BIG REVEAL! Dun dun dun! I hope these next few chapters don't seem too preachy, or backstory focused. I promise there will be more action, the road to conclusion still contains several important events. As always, feedback is appreciated, and thanks for reading. -MAG
The SkyWing queen was smaller than I thought, but still highly imposing with her golden breastplate and jewelry embedded in her wings. "You may go now," she gestured at the cowering guard, who breathed a sigh of relief and bound away."
Scarlet leaned down, smoke rising from her snout as she took in the intruder standing before her. "Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Queen Scarlet, but you may know me by a different name."
"Stream," I growled.
The SkyWing queen laughed. "And you are Auster if I am not mistaken. My special little mole. I must give you my gratitude for sending those IceWings my way. They will make excellent candidates for my new arena."
What? Arena?
-I'm not quite sure what Scarlet has planned. Keep talking though. I want to know. She might tell you what she certainly won't disclose to me.
"Free the prisoners," I snarled. "You have me now."
Queen Scarlet giggled. "Hee hee, you're cute, thinking you have some sort of leverage here. In case you didn't notice, I hold all the cards here. Those IceWings are my prisoners. Your special little friend and the princess are also my prisoners. You are my prisoner. And I will have lots of fun, it will be so thrilling!"
A ping sounded from a glass orb set on the side of the throne. Queen Scarlet turned to it with a sour expression. "What do you want?"
"Don't forget our deal. If you harm Auster in any way, the deal is off," a disembodied voice emitted from the globe.
"Bah, I'm just having some fun. Don't worry. Your little precious snowflake is safe for now as long as you keep to the plan. I want to see those towers done before Burn visits again."
"It will be done. However, I would really appreciate it if you stopped dawdling and send over the package."
"Whatever," the SkyWing queen huffed. "Guards! Escort Auster to that bloody dragon's island!"
What just happened?
-You're coming home!
Wait! I can't just leave Bering and the rest of the IceWings here to die. I have to save them. And where is that voice coming from?
Oh, Bering. Right. Give me a second.
The orb pinged again. Scarlet roared and shot a burst of flame at the ceiling. "WHAT?"
The orb voice seemed more amused than threatened, as if it knew that Scarlet was harmless in this discussion. "Send the two IceWing prisoners, the princess and her companion."
"No! You're already getting Auster. I want to see the arena completed right now!"
"It wouldn't take much effort to sink the towers back into the ground…"
Queen Scarlet looked as if she would very much like to snap a few dragons' necks but with gritted teeth she complied. "Fine. But that is it. One more peep out of you before you finish the arena, and I will personally twist your wings off! Guards!"
Two burly guards marched towards me, wary of claws. They pointed down the hall and one of them grunted, "This way. No funny business."
I plodded after the first guard as the second one fell in behind me, occasionally swinging his spear too close to my tail.
What in the three moons was that? You have a special direct communication link with Queen Scarlet? And are you working for her?
-Calm down. Don't jump to conclusions. It is only a contractual relationship at best. She does something for me, and I return the favor. We are hardly amiable acquaintances.
I am not sure how to feel about that.
-I will explain more later. In the meantime, at least you will be reunited with Bering and we can save the princess.
And how about the rest of the IceWings? What's your genius plan to save them?
-We shall solve that issue when it is prudent to do so. I must tell you that when you arrive, please don't assume things, we have so much catching up to do.
I'm a little apprehensive about our meeting but I don't really have a choice now do I?
-You'll understand everything soon. I promise
We reached the end of the hallway and the leading guard spread their wings and soared towards a large tower. We landed on the ground floor and the guards blocked our progress with their spears.
"This is an exclusion zone, no one allowed in," the guard bellowed. She glared suspiciously at me. "Why is there an IceWing with you?"
My guard crossed their arms. "Step aside. Queen's orders."
"Not so fast bozo. What's going on?"
"None of your business, dimwit."
"It is very much my business!" the entrance guard shook with rage.
"Fine. We are here to retrieve two prisoners to be delivered to that outcast's island. Now step aside unless you want to be sent to the arena."
I really wanted to ask what the arena was, but the entrance guard frowned and lowered her spear, allowing us through. My guard marched forward into the tower, grabbing a set of keys hanging on the wall.
