Silhouettes and Stars

Blurb: They said it couldn’t be found, not without incredible luck, a seer, or incredible pain…Whatever that meant. But he found it, and he helped them take down the queen of the Hives. He lived there for the rest of his life in peace, away from magic and evil queens and buried legend. And his daughter lives on, in a continent that was once his home, Denebola was legend, and his daughter, Compass, thought her whole life that her father had fled, and her mother dead, died in a fire, but it was not her true father that fled, nor her true mother, for she does not have pure nightwing blood, but the blood of a dragon from another continent…
Map
thumb|600px|centreCharacters:
main
Abispa
Denebola
Acherontia
minor
Compass
Queen Wasp
Qibli
Moonwatcher
Jerboa II
Books in the Silhouettes and Stars series:
# Silhouettes and Stars
# Dreams and Legends
# Truths and Tales
Prophecy:
Turn your eyes, your wings, your fire
To the land across the sea
Where dragons are poisoned and dragons are
dying
And no one can ever be free
A secret lurks within their eggs
A secret hides within their book
A secret buried far below 
Will save those brave enough to look
Open your hearts, your minds, your wings
To the dragons who flee from the Hive.
Face a great evil with talons united
Or none of the tribes will survive.
== ~Prologue~ ==
13 years ago…
The
Dragonet fled through the dark hole, their new wings fluttered slightly. They
would get to fly. Where would they go? To the Distant Kingdoms? That was an
option. Maybe they’d find a nice island on the way, and just eat fish and
seaweed for the rest of their life…
The
cold night air of the beach hit their face. They breathed in the beautiful
scent. It was amazing. They felt free, for the first time in their entire life,
they actually felt free.
A
soft blue glow caught their eyes. They turned slowly, fear engulfed them, but
curiosity was growing. They’d never been further than the Hive’s before, what
was this strange glowing thing?
The
dragonet edged closer, tucking their wings into their side. Maybe their dark
colours would help them blend in…?
A
strand of beautiful little white beads lay on the ground. The source of the
aqua-blue glow. The dragonet tentatively reached out, their talon shaking
slightly. They picked the strand of beads up and looked at it. They were cold
in their talon, and incredibly smooth. 
Suddenly,
the beads started to move, weaving up the dragonets arm. They started to panic,
the beads were tight around the dragonets arm. Suddenly, they disappeared. The
dragonet looked down at their arm, confused. 
They
run their talons over their arm, there were slight davit’s where the beads
where. The dragonet spun a strand of glowing orange silk, peering at their arm,
they couldn’t see a sign of the beads. 
The
colours of dawn started to blead out into the sky. Pinks and oranges and
purples and reds, it was beautiful. The dragonet was finally free…
Wingbeats
echoed over-head. The dragonet looked up to see a HiveWing patrol flash past.
They cowered in fear. I am invisible,
they cannot see my, I’m invisible, I’m invisible…
 The
patrol landed in front of them. Talking amongst themselves.
“They
wouldn’ be ou’ here, their only a dragone’.” They heard one of the guards say.
“They
still might have” another guard shot back.
“why’s
the queen need this one anyway, she has plenty other Flamesilks.” The dragonet
froze. The guards were looking for them. They were out in the open, surly it
wasn’t going to be long before the patrol spotted them. 
A
guard turned, staring straight at her, those nightmare-inducing black eyes
staring into the dragonet’s. They were frozen with fear. They stood there,
frozen, for at least five minutes before the guard was distracted.
“Oi,
Stinger!” a guard yelled at the one in front of the dragonet.
The
group of guards took off, back to which ever Hive they come from.
The
dragonet glanced down at their talons, wondering why the guard hadn’t seen
them. They freaked out for a minute when they couldn’t see their talons, then
something pricked in the back of their mind. The glowing beads.
 The
dragonet imagined they were a soft blue colour, with black talons. When they
glanced down again, that’s what they saw. They could change their appearance. 
So
they become a HiveWing, a guard, and flew to the Wasp Hive.
== ~Chapter One~ ==
18 years
later…
Denebola looked out over the
tumbling waves. He would find the lost continent, even if it took him 10 years,
he would. He could feel it, out there, somewhere was the lost continent. And
out there those dragons needed help. Den knew a dragon with magic, animus magic,
she was the daughter of the dragon of legend, the daughter of Jerboa. She was
Jerboa the second.
The dragon from the lost
continent he had seen, the one with wings and antennae of a butterfly, had
believed Jerboa was the first dragon to find her. Den had been the one to find
her, lying in the sand, looking like a god, he had flown to Jerboa straight
away. It wasn’t a coincidence that Jerboa had found the Silkwing – Den had
asked Jerboa if she knew anything of the dragon, she replied with ‘yes, her
name is Luna and her tribe is known as silkwings… and there is a new prophecy.’
The new prophecy bit was interesting, and Den had taken to memorising it:
Turn your eyes, your wings, your fire
To the land across the sea
Where dragons are poisoned and dragons are dying
And no one can ever be free
A secret lurks within their eggs
A secret hides within their book
A secret buried far below 
Will save those brave enough to look
Open your hearts, your minds, your wings
To the dragons who flee from the Hive.
