ETTING   OME   O   LFANDRA

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Hespa's Story interlude 2 - Witness to a Miracle

The castle courtyard is crowded but silent, the assembled villagers sharing in the mourning of the lone knight in front of them.

Draco, the last dragon, is dead.

Unnoticed, an invisible portal opens behind and above the villagers.  It moves around a little, finally angling down to take in the scene, but nothing and no one emerges from it.

A collective gasp goes up from the crowd as Draco's body dissolves into a golden glow, which rises up out of the courtyard, heading for the stars.

The invisible portal turns to follow it.

Draco's glowing soul reaches its destination, and the constellation Draco opens up to take it in.  Its final ascension is accompanied by a brilliant starburst, blanketing the heavens with light.

As the light slowly fades back to regular starlight, the silence is broken by murmurs of conversation.  Normalcy begins to return, as it always does in the end.

As Hespa leaves to continue her search, the edge of her departing thoughts slips out through the closing portal, bewildering a few nearby villagers.

**well, that was one to tell stories about on long nights...**