Nayoko

Nayoko remembers the silence more than the roar. They were following Michi, whose quiet certainty cut through the endless fog of The Dragon Wastelands like a blade. The merchant sought a new trade route; the guardian sought a truth. They found both when the mist finally broke, not over a valley, but over a battlefield of silent, clashing ghosts. A spectral dragon turned its hollow eyes upon them, and Nayoko’s gasp has never quite left their throat. The stars in their eyes are reflections of that unholy light. Before the fog could return, Michi wiped a smear of red clay across Nayoko’s cheek. “A road has a toll,” the guardian said. Nayoko still wears the paint, a merchant forever marked by a truth they never meant to buy.