Face a great evil with talons united
Or none of the tribes will survive.
The salty spray of the ocean
bellow bought Den back to the present. He gazed out over the open ocean. It was
time to go.
Den leapt into the wing with his
midnight black wings spread, the smell of the ocean hit him and he breathed it
in. He didn’t know where he was going, or how he would get there, but he knew,
he knew he’d find the Lost Continent. 
Denebola had been flying for
days. He’d lost track of how many days and nights had gone by. His wings were
tired and his eyes were drooping, several times he’d swooped away from the
water seconds before he hit it because he’d fallen asleep. His wings were week
and he was incredibly hungry. He’d have to land soon.
A small island appeared on the
horizon, it gave Den strength, it was a beautiful little thing, two palm trees
nodded towards each other, and lazy bull sharks cruised around the shallows. He
swooped down to the island and touched down on the warm sand. 
Den snatched a shark from the
water nearby and ate it hungrily. He yawned and stared out over the water. The
sound of a thunder crack rolled in the distance, Den shrugged it off, it would
go by the island and he’d head off for the Lost Continent in the morning…
== ~Chapter Two~ ==
Lightning flashed as she ran to the hives, the wind was to strong, this would rip her into the sky. Why was it so far inland? She turned back to see the Hive to her right – Jewel Hive – go up in flames seconds after lightning hit the roof of it.
Her home… her family… she had to get them out, before lightning struck Bloodworm Hive – her hive – as well.
Wings buzzed in the oncoming storm, sounding like the lightning and thunder itself…
Den sat up, and immediately
wished he hadn’t so quickly. Something was fogging the vision in his left eye,
and his wing was incredibly sore, along with several other places on his body.
He slowly pushed himself up, there were several cuts on his body, and his wing
appeared to be broken, how would he get to the Lost Continent now? 
It suddenly hit him. The Dream…
The dragon in it was not one from his continent. She had orange scales, the
colour only a rainwing could achieve, but they were different, more armour
plated. She also had black dots under her eyes, and several black bands up her
arm. And four wings. Well, defiantly not a dragon from his continent then. 
The rain was pelting down around
him, he was in a bay by the look of it, and he couldn’t see very far in front
of his talons, to he trudged through the wet sand away from the sound of what
he presumed was the opposite way of the crashing waves behind him.
The sky was beginning to clear,
but the rain was still bucketing down. In the far distance he could start to
make out the outline of something that appeared like a giant vine swinging in
the storm. 
Den was standing in an open
field, the vine-like structure swinging in the howling wind above him. The pain
in his wings and body was throbbing more and more as the clouds above him
rolled on. His wing was defiantly broken, and the sail on his back had several
tears all along it. 
Suddenly, a dragon shot over his
head, the wind from their wings created a small storm of grass around him. He
recognised that dragon, where had he seen them before? It clicked. The shiny orange
scaled, the glimpse of black bands around their ankles, the black dots under
their eyes. He willed his body to run after her, sprinting as fast as a dragon
with a broken wing could. The dragon in front of him touched down. 
A snapping kind of sound echoed
in the storm behind Den, he swung around to see the giant vine snap. It crashed
to the ground and dragged along the savannas tuff grass. The top of the
tree-like structure it was connected to crumpled a bit at the top and a few
dragons took to the air. 
Den turned to face the
four-winged dragon a few dragon lengths in front of him. She was facing the
structure behind him. So far, if this was anything like his Dream, that
structure – Jewel Hive – would catch fire. He heard, and felt, the shock was of
the lightning bolt as it struck the top of the hive, his black scales
glistening in the light and the rain. The dragon in front of him turned and began
to run to the opposite Hive – her home, Bloodworm Hive. 
Denebola didn’t know why, but he
had the feeling that if the beautiful orange dragon running towards the Hive
went inside, she’d never come out again. He couldn’t stop himself and was
yelling out to her before he knew what he was doing.
“Hay!” he yelled. The dragoness
stopped in her tracks and turned to scan the ground behind her. She froze when
her eyes met his. Her eyes widened, like she’d seen a ghost. The orange dragon
bunched up her muscles, ready to pounce in the air, Den ran forward and grabbed
her tail before she could get far off the ground. 
The dragoness froze, and spun
around mid-air to face him, eyes wide with horror, and almost awe. Suddenly she
tucked herself into a tight ball, and before Den could register, the spines on
her back shot out. 
One went through Denebola’s wing,
another into his leg, and the last just grazed his neck. Den flipped the
dragoness onto her back and held her down. 
“I don’t want to hurt you!” He
yelled over the rolling thunder. 
“If I let you go do you promise
you won’t run into Bloodworm Hive!?” He called to her.
“How-do you-Clearsight-what!?”
She yelled at him, confusion covered her face. The loud crack of thunder echoed
around them.
“Do you!?” Den asked again. The
orange dragon breathed in, then nodded. He let her up, and she turned to face
the Hive. 
“Your-your family will be okay”
He muttered. She turned and gave him a strange look. 
Suddenly, lightning flashed and
the Hive in front of them went up in flames.
“No!” The dragoness yelled.
Collapsing to the ground. She started to shake as she cried.
“I-I’m sorry, but if you went in
there…” 
“I know” She replied.
