Festival of Stars
Jarzyl and Atlas attend a nocturnal festival
Pre challenge
Grand, lively music filled the air, played by musicians equipped with wing harps, then magically amplified to echo out across the park. Jarzyl stood in a queue and she danced to the beat as she waited, rocking her body from side to side and waving her wings in smooth sweeping strokes.
Another fledgling came strolling over, and the two dragons exchanged a familiar nod. “Caaaaden! Hello! Happy festival day! Warmest wishes for this shortest of days!”
“Warm what?! Seriously…?” Caden held back a laugh, but she smiled. “Hello, Jarz. What’s this queue for?”
Jarzyl flicked her wings back and forth. “Roasted breakhorn skewers. Mhhm!”
“Sounds tasty.” Caden watched Jarzyl’s dance moves and nodded approvingly. “Enjoying the solstice festival already?”
“Oh yes. Dance, dance!” Jarzyl bobbed her head, then converted this motion into a wave that ran down her body and ended with a flick of her tail. “This is the best Festival of Stars ever.”
Caden didn’t hold back her laughter then. “Haha. You’re only saying that because the festival is hosted by your clan this year.”
“But it’s still true!” Throwing her wings wide open, Jarzyl spun around and gestured broadly at the park space all around them. “Sector 49! New city sector, new park! Isn’t this a much nicer place than when Clan Dirak held the festival in sector 1 last year? That was so crowded.”
Caden nodded. “I concede this point. This new city sector does have a nice big park.”
The park around them was a vast green space, big enough to have a small hill on which a huge ironwood tree towered higher even than the surrounding skyscrapers of the City of Wings. It was early evening, but the sky was already growing dark and the nearby buildings cast long shadows down into the park.
Just for the week, the park had been converted for the festival—rows and rows of booths had been set up, with merchants selling food, drinks, snacks, and desserts. Crowds of dragons were already forming, with more flying into the park every minute to explore the festival. Other booths offered toys, trinkets, or other wares for sale, while yet more booths offered games of chance or skill, to win prizes.
Aside from the live music, other performers were dancing or doing tricks with magic—a drake spat fire and frostbreath together into the sky, creating a cascading flurry of energy, while another dragon blew smoke rings and then used air magic to curve them into rolling vortexes. A drakka was using water magic to spin coloured streams of water into arcs and loops which another performer jumped through in a synchronized performance. All across the park were large banners flapping in the breeze, adorned with glowing paint to add a festive, nightly mood as the sun set. Strings of glowing, flickering little lights dangled from pole to pole, looking like vines covered in fireflies.
The Festival of Stars—sponsored by Clan Mintaka.
Jarzyl resumed dancing along to the music. Her four paws moved fast and quick, tapping the ground as she bounced light-footed from one stance to another. The queue moved forward, and she skipped forward without missing a beat. “I think that it is a good idea to have a festival on the winter solstice day. What better use for a short day and a long night, then to celebrate all night?”
Caden laughed. “That’s one way to look at it. But the Festival of Stars is about more than that. There’s heritage. It’s an old cultural tradition of nocturnal dragons.”
Jarzyl nodded and flicked her neck frill. “Of course, yes I know that. In fact, my father said that the clan’s festival planning committee was leaning extra heavy into that theme this year.”
Caden narrowed her eyes. “An apex clan exploiting culture and longstanding tradition for their own benefit? With a festival full of commerce? Typical.”
Jarzyl stuck out her tongue. “Don’t be so cynical. Enjoy the festival. We’re here to celebrate nocturnal dragons, how they are our equals in the city, and how we appreciate that they run all the night shifts and keep the city going after dark. Be positive.”
Caden used her tail to sweep the grass, then she sat back on her haunches beside Jarzyl. “Speaking of nocturnal dragons, where’s your date?”
Without pausing her dance or missing a beat, Jarzyl tilted her head. “Hmm? What did you say?”
Caden leaned closer. “I said, where’s your date? Your sweetheart. That sooty-scaled, three-legged, quiet nocturnal drake who’s your loyal sidekick and/or personal slave.”
Jarzyl kept dancing. “Huh? The music is very loud. I can’t seem to hear you.”
The music wasn’t that loud. “You know exactly what I am talking about. Who I am talking about.” Caden rolled her eyes. “Where’s Atlas?”
“Atlas, who is definitely not those things you said earlier, though I didn’t hear those things you said earlier, is in the other queue.” Jarzyl stretched out her wing and pointed her wingtip, across the park towards another queue. “He’s getting drinks.”
Caden smirked. “Ah, so you despatched him to get drinks for you? But he’s not your personal slave, you were saying?”
“No, he’s not! This is just friends helping each other. I’m getting food, he’s getting drinks. Slavery would be sending him to get food and drinks for us both while I lounged about in the grass. This is efficiency.”
“I see. Efficiency. So it’s a cooperative effort where you and Atlas both collaborate for mutual benefit as equals. Like an alliance. Or a partnership. As if you two were partners.”
Jarzyl nodded. “We are good friends.”
“Good friends who spend a lot of time together, with just each other.”
“It’s nice to spend good time with good friends!” Jarzyl retorted.
Caden chuckled. “We’re good friends, you and I, but you don’t look at me the same way you look at Atlas.”
Finally pausing her dancing, Jarzyl stopped with her front foreleg and rear hindleg raised, balanced on her other two legs. She tilted her head, looking curiously at Caden. “What? What way do I look at him?”
“The same way he looks at you, actually. It’s this… warm, subtle smile, and the way you pay rapt attention whenever he speaks. It’s cute!” Caden got to her feet as the queue moved forward again. “Help me get a couple of the skewers, would you? I’ll go over to say hello to Atlas.”
“Sure. Uh, can you tell him to get me the sourberry juice instead? I told him I wanted the titan cherry blend, but I changed my mind.”
“Certainly. I shall relay your preferences to Atlas, and perhaps have a little chat with him.”
Jarzyl squinted at Caden, with her neck frill perking up. “I… uh… hmm.”
A moderate distance away, another queue snaked around this part of the park, with dragons lining up to get drinks from several booths. The drinks were served in clear pouch bags, with a straw to sip from and a string loop to hang the pouch around the neck, so that a dragon could carry them easily even while walking on all fours.
Midway through the queue, Caden found Atlas. Unlike Jarzyl, he was not dancing, but the tip of his tail was tapping along to the beat. Caden nodded at him. “Hey.”
Atlas glanced around and dipped his head in a quick bow. “Oh, hi Caden.”
“Warm wishes on this shortest of days.” Caden bowed too, half seriously, half just going through the motions of the ritual. “I’m not fond of most traditions, but the Festival of Stars is a good nocturnal tradition.”
Atlas laughed lightly. “I don’t care that it’s a festival from nocturnal dragon culture. We’re all dragons—diurnal or nocturnal. We all live together and celebrate the same events. And that’s good.”
“It is good.” Caden looked at the queue. “I see you are getting drinks. I shall just… casually slip into the queue with you. Also, I was talking with Jarzyl and she wanted me to tell you she changed her mind.”
Atlas looked unsurprised. “Let me guess—she wants sourberry tea instead of the cherry blend?”
