This Winglet takes place around the same time as the upcoming chapter of Finding Peace.
Here, we join an old friend as he performs a joint operation with the IceWings along the Sand Kingdom-Ice Kingdom boarder.
It is also here, that we explore elements that will directly impact Peacemaker's storyline.
Finding Peace: Winglets
The Lantern
It was mornings like these Qibli enjoyed.
Standing out on the balcony of the second floor of his home, look out across Possibility's surrounding limits and at the rising snow peaked mountains that rested on the Ice Kingdom Border miles away. This morning, in particular, Qibli was enjoying, as his life would change into something he'd always wanted for years after he left the academy.
Taking a sip from his ceramic cup, Qibli let the sweet, yet bitter, warm liquid roll down his throat as he waited for Moon to get up and join him in his early morning vigil. After all, it was her suggestion on this change in their life, and he saw the expression on her face when she had shown him the letter that they had received just days ago. It was something she had wanted to do for years, the last few days: she seemed at peace.
By no means would it be easy, but they both agreed: They would make it work.
"Knew I'd find you here," Came the voice of Qibli's mate as she finally came up to the balcony with him.
Moon looked tired, but it was the excitement that had likely woken her up.
Qibli simply grinned at Moon as he passed her a cup that she took and gratefully drank from. Together, the two mates stood in silence, listened to the early morning bustle of the Possibility streets below them.
"So, he going to be late? Or on time?" Qibli asked Moon after minutes of silence.
At this question, Moon chuckled softly.
"Half and half," Moon said. "I mean, he had lots of things to do in order to make this work."
"Fair point," Qibli laughed in return. "Hopefully this works."
"It will," Moon replied, adamant. "For all of us…we'll make it work."
At this, Qibli nodded. He still remembered the heated conversation they had. How the six years of love and affection they had had almost been irreparably strained. Decisions they had made in the past, Qibli's duties to Her Majesty's guard and Moon's visions.
But it had turned around, they had found a way to live their lives happily.
"We want this…" Moon whispered as she rested her head against Qibli's neck.
Qibli nodded.
"More than anything," Looking to his mate, he smiled as she raised her talons to his ear.
Moon smiled as she reached up for his earring.
…
You want this.
This cave makes you happy…
Cast off your wings…
We have taken your Queens, and their Queens, and their Queens!
We…
…
…
…
AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!
Qibli's eyes snapped open as reality came back to him.
The familiar cold of the Sand and Ice Kingdom border covered his scales as if he had just jumped into a cold river in the warmest day of the summer. Even with the insulated armor he wore that kept him warm, Qibli felt his under jaw chatter uncontrollably.
What…what happened?
As he looked at his surroundings, all he could see was a thick blanket white mist and the frozen sands beneath him.
"Arid…Pronghorn…Ostrich!" Qibli called out to his lieutenants as he stumbled forward through the mist and the cold. "Where are you!?"
Qibli attempted to open his wings, but doing so only made him feel colder. He was no IceWing, being this far north at this time of year left him and his SandWings at a disadvantage. The armor forged for this expedition helped keep them warm, but only if they returned to some place warm every few hours. Even his fire was barely a puff.
Searching through the mist for what felt like hours, Qibli felt his heart sink as he could not find anyone from his unit.
How had the Frozen Sands gotten the better of them? The plan Qibli and Hailstorm had made was perfect. While the Frozen Sands engaged the SandWings, Hailstorm and his IceWings would attack from the North. Both SandWings and IceWings would fight the bandits from both sides, eventually, both sides would meet up in the middle and have the bandits surrounded.
All he remembered before blacking out was preparing to engage the bandits after they fell for Qibli's decoy, making the bandits think that Qibli and his lieutenants were simple merchants travelling for a trade outpost further north.
Then Ostrich had asked him if he'd heard something.
Finally came the dream…
Qibli closed his eyes tightly as he pushed the thoughts away.
A dream that was a fairy tale at best.
"We have taken your Queens…"
Qibli's eyes opened wide as he heard a group of voices in the distance. Knowing the direction, Qibli trotted forward in the direction.
"Pronghorn! Ostrich! Pike?!" Qibli called as he recognized the voices of his lieutenants.
Finally, after a few seconds of running in the fog, at first he saw silhouettes, but then fully could see his SandWings. The ten SandWings Qibli had selected for this strike were all here…but walking in a single file line, north.
"What are you guys doing?" Qibli asked, rushing towards Ostrich, who stood somewhere in the middle of the line. "Guys?"
