o
CLEARSIGHT
"I guess I do see it," Clearsight said, "but it still seems like a bit of a jump. Don't you think you might be looking into this too much?"
Darkstalker shook his head. "I can feel it in my bones. This is what Whiteout wanted to tell me."
Clearsight looked down at Foeslayer in the painting, then up at the depiction of her and Darkstalker. He had invited Clearsight into his room to look at the painting, to see if she agreed with his own interpretation on what it meant. "I mean … there could be other ways to interpret it," she said. "Why is Vigilance the only one not being represented as an actual dragon? Maybe the cloud actually means something broader, like power, or war."
"It may mean multiple things," Darkstalker admitted. "But one thing it definitely represents is Queen Vigilance."
"But why would she want to get Foeslayer killed? This whole war is being fought because of her."
"That's exactly the point," Darkstalker said. "What does the Night Kingdom have to gain by keeping this war going? We're not fighting for any of their lands. Vigilance probably only allowed Arctic into the Night Kingdom in the first place because she thought he would give Foeslayer an animus child. And since I'm here now, his purpose has run dry — meaning my mother's has as well. I suspect that Queen Diamond has brokered a deal with Vigilance: if she manages to get Foeslayer killed and Arctic sent back to the Ice Kingdom, then the IceWings will make peace and the war will be over."
Clearsight let the idea stir in her mind. To Darkstalker's credit, it did make a lot of sense. "And because of how popular Foeslayer is, Vigilance wouldn't be able to kill her outright without inviting a revolt against her."
"A revolt that I would be leading, no doubt," Darkstalker added. "So instead, she's trying to get my mother killed heroically on the battlefield."
Clearsight rubbed her forehead. "I don't know. I don't like Queen Vigilance, but she's never done anything outright evil."
"I doubt she considers this to be evil," Darkstalker said. "She might even consider it her only option. How else are we supposed to get out of this war?"
Clearsight realized that there really wasn't an easy answer to that. If there was, the war would have surely ended a long time ago.
"Clearsight," Darkstalker said, a mix of anger and uncertainty spinning in the depths of his eyes, "if I'm right about this, I don't see how it can be resolved without either Vigilance or my Mom dying."
"Please don't kill her, Darkstalker," Clearsight said. "I don't have the energy to deal with a succession crisis while we're in the middle of a war."
"I won't," Darkstalker said. "Not now, at least. But if killing her ends up being the only way for me to save my Mom, then don't try and stop me."
Clearsight sighed and rubbed her forehead. The following words came out of her mouth with alarming ease. "Fine. If you end up proving that Queen Vigilance is plotting to kill Foeslayer, then come to me, and we'll figure out how to take care of Vigilance together."
Darkstalker blinked. "Really?"
"It wouldn't be the first time I conspired with you to kill her," she said. "But there's a lot we'll need to figure out if it comes to that."
"Like what?"
"Like how we're going to get a legitimate claim to the throne if we want it, or how we're going to keep the kingdom from falling apart if one of Vigilance's unready daughters takes over." Clearsight let a couple of possible futures pass in and out of her mind — quick flashes that let her know just how chaotic things would become if they didn't plan Vigilance's assassination perfectly. "Vigilance certainly isn't perfect, but one thing she is doing is keeping the Night Kingdom stable. That's not an easy thing to do when we've been at war for over ten years."
"I see," Darkstalker said. "Well then, if it comes to that, I promise I'll come to you first."
Clearsight frowned crookedly as more visions swam through her mind. "I can see some futures where you break that promise."
A small flare of anger lit up in Darkstalker's eyes. "Why would I lie to you about this?"
"I'm not saying that you are," Clearsight clarified. "I'm just trying to warn you. This could become a full-blown crisis if we're not careful."
"If I break my promise, you can rat me out to the new queen and have her send me to the dungeons to rot and die. If we do this, we're doing this together."
His insistence didn't cause the visions to vanish, but she didn't press the issue further.
The next evening, rumors circulated around the palace of good news from the front lines. Foeslayer's new mission was going well: the scouting phase had gone off without a hitch, and orders had already been sent to Lieutenant Moonchaser to begin preparations for an invasion of the fortification along the northern rise. If things went according to plan, Foeslayer would be back home in no more than a week's time.
The futures in Clearsight's visions corroborated the rumors, and now that Foeslayer's fate was out of her talons, the NightWing's future was starting to stabilize. Their kingdom would be celebrating another victory soon enough.