"Point out which two Queen Scarlet wanted," he ordered gruffly. "And don't pick any others, otherwise I won't hesitate to set you on fire."
Cages had been built in indentations in the wall all the way up to the copper dome, but the SkyWing guard didn't even look at those. I thought I saw a SandWing barb hanging out of one cage, and perhaps the blue scales of a SeaWing, but no IceWings, and I found out why immediately.
In the center of the tower, a large grate made of iron bars covered a massive hole in the floor. The IceWings were all grouped together in the hole, furious. One of them growled when they saw me, and I recognized that one as Narwhal, the queen's brother. I wondered if Queen Scarlet knew who he was. Probably best to hope that she didn't.
I scanned around the depressed and angry trapped dragons until I found the skinny culprit. Bering was sitting alone, eyes closed and deep in thought. His scales were dirty and unkempt, and he had deep furrows in his brow. I pointed to him and the SkyWing guard grabbed a strange looking spear with twisted ends. Two other guards came over and slid open a small trapdoor.
All of the IceWings watched with judging eyes as the guard barked at Bering. "YOU! Get out!"
Narwhal pinned me down with his piercing gaze. "Traitor," he hissed. "You will suffer for your crimes. I will make sure of that."
He wasn't entirely wrong. I was the reason he and the other twenty odd IceWings were in the pit.
Bering climbed out wearily and didn't even deign to look at me. He plodded after the other SkyWing guard obediently.
I stopped my SkyWing guard as he was sliding the trapdoor closed. "Where's the other IceWing? Queen Scarlet said you needed to bring two."
"The princess has her own special cage. We are headed there now. Unless you would prefer to skip that step, in which case I will happily throw you over to outcast island. Stay here." Satisfied that the door was secure, he lifted off the ground and flapped to the seventh level. I heard the sound of a cage opening and a muffled yelp before the guard flew back down, carrying princess Crystal by the neck. He thrust the dragonet before me and headed towards the exit.
The young IceWing dragonet seemed dazed and bewildered by the new environment. I helped the princess to her feet, and she stared in wonder at this strange IceWing with red tipped wings guiding her to the exit. I could practically hear the questions on her snout, but she kept her snout shut and walked elegantly after the guard instead.
Bering glanced over and jumped a little when he saw Crystal, lines of guilt running across his snout as he quickly looked away. About a moment later he jumped again as if coming to a sudden realization and slowed down to walk beside Crystal. The small dragonet beamed at him, and he returned a nervous, concerned look.
The guards led us to a ledge opening up to a steep drop below. The male guard that had snatched Crystal brought over a spear with a crooked metal bit at the end. He inserted the end of the spear into a keyhole that bound Bering's wings and twisted. The lock burst free, and the chains clanged to the ground.
"No funny business," he warned, as if I hadn't heard it the first time. He turned and set off and I followed. I heard the sound of wing flaps behind me shortly after takeoff and we soared over the gulch as the sky darkened. I could only hope that Hvitur had escaped without injury.
Can you tell me if Hvitur made it to safety?
-Who? That IceWing you were planning very bad ideas with?
Yes. But those were not bad ideas at all.
-Ha. Oh alright, I'll check. How about we see where he is right now? Hmm. Somewhere over the mountains.
I really hope he's safe. Mink really needs him.
-Well don't fret I'm sure he is just fine. Why don't you focus on our imminent reunion?
How could I forget?
Our guard never once looked back, even as Bering and Crystal started to lag behind as we ascended up and over the mountain range. I dropped back to the struggling IceWing's side.
"I thought I could do the right thing," croaked Bering. "Maybe we could go on a fieldtrip, just Crystal and me. I could show her the currant fields and maybe visit Blaze. It's important for a Princess to know her kingdom and allies, right?" Bering buried his face in his talons. "I'm a terrible parent."
"You are absolutely right," I agreed.
"Thanks," Bering sniffled. "I wasted my chance. But at least Glacier found someone better."
"Don't throw yourself a pity party yet. There's still a crowd of your angry coworkers that need to be liberated." I whispered the last part quietly just in case any of the guards were listening.
