Dragons Of Monstra, Book One: Snowflake by Leo Colasuonno

Guess what, y’all - Leo Colasuonno’s written a book!

It has yet to be published, but Leo is graciously allowing The Monthly Panther to share the first three chapters with you all.

Happy Reading!

Part One: The Mountain

Prologue

November 30, 4999

“When did you fall for him?” an icy voice cut across the vast throne room, slicing the air like a dagger.

Crystal’s mind froze. If she lied, the queen would know. If she told the truth, she risked execution. Crystal’s eyes wandered over to all five of her eggs that were situated next to Diamond’s throne. I have to get them out of here safely, she thought. I have to tell her the truth.

“O-on our diplomatic trip to the Wavewing Kingdom during the ceasefire in 4995,” Crystal stuttered nervously, her eyes still straying to her eggs.

Diamond leaned forward, her cold blue eyes staring straight ahead. Crystal now chanced a glance at the throne room door. It was being guarded by two burly soldiers. Two more flanked the queen’s right and left. Above her, there were four circling and two to either side of her.

Crystal decided she would try to make a run for it, but not now. “AHEM!” Crystal turned her head so quickly toward the queen she thought she heard her neck crack. “Continue,” the queen ordered.

The queen, Diamond, was Crystal’s sister. Crystal was in danger of treason and exile because she had fallen in love with the Wavewing king, Bluewater, while the two tribes were at war.

“AHEM!” Diamond cleared her throat again, a little louder.

“I know you're going to ask how it happened and I’ll get to it if you stop interrupting.” This made the queen so furious she bellowed, 

“MY SLIGHTEST INTEREST IN THIS STORY MIND YOU IS THE MAIN REASON YOU'RE UP HERE AND NOT IN PRISON FOR THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS! OR DEAD!”

Crystal froze again and when she started talking she did it in a whimper. “Yes, your majesty.” She thought about taking a breath but decided to just keep talking.

“How did he survive?” The queen hissed with such venom, Crystal was surprised that herself and all the guards in the room didn't drop dead on the floor.

“I-I helped him escape. Wh-when the Frostwings, Snowwings, and Bonewings attacked the Wavewing’s land palace I was leading a battalion targeting him.”

Crystal flashed back to the battle. The salty sea air was licking her talons as she shot into a dive and rolled to avoid a Wavewing.

It had been a sunny but slightly windy day. Compared to the icy Frostwing Kingdom weather though, it was beautiful. 

Crystal remembered the hollow feeling in her stomach as they had drawn nearer and nearer to the palace. She had been so nervous that she had almost fallen out of the air.

The Wavewing palace had been (and still was), breathtaking. It was placed high on the edge of an ocean cliff with water tunnels into the ocean, and sparkling deep blue towers. Enormous pearls had been carved into the towers and many smaller ones decorated the walls and doors.

Dragons had been flying and swimming all around it before Crystal and the rest of the Frostwings and their allies had come. The Frostwings were aligned with the Snowwings and Bonewings. The Snowwings however, were not officially aligned with the Bonewings.

Dragons had screamed as Crystal flew over the palace with her battalion. She remembered freezing her husband inside of the throne room by blowing ice over the windows. 

“So how did he escape?” Diamond’s voice burst through Crystal’s flashback. She had told her sister everything she remembered so far.

“My guards wanted to enter the throne room to kill him but I said that I would do it. I went inside and then I smashed an ice window– ” 

“Weren’t there guards outside of the windows making sure he didn't try the same thing?!” the queen interrupted.

“I had to kill some of them. After that we tried to escape but some of the soldiers from my battalion captured me.”
“YOU WOULD KILL MEMBERS OF YOUR OWN TRIBE FOR A DISGRACE SUCH AS A FILTHY WAVEWING?!” the queen roared suddenly.

Crystal was taken aback at her sister’s sudden outburst and was struggling to find words. “Um, yes! No no no, but…” she faltered.

