(more of my art!)

When the ice wall comes into view, my breathe is taken away. I knew it was tall, but yeesh that's overkill. 

The wall stands almost a hundred dragons tall, but even then the ice kingdom castle is visible behind it, standing twice as high as the wall that covers most of it. 

And the stars are fully out, so everything stands out starkly in the black, glittering under the moons light. I almost crash straight into the wall because of the sight. It's like they took stardust and sprinkled it over everything icy. 

I quickly right myself and sail over it easily, relieved that I didn't get impaled. 

I also, in my awe of the sights, didn't see which entrance my father went through. I look at all of them in confusion. Hmm. Any one of these could be the one. 

I land on the icy ground, and start to focus, placing my talons on my head in thought. There's so many different paths, and any one could be dangerous. So checking the future seems like my best option. 

Flipping through them, I sense another odd time-loop. Its what I call 'unavoidable' encounters. Where something is destined to happen in several different paths. I see a dragon a little older than me, an Icewing... in chains? Huh.

I feel a sense of unease about it, but head in that direction anyways, choosing a path that leads down. There must be an important reason for me to meet him.

After a few twists and turns into the icy tunnels, I come upon the door in my vision. I'm not sure why I'm supposed to meet this dragon, but its important too somehow. 

The door is circular, and made completely of ice. Swirling patterns cover its surface, along with other symbols I don't recognize. As I touch it, I sense the energy in it isn't normal.

Its enchanted! I realize, running my talons through the swirls curiously. Why would there be magic here? There are no animus Icewings alive right now that I know of. I... I think so at least. I've never tried finding other animus's before. 

That seems like a very important thing to know. What if one of them ever decided to go after her? Suddenly I feel extremely unsafe, the tunnels around me seeming smaller and more narrow. I need to stop this. 

I reach up and grip my horns tightly. 

"Enchant my horns to block any and all other animus magic from ever affecting me, no matter the spell. Let only spells I've heard and agreed too allow, affect me"

As soon as I finish the spell, my panic fades instantly. The walls return to normal, and I relax my tense muscles. And, I feel a shift in the future for the better. I wonder why it never warned me of other animus's before. Maybe because I never asked? Either way with that danger out of the way, I go back to the door.

I'm not sure of it's enchantment, so I try using my magic on it first.

"Open?" I ask. Nothing happens. Maybe I wasn't commanding enough. 

"Door, open now" the ice begins to tremble, then slides open towards me achingly slow. So it's not here to keep others out... But maybe someone in?

As it does, dust flows out of it's opening, blinding me a moment, and obscuring it's contents as well.

Once it clears more, I wipe off my face, accidentally turning the dial on my wrist back to white. Slipping back into my old scales makes me feel better though, so I let it be. I also tap my ring, letting it fade back to white. No point in hiding right now.

What I see confuses me. 

There is an Icewing in chains like my vision, but, he's... stone?

A large stone tablet sits in the center of the small-ish room, an Icewing standing there calmly made from marble. But even so, chains were wrapped around his snout and front talons, leading down into the ground, held tight by steel. I notice words carved on the front of the slab.

'Prince Void' 

It was very different from my vision, where he's alive and breathing. I walk around him curiously, then step on something sharp.

"OWWw" I hop up and away, examining the wound. It didn't break the skin, but it left an imprint. Looking at the culprit, I see its an earring. 

Picking it up (with my other talon) I see its a crystal with a little bit of white fogginess too it. Its a clip on earring, the kind those without piercings can wear. Curiosity getting the best of me, I put it on. 

As soon as I do, I jump back in fear as the statue moves. Slowly, I watch in wonder as the wings of the once idle prince stretch out, becoming less like stone and more like scales. Slowly his entire body turns from grey to pure glittering white. Unlike any other Icewings I've met, he lacks any and all other blue or grey-ish undertones. Just white as snow. 

His eyes are black, like most Icewings, but his irises are also white, his black slitted pupils turning to me. 

He open his mouth to speak, but his voice cracks so badly (probably from being stone) that I don't understand him.

"Huh?" I ask. 

He clears his throat for a moment before trying again.

"How long?" his voice is still scratchy but understandable. 

"How long wha-?" 

"How long has it been this time?" 

