Chapter One (Enjoy!)

 Chapter Six

~ SUNDEW ~

“WHAT?!”, Sundew screeched . “Well, the old one is dead. The new one is alive and well. I mean, she’s bleeding from a few claw marks, but other than that, alive and well!” 

Sundew was itching to find out what had happened, but she knew that would make her lose even more time to find Chokecherry. “THERE’S A NEW QUEEN?!”, Sundew finally burst out. “Wait a minute. Aunt Sequoia only had one daughter so that means…” Sundew trailed off, thinking with concentration. “WAIT, POKEWEED IS QUEEN?! Oh NO, oh n-n-no. This is bad. Very, very bad.” 

In the name of all the trees on this continent, Pokeweed, of all dragons in Pantala, is queen of the LeafWings?! Well I, most certainly won’t be sorry if that scoundrel dragon, who is just about as idiotic as Tundra, kills herself by being a “good and heroic ruler”.

Sundew turned on her heel, moving swiftly, and slapped Cobra Lily’s face over and over again while yelling, “Wake up, Cobra Lily. Wake up, wake up. WAKE UP NOW!” 

Sundew’s guide started tossing and turning in her sleep, waking up most uncomfortably. “Arggg! IMMA GET YOU, YOU EVIL SANDBOX!”, Cobra Lily yelled as she jerked up from the forest floor. Ughh! What was Cobra lIly’s problem all of the sudden? Why had she fallen asleep? And, what had she been thinking in her sleep? “Oh no, goodness, NO.”, Sundew exclaimed, pinning Cobra Lily’s wings down to the ground. “WE took care of the sandbox problem. Bigger problem, Pokeweed is queen, and Sequoia is DEAD!” 

Cobra Lily blinked abruptly and gave her a wide-eyed look, and said, “Oh NO. Sundew, this is a disaster! We HAVE to get back to the village!” Sundew was exasperated with all of her allies. Why couldn’t she have just done this journey alone? How were Cobra Lily and Tundra useful in any way? “Duh, it is a disaster!”, Sundew retorted, annoyed with Cobra Lily’s stupidity.

“Plus, we can’t,” Tundra said, her voice rising. She lowered her head and shook it slightly. “We’re already too far in the jungle. It would take us days to get back. And we have to find Chokecherry, remember?” For a moment, Tundra looked and seemed extremely pleased with herself until Cobra Lily looked over at her. “Wait a minute, aren’t you supposed to be the dumb one? Sundew is our leader, miss Tundra.”, she said, in a bitter, seething voice. 

Tundra glared back at Cobra Lily, and then turned to Winter. She put on her kindest look and crouched down, talking to Winter. “Winter, honey, we're leaving right NOW. We are going home right this instant. You are way smarter than these crazy dragons, and Mother doesn’t want you to grow up being like them.”, Tundra cooed at her dragonet. Then, she smirked at Sundew and Cobra Lily. Both Sundew and Cobra Lily glared whole-heartedly at Tundra. Again, Tundra looked entirely pleased with herself. 

Sundew could tell that Winter was simply torn between the two complicated choices. Having to choose between going with your mother or helping two random dragons find someone that they loved very much? It just couldn’t have been an easy choice. Sundew glimpsed Cobra Lily making a pleading look at both Tundra and Winter. Winter sighed, looking disappointed that she couldn’t go on a further adventure with them. “Yes, mother.”, Winter answered sadly. 

As the two IceWing heirs lifted off into the air, Sundew thought she glimpsed Winter peeking back at her over her mother’s wing. She wondered what Winter was thinking. Winter might be troubled, and Sundew knew that the possibilities were endless. She had to stop Tundra from leaving with Winter. Winter could be useful, but Tundra? Not so much.

I wish I were a NightWing. If I were like Clearsight, then everything would be better and life would be way easier. We wouldn’t need maps, or someone like Tundra as an ally who is as dumb as a HiveWing. If I were a NightWing, I could see what would happen to our tribe next, and I could tell what all the dragons around me were thinking. I wonder what Cobra Lily is thinking right now. Hmm… Snap out of it, Sundew! We have more important things on talon right now, Sundew thought hurriedly. She turned up to the sky, and waited until Tundra was high in the air. Then, she reached down into the ground with her Leafspeak powers, and told the sandbox to grow high and tall, tall enough to grab Winter, without Tundra noticing.

