Wings of Fire: Melting Ice #2

Chapter 11

Aurora and her father glided down towards the large tree house. Aurora could smell the sweet scent of nectar, and she spotted large colorful flowers sprouting from around the entrance of Queen's place. 

"I think she'll be pleased to see you," Hyacinth said, his tail curling. His pretty sky-blue scales sparkled in the shimmering sunlight. "Queen Lapis is a tough one. But she is pretty nice."

"Oh, hello Hyacinth," an elegant voice, sounding like the wind's gentle breeze on leaves, floated towards the father and daughter. "And who is that?" 

Aurora sprung up the steps to see Queen Lapis. Her lips drooped, a sign of her old age, and her ears also drooped downwards. Her dark blue-gray horns stretched longer than Hyacinth's. Her blue scales trailed down towards her tail, where they then turned a seaweed-green color. The stripes along her face glowed, and she waved her waved talons towards them.

"This is Aurora, my daughter," Hyacinth introduced, dipping his head. He crouched down, his wings folded at his side with his head dipped.

Aurora stared cluelessly at the queen, but then bowed, her wings touching the ground. I hope I'm doing this right.

"Oh, sweetie, there's no need for that," Lapis sighed, stretching out on her thickly-woven leaf hammock. Aurora noticed a long scar that stretched across her stomach and went towards her other wing, which ripped through the membrane. "You're Hyacinth's daughter, but also Queen Iceberg's daughter. Ahh, me and her used to always hang out together, but being queen gets in the way. And also, my inability to fly stops me."

Aurora dipped her head. "I'm sorry about that."

"Ohhh, don't be sorry. Say, how is she doing now?" Lapis asked, her tail curling towards her body. 

"Well, I'm not the daughter. There's Plum too," Aurora added, flicking her frill.

"Ah, wonderful name! She knows how to pick them!" Lapis laughed, her laugh sounding raspy and dry. Her blue eyes sparkled like sapphires. "Tell me, Aurora, how is Iceberg?"

"Well, she's off to fight with Queen Moonglider," Aurora answered quickly. "I haven't seen her since she joined the battle herself. She left a few days ago."

"I would love to help her myself, but these wings of mine aren't useful. I guess I could ask some others, though. I never had any dragonets of my own, but I still have my sister's dragonets, and their dragonets."

Aurora almost fell asleep listening to the queen talk about her family. "You're going to help?" She asked.

"Hmmm, yes. I'll only send a small group of my best fighters," Lapis said, waving her wing.

"Well, uh, I guess small help is still good help," Aurora pointed out. But what if they die? "I might even... get chosen to fight."

"Queen Lapis," a rough, slithering voice spoke. A large orange RainWing with scars across his face stood at the entrance. "We have visitors." 

A MudWing stalked through the entrance. His scales were dark orange-brown, and his underbelly was a pale gray-yellow color. "I was sent by Queen Bramble. She wants to know if any of you lazy dragons saw an IceWing pass through. He's big, has shiny pale blue scales, dark eyes."

"I don't think anybody has seen anything," Lapis yawned, twitching her ears. "If they had seen anything, they would've come to me. I have guards in the trees every hour of the day." She looked at the yellow RainWing. "Bright, check in with Canopy, Rainy, and Starfruit."

When Bright left, the MudWing sat down, his wings folded neatly. His chin was lifted with purpose, and his scales looked as though they were crusted with dry mud.

Aurora slumped her shoulders. Is he talking about... Bitter's son? "Is this IceWing's name perhaps..... Numb?" She questioned.

The MudWing glanced at her. "Yes, Numb is his name! You know him?" He got up instantly, his large frame stumbling over to Aurora. "Did you see him?"

"Last I saw him was... years ago. He got stolen I think. Nobody saw him since," Aurora answered.

The MudWing nodded. "Well, let's see what that RainWing says when he comes back." The large brown dragon lashed his tail.

Aurora stood back, her talons scraping the soft floor beneath her. What does he want with Numb? That means... Numb is alive! 

"MudWing, leave before you cause anything. I know how you MudWings are," Queen Lapis hissed, sitting up. She stalked closer, her thin, long body moving like a snake. Her ears twitched, her eyes narrowing. Her lips twitched slightly. "I know what you're going to do. So leave before I make you."

Aurora stared wide-eyed at the two dragons. Does she know him? 

The MudWing stretched his neck forward, flexing his long talons. "Three moons, shut up," he groaned.

Hyacinth rushed up, his talons almost connecting with the MudWing's scales. "H-hey let's calm down!" He pleaded. "You should... really leave before this-"

"He will leave. When Bright comes back he will escort him away. Three moons, stupid MudWing," Lapis growled, shaking out her talons.

The MudWing growled slightly at her remark, but he stood back. He stared at Aurora, his orange eyes searching her. 

Aurora felt uncomfortable. Are the MudWings really that bad? Isn't Queen Bramble keeping them under control? She shrunk back, chills crawling up her spine. Queen Lapis seems to know, maybe I can ask her afterwards.