Breath of Secrets - By Marisa Avery by Canyon

Breath of Secrets - By Marisa Avery by Canyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story en-us 2022-11-22 19:22:45 UTC 2023-01-10 17:05:43 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/1895825551/f430a84a344d0ed9928f2ece6c2c4e29/canyonpfp.jpg princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394626036

Summary

_{Scarface, a hybrid assassin, lives his life ending others’. But even though he might prevail in completing a mission, he will still bear the scars that he gets as a permanent reminder of his gruesome purpose. He escapes his misery by reliving his memories, some pleasant, others not.}

_{He looks back on his life at his younger self, Canyon, and all the events that led to where he was now. All the dragons he’s met have shaped his life, but not always for the better. Through each and every day, he always asks himself, Who am I really? What is my destiny?}

_{Now, through a series of bizarre events, his questions begin to reveal answers and even more about himself than he knew. Finally, through his tragic past and his assigned-destiny, he can find out who he really is. Not Scarface, but Canyon, the dragon who will change the world.}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:23:54 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394626036 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394630303 Prologue

_{Scarface stumbled towards the ocean, into the bounding waves. Letting all the misery and pain wash away with the receding tide. Red spun into the water as the salt seeped into the newest scrapes and gashes on his tail. He winced, but bit back the pain. It wasn’t always like this. He didn’t always have these scars.}

_{The X shaped one over his heart, where the NightDragon Queen had almost succeeded in sending him into the land of Eternal Slumber. And the one almost directly above his eye, where the ferocious new Queen of the DiamondDragons had attempted to replicate that feat, only in a more painful way.}

_{And of course, the one on the side of his face. Where else would he have gotten his name? Being the most prominent and visible scar, it had inspired his new nickname, Scarface. The jeering villagers had relentlessly called it out whenever he passed by, the sound of the crying dragonets soon drowning it out, until he could take it no more and eventually had to leave.}

_{Scarface sighed and looked down at his claws, rippling beneath the blue ocean waves. From this angle, they looked like ordinary dragon talons. Looking at them from this way, you couldn’t see the nasty scars that marred them.}

_{One day, he hoped dragons could ignore the scars and just see him.}

_{Not the Scary Scarred Dragon.}

_{Not Scarface.}

_{Just Canyon, the dragon he was supposed to be.}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:28:38 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394630303 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394631621 Chapter 1

_Squark!!

_{Canyon, a tiny dragonet, made his presence known.}_Sqirble!!!_{He squeaked one more time, to be sure that he had been heard.}

_{He lifted his head up and peered around.}

_{Desert and spindly trees.}

_{All around.}

_{He took a deep breath. Dust.}

_Dust.

_{And…..more…}_dust_._Achhh-oooo.

_{He sneezed, blinking several times to clear his eyes.}

_{He sat up and looked over the top of the stone nest, down at the ground. Far, far, far away.}

_{He heard a roar and looked up as a shadow passed over him. A familiar sandy colored dragon swooped towards him, landing on a rock next to the carved nest.}

_{“Hello, little one,” it said.}

_{Canyon soon learned that this dragon was Mother. He studied her all the time, whenever she stopped by to bring him food. She would sit down next to him for a while, tell him a story, and then all too soon, she would leave again, to the World Beyond the Nest.}

_{One day, though, when she came at the usual time of day, she picked him up, and put him in the space on her back, just between her wings.}

_{“Hold on tight,” she replied, jumping into the air. Canyon grabbed a neck spine and held on tight, the wind whooshing past his face.}

_{Soon, the sound of roaring could be heard coming from all directions. Canyon tried to peek around his Mothers wings, trying to find the source of the commotion.}

_{Mother landed on a wide stone balcony, in front of another pale, sandy colored dragon.}

_{Except this one was huge, way bigger than Mother, and along with the pale scales, she had several black splotches on her as well.}

_{Mother reached around and pulled Canyon off her back, and set him down in front of her.}

_{The strange dragon walked over to them, and crouched down to Canyon. The dragon smiled, a smile full of glinting teeth.}

_{“Hello, Canyon,” she said. “Are you ready to change the world?”}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:30:11 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394631621 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394632438 Chapter 2

_“_Hi-yaaah!”_{two-year old Canyon cried, nearly over balancing as he leaped forward, swiping his claws at a startled lizard. It gave him a rather irritated look and slithered away in between the rocks.}

_{Canyon huffed and sat down in the sand, frustrated. He swished his tail back and forth, flicking sand in all directions. “It’s not}_fair_{!” he whined, “I tried and tried and tried and I}_can’t_{catch it!” He buried his head in his talons and sulked.}

_{He looked up as Mirage, the dragonet teacher, landed in the sand next to him.}

_{“Well, did you stay quiet for 10 heartbeats?” she asked.}

_{Canyon thought. “Yup.”}

_{“And did you wait for it to look away before you pounced?”}

_“Yup.”

