Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

The Battle

It was time. The entirety of Thorn, Glory, and Ruby's armies were gathered near the edge of the Sandwing Kingdom. Hundreds of hybrids- nearly the entire Colors of the Wings, was there too. This was it. This giant army, with thousands of dragons, was determined to end the war with one final battle. 

All dragonets from the Colors of the Wings had been taken to the Stronghold. All the boards that were normally filled with dragon's names were empty. Their titles had been erased, and now they were just split into two categories- Dead, and Wounded. Prisoner and Missing had no more purpose, seeing as this battle was going to end the Hybrid War once and for all. 

The Stronghold was packed with dragons. Firefly, Adobe, Squelch, Dusk, Dawn, Nile, Cypress, Gator, Willow, Egret, Ember, and Hope among them. These twelve dragons awaited anxiously for news, just like everyone else did.

 Ember wrung his talons. He had just gotten his parents back. But what if now he lost them forever? What would happen to him and Hope then? 

Firefly toyed with the ring on her talon. What if Coal didn't come back? Under his wishes, she had removed his name from the list. Oh how she regretted doing that. She didn't want the last time she spoke to him to be filled with hurt and suspicion. She didn't regret putting his name on the list the first time, for it had saved his life. But what if that was all for nothing? 

Squelch couldn't bear to think about this battle. He was supposed to be out there, covering Coal's back and protecting others. Instead he was stuck here, his leg in bandages. Air was fighting today. What if something happened to her? He glanced over at Firefly, wondering how she was keeping so calm. She must be terrified for Coal, and for Nightflyer as well. He sighed, willing time to go faster.

Dusk stared at the doors, hoping that his father would walk through them. Dawn clung to him, terrified for reasons she didn't quite understand. He kept a wing wrapped around her. Dusk just wanted to see him again. He didn't want one of the last things he'd ever said to his dad to be filled with anger and questioning. 

In the rainforest, dragons were just as anxious as the stronghold. Glory, Rainkeeper, Pear, Shore, Apple, Rin, and Ander waited in one of the rainforest huts. Deathbringer and Joy were leading the Rainforest army into the battle this very moment, and they could only woder if they would see them again.

Kelp sat on a chair, deep in thought. Joy could die today. That thought alone made him want to scream. Joy was his everything. She couldn't just.....die. It would kill him. It would literally kill him.

Rainkeeper held onto Pear's hand tightly. He could lose his father and his sister at any second. His little sister, that he had sworn to protect since before she had even hatched. He should be out there right now, protecting her and fighting with everyone else. But Pear refused to let him go. The only reason Joy was able to leave was because Apple, Rin, and Ander existed. They were heirs in case something happened. Not that he ever wanted to think about that. 

Ander glanced softly between her father and her siblings. She knew how this was going to end, but the stars had made her swear not to tell. The suspense was good for them, they insisted. But Ander disagreed. Her brother looked terrified and she didn't like it. Not one bit. She held onto Rin tightly and grabbed her brother's hand, looking at them worriedly.

Glory paced the room and tried to take a deep breath. Everything was going to be fine, she attempted to convince herself. Deathbringer and Joy are going to walk through that door and everything is going to be just fine. Everything will go back to normal.....Right? 

The silence in the room was broken as a dragon rushed in, looking completely out of breath with blood coated scales. Kelp, Rainkeeper, and Pear jumped to their feet and the dragonets looked up. Glory stopped pacing and faced the messenger.

Everyone in the Stronghold held their breath as a messenger rushed into the room and bolted over to Thorn. They held a whispered conversation for a minute before the messenger fell to the floor. Thorn helped him up and two guards led him from the room. Everyone in the room looked expectantly at Thorn. 

"What is it?" Glory asked.

"It's over." The messenger gasped.

"The Icewings and Seawings have surrendered." Thorn declared. 

"We've won."