Hykra

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A B O U T Nickname: None Age: 10 years Gender: Female Pronouns: She/Her/Hers Residence: The Skyfire Legion Birthplace: The Skyfire Legion Likes: Her Wispwillow Peryton, hunting, fighting Dislikes: Annoying parents, others telling her what to do Hobbies: Hunting, fighting Mate: None Relatives: Friends: Enemies: Reputation: Align: Shadow Virtue: Vice: F A M I L I A R Wispwillow Peryton Familiar Only shadow dragons can see wispwillow perytons after night falls. To others, they appear as a jumble of small floating specks of light. (Colored by Xemni.) 0

"...And while knowing what to say in every situation is useful and all, one cannot deny the usefulness of a fabulous set of clothing...Hykra, are you listening to me?"

"…what? Oh, yes, sorry."

“Hykra dear, you seem a little...distracted, as of late. Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

The Skydancer peered up into her Guardian mentor's eyes, watching her own reflection distort among the crystalline scales. "I guess."

"Is this about Ajke?"

Well, no, not up until she'd mentioned it. "Yes. I just can't understand how mother and father can stand to exile one of their own children!"

"Well, dear, Irene and Shad have always had the best interests of the clan at heart. In fact, they've run it for more years than I've been alive! All that experience must have gone somewhere, right? In this case, straight to their leadership choices. A male cannot inherit the throne. Therefore, there's no reason for him to stick around. Think of it this way: If he's not tied down helping out the clan, he could be out there in the wide, wide world, making his mark somewhere else! He would be bringing glory to us in another way. I wouldn't really call that exile."

“Yes, but why does that rule exist in the first place?"

"Silly Hykra, asking so many questions. A princess need not concern herself with the petty affairs of us mortals! Although, if you would like to hear the tale first claw, perhaps you could try speaking to your mother herself. After all, the tradition began with her."

"Thanks Crystallia. I will."

"Don't forget to come back this evening for your dress fitting!" the Guardian called as Hykra walked away.

Yeah, sure, like she was going to sit still for hours while Crystallia stuffed her into yet another frilly dress. Why did Ajke and Thly get to go out and have fun, while she had to memorize a dozen different body language cues? Sure, there was the whole ‘future alpha’ thing and all, but a little friendly sparring never killed anyone, right?

*

…apparently, it did.

“It was almost a decade ago,” Irene, leader of the Skyfire Legion, began. She had this weird habit of braiding Shad’s mane when she was reminiscing, which the Imperial didn’t look too happy about. “Our clan was little more than an extended family. Do you remember that old Coatl who stole all the fish and lied about it? She was the first dragon we ever court-martialed. Good times.”

“Yes, dear,” Shad grumbled, tugging out all the pigtails in his hair.

“Where was I? Oh, yes. My brother, Sierra, invited my sister Yaad and I to a sparring match. We humoured him, and followed him out to the wilderness. And that’s when he tried to kill me.”

She sounded so calm about it that Hykra almost missed that last part. “Wait, what?”

“Nasty piece of work, that worm. Anyway, the instant we were out of sight, he turned on us, roaring something about seizing power. Yaad thought it was part of the game, so she just charged straight at him. He slit her throat before she could even take a breath. I saw the blood and Sierra turning on me and knew that practice was over. My own brother wanted me dead, but I wasn’t ready to die that day, not like my father.”

Irene’s talons grasped for her daughter’s mane. Hykra backed out of reach. “So what happened next?”

“I held him off, for as long as I could. I could tell he’d been training elsewhere; I didn’t recognize most of his moves. Then he got the drop on me.” Her talons traced the pale slash marks across her chest and back. “He nearly got his wish. But all the fighting drew our mother, Apollo. She was a powerful geomancer, and as soon as she saw what was happening, she petrified him right where he stood.”

“So, now he’s a statue?”

“Was, dear. We broke him apart as punishment for his crimes. And ever since that day, my mother and I decided we couldn’t risk letting history repeat itself. That’s why Ajke will be exiled as soon as he’s fledged.”

“But— that’s not fair!” Hykra cried. “You’re judging all future males for something one dragon did?”

“‘Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me,’” Irene recited. “If Sierra could turn on his own sister, who’s to say Ajke won’t?”

“Uh, because he’s not evil?”

“‘Evil’ is such a naïve word. To become a good leader, you must understand that no dragon is exactly good or bad. Ajke may seem friendly now, but that’s what they said about Sierra, too.”

