Wings of Fire: Tangled in Darkness

Chapter 8

Fear and panic erupted inside of her, causing her to scream. Lacewing didn't even look back. She burst forward with speed, flapping her wings twice a second. Monarch didn't know any dragon could fly that fast.

Soon they reached Ivy, who had been flying ahead and Monarch screamed to her. "Ivy! Fly faster! They're right behind us!" Ivy turned her head for a split second before matching Lacewing's fast pace.

Hawkmoth had his tail curled in, and he looked as if he was trying to become a green, yellow, and black ball. Monarch was the only one who turned her head.

Four Hivewings were flying fast behind them, their teeth bared while one shouted. "Stop! Or Queen Jewel will flay you alive!" Monarch's eyes widened. 

That can't happen!  "We have to lose them!" Monarch shouted. Lacewing growled silently and pointed to Ivy, then the ground. Monarch understood immediately.

"Ivy! We must hide in the trees." She tried to not shout but still said it loud enough that the Leafwing could hear. Ivy looked at her for a long moment but then nodded. 

Suddenly, a jet-black liquid appeared right next to Monarch's face, but she flinched and managed to avoid it. What was that? 

And then, it hit her. Like a tree avalanche falling onto her. Venom. Before she could warn Lacewing to stay clear of it, the Silkwing reeled back and let out a mute roar. Monarch could feel the vibrations pulsing through her, and the silk wavered, some strings snapping. 

She looked up, and to her horror, she saw Lacewing's wing disintegrating. 

Monarch couldn't move. She couldn't speak, she couldn't cry for help. Lacewing was losing air fast as her one wing tried to flap fruitlessly, but her other was limp.

The hole in Lacewing's wing was as big as her father's talon. It dripped with blood and venom. 

Suddenly, a Hivewing slammed into her. 

Crash! 

The silk, already sensitive, snapped. Monarch plummeted to the ground, and she saw it coming closer, and closer, and closer. She screamed. 

This is it. This is when I die. And I didn't get to know my mother better, I didn't get to go to Rove's and Bronze's wedding. I didn't get to weave a single piece of silk with Luna. 

She crashed, hitting the dozens of leaves and branches. Her arm went Crack! And she closed her eyes, finally giving in to death. 

***

Ugh. EVERYTHING HURT.

Her arm felt as if it exploded, and her head pounded relentlessly. But then she remembered Lacewing, Ivy, and Hawkmoth. 

She sat up slowly, groaning. Her eyes were blurry, and a bright light (the sun, she assumed) clouded her vision. 

Beside her was a shape. A very fuzzy shape. Maybe that was just her eyesight though. 

Her talons and tail felt wet, and she rubbed her eyes, blinking several times. Her lower body was submerged in a river, and everything came rushing back to her. Brimstone, the Hivewings. 

Lacewing.

She stood up quickly, ignoring her pounding head. Her eyesight cleared, and she suddenly saw a blue and purple dragon sitting down beside her. He wasn't Lacewing, and he sure wasn't Hawkmoth or Ivy.

His scales mixed with a gemlike azure, like a bright blue morpho butterfly, and lavender scales. She could tell he was a Silkwing from his four wings, except he had a compacted face and a small ridge on his nose... like a Hivewing. And now that she noticed, he was littered with bright red scales

He looked up at her. "Oh, you're awake. Finallyyyyy. You've been asleep four HOURS. My names Velvet, whats yours?"

"M-Monarch." She stammered. 

Wait a second. Velvet, like, the son of Cricket and Blue, Velvet? She swallowed painfully. What was it with her meeting famous dragons?

"Are you-" She asked, only to be interrupted. 

"Yes." He said proudly, puffing out his chest. "The son of Cricket and Blue. I'm so cool." Monarch raised her eyebrows, despite herself. 

"How did you find me?" She asked. 

"Oh. Yeah, my job is to look for lost dragons in the jungle. And I saw you falling from the sky and I was like, ohhhhhh dang she's about to die. So I went ahead and saved you." He flapped his wings. "So. Yeah."

"What about the other dragons I was flying with?" Her words tumbled over each other. Velvet tilted his head for a long moment, then exclaimed, "Oh! I know what happened to the Leafwing and Silkwing. They managed to get away from the Hivewings that were chasing you, buttttt I don't know where they are now."

That's... odd. They let them get away. Come to think of it, it was only Lacewing and I that the Hivewings were aiming for. 

"What about Lacewing?" She asked. "Big, mint green dragon?" Velvet's face contorted in an odd way. 

"Oh yeah. She died."