Twin Exiles

A great deal of my storytelling happens while I drive or walk or try to sleep.  In other words, it usually has an audience of one... me.  So, there's a great deal I've thought about that hasn't gotten written down, and I kind of expect that it won't at this point.

A biggie is my "Twin Exiles" from Panthelia.  I've written a bit with them, and a tiny part of the origin story is buried within the blog, but they're one of the major stories that has taken up space in my head for the last 2-3 years.

It's something of a "buddy pic" as it were.  Centina and Adalain.

Centina is an exiled Ulurakith warrior. (A matriarchal society, very traditional.) Why exiled? Because she found out she is also a mage.  A really... really powerful one.  Insanely powerful.  But, mages are bad, so momma threw her out of the family on her 15th birthday. 

Arsiana? She's a fairly young black dragon, but the dragons in this world are capable of turning into a human form.  She's also become the mentor and best friend of Centina.  Obviously, there's a great deal more to the story, but that will wait on me actually... writing.

Centina on the left, Arsiana on the right :)

Picture courtesy of Furryjackal :)

The Armor Shop.

Just a bit of silliness.  A plot bunny that hit me while driving.  I've never had much of a touch with humor, but hopefully it will give at least a small chuckle.  It's part of my larger Ulurakith universe, but honestly, it's purely standalone.  New characters, the whole works. Dunno if I'll ever come back to these three. A very rough story, but hey. (Rough as in non-polished.  Not as in dark and dreary. )



The Armor Shop

While no one would have ever considered Ravenspeak to be one of the more pleasant town's they'd visited, it did have a certain reputation. You could buy pretty much anything you wanted there. Much of it was brought in by the ships stopping at the port, but there was also an active crafters industry in town who made and sold a wide variety of items.

One part of town to buy those items was in the southeast. It was a little bit run down, but you wouldn't really call it bad, and the local toughs weren't a problem. They'd long since learned that most of the people who lived and worked here were far too tough to be worth messing with. After all, spending all day pounding iron on the forge tended to make you tougher than most wannabe troublemakers.

In the middle of the block was a shop with a neatly painted sign above the door “Women's Armor.” Inside, Walchyra was sitting behind the counter working on her ledger. Today was Tuesday, which meant that it was “Shop Day.” Most other days, she would be at her forge, but on Tuesdays she would open the shop and take the opportunity to keep her ledgers up to date.

Walchyra looked up when the door opened, and could hardly stifle a groan. The man who had just walked into the store had every sign of being one of “those” customers. His clothing just screamed “entitle noble brat.” His silken shirt was open down the front just enough to advertise that the guy hadn't worked a day in his life. The rapier at his side was so flimsy that Walchyra wouldn't have trusted it to put a hole in rotted bark, and his heroic attempt to grow a beard was wispier than a cloud during the summer drought.

She put on her best saleswoman face and asked “May I help you sir?” At first, the fop didn't respond to her, but instead looked around the shop, examining the pieces of armor on the walls. She had helmets and legplates and some breastplates and even a suit of mail. The man looked at each of them and shook his head.

Finally, he turned to her. “I was told that you made the finest women's armor in town. Unless you keep your superior stock where it cannot be stolen, I would have to consider your reputation to be overstated.”

“No, you will not grab the mace from behind the counter and brain this idiot,” she thought as she tried to collect her temper.

“Well, as for the reputation, I try to let my work speak for itself. However, these are just odd sample pieces. I normally make each piece individually,” she said.

He seemed to brighten up a bit. “Oh! So this is just the leavings for the public. Perhaps you can make what I want then. You see, the woman I am courting has the odd desire to be a warrior. You realize, I would not normally associate with such a thing, but she does have certain... charms you might say.”

“Oh, so he's after her money or her body... or both.”

Walchyra nodded, and the man took that as an excuse to ramble on. “I would like to gift her with a piece of fine armor. Would that be possible?”

“Oh, absolutely. Of course, we'd have to her come in, figure out what her size is so that I could make something suitable. What kind of armor did you have in mind? Full plate mail? Scale mail?”