Hykra stamped her foot. Everything Irene said was just another chance to squeeze in some didactic moral! Couldn’t they have a normal conversation for once?

“Your mother only wants the best for you.” Shad rarely spoke, so when he did, even Hykra listened. “You’re next in line to become alpha. It’s a lot of responsibility, and very dangerous. We have this rule so you won’t ever have to go through the pain she has.”

“Believe me, if there was an easier way, we’d take it in a heartbeat,” Irene added.

Yeah, there’s an easier way, Hykra fumed. Actually trust me, for once.

But she simply bowed her head. “Thanks for telling me.”

“We always have time for you, dear,” her mother smiled as she turned back to the stack of reports on her desk. “Just...not as much right now.”

Eugh, paperwork. Would she have to do that someday? “I’ll, uh, let you work.” She turned to leave.

“Hykra,” Shad called out. The Skydancer turned back. “You know we love you, don’t you?”

“I love you, too,” Hykra said, and she meant it.

If only they felt the same about Ajke.

*

“Like talking to a brick wall, huh?”

Ajke was standing just outside the door as Hykra walked out, like he’d been listening in the whole time. He probably had been.

His younger sister just nodded. “I just want to go outside for once, like a normal dragon. Is that so much to ask?”

“Yeah, it is. They wouldn’t want their little flower getting trampled, now.”

Hykra aimed a swipe at him. “Who’s a flower? Me? No way!”

“You’d think so, the way they’re always talking about you. ‘Oh Thly, why can’t you be more like your sister?’ ‘Real pity, our firstborn being male’.”

“You should be alpha, Ajke,” Hykra sighed. “You always know what to say and what to do and all that royal stuff.”

“Right? My thoughts exactly.”

Whatever else Hykra was going to say was cut off as a tiny Fae crashed right into her.

“Sorry! Sorry!” SilverBlade cried, scrambling to his feet in a flurry of blue robes. “Oh, hello. While you’re here, have you seen my love around?”

“Who? Crystallia?” Ajke asked.

“The very one!”

“What’s the hurry?”

“A Shadetouched beast has been spotted at the border. Shad’s ordered her to go deal with it. Now, off to your chambers, you two! It’ll all be over in a moment...once I find her.” He spread his wings and flapped off again down the corridor.

“A beast!” Hykra whisper-hissed. “D’you think, if I killed it, mother and father will finally take me seriously?”

Ajke shrugged. Good enough.

“Ajke, you have to cover for me. Find Crystallia, quick, before SilverBlade. And don’t let him tell her about the monster!”

Her brother stared at her like she’d grown an extra tail, but when she turned and dashed for the nearest window, he sighed and followed the Fae in search of the Guardian.

*

Hykra soared over the Wispwillow Grove, scanning the ground for signs of the beast. The wind whistled between the primaries of her outstretched wings; a wonderfully calming sensation. After years of flying in the still air near the clan, it was amazing to feel actual thermals keeping her aloft. But she couldn’t enjoy it for long. She was on a mission, and Ajke could only distract Crystallia for so long.

The sound of branches snapping drew her gaze to a ravine along the northern edge of the clan’s territory. Actually, it was more like trees snapping; the creature was almost as large as Crystallia herself, and the mere act of walking uprooted everything in its path. Glowing eyes and hoarse breathing announced its presence long before Hykra saw it. The Shade-corrupted beast was half-skeleton, half-ghost, shrouded in a dark hood and bristling with spines. Some of the clan warriors had described something similar from their expeditions into the Ghostlight Ruins. They’d called it a Malevolent Spirit.

Okay, it’s…huge. No problem. With her Skydancer’s natural agility, she could just stay in the air and hurl spells at it until it died. Hykra chanted softly, building up breath for a Shadow-based attack.

The Spirit snarled and turned when her first Dark Bolt struck it. Branches cracked as it lifted one bony claw to swipe at her. Hykra dodged, pulling in her wings to swoop before veering away. With her tail lashing for balance, she formed another bolt in her talons and flung it at the creature.

This attack struck its luminous eye, which flickered and died like an old lantern. It roared in pain, spraying thick black spittle in all directions. One of the globs splattered against Hykra’s wing, and she screamed and fell out of the sky.

Acid spit… The Skydancer’s mind was a jumble of broken sentences and searing pain. She hit the tree-line, branches snapping as she passed. They broke her fall, luckily, so she only had the breath knocked from her lungs when she hit the ground.

