The Heavenly Court of the Fallen Pillar
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Starsinger flew for thirty days and thirty nights. She survived the first crossing of the ocean -- but only barely. As if waiting for her to drift over the territory boundary, the cyclones swept and roosted her in the middle of a lush forest. Starsinger had reacted by pausing for a moment to let the shock pass over her, and then stood up, brushed herself off, and continued onward.
Several dragons of the Wind domain tried to stop her, note how far from her home she was (they took one look at her icy blue eyes and drew their own conclusions...), tried to get her to stop and patch the wounds on her tail, which were bleeding freely. It must have snagged on some trees as she fell. Starsinger did not stop.
Starsinger crossed into the Plague domain, but not for long. Moments after she saw her first boil bubbling from the earth, a pair of dragons accosted her, asking if she'd seen a young dragon that matched their description -- apparently he'd been missing for over a year. Starsinger curtly informed them that the only dragon she was interested in looking for was the Lightweaver, which befuddled the mourning parents long enough for her to trot away. Not wanting to have a repeat, Starsinger found a rare ported ship and hopped aboard.
"Didn't you charge her for entry?" asked the captain, an overworked and distracted mirror. It was clear that asking this was a formality to him.
"I tried," replied his coatl shipmate. "She walked right past me before I finished talking. Said something about the Lightweaver, and I don't want to charge for deity-related travels. Plus, she's barely a hatchling."
It may be worth noting that Starsinger was, in fact, nearing maturity. Given a dragon's longevity, the wide berth of their difference in age would make a dragon old enough to bear children still look infantile to an old geezer like the aforementioned coatl.
Starsinger did not use the ship as a means to rest. She was anything
but restful. The Lightweaver was waiting for her; how could she just lie and wait for the ship to make it across? Starsinger could often be seen flying much ahead of the ship to scout ahead, and would return by nightfall. The crew of the ship queried her for news of obstacles, which she answered with measured, but truthful if calculated coldness.
When the ship finally docked at the edge of the Tangled Wood, the crew of dragons were quite sad to see her go. It would be generous to assume they lasted longer than a day in Starsinger's mind, however.
The Shadow domain had not been Starsinger's goal, but she had not been in control of the ship. A woeful circumstance, but not the end of the world. In fact, the location gave her access to vital information.
Dark tendrils crawled at the edges of the trees, and Starsinger hesitated to enter the forest. This was the dreaded Shade. She knew this intrinsically. It popped about with an almost excited movement, like it knew she had arrived to challenge it. The Shade clung to leaves and branches and pine needles; it did not like the earthy soil or stone. Starsinger noted this.
She was not met by any other dragons as she traversed the Tangled Wood. Occasionally the sight of scales would flash in the corner of her eye, but she did not turn to look. Neither party wanted anything to do with the other, and this worked impeccably for both.
Eventually, Starsinger neared the border between the Light and Shadow domains. This was not a harsh line like she'd seen before, and it was a wider gradient than others. In fact, the border between the two flights may as well have been its own territory. Here, dragons watched her warily, but they did not hide their curiosity. They seemed emboldened, even. Starsinger met their gazes. She would not be frightened away.
She studied these dragons the best she could while moving. Bits of Shade clung to their scales and darkened their wings. They moved on the branches, not with flapping hops from tree to tree, but with the curling and talon-dependent movements of a bird with clipped wings. She waited for their wings to twitch irritably like a horse's tail swarmed by flies, but they did not. These dragons
welcomed the Shade.
How could they so easily reject the love of the Light? She tried not to let on her disgust.
At the edge of this gray area was a haphazard temple of sorts. Clearly chunks had been taken from the heart of the Light domain and moved here. How silly. She did not care what it was for, and entered the Light domain proper. As she did, her mind wandered to those Wind dragons who had been so outspoken about her appearance. They had known she was from the Ice flight; not that they had been anything less than hospitable, but they had known her to be an outsider. She didn't like this. As luck would have it, a pair of spectacles sat at the edge of a broken slab of stone, as if presenting themselves to her.
She donned them and looked into a nearby stream. To most, especially a passerby, her eyes were obscured. Her origins were nothing to hide, and she would readily share her story with the dragons she met, if to convince them to aid her in her cause. But at least with this, they wouldn't be able to so easily form assumptions.
She found more accessories as she walked. A pair of pants, a shawl, a set of ribbons, and more, likely from abandoned camps. She did not hesitate to decorate herself. The items were a bit dirty from their desertion, but they would make her look important, like she belonged.
And belonged she did. Starsinger found a temple dedicated to the Lightweaver with ease. She presented herself, explained her vision of the Lightweaver upon her first sight of the sun. Once she was done, she paused, and experienced perhaps the first twirl of anxiety of her life. She became more aware of herself than ever before; would these dragons shoo her off, think her crazy?
"Finally!" shouted one.
"I
knew the Lightweaver intended to do something about the Shade!" exclaimed another.
"Yes, I wanted to ask," Starsinger said, turning to the head of the congregation. "I was able to study the movement patterns of the Shade when I was in the Tangled Wood. Are the dragons of Shadow causing it?"
