Captured
AN: This one starts off from when Inferno disappears in chapter 24 and ends just over a week later. The end doesn't tie back in to the main story, but there will be a continuation of this one in a later Perspectives chapter. I recommend reading it sooner rather than later.
Edited: (5/30/21)
Oh, and for the people who think the Changewings can't be that bad, ya'll about to get a wake-up call. There's some nasty stuff in this chapter, so you've been warned.
Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. Inferno belongs to IceDragon07.
Inferno:
Inferno could honestly say that this was the worst day of his life. He didn't say that lightly either. After all, he had been raised in the Mud Kingdom by his Skywing mother and abusive Mudwing father. Since he didn't have any siblings, most of the other Mudwing sib groups weren't very welcoming…or friendly. Then, there was the part where he accidentally killed his father in self-defense when he was older.
He was run out of the Sky Kingdom for that, and Queen Ruby declared him a wanted criminal. He spent some time in Jade Mountain as the new 'Mudwing' for the Jade Winglet before Ruby tracked him down again. He suspected Peril had something to do with that.
There was also the seven years of isolation on his little island in the Bay of a Thousand Scales. Solitude is fine, but after that many years…you tend to go a little nuts. It had only been about six months since he had finally branched out and mingled with the local Seawings.
So, it could be said that Inferno didn't have the happiest life. However, being bound, gagged, caged, and beaten by what he assumed were Changewings outstripped all of that. Put simply…
This sucked.
He tried to tell himself that the weird pool that was freaking everyone out was just his imagination. Nobody wanted to sit by it, so he thought that if he showed he wasn't afraid of it, the others would calm down a bit. Well, that didn't go as planned, apparently, because one minute he was sleeping peacefully, and the next, he was being dragged through pitch black water.
He almost drowned before he was literally thrown onto the beach, put into chains, and then stuffed into a cage. Currently, two of the eight Changewings—again, that's what he assumed—were carrying his cage as they flew across the northern edges of the Claws of the Clouds mountains.
Oh, the other thing that really sucked: He hasn't eaten in four days now. He supposed they didn't care what shape he was in when they arrived at wherever they were going except for making sure he was alive when they got there. With their current heading and the steadily dropping temperatures—not to mention these Changewings, if that's what they were, were all Icewings—he guessed they were heading to somewhere in the Ice Kingdom…
Which also sucked.
He wasn't the biggest fan of the cold—especially since he was part Mudwing. He was already shivering fiercely, and the temperature was still dropping steadily. The cruel sneers and sadistic laughter coming from the Icewings didn't help the situation either.
Another few hours later, they were slowly descending down the mountainside. Inferno glanced around their surroundings since he wasn't blindfolded and saw they were heading towards a large camp surrounding an equally large cave mouth. There were dozens if not hundreds of dragons milling about outside. He could only guess at how many were inside.
A large wooden palisade with a gate surrounded the cave mouth, and there were large buildings along the walls with a central courtyard area. There were cages with dragons in them that were either dead or dying. Inferno shivered again—this time not due to the cold. Death by exposure was a long, slow process. Those dragons must have suffered greatly before they died.
Once they were low enough, the dragons carrying his cage merely dropped him. He was rattled around quite a bit. Six of the dragons that had come with him split away to do their own thing while two of them walked a short distance away and seemed to report to another Icewing.
He didn't have much experience with Icewings in general, but she was quite attractive in his opinion. She was larger than most dragons he had seen and well-built. As he watched the three dragons, the female turned to him and studied him with her piercing gray eyes. He noticed that she was wearing a necklace. Upon closer inspection, he realized with slight dread that it was made out of teeth…dragon teeth.
She turned back to the two Icewings who carried him here and said something to them. They nodded, and she walked away. As the other two dragons came back, he saw her pause and look back at him. They stared at each other for a short moment before she continued on her way.
He blinked, confused as to what just happened before the cage door was opened. Before they touched his chains, however, one of them spoke. "You will be transferred to a cell inside. You will cooperate or you will be punished. Nod if you understand."
Inferno blinked again at the bluntness but nodded. Without another word, they undid the chains connecting him to the cage and the ones binding his legs but left the ones on his wings there. They escorted him through the camp and into the cave where the tunnels branched off in labyrinthine fashion. He was taken through several different rooms on their way down into the depths of the mountain. The most notable of these was the massive forge as soon as they entered the cave. He saw an army's worth of dragons on his way down—probably several at that.
It took almost thirty minutes of walking before they stopped in front of a cave with metal bars and door. There were several such caves along this hallway, and he could only wonder how many more similar passages there were. They opened the door and roughly shoved him in before locking it again.
Inferno watched them leave through the bars with a grim expression. He sighed, What have I gotten myself into?
"And I was just gettin' used to havin' the cave to myself," he heard someone say behind him. A light-hearted chuckle followed, and Inferno spun around to see who was there. He saw a Sandwing that looked to be about his age. He was rather skinny—as in he could see his ribs poking through his scales.
Inferno's eyes went wide when he saw the iconic scar on this Sandwing's muzzle. "Qibli!? We all thought you were dead!"
The Sandwing raised an eye ridge and smirked. "Well then, I guess I look good for dead." He cocked his head afterwards and took in Inferno's appearance. "Hey, I know you. Inferno, right?"
They hybrid smiled. "That's me. I'm surprised you remember me, though."
"Well, there isn't many Skywing-Mudwing hybrids running around, is there? And I tend to remember everyone I meet just in case," he replied with another chuckle. His expression then turned thoughtful, "By the way, who's 'we'?"
"All of us, I guess," Inferno replied. He sat down and started listing the dragons he remembered from Winter's group using his claws for emphasis. "Kinkajou, Turtle, Blaze, Ruby, Glory, Hailstorm, Winter, Flint—though I guess you don't know him—Darkstalker, and Moon…I think that's all of them."
