Azurah

Azurah was the first dragon to meet Kynareth and Balthazar after they had formed the Lucanidae Clan. She arrived only a few days after their mating efforts had provided them with a single egg in the Nesting Grounds. Azurah seems to exude an air of mystery wherever she goes and as a result she is regarded highly by Kynareth. In spite of her well-known species-specific trait for bad hearing, Azurah possesses great empathic skill and is often able to discern another dragons meaning through observation of facial and bodily language alone - this amazes Balthazar as though it were some form of magical power. With this said, communication itself is still not her strong suit.

There is something in her past that haunts her and follows her everywhere. She is guarded about it in conversation but makes no secret of feeling like an outsider who struggles to cement feelings of allegiance to any particular Flight. These feelings have concerned the progenitor dragons, Balthazar particularly, but have somehow not managed to prevent her from being the first dragon outside of the progenitors to call the Lucanidae Clan her own. In many ways, she looks to them both as father and mother figures. Her actual parents are estranged, her father is under the Ice Flight while her mother is under Fire - this is most likely the root cause of her struggle to "pick sides".




Light shone down on the Everbloom Gardens in a beautifully warm, orange glow. A sunrise like no other that month was bathing all of the Labyrinth. Balthazar and Kynareth looked restfully at their singular, mottled egg. They were content. The glowing sun backlit the stark silhouette of a migrating clan of Coatl high above. Their feathery numbers were a wash of orange and yellow hues that did iridescent battle with the rising rays of the morning.

Some hours later, in the aftermath of that warm bath of light, a darkly-coloured Coatl was travelling across the many clearings outlying the lesser lairs of the Everbloom Gardens when she heard the unmistakably heavy thud of a landing Guardian. Balthazar had just returned from scavenging the Sunbeam Ruins and as he turned to the sight of Azurah, his surprise initially came off as cautious and threatened but very quickly warmed to tentatively welcoming. In all this lightening-fast re-appraisal of mood, Azurah's eyes darted quickly and carefully tracking those motions. She saw everything that transpired and noted it well, but still struggled to summon proper words for introduction. Ultimately, Balthazar made the opening conversational gambit, just as Kynareth pushed clear of the surrounding shrubbery to greet him upon his return.

"You look very interesting for a Coatl - and you're travelling alone. Is everything alright?"
"Oh.. Oh, yes. I am fine, thank you."
"What brings you here, to the Everbloom Gardens and our clan?"
Kynareth's eyes shone with the acknowledgment of being spoken for.
"Oh, well... I'm seeing the world. Sornieth has many sights for me to uncover, you see."
"You don't have a clan to return to?"
Balthazar said this as his eyes met the many tomes and trinkets and packages that hung about her.
"No.. I'm still looking for that place called home. Do you mind if I stay here for a time?"
"Oh, not at all. It is just myself and my mate Kynareth here, although we expect another soon."
"Yes, let us return to the nest Balthazar, we've already been away too long."
"Oh... I'm- I'm Azurah, by the way."

Azurah stammered and struggled not to trip as she tried to keep up with the couple returning to their nest. She attempted in vain to make small talk that led to something interesting or private but was continually met with the impenetrable politeness of Balthazar.
Later that night, when she exchanged the smallest of dialogues with Kynareth, she saw something in those Mirror eyes that calmed her being in a way she couldn't describe. She saw her own guarded nature mirrored back on her and felt no more desire to try and uncover anything beyond what she gleaned from the surface of the clan. She had always been a good reader of faces, and in Kynareth's she saw safety. In Kynareth's quadruple gleaming beacons of sight, she saw home. For a briefest moment, in her mind she saw a mental picture: those gleaming eyes filled with a new colour - one was the cold blue of Ice, another the hot orange of Fire, another the dazzling yellow of Light and the last a vibrant green of Nature. She rested not far from the clan's nest that night and when she awoke she began to set down her travelling possessions and rummage through them as though they were not in fact her own but a bundle of ancient, alien artefacts. She settled on an old leather-bound book that she looked at with the decided eyes of someone who now felt a kindred ownership. Balthazar tried to read this expression as he approached her, but failed to.

"What is that you're reading?"
"Oh, just my old journal, I used to try and write poetry. I'm not very good."
"Why do you say that?"
"My language was so elaborate sometimes. Way too dense. Way too flowery."
"Don't let the Gladekeeper hear you saying that!"
The two of them chuckled together and felt a warm fuzziness spread about them. Balthazar looked at the journal's worn cover and noticed some inscriptions.
"What does ACAB mean?"
"Oh, that... it's a silly old saying I used to say with playmates as a child in the Sunbeam Ruins... All Coatls Are Beautiful."
Azurah blushed the deepest crimson Balthazar had seen in all his life. Surprisingly to Azurah, he remained unphased by this sudden change in her.
"And I suppose that encircled letter 'A' stands for Azurah?"
"Well it's my diary isn't it?!"
They chuckled again but less fervently this time, the mutual fuzziness was dulling but Azurah's embarrassment was fading now also, her crimson cheeks dimmming to a light pinkish hue.
"It is great to have a writer in the clan."
"In- in the clan? You'd like me to be a part of your clan?"
"Oh. You hadn't noticed that?"
"I thought I was just going to stay here briefly on my travels."
"Well, no one would ever force you to stay. But you're welcome here for longer if you like, you're welcome to become part of the unbridled life of the Lucanidae Clan. Kynareth has told me you are welcome because you are worthy - and, you see, for me Kynareth's word is law."
"I would love to join your clan. But, hey, you know - it's just you two and me so far, right? Well, that won't do at all. This clan isn't really full of unbridled life right now, is it? I'm going to have to find some new recruits for you."
"Well, you're welcome to help in that if you'd like to, Azurah. But, of course, Kynareth would have to cast the decision in stone."
His eyes, in saying this, glanced over in the direction of the vine-covered stone in the heart of their lair, where he had witnessed Kynareth carve her Sigil for the first time.
"Normally, I would tell a dragon at this point that I'm no good friend with authority. But Kynareth is different. She seems to me like somebody I can trust to lead myself, and others I gather, in the right direction, you know?"
"Of course, I know exactly what you mean."

Azurah stared at Balthazar's face and saw in his expression the possibility that he really had no idea how she felt about all of this, but in his own polite way he did understand in the very least the logic of what had transpired between them. Her mind was ablaze with the possibilities of the future - the possibilities of a string of dragons behind her tail, being led into a wonderful new family.

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