PLEASE NOTE I WILL NOT FINISH THIS UNTIL THE THIRD ARC IS OVER, THEN I MAY EDIT IT
I'm also doing a comic. Because reasons.
Prologue[]
They were coming. All of them. Imago pressed herself further against the cool treestuff wall. The hammering of HiveWing talons matched the rhythm of her heart. Then- it all was quiet. Imago let out a sigh of relief, then shrieked as another HiveWing's blank white eyes met hers. "Found you." the dragon said in Queen Wasp's voice. Imago tried to scream, but couldn't. She stood up, not controlling herself, and walked over to the door. "No traitors in my hives." Imago felt her tongue and lips move, but she wasn't controlling them. "No resistance, no pain."
Part One: A Hidden Dragonet[]
Chapter One[]
Pyralid quietly sat in her cubbyhole. Downstairs, she could hear her sister moving around. She didn't want to leave; didn't want to go to the SilkWing school where they whispered about her behind her back; for her weird horns, her black eyes. And the sprinkling of black scales on the top of her snout. Pyralid heard Magpie's slow tread with a slight limp up the stairs. Quickly, she pretended to be reading. "Hey, Pyri." Magpie said. Pyralid pretended she'd only just realized Magpie had entered. "Oh, hi, Magpie." she said.
"It's time to go." Magpie said, fluttering her long, grey wings.
"I know."
"So why aren't you going?"
Pyralid sighed and put her orange-red head on her talons. "The other dragonets don't like me." she said. "They don't like me because I'm different." Magpie looked down, the same way she always did when Pyralid mentioned being different. "Why am I like this?" Pyralid asked. "Why am I different?"
"I- I don't know." Magpie said. Magpie was a terrible liar.
"You do!" Pyralid said. "You do know, you just don't tell me!"
"It's to protect you!"
"What from?"
Magpie shook her head. "I can't tell you." she said. "Not yet. Someday." Pyralid stood. She walked down the stairs. It was the law that she had to go to school; even HiveWing dragonets had to. Didn't make it easier.
Chapter Two[]
Pyralid walked in silence down the street. Around her, everything was quiet. Suddenly, she stopped. Too quiet. She saw a lone HiveWing march stiffly out of a house. They turned their head, and Pyralid stifled a scream. Their eyes were blank. White. Like empty snakeskins. "Found you, little traitor." they said, as the roar of a thousand wings deafened Pyralid. She ran, faster than she'd ever ran before. Hide. She needed to hide. She raced around a corner, and ducked behind a wall. The HiveWings hammered past, then stopped. "She's gone!" they roared. "Find the little traitor. NOW!" Pyralid stayed still behind the wall until the buzz of wings was distant. She stood up, and brushed dust off herself. Magpie. Magpie would know what to do. Pyralid shakily made her way back towards their house. Suddenly, when it was in sight, Magpie rushed out. Behind her, three HiveWings, all with the empty eyes, ran. "You can't escape me, SilkWing!" they said. "I have eyes everywhere!" Pyralid ran to her sister.
"Pyri, no!" Magpie yelled, then screamed as one HiveWing pinned her down. "It's a shame." the HiveWing said. "You die protecting someone who'll die soon after." Pyralid didn't know what to do. The two other HiveWings approached her from either side. If she'd been able to fly, she could have escaped. As she watched, the HiveWing that held Magpie down held her horns. Pyralid watched in horror as the HiveWing twisted. There was an awful snap then Magpie went limp. "No!" Pyralid cried. "Magpie!" she held her sister's head in her talons. "Magpie! Magpie!" Her tears splashed on Magpie's grey and blue scales. "Don't worry." the HiveWing's said. "You'll see her in just a moment." Suddenly, Pyralid felt warm talons grasp her, as streaks of bright colour flew overhead. Then, she was being carried through the air. "No! Magpie!" she cried, and struggled. Was this more HiveWings? A dark purple face looked down at her.
"Stop struggling, or I'll drop you!" the SilkWing said.
"Which would be bad." another SilkWing, this one a pale blue.
"Bad?" the third SilkWing replied. "If the fall didn't kill you, which it would, the HiveWings would!"
"But- Magpie?" Pyralid asked.
"I'm sorry." the blue SilkWing said looking away.
"Who are you?" Pyralid asked.
"I'm Viceroy." the third SilkWing said. "The purple one's Cecropia, and the blue one's Lycaenid."
"I mean, why did you save me?" Pyralid asked.
"A basic moral obligation." Cecropia said sarcastically.
"We're the Chrysalis." Lycaenid said at the same time.
Chapter Three[]
Pyralid lay still in the Chrysalis's safe house. Which apparently meant Cecropia's cell out on the webs. "You don't look like a normal SilkWing." Viceroy said. "No SilkWing has black scales."
"I know." Pyralid replied. "I just do."
"Hey, do you guys remember that HiveWing that tried to join us a few years ago?" Lycaenid asked. "What was her name?"
"Something weird." Cecropia replied from the other side of the room. "I think it began with i."
"Imago." Viceroy said precisely. "She had those pretty orange scales with the gold." He turned to Pyralid. "A little like you. But she had stripes."
"Why is that important?" Cecropia asked. "She vanished six years ago."
"Because I know a certain someone who could help Pyralid." Viceroy replied.
"No no no no no!" Cecropia said angrily. "Not her. Not her."
"Her?" Pyralid asked.
"Tineola." Lycaenid replied. "His girlfriend. Another Chrysalis member. Cecropia's mortal enemy."
"Because she's useless!" Cecropia yelled.
"Here we go."
"She's not!" Viceroy said.
