4 months later…
Redstripe didn't know what to expect when he was told to meet up with a group of some of their mysterious benefactors outside the hive, in the middle of the night, alongside a few of his comrades, Atala among them, to act as liaisons, but it sure as all moons wasn't this.
From what he had been taught early on in his life, the Leafwings were a tribe that had been completely exterminated by Queen Wasp during the Tree Wars a few decades back, an event that had led to Queen Monarch abdicating her throne and allowing the Silkwings to be subjugated by the Hivewings in order to avoid a similar fate befalling her tribe.
Clearly, what he'd been taught about Leafwings as a dragonet was wrong, as standing before his very eyes, were a group of four supposedly extinct Leafwings, their fully green bodies blending in almost perfectly with the tall grass around them. Redstripe wouldn't have even known they were there if one of the Leafwings hadn't gotten up from their hiding place, before signalling the others to show themselves.
Redstripe was still struggling to contain his shock as one of the Leafwings stepped forward towards their group. "Any updates?" she questioned curtly, clearly unsurprised at their presence.
Atala wasted no time in launching into what seemed like a serious conversation with the Leafwing, she too seemingly unsurprised at the existence of the Leafwings.
As Atala and the Leafwing got deep into their talk, Redstripe took the opportunity to turn to another of his fellow freedom fighters, Grayling, who also didn't seem all that startled by the sight of the Leafwings. Though, to be fair, both Atala and Grayling had been in the group for far longer, which might have meant they'd been meeting with these Leafwings for a while.
"How," Redstripe lowly hissed, "in all of the moons above, did you find Leafwings, and how long have you been meeting them?"
Grayling regarded him shortly, before answering nonchalantly, "We've been meeting them for about a week at this point. As for your first question, it was more of a lucky accident that we discovered them. I and a few members just happened to catch them snooping around the hive. Luckily, they weren't in a "kill now, ask questions never" kind of mood then, because I get the feeling Belladonna is very ruthless when it comes to any threats."
Redstripe mentally stepped back a bit to digest the information. The fact that not only were the Leafwings still alive and kicking, but that the Chrysalis had been in contact with them a mere week ago, and they were already able to hold conversation like the one Atala and the Leafwing dragoness were having, was mind-boggling to him.
"Does anyone else know?" asked Redstripe.
"Oh yeah, the leadership was quite gracious in informing many of our members about our newfound cooperation." Grayling rather nonchalantly replied. Privately, Redstripe felt a little embarrassed he'd somehow missed such an important piece of information like that.
Thinking back on Grayling's words before, Redstripe found something that made him curious. "If… Belladonna…"
"That's the one Atala is talking to. As for the other Leafwings, the one on her right is Hemlock, her mate, the two on her left are Pokeweed and Bryony, respectively." Grayling helpfully supplied.
"Uh, thanks Grayling, but, if she's a ruthless type, why didn't she just kill any of you when you ran into them?"
At that, Grayling responded, "Well, she apparently thought the Silkwings would be hardly a threat to her, so she told them to stand down. After explaining the Chrysalis to her, she seemed open to start cooperating with us."
"Any particular reason why?"
Grayling merely shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm certainly not complaining. We need all the help we can get if we want to turn everything around in this hive."
Glancing back at the Leafwings, of which Belladonna still seemed to be in deep discussion with Atala, Redstripe couldn't help but ask, "No offence and all, but what exactly are four dragons going to do to to change things around here?" He knew the Bloodworm Chrysalis wasn't exactly the most resource-rich organisation around, but last he checked, Redstripe didn't think they had nearly that bad of a dragonpower issue here.
With a twinkle in his eyes, Grayling told him, "They can grow plants."
At the dumbfounded silence, Grayling hastily explained, "Okay, so Belladonna and her family, right, it turns out they have the ability to grow plants at, like, a super fast rate, so much faster than natural. And not just boring old plants, either. They could grow numerous poisonous, carnivorous, even flammable plants. They even grew flaming ivy! Flaming ivy, how cool is that? But it's not just that, Redstripe." Leaning in, Grayling dramatically whispered, "They can communicate with the plants as well."
"... Excuse me, what?"
