CASIMIRA
dragon-shifting daughter of ashhal and ryatah
It was a strange thing, to find that she does not mind being in Tephra again—that it almost feels like home.
It wasn’t the glow of the volcano in the distance or the way the air almost always seemed to smell of rain and fragrant flowers that felt like home, though. It was not the tangle of vines or the far-off lull of waves meeting a pale shore that made her unsettled heart feel more at ease, because those are all things she has seen or heard or smelled a hundred times.
Instead, it was the constant feel of him pressed into her every time she awoke in the night. It was the smell of the flowers woven into his dark mane and the way the sun would glint off the fire opal of his skin, or the way his eyes glittered like fractured gemstones in the moonlight. It was the chorus of his voice and their childrens’ acting as a constant lullaby, and this newfound sense of not having to be alone, because he is not going to leave.
It was why when the dark came and the sun did not return it was not hard to make the decision to stay.
Her time was no longer evenly split between Hyaline and Tephra—she was here, nearly always, except for the infrequent trips back to the kingdom to make sure that she did not fall behind in the happenings.
Finding out that Breach was gone had been an unexpected blow; one that had stolen the air clean from her lungs when she had heard. While they were not especially close, she still owed so much of what she has become to Breach—her ability to at least maintain some control of her dragon form, and the fact that she had entered into the alliance at all.
When Savior finds her she is standing and staring in the direction of Hyaline, quiet and thoughtful, and while she does not immediately turn her face to him she does not hesitate to allow her body to lean into him. He always felt warm, like the sun that was still missing, and his mere presence is enough to ease a sigh from her chest, taking all the tension she harbored with it. She does not say anything to him at first, and instead she only shifts to tuck her head beneath his own. She is not accustomed to dealing with loss—or at least not a loss like this, a loss so permanent. “Mazikeen is queen now,” is what she finally says, her voice quiet. “She said she does not plan on keeping the shifters only rule in place.” There is a part of her that is torn at that idea—that Sochi and Breach’s intention for the kingdom will be immediately changed, but she cannot say that she disagrees with Maze’s decision.
Even though he cannot see it from where she keeps her face pressed against him, a small smile lifts at the corner of her lips. “Except, for some reason, I kind of like Tephra now.”
@[savior]