Chapter Nine
Empty Heart

Weavers POV:
Cicada had fallen off of the cliff. Weaver didn't know what she would do. But she wouldn't let an innocent dragonet die. Weaver jumped into the pit after Cicada. She reached for Cicadas' arm and pulled her close to her. She could hear Moondancer, Sizzle, Nova, and Glare freaking out over her and Cicada who were now in the pit together. Weaver was about to fly upwards but her body crashed downwards into something that cushioned their fall. It felt like she should be there but she shouldn't at the same time. She could hear something above her. Like large tree roots growing. She looked up and saw a green plant covering them. It had small yellow flowers on it with small pods on it. Was this the Kiss of Death?. Was this what made her tribe sick?. If this was making her tribe sick, she didn't want to be near it. Now that she looked around the room. It looked like a carved out room. The room was square with what looked like a small throne in front of her. There was also a strange smell. It smelled like battery acid and salt. It looked like there was a skeleton at the throne. The skeleton looked like it had vines covering it, holding it together. Cicada looked at the skeleton and looked away. "That's scary!. They look mean!". Cicada yelled as she hid behind her. The skeleton had their mouth open and looked like they were crawling away from something. Possibly the roots holding it together. One of the horns had fallen off. Their wings also looked like they were about to fall off. The air around them grew colder. It wasn't this cold when they got down here, was it?. Maybe she was getting paranoid. The cold feeling went away. Then it came back a few minutes later. It was going around them. Weaver wondered if it was something messing with them. Was it the skeletons spirit?. Were they wanting to be free?. Weaver blinked and there was a dragon in front of her. They had Cherry Red scales with a Chestnut colored underbelly. They had light Green eyes and Dark Pine colored horns. Cicada was with her. He looked at Weaver and looked around. "Oh!. This is new?. Who are you?. Are you here to free me from this.. place?". The dragon asked her. Cicada looked at the dragon and stepped out from behind her. She was curious. "I'm Cicada!. This is Weaver!. Who are you mister?". Cicada asked the strange dragon and found it strange. How did they get here?. Weren't they just in the room?. Was that an illusion?. Were they not actually there?. Was this place real?. She stopped with her existential crisis, she found it distracting. So would you.

Weaver stepped forward and looked at the dragon closely. Their tail looked strange. He had a normal tail but the end of it looked like a Cellwings' tail. His wings were also strange. Instead of having two sets of wings, he had one with two wing fingers. Maybe he was a hybrid. He seemed nervous from Cicadas questions. He looked around like someone was listening to them. Did he know that her friends were here?. Were here friends okay?. She knew that the Firefly silk would be put by now. Would Sizzle be okay?. She remembered when they had all come home. Sizzle was really excited when they went to the Central Talon. She seemed to be an extrovert. Unlike Crevice and Moondancer who seemed to be introverts. She wasn't sure about Nova and Dewdrop. They seemed like a bit of both. "I'm Lice. I've been trapped here for quite some time. You both seem like you could be helpful, no pun intended". Lice told them. He pointed to her wrists. Weaver realized that he must've wanted something to do with her silk. She wondered if her wanted her to burn the Kiss of Death. If so, she couldn't. One reason was because she knew burning it would spread it. Another reason was because she usually didn't like to burn things. It reminded her of when plants burned. Whenever plants burned they called out to her. Like a call for help. They always need her wether she was around or not. They complained about too much or too little sun. Or whenever they had too mush water. She did try to help them. It was always why she was good at planting. She would try to help Lice too. Weaver was also a bit suspicious of Lice. "How could we help you?. We don't even know what you want!". Weaver asked Lice. Cicada flinched a bit as Weaver raised her voice. Weaver buzzed her wings in a way her tribe did when they meant no harm. She rubbed her wings together twice quickly and then once slowly. Cicada looked calmer. Lice seemed to recognize her wings language as they rubbed together. He looked around for a bit. Like someone was watching over them. He gushed his voice to a whisper. "You have to free me from this plant. It wants to grow over this continent, To take it over!". Lice told them. He seemed a bit scared at this point. He was looking around like a scared dragonet who had lost his mother in a crowd of random dragons. He backed away a bit and Cicada looked concerned. Lice suddenly stopped in place and shivered a bit. His wings buzzed as a sign of danger. Three short buzzes and one long one. His eyes had this glossed over look. Like he was a fresh corpse that had been stabbed with something. His body shook for a moment before his talons tensed and something spoke through him. "How nice!. Two new dragons all for me!. Maybe they could free me?. Would you be so kind as to free me?". Something through Lice spoke. It wasn't him. The voice was layered over by something else. Like something or someone controlling him. Weaver was freaked out by this. She didn't know how it was happening or why. Maybe it was why he was down here. The plant wouldn't let him leave. She wondered what it wanted. "Why should we free you?. You could hurt many innocent dragons if we do!". She shouted at him. Lices' body recoiled as if he'd been stung by her. She hadn't stung anyone on purpose, but she might have to. "How rude!. I could cure your tribe in an instant if I wanted to!. But no one wanted to visit me. To bring the antidote up to the surface". The things told her while pointing upwards. She felt her wings tighten like something had coiled around them. Was it the plant?. Was the plant trying to take her over?. If so, she wouldn't let it. "If you could cure my tribe in an instant. Why haven't you?. Do you think it's fun to do this?. To torture other dragons?". Weaver asked it. It flicked its tail