Like an angel

She fell from the sky, like an angel.

That was Losis’ first thought when he saw her. That tiny Fae, mulberry and grey and white, covered in stripes of all kinds, lay on the ground before him for long minutes before rising. Eyes of pale blue–Ice flight, Losis recalled–opened wide in panic.

She was certain that her wings were broken. How could they not be broken after such a long fall? Yet they were intact, not a scratch or tear in them from her death-defying plummet from the sky.

She didn’t notice Losis through the whole affair. When she finally did, she cowered at his size. She wasn’t even two meters yet Losis towered over her at almost a staggering twenty meters. He was a giant compared to her.

“Are you an angel?”

Those were the first words out of Losis’ mouth. Cheesy? Certainly. Truthful? Absolutely.

The only other Fae that Losis had known was Chocomint and she had died quite a while ago. She had been very different from this frantic, high-energy Fae before him. This Fae was the opposite of Chocomint in every way Losis could think, which was rather limited because he had barely known the chocolate-colored Fae.

“No, I’m not an angel. More like a failure,” the Fae replied, getting up warily. “The Frostwarden abandoned me, cast me out of the flight. I’ve been flying for ages until now. This big wind hit me, knocked me right out. Then I woke up here.”

“You fell.”

“I bet I did. I sure didn’t keep flying.”

Her name was Swiftflight, which she viewed as a joke. Two months old and she was hardly a fast flier. She preferred to glide than actually fly. She thought perhaps that was why the Frostwarden got rid of her.

“Have you seen this eye-blinding blue Mirror around? We were journeying together,” Swiftflight explained.

“My dad might’ve found her. He looks all over for orphaned babies and stuff. Maybe he knows where your friend is,” Losis suggested.

Losis carried Swiftflight on his head and they talked. He told her about the plague, the deaths, and the battles in the wilderness. About his dead brother Cad and his distant sister Betes, about his parents and other family members. About the orphans and their love lives. He could talk forever.

Swiftflight told him about the clan she had been exiled from. She and her friend, a nameless sapphire Mirror, had been tossed out together. They had planned to head for Water territory, hoping to get the Tidelord to appease the Frostwarden into letting them go home. Secretly though, the Fae doubted the Tidelord would care about the plight of two wayward Ice dragons.

When they reached the lair, Swiftflight cried with joy as she pounced from Losis’ head to the head of a sapphire-blue Mirror with grape-colored wings–her best friend. The Mirror looked newly grown, maybe six days old at most compared to her companion.

They reunited tearfully before the Mirror began to explain. She got lost when the wind hit and panicked when she realized Swiftflight was missing. Racing around amidst the boneyard, she crossed paths with a Guardian who offered her shelter in their lair. That Guardian was Zone, Losis’ identical-looking father.

“It’s too dangerous to keep going alone like this,” Swiftflight said sadly. “We’re in the middle of Plague territory. Is it okay if we can stay with you guys? I’m sorry that this is so unexpected but…the Tidelord has no reason to help us. He probably has his own problems.”

“Yeah…” the Mirror admitted.

“Of course you can stay,” Safe reassured. “We welcome any dragon that comes here. Stay as long as you wish. We have enough room.”

So Swiftflight and her friend–who named herself Flin with Safe’s help–chose to stay in the lair with Losis’ clan. Flin was all too happy to assist Remia in caring for her two young hatchlings, being an overgrown hatchling herself. Her excitement grew when Zone brought in Kemia, a tiny Spiral with glittering obsidian scales, from the wastelands outside.

As the day went on, Losis and Swiftflight grew closer. Losis had seen many in his family fall in love, even his sister despite her distance. Losis hadn’t thought much on finding a mate of his own.

“Do you love someone?” he asked.

“I’m not sure about love. Love is reciprocal. I like someone, though,” Swiftflight replied, resting against one of his large forelegs. “Do you like someone, Losis?”

“Yeah,” Losis nodded. “She fell from the sky, like an angel.”