Queen Glacier slowly walked into a small room, walls of ice enclosing around her. Ice was plentiful in her palace, it was what the entire place was made of. The largest thing differentiating this room from every other one in the palace was how . . . dull it was. While most of the palace had generous sculptures and tapestries decorating it, the Chamber of the Empty Circle was the most barren room there: a large cube with a raised platform of ice in the middle. It was also one of the oldest, technically, because of its hidden location. Much of the palace had been magically regenerated after Queen Fen had managed to conquer it, possibly the only time outsiders had invaded the palace. It wasn't the first time the palace had been destroyed, of course — there had occasionally been wars over succession, or revolts from the lowest circles. After the first time, many thousands of years ago, the IceWings had been given the Gifts of Splendor and Revival by a pair of animus twins who rebuilt the palace. The Gift of Splendor was both the palace itself and the enchanted ice that would never naturally melt or crack. The Gift of Revival enabled the palace to regrow itself, if accidentally or intentionally damaged. It was part of what hid the Chamber so well: technically, there were no doors to the place, just a thin sheet of ice that hid it from view, which had to be broken to gain entry.
But now, the IceWing palace was one of the safest places on Pyrrhia. The Great Ice Cliff was just the icing on the cake (not that IceWings would eat anything like cake, that was left to the posh SkyWing and MudWing queens), even without it, no army could invade the Ice Kingdom due to the frigid weather. Except for the Great Army of Queen Fen of course, but that was the exception, and as long as none of the other queens gained the power of animus magic, the Ice Kingdom was safe. Supposedly, the MudWings had been planning on invading the southernmost parts of the Ice Kingdom during the War of SandWing Succession, but the war was stopped by those irritating dragonets, and the MudWing army was spared their pitiful MudWing lives.
Of course, the dragonets stopped the war by deciding that they wanted to break the rules a little bit with their queenmaking. Thorn? What right did she have to be queen? She was the commander of a band of outlaws, not royalty. Still, she'd apparently done a decent job at it in her short three-year reign, and Glacier had to give her some credit for that. And the Eye of Onyx had chosen her over Blaze, unfortunately.
Queen Glacier reached a talon up to her neck, dragging it along the silver chain around it until her sharp talon reached the many-faceted stone at the bottom. The Eye of Diamond, her own royal signifier. Two molded wings of silver wrapped out from the stone itself, an unusually cut diamond, with thousands of small faces around the almost spherical gem. The faint glow of the room shined through it, causing small dots of light to appear on Queen Glacier's blue breast-scales. The familiar aura of animus magic pulsed across the surface of the gem, a small otherworldly tingle spreading down Glacier's talon.
At least before the end of the war, Queen Glacier had only worn the Eye for special occasions. Official IceWing ceremonies, of course, like moving names from the dragonets' rankings to the adults' rankings, and the naming of new hatchlings. She'd occasionally wear it at balls and parties to make a strong impression. She'd known that it was magical since she was a dragonet, like a fair amount of her mother's jewelry, but hadn't realized what it had done until Blister's electrifying death three years ago. She'd been worried to wear it after that, worried that her own Eye would decide to reject her. But she was an IceWing, not some cowardly SandWing. It would seem weak to stop wearing it after so long, and what would happen if some ambitious IceWing decided to grab it in her absence? What if it accepted them as queen? What if they were a failure from the Seventh Circle, or a lowbown not even in the Circle Rankings? Great Ice Dragon forbid. So, instead of wearing it less, Queen Glacier had done the exact opposite: she'd kept that cursed stone around her neck for the last three years straight, where everyone could see it and know that she was the rightful queen.
Queen Glacier tried to remember which of the other kingdoms still had their Eyes. The SandWings, of course. She thought that the SeaWings and SkyWings still had theirs, but neither of their queens wore them for anything non-ceremonial, so she wasn't sure. The MudWings had lost theirs, but Glacier wasn't quite sure when. The NightWings probably didn't have theirs; that put a smug grin on Queen Glacier's snout. She'd looked a bit into it a couple years ago, and though the records from the Scorching were clear that one had existed for them at a time, there were no mentions of it ever being worn or used for ceremonies afterwards. If it hadn't been destroyed in the Scorching, it was almost certainly lost after the Darkstalker or after they escaped their old volcanic home. She wondered if their Eye would have accepted a RainWing as their queen. The RainWings themselves . . . if Glacier remembered her history correctly, it disappeared sometime during the War of the Rainforest.
