Chapter Forty Eight - the Path Forward
The dawn of a new day in Pyrrhia could also be a new day for an entire kingdom. At least, that's how Blaze wanted it to be remembered. It felt that way to her - couldn't everyone else see how monumentally HUGE this moment was? As she stood in front of the palace that was once her mother's, and then belonged to both of her sisters, and now it was hers… Queen Blaze. She'd had a few days to get used to the title but it still didn't feel really real yet. Not even as she walked the halls of her ancestors, and the servants bowed to her, and guards saluted her.
Blaze could remember living here as a dragonet. She'd known from an early age she'd never be queen. Her mother had made it clear she was a backup heir - in case Burn got killed in some stupid battle or Blister challenged mother before she was ready. But Blaze had never resented that, far from it. Her life had been filled with zero expectations and all the fun! She got to throw parties and have all the prettiest baubles and have anything she wanted. Mother never wanted anything from her except to keep on living, and that was easy!
But then mother died, and suddenly everything wasn't so easy. Blaze had been confused and sad when her sisters started to argue over who would be the next queen. Being the youngest and least important, Blaze would've been happy to stay out of the fighting and let the other two sort it out - then she would support the winner and carry on with her life. But that hadn't happened. Instead there was talk of armies and alliances and war. Blaze had had to run away; she'd never spent a night away from the palace in her life! And suddenly she was at the very edges of the kingdom, trying not to freeze to death and blindly following whatever Glacier said because Glacier was a real queen who knew what she was doing. And the whole time the war went on, there wasn't a single day where Blaze didn't contemplate writing to her sisters and declaring she would never fight for the crown so long as they let her come home. Yet even though Blaze wasn't as clever as Blister, she still knew that that wish was stupid. Her sisters would kill her the moment she landed just to be rid of one more competition.
And after all that… she was home at last after all. Blaze, the spare heir, the ditz, the one no one took seriously, she was the winner at the end of the war. It still didn't feel right, and as she opened the doors to the throne room, as she stared at her mother's throne, Blaze felt a creeping sense like she was an imposter.
Doesn't matter, she told herself. Look the part, speak the part, and others will believe it. It was the same mantra she had always told herself when she'd been nervous about hosting any of her early parties. Running a kingdom couldn't be much harder than wrangling nobles into one ballroom and making sure they all had fun!
"My queen?" prompted a servant - was he the new head of the household? His snout was slightly familiar - that must've meant Burn didn't kill all the previous staff from when she was last here, which was good. "Your subjects wish to pledge their allegiance."
"Oh, right," nodded Blaze, posing in front of the throne (that was mother's throne, and it still felt like if she sat in it, her mother would pop out from her grave to berate her). "Have them pledge away!"
Several nobles came bustling in, bowing deeply and saying something to the effect that they recognised her queenship and would be loyal to her and her descendants for the rest of time and blah-blah-blah. One after the other they came. Some names Blaze recognised as noble names that dated back centuries. A lot of them were new - rich merchants rising in the ranks, or opportunists that had managed to survive both of her sisters. All the oaths of loyalty all sounded the same, which got dreadfully boring. Blaze called for a bowl of dates half way through and proceeded to zone out as the nobles droned on and on whilst she munched on her snack. Oh, it felt good to finally have food with spice and flavour!
"Um, Majesty?" the butler mumbled from next to her elbow. "Would you like to address your subjects?"
Speeches? Oh, yes! This was something Blaze could do, she thought excitedly. Everyone always used to love her speeches when she used to host princess-parties. This was her moment to show them just how awesome of a queen she was going to be!
"My dragons," Blaze said loudly, slightly extending her wings in a grand pose. "The prophecy has come true and your real queen is finally here! There will be no more fighting, no more of this ugly squabbling. We are a united kingdom once again and I hope you will all join me in creating a beautiful future - together!"
She waited for applause, but there was a dreadful silence for several long, painful seconds. Blaze froze, wondering what she had done wrong. Yes, the speech had been short, but what more was there to say? Maybe they were all too used to the barbaric ferocity of Burn or the conniving mind games of Blister. Maybe they just needed time to adjust to her beautiful queenly-ness.
