Wings of Fire - Shattered Ice

Chapter 3

Verglas stared at his claws, turning them to let the moonlight illuminate the black scales traveling up them. He caught his reflection the frozen pond, staring at his NightWing features.

Who were my parents?

Suddenly, a branch snapped in half behind him. Verglas's reflection wasn't the only one near the pond now. 

Verglas whipped around, coming face to face with the shadow of a dragon, its features glitching and moving as it opened its jaws, laughing. 

He realized it was wearing a hood when it was ripped off, revealing a twisted and repulsive face. Yellow eyes burned into Verglas. Terrified, Verglas ran away as fast as he could.

The snowy tundra around him was enveloped by black smoke, and Verglas suddenly couldn't breathe. He hacked and coughed, fighting for air as his lungs felt as if they had turned to ice. 

The dragon shadow was now moving in, cackling as his razor-sharp teeth closed around Verglas's neck—

Verglas woke up in a horrible sweat. He was curled up under a tree, and the sun's blinding light stung his eyes. A clump of snow had fallen from the branches and right onto his head, jerking him awake. Shaking and breathing heavily, he got to his claws. 

What the heck was that?

He reassured himself that it was merely a dream, deciding that hunting would help him regain his bearings. 

Verglas trekked through the thick snow, away from the village, still a little shaken up. 

His sharp eyes noticed a skinny elk lumbering through the snow, clearly unaware of Verglas's presence. 

Getting into a crouch, he prepared to attack. But he was taken by complete surprise when a flash of silver scales sprung from the other side of him and hit the elk head on. 

To Verglas's bewilderment, Frostbite bit down on the elk's neck and looked up at Verglas calmly. 

"Perfect. Now you can join me for breakfast."

Having no choice but to follow, Verglas walked behind Frostbite nervously.

Please, no more surprises for today.

As they approached Frostbite's small hut, the old dragon placed the elk down on the snow, beckoning him inside.

After an awkward, mostly silent breakfast, Frostbite looked up at him, and Verglas hoped that he would relieve the tension.

"So. Do you know anything about your parents or family?"

Ah. Back to this conversation again. 

Feeling uncomfortable once more, Verglas shook his head.

"Hmph." Frostbite tapped his chin with a claw. "You see, my great grandfather was a SandWing."

Verglas certainly wasn't expecting that.

He cleared his throat. "Uh- really? You don't look . . ." Verglas trailed off, hoping that nothing he said would offend Frostbite. 

Frostbite grunted, then let out a gruff laugh. "Well of course not! After several generations, I only inherited IceWing genes." 

Feeling rather stupid, Verglas slumped in his chair. "Oh."

"At least the queen accepted my grandmother, the daughter of the SandWing."

Verglas was now more confused than ever.

"What? Queen Shard would never—"

"No, not Queen Shard. I'm talking about the Queen prior, Queen Lapis, who was actually a decent and fair queen. I respected her. However, you weren't born during her reign."