Epilogue

Aloe had stopped only to sleep on her flight across Pyrrhia, and had barely got any at that. She was too tired to even cry any more. With each beat of her wings, it felt like they were going to fall off. She was starving. But eventually, the Bay of a Thousand Scales came into her view, islands ranging from small to huge dotting the blue waters.

Still, something seemed different on her flight. Normally sandy beaches had given way to rocky coasts, sediment exposed. Rotting fish and displaced seastars caught her eye every so often. With her mind so occupied by her defeat and concern over Leopard's fate, it took her a while to realize what was going on: the sea level had fallen.

Why? she'd wondered at first. But it wasn't too much longer on her flight before she saw something strange: a huge crack had opened up through the center of an island, leading own into the ocean floor. At edge of the island and the sea, water rushed into the crack, like it was flooding whatever was beneath it. Aloe had seen more of them on her flight over Pyrrhia, but she hadn't put two-and-two together until then: water filling the newly opened trenches in the ocean were causing the seafloor level to drop. Well, that was a problem for Queen Coral. She didn't have time to think about it.

Finally, she spotted the familiar island. After her mother's death, the first thing that she and Leopard had done was explore the surrounding area. They were quite familiar with the nearby archipelago now. They'd even visited the Summer Palace, though Aloe felt a pang of regret that she'd never managed to see it in all its former glory, before it's destruction at the claws of the SkyWings. Even the most sturdy, the most hidden, or the most guarded of palaces could fall like birds from the sky. Just in the past three years, the Summer Palace, the SkyWing Palace, and now the SandWing Stronghold had all fallen. The NightWing island had been wreathed in lava, and the RainWing pavilion went up in flames. The IceWing Palace had been destroyed, though the enchantments had quickly built it back up again. She supposed that left only the Deep Palace and the MudWing Palace. And with open rebellion in the northern MudWing territories, along with water sinking into the cracks in the ocean, it didn't seem promising that those would stand tall for much longer, either. It was like the world was descending into chaos. Maybe Pyrrhia was nearing its end.

Of course, Aloe had her own dragon she chose to blame. Her mother.

Aloe's wings flapped a few more times, panting as she struggled to make the last stretch of the flight. She was almost to her home. Her prison. The small island where she'd been raised was right in front of her. She felt a chill as she remembered all the time she'd spent here with Blister. It doesn't matter, she reminded herself. Blister is dead. Now, the island is mine.

Her wings started to falter as she got close, and she let gravity push her to the ground, almost diving as her vision went blurry. She placed out her legs as she approached one of the beaches, the water now dragonslengths lower than where it had been originally. She aimed herself towards the soft sand, and quickly spread her wings open, trying to break her fall.

The sudden jolt blew her up, knocking her off-balance mid-air. Her tail twisted, and she rolled into the sand, yelping as she hit it hard. It was fortunate she hadn't hit rock. Instead, the small granules covered her tired body as she rolled over herself, small stones and pebbles digging into and scratching her scales. Finally, she settled, her wings splayed open.

Her breath slowed as Aloe stared up at the sun, high in the sky. It was like she was sinking into the sand, finally at rest. She was back home.

Without the energy to move another muscle, Aloe closed her eyes. It was over.

"Aloe?"

Aloe opened her eyes, her vision blurry as she tried to make out the shape of a dragon above her. The sun had moved through the sky, evening approaching the island. She squinted as she tried to make out who was standing above her. Where was she again?

Eventually, she made out the milky-green color of the scales above her. She felt a webbed paws on her neck, a concerned dragon trying to jostle her awake.

"Rift!" Aloe spoke, finally coming to her sense and realizing who it was. More tears fell from her eyes as she wrapped her forelegs around the SeaWing's neck, over the blackened venom scars across his gills. She started to sob as he helped her to her paws, leaning her head into his neck.

"It's alright," Rift calmly replied, placing a paw on her back.