"Close your wings…"
"Don't claw at the walls…
"You want this…"
Qibli felt his blood run colder than the cold air around him as his SandWings, in unison, spoke these words. Each of the SandWings had their heads lowered as they spoke these words…that sounded oddly familiar to him.
Suddenly, Ostrich, the youngest of Qibli's lieutenants, fell to the ground. As she collapsed, none of the other SandWings did a thing to help her.
"Ostrich!" Qibli said, rushing over to the eight-year old's side, touching her shoulders.
Qibli's earring suddenly grew warm, and the next thing he heard was Ostrich scream.
Whatever his SandWings were saying, they stopped…and starred at him with empty eyes. An expression that almost reminded Qibli of what he had seen on Pantala.
Next thing Qibli realized, all of the SandWings rushed at him, piling on top of him. Qibli's heart raced as they clawed for his earring. Grinding his teeth, Qibli attempted to push them away, but he refused to hurt any of his dragons.
"Dismiss!"
Then, just as quickly as his SandWings had leaped on him, the dragons all collapsed onto the ground. Laying on the ground motionless, yet still breathing. Pushing Pike off of him, Qibli stood back to his feet as he looked around…confusion filled his head as he wondered what had happened.
Then came the next weirdest thing he had seen all day…
Behind him: The mist began to grow thinner until it parted around a silhouette of almost twenty dragons.
Crouching down, Qibli expected the dragons walking towards him to be bandits. But when he noticed they did not wear red armor, signature wear of the Frozen Sands, Qibli slowly eased up as he saw a collection of SandWings and IceWings approaching, the former wearing insulated armor over their scales, like Qibli.
The oddest thing, however, was who they were being led by a SeaWing, maybe in his twenties.
The SeaWing was clearly the leader, as his armor had a unique star design on the chest plate and a silver scroll container hung across his left shoulder.
What was a SeaWing doing this far north?
But based on how none of the dragons appeared hostile, Qibli knew they were no enemy.
When the group of dragons finally reached Qibli, the mist had all but cleared behind them.
The SeaWing motioned his dragons towards the unconscious SandWings, and they obeyed without question. Helping each of his SandWings up, Qibli saw the dragons begin to take them south.
"They will be fine," The SeaWing spoke as he stepped in front of Qibli. Raising a brow, the SeaWing glanced at Qibli, sizing him up. Until his eyes fell on the earring. "Interesting."
Qibli found this SeaWing difficult to read, clearly he had experience with dragons like Qibli. Which meant he had many secrets.
"'Interesting', how?" Qibli asked, trying to keep his suspicion in check. "Where are you taking my dragons?"
"South, back to your camp." The SeaWing confirmed, at this Qibli could tell he was telling the truth, so that brought him some relief. "Go with them," The SeaWing said, stepping passed him while signaling two IceWings to follow him. "We have work to do."
"Now wait a minute!" Qibli snapped as the three dragons walked by him. "Who are you? Queen Coral wasn't with Queen Thorn or Queen Snowfall during their last meeting for this operation."
This stopped the SeaWing and his IceWing escort. The two IceWings glanced at the SeaWing, who gestured them to continue on a distance away. As the IceWings went forward, the SeaWing turned back to Qibli.
"My name is Surf of Adderin," The SeaWing introduced himself. "I'm not here on behalf of Queen Coral. Consider my dragons and I as an interested third party, who have spoken with both Queen Thorn and Queen Snowfall and have been given permission to intervene in this specific situation."
Qibli narrowed his eyes at the SeaWing. He recognized the name of his home "Adderin." A SeaWing village that, in recent years, became home to many dragons from across Phyrria, some even hailing from Pantala. It was a small island, out of the way, and considered an "Outer Kingdom" territory owned by the Sea Kingdom. But like all Outer Kingdom territories: Adderin had a degree of independence.
The question was, what was a SeaWing from Adderin doing on the border of the Kingdom of Sand and the Ice Kingdom?
"And what is your "Third-party" interested in?" Qibli asked.
Surf gave Qibli and amused look, clearly taking a liking to Qibli's inquisitive nature.
"We're looking for something, an artifact." Looking at the retreating mist, Surf glanced back at Qibli. "I think you know what it does."
Suddenly, it all made sense to Qibli.
The mist, the dream…his dragons being in some kind of trance. There was an Animus touched artifact here, along the border.
Yet, Qibli had never seen an Animus touched artifact do this.
