Wings of Fire: The Forgotten World

chapter 26

By thedragonshifter
Pleiades's PoV

     The sound of their footsteps echoing around the underground tunnel and the rapidly decreasing temperature made the trip into the Spiralwings General's home more creepy then it needed to be. Pleiades could practically feel the darkness in the tunnel on her scales, and there was barely enough room for two dragons to walk side by side. The ground was lumpy with hardened dirt and small rocks, and all around them smelled of earth, water, and plants.

     The more they walked, the more Pleiades was reminded of being dragged down the long corridors of the Sunwing prison. She found herself becoming increasingly nervous, and being blind didn't contribute to her fear at all. What also made her nervous was the fact that she could kill any of the dragons around her just by accidently stepping on their tail. Even just the slightest touch would infect the dragon with her deadly poison, though it would take longer for them to actually die then it would if she were to make contact with their scales for an extended period of time.
Though, Pleiades tried not to worry about hurting the other dragons, for if she were focused on worrying, she would probably not hear a command from Hemlock and end up stepping on a dragon anyway.

     "Stop!" Hemlock suddenly said from beside her, and Pleiades ubruptedly stopped in her tracks. There was a very strong scent if dragon in front of her, and she heard claws scurrying away from her. "Hey, try not to kill me with your death fingers now please." She heard the voice of Sunnyheart huff. "I haven't quite been able to finish my goal of eating more then two thousand coconuts in four days, and if I die before that happens, ill owe Spidermonkey my entire banana store..." Sunnyheart continued to babble on about a dare she made with a Spiralwing named Spidermonkey until Pleiades heard a door open noisely from somewhere ahead of her.

     "Ok, you can start walking again." Said Hemlock before Pleiades continued on her way, taking care not to swish her tail around. Once they had walked through the door, Pleiades could tell that the room they were in was very spacious. The temperature reminded her of being in Cloudwing territory and in the Sunwing prison, and it made her shiver from the cold and from her memories there. But after only a couple of minutes in the new room, Pleiades began to wish that she was basking on the soft, hot sand of the Sunwing desert.

     "Here, take a seat. Make yourselves at home." Agapanthus said pleasantly from a further away. Pleiades stood rooted to the same spot, staring blindly in front of her and not moving a single muscle. "Umm, where are we?" Pleiades asked, and right after she asked the question, she knew that it sounded stupid. But nevertheless, she could sense Hemlock's presence beside her as he described the room for her.

     "So, it looks just like a normal house." He paused as if confused at what he had just said, and Pleiades guessed that Hemlock didn't think that she knew what the inside of a house looked like. He was correct. "There is a really big chandelier on the roof along with a lot of vines and plant decorations. There are many tunnels lining the walls that are each closed with a wooden door. In this room, there is just a very big wooden table decorated with vines, and a couple of paintings on the walls. Around the room are various hanging flower pots full of glowing mushrooms and viney plants." Hemlock finished just before Agapanthus made another announcement,"everyone, come sit at the table and we can all introduce ourselves properly." And after a moment's pause, he fondly added,"and we have cookies. Don't forget to eat them. They were deliciously homemade by Sunnyheart and Fig."

     Hemlock guided Pleiades towards the table, where everyone was gathered around and scooting out chairs to sit on. "Oooh what flavor is this one?" Velocity asked from Pleiades's left side as she heard the rustling if cookies on a plate. "That's my signature honey flower cookie!" Sunnyheart responded proudly, her voice bouncy with excitement. There was a sound of crunching as Velocity ate Sunnyheart's cookie, and after she had finished, Velocity giggled girlishly in happiness,"Sunnyheart, you're such a great baker!"

     Pretty soon, everybody was eating cookies of various flavors: honey flower, banana coconut, coconut walnut, and cocoa silk. "These are pretty good." She heard Hemlock admit as he helped himself to the cookies. However, if Pleiades tried to touch any of the cookies, they would just disintegrate in her talons, so she never got to have any.

     "Let's start everybody." Agapanthus said enthusiastically from the opposite end of the table, and recieved a murmer of agreement from Fig. "First of all, explain to me why you were wandering into our rain forest with my dragonets, and killing our precious flowers and plants."