Dracoponian
They think I'm stupid just because I can't talk. At least, that Echo does. The looks she gives me. The scowls. I stare at the stormy gray sky, which is my kind of weather. Ahead are the mountains. I hear something, and turn my head to look back. Fire dragons. I know that one of the mountains is actually a volcano, but I didn't expect to see other dragons. Especially fire dragons. Well, I guess I had just hoped not to see them. I speed up, flapping my wings harder and harder. I don't trust fire dragons. We dragons all have histories with one another, and ours isn't good. And it didn't help when one of them ripped my tongue out. I glance at the fire dragons again. They haven't noticed me. I slow down a bit, so that I'm not too tired, and look at the mountains. Home.
I don't know if they'll welcome me back. I don't care. I came because something was telling me to go there. Pulling me there. Suddenly, something bumps into me. I swivel around to see the fire dragons glaring at me, and I hover. The one that bumped into me narrows his eyes. "Ice dragon," he mutters. "What do you want?" I glare at him. A bigger fire dragon swoops up to me.
"Do you think you're too smart to answer us?" A tendril of smoke comes up from his snout. I feel sick from the heat, but don't move, as it would be a sign of weakness. I steady my wings to completely stop in the air, and look at them square in the eye. Another fire dragon, the biggest of the three, flies to me.
"Hmm. A lone ice dragon.. I wonder if anyone would notice if he suddenly disappeared?" she asks, twirling her talon in the air. I know a threat when I hear one. I snap my mouth open, summon a blast of freezing ice, and blast it at her. She widens her amber eyes and dodges, twirling gracefully in the air.
"Ha!" the smallest dragon shouts. "He can't talk! You can take him on your own, big sister!"
I snarl silently, and launch myself at the older one, who is laughing. I scrape her wing with my claw and she blasts fire in fury, aiming for my leg. It hits the target, and open my mouth in a screaming motion as it begins to burn my scales off. In a panic, I blast my leg with frigid air, extinguishing the flames. Then, I smack my spiky tail into her face. She roars, dives to my underbelly, and swipes. I kick her with my back leg, and she hisses. Then, she blasts fire into my face. It hits, and I plummet towards the earth. She dives after me, and bites my wing. I try to fly, but I can't focus with all the heat. She jeers at me. I try to do something, but she's not giving me a single second to defend myself. I limply kick her snout. She doesn't move, and then laughs when I struggle with the air. I suddenly find my strength, and right when I'm about to hit the ground, I grab her by the tail and smack her onto it, causing dust to go everywhere. She lays there, groaning.
I rapidly dart back towards the mountain peak. It might seem stupid, but the fire dragons are nothing compared to the dangers of the mountain woods. The other dragons realize that their comrade is lying there on the ground, and one of them goes down to help her. The others quickly surround me, and I mutely growl. I'm trapped.
The biggest one yet shoves his snout in mine. "We're not going easy on you, little dragon. Our sssissster did. That was a mistake." I whack him in the eyes with my tail, and he flies sideways. "Brothersss! Sssissstersss! Attack!" he yells. One of them grabs my wings so that I can't fly away, and another my tail. I summon an icy blast, but almost immediately, the first, small dragon snaps my mouth shut. I try to kick or scratch them, but it's no use. Instead, I just lift my head as much as possible, and I glare at them. If they're going to kill me, I'll go down like a warrior. The one that was first flying in the back howls with laughter at my defiant expression. Some others join her. The dragon who I thought had been defeated is slowly flying towards me with a deadly expression in her eyes. She jabs my underbelly several times. I'm starting to feel tired and dizzy. As she rears back for a killing blow, a flash of silver-white crashes into her.
"Who are you?" she roars. I widen my eyes as I realize that it's a dragon, an ice dragon, and one that I recognize. Storm, I mouth at her. She grins and nods. The other fire dragons are scowling and waiting for an order to attack. Storm slashes at the leader, recognizing his smug, leader-ish aura. He opens his mouth to breath fire, and Storm blasts ice into it. He gasps.
"Take that!" she roars. "And that! And that!" Storm bites him with every that, and eventually he backs away.
"Retreat!" The fire dragons look at him.
"But, eldesst brother, we can take them,"
"What, ssso that an army appearss? He sssaid, retreat!" one objects. They sigh and turn towards their mountain. They drop me and I fall. Storm grabs me.
"You came back," I grin. She narrows her silver eyes at my mouth. "We can fix that. I told you I would make the doctorss find a cure. And I did." I try to mouth, help, but I black out from pure exhaustion.
...
I wake up to see an ice gate. Several dragon guards are there. "I'm taking you to the doctorssss," Storm explains. I'm on the snowy ground. I heave myself up and walk to the gate. She follows. "He'sss back," Storm says to the guards. They gasp and open the gate. "Ssoon you'll be able to tell your sstoriess of what happened to you out there!" Storm exclaims. I met Storm when I was little, and we became best friends. When I lost my ability to speak protecting my sister from fire dragons, Storm helped me. When I broke my wing in a race, Storm took me to the doctors. When Storm's mother and father died in the war, I helped her. We've always looked out for each other, and she's the only one that I told I was going to leave.
