Battlewiner's eyes glowed with an unsettling light as she looked down at Icemoon and Deathbringer, her expression twisting into a sneer. The air seemed to grow even heavier, thick with tension. The glow from the lava pit below cast flickering shadows across her face, making her sharp features appear even more menacing. Her scales, dark as the night sky, shimmered faintly in the molten glow, and the faintest glint of her horned crown caught the light, giving her an otherworldly presence.

"So, why are you here?" Battlewiner's voice was cold and cutting, as though the words themselves were daggers. It was a question, but it was also a command — one that carried the weight of a queen accustomed to having her will obeyed without question.

Icemoon ruffled her wings, the soft rustling sound a stark contrast to the silence that hung in the cavern. She straightened herself, meeting Battlewiner's piercing gaze with a fire of her own. Her claws clicked against the stone floor as she spoke, voice firm but tinged with a sharp edge. "We're here to talk you out of attacking the rainforest. Those RainWings have done nothing wrong, and you can't keep stealing them, too."

Her words rang out in the cavern, echoing off the walls, and for a moment, there was a tense stillness. The heat from the lava pit seemed to intensify, pressing down on them with a suffocating weight. Icemoon could feel the pulsing energy of the cavern around her, and the oppressive silence that followed her plea hung heavy in the air.

Battlewiner's eyes narrowed, glowing brighter as she regarded Icemoon with an almost predatory gaze. Her lips curled into a smile, but it wasn't a smile of kindness. It was the kind of smile that sent a chill straight through the bones. "You think you can convince me to stop?" she asked, her voice low and dripping with disdain. "To stop taking what's mine?"

The cavern seemed to grow colder, the very air heavy with the unspoken threat. Battlewiner's wings shifted, the sleek, dark appendages brushing against the stone floor with a hiss of air. Her gaze never left Icemoon, assessing, calculating. The weight of her presence seemed to bear down on Icemoon, as though she were trapped under the gaze of a predator who had already marked her for a meal.

Icemoon stood her ground, her wings held slightly open as a show of defiance. The words were there — the truth was there — but convincing this queen, this creature of darkness and manipulation, was going to be more than just a battle of words. It was a battle of wills, and right now, Icemoon knew the queen wasn't going to give up her dominance easily. The fight was only just beginning.

Queen Battlewinner rose from the molten depths like a specter of fire and shadow, her obsidian scales gleaming with the searing heat of the lava that clung to her like liquid gold. The air rippled with the sheer force of her presence, waves of heat distorting the space around her like a mirage. The glow from the molten pool cast eerie highlights along the jagged ridges of her spine, making her appear less like a dragon and more like a living force of nature—something ancient, something wrathful.

Icemoon sucked in a sharp breath, her pupils narrowing as she watched in stunned silence. Where the molten glow touched her, the heat should have burned, yet something unnatural stirred in response. A crackling chill spread from Icemoon's talons, tendrils of frost creeping downward like veins of ice, slithering across the stone floor until they reached Battlewinner's form. The instant they met her blackened scales, the ice recoiled, stopping just above the pulsing, seared veins that webbed the queen's body—faintly glowing beneath the surface, like embers buried beneath the coals.

The NightWing queen's lips curled, her teeth glinting like daggers in the flickering light. "This..." she snarled, her voice thick with hatred, the very air around her crackling with heat and fury, "is what your tribe did to me, Icemoon."

Her words hung in the air, smoldering like a dying fire, and for the first time, Icemoon truly saw the extent of the damage. Beneath the heat and the power, Battlewinner was not just a queen—she was a dragon who had been broken, reforged in suffering, and left to smolder in her own rage. Her molten prison had become her lifeline, and yet, it was also her curse.

A sickening realization settled in Icemoon's gut. This wasn't just about war. It wasn't just about conquering the rainforest. This was vengeance.

"I—I'm sorry," Icemoon stammered, the weight of Battlewinner's fury pressing down on her like the suffocating heat of the lava itself. The queen's molten prison pulsed behind her, casting wicked shadows along the jagged cavern walls, turning the ancient NightWing ruler into something monstrous—something more than just flesh and bone.

Battlewinner let out a low, scornful snort, a sound like burning coals collapsing into ash. Her piercing eyes locked onto Icemoon with a venomous gleam. "I need no one's mercy, little Havlkom," she spat, the old NightWing word rolling off her tongue like a curse.

The heat intensified, swirling in thick, suffocating waves. Even Deathbringer shifted uneasily beside Icemoon, his tail twitching in restless apprehension.

Battlewinner lifted her chin, a slow, cruel smile spreading across her charred features. "Get off my island," she commanded, her voice ringing with finality. Then, her teeth bared in a savage grin, she added, "And warn those lazy, witless RainWings—"

She leaned forward, her breath searing the air between them, her words curling like smoke in the gloom.

"The NightWings will rise like the phoenix of night."

The molten glow behind her flared as if in answer, bathing her form in shimmering fire. Her next words burned with the promise of devastation.

"And their rainforest will burn."