Wings of Fire: Tangled in Darkness

Chapter 12

Outside, several tall adult dragons guarded the exits, watching the dragonets worriedly. Monarch saw all kinds of dragons here. Dragons from Pryhiaa, hybrids, and Pantalan dragons. She liked it.

There was a big playground in the center, with a bouncy floor all around the play area so no dragonet would hurt themselves. In another corner were holes all around the ground, and several of the holes would shoot up jets of water every few moments. The little dragonets all crowded around there, waiting for a turn to play.

The whole play area was out in the open, and a tall balcony faced the savannah. Monarch's wing buds twitched, and she realized they had that gate so no wingless dragonets would fall to their death.

Hanging around the balcony was a group of Hivewings standing around the playground's darkest corner, passing around a small bag. Monarch looked closer and saw that they were exchanging insects.

How odd. She thought.

Ivy looked at where she was staring and asked Hawkmoth, "Is that Fang?" The Silkwing dragonet nodded, his wing buds twitching as well as he glanced at the shady group of dragons. 

"The one with the black spine and spikes. And- and the red eyes." He shivered. Monarch looked over at him and saw him staring at his talons, shaking.

"Why don't you go look around a bit?" She said to him, and he gave her a thankful look. "See if you can find any escape exits."

Ivy looked over and scoffed, and Monarch felt disappointed. She thought she had done the right thing, Hawkmoth was shaking to his knees. But Ivy didn't think so, and didn't Ivy know everything?

She looked up and saw Ivy looking at her, then turned to the group of Hivewings. One of them was staring at them, and he nudged Fang as they approached.

"Well, well," Fang said in a confident voice. The one who had the bag of insects passed it to his friend who hid it under his wings.

Hawkmoth was right. Fang and the rest of the Hivewings were barely older than Monarch and Ivy. Some of the Hivewings were younger.

"You two kids the new dragons?" Fang asked, spreading his wings the slightest bit and flicking his tongue in and out. The dragons around him chuckled.

Monarch suddenly realized this could be a horrible idea. They had no proof he had done anything wrong, they were picking a fight themselves.

"Ivy." She tugged on her friend's elbow. "We should go."

Ivy shook her off and said, "We know who you are, Fang." Ivy said in a cold, loud voice. "The son of a missing father, misunderstood ever since your mother threw you out for being too sympathetic." Monarch tilted her head, wondering where this was coming from. Ivy leaned closer and whispered in Fang's ear, "You did something horrible, and I know it."

Ivy turned and stalked away, leaving Monarch standing there confused. What was that? She looked at Fang, whose eyes were red and swollen as if he was holding back tears. He looked down at Monarch, and then quickly glanced at the other dragons around him.

"Fang?" One of them asked. "What was that LeafWing saying? You were thrown out for being nice? You said you ran away from your parents." Fang looked at them, and wiped his eyes quickly, shaking his head and growling.

"I did!" He hissed. "Don't believe a thing that LeafWing says. She's probably mental." Fang focused on Monarch again. "Be careful little SilkWing. That LeafWing will end up killing you."

She wouldn't have ever believed that, but after Ivy basically said she didn't trust her, the thought sunk in like a tick under your scales.

She turned and ran where Ivy had stalked away, bursting into the sleeping caves and shouting, "Ivy!" 

The LeafWing looked up from a miniature scroll she was holding and quickly tugged it into one of her pouches. Monarch growled. More secrets!

"What was that?" She said. "You can't just go around making stuff up about random HiveWings for justice!" Ivy stood up, her tail lashing.

"I wasn't making it up." She hissed. "I did my research before you woke up."

Monarch felt the dagger stab into her heart, as she realized something. Ivy didn't trust her with anything!

That's what's wrong with the world. That's what I need to fix. Pantala will be destroyed, crushed because millions of lies dragons make every day. Nobody trusts anybody. I don't even trust my own mother.

Thats what she had to fix. And she needed to start with Ivy.

She gazed at the LeafWing, and it took all her strength to pull out the metaphorical dagger and pull her anger out along with it.

"Ivy," she began. "I know you don't trust me very much, and I understand that you have secrets you don't want to share, but we're supposed to be working together. The plan was for us to arrive at the Academy, and then for you to leave. But the plan fell apart as soon as we arrived at that hotel. Don't you think it was strange the way those HiveWings stared at us? Like they thought we were important in some way?"

Ivy shifted her claws, and Monarch continued. "You don't have to like me, and I know you don't, but we're in this mess together, which means we have to trust each other to get out of it. That doesn't mean you revealing every secret you have to me, but it does mean not hiding every single thing from me."

Ivy stared at her, taking a few steps forward until their wings were almost touching. Her ears twitched as she leaned closer and said in a soft voice, "The way Sundew raised me was tough. She wanted me to be the peacekeeper, the one who fights when no one else is brave enough. I wanted to be so bad, but now I realize I can be that while trusting someone."

She leaned in closer, and Monarch could smell her chocolate raspberry breath. Then, Ivy kissed her. LeafWing against SilkWing, sending butterflies all through Monarch's body.