PARAGON

Paragon unmovingly watched as a sleek wingless dragoness with fur as blue as theses and sky walked down the dock. Only one mage guard followed her, but a large dragon watched from the top of the lighthouse, wings partially spread.

The dragoness wore a gold circlet that draped over her head like a crown. Set into the pendant on the dragoness's necklace, a star sapphire much larger than the ones in Paragon's eyes pendant sparked between two opals on the simple golden chain. On her tail, a golden band with a shimmering opal accented where her fur burst into a darker blue plume.

"Hello, Paragon, welcome back to Havenus." The blue dragoness smiled up to the figurehead, oblivious to the guard's confused and skeptical expression.

Paragon smiled and looked down to the dragoness, her movement nearly causing the armored mage to jump out of his skin. "Good morning, queen of the sea and sky. Havenus has grown quite a bit since my last visit."

"I know you have a captain now, but is there any other news you have to share with me?" Horizon's storm grey eyes glimmered with regretful hope.

"I'm sorry, but I have no news today." Paragon hung by her tail to be closer to Horizon's level as she mentally contacted Travis. 'Horizon is on the boardwalk if you are ready to meet her.'

'Already?' Travis stood from the chair in the kitchen and briskly walked across her deck.

"He's coming," Paragon smiled in slight excitement as the tip of her tail wagged a bit. "Oh, I can't wait to introduce you."

Horizon chuckled a bit and smiled up to the liveship. "I have a shipment of magic cloth for you, as well as a few pieces of jewelry and art."

The guard jumped as Paragon noisily slid the gangplank into place for Travis. "Sorry," she quickly apologized to the human magician as excitement continued to bubble through her. "I was a bit reckless in my excitement."

The mage nodded in acceptance of her apology.

Travis paused at the top of the ramp, his eyes wide at the sight of Horizon. "You didn't tell me Horizon was a dragon!" His mind raced with panicked thoughts, stories from the old dragon wars galloping through his head.

The dragons Travis knew dragons as monstrous, powerful creatures. Their fiery breath leveled villages instantly; their hulking muscular forms were impervious to all weapons. Their non-sentient minds only hungered for food, destruction, and treasure.

The contrariwise dragon shattered those expectations. Though Horizon radiated power, she lacked the scary visage of myth and legends of the dragon war. Travis briefly contemplated how much was the truth and how much of what he knew was pure propaganda, but he had no time to dwell on those ideas.

Paragon forced those thoughts out of the forefront of his mind. "Does it matter that much? She is still a sentient, just like you. Here, all sentients are equal and subject to the same laws without discrimination."

Travis silently inhaled, then crossed the silver plank and stepped onto the boardwalk. The second his foot stepped off the life wood, their connection weakened. She could no longer passively feel his thoughts and emotions unless she focused, though she knew extreme feelings would still reach her.

"Hello there, my name is Horizon." The dragoness softly smiled as Travis walked across the boardwalk towards her, "My friend Paragon is rather excited that you have become her captain."

Travis blinked and nervously smiled up to the imposing serpentine creature. "Thank you for being willing to outfit us for our first venture."

Horizon gave him a genuine draconic smile. "Why don't I show you around town and buy you everything you want while the dockworkers load Paragon with supplies?" She motioned for the sailor to follow with a wave of her paw.

"Don't worry, Horizon won't hurt you, and I am only a thought away." Paragon tried to soothe the anxious human.

Travis blinked, then followed the dragon.

Author Notes!

I promise the next chapter will be longer! I guess I could combine this and the previous chapter together, but I wanted each perspective change to be its own chapter. Anyway, what do you think about Horizon?