“Now darling, you have two choices,” the queen said in a terrible imitation of a cheerful voice. “You can stay here and have me supervise your dragonets growth so we can eventually take advantage of their rare . . .” she paused. “Gifts.”

“Or?” asked Crystal nervously, already knowing where this conversation was heading.

“Or you can smash them yourself and never show your face in my kingdom again.” the queen continued in the same falsely cheerful voice.

Many thoughts were going through her head. I have to get my eggs out of here. I have to take them from her. She made her decision.

Crystal lunged forward impulsively, without thinking of the consequences. Her claws reached towards Diamond’s face and made contact, creating a horrible jagged scar.

Crystal gathered her eggs, taking care not to break any, then turned tail and ran as fast as she could through the throne room doors. The walls were gleaming and there were decorations every few steps. She double checked to make sure the corridor was still empty behind her. It wasn't.

Guards poured in from all sides as Crystal started sprinting as fast as she could toward the nearest window. She flung it open and leapt into the air. The wind was whistling like a screech owl as Crystal glanced behind her again. It was quiet, too quiet. 

Cautiously, she kept flying before she saw a blast of frostbreath miss her head by an inch. She turned around yet again and saw over twenty Frostwing soldiers gaining on her.

Putting on a burst of speed, she was able to keep her narrow lead on them. Suddenly, she heard a high-pitched whistling sound. She barely saw the streak of black that shot by her before she fell. The last thing she heard was the many wing beats of the Frostwing soldiers coming to land. Then, she blacked out. 

Crystal didn’t know how long she had been knocked out, but when she came too, she was buried in a snowdrift. Carefully, she dug her way up until she felt cold air on her horns. Looking up, her scales touched the cold, wet, night sky. 

Gently, she opened her pouch to make sure all her eggs were there. Upon opening it, however, she only felt three lumps inside. “NO!” she shrieked, loudly enough so that her voice echoed off the surrounding mountains.

She searched the entire area twice, but there was no sign of her other two eggs. The only thing around was a large lake and a towering mountain. 

Behind her tears, the idea hit her. It would be heartbreaking. She stared solemnly at her eggs and knew that it was the right thing to do, for the safety of her future dragonets. With a heavy heart, she began to place her eggs into a makeshift igloo next to the lake. 

She was about to put the last one in when she heard the same high-pitched whistling sound. Without thinking, she dove back into the snowdrift with her last egg. 

Looking up, she saw a jet black dragon perched on an icy ledge. He was almost twice her size and of strong build. Blood was dripping from his mouth and atop his head lay a sort of crown fashioned from what looked like (to Crystal’s greatest dismay), a dragon skull. 

Eerily, the dragon descended on the igloo where she had hidden two of her remaining eggs. He fumbled around in it before drawing his head back out. In his mouth were two, frail, wriggling, newborn dragonets.

Crystal gasped audibly. She didn't think that they would hatch tonight. Suddenly, the dragon’s head stuck straight up, his dark red eyes piercing where Crystal was hiding. She had to duck deeper into the snow to avoid being seen.

After a few minutes, Crystal braved a look back up. The dragon had taken off with her dragonets still clutched in his mouth. At this, Crystal wondered if she should take her remaining egg with her, but remembered that it could jeopardize her dragonet’s life further if she herself was caught.

She flew up to the nearby mountain once the strange dragon was out of sight. She tucked this last egg in a small pile of snow and looked at it lovingly, but worriedly. 

Crystal made a silent prayer to the gods, asking them that, one day, she would meet her dragonets. Or at least this one, a small part of her brain whispered.

Crystal shut that part of her brain up. She had to hold on to the last thread of hope. That her dragonets were alive and well. She was worried, however, about the four eggs she lost, wondering if they were okay.

With one last longing at her egg, laid delicately atop the pile of snow in the cave, she turned around and walked slowly to a ledge. Crystal had arranged to meet her husband, the Wavewing for whom she had defied her family’s name, blood, and honor to love, in The Great Kingdom.

She took a shallow breath and then leaped off the edge to a strange new place, to an uncertain future . . .

