Everything happened so fast, Winter could hardly process it all at once. First he walked into the small, poorly illuminated chamber underground, seeing the horrific mess of bodies hung on the wall, as if it was a good thing they were dead...although, to the culprit of this sickening crime, his brother, it WAS an accomplishment.
As his friends gasped, screamed, or vomited all around him, Winter silently stared into Hailstorm's eyes, feeling the cold realization of what all of this meant. In this moment, his entire view on his once proud, happy-go-lucky brother changed forever. He no longer saw him as family, but rather as an enemy. A criminal. A psychopath.
Before he could do anything, say anything, Hailstorm threw something at the dirt below him. The object exploded immediately with a flash of light and a cloud of smoke, but it didn't prevent Winter from hearing his brother's heavy footsteps and frantic breathing as he ran out into the tunnel they'd all come in through.
"We can't let him get away!" Winter shouted to his companions through the smoke, already having figured out which way the tunnel was. He broke out in a dead sprint on all fours after Hailstorm, refusing to let him escape into the world and kill more innocent NightWings.
Never thought that one day I'd be chasing after my brother with the intents of hurting him if I have to...I don't want it to come to that, but I'll do what must be done, no matter what.
The tunnel went by much faster when he was running, so the smoke didn't affect him for long. Within moments after leaving the gory chamber, he was able to make out the shape of his brother keeping just ahead of him, running on all fours as well. Winter didn't want to risk slowing down to try and snag the end of Hailstorm's tail, because if he missed, it would be over.
The muscly white dragon raised his wings up and dragged them through the dirt on the roof of the tunnel, sending dust particles and pebbles into Winter's face as a desperate attempt at a distraction. Winter refused to stop, even though his eyes stung like lemon juice had been squeezed into them.
It didn't take long for them to breach the surface. Hailstorm had picked up speed as they'd gotten closer, and he reached the hatch several seconds before him, scaling the dirt walls like it was nothing. The hatch had been left open, which gave Winter's brother yet another advantage. Still, he kept running, the terrible image of those dead NightWings mounted on the wall, their blood spattered on the floor stuck in his head like glue.
He reached the hatch as well after what seemed like eons, especially thankful for his serrated claws as he leapt onto the wall of dirt leading up to it and climbed his way up just as quickly as Hailstorm had. He wasn't prepared, though, for his brother to try and slam the hatch down on his face as he emerged from the ground, expecting him to be flying or running still. Winter pushed against the wall of dirt with his back legs, keeping the hatch from shutting with his forearms. He could just barely see his brother's shocked expression through the gap, and they both kept pushing against their sides of the square metal plate with all their might, until Winter finally managed to push off the wall with his legs and break the grapple. He heard the hatch slam into something - probably Hailstorm - as it flew open, and he almost lost his balance as he landed on the grass above.
Sure enough, he looked over, and a few feet away was his brother, sitting up and rubbing his jaw from where the hatch must've hit his face. Hailstorm met his gaze with his own fiery glare, then uprighted himself and took to the sky, Winter jumping up and following him immediately.
The white dragon looked behind him for a moment, then shot another scowl his way when he realized he was still being followed. "Just leave me alone for once, Winter! Let me go and neither of us will have to get hurt!"
"I can't let you do that!" Winter replied, beating his wings harder than he thought physically possible. "What you did to those innocent dragons...it's not right, not in any way. If I let you get away, you'll just do the same thing in other places!"
"Well then, I'm sorry in advance, brother," Hailstorm growled.
Winter shot a glance over his shoulder, and was astonished to see how far they'd flown from the Academy. It had to be at least half a mile behind them. Five of the other dragons in his winglet were following them as well, Sparrow being the closest with her massive wings that propelled her through the night sky faster than any of the others. In fact, she was gaining on both of them pretty quickly. He didn't know what Karma was going to do with her limp wing that always hung at her side, but then he looked down and saw that she was still pursuing, just from the ground. She was significantly far behind, but was racing around and over obstacles with incredible ease.
