Glorious Politics
AN: I'm going to go ahead and say that I think this is my favorite chapter so far. I'll explain a bit further down at the bottom so I don't spoil anything.
Also, for those of you waiting for Dragons Change, I decided to go ahead and post the last chapter on Christmas day, and the epilogue will come out on New Year's. Maybe I'm just sentimental...
Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire. My OCs Horus and Mistral belong to me. Bloodwalker belongs to SpyroAndSisuFan.
Chapter Twenty-Four:
After Anemone used her enchanted necklace to heal the downed Nightwing, they were finally able to focus on Bloodwalker. After Thorn's initial confusion and concern, the assassin realized his miscommunication. "Yes, but not the one to your Kingdom, Queen Thorn." The tenseness in the Sandwing Queen's body all but disappeared at that revelation.
For the rest of the gathered dragons, however, that statement was even more troublesome. "The old Nightwing island?" Qibli looked thoughtful. "I thought that place was still uninhabitable?"
"Well, technically, it's been uninhabitable for the last hundred years," Bloodwalker pointed out. "Didn't stop my tribe from living there."
"Yes, but it hadn't erupted before our exodus," a new voice spoke up. Greatness had arrived, escorted by the two Icewings. Or rather, she was escorted by Winter while Mistral kept the Prince between himself and the Nightwing Princess, refusing to even acknowledge her presence. "Or...our second exodus, I guess."
Glory sighed in utter relief. She'd been worried about her friend since they arrived. Knowing she was safe was a huge weight off of her shoulders. "Thank the stars you're alright," she greeted the Nightwing, who seemed grateful for her friend's concern. "I was worried something might have happened to you." Mistral just snorted derisively and rolled his eyes, prompting Glory to glare at him before turning back to the Nightwing. "Business first, though. When was the last time the volcano erupted?"
"You actually keep track of that?" Anemone wondered, though she seemed interested to hear about this. "How?"
"Let's walk and talk," Glory interjected, motioning the group to start heading towards the tunnels.
Bloodwalker and Qibli lead the way with the three Queens and the Nightwing Princess following behind. Mistral and Winter brought up the rear. Horus stayed behind, telling the Rainwing Queen his troops would secure the area. Turtle also remained behind once he was reunited with Kinkajou. She was fine with Turtle staying to catch up with his wife. Horus' offer, however, was but another reminder of the next political shitstorm she'd have to endure. "Mastermind may have been a...morally questionable dragon, but he was utterly brilliant. Fortunately for us, he also kept highly detailed notes, and he always carried a scroll detailing his methods of observing the volcano, as well as the observations themselves. He wanted to make sure the records were as complete and accurate as possible, so he could better predict when it would finally erupt. I was able to...acquire that scroll when he was arrested, and I have a team assigned to take weekly observations." Concern flitted across her muzzle. "Actually...come to think of it, they were supposed to be there today."
Everything Greatness had said, Glory already knew. The others seemed to find it interesting, though. "So has this search and rescue mission become even more complicated?" Thorn asked.
"It could be why the cultists attacked today," Qibli commented from the front. "Maybe they didn't know about the survey team and thought they'd been caught."
"Possibly," Thorn agreed. "When was the last time the volcano erupted, by the way? We aren't in any danger of being caught in another one, are we?"
"'We'?" Glory asked pointedly.
The Sandwing Queen merely nodded. It was Greatness who spoke next, taking advantage of the brief silence. "The last eruption was seven months, two weeks, and four days ago. And if our predictive models are right, the next eruption should happen ten to fourteen months from now."
"And how accurate are these models?" Winter chimed in from the back.
"More accurate than you'd think. When the volcano was dormant, it was exceedingly difficult to predict when it would become active. When it did start to 'wake up', however, the data he gathered showed enough patterns that Mastermind could predict eruptions pretty accurately." The group stopped outside of the tunnels just as Greatness was finished with her explanation.
"Good. Because I'd rather not get caught in a surprise eruption." Now, it was time to get serious and give orders. "Anemone, Qibli, I want you two to stay behind and make sure the Skywings don't cross any kind of lines." Anemone could handle things here for the next few hours, and she didn't care what Cliff said. She'd rather have Qibli in charge than Horus. "Bloodwalker, you're the tracker, so you're coming with me." The assassin nodded. "The rest of you can do what you want."