"Your Majesty," a portly dragon with a large, garish lizard-shaped earring stepped forward and bowed his head to her before continuing. "We are indeed… thankful that you have delivered us from this constant war. But several of us do have concerns about, um, well…"
A female stepped forward, skinny and old and shrewd looking. "There are many dragons in this kingdom that still hold loyalties to your sisters. These individuals have already shown that they are willing to use violence to express their displeasure. What do you intend to do about them?"
Blaze blinked, confused. "But I'm their queen now. My sisters are dead, what do they have to follow anymore?"
Shrewd-dragon looked offended. "Are you saying you don't intend to do anything about this?"
The butler tried to jump in quickly. "N-No! That is not what her highness implied at all-"
"What I'm saying," said Blaze with a shrug. "Is that in time, once these troublemakers see that they have no leader and that everyone else is getting on just fine, they will see how useless their cause is and will fall in line. And if they do something bad or stupid in the meantime, we have soldiers who can take care of them."
Shrewd-dragon's tail began to twitch, which Blaze found funny because IceWings did the same thing when they were mad. Another dragon stepped in front of her though, this one younger and much prettier looking - Blaze seemed to recall he was a merchant of silks. "There is another issue, my queen, a rumour that has troubled a lot of us."
When he wasn't forthcoming, Blaze made a bored circular gesture with her talon to motion for him to hurry up. "Speak, then."
"It concerns your IceWing allies, Your Highness." said pretty-face. "When you allied with them, you made promises to sell off our northern territories when you became queen."
"I did," Blaze nodded. "And now that I'm queen, those lands belong to Glacier."
"But some of us have communities living in those regions!" shouted someone from the back of the throne room.
"Well, they're going to have to move," grouched Blaze. Honestly, why were they all being so difficult? "Queen Glacier was wonderful when she took me in and promised her armies to ours. She fought with us for many years, she even took her armies to go kill my sister, Blister! Our northern border is nothing more than ugly barren rock anyway, so why shouldn't we let her have it?"
The crowd began to mumble amongst themselves, whispers and harsh looks flying from one end to the other. Blaze pouted; they were all being so dreadfully unfair! Couldn't they just listen to her and give this a chance? That was what she was owed as their queen after all - what she said had to be obeyed. Right? Mother always led by that example, always so demanding, never giving anyone else room to even think of doing something contrary to what she declared. Whilst Blaze didn't think she could be that mean, she already knew from personal experience that distractions worked just as well in these cases.
She stood tall and cleared her throat loudly, and the room quickly went quiet. "Let's not get carried away and forget the most important part of this great day - I won! The kingdom is restored and there's no more war. This is something we should be celebrating! I want all of you to go away and make yourselves ready: we are going to feast! Let's forget our troubles and the nightmare that we've lived for the last 20 years. Have the bells ring and spread the word - I want every street to ring out with joy. Queen Blaze is here and everything is going to be fine!"
Everything felt like the complete opposite of fine.
As they entered the halls of Jade Mountain, everything felt empty - mostly because it was empty. The prey centre was almost deserted aside from the occasional noise from the prey still in there. The caverns and hallways were almost desolate. The library only had Starflight and Fatespeaker for occupants. With the war now officially over, most of the rebellion had emptied out of the mountain, returning to their respective kingdoms and their families. Only the RainWings and a few stragglers were left. And even the RainWings were clearing out.
Glory had announced it this morning. With the NightWings now out of the rainforest, the RainWings could finally return to their ancestral home after almost three years in exile. Peril stood next to Clay, where he and the other dragons of destiny were assembled in the entrance hall, saying their goodbyes. Peril didn't really know what to do as she watched Sunny and Starflight try to hold back tears, Clay look glum and droopy, and Tsunami fidgeted from foot to foot. It wasn't like Peril could give them all a hug, so she instead opted to just stand quietly to the side and just be there to support Clay when he needed it. That was good enough, right?
"I just never thought it would come this soon," Sunny was saying. Peril was almost mesmerised - every time the little SandWing seemed like she would burst into tears, she would somehow swallow it back and hold it together for another thirty seconds. And she did this little ritual over and over.
