Wings of Fire: Winter is Coming ((DISCONTINUED))

Chapter 8: As Cold as a Frozen Ocean

After the tour, Envy had planned for more ways to escape the hideout. At first, Envy's original plan was to burst out of the canopy, but with the snakes and spiders, him, Newt and Fateslayer were certainly going to get bitten and perish in a few minutes. Even if they did dodge the venomous animals, the thick layer of leaves and branches and vines would slow the three down greatly, slow enough that the guards would easily recapture them again.

Envy then suggested that they could attempt to steal the enchanted bracelets, but Newt countered this. It would take too much time trying to slip the bracelets off of the dragon's wrists, and doing that in the first place could alert the dragons of their presence.

There wasn't many places to escape from, but Envy finally thought of one escape route: the small opening in the canopy near the outer, uninhabited parts of the cavern, towards the gigantic river, where the alligator Envy saw when he first arrived to the hideout was once sun-bathing in. Newt was unsure that the plan would work, but there was no other option. The opening is their best chance at freedom, and all they had to do is avoid getting captured.

A few days pass after their debate. Envy knew that he needed to wait for Toarel's suspicions to lower, and it seemed like it did, much to the NightWing's pleasure. There was less guards stationed in every corner and Toarel wasn't spying on the dragonets like she did a few days back-- she was like a hawk, watching the every step of the dragonet's claws, every flap of their wings, and occasionally, listening in on conversations. But now, she was gone. Perhaps she was calm.

During the wait Envy had told Fateslayer the entire situation-- why they were escaping and when they were. The little NightWing was still, of course, upset about the Loyalty Training and how he lost, but he agreed to his twin brother's plan and agreed to meet up with him and Newt at the sleeping den after curfew.

But he wasn't there.

Envy sat impatiently on his small piles of pillows that were on a circular, dull gray-wolf furred rug. It was two hours after curfew. The escape plan was supposed to start about an hour ago. Where was Fateslayer?

"He's probably asleep," Newt said quietly as he yawned. 

"I doubt Fate would oversleep on a night like this," Envy replied. "I specifically said to him, 'Newt and I came up with an escape plan. Three or four days from now, meet Newt at my sleeping den after curfew. We're, like, flying to the highest point of the canyons and take off from there. Don't be late.' See what I mean? I told him everything!"

Newt twisted his long talons into the spaces of his sharp teeth, trying to pick out some food that had gotten stuck within his crunchers. "Eh," he said. "He'll come eventually. Maybe someone is holding him up. It won't hurt if we wait a little longer."

But that a little longer turned into another hour of delayed escaping. Time was being wasted, time that Envy could never get back, and eventually, there was a breaking point to his patience. The NightWing's tail swished to side-to-side angrily as he said, "maybe he's already up there? After the fight, I think Fate would've flew up there, by himself and say, 'ha! I beat you!' and rub it all in my face. He's done it before."

"If I had the choice, I'd leave him." Newt snorted, white mist shooting from his nose. "Wasting my chance to escape? Heh, I'd rather leave him here and save myself. I gave him a chance, and he blew it."

"Well, it's different if he was your own sibling, Newt. Anyways, let's go. We have to get out of here as soon as possible."

Envy and Newt sneakily flapped their way to the highest point of the canyons, hiding in the shadows whenever a guard was nearby. Envy silently made his way through the stony corridors of the hideout, alone with his thoughts as Newt trailed him. There was no sign of Toarel tonight, but there was also no sign of Fateslayer. Envy felt the the need to move almost without end, the need to search in every crack and corner for his brother. He couldn't just leave Fateslayer with these maniacs, especially a dragon like Alzeros. Envy leapt onto a ledge, cowering beneath the shadows. Where was Fateslayer?