Looking positively giddy now, Grayling continued, "Okay, so, when they showed off their plant powers, they also demonstrated that they could get the plants to grow where they wanted them to grow; they could direct the plants to grow towards a certain area! Can you imagine? Just rows and rows of flaming ivy being instructed to grow, not just up the walls, but along the sides as well? The entire hive would be covered in nearly no time at all! And if we set those vines on fire… well, you can imagine the kind of damage that would do."
Redstripe just couldn't seem to catch a break with these mind-blowing revelations. First the Leafwings still existing, then the fact that they could grow plants at an accelerated rate, and right after that, the fact that they apparently could tell the plants where to grow. Honestly, Redstripe didn't know what to expect at this point.
"...Anything else you wanted to tell me about the Leafwings? Like, oh, I don't know, maybe they can grow some kind of explosive cactus or something?", Redstripe dryly asked.
"Nope, I think that's about it.", Grayling cheerfully replied, the sarcasm seeming to fly completely over his head.
Redstripe turned his head slightly towards the Leafwings, regarding them in a different light now. If what Grayling had said about them was true… then having these Leafwings on their side, even as small a group as they were, was sure to be a game changer, one that could very well mean success or failure for the Chrysalis, and for Silkwings as a whole.
He angled his head to look at Atala, still engrossed in coversing with Belladonna. In all of his years, Atala had never seemed like someone to take tall tales seriously, having been a no-nonsense kind of worker since Redstripe had first met her, never tolerating schemes or ideas she saw as silly. This was especially true as a rebel. She was also not one to waste time chasing mere rumours and gossip, stating that any intelligence had to be verified with substantiated evidence. The fact she was willing to engage with these Leafwings seriously, it could only mean she had gotten undeniable proof of their usefulness, their power. A power that she also must have known could very well tip the scales in their favour.
That begged the question, though: if these Leafwings were so powerful, why were they here, negotiating with comparatively normal Silkwings like them, when they could have done so much damage in the meantime? And more to the point, just why were the Leafwings so willing to help them?
"Well, I for one think the Leafwings are sympathetic to our cause," Grayling said when Redstripe asked, "I mean, having their homes get taken from them, living in fear all the time, wanting to get back at the Hivewings? Surely they have to feel like we're more alike than not, that our cause, our tribe, is a good one to fight for, otherwise why would they bother?"
Personally, Redstripe thought the reason for the Leafwings wanting to help them was far less altruistic than that. Surely such powerful dragons like these had an agenda of their own, one that just so happened to align with the Chrysalis's own interests. Redstripe thought it was probably vengeance-motivated on their part, what with the Hivewings driving them out of their homes, then completely destroying said homes, and then attempting to hunt them into extinction. He could fully relate to wanting to spite the Hivewings in whatever way possible. It was why he'd joined the Chrysalis in the first place after all.
There was also the fact that the Leafwings probably had some dragonpower issues, seeing as they were the victim of an attempted genocide against them, with many Leafwings having been killed and the population probably not recovering yet. They might very well have seen the Chrysalis as a source of badly-needed extra hands to help work on… whatever plans they had for this place.
Still, he didn't speak out his own thoughts. He didn't really fancy bursting Grayling's bubble, not when such positivity was a rarity for Redstripe nowadays. If it motivated Grayling to work that much harder to further the Chrysalis's goals by working with the Leafwings, that was all the better for everyone involved.
Several minutes later, Atala and Belladonna seemed to adjourn their meeting, the two dragonesses nodding politely to each other, before turning back towards their respective groups.
"Sooo… what'd you talk about?" Redstripe asked as soon as Atala was within earshot.
"We were just exchanging some of the information we have," she replied, conspicuously not elaborating on what exactly that information was. "And we were debating just how we could help each other with our… Hivewing problem."
"What did she say, then?" Grayling questioned.
"She… has a plan. A very effective one, we believe. But… it is on the more… extreme side of things."
"What do you mean by "extreme", exactly?" Redstripe inquired.
"...She wants to burn the hive down."
The bluntness of Atala's voice, plus the words she had said, caught Redstripe off-guard for a moment, right before the implications of what she'd just said hit him.
"She… wants to burn a whole hive down? Have you seen the size of those things?! I mean, just look at it!" Redstripe flung an arm out toward the hive to emphasise just how ridiculous that whole endeavour seemed. For Clearsight's' sake, these things had been designed to house thousands upon thousands of dragons safely for years. Surely, the Hivewings had to have built some fire safety features into their towering cities, especially with how widespread flamesilk lanterns were.