Winter flew after his brother for a solid five minutes before he started to tire. He had more adrenaline racing through him than some dragons probably would in their entire life, but one could only fly this fast for so long. He noticed the same thing happening to Hailstorm, but his brother showed no sign of stopping.
The ice blue dragon looked behind him once more and saw Sparrow flying at full force, seeming to be heading for Hailstorm.
She's not crazy enough to attack him...wait, none of them know how good of a fighter my brother is, so she probably is going to try to do that! he thought with a start.
"Sparrow, don't!" he shouted. "You don't know what he's capable of!"
The red SkyWing either didn't hear him or disregarded the warning, as she just flew even faster until she was matching Hailstorm's speed. Winter tried to speed up and get her to stop, but it was no use. He simply couldn't go any faster. But, there was another way, and although it could hurt both of the dragons in front of him if he wasn't careful, it was the only chance he had.
He aimed carefully, then shot a blast of frostbreath between the two of them, hoping she would get the hint and back off. However, all it did was make things worse.
Sparrow got distracted by the blast and wasn't prepared when Hailstorm lunged at her through the air and locked his claws around one of her wings, twisting it with a sickening SNAP. Winter watched, filled with horror as the female's eyes went wide and she plummeted down with a scream, knowing his expression was probably the same mask of fear. He forced himself to look away as she grew closer to the ground, and then her scream abruptly cut off. Without a doubt, she had fallen to her death. And it might not have happened if Winter hadn't distracted her. He suddenly remembered something Argo had told everyone during training lessons toward the beginning of the school year: 'A flightless dragon is a dead dragon.'
Winter finally stopped flying, his body forcing him to halt and catch his breath. A feeling like someone had set one hundred pounds of weight on his chest spread throughout him as his friends caught up to him, their eyes as wide as Sparrow's had been just a few painful moments ago.
I got her killed...this is my fault, Winter thought, tears coming to his eyes. My fault, my fault, ALL MY FAULT...
"I swear I didn't mean for that to happen," he said to the group of distraught dragons through two waterfalls of tears steaming from his eyes. "I tried to get her to back off, because I knew he wouldn't care if she was dead, but she didn't listen..."
Kinkajou was already sobbing, her scales a sad mix of gray and blue swirls as she flew down to where Sparrow landed. Winter knew she was never going to forgive him for this, no matter if he meant to do that or not. They'd been best friends, and now...
None of his friends said a word to him, most of them not even making eye contact with him as they flew down to console the grieving RainWing. They left one by one, until it was just him and Moon. It hurt the worst when she left, probably because she stared right at him, like she could see into his soul before she departed to go join the rest of them.
Winter watched her leave, seeing that Karma was already down there as well, on a grassy clearing where the red, crumpled body of Sparrow now lay.
"What have I done?" he mumbled, more tears flowing from his eyes. He wanted to rip his skull open out of frustration and grief. That way Moon had looked at him, her eyes practically speaking for her, like they were saying 'How can I ever love you again when you got one of our friends killed?'
What if she never talked to him again? What if none of them did? He would've tried to catch Sparrow or something, but he'd tired himself out too much to be able to help in any way. Had he just torn apart his relationship with Moon and everyone else in the matter of a few moments?
Winter was about to go land with everyone else, even if none of them wanted him too, when an white, icy blur slammed into him from above. He didn't have to see the IceWing's face to know it was Hailstorm, claws locked around his throat, the intent to kill evident as the wind rushed around them like a current. His immediate instinct was to use his frostbreath, but his brother was a step ahead.
"Nope," Hailstorm said, clamping on set of claws around his snout and holding it shut. "None of that, Winter."
Screw your good fighting skills...Winter thought, before he slammed a fist into Hailstorm's face. It was enough to escape from his brother's strong clutches and regain control in the dark night sky, slowing himself with his wings to the point where he wasn't desperately flailing about.
He dove down to the ground so he could get his bearings before Hailstorm could attack him yet again, his claws sinking into a muddy clearing. Tall pine trees surrounded the area, so he had no clue where the rest of his winglet was, or if they even knew where he was.
