Glow was staring in disbelief at her master. She knew what was coming when she uttered the words, but actually hearing it felt so much worse. Why...? She thought. Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you return me? Why? Why why why why why WHY!?! Over and over again, she asked silently. The whole world felt like it just dropped and it was dragging her wings down with it.

       "Why didn't you tell me, Frigga?" Glow asked, straightforward. Frigga paused and sat down. She motioned with a claw for Glow to take a seat with her master. She sat down and Frigga wrapped a wing around the trembling SkyWing.

       "I was going to tell you when the time was right. It would seem that plans have changed, so I will tell you the story of how I've come to raise you." She responded crestfallen. Glow was hurt and wracked with raw emotion. She didn't really know what she felt. Anger? Sadness? Distrust? It might have been a combination of all of them, or just switching between them. Either way, it was beginning to overwhelm Glow and she couldn't stop shaking.

       "The night before the brightest night, I was returning home from a trip to the Bay of a Thousand Scales. I was carrying cargo, some delicate pots and such. I was flying by when I saw something I wish I could unsee. Whitecap and Willow know, but the others don't." She recounted. "I saw my brother murdered at the talons of Burn and her soldiers." Burn. Glow thought venomously.

       "Hvitur was a Talon of Peace. That's undoubtedly the custody of which those dragonets you observed reside. Had he lived, you would have grown up with them and Hvitur would have raised you along the other minders, I'm sure. There were others, correct?" Glow could only slowly nod.

       "A greenish SeaWing and a SkyWing I didn't recognize." She responded trying not to let her emotion leak through her voice. The burning hatred for the eldest SandWing sister was beginning to grow ever dangerous.

       "I watched his broken body tumble down the cliff...you were so close to shattering. When I caught you, it was already too late for him. Once I had you, I needed to make haste as soon as possible to avert the danger.

       "There was only one thing I knew for certain; he gave his life to protect you, and I had to do what he couldn't." Frigga finished. Her head hung low, her silvery-blue elegant face contorted with shame. "I only wanted what was best for you. I raised you as my own for all this time, waiting for the right moment to tell you the truth; but it never came..." She admitted.

       Glow couldn't tell what she felt for her master at this moment. It was a flurry of emotions wracking her very being, like a howling blizzard or a raging fire. Only one feeling was clear, and it was erupting dangerously quickly. Burn is going to pay for this...She's going to pay for everything. Many images flashed in her head of the ways she'd kill Burn, ranging from strangulation, burning alive, loss of blood, to mutilation. But before she could dwell on her ever growing hatred any longer, she wanted the whole truth out of her master, and she wanted it now.

        "How did he die?" She said, the clarity of her voice surprising even her. Frigga paused, and turned to look at her. "How did Burn kill him?" Something flickered in Frigga's eyes; something unreadable, and something that pierced Glow through her weakening heart. Was it fear? Do you fear me, master? Frigga then returned to her previous expression and tried to answer as calmly as she could.

        "Burn stabbed him through his skull...with her tail barb...and tore his wings apart. She tossed him thoughtlessly off the cliff." She replied with a scowl, her serrated claws scraping at the ground. As visuals of herself ripping off Burn's tail barb bloomed in her mind, Glow had found the perfect revenge – an eye for an eye. Frigga's expression reflected someone who blamed herself for the worst of crimes. Glow immediately felt guilty for her thoughts towards her master earlier and decided to ask a better question.

        "Why didn't you try and return me after the coast was clear?" Glow asked.

        "No one knows where the Talons of Peace reside; it's a secret to the world. I didn't even know they'd be stationing the dragonets of destiny under these very mountains. It was too risky to try and search." Frigga explained.

        "Didn't you try?" Glow questioned, growing irritated.

        "Of course I did!" The IceWing cried helplessly. She lowered her head once again, her eyes glossed over Glow's broken face. "Unfortunately, it was a fruitless search in the end and I decided to raise you ultimately." Frigga responded calmly.

        "So you don't care that a RainWing is being pulled into a war she shouldn't have to suffer being in." Glow accused angrily.

        "I didn't say that, Glow." Frigga diffused.

        "You didn't have to." Glow snapped bitterly.

        "Glow, please. Try to understand–" Frigga tried to reach a talon to comfort her, but Glow retracted sharply with a furious roar.

        "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Glow shouted. Tears were stinging in the corners of her eyes, the SkyWing finding it near impossible to maintain her composure.

