Wings of Fire - Shattered Ice

Chapter 1

"Not too rough!"

A small silver dragon's head was shoved into the snow, and she let out a muffled "oof!"

As the dragon who had pushed her stepped away, she shook off the snow from her wings, glaring at him.

The elderly IceWing who had yelled out looked at a small silvery-blue dragonet, eyes narrowed. "Careful there! We don't need any more injured dragons than we already have".

The dragonet whom she spoke to didn't look guilty at all. When the elderly dragon had her back turned, he rolled his eyes mockingly.

The female dragonet who was shoved into the snow gave him a funny look, then stalked off.

"It's not my fault everyone here fights like legless rabbits", he grumbled, now alone as the other dragonets left, not in the mood to play anymore. The older IceWing who scolded him had walked farther down, chatting with other IceWings, forgetting about the remaining dragonet.

He kicked the snow in front of him. Nobody cares about what happens to me, as usual. The stupid, weird-looking orphan.

The small dragonet glanced at the sky, which was turning a hazy purple, mixed in with a royal blue. Night was creeping up on the Kingdom of Ice.

As the dragonet silhouette disappeared deeper into the village, he noticed a shadow looming from behind. Ugh. Not again.

A larger dragonet, with a rather bulky frame for an IceWing, shoved his shoulder. "Hey Verglas! Looking for someone to fight? I know you're good at that!" The large IceWing laughed.

Verglas narrowed his eyes. "No, not at the moment, Sleet."

"Huh. I thought you did it because you were so insecure about your weird looking scales and wanted an excuse to move up to the next Circle without getting laughed at." Sleet smirked.

Verglas flinched That.. was a little too close to the truth. 

Although Verglas wasn't of age to receive an official circle ranking, he knew that he didn't have much of an opportunity to move up before his seventh hatching-day. He gloomily thought about how he will most likely be stationed to an arctic outpost for the rest of his life. Verglas often dreamed about seeing the IceWing palace up close, but only dragons of high rankings get to live there. 

Sleet stared at him, grinning widely. "Well, come on then. Fight me". Sleet flexed his talons, clearly not joking. That stupid brute. Verglas glared at him.

Most IceWings are regal and sophisticated. Sleet is an exception. 

Verglas didn't live in the best part of the Ice Kingdom. His village, Burrow Where Foxes Scurry, was rather poor and full of gangly and thin dragons, most of which stuck in the seventh circle. Queen Shard's palace was much farther off, her sparking castle makes Verglas's home look like a lump of dirt. 

"If you insist, Sleet." Sleet laughed at his remark. 

Then, without any warning, Verglas jumped at him. Caught off guard, Sleet stumbled, no longer smiling. Sleet roared and tried to knock Verglas over, but Verglas easily ducked out of the way. Sleet swiped at him, only to miss as Verglas dodged once more. Then, he dove to the side and rolled under Sleet, then kicked up his legs, sending him sprawling. The bulky dragon wasn't expecting that, and while he tried to recover, Verglas jumped over him, then pinned him down.

"That good enough for you?" Verglas whispered, his jaws close to Sleet's neck.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

A silver-white IceWing with a sour expression was standing before them, furious. She was in the third circle, Verglas noticed, as a silver necklace with three circles strung around it dangled from her neck. Wondering why a noble dragon was near his village, he realized that she must have been a guard stationed by the outskirts of his village and heard the scuffle. 

Hmph. She probably looks so grumpy because she thinks a high-class dragon like her shouldn't be stationed so close to this grubby village. 

Sleet put on a pathetic expression and pretended to whimper. "H-he attacked me! I was just standing here a-and he just jumped at me!"

Verglas sputtered at his evident lies "What? You filthy liar, he is the one who started it –"

"What I see is you standing over another IceWing, claws way too close to his neck for comfort," the IceWing snarled. "Get off him right now!"

Verglas realized how bad this looked for him. He stepped away from Sleet, silently fuming as the bulky dragonet sneered at him when the IceWing wasn't looking.

Glowering at Verglas, the adult IceWing shot him one last look of contempt before walking away back to her post, Sleet pretending to limp behind her.

When both dragons were out of his sight, Verglas raised his claws into the air and slashed them across a nearby tree, leaving deep gash marks, seething with anger.

"You fight like a natural."

Verglas spun around, eyes landing on a scarred dragon with a heavy jaw. He was missing one of his back legs but walked over to Verglas with ease.

The dragon's scales were a white with a grayish tint, fading to a pale purple as they traveled down his body. He was rather old and has probably lived through many battles in his lifetime.

Verglas eyed him with interest. "What do you want?"

"I saw the way you fought with that other IceWing. You clearly know how to take care of yourself."

Rather pleased, Verglas tried to figure out why this IceWing was talking to him. Before he could say anything, the scarred dragon continued.

"How old are you, dragonet?"

Verglas blinked. "Uh.. six."

"And your name?"

"Verglas."

The strange dragon looked him up and down. "You have the makings of a solider. Follow me."

Feeling as if he didn't really have a choice, Verglas obeyed, following the dragon through the snow.