Kambe

Little Kambe's story very nearly came to a tragic end before it had even begun. Snug and warm in her shell, the tiny mirror had no idea when she was kidnapped from her parents' nest by a migratory eggull. Probably driven to desperation by hunger, it broke through a window into the nesting cabins of La Fortuna and stole Kambe's egg where it nestled beside her siblings.

Her savior came in the form of young Taio, the newest crew member, who gave chase, first causing the gull to drop her egg, then catching her a mere breath from the craggy ridges of the Rotrock Rim. Her grateful parents pressed him to take a reward, but his refusal and extreme embarrassment led them to desist.



With such a traumatic beginning, it was no wonder Kambe was the smallest of the clutch; however it is not uncommon for small hatchlings to thrive and sometimes even outgrow their siblings. Such was not the case with Kambe. Blessed with a sweet disposition, she nevertheless suffered from distress and sleeplessness, was finicky with her food and couldn't seem to put on weight. The doctors at the clinic were perplexed with wonder and worry. Both her siblings were doing well and yet...


Sangrienta Maria finally consulted with Sybil, whose visions it was said had solved many a physical or mental quandary. Sybil consulted her cards and orbs, then stated confidently, "This child has been disavowed by the Plaguebringer. She is an orphan with no domain."

Her mother gasped. "What shall we do? Surely she wasn't rescued from death just to be cast out!"

Sybil reached for Sangrienta's claw in sympathy. She closed her eyes to better hear the winds whistling past her window, which always remained open to receive them. They did not fail her now. She opened her eyes and smiled. "Seek out the sailor. He saved her once. Let him save her again."

La Fortuna was sought, but Taio had left their employ. Upon hearing of little Kambe's plight, the captain agreed to ferry them to Taio's home in nearby Sunbeam Grotto. Sybil had a contact there. She sent word ahead of their arrival.

Sangrienta Maria's clan sent two potential familiars with Kambe: one, a protector and the other, a companion. With her future so uncertain, they hesitated to make the final choice for her.

As it turns out, Kambe was more than eager to make the choice herself. She adored the Surgepriest, toddling after it on unsteady little legs. Whenever she got too rowdy, the bird would tickle her with its feathers to release her sharp teeth from wherever she'd bitten down, before flying out of her reach. For the first few days after their arrival in Sunbeam Grotto, the Pronghorn roamed the clan, returning to check on Kambe every few hours. Seeing she was in no danger, it eventually made its exit towards the Viridian Forest, and if it continues to watch over Kambe, she hasn't noticed.

After the whirlwind of his apprenticeship, and a brief adjustment period in which Taio learned quite a lot in a short time about child-rearing, life settled into a routine he could tentatively describe as normal. He'd finally become comfortable leaving Kambe with the other hatchlings during the day, trusting the caregivers, the teachers, and the other children of the clan to look after her as his parents once did with Phoebe and Taio himself. Even though little Kambe still showed no signs of physical growth, the time she spent with the other dragonets led to a notable surge in confidence, strength, and most of all, chattiness.

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"Loo' wha' I caugh'!" Kambe said around a mouthful of shell, trotting up to Taio as fast as her stubby legs could carry her. She spit out a Seabed Pincher onto the sand, pinning it in place with a paw and puffing her chest out triumphantly. "Nymph bet me I couldn't swim to the bottom, and she said I hafta bring back something so they'd know I wasn't lying! Any other hatchling would'a brought back sand or a rock, but not me. It was tryna get buried in the sand, but I caught it too quick!"

Taio leaned in close - not close enough for the creature's claws to reach, of course - humming his appreciation out loud for his little ward to hear. "Your swimming lessons must be going well, I take it?"

"Yeah!" Kambe crowed, leaping up from the sand. "Mudpuppy said go, and I was like, woosh, and everyone else was like woah, she's like a fish, and I can't even breathe water!" She spun around, waving her wings wildly as she re-enacted her tale.

