class of the ungifted

The sun had just barely set, and Powerless was still groggy with sleep. Once again, his dreams had been plagued with unfamiliar NightWings, Solar at the head of them. She had been shaking her head with worry, warning the young dragon to leave before it was too late. But by the time he had gathered up enough courage to ask her what she meant, the dream ended. "Stupid dreams, stupid NightWings with powers. Everything's just stupid," he growled in a state of half-awakeness. All that dream had served was to make him miss his sister even more, and it had served its purpose all too well.

Yawning, the greenish NightWing opened his silver curtains to peer outside. The sky was a misty grey, on a strange border between dreams and reality. Slate blue clouds dotted the sky, twisting into ominous shapes. Not a single star was in the sky, and worst of all, the moon was barely visible. It hung like a mere sliver in the fabric of the heavens, a tear between worlds. Powerless was not a superstitious dragon, but he could not help but worry what fate had in store for him that day. Solar had been an expert in reading the sky, and even though he never quite believed her, it was wonderful to hear someone as earnest and kind as she was, especially among his own family.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and a huge, sinuous, golden-eyed shape stood panting in front of him. Powerless scrambled out of bed and halted right before Zenith's claws. "I— uhh... Mother!" He quickly plastered the best smile he could on his face. "Why are you here?" Zenith never stopped in to check on him. This could not be good.

"You're up early," she hissed, appearing more like a snake than ever. Her tail swept back and forth, hypnotic and judging. "Isn't it a while before you have to leave? Normally I'd ask you to go hunt and make yourself useful for once, but... Never-ending and I have been thinking." She leered at her son with her deadly golden eyes and wickedly curved fangs. Powerless could feel himself trembling, his face flushed with worry. This could not be good; his parents never thought about him if they could help it.

"Sit down, Powerless," Zenith whispered, her voice layered with honey. "You'll need it."

As if in a trance, the young NightWing stumbled back into his bed, his tawny eyes flickering with terror.

"You know you've always been useless to us," Zenith began, twitching her tail even more than before. "You've got no powers, and it would be a disgrace to our family to keep you around. Your half-sister Solar was the only one keeping you around, but now that we've gotten rid of her, we can finally focus on what to do with you." She crept forward, laughing in an almost good-natured way. Never-ending and I have been discussing for months what to do with you, and we've finally come to a decision. You'll be leaving us... forever. Ebony's always wanted a child, even a useless one." With those words still ringing in Powerless's head, Zenith left the room.

Once the cold sound of her rage had disappeared, Powerless began to weep. Although he was terrified of his parents, at least they were familiar. At least he knew his way around the NightWing village, all his hiding places and the cliffs where he and Solar used to watch the sunsets, the stars, the meteor showers. He had no idea where this Ebony was, or what they were like. If it was even possible, they could be much worse than Zenith and Never-ending, and his parents would not even care, as long as he was out of their sight.

And what was all this about Solar being his half-sister? Despite their incredibly different colorations, Powerless and Solar still looked a lot alike, even if she was faster, or had bigger wings, or a smaller tail. Or the glittering, full-sized mindreading scales, sparkling like a diamond in a sea of rubies. Could it be possible that Solar was a hybrid? Had Zenith or Never-ending been with another tribe of dragon entirely before meeting each other? That was almost preposterous to think about; both of them had the worst attitudes towards inter-tribe relationships and hybrid dragons. Also, Solar did not exactly look like a hybrid. Powerless had seen one once, as he was walking through a neighboring village. There was a dragonet among the sea of other dragons; he looked like an ordinary NightWing, but on second glance, Powerless caught a glimpse of glowing blue scales, a powerful tail, and gills. He was in awe of this handsome dragon, but soon a burst of fear sparked between the two and the hybrid was gone.

A deadly thought began to ring in Powerless's head, a booming gong. "Now that we've gotten rid of her," Zenith had said. His parents knew what had happened to Solar, and in one way or another, they had caused it. It was no secret that Zenith and Never-ending hated their offspring, but even Powerless, in his worst moments, never would have thought that they would stoop to killing innocent dragonets. But there were Zenith's words, clear in the most evil way possible. His parents had killed Solar, and soon he would be next.

"Get up," snapped Never-ending. "We're taking you to live with Ebony." Was Powerless imagining it, or was his father even more sinister than usual? There was almost no way Ebony could be worse than his own family, now that he knew the truth about them. At least Ebony apparently wanted him, according to Zenith. His mother was not one to sugarcoat the truth, so there was a slight possibility of hope.

And hope could be a powerful thing.

Powerless crept slowly out of his room, gazing at the beautiful blue bed and the silver curtains before turning to leave. "I'm ready, Father," he said, but not before he grabbed a small painting of Solar and a smaller one of a red starry rose. That was her last gift to him before dying... before his parents had killed her.

Both father and son flew out of the sandstone-spired house and toward the upper end of the village, right on the edge of Pyrrhia's western coast. As the pair landed, Powerless could hear the crashing of the waves against the rocks, the cry of a few lone seagulls, and the creaking of an old hut. "Welcome to Ebony's place," chuckled Never-ending. "He's been waiting for a little dragonet just like you... needs another one to experiment on, I suppose. He's an old animus; most say he's gone crazy from overusing his magic. Not a single drop of sense in there." He paused, lifting off into the sky. "Good riddance, Powerless! Wish we could've gotten rid of your half-breed sister that easily!" In a few wingbeats and bone-chilling laughs, Never-ending was gone, leaving Powerless alone with the mad animus.

Shivering in the cold of the night, the dragonet walked toward Ebony's hut, feeling a strange wrongness emanating from the atmosphere. Only thirty meters away, a black dragon was hunched over a small fire, trying to keep himself warm. "This must be Ebony," Powerless thought. The old animus seemed more lonely than anything; perhaps living with him would not be half bad.

But as Powerless drew closer to Ebony, he could not contain his terror any longer. The animus appeared to be sewn together from multiple different tribes, and had only a single wing and five different tails. The NightWing screamed, and lifted off into the sky. All he wanted was to be far away from Ebony, from his parents, from the deadly crashing sea.

He flew into the night, as high as he could, and followed the coast. He did not know why or how, but when early morning rose at last, he had collapsed into a cave, warm and dry, away from everything he knew.

This was his chance to start a new life. This was what Solar had always wanted for him.