Artifex Souligni

  Artifex Souligni

Kingdom: Animalia

Clade: Synapsida

Phylum: Chordata

Subpylum: Neosynapsida

Order: Neotharapsida

Suborder: Dragona

Suborder: Lepidotrichiaptyrex

Family: Fiditops

Subfamily: Trooistriacus

Genus: Kataigodragonus

Species: Quetzalcoatla

Subspecies: Wildertrackia

Common names: None

Q. Wildertrackia ~ a small species of sandburr dragon native to the waterways of North and South America

Artifex walks the line between fun neon dergsona and hardcore self insert. She's never the main character of course- that would be weird. Nope, instead she likes to pop into the story when the main character needs a wise man to send them along the way. She breaks 4th walls, she instigates cameos, and loves to wiggle herself into EVRY hobby of mine. Alas, at least she's not bored!

Rescue~ Looks can be deceiving

"Who are you?" A trapped traveler calls from the bottom of a sinkhole.
"Artifex!" A little dragon responds from the surface with a friendly smile. "Would you like some help?"
"Yes please!"
The dragon starts slowly picking her way down the steep muddy side, avoiding sharp rocks and bits of a ruined boardwalk. "Are you hurt?"
"I don't think so."
She approaches a broken stair case and tests it with both front paws. It gives slightly under her weight, and she chooses to go around it, carefully stepping over broken branches. "Can you move?"
"Not easily."

She reaches the traveler and thoughtfully inspects his situation.
He's trapped under a particularly large tree, and every time he moves, he sinks farther into the mud.
"You're lucky. This could have killed you."
"I though it had for a moment!"
The little dragon works her head and neck under the downed tree's bulk, and in one swift movement, she rears up and flings it off him.
He lies frozen there for a moment, bewildered. "You're strong..."
She laughs a little, "I don't look it do I? Okay, how about now? Does anything hurt?"
He gathers himself and stands, stiff and sore, but unharmed for the most part. "Nothing fatal."
"Very good! Here, follow me, I found safe footing this way."

They start to climb, the dragon leading and the traveler hanging on to her tail. Rocks and broken branches come loose and tumble past them as they go, and the traveler's feet sink deep into the substrate. He struggles to pull them out, and in his panic he slips and starts to fall. The dragon spins around and catches his sleeve between her teeth. She pulls him back to his feet and they continue, only this time he notices how she never seems to take a wrong step. Her paws don't sink or slide, the rocks don't come loose under her, and her balance is always perfect.

"Who are you really?" He wonders out loud, not actually expecting a true answer.
"Me?" The little dragon glances back at him and smiles, a hint of both humor and exhaustion in her eyes. It's fun to tell, but she's tired of the response. She tells him the truth though- rules are rules.

"I am the spirit of wind and lighting and the singer in the sea of songs.
I am she who paints the sky with lost feathers and dances with flying fish, the keeper of the arts, the kite in the storm, and the teller of fantastic stories.
I speak for odd and unhugable people, I am a hand offered to those on their knees, and I am a reminder that there are two sides to every story, a voice that whispers reason in hard times.
"I am the untamed beasts who walk alone on abandon roads, the vines growing over old homes, and the feeling in your chest when you run through the woods. I am joy, I am terror, and I am the wild thing that lives even in you.
Run with me if you dare, and I will show you who you are..."

The traveler stops in his tracks, realizing his rescuer's true identity. "Artifex?!"
"Only if you wish to call me such."
"I should have greeted you properly..." He looks a bit shaken, perhaps expecting the little dragon will live up to her kind's reputation.
She flicks her tail happily and gives him another friendly smile. "Don't be ridiculous, you were under a tree! Come on, best get moving before you sink past your ankles."