Most important, what are they going to do with us?
The leaves rustled and the male LeafWing returned. He was a green dark enough to disappear into shadows and wore a small white seashell on a cord around his neck. He shook his head at the others. “No one else.”
“Good,” said the older female. “Did they break the web on the door?”
“Yes,” he said, “but rebuilt it.”
“Useful of them,” she said.
Huh, Blue thought, momentarily distracted from his panic. How did the LeafWings get in? They can’t spin silk, so they couldn’t have covered the door themselves. Could … could Queen Wasp know they’re here?
He doubted that. Queen Wasp hated LeafWings for refusing to accept her rule. Why would she keep three of them stashed in a greenhouse?
Across from him, Cricket flicked her tail, trying to get the smaller LeafWing’s attention, but the scowling dragonet ignored her.
The tall female — who seemed to be the leader of the group — scanned her three captives with calculating green eyes. At last she stepped forward and yanked the rope off Blue’s snout.
“Ow!” he yelped.
“Who are you,” she demanded, “and what are you doing here?” She jerked her head at Cricket. “Two SilkWings with a HiveWing. Do you work for her?”
“No,” Blue said. “She’s my friend.”
The youngest LeafWing let out a scornful laugh, but Blue’s interrogator looked intrigued. “HiveWings don’t befriend SilkWings,” she said. “They control you. They enslave you. They order you about. But then, that’s what you signed up for, isn’t it?”
“I … um,” Blue said. “I didn’t sign up for anything? I think?”
“True,” said the male LeafWing. “Too young.”
“Don’t be so literal, Hemlock,” the leader scoffed. “You. Tell me your names.”
“I’m Blue,” he said. “And that’s Cricket, and that’s … ” He trailed off as he turned to Swordtail and found him furiously shaking his head. “Uh. Someone else.”
“Trying to keep secrets won’t do any good at this point,” the LeafWing said. “I only see two ways for this to end: with you all helping us, or dead. In the former case, it’ll be much easier if we know your names. Or we could skip to the latter case right now.”
Swordtail growled and the little LeafWing bared her teeth at him.
“W-What are your names?” Blue tried, thinking that was astonishingly brave of him.
The LeafWing smiled slightly. “I’m Belladonna, and that’s Hemlock. Our daughter is Sundew.”
“Why would you tell them that?” Sundew snapped in a burst of fury. “They can’t help us! They’ll turn us in the moment they get a chance! We should kill them now and leave their corpses somewhere that’ll really scare those worms in the Hive.” She lifted one of her wings and pulled a fiery red centipede out of a pouch. It flailed violently at the air, waving all its feet and hissing.
“Sundew,” Belladonna said warningly. “Save that for later. Corpses lying around will notify the queen we’re here, which would make our mission harder. Remember?”
Sundew dropped the centipede back into its pouch. Her scowl deepened.
“B-Besides,” Blue said, “killing us would probably make the queen very happy. And I think m-maybe you don’t want to do that?”
Belladonna narrowed her eyes at him. “The queen wants you dead? Why?”
“Well,” he said, but he’d never been a good liar, and he couldn’t come up with anything fast enough, and he didn’t know what the right thing to say might be, so he went with the truth. “She wants me locked up in case I’m a flamesilk.” He held out his wrists, which looked as ordinary as ever, other than being covered in flaking paint. “And she probably wants Swordtail dead because he attacked some guards to save my sister and then he escaped Cicada Hive. Cricket … she doesn’t know about Cricket yet.” I hope. “But if she did, she’d be mad because Cricket’s been helping us hide from her.”
“A helpful HiveWing?” Belladonna said thoughtfully. She regarded Cricket in a way that made Blue think of quicksand and crawler vines at midnight. “That does sound like a useful dragon to know.”
“Sounds like a bunch of four-winged lies,” Sundew spat. “If Queen Wasp wanted you locked up, you’d be locked up.”
“Not necessarily. She wants your whole tribe dead, and apparently you’re, uh … not all that dead,” Blue pointed out. “By the way, how are you not dead? Are there a lot of you left? Where have you been living?”