They might not even help me after what happened to Sparrow...he thought miserably whilst creating a dagger out of his frostbreath. They're gonna hate me forever now, aren't they? There I go again, pushing everyone who cares about me away. Again.
Within moments, Hailstorm glided down into the clearing, landing about ten feet away from Winter, a harsh glare on his face.
"Why can't you just let me have this?!" his brother roared. "It's all I know how to do anymore...I have nothing other than the fact that NightWings are the enemy and they need to be eradicated."
"Yes you do, Hailstorm," Winter said, dropping his dagger on the ground.
"Oh really? I can never go back home if I want to keep what little sanity I have left, and nobody is going to want to be around a killer," the white dragon said, tears in his eyes. "What could I possibly have left?"
"You have me and Icicle. And even after that horrible carnage we all saw in that little hideout of yours, we're still family." Winter stared his brother dead in the eyes. "We won't ever be able to look at you the same again, but nothing will ever change that we're family. So just stop this, Hailstorm. You can get help, you can be better, if you would just stop and listen."
He saw something flash in his brother's eyes. It looked like he might change his mind for a moment, but his expression returned to one of regret and hostility too quickly for that to be the case.
"I'm sorry, Winter," Hailstorm said, his voice faltering. "But I've gone too far to do that. And if you won't let me leave...I'm going to have to kill you."
That hurt Winter almost as much as seeing Moon fly away from him just a couple of minutes ago. His brother, the only family member who'd really been nice to him for years while the rest of them were condescending jerks, was now going to do everything in his power to kill him. And that meant he would have to fight to the death.
"I thought that would be the case," Winter said, in a world of emotional hurt and physical exhaustion as he reluctantly picked up the ice dagger. "I didn't want it to come to this, but if it means putting an end to what you've done and avenging those poor dragons you slaughtered, then so be it."
The two brothers, once closer than could be, now ready to kill each other, stared silently at one another. Winter didn't want to make the first move, and he presumed Hailstorm felt the same, but one of them wouldn't be leaving here alive. And he planned for it to be his older brother.
There was a sudden crash of thunder from above. Winter looked up, seeing dark thunderheads taking over the sky, flashes of lightning coursing through them as it began to rain. After a few seconds, it became a downpour; not ideal conditions for a fight.
It turned out Hailstorm had been waiting for such a distraction, as he took his attention away from the sky just in time to see his brother flying straight at him, back talons outstretched like he was a bird of prey. And Winter was the prey.
He kept low to the ground as he dodged out of the way, feeling icy claws just barely graze his back as he steadied himself. Hailstorm immediately stopped after the miss and swung his tail around like a club, aimed directly for Winter's head. His fighting instincts taking over, he dropped his weapons and grabbed his brother's tail, yanking it downward and slamming him into the ground, mud splattering onto his chest with the impact.
Hailstorm got up on all fours, a streak of mud across his face like war paint, fangs bared in a snarl. Winter saw a soft blue glow at the back of his throat, and ducked as a jet of frostbreath sailed over his head. While he escaped what would've been a fatal blow, the icy substance collided with one of his wings and he gritted his teeth as subzero temperature spread across his wing until he couldn't feel it anymore. Thankfully it stopped at his wing.
Suddenly, a clump of mud was hurled at his face, and this time his brother didn't miss. As Winter blindly wiped at his eyes, he was shoved onto the ground, serrated claws digging into his chest. His brother said nothing, but he could feel a slight cold draft near his face, and knew he was about to use his frostbreath again. His eyes partly cleared from the downpour, he saw his dagger sitting within arm's reach. He locked his claws around it, then with as much force as his exhausted body could handle, stabbed it into his brother's right side.
Hailstorm leapt away with a wail of pain, his serrated claws tearing away scales and bits of tissue from Winter's chest, leaving twenty tiny bleeding wounds on his abdomen. He knew he was going to lose this fight if he continued much longer; no matter what, his brother had always been a more skilled combatant than him, and it seemed that hadn't changed. Hailstorm was playing dirty, so he might as well do the same thing. Whatever it took to keep himself alive tonight.
