The Wolf’s Daughter

Phaedra poked the… thing… on her plate slightly nervously. “And you’re sure this won’t kill me?”

“It’s not poisonous,” Yroth said. “Especially not to demons. You could always choke on it.”

“Well, as long as it won’t hurt me… you’ll like…. You promise?” Phaedra asked before, very nervously, picking it up.

“Morgana…” Yroth said. “You asked for this, did you not? If you don’t want to try it, you don’t need to.”

Phaedra turned it over in her hands nervously. It was hard, slightly charred. Some kind of beetle, a favorite for dragons and kobolds apparently. Part of the cooking process had caused the legs and antenna to fall off, resulting in a crispy tube-like treat. Slowly, she leaned forward and gave it a small sniff. It smelled slightly savory. “I can do this.”

“Pathetic lamb,” Yroth said from behind her.

“Easy for you to say,” Phaedra said before she leaned forward to take a bite.

Only for Yroth’s tail to slap out, hitting her hand and shoving the beetle halfway into her mouth. She let out a startled yelp, biting down and cracking it in half. It came apart almost instantly, leaving the crunchy, flaky thing in her mouth. Luckily, she managed to not choke on it.

Phaedra blinked a few times before cocking her head. “Huh,” she said, before chewing it a few times. It was very salty and had a consistency of slightly charred pastry, flaking off in bits. After a few moments she swallowed it. “It’d actually be a pretty good topping. Also, will you not do that?!”

“You were taking too long,” Yroth said. “You really shouldn’t request to try things of mine if you’re this scared of them.”

“I want to understand you better,” Phaedra said. “To get to know what makes you tick and all. That’s not so strange, is it?”

Yroth sighed and shook her head. “I will never understand you. But yes, that’s a delicacy here. We have an assortment of sauces we often dip it into, but those would likely be far harder on your digestion than the bug.”

“I… think I’ll stick to things I know I can eat for now,” Phaedra said. “If I end up getting poisoned or worse, I doubt that’ll be good for anybody.” She then leaned back, pushing against the dragon’s scales.

Yroth merely shrugged and put a wing over her, before one of her claws reached out to snag the remains of the bug, tossing it into her mouth and chewing loudly. “Why did you even desire to try such a thing? There are plenty of things you’ve had before.”

“I want to understand you more,” Phaedra said. “If I’m going to live here, I need to know what you and your people eat, don’t I? How it’s prepared, why it’s preferred, things like that. If I don’t, I might just dismiss it out of hand or miss something obvious. Besides, it’s kind of cool. I got to eat a weird lava bug cooked by kobolds and shared with an Ascended Dragon. There were people back where I was from who would have killed for such things.”

“It still seems a bit strange to me,” Yroth said. “But if it makes you happy, I don’t see any reason to not share more with you. However, on that note about your world, I would like to ask you something.”

“Yes?” Phaedra asked.

“My name,” Yroth said. “You told me before it meant nothing in your world, did you not?”

“I never said that,” Phaedra said quickly. “I only said I’d never heard it before.”

“Are you certain?” Yroth asked. “Surely you must have heard it in some fashion. What does it sound like to you?”

“I couldn’t even begin to guess where it comes from,” Phaedra said sheepishly, her fur poofing up slightly to shield her from the prying. “It… kind of sounds angry? Close to wrath, I guess? But even that doesn’t sound right. Is it really that big a deal?”

“It is,” Yroth said softly. “The names you hear should tell you much, if they connect to your world. My name should connect to a guide of sorts in your world, or a great power. To not connect to anything is…”

“Are you jealous?” Phaedra asked.

“I am NOT!” Yroth said fiercely before pulling her wing back and pulling away slightly.

Phaedra couldn’t help it, she giggled even as she lost her resting place, falling back onto the ground. “Oh my gosh. You ARE jealous.”

“I am merely concerned,” Yroth said firmly. “If the nature of your summoning was so… disjointed, then that could be a clue.”

“What, like the name wasn’t properly converted?” Phaedra asked. “Or that, maybe, you’re not as… actually, no. You’re an Ascended Dragon, you’re probably every bit as important as you think. Then again, you’re an Ascended Dragon. I don’t know if anything is as important as you think you are.”