“But how did you?”
== ~Chapter Three~ ==
“Do you know who Clearsight was?” Vespa, the dragon Denebola had
saved earlier asked. They sat in a cave away from the storm and the rain. The
pain in Den’s arm, and the rest of his body was easing, though his wing was
throbbing so much he thought it would fall off.
“I’ve heard of her, she was
around at the time a legend on our continent arose, but I don’t know much about
her other than that she could see the future” Den replied, wincing as Vespa
moved over to examine his wing. 
“She’s like a god on our
continent.” Vespa replied, wrapping sheets of cob-web and grass stems around
some sticks she was using as splints of Den. 
“There’s at least one memorial of
her in each Hive. But there’s a whole temple in our main Hive, Wasp Hive,
that’s where our queen lives to.” Vespa said, she looked respectful, like she
was remembering someone important, she was, Den supposed.
“Why is she so much of a legend,
what did she do for your tribes?” Den asked, cocking his head to the side a
bit.
Vespa considered what he said for
a second.
“Because she saved us from a
raging hurricane, Pantala would be very different if she hadn’t”
“Pantala?” Den asked
“It is what we call out continent.”
“We also worship her because she
gave us a book – called the Book of Clearsight – that she wrote every future
that she saw for our tribes in.” Something clicked in Den’s head. Did the book
of Clearsight have something to do with the book in the prophecy?
“Denebola?” Vespa bought his
attention back.
“Sorry, keep going” He said.
“And I think HiveWings worship
her so much because we believe every HiveWing is related to her, we think that
she is the reason our tribe exists, because she married a yellow SilkWing named
Sunstreak, and she was a dragon from your tribe” Vespa said. Denebola was
amazed, could a whole tribe really be descended from Clearsight? It was amazing
to think about. They settled down for the night, den created a fire, it was
slowling flickering to embers by the time he slept.
The rain poured down on slick wet scales, yellow and orange and red. Black eyes turn to white...
The rain had stopped, thankfully.
Den hated the rain, it was too wet. It seemed Vespa hated it as well.
“Ack, I hate the rain. It gets everywhere I swear to Clearsight!” Vespa
yelled as they trudged through the soaked grass. The ground beneath their feet
squelched as they walked on, slowly towards the Hives, well, what was left of
Bloodworm and Jewel Hives anyway.
Vespa became quite as they
approached.
“My home…” She whispered as the
ruins of Bloodworm Hive lay in front of them. 
“I-It’s alright.” Denebola said,
wandering how to comfort her. Vespa was staring at the ground, it looked like
she was trying not to cry.
“Hay.” Den said, lowering his
head to try and look at her eyes.
“It’s alright to cry” He said. Vespa
sniffled and a tear run down her snout. Den’s heart stuttered, it made him feel
sad, to see her cry. 
Denebola wrapped is wings around Vespa.
“It’ll be okay” He whispered.
“Don’t be afraid”
== ~Chapter Four~ ==
“So? Yes or no? Tthey’ll just
think your like Clearsight.” Vespa said.
“But I can’t actually see the
future” Den said.
“So? Just pretend you can.” Vespa
stated, flicking her tail. 
“Fine.” Den huffed, following Vespa
out of the cave. It had been a few weeks of none-stop rain, and Vespa had to
help Den to a higher cave, as the one they were in had flooded. Den’s wing was
better and he could finally fly.
Vespa and Den took to the sky, Vespa
righted herself and twisted around. 
“We’ll get there in about a day” Vespa
shouted over her shoulder. Den rolled his eyes and huffed. 
“I’m not meant to fly all day!”
He yelled back.
“Well how’d you get here then?”
She replied with a laugh. Den huffed and kept flying. 
The sun was beginning to set by
the time Wasp Hive appeared on the horizon. There had been one other crumbled
Hive they’d flown past, although from Bloodworm Hive – or what was left of it –
it was a direct fly past Jewel Hive to get to Wasp Hive, Vespa had decided to
go around, in case they run in to her family, or dead bodies. The other Hive
that had been struck was Vinegaroon Hive. 
“Let’s rest until the morning.” Vespa
said, settling down on the long grass. It was to open for Denebola’s liking,
but that didn’t really matter, they’d get there in the morning…
Claws slashed, and teeth flashed. Black eyes, soulless and forever continuing controlled the white-eyed army of the Hive...
Denebola awoke to a pricking pain
in his side. He sat up and saw that Vespa was curled in a ball across from him.
He looked around and saw a few of her spines across the ground. One was lodged
in his side. 
He pulled it out with a wince,
she’d probably had a nightmare. He heaved himself up and slowly moved over to Vespa’s
sleeping form. 
“Vespa” He whispered, placing a
talon on her shoulder.
“Vespa!” He whispered again,
slightly shaking her shoulder. Vespa suddenly sat up.
“What!?” She said, surprised and
scared. She looked around and saw her spines lying across the ground.
“Again…?” she whispered, mostly
to herself. Den wandered what she meant by ‘again’. Maybe he’d ask her later.
They’d decided to walk the rest
of the way to Wasp Hive. It was much larger than he would have expected, made
of wood and silk, apparently that a tribe of dragons of this continent, called
Silkwings, dragons like Luna, could spin. 