“None of your business,” Sundew hissed. “As if we’d tell you anything! Tree killers!”
Tree killers, Blue thought, startled. What an awful name. Was that how LeafWings saw the other two tribes? Of course it must be. After all … that’s what we did. Even the SilkWings, though? The SilkWings only cut down trees under orders. Mostly they stayed out of the way as much as they could. But if I were a LeafWing, all I would see is HiveWings destroying my home and SilkWings helping or standing by.
“If you are trying to hide from Queen Wasp,” Belladonna interjected, “what are you doing in her greenhouse?”
Blue hesitated again. Swordtail was shaking his head so hard Blue thought it might topple right off his neck. But so what if these LeafWings knew about Luna? The longer he talked, the longer they all stayed alive. And maybe if he explained, and promised not to tell anyone they’d seen the LeafWings, Belladonna would decide to let them go. After all, it had to be pretty clear that he and his friends wouldn’t be talking to Queen Wasp or any HiveWing guards anytime soon.
“We’re looking for my sister,” he said. “She’s a flamesilk, and Queen Wasp took her. We think she’s keeping all the flamesilks somewhere around here.”
Belladonna, Hemlock, and Sundew all glanced at one another, suddenly alert.
“That’s —” Sundew started.
“Yes,” Hemlock answered.
“Aha,” said Belladonna.
“What?” Blue asked. “What aha?”
“It seems,” Belladonna said, taking a step closer to him, “that we can be of use to one another after all.”
“We … can?”
“You see,” Belladonna went on, “we know where the flamesilks are.”
Blue’s jaw dropped. Cricket sat up, her ears twitching and her eyes bright. Even Swordtail looked suddenly more excited than worried.
“Where are they?” Blue asked. “Did you see a new cocoon there? Was it all right?”
“We can take you to their prison,” Belladonna said. “We can even help you sneak in to rescue your sister. You just have to do one thing for us first.”
Blue’s heart sank. Whatever the LeafWings wanted, it couldn’t be good. Or safe. Or smart.
“I won’t hurt anyone,” he said.
“You don’t have to,” Belladonna said with her quicksand smile. “We’re not here to attack the Hive or fight any dragons, no matter what your queen’s propaganda says about us. We’re here for one little thing, and since we’ve been having quite a lot of trouble figuring out how to accomplish our goal, I think you’ve come along just in the nick of time. A desperate SilkWing and a helpful HiveWing are just what we need.”
“For what?” Blue asked. “What do you want us to do?”
“If you want our help finding your sister,” Belladonna said smoothly, “all you have to do … is steal the Book of Clearsight for us.”
Blue felt a reverent shiver run through him even thinking the words Book of Clearsight. He’d spent a hundred nights lying in his hammock, gazing up at the silk-shrouded stars and imagining what it had been like to be her. The greatest seer who ever lived. The wisest of dragons. Grandmother to an entire tribe.
The legends said Clearsight had been able to see the future — but not just one future: all the possible futures. She had used that power to keep the tribes safe during her lifetime. They had survived hurricanes, forest fires, and a malevolent princess or four, thanks to Clearsight. Her children and grandchildre
n and great-grandchildren were protected from every danger, growing strong and powerful and more numerous as the years went on.
Then, when Clearsight saw her peaceful death approaching, she left one last gift for her descendants: a book that foretold the future.
It warned them about everything in the years to come. The lightning strike that sheered away part of the sea cliff. The population explosion of sharks in the bay. The possible spread of a devastating bark disease in the forest. Clearsight wrote it all down, centuries of warnings, so that she could continue to protect her beloved HiveWing children, even long after her death.
The Book of Clearsight was the HiveWings’ greatest treasure. It was the reason they were the most powerful tribe in Pantala. Queen Wasp had used it to defeat the LeafWings in the war. It made her invincible.
And surely, Blue thought, cold tentacles trailing through his mind, surely it included warnings about any dragons stupid enough to try to steal it from her. She might even know they were here right now.
