A/N: Remember how I said someone was gonna die last chapter? apparently, I was wrong. But that is good, right?

Also, three months… I am sorry. I have no excuse for this one, other then I forgot. Gosh, I am so sorry. but at least you get an action-packed, monumental chapter that actually kicks off the plot. That's right, everything till now has been exposition. Onto the rising action! This chapter is shorter than previous chapters, mainly because something very important happens so I don't want to detract from that.

Chapter Seven: One of Three

Abysswalker grumbled as he trudged over another sand dune. I swear there is sand between my scales he thought to himself, grumbling formless words to himself as he trudged along with the rest of his troop. At least it was night, a time of day that Abyss always enjoyed. The NightWing's midnight blue scales helped him to blend into the darkness. Despite the slightly odd coloration, not much attention was drawn to him. Of course, Abysswalker was always hiding in a corner. He was one of the few dragons that was content to be forgotten,

"Can someone please tell me why I have to be here, and not with my mate?" A SeaWing whispered harshly. "Especially in this dry, dusty pit of a kingdom?" He hissed further, nearly voicing Abyss's own opinion.

Of all the nights to be forced out, I get forced out on this one. The SeaWing thought to himself. Abysswalker listened a bit more intently, curious as to what was so important about this night to the SeaWing. The young mind-reader pressed into the SeaWing's mind, gently sliding past the current thoughts and feelings to the recent memories. The SeaWing had several eggs, at least one of which was expected to hatch any day.

"Because you had the honor of being chosen by Queen Scarlet to accompany her on this thrilling mission." An IceWing said the SeaWing, sarcasm and mockery heavy in his voice. The SeaWing hissed with amusement, but both dragons fell silent under the hostile glare of a SkyWing.

This SkyWing was quite the strapping creature. His scales were a vibrant scarlet. The red color spread to his wing arms and wing fingers, then bled into his golden yellow wings. The twisting horns that adorned his heads showed evidence of being sharpened, and were a striking black. Lastly, his chest and stomach were both a gold color. The male's eyes were amber in color, but burned as if they were a fiery red.

"You should feel honored," The SkyWing hissed. "Why Queen Scarlet decided to take scum like you with her, I do not understand, but neither will I question." He turned back to facing forward, keeping pace with the rest of the troop.

Abysswalker stretched his mind out again, touching the SkyWing's mind then sifting through it, like he would through his many scrolls. There, he found a name. The SkyWing was Crimson, and he honestly revered the dragoness at the head of their progression, the ex-queen Scarlet.

Abysswalker started to sift deeper, intent on finding out why, but was interrupted by a command to stop marching. He quickly receded back into his mind, but at the same time he stretched out his influence to cover the whole troop, hearing their thoughts. He was not surprised at the simpleness of the thoughts.

Why did we stop?

What is that fire there?

If we have to attack another random group of 'Wings, I swear I am running off.

Are those IceWings? in the middle of a desert? Now I've seen everything.

Finally, we're tracked that pesky group.

Abysswalker realized that not everyone knew they were tracking a small group of young dragons. He knew of course, having been periodically tapping into their tracker's mind for updates. Based on the tracker's observations, the small group had seven dragons, as compared to their own group of twenty.

"You two," Scarlet said to a MudWing and SeaWing, the same SeaWing with a family that was complaining, as she turned around. Even though she was not even bigger than the MudWing they had with them, her presence and disturbingly excited smirk was enough to make her the obvious leader of the troop. "Detain the two IceWings"

"NightWing," Scarlet said to Abysswalker. "You detain the other NightWing. Where is that second MudWing?" Scarlet asked as she looked around. As the MudWing stepped up to volunteer, Abysswalker cast his mind to the group of dragons, He poked around their minds, and eventually realized that the IceWings were both well aware of the ambush that was being set.

"Now, time to enact our thrilling plan." Scarlet said with a grin as she faced the group. "Go now."

Abysswalker and his fellow dragons crept forward. He felt nervous as he stepped closer to the NightWing he was supposed to grab and restrain, mainly because she was nestled up to a large SandWing. Out of curiosity, Abysswalker searched her mind, and found her name to be Firebreather. The other SandWing by his side nodded to Abysswalker, and the two launched at their targets.

Abysswalker made quick work of grabbing the NightWing's hips, dragging her through the sand and away from the SandWing as he was restrained. Abysswalker's paw shot forward and clasped around the Firebreather's muzzle, keeping it closed. Her eyes snapped open and looked up at him.

