Book One: The Poison Jungle
Holly's POV
The most unsual things happen when people least expect them.
For Holly, that was when she was just wrapping up an arugment with her dad.
The failing red of evening light light peirced through the windows, sending the Winter day's final sunshine crashed into the Mcmeares' home.
One of the two Christmas trees was still up, now smoothering in ornements of flamingo, scarlet, and maroon.
The archangle Michal at its peak had a robe of ruby gold. His eyes were a flaming chestnut and his sword was of bronze metal.
The fireplace was lit with an alburn glow, but that wasn't the only fire taking spark in the livingroom.
"Dad, do I have to go to a public school? Why can't I just stay here and study at home?", Holly asked, glaring through falling strands of springy chocolate hair.
"Because it will be easier for you to get a job if you go to a university", her dad said, pushing his glasses higher on his forehead.
"Dan, are you sure she even wants a job?", her mom said.
"Yes!", Holly and father said in unsion.
He turned.
"If you want to be a biologist, you need to go to a university! By definition, you can't commit to a job like that without going to one!"
Holly sighed.
"I-I don't know, I just don't know! I can't talk about it right now! I need to think."
With a huff, she got up from the couch to leave the room. She grabbed her backpack and her book, walked out onto the pourch, and headed out.
As she made her way to the park, hoodie pulled up and sneakers hopping, she put on her headphones and sang along with the familiar lyrics of Oh no! by Mariana.
"One track mind, one track heart
If I fail, I'll fall apart
Maybe it is all a test
Cuz I feel like I'm the worst, so I always act like I'm the best
If you are not very carefull, your posessons will posses you, TV taught me how to feel,now real life has no appeal
It has no appeal
it has no appeal
it has no appeal
Oh oh no
Oh no
Oh no-oh!"
St. Mary's Park was the only one five minutes from the Mcmeares' house.
It was the first remotely suburben area one came to when traveling to the city.
The trees surounding the open space were neatly trimmed with pink lights in honor of Valentine's Day. The now-frozen water fountain had its icey sprout of liquid painted rose-red, casting coral shades of dying sunshine onto the blue snow. The people of rual New York didn't take Valentine's day lightly . . .unfortunately.
After chosing a spot underneath a tree, she opened her book: Wings of Fire: The Poison Jungle.
Holly remembered, with a grin, the day she'd first discovered Wings of Fire.
"Come on, Holly! How can wast time at Barnes and Noble now?", Claire asked
"You just want to spend time with Zack", Lily teased.
"What's wrong with that?", Claire asked.
Holly got out of the car before the argument escelated.
"I'll be right back. I'm just going to grab a quick cup of Bobba, buy that book and before you guys know it, I'll be back."
"All right, but you better be fast!", Claire told her.
Ever since that day, Holly had been obssessed with Wings of Fire.
Her sketchbook was filled with drawings of Nightwings, Leafwings, and Sandwings.
She really related with Cricket, the scientific bookworm.
Holly couldn't help but sigh. The thought of science reminded her of her argument with her Dad.
Homeschool meant that she had more time to read. And if her dyslexia ever gave her trouble, she could ask Mom for help. She wouldn't be able to do that at a public school. And the people. Whenever Holly went near anyone she didn't know, she always flung something. She either said something weird, did something weird, or looked at something weird. And every time
That happened, it meant a week of her grandmother scolding her and her mom for her "unlady-like behavior". The last time that happened, she made it particularly difficult on Holly's mom, which was Holly's fault, according to her dad.
Holly shook her head and opened her book.
Suddenly, a video zipped through her head.
She heard a voice saying, "I see you, human!"
She could have sworn she was flying right next to Blue, Cricket, and Swordtail through a cluster of vines and brush.
But when she blinked, she realized she'd somehow rolled down the snowy hill and hit her arm on a metal trash-can.
She winced and cradled her arm.
"Ow."
Two boys who had been watching her were now laughing.
"Oh you poor, poor girl! What's wrong? Did your story knock you off of your feet?"
They burst into another fit of laughter.
I'll knock you off your feet. Just you wait.
Holly climbed back up the bank and sat down on the branch of a tall oak.
She moved away some of the sharp sticks, then settled down and turned the pages of the book again.
Suddenly, she found herself falling, falling, falling off the tree.
She opened her mouth to cry out, but the sound never came.
She closed her eyes and braced for empact.
This is going to hurt.
But the empact never came.
Which wasn't quite as reasuring as it should have been, because when she opened her eyes, something felt . . . strange.
Her body didn't quite feel the same.
She somehow felt more agile, like she could fly to the peak of the Empire State Building and still have energy to keep going all the way to Alaska.
The trees here were greener than the ones at the park, and there were way more of them, which was weird, because that was the only park in the area, and Holly was pretty sure nobody could have planted trees that fast. There also was no snow anywhere in sight.
