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DARKSTALKER

"Wait, WHAT?!" Clearsight shrieked. "I don't want to be queen! I thought you were the one who wanted to rule the NightWings."

"I've thought about ruling the NightWings," Darkstalker said, choosing his words carefully. "But I never wanted to do it without you ruling beside me as queen. You would certainly make a better ruler than Vigilance."

"I would not," Clearsight said firmly. "I'd die of stress after a year."

"But you'd have your future sight to help you make the right decisions," Darkstalker argued. "And remember: I would be ruling with you. The burden of responsibility wouldn't be placed entirely on your back."

"This option isn't on the table, Darkstalker," Arctic told him. "First of all, we don't have any way of assassinating Queen Vigilance. Secondly, protecting Fathom isn't worth betraying the NightWing tribe."

"First of all," Darkstalker retorted, "we do have a way of assassinating Queen Vigilance. Three dragons in this room have animus magic. One is willing to use it."

"Definitely not," Indigo said, rising to her feet. "Fathom would never let you use your magic to kill Queen Vigilance — even if it meant protecting us."

Right, Fathom thought, nodding in agreement. I wouldn't … or would I?

Hmm, interesting. Fathom was actually quite comfortable with the fact that he was willing to use his magic to protect him. He could definitely use that to his advantage. A quick scan of the minds of everyone else in the room suggested that nobody liked his idea yet (except for maybe Whiteout, who was always impossible to decipher), but perhaps with a bit of discussion, they could be persuaded.

"I wouldn't even need to enchant anything new," Darkstalker said to Indigo. "Do you really think I haven't enchanted anything capable of killing a dragon yet?"

Indigo narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why would you need an enchantment like that?"

"For the same reason Queen Pearl thought that Fathom needed you," Darkstalker said. "We need protection from dragons who might want to hurt us. Vigilance never gave me my own personal bodyguard, so I had to take measures into my own talons."

"Which you shouldn't blame him for," Arctic said to Indigo. "You threatened to kill him the day you met him, after all."

Darkstalker almost thanked his father for speaking in his defense like that.

"I never had to use the weapons I made to hurt anyone," Darkstalker added. "But I still have them. We can use them now if we have to."

"No," Foeslayer said, shaking her head. The look on her face and the thoughts in her mind actually made Darkstalker feel a little guilty. "Darkstalker, dear, you can't kill the queen. What your father said is right: protecting Fathom and Indigo isn't worth betraying the tribe."

"Mother, I wouldn't be betraying the tribe," Darkstalker said sincerely. "I'd be saving it. We have been at war with the IceWings for eleven years now. With Clearsight and me at the head of the Kingdom, we can finally put an end to it."

"I find that extremely hard to believe," Arctic said. "Your existence is the reason we're still at war in the first place. I could end it right now by sending your severed head back to the Ice Kingdom."

"I can see the future and I know that I'm right about this," Darkstalker refuted, summoning every ounce of self-control in his body to ignore his father's pathetic excuse of a threat. "Clearsight, back me up on this. You see how quickly the war can end with us on the throne too, right?"

Clearsight was quiet for a moment. Her eyes were closed as she finally started exploring the same threads he'd been exploring for years. "He's right," she finally said, opening her eyes. "There's a peace treaty on the horizon if Darkstalker kills Queen Vigilance and we take the throne." She sounded like she was reluctantly making a confession, which put a bitter taste in the back of Darkstalker's throat.

"Case in point," Darkstalker said, smiling encouragingly at her regardless. "This isn't just about saving Fathom from his sister. This is about bringing order back to the Night Kingdom. This is about keeping the IceWings and NightWings from hating each other for the rest of our lives."

Whiteout's eyes suddenly lit up.

"But we don't need to kill Queen Vigilance to end the war," Clearsight protested. "Darkstalker, please: don't go down this path. We can figure this out without stealing power from the royal family."

"Can we?" Darkstalker asked. "Or can we just push our problems a couple of years down the road while Vigilance continues to send more NightWings to their deaths?"

"I'm with Darkstalker," Listener said.

There was a brief moment of silence in the room as Listener's comment was digested. Darkstalker lifted his ears, pleasantly surprised. Listener had been quiet and contemplative this whole time; for a moment he'd forgotten she was there. Her mind had been whirring slowly, lingering on each point each dragon had made instead of immediately responding to any of them. A quick judgment from her mind verified to Darkstalker that he now had an ally.

One down.

"Y-you are?" Clearsight asked, baffled. "Do you realize what Darkstalker's saying?"