Once the story was complete, Kambe turned back to her prize, scooping it up from the sand - only for the grains to fall between her claws, the crab having long since escaped. "Aww..."

Taio chuckled. "No worries - it should be easy enough for you to catch another one!"

Kambe quickly recovered, breaking out into a wide smile. "Yeah! No worries!"

As Kambe grew (bolder, smarter, but not any larger) she engaged in activities typical of Sunbeam Grotto's littlest members - diving in the Fishspine Reef, learning from the clan's laborers and craftworkers, and of course sneaking out-of-bounds when her guardians' backs were turned.

On this occasion in particular, she was eager to meet up with a shy little Tundra from the caves, who she'd seen at mealtimes and celebrations out on the shore, but never in classes. Why did she get to be excused from flying and swimming and writing and all that stuff? Why would any hatchling not want to come out during the day and play in the water? Midnight was a mystery, and Kambe wanted to overturn every stone and peek around every corner to unravel her story.

So, after lunch one afternoon, Kambe clambered out of the water and sauntered towards the caves, acting with all her might that she was just going to find a snack, see Taio, or get something from her room. She hadn't quite decided on an excuse, but she wouldn't worry about that 'til she got caught. Which she wasn't going to be, of course.

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It would be a lot easier if she knew where she was going, Kambe thought as she turned yet another corner through the tunnels that all looked the same. Sure, some parts of the cave walls were painted with veins of sparkling ore, and sometimes the glowing baubles of light that illuminated the tunnels were different colors, but to a pint-sized spelunker stumbling through the caverns, there were few if any distinguishing marks to confirm she was going the right way. With the way the tunnels wound up, down, and around, Kambe wouldn't even know if she were below sea level, or if one wrong turn would send her dropping off the edge of the cliff.

Aaand she most definitely was not going the right way, as the path ahead of her led straight back out towards the cave's main entrance, where if she squinted she could see the other hatchlings still playing in the sand and shallows straight ahead. Kambe's fins drooped. What a bust.

Until...her keen hearing picked up the sound of a tiny sneeze echoing from the tunnel leading into the grand Glittering Library to her left. And a familiar voice stuttering out a quiet, "Excuse me!" Kambe's eyes lit up, a toothy grin spreading over her snout as she skipped into the library.

"No running!" The voice came from a Nocturne who fixed her with a stern glare almost as soon as her foot touched down in the library proper. Kambe fought off the urge to stick out her tongue at him. When he turned back to his book a second later, she did, and then turned her gaze forward to where Midnight was watching her with a mortified look. "You can't do that!" Midnight admonished in a whisper as soon as Kambe was within earshot. "You could get in trouble - or you could get me in trouble!"

She clutched a large tome to her chest fearfully, eyes darting back and forth for any potential eavesdropping library staff. The book was nearly as large as the little Tundra, and probably twice as heavy even with her dense fur coat.

"It's no big deal," Kambe shrugged, blissfully unaware of the pleading look Midnight gave her as her naturally loud voice echoed off the library's stone walls. "Why are you in here, anyway? It's so nice out today, you should come 'n play!"

"It's nice out every day," Midnight grumbled, lifting her book and flipping through it to find where she left off. Kambe's fins appeared over the top of the book, then her forehead, and then four beady eyes to stare at Midnight as she read. "I can't focus with you doing that!" Midnight whisper-yelled. "Just find a book or go away already!" Kambe shifted on her feet, rendered mute. Midnight's ears drooped. "Sorry, that was mean. Do you want me to read to you?" "Yeah!" Kambe crowed. "Let's go outside, though, I wanna lay in the sun!" Behind her, Dallion glared. Midnight just wrinkled her nose. "As long as I can sit in the shade. The sun hurts my eyes..."

Shortly thereafter, Midnight was perched at the base of a tree trunk on the edge of the Viridian Forest, while Kambe lounged happily on a sun-baked rock just a few feet away. The Mirror had displayed remarkable patience as Midnight checked her book out of the library, and had whisked the little Tundra away to the Forest's edge in a flurry of wingflaps as soon as Dallion had stamped the library ledger. Midnight, of course, had a litany of questions about whether they were allowed so far from the caves, but Kambe answered confidently that they wouldn't get in trouble (which, technically, if they weren't caught, they wouldn't be!). Now, all settled in, Midnight read aloud in a gentle voice barely audible over the waves.