"It may be big, but it sure as moons isn't indestructible, despite what the Hivewings say." Grayling snorted. "There's still enough wood in that treestuff to act as some good fuel for any good-size blaze once it gets going. And don't forget, these dragons can grow and direct flammable plants at will. There'll be no stopping an inferno with that kind of help."
"You think they're cooperating with us so they can get what they need to actually set this place on fire?"
"We don't exactly know," Atala butted back in, "but what I do know for certain is that such an extreme solution is going to be a last resort only. The risk of having some of our tribemates get caught in the ensuing chaos is too much for me to consider."
"Oh come on, Atala, I'm sure if we give them advance warning, every Silkwing in the hive would be able to waltz out long before they get into any danger." Grayling rebutted.
"What if the Hivewings get wind of our plan because of that? What if they notice all the SIlkwings suddenly up and leaving and decide to investigate before we're ready, Grayling? What do we do then?"
Redstripe tuned the two of them out as they argued for and against burning the hive down, the evacuation plan if they did decide to go through with that plan, the potential repercussions of literally burning an entire city down. Redstripe stopped paying attention to all that, in favour of dealing with his own thoughts on the matter.
He knew he probably shouldn't be advocating for the destruction of an entire city, especially when the dragons living in them would likely have no idea what hit them. Yet, Redstripe couldn't stop remembering the pure apathy in all the Hivewings' reactions after witnessing Swallowtail fall to his death. Even the Hivewing dragonets there seemed to find such a thing unremarkable. The callousness they all had displayed then… it had infuriated Redstripe, to the point he'd imagined all the Hivewings lying dead like his adopted son on the ground.
In short, Redstripe sure as all moons wouldn't mind letting all those uncaring Hivewing brats and bastards burn or suffocate to death if they ever did set Bloodworm Hive aflame. The fact that Bloodworm Hive itself, one of nine monuments to Hivewing supremacy and tyranny, might be completely destroyed was another bonus for his highly vindictive side.
'Let's see how those high and mighty assholes feel when one of their symbols of power gets turned into a mountain of dust.' Redstripe thought viciously.
Though, being brought back to reality when Atala raised her voice, he recognised that such a thing wasn't guaranteed to happen. Far from it. At the moment at least. Yet, Redstripe couldn't help but hope that Atala might be overruled, just this once, if only to satisfy his unwavering desire for vengeance…
—
A few days later…
Redstripe could scarcely believe his ears.
Atala had dropped by to visit him, a dark expression fixed upon her face. When he'd asked her what the matter was, she'd dropped a veritable bomb on him, saying, "The council's decided to go with the Leafwings' plan. We're burning the hive down."
For a moment, Redstripe could only gape at her, his brain having briefly stalled in surprise at this new information. But as Atala began to explain some of the reasons behind the council's decision (something about how it'd send a far more substantial and lasting message than an uprising that was highly likely to be crushed and then swept under the rug within the year), he started grinning to himself.
'My wish came true,' he thought jubilantly, 'Finally, those damned Hivewings are going to get it!'
"Redstripe!" Atala's snapping his name out shook the drake out of his thoughts. "What in Clearsight's name is with that stupid grin of yours?"
Blinking perplexedly at her sharp tone, Redstripe told her, "Don't you see, Atala? We're finally going to give those Hive fuckers the payback they deserve, the payback they've deserved for decades now, for what they did to our tribe!"
"Moons-damnit Redstripe, I thought you were better than this!" Atala snapped, surprising Redstripe.
"What do you mean?" he asked, completely at a loss to how she was acting right now.
"I thought that, with you being a father, you'd have more qualms about this, completely destroying a city, with all its residents still in it. And yet, you're acting like you've just gotten a bunch of gold from the ground!"
"I'm not sure I follow." Redstripe responded, still unsure where Atala was going with this.
"I thought that, since you yourself had cared for a child, you'd have more objections to potentially killing thousands of children who did absolutely nothing to deserve it!"
For a moment, Redstripe stared at her in shocked silence, her words gradually sinking in. For a moment, Redstripe wavered in his want for vengeance, the words thousands echoing through his mind. Then he sharply recalled that day, all those months ago, how the Hivewing dragonets on that street had nonchalantly carried on their business, even after witnessing Swallowtail break his entire body, freefalling onto the pavement. How none of them gave that body a second look. And suddenly, he was overcome with rage.
