“When Dreams Die”

Epilogue

The skates glided across the Pond’s ice with the grace of one born of skates, even though he had born in the exact opposite place.

Fire.

He was Kres, the only son of the Goddess Flarasia. Even now, as the Prince of Flarasia—no, that wasn’t confusing, his mother having the same name as her kingdom—he didn’t understand the title. By being the prince, did he actually have to rule anything? And what about this civil war? Would all of Flarasia be thrust into ruin if he didn’t return? Why couldn’t his mother, a goddess, stop the war from ever occurring?

His mother. Throughout his entire life, he thought she was the woman who decided she didn’t want a family and left hers. She came about every so often to see Wildwing, but for some reason, he was never around when she did. For the longest time, he simply thought she didn’t love him. Now, he knew that was true; she wasn’t his mother. Queen Flarren, Goddess Flarasia, who had searched for her stolen new hatchling since his earliest days, was.

Yet, For most of his life he had been tormented by the voice of Fire, and until he accepted her—accepted the Goddess—did the draw upon him finally stop.

Did he wanted to give into the Fire?

Did he have a choice?

He didn’t want to lose his brother, not again.

A flash of blue caught his eyes, and he whirled upon the ice, flinging water from the ice. Sparx furled an eyebrow, then smiled widely as she balanced upon the visitors’ bench boards. “You continue to break stereotypes, your highness. I never thought a Firehawk would be found dead playing hockey.”

Kres skated over to her, though he wasn’t sure if he should. After all, Drysith said he would bring him to Flarasia, even if that meant kidnapping. “It’s the gift of Fire that makes me a fast skater. My skates are hotter than others, so they melt the ice underneath me, making me faster.”

“And once again, you amaze me.”

“Flattery will get you nothing,” he scoffed, albeit with a smile. Leaning an elbow on the wall, he glanced about the arena. “Where’s your father?”

“Wildwing splashed him with water when he threatened to drag you back to Flarasia again,” she said simply, “so he can’t teleport. I was lucky enough to escape before the bastard could do anything to me.”

“Don’t do that.”

Sparx blinked. “What?”

“Don’t call my brother that or patronize him. He’s the only person other than Calder and my father who ever gave a shit about me.”

The girl huffed and rolled her eyes. “Goddess, you just quoted him. Do you know how lame that is?”

“Don’t change the subject,” Kres ordered, pushing to stand straight. “Look, I don’t care what Drysith thinks. Wildwing is my brother, and he’s right. Most of my life I was seen as an outcast and a freak—”

“—which could change,” Sparx eased gently, reaching forward to grab Kres’s hand. “You are one of us, your highness. You belong among us.”

He tore his hand from her grasp. “I’d probably be seen as one there, too, being the son of an Ice Drake.”

“But you are the prince and the son of the Queen Flarren, and that is more important.”

“I’m the son of the Goddess Flarasia,” Kres corrected, lifting his beak upward in almost a snobbish expression.

Sparx smiled gently. “Of course, you and I know that since you are the Son of Fire and my father is one your mother’s Flare Warriors, but you must understand. When the Goddess lost you the first time years ago, she took a mortal name to akin herself to him, even though he had died. Since then, maybe have lost the belief that Flarren is, in fact, Flarasia, and instead believe her to simply our immortal queen.”

Oh.

“Besides, your mother has been in grieving for years. Don’t you want to ease that?”

“By leaving my only family here?” he retorted.

“Who says you have to choose?”

“Freaky girl say what?” Kres whirled about again, this time actually hitting her with ice chips. A yelp sounded from her mouth, and she quickly retreated to the bench.

“You don’t have to choose,” she reiterated, wiping the water from her black top. “We can teleport using Fire from here to Flarasia and back again. As long as the environment is right for fire to exist, you may travel there.”

“And you have to go.”

Kres whirled about to see his brother, Raen now wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans. It looked so weird, now calling him “Raen” and his brother not wearing any tunics or breaches.

“Insane brother say what?”

Raen shrugged and walked into the bench area before tapping Sparx on the shoulder. “Mind giving us a few minutes?”

“And if I do, you’ll splash water on me, too?” she answered with a furled eyebrow.

“Don’t tempt me,” he said but with a chuckle to let her know he wasn’t entirely serious. “Please.”

Sparx nodded, then made a point to bring her feet safely into the bench area and jump down. There was no way she would get anymore ice or water on her.

Once she left, Raen sighed, then ruffled his brother’s hair, even if he plaited in a braid. “Look, kiddo, there is nothing more I want than for you to stay here, but I know that’s not realistic or fair. Your mother came to our aid all those years ago, and she truly saw the error she’d made. She lost you.” He tapped Kres in the middle of the forehead. “And then you were stolen from her again. The least you can do is go and see her.”

