Chapter seventeen

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Lorant was pacing, and had been doing it for almost an hour
"What's wrong?"
" the sicora population is growing. We can't find the queen, which is impossible! We've searched everywhere and there's no sign!"
"Could it be below the city? There was a lot of tunnels and sewer systems below the human cities when they existed . . ."
"There's nothing down there but a few small caves and an empty reservoir", he paused, thinking for a second before sitting down.
"I don't know what to do"
Ivy fluttered over, landing on his shoulder and letting out a chirp, then flying over towards Kai and Lilac. Kala and Leo, their hatchlings, were sleeping, tired after exploring the room for a couple hours.
"Come on Ivy. We have to go on patrol. The elders have decreed that you are used enough to me and will be able to follow commands well enough for it."
Ivy headed back over, staying silent through the transporter ride, and until they got on the ship. She stood straight up, flaring her wings and baring her fangs, a secondary, venomous pair sliding out of hidden sheaths in her gums, just poking from under her upper lip. She leapt off of Lorant's shoulder to stalk along the floor before rattling the spines of her tail, feeling the feather-like spines harden, the edges razor sharp, and leapt at something that was slithering between the crates, growling louder as she dragged it out before rearing up as the two-headed snake-like creature whipped around to face her and attacked, its fangs barely missing her leg. She let out a short, barking noise, and raced after it as it fled, following the thing under crates and between them, until she got stuck. It turned back on her, lunging forward and only stopping when she released a bright blue flame, turning it to ashes and lighting three neighbouring crates on fire. She yelped, scrabbling around for a way to escape but she was wedged in between two massive crates, weighing tonnes each. She coughed as the smoke entered her lungs, a strange, poisonous looking colour, before sending Lorant a final message as the smoke overwhelmed her.
"I'm sorry . . ."

Lorant pulled himself onto the top of a crate, before taking off across them, heading towards the smoke. When he found Ivy, she was trapped, the flames barely a metre away. He reached down, barely managing to grasp her harness, before pulling her upwards, into his arms. He sprinted back across the crates, jumping down when he reached the last one, and called out to the guardsmen
"We need to get out of here! Where there's one Colubis there's always more!"
The men followed him as he got out of the ship, before calling in to their chief about the incident. Ivy was breathing, but so lightly he could barely feel it.
"I have to head back to my dwelling."
Sorin nodded, waving him off, towards a transport. Lorant smiled, grimly, before hopping in and heading off.
Colubis concept sketches

Colubis concept sketches

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