Chapter One

One Month Later

January 1, 5000

A tremendous earthquake shakes the lands of Monstra. It is a cloudless night. The full moon shines in the sky and on the uppermost part of the continent, on a mountain bathed in starlight, an egg cracks, and a newborn dragon takes her first breath.

Twenty Years Later

January 1, 5020

Snowflake was a white-blue-turquoise Frostwing, yet, unlike other Frostwings, she had gills and webbed talons. She always wondered why this was and it gave her a distinct sense of self as she wondered about her past. She had no lasting memory of her parents and was completely isolated.

It was a lonely life but Snowflake was used to it and every day was slowly becoming more and more like a routine. What Snowflake wanted more than anything was to meet her parents and do something important with her life, for her tribe, that she would be happy with. For now though, it was just another slightly dreary morning. 

Snowflake stretched and surveyed the mountain, yawning slightly. Gray clouds lingered ominously along the horizon but other than that, it seemed like it would be a cool crisp day.

Spotting a hare scurrying around, she darted toward it quick as lightning and skewered it with her claw. After her small but filling breakfast (as the hare had been on the slightly heftier side), she ambled down the short walkway toward the hot spring near her cave where Snowflake scrubbed the blood and little shards of ice out of her talons.

When she finished washing herself off, Snowflake grabbed two buckets carved out of ice and flew down to a lake near the bottom of the mountain. As she filled the large buckets up, she wondered about what she should do for the day.

Most days, Snowflake either hunted, rested, or explored. Because she lived in a cave. She always kept to herself, lonely but, never having anyone around, didn’t know how it felt to not be like this.

She thought back to her earliest memory, trying to remember her hatching. As she was ransacking her mind for any trace of it, she felt a tug at the corner of her mind and focused hard. 

There had been an earthquake and screaming in the distance. She remembered a voice but it had not been a comforting one. It had been chanting something about ruling the dragon world.

As Snowflake was yanked out of her memory by the call of a nearby bird, she thought of why her parents had abandoned her here and whether or not they had even loved her. Surely not, was the first thought that came to mind when she asked herself this question. Because her parents would have kept her if they loved her.

Snowflake didn’t even have any idea if her parents were alive or not. All she did know was that, she had never celebrated a birthday, never been told that she was loved, she had never even been hugged by anyone except a human who had wandered into her cave once that had pathetically clung to her arm, as if praying for mercy. In the end, she decided to take pity on it and put it in an abandoned makeshift igloo near the bottom of her mountain.

Sighing in a melancholic way, she decided to go hunting. Snowflake walked to the ledge outside of her cave and prepared to take off but she slipped on an uneven patch of ice and went tumbling headfirst down the side of the mountain.

By the time Snowflake was able to stop by flaring her wings open as wide as they would stretch, she had fallen almost halfway down the mountain. Shaken, she thought about what would happen if she hadn’t been able to stop.

She would never get a chance to know the truth about her parents or herself. Still wondering about her past lightly, she continued to fly on into the morning air.

While she was gliding through the bluish-gray sky, she started scanning the ground and taking mental notes on everything she saw. Tree, tree, cave, pond, polar bear, tree . . . she stopped abruptly and looked back, there was nothing interesting.

I must have imagined it, she decided, slowly turning back around to keep flying. Suddenly, a flicker of movement caught her eye. There!

A polar bear stepped out from behind a large spruce tree. Undoubtedly, it thought it was safe as its dark brown eyes scanned the horizon for signs of danger. Since Snowflake was blue and white however, she blended in almost perfectly with the snow and ice.

At exactly the right moment, she twisted out of her hiding spot and snatched the polar bear off the ground, snapping its neck before diving back down. Back on the ground, she started looking around a little for any other animal.

Probably nothing, she thought, I most likely scared everything off if there was even any other animal out on this miserable day. As she thought that, there was a boom of thunder and then rain started falling from the sky like leaves from a tree in autumn. 

