Hello! This story is very long but still unfinished. I have something to say. These people below me are able to edit this page majorly. You can make minor edits, but only to correct grammar mistakes or story flaws.
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| Story info | |
|---|---|
| Continent of location | Pantala |
| Point of views | Prologue: Queen Wasp, Storyline: Flier, Epilogue: Lady Mantis |
| Parts | 3 |
| Continued? | No |
WARNING: Some of this may have content inappropriate for some audiences, such as tryophobia, gore, kidnapping, lab testing and such. EXTREMELY gorey, bloody and mentions of dictatorship and burning.[]
| Flier has always been a curious SilkWing. He usually wondered about the tree wars, the Book Of Clearsight, so, so many things. He was usually mocked and shamed for being too curious. But something odd is happening in his hive, Wasp Hive. Silkwings are going missing, and less events were happening in the hive, making it awfully quiet.. Of course, his curiosity struck him. Flier knows time is running out, and when his sister, Apricot, goes missing, he knows he has to make a tough choice, and use his curiosity for something. Will he learn how to stop a possible evil plan, formulating inside the Hive, or will he fail and be just as useless as everyone thinks..? |
Prologue[]
About 50 years ago..
Queen Wasp had always been a powerful queen. She currently is, and will always be, no matter what people say. She beat her shimmering wings frantically, as about 40 masses of soldiers flew behind her, their red-yellow-orange-black wings pattering and fluttering quickly behind her. She couldnt give up. She was elegant and beautiful, no one should see she got very tired. Im coming for you. She thought. She saw a large, bright rainforest ahead of them, like someone poured a rainbow tree cauldron into a painting of a forest. Between the trees, were strung pieces of silk, schools made for teaching SilkWing dragonets how to use their silk. A few SilkWings were famous, groups gathering around a few of them, their eyes sparkling with interest in a coil of flamesilk a SilkWing produced. That silk will be mine. Ahead, she saw iridescent SilkWing wings, beating against the air. She neared closer to them, clutching the Book of Clearsight in her talons. She had kept the book so long now, it was time for her to use it, just like how Grandmother said it would make her mother queen and not maggot-brain Scarab, and how her mother chose Wasp to be queen. She peered down at it. I may not have dragonets, but i have a plan, and ill finally use it for something useful now. As she arrived, her soldiers stepped down below her on the wet grass. During the whole, lengthy trip, the graceful, quaint queen didnt say a word. The soldiers looked nervous and puzzled. Wasp thought this was very annoying. Why couldnt they look brave and not as if they were going to face a perpetual doom? Hundreds more soldiers slid behind her, their wings buzzing, and never beside her, as she saw it to be disrespectful. She walked towards the palace, studded with rainbow and pastel rainbow colors inside the huge, towering white marble castle, scraped with trails of rainbow colored silk trails, like confetti hanging from the rooftop of a Hive. She thought it looked quite hideous. As she stepped, rainbow eyeburning guards with tough silken armour, woven strongly and was tougher, thicker and harder than other silk types, looked at the queen, with shock, fear, and terror on their faces. Thats right, fear me, be scared of me, because ill be your new ruler, whether you like it or not. Then, she approached a silk weaved pedestal, filled with rainbow rubies and diamonds, taced with spinel edges.
The Queen of the SilkWings was there.
" Queen Monarch of the SilkWings, i request for a large mission, a large deal for you. It is essential. " The SilkWing queen looked confused, but not scared. Wasp was disappointed, but slid that emotion under an expressionless mask. " Yes, your majesty? " " Hand me your throne. " " Hold on, why? I shall not hand you my citizens, im afraid. " " Because.. the Book of Clearsight says so. " The SilkWing queen gased and jumped back, guards shuffling next to her. " WHAT?" " You heard me, didnt you? The Book says here, 'Queen Wasp of the HiveWings is to rule over the SilkWings and the LeafWings' " " Then.. " The queen wiped tears, streaming down her orange face. " I must do so. Guards, whatever you do, protect my daughter, Maple. " The guards took the princess from her room, but the HiveWing guards stopped her, saying she needed to come too. The queen and her guards left the palace, as the former SilkWing monarch was hauled by guards, still being stupid and diddly and sensitive and still crying. Queen Wasp watched in glee as the hivewings ripped every SilkWing out of their homes, rainbow colors flashing against yellow, red, black and orange ones. Their trees, their huts, their gardens, their treehouses, everything. Queen wasp thought to herself; This is exactly what i need. They will all be under my control. All of them. Everyone.
Ill be the most powerful queen to ever exist in Pantala.
Storyline[]
PART 1: The Awakening Truth[]
CHAPTER 1[]
Where was it, where was it, WHERE WAS IT?? He needed his book SO DESPERATELY!! He searched around his house, accidentally leaping into his dew collector, rinsing his whole whole. His face was wet with water, and shook his head violently. Water droplets scattered everywhere and soaked on the web below him. He wished he had wings! After all, it was for three reasons:
- He could do everything she wanted in the whole WORLD!
- He can flex to Apricot that his wings were newer than hers.
- His name would be true, finally!
His pale blue wingbuds speckled with blue and streaks of white were starting to slowly come out. In one week, he would be ready. I need that book now! Flier finally found it, and squealed in happiness. He swirled and leaped over to his silk hammock, Apricot tossing around in her sleep, her peachy-red-orange-pink body and wings looping around, as if a fly were stuck in a spider web. Flier curled into a little cute ball, and started reading. Information about the wonderous Queen of the SilkWings and HiveWings! the book title read. When he had first found this book, he loved it SO much. Everytime he read it, he found a hint, clue or another which lead to finding out the biggest secret of his life: the queen herself! He flipped to a page, hive and treestuff colors leaping on the silk paper. His own Hive was painted here. He always gazed at the palace, trying to find tiny hints implying more info about the Queen. Maybe he could be a servant or assistant to Queen wasp or one of her sisters, if not, at least Lady Jewel, since she is one of the only hive leaders with SilkWings working for her. Then, he looked above him.
Something leaped ontop of him, the air constricting out of his lungs.