Chapter Seven

~ COBRA LILY ~

“Sundew,” Cobra Lily said, her voice quivering with warning, and sorrow. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this earlier. Please, please, don't get mad at me.” She hesitated. “But, um… Tomorrow night I'm going to have an egg.”

Sundew froze. Why did she have to always be the last to know things? Even Chokecherry always got to know first when Sundew’ family was going on a trip somewhere! “I'm sorry, I might have misunderstood this, but you're going to HAVE AN EGG AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN TELL ME?!” Even Winter’s eyes had never been so wide. Sundew thought that the little IceWing’s eyes might pop out of their sockets at any moment. Sundew had told an icky, sticky death vine to twist around Winter snout to keep her from talking. 

That night, a beautiful young hybrid named Walnut was born. Much to Sundew’s surprise, Cobra Lily had fallen in love with an IceWing, who later left her, not knowing she was with an egg.

Walnut was a dark, leafy green, with hazelnut brown horns, and even the tip of her snout was hazelnut brown! She could have easily been named Hazelnut, in Sundew’s opinion. Under her wings, instead of a steady green, she had icy white underwings, with scales of dark green scattered across the white ones. She also had a ring of cold icy scales around her neck that came down, dipping into the green. Walnut had icy blue eyes, and was beautiful in every way. 

Sundew thought that someone could have mistaken her as a queen or princess. Sundew was way more excited to see Walnut now, then when she first heard about her! “Whoa”, Sundew said in awe, squinting her eyes at the little dragonet. “I can’t wait till she grows up. I wonder if I will ever have a dragonet. Ooh, maybe with Willow!” 

Cobra Lily giggled at the dragonet, as she plopped out of her eggshell, and landed on her head, unsuccessfully trying to walk on it. Sundew rolled her eyes, and scooped the dragonet so that she was upright. “There.”,  she said, obviously pleased. “Now, you'll grow up to be big and strong.” 

“But not too big or too strong!” Cobra Lily chimed in. “Mommy doesn't want you to grow up like Sundew.” Cobra Lily dissolved in giggles as Sundew tumbled over her and plopped on top of her guide. “Whatever. I mean, you’re way stronger than me. I am pretty sure she will be strong.”, Sundew retorted. 

Cobra Lily stepped aside from Winter and Walnut. She pulled Sundew along with her as she went. “I’m so glad that Tundra isn’t here to ruin the fun and everything!”, Cobra Lily said gratefully. “I am really liking her!”, Sundew replied. “Walnut, I mean.” 

“SNUNDEW-DEW-DOO-DEWE!”, Walnut shrieked, and both dragons fell back and laughed their hearts out. “Pinky eeeee?” Walnut asked, cocking her head towards Cobra Lily. 

“Uuuh. I think that means, ‘mommy eat?”, Cobra Lily announced, turning towards Sundew and tilting her head slightly. Sundew shrugged. “You are looking at the totally wrong dragon.” Of course, Sundew had never nursed or cared for a dragonet.  “Mommy, pinky eeee! PINKY EEEE NOW!” 

Both dragons stopped laughing, and turned towards Walnut. Since Cobra Lily’s arched shoulder blocked her view, Sundew tried to peek over it to look at the babbling dragonet. “PINKY EEEEE NOW!”, she yelled, patting her stomach. 

Cobra Lily looked down at her scales. “Uh, I think that I am ‘pinky’, don't you?”, she said pointing to her pinkish streaks on her back. Sundew looked her over. “Hm. I don't know. You're more of a greeny.”, Sundew answered. Cobra Lily bopped her on the nose, until they heard laughing up ahead. 

“Is it a sandbox?”, Sundew asked cautiously. “No”, Cobra Lily said, pricking her ears and holding Walnut close. “EEEEE NOW NOW!” Walnut screamed. 

The laughter stopped, and a rough voice whispered, “Sundew? Is that you?”

Chapter  Eight

is coming soon!