The Book of Forbidden Spells: Come to Light

PROLOGUE

After a while, cool night air feels like raking claws through scales. You'd think being a Nightwing, Legend would have more tolerance to it. Normally, he did. But flying for nearly three days straight through the dark, open sky starts to tear a dragon down. Legend was never the athletic type, so he knew he'd start to feel the effects of this in a few hours after landing. Maybe sooner.

The destination was nearing. Though, something from within told him to go back anyways. There were so many reasons flowing through his mind that he couldn't put a talon on why exactly he should. Every reason melding together sounded like shrieking, agonizing gibberish. So much so that he couldn't decipher a single piece of it. Maybe that meant there was no reason to turn back at all.

Within the madness of a screeching mind, Legend swore he began hallucinating. Below him, orange and yellow lights flickered underneath treetops. After some scanning of his surroundings, he realized it was all real. There was no turning back now.

The relief of his palms connecting with the ground nearly caused him to drop into a deep sleep right there. The grass below him was a cloud. A warm, solid cloud that let him break from the sky to touch with his wings and tail and talons.

Legend must've looked pretty silly rustling himself against the ground because he detected a pair of tiny eyes on him. Within a house nearby, peeping out of the window, a Seawing dragonet watched him with a startled expression. The moment they made eye contact the little thing vanished from his view, then very discreetly continued observing him. Legend gave an awkward smile, stood straight, then turned his attention to the sign before him.

Welcomewood.

Welcome. He was welcome here.

Well, even if he wasn't, there was no questioning if he'd be better off at home. It's not like he was really given a choice to stay, anyways. Being booted at 18 was inevitable and his parents had been foreshadowing it for years. As well as his brother, who was a seer, just fully telling him that it was going to happen.

At the Nightwing kingdom, Legend knew there was no chance of success. But here at Welcomewood, there would be something for him. A job, a family, a roommate, a friend. Even just his own home. There was no failing in Welcomewood. There were no disappointments in Welcomewood.

The steps taken to begin his walk down the street were somehow both weightless and unsteady. Within seconds he not only stopped feeling the grass, but couldn't feel the floor at all. It was as if he was truly walking on air, now.

Even though there was a numbness traveling into his limbs he could still feel the warmth immersing his scales. All the homes and shops blocking the chilly air and heating it with the golden glow of lamps and torches. Fireflies even joined in, dancing to help light the night.

The streets were thankfully quiet, and clear. But as Legend got deeper into town, more dragons appeared. Mostly, if not all, Nightwings. He was quick to avoid their gaze and block his thoughts, just in case. Legend never considered his scales to be pretty, like some dragons said they were, but he knew they were brighter than your average Nightwing for whatever reason. It made him painfully recognizable amongst them, especially if they already knew who he was. He figured it'd be unlikely that anyone here knew him, but Legend was extra cautious, still.

Walking through and giving his wings a rest was only pushing his need for sleep. But he had no clue where he was trying to go, and knew he'd have to end up talking to someone just to figure out where to stay.

Legend would wait to talk, though. The exhaustion from flying was too much to bear the pain of speaking. Ahead, a  shadowy alley called to him.

So he followed the summoning into the pitch black, only a few lightning bugs illuminating his path. He took a seat, so his talons could fiddle with the pouch slung around his neck and get into it. Coins jingled inside, but that wasn't what Legend was looking for.

Instead, he pulled out a long, gold, twinkling chain. At the end of it hung a sapphire gem, flawlessly rounded into a little oval. Held in the center, a silver crescent with the tiniest stars floating around it. Legend focused into the reflection of the sky. Now, with the clouds parting, the shapes of both moons aligned so sharply within another.

Legend would be fine here. In this space, he would exist.