Envy and Newt set off to Jade Mountain, steadily flying to their destination. Envy began to wonder how many riddles there are, and where they would lead them. Were there a small number of them, perhaps three, but it was difficult to decipher and it lead them to dangerous places, like volcanoes or the Ice Kingdom? Envy gave himself a mental shrug.
Newt and Envy didn't talk too much during the flight. They both kept a close eye out-- the NightWings and the SkyWings could be settled near the Jade Mountain. Though, they had no reason to kill them-- well, the SkyWings had no reason to kill Newt, however, Envy was still a target to his own tribe.
After a long, awkward silence, Newt speaks up. "Is that the Jade Mountain?"
Envy looked forward, squinting his eyes. Through the clouds and mist was an enormous mountain that literally reached to the skies, past the clouds. The other mountains, who were smaller, could barely be compared to the Jade Mountain; it was humongous. The smaller mountains rise like mighty jagged teeth from the earth, creviced to perfection, sculpted by the rains and winters. The crown of rocky grey mountains with snow topped peaks always took Envy's breath away, even though he'd always see it outside of his window when he was in the palace. Newt seemed to be memorized by the landscape too-- an IceWing like him probably hasn't seen an actual rocky mountain in his life.
The dragons abruptly stopped in midair, hovering, steadily flapping their wings to stay in one place.
"Where would Caspian put a scroll.." Newt thought out loud. He craned his head towards the ground, and without using his mind-reading abilities, Envy already knew what Newt was thinking. "I say, let's try the very top first. It's predicable, but, It's good enough for now," Envy suggests. "Hurry! Before a NightWing guard sees us!"
The IceWing and NightWing flapped towards the apex of the mountain, passing through faint wisps of stratus cloud. Envy snorted at the water droplets that had formed when he passed through the fluffy clouds, and almost immediately, he was beginning to shiver. It was horribly cold the more they ascended up the mountain. Naturally, Newt was not bothered by the cold, and even dared to give Envy a cheeky grin every time he sees the prince shiver.
Envy beat his wings harder, trying to stir up heat. "Newt! Go check if there's a scroll up there! I'm about to freeze to death-- oh holy moons.."
Condensed mist rapidly came out of Envy's nostrils, only to disappear in seconds. "I won't be far," he reassures. "I'm only going a bit lower until I get enough heat."
"Right," Newt says. "Don't get yourself captured." Newt vanished into the white haze as he scaled up the mountain, his wingbeats fading into silence. Envy slowly descended down the Jade Mountain, going through the cloud layer again, hissing at the frigid cold droplets that formed on his scales. Almost in an instant, below the cloud layer, he felt warmth, enough warmth to subdue his shivering. Envy sighed satisfyingly. Now, he just needed to wait for Newt. He hoped the scroll was up there, somewhere in the snow or the rocks on the tip of Jade Mountain. It was too much of danger to go down the Jade Mountain, where other dragons roam. NightWing guards and soldiers could be posted around the area, and if one of them spotted Envy..
It'd probably be game-over for the prince.
Envy suddenly hissed, his head aching severely. He was blinded with flashing colorful spots and craved darkness, and he missed a wingbeat, for a moment hurtling towards the ground. Fear struck his heart as he quickly sensed that he was falling, and he hastily regulated his flying, breathing hard, attempting to concentrate on one thing at a time. The pain throbbed so violently around Envy's skull that he began to wonder why it didn't just crack open, and finally, the prince instantaneously saw a scene play out before his eyes.
Red and orange dragons hissed and snarled, blasting flame, but a few were hit by ice and a beams of some type of pale green energy or light. The injured dragons dropped to the floor, ice crawling up their chests and necks, only to be ignored by their fellow comrades. More and more SkyWings burst from the trees...
As the vision fades away, Envy could barely hear the the wind roaring around him anymore. All he felt, all he knew, was the pain of that moment. The rest of the world became detached; all he could concentrate on was the pain rooted deep in his head, and Envy lowered his head as he closed his eyes tightly.
"Envy?"
The prince heard a muffled, somewhat static-like voice come from somewhere. Slowly, his senses were returning to him, and the sound of the winds were crystal-clear. He whipped his body around. Newt had his talons wrapped around a frost-covered scroll.