"Hello," the doctor says, and then bows. We have arrived at the doctor's room. "We found a cure for you... Dragonflower petalssss and ssssome other things." She works on the un-cursing. "It's done," she says. I open my mouth to test it out. "Wait," the doctor orders. "You have injuriess, and you shouldn't talk for about an hour." He treats my wounds and we leave. Storm talks all the way to my old home. We find my mother in the middle of a discussion with the war council.
"Empress Ssscalia?" Storm asks, and bows. Mother stiffens as she sees me.
"The war council is dismissed. We will continue our discussion at the chosen time," she orders. "Sstorm," she scowls. She doesn't approve of our friendship, as Storm is only a 'lowly citizen'. "You may leave uss." Storm hesitates, then bows her head, and obediently leaves the room.
"Mother." I don't look at her. It feels wonderful to speak again. I could drown in all of the words I can say now.
"Sson." I look straight into her ice blue eyes, which are so cringe worthily similar to mine. "Prince Dracoponian. Why did you come?" I almost snark, because I like muffins, but I stop myself.
"Becausse you need my help." My mother lets out a chuckle.
"No. We don't." She seems shaky and unsure as she says this, as if they did.
"Ssstop it!" I order. She looks up, shocked. "I'm the only heir to the throne, now that Drali isss dead! So don't lie to me! I'm not worthlessss!" Drali was my sister.
"You did it," my mother says, exhaling frost. "You raisssed your voice becausse I didn't obey you. Being in the world hasss taught you ssomething."
"SSSO YOU WANTED ME TO ALMOSST BE KILLED? YOU WANTED TO BE A CARELESSS MOTHER? YOU WANTED ALL THISS SSSO THAT I COULD RULE BETTER?" I roar at her. I pause as I hear thundering footsteps as my father comes into the room.
"Dracoponian?" he asks. "Sstop yelling at your mother! The whole world can hear you! The fire dragonss will come and attack. Can't you jusst leave?" I whip around towards the door.
"Yess, I can and I will." I confirm. Storm, who has been waiting for me outside the door, whispers to me,
"Can't I come with you? There'ss nothing here now." She gestures around.
I'm about to agree when my mother screams, "She'ss just a citizen! She should bow to you! If thiss happens, the citizens will rebel and join the fire dragonss. You, along with uss, will burn." As a response, I growl, softly and dangerously.
"Ssso let me burn," I say, gesturing for Storm to follow me as I leave the room without looking back.
...
Storm and I watch the volcano erupt. The scorch reaches us, from halfway down the mountain range. I can hear ice dragons screaming, and flying down the mountains with amazing speed. Thunder dragons and sky dragons join them. The fire dragons are flying in and out of the lava. "We've got to help," I say. "Even if my parents don't deserve it, there are good, innocent dragons that do." Storm nods, and we turn back.
Blisters and ashes float in the boiling air. The fire dragons have seen us, and are throwing embers. Almost everyone has evacuated, and we are scanning the area. I hear a faint whining, and I lock eyes with Storm. "Chick," she whispers in horror. "It's Frillia's. I recognize it." We follow the sound of the baby dragon, until we find it surrounded in fire. I breathe ice onto the lava. It won't do much, though. I keep blasting ice and frost while Storm, the fastest dragon I know, swoops down and grabs the chick. She collapses from the heat, until both her and the chick are surrounded by lava. I gasp, grit my teeth, and dive towards them. The heat blasts me back. Storm is wrapping her ice-cold wings around the chick, trying to protect it. She summons ice to breathe at the lava, but it's no use. I see a fire dragon.
"Help!" I plead. The dragon snarls at me and flies on. I ask several others, but none of them care. Rage floods through me. I realize that none of them are going to help, whatever I say. I fly towards the lava, not caring if I die, and blast a silvery-blue substance out of my mouth at the lava. It freezes. I do, too.
Storm helps the dragon come up and asks me, "What was that?" I shrug. "It looked... It looked like icesilver," she breathes.
"What? That's impossible! Only heroes can use icesilver. True, born heroes." Storm looks at me sharply.
"You were about to sacrifice yourself for us. That's what a hero would do." I'm silent for a while. We fly down the mountain, until I remember something.
"Storm?"
"Yes?"
"Look."
"That's... That's an egg!" she says, surprised, as I show her the egg Shadow found in that box, all that time ago.
"My friend found it," I explain. "She thought it was a stone!" We laugh for a bit.
"That reminds me. You should tell me what happened out there. And where we're going," Storm says. I tell her about Shadow and the others. About the Hunters. The crab. Wittnor. The goblins. How we're trying to stop the war.
She breathes, "There's so much out there, in the world." She swoops upwards to deliver the chick, who is squealing for it's family, and comes back to me.
"I've been keeping an eye out for a new home for us," I reveal. "It isn't safe, with fire dragons everywhere here."
"It isn't," Storm agrees slowly. "But... Maybe it would be better to fight." I look at her sharply.
"Oh, that would be preferable. But we need more dragons with us."
"What about dragons who have lost family members, like you? You want revenge for your sister. Others will feel the same."
"Yes, but who will listen to me?" I explode. "It's just me and you. What can we do?" Storm glares at me, shocked.
"Talk to me when you find Dracoponian, will you? I know he would feel hope!" she flies away. I sigh. Why can't she see that it's nearly impossible? Hmmph. I guess I can see where she's coming from, though. I look for her and find her.
"Alright, I'm sorry!" I apologize.
"So what do you say?" she asks.
"Ok. let's do this."