"Of course I do!" Listener said. "Clearsight, you and Darkstalker are two of the smartest and most generous dragons I know. If I could choose any two dragons to be king and queen of the Night Kingdom, it would be you."

"But I don't want to be queen," Clearsight said. "I don't know how to lead a tribe."

"Yes you do," Darkstalker said warmly. "You've been leading this tribe your entire life. That's why you spend so much time worrying about it."

"I spend so much time worrying about the things you could do to it," Clearsight shot back. "Things like you taking over the Night Kingdom and usurping the throne."

"Is that really a fundamentally bad thing, though?" Listener asked. "If Darkstalker would make a better king, then let him take the throne."

"Even if it meant murdering the queen?" Clearsight said.

"Yes! So what if we need to kill Queen Vigilance to do it? Is there anyone in this room who doesn't hate her guts?"

The three heartbeats of silence that followed were absolutely delectable. And the words that broke it were even more so.

"Down with the queen!" Whiteout announced. "My allegiance lies with my brother. Let him weave blacks and whites into the Kingdom of Stars."

Darkstalker smiled proudly at his sister. Two down.

"I don't know," Fathom said, fidgeting with his talons. "Is it really a good idea for an animus to rule over a Kingdom?"

"I think so," Listener said. "Leaders have to be powerful, right?"

"But a powerful leader isn't always good," Indigo said, her tone still rife with hostility. "A powerful leader can be corrupted, and Fathom and I have seen that happen. Animus dragons aren't meant to rule kingdoms."

"That is completely untrue," Arctic said with a scowl. "The Ice Kingdom has had animus dragons for centuries, many of whom took the throne and ruled the kingdom without any issue." His eyes glided over to his son. "The difference, however, is that they had a right to their throne, given to them through blood. You have no such thing."

"I don't?" Darkstalker said. "That's strange; last I checked, my father was a prince."

Arctic barked out a laugh. "Tell that to the NightWing royals. I've lived here for eleven years now and not once has any dragon here treated me like the royalty I am."

"But that's their problem, not yours. If I don't have the right to rule that's granted to royalty, then you don't have the right to a royal title." He let slip a shrewd smile. "Although, that would change if I were king, wouldn't it? Because if I officially became king, then you would officially become prince. And you would take back all the royal titles and privileges you left behind when you came here."

That stopped Arctic right in his tracks. He kept his posture cold and rigid, and Darkstalker listened in on his mind as it began began whirring. That's true, isn't it? he thought. I may have a lousy excuse for a son, but if he were king, I'd be royalty again. He didn't like the idea of being beneath his child in the hierarchy of royal power, but he liked it more than the idea of being a walking trinket for Queen Vigilance.

Three down. You don't need to admit it out loud.

Foeslayer still seemed a bit too uncertain about the danger involved with overthrowing the royal family. She was afraid of Darkstalker getting hurt or killed, or drawing too much attention to her family. And even though she didn't like Queen Vigilance, she was reluctant to the thought of conspiring against her like this.

However, she was considering the possibilities. She knew first-hand how difficult it was to work under Vigilance. She knew how incompetent she was at times, and how prone she was to impulsively provoking bloodshed. She knew how if weren't for Clearsight, they probably would have lost the war by now. "Can you really end the war if you become king?" she asked her son.

"It would be over in a month," Darkstalker said. "Right now, Queen Diamond's main obsession is you and Arctic. She's fighting our tribe because the only animus heir they had ran away with you and joined us."

"I never meant to betray them," Arctic quickly said, sounding extremely bitter.

"Queen Diamond wants reparations, but she'd be willing to renegotiate terms with me on the throne. We'd be able to end the war in exchange for Arctic's safe return to the Ice Kingdom."

"Wait, hold on. I wouldn't agree to those terms," Foeslayer said. "Arctic and I are married. I don't want him leaving for the Ice Kingdom without me."

"You wouldn't be apart forever," Darkstalker said. "Arctic would be a prince of the Night Kingdom and the Ice Kingdom. He would be free to travel between the kingdoms once our tribes are on friendly terms. Whenever he comes back, he can see you again."

"I would be happy to agree to those terms," Arctic said. "I'd certainly prefer it to being trapped here for the rest of my life."

Foeslayer frowned, looking between Arctic and Darkstalker. "Maybe this is for the best," she murmured, lowering her wings.

Four down.

Fathom was on the verge of teetering over as well. He was wrestling between the trust he'd gained of him over the years and the lingering fear he had for animus magic. It should only take a gentle nudge in the right direction to bring him on the other side.

"What exactly are you worried about, Fathom?" Darkstalker asked him. "I thought you had a lot of faith in me and Clearsight."

