Kaidra

Kaidra walked excitedly beside her mother, her frills bouncing with excitement as she was lead through the chambers and amber-leaden halls towards the chamber where the hive’s Queen and King sat in wait for their newest advisor’s coronation. She had finally completed her training and she was ready to replace her mother as the chief advisor of their small hive in the Starwood Strand, one of the last remaining “true” Hives of the area.

Kaidra’s mother walked in first, Kaidra following close behind. The fae looked around the golden room as she entered, looking at the lavish architecture before directing her attention to the royal pair. She looked at the queen’s pleasant smile.

“My child,” The queen said eloquently. “Are you ready to assume the duties of your mother before you?”

“Yes, I am,” Kaidra said, bowing before the queen.

Kaidra peeked up, seeing the King give the Queen a scroll, and from it the Queen began reading the ceremonial words of bringing a soon-to-be most trusted advisor into their wakes. Kaidra listened to the words intently, soaking in the recited words of her duties and privileges as a royal advisor. Her eyes glittered intently as the Queen spoke, becoming lost in the Queen’s honeyed voice as her new duties were bestowed upon her.

“And with this, I name you the-”

The hive shifted and quaked beneath their feet, cutting the queen off. They looked around, but Kaidra had a feeling.

An awful feeling.

The King put a word to that feeling. “Hornets…”

The Queen gave a small growl. “I’m sorry, my child,” She addressed Kaidra. “This will have to wait.”

With that, the Queen darted off, the scroll she had previously been holding having been forgotten. The King followed after her dutifully, followed by Kaidra’s mother. Kaidra stood in the room for a moment, eyeing the scroll before rolling it up and tucking it in her bag. Then, the fae darted off after the rest of them.

Ahead of her, in the entrance hall, the hive was assembling. There weren’t many of them, about 20 members of this hive, tops. The children of the Royal Jellies were at the forefront, doing their best to fend off the attacking Hornets. Kaidra watched as the Queen rushed to her children and heard the King call the others of the hive around him. She watched in silence as the King began ushering the other hive members towards the hallways that led to their emergency exit, the younger, the sick, and anyone who were too faint to battle.

“Kaidra, come on!” Her mother called from the group of dragons that were exiting the hive, staying loyaly by the King’s side as his advisor.

Kaidra glanced towards the Queen, who was trying to fight off the attacking hornets. Large claws and jaws burst through the entrance as an Imperial Hornet cracked through the entrance of the Hive, amber sap shattering like glass around him. Kaidra watched as the bees that lived in their hive began to scatter and the dragons that the King was trying to evacuate began to rush and scatter themselves.

Their world was falling apart.

Kaidra had to do something.

The fae shot towards the Queen. If she was going to become a royal advisor, she’d prove she was more than willing to do anything for her Queen. It was her duty.

“Kaidra, no!” Her mother cried, but the Fae ignored her.

Kaidra sprinted as fast as she could towards the Queen. “Please, let me help!”

The Queen looked at her, opening her mouth to oppose, but only nodded her head in return. “Go, offer aid to the injured. We need to get our guards up as soon as possible!”

Kaidra nodded, dashing towards the nearest injured dragon, swarmed by bees that did their best to protect him from the Hornet. She looked around, grabbing whatever she could to patch her injuries, but she only now realized that the most she could do was help the dragon away from the battle. He protested, but he let Kaidra guide him away. As soon as she released him, she turned to help another, but a she scanned the broken hive floor, she heard a terrible shriek.

Kaidra saw the Queen get thrown against the wall, and the Hornet was closing in for the kill, heedless of the dragons that attacked him to try and stop him. Kaidra darted over on instinct, she couldn’t let the Queen be killed! Her breath caught in her throat as she sprung at the Hornet’s face, flashing across his vision. Her shimmering, candy-like scales caught his attention.

The Hornet immediately struck for Kaidra, ignoring the Queen long enough for her to get back to her feet. Kaidra shrieked as sharp teeth sunk into her wing, drawing her blood. She was whipped around in the mouth of the Hornet. Kaidra saw her Queen reach for her, and in turn, she tried to reach for the Queen. As quickly as their hands brushed, Kaidra was torn from the Queen and flung away from the Hive.

Kaidra flew through the air, watching the hive get further and further away. Her blood seemed to float in the air ahead of her, and her last image before smacking into the tree was the Hornet climbing inside of the Hive and shattering it’s walls.

When Kaidra awakened, she looked to where her Hive was. On the ground were bits of shattered, amber-colored sap and what belonging her Hivemates had to leave behind. Absent were the bees and the Hornet, and oddly enough it appeared as if everyone had made it out alive. Kaidra wondered for a moment if she had been just enough of a distraction to save her whole Hive.

Why then, had they left her here? Perhaps they thought she had died when she hit the tree, or maybe there wasn’t any time to retrieve her. She wondered if any of them would come looking for her. She watched the skies and tried to stretch out her wings, hoping to take off and go looking for her Hive. She hissed at the pain, however, as her blood-caked wing crackled and felt as if it were tearing all over again. Kaidra inspected her wing, seeing the flesh was tattered. She sighed, realizing if she ever wanted to fly again, she had to allow her wing to heal, meaning no flying.

Kaidra turned away from the broken Hive, her broken world. She began walking away, and though she didn’t want to, she realized she’d have to find a clan to take her in. She needed help, a tiny Fae wouldn’t survive on her own without being able to fly.

As she walked, her foot hit a scrap of paper, and Kaidra realized it was the scroll the Queen had been reading from. It was a little torn, but every word was still readable. Kaidra hugged it to her chest. If anything, even if she couldn’t find her Hive, she resolved that she would become someone’s most trusted advisor… and protective friend.