Chapter 47

Warm, dry winds brushed beneath Ink's wings as he glided on them, Toxin and Inferno not far ahead. The gentle lights of Possibility glowed beneath, before becoming abrupt darkness as the three passed over the dry riverbed. Below, an curious SandWing dragonet had climbed down into the riverbed, exploring it while her SkyWing friend watched cautiously from the banks. The dragonet looked up to see the three pass overhead against the starlit background, but the silhouettes of wings was nothing unusual.

"We abandoned them," Ink lamented, looking back up from the riverbed. "We should go back."

"We didn't abandon them," Toxin replied, though her voice faltered. "Fracture told us to leave. We would've just gotten in his way if we'd stayed behind. More targets for Crystal, more dragons he'd have to protect." Still, she wasn't sure. Why hadn't Slate and Polar come after them? She knew they couldn't fly; would they be able to escape?

"What if Fracture was wrong?" Inferno suddenly asked. Knowing that Fracture had used his visions to guide the Talons, she had to question all the Talons' failures. Queen Scarlet's massacre of the Talons, the death of Asha and Hvitur, Queen Scarlet's murder of the dragonets hatching on the Brightest Night — which of those had Fracture known about? Were there more tragedies that he'd prevented? Why not these? Which of those had he allowed? She was sure he had to have a good explanation, but now she doubted if she'd ever hear it.

Ink was silent. That was what he was dreading. His powers had certainly been wrong before. Three moons, the entire situation they were in right now was because he'd been misled. Fracture was smart, but certainly fallible.

"He had to be certain he was right," Toxin replied, only half believing what she was saying. "He wouldn't have told us otherwise."

Ink looked behind them, back to the east banks of the river. There was no sign of dragons following behind them, whether Polar, Slate, Fracture, or Crystal, just a small orange glimmer in the distance as the blue-shingled house went up in flames. But what he could he do? Go back?

"Where are we going?" Inferno asked as they reached the west riverbank, the lights of shimmering lampposts dotting the city. "Is there another safehouse somewhere? One that Crystal won't know about?"

"No," Ink glumly answered.

"We should find shelter anyways," Toxin suggested. "If Crystal comes after us, then we'll want cover so that she doesn't spot us."

Ink sighed. "There's a place we can land not too far from here," he suggested. "There's probably somewhere around there we can sleep."

Ink lifted his right wing and turned to the left, delving deeper into the city. Few dragons wandered the streets at this time of night, and Ink and Toxin's scales blended well in the darkness. Eventually, Ink started to drop altitude, and the three approached on a large square, a clocktower rising up from one end. Empty market stalls coated the square, and Inferno was unsure where she'd be able to safely land until spotting a small stone landing platform in the middle of the square, rising up to the height the buildings. It was like a work of art, with the figures of intertwining stone serpents hold the platform aloft. Inferno shivered as she recognized the handle of Crystal's twisted dagger within it.

One by one, the three landed on the platform, cautiously walking down the serpent's back until they reached the ground. The design clearly valued aesthetics over safety. The marketplace seemed to be empty at this time of night, with everyone's wares removed. There wasn't much view with the stalls placed all around them. If Crystal wanted to jump out and surprise them, this would be a great place to do it.

"This way," Ink said as he disappeared into the darkness. Inferno and Toxin quickly followed, worried they'd lose him in the winding maze of stalls, lit only by the dim lampposts. Eventually, they reached the edge of the square, where Ink led them into a narrow alleyway, dwarfed by high walls on either side.

Ink led them down twisting and turning alleys, before finally stopping, looking up to an old sandstone building to their left. It seemed absolutely decrepit — part of the wall had collapsed, and while the rubble had cleared away, no one else had bothered to repair it. "I think this place is abandoned," Ink commented, before pushing through the stone doorway, which had both doors removed.

Inferno cautiously breathed a puff of flame, looking for objects that could be set on fire. No semblance of furniture remained on the inside of the building, just a stone floor. The ceiling seemed to have decayed as much as the walls, and the roof was mostly open to the night sky. Well, it wasn't like they were expecting rain.

Ink and Toxin had already settled down in separate corners. While they tried to sleep, both of their eyes remained open and alert. Toxin was muttering something beneath her breath. As Inferno listened closer, she heard a few words of Nightreader's Prophecy. Having left the Black Scroll behind, the hybrid dragonet was reciting it, making sure she didn't forget what could be the key to their survival.

Inferno settled herself in her own corner of the house, breathing another puff of flame, just to double check there was nothing flammable nearby. Fortunately, just the sandstone walls. Making sure not to get too close for fear of melting any mortar, the SkyWing put her head down. Unlike Ink and Toxin, she almost immediately fell asleep.

"Inferno."

Inferno opened her eyes to see Ash's familiar salmon form, standing snout to snout with her on the familiar grassy hill. This time, something new had appeared on the grassy hillside — an enormous waterfall, roaring as it crashed behind Ash, becoming the usual river. A spray of water splashed on the rocks beneath the waterfall, the droplets cold to the touch as they landed over the two's scales.

"Oh, hey Ash," Inferno said.

Ash frowned, and cocked his head. "What's wrong?" he asked. "You don't seem happy to see me."

Inferno shrugged her wings. There were a lot of things wrong. For one, the attack by Crystal. She didn't know Polar or Slate well, but she was still worried about them. Along with Fracture. And Ash's visits always made her exhausted, like she hadn't slept. "It's fine."

Ash narrowed his eyes. "I know you're lying to me."

Inferno shuffled uncomfortably. That was a harsh allegation to make, she just hadn't wanted to burden him with her stress, or make him feel bad for talking to her.

Ash sighed. "Sorry," he replied. "But please be open with me. I know you've been in a lot of danger recently, and I can see that you plan to keep putting yourself at risk. I'll try and stop disturbing your sleep, at least until this is over. If you're going to go after Calamity, I want you to be able to do it fully awake."

Inferno smiled, thankful Ash hadn't gotten angry. She felt bad about this all — by putting herself at risk, she was putting him at risk too. And it was her fault he was in this state anyways, had she not killed him, he'd have his own body. "That's great, thank you. But there was something I wanted to ask you, that I didn't manage to last time. What happened back at Jade Mountain, with Aurora? I heard your voice, telling me to fight. I thought you could only speak to me in my dreams."

Ash shook his head. "I can speak to you whenever I want. I don't just disappear when you fall asleep. You should know that by now. I have a question to ask you. Why didn't you listen to me? Your friends were in danger, you should've fought Torrent. You could've protected them."

"No," Inferno answered. "I can't. You know that. I don't hurt dragons with my firescales. Mother sa —"

"You shouldn't care what Goat said," Ash snapped back, almost snarling. The roar of the waterfall become louder as it surged. "By not being willing to use your firescales when you have to, you hurt others. If you'd fought, this could've been prevented. Polar might not have been forced to use his magic to take you all to Possibility, and Fracture might not have had to sacrifice himself to save all your scales."

Inferno looked away, ashamed. "Fracture?" she asked. "You don't really know —"

"That he's dead?" Ash interrupted. "Please. I knew it, and Fracture knew it too. There's no way he could've beaten Crystal alone. Her attention was split between him and the rest of you, it's the only reason she didn't kill him sooner."

Inferno glanced to the grassy flooring, spray from the waterfall wetting it. She dug a talon into the ground. She knew Ash was right. Fracture was dead, and it was her fault. Why was she part of the prophecy, a useless fireborn who wouldn't fight? "Ash," she asked, "did you know I was in the prophecy? Like Ink? Is that why you brought me to Jade Mountain?"

Ash snorted. "What? Don't be ridiculous. I told you, I don't want you taking part in this stupid prophecy anyways, getting near Calamity puts us at too much risk. I would've preferred you stay at Jade Mountain, but there's not much chance of that now."

Inferno sighed. "I don't think I'm fit to be in a prophecy. Peril would do better, wouldn't she?"

Ash rolled his eyes. "Now you're supporting Peril? Has someone gone and replaced Inferno under my nose?"

Inferno smiled. "I think you were right about her. She doesn't seem like a bad dragon. What's more heroic and prophecy-worthy than a dragon who's redeemed herself. That's not me."

Ash shook his head. "You know what? You're right. You're not worthy for this prophecy. You've barely started to explore the world beyond the Talons of Peace; how can you save it? But you can be worthy, if that's what you want. That being said, the first step is shrugging off Goat's fear and realizing that sometimes, you should use your firescales to hurt others."

Inferno shuffled her wings uncomfortably, swishing her tail through the grass.

"You're planning on taking Calamity on, right?" Ash pressed. "If you want to stop him, to stop the drought, then you'll need to fight him. Melt him until nothing but bones remain, then melt those too."

