CryoFangs bowed before the older dragoness, she radiated a power that only Eis seemed to share. She's the Wyrmwood Queen, Queen Sselvu. A Royal. She remembered vaguely, but where's King Weeper, her mate?

"Hmmm," went Sselvu quietly, "an Aquaz, three HallowFrosts, and a PyreWing... an odd group of outsiders. Say, you there-" the Queen directed her voice and attention towards CryoFangs. "State your name, and a believable explanation for being here."

The HallowFrost rose to meet her stern golden eyes, "my name is CryoFangs, Your Majesty. Me and my group have come here with an urgent mission..." by order of my long-dead ancestor Shiverthorn? "And we request your tribe's help in finding anyone who may know the location of the Animus Assailant."

Queen Sselvu seemed to hold back a laugh as she eyed the lowly dragoness, "the Animus Assailant? My dear, that jewel has been lost to the ages, and what sort of a mission are you involved in, exactly? A bit more detail would be appreciated, CryoFangs."

The way her name was pronounced made her scales crawl, it must be a... Royal thing, she sighed mentally, keeping her face set and disallowing her annoyance to show. "My mission is to stop a SchattenSeele named VileHeart the Wretched before he gains enough strength to possess one of the tribe rulers, the Animus Assailant is the only thing that can stop him, and I was told that I could seek out the help of some Elders-"

"Stop!" Sselvu barked, the dragon ceased speaking, "before I even begin to fathom what your true purpose is, I am not just going to give an outsider- especially a peasant- my help immediately. I'll need you to prove to me that you can be trusted with my help before anything else, got it?"

CryoFangs felt the word "peasant" stab her in the chest like a dagger, anger and realization that she was far from being worthy of a Royal's attention sank in quickly, her ears drooped the slightest bit as she strained herself from showing her true emotions. "Yes, Your Majesty," she said clearly, "what do I have to do to earn your... trust?"

Sselvu had an odd glimmer in her eyes as she looked over the group again, the Elder dragon beside her was giving the Queen anxious looks, as if he wasn't sure what to do in her presence. As CryoFangs looked at him, she saw an odd, impossibly black ring of scales around the old dragon's dark green neck, the ring seemed to absorb the sunlight around it, making it almost totally void of color. That's weird... what is that? She wondered, and as she gazed at him, the Elder met her stare with his jade eyes.

A jolt of apprehension seized her guts, as if he had spooked her somehow when their eyes locked. What in the moons? She wondered, quickly snapping to attention as Sselvu's throat cleared.

"I'll explain more once we are inside-- come along now." She sniffed, flicking her tail as she gracefully whirled around, the odd Elder following her.

"Tail-eater!" EmberWrath coughed sarcastically from beside CryoFangs, actually causing the group to chuckle amongst themselves as they slipped inside the Palace, out from under the piercing gazes of the guards.

Who knew it would take a simple word to put me down? She sighed heavily in her head, giving a sad sideways glance to Eis, I'm technically not even allowed to speak before him, Royals are supposed to speak first. I've broken so many rules in the social ladder for that dragon, I swear-

She sighed through her nose as they walked further into the Palace, the wooden floor scraped up with claw marks and all sorts of other things, she tried to cheer herself up by remembering what Eis had told her, that she wasn't a peasant in his eyes, but it really didn't help when a Queen from a different tribe clearly disdained her lower subjects- and had displayed such before her eyes. Or maybe it's just me...

She gave another sideways glance in Eis' direction, the prince was curiously taking in his surroundings before his captivating violet eyes locked on hers, upon seeing her expression, he tilted his head and whispered: "are you alright?"

She went to speak an answer, but Queen Sselvu had cleared her throat importantly. "CryoFangs, bring Thorne and your handsome friend here along-- follow me. The rest of you can stay here." She ordered, the two HallowFrosts and the Wyrmwood quickly split off from the group, the three stood there, in the middle of the Throne room, with slightly confused expressions. Nimbus looked extremely eager to follow them, but refusing her order probably meant a punishment on his end.

The Elder Wyrmwood, she noticed, wasn't coming along, rather he headed for a hallway just beyond the thrones to the right of the pine room, his one talon clasped on the back of his bandaged head.

CryoFangs saw that they were leaving the Throne room and were heading for a hallway on the left side of the room, she distantly wondered just where the Queen was taking them. She was once again left to her thoughts even as she felt Eis' talon subconsciously take hers:

Ok... perhaps she's taking us to a room so we can explain everything? I hope so, and hopefully my peasant self isn't cast off somewhere by hers truly.

Ugh... "peasant," it's been so long since I've heard that word directed at me... last time I heard that was... she sighed depressingly, was when my parents were still alive...

She spared a glance at Eis again, I know what you told me, but for how long will you let me be your equal? How long until you decide I'm not worthy of your respect?

