Sapphire

It was early morning when the Children of the Sight finished building their obsidian altar. Shiloh had taken the time to draw up blueprints of what the alter should look like before arriving; it was a major part of the vision she had seen. Her piece of the puzzle in all of this.

All the dragons pitched in over the next week or so, diligently chiseling and carving at the obsidian slab they’d managed to drag to the top of the cliff until they’d created a sleek stone pillar, narrowing to a six-sided point at the top. on the sides, they carefully carved small pictures of dragons; families with eggs and hatchlings, dragons fighting, and dragons flying. Around the images they carved runes representing peace, protection, and balance.

In the light of the moon, they carefully pushed the pillar into the dirt, carefully packing stones around the base until it was stable. Around the stones, they dug a shallow ring around the altar, lining it with obsidian pebbles that they pressed into the earth so that it would hold its shape. They’d leave their offerings in this dish.

Exhausted, the dragons lied down to rest around the base of the finished altar. The sun rose, casting its warmth over the land. The altar cast its shadow, which would move slowly in a clockwise direction as the sun passed over like a giant sundial.

The sound of wingbeats roused the group; on the horizon, a dragon-shaped silhouette was heading their way. An imperial fluttered into view, the sun sparkling off its blue hide as it neared before landing on the far side of the cliff.

“Hello!” The young imperial called out as she approached the group and the altar. “My name is Sapphire.” She stopped at the base of the altar, looking up at it with awestruck eyes.
“... did you build this?”

“We did,” said Red tiredly.

“It’s beautiful,” Sapphire whispered. She reached into the bag she was carrying and pulled out a small piece of Sacridite, which she carefully placed into the bowl at the base of the altar. “Here… a gift I found on my way. It can be the first offering.” She sat down and closed her eyes.

“You’re a local,” noted Shiloh. “Have you had any insight on where they are?”

“They are here,” Sapphire said softly. “Right under our noses, just out of sight. They’re waiting to see if we wish to make peace with them… or make war.”

“Can they see us?” asked Viper. “Will they see the alar?”

“They will sense the alter before they see it,” Sapphire said. “I believe they will be pleased; you’ve put a lot of work into the carvings.” She walked around the pillar slowly, taking note of the carefully placed pictures and runes. “If this doesn’t look like a peace offering to them I’m not sure what would.”

“Thank you,” said Stargazer, “For your wisdom, and the offering.”

“Of course,” Sapphire said. “The time has come. I’ll head back out to look for more offerings. Is your den nearby?”

“Just down there.” Red pointed to the nearby dens they called home. “I’ll prepare a new den for you.”

“I appreciate it.” Sapphire nodded before taking flight again, heading in the opposite direction from which she came.

“We’ll go as well,” Rio said as she and Duran took flight. “We’ll need more offerings if we want them to notice us.”

“We’ll join you soon,” Stargazer replied. “I’m going to help Red prepare a den.”


The dragons parted, Stargazer and Red walking side by side towards their home.

“We could really use a Ridgeback around here,” said Stargazer. “All this digging is quite difficult.”

“Agreed.”