" Come fairies,
take me out of this dull world,
for i would ride with you upon the wind,
and dance upon the mountains like a flame."
- William Butler Yeats
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On a noiseless Sunday afternoon, a woman clad in scale armor approached the door of a small thatch hut on the outskirts of an almost inconsequential village and hesitated. She had not come by, boat, train, or truck. She had not hitched a ride with a peddler, nor had she walked. Simply preferring to appear, as if stepping out of the clouds. The woman knocked on the door once and waited only a moment before stepping inside.
A man opened the door leading to the bedroom and whipped a hand over his face," What do you want-" Colour drained from the man's face upon seeing the women at the entrance, and a female voice called out behind his back," Love? Who is it?"
The woman at the door smirked, but when she spoke it was all teeth and ice," Is that your lover Christophe?" Her voice was oddly accented and when she moved deeper into the form Christophe moved to block her.
The sound of a small child's cries echoed throughout the night and the stranger stilled," Is that my child, Christophe?"Christophe shook his head violently," No, there is no child-" He stuttered in and out, never able to keep his voice from shaking.
The woman straightened and looked down her long nose," I've seen a lot in my lifetime. I've seen the moon rise in the morning. I've seen the ocean without a single droplet of water, but I'll admit; I've never heard of a child crying born from nothing," She stepped closer until the woman was nose to nose with the human man that had stolen her heart and in the same breath broken it she spoke again, her breath creating clouds of frost," Do you know what it was like to return home to find my husband and child gone?"
Christophe had no words, and could only take several steps back in fright as the picture before him started to crumble once more, and the glittering image of the women before him began to change. Skin turning to a modeled shade of black, scales replacing flesh. Teeth that seemed too large for her mouth and eyes that seemed too large for her face.
Shaking his head she spoke for the first time his voice was clear," I was unhappy with you. I had to leave."
The woman frowned," You vowed to love me Christophe, you were supposed to love me."
Christophe could only shake his head," I do not love you Aderha."
Aderha laughed, her voice brittle," What is the vow of human worth? Not much it would seem." And although Aderha could not see the other women she could sense her. She had snuck out of the back and was behind Adhera, holding a blade of iron. A weapon to kill. A weapon Christophe had obviously given her.
Betrayal tasted stale on Adhera's lips and she spun on her heels. The blade stopped short a hairs breath away from piercing Aderha's beating heart and she grinned, her black eyes glowing. The women screamed, but it was too late. Aderha spoke the words and watched as the women fell to the floor in a lifeless heap. So silent was her death that the only noise she made was the thud of falling to the dirt floor, and then, nothing.
Christophe gasped," You're a monster!"
Aderha spun on her heels," I am no monster."He waved his hands in the air," Don't touch me-"
Aderha narrowed her eyes," Don't run from me, Christophe." But he did run, his legs moved, tripping over the body of his dead lover and Aderha moved quickly, her hand's lips moving to weave an enchantment of death. The man dropped to the floor before he even made it to the small door.
Aderha stood inside the little thatch house and for the first time that day, let the pain of betrayal etch the curve of her cheeks and let her lips tear themselves apart as she finally wept. A baby's cry cut her pain short and Adhera stumbled to the cot where a small child of copper skin lay. It's arms reaching out, begging to be picked up.
To be taken away.
" I shall name you Astra."
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Astra stared at her reflection in the clawfooted floor-length mirror. Sage had adorned her in a brocade of gold and scarlet that draped over her like a canopy of elderflowers drifting in the ever-changing wind," Now, don't forget to bow and-"
Astra tuned out Sage's words, she'd spent the morning listening to Sage prattle on about the ceremony. It would appear the fox was more anxious about this than even Astra. Her hair had been pulled back into an elaborate knot bunched at the top of her head like a storm cloud.
Today was special, it was the day she'd finally be acknowledged as her mother's daughter. The time between dusk and night where Aderha, the mother of dragons would bestow upon Astra the markings of a celestial being.
Nerves racked Astras' child-like brain. She walked out of her bedroom and up the many flights of stairs her footfalls the only noise in the quiet stairwell. Finally, she emerged at the very top of the palace in the sky and stared at the open sky with a relieved breath. She wasn't late, thank the sun.
The clouds cast a halo above her as she set foot on the peak. Astra bowed her head to the mother dragon. Such proceedings would be seen by those in the sky, she could not make a mistake not today. The world around her was silenced until only that of the mother dragon bending the cosmos to her will could be heard. The whoosh of stars moving and the sound of planets realigning on her small body sent shockwaves through her. Such power. It was too much too soon. Tiny pinpricks etched themselves into her flesh and then there was nothing.
The silence that had once been there disappeared and the sound of shooting stars and cheering constellations suddenly bombarded her. The mother Adhara smiled a toothy grin," You, my child, have now been marked with the constellations may the cosmos cherish you from now on my child."
Smiling Astra gazed at the white markings on her copper skin. Such a gift will never be forgotten.
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" Have you already forgotten what those markings mean Astra?" The dragon, Adhara grumped. Astra just laughed and jumped onto her mother's back, laying down and enjoying the sun was one of her most enjoyed pastimes. Especially if Mother Adhara decided to fly around for a bit, the wind was truly a godsend in this heat. Along with the new markings, her hair had also turned a crystal white.
" I haven't forgotten mum. I simply don't care to learn these things." And why should she have to learn mathematics?
Snorting her mother reprimanded her," And what should happen when you realise you have grown too stupid to figure out a simple math equation? The constellations will look down upon you."
" The constellations are too busy to notice a girl that doesn't want to do math"
" The constellations girl, see everything. They hear everything."
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" Mum! Look, Mum! I finally did it! You won't believe how cool this looks! The stars! Look, Mum!" But her mother was nowhere to be found. Consequently, no one was anywhere to be found.
Astra wandered the castle walls for many months in search of her mother, in search of any being. The only one she had been able to find was Sage but no matter how she queried as to her mother's whereabouts Sage wouldn't utter a word on the matter. Simply saying that the mother Adhara had gone. Her hair a crystal white had now turned back to its original dark brown coils.
It was July 7, X777.
The first day of many where her mother Adhara could not be found. The crystalline scales she had grown used to seeing had long since disappeared. The fading memories ached inside Astra's beating heart.
She had gone and had left Astra with little more than a myth of what she once had.
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" Are you okay?" A boy she had not noticed asked. The world she had once thought she knew was no more. It crumbled and while she was sleeping it all unraveled. Her vixen, Sage was the one that dragged her out and onto the earth's plains.
Astra stared uncertainly at the boy with pink spiky hair," I don't think so." She wasn't okay, not at all.
" Come back with me then," The boy held out his hand," My guild will take you in we are family!"
Family...
She could use a family right now," Alright." And with that, the two kids ventured back to the guild and Astra questioned her actions many times, and many times over she was reassured by not only herself but her vixen friend that this would be okay.
It's okay and even when you think it's not okay, It's okay.