CryoFangs felt her next sentence stab her: how long do I have until you don't love me anymore?

She felt as if she was overreacting over all of this, first of all: did the prince love her, or just like her? Cryo wasn't really sure about that, and her feelings for him had been escalating beyond friendship somewhat quickly after their moment the other night. Do I... love him? Probably... but what of him? Does he think the same of me?

CryoFangs then thought back to what started all of this thinking: Queen Sselvu and her attitude. She wouldn't just toss one of the last remaining HallowFrosts aside like that, right? Surely she's fairer than that... right?

She sighed for the millionth time in a row: I hope so.

"Is everything ok, Cryo?" Whispered the prince, making her realize that he had been studying her closely as they walked behind Sselvu, his eyes held an honest concern for her.

"I..." I'm fine? I'm not fine? Why can't I ever be ok in front of you? "I'm... fine."

He frowned sadly, "no, you're not. CryoFangs, you're lying to yourself and me," he said earnestly, "when she's done with us, I want you to talk to Nimbus and me about what's going on- we'll listen. Alright?"

She felt tears prickle in the corners of her eyes as she nodded, feeling her heart jump as Eis trailed a talon down the side of her face. "Good, now- I think she's found the place we're looking for-"

Indeed, the Wyrmwood Queen was ushering them into a simple, dimly-lit room, and upon going in, CryoFangs was met with a simple wooden table in the middle of the room. A beautifully-carved chair was present at the table, along with other, less-magnificent wooden chairs. The room was devoid of any embellishments except for a deep-green banner on the back wall, it was outlined in golden silk with a Wyrmwood's roaring face in the middle, falling leaves present around it, it too outlined in gold. That must be the Wyrmwood's Crest... I wonder what the HallowFrost Crest looks like. Is it just as magnificent?

She shook herself as the Queen sat down, her golden gaze demanding that they sat down, the three dragons did so. CryoFangs shifted on her wooden seat, the hard surface dug into her rear and made her hiss mentally, she shifted and leaned over the table, resting her talon on her chin as the older dragoness gazed at the trio. Thorne sat on her right side, and Eis was on her left as he shut the door behind him, his tail wrapped around hers reassuringly.

"Alright-- first off: who is he?" Sselvu asked clearly, flicking a claw at the white HallowFrost, who blinked slowly.

"My name is Eis, Prince Eis, I am the son of Queen Blizzard and King Bitterkill." He introduced himself, "my... friend here is CryoFangs, but you already--"

"My dear Eis, surely you mean she's your servant- not a friend, right? Royals hardly ever strike a friendship with the lower class, even if they are as conniving as this one, who thinks she can speak to you however."

Conniving? Please-

"CryoFangs is my... friend." The way he said "friend" sounded almost strained, like the word bugged him. "I do not wish to treat her as my servant, Queen Sselvu- we are equals, whether you like it or not."

The Wyrmwood seemed to narrow her eyes at the female HallowFrost, as if trying to say with her eyes: "you're going to pay for that, y'know?"

Sselvu spoke with a clear, snippy tone, "well then- with that out of our way, shall I explain my expectations of you, CryoFangs?"

CryoFangs nodded, "yes, Your Majesty..."

"Good. Now then, for as long as you are under my Palace's roof, you are expected to follow the Wyrmwood rules- this means: you aren't allowed to speak to anyone unless spoken to; you aren't allowed to use any dangerous magic, should you possess it; us Royals such as myself and Weeper have full reign over you, we can stop you from doing what we deem as wrong; and... that's all. Any questions?"

Yeah, here's one: why so damn strict? "Er... do these rules apply to me, or do they apply to the rest of my group too?"

"They apply to everyone, my dear. Why, do you think I'm targeting you?" She asked suspiciously, making CryoFangs fight the urge to blurt out a yes. She shook her head to avoid any sort of argument between them, causing the Queen to calm down slightly, her puffed-out chest deflated as she gazed at Thorne.

"Thorne- relay the rules to her little group and go help your father." She ordered.

"Y-Yes, Your Majesty," he took off out the door hurriedly, leaving the HallowFrosts behind. CryoFangs gazed into Sselvu's eyes, who only gazed back with a harsh intensity as she sighed heavily. "Well then, CryoFangs, I'm ready to hear of your little... mission in finer detail. Go on- explain what you must."

The dragon sighed, remembering all the details she could, remembering when the Book of Bloodlines was opened and Shiverthorn's message; their SchattenSeele encounter, then of Thorne needing their assistance. Occasionally, Eis helped her along with things she remembered incorrectly, and soon she was finished, looking at Sselvu expectantly.

"Well..." the Queen began slowly, "the Animus Assailant, as I told you, has been lost to the ages... but, a few of the Elders have acquired some form of information on it, but I'm not sure if any of them will just tell you straight up if you ask them."