She was terrified. Abysswalker touched her mind, attempting to learn something from her. That was a horrible idea. As soon as he entered her mind, he was dragged in as if he had stood upon collapsing ground. And worse was that he couldn't leave her mind.

He saw what she was seeing; a Midnight-blue male NightWing with a nearly black-purple underbelly was standing beside her, crowns of gold upon both of their heads. The picture flashed, showing that same male standing over a bloody and broken Firebreather. Another flash, this time the image was the male NightWing from before, very smug looking now, escorting the shy looking Firebreather to his personal quarters.

Abysswalker gasped as he pulled away finally, having to physically separate himself from her and look into another mind to escape Firebreather's visions. The worst part about those visions was that Abysswalker knew that male she had seen.

It was him.

≤Ω≥

"Hostages!" The odd Dragoness with the gold veil over her face said. "We both have them. I have your companions and you have my soldiers." She told Rime and Polar. Currently, Rime had his IceWing captive pinned down, his claws to the captive's throat. Two other dragons were pinning Mire, Mamba was being restrained by another SandWing, and Vanity had a SkyWing planting a firm foot on her back.

"You are Scarlet, aren't you?" Polar asked her, Peregrine standing up beside him and huddling close to him. Polar gently nuzzled her. His mouth close to her ear, he whispered to her. "On Rime's movement, get Firebreather out of here." Polar felt Peregrine nuzzle back, and knew that she had agreed with his plan.

"My reputation precedes me." Scarlet said as she flashed an excited grin; only half of it was seen, the other half obscured by her veil.

"Reputation as in vain, arrogant, sadistic, merciless, and cruel, then yes." Rime spat at her, the spines on the back of his head and neck raising threateningly.

"I only reject those first two." Scarlet pouted, but shook her head. "Regardless, this is still a thrilling situation. What will happen? Best think quick, lives are on the line." Scarlet chuckled to herself. After a startled and strangled cry, she was completely surprised by Rime barreling into her head first.

Polar had seen exactly what had happened. With a deft movement of his serrated claws, Rime literally tore out the throat of his captive, stained the sand a dark crimson, and then launched himself at Scarlet, tackling her into the sand. Rime pinned Scarlet to the ground, his mouth opening to freeze her for the easy kill. Scarlet countered by slamming her head into his jaw, causing Rime to jerk his head back. She tried to lunge for his throat, but Rime reared up and smacked her snout with a paw. It didn't matter though, as Scarlet used her hind leg to kick one of his, making Rime fall into the sand.

Peregrine launched off with a flap of her wings, slamming claws-first against the NightWing pinning Firebreather. He seemed to be entranced by her. He was sent tumbling down a small dune as Peregrine grabbed onto Firebreather's shoulders and started flying away. Peregrine looked around and saw Mire easily toss off the two dragons on his back by rearing on his hind legs and letting out a massive roar. His heavy paw slamming against the SkyWing on Vanity's back. The SkyWing let out a squawk as she was brushed aside and sent tumbling on the sand.

"Come on!" Peregrine said to Vanity as she flew by. The RainWing leapt up to the sky, flapping her wings to gain altitude beside Peregrine. The Skywing looked behind her, checking to see if they were being followed. A MudWing rose to give chase, but he didn't last long. A silvery-blue blur slammed into the dragon, knocking him off course. Polar continued his attack with a powerful flap, moving him forward as he grappled onto the MudWing with his hind claws. His forepaws deftly tore away the scutes on the MudWing's throat, exposing the soft flesh to Polar's bite. The chivalrous IceWing sank his teeth to his gums into the MudWing's throat, then he jerked his head back. The blood covered Polar as he shoved the dragon out of the air and into the sand, the MudWing's body spasming as it fell. If he wasn't dead when the IceWing tore his throat out, then the sickening thump and crack that signified his contact with the sand definitely was lethal.

Polar scanned their camp, only taking a second to do so. He quickly tackled one of the dragons off of Mire, digging his teeth into the dragon's shoulders and pummeling her chest with his serrated claws, his saw-like claws tearing apart her chest scales and revealing the sensitive flesh beneath. The dragoness, a SeaWing, roared and pressed her hind legs against Polar's stomach, clawing and trying to kick him away. Polar dug his claws deep into her flesh, the serration digging in when he was pushed away and keeping him there. The SeaWing still screeched in pain as her blood oozed from around Polar's claws. The IceWing released his grip on her shoulder to jerk his head away from her as she tried to bite his neck, and then retaliated by heading for the weakest point on a SeaWing's body; their gills.

