a collection of tales [[ chronocompass writing ]]

Syntyche was a Tsotska of few words and yet fewer needs. She lived with her dragons atop the mountains of tsotska de la mer, painted the scenes she saw from her home, and felt that she had a lot of dragons.

Of course, now, with tens of voices in her head from Teeba’s dragons as well, she was starting to realize she wasn’t even close to ‘too many dragons’. For her partner, it seemed like too many wasn’t even a word in his vocabulary. It’s part of why she still stayed in her home behind the waterfall. He thrived in the chaos, in the huge group he’d built up, and she got overwhelmed by it all too quickly. So she would go and see him half the time, and less often (the poor fellow had so much going on) he would stop by her place to see her.

On this day in particular, there was no visit, and Syntyche felt it was a day to be alone. She grabbed her bow and a small, white flower as a blessing for the dragon in the volcano, and started the climb up to the top of the island. Flowerheart quietly fell into step beside her, and she accepted his silent company with a smile.

Flowerheart picked several more flowers as they went, true to his name. He tucked the beautiful blooms next to the flowers growing on himself for safekeeping, and plodded after Syntyche. The tsotska, herself, found an especially beautiful daffodil and picked it up along the journey.

As they neared the volcano, Ty rolled up her sleeves and wished that, despite being a cold-blooded creature, that she wasn’t so hot at the moment. Flowerheart grumbled a silent agreement next to her - his long fur was surely not helping in this heat. But, at last, the two reached their destination - the mouth of the volcano. Syntyche lowered her hood with one hand and held on to the flowers with her other.

Flowerheart was the first to throw his bundle of flowers in. He took them from between his own and gently tossed them in to the rumbling lava. Syntyche followed suit. She took a seat at the edge of the volcano as the dragon and rider watched the white blooms crumble into nothing and sink beneath the surface of the lava. Neither of them needed to say anything - the sight was incredible, beyond words.

The two sat there for a while longer, neither one breaking the silence, as the lava bubbled and the clouds floated by. At long last, when Ty turned around to head home, she glimpsed for only a second what looked like a shape in the embers, blinking thanks at her. It was, as per usual, very reassuring.

Syntyche hopped up onto Flowerheart’s back for the return trip. The two continued their silent walk back home, each quietly enjoying the company of the other - until they didn’t.

Leif tried to scare them halfway back. Emphasis on ‘tried’. Ty had felt the little dragon’s thoughts in her head as he grew closer, so when the bush dragon jumped out, covered in twigs and leaves and dust, and cried, ‘boo!’ she simply smiled and nodded.

“Good to see you, Leif. You’re getting braver by the day, aren’t you?” Ty asked. She climbed down from Flowerheart’s back and bent down to Leif’s level. Flow took a graceful seat on the forested path they were on and listened patiently.

Leif nodded her branch - like head eagerly. “I’ve been practicing my spying. There’s always so much going on and no one ever sees me!”

“Well, good for you. Did you see anything interesting this time?” said Syntyche. She wasn’t expecting much, maybe something mildly interesting. So that’s why Leif’s words were so much more shocking.

“Ashgar’s house burned down! I heard some folk talking about it. Everyone’s okay, though. I’m glad our house has a waterfall in front. Everyone should have that!” Leif explained the news like it was the simplest thing in the world. Syntyche had to take a few seconds to comprehend what she was hearing. She could hear Flowerheart’s thoughts, too - he was a bit more shaken than his usual calm mental state. For Flowerheart, that meant he was only mildly concerned.

Ty, on the other hand, sprang up to her feet at once. “Oh gosh. Oh gosh. We have to go make sure he’s okay!”

“Wait, what did I say?” Leif questioned. Ty didn’t respond, but picked up the bush-size dragon in her arms and clambered back up onto Flowerheart. The flowery dragon instantly began to dash down the rest of the mountain path, and past the turn that led to their home. They were headed towards the shore, and Ashgar’s home.

The group of dragons and rider arrived at the beach after only a few minutes - Flowerheart had ran as fast as possible, all the way down the island to the shore. The sand was a lot more tricky to run through, so the trio chose to walk through the sand to the spot where Ashgar’s house should have been.

Instead of a house, though, Syntyche’s eyes saw nothing but shattered, burnt planks, stuck in the sand, and no Ashgar in sight - or anyone related to him. Leif squirmed out of Ty’s arms and landed on the sand, while Flowerheart nosed the shards of the former house sadly.

“He can’t be dead, can he?” Ty had to ask, after several long moments of silence.

Before either dragon could answer, a voice sounded from above: “Not yet! Still alive and well, don’t you worry.”

Ty lifted her gaze to the sky and saw a wonderful sight: Ashgar and his dragon Maristella were gliding towards them. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and despite the sand beneath her, she jogged towards the duo. Leif and Flowerheart were quick to follow her.

Stella landed on the sand semi-gracefully - her landing sent a small shower of sand flying through the air, and Ty had to shield her face from the onslaught. But before she knew it, Ashgar had leapt off his dragon’s back and hurried over to give her a warm hug. After a few moments, he let her go with a smile.

“Ty! It’s so good to see you again. Teeba told me you’d been feeling a bit more quiet lately, so I didn’t want to bother you with the bad news,” Ashgar said, sheepishly. Stella, at his side, nodded along. “On that topic, actually, how did you find out? Did my brother interrupt your time of reflection?”

Syntyche shook her head. “No, I was enjoying the quiet, to be sure, but then Leif here stopped by to tell me about the incident. She’s getting very good at being a spy, or so she says.” The tsotska turned to give a smile to her bush dragon, but the tiny fellow had already up and vanished. Reaching out with her mind, she could tell that Leif was already hiding herself in a nearby pile of seaweed. Even though Ashgar was a friend, the dragon was still wary.

“Well then, you must not have gotten the full story. I’m just fine, and so is everyone else. We’ve been rebuilding the house further down the shore,” explained Ashgar. “Good thing that we stopped by here when we did, I would have hated to make you worry.”

“Teeba would have told her you were alright, I’m sure,” Maristella commented. Flowerheart hummed a reassuring agreement.

Ashgar simply nodded, closed his eyes, and paused for a moment. Syntyche thought he seemed a lot older from the last time she had met him, and not just for the fact that she hadn’t seen him in a week or two. Recent events had changed her brother-in-law.

In a surprisingly unspoken and unplanned agreement, the two tsotska sat down on the shore and just listened to the waves crash against the shore. Maristella curled up next to them, and Flowerheart found his own spot a bit behind the group. Even Leif gained a bit of temporary bravery and snuck back out to Flowerheart’s side, all sorts of things sticking out of the bush dragon’s fur now.

“I can see why you like the quiet,” Ashgar said, after almost ten minutes of doing not much of anything. “I don’t think I’ve stopped for a moment since the old place burned down.” His gaze drifted to the rubble of his former abode.

Ty nodded. “You have to take life slow sometimes. Otherwise everything happens all at once.” As Flowerheart fell into a doze by her side, she made an offer she had only made to one person before. “…If you ever need a break, you’re welcome to come to my place. I know all the best hideaways.”

“You know, that would be really nice.” Ashgar closed his eyes in thought. “Thanks, Ty.”

The group of riders and dragons stayed there for quite a while longer, until the sun began to set and it was time for the respective groups to return home. But, all things considered, Syntyche had quite enjoyed the relative peace of the day.

She fell asleep that night, in a cuddle pile with all of her dragons and several dragon eggs, with a smile.