Chapter Thirty Eight. Honeybird

Year E3029

Ocea

"Tell me!" Thomas yelled, running down the hallway.

The music blared behind us while the door swung open from other club dancers. Stopper and Becca stood at the end of the hall with glass walls around them, pushing every button for the elevator. Their eyes met mine while heavy boots behind had me looking over my shoulder to see Wyatt and Dylan.

"Tell what?" Dylan asked, patting Thomas on the back and removing his jacket to hand me. "Here." His brown eyes met mine before glancing at the insect stars over my nipples in the silver see-through dress.

"Thank you," I whispered, slipping it on.

"Let's go." Stopper slammed the buttons a few more times.

Wyatt interlocked his fingers with Becca, walking away from the elevator. "This way," he said, pointing at the stairs. "I have a plan to get out of here."

I glanced at the club doors when the music blared, seeing drunk safforians exit. "Yes, before the MOS gets us."

We ran our way up the stairs to the roof exit. Dylan scanned the copied badge, opening the door to the night sky. The breeze blew around my hair while I smiled at the enormous cage of honeybirds. Wyatt must have noticed the bug bar as well.

"Genius," I said, smiling at him.

Wyatt pointed at the birds while their wings tucked against their backs and long, narrow beaks licked up the sugar water from the pipes. The males had beautiful green heads with purple around their necks, while the female's mini stature was only brown. They stood the height of a tall man with an even greater wingspan.

"When I saw the bug bar, I knew they would have the food on the roof," Wyatt said, unlocking the birds from the cage.

"There are only four, though," Becca said, messing with her dress as the wind blew it around.

"Yes, we will need to pair up," Wyatt responded to her, but his eyes bounced to me. "So, is Thomas telling the truth? Do you know what the clue means the Doctor gave us?"

I danced with my shoulders while Stopper and Dylan hooked a bird with a rope, guiding it with a sugar cane. The female honeybird wings fluttered at a speed of almost no movement to the eyes, whipping my hair around. She hovered with her bird feet at our eye level, ready to listen to our guidance, knowing we rescued them from being eaten by the insects at the bug bar.

"It's in the name," I said, showing Wyatt my palms. "Think about the badges."

Dylan reached into his pocket, glancing at Mr. Cop's badge. "I don't see it." He let go of the bird, sending Stopper sliding across the roof for a few feet.

I snagged the badge. "If you look at the letters, you can see they are numbers when the light hits them right."

"Really?" Dylan asked, stepping closer to me with his face on my shoulder.

Thomas stood on my other side while I tilted the badge one way and then the other. Wyatt and Stopper bumped into Dylan, trying to see while Stop kept getting yanked to the side by the bird. Becca grabbed the rope from Stopper, petting the female bird with a hum.

"Oh!" Stop yelled. "I see it!"

"Three-zero-five," I said. "M-O-S."

"But that's not all," Thomas said, causing me to glance at him. "The numbers are like the human spaceship numbers." His perfect teeth smiled at me. "The door we found, but this one would be for ship—"

"Three-zero-five!" Stopper yelled. "Yay!"

"That's not just any ship," Dylan said, stepping back and walking to the cage to grab a male honeybird. "It's the first ship to land on Safforia."

I handed the badge to Wyatt, grabbing a rope and hooking it to a younger-looking male honeybird. The bird fluttered its wings while its long beak stuck its tongue out at the end and sucked it back in. Thomas gripped the rope from me, preparing the honeybird for us.

"What do we do with that clue?" Wyatt asked. "Where is the first ship? Did all of them get destroyed?" He let Becca keep the rope for the female bird, but grabbed the metal bar for riding.

Dylan nodded. "We thought so, but who knows after finding that other one?" He hooked a bar between a bird's feet, from ankle to ankle, while the rest did the same with their birds. "My first task is to get the ship we have up in the air." Dylan helped the bird hover above his head higher and hung his arm around the bar, dangling under the bird's claws. "See you at the ship," he said, jumping off the building and letting the bird fly over the city.

Stopper jumped with his honeybird, racing after Dylan with a yell. His legs swung from side to side, arching the bird toward a tall glass building.

"Nope!" Becca yelled. "I am not doing that."

Wyatt grabbed her waist and wrapped a harness around her before hooking it to himself with them connected in the front. He raised a brow at her, showing off his smooth smile, and tied a rope from their harness to the bar for safety.

"I got you," he said while she hugged around his torso.

Thomas tapped me on the shoulder, handing me one wrist wrap. "I found these," he said with our honeybird ready.

We walked the bird to the edge of the building and stood beside Wyatt and Becca as she kept her face in his chest. I tied the rope around my wrist before hooking it on the bar of the bird. Thomas mimicked me, and the birds quickened the pace of their wings, lifting my toes off the ground.

"Hey, what are you doing?" A deep voice screamed behind us, and we all jumped off the building simultaneously.

I flipped off the server, who waved his arms around, throwing his tray at us. The buzzing of the honeybird's wings echoed off the buildings, fluttering like insects. I smiled when our reflection mirrored back at us on the glass skyscraper, soaring through the City of Rise. The lorna plants glowed on the other side, tinting the dark spaces with their radiance.

