Dangerous Gift by Tui T. Sutherland

Author:Tui T. Sutherland [T. Sutherland, Tui]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2021-03-02T00:00:00+00:00

Her wings are green and they miss the sun. Her claws hurt from walking on stone instead of dirt for days. She is hungry; there is not enough food for all the dragons they are hiding, but every time someone goes out to get more, they fly back with terrifying stories of HiveWing swarms hunting the savanna.

For them — the dragons who burned Bloodworm Hive? Or for Sundew and her allies? She’s not sure.

A gray dragon is curled beside her, asleep with his head resting on her shoulder and his tail twined around hers. He is the sweetest dragon the world has ever seen. He thinks she’s a hero for destroying his home. He loves her when she’s angry just as much as when she’s cheerful. She has no idea how she fell in love with a gentle SilkWing, but she will murder anyone who hurts him.

Another LeafWing enters the cave and she motions for him to whisper so he won’t wake Grayling.

“Strange happenings above,” he says quietly. “Pokeweed just got back, and he says he saw SilkWings flying with the HiveWings.”

“What’s strange about that?” she asks. “SilkWings have been working for HiveWings for so long. I’m sure some have been forced to help with the hunt, that’s all.”

“No,” Hemlock says with a sigh. “All flying the same way. In formation. Exact wing movements. All in sync.” He took a deep breath. “And they had white eyes.”

She blinks at him. “That’s impossible. Wasp’s power doesn’t work on SilkWings.”

“I guess it does now.” He rubs his face.

“Where’s Pokeweed?” she asks. “I want to know exactly what he saw.”

“He went deeper into the caves,” Hemlock answers. “Still trying to catch those monkey-looking creatures.”

They’ve seen the underground monkeys scurrying out of sight a few times, but none of the three LeafWings have managed to eat one yet. They’re either faster than they look or surprisingly clever.

“There’s something worse,” Hemlock says reluctantly. “One of the SilkWings said she saw LeafWings up there, too.”

She flinches so hard she knocks Grayling awake. He sits up, yawning and brushing her wings with his. He’s too thin. She wishes she could protect him better — from the hunger, and from this news.

“That can’t be right,” she says to Hemlock with a low hiss.

“We saw all that smoke in the north,” he says bleakly. “Maybe Queen Wasp burned the Poison Jungle to punish us for burning Bloodworm Hive. Maybe our tribe lost and now —”

“No. They’re out there somewhere,” Grayling interrupts. He gives her a look with more trust in it than she’s ever felt about anything. “The LeafWings have survived terrible things before. They’ll fight back. The HiveWings won’t win; they can’t.”

She wants to feel that way so badly. She doesn’t know what will hurt more: to believe the worst, so if it’s true she can’t feel any lower … or to hold on to hope, but run the risk of being crushed.

“I wish we could do something,” she says. “I wish we knew what was happening. I thought Belladonna would have sent us a message by now.

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