Commissioned lineart created by  rjbartrop .

Lady Tyrasha is a dragon woman fervent in her studies of the arcane as well as the mysterious, and is also someone who partakes in forbidden arcane experiments. As a result she often spends a lot of time in her laboratories within Kaermire Keep, poring over books, treasures, enchanted items, and chemicals.

Chera, the anthrokind gryphon behind Tyrasha, is one of Tyrasha's studious apprentices. Despite practicing to become a fully fledged dark mage herself, Chera is ironically not as ambitious as her fiercely competitive peers who are also studying under Tyrasha. In fact, Chera embodies a cheerfulness and goodness which seems both odd and unrelenting, although she often tries to keep some of this positivity to herself lest she witness some annoyance from her mistress Tyrasha.

Chera is also incapable of evil acts or dishonesty in order to get ahead. She even rarely uses dark magic despite being a living encyclopedia in many forms of magic. As a result of her personality she is often picked on by the handful of the other apprentices. Each of them are unlike Chera: they serve Tyrasha for their own ends in a deadly game involving power and favor. Not all of them survive the process.

Still, despite being mostly friendless, Chera works hard both mentally and physically to please her mistress. Her constant physical training and the drinking of crystal vial serums (as rewards from her mistress) have taken her body a long way. Her tall, strong, adult, and muscular form is a far cry from the little orphan girl she once was when Tyrasha had found her all those years ago.

In addition to Chera's large muscularity--a common trait of Tyrasha's most successful servants--she is also a magically altered chimera, and likely unsightly to some people with her mutated appearance. This is certainly one of the things the other dark mage apprentices use to poke fun of her. As a chimera, Chera has what most typical mages call the Detharian Corruption, the Curse of the Black Dragon: a trait which some worshipers might obtain from the god Dethar, the patron god of dark mages. Chera does not know how she began to change once she made her pact with Dethar. But what she does know is she has begun to sprout horns, and part of her face and eye has morphed. And one of her once feathered wings has turned entirely draconic, its leathery flesh indigo in color. The gryphon understands that she herself might transform into a dragon similar to Tyrasha someday. But there is also a fear: many who carry the Detharian Corruption often turn into large and mindless animals, failing in their quests for knowledge or power. While Chera has no symptoms of such animalistic behavior yet, it is a fear she carries in the back of her mind.

Despite experiencing Tyrasha's constant sternness, demands, and challenges, Chera has always felt her mistress was ultimately fair. And while praise from Tyrasha was rare, it always came when Chera created genuine accomplishments, making it all the more meaningful for the gryphoness. When Chera either found herself at the last of her ropes or near death from an arduous, magic-based challenge, there came that brief yet profound praise to pick her back up again and make her heart soar.

The gryphon never agreed with some of Tyrasha's methods, such as the torture Tyrasha bestowed on enemies or the bloody acts the ruthless dragoness sometimes committed. But despite this Chera adored her mistress. No, in fact she loved her. She kept this love as a bashful yet fierce secret to herself out of the fear of losing her bond with her mistress. What would Lady Tyrasha ever think of her if she ever found out this secret? And could Chera ever become truly worthy for the all mighty Tyrashazirgylraxa?

In the end and despite years of study, the shy yet cheery Chera was never someone who really wanted to become a dark mage. She just wanted to make her mistress happy despite her lower station and all the firm treatment she received. Does Tyrasha not notice that sparkle of affection in Chera's eyes? Or does Tyrasha notice it and instead chooses to ignore it on purpose?

Perhaps Chera will become worthy enough for Tyrasha to love her. Someday.

But enough of that thought. There is much work to be done. First there is this important delivery...