Caden raised an eye ridge. “Exactly. How did you know?”
“She was indecisive about it earlier. The traditional festival drink is titan cherry juice and sourberry tea blended, but you can get each on their own too. Sourberries are Jarzyl’s favourite, so I half expected that she would get the sourberry tea.”
Caden nodded approvingly. “You really know her so well!”
Atlas shrugged. “It’s not a secret that Jarzyl loves sourberries.”
“I didn’t know that. Or I did know that she eats sourberries, but I didn’t know they were her favourite fruit.”
Atlas continued. “Anyway I’m getting the festive blend, so Jarz can have her berry tea and if she wants to try the cherry blend I expect she’ll steal some from me.”
“Heh. Of course. And you would let her.” The two fledglings stepped forward as the line advanced. “Jarzyl’s got lots of friendly energy and optimism.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
Caden peered at Atlas, trying to analyse him, but his calm expression gave away little. “You like her, don’t you?”
Atlas answered quickly. “Yes. Everyone likes Jarzyl. She’s great.”
Caden held back the urge to roll her eyes. Both of her two friends were so aggressively avoiding even the slightest discussion of their mutual romantic attraction, only making it all the more obvious, at least to Caden. “She is a good friend. But she’s also pretty, isn’t she?”
Atlas pondered this question and gave the most evasive response possible. “Some people hold that opinion.”
“Do you hold that opinion? Do you think Jarzyl is pretty?”
Atlas thought a bit more. “Uhh, I would not express an opinion contrary to that particular statement. In fact, I would go so far as to strongly concur.”
“So you do think Jarzyl is pretty. Have you ever told her that?”
“Hhm. That’s… I…” His voice trailed off, and he thought again for several long moments before finally saying, “I think I have no further comment on this matter.”
Caden gave in to the urge to roll her eyes. “Are you too shy to tell Jarzyl you like her?”
“Do you think I’m shy?” Atlas replied.
“A little bit, yes. But you answered that too quickly, so perhaps not.” Caden blinked. “Or… or wait a moment… Did you already tell her, and she’s the one who’s shy about it?”
Atlas said nothing, which said a lot.
“Oh! That’s the answer, isn’t it? Because Jarzyl evidently likes you, and you like her. Both of you no longer deny that.”
Atlas stepped forward. “Oh look, we’re at the front of the queue. Time to order drinks. Good chat, Caden. I think our position has been clarified.” He turned to the vendors, who were pouring drinks from large jugs into drink packets with straws. “One festive blend, and one sourberry tea, please!”
A short while later, Atlas returned to Jarzyl. He had two drinks packets slung around his neck with a loop of string, while Jarzyl was holding a paper bag filled with skewers of meat. The two fledglings quickly exchanged goods—Jarzyl lifted one of the drink packets off Atlas neck and took a sip from the straw, while he took a skewer from the bag and bit down on the meat. “Mhhm.”
“Mhhm!” Jarzyl cheerfully agreed. “I see Caden got you my message about the sourberry juice! Where’d she go?”
“She said she wasn’t going to join us for the festival tonight.”
Jarzyl’s neck frill perked up and she looked confused. “Huh? She’s going off already?”
Atlas shook his head. “No, she went to hang out with Pyxis, who is browsing at the store booths.”
“Oh. Should we go find them?”
“Nah.” A faint grin crossed his face. “Caden said she didn’t want to… get in the way.”
Jarzyl continued to look confused. “Get in the way of what?”
Atlas shrugged. “Of anything.” He nudged Jarzyl’s shoulder with his. “She definitely has her suspicions.”
Jarzyl blinked, then recognition suddenly dawned. “Oh. Right. Hmm.” Her eyes locked with his for a few long seconds, then she snapped her gaze away and looked embarrassed. She took out another skewer of roast meat, followed by another sip from her drink. “This sourberry juice tastes bitter, not as sour as I expected. Surprising.”
Atlas chuckled. “It’s sourberry tea, not juice—boiled from the leaves, not from the blended berries.” He offered his own drink packet. “Want to try the festival blend?”
Eagerly nodding, Jarzyl leaned close and put her straw in his drink to sip it. “That’s pretty good too!” She took a longer pull from the straw. “Mhhm, it’s a nice mix of flavours.”
“Yup.” Atlas also took a sip from his drink straw, not-so-accidentally bumping his snout against Jarzyl’s as he did so. “It’s got sugar from the titan cherry juice for energy, and the strong tea keeps you awake. That’s why it’s the traditional festival drink—it’s more for diurnal dragons than nocturnals, to keep you awake.”
Jarzyl laughed, a happy, amused sound. “Oh, right! That makes sense!” She smiled at Atlas. “This is going to be a good festival. I can feel it in my scales. Let’s go look around the stores!”
Jarzyl was bending her head down, peering at small glass carvings that delicately covered a booth top. Beside the booth, two artisans were making more of the carvings—one dragon was using firebreath to heat glass until it started to liquify, while another gestured with their paws, channelling stone affinity to curve the molten glass into intricate shapes. The glass pieces reflected the orange glow from the molten glass, glinting in the evening light.
“Did your parents come to the festival with you?” Atlas asked.
Jarzyl glanced at him. “Nope. It’s only me. My mother’s staying at home because she’s gotten too fat to fly, and my father’s keeping her company.”
Atlas laughed. “Haha. Mmh, that’s not a polite way to describe a drakka who is gravid with an egg.”
“It’s true though. She cannot fly and gets tired from walking even a short distance. Seems like a tremendous inconvenience, and I don’t see the point.” Jarzyl shrugged. “I’d rather enjoy the Festival of Stars than sit around at home and be fat. There’s food, there’s games, and there’s going to be fun.”
Hopping back up to her feet, she bumped her shoulder against Atlas’s and the two fledglings continued walking side by side. The festival was lively and busy, crowded but not packed. By now, evening was well underway, and beams of orange sunset cast long shadows from nearby buildings down into the city park. Tiny flickering lights were strung from pole to pole all across the festival, bright colours shimmering with magic to replace the fading daylight.
As they reached the end of this row of booths, instead of going to the next row, Jarzyl turned and headed in the other direction. “It’s almost sunset. Let’s go to the maze.”
Atlas chuckled. “You want to do the maze?” From Solstice Festivals in years past, it was a common tradition that a maze of hedges would be set up in the festival grounds for dragons to roam through. Normally it was most popular for families with young hatchlings, but anyone could enter the maze to try and find their way to the centre.
Jarzyl nodded eagerly. “I love the maze. And this year the maze is extra amazing.” She pointed towards the centre of the sector 49 park, where there was a small hill on which a huge tree was growing. Tiny glowing lights were decorating all the tree branches, glowing in enchanting patterns that pulsed up and down the tree, like a spiralling galaxy of stars. But the most interesting sight was around the base of the hill, where tall walls of thick bushy hedges had been grown with magic. As he’d been flying towards the park, Atlas had seen the maze from the sky, but it was far too complicated for him to have memorized a route through.
“We’re going to do the maze!” Jarzyl insisted. “They open it up right at sunset, and we’re going to be the first to reach the centre.”