Den could see the silhouettes of
dragons in the dawn. Their wingbeats where silent and light, like a
butterflies, their bodies where much the same, in shades of any colour under
the sun, excluding black. Each dragon carried a lantern, and each one past them
by without a second glance. But by the time the sun had crawled its way above
the horizon, more dragons where out, and now Den was getting much more
side-glances, and when dragons looked closer, most of them stopped completely
what they were doing. Their jaws would drop, and whatever they were holding
clanged to the ground. 
The guards at the entrance to the
Hive stopped and stared, even their straight faces dropped slightly, like
they’d seen a spirit. 
“Stinger, get the queen!” one
turned around and yelled into the hive. The guard’s spears dropped, blocking
the entrance. 
“Who are you?” One said, trying
to sound tuff, but their voice was still shaking. Time for what they’d
practiced…
“I’m Vespa, and this… this is a
dragon from Clearsight’s continent… from her tribe.” Vespa half whispered, half
boomed at the guard. Both of the guard’s spears and jaws dropped, four
black-and-brown eyes stared at him.
“I am Denebola, I am the ancestor
of Clearsight’s Sister, Forsight. I am here because of a vision I received that
the tribes of Pantala where in danger. I must see your queen.” The two guards
stared, and the buzz of wing-beats echoed around the savanna. The HiveWings and
Den squinted up.
A dragon was descending from the
highest level of the Hive. A dragon with yellow scales, and perfect black
stripes, a dragon with pure, soulless and forever continuing black eyes glared
down at them. The Queen of the hives landed in front of them. 
== ~Chapter Five~ ==
“The ancestor of Clearsight” The
Queen said.
“So you can see the future.” The
Queen stated. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.” Den answered, his black
scales glistening in the hot savanna sun.
“Tell me then, Denebola, what will happen to the dear
LeafWings it a few years’ time.” The Queen sneered.
“I will have your answer in an hour. That’s how it works.
I can only see certain things, so
this might not be accurate, Majesty.”
Den said, mocking the Queens tone. Her eyes became slits, but she didn’t let
her anger show besides that. 
“And tell me” Den said as the
queen was about to lift off. “What of your oh-so-precious book. What does it
say?” Den said. The Queen’s eyes widened. Oh, he knew of the book, from the
stories Vespa told him. But he also knew that no dragon, even Clearsight, could
see this far into the future.
“What does it say of the LeafWings?” The Queens glare could knock a dragon
flat, but Den stood his ground. 
“It says the LeafWings will murder half my tribe for no moons-damned
reason. What does your head say?” At
this stage, both of them where glaring at each other, and den could almost
slice the tension with his claw. The guards behind the queen were in a defence
stance, but they looked worried, like either him of their Queen could snap at
any moment.
“I’ll have your answer in an
hour.” Den growled, turning his back and stalking away. 
He turned in a split second and
sliced at the Queen, who had her claws extended and leaping towards him. No one
had time to warn him, but he knew. Maybe he could see the future, in whatever
twisted way his dreams and feelings worked. 
“I can’t believe you did that” Vespa
whispered as they walked through the Hive. Every dragon stared at them, at the
blood on the Queens snout. She looked calm, but Den knew she was furious. Well
at least she believed her could see the future now. He did to.
“Stay. In. There.” The Queen
pointed to a room. 
“Make sure they do.” she growled
at one of the guards, they nodded. Vespa and Den where ushered into the room,
the door was slammed behind them.
“Do you reckon you can actually
see the future, after that? I mean, she moved so fast, and the no one warned
you, it-it’s like you saw it coming.” Vespa whispered, her eyes wide.
“Maybe, she looked really
furious, I wouldn’t be surprised if she killed me.” He answered. Vespa yawned. 
“I think we should sleep, it is
dark outside” She said, looking out the window. Den replied with a nod. 
He lay down, and Vespa walked
over. She curled up into him and his heart missed a beat. He looked down at her
sleeping form through the last rays of light. And his heart softened. 
Den curled up around Vespa and
sleep overcome him.
Maybe he was a seer, but maybe he
wasn’t. But now? He knew, in his heart, that he defiantly loved Vespa.
But her scales flashed, her eyes were black. How was she still
the same…?
“Den” Someone whispered in his
ear. He slowly sat up, blinking. It was still dark, but the first rays of light
where creeping into the room. Den’s eyes adjusted, and Vespa was sitting in
front of him. She looked scared.
“What-what’s the matter” he
asked, moving a bit closer to her. 
“I-I don’t know. I have this
feeling, like something bad is going to happen. I-I need to tell you something,
in case something does happen.” Den wrapped his wings around her as a tear
crawled its way down her snout, he held her against him. 
“It’s okay” He whispered.
“Nothing’s going to happen.”
Vespa looked up to him, searching
his eyes, and he searched hers. 
“It’s just-” The door was quietly
opened and Den twisted around, instinctively using his wings to shield Vespa.  
A small dragonet, maybe 5 years
old, stood in the door. Huge wings like a butterflies extended from their back.
Their scales where gold, but a line of blue ran down the middle of their body. 
