Hri Sora

Flame at Night

Brother: Tlanextu

Husband: Amarok

Children: Yaotl, Eztli

**Hri Sora** was an Etalpallian-turned-dragon that reigned in the Near World and the Far some 1600 years before the events of *Heartless.*

## History

Ytotia grew up in the Faerie demesne of Etalpalli with her brother, daughter of the King and Queen. When she was fledgling, Cren Cru came, latching onto Etalpalli. The Twelve came, making the demand of Cren Cru that all should sacrifice their firstborn. Many Etalpallians did not resist, but Tlanextu--who was the firstborn of Ytotia's family--did not go. The Twelve demanded of King Citlalu to send Tlanextu to them several times, but each time he refused. Because of this, Cren Cru began to drain the lives of both Citlalu and Mahuizoa. One final time the Twelve came for Tlanextu, when Citlalu and Mahuizoa were on the brink of death. Again they refused, and they then died, falling out of the tower they were in to the street below.

Tlanextu became King of Etalpalli, but not long after, Cren Cru took hold of him. In an attempt to save Etalpalli, he sent Ytotia from the demesne to find the Brothers Ashiun, Etanun and Akilun. As she passed through the gate of Etalpalli, her brother put a magical lock upon it, so that no one may enter the demesne except for the sake of another.

Guided by The Prince of the Farthestshore through the Wood Between, Ytotia came to the Haven of Ashiun. She told the Brothers of her story, and though Akilun initially questioned it, they resolved to help her and accompanied her back to Etalpalli. They passed through Cozamaloti Gate, and found Tlanextu only seconds from death, his body wasted away by Cren Cru. After only a few words with his sister, he died, and Ytotia was then Queen of Etalpalli.

She commanded the Brothers Ashiun to root out Cren Cru, and they did. The Twelve tried to stop them, but they all fell to Etanun's sword Halisa. Akilun opened the door of the Mound of Cren Cru and thrust his lantern Asha inside. Cren Cru then fled, leaving Etalpalli for good.

Ytotia was crowned with her mother Mahuizoa's crown not long after, and it was then the Brothers Ashiun made to leave. She asked Etanun if he would return to Etalpalli, and he said he would. He did come again sometime later, and told her of his and his brother's work in the Near World. It was then Ytotia began to feel growing affection for him, and when he left, he promised to return again. He came many times, and the last time he visited, Ytotia asked him if he loved her. Though he did not answer, she knew the truth, and her heart broke.

For a long time Ytotia heard of the deeds of Etanun from travelers. Eventually, she heard a rumor that Etanun had fallen in love with a mortal girl, Klara. The fire of jealousy ignited in her, she left Etalpalli to find Etanun. She traveled through the Wood Between into the Near World, finding him constructing a House of Light in the North Country. She confronted him about his love for the mortal girl, and he admitted that he did love her.

After that, she left Etanun, flying high into the sky. Eventually, she fell back to earth, crashing into a mountain, and it was there that the Dragon found her. He convinced her to accept his kiss, and so he did. She became a dragon, her jealousy and rage giving way to fire. It was then she took on the name Hri Sora, the Flame at Night.

In a woman's form, she sought out Klara, the girl Etanun loved. Upon seeing her, Klara asked if she needed a place to stay, but Hri Sora destroyed everything, killing her and burning everything in miles. Hri Sora then set upon everything, destroying the Houses of Light that Etanun and Akilun built in her rage and pain. Upon learning of the destruction, Etanun found her, confronting her. Her flame could not stand against Halisa, and Etanun drove his sword through her heart, killing her in the first of three deaths.

Hri Sora awoke in the Netherworld, the kingdom of the Dragon. He commended her on her fire, and then demanded that she kill both the Brothers Ashiun. With this in mind, she returned to the Near World and began burning the Houses of Light again. Once more Etanun found her, and they battled on the plains of Corrilond. Just before she died she revealed her true form to him: the Queen of Etalpalli. Etanun was shocked at this revelation, but she died her second death.

Waking again in the Netherworld, her flames grew even brighter. She became arrogant, rejecting being a servant of the Dragon. Determined to show her might, she took to the sky, bent on devouring Hymlume herself and ending her song. Before she could achieve this, however, the Dragon, angered by her defiance, tore away her dragon form. Wingless, Hri Sora fell from the sky, landing upon a mountain. The mountain later would be called Bald Mountain, for her fire burned it so badly that nothing would ever grow there again.

Sometime after that, the Wolf Lord Amarok found her. He convinced her that he loved her and she loved him. She later bore him children, the Black Dogs.

Returning to Etalpalli, Hri Sora saw her former people flying through the sky, while she had no wings to speak of, for the Dragon had torn them away. She killed them all and burned Etalpalli to ruin. After this she fell unconscious for a hundred years.

