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Blaze sniffed with discontent as she watched the—her—guards moving her piles of jewelry; pristine necklaces dangling from their pale snouts, rings clutched in their claws.
A fresher, younger SandWing stumbled, a gold-engraved necklace flying from his grasp.
‘Ibex!’
A scarred dragon glared at the now-on-the-ground young guard. Blaze shifted; her void stare now falling on the younger guard. Her soft voice a sympathetic hum, she asked, ‘Why are you on the ground? Did you fall? Oh!’
She paused as he froze mid-grab, attempting to fetch the gold necklace lying a few steps away. Her warm expression faded, her glittering black eyes narrowed in irritation. The scarred dragon hastily hurried away, nearly tripping over his own talons.
She slithered closer.
‘Did you drop my jewelry?’
She planted a claw on his chin, forcing him to look her in the eyes. He gazed at her nervously. Her extended claws dug into his scales, causing the dragon to wince.
He stammered, ‘I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty.’
She scoffed and ripped her claws from his chin. His ear twitched, and he stepped back; wary.
She suddenly piped, her voice an expecting growl: ‘Give me the necklace! Now!’ Her gaze was fixed on the jewelry, her tone growing higher.
Ibex slowly snatched it from the floor and placed it in front of the SandWing princess. His snout nearly touched the ground as he crouched; bowed, in front of her. ‘Your Majesty—Truly, I apologize. It was foolish of me to be so clumsy with your ever-so precious jewels.’ He batted his eyelashes, his lips curled to a mocking smirk.
A door slammed open, and in stepped a majestic pale blue IceWing, her neutral gaze turned onto the crouched SandWing. With a flash, the formerly-smirking dragon was bent over, clutching his scratched wing to his chest. The IceWing stood before him, eyeing him with a scowl.
She spoke: ‘Why are you mocking my ally and your to-be Queen, SandWing? Give me a reasonable explanation, and I might just let you leave here alive.’
Behind her, Blaze let out a giggle. ‘Hehe! I knew Glacier wouldn’t let you get away with humiliating me! How rude of you, too! Hmph!’
Glacier’s tail flicked Blaze’s side.
Reluctantly, the bejeweled she closed her mouth; pouting.
‘Well?’ Glacier continued, tone sharpening.
The addressed SandWing began, ‘I accidentally dropped Blaze’s jewe—’
He was cut off as Glacier slit his throat with a talon. She huddled before him, blocking his mangled form from Blaze’s view.
She leaned down to whisper in his ear, ‘Commoners like you should always call royalty by their proper titles. Never should you call a future queen by only her first name. Of course, if you were an IceWing I’d let you leave whole. But, sadly, you are not and will never be.’ She slammed his head into the marble.
Blaze yelped, shrill, ‘E-Eh? Glacier! What was that!?’
‘Ignore it, Lady Blaze. You should go to the dome.’ With a jerk of an ear, a squad of IceWing guards entered. ‘These will be your escort, with the addition of three SandWings who will only follow you until the Great Ice Cliff. They are waiting outside.’
‘How exciting! Bye-bye, Glacier!’ She waved her talons as the squadron nudged her along.
Glacier let out a sigh as the beaut—SandWing Princess left. She stepped over the corpse and summoned a pair of IceWings to discard it. ‘Please, continue. No need to stare.’ She hissed as the SandWings stopped to gaze at the Queen’s bloody talons.
•
Blaze finally flopped on her soft bedding (consisting of the fur of an unknown animal; perhaps a yak’s). After having removed her countless necklaces and rings, she had decided it was time to sleep. Only, just as she settled down; a voice sounded.
‘Lady Blaze? Her Majesty, Queen Glacier needs you urgently!’
‘Hm?’ Blaze poked her head out the curved frame of the dome, shivering. Her bed has been so warm and nice…but it must've been important if Glacier needed her!
A pale-white IceWing glanced at her, head dipping briefly as a sign of respect. ‘Please follow me. And wear the bracelet.’
Blaze nodded happily; slipping the enchanted bracelet on. She sighed in relief as warmth enveloped her.
They flew for a while until they reached the palace gates, cascading over them. The IceWing turned sharply and drifted through one of the openings.
As they walked down the winding, literal ice stairs of the IceWing palace many shrill screams reached Blaze’s ears. Is something wrong? No—the palace is too well protected. Maybe they’re happy, because…because there’s a party! A feast! Maybe that’s why Glacier’s calling me! Oh, how wonderful! Finally a feast, even though Glacier rarely does those, something with IceWing tradition…whatever. It must not matter! I’m so glad! A feast!
As her thoughts rushed in circles, they came to a stop in an ornate ballroom. The cold floors were hidden by velvet carpeting. The walls were decked with tapestries, and paintings of various former IceWing queens. Though oblivious to Blaze, the room was strangely empty.
