"I was twelve when my father left without ever telling me why. When I was fourteen I came home from school to find a letter from my mother telling me that she'd left, too. Then there was the boyfriend who thought it was too dangerous to keep me around. Even Blythe went away and left me alone so that she could start her career. Everyone I care about always leaves, sooner or later. Why should I think you'd be any different?"

-Dray to Adair

Dray's life started in a normal way for a kid from Galanvoth's upper class: one parent a well-respected transcriber and translator (and spy-- but this was obviously not public knowledge), the other parent nurturing and kind, which made him the perfect house-spouse for a career-holding firstborn. Dray was their only child-- the best position for a Named Galanvoy child to be-- with the intelligence and drive to easily take over their mother's occupation and title someday. Dray was happy, or at least as happy as anyone in Galanvoth could be. Mostly they were lonely; the culture in Galanvoth didn't lend itself well to developing close bonds with friends, at least as a Named. Mostly Dray had their parents, who were far kinder and accepting than those of any of Dray's peers. Dray loved both of them and was particularly close to their father, who told them incredibly complex and wonderous stories about dragons. To Dray, it felt as if their father had truly seen the places he made up and Dray longed for a world that didn't exist.

The stories stopped when their father left when Dray was a preteen. It was supposed to be temporary, something he had to do for a while and he'd return once it was done. Their mother was always frustratingly vague about this, which Dray later realized in hindsight was likely her putting Wordweaving magic on them to change the direction of the conversation. Dray missed their father, but it was bearable. Until the day it wasn't. Dray came home from school two years later to find their mother gone, with a letter left behind. They never had a chance to finish the letter-- they got as far as reading that she'd gone to find their father and Dray reacted. That was the first moment in a long string of instances where Dray lost control of their fire magic and their emotions pulled them in so deeply that they lost track of everything around them. When they snapped out of it, not only was the letter burned to ashes but the house around them was aflame. Dray had the mental clarity to grab a few things that were important to them and they ran. Later, when they had the chance to think about why, they convinced themself that they were better without their parents, without anyone, that they'd only get hurt again. It took Dray years upon years to realize that this had all been a misunderstanding.

Dray remained in the city where they used all the skills they'd acquired from their parents to change their identity and seemingly vanish. They joined a theater company as a ballet dancer, this being a hobby they'd studied since early childhood, and eventually found something of a purpose-- a purpose they weren't particularly proud of, but which they excelled at. (I talk about this phase of their life more in this post.) Somewhere along the lines Dray slipped up and was moments away from being arrested when they manage to get away. Their means of escape was a Concordian carnival troupe passing by and they joined as a dancer, once again taking on a new identity, this time with the name Firedrake. No more would they be the person they left behind in Galanvoth. It was time for a new start. Again. They joined up with the carnival troupe in Concordia's capital city once they crossed the border and remained there for a few years, but as soon as they realized they were getting too close to Blythe, they panicked, or possibly it was just that their loneliness was too much. Right after Blythe temporarily left the troupe to study medicine, Dray took this opportunity and left to become a solo performer. Eventually Dray made their way back to Silveridge and while they were waffling on whether or not to return to Blythe, events happened that dragged them back into her life.

Dray's fear of abandonment has turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy. They try to keep everyone away with snark and a bad attitude and if someone does get close, Dray tries to push them away. It falls on Adair (with the help of the others) to convince them that not everyone is going to abandon them.