Yroth glowered at her before returning to where she had been laying with an annoyed huff. Unfortunately, as Phaedra had been laying there, she was now buried under a dragon the size of a small cottage. She flailed her feet and tried to shove her off, but the dragon proved to be an almost immovable object.

Phaedra finally put both palms up onto the dragon’s scales, causing ice to wash over them for a moment and the dragon jumping up for a moment, allowing the sheep demon a chance to pull away before the dragon could collapse back.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Phaedra asked before she pet her poofy wool, trying to get it to straighten out again.

“If I was trying, I would,” Yroth said. “But, aside from your rudeness, yes. It is possible my name wasn’t converted. There… is another possibility, but it’s not one I’d like to entertain.”

“Why?” Phaedra asked.

“It would be hard to explain without understanding the very nature of what an Ascended Dragon is,” Yroth said. “Tell me, what was the name Atlas to you?”

“Atlas? Well,” Phaedra said. “I… want to say it was Greek, but I only know it a little. I think he was a titan who was punished by the gods to hold up the sky. An eternal burden, for opposing them at one point. I think he was eventually freed, though. I guess… that kind of fit Atlas. She always had to carry my burdens and… she probably felt like it was a burden. I know she missed her home, her groves. She—”

“Please, stop,” Yroth said. “It was not your fault. The next, Lilith. What did that name mean to you?”

“Uhhhh, well… I think she was like… the first vampire in some stories,” Phaedra said. “Admittedly, I didn’t know as much. But I know her name pops up a lot. There might have been some other myths that inspired the vampire one, but I always figured it was because of the vampire thing. On account of her like… stealing the names of things she slayed and how she’d drain the blood from things to steal their abilities for a little bit. And, ummm, the time she bit me and—”

“She bit you?” Yroth asked, her eyes narrowing.

“I-I think it was meant as a, a ummmm… a playful thing,” Phaedra said sheepishly, her face going red and wool poofing up once more. “But, ummm, I think it was that. Kind of a… cursed, thing, I think? I, admittedly, never read the book it was based on and I kind of wish I had.”

“I see,” Yroth said. “And Eve?”

“First woman, I think,” Phaedra said. “Though, because of that we tended to have a lot of things that referenced ‘Eve’. Like, we’d have a holiday eve, which was the night before. And a lot of games had characters who were named Eve because they were the origins of some species or another. It was pretty common. But the story I am most familiar with is that she was tricked and then banished from Eden because of a talking snake that I guess was kind of a demon but a different type of demon.”

Yroth gave another sigh before she lowered her head, resting it on the floor.

“What’s wrong?” Phaedra asked.

“Those were the three names you felt closest to? The ones that you felt most familiar to?” Yroth asked. “Was there anything else about them?”

“I mean, Lilith had that blood magic stuff, Eve was an angel who could tear the limbs off a kraken and Atlas was a dryad who… well… healed me all the time,” Phaedra said softly. “It seemed fitting to me. You had the warrior, the healer and the… mage. I guess, in retrospect… I was kind of… obsolete, huh?”

Yroth closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. “The names that resonated with you were that of a being who was cursed to carry the world on her back, a creature cursed to devour the blood of others and another tricked and then banished from her home. Is that correct?”

“I… I guess… that’s… kind of true, but—”

“I wish I had pried deeper into your world,” Yroth said. “I should have asked more questions. Instead, I…”

“It’s not your fault,” Phaedra said softly. “I… should have told you more. If I’d been more open, maybe we wouldn’t have—”

“I am an Ascended Dragon,” Yroth said. “I rushed into a battle I was not prepared for, a war I had no place in. If anyone could have prepared for this, it was I. Yet I did nothing. I allowed myself to overestimate Fenrir and see a world destroying threat where there was none. The names in your life, Phaedra, were a sign. A clue as to what was truly happening… and I failed to notice them. The lack of meaning in my own name was the warning I should have heeded.”

Phaedra reached out a hand and, very gently, stroked Yroth’s scales. “It’s not your fault. It wasn’t all bad, either. I mean… maybe… my death was a good thing?”

“Are you truly saying you should have been torn apart by Fenrir?” Yroth asked.

