Beira

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The little white hatchling uncurled from around her iridescent pearl as she woke up and stretched out. She blinked, taking notice that the sun was already up. This meant that her father would already be gone to work for the day. Since school had ended for the summer, Beira had spent the majority of her days alone. She had made a few friends at school, but none which lived near her. It didn’t help her best friend had left on a vacation for the Shifting Expanse with her family last month. All of this meant she was in for an extremely boring day, as usual. She sighed, and threw her satchel over her shoulder, stuffing her pearl into the bottom of it.

As she left the confines of her home, a swarm of insects descended upon her. Okay, she wasn’t truly alone. She always had her trusty firefly friends with her. It didn’t matter if they couldn’t speak back, she always kept them informed and up to date on the latest news in her life. They were her favorite. They never left or were too busy to come over. And they
even lead her to her favorite berry bushes when they were exploring the forest.
You can’t get much better than that.

She was headed into town today to drop off some letters for
her sister. Mai was the seamstress in town. She had just opened her
own shop and business was picking up quickly. It was about to get even busier,
Beira suspected that the letters she had were even more orders for clothes. She
could tell she was getting close to the shop by the amount of noise coming down
the street. Her sister wasn’t exactly quiet. In true spiral fashion, she often
toed the line between chaos and barely controlled insanity. A bolt of bright
pink silk shot out of the door, three stores in front of her. “I said light
pink! Not bright pink! What kind of place do you think I am running?!” Two
stores away and Mai could be heard clear as day. Beira’s was just
reaching for the handle as the door burst open again. “Ooohhhh Beiraaaa! Come
in!!” Her said with enthusiasm. Peeking into the mass of flowing fabrics and
ribbons, she opted to stay outside instead of getting eaten alive. “Here are your
letters.” Digging through her satchel, she handed a few bent envelopes out to
the shouting spiral. Her sister seemed a little disappointed that she wasn’t
going to stay, but her attention was easily turned to the letters and then to a
poor fae who had also grabbed the wrong shade pink. Before she knew it, the
door had drifted closed on the busy spiral and Beira was off again.

She spent the rest of her day wandering in and around the town, doing nothing in particular. On days like this, her mind often drifted to thoughts of her mother. Was she still alive? Why
had she left? Where did she go? Her father hadn’t had any answers for her.
Well, she wasn’t sure that he just didn’t want to tell her the answers, but
either way. She didn’t have the answers. Often she would dream of wild stories
of setting off into the world to track her mother down. Defeating hordes of the
beastclans, traveling far and wide, and eventually finding her trapped in a
tower of arcane magic. Beira would defeat the shade touched dragon and rescue
her mother, returning her to the forest and her father.
Her father still wasn’t home by the time she got back. The sun was just beginning to set and often he wouldn’t be home till it was totally dark outside. Beira busied herself by putting dinner together for them. At least food was never in short supply. Her father was a gatherer. His wages left little room for frivolous things, but they were always well fed. Once she had the table set, the door opened and her father shuffles in. He was a pearlcatcher just like her, although she had never seen his pearl with her own eyes. His backpack was his constant companion, but some days when she looked at it, it just didn’t seem like there was any way he could fit it in there.
Their dinner was calm, a few exchanges of pleasantries, but nothing more. Her father had spoken very little every since her mother had left. He busied himself trying to provide for his family on his own, and once a week visited the shrine of the Gladekeeper and the Windsinger. Nothing more, nothing less. It all seemed terribly boring to Beria, but this was their life. She cleaned up after dinner and then headed back to bed. Her father had already disappeared without a word.