“And what if I can’t come back?” Kres argued, crossing his arms.

“Then I will endure what I have to, but your mother lost you for over a millennium for being selfish.” He reached forward to cup his brother’s cheek. “I don’t want to make the same mistake.”

Kres mock-glared at him, then skated away. “Fine, I’ll go to see her but only for you, and you have to do something for me in return.”

Raen put hand on the bench, then vaulted himself over onto the ice, his boots becoming skates half-way through his jump. “Why am I suddenly scared?”

Pivoting, Kres smirked. “You have go out with Tasha. She did love you, Raen.”

A roll of his eyes was the reply, though Raen spoke anyway, “I loved her, too, y’know.”

“Not the same way.”

Raen caught up, grabbing his brother in a bear hug before and wrestling him to the ice. “She finally got to me, baby bro.”

“Yeah?” Kres attempted to light his fire, but squished on the ice, he couldn’t even get an ember. “When? You had been arranged to marry since before my hatching.”

Raen straddled his brother’s waist, attacking Kres under the chin and gaining the desired result—a wild laugh. “It wasn’t as much as when as how.”

“H—How?” Kres managed through his giggles.

The smile upon Raen’s beak couldn’t be described. “Through you.”

*^*^*

“Are you sure about this?” Kres asked once more.

Raen wanted to hit him. “I said yes, so go already.”

Kres actually did hit his brother—across the shoulder, then dove into Raen’s welcoming arms. “I promise to return as soon as I can.”

“Take your time. I’m not going anywhere. Tasha’s still working on the gateway generator, and anyway, remember those ice creatures who came a little while ago?”

“Yeah, my zamboni…” he mourned, and Raen ruffled his hair.

“Well,” Tanya fixed her glasses on straight, “they apparently have been sitting in the Rocky Mountains, waiting for something. If we were to leave right now, they might attack.”

Mallory smacked her forehead. “I don’t get it. What is it with Earth? Puckworld only gets attacked twice in a millennium and even from our own native people, and Earth gets attacked twice in a year by two different alien races?”

“Humans are isolated, sweetheart,” Duke eased, pulling her into a one-armed embrace. “They aren’t assimilated into the Universal Council like us or have any alliances with planets like…Puckworld…”

Raen met Duke’s knowing glare, and apparently, they realized what they would do—save Earth by allying it with Puckworld.

Whoa.

Kres smacked his brother again. “Be careful while I’m gone. I don’t need to feel that you’ve gotten hurt or something, and if I can’t get back…”

“Don’t worry, kid,” Calder replied, slinging an arm about Wildwing’s collarbone. “I’ve got him. You’re the one who will need to be careful.”

“He will be fine,” Grin promised, bowing slightly to the goddess’s young son. “A mother’s love knows no bounds. She will protect him.”

“And so will we,” Sparx replied. “Right, Father?”

Drysith’s smile, even small, showed how much the one event in his life changed him. Before, he hadn’t allowed the girl to call him the sacred name but almost losing her…He now understood his goddess’s pain.

“Yes, Sparx, as it is our duty to do so.”

Kres reveled in his brother’s warmth for one more moment, then slowly backed away. Waving gently, he sent his brother a sad smile, though Raen’s was content, almost complacent.

“See you soon.”

“Not if I see you first.”

Kres snorted and allowed Drysith and Sparx to grab his shoulders. Then, in a fury of blue fire, the trio vanished, leaving not even burn marks upon the floor, and Raen instantly fell backwards to lean on Drake One’s console

Calder was at his side instantaneously. “Great. I promised the kid less than five second ago, and now you collapse.”

The former king looked as if his strong front in front of Kres had taken so much energy to sustain, and now that his little brother is gone, he utterly crumpled. “Don’t you get it?” Raen rasped, trying his best to push back his tears and averting his eyes. “He won’t be back.”

“What do you mean?” Tanya took his hand and cradled it within hers, as if she remembered the past. “Kres just said—”

“It’s not going to be his choice.”

Duke scoffed, “Then why did you let him go?”

Raen met his eyes, looking so lost and suddenly, so old. “Because it was the right thing to do. He’s already had sixteen years with me. It’s only fair she gets to see him.”

The ducks beseeched to one another, not wanting to believe what they heard. How could Kres just leave and never come back? He couldn’t, wouldn’t leave them behind, leave Raen alone.

And he didn’t.

A blaze of blue fire formed in front of them, and once more, Sparx and Drysith stood before the ducks. “Your grace, are you ready?”

The king stood straighter and sent a bewildered expression to the guards. “What?”

Sparx smirked and put out a hand. “Flarren made a mistake of attempting to cut you out of her son’s life before, and you know how that ended. Thus, she wishes you and your team’s presence before her.”

