Unhcegila

Chapter 4: the shadow attack

After a silent breakfast...
I went to Icehearts stable and found her enjoying a completely frozen cow. I sat down in the chair and thought for a few minutes, then my mother came in.
"Gabriella, Iceheart, I believe I need to talk to both of you."
"I don't want to. Leave me alone."
The queen sighed.
"Iceheart, you are not to take the blame of your rider today. Gabriella, by order from your mother and queen, you are confined to your room until further notice. Any attempt of escape and you will be locked in your room."
I looked away barely holding myself back from grabbing Icehearts diamond saddle. I was escorted by two guards to my room and they closed the door without locking it. I looked out my window, then asked one of the guards to fetch some paint and a pencil. I was never good at drawing, but I had to try. I started to draw Iceheart, and then erased it, then tried again. After a few hours I had a picture I liked and I put it on my wall. It was her and I flying over the forests with Midnight and Shadow further behind. I started to draw more pictures like that until the day was over. I looked at the tree pictures I had drawn and nodded. They were better than I had imagined they'd be. I laid down on my bed and fell asleep. The next morning I woke up early to the sound of beating drums. Those were the warning drums!
I jumped out of bed and grabbed my weapons stash. I pulled out an old and faded ice sword, and threw it to the side. I grabbed a book next on how to use all the weapons, but I knew I didn't have time. I grabbed my bow at the very bottom and pulled it back. The arrow of light appeared and it lit up my room. I went to my window and looked out. All the ice dragons and guards were saddling up and flying towards the forests. They stopped in formation, and Iceheart flew up to me.
"The shadow dragon's followed us here, I don't know why they aren't freezing to death yet."
"We half to go help!"
"No my princess..."
Adrian and Sunfire flew up to us.
"...this is a fight for the kings and princes, not for the princess."
I rolled my eyes as he flew off, his red sky banners flowing through the wind like feathers. His golden saddle lit up like the sun. I sighed and Iceheart dug her claws in and hung on the side of the palace. I watched as every dragon except the five on top of the guard towers flew into formation. The shadow dragon's were in an arrow formation, flying fast towards the ice army. They split up at the last second and every one hit one ice dragon the sky dragon's around them started to kick the shadow dragon's off without fire breath, then I realized there was something more to it than this. Iceheart knew it too and I opened my door. The guards were still there.
"Why aren't you helping fight the shadow dragon's?"
"Because...we were told to guard you."
"Iceheart is guarding me, like she always has, go help your friends!"
Iceheart stuck her head in the window and the guards ran towards the armory.
"Where are you going?"
"To get Shadow into the fight."
I ran towards the dungeon, and in the process barely ran into the queen who was being dressed for battle. An Ice dragon was in the room, I recognized my mothers favorite dragon immediately, Icehawk. She saw me but said nothing. I reached the dungeons and saw two guards on duty. I raced past them and they pursued me. There were a few old men down here, probably people with life sentences, and a few that didn't pay their taxes. I went to the deepest part of the dungeon and found Midnight curled up in a ball, shaking like there was no tomorrow. I slipped through the bars and wrapped my cloak around him. He looked up and I smiled. His green gaze was so beautiful. He started to warm up from underneath the blanket, and glow a vibrant green. Shadow was in a cell at the end of the hall. And he stood up when he saw me.
"I didn't know..."
"It's ok. That was the first time ever that someone didn't know me, and it was amazing."
He smiled then saw someone around my back. I turned around and there was the queen with four guards.
"Gabriella, I warned you not to come out of your room!"
"Mother! I have reasons to believe that the sky kingdom came here to take the throne away from you and place me and Adrian on the throne."
"He wouldn't do that! He was always kind to the ice kingdom."
"Gaining your trust before his betrayal."
"Quiet you fool!"
Shadow respectfully closed his mouth and sat down on the single bench he had.
"You aren't ready for battle even if you want to help."
I pulled back my bow and shot it at a lantern. It hit dead on and it shattered with a satisfying crash.
"Did you teach her to use that bow!"
"With respect, ice queen, I taught her to protect herself."
"Mom, he can help us. He used to fight those shadow dragons every day. He knows their weaknesses."
The queen looked at Shadow and said, "your dragon is forbidden throughout the five kingdoms, why was a hybrid bred."
"His mother, Ivy, was my father's bond, and his father was an unknown Shadow dragon that Ivy fell in love with. The father left without warning a few days before he was laid. No one knows how he inherited star dragon wings."
