Tsunami and Glory arrived without Deathbringer, who had been sent to the walls along with the dragons they’d brought with them. Sunny was a little surprised that Deathbringer had agreed to be that far away from Glory, but she glanced at the determined look on Glory’s face and figured she wouldn’t have argued with that either.
Glory herself was disguised as a SkyWing, red and gold scales rippling along her wings. “Ironic, right?” she’d said, lashing her crimson tail. “Now at least I look like I belong in the prophecy.”
And judging by the murmurs coming from above them, the audience was thinking the same thing.
The five dragonets, Sunny thought. As Morrowseer foretold. Here we are, prophecy or no prophecy.
Now where are the queens who blister and blaze and burn?
A rumbling growl came from the dark entrance to the old palace.
And Burn stepped out into the moonlight.
Three moons, Sunny thought, she’s even bigger than I remembered.
Burn was a massive, heavy dragon with jagged scars all over her pale yellow scales, including a particularly vicious one all along her side under her left wing. A more recent wound was slashed across her snout, oozing olive-green pus and dark blood. Her black eyes glittered and her stained claws gleamed with what looked like fresh blood as she slithered across the stones toward them.
“So you came,” she hissed. “I thought the rumors couldn’t possibly be true.” She cast a seething look up at the hundreds of watching dragons. “I hope you have a good reason for disrupting my battle plans.”
“This war is over,” Sunny said, as loud as she could. There was a ripple of whispers along the walls as her words were passed along.
“Really,” said Burn. “Because you say so, is that it?”
“Because we all say so,” Tsunami retorted. She flared her wings to include all the dragons above and around them.
“Interesting,” said Burn. “But I see a problem. In fact, I see two problems, flying this way right now.”
Sunny whirled and saw a mass of dragons arriving from the east. Blister and her forces, she thought hopefully. She looked north and spotted flashing silver scales. Please let that be Blaze with the IceWings.
“It’s possible I won’t kill you,” Burn said. “After all, you’ve brought me my sisters to kill, which is more help than any other dragons have been. Then again, you’re very annoying.”
“This is not about killing,” Sunny said. The sounds of wingbeats were getting closer, so she turned to watch Blister land next to the Queen Oasis monument. Blister sank her talons into the sand for a moment, shooting a deadly look up at the obelisk.
Blaze and Queen Glacier landed a moment later, off to Sunny’s left. Blaze eyed her sisters nervously, staying close to the IceWing’s side.
Blister slithered out of the sand and paced slowly between Sunny and Clay, her snakelike gaze pinned on Burn as she circled her older sister.
“You’re still alive,” Blister remarked in a cold, calm voice. “That’s a pity.” She paused and narrowed her eyes at the dragonets. “I was hoping you’d have my sisters dead before I got here.”
“What?” Burn snarled. “They’ve chosen me as queen, not you.”
“No way!” Blaze cried, then hurriedly backed into Glacier as her sisters whipped their heads toward her. “They picked me! They told me to come here!”
“We haven’t chosen any of you,” Sunny said firmly. “And we’re definitely not killing any of you.”
“Unless we have to,” Glory observed. “Feel free to provoke us.”
“Shh,” Clay said, nudging her.
“We’re here to find a peaceful solution,” Sunny announced. “Either you three decide among you, peacefully, who’s going to be queen, or everyone else here will decide for you. No more armies. No more dead dragons.”
Burn barked a harsh, disbelieving laugh. “I have a better idea,” she snarled. “First I kill my sisters, and then I kill all of you, and then I stuff you and spend the next hundred years telling your dead face about peaceful solutions.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Sunny saw a flurry of movement from the part of the wall where Thorn was perched. “No one is going to let you do that,” she said to Burn, trying to sound much braver than she felt.
“In fact,” Blister interjected suddenly, “I’ve already made a gesture of peace. Didn’t you get my present, Burn?”
An eerie silence fell for a moment as Burn stared down at her.
“I was thinking,” Blister hissed into the stillness, “that this war has gone on too long. I thought if I sent you a gift … something I know you’ve always wanted … that perhaps we could … mend fences and reunite the family.” She bared her teeth at the palace entrance and Sunny spotted Smolder just inside the doorway, where she’d first seen him.
“Aha,” Burn snarled. “That was from you. Smolder, bring me the box.”
“Now?” he said.
“Don’t argue with me,” she growled, and he vanished into the palace.