"Not forever," Darkstalker promised. "We'll see [Mother] again."
Whiteout thought about that for a moment, tears sliding down her snout and trickling over Darkstalker's scales. "Only one of us will," she said. "Depending on who loses the future."
-Legends: Darkstalker, page 249

Whiteout Loses the Future

Prologue (excerpt from the book, page 314)

Fathom

They were flying before Fathom quite realized what was happening. He only knew his friends were going north as fast as their wings could take them and he was going, too. At one point he felt something like a shock sizzle through the air, just as they flew out of the mountains. It startled him into glancing down, and he nearly tumbled out of the sky, his stomach heaving. The land below was littered with IceWing corpses, charred and ripped apart into tangles of white-blue limbs.

"What happened here?" he yelled to Clearsight.

She glanced at Darkstalker, flying furiously ahead of them. "He put up a border shield," she called back. "It kills any IceWings who try to enter the kingdom."

Fathom should have guessed. His magic did this.

He closed his eyes tight, beat his wings faster, and flew on.

Soon he saw sand below him, a vast expanse of desert that rippled like a pale ocean. Down there was the Kingdom of Sand, ruled by Queen Scorpion. All he knew about her was that she allowed the NightWings and IceWings to battle across her territory in exchange for large piles of treasure from each of them; rumor had it she played both sides and didn't care who won. The desert kingdom was big and empty enough for the battles to play out without much collateral SandWing damage, as long as the warring dragons stayed away from her oasis towns.

The sun had passed the high point of the sky and was sliding down into late afternoon, but it was blisteringly hot on Fathom's scales. He wished he could dive into an ocean to cool them off. He wondered if they had made a grave mistake, flying into the Kingdom of Sand without water. But he followed his friends; he would follow them anywhere.

He couldn't believe their fight. He could barely understand it. From the outside he'd thought their relationship was perfect. The way they'd suddenly exploded — the idea that Darkstlaker had cast a spell on Clearsight — the fact that he'd been on his way to kill his own queen! Fathom wondered if he really knew his friend at all.

So why are you following him into a strange kingdom? Whispered the worries at the back of his mind. Without either of your guards?

"Darkstalker," Clearsight called. She swept one wing around at the endless desert. "They could be anywhere."

He checked himself in the air, frowning at her, and then soared quickly to the ground. When Fathom landed beside him, Darkstalker was unrolling a scroll on the shifting sands.

That's the scroll, Fathom thought with a start. Where he keeps all his power.

Darkstalker reached into his bag again and pulled out a dagger. Its jagged edge caught the sun, flashing into Fathom's eyes and blinding him for a moment.

"What are you going to do with that?" Clearsight asked, resting her wing against one of Darkstalker's.

He shook her off. "Not what you think." He placed the dagger on the scroll, weighing down the flapping paper, uncapped an inkwell, and scrawled Enchant this dagger to lead us to Arctic and Whiteout, then stab Arctic once in the foot, injuring him enough that he has to stop, but not so badly that he bleeds to death. Above all else, stop him from crossing the Great Ice Cliff.

Darkstalker wrote with unhesitating confidence, ignoring the shiny green beetle that popped out of the sand, scurried over his claws, and buried itself again. The wind lifted his wings and the sun burnished his scales to gleaming ebony. He looked heroic and sure. He didn't even have to pause and think. He knew exactly what he wanted to write, his carefully crafted spell.

He has no doubts, Fathom thought. He wished he could have just a moment of feeling that way, of that kind of belief in himself

But it was better that he didn't. The world might not survive it if he let himself stop being afraid, even for a moment.

Darkstalker shot him an irritated glare. He'd finished the spell, but the dagger wasn't moving. "Why isn't it working?" he growled.

Maybe he's protecting himself with his own magic," Clearsight suggested. "Maybe instead of attacking him, we should –"

Darkstalker flicked his tail, cutting her off. "Yes! His shielding earring!" He stabbed his talons into the sand and dragged out the green beetle, who squirmed frantically in his claws. It had tiny black pincers that snapped at the air.

