The darkening horizon rolled over the plains of Concordia. The chilled breeze nipped at Vishnear’s black skin while the purple undertones hid themselves underneath the ever-growing blanket of darkness.
He adjusted his robes, scratchy and brown, much like the long grasses that waved around the camp.
“Vishnear?” a familiar voice from behind asked, “What are you doing out so late?”
He tried to look away, but she gently lifted the tip of his chin towards her and brushed his cheek.
“Are you still thinking about what happened this afternoon?” she asked.
Vishnear flicked his gaze to the ground. It was so apparent their differences now — her scaled and serpentine-eqsue body contrasted with his bulky, draconic build. He wasn’t sure how he didn’t notice his mother, well, the one he regarded as such, was in no way related to him.
“I…don’t want to talk about it,” Vishnear muttered. It’s not like she’d kept it a secret from him. But seeing another of his own species for the first time struck something new inside of him.
“Let’s watch the sky together then.”
They sat in silence in a time that felt still yet moving. The sun disappeared. The moons rose. Vishnear’s eyes grew heavy, and he laid his head on his mother’s shoulder.
A single star streaked down, leaving a pale trail behind.
“Make a wish,” she whispered, her voice as heavy as his eyes.
His stomach knotted. “I wish could be with my own kind.”