"Scorpion, I've noticed something... you guys haven't exactly... grieved about Pyro." I say hesitantly as we walk back to the room.

She sighs. "Pyro wasn't exactly... sane... he was obsessed with this 'prophecy' and was hellbent on killing Midas. He wasn't raised with the rest of us and although we did try connecting with him, he just lashed out all the time. One day, he attacked Palm when they were having an argument, next thing we knew, he was ranting about doing things himself."

"What happened next?" I asked.

"Then you came along." She said before opening the door and letting us in, Pebble was already asleep in his hammock, the book he was reading still open and resting on his face.

"That's cool though, being immune to poison." She continued.

"Oh, right, I totally forgot about that." I said as I remembered the kentri's venom having barely any effect on me, that explained why I was able to survive Burn stabbing my chest with her barb, that or she was going easy on me, and knowing Burn, that was highly unlikely. "See you in the morning?"

She nodded as she climbed into the hammock and I laid on some of the cushions on the floor and closed my eyes, it didn't take long for everything to fade away.

***

I looked down at my... claws? Aw shit, here we go again. The claws were adorned in jewels and rings, flexing as the dragon looked curiously down at them. I could feel a white robe on the back as well as some type of crown or tiara on the head. So this was one of the queens, which one though? That question was answered when the dragon looked at herself in a mirror, she was smaller than Burn but not by much, she had much brighter colors and was covered in jewelry rather than armor like Burn. So this was Blaze? She was surrounded by pillows and cushions and was spotless, clean except for a scar on the side of her neck, nothing you'd expect from a queen at the forefront of a war, to her side were a bunch of scrolls, plans and a description of Burn's stronghold.

"So many papers, how does Glacier deal with all of these?"

She jumped, I did mentally as well, as a new voice spoke right next to us.

"Do you have something you'd like to say, your majesty?"

"I was just wondering, we're flanking the stronghold for the next attack according to my mate- I MEAN to Queen Glacier, but we have no idea what's this way." She said as she pointed her claws at an unmarked area of the plans, in the direction of Sunset's Watch.

"We've had reports of several dragonbite vipers in the area, even Burn's forces stay clear of the area, it's advised we should do the same-"

"Then... that would be a perfect spot for us to ambush them from."

"Your majesty?"

"If we can secretly clear the area of any dragonbite vipers, then... well I don't really know how we'd go any further, but if we had that one blindspot, that can surely benefit us in some way, right?"

"I guess, but it's dragonbite viper territory-"

"Then we'll clear them out, surely an expedition of Sandwing's could take on a few snakes!" She said in a cheerful tone as she started to go to a display case and started to unlatch it.

"Your majesty, what are you-"

"W-what queen will I be?" She suddenly asks as she turns to the Icewing.

"I don't understand-"

"How will anyone look up to me if I do nothing but sit and look pretty?"

"I-I-"

"I mean, I can probably do a lot sitting there and looking pretty but... just... um... Prepare an expedition, I'll be ready shortly." She says before waving the guard off as she finishes undoing all the latches. Her eyes widened as she looked inside the case. "I should give my tailors a palace..." She says as runs one of her talons through the soft fabric of the fabric of the robe on the armor. "Hopefully it won't get dirty." She muses sadly as she looks at the object. Inside the display case, on a stand, was a shiny white and gold dragon armor, with a crown adorned with red, blue, and green gems, as well as a long red cape flowing to the ground.

"Those dragonets... if they're right... Maybe I have to do this? Maybe... maybe a dragonbite viper cape might look better. Maybe... I Wonder if there's anything to eat on the way, maybe some camels... or scavengers..." she muttered.

***

I woke up gasping for air, covered in a cold sweat, trying to inhale as much air as I could. I quickly looked around and saw it was still dark, Palm was sleeping in the other corner, snoring softly, and Pebble was still in the hammock, the book having never moved from his face, but Scorpion...

"What was it about?"

I barely managed to lift my head to look at her with a questioning gaze. "What are you doing up?" I croaked.

"Couldn't sleep, so why don't you tell me what the vision was about?"

"That obvious?"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"I've seen Pyro do it several times... I don't think... he was always crazy, I think they made him crazy, and I don't know you so well but still, I don't want that to happen to you, you can talk to me."

I nod before looking back to the floor. "Thanks." I sigh. "There's a war going on between them, the dragons, the big one has two sisters, basically fighting for territory, the one I thought was dumb, figured out there's a blindspot to the sand palace that she may be to take advantage of."

"So... where is the blindspot?" She asked.

I let out a long exhale. "I think we both know where it is, Scorpion. The question is, what do we do now?"

"I..." she trails off, her eyes still wide in fear.

"The villagers, would they listen to us-"

"No, not a chance, they already think us teardrops are fakes, the ones who believe us the most still think we're crazy. But this town is guarded, we have the basilisks, we have the ballistas, us mercenaries can hold our own-"

"Smolder told me expeditions of dragons usually are groups of eight, but this is a royal escort, so there'll be twenty and the queen, and since this is Blaze's force, that means Sandwing and Icewing forces, how many ballistas are in the town?" I ask, my voice starting to get frantic.

"F-four."

"Okay..." I take a deep breath. "Snakes?"

"We have eight."

That's not gonna be enough..." I say before letting my head fall back to the floor as I stare at the ceiling. "We're fucked, aren't we?"

