In all different parts of Pyrrhia, letters were received. 

On the border of Skywing-Mudwing territory, a hybrid opened a letter.

In the Sandwing Stronghold, Queen Thorn's left-hand man, unfolded a letter.

On an island in the Bay of a Thousand Scales, twins read the note together.

In a cave on the border of the Icewing Kingdom, an exiled prince gasped.

And seven dragonets feared for their friend.

Rainkeeper walked through the forest. He was pacing, but kept forgetting to turn around. His eyebrows were furrowed in thought. Joy had agreed to the challenge. There was no turning back now. They would fight, and the loser may die. He could lose his little sister in this fight, his sister. The one he had sworn to protect no matter what. And he wasn't allowed to do anything to help her in the battle. Joy's lack of worry concerned him. She should be terrified, not carefree like always. This was serious. But, then again, Rainkeeper wasn't sure that serious was an emotion Joy could feel. 

He ended up at his destination, even though he hadn't had one. As he watched, Pineapple did pull-ups on a tree branch. 

"Cousin." she greeted him with a nod. 

"Pineapple." he said, his voice stone-like. There was a pause. "Why are you doing this?" he questioned. She glanced at him.

 "Because I want to be queen." she explained. "I've always wanted it, ever since I was small. And then, when I got my chance, your mother was too cowardly to fight me, so I lost. That left me with one other option. If I'm the only heir, I get to be queen one day. That meant your sister had to go. But you and those stupid dragonets, and your father keep ruining my plan. Until now. Now everything is falling into place. We fight, she dies, I win the throne from Glory, and then an entire tribe is under my command." Rainkeeper wanted to scream. He wanted to lash out and kill her, end everything right now. But he knew better. The more he knew about what Pineapple wanted, the more he could use against her. 

"And what happens then?" he asked. "If your plan succeeds." Pineapple smirked. 

"Then the Rainwings become my servants, and my army. The Nightwings will have a new queen, and I'll run them out of my territory. Then, I make a selection." she replied.

 "What kind of selection?" "There are certain dragon that I no longer want to exist." she announced. 

"Your father will be the first to go, seeing as I'll have killed Glory by then. Then my parents, the weaklings. Then those ridiculous dragonets that your sister cared about so much, especially that Seawing. Then I'll have to see. Maybe the rest of the Dragonets of Destiny, maybe Queen Thorn, seeing as she'll be after me. Perhaps I'll kill Queen Ruby's dragonet for fun. We'll have to see." Rainkeeper fumed. 

"That's not going to happen." he growled. "Never." 

"I don't think you have noticed one little detail," Pineapple insisted. "I'm going to let you live." 

"Why?" he demanded. 

"Because I don't hate you. You were right when you said you were familiar with my weakness, and you're the only dragon that knows it. You're intelligent enough to be useful to me." she explained. 

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll spare that idiotic dragon you're obsessed with." Rainkeeper flashed red, fury showing in his face. 

"You are not winning this fight." he declared. "Not if I can help it." 

Joy was shocked. She couldn't believe they'd actually came. Air, Seashell, Kelp, Qibli, Winter, and Moon and Nightflyer of course, were all going to be there for the fight. Sure, they looked absolutely terrified for her, especially Kelp, but she didn't mind. The fact that they were here just made her more confident. She was slightly worried about Kelp though. The Seawing had this permanent look on his face that made you wonder if he was going to puke or faint first. 

"So, we have a few days before the fight, "Joy began. "What do you want to do?"

 "Oh no no no. We are not here for a social visit, Joy. We are here to best prepare you for war." Air replied. 

"We're going to train you." Seashell explained. 

"Pineapple might be familiar with your style, so we're going to teach you some moves from our tribes to help you outsmart her." Qibli suggested.

 "Really? All of you?" Joy said in surprise. 

"Well, nearly all." Moon corrected. "Kelp and I won't be since Nightflyer's better trained than me, and we all agree that Kelp will be nothing more than a distraction." 

"Hey! He is not a distraction!" Joy protested. "He just happens to be very aesthetically pleasing." Kelp face-taloned.

 "Let's get started, shall we?" Winter asked. "I'll be training you first."