"I'm coming, too," Greatness spoke up. "Not that I doubt Bloodwalker's capabilities, but I know that island better than anyone." Glory nodded, accepting the offer.
Mistral shook his head, glaring at the Nightwing suspiciously. "I'm going if she is. It doesn't matter what you say about the snake, I don't trust her. And I don't trust him, either." And now he was glaring at Bloodwalker, who didn't even deign that with a response.
Glory just deadpanned at the former Lord before looking to the Icewing Prince for help. Winter just shrugged, though he did step up next to Mistral again. She took that to mean he was coming to keep an eye on his friend. It was Thorn's presence that had Glory worried, and not just for her mother's—she was still getting used to that idea—safety. "What about the Sand Kingdom? You've been away for quite a while now."
Thorn just shrugged, clearly unconcerned. "I took some inspiration from Coral's way of ruling once the Kingdom was secured and all the unrest had been calmed. I have councilors assigned to do different duties, such as finances, infrastructure, and judiciary matters. Of course, I make sure to keep up with everything they do and overrule their decisions every now and then, but you'd be surprised how little I actually do to keep the Kingdom running. In fact, the only thing I oversee directly is the military, which I might be mobilizing soon if things aren't resolved swiftly." Glory had the feeling she wasn't just talking about the cult's dastardly schemes.
"Well, if that's everyone, let's get moving," the assassin urged them. "The longer we wait, the more time our targets have to escape."
Everyone was in agreement. They all went single file through the tunnel. Bloodwalker was first, followed by Thorn, Greatness, Glory, and Mistral, with Winter bringing up the rear. They were only halfway through the tunnel before the oppressive heat and ash-choked air made breathing difficult. Her lungs burned with every inhale, her throat already felt irritated, and her eyes were already stinging.
Coming out into the open air was barely better than that infernal tunnel because now they could see the hellish landscape before them. The ash and smoke made seeing long-distances difficult, but the vague outline of the mountain of fire rose in the distance like a shadow of doom to all who dared trod upon its domain. Rivers of molten lava flowed down the mountainside as the entire ground trembled ominously, a reminder of the raw power beneath their talons. The constant breeze was hot and stifling and carried with it the stench of sulfur.
"Staying here for too long isn't safe," Greatness reminded them. "Dragon physiology may be extraordinarily resilient compared to other species, but the mere air here is poisonous even to us. According to our survey team, health complications can arise after three hours of constant exposure and death within twenty-four."
"I really wish you'd mentioned that before we came through," Thorn grumbled, staring at the volcano in the distance uncomfortably. "Anything else we should know?"
Surprisingly, it was Bloodwalker that answered, though the assassin was studying a particular area of the ground rather intently. "Don't fly unless you absolutely have to, and only then for a short distance and close to the ground. The thermals here make it suicide to attempt anything else. Not to mention the smoke and ash only gets thicker the higher up you go." After that word of warning, the assassin began walking off in his chosen direction and beckoned for them to follow with his wing. "Now, follow me. I have tracks heading in this direction."
Glory couldn't see anything that looked remotely like tracks, but she wasn't the expert tracker here. "Who's is it, though? The survey team or the cultists?" she wondered.
Bloodwalker never answered, too focused on his task. The others began following him, though Mistral paused beside her long enough to say, "We won't know that until we catch up to who made them." The underlying message was clear. They had a trail to follow, but whether they would find friends or foes at the end was impossible to know. He paused a few steps ahead. "Come on. I'll take the rear. You don't need to be back here by yourself."
"How chivalrous of you..." she drawled, though she did give him an appreciative grin. Neither said anything for several minutes, merely following behind the others. Mistral seemed content with the silence, but based on how he was already beginning to pant from the heat, she offered him an out. "You can head back anytime, you know. I'll be fine...and I'd rather not have to drag you back when you collapse from the heat."
