Sveirifa

The Tidelord’s Sea could be a dangerous place, and many dragons and Beastclans had banded together to build safer lives for themselves. Maris’ school was one such group: The Maren had allied themselves with a clan of dragons, and both species protected each other.

Their defenses weren’t watertight, however and occasionally enemies broke through. One night, a group of pirates attacked the lair. They fled with a cache of treasure—and some of the clan’s eggs.

Seeing many of their allies heartbroken, the Maren were eager to help. They sent out scouts to find the lost eggs. Maris was one of these. She ventured far beyond the lagoon, into perilous waters. Here dwelled hostile dragons and Beastclans both, and shadowy leviathans, lurking deep in the trenches below. Yet Maris swam determinedly on. Soon her bravery was rewarded: After days of searching, she spied a blue glow deep in the abyss.

An egg—perhaps one from her dragon allies? Maris couldn’t be sure, and so she took it back straightaway. Her arrival was met with rejoicing, for the egg was from her clan.

It hatched not long later, to more rejoicing—and awe, for the child’s eyes bore the Tidelord’s blessing. The clan soon thought about choosing a familiar for her, for among them, hatchlings and familiars bonded from a young age, and were usually companions for life.

For Sveirifa’s parents, the choice was easy. They asked if Maris would agree to train alongside their child, and she was happy to accept. The dragons had been good to her people, and she was determined to do the same for them.

While Sveirifa spent her earliest years among dragonkind, all too soon she mastered spells even adults struggled with. Her magic continued to grow—yet there was nothing more her clan could teach her.

This was especially obvious to Maris. The Maren was now one of the finest teachers the clan had ever known, and she saw a way to unlock Sveirifa’s full potential: She suggested that Sveirifa be allowed to live with her school. The Maren had made the seas their home long before the creation of dragonkind; they had secrets of their own, and these were best taught far from dragon-controlled territories, in the deepest waters.

Sveirifa’s parents were reluctant to let their daughter go; they had nearly lost her before, after all. But she was determined to learn, and Maris and her school had shown themselves to be honorable allies. Sveirifa would be safe with them.

As for Sveirifa herself, when she learned she would be allowed to live with the Maren, her blue eyes shone with excitement. The magic within her affirmed this, bade her turn her face towards the deeper waters. “Your place is there,” it whispered—and she knew this to be true.

~ ~ ~
The leviathan did not belong—Sveirifa knew this even in her sleep. It was what woke her: the way the currents pushed against her skin, the rustle of fish as they sped away. The leviathan rose from the deep, and Sveirifa awoke to confront it.

By this time, she’d spent many years among the Maren. Their magic was vastly different from dragonkind’s, and normally a Skydancer wouldn’t have been able to master it, but the Tidelord’s blessing had given Sveirifa an advantage. From them, she had learned skills that no dragon could ever dream of, let alone do.

She burst up from the water and sped to the shore, where early risers were preparing their nets. The dragons here knew Sveirifa well, and when they saw her garbed in armor, her face grim and set, they understood trouble was coming. The elders turned and began bellowing orders to the young ones.

They were well away from the shore when the leviathan surfaced. Skin like an oil slick, four eyes glowing like enormous lanterns. Its serrated jaws gaped wide, showing a startlingly pale tongue.

It was nothing Sveirifa hadn’t seen before. Life in the deep had given her opportunities—some of them unwelcome—to see such creatures up close. She drew her sword. Waves exploded behind her as she sped towards the beast, her own eyes shining as she summoned her magic.

The leviathan was large, but that was all there was to it. It didn’t belong, here on the surface, and disoriented, confused, it flailed rather than fought. It would not return to the deeper waters, however, and so Sveirifa had to dispatch it here.

By the time its corpse washed up onto the shore, Maris and her school had arrived. Most of the Maren mingled with the dragons; Maris herself sought out Sveirifa. She found the Skydancer standing near the creature’s tail.

“Another one,” Sveirifa sighed, “the third in as many months. Could this be due to the Tidelord’s disappearance?”

Maris gave her a sympathetic look. The Maren hadn’t felt the Tidelord’s disappearance much, but the impact upon the dragons had been greater. For someone as deeply tied to the ocean as Sveirifa, it was like losing a limb. The day the god had vanished, she had briefly frozen, all senses turned towards the abyss.

“I can’t hear him,” she’d whispered. “I can’t hear his voice...”

Now, however, she was as stern and composed as she’d always been. The Tidelord had vanished, but the dragons were still here, and they still needed protection. The villagers began streaming over to thank her, marveling at her scales, her fins.

“You’ve changed since we last saw you! My word, are those gills, just behind your ears? That’s the Tidelord’s blessing, that is!”

Other dragons had said similar things before. And they had exhorted Sveirifa, telling her to dive into the darkness and bring back their god. Sveirifa had refused, for the journey was too perilous even for her; and besides, if the god didn’t want to be found, then who on Sornieth would find him?

All they could do was wait. Wait and be vigilant...

The Tidelord’s blessing. She was still here. And while she remained, then at least there was hope.

~ written by Disillusionist (254672)
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