The Fallen Prince (Dark Seas Series)

by Riokodragon

As Orca, Crown Princess of the SeaWings, attempts to hide her powers, her family works to uncover her secrets. In the aftermath, one of her remaining brothers sets out into Pyrrhia to stop animus magic for good, joining a thief with Queen Glacier on her scales, a captive-hatched MudWing, and an enchanted stone gryphon. Fic series containing Dark Seas, Stone Cold, and Rising Flames.

137. SC: Part 3: Chapters 52 to Post-Epilogue

Chapter 52

Leopard kept her head down, her eyes pointed straight ahead. Don't show fear. Don't make eye contact.

She let out a few coughs and wheezes as she took in a breath of smoke. The stuff was everywhere, clouding her vision, stinging her eyes. The sky above was grey and filled with it. This volcanic island was the antithesis of the beautiful paradise in the Bay of a Thousand Scales she and Aloe had been raised on. Sandy beaches, palm trees, the ocean breeze. Leopard had always been jealous of the SeaWings. Their island was like the best parts of Pyrrhia rolled into one.

But if their island had been the zenith of Pyrrhia, there also had to be a nadir, and this was it. Cooled lava flows filled the treacherous, craggy landscape, and the beaches below the narrow ledge were covered with a layer of ash. Up the steep cliff, Leopard could feel hundreds of beady black eyes locked on her, the pale snouts of IceWings peering from above, their teeth bared. They couldn't like this place either. As much as it looked like it, ash was nothing like snow.

Leopard chanced a quick glance back. In single file, the remaining loyal SandWings from the Bay followed. The flight here had been rough on them. Far out of their way, especially for dragons not used to long-distance flying. But if the Black Prince was telling the truth, it'd be worth it. If he was telling the truth.

Leopard looked back to the front. Aloe was directly in front of her. The princess's once scarless scales had been torn since the SeaWing's attack, a line down her neck where she'd been cut. 'All queens have scars' Leopard had assured her. It was a sign of strength. Aloe had tested the dolphin pendant again after they'd recovered from the destruction of their camp. Fortunately, it still seemed to work. Blister had ensured that Aloe wouldn't receive any battle-training, to make sure that she'd never be able to pose a royal challenge. The necklace was her only hope.

Still, Leopard wondered how the SeaWing had managed to injure Aloe. Aloe believed she'd figured out the SeaWing's identity from his story. Prince Torrent. One of two of Queen Coral's sons who would've known Rift. Disappeared after Princess Orca's royal challenge, believed to be dead. And after asking around Crosswinds to see if anyone knew him, they'd gotten plenty of answers. A large SeaWing with similar scars had been involved when an animus attacked Princess Burn years ago. He was seen on occasion visiting an elderly SandWing named Gazelle and a half-SeaWing hybrid named Midnight. Leopard had found their home, but it had been mysteriously abandoned. Aloe had suggested that Prince Torrent's dagger had been animus-touched, which was why it had been able to injure her and cause the sudden flood. A potential enemy, but likely not working with Queen Sunny. They were better off staying clear of him, at least until they'd won back the throne.

Walking ahead of Aloe, leading the SandWings to their destination, was the Black Prince Hoarfrost. Queen Blackice had refused to meet with Aloe herself. Hoarfrost had claimed she was too busy, seeing it beneath her to meet with deposed royalty. In all honesty, Leopard was relieved. She didn't want to meet with Blackice either. Instead, they'd made all their dealings with Hoarfrost. A strict, heartless dragon who evidently Blackice trusted enough to decide on the terms of their agreement. In return for usage of the tunnels, Aloe would provide a number of favors to the IceWings as queen. Relinquishing some territory in the northeast, allowing the IceWings access to ports along the Great River, etcetera. Strangely mundane things for the queen who'd massacred the top two rings of the IceWing aristocracy. It just made Leopard more suspicious.

Leopard glanced up to the IceWings waiting along the top of the cliff, glaring down hungrily at the SandWings like vultures. Hoarfrost had assured Aloe that they weren't here to attack the SandWings, and instead were preparing an assault on the NightWings. Aloe seemed to be unsurprised by this, and had suggested to Leopard that was why Blackice's terms hadn't been harder. Whether they won or lost against Sunny, the SandWings were the greatest ally of the NightWings and RainWings. They wouldn't be able to fight against Aloe and defend their NightWing allies at the same time. Still, Leopard was nervous. Hoarfrost had claimed there was a portal on this abandoned volcanic island to Sunny's palace, created by the NightWings. What if instead, they'd tricked Aloe to come to this remote island just to be killed? Leopard knew Blackice had betrayed her SandWing allies at the Battle of Devil's Eye. What if she did it again?

"Are you sure we can trust them?" Leopard whispered to Aloe, getting a tad closer to the princess.

Aloe shook her head, not at all comforting Leopard. "No," the princess responded, placing a claw to her dolphin necklace. "But if they were planning to kill us, they would've done it already, in our sleep."

Hoarfrost suddenly stopped, turning around. Behind him was the entrance of a dark cave. "We're here," the IceWing said. "The rainforest is this way. Watch your step."

Leopard looked down to the entrance of the cave as she walked in. A few red blotches had soaked into the rocky floor. She gave them a sniff. Fresh blood. And it was red; it couldn't be an IceWing's, their blood was blue. Whose could it be?

Her eyes caught Hoarfrost's, sending a shiver along her sail. The Black Prince bared his teeth back a tad. A silent warning. Leopard left the blood spots behind, and walked into the dark cave. A dim torch had been lit partway down it, lighting up the figure of a petrified NightWing. Someone who hadn't escaped the eruption.

Hoarfrost walked past, not paying the figure any attention. It uneased Leopard, seeing a dragon like that. She kept her eyes looking towards the front, but it wasn't much better. The tunnel was there, a featureless dark disk. Leopard flexed her tail instinctively, although it wasn't like stabbing it could do much good. Hoarfrost headed inside, Aloe quickly following behind. Leopard shut her eyes, and walked beneath the petrified dragon's talons, into the tunnel.

When they finally saw light again, it was an orange glow. The smell of smoke was still there, although it seemed slightly different than the smoke on the volcanic island. Less sulfurous. The three exited in the branches of a scorched tree, two IceWings guarding it, periodically blowing frostbreath to put out any flames that got too close.

Leopard took a glance around at the rainforest. Flames licked at the trees, burning the undergrowth. Further in the distance, Leopard could see smoke rising up. What had happened here?

"There's your tunnel," Hoarfrost said, pointing a talon through the smoke. Leopard squinted, her eyes stinging. Across a small stream, was a large boulder, a hole in it similar to the one they had just gone through. "The palace is through there. We've completed our end of the bargain; get your troops through as soon as possible so we can continue moving into the rainforest."

Aloe nodded in agreement, and motioned with a wing for the SandWings to go forward. "There are likely guards on the other end. I want the advance force to quickly dispatch them, without causing a commotion."

About ten SandWings slowly went forward, nervously looking around the burning rainforest as they made their way through the ashes to the other tunnel.

A burning branch fell not far from Leopard, making her jump back as embers flew up. She flicked her tail, confused. "How did the IceWings set the rainforest on fire if you can't breath it?" she asked Hoarfrost.

Hoarfrost glared. "That's not your concern. If you get in Blackice's way, she will not hesitate to kill you."

Aloe turned her head towards Hoarfrost, and bared her teeth. "Don't threaten her."

The IceWing scoffed, shaking his head. "She's a commoner. You two cannot have dragonets. It's disgusting a dragon of your class would care for her."

Aloe twitched her tail, brandishing her barb. If the bargain was done with, she didn't have much reason to pay this IceWing any respect.

Leopard stepped towards her, placing a wing over the princess. "Don't," she warned Aloe.

Hoarfrost narrowed his eyes, seeing Aloe move her barb. "All I offer is advice. You are free to run your kingdom how you wish, but in Queen Blackice's Ice Kingdom, the weakness and decadence that her mother tolerated will not go unpunished."

"Thank you for the completely unsolicited advice on how to run the Sand Kingdom and our personal lives, but no thanks," Leopard retorted. "Our deal is finished, right? You can take your ugly snout and shove it in the volcano for all we care."

Hoarfrost didn't change his expression at the insult. "I am waiting here until you move your troops through."

"Then shut your snout so we can do it faster," Leopard growled. She glanced towards the boulder, where one of the SandWings had motioned them forward. "Aloe, c'mon, I think the advance troops have returned."

Aloe gave Hoarfrost a quick glare before carefully following Leopard across the stream and through the burning rainforest, a line of SandWings behind them. They followed the SandWing through the tunnel, coming out on the sandstone pavilion, in the dunes. The four guards lay dead around the tunnel entrance.

Aloe reached a paw out to the desert, running her claws through the sand, putting what Hoarfrost had said behind her. The palace was not far, visible in the moonlight. This was her rightful home. The palace where Blister had been hatched, where generations of her family had lived.

"I hate this," Leopard grumbled as more of the SandWing soldiers came through the tunnel behind them. "It's dishonorable, working with Blackice of all dragons to do a sneak attack on the palace."

"I know," Aloe sighed, her eyes focused on the palace. "But this is what Blister would've done. Getting her troops behind enemy lines while they're drunk on victory." Sunny was somewhere in there, wearing the Eye of Onyx. What if it rejected Aloe, like it had rejected her mother? What if Sunny really was the rightful queen? No. Aloe had to force Sunny into a royal challenge. The Eye of Onyx had presided over Thorn and Onyx's battle without killing either of them. Aloe was still a legitimate heir to the throne. More legitimate than Sunny.

Leopard sighed, concerned. When this had begun, Aloe had wanted to win the throne the right way, to be better than the scheming Blister. Had she given up on that?

"This way, we'll be able to win without starting a bloody twenty year stalemate," Aloe said, almost sensing Leopard's worry. "Blister couldn't do that. I can."

---

Queen Sunny's ears perked up at the sound of shouting dragons. She glanced up from her glass of agave wine, looking towards Clay. "Did you hear that?"

The MudWing was deep in a rack of roasted pig ribs, hungrily chewing them down. The palace chefs were amazing, and he had to admit the food was far better than what they had at Jade Mountain. Maybe Sunny would be willing to spare one for the academy. "Hear what?"

Sunny remained quiet for a moment, listening carefully. More shouting from outside the walls. Roars and screams. Like the sound of dragons fighting.

The SandWing queen stood up on all fours, knocking over the glass of wine onto the tablecloth. Right now, the two were the only ones in the dining hall, the long table silent and empty. She rushed to the side of the dining hall, where a small vertical slit was the only window to the outside. She pressed her snout up against it, catching a glimpse of orange and yellow blurs in the moonlit sky.

"Clay?" she said anxiously. "I think there's a battle going on."

"A battle?" the MudWing said, spitting out the meat he was chewing on. "Is it Aloe? We need to find Armadillo."

Sunny nodded in agreement. As much disdain as she had for the SandWing, he'd know what to do.

The two rushed through of the hallway towards Armadillo's chambers, catching small glimpses of the dragons outside. Sunny remembered when Thorn had attacked the palace to get her back. Thorn had no chance of getting in, and if Peril hadn't stopped it, the Outclaws would've been slaughtered. That was good, right? If Aloe was attacking the palace now, it was easily defendable. Except, now the walls were gone. And based on the dragons outside, the battle was already near the palace.

As the two turned a corner, they almost ran into Armadillo. The SandWing was frantic, and let out a sigh of relief as he saw the two. "You're safe!" he said, hyperventilating. He glanced back to see Creosote behind him, a similarly worried expression on the guard.

"What's going on?" Sunny demanded. "There are dragons fighting outside."

"We were ambushed," Armadillo explained. "I don't know how. We would've seen a small army of SandWings from miles away. It has to be Aloe, but unless she has an army of RainWings, I don't know how she got in."

Sunny glanced to one of the many small archways, moonlight pouring from it. Most of the SandWings seemed to be flying towards the front of the palace. Was that where the main battle was taking place?

"We outnumber them though, right?" Sunny asked. "We've got a ton of SandWings in the barracks."

"Er, yes," Armadillo replied worriedly. "But Aloe planned this well. Many of the soldiers will be celebrating the victory, drunk on agave. And if they've snuck behind the main defensive line somehow, they won't need to lay siege to the fortress. There are few entrances in and out, and it won't be long before they're inside."

Sunny shook her head, listening down the halls of the palace for clawsteps. They had guards inside the palace, but not enough. How long did they have? "I hope Glory is alright," she murmured. She could camouflage herself, right?

"She should've been back in the rainforest hours ago," Armadillo assured Sunny. "Right now, we need to worry about your safety. Aloe has made a desperate gamble. She's used the last of her army to trap you in the palace. She'll either kill you outright, or more likely, capture and force you into a royal challenge."

"So Sunny will be dead either way," Clay gulped. "What can we do?"

"There's a passage through the dungeons to the arena," Armadillo explained, unhitching the chain between his horns and pulling down a key. "It's at the edge of the palace grounds. We can escape that way."

"Escape?" Clay asked. "We're just giving up? If Aloe gets the palace, she gets the throne."

"We're not giving up," Armadillo snapped, annoyed. "The most important thing is Queen Sunny's safety. Even if Aloe takes the palace, most SandWings won't accept her without the Eye of Onyx or a royal challenge. Six-Claws and our army are still outside the palace. If she gets control, she'll be trapped inside, under siege."

"There are food stores in the cellars," Creosote suddenly brought up. "I can burn them."

Armadillo shook his head. "No. I need you to protect the queen. Her safety comes first."

Sunny's ears twitched again, hearing shouting from the entrance. "We need to hurry," she said nervously.

Armadillo nodded, and took off, the other three following behind him. More crashes and shouts came from behind Sunny, and she winced. She'd been right. All of this had been for nothing. The battle . . . three moons, even ending the war. Blister's successor was going to take over, and all the change the Thorn had brought to the Sand Kingdom would be reversed. Even in death, Blister and Morrowseer had won.

As they turned the corner to the intersection leading to the tight passage down into the dungeons, Sunny caught a glimpse of golden scales and steel. Moonlight from the outside gleamed off six SandWings, marching through the palace with spears in their claws, helmets over their horns. The four turned, locking eyes with the invaders. They'd been found. Sunny glanced behind her. The tunnel leading down to the dungeons was right there. The way out was so close. They'd almost made it.

She turned back, her eyes meeting those of a pale SandWing in the back of the group. Her claws shook and a shiver ran down her spine as she saw the black diamond pattern on the SandWing's scales. Just like Blister's.

Aloe's claws went to her necklace as her eyes met Sunny's. The SandWing who stopped Blister's war, who'd used magic to usurp the throne and put her own mother in power. Her eyes traveled to the Eye of Onyx, hanging from the SandWing's neck. This small, strangely-shaped dragon was the only thing between her and the throne.

"Your majesty, get back," Creosote whispered, stepping forward, extending his barbed tail. Four of the SandWings next to Aloe moved up towards him in turn, blocking Aloe and Leopard from sight.

Four against one, Sunny thought. He'll be killed instantly.

Armadillo handed the keyring in his paws to Clay, who took it, confused. "Sunny, Clay," he said, stepping up to Creosote, "we can buy you time. Find Kudu in the Scorpion Den."

Sunny blinked, confused. Armadillo was a guard. Did he even know how to fight? He couldn't win, even with Creosote. They'd kill both of them. "Armadillo —"

"Run," Armadillo ordered. "May you have the power of wings of fire."

Sunny nodded, and as the four SandWings ran forwards to attack Creosote and Armadillo, she and Clay took off into the dungeons. Roars and yells sounded as they descended into the passageway, not looking back. Two more dragons, giving their lives up so that Sunny could have the throne.

As they reached the first gate, Clay's paws shook as he fitted one of the keys in, trying to turn it to open the lock. The two couldn't have bought them much time. Sunny's heart raced as she glanced behind her. Were those clawsteps? Clay tried another key as the sound grew louder.

After a third try, Clay finally opened the gate, the two rushing through before he locked it behind him. Hopefully, that would hold them off for a while. As they started down towards the next gate, Sunny saw a glimpse of scales from above. They had to hurry; there was no time to rest.

Neither of the two saw any more dragons behind them as they descended into the dungeons, until they reached the final gate. A single SandWing guarded it, glancing up towards Sunny and Clay.

She bowed her head to the queen, a bored look on her snout. "The assassin is still there, if you wish to speak to him," she notified her.

Queen Sunny shook her said from side to side, breathing heavily. "We're under attack," she whispered. "We need to get out of the palace. Do you know where the secret passage to the arena is?"

The guard's eyes opened wide, her claws starting to shake. Under attack? Something was happening. "Y-yes, your majesty," she stammered. "I can lead you to them."

"Thank you," Sunny said, relieved. She didn't know what would happen if she got lost down in the dungeons. Would Aloe find her? Or would she starve to death first?