CHAPTER 2[]
He thrashed around, expecting to see black scales and a destroyed, burnt down silk home, only to find out it was Apricot, and his vision cleared up. Yes, it really was Apricot, but her orange-red-pink-peach color made her look so much like a HiveWing. " HAHA! So funny, i got you this time! " Apricot said, sitting up with her talons lifted. "Come on Apricot, its not funny when you do that. " Flier responded. He was so drowsy from reading he could barely process what happened. " Well, my lazy brother has to wake up someway! " " I wasnt sleeping, i was READING. " Apricot snorted and fell backwards, clutching her head in laughter. " Silly me! TOOOTALLY didnt know you had your nose in a book! " She hopped off her hammock. " Come ON! Mom said my allowance was today! Lets go now! " Apricot dragged Flier, and he giggled a little, tired but following his hyperactive sister. She was snoozy and sleeping a few minutes ago, he didnt know his sister became so energetic, all of a sudden. She hopped over to the Temple, his and her wristcuff clanging against eachother and making annoying metal noises, as if saying 'HAHA, IM SO HEAVY YOU CANT EVEN GET RID OF ME, YOU WONKING SILKWING! YOUR JUST AS USELESS AS EVERYONE THINKS YOU ARE! HAHAHA!'. Two guards stood on the entrance to the Temple. It was so beautiful and amazing, Flier's eyes widened at it. It wasnt so huge, but they went inside the temple. Yet, before they did that, a burly, yellow Hivewing with a tiny tint of green to his scales and white stripes on his dark yellow wings stood infront of them. " Halt. " he ordered the two SilkWings. One of the guards stared at Flier's wingbuds, as if he were wondering how SilkWings could ever grow up wingless. " Do you have permission to enter here? " the guard said, examining the silkwings. " Yep. " Apricot showed her wrist cuff to the guard, while she lifted Flier's wrist for the guard to peer at. The wrist cuff had the words 'Websling Academy', his school name. Apricot's wrist cuff was labelled 'Mable residence', the home she was working for as a servant. Her mistress, Mable, was rude and short tempered, but had like a million other SilkWing servants, she never called Apricot's name or really told her to do anything other than get her her favorite lavender color honeysticks that one time. " Hmmph. You may enter. " The guard placed his wing down, where it was originally covering the entrance, and allowed the pair to enter. Flier was curious, and glanced behind him at the family before him. He saw a pale lavender female SilkWing with dark purple streaks and pretty, yellow and blue heterochromic eyes. Beside her, was a blue and light green SilkWing, with streaks of red on his tail. Such an odd combination of colors. He wondered why this SilkWing looked like that. Was he a hybrid? Did a forbidden HiveWing-SilkWing relationship caused this SilkWing to be born with an odd mix of colors? He realized SilkWings normally had a weird jumble of colors, and he stopped himself from going up to that SilkWing to ask. The other 2 young SilkWings were mixes of purple, brown, white and yellow, red and aqua, respectively. Enough wondering about that family, time to go see the pretty temple. He peered around the temple. A carving of Clearsight here, another clay statue of Clearsight was on a pedestal. It was short and had a rigid fixing, but on it was the statue he saw. But it looked all wrong, her wings looked like SilkWing wings, her claws deformed into odd shapes, and her tail was deformed into a stub. Her eyes were also ovals with dots in the, one up and another at the right side of the eye. Her head was weird and rectangular, and her horns look like depressed triangles. Was this one made by a child? Or was it simply a carving made to mock Clearsight by someone imposing as a child? His sister ushered him to come over. " Come on Flier! Stop being a lazy baboon! " She giggled, and walked with him, talking about rumors that popped up in her school. He was relieved, his worries washed out by his sister about the statue and the weird family he saw. They then saw a small wooden case at the very heart of the Temple. There it was! The Book of Clearsight was so, so beautiful. He almost cried looking at it. The Book emitted a peaceful, serene aura. He had always wondered what the Book looked like. Was it melting and poured in gold? Or was it a plain old book with nothing special on its cover, but so much to reveal inside? He always wondered which one. He thought the second option was more realistic, as he had always imagined that Clearsight was a king, loving dragon, and that her book was boring and normal looking on the outside, but beautiful and ancient on the inside. Though, the queen probably drenched it in gold for her amusement. But then, why not let anyone see it, if it was covered in gold? The second option was probably correct. Gold and jewels were to die for, and flex for, too. Why not show off everyone how rich you'd be if you were to hide it all in a wooden case? Then, suddenly, dragons screamed, and guards trampled eachother, all with pure white eyes. Mother and Apricot told Flier about this, the hivemind, the white eyes, the perfect unison and marching of any controlled HiveWing.. They all skidded to a stop, Flier's heart beating as if someone was pulling it and trying to rip it out of his chest. All their heads turned towards someone, standing at the door in which the Librarian was supposed to sleep in. He was too curious, and burst through the crowd. And then, he saw it.
A dragon with only one pair of wings stood there, snarling, its tail lashing.
CHAPTER 3[]
Run. Run. Run. his body demanded. But he didnt. He stayed there. He thought this was the moment he would die, all because of his stupid curiosity. The supposed LeafWing had weird scars under his wings, and was a deep green color. His snout was bloody and looked remolded and re-shaped by a knife. Two weird swirling threads sat on his head, squashed down, the tip of his tail cut off. He thought LeafWings had a leaf-like blade at the ends of their tail, but they didnt. In a millisecond, about 6 HiveWing guards leaped on the LeafWing. One on his neck, then his tail, which caused him to let out a loud, horrifying scream, one holding his horns down, 2 on his wings, and one on his back, as Flier head a snap crack crack snap sound. He thought the LeafWing's back was broken and it was dead, but he was still breathing, though his chest looked loosened, weird spike structures peering out of his sides. Did they snap his ribs to the wrong places? His curiosity made him get closer, but a tail wrapped around his neck and pulled him back. It was Apricot. Her eyes widened. She pulled him closer, without looking down, still looking at the LeafWing instead. HiveWing guards dragged the LeafWing away, his face looking sad, flopped over and unsuccessful, his closed eyes had tears rolling out. " We.. need to go NOW. " His terrified sister insisted. They flew back their to their silk web, Apricot still horrified. Apricot laid down in her hammock. " I.. I dont know what happened. Lets just.. go to sleep. " His sister fell asleep quickly. Flier looked up at his dew collector above him, the droplets hanging from the silk ceiling and glistening a faint, warm glow. He felt a little drowsy, but in a good way. Why did that LeafWing barely look like one at all? was his final thought, before he closed his eyes, and slept, clutching his book, too tired to return it to the shelf.
Flier woke up to sounds of talonprints. He couldnt see, and couldnt smell or feel anything. He touched his antennae. They were encased in wax blocks, meaning he cant sense anything. He thought he was kidnapped, but he felt his silk hammock beneath his back. So im safe, but.. As a SilkWing, he had excellent senses, other than his antennae and touch. He heard talonsteps coming closer to his sister, then his nose twitched. He heard his sister mumbling and growling in anger, but then he heard her fall back asleep. A disgusting smell filled the room. He tried not to vomit. He wanted to save her so badly, but if he moved even the slightest, they could catch him too. He slowly crept up his hand. It was encased in a soft silk eyecover. He tried pulling it off, but it was as if it were glued to his head. He got up and off his hammock. His sister was gone. Apricot..? He sniffed the air. No sense of his mother either. Where did they go? He yanked the blindfold for about 12 times before it ripped free. They didnt see him, because the walls of his hammock were taller than him. He frantically started scraping the wax blocks off his antennae. He dipped them into his dew collector. He smoothened his antennae and the other spots on his body. Flier hurtled out. Most of the hive was asleep, but no sounds of his sister anywhere. He twitched his feelers, still no clue where she had went. Then, he felt a sharp needle slam into his head, and his eyes forced shut. No.. he thought to himself, before collapsing on the treestuff floor outside his silk web home.
He woke up in a large palace. The walls were brown and had a red carpet laid on them. It was a long, thin column. Flier looked around him. Where am i? What are they going to do with me? What do they want with me..?
He was carried into a strange cavern ,his vision blurry. From what he could tell, this is the place where Flamesilks are, he guessed. But he was wrong. He was put into a huge wooden place, which looked like a ballroom, as the walls were thin and claustrophobic He heard guards speak to eachother. " This tiny pipsqueak is gonna make up for 'em Flamesilks? " a crimson red HiveWing muttered to an orange guard. " Yep. Queen Wasp needs us inside our own heads, since we know the lab better than she does. Ya know the queen doesnt have all her palace memorized. Plus, we had to break down poor Lady Earwig's ballroom for 'dis. " The other guard grunted at the crimson red one. Then, he saw SilkWings pinned to the wall. He felt sick. So sick. As the guards heaved him over, he threw up, but barely anything, since he ate nothing for a long time. They had syringes, a weird red-yellow-orange fluid inside them. He looked away, before he could see the needles sliding deep into the SilkWings' legs or underbellies. He knew where they were. They were inside a lab. He was shoved inside a cage, his wingbuds chained up to the wall. It was like a sort of container. He saw, in the container parallel to his, a SilkWing was ordered to spin silk into a bowl. Two hiveminded guards watched, while the other six, who had their own eyes (for now) he thought, took notes. Then, the guards started screaming, except for the hiveminded ones, who looked surprised. He never saw Queen Wasp this surprised before. The SilkWing was spinning flamesilk. WHAT? He was just as confused as the guards surrounding the flamesilk. Then, Flier's blurry vision cleared up, and he let out a loud, terrifying and long scream, screaming his lungs out as if he was burning to death.
The flamesilk was Apricot.