Drysith simply seemed bored. “Therefore, are you ready?”

Nodding, Raen felt the fear and hurt he felt slowly ease, and he seized Sparx’s hand. Nothing prepared him, however, for the feeling of the heat washing over his skin, yet his black Flare Warrior’s outfit kept him safe within the Fire’s grasp. When it finally ceased, he once more stood in the study of the Goddess Flarasia, and it was as if a millennium hadn’t passed. He’d just fought with Flarasia, attempting to keep his brother with him and save the boy at the same time.

Except a millennium had passed, and a smirk formed upon his face at the heartwarming sight before him. The mother smothered her son in a tight, crushing embrace, but she appeared differently than Raen remembered her. Her hair no long tightly wound in a bun, she allowed it to tumble down her back, while her blue dress changed considerably. Though it still had the collar and no sleeves, her dress was now teal, and two slits ran up the sides, showing her sculpted legs before they reached her golden boots at her knees.

Unlike last time, when she practically kept a strong front before the villagers—or possibly because she hadn’t become accustom to mortal emotions—she crumpled to the ground, dragging her along with her. “Finally, my son, you have returned home. You come back to me.”

“M—Momma?” Kres stammered, her sobs shocking as well as startling him, Raen saw. She convulsed so madly that her sobs became desperate.

“I missed you, my son; I’ve missed you so much.”

When she pulled away, Raen saw the most change within her. Her eyes, still Fire by all means, were dulled and haunted, while her face seemed to have even aged.

She almost seemed mortal.

Then, staring at him, she changed once more, her eyes lightening and intensifying, and her face again became ageless. With her grieving done, she once more became who she truly was. Fire, mother of the Son of Fire.

Seeing her in such a state, her eyes red, her face wet with tears, Raen watched as Kres, too, felt his own cheeks begin to saturate and buried his face once more in her shoulder.

“I missed you, too, Momma.”

As they simply held one another, Drysith and Sparx came and went many a time, bringing with them Canard, Duke, Mallory, Tanya, and Grin. Finally, when everyone was present, the goddess detached herself from her son and granted him with a simple kiss upon his forehead. Once more, he dressed in breaches and tunic, and the boy seemed comfortable, like he had been born to wear them. The goddess then stood and gave her son a hand up, never letting go of him. Even as she came before the Mighty Ducks, she held a protective and demonstrative hold upon him.

She bowed gracefully. “There are no words to describe what you have done for me, which I, even as a goddess, could not do for myself. You who I despised, you who have feared—” She stared directly at Raen. “You, son of Friesen, have taught me much, and you have shown a love and a fairness even I profess to have not having at times. Thank you. I cannot thank you enough for bringing my son back to me again.”

Raen, as the Mighty Ducks had never seen him, bowed as a royal and replied as one, “Goddess, it is an honor to be of your service, as you have been at mine. All I ask, however, is visitation rights.”

“And I ask for far more, for if my son can live in Isylaca, then surely there must be a way for you to live in Flarasia.” She walked forward and cradled his cheek with her hand. In a flash of blue fire, he once more wore his tunic, breaches, and cloak of the king of Isylaca. “And you shall dress for who you are, your grace.

“And you.” She narrowed her eyes at Calder, making in tremble, before reaching upward to grace him with a soft smile. His clothes, too, once more became that of his stature. “You have always watched over my son with more than the fervor of a loyal guard but one of a family member, even though you betrayed your own father’s will to keep him alive. You will always have a place here in my kingdom, Guardian Calder.”

Finally, she walked in front of Tanya, seizing the duck’s hands within her own and allowing her own grip on her son to drop. Like the others, Tanya’s dress shifted from her simple shirt and skirt to an elegant purple gown, the one Raen remembered her wearing during the final battle. Now, however, it was once more returned to its former glory. “Queen Tasha, it was through your efforts that we stayed safe all these years from those wishing harm, such as Friesen.”

“Queen Tasha?” Raen and Calder said in stereo. So, Tasha had lived?

Tasha smiled gracefully. “After you died, Flarasia found me alive. I’d been hurt pretty badly during the fight with Wraith but not enough to die. She helped to cauterize the wound and told me to rule in your stead. It was horrible. I had to run all the trials for the Council of Nobles and have them executed.”

“Yes, and you ruled justly, my fellow queen, for which I commend you.” Snapping, Flarasia turned to Drysith and Sparx. “Go, bring my other Flare Warrior. He is needed.”

Once Drysith and Sparx left, Flarasia thanked her former Flare Warriors, granting Mallory and Duke the same clothes they’d had in the past, then smiled at Grin and spoke about enlightenment. When she finished, Raen bowed. “Goddess, I just have one question. If you are alright with your son’s and my relationship, then why did you send your Flare Warriors to take Kres back, and why torture him all these years with your voice?”

