Reingard

Ayvencleft Matriarch

Reingard slid the stone carefully in front of the door, turning to Yolande with a slight nod.
“Do it.”
She stood, stone-eyed, as the young seer began to work her magic. Soon, stone and door had vanished completely. No beastclan or spy would find the vulnerable dragons hidden within.
“Go.”
Yolande fled, and Reingard rested her head against the smooth wall with a sigh. From within, she caught a faint vestige of contentment. Of course. The pair slept content, no cares in the world.
Why her?
Was it just that she was the oldest? Evrard was younger, certainly, but he was a better warrior, a better leader. Erika? No… it was Erika’s calling to discipline the shrieking hatchlings. Fridolin was the only other old enough - but no Gaoler could run a clan of “moderns,” as they called the younger races.
Reingard shuddered as a memory surfaced in her brain.
There were worse things than being the matriarch - the queen! - of Ayvencleft Citadel.
Perhaps… she was safe now. She had a clan, a live, active clan. She could let herself remember. Turning her footsteps toward home, she allowed her mind to drift back. Back, it seemed, many, many decades.

---

It was silent. The adolescent Skydancer stood, staggering out into the moonlight. The once magnificent buildings of the Merisea Haven lay in tumbled ruins all about her. Carved columns were smashed, their debris scattered in the wide street.
And among the debris… dark forms.
Reingard whimpered quietly.
Did she dare call for her mother?
She did not know until much later that Amphitrite had fled, assured that her brother was herding the hatchlings and trainees to safety. And it was even later still that Reingard learned of her uncle’s sudden death.
But then, Reingard knew only that she was alone… alone in a dead city that had once been a thriving clan.
And she was hungry. Where were the food stores?

She had gone hunting many times, but where had she taken her kills?

Somehow, she couldn’t remember.
She looked about. The ruins stared back at her, bleak in the moonlight. What had happened?

And when?

Reingard sank down against a stone wall. Her body ached, and she knew that she desperately needed food. There was a stink to the place, and something told her that she would not find a single tiny insect, nor the smallest sprig of grass.

Caution

Reingard lifted her head wearily, and the world tilted about her. Where had that emotion come from, that emotion that now threaded through her head?
A feeble squeak escaped her.

Curiosity

The second emotion joined the first. Dizziness washed over her, and she slumped against the wall again.
It was delirium. Who was it… someone had told her of delirium, when a wounded or dying dragon felt - saw? heard? - things that weren’t there.
That was it. She was dying, and this was delirium.

Pity - Confusion - Anger - Resent - Resignation

The sudden wave of emotions brought her back to the present, just as a huge shadow loomed over her. The emotions warred through her brain, and it took her a moment to realize that they were not hers.
A giant paw wrapped around her, lifting her though the air. She felt herself being draped across something warm and furry.
The street and sky spun, finally slipping into darkness.

---

A fire crackled, filling the clearing with a cold blue light. Warmth seeped into Reingard’s bones.
She sat up quickly. Had she fallen asleep while hunting?! Lady Avaril said that was a good way to get killed.

But where was everyone? Surely she hadn’t gone out alone! Yes, surely, Tybalt or Eodhan was nearby… or someone…

Names blurred. Avaril… Tybalt… Eo- Eodhan...

But none others came.

Reingard looked about. The blue fire, the tall pines told her that she was somewhere in the Tangled Wood. A trickle of fear slid down her spine.

Surely she hadn’t ventured into the Tangled Wood alone. Something was wrong.

Caution

Reingard leaped to a standing position, looking about wildly. Someone was out here - someone she didn’t recognize.
A huge shape loomed up before her, and Reingard retreated to the edge of the firelight with a soft squeak of fright.
An illusion. What else could appear like that? And that frame… so stocky, so broad…

No dragon was shaped like that.

Disgust

Reingard bridled.
“Well, excuse me! You kidnapped me!” Her voice was strained, and higher than she had intended.
The beast across from her took a step forward, and the blue light fell on its face.

A Tundra?
No, this was no Tundra, though it seemed to share a certain aspect with the Tundra. Thick red fur covered the huge body, tumbling down the legs to large clawed paws. Huge, branching horns rose on either side of the monster’s head.
Reingard’s feathers had flattened from fear before she even met the giant’s eyes.

White eyes.

Colorless, humorless, they stared back at her, betraying no emotion.

But she recognized the eyes. The pale eyes of a dragon born of the Icewarden’s energy. But what could turn a dragon into… into this?
The creature’s voice, deep and rusty, broke the silence.

Purpose - Decision

“My name is Reldith. You owe me your life.”

---

What the creature - a Gaoler, she soon learned, an early creation of the Icewarden’s - wanted was simple. She was to take two scrolls to the nearest clan, Ayventangle, and give them to a male and female dragon. After that, Reldith told her, the Gaolers would take care of them.

It seemed more than a little ominous, but Reingard set out the next day, carrying a pack laden with food, a waterskin, and the scrolls.

At Ayventangle, she was welcomed joyously, for her mother’s name was known there. It seemed Amphitrite was a Night Warrior, a famous family of dragons dedicated to protecting Sornieth.

In the busy life of Ayventangle, it was not difficult to give the first scroll to a young Night Warrior named Fridolin, and the other to his sweetheart, Liutgarde. Perhaps, she felt, they could protect each other from whatever would follow.

What followed shook the entire clan, for the next morning Fridolin and Liutgarde were no longer Imperials, but shaggy Gaolers. The clan had uprooted, traveling north into the Shattered Plain of Dragonhome, establishing Ayvencleft Citadel.

And there, it became too much for Adhelt and Sigeric. They struggled to accept the Gaolers, who had adopted the clan, guarding it from the Shade. Finally, they gave control to Reingard and Evrard, and dug a hibernation cave, and departed the world of the living, slipping into a half-life, half-dream.

---

Reingard rose and shook herself.
She had a clan. She had a daughter.

She had a duty.

And she would succeed.

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