Enchant this beetle to find Prince Arctic as fast as possible and take off his shielding earring, Darlstalker wrote.

Chapter 1, Where the Timeline Goes Dark

Clearsight

Clearsight watched as Darkstalker's talons dug into the sand, pulling out the beetle. Sand falling from his claws, he quickly, and efficiently wrote the spell in his scroll: Enchant this beetle to find Prince Arctic as fast as possible and take off his shielding earring, and then he let the beetle go. A tense moment followed while Clearsight waited in horror as she watched the beetle scurry around in the sand, doing nothing. Confused, she asked "why didn't it work?" She'd never seen a spell fail before, what could this mean for their future?

Darkstalker growled an angry response "I'm not sure, maybe he hid the earring from my magic" his talons returned to his scroll, dripping fresh ink as he considered what to write. Then, with calm efficiency Darkstalker wrote: turn this beetle the color of the sky if my magic can not affect, find, or otherwise detect Arctic, his shielding earring, or Whiteout.

The beetle turned a beautiful sky blue. Somehow Arctic had been one step ahead of Darkstalker. Clearsight began to panic, If Darkstalker couldn't save whiteout… She didn't want to think about that future.

Lifting his head to the sky, Darkstalker bellowed in outrage.

"NOOOOOOOO! ARCTIC! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HER FROM ME!" In a rush of wind he tore into the air, wings beating as hard as he could. Clearsight and Fathom scrambled into the sky after their friend as they frantically beat their wings to catch up.

They flew north for hours. But try as they might, Clearsight and Fathom could not keep up with Darkstalker's relentless, unwavering, speed. They began to fall farther and further behind. Neither Clearsight nor Fathom had ever been to this part of the Kingdom of Sand, though Clearsight had seen visions. It was a strange and beautiful landscape that they flew over. They watched as the sand gave way to hills of gravel and rock. Which were soon covered in fields of glittering white snow. The air grew cold, and their labored breaths became visible in the waning light of day.

Darkstalker was only a speck on the horizon when Clearsight broke free from the grip of the uncountable dark and horrible futures that lay before them. She studied the landscape trying to get a bearing on their position. As she did, she had a terrible realization. "We're almost to the Great Ice Cliff" her voice, hoarse from flying and lack of use, let the wind steal the weak words from her mouth. She swallowed and tried again, putting forth a greater effort to be heard by Fathom. "Fathom. We're approaching the Great Ice Cliff."

Fathom turned his drooping head towards her, his exhaustion clearly visible on his face as he drifted closer.

"What's that?" His voice was just as exhausted as his wings.

"The IceWing's gift of defense. Only IceWings can cross the cliff and survive." Clearsight could see the gears turning in Fathom's head as he processed her words.

"Can Darkstalker cross it? He's half IceWing"

"I'm not sure, his blood might let him, but if it doesn't… Well I don't know how he made himself invulnerable, but I don't see any futures where the cliff kills him." She held back from Fathom the futures where Darkstalker was severely injured by the cliff; those were confusing and their nexus event might soon be approaching.

"But we can't cross it right?" Fathom's voice was uncertain.

Clearsight shook her head. No, they definitely wouldn't survive the cliff, not without magic. And she didn't want to witness what would happen to the IceWings if Darkstalker made it across unscathed. Those terrible futures threatened to overwhelm her. Those futures where Darkstalker killed every IceWing, even the dragonets. I thought you weren't a dragonet killer Darkstalker, my love. But now, I don't know who you are. She trembled at the realization, her Darkstalker was dead. Her Darkstalker who gave up all his magic to protect his soul, her Darkstalker who protected his sister from bullies, her Darkstalker, was dead. Replaced by a corrupted version that believed controlling dragons was alright.

This evil Darkstalker was a terrible threat to Pyrrhia, and she didn't have any idea what she could do about it. All of the futures were dark, her last bright future had winked out.