Inferno shook at the thought, as the figure of a one-eyed MudWing appeared in front of her on the grass. It reached out to touch a talon to her neck, then started to immediately melt like a candle onto the sod, brown scales becoming runny as its snout collapsed. Inferno tried to look away, but couldn't. The figure of the MudWing kept deforming, until it was just a puddle of brown liquid on the ground. Like an ooze, the liquid flowed from the grass, between Ash's legs, until it disappeared into the waterfall behind him.

"See, that wasn't so bad?" Ash laughed.

Inferno felt queasy. If she threw up in her dream, would she throw up in real life? Dragons . . . didn't actually melt like that, right? "No, that really was bad."

"Well, that's what it means to fulfill the prophecy and defeat Calamity," Ash said. "If you want, you can always go back to Jade Mountain. See if you can ask Peril to trade out with you."

Suddenly, a huge rumble sounded through the air, Inferno and Ash shaking as the blades of grass wavered. Inferno looked up to the sky. That had sounded like the voice of a dragon.

Ash was suddenly alert as another rumble sounded. "Inferno, you need to wake up, now."

Inferno opened her mouth to say something, but it was too late. Ash was gone, and flames had spread across the grassy landscape, turning it black. She opened her eyes, and the gently light of dawn hit them.

In front of her was a nervous SandWing, shaking as he held a out a spear, the pointed end directly against Inferno's skull, almost touching it. A few drops of molten metal dripped from the end, and the SandWing gulped. Inferno raised her head cautiously, unsure what was going on. Six SandWings and were inside the old, broken down house, surrounding the three. One SandWing was standing in front of Ink, another near Toxin, and a third at the entrance, while the rest of the dragons had their spears pointed at Inferno.

"Um, good morning," Inferno smiled, moving slowly as she got to her paws. She sat back on her haunches, and raised her forepaws up in surrender. The SandWings jumped back as she moved.

Toxin hissed and spat at the SandWing in front of her's paws, glaring. "What's the meaning of this?" she growled. "Are you with Crystal?"

"Who?" the golden-brown SandWing at the front asked, flicking out his forked tongue as he glanced back towards Inferno. "You all are passing on Enclave territory here. Please don't resist capture."

Chapter 48

Slate carried Polar down the steps, the IceWing clutching onto him. He looked back only once, seeing Fracture's wing blocking Crystal's frostbreath, as cool air spread around him. There was no time for another glance. As fast as he could without dropping Polar, Slate turned the corner, down the street and into one of the numerous alleyways of Possibility.

"What are you doing?" Polar asked, shuffling nervously. "We need to meet back up with the others."

"Did you see which way they went?" Slate snapped. "Cause I didn't. And unless you can fly, there's no way we can catch up."

Polar moved a wing over Slate's, just barely. He was regaining strength, but no where near enough to flap. "Alright."

Slate kept down the alley, rushing as fast as he could. They reached a larger road with numerous shops on it, where Slate turned left on, before ducking under an archway into another cobbled alleyway. If Crystal had gotten out and was trying to follow them, he wanted to make sure he lost her. Unless she had some secret dragon-tracking power, in which case they were all dead.

Polar lowered his head onto Slate's neck and let out an unhappy grumble. Slate sighed, wincing.

"Sorry," Slate apologized. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just afraid." Although, it was Polar's father back there, not his. He couldn't imagine what Polar was feeling right now.

"It's fine," Polar mumbled, digging his claws into Slate's shoulders as they bumped along. "It's only fair. You carried me all the way to the safehouse, and stayed behind to get me out of there, even when you could've run. Three moons, I don't deserve that, the first thing I did after meeting you was almost attack you."

"That was different circumstances," Slate assured Polar, turning down into a different alleyway. A few buckets had been left outside of houses, as if hoping they'd collect water somehow. "You're a friend now."

They kept going, Slate panting and rasping. He wasn't used to carrying the weight of another dragon. Finally, he had to slow down, his pace turning to a walk. He looked behind them. No sign of Crystal. The flames of the safehouse now glowed far in the distance.

Still, Slate pressed on. He wanted to be as far from the safehouse as possible, as far from Crystal. Torrent's description finally started to make sense. He hadn't seen a hint of remorse in her eyes. Which way were they going? Towards the riverbed? He glanced up to the sky. Two of the moons were clearly visible, even blocked by the walls of the alleyway. If Crystal was flying through the skies, he couldn't see her.

The stars glimmered brightly on the two, and there was not a cloud in the sky. Slate supposed that was at least one advantage of the drought. Slate slowly walked on a bit more before his thoughts turned to Polar. He'd been quiet, and almost completely still. Had he fallen asleep again. "Hey, Polar?"

Polar was quiet for a few moments, before his voice replied hoarsely. "Yeah?"

So not asleep. "Sorry, just wanted to check how you were doing."

Slate heard a small sniffle from the IceWing. "I don't know," Polar murmured.

Slate thought he felt a few wet drops on his neck. Was Polar crying?

The IceWing sniffled again, his voice shaky. "I don't know how to feel. I hated my father all my life. Hated him so much. I used to fantasize about how I'd turn my parents in to Queen Glacier if I ever met them, how I'd be praised for being strong, for putting my kingdom above my blood, like any good IceWing would. He abandoned me. But as soon as I know I was wrong, he's gone. Taken away from me, again. He barely even knew me, and he sacrificed himself for me."

"Maybe he's not dead," Slate suggested, not sure how to make Polar feel better.

Polar shook his head, wiping tears on Slate's scales. "No. I know how dangerous Crystal is. He's gone, it's certain. Almost certain. Please, don't give me hope."

Slate was silent. He'd only made things worse. He continued on, Polar sniffling every so often.

The alleyway suddenly ran out, pushing the two into a larger street. Lampposts cast dim light down, flickering on the cobbled streets from the flames within. To the left, Slate noticed two SkyWings, muttering something to each other. They turned to look as they saw the MudWing, carrying the IceWing on his back. A strange sight, even in Possibility.

Slate turned the other way, walking away from the two. He glanced back towards the SkyWings, who looked like they'd gotten up. Slate started to go faster, and turned down another alleyway that smelled of rotten meat, his heart pounding. He didn't know this city, and wasn't sure he wanted to be out on the streets after dark, exposed like this.

Slate turned again, the fear letting him push through his exhaustion. He looked back. If the SkyWings had followed, there was no sign of them. Slate breathed a sigh of relief. He kept walking, and eventually the alley opened up, a burst of dry wind blowing against Slate's side. In front of him was the empty riverbed, a huge gash through Possibility.

Slate peered around the corners of the alleyway before heading out onto the riverbank. It was empty at this time of night, when most of the city slept. To one side was the great bridge spanning where the river would've been. Even when the river was full, the bridge was mostly symbolic. Most dragons were able to fly across the river, although it was certainly useful during the rainy season, and critical for dragons whose wings had been injured during the war.

"Did we lose her?" Polar asked quietly. He shouldn't be scared of Crystal. It had been his task to bring her to justice. But he'd run — not even run, he'd been carried. The weight of his First Circle necklace dangled from his neck. What a joke. He didn't deserve it, not that it mattered anymore. Queen Blackice had killed almost all the First and Second Circle aristocrats, no doubt his ranking had been changed since. It wasn't his anymore. Letting go of Slate, he clenched onto it with a forepaw. He knew he should just throw it into the riverbed, but something stopped him. Stupid sentimentality, he supposed.

"Yeah," Slate said, looking up to the sky. If Crystal decided to search from up there, she might be able to spot them. He looked over towards the bridge. With the river dried up, there was a perfect spot beneath it for cover. Quickly, Slate climbed a small staircase down the river's small seawall, and into the sandy ground below. It wasn't far to the ocean from here, and small shells and decaying fish lined the riverbed. Careful not to slip into the valley created by the deep river, he straddled along the side of the seawall until he reached the bridge.

Slate brought Polar to the small space beneath the bridge, against the seawall. He looked out, into the dry gap made by the river, the bridge shadowing a strip of it from the light of the moons. Sort of like the one in Crosswinds, and the one back home. He started to understand more and more why Torrent hated animus magic so much. All it took was one dragon to do this, to hurt dragons from Possibility, to Jade Mountain, to the Diamond Spray Delta. He wondered if his mother was alright. She'd be able to buy water with the treasure Torrent had given her, surely. She'd be able to buy the Diamond Spray River with that, if it hadn't been dried up. Well, maybe not the whole river, but a good chunk of it.

"Alright, time to get off the Slate express," Slate yawned, crouching down to his paws. Carefully, he turned to his side, allowing Polar to scooch himself over Slate's wing and onto the dirt. The IceWing cleared away a few rocks before tucking his wings in and turning himself onto his back, looking out over the expanse of the riverbed.

Slate stretched out his paws and wings, cramped from the distance he'd carried Polar. The MudWing let out another huge yawn, and rolled onto his back, like Polar. He stretched his wings again, accidentally bumping them into Polar's snout. "Oops, sorry."

