Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

General Air

Air stood at the top of a hill, somewhere on the border of  Skywing and Icewing territory. Her eyes were closed as she attempted to calm herself. Her talons unconsciously reached at her neck, where her necklace used to be. Air winced slightly at the reminder. The necklace was gone, and so were her dragonets.

They had spent weeks searching for Ember and Hope, only to turn up nothing- except the bodies of three Icewings. Nightflyer had recognized one of them as one that had attacked him and then had gotten away. But there was no sign of the dragonets. They were completely desperate by the time a Skywing patrol had found them and had brought them to Queen Ruby. Ruby had officially chosen sides, declaring her allegiance to the Pro-hybrids, and Queens Thorn and Glory. Ruby sent messages to them, telling them to look out for any sign of the dragonets. She had sent out search parties, but they turned up nothing as well. Air and Nightflyer fell silent, slowly having to accept that their children were most likely dead. Nightflyer wanted to kick himself. All those years of having the same vision, the same warning sign, and yet he couldn't stop it from happening. He couldn't prevent his dragonets from being in danger. He refused to believe that they were dead. If his vision had come true, then Hope was definitely alive in some cave. But Ember....None of his visions had ever showed what had become of his smoky colored son. Ruby decided that they needed a distraction, something that might help them get a feeling of vengeance. 

She drafted them both into the army. 

Nightflyer was quickly sent to the rainforest, to fight with other Nightwings, whereas Air remained in the Skywing army. She was surprised how quickly she moved up in the ranks, until she was no longer just some random soldier. She was a general. It turned out that when every dragon you fought could've been the dragon that murdered your children, you fought with some damn strong motivation. Some of the Skywings started to fear her in a way, insisting that she got her cold-blooded killing ability from her mother. 

That brings us back to now. Air shook herself, shaking off the memories that threatened to creep up again. She walked down the hill into a Sandwing encampment. She had a meeting with one of the Sandwing generals. Qibli, in fact. 

After the meeting, Air walked around, until she caught sight of a familiar scarred Sandwing. She walked over.

"Hello Coal," she greeted him. Coal looked up and dropped the spear he'd been sharpening.

"Air?" he questioned. "What are you doing here?" It was a bit surprising. He hadn't been expecting to see his brother-in-law's wife at the encampment anytime soon. 

"I'm a Skywing general now. I had a meeting with Qibli." she explained.

"Cool. How's Nightflyer?" Air's face darkened slightly.

"I don't know. Last I heard he was on some scout mission in the Bay of a Thousand Scales." Coal frowned. 

"Then where's Ember and Hope?" he asked. Air sucked in a breath and looked away, her eyes watering. She bit her lip, not wanting to cry in front of him. Coal stood up quickly. Something had obviously happened, and it didn't look good. Surely his niece and nephew were alright? No one would harm them. Hope was just a baby, and Ember was too likable to hurt. 

"I don't-I don't know." Air said, her voice shaking as she attempted not to cry. "Icewings found us, and we got separated, and then we couldn't find them." 

"Oh, Air." Coal said ruefully. 

He knew the truth as well as she did. There was hardly any chance that they were still alive. He shivered slightly at the thought of something like that happening to his own dragonets. Dusk and Dawn....He didn't know what he'd do if something happened to them, but a lot of dragons would probably die. He knew that they were okay though. Firefly had written him and had explained that they went to the Stronghold after Icewings started searching Possibility. She wrote him a lot, although it was hard to find time to read her letters. Dusk wrote him too, and he wrote back when he was able to. Dawn sent him pictures since she couldn't write anything legible yet. Coal kept one of her drawings on him at all times, although he wasn't sure why he did. Sometimes other soldiers that didn't have families or anyone to go back to would ask to see Dawn's drawings. Coal thought that it took their minds away from the war for a while, that it reminded them what they were fighting for. They fought for hybrids, but to the dragons in Coal's squadron, they fought so that a little girl could keep drawing.

Air quickly switched the topic. 

"Have you seen my brother recently?" she asked. She hadn't heard much from Squelch during the war, although she knew he had been drafted. Coal nodded.

"He's around here somewhere, actually." he admitted. "He's fine; got all his parts still attached. He fights strong."

"Well, you tell him I was here, and that if he dies I'll skin him alive." Coal smirked.

"I think he's already got that threat hanging over his head from his wife." Air snorted.

"You'll take care of him, won't you?" she questioned. Coal nodded.

"Of course Air. Squelch is like the only non-murderous brother I have. I look out for him, and he looks out for me. We've got each other's backs, don't worry." 

"Alright." There was a pause. "I'll be sure to let Firefly know that you're fine."  Coal smiled slightly.

"You know how she worries." 

They parted soon after that, and Coal found his way into a tent near the middle of the camp. 

"Hey," Squelch greeted him. "Where've you been?"

"Talking with your sister." Coal explained. 

"Okay." Then the words sank in. "Wait what?"