Persephone

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The sounds of crickets pierced the otherwise silent grove, and the soft blue glow of the Starwood trees cast an eerie shadow on all that moved. Within a particularly tight cluster of foliage the out of place orange flicker of a candle gave away the presence of a dragon. She sat on the ground at the roots of one of the trees, a blue quill held in one talon. Her gaze was focused on an opened book sitting on a flat rock in front of her, and occasionally her eyes turned to look at and scribble something down on a scroll laid flat to her right side. Her bright blue coat of fur reflected the candlelight, and made the flowers of the Starwood trees appear purple as the blue and orange mixed. The dragon's tail curled around a flask, its contents bubbling with mana-fueled energy while it shifted from blue to purple and back again. The bottle had been carefully wrapped with leather and packed with leaves to prevent breakage, and the dragon took great care to not damage the concoction. From the shadows behind her, another Skydancer appeared as if from thin air. This new dragon was a murky shade of green, and her wings were black with iridescent speckles as if oil had been spilled on them. Wispy tendrils of grey smoke seemed to be embedded within this other dragon's feathers and fur, but she took no notice of this. As if by instinct, the auburn dragon hid the bottle beneath one of her wings. The murky green dragon spoke first. And what do you think you are doing? The lack of a contraction stood out in her method of speaking. Just taking some notes, Spinel. The blue and auburn Skydancer stared hard at the scroll in front of her, as if willing it to open up and swallow her. You know that I know you are lying, Persephone. If you already know that I'm not telling you the truth, why must you bother me? Fine. I will leave. But you will not be out here for very long. Persephone sighed, exasperated as Spinel turned to leave the grove. She waited until the footsteps of the other dragon had faded completely before taking the bottle out from its hiding place and gently laying it on the rock beside the scroll she had been writing on. She stared at it for a few moments before standing. The full moon had reached its highest point in the sky, and its light bathed the grove in a ghostly off-white light. Persephone took the bottle in one talon and her scroll in the other and took off, flying only a few feet off the ground to the center of the clearing. She landed with a huff, and held the bottle at eye level, staring as if entranced by the strange liquid. She sat back on her haunches and began to read the scroll out loud: O, celestial luminaries above, I implore, Guide my restless soul through night's open door. In shimmering tapestries, your secrets unfurl, Whispered tales of old, in galaxies swirl. Bright beacons of wisdom, timeless and wise, Distant flickers of hope that never demise. I seek your counsel amidst this cosmic maze, Grant me insight to navigate life's arrays. As Persephone read the poem, the trees around her began to glow brighter and the mana crystals began to shake as if trying to escape the ground from which they sat. The potion bubbled and frothed, and the bottle shook violently in Persephone's claws. She popped the cork, and small sparks began to pop on the surface of the bottle, but they didn't appear to affect Persephone. She tipped her head back, whispered "may the stars be with me", and drank the potion.

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Persephone awoke to hushed whispering that seemed to be coming from every angle at once. She could not see. She flexed the muscles in her wings, only for searing pain to rip through the wing membrane. She opened her mouth and tried to scream, but only a choked rush of air escaped her jaws. She could hear clearer now.

...I did not know!

And how couldn't you have known Spinel?! She could be dead due to your negligence!

It was not my fault Autumn!

Oh spare me the whining! You knew it was your job to watch her.

Persephone's vision began to come back to her, and she gasped, curling into herself with the pain caused by the sudden movement. It felt like her wings had been dipped into a pool of lava every time she moved. She saw two dragons in front of her; Spinel, the murky green dragon from earlier, and a bright orange and yellow dragon that Persephone recognized as the Genral of the clan's army. She was screwed. Big time this time.

Both dragons turned to stare at her, a look of shock plastered across both of their faces.

So you are alive. Autumn's voice was sharp and grating and got on Persephone's nerves.

It was then that she realized she was sitting in a bed of feathers and soft wool. She was in the clan infirmary. She turned as much as she could without aggravating her wings, and sure enough, the clan herbalist was behind her, grinding up plants with a talon. She didn't speak.

It was later that Persephone would be told what had happened. The potion she had drank was a binding potion, which she had known already as she had mixed it. Binding potions are a magic used by many across the land to bind themselves to objects and give them the ability to see through the object's "eyes", and feel when it's in danger. Persephone had been trying to bind herself to her scroll, assuming it would give her knowledge of anything written on it.

What had actually happened was that she had contaminated the potion with Stardust while she was making it, and as such she was permanently bound to the stars. If a star near to the planet died, she would collapse with a sensation of being burned and frozen at once before she fell unconscious. In her slumber she would be able to see all of that star's life, living through billions of years in a few hours.

The only evidence of this was her coat changed from a bight blue to a live map of the stars. Her fur shifted with the colours of the dark; it was like staring at the night sky every time you looked at her.

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