How long had she waited… in the cold? In the absence of everything. With no heat or sunlight. No trees, no mountains, no hills. Not even a horizon in the infinite void. There was a thin veil of dark water below her talons and even it refused to stir. All was still in the barren space between life and death.

But above her, there were stars -

Hundreds upon millions. Infinitely many filled the sky so that it shined brighter than any sun. None of the lights brought any warmth to her… It was a cold light. Sometimes…some of the twinkling lights tumbled loose from their place in the heavens and plummeted from the dark, little sparks full of fire, and life, individuals with nothing to lose but everything to gain. Scattering down into the water, and even below. Where she could no longer see, but she knew each spark found their vessel down there. There they would finally know the joy of life... and the suffering of existence.

There were other sparks too. Dimmer than the ones that fell from the heavens. They floated up from the depths to the surface of the water. Their vessels had failed and could hold their spark no longer. For some, it was because their vessel could carry them no more, worn out after providing the fullest service it could. They gave up their spark peacefully. but there were too few…

The rest had their spark ripped from them, either from hate, greed, vengeance, and all manner of injustice. Then there were the unfortunate, their tenure cut short or utterly ruined from no fault of their own save bad luck. And worst of all some of the sparks had not even been permitted to step upon the land with their vessel before they were flung back into the void from whence they came. They were victims of selfishness and contempt. It was them she pitied most.

No matter who they were, or what they did. They all came back up eventually, all flowing towards the beacon.

A great shining pillar, the only landmark on the barren landscape of this purgatory. Dancing colors spiraled up through its flame. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Swirling together, in a brilliant column that blended into a pearlescent white. Even that stark light provided no warmth for her. Constantly fed by the depleted sparks floating up from the dark ocean below her feet. If you looked at them right you could even see they retained the shape of their old vessel. Although it was only an echo. Every spark was pulled irresistibly by some force, towards eternity to fuse with the pillar.

This was the case for Eons, ever since she arrived but now… there was something new… as there was one particularly faded spark that wandered alone. Usually the most faded and brightest sparks rose and fell as pairs. Leaving the world below as morbidly quick as they arrive.

But this one was alone. She could see them, it held the form of a small muted red dragonet. Wandering alone and lost. It wasn't pulled in the same way as the others towards the beacon, he resisted the pull just like she did resisted it. She had been watching it closely… they were young… too young. He tried to hold onto the hope they were the product of an accident. She moved with some difficulty towards the lone whelp. She pulled herself back onto her feet, after laying down for who knows how long. The cold caused her frame to creak and groan. Like old wood straining itself under a load too much for it to bear.

“They might be just what I need. A chance to go back after all this time. I can help them, and they could help me”

The child was certainly frightened by her presence once he noticed her, and tried to flee, but they tumbled and fell often. A slow chase ensued, trying to talk sense into the child. She could only speak to them in a hushed whisper. Her voice was too weak to speak any louder. After muttered promises of safety and oaths of good intent.

She eventually started to get through to the dragonet... or maybe they were starting to get tired. She truly held no malice towards them but her form was most probably frightening after residing here for so long. Eventually she calmed the poor thing to the point where it stopped running and spoke. They were small and almost looked malnourished, and soaked to the bone.

Their small voice shrill and weak against the echoless abyss. “Who are you?!” The whelp gasped, voice cracking from the fear. “Where am I?!“

“Be calm child” She soothed.“My name is Pitch and I am a friend. You are somewhere safe.” The dragonet whimpered, clearly unconvinced.

She didn’t blame the poor thing. She must look utterly horrific after being in here for so long. She lowered herself as low to the ground as possible. Her limbs groaning all the while. Trying to get onto his level so that they might both be more comfortable.

“I am so sorry that I frightened you. I cannot help the way I look, although it must be frightful. What is your name, little one?”

“I’m cold… Where's Peril?... I miss her…”

She ignored him not answering her question, ultimately their name was of no importance to her right now.. She instead focused on the more important things. “Who is Peril? Are they your other half? Your... twin?”

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The small child nodded, shivering. “She’s bright and warm and very nice! Have you seen her?” Despite the chattering of his teeth the excitement could be heard in his voice and the way his tail moved.

“I…” Pitch hesitated… “I do not know where she is, but I’m sure we can find her. Can you tell me what the last thing you remember is?”