“I know,” Belladonna said, studying his face. “I thought the same thing. But we’ve made it this far, and we’ve been hiding in her own greenhouse for four days without anyone showing up to capture us. If the Book has warned her about us, she hasn’t bothered to do anything about it.”
“Yet,” Hemlock added impassively.
Belladonna shot him a look.
“We don’t need them!” Sundew cried. “I can steal the Book of Clearsight by myself!”
“You can’t even get near the front door by yourself,” Belladonna observed.
“Neither can we,” Blue said. “We’re no use to your plan. We’re wanted fugitives.”
“She isn’t,” Hemlock said, flicking one claw at Cricket.
That was true. Cricket could — but Cricket was shaking her head. Blue’s small flame of hope spluttered out.
Of course she would say no. He couldn’t blame her. She’d never even met Luna; she wouldn’t risk her tribe’s entire future to save a SilkWing she didn’t know.
Helping a pathetic dragon hide from hunters was one thing — an exciting adventure, complete with antiparalysis smoke and reading monkeys.
Stealing the Book of Clearsight, though … that was an unforgivable crime. She’d be betraying her whole tribe, not just her queen.
“No?” Belladonna growled, suddenly furious. She darted across to Cricket and seized the HiveWing’s jaw in her talons. “You don’t say no to me, HiveWing. You have no right, after everything your tribe has done to our homes and our dragons.”
“Don’t hurt her!” Blue cried. He tried to pull his talons free, but they were bound tightly. “Look, can’t you understand why she’d refuse? She wants to protect her tribe, same as you. You say you’re not here to hurt anyone, but then what are you planning to do with the Book once you have it?”
Belladonna hissed in Cricket’s face and shoved her away. “All we want to do is level the wind currents,” she spat. “Do you really think it’s fair that the HiveWings have had this secret knowledge for so long? That they’ve abused it to dominate and destroy other tribes? Do you think that’s what your precious Clearsight intended?”
Cricket looked down at her feet, blinking rapidly.
“Queen Wasp has already read the whole thing,” Belladonna went on. “She probably even has a copy somewhere, unless she’s an idiot. We just want to read it, too. Then we’ll all know the same things; we’ll have the same advance information. The LeafWings won’t have anything more than what the HiveWings have had for generations. Equality. That’s what we’re looking for.”
“Seems only fair,” Hemlock agreed.
“But, um,” Blue said nervously, “but then won’t you use that information to attack the Hives?”
Belladonna’s eyes glittered. “That depends on what the Book says.”
“Stop being so nosy!” Sundew said fiercely. Her talons twitched toward one of her pouches, but whatever was in there, she stopped herself from bringing it out. “Either you help us, or you die. It’s very simple!”
Blue glanced at Swordtail. He could see instantly that Swordtail was fine with this plan. He’d be happy to help even LeafWings if it meant saving Luna, and he didn’t care what happened to the HiveWings afterward.
But Cricket … this was too much to ask.
And yet the truth was, it would be impossible to pull off without her.
Blue closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I need to talk to my friends,” he said. “Give us some time to think about it.”
“To THINK about it?!” Sundew growled. She picked up a fallen branch and started snapping it into jagged splinters. “ARRRRRRRRRRRGH.”
“You have until midday,” Belladonna said, beckoning to her daughter. “Then we start formulating our plan.” She turned and disappeared into the leaves, with Sundew stomping furiously along behind her.
Hemlock untied the vine around Swordtail’s snout, then stepped across and did the same for Cricket. He paused as the vine dropped away and met Cricket’s eyes.
“Choose wisely,” he said to her.
And then he, too, slipped away into the foliage.
Blue looked up. This section was so overgrown that he couldn’t see the walls or the ceiling of the greenhouse; it was like they were in a cave made of leaves. But he could tell from the bright green color leaching into the plants that the sun was rising outside. He wondered if hunters were out already, looking for him.
Had anyone noticed Cricket was missing yet?
He rocked himself onto his side and scooted awkwardly over the rocky ground until he was next to her. She gave him a halfhearted smile and nudged his neck with her nose.
