Afterlife

From After to Life

In the land of the afterlife a dragon gave birth. It had happened before, but the offspring had always been dead as well. This time it was twins, both of alive and shining radiant amongst the faded dead. All the dead dragons thouht the twins just had been toutched by the lightning strike that killed their mother, and thus shone like it. There were no other hatchlings in the afterlife at the time, so they kind of belonged to everyone. They received lots of love.

It was a cobblestone city with pretty vegetable gardens and many crafting stands. The air was a little foggy without being polluted or wet. One could rarely see to the next mountain or ciry, or the sky for that matter. When you could it was amazing. It was said that the number of stars increased with every dead dragon and their colour represented their souls.

As no living creature had ever been borne in the afterlife it took several days before the guardians of the dead noticed. Clearvoyant dragons and Bakus had a tendency to pass trough any ethereal plane and was spotted about once a month, but residents were unheard of.

A big, armoured guardian came and snatched her off the ground. She had no idea why, as she had never done anything wrong. It was first when they stood by the city gate that she felt the panic grow. Her mother had said that those thrown out of the city went back to her old world. A world very different from her current safe home. The gates opened and the guardian threw her 2-3 metres away on the cobblestone. Not like a brute, but not gentle eiter. "Why?" her voice was faint. "Only the dead are allowed here. You are not dead." The answer baffled her. "How?" Her one-word questions did not seem to surprise the guardian, who broe a small smile. "You were both still alive inside your eggs when lady Peridot died. You were protected by your shells and survived within her. The lightning strike must have transferred you with her to this place, when in reaity you should have been left behind. I'm sending you back now, you have a life to live."

She stared at her home from a foreign angle. Its protecting walls loomed high, bocking her from the world she knew. The mist thickened, and she could see no longer than her own legs. The end of her tail was lost in the fog. Silence turned into sounds she had never heard before, and the cobblestone of the bringe beneath her grew softer. She quickly realised she was standing on grass, and braced herself for the sight she would soon see.

Someone screamed "Watch out!" and she instinctively ducked. A different voice said "Where the heck did she come from?" and she opened her eyes to see she was standing in the field outside of a small village. There were three hatchings playing ball, and they all seemed to have forgotten it. "Where the heck did you come from?" The second voice had directed the question to her. It was a small imperial girl with bright pink wings. "Afterlife" she said, unsure of how to speak to those dragons. Were they any differnt from the dead? She wondered, but had no answer. "That's a catchy name, but where did you come from?" The imperial was not giving up. "A cobblestone village?" Her answer sounded like a new question, and confused the hatchlings even more. She realised she needed an adult, and not any. She needed a clearvoyant or a leader. "Do you have a divinator, shaman, or clearcoyant in your clan? Or a clan leader that I can meet?"

The hatchlings exchanged glances and the tundra stepped forth. "We can follow you to Viatria. She is the clan leader, but she can be busy." When they knocked on Viatria's lair door the imperial whispered "You owe us a story, Afterlife." She looked down on them and smiled shyly. "Thank you, I owe you a story. I will tell it tomorrow".

Darkness' Oath

In the morning the roof-dragon knocked on the door. "May I come in?" he had asked, and she had let him. He had a basket of insects and plants on his back, and made his way to the kitchen. She believed he was a resident of the village and watched in amazement as he cooked them a delicious breakfast. What a luxury! As they ate he told her about himself. He invited her to tag along on his journey and she applied. There were so much she did not know about this world!

Their journey took her on a world tour. It seemed like her guide, Gamma, enjoyed showing her around. He had visited many of the places before, which amazed her. On their travels they met a famous poet who invited was immediately interested in her. He said he could see an aura around her, but that he did not know what it meant. He took her portrait so they could see what he saw, and he invited them to visit him in the Powergem of the Tempest Spire. They took the invitation and met him half a year later in the Tempest Spire. He introduced them to Miss Conception, a nice little nocturne with an ear for magical stories.