"You really think I'd care about what happens to some Hivewing brats?" he snarled vehemently, Atala taking a step back in surprise at the unexpectedly hostile tone.
"I saw Hivewing dragonets, watching Swallowtail fall, who saw how he died. I saw how they completely didn't give a fuck about it. Because it was a Silkwing that died, it didn't matter to them, because Silkwings never matter here. As far as I'm concerned, those damned brats are as bad as their parents, and they'd probably grow up to be just like them, too!
"No, I don't care what happens to any of those leeches, because they sure as moons are never going to care about what happens to any of us, including any Silkwings their age. Why should I care about what happens to them, when they'd never give us another glance if we died?! At least this way, we'll be able to make them feel it, make them never. Ever. Forget."
"Redstripe, please, think!" Atala yelled, pleading. "What would Swallowtail think? What would he say about all of this?"
The mention of Swallowtail sent a shard of pain through his heart, something that made it too easy for him to keep fueling his tirade.
Giving Atala a death glare that had her back away even more, he coldly responded, "Swallowtail is dead." He took a menacing step toward her and her unsettled face, "And so is the dragon that cared for him."
She could only stare at him, speechless, words having fled her at his declaration. Redstripe hadn't been lying. When Swallowtail died, when he saw the Hivewings who saw all but shrugging it off… a part of his heart had very well died with his dragonet, before almost immediately being replaced by the years of pent-up rage, frustration and spite bubbling to the surface.
Now, he was letting it spill over like a wave, to make his point, to make it clear he would not falter in the face of what needed to be done. He would do this. Burn the hive down, to make the Hivewings pay. To finally be rid of the symbol of their oppression. See how it felt for them to be on the receiving end of something terrible for once.
Looking Atala in the face, an unnaturally thunderous expression on his face, he asked with a quiet and cold, but no less wrathful, voice, "When is it?"
Recognising he would not brook any further argument at this point, the dragoness quietly gulped, before she told him, "Sometime in the next week. We… already have a lot of the materials the Leafwings need available to us. Only some moving of those materials needs to be done. I'll… I'll send Grayling over to tell you when we're ready."
Redstripe curtly nodded in satisfaction, "Good."
Seeing as she'd done all she had come here to do, and that she was not very welcome now, Atala sighed and slowly turned to leave. Before she left the house, however, she glanced back and gave him a look, filled deep with disappointment.
"I thought you were better than this. I really, truly thought that you were better than this. I guess I was wrong." Then she was gone.
Redstripe tried to put Atala's parting words, her expression as she left, out of his mind by focusing on the news she had left him; the Chrysalis council had chosen to go on the offensive, had chosen to help the Leafwings and destroy Bloodworm Hive in an all-encompassing conflagration. The fact they'd chosen that course of action said they'd probably either brushed Atala's concerns about Silkwing collateral damage off, or they had a plan to mitigate it.
Either way, he supposed it wouldn't matter; the hive would be destroyed, or at least damaged enough that the Hivewings wouldn't forget about them so easily. Finally, after all these years… the Hivewings would be getting their dues for what they did to the Silkwing tribe, tenfold. At last, there would be true retribution, and Redstripe was ecstatic to be a part of that, no matter how small.
For a fraction of a second, his mind went back to Atala's words, about Swallowtail and his opinion about. Deep within, he knew his son wouldn't have condoned this…
But Swallowtail wasn't here, was he?
The memories of why Swallowtail was gone now, the memories of seeing the Hivewings react that way, was enough to harden Redstripe's heart against the moral qualms that came with trying to do such a thing as to destroy a whole city with dragons in it, and steel his resolve to help burn this hideous tumour of a city, and all its equally repulsive denizens, off the map, in any way he could.
'Let them know what it's like,' Redstripe vengefully thought, 'let them know loss, know loss like I have, and make it tenfold.
'Let them know what it's like… to have nothing.'
—
A few days later…
When Carpenter unexpectedly woke up in the middle of the night, he didn't know the reason why at all, blinking perplexedly as the grogginess slowly melted away the longer he stayed up. Then his sleepy mind finally woke up enough to realise what his senses had been telling him; there was a pungent smell of smoke permeating through the air. Smoke that was most definitely not supposed to be there.
