Wings of Fire: Rogue Power

Chapter 8

(more of my art!)

When the ice wall comes into view, my breathe is taken away. I knew it was tall, but yeesh that's overkill. 

The wall stands almost a hundred dragons tall, but even then the ice kingdom castle is visible behind it, standing twice as high as the wall that covers most of it. 

And the stars are fully out, so everything stands out starkly in the black, glittering under the moons light. I almost crash straight into the wall because of the sight. It's like they took stardust and sprinkled it over everything icy. 

I quickly right myself and sail over it easily, relieved that I didn't get impaled. 

I also, in my awe of the sights, didn't see which entrance my father went through. I look at all of them in confusion. Hmm. Any one of these could be the one. 

I land on the icy ground, and start to focus, placing my talons on my head in thought. There's so many different paths, and any one could be dangerous. So checking the future seems like my best option. 

Flipping through them, I sense another odd time-loop. Its what I call 'unavoidable' encounters. Where something is destined to happen in several different paths. I see a dragon a little older than me, an Icewing... in chains? Huh.

I feel a sense of unease about it, but head in that direction anyways, choosing a path that leads down. There must be an important reason for me to meet him.

After a few twists and turns into the icy tunnels, I come upon the door in my vision. I'm not sure why I'm supposed to meet this dragon, but its important too somehow. 

The door is circular, and made completely of ice. Swirling patterns cover its surface, along with other symbols I don't recognize. As I touch it, I sense the energy in it isn't normal.

Its enchanted! I realize, running my talons through the swirls curiously. Why would there be magic here? There are no animus Icewings alive right now that I know of. I... I think so at least. I've never tried finding other animus's before. 

That seems like a very important thing to know. What if one of them ever decided to go after her? Suddenly I feel extremely unsafe, the tunnels around me seeming smaller and more narrow. I need to stop this. 

I reach up and grip my horns tightly. 

"Enchant my horns to block any and all other animus magic from ever affecting me, no matter the spell. Let only spells I've heard and agreed too allow, affect me"

As soon as I finish the spell, my panic fades instantly. The walls return to normal, and I relax my tense muscles. And, I feel a shift in the future for the better. I wonder why it never warned me of other animus's before. Maybe because I never asked? Either way with that danger out of the way, I go back to the door.

I'm not sure of it's enchantment, so I try using my magic on it first.

"Open?" I ask. Nothing happens. Maybe I wasn't commanding enough. 

"Door, open now" the ice begins to tremble, then slides open towards me achingly slow. So it's not here to keep others out... But maybe someone in?

As it does, dust flows out of it's opening, blinding me a moment, and obscuring it's contents as well.

Once it clears more, I wipe off my face, accidentally turning the dial on my wrist back to white. Slipping back into my old scales makes me feel better though, so I let it be. I also tap my ring, letting it fade back to white. No point in hiding right now.

What I see confuses me. 

There is an Icewing in chains like my vision, but, he's... stone?

A large stone tablet sits in the center of the small-ish room, an Icewing standing there calmly made from marble. But even so, chains were wrapped around his snout and front talons, leading down into the ground, held tight by steel. I notice words carved on the front of the slab.