Glory's lips twitched upward at the corner. "You mean you never thought we'd win?"
Sunny gasped loudly. "No! That's not what I meant-!"
"She's teasing you," Tsunami said, placing her wing over Sunny's back. "In a very mean way."
"But she's kind of right," said Starflight. He was sat by the wall, his tail touching the rock so that he could 'be anchored' with his whereabouts. "Being the Dragons of Destiny, the ones who would stop the war… that's all we've known our entire lives. From the moment we hatched, that was all we were taught."
"Now there's no war…" murmured Clay, "now what do we do?"
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Glory as she gazed out of the cave entrance into the distant southern horizon. "We go our separate ways. I need to return to the Rainforest with my tribe. We can finally be a kingdom again. The rest of you can return to your families."
"But we're a family," Clay argued gently.
"I agree!" said Sunny, hopping into the middle of their circle, almost like she was ready to physically fight any argument to her declaration. "Just because the war is over we shouldn't have to just… go our separate ways, go back to our own tribes and forget this ever happened!"
"We can't just stay here either," said Tsunami sadly.
"Says who? The war is over, but what about the next one?"
Clay frowned. "You want us to stick around in case of another war?"
"No, I want us to prevent one from happening again. Look at us," she spread her wings and turned in a circle, looking at her friends individually. "We are from different tribes, according to our keepers we shouldn't be able to stand each other. And yet we grew up together, we're as much family to each other as our own blood. And when we had the rebellion here - we led dragons from every tribe together in one place, we showed them that we're not all so different."
"And if we could continue to teach that to others," said Starflight thoughtfully, following Sunny's lead. "We could stop a war like this from happening. So much of the tribes' animosities come from misunderstandings or sheer ignorance."
"We could set up a school!" said Sunny excitedly. "We could bring dragonets here from every tribe, and teach them about each other."
"About history!" Starflight clapped his talons together.
Tsunami was nodding along now. "About how the war started."
"And how we finished it," said Clay.
Glory was smiling now. "Well, you know a lot of my RainWings adore you guys, it'll be hard to keep any of them home once they know about this."
"Then this won't be goodbye," said Tsunami. She walked up to Glory and brushed her tail with hers. "It's something to look forward to. Building a better future - for everyone."
All of a sudden the mood shifted from sombre to hopeful, and Peril was amazed by it. She couldn't claim to have Moon's power to see the future, but looking at the faces of Clay and his friends… it didn't seem so farfetched to think that the future was good in their talons. And this meant most of them would be staying! Peril had been quietly anxious about what the future would bring. She'd learned from her adventures in the Sky Kingdom to not be so dependent on Clay, but that didn't mean she wanted him to be absent from her life. If he left to be with his blood-siblings in the Mud Kingdom, she wouldn't be able to follow. And if the rest of the Dragons of Destiny left and he stayed here, he would be miserable for some time. She didn't want that for him. But this… this was a better outcome than she could have dreamed of.
"Hate to interrupt," came a voice that broke Peril out of her fluffy thoughts - and the Dragons of Destiny too. They all turned to see Deathbringer the NightWing approach from one of the tunnels. He'd been the one to tell the rebellion about the Jade Winglet's escape from the Rainforest. He never left with the other NightWings when Darkstalker took them all back to the Lost City. He'd stuck to Glory's side like tree sap.
Tsunami obviously didn't trust him. "What do you want?"
"To put it bluntly," he shifted his wings nervously, shooting glances straight at Glory. "I'd like to go with you."
"Me?" Glory echoed. "I don't think my RainWings will be comfortable having a NightWing in their midst."
"But, if you five are serious about fostering good relations between the tribes then I think it would be a good first step if a NightWing wanted to help rebuild… to make up for the things my tribe has done."
"That's generous," said Sunny, "But why not have the new NightWing Queen give this message? In fact, why didn't you go with them?"
"Because he's like me," said Starflight. "We don't fit there anymore."
"I always told Morrowseer that you saw more than with your eyes," Deathbringer said in a way that was supposed to be complimentary, but the resounding silence killed it. "But you're right. I don't fit with my own tribe - I haven't for a long while. Maybe I'll return to them one day, when I know what direction the tribe is going in. But I've not aligned with their goals for a while. You showed me that," he nodded to Glory. "And it's not like I have any family to go to - I was always away on missions, so I hardly know anyone there anymore. At least you guys are somewhat familiar faces."
