Wings of Fire: Melting Ice #2

Epilogue

Aurora opened her eyes slowly. Her vision was fuzzy, and her head was pounding. She blinked a few times, holding her head. My sister... She tried to stand, but her body felt weak. My sister is dead.

"The newcomer is awake," someone whispered.

Aurora turned to see two young dragons in the corner. One was a small SeaWing, but he had brown scales. Must be a SeaWing and MudWing hybrid. The other one was also small, and she was also a SeaWing, but had no sail. "W-where am I?" Aurora stuttered.

"Prince Firefinch brought you here," the brown one answered. "But.. we also just got here."

"You're in Queen Fissure's prison," another voice spoke. A larger dragon stepped from the darkness of the room. It was a NightWing. He had pitch black scales and green eyes, and in-between his scales was a strange orange glow. That's not normal. He held his chin high.

"Who.. are you?" Aurora questioned. She couldn't shake the feeling off. This dragon.. he had this strange aura, like he was important.

"I am Nightmare," the hybrid answered. "You're not going to like it here, Aurora."

"Wait, I've heard about you!" Aurora gasped. "Huh, how do you know my name?" She questioned.

Nightmare sat down, his wings folding at his sides. "I was told about you. You're going to be my partner in the arena," he murmured, looking at the ground. 

"Arena..?" Aurora questioned. "The only dragon I want to fight is Firefinch!" She growled.

"No.. we're going to be fighting those two," Nightmare informed, pointing to the two young hybrids in the corner.

"Excuse me?" Aurora gasped. "I'm not going to fight babies!" She hissed. "I thought you were a good dragon?" 

"You don't understand, naive brat," Nightmare growled. "We don't have a choice. We have to do whatever that SkyWing queen says. You'll get used to it eventually, I did afterall. I've killed so many."

"You monster!" Aurora growled. "Do you like doing this sort of thing?" 

"I don't like killing innocent dragons. Trust me, I would love to sink my talons into Fissure's throat. But if I tried to do that, I would die quickly. And then how would justice be served? You and I both have our special scales. That's why they're keeping us alive. But if we tried anything, I know they'd kill us. They'd probably be able to find new ones anyways," Nightmare growled. He moved his tail, his green eyes dark. 

Aurora backed away. "I don't want to die either, but I can't stand by and.. kill innocent hybrids," She growled. She looked at the two hybrids in the corner. "Don't worry little ones. I will throw my life away to get you out of here."

"Don't waste your life," Nightmare growled. "I've been here for at least a year. I've been thinking of ways to escape. But that idiot Firefinch is an animus, and he's protected himself against my scales. If we're going to get out of here, I suggest using weapons. We've still got our claws and teeth," he muttered.

Aurora glanced to the side, not knowing what to think.

"And if we're going to do that, It'd be best if we worked together. At some point, when the guards come to take us, we'll launch a surprise attack," Nightmare informed. "And.. I plan to get the queen myself."

"Do you really think that's going to work?" Aurora questioned, narrowing her eyes. 

"Maybe with your help, yes," Nightmare said. "But we have to get Firefinch first. He is very dangerous, and could probably kill us. But if we worked together, I think we could overpower him. We would have to kill him, to ensure he won't come back."

"Alright, but what if one of us dies?" Aurora questioned. This dragon... he's more brave than I thought. But can I trust him? 

"Then..." Nightmare trailed away. He flicked his forked tongue over his sharp teeth, as if not wanting to answer that question. "Don't think about it," he responded at last. Then he got up and trailed away towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Aurora asked, her talons clicking anxiously on the stone floor. 

"I'm more trusted than you. Sometimes they let me roam the halls and check out the prisoners," Nightmare replied, flicking his tail.

"Let me come with you! Maybe we can start our escape now!" Aurora gasped, getting up and shaking out her talons.

Nightmare suddenly spread open his giant wings, letting them arch over Aurora. Orange and red scales under his wings acted like stars. "You can't come out," he hissed, flicking his black tongue at her. He narrowed his green eyes at her.

Aurora backed away, hurt. "But.."

Nightmare closed his wings and folded them at his side. "It will be years before we're capable of something like escaping from here. Maybe five or so years... and they might trust us," the pitch-black dragon said. Lowering his head, he sulked from the cell and closed the door, his tail lifting above the dusty floor.

Aurora was left in the room with the two hybrid dragonets. They glanced at her awkwardly before crawling to one of the corners of the room. The pretty IceWing hybrid's scales flicked to dark green as she paced back and forth. Three moons... what do I do?