Merging Kingdoms

New Beginnings

A dragon soared high over the hives of Pantala. She was like a pale green leaf, blown into the wind. She fluttered and spiraled down to the top of Clearsight Hive, which was once Wasp Hive, where her friends waited for her to return from Pyrrhia.

"Willow!" Sundew jumped up and caught Willow in a wing before she could land, causing the LeafWing to stumble and roll into a fit of giggles.

"I missed you too, Sundew." Willow snorted when she finally caught her breath. In front of her were nine dragons. Queen Hazel, her childhood friend- Queen Jewel, the HiveWing that took over when Wasp was killed- the SilkWing Queens Io and Luna, who split the tribe between them- Swordtail, brother of Io and boyfriend of Luna- Blue and his girlfriend, Cricket- Queen Jewel's mother, Lady Scarab- and, of course, Sundew.

Willow wrapped her tail around Sundew's. "Pyrrhia was beautiful." She sighed. "But Pantala is my home."

"How was your trip to Pyrrhia?" Cricket asked. "Was Jade Mountain interesting? Did you gather enough seeds from the rainforest? How was the rainforest?"

Willow smiled at her. "The Rainforest was lovely. We gathered so many seeds, I'm sure that with leafspeak, all of Pantala will be covered in forests once more." Willow had stayed on Pyrrhia with some other LeafWings after the Othermind had been defeated, while Sundew and Hazel took the rest of the tribe to resettle on Pantala, just outside the Poison Jungle.

"All of Pantala?" Queen Jewel frowned slightly. "I know it may not be my place to speak, and I do believe that the forests should be replanted, but the HiveWings love the Savannah, so perhaps keep some forests unplanted?"

"Of course you would say that," Sundew hissed. "You HiveWings have been trying to keep the forests off Pantala forever! You never even leave your Hives! You have no right."

Cricket gave Sundew a hurt look, but before she could speak, Hazel stepped forward. "Relax, Sundew." The young Queen held out a wing. "Queen Jewel and I have already discussed this. The HiveWing territory will be left alone. Actually, the purpose of this meeting is to form a truce between the four Queens." She dipped her head to Jewel, Io, and Luna respectively.

Willow could sense Sundew's anger and gently placed a wing over her, as if to say everything's okay now. There's nothing to be angry about or fight about. There's no war. We're safe. Willow didn't know if Sundew got all that, but her fierce breathing seemed to slow as she leaned into Willow's wing. Willow felt relieved for Sundew; finally, after such a furious life, there was peace. Maybe she will find a way to relax, but I know that Sundew will always find a fight worth fighting. That's why I love her. I just hope she fights the right ones.

Queen Hazel pulled a pile of papers out of her satchel as well as four bottles of ink and a map of Pantala. Hazel probably brought a map because she wanted to set borders. Her book-making supplies must've been in the satchel as well.

The sun was low in the sky, lazilly making its way down past the horizon. Far below, insects and birds began to make their dusktime songs, which seemed to merge with the murmur of dragons in the Hive underfoot.

Clearsight Hive was the only place where all three Pantalon tribes live in harmony (though, only one LeafWing lived there: Sundew's friend, Bryony). The SilkWings lived in half of the Hives, the HiveWings lived in the other half. The LeafWings did not want to live in Hives.

There was a long silence before Hazel spoke as she arranged the papers. Blue and Luna both lifted a lantern and dropped a thread of flamesilk in each, which they placed on either side of the map. They lit the papers like fireflies in bottles and they revealed the undersides of the surrounding dragons in an eerie orange light, echoing the distant sunset.