She staggered to her feet and ran as a skeletal claw slashed through the undergrowth. The beast was really angry now. Why did she ever think she could’ve beaten it? She couldn’t even beat Thly in practice.

Gotta...reach the clan… But here on the forest floor, there were only featureless trees everywhere she turned, and even the landmark ravine was nowhere to be found. Her injured wing dragged on the ground beside her, too painful to tuck in, and she growled every time it hit a root or bump. But where...how…

In all her sheltered life, Hykra had never known true fear until that moment.

A shadow loomed over her and she screeched...then it was gone and there was a roar and a great crashing of trees behind her.

The Skydancer veered right and chanced a look behind. A shimmering silver shape had slammed headfirst into the Spirit, sending them tumbling and fighting through the forest. Shiny blue wings flared and understanding lit up Hykra’s pain-scrambled mind.

Crystallia!

The Guardian was about a third smaller than the beast, but her claws shredded its ragged cloak like she was swimming through the cloth. She ducked under its claw, then clamped her jaws around its neck, dragging it to the ground. Her tail swept around and sliced it cleanly in half. The Spirit wailed, a terrible sound like a dozen dying animals, and exploded into dust. The beast was dead in less than a minute.

Crystallia coughed, scattered the ashes to the wind, then snapped up her head. “Hykra! Where are you?”

“Here!” the young dragon yelled, stumbling into the open.

In the blink of an eye, the Guardian had wrapped her wings around her. “Dear, my dear, I was so worried...just the thought of you, out in these woods, I…”

I’m fine, is what Hykra wanted to say, with her usual carefree tail curl, but instead, she found herself leaning into Crystallia’s embrace. “I’m sorry. That was stupid.”

“Oh, Hykra dear...no need to dwell on the past. You’re safe now, and that’s all that-- your wing! Shadows have mercy. Come, dear, climb on my back. We need to find a healer to look at it.”

Gritting her teeth against the pain, the Skydancer hauled herself up onto the Guardian’s back. With a great beating of wings, they were aloft.

“How did you…” The next word was on the tip of her tongue, but she found herself too choked up with emotion to finish.

“That was simple, dear. SilverBlade told me. It was a good thing I happened across him, otherwise your brother would’ve nearly gotten away with it.”

Hykra stiffened. “Got away? With?”

“His murder attempt! That vile worm distracted him for ten whole minutes. Why, if I ever see his smug snout again, I’ll--”

Whatever else Crystallia said was drowned out by a roar of dread in her ears.

*

“You WHAT?”

“Exiled him, dear. On the spot. Oh, Shad can tell you all about it…”

“Can confirm. He’s gone.”

Hykra stared, open mouthed, at her parents, which was a little hard to do since they kept moving around and cooing over her as a healer patched up her wing. “But, he didn’t do anything!”

“Oh, my, where to begin...first of all, he somehow managed to convince you to go fight a Spirit! Truly silver-tongued, that snake. And then, distracting Crystallia so she wouldn’t interfere when it ripped you all to-- oh, the horror!”

Irene let herself fall onto a conveniently-positioned fainting couch. She was a really bad actress, Hykra decided. “But you’re safe now, and that’s all that matters.”

Hykra took in a deep breath. No, mother. You’re wrong. Ajke wasn’t trying to kill me. I did that all on my own. But the more she thought about it, the more she exhaled. “Yeah, that’s true.”

Shad extended a talon for Irene to pull herself up. “Of course it is, dear. I’m always right.” Here, she flashed her trademark patronizing smile. “Crystallia says you gave the Spirit a thing or two to remember you by. You’re shaping up to be a fine young heiress, Hykra. I can rest easy, knowing you’ll take up my reins.”

Hykra smiled back, a perfect mirror of her mother. “Thank you, mother.”

Her parents ducked out of the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts (and a healer, but he basically didn’t count).

He was innocent, she knew it.

Yet at the same time, she couldn’t help but wonder. Hadn’t he also let her go off on her own, despite likely knowing how dangerous it was?

Things weren’t so clear-cut. Nothing in this world really was. But there was one thing she was sure of: That Ajke was a good dragon. And one day, she would take her place as alpha of the Skyfire, clear his name, and bring him home.

But for now, it was time to do what she did best: Smile and learn.

Amazing lore by Ethiera