That was one of the things that worried Glacier about the new RainWing queen. Glory taken over two kingdoms at six years old, and was a so-called 'Dragonet of Destiny.' Like it or not, Glacier had to respect her like a real queen, as real as any of the others, and the RainWings now had to be included as an actual threat. Glory might be peaceful for now, but if she or an heir spurred the RainWings into military action . . . Glacier shuddered at the thought. She might not have been alive for the war, but the gruesome tales that Muskox had told her were enough to warn Glacier not to provoke the RainWings. She missed the old days, back when they were supposed to be dumb and lazy.
The NightWings were a wild card in this hypothetical situation. If the RainWings declared war on the rest of the tribes, a lot could rest on whether they would follow suit. If the two fought together, who would be telling how many deaths there would be before any war was over. Still, the IceWings would be safe behind their wall. No amount of RainWings could hurt Queen Glacier so far north, not without magic. And then, there were the SandWings. At least according to the news, they now had another 'Dragonet of Destiny' on their throne. Was it not just too coincidental that no IceWing was in the NightWing prophecy?
As her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the single moon globe that had been placed on the circular platform, it was easy for Glacier to see the dragons that were already in the Chamber. Eight 'seats' surrounded the raised platform of ice, though they were really just plots of ice covered with seal leather. Each was equidistant from each other, circling the table. Six of these seats were taken, each with an IceWing in them, patiently waiting for Queen Glacier's arrival. Glacier's own daughter, Princess Snowfall, sat behind one of the two empty ones, looking quite cross with her mother. This was her first time she'd attended an Empty Circle meeting, something she needed to do to prepare herself for when she would eventually be queen herself. Of course, that wouldn't be anytime soon; Glacier was in no way about to let herself be killed by this insolent dragonet of her.
"Mother," Snowfall grumbled, almost hissing, as Queen Glacier walked towards her. "Let me sit in the empty seat. It's cold here, and I deserve to be a part of your 'secret meeting' much more than the Traitor's kin. He's not even here right now."
Glacier sent an icy glare in her daughter's direction. "You will get your seat when you manage to tear out my throat in battle. Until you do that, you will watch respectfully, and quietly."
An ancient IceWing missing one of his legs slowly raised his head, each of the other dragons turning from Queen Glacier to him. Glacier could almost hear his frail neck creaking, a small singular circle denoting his place in the First Circle along with a small copper amulet with a four-pointed star hanging from it. If Muskox had lifted his head to its full height, he would have scraped his horns against the ceiling, as large as he was. After clearing his throat by coughing out a glob of blue phlegm, he opened his crusty eyes as far as they would go. It was little use, though, Glacier knew he couldn't tell a walrus from a polar bear anymore. Muskox was the oldest dragon in the kingdom, and one of the oldest dragons in all of Pyrrhia. He had been alive for the Rainforest War, and there were even rumors that he'd been alive for the time of Queen Fen's invasion. Some even said he was older than Prince Arctic himself. Glacier knew better than to believe that nonsense, but he was old nonetheless.
"So," Muskox started in a quiet, rasping tone, "let us begin. As you all can see, we have Princess Snowflake here today, watching her first meeting. Welcome to the Empty Circle, my dear princess."
Glacier didn't bother correcting him on the name. It wasn't like he was the only dragon who'd gotten it wrong before. Snowfall herself didn't seem to notice it either, being focused too much on the imagined slight of not being given a seat.
A young IceWing quickly spoke up. "Let's get straight to business," he opened. "The Mining Phase of Project Darkstone is going poorly. No signs of it have been found anywhere we've looked, thanks to whoever let the Dragonets live."
That was Fir, the second-youngest member of the Empty Circle, maybe ten at most. Smart and hardworking, but ambitious and impatient. Also, not the nicest Circle member. Queen Glacier forgot whose idea it was to put him as the leader of the mining project, but it was probably a poor choice for his talents and demeanor, since it could only lead to frustration.
"As I've said time and time again," Fir continued, "we've only found darkstone in the Southern Hills. If we want more, that's where we need to go."
"Mining?" another IceWing spoke with a growl. "In SandWing territory? Maybe Blaze would let us get away with that, but if we tried that now, it would basically be a declaration of war. Do you want another war, Fir? Do you?"
That was Alpine, the angriest pacifist Queen Glacier had ever seen. She'd stayed against the War of SandWing Succession until the end, and she might have been right for that. She sure bragged about it a lot in the meeting after Thorn was crowned.
