Wings of Fire: Melting Ice #2

Chapter 9

Aurora flew quickly towards home, her heart pounding. Her breathing became wheezing as more blood flowed from her wounds. Her scales were stained with dark blue, and she left a trail of dark blue in the snow.

Exhausted, Aurora flew slower. The sky's color was soon snatched away as large clouds rushed in. Snow began to lightly fall, then it changed into falling quicker and heavier. It stung when it landed right in her wounds. Eventually she sunk to the ground, her talons shaking and legs wobbling. Her wings folded at her sides, tensing.

Aurora's eyes felt heavy, and she failed to see the jagged snow-covered rock in front of her. She tripped, which caused the jagged rock to drag against the gash in her leg. The gash opened more and stung. "Three moons!" Aurora spat with pain.

The hybrid lay in the snow, staining it dark blue. Aurora curled up, clenching her leg in pain. Her blue and cyan scales began to switch from white to pale green, her wing folding down on her like a blanket. Then all sound drowned out, and her vision was washed with black.

Aurora sprung awake, her head almost slamming into a leafy roof above her head. She felt hardly any pain now. Am I dead? She looked around, then her head dipped to examine her wounds. Her arm was bandaged up with thick leaves. She realized that the rest of her wounds were also patched up. "Where am I?" She called out. She could hear it raining outside. That's weird. It doesn't rain in the Ice Kingdom, only snows. It also felt oddly warm.

If I'm not in the Ice Kingdom, then where am I? Aurora glanced around, then noticed a small circle-shaped window. She tried to get up, but her legs felt stiff. She stretched out her neck, peering closer. She saw tree bark and clumps of dark leaves. The Rainforest Kingdom?

Suddenly, there was a crack. Aurora snapped her head towards the sound, and she saw an apple-red RainWing standing near the arched doorway. He looks about my age. His chest had tons of scars, and his ears were torn. His horns possessed many golden rings, some that even had gems embedded in them. 

The RainWing stepped into the light. He had a small black ring studded with rubies that wrapped around his nose horn. His white horns each had three big rings close to the base which contained rubies as well. Towards the tip, there three smaller smaller rings. On top of his dark apple-red head, there were three scars. His eyes were emerald-green, and the scales below his eyes were yellow. His rit frill was torn, and his ears were also torn, along with long, stretching scars on his chest. His long fangs showed, and his tongue flicked out for a second. Lime-green circles ran down his neck all the way to his tail, and his underside was a paler red.

The two young dragons held eye contact for what seemed like seasons, until he opened his jaws. "Hyacinth, she's awake!" He called, turning around and running.

Aurora froze. Hyacinth is the name of my father. There's no way... maybe this one is a different one? But her heart seemed to stop when a larger RainWing stumbled into the room. He loomed over her, his shadow darkening her scales.

The RainWing was thin, with long legs and sharp talons. His scales were sky-blue, his dark grass-green eyes like leaves in a vast ocean. The circles that ran down his sides were indeed grape-purple, and the inside of his wings was definitely banana-yellow. The jet-black splotches littered in his scales assured Aurora that this was indeed her father. Although he looked older and thinner, and had a scar under his jaw. He also had a leaf-like sachet around his neck, which contained large leaves and medicine, as well as what looked like small berries.

Aurora curled her lip. "You," she hissed, but Hyacinth slapped a talon over her mouth.

"Aurora," Hyacinth whispered, his voice like quiet rain constantly pounding on large leaves. "I know you probably hate me, and you have a right to, but please hear me out."

Aurora's scales flashed with red, and the young RainWing in the back turned away. "You murdered your own son- my brother!" She spat, wanting to freeze him with ice and break him into a million shards of frozen flesh.

"Oh, my beautiful daughter, what a mistake I made," Hyacinth sighed, his wing stretching forward to touch her wing. "Three moons, hear me out. Your brother, Charming, is dead because of me. But there's a reason I killed him. A friend of mine- a hybrid- visited me. He could see the future- had really strong foresight. Snowcatcher is his name. He looked into the future, trying to find good lines, but all he saw was bad. He told me that my very own son would grow into a monster-"

Aurora cut him off, "And you believed him? What if his foresight was wrong? T-that doesn't justify killing him! He was too young!" She argued.

"I didn't want to believe him, trust me. But I ended up doing it. When he was born, I instantly felt guilty, like I was the worse dragon in the world. I couldn't do it, but when Snowcatcher said he'd do it himself, I forced my talons to grip that dagger and stab him in the throat. My friend made sure it was instant, as he had enchanted it to happen. I feel like it was wrong, but my gut is always reminding me everyday that he could've been a killer," Hyacinth sighed. "Your mother wants me dead, I know, but she can't find me. This little hut was touched with animus magic one thousand years ago, so that only RainWings knew that it existed," the RainWing explained. "This was a place for medicine-trained RainWings, where they could heal the injured and cure the sick. But eventually all that stopped. Now me and Apple here are the main ones that know about this place. There's a better, bigger place for the sick and injured, but they refuse to treat any dragon besides a RainWing."

So he's Apple. Aurora glanced back at the pretty red RainWing once more. One of his wings stretched open, revealing a golden color. Then she turned her head back to her father. He seems remorseful...

"I wish I could bring my son back. I really wanted a son but..." Hyacinth trailed off. "I always wonder what Snowcatcher saw that painted Charming as bad," he murmured, seemingly to himself. His eyes flashed with sadness and guilt. "When you go back to the Ice Kingdom, please... just tell Iceberg that he didn't suffer. I would hate to know if she thinks that in his last moments, all he felt was pain."