The air is cold against me, the metal of the chain-link tether gripped firmly in my talon even colder. I yank on it, grim satisfaction spreading as the dragon on the other end gags and chokes at the tightened leash. I hold it for a few moments, then give it more slack. I feel my prisoner’s eyes burning holes in the back of my skull, but I do not care. After a week without food, being exposed to the elements, and the promise of much worse should he misbehave, the IceWing cannot do much more than glare.

Let him stare, I think. Maybe he’ll regret what his tribe has done, if only because he is paying for it. I snort dismissively. As if the pain of one will compensate for the centuries of agony my people have suffered at the claws of the Ice Kingdom.

The respective kingdoms of Rain and Ice have been in an unspoken agreement that neither are welcome guests. That is, until nine years ago, when an IceWing invasion was launched on the rainforest, probably for its resources and access to the other kingdoms. A small camp of scholars was destroyed, the inhabitants themselves frozen solid. Outrage had rolled over my people, inciting us to respond in kind. One severed head of an IceWing general tossed over the Great Ice Cliff later, it became an all-out war. Fierce battles were waged, but always either in our territory or somewhere between the Cliff and the jungle.

Not for long, my thoughts whisper as I glance back at my trailing captive. A few days before, I had been ordered by my queen to take a squadron of soldiers and a sufficient amount of prisoners. My soldiers are not pure RainWing, having been merged with our enemies via gene implantation while still in their eggs.

They should be able to cross over the Cliff, but it’s best to be prepared, hence the prisoners. The loop around my charge’s neck shrinks as I pull him close in order to be heard over the wind.

“You will not try to escape,” I growl. “You will not try to sabotage this mission or my soldiers. You will remain silent and obedient, or I will silence you and your compatriots permanently.”

I receive no response other than an unblinking stare and shallow quickening of his breathing. I cannot tell what he is thinking, but he knows that I am not lying. We used to have more prisoners who couldn’t hold their tongues, so they were removed. Unable to speak, they were of no use to us and were sent back to our doctors. I never saw what became of them, but passing the laboratory to get to a war meeting gave me peeks of dragons with haunted eyes and gaunt faces.

I would be lying if I said the sight didn't give me a sense of unease, but war is war. I do what I must to protect my people. The thought has become a constant presence in my mind as of late, steeling me against whatever acts I need commit. It even helps to lessen the feel of my talons coated in sticky, blue blood and the taste of copper on my tongue.

I repeat my mantra as a white shape comes into distant view, stretching long and looming tall. I do what I must for my people. I kill what I must, for my people. I will cross the Cliff and tear the Ice Palace down with my bare talons, for my people...