Queen Snowfox's eyes gleamed. She wore four Animus-touched objects. Two had been enchanted by her enemy, Prince Arctic: the protective seashell necklace she stole from Whiteout and an Arctic Pearl. The other two gifts were from the forbidden treasury. The first gift was a delicate tiara – the gift of strength. The other was a pair of diamond-encrusted bracelets, which Snowfox thought were the most exciting gift of all. With these, her entire army could become invisible! Why hadn't Queen Diamond used any of these to fight the war?

Her heart pounded eagerly as a reliable but disposable IceWing soldier named Eider stood before her. He also wore an Arctic Pearl. Queen Snowfox tapped her bracelets together, and he vanished before her eyes. She grinned madly.

"Eider, go to the courtyard of the NightWing Palace," she commanded.

"I will be honored, Your Majesty," Eider's seemingly disembodied voice replied. Then– silence.

Queen Snowfox stood in awkward anticipation for a few seconds. Then she reached forward to feel the air where Eider had last stood. The space was empty. She shook with a shiver of glee, then stepped back to make room for his return.

Several minutes passed. This was the key test: could an IceWing survive the NightWings' magical border by teleporting?

Queen Snowfox waited.

"Your Majesty," Eider's voice made Snowfox jolt. She tapped her wristbands together, and he appeared.

"It worked?" she breathed.

He bowed and handed her a cone-shaped, light purple flower. Its scent filled the room.

"A gift from the Night Kingdom," Eider explained. "I remained invisible. Only a few dragons are out, and they were heading to their homes to sleep."

"Oh, so many ways they won't see us coming," Queen Snowfox said softly, with a small, evil smile.

—-

On the other end of the continent, Darkstalker lounged on his gorgeous throne with an easy smile. Finally, he was in the place of honor that he deserved. His friends by his side. (Well, they were around here somewhere, at least.) Safe. The future he was creating unfurled in front of him along the most glorious path. Enemies would be punished. Now he could protect everyone who mattered.

How can I make my friends see it? Surely Clearsight is seeing the same things I am seeing.

I can't believe she took off her earrings – which I made to make her HAPPY. Why would she NOT want to be happy?

Darkstalker fumed inwardly for a few minutes.

Maybe she's not interpreting the future correctly. Ooh! Maybe I could enchant the throne room. Or the palace! Or the whole Night Kingdom! I could enchant the whole– No, she said she doesn't like watching dragons fawning over me. Lame. She'd probably find a way to complain about EVERYONE being happy if it were by magic. So stupid.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the palace, a new and imminent and altogether surprising future fell into Clearsight's mind like an avalanche. She collapsed.

Fathom knocked at the door. "Clearsight?"

"Fathom!" she called breathlessly. He cautiously entered the room. "IceWings," she breathed. "An army. Here. They're coming. They're going to get inside the Night Kingdom somehow. Magic? Oh, we have to warn– everyone!"

"Uh," Fathom stammered, obviously panic-stricken. Clearsight closed her eyes tight, talons over her head, trying to follow the timelines.

"Tell everyone you can to hide, or flee." Were they already here? There wasn't much time. Not much time at all, or they might all be dead. "I need to tell Darkstalker."

Clearsight rushed into the throne room. Darkstalker noticed that she was obviously distressed. But wasn't she always? Darkstalker's face broke into a smile.

"Hello, my future queen," he said smoothly.

"Icewings," she blurted by way of greeting. "An army. Inside the Night Kingdom. They're coming soon. So, so soon. They're coming now, Darkstalker. It's Queen Snowfox. The genocide I warned you about."

Darkstalker's face clouded. "How?" he asked. "I have a border surrounding the whole kingdom. Father," he spat, not waiting for Clearsight to answer. "He must have used his magic against us! I KNEW IT!" He roared in fury.

—-

Queen Snowfox studied Arctic's maps and notes one more time. She tossed the notes aside. She didn't them; this wasn't going to be a targeted mission against the NightWing war council like Arctic had envisioned. She didn't care about minimizing bloodshed like that double-dealing Prince Arctic did. There were no divided loyalties here.

Armed with her protective necklace, strength-giving tiara, and invisibility bracelets, Queen Snowfox touched her Arctic Pearl. She materialized in the courtyard of the NightWing palace, with General Squall and her invisible army at her side. She was invincible. Not even an animus could defeat her now.

—-

In a firelit room of the NightWing palace, blackout curtains hiding Darkstalker and Clearsight from the early morning light, Darkstalker wrote frantically in his scroll – as if his life depended on it.

A/n: See pages 247-248 of Wings of Fire Legends: Darkstalker for Clearsight's warning about Snowfox committing genocide

See page 150 for Clearsight's vision of "Darkstalker writing in his scroll by firelight, writing as if his life depended on it."