Fall of Tempest: How it All Began

The united army was on the move.

For nearly two years they had been preparing for this night, the night when they would finally regain their freedom from the dark mage known as Tempest. Dragons and griffons flew side by side, above the merfolk who would ensure that the mage and his followers would not be able to escape by sea.

Snowflake, the leader of the Ice Dragon tribes, flew alongside the other Dragon leaders, Wysteria of the Fire Dragons, Bolt of the Lightning Dragons, Shockwave of the Earth Dragons, and Barnacle of the Water Dragons. Just ahead of them flew the one who had united the tribes, and the non-dragons, in order to go after Tempest. Drake, a pale orange fire breather with oddly upturned points on the scales around his eyes.

As the one who’d insisted they go, the fire breather would be going after Tempest himself. Icicle, Snowflake’s daughter, a rare Shimmer-Wing, though less rare in recent times as more had been reported being hatched lately, was joining him. As were three of the lightning breather’s fiercest warriors, though Snowflake couldn’t quite remember their names.

Snowflake herself, as well as the rest of the leaders, would be commanding the army as they fought the rest of the island. Only killing Tempest, if the five even succeeded, wouldn’t stop the hundreds of mages the wizard had surrounded himself with.

Ruffling the feathers of her wings to make her descent more silent, Snowflake’s claws dug into the sand and she ran forward, clearing the space for the rest of the army. Tilting her head upwards slightly, a brief bolt of panic seized Snowflake as she saw the purple winged form of her daughter join Drake and the three lightning breathers, staying in the sky a few extra heartbeats to reach the castle undetected.

Shaking her head, Snowflake growled to herself. Icicle was a great warrior, and a Shimmer-Wing, she would be fine. Letting frost build up in her throat, Snowflake fired it forward as Wysteria, Bolt, Shockwave, and Barnacle did the same with their own elements. Fire and lightning crackled, dust billowed, and ice and water mixed to make crystal spheres.

The battle was over before the sun had reached its highest point.  

The mages were either dead or surrendered and being locked away. Barnacle had sent one of his generals to find the fate of Drake and the others, and Snowflake was anxious as she waited to hear what had happened to her daughter. Of the main army, they had lost many warriors, almost half of her own kind had been killed, the Ice Dragons not being built for battle, but rather for peacekeeping. The Earth and Water tribes, the former spending most of their time digging and crafting and the latter covered in a natural armor had lost almost no soldiers. The Lightning Dragons had fewer casualties as well, though that was due to their stubborn belief of ‘You are not dead until your body stops twitching’.

But the greatest loss had come from the fire breathers. Though she had fought with the ferocity of a thousand lightning breathers, Wysteria had taken a spell to the heart, and been among the last to fall.

Now that they’d taken over the castle, most of the rooms had been converted in order to fix up injuries and gather together the dead so they could be cared for according to the customs of their kind.

Finally, Drake appeared, shadowed by the water breather who’d been sent to fetch him. Snowflake frowned, his golden eyes seemed…odd.

Shaking her head, Snowflake dismissed the thought. Likely, he was just troubled from the warfare. Goodness knows they all were. But, where was Icicle? Snowflake frowned and scanned the room. Her daughter didn’t appear to have followed Drake, so then where was the young Shimmer-Wing?

Drake gave her a quick glance, as his gaze searched the other leaders who were standing next to her. “Where’s-“he began, voice and expression confused as he searched for the only leader not present. “She’s dead Drake.” Snowflake whispered softly.

Drake’s wings drooped, but before he could speak Shockwave took a step forward, his sail fluttering as he opened and closed it several times. “We’ve been talking Drake, with Wysteria…gone, the fire breathers will need a new leader. I know traditionally your kind fight it out, but…I believe we’ve all seen enough warfare for several centuries.”

Drake nodded slowly “That is tradition, correct.” Shockwave smiled slightly “And well, as you know none of the dragon tribes really have a permanent home, and it would be such a waste to leave this island forever, so…we, the four leaders, would like to offer that you become the king of all dragon kind, and that we live here. The griffons, humans, and merfolk can return to their homes, and we can live on Magic’s Touch, though I do think it ought to have a new name.”

Drake tilted his head, and Snowflake frowned. A flash of purple seemed to be seeping in and out of his eyes. “I accept the offer to lead you,” he all but purred “And as for the name, why not honor this day, and the great mountain that concealed our approach to the castle? Drake’s Peak. A fitting name, wouldn’t you say?”

Snowflake exchanged a glance with Barnacle but remained silent. The new king glanced at her, and his expression faltered, eyes completely gold. “Snowflake, if you could please come with me? There’s…there is something I must tell you.”

Snowflake’s ruff flicked behind her horns, but she nodded, tail feather’s rippling with nervousness. Letting Drake lead her from the room, Snowflake followed the fire breather through the castle. The two made their way up a spiral staircase, and as they neared the top Snowflake stepped gingerly over a pile of ashes in front of an empty doorway.

As she lifted her head to examine the interior of the room, Snowflake’s gaze landed instantly on the fallen body of a soft white ice breather with purple and pink feathers. “No” she breathed, eyes widening as she stared at the body of Icicle.

Distantly, Snowflake could hear the clicking of Drake’s claws, but she ignored that, rubbing her muzzle along her daughter’s ruff. “How?” she finally managed to ask. Drake was silent, when Snowflake looked up, she saw him standing at the edge of the balcony doors, staring out at the sea. Finally he responded “Tempest cast a death spell. She was unable to avoid it.  I’d hoped more from a Shimmer-Wing, but…perhaps your old legends aren’t quite true.”

Snowflake may have been overwhelmed by grief, but at those words her grief shot away instantly, replaced by a blinding fury. “My daughter is dead, and all you can say is that you expected more of her?” she growled, tail lashing with fury as her ruff flared outwards, light gray feathers framing her face as she glared knives into the back of Drake’s head. “Those are not the words of the Drake I agreed to appoint king, who are you and what have you…“Snowflake’s voice faded away as Drake turned around, revealing dark purple eyes. Eyes never found in fire breathers. Eyes a shade so dark they could only have belonged to… “Tempest.” Snowflake whispered, ruff unflaring and darting behind her curled horns.

Drake, if anything, seemed amused by her reaction and let out a harsh purr. “It turns out when you kill someone with that much power, it can’t just fade away. Power can’t vanish, it must be absorbed. I was just the only one living close enough for his to go into. I’ll bet for every mage you and your dragons killed, you absorbed their small fraction of power.”

Snowflake felt her ruff flaring again, and her wing and tail feathers began fluffing out too, giving her lean frame the appearance of swelling. A low growl flared to life in her throat, and she lunged forward, tackling Drake to the ground. Pinning him with her claws Snowflake hissed “Monster!”

However, instead of fighting back, Drake simply smirked, and leaned as close to her face as he could with the limb size difference.


“I do believe you mean king.”