"I feel like I'm being blasted full force in the face with little shards of glass" Tempest commented, beating her large wings with ease as she narrowed her vivid violet eyes against the smoke and the ash. While Potent, who had far less of a wingspan and far less stamina, trailed behind.

"I guess, yeah." He huffed, his tan scales were now darkened by the ash in the air. The bag around his neck felt heavier than ever, and the Desert Rogue flag, even wrapped like a bandana over his eyes, did nothing to help them from frequently clouding up.

"At least it's us here and not Snowfall and Seaglass, though." Tempest says, looking back at him. "They certainly wouldn't have made it this far. "

"I'm surprised we have!" He retorted. "How do these Moltenwings even breathe in this air?"

Tempest grimaced at him. "You asked this before we left. Apollo said it's because their lungs and scales have adapted to the effects of the volcano."

"Lucky them, then." He mumbled, falling silent as the two soared over the home of the Moltenwings. It was a couple more hours of silence that lead to them finally reaching the heart of the kingdom.

Dragons in all shades of red, orange, grey, and brown looked up as they flew overhead, visibly startled by the appearance of these newcomers that looked nothing like them.

As expected, when they came to the biggest volcano yet, two large red guards holding spears flew up to meet them. The first turned his blue eyes upon them quizzically, then quickly pointing his spear at Tempest's heart.

Potent hissed aggresively, making the other guard aim his spear in his direction as well, but the tribrid, despite her slight shaking, held her calm stature.

"We need to speak with the Queen, on account of the Desert Rogues." She gestured to the flag for emphasis, the blue eyed guard slowly lowering his spear. "It's urgent.."

"Very well. But you will not go unsupervised."

"Fair enough." Tempest agreed, suprised at herself for keeping so calm. She looked to Potent, brushing her wing against his for reassurance. The Sandwing nodded.