Moods were high at Keen Eye's council meeting, especially after Clearsight confirmed that Foeslayer would in all likelihood be safely returning soon. Charcoal, General Blackhorn, and Evenfall were all there, looking as bright-eyed and cheerful as a bunch of military office commanders could reasonably look.
"This calls for a celebration," Keen Eye said. "We've had triumph after triumph, thanks in large part to everyone here."
"Clearsight is the one who made it all possible," General Blackhorn said. "I might have been skeptical of her powers at first, but she's proven herself more than capable as a seer."
A choir of cheers and applause followed, making Clearsight grow red in the face.
"What sort of celebration did you have in mind?" asked Evenfall. "Should we throw a party when Foeslayer returns?"
"I was thinking of something larger," Keen Eye said. "We should throw a parade. A party for the entire Night Kingdom. Foeslayer is beloved by every NightWing in the Talon Peninsula. It's time we give them a day to celebrate her accomplishments."
"That sounds like an excellent idea," said Clearsight. "Will we have it on the night of Foeslayer's return?"
"If the queen allows it," Keen Eye said, nodding. "Which she might not. Vigilance is usually only interested in parties where she can mingle with important dragons. But I don't think it would hurt to ask. It would do her some good to be reminded how much Foeslayer is loved by her subjects."
"I think we can all agree on that," Blackhorn said.
"If the party gets approved, I would like all of you to help make preparations. I know we're a military council and not a festivities department, but we're Foeslayer's closest colleagues."
"Certainly," Charcoal said.
"It'd be a nice change of pace," Evenfall agreed. "Working on nothing but military intelligence can get a bit bleak after a while."
"Good," Keen Eye said. "Now, I have some important business that I need to attend to for the forthcoming weeks. I'll still be here during the council meetings, but I won't have time to manage all of your affairs the way I usually do. So I'd like one of you to temporarily take my place as lead administrator."
"What will that entail?" asked Clearsight.
"Approving and coordinating all of the council decisions, providing guidance to everyone else, directing the affairs that our council has been tasked with overseeing, keeping track of everything on the administrative side, that sort of thing. I'll still be the one reporting to the queen, but I won't have the time to do any of the micromanaging. Do we have any nominations?"
There was a brief moment where nobody said anything, but everybody simultaneously looked at Clearsight.
"I feel like there's only one obvious choice," Blackhorn said.
"My first vote would be for Clearsight," Evenfall agreed.
"Same," said Charcoal.
"I had the same idea," Keen Eye said. "Clearsight, would you be up to the task?"
"I … I guess so," Clearsight said cautiously. "But are you sure about this? I mean, I've only been with you guys for a couple months."
"I think your competence speaks for itself," Keen Eye said. "Just don't let the power get to your head."
Clearsight cast a friendly grin at Keen Eye. While this was unexpected, she couldn't say that she was surprised by the outcome. Nobody in the council questioned her intelligence or her powers anymore. And pretty much every council decision received her approval before it was ratified and agreed on by everyone else.
"I'll do my best," Clearsight said. "If I may ask, what business do you have to attend to?"
Keen Eye at first looked a little hesitant to answer. "Some internal matters have been brought to my attention," she eventually said. "I need to do some information gathering to find out who's trustworthy and who's not."
"Oh dear," Clearsight said. "Is it something that we should be concerned about?"
"For now, no," she answered. "If anything important comes out of it, I'll let you know."
Despite her answer, Clearsight was still concerned. Espionage was a domain full of uncertainties, and it made the threads of the future extremely volatile. It didn't help that Darkstalker might be a target of Keen Eye's scrutiny now — which meant that she might be too. Were they not just talking with each other yesterday about a possible plot to kill Queen Vigilance?
There wasn't much she could do about Keen Eye's scheming, so she tried not to worry about it too much. She and Darkstalker made sure to avoid saying anything that could be misconstrued as treasonous while they were in the palace, and they spent the next few days outside of the palace with Fathom and Indigo whenever they could.
As Keen Eye had expected, Queen Vigilance wasn't open to the idea of throwing a parade in Foeslayer's honor. Perhaps when Foeslayer won the war for them, she'd reconsider. But right now, it was too soon to celebrate.
She did, however, allow for a ceremony to take place just outside of the palace. Vigilance and Foeslayer would give some speeches, making the public aware of their recent triumphs over the IceWings, and rousing them up for the future triumphs soon to come. It would be a small gathering, attended mostly by the palace inhabitants and their families. Maybe some friends of friends as well.
