Where have the dragons gone, and why is the land dying?
Blue Shark sets out from her distant island home for the continent of Pyrrhia, brimming with excitement and determined to prove herself to her family.
But something is very wrong.
Dragons ar...
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Blue had never been truly lonely.
Sure, once or twice she had felt alone when she was wandering the empty halls of Gannet Pre-Wings Academy For Dragonets, or sitting on the ocean floor waiting for Vaquita, her mother. She would crouch in the sand, shivering, watching the schools of fish swirl by. But that was not real loneliness. It was not the loneliness that fills you with a deep ache, the loneliness that makes you feel as if you'll never see another dragon again, or hear another voice but your own.
The kind that makes you long for anyone, anyone, just to see another face.
Blue lay in the darkness for hour, watching the last sparks land on the hearth in the the great hall and die. The grey light in the other room slowly faded, and the wind howled sadly outside like a lone wolf, it's sound muffled by the walls.
It was night.
But which night?
She resolved to ask the stranger a few questions when he returned. Where was she? How long had she been there? How long would she be there? Who was he?
As time passed, her restlessness increased. She shivered, more from nervousness than the cold, and waited anxiously. A candle flickered on one of the shelves, but its pale light was not comforting. She did not know how long it had been since she had recovered from the drugs. Her foreleg was still numb. There was no way to tell, unable to see the moon.
She remembered the moon... the bright, tropical moon, hanging low over the sea, and her heart ached. How long would it be until she could see it again?
The embers cooled into black char. A heavy darkness settled over the place, and, except for the dull wailing of the wind and her own breathing, there was no sound. She took slow, shallow breaths, hating the echo of the loud rasp.Blue had never been afraid of the darkness, but now an uneasy feeling settled into her bones. She was incapacitated, helpless.
And alone.
She stared into the black, hardly daring to blink, afraid of something moving when she closed her eyes.It was just her—her and the wind, scratching at the stone walls and the door, seeping through the cracks, hunting, hunting, until it could bite—
Whoever you are, dragon, please come back!
Please.
I can't stand it any more.
Blue sniffled. Why did she have to be by herself? Why did this all have to happen?
"Stupid, stupid little dragonet," she sniffed to herself, but a tear trickled down her cheek nonetheless. She curled up as tightly as she was able without incurring pain. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was lonely. Lonely and afraid. Afraid of the dark. Afraid of the storm. She could still feel the ice crusting her face, the whipping wind and waves tearing at her, ripping at her with needle-sharp claws.
