The room was dead silent as Icestorm's eyes darted over everyone, and the air tensed with the feelings bouncing around in the room.
Icestorm breathed slowly onto the stair rail, and her ice breath crept over it, turning it icy and blue. Her obsidian black eyes pierced through Yeti's soul. "You look older," she said, gripping his chin with her talons, almost cutting the scales.
Yeti shuddered and backed away. His mother had never been cruel to him specifically, she just was cold, emotionless. His father was the anger in the household.
"The fish is ready to eat," Icestorm's monotone voice said, she smiled without her eyes moving off Yeti. "Come to the dining room with me."
She walked away without another word, and the rest of the group followed her without a second thought. Icestorm always had that effect on dragons, and she took advantage of it every day. So Yeti stalked down the frigid halls, feeling as empty as ever.
The dining room was huge, with statues and crystals all over every possible surface. The table could've easily sat 30 dragons, with dozens of chairs lining the sides. Icestorm sat down at the head of the table, with Abominable sitting just to her left.
Servants filled the room, shoving the dragonets into chairs and placing plates of eel onto the table.
Blackpearl and Boriel immediately dug in, however the rest waited in silence. What if they poisoned the dish? Yeti thought to himself. If they did, Blackpearl and Boriel won't live to see tomorrow.
"You may eat," Icestorm blinked. After a moment of silence she continued. "Yeti, why have you returned to us? That Pine dragon said you would surely be gone for the rest of your life."
This seemed to snap the dragonets out of their trance. All except Yeti, who was starstruck by what his mother said. They knew?
"We came back because we heard that there was some information in the Icewing Kingdom, so of course we had to visit you!" Blackpearl murmured politely.
"Like what, Sweetheart?" Icestorm replied in a falsely cheery voice.
"Umm...well it's about some scavengers, do you know where any dens are?" Blackpearl asked cautiously, making sure to sound as bright as possible.
Icestorm looked at Abominable, " No, I don't think we do."
"Well you have to know!" Cherry stood up, pushing Shard's arm away from her. "Have you heard of any attacks happening recently?" Amber shot her a glare.
"Attacks? Honey, you must be confused," her voice had stopped sounding calm. Cherry has to stop now. She's pushing too far. Yeti worried, wincing under his breath.
"I'm not-" Cherry started, Shard putting a talon over her mouth.
"She's probably just sick, from the cold. I don't think she realized the Icewing Kingdom had this much ice in it," Shard smiled, trying to joke.
Abominable looked ready to strangle him. Icestorm barely forced herself to let out a short breathless laugh. Yeti, shook his head, terrified of what his parents were going to say next.
"May we please be excused?" He asked, desperate to get out of the dining hall and the icy wrath of his parents.
"Well only you and the Seawing thing are done with your food, so you two can go," Icestorm smiled, clearly trying to get rid of the only two sane dragons at the table.
Blackpearl hesitantly stood up, walking over to Yeti and grabbing his arm. "Let's go." He instantly remembered every reason he ever liked her. She hates you. You better remember that. Yeti's brain reminded him, but his heart was already flying.
The two of them walked out the dining hall, leaving the rest of their friends there to face his parents alone.
"Okay, so we know they're definitely hiding something, and it's probably in the house. Where do we look?"
Yeti stared into her eyes. "Uh- upstairs, Abominable had an office at the top of the tower. Maybe it'll be there?" Why were her eyes so distracting?
"Where are the stairs?" Blackpearl asked, pacing back and forth.
"Same stairs Icestorm used. Follow me."
Yeti felt as though he was walking on air the entire time they walked up the stairs. He couldn't even feel the burn in his legs until they reached the top.
Blackpearl, nudged open the door, careful not to make a sound.
The room was filled with scrolls. It was like a library exploded. Bits of torn up paper were scattered across the desk. Even the shelves looked like they'd taken a beating.
"What do we check first?" Blackpearl asked, picking up a scroll titled "Best Ways to Kill a Dragon" She dropped it instantly.
"Desk." As he said it, he walked over to the desk, opening drawers and brushing through the mess on top.
"Did they ever mention anything about the war?"
Yeti thought for a moment before responding. "No, not really. I never really saw them though, unless they were yelling at me. Abominable was always in here though. And he would always hit me if I even tried to come in here. He said I couldn't disturb his 'company'. It was really strange."
"Company? What do you mean-" She gasped, lifting up a scroll. It was a map, with the weirdest marking all over it. She set it down on the table.
"Those aren't Icewing towns," Yeti looked closer. There wasn't a map key, but a little drawing of a scavenger gave it all away. He looked up, verifying that Blackpearl saw what he saw.
"Scavenger dens," they said in unison. The scavenger-like drawings were dotted all over the map, some with swords, others with plants and still others with little pills.
"They know. They have to know. Wait- what if they're working with the scavengers?" Blackpearl was about to point to something on the map when the door flew open.
"Yeti. I thought I told you never to come into your father's office." Icestorm blasted Yeti's foot with freezing death breath, making his world turn cold. It burned like a thousand fiery suns, stinging his scales.
It can't kill me. He thought. I'm an Icewing.
Icestorm didn't wait for the pain to subside before dragging the two of them across the room and halfway down the stairs.
Every step hurt Yeti's foot more and more. He tried to stand, but that just made Icestorm dig her claws in more.
She tossed him into a room like a ragdoll and slammed the door, locking from the outside. He banged his fist against the wood, trying desperately to get out.
"Now for you. I can't lock you up without violating treaties, but I can threaten you. If you tell a single soul about anything that happened today I can guarantee that the Mudwing along with the Rainwing are going to die, in the most painful way I can find. Understand?"
Yeti prayed she wouldn't agree, prayed she would fight it. She couldn't let his mother win, she couldn't.
"I understand."
YOU ARE READING
Shadows and Peace Book 2: Cool as Ice
Fanfiction"HELP! HELP!" HE screamed, pounding on the door. "I knew we never should have come here." He murmured to himself. Clearly no one was going to rescue him anytime soon. ...
