Commission from the talented  mizuki-chan!

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One hundred years ago today, Varene Lyria communed with the gods of the stars. She beseeched them to protect her new little settlement, and in reply, they poured their power into what would come to be the Celestial Chalice. Varene drew upon its powers, other mages - mostly human - shared in it, and thus was born the town of Starhaven. This was always a celebrated day in Starhaven, with independant vendors setting up stalls to hawk their wares, youngsters running about at play, and clerics giving enthusiastic sermons on the streets and in the squares. This being the centenary, however, the town had gone all out. The parks and gardens flourished with the coaxing of druidic magic. Cafes and restaurants had expanded beyond their usual areas to entice customers on every street. And the whole town had been blankets in a sheet of magical starlight, giving everything an ethereal glow worthy of the star gods themselves, who still watched them with Varene.

But for Sahlia, it was a day like any other. Oh sure, she may have taken more care than usual in scrubbing the stones of the temple. And perhaps she even felt a little swell of pride as she washed over the stained glass window depicting Varene's historic moment. But still she was here, clinging to the temple wall, clambering over the reliefs to keep the whole place presentable while the other young acolytes had long since left to partake in the festivities. It seemed a mighty injustice, to her, that they should be allowed to leave while she had to remain behind, despite the fact that she had gotten far more work done already. But no, the clerics saw her natural aptitude for the task and saw only an excuse to lump her with more work than all the others.

She scrambled across the wall, to another window high up. Looking over this one, she allowed herself and smile and forgot all about the celebration she was missing. This one, installed only a few months ago, was the newest, and to her, the greatest. The central window depicted Varene, the one who had brought Starhaven to life. Lining the walls were portrayals of various other legendary figures. Here, the blacksmith Kord, who had forged the legendary wraith-slaying blade Convergence. There, Saint Astin, who through his words alone had stopped a vengeful god from flooding the land. Followers and allies of Varene followed along the walls. But one thing they all had in common. Humans. Not that Sahlia begrudged them of course, but she had always wondered why she could not see windows and hear stories about dragon heroes, dragons like her. But now, she had one. The armoured dragon, shield in one claw, Chalice in the other. She remembered the brief period of darkness that had befallen Starhaven when the Chalice had been lost, until he came by, as if sent by Varene herself, to recover the sacred artefact. All the town knew his face, now. And finally, she had a hero of her own!

She climbed down off the wall, once again on horizontal ground, as she wiped the last of the dust from his likeness. Her task finally complete, she gently touched a claw to the section of window showing the warrior's sword. One day, she thought...

Before she could finish her thought, movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was unusual, at this time of the celebration, for anyone to be near the temple. Usually everyone converged here at the end of the day to hear the stories told by the higher clerics of the history and adventurers of Varene and her allies. But someone was here already. Likely one of the clerics here to dump more work on her, just as she was preparing to leave. She put on a smile - only a little forced - and turned to face the cleric.
"Sir, I hope you..."
But no cleric stood there. No cleric she recognised, at least. Instead, looking back at her was a large fellow, clad in steel armour. A dragon, a red dragon. She turned to look at the stained glass window she had just been tending to. Then back at the dragon standing before her. She looked back at the window, making note of the stormcloud emblem that emblazoned the figure's shield and chest. One more look at the dragon showed the same emblem upon him. The colours, the scars. They were all there.

"I'm sorry if I'm not meant to be here," the red dragon said. "I just wanted to get away from the crowds for—"
He stopped suddenly as Sahlia raced up to him and threw her arms around his waist. "It's him! You! You're here, he's you!" she sputtered. She looked up at him with a grin of childlike wonder, and he looked back down at her in confusion at having been so abruptly cut off. He looked up again, past her, before finally nodding in comprehension. She looked over her shoulder to where he was looking, and saw the window that portrayed his successful return of Starhaven's treasured artefact. All at once, she realised what he must be thinking of her right now, clinging to his leg like ivy, the stupidest grin on her face.
"Oh! I...sorry, I just..." She released her grip and stepped back, looking down sheepishly. "I was in the crowd when you brought the Chalice back, and I always kind of...wanted to see you up close."
Arix laughed, more a polite chuckle than anything borne of any real humour. "That's...quite alright. I just wanted to step away from the crowds for a moment, and this place seemed empty enough."
"Oh! Yes. Well, it's usually clear until the high cleric's address at the end of the day," she said. "I was just...cleaning it. But you can stay here!"