Everyone looked to Glory, even Peril. She could feel the uneasiness in the room, especially from Tsunami. It was kind of funny to the SkyWing. Glory had her own version of Peril - someone who previously worked for the bad guys against the dragonets of destiny was now involved with one of them. And Peril could tell by the way Deathbringer was looking at Glory, like she was the only one in the world who existed. It was kind of odd, considering that he'd only known Glory such a short time, but Peril knew what that look felt like.
Eventually, Glory seemed to break out of her statue-state (which Peril noticed she often did when she was thinking), and then gave Deathbringer a look. "There is some wisdom in what you're saying. The RainWings do need positive reinforcements around NightWings." Before Deathbringer could look too happy, Glory held up a claw for silence. "But not all at once. You can earn your place. For now, you can come with us to the Rainforest, and once we're set up, you can be my messenger to Jade Mountain."
"That way all of us can keep an eye on you," grouched Tsunami, but no one was really listening to her.
"And in time, once you've earned their trust, the RainWings and I can accept your offer fully."
Deathbringer practically bounded up to her side before she even finished the last word. "I'll show you! You'll be trusting me in no time - I give impeccable service. I would say you could ask my previous employer for references… but he kinda melted."
With one last round of tearful hugs and goodbyes to her friends, Glory (with Deathbringer following) left. Peril twined her tail with Clay's, offering him some comfort. But it wasn't as sad of a goodbye as she'd thought. When the other Dragons of Destiny parted (talking to each other about their plans for this 'school') Peril went to find her own friends. They too had not left with the rest of the Rebellion, which Peril was somewhat grateful for. She found them on the ledge where she'd first been introduced to them, talking quietly amongst air was much sadder than that of the Dragons of Destiny.
"Guys," Peril said, frowning. "The war is over, we can stop being so gloomy now."
"Is it really?" asked Winter. "Darkstalker is still out there, he has all the NightWings-"
"And Moon," added Qibli.
Winter nodded. "And Moon. Why does it feel like we've not made any ground?"
"But we met Darkstalker and he didn't seem… all that bad?" Turtle shrugged.
Qibli snorted - Peril noticed one of his eyes was slightly bruised from the battle. "If you really believed that, you wouldn't still have your magic hide-me stick."
The SeaWing dipped his head in shame from the slightly scathing remark.
"Hey!" snapped Peril to the SandWing. "It's okay to be over-cautious sometimes. Darkstalker doesn't know about Turtle, so therefore doesn't know there's another animus out there. That's one secret weapon we can have against him if he proves to not be trustworthy."
Qibli gave her a look. "And how do we know that he doesn't already know? My grandfather is with him! That conniving snake knows almost everything about everyone's business."
"And he saw me," mumbled Turtle. "Vulture found Anemone and me fighting. I don't know if he saw everything… but what he did see was probably enough for him to guess."
"See!" Qibli looked almost panicked. "If Vulture hasn't said anything to Darkstalker about you, then I can only guess it's for some bad reason. I don't think your spell stops people from talking to him about you!"
"Calm down," Peril said. "If things were really that bad, then we would know about it by now. From what you lot said, Darkstalker has his powers back. But I don't see the sky falling down yet."
"Whilst I agree there's not something right about his smug NightWing face," said Kinkajou. "Moony really trusts him. She wouldn't have gone back with him if she didn't."
The rest of them were quiet, guilty looks on their faces. Peril hadn't been there but she'd heard what had happened, and how each of them felt bad for not noticing Moon sooner, for being too indecisive about how to help her, for letting her go with Darkstalker.
"She's grieving," said Turtle softly. "We'll check in with her soon, and support her where we can. All we can do is encourage her to come back to us."
"And if she's truly not a prisoner," said Winter begrudgingly. "Then that's the best we can hope for."
"What do we do in the meantime?" Kinkajou asked.
"The war's over now," Qibli sighed, tracing circles in the dirt with a lazy claw. "We've got nothing to do."