My mother turned to the guard and he handed her the key.
"I will give you freedom and citizenship here in the ice kingdom if you help us defeat these rogues."
The shadow nodded and the queen threw him the keys. He unlocked the door and ran to Midnight's cage. He unlocked the door and Midnight came out shaking still.
"Give his dragon a properly sized cloak, and keep the other prisoners in check."
The guards nodded and hurried off. Two came back hauling a huge white winter cloak. Midnight took it greatful and threw it over his back and tied the diamond ribbons around his neck. The cloak warmed him up as Shadow climbed upon his back. Midnight ran out, making sure the cloak stayed on, and disappeared behind the nearest corner. I ran after, but my mother grabbed my hand.
"Gabriella, if you think you're ready to fight, then go to the library and pull out your dads book."
"Mother...you always said never to touch that book!"
"I know. You'll know the reason once you pull it out."
She handed me the famous ice key that opened everything.
"You'll know what to do with this."
She backed up and let me go. I stared at her, and she did her goodbye motion. This was the first time she let go do anything this dangerous. I ran off towards the library and went directly to the forbidden section. Within all those books I spotted my father's famous diamond book. Made from frozen diamonds and bound with ice string. This book pretty much made the whole section freezing. It had always comforted me as a kid. Iceheart only got to come to this section once before she became too big to walk through the isles. I put my hand on the book and felt it's cold touch freeze my skin. I was only one of the two people that was able to hold that book, the other was my father, the one who had made it himself. I pulled it out and saw the two other books freeze on contact with the book. I really wanted to open the book, but I knew it wasn't the book that my mother had said to get. I looked at the back wall and saw a hole the size of a key. I lifted up the Ice key and inserted it into the hole and turned the key.
The wall moved and the key locked into the wall. I watched as the wall moved out of the way and revealed an old passageway. I stepped in, retrieving the key and walked into the dark. A torch lit above me and I grabbed it. I walked through the tunnel and entered a small room. Within the room were all my father's capes, gowns (hilariously), and weapons. there was one in the middle of the room that caught my attention. It was a sword, dark and cold. I reached for it and it lit up. I immediately recognized the legendary Ice sword.
"Oh wow..."
I took it's handle and it lit up the room. I noticed another strange weapon. It was a bow made out of nothing but ice. I already had a bow, and I was wasting precious time. I ran out of the tunnel and it started to close. I put the Ice sword in my belt and felt it freeze its own sheath. Iceheart was waiting for me outside, and my mother had given her a Diamond armor necklace. I ran to my stable and grabbed Icehearts diamond saddle then put it on her. It looked so heavy but I knew Ice diamond could be forged to be super strong and very light weight. I climbed onto the saddle and attached my weapons satchel to the saddle.
"Gabriella, please don't get killed or this kingdom may be in seariouse peril."
"I know mother. I have friends and guards to protect me if necessary."
A sudden cry from above made me turn to look. The Sky dragon's had started to attack the ice dragon.
"What is this madness?!"
The king flew down from the fighting above and hovered above the stables.
"Queen of Ice, I tell you this once. You will step off the throne and let my son and your daughter lead the ice kingdom."
"You have no right to interfere in another kingdom's successor!"
"I do now! Give your thrown up!"
Iceheart ran into the palace and her thoughts immediately answered my questions as to what she was doing. She ran behind the stables, and I was able to hear the conversation of the sky king and the ice queen.
"I order you to neal!"
"Never!"
Skyfall landed and the king got off. The queen stood her ground, as the enraged king walked up so close that they could be touching nozes.
"The enemy isn't here, sky king! The enemy is within the shadows, and in the shadow dragon's."
"The thing is, the rogues and I have somewhat of the same beliefs."
"Oh and what is that!"
The king drew his fire sword and put it to the queens neck.
"That a kingdom should be led by two people, king and queen, not by one. I was going to spare your life, but now I see no other way."
The king swung his sword high behind his back, then Iceheart broke through one of the walls. I dismounted as she barreled into Skyfall. I drew back my bow and the beam of light appeared.
"I will tell you this once, let my mother live and I may decide on keeping you alive."
The king tensed up and started to swing, and I let the arrow fly. It hit his shoulder and his sword flung out of his hand and stuck into the ground. He clenched his shoulder as I ran up to my mother. Icehawk laid down and the queen got on bareback. Icehawk flew off to the castle and Iceheart walked up to me.I climbed on and said, "skybound."