“Is there a prize?”
“There’s some sort of reward for anyone who completes the maze. But I’m not sure if there’s a prize for being the first.” Jarzyl nodded again. “I want to do this. Do you want to do this?”
“I’ll do it with you. Lead the way,” Atlas agreed.
The outer hedge walls comprising the festival maze were tall enough to obscure vision even if a dragon stood up on their hindlegs. A large gap in the hedges formed the entrance to the maze, currently blocked off by a rope barrier.
Jarzyl had politely but firmly squeezed through the assembled dragons, weaving between drakken or carefully stepping over hatchlings to make her way to the entrance. She wanted to be among the first to enter the maze once it was opened. Atlas trailed behind her, following in the gap left by her passage through the crowd.
Festival staff stood around nearby—Mintaka dragons wearing more of those small, glowing magical lights attached to their flight harnesses. “Only a few more minutes! Once you hear the bells ring for sundown, the maze will begin!” announced one of the dragons.
A cheer came up from the crowd that was waiting to enter the maze. Jarzyl cheered too. “Yay!” She nudged Atlas’s side.
“Yay?” Atlas added, hesitantly. That made her laugh.
As Atlas glanced around, he noted that the crowd was a full mix—there were parents with their hatchlings, adult drakken, even some elderly, and of course fledglings like him and his friend. Hatchlings were the majority though, with their associated guardians and parents.
Now the two fledglings stood near the entrance of the maze, waiting for its imminent opening. Atlas glanced at Jarzyl, and noted that the female fledgling appeared to be vibrating slightly.
Atlas raised an eye ridge. “Are you cold?”
Jarzyl shook her head. “No. I am trembling with excitement, because we are going to be the fastest through the maze this year. Be prepared. Speed. Speeeed!” She tapped her four legs against the grass in a rapid pattering dance, her paws light against the ground. “Also, I shouldn’t have drunk so much of your festival drink at once. It’s giving me the jitters from how strong the tea is.”
Atlas laughed. “I told you it’s meant to keep diurnal dragons awake for the festival.”
Jarzyl bounced up and down on the spot. “We’re going to run the maze, fast. Because I don’t think I can move slow right now.”
Atlas casually gestured towards his shoulder. He was a three-legged dragon—a cripple missing a forelimb. “If you wanted running, you’ll have to leave me behind. You know I can’t run.”
“Shh!” Jarzyl hushed him. “None of that excuse now. The maze is as much about knowledge as it is about speed, and I’m not leaving you behind.” Leaning close, she whispered conspiratorially. “There’s strategy!”
Atlas waited a moment for Jarzyl to explain. When she didn’t, he prompted her. “Explain? Strategy?”
Jarzyl sat back on her haunches and gestured dramatically with her fore paws. “This year’s maze is made of circles forming concentric layers around the hill, but for each layer there’s a booth somewhere that will give us a map showing the layout of the next inner layer! So instead of just running around aimlessly until you find the way forward, you can use the maps to plan the route in!”
“They give out maps showing the way to the maze centre?” Atlas asked.
“Yes. Or no. There are challenge booths! You’ll see.”
Before Atlas could inquire further, there came the sound of bells being rung repeatedly, and the festival staff smoothly pulled aside the rope which had been blocking the entrance. “Sunset! Ho!” Jarzyl made an excited noise, adding to the cheer which went out as the crowd moved forward. Most of the assembled dragons were happy to leisurely stroll forward, except for a few particularly excited hatchlings who sprinted into the maze, pursued by their parents, older siblings, or other caretakers.
Jarzyl also charged forward, sprinting with her head low and her wings tucked close to her body. “Go, go, go!”
Atlas held back a laugh. He limped forward with his asymmetric three-legged gait, much slower than his companion but still at a respectable walking pace. Past the initial entrance of the maze, immediately they faced a split where the path went in two directions, left or right. “Which way?”
“I don’t know. I guess left!” Jarzyl declared. They went left.
Jarzyl sprinted down the maze corridor, until she came to the end and stuck her head around the corner. She glanced back at Atlas and beckoned with her wing. “Yeah, it’s this way!”
Atlas nodded and kept walking along. Meanwhile Jarzyl sprinted off and vanished from view. When he passed the corner, Jarzyl almost crashed into him as she came running from around the other side. “Watch out!”
“Ha!” Jarzyl gracefully dodged, twirling so that her side barely brushed against Atlas’s. “I have scouted the next way forward. The first booth is this way. Come on! The challenges await!”
Challenge 1
There was another large gap in the maze leading further inwards, but placed along the side were five booths being staffed by Mintaka dragons. A few other maze participants were already here and occupied two of the booths, so Jarzyl and Atlas went to the third booth. Jarzyl sprinted right over and sat right down in front of the booth, while Atlas walked over at his regular pace.
“Welcome to the Festival of Stars, by Clan Mintaka! This is the Night Maze!” announced the drake who was standing behind the counter. He was a nocturnal dragon, young but adult, perhaps five years older than the two fledglings. His scales had a grey pattern with dark blue zig-zagging stripes under his wings, and his flight harness was covered in small, colourful, twinkling lights.
“This is the first challenge station! If you want to make it to the centre of the maze, you’ll need to complete all the challenges to receive special maze maps, which will help you navigate to the centre! The Festival of Stars is a longstanding tradition that originated from nocturnal drakken, and on this longest of nights, we recognize, share, and celebrate the rich cultural heritage of nocturnal dragons throughout the city and across drakken civilization as a whole.”
Jarzyl eagerly nodded her head. Atlas had been paying more attention to her than the drake, and he held back a chuckle.
The event staff grinned, and his tone changed—no longer making a practiced speech, but just using a more casual voice. “The first station is the easiest. Nocturnals own the night, but we use bright light for style. Watch me and do as I do.”
Pressing a button on the booth made rhythmic, lively music sound out from an echo box placed underneath. And then stepping aside from the booth, he used his tail to drag out a small lantern that had a bright lighting crystal glowing within. The drake focused the light into a beam, casting a circle of illumination towards the nearby dense hedge wall—and then he stepped into the spotlight and started to move.
With smooth, sweeping gestures of his wings, the drake danced along to the beat and weaved in and out of the light beam. His dark scales hardly reflected the light, but his body cast stark shadows on the wall that shifted and moved as he did, flickering bright and dark. “Light dance! An old tradition of nocturnal dragons.”
Jarzyl laughed. “Oh, that is easy. That is too easy!” The event staff stepped aside, and Jarzyl hopped forward right into the light beam. Immediately she began dancing, flicking her neck frill and skipping from paw to paw according to the beat—at first she just danced normally, but the she glanced back at the hedge wall and used her wings to accentuate the shadow, waving her limbs back and forth.
The event staff nodded approvingly. “That’s the spirit! Good moves! How about you too…?” He gestured at Atlas, but then paused when he noticed the fledgling’s missing forelimb. “Hmm. I’ll just give you the map for the next layer.”
Jarzyl let out a bark of laughter. “Hah! No, he’s going to earn it too.” Rearing up on her hindlegs, she twisted her body from side to side and waved her wings, then she glared right at Atlas and beckoned to him with a forepaw.