He glanced at her for a second, probably having heard the genuine concern in her voice. However, he shook his head. "I'll be fine. I've been in the desert enough times to be able to better manage the heat...even if the heat here is more extreme than I'm used to." Seeing her skepticism, he looked her in the eyes and said, with conviction, "I know my limits, Glory."
"That reminds me..." She caught up to the others to share her thought, Mistral right behind her. "The cultists couldn't have been here for very long if they even were here. They would have just used the tunnel as a back entrance to my Kingdom."
"True," Winter nodded. The heat seemed to be worse for him than Mistral, so it was probably a good idea to keep an eye on him just in case. "But I doubt they actually brought that force through here. I think a few just escaped this way, figuring it was the only way to get out without being followed."
"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Glory replied before turning to Greatness. "The survey team wasn't big from what I remember. Only four or five, right?" The Nightwing Princess nodded, so the Rainwing then directed her next question to Bloodwalker. "And how many dragons did you see come through the tunnel."
"Six including Peacemaker," was his reply. Then, he abruptly stopped, holding out a wing to prevent Thorn from passing him. "Watch your step," he warned them. At first, none of them knew what he was talking about. Glory had noticed a layer of thick smoke lingering near the ground that suddenly got more dense just ahead of the group, The reason why was revealed when the assassin used his wings to blow some of it away.
It was a chasm, hidden by the thick smoke until just now. Without Bloodwalker's keen senses to stop them, someone probably would have died here. Glory cautiously stepped up beside the Nightwing but couldn't help the shiver that went down her spine when only her palm met solid surface, her talons curling around the jagged edge of the cliff. She peeked down, seeing the faint glow of lava probably fifty, sixty feet below. "Looks like someone else wasn't so observant," Mistral spoke as he came up beside her. He pointed to a particular spot, and though it was very difficult to see from here, the vague shape of a body was barely visible next to the lava. "Probably a Skywing based on the wingspan." Glory looked to Bloodwalker to see if he agreed with that. He did.
"So make that five dragons plus Peacemaker," Thorn commented. "Where to next, though? Do we fly across?"
Bloodwalker looked around on their side of the gorge for a while, though apparently in vain. "I'm not seeing any talon marks here, so they didn't take off. But if I was dragging a prisoner along and saw one of my buddies fall off this cliff, I'd probably backtrack a bit and head towards the coast." They'd been traveling through the island interior, though keeping a safe distance from the volcano itself.
"Makes sense," Thorn commented. "And their path so far had been rather straight."
"I noticed," Greatness nodded. "If we keep going straight, there's a small area of the coast on that side of the island that's a bit more sheltered from the ash and thermals. It's probably the only part of the whole island where it's still safe to take flight. That's probably where they were headed."
"Following the coast is almost three times longer than cutting through the center of the island, but it's safer. We might actually be able to catch them if we hurry," Bloodwalker informed them before turning to them. "From here on out, there's only one speed: mine. If you can't keep up, then turn back because one wrong step will lead to certain death." The dead Skywing at the bottom of the chasm was a morbid reminder of how dangerous this place was.
"And you think you can get there without getting yourself killed?" Mistral challenged the Nightwing.
Bloodwalker didn't respond. He simply turned and used his wings to gain enough altitude to glide across the chasm. He didn't even turn to wait for them, merely running ahead on his own. "Take them the long way around," Winter told Mistral before following after the Nightwing.
Mistral just growled in exasperation at the other Icewing before following the chasm towards the coast at a fast yet cautious pace, Glory, Greatness, and Thorn right behind him. After a mile or so, the chasm abruptly ended, but so did the ground they were walking on. A massive, sheer cliff fell to the lower area of the island, the coast visible a few miles away. Mistral looked around for a moment before pointing to somewhere off to their left. "Look." The group did, and Glory spied what he was seeing. A good distance away, the cliff shrunk in height, and a rough, winding path lead from the top to the bottom and all the way to the coast.
"One of our old paths," Greatness told them. "This side of the island had the best fishing since the least amount of lava flows came this way."
"If they weren't willing to glide over that chasm, chances are, they wouldn't glide down this cliff, either. If they had to go all the way over there, that buys us even more time to catch them." Thorn stepped up to the cliff after her observation and unfurled her wings, the membranes billowing upwards from the strong thermal coming up from the bottom of the cliff. "And I can see why. Look there." The Sandwing pointed down below, where the broken body of a Mudwing lay at the base of the cliff.