"Her Majesty's scouts always assumed they had an Animus," Qibli recalled aloud the reports Queen Thorn would receive from her scouts about the Frozen Sands. These bandits always seemed to disappear as quickly as they appeared.
Yet Qibli had his doubts in his engagements with the bandits. Hailstorm shared these doubts, as well, with him in their meetings.
"And what do you think?" Surf asked, with a raised brow, offering Qibli a chance to voice his real thoughts on the matter.
"I don't know," Qibli admitted. He knew something was up, but he had no idea what it was. All he had were suspicions. Yet he knew one thing. "But I've seen Animus enchantments." Gesturing behind him, so his lieutenants and the rest of his dragons being taken somewhere warm. "What happened to my dragons is nothing like what Darkstalker did."
What Qibli said next, he couldn't believe was coming from his own mouth: "This looks, and feels, worse."
After saying this, he expected Surf to laugh him off.
Instead, all he saw from Surf was a nod of understanding. Like he was anticipating Qibli to say just those words.
"You would be right," Surf admitted as he looked in the direction of the Ice Kingdom's side of the border. "There is no Animus behind this. The truth, however, would be more frightening if you knew."
Raising a skeptical brow, Qibli admitted he actually wanted to know, now.
"Try me," Qibli said.
Surf merely smirked in amusement.
"All I will say: Keep your ears covered."
"Excuse me?" Qibli rose a brow.
"Unless you want to end up like your dragons, I advise not listening to what the bandits and the IceWing unit has to say," Surf said as he turned and walked in the direction of his IceWing escort.
Qibli felt his heart skip a beat.
"What's happened to Hailstorm and his dragons?!" Qibli asked, in fright, thinking of Winter's older brother. Qibli trotted after Surf and his escort. "Are they alright?"
"It's too soon to tell," Surf answered, letting Qibli catch up. Reaching into a side pocket in his armor, Surf tossed Qibli a flask filled with an orange liquid. "Drink this, we don't have much time."
Doing as he was told, Qibli removed the cork from the flask and let the orange liquid fill his mouth and throat. As he drank the liquid, he struggled not to spit the concoction back out. It was the worst thing he had ever tasted.
Yet, the results outweighed his initial reaction.
His frozen joints from spending hours on the border had begun to warm up. The natural SandWing heat rekindled and Qibli felt like he was standing in the middle of the desert again. Most importantly, he felt rejuvenated. His tail could move freely again and his barb could flex, his joints were free and, exhaling, his fire had returned to him.
"Thanks," Qibli said, gratefully. "Don't know what was in that, it was terrible, but the effects were worth it."
"Trade secret," Surf replied. "It will last for a few hours."
"Sure you can't provide my dragons with some?"
"If we survive, we will talk about it." Surf said as he opened his wings and took to the sky.
With his wings warmed up, Qibli followed with a mighty flap of his wings. Together, the two dragons flew through the mist. If it wasn't for Surf guiding him, Qibli would not have been able to see through the thick blanket of mist in front of him. But wherever they flew, Qibli noticed that, behind them, the mist parted.
Almost like it actively avoided Surf.
After several minutes of flight, both Qibli spotted Surf's IceWing companions waiting for them in front of a cave entrance...where the mist was at its most thick. As the two landed, Qibli's eyes blinked as he and Surf approached cave entrance.
The mist…it came out of the cave, but it was a light blue.
What?
"It's coming from in there." Spoke a female IceWing.
"I know," Surf said, nodding at he approached the cave entrance, holding out his talons to the mist.
All three dragons looked like they had been expecting this, maybe what they had even come for.
"It's too thick," Surf commented as he took his talons away. Turning to the IceWings, Surf nodded at each of them. "Head back to the others, tell them to be ready."
"Yes, your highness," The IceWings said with a nod of their head while they turned back around and flew off.
Surf's gaze turned to Qibli.
"Prince Hailstorm and his IceWings are in the cave, this is where your dragons would have come to," Surf said, gesturing to the cave.
Like before, Qibli couldn't tell how, exactly, Surf knew all of this. But there was a reason he told his IceWing companions to leave. Yet he seemed to imply he wanted Qibli to follow. Granted Qibli wasn't under Surf's command, but Surf could have just as easily demanded him to leave.
Walking closer towards Surf, looking carefully at the blue mist, he glanced back at the SeaWing.
"So what do you plan to do?" Qibli asked. "You think it's safe for me in there?"
