Animus Legends of Pyrrhia

The Ink Dragon

Once, there was a SeaWing princess named Cay. She was a well known animus and author. She even drew portraits and maps. All over the kingdom, she would be praised for her beauty and her power.

Though she was loved all around the kingdom, Cay didn't have very many close friends. In fact, the only dragons she talked to frequently were Queen Coastal and King Tombolo. Her sisters, Isthmus and Azure, weren't as interesting to her as her parents were. Unlike Cay, they were interested in becoming Queen of the SeaWings. Cay never felt an urge to rule her tribe. She just wanted to draw and write, write and draw all day long.

One day, Cay realized how lonely she truly was. So she came up with a spell to chase the loneliness away. She enchanted her talons to bring her drawings to life on command.

First, she started out simple, drawing a crab to bring to life. At the first touch of her claw to the ink, the crab animated itself into life. The drawing jumped off of the paper and sprang to life, instantly crawling away from the bright blue dragon.

The SeaWing princess let it go, turning back to her paper. Now it's time to bring my new friend to life. She quickly sketched a drawing of a dragon. Not having anything specific in mind, Cay just added any feature from any tribe she could think of --- extra horns,  a prehensile tail, large wings.

When Cay finished, she noticed that the dragon turned out a bit sketchy and smudged. She had rushed while drawing, becoming more and more excited about her new friend and ability. Oh well. It'll turn out fine! She touched the tip of her talon to the paper.

Once again, the drawing started to animate itself. Slowly, a dragon stepped out of the scroll and unfurled its wings. It had inky, pitch-black scales, extra horns behind its head that clattered as it moved, a long, prehensile tail, and giant wings, just like it had been drawn. Cay stepped back and gazed at it in amazement.

For a long while, she just stood there and stared at her creation. She noticed with a panicked start that the entire dragon was the same dark tone all around. She thought that she had forgotten to draw the dragon's eyes, but then it suddenly opened them. Cay took a step back in wonder.

The dragon's eyes were the same dusty off-white color as the scroll it was drawn on.

"Hello?" Cay asked, suddenly realizing that she hadn't come up with a personality or memories or anything for her new friend. What a useless princess I am!

"H-Hello?" The inky dragon echoed in a creaky voice.

At least it can speak.

"Wow," Cay breathed in amazement. Even though she had failed to give any background information about this dragon, she had brought it to life. She wanted to show this to the entire Sea Kingdom. No --- all of Pyrrhia!

The ink dragon took a shaky step toward her, keeping its paper eyes focused on its creator. Cay quickly grabbed its forearm and pulled it out of the seaside cave they were in. She was startled to realize she hadn't even thought of giving Inky gills.

Inky? Ha! So it has a name now!

"Come on, Inky," the SeaWing said, tucking the scroll and ink in a bag around her shoulders. "Come fly with me!" She took off and did a flip in the air.

Inky stared up at her, then stretched its wings and shot into the sky. Cay guided her creation back to the Summer Palace, watching it glide easily through the clouds.

Not wanting to risk getting Inky in the water, Cay brought it in through the leafy roof, carefully replacing the leaves before descending onto the sand. She glanced around at the gathering blue and green dragons and gestured with her wing to the ink dragon.