"P-please, follow me," the dungeon warden gulped. Clay unlocked the final gate, and the three headed into the antechamber, with the four tunnels leading out of it. "This one leads beneath the arena."

She quickly headed down the tunnel on the left, the three rushing past decrypt cells as fast as they could. At least here, they were alone. Aloe would have a hard time getting down to them.

Finally, they reached the end of the tunnel. It surely felt long enough to come out beneath the arena. The warden ducked beneath a small archway, leading to a circular staircase. Sunny and Clay followed her, until it reached surface level. The passage came out into a small room beneath the stadium, where a small door of sandstone let out under the benches. The warden peered around it, checking for enemies. There were none. The empty stadium was silent.

Sunny and Clay cautiously snuck out from the passage as the warden closed the door behind them, becoming almost invisible against the sandstone. "What now?" she asked.

"We could try and get to the tunnel to the rainforest," Clay suggested. "Glory would keep us safe."

Sunny peeked over in the direction of the tunnel. It was on the other side of the palace, and plenty of SandWings were between them. They'd be captured for sure. Her eyes moved towards the tunnel. Even more SandWings were circling in the air above it. "We can't make it, it's being guarded."

Sunny's eyes suddenly went wide in realization. That was how Aloe had gotten into the palace, behind the barracks. They'd snuck in through the tunnel. From the rainforest, or the volcanic island. Glory had gone through it, not long before the attack. What if they'd caught her? Aloe wasn't at war with Glory, but that didn't mean she was safe. Sunny winced. Her fight had put Glory in danger. Three moons forbid, hopefully she hadn't been hurt.

"Then Armadillo said we should get to the Scorpion Den and find Kudu," Clay said, looking out towards the edge of the palace grounds. The SandWings were all in the other direction. Hopefully, no one would notice them flying away.

"Yeah," Sunny whispered fearfully. The Scorpion Den. Where she'd first met Thorn. "Are you coming with us?" she asked the warden.

"Of course, your majesty," the warden said with a bow. "Anything to keep you safe. My name is Acacia."

"Sunny," Queen Sunny replied, before quickly realizing that Acacia would obviously know her name already. Not important right now. "Then we should go, while it's still dark."

Acacia nodded, and the three spread their wings. Sunny glanced towards the arena. Had she chosen to accept Aloe's challenge, this was where she would've ended up. Yet, what choice had she had? Sunny took off, flying low to the ground while Clay and Acacia glided behind her. The SandWing queen looked back to the palace. Her mother's death, Armadillo and Creosote's sacrifices . . . she wouldn't let them be in vain. She'd come back, and when she did, the palace would be hers.

Chapter 53

Deathbringer was plucking a ripe mango when the smell of smoke reached him. A fire? he wondered nervously, his claws digging into the mango. Glory had asked him to warn the NightWings about using their firebreath. With the drought, the undergrowth of the rainforest was dry, and the trees had lost a lot of water. Deathbringer looked over towards the NightWing village, expecting to see flames, but there were none. The source of the fire seemed to be somewhere between the two, an orange glow and smoke in the distance.

Deathbringer raised his wings, the NightWing king flying up above the canopy of the rainforest. He looked out into the great expanse of the rainforest beneath him, where every so often, a tree broke free of the canopy. Further out, he could see smoke rising from the greenery, and a circle of orange flames behind it, turning everything it touched black. It was spreading quickly, and Deathbringer shifted his eyes over to the area where the RainWing village would be, the sun setting behind it. Firefly's egg.

Diving down, Deathbringer sailed above the rainforest, towards the village. Had the RainWings realized the danger yet? He wasn't sure if Glory had returned from her visit with Sunny yet. That meant that Deathbringer had to be the one who dealt with this. He glanced back towards the NightWing village. The NightWings would just have to wait. They had Greatness; they could handle themselves.

Deathbringer ducked into the trees, the smell of smoke growing as he reached the edges of the village. He reached out towards a vine, using it to help land on a platform of vines. As he looked around, the pavilions were . . . empty. Had the RainWings fled to a safer area? Maybe they'd experienced fires before, and already had a routine. Still, something felt off.

Deathbringer cautiously walked across one of the many bridges. "Glory?" he called out. "Hello? Anyone?"

Suddenly, he felt something cold beneath his talons, and the vines under his paw snapped. He yelped as he tripped and his paw fell under the bridge, although the hole wasn't quite large enough for Deathbringer himself to fall through. Carefully, Deathbringer raised his leg back up, moving back from the hole. Around the edge of the hole was a circle of ice, which appeared to have frozen and snapped the vines.

"Frostbreath?" Deathbringer whispered. Who could have done it? Had Aurora come back to the rainforest? Deathbringer wasn't even sure she could use frostbreath, being a hybrid. A stray IceWing? Were they attacking someone?

Suddenly, Deathbringer heard the voices of dragons from the undergrowth. He flattened himself against the vine bridge, peering through the hole in it. His talons went to his pouch, touching one of his sharp silver discs. He took a deep breath. There was probably nothing to be worried about. Maybe an IceWing dragonet from the academy had wandered all the way down here.

As he peered into the hole, he saw two white figures walk beneath him. IceWings. Two of them, each wearing a leather strap beneath their wings. Definitely not students. What were they doing here? Deathbringer listened. They hadn't seemed to have noticed him.

"This area is cleared?" one of them asked.

The other nodded. "Yep. Most of the RainWings just ran or hid, though we caught a few."

Caught? Deathbringer wondered. They're catching RainWings?

"This is stupid," the first grumbled. "Why do we gotta be so careful around a bunch of lazy fruit-eaters? None of them have tried to fight back, we could've just stormed in there and scared them all off."

"Blackice wants to send a message," the second answered. "Something about what'll happen to allies of the NightWings. Anyways, you heard what happened to Nieve? Apparently a RainWing melted half his throat. Creepy."

"Sounds like bear dung," the first snorted. "He probably just cracked open one of his vials. These things are dangerous. Great Ice Dragon, I wish I'd been assigned to fight the NightWings instead of RainWings. Get back at a few of them for all their sneaky killings. Let's see how they fare in a real fight."

"You'd be dead within the first minute," the second laughed. "They'd read your mind. Know what you're going to do before you do it."

"Bear dung," the first growled. "Everyone knows the NightWings were lying about all that. That's what they are, liars, thieves, and murders. We'll be doing Pyrrhia a favor, getting rid of them. C'mon, let's light this place up."

The first IceWing pulled out a small vial out from beneath his wing. Too far for Deathbringer to see what was inside. Was this the vial they'd mentioned? The IceWing threw it as far as he could, and when it hit the ground, it burst open, spreading its contents wide. Immediately, flames rose up around the area, quickly catching the dry underbrush aflame.

The second IceWing pulled out a similar vial, but before he threw it, he slumped to the ground, a puddle of blue blood spilling from around his neck. It took a few seconds for his companion to notice.

"Tern?" he said, taken aback. He shook the IceWing, as if trying to see if Tern would wake up. His claws shook, and he looked around the rainforest, trying to understand what had happened. As his eyes moved up to the hole in the bridge above him, realizing he was completely defenseless, Deathbringer threw a second chakram, and the IceWing soldier slumped down, dead.

Deathbringer closed his eyes. Queen Blackice was attacking the NightWings, and the RainWings had been caught up in their two-thousand year war. If they were approaching the RainWing village, that meant they didn't have far to the hatchery. They might already be there. Smoke and flames started to rise up from where the IceWing had thrown the vial. If he didn't reach the hatchery first, then the fire would.

Deathbringer swung through the rainforest village, gliding between trees as he weaved between the platforms. The smoke and flames were still behind him, but he didn't know how long he had. Every so often, he caught a glimpse of white in the distance, between the shadowed trees. More IceWings.

Suddenly, the NightWing heard a dragon cry out from nearby. He took hold of a vine and use it to plop himself down onto one of the platforms. Quickly, Deathbringer ran up towards the nearest tree, hiding himself in the shadows behind its trunk. He peered his snout out from it, the dark scales blending with the coming night.

Across a large gap in the pavilions, spanned by a vine bridge, Deathbringer spotted a large number of RainWings, corralled by three IceWings holding spears out. Most seemed to have turned pale green in terror, and were shuffling into each other.

C'mon, use your venom, Deathbringer pleaded. There were only three IceWings, and over twenty RainWings. If they fought back, they'd easily win. Still, none of the RainWings moved to attack. They'd been taught never to use their venom on another dragon from the moment they hatched. Even though he regretted putting the Ninja Guard in danger, it would've been useful to have battle-trained RainWings during times like this.

Deathbringer tried to make out some of the RainWings in the crowd. With Frog's injuries, Grapefruit was the only member of the Ninja Guard left, and she was nowhere to be seen. A bright flash of pink against the pale green caught Deathbringer's eyes. Prince Jambu.

Deathbringer sighed. Glory would never forgive him if he let her brother get hurt or captured by IceWings. He slinked towards the woven bridge, keeping his wings low to the ground. It was lucky that they'd attacked during the night. It would be easier for RainWings and NightWings alike to hide. Putting three silver discs in his paw, Deathbringer made his way over to the bridge, and clutching the vines with his paws, allowed himself to hang beneath it, upside-down. The rainforest floor was far beneath him, and even if he had time to turn over mid-flight, the IceWings would definitely see him if he fell.

The NightWing assassin climbed beneath the bridge, paw by paw. It swung from side to side from his weight. Hopefully the IceWings would just think that it was the wind. As he got closer, he peered his head out from beneath the bridge, his eyes on the IceWings. He was almost within close enough range, but he couldn't hit all three at once. Maybe he'd hit the one closest to him, get the second right as they realized the first fell. If the third rushed towards the bridge, Deathbringer could hit him, but if he went the other way, or stayed behind a RainWing . . .

The furthest IceWing suddenly looked towards the swaying bridge, and Deathbringer pulled his head back under. Had they seen him? Deathbringer heard a few claws on vines, before a shout sounded from above.

"Hey, are you here to free us from the rule of Queen Glory?" Jambu suddenly yelled, causing the IceWing nearest to Deathbringer to jump, and point his spear at the pink RainWing. "I didn't realize that news of her abuses had reached all the way to the Ice Kingdom. Did you know that she banned the color pink? I have a lot of trouble sleeping if I'm not pink, and my sun time is really suf —"

Jambu let out a squeal as the IceWing growled and gave the RainWing a light jab with the spear. "Quiet," the IceWing hissed. "I don't care about your stupid colors."

The IceWing suddenly dropped his spear, and clutched at his neck, blue blood staining his claws. He glanced back, but was only able to see a glimpse of his killer. Just as the other IceWings noticed, Deathbringer threw out another disc, landing in the side of the second IceWing's neck. He turned towards the third, hoping the IceWing didn't try and hide, before realizing that the IceWing was already slumped on the ground.

A dark blue RainWing breathed a sigh of relief, and set down a blowgun. The RainWings collectively stood in shock, seeing two of their captors dead.

Deathbringer climbed out from beneath the bridge and onto the pavilion, the RainWings unsure whether to be disgusted or thankful. He walked over to the first IceWing, and rolled the body over, causing a few RainWings to step back. A stream of blue blood flowed down the IceWing's torn neck, staining the pavilion beneath. Deathbringer looked down to the IceWing's chest. A leather band with vials of some liquid. Presumably the same stuff that the IceWings were using the catch the rainforest on fire.

The NightWing looked up to the crowd. Right now, they needed leadership and direction, and he was the best suited for the job. "RainWings and NightWings alike, we're under attack," Deathbringer explained. "Without warning, the IceWings are burning down your homes. I know you're scared, and haven't experienced war before, but you need to fight back. There are more of us than there are them, and we know the rainforest better. Use your venom, your blowdarts, your camouflage, and stop the IceWings."

There was a quiet murmur from the RainWings. "Use our venom?" Deathbringer heard one whisper. They didn't seem riled up at all, and most of their scales were still the pale green of terror.

The NightWing sighed. He shouldn't expected much more. These RainWings couldn't fight. "Alright. Those of you who are willing to fight, do so. Everyone else, go to the hatchery and wingery. Rescue as many dragonets as you can, and pass on the message. Hide from the IceWings, and retreat to the islands south of the rainforest."

After more frightened murmuring, the RainWings started to disperse, many of them using their camouflage to blend their scales in with the rainforest, almost disappearing with the dark shadow of the canopy. Deathbringer glanced back behind them, the smell of smoke growing. "Jambu," he called out, just as the pink RainWing started to become transparent. "Can you come with me to the hatchery? I want you to protect Firefly's egg until you get to the islands. After I make sure she's alright, I'm heading to the NightWing village."

"Yeah, of course!" Jambu replied, happy to have a purpose. "I want to keep my niece safe."

"I can help," a voice sounded from behind Jambu. The blue RainWing who had shot the sleeping dart came forward, holding the blowgun in her paws. "I'm a good shot. I can fight."

Liana, Deathbringer remembered. She was one of the RainWings who'd been assigned to patrol duty around the village, using her sleep darts to knock out any intruders. Deathbringer felt a pang of shame, remembering how the last dragons who'd fought under him had ended up. The RainWings weren't trained, not like the NightWings had been. And this was a conflict between NightWings and IceWings. It had been wrong for Deathbringer to ask RainWings to put themselves in danger. "No, it's alright," he assured her. "You'll be safer out of the rainforest."

Liana shook her head. "No. This is my fault. I'm supposed to watch for dragons, and the IceWings got past me. I need to do something."

Deathbringer thought for a moment. Having someone else, especially a RainWing who could turn invisible, would be useful. "Alright," he conceded. "But if you come with me, I can't guarantee your safety."

"I know," Liana replied.

The three headed after the other RainWings to the hatchery, not far from the village. As they landed, other RainWings were ducking into the hatchery, grabbing eggs before they flew south. Deathbringer looked around, checking that there weren't any IceWings yet. Fortunately, they hadn't seemed to have made it this far.

"There!" Jambu said, pointing to the small shrine of leaves that Glory and Deathbringer had made for their egg. Firefly's egg was safe and sound, the violet blotches having moved across the shell.

Deathbringer flew over to the egg, and grabbed it in his paws, holding it close. If things didn't go well, he might not ever get to meet his dragonet. "Don't worry, it'll be okay," he whispered, trying to comfort the dragonet inside. "Uncle Jambu is going to make sure you're safe."

Taking in a deep breath, Deathbringer carefully handed the egg off to Jambu. "Be careful with her, okay?"

Jambu nodded. "Of course." He cradled the egg cheerfully, even in the danger they were all in. "You want me to take her to the southern isles?"

"Yes. Stay with the other RainWings, and hide there. I'll try and be there as soon as I can."

Jambu grinned, and bringing the egg up to his chest, spread his wings as the color faded from them. Deathbringer watched him go south, after the other RainWings. Away from the fire. The NightWing turned to Liana. "Alright. You ready?"

Liana lifted up her blowgun and a pawful of darts. "Yeah. What exactly are we doing?"

"I want to get to the NightWings, to try and organize them against the IceWings," Deathbringer explained. "Make sure our dragonets get to safety."

The two took off, heading back towards the flames as they glided through the treetops. Deathbringer spotted a few stray IceWings on the ground every now and then, but in the darkness, none were able to spot more than a quick blur in the canopy of the two. The IceWings didn't seem to have any particular goal in mind, just walking around the RainWing village, searching for RainWings and using the vials to set fire where they could. If they were trying to pillage, it was pretty useless. RainWings didn't have a lot of material goods.

Deathbringer thought about what Liana had said earlier. If she'd been on guard outside the village, how could she not have noticed the IceWings coming through? An army of white dragons would be easily visible. They must have snuck past the dragons on watch somehow. The tunnels, he suddenly realized. The IceWings could've come through either the NightWing island, or the SandWing palace. Had they attacked Sunny? Deathbringer had heard Blackice was ruthless, but she wouldn't declare war on the Sand Kingdom so soon, would she? But how would she know where the volcanic island was?

Either way, that meant Glory could be in danger. The two had flown past the royal pavilion, which had been empty, with no sign she'd returned there yet. So she probably hadn't left the Sand Kingdom yet. Hopefully, she was safe in the palace with Sunny. If the IceWings had come through the tunnels, there was no way Deathbringer and Liana could get through. So he just had to trust she was safe.

As the two moved closer to the tunnels, the blaze grew stronger, confirming Deathbringer's suspicions. The smoke started to grow acrid, stinging Deathbringer's eyes and filling his lungs. They couldn't get too close, or the fire would claim them too.

Eventually, the two reached the NightWing village. The roar of battling dragons shook through the air, louder than the crackling blaze and the other sounds of the rainforest. Deathbringer watched as he saw IceWings fighting NightWings, bodies of his friends on the ground. Just like their last home, this one was going up in flames.

