In the frozen mountains of Glace, an ancient legend spreads about ice dragons living hidden within eternal fog and everlasting snow. However, not every dragon in that legend was born perfect.
Her name is Reiya.
She is a female dragon born defective—having only one wing.
Since childhood, Reiya was never truly acknowledged as part of her own race. Her siblings turned her into an object of mockery, while her parents chose to ignore her, as if she never existed.
“Give up already, loser,” said Rei, one of her siblings, laughing mockingly.
“No matter how long you try, you will never be able to fly.”
The gazes of other dragons pierced her every day—cold, scornful, and filled with rejection. Not a single one of them regarded Reiya as a true dragon.
Once, Reiya had been active, kind, and patient. For dozens, even hundreds of years, she continued to train. With her single wing, she tried to fly over and over again—using her half-human form as well—but the result was always the same: falling, failing, and being laughed at.
Each failure added another wound.
Fear and ridicule slowly gnawed at her heart, until those voices embedded themselves inside her mind.
“Failed child” “Just go away” “Still forcing yourself despite being crippled” “Just die already” “You don’t belong here”
Year after year passed, and the pressure changed Reiya. She became quiet, indifferent, and lost her sense of self. When she reached the age of five hundred, something within her finally broke.
That night, without saying a word to anyone, Reiya quietly descended the mountain. In the midst of the snowstorm, she saw a white, glowing butterfly, softly shining in the darkness.
Reiya followed it.
With her half wing, she tried to fly—imitating the butterfly, deceiving herself with one last shred of hope. But that hope shattered once more. Her body fell repeatedly until it finally crashed into the base of the mountain with a loud impact.
Her body was covered in wounds. Injuries that could have healed in a few days… if only her heart still wanted to endure.
Not far from there, a group of bandits were camping in the area. The loud sound startled them.
“What was that?”
They went to investigate—and froze.
“Isn’t that a dragon?” said the bandit leader, his eyes shining.
“I thought that story was just a legend. Capture her. We’ll be rich.”
With her leg injured and her body unable to move, Reiya did not resist. She did not even try. The bandits captured her and locked her inside an iron cage.
Reiya lay inside it, completely resigned. She no longer cared about what would happen to her.
The bandit leader approached, staring at her through the bars.
“Hah… a crippled dragon,” he said mockingly.
“In this condition, she’ll only sell for half the price. That won’t even be enough to split between us.”
He kicked the cage violently.
Reiya did not respond. A tear slowly fell, silent, freezing against her cheek.