as it made itself look taller. It was only a few inches taller than her. It looked like it was thinking as it looked away from her and back again. "Again, you're being very rude. I'm not doing this for fun!. I'm doing this because.. you dragons are cruel beings. I'm a plant too. You know that don't you?. You keep ripping me from the trees and make me suffer. Won't you bring some Salvation to the surface?". It told her. Weaver knew something was off. If the plant already had a cure. Why didn't it bring itself to the surface, why not the cure. Weaver realized this was a trap. A really bad trap to get it to the surface so it could spread even more. So it could infect other dragons. Lices' body twitched and shivered again. His talons relaxed and he jerked his head from side to side as if nodding no. His body shuttered another time before he went still. He was in place for a few seconds before he moved again. His breathing quickened. "I-I'm sorry about that. That-That was the plant. This thing wants to grow outside of this cave. The only way to get rid of it is to cut it off at the source". Lice told her. He pointed to somewhere they couldn't see. He looked at them and back at where he was pointing. "Oh, my apologies. This will help". Lice told them as the space around them became clear. They were back in the room and he was pointing to the skeleton. Wait... THAT'S HIS SKELETON?!. No wonder he's been trapped down here. He can't get out. He's trapped here. Moondancer didn't specify this in her prophecy. That's because it doesn't tell her that stuff. It's just a few fancy words that everyone has to follow. Maybe I do t have to free the plant. Maybe I just have to free Lice instead!. Weaver thought as she looked at the skeleton of Lice. There was something coming out of his lower jaw. It was a plant tendril of the Kiss of Death. It had impaled him through the jaw. He possibly looked like he was trying to escape the Kiss of Death. He was entangled in it. Somehow his skeleton looked like it was in pain and sad at the same time. It was a silly thing to think about. "You have to cut the vine inside of my jaw. Then I'll be free from this thing". Lice told Weaver. Weaver sighed. Her body felt lighter as she walked over to Lices' skeleton. She slowly grabbed the plant and sliced the plant out of his jaw. Lice closed his eyes and waited for something. He waited for another minute or so and opened his eyes. "Why didn't it work?. Oh, you have to cut it below my jaw. You cut it in the wrong place". Lice told her. His body shivered as he spoke. "Y-You tried to get rid of me... Did you not like me that much?". Lice asked as his voice layered over. She spun some Firefly silk and wrapped it around the Kiss of Death. Lice seemed to be struggling a bit. Weaver tied a small knot in her silk with her front talons. "No, I don't". She said as she pulled the string towards herself. She heard the plant snap as her silk broke through it. Cicada moved out of the way as she stumbled backwards a bit. The plant holding his body together seemed to crumble away. His bones fell to the ground with some loud echoing clatters. Lice shivered before his body went back to normal. She looked at Lice for a second. He smiled. "Thank you for freeing me. Can I have some of your memories before I go?. I just want to feel what being a dragon is like". Lice asked her. She nodded slowly as she opened her mind to him. She gave him some good memories. One of them was when she was in school. Weaver was doing a worksheet on Math. It was something about Gross Pay. She could hear some dragonets from around her messing around. The walls were a nice Light Grey. There were large windows with sunlight pouring into the room. Her math teacher, Mrs. Rosary was helping another student. His name was Hellebore. He was kind of... strange but he was pretty cool. He was mostly drawing pictures of buildings. Maybe it's because his dad was a construction worker. Suddenly a ring could be heard throughout the mostly quiet classroom. Mrs. Rosary quickly walked over to the rotary phone on her desk and answered it. "Hello?. Oh?, Yes she's here. Okay I'll send her down". Mrs. Rosary told the dragon on the other side of the rotary phone. She set the phone down with a soft click and she walked over to her. Mrs. Rosary brought her voice down to a whisper. "Your mother is at the front office for you". She told Weaver. She was eight at the time. Weaver put her paper in the bag that was slung around her chest. She closed the pouch and walked out of the classroom. She closed the door softly and walked in the hallway. She walked past the other classrooms that were teaching students. She passed a room that read 116 which was her English class. She continued to walk to the front office. Weaver saw her mother, Acid, waiting for her with a box. She was curious until she realized what day it was. It was her birthday. She was so focused on school that she had forgotten that it was her birthday. She hugged her mom tightly but not too tight. Another memory she had was when she had a field trip to the Art Museum in her school. She got to see many of the old Queens artifacts. One of them was an artificial stinger made for a Queen named Swallowtail. Apparently she was born without a stinger so someone had made her one. The stinger has worked well and she had passed away in her sleep. Another item was a painting of a Queen named Lacewing. She had Dark Grey scales with a Darker underbelly. Her eyes were a Medium Brown. There was also her crown in a glass box. She had passed away from drinking coffee with the Kiss of Death bean in it. Apparently her last words to Queen Arachnie were, "Keep the tribe safe. You'll be a great Queen, I know it". There were many paintings as well. She got joy from looking at paintings from her tribe. Most of them were of old Queens but some of them were landscapes. There were a few ancient letters encased in glass. One of them was newly placed there and it looked like it was folded neatly. She read one of them. It read, Dear Queen Arachnie of the Seamwings. I would like to inform you of something one of my seers told me. They had informed me of a hurricane that will pass through the NorthEast side of the forest. You should take cover with your tribe. Beneath the Silk Tree would be best. I hope your tribe does well during this. Best of luck.
