The Only RainWing in the War

Hailstorm

     Zircon's POV:

     So cold. Ugh. The Ice kingdom was freezing when we got there. It was almost evening, the sun was setting in other words. We needed to find a place for shelter.

     Clay wrapped his wings around us, protecting us from the wind as best he could. I had a bit of heat from my scales, but I knew Sunny would have more because she was a SandWing.

     Starflight was curling up in the snow: he read somewhere that some species used snow as a blanket from the cold, so he wanted to try it. Sunny was small, but she was trying to mimic Clay's position: just from the inside. Tsunami was trying to stay tall and fierce against the wind.

     I broke off from the rest and shouted over the wind, "I'll go get us some shelter!"

     The heat from my scales was enough to protect me slightly from the bitter cold. It didn't feel much warmer, mind you: I just wouldn't freeze to death.

     A few minutes later I found a cave. I called the others over, and we all piled up inside.

     It protected us from the wind because it twisted a little, and we got a few big rocks to block most of the entrance. Then in the corner of the cave, I started a fire. My blue sparks emitted a light onto dirt, and when I dug it up I found some frozen and preserved roots. I dug them out and that's what I made the fire with.

     Later into the night, we heard a howl echo around. Sunny froze, Tsunami bared her teeth, Clay looked a bit frightened, and Starflight looked VERY frightened. I just listened as it died down.

     "Glory," I said.

     The others looked at me like I was crazy. I shrugged. "She must have been howling for someone, anyone who wasn't an IceWing. I guess she's cold."

     "So what do we do?" Clay asked. "How do we find her? She's probably hiding somewhere."

     "We retaliate to the howl," I said calmly.

     "Oh, wonderful. Any of us been taking choir?" Tsunami snapped.

     "No... but I didn't mean that way, Tsunami."

     A few minutes later, we were outside. It was a brilliant night filled with aquamarine Aurora Borealis, the stars shining. Not a cloud in our area of the sky.

     The sun was still kind of setting, leaving a golden/orange glow outlined with red on one side of the sky. Above us was an inky-blue/black sky punctuated with the little dots that were stars. Purple was outlining most of the sky, and it was beautiful.

     Once more, the howl echoed around. It bounced off Ice spikes, and otherwise just floated around. The sound was magical. Yet there was something sad and desperate about it.

     I looked up at the sky and built up my fire. I had been practicing this for when it would be needed.

     It flew out of me in sparks and flame. It shot up into the air, and with a BOOM my fire exploded in the sky. Blue lined with white, hints of purple, gold, and a bit of orange/red flew through the sky, shimmered, and then vanished.

     I ignored the faces of the dragonets as I watched the sky.

     "Fireworks," Starflight said with wonder.

     Another howl. This time, it sounded closer, more desperate, and yet not as sad: more hopeful.

     I shot more sparks into the sky, exploding in shades of casket blue, indigo, and aquamarine.