Atlas hesitated. “I’m not good at…”
“Oh?” Jarzyl threw a look at him—a complex expression, confident but laden with expectation. Eyes slightly raised, her neck frill half perked up, and a faint grin across her snout. There was a challenge here, not from the maze to the two of them, but from her to him.
Atlas joined her in the spotlight. He stiffly shifted his weight between his three legs and tried to wave his wings, but he didn’t have the balance to match the graceful dynamism of Jarzyl’s movement. She didn’t care, and danced right beside him, brushing her body against his, putting a wing over his back, and making their shadows merge and split and shift.
Even just dancing on the spot for half a minute, the exertion made Atlas pant tiredly when the music came to a stop. The event staff drake thumped his tail against the ground applaudingly. “Yeah! Well done! That’s how it’s done.” He went back to the booth and handed them a folded pamphlet. “Here’s the next maze map.”
Jarzyl took the pamphlet and held it in her jaws. She leapt to her feet, ready to go, but the staff member kept talking. “One more thing. Here, take these.” He them each a small chunk of crystal, with a clip to be attached to a flight harness strap—it was a small glowing light, similar to those which he had clipped to his own harness.
Atlas attached it to the front of his harness, and the small light pulsed in the evening dark, changing slowly from one colour to another. Jarzyl stared at her light, then she also clipped it onto her flight harness.
With a casual bow, the drake waved them on and beckoned for the next of the maze participants, who were starting to turn up and form a short queue for the booths. “Have a warm night. Next up!”
“Alright!” Jarzyl scampered towards the gap in the hedge walls leading deeper. “Lesh go! Let’s go!” she called to Atlas, her words muffled.
Atlas followed with a smile on his face.
Challenge 2
At the next forking junction, both fledglings paused. Jarzyl passed the pamphlet to Atlas, and he unfolded it so they could both peer at the map. It was in a stylized circle with the centre empty and blank, showing the layout for this layer of the maze only, and without directly marking out the way forward. Atlas squinted at the map, while Jarzyl danced happily on the spot, moving along with the overlapping music that was still audible from the previous challenge booth area.
“I see the route. It’s right here, then left and left to curve back, then we keep going…” Atlas decided.
“Ok! I trust your navigation skills completely.” Jarzyl nodded without bothering to check the map, and they both set off again.
The walls of the maze weren’t simply straight lines—sometimes they curved or followed zigzag patterns left and right. The hedges also varied in thickness and height. In some places the bushes were thin enough that other dragons could been seen moving down adjacent pathways, and at certain spots the hedges were grown short enough that by standing up on their hindlegs, Atlas and Jarzyl could get a glimpse of some of the nearby area to try and figure out the way forward.
If the maze had been nothing but straight walls, it would have been a greater challenge to navigate, but instead it was made to impress. The hedges were natural plants, even if they had been grown with magic and expert precision, and more of those twinkling strings of colourful lights had been placed atop the hedge walls to light the way around and add to the festive atmosphere.
As before, Jarzyl often sprinted forward to scout out the pathway ahead, but she never got far away enough from Atlas to risk them getting separated. After another few minutes of circling about, they made it to another set of challenge booths which led the way into the next inner ring of the maze.
Out of the various dragons who were staffing the booths, one stood out. Atlas frowned. “Hey, she looks familiar.”
“Oh! Is that…? It is!” Jarzyl scampered forward to that specific booth, skipping past another available booth. She grinned and dipped her head at the drakka sitting there. “Drak Komis! You’re here!”
Hearing the name confirmed Atlas’s suspicion. The drakka sitting at that booth was one of the teachers. Atlas hadn’t ever been in one of her classes, but he had certainly seen her around school. “Of course I’m here, you need experts to make it a proper challenge. Welcome to the maze, Jarzyl, and welcome to the challenge. Have a seat. And hello to you too, Atlas.”
Atlas joined Jarzyl, sitting down on a floor cushion in front of the booth. He bowed courteously. “Drak.”
Komis smiled warmly at him. She took out a sheet of paper and glanced over it, but kept it raised so the two fledglings couldn’t read it. “If you couldn’t already guess, this challenge is about history. Specifically the history of nocturnal dragons. I’m going to ask you a few quick questions. Let’s see how much you paid attention in my class over the years.”
Jarzyl nodded eagerly. “I’m ready!! Quiz me.”
“Beginning the Third Age of Affinity, a historical document was signed by almost all major drakken clans—proclaiming that diurnal and nocturnal dragons were equals, neither above the other, and declaring that all clans were to allow both nocturnals and diurnals into their ranks. What was the name of this document?”
Jarzyl thought for a second. “That would be the Diracore Treaty of Mutual Recognition.”
“Correct!” Komis turned to Atlas. “Now your turn. And where was this treaty signed?”
Despite being a nocturnal dragon, Atlas didn’t know this answer for sure—Jarzyl took history class, whereas he took music class. But just based off the name, he could make a guess. “Was it at Diracore Quarry?”
Komis nodded. “Yes, well done.”
“You gave him a much easier question! That was obvious from the name,” Jarzyl exclaimed.
“He’s not in my history class, but you are, so I have higher expectations of you. Now back to you, Jarzyl. What technological invention was entering widespread use at that time, and led to diurnal and nocturnal dragon societies becoming increasingly merged?”
Jarzyl tilted her head as she thought about it. “Artificial cold lighting? Lantern crystals?”
Komis winced, looking slightly disappointed. “Is that your final answer?” she asked in a leading tone of voice.
“Uhh! No!!” Jarzyl’s neck frill drooped. “Wait, wait, let me think about this. Lighting crystals use fire magic, so that would be the First Age of Magic, not the Third Age. But then what is it? An invention which led to diurnals and nocturnals working together…” She glanced at Atlas with an imploring look, which made him chuckle. Using his forelimb, he tapped one specific pouch on his flight harness.
Jarzyl blinked. “Oh! Dark goggles?”
Komis smiled again and nodded. “That’s correct! Although the concept of dark goggles is very simple—just some lenses that cover the eyes to protect them from sunlight—it was only in the Third Age of Affinity where it became widely socially acceptable for nocturnal dragons to wear dark goggles and be active in the day. Last question then, for Atlas. Our home, the City of Wings, has three founders who pioneered its technology and oversaw its construction many eons ago. Of these three founders, one of them was a nocturnal dragon. Who was it?”
Atlas thought about it. “Hmm…”
Jarzyl’s neck frill perked up. “I know this! It’s so obvious—!!”
“No, it’s not your question.” Komis pointed at Atlas. “Atlas?”
Atlas knew this answer—it was a well-known fact—but he pretended that he didn’t, strictly to prod Jarzyl. “Let me think. The City of Wings was founded by three drakken. It was Lin Dirak, Sundia Taslin, and one more who was the nocturnal. It was… uh… It’s on the tip of my tongue…”
Jarzyl shifted her weight from paw to paw restlessly. “Obvious, so obvious.”
“I think his name was Atus-Du… something. I can’t quite remember the clan.”
Jarzyl made a rumbly noise from the back of her throat, sounding half like she was growling and half like she was choking on something. “Grrhhhkkk!”