—––—pov change Darkstalker—

Darkstalker's wings ached. But he didn't care. He could see Whiteout and that traitorous IceWing Arctic. They were approaching the Great Ice Cliff rather quickly. The waning light of day reflecting off their silvery-white scales. For a brief moment Darkstalker feared for his sister's safety, but she was half IceWing and he knew Arctic would keep her physical body safe, even as he tortured her mind and soul. Darkstalker held his breath as the pair landed on the cliff, and watched as nothing seemed to happen. He released his breath with a sigh of relief as he saw Arctic turn around to watch Darkstalker approach. Whiteout was safe from the cliff. Which meant Darkstalker was as well. With a sudden flap of wings, Arctic and Whiteout took off into the air again.

Darkstalker felt a vision threatening to overwhelm him, but he forced it back. He didn't have time to waste on the future. He needed to get to Arctic now before he was able to get reinforcements, but even if he did, Darkstalker couldn't die, he'd take them all out. He imagined swooping down and sinking his claws into that toad-faced excuse for a father. Oh what he'd do once he removed that earring. Darkstalker had a new idea for a spell, and he thought it would work. In fact, it was Arctic himself who gave him the idea when he altered Whiteout's mind. Darkstalker would take control of Arctic, now and forever. Bind him to his will and never let go. It would be laughably simple. "Enchant Arctic the IceWing to obey my every command". But it wouldn't work until the earring was removed. That thrice cursed fool had thought to protect the earring as well. It was a clever bit of magic that Darkstalker had not thought his father was capable of. And one Darkstalker would do well to emulate. But first, Whiteout needed him.

With a roar, and a flap of his wings Darkstalker crossed the cliff, set on following his father to the ends of the planet. A whistle pierced Darkstalkers mind breaking his concentration as a bright, icy spear just missed his head. He turned in the air growling, seeking the poor wretch who had dared threaten him. Another spear took him full in the chest, bouncing off of his invulnerable scales and throwing Darkstalker off balance in the air. Darkstalker couldn't see any dragons, instead, he saw slits in the cliff wall that hadn't been there moments before. As he watched more opened and 5 spears shot out in quick succession all directed straight at him. Darkstalker laughed, his father must have included him as an enemy in the enchantment for the wall when he and whiteout had landed to rest their wings. But no matter, his scales were invulnerable and he was immortal. This cliff couldn't hurt him.

Then the spears struck, and they each hit harder than a mountain; Darkstalker heard several distinct cracks. He looked down expecting to see shattered spears tumbling out of the sky, but the shattering thing that fell was him. He looked to his wing, which was wrenched a full 90 degrees around completely incapable of moving. A distant part of his mind told him it was dislocated.

And then the pain hit. Oh how it burned, like ice in his veins, like fire in his joints. It was a marvel how much one could hurt when they had never expected to experience pain again. With a thump deadened by snow, Darkstalker crashed to the ground. With loud cracks more spears slammed painfully into his body, sending him tumbling further from the cliff and sliding in the snow. Far enough that he was out of range of the cliff. Not that it mattered, he hurt too much to think. It felt like every bone in his body was broken. That same distant voice from earlier told him his ribs were shattered, his legs broken, his wing dislocated, and most importantly his bag containing the scroll had been sent tumbling out of reach.

With a mind clouded by pain, and a body who's scales remained completely unblemished even as the bones inside were splintered, Darkstalker waited for death. A death which would never come to a dragon blessed with immortality. Slowly Darkstalker adjusted to the pain, enough that he could begin to organize his thoughts. My scales are invincible, he groaned at the effort of thought, but my bones are still breakable. must. fix. this. He tried to reach his scroll and almost passed out from the pain of moving. He began to reach out with his mind, straining to see what might happen to him.

With the sound of crunching snow, Arctic landed in front of Darkstalker, interrupting his mental efforts. Whiteout landed some distance away, not looking at the father and son. Arctic stared down at Darkstalkers broken and unblemished body. The scales stretched unnaturally over the broken bones.

