Chapter 2

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Aurora's POV

This certain scavenger was hunched over a boulder and was using its tiny, clever paws to grind a rock he was holding with the boulder.

Curious to see why he was doing, Aurora hovered closer to it until it was only a few tail-lengths away. Abruptly the scavenger's head shot up.

When it checked the sky and spotted Aurora, he didn't scream his head off or bolt off somewhere else the way a normal scavenger would do.

Instead, it remarked something. And strangest of all, Aurora could understand what it was saying.

"Have you ever wished for something?" he asked.

Aurora was dumbfounded. Scavengers could not talk. They just could not. Whatever came out a scavenger's mouth was either gibberish or partially digested food. And yet, the scavenger in front of her had just asked a question- casually, in the tongue of dragons.

You're dreaming, you're dreaming, she reassured herself. Scavengers cannot talk.

"Answer me," the scavenger commanded.

The only response Aurora could stutter out was, "Scavengers can't talk!" and flew down to examine the scavenger more closely.

"What are even scavengers?" asked the baffled scavenger.

"Oh come on, don't pretend you don't know," snarled Aurora. "If you are as much as a fuzzbrain as I think, for your information, a scavenger is the species you are."

"Oh," said the scavenger. "We call ourselves humans."

"Whatever." Aurora was sure she was dreaming. She opened her wings, ready to fly away. Perhaps gliding back to her palace would help with her dream. She leaped off the ground.

"Wait," pleaded the scavenger. There was something in his tone that showed he meant it. "Come back."

Having no other choice, Aurora dropped back onto the ground with a faint thud.

"Have you ever wished for something?" he asked again.

"Um, yes," said Aurora. From the corner of her eye, she saw the caribou herd on the move again. They disappeared over the horizon. She tried not to hide her disappointment.

"Have you ever thought... about the possibility of them coming true?"

"No, of course not," snapped Aurora. "Some things can never come true."

"Well... what if they can?"

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