Mist's POV
"All the comforts of home," Stratus had snarled many months ago, as he locked Mist into the tiny room at the top of the palace-tower. Since then, she had remained there, unable to do anything except watch and listen. The information she gathered was hers only, and she could not use it or share it. She felt useless, helpless, hopeless. There was nothing she could do to make the situation any better--she was Stratus's prisoner and she would stay that way. She was weak, too weak to struggle out from under Stratus's talons.
What was worse, her room was right above the meeting room in the tower, so she could hear every one of Stratus's meetings and war councils as he planned to rule the whole of Pyrrhia as well as the Cloud Kingdom. However, despite all Mist knew, there was no way for her to wield the information. She would die if she even uttered a word about anything. She would die if she even thought about escaping.
Her sisters were in danger - Storm/Lightbringer, Glade, Drizzle, Raindrop/Hibiscus, Cyclone/Puffin. All of them except Crystal. But Crystal couldn't help her either--she was allied with Stratus. Their new names had drifted up to her ears from the meeting room.
Hope Drizzle gets herself a new name, she thought. Rather awful a name for a SkyWing, especially one with firescales. Mist mulled over some prospective names. Ember, maybe, or Carmine. Hope she lives long enough to change her name, she thought with a shudder.
Was there a way for her to help?
Mist reached over and plucked a talonful of cloud from her barred windowsill. I wish it could turn into a letter, something that could fly to where they are, something to let them know of my situation. But she knew it would never happen. It was impossible. A futile effort.
To her surprise, the wisp of cloud promptly rolled itself out, turning itself into a sheet of paper, and words wrote themselves across the paper. Then, the letter rolled into a scroll and sprouted wings, flying off into the distance. Anyone happening to see its flight would mistake it for a small bird, perhaps a sparrow or a robin, that had paused to land on Mist's windowsill and gloat at her.
Mist gasped and nearly fell down. Her heart was racing, and she felt faint. But now she realized that she was not as weak and helpless as she assumed she would be.
Could she somehow use whatever weird power* it was that she accidentally just used to escape?
Let me out of here.
The cloud walls parted, revealing a gap wide enough for a dragon to squeeze through. Mist slipped out and glided into the sky. She paused for a moment, then thought,
Make me invisible to Stratus and unable to be caught by any dragons under Stratus's command.
Crystal's mind had to be changed. She was powerful enough, with her frostbreath (Mist had seen it in action), and if she were moved to help the others, they could all defeat Stratus together.
Show me where Crystal is.
The wind direction changed, spinning her into a direction facing north and down. Mist rode on the wind, flying toward the IceWing kingdom. As she flew, she wondered, What does that letter even say?
*As you may have guessed, Mist is an animus. She didn't know it all these years. CloudWings have never heard of an animus before (Mist is the first and will be the last CloudWing animus.)
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The CloudWings
FanfictionWhen Pyrrhia was but a tiny volcanic island of a continent, there were already dragons living on it; well, above it. They were the CloudWings, who helped shape Pyrrhia to what it is today. How did the seven tribes of modern Pyrrhia originate, and...
