Wings of Fire • Path to Ascension [Book 3]

EPILOGUE

Thirteen years later...

"When the Supermajors arrived at Bloodworm Hive, they found something unexpected: Queen Wasp and Lady Bloodworm had been burned badly by the smoke and flames of Eight's escape, and their treacherous sister Lady Cicada was not helping their recovery..."

     The play was finally coming to its end and the audience was still rapt with attention, even after nine days. Tiphiid was honestly surprised, but none more so than the writers of the play (especially because everyone and their dragonet already knew the end of their story). She had the honour of sitting with them and caught every reaction to the audience's engagement. Her favourite was:

     "Why do they think we're in love?" Eight asked Ghost, who shrugged.

     "Maybe it's because you're both closer than a giant botfly larva and a jaguar's nose."

     Both brown dragons scowled at Taproot. Even Tiphiid shivered, recalling that grotesque letter. One day, while out in the Poison Jungle, Taproot had been approached by a strange jaguar. He'd written it off as a young cat trying to learn to hunt and let it chase him for a few hours before he realized something was wrong with the animal. A closer inspection had revealed... something too gross for even Tiphiid to want to remember. He'd been, of course, fascinated that the animal had gone to him for help and thought he should go into detail about the whole removal process. She had almost burned the letter out of disgust, but her dragonets had found it grossly funny so she was forced to keep it for their entertainment.

     Jokes aside, they were now almost at the end of the play, and even in the large open-air amphitheatre filled with more than a thousand dragons, one could have heard a scale drop.

     The stage was huge: a large mound of packed ground surrounded by curved treestuff forms that resembled wings. Behind the audience were similar structures, part of a statue carved in the likeness of a certain Alate. The sound from the stage echoed on her outstretched wings so all dragons could hear her story. The theatre was so full that many had to sit on her shoulders, but she bore the weight with an eternal smile. Tiphiid was happy to see the hall so full (on the anniversary of the end of the war, no less) because the full price of each ticket would be donated. 

     After nine days and a cast of close to one hundred, a single dragon now stood on the stage. It was the narrator. Tihpiid knew that Ghost and Eight had gone through many iterations of the final scene. Too much needed to be said in too little time. They could very well have written another day-long script, but it was honestly unneeded. This part was more well-known so a simple summary was the final outcome.

     "...The HiveWings would have faced a very messy succession crisis had it not been for the brave Lady Jewel. She saw the unfair way the soldiers of Bloodworm Hive were being treated and finally decided to challenge Wasp for the throne. The old queen, though she was unfit to fight, stubbornly tried to keep her throne. Jewel won against her and even her sister Lady Bloodworm. After seeing the support the new Queen Jewel received from the army, the scheming Lady Cicada thought twice about her machinations for the throne.

     "This had occurred a mere seven days before the arrival of the Last March. They had come hoping for the best and prepared for the worst, but gladly accepted this unprecedented outcome. They gave Queen Jewel news of Queen Ameise's desire to discuss the end of the war and she eagerly accepted. She offered to deliver the news to Queen Darner herself, as she might trust an ally more than the perceived enemy. The DartWing Queen, once she learned of this, also quickly accepted.

     "There was one last issue, however: Gomphus, Hawker's treacherous grandfather, had disappeared after the Auction. Hawker and Acantha informed Queen Darner of all the evil deeds he'd committed to expand his wealth. After an investigation backed their claims, an attempt was made to detain and question the former champion. Unfortunately, Gomphus never faced prosecution because he was found dead in his cell a day before he was to go on trial. His loss was not a very profound one, and the only creatures attending his funeral were vultures.