Qibli's eye ridges had been steadily rising the whole time Inferno was listing off names. "I feel like I'm missing quite a bit here," he said. He looked down in thought before looking at the back wall of the cave. Inferno noticed that there were scratches placed at regular intervals. He had been keeping track of how long he was in here.
"Well, you've been gone for five years," Inferno supplied.
Qibli swirled back to face him, his expression borderline panicked. "F-Five years!?" Inferno nodded, taken aback by his response. "N-No, that can't be right…I've kept track of how long I've been down here! It's—It's only been fifteen months!"
Inferno shook his head slowly. "No…you've been gone for five years, Qibli."
The Sandwing sat down slowly and slumped. "Five years," he echoed. Then, he bowed his head. "Oh, stars…" There was a pause. "What about Moon? You said Winter was with you, so did they…?" He trailed off, but Inferno knew what he meant, though he was curious as to the lack of concern in his voice. It was almost like he didn't care if Moon was with someone else.
He shook his head. "No. He seemed kind of close with Aurora."
Qibli cocked his head. "Who's she?"
Inferno opened his mouth to respond before shutting it. "I should probably explain a few things, first. I wasn't with them for very long, but I'll tell you what I know." Over the next hour or two, Inferno explained what little he knew about what was going on—about the Changewings, the Spirits, Faredir and Urfael, the anchor, and everyone that was with them.
After the explanation was done, Qibli was silent for a long time as he processed everything. Inferno let him. He knew this was probably difficult for him to digest, so he left his old friend to his thoughts. With nothing else to do, he simply sat down and observed the goings-on in the hallways—or lack thereof. There was limited vision due to the lack of lights down here, so he couldn't really see who was in the caves opposite them. That didn't stop him from trying, though.
"Everyone on the other side of the hallway is on their work shift right now," Qibli explained. "We'll be exchanging shifts at midnight, so you should get some rest." Following his own advice, Qibli laid down in the back of the cave with a small sigh.
Inferno looked at him curiously. "Work shifts?" Qibli nodded. "Doing what?"
"Blacksmithing," was his reply.
"How long have you been doing that for?" Inferno asked as he laid down across from him.
Qibli sighed again—obviously not happy with having to explain everything but doing it anyways. "Ever since I woke up in this cell." Inferno opened his mouth to ask another question, but Qibli spoke first. "No, I didn't know how to, but I had to learn quick. These dragons don't take kindly to ineffective workers."
"What do they do?" Inferno asked hesitantly. Flashes of the caged dragons outside flashed into his mind.
Qibli looked at him, grimly. "I assume you saw the dragons outside?" Inferno nodded. "Let's just say that's rather tame compared to some of the things I've seen." He blanched at that. I can't see how anything could be worse than that.
Deciding to change the subject to something less depressing and more useful, Inferno decided to ask about his new station. "I saw the forge on the way down here." Qibli nodded but didn't say anything. Inferno looked down in thought. It was obvious the Sandwing didn't really want to talk right now, but there were some things he had to know. "Has anyone ever escaped?"
Qibli sat bolt upright at that and moved to look out into the hallway. Seeing nothing, he sighed in relief before turning an angry glare to the hybrid. "Look, Inferno, these aren't the kind of dragons you mess around with. Anyone who's caught even talking about the idea is punished, and I've worked too long and too hard to earn my position here to have you ruin that."
"Your position?" Inferno asked. "What does that mean?"
"It means I've earned the respect of the dragons here. I do what I'm told, when I'm told, so the Changewings don't give me any trouble, and a lot of the dragons at the forge listen to me because I've earned their respect. I hate to sound callous, but I'm not going to risk the benefits that come with that respect for you or anyone else." He went and laid back down. "And to answer your question: A few have tried."
"What happened? Did they make it?" he urged, wondering if he could escape, too.
"Their screams could be heard throughout the caves for days afterwards," Qibli replied matter-of-factly.
Inferno was quiet for a while after that. He let his mind wander and wonder about how he could get out of here. Winter needed to know about this place. Scratch that…
The Queens needed to know about this place.
There was something that could help at least. He voiced the idea to the Sandwing. "What about a firescales?" Qibli looked at him quizzically. "Do you think a firescales could help us escape?"
Instead of shooting the idea down like he expected, Qibli actually thought about it. "I suppose so. No one would be able to recapture them without serious injury or death. Then again, I don't see Peril around here. Do you?"
"Well…what about me?" Inferno asked. Qibli looked at him like he was stupid and poked him for emphasis. When he didn't spontaneously combust, the Sandwing just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know I'm not right now, but I can be if my scales get hot enough."
"And how does that work exactly?" Qibli asked, his eyes closed. It was clear he didn't believe him.
"So you know how some Skywings are firescales?" Qibli nodded. "And you know how some Mudwings have fire-resistant scales?" Another nod. "Well, I guess I hatched with a combination of the two. My scales can conduct and store heat. Once they're hot enough, I can turn into a temporary firescales without hurting myself in the process."
Qibli opened his eyes again and studied him for a long moment. "Even if what you say is true, it's still too risky. I doubt you'd get very far before they caught up to you."
Inferno looked at the Sandwing as if he had grown another head. He remembered Qibli as the kind of dragon who would never give up no matter what—especially for what he believed in. "And what about Moon?" he challenged.
Qibli didn't even so much as wince at the mention of her name. "She thinks I'm dead anyways. Besides, it's not like I could ever see her again if I get killed trying to escape an inescapable prison. It's better to just bide our time."
Inferno scoffed. "Well, I'm not going to sit around for a year while my friends are out there fighting and dying in this war. They need to know about this place before they commit to a plan without having such vital information."
