Party Crashers 😈☠️🤯

"Where are you now Orphe-" Oh right, Hallo dear reader, prepare for my fever dream fueled AU on WoF Book 5: The Brightest Night ending. Get ready to say goodbye to sanity and Scarlet. Praise be the Gods of poetry and stories; Apollo, Bragi and Anansi. And get ready for acid and giant sneks🐍🐍, the danger noodles will rule the earth.

Now back to the story Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Sunny's POV

"Three moons, Sunny thought, she's even bigger than I remembered.

Burn was a massive, heavy dragon with jagged scars all over her pale yellow scales, including a particularly vicious one all along her side under her left wing. A more recent wound was slashed across her snout, oozing olive-green pus and dark blood. Her black eyes glittered and her stained claws gleamed with what looked like fresh blood as she slithered across the stones toward them.

"So you came," she hissed. "I thought the rumors couldn't possibly be true." She cast a seething look up at the hundreds of watching dragons. "I hope you have a good reason for disrupting my battle plans."

"This war is over," Sunny said, as loud as she could. There was a ripple of whispers along the walls as her words were passed along.

"Really," said Burn. "Because you say so, is that it?"

"Because we all say so," Tsunami retorted. She flared her wings to include all the dragons above and around them.

"Interesting," said Burn. "But I see a problem. In fact, I see two problems, flying this way right now."

Sunny whirled and saw a mass of dragons arriving from the east. Blister and her forces, she thought hopefully. She looked north and spotted flashing silver scales. Please let that be Blaze with the IceWings.

"It's possible I won't kill you," Burn said. "After all, you've brought me my sisters to kill, which is more help than any other dragons have been. Then again, you're very annoying."

"This is not about killing," Sunny said. The sounds of wingbeats were getting closer "so she turned to watch Blister land next to the Queen Oasis monument. Blister sank her talons into the sand for a moment, shooting a deadly look up at the obelisk.

Blaze and Queen Glacier landed a moment later, off to Sunny's left. Blaze eyed her sisters nervously, staying close to the IceWing's side.

Blister slithered out of the sand and paced slowly between Sunny and Clay, her snakelike gaze pinned on Burn as she circled her older sister.

"You're still alive," Blister remarked in a cold, calm voice. "That's a pity." She paused and narrowed her eyes at the dragonets. "I was hoping you'd have my sisters dead before I got here."

"What?" Burn snarled. "They've chosen me as queen, not you."

"No way!" Blaze cried, then hurriedly backed into Glacier as her sisters whipped their heads toward her. "They picked me! They told me to come here!"

"We haven't chosen any of you," Sunny said firmly. "And we're definitely not killing any of you."

"Unless we have to," Glory observed. "Feel free to provoke us."

"Shh," Clay said, nudging her.

"We're here to find a peaceful solution," Sunny announced. "Either you three decide among you, peacefully, who's going to be queen, or everyone else here will decide for you. No more armies. No more dead dragons."

Burn barked a harsh, disbelieving laugh. "I have a better idea," she snarled. "First I kill my sisters, and then I kill all of you, and then I stuff you and spend the next hundred years telling your dead face about peaceful solutions."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sunny saw a flurry of movement from the part of the wall where Thorn was perched. "No one is going to let you do that," she said to Burn, trying to sound much braver than she felt.

"In fact," Blister interjected suddenly, "I've already made a gesture of peace. Didn't you get my present, Burn?"

"An eerie silence fell for a moment as Burn stared down at her.

"I was thinking," Blister hissed into the stillness, "that this war has gone on too long. I thought if I sent you a gift ... something I know you've always wanted ... that perhaps we could ... mend fences and reunite the family." She bared her teeth at the palace entrance and Sunny spotted Smolder just inside the doorway, where she'd first seen him.

"Aha," Burn snarled. "That was from you. Smolder, bring me the box."

"Now?" he said.

"Don't argue with me," she growled, and he vanished into the palace.
A gift? A gesture of peace — reuniting the family? That doesn't sound like Blister. Sunny flicked her tail anxiously. Or is she really willing to stand down and let Burn be queen?"

"Smolder returned a few moments later, carrying the box that Sunny had seen on the top floor of the weirdling tower, when she'd been chained up there. As he set it down in front of Burn, it let out a malevolent hiss.

"Burn, be careful," Sunny said. She had a horrible sinking feeling in her chest, and she really didn't like the look on Blister's face. "I — I think this might be a trick."

"Of course it is," Burn said.

"Especially if it's from my clever little sister. Sending me a present, thinking I'll open it without any suspicion. As if I don't recognize the hiss of the dragonbite viper when I hear it."

"It's not a trick," Blister said coolly. "I know you've always wanted one for your collection."

"Dragonbite viper?" Fatespeaker whispered to Starflight.

"Rare and deadly," he whispered back. "The only snake in Pyrrhia that can kill a dragon with one bite." He shifted nervously on his talons. "If that's really what's in there.... I hope that's not really what's in there."

Before Burn could retort, a dragon bursted out of the sand in front of the princess, making her reel back while her tail instinctively struke, and grabbed the box with his talons. Suny watched as the dragon proceeded to dodge Burn's sting and bolted to the other end of the arena.

Now, Sunny was able to see the dragon in more detail and he/she was very odd. First of all, the dragon had three rainwing-like tails with a wasp-like stingers and seawing-like tail fin on each. Their wings had four talons each that resembled a dragon's claw. Their sand- brown 'fur' also illuminated sliver from the moonlight as their cat-like eyes scanned the entire crowd of bewildered/ panicked dragons. Their head turned at an angle and looked at Sunny and her friend as she sensed a chill running down her spine, the blood red glint of their eyes made her want to bolt, but she held her ground keeping eye contact with those -what- wisened eyes. The dragan was definitely larger than Burn, maybe ever Morrowseer.

They rattled their tails and took off on wings that would put a Skywing's to shame.

In a heartbeat, the arena became dark as a cacophony of roars and wingbeats joined in. Sunny looked up to see a large gathering of dragons hovering above the events below. The dragon joined the flock of odd dragons

"What is happening," Starflight asked leaning against Fatespeaker as she whispered to him. He proceeded to gulp nervously.

Burn glared at the flock of slient dragons, Blister eyed them curiously, while Blaze was looking with a mix of distan and bewilderment. Glacier seemed to be smiling nervously and she called off her guard, she became less regal and more timid as though she knew that something was going to happen.

"Sunny," a voice broke her concentration, she turned to see Thorn eying the flock cautiously. There was a sense of uneasiness as Sunny noticed the Queens getting surrounded by their guards in a protective stance as the flock watched

"Look," Thorn said pointing to a small group of sandwings and mudwings from the east joining the flock and circuling the arena, "Scorpion Tail. I thought they said that they wouldn't take part."

