Secrets of Pyrrhia \\ Wings of Fire Short Stories collection

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Aurora couldn't hear her mother when she awoke that morning. She wouldn't say she was happy, but it did make things easier. As she slid off her bed, she just knew today would suck. It was dark and stagnant outside, which meant today was a slow day. Sleet would pick a fight or something, and her rank would fall a whole circle or more. Yup. Today was a bad day.
Aurora had heard stories of when she was about to hatch. Names had to be approved by the Queen, and Sleet wouldn't pick a suitable one for her egg. Aurora was peculiar. The only egg her mother laid, so Sleet had been picky. Apparently her egg had been small and oddly colored. Too dark of a blue, with lighter ends, unlike the mostly white and light blue eggs of other dragons.
Sleet hated her name, one given to her by her parents, and vowed her kid would have a good, strong name. The only problem was every name she picked was banned. Diamond, Sapphire, and Opal were all gemstones, names reserved for queens and royalty. Brilliance, Shimmer, and Magnificence were called "Rainwing" names, and were unsuitable.
The queen even fought back against Aurora, claiming it wasn't proper enough of an Icewing name, but Aurora's egg didn't wait for the bickering to end, and she hatched before they finished the debate. After a week of being nameless, the Queen caved, and her mother named her Aurora.
Aurora left the house and swooped into the sky, heading for the outer edges of the land. She really wasn't in the mood to hunt, and the closest gift of subsistence was at We-Honor-And-Venerate-Caribou, around 20 minutes by flight.
Aurora wouldn't mind hunting if she were good at it. Aurora seemed to be stuck in a perpetual state of not being good at anything. Her arts and crafts weren't noteworthy, her hunting skills were subpar, her musical talents were dismal, and her academics were only average. If another dragon could name it, Aurora had tried and failed at it.
She would like to believe that everyone had a purpose, but she truthfully couldn't think of anything she was good at. Aurora guessed she was a good fighter, but the Icewings weren't at war, so what good did that do her? Her frostbreath was strong, but she had no need if she couldn't actually hunt anything.
As she headed into town, she noticed the one dragon she always did. Cobalt. His deep blue eyes, and dazzling white scales. He noticed her, she knew that. But most people liked to gossip over Sleet, and Aurora had perpetually lived in her shadow. If she could have something special about her, she might escape, but for now, she was "Sleet's daughter".
As she flew towards the gift of subsistence, one of her life's constants called out. "You know, you'll never be a first circle dragon if you never hunt." Aurora was groaning before she turned around. No light cut her gaze and no mist obscured her view, yet she couldn't bear to look at the dragon near her. Her sleek, watercolor wings, her baby blue eyes, and her shining scales. She cut an imposing and regal figure, despite dragging herself towards the outskirts of her future kingdom.
Aurora stopped and landed, craning her neck towards the snow covered ground. "Princess." Auroras words were flat, the bare minimum. She wouldn't let Prism know how hard she had to try to stop the frost creeping into her voice. Prism smiled as Aurora straightened. Aurora continued her journey to the gift, and as she stuck her talons in, a loud "hmm" echoed across the barren land.
"I'm not in the mood for a lecture, your most royal of highnesses." Aurora smiled to herself, knowing the embarrassed look that crossed Prism's snout that moment. "I'll just collect my seal and be out of your way." Prism flew close and placed her talons on Aurora's shoulder. A shockwave ripped through her, and her grip on the seal in her talons loosed slightly.
"I was only trying to help you be a proper Icewing. I promise it was friendly advice." Prism looked into Aurora's eyes, too close for comfort, her tone apologetic. "You aren't even ranked that lowly. I would check on your mother though." Aurora gave a stiff nod, and carried her large seal with a death grip, sharp talons cutting deeply into the slick fur. Because being Sleet's daughter was all she was, and all she would ever be.
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      Aurora could see the steam pouring from her home, mentally bracing herself. She landed on the stoop with a thud, and shook herself off. She laid her seal in the snow, and as she opened the door, she could hear her mother murmuring to herself. Loud bubbling could be heard from a pot in the center of the house, making everything unbearably warm. Sleet always said it would take too long if it was outside, and to "stop having such thin scales".
      Aurora shifted over to the main table, and grabbed the large knife Sleet had forgotten about. Maybe if she was quiet enough, she wouldn't even hear her. Aurora carefully walked out of the room, and straight into Sleet.
