Eleret

Eleret is more at home among the creatures of the field and forest than she is among dragonkind. She is, in fact, a bit awkward around most other dragons, not knowing what to say, so more often than not she simply says nothing.

Quiet and soft-spoken, Eleret has the gift of stillness. She is able to lay motionless for hours, patiently waiting for a reluctant beast to accept her presence. This ability is perhaps unusual in a clan that never stays long in one place, but Eleret was hatched into the Windrover Clan, and knows no other life.

She has no idea who her parents might be, but she doesn't think about it much. Her egg was found beneath the Behemoth, the great tree at the heart of the Viridian Labyrinth. When the Windrovers discovered it, they tried to return the egg to the acolytes of the Gladekeeper that tend the tree, only to be told that the egg didn't belong to any of them. Parents unable to care for their young, the acolytes told the Windrovers, sometimes left their unhatched eggs beneath the Tree, in the hope that the Gladekeeper will bless them and they will find a clan to care for them. The egg is then considered the responsibility of whoever finds it.

Caoimhe once again strapped an egg to her belly and carried it near her until it hatched. However, as she was busy raising her younger two sons, Eleret's raising was shared out among several of the older members of the tribe, and so she is not as close to Caoimhe as the other hatchlings the clan leader has raised.

Eleret spends most of her time wandering outward from the noisy clan, observing and enjoying the company of the many creatures in the forests, fields and crags. She wears a wolf pelt (from a wolf that died of natural causes, of course), and bird's feathers she has collected in order to disguise her dragon scent and put the animals she loves more at ease.

She is close friends with Kasa, and sometimes helps her find some of the rarer herbs that Kasa uses in her healing. Eleret is familiar with many of their habitats from her solitary wanderings. She is also a sort of extra mother to Rue, and takes a lot of interest in the skydancer's well-being. Though they don't speak much when they are together, she will often join Rue in gardening, invite her along when she goes to watch a particularly fascinating animal, or simply sit quietly with her. She worries about Rue quite a bit. Unlike Eleret, who is often alone by choice and content in it, Rue seems to be alone out of anger. For now, however, there is not much she knows to do but give the skydancer support and love.

At the request of Jian, she has begun writing down her observations of the beasts she watches, noting their habitats, behavior, family life, and any other significant information. He then takes her scrolls back to the library where he was born to be compiled with information from other researchers and naturalists.

Eleret has the vague idea that she might someday like to stop traveling and settle down in the forest, but she is in no hurry. For now, she is content to wander with her family and discover animals that she has never seen before.