Arix smiled and leaned comfortably against a wall. "You would be...a trainee, then?"
"An acolyte," Sahlia replied. "But not for much longer! I'm going to get a sword and train to be a warrior like you! And I'm going to go off and fight monsters and save towns like you did!"
"You are...?" His smile gave way to a mixture of confusion and doubt, and Sahlia noticed him looking her up and down. He said nothing further, but she knew what he was thinking.
"I know," she said, looking over her rather lean build. "I'm not big or strong or anything. But I can still do it! Watch!"

Sahlia crouched down and grabbed a stick from the ground. She picked it up, took up a stance with her feet wide apart, and started jabbing it at the air, swiping it this way and that. She danced around Arix, grunting and huffing as she flailed it about. Finally coming to a stop in front of him, she looked up at his face. He was hard to read, now. Looking into his mind, though, his emotions were unmistakable. You can't do this. You're no hero. She dropped the stick and relaxed her stance.
"I'm...a child. I still have time to train. Don't I? Maybe...you could..."

After a second's pause, Arix drew his sword. He held the blade flat in his hands and kneeled down before Sahlia.
"Try it," he said. Sahlia looked up at him, frozen. All her bravado had vanished. "Go on," he urged, holding the sword forward. His low, growling voice was intimidating, but still he smiled at her. "Try it."
She raised her shaking hands, wrapping them around the hilt of the blade, and drew in a deep breath. This was her chance now. Every day she had looked at the stained glass window, thinking of what she might say if she ever had a chance to meet the great hero depicted upon it. What she might do. If only she could leave a good impression on him. What if he wanted to train her himself? But all the words she had planned to say had suddenly vanished when finally she saw him up close. But now, if she could just show him her skills with the sword - his sword! She drew in another breath, held the hilt tight...

And suddenly she went crashing to the ground.

She opened her eyes and looked down at the sword, the tip of the blade buried in the dirt. She growled and gathered all her strength, attempting to heave the sword up. To no avail. It seemed to weigh the world to her. She shifted her weight, attempting to swing the blade in an arc. She barely managed to lift the blade off the ground, moving it a few bare inches before it came crashing down again. Finally, she released her grip on the hilt, letting the weapon crash down onto the ground, and stepped away, panting. Arix stepped forward to retrieve his blade, but Sahlia averted her gaze.
"S-so...you won't..."
"No. I won't."
She sighed heavily and sat upon the ground, next to the wall. Of course he wouldn't. He was a hero. He had far more important matters than training some weak, talentless child. It would have been nice, but realistically, it would never have happened.

She felt a massive hand rest upon her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw his face looking back down at her. Smiling. Almost mockingly. She scooted away from him.
"You don't need my training, you know," he said.
"...dragons have so few heroes. I just...wanted to be one of them. Like you."
Sheathing his sword, Arix sat down beside her. After a moment's pause, she looked back up at him. He looked back at the temple, and pointed towards the main window. "Varene wasn't a swordmaiden, was she?"
Sahlia followed his claw, looking up at the stained glass image of Starhaven's patron, and shook her head. "The clerics say she never touched a weapon in her life."
"And yet there are hundreds of people out there on the streets, a hundred years later, still remembering what she did. What about those other people, up there?"
Sahlia shrugged a little. "Other people. Humans." She looked over the various windows adorning the temple wall. "That's why I wanted to—"
"And look at how different they all are. Varene was a cleric, right? And that man over there, a blacksmith? That one looks like he's commanding an army. And that one - I recognise that one - Gwendolyn, right? Snuck right into a lich's lair and released its slaves, without a single blade raised."
Sahlia looked down. "But they're all human..."
"But that's all they have in common." Arix looked up at the sky. It was darkening now. "The way of the blade is mine. It always has been. But you don't need to swing a sword to be a hero."

Sahlia looked up with him. "...the crowds will be here for the high cleric's address soon."
"Then I should probably move on." He stood up and stretched out his wings. Sahlia looked up at him, cocking her head slightly. When he looked back down at her, she quickly averted her eyes. "It's been a fun festival."
"You should stay," she said uneasily. "You're a hero to everyone here, not just me."
"This isn't my day," he replied. "It'd be rather rude to steal focus from Varene on her festival, wouldn't it?"
Sahlia smiled again, now. "I guess so."
"I'm sure I'll be back at some point, though. This is a good place."
With that, Sahlia rose back to her feet. "Make sure you come by the temple. I'll be here!"