Drone

XXVII

XXVII

Wasp tried not sigh as he stood at the bank of Lady Bird Lake at Second Point. No matter what the outcome of today he knew that he wouldn't be happy with it.

Finding Ratel's body meant he lost his brother. Not finding his body meant that his only enemy was still out there waiting to attack him. No matter what happened, he was going to hurt for it.

Wasp had heard of no bodies being found, he had found nothing himself. Ratel had fallen over the cliff and simply disappeared. And Wasp wasn't so naïve as to just hope that Ratel wouldn't ever come back.

Wasp had already scanned Avian and Phoebe's community for any trace of his brother's energy. Not only had he not found it, but he found fliers all over town calling for any information on Ratel Messick who had mysteriously vanished about a week ago.

Wherever Ratel was, he wasn't in Avian any longer. For the moment, it was as safe as it was likely to be. Likely, his brother was off letting himself heal. Since he couldn't do that magically because of the gaps in his education, he would have to simply wait for his burned and bruised flesh to mend.

Wasp sighed and looked back at Second Point. For the first time since he had claimed it for himself, it was completely empty. The gate still stood in the center of the clearing though all the other traces of his battle with Ratel had been cleaned away.

He stepped closer to it and looked through. It wasn't activated at the moment so he only saw clear through to the other side.

He looked back to the entrance of Second Point. The shade trees that had already begun trying to kill the trees next to them had been carefully destroyed already. Wasp could detect no more warps, though he knew he would have to keep his eyes open, and all of the craters made with their energy had been filled and fixed. There was nothing left to suggest that he and his brother had fought here at all.

He turned back to the gate and looked down at his palm. With a simple force of will he summoned a mage light. It glowed blue-green just as it always did. Whatever Phoebe had done by giving her energy to him the way she did, the results had faded. Their energies had separated again.

He smiled slightly though. For just a moment, he had seen Phoebe's energy joined with his in a glorious three color combination. There weren't words to describe what he felt when he saw that.

Phoebe was waiting for him back in Nest. Even now his lady was helping Dorone designate rooms and amenities to all of his people.

Their people, he corrected himself. She had more than earned the right to call the Nest partly hers. He smiled. After all, his people did call her Queen Bee.

They listened to her. They sought out her opinion when they couldn't find him. She herself didn't mind and even tried to take on the responsibility of taking care of them.

His lady. And he owed so much to her.

Wasp reached forward and placed his hand against the archway as he spoke the password.

He would tell her as soon as he could. First, he had to see to his people.

<><><><><><>

“...I want to ask for your forgiveness in keeping my brother secret from all of you. Please understand that it wasn't because I didn't trust you. I just didn't want to talk about him and all of the things that...” Wasp hesitated. He shook his head and pulled himself back together. “Anyway, thank you for your patience and your understanding. I will be getting Second Point up and running again as soon as is possible.”