Introduction
There was never a time in my life where I was alone, not truly alone anyway. Every breath I took had already been exhaled by one of my siblings. Every scrap of cloth I wore had been worn by generations before me. The patchwork of my nest, formed by what could not be salvaged to wear, shared like every fiber of my being. I was tied so closely to those around me that I could not know who’s thoughts I gave voice to or who’s emotions inspired my tears. There was no question whether or not one was loved in my herd, just loving all of the pieces of yourself meant you had to love all of those who held those pieces in turn. As a foundling I took comfort in this life. There was no need to consider the horrors from before in this new life and as they say ignorance is bliss.
I was found abandoned or orphaned, I’d never truly known, by my herd in the before. I was small, hardly old enough to walk let alone fly back then so I don’t have the true memory of it, but we’d been told the story so many times as younglings I could recount it in my sleep.
In the before faefolk were considered to be a prized possession among the elite of many species. Hunted down to near extinction we hid and fought to escape possession. It took a great many years to get any right to ourselves at all. As the only intelligent species not derived from humanity we fae became the easy and obvious target of the hatred of men. It is told that humanity has always targeted the minority in the same way. As the newest found minority of men the before was simply our time to struggle. We must accept that the past is in the past, work hard, and prosper.
This is the tale told to all foundlings in youth. It is a call to action; a message to be thankful but not complacent. By knowing our history we may seek to build upon it and never repeat it. Every night as we curled up in our nest of memories our father would regale us with this tale of the past and remind us to honor or kind.
Of course I knew Tideron wasn’t truly my father. Of the 10 of us Tideron and his partner Gala had not conceived a single one, but they cared for and raised us in a way only a mother and a father could. The beauty of the forest, the warmth of the fire in our haven, the comfort you can only know by being truly and fully loved made our home the most precious thing we had ever known. Tideron could be cold and strict, but his rulings were fair and meant to teach us structure and gratitude. Honestly, while I loved him deeply and knew that he loved me as well, I did my best to avoid my father for much of my youth. It wasnt that I was a particularly bad youngling, like some of my more rebellious friends, just that I feared his disappointment. My father was easy to avoid though so I ran into very few issues accomplishing my avoidance of him. You see Tideron was not only my father but the leader of our herd. As the leader it was his responsibility to guide all of the pods in our herd not just our single family. In total there were near 2000 faefolk that roamed our wooded sanctuary, so the job kept my father away most of the time. The rarity of his presence made the time that we spent recounting our history before bed even more precious. Often the smallest among us would ask question after question trying to keep him as long as they could until mother would come and insist that we needed sleep more than answers.
My mother was a saint made especially to raise children. She was always there to console younglings from their night terrors and provide support to the oldest as we found our place in the herd. Our haven was not particularly large and was far from what anyone would consider luxurious, but like magic the shelves were always full of clean clothes and dishes and fresh food to eat. I rarely saw my mother doing any of the work it must have taken to care for 10 young orphans but I knew it must have been her who had done it. The most impressive part was the way she always seemed delighted to do it all; and not only the cleaning. My mother was always present. She hung onto every word we told her with bated breath as though our next comments may be the most important thing she had ever heard. There was no one more important, more loved, better protected than me when I was in the arms of my mother. I am selfless because my mother was selfless. I am strong because my mother was strong.
I say “was” because I no longer know how Gala is. I haven’t seen her in so long my heart aches. Tideron tells me that she is well and just as nurturing as ever with their remaining younglings. It’s become harder and harder to take his word for it but I have no other options. It is the duty of the dragonfly to bring lost souls home. I seek out foundlings and, as I was once found and rescued, I save them. It is a prized position, coveted and honored within the heard, but there is a catch. As a dragonfly I may never enter my homeland again. I am tainted by the outside world and cannot bring that corruption back to those who are pure and healing; at least that’s what Tideron says. It makes sense that I’ve never known just who found me or where I came from the only person who’d know would be the dragonfly that brought me home. It's been a year since I was set on this path, a year with no home, and no foundling to save. I have to prove myself and make Father proud of who I have become. Maybe if I do a good job and remain pure I can one day go home.
I was found abandoned or orphaned, I’d never truly known, by my herd in the before. I was small, hardly old enough to walk let alone fly back then so I don’t have the true memory of it, but we’d been told the story so many times as younglings I could recount it in my sleep.
In the before faefolk were considered to be a prized possession among the elite of many species. Hunted down to near extinction we hid and fought to escape possession. It took a great many years to get any right to ourselves at all. As the only intelligent species not derived from humanity we fae became the easy and obvious target of the hatred of men. It is told that humanity has always targeted the minority in the same way. As the newest found minority of men the before was simply our time to struggle. We must accept that the past is in the past, work hard, and prosper.
This is the tale told to all foundlings in youth. It is a call to action; a message to be thankful but not complacent. By knowing our history we may seek to build upon it and never repeat it. Every night as we curled up in our nest of memories our father would regale us with this tale of the past and remind us to honor or kind.
Of course I knew Tideron wasn’t truly my father. Of the 10 of us Tideron and his partner Gala had not conceived a single one, but they cared for and raised us in a way only a mother and a father could. The beauty of the forest, the warmth of the fire in our haven, the comfort you can only know by being truly and fully loved made our home the most precious thing we had ever known. Tideron could be cold and strict, but his rulings were fair and meant to teach us structure and gratitude. Honestly, while I loved him deeply and knew that he loved me as well, I did my best to avoid my father for much of my youth. It wasnt that I was a particularly bad youngling, like some of my more rebellious friends, just that I feared his disappointment. My father was easy to avoid though so I ran into very few issues accomplishing my avoidance of him. You see Tideron was not only my father but the leader of our herd. As the leader it was his responsibility to guide all of the pods in our herd not just our single family. In total there were near 2000 faefolk that roamed our wooded sanctuary, so the job kept my father away most of the time. The rarity of his presence made the time that we spent recounting our history before bed even more precious. Often the smallest among us would ask question after question trying to keep him as long as they could until mother would come and insist that we needed sleep more than answers.
My mother was a saint made especially to raise children. She was always there to console younglings from their night terrors and provide support to the oldest as we found our place in the herd. Our haven was not particularly large and was far from what anyone would consider luxurious, but like magic the shelves were always full of clean clothes and dishes and fresh food to eat. I rarely saw my mother doing any of the work it must have taken to care for 10 young orphans but I knew it must have been her who had done it. The most impressive part was the way she always seemed delighted to do it all; and not only the cleaning. My mother was always present. She hung onto every word we told her with bated breath as though our next comments may be the most important thing she had ever heard. There was no one more important, more loved, better protected than me when I was in the arms of my mother. I am selfless because my mother was selfless. I am strong because my mother was strong.
I say “was” because I no longer know how Gala is. I haven’t seen her in so long my heart aches. Tideron tells me that she is well and just as nurturing as ever with their remaining younglings. It’s become harder and harder to take his word for it but I have no other options. It is the duty of the dragonfly to bring lost souls home. I seek out foundlings and, as I was once found and rescued, I save them. It is a prized position, coveted and honored within the heard, but there is a catch. As a dragonfly I may never enter my homeland again. I am tainted by the outside world and cannot bring that corruption back to those who are pure and healing; at least that’s what Tideron says. It makes sense that I’ve never known just who found me or where I came from the only person who’d know would be the dragonfly that brought me home. It's been a year since I was set on this path, a year with no home, and no foundling to save. I have to prove myself and make Father proud of who I have become. Maybe if I do a good job and remain pure I can one day go home.
