The Smuggler: Chapter Ten: Who to Trust?

Chapter Ten

Who to Trust?

    "I think I should go," said Moon, backing up. "It's probably not a good idea for me to go with you. Good luck finding Dragonfly."

    "Thanks," Peacock replied. His heart was thumping in his chest. The Underworld was here, right before him. "You can go back to Freedom. I don't think we need to be told again how to get back."

    Moon hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Also, the part in the prophecy that says, 'Trust the one you've trusted this long' sounds really important. Don't forget it." And with that, she turned and leapt into the air, leaving the three siblings and the giant hole in the mountain where a creepy immortal magic dragon was once imprisoned.

    Peacock drew a deep breath and looked into the hole. It descended into darkness, and he couldn't see anything at the bottom.

    "I'll go first," said Moth. "You'll need the light."

    And you want to be the one who gets attacked by anything that might be down there, thought Peacock. That sounded like his brother. "Uh, sure. Why not?"

    Moth spun flamesilk from his wrist and slowly started down the stairs. He waved his arm around but lit up only more blackness. And more stairs. He looked back at them. "Come on. Go slowly."

    Peacock steeled his nerves and slowly stepped inside. A whoosh of cold air hit him, blown from some underground depths somewhere. He pressed closer to Moth as Julia followed. As soon as she was inside the tunnel, the skyfire scraped shut from outside. Everyone jumped.

    Julia thumped on the rock experimentally. "I think we're stuck."

    "Oh, joy," muttered Peacock. "This is the best time to have that happen to us."

    "I think there's only one possible way out," said Moth. He pointed. "Down."

    Peacock and Julia sighed but followed him down into the depths of the mountain. The stone stairs were chipped and missing in parts, but Moth's flamesilk allowed them to see enough to make sure they didn't plunge into pretty certain death. An image of Anemone came floating into Peacock's mind as he walked. What would she be doing now? Maybe she was helping with the new freed Pantalan dragon. She was probably telling jokes, all the while with one eye fixed on the sky, waiting for them. Probably. Maybe not.

    Peacock was jolted out of his thoughts when Moth stopped abruptly and he crashed into him. "Ow! What is it?"

    Moth moved to the side to allow them both to see. They had arrived at a giant cavern deep underground. It was tall and long, but that wasn't the most startling part. The cavern was filled with statues. Dragons were in pretty much every position possible, made of many things from crystal to stone. A soft glow seemed to radiate from something deep in the room, and it was deathly silent.

    "Where's the giver of light?" whispered Julia. "I thought we were supposed to put the shell in the palms of the giver of light."

    "It must be one of the statues," Moth whispered back.

    Peacock glanced at a statue of a young female dragonet who seemed to stare up at the ceiling of the cave with wide eyes. "That certainly won't take forever." They started forward, Moth shining his flamesilk at each of the statues that they passed, to no avail. The light seemed to be getting brighter, until they moved out of the way of a large dragon who stared at them like he could actually see them, which was terrifying, and the light's source was revealed.

    She was beautiful. A crystal dragon with outstretched wings and her eyes gazing almost fondly at them. The crystal seemed to glow, so bright that Moth's flamesilk wasn't needed anymore. Her palms were stretched out towards them, almost reaching for the shell.

    "Is this it?" Peacock asked, forgetting to be quiet and his words echoing off the walls and statues. "Is this the giver of light?"

    "It must be. None of the other dragons we've passed so far look like it," Julia replied.

    Moth slowly opened his talons to reveal the brown shell. It seemed to be glowing with the same radiance as the statue. "I think so." He slowly raised the shell towards her palms until they were almost touching, then-

    A dazzling light filled the chamber, startling Moth so much he dropped the shell and it landed at the dragon's frozen talons. Peacock shielded his eyes from the glare and looked to see where it was coming from. A beam of light was shining through a hole in the ceiling, creating a sort of spotlight onto a small stone dragonet. His gaze was determined, and he held a stone ball up towards the light.

    Moth gently picked up the shell again and walked towards him. Julia and Peacock followed, with one last glance at the glowing crystal dragon. The light was coming from the moons. The sun had set and now the moons were the most brilliant things on the sky. The dragonet sat as still as, well, a statue, but his gaze seemed to relax as he bathed in the moonlight. Moonlight.