"'The Fox Rat only smiled, waving its rust-colored tail back and forth as Daisy the courier pondered its riddle. There was no other way to pass through the woods safely, she knew, and if she failed to deliver her package it could spell disastrous consequences for the sick dragons of the Worldedge Wetlands - '"

Toridae Mythology Trinkets Ever heard the one about the Toridae with three riddles? Or the one about the Toridae and the overly large hammer? Neither have we... until now. 37

Kambe picked her head up from where it had been resting on her folded arms, squinting through the sunlight at her friend. "What does dis-as-trous con-se-quen-ces mean?" she interrupted, sounding out each syllable carefully.

"It means something bad will happen as a result of something else," Midnight explained, resting a claw on the page so she wouldn't lose her spot.

Kambe nodded somberly. "I'll have to remember that one." She laid her head down and tucked her tail around her flank, nonverbally prompting Midnight to continue.

The little Tundra cleared her throat. "'...if she failed to deliver her package it could spell disastrous consequences for the sick dragons of the Worldedge Wetlands. Daisy repeated the riddle quietly to herself, turning it over in her mind. 'What belongs to you, but is used by everyone you meet?' As a courier, Daisy was always traveling to one place or another, meaning the list of her worldly belongings was quite short. She'd lent other dragons paper or writing quills more times than she could ever count, but even that number was only a minority of all the dragons she'd ever met.'" Midnight paused, pointing her claw to the last word she'd read again. "Do you know what it is, Kambe?"

The Mirror stirred from where she was halfway to falling asleep. "Ugh, I dunno. The answer to riddles is always 'a shadow,' 'time,' or 'silence.' So...probably one of those. Whadda you think?"

Midnight couldn't help but smile placidly. "Time is a good guess! I've already read this one, sooo...I already know! It's her name!"

Kambe's head popped up, her eyes opening to fix on her friend. "That's a good one, actually. I was thinking -"

Just then, a great CRACK split the air, followed by the unmistakable sound of a tree falling.

"What was that??" Midnight asked, eyes blown wide. Kambe had already leapt to her feet, wings raised and ready to propel her toward the action.

"Sounds like a tree falling down! You really need to get out more. Let's go check it out!" Midnight didn't even have a chance to reply as the whirlwind of Kambe swept her and her book away and down the path.

When they arrived, a number of grown dragons had already assembled around the fallen tree. Thankfully, it wasn't attached to a treehouse, nor any of the rope bridges that connected the arboreal homes. Nor was it blocking the path deeper into the forest - in fact, it was just off to the side, near to the space cleared for farming. Kambe and Midnight ducked into the brush to get a closer look.

"Can you hear what they're saying?"

"No, but I can try to read their lips -" Kambe paused, focusing. "'The brothers and sisters eat hamsters for breakfast...' what do you think it means?"

"I think you aren't very good at reading lips. Can we go now?"

The pair backed up out from the bushes. Midnight pulled a burr out of her mane, and Kambe valiantly refrained from pointing out that it was far from the only one clinging to her fur.

"That's enough adventure for me for one day," Midnight sighed. "Let's just go - wait. Where's my book!?"

Kambe's head swiveled around - indeed, the book wasn't tucked under the bush where they'd left it. In fact, it was... bouncing down the path into the forest?

"There!" she cried, pointing it out to Midnight. The two hatchlings watched, speechless, as the heavy tome bounced seemingly all by itself deeper into the forest. After a second's hesitation, they scrambled after it, ducking under low branches and vaulting over tree stumps and low bushes once the book deviated from the clear path.