Beira woke up and went about her business the same as she always did. She threw on her satchel, grabbed her pearl and went to get the mail. Some days she wondered if her father’s gifts to the Windsinger were the reason their mail was always delivered so early.
Other days, like today she was just in a hurry. Beira had plans to go explore around the Behemoth today, so she was really hoping there wouldn’t be any letters for her sister today. She loved her sister, but she was a spiral after all.
While she was stuffing some food into her bag, she quickly shuffled through their mail. One piece, in particular, caught her eye, it was a pale cream letter embossed with beautiful vines along the edges. Perhaps something from her father’s job?
After pulling the letter out of the stack, her jaw dropped open when she saw what was written.
Not only was it addressed to her, but it was from her mother! Scrambling now, she dropped everything she was doing and ripped open the envelope. There were two sheets of paper, the first she eagerly read. It detailed her mother’s travels across Sornieth, from the Fortress of Ends, to the Starwood Strand, and to her home in the Reedcleft Ascent.
It included descriptions of the exotic dragons she met and the incredible landscapes. Beira drank it all in. She read it twice, three times even and savored the ending each time;‘Follow your dreams Beira’. Flipping to the next page the heading ‘Dom Camp’ drew her eyes first. What was that? She continued to read the explanation included. It was a letter that the Elders of the Behemoth had sent to all members of their Dominance Guild, and it was advertising their new initiative to recruit younger members into the art. They had set up a Dom Camp for all nature hatchlings to attend. She read it till the end, and her excitement faded. For a price of course. There was no way they were going to be able to afford for her to even look at this camp.
Her enthusiasm dwindled as she stuffed the letters into her bag and headed out for the day. Her firefly friends buzzed around her, sensing her sadness. They looped around and made figure eights in the air trying to distract her from her thoughts. After a while combination of the trees around her, her friends with her, and an actual letter from her mother brought her out of the funk. She headed towards the gigantic tree on the horizon with her thoughts drifting off to imagine her and her mother in the far-off lands.
The rest of the day was uneventful. She reached the base of the tree by lunchtime and settled down to eat surrounded by the flora. She took out her mother’s letter again to reread it for the umpteenth time already. The line always stuck with her. “Follow your dreams.” She could hear her mother’s voice in her head repeating the line over and over again. Hesitantly, she pulled out the camp flyer. This one she hadn’t looked at since the morning.
There had to be a reason her mother had sent this to her, she knew it.
Maybe she hadn’t realized how hard it had been for her father since she left. There was just simply no way she was going to be able to go unless… No that would be crazy. But what did she have to lose? Scrambling up quickly she picked up the remains of her food and dashed off to a grove to the left of the Behemoth.
The small hatchling hurried home as fast as she could manage while being weighed down with all of the citruses she had picked. Her satchel was full, along with a bag she had borrowed from a passing wildclaw, and her pearl was in her front claws now. It was slow going, but she was fueled by an energetic enthusiasm for her idea. She couldn’t wait to tell her father and hoped she could beat him back to the house.
The shadows were stretching out as she made it back to the house. Maneuvering her pearl and bag into one claw, she flung open the door with her other one. “I’m home! Guess what!!” She yelled out excitedly. The green-hued dragon lifted his head up with concern yet wonder in his eyes. It had been a long time since any voices had been raised in this home.
“Look!” She dropped the fruits onto the floor scattering the everywhere and shoved the letters at him. Confused, he took the outstretched letters and read through them slowly. Beira was nearly bouncing while trying to stay still waiting for his response. When he finished, he laid them down on the table gently. “Beira…”
He started off soft and quiet, “I know your mother means well, but you know as well I do we can’t afford this. And what in the world are you doing with all of these lemons?”
Leaping about three feet into the air she shouted, “I’m going to make lemonade!” A grin was stretched wide across her face. “I will raise enough money, so you won’t have to worry about a thing!” Her enthusiasm was contagious, and a small smile even appeared on her father’s face.
It wasn’t until she was about to fall asleep that she realized that was the first time he had smiled since her mom left.


This morning a blur of white was all you could see. Beira said a quick goodbye to her father who was just waking up, and she was out the door. She was halfway to town before her fireflies had caught up to her. They buzzed around disapprovingly, but she quickly explained to them how much work she had to get done today. There was the wood to find, then the stand to build, then she had to paint and decorate it, and she couldn’t forget to make the lemonade either!
She gathered the supplies easily. Everyone in town knew her and knew of her family's struggles since her mother had left, and they were all willing to pitch in a gallon of paint here or a cup of sugar there. Beira had chosen the center of town to build her Lemonade stand. There were always dragons traveling to and from the different shops and towns around. It would be the perfect spot. The end product was a little more unstable that she would have liked, but it would hold. Half of a log was supported above her to create the sign, and the other half she used as the table top. This top stood held up by miscellaneous boards and vines she had collected. She was just painting on the finishing touches, giant words that read ‘Lemonade’ and a bunch of lemons on the front of it. It was done!
Now just for the tricky part, making the lemonade. She experimented with various combinations of lemon juice and sugar, and lemon slices, and ice. A few passersby were happy to taste test for her. The first few offering some helpful suggestions, until everyone she asked exclaimed how delicious it was. Perfect! There was just one last person she wanted to try it. Her sister could always be counted on for an honest opinion. Usually, it was an opinion you didn’t want to hear, but Beira hoped that it would be a positive review today.
Mai was just as busy as ever when Beira got to her shop. She entered and just stood off to the side, waiting for the spiral to notice her. There was fabric covering every inch of the place, and a dragon flying about doing what looked like 15 different things at once. “Beira!!” She heard her sister’s voice before she saw her face. A few bolts of cloth rolled off the table and then her sister was in front of her. “What are you doing here? I’m very busy dear” It was one of those days, Beira hated when her sister called her dear. “I just wanted you to try some of my lemonade. I’m going to sell it so I-“ Beira was cut off as her sister grabbed the glass and drank it all in one gulp. Mai paused for a second then said “Almost perfect, add a dash of honey. That was always mom’s secret ingredient.” In the blink of an eye, she was back adjusting the length of some pants while simultaneously yelling at her fae assistant.
Beira had put the finishing touches on the lemonade stand yesterday, which meant that today was the big day! She was up early again, beating her father out the door. He had wished her good luck, but ever since the letter from her mom he had seemed distracted. Beira had been distracted herself and hadn’t thought much of it. She had lemonade to sell!
Word seemed to have got around to the whole town. Dragons showed up slowly at first and then in droves to buy lemonade. Beira had sold almost every single drop by the end of lunch. The little white dragon was blown away by the number of dragons that recognized her and wished her well on her goal. Before she knew it she had traded her pile of lemons for a pile of treasure. Just enough to pay her camp fee!
The little dragon packed up her stand and set off home, eager to tell her father the good news. She was going to go to Dom Camp! When she arrived home he was setting up dinner for the pair of them. His backpack hung on one of the backs of the chairs, hanging limply, while he busied himself about the kitchen. “I did it! I really did it!” Beira burst out as she enters the door. She had tried to think of a way to break the news, but her excitement won over.
Over the sound of chopping carrots, “Your mother would be so proud of you” her father called out. His back was to her, but Beira suspected she might have won another smile out of him that night.