"I suppose…" Qibli relented. "If you want to try, there's a lava pool up at the forges. Just jump in there. The cave mouth is right there, so at least you won't get lost. Just be careful of the…" he did a few calculations in his head, "2000 or so guards that'll be in the forge and the camp outside."
"I don't have to fight them," he countered. "I'm a Skywing. Once I get into the air, I can fly faster and further than any of the Icewings here."
"Except not all of them are Icewings," Qibli countered back.
"Well, I didn't see any other Skywings," Inferno shot back.
Qibli relented at that and closed his eyes again. "It doesn't matter. You can try if you want, but I want no part of this. I have my own reasons for staying."
At this point, clawsteps could be heard coming down the hall. Neither of them bothered to investigate, though they did stay quiet just in case. They stopped outside of their cell, and Inferno tensed when he saw the much older, disapproving Sandwing female flanked by two Changewing guards holding spears. "I see they gave you a new cell mate," she casually commented.
Qibli shot up when she spoke and bounded over to the bars with a huge smile. She smiled back and slipped one of her claws in between the bars. Qibli took the much larger claw into his own and nuzzled into her palm. Inferno cocked his head at the clear display of affection. Does he not want to escape because of her? Is she the reason he doesn't seem to care about finding Moon again? "I haven't seen you in a while and was beginning to think you forgot about me! How are you?"
"Still breathing," she replied with a small grin. She cupped the side of his face for a moment before pulling her claw back. Instead, she brought her head up to the bars, and they touched their foreheads together. Inferno saw that they were both radiating happiness despite the dreary atmosphere in the prisons. "And I would never forget you. You know that." She pulled back and passed a leather satchel through the bars. "Those are for you. Not him," she said, gesturing to Inferno.
Qibli opened the bag, and the smell of fresh fish wafted out of it. "I can spare one, don't you think?" he asked with a grin.
She rolled her eyes. "Sometimes, you're too soft for your own good," she said.
"You know you love me," he said with flirtatious wink.
She huffed and looked away. "Yes, I do," she finally admitted. Qibli's smile got even larger at that. "But I'm serious. No sharing!"
He made a cross over his heart with a claw. "Cross my heart," he claimed with that same grin.
She huffed again. "You are incorrigible!" Inferno could see that despite her harsh-sounding words, she had a small smile on her face. It disappeared when she sucked in a pained breath and noticeably winced.
All sense of humor was gone from Qibli in an instant. "Are you okay?" She nodded, though her face was still scrunched up in pain. "How much longer?" he asked. His love and concern for this dragon was abundantly clear in his voice and actions.
Inferno was confused by the question and what it could mean. At least, until she answered. "Just another month," was her reply. At first, Inferno was still confused, but then his eyes drifted away from her face and took in the rest of her. To say he was surprised by what he saw was an understatement.
This dragoness was gravid.
"You should go rest," Qibli said.
She nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll try to come by again while I can still walk without much difficulty."
With a final longing look from both of them, she turned and left with her two guards. Inferno regarded his cell-mate with a curious expression. "Who was that?" he asked.
"My reason for staying," he answered. Instead of clarifying that statement, he went and laid back down. This time, though, he was much more sullen.
"I figured that," Inferno said, gently. "What's her name?"
Qibli studied him for a moment. "Promise you won't freak out or act disgusted?" Inferno furrowed his eye ridges at the odd request by nodded, nonetheless. Qibli was quiet for a moment longer before answering. "That was Blister."
Inferno's eyes shot wide open, and he clamped his muzzle shut with his claws to stop his startled cry. "The Sandwing sister?" he whisper yelled. "The one that tried to help the Nightwings wipe out the Rainwings!?"
Qibli just glared at him. "No. The Blister during the war was a Changewing. Nobody knew because she was disintegrated, but it turns out that that was one of the first few Changewings to arrive in Pyrrhia. Her mission—and the others like her—was to weaken Pyrrhia's tribes through any means necessary." He gestured with his head in the direction Blister had gone. "She told me she's been down here since she was fifteen—back before the war began. Thirty-three years, if you're curious."
Inferno's jaw pretty much hit the ground after hearing that. He suddenly became much more somber. "That's…so sad."
Qibli nodded. "Yeah… She wasn't very welcoming or friendly at first. When I woke up in the cell, she was already in here. We didn't get along very well at first, but we had to do everything together. We lived together, ate together, worked together. Eventually, ignoring me became harder than opening up, and after that, we grew close fairly quickly." He looked down, in what Inferno realized was shame. "At first, I wanted to escape to find Moon, but as time went on and my feelings for Blister grew, I figured she just moved on without me. I thought if that was the case, I didn't have any right to try and win her back from Winter or whoever else she was with—especially when I was already falling in love with someone else.
"I know it's weird and sort of messed up since she's more than thirty years older than me, but…I don't know," he finished with a depressed sigh. "I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who's ever actually cared about her and wanted to know her better in the entire time she's been down here. And well…she was the only dragon I could talk to for the longest time."
Inferno sympathized. He doubted the things Qibli had gone through so far could have been easy. Being a prisoner far away from everyone he cared about without much hope for escape wasn't something he could hope to understand. But he could understand the feeling of loneliness that no doubt accompanied it. If Blister was the only dragon he could count on—the only dragon Qibli could hope to call friend down here…
Who was he to judge?
"If it makes you feel any better, Blaze and Winter are dating," Inferno supplied.
Qibli snorted in amusement then nodded. "Yeah, that does help a little, though why didn't you mention that earlier?"
Inferno shrugged, "It slipped my mind, I guess."
Curiosity overtaking him, he asked, "Were they happy together?" Inferno nodded, remembering how close they seemed to be. Qibli laid his head back down with a sullen sigh. "I hope they're all okay. I miss them."