Liana and Deathbringer landed on the ground, beside a burning hut. As an IceWing glanced towards them, Liana shot out a dart from her blowgun, instantly putting the soldier to sleep. "Now what?" she asked, peeking around at the battle.

Deathbringer pulled out a few silver discs, and looked around for open targets. "There's too many," he admitted. "We need to try and get as many dragons out safely as possible. Not to where the RainWings are. I don't want to lead the IceWings to them."

"Out where?" Liana wondered. "The IceWings will just follow if you try and escape. I don't think they'll accept a surrender."

Deathbringer's talons shook. Liana was right. Queen Blackice wasn't looking for war. She was looking for genocide. The IceWings wouldn't stop until every NightWing was dead. "There's nowhere we can go," he whispered in defeat.

Liana frowned, pacing back and forth as the blaze burned behind her. "What about the Mud Kingdom?" she asked. "Queen Moorhen's palace is directly north of here; we get MudWings accidentally finding their way down here all the time."

"Do you think the IceWings would care?" Deathbringer replied. "They already attacked the RainWings, why wouldn't they attack the MudWings as well?" The Great Ice Cliff was impenetrable. Even if Queen Blackice declared war on all of Pyrrhia, she couldn't be attacked.

Liana shrugged her wings. "Maybe. But the MudWings are organized; they'd lose, right?"

"And what if Queen Moorhen attacked us? She might think we're invading the Mud Kingdom."

"Then the NightWings are doomed," Liana dourly answered. "Tell me if you have a better idea."

Deathbringer shook his head, wincing. Liana was right. They had to escape; their only chance was the MudWings. "Alright. The plan is to get everyone north."

Liana nodded, and her scales started to blend in with the surroundings, rendering her completely invisible except for the small blowgun in her paws. Deathbringer clutched his discs. Glory, Firefly, please stay safe, he silently wished. If he succeeded, he didn't know how long it would be until he could to reunite with the RainWings and his family. If he failed, then he doubted he'd survive the night.

Chapter 54

Torrent's claw pressed into the parchment, the tip against a faded blue blotch. He stared intently at the map; his eyes un-wandering.

"She's stopped," Torrent muttered.

"Who?" Anemone asked, inattentive. The pink SeaWing princess was playing with her webbing, glancing over to the entrance to the small meeting cave every so often, where Peril stood behind Turtle. Anemone didn't get why Tsunami had wanted her to meet Torrent. He was one more brother she wouldn't care about. Tsunami herself was watching Torrent carefully, eyeing the map.

"Aurora," Torrent answered tersely. "She's been in the northern Sand Kingdom for a day now."

"And why do I care?" Anemone sighed. Tamarin was probably doing something more interesting than this right now.

"Maybe she's sleeping," Turtle suggested. "Does she have to do that?"

"Why wouldn't she have to sleep?" Tsunami asked.

Turtle timidly shrugged his wings. "I don't know. I thought she might have used animus magic to not sleep."

"She wouldn't have slept that long," Torrent snapped. "She's in one place."

Tsunami poked her head between Torrent's and the map, squinting. "HEY!" she suddenly yelled out, her horns smashing into Torrent's neck as she suddenly raised her head.

Torrent turned his neck away, coughing from the whack to his throat. He glared back at his sister. "What?" he hissed.

"Look," Tsunami hissed back, pointing her claw back to the map. "She disappeared."

"She disappeared?" Torrent yelled, surprised. He pushed Tsunami aside, looking back at the map. Tsunami hadn't lied; Aurora's blotch was gone.

Tsunami rolled her eyes. "Yes, that's what I said."

"Does that mean she's dead?" Anemone asked, suddenly a little more interested. "Maybe an IceWing got her."

"Doubtful," Torrent grumbled. "She might have some way to hide herself from the map. I don't remember seeing hers back when I saw first saw Turtle's blotch either."

"What if she can kill herself and bring herself back to life?" Anemone suggested. "That would be pretty spooky. I bet I could do enchant something like that if I tried."

"You couldn't," Torrent snorted. "Animus magic can't bring dragons back to life."

"So, what would happen?" Anemone pressed, eyes lit with curiosity. That could be an interesting experiment. Not on herself, of course, but maybe she could try enchanting a lizard. "Would it just not work?"

"Maybe," Torrent replied, still staring at the map. "Or maybe you'd make a clone of yourself."

"But if I made a clone of myself, and the clone had all my memories, would the clone really be me?" Anemone philosophized out-loud. "And what if I just enchanted a clone of me to appear, and there was both me and a clone? Which of us would be the real Anemone, or would it be both of us? Maybe I could enchant something that gives us the answer!"

Torrent winced, gritting his teeth. "Please tell me you're not planning on doing this." The last thing he needed was a sibling that was more frivolous with her powers than Orca was. Even if he refused to give up his powers, at least Turtle was cautious and understood the damage using them would do. If Anemone kept on this way, Torrent didn't know how long he'd have before he'd be forced to kill her. Sister or not, he was sure he could.

"She isn't," Tsunami assured Torrent. "She knows the rules. No animus magic if she wants to attend Jade Mountain."

"Hey, what if Aurora went through a tunnel, like the ones in the rainforest?" Peril suggested. "That would explain how she disappeared."

"Yeah!" Anemone exclaimed, slightly annoyed she hadn't thought of that herself. "She could be somewhere that's not on the map, like the volcanic island, or the Lost Continent, or the moons!"

"She's not on a moon," Torrent sighed. But it was possible. That was exactly what had happened when Erosion's green diamond had teleported Stonemover and Griffin to her island.

"Why couldn't she be on a moon?" Anemone asked combatively.

As Torrent prepared a response, Peril heard the sound of clawsteps from the tunnel behind her. She peered around the doorway to see a terrified Ermine, running down the hallway. A small pang of pity hit the SkyWing. Ermine's parents had been living in the palace when Blackice had attacked it, and had almost certainly died in the ensuing slaughter. She didn't know how good Ermine's relationship with them was, but Peril remembered how devastated she'd been after Kestrel's death. She'd hadn't even liked her mother.

Teeth chattering, eyes wide with fear, Ermine looked over towards Peril, the four royal SeaWings behind her. "Tsunami," the IceWing whispered, claws shaking. "I-I was at the landing platform. I-I saw IceWings. Lots of them. Flying towards us."

Tsunami turned around, seeing Ermine's concern. By now, she was used to Ermine's cowardice, but he seemed even more concerned than usual. "How many?" she asked, frowning. "Like, an army?"

Ermine nodded, small tears in his beady eyes. "A lot."

"Why would there be an army of IceWings here?" Turtle asked.

"It's likely Queen Blackice sent them," Tsunami explained, dreading the reason why. At least from the news she'd heard, Blackice had made particular effort to get rid of all the First and Second Circle IceWings in the palace. What if that wasn't enough for her? "She might be here for Ermine and Changbai."

Ermine whimpered, and started sobbing, tears running down his snout. "I'm sure of it!" he cried. "She's going to kill me! You can't let her; please don't let her." His claws started to shake more profusely, aware of his impending death.

"I'm not letting you kill her," Tsunami replied, baring her teeth. "I'll keep you, Changbai, and everyone else safe."

"How?" Torrent asked, skeptical of Tsunami's empty promise. "She's got an army. You're not going to have the students fight, are you?"

"Ooh, ooh, I can help!" Anemone shouted. "I can use my magic!"

Torrent turned to his sister with a glare. "No," he ordered her. "You'll lose your soul."

"Excuse me?" Anemone snorted. "You're just some random older brother, you're not the boss of me. I can choose whether I want to use my magic or not."

Torrent's eyes narrowed, and he started to move his paw towards the dagger at his side. He opened his mouth to argue, but Tsunami interrupted him.

"Don't use your magic unless there's no other option," Tsunami told Anemone. "Is there anything you've already enchanted that could be useful?" She glanced towards Turtle, silently posing the same question to him. If she could at all help it, she didn't want it to be revealed to Ermine.

Turtle shook his head, but Anemone vigorously nodded. "Yeah!" the young princess exclaimed. "I have these awesome weather-controlling bracelets. I tried to get it to rain with them, although it didn't work for long. But I bet I could blow them all away! If they don't try and escape me first."

"Then get those, quickly," Tsunami said. "I don't think we have long."

"I can try and hold them off until she gets them," Peril suggested. "I doubt any IceWing will be too keen on fighting me."

"Agreed," Tsunami replied. "Do what you have to."

Torrent gave Anemone a glare before rolling his map back up, and heading towards the entrance of the school with Peril, Tsunami, Turtle, and Ermine while Anemone went to get her bracelets. It was only a short walk to the entrance, where Tsunami could see that Ermine hadn't been exaggerating. A horde of IceWings, many armed with spears and armor, had just about reached the great entrance cave of the academy.

As Peril stepped forward, into the center of the cave, the first few IceWings landed, walking forward to greet her as the rest hovered in place behind. At the front of the formation approached a grinning IceWing, evidently the leader of the group. His claws, horns, and spines had all been painted black, and a skeletal dragon paw hung from a silver chain around his neck. A battle trophy, to gross out enemies and indicate his prowess. Peril smugly grinned, certain that she'd killed far more dragons than this IceWing, whoever he was.

Tsunami stepped to the side of Peril, and the Black Prince turned to the SeaWing princess. "You're the one in charge of this school, right?"

Tsunami nodded. "Yep. Tsunami here, princess, headmaster, and Dragonet of Destiny. What do you want?"

"Queen Blackice has simple demands," the Black Prince said, giving a wide, toothy grin, revealing his black-painted teeth. "Surrender every IceWing, NightWing, and RainWing in the school to us, and we will leave."

"Why?" Tsunami asked, surprised. Why were the RainWings involved in this?

"It doesn't matter," the Black Prince snorted. "If you refuse, we'll make sure none of your students leave this academy alive."

"I hope you understand you'd effectively be declaring war on the Sea Kingdom," Tsunami clucked, calling his bluff. "Queen Coral won't take kindly to Princess Anemone's death. Nor mine, for that matter."

The IceWing shuffled his tail back and forth, spines scraping against the stone floor as he thought. "Fine," he conceded with a growl, irritated that Tsunami had out-smarted him. "We'll take her as a political prisoner, and kill every other student. Happy?"

"Not particularly," Tsunami yawned. "This is a pretty bad offer you're giving us. Give up, what, almost half our students, or give up all of them? I dunno, it might not be good for our profits if we just started handing out students to random IceWings. Do you have, like, papers from Queen Blackice giving you permission to do this?"

The Black Prince seethed, not amused with Tsunami's antics. "I don't need papers. I have an army."

"Well, Tsunami has me," Peril hissed, taking a step towards the IceWings, flaring her wings up as a puff of smoke rose from them. The Black Prince took a careful step back, while the IceWings behind him started to slink away, feeling the heat from Peril's scales. "You know who I am, right?"

The Black Prince was silent, his claws curling. He knew.

"That's right," Peril smiled, licking her fangs. "Queen Scarlet's ex-champion. The one who's burned a thousand dragons to death, just with a touch of my talons. Normally this would be bad, really bad news for you. But it's your lucky day! I'm in a good mood, and I promised to Clay that I won't kill any more dragons, and he would be quite disappointed in my if I fell back into my old habits. So let's make a deal — if you, or any of your IceWings lays their claws or frostbreath or whatever on any of our students, I will burn off each of your limbs and roll your body off the mountainside. Got it?"

The Black Prince glared at Peril, staring up to her with a squint. He remained silent, reflecting on the threat, as if he could visualize what Peril was planning to do to him already. "That would kill me."

Peril blinked. "Huh?"

"If you rolled my limbless body off the mountainside," the IceWing explained, "that would probably kill me. Even if I survived the fall, I'd die of the burns. You said Clay would be disappointed if you killed any more dragons."

Peril laughed. "Oh, he'd be fine with it. It's not murder if death is just a side-effect."

The Black Prince shook his head, smiling. "Did you really think that Queen Blackice didn't prepare for you?" He spread out a wing, and four of the IceWings stepped forward from behind him. Beneath their wings were leather bands, corked glass vials with some sort of liquid inside hanging from them. The IceWings moved their claws to the vials, preparing to throw them.

"Alchemy designed them," the Black Prince explained, "if they break, they'll explode, spraying burning liquid everywhere. I'm sure your scales are fire resistant, but the explosion itself might take off a few limbs of your own. A small way for us IceWings to make up for our lack of firebreath. Now, step aside, and let us collect the dragons we want."

Tsunami and Peril were quiet for a moment. Peril squinted at the vials. Could they actually do that? If the Black Prince was bluffing, why would he have bothered bringing the vials? He could've just claimed he had something animus-touched. Ermine started whimpering, worried Peril would have no choice but to step aside.

"Nope," Peril growled, baring her teeth. "I'm not letting you have them."

"Then it's your loss," the IceWing hissed. He flicked his tail, and stepped back. The IceWings threw their vials, the glass soaring through the air, liquid sloshing inside.

Suddenly, a load yell came from behind Peril, as Anemone rushed into the room. "SURPRISE ATTACK!" the SeaWing princess yelled, twitching her claws. The copper armbands on her forearms shook, and a gust of wind blasted from behind Peril. The glass vials, still in flight, sailed back towards the entrance, before landing in the crowd of hovering IceWings. As they broke, flaming material exploded from the vials, covering a good portion of the army in fire. IceWings screamed as they fell towards the ground.

"LIGHTNING STRIKE!" Anemone said, shaking her talons again as a bolt of lightning struck an IceWing outside the cave. The huge burst of thunder shook Peril's bones as she jumped, taken aback. The IceWings started to flee from where the lightning had struck, the few who hadn't been hit by the napalm flying away in confusion.

As the Black Prince stared in shock, not yet sure what was going on, Anemone whisked her paw, and another blast of wind shot from behind her, pushing the IceWings that had landed with the Black Prince from the ledge, forcing them to take flight. With a wicked grin, Anemone walked forward, head raised high as she stared down the single remaining IceWing. She shot another burst of wind to the entrance of the academy, spreading more of the IceWings out, keeping them away.

"Alright, thank you Peril, the real powerhouse is here now," Anemone smirked, looking up at the Black Prince. She raised a paw in front of her snout, gently clenching her webbed talons. The IceWing flinched, unsure what she was about to do to him. Torrent watched cautiously with Turtle and Ermine, talons on his dagger.

"Okay, cold boy, here's how this is going to go," Anemone said. "You're going to answer all my questions, or else I'll do unspeakable things to you. Alright?"

The IceWing lowered his head, glaring at the cavern floor. He hadn't been expecting this. This was supposed to be an easy job. Yet, he'd been defeated without even raising a claw.

"I'll take that as a yes," Anemone grinned. "Who do you work for?"

"Queen Blackice," the IceWing growled. "I thought that was obvious."

"Well, I was just testing to make sure you were telling the truth," Anemone snorted. "What do you want?"

The IceWing sighed. This was going to be a long interrogation. "I told you already. We want the IceWing, NightWing, and RainWing students given over to us."

"Why?" Tsunami suddenly butted in, taking over the interrogation from Anemone.

"Queen Blackice has decided this school is a stupid, weak, and treasonous endeavor," the Black Prince explained. "She wants to withdraw her subjects from it, and to make sure that the IceWings with First and Second Circle rankings are done away with, to overhaul the previous aristocracy."

"I understood that already," Tsunami replied. "What does she want with the NightWings and RainWings? They're not her subjects."

The IceWing smirked, just slightly. "Queen Blackice has completed the war against the NightWings, a war her mother conveniently forgot about. She is the is the rightful ruler of the Night Kingdom, and can do with her subjects as she wishes."

Tsunami scoffed. "I'm sorry, what? The rightful ruler of the NightWings? That's ridiculous."

The Black Prince shook his head. "She is the rightful ruler. I saw it with my own eyes. Queen Blackice killed the previous NightWing queen in a royal challenge, ending our enemy's life with a blast of frostbreath down her throat."

Chapter 55

Cold, dry winds blew through the valley, stripping the moisture from between Ink's scales. The valley floor was covered in loose dirt, with not a spot of green to be seen. The last remnants of snow appeared at the top of the valley walls, small trickles of meltwater quickly soaking into the hungry ground. Where only weeks before, the valley had been covered with white snow, there was little left of it now.

"I think I see something!" Slate called out.

Ink squinted. Further along the empty valley was a blotch of grey and white. As the five flew closer, they started to make out the distinct shapes of seven stone pillars, standing in a semicircle in front of a small building glimmering in the sunlight, walls made of ice. In a perfect circle bounded by the seven pillars, fluffy snow remained unmelted. Clearly, the work of an animus. Seven sculptures of dragons stood proudly atop each pillar, as if they were protecting the place. Ink's eyes focused on a sky-blue dragon in front of the pillars, looking down the extent of the valley. Aurora.