The man looked astonished when he heard that. “Plate mail? Oh, no, no, that wouldn't do at all. That wouldn't be remotely feminine. She is truly a most beautiful creature and such armor would hide her best features! No, I would like the sort of thing the Ulurakith wear.”

“Oh, sweet Nerlana. The Ulurakith? One tribe ruled by a line of warrior queens two oceans away and every foppish idiot thinks he knows how they dress?”

“Sir, I have never seen Ulurakith armor, so I am unaware what you have been told.”

The fop looked down at her. “Well, perhaps you have not. After all, you are unlikely to have read widely after all. They are a wild tribe of women and they wear the most enchanting armor. It's a light metal top, barely enough to make it legal for them to go out into public. Then a bare hint of a skirt and knee boots. In fact, I believe I have an illustration in this book.”

He reached around in his bag and pulled out a book and it opened immediately to the page in question. “Yup, the spine of the book is cracked to that exact page. Again.”

“Sir, you obviously don't truly love this woman, do you?”

The man's eyes nearly flew out of his face. “How dare you say such a thing? I do indeed love my sweet Lurana! How could you say something like that! I should have you...”

Walchyra cut him off. “Well, you obviously don't love her if you want to buy her this kind of armor!”

The fool calmed a bit, figuring that this was just some kind of a peasant way to haggle with him about the price and sell him something more expensive.”

“I see, you think it needs gold trim or the like?”

“No, I said you don't love her, because this isn't armor at all. Just look at this. It hardly protects anything. Her stomach is wide open, one good sword thrust and she'll either have a huge scar, or more likely she'll be thrown into a grave somewhere. Armor is meant to protect you, not be something which a woman wears when she wants to take someone to bed with her!”

The man looked crestfallen, but to her surprise, he didn't simply turn away and storm out. Instead, he went over to the wall and started looking closely at one of the breastplates hung there. She could hear him muttering. “Indeed, the foul mouthed peasant may have a point. Sweet Lurana might not take to such a thing well. Perhaps I should...” With that, he reached up to the breastplate and started caressing it.

Walchyra sighed and went back behind the counter. She longed to grab her trusty mace, but instead she reached out and pulled out another breastplate. This one was a bit unusual, in that it had two large protrusions in the armor where a woman's breasts would be.

The fop turned and when he saw it, his eyes gleamed. “Yes! Exactly! Perhaps your reputation is deserved after all! This would be outstanding!”

“No sir, in fact, I got this out to show you why this would be such a bad idea.”

The man looked at her puzzled. “Why would this be a bad idea? After all it covers her up, just like you said!”

“Sir, I'm going to put this armor onto this wooden stand over here. I'd like you to take your rapier and drive it into her chest.”

The man awkwardly pulled out his rapier, and with a very rough strike aimed for her chest. The point of the blade hit along the side of one of the protrusions, and the point of the sword drove into the armor, right in between the breasts.

“You see sir, that kind of armor can just end up slipping a blade into the center of a chest. Ideally, you'd like the armor to slip the point of the blade away from the person.”

“But, then what kind of armor would you have a woman wear? You say you make women's armor? What is it?”

Walchyra smiled. “Actually, it's not all that different from men's armor. There are a few places where you need to shape it differently, and there is a trick in that, especially for certain women. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same.

The man turned and left without another word, which she honestly found to be a relief.

Six weeks later

It was once again store day, and once again, Walchyra looked up when she heard the door open. This time, it was a tall woman with long blonde hair. One look at her arms made it clear that she was used to work, and Walchyra suspected that the sword on her belt was much more than decorative.

“May I help you?” she asked.

“Why, yes. I hear that you make the best women's armor that there is? I mean, I've been so looking forward to it. I used to be engaged to this idiot Penves, but that wasn't ever really my choice don't you know! It was my parents idea. Anyway, he promised to get me new armor from you! I mean, I have armor, but I've gotten so tall that it doesn't fit so well as I would want. I think I'll give it to my little sister, but then I need something good to replace it.”

Walchyra found herself liking the woman, despite the fact that she evidently had no need to breath while talking.