Inferno felt his heart break a little at the hopelessness and misery in his voice. He was willing to bet that Qibli was holding back his emotions while he was present. "They miss you, too," Inferno tried. "Especially Winter, he got all quiet and somber when I brought you up in a conversation."
That seemed to have the opposite effect of what Inferno was aiming for. "Why would he care about me?" he asked, somewhat bitterly. "It's my fault he left in the first place."
Inferno cocked his head in confusion at that. "He doesn't blame you for what happened, Qibli. If anything, he blames himself. I wasn't with them all that long, but it's not hard to see that Winter has some serious emotional problems."
"And Icewings see emotions as weakness," the Sandwing stated, realizing what Inferno was trying to say. "Are you saying he left because he was angry at himself?"
Inferno nodded. "Is that so hard to believe?"
Qibli looked down and shook his head. "No… It actually explains everything. I saw how he changed after Moon and I started our relationship. During our adventure, he changed so much from the arrogant ass he was when he first arrived at Jade Mountain. I could see that he was opening up ever so slowly, but after Moon talked to him about me, he was just so angry all the time. Every time Moon and I would walk into a room, he would storm out, and every time we tried to talk to him, he would just get livid." He paused in his explanation before continuing in a whisper. "I never thought I'd admit this to anyone, but…he scared me. I was more scared of being in the same room with him—my best friend—than I was when facing down Darkstalker.
"I remember trying to talk to him by myself one day. He started off civil enough, but I could tell how tense he was. As soon as I mentioned the true reason I wanted to talk to him—about mine and Moon's relationship—he just snapped. He swiped at me so fast, I didn't even have time to react before I was down on the ground, four bloody gashes on the side of my face. I looked up at him standing above me, and he was trembling. I remember the look in his eyes. It was almost like there were two different dragons staring at me because they would flicker between regret at what he did and just…rage."
Inferno listened to Qibli's story, appalled and unsettled that Winter was capable of such horribly violent things as attacking his own friend. He started to think if maybe Winter would turn on him if he made him angry enough. Those thoughts were immediately thrown aside as shame welled up within him. It was true that Winter could be emotionally unstable at times, but anyone who truly knew him as he was now knew that even if he did or said something that would hurt someone close to him, he would feel more pain than he inflicted.
From the short time he was with them, that was something Inferno could say with certainty. Winter was the kind of dragon who would rather suffer himself than see his friends get hurt—especially if he was the one causing the hurt. Perhaps what happened in Qibli's story was the reason why Winter would drown in his own self-loathing after unintentionally hurting one of his friends.
"Turtle healed up the scars with his magic rock, so the teachers wouldn't ask questions. All of us knew that Winter was already suffering, and despite what he did, we didn't want to add to it by getting him expelled or arrested. Moon thought she could reach him—make him understand—but I was terrified that he would hurt her, too, so I pleaded with her to stay away from him for a while. The following night he was gone," Qibi finished his story with a guilt-filled sigh. "I always thought he was mad at me or Moon, but he wasn't, was he? He was mad at himself for not being able to control his emotions."
"He still struggles with that," Inferno answered. "I was with them long enough to realize that he tends to hide his emotions behind his anger. But—"
"But he's not angry at them, he's angry at himself for feeling those emotions," Qibli finished. "I should've realized that a long time ago. I know Icewings view strong emotions as weakness, and I know that they view weakness with scorn, but I guess I thought Winter was different. Now I know he still struggles with how he was raised."
Inferno nodded. "He wants to break free from his past, but it's not easy for him," he confirmed.
"It's not easy for anyone," Qibli replied. "I should know that better than most, but I guess I was too stuck on my own problems to realize that others suffer in the same way." He sighed again, this time in regret. "Great moons, was I an idiot or what?"
There was a long moment of silence. Inferno thought it best that Qibli work through his thoughts without him interrupting. However, his stomach decided that those fish smelled too good to not comment on. Inferno grinned sheepishly as his stomach growled loudly. "Um…were you serious about sharing?"
Qibli rolled his eyes in amusement before tossing the entire bag over to him. "Help yourself. You probably need it more than me right now."
Inferno thanked him and all but inhaled four of the five fish in the bag. He hadn't eaten in four days, and he really wanted to eat the last one, too, but it would be rude to not offer one to Qibli. After all, they were supposed to be for him. He held it out in offer, but Qibli just gestured for him to eat it as well. He happily complied. He wasn't full—not even close—but he was momentarily sated.
Thinking about another thing to talk about to pass the time, he decided to ask more about Blister. "So…Blister's gravid," he started. Qibli raised an eye ridge, no doubt wondering what he was subtly insinuating. "Are they yours?"
"No," he answered curtly. "She's…" He looked away, a flash of anger in his eyes. "She's in their breeding program."
Inferno choked on air when he hear that. "WHAT!?"
"Yeah, I'm not too happy about that, either," the Sandwing huffed in anger. "She said she was doing it for me, though, and I can't exactly fault her reasoning. They put two dragons in each cell, but only give enough food for one dragon to both of them once a day. We were both starving, so she decided that she would do it to save both of us."
"You mean they gave her a choice?" Inferno asked, confused. "Why didn't they, you know…force her?"
"I wondered that, too," Qibli replied with a thoughtful expression. "I don't really understand it, but Blister did try to explain it to me. Apparently, dragonets are extremely rare—almost an impossibility between two Changewings. Back in the early days, when they first started it, they realized that forcing a Pyrrhian dragoness to carry their eggs would result in the eggs being dead when they were laid. For some reason, the dragoness who carries them has to be willing.
"That's why they give incentives for females to join. They're pretty much treated like royalty—better food, better rooms, more freedom. They can go anywhere as long as they have an escort. Blister drops by to give me some extra food every now and again, and she isn't questioned about it. I guess they let them do whatever to keep them happy, so they'll be more willing to go along with it." Qibli shook his head and looked away in regret, "Blister never would have joined if she wasn't worried about me. She spent thirty-two years looking out only for herself, and I swoop in and ended up driving her to do the unspeakable."