Finally, they burst out of the brush into a clearing. The ground was soft and squishy between patches of bright green grass, and the far side of the clearing gave way to a murky pool of standing water, completely still except for the occasional bubble floating to the top. Further still, strange trees like neither hatchling had ever seen rose out of the water atop exposed roots. Huge bugs buzzed through the air, flocking to and fro over the stinky swamp. And just above their heads was the book, teetering dangerously on the edge of a branch far too weak to bear its weight for long. And then...the book laughed. "Kehehe!" The sound chilled Midnight and Kambe to the bone, startling them speechless as it continued in a squeaky voice that echoed off the still water and around the clearing. "You shouldn't have followed me here! Naughty, naughty children will be swallowed by the swamp!" Kambe grabbed Midnight's hand, attempting to pull her back the way they came, but Midnight was frozen in place, staring at the taunting tome. "We have to get out of here!" Kambe forced the words out from between clenched teeth to her shocked friend. "Nuh-uh, not without your library book! Unless you wanna get in trouble?" The book opened up, flipping through its pages until it suddenly stopped. One page was suspended mid-turn, and as they watched, a small tear began at the top of the page and slooowly ripped down to the bottom, where the page detached and fluttered to the ground, coming to a rest at Midnight's feet.

"Noo!" the bookworm shrieked. Another page was torn off, and another, floating down to join their neighbors. Midnight was in tears as she cried, "Stop!"

"You want me to stop?" the book teased. "If you say so!" The cover slammed shut suddenly, making the hatchlings jump, before the book skipped up the branch and out of sight. The clearing suddenly felt empty without the echo of that squeaky voice. The children were struck speechless, staring at the pages on the ground. Kambe picked one up, looking at it as if it would provide some sort of answer. Midnight just gazed fearfully at the ruined pages, worried she'd never be allowed to step foot in the library again.

"...In the end, how did Daisy defeat the Fox Rat?" Kambe asked finally, lowering the paper clutched in her paw. Midnight's eyes widened, and she threw herself to the ground to frantically search through the pages littered about.

"I thought you said you read it already!" her friend cried, standing over her.

"I can't think when I'm stressed!" Midnight replied, her eyes glassy with tears. Finally, miraculously, she found the right page, and held it up to Kambe.

"Aft-er her first en-count-er..." Kambe read slowly, stumbling over the polysyllables.

"After her first encounter, Daisy learned the Fox Rat would try to trap her with words - so she had to trap the trickster first to get away!" Midnight cried. In the following second of silence, the two hatchlings got the same idea.

"Do I need to go over the plan again?"

"I know what we're gonna do, I just wanna know how we're gonna find it!" Kambe asked.

Midnight sighed. "That should be the easy part! If we're dealing with a trickster, they're not gonna go far in case we leave. They want to keep messing with us, it'd all be ruined if we just went home!"

Kambe nodded, unable to hide her smile. They were really gonna pull one over on this trickster! She cleared her throat, eager to play her part.

"It's almost time for dinner!" she called over the swamp, allowing the still water to carry her voice as Midnight gave her a stealthy thumbs-up. "We should just go home, you can just get another book tomorrow!"

"Ok, you're right! Let's go!" Midnight tried her best to yell, but the naturally soft-spoken dragon's voice just didn't travel as far as Kambe's. Hopefully it would be good enough.

They only had to wait a few seconds after that - a rustling of leaves in the otherwise quiet swamp was a dead giveaway that the trickster was on its way. The pair locked eyes and nodded. They were ready!

Another "kehehe!" announced the book's arrival, just before it slid down to rest at the crook of a low-hanging branch. "You really thought you were going to get away that easy!"

"Eek! It's the book!" Kambe cried and fled into the bushes, acting far more scared than she really was. Why had they been so afraid of a dumb old fairytale book, anyway? Midnight stifled a giggle at her friend's antics, then fixed a glare on the book as she prepared for her part.

"Can you spell 'a transcript' without three coins?" she asked, stepping directly under the branch and looking up at the trickster.

"What?" the squeaky voice asked, thoroughly confused.

