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CLEARSIGHT
Clearsight was sitting on the beach, meditating.
It was sunset. She was starting to really grow fond of sunset. She could feel the lingering warmth of the sun rays beneath her talons in the bed of sand. She could breath in the emptiness, as most of the dragons in the kingdom were either still sleeping or having breakfast. And she could hear the silence, as the chirping birds were starting to go to bed and the nocturnal chittering insects were just shy of waking up. All she could hear was the gentle ebb and flow of the ocean waves.
It had been two months since the war started. After the rest of the Night Kingdom found out about the murder of the two NightWing guards, an incredible display of sorrowful fury erupted from her tribe. Memorials were held in their honor all around the kingdom, and the SeaWing Queen's name was cursed for weeks.
Clearsight had actually found herself in a position where she could be the one declaring war on the SeaWings, rather than the other way around. Her subjects were frenzied enough that she knew it would have had a lot of support.
Not that it would have mattered, but she decided against this option. Instead, she sent a letter to Pearl demanding reparations for killing the two guards. And as expected, Pearl responded by declaring war on the NightWings.
War was stressful. She'd stepped into her role as queen knowing nothing more about it than the fact that dragons fought. As it turned out, there was a whole sea of military intelligence that she needed to learn about, and a family of questions that she needed to answer. Where should troops be deployed? How should resources be distributed? What footholds would need to be established in order to initiate an invasion plan?
Darkstalker never pressed for her to approve of the use of animus magic to aid in them the war effort — something which really surprised her. They talked about it, of course. The idea was on the table from the very start. But Darkstalker was tentatively opposed to using it, at least for the time being.
"I never used my magic when we were fighting against the IceWings, and they never used their magic against us," he'd argued when they discussed the idea in the council room. "As long as we're winning the war with the SeaWings, we may as well treat them the same."
She was rubbing off on Darkstalker, she could tell. He was keeping an eye on his magic, and trying to restrain himself, despite him being king. It was true that the futures she saw still had some threads of darkness woven in them, but it was hard to worry about those futures when Darkstalker was acting more sensibly now than she ever could have hoped. For all the fears she'd had when Darkstalker first suggested taking the throne, he'd proven himself to be extremely responsible with it so far.
Perhaps that was why she was starting to let herself relax a little bit more — to give herself permission to be happy, to ask herself what it was that she wanted, and to start making decisions that were going to lead to her happiness, not just to a safer world.
But right now, she had no decisions to make. Right now, what made her happy was simply sitting and listening to the crashing waves as the setting sun warmed her scales.
The sound of dragon wings snuck up behind her. Clearsight opened her eyes and turned her head to find that Darkstalker had landed on the beach and was approaching her. Clearsight let him sit by her side and wrap a wing around her. They leaned into each other.
"My mother sent me a letter yesterday," he said. "Arctic has been writing to her. Apparently his spirits haven't lifted too much since he returned to the Ice Kingdom."
"That's too bad," Clearsight said. "I was hoping he'd be happier there."
"Well, I'm happier with him there; that's for sure," Darkstalker laughed. "But it's the fact that he's there that's the problem. Apparently the IceWings aren't letting him out of their palace, meaning he's not allowed to come down here to visit Foeslayer or Whiteout."
Clearsight frowned, feeling conflicted about that. "That sounds an awful lot like the SeaWings and their relationship with Fathom," she said.
"It does, doesn't it? I'd feel sorry for him if he didn't spend every waking minute of his life acting like he hated this place while he was here." He turned towards his right, facing the north. "He's probably better off staying there anyway. He could be an unwitting spy for us."
"A spy?" Clearsight questioned. "Why would we need to spy on the IceWings?"
"Because it turns out they may be supporting the SeaWings. Arctic accidentally revealed in his letter that their 'Gift of Sustenance' has started being put to use for exports."
"'Gift of Sustenance'?"
"A lake on the edge of the kingdom that has been enchanted to supply IceWings with free seals," he said. "Nobody in the Ice Kingdom uses it themselves unless they want to be dishonored for life."
"Hmm…" Clearsight shot a frown at Darkstalker. "Why didn't you tell me about this yesterday?"