The rain let up a little, but the mud was already very slick, meaning that if he slipped, it could prove to be a deadly mistake. Through the thin curtain of precipitation, he saw Hailstorm trying to remove the dagger, but it seemed to be in pretty deep. Too deep to remove.
Winter wiped the rest of the mud from his face, simultaneously creating a clean katana from his frostbreath and clenching it in his claws once he had finished. "Don't make me do this, Hailstorm!" he said, having to shout over the rain. Although his words were strong and threatening, deep down, he knew he could never kill his brother. He hoped Hailstorm wouldn't force him to do so, because if it came to that...he would never be able to look at himself in the mirror as anything but a cold-hearted killer.
Winter scanned his surroundings for a second, none of his friends - could he even call them that anymore? - in sight. Maybe they really weren't coming to help him.
He was tackled once again by his brother, making a mental note to stop taking his eyes off of him. Hailstorm's knee dug into his chest, squeezing most of the air out of his lungs. The white dragon spattered with mud, blood dripping from the wound on his side, grabbed Winter's sword and started forcing it close to his throat, the blade nearly pressing against his scales.
"I know you won't kill me, Winter," he hissed, hot saliva splattering onto his face. "You just don't have it in you. Never have, and never will. That's your greatest weakness, brother: you can't bring yourself to kill someone."
"Yes...I can..." Winter lied, grunting as he tried tried to push the katana away.
Hailstorm smirked. "Don't lie to me. I know you."
"That was years ago, Hailstorm," Winter said, desperately clawing at his brother's underbelly with his back talons. "I've changed."
"Obviously. The old Winter wouldn't be galavanting around with one of those smoke-breathers as a partner, or even a friend. The old Winter was so much stronger than you..." Hailstorm leaned closer to him. "And once I'm finished with you, I'm going to kill that little NightWing, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"
Winter tried with all his might to fight back, but his weary body couldn't take this for much longer. He was going to be killed by his very own brother, with his very own weapon.
That is, he thought so until a pale yellow shape came sailing through the air and slammed into Hailstorm, launching him right off of Winter. He was too exhausted to do anything to stop Qibli, and he probably wouldn't have been able to; the SandWing clawed and bit at his brother like a shark in a feeding frenzy. He just lied there, his back definitely covered in mud, clutching his katana in his claws as he caught his breath.
If Qibli's here, where's everyone else? Winter thought. He looked to his right and got an answer, seeing the rest of the Jade Winglet emerge from the forest.
He looked back up at the sky, a few cracks of lightning splitting the air. Then, Moonwatcher's upside-down face came into view and he was pulled to his feet, before being locked in a tight hug by that very dragon.
"How did you all know where I was?" he asked, genuinely curious. "Hailstorm attacked me as soon as you turned your backs and we ended up here."
"It wasn't that hard to hear you guys screaming at each other, you know," Moon said with a wry grin, her magnificent eyes filled with tears. She let go after a few seconds with an apologetic look. "I wish we could just hug like that forever, but we'd better stop Qibli before one of them gets killed."
Winter looked over at the tangled yellow and white mass writhing about, the occasional flash of green from Qibli's face. Turtle and Karma were already trying to break up the fight.
"Why is he so angry? I don't think I've ever seen him this mad..." Winter said, wiping some of the mud off his back.
Moon looked at him with a pained expression. "Didn't you ever think about why Carnelian didn't come out of the tunnel?"
"She didn't?" He hadn't even counted who left the chamber, too busy in refusing to let his brother escape at the time. "Oh..."
The NightWing standing next to him nodded sadly. "Hailstorm must've killed her on his way out. Qibli just sat there for so long, shaking her shoulders like she was asleep and he wanted her to wake up...it's the saddest thing I've seen...ever."
That explains why he's acting like such an animal...Winter realized, watching Qibli try to wrench the knife from Hailstorm's side. "Well it won't matter if my brother dies here...one way or another, he's going to. I can't let him live, after what he did to Bigtail, Mightyclaws...the other one that I can't remember the name of...I tried to convince him to come with us, that he could get better, like with therapy maybe, but he won't listen to anything I say..."
