Spark

A butterfly made of stained glass, beautiful to see yet fragile to touch.



Staining a church window is delicate work.
The skills required for this line of work (controlled movements, perfect eyesight, patience beyond measure) are well-looked upon in Sornieth, and, accordingly, the few dragons that still practice it retain a significant reputation. Glass is coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacture (the best glass-stainers are alchemists and create their very own palette). These small pieces are then arranged to form intricate patterns, held together by ribbons of silver and gold. Each and every window pane is a work of art worth mountains of treasure.

This window was designed to show a butterfly spreading its wings in flight behind the altar. Butterflies are not a common motif in churches, probably because they have no connection to any of the twelve ruling deities. So it came as a surprise to the local dragons that their church was to be adorned by such a creature. They remained sceptical until the very last moment, when the new window was revealed. But the artwork’s beauty left them breathless. No one could turn away for several minutes.

Sadly, it did not last. The church had been built too ambitiously, and the architect had forgotten all about the thunderstorms that are so frequent in the Lightning Farm. The first blast hit the tip of the roof, the second struck the main building and shattered the windows. The precious windows. Rain poured into the church below.

But suddenly, the clouds broke open again, a weak ray of moonlight Or sunshine if you prefer trickling down from the heavens. And out of the wreckage, gleaming in the light of the flames below, flew - what was it? The surrounding dragons stopped their wails of grief and looked skyward.
A creature, extremely delicate, almost see-through, floated above. Something - no, someone new. A Fae, but no ordinary one: Her wings were made of glass, streaked with gold, and glistened in the light and rain. She had graceful limbs, and the tiniest body any of the bystanders had ever seen. She would have been easy to miss, especially in this weather, had she not glowed from within like a firebug. Lightning seemed to be trapped inside her body. But even as the rain tore on relentlessly, it faded until only a spark was left.

Funnily enough, the new dragon had the exact size and colour of the butterfly that had adorned the now-destroyed church window.

Before anyone could utter a single word, a gentle gust of wind picked up the Fae and whisked her out of sight. She did not resist it: The world was waiting for her. The dragons below watched her ascent in reverent silence.