A chill voice broke through the pain "Why can't you heal yourself? Are you in too much pain to think? No, more likely the cliff dealt permanent damage that can't be healed by magic." Darkstalker felt cold talons lifting his head. Pain raced along his neck nearly making him black out, but he fought for consciousness. He needed to reach his scroll. The eyes that met Darkstalker's were a hateful blue. Arctic stared down at his son briefly before scoffing loudly, releasing his son's head to fall to the snow. "Serves you right, thinking you were the most powerful Animus in the world. Let this be my final lesson to you, son" Arctic spat out the word like it was poisonous. "You are not a god, and you never will be. Anything Animus magic can do, it can also undo. I should kill you now, but I won't. And it might be a mistake, but whatever you think of me, know this Darkstalker. I will not now, nor ever, kill my dragonets. My soul is not so far gone that I would actually do that." Arctic studied Darkstalker's eyes for anything other than pain, and found a question hidden by the pain and hate. "You're wondering why I would do this, aren't you? Yes, I see it in your eyes. Well then, know this Darkstalker, I'm betraying you for Foeslayer. For our love. I'm turning myself in and offering Whiteout's talon in marriage in exchange for Foeslayer's life. And who knows?" A wicked smile spread across Arctic's snout. "If I need to use my magic against the NightWings as part of the deal, I may even enjoy it. But don't worry, you'll be safe, once you make it back home. But should you not, then perhaps Diamond might have something in store for an Animus who can't even save himself. Goodbye Darkstalker. I hope to never see you again." Arctic studied Darkstalker for a moment longer, focusing on the broken hybrid's face.

I'm going to gut you and show the whole world your venomous, corrupted insides Arctic. I promise you, I will never leave myself without my magic again. I will never let your magic, or your mother's touch me or my friends for the rest of our lives. Darkstalker's vows came slowly to his mind, and he found the strength to voice one of them aloud. Teeth clenched and breathing heavily, he managed to say: "I swear… I will kill every, last IceWing, and then kill you."

"Not in that condition" Arctic scoffed and turned his back on Darkstalker before spreading his wings, preparing to fly. "Come Whiteout, you have a prince to meet"

And with that, Darkstalker blacked out.

—––—pov change Clearsight—

Clearsight and Fathom watched as two shapes flew away from the black broken body, a scar on the pristine snowy white landscape.

"Is he still alive?" Fathom worried aloud.

"Yes, I don't think anything can kill him now. But he's definitely in great pain." They'd seen the spears take Darkstalker down. It would appear that while Darkstalker's scales were invulnerable, his bones were not. Clearsight had flinched when she saw her love's wing broken and dislocated by a spear. She knew that Darkstalker must be in agony right now. But he would need to suffer a bit longer. She needed to discuss with Fathom the futures before them. She knew this was an important turning point. And whatever they decided would change the future forever.

"Fathom, let's land. I need to study the paths before we do anything" Clearsight gestured to the snow a safe distance from the cliff. "That's a safe place, out of range of the cliff. We won't be attacked there."

They landed in the freezing snow, their teeth chattering as they settled down to talk. Clearsight found herself wishing for the enchanted blanket Darkstalker had made her on the day he made the scroll. She could still remember his sweet, genuine, good face that day.

Enchant this blanket to keep any dragon it covers at the exact perfect temperature. Grinning, he flung it over Clearsight's shoulders.

"Oooooo," she said. She hadn't even realized she was cold until the blanket's magical warmth swept through her. "I have one! Can you enchant our boring history scroll to read to us?"

"Of course!"

Clearsight shook her head to clear the memories. Now was not the time to dwell on the past. She needed to focus on the future.

In her thoughts she started casting her mind down various paths. Trying to organize all the terrible futures into something she could comprehend. She saw futures without IceWings, without NightWing, futures that ended in blackness. She was sure that meant she died, or Darkstalker did… something even worse to her. But she wasn't going to let that happen. She hoped she could do something, but her faith in her powers was rattled after today's events. Even without the earrings she hadn't seen this possibility. Perhaps Arctic had circumvented her visions somehow? Or maybe because he'd already made the choice before she took the earrings off… it didn't matter right now. Clearsight focused her mind on Darkstalker. What would happen to him?