Moon put a paw on his shoulder. "It's alright, Winter. I'll make sure you don't have to do that..."
He was startled. "You mean...YOU'RE gonna try to kill him?"
"If I have to," she replied, a dark tone in her voice he'd never heard before.
"Please Moon, don't try to attack him..." he pleaded. "He'll kill you without a second thought."
She huffed. "I know, but I just can't stand to think about what he did to those poor souls back there...you can't justify that, no matter how you look at it."
A scream tore through the air, cutting their conversation short. Winter's head immediately whipped around to face the direction from where it came, and his rage only built more when he saw both Qibli and Kinkajou lying motionless on the ground. A dark pool of blood surrounded the SandWing, his throat cut open, while it looked like the tiny RainWing's neck had been snapped.
"No!" Moon shouted, tears pouring from her eyes. "Not them, too!"
Hailstorm's eyes were set on Turtle, and Winter knew what was about to happen if he didn't do something now. He ran toward his brother on all fours, just like when he'd been running after him through the tunnel probably about ten minutes ago. He wouldn't be able to get there fast enough, so he hurriedly formed a spear with his frostbreath and hurled it at the mostly white dragon. It sank into his shoulder just a moment too late to distract him, and Winter stopped dead in his tracks, hopelessly watching a blast of Hailstorm's own frostbreath collide with Turtle's chest and spread across him, the green SeaWing groaning in pain as he hit the ground.
His heart was racing, but his mind was blank, besides the realization that three of his friends had been killed by his brother, one dying, who was supposed to be dead. If Hailstorm was dead, none of this would've happened...all those years of him wishing his brother would come back, to still be alive now seemed stupid. Because for the first time ever, he wished someone was dead, and that someone was Hailstorm. Winter glanced at Qibli's body, noticing with a bitter feeling that the dagger was resting in his open palm. He'd taken it out of his brother, then killed himself with it, not being able to live with the knowledge that Carnelian, the dragon he loved, was gone.
Winter watched as Hailstorm ripped the spear out of his shoulder, blood coating its broken tip. He heard the sound of talons pounding through wet mud, realizing with a pang of terror that Moon was charging toward him, with the intent to kill in the way she moved. He knew that look from watching her hunting, and he had to stop her.
He leaped up and flew in front of her, grabbing both her arms. "Moon, please don't do this! You don't know what he's capable of!"
"Oh really, Winter? I don't know that he'd coldheartedly killed almost everyone in our winglet?!" she screamed at him, trying to get out of his grasp. "Just let me try!"
"I can't!" he responded, glaring at her as if it would somehow convince her to calm down. Then, over the struggling NightWing's shoulder, he saw Karma, her eyes filled with tears, not doing a thing to help him. She hadn't even done anything to stop Hailstorm from brutally killing the rest of their friends, apart from Qibli, but he'd only killed himself because Hailstorm had murdered Carnelian, and Karma hadn't done a thing to stop that, either...
It was her. She'd been helping his insane, detrimental brother all along.
He was so taken aback by this realization that his grip on Moon slipped for a moment, and she wormed herself away from him, running straight at Hailstorm once more before he could stop her.
Winter saw his brother hold her at arm's length, palm flat against her chest as she desperately tried to hurt him, flailing her arms and wings wildly like a kid throwing a tantrum. Hailstorm just smirked, and Winter got smacked in the jaw with the blunt end of the spear when he raced over to stop them, falling onto his back in the mud, his vision going dark.
I've failed all of them...he thought, before he went unconscious.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Winter slowly came to, and the fact that he wasn't dead must've meant that he was only out for a few seconds. He felt the salty tang of blood in his mouth and trickling from it, a substance he'd seen far too much of in the last twenty minutes. He propped himself up on his elbows, his arctic blue eyes going wide with horror and despair when he saw Moon laying on her back on the ground, the dagger Qibli had killed himself with lodged in her chest. And she seemed to still be alive, but it was obvious by the way she was breathing that she was quickly dying.