       "You don't understand! I was just..." Frigga was shuddering, tears streaming down her tired face. Glow's heart beat wildly; smoke streaming out of her snout with anger and fury. She wanted to throw all of the weapons her master had just made at her. "Trying to do the right thing." Frigga finished, bowing her head low and letting the tears roll off her cheeks and onto the stone floor. You should have just left me in front of one of the caves in the mountain. The Talons would have found me eventually!

       She thrashed her tail and knocked a few of the pots that were made flying across the room and shattering. "JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME, FRIGGA!" She roared tearfully. She launched herself out of the cave and dove away towards the dragonets on the other side of the mountains, paying no attention to the silent weeping she heard for only a moment as she exited the cave.

       She didn't really care where she flew, or who saw her; she just wanted to get away. She flew as fast as she could, with reckless abandon. Her eyes were so blurred with tears that she didn't notice a tree branch in her flight path and slammed head-first into it. She fell to the cliffs below, bashing her large wings against the jagged rocks.

       When she finally landed, she gave in to her emotions and began to sob. Never in her life had she felt so vulnerable, so weak, and so pathetic. The tears wouldn't stop coming down, her sobs clearly audible around the whole mountainside, but she didn't care. She didn't care who found her or if they killed her on sight; she just wanted to cry and cry and cry forever. She threw her wings over her head, hiding her guilt and shame-ridden face from the world. Everything suddenly felt heavy and crushing. It was like the weight of an entire world was just thrown at her and shoved onto her back.

       She was warring and arguing with herself, her emotions were chaotic and without control. She needed someone to blame, otherwise she'd blame herself entirely and just give everything up then and there. I'm so sorry, Frigga...I'm sorry I just saddled you with this horrible burden...this is my fault. She then found someone to blame, someone she'd hated since she was a small dragonet. It was rather convenient, really. But nonetheless, the SkyWing found someone easy to blame. That brute. It's her fault this happened. It's her fault Hvitur is dead and it's her fault that that RainWing is growing up in her awful situation.

       Images flowed back into her; ripping Burn's tail off and giving her the death blow done to her master's brother. She envisioned herself burning her eyes out, ripping her wings off, breaking her neck and removing it. She dragged herself off of the cold, hard, and unwelcoming ground, wincing with pain from the impact of the fall. She reared her head up to roar into the mountains before her.

       "DO YOU HEAR ME, BURN?" Glow screeched. "I AM GLOW, SKYWING OF THE CLAWS OF THE CLOUDS MOUNTAINS, AND I WILL BE THE ONE TO STRIKE YOU DOWN ONCE AND FOR ALL! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'LL BE THE ONE TO FINALLY KILL YOU, AND THEN THE WAR WILL BE OVER AND PYRRHIA WILL BE FREE, MARK MY WORDS!!!!"

       She didn't care who heard her, and she didn't care if Burn herself dove down to slaughter her; she'd be dead in a second. She lashed her tail side to side, overcome with rage, anger, and hatred. Smoke curled out of her nostrils and she smashed a nearby rock with her bare talons, just out of anger. It was only when she heard a small voice behind her did she feel remotely regretful of what she'd just done.

       "It's okay, Glow. I know you're upset about how things turned out."

       She turned around, tears still streaming down her face, to see Evenstar donning his white cape and carrying hers. "You must be cold." He said, presenting her cloak to her. The little NightWing looked unfazed by her current state, and she felt less shameful and embarrassed. She didn't even realize that she had forgotten her cape. Well that was stupid of me.

       She took the cloak from him and put it on, feeling much safer. She wiped her tears away and shuffled over to make room for him. All the rage and anger was beginning to subside, being replaced by guilt and depression. She addressed him directly and sat down. "What are you doing here? I thought you were asleep." She asked absentmindedly.

       "It's kind of hard to sleep when there's a loud and emotionally unstable friend in need of help." Glow winced and hid her face away from him. Ouch. Did you really have to spell that out? "And before you ask, I asked Kite if I could go on my own to help you." Glow scoffed.

       "He actually let you go by yourself? Thought you two were joined at the hip." She teased.

       "Well, we're not exactly permanently chained to each other, so we can separate if we want to." Evenstar quipped. "We're not helpless without the other you know." Glow let out a chuckle, feeling a bit less heavy and dragged down. He padded up to her calmly and sat next to her, curling up against her wing.

