The Poison Jungle

by Tui T. Sutherland

  Sundew was kind of unreasonably proud of this feature. Belladonna had started the walls, but she’d never managed to complete the overhead enclosure on her own, so it had only become truly safe in here once Sundew came along. Fatalities, especially among the dragonets, had dropped significantly.

  But of course we can’t talk about that. We can’t take a moment to say, hey, things are a little better, aren’t they? We can only talk about the HiveWings and our fury and all the things we’re going to do to them. No time to pat you on the head or say “Thank you, Sundew.”

  She took a deep breath. Stepping into the village always made her heart beat faster and her ears lie flat, as though she was preparing for battle. It should have been the other way around. It should have been the jungle that set off her danger sensors. But in here, Sundew knew that her mother was always a few steps away — that they were always only moments from a fight.

  “SUNDEW!”

  Case in point.

  Belladonna came thundering out of the meeting house, her wings billowing like storm clouds. She flew down the steps and landed with one claw already in Sundew’s face.

  “How dare you bring enemies into our village?”

  “I told her to wait outside!” Wolfsbane cried, aggrieved. “Hey, I told you to wait outside!”

  “Yeah, not sure where you got the idea that you can tell me to do anything,” Sundew said to him. She batted her mother’s claw aside. “And you might remember, Mother, that working with these dragons was your idea in the first place.”

  “Out there!” Belladonna yelled, pointing vaguely out of the jungle. “Not in here! WHAT IS THAT ON YOUR NECK?!”

  “This is Bumblebee,” Sundew said. She had to admit she was kind of enjoying how much she’d thrown her mother for a loop. “Isn’t she cute?”

  “Me mum me,” the dragonet said, curling her tail around Sundew’s neck and edging a little closer.

  Other LeafWings were gathering, whispering, arguing in hushed tones all around them. One of them pointed at Cricket, and there was a ripple of scowls across all the green and brown faces.

  “These are our allies,” Sundew announced in a raised voice. “Anyone who hurts a scale on their bodies will find his or her eyeballs on the wrong end of a bombardier beetle.” She turned back to Belladonna. “Cricket, as you know, is immune to Wasp’s mind control. And Blue is a flamesilk. They helped us get the Book of Clearsight — as you requested — and now they need a place to hide from Wasp. Seems like the least we could do, right?”

  “A flamesilk?” one of the LeafWings called.

  “Prove it!” called another.

  Sundew grabbed Blue’s wrist to stop him, but he’d remembered her lecture and was already shaking his head.

  “Not in here, you bees for brains,” she spat at the offending LeafWing.

  “He doesn’t have to prove it,” Belladonna said regally. “We know what he is. It was his flamesilk we used to burn down Bloodworm Hive.”

  Blue gasped and pulled away from Sundew as the dragons around them went, “Ohhhhh,” in hushed, pleased tones.

  “Wait, what?” Cricket said. “Blue’s flamesilk? But … how?”

  They didn’t know. They never put it together. It hadn’t occurred to Sundew that this would be a surprise to them.

  Maybe an unforgivable surprise, judging by the looks on their faces.

  “Is that true?” Blue asked.

  “Sundew,” Cricket said. “How did your parents get their claws on Blue’s flamesilk?”

  “I gave it to them,” Sundew said defiantly. “Of course I did. So what?”

  Blue sat down and clutched his head. “When?” he cried. “How did you even have any?”

  “I gathered some when you first came out of your cocoon,” Sundew said. “Don’t you remember? I put it in a stone jar. I wasn’t sneaky about it.”

  “But you were with us from then until we escaped Jewel Hive,” Cricket said. “Weren’t you? I thought you didn’t see your parents in all that time.”

  “I saw them the night after I got Blue’s flamesilk,” Sundew said. “While you were all asleep in the carpet stall outside the Glitterbazaar. I got up early and met them to give them my report — and the flamesilk, as they’d requested — and to ask for more time, as you requested, which they said no to again — and then came back and rejoined you before you woke up.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us?” Swordtail demanded.

  “I don’t report to you,” Sundew pointed out. “Belladonna was my mission commander.”

  “Not that you follow my orders very well either,” Belladonna observed.

