The Dragon Who Hoarded Names
fantasyEveryoneVesper leaned close, smoke curling from her nose. 'No name at all? How unusual.' She plucked a blank silver coin from the wall and held it out. 'Empty. Like you. I could fill it with any name you point to. Choose from my hoard, child, and it is yours.'
The girl walked the glowing walls slowly. She stopped at one warm coin that hummed when she came near. She pointed. Vesper smiled. 'Brave choice. That name belonged to a queen who feared nothing.' The coin lifted off the wall and floated into the girl's chest, sinking in like a swallowed star.
What happens next?
2 ways forwardPower filled her at once. The queen's name made her stand tall and unafraid. But when she tried to remember the mountain, the snow, the climb, it was already fading. The borrowed name was eating her old self to make room. With a sharp shake of her head she forced it back up and spat the coin onto the stone. Her memories rushed back, cold and bright. Vesper stared. 'You gave back power for a small, quiet life. Why?' The girl pointed firmly at her own chest. Her life. Hers. And in that moment a brand-new word formed warm in her throat, a name that was finally her own.