Despite being supremely uncomfortable with the fact the Changewings have a breeding program, he tried to put that aside for now and focus on Qibli. "I'm sure she doesn't blame you," he tried.
"I know she doesn't," Qibli replied. "She's told me she doesn't I don't know how many times, but I still blame myself. I drove her to join because I got too close to her."
"Well, I doubt she would do it for just anyone. I'm sure you mean more to her than you realize," he supplied.
Qibli just grunted. There was another long moment of silence before the Sandwing spoke again. "You should get some rest before our shift starts. Blacksmithing is hard work, and we'll be doing it for half a day straight with no breaks."
"Not even for water!?" Inferno asked, horrified. Just what kind of torture was he about to experience!?
"They bring it to you every so often. You take a drink and then get back to work," he explained. "Most of the dragons at the forge are Sandwings and Skywings—dragons who can handle the heat better. There's a few Mudwings, too, but most of them work in the mines with the Nightwings. The Seawings and Rainwings have it easy, honestly. They're the hunters. Seawings go fishing in the sub-freezing waters, and the Rainwings raise animals they then end up having to slaughter…oh, and their venom is harvested every so often." He chuckled humorlessly. "Fun stuff, am I right?"
Inferno just laughed nervously and looked away. He closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment of silence for the dead and dying—for those that have suffered unjustly at the claws of such cruel captors. He said a silent prayer and let a single tear fall before sighing and laying down.
He wasn't an extremely devout dragon, but when he was alone on that island for so long, he did pray to the Spirits…or he would just talk to them as if they were there with him. Like so many others, he believed that the Spirits did exist even before they returned to Pyrrhia. He always thought that he was never truly alone if they were there with him. His last thought before drifting off to sleep was how lucky Winter was to have been chosen by a Spirit.
He woke up some time later from a rather rough shake. He blinked up at Qibli in confusion, but he just held a talon in front of his mouth to ask him to be quiet. He figured out why when the sounds of marching feet could be heard coming down the tunnel. Almost as soon as he realized what it was, an army's worth of exhausted Sandwings and Skywings escorted by both Icewing guards and Changewings came marching down the tunnel. The clang of locks being opened and cells being opened and slammed shut reverberated in his ears.
Then, guards began opening their cell and the other cells on this side of the tunnel. Qibli walked out first and Inferno followed. The Sandwing was much more confident than he felt, but that was understandable. He's been down here for a long time and no doubt knows the ins and outs of how to act and what to do. Qibli stood in a certain place and pointed to the spot next to him, so that's where Inferno placed himself.
Dragons filled the hallway in two columns and began marching forward once everyone was in their spot. He saw two other such columns of dragons going separate ways as they entered the first large cave. The first was of Rainwings and Seawings going down the left tunnel. The second was comprised of Nightwings and Mudwings, and they went down the tunnel to the right. He noticed that it was a rather steep descent into what he assumed to be the mines that Qibli mentioned earlier.
Their column went straight up the middle tunnel—and up it was. The entire trip was spent going uphill. Just how deep did these tunnels go? His legs were burning by the time the brisk forced-march was over. When they entered the forge, Qibli motioned for him to follow, so that's what he did. True to his word, the entire center of the forge was one massive lava pit with an uncountable number of blacksmithing stations and tools scattered around its circumference.
Qibli led him to a station on the side facing the cave mouth where a rack of both unfinished and finished weapons were stored. Molds, ore, tools, and everything else needed to forge weapons were scattered around. One of the guards broke off from the column to follow them, but Qibli didn't seemed concerned about it.
Qibli immediately set to work on an unfinished blade that was already on the anvil. "You see that large pot?" Inferno looked around and nodded. "Put some ore in that and put it in the lava pool. Hang it on the hook, and let it sit there for a while." Inferno did so.
"What next?" he asked.
"Give it a while for the ore to melt down and then start filling molds," he answered. "It should be said that you get the easy part since you don't know what to do. Every pair is partnered together so one dragon does the actually smithing and the other dragon is the assistant." He looked up momentarily and gestured to one of the racks with his head. "Those need sharpened, so you can do that, too. The grindstone is right there. Just sharpen it until it's sharp, but please, for all things holy, don't break any."
Most of the day was spent like that. Qibli would pound metal fresh out of the molds that Inferno set up, and then Inferno would sharpen the dull blades. Every now and then, the water dragon would come around, and they both would drink their fill before getting back to work. Inferno was already exhausted halfway through their shift, but Qibli was still going strong. The two of them talked about whatever. Qibli said that the guards didn't care if the two of them talked unless it started impacting their work performance. At that point, they would be punished in whatever way the warden fancied at that particular time.
As for what topics they talked about, it was mostly about what went on in the forges. There were three separate areas: weapons, armor, and jewelry. Qibli confessed that he didn't know why they needed so much jewelry, but he also said he was smart enough to not ask questions. They also talked a bit about the other dragons up here that Qibli knew. Most of them hadn't been here as long as Qibli had, but there were a few veterans that had lasted longer than most. The Sandwing explained that the Changewings would work a dragon to near-death before letting them recover enough to put them back to work.
Most of the dragons that were sent to work up here either died from the heat, accidents, or were killed for being bad workers. That's why most of the dragons up here were relatively new compared to Qibli. He also explained that the Changewings knew that he was one of the more experienced dragons here, so they valued him enough to give him a small amount of leeway. However, he did mention that he suspected the real reason behind that was because of Blister. They didn't want to do anything to him and risk alienating her.
At one point their ore started running low, so Qibli instructed him to raise a small flag at the post near their station. A few minutes later, an ore-laden Mudwing came around and deposited a fresh supply of ore. Inferno felt for the poor guy, that stuff looked heavy.