"There might be another option," suggested an IceWing with blue scales that seemed to shimmer in the light of the Moon Globe, shrugging his wings. Three silver bands wrapped around each of his horns, bejeweled with rubies and diamonds. "We could buy the land from them."
A large female IceWing with a large battle scar running through one of her eyes and down her neck snorted. "And what do you suppose we buy it with, ice? No thanks, Shard. I say we fight for the land!"
"AND WHAT, FIGHT ANOTHER TWENTY YEAR LONG WAR?" Alpine suddenly roared, placing both of her paws up on the table, baring her teeth at the IceWing who suggested it. Queen Glacier gently put her paws over her ears. Actual fights in the Empty Circle were rare, but not unheard of. "WE SHOULD JUST MURDER ALL OUR DRAGONETS NOW, JUST TO GET IT OVER WITH!"
"Alpine, wait," a calm voice suggested from the background. "Egret might have a point. Although I'm against rushing right into another war, this would be an ideal time for it. Queen Sunny is new and young. I suggest that we offer her a handsome price for the land, and if she refuses, we can make a threat. She was raised by the Talons of Peace, so I doubt she's the warmongering type. And what's a little barren land for continued peace, especially if she gets silver and gold in return?"
That was Stratus, the voice of compromise in the Empty Circle. He was one of the younger dragons in the Empty Circle, but his gaze carried wisdom along with embers of youth. There were a few nods and murmurs to his response, and a little bit of grumbling from Alpine, but it was general agreement.
"I second this motion. Shall we vote?" Queen Glacier asked the Circle. In order for the Empty Circle to vote on an action, someone had to second it. The rules dictated that the queen herself was allowed to second motions, even though she wasn't allowed to vote unless there was a tie. Which there might well be, today, since one of the seven seats was empty. "All in favor, say yea."
Fir, Shard, Egret, and Stratus responded with a quick "Yea." Queen Glacier glanced towards Muskox, surprised that he hadn't, until a small "Yea," squeaked from his coarse throat. Glacier wasn't surprised from this. Although a couple members of the Empty Circle preferred to use treasury money as little as possible, all of them felt like Project Darkstone was a worthy place to spend it.
"All against, say nay."
Alpine was the only responder to this, as expected. She would vote against anything which could possibly mean war, even if it was just the empty threat of it. Although Queen Glacier didn't agree with Alpine's views, she had to respect her for her determination and consistency. It was part of why Glacier had put her on the Empty Circle in the first place.
Had Queen Glacier wanted to, she could have vetoed the motion, and put it to an end. It was possible for her veto to be overridden, but only by a unanimous vote from the council, which could only happen if all seven members were here. Unanimous votes were uncommon though, and even if one happened, Queen Glacier could always have someone killed and replaced. She didn't plan to ever have to do that; it would defeat the whole point of the Empty Circle. Even if it could be irritating at times, she wanted her council not to be afraid to argue and disagree with her.
Stratus took a small quill and wrote down a few notes on a scroll. He was the designated scribe of the Empty Circle, and it was his job to write down everything that was discussed and decided upon, mainly for records. He couldn't quill every word said, but he tried his best, and was a fast writer. His impartiality, willingness to hear other opinions, on honesty were the reasons why Queen Glacier had chosen him; a biased Scribe might be able to change or warp the records to fit their own ambitions. They didn't have to check records very often, but it had become apparent early on to Queen Glacier that a few changed words could have a huge impact.
"Next on the agenda, we have continued reports of a drought." This time, it was Shard who started the conversation. "Although we currently have plenty of stored water in the form of ice and snow, we haven't had any snowfalls or rains since the drought began. There have also been reports of the pack ice on our borders melting."
"How long do you think we have before stores run out? Is it an emergency?" asked Egret.
"Months, maybe longer, bu—"
"Then we can move onto more pressing matters," Egret interrupted, not caring for the subject. "It seems very likely that the RainWings and NightWings will become closer to the SandWings with Sunny's ascension. Thorn had the restraint and intelligence to treat Glory as a rival, at least to an extent, but Sunny and Glory are practically sisters. Based on what Glory did to the NightWings, I'd be worried that they might do something similar to the SandWings, attempting to join them into one unified kingdom. If this foolishness is allowed to happen, a combined army between the three of them would be practically unstoppable if they wished to introduce, say, the MudWings to their conglomeration. Glory certainly has the ambition, too. She's publicly announced that the tribes become closer together, and is a major supporter of Jade Mountain Academy. Unification is likely on her mind.
