice. "Windracer, what are you doing?"

Windracer looked up at them. His eyes shifted from his friends, to Auburn, to Ocotillo and Storm, and then to Queen Tourmaline.

"I'm going to tell everyone the truth."

I wasn't sure whether to give Arid fire or frostbreath, so I gave her both!

Also, Chameleon doesn't exist in this story, so Tourmaline has remained herself that whole time. She's still a much better queen than Scarlet, I can assure you. Heck, I'll bet even Kestrel would have been a better queen than Scarlet!

Anyway, reviews are appreciated.

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