“I… I don’t know. Mommy woke up Peril and I, and she took us away from home… We flew for a while but the big scary lady stopped her. I don’t know what they said… It was lots of grown up words. Mom sounded really sad and angry. It was scary.”

“Then mom took me away from Peril, and put me in the water… I couldn’t… I tried to swim the best I could, but it was too cold and she wouldn’t let me out or get any air and… and…”

“I don’t remember anything after that…”

“How... unfortunate.” Pitch muttered, suppressing the sadness and rage flowing through her.

“Mommy always wanted me to be stronger, she always talked about it. I think it was another test, a swimming one. Like the push one and the wing flap one. I was always the worst at those games… Peril tried to help but they never let her. I was never good at any of them.” He said solemnly, wings drooped and head down. Suddenly his head perked back up

“But I must have done good this time. I must have paddled so far to be here! I bet I went further than all the other dragonets before. I don't even recognise this place! I probably did even better than a seawing at swimming!” He squeaked with excitement and was gleefully proud of his supposed accomplishment, stamping his feet and flapping his wings.

Pitch silently contemplated the situation. This dragonet was capable of what she needed. She could help them go back to the world of the living and then maybe they could even help her escape her imprisonment in this realm. This was the first time an opportunity had arisen since she was trapped here but...

They were too young.

Maybe in another world she would give them a second chance, but right now… She felt it would be better for them if they moved on. They had suffered enough down there. Besides, who knows where the corpse would be now. Too far away from their siblings to ever find them and they definitely wouldn’t be able to stay alive alone. Additionally, nothing was stopping that monster he called a mother from sending him back here again if she ever found out he lived. It simply wouldn’t work…

“I think I remember now!” Pitch feigned remembering. “I know where your mama and your sister are! They were talking about how proud they were of you!” “Really?!” He bounced up in excitement. The effort it took to lie made Pitch's soul ache.“Yes really! Look, do you see the light? The really bright one over there? They are in there waiting for you. They told me that they wanted to wait for you but they had to go. They are right in there! You just can’t see”

“I… I don’t know… it looks scary.” The dragonet stammered looking at the intimidating spire that stretched into the heavens.“It's…” Pitch struggled to come up with something to convince the child. “It's the last test. This is the one that shows that you are brave. Braver than the brave!”

“Even braver than you?” The dragonet squeaked?

Pitch was entirely caught off guard by the question. “ I... Umm... You know what… Yes… maybe even braver than me.” She was uncomfortable with trying to determine whether what she said was a lie or not.“That's good. He said triumphantly. "because of how scary you look! You must not be afraid of ANYTHING…"What do I look like at this point? Do I even want to know?

The dragonet started forward but padded around in a circle and sat back down."but I’m still a little scared." He looked defeated."Listen, Pitch consoled. "I know it's scary but look deep inside of yourself. What is your heart telling you? Do you feel it?”

“Yeah… it feels kind of… right to go there... Just a little though?”

“Then trust your heart." She proclaimed... As much as one can proclaim while whispering.

"Your heart will never, ever lead you astray. It never has for me, and it won’t for you. My brother told me that and because of that I knew I always did the right thing. Now go! I believe in you.”

The little dragon stepped forward nervously, but with a preparatory flap of his wings and a shake of his tail. He took off sprinting towards the light. “I’M COMING PERIL,” he screamed as he barreled towards the gate.

And plowed headfirst into the light and in a flash was no more…

Pitch shuttered as she sighed allowing herself to fully collapse under her own weight once again. Guilt flooded her conscience. She could have saved them. Sent them back, but it would have taken everything from her to do so. Maybe in some other world she would have saved them had she not been such a coward.

She felt the pull too. There was warmth, maybe even peace within the pillar. Peace from the torment of her failures, and the cold of this awful void.

But nothing came back once it crossed the threshold... for all she knew, there was nothing but oblivion beyond or… worse, She could’t go… not yet. There was something she left behind. Something she desperately needed.

It was only a matter of time before she could somehow regain her vessel. With the help of someone like her, they would break the chains that bound her to this realm, and after waiting for so long, her eternity in the cold would come to an end.

Then she would make it right. She would keep the promise she made so, so long ago, and she did not care how long she had to wait to get her chance.