“I’m sorry,” he said to her. “I’m really, really sorry I dragged you into this.”
Cricket looked very surprised. “Did you?” she said. “I’m pretty sure I dragged myself into it. Or leaped into it, with all four feet and all four wings. I might have been yelling ‘wheeee, adventure!’ in my head, if I didn’t say that out loud.”
“Well, maybe,” he said. “But you couldn’t have expected this.”
“Neither could you,” she pointed out reasonably. “Being captured by LeafWings! It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it? I can’t believe they’re still alive! Where have they been all this time? I must say they’re a little more belligerent than I would have imagined.” She moved her jaw from side to side, wincing.
“Really?” Blue said. “We were taught that LeafWings would kill us on sight, so to me it seems quite friendly of them to postpone killing us until later.”
Cricket gave him a rueful smile. “Is there any chance they won’t kill us at all?” she asked.
“Maybe if we help them,” Blue said. “Or get away from them somehow.”
Blue glanced across at Swordtail, who was flailing around on the ground, trying to bite away the vines binding his talons.
“Um, Swordtail?” he said. “What do you think?”
“I think they’re listening to us,” Swordtail growled, “so it’s no use trying to make any escape plans.”
“True,” Belladonna’s voice called from somewhere up in the branches.
“But I think we should help them,” Swordtail said. “They have a point. The HiveWings did destroy all their trees. Queen Wasp used the Book’s knowledge to nearly wipe them out. So why shouldn’t they get to see the Book? I don’t care, as long as they take us to Luna. The only thing I’m not sure of is whether we can trust them to help us after we do what they want.”
“You can,” Belladonna’s voice called again.
“Of course you can, you ungrateful beetles!” Sundew yelled from somewhere else. “We’re not lying, conniving HiveWings! We’re LeafWings! We’re honorable!”
“If you want to be in this conversation,” Blue shouted, “just come back and be in it already.”
There was a moment of rustling silence.
“No, no,” said Belladonna’s voice. “Carry on. Pretend we’re not here.”
Swor
dtail snorted.
“Well, I’m worried,” Blue said to Swordtail. “First of all, I’m sure it’s impossible to steal the book. Secondly, even if we could, giving it to a tribe who tried to wipe us all out once upon a time seems like maybe a bad idea.”
“THAT’S NOT WHAT WE —” Sundew bellowed.
“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Belladonna hushed her.
“We’re leaving anyway, aren’t we?” Swordtail said. “We can’t ever go home. You and me and Luna and Io, if we can find her — and you, too, if you want to come,” he said to Cricket. “We’ll have to find a new place to live, far away from Wasp and the Hives and all her zombie hordes. So why should we care what happens to her or them after we’re gone? We’ll be safe, far away from here.”
“But — what about everyone else?” Blue asked. “Burnet and Silverspot? Your parents? All the dragons we went to school with? All our teachers? Cricket’s sister? Don’t you care about any of them?”
Swordtail coiled his tail in close and spread his wings. “I care about Luna,” he said. “That’s it.”
Blue couldn’t imagine that was true. Blue cared about all of them: every dragon he’d ever spoken to and all the ones he’d never seen. There were dragons out there eating blueberries and dragons laughing at clumsy tiger cubs and dragons learning to dance and dragons crying as though their hearts would break over missing homework. He’d been all of them in some way, and he couldn’t just toss them into the talons of these angry, vengeful dragons and fly off.
He turned back to Cricket. She’d managed to snap off a twig from the bush behind her, holding it between her teeth and passing it to her bound talons. She caught Blue’s eye and tapped the dirt with the stick.
“I’m not sure we have a choice,” she said out loud.
Awkwardly she wrote, PRETEND TO AGREE. ESCAPE LATER.
Blue tilted his head at her. Could they do that? Say yes to the LeafWings’ plan … agree to go after the Book … and then run off once they were inside the Hive?
They wouldn’t have the LeafWings’ help to find Luna, but with luck they could find her themselves.
It felt underhanded. He didn’t like lying to anyone, or breaking promises.