Sylvanink's Clan

The Knotwood Bearers.

Even in the deepest forests, there is light, green-tinted, and speckled. Until there is not. One night, the sun sunk and even the speckled light began to fade, but when it was time for the birds to sing in the morning, it did not rise. She was very small for a dragon, even a fae dragon, smaller even than the rest of her siblings. She watched as the light did not return, as the elders worried over the slowly wilting ground, and she watched as they twisted their claws and did not do anything.

She was small, for a dragon, but she was also very brave. And someone needed to bring back the light. Small as she was, it was easier for her to fly through the closely woven branches.

And there, there was darkness, and it was being fought by the woods themselves, perhaps, or life itself. And she was beautiful. The Gladekeeper. She took strength from the sun, and grew vines, one by one, that she started to bind the shadow with.

There is little a hatchling can do for a god, but perhaps she could do something. She was not very big, and not very strong, and could not fight a shadow, even a bit of it, herself. Still, the sun was beginning to set again, and with that, the darkness grew stronger, and the Gladekeeper could not create as many vines as she had in the day. In the dark, plants rest. But the little dragon had brought with her a lantern, small as it was. So she lit it and flew as close to the god and shadow as she dared. And then a little closer.

The battle was not won quickly, and she did not know if her small lantern helped. But she stayed aloft and kept it lit, flying throughout the night as the gladekeeper wove her net of vines and did battle. When daybreak came, she longed to sleep, but the hatchling knew there was more work to be done. She flew quickly back to the forest floor to tell her tale to the elders, to beg them to come with more help for the god. But they did not believe her. And besides, even if they did, a dragon could not help a goddess, let alone a hatchling.

As she flew up to return to her night vigil on the off chance that it would make some sort of difference, she found herself followed. A mirror dragon held a lantern between his teeth.

"I will come with you," he said, and he did.

So the two kept up their long vigil over the night, and when day broke, the mirror dragon allowed her to rest on his back while they went to the next settlement, and when she got there, she told her tale yet again.

Slowly, one because two became a dozen and more, and every night, the little dragon returned with her lantern and was joined by others. The battle lasted for many days, but the little dragon stayed. And, eventually, the goddess won.

There was praying and singing and cheering, but she continued to hold her lantern. And then, the dragons who had followed her left, one by one, and still she held her lantern, until it was just her and the mirror dragon who had let her sleep on his back, and the goddess.

"Little hatchling," said the Gladekeeper. "You may put down your light." And only then did she. "You will be called Aila, bringer of light and tier of knots, for like branches and vines, you have woven together the fates of others to create something strong. Nature is not a single element but the harmony between all of them. One day, you will weave the fates of more together, until their roots and branches become something more. And you will be Yuto, because you flew with her"

And so she was grown. And that is now. Welcome to Knotwood Haven, home of the Bearers.

WISHLIST

Golden Sage Lantern
Luminous Halo
Butterfly Gene Scroll
Firefly Gene Scroll
Leopard Gene Scroll
Eliminate stones (2)
Berserker stones (2)