At least, that was the plan. Keen Eye had wanted to make sure the celebration was a little larger than Vigilance had intended, so she made sure word of it spread. Soon enough, the whole Night Kingdom knew of the ceremony. And soon enough after that, the whole Night Kingdom was planning on attending it.
On the night of Foeslayer's return, there was a crowd of NightWings more than a hundred strong standing before the balcony of the palace, where the queen usually addressed her subjects. Foeslayer had already been informed of the ceremony, and confirmed that she'd be ready to give a short speech upon her arrival.
The queen was not pleased. She paced slowly in the lobby leading into the balcony. Most of the room's floor was covered in black sheep woolen rugs, but Vigilance decided to pace around them on the marble floor, where the clicking of her claws rang with every step. Keen Eye and her council were all there, along with Darkstalker and his family, Arctic and Whiteout.
"I don't know how this happened," Vigilance said, "but I suppose we'll make do with it. We'll keep things short."
"If I may ask, Your Majesty, why does the large gathering trouble you?" Keen Eye asked. "I would expect you to be happy to see that we have a dragon in our ranks that the kingdom lauds as a hero."
"Of course I'm happy," she answered, "but these sorts of public appearances need to be carefully crafted. It's too soon for celebration. What if Foeslayer gets killed in her next mission and the IceWings suddenly have the advantage again?"
"Perhaps it's time to retire Foeslayer from the battlefield," Darkstalker suggested. "She's done more in the past six months than any of our generals have done in five years."
Out of the corner of her eye, Clearsight spotted General Blackhorn giving Darkstalker a cold frown.
Vigilance tilted her head, looking genuinely confused. "Yes, she has," she said. "Which is why it'd be a terrible idea to retire her. She's far too good at what she does."
The crowd outside began to cheer.
"Oh, here she comes," the queen said. "Get ready, everyone."
Moments later, Foeslayer landed on the balcony and made her way inside. Whiteout and Darkstalker ran forward and hugged her, and Clearsight noticed with the three of them standing side-by-side that Darkstalker and his sister were pretty much fully-grown dragons now. Clearsight herself still had a little bit of growing to do, but it was hard to consider herself still a child when she had technically been alive for over ten years now. Their childhood, once again, was coming to an end.
Arctic gave Foeslayer an affectionate nuzzle, and then gave her some space so that she could turn to the queen and bow. "Your Majesty," she said, "the mission was a success. We now have full control over Gypsum Mountain and its valleys."
"Excellent," Vigilance said with a smile that seemed forced. "At this rate, we'll have the IceWings out of the Talon Mountains by winter."
Foeslayer glanced back at the balcony, where an unrelenting ring of cheers and roars continued to pour in. "I didn't realize I was so popular," she said.
"The glory is well-deserved," said Keen Eye. "How many times have you put your life on the line for the Night Kingdom at this point? Six?"
Foeslayer smiled. "Well, are we going to keep them waiting?"
"No, let's get this over with," Vigilance said as she started towards the crowd.
Foeslayer followed behind, but paused to look back at the rest of them. "Remember the rules," she said quietly. "Stay behind the queen, remain standing when she sits, bow when she spreads her wings, and look to the crowd, not to her."
Clearsight nodded. Foeslayer passed through the curtains and onto the balcony, followed by Arctic, then Darkstalker, then Whiteout, Keen Eye, Blackhorn, Charcoal, Evenfall, and finally Clearsight.
When they reached the balcony, the cacophony died down, and the sea of NightWings lowered their heads. The light of three gibbous moons shone down on the kingdom, barely illuminating the horns and scales below them.
"My subjects," Queen Vigilance spoke in a practiced voice for speeches, "tonight we welcome the return of a dragon who needs no introduction. Twelve years ago, she came to our kingdom with a new lover, hoping for a better life, and we let them in, protecting them from the IceWings who wanted to separate them. Six years later, she rewarded our goodwill by giving the Night Kingdom its very first animus dragon. Our best seers already predict great things to come from him and his magic."
That has to be a little awkward, Clearsight thought. I don't think Darkstalker was Foeslayer's idea of a reward to the Night Kingdom for their hospitality.
"And now, over these past six months, she has embarked on a military campaign against the IceWings, with the hope of ending this war once and for all," Vigilance continued. "Her courage, cunning, and dedication to her tribe has brought her victory after victory. We are stronger now than ever before, thanks to her."
