Wings of Fire- Seawing Legends: New Regime

Prologue

(authors note: i will add art of these characters eventually)

Within the heart of the snowy mountains of Aetheris lies the Icewing palace, today a Seawing prince visits to propose a deal with the Icewing Queen. Little did these dragons know the deal made this day would change the course of the sea kingdom's war for the worse.

Aruana wrapped his wings tightly around his body. Three moons it's cold here! How long are they gonna make me wait? The seawing prince tapped a gold covered talon impatiently on the frost covered marble below him. He jumped and turned towards the door as it creaked open. An Icewing soldier poked his head out, nodding to Aruana. "You may now enter, Prince Aruana." The soldier gave a bow and opened the door further into a grand throne room. He gave a regal nod in return and strolled past to stand before the throne.

Aruana gazed upwards at the dark silver figure decorated in jewelry. "Queen Blackice. Thank you for this meeting." he gave a small bow. The Icewing queen dipped her head in respect and looked him in the eyes. Her scales were an odd dark gray instead of the normal whites, blues and light grays of her kind. And her eyes were a deep black instead of the usual blue. She was tall and stood out graciously from the guards around her. "It's not often we get visitors. Tell me. What brings a Seawing prince to my palace?" she said, motioning for him to come closer. Taking a few steps forward he sat before the queen "I bring news from the sea kingdom, and have come to make an offer." he stated, trying to keep his 'royal voice' strong.

"My mother, Queen Bowhead, passed away a few months back." shocked gasps and hushed mutters from the guards filled the room. "oh dear.." Queen Blackice gave a look of sympathy to the prince. "As you may or may not be aware..." he sighed, he hated this part. "We have no female heirs..." he trailed off, letting his words sink in. "So now me and my father, King Deluge, have fallen into a battle for the throne. Our kingdom is torn between us. And the fighting is getting ugly. Deluge is no longer in our palace and we suspect-" Blackice held up a talon, cutting him off. "This is all terrible news and I feel for you but what does this have to do with me?" "I'm getting to that, your majesty." he nodded. "We suspect father has made a den within your waters. And our soldiers have spotted him with a rather... worrying Nightwing. His name is Titanic. A powerful prophet the likes of which we haven't seen since the days of darkstalker and clearsight. Word is, he may also be an esteemed assassin and is disobeying his Queen's orders to stay out of our fight."

The Icewing Queen was listening intently now. "I wish to offer an alliance. You assist me and my soldiers in this battle until I have secured my throne, and in turn we shall stand by your side should you fall on hard times, and we will defend and care for you and your soldiers as long as you stand beside us." he held his demeanor but he was shaking like a leaf, and not just from the cold. This was the first official royal business with other kingdoms Prince Aruana had to do on his own. Sure technically he and Queen Blackice carried the same status, but he couldn't erase the image he held of all the queens he had been raised to have. Ever since he was named 'prince' he had to accept the princesses and queens would always be above him. But now he was fighting for his place in those ranks, and so he had to act as such.

There was silence in the room for a moment as Blackice thought over his offer. "This is a bold offer, Prince Aruana, and I respect your goals greatly. Truly I wish you the best in this fight, and look forward to the day where I can call you the Seawing King. However, I cannot take such action. I decline your offer of an alliance, but I refuse to send you home with empty talons." she flicked her tail towards a nearby soldier who quickly scampered to her side, she bent down to whisper something. "I see. I respect your decision. But may I ask what you mean?" he was confused now, it sounded like she was going to give him something, but what? Gold? But for what? Maybe some kind of weapon? That would make more sense for these circumstances. He watched as Blackice leaned back in her throne and gave a stern nod to the soldier who now looked rather nervous. They were whispering too quietly for him to hear but he caught a few words from the icy soldier "but your majesty, is that safe? What if-" "silence. Do as you're told." The queen pointed to one of the doors across the room. The Soldier promptly bowed and scurried off nervously.

