Wings of Ice- A Wings of Fire AU

Chapter 5

"Dune! No, no, no! Dune, wake up!" Sunny cried, running over and shaking Dune, her whole body quivering as she sobbed, her voice hoarse with unshed tears. Verglas stood, willing themself to feel something, anything at all, but they just felt... hollow. Hvitur and Kestrel stormed in, smoke pouring from Kestrel's mouth and nostrils. Hvitur shoved Webs towards the river, whispering, "Go! Find the rest of the Talons of Peace and tell them what happened, I'll help fight off the guards!" Kestrel hissed, her back arching and her wings flaring. Smoke poured from her nostrils, mingling with the thick smoke streaming from Scarlet's snout. "Scarlet, let these worthless dragonets go. You have me now," she said with a hiss. Starflight's eyes were distant, the sunlight bouncing off the silver scales near the corners of his eyes, like teardrops about to fall. Probably searching the timelines, Frostbite guessed. Scarlet didn't even look at them, instead focusing her menace on Kestrel. "Kestrel, that sounded like an order. Have you switched from disobeying orders to giving them?"

"Take me and leave these dragonets alone," Kestrel told Queen Scarlet. Scarlet was smaller than Kestrel, but she had an aura of menace and authority that filled the entire cave, leaving no room for dragons to breathe. Verglas felt like they were suffocating in dread and anger, leaning onto Peril for support and comfort. Peril leaned back, her coppery scales glinting in the sunlight streaming through the entrance. Queen Scarlet had found them, and they were bound to be prisoners yet again. "Oh, Kestrel, you think you have a choice. How sad. Guards, knock out and chain up these dragonets, then bring them to the palace. As for Kestrel and the larger IceWing, put them in that 'special' prison," Scarlet ordered the guards. The biggest guard leapt at Clay, instantly pinning him to the ground and chaining him up. Tsunami was quickly subdued as well. Out of the corner of her eye, Frostbite could see guards holding down a squirming golden shape and tackling Kestrel, and Starflight cornered near the entrance.

"Webs!" Kestrel shouted at the blue-green SeaWing guardian, "Run! Tell the Talons what happened!" Then chains were thrown around Kestrel's snout, and she was forced into silence. Webs obeyed, diving into the underground river and disappearing. One of Scarlet's guards turned and asked, "Should we follow the SeaWing, Your Majesty?"

Queen Scarlet snorted. "A SeaWing in a river? He's gone."

Talons slammed down on Verglas's back, but the pressure disappeared as the screams of a dragon filled the cavern. Verglas turned and instinctively flung their wings around the guard, freezing his scales until at last the SkyWing was dead. Verglas turned, seeing Peril squaring off to a huge SkyWing guard, already with blackened spots covering her dark red scales. Her armour caved in, melting and sliding down the guard's scales as she shrieked in agony and collapsed.

Scarlet hissed, glancing over at the two fallen soldiers. She doesn't know how to imprison us, Verglas guessed, reading the fury and frustration in Scarlet's eyes. She turned to the six remaining guards who had just finished chaining up Sunny, Starflight, Tsunami, Clay, and Kestrel. Hvitur was still facing off with a nervous SkyWing guard, his silver snout twisted and scarred from a long-ago wound that he refused to talk about. "Kill those two," Scarlet ordered, pointing at Peril and Verglas.

The guard who had chained up Clay pulled out a spiky cactus ball and dropped it, kicking it at Peril. She just barely dodged it, but the tip of her tail brushed it and the cactus exploded into flames. Verglas flung themself into the air, dragging Peril up into the air and pulling her above the guards' heads and outside amidst the chaos of the explosion. Peril broke free from Verglas's talons and flew on her own, though a bit wobbly and unsteady. Verglas heard wingbeats behind them and spun around. They were a heartbeat away from lashing out at the dragon when they realized it was Hvitur. He flung out his wings to stop his momentum, and hovered in place, catching his breath. "Fly towards those mountains," he managed to say between breaths. He pointed to a mountain with two peaks reaching up into the sky. Jade Mountain. We read about it a while ago.

"I'll be following," Hvitur told them, as they turned and flew to Jade Mountain.

I'm sorry, Clay, Starflight, and Sunny. I'll come back to rescue you, I promise.

Me, Peril and Hvitur.