The woman plowed on “Well, you know, like I said, Penves was going to get me something here, but instead he got something stupid. I mean, he went on about how the Ulurakith are the greatest warriors and all of this, but that armor he got me was so, so stupid! Maybe it would have worked at the beach, but on a battlefield? I would have been better off naked. At least no worse, though it was about the same I guess. Anyway, that just wasn't good at all. That's not why he's my ex-fiance though, my parents found out that he was off with some barmaid! He had the gall to blame me, because I refused to... well anyway, you get the point. But, all of that, I need armor, and so what do you have?”

“Well ma'am, what I have on the walls here are samples. If I were to make you something, it would be made just for you, so we can get the size right. But, judging by your sword, I would say you want something fairly heavy duty. Like this breastplate over here. Of course, we would also do leggings and the like, but this would be the start.”

She took it down and handed it to the woman. The woman looked at it, and checked the weight. “Oh, I like this. It's nice and heavy, heavy enough to be good protection, but not so heavy that it would slow me down. “ She rapped the steel with her knuckles “Seems like a good quality of steel too, I like that ring. Now you mentioned leggings?

“Yes ma'am,” said Walchyra. She went across the room and pulled a pair of leggings off the wall. They were leather pants with metal plates attached at key points to provide a bit more protection.

The woman examined the leggings, and checked the quality of the leather as well as the way the plates were attached to it. When she got to the top, she stopped and felt it a second time.

“Wait, could this be?”

Walchyra grinned. “Yes, pockets.”

“You ARE the best women's armor maker in town!”

Evil and Villainy (Spoilers abound, be aware)

It's been awhile, but once again I return to this long lost bit of the internet to muse and be ignored.  As the title suggests, there will be spoilers here, especially for RWBY (as the last 2 week's episodes are what sent me down this road.)  I'll also talk a bit about the nature of Terra from Teen Titans, and who knows where else I'll meander. 

(I told you, RWBY spoilers.... if you haven't seen through V6 E12, be warned)





Many things have happened in RWBY the last few weeks, but the one that got my attention was a very particular aspect of the battle between Blake and Yang on one side, and Adam on the other.  After all this time, Adam Taurus finally "unmasked" himself and we saw his face.   A face that has been tattooed with "SDC" (Schnee Dust Company presumably). 

Now, Adam has been one of the clearest out and out villains the show has.  A man driven by rage and anger, a faunus who deeply feels the offenses against his people and lashes out as brutally as he can.  Now, this isn't new for the character.  We've seen the seething rage in him almost from his introduction, and we've certainly seen it grow over the last couple of seasons into a deep froth.  He's Magneto at his coldest and angriest, but perhaps even more so.

Yet, at the same time, seeing the tattoo, and seeing the casual persecution of the faunus throughout the series, it's clear that he has become a villain who was broken by others.  The lash of persecution has driven him beyond the brink.  He's certainly still evil, and his actions drive that point home time and again.

This seems to be a constant in our literary development of villains any more.  Villains have a "reason" a cause.  They were in some way, created by the malice of others.  Anakin may have been troubled, but he was not driven past the edge until the death of his mother and the manipulation of Palpatine and so forth.

It's been interesting to watch the evolution of Terra in the Teen Titans.  If you go back and read the original "Judas Contract" series in the comic, she's portrayed as being pretty much a "bad seed."  Yes, she worked with Slade, but you get the sense that the malice, anger and evil that lived within her was part of her very nature.  In more recent versions (From the 90's Teen Titans and the more recent DC Animated Movie of the Judas Contract), she's much different.  She's troubled, but fundamentally manipulated into her evil by Slade, and in one form or another finds a level of redemption.

Is evil from within or without?  The answer is often... yes.  That is to say, there are people who are broken by circumstance and manipulation and are twisted into being something else.  So certainly, a villain like Adam is a very real thing.  We can look at history and find any number of examples of people who are like that.