She squirmed, hardly containing her thrill.
‘Is this it?’ She chirped.
The IceWing hesitated. They gazed at Blaze for a split second, then lunged at her with something pointy and red, and Blaze’s vision faded to black. She collapsed to the floor—unconscious. The IceWing roughly lugged the SandWing heir on their back. Hearing shouts, they lifted into the air, wings flapping earnestly. They sped through the halls, and reached the entrance. Patrols of guards blocked the escape—some even in the air. With a flick of one of the IceWings’ wings, four dove towards the kidnapper. The IceWing traitor threw a glance over their shoulder and soared upwards, pursuers in tow. Once high enough, they hovered. Turning so Blaze slid off, they caught Blaze’s torso with their claws.
The pursuers fluttered closer slowly. With a warning snarl of the pursued, they glided backwards.
The one in the center spoke, the Captain, presumably. ‘What do you want with Princess Blaze? You should know she is Her Majesty’s ma—ally, and this will provoke consequences. Why is one of our own tribe stealing Her Majesty’s ally?’
The turncoat tilted their head to glance at the four. They glared.
‘Lady Burn merely wanted to talk with your lovely Queen. And to talk, it was crucial to have a…motivator. And so, her sister is the perfect candidate.’
The IceWing cleared his throat, twitching an ear. ‘We would like to negotiate for Lady Blaze’s release. We are able to—’ He glanced at the hovering dragon beside him. The dragon nodded.
‘—give you anything you ask for.’
‘Hmmm.’ The IceWing surveyed the crowd of guards with a sweep of their eyes. ‘Ah. Well. It seems the odds are against me this once. How unfortunate. Mind granting me and my fellow IceWing loyalists a safe passageway out of the IceWing kingdom, as well as ten oxen? If you don’t mind, you may have your princess back.’
The IceWing replied, ‘Your oxen will arrive shortly.’
With that, several groups of IceWings gripping oxen glided into view. They dropped the prey in a pile on the floor and retreated back to the ranks of IceWings. With a nod from the squadron captain, five IceWings with their wings bonded accompanied by ten IceWing guards stalked inside. The IceWings shoved the five to the oxen and formed a circle around the snarling prisoners.
‘There are your friends and your oxen. Now we need our princess.’
The kidnapper let out a ferocious snarl of irritation and dropped Blaze. Instantly, the four IceWings dove. The captain caught Blaze, her yellow form sprawled across his back. The other three fanned their wings nearby, two flapping underneath the captain; ready to catch the princess if need be. The other one then spiraled down and joined the ring of guards.
The captain spoke once more. ‘I’m afraid you won’t be getting your escort, traitor.
‘Lady Blaze! Lady Blaze?’ A worried voice murmured near Blaze’s ear. She groaned and rolled over.
‘Go away, let me sleep longer!’ She hissed.
The voice then seemed to be quieter, yet still audible; as if the dragon was standing further away.
‘Your Majesty, I beg of y—’
Blaze growled at the noise and opened her eyes. She was in the IceWing infirmary, laying on a slab of ice, soft feathers serving as a mattress.
She shifted her wings, wincing at the pain. She cranes her neck to peer at her injuries. Burn marks littered her once-beautiful wings—and she whined.
‘My beautiful wings! Look! They’re reduced to this!’
A plump IceWing dips her wings towards the SandWing Princess. ‘Your Majesty, don’t worry. The burns will not scar. However, it’s most important you’re alive, thank the moons.’
Blaze sighs, looking reduced to tears.
‘Oh, thank you! My wings—thank you!’ She bounces off the bed of feathers and wraps her wings around the dragon. The IceWing lets out a surprised yelp, looking aghast.
Blaze winces at the searing pain, and carefully lowers her wings to her sides. Someone clears their throat, and Blaze finds herself staring eye-to-eye with the IceWing queen: Her Majesty, Glacier. Or as Blaze likes to call her, simply ‘Glacier’.
Glacier’s cold gaze flicks to the plump female. ‘Flurry, you are dismissed. Thank you for healing Lady Blaze.’
Flurry curtsies and scampers away.
‘How are you feeling, Lady Blaze?’ She inquires, her gaze piercing.
Blaze grins widely.
‘A little groggy, bleh. Did I miss the feast?’
Glacier arches a brow. ‘What feast?’
‘The feast that IceWing was bringing me to . . . you know, just yesterday? I was so excited! But—what happened?’
Glacier frowns.
‘You were abducted by a couple of turncoat IceWings. We have all of them in custody.’
‘Oh! Kidnapped! Of course, you saved me!’ Blaze practically vibrates with joy.