"It's fine," Polar quietly answered.

Slate tucked his wings back in and laid back, letting his eyes scan the underside of the bridge. It was surprisingly clean. He'd never gotten to see the bottom of a river before, with how murky the Diamond Spray Delta was, and how dark the water was at the bottom. Did SeaWings see this all the time they went underwater? Or did it look different?

Slate suddenly felt cold scales touch his side, as Polar rolled to the right, onto Slate. He appeared to be shivering. Slate glanced over to him. Was he cold? Wait, no, that was stupid. Polar was an IceWing, he wouldn't be cold.

"I guess tomorrow we should try and find the others," Slate sighed.

"Yeah," Polar replied. "Hopefully they're still in Possibility."

"Mhmm," Slate answered. Fracture had told them to fly, but not to where. Where had Fracture said Calamity was? Would they be going there? Should Slate and Polar try and meet up there, instead of in Possibility? They could decide on it tomorrow.

The two were quiet for a moment, laying in the darkness beneath the bridge. Slate tried to shut his eyes, but he wasn't tired. Not knowing Crystal could still be after them. What if she found them in the middle of the night?

Polar shuffled his wings. "So, how did you get involved in this mess?" he asked with a sigh.

"Me?" Slate said. That was right, Polar had been out most of the time they'd been in Possibility. He barely knew Slate at all. Slate thought about the question for a moment. It had been less than two weeks since he'd left the Mud Kingdom, but it had felt like much longer, with everything that had happened. "Well, it's a long story, and to be honest, I don't really know it all."

"Might as well tell it," Polar commented. "I'm not gonna be sleeping anytime soon."

Slate shrugged. "Alright. I guess it started before I hatched. Apparently, Torrent, that SeaWing who almost attacked you back at Jade Mountain, used to be good friends with my dad, who happens to be sibs with this famous rebellion leader, Glen. Now, because of the way MudWing families work, I don't know my dad at all, but I do know my mom, Fawn, since she raised me. This is because I was unfortunate enough not to have any sibs, probably because my mom is half-SandWing and apparently SandWings don't have as many eggs in a clutch. That aside, not long after the drought started, Torrent came to the Mud Kingdom . . ."

Slate explained to Polar how Torrent had given Fawn magical gold and told him he was destined to stop the drought, then taken him to Crosswinds. He told Polar the events that had transpired there, with Midnight and Aloe. Polar seemed attentive the entire time, up until Slate finally reached Stonemover's cave.

"And that's where I met you and the others," Slate finished. "I'm still not really sure I'm part of the prophecy, but I guess having a connection to Torrent through a father I never knew is good enough."

Polar nodded. "So, what do you plan on doing after this is all over? If we win?"

"I don't know," Slate admitted. "So much more of Pyrrhia is open to me now, past the Diamond Spray Delta. I think I'm going to go back to my mother, who is now super-rich 'cause of Torrent. Then we're going to go find my father in the rebellion, and use our wealth to support Glen. We're going make sure that Glen wins, then we're going to make a new Mud Kingdom in the north. One where hybrids are welcome, where no one has to fight for queens they barely know, and where dragons won't ever have to starve. Maybe a little bit ambitious, but after saving the world, it's really a step down."

"Mhmm," Polar said. Slate's hope and optimism made him smile a tad, even if it wasn't based in reality. They'd run from Crystal, how could they hope to defeat Calamity? Polar thought back to the Darkstone on his wrist, pulsing as his forearm ached. Maybe it was for the better that Crystal had stolen the first Darkstone. Queen Glacier had been planning to practically obliterate the MudWings with it during the war. If she'd done that, Slate probably wouldn't exist. In a way, Polar was happy he wouldn't have to give Queen Glacier the second Darkstone, now knowing that it had worked.

"So what about you?" Slate asked. "I know there's the thing with your forearm, but what are you planning on doing after the drought is over?"

"My forearm?" Polar asked, confused. He glanced over towards the Darkstone again, a small glimmer from the gem.

Slate winced, scolding himself. That was right. Ink had stopped Toxin from telling Polar what Mayfly had said. They'd been planning on telling him after he'd woken up, but Fracture had been there, and then Crystal . . . He supposed it was up to him, then.

"Er, sorry," Slate apologized. Polar really didn't need more stress, with his father probably dead, but it was too late to take it back. "I didn't want to be the one to tell you, but we had a doctor stop by while you were asleep. She said that you had a cancer in your forearm, the one with the Darkstone. She thinks you'll need to have it amputated."

"Oh," Polar replied. "No, it's fine. I probably won't." It didn't matter much anymore. Polar already knew the Darkstone was killing him. He'd probably be dead without the healing diamond. And if they wanted to stop Calamity, they needed to sacrifice an animus. It's what Toxin's vision of blood meant, that was his blood, binding Calamity. There wasn't any need to worry about cancer, or the Darkstone, or after the drought. If the drought ended, Polar wasn't going to be there to see it.

"What?" Slate stammered, suddenly worried. "What do you mean, you won't? Mayfly said you'll die if you don't get it removed. It's just, you know, a limb. I mean, it's not great to lose it, but it's far better than staying alive. I know plenty of dragons who were injured in the war who lost a leg, or much more than that. They're happy and get along just fine, well, as much as is possible if you live in the Diamond Spray Delta. If you don't —"

"Please, quieter," Polar interrupted. "Don't worry, I can get the limb removed. It doesn't matter much though if I live or die. It's not like I've got a home to return to. I was part of the Empty Circle. Queen Blackice would take the rest of my limbs off before adding my body to a spike if I went back."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Slate asked. "You don't have to go back to the Ice Kingdom. There are plenty of other places for IceWings. What about Ink? He'd be sad if you died. You and Ink could be mates, and live together in Possibility, or Crosswinds, or Jade Mountain."

Polar snorted at the proposition, and let out a few coughs and wheezes before regaining his breath. "Please, please don't ever mention what happened with me and Ink again. That was an accident. Anyways, it's pretty clear that Ink doesn't like me in the same way. He sees me more like a friend, or a brother. Not surprising, given that apparently my dad practically adopted him."

"Oh," Slate said, a little unsure about the two's relationship. "Well, then Ink is clearly missing out. There are other dragons out there, you know."

Polar laughed. "What does a MudWing know about relationships? You all don't even have marriage, you just go into the woods every so often, get in two lines, do it, then go back to your sibs. Right?"

"You're not wrong," Slate lamented. "Except I'm only three quarters MudWing. I'm one quarter SandWing, and my grandfather was quite the seducer."

"Really," Polar snorted, laying his head against Slate. Polar didn't know how many nights he had left. He might as well enjoy them. "You know, I think I'm starting to see that."

The sun rose from the east, gently spreading light on either side of the alcove beneath the bridge. The sound of chattering dragons reached Polar and Slate's ears from the bridge above, now busy with SandWings and SkyWings crossing back and forth. Slate opened a eyelid, letting out a huge morning yawn.

"So you're awake," Polar said.

Slate looked over to him, then up to the bridge. They'd made it through the night. Crystal hadn't found them. His stomach suddenly let out a gurgle. "I'm hungry," he commented, almost surprised.

"And I'm thirsty," Polar replied. "Not sure if we can get much to eat or drink, though. I don't have any treasure, it was all back in the safehouse."

"Yeah, I doubt there's much left of it anymore," Slate sighed, glancing behind him. There weren't any fires raging in the city, so hopefully it had been limited to the safehouse. He suddenly lifted his head up in alarm, bonking his horns against the underside of the bridge. "Oh no! The prophecy was in the safehouse!"

Polar winced. He'd almost managed to forget. "It's fine," he grumbled. "I understand most of the first half, and what we have to do." 'Must the waters of life be sparked.' A sacrifice of animus blood. He clenched tightly around the healing diamond. He'd been holding it when Crystal attacked, and it was the only thing he'd managed to get out.

"Oh, that's good," Slate said, not really relieved. "I guess we should try finding the others?"

"Unless Crystal finds us first," Polar muttered.

"I'll bet the others are trying to find us right now," Slate pointed out. "It's not like Crystal can attack us in broad daylight anyways, right? There are crowds around."

Polar somewhat doubted that. "Where would we go, anyways? Just wander around the city?"

Slate shrugged his wings. "Maybe. Do you think you could enchant something to find them?"

Polar laughed, the IceWing shaking his head. "No. Definitely not. The teleportation enchantment knocked me out. As weak as I am right now, something else would likely kill me."

"Oh," Slate said. "Yeah, don't do that. Honestly, I don't have any better ideas than just wandering. We could see Possibility anyways; I've always wanted to."

Polar thought about it for a moment. It was true, he hadn't seen much of Pyrrhia outside the Ice Kingdom. He'd never had a reason to. But if Slate wanted to, Polar might as well.