       The size difference was only now obvious to her; she felt like she could crush him at any given second. Then again, he was pretty small, especially at three years old. He was only slightly bigger than Kite after all. I really wish he didn't have to see me like that. He's too young to be dragged into something like this. "Do you want to talk? It's okay if you don't, but I'm just here to help. That's all." He whispered. His sweet and quiet voice was so comforting in times like these. Despite being the second youngest, he was probably the most emotionally mature out of all of them. Maybe NightWings were just inherently wise, but it's the case with Evenstar regardless.

       Glow lifted her wing to wrap around the small dragonet protectively. She wanted him to be close to her. "Maybe..." She muttered. The NightWing simply looked at her with a calm and open gaze.

       "It's alright. Take your time. You don't have to talk right now if you don't want to, if it's too much. I just want you to be comfortable." He responded with tenderness. Glow simply laid there, her companion in her presence. Just him being there with her made her feel so much better. She felt like she was calming down. It felt like an eternity of pristine and tranquil silence before she felt comfortable enough to properly talk.

       "It's just," She paused. Evenstar's ears flicked with acknowledgement and he nodded to reassure her to continue. "Why didn't Frigga just try to leave me with someone who knew the Talons of Peace? Why couldn't she have found a way to make things turn out like they were supposed to?" She confessed. He tipped his chin down and stared over the cliff in careful contemplation. He looked up towards the two moons lighting the night, one full and the other half, and the third a barely visible crescent.

       "It probably would have been too dangerous to leave you with just anyone. Even if someone told her that they knew the Talons, they could have just as easily been lying. You don't really know." He paused. Glow could see by the faces he was making that he was trying very hard to think of the right things to say in the right ways. He's so careful. He tries so hard to say the right things to help us through the worst of times. Glow paused her line of thought, the subject of NightWing powers coming to mind. If he had visions of the future, he'd already know what to say, but he was thinking so long and hard about what he was going to say that she shot that idea down.

       "As for why she couldn't just find a way to make things happen as they were supposed to happen, sometimes you just can't find an ideal solution." He began. "Sometimes no matter how hard you try, what you want to happen sometimes just won't happen. That's a fact of life we all need to understand and accept." He continued. Glow didn't want to admit it, but he was right. As much as she wanted to believe that things might have worked out if Frigga just tried hard enough, she knew deep down that it was impossible. "And about that RainWing you mentioned. Do you really think it would have been any better for her?" Glow whipped her head at him shocked. He heard that, too?

       "How did you know tha–" Glow was about to inquire.

       "I overheard you." He answered hastily. Glow pursed her lips. I wouldn't call that "overhearing" as much as "eavesdropping." She thought skeptically. "It wouldn't have been any better for her, either." He continued. Glow perked her ears. "Do you really think the Talons would have just let her go after that? After you returning to them, do you really believe that they would have just let her live?" Evenstar questioned.

       Glow stared out into the overpass in shameful guilt. I didn't even think about that. Of course they wouldn't just let her go alive; she would have been a "threat" if they released her after finding me again. She suddenly felt incredibly guilty and an unpleasant feeling began to make a torrent in her stomach, making her want to throw up. "So what am I supposed to do now?" Glow asked hopelessly.

       "Just apologize and tell Frigga that you didn't mean to hurt her. You were just upset. That's all. She'll understand." He advised. She looked at him and the moonlight reflected off of his wide pink eyes and white teardrop scales at the corners of them. "It happens to the best of us." He gave her a warm smile that radiated with a tender sincerity that could melt even the toughest of dragons' hearts.

       She still felt a burning feeling inside. Someone was still responsible for Pyrrhia's misery and suffering, and Glow still felt the seed of hatred that was now growing inside her. "And what about Burn? I want her dead, and I want to kill her myself. I just see all the ways I want to kill her, all the ways that I could kill her." She began, concern swirling in Evenstar's wide eyes. "But, I'm afraid of what might happen if I do, if I'm to be honest. I mean, it'd probably be best for all of Pyrrhia if she were dead, prophecy or not, and the world needs its justice. But...what do you think would happen to me?" She asked, fearfully.

