MCZ: You(bows sloppily) are welcome, sir.
*Offers on the co-op write are CLOSED! Fatespeaker and I are now coordinating with each other about the fic!*
Check never wnted to go to the Ice palace, but his father had insisted on taking him anyway.
He dragged his paws over the ice, drowsy and bored from the long trip. He could feel small grains of sand ground into the ice by unknown dragons, and ice stalictites and staligmites met in columns and hung down from the ceiling like a forest of jagged ice teeth.
"Stay close, now, Check. We must go through the deep ice to reach the throne room, and it could be easy to get lost. I don't want to go hunting for missing dragonets when I am so close to completing my task." Check's father grummbled. He had a sack slung over his back; a bag of goods ordered by the king. At least, that's what Check's father had told him.
The sack was bumpy-looking, like it was filled with boulders. Check guessed that it was some sort of secret order of large gems, or treasure, mabye even golden dragon eggs. Whatever, he thought. It doesn't matter to me. He could toss the sack in a frozen river, for all I care!
Lagging behind a little, Check played around in his thought, chasing monsters, beating warriors, and saveing innocent lives in his day dreams, until he was woken from his pleasent wish with a jolt. A pang pf pain breifly struck at one of his forepaws, and he tripped, falling down a steep slope of ice, and landing painfully on his tail.
Shaking his head and tail, he looked up the slope. He could hear the heavey pawsteps of his father fadeing away, and the ice seemed to begin weezing as the air grew still. The ice slope was steep, and too hard for a dragonet of his age to climb up, and he still had yet to learn how to fly.
Shivering, he shook himeself. What are you, Check? A hatchling or a warrior? he thought to himeself. Takeing a deep breath, he walked on. I'll find my way out of here, and prove that I can take care of myself! he though fiercly.
He walked through the winding ice tunnles, getting boreder and lonelier with each step. he was about ready to panic when he heard it. A rough swash, shwoosh noise like a wet rabbit pelt rubbing against ice. He dashed towards it, and found himself looking at the most beautiful she-dragon he had ever seen.
Her scales where silvery-white, and veins of electric blue ran along her snout, neck, and back, faint but delecate, as if they had been fogged over slightly by a thin coating of liquid diamond. He wings looked as if they had had a nebula painted onto them, swirling with blues,indigos, and purples, with scattered silver scales like stars. She was scrapeing a rabiit pelt across the ice, and it had a strange mixture of sand and water on it. Next to her was a large pale of water.
Check felt relief flood him. This she-dragon might know the way out, and could help him. Feeling nervous and awkward, he walked forward. "E-excuse me." he said to catch her attention. The she-dragon whirled around and looked at him in suprise.
"C-could you please help me? I got a little lost." he asked, shuffling his talons.
The she-dragon cocked her head sympithetically. "Sure, thing. Do you have somewhere to be?" she asked.
Check nodded. "My dad and I were heading to the deep throne room." he told her.
"Come on, I'll show you the way to the passage that leads to the throne room; I'm sure we'll meet up with your father when we get there." she said, flicking her tail to signal for him to follow.
Silver led the dragonet through the winding passages of ice,feeling her claws scrape the ice. The dragonet pressed close at her side, looking around himself at the walled and stalagmites,stalactites, and other dragons that they passed. Most of them were posishing the ice floors with wet rags of sand-covered rabbit pelts, but some where polishing the walls, makeing them as smooth as glass.
"What are they doing that for?" the dragonet asked curiously.
"They are making the ice rough so that other dragons can walk on them." she told him. "This palace isn't just home to Icewings; a few others live here,too, as you can see." she lied. She wasn't going to tell this dragonet about the slaves; he was too young to hear about such things.
Soon they came to a the entrance of a long tunnel that went upwards. There were two guards on either side of the entrance, spears in their talons. There was no sign of any other dragon, and she couldn't hear any footsteps heading their way, nor feel any through the ice.
