"What happened?"

Clearwing opened one of her eyes and gave Cricket a "really?" look. From her internal clock, she guessed it was barely sunrise. Sundew and Willow were awake, but they minded their own business, and Nettle and Mandrake were still asleep.

"Honestly, what did I miss?" Cricket asked, missing Clearwing's look.

"A decent amount," Coal replied from beside the SilkWing, still softly purring to himself. "Don't worry about it too much."

Cricket crinkled up her snout, but didn't press any further, which Clearwing was grateful for.

"Oh, moons," Sundew said. "Wasp."

Oh. Right.

"Wasp! She's supposed to be attacking today!" Willow yelped, sitting up. "How did I forget? We have to get back to them, right now. Like, immediately. As soon as possible. Rove, we need to get out of here!" The LeafWing turned with pleading eyes toward the FormWing.

"Sorry," she sighed. "But we're under strict orders from the king and queen not to let you leave Perania until further notice."

"What?" Nettle hissed, sitting up so fast Clearwing suddenly doubted she had even been sleeping. Mandrake rolled over and mumbled something.

Rove Beetle shrugged unhelpfully. "That's all she said. Its, um... kind of my job to follow orders, you know? I didn't really ask why."

"But we have to get back to them," Sundew growled. "If Wasp is there, they need us!"

Clearwing felt the panic spilling out of the LeafWing's mind like black liquid spilling over the edge of an inkwell. The green dragon was prepared to barrel through the guards if she needed to.

"I bet I know why the queen doesn't want us leaving," Clearwing said. "It's because of Coal. If he leaves and the antidote doesn't cure him-" or if the antidote doesn't kill him, she thought with a sickening lurch, "he'll be a deadly weapon for Wasp to use against the LeafWings, right? And then, after she kills the LeafWings, she'll be coming for you."

Argiope glanced over at Rove Beetle.

"That's probably it, actually," he said, looking back at Clearwing.

"Alright, well," Clearwing said, bravely keeping her voice from shaking, "that just means that she's keeping Coal here. Not necessarily the rest of my friends."

The WebWing and FormWing exchanged glances again.

"I guess," Rove Beetle said.

"Oh! So that means she could let us go!" Cricket exclaimed, the puzzle pieces clicking together in her mind. "Oh. But that means we'd be leaving Coal behind."

Okay, Clearwing. Time for the hard part.

"No. I'll stay behind with Coal and you can go and save the LeafWings," Clearwing replied.

"That doesn't seem right," Willow said. "We shouldn't split up — either all of us are going or none of us leave."

Argh, Clearwing thought. I had a feeling this would happen.

"Please? If you can go and help the LeafWings, then you should."

"You can help them too, way more than we can," Nettle pointed out. "Since you can see the future and read our enemies' minds and such."

That is a good point. The one time Nettle had to be right, why did it have to be on this?

"Staying behind with Coal is more important." She coiled her tail with the GreyWing's. "You all know about the breath of evil as much as I do. As soon as the antidote works, Coal and I will come and join you, and then we can free the HiveWings."

"I'm staying with you," Cricket piped up. "It'll be really interesting to see how the antidote works. Besides, you two should not be alone with each other for very long."

"So, what, exactly, am I telling the queen?" Rove Beetle asked, her claws clenching and unclenching as she spoke.

Clearwing looked over at Sundew, Willow, Nettle, and Mandrake. Dragons desperate to protect their home. And then at Cricket, fidgeting with excitement and the idea of finding a cure to the breath of evil.

"Tell her Cricket, Coal and I are staying behind," Clearwing said, "and to let Mandrake, Nettle, Sundew and Willow go to help their tribe."