Draycca Glimmerwing's Arc

Chapter 2 of 3

Meridwen returned at dawn to check her markers. The blue-dotted stones formed a clear path through the shallows to the deeper water where the copper skimmer hunted. But when she waded out to the sunken log, she stopped. A nest sat directly on the marker stone she'd placed at the boundary. The copper skimmer perched beside it, wings catching the early light. Meridwen stood chest-deep in the cold water and felt the weight of her choice. She could move the nest — carefully, respectfully — and reclaim the site she'd marked for her students. Or she could leave it and accept that the dragonfly had chosen this exact spot for the same reasons she had. The water was the right depth. The log provided shelter. The hunting grounds were close. She backed away slowly, then waded to the shallows and gathered new stones. Her fingers pressed blue dots into each one as she marked a path to a different section of the log, twenty paces east. The water was just as deep there. The copper skimmer would still be visible. When her students arrived, they would see the nest first — proof that dragonflies claimed the best sites without asking permission. Let that be their first lesson.