She could hear quite clearly noises coming from somewhere up ahead. They sounded like roars. More specifically, they sounded like the T-rex from Jurasic Park, a movie she was pretty familiar with, given that her sister, Lilly watched at least once every week.
Jumping from the ground onto the lowest branch and onto the one directly above it, Holly headed towards the sounds. When she got closer, she could detect words in the growls. And as the distance between her and the source shrunk, she could tell that whatever the sounds were coming from was talking, not screaming.
As the leaves blew in the wind, she peeked through them, then peeked again to double check what she was seeing.
She gasped
Three, no, four dragons were in front of her perch; one of them was inside of a pouch around another one's neck.
Dragons.
Real dragons!
I am definitely not in New York anymore.
Where have I seen them before?
What was that thing I was reading . . . . it was, what, my favorite series?
Why can't I remember?
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPOW!", said the baby dragon from inside of the pouch.
Her black and yellow stripes would have blended into the jungle had they been in the shadows, but here, in the only sunpatch in sight, they stood out like a home-schooler among public-schoolers.
"You can't eat until we get to the village", the green dragon told her sternly.
The dragonet flopped her wings sadly.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee never!", she said mournfully.
"Aw, it's okay, Bumblebee! She's such a quick learner!', said the yellow dragon with the pouch.
The small one, who's name must have been Bumblebee, snuggled closer and heaved a loud dramatic sigh.
"We keep the outer layers of the jungle as wild as possible", The green dragon explained.
"It helps keep out intruders."
"Oh. Oooh, she's talking about you", the orange-and-blue dragon said to the gold one. "The obvious reasons are your murdery tribe and evil queen."
"Swordtail, come on", said the indigo dragon, brushing his wing with the yellow dragon's.
"Your tribe isn't exactly welcome here either, Silkwing", The green dragon pointed out.
Silkwing.
Tribe.
Where have I heard those words before?
"Flying gets easier farther in", The green dragon went on."But for now, we climb. Follow me and don't touch anything I haven't touched first."
She arched her wings and caught the air current, lifting her up, and up, towards the tops of the trees.
Holly follwed suite.
For some reason, it seemed as though she was gliding right along side the green dragon; she could feel the wind wipping past her, the leaves flying in spirrels around her, the weightless feeling of her feet.
Up here, the branches were like long fingers. . . . . . an image Holly imeditatley regreted conguring.
"Whoa", the blue-and-purple dragon said, looking at a cluster of makahiyas."I've never seen a plant do that before."
"Oh, I think they're called 'touch me nots' right, Sundew?", the yellow dragon asked.
"That's one name for them", the green dragon said slowly.
"Oooooooooooooh that's a good nickname for them", Swordtail said, "Don't touch me; OR YOU WILL DIE!"
Cricket put a talon over her face to hide her laugh.
Sundew snickered.
"Actually, out of this entire jungle, those are probably the least likely to kill you."
"Hmm", Swordtail said skeptically.
Holly had to hurry to keep up with them. She didn't even know why she followed them; she just did it.
"You're like a monkey-in a very good way-big jumps-not in a bad way-not foodish-just so fast", Swordtail said to Sundew as he wheezed to a stop.
The yellow dragon balanced herself onto a spot next him.
Sundew winced.
"It's scary, like being high up on the webs", said the blue-and-purple dragon."But loud, like the inside of the hives only the buzzing is in a language you can't understand.
"And the smell is terrible", Swordtail said.
Sudew bristled.
"No it isn't! This is what freedom smells like!"
"Don't rotting animals and swamp gas smell like this?", Swordtail asked.
Holly couldn't help but agree; she loved forests, but this jungle was something else.
"YOU smell like swamp gas!", Sundew shot back.
Blistered, Blazed, and Burned!
Holly blinked.
Who? What?
"I'm sorry", the blue-and-purple dragon said." I just think it's cool. I'm trying to map it onto something else I'm familiar with, but it's just too different."
"Yeah, sorry", Swordtail with an abashed look. "It's cool, really cool- like that flower below us! Look Blue and Cricket! It's just like an open book! An wow, so pink! And it smells kind of like-"
"DO NOT", Sundew shouted as he leaned towards it.
But it was already too late.
Swordtail's nose brushed against the pink surrface and the plant's jaw snapped him, pulling him off the branch and swallowing him whole.
Holly grimiced.
"Touch the venus dragon-trap", Sundew finished with a sigh.
Cricket shrieked and eight more of the things snapped all around them.
Holly nearly fell into one.
Damn ADHD hearing!
"Swordtail! Swordtail!", Blue shouted.
"I was going to point those out", Sundew said. "They're some of the most dangerous plants in the world. DON'T EVER TOUCH THEM", she said to Bumblebee.
"Snabble poof", Bumblebee said in awe.
"Swordtail! Can you hear me?", Blue asked.
He tried to grab his friend's tail, but Sundew stopped him.
"What did I just say? DON'T TOUCH THEM!"
