Bermuda

V gay
Mated to Kirea

I.
The blue Bogsneak rubbed her paws together and sighed.
If she was being honest, Heavenwing Eyrie was perfect. She had been given a cushy position as Clan Sorcerer — especially cushy given that most everyone was in perfect health.
Most of the clan’s demons had been exorcized. Her mate Kirea was the light of her life.
If anything, the job was too easy, and the sorceress wasn’t fond of easy jobs.
She gazed outside her glass-walled hut. Inside, it was warm from magic embers and trapped sunlight, which was good for her exotic herb garden. Outside, the bare trees were glossy with snow. Thick rimes of ice capped the ponds and sashed the bridges’ handrails.
As she look at the snow-bound land, an idea began to stir in the bottom of her mind. It was vague, amorphous as a lump in a witch’s brew.
Slowly, leaning on her staff, she ventured outside and began to shape something out of the snow.
II.
There are a few ideas about where souls come from.
Most sorceresses believe that souls exist in the ether, waiting to be given form in a physical body. Some go a step further and say that souls exist in a land that is a mirror of the mortal realm.
Given all this, Sachi was a snow-sprite who lived in the wintry mirror-world of the Wyrmwound. While most other snow spirits were bright, playful things, he was slow and thoughtful. He spent much time gazing up at the foggy white sky and wondering where he had come from, where he was headed.
Above all else, he was lonely. Every time he made a friend, it seemed, they were whisked away to somewhere else — summoned to enchant boudoir mirrors or swords, or to protect wealthy homes.
So he spent unfathomable amounts of time wandering through the ice, snow, and chilly gray air, waiting. He didn’t know for what.
One cold morning, he spied something on a small hill: a glossy light shaped like an oval. With nothing else to do, he headed toward it.
It seemed like a sheet of clear glass, and floated a few inches above the harsh gray. But it looked out onto another world.
The world on the other side of the glass was also snowy and ice-bound, but much more beautiful. His eyes hungrily took in the elegant bridges, the orange-red roofs and pillars of small temples. Most striking was the deep blue dragon crouched over the snow, poking it with her staff.
“No, no,” she was muttering to herself. “That’s not right. If I wanted a Pearlcatcher, I would have whiskers, like so —“
She sketched whiskers into the ground, and Sachi felt a tingle around his mouth.
“And a pearl, of course.” She inscribed a circle.
As he did so, Sachi felt a heavy weight gather in his arms. If he had a heart, it would have thrilled with excitement. He drew eagerly nearer to the window, thinking finally! It’s my time! It was the happiest he could remember being.
The oval window began to glow brighter. The blue sorceress muttered to herself. Feeling his consciousness drawn into that world, Sachi closed his eyes —
III.
And opened them on the cold ground, looking up into the sorceress’ friendly face.
“Well, I suppose you’ll do. You came over quite quickly. Eager to get away from that place, eh? I’ve heard it’s horrible.”
Sachi shook snow from his ears, shivering. With this body, shouldn’t he have felt…warm?
Shaking and coughing, he let the sorceress escort her back into her glass-walled hut. But though his skin felt warm on the outside, everything within him was empty frost.
IV.
Bermuda was a good enough sorceress to know when things had gone awry. The snow-golem, a handsome body inhabited by a thin spirit, sat alone every day. He seemed to be especially fascinated by things that had doubles, twins, or mates. This ranged from the two marble swans on Bermuda’s mantle, to the two glass lamps hanging overhead.
Other than eating a bowl of thin salty broth every three days, Sachi didn’t do anything.
Well…maybe this won’t do after all, Bermuda thought, watching him. She didn’t want to show this to Drema or Lilac, considering it a failure. She even hid him in a broom closet whenever Kirea came over to check on her.
As for Sachi, he spent hours wondering why he felt cold and empty. After all, according to the spirit realm, he had made it. He had a body. He was in the mortal realm. But whenever he looked on a paired object, his mortal heart gave a great shudder, like an earthquake.
One twilight, sighing hard, he bedded down to sleep in the corner of the Sorceress’ hut.
The Sorceress thought hard. It was considered very tactful to send a summoned spirit back into the other realm. Furthermore, if he got angry enough, he would haunt her.
She grew frustrated and began nibbling on her staff. Well, you’ve accomplished it: giving yourself a problem. Are you happy now?
Bermuda sat up straight. Happy? He should be happy. Yes, of course! But how?
Her eyes lingered on the two small marble swans on her mantle. Their beaks were pressed together in a silent stone kiss.
Ah yes. Of course.
She hurried back out into the snow.
The moon was full that night. Heavenwing Eyrie was so beautiful, lush, soft and silver that it brought tears to the eye. But no-nonsense Bermuda had no time for tears.
This time when she sculpted the snow, she did so in a curvaceous, lovely little shape. A pearl again — and in the moonlight, it twinkled like a captured star.
Gracious. I might fall in love with this one before I’m done. She swiped sweat away from her brow and whispered the incantation again.