"We were busy," he said with a smirk. "And you were in such a good mood. I didn't want to ruin that by giving you another thing to worry about." He looked out into the ocean and watched as the sun painted the sky red. "What got you into such a good mood yesterday, anyway?"
Clearsight felt flutters in her stomach. Yes, she'd wanted to make sure her joy was particularly apparent to Darkstalker the other day, and she made sure she kept quiet about anything that might have given away why. She took a bit of joy in knowing something that Darkstalker didn't. She wanted to let his mind hypothesize for a bit — to tease him for just a few minutes longer.
She lifted her chin, letting a gentle breeze stroke the scales along her neck. "Do you know where we are right now?" she asked.
Darkstalker smiled proudly. "I do, actually. This is where we were when I gave you that watch."
Clearsight nodded. "You have no idea how long ago that was for me," she said.
"I try not to think about it," Darkstalker said. "It bothers me more than you realize — remembering that you had to start over."
"Don't feel guilty," Clearsight said. "You're a different dragon now. A better one."
"You still worry though, don't you?" Darkstalker asked. "About the future."
"I'm never going to stop worrying about the future, Darkstalker," Clearsight said. "That's something I've come to accept lately. I know you want me to live a life where I'll never have to worry, but my powers are always going to be here. And as long as I can see the future, I'll be stressing over the things I need to avoid." Clearsight looked solemnly at her talons, though she felt some relief admitting that.
"I just wish I could be perfect. I wish it was impossible for me to do any wrong, so that it'd be impossible for you to see any darkness." Darkstalker tilted his head so that it rested against Clearsight's. "I hope I'm at least making you happy. Because you still make me happy every single day."
"Oh, Darkstalker, of course you make me happy," she whispered. "You were the reason I was so happy today. I want to stay this happy for the rest of my life, and that's exactly why I'm always going to keep worrying."
The last beam of sun buried itself beneath the blackened horizon. The clouds in the distance became a deep purple. The cicadas in the forest behind them began to sing their long night-time chorales.
"I'm pregnant."
Darkstalker straightened up. "You—you are?"
Clearsight nodded, beaming happily. "There's a boy and a girl cooking in me right now."
"There's two?" Darkstalker rose to his feet, his eyes brighter than the stars. "Clearsight, don't lie to me."
Clearsight giggled. "I'm not lying."
"No." A small smile crept into his features. "No, be real with me, Clearsight."
Clearsight stood up and brushed her head against the bottom of Darkstalker's chin. "Darkstalker's going to be a daddy," she said in a singsong voice.
"Shut up!" His tail began to flick excitedly. "Tell me the truth, Clearsight. You're not really pregnant."
"I am," she insisted. "They're in all of my visions, Darkstalker. They both look so much like you. They've got your deep black eyes, and your handsome smile—"
"—Stop messing with me, Clearsight!" He gathered her talons into his grasp, looking like he was on the verge of ears. "You can't be serious. Am I really going to be a father?"
He gave Darkstalker a loving smile, which she hoped answered his question because words were obviously not working.
With her talons still in his claws, Darkstalker walked closer to her. And closer, and closer, until he'd forced her to lean back so much that she fell over and landed on her back. Soon, a large and very affectionate NightWing was on top of her, pressing his body against hers. Their legs and tails interlocked, and he nuzzled her furiously. "Clearsight," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her. "Oh Clearsight, I love you so much."
"I love you too," she murmured back, holding onto his neck as they embraced.
How could this dragon possibly be the same one I see in my visions? she wondered as he squeezed her tightly. He's so sweet — so caring. How could anything possibly cause him to become the twisted tyrant that's in some of the timelines?
She didn't know. And right now, she didn't care. Soon, she was going to become a mother. A whole world of joys and sorrows and adventures were in store for them. Between the continuing war with the SeaWings and the prospect of motherhood, all of her energy would need to be directed towards keeping her world afloat. As certain as she was that the future would continue to be on her mind, she also knew that the present was going to be needing almost all of her attention.
But she didn't mind. Right now, the present was a wonderful place to be in.
