Refined

---

---

---

fffffIt it a lazy summer afternoon. Golden light beams down between the trees at the southwest edge of the Shrieking Wilds. It's quieter here-- full of birdcalls and rustling animals, the open trees don't provide enough shelter for lurking beasts. Almost imperceptible in the sunlight, a very faint haze shifts above the forest floor. It seems almost like mist, but in the shadows the mist seems to shimmer and sparkle. It smells like chlorophyll.

fffffIn the bright patch of sunlight the moss coating the forest floor shifts, cracking in small plates as a shoot pushes through. The leaves are thick and vital, a healthy green not usually associated with such young sprouts. The mist shifts, twinkling gently, and the leaves begin to glow. Time passes. Night, day. Rain, sun. The sprout glows greener and greener, lighting up the moss beneath it.

fffffOn the next day of strong sun, the sprout pushes upward a little more. It shifts-- wiggles-- there's the noise of ripping moss and popping roots. The moss heaves, forming a crack near the base of the sprout, and out shoots a tiny clawed hand, glistening with red bumps like resin on a tree. It grabs at the moss clumsily, grabbing again before pulling itself out. Its clumsy body, thick with newborn softness, slides out of the dark interior of the egg and into the sunlight. It lays there, exhausted by the pull, but also enjoying the warmth. The fluids from inside the egg begin to dry in the sun, releasing the pleasant scent of trimmed lawn.

fffffShe is a dragon. Her scales are large and diamond-shaped, shielding her body in a glittering armor of pale yellow. Shining and sparkling like amber, red lumps cover her arms and legs, her breast, her wings, and a stripe from nose to tail tip. Around her eyes, weak infant vines grow in comfortable symbiosis. She soaks in the sunlight until she is completely dry, turning languidly to get all sides of her body. When after many hours the sun shifts away, she finally sits up to observe her surroundings.

fffffShe is in a forest. An instinctive blink, and the forest is lit up in heat spots. Birds. Critters. Small things. Nothing dangerous. She blinks again and observes the tranquil area. Where is she? Why was her egg growing out of the ground? Why isn't she with... anything? Anyone? Is this normal? She stretches her wings and her frill in anxiety, the sun casting warped patterns on the ground as it passes through her diaphanous wings. She stamps her hands into the ground fretfully before setting off in a random direction.

fffffThe trees are widely spaced, the lighting even, and the forest floor clean for walking. She does not realize her focus has been drawn until her world consists only of the twitching tail of a red squirrel. She lunges forward, her jaw snapping shut, and the squirrel slides down her throat. One one hand she is pleased, satisfied with her skill. On the other hand, she still has a faint gnawing in her stomach.

fffffShe makes her way through the forest in a zig-zag of stalking and lunging, devouring small beasts and insects as she passes. It's enough to keep her full for now. She travels the day away, so that she is surprised by the end of the trees that she had not noticed coming in the twilight. There is a wide grassy plain dotted with trees and shrubbery and occasionally huge tree roots. Set in the distance is a small town, with lights beginning to twinkle.

fffffIt is night when she reaches the town. She creeps slowly, afraid. There are dragons here-- all different sizes, all different types. Almost all of them have green eyes. Of greater concern, there is food here. She can smell it, hundreds of different smells! Live prey, cooked foods. She wouldn't starve, here. She could live here forever. She creeps between the den mounds, locating a deep shadow beneath a half-barrel planter of flowers. She will sleep here, and then in the morning she will find something to eat.

---

fffff"Oh-- Oh dear!"

fffffShe wakes with a start. A large, furry dragon is standing in front of her hiding place as if it had just stepped back. She freezes, pressing back into the dark shadow. It's day now-- mid-morning.

fffff"What is it?" Says another dragon, slender and feathered, stepping into view from around the den mound.

fffff"Look, look, under the planter!"

fffffThe second dragons walks closer, leaning his head down to see, and then gasps. "Good Glade!"

fffffHe reaches in and she does the only thing she knows to do: she opens her mouth and hisses violently. The feather dragon yanks his hands back.

fffff"Well, better get a Druid," He says simply. "You stay here, make sure it doesn't leave. I'll be back."

fffffAs he leaves the furry dragon nods and folds herself down into a sitting position. Her face finally comes into view. She looks simple, tired from an early morning and pleasant in personality. The hatchling hisses.

fffff"It's alright, little one," Coos the dragon. "You're so young, aren't you? You look just out of the shell. It's such a blessing that your turned up near our town."

fffffThe furry dragon continues to talk, but she doesn't really listen. She doesn't really understand the majority of what's being said, anyways. After not too long the feathered dragon returns with an impressive looking bipedal dragon in a green outfit.

fffff"There it is," Says the feathered one. "Be careful, it's feisty."