As she watched, the snow hardened into flesh, sprouting a delicate lacy pattern on the scales. The icy belly and neck took on physical form. Soon, an angelic ice girl blinked up at her beneath long, soft, black eyelashes.
V.
“Sachi, dear, I’ve got something for you. Or rather, someone.”
Sachi opened his eyes with great effort and pain. Sleep was the only time he didn’t feel cold and lonely.
But he thought he was still dreaming.
The girl standing in the doorway in front of Bermuda looked like one of his dreams. A heavenly spirit given physical expression…
Someone just like him.
As he crossed to her and took her in his arms, she fell against him with a shiver. All at once, his body flooded with warmth, like bright white sunlight.
He nuzzled into her neck, warm at last.

I.
“But you see why I don’t want to recruit more dragons from the land around here,” Drema was saying.
She and Bermuda were having tea in the Hummingbird Pavilion. The winter had abated on the breath of spring, and tender blossoms were beginning to sprout.
Bermuda, being an outsider, shook her head. “No, your majesty. I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
Drema, the living embodiment of beauty and grace, leaned nearer. Bermuda’s heart fluttered.
“We’ve put so much work into exorcizing Baron Steele’s spirit from these lands, but his influence still lingers, does it not? Everyone alive here has horrible memories of his reign. Everyone still carries the imprint of his boot. And I fear it’s much the same way in the lands around here, which he mercilessly exploited for his own gain.”
Bermuda was too entranced by Drema’s beauty to pay much attention. Besides, being a sorceress, she didn’t concern herself much with politics.
“So what do you need me to do?”
Drema glanced pointedly behind Bermuda, who turned to look.
Her two lovely snow-golems certainly hadn’t melted with the spring.
Sachi and Salena were both a bit odd, according to all accounts. The official story was that they were wanderers from the far north — easier to explain than yes, I gave them life from snow because I was bored.
But on the whole, they were both well-liked. It was positively enchanting to watch them interact. They were so in love with one another — as in love as only spirits brought together by fate could be.
As Drema and Bermuda watched, Sachi and Salena rubbed their noses together among a grove of violets.
Bermuda sighed wistfully and longed for Kirea. “I’m afraid I don’t entirely understand.”
Drema leaned forward, doubtlessly thinking that a sorceress should have more tact. “Heavenwing Eyrie should grow, but with your help.”
“Oh! Oh, of course.” Bermuda flushed. I’m very dense. Why didn’t I think of that? “But as you’ll notice, there’s no snow around.”
“I’m sure a resourceful sorceress like yourself will figure something out,” Drema said haughtily. And Bermuda thought she caught an undertone of…something…in that voice. This young princess was certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Sighing, Bermuda rose and bowed, and Drema did the same.
II.
No snow. What shall I use?
As all sorceresses know, it is best to choose soul-channeling materials that are physically attractive if one wants to attract good spirits. And Bermuda certainly did. Another pair of handsome elemental spirits, yes…but what type?
Bermuda’s idle wandering brought her to the edge of a great lake.
Heavenwing Eyrie was called that because it was nestled in the mountains, yes, but also because it was well protected. There were abundant water sources, from the ponds crossed by bridges, to two small rivers…to this lake.
Bermuda frowned and dug her claws into the marshy dirt. The water was still a bit chill with spring. She kept digging, though, and eventually churned up a pearl. A nice, large one, maybe a relic of an old Pearlcatcher.
Gazing into its white-pink depths, Bermuda closed her paw over it and hummed. She wanted a different spirit — a loving, female one, a magic-sprite, but a good one. The pearl grew hot in her hand.
Then a thought struck her — she remembered how lonely and chilly Sachi was at first.
Setting the pearl down on the earth, she hurriedly began to dig for another one. “Come on, come on. Oh, dear, I truly need to plan these better.”
The pearl on the ground was beginning to unfurl, to bloom like a rose in the spring. Delicate, heavenly scales glistened, fresh and new.
Bermuda kept digging, hurling up clumps of mud, until she had it.
Another pearl.
This one was dimmer, a bit chipped and bent, but serviceable. Chanting and humming again, she sat this one next to the flower-one, and watched as they both grew.
III.
Miki, as she was called, was happy to return to the mortal world once more. In the ocean-spirit realm, it was very cold and there was little sunlight. Heavenwing Eyrie, with its welcoming scenery and abundant light, was a welcome change.
Now she tasks herself with purifying all the water around Heavenwing Eyrie, which she adores. All of the ponds have cleared up of mud; the streams still taste of the snow-melt they come from. All of Baron Steele’s erosion and land-destruction is being steadily rinsed away.
While Bermuda has a hard time explaining the two aquatic Pearlcatchers, Heavenwing Eyrie is still happy to accept both of them.
In addition to water purification, Miki is renowned for her powers of telling the future, and her home is very popular for pilgrims who ask to know what the spirit world will reveal. Other than that, people love to come and watch her and Cassis’ happy little children, seeing the bright-pearl-flash of scales before their babies dive back beneath the water.