## Starflower

The Dragon wakes Hri Sora from her stupor into a dream. He recounts to her the burning of Etalpalli, of which she is horrified to learn. The Dragon compliments her on her fire, stating how destructive it was though she had no wings. She demands he let her wake up because she has work to do. He asks her what a wingless dragon could do, to which she has no answer. Then he asks her what happened to her in the ten years following her second death, but she remembers nothing save for Amarok and her two children, the Black Dogs. She wants to get her wings back so that she may kill Amarok, though she does not tell the Dragon this. The Dragon says her wings will come at a price, which is the Flowing Gold of Rudiobus. At first Hri Sora thinks that finding the Flowing Gold would be impossible until she recalls that the secret to find it is not only held by Bebo, but by her cousin Gleamdrené Gormlaith. When she wonders at how to get past the enchanted borders of Rudiobus, the Dragon mocks her. Though she is enraged at him, an idea forms in her mind. She tells the Dragon to wake her up, and he does.

Eanrin, having heard the call of the Black Dogs in the Wood Between, finds Hri Sora under the guise of a mortal woman lying beneath a caorann tree. When he first touches her, his hand is burned. He considers that she may be a dragon, though she lies under a caorann tree which dispels enchantments, but when he next touches her, her body does not burn him. She comes awake suddenly, grabbing him and asking him for help before falling again. the Black Dogs then start to draw near, and Eanrin takes her and runs back to Rudiobus. Everybody including Bebo immediately falls for Hri Sora under the guise of a mortal maid, and she is given refuge in Rudiobus.

Sometime she awakes to find Gleamdren waiting for her. She attempts to feign fear of the Black Dogs, but Gleamdren has seen through her glamour. Gleamdren is resentful towards her for being so beautiful as to have taken away the attention from her, and asks her to kidnap her. Hri Sora lets her glamour fall away to her true form, confused as to why Gleamdren would want to be kidnapped. Gleamdren then explains to her that "scores of suitors" would come looking for her. Angered by Gleamdren's attitude, Hri Sora grabs her up and summons the Black Dogs. Hri Sora, Gleamdren and the Black Dogs all disappear from Rudiobus.

Hri Sora awakes from dreams of Etanun in the Omeztli Tower, for the first time seeing the dark pit where the tower opposite Ozmetli once stood. She thinks back on when she had the form of a dragon and the burning of Etalpalli, barely remembering her quest for the Flowing Gold of Rudiobus when Gleamdren--having been locked in a birdcage by her sometime earlier--calls out to her. Hri Sora cannot remember why she sought the Flowing Gold or why she kidnapped Gleamdren, and Gleamdren becomes increasingly irritated with the Dragonwitch's forgetfulness. Angered, Hri Sora recounts to her the feats of terror she enacted on the Near World in centuries past before running off in a fit of fiery madness. She returns later, exhausted, remembering Amarok.

Plagued with dreams of Amarok, Hri Sora wanders the burned and abandoned streets of Etalpalli. The Black Dogs come to her, but she sends them away. She finds the tombs of Etalpalli, and within she finds the grave of Ytotia which the Etalpallians had made for her when she abandoned them and became a dragon. Enraged at the sight of her old name, she burned the tombs.

Hri Sora awoke on the edge of the pit where Itonatiu Tower once stood. She is afraid of falling for she no longer has wings. The Dragon's voice comes to her from the pit, and they converse briefly about her wings and the Flowing Gold. Then she feels Glomar trying to enter Etalpalli and she lets him in.

Later, the Dragonwitch returns to Omeztli Tower and watches the Black Dogs chase Glomar. Gleamdren attempts to deduce why she seeks the Flowing Gold, wondering if it is a gift for Amarok. Hri Sora tells her there is only one gift she would give to Amarok before disappearing in smoke.

She goes to hide in the shadows of Omeztli in an attempt to escape Gleamdren. She recalls when she became free of Amarok's curse. At that moment she feels that someone has entered Etalpalli by their own doing, and she returns to the to of the tower. Gleamdren asks what she is looking at, and she replies that she sees Eanrin and someone is with him. Gleamdren becomes excited, naming off various possibilities of suitors until Hri Sora reveals it is a woman. She becomes angered when she realizes that it is a woman from the Southlands. She sends the Black Dogs to get them both.

She becomes enraged as she sees Imraldera show kindness to the Black Dogs as they have Amarok's eyes. She vomits fire onto the stones below the Tower. She then watches in awe as Imraldera catches on to the trail of the Dogs and follows it. She surmises that she must test her to know if she knows Amarok. She sends the Black Dogs again to get only Imraldera, and they bring her to her. She questions Imraldera in thee language of signs, revealing that she too lived in the Southlands. Imraldera comes to realize that the Black Dogs are Amarok's children. Hri Sora demands she tell of how she escaped Amarok, and she does.