"Another gang," Sunny asked, Thorn nodded.

"One of the largest and famous of the gang," Thorn explained, "They say that they are allies to us, but they act more like bribed overseers, turning a blind eye to what we do, while sometimes providing resources to us."

Thorn pointed to a large sandwing who flew down to the arena.

"That is Fennec, the Leader of the Scorpion Tail," Thorn added as the Sandwing landed infront of them and gave a slight bow. Fennec was a dull sandy-brown an underbelly of pale sandy-yellow. His obsidian eyes were transfixed on Sunny and Thorn with an expressionless graze. His stinger flicked back and forth like a pendulum, revealing the silver tail band. His arms had a matching set of golden braclets with opals adorning them. His claws were black with what Sunny thought was ink, on one of the claws was a plain golden ring with a few cravings eched into it.

"Nice to see you here, Fennec," Thorn greeted the older dragon with a bow.

"Same with you, Thorn," Fennec said in a gruff, deep voice, "And can you please ask your Claws to calm down. Them Grim Dragons up there will shred the first thing that provokes them to bits."

Thorn nodded and signaled something to Six-Claws.

Fennec gestured to the flock as Sunny watched in amazement as tendrils of sand grew out from around the fortess, forming a canopy. The majority of the dragons landed on the tendrils while some took sits on the arena sits, leaving 50 armored dragons who were circling high above them in a cordinated manner like a kettle of vultures.

Then right above Oasis's Obelisk, the sky warped and bend as three glowing circle popped into existence as five dragons; a rainwing similar looking to Grandeur with a more paler shade of lilac and tangerine, a large nightwing around the size of Morrowseer with silver teardrop scales behind the eye, two of those triple-tailed dragons; the larger one had crimson red to amber yellow 'fur' while the other, smaller one, had shades of purple 'fur', the final and the largest dragon had large moose-like horns, a large frill, stony looking scales and club on her tail, they flew out of them. The circle things closed as the four regal looking dragons circled in slience around the oblisk as though they were paying respects to late Sandwing Queen, before the crimson-red triple tailed dragon dived down and she landed, a large throne materialised out of crystal clear water.

The dragoness elegantly landed with a light thud infront of the obelisk and sat down. Her crown sparkled with the myriad of opals, sapphires and emeralds that formed detailed dragon figures. Her turquoise eyes glinted in the moonlight as she looked down regally, if not angry at the dragons below her. She was bigger than Morrowseer and the scars to prove it, the top half of her right horn was snapped off (covered partially by a golden pair of horn bands), several wicked slash decorate her snout and throat while long gashes racked her underbelly and chest. With a huff, a sail raised and fell from the dragoness's back and chest, several of the metallic spines were broken off at points. Her left talon appeared to be entirely made out of metal, along with two of her right talon's claws. She wore 10 amulets which were tightly laced to the dragoness's neck like chain-mail and a pouch which rested on her side.

The second triple-tail landed on the left of the crimson red dragoness on a throne of ice. She was covered in jewelry, similiar to Queen Coral, though instead of pearls and other oceanic jews, she wore several rings, horn bands and other pieces of jewellery that were home to a myriad of gems. One of her tails gently nudged the Queen on the Water Throne, before they intertwined. Her dark purple eyes shone with determination and concern as she observed the tribes.

The Moose-horned Queen landed to the right of the scarred queen on a throne of sand like a beetle, nearly missing her mark. Her horns were endorned with horn bands that sparkled with sapphires, jade, rubies, topaz and emeralds. She easily made Burn look tiny in comparison to her bulk and size. Her granite-grey eyes stared coldly at the three sisters with a look of distan. Her frill flared in and out as her hammer-like tail twitched. She snorted as she looked down on the three sisters.

The nightwing landed on an iron throne next to purple triple-tailed dragoness. She wore a calm demeanour with a small smirk on her lips. Her leather bag was strapped to her chest. Her purple eyes noted Sunny and her friends with contempt and gratitude of a sort.

The elderly rainwing scattered a clawful of  seeds beside the Nightwing and with a flick of the wrist, Brightsting Cactuses germinated and formed a spiky throne. She proceeded to land and sat down. Now that Sunny had a better view of the dragoness, she noted just how similar she was to Glory, her snout, eyes and face had an uncanny resemblance to Sunny's royal friend. The dragoness eyed Glory with intrigue, much to Glory's surprise and discomfort.

Fennec walked over, bowing low to the five dragoness, till he was at the right of the moose-horned queen. He bellowed out a spray of blue fire which was shaped into a throne of sapphire blue fire, which he climbed onto. His forehead glowed a fire orange as the sandwing grunted at shot a look of distan at Burn and an apologetic one at Queen Glacier.

There was a moment of silence as Sunny observed the newcomers. Fatespeaker was whispering loudly into Starflight's ear as he became more and more anxious by the second. Clay had his wings protectively covering Sunny, Starflight and Fatespeaker as Tsunami came in between them and the odd dragons.

Burn was the first to break the silence, she asked sharply, "And who might you all be and what is your purpose here?"

At that, the crimson triple-tail began to laugh in a high, songbird-like voice followed by her companions, the moose horned dragoness bang her club like tail on the throne sending waves of vibrations from the epicenter, the remain dragonesses lashed their tails in amusement as though it was all a big joke, much to Sunny's annoyance.

"Who are they and why is that question even a joke to them," She thought as she covered her ears in discomfort, laughter rang out from above, before long the entire arena ran out in the laughter of hundreds of dragons and the ringing of several mace like tails.

"How are they not making this place collapse," Fatespeaker pondered as Deathbringer landed next to her, his tail between his tail, smiling nervously.

With tears in her eyes, the triple-tail silence the laughter with a soft hiss. In an instant, a foreboding silence enveloped the arena as in the blink of an eye, the once manically laughing dragons were as quiet as mice.

"I think it is fairly obvious, little sand-snorting shriek," the Queen rebuttal smoothly, "Unless your skull is as empty as a desert at the peak of the day and with rest filled to the brim with sand."

Burn scowled at the insult as a few tendrils of smoke rose from her nostrils.

"That is an insult to skrieks, at least they have some sense of common decency," The nightwing countered, "A better animal would be a wasp."

"Either way, she is still physco," The moose horned dragoness finished.

"Can you -," Burn started, red in the face, before the lilac dragoness cut her off.