Den let out a sigh of relief and
lowered his wings, Vespa still crouched behind him, looking past his fore-leg.
The dragonet was small, they looked fragile and week. In their arms they held a
plate of food, and carried a scroll in one of their talons.
“Th-this is for you.” The
dragonet said, handing them the food and the scroll. 
“I-I suggest not eating the food”
The dragonet whispered. They then turned around and disappeared out the door. 
== ~Chapter Six~ ==
Turned out the food was
poisonous. A rat had come along and taken a crumb, and died a minute later.
But the scroll on the other hand…
If you are reading this, you would have figured out the food was poisonous. No, that was a test. You are probably sitting here going, ‘well, it’s obviously from the Queen, she wants to kill us, along with this letter.’ You are wrong. My name is Acherontia, I am the silkwing that took you the food. I work in the kitchens of the Hive; I need your help. The queen will let you out, but only for the day. Guards will have all eyes on you two, especially you Denebola, I barely got this scroll to you… anyway. I need you to meet me at the markets, Vespa, I believe you know how to get there? Meet me there, I’ll be at the jewellery shop, but I won’t look like that, I’ll tell you more when we meet. 
Shred this up and burn it, in case someone finds it.
~Acher 
Both him and Vespa had read the
scroll.
“what, how do they change their
appearance, how does that work?” Vespa asked, confused.
“Well… There’s something like it
on my continent, it’s called animus magic. If a dragon has it, they can
basically do anything, besides create life, and bring back the dead.” Den
replied.
“wow…That sounds dangerous”
“It is. I think, maybe, this
dragon – Acherontia – isn’t actually a silkwing, or they’ve somehow been cursed
by an animus dragon.” Den stated.
“Maybe…”
“You’ ‘loud out now” A Hivewing
guard with a strange sort of lisp said. Den shut the scroll and set it on fire,
squishing the flame out when there was nothing left.  
“I can’t believe they knew out
names, how did they know, I don’t think anyone would have told them” Vespa
stated, confused. 
“well maybe it’s like how they
said they won’t look like how we say them, maybe it’s kind of the same?” 
“Maybe…” She replied, trailing
off. 
The walls of the Hive intrigued
Denebola, they looked paper thin, yet the only thing that bought them down in
the storm was lightning. He guessed everything would be supper flammable then. Vespa
told him they were made from trees, and that Pantala used to be almost entirely
trees. But when the Tree wars broke out 52 years ago, all the trees were
ordered to be cut down by Queen Wasp. Except for the poison jungle, with its
reputation of highly poisonous plants, and probably some living LeafWings. 
The markets were much busier than
Den expected. There were dragons absolutely everywhere. And as soon as Den
stepped into the light, every dragon turned to him. Jaws dropped and eyes
widened, whispers moved through the crowd. Den noticed that all the eyes of the
guards were on him. Archerontia was right. 
They spent at least half-an-hour
looking for the mysterious dragon, they found Den and Vespa before they found
Acher. Acher was much different to earlier. That’s all Den could say. They had
ocean blue scales with white specs at the edge of them. Acher’s scales also had
a shiny dust kind of tinge near their spine. Acher’s wings were blue, white and
gold. And were very beautiful. Den couldn’t tell if Acher was a male or a
female, even their voice sounded in-the-middle. Den guessed Acher didn’t
identify as a gender anyway.
“follow me, there are too many
eyes – and ears – here.” Acher said, ushering the down a small corridor behind
a market stall. Acher pulled a heavy rug over the top of it, closing a trap
door as well. 
“All these corridors were maid as
structural supports, and for the workers to get in and out of construction
zones, but the Queen forgot about them years ago, there are a few of us who
know about them. They can take you unseen and unheard anywhere in the Hive.”
Acher said, crawling through the darkness. Suddenly, there was an orange glow
filling the tunnel. Den stumbled for a moment in the sudden light, fear
engulfed him.
“You’re a Flamesilk!?” Vespa
whisper-yelled. 
“Well – yeah – but, I’m not going
to burn anything, I promise” Acher said.
“Wait – what’s a Flamesilk?” Den
asked, confused.
“A SilkWing that has a silk like
substance that is made of fire.” Acher said. Something dinged in the back of
Den’s mind.
“How can you change your
appearance?”
She is the ancestor, of the queen’s resistor and she will forever be sane…
== ~Chapter Seven~ ==
It was a long story, and an
interesting one…
“It was a few days after I’d come
out of my chrysalis, I was in the Flamesilk cavern, under Wasp hive, this is my
actual appearance to by the way, and after a few days, I found this hole. It
was big enough for me to get through, but there were think roots in the way of
it. I spent a few months breaking away the roots, without the guards – or the
other Flamesilk’s – noticing. And one night, a spare night when no-one was
spinning, and the cavern was dark, I slipped through the hole.” Acher paused
for a second, remembering that fateful night.
“I come out at the beach. It was
pitch black, but I could see something glowing. I was too scared to use my
Flamesilk to light it up, so I moved towards it. It was a string of pearls.
