Homa
Promise
Véredhiel (lit. "oath")
(Vare-eh-thee-ell)


One bright and beautiful morn, the proud parents of a light nest left the Sundial Terrace and were about to be on their way to The Beacon of the Radiant Eye be in attendance of the blessed Lightweaver. In doing so, they left their nest with one of the trusted local egg-sitters. The chosen egg-sitter was a lovely imperial named Veredhiel.

"Do take care of our darling eggs, Veredhiel. I'm sure you'll notice that one of them is rather... special" noted one of the parents.

"Yes, but we'll love them nonetheless" chuckled the other.

"I'll be sure to take extra care in watching them. Have a wonderful day at the Radiant Eye!"

"We will be sure to do just that. We'll see you in a while then, Veredhiel."

Veredhiel was ever so excited. "What could possibly be so special about this egg?" she wondered. "I guess I'll just have to find out myself" she thought as she trailed over to the nest.

~Now, Veredhiel was not from around these parts. She was an ambassador of the land of Ice, sent over to live in the Sunbeam Ruins as a gift from the Icewarden. Veredhiel lived in peace in the Ruins, for she had been lucky enough to have been sent to the Terrace as an egg-sitter by the Lightweaver. Veredhiel loved this land, and so she revelled in every moment of her time here.

Looking upon her new assignment, Veredhiel was once again filled with overflowing joy. As she looked upon the nest, she noted two shining eggs. The first egg had the same docile golden glow that all the eggs of the region seemed to flaunt. The color reminded her of the dandelions that dotted the grass around the nest.

But they were right; one of the eggs was indeed special.

As she looked over at the second egg, her breath caught in her chest. There, in front of her, was the most dazzling egg she had ever seen. The egg shone with a brilliant robin blue light. Even more, it took on the shape of a light egg, the glow of a lightning egg, and the unmistakable chill of an ice egg. She knew this chill from her time egg-sitting in the Southern Icefield. For many years, she was responsible for caring for the next generation of Ice dragons.

She thought to herself: "How is this possible? I know this egg is from pure blooded Light parents, so I can't even begin to comprehend the reasoning behind this catastrophe."

"What would happen if the Lightweaver found out about this egg? Would she exile it as has been seen many a time before in flawed eggs?"

However, as she continued to look upon the egg, something snapped in Veredhiel. "I can't stand to let that happen! I have to do something to help this egg. Even if there is the slightest chance of something happening to it, I have to save it." And so, with an iron resolve, she begun to think up a plan to steal away the egg.

"It will happen at night" she thought. Little did she know that that night would have to be tonight.

As the hours drew near for the nest's parents to arrive, she noticed a piercing golden glow along the horizon.

Her heart sank deep into her chest.

"The Lightweaver's entourage" she gasped. She knew that somehow they had found out, and were here for the egg.

Stricken with fear for what this meant, she snatched up the flawed egg, and went to take off. However, as the night drew near, the egg stood out evermore. In a moment of clairvoyance, Veredhiel placed the egg ever so gently into her herb pouch before taking off into the night.

"Where would I go?" she thought. "I have come to call this place home for many years, and now I am abandoning it over some egg?" She scolded herself for her actions, yet she knew that there was no going back now.

Thinking of no other place, she returned to the only other place she had known.

The Southern Icefield.

---

"Cold... so cold..." Veredhiel thought as she trudged through the fresh snow of the Ice territory. It took her many weeks to reach the Ice territory, but luckily, the Entourage had lost her at the borders where Light meets Shadow.

It had been many years since she had been here, and as such, she was not accustomed to the freezing temperatures of the land.

She knew that she would have to seek shelter soon, or face freezing to death with the egg in tow.

In an act of desperation, she took it upon herself to enter the first lair she spotted. Luckily for her, it belonged to an Imperial.

Útíradien was his name. He was a rather small imperial. Smaller than Véredhiel. His demeanor was cautious, but that was understood since she had just broken in.

"Who goes there?" echoed Útíradien.

"I'm terribly sorry for the intrusion. Please, give me a chance to explain myself." whimpered Véredhiel. She would have to tell him; she was desperate.

