Mercy

Unknown and Eldritch had been lounging in the cockpick of the Historymaker when one of the various small devices inset into the front panel started to beep. The fae fluttered over to the dashboard and pressed a button. "Hello?"

Veritas's large face appeared, slightly transparent, displayed in midair. "Unknown, hello! Good to see you. How have you been?"

The fae's fins lifted in a gesture of happiness. "Lovely to hear from you as well, dear. Is anything the matter?"

"I just thought it had been a while since we had talked. How's Eldritch? Oh, how is Meridian doing? If he gives you too much trouble, you send that boy over here to get some tough love, you hear?"

Eldritch lifted his massive head from his throne. "Hullo," he said absently. "Tell Nacht hullo from me too," he rumbled as an afterthought.

"Oh, and we found this fascinating crystal the other day while we were out gathering - can you see it on your spaceship gadgets? Look, there it is." Veritas's head moved to the left and vanished from the hologram to reveal a large stone pedestal upon which rested a shimmering ivory crystal, smoothed and shaped into the proportions of a dragon egg. "And I thought it would look lovely, surely you need some decor in there. Or anything that isn't black," she added in a joking tone.

Unknown's fins quivered in silent laughter. "I suppose we are rather lacking in brightness around here. Thank you for thinking of us, Veritas."

"It might be enchanted, though," the Guardian hummed, her snout reappearing. "Our thaumaturges are suspicious of it."

"Enchanted, enshmanted," Eldritch muttered from the pilot's seat. "We have cyborgs and sentient plants running around. I'm sure we can handle some rock. It's not like it's going to get up and walk away, hm."

Unknown shot her mate a disapproving glance. "What Eldritch means is, we're fine with enchanted objects, and we'd love to have such a gift."

Veritas nodded happily. "I'll have my couriers send it to the Steps between our territories! Tell me if anything happens."

***

Unknown nearly whacked her mate around his gnarled horns when the statue did, in fact, get up and walk away. After it was placed in the courtyard, it remained there for a few days before mysteriously vanishing from the pedestal. They were carved together; nobody could steal it without taking the entire structure. The crystal egg had simply vanished. Unknown called her mages, Journey, Apfi, and Sides to inspect the issue, but they were unable to trace what had happened to it.

It was Meridian who finally solved the case a whole month later, during which time Unknown did not answer any of Veritas's calls. Curling his head from his chambers, he overheard his parents worrying about the missing statue from the Light flight, and snuck out of the Historymaker to investigate with his familliar, Althrea. The Cerdae was able to pick up the magical traces and lead her owner to the missing statue.

"The egg hatched," he told his parents, bringing forth a perfectly carved Spiral statue, glimmering crystal scales with a golden filigree and gems inset between them. The Luminaries were impressed and nodded to their son before placing the statue back on its pedestal.

"That must have been the enchantment," Eldritch pondered. "I suppose you can let Veritas know now."

Back at the Historymaker, Unknown contacted her friend again. The townsfolk admired the beautiful statue. It didn't seem affected by the darkness, casting a slight glow. The Light dragons especially admired it. Sol was in awe, Seymour seemed pleased, though it was hard to tell with him, and Masonjar perched on one of its' wings. Dragons talked to the statue. It was dubbed a "she" and the townsfolk walked up to her to simply exist near her. The statue had a draw to it, an aura of safety. Sunset and Lovesong brought the hatchlings to the statue for a trip. The merchants sold their wares around her, and she was widely regarded as a protector to the town. Even the Historymaker seemed to enjoy her, and it extended a few lights to blink at the base of the pedestal at night.


And then there was an earthquake. An influx of magic from the West clashed with the ground of the Tangled Wood and the very courtyard below the Historymaker crumbled. The great spacecraft sent a distress signal out in alarm and its lights beeped rapidly. Dragons were thrown into a panic as their home teetered above a ravine, their homes were shaken and some were destroyed. The statue was rumbled loose from her pedestal and she fell to the ground rudely. Through the best efforts of the guardians, imperials, and gaolers, they managed to keep the Historymaker from collapsing down the split in the earth, but just barely. As it tipped further, hope seemed lost.

The Historymaker fell into the ravine.

Then it... rose back up. Dragons gasped in awe and shock as the giant spacecraft glowed with golden light and hovered in the air. The ground was pushed back together and reconnected like an invisible needle had stitched it. The Historymaker was gently set back down in its crater and the glow dissipated. Even the spacecraft itself seemed confused at what had happened as its lights turned a strange shade of yellow. Everyone turned around and looked at each other - if the Historymaker wasn't flight capable, who could have done such a miracle? It would take an incredible show of power to lift such a great thing, and the earth healed, too?

An alabaster dragon that shimmered in the darkness landed in front of the Luminaries and bowed her head. Golden filigree and gemstones sparkled on her smooth, hard skin. "Greetings, my dragons. I am Mercy."

"You're our statue," Meridian said quietly.

She nodded. "I have chosen you to protect as you have chosen me to be your town square's centerpiece. I grew fond of you, and enjoyed being loved so. I could not bare to let disaster strike you so cruelly, and so I used my power to show you mercy."

"But how can you wield such magic?" Eldritch rumbled suspiciously,

"Gemstones absorb magic," his son muttered. "She must have amassed it during her stay here."

"Indeed," smiled the statue. "But I'm afraid I've exhausted most of my magic. I must retire to my pedestal."

"No, wait," Meridian faltered. Many of the townsfolk voiced similar sadness. "Don't go!" "Will you still talk to us?"

"Do not fear, my dragons. I will hear every word you say to me, and when the time comes, I will come alive once again. I love you all." The spiral bumped Meridian's nose gently with her own. It was cool and smooth. "Thank you for finding me when I went missing," she said softly before twisting into the air to fly to the town square. The Historymakers followed her and gathered around her pedestal as she posed delicately on it, nose tipped up and her front claws raised slightly. Her long tail twirled around herself and then a shiver of light ran up her body. Meridian placed his claws on the surface of the statue, which was once again fused to her pedestal. "Goodnight, Mercy."

"Thank you for saving us," Eldritch growled.

"And the Historymaker," Unknown chimed in.

"Thank you," echoed the dragons. "Thank you, Mercy."

---

Unknown never did tell Veritas that they lost her gift. That part of the story was conveniently left out during their next talk. And Eldritch still hasn't lived down saying that the statue wouldn't grow legs and walk away.