Forgotten

The Grove of the Reincarnate, my father tells me, is a safe haven for those who don't belong elsewhere. Those seeking a new life. He says I'll like it here, living in my parent's bed of autumn leaves that should have long ago decayed. He says I'll be safe, inside the bramble fence, if I don't touch the mushrooms or bother the walking shamble of bones. He says I'll feel at home, living under a tree no-one else can see.

He's wrong. I don't feel welcome here. The other dragons say my father isn't even a dragon. None of them have ever met my mother; they claim she doesn't exist at all. They say I'm not real, either. A trick. A figment of their collective imaginations. So I sleep in the leaves all day and try to forget that I exist. Maybe one day, I won't any more.

I want to leave. Please, take me away. Get me out of this place.

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Forgotten awakes in her lair, and all she remembers is this: a great brown Imperial, who seemingly vanishes before her; the warm embrace of the Earth Mother; a plea, a cry for help; and then four cold, blue eyes.

Life in the Arc is far from bad. Every morning, she is greeted by warm faces. Hey are patient with her; they remind her of their names, regale her with the stories and experiences she has shared with them. With each new sunrise, she remembers more and more of her beloved clan. But she can't help but feel like a part of her past is missing here. Something in the back of her head leads her to doubt- it tells her she doesn't belong.

She tries to distance herself from this; she tells her clanmates to call her by a new name: Derrita. Every day, they oblige her. They give her a pitying smile and nod their heads. But she knows that it is not right. In the night she hears them whispering, calling her by her true name: Forgotten. She knows that this is who she is, and who she will always be. And when she goes to sleep at night, she dreams: a great brown Imperial, who seemingly vanishes before her; the warm embrace of the Earth Mother…


The Grove of the Reincarnate beckons

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