Wings of Fire: Reborn

Chapter 14

Blossom lay in the corner of her room, staring out the window. It wasn't much of a sight but it was better than falling asleep and seeing Tundra again. The moon shone on the white plains, looking like the crystals sold at the night market. Dragons busily flew past her window, each one with something shiny or stone in their claws. Blossom envied them. They were lucky enough to be outside, let alone flying around, free. 

"I didn't think she would do this..." a voice said from behind her. Blossom turned around, her stomach  groaned for food. Aqualon was standing in the doorway. Anger spiked through her as she watched him sidle closer to the web. 

"You did this?" she hissed, dangerously letting him know she was willing to slit his throat. Bubbles of rage started reaching up towards her throat, threatening to burst out and boil Aqualon with her rage. 

"I didn't want to!" he said desperately, although his eyes were gleaming playfully. "She threatened to kick my family out of the palace...she was going to make them work hard labour for years."

"And what, did you write that letter? Make me intrigued to go home?" she spat, she had no room in her busy mind to be empathetic to this slimy gorilla. 

"Well... She said if I made the letter, I could prevent the terrible things she would do to me and my family." he hissed softly, hanging his head.

Finally her rage subsided, pity panged at her heart. 

"I understand... I'd do the same thing for my family..." Blossom sighed, she leaned against the icy wall. 

Aqualon sat down, his head still hung. "I don't need your pity... It was my stupid fault. I just couldn't have done that to my sister, Amber..." Aqualon huffed, sending a small frozen mist in Blossoms direction. Blossom reached out to touch his shoulder, remembered the feeling when she reached through the web, and returned her talon to the ground.

"You know, I've only just realized you look just like Taro..." Aqualon said, and Blossom realized he had been studying her face.

"Well, no surprise, she might be my long-lost sister, besides she's an Animus like me, I mean I think it might be genetic." Blossom said, her voice as cool as ice. How could my parents keep the knowledge of her existence from me? Were they scared I'd not like her? I'd always wanted a sibling, so why?

"Fascinating..." Aqualon said, rubbing his shoulder affectionately. 

"What's so fascinating?" Blossom asked, trying to keep the curiosity from her tone. 

"I was thinking, maybe we hadn't lost Animus power all those years ago, we might of just stopped looking!" Aqualon looked as if he'd had a revelation, nothing like the grouchy slug a few weeks before. 

"Well that would explain why I have Animus power... But how did it go undetected? Was it like, they got lazy and gave up saying 'oh well we tried'?" Blossom asked, slightly confused. Was there something that the history scrolls wasn't telling the world?

"What if it wasn't a gift... But a genetic? A mutation in our blood so that we could create things from mere matter?" Aqualon said, his eyes wide. "What if you being a Hybrid activated the dormant gene?"

Blossom looked into Aqualon's brown eyes. Her brain started ticking, her talons rapped on the ground bellow her. He was onto something.

She could tell he'd been thinking about it for a while. 

"So how do you know Taro?" Blossom changed the subject, although her mind was flying through possibilities. 

"Well from when she first hatched, I've always known her. She feels like my best friend, even though she can't leave the palace grounds. She's always been relatable you know?" he sighed. Not the oh my goodness I'm a frantic but a sigh of relief. "Being hybrids in this tribe isn't very easy, If you can't tell." he chuckled, slightly but not whole heartedly. 

Blossom looked into his deep brown eyes, sorrow and anger was welling beneath the surface of their beautiful exterior. He scratched his shoulder again, it had blots of red scales.

"Tell me about your mother?" Blossom asked. It was a question she had been wondering about for days, how he had become a hybrid.

He looked up into Blossom's eyes. "She was amazing." he said quietly, looking down at his talons. "She was always shivering, no matter how many capes or blankets she had around her. But she stayed, she stayed because she was an wonderful dragon. She was my anchor, she stopped me from lashing out, from becoming a monster." he sniffed, Blossom caught an expression of grief, a shadow formed as he furrowed his brow.  

"Tundra was Jealous, she thought that other dragons shouldn't be in the Ice kingdom. She invited us one day for a banquet, Mom decided that it was a good way of closing over our fights or whatever. She must have known that mom liked Boar, and she..." Aqualon's voice stuttered and his face broke, his tears started to stream down his face.

Blossom reached through the web, her stomach lurched, her arm felt as if it was being ripped off. She patted Aqualon quickly on the shoulder, trying to comfort him, but yelled out when the pain got to intense. 

Aqualon watched Blossom as she gingerly nursed her arm, and he reached forward. His face crumbled in excruciating pain. 

"She has you imprisoned?" he gasped. She nodded at the rock and Aqualon followed her gaze. 

"I can't touch, believe me I've tried." she said, grimacing, remembering the pain from even getting close to it. 

Aqualon touched it and the web glowed, its devilish glow made Blossom growl. She stood up and touched it, sparks flying around her claw. He tapped it again and it vanished and the pain started to run through her claw. 

He tapped it three times in a row. 

The pain was gone. 

Blossom put her whole talon through the web. Nothing.

She sighed in relief and stepped through. "Finally..." she said, shaking out her wings. Aqualon cautiously touched the stone again and the tip of Blossom's tail lit up in agony. She yelped and pulled her tail to her chest, holding it close. 

"It seems your free." Aqualon smiled a gleaming smile. 

"Its seems she is!" Taro said excitedly, coming to Blossom's side. Blossom looked down at her. "Where did you just come from?" Blossom asked. 

"Oh I've been here the entire time!" Taro said, her sparkly eyes widening. Aqualon smiled an affectionate smile at Taro, something more than friendship stirring in his eyes. 

"I suppose I am free." Blossom smiled and stepped towards the door.