The War's Prophecy

Wait So Dragonflies Aren't Out to Get Me?

Pyrrhia couldn't stop thinking about the dragons she had seen. And how she had seen them. She was so distracted that she dropped a plate she was washing and it shattered. Everyone stared at it.

"You should clean that up before someone comes to investigate the noise." Violet said. Pyrrhia scooped up all the broken pieces of plate just as a HiveWing walked in. "Who broke that?" The HiveWing demanded. Pyrrhia panicked for a second. She had enough bruises from other mistakes, thanks very much. Violet stepped up to the HiveWing awkwardly. "I dropped it. Won't happen again."

"It had better not." Then he slapped Violet square across the face. Pyrrhia flinched. Violet waited for the HiveWing to leave, then whispered, "Ow ow ow ow ow ow." Pyrrhia could see a short line of blood where the HiveWing's claws had been. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Totally fine." Violet replied. "Let's see... what should I do this time..." Violet wiped the blood on her talon and smeared it on the wall. Everyone knew how hard it was to get blood out of treestuff. They all continued about their work, when another HiveWing came in, except... no one seemed to notice her.

She was an orangey red, with black spots that looked like inkblots. She looked just like Queen Dragonfly. "Hello!" She said. "How's it going?"

"Going well," Pyrrhia said in the vision-esque realm.

"Good. Have we... met before? I'm Dragonfly."

What? But how could this be Dragonfly? This dragon was the polar opposite of the queen. Then again, sometimes dragons change. "I believe we have." Pyrrhia said coldly. "Through the dragons you control." She had only met Dragonfly face-to-face once.

"What do you mean, control? I think Beetle knows about this. Where is she?" Beetle? As in Lady Beetle? But how- what? She needed to get out of this vision and see Lady Beetle. Fortunately, she remembered how to do so. "I'm looking at Queen Dragonfly." Strangely, it didn't work.

"I'm no one's queen. Certainly not a SilkWing's." This must have been her before she became queen. "Okay. I'm looking at Princess Dragonfly of the HiveWings." And with that, Dragonfly disappeared.

Pyrrhia headed out of the kitchens and toward Lady Beetle's chambers. She needed to figure some things out. As she was walking, she slammed into a blur of yellow and black. "Sorry!" She exclaimed.

"No, sorry, my fault." Said the HiveWing, whom Pyrrhia recognized as Lady Beetle. Wait, what? Did she just... what??? "Ma'am." Pyrrhia said. "We need to talk."

Beetle nodded. "Is this a private thing?"

"Um... I guess."

"Then we should talk about it in my chambers." Beetle went back toward her chambers, and Pyrrhia followed. She sat down on a cushion, and nodded for Pyrrhia to do the same. "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Pyrrhia took a breath. "What was Queen Dragonfly like before she became queen?"

Beetle's expression darkened. "She was such a kind dragon... always helping others. Once she even saved a young SilkWing's life. Tell me, young one. Have you ever noticed how blank her expression is? No emotion at all?" Pyrrhia thought about it. Now that she thought about it, Beetle was right. But what was she getting at? Beetle continued. "She was kinder than any SilkWing, or anyone at all. At least, until... it happened."

"What? What happened?"

"One night, Dragonfly was really worried someone was trying to poison her. She kept saying that her food smelled funny. That it tasted funny. It wasn't poison, though. It was worse." Tears began forming in Beetle's eyes. "I told her it was alright. She'd be fine. I was wrong." She stopped, took a deep breath, and continued. "That night, I could hear her grunting from my room. So I went to check on her. When she answered the door, she looked and sounded so aggressive, but her eyes looked panicked. I dropped a bullet ant on her talon. It bit her, and the aggression left.