    "Look at what he's holding," whispered Peacock. "It's one of the moons." Sure enough, the ball the dragonet was holding seemed like a miniature version of the glowing orbs that bathed Pyrria in their light. "The crystal dragon isn't the giver of light. He is."

    Moth raised the shell and slipped it under the moon, so that it was resting in his talons. Nothing happened.

    "On second thought maybe the crystal is the giver of light," said Peacock after a moment. "Never mind."

    "Wait," said Moth. "Look." The shell's flaky brown covering had begun to fall to the ground. It started slowly, then faster and faster until it seemed like the outside was melting off, revealing something beautiful underneath. It was a dazzling iridescent color, of pinks, blues, purples, and any other color imaginable. And it was glowing.

    A ball of light came spiraling out of it, taking the shell with it. It landed at the ground before their talons and split into two sections. One of them quickly took on a form of a SilkWing, one that they all knew well. Peacock gasped. The SilkWing turned to them and her eyes lit up. "Mother?" asked Julia in a shaky voice.

    "Julia. Moth. Peacock. Oh, thank Clearsight. I've been trying to reach you." Pieridae smiled, but it quickly transformed into urgency. "Dragonfly has been captured by Queen Wasp. Look." She motioned to the other ball of light, which had formed into an oval and began to spin, casting the same dazzling light the moons had over the statues. It quickly formed into a ring, and the inside started glowing even brighter until it was unbearable to look at, then seemed to explode.

    Peacock covered his eyes against the glare and lowered his arm slowly, looking to see what happened. The dark chamber inside of the ring had transformed into a gray rock cell, with one familiar-looking HiveWing standing at the bars. "Dragonfly!"

    Dragonfly spun around. She blinked in surprise at seeing them, and her eyes flew to Pieridae. "You made it! Thank Clearsight!"

    Julia frowned. "Made it? You mean...Mother is the dragon you went to rescue? Dragonfly! She's a FLAMESILK! No wonder you got caught! What were you thinking?"

    But Dragonfly didn't seem to be listening. Her eyes were darting around the cavern behind the portal, and suddenly she gasped. "Where's Makele? Isn't she with you?"

    The siblings exchanged confused glances. "Who?" asked Moth, confused.

    "Makele! The keeper of the souls! She should be there! She should-Wait a second." Dragonfly came forward and peered at the bottom of the portal. "The shell's still up. Oh, spirit of Clearsight. You don't know." She leaned forward urgently. "This isn't right! This isn't how you're supposed to get here! Smash the shell!"

    "What?" asked Peacock, startled. "Are you crazy?"

    "Dragonfly," said Pieridae gently, as if she was speaking to a dragonet. "This is right. All we have to do is go through the portal and get you out and Queen Wasp will never know what happened."

    "Queen Wasp?" asked Dragonfly incredulously. "When I was talking to you, it was Wasp. Just Wasp. No formalities or anything included. Yep, there's definitely something wrong." She shook her head in bewilderment and turned back to the dragonets. "I'm telling you, smash the shell. If you don't, you'll never make it to Makele. Smash it! Please!"

    Julia buried her face in her talons, shaking her head. "No. If we do, then the portal will disappear. Are you sure?"

    "No," said Pieridae at the same time Dragonfly said, "Yes." Pieridae frowned at the portal. "Don't you see? This is some kind of trick. Probably set up by Que- Wasp. Set up by Wasp. You have to trust me on this."

    "No! Don't trust her! Chances are SHE'S Wasp, in some kind of spirit thing form." Dragonfly leaned pleadingly towards them and her eyes locked with Peacock's. "You have to trust me."

    Peacock couldn't be sure later why he had done it. Maybe it had been the look in Dragonfly's eyes, or maybe the words in the prophecy about trusting the one they had trusted this long were echoing in his head. Or maybe he knew that Pieridae would never have said that. Whatever the reason, he reached out and smashed the shell. The last he saw of Dragonfly was her relieved, fading face.

    "Noooooo!" Peacock jumped in surprise as the scream came from behind him. Pieridae had her wings outstretched and her head facing the ceiling. But she wasn't Pieridae. Her scales seemed to be melting, like water off ice. Her wings grew smaller and her antennae disappeared. It was not Pieridae. It was not even a SilkWing. This was Wasp of the HiveWings. Her image began fading, like the portal had, and she screamed one last time before she disappeared. The cavern was still once more. He had trusted the right dragon, but what now? Now Dragonfly was lost forever.