Wings of Fire: Frost and Fire

The Insightful

Magmatic's point of view

I can't believe we found her! After Taiga and I had to utilize our powers to get through the tower, we found just the dragon we've been looking for: Eclipse, a former member of the cult, who has information for us. With her help, we may finally know where to go next!

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"Hello, Primrose." Eclipse stepped forward as if she already knew Primrose. Perhaps they met in the past?

"What do we do? How do we stop this disaster from happening?" I asked Eclipse.

Taiga stepped on my foot and whispered to me. "Hey, at least let her introduce herself before we pry her for information."

"I am Eclipse of the NightWings, but you already knew that," Eclipse said. "I was once high in the rankings of the Cult of the Moon, before they found out I was plotting against them."

"Cult of the Moon? So those are the guys who we need to stop?" I asked.

"Yes," Eclipse answered. "They are your enemy, and they will try to cause the disaster you seek to prevent."

"So, these crescent symbols must be their calling card, or something...?" Taiga's tail swished back and forth.

"What does the Cult of the Moon want?" Primrose asked.

"They want to cause the disaster that you've heard of in the prophecy. They call it the Frostfire or something like that." Eclipse's tongue flicked in and out.

"Why did they lock you away, exactly?" Primrose stepped forward, tilting her head a little.

"Well, I may have stolen the dreamvisitor. They locked me up for that originally, but after they extracted more information from me, they discovered I was trying to work with your little friends there." Eclipse gestured towards Taiga and I.

"Alright, tell us what we need to do in order to stop all of this." Primrose readied a scroll from her pouch, dipping a claw into an ink well, coating it with shiny black ink.

"Alright, then," Eclipse began. "The first thing you must do is find the hidden sanctuary. It is hidden in a cave network in the Sky Kingdom, under the Claws of the Clouds Mountains. Then, you must bring the four artifacts back to the sanctuary. Once you do that, you will gain the key to preventing this disaster from happening, but be careful. Looks can be deceiving..."

That was ominous. Looks can be deceiving? What did she mean, exactly? "So, then what?" I asked.

"Then, once you have acquired the key to the temple, you must find the temple itself. Not even I know its whereabouts, but the orb will tell you. All you have to do is let your powers combine, and everything else will fall into place."

Primrose was writing all of this down in a scroll. She also had a map of Pyrrhia, with the Claws of the Clouds Mountains circled, and an arrow pointing towards it from the Night Kingdom. She scribbled the word 'sanctuary' around the mountains.

Taiga was staring into the wall, presumably deep in thought. I reached over, brushing my wing with his. He snapped out of it, looking at me with a slight blush.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked softly. "You were staring off into space." I came a little closer.

"I'm fine," he answered. "This is a lot to process, and I'm trying to take mental notes." His wings twitched a little. There was a certain sadness to his tone. I looked into his snowy eyes.

"Well, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here." I gave a small smile.

Taiga smiled back weakly. "Thank you, Magmatic," he said quietly. He shifted on his talons, ruffling the spikes on his neck.

I looked back over to the others. Primrose was still writing in her scroll, completely distracted. Eclipse was humming, tapping her foot as the silver crescent on her face glistened in the light.

"Eclipse," I echoed. "Do you want to come with us?"

She shook her head. "I cannot go. If the Cult finds me again, there's no telling what they would do with me. Plus, you two are dangers to everyone around you. I could get burnt to a crisp in my sleep."

I nodded. Her reasons made sense, but truthfully, I was really hoping she said no. Not only would it get too crowded for my liking with four dragons, but I really only asked because I thought Taiga would think I was kind. He smiled softly in my direction, making my heart skip a beat. Evidently, I succeeded.

"Where will you go, now that you've fled the Cult?" Taiga spoke up.

"I will try to go to the rainforest," Eclipse said. "I don't know if Queen Glory is aware of the Cult, but if she punishes me, then I will accept the consequences."

Eclipse seemed old enough to have grown up on the NightWing island. I had heard about it after the NightWings began settling into the rainforest, and since it only happened a few years ago, she may have been on the mainland with the rest of the Cult.

I wondered what Queen Glory would do once she discovered the Cult, and that got me thinking: why haven't we told the queens yet? The tribes need to know what's going to happen.

"Guys," I said. "Don't we need to alert the queens?"

Taiga nodded. "That would be the smart thing to do," he said.

"I'm your best bet," Primrose said, rolling up the scroll she was writing on. "I'm the most connected with my tribes. They know me well, and also know that I'm not a danger to everyone nearby. I'll request an audience with Queen Glory, and she can send for the other queens."

That made sense. Taiga had told me earlier that Primrose was a famous explorer, known all over Pyrrhia and beyond for discovering and documenting the continent of Solaria, a place with five tribes of strange inhabitants. They were rumored to have descended from both Pyrrhian and Pantalan tribes. If there was anyone who had good connections, and would have her voice heard, it was Primrose.

I also remembered that Primrose wouldn't burn down the rainforest trying to speak with Queen Glory. It was a little disappointing that Taiga and I couldn't be the ones to talk to her, but it was the least dangerous option, that was for sure.

It was about time for our meeting with Eclipse to come to a close. Taiga shuffled towards the door, and Primrose packed away her inkwell and the scroll. She brushed the ink off her claws.

"I am afraid there isn't much else I can tell you," Eclipse said. "Just don't let them complete their ritual, and no matter what, do NOT let the artifacts fall into their possession again."

The three of us left the tower, Primrose in the lead. With the advice Eclipse had given us, we had to head to the Claws of the Clouds Mountains next. Primrose crouched down, her scales rippling with pink and yellow and pale green. Primrose was usually more composed, and it was rare to see her purple scales flicker to another color.

I readied myself to soar off into the orange and pink sky, and so did Taiga. We lifted off, and for a moment, I felt our wings brush, which sent shivers down my spine. I was in the lead, as I knew where the Claws of the Clouds Mountains were. I occasionally looked back at Taiga, meeting his snowy eyes with a smile.

Before we went to the sanctuary, we would have to alert the queens, which Primrose would have to do, although she'd have to leave us for a few days. Hopefully we could find somewhere to camp where she'd find us after she finished talking with Queen Glory.

Taiga flew faster to line himself up right at my side, staying about half a wingbeat away. I smiled at him, dipping downwards and pulling myself back upwards with a burst of momentum. As I spread my wings out, I found them underneath Taiga's. Together, the three of us glided towards our destiny.

Thank you so much for reading the second part of Frost and Fire! I apologize for the delay, as I was struggling a little bit, and even got sick for a week, which seriously hampered my time to work on the story. Plus, I'm working on another project, a silly game in Google Slides that I'm playing with my friends. Thank you for being patient and waiting for me to release this part of the story. Remember, the full story document will be in the description, and there, you can even find a link to the plot outline! By the way, Felix, if you're reading this, I love you so much! Again, thank you so, so much for reading my story, and I'll see you in the next part. Ciao~! <333