After their shift ended, they were placed into a column and marched back down into the caves where they were put into their cells, and the others were sent out. Inferno collapsed from exhaustion once he was inside, but the smell of food roused him back out of semi-unconsciousness. There was a small bowl of four fish in the middle of the cave. Qibli tossed him two and started munching on his share.
Inferno nodded in thanks. He was famished once again—especially after the day's work. He had no idea how Qibli had been able to do this for this long. Several minutes after he had inhaled his fish and the other column of workers had marched off, Qibli spoke, "Why didn't you try?"
Inferno knew what he meant. 'Why didn't you try to escape' is what he was trying to say. "I thought about it," he answered after a moment. "But I'm not going if you aren't coming with me."
Qibli's expression darkened. "I told you, I'm staying. Besides, you shouldn't need my help to get out of here."
"No, but you know a lot more about this place than me. Our friends—all of Pyrrhia—need to be warned, and you're the only dragon who could tell them the things they need to know," he explained.
Qibli looked away with an angry growl but didn't say anything. Inferno guessed that the Sandwing knew he was right but didn't want to admit it. "What's to tell? We've already lost…they just don't know it yet."
"Says the dragon who faced down Darkstalker," Inferno shot back. "Things may seem hopeless—and maybe you're right; maybe it is hopeless—but I plan to go down fighting!" he proclaimed. "I mean, would you rather live as a slave for the rest of your life, or would you willingly die in the hopes of a better future for everyone else?"
Qibli was silent for a long time. In fact, he was almost motionless, too. The only hints of activity were the small twitches of expression as he thought about everything. It seemed like an hour had passed before he finally sighed. "Let me think about it," was all he said before he curled up, facing away from Inferno and fell asleep.
Inferno huffed, agitated by Qibli's pessimism and his willingness to simply lay down and surrender. I know dragons change over time, but I guess I didn't expect him to be like this. What happened to the upbeat, optimistic dragon I used to know? Inferno could probably guess that this place had something to do with it, but it was still hard to accept. There wasn't much he could do about it, though, besides try to convince Qibli to come with him. He hoped the Sandwing would see reason, but if his faith in him proved false, he would have to leave without him and hope the small amount of intel he could share would be enough.
Five days passed in much the same way. Inferno got into the routine more easily than he would like. Wake up, get in line, work for twelve hours, get back in line, return to the cell, eat, try to convince Qibli to leave with him, stew in annoyance when the Sandwing would ignore him, go to sleep, and then do the same thing again.
There were a few events that happened during that time that were worth mentioning. The first was undoubtedly the most horrifying. One of the Mudwing ore-haulers—the same one that refilled their ore that one time—tripped due to exhaustion and sent a rack of finished weapons into the lava pool. Production was momentarily halted as the warden—a grizzled Icewing with numerous scars and a menacing aura about him—called the workers to gather and watch.
As for what they watched, it was the most gruesome public execution he had ever—and probably would ever—see. Several guards held the Mudwing down, and the warden brought out a vial of green liquid. He showed it to everyone gathered before pouring it down the unfortunate victim's throat. The screams were immediate. Whatever it was literally burned the Mudwings insides until they were spilling onto his outsides through gaping holes caused by the chemical burning through his skin and scales.
Inferno wanted to look away, but he saw that those who did were whipped for doing so. He was barely able to keep the contents of his stomach in, but others were less fortunate. They were also whipped. All the while, the warden watched the spectacle unfold with malicious glee.
Despite the severity of his injuries, the poor sod had to endure the torture for several minutes before he finally collapsed, dead. "Rainwings are usually useless, but I will admit their venom is quite…potent," the warden proclaimed to the corpse before turning to the assembled dragons. "Let this be a reminder for what happens when mistakes are made! I want double the normal requirement today or I'll be performing a random selection to continue my experiments! Now…GET TO WORK!"
That's what they did. Qibli's pace didn't change from the prior days, so Inferno asked the question on his mind. "How are we supposed to do double!?"
Qibli's expression was dark when he replied. "We're not…and he knows that."
Sure enough, the final tally for today's output was barely more than normal. During the line up for returning to the cells, the warden selected five dragons before the rest of them were sent back. True to Qibli's words earlier, screams could be heard for almost a day after the incident.
The second thing of note was slightly less gruesome but no less of a shock to Inferno. The next day after the execution, they were about halfway through the shift when yells of shock were heard. Inferno looked up in time to see a Skywing jump into the lava pit and quickly burn to death.
Once again production was momentarily halted, and the warden came over with a scowl. "Where is this dragon's cell mate?" he yelled.
One of the guards that escorted their column up from the cells responded. "She was one of the dragon's you selected yesterday, sir," he reported.
"Hmph," the warden grunted before realizing that work was still halted. "If today's quota isn't filled, no one eats for the next two days!"
Surprisingly, the next dragon to speak was Qibli. "Alright, everyone, back to work! We've got a lot of work to make up for and less dragons to do it, but we can do it!" With that announcement, everyone got back to work with a slightly quicker pace, determined to not miss out on their food.
The warden observed Qibli for a moment before walking over. "If quota is met today, you'll have a double portion of food waiting for you in your cell. If not, you'll get half." Qibli gave him a curt yet respectful nod, and the warden walked away satisfied.
"Is that because of Blister?" Inferno asked quietly, wondering why Qibli got special treatment.
"No doubt," the Sandwing responded. With that, there was no more conversation for the rest of the day. By some miracle, quota was indeed met, and Qibli and Inferno got that double share the warden promised.
The third and final surprise happened a week after Inferno had arrived in the caves. He and Qibli were almost through with their shift when he felt like he was being watched. He was helping Qibli at the anvil when he noticed the same Icewing female who had been watching him when he first arrived here.
