One[]
Cormorant watched as Moonflight and Queen Raptor battled in the ancient SkyWing arena. He pulled his little sister, Axolotl closer as she whimpered.
"What if Moonflight loses? Will we have to hide even more?" Axolotl sqeaked. She, like her brother, was a SkyWing and SeaWing hybrid.
Cormorant looked at her concerned green eyes. "I have a feeling she'll win."
The two dragons stood on a turret hidden in a shadow as the sun went down. The sky looked red as blood as screeches echoed around the arena.
I hope Moonflight wins.
Juneau watched her mother scratch her name onto the First Circle Ice Stone. She had finally done it. Now she would not be treated like an outcast.
Permafrost, a princess of the IceWings, looked outraged as her name was moved from the First Circle to the Second. "How dare you?" she snapped at Sindri, Juneau's mother.
Permafrost was known to be very bossy, even for a princess. Juneau couldn't help but roll her eyes at the older dragonet.
Sindri just looked at the princess with stern dark blue eyes. "Queen Kodiak and I decided this would be best for you. Do you wish to argue with your mother?"
Permafrost just grudgingly dipped her head. "I support Her Majesty's decision to bring me down to the Second Circle."
Sindri grabbed a First Circle necklace out of a leather pouch and wrapped it around Juneau's neck. "Our first hybrid in the First Circle!" Sindri shouted. Some dragons cheered approvingly, but others just glared at the odd dragonet standing in front of the Ice Slabs.
Juneau's father was a RainWing and Southern SeaWing hybrid that lived in the ocean south of the rain forest. Her parents met during the hybrid war, and Sindri joined Moonflight's army right before she was hatched.
Lost in thought, Juneau almost didn't notice a spear thrown at her mother. Sindri skillfully whacked it away with her tail, but a second spear was fired almost instantly.
"NOOO!" Juneau yelled as her mother collapsed on the snow. The hybrid dodged a spear and looked up to see a gray dragon from the ranking ceremony shoot into the sky. He tackled an icy blue dragon in the crowd.
Juneau ran to her mother. Sindri was breathing heavily, clawing at the snow around her. She met Juneau's gaze calmly. "Take this," she said, holding a string of colorful beads out to her daughter. "Your father will protect you. And always remember... I love you."
Sindri's eyes glazed over and her head fell to the snowy ground.
"Mother!" Juneau gasped. She started tom sob as the gray dragon landed next to her.
Juneau looked up at him. Through her tears, she could hardly make out odd darker-than-usual gray scales and icy blue eyes. Multiple cuts across his scales were bleeding dark blue blood, but he didn't seem to care.
Juneau wiped her tears and bowed. "Prince Wolverine," she whispered.
Wolverine and Juneau were best friends, but in public they had to act like strangers. But Wolverine scooted closer and put his wing around hers.
"We have to go, Juneau. That was a palace guard. If he attacked you and your mother, someone else might," Wolverine whispered.
Juneau looked around. Everyone besides a big white dragon had fled, and she didn't look friendly.
"Fly!" Wolverine screeched as the dragon breathed frost breath in their direction. Juneau leaped into the sky and dove, slashing the white dragon's snout with her ridged claws.
Wolverine flew after his friend as they escaped the Ice Kingdom.
Two[]
Fenrir watched the sun rise out his window. He stood as two odd-looking dragons landed outside his log cabin.
The IceWing's talons clicked quietly as he walked past his mother in the living room. "Good morning," he said before walking outside. Cold air rushed against his scales as he stepped onto the snow.
Fenrir trotted over to the other dragons. He almost tripped as he looked at the young dragoness.
She is the most beautiful dragon I have ever seen! he thought. She looked like a three-way hybrid, and her scales seemed to sparkle in the sun.
"My name's Fenrir, what's yours?" he asked, ignoring the gray dragon right next to her. Fenrir took a few steps closer, so their snouts were only inches apart.
The pretty dragon backed away, her spines sticking up and her bright violet eyes looking at the snow. "Juneau," she replied.
