Zephres

Zephres was a courier, whose one (of many) joy(s) was to soar high above the grassy plains ferrying parcels and letters between Millmeadows and Cloudsong, feeling the wind ruffle his feathers and the rough draughts propel him to new heights. His familiar and stalwart companion Asa used to bug him about how slow he was (he isn’t, she’s just fast). “If they flipped you a coin would you do express?” the raptorik used to heckle him, zig-zagging patterns while flying just ahead.

Zephres and Asa’s problems began when they decided to take a job outside of the Windswept Plateau. They both had misgivings about delivering a letter to the Tangled Wood, but their sense for adventure overpowered their concerns.

While crossing the Sea of a Thousand Currents, the duo stopped to rest upon a large piece of floating driftwood. Not long after alighting the waters began to churn and, without warning, tentacles whipped forth, catching them both by surprise and seizing them, dragging them beneath the waves. Zephres could not even swim, much less breathe water, and was certain that this was the end.

Instead of a terrible demise, he found himself in a strange spiralling cage in a dark, damp cave. The sound of lapping and dripping water assured him, terribly, that he was still underwater, though alive and breathing air. To his relief, Asa was captured along with him and stuffed into a similar cage.

Zephres does not know why the serpentine dragons are keeping him alive—when he has seen and heard the opposite of all other visitors, willing or unwilling. Glowing eyes look upon him with malice and madness, and he can only hope that an opportunity to escape—or a timely rescue—comes soon.