Toxic Tales: Chapter 2

"Moon-high"

The orange wyvern called the two ever, saying that he didn't have much time. Achelois reluctantly followed Elpis over to the fire wyvern.

"We have to be quick, I don't have much time. I don't know what they're telling you, but not everyone out here wants to wipe you out, we just wanted peace but your Queen turned down the peace offering and captured the messenger. We all want peace, even the citizens of the swamp want it. Your Queen started a war and is a tyrannical ruler, everywhere else adolescents pick their role, and they aren't assigned one. Everywhere else no one disappears in the night because they disagree with the Queen. Everywhere else no one's fed to bugs for rebelling. You have to get out, I'd you don't you're done for. Leave tonight at moon-high and avoid patrols, if you do find the others, most of us have given up on freeing the poison wyverns, but we still exist. You'll know when you find the others." He pulled a strange-looking stone out of a pouch slung over his neck and gave it to Achelois. The stone was thin, black, and made up of small hexagons. The stone began glowing and hummed softly.

"What's happening?" She asked the wyvern. He took the stone and put it up to the base of her neck. It hummed louder and glowed brighter until it suddenly stopped.

"What in the world?" Elpis exclaimed. Achelois could just see the glint of the stone on her neck.

"How did you do that?" Achelois questioned.

"I'm not sure how it works, but it told me to find you and I did. Now leave you've been here too long finish what you're doing and leave at moon-high." He said, "Now go! A patrol will find us soon, everything you need to do will become clear."

"But we have questions!" Elpis called.

"It's too late, they coming!"

Elpis and Achelois flew away from him, Achelois pushed her bag in front of the stone, she didn't want anyone to find it.

"Did you understand any of that?" Elpis asked.

"Just that we leave at moon-high," Achelois responded.

"We don't have much longer to hunt, let's get that paraceratherium." Elpis said, "We'll discuss this at your cave tonight."

After they returned with the paraceratherium they were given their score and sent to the ceremony.

Once they arrived Elpis's mother was in the back but Achelois"s father wasn't, she wasn't surprised though, he said she looked too much like her mother for him to talk to her. At first, she was upset, but she didn't care anymore, he didn't care, so why should she?

The Queen sat on top of a massive rock and began to list names and assignments. "Elpis got..." Achelois"s heart raced, she hoped Elpis would get something good but had doubts. "... nothing, we have our first disappointment today." The Queen laughed after saying it, it made Achelois"s blood boil. "Achelois got... soldier!" Her heart dropped. "...and you in the 37th group, that means you'll have to be on the battlefield itself in just one moon." Achelois didn't know what to do, she wouldn't survive out on the battlefield. She turned to Elpis and said, "Tonight at moon-high we're leaving, we'll find the others and find out what this stone means."

"It's not like I have a future here, I'm in," Elpis responded.

- Sol