On Unbroken Wings
The tale of Shendelzare, once a scion of the Skywrath, is one of tragedy and betrayal.
At one time she was royalty, the first in line to the Nest of Thorns, the throne of her people. They lived up above in the Ghastly Eyrie, the capital of the Skywrath, a city only accessible to its winged populace.
As always when it comes to such important positions, treachery and plot are commonplace. However, what was unexpected was that rather from the outside, it came from within, from her very own sister.
In a quick coup, an assassin, in service to her treacherous kin, snared the regal Skywrath, hoping to finish her off and give Shendelzare’s sister a clear path to the throne. However, fate deemed that she survived and the scion escaped, albeit at the cost of what the Skywrath held most dear, her wings.
Laying bloody and broken, eyes cast to the skies above where she would no longer be able to fly and where her people would move on and forget about her, a fire was ignited inside her. Overcome with hatred, she wished not for the return of her wings, nor for magic with which to replace them. Instead, she made a bargain with the Skywrath goddess Scree’auk to surrender her body and replace it with something she could use to get her revenge. Sacrificing her broken flesh, she was given a form composed of pure spirit energy, timeless and driven only by vengeance, to seek and slay her traitorous sister and all those complicit in her plans.
A Secret Love
Here enters Dragonus, the Skywrath Mage. Childhood friend and companion to Shendelzare, he hid a powerful love for her, knowing that rather than let those feelings take hold, he must uphold his duty. He was to be her protector, sworn by birth never to let the Skywrath Queen come to harm. Blinded by his devotion to his studies though, he grew complacent, failing to read the signs and anticipating the events that would transpire. When he emerged from his studies, his friend was gone and her sister had replaced her on the throne. The Mage quickly understood that she had ousted Shendelzare forcefully.
As much as he desired to strike her down for her acts, he knew better than most that the magic at his disposal, powerful as it may be, was only accessible to those in service to the Nest of Thorns. If he dared to attempt to use it against his love’s sister, he would be left powerless. So instead he hoped to influence in more subtle ways, playing politics and hoping to find a way to return Shendelzare to the skies.
Consumed with Hatred
Dragonus’s love for the fallen Skywrath princess was a well-kept secret, even from Shendelzare herself. The only one who ever knew about it was the goddess Scree’auk, the same goddess who had given the Vengeful Spirit her new body. However, even though she knows about her hatred for the Skywrath that ousted her, it seems Scree’auk has kept that secret, even as Shendelzare declared her wish to kill Dragonus as well, believing his inaction to mean complicity in the plot.
And so it must be that the Vengeful Spirit hunts her friend, unable to feel anything but hatred, while the Skywrath Mage still loves her, no matter what. It is this dichotomy with which Dragonus is most tortured.
