The Frigid Truth

Prologue

Yeti and Floe huddled together on the creaky fishing dock, their breath mingling with the mist that hung over the frozen tundra. The dock jutted out over a wide expanse of ice, where a large, carved-out hole awaited its catch, surrounded by smaller pits where other low rank IceWings busily fished. Dragons in various shades of blue and white moved around, attending to their daily tasks-some hauling in their catches, others chatting in low tones. Yeti and Floe scanned the misty horizon, waiting for their father to finally arrive.

As Yeti tried to ignore his sister's grumbling about the fishy smell, he let his gaze drift to the other IceWings bustling around the dock. He found himself strangely captivated by their everyday routines, wondering what their day was like. Were they having a bad day? How were their families? Were they on their way to meet someone special? He could already hear his sister's dismissive voice in his head: 'They're all just sad and wasteful. Why else would they be here?' That thought lingered with Yeti, sparking a new question-did she feel the same way about their parents? About him? Or maybe even about herself?

But maybe she was right. Many dragons around them seemed to carry an air of disdain, treating every passerby as a nuisance or as if just being here was an affront to IceWing honor. Who wouldn't despise this place if it meant being the lowest in your tribe? Maybe that's why Floe hated it so much-because she was born into this bleak corner of the IceWing kingdom.

So much for trying to distract yourself, Yeti thought, frustrated. In his attempt to tune out his sister's gloomy mantra, he'd only managed to lodge it deeper into his own mind.

"Excuse me?" A voice broke through Yeti's foggy thoughts, strangely cheerful for a 7th circle IceWing-or any IceWing, for that matter. He turned his head and saw a plump IceWing with grayish-blue scales that faded to white near his head and tail, as if he'd run out of color when he had hatched. His eyes were a glistening shade of purple, shimmering with an almost hypnotic depth.

Yeti didn't realize he'd been staring until his sister jabbed him in the ribs, snapping him back to reality. It didn't matter, though-Floe had already stepped in. "What do you want?" she demanded sharply, her tone causing the stranger to flinch.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." The stranger cleared his throat, visibly unsettled by Floe's sharp tone. "I just wanted to see how you two were doing. You both looked a bit down."

Yeti recognized that look on Floe's face-a mix of irritation and barely contained rage, like she was about to unleash a verbal tirade on anyone who dared approach. It was a familiar sight, almost as inevitable as a storm.

But he could still intervene. "Oh, we're fine," he said softly, enough to steer his sister away from snapping at the stranger. "We're just waiting for our dad to show up."

"Well, that's a coincidence," the stranger said with a smile that Yeti found oddly infectious. "I'm waiting for my dad too! Do you mind if I join you while we wait?"

"Why should we?" Floe huffed, her breath coming out in frosty puffs, as if she were preparing to frostbreath the stranger on the spot.

"Well," the stranger replied, unfazed, "I just thought it might be nice to pass the time with some conversation. Better than sitting here in silence, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Yeti interjected quickly, feeling Floe's piercing glare from the corner of his eye. "Sure, you can sit with us."

With another infectious smile, the stranger settled onto the fishing dock across from them. He gazed at the carved-out hole in the ice, watching the still, unmoving water below.

"I'm Seal, by the way!" the stranger announced with an easy grin, his cheerfulness striking Yeti as both unfamiliar and intriguing. "What about you two?"