CHAPTER 4[]
" NO!! NO!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER! " Flier screamed again, tears streaming heavily down his face, screaming again and thrashing at the guards. Apricot was NOT a flamesilk before. He had seen her spin silk in the Cocoon, and sometimes when she was bored in homework, or had art class at her university so they could assign her a real job. " NOO!! STOP THAT! TURN HER BACK!! " Apricot stopped spinning and walked over to the glass panel of hers, then her eyes widened and she screamed, crying too. " BROTHER! LOOK, IM FINE! YOUR HERE! DONT LET THEM DO THIS TO YOU! " She pleaded. Flier beat his wingbuds, resisting against the chains that bound him. He knew his mother was in huge trouble, and so was his sister. All his life the rules of Queen Wasp pressed down on him, which made his days a little worse every time a new rule was forced on SilkWings. He never went to Misbehaver's Way, but he saw his misbehaving friends there, and that pretty much traumatized him. " Quiet, little mouse. You can come with us. " the two guards beside him said. Flier sobbed very, very loudly. As the guards dragged him, he saw the other silkwings giving him a glance, their wings pinned to the wall with nails, dried blood trickling out. He knew his situation right now was horrible, but it was better than the SilkWings on the wall. Flier was curious, and thought, They would do anything and pay everything just to be in my spot. He knew he wasnt on he wall since:
- His wings didnt come in yet, and they couldnt damage his wingbuds when his Metamorphosis Day is getting closer
- He hadnt been turned into a flamesilk yet, so there really was no reason to put him up there.
Flier had no idea how or when he would become a flamesilk. But then, he went into a room with silk walls and vials of the strange red-orange-yellow liquid from earlier, a HiveWing scientist sucking it inside a syringe, and then.. stabbing it into the arm of a grey-white SilkWing as his arm was forceable bent down by the guards and trying to kick and claw with with his back talons. Clearly it didnt work, the guards were holding the poor SilkWing down while he was being injected with what Flier guessed made you a flamesilk. What chemicals were made for that concoction? He thought as they were preparing pins, his heart racing. How did they get that? How long does it take to turn into a Flamesilk? Do you just be a Flamesilk, or are there downsides? Is it a 100% chance of turning into a Flamesilk, or is there a catch and only a small percentage of dragons become one? Flier's mind was overflowing with questions. He was so curious, he wanted to answer for EVERYTHING. (yes he is based off of Cricket). Then, they arched his back on the wall on an open spot with a sad, waiting scientist. He was high up of the wall, the guards' claws pinning him down as if they were chocking him against the wall. Afterwards, the scientist, who wore a white cloak and was dappled with black spots here and there, and was a light yellow-orange color, flew up to him. No. I dont have wings. How can they still pin me? Then, with a twinge of fear, the guards held his palms up, and the scientist slid the pin right though. Flier screamed like the last scream he did, blood running down. Gauzes where attached to avoid more bleeding. He cried, his snout wet with tears. His legs flew up and splintered everywhere, kicking the faces of his captors. The guards roared at him. " STOP THAT! " A dark red guard ordered. They pinned his legs to the wall. NO. NOT AGAIN. But, this time clamps were added. Crying, he let a slight gruff of relief. It wasnt more pins. Then the scientist flicked a syringe, a droplet of the red orange liquid droplet splattering on his leg. Flier clenched his jaw, and flinched as the scientist touched his leg. " W-why are you doing this to me..? " He said, crying and sniffling. The scientist looked up with a sorrow expression, his eyes moist as if they were gonna burst into tears. He was majorly sad. The scientist spoke, his voice wavering. " I dont have a choice.. The queen will kill me if i dont do this. " he said. The light yellow arms, holding his leg, shivered. " Im so sorry. " For once, Flier understood a HiveWing. He only did this to live. If he didnt, the queen would probably have his head. The scientist looked more careful than the others. The others were shouting at their rightfully horrified and panicked SilkWing subjects. The scientist gently pressed Flier's scales, and inserted the needle. For a second, it hurt. The next, he felt nothing. He felt the liquid streaming through his body. It burned a little, but other than that, it didnt hurt. It felt like injecting chili sauce into your veins, but less spicy and painful. In some time, it ended. The scientist spoke once more. " We're finished. No need to worry now. You'll just.. well.. be a flamesilk. " He said. Then, the scientist shoved his head the the ground, grunting and pressing his temples. Then, he looked up. His eyes were glossy white orbs of pure doom. " HA, isnt he lucky. " the scientist spoke. He knew who was watching him now.
The queen was watching. She was everywhere. He couldnt avoid her. All of the heads turned to him and the other flamesilks or soon-to-be flamesilks.'
CHAPTER 5[]
The queen laughed. She laughed and laughed and laughed, all the Hivewings laughing like a thousand gazelles yowling their voiceboxes out their throats. The queen's goons started snatching up the SilkWings and dragging then. He watched with horror as some of the wingtips of the SilkWings were torn off. He didnt dare make a single sound. He had wanted to scream so bad, but it would only make the situation worse. Plus, this was the queen of his tribe, the SilkWings, and the HiveWings. He was then taken, the pins and clamps falling off, which thankfully didnt rip at his flesh. The queen and the husks of two more HiveWings carried Flier, and then, they were thrown into a cave. A Flamesilk was in the center of the cave, with aquamarine and navy blue scales. He had pure white eyes, and two strands of flamesilk looped in 2 cauldrons at either side of him. The queen.. controlling a SilkWing. HOW DID SHE DO THAT!? Flier frantically thought. The hivewings beside him place towels at either side of his hands, stopping the flow. But one used the wrong towel and it had burst into flames. She screamed and beat the towel with her tail, till the fire went out. She got towels from a shelf marked Fireproof towels. To be used to stop the central Flamesilk from producing too much flamesilk read a sign below it. There, the Flamesilks were placed on stands, brown shelves behind them again the stone walls, and cauldrons moved infront of them. He saw the 'central' Flamesilk's cauldrons being dragged away and replaced with a new one. The HiveWing guards removed their towels, and the SilkWing was spinning again, his eyes flashing brown, then white quickly. He guessed the Central Flamesilk's eyes were originally brown, before the queen somehow took him over. Flier was placed on a stand, but instead of shackles clamped to his legs, one wire was attached to it. A needle poked inside his ankle. Owch. It didnt hurt as much as the pinning needles, which, by the way, his palms were still bleeding and dripping blood. Then, he saw 6 other SilkWings of either side of him, 3 on the left, 3 on the right, start drowsing off. Uh-oh. He thought. This liquid was meant to speed up his metamorphosis. He saw transparent yellow veins pulse through his wingbuds, as they started unfurling. Then he felt less pain, and less, and less.. till it stopped at about when his wings were halfway unfurled. He had streaks of dark blue against his light blue wings and white body, with some skyblue spots too. He had dark blue brows and head, muzzle, antennae, horns, and feet, while his tail was a baby blue, dappled with dark blue. Then his vision blurred. He became woozy and tired, his wrists pulsing bright red-orange, like molten lava. Then, he started to raise his hands, and his eyes closed. Everywhere, bright flamesilk was spun around him in a cocoon. He forced his eyes open one last time to glance at his sister, who was now a peach-pink blur in the distance, sitting on a stone stand, guards poking at her side, as 2 thin lines of gold spewed out from.. He saw what seemed to be.. her wrists? He was so curious, he wished he had known what she was doing. Probably spinning silk. He then closed his eyes, his wrists spilling out flamesilk around him. Then, he weaved the top of his cocoon and slept in a fetal position on the stone pedestal that had silk woven on it. He felt tranquil, calm, and serene, even tough the outside was completely different than the warmth of his cocoon. He had wished he pupated in the safety and warmth of the Cocoon, but inside, he was wreathed In beautiful gold silk all over, incased in an oval bundle of heat. Then, peacefully, he went blank, and soothed inside his cocoon.
