Scales of Stone (Wings of Fire: book 16)

SPOLIERS FOR ALL CANON BOOKS. BEWARE.Hey there!
I've started to pick up writing again, I apologize if there's grammatical issues in writing, please let me know if so.
Other than that, I ask that the page isn't edited without permission, thank you!
The arc prophecy is under work right now and it's quite possible that existing chapters may be edited. Character list can be found here (link coming soon) with their respective links for lore details and VOICECLAIMS. Now, without further wait....
== PYRRHIA & PANTALA ==
coming soon lol
==Invitation Letter==
Hello there, new student! 
We are more than pleased to inform you that you’ve been selected to attend as a student in the Phoenix Interkingdom Academy! So, what is this Academy, what is it for and what are our goals as a staff?
Phoenix is a kingdom built upon the wreckage of Bloodworm hive, aspiring to make a meaningful place to replace the dreadful history of the hive, hence the name, “Phoenix”; a school rebuilt from the ashes of something worse, reborn like a phoenix.
Our academy is meant for Primary, Secondary and Tertiary education, accepting dragons of all tribes ages four and above. 
Primary education
Our primary education program aims to catch students up on missing information, as you all may know, may be missing due to recent events such as wars or circumstance. 
Secondary education
Our Secondary education is currently for all students, catching Pantalans up on Pyrrhian history and educating students of both students of missing information from the continents of one another. 
Tertiary education
Next year will be our tertiary education, or university, letting our students explore the fields they want and receive degrees in fields they wish to excel for futures in science, social studies, mathematics, and literature.
Extracurriculars and extracurriculars
Extracurricular activities and electives, ranging from non-required sports, such as archery and knife sparring, to more calm activities like interkingdom arts will be available for students to choose.
Our goal is to integrate the two continents and show our students an open mind with a diverse community of dragons with even students from each tribe. Each student will be assigned to Winglets, named after avian taxidermic families with a student from each tribe. We hope that our students learn to love and accept one another in their Winglets, forming lifelong bonds with their peers. Another ambition that the academy has in particular is to share a diverse array of knowledge and experience from tribe to tribe and making education accessible to all.
We hope to see you in the fall, dear student. On the first full moon of August, meet your guide, Melon of the HiveWings to take you on your journey to Pantala.
-Headmistress Ladybug
==Prologue==
There was nothing that Bloodworm feared, nothing. She was Bloodworm, the great Lion of Pantala. She had fought triumphantly alongside the soldiers and her sister out on the battlefield. After long, long years of war, Wasp’s effort had finally been fruitful. The continent was theirs, it was Wasp’s and her sisters’. Bloodworm had been waiting on this for a while, and as promised, her hive was to be built. She couldn’t help but make a wicked grin. With the LeafWings dead and the SilkWings under the HiveHing’s control, they had finally fulfilled the destiny that Clearsight had promised. All was well.
These were just some of her thoughts as she walked down the halls of Wasp’s palace, making her way to the dining hall. She arrived at the victory dinner quite ready. Her other sisters had already arrived. Wasp was seated at the end of the table in the largest chair made of beautiful, mahogany wood, and next to her was another chair, almost as large as hers, made of painted and carved oak. She looked up at her sister. Was that seat hers?
“Take a seat, dear sister. With your bloodthirst and efforts in battle, you’ve more than deserved the seat beside the queen,” Wasp gladly hissed. Bloodworm was honored. She climbed onto the seat with a sense of pride. Wasp raised her goblet.
“My dear sisters, we have gathered here today to recognize the kingdom’s triumphant victory. We have fulfilled Clearsight’s prophecy and taken our rightful places as the leaders of Pantala and the new coming hives. I would like to acknowledge all your efforts in the Tree Wars,” Wasp paused and glanced at Bloodworm, as though acknowledging her the most, and continued “to remember those who have made a sacrifice for this kingdom,” she glanced at another empty seat at the other end of the table, “and taste our victory over the other, wretched tribes.”
The other sisters raised their goblets in the toast, making a little clink. Bloodworm glanced back to the empty seat across the room. Wasp had begun her meal, eating the well roasted flesh of a lion.
“Out of all dragons, who thought Horntail would make such a sacrifice,” she said as she took a sip of her honey mead.
“Unbelievable. That grub was the last dragon I’d expect to die in battle. He never contributed to anything. At least he redeemed himself to the kingdom in his last moments,” Wasp said, chewing a piece of her lion. Wasp was right. Horntail had always been a rather insignificant figure. He was ever so distanced from the other siblings, off in his own world, playing with trinkets and gadgets. He was their only brother. He certainly didn’t act like a lord, and nor did dragons think he was a lord. He was unworthy of his position, shopping out without servants among the commoners, without demanding their respect. He was so uninvolved in politics as well, refusing to join Wasp’s meeting with the other queens despite her many demands. His actions were truly unexpected, suddenly deciding he’d join the war with a beautiful wife and an unhatched egg waiting for him at home.