After some time; Clearsight wasn't sure how much, she knew she'd been focusing on her visions for a while, Clearsight opened her eyes and looked at Fathom. Fathom's scales were as blue as the ocean, so cold and frozen he could barely move. Clearsight opened her mouth and took a step forward, only to trip on her talons. They were so cold and numb she couldn't feel them at all.

"F-F-Fathom. Perhaps w-we should move s-s-somewhere... A-A little warmer." Her teeth were chattering so much, she could barely get the words out.

Fathom, nearly catatonic, did not respond. So Clearsight summoned her breath and exhaled a plume of flame at the snow around them. It didn't take long till they were standing in a pool of melted snow. Slightly warmer now, and with her teeth no longer chattering, Clearsight spoke.

"I can't see any bright or happy futures left Fathom. I - don't know what to do." Clearsight leaned against Fathom, seeking comfort in his cold, but once again, sea-green scales. Fathom put a careful wing around her.

"We. Do what we must. To protect Pyrrhia" his words were slow and careful, to prevent chattering.

"Then let me tell you what I see." Clearsight began. Taking a deep breath, she pushed forward into the dark futures. "The worst futures start with Queen Diamond finding Darkstalker alone in the snow. She takes him back to her palace and tortures him. But that's not the worst part Fathom. The worst part is when she discovers his scroll." Clearsight shivered, and not from the cold. "Once she realizes the power in it, well, the futures branch out a lot. But none of them are good. Most involve a NightWing genocide, and in those that don't, the NightWings are enslaved and forced to serve Queen Diamond. Who usually makes herself immortal and invincible." Her voice trailed off as she spoke a line from a prophecy which flashed briefly in her mind. "A storm of ice, with an eye of diamond."

Clearsight had to shake herself out of visions of the rainforest buried in ice, seawings trapped under glaciers, and ice and snow as far as a dragon could see. It was a cold, desolate future where only Queen Diamond won. She took a deep breath to calm herself a little before continuing.

"The next group of futures, which are arguably equally as bad; is if Darkstalker saves himself. If he fights through his pain and manages to heal himself. He will never trust us the same way again. He'd still love and trust us, but he would still enchant us. He'd ensure our loyalty and force servitude onto us" Clearsight had already dismissed this future from something she would seriously consider following. Any future that led to her and Fathom completely under Darkstalker's control should not be allowed to happen. While she couldn't see any bright futures now, it didn't mean that they weren't out there. Waiting for some new dragonets to be born. "Darkstalker takes over Pyrrhia just like Queen Diamond. The Icewings are genocided, and the other tribes enslaved. NightWings rule the world and nothing stands in Darkstalker's way."

"Those are the futures if we do nothing. If we sit here and wait for the future to come to us. But Fathom, the only way we can do something, is if you use your magic. Are you willing to save Darkstalker? Even knowing there are no bright futures ahead?" Clearsight didn't have to wait long for Fathom's reply. He was already nodding his head.

"Yeah, if you think I should, then I'm willing to-" he faltered "-use my magic, to save Darkstalker's life." Fathom took a deep breath before continuing with slow, deliberate words. "I, would break my oath with Pearl, to save an evil animus dragon's life. The life of my best friend, one of only a few people who has ever shown me kindness. Because… why?" Fathom gave Clearsight a questioning glance.

"Because if we save him, he will still trust us completely. And while that won't stop him from chasing the darkness. It might give us a chance to stop him later on." Clearsight paused, letting that sink in. She couldn't even see what that chance might be, and she had no idea if it might come. But one thing she did know, if she wasn't there for that chance, it didn't matter if it came or not. And being under Darkstalker's control would not allow her to capitalize on any opportunity that came.