After a few more seconds of being soaked, Snowflake decided to head home and maybe see if she could start a fire in her cave and take a nap. Content with this idea, she was about to start flying home when something caught her eye.

Snowflake wouldn’t have noticed it normally but her wariness from hunting combined with her strange ability to see extremely well in water or rain had led to it. What happened next took only half a second and if Snowflake had blinked, she would have thought she had imagined it. But there would be no mistake of imagination now.

Twenty snarling white and ice blue dragons surrounded her on all sides. “Who are you?! What do you want?!” Snowflake demanded with her teeth bared and claws unsheathed. “If it’s my polar bear, you most certainly can not have it!”

“We don't want your little thing,” the strange blue dragon in the front said. Snowflake noticed that half of her left ear had been torn off and she had many scars all over her body. It was clear that this dragon had seen many dangerous wars and lived through them all. If she had any hope in outsmarting them, it would be in wits.

“Then what do you want?! Snowflake half-shouted.

“All we want is for you to come with us.”

“And why would I do that, exactly?” 

Snowflake said nothing after this but in her mind she wondered, “What on Monstra would these dragons want to do with me?!”

“Our queen would very much like to meet you,” the same scarred dragon continued coolly, as if reading her thoughts. “I daresay she might even be,” the dragon paused, “ecstatic.” 

“Why?!” Snowflake demanded. In the moment of silence after she said this, Snowflake noticed almost every dragon was trying very hard not to look at her gills or webbed talons. “Because I have defects?!”

“Mmm, something like that . . .”

Snowflake didn’t know what to say after that, she was not going to go with these dragons but she didn't see any escape routes that were likely going to work. Thankfully, her gut made the decision for her. 

Snowflake tore off the stomach of the polar bear and flung it into the dragon's face. It hit her along with two others. After that, she sprayed frostbreath on five more dragons and with her polar bear bloodstained claws, Snowflake mangled the remaining two dragons faces. 

“After her!” the leader, who had recovered from the blow of the polar bear carcass, shrieked, leaping into the air. Looking around, Snowflake was almost shocked out of the sky when the mountain came alive.

Or at least she thought it did. It turned out that there were at least eighty more dragons camouflaged into the mountain in case she tried to escape from above. Snowflake had flown into a trap.

Chapter Two

January 1, 5020

Snowflake was fleeing from the mountain. Beating her wings the hardest she could, she was just barely able to keep a lead on the other dragons. What do they want with me?! she thought furiously.

Finally, she dove under an icy ledge and knocked a few boulders down an opposite mountainside before losing the dragons. She did a few more sharp turns to make sure she lost them, then headed back to her mountain. 

Exasperated, Snowflake made for her cave as soon as she landed. Looking around, she saw only snow and ice. As she was tired, she laid down to rest and was asleep before she knew it.

When Snowflake awoke, it was mid-afternoon. Birds were calling to each other in the distance and the sun was high in the sky. She decided to have a quick lunch. 

Snowflake walked over to the chunk of stomach she had salvaged from earlier that day and devoured it. She was about to go kill a rabbit for dinner when she heard a sound.

She couldn't be sure, but it sounded too similar to wingbeats for her liking. I should leave, she thought solemnly. 

Sighing she thought it over again and again, making it sound more and more appealing each time. Snowflake felt torn. She loved her home but if dragons were going to try to hunt her down, it would be much safer to leave.

Even though she wanted to stay, her brain told her that she should go far away from the Frostwing Kingdom. But where would I go?! Snowflake thought. I can't go to the Snowwing Kingdom, I certainly can’t risk hiding anywhere in The Frostwing Kingdom . . . 

Suddenly, she had an idea. She would go south. Somewhere safer that wasn’t too hot. Since Snowflake had never met another dragon other than the ones earlier, she didn't know about any other tribes. 

Dragons had passed her mountain, however, and the wind had brought her snatches of their conversations. It was this method that had made her find out about Frostwings and Snowwings. 