She sat down, curling her tail over her paws, waiting. As she often did when she was alone, she began to feel he tail with one forepaw, letting her talons run along the upside down V-shped lines that her scales made. Her scale wer only V-shaped on her tail, the V's getting smaller,thinner, and sharper as they reached the needle tip-thin end of her tail.
They waited a few more minutes, but nobody came. At last, one of the guards tramped over. "What are you doing here?" he growled.
"I am waiting for this dragonet's father, who was heading in for the deep throne room. His son got lost through the deep ice, so I am escorting him back to where he belongs." Silver answered without emotion.
The guard narrowed his eyes, and then spoke. " I will handle the little brat from here. Get back to work!" he snarled.
The dragonet flinched backward and protested. "No! I want to stay with her!" he squeaked, cowering under Silver's wing.
The guard wrinkled his nose in discust. "Fine then. If you don't return in ten minutes, there will be no food for a week." he growled.
Silver nodded, holding back the shiver of terror that threatened to engulf her;she wasn't aloud to be up or down any of the passage ways that led out of the deep ice to other parts of the palace. She had once stuck her head past one of the tunnel entry ways, and had gotten clawed viciously on the flank for it. Gathering the dragonet with her tail, she led him to the tunnel. The other guard peered at them with narrowed eyes, and watched them until they turned around a corner.
"I don't like those dragons" the dragonet said, still shakeing.
"Me neither." Silver agreed. She glanced at her most recent punishment wound; a deep gash running along her left haunch and down part of her leg. She had gotten it just yesterday, when she was ice polishing with Fern,after she had accidently whacked the guard that was watching them with her tail. Since her tail was so thin, it had cut the guard,so she had been punished. Blood still ozzed slugishly out from the wound sometimes, but her greatest concern was that the dragon who had given it to her had gotten his talons covered in mud by accident before wounding her, which could result in infection.
They walked throught the passage, going on until they came to a large archway leading into a wide hall that ended in a pair of very large double doors. Quivering slightly, Silver pushed the doors open, and looked into what had to be the depp throne room. Light blue ice hung with tapestries, with a wide, golden throne for the king. Off to the side a small huddle of dragons were arguing.
One of them, a paper white male with a large sack next to him, looked extremely worried. Silver stepped into the room and walked to a short distance away from the group. When they didn't notice her, she loudly cleared her throat.
All of them turned, and for a moment, the eyes of a blueish-white Icewing flashed with suprise and horror. Clearing her throat again, and shuffling her talons in awkwardness, she spoke. " I, umm... found a missing dragonet. I was wondering if, uhh... any of you have seen his father?"
The paper white dragon's eyes flashed to the dragonet. "Check!" he boomed, bounding forwards and snatching his son out from behind Silver. "I thought I told you not to wander off!" he scolded, licking Check behind the ears and thumping him lightly in the back with his tail. The large male dragon looked up from his son at Silver. " I'm sorry he put you through this; you probably had better things to do, I'm sorry." he said, lowering his head to her in a regal, inportant way.
Silver looked at him in confusion. What the heck was he doing with his neck, and why was he acting like he was afraid that she was going to bit his head off? His head was twisted slightly to the side, and his eyes were roled into the back of his head so that only their whites showed. One of the other dragons, a ice blue male with a stripe of black going down his spine, looked at her curiously with narrowed eyes, as if testing her for something.
Silver bent down to look Check's father in the eyes. "Umm... pardon me, but... what are you doing?" she asked, feeling even more awkward than she already did.
Check's father lifted his head and looked at her as if she'd just told him his breath smelled like Seawing gills. "I'm bowing, of course! Why wouldn't I? with those kind of markings, that would obviously mean that you're a-"
"Royal? Oh, please! That's no royal! She's a slave dragon, you sel-brain. Didn't you notice her coller?" the blueish-white male broke in, cutting Check's father off. The other dragon got up to his feet and looked at the male, something flashing between the two. Check's father bowed his head in shame, and looked at Check. "Why didn't you tell me," he muttered slowly and menacingly at Silver, not looking up" that you were a slave dragon before I shamed myself in front of my son?"