"Oh," Envy said, rubbing the temples of his head softly. "You found it."
Newt nods. "It was under a large pile of snow, which makes sense. I mean, it's been there for, like-- centuries ago. Took me a while to dig it out."
Envy blinked, reviewing the vision that he had experienced. He hasn't had a vision in a while, for about three years, in fact. The last vision he had was three years ago, when Fateslayer almost got himself killed by trying to teach himself how to fly by jumping off of the mountain the NightWing palace was settled upon. He was lucky his precognition saved his brother's life, but ever since then, he hasn't seen a vision at all... until now.
"...Are you alright?"
Envy blinked again, his ears swiveling back and forth as he came back to his senses again. He didn't notice that he was getting carried away in his own thoughts and was apparently staring blankly at the shorter mountains in the fog. He turned to Newt. "Oh, my bad," he said, smiling with embarrassment. "Alright-- let's get to somewhere secluded and secure, and figure out these riddles."
Envy and Newt dove towards the ground, trying to get to the floor before a dragon spots them.
"Are there any caves around here?" Newt asks as he folded his wings once he landed. Envy gently lands on the ground, setting his haunches onto the dirt ground before he went back to his quadrupedal form. "I'm not entirely sure," Envy answered. "But, perhaps there is. Maybe towards the Rainforest Kingdom? Going into the SkyWing territory is WAY to dangerous, and I'm not going over there."
"Back to the RainWings we go..." Newt grunts.
Promptly, dragons in multiple hues of red and orange slithered around trees, leaping over boulders and surrounding Envy and Newt. The light gray spikes on Envy's back shot outwards, sticking out like a porcupine, and the spikes on the back of Newt's back flared with alarm. They were now surrounded by countless SkyWing soldiers. Envy's eyes were widen with terror, his breathing harsh and ragged. He tug his trembling talons into the soft dirt as he eyed the sky dragon's menacing expressions. They began to grin, as if they were pleased by Envy's anxiety.
"Tsk tsk... I don't think you two are going anywhere."
A dark, merlot red SkyWing came forward, the soldiers moving out of her way so she could move pass. Her neck and tail were so long, probably as long as four full grown pythons stuck together. She was almost literally glittering with jewelry; all of her talons had golden rings with large rubies, and tourmaline gems were embedded around the ridges of her eyes and the base of her wings. Larger than all of her soldiers, Envy could instantly tell who this was.
"Queen Ruby?" He said.
"The prince recognizes me! Oh, and it looks like little ol' Newt is here too. Such an iconic, and powerful duo... Never expected to see an IceWing and a NightWing together. I'd love to have you two in my kingdom. With you two's abilities... ha, the SkyWings will be indestructible, don't you two understand?"
"How do you know we hav--" Envy was abruptly cut off by the queen's words.
"Haven't you seen the latest scrolls? Everyone knows about this!" Ruby grinned evilly, swaying her tail as she opened her enormous wings. "Queen Starflicker wrote a fascinating story about how you attacked King Beastslayer and that little scene you did during the Moon Festival! And you, oh little Newt..."
Ruby lowered her diamond-shaped head, craning her head down towards Newt's level. "Queen Snowfall already has a magnificent scroll about you and your little heritage.. You can't hide forever, you know this."
The scowl on Newt's face was fierce, even making Envy shiver a little, but Ruby was unaffected by the black IceWing's looks. She moved back, chuckling.
"Alright, Your Highness," Newt suddenly snarls, unfurling his wings. "Choice your royal preference. Die right here, right now, or leave Envy and I alone."
Envy looked at Newt, wanting to scream, "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" but all of the air in his body seemed to be sucked out with the SkyWings near him. They were so big, so bulkly, so-- scary. How does Newt have the balls to even speak to the SkyWing queen like that?
Ruby scoffed a laugh, her soldiers behind her joining her. She smashed her talons onto Newt's tail, not bothering by the sharp spikes. Newt yelped in pain. "I'll be real with you two," the queen said, her tone more stern than before. "I want that goddamn gem, and you two are the key at destroying anyone who dares to get in the way of my progress. I knew one of you were here, looking for clues..."