Yet, it's also easy to find people in history who are drawn down an evil path on their own.  Perhaps by their own boundless ambition, or maybe even by something which is just "wrong" within them from first causes.  To ignore those things is to shift blame and responsibility.  To say "every villain is a victim" is facile and ignores the darkness which lies in man's soul.

There is a place in both, so this certainly isn't meant a complaint about Adam.  He is what he is. 

The evil of Salem is a bit harder to fully grasp, because there are so many ingredients to the stew.  Her Rapunzel like origin certainly hurt her, but so much was driven by her rage at Oz's death.  Her natural and profound sorrow was transformed into anger and a sense of being ill used by the world.  Then, she turned herself into a catspaw between the dark and light, and eventually "fell into the darkness" entirely.  Is she victim or villain?  It's... hard to say.  A bit of both really.

This is something I struggle with in my own writing and creating of villains.  I may never actually write these stories, but I can give a short precis to get the idea across (a great deal is in my head, but I rarely write.  It is what it is.)

One of the major characters in my current thinking of the world of Panthelia is Centina.  She's a child of the Ulurakith (like Alelneia, but not from the same family.)  Now, the Ulurakith are a bit of a mixed people.  They have some noble qualities, and some very troublesome ones. That's intentional.  One thing about them is that they are great believers in physical strength and ability, and almost turn it into an idol.  The flip side is that they not only distrust magic, but actively despise it. It's evil, untrustworthy and the like.

However, in Panthelia magic is something which can arise in certain people for no fully understood reason.  It's almost parallel to mutants in the Marvelverse (at least in that respect.)   What do you do if you are a people that loathes magic and a child with affinity arises?  Well, Centina is one of those kids.  She was already a bit suspect in that for an Ulurakith, she was small and scrawny as a child, terrible in a people that idolizes strength. 

How did her mother respond?  Well, she turned upon her own flesh and blood.  She was duty bound to raise the child until age 15, but from that point, she threw Centina out, and did everything she could to make Centina outcast in her little community.  There were a very few who disagreed, but Centina, almost in despair, chose to simply leave town, desperate and alone.

Is mommy dearest a villain? Most certainly.  Her motives are such an overweening attachment to the traditions of the Ulurakith that she turned upon her own daughter.  So, her evil was born of both the internal and the external.

On the other hand, you have Barakan, a dragon who is determined to be the top dog (er, dragon.)  He's not even really sure what he wants to do with that power, but he knows he deserves it.  His evil is more or less internal.  It's boundless ambition, even if undirected. (He does have some yes-dragons who speak in his ear and reinforce that inanity, but they're only pumping up what was already there.)

There is a place for both in stories. 

I may post up some more later on Centina and momma, as she's a pretty hard character to get your mind around, and raises other tricky questions.

Well this meaningless ramble is over.

Why I'm reading more manga

For about the last year or so, I've found myself reading more manga than American Comics.  In fact, it's not even especially close.  Why is that?

Well, I'm sure that I can pinpoint various reasons, including some things I said way back when this blog was more or less active, but I think it comes down to a few things.  I'm just meandering and writing off the cuff here, so take it as it is.

First off, I enjoy that manga is so much more self contained than comics from the Big Two.  Once upon a time, I really enjoyed the expansive universes that Marvel and DC had, where you had all kinds of characters across all kinds of books doing all kinds of things.  There's still something neat about that, but frankly, I think it causes more headaches than anything.

I imagine a part of it is the simple marketing aspect.  You want to push a new character?  Give them a cameo in a bigger book!  Who cares if it really fits that book or not, you need to find a way to work them in!

The deeper problem though is that it really creates way too much opportunity to crush the narrative flow.  I've commented before on the problems that big events create on books.  A book can really be cruising along, and then here comes the big event, and things start changing.  It's worse when the entire universe gets rebooted. (See: DC).

On the other hand, most manga tends to be self-contained stories.  The author is much more free to tell the story that they want to. They can build it, and bring it to a satisfying end on their own terms.  I just read Servant x Service not long ago, and in the final volume, the author brought it to a very clean, unrushed ending, with the major subplots all dealt with in a very satisfying way.  I'm sure manga authors get more than a few "editorial suggestions" along the way, but they don't seem to be nearly as destructive or disruptive as being part of the shared universes of Marvel and DC.