Peril scoffed loudly. "That's not true." When the others all looked at her, she stood. Whether it was the mushy speeches from the Dragons of Destiny or something else inspiring her, Peril didn't know, but she felt bold and eager as newly forged steel. "Come on! We're the Jade Winglet, we're almost as famous as the Dragons of Destiny themselves."
"Famous for getting in trouble, maybe," Qibli mumbled.
"And while the war might be over, there's still work to do! And no matter what happens, I'm going where you guys are going. Because if I've learned nothing else over the past few weeks - it's that we stand much better odds when we stick together."
Peril was most surprised when it was Winter who chortled and said. "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd almost say that was somewhat sentimental, Peril."
Though the tundra was wide and expansive, stretching seemingly as far as even IceWing vision could see, it still didn't feel quite as much like home as Glacier would like. It was not as warm as the southern sands by any means, yet it lacked the frigid chill of the true north. Still, the Queen could not help but admire the beauty laid out before her. In winter, these plains would be dotted with heaps of snow, but in high summer hardy grass and mosses and weeds bloomed in a wide array of colours from green to pink to red to yellow. Songbirds called and though they dared not come close to her or the army at her back, Glacier could smell the prey animals on the breeze. Bighorn sheep, stoats, rabbits and very distantly even some yak.
Though they were few and far in between, these spaces of transition that existed between the kingdoms often made Glacier wonder - what was the real divide between the tribes? The map of Pyrrhia always made it seem as if the different biomes that made up their continent ended abruptly: the Sand Kingdom suddenly ended in favour of the mountains of the Sky Kingdom, or the rainforest abruptly halted at the swamps of the mud kingdom. In reality there were miles and miles of territory that bridged the gap between all these extremes. It was something to ponder, the IceWing reasoned, as she surveyed the huge swath of land that was now hers.
"Is all well with you, dear Sister?" said Narwhal as he came to stand by her right flank.
Glacier was willing to forgive his lack of addressing her by her proper title this once - mostly because she was tired. It had been a long journey, to dash out to the aid of their allies against Blister and Morrowseer, only for everything to be over within a day and now they had to make the long trip home. They'd taken a few days to make the journey back slower, to allow the soldiers time to rest. But now they were just by the safety of the wall and within spitting distance of safety for everyone. They'd been organising squadrons crossing over the wall two at a time where generals on the other side would be giving commands to whether they could go to their next posting or return to their families. Glacier had decided to wait with her guards south of the wall, to be sure everyone made it over safely. She rationalised her caution, that despite the fact that the was over, that didn't necessarily mean the danger had passed.
"I am merely contemplating," said Glacier. She could feel Narwhal struggling not to twitch in frustration when she wouldn't give him a clear answer. He had been short with her for a while, ever since she had given his son, Winter, special honours.
"The last of the army should be over the wall by the end of the hour," he said eventually. "If we leave now, the royal retinue could be at the palace by nightfall. If Your Majesty wills it, of course."
"No," Glacier said simply. "Bring a squadron with us. I wish to inspect this new land of mine."
She took off before Narwhal had a chance to protest. She could feel the evening sunlight sparkling on the tips of her white wings. Glacier flew low, low enough that she could just feel the wisps of stray pollen against her underbelly from the wild flowers on the tundra floor. What was this feeling, of not quite being home amidst the snow and ice yet feeling so intrigued by these sensations that were not quite alien?
About a mile south of the Great Ice Wall, Glacier landed whilst still retaining some speed, causing a slight skip in her step. She looked south to where the dunes of the desert could be seen just on the horizon. Further south than that was said to be the home of the NightWings, where Darkstalker had taken them. Seemingly so far away, yet being just out of sight made her feel insecure, like she needed to see what they were doing to know if they posed no threat.
Narwhal joined her, along with her royal guards and the squadron she had ordered to accompany them. Glacier immediately addressed the soldiers. "Somewhere in this region should be some kind of cave opening. Find it. We will not dally in making use of this new land that has been gifted to us." The soldiers saluted and jumped to their task.
"Without the Ice Wall," Narwhal murmured, "I fear that we are too exposed in these lands."