Snowflake kept wondering but she had already made her decision. She would leave her mountain, she accepted that it was the right thing to do. She might even be able to meet her parents. Snowflake flew down the mountain and said a silent goodbye to her ice house before flying back up to get ready.

After putting her belongings into a carved ice chest, she stood up from her crouched position and, filled with new purpose, walked to the entrance of the cave to make sure the coast was clear. It wasn’t.

At least fifty pairs of wings were reflected onto Snowflake’s mountain by the sun. Frostwings soldiers of all sizes were flying straight toward her mountain. Pulling her head back immediately, she rushed into her cave to try and hide. That was when she heard voices. “Search the whole area!” someone commanded. 

Snowflake ran under a stone ledge that she used as a bed and held her breath. Scared as she was, she listened to the conversation, hoping to catch anything that might help her in any way.

Snowflake recognized them as the same dragon that had confronted her earlier. “Even over there?” someone complained. “Is ‘over there’ a part of the mountain?!”

“Um, yes?”

“Then search it!” the leader shrieked. Snowflake heard the sound of claws scratching on stone. Then, there was nothing. She strained her ears for the slightest sound of movement but heard only the whistling of an occasional gust of wind.

Snowflake was unnerved, not hearing where her enemies were. Panicking, she turned her head around and came face-to-face with another dragon. “Well well, aren’t you in trouble?” he said in a mocking voice.

The dragon then snatched her wrists and handcuffed them as well as her ankles. “I got her!” he quickly yelled as if he was afraid Snowflake might do something to him before he could successfully capture her. 

The other dragons bolted to the room that they were in to see if the dragon was telling the truth. Snowflake would give about anything if he wasn’t. “Congratulations Snowstrainer,” the leader said gruffly. “I'll see to it that you are given a promotion.

“Yes ma’am, thank you ma’am,” Snowstrainer said hurriedly. 

“As for you,” the leader continued, not batting an eye at Snowstrainer. Snowflake gulped, wondering what would happen now. What did I ever do?! Her inner voice screamed. 

Trying to appear calm, Snowflake said in her politest voice, “Yes, what did I do?” For some reason this made all of the dragons snarl loudly. 

“Well I’m afraid I’m not the right dragon to tell you that dear. All I can say for now is that it is mainly because you are alive.” Snowflake didn't know what to say so she kept her mouth shut.

“Are we ready to go ma’am?” one of the soldiers asked hopefully. Snowflake felt like she would die, she might for all she knew. Sighing inaudibly she turned to the leader. 

“I’m Frosta,” she told Snowflake in a falsely sweet tone. “And these are my friends.” 

“We are?” one of them asked stupidly.

“No imbecile, you work for me!”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, and stopped talking

“Good,” Frosta hissed. “You!” she continued. Snowflake jumped.

“Y-yes?” Snowflake said, practically shaking after being startled.

“Stay still.” 

Before Snowflake could move a muscle, Frosta had attached an enormous metal chain to Snowflake’s handcuffs and herself. “Don't you even think about running away,” she snarled.

“I won’t,” Snowflake squeaked.

“Good, we’re going now.”

“Where?” Snowflake dared to ask, already knowing the answer. 

Frosta cracked a wicked smile, her lipid forming the words Snowflake was dreading to hear.. “You really want to know? I’ll tell you then. We are going to go to the Frostwing Palace . . .”

Chapter Three

January 8, 5020

The flight to the palace took about a week due to the fact that Snowflake’s captors needed to rest every six or seven hours. If Snowflake was alone, she was confident she could make the journey in half the time. 

She was not upset at the delay, however, because she wanted it to take as long as it could before they reached the palace. 

Snowflake was miserable, thinking about a way she could escape and her thoughts were in conflict because even if she did manage to escape somehow, she wouldn’t know where to go. 

She certainly couldn’t go back to her mountain (maybe ever again if this is what would happen), but Snowflake still had no idea of where to go. 

To Snowflake’s utter disappointment, Frosta announced just the next day that they were a day away. “We should be there by midday tomorrow,” were her exact words. 