Aloe shook her head, crying as more tears fell into the dry sand below, wetting it. The dolphin necklace on her neck swung from side to side. "It's not," she whimpered. "It's not alright. Rift, it was terrible! Sunny wouldn't accept the challenge and we had to make a deal with Blackice and we got the stronghold but were under siege there and then Sunny disappeared and came back and she attacked us and the stronghold got destroyed by her weapons and then—" she choked up as she tried to explain "—Leopard was there and we had to escape, and she, she held them off so I could escape, and she could be, she could be . . ." Aloe cried, not able to say it. "And it's my fault. I couldn't win. I let this happen."

Rift wrapped his wings around Aloe. "It'll be alright," the SeaWing prince said, his voice as soothing as it could be alright. "It'll all be okay. You did great. You did the best you could." He paused, a sense of urgency suddenly in his voice. This wasn't the right time, but . . . "Aloe, there's something important I have to tell you. Bl—"

"Mommy!"

The excited yell of a dragonet interrupted Rift. Aloe raised her head, hearing her dragonet's voice. As she looked over the beach, a small dragonet, maybe the age of two, came bounding across the sand, practically leaping, practically flying as she flapped her undersized wings. Aloe sniffled and rubbed the tears from her eyes as she saw her, smiling and raising her head.

The small hybrid dragonet leaped into Aloe's paws, toppling the exhausted SandWing over. Aloe hugged her tight, not wanting to ever let go. Her talons gently caressed the dragonet's pebbly scales, kneading over a range of colors from a bright sandy yellow to a deep sea green, distorted black diamonds dotting her scales, with starbursts on the underside of her wings showing she was an heir to two thrones. A few of the dragonet's glowscales lit up happily, Rift smiling as he read what their dragonet had said in Aquatic.

"I've missed you so much," Aloe said, trying not to choke up. She raised the dragonet up, unable to help but giving a huge smile. "You've grown so big since I left!"

"Coast, I told you to wait," Rift sighed, shaking his head. "Mommy and I have important things to talk about."

"It's fine," Aloe grinned, pulling Coast back in again, squeezing her so tight the dragonet tried to squirm to get out. Aloe felt her breath settle, as she started to calm down. For a moment, she believed Rift's words: maybe everything would be alright.

"Where's other Mommy?" Coast asked, poking her head out from Aloe's wings to try and figure out where Leopard was. Rift winced.

Aloe started to cry again, unable to hold back as tears fell on her dragonet's snout. Coast looked up worriedly, wondering if she'd said something wrong.

"Aloe," Rift said, trying to calm her down. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Leopard can handle herself in a fight. You know that."

Aloe shook her head. "It was a mistake," she sobbed. "Going after the throne was a mistake. We should have just stayed here, or gone off to live in the Summer Palace, but now I've lost Leopard. It's all my fault. I'm done with this. I just want Leopard back."

"Grandma says she'll help you win!" Coast suddenly exclaimed, excitedly.

Aloe's heart skipped a beat, her eyes going wide. She looked to Rift, talons shaking as she tried to process what Coast had said. "S-she means Queen Coral, right? You visited Queen Coral?" Rift stayed silent, opening his mouth, before closing it again. Aloe shook her head, teeth chattering. "N-no. No, that's not possible. Grandma is dead. She's long dead, very dead, very very dead."

"I was trying to tell you," Rift gulped. "I thought—"

"Quiet," a voice from behind Aloe hissed. "I can tell her myself."

Aloe shuddered, almost dropping Coast. A voice she knew far too well, a slithering voice that seemed to wrap around her scales, choking her and draining the air from her lungs. A voice that Aloe thought she'd never hear again.

Aloe's blood ran as cold as ice while she turned her head around, slowly, hoping this was just a dream. When she had finally looked behind her, she was eye to eye with her mother. Blister floated a few talon-lengths above the ground, her body so translucent that Aloe could even see the waves through the diamond pattern on her scales. A golden aura surrounded her body, as specks of shining sand seemed to float down from her talons.