Surf glanced carefully at Qibli, raising a brow as his eyes fell on his earring.
"Your earring, it's the same Animus touched one you used to dispel Darkstalker's enchantment?" Surf asked.
Qibli nodded, his ear ring suddenly feeling a lot heavier at the mention of it. So Surf knew about his ear ring, even in the Outer Kingdom territories.
Seeing Qibli's nod, Surf raised a curious brow, visibly contemplating something.
"Follow me, but stay close." Surf said, Qibli noticed that it sounded like the SeaWing wanted to test a hypothesis.
Normally, Qibli would refuse being someone's test subject. But lives were at stake.
If he didn't help Hailstorm and his IceWings, then Queen Snowfall would have a reason to no longer cooperate with Queen Thorn on this operation.
And Winter, what would he tell him if he did not help his brother?
With a nod, Qibli said. "Let's go."
Together, both dragons walked towards the cave entrance, stepping into the blue mist.
While the mist parted for Surf, the mist quickly surrounded Qibli, as if it had a mind of its own. As the mist sunk through his scales, Qibli heard it: Whispers. Whispers that repeated words over, and over, and over again.
We have taken your Queens, and their queens and their queens!
And something inside Qibli felt the urge the repeat those words. His mind screamed at him to ignore the words, but his body felt so…relaxed.
Then, his ear ring grew warm.
The voices stopped and the mist retreated from Qibli. Wherever he walked, the mist would avoid him as if he had the plague.
Glancing up at Surf, who stood beside him, watching Qibli with an expecting gaze. Whatever his theory was, Qibli had proven it successful.
"Interesting," Surf muttered to himself as he walked ahead of Qibli.
With a raised brow, Qibli followed Surf. Based on how he walked: Surf was not going to answer any questions about his theory. But Qibli had a feeling that, whatever was going on, Turtle's enchantment on his ear ring was protecting him.
But how? The ear ring was only meant to protect him from Darkstalker's enchantments. How was it protecting him now?
Darkstalker was long gone, his magic sealed away.
This mist, it was not Animus magic…it was somehow worse.
"Your dragons, they called you 'your highness'?" Qibli asked, hoping that speaking with Surf would give him information that he could piece together on his own.
"It's the structure of our organization," Surf responded, not looking back. "Among my subordinates, I'm called Prince Surf."
"Who is your Queen?" Qibli asked, raising a curious brow.
"Just like with the liquid you drank, the name of our queen just so happens be a trade secret," Surf answered. But after a momentary pause, he continued. "Let's just say that she is, by no means, my mother. Princes and Princesses are appointed, not born with the title."
"That's…interesting," Qibli replied. "What is it your organization does, exactly? Which Kingdom do you support?"
"Another secret, though I have a feeling you will see what we do shortly," Surf said, bluntly shooting down that question. "As for which Kingdom? Like I said before, we are a third party. We work with the Queens, we do not answer to them."
"Something tells me Queen Snowfall does not appreciate not having IceWings under her command," Qibli commented with a scoff, thinking back to the few times he had been to the quarterly Sanctuary summits, in which the seven queens of Pyhrria met to regularly discuss issues and maintain the peace.
Queen Snowfall was, by no means, a bad queen. But as an individual, she was difficult to tolerate. If she were not a queen, Qibli doubted her rude attitude would be tolerated outside of the Ice Kingdom.
Then there was the matter of how she had offended Qibli, personally. In the few times he had been in the same room as her, she would have no idea that she had offended him. Even though it would be pointless to even mention it to the Queen, Qibli found himself resisting the urge to glare at the queen when he accompanied Queen Thorn to the Sanctuary summits.
"How do you go about maintaining this independence?" Qibli asked. Based on the thickness of the blue fog, he had a feeling it would be a while before they even found what they were looking for.
"Simple," Surf said, turning his head to look at Qibli. "We solve problems even a Queen's most favored lieutenants can't solve."
This, admittedly, struck Qibli's pride. Especially with what Surf implied: That Queen Thorn doubted Qibli could handle the situation.
Yet, all of Qibli's dragons under his command were...he did not know what had happened to them, but he knew that Thorn was right in allowing Surf and his dragons to come to their aid. Otherwise, Ostrich and the others would still be in their trance.
"Thank you," Qibli said. "For saving them, and for letting me come."
Surf nodded his head.
"What my organization deals with, your friends would have been a threat to dragons everywhere if they had not been freed," Surf said. "But, I am glad we could get to them."
"Cast off your wings!"