Of course, this is helped a great deal by the fact manga titles are closely tied to the author.  If you're reading a Big Two book, you never know when the author or penciller will get changed for some unfathomable editorial reason, with who knows what results.  You don't get that with manga in the same way.  That helps again with the whole "keeping the narrative flow" idea.

Secondly, I do believe I'm getting fairly close to being heroed out.  Oh, I still like the movies, and some of the manga I read are "heroic", but Manga have a great deal more freedom to be about pretty much anything.  I've hugely enjoyed manga lately about "Love, grief and baseball", "Competitive Japanese game with cards," and "Working in a prefectural office" lately*, as just a few examples.

I imagine that largely goes to the fact that I've always been more interested in the characters than heroism or the like, and some of these books are fantastic character studies.

Now, I realize, that a great deal of what I've said here likely also applies to at least some Indie comics here in the US.  A great deal of the Indie stuff I've seen has just been another guy's take on superheroes (Astro City, Irredeemable for instance), but I know that there's other stuff out there,and if you have suggestions, feel free to post them, I'm always willing to gake a gander.



* Cross Game, Chihayafuru, Servant x Service

Panthelia: Bound

A quiet morning, and a bit of a ficlet here.  This is the Origin of my world of Panthelia.  As with most things, it's very much a WIP, but it's really something to set up the overall cosmology.

Special trivia challenge: Who can figure out what movie characters the two brothers are based on? Bwahahahhahaha.  I'll answer later.


++

The two beings were ancient beyond telling, yet they were neither source nor beginning. When they came into being, there was already existence, there was already life. Neither fully understood his nature, but simply knew that they were the only two beings of their nature in the universe.

When they awakened, they found a great multitude of worlds that already teemed with life spread across the stars. The inhabitants of those worlds were varied and fascinating to the two brothers, for that is how they'd come to think of one another.

For many eons, the brothers were well content to watch and observe the countless worlds. They debated endlessly why one world took one path, while others branched out in different ways. They saw worlds destroy themselves in mindless fury, while others would overcome all the challenges of hatred and survive another day, another year, another eon.

In time, the simple sport of watching the countless worlds began to lose some of its appeal, and the two brothers decided it was time to start experimenting on the worlds. At first, many of their actions were small and subtle, and they delighted in watching the ripples of their work bring changes to the worlds they experimented on.

This game went on for many more centuries, with the brothers endlessly debating the consequences of one action or another. They shaped worlds to their liking again and again. On one world, they would fill it with magic, to see how the people of that would would cope with such awesome power. On another world, they would strip it of all magic, that they might observe how people built a world on understanding, craft and artifice.

One day, a new debate arose between the brothers: “Could a world escape the bounds of a tight and devastating fate?” Long they debated, but both knew where the debate would end. There would need to be a world with a fate of devastation and destruction laid upon it. They would weave the fate to create a time where that fate could be challenged, and see where it led.

They found a world, one that already had life, but they began to reshape it to their whim. It had been a world with weak magic, but they poured more and more power into that world, concentrated it, and then tied it behind a strong but fragile barrier. Would would this world do with that power? They filled the world with magical creatures, who would live side by side with humanity. They brought dragons from a far distant world, and filled them with yet greater power, the power to speak and reason. They might be shepherds or wolves, as their whims would lead them.

Yet, the dragons were not the centerpiece of their experiment, but one part. The centerpiece, those upon whom fate would be focused, would be the Ten. Ten people, some with great power, some with none, but all of them chained by fate in one form or another. Men and women of joy and tragedy, vision and blindness, power and helplessness. They were bound and chained by fate, yet the last of them would be the one who would have a moment, the least opportunity to sunder those shackles and avert destruction.

For those ten, a great hall was built, nowhere and yet between everywhere, a place where the Ten could abide while the experiment continued. From the day they passed from this world until the day the experiment ended, they would remain in the Hidden Hall. Was this a blessing or a curse? The brothers cared little. They people they watched were but the subjects of their experiments.