Atlas laughed. “Hahah. It was Atus-Du Mintaka, founder of clan Mintaka.”
“Correct. Well done! Alright, enough questions. Nocturnal dragons have lived side by side with diurnals for many generations, and histories are intertwined—though you two obviously already know that. Here’s the map for the next maze segment. Good luck with the maze!” Komis passed them another folded piece of card which was shaped in a circle. She also took out more of those small glowing lights that could be attached to a flight harness. “There are also these… these lights, if you want. You can take one each.”
“Thank you, drak!” Jarzyl took the lights for the both of them, and clipped them both onto Atlas’s horns, so that the tip of each horn was a flashing light. Then stepping away, she took the two map cards and placed them on top of each other, circle over circle, revealing even more of the maze’s layout. She stared at them for a moment, before tilting the map to let Atlas see it. “Which way to the next challenge booth?”
Atlas looked at the map for a moment, mentally visualizing a pathway to the next inner layer. “Follow me.”
Challenge 3
Jarzyl wasn’t very good with navigation, but that didn’t stop her from eagerly running through the maze. She would sprint forward to the next junction and look about, waiting for Atlas to catch up so that he decide where they would go next.
“Do you think we’re in the lead? I think we’re the lead!” Jarzyl excitedly ran forward, only to pause after a few steps to wait for Atlas to catch up. “I don’t see anyone else in the maze around us. We might be first!”
“Maybe,” Atlas replied.
The two fledglings went down the maze path and turned around one corner, and then they found themselves at the final set of challenge booths, right beside the entrance leading to the maze’s centre. There were multiple booths as before, but this time instead of there being event staff members at each booth, only the first booth was staffed—and not by an adult drakken, but instead by a pair of hatchlings.
The two young dragons were older hatchlings, probably on the cusp of the fledgling growth spurt, but they were still much smaller than Atlas or Jarzyl. One hatchling was a diurnal male with a maroon colour, while the other was a nocturnal female with deep, dark green scales. The green female was slightly larger and she was standing upright on the booth table, while the red male hatchling stood on her shoulders, stretching himself up so that he could barely stick his head up and peer over the hedge wall.
As Atlas and Jarzyl approached, the green hatchling noticed them coming. “Um… um…! Someone’s coming…?”
The red hatchling was still looking over the hedge wall in the other direction. “No, I don’t see anyone. Though it’s all dark so I can’t see much. You’re the nocturnal—you ought to be the one on top. Do you want to swap? I bet I could carry you. You’re only a little bit bigger than me. I could carry you.”
“No, I… uh… um…” Looking at Atlas and Jarzyl approaching, the green hatchling used a forepaw and urgently tapped at the other hatchling’s tail as he balanced on her head and shoulders. “Um.”
“No one’s coming yet. I don’t see anyone—oh!” Only when Atlas and Jarzyl had come right as they came up to the booth did the red hatchling glance over his shoulder and notice them there. With a surprised squeak, he lost his balance and both hatchlings tumbled back from the hedge, rolled off the table, and landed down in the grass.
Jarzyl let out a chuckle, but Atlas stepped towards the hatchlings. “Are you alright?”
“Of course!” The red hatchling hopped back up to his feet, and then he grabbed the green hatchling’s wing and flipped her back upright too. Both hatchlings shook themselves, getting grass off their scales. “Of course.”
With a flutter of his wings, the red hatchling leapt back up onto the booth, followed by the green hatchling. This still didn’t give them enough height to look eye-to-eye with Atlas or Jarzyl until the fledglings sat down on the cushions in front of the booth. “I was trying to watch for arrivals! How did you sneak up on us!?”
Jarzyl laughed. “You were looking the wrong way. That hedge wall isn’t the path approaching the booth.”
“Oh. Huh. Did I read the map wrong? Ok then. Hello! Who are you?!” demanded the red hatchling.
“I’m Jarzyl, and this is Atlas. Who are you!?” Jarzyl replied, with the exact same level of earnest enthusiasm.
The red hatchling nodded as if this was all very obvious. “I’m Maka! Which stands for Makartos, from Clan Mintaka! Makartos Kean Mintaka, Maka Mintaka, Maka. This is… uh… uh… she’s also from Mintaka. Jo… Jodatris? Did I say it right?”
The green hatchling hopped up onto the table as well and sat down beside Maka. “Jodatris,” she confirmed, in a quiet voice. She avoided making eye contact with Atlas or Jarzyl.
Maka did not appear to share this shyness. “Jodatris! I did say it right. We have just met but we are friends now.” He pointed his paw at Jarzyl. “Are you visitors? Oh wow. Maze visitors. Drak Attilos is supposed to be running this booth. We are his helpful little assistants. He flew away to get all the other helpful but not so little assistants and he said that he would be right back. He said he would be back before the first visitors got this deep into the maze. Hmm. He was wrong.”
Jarzyl grinned. “So that means we’re the first?”
“Yeah!” Maka nodded his little head. “Drak Attilos is supposed to be here. But it’s ok. I can run this booth too. I am a professional.” He picked up a clipboard that had been on top of the booth, and held it up with both his paws, mostly obscuring himself. The hatchling cleared his throat and began speaking in a formal voice, pronouncing each word carefully. “Ahem! Festival of Stars maze instructions for challenge five! Note to booth staff! For clarifications, please check with the event planning team. This event was organized by Clan Mintaka. Legal address, sector one, tower three, level seventeen, room… uh… maybe I don’t need to read that part.”
Atlas and Jarzyl shared an amused grin. Jodatris had been peering over Maka’s shoulder, but now she pointed her paw lower down on the clipboard. “Here?”
“Yes, thank you.” Maka continued reading. “Verbal instructions to maze visitors: Welcome to the final stage of the maze! You are almost at the centre, and this is the last challenge! Ahem. On this longest of nights we celebrate the tradi… traditions and culture of nocturnal dragons! The Festival of Stars brings together families, clans, and dragons all across the city, where nocturnals and diurnals have lived together in harmony for eoohns?—for eons. The challenge for this booth is simple. To receive the final map that will lead you to the centre, your group must be a mix of nocturnal dragons and diurnal dragons. Uhh. Families, clanmates, bonded mate pairs, together we are better.” The hatchling looked up from the clipboard. “Ok that’s all.”
“That’s easy.” Jarzyl nodded towards Atlas. “He’s obviously a nocturnal, and I’m obviously a diurnal. We pass. Give us the map?”
Jodatris stood up and took out a map card from a box, but Maka raised his wing to stop her. “Wait, wait, wait. Are you clanmates? You have Mintaka flags but he doesn’t.”
Jarzyl blinked. “Well, no. He’s not from Mintaka.”
“So you two are a married pair bond, then?” Maka asked.
Atlas raised an eye ridge. “We’re fledglings! We don’t even have our magic yet. Fledglings don’t get married.”
“Oh. I thought you were adults. You look old!” Maka said.
“I bet everyone looks old compared to you,” Jarzyl retorted.
“Yep.” Maka nodded. “Anyway since you aren’t clanmates and aren’t married, you don’t pass the challenge and don’t get the map then.”
