Sometimes in this world, all you can imagine is your future. You try to focus on the present, but your mind wanders to what can be, what will be, and things like that. Staring into the starry sky, Hail the IceWing was thinking these things.

Hail wasn't muddling with the thoughts of the future to escape the present. Oh, no, not at all. His present was about perfect. His mother and father had raised him well. He was high up in the Second Circle, so obviously he was doing very well. But the reason he faced the future was because of the stories.

Every IceWing dragonet had heard them. Once upon a time, there were five dragonets; a MudWing, SeaWing, SandWing, NightWing, and a SkyWing. But the SkyWing died, and got replaced by a RainWing. These dragonets were destined to save the world from a terrible war over the next SandWing queen. Theories were flung about until the dragonets finally emerged. They set out, and eventually they did choose a SandWing queen. Peace covered the land ever since.

Hail narrowed his eyes. He loved the story. Most dragonets did. But his favorite part was when a SkyWing formally announced as evil flew down when the MudWing was being killed by a dragonviper bite. She burned the poison out of him and saved the day. 

Hail liked this part because it showed everybody had a speck of good. No matter how evil a dragon seemed, somewhere deep inside there was a wonderful spark of light, and sometimes the light is just dimmer than others. He wanted to be like the SkyWing. He wanted to save somebody. He wanted stories to be told about him. He wanted to be the type of dragon everybody talks about and admires, even centuries later.

Maybe Hail would become this dragon, and maybe he wouldn't. Either way, he was in Second Circle, and for now he could safely put the future into the place where it belonged until he was ready to face it and speak with it once again.