From Queen Blaze of the Eclipsewings.
Ps. Maybe we could throw a celebration afterwards!. Not a big one, just a small one.
Weaver didn't know which other memories she had for him. She smiled as she shared one last memory with him. She was with Tarantula coloring in her room. Tarantula's room was nicer than hers. It had a balcony with Sage Green walls with hints is Pistachio around the rims of her walls. She had a Pollen Yellow bed and a desk near the end of it . She liked this memory. Tarantula looked at her and buzzed her wings to get her attention. Weaver was about four or five and she looked up from her coloring. "Do you want to learn how to fly?". Tarantula asked her. Weaver had always dreamed of the moment since she was two. The reason she hadn't learned was because her mom was already at work. It was from 5:00 to 9:00, at least she thought it was. Weaver stood up a bit too fast and it got confusing for a second. "Yes!. Teach me how to fly please!". Weaver asked Tarantula politely. Tarantula sighed as she opened the door to her balcony. She spread her wings and looked at her. "What you want to do is focus the movement to your wings. It's like moving your arms but on your back. Like this". Tarantula flapped her wings and she jumped off of the balcony railing. She caught herself with her wings. Weaver looked at Tarantula and she nodded, like a nod of reassurance. Weaver carefully held onto the balcony and she jumped off. She flapped her wings like Tarantula told her to. She had caught herself with her wings, she was flying!. She was happy, a bit scared and excited to share this with her mom. Weaver opened her eyes as she looked at Lice. Lice seemed happier than ever. He looked at Cicada. "Would you like to share any of your memories with me, little one?". Cicada looked a bit freaked out. She nodded her head and got closer to Weaver. Lice smiled happily. "Thank you for helping me. I finally got to feel how I would've felt if I was free". Lice thanked them. He was truly happy. He closed his eyes for the last and final time. His mental body faded away and they were left in the hole. The roots above them died and they were able to fly out of the hole. Cicada crawled onto her back and Weaver flew upwards. She didn't realize how long it took to fly up the hole. Her wings were beginning to ache. She found some ledges to rest on and rested there. She could hear one of the dragonets yelling. It sounded like Sizzle but she couldn't tell. Maybe it was Crevice. "WEAVER!. ARE YOU OKAY?". Sizzle yelled loudly from a few feet above her. She waited a few moments before answering. "I-I'm okay!. Just tired from flying". Weaver yelled to Sizzle. Sizzle sighed before Dewdrop went in front of her. "Let me try something". He said as he did something above her. Her ears shook a bit like something was there but she couldn't hear it. He looked at Sizzle and nodded. "Weaver is okay. She's a few feet away from us". Weaver was very confused. How did he know this?. Was this a Serrene dragon thing?. Could all of Serrenes' dragons do this?. She knew that sometimes Sereenes' dragons took field trips to Aithria but she didn't see them. She was too focused with her work. Her wings were no longer tired. She flew up with Cicada on her back. She thought she heard rumbling as they flew up. She had finally reached the top of the cliff and her friends were happy. She wasn't sure about Crevice. She landed carefully away from the edge. Princess Flea looked worried. Moondancer looked at the way they came. She was worried now. "Is something wrong, Moondancer?. Are you alright?". Weaver asked Moondancer. Moondancer wasn't really that much of a talker. Neither was was Nova. They o or spoke unless they had something to say. "We have to get everyone out of here!. This place is falling apart!". Moondancer told them as she looked at Princess Flea. Princess Flea looked scared as she picked up Dewdrop and started flying towards the cells. Everyone was attempting to keep up. Her and Weaver were at the same pace. She heard Nova breathe something and they were definitely a lot closer than they were before. Princess Flea looked like she was panicking. They made their way to Queen Maggot and the place started shaking, but this time it didn't stop. The panicked guards opened the large metal doors. Queen Maggot looked at Princess Flea. "Oh thank goddess you're back!. What causing this shaking?. Do you know?". Queen Maggot asked Princess Flea as she looked around. "We have to get everyone out of here!. This place is falling apart!". Moondancer yelled to Queen Maggot.

Weaver looked back towards the way they came. Cellwings seemed to be panicking. The crumbling got worse. She thought there was an earthquake, but it wasn't. It's not an earthquake. Weaver thought. The ground is caving in on us!.