Wings of Fire - Shattered Ice

Prologue

"Sir". 

A hooded figure slowly lifts his head, his slitted eyes coated with malice. 

"Enter". 

A scrawny dragon, scales coated with blood, entered the room. His body was suddenly overridden with a coughing fit. He coughed blood onto the floor, which the hooded dragon glanced at disdainfully. 

"Did you do it?" The dragon growled menacingly. The bleeding dragon shifted uncomfortably. 

"We don't know if he managed to get through, sir." The hooded dragon glowered at him, his eyes giving off an unsettling yellow glow, sparkling with animosity. He stepped forward slowly, long claws scraping loudly against the hard floor. The wounded dragon shivered, evidently frightened, not meeting the dragon's hostile glare. 

The hooded dragon snarled, grabbing the injured dragon's jaw and pulling him forward, so they were face to face. "So what you're telling me is that you failed?" His voice quivered with rage. When the other dragon didn't answer, he let go, and the dragon fell to the ground, shaking with fright. 

"It was impossible, it was so heavily guarded, we couldn't reach.." his voice trailed off, and he whimpered with apprehension.   

Carefully, the dragon pulled down his hood, revealing black scales with what looked like red veins streaking through it. Half of his jaw was a twisted, gruesome mess of what looked like the aftermath of a savage attack. The other dragon fearfully backed away, unsure of what this gesture meant.

Still, without looking at the scrawny dragon, the other walked toward a shelf containing two vials of liquid and a map. 

In one vial, steaming green liquid bubbled within it. In the other was a murky, pale purple substance. 

"Do you know what this is, Fen?" 

The dragon blinked at the liquids, looking uncertain. "Uh, no sir."

Suddenly, a cruel, malevolent smile crept up the black-scaled dragon's face. 

"Exactly." 

He placed the two vials and the map down on a table, moving toward another shelf. This time, he grabbed a polished dagger, its hilt carved with twisted vines and teeth. Fen let out a squawk of fear and backed away, looking terrified. 

"P-please sir, I've been a faithful servant for all these years, you mustn't-"

The other dragon lifted one claw, scaring Fen into silence. 

"Now, the question being asked here is if you did as you were told and carried out my orders the way I asked them to be. It isn't a matter of faithfulness, but your usefulness, rather." He went on, eyes on the dagger. He stroked the blade with his talons. "You have failed me once again, Fen, and I'm afraid that I cannot keep accepting your negligence. This time it has costed me too much. Your service is no longer needed."

Fen swallowed, eyes darting from side to side, in case he was in need to make a sudden escape. "S-so, does that mean I can just go back h-home-"

"You know too much."

The dragon now looked at him cooly, yellow eyes narrowed. He raised the knife into the air and Fen flinched away, but the dragon didn't use it to kill Fen. Instead, he grabbed a vial and sliced through the top of the one containing murky purple liquid. Before he sliced off the top, there appeared to be no cover or cap, it was completely sealed. He then carefully placed the knife down, holding the vial so no liquid would spill out. 

Cautiously, he put the vial on the table, next to the green one. 

Fen watched anxiously, not sure what his master, now former, was doing.

The dragon then picked up a mask. Fen already knew it was animus touched, but was never informed of what its purpose was. The black-scaled dragon then put it on over his face, making sure that it's secured properly. He then proceeded to walk around Fen until he was between him and the exit of the cave they were in, making it impossible to escape. 

With both vials in his talons, he first poured the green one onto the floor. Fumes rose above it as it bubbled across the stone. Yet it had no affect on either dragon. Fen was now confused, trying to figure out the liquids purpose. The other dragon still didn't speak a single word as he grabbed the other vial, the one where he had to slice the top off.

Fen's heart started beating faster. Despite not knowing what the liquid does, he had a feeling that it had to be dangerous if it had been sealed so tightly before. 

Panicking, he tried to move toward the cave entrance, but the other dragon moved to block him. Fen evidently couldn't fight his way out, he was already in a fragile state.

Expressionless, the masked dragon slowly poured the purple liquid so that it merged with the green liquid.

At first nothing happened. The merged liquids merely bubbled, nothing more. That was until a strange smoke arose into the air. The dragon watched, amber eyes gleaming maliciously, staring at the smoke with a fascinated expression. Fen started breathing heavily as he inhaled the smoke. Suddenly, his body went rigid, and his eyes went wide.

He collapsed onto the ground, twitching violently. His mouth opened and closed multiple times, but no sound came out. Fen coughed and sputtered, blood dripping from his jaws. His face was full of agony as he rolled on the ground. Finally he gave a final shudder, then was still. 

The other dragon eyed his body with interest. He made a strange motion with his claws over the liquid, and the smoke quickly disappeared, including did the liquid. He took off the mask and made another motion with his claws, and the liquid returned to the vials they were in originally. Carefully, he placed them back on the shelf. 

"Mire. How clever," he said with a chuckle. 

The dragon had an amused expression, then shook his head. 

He then glanced at Fen's lifeless body, then the enchanted mask.

"But not clever enough, I'm afraid."

Making one final motion with his claws, he spread his wings and ascended into the night sky, the cave entrance sealing up behind him.