"You want this cave!"
"Shhh!" Qibli said as soon as he heard the words, the same words his SandWings had been saying when they were entranced.
"I know," Surf whispered as the two dragons crouched down, reaching an opening in the cave, leading into a larger cave.
As Qibli and Surf hid behind a large stone, Qibli glanced in the center of the cave, where the blue mist originated from. In the center, Qibli's saw a group of twelve IceWings standing in a circle. Their eyes were void of emotion while entranced, just like his SandWings.
One of the dragons Qibli quickly recognized: A tall IceWing with silvery scales.
"Hailstorm…" Qibli muttered, staring in horror at how his IceWing counter part of the operation was caught in the trance. Hailstorm was a strong willed dragon, while Qibli did not agree with him all of the time, he did get along with him.
"We can save them," Surf whispered to Qibli.
"How?" Qibli asked, glancing at Surf.
Surf pointed at what the IceWings were standing around…straining his eyes: Qibli saw that the dragons were standing around…a lantern?
It looked like a Flamesilk lantern that Qibli had seen in Pantala during his few trips to the western continent. With a cast of iron and glass acting as a shield, flamesilk would burn in the center, creating light.
The lantern was normal looking, nothing fantastic about it.
Yet, the blue mist actually originated from it.
Suddenly, Surf stood up out of cover and jumped down to the ground below.
"What are you doing?!" Qibli hissed as he followed the SeaWing, getting ready for what would inevitably follow.
"Grow, extend your reach," Surf said loudly, ignoring Qibli, suddenly stopping the IceWings in mid-sentence of their.
Upon all IceWings looking in their direction, the dragons hissed as Surf approached, but the SeaWing ignored the glares of the IceWings as he held up his talons.
"Circle, in a constant motion. Bright, always searching."
As he spoke, the IceWings lunged forward. Qibli, however, anticipated this and intercepted the first dragon approaching Surf. Striking an IceWing with the blunt end of his barb, Qibli knocked the dragon in the head, making the IceWing unconscious. He would live, but would wake up with a headache.
More IceWings came forward, but Qibli managed to keep them from Surf, who continued repeating the same line over and over as he ignored the IceWings and, instead, was dead focused on the Flamesilk lantern.
After knocking the other IceWings unconscious, Qibli spun to Surf's direction, only to feel a spike just barely graze him. Towering in front of him, Hailstorm advanced towards Qibli, staring down at him with empty eyes.
"Hailstorm!" Qibli said, attempting to help his friend see reason. "Snap out of it!"
But his words fell on deaf ears as Hailstorm lashed his serrated claws at Qibli, who swiftly dodged the strike, only to be struck by the Prince's tail. The blow sent Qibli flying into the cave wall.
Groaning, Qibli opened his eyes to see Hailstorm lunge at Surf.
That's when it happened.
"DISMISS!" Surf shouted at the Lantern.
Hailstorm's body suddenly crumbled to the floor, as if he had been a puppet cut from strings.
Horrified, Qibli rushed over to Hailstrom and placed his talons on the IceWing's neck…but breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the beating of a pulse.
Looking up, Qibli saw Surf reach out with his talons and pick up the lantern…the flamesilk inside extinguished.
As the light of the flamesilk died, the blue mist began to disperse.
To Qibli's relief, he heard Hailstorm groan. Looking down, he saw the IceWing prince clutch at his head.
"Qibli?" The IceWing groaned. "What…what happened?"
Looking up at Surf, who walked towards the two, holding the lantern in his talons, Qibli gave a long exhale of breath when he realized it was over.
"That…is a long story."
Once all of the IceWings were woken up, Qibli led them to the SandWing camp, which would be closer than the IceWing camp. By the time they had left the cave, the sun had set and the air had grown cold.
When Qibli, Hailstorm, Surf and the IceWings arrived at the camp: Qibli was relieved when he was greeted by Ostrich and quickly saw the rest of his SandWings awake and moving around the camp.
As the IceWings settled in the camp, dinner was quickly prepared for all of the dragons.
However, Surf and his group of IceWings and SandWings were already packed up and ready to depart when dinner was ready.
"At least stay for the evening," Hailstorm offered to Surf. "We can't let your aid go unrewarded."
"You both letting my dragons have the chance to rest for a few hours is reward enough," Surf said, glancing in the direction of two SandWings from his group slowly putting the lantern into a black box, made entirely of what looked like Obsidian. "But we have a long journey back to Adderin."