fffff"Good," Says the clothed dragon seriously, stepping coward and crouching down to get a better look. "That means the nature energy in this area is vital and strong."

fffffShe hisses at this new dragon too, but he simply grunts in satisfaction and waves his hand. Thin vines made of hard, vital wood shoot out of the ground, binding her tightly, squeaking against her scales. She shrieks in outrage, wriggling as hard as she can. This will definitely bruise her wings. The green-clothed dragon reaches down, grabbing the vines and lifting her out in a small bundle. She fights, kicking and thrashing as hard as she can, but she's much too small and much to tightly bound. She'll never escape.

fffffSo she falls still, watching and listening intently as the clothed dragon carries her through the town. It's a mish-mash of development and nature, a tall library building next to a dug in lair next to a canvas tent next to a small house with electricity. Most of the dragons here are medium-sized and green eyed, the clothed wearing simple fabrics in somewhat dull colors. Only a handful wear the bright green uniform, and many of those that do are the same breed as her captor.

fffffHe takes her to a small neighborhood of buildings and dens, bringing her into one of the dug-in lairs. The inside is a bit dark, but clean, supported by wooden beams and decorated in green banners. A purple dragon of the same breed as her captor approaches with a friendly bow.

fffff"What do we have here?"

fffff"New magicborn. It's a biter."

fffffThe vine bundle is passes from one dragon to the other. The purple dragon smells like a spicy flower, and she wonders if she could identify it by smell alone if she found it in the wild.

fffff"They're all biters this young," The purple dragon jokes. "We'll take care of it."

fffffHe leaves, and the purple dragon brings her down a few passages to a room. It's dug out of the earth, packed walls and floor, with wooden support beams. There's a small mattress and some furs, a basin of water and a cloth, and a platter with a string of dried fish. The purple dragons sets her down on the furs and then goes to the door, barring it closed.

fffff"I'm going to release you, okay?"

fffffThe vines slacken, and she is out of them in an instant, flying teeth forward at the adult dragon, who shrieks and throws a small pulse of green energy forward. She smacks into the energy full force and her inertia is cancelled all at once. She stops, glaring and hissing, and then lunges again.

fffff"No!" Yelps the purple dragon, sending a stronger pulse of green.
fffffShe is thrown back several feet, rolling head over tail before regaining her balance. She locks on, about to engage once again.

fffff"Oh Gladekeeper," the dragon groans, waving her hand.

fffffVines sprout out of the earthen ground, a greener and spongier wood but still strong and still painful as they loop over her wings and slam her down against the ground. She struggles for only a moment, feeling the immense tension on the vines and the bruising pain on the bones of her wings before she gives up.

fffffThe purple dragon takes a moment to compose herself before slipping out of the room and returning a moment later with a slightly larger red dragon.

fffff"...A little feistier than normal. It never sits still, all it does is attack."

fffffThe red dragon takes a moment to peer at her as the purple one bars the door again.

fffff"Well, yes, it is a mirror," The red dragon says. "It's prey drive is exceptionally strong."
fffff"Well I'm not prey!" The purple dragon cries.

fffff"Then don't act like it!" Snaps the red one.

fffffMirror. She is a mirror. She doesn't know what that means, but it's information. The red dragon crouches over her and begins carefully loosening the vines, allowing space to get a grip on her wings. Once the grip is firm the vines fall away. She doesn't move-- she can't, not without injuring her wings. The red dragon nods.

fffff"See?"

fffffThe red dragon reaches down with her other hand, grabbing under her chest and lifting her. It's close enough-- her neck curves, teeth flashing, and she rips a chunk out of the red dragon's forearm. The red dragon yells and swears in pain, the jerking motion wrenching her wings. The purple dragon cries out in alarm. Vines shoot out of the wall, grabbing her out of the red dragon's hands and pinning her tightly to the wall. The two adult dragons flee.

fffffShe doesn't know how long she's in there, suspended against the wall, the bases of her wings aching fiercely. Something is bruised, or pulled-- her shoulder joints won't support any kind of air pressure on her wings. Those stupid adult dragons handicapped her. She flexes her feet, feeling the vines straining against the tendons in her ankles. She hopes they'll remember to let her down.

fffffIt's a long time to be alone in the dark, injured, immobile. She misses the hot sunlight, the snap of her jaws around a butterfly, the fresh scent of the green foliage on the trees. She hasn't even had a lot of that, yet. She was only born yesterday. She waits, and her blood burns in her veins like fire. she wants to move! It's genuinely painful, but she can't even wiggle to relieve the sensation. She struggles for a moment, pushing against the vines, and then lets out a keening noise.

fffffNo one answers. She keens again, and waits. Nothing. Maybe they've decided they don't want her anymore. Then they'd let her go, right? They wouldn't just leave her here?

