As disturbing as these thoughts sounded, Wish was quite used to them by now. One side argued that he should be more at-terms with using his magic, and the other side claimed that he needed to be more cautious.

Either way, it’s not like he can do anything about his thoughts.

You could magic them away.

That wouldn’t be healthy nor necessary.

Hisssssss…

Shh.

Wish shook his head, trying to clear it out. Unsuccessfully, he attempted shoving his thoughts into raindrops.

Surprisingly, it worked! His head was filled with nothing but peaceful rain. He looked around for landmarks, trying to figure out how close he was to the Ice Kingdom. After frantically searching the ground, he found nothing but sand. A few cacti, more sand, a few rocks, and even more sand.

Behind him, he saw the distant shape of towering brick walls. The Stronghold was behind him, so it wouldn’t be too long. Ahead of him, he could faintly see the ever-smaller Ice Cliff. At this point it’s so broken, it doesn’t even shoot icicles.

At least, Wish hoped that was the case.

Or he’d probably be dead.

Over and away! On marvelous adventures to get us killed! He sighed. The scroll hadn’t mentioned anything about the cliff killing him, so he assumed that it wouldn’t die. Some VERY real logic. THE MOST realistic logic to ever exist in fact.

Although, when he reached the first snowfall, the wall was still a ways away. Looking to the skies, it would be night before he reached the cliff. So he would make a camp before he got there. That made sense.

He looked around for a suitable place to land, and luckily, he found a cave in a cliff. He swooped down to land, and the cold snow immediately crunched under his talons. Yikes, this must be the loudest snow in existence. He thought. It was only then that he realized he was standing in snow.

It was only then, he realized that he was numb up to his mid-upper arm. That’s probably not good. He decided he would shake it off, he had been cold before. It’s not THAT bad.

As he was clearing out the cave with his fire, he came across several odd objects. They could have been ancient. He found a red piece of fabric, it was probably a hood. Now that he looked at it closer, it was dried blood. It was white, before somebody bled on it.

He also found a wide assortment of shurikens, the majority of which had at least a small amount of blood on them. Clearly, there had been a murder. Or an attempted murder? There wasn’t much blood around, not enough to have been the death of a dragon.

Probably the strangest thing he found was a fake eyelash. He nearly set it on fire, not thinking much of it. But something stopped him, he couldn’t tell what, but he would need it later. Maybe.

Maybe the attempted muder was of someone who cared WAY too much about their appearance. And the metalwork on the shurikens, it looked like it was forged from the volcano on Steininsel. So…

A NightWing assassin chasing down a pretty dragon? The evidence was really old, so at least no one had died recently.

Which reminded him. He got the scroll out of his pouch. “Tell me if Sandy and Aethia are still alive.” He demanded it.

Aethia of the SeaWings is asleep. Alive. Sandy the IceWing hybrid is pacing in her room, unable to get sleep.

I feel you. Life is stressful, isn’t it? He thought sympathetically.

It doesn’t have to be. THIS again?? Why must evil thoughts be a NORMAL for Wish?? Is it evil? Or is it simply the easiest way to eliminate your problems?

Problems aren’t something I can just obliterate to get your way, they are something I have to climb over and work through.

Boo hiss. You just don’t have the guts to do it. You can’t do easy things.

I will gain more from doing it the right way.

What could you possibly gain? Meekness or LOVE?! HISSS! That wasn’t Wish’s train of thought at all.

I will gain wisdom, and the ability to not make the same mistakes again.

That’s the same thing.

Do you believe that power comes from strength? From being able to make your own respect through raw muscle?

I don’t see why not. You MAKE yourself who you are, you write your OWN life. The worst part is that, that was true. That is a philosophy that Wish uses frequently.

A few, including myself, believe that real power does come from meekness, mercy, forgiveness, lo-

I want you to ask the queens. You ask the queens where power comes from. They have the most of it. Queen Wasp had power over an entire continent, so ask her.

She’s dead. She was evil. That’s a straight up truth. Queen. Wasp. Was. Evil. But I will ask the queens. I know Mink will be on my side.

Hissssssss…

He drifted off into a sleep. A deep, dreamless sleep. Peaceful, happy, like he had never slept before…

* * *

Loud, fast, obnoxious chirps woke him up. It was very startling, because squirrels live in the forest! He’s supposed to be next to the Ice Kingdom!

Oh wait. Messenger squirrel. Wish is SO COLD right now.

He got up and shook himself, then he blew some hot smoke onto his talons, and rubbed it on his forearms. That should get him going.

He flexed his wings for a moment, warming them up, and then lifted off! Into the skies! Towards the cliff of murders! Just as he had flown about 11 feet, he noticed that there was some pretty suspicious air moving to his right.

It was good camouflage, but it wasn’t good enough. “I wonder, why would a RainWing want to follow me while I go to the Ice Kingdom?” Wish thought out loud.

There was a mumble from the smudge of discolored air. Something like, “becausetheycaretoomuchaboutyoursafety…” and a moment later, the air turned a different color, and there was now a dragon where there wasn’t before.

It… wasn’t Pansy. It was Orange. Wish’s step father. “Surprise?” He tried. “Happy early birthday?” His expression was a bit confused.

At first, Wish was silent. Then, he burst out in confused anger. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE??!”

“I- I have a new job. I get paid like a king, and it’s pretty easy.” He admitted. “I get to escort visitors around the Ice Cliff, and then I write a note to Queen Mink about who has come.” He looked around nervously. “You are the first.”

“Oh,” Wish said, surprised. “Do I get a special discount or something?”