  “I can’t believe this,” Cricket said to Sundew. “I keep thinking you … but then I keep being wrong.”

  Their expressions gave Sundew a squiggly feeling that she wanted to stab and stab and stab until it was dead. “How can you possibly be surprised?” she asked. “Where did you think they got the fire to burn down Bloodworm Hive?”

  “I didn’t think it was from me,” Blue said. He buried his face in his talons. Cricket sat down next to him and spread one of her wings over him. “You took such a little bit.”

  “You only need a little bit of flamesilk if you have the right materials,” Belladonna said briskly. “Although of course more is better. Which is why you’re going to be so useful for the rest of the war.”

  Blue shuddered. “No way,” he said. “I don’t want to be useful for killing anyone!”

  Belladonna’s look was almost pitying. Sundew could almost see a dragon in there who felt guilty about what she wanted to do, and who maybe understood why Blue didn’t want to do it. But that dragon was never going to be the one everyone else saw.

  “You can’t imagine we’d let a weapon like yours fall into our talons and not use it,” Sundew’s mother said. “Try to think of what we’re doing as ‘freeing your tribe’ rather than ‘killing the other one.’ Does that help?”

  “No!” Blue cried.

  “If you want his cooperation,” Sundew interjected, “you’re going to have to take care of his friends. Safe harbor for both SilkWings and both HiveWings. And I do mean safe — no mysterious leaves in their food, no fire ants in their beds. If you want the flamesilk to help you, you have to take care of them just as well as you take care of him.”

  “But, Sundew —” Blue started, then yelped as Swordtail trod on his foot.

  “What she said,” Swordtail talked over him. “Exactly that, especially the no fire ants, please.”

  Belladonna sat back on her haunches and regarded them with narrowed eyes for a long moment. “Hmmm,” she said. “Very clever, Sundew.”

  Sundew managed by the skin of her teeth not to say “Really?” in an excited little dragonet voice. She’d outwitted her mother! It was just like she’d said to Blue; he had to realize he had the power here, and together they could use it. They just had to be smart. And maybe he wouldn’t want to use his flamesilk at first, but she could convince him … or figure out a way to use it that he wouldn’t have a problem with.

  “Yes,” Belladonna said, flicking her tail and shooting Sundew an approving look. “Bringing us hostages to leverage in case the flamesilk was reluctant. Very, very clever. I knew we’d raised a smart little warrior.”

  Sundew’s jaw dropped. That wasn’t — she hadn’t — that was not how this was supposed to go! Cricket and Bumblebee weren’t leverage! There were even minutes when she liked Swordtail, every once in a while. She certainly hadn’t meant to turn them over to her mother as hostages.

  And maybe Belladonna knew that. Maybe the betrayed look on Cricket’s face was exactly the reaction she’d been hoping for. Or maybe her mother really did think Sundew had tricked all these dragons into walking into her claws.

  Either way, Belladonna saw them as her prisoners now.

  Sundew’s rage pulsed under her scales. She wanted to flay something. She wanted to upend all her pouches over Belladonna’s head and let the insects devour her. She wanted to scream and tear
down the barrier and let the jungle come surging in.

  “I meant what I said,” she hissed. “Anyone who harms these dragons will answer to me. That includes you, Belladonna.”

  “All right, dear,” her mother said dismissively. WHICH WAS THE WORST. Sundew was going to STRAIGHT UP STAB HER just for that tone of voice, never mind everything else. Belladonna turned and waved one talon at Wolfsbane. “Let’s put them all in Pokeweed’s nest. He’ll be hiding out with Hemlock for who knows how long.”

  “We’ll take Bryony’s, too,” Sundew said. She knew which nests were free; she knew which dragons had been sent to burn the Hive. And she wasn’t going to let Belladonna pen up Cricket and the others in one tiny place. It didn’t have to feel like prison, even if it kind of was.

  Even if this whole place feels like a prison to me sometimes.

  From the moment she’d stepped back into the village, Sundew’s claws had been twitching. She was so close to where she really wanted to be. She’d been gone for so long and she’d managed to focus on the mission for all that time … but now all she wanted to do was blast a hole in the barrier and run to her dragon.

