Rising of Ashes: a Dragon Story

Whispers of Return

I sighed, finding solace in a glade where dandelions and other wildflowers flourished, peculiar to this season alone. I ached with the pang of missing friends — Anakin and Obi-Wan — the ones I had left behind. I had turned my back on all of them. The path to return was closed to me now, irrevocably.

As time meandered on, the sun dipped beneath the horizon, and shadows crept forward from the encroaching woods, wrapping the glade in a chill. I turned, so I was lying on my stomach, allowing myself to coil my wings around me for warmth. My tail flicked intermittently as a sigh escaped me once more, and puffs of breath danced like wraiths from my quivering nostrils.

A sound stirred me, and I glanced up — eyes gleaming in the dying rays of the sun. Soon, shapes moved within the shadows of the trees, and a deep growl rumbled from my throat in warning.

"Step forward, I know you're there," I snarled, tension threading through my voice. To my surprise, clone troopers emerged from the cover of woods— one clad in yellow armor, the other in blue. Rex and Cody.

I huffed and sat up, my purple gown slipping from my form, and Rex averted his gaze while Cody's stare lingered on me unabated. "We've been searching for them, milady," he said.

I tilted my head in sardonic conjecture. "Let me guess, Anakin sent you?" Cody appeared taken aback, but he gave a terse nod. "Yes, you are to return to the Temple immediately." I growled, my voice tinged with disdain. "In case you've forgotten, Commander, Anakin and his dear Chancellor have laid waste to the Temple. There's nothing left to return to." Rising to my feet, I unfurled my wings, the moon's ethereal light catching them, and soon I became an apparition, an angel in disguise amidst the night's embrace.

"I won't be ordered around by troopers," I spat, and Rex stepped forward with a pacifying intent. "Milady, please, we have no wish to fight with you." My laughter was a harsh, brief bark. "You?" I swished my tail dismissively. "You couldn't lay a finger on me. Don't think for a moment I'm unaware of where your true loyalties lie."

Rex heaved a sigh, a mixture of exasperation and an almost imperceptible plea in his eyes. "Please, Pyrge, just hear us out. We only want you to accompany us to the temple. Lord Sideous wishes to speak with you," he said, the solemnity of his request hanging heavily between us.

I couldn't help but hiss in response, my annoyance flaring like a raging inferno. The anger was unmistakable in my voice, my stance defensive, with my tail bristling, tipped with deadly, venomous barbs ready for the slightest provocation.

"As if! I'd rather converse with an eel than that creep!" I spat out the words with a contempt that tasted bitter on my tongue, the idea of yielding to such a meeting more repugnant than the darkest pit of Dagobah.

Cody stepped forward, a stern look etched across his face, but underneath the facade, a flicker of fear danced in his deep brown eyes. I bared my teeth menacingly, wings unfurling with a dramatic flourish. Unbeknownst to them, the two clone troopers walked straight into my carefully laid trap.

With a slick, calculated motion, I swung my tail beneath their feet, sweeping them off the ground. They plunged into the net of lianas that enveloped them like the threads of fate sealing their destiny. "Never try that again, rookies," I snarled, my voice echoing with a mixture of triumph and warning.

Taking to the skies, I didn't look back this time. The wind rushed past me, carrying with it the burdens and failures—a failed Anakin, a galaxy teetering on the edge. But they seemed far away now, because home was calling to me. A place unmarred by deception, where love wasn't just another problem to solve but a truth to be lived.