"Anyhow, just to clarify," the purple triple-tail queen changed the subject with an exasperated sign, "We came to make sure that nothing does array and to maybe have our say on who gets to rule the Sand Kingdom, afterall we also live in Pyrrhia, literally in Pyrrhia and of course we wouldn't join such a silly war that had no pros for us that we can't easily get on our own and a ton of different cons. However, some of us would like to live day to day without the threat of a random army flying through and making trouble because some cowardly skinks didn't want to settle things like adults and wanted to have their temper tantrums."

"Those were quite the insult," Thorn whispered to Sunny, with a small, nervous smile as Sunny noticed several of the audience of odd dragons nod in approval at Thorn's remark.

The Violet Dragoness stared daggers at the princesses, Blister in particular as several dragons growled in agreement. The Crimson Queen was grining in a murderous manner, while the stone-scaled dragoness had a dangerous look in her eye, both made Sunny want to fly away as fast as a skywing.

"So, let me guess," Blister asked coldly, "You all live in the underground or am I wrong?"

"Are Sandwing nobles petty," Fennec asked, to which Blaze nodded hesitantly.

"Then, what are your names," Blister asked again in what might have been an insulting manner, "Your majesties."

"Now, why we didn't tell you," the Rainwing asked with false exaggeration and sarcasm in her voice, which reminded Sunny of how Glory often speaks.

The Crimson Dragoness raised her tails and pointed towards her herself before speaking.

"I am Queen Victory Strike of the Triple-Slashers, one of the Head Chefs of the Royals, Master Baker, Master Craftsman and Queen of the Grim," The Crimson Queen stated boldly with a calm expression on her face while her metallic arm cushioned her jaw, showing off, "Also, known as the brain in charge of an empire spanning continents and lover of all things adorable."

"All things adorable," Glory asked fixation on that one phrase, slightly confused yet smiling at the thought in her head. Sunny tried to imagine this dragoness surrounded by sloths, but it didn't seem to flow that well, maybe because she imagined Victory Strike as the type who would cook sloths.

"Why yes, Queen Glory," Queen Victory Strike began to gush, her scales turning into a mild mix of blues, golds and green, "Have you seen those absolutely adorable kitties, snakes, otters, crocs, .. lizards! You can die satisfied in a pile of them, that is how adorable they are, I tell you!

Now, Sunny was imagining the Triple-Slasher in an odd pile of vipers, rabbits and other creatures that her mind could name off the top.

"You said something about continents," Blister pressed, which make the cheerfully smiling Triple-Slasher frown, returning to her original colours of blood and amber,

"None of your business, lassie," she retorted as she gestured to the moose-horned dragoness. Who promptly snorted at Blister.

"I am Queen Basalt of the Cavern Guard, also known as The Queen under The Cloud Mountains and the Miner Queen of Pyrrhia," She spoke in a gravery voice that radiated pride and tiredness as her frills flared in and out.

"I guess she lives under Cloud Mountain," Tsunami said, "She real-"

"Do you have something to say, Princess Tsunami," the violet dragoness inquired, "or are you bored? Perhaps you will like to finish that sentence of yours?"

Tsunami held her tongue under the eyes of the two triple-slashers and cavern guards as Fennec interrupted the stalemate just before Tsunami decided to finish.

"And as many worth anything in the desert know, I am Fennec. The Leader of the Scorpion Tails, one of the more powerful of the gangs in the desert and the overseer of most of said gangs," Fennec explained as he flidled with his gold ring, "I also go by the name of Lord of Pyrrhia's desert, the Boss Penguin and the Dread Reaper."

Sunny noticed Queen Glacier winced at the mention of Penguin. She avoided eye contact with Fennec as she stood in front of Blaze, looking at Queen Victory Strike with a pleading  look.

"She must have been acquainted with them," Sunny thought as she noticed a certain nightwing crack a smile at Sunny intuition, though she dismissed it.

"I am Queen Deception of the Triple-Slashers, the Queen of the Triple-Slashers, Head of the Royal Treasury and Queen under the Ice," The Violet Dragoness introduced herself with a honey sweet and yet commanding voice as her scales shuffled between different shades of purple, her perfectly intact spines rose and fell from her fluff and her neck scales farled in and out.

Sunny also noted that Deception was intertwining one of her tails with that of Victory Strike.

"Must be mates or lovers" she thought.

"I am Queen Soul-Reader Queen of the Nightwings of the Grim, also known as the Head Historian of the Grim and Keeper of Scrolls," The Nightwing Queen said as the Moons's light reflected off her teardrop scales and horn bands. Her iron throne also glittering in the light.

Sunny noted Soul-Reader appeared to be listening to something, which would have made Sunny believe that she was reading her mind, if her father had revealed the Nightwings's having powers was a lie. At the thought of Stonemover, Soul-Reader snapped her head to face Sunny and stared straight into Sunny's green eyes, her eyes were a similar shade to that of Greatness but unlike the nightwing princess, Soul-reader's eyes were filled with fury, sadness, determination and an intelligence she never saw in other nightwings as a light streak of smoke rose from her ebony black scales.

Soul-Reader lashed her tail in a rhythmic pattern as the Rainwing dragoness spoke in a voice eerie similar to that of Grandeur.

"And I am Queen Mamba of the Rainwings, Queen of the Banished Rainwings and Head of the Assassins of the Grim," She said in a rather cold and bitter manner as she fiddled with a chakra. Her scales shifted to reds and oranges then to a light shade of lilac and lavender. She was looking at Glory intently, as though she was a  stolen piece of treasure that Mamba has been searching for, for a long time now.

"Banished," Sunny thought surprised and puzzled. Rainwings were banished from the rainforest, was it a sort of punishment or did something happen when Grandeur's daughters were in charge to make them leave?

"Quick question," Glory asked, nodding to the Grim Queens, "So, each one of you rule your own tribe and perform other tasks besides that, but that leaves the question as to where the other queens are?"

"Simple, little one," Basalt said in a slow, gentle, explaining voice with a warmth to it that seemed odd for a dragoness like her as in an puff she vanished from her sandy throne and materialised in front of Glory,nearly making Sunny leap in surprise, "Each ruler in the Grim rules over a certain area of our territory, we together rule several parts of Pyrrhia, which is why we are here, some of us also either have something important to perform as our duties demand or aren't interested in coming. Which is why the King of the Pyrrhian Rainforest, King under Jade Mountain, Queen of the Deep Sea, Lord of the Seas and Queen of the Pyrrhian Swamps aren't presented, the rest are simply not involved with the matters of Pyrrhia. Does that answer your questions?"

"That does explain that there are more than one continent," Sunny realised as she eyed a certain crimson triple-slasher who was getting off her throne.

Glory nodded as Basalt vanished and reappeared on her throne.

Victory Strike then said, "Since we already introduce ourselves, why don't we get on with it!"

