Ligandra's Dragons

Ligandra paced the short passageway, restless. She had been cooped up in this moutain for far too long, she wanted out!

With a low growl she flung herself to the floor, resting her chin on the hard stone. Furious thunderstorms had been touseling their way through the lands for the past week now. She hated being stuck inside the depths of the mountain, which had been her home ever since she could remember.

Ligandra pushed her long, black hair away from her face and caught the sight of her ivory skin. She knew that she was different from the others, in many ways. Those around her...well they were big. They were strong. Their eyes and mouths burned fire. While she...was smaller than even the newborns.

She rolled over to her back, loving the warm sensation against her cool skin. The mountain was always warm, it was always breathing. She stared up toward the ceiling, unblinking. She was also different in another way, other than looks. Ligandra knew things, things that the people around her couldn't understand. No one understood her, no one that is except Asakam.

Asakam was a mother to her, kind and loving. She took care of Ligandra ever since she was a child. And yet even now, as Asakam was aging and Ligandra was coming close to the age of the lasting...she still would not let go of the secret.

Ligandra stood up and made her way down the narrow hall. She was done thinking about her differences, for she had thought about them her entire life and got no further. She moved quietly down the dark and lonely halls. She knew every path in the mountain, better than even their ruler Gominel, because she could fit everywhere. The mountain was her hiding place.

She made her way out to the common. It was a huge opening, large enough to hold a hundred of her kind...the Darajons. But there were only twenty, and ten of those old, soon to be fading. Ligandra tried not to think about that as she moved toward Asakam.

Asakam was the largest of the females, shimmering in green scales. Her eyes were old, yet still held their blue, sparkling fire. She opened her great, leathery wings as Ligandra approached.

"You missed another one, Ligandra." She hissed. Her tone ployed as seriousness but Ligandra knew to look to her eyes. And once again they winked with humor.

"So sorry Asakam..." Ligandra said slowly, feigning shock. "Did I miss exciting decisions?"

Asakam hissed with laughter. "Nothing more than what happened a the past ten meetings." Ligandra joined in with the laughter until Asakam actually did turn to a serious note. "Where do you always go during those meetings?"

This time it was Ligandra's eyes that sparkled. She simply looked deep into her Asakam's eyes and it was enough to let the old one know that the young one would never tell.

"Asakam, has the rain stopped?" She asked, looking despairingly above her. From here, you could almost see the sky. She almost missed Asakam nodding.

"Yes, it finally has. You may go out now, if you would like."

Ligandra gave a leap of joy. Finally! She patted Asakam's great paw and without another word ran toward a small opening in the side of the room, her black hair flying behind her like a banner.

--

It didn't take Ligandra long to make her way out of the mountain. She emerged from a hole right as the foot and dashed about the springy, wet grass. Looking above her the sky had lightened to a brilliant yellow hue. She loved the sky after a storm.

Feeling a rush of energy go through her body, she ran, arms wide open, into the forest. Outside of the mountain, she felt like the world was hers. And in the forest...she felt like she belonged. In the forest, there were little creatures, some smaller than her. None as big as her kind. Here, she felt like she fit.

Drops from the leaves above her rained down her head, but she paid it no heed. She was making her way to the lake, wanting its cool drink and to see how much it had grown after the days of rain.

The lake looked magnificent under the bright sky, bouncing colors of every hue all around her. She stopped to drink, feeling the calming water run through her body. Ligandra looked down at her shaky reflection in the water, feeling a smile creep along her face. It wasn't that she didn't love the mountain. It was just that...somehow...this felt like home.

She stood for a moment longer at the side of the lake, feeling a sort of bubbling inside of herself. The smile on her lips seemed to grow as a thought came to her mind. In a sudden burst of recklessness, she lept into the water.

The red, scale-less dragonskin that she kept wrapped around her body for warmth stuck to her skin as she swam through the pure depths of the lake. She twirled, her eyes wide open to the movements of the water. Her black locks floated around her as she swam until she felt like her lungs were going to burst. Waiting until the very last moment, she propelled herself to the surface, calmly rising out of the silent water.