"The SeaWings are also a danger. Granddaughters of Queen Coral not included, as all known ones are too young to take the throne, their oldest princess, Tsunami, is also one of the Dragonets of Destiny, and is coming of age. If she challenged her mother and won, that would be four tribes in the claws of the dragonets. I say that we make a secret alliance with the MudWings and SkyWings to fight in unison against the dragonets if any one of us is attacked. If we can take out the NightWings quickl—"
"Really?" Alpine snorted. "Again with the wars? The MudWings are sure to want no part in this violence. Three years is not long enough for their kingdom to mend, and Queen Sc—"
"I second Egret's idea," Queen Glacier butted in, tapping a claw on the ice table. She didn't care to hear more of Alpine's pacifism, and the RainWings needed to be prepared against. She also didn't want Alpine influencing any more votes against her. "All in favor, say yea."
This vote was less clear than the last. Only Egret and Fir agreed. Glacier was worried for a second, until Muskox came in with a final yea. It would be a tie, and Queen Glacier would decide the vote.
Asking who was against the motion was just for show, but Glacier did it anyways. As expected, the three who didn't vote yea went against it.
"Then I vote yea," Glacier said, settling the outcome. She'd have someone compose letters to Queen Scarlet and Moorhen. Glacier glanced over to her daughter, who had remained silent all this time. She seemed to be scratching at one of her scales, uninterested in the conversation. Hopefully, that would change with age.
After an uncomfortable silence, Fir spoke up again. "Next order of business is our empty seat. As you might remember, someone forced through the seal-brained idea that Polar should conduct the Field Research Phase of Project Darkstone, and he was sent to Jade Mountain."
"That was me," Glacier yawned. If Fir had wanted to insult her, he could do it to her snout. She had vetoed the Empty Circle's vote on that and gotten the proposal through with a bit of a technicality. The vote had been five to two, with Stratus and Polar himself for it.
"Well, we haven't received any news from him, so I can only assume that your continued faith in that family has lost us yet another ten years of work."
Princess Snowfall suddenly spoke up unexpectedly, giving Glacier a quick look of scorn. "Do you dare speak to my mother, the queen, that way? I could have your head taken off for th—"
"Shut your mouth!" Queen Glacier suddenly hissed. She struck out her talons, raking them across the side of her daughter's snout as Snowfall jumped back with a yelp. Not enough to scar her, but judging by the surprised look she gave, maybe enough to teach her a little respect. A few drops of blue blood dripped between Snowfall's scales, and she glared at her mother. "This is the Empty Circle, and if you ever hope to lead the kingdom, you will not threaten your greatest allies!"
In truth, Fir had overstepped his bounds, but Snowfall didn't need to know that. Glacier would have a private conversation with him after the meeting, while Snowfall would be bragging about her new scratches, claiming she got them from a giant polar bear she killed or something. The truth was a bit too embarrassing. It was uncanny for a First Circle dragonet, no, a First Circle adult to be chastised like that. Still, humility was a lesson she needed to learn. Glacier had made that mistake with her first daughter. She wouldn't make it again.
After she was confident that Snowfall wouldn't try talking back, Glacier turned back to the Empty Circle. "I am confident in Polar," Glacier replied, pretending the incident with Snowfall had never happened. "He is far more like his grandparents than his aunt, and has proven his loyalty to me and this kingdom time and time again. It's not surprising he hasn't made contact with us, either. He's been gone less than two weeks, and it isn't like there's a lot of communication routes into the Ice Kingdom."
"Chances are he's seeking refuge in the rainforest right now, or maybe he's gone to wherever his aunt flew away to," scoffed Egret.
"If he does escape to his aunt, we'll know," spoke Stratus, "we have three loyal Second Circle members secretly following him until he reaches Jade Mountain. If he steps out of line, they'll stop him, and we'll find out soon enough. It's not like there was anyone else we could have chosen for the job, either. Project Darkstone must remain at the highest levels of secrecy, and so far, Polar has survived the longest of all our test subjects."
"He's nothing like Boreal," Shard complained. "Maybe he's loyal to Queen Glacier, but he has no respect for any other dragon on this continent. And even if he's still alive, none of the tests have proved fruitful. Even with the Darkstone, he can't use animus magic."