"Uh-" "you know our kingdom is known for its animus blessings yes?" she said with an smile, though her eyes held a much different tone. Animus magic! Of course, she was going to give him an enchanted object to help him! He shifted his talons anxiously. "Yes, I've heard many tales," he answered. "Well, you will not have heard about any of this but one of my sons is an animus. However he has become a great worry in my life as of late. I'll spare you the details but he's gone too far in his magic." she trailed off solemnly. Too far? He thought what is she going to give me? "He is soulless." a heavy air fell over the room. He could tell this was a topic that was not spoken of lightly in the ice Palace. "We had him scheduled to be executed soon. But.." the queen took a deep breath

"We will give him to you. As well as another prince, my brother Prince Alabaster, to keep an eye on him and relay information. It will save me the heartache of executing my own son, and will get Alabaster out of my sight. All I ask of you, is to take good care of them, give them a home in the sea kingdom, and never return them to me." Blackice concluded. There was much emotion in her eyes, Aruana could see this was no easy decision for her. And he understood why, after all, she was sending her own brother and son off to a war they may not return from. But she doesn't want them back. He thought. not sure what Alabaster did, but getting rid of a soulless animus will keep her kingdom safe. easier to dump them on a whole other kingdom i guess. Fair enough.

Aruana turned to the sound of approaching footsteps, spotting the jumpy soldier returning with two rather intimidating icewings in tow. One looked older, he was tall and slender with shimmering white and pale silver scales. He had a black feather boa draped over his shoulders, with a distinct silver pendant which looked like a dragon skull with three black gems embedded in it that looked like eyes clipped onto one shoulder. And black silk gloves on all four legs. Aruana noticed a massive burn mark across one side of the elders face where one eye was scarred shut. if Aruana had to guess, it must have been from Rainwing venom, and quite a lot of it. The older Icewing came forward to sit near the throne. The soldier came forward with a heavy chain in his talons, he tugged on it, which forced the prisoner at the end of it to shuffle forward. The chain was then clipped into a metal ring on the floor, and Aruana got a clear view of the dragon it was restraining.

Before him stood a dragon he couldn't quite make sense of. His scales were white as snow, but held no glitter or shine the other icewings did. He had a horrible gash over one eye, and to Aruanas shock, it was an empty eye socket. The prisoner was covered mostly by a black silk cloak draped over his wings, and black leg wraps on his front talons. There were little black gems, similar to the older dragon's pendant, embedded in the scales down the stranger's neck and presumably down his sides and carrying on to his tail. And, were those... fins? Aruana felt a shiver of dread as the prisoner locked eyes with him. The one eye this dragon had was a dark, dull blue. He could see no emotion behind the cold gaze, Aruana felt like he was staring at a corpse. Soulless. Was the only word he could think of.

He flicked his wings and cleared his throat, trying to break the heavy air, but as he did so he took a closer look at the icy chains binding the animus before him. There were heavy, solid looking shackles around both front talons, a matching band around his neck, and a large metal muzzle with mesh to breath through clamped on the dragon's face. The shackles were chained together with enough give to walk somewhat easily, and a long heavy chain hung from the neck band, connecting him to the loop on the floor. The dragon altogether had a sense of wrongness to him, like something just wasn't right. Aruana was uncomfortable.

"This is my brother, Prince Alabaster." Queen Blackice said, gesturing to the elder icewing. "And this is my son, Prince Bermuda." she pointed to the dead looking shackled dragon who was now swaying slightly on his feet. "Oh and did I mention? He's half seawing." The queen said proudly, but shot a worried glance at her son. An Icewing animus prince, who's half seawing? And the son of the Icewing queen? Boy would I love to hear that story. Aruana thought, somewhat amused.

After a long winded explanation from Queen Blackice to Alabaster and Bermuda on what was happening and why. Prince Aruana was sent on his way with a handful of Icewing soldiers to assist in escorting the two Icewing princes. Although Aruana wasn't entirely sure Bermuda was listening or even cared about anything happening to him. It was a long, tiring flight to the Seawing Surface Palace, but eventually they reached home and met up with General Torrent and a few of his soldiers and the Icewing escorts doubled back to head home.