The battle was upon them.

Dragons of all tribes rushed around him, hurrying, barking orders, collecting supplies, attaching armor. He watched as a mother lovingly embraced her dragonets, the youngest, who only seemed to be a few moons, tapped at the spikes on her armor.

He had never experienced a war before himself, and ended up losing Catastrophe in one, who he still believed to be his father... Perhaps not by blood, but he earned the title. Apollo wondered if he'd survive this. Not only that, but he had recently learned of his relation to Artemis, too! He was fraught with worry for the purple dragoness.

"Apollo." She spoke up, suddenly appearing beside him like she'd read his mind. An intense silver helmet covered most of her face, a star was etched into the center. Interlocking silver plates cascaded down her neck, and she had a similar breastplate. Her necklace was tucked inside. She gave him a concerned gaze, her eyes a milky, pale blue. "You can get through this. We all can." She seemed to be reassuring herself as well, but Apollo didn't comment on that.

"How are things?" He asked her, and she sighed.

"The queens are preparing to lead their soldiers. Flare is with them, Geode, Daybreak and Archangel at the highest peak. Everyone is just waiting for their cue."

"Let's hope luck is on our side."

~~~

Geode's voice echoed over the territory. Every tree, stone, and grain of sand seemed to shift at his tone.

"We may be facing the biggest battle yet since the War of the Islands. Back then, we only had one foe. Now we stand against many. Solar has fighters that have no doubt trained for moments like this their entire lives, like you all have."

Apollo's heart ached in anticipation and fear.

"But we will persevere, like we always have. We are built on perseverance. We rogues will survive, and live to see another day. Solar's reign will come to an end for good. I wish you the best of luck and strength for our coming fight. I will see you on the battlefield." Geode extended his wing, the blue membrane sparkling in the sun.

Voices stirred, soft murmurs, uncertain whispers. Apollo looked around him, and at the faces of newfound friends. Artemis looked sad, but determined. Tempest was close to tears. Potent's face was like stone carving. Only his eyes showed a bit of fear. Snowfall looked anguished, and Seaglass was nervous, but attempted a brave face. His mouth quivered. Mamba's brows were furrowed, and she looked ferocious and beautiful. Mudpuddle was quiet, and resigned, like she was savoring the moments of peace she had.

He found himself murmuring a quiet thank you to whatever was out there, for bringing them together. Apollo glanced at the dying sun on the horizon.

"Rogues." Daybreak exclaimed from Geode's side, his elegant tail lashing beside him. "We will break into halves. Fighters with the most firepower, fly with me. The fastest will go with Archangel and Geode." Almost instantly, hundreds of dragons took to the sky. It was an impressive sight. "The rest of you, follow your queens! We will take the fight to Solar. Now, to the portals!"

The Magicwings on the island had been working hard, and had apparently made a giant, secret portal at the center of the island. It was buried deep underground, and could be activated above with the right words. Geode had briefly gone over it with him, and explained that it lead to the outskirts of the Day Kingdom.

Apollo had an unsettling feeling in his gut. He couldn't help but think things were about to go horribly wrong. Suddenly, not far in the distance, a brilliant swirling portal appeared. Crystals seemed to float in place, making a teardrop shaped vortex for the dragons to fly into.

"It won't last long." Artemis whispered, and Apollo already noticed the crystals cracking under the pressure of the magic.

"Then let's get ourselves through that portal." Mamba declared, turning a brilliant amber color speckled with darker blue around her eyes. Apollo wondered what that meant.

Artemis took off first, and the rest followed. Apollo found himself the last to leave. He dug his talons into the soil, promising himself he'd return.

Apollo counted the minutes it took for the rogues to pass through. He glanced anxiously to the sky again and again. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Half an hour.

Mamba and Mudpuddle flew through with Queen Diamond, and her tribe wasn't far behind. Seaglass and Snowfall, after accepting the beaded jade necklaces given to them by the Cavewings, followed through with the tribe and it's princesses. Tempest and Potent flew with Queen Volcano, who was decked out in the most armor of all the queens, in the same dark obsidian plates as her Moltenwing soldiers. She carried a dark, twisted spear. This was a tribe that knew how to battle.

Artemis winged up beside him, as the last of the fighters dashed inside. The crystals threatened to break any second.

"It's now or never, sister." The word felt weird on his tongue. Regardless, he and Artemis flew in together.

The Day Kingdom was absolutely stunning. Save for the smoldering forest not far from the castle, and the horrible lack of water roaring through the river that broke the territory in half. Gold dust glittered over almost everything.

The castle itself was made of dark red, flecked bricks that looked bigger than Apollo's head, even from here. Gold and bronze trimmed the outside and caught the drops of sunlight brilliantly. The glass of windows and parts of the roof shone with an opalescence. Apollo found himself blinded. A deep lake that seemed to stretch for miles encircled the mountains and fed out towards the sea.

His gaze dropped from the castle to the area around him. Like he saw earlier, a section of the forest was ablaze. Amber and red leaves trees were going up in dark, purplish smoke and a blazing golden fire. An extremely wide moat encircled the castle, which would obviously protect from the blaze if it came to close. Apollo wondered about the civilians.

It was strangely still, and strangely quiet despite the sound of hundreds of wings beating against the air. They planned to make camp, and wait until sundown. They never got the chance.

Suddenly, from the lake, surged a mass of dark, jewel colored dragons. They seemed to be formed of the shadows in the ocean themselves. Some had swords, and spears, but many carried tridents with nets. Their eyes were black, like a Sandwings, with bright pupils that blazed with anger. Strange, sail like wings caught the air as the dragons launched themselves at the Rogues. Their fins and smooth scales caught the sunlight. 

"They knew we were coming!" Potent roared, and Apollo shook his head.

"That's not possible!"

"Well obviously it is!"

"Guys." Artemis growled. "Look out!"

The Deepwings and Rogues collided.

Immediately, the Moltenwings formed into their ranks. Volcano shot a huge blast of fire at the lead and lunged for her throat, mouth glowing. She must've been the queen, Apollo guessed from the crown of pearls, urchins and starfish across her face. Coral formed a strange sort of armor.

The Rogues were in chaos, but everyone seemed to understand Volcano and her tribe had this under control.

"To the castle." Archangel called, mostly to Artemis and her friends. "Quickly!"

Apollo felt a little left out, but he had no problem fighting alongside Geode. He bashed heads with his giant claws, breathed a catastrophic blue flame that seemed to crystallize around the dragon's face. Geode was a force to be reckoned with.

Apollo whirled around in the sky, fighting tooth and claw with Deepwings just as a trident was flung his way. As quick as lighting, a shape flashed past Apollo and struck it away. Danger grinned down at him as she twisted above, and his heart soared.

"Seems like I've just saved your life." She called, reclaiming the trident and twirling back down, handing the weapon to him.

"Seems like you have." He responded, and couldn't help but smile.

"Save your flirting for later, will you?" Silverfeather barked, raking her talons down a Deepwings armor and bashing them away with her deadly tail. They rocketed to the ground.

Apollo looked back towards the castle and spotted the shape of Archangel, his sister and friends making their way to the back of the castle. He thought they might make it unbothered, but that's when a horn sounded, and the Lightningwings soared over the mountains.