Would those Ten stand or fall? Would that world stand or fall. To the brothers, it was simply a question they would use to pass the time. However, to the people of that world, bound by that fate, it was something far greater. It was their own lives and loves, their own joys and sorrows which they played with.

In all their debate, the brothers did not consider what rage the people of that world might show them in time. What is more, they had long forgotten to consider a simple question: “If the brothers were not the first, then what was?”

What anime character do you fear?

Yesterday, I managed in my usual klutzy fashion to knock the DVD case for Crest of the Stars off my shelf.  Well, it popped open and disk 1 fell out.  I glanced at the disk and noticed that there was a scratch on the disk.  Well now, what do you do?  I threw it into the player to see if it would still work.

Where did that end? Well, I ended up mainlining all of Crest. (On to Banner!)  I'd forgotten just how much I love that series, and well, away we go.

In any case, I was talking about this last night to the guy who'd originally gotten me to watch Crest/Banner, and mentioned that I hadn't caught how intense Lafiel's death-glare is in Crest before.  Likely that's because I now know just how scary she can be from Banner 2, and can see the signs in her confrontation with Febdash.

Long story short, that brought up the question "What anime characters do you really not want to make mad at you?"  Honestly, that's a bit of an odd question.  There are lots and lots and lots of anime characters who have the power to just entirely wipe you off the face of the earth... yet there are fewer who have the ability to excite a level of existential dread "I'm doomed!"  The kind of enemy you will always be looking over your shoulder for, even if you think you've gotten away.

So, in any case, I have been thinking of the list, and here are some thoughts.  Now, this will simply be heroes and tweeners.  Of course, you know the villain is going to be out for your hide.

1) Lafiel: Crest/Banner of the Stars.

People who haven't seen Crest/Banner might not think of Lafiel as so scary. She's young, thin, almost waifish.  Surely someone who looks like this can't be dangerous:

 
She's honestly kind of adorable (and shows us why we call this show "Elves in Space")

On the other hand:

Urk!  Same series (Crest of the Stars) but that's what you get when you upset her.  Don't ever think of upsetting an Abh.  Just don't.

2) Roy Mustang (Full Metal Alchemist).  What do you get when you have a pyrokinetic who knows how to hold a grudge? (Spoilers here if you haven't seen FMAB)

He's perhaps the perfect example.  The man has a serious grudge, the power to back it up, and that enjoyment that comes from seeing his revenge done,

3) Shiroe (Log Horizon)

This one is a bit weird.  He's never killed anyone, and quite frankly, with the rules of the world, he can't. (Well, it's a trapped in a video game world, so anyone he does kill just gets rezzed.)  That said, he's called the Villain in Glasses for a reason.  He's usually at least 3 steps ahead of anyone, and doesn't much mind humiliating or breaking you in the process.  Utterly ruthless, but thankfully he's on the side of the angels.

Sadly, this vid is not the best Shiroe moment (I'd say that's when he creates the Round Table), but it's good.  Oh, Krusty gets an honorable mention.  In Log Horizon, always beware the people in glasses.  Always.

Maybe I'll put up some more as I think of them.

Remember, the idea isn't simply "the one who can kill you dead in a messy way."  We've got plenty of those from Kenshiro onward, but the ones who inspire that unholy fear that reaches into the depths of your lower colon.

(Honorable Mentions off the top of my head: Harlock, Emeraldas, Mirya Parino, Rally Cheyenne, Rally Vincent, Sylia Stingray.)

Twin Exiles: Prologue

Well, in the last couple days, a few plot bunnies have decided to be born, and this is the start of the story that drags them together.  This is all part of a larger universe I have of Panthelia.  I have a number of stories here, but quite frankly, the older stories need to be rethought from moment one.

In any case, I figured I may as well use this dusty blog to put up bits and pieces as I write.