fffffShe doesn't know how long it is until the door opens again. The silhouette is large, blocking out most of the light from the doorway. The dragon who steps in is the color of rich earth shot through with cedar roots, green eyes glowing, and his footfalls shake the floor. He stands there in the open door, regarding her for a moment. She doesn't move, waiting.

fffffEventually he steps fully into the room, closing the door behind himself and barring it. Then the vines fall away, and she smacks to the floor in a jumble, straining one of the shoulders of her arm, too. He simply stands there, eyes bright in the dimness, staring at her. Undeterred, she gathers herself and lunges. His scales look like earth, but scrape against her teeth like stone. He doesn't flinch as she attacks, doesn't move. She drags herself up his arm, intending to go for his eyes, and he brushes her off without seeming to strain at all and then takes a single step and lowers his great mass on top of her.

fffffImmediately, she is immobilizes and nearly suffocated. She is crushed between the hard packed earth and the huge stony dragon above her. She can't move. She can barely breath in the thick, warm air and the tiny space. She cannot take enough air to make a noise. The big dragon does not seem to care about her suffering at all. He sits as still as a boulder, perfectly unmoving. She can do nothing as the earth begins to dip as swirl beneath her, as her visions starts to warp and blacken. Why is he doing this? Is she going to die?

fffffEverything fades to blackness.

---

fffffShe wakes up on the floor, head throbbing, painful stiffness in her neck, her back, her wings. Everything aches, and it hurts to move, but she drags herself up to sitting and glances around. The huge stone dragon is still there, sitting silently in the corner of the room. When he sees her looking, he finally speaks.

fffff"Will you behave now?" His voice is like dust and gravel. "I know you're a fresh hatch, figured words won't do much. All you know is survive."

fffffShe doesn't know what to do. This dragon nearly killed her. He isn't safe to attack, she can't overpower him. In a locked room like this she can't run. And she's not sure she could run anyways with all the pain she's in.

fffff"You're a little roughed up now, so you rest in here. We'll have a healer see you through the door." He shifts his heavy weight slowly to standing, opening the door only a centimeter before he glances back at her. "Behave."

fffffHe leaves, and after turning in a half circle to survey the room she drags herself over to the mattress and gingerly lowers herself onto the furs.

fffffShe spends a long time in that room. The healer does come, and the green energy that washes under the door takes away most of her aches, leaving only a slight tenderness at the base of her wings. The only dragon she sees from then on is the large stone dragon. He isn't talkative, merely sitting in the room with her and reading or doing paperwork. She's fed.... not enough. Enough for most hatchlings, perhaps, but not a mirror hatchling. She doesn't complain. The big dragon introduces himself as Basilar, and tells her her nestname will be Frenzy.

fffffEventually, Frenzy realizes that whatever is going on, these dragons will not be releasing her, and will probably not be killing her. When she interacts peacefully with Basilar for an extended period of time, she's let out of her room on a vine leash. She tries willfully to restrain her instincts as Basilar walks her through the halls, but when he brings her up a tunnel to a small encircled clearing full of other hatchlings, toys, and caretakers, she breaks. The bright colors and fast movements draw her forward in an instant. Basilar yells after her as, in his surprise, her vine leash is yanked from his hand. Her jaw is already closing, blood already staining the grass, before he catches her again.

fffffFrom then on, it becomes a slow ritual. Frenzy will spend long stretches of time locked in her room with only Basilar for company. Every now and then they will let her out and attempt to let her interact with other dragons. Almost every time, it ends in bloodshed. Frenzy spends years there. As she grows Basilar teaches her about the dragon breeds, about magic, about the deities. She learns that she, like all magicborn, is to become exalted. She learns that it is rare and special to be born of magic, that it makes her more primal, closer to the deities than her drakeborn cousins. She doesn't feel any closer to the Gladekeeper than anyone else, but she doesn't tell anyone. Eventually, she learns enough restraint to be allowed out among other dragons. That is when her training can truly begin.

fffffNow that Frenzy can at least pretend to be civilized, she is put into classes with the other hatchlings. She learns about fighting, magic, alchemy, healing, stealth, diplomacy, and much more in her free time with Basilar. Although Basilar wants Frenzy to be a fighter, and pushes her to focus on her battle training, Frenzy often finds herself fascinated by the flowers growing around the fighting arena.

fffffWhen Frenzy turns 15, she attends a ceremony with all the other hatchlings. A green cloak is laid across her back. She is an adult now. She is exalted now. And tomorrow she and Basilar will be shipping out to fight the Gladekeeper's war. She isn't going to miss her small dark room, or the encircled clearings. She'll be able to see open sky again-- to simply run and go places, any place she wants. Well, she'll still have to do as Basilar says, but surely he can let her run a little.
fffffBefore they leave, Basilar reminds her.

fffff"You still have to think of an adult name."

---

---

credits