Colton

Protector
Theme: Hush Hush

The Scarred Wasteland isn't a pretty place to grow up. Only the strong survive, and if hatchlings die on their journey to adulthood, they were never one of Plaguebringer's children to begin with. It may seem harsh, but due to that, the wasteland is filled with tough dragons that won't step back from a fight. It is because of these qualities that a young Mirror named Colton seemed such a good fit for Plague. He was fierce and strong, and he loved to run and play with the other Mirrors in his pack. However, Colton developed his own problems.

He was a severe asthmatic, and the air quality in Plague only made his condition worse. As the years passed, he started to fall behind. He became weak and sickly. The other Mirrors wanted nothing to do with him as he lost his strength. And because he was left behind, he was a rogue. A rogue in the wasteland is as good as dead. He had to face off with bigger creatures for food, he had to fight for his life, and he was more susceptible to illness than ever.

Colton was dying. There was no other way to put it. The sickness and wounds were getting to him over time. And no one in his birth pack cared. The whole group just ran off without him when they saw him suffering. Colton had to get out of Plague, he knew that much. As he was trying to drag himself across the rotting landscape, he came face to face with a weird desert mage who called himself Blitz. A young and ambitious Pearlcatcher who claimed he could make Colton well again but for a price.

The Mirror knew he would die without immediate help, so he accepted Blitz's offer. His asthma remained. Yet the diseases to which he'd succumbed vanished from his system. When he asked what the price was, all Blitz told him was that the Pearlcatcher had a friend in need of a home, and that the friend was going to live with Colton for a while. The Mirror shrugged that off and tried to finish his journey across the wasteland.

A few months would pass before the Mirror truly learned the cost of getting better. On Hallow's Eve, the single most celebrated holiday by a majority of Sornieth, something happened that Colton could never forget. Twisted horns grew from his head and he brandished a weapon. He travelled the land, and he slaughtered the innocent. But it wasn't him. It was like he had no control over the murderer inside him. And when he came to after his massacre the next morning, it all made sudden, horrible sense.

Blitz had cursed him. And now Colton was sharing his body with something far more powerful than he was. Something far more dangerous. Terrified and ashamed, he ran away from what he'd done. And he kept running until he ran headfirst into a small pack of Mirrors. Despite his illness, the Nature pack welcomed him with open arms. But Hallow's Eve came by again. And Colton knew he had to come clean. He told the pack everything.

None of them were angry. If anything, they were scared for him. Celia, a dragon he'd always admired, came forward and told him she understood a lifelong curse. And the pack promised him they would do anything to help him. So come the night of the murders, they locked him away below earth where he couldn't harm anyone. And it worked. The only consequence was instead of harming others, the monster inside him made him harm himself. Claws marks over his body. The strangest thing about all this was that Colton was physically marked with the spell Blitz put on him. But for now, there's no way to remove it.

Colton and Celia are mated, and he is happy with his life. Next Hallow's Eve, they'll restrain him once more and make sure he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else. The Mirror is content with their plan, though he knows that if anything goes wrong, it will be more blood on his talons. Colton dons black attire and the cleaver his other half used to kill. He knows that so long as he has it but refuses to use it, he's in control of himself. And that's all that matters to him.






By Apathetic