"No, they're merely located at the epicenter of the ordeal," explained the large obelisk. "They aren't a cause of it, or a flight to be shunned. They're suffering the most of everyone in this respect. The infection moves
from them. There is no eye of the storm that is the Shade."
"How awful," Starsinger murmured. A divot began to yawn in her chest for them; she'd so blithely marched through their territory, uncaring of their fear of her. Of course they'd been startled by the entrance of a cold, staring, and indifferent dragon. She likely resembled the dragons on the border who seemed to love the Shade.
"The Lightweaver has decided it's my duty to expel the Shade from Sornieth," Starsinger proclaimed. "Where should I begin? I'm to rebuild something called the 'Court'."
Dragons glanced at one another in puzzlement. Even the leader of them seemed at a loss. "I'm not sure. Her Brilliance has certainly delivered quite the task!" She let out a warm chuckle, placing a burly talon on Starsinger's shoulder. She felt comforted, which was strange. This dragon was a complete stranger, but she felt complete faith in her safety among this group.
"The Shade has only been expelled once before," said a fae near the front, who had been sorting scrolls previously. "Back when there were only eight dragon gods, they came together to form a great Pillar. The power warded off the Shade from the whole planet. Our glowing Lightweaver sat at the top, and the Earthshaker formed the foundation at the bottom."
She'd caught the attention of the rest of the dragons, and quickly made herself busy to disspell their interest.
"Eight deities..." Starsinger blinked. It hadn't occurred to her that the Lightweaver was not the one and only. "How many are there now?"
"Eleven." The obelisk smiled at her warmly. "But that was all ages ago. The Pillar ended up falling, at the end of the Third Age."
Starsinger blinked, emboldened. The Pillar had fallen, just like her. Her wings twitched. "Perhaps I'm meant to rebuild the Pillar," she said. "Perhaps that's what the Lightweaver wants."
Silence fell over the gathered dragons. There was an implication of which they were aware of, that Starsinger hadn't yet caught.
"It'd take a great deal of self-sacrifice," cautioned the obelisk.
"I'll do anything to bring the light of the sun upon all of Sornieth," Starsinger swore.
She was given directions; the fallen pillar -- what was left of it, anyways -- stood at the edge of a fissure that apexed at the heart of the Earth domain. This was the northmost part of Sornieth, and she'd have to cross through the Shadow domain proper to get there. She had no problem with this, though she thought privately to herself that this time she would simply fly overhead so as to not cause further disturbance.
She gave her thanks, joined the temple in worship, and then offered her farewells. Starsinger lifted into the now-night air towards the Tangled Wood, prepared to cross the whole thing without rest.
This required passing that gray area she had gone through before, with the Shade-infected dragons. She watched it from above as she flew overhead, brows furrowed. Just
how did they readily welcome something that plagued their neighbors so?
She almost missed a wingbeat at the sight of a dragon, an imperial, who turned their head to stare at her directly. Cautious, Starsinger circled the spot, indicating to the dragon below that she had spotted them, as well. The dragon opened and closed their wings to confirm the signal. Perhaps that meant she was free to go on.
Then, before she had a chance to react, lightning engulfed her. The golden-hued dragon let out a scream of pain as she was downed, hitting the earth with far too much force. Instinctively she curled her body to protect her pearl. The dragon that had stared at her was approaching her now, on foot, smoke curling from their maw. Frantic, Starsinger flapped her wings, trying to upright herself and lift off once more. Light began to glow between the imperial's teeth. She had to
go.
"Cease your attack."
No hesitation. The imperial's head snapped upward, and the volley of lightning exploded in the starlit sky like a firework. They backed away, lip curling with disgust around the rising smoke, which had doubled.
Starsinger tried to make heads or tails of what had happened. A group of dragons were approaching from where the imperial had come from, and was now backing up towards. Was she safe?
At the head of the group was a golden figure -- no, a dragon
donning gold. He had silver-brown fur and feathers; a skydancer. His body, hardly visible among the armor that covered him, was scored with white, skeletal markings.
Red eyes glowed from his helm.
"I've spared you twice now," said the golden-armored skydancer.
"Identify yourself."
Tendrils of Shade curled on the wings of the dragons surrounding this skydancer, including the imperial which had struck her. But Starsinger watched the Shade; it drew towards the skydancer, and then retreated back. At first blush, she thought that perhaps it didn't want to touch him.
At a second thought, it became clear to her that it was not
allowed.
"My name is Starsinger," she told him, narrowing her eyes. "I am only passing through. I have business in the Earth domain."
"Starsinger," repeated the skydancer. He circled her where she still lay on the ground, wary.
"You wouldn't happen to be on your way to the World Pillar's remains, would you?"
Starsinger's breath caught in her throat; how had this dragon known? Did he have spies?
What did he want with her?
"Get up," he told her. She did, clutching her pearl fiercely. Her head whipped around to track him as he circled. The dragons that had arrived with him were motionless, save for the wriggling curls of Shade on their bodies.
"My name is Dreamcrusher," the skydancer said.
"I am the Voice of the Shade."
He reached a talon to tilt her chin towards his. She bared her teeth.
"And, I'm afraid I can't let you do that."
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Back at it again with another epic author's note. Apologies for the length on this one; I had a lot of ground to cover! I figure the rest won't be so long, but we'll see!!