Polar's serrated claws easily hooked into the soft, exposed, fleshy slits. The SeaWing screeched and thrashed, but Polar's grip was secure as he followed through with his swipe, tearing out most of the SeaWing's gills. Polar felt some of the blood splatter his muzzle as the flesh was torn straight from the neck and tossed off to the side With another deft swipe of his paw, Polar dug his claws into the SeaWing's exposed throat and killed her.

Polar quickly rose to his feet, looking around to see what else he could to help his allies. Mamba was wrenching his tail from the neck of a twitching MudWing, moving over to attack one a dragon trying who was trying to chase after Peregrine and the others. Seal was mid-combat with a NightWing, and Webs, who hadn't run off, was defending himself from the relentless attacks of another SandWing. However, Rime was no where to be seen.

Polar let out a surprised cry as he felt a body slam into him. His head whipped around to see Rime now laying across him, pushing himself up. Scarlet was in the air, folding her wings to dive to the both of them. A dangerous and ecstatic light was in her eyes as she dived at them. Rime roared challenge from the ground, standing his ground as she dived for him. At the last second, he twisted his body to dodge to the left. Scarlet easily countered with her wide wings, snapping them out and using them to perform a hair-point turn to slam into Rime.

But he wasn't there,

Rime had only feinted the dodge. Instead, as she was turned, he launched himself at her unprotected back, serrated claws finding easy grip in the soft flesh after they tore off the scales upon Scarlet's back. Rime sunk his teeth into the back of her neck, gripping her and trying to stay on her back as his hind claws tore at her haunches. Scarlet roared in pain, lashed out with fire from her maw as she tried to burn the dragon on her back. As soon as she twisted her neck Polar leapt at her, slamming paws first into her head and knocking her to the ground.

Scarlet rolled as soon as she fell to the ground, crushing Rime and forcing him to release his hold on her. The IceWing released the usurped queen, and Scarlet rolled back to her feet, facing the two IceWings. Mamba, Mire, Seal, and even Webs were doing well in holding their own, allowing the two brothers to duel Scarlet.

The three stalked around each other. Polar tossed a certain glance at Rime, who nodded. The older IceWing the turned on his heel, leaving the two as he launched into the brawl with the rest of their comrades. Scarlet launched herself at Rime, but Polar intercepted her and shoved her back. Scarlet lashed out with her claws, and Polar noticed something. There were bladed, metal coverings over her claws. He was distracted for only a second, but that was enough for those bladed claws to dig into his brow and slash along his face. Polar jerked his head back with a snarl of pain, quickly countering by slamming his paw into the veiled side of Scarlet's face, digging his claws in and tearing the veil from her face.

The rings that attach the veil to her face were torn apart, flecks of blood flying off of Scarlet's face as she roared in fury and pain. The older Skywing was quickly tackled by a SeaWing.

"Go!" Webs called as he struggled to pin Scarlet. "I let her capture young dragons before, but not again, not tonight! Go now!" The SeaWing was tossed off by Scarlet as the old queen rose. She launched herself at Polar, but Webs once again intercepted her by slamming his thick tail against her neck. "Go now and leave me!" Polar nodded. He turned and barked something at Rime, the IceWing nodding as he launched from the sand with Seal in tow. Mamba and Mire followed shortly.

Most of Scarlet's soldiers were now preoccupied trying to restrain Webs, who had abandoned any semblance of a civilized dragon. He maw was open in an ongoing roar as he twisted around, slashing any and all near and far or slamming them across the sand with his powerful tail. He fought with a such a reckless abandon, and it distracted anyone from following the fleeing dragons. And flee they did, the five dragons beating their wings furiously as they soared over the sands, kicking up a noticeable trail behind them. Polar motioned all of them with his head, tilting his wings up as he rose above the cold sands, soaring into the sky and leaving behind the howls of anger and pain behind them.

The group quickly ran across Peregrine, Vanity, and Firebreather. The girls quickly fell joined them, not asking a single question as they raced through the desert to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Scarlet. The moon had passed a decent distance from the top of the sky when they finally stopped, the group practically crashing into the sand.