Just then, Kambe flew down from where she'd climbed overhead, tackling the tome off the branch. Once it hit the ground, both hatchlings pinned it down with their full weight, causing the book to sink slightly into the soft soil. "It's a trap!" they cried victoriously.

"Okay, okay, you win!" the squeaky voice mustered from under their feet, sounding more breathless than angry. "Just get...off...me!"

After exchanging a look, the hatchlings stepped off the book, and Midnight gingerly picked it up and held it tightly closed. Imagine the shock both little dragons felt when they saw a creature laying in the small, square hole left behind in the ground... She coughed weakly, untangling her limbs from the silty soil. Kambe and Midnight stared on with twin looks of guilt written across their faces - ears flat, eyes wide, mouths open in silent gasps.

"I have to admit, you got me pretty good there!" the trickster said in that familiar squeaky voice, leaping into the air where a pair of bright-green dragonfly wings unfolded from her back to keep her afloat with a buzzzzzz. "I 'spose this is the point where you ask me for three wishes or something."

"Really?" Kambe asked excitedly, her mind already racing with all the things she could wish for. A feast of fried crab legs, all for her - no, the power to turn invisible! Or maybe some magic potion to make her grow bigger -

"Kambe, she's not telling the truth! This is a trickster, remember?" Midnight nudged her friend helpfully before sending a glare toward the trickster.

"Oh," was all Kambe could say.

The trickster chuckled. "Well, you're not wrong! I can't grant wishes. Can you?"

"No," the friends chorused. Duh.

The trickster shook her head. Duh!

"The least you could do is fix my book," Midnight complained, looking pointedly at the torn pages scattered about the patchy grass. The trickster followed her gaze and shrugged.

"I don't read a lot, so I dunno how to fix books. Why don't you? You can do magic, right?"

Midnight lowered her head. "I'm not very good...not as good as my brothers, that's for sure."

The trickster huffed. "Well, they're bigger than you, aren't they? This is small magic, perfect for a small dragon. Why don't you just try?"

Encouraged by the trickster's words, or perhaps just to spite her, Midnight picked up the nearest page, running a claw along the torn edge. "Hmmm...maybe I could attach them all and then...or would it work better one by one..."

As she pondered, Kambe darted around the clearing, picking up the full stack of papers. A few of them were smeared with dirt or the telltale green streaks of wet grass, but if Midnight couldn't fix the book, that would be the least of their worries. Kambe crept over to where Midnight stood bent over the tome, the trickster hovering over her shoulder.

"Can you buzz somewhere else, trickster?" Midnight spat at the trickster. "I can't focus with that sound right in my ear!"

The buzzing stopped as the trickster landed on the curved branch she'd been knocked free from minutes before. "I have a name, you know."

"Really?" Kambe asked. "Hey, do you know - what's something that belongs to you, but everyone else uses it more than you do?"

Tuning out their conversation, Midnight carefully placed one page atop the next, aligning the corners as well as the torn edges. She took a deep breath, and ran her claw down the tear slowly. Where she touched, she channeled magic through her clawtip, uniting the torn edges inch by inch until she reached the bottom of the page.

"I did it!" Midnight cried, interrupting Phlox's answer. The other two little dragons peered over her shoulder, and indeed, it was fixed! With just one small problem. Before Kambe could say anything, Midnight snapped the book shut, glowing with pride. Oh well. No one would notice, anyway.

With a glance to the sky, Kambe noticed the sun was no longer directly overhead - instead, the sky was filled with a vivid gradient of color, meaning she was very, very late for dinner.

"We gotta go!" she exclaimed, grabbing Midnight's paw - until she looked around and realized she had no clue how to get back. Sheepishly, Kambe turned back to Phlox with a question on her lips, but the trickster just took one look at her and cackled.

"Kehehe! I'll lead you out, but you gotta promise to come back and play again soon!"


"Play it cool, 'kay? You're always responsible with your books, they're not going to check for damage like they would if I brought a book back after being gone all day."

