Wings of Fire: Melting Ice #2

Prologue

The sky was a pure white as snow rained down. It was the coldest it had been in years, and a lone dragon stood in the fury in the blizzard. She sat there patiently, as if waiting for something-or someone.

Some of the hybrid's scales were blue and cyan, and their color suddenly shifted to a green, showing that she was worried. She shifted to the side, her emerald green eyes darting around, as if she was looking for something.

The hybrid then opened a sachet that was around her neck. She held a shiny gray stone in her talons delicately, then brought it up to her snout. She opened her mouth, and a cloud of cold air came out as she let out a small breath.

"Stone, tell me where Prince Abysswatcher is," she commanded, closing her eyes.

The shiny gray stone shifted in her palms, then sparkled for a moment. "He has just now crossed into the Ice Kingdom, and is heading your way," it responded.

The hybrid let out a shaky breath. "Ah, good," she whispered in relief. The green scales on her body slowly faded back to their original color as the worry slipped away from her. She slunk back into the snow, fumbling with her talons.

Snow coated her strangely frosty scales as the blizzard grew stronger, but over the windy sound, loud wing beats cut through. 

The hybrid looked up, her eyes sparkling with relief as dark gray-blue wings cut through the snow. The silhouette of a dragon seemed to land, the heavy snow of the blizzard masking them. The figure came closer and closer, snow crunching under their talons as they made their way towards the dragon.

"Aurora," a rough voice called, his voice sounding like the crashing waves of the ocean. A face popped into her view, light blue-green eyes studying her. His snout had a thick coating of snow of it.

"Abysswatcher, your face," she laughed slightly, her eyes shimmering with mirth. 

The dragon's eyes widened. "What? What's so funny?" He asked. He glanced at the snow coating his face, then brushed it off with his talons. He lifted his wing over his head so the snow's coldness wouldn't pierce deeply into his face. 

"I was worried about you.. you know?" Aurora stated, her talons reaching for Abysswatcher. She held his talons in hers, her wings stretching out outward to shield him from the cold snow. Some of her scales flashed with green again. "You were taking too long and-"

"Shh," Abysswatcher soothed, stretching his neck forward to rest his chin on Aurora's snout. "I just... had a little scuttle crossing into the Kingdom of Sand."

Then Aurora pulled back, and noticed the prince's badly torn ear. "Your ear!" She gasped. "Are you okay? Three moons, what even happened?" She looked over his body, searching for more wounds. 

"That? Oh, that's nothing, trust me," Abysswatcher soothed.

Aurora narrowed her eyes, the ruffs behind her ears flaring. "It is something. Tell me what happened! Did Queen Sandstone do this?" She questioned, the diamond earring in her ear jiggling as she moved.

Abysswatcher sat still, his lips curled down into a frown as he avoided his friend's gaze. Then he glanced back at her, his other ear flicking. "Some SandWing snuck up behind me while I was flying. He had a spear, but had his teeth clamped on my ear. He took a good chunk out, actually. I didn't want to have to kill him, but he was about to stab me with his venomous tail, so I had no choice but to enchant his spear to kill him," he explained.

Aurora stood back, then saw the burns on the forearm of his wing. "And what are those, hm?" She asked.

"More SandWings came. They blasted their fire at me, but I used my animus magic to kill them. Then next thing I knew, some of the skin in my wing was torn, and I was falling in the sky," Abysswatcher mumbled. "I used my animus magic to heal my wing, then I flew to you. I'm sorry that you were worried," he murmured.

Aurora blinked at him, then rubbed her snout along Abysswatcher's neck. "My mother still doesn't know about our meetings, but-"

"Aurora! What are you doing?" A frost-laced voice sounded. An IceWing cut through the snow, blue eyes sticking out against her scales. Her body was white, and at the base of her wings, the white faded and turned to a bright shade of red-purple. The skin in between her wings was a banana-yellow color. "Who is that?" She growled.

Aurora glanced at her sister quickly, her tail lashing. "Plum! Let me explain," she hissed, moving protectively in front of Abysswatcher. "He's not-"

"We don't need another hybrid here! Don't you know that having dragonets will only cause you pain? I don't want you to go through what I did," the hybrid pleaded, her long tail lashing. 

"He's not like that-" Aurora suddenly stopped herself, remembering Holly, who had been killed a year ago after Queen Fissure came to the Ice Kingdom.

"I want him gone," Plum snapped, spreading her wings. "If he doesn't leave, I'll make him leave," she hissed, frost bathing her voice as she prepared a frostbreath attack.

"I..." Abysswatcher gasped. He shuffled in the snow, his wings spreading to fly away. He suddenly shot a blast of fire at Plum's talons, his roar echoing around them. "Make me disappear!" He hissed, and then he was gone.

Plum gasped in pain, plunging her talons in the snow to douse the flames. Her face was twisted in agony, and Aurora ran to her sister. "Are you okay?" She questioned, her eyes examining her sister's talons.

"Do I look like I'm okay? Your mate just blasted fire at me!" Plum roared, the purple on her wings transforming to a dark red. She lifted her talons, wincing as she saw the nasty burns.

"Why can't I ever get what I want? I don't care if my dragonets are hybrids, I'll hide them away from Queen Fissure. I'll use my animus magic so that Queen Fissure will never find them," Aurora snapped, lashing her tail.

"You can't! You'd be breaking the law if you use your magic more than once," Plum growled.

"I'll do whatever I want!" Aurora hissed. She spread her wings, then took off into the blizzard, her blue and cyan scales fading to a white so she could blend in. She hoped her sister wouldn't follow her. I don't care what Plum thinks, I'll have dragonets, and I'll protect them from all harm!