“What?” Jarzyl shook her head. “That’s not fair!”
Maka read from a section higher up on the clipboard. “Please be respectful at all times, and remember that we are all here for a joyous celebration together. Clan Mintaka does not tolerate harassment or abuse towards our event staff.”
“No but this isn’t fair.” Jarzyl extended her paw. “Can I see that clipboard? What are the exact instructions?”
Maka hugged the clipboard protectively against his chest and neck, not letting go. “Noooo, no wait. Let me confer with my fellow helpful assistant.” He leaned his head towards Jodatris. “What do you think?” he muttered to her. The other hatchling whispered something back, her voice too soft to be heard. “What? Really? You think so? I don’t think so. No way. You think?”
Jarzyl sighed and exchanged a look with Atlas. “Is this how it ends? We could be first through the maze, only to get blocked for no reason. We can skip the challenge and try to figure out the last segment of the maze without a map? But it’ll be slower! And it’s not fair. Obviously I’m a diurnal and you’re a nocturnal. We should definitely be allowed the map.”
Maka and Jodatris had finished their deliberation. The little dark red hatchling thwacked his tail against the table for attention. “Excuse me!! Listen please! We have discussed your appeal against the decision and will reconsider your position. You two aren’t clanmates or family members, but I guess partners is good enough to pass the challenge.”
Jarzyl’s neck frill drooped. “Partners? We’re not… We’re just friends.”
Maka squinted at them. “Oh!? What were you saying? So you two aren’t a couple?”
“Uhh. No. Except… I mean, sort of? But no. Or yes? Maybe?” With an embarrassed look, Jarzyl glanced at Atlas. “We’re friends! We’re best friends! But we’re not… or…”
Atlas chuckled. “You know the correct answer is yes.”
Maka nodded innocently. “The correct answer is yes.” Though he didn’t mean it the same way Atlas had.
Jarzyl drummed her forepaws against the floor cushion, then she nodded her head. She put her wing on Atlas’s back. “Ok, fine! What he said! We’re… we’re… yes. Look, see?”
Maka squinted. “Are you sure? I’m not convinced by your answer. You’re not allowed to lie. Lying is bad.”
“Ehhhh!” Jarzyl made a very hesitant noise. “Yes. We’re… more than friends. Him and me. Yes.”
“Ok then.” Maka took out a map card and extended it to them, but then Jodatris nudged his shoulder and whispered something to him, which made him pull back the final map piece. “Hmm? What? But they said… Oh. Ah yes that’s a good idea.” Maka nodded at the two fledglings. “Prove it! Prove you pass the challenge.”
“Prove what? You mean… I… But that’s… Oh, sky spirits, I do want to win the maze.” Jarzyl glanced around, checking that there was no one there except for her, Atlas, and the two little hatchlings running the booth. Then moving swiftly, she leaned close and briefly bumped her snout against the side of Atlas’s snout—a quick peck. “There! See?”
Maka shook his head. “That doesn’t prove anything! You can do that with a friend too.” He imitated the gesture, bumping his snout against the side of Jodatris’s snout affectionately. Jodatris perked up, looking surprised but pleased—Maka didn’t notice. “See? That’s just friendly. You can do that with friends too. That doesn’t prove it.”
“But—” Jarzyl started to argue, but Atlas cut her off.
“We can prove it.” And then he did.
Turning towards Jarzyl, he nuzzled his snout against the side of her neck, where he knew her scales were sensitive. “Ooh!” Jarzyl made a surprised noise, and he felt her shiver.
Pulling back, Atlas touched Jarzyl’s chin and gently turned her head towards him. For a moment he waited, enough to see her pupils widen and her neck frill start to perk up, and then he moved in again. First he licked one side of her snout, then the other, and then they were kissing.
“Woah!” chirped Jodatris, but neither of the fledglings were paying the hatchlings any attention.
“By the sky spirits. That is disgusting,” Maka noted.
Atlas’s paw slid down from Jarzyl’s chin, brushing against the side of her neck, and resting against her shoulder. Jarzyl swayed and went half limp, leaning into him as their bodies pressed together. With a soft moan she kissed him back, their snouts together, mouths touching and tasting each other. “In front of…? Mhm… Atlas…”
“Ok. Eww. You’ve proven your point,” Maka said. “Enough!”
Atlas kissed Jarzyl for a moment more, then he withdrew. Jarzyl’s neck frill was perked all the way up, and when her eyes blinked open they were wide. She had a shocked grin, and her mouth opened and closed a few times, but she didn’t say anything.
“Best thing I’ve tasted at the festival by far,” Atlas calmly noted, which made Jarzyl’s frill twitch. He turned back to the challenge booth. “I think we pass this challenge.”
The two hatchlings were staring at them with contrasting expressions—Maka had a disgusted grimace, half hiding behind the clipboard he was holding, while Jodatris looked like she was holding back a laugh. Maka shook his head judgmentally. “That is very unhygienic. You spread disease doing that. Such poor judgement.” Putting down the clipboard, he offered the map card to them again, and Atlas took it.
“Thank you.” Atlas peered at the map card, which was the smallest they had received so far, as it only contained the final innermost circular section of the maze. Examining the map, he scrutinized the pathways to find the way to the very centre.
Jarzyl wiped her snout with the back of her paw, then she came up behind him and rested her chin on his shoulder to look at the map too. “Hmmmm,” she hummed cheerfully.
Meanwhile Jodatris picked up the clipboard and looked over the instruction paper, then she flipped the page and nudged Maka. “Oh?” he loudly chirped, “What? There’s a second page? Huh. What does it say?”
Jodatris turned the clipboard to let him see the second page. Maka dictated it out. “Specific instructions for booth challenge. This booth will give out maze hint map cards to any group of maze participants that has at least one diurnal and one nocturnal. If the maze participant is alone, or is a group fully comprised of diurnals or nocturnals, they must wait for another group and combine, so that everyone can share the map. No prior affiliation of clan, family, or friendship is needed, as long as the group consists of at least one diurnal and one nocturnal.”
“Really?” Atlas chuckled and he looked at Jarzyl. “Hah, it turns out we’d deserve to pass the challenge anyway. I kissed you for nothing.”
Jarzyl had her eyes low and she didn’t meet his gaze. Her expression was embarrassed, but her neck frill was still perked up. “Not for nothing…” she murmured. Then she made a soft incoherent sound when Atlas nuzzled his snout against the side of her neck again. “Ahhmmrrghhgg…!”
“Don’t be distracted now.” Atlas gestured with the final map card. “I know the way. Let’s go.”
“Mhm,” Jarzyl agreed.
Atlas bowed quickly at the hatchling. “Thank you, booth experts.”
“Yes. Goodbye now!” Maka flapped his wings in an enthusiastic wave.
Jodatris dipped her head in a polite bow. “Happy festival,” she murmured, in her soft voice.
“Last ring! Come on. No more challenges! We just need to get to the top of the hill, where the ironwood tree is,” Jarzyl muttered excitedly. “We’re in the lead. We can be the first to complete the maze!”