"Aurora's here," Ink notified the group, a hint of fear in his voice. He had to remain brave. This was their destiny.

"So she got back before us," Polar grumbled. "I was hoping she'd have stayed at Jade Mountain."

"Maybe we should turn back?" Slate suggested. "She might not have noticed us yet. We could try and sneak around her at night."

Ink shook his head. Aurora's eyes were focused on the five, watching their approach. "No. She's definitely noticed."

As the five got closer to the Mausoleum, Aurora remained in place, just watching the group. Ink remembered the last time he'd fought Aurora. Even with Seahorse's mask, she'd instantly defeated him. Soon, they were practically hovering over her, circling in place while she kept watching.

"She's not attacking us," Inferno said, confused. "Is she waiting for us to land?"

"We need a plan," Toxin stated. "So we've got a dragon who can walk through walls and make earthquakes. Any ideas?"

"How are we supposed to hurt her if she can walk through walls?" Polar snapped. "There's nothing we can do."

"Maybe Inferno can sneak up on her while we distract her," Toxin suggested. "It might not kill her if she gets away fast enough, but it could put her out of commission for a while."

Inferno cringed. She didn't want to set Aurora on fire, but did she have a choice? Ash had told her that she needed to fight to protect everyone else, but was there no other option than fighting Aurora?

"No," Ink replied, his claws shaking. He stared down at Aurora. The Eye of Amethyst, now fully visible, swung from her neck in the winds. "We're no match for her."

Aurora sat back on her haunches, swishing her spiked tail back and forth. Every so often, a small burst of light would randomly come from one of her glowscales. Even if Ink knew Aquatic, he doubted it meant anything.

"Maybe she just wants to talk," Inferno suggested.

"This is the dragon who tried to bring a mountain down on top of us," Polar snorted. "I doubt she wants to talk."

"She hasn't attacked yet," Inferno pointed out. "If she wanted to kill us, she could've done it already."

"Look, if you want to try talking, go ahead," Polar suggested flippantly. "You're the one with the insta-burn scales, not us."

"Fine," Inferno blurted out, narrowing her eyes. "I will." Inferno instantly regretted saying that. The last thing the five needed right now was fighting between themselves. But Polar's expectant gaze told her it was too late to take it back. She started to circle down, Aurora's eyes tracking her movements. The SeaWing-IceWing hybrid didn't move from her position as Inferno's paws touched the dry ground, not far from the circle of snow.

"Er, hey," Inferno greeted Aurora, forcing a smile. "I don't think we were properly introduced back at Jade Mountain. I'm Inferno."

A cold wind blew from behind Aurora, before being quenched by Inferno's scales. Aurora's expression stayed neutral and terse, and she gave a quick glance to the four dragons overhead, cautiously watching the conversation below. "Aurora."

Inferno scrunched up her claws. So Aurora was willing to talk after all. She might be too optimistic, but maybe they didn't need to fight. "I think we got off to a bad start," Inferno said. "I know there was that whole thing with Torrent, and Ink was the one who attacked you first, right? Maybe we can talk this out, and c —"

"No," Aurora interrupted Inferno, a burst of light coming from a glowscale on her neck. "I am not your friend, and you are not mine. Our goals are opposing. We are enemies, and the only reason I have not killed you yet is because I have been ordered not to."

Inferno took a step back, although the hybrid stayed in her place. She didn't seem to be getting anywhere. "Alright," she conceded. "What do you mean, you've been ordered not to kill us? What have you been ordered to do? Stop us from entering?"

"No," Aurora growled, a hint of rage coming through her emotionless expression, "I've been ordered to leave."

By now, the other four had descended closer to the mausoleum so that they could listen in on the conversation, hovering just above the seven pillars, side-by-side with the ancient queens. Toxin rolled her eyes. "Then just leave already," she grumbled, not intending for Aurora to hear.

Aurora's head snapped up, glaring at the hybrid. "And what are you here for?"

"We're the prophecy dragons," Toxin retorted, landing beside Inferno, shielding herself from the SkyWing's heat with a wing. "We're here to defeat Calamity."

"Why?" Aurora pressed. "Because Fracture told you that's what you need to do?"

Slate fluttered down next to Toxin, raking his paw through the dry dirt, the meltwater sucked from it. "In case you haven't noticed, there's a huge drought all across Pyrrhia. Dragons are dying. Fracture said Calamity is causing it, but if he's wrong, please enlighten us."

"Fracture is correct," Aurora confirmed.

"Aurora, please," Inferno begged. "You can help us; we don't have to be enemies. So many are suffering because of what Calamity is doing. You can't want that."

Aurora shook her head. "Your view of Pyrrhia — no, your view of morality — is too narrow. My father understood. Didn't he, Ink?"

Ink and Polar had finally conceded, landing behind Toxin. Ink didn't respond to his half-sister, keeping his eye focused on the shackle around her leg. His claws brushed against his eyepatch, feeling an ache where Aurora had ripped out his eye.

"Don't talk about morality," Toxin spat. "You killed those RainWings. You murdered them. Did you even know their names?"

Aurora ignored Toxin's accusation. "Is it better to do the right thing, or the nice thing?"

"You're not doing the right thing," Ink growled, keeping his eyes on Aurora's paws, unwilling to meet her gaze. "If you're killing dragons, that's not the right thing."

"And yet you're about to go kill Calamity," Aurora retorted.

"That's different," Ink protested.

"Is avenging your family by killing mine the right thing?" Aurora asked Ink.

"I'm not trying to get revenge," Ink growled, finally turning his head up to look Aurora in the eyes. "We're not trying to kill dragons. We don't want to kill dragons. We're just trying to stop the drought."

"Is that why you attacked me at Jade Mountain?" Aurora continued. "I assume you were using the NightWing mask just to give me a slap on the paw? Or was I a necessary death? Would killing me have stopped the drought?"

A hint of confliction crossed Ink's gaze. Why had he attacked Aurora, back at Jade Mountain? He hadn't thought about it until now, but she was right. He'd been planning to kill her. He'd been frightened of what he'd seen her do, in another life. Furious at her role in the deaths of his mother and brother. Of course he'd wanted to kill her for that, but that was what he was supposed to feel. He'd have been avenging his family. That couldn't be wrong, could it? But killing dragons was bad. Would killing Aurora even have helped them stop the drought? Or would it just have made him feel better?

"You want to see me judged for how I have hurt others," Aurora continued, her eyes focused on Ink. "So you can believe this world is just, and that those who are good will be rewarded, those who are bad are punished. But this world is broken. I have chosen to do the right thing, instead of the nice thing, and I will suffer for it. Calamity has told me not to interfere with you, and because I believe he is doing the right thing, I will obey him, even if it costs me my family. Ink, will you be happy if Crystal and Calamity are dead? If I suffer the same way you have?"

Ink's claws clenched through the dry dirt. "No," he growled. "That's not why I'm doing this. This is about saving the world from Calamity. Not revenge on him."

Aurora nodded. "I see. Then savor your moment of heroism well. Be proud when you believe you have saved this broken world." The sky-blue hybrid spread her wings, and a sudden wind burst from behind her, throwing the five back as it snuck beneath her wings, lifting Aurora up into the sky.

Ink watched as his half-sister sailed above the valley walls, before turning into the rising sun, soon becoming only a small point on the horizon. This wasn't about revenge. This was about doing what was right.

"What was that all about?" Inferno quietly asked, looking over to the frozen doors of the Mausoleum.

"It's a bunch of beaver dung if you ask me," Slate snorted. "Dragons are dying of dirt because of her. I don't how she's justifying it, it's still wrong."

Ink sighed, looking down to the snow, and then to the doors of the Mausoleum. The engraved dragons behind the ice seemed to be staring at him, judging him. His eyes caught on the figure of a SkyWing, roaring in agony as his own talons ripped through his chest.

"Hey, don't listen to her," Slate reassured Ink, as he stepped up to the frozen door. "So what if you want a little revenge? That's not wrong. This is still the right thing to do, even if your intentions aren't completely pure. She's just trying to distract you from our goal."

"Yeah," Ink said, smiling a tad. "You're right." He pushed his concerns away. Right now, they needed to focus on defeating Calamity.

Slate turned to the door, his eyes tracing the images of battle engraved beneath the ice. He put a claw to the layer of ice covering the door, his scales chilling as he pressed a paw pad to it. He traced out a small indentation in the ice between the two doors. They seemed fused together; like the mausoleum had never been meant to be opened.

"They're images of Queen Frost's battle with Calamity," Toxin explained, thinking Slate had been checking out the engravings on the metal behind the ice. "The one on the left door are Mica's fight with Ignite, and the one on the right is Falcon's binding of Calamity. The scene above the door is Frost defeating Calamity, after he was bound within Starweaver."

Inferno stepped forward, carefully placing her paw into the snow, unsure what would happen. To her surprise, the enchanted snow didn't melt, her paw only making a small indentation within it. A chill ran up her foreleg, causing her claws to tense up involuntarily, her legs shivering. She felt cold.

The SkyWing returned her gaze to the engravings on the mausoleum door. She hadn't been told the legend that Toxin seemed to know, but all of them depicted death and violence. Was that the only way they could complete the prophecy? Inferno didn't want to think so. Her eyes locked to the left door, the battle between Mica and Ignite, and their mutual destruction. A battle to get into the caves beneath the mausoleum. A glimmer of hope flashed in Inferno's eyes. They'd managed to avoid fighting Aurora. None of them were dead yet. Maybe, by some miracle, they could solve this peacefully with Calamity, and escape the tragedy of the other scenes.

"Seems a little crass for Queen Frost to put images of her friends dying above their graves," Slate said.

Polar shook his head. "No," he gravely replied. "They died honorably, protecting everyone around them. Their deaths are glorified here, showing other dragons their virtuous self-sacrifice. It's why Queen Frost's death isn't pictured. She survived and was unable to make the same sacrifice her comrades did."

Toxin gave a concerned glance towards Polar, but the IceWing avoided her gaze.

"Well, that doesn't bode well for us," Slate muttered. If their prophecy was a repeat of the Legend of Queen Frost, did that mean that only one of them would survive? The prophecy didn't say anything about their survival. If Slate wanted to come to terms with his possible impending death, he'd have to do it quickly.

"What does the text say?" Inferno asked, looking at the four names written above the doors.

"I can't tell," Toxin admitted. "It's an old script. Tiger might understand it. It's probably just the names of the four dragons buried beneath here. Starweaver, Mica, Falcon, and Frost."

"Only four," Slate uttered. "Well, we've got five." It wasn't much, but the difference in the two groups gave his fears a bit of relief. This couldn't turn out like a repeat of Frost's battle.

"C'mon," Ink said. "We should quit dawdling. We need to find a way in."

Polar stepped up to the doorway, Slate moving aside for him. "I think I have an idea," Polar winced. "Slate, please take a few steps back."

The MudWing nodded, and watched Polar stare up at the doorway. Taking a deep breath in, Polar let out a blast of frostbreath at the ice. After the misty cloud disappeared, all that was left was an additional small layer of ice in front of the doors. They didn't budge.

"What was that for?" Toxin asked.

Polar sighed. "I thought it might open it," he explained. "Queen Frost was an IceWing. She might have had it magically locked so only IceWings could get it. I guess not."

"I don't think I can melt it," Inferno said.

Polar looked down to his paws. The snow there was a strangely darker shade of blue, the color of IceWing blood. Falcon had been required to sacrifice his blood to bind Calamity. Queen Frost was an IceWing, of course she could've seen the symbolism in that. The IceWings' blue blood was one of the three gifts given to them by the Great Ice Dragon. It wouldn't be frostbreath.

Polar gritted his teeth, and placed a talon along his forearm, above the Darkstone bracelet. He dragged a serrated claw beneath his scales, a line of his own blood trickling down onto the snow beneath him, mixing with the blood of the previous IceWing who'd done this.

"Polar?" Slate asked, unsure why the IceWing had cut himself. "Are you alright?"

Polar nodded. The pain of the incision wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be. He supposed he'd just gotten used to the ache of the Darkstone. Staggering forward, Polar brought his foreleg to the indent between the ice, scraping his blood against it, staining the ice. Immediately, the blue liquid started to spread out, Polar's cut opening wider as his blood seemed to be sucked from beneath his scales, droplets rolling up and down, filling the indentations in the ice. As butterflies started to fill his head from the light-headedness, Polar leaned against the wall. His blood continued to spread out, eventually making two rectangles, bordering around the doorways.

As Polar staggered, Slate quickly got beneath him, letting the IceWing fall onto his wing and back, Polar grasping at Slate's scales. Slate moved Polar back as the blood suddenly started to glow a bright blue, trying to shield the IceWing from whatever was coming. Fortunately, the blood just sunk into the ice, dissolving it until there was a thin line between the two great doors.

Toxin put her body against the huge doors, trying to open them, while Slate nervously glanced over to Polar, dripping blue blood onto the MudWing's scales.

"Are you alright?" Slate gulped, seeing the wound. Polar had lost a lot of blood in opening the door, and he'd already only been barely able to make the flight here.

"Yeah," Polar woozily muttered, stepping off of Slate. The ground swerved under him, and he staggered towards the doorway to the Mausoleum. Staying nearby, in case he fell over again, Slate followed.

Inferno's scales tensed up as she walked through the doorway, into the interior of the Mausoleum. She shut her eyes as the feeling washed over her, gritting her teeth as her breath sped up. Something felt wrong in here. Inferno glanced back towards the entering Ink, checking to make sure that the outside world was still behind her. It was. "Do you feel that?" she asked.

"Yeah," Toxin frowned. The hybrid raised a paw in the air, curling her talons to check that they still responded, that her scales were still real. "I've felt it before. It's like the tunnel to the NightWing island, but it's worse here. It's like you've stepped into somewhere that shouldn't exist."

The inner walls of the Mausoleum were also covered with ice, and the entire room glowed with a faint light that seemed to come from everywhere. The only furnishing was a beautiful coffin on a pedestal in the center of the room. The sides were perfectly shear, almost glittering. Slate peered into the coffin, and recoiled in surprise. Visible from the top was the perfectly preserved body of an IceWing. Queen Frost. She appeared peaceful in rest, and even with her violent death, didn't seem to have any visible wounds.

Swaying from side to side, Polar focused his eyes on the ice coffin. He bowed his head to the ground in respect, looking up at the body. This was Queen Frost, second Queen of the IceWings, hero of Pyrrhia, and creator of the Gift system that had given the IceWings riches and prosperity for thousands of years. And here the five were, setting out to finish the work Queen Frost had left unfinished. For the first time, Polar felt almost lucky he'd been chosen by the prophecy. Even if few IceWings would ever know of it, he'd be able to follow in Queen Frost's tracks. To be a hero worthy of being buried alongside her.

"So, what now?" Toxin asked, looking to Polar for an answer. "I don't see Calamity, or any caverns."

Polar lifted his head back up, clutching his bleeding arm as his blood dripped on the ice floor. "Queen Frost only wanted an IceWing to be able to get in," he explained. "Someone could've killed an IceWing and used their blood to open the doors, if they knew how they worked. But to get down into the caverns, they'd need a living IceWing."

Polar let out a small burst of frostbreath on the coffin, covering it in white smoke. The casket suddenly started to slide to the back of the Mausoleum, a stairwell opening up beneath it, down into a dark tunnel.

Slate peered in. "I can't see anything."

Polar shrugged his forepaws. "My moon globes were left in the safehouse. Ink, can you see?"

"A little," Ink replied uncertainly. "I can see in the dark, but only if there's at least a little bit of light."

"I can breath small bursts of flame," Inferno suggested. "I should stay in the back though. I don't want to set anyone on fire."

"That would create some light," Toxin snorted.

"That'll be enough," Ink replied, ignoring Toxin's comment. "I'll go in first." The NightWing-SeaWing headed down into the tunnel, followed by Toxin, then Polar.

As Slate walked down after Polar, Inferno turned to him. "Please don't stop suddenly," she suggested.

Slate gulped, and nodded. It would be pretty pitiful if he got hurt before the battle with Calamity.

The tunnel was cold, but damp, unlike the dry surface up above. Surprisingly, Ink was able to see. While most caverns would have no light sources at all, small specks of purple light from the side of the tunnel gave Ink just enough light for his darkvision to work. It was just enough for him to see the tunnel ahead, winding down into the depths of Pyrrhia. A strange sort of vertigo started to come over him as he moved deeper, as if the tunnel ahead was swirling up and down before his eyes.

Polar used his wings to keep himself stable, letting them drag along the sides of the tunnel to make sure her could tell where he was going. Every so often, he'd accidentally run into Toxin's tail, or feel Slate nudge up behind him. To be quite honest, it was relieving, knowing that he wasn't going down here alone. His eyes caught on a glimpse of purple light in the darkness, and he stared up at it as he passed.

