"Easy," Caribou laughed as Nyx hugged her. "I'm not replaceable, you know!"

 "I thought you were dead," Nyx said, still hugging Caribou, "How did you escape?" 

"Scale dye," Caribou replied. "I used flowers to make my scales look more blue when I got captured. Then all I had to do was runaway. They don't even know what I really look like!" 

"Makes sense," reasoned Nyx. 

"Listen," Caribou said, changing the subject, "I found out something you're never going to believe. Nyx, our mom was a SkyWing. We're hybrids! That's why Glacier wants us dead."

 "I know," Nyx told her. She turned to the others. "Caribou, meet Hibiscus, Apple, Mulga, and Alpine, are other sister." 

"WOW!" Caribou exclaimed and looked at Alpine. "Nice scales! I guess Nyx isn't the only one I can call Pink anymore!"

 "Actually, I'm fine with you calling me Alpine," Alpine said sarcastically.

 Caribou laughed. "At least my new sister isn't a boring stick in the mud!" she said and Nyx slapped her. 

"Well, I was smart enough to NOT get captured, find our lost sister plus a SandWing with a venomous barb and two RainWings with deadly venom AND I have a plan to save Dad," Nyx pointed out. 

"So, what is the plan?" Mulga asked. 

"Okay," Nyx explained when the group was in the forest so they could hide, "Dad is definitely in the palace prison. And we need to get into the Ice Kingdom to find him. Caribou, Hibiscus, and Apple can take care of that."

 "Huh?" Apple said, "Me and Aunt Hibiscus are RainWings. We don't look anything like IceWings."

 "Not yet," Alpine pointed out. "Try to make your scales look like Caribou's." 

Apple's scales changed from a purplish pink to white, silver, and pale blue. "WOW," the little RainWing exclaimed. "I do look just like an IceWing! I should totally make this my new look!" 

Hibiscus made her scales look similar to Apple and Caribou's, and the RainWings were ready. 

"Mulga is going to be harder to disguise," Nyx continued, "Luckily, most of the SandWings are on the IceWing's side of the war, so Mulga can just go as herself."

 Mulga let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I probably wouldn't be able to pull off a normal disguise." 

"Hey, what about you and Alpine?" Caribou asked. "The IceWings have literally been looking under cloaks for pink wings. And Alpine has pink SCALES! How are you guys going to get in?" 

"Simple," Nyx answered, "We use a wagon. A covered wagon won't be too suspicious if we have some other stuff in it, too." 

"But, where will we get it?" Mulga asked. Nyx sighed. She new that Mulga definitely wouldn't like this. 

"We... have to borrow it from a nearby farm," Nyx admitted as Mulga frowned. 

"We have to steal it, don't we?" Mulga said solemnly, "Okay, but next time we're going to try to leave other dragons out of this."  The group agreed and that was enough to please Mulga. 

"Okay, everyone," Nyx exclaimed, "let's do this!" 

Nyx and Alpine were covered by a blanket on the wagon.

 "Okay, we're about to officially enter the Ice Kingdom, so stay quiet," Hibiscus said from the front. 

Nyx couldn't really see much of the place, but she still felt like dragons were watching them. She wanted to peer out of the wagon... but that would ruin everything. Then, Alpine tapped her on the shoulder. She pointed to her ears. She heard something. Nyx nodded, understanding what Alpine meant and started to hear something, too. Wing beats. It made her think back to the day when Caribou and Stout had been captured. 

Wait a minute  Nyx thought. Those wing beats sound familiar.

 "What brings you here?" asked the unmistakable voice of General Frostbite. 

"Uh, we live here," Caribou replied.

"Name, please." Nyx didn't have to look out the wagon to see that Frostbite looked skeptical. 

"Umm... Reindeer!" Caribou came up with it on the spot. "I'm Reindeer. I believe I've met you before. You were at my shop earlier, searching for someone."

Please, please, please believe her.

 "You do look familiar," Frostbite said, "But you definitely don't live here. In fact, I think I arrested you once... hybrid!"

Uh oh...

 The plan was ruined. Nyx looked at Alpine and they both knew that they had to come out. Nyx roared as she came out and slashed Frostbite's face. The older dragon roared and shouted, "GET THEM NOW!!!!" 

As the IceWing soldiers rushed toward Nyx, Alpine shot a blast of... weird looking frostbreath at them. "Dry ice," Alpine explained, "Ice, but it burns. Victims die almost instantly."

 Two of the soldiers had been hit, but one was standing in utter terror. 

"You," he said, "You're the dragon who killed Iceberg." 

"Yep," Alpine said proudly, "She killed my mom so I was glad I got revenge." To Nyx she whispered, "Go to the palace. I'll join you once I fight the rest of these guys."

 Nyx did what Alpine said, and flew to the palace of ice.

There weren't any guards, probably because they were all fighting and losing to Alpine. Nyx looked around. It really was beautiful for a place that contained very evil dragons. 

"How did you get your wings like that?" said a voice. 

Nyx whirled around, ready to fight, but all she saw was a SandWing with tan scales and a pale ruff. The SandWing was wearing lots of jewelry, too. 

"Uh, who are you?" Nyx asked. 

The SandWing laughed. "I'm Blaze, erm, I mean, Queen Blaze," she said. "So, who are you?" 

"I'm a dragon who's looking for something," Nyx replied. 

"WOW! Are you a thief?" Blaze asked, "I love reading stories that are mysteries. They have tons of jewels! Wait, you're not here to take my jewels, are you?!" 

"No," Nyx said. She didn't have time for this wacky dragon. She needed to find her dad. Then, suddenly she thought of something. "Do you know where the dungeon is?" Nyx asked. 

"Oh yes!" said Blaze. "But, what do you want to steal from there? The only thing down there is chains. Maybe a mouse or two, but EW! Why would you want a mouse?"

 "Just show me where the dungeon is," Nyx said. 

"Hey, wait for us," Nyx heard Caribou say. Caribou and Alpine looked tired, but they both looked ready to fight again and Nyx did as well. 

"More thieves!" Blaze exclaimed, "Do they want some mice, too?"

 Alpine and Caribou  looked confused, and Nyx said, "I'll explain on the way." 

After many corridors and hallways, which were mostly filled with Blaze talking about jewels, the sisters finally reached the dungeon. "I don't know why you want mice," said Blaze, "But I can't stand them. See you later!" 

The SandWing dashed out and Nyx, Alpine, and Caribou were alone. "Hibiscus, Apple and Mulga are fighting," Alpine said. "Let's do this quickly."

 Nyx looked through the mostly empty dungeon. Nothing. "Dad?" she called. 

At first there wasn't an answer, but then she heard Stoat's voice say, "Nyx?"

 Nyx raced to the cell her father was in. "I found him," she said to Alpine and Caribou. 

When Stoat saw Alpine, he looked confused, surprised, and happy all at once. "Alpine?" Stout asked. "Why"—

 "Shut up," said Alpine. "I'm doing this for Nyx and Caribou. You deserve to rot in this cell for the rest of your life. Maybe it'll show you what it feels like to be abandoned." 

Alpine picked the lock on the cell door and Stout was free. Nyx and Caribou hugged him, but Alpine just said, "We better get out before we're caught." So, the dragons raced through the corridors and finally flew out of the palace.

 "We're free!" Caribou exclaimed. 

"I don't think so," said a voice. 

Nyx looked back and to her horror, Glacier was flying toward them.