Here near the centre of the maze, they were starting to climb up the small hill in the park, and the ground was noticeably sloped as the two fledglings continued moving through the mazes. As they walked in an arc, to their right side they could see over the hedge wall and in a downhill direction. Other dragons were sometimes visible moving through the maze, as the glowing lights marked their location from afar.
But so close to the centre, the maze walls were no longer decorated by any of the glowing lights. Instead the only illumination came from the huge ironwood tree which was planted on the top of the hill—its vast branches were adorned with numerous little twinkling lights, sparkling like a galaxy but barely casting any illumination down to this area of the maze.
For a nocturnal dragon, this scant light was still more than enough for Atlas to easily see his way around, but Jarzyl struggled in the dimness. Instead of sprinting forward as she had before, she walked slowly and cautiously, not quite able to see exactly how far the hedge corridor extended in front of them. Spreading out her wings, she brushed her wingtips against the hedge walls as she walked, to keep herself centred. “It’s so dark. I am walking blind here.”
“I don’t have this problem. I can see everything just fine,” Atlas replied.
“Oh yeah?” He saw Jarzyl pause and glance back at her shoulder at him, with a sudden playful grin crossing her snout. Jarzyl bounded forward a step, and then she arched her back—her tail swished from side to side before flicking upwards, flashing her underbelly for a brief moment. In the past, Atlas would have dismissed it as just her stretching her back, but now that quick posture wasn’t so innocent.
“I saw that,” Atlas immediately replied, but then it took him another few seconds to process what had just happened. “Jarz! Jarzyl Mintaka, I saw that.”
Jarzyl laughed, sounding embarrassed but amused. “What did you see?”
“You. A part of you. Nothing I haven’t seen before, but not in the same way.”
“Hehe!” Jarzyl laughed—she cackled playfully—and then scampered a few steps forward. “Why did I do that? Oh, by the sky spirits, I don’t know why I did that.”
Atlas came up to walk beside her and casually rested his wing over her back—which helped to smooth out his asymmetric, three-legged gait, though that hadn’t been the reason he’d done it. “Jarz…”
Jarzyl shook her head, but she didn’t pull away from his wing and instead she bumped her shoulder against his. “Don’t distract me, stop distracting me! We’re getting to the centre of the maze. Let’s go!”
The innermost ring of the maze was the smallest area, and it took the two fledglings only another couple of minutes to get to the very center. Walking down the last corridor, they could hear lively rhythmic music coming from the central area.
Atlas tilted his head, and quickly identified the song—the melody was from an old nocturnal dragon folk song and could be played with a single wing harp, but the amplified music was from a range of musical instruments all played together. “Whispers of a Windy Meadow,” Atlas noted.
“Hmm, dmm! Almost there.” Jarzyl hummed along with the music, then she slipped out from Atlas’s wing and ran forward. She ran to the end of the corridor, but paused to wait for him.
When Atlas had caught up, the two fledglings exchange a look, but neither of them said anything. Together, they turned around the corner.
At the very top of the hill stood the ironwood tree, in a small clearing around which was a circle of hedge maze walls. Glowing chains of small colourful lights covered the tree, starting from its roots and rising into the canopy overhead. Several booths were placed around the tree’s huge trunk, and four drakken wearing Mintaka pennants waved as they arrived, ranging from young to old. “Woah! Hello! Maze participants? You two are fast!”
“Congratulations!”
“Well done!”
“Haha, victory!” Jarzyl sat back on her haunches, raising her head high and with wings spread proudly, then she did a graceful bow. Atlas grinned.
One of the event staff beckoned them over to a booth. “For completing the night maze, you get prizes!”
They two fledglings each got a dark grey bandana with stary white patterns. Jarzyl put hers on, and nodded approvingly at the way it covered her neck and chest. “Looks good.” Then she turned to Atlas, took his bandana, and tied it around his neck before he could say anything. “Looks good!” she repeated.
Atlas chuckled.
They also got more of the small, twinkling, colourful magical lights on clips. Jarzyl took all the lights and attached them to Atlas’s harness immediately, making him glow all over.
One of the event staff read out from a prepared document. “Congratulations on making it through the night maze, part of the Festival of Stars, brought to you this year by Clan Mintaka. We hope your journey has been adventurous and educational! Whether you are a nocturnal or a diurnal, tonight we celebrate our shared spirit of community and cooperation. May you have a warm night on this longest of nights!”
Jarzyl nodded excitedly. “Oh yes. Nocturnal culture, very great.” She leaned over towards Atlas and wrapped her wings around him in a hug. “Nocturnal dragons, just great. Especially this one. Hahaha. This one’s my favourite.”
“Oh, thank you,” Atlas replied.
“That’s all for the maze!” The event staff gestured at the huge ironwood tree that topped the hill. “Now that you’ve completed the maze, you can perch up in the ironwood tree if you’d like, and watch other maze participants as they make their way through! Or you can also continue walking around the festival and check out the food, gift, or game booths!”
Jarzyl glanced at Atlas. “Up the tree, or walk around the festival?”
“Let’s pick a big tree branch and sit for a bit.”
Jarzyl nodded. “Alright! I’m going to climb up the tree! But you should fly. I’ll meet you at the top?”
“See you in a moment, then.”
Atlas flipped his wings open and extended them to full spread. For a moment he held still, feeling the movement of air against his flight surfaces, then he turned so he was facing in the direction of the wind. The young drake took a quick glance at the sky around to check it was clear, then he leaned back on his hindlegs and leapt. His legs pushed him off the ground while his wings beat down hard to pull him up, and he was in the air.
Flying was natural, and easy to a dragon. With quick beats of his wings, Atlas quickly gained speed and altitude. He lifted away from the hilltop but then turned quickly, circling around to look down at the maze that filled the park around the hill. Many more dragons were visible moving through the maze—families young and old, couples, groups—they were spread out through the maze, some close to the centre and having almost finished as well, while others were still near the outer edge and had only just entered.
Atlas noted the crowd, but paid them little attention. Instead his focus was on a young drakka with scales of a bold amber shade, as she swiftly climbed up the massive ironwood tree. The ironwood has thick gnarled bark with short branches extending out all the way up its trunk, which Jarzyl used as holds as she made her way upwards. Jarzyl made the ascent look easy with her speed—though from his own experience, Atlas knew it most certainly was not. Dragons were made for the air, and climbing through the air with his wings was undoubtedly easier than how Jarzyl was ascending up the tree using her four legs alone.
Nevertheless, it took only Jarzyl only a few minutes to make it up to the ironwood’s canopy. She picked a large branch and carefully made her way outwards most of the way, until the branch started thinning out. There she paused, and flicked one wing in a wave.
Atlas had been gliding around the tree in easy circles, but now he flew in close are carefully weaved in between branches to land, touching down on a thick branch that right beside Jarzyl’s. The sudden addition of his weight made his branch bob up and down, and the leaves rustled in the wind, but the tree’s tough wood didn’t even creak.
Jarzyl grinned at him. “Hello!”
“Hello,” Atlas replied. They two fledglings sat down on their branches, side by side, perched on top of the tree. Their view downwards to the maze and the park was obscured by leaves, but their vantage point did let them look out to the wider cityscape around, with glowing skyscrapers jutting up into the night sky in the near and far. Dragons were visible moving around the airspace as they flew near buildings and were illuminated by the lights.