And with the snap of the triple-slasher's claws, Sunny heard a few yelps and surprised gasps as Queen Coral, Queen Moorhen and Queen Ruby materialised in front of Sunny and her friends, the grim dragons who had jumped onto them proceeded to vanish into thin air.

Queen Deception, Queen Victory Strike, Queen Mamba and Queen Soul-Reader then glowed obsidian dark and literally melted into the shadows their glowing eyes watched the dragons in front of the, as they slithered and glided across the ground, while Queen Basalt and Fennec materialised in front of the very confused queens. Burn, Blister and Blaze shrieked as one of the shadowy queens dragged their shadows and the princesses closer. Glacier proceeded to walk forwards into the circle.

At that moment, the four other queens rose from the shadows and casually circled them all.  Glacier was about to join when Victory Strike thumped her tails on the ground and said, "Yats, Reicalg. Emit uoy noij su."

Glacier nodded reluctantly and sat with the Grim Queens and Fennec.

"As we kn-," Basalt started as something large and orange shot down from above, past the observant dragons who were shrieking in surprise and flew straight at Basalt at a blinding speed. The Cavern Guard simply rolled her eyes and in the blink of an eye, she held in her stone grey claws, the squirming form of the ex skywing queen; Scarlet.

"Scarlet," Tsunami hissed as Starflight snapped his head side to side with fear pastered on his face.

Scarlet was weilding a dagger which she was swinging around mad, which made the Miner Queen to use her wing claws to knock out the dagger from the enraged dragoness, who became to shriek in fury before Basalt applied more pressure to her throat, which silenced the scarred skywing.

Queen Ruby recoiled instantaneously, hissing, while Burn stood surprised. Meanwhile, Basalt began to grin ear to ear, her sparkling white fangs glowed with the moonlight as she began to chuckle, the other Grim Queens shared her amusement as they circled the two dragoness with bloodlust in their eyes.

Thorn placed her wing protectively over Sunny as she noticed another skywing descending to the arena.

"Guess what the Skywing brought," Basalt cooed as the orange Skywing, plated in jewelry, landed and bowed to Basalt, then Victory Strike, Mamba and Deception, which enraged Scarlet.

"You-," Scarlet started before Basalt tighten her grip on the Ex-queen's neck, Sunny heard the sound cracking vertebrae as crimson-red blood slowly dripped off the Cavern Guard's claws, making Scarlet wince in pain.

"Soar," Fennec said to the newcomer as he walked over Scarlet, "You got Pyrite?"

"Not yet," Soar admitted.

"A skywing is working for them," Sunny thought as Scarlet yelped in pain.

"What a shame. Do you at least know where she is at," Deception asked to which Soar nodded.

Sunny turned her head to the sudden scream to see the Crimson Triple-Slasher's right tail stinger dripping with blood as blood trickled from Scarlet's hindleg.

Basalt proceeded to drop Scarlet to the ground, crumpled, as her wings, legs and tail twitched while she remained relatively motionless as her eyes swang wildly from side to side.

"Good job," Victory Strike congratulated the Skywing, "You fooled the shrew."

  "Thanks, Mother," the skywing thanked the triple-slasher as he smiled smugly at the ex-queen.

"Mother," Sunny thought, "what is the relationship between those two?"

"What did-," Queen Ruby asked before Basalt cut her off.

"Paralysed the little, idiotic and pathetically cruel deptor," Basalt snorted as Victory Strike, Deception and Mamba took out weapons from their pouches. The two triple-slashers held an axe in each of their claws while Mamba held a mace in her tail.

"Ha, and to think that you wouldn't even be in this situation if you destroyed that egg and for what, to prevent a false prophecy from coming true. Great job, doing that too, I wonder why the five prophecied dragonet are in front of us," Deception chuckled getting right up to the ex-queen's right ear, "And have you ever wondered about your competency before? Or was your mother such a failure that you assumed that a proper mother would ever let her dragonet get involved in matters like -well- this?"

"They are talking about the skywing egg, the ones Scarlet destroyed," Starflight whispered ad Sunny felt dread beginning to creep up.

In the blink of an eye, Queen Deception bite into Scarlet's ear and ripped it out before swallowing it. She licked her lips as Sunny watched in shock, Scarlet was mortified while everyone else was speechless. Then, Queen Victory Strike jumped onto and sat on Queen Basalt's horns like a cat. Though it seemed that the cavern guard didn't mind the extra weight pressing down on her horns.

"Now, what do we do to deptor," Queen Victory Strike asked the dragons above.

Then in unison, the flock began to chant gleefully,
"Break their claws,
Shred their wings,
Snap the horns,
Lop off the tail,
That's what we do to debtors!
Gorge the eyes,
Pluck the teeth,
Pluck the claws,
Break the talons,
That's what we do to those who make the Cavern Queen look like a joke!
Crush the ribs,
Rip them limb from limbs,
Flay them alive!
That is what becomes of them!"

The chant startled Sunny as she felt a wave of rage and malice directed towards an orange ex-queen. Making her look down.

"Speaking of which, who specifically killed that egg," Deception pondered as she stared at Burn, using one of her parrot-like hind talons to scratch her neck.

"Burn," Mamba hissed as she smiled, baring her fangs, which made Burn very anxious, backing away before a small wall of stone erupted from the sands to block her path and making several of them scramble aside.

Sunny watched as Deception took her axe and with chuckle, brought it down on Scarlet's tail with a sickening squelch and crack as Victory Strike jumped from the Basalt's horns, axes held by her tails, and slammed her tails on the severed tail before landing gracefully on all fours, as blood stopped spraying out of the ex-queen's tail stump.

Basalt then took the largest section of the chopped up tail and gulped it down without hesitation, while both Victory Strike and Deception brushed off the sand from their parts and slurped the bits down.

"Did they just," Clay started before gulping nervously, "eat her tail?"

"We noticed," Deathbringer finished as he began to tremble as he stood in front of them.

Tears began to form silently in the ex-queen's eyes, which made Sunny felt a pang of satisfaction, much to her surprise and horror. Till she remembered all the awful things, Scarlet had done.

Burn was now terrified, but she seemed to be frozen in place by fear as the two triple-slashers stared her down, while grinning like mad dragons as Mamba placed Scarlet's talons out in front of her.

With a crunch, Basalt slammed her mace-like tail into Scarlet's front talons, sending a wave that vibrated Sunny to the core. Followed by two swift talons to the wing and another crunch as Basalt effortlessly broke Scarlet's wings.