"We're fucked-hold on, what about the thunder-bow?"

"It can't get past their armor, Pyro wrote that in his sketches that's he's tried but dragon armor is just too thick, it'll give them a bruise but unless you get a proper shot then you're screwed."

"So we can't fight." Scorpion scoffs to herself as she puts her hands on the back of her neck. "River, there's about a couple hundred people in this village, and the rainforest is too far, we can't run either."

"So... what do we do?"

She sighs. "We have to tell the others and come up with a plan.

***

Pebble held his hands together in front of him on the table, everyone waited with baited breath for his reply as the only sound other than our breathing was the small sounds from the streets and the bugs trying to break through the screen. "Thanatos tipped arrows are our only shot, and the thunder-bow, but with our limited supply, and the sheer amount of dragons showing up, are you sure they will all be wearing armor?"

"Especially if it's a queen's escort, I'm sorry."

Pebble sighed and let his head fall to the table. "Give me a day to think this over, I... holy shit..."

"We have time, right?" Palm asked me.

"Icewings live on the head of the continent, but they'll still be near the sand kingdom, so around the border they have, we have at least a couple of tendays, even with their wings, they still need to rest, they still need to eat, they still get tired, we have time." I think aloud.

"That's good at least." Scorpion sighed but Pebble groaned.

"If we could convince everyone that dragons are coming, and that we have to evacuate, it still takes more than a tenday to make the journey from Sunset to the Green Hollow Village, and we could in the best case maybe carry more than a third of the village on the snakes, but by the time we go back to make another run, there won't be a Sunset left!" He finished his sentence by slamming his hand down on the desk. "I... I need space... go... GO!"

"What if..." I start but look down.

"River, you better spill." Pebble demanded.

"What if... I talked to them?" I then asked.

They all glanced at each other for a moment. "I mean, if we can get you to the queen..." Pebble started.

"And unscathed..." Palm continued.

"And still in one piece and not dragon chow..." Scorpion joined in.

"It could work." Pebble's expression lit up. "River, you should probably go back to sleep, find out what to say and not offend her, actually, I think we can all sleep."

"Crisis averted." Palm sighed as she got back in her corner.

"Goodnight." Scorpion said as she got back into her hammock.

"Are you..." I asked Pebble since he was still there with his hands in front on the table.

"I'll be fine... just rest. You'll need it."

I nod, and let myself fall back to sleep.

***

I could hear the faint sounds of speech yet everything felt muffled and distorted till my mind finally cleared things up, I gulped as I looked up. Standing in front of me was Blaze, it was night but fire reflected off her beautiful armor, everything was constructed to the most minute detail, the armor wasn't just for protection, it was a statement, an art piece, a masterpiece, it would be an act of great vandalism to even scratch this armor. Blaze herself must have been beautiful in dragon terms, she was at least the most clean dragon I've seen, with brighter and more pale colors, jewels adorning her scales and claws, she was around six trees tall, towering over me as she looked down at my small form. Surrounding her was a group of twenty dragons, the ten Sandwing's were the ones closest while the ten Icewings were the furthest from her, all armored head to claw, you'd have to be really lucky to take one down in one shot, the ballistas would be lucky to take one down, the only exposed spots being the underside of the jaw and the sides of the neck and wings, and the bottom of her paws.

Blaze then opened her jaws, each of her teeth nearly as tall as me, and then she spoke. "You're so cuuuute!" She said with what I guessed was a smile on her face as she gave me headpats, I just stood there and winced as I felt the massive paw hit my head a few times before she retracted it. "It's a shame... really little human." She said before she put one of her talons up to her face as she thought. "Oh! I have an idea!" She said cheerily as she picked me up. "What if I keep you instead as my little pet, then I'll get a female and then you two can make more!"

"That's not-" I felt my vision-self start to say before she keeps on rambling.

"You'll love it as my pet, there's tons of jewelry and... and jewelry and more! But, I'm sorry about the rest of your den though."

"The rest of my den, why would you-"

"Burn it, capture any humans you find, those will be our snacks on the way back!" She announced to the dragons. I watched in terror as the dragons flew to the village behind me before turning back to Blaze, it wasn't long till I heard the sound of screams and the warning bells.

"That wasn't the deal!" I cried.

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure some may survive the trip, and they can be your friends, okay?"

"No! Call it off!" I say as I grab the metal handle.

"Or what-" Her eyes widened as the spark ignited in the chamber in the thunder-bow fired a piercer, the bullet heading right for the underside of her jaw, only for her to jerk her head to the side at just the right time, but still the piercer kept going and made a scraping sound as it skidded across the crown of her armor, her eyes went wide, my eyes went wide, we both just stared at the small scrape on her armor. Then she started to growl.

"Oh shit-" I yelp as she holds me above her head.

"How rude! I would've been a great owner to you, but no, you just had to ruin it all, didn't you, you stupid little scavenger, maybe one of the others will be a better fit to be my pet but all you're going to be is a snack, it's the least you can do for scratching my armor, so try not to squirm." I held on tightly to her talons with my one hand as she opened her jaws. She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Why won't you fall?" She whined before shaking me off her talons. I let out a yell as I started to fall, and right as I saw her jaws close around me...

***

I gasp again as I shoot up from the bed, gripping the pillow beside me tightly.

"So, how'd the vision go-" Pebble started.

"We're fucked!"