Ash paused his slow and steady gait away from the main lair, one paw raised in the air. He didn’t need to look or even sniff the air to recognize which dragon had stumbled upon what he had intended to be a quiet exit. “...yes,” he said, eventually, schooling his expression into something like his normal smile before turning around to look at his lover’s face.
Serenia’s crest dipped and she tilted her head. “Something is different this time.”
It wasn’t a question. Ash let the smile slip off his face. “I’m...not coming back,” he admitted quietly, and looked down at his paws, unable to face her eyes anymore.
He didn’t have to be looking up at Serenia’s face to see in his mind’s eye the way her fins would droop even further down and her eyes would widen in shock. He heard her little wings fluttering and expected her to fly closer to him, possibly to grab onto his mane and try to stop him, but she didn’t. Maybe part of him was even disappointed.
“So this is it, then? The last time...” her voice trailed off. She sounded a lot closer, and Ash risked looking up. The little Fae was hovering right in front of him, though she made no move to close the last distance between them. “The last time I’ll ever see you.”
Ash didn’t answer, though he lowered his face to nuzzle at her. She lifted her arms and cupped his muzzle in her hands, looking into his eyes. Her own were--not as sad as he’d worried they’d be. They looked...resolved. Which only made this harder. But Ash was determined and he wasn’t about to be swayed.
“Will you be okay?” he finally asked, and his voice wavered. He didn’t know what he’d do if she said no.
Serenia studied him in that special way she had, critical and curious. “I’ll be okay,” she said, with a firm nod. “I knew this would happen some day.” Though I hoped it wouldn’t, Ash could hear in the set of her headfins, the very slight change in her voice, though she didn’t voice it. Wasn’t the type to cry and try to convince him to stay. Maybe once she would have, but years as a clan leader had taught Serenia how to be strong when she had to be.
“I’ll always remember you,” Ash said, and he meant it as a promise. He was sure he’d never forget the smell of her, flowery and sweet with undertones of honey and pepper.
Serenia smiled, and Ash was struck by how much the little Fae had matured since he’d first met her and came to live with her clan. It was a leader’s smile, a complicated mix of subtle emotion most would have found hard to read off a Fae’s features. He knew it meant she was giving him her blessing. She leaned in to press a small peck on his nose. “Fare thee well, wanderer. May the sun be ever on your wings and the wind at your back.”
“Thank you,” Ash said as Serenia let go. “I wish you and your clan all the best.” He inclined his head, and the Fae did the same.
As he turned away to walk off into the growing light, he pretended not to see the unshed tears in Serenia’s eyes, just as she pretended not to see the way he hesitated slightly before he was out of sight among the thick trees.
The rise of a young Emperor; eleven Imperials joined into an eighty-metre monster. The thing is an unfused, uncoordinated mess driven by frenzy.
Many clans follow it, nearly ready to strike; all are able to hear a wailing thrum in the air – it’s loudest near the Emperor, and Light-born dragons tell of desperate sobbing cries within it:
“Do you love us, mother? Have we made you proud? We are your grandest creations in our most radiant form. Why do you ignore us? Your Light brings us together, as you made us! Speak to us, mother! We cannot hear you!”
"Come closer. Don't be frightened..."
As you listen to the slightly lilting voice and come closer, against your better judgement, you find yourself held almost in thrall by a quartet of bright red eyes, and a too-wide, gleaming grin.
You get the strangest feeling, looking into those eyes, that you have met somewhere before...despite the fact you've never seen this dragon before in your life, you're sure.
Discomfitted by the odd sensation, you look away for a moment, and hear a bone-chilling laugh.
"Never turn your back~"
That gives you pause, and you quickly turn back around--only to find that the dragon you were staring at is no longer where you left him.
"Over here! Come on, try to keep up!"
You turn toward a nearby tree, and see the Mirror draped across it, tail curling over and over in the air like it has a restless mind of its own. Can Mirrors even climb trees?
"Have you come to buy one of my magic charms or wards? I have quite the collection. Enchant them myself. Mostly." He grins, again, and you notice a number of curious, gleaming objects hanging from the tree. Pocket watches, rings, mirrors, jewelry of all types, and even something that looks a good bit like a dragon's skull, disturbingly.
"Come on, come on! I don't have all day, you know." He loops his tail around the tree and hangs from it, in a way you /know/ Mirrors shouldn't be able to do.
Sighing at the oddity of it all, you make your selection and leave on your way. You're not surprised when, looking back after you've left the glade, neither the Mirror not his charms are visible any longer.
After the scare tonight with text not displaying correctly, I figured it was time to back up all my dragon bios. All...90+....dragon bios...
*crying*
But on the plus side I make take this opportunity to finally do over Tulgey’s bio so it’s consistent with everyone else’s. If so, mind you, then I’ll post the old one here on this blog for posterity.
auuuggghh when did tumblr like. hide all their not boring themes that I know used to be on the default list....I need to find a good theme for this blog. Blech.
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