After a moment, Jarzyl flicked out her wing and casually laid it over Atlas’s back—a warm, familiar contact. Atlas glanced at his friend, but her gaze was focused elsewhere, watching a distant airship as it powered its way through the sky over a faraway city sector, with its lights flashing at regular intervals.
Atlas instead looked upwards. The night sky was clear and filled with stars, and his nocturnal vision let him clearly pick out numerous constellations even though the stars were faded out by the bright glow of the city.
The wind was cool but steady, making the leaves rustle and causing the tree to sway ever so slightly. Atlas enjoyed the peaceful moment, sitting beside his friend, relaxing in her close presence. Jarzyl had gone so quiet and still that he suspected she had fallen asleep—but when he glanced at her again, her eyes were open as she stared out into the distance.
Noticing his gaze, Jarzyl glanced back at him and their eyes locked. “Hmm?” she hummed softly, in a questioning tone.
Atlas hesitated. “Should we talk about things?” he asked.
Jarzyl’s neck frill twitched. His question had been deliberately vague, but she knew what he was referring to. “Yes. We should.” But she glanced away again, and there came another half minute of silence until Atlas prompted her.
“Jarz, that last challenge earlier, with the two hatchlings. When they asked if we were a pair,” he began. “What are your thoughts on that?”
Jarzyl simply shook her head. “Difficult. I don’t know how to talk about this. I feel like I’ve never had problems talking with you and saying whatever I want, whenever I want. But I’ve spent so much time over the past few weeks thinking over and over about… you. I don’t know.”
“Are we just friends?” Atlas asked. “Our relationship is friendly, or is it more than that?”
Jarzyl groaned. “Grah! Why are you asking me? Can’t you just decide and tell me what to think?!”
Atlas laughed. “Because this is a conversation. And because your opinion matters to me. So what do you think?”
“Hmmf. I don’t know. I don’t know what to think. You’re such a great friend. And also I really enjoy kissing you. But we’re not courting, right? Courting is for those who are going to be mates, and I never wanted a mate. Mates are for making eggs, or for getting clan membership. We’re far too young to even think about eggs, and Mintaka doesn’t give membership via mate rights.” Jarzyl shook her head. “What do you think?”
Atlas shrugged. “I’m not worrying about eggs. That can wait a few decades, maybe more. Same with entering a formal mate bond—that can wait. But I mean right now, you and me. I really like you, Jarz! I like spending time with you. There’s this…” He paused for a moment to think how to phrase it. “I feel like we have a connection. It feels special. You’re special. When I don’t see you, I miss you. When there’s something I want to go do, you’re the first person I think to ask along. You’re my best friend.”
Jarzyl eagerly nodded. “First among friends! Yes, I know what you mean. You’re my best friend too!”
“More than that, though.” Atlas shifted his wing, brushing it against Jarzyl’s flight surface as her wing rested over his back. “This is nice. I enjoy cuddling with you. And the kissing is excellent. But I wouldn’t kiss just a friend. Would you? I’ve seen you hug lots of people, but never lick someone else on the snout.”
“Only you.” Stretching out her head, Jarzyl licked the side of Atlas’s snout affectionately. “Only you,” she murmured.
“So we’re in concurrence about that. Romantic acts should be reserved for romantic partners. What we’ve been doing has been like a trial run—you and I, always playing around, acting like we’re partners even if we’re not.” Atlas paused for a moment. “But we could be.” He thought for a while longer. “We should be.”
“Oh. Ah.” Jarzyl scraped her claws against the branch she was perched on, leaving tiny marks in the tough bark. “Partners. A pair. A couple. Romance. Mhhhm. Do you want that?”
“Yes.” Atlas stared at her, watching her expression closely even as Jarzyl looked out into the distance. “But do you?”
“I don’t know what I want. Or do I? I want to be your best friend. I want to keep kissing you. And I think… I think I would be really furious if you found someone else to kiss and date.” Jarzyl turned to look at him, her expression sharp but playful. “You are mine,” she murmured possessively. Leaning in, she touched her snout against Atlas’s in a quick kiss. “Mine. Ok. Yes. Yes. The couple thing, sure. Yes.”
Atlas took a deep, slow breath, inhaling in and out. “So we’re agreed.”
Jarzyl chuckled. “Ohhh! But nothing really changes, right?! We’re still going to keep seeing each other like we are seeing each other now. Sure we’re in a romance now, a relationship. But you’re still you and I’m still me. We’re… we were already kissing. It’s the same as before.”
Her wing was still over her shoulders, so Atlas moved his own wing to place it on Jarzyl’s lower back, crossed behind her wing. “You’re the same person as before, I’m the same person as before, but now there’s an us. I’m not sitting in a tree beside my best friend—we’re a couple, and we’re sitting in this nice tree together. Uh. Am I making any sense?”
Jarzyl nodded. “Actually, yes. I get it.” Leaning in, she bumped her snout against his—not in a kiss, but just a warm, affectionate gesture. “Atlas…”
It was extremely comfortable. Atlas breathed in slowly, enjoying the familiar scent of Jarzyl’s scales, and the cosy feeling of her head against his. He hesitated once, almost beginning to move, then he wondered if he ought to ask his friend—but she wasn’t just his friend, not anymore. Atlas shifted his tail, moving it across the tree branches so that his tail touched Jarzyl’s. For a moment their tail tips were brushing against each other, then he got his tail entwined with hers.
“Ooh!” Jarzyl let out a soft, excited sound. She glanced back over her shoulder, then stared at Atlas with a wide-eyed grin. “Did you just…? You did! This is new!”
“We’re a couple. We can do couple things,” Atlas murmured. “It’s nice.”
Jarzyl nodded. Her tail shifted—not pulling away, but wrapping back against his, tightening the contact. “A couple, huh?” For a moment more they just sat together. “I don’t know if… this is all so new. Would will Caden say? Or Pyxis? Or Indry? Oh, I don’t know…”
Atlas nodded. “Sure. I wasn’t planning on making some grand announcement at school.”
Jarzyl hummed nervously. “Ooohhh… Don’t you dare! That would be so… uggh, I don’t know.”
“Are you embarrassed?”
“Yes!! I’m shy!” Jarzyl insisted.
Atlas threw an extremely sceptical frown at her, which made her laugh again. “Shy? You’re the most friendly, confident person I know.”
“No, I am shy! It’s different!!” Jarzyl retorted. “Just… just we don’t tell anyone yet, ok? Give me a while to get used to this and… I don’t know. Not that I’m embarrassed to be your partner. I just need some time to think about this.”
Atlas shrugged. “Up to you. I think Caden and the others would just be excited to hear. They’ve been speculating and teasing us for months.”
“I don’t want to be the subject of gossip. How about… how about once we both get our magical affinities, then we can tell our friends and family? Then it’s all the big news together.”
Atlas nodded. “Alright. We’ll figure this out, yes?”
Jarzyl nodded. “Yeah…” Leaning close, she bumped her snout against Atlas’s again.
END