  She touched the pouch with the jade frog in it. Not much longer. Don’t make a stupid mistake now, with everyone watching.

  “Get them settled and come report to me,” Belladonna said to Sundew. “I particularly want a full explanation of that thing.” She flicked one claw at Bumblebee.

  “We’ll get the feast ready,” Wolfsbane said, hurrying to where Mandrake had dropped the panther.

  Bumblebee grabbed Sundew’s ear and whispered, “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?” into it.

  “Yes, come on, we’ll find you something.” Sundew turned toward the food stores.

  “Wait,” Swordtail said, jumping forward. “Sundew, ask about Luna.”

  Sundew was pretty sure her tribe hadn’t found Luna; if they had captured another, more willing flamesilk already, they wouldn’t be reacting this way to Blue. But she had promised to ask. She lifted her chin and looked up into her mother’s sharp green eyes.

  “Has anyone seen another SilkWing? She was blown out to sea several days ago — we wondered if she came ashore in the jungle.”

  Belladonna turned to look at one of her lieutenants, who shook her head. “Those are the first SilkWings I’ve ever seen,” Byblis said, pointing at Blue and Swordtail. “We haven’t run into any strange dragons in our territory.” She started to say something else, hesitated, and then shook her head again. “No. We haven’t brought anyone unusual into our village.”

  There was a very slight, barely perceptible emphasis on our.

  Sundew heard it, and she knew what that meant, and that the smart thing to do would be to wait and get answers her own way later. But unfortunately, Cricket heard it, too, and she pounced.

  “Did you say ‘our village’? What does that mean?” she asked. “What were you going to say?”

  Byblis shifted on her talons, stirring the leaf mulch under her claws. “Nothing,” she said. “No confirmed reports. Only rumors. I don’t bring every silly rumor back to our commander.” She bowed her head toward Belladonna.

  “Rumors of what?” Swordtail nudged Sundew’s side. “Make them tell us, Sundew!”

  “I must admit I’m curious as well,” Belladonna said archly. “I give you permission to share, Byblis.”

  “Well … all right.” The other LeafWing looked very uncomfortable. Byblis was one of Belladonna’s most loyal dragons. She was in Sundew’s earliest memories, following her mother’s orders, watching over Sundew, making sure all the rules were followed. Byblis needed rules. She liked everything to fit into squares. She never set foot outside the barrier unless she was on a specific mission, and then she came right back. Sharing an unsubstantiated rumor without evidence to back it up must have felt like rubbing nettles on her palms to her.

  “A few of the guards on patrol mentioned that there was … increased activity … over there,” she said. “More noise, voices raised. Agitated trees. The ones with leafspeak said there was a whisper of something new, but you know how plants can be; they often don’t know what they don’t know. We believe we noted slightly more prey being caught. Nothing definite, mind you. But … potentially consistent with the possibility of one or more strange dragons perhaps having arrived … there.”

  “Where?” Swordtail cried. “What are you talking about?!”

  “Are you saying there’s another village in the jungle?” Cricket said, glancing at Sundew. “Who lives there? More LeafWings?”

  Belladonna snorted. “They don’t deserve to be called LeafWings. We are the LeafWings! We’re the ones who are still fighting for our future! We’re not giving up on our tribe and rolling over like pillbugs! LeafWings. Pah.” She stabbed her claws into the ground, dragged out a flailing earthworm, and sliced it into pieces.

  “Mother has a bit of a complex about the other tribe,” Sundew explained.

  “We call them SapWings,” Byblis added. “By order of the commander.”

  “My order was to never speak of them,” Belladonna hissed. “They might as well not exist, for all the use they are to us.” She scrabbled up the dirt and reburied the carved-up earthworm bits.

  “But Luna might be there!” Swordtail asked. “We should go ask! Sundew, can we go ask?”

  “No one is going anywhere,” Belladonna commanded. Sundew frowned at her, and perhaps something in her look got through. “Tonight, I mean,” Belladonna added, a little reluctantly. “It’s too dark for anyone to wander around in the jungle, especially brainless outsiders who can’t wait to get eaten. I will consider sending them a message in the morning. If everyone behaves.” For some reason, she looked at Sundew. Sundew gave her a matching glare.

