Wings of Fire: Tangled in Darkness

Prologue

The darkness crowed in, as if it all wanted to fit in one place, and hide from the light. You could see nothing, but the dragon dodging stalactites knew his way around. Every day he went this way, to hide, to eat, to sleep. And every day, his wings buzzed with nervousness.

He knew there was nothing there, but whispers drifted throughout the caves. No other dragons heard them, but to be fair, no other dragon dared to travel this path. 

He stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath. What did he want this time? Something swooped beside him, and he jumped back to the other wall, yelping. His scales felt as if insects were crawling all over him. 

He winced. They probably were, but he just couldn't see them. A couple of tail lengths in front of him was a cave. A cave filled with boxes, and the sound of insects that made all kinds of noises in them. 

The dragon took a deep breath and slowly stepped forward. As he reached the entrance, light made him cover his eyes. He was in the dark always, and light was rarely a thing.

He took another deep breath and opened his eyes. Green boxes upon boxes upon boxes buzzed with animals. Some chirped, others screamed, but the most horrifying thing in the room was the dragon sitting on the throne.

The jars of fireflies flicked on and off, casting an evil glint from the dragon's eyes. He felt the insects crawl off him, and he shivered as she saw caterpillars and stink bugs crawl toward the throne.

"Welcome, Buzz." The dragon on the throne said. Buzz didn't dare take another step forward. He bowed right in the entrance, but he felt his scales curl as Nightcrawler's gaze rested on him.

Buzz looked up, but not meeting the dragon's eyes. Nightcrawler looked over at the shape next to him. Somehow, he had managed to capture an albatross, and he controlled it day and night. With his mind. 

Nightcrawler had painted it black and red with the blood of other animals, and the albatross was basically his servant. The albatross flew up to land on Nightcrawler's black and red shoulder.

Buzz took a step back as it cawed loudly. Buzz took another deep breath. That was the only thing he could do to calm himself down. He tried to focus on what he could see, but that didn't help either. 

The cave was rocky and jagged, with formations of rocks appearing out of the ground. Insects crawled on the walls, almost covering the gray rock with their large wings and bodies. Buzz recognized one of the biggest bugs in the world, a Giant Weta, sitting right beneath Nightcrawler.

Nightcrawler did not look like a Hivewing, even though he was. He never revealed his true identity or his back story, but Buzz had already figured out that he was not all Hivewing. In fact, he could be a mixture of a couple different species.

Nightcrawler's scales were all black, with hints of grey and splotches of dark red that looked like blood. He had red around his eyes and claws, which made him look even more menacing.

"How is your new cave?" Nightcrawler asked softly, but in a way that made it sound like he wanted something. Buzz stammered for a moment. 

"Uh. Um, its fine, Great Leader." Nightcrawler smiled and sniffed the air. He stepped off from the throne, squashing the few bugs that crawled beneath him. The Giant Weta crawled up to sit on his other shoulder.

"I smell fear." He said, circling Buzz and sniffing his wings and neck. "My favorite kind of smell." It took Buzz all of his courage not to run away from this horrible place. 

I'm trapped in a nightmare. He thought. Nightcrawler stood right in front of him, his nose inches away from his. He held Buzz's chin with his talon and the Giant Weta crawled onto him. Buzz made a small yelping sound and tried to swat it off, but Nightcrawler hissed loudly.

 "I am close to finding it." He snarled. "And when I do, you will retrieve them for me." Buzz gulped as Nightcrawler showed his pointy sharp teeth

"Retrieve what?" He asked nervously. He close his eyes as he felt the bug on him crawl up his neck. Nightcrawler turned, whispering in his ear, "Retrieve dragons, and I may spare you from the destruction I will cause.