Snug as a bug, they say. Flier was tight inside his cocoon. He could feel his wings unfurling. He wanted to get out. Get out, get out, his instincts told him. He nudged and pushed against the cocoon, scraping against the walls. His antennae was covered in sticky wax. His whole body was humid, but it felt peaceful to him. His tail flecked across, tearing the transparent sac that encased him as he grew his wings. He starting scrawling inside, scratching the walls, but not in a panicked. Every once in a while, he twisted and turned inside his cocoon. His scales felt waxed and brand new. Flier brushed his claws against the scales. They felt fresh and new. It was as if he was reliving the experience in his egg, before he had hatched. When he would hatch, it would feel like hatching out of his egg, just with eggs, knowledge and wings. But the cave was too small to fly in. He would never get to use his wings. He was slightly conscious in this state. He tried to brush his palm over his wing, but when he clutched his palm slightly, it ached, and he was too stiff to move a lot. Over the hours, he lapsed in and out of sleep, and he felt less and less stiff every time he woke up. Then, he was ready. He pushed his now free talons on the front of the silk cage, his palms shrieking in pain. But it was time now, no stopping here. The front cracked a little. His antennae didnt work yet, so he couldnt tell what the people outside (if there were any, other than the cocoons) were feeling. Flier heard scrambling talons, mutters like "Its hatching!" or "That's how they hatch?" and so on. So there were people outside, waiting for him. Or at least, near him when it happened. He pushed further, cracking more.
Crack... Crack.. Crack.. crrrraaaAAAccckkk...
That last crack, he burst the cocoon open. He took a deep breath, and broke a larger entrance, pacing out and getting a glimpse of the cruel world he was born in.
PART 2: The hatching of the Lies[]
CHAPTER 6[]
It happened. It finally did. As he stepped on, he wobbled and nearly toppled over on his side, but gained balance. He spread his wings open, slightly wrinkly but fresh and shiny. Then out of nowhere, his sister lunged on him, hugging and wrapping her wings around him. " FLIER!! You came out! I watched you the whole time! Oh, i missed you so much.. And could you see, i can make flamesilk now! " She held out her wrists and coiled a small strand of seamless flamesilk. " Yeah.. well.. at the cost of our own freedom. " Flier said. Apricot looked a bit startled. " Oh.. yeah. At least we are important! Did you hear, all of the Flamesilks but one died from old age? Thats why they made us Flamesilks! The queen couldnt breed more and wait another 6 years, just in case that one dies. " She pointed at the central Flamesilk. He looked so.. so.. so lifeless. Like all the emotions have been sucked dry out of him. He cast a sad expression at the Flamesilk, and a calm one at Apricot. " Apricot, do you think we should.. escape? " Flier whispered to Apricot. She gasped, and whispered back. " WHAT!? No! We totally shouldnt! This place is amazing! I can always show you around! " Flier winced. Why did his sister sound so.. wrong? He thought his sister would say something like: 'Yeah! Lets get out of here!' but instead, she sounded entirely different. She sounded so. wrong.. Apricot's eyes had a glint of white, before vanishing again. All Flamesilks had their cuffs snipped off, so that they could spin silk freely, otherwise the cuff would block it. " Come on, lets go! " Apricot said, pacing around. Flier saw other Flamesilks spinning silk into cauldrons with saddened expressions. This place wasnt amazing, it was miserable. He wished he could free the central Flamesilk. Flier heard the queen visits them once a month, meaning twelve times a year. He knew she had to come through some unguarded area, since the main entrance was covered with scrambling SilkWing and HiveWing workers. Flier walked around, tripping over his talons. He was still a bit dizzy from his hatching, but felt mostly okay. One Flamesilk here was perching at a cauldron, swirling only one strand of flamesilk. A HiveWing worker walked by, growled and poked his side with a sharp spear. in which the Flamesilk snarled at him and produced a second rivulet of flamesilk. When the Flamesilk snarled, the HiveWing shrieked and toppled backwards a little. HiveWings, scared of SilkWings? It should be the other way around, thats how it always has been. But we are only afraid of them because they have stronger weapons. The Flamesilks have flesh-melting silk here, not them. The tables have turned.. The guards led Flier to his pedestal, in which they expected him to spin silk. " Spin. Now. " the guard hissed at the Flamesilk. Flier shook his head. " No. I refuse. " The guard snarled. " Do you want to face the claws of Queen WaAAAAA!! " The HiveWing guard screamed, a terrifying long scream that rung Flier's ears. His sentence was cut off, and on his face.. was a whorl of flamesilk, eating away at the scales of his face, and melting his eyeballs. He went to Apricot She yelled, then Flier yanked her arm. " whhooAAAAAA- " Over a hundred HiveWing guards followed them, roaring. They paced through stone hallways, lined with Wasp's face and flamesilks spinning their silk into cauldrons. They passed a sort of warehouse with a few SilkWings, their wings pattering and carrying boxes. He heard them say something like 'is that the..' and then trail off. But then, he heard a hissing sound, and detected a boiling heart coming closer to him. Flier ducked his head, boiling acid narrowly missing his horns and temples. A poisonous dart clipped Flier's eyelid, nearly blinding him. He screeched, his eyelid bleeding black a little. Dont faint dont faint DO NOT FAINT RIGHT NOW. Apricot hauled Flier on her, his wings overlapping hers. She dashed through the hall, and then, silence fell. All the HiveWings, paused in battle positions. OH NO. " RUN, RUN FAST! " Flier shouted to his sister. " WELL IM TRYING, YOU BUFFALO BRAIN! " Apricot responded. In the silence that followed as they paced quickly, a few SilkWings were chasing them too. Oh come on, i thought you were on our side! What made them follow us? He was too curious, but he was also too afraid to ask. Then, a thousand more footsteps pursued them, all of them roaring at once. We are doomed, there's no way to esca- Apricot hurled through a door, passing into the checkpoint, a few SilkWings lined up to just go to their Hive, and then out the window of the checkpoint, a dozen or so HiveWings pouncing at the wall where Apricot turned. She beat her wings, flapping and flapping and flapping to the Savannah, green grass below their claws. They drifted and flew as far as they could, HiveWings on their tail, all the way to Mantis Hive. They settled down on a beat down stall, selling animal hides. They saw Mantis Hive itself, loaded with libraries and books and book fairs and labs everywhere.. No singular HiveWing was out of their cells, meaning all of them probably were hiveminded by the queen. It was so intense, he barely had a single moment to see what happened. A HiveWing crawled out of the stall, her eyes blank white. She hissed and before she could dig her wrist stingers into Apricot's eyes, Flier's sister raised her hands and pushed away the stingers, then shot a blast of flamesilk at an open wound on the HiveWing's neck. She dropped, screaming and scratching her neck before burning away to cinders, a HiveWing skull on top of the ash, mouth wide open. Then, Flier heard loud, fast and frantic wing buzzing coming their way. " We have to go. The HiveWings PROOOOBABLY saw us from that HiveWing's eyes. " Apricot said. She was right, he saw yellow, red and orange scales their way. The stall started burning down, the animal hides consumed by tongues of fire. They all collapsed to burnt charcoal and ashes. Oh god. Flier thought. Apricot yanked Flier's arm and headed for a dark alleyway, embedded between a few libraries, in which a few SilkWings were dusting the books and shelves. A few SilkWings were in this alley. They all turned their heads to them, each one having a SilkWing head tatto facing frontwards on a part of their body. In the treestuff and concrete alleyway, there was the same symbol of the SilkWing head on the walls, messages saying of plans they were to do, most words washed away by water, and all of the SilkWings wearing black vests with at least a few scars on them. They were mostly dark colors mixed with speckles of.. more dark colors. Then, a young looking dark-blue SilkWing female, wearing a necklace with a book locket on it, with white speckles on her scales came out. All the members bowed their heads, and on her vest, was a gold version of the symbol all the members had. Flier was very curious. Was this a gang? A cult? What would this mystery female SilkWing do to them? Would she give them away to the queen in a heartbeat? But, he saw Apricot gasp, as if she saw a ghost, and Flier originally thought she did that because she was scared she would be caught or these mystery dragons would hurt them, but it was her another reason. A big, big, big reason. Flier looked closer.