"Not yet," Stratus continued, "but that's part of why we sent him out. As useful as magic was to us, we don't have a lot of information as to how animus magic works, since few of our ancient animuses used it more than once or twice. Like it or not, Jade Mountain has plenty of scrolls, even some secret ones from the Night Kingdom. And even in the unlikely event Polar betrays us, we'll still come out ahead. If he's able to draw out his aunt from hiding, we'll be able to capture her and retrieve the first Darkstone. The Traitor might think we've given up, but we will find her, and make he—"
The sound of crashing ice suddenly echoed through the chamber. That wasn't supposed to happen. This was the first time since Boreal's death someone outside of the Empty Circle had been brought into this room. Polar was halfway across the continent by now, and Blackice was still exiled to her island in the far north. There was only one other living IceWing who knew where this room is, but that was impossible. It had to have been a guard, who had accidentally stumbled in here, or . . .
"Make her what?" the IceWing standing in the entranceway sneered, pieces of the secret wall scattered around her. As she stepped further into the room, the shards of ice behind her started to clatter across the floor, drawing themselves up into where the wall once was, magically fusing back together. The IceWing glanced towards the sealskin on the empty seat. "I see you've kept my father's seat cold. Last I had heard, my nephew had taken it."
Queen Glacier shuddered. Even though it had been over a decade and a half since Glacier had seen her last, she knew that the dragon standing before the Empty Circle was none other than the Traitor herself. Crystal. Queen Glacier had hoped that Polar would flush Crystal out of hiding, but she hadn't expected this. Nothing good could come of this intrusion. Glacier looked down to Crystal's neck. Her scales were bare. The Darkstone was nowhere to be found.
Fir was sitting closest to the entrance, so he chose to confront Crystal first. "Lower your head in surrender and give up the Darkstone. No harm will come to you."
Queen Glacier felt that 'no harm' was a bit too broad a statement, but didn't protest. Crystal grinned. "Oh?" she asked, in a sweetly sarcastic tone. "But I just wanted to sit in my father's seat. You wouldn't have a problem with that, would you?"
Crystal took a few steps towards the sealskin Princess Snowfall was sitting behind, and that was enough to provoke Fir into action. With a roar, the young IceWing lunged towards Crystal, trying to bowl her over into the ground. But Crystal was quicker. With a flash of obsidian, the blade of a dagger sliced beneath Fir's wing.
A crumbly grey-brown texture started to replace Fir's sheeny scale, the stone spreading from his wing up to his neck, then down his snout. He quickly attempted to stretch his neck up, trying to avoid the spreading stone, but it was useless. The crusty rock soon covered his eyes, along with the rest of his body. He attempted to scream out in terror, but his vocal cords had hardened, silencing him as his body froze up, becoming lifeless in seconds. The rest of the Empty Circle could do nothing but stare, either in shock, terror, or pure hatred. Queen Glacier stood up, pushing her daughter behind her.
"Oh dear," Crystal chuckled, "I was expecting you all to be a little more inviting. It's been so long, after all." She slammed her wing into Fir, causing his body to crumble into pieces of rock and dust, spraying over the rest of the dragons in the room. A chunk of one of Fir's horns hit Glacier's neck, instantly collapsing into a fine powder. Crystal turned towards Queen Glacier, and took a step forward as she held out her dagger.
A moment later, all hell broke loose.
Egret and Shard leaped onto the table, trying to tackle Crystal from above, as Alpine came in from the back. Crystal swiftly jumped forward, causing Egret and Alpine to bump into each other, their wings getting tangled up. In the time it took the two of them to sort things out, Shard came down on Crystal with a bite, his teeth barely scraping into Crystal's left wingblade before she swiped her dagger across his snout, drawing a nick of blade as Shard was transformed into stone. Crystal made a mental note — so far, she'd gotten rid of two of the eight dragons in the room.
As Shard solidified, Egret had pushed Alpine aside, and pounced at Crystal with her claws outstretched, attempting to aim for her neck. Although Crystal turned her head to avoid a fatal incision, Egret managed to hit Crystal before she could pull her wings out from Shard's remains, and the two of them toppled into Shard's stone corpse. The statue collapsed into a plume of rock and dust, clouding Egret and Crystal within. When it cleared, Egret was holding Crystal down with a triumphant glare, not noticing the tip of the dagger buried in her wing membrane that had turned her to stone. Three.
Alpine attempted to take advantage of Egret's corpse trapping Crystal, hoping that even in death, her ally would slow down Crystal's movements. She pounced at Crystal's already injured left wing, Egret getting in the way of Alpine, preventing her from aiming at a more lethal spot, like Crystal's underbelly or neck. As Alpine rushed forward, Crystal twisted her tail to the side, rolling to her left, allowing Egret's body to topple onto Alpine. As the surprised Alpine slipped to the right, attempting to dodge Egret's effigy, Crystal took the chance to quickly slit her dagger across Alpine's leg, giving her the same fate as the others. Four. Halfway done.