"Alright, what do I need to do? What spell should I cast?" Fathom looked to clearsight for guidance.

"I don't know, something that won't raise Darkstalker's attention?"

"Well, you looked like you had a plan when we left the nightwing kingdom, what was it?"

"It won't work now, we need Darkstalker to fight Queen Diamond. But the bright future we'd had left was if we gave Darkstalker a bracelet enchanted to make him sleep forever."

"I see, well, what do we need to do to stop Darkstalker?"

"We can't stop him Fathom, we can only hope to contain him. But we can't even do that if he forces us under his control for not saving him, so we need to think of something." Fathom took a second before responding

"Didn't Arctic protect himself from Darkstalker's magic? Could we do the same thing?"

"We could, yes, but if Darkstalker can't touch us with his magic, he won't trust us either. I can't understand why, but that's what I see. When he can't control our minds he doesn't keep us close. And there are some awful arguments and fights when he finds out." Clearsight shuddered, hearing Darkstalker's bellowing roars of outrage in her mind.

"Well, we can't protect ourselves, we can't stop him, and we can't put him to sleep. What if we put ourselves to sleep after we rescue him?" Fathom hesitated, unsure of his words as he continued. "He'd still trust us right? Then when we wake up, maybe we have a better chance?"

"That's a good idea, though I'm not sure how it would affect Darkstalker. Let me check the futures." Clearsight concentrated on seeing what might happen if they put themselves to sleep. It was difficult, it was almost like looking at futures where she died. In those it was all black nothingness, but in the futures where she was asleep, everything was gray and indistinct. She saw what might be seawings fighting icewings, but it could have been mudwings and skywings for all the details she could make out.

And so she turned her mind towards Darkstalker, trying to see what happened to him. And what she saw, made her heart break. He was alone. Completely and totally alone. She saw him lash out at anyone and everyone for no reason except to vent the pain he felt. He lived a miserable depressed life where all he could focus on, to keep his mind off the loneliness, was the war. And oh how the war had turned dark.

She saw what she could only describe as mindless dragons killing, being reborn, and killing again. Somehow, Darkstalker and Diamond had found a way to kill dragons without taking any lives. And all it took was sacrificing the minds of the soldiers. She saw dragons fighting relentlessly across the sandwing kingdom, the sand had been dyed red and blue as hundreds of dragons bled out every day. And each dragon fought far past the point where they each should have died, when they were missing half the body, organs trailing behind they propelled themselves forward with a single leg as they tried to bite their foes. The only thing that seemed to stop them, and only for a moment, was removing the head. And even then their bodies healed just so they could go straight back to fighting. It was mindless, endless, butchery.

Clearsight threw up. She couldn't take it anymore. She needed to stop seeing that future. That awful future would give her nightmares till the end of her days. However soon that might be.

"Fathom, w-we can't take that path" Clearsight managed to choke the words out around the bile in her throat.

"Yeah, I uh, gathered that from your…reaction" Fathom stared at her in horrified wonder.

Clearsight took a moment to catch her breath before continuing. "I need- I need to be there for Darkstalker. Even… at the cost of my own mind." The realization hurt, but not as much as seeing his futures without her.

Fathom's gaze was kind and his voice was gentle. "Then perhaps, we could put your mind to sleep, and have it wake up in a few years."

"What?" Clearsight couldn't quite wrap her head around the strange idea. She wasn't sure what Fathom meant by 'putting her mind to sleep'.

"Well, what if we make it so that in a few years, you lose all your memories and all the spells that you were enchanted with between now and then. So it would kind of be like waking up after a long nap." Fathom explained.

"That is an interesting idea, but wouldn't Darkstalker notice and put more spells on me?" Clearsight thought it was a curious idea and it had several flaws, but perhaps…

"Then don't remove your memories, so you know how to act to make him think you're still under his spells."

"We'd have to include protection from his mind reading powers. But not full protection, my mind would need to continue to look like nothing had changed." Clearsight was starting to like this idea. It would allow her to guide Darkstalker as much as she could, and allow her to safely get to the future after new dragonets were born. And new dragonets meant new futures. In fact…

"Instead of the spell being a timer, why not make it trigger after I have any dragonets with Darkstalker."

