Two weeks earlier....
Firefly sighed. Whatever Queen Glory wanted her for, it had better be important. She hated leaving her dragonets, especially now, when they were in an unfamiliar place. And there was the fact that Coal wasn't there with them. Coal. Their dragonets were the closest thing she had to him now and even they were half a continent away at the moment.
"I want you to enchant something." Glory explained. "I know it is against the law to use animus magic in a war, and I'm not going to make you kill anyone, but I just need a way to ensure some dragons survive this war." Firefly pondered the instruction. Could she really waste part of her soul to protect someone she probably didn't even know? There had to be some way that this could be more fair.
"Alright," she agreed. "I'll do it on two conditions. One, this is the only time my power will be used for this war. Two, I get to add a name of someone I want protected."
"Deal." They shook on it, and Firefly got to work. She got a blank scroll and thought of how to word it.
I enchant this scroll so that any dragon whose name is written on it will not die in the current war.
Seemed simple enough. She quickly wrote down the names Glory had asked for and then paused at the bottom. Should I?...She thought back to the night before Coal had left for training. He had been strongly against her using her power to help him. "It isn't fair. It isn't right." he had said. But then she thought of other things. The scared look on Dawn's face as she asked if Coal was going to die, how she had felt when he had traded himself for her...I'm sorry Coal, she thought to herself. But I can't lose you. She took a deep breath, and wrote Coal's name on the scroll.
Now...
I'm going to die, Apple thought to herself. The thought was on repeat in her head as the Icewings flew her far away from the rainforest. I am going to die. I am going to die and they're going to show my dead body to my parents. I am going to- STOP IT!! The Icewings had stopped to rest for the night in a small clearing. Apple was to remain against a tree, with one of them watching her every second. I have to escape. Her mind track switched. I have to go home, I can't leave Mother all by herself, I have to escape. But how?
There was a seawing in the rainforest. Normally this was not a big deal. Since Glory had become Queen, Tsunami had come and gone randomly, and then Turtle had, and then there was Kelp, of course. But this seawing was different, and he looked scared. Joy recognized him and quickly stopped him before someone mistook his for a seawing soldier and accidentally killed him.
"Geyser? What are you doing here?" she hissed. Geyser's eyes widened. Oh by all the moons, he thought to himself. Why do I have to tell her? Why me? I didn't want to die!
"There's been a...." he began. "He uh....Something's happened." Joy rolled her eyes.
"No way. We're in a war and something happened? I never would've guessed. What has happened?" Geyser itched at the back of his neck.
"Just.....Don't kill me okay?" he pleaded. Joy grew still with realization. Kelp had been visiting Geyser for an update. He was supposed to be back by now. Where was he?
"Where is Kelp?" she demanded. Geyser shrunk down. Joy was growing mad, and she almost seemed to get bigger. She grabbed him by the neck. "What have you done with my husband, Geyser?"
"It wasn't my fault!" he blurted. "The seawings came out of nowhere! He made sure I got away but it was too late for him and they took him. I'm so sorry Joy."
"Took him where?" Joy's voice wavered with panic.
"I'm not sure. Probably the dungeons if they haven't killed him already." Joy released her grip and stepped back in shock. Her scales faded from red into a pale green. She shook her head.
"No. He can't be dead." she insisted.
"It doesn't look good, Joy."
"He CAN'T be!" she yelled before taking off into the sky. Geyser gulped, surprised he had actually lived. Great, he remembered. Now I have to tell the Queen.
Coal gasped in shock. The Icewing spear should've killed him. He should be dead. But instead, the Icewing that had nearly killed him lay dead on the ground, his own spear stuck in his chest. Coal fell to the ground, an odd sensation going through him. He felt at his chest, but there was nothing there. No wounds, not even a scratch. What the heck? It didn't make any sen- Oh no. Realization slammed into him. Something had stopped him from dying. But it wasn't just something; it was someone. Firefly....Before he could think more, there was a yell from behind him. Coal snapped to attention as a familiar scream shot through the air.
"Squelch!" he called out, rushing to try and help his friend before it was too late.
Firefly and Adobe stared at the boards with the rest of the nervous dragons in the room. Every day a Sandwing would come and erase the names, only to write new ones. Firefly watched it enough to know the patterns. Dragons that fell under the missing or prisoner list usually ended up on the dead one days later. Anyone on the wounded list that didn't come to the stronghold also ended up on the dead one. Wounded dragons with an A next to their names would be next seen missing a limb. There was no winning with the board. The board was the most evil thing in the world, even worse than the war itself. The board, in Firefly's eyes, was nothing more than a death sentence. As the last name was written for the day, and the Sandwing left, dragons crowded around, praying that they wouldn't recognize anyone. But for once, Firefly did. Her heart sank as she read the missing list and spotted the names Ember, Hopeseeker, and Rainkeeper. It sank even further as she noticed Nightflyer's name on the wounded list, but thankfully there was no A next to it. More dragons survived without the A than with it. Adobe let out a shriek suddenly and Firefly's eyes shot over to where she was looking. She bit back a gasp at the name, to afraid to look up and see which list he fell under.
Squelch was on one of the lists.