"I could do without Narwhal," replied Bering.
"We have to rescue him for Glacier's sake."
Before we could discuss covert operations any further, the guard abruptly folded his wings and dived down. We nearly overflew him and had to scramble to follow. Not two tail lengths above the ground we snapped open our wings and glided across a rocky beach. In the distance I heard waves crashing against the shore, not unlike the northern shore of the Ice Kingdom, except we were shrouded in thick fog whereas the Ice Kingdom had clear stark skies.
The SkyWing guard behind us landed next to the other guard and the two of them barked at each other before they tramped off towards the sound of the ocean.
-They're getting the boat.
Why can't we just fly?
-The fog prevents one from navigating safely across these waters. Anyone who attempts to fly will circle endlessly and eventually fall into the ocean out of exhaustion.
That's stupid. I'm sure Bering can come up with a solution.
-I highly doubt that. This is magical fog.
Pfft.
The SkyWings returned with a glower, dragging a long narrow boat to a pebbly ramp and securing it to the rocks using rope. "Get in," the first guard growled. He climbed into the first slot, facing backwards and grabbed two oars. "Now!"
Bering ushered Crystal into the seat in front of the guard and climbed in behind her and I found myself sitting in the next slot with the other guard taking up the rear. She detached the rope and pushed the boat into the water until it began floating. She climbed into the rear seat and picked up an extra-long oar.
"Clear! Now get us moving before I set you all on fire," she bellowed. The other guard grumbled and started rowing, propelling the boat into the inky waters.
The water lapped at the sides of the boat. I glanced over the side of the boat and couldn't see past the surface. A bitter cold surrounded this sea, and I shivered.
-I recommend avoiding the water at all costs. I touched it once out of curiosity, and it took a week for me feel warm again.
Because it's magic?
-Bingo. I promise the island itself is much more cheerful.
"We're here!" the rear guard called out. The front guard stopped rowing and stored the oars, switching over to a coil of rope that he held ready to swing into the mist. A short pier emerged from the haze and the guard threw the rope around a wooden spire to pull the boat to the dock. He jumped out first and reached back to pull out Crystal, withdrawing her in one swift motion. He did not extend any help to Bering or me, leaving us to depart the boat ourselves.
A SkyWing sat waiting patiently on the end of the dock, a curious smile cresting his snout. He appeared to be just a bit younger than Scarlet, with an elegantly tapered tail. His wings seemed rather atrophied, however.
"Greetings!" He waved. "Thank you so much for your service as always, Falcon, Ember."
The two SkyWing guards huffed, and the male guard muttered, "I hate my job."
"Cheer up, Falcon! We have visitors!"
"Any moment spent on this cursed island is a waste of time, freak. Come on Ember, let's go scare the chickens."
Ember, the other SkyWing, scanned the rest of us before turning back to her partner. "Idiot. You already scared the chickens last time and they flew into the ocean."
Falcon stared down at his talons. "Right."
"The goats are still alive though." A wicked smile spread across Ember's snout. Falcon's snout lit up and he ran with the other SkyWing past the waiting dragon and into the interior of the island, off to wreak havoc.
The waiting SkyWing sighed. "They never partake in any of my pleasantries. Poor chickens never did anything to them."
"Who are you?" asked Bering.
"Me? My name is Comet, though dear Auster here might know me by another name." His voice sounded familiar, yet unnatural to hear out loud. I couldn't believe that Walrus stood right in front of me. The voice in my head, my conscience, mental advisor.
"Come, you three. I have much to show you," Comet beckoned.
"Just hold on a minute," I stammered.
Comet sat back down. "Take your time."
"You! Walrus?"
"You did assign me that name. Here I am in the flesh."
"But… how?"
Comet smiled. "I can tell you have many questions. And I will do my best to answer them. However, I feel that many of the questions you have will be answered once I transform you back."
"Transform?"
The SkyWing waved his wing. "Come along then, dear. Bering and Crystal, I presume?" he asked the two other IceWings. "Welcome to my abode. We have much to discuss." Comet started walking down a well-kept path of inlaid stones. As he strode forward, he whistled a tune and it took a while for me to realize that I was humming the melody, even though I was adamant that I had never heard the song before.