Snowflake sighed. As she did, a lot of air came out, she didn't realize she had been holding her breath. Flapping her wings as slow as she dared, Snowflake didn't realize that the battalion had begun their descent on a town. “We will sleep here tonight,” Frosta announced. 

As the sun was setting, Snowflake followed Frosta and the rest of the soldiers to a particularly large house next to a river, away from the center of town. A soldier banged on the front door of the house and stepped back, allowing the owner to open it. 

“Hello,” a male Frostwing said. “Can I help you?” 

“Yes darling,” Frosta said. “Move!” 

“What do you mean ‘Move?!’ I live here! You can't just come in!”

“Do you think this is the Great Kingdom?!” Frosta spat. “You don’t have a right to say no to us here! If you don’t like it, then go to another kingdom that might meet your measly expectations!” 

“Um, yes ma’am,” the dragon said hastily. “Come right in.” He eyed Snowflake and then lowered his head and retreated inside of his house to gather his family.

“Dragon rights . . .” Frosta muttered under her breath. “Our constitution gives royalty and the army a higher position than citizens.” No one else heard her say this but, as Snowflake was forced to be right next to Frosta, she heard every word.

Inside, Snowflake barely had time to glance the entryway when a sack was pulled over her head. “Penguin, take the first watch,” Frosta commanded. “And make sure that she doesn’t escape!”

“Wait!” Snowflake protested feebly, knowing she held no leverage whatsoever over their heads. “Why–” she was cut short. 

“What?!” 

“N-nothing, just, why do I need this on me?”

“Do you think you’re trustworthy? Frosta shrieked loudly enough to break a window. 

Well I’m certainly more trustworthy than you! Snowflake thought. At least I didn't kidnap anyone or force a family to let me stay in their home when they should be able to say no to your face! 

“Well?” Frosta said. “Do you think you're trustworthy or not?”

Snowflake decided to keep her mouth shut and just shake her head bleakly. Thankfully, this seemed to satisfy Frosta enough to leave Snowflake alone and start talking to one of her soldiers. “Everyone go to sleep, we leave at first light tomorrow.” 

The battalion started to settle down and she heard Frosta bark through the sack, “No Penguin! You have to stay awake! Ice-blowing imbecile!” Snowflake heard Frosta mutter under her breath as she had done when they were walking into the house.

Miserably, she laid down and fell into a restless sleep full of strange dreams. 

“Snowflake” a thousand voices said as faces flashed before her mind. A black male dragon that came with love and heartbreak and guilt and betrayal. A Frostwing sitting on a throne with scratches across her face, looking wicked, then anguished. That Frostwing turning into Snowflake as another face flashed through her mind. This one, A black and white female dragon laughing maniacally with a crown shaped like a skull and a strange aura about her. Then, there was a male Frostwing next to a black and purple female, killing what looked like a strange Snowwing-Frostwing hybrid as Snowflake watched, useless. An unfamiliar dragon, colored like a rainbow, a red, orange, and blue dragon, muttering something, a dragon with wings like a rose, a young dark green dragon with four wings and a twisted, glowing crown, and finally, the same black male dragon. “Snowflake . . . Snowflake . . . Snowflake . . .” they whispered again.

“GET UP!” someone roared. Snowflake jumped and hit her head on what felt like a dragon snout. “OW!” the same voice roared. 

Snowflake squinted as the sack was lifted off her head. When her eyes adjusted, she found herself facing Frosta who was vigorously massaging her snout which had what looked like a small ink spill behind a small hole that blood came dribbling out of. 

“If you weren’t so terribly important,” Frosta growled. “I would kill you right now!” This sentence made Snowflake feel very confused as she thought, Why am I so important?! As she said this, she lunged for Snowflake’s throat. Snowflake was only still alive after this because ten Frostwing soldiers had wrestled Frosta away from her as her claws were coming into close contact with Snowflake’s neck. 

As they walked outside, Snowflake expected it to be early but when she looked at the sun, it was already high in the sky. “Colonel, I thought we were going to leave at first light?” a soldier asked. 