Victory Strike proceeded to lift up the frightened and paralysied Skywing by her shoulders and jumped, landing on her tails, which held her up in the air. With a sign, she gripped both of Scarlet's front-talons and wings at the shoulder and with an oddly satisfying pop and rip, she ripped out the Skywing's Wings and front talons and dropped the maimed dragoness before tossing the limbs aside and getting back to her talons as Basalt and Deception got into place at the back talons of the nearly limbless skywing.

Sunny was still fixated on the orange wings, the glinting white bones were exposed from the trauma they had experienced and the membrane was ripped apart like a scroll, which only made Sunny not want to mess with the Cavern Guard Queen and Grim Queen. Perhaps that was the point.

With a grunt and snort, Sunny was brought back to the dismemberment when she heard the ripping of flesh and popping of sockets as Scarlet was dismemberment, her back talons tossed aside like her other limbs as Mamba and Fennec swoop in. Blood was beginning to pool under Scarlet as tears streamed down her cheeks, which Basalt licked off.

Fennec held his tail high, ready to strike while Mamba hissed, baring her venom-spitting fangs. Sunny looked away not wanting to watch any further, which allowed her to see the horrified expression of Blaze, Glacier, Moorhen, Ruby and her friends.

That was when she heard whispers coming from who she assumed to be Soul-Reader as the once mute ex-queen, began screaming and roaring her throat out in pain while was joined by the hiss and splash of rainwing venom and the sound of a plunging bard. Which joined to become the melody of a soul-rattling wail and the melting of scales. Finished by a crunch as Sunny dared to look back, to see the remains of the ex-queen's head in the claws of Queen Basalt, who proceeded to lick up the bits of bone and gory as the other Grim Queens and Fennec vanished again to replaced by a wake of Grim dragons who descended from above to rip and break apart the mauled remains in a squawking frenzy after Basalt vanished into thin air.

"Now that Scarlet is done, I would like to show you all something," said Queen Victory Strike with a hint of what Sunny thought was concern from the Grim Queen. As Sunny turned her head to see the odd dragoness take out something from her leather pouch, which she tossed into the air, must to the distress of Mamba, Soul-Reader and Fennec.

When the object landed on the queen's metallic, but not bloodied claw, Sunny realised it was an amulet, with an obsidian black jew in the middle,with a pair of wings at the sides, which made Blaze gasp in surprise and awe, while Blister and Burn s' eyes widen in surprise and astonishment.

"The Eye of Onyx," Blaze said with a greedy look in her eyes, matched only by the smug grin and twinkle in Victory Strike's eyes radiated pride and contentment.

"The Eye of Onyx," Sunny thought as two thoughts entered her head, she recalled what Smoulder had said about the eye, whoever has the Eye of Onyx would have control over the Sand Kingdom, which meant that Queen Victory Strike is the queen of the Sandwing and that she had the Eye of Onyx for who knows how long and never tried to stop the war, until now, "Maybe she only got it recently and that's why."

"As I, Queen Victory Strike, have the Eye of Onyx and isn't a pile of ash. I claim the Sand Kingdom's throne," Victory Strike bellowed like a mad lizard before her voice become one of concern, "Does anyone have any reservations though?"

"Where did you find it," Burn snarled as she stepped forward, the sounds of the feeding dragons subsided as The Grim Queen yawned.

"Oh, I found a few days ago. In fact, I found it in this very stronghold," Victory Strike explained while Basalt wagged her tail back and froth like a warning while Deception's fins vibrated as electricity surged through her floof, crackling through her spines and horns, "Had to torture a scavenger, though poor thing. Speaking of which, calm yourself, you pair of lovestruck songbirds!"

Basalt snorted, before letting her tail drop to the ground. While Deception shook herself, causing her charge to disperse, to the annoyance of Soul-Reader.

"And you aren't a Sandwing," Blister hissed, "Which Sandwing would ever follow you as their queen?"

"Oh no," The new Sandwing queen dramatically in a plain voice said before continuing in her chirpy voice, "Anyway, look around you. While those dragons serve their separate monarchs, those monarchs still bow to me, little ember. Plus, when the options are; a psycho honey badger who like war and would keep the war going, another psycho fox who would like to make herself the solo ruler of an entire continent and a ditzy, arrogant and self-entitled little beetle. Wouldn't you want someone who has the experience of countless negotiations, the wealth to rebuild and improve their economy, the dragon power brought in by having such a queen."

"And don't forget that this is a desert, so wouldn't it be nice if said queen can reliably provide necessities to the Sand Kingdom," Deception added.

"Or the resources needed to repair and build facilities that would be of great importance to the many far-flung cities that make up the Sand Kingdom," Fennec finished.

"And besides, if a 6 year old dragonet, who never had the opportunity to learn how to rule, gets to rule over not one but two tribes, then why can't a wiser, more experienced dragoness do too? Because, unless a better heir pops up, it is either Victory Strike's way or some gang leader's way" Mamba added while not pointing out to anyone in particular.

"And did I mention that for 57 years straight, I have lead a megatribe through a war and said tribe is going through a boom in standard of living and other such alluring propests," The Grim Queen finished while causally spinning the Eye of Onyx on one claw, "Of course, if you want to die, then take the throne. I already have enough on my plate with my tribe, a ton of negotiations over so many countless things, my cinnamon rolls of dragonets and my side businesses. I assure you, little Blister, if I actually wanted the Sand Kingdom's throne. You wouldn't have been alive since you declared war on your siblings. We are only doing this out of the goodness of our hearts and so that our dearest friend's memory and reign wouldn't be marred even further by her disappointing excuses of dragonets and three scavengers!"

The triple-slasher finished while gesturing to her subordinates.

While Sunny gulped as she finished digesting what the Queen just said, she could only be talking about Oasis, the motivation to end the war and take the throne, scavengers and something to do with their dragonets, it all added up to these dragonesses being the friends of the late Sandwing Queen, now she understood why they had circle Oasis's monument before.

Which now gave her a sense of not pity per say, but sadness for those dragons. She could imagine how they much have felt and the fact Victory Strike told her that she knew just exactly how many scavengers were involved in the act and probably knew who they are, but by the way she spoke of them, they were probably still alive. Which Sunny thought was odd, after seeing what they did to Scarlet for what she had done. Maybe because while the scavengers killed Oasis, Scarlet did many more nastier things. Sunny shuddered just thinking about what Scarlet had done to her knowledge, though it was a certainty that she had committed many a nasty thing that Sunny may never know.

Blister seemed to have caught that too as her eyes widened in shock, while Burn continued to tremble before the older queens.

Sunny then heard wingbeats behind her, signalling that the group of dragon-eaters had finished their meal and left.

"Anyhow, since we don't have any real complaints. My first order as queen is as follows," Victory Strike announced, breaking Sunny's train of worry, "The princesses of Burn and Blister will be hereby sentenced for 7 years in the Ompitic Dungeons after which, they would most certainly be executed for their crimes."