"Four dragons left," Mistral said. "And I'm thinking Winter was right. If this small group lost this many dragons already, there's no way a large force came through here. The whole island would be littered with corpses, otherwise." Another tremor rocked the island—the biggest they'd felt so far. Part of the cliff underneath Glory's feet gave way, and she screamed as the ground suddenly disappeared.
She'd only fallen a few feet before her tail felt like it was about to be snapped in half from the sudden stop. The momentum had the front of her body swing and hit against the side of the cliff, though she did not fall. Something—or someone, as it turned out—had caught her by the tail. Her prehensile appendage wrapped around Mistral's arm as tight as it possible could as he struggled to hold her up, his entire chest dangling off the edge, as well. She could hear his back talons scrabbling for purchase against the rock as her weight, slight though it was, had him straining to prevent both of them from falling. Thorn had all but thrown herself at the Icewing, grabbing him around the chest to prevent him from sliding off. "Pull me up!" the terrified Rainwing shrieked.
"I'm...trying!" the Icewing hissed. His arm trembled with the strain as he tried to lift her, but he slumped against the top of the cliff, breathing heavily. "I can't!" he grunted, though his grip never slackened. "I can't pull you up by myself!" Glory tried to ignore the hundred-foot fall and the broken Mudwing below her as she analyzed the situation. Mistral was a strong dragon, but he was holding her with one arm while lying flat against the cliff top. He simply didn't have enough leverage to pull a fully grown dragon up, even one as small as herself. Thorn was too busy anchoring him, and if she let go, both of them would fall to their deaths. And Greatness, while bigger than Glory, wasn't as big as Mistral. She wouldn't be able to reach her tail, and even if she could, the Nightwing wasn't the most athletic dragon out there. And she was currently dangling upside down, even if she could grab onto the cliff with her talons, she was facing the wrong way to climb up. "Can't you just glide down?" the Icewing suggested.
"So instead of falling and splattering against the ground, you want me to splatter myself all over the cliff!?" she yelled at him incredulously. The thermal in this area was simply too strong, she'd end up smacking against the cliff and still falling to her death.
Greatness suddenly appeared over the edge. "But you can still use your wings! Let the thermal catch them, and it should create enough lift to lighten you so Mistral can pull you up!"
Glory studied the Nightwing for a moment. Well...she did know this island better than anyone. Then, she shared a look with Mistral, who didn't seem as convinced, probably because of who suggested it. "It's worth a shot," she nodded. Mistral readied himself, and then Glory slowly opened her wings. The thermal was so strong, however, that slow wasn't exactly possible. Once the first bit of lift hit her wing membranes, they snapped all the way open, and she yelped at the feeling. It felt like her wings were being ripped off! That lift was insanely strong! Any stronger and she probably wouldn't even need Mistral to pull her up!
Ultimately, Greatness' prediction turned out to be right as it provided enough of a weight reduction that Mistral was able to haul her up with a bit of effort. Once she was on solid ground, she all but latched herself onto the Icewing's chest. The Icewing stiffened at first but eventually returned the embrace. Normally, she wouldn't be this clingy, but he literally just saved her life. In her mind, he deserved a hug for that. "I vote we take the nice, safe path," she muttered. The amount of relief she felt at not dangling from a cliff had pretty much turned her legs into jelly.
"Me, too," Mistral nodded before pulling away. "That was way too close."
Both Thorn and Greatness agreed, so the Nightwing took the lead. Glory and Mistral lingered behind for a moment. "You saved my life..." She looked into his eyes, waiting to see what he would do or hear what he'd say.
"You saved mine back in the sewers," he reminded her. "I figured it was only decent to return the favor." He said it with a smile, like a joke or something that wasn't a big deal. "Come on. We shouldn't fall too far behind."
He turned to leave, but Glory grabbed his shoulder to stop him. "Is that the only reason you saved me?" she asked, her voice utterly serious. His answer here meant a lot to her. Her heart had been doing some crazy things since she fell off that cliff, but this wasn't terror she was feeling right now. No, she was nervous—nervous to hear his real reason. And she had no idea why. He'd already denied having feelings for her.
