Chapter 12

Lightwing

Survival Saga: Commence

Flashback Chapter

Everything hurt... Why did everything hurt if he was dead? Could it be the crushing wood or something?

Jack lifted his head slowly and blinked his eyes open. What the... I'm still alive?

He stood up and managed to take the spear out from inside his head... Diamond must have had something to do with this...

He remembered what must still be done, Clearsight would be putting Darkstalker to sleep right about now... right?

He took a few steps forward. "Heh... I'm alive..." he mumbled to himself. A large smile broke out upon his face.

He said, almost in a whisper: "You could never know what it's like..."

He started to walk the empty halls of Queen Vigilance's palace. "Your blood like winter freezes just like ice." He passed portraits of past NightWing queens. "And there's a cold and lonely light that shines from you, you'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use."

The halls were absolutely empty, it was just him in the entire palace, that scene must have scared the NightWings a little bit, right? "And did you think this fool could never win? Well, look at me, I'm a-coming back again," his voice grew more cheerful, more like the voice of the lovable Lightwing.

"I got a taste of love in a simple way. And if you need to know where I'm still standing, you'd just fade away. Don't you know, I'm still standing, better than I ever did. Looking like a true survivor, feelin' like a little kid. And I'm still standing after all this time." Jack kept singing, nothing could get his spirits down now.

"Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind. I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah! Once I never could've hoped to win, you're starting down the road and leaving me again, the threats you made were meant to cut me down, and if our love was just a circus, you'd be a clown by now."

Jack danced his way outside, still no NightWings in sight to see him still alive. "You know, I'm still standing better than I ever did. Looking like a true survivor, feelin' like a little kid. I'm still standing after all this time, picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind."

He took flight towards Agate Mountain, certainly that was where his target was. "I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

The tallest mountain in Pyrrhia came into view, oh yes, they were here. "Don't you know that I'm still standing better than I ever did, looking like a true survivor, feelin' like a little kid! And I'm still standing after all this time, picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind!"

The rain was attacking his scales pretty hard at this point, fitting for the moment between Clearsight and Darkstalker. "I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm still standing! Yeah, yeah, yeah!" His singing faded as he approached the cave.

Clearsight must have just slipped the bracelet onto Darkstalker's arm because he fell, with his eyes closed.

"I thought that I'd let you say goodbye before you leave," Lightwing said.

Clearsight didn't even seem startled by Lightwing standing behind her.

"Leave? Where would I go?"

"Turn your eyes, your wings, your fire to the land across the sea," he said, quoting the Lost Continent Prophecy from the third arc. "Turn your visions to the lost continent, they need your help Clearsight... Your help."

Clearsight must have known exactly what he was talking about because her eyes widened with realization.

"I'll stay here, clean up the mess that I made, and you can help a whole other continent with your visions of the future."

"Uhm... Please protect Pyrrhia, can I trust you with such a task Lightwing?" Clearsight asked.

"Certainly," Lightwing said, walking into the cave to grab Darkstalker's scroll and walked back out again to find Clearsight flying away.

Regardless, it was time to clean up the steaming pile of shit that he'd made of the timeline.

He flew back home and saw the NightWings going about their everyday activities, so they didn't fly to the volcano... It must take true disembowelment to scare them enough.

He slowly opened the door and saw Arctic fiddling with a necklace... They must have been further along than he originally thought.

"Hello father, I'm home," Lightwing said, grabbing an inkwell off a nearby shelf.

He tried to retract his arm... But... Couldn't... "What the..."

"I heard of what you did," Arctic said, turning to his son. "I was also present at your execution... I demand you to tell me how you survived."

Shit... He couldn't move at all; Arctic must be doing this... Despite his immobility, his mouth blurted words that it wouldn't normally say.

"I can only assume that Queen Diamond must have cast a spell upon me before I came back here to lure the NightWings outside the border into an ambush by the IceWings," he said. Lightwing wanted to clasp his snout shut so it would stop talking.

"..."

Arctic seemed convinced... but angry. "Is... Is Foeslayer still alive?"

"Yes."

"Have you seen her since she left the Night Kingdom?"

"No."

Please don't ask me how I know...

His body still disobeyed him, he was forced to put the scroll down beside the inkwell.

"Was it of your own volition that you betrayed the NightWings?"

"...Yes..."

"Lightwing... Sit down... I... I must speak with you... Without the magic assisting me."

He sat down next to his father, but his body still would not move to his own commands.

"Where is Whiteout?" he found himself saying... At least he could speak freely again.

"She's in her room, not listening to us."

He would've brought up the necklace, but that would also have raised suspicion, so he let it be.

"Prince Bloodseeker said that it seemed like you planned to get captured... Is he correct?" Arctic's voice was not unwelcoming, but it wasn't entirely welcoming either.

"He is correct, I planned to convince Queen Diamond to end the war and forgive our family... Granted, she had other plans for me before I could get very far with that."

"Hm... Given the chance that you could try to convince her; do you think that you would have succeeded?"

"No, but I also thought that I was going to stay dead after Darkstalker drove a spear through my head. I don't seem to have a very good track record with plans."

"If I let you go, what will you do?"

"Fix the things that I broke."

"What would those things be?"

"Clearsight was under the impression that I sent the future onto a dark path, so I will do my best to rectify that." It was a half-truth, but truthful, nonetheless.

"Did she tell you of how the future was supposed to go before you messed with it?"

"Yes, she told me that my joining the army sped up the future and turned it into a direction where the NightWings would stay in the Night Kingdom instead of fleeing the kingdom in fear of Darkstalker; he was supposed to catch you flying to the Ice Kingdom and then bring you back here, he would then make you confess everything that you did, then make you cut out your tongue and rip yourself open, but without all that, I fear for the NightWings and a certain five dragonets far in the future," he explained, clearly scaring Arctic.

"Dragonets?" Arctic asked, attempting to avoid the topic of his graphic death.

"Big war, prophecy, five dragonets born to end the fight, that's what she said when I asked."

"And what of Darkstalker? Where is he?"

"Unimportant, he's where the future demands that he be."

"I'm going to let you go, can I trust you with that?"

"I should hope so."

Lightwing discovered that he could move, so he slowly went back and picked up the inkwell and Darkstalker's scroll.

"Have a good day father," he said, leaving the house and beginning to write on the porch.

Make Lightwing invulnerable to Arctic the IceWing and his animus magic.

Teleport all NightWings excluding Lightwing, Clearsight, Darkstalker and Foeslayer to the volcanic island north of Pyrrhia with vivid memories of Darkstalker making Arctic the IceWing kill himself. He pictured Arctic's Execution to save himself the trouble of writing it out.

Make Arctic the IceWing die peacefully in his sleep in one day.

Lightwing rolled the scroll back up, his work was done. It was time to go back to the Ice Kingdom.

List of the whereabouts and status of The Fiery Four: (Last recorded)

Jack: Identity: Lightwing, whereabouts: the Night Kingdom, status: alive

Ian: Identity: Sunburst, whereabouts: not applicable, status: not yet hatched

Malcolm: Identity: Iceclaw, whereabouts: not applicable, status: not yet hatched

Daniel: Identity: Bandit, whereabouts: not applicable, status: not yet hatched