"No..." Winter said, feeling steamy tears run down his face, a lump in his throat as he crawled over to the dying dragon. "Moon..."
Despite the pain she had to be experiencing right now, she smiled when she saw his face. "It's okay, Winter...it'll be okay."
"No...no it won't..." he sobbed, feeling like screaming as he lifted her head off the ground, cradling her in his arms. "This is my fault, everything that happened here...it's all my fault...I failed everyone."
Moonwatcher shook her head. "No, it's not...none of this is your fault."
"But, I got Sparrow killed, and-" he said, sniffling like a pathetic little kid, "and Carnelian, and Kinkajou, and Turtle..."
The small NightWing placed a shaky paw on the side of his face. "You did everything you could to help, Winter. You tried to stop Sparrow...and me...we were the ones who didn't listen, too wrapped up in our anger...honestly, I'm kind of surprised the same thing didn't happen to you."
'Never let your anger control you in a fight,' Argo's voice rang in his mind. 'That's how mistakes are made.' He was right.
Moon coughed up a little bit of blood, and Winter knew her time was almost up. "I love you, Winter," she croaked, coughing again.
"I love you too," he said, choking on his words before he kissed her one last time. By the time they parted, she was already gone, her green eyes pale and without emotion.
Winter suddenly knew how Qibli had felt when Carnelian died. He tried to convince himself that she wasn't dead, that none of this was happening and it was all just one big, horrible nightmare. However, looking at Moon, the dagger embedded in her chest, he knew it was all terribly true.
"Paaaathetic," Hailstorm droned, suddenly standing on the other side of Moon's body as Winter sobbed. "All of you. Simply pathetic. Oh, and that chubby SeaWing wants to talk to you."
That snapped Winter out of it, and he gently set Moon's limp head down on the ground, looking at her once more, before he hurried over to Turtle, the frostbreath coating his entire chest by now. He kneeled down by the nearly dead dragon.
"What is it?" he asked quietly. He knew he didn't seem as sad to see Turtle dying, but it wouldn't matter in a few moments, anyway.
"Winter...you need to take this," Turtle said, handing him a small white piece of some chalky material.
"Is this coral?" he asked. "Why do I need this?"
The light in Turtle's eyes was quickly fading. "Just...go into my sleeping cave and look in the bag next to my bed...there'll be a wooden bowl that you'll need to put together...but once you do..." he broke into a fit of coughing fro several moments. "Put something inside of it and say 'Twice as much, please'."
Winter raised an eyebrow.
"Trust me..." Turtle mumbled, before the life disappeared from his eyes, and he too passed away.
He held back a sob, hearing Hailstorm walking back over to him.
"Are you done?" he asked. He nudged Turtle's body with his tail. "Yep."
"I'm going to kill you..." Winter muttered quietly.
"Hm? How about you speak up, little brother? Can't quiet hear you."
Winter jumped up and shoved Hailstorm to the ground. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" he screamed, not even smiling as his brother backed up against a tree, seeming quite shocked by his outburst.
"Then do it," Hailstorm hissed, tossing the spear at him. Winter caught it, and his brother grabbed the sharp end and brought it up to his own throat. "Kill me, Winter."
What?
He pressed the end firmly against his brother's neck, telling himself he could do this. This wasn't his family, not the dragon he'd been closest to for years and years back home. This was evil at its purest, someone who could rip the life away from someone without a second thought.
"I'm gonna do it," Winter said.
Hailstorm just stared at him.
"I'm not kidding," he said, hating that his voice was shaking. "I'm gonna kill you. You'll never be able to walk on this continent ever again, and you can never kill a single dragon from now on."
"Get on with it then."
Winter's arms shaking, he aimed the spear at the white IceWing's throat, brought it back a little so he could pierce his neck with enough force to instantly kill him...
And tossed the spear away.
"I...I can't do it..." he said, fresh tears filling his eyes, carving a path through the mud stains on his ice blue scales as they trickled down his face.