She almost looked surprised upon seeing him which slowly transitioned into curiosity. Inferno studied her for a moment before turning to Qibli. "Who is she?" he asked with a small gesture towards the Icewing in question.
Qibli's eyes widened dramatically when he saw who it was. "She's the head honcho around here. She almost never drops by, and when she does, something big always happens."
Inferno glanced back at her. She was talking with the warden now, but she was still occasionally glancing at him. He cocked his head as he continued to observe her before shaking it to clear his thoughts. He got back to work with a shrug. "She sort of looks familiar…" he commented.
Qibli looked up quizzically at that before blanching and bowing hurriedly. Inferno was puzzled by his odd behavior before an unknown voice spoke up. "Perhaps because you know my son." Inferno turned around, slowly, and saw her standing before him. "Though, I'm told he more resembles his father." Inferno worked his mouth open and closed, too stunned to say anything. She observed both of them for a moment longer before addressing Qibli directly. "As for you, I'm highly disappointed that you of all dragons would abandon him." Qibli chanced a look up to show his confusion. "You were closer to him than most, were you not?"
Inferno looked to Qibli, who appeared to be struggling with who she was referring to when his expression suddenly changed to one of utter bewilderment. She smiled lightly as recognition dawned upon him. "If you truly consider yourself one of his friends, you'll do what needs to be done," she continued. She turned and began to walk away when she stopped and said one last thing. "Don't disappoint me again."
The shift ended as soon as she was gone from sight, and they were sent back to their cells. Qibli seemed distant—more so than usual—and he appeared to be deeply disturbed by their encounter with that Icewing. Once they were alone in their cell, Inferno had to ask. "Who was she talking about?"
Qibli just sat down and hid his face in his talons. "Winter," he muttered. "I was just told off by my best friend's mother…"
Inferno blinked a few times at that. "Why would Winter's mother be down here if she was worried about him?"
Qibli looked up with an intrigued expression. "I didn't even think of that," he said. Then, he hummed in thought before continuing. "Maybe things are a bit more complicated than I've assumed up until now."
Inferno was quiet for a moment before he decided to ask the question that was on his mind. "So what are you going to do now?"
Qibli gave a small sigh. "I know what I should do, but I don't know if I can," he revealed. "It would be a lot easier to—" he cut himself off when they heard clawsteps coming down the cave again.
They decided to wait until they could see who it was before continuing their conversation just in case it was someone they didn't want to overhear what they were talking about. However, such concerns were washed away when they saw who it was. Blister and her two guards stopped in front of the cell—the Sandwing had a curious expression on her face. "I was told you needed to talk to me," she said.
Qibli answered, though his confusion was audible, "Told by who?"
"Tundra," she replied simply.
Inferno and Qibli glanced at each other. Whatever was going on here was starting to smell fishy. Tundra was here in the enemy camp—as one of the leaders, no less—yet she was 'helping' them escape? Something didn't add up, and neither of them liked that. However, if she set this whole thing up so they could get out of here, they had to take the chance—even if this whole thing reeked of a possible trap.
Why would she help us? Inferno thought. If it's because she's worried about Winter, why is she with the dragons trying to kill him? She can't be a simple spy, can she? I mean, she's one of the leaders here, so that doesn't really make sense. But, then again, I can't really think of any other explanation besides her not knowing…but that makes even less sense.
"Yeah…I guess I do," Qibli finally admitted. "Are you allowed to come in here? It's kind of private," he ventured.
"I don't know," she shrugged. She turned to her two guards, "Can I go in there?"
The two guards looked at each other and one of them shrugged. "Sure, why not?" the second one said. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door. "Just make it quick, yeah? I'm not entirely sure if this is allowed, and I don't feel like getting yelled at in case it's not."
"No more than ten minutes, I promise," she said to allay his concerns. He nodded in acceptance. She entered the cell and let them lock it behind her before they walked a few paces down the tunnel to give them their requested privacy. "What's up?" she asked, casually.
Qibli glanced at Inferno one more time before whispering. "He has a plan to escape…and I was thinking about going with him," he revealed.
She raised an eye ridge before replying in a normal voice. "Okay…And you wanted to talk to me to…what? Get my permission?" She rolled her eyes with a scoff. "I swear if you've been using me as an excuse, Qibli, I'm going to slap you! I've been down here since long before you even hatched, so if you think I can't handle myself, I'll slap you again…and harder!"
Qibli chuckled, "Well, that's me told."
"Although, if we do this tomorrow, they'll think you were in on it since you're in here talking to us," Inferno decided to point out.
Qibli's smirk vanished instantly. "Oh please, they won't touch me until the eggs are laid, so that gives you about four weeks to figure out how to get me out of here, too," she countered. "I'll be fine, Qibli. You just need to get your ass out of here if you have the chance."
Qibli sighed but nodded, nonetheless. "I will come back for you. I promise."
They touched foreheads. "I know," she said, confidently. "Because if you don't and they kill me, I'll haunt you for the rest of your life," she joked.
Qibli, however, didn't laugh. "Please don't joke about that," he said softly. In reply, she pulled away to kiss his cheek.
With one last look of longing between them, Blister went up to the cell door and called for her guards. They unlocked the door for her, she stepped out, they locked it, and then they were gone.
"So how are we going to do this tomorrow?" Qibli asked.
"We'd need some sort of distraction to keep the guards' focus off us while we make our way east into the mountains before veering south. Our final destination should either be the rainforest or the Seawing's Summer Palace."
"Where would the others be?"
"They should be at the Summer Palace. If they haven't gone somewhere else by now, that is," he clarified.
"Then let's try and meet them there. If they aren't there, we'll at least find out where they went," Qibli explained. "As for a distraction…I hate to say this, but I doubt the other prisoners are going to just stand aside and let the guards capture us when they figure out what we're doing. There'll most likely by a mass riot. Hopefully, the chaos will cover our escape."
