Mayfly

story and lore not written by me!


Mayfly’s mother was slowly suffocating her.

She would never leave Mayfly alone to do her own things, always trying to catch up and put Mayfly in her sights. She treated her like a newborn, which Mayfly hated with her guts. She never understood why the older coatl is so overprotective, but the thing she did know is that she hated it.

Especially as she grew up to be a beautiful young adult, the resentment pulsed stronger and stronger. She had become a fully fledged coatl with beautiful shining feathers, and she had started to wish for friendship, romance, to explore the vast world around her. She had ideas she wanted to tell others about, even if those ideas are controversial, like how she thought that Tidelord was never going to come back. But each time she met a peer of her age, a handsome boy that she likes, or just any contacts with the rest of the dragonkind in general, her mother was always very quick to drive everyone away and drag her back to their little hut deep in the mangrove woods. Her way of punishing Mayfly involved locking her up inside her room for days, sometimes without food or water.

It seemed that the older Mayfly grew, the more possessive her mother became of her.

At first, the young Mayfly thought that it was all for her own good. But as she grew up and talked to other dragons for how little time she could, she began to realize that this punishment is abusive and neglectful, and that her mother is toxic.

Mayfly needed to run away, but she needed a place to go to; she was afraid that she was going to get lost in the wild and die; she knew nothing about how to scavenge for food and what can be eaten in the wild.

Plus, she had very little useful belongings to take with her. She had no weapons to protect herself with, no canteen to hold water for when she travels to other places, and nothing to hold food with, at all. According to some travelers she met a while ago, she should be able to reach a village if she flew straight from her mother’s hut in the direction that the door is facing, but she had no idea how far that would be, and how soon her mother would catch up to her.

Stressful thoughts caught up to her from time to time; what if she would never get to leave? What if she would spend her whole life in this hut? She wished that her mother would die of old age sooner sometimes.

Then one day, she met a strange traveler.

She was on a short flight near her house when she notices the spiral in a near distance. At first she thought that he was a female, seeing his flowing white locks from a distance.

Mayfly was definitely not supposed to go talk with anyone other than her mother, but this was a chance learn more about the world, so she flew toward the traveler resting on one of the mangrove roots.

With a slight startle, she realized that he is a young man, probably about her age. He looked strong and enduring, but he had a beautiful long white mane, which was quite strange to Mayfly - she had previously thought that long hair was for females, and it didn’t seem manly. The spiral didn’t have beautiful colors, but the mane and his unfathomable pale blue eyes were very charming. Something about him gave him the vibes of being mature and blue, but also tough, like he was not afraid to not do anything.

“Hi,” she piped, landing near him. His head shot up and he gazed at her, blinking a couple of times.

He cleared his throat, “Hi.”

“I’m Mayfly,” she said, barely able to conceal the excitement in her voice, “How about you?”

“Kaya,” the spiral replied, coiling up and sitting, studying the coatl, “Do you live around here?”

Mayfly nodded, “My hut is really close, but my mother would definitely not treat travelers with hospitality.”

Kaya tilted his head, “Huh, that’s sad.”

He fell silent, not speaking anymore.

“Where are you going?” Mayfly asked curiously.

“Uh,” Kaya blinked, “Just traveling around. I don’t have a place that I need to be.”

Something about Kaya told Mayfly that Kaya probably didn’t interact much with other dragons, just like her. She was finding Kaya’s expression and short, hesitant responses adorable.

“Where did you come from?” Mayfly prodded.

“Uh, the ice fields,” Kaya shrugged a little, “You?”

“Oh, me,” Mayfly chuckled nervously, “I just lived in this grove my whole life.”

Kaya blinked at her, “You whole life…?”
“MAYFLY!” a distant voice screams, the tone mixed with anger and worry, “WHERE ARE YOU, CHILD?!”

Mayfly instantly tensed; she had lingered out of the hut for too long and now her mother was going to catch her.

Kaya snapped his head toward the voice in alarm, “Who’s that?”

“My mother,” Mayfly whimpers quietly, looking around for a place to hide, “Oh gods, she’d kill me!” Her instinct is to find a place to hide, even though that would get her in a bigger trouble later.

“MAYFLY!” the older coatl screamed again.

Kaya hesitates for a moment, and then uncoils himself and carefully paced toward Mayfly, “Here. Close your eyes, I’ll hide you.”

She stared at him as he spread all his wings, and what seemed like glowing orange butterflies fluttered out of them. They flew over and landed on her gingerly. She could feel that they were giving off warmth, and how light and delicate they were.

“Close your eyes,” Kaya said again, “She won’t see you if you can’t see her.”

Mayfly obeyed, closing her eyes ad standing still. Moments later she heard a thud on a nearby root.

“YOU!” she heard her mother’s voice booming. She sounds so present, so near, that she would not be surprised to reach out and touch her mother’s feathers. For a moment she was afraid that her mother has spotted her before realizing that the older coatl was yelling at Kaya, “HAVE YOU SEEN MY DAUGHTER?”

“No Ma’am,” Mayfly hears Kaya replying.

A short argument ensued, and her mother searched around Kaya’s baggage, but finding Mayfly nowhere.

There was a lot of feather rustling noises until it got all quiet again. Mayfly waited, tense.

“She’s away now,” Kaya told her, and she finally opened her eyes with a long exhale.

“Wow -- that was --” she stammered a little as the butterflies flutter away from her and back to the spiral, “That was so amazing!” She kept her tone quiet just in case her mother was still nearby.

Kaya nodded a little, “I know.”

He spread his wings again, “I should go.”

“Wait!” Mayfly perked up, “Can I come along? Please?”

“Uhh,” Kaya blinked at her, “Sure?”

“Can you do the butterfly thing again if my mom comes over again?” she asked, and he nodded. Mayfly cheered, opening her wings. She had found a friend, and a road to freedom.