On Spirit's Wings

The Power in a Name

When the dawn stretched its fingers across the sky, the dragoness decided it was time to wake up at last. Stretching her long neck, she yawned, causing a poof of smoke to fly from her mouth. She slowly uncurled her tail and flexed her limber legs. Still drowsy, she padded to the opening in the cave. She watched in admiration as the sun rose over the trees, shooting the sky with gold and painting it with pink. Today, she thought, was going to be the start of a new time in her life. Why she thought this, she didn't know. Today just felt good.
But something wasn't quite right.
The dragoness, however happy she felt this day might be, felt like she was being carefully studied by some unknown presence. She didn't dare turn around and look over her shoulder; but that was before she heard this.
"Well, this is cozy, isn't it?"
It was definitely a draconic voice, but it was icy cold and welcomingly warm at the same time. Slowly, the dragoness turned around and beheld the sight before her eyes.
It was a dragon alright, but not at all what she had expected. It was a spectral, icy silver color, but streaked across its scales were golden stripes. Its wings were shimmering gold, and its horns bent backwards, almost laying on top of its head. It was oddly wispy though, as if it were spun from fog. The dragoness was frozen not in fear, but in awe.
"I'm sorry to be rude," the dragon said, "but I'm afraid I haven't introduced myself! My name is Urakai." He then laid down, crossing his paws and folding his wings. The dragoness flattened her ears back and started to raise her crest of spines. Of all the things, she didn't expect to see this. The dragon noticed her alarm and laughed.
"You don't talk much, eh?" he said. "Please, sit down." He motioned with his tail to the space in front of him. Shaking, the dragoness took her place in front of Urakai. He smiled and moved his tail out of the way. Suddenly, his gaze turned more icy than before.
"Now that I have introduced myself, it's time I explain a few things." The dragoness nodded and watched in anticipation.
"Do you know why I'm here?" Urakai asked. The dragoness shook her head. Urakai sighed.
"You have an interesting history, you," Urakai said. "I think you've noticed by now that you're... unusual. Not like the other dragons. Well, I'm here to tell you the meaning behind that." Urakai suddenly turned a very light, pale blue, almost translucent. The dragoness flattened her ears and spines.
"I believe you've noticed that I'm... not exactly a dragon, either." He laughed in the back of his throat. "Yes, I am a spirit, if that was what you were thinking. But not enough time to marvel about that." Urakai suddenly started carving something into the floor of the cave with his steely claw. When he was finished, he motioned for the dragoness to come over. She nervously got up and walked over, then gasping in shock.
Urakai had carved what looked like a pool into the floor, but instead of water, there was a liquidy fog in the middle. It seemed to reflect all of time, but it was the dragoness' lifetime. From her first memory, it led right up to the attack. Urakai looked up at the dragoness, who was staring into the pool, almost hypnotized.
"This is, as you've guessed, your lifetime," Urakai explained. "But, to know where it started, we must go a little farther back." Urakai stuck his claw into the foggy pool and began to stir, causing the fog to go a purplish-gray. When he stopped, the dragoness looked back into the pool at the scene. She didn't know it, but what she was watching was her own summoning from Urakai's point of view. When Nakrashim shifted out of the way to reveal the body, the dragoness gasped in horror, immediately recognizing it as hers. She looked back up at the ghostly Urakai, who had a solemn look on his face.
"That is you, my dear," Urakai said. "You weren't hatched under two dragons' care - you came from my world. You were needed once more here. That is why you are here right now."
The dragoness was in so much shock, it was if her mouth refused to speak. That coudn't possibly be her! If she had been alive before, then wouldn't she remember everything from her past life? She gazed back up at Urakai, who's eyes had gone bright gold.
"The unnamed darkness has returned once more," he said gravely. "In your former life, you destroyed it and banished it for a thousand years. Now, it has returned, and you are needed once more." Urakai's eyes were getting brighter and brighter by the second.
"Now, it is time. Wake up from this slumber of ignorance, and know who you are!" Urakai's eyes looked like giant suns. The dragoness had to shield herself with one of her pairs of wings. Then, to her awe, Urakai began chanting.
"Surgite ergo a somno ignorantiae et memores!" he snarled. The purple fog in the pool began rising upwards, forming three giant vines of fog. The dragoness' eyes were burning, but she couldn't help but stare. Beams of light burst from the foggy vines, filling the cave with a glorious glow. Tendrils of wind flew around the dragoness, rooting her to her place. Out of nowhere, a searing pain exploded from her head and heart. A whirlwind of images, smells and emotions were filling the dragoness' mind. She felt like she was dying, her heart was practically vibrating against her ribs, her head felt like it could explode at any moment-
As soon as it had started, it all froze. The dragoness was bent over in pain, wings outstretched and head close to the floor. She was flooded with a new sense of clarity, and memories so real she was surprised she hadn't felt them before. She boldly looked up at Urakai, who was watching her with anxious eyes.
"I know who I am," the dragoness declared. Urakai smiled and waited for her.
"I am Arilaia, sorceress of dragonkind, defeater of the Unnamed Darkness!" she proclaimed without hesitation. "And I am ready to destroy it once more." A bold smile was on her face. She was no longer a tiny hatchling, afraid to defend herself.
Urakai nodded and smiled grimly. Then, with a flick of his wings, he vanished into wisps of mist. Arilaia stepped to the mouth of the cave. She was a new dragoness in a new world, facing an old enemy. She knew she couldn't face it as the poor little unnamed dragoness she had once been. No, this time, Arilaia was coming in strong and ready for the challenge.