Fire and Ice

Chapter Seven

Opal rubbed his temples, feeling sick. They really were stuck inside of the city. Gila rested his claw on Opal's shoulder and sighed. "Maybe if you wouldn't lock me in a closet and run away again, I could help you," he said. "And we can just leave with whatever you need to get, okay?"

Opal nodded slowly and leaned against the pillar closest to him. "Then you need to trust me. Come on, whatever you need I'm sure isn't that bad, right?" Gila asked, his voice quiet and low, softer than ever.

The IceWing crossed his arms and glared down at the empty city. I don't think I should tell him about the Diamond, I don't even know what it can do. "Okay, fine. The scales of power kidnapped my friend, Dryas. They left a note behind, some sort of ransom riddle note. I can't understand it and if they wanted me to come willingly, why kidnap me? It's all so confusing." Opal muttered, tail whipping the ground.

"How do you know it was the scales of power?" Gila tried. "They signed it, plus I recognised the dragons who did it from my history lessons, they're in the scales of power." He grumbled back.

"What does the note say?" The sandwing pressed carefully. He folded his wings and traced the outlines of sandstone bricks with his claws. The IceWing pulled the note out of his wing pouch and held it up in front of his face, squinting so hard he thought his eyes might pop out. "When the night has lasted three days time, a trove will be revealed. Fire and Ice will follow the chime where a secret is concealed-" Opal muttered. "Well obviously 'fire and ice' is you, right? Because you're an IceWing with firescales?" Gila interjected. "Well I obviously got that much!" Opal yelled.

"..Follow the chime? Like- like a bell?" Gila muttered, tapping his snout with his claws. "I have that already! It's the belltower." Opal grumbled. "Well what do you not have figured out then?" The SandWing hissed impatiently. "Everything else.." Muttered Opal.

"Well then. Let's start at the beginning. 'When the night has lasted three days time'? I think that could mean the eclipse-" Gila observed, stretching his wings out to their fullest extent. "What eclipse?" The IceWing quickly interjected. "You don't know? In just a few days there's an eclipse of all three moons, and because we have three moons, it lasts three days. It only happens every one thousand years." The SandWing explained, notching dents into the sandstone with his claws.

"Then that must be it!" Opal almost yelled, his excitement pulling him to his feet. "But where's the trove? Where's the hidden entrance? Ughhh and we're right back to the beginning!" Opal deflated and sat back down. Two of the moons shone in the sky, one was a thin smile. The other was split in half neatly, still beaming on the world below.

I wonder what's going on in the other continent..it's probably daytime for them. Unitition bridge is just a gateway between times..that's really something to think about. Will I ever find Dryas? And honestly what's even going on in the Ice Kingdom. I'll bet Queen Caribou is yelling at everyone about the fire.. I wonder how my mother is doing? What do I even have left to lose? I mean it seems like my mother hardly cares about me as a son..

But he couldn't deny that he had a lot to lose. Especially Dryas. When he was very little he and Dryas would run through the halls carelessly. He recalled the memory often when he was sad, it was one of his only happy memories. One he held dearest.

Dryas chased Opal through the cold halls of the palace. "I'll get you! Run as fast as you can white rabbit but the arctic fox will catch you!" she yelled. Opal laughed so hard he almost tripped. As they ran, they caught disapproving glares from passing IceWings but they didn't care.

Nobody could touch Opal, nobody would dare punish him. Even so, Opal was a good dragonet. He never dared to break a rule when Dryas wasn't around. Opal finally tumbled to the ground and face planted, though he was still giggling hysterically. Dryas patted his back with her small purplish-white talon. "I win! The Arctic fox EATS THE WHITE RABBIT ALIVE HAHAHA!!!" The tiny purple-ish white dragonet yelled triumphantly. "Blah! Fine but next time I get to be the artic fox!" Tiny dragonet Opal whined. "Finnne! And it's pronounced arctic, not artic!" The purple IceWing grumbled back, nudging him playfully.