A roar of approval bellowed from the crowd.
Vigilance, who by this point had probably spoken more words in the past two minutes than she had all month, waited until the crowd died down before speaking again. "In a moment I'll give her time to say a few words herself. But it bears reminding that this war is not yet over. Our campaigns are not yet finished. Our enemies still lie within our borders. We are not here for premature celebration, nor are we here to give any honors or awards. Only when the IceWings have been brought to heel and made to pay for their assault on NightWing sovereignty can we truly celebrate our triumphs. Until that day comes, we must take nothing for granted. We must remain vigilant.
"Without further ado, my subjects, I present to you the dragon you have been waiting for: please welcome Foeslayer."
Another wave of thunderous applause rang up from the denizens below as Vigilance stood aside and Foeslayer approached the edge of the balcony. She stood tall and proud, and let them give her their fullest welcome.
"Peace, my fellow NightWings," Foeslayer started. "You honor me with your warm welcome, but I am not the only dragon to whom you should be singing praises. Let us not forget our great Queen Vigilance, who used her wisdom and good judgment to orchestrate my missions."
A lesser applause rang out. Queen Vigilance appeared completely unamused.
"Nor should you forget my fellow councilors, led by the brilliant Keen Eye, for laying out the details and making preparations for all of my missions. Nor my family, whose love and support carried me during my most difficult hours."
This was met by another round of applause.
"But there is one dragon in particular who stands out among the rest," Foeslayer continued. "One who has helped me more than any other dragon in the Night Kingdom."
An anticipatory knot started to form in Clearsight's stomach.
"She sits with me on Keen Eye's council, and has spent countless hours using her powers to anticipate and respond to any threat that I would face in the field. I cannot overstate how crucial she has been to our success. If it weren't for her, I would have certainly died on my very first mission. If it weren't for her, we might now be feeling the cold sting of defeat. If it weren't for her, thousands of NightWings would be dead, and the Talon Peninsula would be overrun with IceWings. She is a seer. She is a great seer. She is the greatest seer that our Kingdom has ever had. If you do not know her name, then learn it now and remember it well, because history certainly will. Dragons of the Night Kingdom, this the dragon who truly deserves the honor and glory that you have given me. And her name is Clearsight."
The crowd erupted into an ebullient cheer. Foeslayer extended a wing, inviting Clearsight up to stand beside her. She accepted the invitation, and overlooked the hundreds of dragons, all looking at and cheering for her.
The praise felt nice. Gratitude from the masses was something she had sorely missed from when she was queen, and it filled her with such warmth to receive that gratitude again for the first time in so many years.
And yet, despite that, she couldn't shake off this terrible feeling that Foeslayer had just made a big mistake by mentioning her.
The ceremony concluded shortly afterwards. Darkstalker left the palace to spend the rest of the night with his family, and Keen Eye went off to do whatever it was that she'd been doing since giving Clearsight temporary administrative control over her council. So Clearsight had the rest of the night to herself, and she decided that she'd spend it trying to figure out why she had this bad feeling all of a sudden.
It didn't take her long to figure out the reason. But it also didn't take her long to realize that there wasn't much she could do about it now. Only a few short hours after the ceremony, a guard found her in the library and instructed her that Queen Vigilance requested her immediate presence.
The guard led her to the throne room. Vigilance was sitting beside a pair of royal guards, but aside from them the room was completely empty.
As was customary, Clearsight prostrated herself before Queen Vigilance. "Your Majesty," she said, "how may I serve you?"
"Is it true what Foeslayer said about you?" asked Vigilance. "Have you been advising her on her recent missions, trying to ensure her success and survival?"
"Of course I have," Clearsight said, rising back to her feet. "Foeslayer and I both sit on Keen Eye's council, and part of our duties is to advise one another on our directives. I advise Foeslayer just as Foeslayer advises Blackhorn, and Blackhorn advises Keen Eye, and Keen Eye advises all of us."
"But she put particular emphasis on you," Vigilance said. "With your powers, you've managed to prepare her for her missions better than any of your fellow council members could have."
Clearsight knew she had to downplay this. "I don't think I would go as far as to say that," she said. "I may be a seer, but I'm not an expert in area control like Blackhorn is, nor do I understand field logistics the way Evenfall does. And as you know, my seer powers are not infallible. Foeslayer truly is more responsible for her success than I am. As, of course, are you, Your Majesty."
