Primula

Primula has not always been like this, a child-looking dragon who never grew up. She had once been a talented seamstress happily married to the clan’s mage. The two were in a healthy and loving relationship and wished they could start a family together.

Problem was, no matter how much they tried, no eggs were laid. They consulted doctors, herbalists, priests even but none could give them an answer. The couple were distraught but the mage tried to reassure her that it was alright.

Primula, however, couldn’t seem to let go of the issue, she blamed herself for being unable to bear a child and spent long nights awake, wondering where she had failed and how could she fix it.

Ever so slowly, she and her husband started to distance from one another. The mage tried to distract himself by focusing on his work and Primula was too busy wallowing in guilt to put much effort into anything. When she realised what was happening and how their feelings had changed, it was almost too late.

Desperate to hold onto the last thing that brought her happiness, the seamstress snuck one night into her husband’s study to search for an answer in the arcane arts. She only knew some of the runic language that was present in the books she looked through but she was confident she had found what she was looking for when she saw a scroll that, to her understanding, was used to give hatchlings to the caster.

Gathering the materials needed, she cast the spell in the middle of the night. It was a long and complicated process that she had to be careful to not screw up but finally she said the final incantation and a circle of light surrounded her, glowing so brightly until she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

It was like the world tilted on its axis. She fell to her side and, when she got up, spent a few seconds regaining her bearings. When she opened her eyes, the world was blurry for a while until she could see what was around her. She looked around the study with confusion, as everything seemed to have gotten bigger.

Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching, most likely from her husband coming to investigate the sudden magic surge. Fearing what would happen if he found her and not knowing how she looked right now, Primula fled the study as quietly as possible, taking refuge in her own room. It was there where she could finally see herself in a mirror and she couldn´t contain a horrified gasp when she saw she looked like a hatchling.

Not knowing what to do, and finding herself defenseless if her husband found her, Primula saw no other option than to run away. She couldn´t take anything with her so she thought she´d handle food and water when the time came. So she raced down the stairs as her husband looked for her, fearing a robber had gotten in.

So as the sun started to rise, Primula ran out of the town, hearing alarmed shouting behind her as they started searching for her. She ran and ran until she couldn´t move anymore and collapsed on the ground. When she woke up, she was not on the field she had passed out in, instead finding herself in a warm cottage.

A lone ranger had found her and, thinking her a lost child, brought her in to his home to let her rest. While Primula considered telling him the truth at first, she eventually decided against it and lied, acting like an orphaned hatchling to take advantage of the ranger´s kindness before she ran away again.

That was the pattern for a while, find someone willing to take a “poor, abandoned child” in, get food and a place to rest, run again and rinse and repeat. She wasn´t happy with this at all, but it was necessary to survive. That didn´t stop her from slowly growing bitter and snappish when she didn´t have to keep the child act up.

She eventually found herself wandering the Shifting Expanse, desperately looking for a source or water. The wind blowed bitterly and it was as if the desert itself was out to get her lost among the dunes and sand. In her panic, she didn´t see how close she was to the edge of the Canyon and, losing her balance, she fell from the cliff.

Before she could hit the ground, however, she felt herself be caught by some arms and saw it was a Mirror, wearing a caparace arm and a cleaver at her side. She feared for a moment that the Mirror would harm her but she soon saw the concern in her eyes.

She introduced herself as Nyx and asked what she was doing there but Primula passed out before answering. She woke up on a bed in a cave and, used somewhat to this happened, got ready to put the child act up.

Shortly after she woke up, a Fae even smaller than her entered the room and asked her who she was and why was she wandering the desert by herself. Just as she started her scripted tale, she was interrupted.

“Please, I´d appreciate it if you told us the truth”

“W-What do you mean?”

“We did a magical scan to see your state while you were passed out, the results weren’t clear but we can know with certainty that you are not a hatchling, age wise”

She was shocked, the fae’s voice was cold and her body language betrayed nothing. This was a first. Should she confess? Would they help her if they knew the truth?

They might kick her out for lying anyways….so, seeing no other option, she told the Fae everything, from the problems in her marriage to the accident with the spell to how she took advantage of other dragon’s kindness just to get a place to rest at for a while.

At the end of the tale, the Fae sighed, “You certainly have things you’d need to set right. For now, how about you stay here? We could use a seamstress and you would be treated as an adult”

That offer was too good to not be hiding something, in Primula’s opinion, but it was better than what she had beforehand.

Fearing the worst, she said yes.

The Fae nodded and smiled for the first time since she’d met her, “Then welcome to the Burrow, Primula”