Winterwatcher! - Light in the Dark

❄️ Chapter 13 ❄️

A/N: Some big stuff coming up in this chapter! I'm so excited for you guys to read it. You thought this story was already awesome? Well, It's just starting to get juicyyyyyyy!

Winter couldn't believe it. He trusted her. He actually liked her...

But she lied to him.

Moon lied to all of them.

Anger and frustration boiled up inside of him. He desperately wanted to lash out at the Mindreader in rage.

Although Winter couldn't do it. It wasn't anger or rage, it was hurt and pain. He was upset. He was confused. He was worried of what Moon had heard inside his mind. She probably thought he was weak and consumed with pain and regret from his past. She probably knew all his weaknesses. Maybe she even knew what he truly thought of her.

At least now he was safe. (He hoped.) With the strange SkyFire rock, his thoughts were private once more and after Moon helped him find Icicle he would have nothing to do with her ever again. No matter how hard the thought was. Winter couldn't be around her. He was an IceWing prince and his behaviour around Moon was unacceptable in the eyes of his family. Moon made him feel things he should never feel with a NightWing. She made him completely uncontrollable.

It was a good plan. As soon as Icicle was safe, he never had to see Moon or the others ever again.

Winter listened intensely to Moon as she explained everything. Her dreams, the night with Icicle and Carnelian's relationship with his sister, which shocked Winter the most.

"So my sister was a part of the IceWing battalion that murdered Carnelian's parents?" Winter asked. That explains a lot. Weird thing is, I can actually relate to her. I know how it feels to want revenge when someone you loved was killed by another tribe. Wow, something must be really wrong with me today. I'm feeling sympathy for a SkyWing!

Moon smiled sadly. "Carnelian hated Icicle the minute she walked through these doors at the start of term," she explained, "I can only imagine what Carnelian would do to..." Moon trailed off with a glance at a Winter's concerned expression.

"Lately Icicle has been... unstable." Winter said to his friends, "Mother and Father are worried. She hasn't been returning any of their letters. It was my job to look after her even when she brushed me off or screamed at me. But I failed. Icicle has been really depressed. I knew she never liked it here but it's much worse than that. I'm worried."

"It'll be alright Winter. I'm sure Icicle will be fine," Qibli assured him, "If what Moon thinks is true, than Icicle really isn't herself. Maybe it's like someone else has taken over. Some dark force or evil dragon. It could even be like a dark side of Icicle."

"Now you're just talking rubbish," Kinkajou said, "that's not possible. Someone can't just take over Icicle's mind. Can they? Anyways Icicle doesn't have a dark side. No offence Winter but your sister is always dark."

Moon gazed down at her feet and shrugged her shoulders. Her purplish black scales shimmered in the soft moonlight.

"Is there something more you're not telling us?" Turtle asked her. Obviously he still didn't fully trust the NightWing. It wasn't easy to get over the fact that your friend you thought you could trust turned out to be a dangerous mindreader that could see the future.

"I think we need to go to the cave. The cave that Winter found me in. After all, it was the last place Icicle and Carnelian were seen," Moon said.

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"I have a bad feeling about this," Kinkajou said warily with a hint of anxiety in her tone of voice. The usually bouncy and bubbly RainWing's morale darkened and splotches of green and white cascaded over her scales. "This is making me feel sick."

The sight of the cave, lit up by the iridescent moonlight made Winter shiver all over. The last time he was here, when he had found Moon unconscious, it was dark meaning that he had completely missed what he was seeing right now. That night, he thought the sight of Moon curled up on the ground in a patch of wet blood was awful enough, but this was something out of a horror movie.

Crimson red blood lined the walls and dried blood stained the cave floor. Claw marks and dragon sized dents were etched into the walls like something terrifying had taken place before Moon had even gotten there.

Winter breathed a sigh of relief... the blood was red. IceWings' blood was blue. Phew, this isn't Icicle's blood.

But that relief didn't last long as Winter worried about what this could mean. Icicle was in here that night. His sister wouldn't do something like this, would she?

How could Carnelian be a part of this then?

Winter's heart sank.

"Guys, there's something over here," Turtle said from the other side of the luminous cave. It was another tunnel. Winter stood before the gaping tunnel as a rush of spine-tingling, cool breeze whipped his icy scales. The foreboding tunnel seemed almost endless until Winter spotted a speck of light at the end. It must lead out of Jade Mountain.

Qibli best down and examined the tunnel floor as Kinkajou and Moon entered. "More blood," he said as he rubbed the sticky stuff between his claws.

Kinkajou screamed and jumped up onto Moon's shoulders so she wasn't standing on the wet mess. The drops of blood formed a long trail that went deep into the tunnel. Probably all the way to the end.

Moon beckoned with her talon for the others to follow. Winter just caught a glimpse of her nervous expression. He was glad that he wasn't the only one who was terrified of this tunnel.

As the group wandered in silence through the tunnel, the only thing Winter could see was his own glowing scales. He could feel Qibli's and Turtle's presence beside him and could barely make out the shape of tiny Kinkajou. Moon however, had totally vanished in the utter darkness.

The speck of sunlight at the end of the tunnel gradually grew larger and brighter and larger and brighter until Winter was standing on the edge of a hill, overlooking the savannah. The full sunlight was hard to bare at first but once he could see again, Winter gazed across at the yellow dunes of the Sand Kingdom.

Winter hadn't been outside for a few days because of the days' events but he missed the fresh air. It wasn't home like the IceKingdom but it was still beautiful. The surroundings of Jade Mountain were magnificent. Winter had always wanted to explore Pyrrhia.

He turned around and looked up at Jade Mountain. He never realised how tall it actually was. The twin peaks towered over him, higher than Queen Glacier's Ice Palace in the snowy Ice Kingdom.

It was truly gorgeous until Winter spotted the scarlet dried blood trail. Winter and his friends followed it until it stopped behind some large bushes.

"What?" Moon said, confused.

Winter and Moon lead the others around the thick, green bush.

Moon screamed suddenly and leapt back into Winter's arms. Alarmed, adrenaline pumped through him as Winter caught her. Moon's eyes grew dark as she shivered in apparent fear and pain while massaging her temples. Then Winter saw what she had seen.

Hidden under the leaves and covered in mud and blood was...

the dead body of Carnelian.