The Price of Magic

~ PROLOGUE ~

BEE

GRASSHOPPER

A dragon walked into a room.

The smallest of smiles was on her face.

Her eyes were white as pearls.

She walked with confidence, her three talons clicking pointedly on the cool stone ground as she slithered towards the other HiveWing in the room, a large black and yellow dragon surrounded by guards.

"Hello, Queen Bee," the blind dragon hummed. "I have heard you are the true descendant of Queen Wasp. That silly oversized cricket on the throne is nothing more than a fancy impostor."

"Yess," Bee hissed, her tongue flicking through her pointed teeth. "Grasshopper does not deserve all of that power. But what do you want?"

"I want to help," the yellow-orange dragon smiled, flicking her tail.

All of the guards in the room suddenly bowed, their eyes the color of snakeskins. Bee hissed.

"And I have the power to do it."

* * *

On the other side of the continent, Queen Grasshopper of the HiveWings looked out onto the savannah.

"Bee," she whispered, words catching in her throat. That wasn't her voice.

She coughed.

"Bee," she repeated, and sighed, shaking her head. Her sister was no longer a threat to the dragons of her kingdom - she was banished, gone, never coming back, not ever.

But still, something about the way she said her name sent a shiver down the black HiveWing's spine.

Shaking her head again, and turned to address Passion, her head advisor, and best friend since they were dragonets.

"Are the preparations ready?" she asked, buzzing her wings.

"Yup," Passion smiled broadly, clutching her clipboard to her chest. "Everything's set up - all we have to do is wait for the other queens to arrive using the Coral Stone."

Grasshopper nodded, lashing her tail. Today was the day Pantala would be declared truly neutral - even though just across the ocean, the rest of the tribes were waging a war. Grasshopper had no idea why. Pyrrhians were very confusing, too confusing for her to deal with right now.

Well, she was going to be dealing with seven of them in a few moments - the queen sighed again before spreading her wings and leaping off the balcony.

Passion quickly followed her, and they soared over the savannah for a while, the smell of distant trees filling their thoughts.

Eventually they reached the cherry forests, and the outskirts of the Silk Palace.

Grasshopper landed with a thump in the grass, the SilkWing advisor beside her.

As they walked inside, Queen Sequoia and Queen Sugardrop came to greet them.

"Be warned," Sequoia said, flicking back her leafy-green wings. "Rosa and Feircewings just got here - there's bound to be some argument and blood spilling if we don't hurry on with the ceremony."

Grasshopper tried not to make a face as they entered the grand hall, lined with tapestries and animus objects and monuments dedicated to those long ago. Among the beautiful wooden statues was a young HiveWing dragonet carved out of birch, clutching a book to her chest and smiling brightly. Across from her was a NightWing, made of wood so dark it was nearly black, and she was smiling happily back. A golden plack at the base of the sculpture read CRICKET AND CLEARSIGHT. Grasshopper knew the two had never actually met, but according to the history scrolls it had always been Cricket's dream.