His brother laughed victoriously. "I told you; you just don't have it in you."
"You're right. I don't have it in me to be a stone-hearted maniac racist who everyone is afraid of because he went on a killing spree," Winter shot back.
Hailstorm rolled his eyes. "If that was an insult, it was poorly executed." He stood up and retireved the spear from the ground, then held it up to Winter's chest. "Up against the tree. Now."
He did as his brother told him, not caring if he died at this point. If there was an afterlife, he'd get to see his friends again, at least.
"If you're going to kill me, make it quick," he said. "It's the least you could do."
Hailstorm grinned menacingly. "Oh I'm not going to kill you..." he said, beckoning Karma over from where she stood crying over the loss of their friends. The crippled hybrid walked over, and he shoved the spear into her talons. "She is."
"What?!" Karma asked. "This was never part of the plan!"
Hailstorm ignored her.
Winter wiped the tears from his eyes. If he was going down, he was going to do it gallantly. "Bet you didn't see your little partnership leading to every one of our friends being killed, huh Karma? Is this what you wanted?" He gestured with a sweep of his wing to the bodies strewn across the clearing.
"No, not at all," she said, tears spilling from her eyes.
"Then what did you want?" Winter hissed, more angry at her than anyone else, even his brother.
She hesitated, before saying "For you to love me."
"And you thought working with this psycho to get Moon killed would get me to love you?"
"He promised me he would convince you to like me if I helped him..."
Hailstorm pushed her roughly. "Get on with it. You were nothing but a pawn in my plan; I was never going to help you. You really thought that just because his girlfriend would get captured meant he would come crawling to YOU of all dragons? You're a crippled freak," he snarled, lifting up her wing, only to let it fall limply against her side. "Now KILL HIM."
A tiny sob escaped her throat, and she positioned the spear at Winter's chest. "I'm so sorry..."
He braced himself, closing his eyes as he awaited the cold embrace of death. However, it never came.
He felt a slight rush of air hit him as Karma swung the spear, then a wet THUNK and the sound of a body falling to the ground. His eyes snapped open to see Hailstorm, the spear entering his chest and exiting through his back as he bled out, his dark blue blood mixing with the mud to create a disgusting purple mixture all around him.
Winter forced himself not to cry, as for a brief moment, he saw a flash of the old Hailstorm, an innocent one who would never kill another dragon unless he had no other choice. A carefree one, who put on a happy face to cheer others up even if something was killing him inside. The one Winter had prayed to somehow be alive for so long, only to find he'd been mentally broken over time, turned into a psychopathic killer that he could barely recognize.
His dying brother reached out a talon toward him, and he took it, holding it for a few seconds until Hailstorm's grip went limp and his pulse died, along with the rest of him.
It was then that he let the dams overflow, tears free-falling as the crushing realization that he had nobody left who cared about him hit him. Of course there was Karma, but he could never forgive her for this, or feel the same way she did.
"I-" the hybrid started to say, but Winter didn't let her finish.
"Just go..." he told her, his voice lacking emotion as he stared at the lifeless body of his brother. "You've done enough to hurt me today."
He heard her choke on a sob, but only glanced her way for a moment when she went bounding away, leaving him to do his own crying over the ones he'd lost this night.
Boom. That's how you write an emotional chapter. Sorry this one was so long, but there was a lot of detail and stuff to squeeze into one section. If you start reading this and get bored, please come back to it later, I spent like three hours - not all at once - writing this. Anyway, I look forward to reading your comments, and I hope you'll stick around for the end of this story. Seriously, I'm thinking only one more chapter and maybe an epilogue. Then again I don't think there's much need for an epilogue with the ending I have planned. PEACE!
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Ice at Midnight: A Winterwatcher Fanfic
Fanfiction*COMPLETE* What would've happened if the Jade Winglet never got wrapped up with Darkstalker? If Sora had never tried to kill Icicle? If Winter had never gone looking for Hailstorm with his friends? What if they never got involved in the perils and d...