They were beautiful, white, glowing a fait aqua-blue colour. As soon as I
picked them up, they wrapped themselves around my arm. At first, I freaked out,
but then they disappeared. I didn’t know what was going on. Dawn was starting
to break the horizon, and I saw a group of HiveWings heading my way. I was only
6, and had one of the best imaginations there was. I pretended I was invisible;
I didn’t know better. They landed right in front of me, I thought I was
finished. One looked straight at me, they stared for at least five minutes,
then the wing flew off. I couldn’t believe it. I looked down at my talons and
realised they were invisible. I changed back to my actual colours, and then
imagined I was a HiveWing. I become a HiveWing. A LeafWing, A SilkWing
dragonet.  I could shape-shift, all
thanks to the pearls.” Acher was staring off into nothing, the silk in his
hands glowing softly. 
“Wow…” Vespa whispered. Amazement
covered he face. Den was equally amazed.
“I’d say they were animus
touched, by a SeaWing probably, and then they got washed up here.” Denebola
replied. 
“An animus?” Acher asked. 
“A dragon that can enchant
anything to do anything, the only thing they can’t do is resurrect the dead.”
Den answered. 
“Sounds like trouble.” 
“They are…”
They agreed to sleep in the
tunnels that night, where no one could find them. Vespa had curled up to Den,
and Acher gave him a suggestive look, which he returned with a glare. The group
of three drifted to sleep. Not knowing white eyes watched them from the edge of
the shadows…
Den awoke with an incredibly
stiff body. Which he couldn’t move. His eyes darted around. He was in a
cage-like structure, it was made of glass and polished wood, and he was
surrounded by thick glass, at least a claws-length wide. It had small holes in
it, maybe for breath, maybe so he could hear something. He was in a sitting
position, his wings tilted slightly back, his head tilted up and his tail
curled around his talons. 
“Well, it seems your awake. So
much for getting my answer in an hour…” The spine chilling voice of Wasp echoed
through the dark. 
“I have nothing better to do with
you… leave you paralysed in a cage, for all the HiveWings and SilkWings to gape
at, the ancestor of Clearsight. Well,
won’t that be wondrous.” Wasp spat.
Den felt his body release, he turned towards the voice of the Queen. 
“Clearsight didn’t see this far
into the future! She didn’t even see to the Tree Wars, let alone until now!
You’re a lying piece of –”   
“tut tut tut, don’t talk to your
Queen like that.”
“You’re not my Queen! Clearsight
saw that the Tribes were in danger! Danger from you! How do they live like
this!? How do they let you control them!?” Den was snarling at Wasp, pure hate
burning in his eyes. 
“Well I guess it’s too late for
you.” Wasp snickered, moments before Denebola lost conscience. 
Visions of dragons with leaf
shaped wings and green and brown scales flashed past. One in particular kept
appearing. They had beautiful, deep green scales, with flecks of gold on their
face and wings, they had mahogany brown scales running down the centre of their
back. They had soft green wing membrane and striking gold eyes. 
She was a guardian. The guardian, the last guardian. The last guardian of the trees. And her name, was Goldenrain.
“Run!” a LeafWing screamed. Trees collapsed to the ground and HiveWings stormed the forest.
“No, we will fight! For the trees!” Dragons charged behind the golden, green and brown LeafWing. Plants started to move, dragging HiveWings out of the sky. It wasn’t just LeafWings behind Goldenrain. SilkWings followed, shooting silver strands from their wrist, but some shot solid fire. And even some HiveWings fought with the LeafWings.
The HiveWings fell, one-by-one. Wasp was pinned beneath dragons, they fell from her, but the last dragons slashed, and connected. 
But in her last breath, the evil queen laughed. 
“And it has only just begun…”
And he’ll never be free from the queen of the Hive, but what of the guardian of the trees…?
== ~Chapter Eight~ ==
A tapping on the glass woke Denebola. He looked up.
“Vespa!” He cried in relief. 
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of
there soon.” She said, moving something inside the lock on his cage. 
“But the queen can control you,
can’t she?”
“If she could, she would have
already. I don’t know what it is, but occasionally, HiveWings have been immune
to the Queen’s mind control” Vespa replied.
“And your one of them?” Den
asked.
“Yes” The lock popped open, and Vespa
threw her arms and wings around him. 
“Remember when I said I wanted to
tell you something?” She whispered in his ear. 
“Mmm?” He replied.
“I-I –” Vespa paused. Den looked
down at her. Her eyes widened, her jaw was open like she was going to scream,
but no sound came out.
“Vespa?” Den asked, her eyes
began to glaze over as her watched her.
“Vespa!?” An evil laugh echoed
around the room, a hooded figure appeared behind her. 
“I’m afraid we can’t have dragons
rescuing you, seer.” It wasn’t the
queens voice, but who else could it be. Den carefully placed Vespa on the
ground, but he never broke eye contact. An image of a knife held by the hooded
dragon flashed past seconds before the dragon leapt. They weren’t fast enough
and Den slashed a claw across their throat. 
The dragon lay behind Den on the
ground, shaking slightly. A pool of blood puddled around their head. Den shook
the blood from his talons and rushed over to Vespa. She was breathing shallow,
and there was a small trail of blood dripping out the side of her mouth.
“Vespa, don’t leave me, you can’t
leave me. Please don’t go, please Vespa, you can’t.” Den sobbed. The HiveWing
reached up and stroked the side of his face. 