"Alright," the IceWing said. He put his paws beneath him, and grunting, used them to push himself up onto four legs. He let his wings spread out, using them and his tail to balance himself as he started to wobble.

"You can walk!" Slate exclaimed happily.

Polar shook his head. "I can stand." But Slate was right, his strength was starting to return to him. Soon, he might be able to fly again.

"You can lean on me," Slate suggested. It was far easier than carrying Polar on his back.

Polar nodded, and hobbled over to Slate, before putting a wing over the MudWing, using him for balance. Slowly, the two walked out from under the bridge, the unlikely pair getting some glances from the dragons busily going their way through Possibility.

"Maybe we can ask around if anyone's seen a dragon with firescales," Slate suggested. "I'd bet someone's noticed Inferno."

Polar nodded, as Slate carefully helped Polar up the seawall. Polar leaning on Slate, the two moved into the crowd of dragons. If Polar had learned at one thing since leaving the Ice Kingdom, it was that he didn't, he couldn't just rely on himself. The two started over the bridge, the great expanse of the dry riverbed beneath them.

Chapter 49

The SandWings all stayed still for a moment, spears out as they anxiously waited for a reply from the three. Inferno opened her mouth to say something, but Toxin got there first.

"Don't tell us what to do," Toxin hissed, a red flash appearing beneath her wings. "Oh no, someone else slept in your stupid abandoned house. Too bad for you all."

"Toxin, stop," Ink said, concernedly shushing the dragonet. He turned to the golden-brown SandWing who looked like he was the one in charge. "Look sir, we're sorry for trespassing. We were attacked and fled here for safety. We didn't realize this was Enclave property."

"That's unfortunate," the SandWing replied, glaring at the hybrid dragonet. "But you're here. You all will have to come with me." One of the other SandWings with a spear shuffled, keeping his eyes focused on Inferno's movements.

"Wait, wait," Ink pleaded. "My name is Ink. I'm a friend of Mongoose. Just tell her my name, she'll know who I am. Not many Night-Sea hybrids here."

The SandWing frowned uncertainly, looking over to Inferno. He seemed to be seriously considering Ink's plea. He tapped his barb on the ground. "Sorry, but I'm under strict orders. Anyone found on this property gets taken in for questioning. And you've got a firescales SkyWing with you, the Enclave will wanna know 'bout that. You'll have to talk to Mongoose anyways, so if you know her, all should be good."

"You can't force us to go with you," Toxin growled, irate, the dragonet raising her head. "You can't force us to do anything. Inferno will melt all your scales if you try."

The SandWings suddenly raised their spears, taking a step back from Inferno, shaking in terror. The ones by Toxin and Ink moved closer to the two, bringing their spears to the two hybrid's necks. They glanced at Inferno with a silent warning. If she so much as moved, her friends would be killed.

"What?" Inferno said, shocked at Toxin's threat. "No, no! I wouldn't do anything like that, ever! Please don't be worried, I don't kill dragons, I don't even fight. Ink, tell them."

"She's telling the truth," Ink said to the golden-brown SandWing. "She's very pacifist."

Even though they were still wary, the SandWings relaxed a tad, and the two on the hybrids stopped poking them in the neck. Toxin glared at Inferno. "I know that," Toxin growled. "I was bluffing."

Ink smiled. "Please excuse the dragonet. We've had a long night. We'll gladly go with you."

Toxin turned her irritated gaze to Ink.

Ink sighed, turning back to her. "The Enclave can protect us from Crystal," he said, loud enough the SandWings could hear. "They can help us search for Polar and Slate. They're not bad dragons. Just a little . . . bureaucratic."

"Fine," Toxin reluctantly agreed. "Then I guess I will not be using my secret instant murder powers."

Ink rolled his eyes as the SandWings shuffled nervously. He was pretty sure Toxin didn't have secret murder powers. Her venom wasn't even acidic.

"Great," the SandWing in charge worriedly replied. "Then, er, please follow us." He cautiously stepped out of the building into the alleyway, and the other SandWings formed a circle around the three. Ink went first, followed by Toxin and Inferno. A strange procession.

The group walked into a larger street, Ink looking back and forth as the crowd parted for the SandWings, making sure to give them a distance. There was no sign of Polar or Slate in the mass of dragons. Fortunately, no Crystal either. Ink's eyes locked onto an IceWing as they walked past each other, but he wasn't either of them.

Inferno nervously trailed behind Toxin. She hated this, with all the dragons in Possibility staring at the smoke emanating from her scales, the small scorch marks in the street wherever she walked. It felt like she was being paraded around Possibility, just for dragons to stare at her. She kept her head down, trying to keep herself from making any eye contact with the crowd.

"Hey," Ink said, catching up to the golden-brown SandWing in the front. "Have you seen an IceWing and a MudWing with white horns around here? They're our friends, and we got separated from them when we were attacked."

The SandWing shook his head. "Nope, sorry. Seen a few IceWings, but none with white-horned MudWings."

Ink frowned. Maybe they were on the east side of the city? "Sorry to ask you this, but do you think that if you see them around, you could direct them to the Enclave headquarters? Their names are Polar and Slate."

"Will they give me as much trouble as you all?" the SandWing asked.

Ink shook his head. "No. Well, maybe. Polar might. But just tell them we're waiting for them there. Not that you're capturing them or anything like that."

The SandWing frowned, and clicked his tongue. "Alright," he said. "But I can't do anything if they don't listen."

Ink breathed a sigh of relief. If the Enclave was looking for them, they might be able to find them. "Great. Thank you, thank you so much."

Eventually, the procession reached the Enclave's headquarters, a large stone building near the waterfront that would've been upstream from the bridge, had there been any stream running. SkyWings and SandWings alike were crowding in and out from the entrance, pushing each other aside to get inside. Toxin looked up to the top of the building, where the symbol of a SandWing's barb over two wings jutted out from the sheer stone face.

"So, what exactly is the Enclave?" Toxin asked Ink.

"Technically, both the SandWings and SkyWings claim Possibility as their own territory, but neither kingdom has de facto control over the city," Ink explained. "But neither kingdom has risked exerting too much power over Possibility, not wanting to incite tensions with the other. So we didn't really have a governing system. For a large part of the war, the city was basically under mafia rule, with two organized crime groups extorting the citizens for protection from criminals, themselves, and each other. Eventually, the two groups fell, and after a few years of chaos what took their place was a unified government, elected by the dragons living in each city. That's the Enclave. They're not really official, and not everyone considers them to be legitimate, but they're the best we've got."

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE, MOVE ASIDE, FIRESCALES SKYWING COMING THROUGH!" the golden-brown SandWing suddenly yelled out. After a bit of commotion, the crowd in front of the building quickly dispersed, leaving plenty of room for the procession to enter. Inferno winced as she walked past, everyone staring and whispering.

Two SandWings and two SkyWings guards stood cautiously at the entrance, and just watched as the golden-brown SandWing passed, not stopping them. He led the three down a large flight of stone stairs, into a cold underground basement, quickly warmed up by Inferno. The SkyWing carefully scanned around, making sure she didn't get close to anything flammable.

A few SkyWings and SandWings ran past the group, and the three were led into a large, dimly lit chamber, where a SandWing on top of a platform was barking out orders to a number of dragons beneath. She glanced over as the dragons watched in, her expression turning to one of surprise as she saw Ink.

"I'm gonna have to deal with this," the SandWing yelled at the dragons below the platform. "Start filling out form 4B while I'm gone."

She jumped off the platform, and quickly walked over towards the group. She was an average SandWing build, but had a number of darker stripes along her back, like those of a tiger. A scar ran down the bottom of her neck, beneath her wing. She smiled as she got closer to Ink, although a hint of worry hid behind it.

"Ink!" she greeted the hybrid. "It's been a while. What are you doing here? Who are these other dragons? Why does one of them have firescales?"

"Mongoose, you can't just ask someone why they have firescales," Ink teased. Mongoose's slightly worried expression didn't seem to disappear. Ink sighed. "Inferno's a friend. Don't worry, she's fine. She won't hurt anyone."

"The fire in the east residential zone last night?" Mongoose asked, nervously looking over to Inferno.

"It was an accident," Ink assured her. "We were attacked. But how are you?"

That didn't seem to make Mongoose feel any less worried. "Not good," Mongoose admitted. "The Great Five-Tail River disappeared, practically overnight. We don't have the infrastructure in place to collect water from the Claws of the Clouds for the whole city, and Queen Scarlet is threatening to capture our collectors. Even though she's still claiming we don't exist."

"That's not good!" Ink replied. "Yeah, we're trying to help with that. At least the drought. I don't think we can do anything about Queen Scarlet."

"Things were going well just two weeks ago," Mongoose lamented. "And now I've got this burden on my wings. Most of the SandWings are doing alright, since we really don't to drink much, but the SkyWings are pretty hurt. If this continues much longer, tensions will get significantly worse."