Before anyone could have said "chaos", Blister twisted her head, smoking pouring out from her snout as she readied to burn anyone she can to, fast enough, her tail was whipping ready to strike. But, before she could have done anything, a sign escaped the new Sandwing queen as she glared at the princess.

Blister snout was clamped shut, making her screaming muffled as her own fire burned away at her insides, soot bellowed out of her snout as she grasped her neck in a choking manner as she was hoisted up by some sort of invisible entity.

"That's enough, dragonet," Victory Strike said coldly as in the blink of an eye, Blister was wingless, tailless, missing an arm and had a myriad of different deep gashes that bore into her flesh. Her missing limbs though, had fallen below her, perfectly sliced off. Then, the limp Blister was dropped like a rag doll, but before she could reach the sand, several chains were flung from above, latching on hungrily to Blister's snout, talons and body before wrapping her up.

Then, the same thing happened to Burn as she was enveloped in the silvery grey metal, roaring with muffled fury.

After the two princesses were secure in their binds, the dragons responsible for that swooped down and grabbed the two dragons as space was warped next to the two Sandwing and they were dragged in, howling and whimpering. After a while, the dragons who chained up the Sandwings princesses returned from their task and flew away.

"They are gone now," Sunny thought in disbelief at what had just happened, "They really are gone!"

"And now that we get rid of those two troublemakers, we have some things to privately discuss with several royals," Queen Victory Strike said with a cock of the head before vanishing and reappearing next Queen Ruby and Glory with a wink, frightening them both.

"In particular, Queen Ruby, Queen Glory,"  she said grinning.

"Please don't worry about the debt, just give me time and I will have it," Queen Ruby said hurriedly waving frantically, which seemed to have confused the scarred dragoness

"What, no! That was only for your mother. More of a punishment than payment, besides we have to talk about something more important than that pesky debt," the Grim Queen, reassured the Skywing queen, before like a Rainwing, vanished only to materialise next to Glacier and Blaze, continuing her early speech, "and we can't forget Queen Glacier and Princess Blaze. If you four want, then you can bring three bodyguards, no more. I haven't made enough pastries for you all!"

"Bring us where," Glory asked a bit of nervously was in her voice, Sunny couldn't blame her, when she saw the remains of the ex-queen; a scattering of bone fragments tossed around the sands and the remains of Blister's wings, tail and talon in a pool of blood.

"Why my palace," Queen Victory Strike said like it was the most obvious thing as she trotted from the pair of ice and sand, "it is almost time for our nightly routine of tea and relaxation. Which makes it the best time for what we need to discuss!"

Sunny blinked in disbelief at the cheerful dragoness. It felt like she was seeing an entirely different dragon.

Glacier nodded as three sandwings and three icewing landed next to the Icewing Queen and Sandwing princess as Mamba appeared next to them.

"If that is okay, that is," Victory Strike asked, "I wouldn't want my guests to be uncomfortable, now that would make me a horrible host!"

"And if we don't want to go," Glory asked.

"Then, we can talk at a different time," Victory Strike explained, "Of course that would mean you will be missing out on something that may peak your interest."

"And what think that we trust you," Tsunami snarled, getting between the queen and Glory, before Deathbringer joined her. While Coral was having a panic attack and getting ready to intervene.

However, instead of deterring the Triple-Slasher, it just made her chuckle, "Ha, now you remind me of one of my siblings,Young Princess. Brave to a fault, always ready to protect those that he loved with his life, brash and bit hot-tempered, but a warrior at heart."

Tsunami was stunned as the Sandwing Queen patted her on the head.

"Don't worry, think of yourselves as my guests. Because that is what you are," Victory Strike said in a calm, soothing voice as Deception materialised onto of her back, adding after wanking the surprised dragoness on the head playfully, "Our guests, sorry dear."

——————————————————————————
Glacier's POV

Glacier landed elegantly on the streets of Evegard.

Where she was greeted with the nostalgic sounds of tranquil and peaceful quiet. Many of the buildings were closed, though the lights right above the stores and hpin the houses , proved that the owners were up and active, despite the time. As those few dragons out and about so early in the night went on with their business after catching sight of the new arrivals, before continuing to finish their errands before the start of the double full moon festival at midnight.

Glacier smiled softly, remembering watching the full moon/s festivals at the city's theatre, the calming music, the stunning sights and display and delicious food. It also stuck with her when she implied similar festivals  n front of her was one of the many entrances, the lowest one, of the family palace, her family's palace, well on her father's side that is.

The massive door towered over many of the 'houses' in front of it and stared at anyone coming down the street with its many cravings which seemed to have been grown right of the drakesteel enforce limestone with reinforced windows overlooking the door with watchful glowing eyes. Which reminded Glacier of how unyielding and impermeable it was. The four guards; a triple-slasher, a thunder horn and two cavern guards, served as a reminder to that. All of whom were just a talon-click from a button that would alert the whole castle and the surrounding dragons of intruders.

Her thoughts were unpleasantly interrupted Blaze fell on top of her with an Owch! , followed by her very concerned guards who nearly didn't stick the landing and an amused Deception.

Glacier shivered as she felt Blaze's warm sandwing heat clashing with her icy scales before she growled in annoyance, "Get off!"

"Sorry, sorry," Blaze quickly apologized as she got off of Glacier, making Glacier feel a bit sorry for growling at the clumsy and noticeable pretty sandwing.

"Are you two okay," Deception asked, hiding her smile with a feathery wing.

"I am fine, just a bit winded," Glacier responded as Blaze answered with a nod before she took in the rather dull sights of one of the minor parts of the city.

Then, Basalt came crashing down, shaking the ground from her landing and gave Blaze and Glacier's guards a fright, making them jump in shock. Queen Ruby touched down gracefully next to the behemoth of a queen as Ruby's three guards, Mamba and Soul-reader followed suit.

And finally, Victory Strike glided down onto Basalt's horns with a blind nightwing dragonet in her talons before gently placing the little flower on the ground, one of the two nightwings in the prophecy Glacier remembered, as the remaining dragonets of destiny and Queen Glory's guard; the wretched little Nightwing assassin who tried to take Blaze's life, landed and took in the sights as the portal was closed above him.

Glacier was frankly furious that the little prick wasn't flayed alive or atleast maimed already, especially when dragons, she knew would happily do so and were aware of that horrendous offense!

"Welcome one and all, to one of the many humble streets of Evegard," Victory Strike announced enthusiastically, walking towards the palace's large door, signalling with her tails as Glacier noticed the triple-slasher guard nod in approval at them.