Suddenly, a jolting pain ripped through Crystal's scales, causing her to yelp out in pain before her nerves went numb. Although her body had been shielded by the rocks and rubble of her enemies, her tail and spines had been hit directly by a blast of frostbreath from Stratus, gluing it to the floor of ice below. But it wasn't enough to hamper Crystal. As Stratus momentarily ceased his frostbreath to see what had happened, Crystal burst out of the partly frozen shell of rock around her, and swiped her dagger across Stratus's claws, quickly putting an end to him. While the mists of his frostbreath started to clear away, Crystal stomped down on the end of her frozen tail, shattering the ice along with the end of her tail into a million frozen pieces, slicing into the bottom of her hindpaw. Five.
Crystal grinned as she limped towards Queen Glacier, blue blood trailing from her hindpaw. "The Empty Circle seems a bit more . . . empty now, doesn't it? What will her majesty do without her precious power-hungry aristocrats?"
At this point, Muskox stepped in front of Queen Glacier and Princess Snowfall, in a feeble attempt to protect them. He was brave till his last moments, even though Queen Glacier could see his three shaking legs struggling to keep him standing. She knew that they were shaking not from fear, but only old age.
"Crystal," he rasped, in a final attempt to dissuade her, "I will not allow you to harm Queen Glacier or her daughter. You don't have to do this." He opened his jaws, and using his wings to balance himself, scraped a talon along the inside of his gums, drawing a spurt of blue blood onto it.
Crystal laughed. "You old fool. Your family still serves her, after all she and her mother have done? I'd have thought you would at least have some wisdom, after all this time."
"I swear my blood to the protection of the royal family," Muskox growled, wiping a smidgen of his blue blood on the copper amulet. Queen Glacier took a step back as the blood soaked into the amulet, turning it from copper to silver wherever it touched. The shaking in Muskox's legs suddenly stopped, and the muscles in his neck and wings started to stretch. The Gift of Guardianship. Enchanted so that while activated, the wearer becomes as strong as the strongest dragon in Pyrrhia, so long as they were protecting their queen. Queen Glacier had always wondered who the strongest dragon in Pyrrhia was.
"Please leave this to me, your majesty. Escape and gather forces while I hold her off," Muskox said.
Muskox started to take a step towards Crystal, and raised a paw. Suddenly, he froze up. A layer of stone crawled across his scales, trapping the ancient dragon beneath. Crystal started to step around his frozen body, holding eye contact with Queen Glacier as she retrieved her dagger from within Muskox's paw. Crystal laughed. She couldn't believe that she'd ever been afraid of these fools. Now, she knew there were far worse things to be afraid of. Six.
Without hesitation, Princess Snowfall rushed towards the door, foolishly attempting to scramble for the exit wall. But Crystal was faster. She stepped in front of Snowfall, and slammed the princess's head to the ground in her hurry to escape. Snowfall turned, ready to fight, until she saw the tip of Crystal's dagger above her neck. Snowfall immediately understood what would happen if she tried to escape. Blue blood dripped from Crystal's neck onto Snowfall's wing beneath.
"The Ice Kingdom wastes the magic it has, and yet you still want more?" Crystal stared straight into Queen Glacier's pitch-black eyes. "It's disgusting. Your greed rots and destroys our world. Give me the Eye of Diamond," she commanded.
The Eye of Diamond? Queen Glacier could almost laugh. "What? You think you're going to be queen of the IceWings now? You betrayed your kingdom, like a second Foeslayer, you stole our chance of magic. And now you've killed its leaders. You're the least worthy dragon in Pyrrhia." Did she not know what happened to Blister?
"I said, give me the Eye," Crystal growled. She pressed her dagger further against Snowfall's neck, almost breaking through her scale layer and drawing blood.
"Take it," Queen Glacier spat. She tore it from her neck, and threw it at Crystal. "You want the throne? Prove how worthy you are, Traitor."
Crystal easily caught it. It started to glow as soon as it touched Crystal's scales, small streaks of electricity arcing between the diamond and Crystal's talons. The scents of Crystal's blood and ozone mixed in Snowfall's nostrils.
"Thank you for your gift," Crystal smirked.
Seven. Eight.
AN: End of Part 1.