"It is something we will have to deal with," said the Queen, not taking her eyes away from the south. "We cannot extend the Great Wall nor move it. Other tribes have managed to maintain their borders without a solid barrier at their border, so we can too."
"Of course," Narwhal bowed his head to the authority in her words. "With your permission, Your Majesty, I will have watchtowers commissioned and barracks for soldiers to be posted here, to defend our tribe's interests."
"Good."
Narwhal cautiously stepped forward until he was shoulder to shoulder with her. "And… what is to be the protocol should we see any NightWings?"
Glacier took a deep breath. "We continue our normal procedures. Warn them away and should they violate those orders, use whatever force is necessary for the situation." She gave Narwhal a significant look. "Captives are preferable to bodies, Narwhal. Remember that."
He didn't look happy, and Glacier couldn't blame him, but it had to be done. Right now, her tribe and the NightWings were at a stalemate. Glacier didn't want to be the one to start another war, but she also wanted to keep her tribe safe from the threat looming to the south.
"If only we had animus magic of our own," Narwhal growled. Glacier had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Her brother had suspected about the existence of the Queen's Vault for many years but had never discovered the truth of it. His insistence now was just another ploy to get her to reveal some kind of information. "We could protect ourselves from the Darkstalker, fight fire with fire, as the southerners say."
"We don't," Glacier told him curtly. "So until we can be sure of our safety, we will stay behind the Ice Wall, and we will defend our borders wherever and however we can."
"That cannot be your only stance on this?" Narwhal argued. "The Darkstalker will kill us all! We must strike-!"
Glacier snapped her wings open wide, making herself dwarf her brother. He instantly recognised the stormy look in her eyes and bowed low in submission. "Do not presume to give orders to me, Narwhal. Your relation as my brother has managed to save you from scandal so far, but my patience wears thin. Insult me like that again and I will have your entire family moved to the furthest, coldest, most remote outpost we occupy. Do I make myself clear?"
If Narwhal could make himself any lower to the ground, he would be eating the first. "Yes, my queen!"
She snorted and slowly disengaged her posture. The sun was beginning to set as she stared into the southern horizon once again. "The Dragons of Destiny have assured me that they will soon be working towards a continent-wide peace treaty. They have managed to do the impossible so far, so I will trust in them again and see where that path leads us."
"Most wise, Your Majesty," Narwhal mumbled.
Glacier rolled her eyes. "Get up, brother. Your old joints will hurt tomorrow if you kiss the floor for too long." With a grateful sigh, Narwhal got to his feet. "Why do you despise your son?"
"Your Highness?"
"Winter. Ever since he was small, you and your wife have constantly pushed him aside. It got worse when Hailstorm was taken, so I just assumed it was to do with grief, but we both know it stretches further back than that."
"Why… Er, I mean, you have never asked such a question, Your Highness…"
"Because I believed you would eventually pull your head out of the snow and see Winter for the dragon he is. Now I know that will not happen, so I wish to know the truth."
Narwhal's eyes darted from side to side as he tried to come up with an answer. "Tundra and I only wanted two dragonets. Hailstorm was perfect, and we wanted a girl to… to…"
"To one day dethrone me and usurp my own daughters of their birthright. Yes, Narwhal, I know of the scheme. It was blatantly obvious from the moment you presented Icicle to court."
"Well… when Icicle's egg was laid, we were not expecting a second. It was inconvenient. And then Winter was not up to the same standards that Hailstorm set. We feared he would drag Icicle down the ranks with him. And then when Hailstorm…" Narwhal shut his eyes in a rare moment of grief. "How am I supposed to love a son that was the cause of the other's death?"
"That is your own demon to wrestle with," Glacier said. "But you are a fool to not realise how much it blinds you to Winter's worth. When he comes home, he will be a hero of this war and given every honour I can bestow. If you want to share in that glory with him, you need to shed this hatred before it-"
"Your Majesty!" called a soldier. Glacier snapped her head in his direction. In the slight incline of a small hill, covered by moss, was a pile of rubble that looked like it had fallen into a hole…
"A good start!" Glacier replied, and began to order the soldiers to take it in turns to clear the rubble.