Swordtail was yelling and thrashing, throwing his body around inside the giant flower, making it look like a really grumpy umbrella . . . if umbrellas were alive and ate dragons.
He was by far the loudest thing Holly'd ever heard in her life. Not even Lilly could top this.
"Swordtail! Stop moving!", Sundew yelled at him.
But of course, he didn't hear her.
"Basic carnivorous plant safty lesson number one", Sundew said to all of them but mostly to Bumblebee,"if you fall into a dragon-trap, don't move. If the plant thinks you're a rock, it might open up and let you out. BUT IF YOU FLAIL LIKE AN IDIOT", she yelled at Swordtail, "then it will know that it's got something."
"And then what?', Cricket asked wide-eyed.
Holly leaned forward on her branch.
"And then the plant releasses it's digestive juices and you're dead", Sundew said.
"SWORDTAIL!", Cricket and Blue yelled.
"It's definitely figured out that he's alive at this point", Sundew said.
Holly didn't see how Swordtail was ever going to get out of this.
Sundew seemed like she knew what she was doing, but if Swordtail didn't listen to her, it would be too late . . . unless, someone else jumped in.
Holly leaped over to a nearby tree and poised near Cricket.
"How can I help, Sundew?", she asked.
Sundew gave her what looked remarkably like a can-you-believe-this? look.
"Here, Holly, this idiot-"
Suddenly, Blue's wrist seemed to burst into flame.
He was holding a bright orange ball of flaming string and as he held it over his friends tail. It set fire to the bushes nearby.
A tiny spark licked Swordtail's foot and he screamed louder.
"AraghAHHH! What's going on? Get me outta here!"
"Stop!", Sundew yelled, grabbing Swordtail arm and pressing it against the tree branch as the thread of gold fell to the ground below.
"WHY ARE YOU ALL SO IMPOSSIBLE?!"
Holly's chest thumped as her blood pumped faster.
She jumped away from the tree and almost toppled into one of the carniverous plants.
The fire was already beginging to catch and spread down the length of a young dragon-trap stem, toward the tree where the roots were.
As the stem burn through, the wriggling bulp of the plant drooped and looped sideways, setting off three more plants as it knocked into them.
Holly leaped onto a higher branch, rapidly looked around.
Come on, Holly, think. There have plants here that caught rain water, or something, aren't there? This is a jungle, after all.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted some chokeberries. Returning the cynical gaze of the poisionous-looking frog that jumped out of the blossoms, she snatched the flowers from their roots. She looked inside and then dumped the water onto the
fire.
At length, they were extingushed.
"That was incredibly stupid!" Sundew said.
"I'm sorry!", Blue said, his eyes filled with tears.
"I panicked! I only wanted to save Swordtail! I had no idea it would spread like that!"
"You saw Wasp's greenhouse go up in flames! You should have thought of that!", Sundew said.
Blue wiped his eyes.
"I'm sorry. You're right."
"I bet your flamesilk is hard to control, huh?", Cricket asked.
"Yeah, which is why it was extra stupid of me", Blue said.
"It wasn't your fault. We all make mistakes", Holly said.
Blue gave her a thankfull smile.
"We'll help you", Sundew promised."But please promise me you won't use it in the jungle again."
"I will! I promise", Blue said."But what about Swordtail? He must be really scared."
"NOT SCARED!", Swordtail half yelled half sputtered."THIS PLANT'S IN BIG TROUBLE! IT'S GOING TO REGRET EATTING ME!"
"You kind of had it coming!", Holly yelled at him.
She raised her hands at Sundew in a shrug.
With a cracking sound, the jaws of the plant suddenly opened, allowing Swordtail to haul himself out of it.
"I've never seen such a pile-up of idocy!", Sundew said."Now you really need to stay close to me because next time, I'll let it eat you!"
"I feel like I wouldn't have gotten eatten if you gave us more warning!", Swordtail remarked.
"All right", Sundew said, waving her hand (talon) at the jungle.
"Almost every plant here can eat or kill you. DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING UNLESS I TELL YOU."
She huffed and started walking ahead again.
"Come on. we shouldn't be that far now."
"Sundew", Cricket burst out, as they passed a cluster of hogweeds.
"Ugh, what?", Sundew asked.
Cricket hesitated a moment.
"Did you make that dragontrap open?"
As Holly passed a pool of water, she glanced at her refflection.
She gasped.
Her eyes widened so far, they almost touched her horns.
Her wings were shaped like sharp leaves . . . Holly leaves.
Her ears were long like a German sheperds, but with sharp ends and no fur, and she realized that her hearing was much more keen.
Her scales were mint-green, like a pine at dawn in early December.
And she had claws sharper than Claire's fake fingernails.
She wasn't a human anymore.
She was a dragon.
A/N: Yes, I'm finally done!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed that first chapter!
If you liked it, remember to add a vote, comment, and share!
Wordcount: 2086
Renx out!