"Darkstone," he whispered, realizing what it was. A speck of Darkstone dust, like the ones in the nearby Darkstone mines. More started to come into view, almost covering the side of the tunnel walls. Queen Glacier had spent years just trying to get enough Darkstone dust to make Polar and Aurora's Darkstones. Had she known about this place, she could have an army of Darkstone holders.

After what felt like ages of descent, Ink's eyes suddenly caught upon a glow from up ahead. The floor and walls of the cavern slowly started to change, becoming suddenly covered by a clear white stone, smooth like ice. Ink felt it with a paw, but past the ambient chill of the cave, it wasn't cold. The others suddenly started to be able to see again, as a dim light started to fill the cavern. The tunnel started to widen in caverns, with huge spikes of crystal lining the walls, occasionally blockading the five's path.

Slate shivered. The frigid cavern was silent and pristine, like few dragons had ever touched their claws in here. Every so often, he'd see his snout reflected on a shimmering wall of crystal, distorted by the imperfections. Something about this cave made his heart race. It had a similar feeling to before, like something so strange didn't belong here. Or it was Slate who didn't belong in the cave.

Suddenly, the cavern opened up, revealing a huge, obloid space to Ink. A wind seemed to blow through it, causing Ink to turn put a wing up. Past a large, flat area, a crystalline bridge extended out over a pit, spikes of crystal sticking up from the bottom far below.

"The bridge of light and frost," Toxin growled, stepping out in front of Ink as she saw the dragons standing on the bridge, in front of a gaping hole in the cavern.

Crystal stood about halfway across the bridge, grinning as her claws wrapped around her dagger. "Took you long enough."

Ink peered around behind her to their real goal. In front to the frozen corpse of a writhing NightWing, Calamity's specter floated above the ground, looming behind Crystal. The Eye of Onyx was nestled within his paw, a shining blue pupil between the two golden wings. As Toxin spoke, the pupil moved along the eye, looking directly at the five approaching dragons, as if it was pleading for their help.

"Welcome to the Crystal Caverns," Calamity smiled. "How have you found it so far? Crystal says she's not a huge fan."

"And yet you made me stay here anyways," Crystal snapped back at Calamity.

"But where else would you go?" Calamity replied, tossing the Eye of Onyx up in the air before catching with his other paw, the scales on it suddenly becoming opaque. "Aurora preferred it here, and it's not like you'd be welcomed anywhere else in Pyrrhia."

Toxin bared her teeth. It felt like neither of them was taking the five seriously. Was this just a game to them? "Hey, listen up!" she yelled out, seeing the two's eyes focus back on her. "It's five against two here! Give us the Eye of Onyx, and stop the drought, or we'll make you!"

Calamity shrugged his wingblades. "Are you quite sure you want do that? You all can just leave right now, if you'd like."

Slate took a step forward, into the cavern. "We've come this far," he growled. "I've seen what you did in the Mud Kingdom. We're not giving up."

Calamity rolled his right eye, the left one staying still. "Of course. Crystal, protect me while I finish up with Jerboa here." With a lick of his fangs, Calamity turned the Eye of Onyx around, forcing the pupil to look up at him.

"Fine," Crystal snorted, almost reluctantly. Her dagger in one forepaw, she paced forward along the bridge, stretching out her wings. She glared at Slate. "So you've come back for round two? You ran from me last time, why do you think it'll turn out differently now?"

Slate gulped, and glanced back to the other four. She was right. As long as Crystal had her dagger, she could kill any of them with just a single cut.

"It'll be alright," Ink said, trying to remain confident. "Fracture saved us for a reason. We need to trust him."

"Trusting Fracture?" Crystal laughed, stepping off the end of the bridge. "What a joke. If you want to get to Calamity, you'll have to get through me first."

Toxin's eyes focused on the snake-like dagger. They needed to keep her from getting close to them with it. "Don't get too close to her," she ordered, trying to form a plan. "Use breath attacks if you can."

Slate winced, and breathed out a tiny puff of flame. It was a bit too cold here for him to do anything. Suddenly, he felt a wave of heat wash over the top of his body, almost scorching him. He looked over to see that Inferno had placed a wing over him, careful not to touch him with it. Just a few seconds beneath her scales, and the chill had been expelled, all the way to his claws and tail.

Inferno smiled. Even if she'd wanted to, there was no point in her trying to fight Crystal claw-to-claw. She wasn't battle-trained. Crystal could kill Inferno with a touch, while everyone else would have to be careful to avoid Inferno. But at least this way she could be useful.

Ink seethed, glaring straight at the smiling Crystal as he bared his fangs. "You murdered Nightreader, Loresearcher, and Fracture."

"I don't deny it," Crystal sighed. "Technically, it was Griffin who killed Loresearcher, but I had a pretty huge paw in that. What? Do you just want me to admit it? Or do you want an apology?"

"I want you to pay for it," Ink hissed.

"Then make me," Crystal taunted.

Ink let out a growl, holding his ground. This wasn't about Crystal, and getting revenge. It was about Calamity, and stopping the drought. If he attacked her right now, he'd just be playing right into her paws. But if he tried to get around Crystal right now, she'd be able to swipe at him with her dagger.

"We're behind you Ink," Toxin said, motioning Polar to follow her as she walked around Crystal. If they encircled her, she might not have a chance. She'd stay on the ground, knowing that it would be harder for her to defend during flight.

Her eyes turning to Toxin and Polar, watching their movements, Crystal took a few steps away, retreating towards the bridge. Suddenly, Slate leaped from beneath Inferno's wings, opening his jaws to let out a stream of fire at Crystal. Surprised, she jumped out of the way the best she could, gritting her teeth as the flames singed her wing.

The odor of burnt flesh entered Toxin's snout as Crystal charged towards her. The IceWing roared as she tried to bring her dagger down on Toxin's side, the hybrid just barely jumping to the side. Before Crystal could lift her paws up for another swipe, the dragonet rushed forward, between the IceWing's forelegs. Toxin's horns scratched against Crystal's underbelly, and the IceWing swiped at Toxin's disappearing tail, not quick enough to make contact.

Toxin tried clawing against Crystal's underbelly, but the IceWing turned, kicking Toxin with a hindleg in the neck, scratching at her throat. The hybrid yelled, and turned to the side, trying to get from under Crystal. While Crystal attempted to turn after her, she screamed as Polar sent frostbreath at the side of her neck, ice crawling up her scales as they froze. She turned away from it, revealing Toxin beneath her.

Polar suddenly closed his mouth, not wanting to hit Toxin accidentally. While Crystal recoiled, he pounced forward. As Crystal stuck her forearm out, Polar grabbed his serrated claws around it, tearing them into her scales, trying to make her drop the enchanted dagger. With his other forepaw, he grabbled one of Crystal's horns, grasping onto her as tightly as he could. Unable to hold Polar's weight up, Crystal rolled over to the side, dangerously close to the edge of the pit. Hissing, she writhed back and forth, trying shake Polar off while he held onto her dagger for all his life was worth.

Ink ran in, claws out and ready to sink into Crystal's exposed belly, but backed away as she tried to swing the dagger at him, Polar's claws around her foreleg impeding her. Quickly changing his target, he sunk his paw halfway down Crystal's tail, making the IceWing scream as he stabbed the sensitive spot. Even so, it wasn't enough to make her drop the dagger.

Still at the entrance to the cave, Inferno's eyes turned from the fight to Calamity. The spectral MudWing glanced back at her, grinning as he raised up the Eye of Onyx. The glowing pupil on the spherical stone started to jitter back and forth, and the Eye started to vibrate. Inferno opened her mouth, about to issue a warning, when Calamity squeezed a paw around the Eye, crushing it into a yellow dust, the two golden wings falling to the ground. Before Inferno could respond, Calamity stuffed his snout into the dust, breathing it in while his glass eye glowed yellow. He winked his other eye at Inferno, causing her to shudder.

"Hey, guys?" Inferno shouted out nervously. The Eye of Onyx was what they'd come here to take back from Calamity, right? "I think Calamity just did something to the Eye of Onyx."

Polar took a moment's glance over towards Calamity, seeing that the Eye had disappeared. Taking advantage, Crystal suddenly forced her head back, stabbing Polar in the jaw with her horn before turning to the side. Polar tried to hold on to her forearm, but she twisted it while getting back on her paws, ripping it away, now free.

"Crystal, you don't have to do this," Polar suddenly pleaded to his aunt. "Queen Glacier is dead. I gave up on the Darkstone; there's no way it'll fall into Queen Blackice's claws."

"What, you think that's what this is about?" Crystal laughed. "It hasn't been about that for ages. This is about saving Pyrrh—"

Crystal suddenly yelled out again as Slate's claws sunk into her backside, pulling her away from Polar. The MudWing bit down on her neck, sinking his fangs deep into her scales, the taste of her blue blood in his jaws. Crystal roared and threw her forearm back behind her, trying to stab the dagger into Slate. Just in time, he let go, throwing himself off Crystal and onto the cavern floor, belly up.

Crystal swiveled towards the vulnerable Slate, and raised her dagger up, about to pounce forward, when Polar shot a blast of frostbreath at her hindlegs. She yelled as the frostbreath hit her directly. Ice started to form around her hindpaw, creeping between her talons. Polar kept blasting her as she tried to lift her hindpaw up, freezing it to the crystalline floor. Slate flipped himself over and backed up, getting out of Crystal's reach.

Ink looked over towards the struggling Crystal, trying to pull her frozen paw from the ice. She was trapped. If he wanted to, he could end her now. Nightreader's death, the splitting up of Ink's family, would finally be avenged. Crystal turned to him with a glare, almost beckoning him forward.

He shook his head, remembering Aurora's words. This wasn't about revenge. He looked to Calamity, and opened his wings, gliding over the pit. The MudWing seemed unimpressed, and just shook his head as Ink landed beside the frozen Starweaver, Toxin behind him.

"Is this really what you want, Ink?" Calamity sighed, drifting towards the two hybrids. "I suppose you have no choice, just like the rest of us."

"Oh, shut up already," Toxin hissed. "Give us back the Eye of Onyx." She took a swipe at Calamity's body, but her claws just went through him, and Toxin stumbled forward.

"No can do," Calamity tsked. With a swipe of his tail, he floated through Ink. Ink shivered as Calamity passed through him, and turned around to see the MudWing sailing down the crystalline bridge, towards the others.

"Sorry about this, Crystal," Calamity smiled as he floated past Polar, and into the frightened Crystal. Polar shuddered as Crystal's head jerked to the side, her body suddenly being controlled by a presence that was not her own.

The possessed Crystal grinned at Polar, and stared down at her frozen paw, suddenly blasting it with even more frostbreath, freezing the scales and flesh. Her tail swung around, smashing into the ice, and with a pull and a snap, the ice shattered, a few pieces of her paw scattering across the floor.

Slate took little hesitation in attacking, pouncing at Crystal's hindquarters, aiming to throw her off balance. Her movements rigid and forced, she tried to swing her tail around, but Slate just grabbed ahold of it, pulling her back. Finally starting to get more control of her body, Crystal swung her dagger out towards Slate, forcing him to let go.

Crystal turned around, licking her fangs as she watched Polar get up. The frostbreath injuries on her neck and the burns on her wing started to glow, the wounds slowly healing. A blue aura extended from her missing hindpaw, and blue flesh and scales started to reappear.

"You could always join Crystal and I," she said to Polar. Calamity's words, not Crystal's. "I can heal the damage the Darkstone has done to you; save your life. You know there's nothing any mortal medicine can do now. You could still live a long happy life with Ink or Slate, or whoever you want."

Calamity's suggestion tempted Polar for a second, but no longer. "No," he growled. "I wouldn't deserve either of them if I let monsters like you do your bidding.

Crystal laughed, as if she'd already known what Polar's answer would be, and had just wanted to torment him with the option. "It's your loss, of course."

Polar shook his head. "It's not." He moved his paw to the single silver circle hanging from his neck, letting his claws pinch the chain. "Do you know what this means?"

"Of course," Crystal sneered. "A First Circle necklace."

"It means honor," Polar hissed. "It means protecting your family."

Clenching his forepaw around the diamond healer, Polar jumped forward, attacking Crystal head-on. Her motions still clunky, she reared up, swiping her dagger from side to side. Polar just barely dodged it, ducking beneath her forearm and taking a swipe at her neck, splashing blue blood over her scales.

Crystal turned as the wound started to heal, like she couldn't feel the pain. "Protecting family?" Calamity spoke through Crystal. "You just attacked your poor aunt."

"She's not my family," Polar growled, slamming his tail into Crystal's belly. Unfazed, she moved closer to Polar, his spikes pushing up and into her underbelly, her blue blood pouring down them. He just needed to keep Crystal injured, to keep Calamity from leaving her body. He glanced back at the other four, Toxin and Ink having almost made it back from the bridge. "This is my family."

Crystal cackled, and swiped at Polar's neck, causing him to pull his spiked tail from her as he dodged. More of her blood splashed on the crystalline floor, and Polar's tail caught on a loop of her guts, ripping it from her underbelly. "How cliché," she snorted, the huge wound already starting to heal. "Your family? You barely know any of these dragons. The only reason you're able to tolerate each other is because of the prophecy. You're not a family. How long do you think they'll grieve for your death?"

Suddenly, Crystal brought her dagger down, swiping towards Polar's neck again. He jerked away, but she lunged forward, stabbing the dagger between the Darkstone bracelet and Polar's scales. Polar cried out as he felt the blade tear into him, and with a pull of the dagger, the bracelet snapped off of Polar's forearm, skidding across the ground.

"Polar!" Slate yelled out, seeing the dagger make contact.

"Stay back!" Polar snapped. This was his sacrifice. He glanced down to the dripping wound, the blue welt caused by the Darkstone slowly turning to grey as the blood stopped welling up. He wrapped his talons around the Diamond Healer as tightly as he could. It was the only thing buying him time.

Polar glared up at the grinning Crystal, a loop of her intestines hanging out, dripping blood onto the floor. As grey stone started to spread along his forearm, solidifying his left forepaw and the diamond within, Polar grabbed ahold of his First Circle necklace again. "Being in the First Circle means always having the courage to do what's right, even if it comes at great sacrifice to yourself. I never truly earned it. I just got it for being Queen Glacier's paw. But that changes now."

Letting go of the necklace, Polar brought his paw to his neck, digging his claws into it as stone started to spread up his sides and wings. Gritting his teeth, he ripped his talons from his neck, covered in his own blue blood, and smeared them across Crystal's snout. A line of blue appeared on her white scales.

Polar kept his eyes locked with Crystal's, waiting for something to happen. Was that it? Was Calamity bound within her body now? The stone kept creeping up his scales, almost reaching his neck. Ink stared at Polar, shocked.

Finally, Crystal shook her head, laughing. "What do you know of right and wrong?"

Polar's right paw shook, his left paw frozen. Had it not worked? Why wasn't it working? His teeth started to chatter as he felt his neck stiffen. He reached his paw out again, smearing more of his blood on Crystal.

Crystal sighed, amused at Polar's desperation. "Oh, you poor thing," she scoffed. "It's always so tragic when you're chosen for the prophecy. Sacrificing yourself for this? You might have falsetto animus powers, but not the blood of an animus."

Toxin stared at Polar, the stone now reaching his horns. She suddenly realized what her vision had meant, seeing the puddle of blood beneath Crystal. Polar's death was her fault. Her vision of blood — the blood had been red, not blue. She turned to Ink, but the hybrid was already in flight, swooping down towards Crystal.

"Ink, don't!" Polar yelled out, seeing Ink out of the corner of his eye, as the layer of stone creeped around her snout.

Refusing the heed Polar's warning, Ink dove at Crystal, claws outstretched. The IceWing turned up towards him, and stuck her dagger out. Not slowing down the hybrid pummeled into her, knocking her onto her back, sending the two across the room in a streak of blue blood. After they settled, Crystal shoved. Ink off her, pulling the dagger out from within Ink's wingblade. The dagger left behind a blot of red where it was pulled from, and a small dab of crimson stained Crystal's pale scales.

Suddenly, Ink's wound started glowing. The hybrid screamed as a stream of red blood drained from the wound, flowing along the ground and wrapping itself around Crystal's paws. The liquid rose up through the air, spiraling around Crystal's leg and her body. Her snout started to contort, her head shaking from side to side as if she was trying to get free. Toxin saw a hint of Calamity's translucent brown tail beside Crystal's, before being forced back inside of her.

The blood began to glow crimson, light reflecting from the crystalline walls. As more poured from Ink's wound, it formed a web around Crystal, splashing onto her scales and staining them a glowing web. Ink's yells stopped, and a blank expression washed over his snout. Suddenly, the web of blood burst into steam, Crystal's body recoiling.

