A wounded dragon laid upon a landscape of ruin. As far as the horizon stretched, all things burned. Streams of molten rock swirled around the fallen creature, and the very rock of the earth far and wide melted. Mountains smaller than the dragon which laid among them fell to liquid before a sun that was much too close.

The terrible beast that lay among the desolation roared up at the fiery star, angry and pitiful. Its wings were burnt away, and where a limb had once been there was now nothing more than a stump that had been cauterized by the heat. The scales of the dragon shimmered in the bright light for a time, before they too began to burn in the intense heat. Indeed, the inner fire of the dragon yielded to the fire of its creator.

The dragon, for all its pain and sorrow, knowing that it would die, summoned all that remained of the magic which was within itself. Every bit of inner warmth and all manner of celestial magic that it possessed, it to put into the words that it was about to speak.

Then, in the deep rumbling tones of its tongue, the beast spoke out the last words of its existence in a powerful curse. As it spoke, flames rippled from its mouth and the world shook.

“Sun mother, our blessed light, you who brought us from the sand and raised us to bear your fire. She that is owed all light and love which this barren rock knows. Life-giver and day bringer. For whom our hearts burn.

May you be cursed, you who would not show us your love alone. You who are of idle interests and uncontrolled passion. Cursed be this blessing you have given us, which wrenched us from the earth to be made into vile beings. Cursed be your love, that the burns it gives unto others may be returned to you. May all your endeavors be returned with spite, and may your every love be dashed by hate. May death follow your light, as the night follows day.

Thus, when at last the heavens fall, it shall be by the hand of all things you have loved, human and dragon. In those times, the stars shall lose their place, and all things shall return to darkness.”

The dragon ceased its prophecy, and at that moment almost died, before giving its last to the final bit of spite in its soul.

“And as vengeance for this suffering of mine, for this betrayal, this doom shall come from my descendants. It shall be from the one who will be human-mothered, but hold the power of the heavens in their hands. From the one that will barter with your tears - and who shall cause you to cry. It shall be from the one that will live like your favored children, as a child of man, but shall have my spite!”

The dragon roared the last words, and then with a final gout of flame, perished. Its body relaxed as it fell into the molten earth, and its gem-like scales melted.

Moments past and the roaring inferno around the great dragon continued. Then, from amid the torrent of fire, lava, and ash, a woman appeared. She did not burn, and she walked towards the dragon’s fallen body, her face awash with grief. The lava beneath her did not engulf her, and she walked upon it without sinking into its surface. Her hair shimmered like gold in the light of noon, and her eyes glowed with the light of twin suns. She wore a gown of white, yellows, orange, and hues of red, all golden trimmed. Upon her back were massive feathered wings whose colors were like the sunset. Around her was an aura of light that out-shined even the torrent of fire that surrounded her and rivaled the bright light above.

Tears ran from her eyes, creating glowing rivers of light down her face. As they fell from her cheeks and to the ground they splashed onto the lava and floated there like oil upon water. They shined and did not dim, nor did they evaporate.

She approached the dragon and lay her body against its fallen, burning, form. There, she wept, and each of her cries caused the world to shake like the great dragon’s final moments had. The tears that fell from her eyes ran down the dragon’s body and pooled beneath it into a small disk of shining light.