"Lead the way." He tells the blue eyed guard.

~~~

It was beginning to get suffocatingly hot.

Tempest panted and felt her energy drain the closer she got to the large gaping hole in the ground. Lava spilled from its edges, the smell of sulfur and strangely, burnt wood, drifted up to her nostrils. Down the hole it gradually became darker and darker till there was a faint red glow.

The blue eyed guard waved his wing at the darker Moltenwing and suddenly dived into the massive, gleaming lava surrounded sinkhole. His red color was immediately swallowed up by the ash, and Tempest watched the rest of him dissappear completely.

"Where did he go?" Potent said, curious. The darker guard flicked his tail and turned the spear in his talons.

"He's just getting something. You wouldn't want to burn alive, would you?"

Tempest swallowed hard at this, beating her wings and hating how the debree scraped against her scales. Soon enough the other guard emerged, twirling up in a spiral, and little droplets of lava slid off his scales. He flared his wings and then approached Tempest and Potent, holding two arm bands in his talons.

They were made of beaten gold, and writhed up in the form of snakes, the eyes on the creatures glittering red.

"Wear these." He said, handing one to the tribrid and Sandwing so they could slide them up their arms. "They're enchanted to keep you safe from the lava and the effects of the volcano. " The guard explained, smiling reassuringly at them both.

Potent gave him a sour look, a bit wary. He glanced back down at the armband, immediately feeling the ash in his eyes vanish and his scales cool to a much more favorable temperature.

"What now?" Tempest asked, twisting the armband.

"Her majesty is waiting for you down there." The darker Moltenwing said, pointing down the luminous hole with his spear.

"Fantastic." Tempest mumbled, unenthusiastic.

"What do you say, Brave?" The blue eyed Moltenwing asked the other, arching his brow.

"Off we go, Bluefire." He grinned, beating his wings, once, before twirling upside down with his wings at his side, plummeting down.

Bluefire snorted at this, seeing Potent and Tempest's puzzled expressions. "My brother is a bit of a showoff, though I recommend you hold your wings close to keep them from scraping against the walls." He gestured at Tempest, his eyes training on her wings. "Especially you."

"Come on." Potent said without hesitation, mimicking Brave's fall into the fallen part of the volcano. Bluefire looked at Tempest encouragingly, the guard strapping his spear to his back and doing a more grand loop, shouting the way down.

Tempest held her bag close to her, rather nervous as she stared down at the volcano. "It shouldn't hurt me." She thought to herself. "I'll be fine."

She inhaled deeply and took off, while her spin was less graceful, she tucked her wings into her sides at the perfect time. The feeling of falling was exhilarating. Hot air rushed past her face and screamed in her ears, battering her body around. She clamped her teeth, determined to stay on course.

The glowing suddenly got very bright, and she lifted her head and spread her wings, gliding around the base of the drop until her heart stopped pounding. She found Potent and the Moltenwing brothers standing on an obsidian ledge in front of the mouth of a triangular shaped structure.

Bluefire cleared his throat, gesturing with his wing for Potent and Tempest to walk in. Tempest blinked her violet eyes and obliged, kind of wanting to twine her tail with Potent's for reassurance as they walked in. Though he wasn't one for contact.

As soon as they entered the room, her eyes blurred. It got a lot brighter than outside. Lava dripped from the ceiling in vibrant pools, and she turned her attention to the dragoness in the center. She was a young, pretty Moltenwing, a bit on the plump side. She wore a pale fur around her neck, fastened with obsidian, and tiny obsidian beads dangled from her horns. Her grey, brown, and gold/orange coloration was eerily similar to Tempest's, which was definitely a surprise. Her eyes were a bright yellow.

"Queen Volcano." Said Brave, spreading his wings in a low bow and touching his head to the ground. She merely waved her talons at him to send him away, busy with jotting down something into the scroll in her grasp. Brave backed up into Bluefire, who grinned and walked off after him.

The Queen finally looked up, giving Tempest and Potent a smile. "I apologize if the welcome was less than extravagant, I'm afraid I've been rather busy."

"It's fine, your Majesty." Said Tempest.

"Please, call me Volcano." She set down the charcoal and scroll on a nearby ledge, wiping the black dust off on the fur around her neck. "It makes me sound so old."

Tempest chuckled nervously, her talons tapping against the gold armband. "So, Volcano, I'm sure you're wondering why we're here.."

Volcano nodded, raising her wings and approaching a carved out ledge in the walls. Lengths of melted gold dripped through the cracks in the tall obsidian structure, furs. we're placed in the middle and and rubies studded the edges, making for a very interesting throne. Volcano sat down, her tail curling over the side as she brushed the feather behind her left ear. "Do go on."

"Solar is planning to attack in a couple days." Potent blurted, Volcano immediately digging her talons into the throne.

"What?"

"Solar is going to bring her soldiers and allies and take over the Islands, but we're going to try and stop her first." Tempest added, urgently. "The Rogues ask that you'll help us in this fight? We need all the backup we can get, we don't have a big army-"

Volcano inhaled deeply, the ash not doing anything. She exhaled just as deeply, blinking her gold eyes over at them.

"I'm still trying to build everything back up that my mother destroyed when she came to power." She said slowly, narrowing her gaze. "Does Geode really believe we can help you? What about the other tribes that aren't Solar's idiotic allies?"

"Volcano, please." Tempest pleaded, approaching the queen with her wings quivering. "I know you know that just them won't be enough, and sooner or later Solar will find a way past these volcanos and the heat. We need all helping us. You are by far one of the biggest and strongest tribes, please."

Volcano pressed her talons to her temple, grimacing. The queen pondered this for a long moment, her gaze wandered to the insignia on the bandanna that Potent now wore around his neck. She exhaled a small blue flame, rising to her feet and approaching Tempest.

The young queen nodded, slowly, and Tempest and Potent were overwhelmed with relief. "The Moltenwings will fight alongside the Desert Rogues, consider this a new alliance." She leant closer to Tempest, however, her yellow eyes burning. "You better pray to the Titanwings, small one. Because if the other tribes won't help, we're all going to die at Solar's claws."