"They'll have to give up the info, if they know of our power," Eis said, "surely they know of Shiverthorn's legend, right? That's how we figured out the Assailant exists."

"Perhaps you are right, Eis. I'll talk to the few who studied on it, maybe I can get them to believe what you both told me."

"As for you-" she glanced at Cryo, "in the meantime, you are to assist Thorne with his father, you must follow what they tell you, and he will know when to come to me if you screw up. Got it?"

"Do I get any help from my friends during-"

"No."

CryoFangs huffed, crossing her arms. "You're kidding, right? I'm doing this alone?"

Sselvu hissed lowly, "did I stutter, peasant?"

She narrowed her eyes and gave the Queen a glare as cold as her breath, anger welling up within her like a growing snowstorm. Queen Sselvu rose to her feet and, upon brushing past CryoFangs, snatched the dragon fiercely by the ear and dragged her out the door, causing her to hiss in pain and try pushing away from Her Majesty's iron grip.

As she was let go, she whirled around to snarl at Sselvu, who only gave her a savage glare before slamming the door in her face. CryoFangs felt her anger only grow in intensity, she was sure that, if she were surrounded by snow, it would be whipping around wildly with her emotions. CryoFangs about lunged at the door, her claws twitching to dig into something. Instead, she took a deep breath and tried calming down, storming down the sunlit hall and leaving an air of crackling anger behind her, her frosty breath was manifesting as a cold steam that rose from the depths of her throat.

As she walked, she growled and snorted to herself as there was nothing to freeze with her breath, freezing Her Majesty's face would send me to the guillotine, she huffed mentally, I guess calming down and hoping I can eventually apologize is a... better alternative.

CryoFangs felt the eyes of a guard trail towards her, she avoided making contact by swiftly stalking off towards the hallway beyond the thrones, internally whining as her ear throbbed painfully. She soon had to stop her quick pace as she leaned against the wall, her wheezy breaths almost amplified to her ears as her lungs ached.

It wasn't that uncommon for her to experience a moment like this after swiftly moving on her feet, and, for the past few days, she really hadn't been moving slow at all, her lungs needed a break. It wouldn't hurt, would it? Just a break? She wondered to herself, if only I had some Lungroot... but I don't...

She remembered clearly the time she had in HallowFrost Territory and the hours she spent studying Alchemy with Nimbus; Lungroot grew in the forested areas near the mountains, but it was, unfortunately, quite a rare find, which made for particularly painful and anxiety-inducing "breathless episodes" when they happened.

Luckily, this wasn't one of those moments. Thank the Holy Ruler for that, she thought with a faint smile. After catching her breath, she began her walk again, but slower. CryoFangs realized that she was heading for a large, sunlit room up ahead, and as she neared it, the scent of medical herbs hit her nostrils, must be the Infirmary, she realized, a jolt of happiness went through her at the thought of gaining access to Lungroot.

Cryo slipped through the entryway and into a quiet room full of patients and Healers, and as she gazed around, she found Thorne tending to the Elder dragon with the weird black ring around his neck. The bed of moss he lay upon sagged under his weight, his old wings splayed across the floor. She walked towards Thorne, dead silent as his gaze flicked towards her. "Oh, Cryo- hello!" He exclaimed quietly, "did Sselvu send you here?"

"Mmhmm..." she hummed, "after forcefully dragging my tail out the door... do you need my help with anything?"

He glanced at his father, the old dragon shrugged, "not really," said Thorne, "but... I was thinking maybe you could try and use your abilities on my father here, maybe you can figure out what's wrong?"

She shrugged, "I'm no Healer, and I'm not sure how that'll work, but... I'll try." CryoFangs started towards him, taking a deep breath to steady herself as she reached out her right talon, her chest warmed up from within, that warmth immediately spreading down her arm as she neared the ancient Wyrmwood, his dark green scales glittered as a faint golden light caressed them, her palm was aglow.

CryoFangs made her talon hover over his chest, the warm light progressing to a Healing spell as she went to touch her talon to his scales.

But- something was wrong. He was giving her hand an almost fearful look, and as they made contact, everything before her eyes abruptly went dark.

Darkness swallowed her vision, her pounding heart pulsed in her throat as the sensation of plummeting from the air hit her, she went to move but her body was still, she went to speak, but her tongue felt heavy...

"You are not welcome here...!" Hissed a ferocious voice inside her brain, "leave us, or suffer the consequences..."

CryoFangs felt a jolt of raw fear shoot through her body, a gripping dread that mercilessly dug into her brain, and as she was thrown back into reality, she hurriedly bolted away and didn't look back, as if her very being would die if she stayed any longer.

Something's horribly wrong- what's going on? Why did that just happen?

Why did that voice say I wasn't welcome...?

Then it hit her, hard: is he possessed by something?