Chapter 2

Starglory stood outside her cave. The sky looked like a huge sphere of smooth onyx, studded with tiny diamonds and three circles of ivory. The three moons were full, a brightest night. The stars glittered so brightly that Starglory felt a physical ache in her chest, she so longed to fly there. She opened her wings, slits of light wavered to her and seemed to lift her up, up, up. She laughed. The stars themselves were carrying her, to the furthest reaches of the sky.

She slowed and stopped far above the earth. At first, Starglory was confused, for below her was nothing but inky sparkling water. Where had the stars taken her? But then she saw the faint outline of a dragon in the water. But it was so strangely shaped, and it did not move...

Starglory gasped and shut her eyes against a wave of dizziness as she realized that the dragon below was Pyrrhia. The stars had taken her so high that Pyrrhia itself seemed nothing more than a dragonet playing in a puddle of ocean! She stared, openmouthed. Was it even possible?

The stars began to sing. Not real singing, but lights, neon blue-purple-magenta-green-blue sprays of sparkling light that danced and twisted in such a beautiful way it could only be described as song. Starglory spun her wings and twirled in the air, forgetting about Pyrrhia as her mind and wings were enveloped in the light of infinite nebulae.

The swirls of stardust twisted and shimmered into shapes. At first, they were indistinct and watery, but they began to take shapes. Great, billowing clouds of gray, outlined by shimmers of purple stardust, swirled into fantastic shapes. Starglory laughed. It was so beautiful.

A dragon's head and chest took form from the clouds. Instead of being warped and wavy, the image was so sharp and detailed Starglory could see the individual scales. It was lighted from within by deep violet light, with a pulse of bright gold at its heart. Starglory gasped. The pattern of scales- the spacing of the eyes- the curve of the neck- they were hers. Could this be her father?

Another shape, wavery and indistinct, took shape. Its light was the hot pale yellow of desert sands, deep golden at its heart. Black diamond shapes ran down its back. Its graceful neck curved to meet the first and they embraced. That was her mother, Starglory knew now.

They swirled away, to be replaced by a new shape- an egg. Purple-black, but two circles of silver appeared, two full moons, and it turned pale gold. A dragonet appeared, deep black and green-eyed, the two doting parents circled around it lovingly. The image faded away. What was that? Starglory wondered. It could have been her own hatching, but that dragonet looked nothing like her. She was a very dark gold, not black, and her eyes were not green.

Another image wafted into view. Starglory leaned forward, eager to see what would happen. A deep black shape shimmered into view...

NO... A voice pulsed at Starglory's ears. She cried out, the stars seemed to be trembling. No... you will not see... I will not let you see... You must not know...

The fuzzy outline of a dragon's head materialized. It grew larger and larger as the details grew sharper and sharper. It was Wolfsbane's face, full of malice.

No... You must not... I won't let you... Do not see... The apparition of Wolfsbane whispered, green flames spilling from its snarling mouth as its horrible eyes spat with a dreadful acid light. YOU WILL NOT... Come back... No... I will not let you... You mustn't... Starglory... Starglory... STARGLORY...

Starglory screamed as the green flaming mouth swallowed her whole. STARGLORY...

"Starglory... Starglory!" She was in her cave, and Wolfsbane's face was close to her own.

"Aah!" Starglory yelped and inched away.

"It's all right... You were having a nightmare." Said Wolfsbane soothingly. "A dream... not real."

Starglory shuddered and shut her eyes. Wolfsbane stroked her dark scales gently, but Starglory shied from the touch, ducking under her blanket. When she lifted her head again, Wolfsbane was gone.

Whether it was her own imagination or the last reminant of the dream, as she lay sleepless in bed, she thought she heard the faintest echo in her mind.

You must never see...