[SpringsSong]

The sun rose slowly over the rainforest, as well as the paragon clan that lived beneath the surface, near one of the largest trees that they could find.  The fire lily spirit had pointed them in this direction; the ground there was meant for digging, she had said.  When they had gone below the surface, they found that there were a handful of dens that had caved in.  The once-great nest had flooded and lost its shape, but that was no surprise.  After all, one thousand years was quite some time for a nest to last without being tended to.

[SpringsSong]

The reconstruction had been a process; and a long one at that.  There was only so much that the spirit of the fire lily could do on her own.  She had not been able to dig too far before she ran into water.  The two Ambias that led the Clan could not help there; they did not have mastery over water.  Soon enough, though, two other Paragon had come to the Clan.

[SpringsSong]

One of them had been an Ambia, and the fire lily spirit had said that she could sense that this Ambia was another spirit.  The other one was a Pipe--a natural master over water and air.  The leaders had said that this was clearly a sign that the Clan was to begin anew: in the time of the spirit of the fire-lily's need, a spirit of the ocean and another master of water had come.

The digging was still a laborious task.  One thousand years of rain every day had made the soil hard to work with.

[SpringsSong]

Nevertheless, the construction of the nest had continued.

The path down into the nest had been mostly intact.  The first dens, which were about twenty-seven feet down from the surface, were in great disrepair.  In fact, most of the dens which had existed a millennium before were in a great state of disrepair.  Most were completely uninhabitable.

[SpringsSong]

There was a larger den not all that far from the surface.  The spirit of the fire-lily had tried to discern what it was for, but there was no need.  An ancient Paragon--one who could remember the Clan as it was a millennium before--said that it was the den where the hatchlings were kept.  He had even mentioned remembering playing there with a few other hatchlings before the Clan had just disappeared mysteriously one day.

He was one of only a few Paragon remaining that could make such a claim.

[SpringsSong]

Indeed, the fiery Primal male was one of two that had returned to the Clan that could make that claim.  He and the other, who was varying shades of blue, could remember everything about the Clan before it disappeared.  They had remained close to one another, acting as though they were brothers, when their parents and the rest of the adults in the Clan had died overnight.  Neither felt that this made them worthy to lead, however.  They knew that the bloodline of the leaders would always hold out, no matter how remote it had become.

[SpringsSong]

The Ambia with Celestial and Ancient was of that bloodline.

Indeed, he and his mate--an Ambia whose scales would remind many of chocolate--both knew that they were of Clan blood, although hers was not nearly as "special" as his.  However, she was the one that the male Ambia had chosen as his mate.  In the eyes of the Clan, she was just as important as he.

Their journey to return to Tengel had not been as easy.

[SpringsSong]

The other wild Paragon that the two Ambias were raised with did not believe in the stories that their elders told them of the Clan any longer.  It had been almost a thousand years since they had walked Tengel; they were dead.  When the young Ambia male had learned that he could trace his lineage back to the last leader of the Clan, he felt as though it were a calling of sorts to reunite the Clan.  His mate, who was always ready to follow his lead, was willing even to leave the only life she'd known.

The others though that they were foolish dreamers that needed to be taught a lesson.

[SpringsSong]

There had been flame-scars marring their bodies when they found the tree that the fire-lily spirit would later point them to.  The others in their small group had been relentless in attacking the two Ambias; razing, clawing, and biting at them.  To say that they were lucky to escape with their lives was an understatement.  The others in that group of wild Paragon had the intent to kill the two Ambias.

It was either a miracle, or the will of the forest-spirits, that they survived.

[SpringsSong]

There had been cries near the tree that night.  The two Ambias, battered and tired, could not stop themselves from searching out the source.  When they found a tiny female hatchling, bearing vibrant purple wings and sporting blood-red tips against her night-black skin, they were shocked.  The whole night, they had searched for the hatchling's mother.

By daybreak, it was clear to them that this little hatchling had been abandoned.

[SpringsSong]

There was no hesitation in the female Ambia's decision.  They would raise the little one as though she were their own.  Her mate made no objections to this; after all, it would be heartless to leave the poor thing to fend for itself.

It was not long after this that the fire-lily spirit found them.  When she saw them, she had approached them and bowed as deeply as she could.