As the red steam dissipated, Ink's body fell over, smacking down on the cold floor. Toxin stared at him, her talons shaking. His eyes were cold and lifeless, no breath flowing through his snout. Her head turned to Polar, the IceWing's snout now fully covered in stone. In just a stroke, two of them were dead.

Crystal cocked her head, grinning as she stared towards Toxin. "Congrats," Calamity spoke through her voice, "you've bound me to Crystal. Now what?"

Toxin's talons shook, and she backed away from Crystal. She still had the dagger. How could they win? She turned to Slate, who was standing by Polar's stone corpse, staring in shock. She shook her head. She couldn't grieve, not yet.

The RainWing-NightWing hybrid took a step towards Inferno, the SkyWing still at the front of the cavern. "Now is the time," she growled. "If you're going to fight, it's now or never."

Inferno shook her head, frightened. She couldn't fight — if she hurt another dragon with her firescales, she'd become a monster. Peril. She'd promised, she'd vowed to Goat. Fighting was the cowardly thing to do; it took courage to use your words instead of threats and violence. But her eyes stayed focused on Ink's lifeless body, motionless beneath Crystal's paws. If she refused to fight, then his death would be for nothing.

Crystal swiveled her head from Toxin to Slate, flicking her forked tongue. Slowly, she waltzed towards him, dagger scraping on the ground.

Slate whipped his head around, torn away from Polar's statue. He bared his fangs, narrowing his gaze. "You're a monster."

Crystal laughed. "Maybe so. But there are quite a lot of monsters in this world."

Slate opened his jaws, shooting a blast of flame towards Crystal. It barely reached her, and she stepped into it, sneering as the fire died out. In a few moments, Slate's firebreath diminished to just a puff of smoke, overcome by the cold of the cavern.

Furious, Slate ran forward using the smoke as cover. He reached his jaws forward, trying to latch onto Crystal's neck, but his fangs barely scraped her scales, and he spat out blue blood. A paw suddenly hit against his face, serrated claws tearing into his snout. He yelled out as Crystal clenched her paw around him, digging into his scales and forcing his head to the ground. She glared down as she raised her other forepaw, dagger glinting within it, pointed towards Slate's neck.

Suddenly, the smell of searing flesh filled the room, and Inferno's talons dug into Crystal's hindquarters. Eyes wrought with fear and fury, she squeezed her forearms around the IceWing's rump, trying to touch their scales as much as possible. Crystal's pale scales burst into flames, and their white started to shrivel up into a charcoal black. Smoke started to spread from Crystal's back, obscuring the air.

"I won't let you kill him," Inferno growled as Calamity calmly moved Crystal's head to look at the SkyWing.

"Interesting," Calamity commented, even as his scales crumbled and turned to ash. "You're not alone."

With a sudden burst of strength, Crystal twisted what little was left of her hips away from Inferno, throwing the SkyWing from her. She grabbed ahold of Inferno's neck with her left paw, flames immediately spreading over it as the flesh seared away. Inferno screamed as bare bones grasped around her throat, held together only by Calamity's spirit.

Crystal raised her other paw, ready to stab her dagger into the trapped Inferno, but her forearm refused to move forward. She glanced over to see fangs buried deep within it, holding it back. Toxin shed her smoke-obscured camouflage, clenching her jaws down with all her might as she bit into Crystal's arm, pulling it back from Inferno.

"So that's where you went," Crystal smirked. The IceWing unlatched her jaws, and Toxin had barely a moment to put up a wing before Crystal sent out a blast of frostbreath. The dragonet shrieked as the freezing death breath engulfed her wing, the leathery membrane solidifying and cracking as the cold spread, killing off her nerves. Still, Toxin kept her jaws clenched around Crystal's forearm, tearing through flesh.

Crystal's frostbreath suddenly stopped, and she reared back, Toxin finally letting go of her arm. She looked down to the wound Toxin had made to see another one, a small poke further down her forearm. She flexed her paw as it stiffened up around the dagger, and grey stone started to cover her scales.

A huge grin overcame Crystal, and she let out a chilling laugh as the stone spread up her, covering each of her scales as their shiny sheen became dull. It wrapped around what was left of her burnt paw and hips, freezing them in place for eternity as Inferno pulled away. Staring at Toxin, the stone climbed up her neck, quenching her final laugh as her eyes turned a dull grey, Calamity trapped within.

Toxin fell down, yelling from the agony of the frostbreath, the parts of her wing that she could still feel burning from the sensation of the cold. She curled her paws against her belly as she screamed, clenching up.

"Toxin!" Inferno cried out, not yet able to celebrate their victory. "Toxin, are you alright?" That was a stupid question. Of course she isn't.

Toxin didn't respond verbally, but her screams slowly turned into whimpers. Inferno's eyes shifted to Crystal's stone corpse, forced into an eternal laugh. She half-expected that Calamity would suddenly climb out from it, but there was no change.

Slate's eyes turned back towards Polar, in a similar state as his aunt. Dead. And for what? "Why didn't you fight?"

"Huh?" Inferno asked, unsure if Slate was talking to her or not.

"I asked, why didn't you fight!" Slate growled, tears in his eyes as he turned to Inferno. "We could have used you, and you just stayed back until the very end."

Inferno opened her mouth, but was unsure how to respond to that. "No," she started to object, "I would have - I would have just gotten in the way."

Slate seethed. "Polar might still be alive!"

"I didn't —" Inferno stammered, "I didn't mean to —"

Inferno's expression suddenly changed, and her muscles grew stiff, her eyes blank and unfocused. After a moment's pause, she mechanically lifted her right foreleg into the air, then leaning forward, placed it out in front of her. Her left hindleg did the same, not bending as it strutted itself forward. Her left foreleg, then right hindleg followed, and Inferno started rigidly walking towards Slate.

"You're useless!" Slate yelled. "Why didn't you fight?"

Inferno was unresponsive to Slate's accusation, and she kept walking forward, until she almost walked up to Slate. The MudWing fiercely glared up at her as she approached, holding his ground. When she got near him, and he felt her heat on his scales, he suddenly leaped out of the way, barely avoiding getting his scales scorched. As if she didn't realize, or didn't care he was in the way, she kept on walking in the same direction, past him.

Slate turned to see her target when she finally stopped. At her paws was the Darkstone bracelet that had been ripped from Polar's arm. She reached out her talons to it, and lifted it up in front of her snout. The bracelet immediately started to melt, and the molten silver dripped through her talons, forming a puddle on the ground, leaving only the spherical Darkstone behind. Inferno rotated herself 90 degrees, then started to walk towards the entrance of the cavern, keeping the Darkstone clenched in her paw.

"Inferno, wait!" Slate called after her as she left the cavern without a word. What was she doing? He winced, gritting his teeth. How could he have blamed her for Polar's death? "I'm sorry! I didn't mean what I said. Come back!"

Inferno was unresponsive, and continued on in her path, until she disappeared out of sight behind a wall of crystal. Slate opened his mouth, thinking about going after her, but his gaze was caught on the huddled up Toxin. He couldn't leave her.

He stepped towards the dragonet, trying to make himself calm. She gave out a whimper and a cry, her body shaking from her frozen wing.

"Don't worry, Toxin," Slate said as he peered down, placing a paw behind Toxin's head. He wasn't sure there was anything else he could do to sooth the pain. "It'll all be alright, okay? You did it. We won."

Chapter 56

Glory squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep out the world around her. Her mind was foggy. She'd slept — no, she'd been unconscious. There was a difference. Sleeping made you feel all awake and energetic afterwards. Now, she only felt pain. Like someone had peeled off her scales, the skin underneath sore and burnt. That blistering pain was all over, but it wasn't the only type. A jagged, cutting pain along her side and legs, a pain of claws tearing through scales. Her head ached beneath her right horn, her skull bruised. The RainWing moved in her half-consciousness, and she felt another pain. Metal scraping off scales by her paws, her forelegs contorted into a position above her.

She remained in this state for quite some time, tossing and turning, but not yet awake, not yet ready to open her eyes. She tried to sleep, but couldn't. Not in the unnatural upright position she'd been placed in, not with the burning with her scales. A voice of another dragon pierced her ears, but the words didn't make sense. Eventually, she got tired of the sleepless rest, her mind and senses starting to come back to her. Glory slowly opened an eyelid, before closing it immediately. Another pain. The sting of smoke in her eyes.

It was finally enough to break the spell of fatigue. Trying to calm herself and think, Glory took in a deep breath. She coughed as acrid smoke entered her throat. Smoke. There had been smoke in the rainforest. A fire. The drought. IceWings attacked her.

Glory suddenly fluttered her eyes open again, wincing as smoke entered them, tears running across her scales. She resisted the urge to close them again, and tried to turn her head to the side, hoping that the smoke would be less prevalent in a different direction. It wasn't. Her vision was smoggy, and the figure across the cavern floor was just a blur through her tears and the grey smoke. A jolt shot up her neck as she turned it, twisting a nerve.

Her gaze fell to one of her forelegs, forcefully pulled up to her side and above her, in a position quite wrong for any quadruped. A thick metal cuff had been tightened just below her paw, her scales rubbed raw beneath it from her movements in her sleep. A rusty iron chain extended from it to a circular pin hastily smashed into the the stone cavern. She pulled on her forearm, gritting her teeth as the metal scraped her scales. The pin didn't budge.

Glory turned to her other side, where a similar chain held the other foreleg in place. The rest of Glory's body hung from her forelegs, between the two chains. Her back was against the warm cavern wall, her underbelly exposed out to the front. A third chain wrapped twice around her torso and wings, keeping her from opening them up, while two more chains connected her hindlegs to pins smashed into the ground. Her head and tail were the only parts of her body that were guaranteed free movement.

As the RainWing queen felt the heat of the cavern wall against her neck, it suddenly dawned on her that this wasn't the rainforest. She didn't remember this location specifically, but the smoke and the stone was too familiar. This was the NightWing volcanic island. She'd been here only a couple weeks ago.

Her suspicions were confirmed as the smoke-caused tears rolled down her eyes, and the shapes in the smoke started to become more clear. Not far from where she was chained up, an orange glow was cast on the stones. A small flow of still molten lava slowly ran down the cragged slope. That meant they had to be pretty far up the volcano; most of the lower flows had cooled when Glory had visited with Mastermind. Not far from the lava flow, an orange dragon idly twiddled his claws. A SkyWing? No, an IceWing whose white scales looked orange under the lava's aura. It was difficult to make out in the smoke, but Glory thought she saw small black markings painted about his talons and spines.

IceWings. Why IceWings? Glory would've thought that if anyone would've attacked the rainforest, it would've been Queen Scarlet. Sure, rumors said that Queen Scarlet wasn't exactly the evil schemer she'd been three years ago — apparently, her health had deteriorated since Glory took off half her face, and brave SkyWings even claimed that she'd started to see Glory's spies in every nook and cranny of her palace — but she at least had a somewhat reasonable reason to hate Glory.

Glory took another breath, and let out a loud cough from the smoke. The IceWing glanced over to her, standing up as soon as he realized that her eyes were open, and she was awake.

"Hey, Icicle-Face!" Queen Glory shouted, realizing there was no point in trying to pretend she was still asleep. "What's the meaning of this? If Queen Blackice wants to alk, she could've just asked me."

The IceWing nervously looked back and forth, then promptly turned around and spread his wings, taking off over the lava flow. Glory let out a growl as he left her sight, tugging on the chains. Hopefully he didn't leave her here for too long. She was not a fan of being taken prisoner.

Still, if he was gone, Glory would make the best of it. Maybe she could try and escape. She turned her head back to the chains. The cuffs around her ankles and wrists had small locks on them for keys. Unfortunately, nothing like a keyring seemed anywhere in sight. Maybe she could try and break the chains, or pull them out of the walls? She winced as she tugged on one. Nope. It seemed quite well hammered in place.

What about venom? Her snout had been left unchained. So the IceWings didn't know about the venom, or they were too confident to care. Either way, Glory doubted it would work on the chains. RainWing venom only worked on organic materials, like plants or flesh. Still, there was no harm in trying.

Glory quickly shot a small burst of venom at the chain on the floor. It hit the iron, and dripped off without a mark. She sighed. No luck there. Maybe there was another way she could use her venom? If she shot the guard when he came back with it, she could tell him she would only give him an antidote if he freed her. Then she'd kill him after being set free.

That plan made her feel slightly queasy. She'd killed dragons with her venom before, of course, but tricking someone like that, even if they were keeping her locked up, didn't feel right. And it was risky — if he didn't free her fast enough, the venom would run out and stop melting. Still, Glory was getting desperate. The rainforest was burning. Had the IceWings set the fire, or was it an accident? What had happened to her RainWings and NightWings? Were the IceWings attacking all of them, or was she their only target?

"Moons, please let Deathbringer, Firefly, and the rest of the kingdom be alright," Glory muttered. Her breath started to grow faster as her scales started to pale. She needed to get back. She was their queen. She couldn't abandon them like this. She glanced back to the chains. Her venom couldn't melt the iron, but it could melt organic matter. If she shot it at her paws…

Glory shook her heads. She couldn't do that. To get all of the chains off, she have to use it on all four of her paws. She wasn't strong enough to do something like that. But if it was the only option, the only way to save everyone?

The Rainforest Queen didn't get a chance to wonder more, as a flutter of wings sounded from across the cave, landing on the same side of the lava flow as her. Glory briefly considered turning invisible, but realized they'd still be able to see her in the smoke. Maybe they'd be reasonable? That seemed like too much to hope at this point.

A small procession of six dragons walked forward. Five IceWings, one of them possibly the same as the one guarding Glory earlier. Four of them had the same black markings on their talons and spines, each of them clearly giving the fifth IceWing room and reverence. The only one without the markings, Queen Blackice needed little introduction. Her bright blue eyes stared greedily at Queen Glory, fangs grinning covetously at her prize. One of her paws wrapped around a chain, attached to the hindleg of a shuddering NightWing behind her. Glory recoiled slightly as her eyes fell on Alchemy's abused form. What sort of monster would do that to a dragon?

She didn't have to wait long to find out. Queen Blackice dropped the chain, letting one of the other IceWings pick it up. She walked forward towards Glory, eyes wide in amazement and glee. Seeing Blackice's expression, Glory wanted to retch ten times more than she'd wanted to upon seeing the poor NightWing. The RainWing shook as memories of her time as Queen Scarlet's pet came back to her. Blackice looked at her the same the SkyWing queen had, like a hatchday gift someone had given her.

"They did it," Queen Blackice whispered, almost shocked. She placed a claw against Glory's neck, causing the RainWing to stiffen up. Instead of tearing into, the IceWing traced it along Glory's scales, as if she was judging her gift's condition. "I'll admit, Hoarfrost, I thought it was a stupid idea. I thought for sure they'd fail. But they did it. They got me the NightWing queen."

"Yes, your majesty," the IceWing who'd picked up the NightWing's chain replied. "I was quite surprised myself."

"Make sure they're well-rewarded," Blackice ordered, grinning as she continued to examine Glory, grabbing ahold of the RainWing's horn. Glory tried to turn away, but Blackice refused to let her. "First Circle for them. Let their families live in the palace after it fully reforms. Treasure. A ceremony for their heroism. I want to make sure that everyone knows that under Queen Blackice, IceWings will be rewarded for their loyalty."

"Of course, your majesty," Hoarfrost responded. "For the two who died, I will make sure their families are given quite the payout, and will give them First Circle posthumously. It will be known there is nothing more honorable than dying in your name."

Glory suddenly jerked her horn away, twisting it our of Blackice's claws. She glared up at the IceWing queen. "What's this all about?" she hissed. "Are you declaring war on the RainWings and NightWings? Am I your hostage now?"

Blackice let out a shrill cackle, the sound scraping against Glory's scales. "Why would I need to do that?" the IceWing snorted. "Declare war? I've already won."

Already won? Glory wondered fearfully. Did she take over the rainforest? "You attacked us without declaring war?" Glory growled. "That's dishonorable. Even Burn wouldn't have stooped that low. It's not the dragon way."

Blackice sneered. "Oh, who cares about that? Why would I care about that rule? The Ice Kingdom is impenetrable, who's going to punish us for breaking some tradition? Besides, we were already at war. IceWings and NightWings have been for two-thousand years. The NightWings stealing our magic. That's what's really dishonorable."

"So that's what you're doing?" Glory asked. "You're continuing the ancient IceWing-NightWing war? And I'm the NightWing queen, I suppose?"

Blackice's expression changed faster than a burst of lightning, her callous grin into a vicious snarl. She slammed a paw into Glory's chest, and squeezed her talons into the RainWing. Glory winced as the serrated knives tore into her scales, and felt a trickle of blood roll down her underbelly.

"You stole the NightWings from me," Blackice hissed, her spiked tail waving back and forth. "You're going to pay for it."