“I promise I won’t” She whispered
lightly. Her eyes shut, and she became a dead weight in Denebola’s arms. 
“I love you…” He whispered, tears
soaking his snout. Den leaned down and kissed Vespa on the forehead. He picked
her up and pushed his way out of the room. 
When Denebola looked back, the
body of the dead cloaked figure was gone. 
Den lay Vespa down in the tunnels
in front of Acher. 
“She’s not dead” Acher said,
waving their talon above Vespa’s snout. 
“She’s still breathing.” 
“Can you save her?” Denebola
asked, his eyes were still bloodshot. Acher nodded. Suddenly it was silver
strands of silk, not gold, spilling from Acher’s wrists. The silk wrapped
around Vespa, completely enclosing her. The Silk glowed a soft aqua-blue. Like the pearls.
 “They had another ability, didn’t
they?” Den asked. Acher, somehow, knew what he was talking about.
“I only knew they could create a
healing substance when I was attacked a year ago. I was mortally wounded, so I
spun silk around myself. I was shocked when it was a silver aqua-green. Like
the pearls I found. When I broke out of the silk a day later, I was fully
healed.” Acher said while spinning the silk cacoon around Vespa. 
Den sat in silence watching the
silvery cacoon that withheld Vespa. She had tried to tell him something today.
And two days before. What was it? What
did she want to say? All he could do for the time being was wonder. 
The Hive will remember, the legend of three, they’ll escape one day, but never be free…
It had been two days since Acher
had wrapped Vespa up in the silvery cacoon. And Denebola hadn’t left her side,
not once. Hunger scrapped the inside of his stomach, but he wouldn’t eat, not
while Vespa was inside the cacoon, healing, or dying. Den tried not to think of
the possibilities besides that Vespa was getting better. She would be okay. 
== ~Chapter Nine~ ==
Vespa had been better than ever
when she slashed her way out of the cacoon, though her memory of the night she
broke Den out was a bit blurry. But she remembered that she’d wanted to tell
him something.
“Acher, can you get some food,
I’m soo hungry, and I think the queen will want to find us.” Vespa asked. 
“Sure” Acher said, they looked
like they knew something Den didn’t. Know he was curious. Acher slipped out of
the tunnel, locking the hatch behind them. They’d decided as a group that
they’d lock the tunnels from the inside, seeing as that’s how the dragon had
managed to kidnap Den last time. 
Den didn’t even see it coming,
and he was a seer for moons sake, but
the second Acher had slipped through the trap door, Vespa had him pinned
beneath her. Before he knew what happened, Vespa kissed him, once, quickly on
the lips, then stood up, her face was redder than a tomato. 
“S-sorry.” She said looking down
at her feet. 
“I-it’s okay” Den said, still
surprised. 
“It-I-just, every time I tried to
tell you, I was interrupted, I just thought –” Before Vespa could finish, Den
had her pinned to the wall, kissing her. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms
and wings around him. 
When Den pulled away, they stayed
entwined together, their wings and arms wrapped around each other.
“I love you” Den whispered in her
ear. Vespa giggled.
“I love you too” She said,
smiling. Den wrapped his tail around hers, and Vespa leaned into him, closing
her eyes. 
The creak of a trap door echoed
through the tunnels, signalling Acherontia’s return. 
“What did I miss.” The dragon
said, although Den was pretty sure Acher new exactly what had happened. 
“Not much.” Vespa replied
cheerily from Den’s side. 
“Well, I have food.” Acher said
hauling a sack in front of themselves. “A lot
of food.” The group burst into laughter. What good times they’d had…
Acher gave the strand of pearls
to Den. 
“Just imagine what you want to
look like, and you’ll become it.” They said. Their scales hadn’t changed from
their previous appearance, their actual appearance. 
“Okay” Den said, imagining a
yellow-orange HiveWing with black circles down their spine. When he looked
down, that’s what he saw. 
“Wow, that was weird” Vespa
stated, surprised.  It had been at least
a week since Vespa had rescued him, gees it felt a lot longer ago than that.
They waited until half-way through the day to come out into the markets, seeing
that was the busiest time. 
There were SilkWings and
HiveWings absolutely everywhere. 
“If anyone asks, I’m Honey-bee,
your Aphid and your Moth.” Vespa whispered to them. Good, cover names. The
market was even busier than last time, was that really only 9 days ago?
Den looked around. Sandy yellow
and midnight black caught his eye. NightWings,
SandWing here? He thought, surprised. 
“Abis-ah I mean Honey-bee, Moth,
there are Night-I mean strange dragons over there, I think they might be from
the Distant Kingdoms.” Denebola said, nearly spilling who they were. Vespa and
Acher looked at him, he nodded over to the dragons. Then, one of the SandWings
caught his eye. Surly it couldn’t be…?
It was, it was Jerboa II, but how did they get here without a seer. Or a bad storm that carried them here.
Den thought, remembering his painful trip here. 
“And I know one of them” Den
whispered in Vespa’s ear. He weaved his way through the crowd. 
“Come with me.” 
When dragons of the shifting night sand arrive at the continent that is now so bland…
== ~Chapter Ten~ ==
“Wh-what?” The NightWing said. 
