Wings of Darkness

this new dawn's light

A white blur zipped by the side of Jade Mountain, kicking up rocks, dust, and other debris as the air cracked around the white shape, the loud crack reverberating around the mountain.

A pale yellow shape came into sight, blurring its way around the mountain as well, going just as fast. The two blurs collided, casting a shockwave loud enough for the entire mountain range to hear.

The two bounced off each other and froze in the air a short distance apart.

The IceWing and SandWing were both gasping for air as they glared at each other with determination. "Gotta be quicker than that, Winter!" Qibli said with a smirk, still catching his breath.

Winter scowled, taking a deep breath that made Qibli freeze. The clouds around them began darkening, and Winter's mouth started to glow. The wind picked up, howling, as the air turned cold.

Winter released his breath, a large, glowing white beam shooting out, rapidly heading straight for Qibli. In a flash, a lightning bolt came out of the sky, meeting the ice beam in midair. The two collided and exploded, kicking up snow and frost that blurred both of their visions.

"Oh come on, Igloo-for-brains, you know I'd never let that hit," Qibli joked, still unable to see anything.

Winter smirked, feeling the cold air thicken. "Who said I was aiming for you?"

Qibli's smirk disappeared. "What?" He got his answer when it started to snow—hard. The wind howled even more, the dust turning into a full-blown blizzard that blocked his vision, the wind chill making it feel like sub-zero temperatures.

Qibli's head snapped around when he heard Winter's voice from an unfamiliar direction. "Think, Qibli. You made it easy for me today..."

He started to panic. By blocking that shot, he had distributed the ice beam into the air, allowing Winter's full power to take control. Qibli heard something, and the next thing he knew, Winter slammed into his side, flinging him into the ground.

"Oh, come on," Qibli groaned, flipping himself over to see Winter smirking at him through the blizzard. "I win today."

Qibli let his head fall back onto the now snow-covered ground. "Shut up," he groaned in pain.

Winter laughed, offering a talon to help Qibli up. "Come on, Starflight told us yesterday that we have stuff to do today," he said, lifting the SandWing to his feet.

Qibli sighed, nodding. "Why did I block that shot? You've pulled that trick on me like five times now."

Winter chuckled. "I have no idea. You know I'd never actually let that beam hit you," he said as he took off into the air.

"I know! It's like it's just a reflex!" Qibli agreed, their voices fading in the frozen wind.

The sun began to shine brightly over the mountains on the southwest peninsula of Pyrrhia, the so-called "Darkstalker's Teeth." Sunny was scanning the ground below as she glided, with Reed and Marsh following her.

"It should be around here!" Sunny said, frustrated, to the two MudWing siblings. Reed shook his head. "I don't see any smoke. Are you sure this is where the report came from?"

Sunny nodded. "They weren't sure if it was Vulture or not, but there aren't supposed to be any dragons out here, so they reported it." They were investigating a report of smoke in the area, searching for a criminal they'd been hunting for years.

Vulture.

"It was supposed to be around here!" Sunny repeated, stopping in the air. Reed and Marsh stopped next to her. It seemed like every time they got close to catching the crime boss, he managed to slip away.

"Let's land and search on talon," Sunny said, gliding toward the ground. "You two go that way," she instructed, pointing toward the forest below the mountain. "I'll search this way," she said, pointing toward the cliffs. The MudWing siblings nodded and glided down toward the woods.

Sunny sighed as she landed, looking around. She began to walk, carefully scanning her surroundings, but saw nothing. "Oh, come on, today was supposed to be my break," she muttered, but froze when she caught a scent in the air.

Smoke.

She tensed, moving cautiously toward the source of the smell. She spotted a clearing up ahead and growled at what she saw—a fire that had been put out. She walked into the clearing and dipped a talon into the ashes. There was no warmth left. She growled again, frustrated. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Reed and Marsh must have heard her because she spotted them flying back toward her. "Everything all right?" Marsh asked as they landed, noticing the old fire.

Sunny shook her head. "Just a place where there was a fire," she growled. Reed shook his head. "We didn't find anyone, but we did find these," he said, opening his talon to reveal a couple of orange and red SkyWing scales.

Sunny was confused. There weren't supposed to be any SkyWings this far south. She sighed and nodded. "I'll talk to Starflight about this later," she said, taking the scales and placing them in a pack strapped to her side. She looked around one last time, but shook her head. "Let's get out of here," she said, taking to the air, already thinking about how she would relax when she got home...

Not noticing the dragon glaring at the trio from the shadows of a cave on the mountainside.

Sorry for the short chapter; the next one is going to be REALLY long. Also, I want to see who's going to guess what's going on with the lyrics first.