Fenrir looked at her wolf's fur vest. "You must be cold, Juny. Come inside,"he said, reaching out with his wing to pull her close.
He was stopped by the dragon next to Juneau. "Actually, we just need directions. Which way is the Scorpion Den?" the dragon said. His voice was a bit raspy, and he looked like he'd just been in a fight.
"Why are you traveling to that waste of space?" Fenrir asked. "I've heard there are fights everywhere, and we wouldn't want any scars on your pretty scales," He said, winking at Juneau. He saw the other dragon glaring at him out the corner of his eye.
"We're looking for other hybrids. There's been an... incident at the palace, and we're going to bring all the hybrid dragonets we can find to Jade Mountain Academy," the gray dragon said impatiently. "Now, where do we find the Scorpion Den?"
"Can I come with you? I have nothing against hybrids, especially beautiful ones," Fenrir said. He gazed calmly at Juneau, who was anything but calm. "Anyways, what's your name?"
"Prince Wolverine of the IceWings. Why exactly would we bring you?" Wolverine said, eyes narrowed.
Fenrir bowed hastily and stood up straight again. He knew that Wolverine liked Juneau, and he wanted to make sure she would be his. "I'm in the First Circle," he said, showing them his necklace. Fenrir knew they would need him now.
Wolverine sighed. "Alright, you can come if your parents say it's okay."
Fenrir nodded and went back inside. He grabbed a few furs for blankets, some gold coins, a journal with some ink, and some bandages and stuffed everything in a leather bag. He didn't even ask his mom if he could leave.
Impala dodged a blow to her head and swung her tail at the big SandWing. She heard him screech as the barb scratched the other dragon.
The hybrid stood up and ran across the desert with the stolen coins. Once she entered the Scorpion Den, she would be safe.
Impala was a MudWing and SandWing hybrid born without wings. She didn't even have little stumps, just smooth flesh as if they weren't even supposed to be there.
Impala shot through the city walls and ran through the busy crowd, making her way to her tent. She was rounding a corner when she crashed into warm brown scales. Impala fell backwards and slumped on the ground.
The MudWing in front of her hadn't even budged. His strange blue eyes glittered with concern as he helped Impala up. "Are you okay?" he asked, and the hybrid just flicked her tail.
"I'm fine," Impala said. "Hey, I haven't seen you before. What's your name?"
The two dragons continued to walk down the street. "Wombat," the MudWing replied. "What's yours?"
"Impala," the hybrid replied. She reached her old tent and stopped just outside. "What's a MudWing doing in the Scorpion Den?"
"My mom had a hybrid dragonet with a SeaWing. The queen sent us into exile," Wombat replied. "I think her name was Catfish."
Three[]
Wolverine growled under is breath as Fenrir hit Juneau on the wing with his tail. He knew the hybrid had a high pain tolerance, but didn't want other dragons treating her like that.
The three dragons were flying across the desert, and Wolverine was miserable. He didn't think anything could ever be this hot, and he still hadn't felt fire. That would be torture.
Juneau swooped above the pale blue dragon, slapped his head with her talon, and glided gracefully back to her spot below and to the right of Fenrir.
"Wow, that's a First Circle move!" Fenrir gasped. "Are you-"
"Yes, I'm the first ever hybrid in the First Circle," Juneau snapped. Wolverine snorted at her temper.
"Have you been one all your life?" Fenrir retorted.
"No, but I earned mine in skill. Judging by your house, you got it with money," Juneau growled. The icy blue dragon looked taken aback and didn't reply.
Darn, we could have left him there! Wolverine thought. He wanted to rip off Fenrir's tail and feed it to the orcas.
The Scorpion Den was now visible, but was nearly hidden by a wall of heat waves. The trio flew on until they reached a group of six tents surrounded by a thin sandstone wall. The sun was now setting, and the steady flow of dragons waking was dwindling rapidly.