"Ok, but wouldn't they be too young and you'd have to keep up the act for so long if you were freed when they hatched? Would it be better to wait until they were a few years old? Not so old Darkstalker would have full control over them like you'd be before the spell triggered."

"Yes, that's a good idea. So what should we do, a year? 6 months?"

"Why not have it trigger when they realize they have animus magic? That will be when Darkstalker starts focusing on the dragonets more and you'll be needed to keep them directed toward the good futures."

"Oh Fathom, that's a brilliant idea! So to summarize, the spell will remove all spells Darkstalker has enchanted on my mind and soul, and leave me with my memories so I know how to keep acting. It will make it look like nothing has changed in my mind if mindreaders try to read my mind. And it will happen when my dragonets realize they have animus magic. That's a marvelous spell, how can we cast it?"

Clearsight and Fathom spent the next few minutes discussing the exact wording of the spell.

The sun had shifted a few degrees in the sky while Clearsight and Fathom discussed the spell. They had made a few changes to their initial plans and specified the wording. They didn't want anything to go wrong while they were enchanting Clearsight's soul. Which meant that Clearsight had to take several breaks to check the futures. It was harder to differentiate futures based on the wording of the spell, since the spell mostly kicked in almost too far into the future for her to see anything. But she could see if it failed entirely or triggered early. Eventually, they were both satisfied with the spell.

Fathom reached a talon forward, resting it over Clearsight's heart. Taking a deep calming breath, he changed the future.

"Enchant Clearsight the NightWing, so that when she witnesses her dragonets cast an animus spell, all of Darkstalker's enchantments will cease to affect her. All past, present, and future spells. Clearsight will know intrinsically what each spell did to her, their wordings, and how to act to keep up appearances. Enchant Clearsight's mind, so that Darkstalker and any other mindreader will see no hint of this spell, and will be unable to detect any difference in Clearsight after all of Darkstalker's spells are removed. Enchant Clearsight so that she will be freed from Darkstalker's grasp the first time one of her dragonets casts a spell in front of her."

Clearsight breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally, it was done. "Alright Fathom, your turn."

Fathom hesitated, "Actually Clearsight I wanted to try and find out what happened to Indigo, and get her to safety. And I can't do that and be with you and Darkstalker."

Of course! How could she have forgotten about Indigo? Fathom certainly needed to get her to safety. And perhaps they could find happiness together, away from Pyrrhia.

"Absolutely Fathom. You deserve better than this, you deserve Indigo. I don't know what Darkstalker did to Indigo, but I foresee that by using your magic you can find and save her. After we save Darkstalker he will be very focused and distracted by… events that take place. Use that time to find and save Indigo."

"Thank you Clearsight, that means a lot to me"

"Flee to the west, there are islands in the ocean you two can live on, and maybe have some dragonets of your own." Clearsight smiled as she felt tremendous relief knowing that any dragons could have a happy future. Even though her own was dark and dreary, it gave her hope that one day she'd see a bright future with her visions. And she might even live to see it.

Fathom looked nervous. "Dragonets? Do you really think so?"

"Absolutely you goof, you and Indigo were made for each other. However you might need to use your magic to hide you two from Darkstalker once you've escaped. He'll definitely come looking for you. Now let's go save my evil boyfriend so the world doesn't get frozen over"

Fathom winced at the idea of casting more spells. Clearsight knew that it tore his heart to shreds to break his oath to Pearl and cast so many spells. But she could see no other way to defeat and hide from Darkstalker. They needed Animus magic to face him.

Clearsight watched Fathom gather himself before uttering: "Enchant Clearsight the NightWing and Fathom the SeaWing to be protected from the Great Ice Cliff. That they may travel over it in safety, and without fear of being attacked by the magical defenses of the cliff."