The SilkWing had scattered black scales all over her body, and instead of silk glands, she had wrist stingers, carefully tucked away below her palms.
CHAPTER 7[]
" Well hello there. " the leader said. " It seems at first glance you already found out what was different from me than other SilkWings. " she continued. Apricot was about to faint, but Flier quickly lifted her up before she could slam her eyes shut. She shook her head violently and looked around again. 4 of the members stepped behind her, not trying to corner her or capture them, but they seemed to be there since the HiveWings were approaching. The members placed a large cape over the alleyway's entrance. The leader shoved Flier and his sister behind her, and 2 members pushed boxes to either side of them. Then, she hid her wrist stingers and wore a white coat that covered most of her scales. " Where are the 2 escaped Flamesilks? " the queen said through the eyes of a yellow HiveWing with black spots on her limbs. " Tell me, or you will die. " Wasp demanded. " What escaped flamesilks? We certainly dont have any here. " the SilkWing leader responded. She talked back to the Queen.. She is taking risks for me and my sister. How? Arent you supposed to be some dangerous thug criminal? Flier thought in his head. The queen snarled, a couple HiveWings buzzing over the ripped down cape. The SilkWing responded. " Again, i didnt hear nothing about 2 escaped flamesilks, your majesty. " she said. The queen huffed, narrowed her white eyes, and walked away, the HiveWings buzzing over until the husk of the HiveWing reached them. Then they followed her. The corpse then joined a bunch of thousands of HiveWings and flew away from the entirety of Mantis hive, not a single black scale in sight, except for the leader's feet, which were black and peeked a little out of her robe. " Well, sorry for that. " the leader replied. " I am Midnight, leader of the SilkWeaver Tribute, or SWT. " She held out her hand. " HOW? How do you- " Apricot said in surprise and a hint of anger, seeing her scales and the hidden 'silk' glands. " Long story, dont wanna bore your brains out. Anyways, are you two the lost 'flamesilks' that drowsy queen is looking for? " Midnight asked. Flier nodded, but Apricot snarled at him, probably trying to tell him not to reveal that info. " Hm. I see. " She lifted down her hood, her head peeking out. She looked like the midnight sky, and a few iridescent silver scales here and there. She was.. gorgeous. Her parents clearly chose her name well. But, she unfurled a cloth stuck on her tail, and revealed whorls of orange and black scales at the tip, ruining the whole 'midnight' theme. Her pawpads were also orange for some reason. " You see, the 'long story' i said that would be too boring involved my parents. One was a member of the now taken down Chrysalis, another was in a secret HiveWing gang that fought for the rights of SilkWings, named 'Armed Antennae Gang', or AAG. Then my SilkWing mom met my HiveWing dad and had me. I know, super illegal and stuff, but they hid my egg in this alleyway. Unlike the Chrysalis, SWT is planning to help stop Queen Wasp of the HiveWings and elect Lady Jewel, whom people have said is very stupid, but she is the kindest of all of them, in my opinion. For now, we have one useful plan. Send a HiveWing from the AAG that has paralyzing venom. He stings Queen Wasp, snaps her neck or kills her in some other way, and elect Lady Jewel as the new queen using a lot of hard work. I also forgot to mention my grandfather was a magic dragon, or an animus, they called, and i inherited his powers. " Midnight began explaining the concept of an animus and how they lost their soul when using their magic too much. Midnight explained her plan on how to make all the HiveWings love Jewel and want to keep her as the queen, and so will the SilkWings. But she said she would try to find a way to do that manually, and if she cant, then she would use her magic. Flier wasnt sure about the plan she was trying to use, as for one thing, it would lead to her soul wasting away, and for a second, that would be a huge change. Queen Wasp had such a massive influence on all of the Hives and the two 'united' SilkWing and HiveWing tribes, they would probably never forget the dictatorship they were pressed on by and most likely never recover. Wasp's influence was like a giant scar that would never heal, and even though no pain is left, the scar still left a mark on the soft or jewel hard scales of that dragon. Apricot was a bit shocked. " Woah, thats a lot of information to hear. I think thats pretty cool, what you have there. Wish i had some, so i could go all stabby stabby in the queen's face! HA! " She fell backwards. She started to act like his sister again. The nine year old SilkWing that always made offensive remarks about HiveWings and their queen and was joltingly happy. But Flier still wasnt sure whether or not to trust the SWT or not. " Come with me. " Midnight said. Flier stayed close to her, as if he felt.. safer, near her. She had an air of aura and responsibility around her. They were lead into a brown room, wood-like treestuff lining the walls. A circular table, which was quite big and was probably made out of real wood sat in the middle, more chains around in. Midnight sat in a random chair. The gang she was in wasnt very much organized, she didnt have a long chair designed for only her, or a special chair only for the hybrid. No, it was just the closest chair to her. It was also a little relieving, knowing she didnt have much of an ego. Flier sat on the other side, though he wished he could sit next to her. " I know what you want. You want to find a way to stop Wasp's cruel plans, right? " " Yes. " said Flier, politely. But Apricot slammed the table and yelled 'BINGO!" the moment Flier was done with his response. Midnight giggled a soft laugh, and spoke up again. " I can find a way for you to escape easily. You just need to pay me one small price.. " she said, smiling. Flier knew something was up, but was drowsed away in his daydreams about Midnight. He was a bit curious about what she wanted, but before he could wonder any more, she said words that baffled him, and his sister.
" I need you to assassinate Lady Bloodworm of the HiveWings. "
CHAPTER 8[]
" What- How are we gonna do that!? Lady Bloodworm is one the cruelest rulers of the Hives to ever exist, other than Wasp herself! " Words came spilling out of Flier, and the last part straight up slipped out of his mouth, blurting it casually as if that wouldnt get him executed for treason. " OOP. WHERES MY JAW. OH YEP, ITS ON THE FLOOR. " Apricot responded. " Exactly. " said Midnight. " She is the cruelest of all the Hives, and with my and your luck, she would probably be elected as the new queen of the HiveWings instead of Jewel if the manual plan doesnt work. And no, i cant use my magic, its too risky to kill someone as important as her. " Flier was shocked. HOW would they do this? Bloodworm hates SilkWings. The last time she had one work for her, she ripped out its throat because it overcooked her favorite food. She was known for absolutely FAVORING the HiveWings to the max, and treating SilkWings like rotten buffalo jerky.