We came upon a sturdy constructed wooden hut at the end of the path, with an awning shading a workbench full of apple shreds and the faint smell of wheat. Comet gestured at the mess. "I apologize for the mess, please try not to step on any of the rogue peels as you enter my extremely fancy mansion." I saw Crystal sniff one of the foreign peels and put one into her mouth but the smell from the interior distracted me from reprimanding her. Not that it was my responsibility to remind dragonets not to eat random scraps of food on the ground.
"And here we have," the SkyWing bowed exaggeratedly, "my own personal recipe, homemade apple pie!" He beamed at his audience and presented a steaming warm round golden pastry. The scent tickled my nose. A dish like this wouldn't be possible in the Ice Kingdom, yet somehow, I knew the sweet and tart svelte texture of pie. Comet used a large knife to slice the pie into portions and loaded them onto wooden plates, dished out to each of us.
Bering and Crystal poked the unfamiliar treat with caution and observed as I bit into the slice and let the intimate flavors wash over my taste. Comet sat down next to me and threw his wing around me, and I didn't protest. It felt right, but I didn't know why.
Bering's eyes narrowed further. "Auster? Do you know this dragon?"
"He's very familiar, though I can't quite put my talon on the reason."
The SkyWing nudged me gently. "Eat up. I have a story to tell that will answer your doubts, and I believe that you will enjoy it best on a full stomach."
Crystal sniffed the pie a couple more times before taking a bite. Bering followed suite though he never stopped eying Comet suspiciously.
"How is it?" Comet asked. "The apples here are not the highest quality, a bit too sour so I had to compensate with extra sugar."
"It tastes fine," I reassured. "I think you should start your story."
"As you wish." Comet strode over to a shelf and plucked a stone statue and placed it on the table. The statue was modeled after a RainWing, with exquisite detail. "I just want to warn you beforehand that there are some parts of this story that may be difficult to hear, please don't jump ahead."
"Are you an animus?" I asked.
Comet smiled weakly. "Yes. I am. It is a terribly wonderful curse. It allows me to do amazing things as we will get to, soon, but it has placed many burdensome restrictions upon my life.
You see, SkyWings don't take kindly to animus dragons, or freaks. Ever since the Albatross incident several millennia in the past, any dragons showing abnormalities like firescales or animus powers are promptly dropped off the side of a cliff and left to die.
My family seems to have animus dragons every few generations, and they have followed traditions until I hatched. My parents wanted nothing to do with me, and I'm sure they're still out there, believing the lie that I died when they dropped me off the side of a cliff. Except I was saved, by Scarlet's eldest sister, Swift.
Swift kept me secret because if news got out that she was nursing a dragonet as an unmarried princess, her mother would probably flay her alive. Now that I look back, I should've helped her win the throne. Scarlet challenged her mother first and won handily. The first task she did was to find out Swift's secret, me.
Scarlet forced me to create several enchantments to limit my power. That is why I'm stuck on this island, and there are limitations on what I can enchant. For example, Auster, you asked if I could simply enchant everyone to accept a new SandWing queen. I cannot enchant anything that would interfere with a dragon's free will. I cannot mate, nor can I hurt another dragon.
Of course, I have found some loopholes, but by and large, I mostly sit around until Scarlet needs some dumb thing to be enchanted. On the plus side, it has allowed me to work on some projects, like the apple orchard. It took a lot of convincing to get apple seeds but once I planted them, I shaped the trees into perfect little groves.
Swift kept visiting me, which I appreciated greatly, until one day she never came back. Scarlet told me that Swift lost interest in a loser like me, though I suspect that isn't the real reason. I never saw my stepmother again. I became quite lonely, so I turned to carving friends. Using what meagre knowledge I could gather from scrolls and the guards stationed on my island, I carved these little statues." Comet held up the RainWing statue with a tear in his eye. "They are excellent company."
"He's crazy, let's go," Bering whispered.
"Now hold on there just a moment," exclaimed Comet. "Watch this!" He tapped the jade crystal on the snout of the dragon. We watched in wonder as the statue shed its stone outer layer and quite literally jumped out as a fully grown RainWing, boisterous and grinning from ear to ear.