      "Finally, I haven't seen you all day." Sleet was smaller than her daughter, with a mostly white body, and small dark freckles across her face and wings. She always liked them, loving how much they made her stand out. Loving the attention. "Is that for us to share, or are you going to hoard it?" Aurora took a deep breath in.
      "No, I was going to skin it first, you know, so you can use the hide for leather." Her mother smiled, her dazzling white teeth sharp as the ridges along her body. "Thank you dear, and don't forget to swing by Caribou-the-Great for more ink. I just ran out." Sleet gave her daughter a slight pat on the shoulder, and went to fly off.
      "What are you doing?" Aurora said, and Sleet turned. "I am a bard, dear. I can't very well tell my stories from inside of our home." Aurora didn't want to ask, but Prism's words kept needling their way into her brain, prodding until she cried "Mom! What's your ranking right now?" Sleet turned again, a slightly frustrated look on her face. "If you must know, I'm in the 6th circle. I'm sure I'll be back up by the end of the week, so stop fretting" and with that, she flew off, leaving Aurora stunned.
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      As Aurora skinned the seal, she tried to keep her claws steady. Most dragons could skin their prey with their claws alone, but her rigged claws were for tearing things to shreds, not careful incisions. Sleet had gotten on her case too many times about the mutilated hides she had received, and today was already going poorly.
      The 6th circle! What was Sleet thinking?! Aurora felt her bitterness building, and she cut too deeply, sinking the knife into the flesh of the seal. She took a deep breath, and steadied her knife. Aurora had never sunk below the fourth circle, yet Sleet always managed to surprise her. 6th circle cut off so much access to public spaces, and a story teller needed to be heard.
     One might think growing up with a storyteller  as a mother would give Aurora fond memories of stories by fireside, or bedtime adventures, yet Aurora had no memories of them. The problem with Sleet was she wasn't so much a mother as a roommate. She expected Aurora to grow up by herself, and tasked her with challenges a dragonet shouldn't have to complete, like finding her own way to school at the age of 3, or being left alone for hours from the age of 2.
      Sleet was interesting, an enigma to dragons who didn't know her. Her stories were full of intrigue and unexpected heroes, filling the kingdom with vibrance and passion, but to Aurora, she was just Sleet. A clumsy dragon she just happened to live with. Mother wasn't even in the first 10 words that came to mind. Impulsive and Scatterbrained, but not mom.
       Aurora couldn't stop hearing Prism's words. I was only trying to help you be a Proper Icewing.
Pins filled her stomach at that. She was an Icewing, how much more did she need to do to be a "real" Icewing.
Aurora was sure all dragons thought their tribe was the best tribe in Pyrrhia, yet she couldn't help but feel caged in. There were so many rules, and traditions, and ways you could mess up. That's the real reason she'd broken up with Prism. She was Princess, and that meant everywhere they went, no one could stop gossiping about the Princesses' third circle girlfriend. How Aurora was the daughter of bard, how she wasn't specializing in anything, how she wasn't good enough.
      Aurora took a deep breath as she finished severing the hide of the seal, and set the knife back inside. She set the meat and hide in a designated plot in the snow to keep them fresh, and tried to shake away the muck that congealed in her mind when she thought of the expectations of her tribe. No matter how frustrated she became with Sleet, Aurora's envy over her unbothered nature was thicker than blood. For one day, she wished she could be as aloof as she pretended to be.
      As she soared through the air to Caribou-The-Great, she thought about all the hobbies she'd tried. She knew it was a bad habit, but if she had even a fleeting thought about everything she was bad at, she had to list them. Plants, music, academics, hunting, dragon pleasing, reading, writing, art, history, tribe-pride, being a normal Icewing...
      The list continued, and as Aurora flew further,  her vision became clouded, filling with her doubts and fears, bearing down on her wings. She wasn't breathing right, her lungs seemingly filling with the snow falling around her, not melting as it always did, but coagulating. She needed to land.
     As she landed, her anxiety turned to anger. Burning, furious anger. Sleet had her fly all the way out to Caribou-The-Great, and had never even asked her how her day was. If asked, Sleet would definitely rebuke her, reassure Aurora she loved her very much, but she was a liar. She never truly cared about her daughter, and never would.
      Aurora screamed in the middle of the storm around her, her fury filling her with tears. "I WISH SLEET HAD THE GUTS TO FACE ME! I WISH SHE WOULD STOP LYING TO ME AND ADMIT SHE'S A HORRIBLE MOTHER!" She found a frozen tree and headed towards it, tears spilling from her eyes. She lifted her talons, and started pounding them into the trunk, shards of wood splintering around her.