Shooting up from bed, he shoved the curtains over his window wide open. The sight that greeted him was nothing short of horrific.
Living in a tall house, his bedroom had quite a fabulous view over the rest of this level of the hive. Now, that view was marred by the sight of massive, bright orange flames licking up the sides of the buildings on the far side of the hive, masses of Hivewings fleeing from the encroaching inferno, with a pitiful few staying behind to fight the flames, forming bucket brigades to dump water into the base of the fire, or flying above the flames to dump water onto it from above.
For several seconds, Carpenter was unable to do anything but stare at the wholly unexpected spectacle of fire devouring the inside of the hive. Even as he looked on, he witnessed several of the aerial firefighters get sucked in by the vortex the massive blaze was forming, the wind catching them by the wings into the heart of the fire. Thankfully, the light from the flames drowned out what happened to their bodies, but it was still far from a pleasant picture.
The realisation there were dragons already dying to this thing was enough to snap Carpenter out of his shocked-induced paralysis, snapping the curtains shut and turning back to his room. Taking a moment to notice his wife wasn't in bed, he got out of his bedroom to find her and wake his daughters.
"Girls?" he called out anxiously as he stepped out, his voice carrying through the hallway. In the darkness, Carpenter could make out a silhouette standing by Aster's door. Fortunately, it was one that he fully recognised, even without her words when she saw him.
"Carpenter, thank Clearsight you're finally up," his mate, Cerana, said. "I need you to get Emerald from her room, I don't think she can hear me from here, and I can't seem to find any of the servants."
Wordlessly nodding, Carpenter hurried down the hallways towards his other daughter's room, putting the missing servants out of his mind for the moment. Reaching Emerald's door, he vigorously rapped on the wood, calling out, "Emerald! Emerald, wake up, we need to-"
Almost as if on cue, the door opened, and out stepped a green-and-black dragonet, blinking lethargically as she did so.
"Dad, what's going on?" She sniffed the air. "And what's with that weird smell?"
"There's no time to explain, we just need to get out of here as soon as possible. Just- you'll see when we're outside."
Not waiting for a response, the drake went back to check on Cerana, arriving just in time for Aster to finally open her door and come out.
"Mom?" she asked, yawning. "What's with the lights outside? Isn't it supposed to be nighttime?"
"That's- not that important right now, dear, we just need to go outside for now, alright?"
Wasting no time wrapping their younger daughter under her wing, Cerana shepherded her down the hallway back towards Carpenter.
"Mom, what's going on?" Emerald demanded from behind him. Good, she'd followed him at least.
Responding with a short, "You'll see in a moment.", Cerana hurriedly led the way out of the house, almost outright jumping down the stairs in their haste. The whole time getting down to the front door, Carpenter still couldn't find any sign of his family's Silkwing servants. He didn't know whether to be concerned about that or not.
In next to no time at all, they'd reached the front door, and Carpenter, with a vigour fuelled by a growing sense of dread, turned the lock and all but threw the door wide open. What he and his family saw out on the street was nothing short of terrifying.
Hivewings were running down the street in droves, a mass of panicked dragons fleeing for their lives, all of their hysterical shouts and screams all blending together to create a cacophony of incoherent screeching that had pools of dread filling Carpenter's gut just listening to it. But the sound of all that was nothing compared to the reason those dragons were all screaming and running in the first place.
Behind the fleeing crowd was the blaze he'd seen from his window, except now it was much, much closer than before, having somehow rapidly advanced down several streets and blocks toward his house. Carpenter now also noticed, with another drop of dread, that there were no more firefighters trying to tackle the blaze; now, there were only those running for their lives in the face of certain death.
Looking down at the flood of dragons, Carpenter couldn't help but make a rather strange observation: the fleeing crowd was completely made up of Hivewings. No brightly-coloured Silkwings were to be seen anywhere, no matter how much he looked; nothing but black and yellow-orange scales. Apparently, his servants being missing might not be a one-off. He didn't know what that entailed, nor if it was really relevant to the situation at hand, but Carpenter filed it into his mind nonetheless.
Apprehensively watching the stampede, Carpenter got up the courage to start tentatively stepping down towards the mass of rushing bodies, gesturing for his family to follow. He knew full well the risk of them getting separated, and even crushed underfoot by everyone else, but it was a whole lot better than just standing around and waiting for the fire to consume them.