"She is."
"She's not! She's perfect!"
"Where does she live?" Pyralid asked.
"In a pretty rich HiveWing's house." Lycaenid replied. "She's a servant there."
"Not by choice." Viceroy muttered under his breath.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Pyralid asked.
"Cecropia to get over her prejudice." Viceroy mumbled.
"Nothing." Lycaenid answered at the same time. "So, let's go before Viceroy murders Cecropia."
Chapter Four[]
Pyralid quietly walked down the now deserted streets. Not deserted. She did see a few flashes of colour out the corner of her eye. But- "Where are all the HiveWings?" she asked, thinking out loud.
"Clearsight knows!" Cecropia replied, opening and closing her purple and blue wings. "Or cares, particularly. It's good for us if the HiveWings aren't around." Pyralid followed Viceroy towards a large house. It was much bigger than any cell Pyralid had ever seen. Viceroy knocked, and a pale yellow SilkWing answered. "Viceroy!" she squealed. "Tineola!" Viceroy said, embracing the yellow SilkWing. Cecropia tapped one talon impatiently. Pyralid just felt uncomfortable.
"Not that it, y'know, matters, or anything like that," Cecropia said. "But, can you stop being affectionate and let us in?" Tineola seemed to notice Pyralid for the first time. "Oh, of course!" Tineola said, pulling the door further open. Lycaenid, Cecropia and Viceroy walked in, and Pyralid went to follow them. Tineola grabbed her arm. "My lady may not be pleased about this," she said. "But Queen Wasp will be." Pyralid felt a sack be dragged over her head, then there was a burst of pain, and- nothing.
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When Pyralid awoke, she was in a dark room. It was only lit by a few sparse lanterns, giving everything a greenish hint. She noted that Tineola was gone, and that Pyralid was tied to a chair. She tried to struggle, but it was no use. She was trapped. She guessed she was still in the HiveWing house; she could hear rustling, and occasionally a shout. Suddenly, a lemon yellow HiveWing walked in. To Pyralid's surprise, the HiveWing didn't have the white eyes that the HiveWing soldiers had had. "Ugh. I can't believe this." the HiveWing said. "When that SilkWing gets back, I'll fire her." Her manner of talking suggested that she was either talking rhetorically, or to herself. Pyralid warily mentally examined the HiveWing. She looked very old, towering over Pyralid. The scales on her snout were freckled with red, and her wings had black stripes on them. "Who- who are you?" Pyralid asked. "Why haven't you turned me into Wasp yet?"
"Wasp?" the HiveWing spat. "I wouldn't turn in a mouldy pear to her! My niece won't find you here." Pyralid's mental gears started turning. Wasp's aunt. Wasp had a cousin, so it stood to reason she had an aunt. Who was Lady Jewel's mother again? "Y- you're Lady Scarab." Pyralid said. Scarab only looked at her and snorted. "Where are the others?" Pyralid asked. "Lycaenid? Viceroy? Cecropia?"
"If you're referring to your friends, they are safely locked in a cupboard." Scarab replied. "Courtesy of my former cook."
"Tineola?" Pyralid asked. "Where's she?"
"Probably either a quarter of the way to Wasp Hive, or more likely finding some soldiers." Scarab said. "I can discourage them no problem." Pyralid couldn't help it but find herself liking Scarab. She was the first truly likable HiveWing Pyralid had met. "But you SilkWings can't stay here." Scarab continued. "I'll send you to Jewel. She's brainless, but she won't turn you in." Jewel. Lady of Jewel Hive. Lady Scarab's daughter. Pyralid sat still as Scarab untied her. "Your friends are down the hall." Scarab said. "Go out through the back door and don't touch my paintings." Pyralid nodded in thanks, and ran out of the door. It seemed like she'd been in some sort of cellar. She followed the sounds of angry screaming, and unlocked a large cupboard. Along with the cleaning supplies, the Chrysalis members fell out. "THAT LYING SNAKE!" Cecropia shrieked. "I TOLD YOU WE SHOULN'T HAVE COME!" Viceroy had tear streaks down his dark green snout.
"N-no." he said. "Tineola wouldn't- Wasp must have threatened her. She's innocent."
"No, she bloody well isn't!" Cecropia replied angrily. "She locked us in a cupboard and Pyralid Clearsight knows where!"
"In a cellar." Pyralid cut in.
"Exactly!" Cecropia replied.
"Not to break up your conversation, but shouldn't we be going?" Lycaenid said- as a loud crash came from the front room.
Chapter Five[]
Pyralid led the others out of a back door, and onto a sort of balcony. "Well, we planned this well." Lycaenid said, eyeing the very high drop. "How are we going to get Pyralid down?" Cecropia silently grabbed Pyralid and took off. "Oh." Pyralid heard Lycaenid say. "That works." Turning back, Pyralid couldn't see anyone following them, but it was best not to risk it. "Jewel Hive!" she said. "We need to go to Jewel Hive!"
"Why?" Viceroy asked. "Their lady's an airhead!"
"According to Tineola." Cecropia pointed out, a point which Pyralid would have found valid if it wasn't the description that Scarab had given of her daughter. "Look, Lady Jewel is reputed to be the kindest queen. We all know that." Lycaenid put in before Cecropia could strangle anyone.
"I don't." Pyralid said, raising a talon. "I've hardly heard of her, I just know she's Jewel Hive's ruler."
"Also, Jewel Hive has a Chrysalis too." Lycaenid continued. "All the Hives do. Jewel Hive would most likely be the most inactive, thanks to Jewel being- what's the word- a nice person?"