      She screamed as she battered the tree, not stopping to wipe the string of tears from her eyes.  She heard a voice crying out her name, and whipped around, embarrassment turning her cheeks flushed. She was breathing heavily, trying to regain composure. Sleet was standing behind her, terror marring her normally calm face.
      "Why am I here?" Sleet yelled over the winds, tearing her way across the ocean of snow and wind to Aurora. She clasped Aurora's talons between her own, but Aurora pulled away, not ready to be touched. Not ready to be held. "I thought you were off fixing your ranking. You know, doing your job." Aurora was seething, and though she was trying to suppress it, she was doing a pretty crappy job.
      "I was. At least I was trying to." Sleet still looked rattled, her voice slightly shaken now that she was closer. "I was pulled here. Like I had no control, I just felt my wings pulling me into the middle of nowhere." Aurora vision was going red, and she couldn't keep it at bay. "Bull. I know you were stalking me." She felt the rasp of her shredded voice, the roaring and screaming taking a toll.
      Sleet looked appalled, but suddenly spat out "I'm a bad mother." Any area of Sleet that wasn't already white blanched, and she looked sick. "I never really wanted a kid." Sleet's claws flew over her mouth, and Aurora felt a bit of herself die. "What did you just say to me?" Sleet looked distraught, and a thin line of tears ran down her face. "I didn't mean that. I don't know how that happened."
      "Just go back to your job, and stop following me." Sleet looked hurt. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? I don't know what came over me, but I didn't mean that." Aurora spun around, facing Sleet. "Just go back to making up happily ever afters. WOW the crowd and ignore the daughter you hate so much."
      Sleet's grey eyes narrowed, and her spines rose defensively. "I don't hate you. I probably can't go back anyway." Aurora looked puzzled, and Sleet gave a dark laugh. "Stratus was being infuriating and I gave him what was coming." Sleet had this bright, sharp look of pride in her eyes, and Aurora felt disgusted.
      "You know what mom, would you just shut up. For once in your life." Sleet looked furious at the comment, but her jaw never opened. A loud humming noise could be heard as she tried to speak, but no words slipped out. Aurora felt her stomach drop, and ran towards her mother, screaming. "HOLY MOONS, PLEASE SPEAK! PLEASE MOM!"
      Sleet gasped, choking on her own tongue. Her eyes burned with rage, and the full force of her anger was set loose. "THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, CHILD?! YOU'RE AN ANIMUS?!" Aurora's head was buzzing, and her mother's claws ripped across her face, a long slap being heard throughout the barren landscape. The storm had stopped, and the puffy, fresh snow was littered around the dragons. Aurora looked at Sleet, her face stinging.
"What's an animus?" Aurora's voice was chocked, still scratchy from her rage. Sleet look furious. "You are magic, child! Your words become reality." It was like a wave of ice washed over Aurora. She had to fight the smile creeping to her lips. She was magic. Aurora laughed, and smothered it into her claws. Sleet turned her fury onto her daughter.
"What are you laughing about? You are still my daughter." Aurora began to bite down on her words, but then shouted "Since when?". "What?" Sleet cried out. Aurora was afraid, but so was her mother. That's why Sleet had hit her. "You've never been my mother. No matter what your relation to me is, you have never tried to be my mother."
Aurora flexed her talons, feeling the strange way her claws buzzed, like she was awake for the first time in years. Sleet stretched out her wings, flaring her spines until she seemed larger than she truly was, but Aurora squashed her fear down. She was magic. She was power. "You never wanted me, did you. Only speak the truth."
Sleet growled, but murmured "no." in a quiet voice. Aurora's joy dimmed, but she used what patience she had left, and simply said "fine". Aurora walked towards Sleet and began her spell, trying to word it carefully. "You are still Sleet, but you have no daughter. Neither you, nor anyone else remembers I am your daughter, and I am no longer tied to you in anyway. Live your life and forget."
Sleet's eyes went white, and she stood, still as stone. Then, she took flight, never acknowledging the dragon in front of her. Aurora felt a small pang of regret settle in her stomach, but she knew it would go away in time. She needed to test the limits of her new powers, and she needed to do something much more important than quarrel with her mother.
She knew the saying it took a village's warmth to raise a dragonet, yet she had received no warmth when she was raised. Her own mother refused to give her love, let alone a whole village. So the real question was how would she get love from them now? A grin slithered across Aurora's face. If her town wouldn't love her, she would have to burn the village down to feel its warmth.