Wolverine swooped down to the entrance of the group of tents. "Queen Sapphire used these when she was hunting Markhor, a runaway hybrid. They still belong to the Royal IceWing Family," he said, landing in front of two burly SandWings that were guarding the IceWing embassy.
"Prince Wolverine of the IceWings," Wolverine said to the guards. "We need to shelter here for a while."
The SandWings bowed and stepped back, letting the three dragons walk through the sandstone opening. Wolverine guided Juneau over to the tent made for the queen. It looked just like the others on the outside, but was very luxurious on the inside.
Polar bear fur lined the floor, and the bed was a massive wolf fur cushion. A beautiful vanity was lit by several moonglobes, and bookshelves were stacked in one corner. The tent was also animus enchanted to give off a delightful cool breeze.
Juneau gasped, touching the fluffy furs and the vanity. "Wow, this is amazing!"
Wolverine smiled. "It was Queen Sapphire's tent. I thought you would like it."
Juneau looked back at the IceWing price with a content expression on her face. "I don't like it, I love it."
"By the way, if you hear someone walking outside, it's probably just a guard," Wolverine said. "I'll be in the next tent over, and Fenrir will be on the other side of me."
Wolverine walked out of the tent and strolled into his. It was a lot like the queen's, but it didn't have a vanity. He flopped onto the bed, exhausted from the flying he'd done. Sleep came quickly, but it didn't last.
Juneau listened to the dragons talking outside, flexing her ridged claws.
"The Queen must be in there," one dragon said. It sounded like a female. "It wouldn't be safe to rob the tent now."
"This is the only night of the year when the guards are too busy protecting the Outclaw Leader in that stupid parade," a male dragon said. "It's now or next year."
There was a brief moment of silence before a sandy-gold talon pulled the tent flap aside.
Juneau was already on her feet, growling viciously. The SandWings didn't even hesitate to attack after they found out she wasn't the queen.
"You take care of her, I'll loot the tent!" the dragoness said. The other dragon tackled Juneau and held his tail barb next to her chest.
"Don't move!" the massive dragon yelled. Smoke curled from his pale yellow nose.
Juneau was about to panic before Wolverine charged through the flap. He ripped the dragon away from Juneau, dodging his barbed tail in the process.
Juneau grabbed the dragoness's tail barb with her prehensile tail. She planted her talons on the other dragon's back, pinning her down. "Why are you doing this?" the hybrid asked.
"We owe someone a lot of money," the dragoness said. "If we don't pay her back soon, she'll kill our dragonets."
Juneau let go, sensing the urgency in her voice. "Stop!" she told Wolverine. He and the other dragon quit fighting almost instantly. "Take what you need," Juneau told the SandWing dragoness.
She gave the hybrid a look of pure wonder. "What is your name?" the dragoness asked.
"Juneau, what's yours?" she answered.
"Spark," the dragoness replied before taking three diamond necklaces from the vanity.
"Is there anything we can do to repay repay you?" Spark asked.
Juneau thought for a moment. "Do you know any hybrids that live in the Scorpion Den?" she asked.
Spark looked confused before replying. "Yes, two Sea and Sky siblings, and one wingless Mud and Sand. I've lived here for my whole life and haven't heard of any others. Is that all?"
"Yes," Juneau said. "Thank you."
"Thank you," Spark said before walking outside with her mate.
Four[]
Cormorant sold Brightsting cactus for a living, and the hybrid war had brought in a lot of customers. Now that it was over, he and Axolotl barely had enough to eat.
The day had been even slower than usual when an odd-looking dragoness and two IceWings stopped at his tent.
"Are you a hybrid?" one of the IceWings asked. He was a shade of gray, and darker than usual.
"Yeah," he said, tilting his red and purple head.
The dragoness nodded. "We need to talk to you."
Cormorant led the three dragons inside his tent. Axolotl sat up straight as they came in. "I'm Cormorant, and this is Axolotl."
"I'm Juneau," the dragoness said. "The blue IceWing is Fenrir, and the gray one is Prince Wolverine."
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