“Unless you want an evil queen to
lock you up in a class cage hanging above the hive for everyone to see, please,
come with me, I will explain later. And Jerboa, please don’t use your magic, it
would be much appreciated.” Den looked at the NightWing, seeing the teardrops
next to her eyes, he let her see his memories. 
“Okay, we can trust him… I think.”
The dragon said.
“Show us where to go.” The group
leapt into the sky. Den spun around.
“What are your names?” he asked.
“This is Moonwatcher and I’m
Qibli” The other SandWing said.
“Okay, Jerboa, repeat after me. I
enchant Vespa the HiveWing, Denebola the NightWing, Acherontia the SilkWing,
Moonwatcher the NightWing, Qibli the SandWing and myself to teleport into the
tunnels of Wasp Hive.” Jerboa obeyed. Suddenly they were in the tunnels. 
“You’re a NightWing? How are you
a NightWing!?” Qibli asked. Den quickly stripped the pearls from his arm, his
disguise disappearing. He handed the pearls to Acher. 
“Their enchanted.” Den replied
simply. Acher changed to a golden HiveWing. 
“I’ll make a path; I’ll be back
in half an hour. Be ready” Acher said before disappearing down the tunnels.
“There’s animus here to?” Jerboa
asked. 
“No, that SilkWing, Acher, found
them washed up on a beach around 13 years ago” Den replied. 
Den was lying against the wall of
the tunnel with Vespa asleep in the curve of his stomach, his wing resting
lightly over her. 
“How long have you been here
for?” Qibli asked. 
“About two months” Den replied.
“And how long have you known
her?” Qibli asked, flicking his tail at Vespa.
“The same.” Den wasn’t entirely
sure he could trust the SandWing. Moon had politely asked if Den wanted a piece
of Skyfire to prevent her reading his mind, he’d accepted, but funny enough,
Moon couldn’t actually read Vespa’s mind. Maybe it was connected to how the
queen couldn’t control her either. 
When Acherontia got back it was
deserted outside.
“How’d you get them away?” Den
asked, shaking Vespa gently to wake her up. 
“I changed to look like a
NightWing, Clearsight to be exact, and lead them all, from every hive, into a
sink hole in the middle of Pantala.” Acher said with an extremely smug look on
their face. Their snickers echoed through the tunnels. 
“Let’s go.” 
The group took to the skies, it
was the first time in about a month that Denebola had flown, he stretched his
wings out, swooping down next to Vespa.
“Where do you think we’ll go?”
Den asked. 
“We’re going to Cicada Hive;
we’re meeting a dragon there. You three can go where ever you go; The Poison
jungle maybe, I hear there are still LeafWings there” Jerboa yelled over the
wind. Qibli, Moon and Jerboa peeled away, swooping towards a Hive in the
distance. 
“I guess we go to the Poison
jungle then” Acher said. 
“To the Poison jungle!” Vespa
yelled.
“To the Poison jungle!” Den
repeated. The group swooped off in the direction of Pantala’s head.
To the Poison jungle…
But they’re still not safe, and now will arise, The Dreams and Legends of the Night, the Fire and the Hive…
== ~Epilogue~ ==
14 years later…
Compass pulled herself away from
the ashen building, the ancient sword of her mother dragging in the cold night
sand behind her. Tears fogged her vision, but she trudged on. No, the Dragon’s
den was no place for a dragonet her age to be wandering around alone at night,
but she needed somewhere to rest. 
Hopefully Gull would be home.
She heaved herself up the steps
of the house at the edge of the den, knocking once, twice, until the door swung
open and a sandy-green face peered at her through the dark with a toothy smile.
“Come in Compass” They said in a
calming voice.
“I thought your mother didn’t let
you out at this time of night.”
“She didn’t” Compass said rubbing
her nose. The old hybrid shuffled around the room lighting candles. Old rugs
hid the scared crumbling walls behind them, at least a century of dust and sand
gathered in their fibbers. 
Gull turned themselves to face
the weeping dragonet, only then realising her ash covered body and tear soaked
face.
“What is wrong, Compass? why are
crying, why is your body covered in ash?” Gull asked.
“T-the house.” Compass stuttered,
“It burnt down, and mommy couldn’t escape.”
“Oh, poor child, come here” Gull
said, opening their wings and embracing the dragonet. 
“You are safe with me.” 
After a few days, Compass
returned to the blackened building that was her home. She dragged a metal box
behind her, which held inside her gold, jewellery, and her mother’s beautiful
sword. It was locked with a lock the shape of a wing, in black metal, littered
with silver drops, Compass held the key, in the shape of a star, up around her
neck and tied it tight. She buried the box in the rubble. Burnt down houses
where left until they crumbled to nothing. The box would be safe…
For now. 
But what she didn’t know, the box
contained something else. Something from her mother, her true mother. 
And that object was the key to
the prophecy never fulfilled…
----
That's the end of Silhouettes and Stars! Look out for the next book, Dreams and Legends.Category:Content (Sanskrit Sunset)
Category:Genre (Adventure)
Category:Genre (Prophecy)
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Genre (Romance)
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Content (KittenQueen15)