"This is the palace you were talking about," Tsunami said unimpressed, "Seems a bit empty?"

"Why no, that is my palace," Victory Strike corrected, pointing to the door, "We can't make portals everywhere you know, that is a security hazard. And either way, Evegard is like say the Scorpion Den, except the palaces of us royalty are embedded into the very city's design. Besides most of us aren't out and about this early into the night. It is Witching Hour for peek sake!"

"Oh, sorry-," The blind nightwing started as the other young nightwing with white teardrop scales behind her eyes whispered something into his ear.

"Later," Deception cut the dragonet off with a nod from Victory as they walked towards the door.

Once they were in front of the imposing door, the guards greeted their Queens with a slight bow, "Good Evening, Your Majesties."

"Good evening, Lofty, Thunderbolt, Crystal and Charcoal," Victory Strike greeted the four guards, "How was your day?"

"Good, your majesty," The Cavern Guard dragoness spoke as the other guards nodded along, before they used their Earth and Metal Magic to open the door.

It opened with a click and swang outward by the guards' magic, which made Glacier smile slightly with pride when she saw the guests' awe at the magically glowing door, this one door was nothing to many wonders she had experienced in her life.

Glacier took in the light wave of calming lavender that rushed out from the palace, remembering the many memories from her youth; from insightful and important lessons to wholesome and cheerful moments with her family to headache-inducing and almost torturous experiences with a few certain dragons made her isolate herself from them, which always left a bad taste in her mouth whenever she saw those self-righteous pricks.

Luckily for her, those choice dragons won't be present today," Glacier thought as she entered into one of the multiple spacious entranceways, she climbed the short slope to a hallway decorated with multiple different types of vibrant plants, detailed portraits of dragons and animals and a variety of tapestries. It was all lit in a dull reddish to orange light similar to that of a campfire.

She was suddenly slammed onto her hind legs by a furry projectile, which began to lick her face along with making very familiar happy barks. Which made Glacier grin as she grasped the furball by the shoulder and began to rub the wolf, before wiping her face of the canine's salive.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a sight for sore eyes. A certain matted-grey and icy white tempest wolf with a chestnut-brown underbelly, her eyes were shut tight as she nuzzled the Icewing queen's chest. Glacier continued to pet her little pupper's soft and luxurious mane, she could feel herself grinning with joy at the sight of her little Chestnut.

"Chestnut! Oh how much I missed you, you adorable floof," Glacier exclaimed gleefully as she held her wolf up, while giving her a belly rub, "and you have gotten big, now didn't you girl!"

"Chestnut? Glacier, you know this w-wolf," Blaze asked curiously as Chestnut opened her violet eyes and stared curiously into Blaze's obsidian eyes.

Glacier nodded as she eyed a pair of tigers; Singe and King and a certain elderly boss cat; Wit-Claws, coming from a hidden bend in the hall and rubbed against Victory Strike and Deception, Wit-Claws purred as the elderly feline jumped onto her owner's back, while her two adopted kittens squinting their eyes and nuzzled both Victory Strike and Deception.

"Glad to see you two didn't miss a beat after 8 years," Victory Strike commented as she snuggled one of her Vernican Tigers; Singe, before pacing around the pets who came to welcome their owner, "You have absolutely no idea how much the poor baby missed you, lassie. And I mean, everytime - every time some random Icewing comes down here, that little troublemaking floof slams them to the ground and then starts to panic when it wasn't you."

"Really," Glacier said guiltily, looking into Chestnut's sad eyes as the little wolf whimpered, "Oh, I am sorry, girl. I didn't mean to leave you, it was just that I couldn't care for you at where I was going, so I had to leave you here."

The Tempest Wolf panted, wagging her tail as she licked Glacier again as if to say, "Sure, I forgive this once."

"So, shall we go to the dining hall now," Soul-Reader asked the guests as Chestnut slipped out of Glacier's talons and trotted around her, yelpimg with joy.

Glacier rolled her eyes and got up. With the motion of her tail, Chestnut was inbetween Blaze and Glacier, walking with pride as she stood between the two dragonesses.

Before following the party of newly acquainted dragons down a passage, large enough for four dragons to stand side to side and tall enough for four dragons stacked on top of each other, pass several art pieces that held tales that Glacier had slept to; the Siege of Aledon, the Massacre of The Valley Frey and a small tapestry about the Formation of the Grim and many other nearly forgotten accounts of history that served as a type of education for her.

Then with a twirl of the tail, Victory Strike turned 90 degrees on the spot and pressed a button with a 'boop'. As the motor could be heard quietly humming.

Glacier then noticed a relatively new painting, well, it was certainly new compared to most of the art, she had seen it before but never paid it much mind. It was a portrait of two dragons flying; a triple-slasher and cavern guard. The triple-slasher was dressed in a drakesteel helm, a Kasiski Monk's hat and a dark coat that covered their features. The dragon held an elegant and sleek kokyu in her talons with a Tachi and a dual-sided battle axe at her sides, ready for use. Their three tails were intertwined to seem as though they were only one tail. Their eyes glistened turquoise as they stared solemnly at the painter. The Cavern Guard on the other claw was covered head to tail in silvery-bronze drakesteel. They held a massive battle mace in their front talons with two thick blades attached to long metallic chains that were coiled around their wing talons, chest and flanks. Their stone grey eyes shone with satisfied fury as they frill neatly folded behind the head, their large moose-like horns had the idd spattering of crimson blood around the sharp points. Behind the two was a mountain top that up in fire, smoke billowed from what was possibly a hidden village. Glacier never knew the context of the portrait, which always puzzled her as her aunts weren't ones to keep things from her.

"Follow me," Basalt barked, gestured with her wing to Ruby before moving onto another elevator. Ruby nodded and followed suit, along with her guards.

"That includes you three," Soul-Reader said as she dragged the three protesting nightwings by the tails as the remaining dragonets were experiencing a mix of laughter to outrage plain shock.

"What was that about," Glory hissed in anger.

"There isn't enough space in the lift for the lot of us" Victory Strike explained calmly.

"If you want, you can go with them,"Mamba sang as she slithered after the Nightwings. Glory quickly followed suit.

"Go on! What are you waiting for? The resurrection of Baldr," Victory Strike asked gesturing to the remaining Dragonets of Destiny to follow their friends, which they happily did, booking it down the hall.

"Dragonets, these days," Victory Strike chuckled, "Makes me pity them for their horrendously bad luck."

"Speaking of two dragonesses," Deception teased getting in between Glacier and Blaze, embracing them with her warm, soft wing, "How would you describe one another? Just a word, may do."

"A word to describe Glacier," Blaze tried to confirm the question as Deception cheekily nodded.

