Daiki

The Guardian of Embers, they called her. Devoted servant of the great Fire deity, sacred vessel of the Flamecaller's divine will, touched by his eternal flame. When Daiki strode into a room, conversation ceased, mothers hushed their hatchlings, even bards and jesters ceased their crafts to bow their heads in silence. Younglings brimming with excitement could barely contain themselves upon catching sight of her. They knew better than to shout, but still they whispered to one another, "Look at her wings, hard as steel, molded by the Great Furnace," or "Do you see the live coals embedded in her scales? They are a gift from the Flamecaller himself, red hot embers that shall live as long as she does."

A keen observer, Daiki was not unaware of the awe which often followed in her wake. She was not vain, but she took pride in her molten wings, the living embers that adorned her form like scalding scales. The Flamecaller had chosen her as his servant, his trusted emissary, blessed with a divine purpose. And she, in turn, revered him above all else, devoted to carrying out his will. Since hatchlinghood, the priestess had practiced the ancient rites of honor and worship to the Flamecaller, opening her mind and soul to through meditation to connect with the molten flows of the Ashfall Waste until she felt the pulsing heartbeat of the land in her very bones. She scarcely felt the pain when the embers had burst through her coal-black hide, when the fibers of her wings melded into a strong, impenetrable substance that shone like metal in firelight. The searing insignia she had born since birth was a constant reminder of her great charge: to spread the Flamecaller's power, like rippling lava oozing over the land from a volatile volcanic source. The fire within her was the source of her devotion, a fire she would carry forever, a fire that could never be extinguished.

For decades, Daiki relished in the truth that the Flamecaller had chosen her for this task, that she alone could accomplish his sacred directive. It came as shock therefore, when the female first encountered Fireheart, likewise a chosen servant of the Flamecaller, devoted to a calling not dissimilar from her own... That day, the thought occurred to her for the first time: perhaps her divine purpose was never meant to be borne alone, but shared.