In an instant, the world turned into chaos. Check's father slammed himself into her, biting at her neck. Silver clawed at his shouders, trying to hold him back. She felt her tails tingling as it always did when some dragon attacked her. But this time, instead of a breif vibration and a feeling of anger,it was more like her entire himd end had a mind of it's own and was trying to come off of her.
Suddenly, Check's father let out a howl of agony. He roled off of her, clutching his left shoulder and writhing and twitching on the ground as if he had been stabbed in the spine. Several of the other dragons dashed forward to help him, and two more launched themselves at Silver, pinning her down and placeing their claws on the back of her head.
Check's father had stopped screaming, and he sat up, taking his paw off of his shoulder. there was a blast of black on it, as if he had been struck with lightning. He let out a growl, and looked at Silver with undisguised hatred. "That dragon is dangerous! You should never have kept her in the palace!" he snapped at the bluish white male, who nodded and walked slowly up to Silver.
"Yes..." he agreed slowly," We will kill her eventually. But as you know, Nathar, an execution cannot be preformed without his Majesty the King's consent. Even for a slave dragon. However, though we cannot kill her, these actions will be dealt with, and she will be punished most severely. You may take your son and leave. Visit the infirmary before you go."
Nathar gave one last snort of disgust at Silver, and led Check away. She couldn't tell what emotion was on the dragonet's face. The large doors slammed shut behind them, and the bluish white male grabbed Silver's muzzle, pulling it up to his own. "Did you really think that nobody would notice that you were out of the deep ice of the palace? You are the disappointment of a dragonet that got the King's son killed; you are banished to the deep ice of the palace for all eternity. Why did you come up here if you knew the consequences for leaving?" He tossed her muzzle to the ground, disgusted.
He turned his back to her, growling slowly. "I couldn't speak the truth with that silly little dragonet around here, nor preform my duty. Do you know what my duty is, she-dragon worm?" he said menacingly. Silver wasn't sure if she wanted to know what his duty was." My duty," he told her slowly, turning around "is to dispose of thing that the King would not approve of, care of, or doesn't go in the way he wanted it. And that is exactly what you are. Something the King doesn't care for, or ever will."
"Strik, Stratch, there will be no trial for this one, nor the King's approval. This she-dragon, Silver, slave to his Majesty the King, was banished from birth to the deep ice of the palace to serve for the actions of her father. Though with many warnings, she left the deep ice, shamed and injured a personal servant of his Majesty, nearly killing him by unknown means. For these actions, she will face death without trial." he announced.
"Strik, Stratch. Kill her. Painfully. Make sure that she knows the true meaning of agony before she dies." he told the two dragons pinning her to the floor,with a careless flick of his tail.
At once, one of the dragons stuck his claw into the wound on her haunch and ran over it, makeing it fresh and cutting down to the bone. Silver yelled as pain seared through her leg, and hissed as the other dragon sank his claws into her right paw.
"Stop!" a roar echoed through the room, and a white and ice blue male with silverish fur running down his spine came down the stairs at the side of the room.
I'm SO glad the line breaks work now! ^^
I'm planning on re-posting the rest of the chapters before Summer vacation, because that's when Amberstar Of Thunderclan and I spend all our time writing and making ammo for our fanfic guns. Then, we fire out chapters over school so that we have more time to study and less of a need to appease you guys. Just warning ya'll ahead of time: Neither of us will be posting over the summer. And we're stuck using school computers again until we can buy a new one; ours broke.
So, let me know what you guys think about this fic, what you like, what you hate. I'm coming up on the last few chapters of Fever, and I'm really excited; it'll be the first fic I've ever actually finished, and I'm going to be shooting out TWO chapters for this and The Rising Wind to celebrate.
Read and REVIEW!
Cheers!^^