The War's Prophecy

Cringe and Punishment

Pyrrhia was just walking home from work. Well, she pretended to be. Really, she was walking to the library of Beetle Hive for a Chrysalis meeting. She pulled out the note she had hidden by the three-thousand-thirty-year-old salvation mosaic. It read:

Midnight

Library

4

She knew exactly what '4' meant, after several other meetings. She reached the library. She tugged at the door. It didn't budge. Oh. She thought. Right. She walked over to the statue of a NightWing and counted the spines on the statue's neck. One... two... three... four! She stopped at the fourth spine. She looked closely and saw a small key wedged in between the third and fourth spine and pulled it out. Jackpot. She thought. She quietly unlocked the door and walked in, then locked it behind her. She heard whispering voices. Familiar whispering voices. "No, those dragons are idiots that are going to get us all killed." Said one.

"So? I'd rather have 600 dragons who are at least trying to do the right thing than three who are perfect in every way by your standards." Said another.

"Technically, we have eight dragons."

"I know, but our numbers are going to drop dramatically if you keep kicking members off!"

Pyrrhia walked over to the group. "I bet you're glad you didn't throw me off." She interjected. "Well, you can't throw your leader off," One grumbled. Pyrrhia had, in fact, recently been promoted to head of the Beetle Hive Chrysalis. The Chrysalis turned toward her. There were two SeaWings, four SilkWings, one MudWing, and two LeafWings. The offshoot LeafWings, or PoisonWings, had refused to let Queen Dragonfly rule them, but the original LeafWings, or SapWings, as the PoisonWings called them, had agreed to surrender. The two tribes of LeafWings had split up when Dragonfly tried to rule them. "Delta. Mariana. Coconut. Grayling. Cerulean. Violet. Pastel. Acacia. Evergreen." She recited. Those were the names of her fellow Dragonfly Hive Chrysalis members. "Impressive memory, Rio." Violet said. Violet and Pyrrhia had been friends since they were tiny dragonets. "Yeah." Cerulean said. "How do you even remember all those names?" Cerulean was a turquoise color that faded into sky blue, ombre style. One of his back wings was smaller than the other. His tail ended like a whip. "So." Pyrrhia said. "Did I miss anything important?"

"Not really." Delta said. "Just Grayling and Cerulean arguing about throwing members off." Delta was a teal color with blue underscales, purple bioluminescent scales, and blue-purple wings. She was quite outspoken, which ended in several afternoons on Misbehaver's Way. "How has your intel collection been going?"

"Pretty great, actually." Pyrrhia replied. "Check out what I just found out." She pulled out a notepad. "Turns out, there's a prophecy of ten dragonets that are supposed to stop the HiveWings and end the war. The prophecy itself goes something like this:

Dragons of the Hive,

Steal the continents

Dragons of each tribe,

Save us all

Dragon of the Hive,

With a heart of gold

Dragon of Silk,

With threads of flames

Dragon of the Trees,

That speaks to the earth

Dragon of the Rain,

That never speaks a word

Dragon of the Night,

But not a full moon

Dragon of the Sea,