Wings of Night, Ice, and Light

Chapter 2: The Dragon Tribes of Pyrrhia

Dart's P.O.V

I stared at both Ermine and Tempest with wide pale blue eyes. "Wow! That's a lot of abilities for only seven dragon tribes." I replied, with aw and amazement.

"Well... We told you about our dragons, so... What kind of dragons do you have in... The Hidden World was it?" Tempest asked and I nodded.

"We have a lot of dragons... But there not just seven tribes. Theres a lot of different dragons. There rarest one is the Night Fury. My dad's a Night Fury named Toothless." I told them. Then I relighted something that my dad had heard his human rider read in a book.

"The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance: Hide and pray it does not find you."

"And then theres the Light Fury. They're kinda like Night Furies, but they can blend in the daytime and they have different abilities. My mother is a Light Fury named Starlight. There's also the Deadly Nadder, the Monstrous Nightmare, the Hideous Zippleback, the Groncle, the Terrible Terror. And many many others." I said listing off the dragons that I know of. Tempest was wide-eyed while Ermine's attention was actually away from her scroll. I smiled a toothless smile at the SeaWing and IceWing dragonets.

"Three moons! That's a lot of dragons! Why is there a dragon called the Deadly Nadder?" Ermine quietly asked me. I turned to see that the IceWing was looking up from her scroll again.

"That's simple. They have these poisonous spikes at the end of there tails, and their known to have the hottest fire in the dragon world."

"Oh, and theres one thing that I forgot to mention about the Night Fury. This thing never steels food, never shows itself... And never misses. And there really good at dive-bombing, they have retractable teeth, echolocation, and blending in with the night sky." I said with growing pride at my father's fierce reputation.

"So just to clarify... There's The MudWings, SandWings, SkyWings, SeaWings, IceWings, RainWings, and the NightWings?" I asked and Tempest nodded in response. I turned to see that Ermine was still engrossed in her scroll.

"But IceWings are always all white am I right?" I asked and Tempest nodded her head. "Then why does Ermine have dark blue tail spikes and horns?" I asked and Tempest gave a thoughtful look.

"Her parents and younger sister all have dark blue tail spikes and horns. But yes... Usually, IceWings are are usually all pure white." The SeaWing explained.

Silence fell once again and this time I was the one to break it.

"Is Ermine from the circles?" I asked the two dragonets with a curious look in said IceWing's direction. Tempest nodded and answered for Ermine.

"Ermine is from the circles, though she's much more... Open in her opinions about it." Tempest explained, answering for Ermine. "At the quarterly summits the queens attend at Sanctuary... Let's just say she's caused some IceWing spikes to rattle." Tempest added, clearly poking fun at her friend good-naturedly.

Ermine rolled her eyes at Tempest. "Haha, IceWing puns. Hilarious and original! What's next, coming up with the cool and cold jokes?" Asked the IceWing with a mix of betrayal and a pout on her face. But Ermine was clearly being sarcastic. There was no mean spite in her tone when talking to Tempest.

"Ohh... I get the joke. But what are the circles?" I questioned, tilting my head in confusion. Ermine looked up from her scroll briefly and added.

"The IceWings have rankings and they go up depending on how high up in the circles you are. Most of the IceWings are really... lets just say there all pretty cold to others. They are also very strict in their traditions." Said Ermine. "IceWing Royals are instantly placed at the highest ranking in the circles. I'm from the circles, but I don't really agree with the IceWing aristocracy." Ermine explained.

"So you're like, what, against the circles?" I asked, frowning and blinking in confusion as I stared up at Ermine.

"Not necessarily." Ermine added. "A hierarchy or chain of command is certainly needed. I'm not an anarchist or anything... But in practice, the system of the circles are flawed and dated. It doesn't have to go away, but it does need to change." She explained.