Before Frosta could respond, Penguin interjected, “She’s a lieutenant colonel, not a colonel.” 

“Same thing,” the soldier said.

“It’s below colonel,” Penguin argued.

“Shut up!” Frosta shrieked. “If you don’t stop, Penguin, I’ll see to it that you’re demoted.

“Yes ma’am!” he said hurriedly. 

“Good. Now let’s go.” 

There was not much talk after this but only the sound of birds and the wind as they flew over villages and Frostwings going about their daily business. When she looked closely, Snowflake could see even a couple of Snowwings here and there. 

“What is that?!” someone shouted suddenly. Snowflake turned around and saw that the same soldier that had been arguing with Penguin was pointing in horror to what looked like a pale orange dragon. 

Snowflake turned to Frosta and was suddenly dragged down by the large chain that connected them because Frosta had almost fallen out of the sky. “It’s just the reflection of the sun on a Snowwing,” Penguin said gruffly, urging the battalion to keep flying to the palace.

An hour later, Snowflake felt a shadow looming over her and she thought it was just because she was miserable but when she looked up, she saw that the Frostwing palace was right in front of them. 

Frosta tipped her wings downward and Snowflake, thinking desperately about how she would be able to get out of this situation, followed. 

On the soft snowy ground, an additional two battalions of fifty each accompanied Snowflake to the palace gate. The gate itself was made out of solid ice. She kicked it when no one was looking and felt her claw chip. It was harder, even, than stone. 

“Let us in!” Snowflake heard Frosta yell, bringing her back to reality. Looking at the gate, she saw that whoever was behind a small peephole, was reluctant to let them in. 

“Do you have identification?” the dragon asked. By the way he spoke, Snowflake could tell that he was old, probably over one hundred.

“What do you mean, identification?!” Frosta bellowed. “I've been through this gate thousands of times, you know who I am!”

“Who?” the dragon asked.

“I’m Frosta you idiot!”

“Aaah, whatever.”

With that, both ten ton blocks of ice swung forwards, revealing a gorgeous courtyard and a not so gorgeous heavily wrinkled dragon. 

“What is your purpose of entrance?” he croaked.

“Icehold, if you don’t get your ugly face out of my way, I’ll rip it off with one hand, and glue it to my wall with the other,” was Frosta’s response.

Taken aback, the dragon stepped aside and allowed them to enter. “Just doing my job,” he muttered grudgingly, clearly annoyed at Frosta.

As Icehold closed the gate behind them, Snowflake could have sworn that he winked at her but she didn’t have any time to think about it because the palace courtyard left her breathless.

Even though she was a prisoner, she couldn’t help but admit, only to herself, that the palace was beautiful. Carved of the purest ice crystals and almost transparent, the majesty of if was enough to make Snowflake feel faint.

Although, she thought to herself, I may feel faint because I'm about to be taken before the Frostwing queen as a prisoner. The thought haunted her the rest of the way through the courtyard until one of the soldiers with her barked, “Turn right!”

Obediently, Snowflake turned right and smashed her face against a door stronger than a steel wall. “You forgot to open the door,” the same guard said, as the rest of the group started to crack up.

It stopped very soon, however, because Frosta slapped the one that had made Snowflake walk into the door with force enough to make an elephant fall over. “Be grateful you’re not in my battalion,” she snarled at him. “I would make you pay in more than just that.”

As Snowflake looked around, dazed as she was, she saw that this set of doors was the main entrance to the palace. Ten guards flanked it on either side and two of them threw the doors open to reveal a long hallway leading up to yet another set of doors. “In,” Frosta growled through gritted teeth, sounding as if she might slap her next.

For a second, Snowflake thought of flying away, then remembered that she was still chained to Frosta and walked half-heartedly into the palace. “You may fly here,” Frosta said with no emotion at all.

She flapped her wings and started gliding as Snowflake followed suit. Mere seconds later, they were at the doors. “State your rank and purpose of entry,” both guards said automatically, putting their arms in front of the doors and standing considerably straighter than they had been when no one was in front of them.

