Chrystal watched as the little SandWing, Sunny, leapt into Thorn's outstretched talons, looking like she was trying not to cry. 

"Hey!" The freckled SandWing shouted, leaping up.

"It's all right, Qibli, sit down." Thorn waved her claws dismissively at the freckled SandWing. Now! Chrystal thought. But her talons held back. Come on Chrystal. Do it for your families honor! Think about it, if you do this one mission for the queen, you'll be a hero. One side said soothingly. But she's just a dragonet, and she just found her mother. Chrystal's other side muttered. Chrystal finally gave in. She had to kill this dragonet. She was an assassin, for moons' sake. This was her job and she shouldn't care. Chrystal's claws curled around the dagger readying it to throw. But then, Thorn's head turned just enough towards Chrystal that her face was revealed. She was whispering soothingly to Sunny, stroking her head and rapidly blinking, like she couldn't believe this was real. 

But there was something else. Something that made Chrystal feel queasy all the way down to her stomach. It was the way Thorn was suddenly looking at Sunny. Thorn was looking at her daughter in a way that no dragon had ever, ever looked at Chrystal. With love. Chrystal's claws opened, but it wasn't to throw the dagger. She dropped it on the sand with a quiet thump. Chrystal took a step back, memories flooding her head. She dug her claws ferociously into her foreleg to stop the sudden, painful rush of memories. Of times when she was happy with her parents. When they looked at her proudly. When her sister nudged her side happily. The desert faded away as she remembered their faces, before they became statues with no emotion. Their mourning-for-Borealis faces, were now no different from their actual normal faces. All of the faces she saw in her memories had the same problem. As much as the dragons in them were happy, sad, proud, scared, or angry, none of the faces had love in them. Not one. But that was normal for IceWings. She grabbed the dagger again and stuffed it into her pouch, backing away from the white tent where Thorn and Sunny were talking. She turned and ran, running until she came to the very edge of the sandstone wall of the Scorpion Den. She ran under one of the small palm trees dotting the edge, digging herself a small hole in the scalding sand, trying to get cool. It was then that she realized that the sun was beginning to set, sinking low into the sand beyond.  Chrystal curled into a sullen ball in the circle of sand. Borealis's face shone bright and clear in her mind, the trusting look she always gave Chrystal. Oh Borealis, I miss you so much. Chrystal closed her eyes and began to cry herself to sleep. 

                                                              *                      *                       *

Chrystal woke up in the early morning, stretching her wings and tail as she usually did in the Ice Kingdom. But this morning it felt harder. It was so hot here. Nothing like the beautiful frigidness of the Ice Kingdom. She searched around the rest of the Scorpion Den, combing through every possible hiding spot where the other Dragonets of Destiny might be hiding. But the sun rose high in the sky and she hadn't seen a single SkyWing, nor a single SeaWing. She saw one MudWing, but he was far too old to be hatched in the last seven years. Chrystal was exhausted by the time she finished searching the whole Scorpion Den. She went back to the palm tree and examined her map of the continent Ok. So the Dragonets of Destiny aren't in the Kingdom of Sand. Or the Ice Kingdom. Or the Kingdom of the Sea. Or the Sky Kingdom. Or the Mud Kingdom. Where in the blazes are they? She traced a claw over the Diamond Spray Delta. Perhaps. Chrystal rolled back up her map and shoved it back into her bag. Worth a look. She stretched her already-sore wings and flew up and over the thick walls. Chrystal flew for two days, only stopping to hunt or drink. Chrystal used to think that the Ice Kingdom was the biggest place in all of Pyrrhia, but staring out into the vast ocean, she knew she was wrong. The waves crashed with an intensity that could sweep a dragon away. The gulls and albatross's squawked, swooping down to eat fish who dared show themselves on the surface. Splash. Chrystal turned around in a circle, but saw nothing. Splash. Chrystal glared at the ocean. The splashing was breaking the natural wave pattern. Which meant... A dragon lunged out of the water, almost too quick for Chrystal to calculate where he was. The SeaWing raked his claws along her wings as he flew over Chrystal's head. Chrystal whirled around as the SeaWing lunged at her again. Chrystal's claws flew out and she clawed the SeaWing in the snout and he howled in pain, glaring at her with fathomless dark blue eyes. Suddenly the SeaWing smiled wickedly at her and flung himself back into the water, disappearing in a cloud of bubbles before Chrystal could go after him. 

Huh. Chrystal thought, puzzled. What was he smiling about? Her eyes travelled to the sky and she saw a column of smoke rising into the air not far from her. Chrystal took a step back. I'm to close to Blister's fortress, if that is what that is. As she thought that, as rustle came from behind her. Chrystal began to turn around, but suddenly something heavy smacked her on the back her head and everything went dark. 

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Okay! 

Dun Dun Dun! I know this was one of my shorter chapters. I don't know what you think so far, but the next few chapters are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE! Moving on...

(Remember to comment. I love knowing what you think!)