Inferno nodded. "Then that's what we'll do. I'll jump into the lava pit to heat my scales up and come out swinging. When the other prisoner see what's going on, they'll riot, and we'll be free to slip out unnoticed in the ensuing chaos. Then, we make for the Summer Palace." They clasped their claws together and nodded—an unspoken pact to stand together tomorrow, whatever may come.
When their next shift came, they didn't immediately set their plan in motion. They let the guards settle down and disperse after the shift change, and though they set about their work as usual, they weren't as focused on that as they normally were. Both of them had their eyes peeled for the most opportune time.
One thing that was to their favor was that their shift started at midnight. There was a large guard force still present, but there weren't as many as there were during the day. Plus, the darkness would let them slip away that much easier once they were outside.
It was a few hours into their shift when Qibli gave him a nod. Knowing what he had to do was one thing, but he honestly didn't know if he would survive it. Then again, if something went horribly wrong and his scales didn't protect him, Qibli would be the first to know if he had died a gruesome death.
He grabbed some ore—more than was necessary—and made his way to the edge of the lava pool. To the casual observer, it would have looked like he was simply overburdened and tripped, falling into the lava as an unfortunate consequence. He could hear Qibli's 'panicked' screams as he fell.
He landed with a thwump into the molten rock. He closed his eyes before he was submerged just in case, but despite that, it was unbelievably HOT. He'd been set on fire by other dragons before, but that had paled in comparison to the unimaginable heat he was surrounded with now.
He wasn't melting—yet—but he didn't think it would be wise to stay down there very long. He needed to wait long enough for Qibli to get the guards' attention and draw a few closer. It wasn't even a minute later before Inferno could feel his limit being reached and then passed. His scales weren't protecting as well anymore, and he was starting to feel like he was actually burning. Time's up, he thought to himself.
He launched himself out of the pit to the great surprise of everyone gathered around and immediately tackled two guards who were too close to where he surfaced. They started screaming as his supercharged firescales melted through their scales and skin as if they were nothing. Their blood was no doubt flash-boiled upon contact with his scales. They were dead before they hit the ground, but Inferno didn't stop moving. He attacked another set of nearby guards. His claws slashed through their hide as if they were made of paper.
Now that the initial surprise had faded, dozens of guards were flocking over to try and stop Inferno, yet every single one of them were left with grievous, and ultimately fatal, wounds. One guard did get a lucky hit with his spear, but Inferno's scales were so hot that the metal tip melted almost as soon as it made contact.
The offender didn't live for very long after that.
He did see a spear impale itself in another guard's chest, and he could only assume that others were joining in on the fight—or it was Qibli trying to goad them into a riot. Either way, he noticed other dragons starting to fight back. He lost count of exactly how many dragons he killed, but it was somewhere around fifty before they began to retreat towards the cave mouth.
He chased after them after making sure Qibli was close by. The prisoners were in a full scale riot as Qibli predicted. More Changewings were flooding into the cave to hold them off, but Inferno simply barreled through them without much thought. After all, anyone who so much as touched him had their faces—or other body parts—melted off.
As fast as he was dropping Changewings, he could already feel his scales starting to cool ever so slightly. He couldn't keep this up forever, but then again, he wasn't supposed to. Once the fighting was in full swing, they made a break for the cave mouth. Every Changewing in his way was either dumb enough to try and stop him or wise enough to dodge out of the way.
It wasn't long before the two of them were outside. It was still night, and it was actually darker out here than it was in the cave. They ducked into the shadows behind a few of the buildings, Inferno being careful not to touch them, of course.
Then again, that might actually be a good idea.
With a shrug, he touched one of the wooden building with a claw, and it caught fire after a few seconds. Then he set a second on fire. Then a third. A fourth. Then, many…many more.
Now the Changewings had a riot, several fires, and escaping prisoners to deal with. Honestly, the two of them probably weren't even worth it by this point. Inferno took one last glance behind him to make sure Qibli was still there before spreading his wings to let Qibli know what he was planning to do.
With another nod, the two of them took off. Inferno gave one last glance to the burning camp and saw Tundra standing amidst the chaos watching them fly away. The last thing he saw before they were too far away was her pointing at guards and then at the fires or the cave.
He heard a laugh off to his side and slightly behind him. "I can't believe that worked!" Qibli yelled, excitedly. "I swear I will never complain about Peril accidentally setting things on fire ever again!"
Inferno just smiled at his enthusiasm. This was more like the Qibli he remembered. He turned and noticed that the Sandwing was quietly staring up at the stars with slightly moist eyes. "Been a long time since you've seen them, huh?" he asked, gently.
Qibli nodded. "It's been a long time since I've seen a lot of things," he replied with quiet regret. "I'd given up hope of ever leaving that place alive, but…" He trailed off, then turned to him with a small but genuine smile. "Thank you for getting me out of there, Inferno. You didn't have to…but I'm glad you did."
Inferno smiled back at him. "Well…what are friends for?" They both chuckled at that. There was a momentary lull as they continued flying east, further into the mountains. "Speaking of friends, what are you going to do when we get to the Sea Kingdom?"
Qibli thought about that for a moment before he started snickering to himself. "Well, if Winter's there, I think he'll be so happy to see me, he won't be able to stop himself from rushing over to me and sweeping me off my feet!"
Inferno looked at him dubiously. "You think so, huh?"
"Oh, yeah," the Sandwing nodded vigorously. "We're practically married, after all!"
AN: The next Perspectives, chapter 11, takes place during chapter 28 of the main story and ends during the first part of chapter 29.
And I feel as if I should mention that Qibli x Blister is not going to happen! Even I'll admit that's weird.
Until Next Time
AdmiralCole22