"How is Citrine?" Ink asked.

"They're doing fine," Mongoose smiled. "We're fortunate I got this job. I can pay for enough water for them. And you? How's, er—" She glanced towards the other dragons, unsure if she should say what she was planning to.

"To be honest, I'm not sure," Ink replied, understanding who she was asking about. "Last I knew, he was with Clarity before the drought struck. I don't think he has to drink water, though, so it's probably fine."

Mongoose nodded, then looked over to the SandWings, still making a circle around Toxin and Inferno. She slowly walked over to the leader, and frowned as she scanned him up and down. "So, what is this all about?"

"The three were trespassing," the SandWing explained. "On one of the 'sites' in the western trade quarters. You told me I was supposed to bring anyone found there back."

Mongoose sighed, a little irritated. Still, it wasn't like she could blame him. "Please forgive him," she asked Ink. "He was only doing his job."

Ink smiled, and Mongoose turned back to the SandWing. "You can go now," she ordered him. "Any friend of Ink's is a friend of mine."

He bowed his head, then along with the others surrounding Inferno and Toxin, promptly walked back down the corridor they'd come from.

Mongoose shook her head. "So, these two," she said, examining Toxin and Inferno. "Who are they?"

"The hybrid is Toxin, and the SkyWing Inferno," Ink explained, pointing to each in turn. Toxin bared her teeth, while Inferno waved a paw in response.

"She has firescales," Mongoose commented, slightly concerned as she looked towards Inferno. "Please don't set more fires as long as you're in my city."

Inferno winced. "I'm really sorry about that," she apologized. "I'll try my best."

Mongoose sighed, and turned back to Ink. "Are you all just passing through?"

"Yeah, we'll be out of your horns as soon as possible," Ink said.

The stressed Mongoose seemed to breath a little huff of relief. She didn't seem to be super happy about Inferno's presence in the city. "You mentioned you were attacked. Is this something that concerns me?"

Ink thought for a moment. "Well, sort of. Indirectly. We were attacked by an IceWing named Crystal. She's the one who assassinated Queen Thorn."

Mongoose's ears perked up, and a slight snarl formed on her snout. "The dragon who killed Queen Thorn is loose in my city? Unacceptable. I'll make sure she's apprehended as soon as possible. Do you have details on her appearance?"

"No, no, please don't go after her!" Ink pleaded. "She's very, very dangerous. She has this magical weapon that can turn dragons to stone."

"We have our own defenses against animus-touched objects," Mongoose frowned. "We might be able to take her out from a distance."

Ink opened his mouth to warn her again, but Toxin interrupted him. "Yeah, that would be great," the hybrid dragonet replied. "One less magically super-powered enemy. That leaves Aurora and Calamity."

Ink rolled his eye. "Alright," he said, defeated. "But please stay wary. She's the one who killed Queen Glacier too."

"That would leave two kingdoms in our debt if we got rid of her," Mongoose mused. "Well, Queen Sunny would be happy. I'm not sure how Queen Blackice would feel. I don't think she's seeking to avenge her mother's death."

Ink sighed. "Okay. But right now, what we really need is protection from her."

Mongoose nodded. "I can do that. This building is secure, and we can keep plenty of guards posted and on the alert. We'll know to expect her."

"We also have two more friends we were separated from," Ink said. He quickly described Polar and Slate to Mongoose.

Mongoose nodded. "I'll make sure the Enclave is looking out for them. I should note that if you want to stay here, the most secure rooms are our jail cells in the basement. They're also the most fireproof ones, so Inferno won't burn them down. Any problem with that?"

"No, no, that's fine," Inferno said.

Toxin frowned. "Really?" she asked. "Are we being taken prisoners after all?"

"The doors will stay unlocked," Mongoose assured her, "and all our guards will know you're guests, not prisoners, and can leave at any time. It's not the most comfortable quarters, but it is the safest."

Toxin muttered something under her breath.

Mongoose ignored her. "Follow me," she said, "I'll lead you there."

Quickly and efficiently, Mongoose turned and immediately headed back down the hallway. The three followed her down another flight of stairs, into a dark corridor guarded by two SkyWings. Mongoose whispered something to them, and they let the four pass. Further down, torches lit a series of jail cells, barred with iron. Even if they did get locked in here, Toxin noted that Inferno would be able to easily melt through the bars.

Mongoose pointed out one of the larger cells. "Stay here for the time being," she suggested. "I'll have as much of the Enclave as I can spare looking for your friends." The SandWing glanced to Inferno. Inferno looked away — she could tell that Mongoose really didn't want her in the city. Not that she blamed her.

With a quick turn of her tail, Mongoose went back up the corridor, leaving the three alone, in silence. A small rat skittered across the floor, catching Toxin's eyes before it disappeared. Toxin sighed. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to wait too long.

"So, how do you know Mongoose?" Inferno asked Ink, somewhat surprised and curious that the hybrid was so well-connected.

Ink shuffled his wings. "It's kind of awkward," he replied in a hushed voice, like he didn't want Mongoose to overhear. "I first met her in my visions, years ago. She got in Loresearcher's way one too many times, and he ended up killing her, just to get rid of her. After that, I sought her out and made friends with her. Kind of as an apology for not being able to prevent her death in my visions. I helped her out with some stuff, and she ended up getting elected as the Enclave leader and meeting her mate, Citrine. Never got around to telling her though, I think she'd be pretty mortified if she realized her election had been . . . tampered with."

"Tampered with?" Toxin asked, surprised that Ink would've done something so devious. "You rigged an election?"

"No, no!" Ink snorted. "Nothing that bad. But let's just say that in my visions, her opponent ran uncontested, and ended up having an scandal exposed after the election. I just exposed it a little bit early."

Toxin tsked, shaking her head. "Wow, I didn't realize you were such a bad boy."

"Who's Loresearcher?" Inferno asked.

Ink sighed. "My brother. Well, he was my brother. He was killed by Aurora and Crystal after he hatched in real life, but in my visions, it was my sister Midnight instead of him. Torrent raised us in Possibility."

"And he killed Mongoose?" Toxin said. "Three moons. You really have some horrible siblings."

"Yeah," Ink admitted. "I honestly can't say that I'm too unhappy he died in this world. But it's fifty-fifty, if Slate's right. He said Midnight was cool."

"Did you see us in our visions?" Inferno asked. "What were we like?"

Ink thought about it for a moment. "I knew you the best, we met occasionally when you were with the Talons. I looked up to you a lot there. You were always so happy and confident, if a little brash, and I wasn't. I was always around my brother, doing what he told me to do, constantly afraid he'd hurt someone that I cared about."

Inferno frowned. Brash? That didn't sound like her at all. What had happened there to make her that way?

Ink continued. "I never met Toxin, but Polar was basically the same. Kind of a jerk to begin with, and Loresearcher didn't help. He messed things up pretty bad. So I tried to make friends with Polar instead."

"What did Loresearcher do?" asked Toxin.

"He threatened Polar, a lot," Ink replied. "He attacked him. Loresearcher figured out about the Darkstone somehow. He provoked Seahorse into attacking me before killing him, which is how I found out about her forms. Then Torrent and Slate came, and Torrent attacked Loresearcher. Loresearcher killed Torrent, and attacked Polar to make a deal with Aurora."

"Wait, he killed Torrent?" Toxin said, shocked. "Isn't Torrent his dad?"

Ink nodded. "He didn't have a lot of respect for anyone else. Anyways, he ended up trading Polar's Darkstone to Aurora in exchange for something called the Obsidian Mirror. She said something about him finding a thing called Duskbringer's Eye."

Toxin suddenly became alert. She'd heard that name before. Or to be more specific, she'd read it. "I know who Duskbringer is," she explained excitedly. "He's one of the seven animuses who created the Seven Eyes. The Eye of Obsidian. There was something weird about his spirit haunting the NightWings centuries after, but it might have been mixed up with a Darkstalker legend. Hey, if we have one these eyes, maybe we could use it to take down Calamity!"

Ink thought about it, uncertain. "I don't know," he frowned. "We're running out of time as is, and have no idea where or what the Obsidian Mirror is. And if what happened to Blister tells us anything, we don't want to mess with these things."

Toxin sighed. "Yeah. You're probably right. Calamity is also one of the dragons who made them, so it might not even be able to hurt him. I'll bet he did something to them, which lets Aurora use hers without being electrocuted. She's not even a SkyWing."

Ink shrugged. "I'm sorry I don't know anything else. Maybe there's something I could've seen in my visions that would've helped. I'll bet that's why Aurora took my blank eye."

"It's not your fault," Toxin replied.

Ink winced. It kind of was. If he hadn't gone after Aurora, he'd still have his visions. He'd be able to understand what was happening.

