Arrival

The world became a blur of movement after Naga collapsed on the floor, drowning a thousand-year legacy of irreplicable skills and stories along with him.

Queen Golden had him lifted up as she phased through the hive, rushing to the infirmary. But he was long gone; she had first met him centuries ago with her mother. He was one of those whose actions carried their own aura of reverence and respect without needing words to back them up—a true legend of Sehra.

'Naga, no!' she thought to herself, standing by the medic bees. They knew he had died, but for the sake of the queen, they were still keeping up appearances.

Soon, the crow arrived at the scene, his spark of intelligence long tucked away in his own mind. He joined the Queen, and she looked at him.

Surprisingly, even in the denominated state he was in, he bowed his head in reverence and respect and stayed there. The whole hive was given the order to stay still for some moments in respect of the great seer.

Then, just like that, the fleeting moment of despair passed.

It was time for a new beginning. The Queen had decided not to let chaos or any other sudden emotion drive her decisions ever again. The harshest and most honest friend, failure, had taught her a valuable lesson.

She was going to depart for the grove, and the challenges that lay ahead required the best of her.

After taking care of a few things in the hive, she disappeared and appeared in front of RaatGarh.

*******

Such was her presence that even the creatures unfamiliar to the magic and bees stopped, to gaze upon her. Carrying an aura of effortless regality, Queen Golden was sunlight itself molded into shape. 

She hovered Infront of ground entrance. 

Soon, a few bats emerged from the opening and bowed, then led her to maw of snake statue, upon her arrival the entire Raat-garh had suddenly bursted with movement and energy, it was totally opposite of what happened with the reception of the crow.

She glided and the bats followed, they did not dare to move infront. Instead they followed in a rank after her.

After reaching the maw, 

She looked at the team of the bats who had escorted her through the tunnel and nodded in gratitude, they nodded back and kept their heads down 

Then entered through it.

************

The sky above the lair of the great serpent Salazar, the Crimson Death, changed from deep red to bright golden and yellow as the clouds spun viciously around an unknown figure hidden behind them.

King Salazar gazed up, his mouth curled up in a subtle smile.

Then, as it happened, the entire sky trembled, and the thick lining of clouds parted. A ferocious gale of wind shook the earth below, almost destroying the entire mountain peak. Then, everything stilled the next second.

In front of the great serpent now stood a Simorgh bird, towering almost half the height of the Serpent King. It looked as if it was directly molded by thousands of golden sunrays, with wings that scattered multitudes of shimmering colors in every direction. Its majestic tail, a thin waterfall of pure gold, touched the ground below.

Queen Golden stood proudly before the Crimson Death in her true form. Her talons were a mixture of pearl white with beautiful golden linings, and her head had a crown made up of silky golden feathers that turned upwards in a graceful spiral.

Naturally, the mountain would crumble under an entity of such caliber, but surprisingly, it kept together. It didn't even creak when she landed on it.

She gazed upon the great serpent and kept her head high. After a few seconds of reluctance, King Salazaar bowed, just slightly giving in. All the snakes and bats had gone into cowering around him; this was not a meeting they dared to witness.

"Naga died; he foresaw a red prophecy. The crow will land here in a day and elaborate further on it. We're sharing it with you as a returning gift, and thank you for helping us," before King Salazaar could say something, she vanished and reappeared near the twilight grove.

*****************

Hira rose up into the air before Queen Golden decided to depart for the grove. A subtle wind passed through the edges of her dark wings, turning black and getting distorted. Her gaze was locked to the southeast where Queen Golden had landed some moments ago.

'Here she comes,' she thought to herself, and in the next moment, just like the ever-moving wind, she appeared. Both queens stood hovering in front of each other.

Hira bowed her head, and the Queen bowed in return, both holding a slight mischievous smile hidden beneath their regal personas.

It was a sight to behold—one made of pure indigo night and the other as golden as the brightest day.

"Hi Hiru," Queen Golden said, not being able to contain her smile.

"Hi Golden," the dark queen also had an uplift to her usual voice but did not know what to say next because of her introverted personality, so they stayed hovering for a while. Queen Golden towered above her with her giant stature.

"Umm, can you size down, please?" said Hira.

"Oh yes, wait," as Queen Golden shrank, it was a perk of learning the magic of Parvaaz from her mother that allowed her to scale things on her will. The same application was also used in the inner architecture of the bees.

Together, both of them descended upon the grove. A small crowd had already assembled underneath them, including all the girls, #212, and some more soldier bees, Amawas, and Aatish. Gimpi and Laathi were also there.

********

Queen Golden looked around and greeted everyone, shining up their faces one by one. She held a deep charm that no other creature could replace. Her presence brought forward hope and warmth from the coldest of hearts. Even Amawas couldn't help but feel a tingly sensation somewhere in her chest. Aatish had been absolutely mesmerized though; her eyes were glued to the Queen.

Queen Golden looked at both of them, and Amawas flinched back, but Aatish stepped forward. Lost in her fangirling thoughts, she grabbed Queen Golden's wing, completely unaware of the situation and the surroundings, and started caressing it under her paws.

"So soft..." she mumbled to herself; Isra and Khadija laughed.

"You must be the Butcher of SehrayeSharq, Aatish," Queen Golden said, looking at the drooling firebreather.

Aatish snapped back to reality and shied away.

"Yes, my Queen,"

"You're exactly like Qatan described you to be," Queen Golden said in a whimsical tone.

Upon that, Aatish looked with a shimmer in her eyes.

"Bhaijan talked about me?" she said.

"Oh yes, your Bhaijaan talked about each one of you for hours; in fact, his chatter would never stop."

Aatish felt shy and reserved; she was a true fangirl in every sense. She stepped back and felt satisfied with this little information and didn't push further.

Next in line was Gimpi.

"Hi Gimpi!" she said, shrilling him a bit.

"Hello, my Queen," Gimpi had a shimmer in his eyes.

"I would love some honeysoup if you've some hidden away right now." Gimpi almost cried on this and without a breath, ran away.

She then greeted the rest, and they all settled down. Little Zar-e-zameens played around her as they all sat in a wide circle around a pink glowing flame.

She looked at Isra and Khadija, then Amawas.

"How long?" she asked Khadija.

"I don't understand, my Queen," she replied.

"How long has it been since you bit her?" she signaled at Amawas, who had her head down ever since the Queen had landed; she could not dare to meet her eyes.

Amawas replied instead.

"She took a chunk off me as soon as we entered the realm."

"And why did you let her do that?" The queen asked in a nonchalant but threatening way.