Ahren

Art by Anemia
Ahren and his siblings were brought into the world at a tragic time. They hatched just as the broken Light clan of their ancestors had begun to recover from the death and destruction that the Shade-touched Emperors had wrought upon the land. The Emperors were unforgiving—massive creatures reborn from Imperials, with too many heads and limbs to count.

Although the Imperials were eventually defeated, they simply left the Light clan with too few resources to support everyone. When Ahren’s older brother was sent away, he knew it was only a matter of time before the clan’s golden matriarch approached him next. She soon came to him, with her skeletal adviser by her side. They tried to be gentle, and had nothing but sympathy for the young dragon, but the rejection still stung. Ulli told Ahren that the clan could no longer support him or his siblings. They simply didn’t have the resources, and the attacks had left the young hatchlings touched by a strange, shadowy magic. The Shade-touched siblings were too unstable, too risky to allow them to stay near the sick and injured.

So, Ahren set off on his own as Ulli requested. Before he left, she and her adviser gave him one last gesture of goodwill so he would not leave the clan of his birth with spite in his heart. They groomed his coat, and smoothed his feathers—dressing him for the journey at hand. And so, Ahren set off to find his own place in Sornieth.

If he was to survive in the world, the young skydancer knew he had to learn to control his strange shadow magic. As a Light dragon, he was wary of entering the Shadowbinder’s realm, but he knew there were many mages and scholars in the Arcanist’s islands. He headed for the Starfall Strand with determination in his heart.

He soon came across Moonshine and the rest of her clan. The guardian reminded him of Ulli. She was just as sweet and caring, and invited him to stay awhile as he had been traveling in the wilds for weeks. While he was resting, Ahren met Mooneyes. He initially feared the Imperial due to his previous experience with the Emperors that attacked his clan, but they eventually became friends. She taught him how to control his Shadow magic, and the two grew close. These days, Ahren still lives with Mooneyes, working hard to become a proper mage. He’s even joined the clan’s Mage’s Guild, acting as a sort of unofficial Light representative.

by phryne