Gracie

Chapter 4: A Slow Recovery

In Progress.

The clan was shattered after the harpy attack. Although they'd lost far fewer dragons this time, they had far fewer dragons to begin with, and the clan was aging.

No single dragon stepped forward as the next leader. Rogue and Pyrrhos, the hunters, knew the landscape and knew how to keep the clan alive, but Archimedes knew how to follow the stars and build traps and water-filters. Sylvia knew how to scout out new places, but Haruki knew how to read maps. Skyling could sense danger a mile off, but Sylvester and Rocket knew spells to keep the clan hidden and safe. Gretta knew how to mend injuries. Terra knew how to navigate rough terrain. Errgol knew how to build temporary shelters. And Lopoki knew how to get help.

They were lucky to find a traveling healer early on to help them mend their injuries. Although the healer did not stay with them, they knew they would always remember the healer's kindness.

For many months, they depended on each other until they reached a place of relative safety. Sylvester then left to find a kite in the Cloudsong. He initially intended it to be a new home for the clan, but by then, the clan had settled into their new hidden nook. And there they stayed, still tired from a long journey.

To be continued...

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Chapter 8 of Traveling Dragon's Lore
Before she left the Wind territory, she found a scattering of other dragons. They looked worn and rough. They startled at her shadow.

Something about them drew her. The lifetime of scars over one dragon. The overwhelmed look in their eyes that matched how she still felt about killing that centaur.

She coasted down to them, and they told her their story. They'd faced a harpy attack influenced by a shade-touched traveler. Several members of their clan had been killed, their clan lost. They needed a healer. Badly.

She stayed with them, working on her healing spells. She and several mages in the clan worked to shield them from attacks and nurse them back to health. Little by little, she helped them, but she couldn't help them find a home.

How strange, she thought. Once she would have been thrilled to meet other mages, and she would have relished how much she was learning. But here, the lessons were so dire. She had to learn fast and well, and when anything attacked, she almost didn't have time to think about what she was doing. Thankfully, she and the mages were mostly able to shield the clan, and she never had to kill. Even so, dragons without a lair were so vulnerable. This had to be what Tigerstripe meant.

In the back of her mind, she thought of the centaurs and wondered whether they'd lost their home too when she cast that fire spell.

The night before she left, she talked again to Rogue, the scarred dragon. If anyone would understand, he would.

"We all find our worse natures coming out of us sometimes," Rogue told her, "and especially when we're trying to survive. You can't bring back that centaur with your guilt. You make peace with it, and you learn from it." He chuckled. "Admittedly, I could learn from my own words myself."

There was something comforting about knowing she was not the only one who felt this way. Comforting and sad at the same time.

"You said you were attacked by harpies," Alabaster said, "but I was afraid to ask. What happened?"

"It wasn't their fault," Rogue told her. "They were shade-touched, and those that weren't shade-touched were panicked. They didn't know. They didn't do it willingly. But we had no choice but to fight back. It was no one's fault but the Shade's that it happened."

Rogue didn't understand why after he said that, she wept.