" Ill send some people to help you on the mission. It benefits us both. We both hate Wasp, and both want her tyrannical regime to be ended as soon as possible, but there will be no chance we would let another insane ruler replace her if we kill Bloodworm, since she is probably crueler than her. " Midnight said, trying to convince Flier. He gave in instantly, but Apricot took some time before finally agreeing to it. " Good. Here. Take these. " Midnight clicked her fingers in some secret language, and 4 guards arrived with food, maps and weapons. " Use your flamesilk if there is no other way. " And then, she pointed to the exit, as SilkWing guards in shades of dark green, mahogany brown, navy blue like Midnight's and even in colors of very dark pink followed behind. They flew more and more, as the HiveWings were now stuck in Yellowjacket hive, searching for the runaway fugitives. They then reached an empty hive next to one with sparkles and colors. The one with rainbow colors was probably Jewel Hive, and the one next to it was a slightly red and slim, narrow Hive. It was thinner and taller than the other Hives, as most were fat, bulbous Hives that looked like giant talons smashed them down to treestuff blobs. But Bloodworm hive was different. When they entered, they saw a view as if a nuclear apocalypse just happened. Alleyways here, burnt down shops there. Some windows reflected a reddish glow, and paint (or blood splatters) was splashed on the treestuff walls. It was so unorganized, and not in a good way like Jewel Hive, it was messy and gross and dirty all over. The Hive looked awfully cramped and horrifically tight. There were only depressed looking SilkWings roaming here and there, but the hive looked empty, like someone sucked out its soul quickly. No HiveWings to be seen, not even at guards at the front of Bloodworm's palace. The hive was more brutal to say the least, like you ventured into a death pit of dragons. Some stalls were empty, others were occupied with tortured-looking SilkWings trying to save money. In Bloodworm hive, it was full of HiveWing mansions here and there. Not to mention, there was zero variety in the Hive residents here. Either you were an extremely rich HiveWing, or a poor SilkWing trying to live in the means or poverty and sickness and being walked all over by HiveWings. Some were selling free assassins, others sold vials of blood from different animals and even insect hemolymph. Some of them sold fried, impaled wasps on a kebab stick. In his Hive, selling any food related to wasps or Queen Wasp was highly forbidden. Flier couldnt remember the last time his mother took him to visit here. There was the Blood Monument, a museum of all the dragons that have died in the hive due to Lady Bloodworm, taxidermy insects and birds for sale, and all sorts of oddities and gruesome sellings that Flier never saw once in his life. He then reached the palace, which, to his horror, had the heads of deceased SilkWings, boars and crocodiles. Apricot screamed, but was muffled by her shoving her mouth into a zebra hide, which made she scream more. " SHHHHH!! APRICOT QUIET, YOU DONT KNOW IF LADY BLOODWORM IS HERE OR NOT! " Flier said, panicked. They all flew to a secret compartment behind Bloodworm's throne. Then, they saw her. Bloodworm was sitting in a throne, her red scales glistening in the flamesilk light. She had a very angry look, and ripped the head of a baby deer in the clutches of her talons, blood spewing over her. It was gruesome. Then, with a sudden surge of fury, rage, and determination, Midnight lunged at Bloodworm in a millisecond, her claws reached for the top of her head. Bloodworm screamed a gutteral roar, like an old dragon screaming her lungs, as blood dripped down her face and eyes. Apricot reached for her neck, body slamming the old Lady of the HiveWings. But then, when Flier was about to lunge on her tail, Bloodworm threw off Apricot and Midnight. She smashed Apricot in her chest with brute force, as crack crack went her limbs and ribs, as Bloodworm snapped the bones of her limbs and wings. As she was about to reach for Apricot's neck, Midnight lunged again, ripping out chunks of flesh from Bloodworm's neck. " APRICOT! NO! " Flier screamed. He was so useless.. why could it have been Apricot and not him? His face streamed with tears, and he felt a power build up. Midnight was pinned down, several venomous bite marks from Bloodworm's teeth on her scales. She was about to give up, till Flier shot a flicker of flamesilk at Bloodworm's face. Before it hit her, she had a face of triumph and victory. She said nothing during the whole fight, except for curses and threats to kill them during the fight that lasted for a few minutes. But the moment the flamesilk spiraled from Flier's claws, her black eyes widened. She screamed and took back the talon that was raising up to kill Midnight and scratched her face with it. She screamed and screamed and screamed. Flier was cowering back, putting his talons over his mouth and crying, traumatized. Bloodworm melted into a pile of cinders, ash and rage, but.. A tongue of flamesilk licked the scales on Midnight's left leg, and she screamed.. Flier shouted. " NO! DONT DIE! WAIT! " as he pounced on the silk and threw it to a venus flytrap pot in a corner of Bloodworm's throne, that set on fire and began burning the rest of the palace alongside it.. Midnight was mostly okay, just a little tired, but they didnt know about Apricot. " Its all my fault.. " Flier said, but Midnight said " No, its Wasp's fault for being so cruel and strict in the first place.. " Midnight said with a smile, and then blacked out. The guards caught up, arrived too late, and peered at the remains of Lady Bloodworm on the red carpet that stretched to her throne room, a black, burnt ring of carpet circling the ashes, as her throne room burnt down. They carried off Apricot, while Flier, with all his strength, hurled up Midnight and flew back, trying to be unnoticed. They were back at Mantis hive, in the alleyway. Then, Flier remembered. According to his calculations.. it was a few hours since they travelled from Mantis Hive to Bloodworm hive. Which means.. if they werent still checking on Mantis Hive, that means..
They would find the remains of Lady Bloodworm of the HiveWings lying there on the carpet, her crown on her head buried in the ash in her throne room.
CHAPTER 9[]
" Im pretty sure they passed over Bloodworm hive long before we killed Lady Bloodworm.. " conscious Midnight said. " Its unlikely they would find her dead, since they are probably checking on Wasp or Yellowjacket Hive. " " But they already checked on all the Hives.. which means the HiveWings will be free and the guards will discover her ashes, and also the SilkWings that were there. " Flier replied. " Well, lets hope for the best. " said Midnight. " She would wake up in a few months, due to severe head and body trauma.. " one of the members said. " But we dont have months, or weeks, or even days! We have to do something.. I cant go without my older sister. But, that means she is still alive.. right..? " Flier questioned the burly very dark olive SilkWing member. He nodded helpfully. Then, he saw Midnight uttering a few words.. and as if a miracle happened, Apricot woke up, all her wounds healed, no scars, nothing. " F-Flier? " She said creakily. " APRICOT! " Flier yelled, wrapping his wings around his big sister. " Im so glad your alive... but.. how- " Flier stopped, looking at Midnight with a faint smile. Then, he reached out and hugged her too. Midnight's face was stunned and confused, as if no one ever hugged her, but after sometime she folded her wings over Flier. " Alright, enough of this bippity boppity boo sad cute romance, lets get on with getting rid of a murderous dictator queen girly pops. " Apricot said, in which Flier narrowed his eyes at her, rolled his eyes, and went back to what he was doing, which was exactly what Apricot did whenever Flier said something outrageous or ridiculous. Even he found himself ridiculous when recalling those memories. " No, i need some rest. We just got out of a devastating fight, and we all almost died. I need to go rest for a bit.. " Flier found himself sleepy, and sighed. He stumbled off to a silk-woven room, with a fine red bed. The blankets felt soft to the touch, as Flier gently brushed his palms across the bed sheets. They hurt with a stinging, sharp pain. OWWW. WHAT PRICKED ME? Oh. Flier looked down, and remembered the pins from the ballroom. He shuddered, eyeing the trickle of blood that had dried off. But, they made me a flamesilk and that helped me save my sister and Midnight. It helped me from being stuck there forever.. I wonder what its like in the flamesilk cavern.. Did they put borders? Did they chain their arms? Did they put them behind treestuff walls? No, that wouldnt work.. flamesilk burns through treestuff. He was rapidly thinking, and then in the midst of his thoughts, they slowly and gradually collapsed into Im glad i have flamesilk, and then, he slipped away into quiet, peaceful darkness, and slept, the noises of the guards arguing drowned out by the upcoming dream.