Inferno tapped her claws on the stone flooring, wisps of smoke coming from them. It wasn't right. Maybe it had taken him a bit long, but Ink had told her everything. She hadn't. She was still keeping Ash hidden, and for what? Ink told them about his homicidal brother, Inferno could at least tell them she was able to communicate with her dead one. Maybe it could be helpful somehow.

Inferno opened her mouth to speak, but grasped at her throat as the words wouldn't come out. Her eyes opened in alarm as she tried to breath, but couldn't. She started to choke, trying to cough, and flailed her tail back and forth, hitting it against the stone wall.

Ink and Toxin turned, seeing her agitation. "Inferno, what's wrong?" Ink asked urgently.

Inferno couldn't answer, just pointing to her throat as she kept trying to cough.

"She's choking!" Toxin yelled out.

Ink stood up. He'd been told what to do if a dragon was choking, but stopped. He couldn't touch Inferno. He looked back and forth frantically, wondering if there was something he cold do. Whack her on the back with something heavy? A torch? No, that would break.

Inferno suddenly coughed, wheezing as she was able to breath again. A hint of smoke came from her throat, and her legs shook, the SkyWing light-headed. She took a deep breath in and out, hyperventilating.

Toxin breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that Inferno was able to breath again.

"Are you okay?" Ink asked, still concerned as Inferno regained her breath.

Inferno feigned a smile. "Yeah," she whispered, tears in her eyes boiling into steam. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Chapter 50

While most of the SandWings were celebrating their victory on the flight back to the palace, Queen Sunny remained solemn and quiet. How could this be a victory? Aloe was still out there. The only outcome of this battle had been the death of SandWings on both sides.

Clay remained loyally by Sunny's side until they reached the palace, tucked on a hill against a dune. With both of them gone, the teachers at Jade Mountain were dwindling. If the Dragonets wanted their academy to last much longer, they really needed to try and find some more teachers. Maybe some of the graduated students, like Boto or Mindreader. Although it wasn't really her decision anymore, so long as she was queen. She could keep financing the academy, of course, like Sunny's mother had done, and offer input and prospective students, but she wouldn't have such a claws-on role with it anymore. Sunny sighed. They'd started the academy to try and create peace, where dragons from different kingdoms would learn to love and accept each other. And now this had happened.

While most of the soldiers headed to the barracks, Sunny and Clay glided down to the doors of the palace. The two SandWings there bowed to Queen Sunny before allowing her in.

"Your majesty," one said, "you have a visitor. Queen Glory arrived from the rainforest while you were out."

"Queen Glory?" Sunny said, her expression perking up. She hadn't seen Glory since Sunny had left Jade Mountain. Was she answering Sunny's message? It wasn't surprising that she'd visited, with Stonemover's tunnel connecting them, the royal pavilion was practically next to the palace. "That's great! You let her in, right?"

The SandWing nodded. "She should be waiting in the meeting hall, we notified her as soon as we saw you returning."

Sunny thanked the SandWing, and headed towards the meeting hall, Clay behind her. "I'm sure Glory will know what to do," she told him. "She's had far more experience being queen than anyone here."

Clay nodded. "I'm glad to see her, too."

As soon as they arrived, the two opened the doors to the meeting hall, revealing a fine circular table with a number of uncomfortable antique seats surrounding it. Queen Glory was in one, shifting from side to side as she sat back on her haunches. At one point, the room had been furnished with fine tapestries and paintings, although most had been sold off by Burn during the war.

"Where do I put my tail," the RainWing queen muttered. She much preferred how RainWings designed their furniture for comfort rather than formality. She glanced up to Sunny and Clay as they walked in, smiling. "Sunny! Clay! I'm glad to see you! How have you been?"

"Could be better," Sunny admitted. Even though Glory was trying to put on a happy mood, a few brown scales on the back of her neck showed her stress. The last two weeks hadn't been easy for her either. "Being queen is hard."

Glory laughed. "Yeah, tell me about it. It gets easier, eventually. I can't say it doesn't have its benefits. I do have to ask, though — what's with all the soldiers outside? I saw you all returning just now. What happened?"

"Oh," Sunny replied guiltily. She turned her head away in shame. She'd been queen only a fortnight, and she was already involved in a war. She'd already failed. How would Glory see her?

"There was a battle," Clay explained to Glory, seeing Sunny's fear. "After Sunny assumed the throne, a SandWing named Aloe claiming to be Blister's daughter told Sunny to fight her in a royal challenge. Apparently, she had a bunch of SandWing troops left over from the war hidden in the Sea Kingdom. Sunny clearly couldn't accept the challenge, so she sent out troops to fight Aloe's. We won the battle pretty effortlessly, but Aloe wasn't there."

Glory frowned as Sunny looked back towards her, although the RainWing queen's expression seemed more one of concern than one of anger.

"Did I make the right decision?" Sunny asked quickly, almost pleading. "Should I have accepted the challenge? Or just step down? I didn't want to start a new war, but I didn't — I don't know what other options I have. She tried to assassinate me." Sunny pointed to her scar. "I didn't want to fight, I don't want dragons to die for me."

Glory thought about this for a moment. "I don't know if it was the right decision," she admitted. "But at least in my opinion, sometimes you need to fight in order to do the right thing. Violence for violence's sake, like what Burn and Scarlet did, is evil. Pacifism is admirable, but you don't always have the option to respond to that without force. It's why I had to use my venom to save us. Moons' sake, the whole reason I became queen in the first place was to use the RainWings as an army to free them from the NightWings. It was lucky that the volcano exploded when it did, without it, we might have entered all-out war with the NightWings instead of them joining us."

Sunny shifted her wings from side to side. Maybe Glory was right. She'd always tried to pretend that everything the Dragonets did to stop the war was as bloodless as possible, but maybe Glory was right. "I still hate it," Sunny sighed. "Why do dragons have to die?"

Glory shrugged her wings. "It's good that you hate war," she replied. "If only all the queens were like you. You shouldn't want to like it."

Sunny smiled. Was Glory just trying to make her feel better? "There was something I wanted to ask you about," she said. "To be honest I don't want to be queen; my place is at Jade Mountain. My mother wasn't part of the royal family, so I don't see why the next queen has to be either. And I'm not even a full SandWing. I want to try and find someone else I can give the throne to."

Glory looked unsurprised. "That's a big decision," she warned Sunny. "Is this just about you being a hybrid? If so, I wouldn't care about that. I'm the NightWing queen right now, and I'm not even half-NightWing."

Sunny shook her head. "It's not just that."

"Well, do you have anyone in mind?"

Sunny sighed. "No. I haven't had time to look with this war business going on, and I don't even know where to start."

"Hmm," Glory mused. "Well, I'm sure you'll make the right decision. You were the one who chose Thorn after all. Speaking of her, we need to talk about something."

About Thorn? Sunny wondered. Did Glory find something out about her death?

Glory pointed a talon to Sunny's chest. "Has anything strange been happening with the Eye of Onyx recently?"

Sunny winced, and thought back to Armadillo's words. That was one thing that she was supposed to keep secret, something that could end her rule as queen. But Glory was her friend, her sister. She had no reason to hide this from her, no matter what Armadillo said.

Sunny lifted the Eye of Onyx from her neck. "This one is a forgery my mother had made," she explained, trying to keep her emotions from welling up. "The real one was stolen by whoever killed my mother."

Glory nodded, as if she'd already known. "That's what I'd expected. Have you found anything out about your mother's death?"

Sunny shook her head. "Not much, except . . . we think there was animus magic involved. Both she and Blaze were turned to stone by the assassin. Don't tell anyone; we're trying to keep this a secret."

To Sunny's surprise, Glory seemed to be expecting this. "So Toxin was right."

"Toxin?" Sunny asked. She remembered hearing that name mentioned a few times before. One of Tiger's friends, back in the rainforest?

"A hybrid dragonet who can see the future," Glory explained. "She had a vision she told me about after I got back, of an IceWing with an obsidian dagger, and a statue of Blaze screaming."

"She knew this was going to happen?" Sunny said, mortified. If Toxin had seen the future, could she have been able to prevent Thorn's death.

"Well, not really," Glory replied quickly. "She thought it was metaphorical, and didn't know Queen Thorn was involved. But we did a little investigating, and found some stuff out — this isn't the first time this happened. Before we hatched, a similar killing happened in the rainforest, and numerous IceWings have been assassinated this way. We think a rogue IceWing named Crystal killed both Thorn and Queen Glacier."

Sunny blinked a few times. They had a name. Crystal. The dragon who'd killed her mother. It wasn't one of Aloe's SandWings? "Are you sure?"

"We're pretty certain," Glory said. "An IceWing investigating her came to Jade Mountain, and explained some . . . sensitive details. Animus magic is involved, although I'm still not sure how much. There's a hybrid hiding near Jade Mountain, likely Crystal's daughter, with similarly enchanted objects. She hurt another dragon, a prospective student."