Almost immediately, he was caught up in the maelstrom, the force of the stampede carrying him forward, he himself utterly helpless in the face of the pure, unadulterated panic infecting all the dragons around him. He snapped his head back toward where his family was supposed to be, and relief filled him when he saw Cerana and their dragonets managing to stay several metres behind him.
Slowing down against the crowd a bit, his family managed to make it to his side, Carpenter immediately tucking his wings over his mate's, she in turn using her wings to keep Emerald and Aster to her sides, preventing them all from getting separated in the chaos of all the fleeing Hivewings.
"Stay with me, alright?"
His mate and daughters wordlessly nodded, letting themselves flow with the crowd, trusting that wherever everyone else was going would lead them to salvation from the flames that were rapidly, unrelentingly advancing after them, eagerly catching on the walls of both the hive and the buildings it passed.
They ran, down numerous streets and around many corners, powerlessly swept up in the mob trying desperately to get away, to survive the inferno that continued to pursue them, the inferno that was now raining ashes onto them, thick tendrils of smoke trying as if to embrace them. In no time at all, Carpenter, Cerana, Emerald and Aster, along with most of the other dragons around them, were covered almost head-to-toe in thick, powdery ash, the smell of smoke and char now the only scent there was, many dragons choking on it as well. Still, they ran, Carpenter refusing to entertain the possibility of those ashes, the smell of char, belonging not to something burning, but someone.
Out of the corner of his eye, Carpenter caught sight of a few Hivewings taking flight, clearly trying to get to the exits faster and to avoid the crush of all the hysterical dragons… only to be caught up in the blaze's firestorm effect, their spread wings only making it that much easier for the flames' powerful vortexes to suck them in. Even as they were yanked into the heart of the burning mass, Carpenter could distinctly hear their agonised screams above those of the dragons wisely keeping to the ground, and above the crackle of the ever-hungry flames that mercilessly chased them, jumping from building to building in order to keep up.
But, as the family turned one final corner, Carpenter felt a sigh of relief wanting very much to escape him. He refrained, if only to avoid breathing in more ash and smoke than was necessary. Because, straight down the avenue they'd turned onto, was an exit, its wide opening showing the night sky beyond. Once through, they would be safe, away from the tongues of flame constantly lapping at their heels, seeking to devour them. However, they weren't completely out of danger yet; they still had to make it down the avenue, of which there was still a long way to go. Still, the sight was heartening enough to give Carpenter a second wind, knowing they were almost out. Nodding to his family, understanding in their eyes, he started preparing himself for a final dash to safety-
Only for the sound of collapsing timbers to distract him, his head snapping up to find the source of the noise; a large wooden beam had broken off the ceiling above them, the flames having destroyed what had been holding it up. Now, a massive piece of burning wood was falling… right onto where Carpenter and his family were.
His instincts kicked in immediately, and he aggressively pushed Cerana and his daughters forward, out of the way of the beam… just in time for said beam to fall right on top of him.
"Dad!"
"Carpenter!"
His family quickly rushed over to him, Emerald and Aster moving to try and lift the beam pinning his back half to the ground, though Carpenter knew it was hopeless, the beam was far too heavy for them to move, let alone lift, while Cerana had grabbed his face in her hands.
"Carpenter, oh Clearsight, what do we do, oh, moons, what do we do-"
"Cerana," he interrupted, "there's no point. Lifting this beam would take too much time, and none of you are anywhere near strong enough for it, anyway."
"B-but Carpenter-"
"Cerana, listen to me."
The seriousness in his voice, and the way he grasped her hands with his, was enough to make Cerana stop protesting and look him in the eye. Seeing the dread, the heartbrokenness in her expression, he knew she'd realised the futility of his situation.
"There's nothing that can be done for me now," he told her, his voice surprisingly steady, considering his death was all but inevitable now. "But you, you and the girls, you can still make it. Cerana, they need you. They need you to look after them, take care of them when I cannot. They can get by without me, but you have to be there for them. I can accept that I may die while the rest of you survive, but I can't accept our girls, our wonderful children, becoming orphans, having to fend for themselves or be taken care of by less-than-charitable dragons.