_{“Ah, but did you remember to stay quiet the}_whole_{time?” she chuckled, giving him a knowing look.}

_{Canyon thought, and then looked down. “Nope,” he said, sadly.}

_{“And there’s your mistake,” she said. “You don’t have to feel bad, every dragonet makes mistakes,” she said.}

_{“Ah, yes, well that is true,” a new voice said.}

_{The two dragons whirled around as a third dragon landed on the sand behind them.}

_{Canyon recognized her as the dragon who was the leader. She had a name that was a plant in the desert, but he couldn’t remember.}

_Catdust_{? No that wasn’t it.}_Catear_{? No. He glanced sideways at a spindly plant that was towering next to them.}

_{Green with pointy needles on it...aha!}

_Cactus,_{his inner voice reminded him. That was it!}

_{He sent a silent thank-you to himself and the bristling tree-plant next to them and then focused his attention back to the other dragons.}

_{“I remember quite well some…}_mistakes_a_certain_{little ruffian made, not the}_least_{of which was spilling}_FireCactus_seeds_all_over_my_courtyard_{.” She emphasized courtyard with a great sigh. “Then}_buried_{them with sand to cover up the mess!” She gave a stern look to Mirage, then continued. “So, after about a month, everyone was confused as to why there were little tiny spike-plants all over the courtyard. But by the time we finally found out what they were, they had established a root system among each other. It took my gardeners}_weeks_{to dig them up and carefully dispose of them. It would have been way}_easier_{if a certain}_dragonet_{would have just come clean and told us,” she said ruefully, shaking her head.}

_{“Who that was?” Canyon ask, curious.}

_{Next to him, he thought he heard Mirage stiffen, and then his focus was directed towards Cactus as he saw the older dragon start shaking. After a moment, he realized she was}_laughing_.

_{“You really don’t know who?” she said as she looked up, her eyes twinkling. She walked toward them and crouched down to Canyons level. “That mischievous little scoundrel is now your teacher,” she said in a loud whisper.}

_{“Really?” he said, wonder in his voice as he looked back and forth between his Queen and his teacher. “You was a miz-chivy-us liddle skowndrul?” he said in disbelief.}

_{Mirage sighed and cleared her throat. “There were times I went against the rules, yes.”}

_{Cactus laughed. Mirage gave her a reproachful look and then sniffed. Cactus wiped her watery eyes and then looked down at Canyon.}

_{“Now, I wanted to ask, how is your hunting going?”}

_{Canyon grumbled.}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:31:03 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394632438 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394633234 Chapter 3

_{Scarface smiled as his memory brought him back to that day in the desert, where he was later tested on his hunting capabilities. Which was really, he learned, just a roundabout way to teach him the skills that he would need if he was to fulfill his purpose. Well, at least the purpose}_they_{wanted him for.}

_{His scar above his eye stung, and he winced as a bolt of pain shot through his head. His smile faded as he remembered that painful day, the day when he got this scar. The day when he first proved himself worthy of the position he was in now…}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:31:54 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394633234 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394633782 Chapter 4

_{Twelve years earlier….}

_{Canyon jumped and then ducked, slashing his claws at the attacking dragon. He rolled under and slashed the dragons underbelly before leaping to his feet and biting down on the tail.}

_{A yelp of pain emitted from the white dragon, as she whipped around and snarled, claws slicing through the air.}

_{Canyon felt a sharp pain lance across his face as he paid for letting his guard down. The dragon’s serrated claws had dug furrows in his snout, almost directly above his eye.}

_{Canyon shrieked as pain went through his head. He growled and leaped at the DiamondDragon, sending them to the edge of the chasm that ripped through the ground of the IceRealm, leading to a continuous tunnel of darkness down into the earth.}

_{Canyon snarled and slashed at his opponent, and then shoved her forward.}

_{She froze, hung in midair, then a scream tore from her throat as she plummeted down, down, down into the cavernous maw of the ground.}

_{Canyon watched as she slowly grew smaller and smaller until there was only a wink of silver, a small teardrop, and then there was nothing. She was gone.}

_Gone_{, was his last thought as he shuddered and then collapsed.}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:32:28 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394633782 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394635267 Chapter 5

_{Present day}

_{“SCARFACE!” a voice ripped through the silence. He spun around and saw Iguana, his chosen partner, approaching. She looked quizzically at their surroundings and then her gaze settled on his talons, buried in the salty waves. She tsked, and then reached for them.}

