Rix

Not for sale.

Long ago, the clan's founders Violet and Tangerine saw a vision. A terrible fate would befall their clan, a great seething cold would rise from the ground, freezing eggs, infecting hatchlings, and forcing the clan to flee. Pleading to know how this could be averted, Violet saw in the wreckage a single unhatched egg. Upon touching it, she saw the dragon who would have hatched from it, the dragon who would have saved her clan.

A female Pearlcatcher stood alone, her face tipped up to the bright winter moon. Her body black as night, with deep pink wings and curling white markings. As she looked down, Violet saw that her eyes were blessed by the Gladekeeper.

As she watched, Violet saw the pearlcatcher place a hand on the ground. The Cold Unfeeling surged up to meet her. The vision shifted, and suddenly there was peace again. Violet stood in a glade with warm sunlight surrounding her. In the center of the glade, the pearlcatcher stood, her face once again turned upwards.

The pearlcatcher did not move. She was frozen, as if a statue. Gradually, Violet became aware of other dragons in the clearing. A Court of Spirits surrounded the pearlcatcher, each with their face covered. They drifted there as though tethered to the pearlcatcher.

Movement caught Violet's attention, and she turned to see a strange Obelisk approach. She had glowing marks across her body and a pair of dark, branching antlers on her head. She walked calmly to the pearlcatcher, laying a wreath of flowers around her neck. Turning, the obelisk looked straight at Violet and smiled sadly.

Upon waking, Violet recorded her vision, and it was passed down through the clan. However, it was regarded as a story, not as a true vision. Until one day a pearlcatcher egg hatched, and Loxensis was born with curling marks like the ones the pearlcatcher from the vision bore. Not long after, Sylvia hatched. A strange obelisk who saw things no one else could, who had glowing runes across her body, and sprouted antlers.

More and more, the Cold Unfeeling woke, plaguing the clan who lived above it. Yet they couldn't leave, for that would mean giving the Cold Unfeeling freedom to roam the lands. No, they could only plan. Generations of pearlcatchers dedicated themselves to choosing mates who would best suit the vision, and generations of dragons who weren't quite right suffered in the process.

Then, Rix hatched, alongside her two younger sisters, both Skydancers. Oracle would not say whether Rix was the pearlcatcher from Violet's vision, determined to give her as normal a childhood as possible. However, it became clear soon enough that she was the prophesized dragon.

The day arrived, a mere two weeks after she hatched, that the Cold Unfeeling broke free from the earth, writhing in the moonlight. The clan shrank in fear as the Cold Unfeeling touched their hearts, leeching the warmth from them. Rix stepped forwards, a strange, sorrowful look on her face. She did not strike the ground or wrestle the ribbons of darkness as the clan had expected. Instead, she gently placed her palm on the crack that the Cold Unfeeling issued forth from.

In a voice so soft that no dragon could hear her words, she spoke to the cloud of freezing darkness. Slowly, the Cold Unfeeling calmed, wrapping around her. Rix combed her claws through the fog, and, as she did, the watching dragons saw shapes forming. Muddled at first, then growing ever clearer as Rix separated the ancient dragon spirits that had combined to form the Cold Unfeeling.

Now fully formed, the ghostly forms drifted away, fading from sight. Rix folded her hands calmly over her pearl once more, tipping her head back to stare up at the moon. She did not move from that spot. She had saved the clan, but having so much contact with the Cold Unfeeling had drained the warmth from her, freezing her solid.

Gingerly, she was moved to a quiet glade nearby and adorned with flowers. Slowly, the spirits of the Cold Unfeeling returned, no longer hostile. They gathered around her, honoring her. Whether she will ever awaken is not yet known.