Much time has past since the
last generation found themselves lost and defenseless in the Kelp Beds, but Silios’s
nest has finally hatched. No one told them that their bloodline was cursed. No one helped them at all. Once they reached maturity, it was all over for four of the five young dragons.
Aldru, the firstborn child and only son, with uncommon eyes and no gene upgrades
Zilea, the most desirable heir, with rare eyes and primary, tertiary, and breed upgrades
Chavulha, the middle child, a near-XYY with a primary upgrade and uncommon eyes
Verecha, the second-youngest hatchling with all the same traits as her father (no upgrades)
And lastly, Itmenu, another near-XYY with no upgrades. Let’s hope that her bright colors don’t attract too many enemies to her!
First, I flipped a coin to see which group Chavulha would be in during the battle. When the coin landed on heads, my heart dropped. With Chavulha and Zilea in the same round, my chances of getting an upgrade were drastically lowered. It seems that the two young sisters were so enveloped in their own chattering conversation that they did not hear their brother’s warnings at first. When they finally looked up at their surroundings, everything seemed unfamiliar.
“Where are we?” Chavulha murmured, wincing at the crumbled architecture and pungeant moss. Zilea repeated the question.
With wide, wandering eyes, Aldru replied, “This must be the Ghostlight Ruins.” In his upward gazing the drake was not minding the placement of his feet, and with a sickening crack an age-old skull was crushed beneath his weight.
Alerted by the sound, three lumbering beasts revealed themselves from the shadows. “Wendigo,” Chavulha squeaked, drawing closer to her sister and pressing against her for comfort. They hunkered down behind a fallen pillar and silently willed Aldru to find them, but he did not notice the silent beasts until they roared and charged at him from behind. He could not escape.
“No, don’t—!” Zilea gasped, but Chavulha had already leaped out into the open to try and draw the creatures away from Aldru. Despite her deepest protests, Zilea’s Nocturne instincts prompted her to follow. One of the towering bipedal giants, this one darker than the others, lowered itself onto all fours and scraped its hooked against the dirt, growling before charging directly at her. She shrieked, leaping into the air and flapping wildly until she could flee the territory. Chavulha’s cries had long fallen silent.
The search party seemed to last for weeks on end. The three older siblings had said they were going on a trip to Shadow territory, but none of them were familiar with the forest’s disorienting illusions. Verecha and Itmenu had offered to look for the others so their parents would not worry, but hope was slowly dwindling as days upon days passed with no sign of their siblings.
As night fell, the two searched for a place to rest. From the shadows emerged the broken facade of what seemed to be a once-great city. “We can rest here tonight,” Itmenu suggested, sensing her sister’s exhaustion and discouragement. “It’ll be okay. We’ll find them.” The two settled down against a wall, resting quietly together. Itmenu gazed up at the night sky as Verecha drifted off to sleep. But something seemed strange — it seemed like the darkness was moving.
It was too late to escape before the Tengu dove down upon the pair. Itmenu shoved Verecha with a foot before lunging to her feet and breaking into a run. The brightly colored hide she was named for now came back to haunt her in the worst ways. The Tengu veered towards her, attracted to her colorful feathers. She was greatly outnumbered, with talons and scythes outstretched. The untrained dragoness was no match for an angry Tengu flock.
Verecha watched in horror as the Beastclan attackers swarmed her sister, but she knew it was too late. She sprinted off in the opposite direction...
... and slammed straight into her older sister, Zilea. She looked shaken and exhausted, but there was no time to ask what happened. The flock had finished off Itmenu and turned its attention to Verecha and Zilea instead.
The pair took flight, gasping and whimpering as fear overwhelmed them and the Tengu flock quickly overtook the distance between them. “Go to the west, through the dark woods! Go west, against the sun! Fly straight until you see the Pillar of the World! Fly west! Fly west!” Verecha shrieked to her sister, unable to see her through the flurry of feathers and beaks and talons. She was too tired to fight. She only hoped that Zilea could escape.
“Fly west. Fly west,” Zilea murmured, wings burning as she flew onward. She hadn’t slept, eaten, or rested for over a day, and still she could not find home. Hungry, aching, and out of breath, dizziness took over her and she could flap her wings no longer. In the stillness of the air she took a nosedive, and skidded across the ground as she landed.
She awoke to the tickle of dust brushing up against her snout. When she opened her eyes, a vast plain stretched out before her, and towering into the clouds in the distance was the Great Pillar. She could find her way home now. She could go home, and never venture too far again.
I am SO AMAZED that Zilea was the winner of this challenge! This is the luckiest I’ve ever been in a breeding challenge, and I am honestly so
scared excited for it! Already on a limited breed, and it’s only generation 5? This is awesome!
Spreading all my luck to you guys!
Her mate will be Rhowen, who I bought for only 9kt on the AH! He was one of only two blue-range dragons with the correct colors. It'll be much harder to get updates now that I'm in the rare gene range, but I'm excited! I still have 5 more generations to go!