_{“You know, it’s not necessary to hide your injuries,” she said, taking a mixture of healing ointment out of a pouch on her back.}

_{“It just shows that you have been through a lot and survived. And you have the scars to prove it,” she said, but then froze as she realized what she said. “I’m sorry—”, she started.}

_{“No,” he growled. “I know you didn’t mean it that way, its fine.”}

_{“Canyon—”}

_“It’s_fine_{,” he said sternly.}

_{Iguana sighed, and then went back to work, spreading the salve over the scars. Scarface hissed as a stinging sensation resulted from the medicine coming in contact with the wound. It only lasted a few seconds, however, and then a soothing numbness took over, and the pain subsided.}

_{He sighed gratefully and Iguana gave him an amused look.}

_{“Let me guess, Moonglow didn’t go down without a fight?”}

_{He nodded, a weird feeling forming a pit in his stomach. He couldn’t figure out what it was. It only happened after he completed an assignment. He thought, but no, it couldn’t be….it couldn’t be…pity?}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:34:05 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394635267 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394635668 Chapter 6

_{The only time he’d ever felt pity, Scarface thought, was the time when he’d found the wounded hawk out in the desert. It had fallen into a thicket of cacti and broke its wing, and now it was nearly dead. He’d considered killing it all the way, and then eating it, but thought that would be heartless. Ha. Cactus would’ve loved to hear that. “Assassins don’t feel pity,” he heard her voice say in his head. “They move quickly, ruthlessly. There’s no time to feel any emotions.”}

_{But he hadn’t eaten it. He had just studied its injuries, and as gently as he could, he had tried his best to heal it. Ok, yes, fine he got help from Sage. He and Sage, his pet human, had nursed the hawk back to health, and with a little more help from Sage, the hawk (which was now named Feather) was fully healed and completely tame.}

_{He couldn’t tell anyone of course. He was a little—OK, a}_lot_{afraid that if he let slip that he had a tame meal for a friend then someone might find Feather and eat him.}

_{So that was why, whenever he had to go on a mission or was in the dragon palace, Feather stayed with Sage.}

_{Only one other dragon knew about both Feather and Sage, and that was Iguana.}

_{But apparently, that was about to change.}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:34:30 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394635668 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394636092 Chapter 7

_{It was actually Quicksand’s fault that they found out about Sage. The tiny human was watching the dragon palace, hidden in a thick nest of cacti near the outer perimeter of the palace grounds. Waiting for her dragon was entirely boring, especially when Iguana had to go on a mission too. Now she had to wait}_alone_{for both of them to come back.}

_{But Sage and waiting did not match. Obviously. Now she regretted as the dragon stared at her from a tail-length away. The scales flickered from totally sand-tan to pale with drops of white and yellow scatter all over.}_{What in the moons}_is_{that dragon? A hybrid? Of what?}_{Hmm. The sand-tan was definitely pure SandDragon, but why were the scales shifting colors? Maybe it was part TreeDragon?}

_{Sage was pulled from her thoughts by a startled squeak, which she later realized was her own. Perhaps the reason for it was because of the scaled talon that reached for her, lifting her off the ground and closer to the face of the strange dragon.}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:35:00 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394636092 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394636790 Chapter 8

_{Sage looked up into the eyes of the creature holding her. She was startled to see that they are were a surprisingly pale blue, unlike any other Dragons eyes, at least the ones she’d seen.}

_{“What in the moons}_are_{you?” the dragon whispered, its breath blowing into her face.}

_{I could say the same about}_{you, Sage thought. She didn’t know if she should reply and reveal that she could speak Dragon or just play the tiny little human that only squeaks. She decided that the latter would only get her eaten faster. She straightened up, and stared into the eyes of the dragon.}

_{“I am a human. Or a}_scavenger_{, is what you called us,” she growled in Dragon.}

_{The eyes widened as big as the moons and the dragon almost dropped her in shock.}

_{“But— how…how can….that can’t be right…I must be dreaming…Quicksand, snap out of it,” she told herself sternly. Sage watched with amusement as the dragon rubbed its eyes as if wiping the sleep out of them. But Sage knew that it was not a dream. She waited patiently (or what}_{she thought}_{was patiently) and then saw the dragon look back at her.}

_{“Well? Are you done?” Sage said, again in the dragon’s language.}

_{“Ohmymoons, I’m}_not_{dreaming, you really just spoke to me, and I}_understood_{you.” Quicksand gently put Sage down onto the sand. “But…}_how_?”