Iceheart lept into the air and started to shoot ice fire at every shadow and Sky dragon she saw. I pulled back my bow and shot the dragons bonds, and they plummeted to the ground. Iceheart's scales started to glow, and she lit up the battlefield. She ran into three Shadow dragon's and threw them all into different houses. I shot at a sky dragon that dove from above and hit him in the throat. He clenched his throat and missed a few wingbeats. He fell to the ground. Iceheart suddenly roared and I turned my head so fast that I caught the Shadow dragon that had cut off the two necklaces around Iceheart's neck. I jumped as the saddle disappeared, and so did the armor. She glowed brighter now as she dove for the necklaces, but someone else was already on them. Midnight caught them and flew up beside us.
"Here."
"No you have them, you need it."
Midnight had multiple different scratches everywhere and it looked like one of his wings was chewed up.
Shadow nodded and tied the armor necklace around Midnight's neck. The armor appeared as I saw it start to heal him. Shadow threw me the saddle and I tied it onto Iceheart. It appeared and I got in it. Two sky dragon's dove from above and pinned Icehearts wings. I shot both of them in the side and they curled up in a ball. Iceheart spread her wings and flew on towards the middle of the fight. A Shadow dragon took Iceheart by surprise and rammed into her side. He took a breath in and I looked away. Right then another dragon rammed into that dragon and I looked. The sky dragon blew a stream of yellow fire at the dragon's face and the shadow dragon screamed, then plummeted.
The Sky dragon flew up beside me. It was Sunfall and Adrian.
"My princess..."
"Stop it with the 'my true love' stuff!"
"Alright, I was starting to die inwardly."
"Why help the enemy, aren't you following orders?"
"I'm not under oath, the other sky dragon's are. No one knows why the king did this."
"Well then tell every sky dragon to choose a side, yours or your fathers."
"Uh...um...well..."
"Just do it. You're their future king anyway. You have the potential, just do it!"
"Ok ok, just make sure no Ice dragon's attack me in the process."
Iceheart followed Sunfall as he went to every Sky dragon and told them to choose a side.
Soon enough we had all the Sky dragon's back on our side, fighting the Shadow dragon's. Shadow flew up and I saw Midnight seemed to be his normal self. Adrian and Sunfire flew parallel to Midnight. A thundering dragon roar came from within the clouds starting to form around the palace. The wind picked up snowflakes that hit your face at astonishing speeds, making them feel like little ice shards. The biggest dragon I had ever seen dove out of the blizzard and Iceheart managed to dodge him.
"I am the leader of the Rogue dragon's!"
A man was on the dragon, and he seemed to speak through the dragon to get everyone's attention.
"Land this instant and I will spare your life!"
I flew Iceheart into the thickest part of the blizzard and made sure I kept my eyes and ears on the Shadow dragon. She started to glow, then it shut off.
"You never told me you could do that!" I whispered.
Iceheart winked and flew to the left side of where the Shadow dragon was. She started to flap her wings harder, pushing the clouds closer to the dragon. Her breaths became stronger the more the blizzard raged around us. The dragon stopped his speech and looked our way. Iceheart flew higher into the sky and the dragon growled.
"Land and you shall be spared. We are only after the queen and her daughter today!"
Iceheart gathered ice fire in her belly and she started to glow. She was gliding behind the dragon, not daring to make a wing flap. She shot a beam of white ice fire at the dragon and he managed to dodge it just in time. Iceheart gilded around to the left of the dragon and gained a little altitude. She was still glowing a little bit but everyone knew it was us that shot the Ice fire. The shadow dragon roared at Iceheart as she barreled into his side. He easily got back in the air and pursued us.
I grabbed an arrow and shot it at the rider, but he caught it and looked at it. He broke it in half and strangely grabbed some of the smoke and shaped it into a bow. He shot a streak of black smoke and I dodged it.
Iceheart suddenly dove towards the ground and I grabbed onto the saddle. I heard Iceheart's thoughts and drew the ice sword from its sheath. A cry arose from my soul as we dove through the deep snow. We strangely continued to dive and we entered another realm. It had very large snowflakes that were a swirl of purples, blues, pinks, and whites. A stream of light guided us to a man. He was floating, and strangely glowing. He turned around and I saw he also had glowing eyes.
"Hello my little star."
"D...dad?"
The man nodded and I started to cry.
"Dad...you were never...there for...me..."
I lowered my head, and the king of the ice floated over to me.
"You are stronger than you think gabriella. I may have not been able to see you grow up, but I can see your achievements, and your goals...I can see you now."
