"Snowslide escaped?!" Winter yelled, spreading his wings. The Queen nodded "I'm afraid so." "B-But how?! He's been locked in the dungeon for centuries!"
Queen Glacier held up her talon and Winter relaxed, "does anyone else know about this?" He asked, looking around. "Only the palace guards, Narwhal, Tundra, Icicle, Snowfall, and Crystal." "Not Mink?" Winter asked, turning his head. "Mink is barely a year old. If we had told her she would have gone searching for him as a friend and not the monster he is."
Winter nodded "is that all?" The Queen nodded "you will remain here in the palace where it's safe. That is all. Return to what you were doing." Winter left the throne room to see Icicle and Snowfall waiting there for him along with Mink who was on Snowfall's back and flapping her wings. "I assume mother told you he escaped?" Snowfall asked, noticing the scared look on Winter's face.
"S-She did... Do you know how dangerous he is?! How could the guards let him escape?! I knew he should have been the one in the Diamond Trial... Not some two-thousand-year-old random Nightwing." Icicle rolled her eyes "you know why that Nightwing is there, Winter."
"Wintwer!" Mink cheered, jumping off Snowfall and running to her cousin, hugging his legs. "Hey Mink, are you alright?" "Yesh! Snufaw an Icicole bring me to guarden an me shaw wittle foxes!" Winter bent down and pat Mink's head "really? That's nice. Did you have fun?" He asked and Minks nodded furiously, before climbing up Winter's leg and neck, sitting on his head between his spikes and horns.
"Snufaw wook! Ish tawl!"
Snowfall chuckled "I can see that." Snowfall's face became stern as she looked at Winter "now what?" "I don't know. Snowslide is out there in the Kingdom and we can safely assume that he's coming for the strongest Icewing." They all lowered their heads "but Hailstorm is gone."
Winter nodded "then he'll be after the one in the First Circle. All we need to do is trap Snowslide and kill him." Icicle rolled her eyes "you can't kill the Gift of Death without the Gift of Anti-Animus." "Wash Gwifft ouf Antee-Animush?" Mink asked, poking Winter's snout.
Winter sighed and raised his claws, grabbing Mink from under her arms and holding her at his eye level "it's a small knife that can... Hurt anything an Animus made. And it will be gone forever." Mink cheered "da bad dwagon gone?" Winter chuckled, poking Mink's nose with his.
"Yes, the bad dragon will be gone."
"Yeeeeeeeeee!!!"
Winter gave his small cousin back to her sister, who placed the tiny dragonet on her back. "Let's go check to see whose in the First Circle of each class." The Icewings walked down the halls, going towards the Gift of Order, where the Circles were.
"Crystal is still missing?" He asked Snowfall who nodded "most days, but I know she's happy where ever she is. I just hope she stays hidden until this all blows over." Winter nodded. "Come on, let's go check it out."
They walked down the halls and into Order Hall, where the Gift of Oder was. It was split into two sections. The Adult Circles, and the Dragonet Circles. Winter trotted to the Adult Circles and flew up to the highest Circle, examining the names engraved on the plaque.
"Only Queen Glacier, Princess Crystal, Prince Hailstorm, and Snowlepoard are in the First Circle. What about the dragonets?" He called out, looking down at his cousins and sister. Icicle looked closely. "Frigid, Polar, Algid and Gelid." Winter glided down and landed next to Snowfall "there seem to be more every year. Anyways, do we know where they are?"
Icicle looked at the names, "I know that Polar Algid and Frigid are out-of-kingdom, no idea where Snowlepoard and Gelid are." Snowfall turned her head "aren't they mother and son? They should be at their house if that's the case." Winter nodded "then we go warn them." "We were told to stay in the palace Winter." Icicle hissed, scraping some snow off the ground and throwing it to her brother "but as part of the Royal Family it's our duty to look after the citizens." Winter retorted, wiping the snow off his snout.
Snowfall sighed "we'll at least tell the guards." The young heirs ran down the hall and into a room labeled 'palace guards'. When they entered, the guards bowed and then rose their heads "Your Highnesses, is everything alright?" They shook their heads "we think we know Snowslide's next targets." A guard with a scar across their snout nodded "we are aware of the danger Snowlepoard and Gelid are in. As well as the Queen and Princess Crystal. Fortunately, we have protocols in place if the Gift of Death were to escape. They are in the palace, deep in the palace with many guards there."
The heirs smiled, looking at each other. "And the Gift of Anti-Animus?" Another guard spoke "is safe in the Vault of Gifts. Do not worry."
Winter sighed in relief and bowed "thank you, it puts our minds at ease." Snowfall, Icicle and Mink bowed, and the guards did the same. They left walking back down the hall and going to their rooms.
----
Winter flopped onto his bed and started to read a scroll, but he heard some scraping outside of his window. He put his book down and walked to the window, undoing the clasp and pushing the clear ice open. He looked around, but he heard a woosh. He looked down into the garden and saw two Icewing guards lying on the ground, with bright blue substances pooling out of them.
Winter looked closer and saw another Icewing there, blending into the snow. The Icewing looked up at him and raised it's tail, the spikes on the tip being covered in blue blood. He gasped and closed the window, locking it. Winter ran out his room and down the hall.
He saw some guards on patrol and ran up to them "SNOWSLIDE IS IN THE PALACE!" He yelled "TWO GUARDS ARE DEAD IN THE GARDEN!"
YOU ARE READING
The Letters You Send Me
FantasyWinter knows he's a disappointment. First, he falls in love with his sworn enemy, then he helps them to defeat a great evil before betraying their trust in the final battle to run off to his tribe. All while being mean to his clawmates. So he decide...
