Wings Of Fire: Heart of Oak

The Breath Before the Plunge

Sundew's POV

Sundew woke up, her heart pounding. She wasn't quite sure what her dreams had been, but she felt like millions of wasps had been crawling all over her.

She slipped away from the others, wriggling her way from out between Swordtail and Blue and tip-toeing away from Cricket and Bumblebee.

She couldn't help smiling as she realized that Holly had fallen asleep holding her glow-toad.
Sundew had known Holly ever since the day Holly'd accidentally knocked over Nettle's secret stash of poisoned pie in the village kitchens. She'd nearly gotten punished that day by Belladonna, but the tables turned when Sundew pointed out the dead flies in the jam.
For years now, she had always gotten Holly out of trouble when she got herself into it.
When trouble came looking for Holly instead of vice versa, Sundew was there to punch it right back in the face.
There where times Sundew dragged her into things, but she always helped her out again, of course, like any good friend should.
Whenever Nettle messed with Mandrake for loving bugs (which was nearly every day), or teased Holly for being clumsy (which was also nearly every day), they would meet after midnight to plan how they would get her back the next morning.
It was nice to know that Sundew wasn't the only one who enjoyed getting revenge against her least favorite Leafwing.
She didn't know where she'd be without Holly. The two of them were inseperable.

The tree branches shook as she climbed up to the top, swaying slightly in the breeze.
Up here, she could smell the ocean.
Away from the chaos of the jungle, she could hear the murmurs of savannah grasses.
But this morning, there were other smells, other sounds.
She could hear hundereds of talons shuffling; she could sense the plants  under their feet being killed.
She could see them. Columns of Hivewings lined the plain of the other side of the river, stretching to the horizon.
Orange and black and red and gold scales, wings flickering, each dragon in its place.
They were so precisely placed they didn't look real.

She's hoping to wipe us out with one fell strike.
She's going to throw everything at us at once.
She wants to finish this today.

"It's unnerving, isn't it?"

Sundew turned to find Mandrake perched on another high branch nearby.

"We'll stop them", Sundew said.
"We have to."

The sky was shading toward pale gray, streaked with pink.
Soon the sun would slip over the horizion.

If there's a chance we'll die today. . .

"Mandrake", she said, "I'm not going to marry you."

Mandrake smiled.
"I know. I've always known that."

"Really?', she asked.
"Because it isn't about you, you're one of the few dragons I actually like, but you're not Willow, the only dragon I'd want to marry."

"And I hope you do", he said. "I hope we all get to walk away from this, and continue with our lives."

Holly landed beside Sundew and looked at the army.
She looked as though she was trying to look confident, but Sundew knew her well enough to know that she was really terrified.

"It's so quiet", Mandrake muttered.
"It's the breath before the plunge", Holly said in a soft voice.

Sundew squinted down at the river, searching for the bonfire pile. It looked pitifully small form up here, especially next to the army.
"Does that look like enough antidote?", she asked.
Mandrake looked grim.
"No. Not even close."

It's not going to be enough. The smoke might reach the first few rows, but that still leaves thousands more behind them, still under Wasp's control.
Thousands still coming for us.

"I'm going to grow more", she said.
"Come with me and help!"

He nodded and followed her.

She scambled down the tree until she found an open gap in the branches where she could spread her wings and drop down to the ground.

It was still very dark down here, but Sundew felt her leafspeak reach down into the soil and out through the root systems, tracing them along until she found water. A stream, a tributary of the Snarrling River.
That would be the best place to grow more Heart of salvation, in the mud along the banks.

"Can I help?", Holly asked.

Then, out of nowhere, there was a loud Crack!
Cricket fell out of the trees overhead and landed on the ground.

"You didn't have to follow us", Sundew pointed out.
"Sure I did", she said.
"I can help carry the roots and harvest them so that you can make more! Also, I really want to watch! I wish I could make plants grow just by thinking!"

"It's a bit more compicated than that", Sundew said.
"But all right."

They hurried through the jungle until they reached the stream, which wound between small pitcher plants and gurgled over smooth sones.
Long feather ferns leaned over the water as though they were plotting how to steal it for themselves.

Sundew found a patch of dirt, dug a small hole, and planted the root in it.
It looked pale and ghostly against the dark earth.

Mandrake took another peice and moved farther up stream and did the same thing.

Cricket stayed beside Sundew, with her tail curled around her talons.
Holly looked more nervous and afraid than her friend had ever seen her.

Sundew dug her claws into the dirt and closed her eyes, summoning all her power.

Hello, little plant.
We need your help.

"Hmm", the plant murmured back.

You want to grow.
Let me help you.
You can grow big and tall, with so many roots you won't need them all. . .

"Grow, spread far . . . . ." the plant echoed, streatching its tendrils like a sectipede unwinding.
"Grow, spread wild . . . ."

There was some kind of block between her and the plant. She could reach it, but she couldn't wrap herself around it. She could feel it growing, but she couldn't latch onto it's exact voice. She felt as if she was hearing it reflected off of some other surface.
It was hard to describe . . . . like a sound out of range that she would only be able to recognize if she got closer.

Come forth. Let me see you.

The plants response was quiet.
"Yes, yes, Yess."

Then, it was as loud and painful as a waterfall.

"Yesss, yesss, YESSSS.
GROWING. HERE, NOW!"

Sundew recoiled, her leafspeak recognizing the plant before her eyes did.
She stared in disbelif as the vines kept growing, spreading, LAUGHING at her in her mind, red-and-gree leaves unfurling, white flowers and evil-eyed seeds everywhere.

The antidote wasn't a new plant.

She was staring at the Breath of evil.

A/N: This chapter was pretty short, but it's worth it, I promise.

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Wordcount: 966

Renx out!