Frozen Echoes: The Last HallowFrost

Chapter 14: Darkness Takes Control (pt. 1)

CryoFangs bowed before the older dragoness, she radiated a power that only Eis seemed to share. She's the Wyrmwood Queen, Queen Sselvu. A Royal. She remembered vaguely, but where's King Weeper, her mate?

"Hmmm," went Sselvu quietly, "an Aquaz, three HallowFrosts, and a PyreWing... an odd group of outsiders. Say, you there-" the Queen directed her voice and attention towards CryoFangs. "State your name, and a believable explanation for being here."

The HallowFrost rose to meet her stern golden eyes, "my name is CryoFangs, Your Majesty. Me and my group have come here with an urgent mission..." by order of my long-dead ancestor Shiverthorn? "And we request your tribe's help in finding anyone who may know the location of the Animus Assailant."

Queen Sselvu seemed to hold back a laugh as she eyed the lowly dragoness, "the Animus Assailant? My dear, that jewel has been lost to the ages, and what sort of a mission are you involved in, exactly? A bit more detail would be appreciated, CryoFangs."

The way her name was pronounced made her scales crawl, it must be a... Royal thing, she sighed mentally, keeping her face set and disallowing her annoyance to show. "My mission is to stop a SchattenSeele named VileHeart the Wretched before he gains enough strength to possess one of the tribe rulers, the Animus Assailant is the only thing that can stop him, and I was told that I could seek out the help of some Elders-"

"Stop!" Sselvu barked, the dragon ceased speaking, "before I even begin to fathom what your true purpose is, I am not just going to give an outsider- especially a peasant- my help immediately. I'll need you to prove to me that you can be trusted with my help before anything else, got it?"

CryoFangs felt the word "peasant" stab her in the chest like a dagger, anger and realization that she was far from being worthy of a Royal's attention sank in quickly, her ears drooped the slightest bit as she strained herself from showing her true emotions. "Yes, Your Majesty," she said clearly, "what do I have to do to earn your... trust?"

Sselvu had an odd glimmer in her eyes as she looked over the group again, the Elder dragon beside her was giving the Queen anxious looks, as if he wasn't sure what to do in her presence. As CryoFangs looked at him, she saw an odd, impossibly black ring of scales around the old dragon's dark green neck, the ring seemed to absorb the sunlight around it, making it almost totally void of color. That's weird... what is that? She wondered, and as she gazed at him, the Elder met her stare with his jade eyes.

A jolt of apprehension seized her guts, as if he had spooked her somehow when their eyes locked. What in the moons? She wondered, quickly snapping to attention as Sselvu's throat cleared.

"I'll explain more once we are inside-- come along now." She sniffed, flicking her tail as she gracefully whirled around, the odd Elder following her.

"Tail-eater!" EmberWrath coughed sarcastically from beside CryoFangs, actually causing the group to chuckle amongst themselves as they slipped inside the Palace, out from under the piercing gazes of the guards.

Who knew it would take a simple word to put me down? She sighed heavily in her head, giving a sad sideways glance to Eis, I'm technically not even allowed to speak before him, Royals are supposed to speak first. I've broken so many rules in the social ladder for that dragon, I swear-

She sighed through her nose as they walked further into the Palace, the wooden floor scraped up with claw marks and all sorts of other things, she tried to cheer herself up by remembering what Eis had told her, that she wasn't a peasant in his eyes, but it really didn't help when a Queen from a different tribe clearly disdained her lower subjects- and had displayed such before her eyes. Or maybe it's just me...