Twin Exiles

Prologue

There are few highlights in the growth of a young dragon more dramatic than the first time it's allowed to fly beyond the bounds of the Eyrie. Yet, it's an intensely private moment as well. Maybe it was because there were so few young dragons. There was a natural temptation to make that first flight a community event, a kind of “coming out party” for the new flier. However, the traditions of the Eyrie were clear. The young dragon would be allowed to choose its own path. The parents may want to fuss and fly protective circles, but not even they were allowed to interfere in the first flight.

Arsiana stood alone at the edge of the cliff, her shoulder length hair whipping in the wind. She looked like many other ten year old girls, except for that hair. Her raven black hair had a slight metallic sheen to it, a color you would not find in humans. It contrasted with her pale skin, but matched her deep black eyes.

Arsiana took another look over the cliff, at the ground far below her. She didn't feel a single bit of fear, but instead she was filled with excitement. She was going to soar into those clouds, and see a world that she'd never seen with her own eyes.

She smiled and concentrated slightly, placing her hands together in front of her, palm to palm. She was quickly surrounded by an inky black cloud, and within that cloud, she began to grow and change. Where there had been a little girl, there now stood a dragon. She wasn't an especially large dragon to be sure, only about ten foot from nose to tail, but she was still young, and had many years left to grow. She was covered in metallic black scales, and a hint of her black hair remained as a mane on the back of her head.

She extended her black wings and jumped off the cliff, catching herself in the winds which swirled about the high mountain of the Eyrie. She'd been told that the wings couldn't truly carry her, they were too small, too weak to carry her weight. However, the wings were a part of the magic of dragonflight. Dragons who'd lost their wings in a fight or an accident found themselves unable to fly ever again. Arsiana's wings did not fail her. She soared across the sky, exulting in the pure joy of her very first flight.

She looked down at the ground far below her. She was flying above a forest which ran on both sides of a small river. There was a small clearing in the woods, and she could make out the buildings far below her which marked it as a town of some kind. She no sooner saw that town, and an irresistable urge came over her. She needed to go down to that town and look at it. The need to see this town cried out in her mind.

She angled her flight down, and started to descend to the town far below her. Slowly but surly, the details of the town filled her vision. She knew it wasn't one of the great cities of the humans, she'd been told that none of them were close enough to the Eyrie for her to reach in the short time she'd been flying.

What was she looking for? She really had no idea. It was something important, but she had no idea what. She landed in the courtyard of the town, not really noticing the surprised reactions of the townspeople. If she'd been looking closely, she might have noticed that many of them seemed nervous, and a couple of them looked to where they kept their weapons.

Arsiana never noticed these things, because she was focused on a single house in town. It wasn't a large or grand house, but it was somehow important to her. Slowly, the head of a young girl appeared in one of the windows. She looked to be a little younger than Arsiana did when she was in her human form. Is this what she was looking for? Arsiana looked again, and the girl looked back at her. Their eyes met, and in that moment, Arsiana knew: this wasn't the one. This isn't what was calling her, but somehow, some way, she was connected to it.

After a few moments, Arisiana decided that her parents were likely getting a bit nervous about where she was. She jumped into the air, and began the long, slow climb back to the Eyrie. Mother had promised that they'd have all of her favorites for dinner tonight, and she could almost smell the roast mutton already.

++

A young girl watched the black dragon ascend into the sky. “Mother? Why did that black dragon come here? Why was it looking at Cerena's house?”

The queen knelt down next to her daughter “I don't know Alelneia, it seemed to be looking for something.”

++

Nerlana, High Queen of the Dragons watched as the young black dragon flew up over the edge of the launching cliff. “The poor dear, she looks tired. She must have flown all the way to the ground.”

She watched as Arsiana turned back into her human form, and ran into the arms of her proud mother. “It's been a good day. It's been too long since we've had a first flight,” she thought. “I just hope that the rest of her days are filled with joy, instead of something worse...”

Even as that thought entered her mind, she noticed something. She looked closely at the young girl with her ancient gold eyes. The child had returned bearing the mark of fate. Only the eyes of a gold dragon could see that cursed mark, but it made clear that this young girl's life would be marked with triumph and joy, and difficulty and sorrow. She could only hope that she Arsiana would see more joy than sorrow.