Still, Blister looked almost just like herself before the Eye of Onyx had zapped her into oblivion. Her beady black right eye glinted greedily at Coast, her stare as menacing as ever. Other than her incorporeal state and the golden glow, the main difference was her left eye: unlike her right, it was instead light blue. It moved independently of the right one, from Aloe, to Rift, to Coast, and then back again. Aloe tensed up as its gaze fell on her. It felt almost as if someone else was watching her through her mother's ghost.

"You really made a mess of things," Blister contemptuously snorted. "You should have been able to easily win against Sunny, and now, you come back to me, crying over that pitiful SandWing of yours? It's difficult for me to call such a weak idiot my daughter." She grinned, flicking out her tongue as sunlight shone through her sharp fangs. "Well, fortunately for you, you no longer have to worry about failure. Now, mother is here to tell you what to do."

Post-Epilogue

Inferno shuddered as Glory led her through the greenhouse. Maybe it was the strange feeling of having plants all around her, a normally burnable rug beneath her claws and a quite flammable area just a few tail lengths away. Even if it wasn't actually burning thanks to Ash giving her full control over her firescales, reflexes made her afraid that she'd accidentally turn them back on again, and the beautiful throne room would be turned to cinders.

Or, maybe it was all the dragons. RainWings lined the red carpet with barely a wingblade between each of them. Every pair of eyes was on Inferno. Inferno stared at each of them, more dragons than she could count. Not in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined this scene. For a moment, her gaze was caught beyond the greenhouse walls. The beautiful blue ocean stretched out as far as her eyes could see. This was her new home.

Inferno slowly walked around the Obscura, staring up at the huge orb. She glanced behind her, to the smaller milky orb still visible within the young Ash's heart. He seemed as nervous as she was, worriedly glancing from RainWing to RainWing.

Finally, Inferno stopped. She looked up, raising her head to stare at the Empress's throne. Vines swirled up from the ground, weaving to form huge branches, like the throne was itself built from a tree. Both natural, and regal. She wondered why Liliana had designed the palace this way, with so much light and greenery. Was it just for the RainWings, or was it for her?

Inferno turned around as she heard the sound of movement. The RainWings had all lowered their heads to the ground, kneeling their front legs as they bowed to Inferno. Inferno opened her mouth. "You don't—you don't have to—" she stammered, not sure what to say in front of them all.

Glory bowed her head too, lower than the others, before raising it again. She pointed a claw to throne. "Antigonia needs a new leader," she remarked. "It's yours, if you choose to take it."

Inferno shook her head, glancing at the floating dragonet Ash. "I can't," she replied. "I won't. I won't be a queen, or an empress."

"They'll need someone," Glory replied. "They need someone to look to. Without a leader, the continent will collapse into chaos, dragons and humans at war, tribe versus tribe, sister versus sister. You've seen in Pyrrhia. That is what Antigonia will become."

Inferno opened her mouth, trying to figure out how to respond, when more dragons at the back of the greenhouse caught her gaze. Deathbringer waved a paw as he walked forward with a confident smile. He gestured behind him to two more dragons as they walked up the red carpet to the throne. Ermine seemed even more nervous than Inferno, the young IceWing's eyes darting back and forth. He didn't seem particularly partial to crowds. Darkstalker confidently stepped behind Ermine, his head held aloft like he half expected that all the RainWings were bowing to him. Wren rode his neck, the scavenger's legs wrapped around the hybrid.

"I brought them like you asked," Deathbringer grinned. He bowed his head to Inferno as well. "Er, your majesty."

Inferno winced at the epithet. "None of that, please."

"So, you're the new empress?" Darkstalker asked, with an expression that was either impressed, jealous, or maybe both.

Inferno shook her head once again. "I'm not!" she huffed. "Really!"

Darkstalker gestured out to the bowing RainWings with a wing, Wren taking the chance to leap down from it, smooshing a few flowers beneath her feet. "It looks like they think you are," Darkstalker remarked. "Empress Inferno. That doesn't sound bad."