“I mean, there are worse things,” Phaedra said sheepishly. “I used to work in fast food, that was awful.”

“In… fast… food? Hunting? Or… was… this some kind of ritual?” Yroth asked.

“It… never mind,” Phaedra said. “It’s just… I’m pretty happy… ish… like this. Sure, eventually my family might find out and then… they’ll… tear me apart… and eat my heart. But aside from that? It’s pretty nice. I’ve got you.”

“You are a strange creature,” Yroth said.

“And hey, this part of your territory is pretty nice, I could hide here for like… a century or two,” Phaedra said. “They might never even realize. Or maybe we can like… hide some of the people who they think is me, say I ate their heart, then they’ll all think I have it, right? It’ll be great.”

“Are all people of your world so optimistic?” Yroth asked.

“No,” Phaedra said softly. “Honestly? I’m a… lot worried about this. But that’s not… I’m not going to fix it by worrying. If I spend all my time panicking, I’m just going to die again without enjoying anything, nobody wants that.”

“You’re not going to die again,” Yroth said, firmly.

“I will eventually,” Phaedra said. “And when I do… someone will get my name.” She pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them. “… Someone will be Medon or Morgana and… I hope they’ll be better at it than I ever was.”

“Morgana…” Yroth said softly.

“Once we save our friends, maybe one of them,” Phaedra said. “Lilith would make a good Morgana, I think. Oh, or Eve. Actually, Eve might get a bit too into it. The world might not survive.”

“Morgana,” Yroth said firmly. “If you continue to act so miserably, I will drag you back to the hottest parts of my kingdom and you will, once again, wither like the pathetic sheep you act as.”

“P-please no,” Phaedra said softly, giving a light shudder.

“Then cease such talk,” Yroth said. “If your death was what was desired, then I would have it. You dying now solves nothing.”

“Solves some things,” Phaedra mumbled off to the side.

“What was that?!” Yroth asked, slapping her tail on the ground.

“Your scales are extra pretty today,” Phaedra said quickly.

“That’s better,” Yroth said.

Phaedra smiled, though, leaning back against the dragon. “If… my family… if they do kill me… will you miss me?”

Silence lingered in the room for a long while after that, before Yroth finally sighed. Her tail moved out, gently resting against her and pinning her against her side. “Don’t ask such questions, sheep.”

“I just—”

“They won’t kill you,” Yroth said. “I won’t let them. You have been caught in things you never should have. I won’t allow you to be trapped in them again.”

Phaedra reached out and gave the tail a small hug. “I’ll hold you to that. I—”

Her words were cut off by sudden, rapid pounding on the door. Phaedra rolled her eyes before slowly getting to her feet, Yroth’s tail pulling away from her.

“Whatever has them knocking like that can’t be good,” Phaedra said. She waved her hand and the doorway glowed for a moment.

“Lady Phaedra?” a voice called from outside. It took her a moment to realize who it was. “Can you hear me?”

Stix. One of her personal guards. She hadn’t heard much of him since they’d moved the throne, she hadn’t even been sure he’d still come with her. At least they were making sure to knock, though. She walked to the doorway and flung it open, causing the lizard demon on the other side to almost fall into the room.

“M-my lady,” Stix said quickly before struggling to stand up straight. “A heavily damaged airship just entered your territory.”

“Oh?” Phaedra said before glancing up. “I don’t feel it. Any flags?”

“Yes,” Stix said. “It bears the flag of Lady Paradox and--”

“Dixxy?!” Phaedra asked, her eyes lighting up. “Dixxy is coming here?”

“Uhhhh… L-Lady… Paradox’s… symbol, yes,” Stix said. “However, there is a second airship in pursuit. Lady Circe’s is in close pursuit. We believe Lady Paradox’s airship will crash here within a few minutes at its current trajectory.”

“Ohhhh, that’s too-- wait,” Phaedra said. “Did you say crash? Oh… oh no. Dragon! Change into something smaller, we’re going! Thank you, Stix, ummm, ready guards or whatever. Oh, if Circe is chasing Dixxy then whatever she did must be baaaaad.” She started towards the door before stopping. She then shook her head. “Dragon, grab my amulets on the way and meet me outside,” she called back before rushing out of the room.

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