I smiled as he reached down to touch my cheek.
"You're a cameron, princess, and a strong one at that..."
I closed my eyes as he kissed my forehead. I felt a rush of pure energy run through me, and I opened my eyes to see myself...all of unhcegila! I had powers!
"Go my young one, go and finish the fight that got me killed..."
There was a sudden rush of cool winter air that propelled iceheart and I back to the surface. When we emerged, I saw Iceheart was glowing white. The shadow dragon immediately spotted us, as iceheart rammed into the chest of the dragon at lightning speed. I pulled out my bow and shot it, and the arrow hit the dragon in one of the wings. The dragon roared as his sail (skin between the fingers of the wing) tore in two, and he started to plummet. He shot a purple fireball at us and it strangely disappeared within the wind.
"You are dead now princess of dragons!"
I drew my ice sword and held it ready, and I could see a winter storm start to form around us. We disappeared into a thick cloud. I could feel the magic circling around me, as Iceheart grew brighter and brighter. A sudden sharp pain shot through my body, and something new, something buried within me came to the surface. I closed my eyes and whispered as the winter breeze whispered to me at night, "this is the land of Ice...my home!"
I opened my eyes and drew my bow back. I shot at the shadow dragon once more, but he disappeared in a puff of smoke. A small black cloud swirled around above us, blocking the little light that came from the sun. I pulled my bow back again in determination and shot a single arrow that shed off thousands of tiny ice shards. They all disappeared into the cloud in seconds, and painful roars erupted from the clouds. The black swirling cloud dispersed as the shadow dragon hissed angrily at the shards that had stuck into his scales and threw his head around.
Iceheart reacted, beating her wings fast and rising further into the sky. The light blue glow became even brighter on every muscle she moved, and the more powerful I felt. She roared, taking a big breath in, ice fire collecting in her throat. Her mouth was shining like the full moon, maybe brighter, as I felt the wind shift direction and help push us faster towards the roaring shadow dragon. I pulled back my bow and one of the pure ice element arrows appeared. A little white flake distracted me, taking me out of the battle. A single snowflake floated by my face, as if it were riding on still waves, a peaceful center in a roaring storm.
The snowflake landed on my finger, and I felt a soft, cold breath over my shoulder, as if someone was there to help win my arrow. I closed my eyes, feeling the presence of the ice king. I had never known this kind of love from either my mother or Iceheart, it was like it had always been there but was never at the surface. I sighed, feeling loved inside, not feeling alone. I opened my eyes, time slowed around me, as if I was in a very strange dream. I let the wind aim my shot, right into the chest of the dragon. I let it fly, the arrow becoming as bright and as fast as lightning. It shot straight into the heart of the shadow beast. It's terrifying screams echoed around, blown by the wind.
The small glow to the dragon's eyes extinguished, as the dragon fell towards the snowy landscape below us. It landed with a poof of snow, blinding sight of the dead dragon. The blizzard dispersed, the fiery sunset appearing out of the snow mist, highlighting the dragon's body. You could only see one wing and it's body, all other limbs were buried in the snow. Iceheart's sharp eyes saw no movement but a small gust of wind blowing the snow around. I watched closely as the ice beneath the body broke, sending an echo through the entire frozen lake. The shadow dragon slowly slipped into the cold dark waters beneath the ice, and the snow soon blew over the hole, leaving no trace behind of the once dangerous dragon.
I tapped Iceheart, and she looked back at me. I wanted to go home, figure out the things with my mother and the Sky kingdom. Iceheart heard this and nodded, then flew me swiftly back to the palace. It stood out with the last few rays of light touching the entire crystal face of the palace. We flew in for a swift landing, and I got off of Icehearts cold back. My mother was standing there, a guard's ice sword in her hand, ice hawk behind her. The queen had the sky king on his knees. She looked up from him to see me walking toward them. She called,
"Oh Gabriella, I'm glad you're safe."
"You too mom."
She walked away from the king and hugged me. I hugged back, closing my eyes again, feeling her relieved sigh. We were safe, home. I opened my eyes slightly and saw the sky king standing there, looking at my mother's hand. He swiftly reached forward and grabbed the sword from her hand and raised it high above his head. She wouldn't have time to react, I reached for the hilt of my ice sword. I drew my sword as the sky king brought him down. Ice hit ice, sending shards flying. He looked at me surprised, so did my mother, who I had shoved away to save her. The sky king spat,
"You will lead under my rule, your mother made the wrong decision to disobey me."
