Later that morning, the dragon was lying dead low outside the cave, Thornicus and Faora were seated at the base of her neck, and the little whelps were loosely tied together in Jason's open backpack.
“Are you ready, Thornicus?”, asked Nala. “Born ready”, Thornicus said. “This will be your first time flying, so hold on tight”, she said. “I'll try to be as gentle as possible. But you are on your own if you fall.” “No I'm not”, Thornicus said. “I'm carrying your little whelps. There is no way you would leave me to die like that. Besides, I'm also your rider.” “I was talking about your wife”, Nala said to him. “Oh, I don't notice”, Thornicus said. “Didn't notice what?”, asked Faora. “That we are married already”, Thornicus said. “What?”, she asked, reddening immediately. “Is that the kind of stuff you both talk about just because I can't tell?” “More“I was a dragon slayer”, Thornicus said. “But not anymore. I have discovered my true purpose. Nala can testify to that.” “Is that so?”, asked the man. “Forgive my manners. My name is Perseus.” “Forget manners”, the last man said, walking forward to face Thornicus. “How do we know he's truly one of us? He can say Nala testifies on his behalf, but that could only be because she is instinctively bonded with him until the day he dies. So of course, she would want to defend him by all means necessary. She can't help it. We, however, can at least try to be sure about it. This young man still has the powers and abilities of a dragon slayer. With the amount of energy I'm sensing from him now, I'm sure he could take all five dragons and last for a while against them. I don't think he can be trusted.” Jenna rolled her eyes. “Come on, you three”, she said to them. “Especially you, Cassius. I could tell that right from when you saw him
“Jason Thornicus”, he said to them. “Former dragon slayer, now dragon rider. I'm pleased to be a dragon slayer, and I hope to get along with you all.” “Sorry to ask, but how old are you?”, asked Jenna. “Nineteen”, replied Thornicus. “Hmm... Not as young as I expected”, Jenna said. “But still handsome, nonetheless.” “I thought he made it clear that he's married”, James said. “Are you trying to seduce him too?” “Did I say anything seductive?”, asked Jenna. Then Cassius took a step closer to Thornicus. “Although I naturally have my concerns about you, it doesn't change the fact that you are a dragon slayer, and therefore worthy of mutual respect”, he said to Jason. He brought forth his hand, offering a handshake to Thornicus, and without hesitation, he took it. “Thank you”, Thornicus said. “Hey, Handsome”, Jenna called Thornicus. “Where do you live?” Thornicus looke
“You will know what it is like when you see it”, Cassius replied. “By my current impression of you, I know you wouldn't want to go anymore if he told you what it was like.” Thornicus rolled his eyes, not wanting to start a pointless debate with Cassius over such a trivial topic. “Alright, I think this does it for this meeting”, Cassius said. “Wait!”, called Perseus. “What about the Slayers? We haven't talked about them yet, have we?” Cassius turned to Perseus. “They have their hands full with the minor dragons that have populated this region. It seems this mating season the males have come to stay, as most of them haven't left even after copulating several times. Let the minor dragons keep the Slayers distracted in the meantime.” “But don't you think it would be best if we get out there to fight them instead of waiting for them to kill another one of our own?”, asked Perseus. Cassius arched a brow. “
About six hours later, they arrived at Frostfall. It was the coldest place Thornicus and Faora had ever been, and what made it worse was that neither of them was prepared for it. The clothes they wore weren't good enough to protect them from this much cold. Even though they lived and grew up in mostly snowy climates, this area was on another level. Almost every landform around them was composed entirely of ice, making the ground completely white with no hint of actual soil anywhere to be found. Back at the rider's summit, Thornicus and Faora were wondering why he was wearing such a heavy cloth made of animal hair when the weather wasn't that cold. But now, knowing where he was coming from, they understood why. Frostfall was a small village in that region, and it was made apparent by being the only area where they could see the soil from above. It was like making out a vibrant black spot in a field of perfect white. The dragon f
*The next decade in a nutshell* Life at Frostfall was far from an easy one, especially with no other option on the horizon for Thornicus and Faora. Well, it's not that they had no other option, but rather, they had grown so fond of the village that they never really considered getting out of there to look for a more ideal place to live in. So by mere procrastination, days became weeks, weeks became months, and before they knew it, they had become fully settled in the village. In the first quarter of the first year was when they decided to make things formal with their union. With Nala standing in as Thornicus's mother and Daphne representing Faora's next of kin, they formally got married. About two months later was when Daphne had her first child, a spunky baby girl they named Maria White. Then seven months later was when Faora and Thornicus welcomed their first child, a cool-headed baby boy they named Gabriel Thornicus. It wa
It was just past midnight at Frostfall, and everyone had retired to their homes either sleeping or planning to get to sleep. But not Thornicus. He had been busy for so long without rest, working on something so important, that he had been busy throughout the past day, and was just a few steps from getting it finished. It was a figurine, but one that required so much intricate design that took so much time to perfect, and he wanted to do so, even though it would mean taking over a whole day to do it. He was just a few steps left from completing the piece and going to sleep. Now he was in the final step, which was the most difficult part. It had to be done in a stable environment, without even the slightest tremor from either the woodcutter or the environment. This part was to be done preferably in an ideal environment in complete silence, where the artist would be the least distracted by anything and focus solely on the task at hand.
Faora watches as James and her husband run off to board their dragons to face the oncoming threat. When they got ready to leave, a door opened, and out of it came Gabriel, her son. “What is going on, mother?”, the child asked as he placed a hand on his head. “I don't feel so good.” “Come on”, she said as she touched his forehead to check if he had a fever, but there was none. “Let's get you back to bed. You probably need more sleep.” As Gabriel got back inside, Faora looked up at the sky, seeing the oncoming threats one more time. Normally, she would have gone to join them in battle, but she had resolved not to reveal to anyone that she was a dragon slayer, as not even her children knew. Deep down she prayed that her husband and his friend will be safe as she shut the door of the house and locked it from inside. She and Thornicus had resolved to give their children a normal life, away from the violence they were brought up
Nala was having a hard time keeping up with the swift Dorcas, who easily dodged her attacks. She was impervious to Nala's flames, and swallowing her was out of the question. At this point every attack Nala had in mind was useless, yet she still fought valiantly as if she had a great ace up her sleeve. “You think you can fool me with that, Nala?”, came a foreign voice in her head. Nala almost panicked when she heard a voice in her head that bore no resemblance to any of her riders - past or present. She didn't want to admit for a moment that someone who wasn't her rider had what it took to communicate with her telepathically. She looked at Dorcas and screeched with so much power that the enemy knew without reading her mind what the fuss was about. “You hate to know that I have slaughtered enough dragons and attained enough power to discuss telepathically with any dragon I want to”, Dorcas said. “How ma