Aena
Aena is a central protagonist in The Savage Wild (Adventure 2) and a prominent figure in the history of The Metalwood Saga. She is a rare, pink-scaled "agile" dragon who hatches from an egg discovered by the ellr Lysa.
Alongside Lysa and the demisoul rylak Jascyn, Aena forms a cross-species alliance known as the "Triad." Throughout the war against the resurrected ancient mage Calarel, Aena grapples with her genetic memories, her yearning to fly, and the massive telepathic burden of the planet's dragons.
Appearance and Personality
As an agile dragon, Aena possesses an iridescent, pink-scaled body, which is considered a fairly rare color for her subspecies. She has four muscular arms equipped with razor-sharp claws, a long snout filled with sharp teeth, and a massive set of wings. Because dragons mature at an astonishing rate, within just three months of hatching she is already far too massive to comfortably navigate the dense jungle or fit inside the standard buildings of the ellr city of Aldaron.
Personality-wise, Aena is highly intelligent, sarcastic, and fiercely protective. Because of the dragons' innate trait of varlon (genetic memory), she is born with vast ancestral knowledge, including fluency in multiple languages. Despite her imposing, predatory exterior, she banters easily with Lysa and Jascyn, frequently cracking jokes and expressing her deep frustration over how long it takes her to learn how to fly. She possesses a noble heart, believing that the natural order of the jungle should be sustained without senseless, petty violence.
Biography
Hatching and the Triad
While fleeing the rylak village of Felgr, Lysa carried a mysterious egg that she eventually brought to the hidden ellr city of Aldaron. There, the egg hatched into Aena. Due to her rapid growth, the ellr built her a custom dragonroost at the top of Caldaren Caverns.
Aena formed a fast and profound friendship with Lysa and the rylak outcast Jascyn, forming a group they called the Triad. Guided by her ancestral memories and a vague, unformed telepathic bond pulling her toward her mother, Aena convinced the Triad to journey south toward the Kryptan Mountains to find her parents.
The Journey South
During their trek through the Kalmansa Wilds, Aena proved to be a formidable ally. Though she could not yet fly, her massive size and strength easily intimidated jungle predators. When a horde of hostile rylak ambushed the Triad in the jungle, Aena valiantly defended her friends, using her wings to sweep the attackers away. Driven by the desperate need to save her companions, Aena finally unlocked her biological capability for flight, taking Lysa and Jascyn onto her back and soaring into the sky to escape the horde.
Shortly after, Aena sensed that her mother had mysteriously been moved back north. The Triad returned toward Aldaron, where Aena discovered an ancient, bioluminescent underground city hidden deep within a cave. Utilizing her genetic memories, Aena successfully navigated a puzzle lock by triggering a sequence of ancient dragon runes—pi-grunt, grunt, slinker, skyeel, pi-agile, agile, winged talonwyrm, talonwyrm, and finally, titan.
The Ritual of Bonding
Inside the hidden city, Aena found her mother, a green agile dragon named Mela, who had been heavily drugged by Calarel. In an effort to heal her mother and unlock her own magical potential, Aena initiated the Ritual of Bonding.
However, the drugs in Mela's system made the ritual incredibly difficult. In her haste and inexperience, Aena failed to complete the final line of the ritual. This cemented a telepathic bond not just with Mela, but with all ten thousand dragons on the planet Eryn, overwhelming Aena's mind with thousands of voices. Because the bond was left "open," it allowed Calarel to hijack Aena's mind using mindmaster magic. Through Aena, Calarel took absolute control of the entire dragon horde, forcing them to relentlessly attack the souls of the dormant Operators (Rylan and Elanil) to disconnect them from the god-machine Xyclami.
Breaking the Control
Trapped within her own mind, Aena was forced to watch as the dragons executed Calarel's bidding. Fortunately, Lysa and Jascyn reached her. Utilizing their unique empathetic abilities as demisouls, Lysa and Jascyn reached into Aena's mind and siphoned away the overwhelming cognitive load of the ten thousand dragon souls.
With her mind cleared, Aena successfully pushed through Calarel's control and spoke the final syllable of the ritual ("las"). The dragonbond quieted, instantly severing Calarel's control over the horde.
Furious, Calarel unleashed a barrage of shockstriker magic to massacre the dragons, but Lysa protected them with thousands of simultaneous forcefields. Empowered by her completed bond, Aena discovered her own magical Alignment. Utilizing darkprime maple, she used fallfoiling magic to shoot straight up into the sky, carrying Lysa and Jascyn into the air to engage Calarel in a final, victorious aerial battle.
Return to Phylaxia
Following Calarel's ultimate defeat, the surviving dragons departed the battlefield. Aena returned briefly to her dragonroost in Aldaron with Mela. Realizing she was too large for the ellr city and yearning to be among her own kind, Aena bid a heartfelt farewell to Lysa and Jascyn. Escorted by a young turquoise agile dragon named Vora, Aena and Mela flew off to Phylaxia, the ancestral home of the dragons on Eryn.
Powers and Abilities
- Flight and Physical Combat: Aena possesses immense physical strength, razor-sharp teeth, and claws capable of easily swatting away heavily-armed rylak warriors. Once she masters her wings, she is an incredibly fast and capable flyer, large enough to comfortably carry multiple passengers on her back.
- Fallfoiler (Dark Maple): After completing the Ritual of Bonding, Aena unlocks her magical Talent. By burning darkprime maple, she can manipulate gravity, allowing her to shoot directly upwards into the sky at impossible speeds without the use of her wings.
- Varlon (Genetic Memory): Aena inherits the memories, history, and knowledge of her ancestors. Because of this, she is born with a highly advanced intellect and is completely fluent in Phylax (the dragon tongue), Ellr, and the guttural Rylak language.
- The Dragonbond: Following the completion of the Ritual of Bonding, Aena is telepathically connected to every dragon on Eryn. She can sense their locations, feel their emotions, and communicate with them across vast distances.
Key Relationships
- Lysa: Her closest friend and fellow member of the Triad. Lysa raised Aena from an egg, and the two share a fierce loyalty. Lysa's empathy is instrumental in saving Aena's mind from Calarel's control.
- Jascyn: Her rylak companion in the Triad. Despite the ancestral enmity between dragons and rylak, Aena and Jascyn learn to trust and fight alongside one another.
- Mela: Her mother, a green agile dragon. Aena risks everything to find her and complete the Ritual of Bonding.
- Calarel: The ancient Prime Mage who drugs Mela and temporarily enslaves Aena's mind to hijack the dragon horde. Aena deeply despises her for the violation of her free will.
- Vora: A turquoise agile dragon who arrives at Aldaron after the war to guide Aena and Mela back to the dragon homeland of Phylaxia. Aena feels an immediate, intense attraction to her.