C
Chronos the Dragon was dying. Not from a sword, but from time. His gears were worn. His pistons leaked steam. The gold plating on his scales was flaking off to reveal the dull iron beneath.
He lay in his cave high in the mountains. Elara, his mechanic, was now an old woman. Her hands shook as she held the wrench.
"I cannot fix this, old friend," she whispered. "The mainspring is cracked. The alloy... no one makes it anymore."
Chronos turned his starry eyes to her. They were dim now, like dying embers.
"I have flown enough," he rumbled. His voice was a grinding of rusty gears. "I have seen the edge of the world. I have raced the sun."
"But you are a machine!" Elara cried. "You are supposed to last forever!"
"Nothing lasts forever," Chronos said. "Even stars burn out. That is what makes them beautiful."
He nudged her with his snout. "Open my chest plate, Elara. One last time."
Weeping, she undid the bolts. Inside, the massive clockwork heart was struggling. Tick... chunk. Tick... chunk.
"Take the Core," Chronos said. "The blue gem. It is my memory."
Elara reached in. She pulled out the glowing sapphire. As soon as it left the housing, the gears stopped. Chronos let out a final hiss of steam and went still. He was just a statue now.
Elara held the gem. It was warm. She looked at the pile of scrap metal in the corner of the cave. She looked at her granddaughter, who was playing with a toy robot.
"Gran?" the little girl asked.
Elara wiped her eyes. She handed the gem to the child. "Here, Lissy. This is a very special part. It needs a new body. Something small. Something fast."
Lissy's eyes went wide. "Like a bird?"
Elara smiled. "Yes. A bird would be perfect."
Chronos was gone. But the sky was still there, waiting.