Glory glared up at Blackice, refusing to put down her bravado. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she growled. "You wanted to rule the NightWings?"

"It was my RIGHT to rule the NightWings," Blackice yelled, cold spittle landing on Glory's snout. Her voice reverberated through the cavern. The other IceWings stood still and silent, as if this was far from first time they'd heard this. "I killed Queen Battlewinner in one-to-one combat, fair and square. That makes me the rightful NightWing queen. But instead of getting the Night Kingdom like I deserved, all I got was this stupid NightWing who doesn't know a polar bear from a seal. Do you know how many years I spent exiled on our island? How dark it was? How boring it was? How hungry we were? And I finally get news that my mother is dead, and I can come back, and what do I hear? Apparently some brainless RainWing has taken my prize."

Queen Battlewinner? Glory wondered. So Blackice knew her name somehow. But Glory had been there during the queen's last moments. Blackice obviously hadn't killed her. Yet, Battlewinner had died of frostbreath wounds from the inside-out. Did that mean that Blackice was the IceWing who'd caused them?

"It's unfair," Blackice whined, continuing her rant. "I have to kill two NightWing queens? Although I suppose I should be grateful. I'll go down in the history scrolls for this. For bringing the Ice Kingdom back from the weakness and debauchery of my mother, for finally ending the NightWings, and for killing not one, but two NightWing queens." Her mood seemed to change again, her anger subsided. "Still, you've caused me so much pain. I'm going to have some fun with you before I kill you."

Glory's eyes fell on the abused form of Alchemy. She had a feeling that Blackice meant similar torture for her, if not worse. She glanced at the four Black Princes in succession. All emotionless. No moral reaction to Blackice's threat.

The RainWing queen finally understood. She hadn't been brought here as a hostage. Blackice had no intention of letting her leave alive. The color of Glory's scales started to pale, her red-orange wings turning to a faded green, almost the color of ice. She closed her eyes, trying to still her breath. There had to be a way to escape, right? No, she'd been through that. It was too late.

Her eyes fell on the glowing river of lava, the murky sky barely visible beyond it. There was no chance of rescue. Even if someone figured out she was here, of all places, they'd have to get through the IceWings. RainWings could sneak in, but who would do that? Of the four RainWings who'd actually been trained to do stuff like that, two were dead, one was injured, and the last was traumatized. Moons above, Deathbringer had been right about her needing invisible bodyguards. Glory was the queen of two kingdoms. Why had she thought she was safe?

Where was Deathbringer? They'd saved each others lives more times than they could remember. He had to show up at the last minute, right? Glory should've had him go with her. She hadn't meant to push him away. She'd just thought that splitting up would be helpful. A huge mistake. If Glory got out of this alive, by some miracle, she'd make sure she kept him close by. He was her mate before he was just some ex-assassin she could send out on missions.

The last of Queen Glory's rage and hope welled up inside her. Blackice was going to try and destroy the NightWings. Murder an entire tribe of dragons. Blackice was right about one thing — Glory was the NightWing queen. It was her responsibility to protect RainWings and NightWings alike. She couldn't just become some chained up corpse. Even if it meant her giving her own life for it, she would stop Blackice.

Glory slowly tilted her head, pointing her snout directly towards Queen Blackice. She stared at the IceWing's snout, currently turned back towards one of the Black Princes. Glory would only have one shot at this, and she needed to kill. Directly in the eyes would give her the best chance of that. Afterwards, the other IceWings would likely kill her. But maybe the NightWings would have a chance.

"You'll regret this," Glory growled, trying to get Blackice to turn towards her. "You provoked the NightWings and RainWings. You won't get off lightly."

The IceWing queen shook her head, grinning. "I won't regret anything, I promise you. This drought has been good for something — your rainforest is burning down as we speak. We've already got a supply of RainWing slaves to help rebuild the Ice Kingdom to its former glory. Heh. Glory." Blackice chuckled at her own pun.

"You can't," she quickly protested, despair taking over her. "Please, the RainWings don't have anything to do with this. They can't survive in the Ice Kingdom, it's too cold there." An image passed in front of Glory's mind of Kinkajou, dying of cold while forced to toil away in the snow of the Ice Kingdom, dragging around blocks of ice, her paws black and frostbitten.

"I can do whatever I want," Blackice snarled.

Glory looked back towards the lava river, hoping to see friendly wings in the sky. She'd thought that bringing the RainWings and NightWings together was the right decision at the time. Had she only put the RainWings in more danger? Where were the other Dragonets of Destiny right now when she needed them the most? That was right. She'd left them to be queen. Her brothers and sisters had gone to Jade Mountain, while she'd stayed in the rainforest. And now they were all across Pyrrhia. All of them probably thought she was safe, back in the rainforest. She'd die here, alone.

A fizzle suddenly sounded from behind Queen Blackice, and the IceWing's head whipped around. Another sound came shortly the river of lava, a small hissing noise. Her gaze narrowed as she saw what was causing it. Drops of water were falling into the lava from the sky above, evaporating as they hit it. Raindrops.

Before Blackice had a chance to say anything, the sky opened up. A flash of lightning burnt into Glory's eyes, followed by a sudden crack of thunder. Steam rose up from the lava flow as the patter of rain grew into the strength of a storm. A trickle of water ran down into the cavern, touching the tip of Glory's tail. The coolness of the water was an antidote to the dry heat of the volcano, and just the small touch seemed to calm Glory's wounds and burns.

A small smile came over Glory's snout, as the deathly pale green of her scales started to cool into a green-blue aquamarine. The noise of the rain on stone filled the RainWing queen's ears, offering her meditative calmness in what she assumed were to be her final moments. Rain. The drought was over. Toxin, Polar. They'd won. She could rest, at least knowing that.

"You're underestimating us," Glory smiled defiantly, Blackice turning back to her. "The fires you started in the rainforest are going out as we speak. RainWings and NightWings aren't just going to let you do what you want with them."

Blackice's snout contorted, baring her teeth. "You did this, didn't you," she hissed. "How? Tell me how."

Glory grinned. "It wasn't me. It was a RainWing-NightWing hybrid and an IceWing, working together. You don't like that, do you?"

The IceWing queen's eyes opened wide, a low rumble sounding in the back of her throat. Glory could see her claws shaking. Just a little closer, and she'd have a perfect shot.

"I'll tell you something else," Glory taunted. "Queen Battlewinner. You didn't kill her. She survived your frostbreath. I saw her die, on this very island. She died trying to kill me."

That was too much for Blackice. With a sudden roar, she pounced forward, claws out and ready to attack the chained-up Glory. Faster than Glory had expected, she had her talons around the RainWing's neck. Glory opened her jaws, shooting out a blast of venom, but Blackice had slammed her neck back up into the wall, chipping her horns. The venom barely missed the IceWing's head, sailing across the cavern before landing in a puddle on the floor.

Her one chance to kill Blackice. Gone. Glory closed her eyes as Blackice tightened her talons. Fuck.

Alchemy hobbled over to the small puddle of black goop on the floor, curious what Glory had shot out. He gave the venom a small sniff, before poking a claw-stub into the surface. As his scales started to melt, he squealed and jumped back, shaking his paw as if hoping the venom would stop.

Blackice turned her head, hearing the NightWing's screams and realizing what Glory had tried to do. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" she screeched, grabbing ahold of one of Glory's horns with one paw and her lower jaw with the other. Holding Glory's head back, Blackice forced the RainWing's jaws opened, and grabbed at Glory's largest fang, twisting and tearing at it as the RainWing screamed out.

Hoarfrost looked over to Alchemy in worry, seeing the NightWing coddling his claw-stub. "Wait!" he called out as he saw what Queen Blackice was doing, Glory's jaws open. "Your majesty! Stop!"

Hoarfrost rushed forward, trying to protect his queen, when Blackice turned around with a furious glare. With no regard for his safety, she twisted her spiked tail around, slamming it into the side of Hoarfrost's neck, knocking him away. "Don't tell me what to do!" she yelled. "I'm the queen! I'm the one who giv —"

Blackice's yells were cut short by her piercing scream, her eyes wide with shock and agony. Her right paw let go of Glory's fang, covered in black venom as her scales dissolved to bone. Fear in her eyes, Blackice moved her gaze to it, watching her claws melt before her very eyes. She turned to her wing, a similar amount of black liquid having sprayed out from beneath her paw. The membrane was quickly dissolving, venom eating away at it, holes forming within.

As Blackice let go of Glory's fang, the RainWing queen's head slumped back. Venom had dripped down her fang from Blackice's paw, directly into the RainWing's throat. Her own venom had formed a hole had formed beneath her jaws and on the front of her neck. Queen Glory's emerald eyes stared up at the shocked Blackice, Glory's snout a lifeless grin.

Blackice screamed as she looked back at her paw and wing, still melting. "MAKE IT STOP!" she ordered frantically. All of the IceWings were still and frightened, unsure how to respond.

With no other option, Blackice's gaze landed on the flow of lava, sizzling from the downpour of rain. She ran towards it, hobbling on her three non-venomed legs, increasingly desperate and frightened. Without hesitation, she plunged her leg and wing into the lava, letting out a screech like Pyrrhia had never heard as the lava burned away the venom, flesh, and scales alike. The IceWing kept it in there, refusing to take it out until she was sure there was nothing left of the venom left.

Alchemy's head suddenly perked up, staring at Blackice, leaning over the river of lava. So vulnerable. Just a teensy little push, and she'd fall right in. He took a step forward. Then another. Then a third. His claws shook. Would Blackice be angry at him if he did this? Would she punish him? He took another step forward. He'd made up his mind. He suddenly leaped, pouncing at Blackice.

Alchemy squealed as he ran up against the end of his chain, grabbing ahold of his hindleg, slamming his snout hard to the ground. Hoarfrost stood at the other end, clenching ahold of it. Blue blood ran down the side of his neck from where Blackice's tail spikes had hit him. The NightWing had been too slow.

After what seemed like an eternity of screaming, Blackice finally pulled her foreleg and wing from the lava, or at least what was left of them. Small stubs of blackened bone poked out from the stubs of her limbs, rainwater streaming down her scales. Her eyes were wide open as she turned, her remaining paws shaking. Hoarfrost pulled Alchemy back.

Blackice stared at Glory, the RainWing queen's grinning corpse hanging from her chains, the hole in her neck widened. Blackice yelled out again, this time in anguish. Tripping once onto the stone floor, she limped over to Glory. She swiped out at the RainWing, what was left of her right foreleg's bones waving through the air. The IceWing queen screamed again, this time using her left paw. Her talons cut through Glory's underbelly, ripping it open. The Black Princes stared at Blackice desecrated the corpse, unwilling to look away for fear they might offend their queen or show weakness.

When Blackice was finally done, she glared at each of the emotionless Black Princes in turn. The coward. She'd taken two of Blackice's limbs and killed herself in the process. She'd stolen her own death from Blackice, and there was nothing the IceWing queen could do about it. No matter how much she teared through the RainWing's corpse, she was dead. She couldn't feel it.

"Make sure everyone knows I'm the one who killed Glory," Blackice hissed, getting a quick nod from the Black Princes. "It was me. No one else. Kill anyone who disagrees or questions me. That includes everyone here. Understood?"

The IceWings quickly shook their heads up and down. No one would ever learn the truth about what happened in here.

Blackice glared at Hoarfrost, still tightly grasping Alchemy's chain. "Behead her and put her head up on a spike or something. Get rid of everything else. Just make sure everyone knows she's dead by my claws."

Hoarfrost nodded obediently. He turned to the chains, scanning what was left of the RainWing's corpse. This would not be fun. He didn't particularly want to soil his claws like this, but if those were his orders, he would carry them out with pride.

"Get me a NightWing to murder," Blackice grumbled. "Or maybe an IceWing who looks like my mother. Yet another queen I didn't get to kill."

Epilogue

Rain pattered down Slate's scales, droplets of cold water wrestling their way between them. He folded his wings in with a shiver. The rain hadn't let up since the fateful day at the Mausoleum, and it didn't seem to plan on stopping anytime soon.

A flash of lightning lit up the evening sky, the pillars of Queen Frost's Mausoleum casting shadows on the ground. Even with all the rain, a layer of fluffy snow remained inside the circle. Slate glanced up to one of the pillars, the frightening figure of a SandWing queen staring back at him. Thunder roared, and his claws clenched up, grasping ahold of wet mud. With all the rain loosening the dry soil up so suddenly, the five of them were practically standing in a huge puddle. Not that Slate particularly minded.

It was the first time him and Toxin had been back to the Mausoleum since the battle with Calamity. Even if it had only been a few weeks, it was nice seeing Toxin again. The two of them had been through something together that no one else could understand.

"If it keeps raining like this, we might have to find some way to stop the flooding," Torrent muttered, vaguely in Slate's direction. "Stuff like this happens when you mess with animus magic."

Slate glanced down to the SeaWing's webbed paws. They were flexing in and out of the muddy water, as if the SeaWing's scales were secretly longing for it. How long had it been since Torrent had visited the ocean?

"You're being rained on, though," Slate pointed out, water running off the SeaWing's jaw. "That wouldn't happen if this was magical, right?"

Torrent grunted something that might have been an answer. Slate looked away, towards Trustbreaker. The NightWing was carefully placing a large rock on one of the four piles he'd made to mark the graves. Slate was grateful. Even if they'd only had one body to bury, it had been quite difficult to dig the grave in the mud. Trustbreaker had done not only that, but had gathered the stones to mark the graves and placed them, all in this weather. Normally, it would've been up to Clarity, as the leader of the Talons, to have done that, but well . . .

Clarity was sitting on her haunches a short distance away from Trustbreaker. She'd been almost completely still as long as Slate had seen her, her tail having almost sunk beneath the mud. Her only movements had been the careful rubbing of her claws, gently scratching Sapphire behind his ears as she held the tabby up against her scaled chest, using a wing to protect him from the rain.

To no one's surprise, Avalanche hadn't shown up to the funeral. Trustbreaker and Clarity had already put Fracture's remains to rest, retrieved from the smolders of the safehouse in Possibility. The other three dragons — Clarity was the only one of them who was able to open the Mausoleum, and no one particularly wanted to go down there. The eerieness of the unnatural caverns. Slate still saw it when he dreamt. Sometimes, the battle played before his eyes, Polar's death still vivid. Other times, he was cold and alone down there. Helpless, as he felt something grasping ahold of him, keeping him trapped there. And of course, there was the fear that still struck Slate sometimes. The fear that they hadn't won. Calamity was only trapped in Crystal's stone body. How long could that last? How long had Ink's death bought them?

So, the other remains hadn't been brought up. That was alright, Slate supposed. Ignoring the creepiness of the caverns. Laid to rest in the grave of Mica, Starweaver, Falcon, and Queen Frost. Ink and Polar would rest with ancient heroes . . . and Crystal.

"Why are we having a funeral for her?" Slate grumbled. "She's the one who killed them. It's wrong."

Torrent shrugged his wings, causing the water coalesced in them to slip off and splash on the ground. "It's not for you," he said with a conflicted frown. "It's for Clarity. Out of everyone here, she's lost the most. Her mate, her sister, and her dragonets."

Clarity kept staring at the graves, her claws against Sapphire, rubbing his wet fur. Torrent was right, Slate supposed. But how could she honor Crystal with the rest of them, when she was the one who'd stolen Polar away from her?

"And what do you think about it?" Slate asked Torrent.

Torrent stared down at his webbed talons. "Crystal took my family from me. Whether I loved her or not, I can't say I'm sorry for her death. Just that she hurt so many in her life."

Eventually, Trustbreaker finished building up the piles of rocks. The NightWing gave a short speech, but Slate wasn't able to catch much of it with the noise of the downpour above him. Oh well. Fracture had said that Trustbreaker was from another world, hadn't he? It was strange. The NightWing didn't seem all that different than the dragons of this word. Slate had been curious when Fracture had mentioned it, but now it was like that had faded from him. Another world . . . why did that matter? It couldn't be that much different from Pyrrhia, could it? Dragons living, loving, fighting, and dying.

Even if Slate had wanted to ask Trustbreaker about what Fracture had said, this would've been a bad time for it. After the NightWing was done, Slate splashed over to Toxin. The RainWing dragonet gave him a small smile as she looked up, but he could tell she was just as downcast as him.

Slate tried to avoid staring at the stump that remained of Toxin's right wing. The price she'd paid for defeating Calamity. He'd carried her back to Possibility afterwards. Mayfly had done all she could, but there'd been too much frostbreath damage to save it. Toxin had remained strong as ever. She'd remained in Possibility while Slate had returned to Jade Mountain.

"Is there any news of Inferno?" Toxin asked Slate.