Fathom's face was distraught and regretful as they jumped into the air with a strong flap of their wings, and began to soar over to the cliff. Even though Clearsight could see the future, and she was sure the spell would work; her heart still pounded as they drew closer and closer to the shimmering icy walls.

But they flew over it safely and quickly. No spears were sent flying, no alarms rang, and suddenly they were in the Ice Kingdom. The first SeaWing who'd been across the wall in who knew how long and the first full NightWing to cross it since Foeslayer and Arctic had fled the palace.

They circled Darkstalker's broken and mangled body. It was an eerie sight. The scales stretched unnaturally over broken bones and dislocated joints, with a distinct lack of blood in the pristine white snow. Clearsight landed next to her love's body, and held him tenderly. Crying softly at seeing his body. It was so much worse, seeing it with her eyes instead of in her visions.

Fathom landed next to the scroll, which lay a few feet away from Darkstalker's desperate talons. Fathom picked it up gingerly and approached Darkstalker before rummaging in the damaged satchel, looking for the inkpot.

Clearsight could see pain and relief in Darkstalker's eyes. She knew he would never forget their actions today, and she hoped it would be enough to keep them safe in the years to come.

Authors note:

Thank you for reading this chapter! It was a lot of fun to write. I don't know when I'll have chapter 2 finished, as chapter 1 was in process for over a year (I know I'm a slow writer)

My mentality as I approached this story was to follow the cause and effect of every scene, then plan the next scene. What this means is that I had no ultimate goal in mind when I wrote my outline, and I have a rather thorough outline and timeline now. When I sat down and started planning I had only a slight preference for Darkstalker's victory, but not enough that I wasn't willing to let him win and become King of all Dragons. That is a very distinct and possible path that this story may take. Hopefully I'll be able to finish this story within the next decade…

As I was both open to any reasonable possibility and willing to end the story at a moment's notice I need to clarify something regarding Clearsight's visions. The smart alecks among you may realize that Fathom could have just wished for Darkstalker and Diamonds death/removal of power. So Clearsight could have seen that as a possible future, but she didn't.

That is because I believe in rules and I dislike paradoxes of this nature. If the only reason you know of a possible action is through a vision, then you can't see it in a vision. If it is possible to know of/do something without knowledge of the future, then you can see that as a possible action in the future. Clearsight would never in an immortal life think to control another dragon with magic, therefore she can't see futures where she asks Fathom to control Darkstalker. She would never dream of using magic to instantly kill a dragon: she would however think of enchanting an object to kill a dragon, which won't work on Darkstalker. So when she sees the futures, she does not see the bright futures with a dark path that could work. If however someone asked her about them then she could see those futures, because she has now thought of the idea of doing them, even if it was "I would never do that", because she now has the idea of doing them and thus can see the possibility. Yes that means a self-aware seer can in fact somewhat bypass this rule as they begin to question their own thinking and leave stuff up to chance so they can see more futures.

That is my interpretation and understanding of the seer powers in Pyrrhia. If seers can see all futures, then they can bypass any loophole and criticism. Clearsight would literally be a god, in that she would be all-knowing. For instance she could use her powers to effectively mind read other dragons as she could filter the futures for a desired reaction, then say the random words necessary. Even though she would never have thought of those words without seeing the future. As much fun as the beach side cave paradox was, I highly dislike it when it comes to storytelling implications because that is something she only knew of through visions.

Tui is a good writer, but she struggles with grasping the scope of the consequences of actions and maintaining continuity; and planning, she struggles with that too. Taking that into consideration, she's done a phenomenal job with the series, so don't hate on her because she has room to grow and improve as a writer, and she's still a much better writer than I am. It's just that the area of writing that I enjoy and am good at is the same area she struggles with. So I'm putting my words where my mouth is and writing this story.

So I hope this author's note eases your know-it-all concerns and worries, because without it, there would be no possible future with this story.

In the words of a wise man: "If it is possible for a character to know everything, then it must be assumed that they do." -TheVirtual2, 2023