Queen Vigilance narrowed her eyes, and Clearsight felt her shoulders stiffen. She'd forgotten that flattery only ever made Vigilance suspicious. "Why do you think Foeslayer would tell such exaggerated tales about your role in her success?" she asked.
Clearsight took a second to think about her answer. "Darkstalker and I have been a couple for many years now," she said. "Foeslayer knows that I'll probably become her daughter-in-law soon, so it isn't surprising that she wants to give me special praise."
"I see," Vigilance said. "Be that as it may, I know for a fact that your powers are special. Foeslayer may be right when she says that you're the greatest seer that the Night Kingdom has ever had."
Clearsight would have expressed gratitude for Vigilance's praise if she didn't know the pretext for it.
"I want to put your powers to the test," Vigilance continued. "They have clearly been put to good use here in the palace, but I think they can be put to better use out in the field. Right now, the last major IceWing force south of the Talon Mountains is fortified in the Shooting Star Valley. I want you to lead our strongest armies into battle and crush them."
Clearsight winced. There'd be no use in fighting this, but she felt like she'd be doing herself a disservice if she didn't at least try. "With all due respect, Queen Vigilance, I think that plan might be a little bit rash. I have absolutely no combat experience. My future seeing abilities alone won't render me capable of leading an entire army into battle."
"I do not believe that to be the case," Vigilance said. "If you're able to direct Foeslayer on her missions days before she even starts them, I can only imagine how capable you'll be of directing our armies immediately prior to battle."
"But this is far too dangerous," Clearsight said. "I'm not a soldier, or an officer. I have no combat experience. I could very easily die."
"I sincerely doubt that. You're the 'greatest seer the Night Kingdom has ever had,' are you not? Surely you of all dragons should be able to predict when something deadly is about to happen to you, and respond accordingly. If you're so worried about your survival, then stay with the cowards at the back of the ranks."
Clearsight did her best not to sour her face disrespectfully, but she doubted she was successful. "I really don't see this going well, Your Majesty."
"Then make it go well," Vigilance said sternly. "Find the path that leads to success. You found it over and over again for Foeslayer. Now find it for yourself. That is all I needed from you. Meet with me in the war room tomorrow at nine o'clock in the evening. We'll go over the details then. Guards, send her away."
It wasn't until after Clearsight left the throne room that the full weight of Queen Vigilance's orders truly sank in. She clearly saw the faces of the soldiers she'd meet on the battlefield in her future now. She saw how they overlooked the IceWing fortress burrowed in the Shooting Star Valley. She saw their upcoming battle with the IceWings. Blood, fire, and frost breath filled the air. She got hurt in many of the futures — badly hurt. Phantom pain crept into her body from vivid images of frostbite, stab wounds, and broken bones. And she had no way of telling how many different paths led to her death, since could never see a future that she wasn't a part of.
That was scary. It was very, very scary. But what made it even more terrifying was that in all of the futures she did see, where she did survive, Foeslayer didn't. Foeslayer was going to be sent on another mission. And this time, Clearsight wouldn't be there to make sure that she would survive.
Darkstalker was right. Whiteout was right. Vigilance was trying to get Foeslayer killed. And in order to do that properly, Vigilance had to get rid of her too.
A/N: Er, so the plan to get a biweekly schedule going seemed to fall a bit flat. This was a hard chapter to work out, and I seem to have forgotten how to write more than 400 words in a single sitting. You might have to bear with me for a bit while that particular skill comes back to me. I'll keep aiming for one chapter every two weeks, but we'll just have to wait and see how steadily I can maintain that pace.
But why don't I take a moment to talk about something other than my atrociously slow writing for a change? I don't check this story's stats very often anymore, but I recently did, and what I found left me quite delighted. This story is now among the top ten most followed and most favorited Wings of Fire fanfics on this site. It stands at #6 for most followed, and #7 for most favorited. I'd just like to take a moment to thank you all for helping this story become as big as it is right now. I was never really in it for the views or the popularity, but I'd be lying if I told you that the positive reception didn't mean a lot to me. It does. If you favorited or followed this story, or if you have ever left a review for me to read, or even if all you've done so far is read along, then you have my gratitude, and you should know that you're making all of my futures a little bit brighter.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. As usual, let me know what you think, and I'll see you all when the next one cones out. Two weeks! Totally gonna be two weeks this time.