Flier found himself in Wasp's throne room. He woke up on the carpet, and looked around. His antennae twitched. He swore he saw guards to either side of him, but he couldnt sense them. Why? Then he remembered, silly Flier, you cant feel anything in dreams. He got up, and it felt as if the pain from the fight dissolved, the scars on his palms healing off and the trauma they brought along with them.. Flier glanced up, and saw slim, narrow walls and a large, gold-yellow-orange throne. On top of it was Queen Wasp of the HiveWings. Flier was a bit dazzed. Usually, when his mind conjured up Queen Wasp for no reason, her colors were a little wrong and she looked like she was 17 or 18 years old instead of a hundred. Of course, her skin was still the same even at 100 years of age, but this Wasp on the throne looked.. different. She looked the exact same as the real Wasp, no fifth wing, no weird imperfections, no, she was perfect. No mistakes present on her body. She was the way she always looked. 2 rooms were on either side of Wasp's throne, and she wore a large crown on her head, but it was shaped like a tiara. 2 unmoving guards stood by her. They didnt have blank white eyes, they were just.. still. Flier noticed a shimmer of a blue crystal behind one of Wasp's wings, but before he could observe it, the large wing covered the smaller one. A pillow fell from the ceiling, covering the weird stone, and all the rooms and guards vanished as she got off.. Flier's neck was stuck in a weird position, like bowing, but his head would hurt insanely bad if this was real, yet he felt nothing. He couldnt swivel his neck, or even move his upper body at all. Queen Wasp paced towards him, and when she stopped, suddenly the weight lifted off his body, and he could move. He was terrified, and looked behind him. There used to be an entrance like a ballroom opening with golden silk weavings, making it look like a curtain you could move through. But now, it was gone, replaced by a huge block of dark brown authentic wood. He looked at Wasp. " Well well well, if it isnt the one who sent my whole Hive, even all of them, into anarchy. We know what you did a few hours ago, little worm. " Wasp said. Flier's heart beat frantically. They knew about Bloodworm's death? How? Was his theory correct, or was it something else? " Never knew you had the bones and teeth to kill my sister. " Wasp replied. Flier's heart nearly stopped. She knew. She knew everything. " Stupid, ignorant, disgusting creature. I was planning to make her queen after my retirement after a few 3 or 4 decades. Guess i have to choose Yellowjacket now. " Yellowjacket? That was a violent queen that was strict about dress code, and also hated SilkWings. In her Hive, being a SilkWing was like being a slave. You wouldnt get any other job other than a chef, servant or Hive constructor. There were dozens other jobs in all other Hives, but in Yellowjacket Hive, that was your only choice, and if you were super lucky, you would get chef. " No! She will never be queen, your regime will end soon, Wasp. Ill keep an eye on you! Im in Tsetse Hive, if that even matters to you. " Flier lied to the queen. It was so uneasy and horrifying to lie to her. The queen lied to her citizens and slaves for over 6 decades now, but lying to her face was like trying to mimic the queen's lies as well.. It was scary, to watch the queen's grin grow wider and wider, the size of Dragonfly Bay, and her deep, dark, heartless eyes skewering Flier's skull like spears. Then, Wasp lunged forward and stabbed her wrist stingers in Flier's heart, but he felt no pain, just coldness, and didnt even die. Wasp peered at him, her head lowering like her statue version pinning down a LeafWing in the Salvation Statue of Jewel Hive. Now Flier was that LeafWing. He didnt struggle, move, or even scream or look surprised. He just glared angrily at the black orbs of the queen, that behind it, hosted a rummage of secrets and lies. " You fool. You dont know what you got yourself into. I will come back for you, i will find you, and RIP out your guts till i forcefully string the flamesilk out of your dead wrists. Im headed for Tsetse hive. I will make sure you wished you never said that sentence. " Wasp threatened Flier. He pretended to be scared for his life, but in reality, was smiling so hard he thought the edges of his mouth would make a new mouth inside him. Wasp paced on the red carpet to her honeycomb hive, lifted up the red pillow, lined with yellow silk and on the corners, thin filaments of feathery silk, up, and then.. he saw the crystal. She placed it on her forehead, before she disappeared, and he managed to make out the shape and color now, before the walls warped and disappeared into blackness.
It was a star shaped navy blue crystal, perfectly carved and had an aura of intimidation and magic similar to Midnight's on the crystal.
CHAPTER 10[]
" You dont think it was your subconsciousness screwing you up again..? " Apricot said, more worried than usual. " NO. Im very sure that was Queen Wasp. Whenever my lazy brain conjures up Wasp, she looks completely different. That Wasp sounded EXACTLY LIKE HER. She was so terrifying, and so realistic, i thought i was actually looking at her, and not in my head. It felt so real.. " Flier answered. " Then, if so, we will need to develop a plan fast, or else, she will know we- I MEAN you were lying to her. Lying to the queen's face is a serious crime and treason related, so she will probably cut off your wrists and execute you before you could spray silk at her. " Midnight said to Flier. His head was flooding with questions and thoughts, but he took a deep breath and analyzed the area around him. Concrete walls surrounded him in the alleyway, the same messages scribbled all over. One read MIDNIGHT'S SECRET, YOU SHOULD KEEP IT! and another said WASP IS LYING TO YOU. Out of the exit of the alleyway, he saw a large opening in the entrance, that lead to the several libraries and mansions of Mantis Hive. They had to get a plan, in order to save the HiveWings and the SilkWings from Wasp's wrath. Flier beat his wings hard, the dark blue scales scraped with rough HiveWing talons from the royal fight, and flaking pieces of scales. Midnight swooped down gracefully, her talons landing smoothly on the wood, gazing up at the large library shelves stuffed with colors of all colors, while Apricot landed a little roughly and stepped forward a bit. But Flier was probably the worst one, since he wasnt good at flying. He landed to hard, and his claws and wrists dug into the wood, the glands and wristbones crying with pain inside, and accidentally ripped out a board as he tumbled and staggered. He fell sideways, holding the piece of wood in his throbbing wrists. His mind suddenly popped up with a flashback, and on why Apricot had said the flamesilk cavern was 'great'. His mind collapsed into the current situation. Flier's curiosity took over, and he started observing the books carefully. He saw a small book, labelled SECRETS OF THE HIVE! as Flier snatched it up. He started reading it on his way, and they opened a small room, full of pillows and dim lights, with a window that faced the outside of Mantis Hive. Flier sat down on a blue pillow, speckled with yellow stars, as Midnight swooshed away the pillows and sat on the cold, treestuff boards on the floor instead of a pillow. Apricot started acting abnormal, however. She just walked over and sat on a pillow, staring blankly. " So, what is this 'plan' you say, hm? " Midnight said. Flier fell into a little trance, as if he were starting his metamorphosis all over again due to her voice, but then snapped out of it and answered. " Oh yeah, Apricot told us the plan, she'll say it now. " he said nervously. Would this plan work? They both glanced at Apricot, who didnt move, then titled her head upwards. " Hello? " Midnight asked, snapping her fingers in Apricot's face. She did not respond. " Uh, Midnight, how carefully did you word that enchantment on her? " Flier questioned the hybrid. " I did it very precisely, carefully, and made sure she would wake up fine. I did absolutely nothing to her. " she responded. Apricot then looked up again, and her eyes..
Her eyes were starting to turn white.
Flier remembered from the cavern how her eyes subtly flashed white, and normal. Now this is the moment they would die, they would be captured by Wasp. But how..? How exactly did she manage to get hiveminded like the central flamesilk? Apricot stared at both of them menacingly, while Flier screamed his heart out. Instantly, Midnight smashed her tail on Apricot's side. Apricot slipped over and got back on her feet, snarling. Midnight slid out her wrist stingers and slashed at one of the SilkWing's arms. Apricot screamed, but this wasnt her scream at all. It was the scream of Wasp. " WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING? " Flier, said, as Midnight grabbed Flier and beat her wings furiously. Now, the queen knew that Midnight was a Hive-Silk hybrid, and Flier worried so bad about what would happen to Midnight. They both heard buzzing wings, and Flier's antennae twitched. He sensed about a dozen HiveWings on their way to the library, and rushed footsteps pounded the library's floor boards. Midnight glanced at the floor, and came up with an idea to snatch the floor board from Flier's arms. She started whacking it at the nearby HiveWings, while Flier stayed behind her. A circle of HiveWings surrounded Midnight, as Apricot leaped into the circle. They were all jabbing their weapons, but Apricot didnt use her flamesilk on them. Maybe because either the queen had never controlled a silkwing and didnt know how to use their silk.. But he clearly remembered the central flamesilk, with eyes of sucked out spider husks, spilling flamesilk into a cauldron. It could also be that Wasp doesnt want to kill me, since im so valuable. Then, Flier shot out his arms and started spewing silk everywhere at the HiveWings, and it landed on them all, before they melted and screamed, many of them with puncture marks on them. On the hallway, hundreds more HiveWings flying inside, as Midnight took Flier and ran over to a corner, a bookshelf on either side of them. She backed up against the light grey trestuff walls, and then the HiveWings walked forward, several more hovering over them. Before Flier could even spray flamesilk at them, as they slowly walked towards the cornered dragons, a HiveWing leaped onto them, snatching Flier's wrists and dragging them onto the floor. Something heavy smashed into Flier's head, and he blacked out.