"This isn't your kingdom to rule, 'king of the sky'. This is the ice kingdom, and we shall rule under our own king and queen, not yours."
I spat back. He seemed to stammer, then his eyes turned a darker shade of blue. He pushed down on his sword, making me force to push back. One point of view, he was a grown man that was probably trained well in fighting with swords, I was neither. He let up and swung the sword like a bat, and I blocked it by putting my blade towards the ground. He did a few more swings that I managed to block, then he shoved me back. I landed on the cold wet cobblestone, and he sneered,
"You are a princess, princesses don't fight. Let me guide you on a path that will lead both Sky and ice together."
"Never, not while this generation still stands!"
I said coldly back. He scowled at me, then I got up, standing with my legs apart, bent down a smidge, and leaning towards the opponent, putting my sword parallel to my face. It started to glow, and I gripped the hilt tighter. It felt lighter, as if it was a part of me. The king hesitated, seeing the power rushing through the sword and me. His hesitation didn't last long though, as he ran at me, shouting a battlecry. I glared back, then Aran at him, keeping my sword to my side. I jumped unbelievably high and swung down, the king blocking the heavy hit with his sword. It broke in two, and the king looked down at it, I stood up straight, holding the sword parallel to me again. I swung again, making the king back up in fear, and he slipped on ice. I growled softly, as cold as the winter wind blows,
"I will spare your life, as long as the kingdom of the sky never interferes with the ice kingdom's leadership ever again. Am I clear on this?"
"I will-"
I interrupted him, pointing my sword at the king's throat,
"Am I clear!"
He hesitated slightly again, then nodded, cold sweat rolling down his face. The prince landed, Sunfall shaking out with relief. Prince Adrian got off quickly and ran over to me. I said to him,
"Prince, rally up your troops and prepare them for the trip home."
"Yes your majesty."
He said, taking a smaller, polite bow. I took my eye off of the king and looked at him. He looked up with his beautiful light blue eyes, a hint of playfulness in them. I smiled back, feeling something deep within me stir. He walked away and got on his dragon again. The king's dragon came to his master calls, and all the other sky dragon's came without a fight. Moonlight and shadow came back with the group. The queen spoke to the sky people in a brief but deadly warning, then the escort from the sky kingdom took off in a whirlwind of snowflakes. When the snow settled, I noticed one hadn't gone, but was looking back at me. Sunfall and Adrian looked at me with a hopeful glance. He twitched his wings, turned, and took off, following the other sky dragons.
I caught myself smiling back, and I quickly corrected myself. I turned back to the people and I noticed everyone started cheering. They all raised their hands in joy and yelled and shouted. They were all looking at me. I stood up straighter, feeling like a hero...
...back inside...
"Gabriella, come here."
I looked away from the current clothes I was wearing. My mother, in one of my personal favorite dresses, walked over to me and hugged me. I hugged back, feeling safe again. She looked at me and adjusted my hair, pulling slightly, and placing a crystal crown on my head. A slight knock at the door and a maid called in,
"Shadow son of Aron black has requested the presence of the princess."
I looked back at my mother and she nodded. I walked out, and the maid politely led us to the courtyard. We exited the palace into the cool night air. Midnight's unique form and shadow's cape were easily spotted in the moonlight. They both looked up as I walked slowly over to them. Iceheart was sitting in front of them and looked at me as well. Shadow said first,
"We need to leave, back to our home. The shadow dragons will not stop now."
"You need supplies? I can have some things arranged for you to take?"
"Thanks, but for now leave them at my dealers place, his name is Gabe."
I nodded and my mother walked up. She respectfully nodded to shadow, then said,
"You are welcome in the kingdom of ice for as long as you like."
Shadow thanked her with a nod. It was silent, and she turned to me and slowly started,
"And...your adventure time...as long as you learn how to fight, I will be ok with you going to visit every now and then, but no further!"
I gave her a big smile, and looked at Shadow. He shrugged,
"I don't mind, as long as you tell me beforehand when you're coming."
"Agreed. See you around Shadow, midnight."
They both smiled back, then shadow mounted and the two flew off into the moonlight, just like the first night I saw them. Iceheart sighed, watching them go. I smiled, knowing I would see them soon...

Epilogue
The distant waves of the ocean were beautiful, shining like snowflakes flying around during a full moon. My dragon matched this environment, the bright yellow sandy dunes, golden eyes that lit up with the sunlight, and a fiery temper. Today he was happy, he always was when we were out on long flights over the desert.
End of part 1