"Her daughter is at Jade Mountain?" Sunny said, shocked. "Are the students in danger?"

"I don't know," Glory muttered. "And I don't know what I can do about it. Deathbringer is there. I asked a few battle-trained NightWings to go to Jade Mountain before I came here to give him some back-up, but I don't know the extent of her powers."

"What does this have to do with the Eye of Onyx?"

"Mastermind helped us uncover some old legends and an ancient prophecy somehow named after your aunt, Stonemover's sister," Glory explained. "I think Crystal stole the Eye of Onyx, and it somehow using it to cause the drought."

"The drought?" Sunny asked. That was right, Armadillo and Clay had both mentioned a drought, although it hadn't been brought up much.

Glory frowned. "You don't know? I figure the desert can't get much drier than it already is, but the rest of Pyrrhia has been in an intense drought for weeks. The rivers have disappeared, and we're resorting to eating fruit or getting water from the quickly melting snowcaps on the mountain. It's why this is so urgent."

"Oh," Sunny said. All she'd done since she'd gotten the throne was work to try and keep it, while Glory was trying to save the rest of Pyrrhia from dehydration. "If Crystal is going after queens, will you be safe?"

Glory tossed her wings back and forth. "I don't know. I don't think she's going to come after me, since I don't have some magic rainforest gem, but Aurora, her daughter, said something about my time yet. Either way, I need to find Crystal first, as soon as possible. I don't know how."

Sunny shook her head. She wanted to find her mother's killer as much as Glory, but she didn't have any suggestions. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to help you. I can make sure everyone is looking out for stray IceWings, but if she also killed Queen Glacier, I don't even know if she's in the Sand Kingdom anymore."

"That's alright," Glory assured her. "I guess there's not much too it. I'm going to keep investigating, but she could be anywhere now. But remember, the rainforest is just a short walk through the tunnel away. If you ever need a break, just come through. I'll try and visit more often, alright? You too, Clay, if you're staying here."

"Thank you," Sunny said, smiling. In this palace full of dragons she barely knew, the more allies she had, the better. "Thank you for figuring out who killed my mother."

Queen Glory nodded, and got up from the uncomfortable chair. "I should probably take my leave now," she explained. "I've got a lot of work to do, and we need to solve this drought problem quick." With a quick wave of her paw goodbye, she left the meeting room, leaving Sunny and Clay behind.

Glory gave a quick nod to the SandWings guarding the palace on the way out, and shot a glance to the barracks, on the edge of the palace grounds. She could hear the yells of cheering dragons all the way from here, the SandWing soldiers excited by their victory. Glory shook her head disapprovingly. Few of them had any idea what was going on outside the desert kingdom, and the danger that every other dragon on Pyrrhia was in.

The RainWing queen took off in the other direction, towards the entrance of Stonemover's tunnel. Sunny, starting a war? Glory barely believed it. Anyways, it sounded like Aloe had nowhere enough support to actually cause a full-blown war against the SandWings. Yet, that hadn't stopped the War of SandWing Succession. What if Aloe decided to align herself with one of the other queens? Queen Coral was far too closely aligned with the Dragonets, and there was no way Queen Moorhen would involve herself in another war so soon. Queen Blackice? Possible, but she was still securing power, and the only major feud the two kingdoms had was over the hills north of the desert. Queen Scarlet, on the other claw, would be thrilled to get Sunny off the throne. And even if Vulture's incompetent grandchildren were leading them, the Talons of Power hadn't dispersed. If Scarlet or the Talons of Power decided to join forces with Aloe, would Glory have to declare war in return? Sunny would likely expect her to support the SandWings, but the only army the rainforest had was a small number of NightWings. Could Queen Coral step in? Possible, but unlikely. Of course, if they really needed control of the SeaWing army, Tsunami always had the option to challenge her mother . . . Glory hoped it wouldn't come to that.

As thoughts of war clouded her mind, the rainforest queen landed at the entrance of the tunnel. Queen Thorn had built a small structure around it after its discovery, a sandstone pavilion where four SandWings stood guard. Glory closed her wings as she landed in the sand nearby, getting it between her claws.

The four SandWings bowed their heads in respect as she climbed up onto the pavilion. Even if she wasn't their queen, she'd been the greatest ally of Queen Thorn, and was in charge of two kingdoms. Glory nodded in acknowledgement before entering the tunnel, a dark hole on the far side of the pavilion where the sand of the dune seemed to turn to nothingness. Glory had always wondered what would happen if she went on the other side of the tunnel and tried to walk through the entrance from the wrong side. She hadn't done it, of course. What if it cut her head off, or destroyed the tunnel, or worse? It was better just to remain curious.

A shiver passed over her as she entered into the dark tunnel. The feeling was now familiar — the unnaturality of animus magic. The sense that whatever this thing was, someone had ripped the world apart and shoved the tunnel in the tear. Sometimes, Glory even thought she could catch a glimpse of the stitches at the edge, where small dots of colorful blood poured from the wound. That was the way Stonemover had described it, at least, and it was partly why she didn't want to test these things more than possible. If it was a stitched-up wound in the world, Glory didn't want to risk tearing it back open and letting the guts of Pyrrhia spill out like Arctic's organs.

As the dusk light behind her turned to darkness, a new orange glow opened up from the rainforest ahead. The acrid smell of smoke started to fill her nose as the rainforest queen got closer to the exit, stinging her snout. She frowned. A fire in the rainforest? Her green scales started to pale as she rushed towards the tunnel's exit. The drought would have dried out the trees. If a NightWing had accidentally set something aflame, it would've spread easily. This wasn't good.

The orange glow grew as Glory burst out of the tunnel. All around her, trees were burning, flames rising up from the dry undergrowth to eat at their tops. She coughed as smoke filled her lungs, burning her eyes. How far had it spread? The tunnel was close to the rainforest village, could it be there already? Glory spread her wings, and looked for an opening in the flames. She needed a higher view. Suddenly, a yell from behind her sounded.

"Get her wings!"

Four IceWings jumped out from behind the boulder the tunnel went through, embers spraying against their scales as they leaped through the air. Glory only had a moment to make a decision on what to do about her assailants. Opening her jaws, she shot a blast of venom at one of the IceWings, then turned her scales as invisible as she could.

The blast of venom hit straight-on, landing against the IceWing's snout. A shrill shriek of agony pierced the sound of the roaring flames. The IceWing clawed at her face and eyes, running into a burning tree as she wailed. The flames licked at her scales while the venom tore through her snout, into her skull, and she dropped dead.

The other three IceWings didn't hesitate in their attack, and as their comrade fell, they clawed at where the RainWing had been. Unable to see their target as she camouflaged herself, they attacked wherever they could, serrated claws digging into Glory's wings and neck. Red blood dripped onto the ground as Glory flailed her wing, an IceWing's talon stuck within it. She had no time to consider who her assailants were or why they were attacking her — survival was her only consideration.

Glory shot another burst of venom, hitting an IceWing's paw and leg. He jumped back from her, screaming in agony, giving her the chance to get free of the other two. She allowed the tip of her tail to flash bright blue, drawing the IceWings' attention to it, while she ripped her wing out, gritting her teeth as talons tore through the membrane. The IceWings took the bait, and clawed at her tail, scraping it with their claws before she snuck out from beneath them.

The RainWing queen gave a quick look around the forest, flames rising up around her as she ran from the IceWings. She lifted her blood-stained wing, and took off into the burning rainforest. Let's see how good these IceWings are at tree-gliding.

One of the IceWings felt the burst of wind from Glory's wings, and turned towards where the RainWing's translucent form flickered against the orange flames, making them cloudy. "After her!" he yelled as spread his wings. "Drive her into the smoke! Caribou, get yourself together!"

The second IceWing Glory had shot with her venom whimpered as he glanced down at what little was left of his paw, just skeletal remains bound together by bits of flesh and tendon. Knowing a worse fate would await him if he fell, he followed the two remaining IceWings, flying after Glory into the rainforest.

Glory weaved back and forth between burning trees, her injured wing holding her up. Embers fell from the sky onto the burning rainforest floor, and her eyes stung as smoke entered them. She kept her scales as invisible as possible, but knew there wasn't much good in it — with the smoke surrounding her and the flames flickering behind her, she would still be visible. She suddenly banked left as a huge flaming tree appeared through the smoke in front of her. Glory instinctively reached out for a vine to help swing her, but yelped as it burnt her paws. She barely made the turn, before seeing an IceWing to her left. He shot out a blast of frostbreath mid-flight, but Glory ducked beneath it, and the IceWing flew over her.

