Pepo

I was among the fortunate few guardians to stumble upon my Charge with little effort. I call him Deeus. I'm not sure why - I just know it's his name, somewhere in the back of my mind. Deeus speaks to me, if I close my eyes and listen. I'm not entirely sure where he is, precisely, but I know he's near. I'm aware of his presence, vaguely, and that's enough for me.

I know that he's in the Grove, somewhere near the vegetable fields. Under them? Above? Flying around doesn't make much difference, and I can't dig below to test that theory, so for now I spend most of my time in the vegetable fields. I prefer to stay near the squashes, where Deeus' voice is quite clear and there are fewer distractions than elsewhere.

Deeus has much to say, on many subjects, and I confess that I understand little of it. I have taken to writing down his words, so that I can remember them and maybe, eventually, learn what they mean.

I have taken a large pumpkin, and had Dredge prevent it from rotting. I carved a face into the pumpkin, and put it up on branches and stones so that it looks something like a dragon...if you squint. From some considerable distance. I call this Deeus, and I talk to it. Maybe that makes me seem less odd to other dragons, maybe more. But it feels better to have something to talk to besides a general sense of nearness.
Not many here talk to me. I see my father sometimes, but he only wants to talk about the vegetables I'm looking after. He lost all interest in Deeus after he found out he was invisible, and none of the Sight can see him either. Not even Dredge can. Mother visits most days, but she's often too busy to stay for long.

I get occasional visits from Dredge, and Tama has even struggled up here a couple of times. Most dragons are irrationally afraid of the squash patch. They say something feels wrong here, that it's always too cold. Holly has said that she feels unwelcome, that something doesn't want her here. She says it feels like stepping out of the Gladekeeper's domain. Something powerful lives here, says Holly, and I shouldn't anger it. Apparently it's been here since before I hatched. Both she, and Dredge, and even Liliana, had attempted to remove it. Appease it. Devoke it. It won't leave. Or, at least, that's the way things were. Dragons started going missing. Some were found, others not. All told roughly the same story of an undenyable call. Not an urge, not a metaphorical call to action. A literal call. Some heard a hatchling crying. Some heard the sound of falling trees. Most just heard a voice, indistinct but friendly, coming from far away. It led them all to the pumpkin patch.

They'd circle here for a while. Mumbling. Talking to the voice. Sniffing about. Looking for something. Then they'd move on, up into the Shrieking Wilds and eventually out of the Grove.

I watched some of them walk right past me. A few even spoke to me. I didn't know. I just...let them go by.

They'd turn up again, days or weeks later. Most of them. Confused, lost, hungry. They only remember the voice. The call they had to follow. They don't remember where they followed it, or why, or what they found there. They don't remember why or how they got back. But they all recall the same sensation of fullness, of completeness. Like that time in the Wilds was the best thing that ever happened to them, they were all so happy but they can't quite remember. They say it's like waking up from a dream they can't quite let go of.

Some dragons didn't come back. More and more, in fact, they stopped returning. The last four to go haven't been seen since.

Finally, dragons started talking to me. Holly asked a lot of questions about Deeus, some of them quite nasty. She wanted to know what he said to me, what his presence felt like. Dredge came by to ask similar questions. They both said the same thing: That Deeus must be this spirit, this thing stealing dragons. They're wrong. I know they are. Deeus is a benevolent spirit.
Update: I have made a terrible mistake.