"I bet you've never seen a view like this before, President," I said with a bright smile, readjusting my hands on the bars.

"Never," he responded with a slight yell over the rushing wind.

Wyatt and Becca flew by us as Becca's screams filled the air. Thomas yelled excitedly between the buildings, with the cars honking on the busy night streets. Wyatt pointed to the side, causing me to see Dylan and Stop in the distance, almost to the forbidden forest.

The honeybird above us chirped, shaking its head, and darted at Wyatt's bird. My grip tightened, glancing at Thomas's scared expression. Zig-zagging, the bird chittered and hurried in the opposite direction toward the swamp lands in the forbidden forest.

We flew lower and lower, barely dodging the buildings. Thomas lifted his feet while a brick wall nearly hit him, and I ran along the rooftop. The honeybird lifted us high over the fence, above the trees. In the distance, a pink pond with blue water pads. They were enormous enough for us to land on.

"Get ready to jump!" I yelled toward Thomas.

"What?" His eyes widened, bouncing around to see where to land.

I pulled at the rope around my wrist, hooking my grip tighter. Thomas did the same without protesting while the bird chirped and lowered closer to the trees.

"We are going to land on the water pads," I said, pointing with my eyes. "Get ready!" I yelled, watching the pond and pads become closer. "Now!"

I released my grip, feeling the air parachute up my dress. Thomas hesitated while I watched him fly a little further with the honeybird. He finally let go when I neared the pad, landing on the padded plant with a tumble. I stumbled close to the pink water, spinning to watch Thomas splash directly into the liquid.

"Thomas!" I yelled, watching the ripples before he broke the surface. "Hurry, swim."

He dug into the water, swimming quickly to the edge of the pad. His arms reached up while I grabbed under his armpits. A shadow swam quickly by Thomas's legs before an enchanter dug her long nails into his leg and dragged him under.

"Bitch," I said, diving into the water after her.

The half safforian, half pool bug, the female enchanters poison their victims into drowning themselves, waiting for their next meal. Opening my eyes underwater, I watched three enchanters drag Thomas away while another swam toward me.

I swam to the surface, taking a deep breath, and the orange-skinned creature grabbed my ankle, dragging me down. The enchanter hauled me across the pond as I yelled under the water. Her nails dug into my skin, dripping poison into my system.

Pink water choked down my throat before she lifted me out of the water and plopped me on a water pad beside Thomas. He puked up the rosy liquid and glanced into my eyes.

The four enchanters hummed sweetly, brushing their fingers through their bright hair. Each had a unique color, with their skin and insect rears representing their essence. My eyes bounced from the green to the blue before the red and back to the orange.

"Hello, trespassers," the red enchanter said, touching her sharp teeth. "The poison is sinking in. I know you can feel it," she sang, soothing my soul.

My eyes blurred as I felt the urge to reach the bottom of the pond. Thomas giggled, shaking the water out of his curly hair. He pointed to the water.

"Do you see her?" He hurried to the edge. "Ocea!" he yelled. "She is drowning. I need to save her before she drowns."

I grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to look at me. "I'm not down there. Don't let their poison get to you."

The enchanters laughed, sounding like raindrops on a metal drum, calming the soul. Their laughter quickened as I looked into the water, seeing my father at the bottom. I knew it wasn't him, but my body wanted to dive into the water and bring him into a hug.

"Ocea!" Thomas yelled again, diving into the water.

My heart dropped while the enchanters laughed, distracting me from Thomas. The blue one jumped onto the water pad with me, brushing her fingers down my arm. Her lips neared my ear while giggling with a tongue of rain. I leaned into her, feeling her kiss on my neck and jawline.

"The water is your friend," she said while Thomas rippled the water, getting air, but dove back down.

I crawled to the edge of the water pad, barely touching the rose liquid. My father reached for me, smiling with warmth. He brought his hands around his torso, hugging himself.

"Jump," the enchanter whispered.

My arms were half into the water while I lay on the pad flat. A scream from the enchanters had me glancing over to see three swim away in fear and the red one with a gold rope around her neck.

The rope tightened, hanging the enchanter with her bug legs swinging around. Her red face turned white, draining of color. I followed the rope up, seeing a woman in a shiny gold outfit. She glared at me, pulling a gun from her hip and aiming it toward me.

Thomas swam to the edge of the water pad, holding on as an enormous gold ship emerged from the thick trees, showing the river. A man with golden buttery skin stood at the top while his black hair blew in the breeze.

The captain of the ship jumped and landed before me. He crouched down, lighting his black fire, smiling widely at me before glaring at Thomas. His gun brushed my collarbone and moved up under my chin.

"Purple safforian with blue eyes," he said, leaning closer. "Oh, I see, contacts."

"A bitch with something to hide," the girl who hung the enchanter said with a laugh. "Hang them or keep them, captain Ardit?"

"The lost prince," I said with a dropped jaw, feeling his gun digging into my neck.

He snickered. "Oh, so you know who I am?"

Voices howled behind him, yelling like animals in the trees and on the ship. They barked while Ardit stood and lifted me with him. He grabbed my neck, and my toes barely touched the water pad.

"Pirate king! Pirate king! Pirate king!" the minions yelled, stomping their feet.

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