Venom

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Lore
Lore by Starwindrider
From the moment Venom hatched out of the egg, heaps of praise were rained upon her. Dragons congratulated her parents on having “such a gorgeous daughter” and “a rare beauty”. However, everything went wrong when the dragons looked closer and noticed a horrifying mark upon the newborn’s body.

Venomous fangs.

Then came the yells of horror and petrified stares, and all the dragons in the Clan scrambling to get away from her. From her, the unwanted hatchling. From her, the cursed hatchling. From her, the hatchling that could bring harm to the whole Clan.

Thus, from a tender age, Venom already began to learn about loneliness, heartbreak and the pain of betrayal. When those heavy feelings became too much to bear, Venom decided to help herself and stop all the strange stares and mocking jeers. Since the Light dragons were scholars, they should be able to help her. Right?

However, the treatment she received in the Sunbeam Ruins was nothing different from the cold shoulders she got in her travels. She was just about ready to lose all hope when she stumbled upon the dark-colored, broad-shouldered Imperial who changed her life forever.

“A Skydancer with fangs? How interesting. I have never seen a Skydancer like this before,” the Imperial mused to himself.

Venom cast her eyes downward. Did he not know? Did he not suspect? Was he not like the other dragons? Was it possible that he would be the one who could help her?

After explaining her predicament, the Imperial did not react violently like the others had. Instead, his eyes widened in surprise and he cried, “Oh Lightweaver. I swear I’ve just met a special dragon who can control the element of venom! I’ve never thought that it was possible but now I know it is.”

Venom tilted her head. “What do you mean? Control venom? What kind of an ability is that?”

The Imperial leaned in, a little scary to her but she had her corrosive spit to save her if she had to. The Imperial seemed to know that too, for he still kept his distance. “Listen. My name is Wraith. You can come to my Clan with me. Don’t worry, my Clanmates are nice. I’m going to help you with your secret ability.”

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Venom focused her energy. With a boom, a bolt of venom shot from her mouth and thunked into the rotting log she had been aiming at. She licked her lips - the venom did not affect her - and sat back to review her progress. She was learning how to be stronger and how to use her secret ability to the maximum. According to Wraith, she was gifted with the special ability to control venom, and it was a very strong power.

Wraith’s Clan was welcoming and did not drive her out due to her mutation. They even let her head to the unpopulated forests near the large camp to practise her powers. She did not want to run the risk of harming any of her Clanmates while learning her abilities.

There was a slight rustling in the shrubbery behind her, and she turned. As expected, it was Wraith, coming to call her. He surveyed her work and wordlessly beckoned for her to follow him back to camp. Before she left the clearing, she turned back.

I will come back tomorrow. And if I keep training, I will be stronger and stronger!

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Lore by Tirtouga678

From the first time she opened her eyes, she had already been special. Born to a high-prestige, highly respected family, her hatching was much awaited, and every single dragon in the clan had gathered to watch her egg, trembling and quaking in the warm sunlight, split to reveal the dragon within.

From the first time she opened her eyes, she was already showered with heaps of praise, for her eyes were of the clearest emerald green, and they glowed with a shimmering viridescence that evoked thoughts of the forest, of sunlight filtering through leaves.

Yet, from the first time she opened her eyes, she was also shunned, for as she gaped her tiny jaws in a yawn, they saw the gleam of serpentine fangs against the sunlight, the sharp, wicked points of the razor-blade-like teeth glinting in the light of day.

Thus from a tender young age, she knew, so painfully clear that it hurt, what it felt like to be an outcast, to be feared and suffer the rending pain of heartbreak. She knew, that her magic was dangerous, abnormal, and for that she bowed her head and quietly submitted to those who mercilessly pelted her with insults and abuse.

Her heart was empty, devoid of happiness or joy, just spiralling depression, suffering, despair, like her corrosive venom had seared a hole in her heart where all her positive emotions had vanished. She christened herself Venom, for the sizzling toxin she spat, for her ‘freak magic’ that caused her to be thrown out of her nature-loving clan.

“You don’t belong here.”

That message was as clear as day, and it felt like a sharp dagger being thrust into her. So she was cast out, and left outside to die as a young, one-moon-old hatchling. Being ostracised was bad enough, but this new atrocity left a deep scar on her heart, never to be healed.

She journeyed to the Sunbeam Ruins, in hopes that the dragons there could help her understand about her ‘freak magic’, and possibly cure it. However, she was treated equally coldly in the Light domain, dragons shying away from her, glaring suspiciously at her with their piercing golden eyes, refusing to help or even converse with her. With every dismissal, she flinched, until her heart had grown so stone-cold the pain no longer hurt.

Who knew she would get the same cold shoulder here, in this land of unbiased philosophers?

She trudged on, soul too weary to take to the skies, and she had just about lost all hope when she met Wraith. The black-scaled Imperial, more than five times her size, looked curiously at her. “Are you okay?” he asked, noticing her dejected, heartbroken expression. Slowly, Venom shook her head, and that was the breaking point. Cascades of tears started flowing down her brown muzzle, and her body trembled with sobs. Her green feathers had long since lost their lustre, and hung limply by her sides as she curled up in sorrow.

“Hey, you can come back with me to my Clan. Then we’ll figure out how to help you. Don’t worry, we don’t bite.” He stated slowly, after silently accompanying her shuddering figure for a few minutes. Glancing up at the shadowy, towering dragon beside her, she forlornly sighed. Might as well go with him. After all, I have nothing to lose anymore.

And so Venom travelled back with Wraith to Zenith's Light, where she learned more about her powers of corrosive toxin and venomous fang, and quickly joined the Clan to better harness her powers.

As she trained everyday in the forest nearby, shooting with practiced ease venom bolts onto rotten logs and stones, she thought to herself: If I do this everyday, I know I can become strong!

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Art