  “Luna’s a flamesilk, too!” Swordtail said quickly. “She’s way more likely to help you than Blue is! If the SapWings have her, you should definitely try to get her back here!”

  Belladonna rubbed her chin. “Hmmm,” she said. “An interesting point, butterfly dragon. I will include that in my considerations.” She turned to go back into the meeting house in a definitive, this-conversation-is-over kind of way.

  As soon as she was gone, Bumblebee tugged on Sundew’s ear again. “EEEEEEEEM,” she said vehemently.

  The food nets were full to overflowing, most likely in preparation for the feast. Sundew walked Bumblebee over to them and let her pick out a mango, then a piece of dried capybara, then a bowl of river snails (which Bumblebee took one bite of and promptly flung at Sundew’s face), and then another mango, and then she had to wrestle the dragonet away from the food and drag her back to the others.

  “HrrrmbleGRRR,” Bumblebee growled. She flopped onto Sundew’s shoulder and set her tiny teeth into a piece of capybara, which Sundew suspected was a second strip the dragonet had smuggled away somehow.

  Blue and Cricket and Swordtail had fallen silent as she came up to them. They were all looking at her as if they weren’t quite sure whether she was Sundew, the dragon who’d been helping them and protecting them and saving their butts for the last several days, or a dragonet-eating crocodile instead.

  “The nests are this way,” Sundew said, stomping past them. She didn’t have to explain herself. She was a LeafWing! Besides, they were her prisoners when she met them. They should be grateful that now at least they were valuable prisoners.

  And she’d helped with their problems, too, hadn’t she? She’d helped save Blue’s sister, even though it made Belladonna grumpy. It certainly wasn’t Sundew’s fault that Blue had immediately lost her again. Sundew had also helped Swordtail find the Chrysalis, and she’d helped with Cricket’s starry-eyed “let’s save the tribes with truth! and flyers!” plan. She’d done all kinds of dangerous nonsense for these outsiders! How dare they be all aghast that she was still a LeafWing, loyal to her tribe, at heart?

  I don’t need them to like me. I don’t need anyone to like me except one dragon.

  “Here,” she said, stopping at Pokeweed’s nest.
It was a ramshackle assortment of branches woven into a sort of egg shape. Sundew wasn’t even sure if it would keep out the rain. Pokeweed was a big dragon who didn’t care much about his own physical comfort. He lived to destroy HiveWings; that was all. But at least his nest was big enough to fit two sleeping dragons comfortably.

  “Blue and Swordtail can take this one,” Sundew said. “Cricket and Bumblebee in that one.” She pointed to Bryony’s nest, which was close by, and much tidier than Pokeweed’s. The two of them were near the outer edges of the village, along a path lined with nests that led to the meeting house.

  “What about you?” Blue asked. “Aren’t you going to stay with us?”

  Sundew squinted at him. Hadn’t he just been giving her an “oh, you’re a monster” face?

  Maybe I misread it. That was Cricket’s expression … but maybe Blue’s was just sad face, and I mistook it for hating-me face?

  “I have my own nest,” she said, flicking her tail toward the woven sphere where she slept. She’d been so thrilled when she turned two and Belladonna and Hemlock had given her permission to move out of theirs and build her own. It had taken her a while to notice that no other dragonets left their families before the age of five. But she didn’t dwell on that. After all, she saw plenty of her parents all day long during training and lessons. She liked the peace and quiet of being completely alone at night.

  I do like it. Besides, it’s much easier to sneak out of the village this way.

  “Of course,” Blue said.

  “How will we remember which ones are for us?” Cricket asked, pacing around the cluster of nests. “They all look the same.”

  Sundew scrunched her eyebrows quizzically. They looked nothing the same. The branches came from different plants or were woven in different ways and …

  She took a deep breath. Help one more time, and then I can leave them to Belladonna if I want to.

  Sundew reached into the ground with her leafspeak. She found a tendril and followed it back, calling roots to her, until a vine curled through the soft dark earth and climbed up, weaving around the doorway of Bryony’s nest. Purple morning glories burst from the buds as it settled in place.