Ruby cleared her throat. "We all should be heading back to my palace now. Guards--"
Envy reached for a razor-edged rock that was halfway buried underneath the dirt, and he stabbed Queen Ruby's tail, piercing her scales completely. Ruby screeched in agony as Newt used all of his force to escape from Ruby's claws, scrambling away from the furious queen.
The soldiers immediately attack, roaring as they blasted flame from almost every direction, lighting the ground and nearby trees. Envy ducked, merely dodging most of the gusts of fire before one blast of flame crashed into the base of his right wing. Envy cried in pain, gritting his teeth.
"Run!" Newt screamed, blasted ice breath at the nearest guards before he bolted for the forest. Ice crawled up their bodies in seconds, the infected scales were turning black from the intense frostbite. They collapse, most likely deceased.
Envy didn't have to be told twice, though, he quickly inhaled some air, allowing the heat to buildup in his body. He then shot a focused beam of energy at a few SkyWings, causing the ones in the crossfire to be critically injured from the impact. Envy watched as their burns bubbled and sizzled, their screams of agony was almost overwhelming painful to his ears.
Envy finally dug his talons deep into the earth and launched himself forward, sprinting after his friend. His breath came in small spurts, hot and nervous as kept his eyes forward; follow Newt. Don't get distracted. Don't get mauled.
"SEIZE THEM!" Ruby screams.
Behind him, Envy could hear the baying roars of the guards and jeering laughter of his enemies. They sounded like a group of dragonets at a hatching day party. They were enjoying this. They liked two terrified dragonets running away from them, in horror, as they try to survive.
Mud splattered onto his face as he smashed his talons into a puddle of muck while in pursuit.
His lungs and heart were pumping, but the air didn't seem to be enough as he sprinted forward, watching the forest trees speed past him in a blur.
"Run all you want, NightWing!" A SkyWing soldier yells. "There's no hiding now!"
"Numbers may give you balls, but not brains!" Envy cockily remarked as he leapt over a small brook. He looked around for Newt, just noticing that he had lost sight of him. "NEW--"
Envy, all of a sudden, frantically dug his front talons into the ground, forcing his body to a stop as he noticed he had ran to a cliff, instinctively flaring his wings with panic. The cliff rose sheer from the jungle, towering ramparts of stone, glinting jade-blue and dull crimson in the afternoon sun. On the other side was a lower-sided cliff, full of lush, widespread trees and other vegetation. It was too far to jump to from this cliff alone-- even with a few flaps of his wings. Envy's precognition didn't have to show him that.
"Dammit!" Envy cursed as he backpedaled, looking for another escape route. A few feet away was a large, dead tree that hung from the edge of another part of the ragged cliff. Without another thought, Envy bolted towards it. Even with his burnt wing, Envy took a great flap to aid his jump once he leapt onto the tree, gripping onto the branches as he pushed himself up onto more sturdy branches.
"Stupid move, dragonet!" A voice says. The SkyWing's wingbeats were getting louder and louder as seconds past. I need to hurry.
Taking a deep breath, Envy launched himself off of the tree, praying to the moons that he'd make it across. Envy screamed was he crashed into the thick trees that were on the other side of the cliff. As the trees hurtled towards the prince, Envy hit the floor roughly, tumbling across the ground as he coughed up dust and dirt.
"Find him!" A SkyWing yells. Envy stayed low, holding his breath as the leaves of the trees rustled loudly from the sky dragon's powerful wings. A few minutes at passed.
"Dammit! I can't find him!" A SkyWing hissed. "These trees! Ugh!"
"Ruby is gonna be angry... oh dear moons," another one says.
The trees were too thick for the SkyWings to get through. Envy could barely even see sunlight from the amount of leaves that blocked the sky, and he huffed. It was almost as if it was nighttime.
He quietly got back onto his talons, and took a step back as he listened to the sky dragon's deafening wingbeats.
Where's Newt? He thought. Where--
Suddenly, something wrapped around Envy's back talons, and SNAP!
Envy was unexpectedly whipped across the trees at great speeds, but during the process, his head slammed onto a tree.
Instantly, he was knocked unconscious.