Orange chuckled. “Oh, I don’t think so. I think that it’s more like I’ll get a raise.” He shrugged.

“So… The wall still works?” Wish asked, worried.

“The wall still works.” He shrugged again. Wish hadn’t remembered him being so agreeable. “No matter how demolished it gets, it just keeps throwing icicles at dragons. It’s weird.” He shuddered. It was unlike him to be this scared of something. Orange is usually so bold, and outgoing.

Maybe it’s the cold. RainWings are used to tropical climates, so it could be the lack of warmth affecting his personality.

Wish focused on the rain filling his head.

Pitter-pattering over the leaves, and a long, constant, peaceful sound.

They were flying over a surprisingly varied landscape. Unlike the desert, which was mostly flat sand with rocks and cacti jutting out, the tundra was more in lumps. Like the snow had fallen on top of other objects, like plants or frozen rivers.

Or animals. There could be frozen corpses in there. He didn’t want to think about that. He shoved that thought into another raindrop.

Wish breathed in the crisp, frigid air. It was sort of pleasant, like a refreshing drink. Breathing it out, though, was not. It was like exhaling tiny little daggers of ice, it HURT so bad.

He decided on shallow breathing, it didn’t hurt as much.

He continued to survey the land below. Ice and snow in large, irregular lumps.

Orange finally spoke up. “So…” He began, then lost words for a few minutes. “How’s life?”

“Life sucks.” Wish responded bitterly. “Whatever I seem to do, I can’t do it right. I can’t even keep my own girlfriend! How am I supposed to be happy?!”

Orange gave him a stare. “You” he said, then paused. “Have a girlfriend?” Wish had forgotten. He was his step-dad. He was going to be more protective of him now. “When did this happen?!” He burst out.

“Um…” Wish lost words for a long time. MUCH longer than he should have. “A few months ago? But then I ran away, so I couldn’t see her often. And now I’m back, and she’s scared of me. So I don’t know how to feel.” He admitted.

His father was still stuck on the fact that he has a girlfriend. He was silent, but his head was caught in a rut. Should I have been there for it? What if it’s too much for him? How can he be trusted? Why is she scared of him? He finally spoke. “Why is she scared of you?” He said slowly.

And Wish had forgotten, his father didn’t know he was an animus. His whole family didn’t know. It was a pretty close secret between his friends and the queens.

“Okay, so. Big secrets, and most everyone doesn't know. I mean, the queens know, and my close friends know, but nobody else, okay?” Wish started.

“Oh, secrets. I am TERRIBLE at keeping secrets.” Orange blurted. After a harsh look from Wish, he started again. “But this one, I could keep. For a bit. Kinda.” At this point he must have learned that the more words that came out of his mouth the more Wish wanted to set fire to his frills.

“Well,” Wish started slowly. “I have a dead history lesson for a gift.” He continued. “And you might have heard of it, but it’s called animus magic.” He spit that last part super quickly.

“Animus magic?” He said. “Isn’t that super dangerous magic that no one should ever have because it slowly burns your soul?” He quirried with a skeptical look on his face.

“Hey, isn’t RainWing venom a super dangerous weapon that no one should use because it immediately burns out your eyeballs?” Wish replied. “Yet, y’all found a way to be the friendliest dragons on the planet.”

Orange lifted his wings in a defeated shrug. “Fair point.”

The snowscape was beginning a transition. The snow was getting thinner, and there were more visible trees. All the trees were dead, though. Ahead of him, he saw the ocean. To his right, he saw the cliff. It was large, looming over him like a great beast.

It unsettled him. It was magic, but that magic was used in order to kill other dragons. That’s not okay.

Sounds like they know how to gain power. I bet the dragon who made that was probably the smartest dragon to exist.

Pretty sure that title belongs to either Blister or Qibli. They were cunning dragons, but Blister was evil, so that doesn’t really count.

What do you know?

I believe that the dragon who made this was more paranoid than power hungry.

Hisssssssss-

And I know that this wall deserves to be destroyed.

hsssss…

He shoved his thoughts away, probably for the sixth time this week. It was getting rather annoying.

Before he knew it, he was flying over the ocean. There was no land in sight, and the wall definitely couldn’t reach them out here.

“Should we be turning around by now?” Wish asked his father.

He considered that, looking behind him. “Yeah, about now.” He turned a sharp turn, and flew Northward. “You ready, Wish?” He asked.

“I am.” He breathed in, and remembered how hard it hurt, so breathed out slowly.

“Hey, what are you doing in the Ice kingdom anyway?” He asked. “What buisness do you have?”

“I’m hiding again.” Wish admitted. “I am hiding from Onyx. She wants to kill me because I’m an animus.” He clenched his fist. It made him so angry to think about her.

“Well, that doesn’t sound fair.” Orange told him. “If she wants to kill you, then she probably has problems.”

“Oh, you BET your fangs that she has problems.” Wish muttered violently. They spent the rest of the flight in silence, not talking to each other, just flying. In the frigid cold. Around a cliff.

A totally normal day for Wish.

Once they were at land again, Wish hesitated on landing. He still thought it was too close to the wall.

“C’mon, Wish it’s totally safe!” Orange called to him. He kept flapping, towards the wall.

“You’ve never done this before! How do you know it’s safe!” He yelled back. But he was already out of earshot.

Just as his talons touched the packed snow, a chuck of the wall fell.

As it plummeted towards the ground, time seemed to stop. He could see and recall what happened vividly. Every individual snowflake that flew off from the chuck as the ice hurled itself faster towards the snow.

And Orange, Wish’s step father, the one he was just talking to, was buried in red snow.