_{Sage dusted herself off, shaking sand from her hair. “Easy. I spoke to you in Dragon,” she replied matter-of-factly. “It’s not that hard.”}

_{“Ohhh…I see. But how did you}_learn_{Dragon?” Quicksand queried curiously.}

_{“Uhm…I…” Sage hesitated, wondering if she should tell this complete stranger about her Dragonly friend. Then she realized that this dragon might not even}_know_Canyon._{But, how could she not? Don’t}_all_{SandDragons know each other?}_{She pondered this for a moment more then looked back into the eyes of the dragon before her. “Well, you see, it’s a long story…”}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:35:43 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394636790 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394638646 Chapter 9

_{Scarface felt a twinge. But this wasn’t just a pain twinge. It didn’t come from his wound. It came from his head. A mental twinge. Which could only mean…}

_Sage.

_{Sage was in danger.}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:37:49 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394638646 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394639298 Chapter 10

_{Sage wasn’t}_really_{in danger. She really just wanted to see Canyon’s reaction as he saw her in the presence of another dragon.}_“See?”_{she would say,}_{“they aren’t}_all_{bad. I found a good one.}_{” She imagined the look of shock on his face as he saw her chatting breezily with a huge, human-eating menacing—well, not exactly}_menacing_{, Sage thought as she watched the dragon in front of her bouncing from talon to talon in excitement. She just barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes.}

_{“—so then I would be like ‘yeah, I met a scavenger—‘”}

_“—_human,_{” Sage corrected.}

_{Quicksand nodded distractedly, “Right. So ‘yeah, I met a human and it can talk and so now I am so excited so now I wonder if all the little humans can talk…’ and so, yeah,” she finished breathlessly. “Can you? Can you all talk? Or are you just special? Do you know? Maybe you don’t know…Hmm”}

_{Sage waited for the dragon to catch her breath before answering. “No, I don’t know if any others can talk Dragon. I just learned it from Canyon. Who, by the way, should be here}_any_{moment now—”}

_{They both looked up at the sound of wingbeats. Sage squinted and saw Canyon, winging his way down towards them.}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:38:17 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394639298 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394639751 Chapter 11

_{Queen Cactus gave a mental yawn as she turned her focus to the small window carved into the sandstone wall. The monotonous voices of her fellow Queens fade into the background as she stares wistfully at the rolling sand dunes in the distance.}_{I don’t really}_need_{to know about the fortification measures that the AquaDragons have taken. It’s not like there is a war going on. I mean, ugh.}

_{She listens back in on the conversation going on.}

_{“—well, maybe we should try to take more of the sandstone from here and use it to shore up our palace,” Queen Hurricane says, nodding pointedly towards Cactus.}_{Uh-oh. Did I miss something?}

_{“Uh-ahem. Y-es. Sure. That’s fine,” Cactus says, shrugging.}_{We’ve got plenty of sandstone.}

_{“OK. Then that solves that issue. Now, Constellation, I wanted to talk about the issue of the border,” Sabertooth declares, turning to the NightDragon queen.}

_{Every dragon goes silent, watching with amusement as the NightDragon continues staring into the mirror on the wall, oblivious.}

_{Sabertooth rolls her eyes then clears her throat with authority. The pitch black dragon whirls around, seeming to shrink under the gaze of all the other queens.}

_{“Sorry, what were we talking about?”}

_{“The borders. We were talking about the borders.”}

_{Cactus rolls her eyes, and turns back to the window, just in time to watch a bronze and blue comet hurtle out of the sky, crash landing on the sand in the courtyard below. Only one thing could have those colors and it would be odd if she didn’t recognize the scales of her own dragonet.}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:38:50 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394639751 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394640155 Chapter 12

_{Canyon landed in the dunes, displacing sand and flinging it on the dragon and human beside him. Sage ducked and covered her head, but then she disappeared under a pile of sand.}

_{“Oops.” Canyon crossed over and uncovered his human, dusting the sand off her. “Sorry.”}

_{He made sure she was fine, then turned toward Quicksand with fury, putting himself between her and his human.}

_{“No! You can’t eat her! Stay away from her!” he said, putting a menacing look on his face.}

_{Well, as menacing of a look that a naturally cheerful dragon could muster. So really it actually looked like he had a pained smile on his face.}

_{Sage stifled a giggle, and Canyon shot her a confused look. She composed her face into that of a very serious human.}

_{“I wasn’t going to eat her. I would}_never_{eat something that}_talks_{!” Quicksand said, her voice tinged with hurt.}