Inferno sighed, exasperated. "I can't be empress," she argued. "I don't have the first idea how to run a school, much less an entire empire!"

"Hmph," Darkstalker snorted. "Well, if you don't want to rule, I'd be happy to do it. I am the leader of the factions that rebelled against Liliana. For a long time, I might add."

Glory suddenly stepped between Darkstalker and Inferno, her fangs bared at the hybrid. "Don't you dare," she hissed. "I'd drip my head in my own venom before letting you take over." She turned to Inferno. "If he gets the Wishstone, Antigonia will be far worse than it ever was under Liliana."

"Yeah," Wren muttered, Inferno glancing down, slightly startled at the scavenger speaking in Dragon. "Sorry Darkie, but I don't want another dictator either. Liliana was enough."

"I wouldn't be a dictator," Darkstalker argued. "I would run things like how I ran the rebellion! I was good at that!"

"Please stop," Inferno sighed, cutting off both Wren and Glory. She looked to Ash. "No one is getting the Wishstone. No one is becoming empress or dictator or whatever. Ermine."

Ermine raised his head, slightly surprised that Inferno had spoken to him. "Um, yeah?"

"I can send you back to Pyrrhia," Inferno suggested. "Wherever you want. Would you like to go to Jade Mountain? Or the Ice Kingdom? It's now under King Hailstorm's rule."

Ermine paused, staring as he tried to decide. He glanced down at his talons. Was there a place for him still, in Jade Mountain, or the Ice Kingdom? Finally, he shook his head. "I, er, I want to stay here. In Antigonia."

"Really?" Inferno asked, surprised. Hadn't Skytaker been trying so hard to get Ermine back? "Why?"

Ermine grimaced, then turned to the Obscura, the huge orb filling up the center of the greenhouse. "My parents," he admitted. "On Pyrrhia, they're dead, but here . . . I know they won't know me, and that they won't be the same dragons they were there, but I want to stay with them."

Inferno nodded, and gave the dragonet a smile. "That's fine," she replied. "And if you ever change your mind, just tell me. As long as I have the Wishstone, it won't be hard to get back to Pyrrhia. I'm sure Skytaker and Tiger would be excited if we visited." That reminded her something. She looked over at Ash, and the SkyWing dragonet lifted his head up to meet hers, floating a bit higher. "Ash, did you think about what I asked you about? Do you think you can do it?"

Ash tilted his head from side to side, considering it. "Um, I think I can, sort of. Animus magic can't, or more aptly, won't, bring back the souls of the dead, but Calamity taught me it can create new ones. If I do what you asked, it will effectively be creating two new beings with the same memories as the old ones but with new souls, though I don't think you'd be able to tell the difference."

Inferno grimaced, thinking about it. Bringing back the dead. No, not bringing back, creating new life. She wasn't sure she liked it. It felt unnatural. It felt wrong, to force two new souls to become two old beings, like mind-control. Like how the Empress had manipulated the memories of the dragons in Antigonia with the Wishstone and the powers she'd been given. Normally, Inferno wouldn't have considered it. But this felt . . . different. Like a just punishment for the two of them, playing Feathered Spirit.

"Alright," Inferno decided. "Let's do it. Ash, are you ready?"

Ash nodded, and lifted his paws, closing his eyes. "Go ahead."

Inferno took in a deep breath, as she willed her wish into existence. Ash's heart became bright, the bowing RainWings forced to look away from the blinding light. Two columns of light appeared in front of Inferno, quickly coalescing into two dragon-shaped blobs. A moment later, the light had faded.

A black NightWing with orange-tinted scales and a violet RainWing covered with golden stars stared blankly for a moment, before blinking, confused what had happened. They looked around the greenhouse, then to Inferno, unsure where they were, and how they'd gotten here.

"I'm not dead," Duskwind remarked, mildly surprised. He gave Liliana a nervous glance then turned to Inferno with a small smile. "Inferno. You got the Wishstone."