Pushing her hair away from her face and wiping away the droplets, she moved to the side of the lake and began walking out.

That was when she saw him.

Ligandra stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the creature in front of her. His back was to her, obviously unaware of her presence. Without another moment of hesitation, Ligandra dove behind a tree, and apparently not all that quietly.

She peered from around the trunk as the creature turned around, and it was all she could do not to gasp aloud. He was...her. She started in amazement at him. He wasn't much taller than herself, and his skin was a rich ivory. He had shoulder-length black hair and his eyes...

...were staring into hers.

Ligandra jumped with shock as she realized that he had seen her. Without another thought she grabbed onto a tree branch and peered at him from above. He was still following her, an expression in his eyes that was hard for her to read. They seemed...excited, and worried. Curious? Yet distant. For an instant she wondered what her eyes read.

"Who are you?" She whispered, unaware that she had said it aloud. She knew she shouldn't talk to this thing. But he was...so much like her. Now his eyes were easy to read. Confusion.

"Darajon speech?" He asked her and she squinted, leaning forward on the branch. He moved a little closer, apparently eager to get a better look at her as well. She stretched herself until she could look straight down into the depths of eyes the same shape as her.

He murmered something, but she couldn't understand. It seemed to be a different language...or maybe he was mad. Ligandra pulled herself away a little but without warning he put a hand to her chin. She froze and he gazed at her, a sudden clarity coming to his face.

"Come down." This she understood. With a moment of thought she spun on the bough and let herself drop easily in front of him. Standing before him she realized that they were the same height.

"Who are you?" She asked him again, taking in the shape of his nose and lips.

"I call myself Mendiul." He said and she shook her head.

"No, who are you? You are..." She stopped for a moment, apparently trying to think. "You are...a me. You are me. I am you."

He seemed to smile a bit at her description. She stared at the action. Never before had she seen anyone but heself smile.

"An elf. I am an elf."

"Elf..." Ligandra savored the word, looking down at her hands. An elf. She was an elf? But...

"I am an elf?" She asked him and he looked at her, confused at yet slowly piecing everything together. Her confusion, her language...

"Yes, you are an elf. At least you certainly look like one, but - ?"

She cut of his question to ask her own. "If I am...elf, then why are my people darajons?"

Mendiul's eyes widened slightly. He wasn't an old elf, but he was experienced. And for a moment, he looked upon the woman in front of him, adorned with what he just noticed to be the skin of a dragon. It was impossible. But could this be...?

He shook his head. It was impossible. This was just a confused elf, possibly caught years ago. Yet...he looked at her again. She had moved closer to him, staring at him like she was seeing him for the first time every second. Her eyes were hungry, seemingly greedy to take in every part of him. Her eyes...were golden red, shining with their own light. Like that of a dragon, like that of an elf, and like that of the Lims.

She pulled him out of his thoughts as he felt her soft hand touch his cheek, ever so lightly. Her mouth was open with wonder as she delicately stroked his skin. She seemed to have forgotten her question to him. Softly, he spoke.

"How long have you been with the darajons?" He asked her, she didn't even think before replying.

"Forever."

This was it, one more deciding factor. If she had anything near the name the tale gave..."What is your name?"

She stopped caressing him long enough to catch his eyes. Maybe she could sense how important the question was. Or maybe it was just the way he spoke. At any rate she was soon staring into his depths and he flet himself being read. He felt as if she knew his every emotion.

"Ligandra."

It was her.

---


"Asakam!" Ligandra cried, causing thirty-eight glimmering eyes to gaze at her from inside the huge cavern. Normally, she didn't want the attention, but right now she needed to find Asakam. And her eyes were the only ones that were missing.

She ran up to their ruler. "Gominel! Where is Asakam?"

The wise darajon looked at her slowly, before motioning his head to the side. "Is something wrong, young 'andra?"

Without answering him she ran to the wide, side opening, finding herself in front of a sleeping Asakam. Ligandra didn't even bother to wake the darajon, she knew that she could be heard.

