Countess

The small dragon opened her eyes. They were a bright blue, and they did not match with her black and gold coloring. Her parents took one look at her, and smiled. This was the child of her mother’s dreams! She would be a princess, a puppet, their influence on court. Her father, after hearing her mother’s plans, countered those with his own. “She would be a great engineer”, he said, inventing the greatest technologies known to dragonkind! “Fine”, her mother said. “She will be trained in both the arts of court manipulation and engineering.” Thus agreed, the parents gave the tiny dragonlet a warm, happy hug.

Only then did they notice that their child’s siblings had hatched, and were exploring their surroundings. One was touching the cables that had kept the nest warm, and making a purring sound in his throat. One, a girl, was trying to climb over. An adventurous spirit, her mother commented. We’ll have to curb that someday, her father replied. The youngest, another son, was tugging at his mother’s wings. “Mommy, I’m hungry”, he said. Countess, as her parents had chosen to name her, was happily in her father’s arms. Achilles, as her father was called, took her back to his and her mother’s shared cave, Countess’s tiny head over his shoulder.

Countess’s eyes widened in surprise as she saw a flash of pale blue light, and heard high-pitched squeals. Her mother returned to the cave alone, and had Countess looked, she would have seen that there were three new, tiny snowflakes swirling around her. Her mother always had snowflakes flying around her, and at many points Countess heard her discussing something like a curse. There was one small bed in the cave, consisting of fluffy white fabric with gold filigree on top of a futon. She lay down on it and fell asleep quickly. The next few weeks were a flurry of activity, for her parents would disappear for days at a time, and when they came back her father would look sad and her mother triumphant. Countess, as she was growing, began to realize that her mother would, after each period of being gone, come back with a few more snowflakes swirling around her.

She began to be afraid of her mother, shying away when she was near. Soon, any motherly figure made her feel unsafe and any fatherly figure began to feel comforting. When Countess was fully grown, her parents began her lessons. Her mother trained her in the arts of etiquette, and her father trained her to be intelligent, and to solve difficult problems that came her way. For six moons, she excelled within her clan, and was presented at court. She became a powerful presence at the Ruler’s side, influencing the decisions that were made for the clan. Her mother began to try to control the court through Countess, and she didn’t like it one bit. Soon she told the Ruler of her mother’s plans and was exiled for treason against one of the most highly trusted members of the clan. Countess left that clan, never to return.


First, she ran to the bustling economy of the Auction House. The noise, the smoke, and the various dragons were all comforting to her. For awhile she hid among the buyers and sellers, looking as if she had business there. Countess became scrawny, her feathers dull and tattered when they once were orderly and shiny. She even adopted a new name, Clemen, for her ‘luck’ in escaping her clan as other dragons she got to know had. The difference was, they hadn’t been successful, and were soon found and sold dirt cheap, to be exalted. While they were there, though, they provided good living for her. She would use her knowledge from her father to make them gadgets. Scraps in the dumpster, tools stolen from the belts of unsuspecting engineers. Of course, this put a price over her head, but it also put coin in her little bank. She lived with this work and danger over her head for what seemed like eternity.

When she had enough treasure to easily get by in most flights and her tools, she left the Auction House. Over the Sunbeam Ruins, over the Tangled Wood, and over the Scarred Wasteland she flew. She thought she would make an inventor of herself, live there, raise money, prestige and wealth. But it had been a long time since she had actually flown, and had to stop in the Abiding Boneyard to rest. She made a makeshift shelter, and slept. When she woke, it was already part way through the morning, and she packed up quickly and flew off. Her right wing hurt, but she thought she must have slept weirdly on it, and continued. When she was flying over the Starwood Strand, her right wing failed. She spiraled down to the ground, frantically trying to slow down her fall. She hit one of the trees with an audible crunch. Her right wing! She half-slithered, half-fell down the tree. Her head hit the ground and she fell unconscious.

When she came to, there was an anxious clan gathered around her. She forced herself to stand. When she looked at her right wing, she nearly screeched. She had just enough composure not to embarrass herself. She tried to move it only to realize that the bones didn’t line up as they should, bending in the wrong directions in the wrong places.There was blood everywhere. The leader of this band stepped forward. In her claws there was two wing bangles. She told her that if she put the wing bangles on, they would heal back the bone, slowly. She said that Countess had broken her delicate wrong bones in several places.

Countess put them on, feeling a bit ridiculous, and felt instantly better. The clan insisted she stay with them while her healing took place, so she joined them on their walk back to their camp. For a few weeks, Countess was with them as she healed. When they said her wing would never heal more fully than it had, she hung her head and nodded. They sent her away, now that she was finished being their experiment. She kept the wing bangles, knowing that her wings would be weaker if she took them off.

She flew back over the Sea of a Thousand Currents, her right wing much less powerful than her left. She saw a fledgling clan on the shore, a blue guardian female, her mirror mate, and some other dragons. They seemed to be looking for new something, so she dove. Fanning out her wings so she drifted slowly down to earth, she saw them doing all the usual clan things; gathering, training, and caring for the eggs. Alighting down near the guardian female, she introduced herself, “Hello, my name is Countess. I hail from the Shifting Expanse, and I have been trained as an engineer and inventor.” She kept the her manipulative training secret because she didn’t want the clan to drive her off.

“I am Sparkles, head of the clan, and this is my mate, Typhon.” She replied, indicating first herself and then the mirror. “Can I offer you anything? Food, water, a home?” Countess nodded. “I have been looking for a clan to spend the rest of my days in, do you know any clans that are looking to swell their ranks?” Sparkles eyes lit up at this statement. “We are looking for more clan members. Especially wise ones, to help us along our journey. Will you join us, here in the Tsunami Flats?” Countess smiled. “”I would be honored. I am actually going to take a quick flight to the Shifting Expanse for materials. My right wing has a bit of a problem, and I want to make it some sort of brace or support system, so I can get around more easily.” “Okay, just try to be back within the week. We’ll be trying to expand as soon as possible, and we need many helping hands.”

Countess flew off rather awkwardly towards the Shifting Expanse, right wing struggling to keep up with her left. She flew over the Carrion Canyon, and to the Lightning Farm, where scrap metal was scattered around. She spent hours there, hunting for the right pieces. When she had found them, she put them in a magical bubble. If some clans may have thought it was strange to see a skydancer flying and being followed by a giant bright blue bubble of hovering garbage, they did not show it. She flew quickly, making up for lost time. It was night when she finally reached her new home in the Tsunami Flats. The rest of her clan was asleep, but she set to work.

Picking up some of the materials, she began to tinker. From midnight until dawn, she fiddled with levers and pulleys, gears and wood pieces. The clan began to stir, blinking drowsily and looking at her with a clear question in their eyes. She ignored them, and kept working. By noon, she had constructed a system of gears and a frame. She put the contraption on her right wing. If fit perfectly. She tried it out by jumping into the air. It helped to slow her fall, but did not fix her flying problem. She needed a fuel system. She spent the remainder of the day making a vest. It had a steam holder on the inside so her wing would remain powerful for hours at a time.

When she tested it again, she found her wings felt equal in carrying her weight. She cheered. Only then did she realize that during her process, the entire lair had gathered around her to watch. She blushed. One of the dragons came up. It was Typhon, Sparkles’s mate. “I, for one, am impressed with your work. Will you become our engineer?” “Typhon, I already offered her a place in the clan.” Sparkles sounded like she was trying not to laugh. “I shall stay to help the clan.” Countess was trying not to laugh herself. And thus the clan continued on their activities, satisfied with the engineer among them.


By Grr