Poisonous Rage

Chapter Nine

They slept on beds of leaves and moss. The next morning they woke and set off again, Sundew's emotions boiling under her scales. Her brain couldn't decide if it was angry or sad. Angry! screamed the part of her brain her mother had trained. It's not fair! Nettle said horrible things about Willow. She deserved it!

But deep down, her heart ached. Because she loved Willow, and the thought of them not being together made Sundew want to curl up into a ball and sob. And at the center of that ache was a friendly face, but one that Sundew was seeing in her worst nightmares instead.

Hazel. The queen's granddaughter. As far as Sundew could tell she was smart, funny, and most of all, she hadn't spent her entire life being taught that anger was the only true emotion.

Was that who Willow had fallen in love with? A dragon who wasn't angry all the time? Someone who was royalty? Someone who could give Willow a happy, peaceful life?

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed to align with everything.

Suddenly, they rounded the corner of the path and stopped in front of a wooden hut. The group looked at each other before Sundew stepped forward and opened the door with a creak.

A LeafWing stood by a table, staring at the door with a look that was a mix of confusion and amazement. He tilted his head curiously, before smiling a slightly crooked smile. "Hello," he said, "my name is Hawthorn."

"I know," Sundew responded, walking inside. "We need your help." The rest of the group filed in, a bit cramped in a room clearly not built to house more than one or two dragons at the very most. Sundew supposed that when you were exiled for an undetermined amount of time, you didn't worry about having room for guests.

"Would you like some tea?" Hawthorn asked, peering at them curiously, especially Qibli. "I was just about to put on a pot."

"That sounds lovely," Mandrake answered. Sundew glared at him.

Hawthorn turned to a cabinet and then frowned. "I fear I only carved two cups. The rest of you will have to go without."

The old LeafWing busied himself by grabbing ingredients for a pot of tea. "We didn't come here for tea," Sundew growled, "this is important!"

"There's plenty of time," Hawthorn responded mildly. "When you haven't seen another dragon in decades, you don't feel like rushing the time you have."
"There is no time!" Sundew roared. "Queen Wasp is about to invade the Poison Jungle and wipe out our tribe! We need to know whether you found an antidote for the Breath of Evil!"

This news seemed to surprise Hawthorn, although the only sign was him dropping one of the cups and banging his head on the cabinet he was rummaging around in. "That's not an easy question to answer," The old dragon replied.

Sundew was frustrated that he was still being vague and unhelpful, but she did notice his tone shifted as he grew nervous.

Hawthorn sprinkled the mixture of ground herbs he had made into the two cups before grabbing a kettle off a shove and pouring hot water into his two cups. He handed one to Mandrake, who gave a quiet thanks. "Well, try," Sundew growled.

"I did testing on animals with both the Breath of Evil and a possible antidote, but I can't be sure until I test it on a dragon," Hawthorn responded. "Thankfully, we can do that test right now."

Qibli paled and turned to Mandrake. Mandrake frowned at him, but then looked at the cup he was holding and dropped it on the ground. The tea splashed across the floor, leaving a dark-red puddle on the floor.

"I expect the Breath of Evil will take effect momentarily," Hawthorn spoke calmly. "Then, I can get the antidote and administer it. Hopefully, it works."

Mandrake backed away. "I don't want her in my head," he whispered. "I don't want to hurt you. Any of you."

Then his eyes rolled up into his head. Mandrake looked around curiously. This is new... the voice of Queen Wasp slithered out. Mandrake-not-Mandrake grinned gleefully. Hello, little LeafWing. I will find you. Your jungle will burn, and I will rip you apart for stealing the Book. His eyes flicked to Qibli. What are you? A disgusting mixing of blood? she spat. Or are you something else entirely...

Sundew had had enough of this, and so had Qibli. "If you can hear me, Mandrake, I'm sorry. This might hurt a bit."

Then he lunged at the mind-controlled dragon. Wasp snarled and tackled Qibli. The dragons crashed into one of the cabinets, a blur of claws and fangs. Sundew roared at Hawthorn. "You monster! You just condemned my friend, and now you're just sitting here watching them fight!"

Hawthorn sipped his tea nonchalantly. "I couldn't very well do it on myself. I would've been controlled and unable to take the antidote. And I'm not a fighter. Your friend seems to be able to handle it."

Qibli had pinned down Mandrake, but the LeafWing was thrashing as hard as he could. Qibli's barbed tail rose up over his head, and for a moment Sundew thought the SandWing was about to stab Mandrake with his venomous tail, but the SandWing angled it and slammed it against Mandrake's head. The LeafWing slumped over, unconscious.

Sundew's rage boiled over at the sight of Mandrake, unconscious and bleeding from cuts on his body. She turned to Hawthorn, eyes glowing, and curled her claws into the floor, cracking the wood and touching the dirt underneath. Vines exploded out of the ground, wrapping around Hawthorn and beginning to squeeze. He tried to struggle, but the vines tightened mercilessly, and one curled around his neck.

He began to thrash more and more, trying to escape. Sundew watched, her rage burning within her, urging her on, telling her to keep going. Voices sounded behind her, but they were muffled. Unimportant.

And then suddenly there was a sharp pain on Sundew's cheek and she fell to the side, her concentration shattering as Willow slapped her.

The vines fell to the ground, no longer animated by Sundew's Leafspeak, and Hawthorn gasped, clutching his neck. Willow stared at Sundew with a mixture of horror, fear, and sadness. "I think it would be better if we stayed apart," the pale LeafWing murmured.

Something broke inside Sundew. Her will to fight left her in an instant. Her face turned blank, uncaring. She stood up and surveyed the room robotically. Qibli had tied Mandrake's talons and snout with thick vines, and he was now standing next to Hawthorn, watching him carefully. Nettle seemed unsure of what to do, so she moved over to Mandrake just in case he woke up. Willow stood off to the side, avoiding Sundew's gaze. That was fine. Sundew didn't think she could handle it right now.

"I think Qibli should take charge of the mission," Nettle's said.

To Sundew's surprise, she didn't even disagree with Nettle. There was a first time for everything. Qibli was smart, he'd been the first to realize what Hawthorn had done, he was a good fighter, and he kept his cool. Sundew nodded. She wondered what she should do. Then she noticed everyone was avoiding her gaze. They didn't want her there any more than they wanted Mandrake to be controlled.

She turned and walked out of the hut. If they didn't want her there, that was fine. As she left, she heard Qibli give some orders. "Nettle, watch Mandrake. I'll go with Hawthorn and get the antidote."

Sundew made her way back to the village, paying no attention to anything around her, acting solely on instinct. When she returned to the SapWing village, instead of going to the palace, she flew to the pond where she had first met Willow.

The pouch around her neck felt heavier than usual. Sundew took out the jade frog and placed it carefully on the rock, intending to spin away furiously and leave it for Willow to find.

But when she let go, her talon began to shake and she took a few steps back, tears prickling at the corner of her eyes.

She closed her eyes as tears began to stream down her snout, splashing against the ground. She was finally done. Her fire had burned out. When she needed it most, she had used it up in a blaze of glory.