Seal had blood on her, but only on her paws. A few cuts were splitting the scales on her shoulder; Rime was already gently licking them to clean them, and she too was washing the blood from his scales. The IceWing himself was covered in blood, mainly along his forelegs and on his maw. None of the blood was Rime's.

Blood covered Polar's neck and chest, as well as his paws and face. Three deep, leaking cuts stained his face. They made their way across his snout, leaving several clean cuts that fell along his brow, down the side of his face, to along his snout and to his nose.

Mamba also stood untouched, save for the blanket of blood covering his tail-barb. He stood restlessly, pacing around them. Mire was laying on his stomach, the scratches upon his back numerous. Thanks to his thick scales though, he only had a few true wounds on his back. The three that ran were still relatively safe.

"What the hell just happened!?" Seal was the first to screech,

"Well, we were obviously ambushed for the fun of it." Rime growled irritably. "And that was all that was to her; fun."

"I thought Scarlett was dead." Firebreather sobbed, tears in her eyes from the traumatic experience of watching one of her closest friends kill other living dragons. She had seen all of it, and the blood covering Polar did not at all help. "Why is she still alive? Why is she here? What does she want with us?" The Terrified NightWing was enveloped in the wings of Peregrine, who stroked her head and whispered encouraging words.

Polar looked to his feet and sighed. "Whatever the reason, we need to find a safe place." Polar took a second to look to the stars, staring at them for a second before looking back down. "Based on the stars, if we move north, we should make it to the Scorpion's Den by day break, but that is only if we move now." The IceWing took one looked at his tired, ragged party. He could see Seal as she stayed close to Rime, not wanting to leave him. She was strong, yes, but not experienced like himself or Rime.

"We will move tomorrow." Polar said to them. "Till then, rest." The IceWing said. Sighing, he flopped down, rubbing his bloody hide against the sand to clean himself off. It worked to an extent, and was even more effective once he wetted the sand down with his ice. After a while, Peregrine came by and laid at his side. She gave him a small smile, but it was obvious she was on the verge of breaking. Just like him, she didn't; after all, she could lean on Polar, and use his strength when she didn't have any.

"Those cuts," Peregrine said to him. "They make you look like a soldier." She told him coyly. Polar started slightly. At those words, he could only think of his upcoming role in the future, to be the Soldier of Irony.

"Your face, it will scar." Peregrine told him. "I feel terrible that it happened to you." She stated to him. She leaned in to clean his wound, but was interrupted by a sneer.

"Of course you feel terrible when his face is marred." Rime stated with a snarl. Seal thumped him with her tail.

"Not the time." She growled to him. Peregrine said nothing, only sighed and lowered her head.

"Rime, may I speak with you?" Polar asked sharply. The IceWing shrugged and stood up. Polar tried to stand, but decided that it was too much effort to stand. He was just so tired. He asked to Peregrine go and lay somewhere else for the moment while he spoke with his older brother. Rime settled himself beside his younger brother.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Why do you hate Peregrine? I love her dearly, but you despise her." Polar stated pointedly. Rime scoffed.

"Hate her? Of course I hate her. She is my opposite. Everything I stand for, she opposes, whether knowingly or not. It would make sense for me to hate her." Rime stated casually.

"But I am your opposite as well." Polar said. "And you love me."

"You are my compliment." Rime said slightly irately. "You don't contradict me. We work together to fulfil our goals; me and Peregrine have different goals"

"Rime, there is more to this that you are not telling me." Polar said to him. "Brother, I love Peregrine. I wish to spend my life with her, to raise a family with her." The IceWing said. "And I would rather not sever our bond because of her."

"Then leave her." Rime snapped. "I am your flesh and blood after all."

"But I love both of you." Polar insisted. "This not a choice that I wish to make. We both know who I will choose." Rime was silent for a moment,

"Of course I do. You would choose her over me. After all, we are brothers; we will always be comrades, regardless of what we have done to each other." The IceWing stopped. When he spoke, his voice was uncertain. "Right?"

Polar finally realized something. "Is this what your hate for Peregrine is about?" Rime was silent for a minute before speaking.

"When we were young, we were inseparable. Everything we did together. Everything we had was shared. We were brothers. But now, you embrace her. Something that contradicts me, my complete opposite. Then you would chose that over me. Me, the one that fought for you, alongside you. I am your brother. I love you. We are family." Rime paused and closed his eyes. "But you would choose the thing that opposes me in every way. Polar, I do not want to lose you to something like that." Polar listened to this, then put a wing over Rime's shoulder.