Midnight chewed her lip, still worried but bravely trying not to show it. "If you say so..." She flipped through the pages until she reached one with a smear of dirt still present on the paper. She began to scratch it with her claw, and then gasped.

"...Kambe."

"What?"

"The pages...I put them back on upside down!" Her eyes filled with tears, and she started to breathe quick, shallow breaths.

"Shh, shh, don't freak out! No one's gonna notice, I told you!"

Just then, a familiar voice echoed from behind them. "Ah, Midnight! And is that little Kambe?" the librarian, Unearthly, called as he strode into the tunnel. His eyes landed on the large tome Midnight was holding tight to her chest. "Have you come to return a book? I'll be happy to take care of that for you."

Kambe coughed. Midnight didn't move.

"Go ahead Midnight, we were all done with that book anyway," she said pointedly, looking between her friend and the elder librarian.

When Midnight still didn't move, Kambe reached out and tugged the book from her hands with no small amount of effort. "Here ya go!" she smiled wide, holding the book out to Unearthly. As soon as his claws clasped around its spine, the two hatchlings sprinted off, leaving the librarian bemused in the hallway.

"We just gotta get to dinner and we're home free!" Kambe called back at her friend. But instead of mirroring her own victorious expression, Midnight looked...startled?

"Oof -" Kambe nearly had the wind knocked out of her as she crashed into a stalagmite that definitely wasn't there before. Only it wasn't a stalagmite. Taio looked down at her, not at all amused.

"Home free from where? I've just heard from Flotsam that you weren't with the other hatchlings today."

Kambe's back straightened as she forced a carefree smile despite the dread in her chest. "The library! Me an' Midnight were reading fairy tales all day."

Taio's brow lifted. "Midnight I can believe," he said, nodding to the little Tundra in question. "Go on to dinner - I think they're just bringing out dessert."

Midnight crept around Taio's legs, mouthing a silent sorry to Kambe as she scampered out of the cave.

"Kambe - Kambe, look at me! I can't believe you would sneak out like that. Do you know what could've happened?!" Taio cried, not bothering to keep his voice down. Some dragons passing through the cave turned to look, then hastily made their exit.

"Disastrous consequences," Kambe mumbled, slumping down on the rocky floor.

Three weeks later, after serving a most unfair sentence of no-dessert-for-two-weeks, Kambe had finally had enough sugar to return to her usual unruly self. This afternoon, the hatchlings were visiting the library for storytime with Warpwind, who was carrying a tome of fairytales that would have looked familiar if Kambe had bothered to look at all.

Toridae Mythology Trinkets Ever heard the one about the Toridae with three riddles? Or the one about the Toridae and the overly large hammer? Neither have we... until now. 37

"Welcome, everyone!" he whispered, modeling to the hatchlings how they were expected to keep their voices down in the library. Kambe sat quietly with the others, a little tired from roughhousing on the beach after lunch. As the elder's gentle murmur began the story, she was quickly lulled to sleep...

A short while later, Kambe blinked awake, momentarily confused until she realized the rest of the hatchlings were still assembled for storytime. She hadn't been out that long, then. Kambe put a paw over her mouth to muffle her yawn, deigning to listen to the story for awhile so she wouldn't fall asleep again.

"'The Fox Rat only smiled, waving its rust-colored tail back and forth as Daisy the courier pondered its riddle. There was no other way to pass through the woods safely -'"

Suddenly Warpwind stopped reading. He looked at the book with his brow furrowed, as if he were completely lost. Some of the hatchlings started to whisper amongst themselves, but he quickly cleared his throat and they stopped. As Kambe watched, Warpwind turned the book upside-down in his hands and continued reading. And she started laughing.

"Kambe! Kambe, quiet down!" Flotsam called futilely from the back of the group. "Kambe - if you don't stop laughing, you'll have to leave the library!"

She couldn't stop! With tears streaming from her eyes, Kambe stumbled out of the library, laughing the whole way out into the sunlight. Someone noticed after all...she collapsed onto the sand, giggling like a mad dragon. Midnight could never find out about this...