Raffles & Giveaways

( @HappyBuddy here is my entry! Cant resist - her birthday is so close to mine!)

She no longer remembered her life before the connection.

Her eyes moved back and fourth as she watched the flickering screen, images flashing past. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

Her worn claw hit the button over and over - each crime flashing before her shadowed eyes in a burst of pain and emotion, both for the victim and for her. She no longer felt the stiffness of her neck or the pounding of her head. There was only the screen. There was only the work.

She was almost numb to it. Almost, but not quite. She wished now that she'd asked for one of those disconnect plugins - something to send her emotions offline while she worked. But at the time, she'd thought some emotional connection would drive her onward, help her strive for truth when she tired.

And she was right. She could not rest untill they were all stopped. All of them.

"Keylara?"

She did not look up when he entered the room, but her ears twitched back at the sound of his voice. She didn't know why he kept coming back, she didn't even remember his name.

Guilty, guilty guilty. So much blood.

"I brought you your dinner, and...and a cup of tea." She heard the tray slide onto her table, and smelled the scents - seared tuna, fresh greens, hot tea...something fruity. It was almost appealing enough for her to look up.

But she didn't look up.

Guilty, guilty, guilty.

He spoke again, surprising her out of the haze of images. "I...I know your work is important, Keylara, but...but you do realize you are also important? You need to take care of yourself."

The muscles of her neck tensed - she wanted to turn her head to contradict him, to even see him, but could not. She was frozen, unblinking, the screen's draw keeping her in her rightful place.

"Can you take a break? just for a moment?" A warm paw covered hers, the one that was not on the button. "Just for a meal?

Guilty, guilty-

innocent.

She stared at the screen, frozen in place. How many years had it been? How many souls had she judged? But there was no mistaking it, this one...

She turned her head at last to look at him, and opened her mouth for the first time in years.

"Innocent," she croaked.

And then,

"help me..."

@HappyBuddy I'll give it a shot!

There are very few dragons who can call themselves a literal free spirit. Keylara is one of them.
In her living days, she had always loved the beach. As a hatchling, she felt called to it, and reveled in the trips she and her mother took there. When she became an adult, she decided to move on the shore, leaving her home in Wispwillow Grove to reside by the seaside in the Zephyr Steppes.
It took a few months, but soon Keylara was able to make a good living there. She converted the front of her den into a beach shop, selling handmade items like painted signs and crab plushies, and teaching interested passerbys about the history of the sands and shore. She became well-known in the area, as both the dragon who sold many beautiful trinkets for one's den, and the dragon who would talk your ear off if you let her.
After many decades, Keylara's time had finally come. Her bones had become old and brittle, but her spirit was as young and free as ever. She limped outside her shop, and took one last look at waves. Then, she drifted off to sleep.
But the Windsinger took pity on her. When Keylara woke up, her body was gone--her young spirit had left it, and was floating over the waves.
She still resides there to this day. They say you can hear her joyful cries with the sound of the waves. . .
Though her daughter, who now runs her mother's shop, doubts such a story. But that's a tale for another day.



(@MisterArtist Your lore is very intriguing! I also checked out your den to see if you had other writing there, and I was not disappointed. You have some great stuff!)

(@ClaudiusBez aw thank you so much! what an honor ;v; i like yours as well!)

@MisterArtist Congrats!
@HappyBuddy Thank you!