       Evenstar looked down, puzzles being put together in his mind by the expression he was giving. He shook his head and sighed. "I can tell you one thing, you certainly aren't incorruptible." He paused. He looked back out into the mountainous expanse before him, and Glow felt her jaw clench at his honest words. "While you care deeply and would do anything for your loved ones, that can also be your downfall. You don't necessarily anger easily, but when you do, it's like an explosion. Sudden, large, and destructive. Anger can be very powerful, and when used right, it can lead the greatest changes. Fail to control it, and you could cause a lot of damage you might not be able to fix." Glow looked over at him, her gaze fearful. Is that really what he thinks? Am I...do I scare him? He didn't seem phased by what he said, though. He looked as if he said a simple statement, like "it's raining outside." He turned to look in her eyes, his own soft and gentle as always. "I know you can do it. You just need to weigh your short-term and long-term consequences against each other. Ask yourself what an action done in anger in that moment would really accomplish and whether or not it would make things better. Start doing that, and I think even you can trust yourself much better." Glow nodded, closing her eyes solemnly. Wise words, my friend. Glow felt at peace after listening to Evenstar's advice.

       She felt tears wetting her eyes again, but it felt healthier this time, like it wasn't being forced or exploding unexpectedly. She buried her face underneath Evenstar's chin and wept silently. Evenstar was humming the lullaby that Frigga used to sing to them while stroking her head like Whitecap would do. Glow felt safe like this. She felt like all of her problems could melt away as long as she had Evenstar to go to.

       She eventually wiped the tears out of her eyes and lifted herself up to stand proud and tall. Her body still ached from the tumble down the cliff, but she wasn't injured. Evenstar propped her up and gave her a small nod. He unfurled and flared his lovely starry wings, the band of scales outlining the edges of his wings visible in the radiant moonlight. They lifted into the night sky without a single word and returned home.

       Glow poked her head inside the cave, worried about the state of her IceWing teacher. She saw Frigga talking, Kite nuzzling up against her leg comfortingly and Corona with a wing over her shoulder. Glow internally chuckled. Heh, she cares a lot more than she lets on.

       She tapped her claw on the entranceway before entering completely. Her teacher looked to her direction before looking away again. Glow felt a pang of regret as she stepped inside, nearly tripping on Evenstar getting by to return to Kite. She ignored their greeting whispers and strode up to her teacher. She stood tall while Frigga slumped over. She wanted to be the first; Frigga looked like she just saw Hvitur killed for a second time.

       "Master, I'm sorry for my outburst." Glow began. "I was just angry and confused and–" She was silenced by a wave of Frigga's claw.

        "It's alright. I'm sorry that you had to find out this way. I should have told you much sooner than this, young SkyWing. Can you possibly forgive me?" Glow smiled and threw her wings around Frigga and hugged her tight as if she were her mother.

       "Don't worry. I've already forgiven you, Frigga. It's okay." Glow held her even tighter against her rapidly beating heart. Kite tugged on Frigga's forearm and pointed to Glow excitedly.

       "Tell her what we've planned!" He said, hopping excitedly. Glow looked at them with confusion while Evenstar simply smiled at her. Oh no. What are you throwing me into this time?

       "Of course! Glow, SkyWing dragonet of destiny, I have an important assignment for you." She said, proudly puffing her chest. Glow looked at her in confusion while Corona looked her dead in the eye with a look that said just wait – you're gonna love this!  Glow wasn't too sure if she really believed that. "First, what else do you know about the dragonets of destiny?" Glow thought this a forward question, but answered anyway.

       "All I know is most of their names, except for the RainWing's, and that they're apparently planning an escape." Glow answered.

       "An escape?" Frigga questioned curiously.

       "Yes. They didn't say when, only when they were ready to. So I don't know when." She answered again.

       "Then you have your assignment. You and Corona will continue to observe and spy on them until they escape, and you will help them on their quest." Glow stumbled backwards with bewilderment. H-help them? Wow! This is REALLY sudden, Frigga!

       "You want us to spy on them?" Glow asked, making sure she heard that correctly.

       "Yep, that's what the boss wants." Corona confirmed. "We decided that since you're the SkyWing of destiny, you're going to help them on their quest, and we're going to help you on your quest to help them." Corona explained. She seemed way too into this whole thing.

       "But, what about the RainWing?" Glow asked, concerned.

       "Don't worry; we're not going to reveal our true identity until the time is right. We're just going to wait until the RainWing is safe before we do. So, you ready to go on an adventure maybe, possibly?" Glow thought for a moment. Was she really ready for a mission like this? Was she ready to take on the responsibility to save the world? Well...at least I'm not alone. I have my friends and eventually the dragonets of destiny, too. I'm part of the prophecy, right? So whether I like it or not, it's my job and I have to do it. Glow stood proud and tall, puffing out her chest and stretching her wings wide and open to look even bigger.

       "Yeah, I'm ready! Let's go on an adventure!" Glow accepted with pride.