Liliana frowned. "And you decided to bring me back with it?" she asked. "I'm surprised. What's going on? Is death and failure not enough punishment for me?"

"It's not," Inferno stated. "You're right. I'm punishing both of you. I need your help."

Small speckles of sea-green appeared on Liliana's snout, trying to figure out what Inferno had meant by that. "My help?" she scoffed. "And what makes you think I'm going to offer that?"

"Because you want to do what's right," Inferno replied. "Each of you." She stepped back, and whipped her tail against the throne. It suddenly burst into flame as she allowed her firescales to work, rising up the vines as the throne as it formed a warm beacon in the greenhouse, all eyes focused on Inferno.

Inferno looked at everyone in a semi-circle around her. Liliana. Duskwind. Glory. Deathbringer. Darkstalker. Wren. And finally, Ash. "Except for Ermine, all of you have done wrong to this world," Inferno continued. "In your quests for power and control, each of you have hurt the dragons and humans living here. You've tried to force your own visions upon them, tried to make them into how you thought they were supposed to be."

She paused, and closed her eyes. Blue flames suddenly shot up from her scales, an aura of fire surrounding Inferno. She clenched her talons, and the fire turned a brilliant pure white, spreading up to the throne behind her, going up in white flames, but not burning. Liliana gulped, wondering if Inferno was about to kill her for the second time.

"I'm giving all of you a chance," Inferno finally explained. "A chance for redemption. I want to make Antigonia a better place, a world where dragons and humans live in peace. Someplace where everyone is happy, and can choose who they become, and how they live their own lives. Maybe I'm optimistic, but I think that the Wishstone gives me the power to do that, without forcing dragons and humans to be the way I want, and without making them do what I tell them to.

"But I can't do it alone," Inferno said. "I don't know this world. I don't have the experience, and I don't know everything. I can't decide everything myself. So, I want your help. You can choose to join me, and help me make Antigonia a better place. Or you can live the rest of your lives out in peace. I won't stop you. I won't choose for you. If you help me, the path in front of us will be long and hard, but I think we can do it together."

Inferno held out her paw, as the white halo of light around her made her seem like she was brighter than the sun itself. She smiled. "So, who's with me?"

Aurora closed her eyes, taking in deep breathes as she walked through the forest. Thunder crackled in the sky above, raindrops pouring down through the trees. Water dripped from the IceWing-SeaWing hybrid's scales. For a moment, she could forget where she was. For a moment, she was just lost in the storm.

"I'm cold," a voice mumbled, interrupting Aurora's thoughts.

Aurora let out an irritated sigh, her peace disturbed. She turned her head to glare at Queen Scarlet, Sapphire holding onto her horns with his claws. The chainlinks around one of her legs jangled, as her Darkstone swung side by side with the Eye of Amethyst.

"What?" Queen Scarlet muttered, avoiding Aurora's glare. The SkyWing queen shivered, tucking her scarred head beneath her wings. She hobbled on three legs as she walked through the mud after Aurora, the fourth one taken up by a small orange egg, carefully tucked within her claws. Queen Scarlet's own Darkstone wrapped around it. "I'm cold," Scarlet grumbled again, not particularly caring for her egg's safety. "And wet. I don't let being wet. Can't you stop the rain?"

"Be quiet," Aurora snorted, turning her head away from Queen Scarlet. She tilted her gaze up to the sky, Sapphire hanging onto her in order to avoid falling down her neck. Water fell into her eyes, her scales soothed by the rain, cold, and wind. The small pupil in the Eye of Amethyst looked up with her as lightning flashed above her. "I like the rain. It's peaceful."

"I'm queen," Scarlet grumbled. "You're supposed to do what I say."

Aurora whipped her head back, Sapphire letting out a surprised meow as Aurora bared her fangs at Scarlet. She slammed a paw down into the mud, and Queen Scarlet let out a screech of terror as spikes rose up from the ground between her and Aurora. The SkyWing reared up on her hindlegs, only for a spike to stab up towards her neck, stopping a claw-length from puncturing her throat.