"Or three," Victory Strike added.

Glacier growled internally, slightly embarrassed by her aunt's attempts to see if there was romantic chemistry between any two gals she believed to be shippable, which made Glacier madder because she was always right! Glacier had seen Deception predict relationships from basically nothing on multiple occasions; Ash and Swallowtail, Nettle and Sage, Ivory and Nightingale.

"Beautiful and Intelligent," Blaze complimented with a slightly blank expression, making Glacier's two aunts grin from ear to ear as the sandwing princess blushed slightly, while successfully embarrassing Glacier even more.

"And what do you have to say Glacier," Victory Strike asked as Singe stared intently into Glacier's eyes with his amber-brown eyes, searching for answers.

Glacier tried to plead with Chestnut, literally the only one who can help, but she returned Glacier's plea with a sly, almost amused look as if saying, "Well, I could but how about no."

Glacier signed, before speaking

"Well, I mean Blaze is funny and p-pretty"

"What kind of pretty?"

"The cute kind."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

Glacier grinned sarcastically to match both her aunts glittering smiles, staring daggers at traitorous canine.

While their six guards shared looks of "I told you so!", "Okay?", and a few others, which made Glacier regret bringing the guards.

Glacier was snapped back to reality as a whip-like crack broke her concentration. Victory Strike stood up on her hind legs looking down on the guards as they quickly went into their stances, making the queen sign in disapproval.

She went up to an Icewing and began to comment. Pointing out the problem areas with her right tail.

"Your name."

"Seal, your majesty."

"Your hind talons are too tuck in, makes you slightly unbalanced."

"Your tail isn't straightened properly and can cause problems for the tail bones."

"Your wings are positioned awkwardly, can cause a sprain. Tuck them in."

"Your muscles are too tense, loosen them up so that they can work better."

"Your neck posture is too straight, which will cause neck sprains."

"And your talons are too straight, you need that bend for a spring."

"You got that!"

"Yes, your majesty," The Icewing guard said as he changed his stance as the remaining guards changed their stances as well.

"So, what was so funny, ya wankers," Victory Strike asked with a commanding tone in her voice as a bit of her natural slag leaked into her speech. She paced in front of the guards, "Come on, the more you hide it , the more horrific the punishment will be!"

With that, an expression of fear spread through the six dragons.

"Uh, well..."

"Go on, no need to keep it in!"

"We had heard a fair rumour or two that well.."

Victory Strike gestured with her wing at Glacier than Blaze,"That my niece is in love with Blaze?"

Glacier grimaced at the word, how many times must she make it clear to those dense drakes that she doesn't have a crush on the adorably cute and pretty sandwing who likes her as a friend of course.

"Y-yes, your majesty."

"Then, why didn't you say that before," The scarred queen exclaimed with a chuckle, patting the sandwing guard on the head, "I have been wondering that, since they both met. And it is clear that one loves the other. I am looking at you Blaze."

Glacier stared in disbelief at her aunt, she really was going there now!

"I don't know what you are talking about," Blaze tried to brush the accusation off, before she tried to change the subject, "Anyway, how are you; a fluffy and three-tailed related to Glacier, an Icewing?"

Victory Strike eyed Glacier for a moment, making the Icewing queen shiver with worry at what her aunt's plan was.

"Simple, little sandwing," Victory Strike said, getting right up into Blaze's personal space and booped her snout saying, "Her father is my adopted younger brother, thus making her my niece. Now, back to your little confession."

Glacier was shocked, one of the many things she knew about her aunt was that she had a weird sense of pride when it came to as she put it, her respectable family; her father was well-entrenched in that list, so to lie about him.

Now, Blaze was slightly flushed as she stared into Deception's bright purple eyes.

"Do you little one," Deception inquired, her tail running up Blaze's neck and chin, "Or would you like us to make you spill it."

Glacier hissed internally, now she remembered why she didn't want to be associated with her family even with the nicest of them were too nosy, and while she will admit, they are certainly better than before, but that didn't make it justifiable for their behaviour.

"Deception," Glacier started before Blaze cut her off.

"Yes, I mean kinda," Blaze softly answered, making both of Glacier's aunts grin widely, before Victory Strike placed her wing around Blaze. Glacier looked at the nervous sandwing with mild shock and bewilderment. She... Blaze. Dizty and self-centered Blaze likes her.

"So, when are two gonna tie the knots," she whispered slyly, making Blaze blush brighter as with a soft ding, the elevator arrived.

"I-it is not like that," Blaze tried to correct as Deception rounded up the guards and Victory Strike carried both Blaze and Glacier towards the bronze gates. The pets loyally followed behind their owner.

The once closed gates folded away revealing an empty space which the two elders guided them into. The walls were a translucent bronze that partially revealed the luminous space from which the lift came from. The two triple-slashers made the rear of the group as they closed the doors and with the touch of a button, the lift slipped out the outcove and began to descend down the complex maze of perfectly rectangular tunnels to the kitchen with a soft hum.

"Now, time to go to the kitchen," Victory Strike declared, standing between the left wall and Glacier, while Deception slid in between Blaze and the right wall.

They were correct about the lift being too small for everyone , the bronze and drakesteel contraption had barely enough space for them all. Glacier felt Chestnut clinging to her sude as Wit-Claws napped on her very dangerous owner. Victory Strike proceeded to hum out a tune which Deception matched the tune with her tail rattles.

"Why did you do that," Glacier hissed at the humming dragoness who looked down with a small, gentle smile at Glacier with a knowing look.

"Because, you two are so cute together," Deception chuckled.

"And it may perhaps bring you two joy in the future," Victory Strike added softly, "Afterall, what is the point of hiding your feelings for someone? It doesn't give you anything beneficial, at least from my experiences."

"You may lose them to another or to other unforeseen events," Deception added onto her mate's wisdom, "and you may never know what could have become if you have took that chance."

"Of course, that doesn't mean that Blaze and you are in love. We see the situation like that, though," Victory Strike finished gesturing to the Eye of Onyx in her claws, "I will only be the Sandwing Queen for a brief amount of time. Which is why I wanted Blaze here."

"You are going to make me queen," Blaze exclaimed, joy enveloping her as the embarrassment that once held sway melted away.

"If you are willing to learn, of course," Victory Strike continued on from Blaze's guess. Making Glacier internally sign in relief at the potential prospects. Victory Strike wouldn't be so willing to give up the barren tundras as Blaze, because they both knew that said tundra was rich in a myriad of components needed for mild drakesteel.

"So, I get to be the queen after all," Blaze echoed the words with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"It was gonna be a long night," Glacier thought feeling hopeful that things will finally go her way.