"What? No, I do," Fathom stuttered. "But isn't it possible that something can happen? What if becoming king causes you to start using your powers more? And what if that starts to eat away at your soul?"

"I will keep you and Clearsight by my side at all times, Fathom," Darkstalker assured. "You've always been good at reminding me that my powers are dangerous. I won't let myself forget it."

"I know," Fathom said. I've known that for a long time. "You're not dangerous. I — … I think you should be king."

"You too, Fathom?" Clearsight said, looking all the more mortified.

"Maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all," Indigo added. "If Fathom agrees too, then maybe a King Darkstalker can actually work out. But only if Clearsight rules alongside him."

Six down. Only one dragon was left.

"We're not supposed to rule the Night Kingdom!" Clearsight shouted. "That wasn't ever supposed to happen."

"But it should happen!" Listener told her. "You're basically doing the queen's job already. Even before you started working for Vigilance, you've been trying to do whatever you can to keep the Night Kingdom from getting destroyed."

"Yes, and I've been doing that by trying to keep Darkstalker away from the throne," Clearsight said.

Oh moons, that stung.

"Do you have no faith in your husband?" Listener asked, sounding genuinely offended on his behalf. "You've always been like this with him. Darkstalker is such a good dragon, and yet you've never seemed to give him your trust."

Clearsight stiffened up. "How dare you!" she snapped. "Of course I trust Darkstalker! I haven't worried about him or his soul in years."

"Then why don't you trust him now?"

"Because now he's asking to become king of the NightWings."

"Which everyone here supports except for you."

"Well, you shouldn't." Clearsight's eyes darted worriedly from one dragon to another, as if she were looking for someone who would agree with her. "Look, I've seen what happens when Darkstalker takes the crown. I've seen the terrible things that can come out of it. This is exactly what I've been trying to avoid because all of the worst futures ahead of us come from Darkstalker becoming king!"

Darkstalker thought for a second. He had to think quickly though, because he could feel the others starting to grow doubtful.

That didn't sound right. That couldn't be right. Surely there were futures where he ruled benevolently. Those futures were the ones that he could see more clearly than all the others. The other futures where he turned tyrannical — those ones were but tiny shadows in the sea of possibilities before him. He didn't understand why Clearsight couldn't see the good ones.

Or … could she? Maybe she'd been ignoring them this whole time. Maybe she simply never thought they were worth exploring.

"Clearsight, how many of those futures have you really looked at?" he asked. "Have you ever tried searching for good futures where I become king?"

Clearsight shook her head. "Every time a future filled with death and destruction crashed through my mind, it was your face at the front of it all. I've never seen anything good coming out of those threads."

"Try looking again," Darkstalker said. "Please, Clearsight. Not all of those futures are bad. I promise you'll find the good ones if you open yourself up to them."

Clearsight closed her eyes for a few moments, and Darkstalker stepped up in front of her. He desperately wished she would take off her bracelet and let Darkstalker peer into her mind as she searched through all the futures. He wanted to point her in the right direction. He wanted to let her know which paths she needed to explore to find the best outcomes. He wanted to give her the unconditional faith in him that both of them had always wanted.

She opened her eyes and said quietly, "I don't know, Darkstalker. This could go wrong so badly and so easily. I'm scared. It's been so long since I've been this scared."

Darkstalker gathered her talons in his. "You don't have to be," he said. "Please, Clearsight. This is something I've wanted for both of us since before we even met. I know I can avoid those futures you're scared of. I especially know that I can do it with you ruling beside me."

He could see tears forming in her eyes. He could see how she was still so afraid, so unsure. He could see how risky and dangerous this choice was going to be.

But she knows that I can rule with a good heart. As long as she had faith in him, Darkstalker knew that she'd be willing to give him a chance.

"Okay," she said softly. "We can take the Night Kingdom. Just promise me you'll be more careful now than ever before."

"You have my solemn word, Clearsight," Darkstalker said. "I'll never let you down."

In the fabric of time, a thread began to glow.


A/N: You know how the Wings of Fire books are all split into three parts? I'm not explicitly doing the same thing for this story, but if I did, this would be the end of Part I. We're well into our new timeline, and during these upcoming chapters, you're going to see the points of focus change.

Since I've hit something of a checkpoint in this story, I'm much more eager to hear your thoughts. How do you think I'm doing so far? What do you think has been going well in the story? What do you think needs improvement? What are you hoping to see while we step into this next leg of the journey? What are your impressions of the way I'm handing the characters? What unanswered plot questions are you dying to know the answer to, and what could you really care less about? I always love reading your reviews, and I'm looking forward to sharing future chapters of this story with all of you lovely people!