Shattered Souls

Escape

A/N: I feel like this story is going way too fast, it's only part 10. I'll try to make the chapters a little longer.

'Awoke' wasn't quite the right word. 'Un-paralyzing'? 'Un-statued?' Whatever it was, the paralyzing toxin wore off. Skye smiled, shaking out his body. It felt as if he hadn't moved in days, all his bones were stiff. He looked up into a familiar face, his smile widening as he gazed into the kind eyes that locked onto his own.

"Calico!"

"Yes yes I saved you and whatnot. Now shush you can't talk or your tounge will fall off. The toxin doesn't wear off completely for a few hours yet."

Skye shut his mouth, scribbling onto a piece of paper, 'Really?! Is my tounge really gonna fall off?!' 

Calico doubled over, laughing. "No! But the look on your face was so worth it!" Skye was annoyed but he laughed along with her.

"Where are we?" he said, looking around the room they were in. It was small, with a treestuff roof, so in a Hive, but not on the top floor. There was a table with books and papers scattered over it, and a bed with what looked like the comfiest blankets ever to be made. A bookshelf covered a whole wall, and at the very front of the room, there was a door, probably leading into another room.

"Oh this is my bedroom. Mother was so suspicious when I pushed you through the door so you could wait somewhere peaceful to unfreeze," Calico explained.

"And I still am suspicious," a voice from the door sounded, who Skye guessed was Vespa, Calico's mother. 

Skye jumped. Vespa had the same menacing look as Rove did. He could tell she was much friendlier though.

"Now what did we say about bringing strangers into the house?" Vespa continued.

"That they can bring danger to everyone inside the house and we have to know them well to be able to let them in," Calico recited in a bored voice. "But Skye isn't like that! I promise you he is gentle and kind."

Skye remembered when he met Calico. Threatening to put his claws through her skull wasn't exactly 'gentle and kind.' And...what he did to Rove wasn't either. He looked down at his talons, still streaked red with blood.

"Um...do you have anywhere I can wash my talons?" he asked nervously.

"Yep. Just go out here, first door on your left."

"Thanks." he walked out of the bedroom and into the 'bathroom' as it was labelled. Warm water ran over his talons as he held them under the tap. He dried them and went back to Calico's room, but stopped before opening the door again. Instead he pressed his ear to the hard treestuff and listened closely to the angry voices inside.

"Are you mad Calico?! He can't stay here! Lady Tsetse already hates you enough, but if she finds out we have her 'new pet' she's going to fire me!"

"That's a risk you're going to have to take! Who knows what Tsetse will do to him!"

"Then find him his own place to live! He cannot stay with us!"

"He has to! He's my friend!"

Skye smiled at the word friend. He'd never had a friend before. It was quite a good feeling.

"You just met him barely a week ago! How can he be your friend already?!"

"Well then fine! I love him! You can't object to that because love at first sight is a thing!"

"Do you love him, or do you love his scales," Vespa opened the bedroom door with such force he thought it would break. He hurried back to the bathroom to make it look like he was just walking out.

"You took long," she said, and walked off. Skye hung his head, sliding his talons quietly back into the bedroom. He was terrified any noise at all would make Vespa tear down the house.

"How much of that did you hear?" Calico's voice came from her bed.

"Only the last bit," Skye said, uncertain of what to do. Calico had her face buried in a pillow. "...Should I just go then?"

Calico sighed. "Probably..." Her voice was muffled by the pillow. "But I'm coming with you. I have a good knowledge of most of the Hives, and you'll need to not be in this one. Tsetse is looking for you. She wants to have Rove arrested and keep you for her large decoration wall."

"Rove she can have," Skye mumbled. "Which Hives did you say you have knowledge of?"

"Testse Hive, Jewel Hive, Cicada Hive, and Yellowjacket Hive. We studied one Hive each year in school, and I'm currently learning about Yellowjacket Hive."

"Not Wasp Hive?" Surely she'd be taught most about the Hive her queen lives in.

"No, we learn that last. I don't know why."

"Well, which Hive should we go to?"

"They have Jewel and Cicada Hives under close lockdown. Apparently a SilkWing and a HiveWing stole the Book of Clearsight. They both lived in Cicada Hive, and they escaped to Jewel Hive afterwards. You can't be in this Hive, so that leaves Yellowjacket Hive. But that's the one I know least about..."

"Then you can learn more. Lady Yellowjacket isn't mean right?"

"Not that I know of. But if we are going to leave we have to leave tonight. My mother will keep me in here forever after she gets you out."

"Then we may as well go now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tsetse Hive was chilly at night. But it was under the cover of darkness that Skye and Calico slipped out unnoticed. They decided to use the web bridges to go to Yellowjacket Hive, because dragons flying in the middle of the night would be suspicious. SilkWings looked at them at every turn, but it was better than HiveWings catching them and taking them back.

"I think I can see the Hive," Skye whispered.

Calico studied it. "It look's like we'd be entering on the level with all the markets and shops. We should try to stay around the edges and get to the level below, which is generally quiet."

"Which level does Lady Yellowjacket live in?"

"Fourth from the bottom. She's a modest dragon who doesn't want too much power, but enough that dragons listen to her, which they do. She's one of the nicest Hive rulers besides Lady Jewel and possibly Lady Mantis."

"And we'd be entering on level..."

"Level five. Since it's a market, it's held on the middle level, where all dragons can access it."

"And you said you knew nothing about this place," Skye said jokingly. They neared the entrance, where two gruff HiveWings were standing guard. They looked down their noses as Skye and Calico approached. 

One of them nodded to Calico. "Business in the Hive?" he asked.

Calico drew up her shoulders and tried to look commanding. "I wish to visit the market, as I'm told it has some of the best silk weavings on Pantala."

"Which Hive are you from?"

"Tsetse."

"And why not fly? Your SilkWing servant has his wings, you could have got here much faster."

Skye realised that the guards hadn't noticed he was different. It was dark, that was probably why, but Skye made a point of folding in his wings so they wouldn't notice the odd shape.

"My servant has being doing jobs for me all day. His wings are surely tired, and I do like to care for my servants. Don't want them to die on me!" Calico laughed.

"Ah yes that is true," the guard said, also laughing. The other guard cast a bored look at Skye. 

"Will you also be leaving through here? Assuming you will want to return to your Hive?"

Calico paused, unsure of what answer to give. "We may stay for a day or two, if my dear cousin was right in saying she was also coming."

The guard nodded and stepped to the side, letting them through. The market wasn't as active at night, but Skye could see at least three dragons every two stalls. He was about to suggest a way to slip through to the level below, when a very pale gray HiveWing ducked behind them, whispering "Hide me!"