The way Surf looked in the lantern's direction, Qibli noticed that the SeaWing very much wanted to stay for the evening and let his dragons rest up. But even if the blue mist had dispersed, Surf still looked at the lantern as if it would turn into the most vicious predator in the world and kill everyone.
"Before you go," Qibli said, catching Surf's attention. "Can you finally tell me what it is you actually do," Qibli looked at the box. "And what that thing even is?"
Surf smiled, but shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Qibli, but I cannot," Surf said. "It's not my place to answer that question." But after saying that, Surf visibly thought for a moment, before it looked like he came up with something.
"Yes?" Qibli asked, as he realized that Surf might actually reconsider.
"Tell me what happened to Darkstalker," Surf said, the question catching Qibli off guard, while causing Hailstorm to glance at him with a curious gaze. It came as no surprise to Qibli that Hailstorm showed interest, he had been in the Ice Kingdom when the plague struck and took his aunt, Queen Glacier. "Tell me what happened, and I will tell you what it is my organization does."
"If we told the world that Peacemaker was once Darkstalker, the IceWings would want revenge for the plague."
Those were the words that Moon had told Qibli days after the battle of Jade Mountain and Darkstalker's transformation into Peacemaker.
During that time, Qibli had an almost heated debate with her, Kinkajou and Turtle. But in the end, he had relented…even on the topic of who in their circle should know the truth. And, even to this day, he regretted the decision of not telling some friends the truth.
But right here, right now, in a camp with Hailstorm and IceWings present, Qibli knew what he should say.
"He's dead," Qibli lied. "It's just as the message said: Moonwatcher and Kinkajou tricked him, and he was killed. If you want details, you should talk to them about it."
Surf nodded his head, seemingly impressed.
"Fascinating," Surf replied, turning around from Qibli.
"Now it's your turn," Qibli said to the SeaWing, annoyed the dragon was walking away from him. "What is it you do?"
Glancing back, Surf gave an equally annoyed stare about him.
"I don't pay for half-answers, Qibli," Surf said. "I asked you a direct question, and I expected a direct answer."
"I gave you an answer," Qibli insisted, his anger raising.
"I asked 'how,'" Surf answered. "You failed to answer that question. Because of that, I am not obligated to answer you."
With that, Surf rallied his dragons to the border of the camp.
Growling, Qibli looked at the sand beneath his talons in frustration. But as he did so, Hailstorm walked towards Surf.
"Thank you," Hailstorm said to Surf. "I will tell the Queen of your aid."
Giving an appreciative nod, Surf turned back to his dragons as he helped some pick up the obsidian box. Together, the group of dragons took off into the night sky, heading south.
When the dragons had gone out of view, Qibli walked away from the camp and stood on the boundary of the camp, looking out towards the Ice Kingdom side of the border.
Standing by himself, he thought back to the dream he had…where he and Moon stood together on their second-floor balcony. Squeezing his eyes shut, he pressed his talons beneath his eyes.
He missed Moon…and part of him regretted not telling her much about the task he was on.
But the last conversation they had, coupled with the letter he had received just mere hours after…
He acted quickly, but he needed to do this.
The crunching of sand caused Qibli to come out of his thoughts and catch sight of Hailstorm approaching him from behind. Standing beside him, looking out towards the border, Hailstorm waited for Qibli to speak.
With a sigh, Qibli spoke.
"Not too far from here…" Qibli muttered.
"Yeah," Hailstorm nodded. "What started this all." Glancing at Qibli, Hailstorm continued. "Heard from my brother lately?"
Qibli nodded at this, smiling at the thought of Winter.
"You know, always the stuck up IceWing," Qibli joked, actually causing Hailstorm to chuckle at this. "He should be at Jade Mountain, teaching a lesson with Sunny…on Scavengers."
"Good," Hailstorm said, smiling to himself. "Nice to know there are certain things he hasn't outgrown." Stretching his wings, Hailstorm turned back to the camp. "Be sure to get some rest, we have a lot of things to plan."
When Qibli nodded, Hailstorm walked back to camp, leaving the SandWing to his thoughts.
Reaching into a pocket, Qibli pulled out a small black piece of rock…the piece of Skyfire Turtle had given him and the rest of the Winglet all of those years ago. Something he kept even to this day.
Something that reminded him of the times when it was all of the Jade Winglet together.
When two of the most important dragons were with him.
"Someday…" Qibli muttered to himself as he clutched the Skyfire into the palm of his talons. "Someday."