“Move your arm or you won’t have one anymore,” Frosta shot back savagely.

Not wanting to let Frosta in but frightened for his life he whimpered meekly, “I must see some identification, at least, ma’am. I’m sure you understand.” 

“I understand that you would look even better with no arms on your body,” Frosta continued, clearly annoyed at the guard.

“Now now Frosta,” a different voice cut in, this one sounding glassy and smooth but with a hint of iciness. “We don’t have to be that rude to the guards. They’re simply doing their job.

Both parties of the argument immediately shut up and turned toward the hallway, dropping into a low bow. Unsurely, Snowflake did the same and when she came up, she got her first good look at the Queen of the Frostwings.

Almost immediately, she got déjà vu, like she had seen this dragon before somewhere but couldn’t quite place it. She didn’t have much time to think though because the queen swept Snowflake and Frosta into the throne room with her. 

As the queen sat down, Frosta bowed low again this time and Snowflake, slightly hesitant, however, did the same.

The queen allowed a short pause and gave Snowflake half a minute to look at her. She was dazzling. With a large diamond and ice crown atop her head as well as a certain aura of majesty, she was beautiful in almost every way. Almost.

Across her face were five large claw marks. Faded into the queen’s face though they were, they still stuck out like the sun on a cloudless day. Observing more closely, Snowflake guessed that the scar was over ten years old. 

She was about to yawn when the queen spoke. “Approach.” 

Snowflake and Frosta looked up and walked forward until they were practically on top of her. “Who is this?” the queen asked Frosta, giving Snowflake a side eye.

Taking a breath, Frosta looked directly at the queen and said seriously, “Your majesty, I believe we have found one of the offspring of Crystal.”

Immediately, the queen’s entire attitude changed from slightly bored to excited. Snowflake knew which one she liked better. Hopping down from the throne, the queen said in a sweet tone, “Forgive me! I’m Queen Diamond of the Frostwings.”

There was a silence before the queen spoke again. “And you are . . .?” 

“S-snowflake,” Snowflake said nervously. 

“How pretty,” Queen Diamond said in a way that suggested she hated Snowflake’s name and, frankly, couldn’t care less. In a second, Snowflake found out that it wasn’t her name that the queen hated, it was just her. 

“Thank you . . .” she said to Queen Diamond, even more nervous now.

“Frosta, you may leave us.” 

Snowflake didn’t know if she imagined it but she felt like Frosta hesitated for a fraction of a second before saying, “Yes, your majesty. Right away.”

“Very well,” the queen’s tone of voice changed so smoothly from sweet and welcoming to icy and bitter that Snowflake didn’t even realize it was happening until Queen Diamond’s sentence was over, “Now that we’re done with the pleasantries, we can have a conversation.”

“O-okay.” 

“Do you know why you’re here Snowflake?!”

“No, your majesty,” Snowflake said truthfully as she really did not know why she had been captured and brought before the queen. 

“You’re here because your mother was the biggest frostbitten, ice-eating traitor in the Frostwing Tribe for millenia!” Queen Diamond shrieked with more fire in her voice than a volcanic eruption. “And you are my treacherous sister’s kin.” 

“My mother . . . My mother was your sister?!”

“Unfortunately,”

Snowflake’s mind reeled, all of those years staring at her reflection in the misty ice pools, wondering why she was different. Her mother had been a Frostwing princess, her father a Wavewing King, but she would never know them. “What did she do?” Snowflake asked, then finished in haste, “Your majesty.”

The queen stared at her hard, as if trying to see if Snowflake actually dared to ask such a question in her presence. Finally, Queen Diamond decided to play it cool and said smoothly “Oh please, call me Diamond.” 

Somehow, this made the queen seem even more icy and made Snowflake stutter blindly, “O-okay Diamond.” Diamond smiled as though she found Snowflake's lack of comfort to be amusing and said, “Now, let me tell you a little story . . .”

to be continued …