_{Canyon narrowed his eyes and spun toward Sage, raising an eyebrow.}

_{“Yep. Uh. It was. kinda accidental. Her fault, mostly. I mean, she}_is_{the one who picked me up in the first place. I was just standing over by the cacti, tending my own mindplace,” Sage said, using the Dragon-ly form of the human expression “minding my own business.”}

_{Canyon looked at her with a worried expression. “But, Sage, I told you! Don’t leave Igu—oh. Right. I’m sorry. I just remembered, Iguana had to leave on the side mission with me. Sorry,” he said again, his face apologetic. “Wait—uh, Sage…where’s Feather?”}

_{“Oh, Feather. He’s right….” Sage turned in a circle, scrutinizing the cacti clumps around them. “I…I don’t understand, he was right here,” she said in a panicked voice. Her and Canyon looked each other in the eye.}

_{“You don’t think…” Sage started.}

_{“I’m afraid so.”}

_{At that exact moment, they heard the sharp shriek of a hawk. Terror rippled through Canyon, as he leaped into the air, zipping toward the sound.}

_WHAM!_{He collided head first with a hard object. The world went sideways as Canyon tumbled to the ground.}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:39:19 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394640155 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394640505 Chapter 13

_{Canyon opened his eyes, then immediately shut them after seeing his Queen standing before him.}

_{“Yikes.…I think he’s going to have a bad headache when he wakes up,” Sage’s voice squeaked.}

_{Headache indeed. Actually, it was more like a head pounding, that’s how bad it hurt.}

_{Canyon slowly sat up and flopped his arm over his eyes, shielding them from the bright light.}

_{“Oh, you have a strange talking creature too.” Cactus said, walking up to Sage. Sage shrank, but apparently, realizing this dragon had no intent of eating her, she straightened up.}

_{“I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” Canyon said, shakily standing up.}

_{“Whatever for?” Cactus asked, looking puzzled.}

_{“Uh, I thought…” Canyon squinted, confused.}

_{“Oh, you thought I was going to be mad at you because you are an assassin and you are supposed to be menacing and fight dragons and kill them and not have a soft spot for cute little tiny animals like….uh whatever}_that_{is?” she asked, pointing to Sage.}

_{Canyon coughed. “Well, if you…uh…put it that way, then yes,” he said, amused. His smile vanished as he shook his head. “No, actually, I was apologizing for crashing into you in mid-air,” he admitted, lowering his head as he sunk into a bow.}

_{“Oh, great thundering thorns, you don’t have to bow to me,” Cactus said, waving a talon dismissively. “Unlike Falcon,” she said, referring to the WindDragon queen, “}_I_{do not make my children carry out the royal etiquette, because I prefer them to be more normal,” she said breezily.}

_{“Oh, well that’s…uh, good….” Canyon said, with a chuckle, then he stopped, stone faced. “Wait—uh did you—”}

_{Sage beat him to it.}

_{“Hang on, did you just say, ‘}_your_{children’?” Sage asked, with a sharp breath. “Does that…does that mean that Canyon is—”}

_{“Yes, Canyon is my son.”}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:39:42 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394640505 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394640821 Chapter 14

_{Quicksand and Sage gasped. Canyon just sat there with a surprised look on his face. “But—I thought, Mirage…”}

_{Queen Cactus sighed. “Yes, I know, you thought that Mirage was your mother, and that’s what I wanted everyone to think,” the SandDragon queen replied. “I couldn’t risk the Secret getting out,” she whispered.}

_{As if a switch had been flipped, both the dragons and the human leaned closer, fascinated.}

_{“The Secret?” Sage asked quietly.}

_{“Yes, the Secret of Canyon.”}

]]> 2022-11-22 19:40:03 UTC https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394640821 princecanyon https://padlet.com/princecanyon/story/wish/2394641141 Chapter 15

_{About sixteen years ago…}

_{They could never make it work. There was no way. Not with the war going on, and the added stress of the invading tribes. They couldn’t just tell anyone. They would have to keep it a secret. Except, Cactus thought, I’m horrible at keeping secrets.}

_{And yet, here she was, keeping the biggest secret of all. There would be no father figure for this dragonet. And perhaps no mother either. At least, not a real one. He would have to be raised by Mirage, Cactus said to herself.}

_{A mix of blue and yellow. That’s what he’ll look like. It’ll be so obvious, Cactus sighed. If this gets out that the Queen of the SandDragons has a dragonet whose father is on the enemy tribe, there’ll be no more Queen Cactus of the SandDragons. Only Cactus, Traitor to the SandDragon tribe.}

_{No. Tidalwave would perhaps never know he had a son. But that was for the best. Wasn’t it?}

_{I know I’m making the right choice, Cactus whispers to herself. Aren’t I?}

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