Queen Scarlet stared at Aurora, holding herself absolutely still, wobbling from side to side as she tried to stand upright. She held out her forelegs in surrender, careful not to drop her egg.

Aurora lifted her head up, keeping her eyes locked with the SkyWing queen. Her glowscales flashing angrily. "The terms of our relationship have changed," Aurora hissed, the spikes on her tail whipping from side to side. "I've had enough of being ordered around. By you, by Calamity, by anyone. If you want to be queen again, and you don't want to end up in an unmarked grave, or a fucking puddle, you will do exactly as I say from now on. Is that clear, you fucking psychopath? Or do you think it would be thrilling if I tore your beating heart from your chest?"

"Yes!" Queen Scarlet squealed, nodding her head as fast as she could. "Absolutely clear. Perfectly clear. Clear as the ocean. Clear as ice."

"Good," Aurora snarled. She lifted her paw, and the spikes retreated into the earth. Her claws twitched as she turned back, her breath as fast as her heart. What was she experiencing? It took her a moment to figure out the word. Anger.

Aurora shut her eyes again as the two continued walking, not a peep out of Queen Scarlet. The rain was peaceful. Calming. She liked it.

It wasn't much longer until Aurora re-opened her eyes. The rain had started hitting her head harder, no longer protected by the foliage above. The forest had opened out into a large clearing, where dragons had gotten rid of the trees long ago. A small village rested in the center of the clearing, with a beautiful view of the mountains above them. SkyWings tended to cattle, kept in small pens. More oranges and reds were visible beneath the grey sky, dragons running back and forth along the village's streets. This was a good place. Aurora liked it too.

"We're almost to Aeolus," Aurora remarked. "Say nothing. I don't want you ruining this."

As the two walked down from the forest, every dragon they passed turned and stared. A young orange SkyWing bowed his head nervously to Queen Scarlet. A visit from her couldn't be good.

"Gather everyone in the village to welcome their queen," Aurora said to the SkyWing. "I want to be heard."

The SkyWing nodded, quickly scampering off. Aurora saw him run off to the nearest dragon, quickly passing the news. She immediately stopped what she was doing, going to find more SkyWings.

By the time the two reached the village, a small crowd had gathered around them. SkyWings walked behind them in a precession, led by Aurora through the town. More dragons stared from their windows at the two, before running out into the rain to join the others. Whatever was going on here, everyone wanted to see it, out of fear, curiosity, or both.

Aurora kept walking. It was only when she reached the other side of Aeolus that she stopped. A large swath of grassy land rested in front of her, the sea barely visible to the southeast, the mountains to the northwest. Perfect.

Aurora turned, Sapphire peering out over her head. The crowd had since grown. A few hundred SkyWings stood huddled on the edge of the village, as thunder and lightning crackled over their heads. Aurora spread out her wings, causing all of them to look to her.

"Bow," Aurora commanded, her voice echoing out through the rain. The dragons who'd heard her at the front all complied, lowering their heads to the ground. From there, more got the message, bowing to Aurora, until finally, the SkyWings at the back bowed. Aurora stared at the mass of SkyWings, all groveling to her. She received no joy from this sort of demonstration of power. However, she felt . . . excitement? Like something big had happened, or was about to happen. Or was happening. And she was the one to do it.

Aurora looked over at Queen Scarlet, her egg set down between her paws. The only dragon who wasn't bowing to Aurora. "Bow," she demanded. She wanted the SkyWings to know who was in charge here.

"I don't bow," Queen Scarlet whined. "I'm queen, queens don't—"

Queen Scarlet let out a sudden cry of pain. She stared down at her front paws, as blood ran down her orange scales, pouring into the ground below. A spike of stone had risen up through each of them. Scarlet whimpered as her claws shook, the movement only causing her more pain.