For some reason, hearing those words, I feel something in me break. Who is this dragon, and, why exactly is he down here? Who would do this to a dragonet? He's barely three years old by the looks of him. 

"Do- do you remember what was happening last time you were awake?" I ask him slowly. 

He squints his eyes for a minute in thought.

"Uuuuuuhhh the Nightwings had disappeared from their kingdom. Can't fight them if we can't find them right? I was asked to do a spell to follow them, but for some reason it didn't work. Then I was put back in here"

The... war? Nightwing kingdom? 

"Um... I think... you've been down here.... over 2,000 years" I whisper incredulously. 

He stares blankly at me for a solid 30 seconds before bursting out laughing.

"HA! Ha! You almost got me! Seriously, where's my mother? Queen Diamond? Heh. Heh...." He trails off seeing the concern on my face is still there. 

"No. NO. Your lying! You have to be! My mother wouldn't have just left me here! She-" he stops.

My heart hurts watching his face fall into despair, his entire body drooping like a dead leaf. And, just as easy to break.

"Well, um, uh, why exactly are you... locked up? Here?" he slips out of his sad state instantly, his eyes glazing over a moment. 

"I am prince Void of the Icewings. Hatched to use my magic to help in the war against the Nightwings. When I became too unstable, they created a spell to control me in order to keep using my power safely. I listen to whomever wears the crystal earring" he speaks strangely, like a soldier in the army. I'm relived when his eyes return to normal. 

He looks at me a bit sheepishly, gesturing to the earring I picked up. 

"Basically, you're the boss now" he smiles about it, but I can see the nervousness in his eyes. Then he blinks at me in confusion. 

"Hold on, your not an Icewing. You look like a Seawing but, huh" he tilts his head from side to side, examining my odd colorings.

"Um, actually, I'm a hybrid. So, yeah" I say, a little uncomfortable. 

"Oh! That explains it, so, what exactly-"

"GASP"

Me and Void whip our heads toward the sound, seeing a girl Icewing standing outside the doorway, gaping at us incredulously. 

"WAIT-" The dragon runs down the hall as I speak. Uh oh. 

"Quick! Take these chains off me!" I hesitate a moment, but decide I can't leave him like this. I'm a little afraid he might be here for a good reason, but he has to listen to my every word so it shouldn't be hard to keep him from doing anything bad. 

Surprisingly its extremely easy to take them off, but I guess they're enchanted so that only he can't take them off. 

Once I'm done, he steps of the slab tentatively, as though he doesn't really trust the floor is real. Once he finally steps down completely, I turn towards the door.

"Come on, we don't have much ti-" rrrrrRRRAAAAAHHHHHhhhhhh.

My head pounds suddenly, and I fall to the floor clutching my head in pain. Void is standing over me saying something, but I can't hear him. 

A vision so strong takes hold in my mind, almost as clear as If I'm right there seeing it. 

The lab. With all my friends and family. On fire. I expect to see Sandwings attacking it because of the war, but, no, its Icewings. 

Several Icewings are loosing small bombs onto the compound as a few dragons are still trying to escape. 

And, a ways away, my father is being interrogated by four large Icewings in full armor.

"Where is she???" One of them hisses angrily.

"I don't know! I told you already, she's just a Seawing! Not a Nightwing! Why are you doing this!?" 

"LIAR! We have her DNA! She's Nightwing! All Nightwings are our enemies!"

"She's just a child! Barely a year old! She can't hurt any-" 

The vision ends in a blur. 

Void...

I'm not sure what to do when the girl falls over to the floor, as though having a migraine.

"Please Speak To Me! What should I do?"

"Get... us... out" She gasps out, still writhing in pain. 

Finally. An order. 

I lift her up easily and place her on my back between my wings. 

I walk down the hallway leisurely, mostly because I don't want to move her to much. I'm not sure what happening, but she is definitely in pain. 

"STOP THERE!" a guard comes around the corner followed by two more. Sighhh. 

I flick my talon up, and all three guards are splattered on the walls. I walk through as though they were never there, blue blood painting the walls and floors. Its kinda pretty actually. I leave their heads intact, albiet a bit regretfully. It will let them identify who died. 

I have to repeat this process three more times with varying amounts of guards before we make it to the exit. 

That's when she finally wakes up. 

"What happened?"