Slate shook his head. He'd figured that a dragon with firescales wouldn't be hard to find, but he'd heard nothing. Since she'd left at the Mausoleum, no one had seen her. She hadn't returned to Jade Mountain Academy, nor the Talons of Peace. Why had he said that? He promised that if he ever saw her again, the first thing he'd say to her was an apology.

"What about Aurora?" Toxin asked.

"Torrent has been tracking her on his map," Slate explained. "She's in the Sky Kingdom right now. Doing who knows what."

"Are you planning to go after her?"

"Me?" Slate responded. "No. Definitely not. Torrent might, but he's been conflicted. He thinks . . . he still hopes there's good left in her, after I told him about our conversation at the Mausoleum. He wants to give her some time, now that Crystal's gone."

"She killed Gorilla and Tropic," Toxin snapped.

"I didn't say I agreed with him," Slate continued. "I don't like it. Sure, Calamity and Crystal are gone, but she could still be up to no good. Torrent should at least keep her under watch. She's might well be the most dangerous dragon on Pyrrhia, and he's the only one who can stop her."

Toxin nodded. "So what now, if you're not planning to go after Aurora?"

"I'm going back to the Mud Kingdom," Slate replied glumly. "I'm sure my mother is worried about me." Slate had been so hopeful back before the battle. He still should be. They'd stopped the drought. Thanks to Torrent, him and his mother were the richest dragons in the Mud Kingdom. They could still help Glen and Schist create a new Mud Kingdom, one where hybrids were accepted. A kingdom for everyone. But with Polar dead, it just didn't feel the same. The spark of Slate's hopes and ambitions had been doused. Damnit, why did I fall in love with a dragon with a penchant for martyrdom?

"What about you?" Slate asked, trying to change the subject. "What are your plans?"

Toxin sighed. "I don't know," she muttered. "I can't go back to the rainforest. There's not much left there."

"Oh, yeah," Slate glumly replied. At least he had a home to go back to. Toxin's entire kingdom was gone in a night. "Were you able to find anything else out."

"Maybe," Toxin admitted. "I have hope. I had a vision. I think the RainWings are in hiding, but I'm not sure where. They're waiting for the right moment to strike back."

"You know, with Glory gone, the RainWings and NightWings will need a new leader," Slate suddenly blurted out.

"Are you suggesting me as queen?" Toxin laughed. "I'll pass. I'm a hybrid dragonet with no venom that can barely turn invisible. I can't even fly anymore. I can't even search for the RainWings."

"Just because you're not a fighter doesn't mean you're not a leader," Slate replied. "You're the one who defeated Calamity."

Toxin shook her head. "I'm also the one who got Polar killed. His death was my fault, not Inferno's."

Slate frowned. "What do you mean? You don't have to blame yourself."

"I do," Toxin insisted. "He told me he thought he was the one who was supposed to bind Calamity. If I'd realized sooner from my vision that it had to be someone with red blood, he might still be alive." She turned her eyes away from Slate, unable to meet them. "I know. Feel free to be angry."

"I'm not angry," Slate sighed. Water dripped down Toxin's snout, but he couldn't tell if it was her tears or just the rain. "It's my fault as much as yours. Fracture trusted me to protect Polar. I failed."

Toxin stared down at her paws, slowly sinking into the mud. The two stayed silent for a moment, rain splattering from their scales as they shivered.

"I'll probably just go back to Jade Mountain," Toxin finally responded. "It's safe there, and there are lots of RainWing and NightWing refugees. I want to know wh-who's left.

Slate nodded. The Mud Kingdom. His home. The warm embrace of his mother, telling him that this all was over. He felt guilty for thinking it.

After what felt like an eternity, the funeral finally finished up. Trustbreaker and Clarity started their flight back to Possibility, carrying Toxin with them. It was far more difficult and dangerous in the storm, but it wasn't like they'd get anywhere quick by walking. Before he took off, Slate looked back to Torrent. The SeaWing was by the graves, his gaze fixed, his wings drooped.

"Are you coming?" Slate quickly asked. He didn't want to interrupt Torrent's mourning, but the other three had almost disappeared in the fog of the storm. If they didn't go soon, they might lose them.

"I'll catch up," Torrent responded. "Go ahead without me."

Slate nodded, the SeaWing's intentions indiscernible. If he wanted some time to himself to mourn, Slate wouldn't deny him that. He quickly took off, disappearing into the rain.

Torrent lowered his head, quietly staring at the graves. A son he'd barely known. A dragon he'd once loved. In a way, it felt like he'd lost the least of everyone here. All of this felt like it was somehow his fault. He and Orca had started this, twenty years ago, and these young dragons had payed for it.

The SeaWing slowly raised his head, turning around, facing into the mists of the flooded valley. He closed his eyes, preparing himself for what he knew was going to come. Finally, he was ready.

"I know you're there," he spoke quietly, his voice extending out into the fog.

Slowly, a small figure stepped out of the mists, fog clinging to his soaked feathers. Griffin stared up at Torrent.

"It's been a while, Torrent," Griffin said. Other than their species, his expression wasn't much different than Torrent's. Both shared in their grief.

"Seven years," Torrent replied, despondent. It had been seven years since he'd seen Griffin. The only other one who'd known Orca like he had, who'd been there through Crystal, Schist, Nightreader. "Why didn't you ever look for me?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Griffin replied, his voice sad rather than angry. He ruffled his feathers, shaking off raindrops. There wasn't much use still in the rain.

The two stayed silent. What was there to save? Griffin ran his talons through the mud. Even in death, Fracture had been right, of course. Once to kill, once to grieve, and once to live. Griffin had come to the Mausoleum twice after his initial meeting with Fracture. The first time, he'd been captured by Crystal, then magically forced by Aurora to kill Loresearcher. Now he was here to mourn Ink and Fracture's deaths.

Griffin turned his head to Fracture's water-soaked grave. What had the IceWing seer known? Ever since Griffin had met Fracture on the edge of the Sea Kingdom, he'd been guiding them. Now that he was dead, what would happen? Calamity had been trapped. Did that mean this was all over?

"I raised him well, you know," Griffin said. "He had a happy life." How much had Ink known? Griffin wondered. How much had Fracture told him?

"Thank you," Torrent sighed. He felt like he should be angry at Griffin. Why hadn't he ever brought him to see Ink, just once? Maybe Torrent understood. Griffin had been scared of him. It wasn't like Torrent had spent much time with the dragonet he had either.

"His sister survived, if you didn't realize," Torrent continued. "Stonemover too, if you can call that life."

"How is she?"

"She's well," Torrent explained. "Her name is Midnight. She lives with Gazelle in Crosswinds, if you ever want to meet her. She's brave. Smart. The best of her mother."

"And your other daughter?" Griffin asked.

Torrent closed his eyes, raindrops splashing against his snout. "She's alive. I met her. I'm leaving her be." The SeaWing sighed. What had happened to Crystal? Had she changed, or had Torrent just ignored the dangerous parts of her? Boreal, the SkyWing soldiers, the RainWing dragonet . . . Griffin had seen it, and he'd warned Torrent. But was Torrent really so different than her? He'd gone along with it. He'd agreed with her. Could he have killed Nightreader and Loresearcher? He'd threatened to kill Midnight if she'd abused her magic, but he couldn't actually ever go through with it, right?

"Loresearcher and Nightreader weren't your fault," Torrent said to Griffin. He'd been enchanted. Just because Loresearcher had died in his talons — it wasn't him. Griffin had been the one to warn him about Crystal.

"I know," Griffin replied.

The two stood in the pouring rain, the Mausoleum and the newly made graves behind them. Quietly, Griffin turned his head, and started back into the mists of the valley.

"I'm going back to Crosswinds," Torrent called after him, almost desperately. "I want to spend time with Midnight. You can come back with me if you want. I'm sure she'd be excited to meet you."

Griffin didn't reply. Soon, all that Torrent could see of him was the outline of a tailfeather, disappearing into the fog.

Post-Epilogue

Thunder crackled from over the Sky Kingdom. A torrent of rain washed across the roof of the palace. The prisoners, chained up on their pillars above the arena, shivered and huddled in the cold, hoping that a stray bolt of lightning wouldn't hit their chains.

Queen Scarlet herself remained safe and sound on her throne. She was in a grumpy mood, and the rain wasn't helping. It had been two years since she'd regained her throne, and she still wasn't in a war. That left her a dwindling supply of prisoners for arena battles, mostly SkyWings themselves. All of the battles seemed the same these days. Boring.

"Your majesty?"

Queen Scarlet looked down from her throne, involuntarily tilting her head to only show off her good side. A small soaking SkyWing shivered, groveling at her paws. That was right. This weasel was making a request to her for something. She sighed. "What is it?"

The soaking red SkyWing turned to the side nervously. Four guards surrounded her, and Queen Scarlet's current advisor stood at the side of the throne, glaring at her impatiently. This was the third time she'd tried to explain to Queen Scarlet what she was asking for, but the queen refused to pay attention for even a moment.

"We were wondering if you could give our village relief for flooding," the red SkyWing pleaded, claws shaking. "The rains have flooded our fields, and swept away much of our livestock. We won't have enough food this winter."

Queen Scarlet frowned. "Hey," she muttered. "Haven't I seen you before?"

"Er, yes," the shivering SkyWing replied. "I came here a few weeks ago."

"Pewter, what did she come here for then?" the queen asked her advisor.

"She asked for drought relief, your majesty," Pewter responded, glaring at the red SkyWing.

Queen Scarlet tapped her claws on her throne, twitching her tail. "Drought relief," she mused. "You just asked for drought relief a few weeks ago, and now you want flood relief?"

The SkyWing shuffled back and forth. "Er, yes, your majesty. But we didn't get any drought relief, and now it's flooding."

Queen Scarlet shook her head, tsking. "You can't just whine to me for help whenever the weather changes a little."

"But, your majesty —"

"Shush," Queen Scarlet interrupted with a snarl. "You've taken too much up of my precious time already. Guards, take her out of the palace."

Two of the guards stepped closer to the red SkyWing, poking spears at her. She lowered her head in defeat.

"To the arena?" Pewter asked. The red SkyWing stiffened up.

"No, not to the arena," Queen Scarlet growled. "She's a farmer. I'd die of boredom if she was in a battle." Where was Peril when you needed her? She'd made all of Queen Scarlet's arena fights so interesting. Oh, that was right, Peril had betrayed her. Just like everyone else.

The guards pushed the red SkyWing out of the throne room. Queen Scarlet sighed, and her talons scratched at her snout. Her scales blackened and crusty, her once beautiful face ruined by that RainWing. Glory. Her claws tensed up, imagining Glory's neck between them. But it was too late for that now.

"Cancel the rest of my meetings today," Scarlet muttered. "I've had enough of SkyWings begging me for help. They need to learn how to fix their own problems. Is there any updates from Blackice?"

Pewter sighed. "Yes, your majesty. Queen Blackice is willing to sell Glory's head."

"How much?" Scarlet yawned.

"A fifth of your treasury."

Scarlet's eyes narrowed, her claws scratching against her throne. Pewter took a small step back.

"A FIFTH?" Queen Scarlet yelled. "Who does that conniving seal-eater think she is? I should've been the one to kill Glory in the first place. Blackice is lucky I'm not declaring war on her myself for this."

"Of course, your majesty," Pewter responded. "Her demand is ridiculous. I will try and get our ambassadors to lower it to something reasonable."

"The SkyWings are getting weak," Scarlet spat. "We've gone three years without war, and most of our soldiers still haven't recovered from my daughter's short reign. They're soft. A war with Blackice would bring in IceWing prisoners for the arena. That sounds pretty thrilling."

Pewter blinked, concerned. "Your majesty, are you planning on declaring war on the IceWings?"

"No," Scarlet snapped. Another crackle of thunder came from overhead, the shadowed walls of the palace lighting up. "I'm not an idiot. All the IceWings are behind their stupid wall of theirs or in the rainforest. Who am I supposed to declare war on? With Glory dead, I don't care about a bunch of RainWings and NightWings. Not that I want any RainWings near me ever again."

"What about the other four dragonets?" Pewter asked.

"If Blackice can't get into Jade Mountain with troops, there's no point in me trying," Scarlet muttered. "That's where Peril is."

Pewter remained silent, the only sound in the palace the rain overhead.

Queen Scarlet glared at her advisor. "You're supposed to give me good ideas."

Pewter stiffened up, fluttering his wings as he quickly tried to think of something. "Er, what about the SeaWings? You could capture some and deprive them of water, like you did with Gill."

Queen Scarlet let out a melodramatic growl, scratching at her venom-scarred scales. "You bumbling fool. Do you know how boring it is waging war against SeaWings? They live underwater."

Pewter shuffled back and forth on his haunches, trying to think of something else. Queen Scarlet sighed, shaking her head.

"I miss Soar, or Chameleon, or whatever his name was," Scarlet grumbled. "He was a good advisor. You're a poor replacement for him. He had good ideas. He would've done something magical and helped me sneak troops into Jade Mountain or something like that."

"Y-yes your majesty," Pewter gulped.

Queen Scarlet shook her head. At least Pewter was too stupid to betray her. There wasn't a scheming scale on his body.

Suddenly, a SkyWing burst in through the doors of the throne room, wet from rain. Scarlet turned to him, annoyed he'd interrupted. "What?" she growled.

"Your majesty, a dragon flew up to the palace gates," the guard huffed. "She claims she stole something from your treasury a few years ago, and wants to talk to you immediately. She's, er, a hybrid."

A hybrid thief? Queen Scarlet wondered, her curiosity piqued. Normally, demanding to speak with Queen Scarlet would get you an arena visit. But this was interesting. Scarlet had only gotten a glimpse from afar during her battle with Tourmaline, but could it be . . . ?

"Bring her in," Queen Scarlet snorted. "I want to see her now."

The guard nodded compliently, giving the queen a quick bow of his head. He rushed off. A few minutes later, he'd returned with three more guards. Each of them had their spears out, and were prodding a sky-blue dragon forward, chains around her wings and between her legs.

Queen Scarlet smiled, examining her new prisoner. She'd been right. This was the same dragon she'd seen. Every so often, one of the the hybrid's sky-blue scales lit up with a flash. Around one of her legs was an iron cuff, three chainlinks hanging off it, clinking with the other chains she'd been placed in as she walked forward. Two thin chains hung from her neck: one a silver chain with a dark purple stone at the end, and the other a golden chain with a polished amethyst hanging from the end, two golden wings extending from each side of the stone. Aurora stared up at Queen Scarlet, unintimidated.

"You stole something very precious from my treasury," Queen Scarlet said, narrowing her eyes at the Eye of Amethyst. "I don't take kindly to dragons taking my treasure. The punishment is joining my arena. I'm sure my subjects would all be quite thrilled to have a hybrid fight. How long do you think you'd last?"

Aurora was unimpressed by the threat. "I saved your life with it. We're even."

As if to demonstrate, a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, Queen Scarlet turning away as the windows of the palace flooded with light. Thunder clapped, shaking the palace for a moment.

"Don't be insolent," Scarlet snorted. "You're in no position to bargain with me."

Aurora's expression unchanged, she took a step forward. The chains the guards had placed around her wings and legs suddenly slipped straight through her, falling to the floor with a clink. Her wings opened wide, small starbursts showing beneath her leather membrane.

The guards jumped back with a yell, shocked that Aurora had somehow gotten free. As soon as they recovered, they immediately pointed their spears forward, about to attack the now free prisoner.

"Stop," Queen Scarlet laughed, raising a paw up. The guards obeyed, talons shaking. "You couldn't hurt her if you tried," Scarlet snorted. "Alright, hybrid. Speak."

"I want to make a deal with you," Aurora said, her cold eyes focused on the SkyWing queen. "You want revenge on the dragonets — I can offer you far more than just that. Even if you manage to kill the remaining four, their marks will still be left on history, a giant scar over your rule. You'll just be a footnote in scrolls on how the Dragonets of Destiny ended one war, and started another."

Queen Scarlet stiffened up, her claws clenching. "Are you only here to espouse my failures?"

"No. I can change your fate. You want to hurt the Dragonets? Make Pyrrhia forget them. Your name will be the one in the scrolls, and the Dragonets will be forgotten. You'll be remembered forever for ushering in a new Golden Age, one where the SkyWings reign supreme over Pyrrhia."

Queen Scarlet pondered this for a moment. She admitted that the mongrel made a good case. Even if Blackice had killed her, she could still have her revenge on Glory. The SkyWing queen swished her bejeweled tail from side to side. "And what do you want from me in return?"

Aurora's forked tongue flicked out, and another bolt of lightning crackled through the air. "I want Queen Coral's throne."

Scarlet grinned, flexing her talons. Now this, this was thrilling. Maybe a war with the SeaWings would happen after all.

"Guards," Queen Scarlet ordered. "Take Pewter down to the arena. I think I've found a replacement."