He woke up infront of the queen, the same room as the one in his dream, the same rooms, guards, but this time more, and Wasp on her throne, with that exact same tiara from the dream, hiding another blue crysta in the pillows behind her. But this time, guards held Midnight and Flier down. The most horrifying thing in his life was watching Apricot, eyes pure white, smiling at them in unison. They had the exact same movement, smooth, graceful and 'im-terrifying-i-know" swooping expressions as the queen herself. " Look who we have here. " said Wasp, but hundreds of voices bellowed behind them, just like her dooming voice. " You were really that foolish enough to even try escaping. What an idiot. " She giggled eerily, along with the guards and pretty much every HiveWing in here.
Even Apricot.
" Well, since you SilkWing is useful to me, i wont kill you, but i would very much rather so. But, you know who i have the authority and guts to kill? " Wasp's voice throttled the whole throne room, like a million dragons singing a choir. Flier knew who Wasp was referring to. His chin scraped painfully against the red carpet, as the guards pressed their talons harder. " But, dont expect a life like the others. You will learn a lesson, pathetic worm. " The HiveWing queen warned Flier. Midnight was taken away, and Flier tried to scream for her, but his tongue was caged inside his mouth, the teeth like the bars of a prison. The soldiers dragged Flier, down a large, yellow staircase, many levels in there, warehouses, factories, but then.. They reached the very bottom. The Flamesilk Cavern was brighter than he remembered. When her was carried down here, his talons set on the stone. He smelled a burning scent and heard the sound of silk spinning. As they walked, the burning sensation came from a wingless SilkWing spinning his cocoon, crying and begging not to let this happen, but the guards did anyway. There was an entrance to the lab which was the source of Flier's flamesilk. He then was shoved into a small, isolated room. He didnt struggle, this was his life now. It was so small, barely big enough for a dragon to lay down in. He was placed on a sharp pedestal, that hurt his tail and legs. Shackles were chained to his legs, arms, horns and neck. A cauldron was dropped from the ceiling, a banging sound that made his ears ring. It was crusty and not polished, unlike the others. It was also very large, to fit the tall column of rock Flier was sitting here. Food was slid through a small hole in the wall, barely enough to fit a mouse, and as wide as a flat lizard. He leaned down to get it, and began snacking. It tasted gross and salty, so disgusting it made Flier wince. There were eggs, insects and oranges for protein input, since silk needs a very small amount of protein, and he was expected to spin kilos of silk. He closed his eyes, tears streaming down. There was also a gag in his mouth, that allowed eating and chewing and swallowing, but no talking. This was his life now, and would be his life forever.
He got himself into this, all because of his stupid curiosity, and slowly spun flamesilk in the cauldron without hesitation or struggle, accepting his fate.
PART 3: A new regime[]
CHAPTER 11 (Note: This and Chapter 12 are the only chapters with Midnight's POV, due to Flier being trapped)[]
I cant let this happen. Midnight thought with pure fury. She was carried into a huge section, that was like a balcony. This balcony hung from the back of Wasp Hive, facing the savanna. It was like a sort of gladiator arena below, except the floors were hard marble, weapons lay on either side of a rectangle formation on the floor, a half circle cut onto the floor. Above, instead of pillars, were dark brown wood caged with metal bars and red carpets draping over the tops. The prisoners inside looked starved and hurt, their four wings clipped together. But, there were some whose wings were entirely cut off, due to them never having to use them again and them being useless. She knew this was the execution area. And in the area, she caught a few glimpses of green scales.
She saw LeafWings stuck inside some of the capsule-cage-cells.
Their wings were forcefully pulled off, only 6 of them had the signature leaf-shaped wings still intact. Many guards stood on the sides of the arena, and they took Midnight into a cell with a dim light, a glass, flamesilk globe, dimly lighting the cell. Chains were tied everywhere on her body. Wow. They are really that insecure about us escaping. HA. Midnight thought. They shoved her inside, and as one of them reached for one of her wings, she snarled and kicked him off, unable to curse at him due to a gag being on her mouth. The guard growled. " Sit still, or we will cut off your wrists too. " the red guard said, holding a pocket knife to her wing sockets. She kicked him off again and started thrashing at him. He fell back and yelped, then pushed open the bars, slid out, and closed it, his snaking tail slithering off the bars. Good thing i acted fast. Midnight thought to herself. The gag also made her unable to eat, as Queen Wasp didnt need to feed the prisoners food if she was going to execute them, unless they would stay here for a long time, which Midnight guessed that from her gag, she would be executed sooner or later. Then, large horns sounded, and HiveWings and SilkWings of all colors swept in, hundreds of them. Midnight craned her neck to get a closer look of them. She heard rapid fluttering noises beat down, and talons scraping against marble. There were so much of them, it was unimaginable. The sky was purple and orange, and shone a menacing glow over the dragons. The guards dragged out a real, live LeafWing and placed its neck on the pedestal. Its ribs peered and the guards unhooked its gag. A light yellow HiveWing flew over to a large plastic cone-like structure and placed her mouth on one end. The announcement was as followed. " Everyone, today we have a real treat for you all. As you can see, a LeafWing, a live one, was caught trying to enter Vinegaroon Hive! Their name is Ivy, and they shall be executed for the crime of trespassing into enemy and HiveWing territory! LeafWing, do you have any last words? " The announcer spoke. The LeafWing murmured something under her breath, and shouted to the whole crowd. " You all have no idea who i am or what i will become! Snare me as you may, but you will never get rid of the LeafWings! Hail Queen Sequoia! " Ivy yelled at everyone watching. Then, with a swift movement, as Ivy closed her eyes, a guard lifted up a huge axe. The LeafWing's eyes widened, and she grit her teeth before it struck her neck. Her head was sliced clean off, blood spraying all over the guards. The HiveWings cheered, and then all of them chanted "Down with the LeafWings!" and roaring in victory at the sight of the deceased LeafWing. It was terrifying. The SilkWings were covering the eyes of their children, and some were outright traumatized. Midnight then started to focus on herself. I need to get out of here. I will get out of here. Midnight thought. She didnt panic, and instead, started to try and unchain them. Useless. Then, she remembered her secret weapon. She remembered that she couldnt talk, but she had one last chance to escape and free Flier. She was thinking very hard, and then, she chanted the words in her head.. Enchant it so that these chains that are touching me will disappear, and enchant it so that the bars of this cage disappear, and i become a HiveWing for exactly one hour. After the hour has finished, turn me back into Midnight of the HiveSilks. And then, her chains crumbled to ashes, and the iron bars that made up the front of her cubic cage collapsed into iron filings. Before a guard could notice what happened, Midnight felt her body shift and contort. Her wrist stingers disappeared, and so did her antennae. Her tail became less feathery and soft and became more scaly, sharp and refined. Her long snout grew thicker into that of a HiveWings, and her wings shaped into those of an insect. What a weird feeling, becoming something you never did before. HiveWings feel like this? Midnight kept trying to sense the air, but her non-existent antennae didnt send tingling sensations or showed her the locations of others. Nothing. Just silent stillness. She wished she could make it for longer, but more time means more of her soul wasted. She beat her shimmering wings. but it was very difficult, as one wing was down and another was up, and the wings had to switch places, each wing moving up and down in the opposite direction of the 2 wings below them, like a real insect. She tried flying like a SilkWing, but that failed almost instantly, and she almost toppled out of the sky. She continued flying like this, till she reached the entrance of the arena, in which one orange guard and one yellow guard lifted their spears, allowing Midnight to enter in. She gently swooshed the air with her wings, as they unfurled in the insect flight, she called. Then, with a graceful swoop, she dipped downwards, air blowing in her face, towards a small, secret trapdoor. It was so tiny, she could barely slide through, and it was behind Wasp's palace anyway. It was also colored the same color as the treestuff surrounding it, so it was very hard to find it. She slid through very tight walls and narrow tunnels, her claustrophobia kicking in. But she had to do this to save Flier, if anything.
TBC