Like Sachi and Salena, the two are happy additions to Heavenwing Eyrie. And Drema has stopped giving Bermuda exasperated looks – for now.
Bio by Caelyn

I.
The Plaguemother got done sculpting all of the wizards, witches, and sorceresses for her own ranks.
For the most part, they were dark, deep, and mysterious. They would cast spells that blighted instead of healed.
Deep in this steaming primordial cave, she gazed on them proudly. In the clutches of their Plague eggs, they slept, and the deity could see their peaceful sleep through the pale egg shells.
Making dragons was exhausting. But she wasn’t through yet.
Somebody—it must have been the Glademother—got the idea of making other dragons for other clans. Dragons with other destinies. Not wanting to feel left out, the Plaguemother rolled up her proverbial sleeves, grabbed a large obsidian bowl from her shelf, and set to it.
What did she have in mind? She envied the Tidecaller, actually. So she set about mixing bright blue scales with a little sparkle, like waves in sunlight. She pounded the scales with a black mortar.
Then she added a dash of magic to the glowing bowl.
To her surprise, the bowl spoke. “Ooof! Watch where you’re throwing that!”
The deity blinked hard. “I’m sorry?”
“Where you’re throwing that magic! You want to give me a heart attack?”
The Plaguemother frowned down at the bowl. Now she was mixing the scaly mass with her hands. The mess purred with pleasure.
“That feels nice, at least.”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d stop talking,” the Plaguemother replied.
“Stop talking! Ha! Not a chance.” And so the bowl with the unformed dragon in it chattered merrily into the night about all manner of things, giving Plaguemother a headache she never forgot.
II.
Bermuda wasn’t always the laid-back, easy-to-please sorceress she came off as in Heavenwing Eyrie. In fact, though no one knew this, she used to be a serious student of a magical academy hidden deep in the woods around the Starfall Isles.
The academy was so secretive that it lacked a name. It was only a series of small, cozy huts tucked in the shade of the forest. The buildings drew on the magical power stored within the tree-trunks, as the ancient pines had soaked in the Arcanist’s magic as they grew strong and tall.
But of course, Bermuda wasn’t worried about trees.
She was the best in her class. Her professors always called on her to demonstrate spells, to show off her potions. She got so good, in fact, that this academy wanted to hire her after she graduated.
Bermuda was torn. On one paw, it would be a good life. This magical academy paid well. It was easy work, teaching hatchlings. Besides, it came naturally to her, and she was every young student’s favorite. They crowded around her for tutoring.
On the other paw…well, having to not swear was causing issues. She didn’t feel fulfilled. She didn’t want to use magic only within the realms of the academy — she wanted to go out into the world and show off magic herself. She wanted danger, action, drama…
So, dramatically enough, she set out one night beneath a new moon, without saying goodbye to anyone. She walked toward the center of the isles.
Her professors were disappointed, but not surprised to see her go.
III.
Or I could just become a wanderer, she mused. The air in this thin, bask-wood forest was rare, delicious. She tramped steadily over pink flower-blooms, beneath garlands of glowing white flower-vines.
Humming off-key to herself, she waved her wand ahead of her. “This is the life,” she said. “No problems, no solutions. Nothing. Why, fancy me wanting a home! How could I ever think such a thing?”
She passed cheerfully through towns. Some of them needed a sorceress, but she wasn’t having any of it. For a few months, she wandered.
Then she ran—smack—into the aura surrounding Heavenwing Eyrie.
Bermuda was highly attuned to all types of magic, auras included. And the aura hanging around Heavenwing Aura was very noticeable. The air was charged with bitter fear and frustration. And yet, beneath that, hope. Light.
Love.
She gazed on the pavilions and ponds in the clearing ahead, the ancient stone temples. None of them should reflect so much bitterness and evil. And yet, they did. How curious.
Certainly far more curious and interesting than her dumb old school.
Bermuda stood in the forest, ruminating, tasting the air with her eyes closed.
She was discovered by Kirea. The Imperial loomed curiously out of the shadows, frowning down at Bermuda.
“Can I…help you?”
“Ack!” Bermuda gasped. She jabbed her wand at the girl. “Be back, you foul beast!”
“You know, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that,” Kirea said glumly.
Bermuda frowned and tossed her wand aside. “Well…sheesh. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s alright.” Kirea’s frown was deep and intent. “Shall you join us for tea or supper?”
At that moment, Bermuda’s stomach growled loudly. If it hadn’t, she would have declined the invitation, and who knows where she might’ve ended up?
Wrapping a paw around Kirea’s arm, Bermuda nodded. “Of course! Let’s go! Say, you’ve got a strange aura around here.”
“Not the first time I’ve heard that, either.” Kirea let out a little bell-like laugh.
And in her clumsy, unintentional way, Bermuda immediately fell in love with her.
And stayed.