Xerxes

Lord Xerxes Ambassador of Wind Flight

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Born with the colors of Windsinger in his coat, Xerxes was a hatchling that his home clan hoped would have a connection to their deity. They were disappointed. Xerxes grew up as an excitable little fellow prone to fits of anxiety. He found his role in the clan as a mail sorter. With the thousands of letters brought in by the couriers each day, Xerxes set about alphabetizing them and organizing the entire office. It didn’t do much good since letters were constantly piling up anyway, but it kept his mind off the crippling anxiety that took over his mind. Soon even walking to the dinner table or choosing a den to sleep in became too much of a hurdle, and Xerxes began to live his entire life within his sorting space with little-to-no social interaction.

It seemed the young drake was on the verge of becoming a social recluse when the unexpected happened: Windsinger spoke to him. On a restless night, Xerxes fell into a curious dream that he never quite remembered afterwards: Windsinger, a warm fatherly presence, spoke to him and encouraged him to forget his fears and take on a great challenge. He awoke with an insatiable desire to fly in the twisting crescendo. While the flight would be perilous, the real challenge for Xerxes was walking across camp. One shaking foot in front of the other, he snaked his way across the land towards the storm. Soon enough, he stood before the vortex.

He had no idea what would await him within the turbulence, but he was resolved to find out as he launched himself into the storm. Never a strong flier, he was tossed and assailed by the winds, and he could do little to fight it. Xerxes spread all four wings, and fought the currents of air, slowly asserting his dominance over every one. Hours passed in this way, and eventually, when exhaustion caught up to him, Xerxes found himself tossed to the other side of the crescendo and carried into Lightning Flight lands.

Exhausted from his adventure, the drake stopped at a pond to slake his thirst and found an unexpected surprise: his body was decorated in the twisting beauty of Smoke. He had faced his fear and overcome them, and he was rewarded. Endowed with new courage, Xerxes knew he couldn’t return to his place as a reclusive sorter, so he set off in the direction of Lightning to find a new adventure. He was eventually taken in for the night by a Lightning clan. Their leader, Fethryn, was duly impressed by Xerxes’s story and offered him the position of Wind Flight Ambassador on the Elemental Council.

And so Xerxes came to find his destiny. Before long, his anxious nature began to make a reappearance, and as a result, he made his greatest friend. The Earth Ambassador, Filius, had a knack for being able to calm down the young drake and even untie his winding body from its knots. Filius is the only dragon that Xerxes is not anxious around simply because Filius doesn’t see the need for dishonesty or vague words: he is blunt and his opinions seldom changing.

To the Council, Xerxes lends the council his outside-the-box opinions on matters. They rely on him for unusual solutions that, miraculously, work some of the time. However, for all his current merit, Xerxes remains a drake who lost his courage once and found it again.


Artwork by Skylark