Aurora tilted her head, waiting patiently for Scarlet to comply. An expression of agony came over Scarlet's snout. She lowered her head to the ground, trying as hard as she could not to scream out in pain at her impaled paws. The other SkyWings watched, all silent.

Finally, Scarlet's head reached her egg. Aurora retracted the spikes, causing more blood to spill out, until the grass around Scarlet was stained red, the bottom surface of the egg crimson. Her scales might not have been scarlet, but her blood certainly was.

Aurora lifted her left forepaw up, the chainlinks dangling in the air. The SkyWings all raised their heads, a whimpering Queen Scarlet sinking down onto her hindlegs, trying to not put any pressure on her bleeding paws, raindrops falling through them.

"If you are going to be queen again, you'll need a palace," Aurora said to Scarlet.

"A palace," Scarlet suddenly said, gritting her teeth in pain. "A new palace. I-I would like that." A hint of excitement came over the pained queen. "A-an arena?"

"No. The Sky Kingdom is done with arenas," Aurora growled, loud enough for the SkyWings in front to hear her. "If you want one, then you'll be the first dragon to fight in it."

Scarlet gulped, quickly shaking her head from side to side. "N-no. I'm good. No arenas."

"I'm glad we're in agreement," Aurora stated. She looked back over the crowd. "Stay back."

Queen Scarlet stared as Aurora walked forward, a distance away from the village, wondering what the hybrid was planning to do now. Rain spilled down her scales, Sapphire peering down.

Aurora took a deep breath, focusing as she put her claws to the ground. A new palace, for the SkyWings. The ground began to rumble, and every SkyWing in Aeolus watched as slabs of metal started to rise out of the ground, in a humongous square around the clearing. Whispers passed between dragons as four thick metal walls rose into the air. Aurora's talons shook as they kept rising, slanting towards each other.

SkyWings stared as their new palace formed from the ground, metal created beneath ground rising up. The four slabs met at a point, before they kept going, new slabs forming as Aurora created more metal to be pushed upwards. The slabs only stopped when they reached the same square as where they'd begun. A huge silver pyramid rose into the sky, with a second inverted pyramid resting on top of it. Like an flat-edged hourglass, touching the clouds.

Aurora finally looked up at it, admiring her claw-work. The palace was beautiful in its simplicity. She placed her claws on the metal surface, causing gold to shoot up into the surface, colorful gemstones decorating the new palace. Flattened squares of metal punctured through the two pyramids, forming floors with small balconies outside it. Aurora twisted her talons as she envisioned her creation, and a triangular door opened up on the bottom floor.

In just a few minutes, the Sky Kingdom had a new throne.

Aurora looked back to the crowd of dragons, SkyWings agape, some in shock, some in wonder, and some in fear. "Spread the word of what has happened here!" Aurora yelled out. "Tell dragons far and wide, that your kingdom has been hatched anew, by the talons of Princess Aurora!"

Aurora grimaced. She hated this kingdom running thing already. Giving speeches, forcing her subjects to recognize her as their new leader: it wasn't what she'd wanted to do. Still, she thought it was the right decision. Whether or not she was willing to accept any more of Calamity's orders, she still believed in his mission to save Pyrrhia, and this was what she had to do to fulfill it, particularly after all the disruption that the Empress had caused.

"Y-your highness," Queen Scarlet whimpered, lowering her head to Aurora. "The Eye of Amethyst. Is it time to release its full power? F-for the Sky Kingdom? After my-our kingdom is reunited, we can help you. We'll help you challenge Queen Coral."

That was right. Aurora lifted the Eye up, Copper's pupil staring back at her. There was no stopping it after it had been activated, at least not without Calamity's help. Aurora had only managed to keep it suppressed, a slow activation. For a moment, she wondered if this was the right time. Was this when Calamity wanted her to do it?

No. From now on, she would make her own decisions on how to save Pyrrhia. If Calamity wanted to stop her, she'd let him try. She knew his secrets, his strengths, his weaknesses. He wouldn't interfere any longer.