Glacier eyes her sharply.
‘This is not something to be thrilled about. From now on, you will have a squadron of trusted guards around you at all times. You will return to the guest dome. You are not permitted to leave the dome under any circumstances. No matter who asks you to, no matter what situation. You may only leave if I personally say you may. Is that clear?’
Blaze sniffles. ‘It’s so cold here, even with this magical bracelet! I can’t stay here!’
‘You will be sent blankets. There is no need for fire, either. Otherwise the dome will melt.’
•
Blaze trampled through the snow, pulling the fur blanket further over her shivering shoulders. She had managed to slip away, finally! How freezing it was there. Of course, it was freezing here too; but less. She had crossed the IceWing’s wall of ice and was headed to her home: the stronghold she formerly lived in. She heard of her loyal followers staying there, and she decided to pay them a visit. They‘ll be delighted to see me!
She hastily clasped the blanket together and took off again, flying in the direction she remembered her fortress to be in. She studied the horizon intently, searching for the building. Suddenly, she crashed into something: something large. A MudWing. A MudWing? Perhaps they were a messenger for the MudWing kingdom and they had decided, finally, to ally with her and Glacier! She beat her wings, regaining her flight.
‘Hi! I’m Blaze! Has Queen Moorhen sent you to tell me the MudWings want to be allies?’
The MudWing looked bewildered. ‘Uh, no—I haven’t even met her. She’d probably put me in jail, so—um—’
A figure barreled into Blaze, sending them both spiraling towards the ground. The figure grunts and swoops up, their claws digging into Blaze’s scales. They let go, and began to follow the SangWing down towards the ground. They rake their talons across Blaze’s face. Blaze quickly regains flight, wailing highly about how she was blinded. The dragon retreats to the MudWing who turns to glare at the SeaWing.
‘Tsunami! Why would you—’
The trio hears wings fluttering and the MudWing-SeaWing duo look terrified. Glaring at them was the IceWing queen. She had placed herself between the pair and Blaze and, flanked by multiple guards, she looked furious.
‘I will rip both of your sorry hides apart! Who in the name of the kingdoms do you think you are, attacking the future SandWing queen, and my ally?’
She waved a wing to a pair of guards.
‘Imprison them in the largest dungeon. No, do not give them any food. Let them starve for their ridiculous crimes. I will kill them later. If anyone sneaks them a morsel … I will have you executed. You two are dismissed, take them away.’
The MudWing sighs and surrenders himself, yet the SeaWing thrashes as she’s dragged away. She finds Blaze’s eyes and snarls fiercely.
Blaze giggles and sticks out her tongue—apparently recovered from her loss of vision. The SeaWing rolls her eyes, and bites the guard restraining her. The guard smirks and inhales, a subtle threat to spray her with the infamous IceWing frostbreath. The SeaWing scowls and very reluctantly stills. They seize her, bind her wings and muzzle, and pull her away in the opposite direction of the palace.
Glacier watches Blaze, eyes glistening with uncharacteristic concern. She hesitates, glancing to her left to a burly white-scaled IceWing.
‘Polar. Could you gather the council? I will be there in just a moment.’
Polar nodded, and swerved away. Glacier eyed the remaining guards.
‘Accompany Lady Blaze to her chambers, please. I will fly with you.’
A blue-tinted guard glanced at her quizzically, then dipped their head. ‘Of course, Your Majesty.’
•
Glacier stares at the pale-blue IceWing crouched in front of her. Winter, she reminds herself. My nephew. ‘You may rise.’
He obliged, raising his snout to meet her eyes. He dipped his head.
She waved a claw, allowing him to speak freely.
‘Your Majesty,’ Winter hesitated; after a moment, appearing determined. ‘May I ask, with due respect, why is Lady Blaze allowed within our innermost Kingdom?’
‘Prince Winter, I hope you know Princess Blaze has promised us … certain things. How could we not shield a valuable ally?’
Winter frowned, pressing. ‘Isn’t Lady Blaze just a SandWing? She isn’t even the queen yet. What could she offer us?’
Glacier narrowed her eyes. ‘You should know better than to prod, Prince Winter. Some information isn’t for little dragonets to know.’ And I don’t want you in danger, she thought, softening her tone.
Winter bowed his head. ‘…I’m sorry, Your Majesty…,’ He paused, as if observing her.
She eyes him with caution, her usual stoic expression fierce. ‘You are dismissed. And—Prince Winter?’
He paused at the door, offering an affirmative.
Glacier sighed. Now, I have one more than my nephew to protect. Winter, I couldn’t bear to see you hurt. She hastily smothered the words in her throat. Unbecoming of a queen, she scolded herself. And so, ‘Stay safe,’ is what she said instead.