Wings of Fire: A Dragon of Hive and Silk

Chapter Seventeen

Pollen

Zamia collapsed mid-air. "Zamia!" Pollen cried. "What are you--" she froze. "Oh no."

A long, ugly gash was running along Zamia's side. 

They helped the dragonet get to the ground. "That's SandWing poison," Garnet confirmed.

"What do we do about it?" Pollen asked, terrified. 

Celandine looked at her sadly. "There's no cure I know of."

"We have to save her!" Pollen cried, angry. "Why doesn't any dragon know anything about the other tribes?"

"There are only three tribes in Pantala," Celandine said softly. "There are seven here."

"Let me guess, none of you know anything about any of the others?" Pollen said sarcastically. 

"The NightWing's probably do," Garnet muttered. "Dumb know-it-alls."

"They don't know we have venom," Celandine scoffed. 

"Really?" Pollen asked. "None of the other tribes know you have a weapon? Every dragon has something besides teeth and claws!" 

"Not all of us have leafspeak," Zamia murmured, clearly in pain. 

"Shh," Celandine whispered. "Save your strength." 

"We need a cure. Now." Pollen said sternly. "I can't go back to Panatala and tell Ginkgo... tell Pyracantha..." she spread her wings. "Celandine! You can make your scales look like a SandWing's and casually ask about the cure. Say you need it for your friend you scratched."

Celandine brightened. "Like this?" Her scales shifted to a sandy color. She struggled to make her head and tail look right, but go close enough. 

"Where the rough areas are, you can make your scales have fake scars," Garnet suggested. Zamia snored.

"I'm off," Celandine said nervously. 

Garnet entwined her tail with Celandine's. "You'll be fine."

"I love you," Celandine whispered, and flew off, leaving a speechless Garnet.

...

Quick check-in! I was just screaming "Cactus! Use the cactus from The Hidden Kingdom!" Right? Also, should the ship name be Celanet, are Garnetdine? Any other suggestions?

-FlameWing_Z

"We've been walking for hours," the SilkWing dragonet whined. 

"Hush, Attacus."  the older SilkWing froze. "We're being watched!"

"Yess," a voice hissed. Then it leaped at Attacus. The wingless dragonet screamed and flailed, but it was no use. The gray dragon had killed her dragonet. Fury filled her gaze. She screamed and attacked the dragon, but he swatted her away with the force of lightning. His orange wings spread menacingly. He raised his claws for the kill. Instead of the nothingness the SilkWing expected, she was trapped in a web. A web of souls, screaming for freedom. Pain shot through her body. She wanted to die. Was she dead already? The pain was so, so, severe. Attacus wailed. Attacus? she thought. No! 

Outside the web of pain, the gray dragon's wings shifted to a darker red. A blood-like color. The more he killed, the more power he had. He got the strength of the dragons. Now he would have silk. He had also learned to control dragons with evil in their hearts. Dragons like Wasp. 

...

Pollen awoke with a start. She had been dreaming... of the dragon who had killed Amazonite. Was her soul in that web, trapped for eternity? The thought was terrible. But what scared Pollen the most was the way the colors were so wrong. Black was white. Red was green. Everything was chaos. But one question lurked in her mind. Was there a way she could free the spirits... or bring them back to life?