Greenbean

The world around her was bright, glinting and scary. Blue spikes and harsh sun and everything was so loud…

The hatchling was terrified. Dragons were yelling around her, and none of the noises made any sense. If it had not been a hatchling sitting there - if it had been a grown dragon - everything would have been much, much worse.

If it had been an adult, the story would’ve sounded like this:

“You promised you would fight for the Icewarden! He is expecting both of you, soon. What will he think of our clan if you two never show up?”

“Please, Floe, we just want to raise our children… We haven’t even named them!”

“You made a promise, Chrysos!”
“Then at least leave Icarus to care for them!”

The large feathery dragon snarled, and the hatchling tried to back away. “Both of you must go.”

Icarus looked back; Chrysos did not. The hatchling never saw those two dragons again. But she had her siblings. Her only family.

At least, she did, until Mia was taken away. The same dragon who sent Icarus and Chrysos away, a blue and white Coatl named Floe, said that she was the best of the hatch. That the Icewarden deserved her.

Late that night, the two remaining siblings huddled in their den. “Logan, I don’t like the Icewarden.”

The large black-and-red Guardian nuzzled his younger sibling. “They won’t take us away, Paige. I won’t let them.”

A week later, Logan left with only a note to explain. Search, it read. And then, I’m sorry. Logan.

Paige wandered the edge of the Frigid Floes, wondering why she was left when her entire family was gone. Gone could be dead, struck down in the futile war between gods, or gone could just be never to be seen again. Gone could even be scouring Sornieth for decades, not knowing if there was anything worthy of protecting.

She didn’t know exactly what happened, but the edge of the ice creaked and then Paige was in the water. The ice cold water, consuming her, pulling her down.

Maybe her family was just meant to be gone. Gone could be drowned in the frozen seas of the Icefield. Paige stopped holding her breath and sank.

Inexplicably, she opened her eyes again. She was cold, still so cold, but she wasn’t surrounded by the dark depths anymore.

A long green dragon stood before her, bluish smoke rising from his scales. “You are from a clan known to exalt every hatchling they have. Most of your family serves or served the Icewarden. You never got the chance, I believe..”

“I’m sorry, served?” the Fae dragon shot back, ignoring everything else the large dragon said.

“Icarus and Chrysos have died. Mia still fights, and Logan still continues his Search.”

The Fae stiffened, determined not to show weakness in front of the massive drake. “Why do you know this? Who are you?”

“The Windsinger, of course. Did you not recognize me?” the Windsinger laughed, as if he hadn’t just told a barely of-age dragon that her parents were dead. Before the Fae could respond, the Windsinger spoke again. “I’m here to offer you a second chance of life in my flight. I spoke to the Icewarden, but he did not feel as if you belonged in his flight anyways.”

“But-”

“Hush. Do you remember your name?” The Fae thought a moment then shook her head. “That’s alright. If you take this second chance, you must know, it comes at a price.”

“And that is?”

“I can’t quite tell you, but know that you better work on your argumentative skills. You’ll need them.” The Windsinger barked another sing-songy laugh.

The young Fae took a deep breath. Whatever it was, it was worth it. Maybe her brother wasn’t gone (the version of gone that meant he had left to find something that might not exist) after all.

“Fine. Send me back,” the Fae said, hoping the fake confidence in her voice could fool a god.

The world around her was bright, green and new. Tall bamboo and piercing winds and everything was so different…

“Hey, are you alright?” a dark blue shape said. The Fae grumbled as she slowly stood.

“Uh, yeah, fine,” she replied, shaking out her wings and fins.

The shape cleared. It was a dark blue-and-red Guardian. He had ice blue eyes, like the Fae’s own, and the concern in them was true. “Okay, then. You just kinda fell out of the sky.”

“Did I?”

“Um, yes, you did. I thought you might be dead.” The Guardian was confused by the amused look on the Fae’s face. “Anyways. I’m Nineteenth. Who are you?”

At least the Fae had the answer to this. “Greenbean.”

Nineteenth nodded. “Where’s your clan?”

“Gone.” Gone as in, they didn’t matter anymore, they didn’t exist in her mind. They didn’t need to nor deserve to.

“Oh,” Nineteenth said, confusion evident on his face. “...Do you want to come to my clan? I can’t promise that they’ll take you in, but I mean… They won’t send you away, at least. Not until they’re sure you’re alright.”

Something about the way Nineteenth spoke was comforting. Greenbean knew that she could trust him. After all, wouldn’t only a trustworthy dragon see who fell out of the sky just to make sure they were alright?

Greenbean nodded, internally smiling. This life could be - would be - so much better than her last one.

“Then let’s go.”