"I wonder what's for dinner!" Opal wondered out loud, slowly getting up from the ground and dusting himself off. "Probably fish again! We always have fish! The queen is obsessed now that we have Sapphire Bay! It's so annoyyyiinnnggg!" Dryas whined very loudly. "You're annoying!" Opal teased, nudging Dryas back. "Oh, I know I am. That's what makes us the perfect match of bestest friends." Dryas explained confidently, as if it were the most interesting piece of information that only she knew and was bragging about knowing. "You wish!" Opal chirped.

Opal was startled out of his thoughts by a warm talon grabbing his shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. We'll get through this together, okay?" He knelt down to look into Opal's eyes and caved a warm, golden wing around the IceWing. "Let's take a break, it's been an excitement filled day." Gila said.

As much as he wanted to object and keep trying to decode the note, he couldn't say no to those eyes. Though they were as black as night yet they were warm and comforting. Opal nodded slowly. "Alright, then, let's get to know each other more, eh? I'll start. Ask me any questions you want."

"How did you get here? How long have you been here? And how do you know this place so well?" Opal spluttered quickly, those questions had been bothering him all day and now was the perfect opportunity to get them answered. To figure out if he really could trust this strange dragon.

"..You want the truth? Well, I've been here for three years.." Gila sighed. "I know how to escape the room, I'm surprised they've kept me this long..I always give chase but it's always useless, they usually catch me within a day. I know this place for that reason, I know every single corner, every nook and cranny, every room, every single speck of sand here like the back of my claw. This place has been my prison for a long time, all I want is to leave. Even if it's just for an hour."

The IceWing felt a tinge of guilt, poor Gila. But not all of his questions had been satisfied quite yet. "And I was at the old outpost at the edge of the sandwing territory border, I was there when it happened, when it was scorched to the ground with fire so hot the sand became glass. They killed everyone but..took me for some reason. They said I have 'great power' but if I really did, I'd be long gone."

"Do you know Leviathan? Or Elk? Or Sparrow? Or Saguaro?" Opal asked hopefully. "Well, the name Saguaro does ring a bell..I think I recall a face back at the outpost, I didn't know him that well though." The SandWing replied. "And do you know anything about the belltower?" Opal blurted hopefully.

Gila was caught off guard, he gave Opal a surprised look and slowly turned away from him, carefully avoiding putting pressure on his injured talon. "..Well..not the belltower itself..but the guardian of the tower, I do know about." he muttered. "Spill!" Opal insisted. He felt like a dragonet again, like he was begging Dryas to tell him about her secret crush or her newest prank. He felt foolish but he was too enthusiastic to stop.

"Well her name is Sol..she's half RainWing half SilkWing..She has RainWing venom and of course flamesilk. I met her at Wildebeest's Oasis a few years back, she was very sweet but too sweet I suspected. So one night, since we were both staying there for a few days, I decided to peek inside of her tent and I witnessed her and two of her guards standing in front of this- this MudWing caravan trader that had stopped at Wildebeest's Oasis. Sol was asking him these questions like; where was he? Did you find him? Did you pass him? Did he leave the palace? But he wouldn't answer, he'd only shake his head and spit at her feet. Every time he did that she'd burn him with flamesilk, it looked like he had these burned stripes all over his arms. Until at some point she got tired of his stubbornness and just shot venom into his eyes and killed him on the spot..the guards looked horrified but Sol was unfazed. I had to run into some hiding spot as soon as I could because she left the tent and told her guards that they were leaving right then. And then..she flew away." Gila said.

Opal hadn't realized that his jaw had dropped at some point during the story. He stood up, unfolding his wings and turning towards the belltower. "Opal.." Gila muttered slowly. The SandWing turned to him and shook his head. "Don't do it..I know what you're thinking but you can't. I don't want you to get hurt." The SandWing grabbed Opal's wrist.

But her flamesilk won't affect me, right? I'm a firescales, I'm fireproof. So if I want to get Dryas back, I'll have to get through Sol.