After sleeping in for the first time in a while, Beira took her time enjoying the morning. There was nothing that could ruin this perfect day for her. She was going to get to go to Dom Camp! Then she would be able to set off on the adventure she always dreamed off, and find her mother. The hatchling finished up her breakfast, gathered up her hard-earned treasure, and set off towards the courier station. In her hands, a letter with her father’s signature on the bottom, and a pile of treasure to accompany it. Her letter would soon be off to the skies!

She spent the remainder of the day enjoying the company of her fireflies and wandering through the forest. There was always something new to see, the Gladekeeper made sure of that. New growth was everywhere, and always. Beira’s favorite field was full of sunflowers today, in a week it might be daisies or lilies next. Sunflowers were her favorite though, and she picked a few of them to take home with her. It was the simple things about Viridian Labyrinth that she would miss when she left on her adventure.

The weeks leading up to camp were quiet. Beira went about her routine and so did her father. She stopped by to visit her sister again but didn’t stay long. It seemed the chaos was only multiplying and she was only in the way. So the hatchling settled in to wait. It seemed like the days passed even more slowly as camp got closer. She was trying to be patient, but she had already packed her bag a week in advance. The days still dragged on until the day before she was supposed to leave.

It was a flurry of activity today. Mai had even come to wish her well, though to be honest, she wasn’t a very reassuring presence. Her father was handing her more things left and right, and every couple of steps she remembered something that she had forgotten to pack. By the end of it, the suitcases and bags and trunks easily buried the tiny white dragon. There was no way she was going to make it to camp like this. As quickly as all of the extra baggage appeared, the trio of dragons replaced it. When the activity had settled again, she was left with her satchel for her pearl, and a modest suitcase filled with just the essentials.

Her father had taken the day off from work to make sure that she made it to the pickup location on time. Well, that was his excuse at least. This would be her first big trip out of the nest all by herself. She might still be staying in the labyrinth but it felt like she was about to travel worlds away. They arrived at the designated location a few minutes early. Her father handed her the suitcase, leaving him bag-free and his little hatchling clutching her pearl in one claw and her bag in the other. She always pulled it out when she got nervous. The goodbye was brief, just a quick hug, and then her escort motioned for them to take off into the sky. Dom camp here we come!

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Starting off with her at Camp she was going to be a little shy at first, maybe make a friend or two, be a little homesick. The week progresses and she gets more confident, with this culminating in the final Capture the Flag tournoument the camp holds. Beira is the team leader and leads her team to victory with the help of her fireflies. The last day of camp the awards ceremony is held where Beira is presented with a flag to remember her vistory. Her father, sister, and mother (!!!) show up. Her father is super happy, she's super happy. It's a fabulous fantastic family reunion. Beira confronts her mother with her new found confidence. Her mother explained that she had been sent on a top secret mission for nature into plague territory. Her father had gifted her his pearl so she would stay safe and have a peice of her family while she was gone. Which would explain why her father was so sad. And then they live happily ever after! There is lots of potential for future mother daughter adventures too.