The IceWing tried to turn his course left to follow, but wasn't tight enough, and sailed into another flaming tree head-first. He yelled out as he fell to the burning undergrowth, orange flames reaching up around him and embers splashing up. Only two left, Glory thought. She gave a quick glance back, checking to see that they were still following her. They were, blotches of white against the orange flames.

Queen Glory looked back to see another tree in front of her, out of the smoke. She yelped and swerved to the right, barely missing it as she dived beneath the treetops. Suddenly, a huge crack sounded from in front of her, as flames broke through a huge branch and it fell to the ground. Glory tried to swoop up to avoid it, but it hit her wing and back as it fell, sending her spiraling. Glory tried to regain control by sticking her wings out as she spiraled towards the ground, but there was not enough time, and she barely managed to break her plummet as she crashed into the flames.

The two remaining IceWings circled above the rainforest queen for a moment before they swooped down, their mission almost complete.

Chapter 51

Toxin lifted an eyelid to the loud sound of dragons arguing, waking her from her sleep. The three were still in the jail cell, and Toxin pressed a paw against the door, making sure that the Enclave hadn't locked them in while they'd been asleep. It swung open a tad, before falling back against the other bars with a clang. It wasn't like they couldn't get out anyways; the metal wouldn't be able to stop Inferno.

Toxin's ears perked up as she heard Polar's familiar voice. "Hey, wake up," she said to Ink and Inferno as it grew louder. "I think that's Polar."

The two slowly opened their eyes as Toxin looked through the bars, to the staircase leading back up towards the surface. She breathed a sigh of relief. Even if Fracture had told them to trust him, she hadn't been certain that Polar and Slate would be alright. But they were alive!

"Hey, why are you taking us to a jail cell?" Polar growled as he walked down the staircase, him and Slate following a SandWing. "You said you were bringing us to our friends. Are we being captured?"

"Polar! Slate!" Toxin shouted excitedly. "Over here!"

Polar's expression suddenly changed. "Toxin?" he asked, rushing past the SandWing towards the cell. His eyes lit up when he saw Ink and Inferno with her. "You're all okay!" He turned to the SandWing with a growl, claws outstretched. "Why are they in a cell? Release them at once, or I'll rip out your kidneys."

"Polar, it's alright," Toxin snorted, rolling her eyes. She pushed the door open, the bars hitting Polar's tail as they swung. "We're not trapped here. They're helping guard us from Crystal."

"Oh," Polar said. He turned to the SandWing. "Sorry."

The SandWing muttered something incomprehensible and turned around, walking past Slate with a sour expression.

"What happened?" Inferno said with a yawn. "With Crystal."

Polar's excitement at the reunion immediately disappeared. He looked over towards Ink, locking eyes with the contact. "I'm sorry," he apologized. Fracture might have been his father, but he'd helped raise Ink. "Fracture protected us from Crystal until we got a chance to escape."

"Where's Crystal now?" Toxin asked anxiously.

"I don't know," Polar answered. He wasn't certain that Fracture was dead, but it hadn't been looking good for him when they'd left, after Crystal froze his wing. "We didn't stay to find out."

Ink nodded solemnly. He got the subtext. Fracture had given his life up to save the five. A heroic death, befitting of the IceWing. Clarity would be heartbroken when she got the news.

"So, what now?" Inferno said, looking down at her claws. "If Crystal is still out there . . ."

"We still have the prophecy to fulfill. Fracture . . . rescued us from Crystal." Ink choked up a little at Fracture's name, but tried to hide it. "We can't just wait around for her to come after us again."

"And every day we wait, more dragons are going to die from the drought," Slate reminded them. "It's already been two weeks. We have to do this quick."

"Quick question," Inferno said. "I don't know much about prophecies, but does it have to come true? Like, if we're the prophecy dragons, does that mean that Crystal couldn't have killed us? And that we're certain of succeeding?"

Polar looked towards Toxin. She was the one who could get visions of the future. This wasn't her prophecy, but she had to know more about how it worked than the rest of them.

"Honestly, I'm not certain," the dragonet replied. She hid a smug grin, happy that everyone was turning to her for advice on this matter. "All of my visions have come true, but those are slightly different than prophecies. For one, prophecies can be riddle-like, and have hidden meanings that aren't clear from the start. And Nightreader's Prophecy also doesn't clearly say we'll succeed. The second to last line specifically states 'unless the chosens can unite the tribes,' whatever that means. Which means that the default outcome is actually our failure."

"Well, that sure makes me feel optimistic," Slate grumbled.

"The prophecy might not come true at all," Ink pointed out. "Fracture said that it came from a vision of a very different Pyrrhia, where it probably didn't come true. But we have us five here, so I think we're on the track already."

"Whatever the case, we know where the 'refuge of the dark' is," Toxin said. "Fracture said Calamity is at Queen Frost's Mausoleum, right? Where is that?"

Polar shrugged his wings. Queen Frost might have been well-known among the IceWings, but he'd never heard about where she'd been buried.

Inferno thought for a moment. She'd heard that name mentioned before. "I think I know," she explained. "Trustbreaker mentioned it once or twice, he said it was an old headquarters of the Talons of Peace. I think it's in the northernmost reaches of the Sand Kingdom, a bit inland from the west coast."

Polar snorted. "Of course," he muttered. "Yeah, I think I can find it. It's probably near the Darkstone mines." Even though Polar hadn't visited there much, the irony was amusing. Polar's parents had been right under his nose. Not just his parents, but Crystal and Calamity too. Queen Glacier had fought a twenty year war for this place, without even knowing it. He looked down at his bracelet. Did the Darkstone have any connection to Calamity? Or was it the other way around? It couldn't be coincidental.

"So, should we go there now?" Slate asked, concerned. "If Crystal is still in Possibility, and Aurora at Jade Mountain, Calamity might be undefended."

"I find it hard to imagine that an ancient evil animus ghost would be undefended," Toxin replied.

"But we shouldn't stay in Possibility, with Crystal around," Slate said. "This could be our best shot." If they'd had more time, maybe they could go back to Jade Mountain and bring Torrent along. An anti-animus dagger could be pretty useful.

"I think we should go," Ink said in support. "Anyways, we've got Inferno, right?"

He looked back to the SkyWing, who didn't seem super-excited about this. She recalled Ash's words. She might have to fight Calamity. "Yeah."

"Great, then let's get out of here," Slate said, walking towards the staircase. Ink held open the iron bars for Inferno, who pulled her wings in to make sure she didn't accidentally melt it on the way out.

"Wait, what about the rest of the prophecy?" Toxin questioned. "Lost souls might be Calamity, but what's this about devouring the sun and a thousand years of night?"

"I don't think it's relevant yet," Polar quickly explained. "We don't have 'darkness lighting the frozen earth,' and we're in a drought. I think we should wait to cross that bridge when we come to it."

Toxin opened her mouth to protest, but Polar quickly interfered. "Can you stay back for a moment?" he whispered. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?" she asked nervously, glancing towards the three leaving dragons. Was there something Polar knew that she didn't?

Polar sighed. "I don't think I'm going to survive the battle with Calamity."

"Huh?" Toxin said. "How do you know?" She glanced towards the Darkstone on his arm. Had he found out about the cancer?

"'Must the waters of life be sparked,'" Polar recited. The line of the prophecy that ensured his death. "Calamity can only be bound with the blood of an animus. Fracture mentioned that specifically. I'm the only one here with anything close to animus magic; it has to be me. That's what the waters of life are, my blood." The prophecy might not be certain, but Toxin's vision of blood was.

"Oh," Toxin gravely replied. Of course. She had to have known that not everyone could survive this. In the legend of Queen Frost, all her companions had died. All of their lives were at risk here, because of this cursed prophecy. But they couldn't turn back. What other option did they have? "I understand."

"Thank you," Polar said, bowing his head. "Please don't tell the others. I don't know about Inferno, but I think Ink and Slate would try to stop me they knew."

Slate? Toxin wondered. He'd seen the effects of the drought more than any of them; he seemed the most determined to stop it. "Alright," she agreed. "Er, how are you doing with this? Are you ready? Is there anything I can do to make things easier on you?"

Polar shook his head, smiling. It was nice of Toxin to care, but it was pointless. He'd accepted this long ago. "No, it's fine. It doesn't matter much if I'm ready; I already knew I was dead the moment I started using the Darkstone. I've seen it in other test subjects. The cancer is much worse than what the doctor thinks, cutting my leg off wouldn't save me — right now, the Diamond Healer is the only thing keeping me alive, and I can't say how much longer it will last."

Toxin nodded, a few tears welling up in her eyes. She suddenly went forward and wrapped her wings around Polar's neck, hugging the IceWing as she buried her snout against him. "Thank you. For everything."

Polar nodded, and placed a paw against Toxin's horns, holding the dragonet close. If he was going to sacrifice himself, it wasn't going to be for the Ice Kingdom. This was for all of Pyrrhia, so that dragonets like Toxin could live.