Never speaking and covered in patterns some insist are made from the blood of those she has fought, most dragons fear her approach. Threaten her mate, Skygge, and you'll have a reason for that fear. No one ever sees the offender again. Communicates solely in trills and body language which only Skygge can interpret. Is never seen without the Skydancer by her side. If you can overpower the peculiar fight or flight response that most dragons feel around them long enough to hold a polite conversation, you'll likely have made a pair of very loyal new friends.

---

The blood red markings started to appear when she was a year old. Lokke grew into a beautiful, white Coatl. (The other members of the clan had been worried about the color of her scales and feathers due to the idea of pale Coatls being sick and weak -- something that had been proven false to them fast enough.) One day, she woke up with blood-like drippings on her scales and feathers. She tried to wash the markings off. They wouldn’t disappear. Strange things started to happen to her after they appeared. She found herself drawn to the burial ground. Lokke sat at the edge of the burial ground -- thoughts in her mind of trying to raise the dead. She shook her head to clear herself of such thoughts.

It took one incident to change Lokke’s life.

She hadn’t meant to strike down her sibling. She watched as the Wildclaw lay limp on the ground. The soil soaked up the very life force of her nest mate. The Coatl whined as she moved around the dragon as she tried to figure out a solution for the problem. Losing the opposing dragon in a fight was not unheard of within her clan, but she felt a bond with her siblings. She didn’t want to harm them. Her blood-like markings began to glow as her eyes began to glow a blood red color. Symbols began to form around the Wildclaw before those symbols etched onto the dragon’s skin.

The dragon twitched.

Lokke blinked as her eyes returned to normal. She trilled in concern and nervousness as her sibling began to move. She didn’t know what was happening at the moment. She didn’t know how her sibling was moving. The Wildclaw opened his eyes before he trilled. His tail slammed into the ground before he moved to stand.

Lokke was happy.

---

The Coatl jolted awake at the screams of her clan. She rushed out of her den to stare at the horror unfolding before her eyes. Her sibling had gone insane. He was attacking clanmates without regard to the reason for the fighting. He decimated half the clan before she stopped him from attacking. Her markings and eyes glowed blood red as she kept him under her control. Lokke didn’t know what was going on at the moment. She was scared. The others destroyed her brother. They burned him in fire. Lokke turned her head away as she heard her sibling screeching.

She ran.

Her family chased her from their territory. She felt the bites and scrapes as they pushed her further and further from their land. Blood trickled through her fur as Lokke rushed through the plans as she tried to get as far away from the clan as possible. She was scared. She didn’t know what was happening. Her wings unfurled as she took to the sky. The Coatl knew she would get away faster while flying. She kept flying until she dropped from the sky. She crashed into the earth without a thud before moving her wings around herself. Lokke trilled as she made the decision to keep to herself. If she didn’t let anybody get close to her, then nothing like what had happened would happen to her again.

To survive, Lokke learned her powers over time. She realized she was capable of raising the dead. Necromancy was a lost magic, and she had been born with it.

Lokke had no answers for being born with these powers. She had been the only Coatl within a Coatl and Wildclaw nest. Her siblings had grown to be warriors and assassins. She grew to be strong, fast and agile; however, she preferred to help others. She preferred to help heal the wounded and the sick. She laughed as she thought of the irony that befell her. She loved helping others when they were wounded and sick, yet, she had been cursed with the magic of raising the dead from their eternal slumber. She kept the cloak tight over her head as she wandered the lands. She stopped to find food and water as well as shelter. The Coatl grew lonely as she had been used to the squawking and trilling of her family. She never learned to speak draconic. She didn’t need to speak draconic. Lokke sighed as she shook her feathers free of rain by flaring out her wings. It had been pouring, and it seemed the weather wasn’t going to let up anytime soon. The Coatl continued on her path before spotting a Skydancer. The dragon was barely breathing. Pale eyes watched the ragged breaths the Skydancer was taking. Up, down, up, down -- pause -- up, down …Lokke watched the Skydancer breathe until she saw their chest hadn’t moved after a few moments. She moved to head off in her current direction before she paused. Lokke turned her head to look back at the Skydancer.

She needed a companion.

Dragons brought back by her magic followed her every command. They didn’t speak, and she could use her own language to communicate with them. The Coatl drew a rune circle around the Skydancer with her claws before flaring out her wings. Her eyes glowed red while the markings on her body flared to life. It took a few seconds of the passage of time before the red glow began to sputter as the magic began to disperse. Lokke’s wings folded against her body as she tilted her head. The Skydancer hadn’t moved. Then, a paw twitched.

---

Skygge. Skygge was the Skydancer’s name. Lokke hadn’t figured out what the Skydancer had become once she brought her back to life. Most zombies didn’t remember their names. Most zombies didn’t retain their memories. Most zombies didn’t know how to talk! The Coatl watched the dragon as she walked in front of her. Skygge hadn’t stopped talking since their initial meeting. Lokke tilted her head a bit before she moved to catch up with the female Skydancer. Skygge looked at Lokke before giving her a grin.

“Hey, Lokke, where are we going?”

Lokke stared at her before shrugging. She gave a trilling hiss before her feathered fluffed up in annoyance. Skygge asked the same question time after time after time. Her answer was never going to change. The Coatl had no destination in mind. She was content with roaming from land to land. She preferred to have as little interaction with other dragons as possible. The Skydancer huffed as she trotted to catch up with Lokke.

“Oh please. You give me that same answer allllll the time,” she said. “Really, Lokke, if you could just give me a not sarcastic answer …”

Lokke paused, causing Skygge to bump into her, before she turned to stare at the dragon. Skygge could understand her. She understood her body language movements as well as her trills and calls. The companion dragon tilted her head as she watched Lokke go silent. She nudged the Coatl causing Lokke to jump from the touch. Skygge snorted before she giggled.

“You can’t be that surprised I can understand you. I’m sure other dragons were able to as well.”

Lokke shook her head.

“You cannot be serious. Your way of talking isn’t that hard to understand.”

The Coatl rolled her eyes at those words. Talking with others was frustrating. She huffed as she began her walk down the forest path.

“I must be special then.”

Lokke trilled at those words. She gave Skygge a look of contempt. No big egos were allowed from the sentient zombie. Her tail swung through the air with her annoyance. She wanted a companion on her journey to find a true home. She glanced at Skygge as the Skydancer continued to follow her with a smile on her maw. Lokke trilled softly as she gave a smile. Her companion may have been a bit more talkative then she had anticipated, but she enjoyed the noise. She didn’t know what to make of Skygge, but she was glad she had stopped to help the Skydancer.

… It wouldn’t be lonely anymore ...

lore by @SilverOtter


art by @kozou


art by @TheSoothsayer


moodboard by @cerpin


art by @kaleidrops


art by @meanling


art by @Plouvoir