MidnightFury

Midnight fury could barely remember a time before her partner Ash had left her. She laid her aging head down on her webbed claws, once razor sharp now ivory yellow with age. Wrinkles adorned her withered body like the gaudy beads and bracelets that so many hatchlings wore today. Midnight Fury itched to rip her skin off, and let her pale plain wings feel the breeze without the thin lair of fabric in the way. She was tired. Beyond tired. With a sigh, she closed her eyes, and daydreamed of her mate, Ash.

I first became aware of a sharp stabbing ache in my thigh. Then my other senses came. A sulfuric odor filled my nose and I had to stifle the urge not to gag. Not because it smelled pungently of rotting eggs, but rather because it was the cleanest air I had ever breathed. I longed to be back in the volcano hearing stories of the brave souls that had ventured out from the stifling dry humidity of the flame caller's forge.

I know what you must be thinking- how can heaven smell of sulphur and smoke? Or perhaps why was a forge the mark of the flame caller? All will be answered in time my dear hatchling, all will be answered with time.
Then I remembered the day- or had it been days?- before, when I had volunteered to go out into the world. I could still hear my sibling's gasps of ... I'm not actually sure whether they were horrified or proud. All of us were siblings in the flame caller's domain, loving, free, and happy. I mentally slapped my self for ever deciding to leave. Gradually I became aware of a shuffling sound around me. Glancing around, I attempted to stand awkwardly, wings hanging limply by my sides. My new mate- Ash- the reason I had volunteered for this adventure in the first place was also trying unsuccessfully to stand. We were already full grown adults, being lucky enough not to have to partake in the ungainly adolescent phase, that all future hatchlings would. A brief flash of pity filled me for the misfortune of future generations. A small cough brought me out of my thoughts and back to the present. "Are you ready?" Ash asked, voice gravelly and horse from disuse. Only we- the first generation would have the privilege of of being able to remember the flamcaller's forge, and our past lives if we had any. Therefor, it was our responsibility to educate the world, and to teach others of our deity's ways.

The formation of our clan was almost by accident. Still unsure of the world, we stumbled upon two hatchlings within a matter of days, dehydrated and hungry but still optimistic and full of life. Immediately, we took them in. What else could we do? Let them wander around the ashfall wastes until they starved to death? FallenRust and Embyrlost. Our first two new members of our honorary clan. The clan of Embers. At the time, I paused to gaze out over the smoking volcanos and rivers of boiling lava. The earthly realm of the flame caller. Our home.

For the first few months, all was well. We were joined by two faes- Ruby and Scar. A few times I heard Ruby call him by a different name- Scarlet Rose. Catching food was easy. We would spread our wings and catch drafts from the surrounding volcanoes. We were the top of the food chain. Nothing would challenge us. Anything that was foolish enough to... Well, we had more than enough bugs and meat for lunch. Flying over our great Deity's lands- Never had I been so free. Never had I felt so alive.