"It is time," Aurora confirmed, no doubts left. She took a step forward, and the eye began to glow. Golden winds swirled beneath her, lifting Aurora up into the air. The storm howled above her, as the SkyWings lifted their heads up into the sky, trying to see Aurora through the rain and wind.

As Aurora levitated mid-air, a pillar of jagged crystal shot up from the ground. When it reached her, the winds gently set her down on its flat surface. She looked from one side to the other. From the ocean to the mountains.

"This is the SkyWings' darkest hour!" Aurora yelled out, as rain poured onto her open wings. "But with your kingdom restored, it shall soon be your greatest! It is time to bring the Sky Kingdom to its formal glory!" Aurora felt a hint of pleasure as she saw Queen Scarlet squirm at that, whether because she'd realized that Aurora was taking a jab at her, or because Aurora had used the word 'glory.' Or maybe she was just still in pain from the holes in her paws.

Aurora held the Eye of Amethyst high. She placed a talon to its surface. "Copper of the Seven," she ordered, as golden light began to pour out from the Eye, "I command you, let the earth shake with your power. Let Pyrrhia be torn asunder."

A wave of power suddenly spread out from the Eye of Amethyst, almost knocking Aurora off her crystalline perch. Dragons gasped as it washed over them. Another wave hit, and another, moving out over Pyrrhia's surface, until they covered the continent in the Eye's power. The ground began to rumble, SkyWings losing their clawholds in the mud. Aurora raised the Eye, and the cracks in Pyrrhia began to expand, growing more and more. Golden winds picked up around Aurora, and for a moment, she was at the center of a maelstrom.

Aurora extended a talon, and the ground split by the mountains. A she dragged her claw in a circle, the crack began to grow, Pyrrhia crumbling at her command. She traced her talon out, as the great split in the ground circled with it, spreading around the edge of Aeolus. She split Aeolus from the sea, and finally, brought her talon back to where it had started. Lightning crackled through the sky as the huge crack in the land spread, separating Aeolus and the new SkyWing palace from the rest of Pyrrhia. A great chasm.

Aurora moved her claw towards herself, and SkyWings yelped, leaping back as a huge hole appeared beneath the pillar of crystal. Aurora stared down into the pit, Copper's eye shaking as his power was exerted. When it was finished, and she reached the edge of the Eye's power over the land. She took it off.

For a moment, Aurora stared at the eye, holding it in her talons, dangling it out in front of her, as if she was daring Calamity to reach through it and strike her down like he had Blister. She bared her fangs at him. When he didn't, she opened her claws.

The Eye of Amethyst tumbled down through the air, Copper's pupil looking back up at her in alarm. Aurora stared back, just watching as it dropped into the pit, more waves of power extending from it. Finally, the feint ethereal light faded from her view. Aurora clenched up her talons, and the pit was covered with a thick sheet of transparent crystal.

Calamity couldn't touch her now. Aurora was free.

A bolt of lightning struck the palace behind her, rain spilling down the metal edges. Thunder shook the metal, causing it to vibrate. Aurora lifted her head up into the sky as the glow of the lightning faded. She spread her wings, the sound of the metal like music, with her as its conductor.

"Long live Queen Scarlet!" the crowd started to chant, more and more SkyWings joining in, the entire town of Aeolus joining in beneath Aurora's paws, as Pyrrhia shook and crumbled. "Long live Princess Aurora! Long live Queen Scarlet! Long live Princess Aurora!"

Aurora smiled as Sapphire purred, his fur soaked with rain. Water fell from her scales. Though chainlinks dangled from her leg, the enchanted chains were a symbol of her complete and total freedom, not of her bondage. She was Calamity's pet no more.

AN: End of Rising Flames. I still plan on writing at least Part 1 of Broken Skies (#4) in the future, which concludes Midnight, Aurora, Sunny, Aloe, and Torrent's arcs, don't know when that will be or if I'll write anything after that.