"Am I an elf?"

Asakam's eyes snapped open and Ligandra knew instantly that she was right. Asakam told it without words.

"I met one." Ligandra continued. "In the forest. He...was me. He was just like me." She stared up at Asakam. "Why didn't you tell me?"

There was pain in the darajon's eyes as she sat up. It seemed as if Asakam didn't know where to begin. "I knew I would have to tell you eventually...but I didn't know when I should. When was an elf old enough to understand? When...when did an elf have their powers?"

Ligandra looked at Asakam, confused. "Powers? I...Meniul was his name. He said...I was the one. The one that was missing, that was told would come." She thought back to the meeting. It was just minutes before but it felt like years.

"Asakam how did this happen?" She looked upon the motherly figure in front of her who took in a deep breath. It looked like it was going to be a long story.

"It was years ago." The darajon began. "Before you were born. There were more of us then...and we weren't restricted to this mountain. We used to fly free. The elves used to roam the woods and we were civil to each other. Our races were never...friends. We just respected each other and minded our own business. They could have the land, so long as we had the air."

Asakam closed her eyes, remembering the days before. "Then things started changing. There was another kind of people...they were called..."

"Lims?" Ligandra supplied and Asakam nodded, opening one eye.

"Yes. The Lims. They came, and they wanted both land and air. Ugly creatures...grey papery wings and shriveled mossy bodies. They were a mix between an elf, dwaft, and a rock. They don't have any skills, or real intelligence. We didn't fear them at all, we just waved them away thinking they couldn't take over."

Asakam sighed, the kind of sound you make looking back on a decision and wishing you would have put more thought to it.

"We didn't know of their powers, the ones to manipulate. With enough time and enough of them they could do just about anything. Move a tree, create a storm...even change themselves. They knew our weaknesses and could simply create just the thing that they needed to threaten us. And they did.

"Soon, they weren't just scaring darajons, they were killing them. And fast. Apparently, they were doing the same to the elves. And what was worse, no one knew who it was. The Lims took the shape of a darajon while killing the elves, and as elves to kill the darajons. It was total confusion. Soon, real elves were attacking us, and the other way. Unless the elves were so scattered that they were barely in existence and half of our people totally gone."

Asakam, pausing from the tragic story. Ligandra stared at her, eyes wide in shock and confusion. "But how does that...?"

Asakam nodded. "It was after we had retreated to this mountain, actually still a volcano at the time. Even the Lims wouldn't come here, near an active volcano. Only we knew that it was on it's last few breaths, we would be safe.

"You were given to me, by a dying elf. She had dragged herself to this mountain, both legs broken. She would have let herself just die, but she knew you were special. She said that you were Ligandra and that you had the eyes."

Asakam looked deep at Ligandra. "She said that you would be the one to help. That you could be the one to help us all. She repeated. You had the eyes."

Ligandra looked to the floor, thinking about her eyes. What was so special? They were just like the elf that she had just met...and they were like the darajons...she shook her head.

"Is that all you know?" She asked and Asakam nodded.

"That is all I was told. You're mother died right there. I would have left you...but she seemed to certain. She said that you could help. And, Gominel agreed to keep you, so long as I took the responsibility and I did."

Ligandra pressed her back to the warm stone, thinking about everything that she had learned. Her life had just turned over, everything that she once knew was different. She looked down at her hands, suddenly afraid of the facts that she had once been so eager to hear.

"How?" She whispered, looking to Asakam. "How can I help? What...powers...do I have?"

Ligandra stared at Asakams blue depths and before she even spoke she knew that she had no answer.

----


~~~~ Story Plan ~~~~~

Ligandra, raised by dragons, but really a pure elf from an ancient and lost race. Taken over by some sort of bad mystcal creature and most captures or in small bands in the forest of Lollyrn where they once dwelled. Ligandra has the power and the strength to bring her people back together, but first she must conquer over the others and make them trust her in this very untrustworthy world.