The Smuggler: Epilogue: Peace Reigns

 Yes, this is the end. Very long, too. A whole four chapters longer than the Fire Islands. And they were longer. My next story is Cursed about a girl (or scavenger) named Hazel. The opening line? "I am cursed." You probably could have guessed that from the title. Of course, that's not including the prologue. Anyway, a little side note here, Makele isn't a real word, but one that I made up in the Ancient Language of the dragons. The Ancient Language isn't real either. Makele means peace. So you could interpret the title of the epilogue however you want. Peace reigns as in Makele reigns, or Peace Reigns, as in, there is peace. And the peace reigns.

Epilogue

Peace Reigns

    Freedom was busy, as usual. Dragons from both Pyrrhia and Pantala were there, chatting and laughing together and going about their business. There were significantly more Pyrrhian dragons than Pantalan, since Operation Metamorphosis had only been in action two to three years. Mind you, that's still a lot, but not enough to move every dissatisfied dragon from Pantala to Pyrrhia. The headquarters of Freedom, the building that Moth, Julia, and Peacock had hid in from Beetle that first night was right in the center, with extensions added onto it to make it the biggest building in the city.

    In the Crowd Control and Secrecy room were three SilkWings. They had become minor celebrities in the city, being the first three dragons in Operation Metamorphosis, two of them actually going through their Metamorphosis in it.

    "I just don't understand." Julia had her head in her talons, scanning the papers scattered before her. Each was a profile of a dragon from Wasp Hive. They had taken to calling the dragons from Pantala "refugees" or "freed dragons". "Five dragons. Five refugees. Right from under Wasp's nose! And not even so much as a single guard looking at the house! Look at this!"

    "We've seen it, Julia," said Moth, his voice slightly muffled from how he was shoving his face into the couch. He looked up. "About fifteen times."

    "And heard about it maybe fifty," Peacock agreed. He was laying beside Moth, wings sprawled beneath him, looking up at the ceiling. "You've been trying to figure it out ever since that refugee, Copper, came in."

    "Yes!" cried Julia. "Because it makes no sense."

    "Just go with it," Moth told her. "If no one notices dragons missing, that's good. Why are you thinking only about the freed dragons from Wasp Hive? More have been rescued from the other Hives."

    "Yes. Partly because we told Dragonfly never to go there again, remember?" Julia groaned and looked up at the map of Pantala hanging on the wall. "Look. Five from Wasp Hive, nine from Jewel Hive (they are so annoying sometimes), twelve from Bloodworm Hive, ten from Mantis Hive, fourteen from Cicada Hive, eleven from Hornet Hive, thirteen from Vinegaroon Hive, twelve from Tsetse Hive, and nine from Yellowjacket Hive! That's ninety-five dragons! And that's including us and Mother. AND NO ONE'S NOTICED ANYONE'S MISSING EXCEPT FOR MOTHER!" Julia banged her head into the table again. "You think they would notice someone, right? No."

    "Julia," groaned Peacock. "You're making my head hurt. Dragonfly did not assign you head of Crowd Control and Secrecy so you can spend every second of the day staring at files! Come outside and fly for a bit."

    "No." Julia looked up and gathered the Wasp Hive dragons' files from the table, putting them neatly into the box and pulling out another stack, this one taller. "We have a new dragon coming. Turtle saw him. I need to make another file for him. Moth? Could you pass me the lantern?"

    Moth took the lantern off the table, looked at the flamesilk, then promptly took it out and threw it out the window, landing with a splash into the ocean. At the look on Julia's face, he sighed. "It was almost out anyway. I'll make a new one." He got up and opened the window he had just thrown the flamesilk out of. "Come on, Julia. Just two hours." He and Peacock gave her identical pleading looks.

    Julia rolled her eyes. "Fine. Two hours. No more." She walked over to them and stepped outside the window. Sunlight hit her in the face and she smiled, trying not to show her two brothers. They rarely had free time together, and she realized how much she had been sitting in that room pouring over the files. She and her brothers leapt into the sky, circling in the air and laughing. They flew for more than two hours, but for once the SilkWing didn't mind. They talked for a while, from housing for the new refugee to she and Moth teasing Peacock about his growing relationship with Anemone, which he was very uncomfortable discussing. Eventually they landed on a large boulder next to the ocean and there they sat, enjoying each other's company.

    "Wow. These last few years have been really busy," Moth commented. "It actually hasn't been that long since we met Dragonfly, but it seems like forever."

    Peacock nodded. "Everything happens so fast, but so slow at the same time. Meeting Dragonfly when she kidnapped Julia, rescuing her from Wasp Hive, coming back and finding Mother waiting for us at Agate Mountain, Dragonfly going to find more dragons, and suddenly finding ourselves providing housing and care for ninety-one other dragons. Whew."

    Julia sighed and stretched out on the boulder. "The Jade Mountain Academy teachers were discussing setting up a HiveWing and SilkWing part of Jade Mountain Academy. Of course, they would need to set up a few more classes for them or stuff. Maybe, 'Not Freaking Out When You See Trees Class'."

    Moth snorted. "I don't think the rest of their winglet would really enjoy that, especially the RainWings who literally live in a rainforest."

    "Actually, none of the rest of their winglet would like that," Peacock said. He took a deep breath of the salty air. A thought occurred to him. "When are Atlas, Birch, and their parents coming?"

    "A week, I think," Julia replied. "Next time Dragonfly goes back. I know of literally no dragons who could fly that long. Well, except for Clearsight. How did she do that, anyway?"

    Peacock shrugged. "No idea. Maybe we'll find out someday. It would be interesting."

    "We could ask her," Moth said. "Makele would probably know where to find her. If Ice was right, she's supervising Pantala. A bit too late for that, though. Maybe we'll free everyone from her sometime."

    "Maybe," echoed Julia. "There are a lot of maybes now, aren't there? Maybe we'll find out how Clearsight crossed the ocean. Maybe we'll rescue everyone from Wasp. Maybe we'll finally have peace. It's like our lives are at the edge of a cliff. We could teeter to destruction, or find a way back to peace." The beach was calming, with gulls crying in the distance and the waves lapping against the shore. A way back to peace. She had asked Makele what her name meant. Peace. It suited her. Julia closed her eyes against the sun, feeling her two brothers beside her. This was everything she ever needed. So what if they slipped off the cliff? As long as she had her family and Dragonfly, everything would be fine. Peace reigns.