"Hello friend! Comet! It is so good to see you again." The RainWing hugged Comet and directed his enthusiastic attention to the three awaiting IceWings. "And who are you? More friends? One can never have too many friends! Group hug!"
"Isn't he fabulous? I have more friends too," Comet proclaimed.
"YES. We should see our other friends," the RainWing cheered. He bounded off to the shelf and returned with two more statues, a SandWing and MudWing. "Can we see Sandy and Muddy, pretty please?"
"Alright, let me just-"
I stopped the SkyWing before he tapped on the snouts of the two statues. "Where did this RainWing come from?"
Comet balked, as if someone had slapped him. "It's a bit of my own magic."
"You created this dragon?" Bering inquired.
"Well, yes. I was lonely so I made some friends to keep me company."
"Why is your tail so short? Mommy told me that RainWings have really long and skinny tails." Crystal told the RainWing.
"Wait really?" asked Comet. "Let me fix that. I enchant Rainy's tail to grow longer and skinner as to match a RainWing's."
A cold shiver emanated across the room and everyone except Comet watched in fascination as Rainy's tail indeed grew longer and skinnier.
"Woah," I uttered. "Explain that one, Bering."
"That is unnatural," the IceWing observed. "I wonder." He stepped over and gave the amber gem on the MudWing statue a tap. The statue jumped to life, this time as a brown MudWing.
"Muddy!" the RainWing shouted with joy. "Look at my tail, it's different now. Longer, thinner, I can do cool stuff with it now." He wrapped his tail around a slice one of the plates and dropped it in front of the frowning MudWing.
The MudWing flinched. "Careful, Rainy, you should treat Comet's things with more caution," she chided. "Why are there three IceWings here?"
Comet tapped the MudWing gently. "These are our visitors. They come from far away."
"What about Falcon and Ember? Aren't you worried about them ruining the chicken coop?"
"They've already done that. Moved onto the goats now. Glad I made the orchard fireproof, otherwise those two would've set it on fire and where would our apple pie be?"
Comet moved back to the table and tapped the SandWing. The statue jumped to life as a boisterous SandWing. "Howdy fellas. Here's a grand old collection of dragons. Rainy, clue me in will ya?"
Comet spoke something under his breath and the three dragons turned back into statues. "I molded each one to have a distinct character, meticulously sculpted them into wonderful companions. Of course, there is still something innate about outsiders that I can't replicate, but my creations keep me company well enough that I don't miss Falcon and Ember all that much."
Bering stared at the dragons curiously, then at me, and finally at the shelf. He stalked over and brought the remaining statues. "Is Auster one of your creations as well?"
Could I be? Absolutely not. That was a ridiculous idea, I had my own independent thoughts and actions. I was in no way like the other creations.
Comet hesitated. "Auster is my … daughter. Yes." He cleared his throat. "Auster, I am your father."
Bering looked at the two of us with visible confusion. "You two look nothing alike. And you said you couldn't mate."
"Well, er… ok, fine. Auster, I really didn't want to break it to you this way, but you are one of my creations. But the most special one of all, and I assure you that I love you no matter what since you were born, and if you let me explain, I promise you will understand."
For some reason, the news didn't surprise me too much. Perhaps Comet had enchanted me to simply accept this as fact. One could only assume that this type of magic had no limits. Maybe he was even lying about the restrictions.
Meanwhile Bering had brought over the rest of the statues and was busy murmuring over them. "Hold on. There's one missing. Comet, there should be seven right? One for each tribe?"
"I'm the missing one," I blurted out. "There should only be six because I'm the seventh."
"But that doesn't make sense either. Look here, Auster."
I peered over the six statues. SandWing, MudWing, RainWing, NightWing, SeaWing, and IceWing. There was already an IceWing statue, or at least the crude approximation of one. The horns were too short, and the big claw undersized. A little fat too. I counted again out loud, "SandWing, MudWing, RainWing, NightWing, SeaWing, IceWing. You're missing a SkyWing," I told Comet.
Comet winced. "That's not true. I did create a SkyWing, and you're standing right in front of me."