Wings of Fire • Journey of Metamorphosis [Book 2]

EPILOGUE

She could feel the wind but she couldn't smell it. No matter how deeply she breathed, it still felt like she was blind.

     D-53 turned her attention back to the Worker, who was pacing the area around the small stone mound. Messenger F-13 had reported traces of a dead body.

     It was embarrassing to be unable to track the group herself. D-53, like all AntWings, was supposed to be able to see the world with her antennae.

     Now, she was practically useless. Humiliated.

     Nights were terrifying. She had once been able to navigate the Fortress entirely on scent alone. Now, she couldn't even cross the trench without patting the ground in front of her, afraid she would fall. She couldn't tell what she was eating until she tasted it. She was constantly getting lost, even in the daytime, because there were no paths to follow.

     It's for the good of the tribe, she thought, repeating General Rhino's explanation during the announcement. We must protect our own.

     She regarded the little Worker again. So small. D-53 could crush her with a single step without even trying. But just the simple thought could barely cross her mind without making her shiver. The idea of harming a Worker was enough to make her limbs lock and freeze.

     I was hatched to protect, she told herself as she tried to fall asleep, running her claws over where her antennae used to be. I can't protect them if I am attacked by HiveWing smell. It's for their good. It's for our good.

     And yet, another Worker's words were worming into her brain, making her question her General's...

     "Attention!"

     D-53 and B-87 sat rigidly and curled their tails close to their legs. Two talons held in a high salute, they waited for General Rhino to approach and give further instructions. D-53 eyed the General's antennae with envy.

     "B-87, report."

     "Yes, General Rhino, Ma'am. F-13 tracked the Alate-Scent we found at the cave to here. We stopped because we found a body."

     The General glanced down at F-13, her tusks preventing her from reaching proper eye level. "Who is it?"

     I had antennae, I would be able to tell you, D-53 thought mutinously.

     "W-we didn't want to disturb it," F-13 began.

     "Dig it up, now."

     D-53's salute faltered. You're going to WHAT? She would have voiced her protest, but she was too stunned to speak. As if in a trance, she waited with horror.

     F-13 didn't dig until General Rhino barked the command again, the sound blasting the poor Worker's ear drums. D-53 nearly launched herself at the General, B-87 also, but the Supermajor snarled at them to back off. They all watched as the Worker removed the stones one by one.

     "Faster," said Rhino.

     "The smell," F-13 gagged, "I can't!"

     "Step aside, soldiers."

     Still shocked, D-53 followed the command. As she did, she heard someone shout, and she looked down to see another Worker she'd almost squashed. "I'm so sorry!" she cried, fear making her freeze, "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!" I didn't know you were there, she wanted to sob.

     "Pull yourself together, soldier."

     "I couldn't smell him. I didn't know he was there. I'm so sorry..."

     "Do you need more Adjustment Classes?"

     "No," D-53 almost cried, but she was able to keep her voice level. "Besides, how can they work if I can't smell?"

     The Adjustment Classes were group therapy sessions held in the Fortress. A disobedient group of Supermajors would go to the Organization Center and return fixed. It was a little hard to remember what happened during those classes because D-53 had been only once as a Major, or a dragonet. All she could remember was a soft voice and the Queen-Scent. Queen Trapjaw was lovely and kind and wanted the best for them; that was why they listened to her, and to General Rhino.

     "You will adjust much better to live without antennae after you've had a class or two. We have to do everything we can to protect the tribe, right, B-87?"

     The Supermajor nodded. "Yes, General Ma'am."

     General Rhino nodded. "And part of that is discovering what they buried here." She tore her claw through the earth, scattering the stones. Something was pulled up through her pass that instantly sent the Workers into a frenzy. They coughed and gagged, needing to be sent away for the Supermajors to work properly. D-53 felt the fear inside her build to a fever-pitch.

     The General lifted the object. It looked like... D-53 became lightheaded when she recognized the shape. "This could be the missing body of Q-974. If the pouch is still attacked we can identify it. F-13, come here."

     Obediently, the Worker approached, a talon clutching her antennae tightly. General Rhino dumped the body onto the ground After a while of struggling, F-13 produced the Idinet. "It's her," she read, "It's Q-974."

     "Excellent. Take the card and leave the body, it's useless to us now."

     Useless? Useless?

     General Rhino began walking away, B-87 and the messengers following. D-53 waited for B-87 to protest more but he cast only one look at the Worker's body before leaving.

     I should have said something, she berated herself as she D-53 scooped a hole out of the ground. It was so deep that no predator could dig the Worker up. She gently placed her body there, sifting through the dirt to cover her again, and freezing as she saw her severed head in the pile.

     What happened to you!?

     "D-53! Cease and return, this instant."

     She almost glared at her General but stopped herself in time. Instinctually, after her twenty-one years of life, she knew not to disobey her superiors. Not only was it rude, but then the entire system would collapse. They were her superiors for a reason, older and more experienced, and they wanted the best for her and the Colony...

     With deep revulsion and even deeper respect, D-53 carefully added Q-974's head into the hole. She covered her properly, spreading the stones about the upturned soil. When she lifted her head, she saw General Rhino staring at her.

     Something is wrong with you. Something is wrong with us. Take me back to the Fortress for my Adjustment Classes and see how well that turns out for you.

     Because if removing my antennae is the key to withstanding the HiveWings' attacks, why did we let the war go on for so long that they could develop them?

     What were we waiting for?

     What are we waiting for?