Frozen Flame (WoF Fanfic)

Frozen Flame: Prologue

Outside, the sand was scorching. But inside the tent, the carpeted floor was quite cool. There were tables on either side, a pile of pillows in the corner, and papers scattered across every available surface area. The large sandy-colored dragon who was shuffling through them hummed a tune, tapping his claws on the cracked wooden table.

A large wind blew in from outside, scattering a pile of papers onto the floor. The large dragon cursed and bent down to scoop up and organize the parchments, adjusting his spectacles. As he was doing so, he didn't notice a small, jewellery-clad dragon slide into the tent behind him. The younger dragon crept forward, talons outstretched, reaching in the direction of the unsuspecting scholar.

"Uncle! Let me help you with that," said the dragonet. He begun to scoop up the papers, careful to avoid scraping his uncle with his wickedly sharp talons.

"Ah, Sunray! A pleasure to see you today," said the older dragon, a SandWing named Tumbleweed. "Thank you. That blasted wind sent all of my work to the floor."

"What are you working in today?" Sunray flipped around one of the papers, which had vertical poem lines written on it in messy claw writing. His face lit up as he read.

"You're working on the prophecy? The one I'm in?"

"Yes, my little ray of sunshine. The Prophecy of Blood, Ice, and Fire. The one you and your sister play a large roll in."

As if on cue, a dragoness almost identical to Sunray burst into the tent, followed closely by a larger young dragon.

"Tumbleweed! We finished! Callous went off somewhere, but we stacked all of the scrolls just right!" The dragoness was a loud, spirited young character named Sunburn. She was in the same hatching as Sunray, but was almost twice his size and could easily knock him to the ground. Both dragonets were a pale sand color with dark brown eyes.

"Did you now?" Tumbleweed's perpetual smile drooped a bit. As the twins grew older, he found it harder and harder to keep them occupied and away from prying eyes and thieving claws. There parents were killed when they were still in their eggs, and Tumbleweed had been taking care of them since. Today was their fifth hatchday.

"Look, Sunburn! He's working on our prophecy," said Sunray, shoving the papers into his sister's face. She wrinkled her snout at him and snatched away the papers, reading them over with the larger male SandWing that was with her.

"It's not just your prophecy," said Tumbleweed. "There are fifteen dragons in all. Two from each tribe... And a spare." He puzzled over the last part. Seven years ago, he had begun working with a now-deceased prophetic NightWing animus named Enchanter. But since the cryptic NightWing had died, Tumbleweed had been forced to spend hours a day trying to figure out the meaning of the dark prophecy.

"Can you tell us about it?" The third dragonet spoke. His name was Springbok, a seven-year-old who worked for Tumbleweed and was good friends with the twins. He was also a pale sand color, but with a dark crest and greyish markings beneath his eyes.

"Fine. But then you'll leave me be... And for Moons sakes you two, put your gloves on!" He jabbed a claw at Sunray and his sister. He then began to recite:

"Hidden away by power and lies,
Fifteen dragons will be raised to die.
They will fight and hate and kill without tire,
Until the final battle of Blood, Ice, and Fire.
Five will rise up against the one who betrayed.
They will prevail, he will not be obeyed.
Unless the Ice and Fire do not shine the light,
This world will fall into an endless fight."

The dragonets stared at their elder in amazement.

"Tumbleweed? What part do we come in?" Sunburn had a fearful look in her dark eyes as she gazed up at her uncle.

Tumbleweed hesitated before replying. "I don't know. You're one of the fifteen who will stop the Blood Betrayer I suppose."

"But... It says we'll be raised to die..." said Sunray.

"No, no, no, everything will turn out fine," said Tumbleweed. He hoped that the dragonets could not see past his smile and into the pit of fear and sadness inside his head.

Although his uncle didn't notice, Sunray shivered, realizing what he was meant do.

In attempt to lighten the mood, the older dragon took out a small brown box from inside a chest.

"Here," he said. "Happy hatchday."

He handed the box to Sunburn and Sunray. The fearful looks on their faces disappeared as they unclasped the latch on the outside and opened the box. Inside were two spherical earrings, with a shape of a SandWing tail-barb cut halfway across. The upper half was dark yellow, while the bottom half was shiny gold.

"Wow! They're gorgeous!" Said Sunray. He had always had a fondness for gold. With the amount of necklaces and anklets he owned, one might have thought he was royalty.

The dragonets clipped the golden accessories into their ears, and looked at one another to admire the gifts.

"Thank you, uncle," said Sunburn with a smile.

"They represent who you are. There are no other dragonets like you in this world. Remember that. 13 other eggs were animus-touched, but you two are unique. But remember- always use your venom for good. Never use it on an innocent dragon."

The twins were two of three eggs lucky enough to actually be touched by the animus Enchanter. He was the one who was pulling the strings on the ominous prophecy, setting it up so that it would happen according to plan. He had enchanted their eggs to hatch dragonets with extraordinary powers. Enchanter was a clever dragon, and before he died, he created a nest, deep within a cave, with the ability to enchant other eggs the same way if incubated for a certain time. The dragonets that came out of those eggs would have the same powers that their other tribe members had, but those powers would be much stronger. Sunray and Sunburn had not only the ability to strike dragons with their venomous tails, but their venom would instantly kill no matter how large the scratch, and a weaker version of the venom could be produced from their claws. As a result, Tumbleweed required them to wear gloves on their claws and socks over their tails at all times to avoid casualties while they were playing.

"Yes, Tumbleweed," said the dragonets in unison.

With that, the three ran off, wings making the tent flaps billow in the air. Tumbleweed sighed as he watched them go. He glanced at the paper on the ground.

'Five will rise up against the one who betrayed... Blood Betrayer... Power and lies... Oh, this is all so confusing. Why couldn't that moons-forsaken colleague of mine predicted a simpler prophecy?'

The old dragon turned back to his work, as if nothing had been said or done since the SandWing dragonets appeared.