"Rime, you need to let go. We have to separate. We are still brothers, but that does not mean that we be together at all times. We can separate. You have to let me go." The younger brother told his older brother, who merely sighed.

"One of three," Rime said. "You are one of three people that actually love me in this world. And I am supposed to give you up?"

"You think I will abandon you when I leave?" Polar asked, a little smirk on his lips. "Come on. We are brothers. I can't abandon you, ever. Okay?" Rime closed his eyes and thought for a long time.

"I'll give Peregrine a chance." he said. As he looked down for a response, he found that Polar had actually fallen asleep. 'Must be tired from fighting.' Rime thought to himself as he laid his head on his paws, just like his brother beside him.

"'Night, brother." Rime said, then actually smiled.

≤Ω≥

Rime awoke the next morning before anyone else. His brother was still asleep against his side. It had been many years since they had last slept side-by-side; they used to do it frequently when they were younger.

"Get up." Rime said to his younger brother. "We have to go." The younger IceWing didn't make any movement. Rime let out an annoyed sigh and threw his weight at his brother, attempting to knock him to his side and wake him.

Polar fell to his side, his head limply flopping onto the sand. His maw fell open and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Rime was getting worried. He looked over his brother. His eyes were only half open, and were glassy and empty.

"Polar?" Rime leaned down, placing his ears upon Polar's chest to listen for a heartbeat. There was none. Rime rose his head again, looking at the empty face of his beloved younger brother. Leaning down his head shakily, he sniffed the exposed scratches along the side of his face. There was a slight rancid smell from the cuts. Rime sat on his haunches, staring down at his younger brother. Slowly, he tilted his head to the sky. It was red, stained by the unshed blood of his beloved brother. His maw slowly opened, and a shrill, strangled, pining cry of agony in its purest form, poured past his lips and into the early morning sky.

The birth of this day marked the death of Polar.

≤Ω≥

All of his comrades were assembled around Rime as he breathed his frost over his brother. Firebreather sobbed and bawled like a child, while peregrine too cried. her sobbing was very soft, as she still had her wings wrapped around Firebreather as she comforted her.

Rime opened his mouth and allowed his frost breath to fall from his jaws. The ice froze the dead dragon, preserving Polar's body and protecting it from the scavengers. Mamba and Mire assisted in lowering Polar's lifeless body into a shallow grave. It was filled in, leaving Rime to brood over it. It only took a minute to feel a warm body press itself under his wing. Rime let his head drop into his lover's shoulder as tears dripped from his eyes. Rime did not sob. He rarely cried. Seal moved around to his front and wrapped her wings around him, gently rocking the grieving IceWing as his salty tears wetted her shoulder. He stood there in her embrace till wingbeats approached them. There was a loud thump, followed by the landing of dragons. Rime wiped his face on his wing as he turned to face those that arrived.

Webs lay on the ground. He was bloody and battered, wheezing each breath as he struggled to breath. Scarlet stood above him, her disfigured face representing her soul perfectly. Webs pushed himself up. His lips parted as he began to speak.

"I am s-" Scarlet's paw slammed into the back of his neck, pinning it the the ground. She smiled as she dug her claws into the back of Web's neck, then jerked back. Rime watched as Scarlet repeatedly slashed at the back of Webs neck, Seal huddling under his wing as she pressed her face into Rime's chest to avoid the sight. With those poisoned claws, Rime would not take the chance of fighting her. As soon as Web's body was limp and lifeless, Scarlet looked up.

"What was quite a thrilling night you gave me." She said to Rime. "But looks like your brother isn't here anymore. So sad." The rest of Scarlet's troop circled around the group, but after Polar's death and Webs being killed in front of them, no one had the will to fight.

"One of three." Rime said to Scarlet.

"Excuse me?"

"You have killed one of three people who love me." The IceWing said as he took several steps to the usurped queen. He was taller than her. "For that, I am making you this promise; I will not waste any of your time. I will not allow you to live one more second then you have to." Rime swore to her.

"What a thrilling promise." Scarlet grinned, then turned and walked away.

"Soldiers, secure the. When we get home, we have some thrilling new contestants."

A/N: Yep, that happened. What did you think, he was gonna be the main character? Nope, that's Rime's role. I look forward to your reviews.

SOLI DEO GLORIA