#dannaim

Chapter One

Avai had barely woken up when she went crashing to the ground with a squawk, looking up to find a large Mirror dragon perched on top of the branch she’d been dangling from to sleep.

“Find ya own perch, tiny!”, he snarled, before laying out across the branch.

Avai would have fought back had it been another Fae, but she was no match for the much larger Mirror.

So she just collected herself and flew off into the night, hoping to find a new tree to roost in before anything found her and decided she was an easy target, especially when she was this close to the coast, and the possibility of Plague dragons.

She had only been flying for a short while when she found a large tree overhanging the water, the soft sound of waves lapping at the shore relaxing the tension in her shoulders as she came to rest in a small hollow in the tree, curling up and tucking her wings around herself, her thoughts wandering.

She’d only been on her own for a few days, having finally outgrown her parent’s clan, and decided to head off and start one of her own. Her mother Raeva had been a bit torn up about it, but her father Laifer had agreed that it was what was best. Their clan was large, and Avai had always been uncomfortable there, small and overlooked by most dragons.

So she’d flown off on her own with only a small leaf-pack of moths and grubs, which she’d already eaten all of, having had to stop and catch more along her way.

She’d left the Gladevines where her parents’ clan lived, and was heading for the Everbloom Gardens, knowing they’d be the easiest place to find a place to call home, and to hopefully find more dragons to join her.

She laid there, lost in her thoughts, completely oblivious to the fact that what she thought was a canopy of leaves above her very much was not.

What alerted her to this was when she shifted her head slightly, and was greeted by four green eyes shining in the dark, the sleek head of a Mirror looking over the little Fae dragon.

Avai let out a loud shriek and shot backwards, slamming up against the tree trunk with a squawk of pain, prepared to fight, also a bit annoyed at all the Mirrors, expecting this one to be as rude as the last.

The Mirror dragon however looked shocked at her shriek and following squawk of pain, unfurling himself from where he’d draped himself over a branch.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you that much.”, he said, his voice low and soothing, his neck bent down, his head held in a rather unthreatening position.

Avai looked up at him, her wings still flared out, watching him, finally relaxing after a bit when she could tell he meant no harm. “Oh, it’s alright.”, she said. “I was just shoved off a branch by a Mirror not two hours ago.”, she said.

The Mirror dragon made a face at that, obviously annoyed. “Yeah, sorry about that. Most Mirrors think all you Fae are just around to bully and boss.”, he said, his tail flicking. “My mother was a Fae, so it obviously annoys me.”

Avai nodded slightly. “My mother’s a Fae and my father’s a Spiral, so I understand.”, she said, folding her wings back up against her sides. “I’m Avai, by the way.”, she said, figuring introductions would be polite.

“Dannaim. It’s nice to meet you.”, he said, settling back down on his branch, but leaning his head down to continue to talk to her. “So, what brings you all the way out here to the coast? Not thinking of joining a new flight are you?”, he teased lightly.

“Of course not.”, Avai said a bit indignantly. “I’m actually heading to Everbloom.”, she said. “I’m starting my own clan.”

Dannaim’s eyes glinted slightly at that. “A new clan? Well, don’t you need dragons for that?”, he said, his tail flicking slightly again.

“Why, are you volunteering?”, Avai shot back easily, not one to be outwitted by a Mirror.

“If you’ll have me.”, he said, which caused Avai’s eyes to go wide slightly in surprise.

“But… you’re a Mirror.”, she said, eyeing him. They were known for sticking with their own kind.

“Not a very good one, I’m afraid.”, he said. “Never really fit in with other Mirrors. They’re all too bossy and violent for me.”

Avai hummed softly at that, before she smiled softly. “Well, I’d be glad to have you, Dannaim.”, she said warmly, flicking her wings slightly, before her jaws split open in a wide yawn, earning a chuckle from the larger male.

“You should sleep, sounds like you had a long night, and the Everbloom Gardens should be reachable in a day from here, if we travel all day. All else fails you can sleep on my back.”, he said, laying his head on his branch.

Avai just nodded slightly at that, yawning again, laying her head down on the bark and wrapping her tail around her nose, glancing up at Dannaim with just her eyes.

“Goodnight.”, she said softly, almost experimentally, seeing if the larger dragon was still up, or would even acknowledge it.

“Goodnight.”, came the answering rumble, his deep voice able to be felt in the tree, as his tail dropped down, and flicked over her, before coming to rest in front of Avai, blocking her from view from the water, in case any other dragons tried to come and start trouble.

I really need to keep writing to catch my lore up to how many dragons I have 😅