"Go on... I'd like to hear your reasoning for barging into my home" Útíradien inquired.

"I've done a terrible deed. I've stolen an egg from the land of Light- Oh, please do let me explain myself. Perhaps this will make everything more clear..." Véredhiel gestured towards her herb pouch.

"I've no business with any witches. If that is your excuse then please see yourself-" Útíradien was cut off by Véredhiel.
"No, that is not it at all. Please, have a look for yourself."

As she untied the pouch, a shocked expression took over Útíradien's face.
"What in the name of the Icewarden is that?" gasped the male Imperial.

Véredhiel regained her composure. "It is a flawed egg from the region of Light. I was tasked with looking after the nest as an egg-sitter, but once I saw the egg, I froze. I knew that the egg was not safe there, which was proven shortly after that time."

"What exactly do you mean by 'proven?'" Útíradien warily inquired.

"Just when my task was drawing to a close, I saw a bright light shining across the horizon." started Véredhiel.

*A puzzled look crossed Útíradien's face*

"Oh, pardon my assumptions. You see, it has been so long since I have been to this land, that I have forgotten that its inhabitants do not know of the Lightweaver's entourage" Véredhiel apologized.

"The Lightweaver's what now?" Útíradien shockingly stated.

"The Lightweaver's entourage is a group of Pearls responsible for carrying out the Lightweaver's wishes. If they were there, that could only mean that the egg had been found out."

"I've seen it happen before in our very own Icefield: where an egg was less-than-perfect and exiled from the land. Leaving the egg to fend for itself in the most undesirable conditions."

*Véredhiel shuddered at the very memory*

Curiously, Útíradien questioned further. "So what exactly brings you to this lair?"

Véredhiel paused to think for a moment, then began to speak with an iron resolve: "I wish to implore you to help me in the quest to care for this egg. After the egg has hatched, I will leave your sight, never to be seen again."

"And what do I gain from this venture? Why on Dragon Earth should I help you care for this egg?" Útíradien questioned.

"You will have my eternal gratitude and respect... I have nothing else of value to offer to you." begged Véredhiel.

"Nothing at all?" Útíradien asked with a devious grin upon his face.

Unable to read his expression, Véredhiel asked again: "Is there nothing I can do to convince you to let me stay?"

For a while, neither dragon said a thing. But then, Útíradien's voice echoed throughout the area.

"I will help you, but only under one condition. The condition being that you follow me to the Tangled Wood and stay by my side even after the egg has hatched. Regardless of what happens, we both will raise this dragon together." Útíradien stated flatly before adding "And stop calling that egg flawed. All eggs are created only to be more beautiful than the last."

Véredhiel couldn't speak for a moment. Instead, she stared at the male Imperial in disbelief. "Do you really mean what you say?"

Útíradien paused, then spoke. "I may not be the best at reading one's expressions, but I can assure you, I am a dragon of his word. We leave at dawn. Any objections?"

Taken aback, Véredhiel interjected. "What about your lair?"

Looking around, she noticed not a single other dragon, just a wonderful collection of flora.

"I won't be needing any of this. Here, take these." Útíradien said, gently tossing two pieces of flora at Véredhiel before walking away to a corner and lying down to sleep.

The items were a beautiful dew laden white rose, and a pouch full of perfectly white daisy petals.

"Thank you so much, but can I really-" Véredhiel started to say, before realizing that Útíradien had already fallen asleep. Taking note, she curled up adjacent to him, and fell asleep, clutching the pouch with the egg all the while.

---

The next morning, Véredhiel awoke by a gentle shake from Útíradien.

"I dreamt of a name for the dragon. It will be a girl, and her name will be Winterbelle. Do not ask me how I know this, or the reason behind the name. Just know it to be true" stated Útíradien.

Unable to say much in her morning grogginess, Véredhiel agreed on his words, and began to prepare for the trek ahead.

And with that, Útíradien and Véredhiel left at dawn with egg in tow on their journey to the most prosperous region of the Tangled Wood.