"Cerana, you must promise me, promise that you will live, will take care of them, be the mother you've always been, make them grow up as happy as they possibly can. I'm not saying not to grieve my death, mourn my end, but the children must come first. Cerana, please."
He implored her at the end, his eyes, his expression, his tone pleading, impressing upon her the importance of what she said next, would do next.
Tears now streaming down her cheeks, cutting tracks in the ash coating her face, she nodded solemnly, her hands tightening around his, "I promise."
Carpenter simply responded, "Good." Then, "Now go, Cerana. You have to get out of here. The flames won't be long in coming."
Tearfully, his mate squeezed her hands with his, before letting go for the last time. Grabbing Emerald and Aster away from the beam they were still trying in vain to move, she pulled them down the street towards the hive's exit, the two dragonets struggling and screaming, protesting about abandoning their father.
"Mom, what are you doing?! Dad's still stuck, we have to get him out!"
"Daddy, no! Daddy! Go back! Mama, go back, please!"
His heart shattered, hearing his daughters cry out for him, but Carpenter knew there was no saving him. All he could do was save what could be saved, and as he watched his family continue down the avenue, their silhouette's becoming increasingly distant and drowned out by the fire's light, he knew he could rest easy, seeing he'd ensured his family's survival.
As he lay there, it began to get harder and harder to breathe, the longer he stayed still, until he was desperately gasping for air, air he knew full well would not be there, having now long been replaced by thick smoke and endless particles of ash.
Carpenter could acutely feel his lungs burning as they continued to be deprived of the air they needed, noticed how dizzy he was feeling now, the blackness encroaching on the edges of his vision, and he knew that the end was near for him. No matter. He'd already made peace with the fact of his death, already made peace with his family living without him. He knew he could very much trust his mate to keep her promise to him. He could trust her to get herself and their dragonets through whatever came next, their outlook on life untainted by him dying, and just for that, Carpenter could rest easy.
Now, Carpenter could only watch the sparkling night sky through the hive exit, as the city he'd lived in for the past decade burned in its entirety. He watched, even as he felt his vertigo reach all-consuming levels, the blackness from before now threatening to cover his vision completely, his body and mind becoming sluggish, exhausted, like he was in dire need of rest. Knowing he had nothing to fear now, Carpenter allowed himself to give in to the temptations of sleep, fully aware it would be the last time he ever closed his eyes, would ever see something on the mortal plane. He was completely okay with that.
Slowly, Carpenter started to close his eyes, never to open them again. The last thing he saw, right before he was sunk into darkness, were more large pieces of debris, falling onto the road, far in front of him, completely obscuring the sight of the night sky through the exit, replacing it with what looked like a funeral pyre.
Then, there was nothing.
—
Out on the savannah, a grey-and-red Silkwing watched his home- no, his prison- go up in flames like so much dry timber, the Hive now resembling a torch. There was a twisted feeling of satisfaction making itself known in his chest as he imagined all the Hivewings within suffering slow, agonising deaths, either being roasted alive or choking on the thick clouds of smoke that now wafted out of all the Hive's openings. Judging from all the screaming he could hear, even at this distance, there was much suffering going on.
To the Silkwing, the sight of Bloodworm Hive being set completely ablaze, and the sounds of untold numbers of Hivewings screaming in panic, in pain- it was far more beautiful than anything he'd ever experienced within that place.
'Now, the oppressors shall know suffering and fear,' he thought gleefully, 'now, they will pay for what they have done to us, all these years.
'This is for you, my son.'
"Redstripe!" The Silkwing turned his head at his name being called, seeing his comrade, a fellow Silkwing who was standing by the Leafwing he was sure was sure to be his girlfriend, if some of their earlier interactions were anything to go by, waving to him.
"Are you coming with us or what?" Grayling shouted to him.
Rolling his eyes a little (why did Grayling have to be so impatient?), the Silkwing answered, "I'm coming, don't worry," before finally making his way over to where Grayling, the Leafwings, several dozen Chrysalis members and several hundred former Silkwing residents of Bloodworm Hive, plus a few Silkwings from the neighbouring hives were making their way toward the caves the Leafwings had promised they would be safe in.
Glancing back toward the burning hive one last time, he couldn't help but think, 'This… is the dawn of a new era… a new age… a new world.'
Redstripe grinned, giddy in anticipation for whatever future awaited them.
'I can't wait for things to get started.'