Nightshade

When Nightshade was just a hatchling, he had heard all about The Search from his parents. His parents always emphasized how important finding and protecting his charge would be. If he were to fail in either of these tasks, he would be a blemish on the legacy of all Guardian dragons. These conversations and lectures always made Nightshade nervous, as he feared he would never be able to live up to his parents expectations. So one night, he snuck out in order to get a head start on finding his charge. Filled with the thought that he might make his parents proud, he started searching for something that he could make his charge. He managed to find a creature he didn't recognise, and decided to take this mysterious creature in as his charge. Surely his parents would be proud of him for taking up the massive responsibility of finding a charge, especially at his age. Sneaking back into his lair with the mysterious creature in tow, Nightshade hid the creature in a small carved out spot close to where he usually slept.

In the morning, Nightshade went to tell his parents his exciting news. As he dragged his parents over, some movement caught their attention. Immediately getting into defensive positions, they almost missed Nightshade bounding forward to the mysterious creature.

"Get away from that monster!"

Nightshade turned towards his parents confused. "But this is my charge, last night I went on my search for the thing I will protect for the rest of my life!" Nightshade looked up at his parents expectantly, only to see them looking at him with disgust and disappointment.

"You are too young to have a charge. What you have done is irresponsible and shows a severe lack in understanding of what it means to be a Guardian. Now step back, we will take care of this... thing that you brought in."

Nightshade jumped in front of the creature, hoping that his parents would see reason and not kill the creature he had brought in.

"Get out of the way Nightshade. That thing is dangerous."

"No! Please don't kill it!" Nightshade pleaded, tears welling in his eyes.

"Last chance Nightshade, or else that creature won't be the only thing getting hurt."

Nightshade knew what he had to do. He stood his ground, making himself look as big as possible in order to try to get his parents to back down. Unfortunately, the older dragons took this as a sign of aggression. A large, clawed foot descended onto Nightshade, and out of instinct he closed his eyes and braced for impact. Except it never came. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw that the creature had taken the blow instead. Nightshade was frozen in shock, not knowing what to do. His mind was racing, and he was pulled from his thoughts when he felt a rush of pain before being shoved out of the way. He looked up only to see the creature trying its best to fight back against the attack. In a panic, Nightshade gathered his strength and ran out of the lair, refusing to look back at the grisly scene unfolding behind him.

Nightshade ran until he no longer had the strength to do so. He had found himself in an unfamiliar place, filled with glowing trees, glittering stones, and large pink crystals. He collapsed near a massive building, succumbing to his exhaustion, the adrenaline wearing off and exposing him to the full pain of his wounds.

When Nightshade came to, he felt different. He felt like he had immense, almost eldritch power flowing through his veins. He slowly got up, only to notice he was by the ocean. Looking into the murky depths, he didn't recognise the dragon staring back at him. Staring back at him was a large dragon with eyes as pink as the stones and crystals around him. Nightshade turned away from the ocean, eyes wandering until they landed on the forest filled with glowing trees. He had a gut feeling there was something special about that forest. As he wandered deeper and deeper into the forest, he decided that he would make a lair there. There was something about the forest that drew him in, and the best way to figure out why would be to live there until he figured it out.

Staying in Starwood Strand had proven to be effective. Nightshade had befriended a smooth talking, sarcastic, and cunning fae, who agreed to join his clan. This fae, who revealed herself as Orchid, was intrigued by the unusual amount of magic present in Nightshade. In fact, she was the first to figure out what had happened to Nightshade. She told him of the immense magic present in the Arcane domain, and how it is entirely possible that when he had collapsed that day, the magic revived him, and he was reborn a new dragon.

Nightshade had taken this information in stride. Something out there allowed for him to have a second chance at life, and in turn gave him immense levels of magic. Orchid decided to help teach Nightshade how to control his magic, and help him watch over his clan.

After the lair became more established, Nightshade made the decision to allow anyone and everything that needed a home to reside in his lair. It's the least he could do considering his upbringing, and with the consideration of what had happened to his mysterious and short-lived friend.



Info about familiar:
Nightshade had been doing his nightly sweep of the area around his lair, making sure there were no threats that might attack during the night. Most nights there wasn’t really much out there other than some fae gathering insects to eat. This night was different. Nightshade sensed a vaguely familiar presence near his lair. Going out to investigate, he found a spirit. The spirit’s body was primarily comprised of a thick, swirling cloud-like body. Upon closer investigation, he noted that the spirit seemed to be filled with random bones, most likely to give it some sense of articulation. Nightshade closed his eyes and used his magic to get a read on the creature, and what it’s intentions were. His senses alerted to him that the being was made of an overwhelmingly dark energy, yet it had no bad intentions. Nightshade tried to use his magic again in order to get a better read on the creature, but had no luck. Deciding it wasn’t a threat, he left to go back to his lair. Little did he know that the spirit would follow him back. Nightshade sensed its presence again as he neared his lair. Turning to look at it, he noticed that it was staring blankly back at him. “you...remem..ber.. me…?" The spirit paused, almost as if it was struggling to speak "attacked... by dragons... little one hurt...." Nightshades blood ran cold. Did a dragon do this? "little one.... tried to stop kin... wounded in process..." Nightshade was trying to make sense of what the spirit was trying to say. Was this creature attacked by dragons, only for its own offspring, or perhaps the dragons offspring, trying to stop the attack? The spirit's cryptic words seemed oddly familiar to Nightshade. Before Nightshade could try asking the spirit a question, it spoke again, albeit much more strained than before. "li...tl.. one.. esc..ed.. d...go..s.. clo.. in... Night...sh..de.. y..u... re...mem...ber.. m..e..?" Nightshade swore the spirit said his name. Who was this spirit when it was alive, and how exactly did it know him? He replayed its words in his head and then had a dawning realisation. This spirit... was it that of the creature he had tried to save when he was a hatchling? The spirit seemed to sense that Nightshade remembered, and made a couple loops around him before moving towards Nightshade's lair. He would have a lot of explaining to do in the morning.

























Extra

Nightshade wasn't quite sure what had happened to him. After gaining enough control of his magic, his appearance started to change. His wings were covered in swirls as wild as his magic. His body had swirls of black and grey, with patches of purple as deep as an abyss. His chest and face glowed with a silvery white magic. But strangest of all was the appearance of eyes that now lined his body. Just what kind of creature had brought him back to life that day? What kind of magic was flowing through his veins, and what kind of monster had it made him into?