"If Your Highness will excuse my impertinence," asked Narwhal, seemingly happy for a distraction from the previous conversation. "But why are we looking for a cave out here in the middle of this wasteland?"
"Because, brother, for all the resourcefulness of the SandWings, they never once thought to look for resources out here of all places. IceWing Queens of the past have speculated about it, and now I want to confirm it."
"And what might that be?"
"Your salvation," Glacier threw her brother a small smirk. "I am putting you in charge of this operation. You will be responsible for patrols in this area, for crews to dig and excavations to sort the findings. The success or failure of this venture will be put squarely on your shoulders."
Narwhal's eyes were wide and bleak. "Oh…"
Abruptly there was a whistle, and then a snap and shout! The rocks that the soldiers had just clear and set to one side began to fall back towards the hole. IceWings shouted and tried to dive out of the way. But one, the one who'd been deepest in the hole, was not fast enough. The rocks fell onto his wing, pinning it down and making him cry out in pain.
"Get him out of there, now!" Narwhal shouted, jumping into action - perhaps to give a good first impression to Glacier on how he intended to make the best of this situation. "Hurry! Grab the rocks and get him out!"
Glacier ordered her guards to assist and they swooped in to aid the others. The IceWing queen hung back. Something about this didn't feel right to her, a nibbling instinct at the back of her brain warning her of something amiss. She looked around. A glint on the ground, like light on metal, caught her eye. There it was, amidst the weeds: a white feather fluttered at the end of a long bolt - similar to a blow dart.
She sensed a presence before she even heard his footsteps. Whirling on the spot, Glacier flared her wings in an attempt to batter her assailant in the face. She tried to follow it with three swings of her tail, but though the attack was caught off guard by her counterattack, he was still fast and managed to dodge her. That was when she managed to get a good look at him - a NightWing?! He was slim, his talons long and he had several belts and pouches attached to him.
Enraged, Glacier roared and let loose a blast of frostbreath. The NightWing dodged, and she used his being on the backfoot to press her advantage, leaping forward and trying to wrestle him to the ground. Her size and strength was her advantage, but the attacker was lean and slippery like an eel, managing to wriggle from under her at the last moment. Behind her, Glacier heard her brother shout an alarm! The others were coming.
She went again to strike but a rock was loose under her foot and she slipped - only a fraction, but it made her off balance and her claws missed. The assassin slipped by under her wing. Glacier only had a fraction of a moment to see the glint of sunlight on steel, and smell the stench of something like rape-seed and eggs.
Though she tried to dodge aside, the blade still sank into the side of her waist. Glacier roared with the white-hot pain that lanced through her. She could feel her blue blood trickling down her side and over her thigh to stain the yellow petals of a flower underneath her. But it wasn't a fatal wound, she assured herself. She was about to reach around and grab hold of her assailant, when he leaned back enough to say words that chilled her to the bone.
"The Darkstalker sends his regards!"
Her fear made her freeze a moment too long. Her assassin ripped the blade from her side, and was about to stab it into her again, but Glacier grabbed hold of him by his wings in her talons and the scruff of his neck in her teeth and threw him back. The assassin rolled over the ground, tumbling twenty feet away. Glacier stumbled, her right knee giving out from the pain in her side. But then arms were around her, talons were holding her. Her guards and her brother were helping her. Three guards sprang forward to pounce on the assassin, but he scrambled out of their way.
He reached for something in his pouch. A guard shouted and went to throw his spear. But the assassin threw down what looked like grey marbles upon the earth. Thick black clouds erupted around them all, reducing visibility to almost nothing. Guards were shouting, but Glacier couldn't concentrate on what they were saying. Her head was pounding.
Finally, a strong breeze blew in and cleared the smoke. The assassin had vanished. Narwhal was shouting, trying to give orders. Talons were trying to hold Glacier up. She attempted to push them off, to say she was fine, but her words were slurred. Her toes and talons felt tingly. The pain in her side was immense but she couldn't feel her wing anymore, for it had gone numb. Why was the world spinning?
"Get her back to the palace! Call the healers!" Narwhal was shouting. Ropes were being tied around her but Glacier could hardly feel them. What was happening? Why was she suddenly so weak?
Was she… dying?