[Gift] The 11th Hour | Family

Enceladus had been born with another half, a mirror image.

Family was, yes, blood, lineage: the identical wooden mask to his own, the great dragons from which they were descended.

These basic facts had been known to him before he had broken his shell.

But, like all dragons, his greatest affinity was to his rider, and he felt no greater calling than this: Blue, her back against Witch Hazel, both half asleep as a storm raged outside, the gentle rumble of thunder and endless patter of rain leading mammalian bodies to rest.

Enceladus approached, surprising dexterity in the wood of his limbs. The dire wolf roused, an eye peering open. Enceladus had no way to calm him; his face inherently expressionless.

But he shook his head, the grass growing from his mane rustling as he, too, lay near, careful of the elaborate crest on the back of his head.

He had so many places where Witch Hazel thought to apply his teeth. Not out of anger or cruelty, but out of ignorance. After all, it was hard to explain to an animal that these wooden limbs were him, much in the same way that Witch Hazel’s own tail was.

It was important, then, to make peace with him. For all of their sakes, but especially his rider’s. Blue was more than capable of handling many things, but an upset between one of their dragons and their dearest companion was not easily surmounted.

“We will be friends,” he murmured, a promise to them both.

He would do anything to bring peace to his family.