“I suppose so,” Bloodworm said, waving around her goblet and taking another sip. Wasp was quick to bring the war up again soon. “How many LeafWings do you reckon you killed?” she asked Bloodworm. The lady snickered.
“Oh, I don’t know. I lost track after the tenth one, but I must have killed a few dozen. I had a lot of fun putting my stingers to use for once. The look of agony on their faces as they got stung was indescribable,” Bloodworm bragged. A small grin grew on Wasp’s face as she sipped from her goblet.
“I must have killed a hundred at least. Who knew being out in the frontlines was this thrilling. I must admit, victory over the SilkWings was easy, but I can’t help but wonder what a fight with one would be like,” Wasp said.
“Well, why not toy around with them a bit? They are in your control now,” Bloodworm said.
“That’s what I intend to do. They’re my puppets now.” Wasp flicked her tail, making a clicking noise on the ground. A SilkWing immediately ran up to the queen, falling into a massive bow.
“Your majesty, what can I do for you?” he asked. The SilkWing was small and frail, yet very beautiful with dark blue scales like the color of oceans. His wings seemed to jitter a bit in her fear. It was quite satisfying. Wasp reached down to the SilkWing. He yelped a bit with his antenna twitching as the queen grasped onto his wrist. She dug her talon in his silk gland, pulling out a strand of silk. The SilkWing held his snout with his other talon, seemingly holding back tears of pain. Wasp pulled a long, sparkly strand of silk from his gland with her sharp, needle-like claw.
“Mmm… pretty. I’m sure these would make some nice tapestries. Go start spinning silk in that corner and don’t stop until I tell you to. We’ll see what we can do with this stuff,” she demanded from him. The SilkWing sniffed a bit and bowed, still in agony. Drops of red blood like small, pearly beads began forming over his gland.
“Y-yes, your majesty,” he said, scurrying off to the corner. Bloodworm had been astonished. Her morbid curiosity took over.
“Dear sister, do you have any more of those SilkWings?” she asked. Wasp headed back to her meal.
“We have the whole tribe, Bloodworm. Do what you want with them, I don’t care.”
“I would like to cut open one of their wrists and take their silk glands out. I want to see how those things work,” Bloodworm told her. Wasp paused, seemingly thinking.
“You have Horntail’s curiosity; that is, if it were used for something more meaningful,” she said, before turning back to her meal. Bloodworm and Wasp continued talking, discussing plans of their intentions with their new toys, until they were interrupted.
“Your majesty, Lady bloodworm-” an emerald green soldier said, bowing. Bloodworm interrupted him, slamming her talons on the marble table.
“Can you not see that I’m in a discussion here?!” she roared at the HiveWing. His voice kept squeaking.
“I’m terribly sorry, your majesty. It’s something important, it's about the construction of your hive. A problem has come up and we think you might want to check it out.”
Bloodworm looked at her sister. Wasp waved her talon as she ate, signaling for Bloodworm to go. Bloodworm nodded and bowed to the queen before wiping her snout with a silk handkerchief and getting off her seat.
“This better be something worth seeing,” she hissed at the guard. The guard seemed quite uneasy.
“I think it will be, your majesty. It’s like nothing we’ve seen before.”
“Tell me, what is it?” Bloodworm asked with a growling voice as they headed out the dining room.
“While working on the underground area of your hive, we came across a prebuilt network of caves, and inside were dozens- no, hundreds, seemingly of stone dragon statues with gemstone eyes, and they weren’t like dragon we’d seen before, no. They were two winged, some looking like Clearsight.”
“So, you found an artifact beneath my hive? I’m sure that’ll sell for a fancy price.”
“That’s not all your majesty. The statues… they almost seem alive,” the guard said in a dead serious tone. Bloodworm shot a look at the guard.
“What do you mean ‘alive’, you braindead pupa? They’re statues.”
“You might want to see for yourself, your majesty.”
The two approached the hive after a long flight, where a bunch of dragons were swarmed around the entrance of the caverns. The guards started clearing the silkwings and hivewings out, letting Bloodworm pass and accompanying her.
“Show me the way,” she told her guards. Her emerald colored guard took a few swerves and turns, finally coming to a way blocked off by silk and boulders.
“It’s behind the rubble,” he said. “We’ve blocked it off, it’s too dangerous for now.”
“Well, open it up then, what are you waiting for?” Bloodworm snapped. The guards began cutting the silk and pulling out the boulders, revealing the passageway. Immediately, a sort of eerie feel filled the air. No, that was just the fear of her subjects. Bloodworm didn’t fear anything. She began making her way into the cavern with her guards not too far behind. After a bit of walking, she came across a stone HiveWing statue with beautiful quartz eyes, a polished, gray stone body and clear glass wings like pains of glass art.
