Starfallen Submissions, Part 6

At last our journey of beginnings comes to a close. Today, I present two broad-hearted dragons who have discovered the power of compassion. How will this often-ignored virtue express itself on Newhome? The path of true love is not easy, and both the greatest triumphs and greatest tragedies have been born from it.

GLOW, Guardian of the Future

Despite being called a monster by modern humans, the Sapphire Kin that made Loch Ness its home in the distant past was neither cruel nor bloodthirsty, but a compassionate oddity among the Kin of that age. With a gaze focused more on the future than the present, it turned away from the traditional draconic acceptance of survival of the fittest in favor of a different way.

Child of Fathom and a Ruby Kin, Glow was conceived under a mystic moon. Well-taught by its parents in the egg, its education was continued by whales, who taught Glow dream-magic and great skill in singing. It was their way of raising young, however… unbreakable bonds between parents and children that last a lifetime and are filled with love and cooperation… that fascinated Glow. It travelled the Atlantic, befriending cetaceans of many kinds from sperm whales to orcas to narwhals, joining their voyages and listening to their stories. It earned its name, which was “Warmth-of-Light” in the sperm whale language, by dragging a drowning calf out of the cold, dark depths to the surface in time to save its life.

Creating the next generation was the most meaningful part of life to Glow, and as soon as it emerged an adult from hibernation it sought to reproduce. Though stronger Kin refused it, regarding it as possessing an unhealthy excess of compassion, a few were attracted to the deeper wisdom and secrets it had learned from its many voyages in the farthest reaches of the ocean and it mated successfully. Instead of burying the eggs, delivering the lesson individually, and leaving them to their own devices, Glow kept the eggs near and unburied, taking them along with it to bask in the open sunshine. The in-egg lessons were communal, with the young dragons encountering each other’s minds in addition to their parent’s, and much more was taught in the lessons than usual. The other parent objected, claiming that such overpreparation and socialization would ultimately weaken the young dragons, but Glow was determined to change the nature of the parent/child relationship for its species.

After the Grand Moot, Glow’s clutch (a good-sized one, with four viable eggs) was almost ready to hatch. Knowing they would die if they remained on Earth, Glow petitioned Darktooth for inclusion in the exodus, offering a very rare artifact found in the darkest corner of the sea. It had a condition, though; its four living eggs must travel with it. Though Darktooth warned that the journey might have unpredictable effects on inchoate beings, the petition was ultimately accepted. On Newhome, Glow would discover the truth in its own new path of love, but also come to understand that this path has cruel and treacherous pitfalls previously unknown to dragonkind.

DREAMER, Astral Shapeshifter

The tropical forests of Colombia are fertile and filled with life, and it was here that the Emerald Kin who would one day be called the Dreamer spent its youth, hunting animals of many kinds in the winterless jungles and hills, growing slowly but surely in power and wisdom. Its spirit, however, was awakened by the rare experience of True Friendship with another animal, a relationship which was to prove soul-deep and last beyond death.

Many of the strongest friendships are forged in blood, and so it was with Dreamer and the jaguar. The two predators, rivals at first, met in battle many times, but eventually the wily jaguar found victory. Instead of killing the immature Draak, however, it allowed it to live. “We Slideclaws seek out amusement in many forms, and our Dances of Destruction have been the most amusing things I have experienced,” explained the huntress. “If I had Destroyed you, we could never Dance again. So I ask of you only one thing - survive, live, and grow more powerful. I shall do the same, and we shall Dance again.”

After that day, they sparred many times, each honing its skill, and soon they were sharing more than blows with each other. The jaguar taught the young Kin not merely to survive, but to truly live, finding deeper joy and fulfillment in the struggles and mysteries of the world. With the jaguar’s help, the young Kin discovered the art of lucid dreaming and mastered the art of astral shapeshifting, taking on the forms of many different animals from condors to tree frogs to spider monkeys in the Dreamtime. Though the experiences were not physical, they were true, and this made Dreamer a more powerful hunter and worthy custodian of its land than most Kin twice its age. As it explored the realm of dreams in ever more diverse bodies, it found a deep love and respect for prey and predator alike. The connection existing between all life was not merely a philosophical concept to Dreamer, but an immediate fact, and it danced along the web of life with great skill, learning new secrets with every sacred moment.

Though Dreamer’s friendship with the jaguar was its greatest treasure, it could not last. Jaguars do not live as long as Draak. When it grew old and weak, the Jaguar asked Dreamer for one final favor: a last Dance of Destruction. When it was over, the jaguar, mighty huntress and mother of many, was dead, and in an act of communion, Dreamer consumed her body so that the two friends would be one forever. It was a sad yet beautiful moment, the seal of years and wisdom gained.

Now a full-fledged adult, Dreamer was better-versed in the secrets and ways of all animals than even a few elders. The knowledge was not merely used for hunting, but also for spiritual growth. Every new form taken in dreams was a new perspective, a new truth, and Dreamer’s mind was now powerful and expansive as its body. After mating with Bloom, with whom it found a deep mutual attraction, it left its territory to its hatchlings and sought out Darktooth to join the voyage to Newhome. The animals of Earth had taught Dreamer much, but now it craved new enlightenment. What truths could be held by the lives and ways of animals from a different world?

Darktooth immediately recognized Dreamer’s deep wisdom and allowed it to join the exodus without payment. On Newhome, Dreamer would earn its passage many times over, bringing greater understanding of the new world’s pattern of life to all, becoming a champion of Newhome’s strange and wonderful animals and, in time, a true shaman of the Draak-Kin people.