He studied her for a moment before his gaze softened. "Of course not," he assured her, his voice gentle. "You're my friend, Glory. I wasn't going to stand by and watch you die." He was silent for a moment before looking away. "Plus...you're a good dragon with an even better heart. Pyrrhia would be a darker place without you, especially in times like these."
Her eyes widened at that as her heart soared. And now...now she had her answer. Before she had simply been attracted to him. But now, after both getting to know the real him a bit better and saving each other's lives, she realized it wasn't that simple anymore.
She loved him.
Whether he'd said that because he was starting to feel the same way or it was just a more poetic way of saying Pyrrhia needed her help to stop the cult and keep the peace, she didn't know. What she did know, however, was that things between them suddenly got a lot more complicated. And if she wanted to succeed where Snowfall failed, she needed to do things differently. She couldn't force him into doing something he didn't want to do and attempting to do so would only turn him away. He needed to be the one to initiate.
But...maybe she could get away with a few things here or there. She stood up on her hind legs, using his shoulders to steady herself, and planted a small kiss on his cheek. The fact he didn't recoil in disgust was probably a good sign, though he did seem surprised and a bit uncertain by the action. "Thank you..." she told him as she went back down to all fours.
He nodded and gave her a small, slightly forced smile. "Mistral! Glory! You two coming or what?" Thorn called.
Mistral motioned for her to go first, and she did, not bothering to hide her smile since he was behind her. Maybe things weren't quite so hopeless, after all. That forced smile didn't tell the whole story because she'd seen something else.
She'd seen him blush.
But a volcanic island wasn't the place, and neither was this potentially life or death pursuit the time. Right now, they all had a job to do. Following the path down to the coast cost them time, but since the cultists were dragging a prisoner along, they still hoped to catch them before they could escape.
The beach, if it could even be called that, consisted of loose rocks rather than actual sand, and it was actually a bit painful to walk on. "Anyone up for a marathon?" Thorn didn't wait for their responses, merely taking off at a sprint down the beach, the others following shortly after.
While not a particularly massive island, it was still a pretty good distance around the circumference of it, even if they were only travelling half of that total distance. After a solid twenty minutes of sprinting, Glory's throat was raw from the poisonous air. It was already hard to breathe, but this strenuous physical exertion was making things worse. Greatness seemed less affected by the air itself, but she was still tiring faster than Glory, being the least athletic of them. Mistral and Thorn were fairing little better. Those two were athletic, but the air was making it difficult to keep up this pace. Plus, the heat was wearing down the Icewing faster than he'd probably admit.
It wasn't long after that when they came across the area Greatness had told them about. It was a relatively flat area away from the cliffs with no nearby lava flows. That meant there were no crazy thermals to contend with and the slight seabreeze made this little area at least a bit cooler and the air a bit cleaner. Bloodwalker and Winter were already there when they arrived, and the assassin growled softly upon their arrival. It wasn't hard to figure why. They'd been too late.
The cultists had escaped.
AN: Okay, so there's several reasons why I like this chapter. First is the setting. There's something about going back to the Nightwing island now that the volcano is active that just makes things interesting and dangerous. Throwing the dead bodies in there was a way to hammer that point home.
I know the whole 'death within 24 hours' thing seems a bit short, but I figured the volcano is a lot more active than before it erupted in book 4. That means more ash, more sulfur dioxide, and less oxygen. This is an environment where a human could only survive for minutes at most, so that was meant to show that dragons are more resilient to the toxic atmosphere but not immune.
Secondly, there was one particular scene that reminded me of the second Riddick movie. Brownie points to anyone who can find the reference.
Thirdly, the cliff scene. There was just something about it that I really liked, and we got the first little taste of Mistral x Glory, which I am now calling Mistry, from it.
All in all, I had a blast with this one, and I hope you guys did, too. Let me know, though. Reviews are greatly appreciated, and I do read all of them, even guest reviews. I try to respond to all of them that I can.
Until Next Time
AdmiralCole22