The goddess’s eyes shone true and gentle, as she once more touched her son’s cheek. “You must understand the rituals of my people, your grace. While they are of Fire, they do not necessarily have to accept me into their lives, but in order to control the flares within them, they must. Thus, many of our children have a ceremony on their fifth hatching day in which they finally listen to my call and accept me as their goddess. My son and the Ice Drakes, sadly, do not know of the ritual, and thus, in order to be in my son’s life and to help him control his powers, I attempted to beckon him to me. Some of the words were not easy to say, but I tried the best I could to exploit his anger in hopes of helping him to control his power.

“Also, I know it might have been wrong, but I needed his will strong, as well as yours. By safeguarding and keeping him from Fire for the first sixteen years of his life, I knew that you had once more taken your role as Flare Warrior, Raen. Thus, I knew that when the Saurians came again, you could protect him like you had in the past. You did not allow any evil to harm him, including my own. Still, I sent Drysith and Sparx to find my son when the Saurians invaded Puckworld for I was simply afraid. Until a little while ago, they could not find him, but I wanted Kres simply to come to me, to see him, not to take him away. Apparently, they did not convey message well.”

Raen heaved a sigh of relief, now knowing the truth within her words and seeing how she had become benevolent in her time of separation from her son.

“What about the Saurians, Momma?” the innocent teen asked, looking up at her even as her pristine fingertips played with his hair on his forehead. “They weren’t evil before Wraith corrupted them. We simply cannot leave them to an imprisonment that is unjust.”

A queasy feeling attacked Raen’s gut. After seeing all the death and destructions the Saurians caused—but then again, he remembered his promise to Raath. The Saurian had been good and kind—at one time, but could the Saurians ever be trusted again?

“Do not worry, my little emberling,” Flarasia eased. “The world, at times, can seem unfair, but as you have proven, along with your brother, intolerance need not conquer. Now with the mage finally with his son and you with me and Raen with you, all is righted, even the inequity Friesen committed.”

Kres cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Flarren! Is it true?” The door swung open, and a drake, with white feathers and impossibly blue eyes, burst into the room. Upon his arm glowed a blue taint—that of a Flare Warrior. His eyes focused down upon the boy at his mother’s side, then the king who reigned after him.

One could tell by the dullness of his feathers and the light missing from his eyes, that the drake before them had been through so much and caused so much—only to discover, like Flarasia, heartache and lost, a millennium changed King Friesen as well.

Raen’s eyes widened. “It was you…”

*^*^*

“Flarren?” the drake beckoned, and the sobbing queen turned from her windowsill to see him.

“Wilder!” She rushed into his securing arms before her knees buckled. “They took them! They took him again and brought him to Isylaca!”

“It’s okay…” Wilder Flashblade ran a hand over her hair and shhhed. “It’s okay. I have him. I’ll return him.”

Her eyes snapped upward to meet his. “What? Y—You know?”

“Seeing him, how could I not? A perfect mix of me and you—my eyes, your hair.” He breathed a long inhale of her hair. “Your Fire.”

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you,” she sobbed, clutching her lover. “I couldn’t. I was afraid you’d hate me.”

“Because you used me to get your son back?” Wilder chuckled and held her tighter. “I figured that was what you were doing when I first found my way here. You said the last outsider to come in was the one who granted you a son. I figured…and at the time, I needed it to. With my wife leaving… But don’t worry. I’ll return him. I know how much you hurt from the last time.”

“No, you mustn’t.” Flarren raised her head from his shoulder. “A civil war has been brewing, and I fear for him. Some of the nobles— they are hungry for power since I have been in power for over a millennium.”

“You are their goddess,” he affirmed with a smile. “They cannot tire of you.”

“This…This is not what I looked like before Kres, and now that he is gone…I’ve sent a search party, but I do not know…please. You must keep him safe, away from here. When the time is right, we will be together again.” She nuzzled his neck. “All of us. Promise me, Wilder.” She practically pleaded as she pushed him down to the floor and nuzzled him again. “Promise me.”

As he grabbed her dress and pulled her closer, he whispered, “Of course. He is my son, too.”

*^*^*

Wilder dashed into the president’s residence, a silencer clipped onto the front of his puck launcher. Looking left and right, he saw the bodies upon the floor—

No…he was too late. His sons—They should have been safe here. How could the Firehawks have found them so quickly?

Lord Segan and his wife stirred upon the floor, and abruptly, Lady Jovia sprang upward. “My son!”

“No,” Wilder affirmed, shooting them each once, twice, thrice, just to make sure they were dead, “my sons.”

Then, he vaulted up the stairs.

“WILDWING!”

The End