“I thought you said they were Clearsight-looking dragons and LeafWings, did you lie?!” she roared at her guard with her voice echoing through the chambers. The emerald colored guard winced.
“That’s the thing, your majesty. They’re farther down and they’re the statues we found first, but then Pollen went down here alone. We came back and…”
“That’s your little friend Pollen?” Bloodworm asked.
“No, that’s Razor. Pollen’s more far down.”
“What supposedly happened to Razor?”
“He went down to find Pollen after she didn’t return. We found her here as a group.”
A chill went down Bloodworm's spine, causing her spikes to rise a bit. She shook her head. No, you’re the Lion of Pantala. You don’t fear anything, she told herself.
“Alright, what is this nonsense?!” she yelled.
“We think- we think they’re being turned to statues,” the guard admitted. Statues? Bloodworm let out a laugh.
“You grub-for-brains, get out,” she told the emerald-colored guard.
“But your majesty-”
“Out. I’m going to disprove your little delusional theory and then send you all to the dungeons for wasting my time,” she demanded. All the guards looked at one another in fear, almost hesitant to leave, before they started to make their way out. Bloodworm looked into the cavern. There was nothing to fear. After all, she’d gone face to face with LeafWings, slain dragons with incredible Leafspeak. Nothing was going to kill her. She began making her way deeper into the cavern with a jar of flame silk lighting up the way, and she found another hivewing statue. This can’t be that HiveWing they mentioned, named Pollen, can it? She wondered. Of course it can’t be. She probably got lost in the maze of statues, she thought.
She kept walking in the dark cavern until she came across a dark, massive part of the cave. She held her jar out, and alas, it was a garden of stone dragons. Unbelievable. She went up to the closest dragon and ran her talons across the statue. It was covered in cobwebs, possibly not touched for many, many years. It was the same gray stone as the hivewing statue, but it looked like the statue of Clearsight in Wasp hive, and of course, most notably, it had gemstone eyes the color of sapphire.
Incredible, she thought. She went up to another statue, but this one was a little different. It was a two winged, mutant seeming dragon with a curled tail. It had razor sharp, snake-like teeth and a frill on the sides of its ears. It looked a lot like a LeafWing, but it didn’t have the webbing. How odd, she thought. Perhaps an artistic choice?
Creeeeaaaakkkk. A sort of creaking noise echoed across the caverns. Bloodworm shot her head around and thrashed her tail.
“Who’s there?!” she roared. There was no response. She looked back at the statue she was observing. She held her lantern to the stone dragon, but something was off. The jaw seemed as though it was wider, but it couldn’t be, right? Of course it couldn’t. Bloodworm shook her head. It’ll be fine as soon as these statues are out for display. It must be the setting.
Creeeeaaaaaakkkkkk. The creaking was back. Bloodworm shot around again, waving around her flame silk lantern. Again, there was no one.
“I swear on Clearsight that I’ll rip your throat out and feed it to the hyenas if you don’t show yourself!” she roared. No response. Her wings shuddered and she was turning back around, when she saw the Clearsight-looking statue, just a little closer to her, and its mouth was open this time. She came close to the statue and tapped its snout. It couldn’t be moving, could it? There was no way. Something suddenly grabbed her neck. Bloodworm shot around, only to be met with the obsidian eyes of the deformed LeafWing statue with its talons on her neck. Dear Clearsight, they are moving. Without a second thought, Bloodworm ran the way she came from, through the narrow passageway as fast as she could. She noticed the HiveWing statues had moved from their places as well, supposedly following her until she was too far away. She kept running and running as the stone floors scraped the bottoms of her talons, and there they were, her guards, waiting at the end of the cavern for her.
“Shut it off, shut it off!” Bloodworm roared at them. They obeyed immediately, putting back the boulders before. They brought in SilkWings to web the area off with one, two, three, ten layers of silk.
“What did you see, your majesty?” the emerald guard asked. Should Bloodworm talk about it? Should she say something?
“That’s none of your concern,” she hissed, “but no one can know or come into this place, ever.”
“Not even Queen Wasp?” the guard asked.
“Not even her. No one will know about this place. Label it as a safety hazard and make sure no one opens this passageway, ever.”
The emerald HiveWing bowed and got to work, commanding the SilkWings and lower level guards. Bloodworm was escorted out the cave system by her guards and returned to Wasp hive. She couldn’t help but shake the thoughts away. She had felt true fear for the first time in her life. The Lion of Pantala, the supposedly fearless dragon and the most ruthless lady of the hives, had a fear, a single fear that Bloodworm would be sure to keep hidden from the world for as long as she breathed.
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