Troy and the other dragon Slayers close by watched as the severely injured Dorcas got slapped in the chest by her daughter's blazing arm. What came out of the woman's mouth was what seemed to be the roar of a dragon instead of the cry of a dying woman.
This put Troy on edge, as he wasn't fully sure about what was going on. Being ready for anything, the readied himself, setting both arms on fire as he took a few steps back. The circle of eyewitnesses widened as they saw Dorcas's dead body fall limp to the ground with a gaping hole in her chest. Ariel looked at them as they stepped away from her, and she slowly got up. Her eyes were now glowing white and her countenance was frightening. “Who are you?”, asked Troy, instantly knowing that this wasn't the playful and timid Ariel they were all used to anymore. “Your destiny and your doom”, she replied with a bestial voice. “You came here using Dorcas's body, and thenAriel's journey was no easy one. Her body was not in good shape, as it was frail, especially when exposed to extreme climates such as this without proper protection. Her lips were chapped, and ice crystals were slowly forming on her eyebrows and uncovered hair. Her abilities as a Dragon Slayer didn't help either, as for some reason, she couldn't access the dragon essence within her. Or in other words, she didn't know how to. Back at the cave before her dying mother returned she had barely joined the active unit of dragon slayers, because she was too young, and just like her mother, was not advised to even do so whenever she comes of age. Apart from the few self-defense techniques taught to her by others in the cave in their spare time, she knew nothing else with which she could defend herself. Now she was helpless, with no means through which she could either keep h
When Ariel was getting wasted away in the frozen desert, she was found by Gabriel and his father, Thornicus when they went out hunting. While the son was begging the father to take the child they had just found to safety, Thornicus was disturbed by the way the child looked. She had a horn protruding from the left side of her forehead, and her skin was pale, way too pale to be caused by just being out in the snow for too long. He also noticed scales surrounding the area where the horn was, along with most of the left side of her face. Her mouth was slightly open, and he could see the fangs through the little space between her chapped lips. “Hey!”, Gabriel called Thornicus, seeing that he was distracted by her bizzare looks. “Father, she needs help!” “What happened to her?” asked Thornicus, uncomfortable by the way she was looking. He wished he could send a telepathic message to his dragon, Nala to hear her take on
While Faora and her son were happy to have a new member in the family despite Thornicus's silent disapproval, the former dragon slayer noticed something strange happening with the girl his wife now called “Katherine.” It was the same thing he had noticed with Dorcas about a week ago. The only difference was that while he was hearing hundreds of dragons calling out for help to him from within Dorcas, this time, from within Katherine, he could hear the thoughts and motives of a conscious essence living within her. So to the surprise of his wife and child, Thornicus went behind Katherine, hitting the back of her neck so hard that she instantly lost consciousness. “Katherine!”, Gabriel yelled out. “What are you doing?”, Faora asked as she walked towards Thornicus, thinking he just did it because he didn't like Katherine. “I'll let you know once I fully figure this out”, Thornicus said as he set his left hand on
Thornicus led the conscious essence to Nala's cave, looking around as the both of them got inside. They could hear a rumbling sound coming from deep inside, and the tears poured out all the more from Katherine's eyes and Demos saw his little sister, Nala for the first time in decades. Nala at first thought it was a threat, but seeing how comfortable Thornicus was when standing right next to the person gave her a bit of assurance. Still, she couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that lingered within her. She looked at the person standing right next to Thornicus before looking back at her rider. The two other dragons naturally felt uneased, as their mother was, but Thornicus assured them as their dragon lord that all was well. “What is going on here, Thornicus?” asked Nala. “Your brother said he wants to see you, so I thought; why not let him at least try?” replied Thornicus. Then he turned to leave.<
Now over forty years had passed since Thornicus had adopted the little dragon slayer as his daughter, and within those forty years, the village of Frostfall grew into a small town, with improved technologies and infrastructures. During that time, it was discovered that Gabriel was also a dragon rider, just like his father. His dragon was Gamala, the male offspring of Nala, Thornicus's dragon. Kamala was yet to have a dragon rider, but it never bothered her in the least. Later on, Maria had a younger brother her mother named Wayne. Frostfall grew and prospered, and during that time, just as he had found Katherine, he ended up finding multiple dragons either just stranded in the wilderness, or he found as little whelps being sold in the black markets by poachers. He would bring them into Frostfall territory and train them, making them trusted allies of the village. And soon, the dragons on their own were able to form
Richard and the others arrived at Frostfall, and the first sight they came across which terrified them were two dragons, one red and the other light blue. They didn't growl or roar at them, but they could tell that the creatures went comfortable with them around. Still seeing the town ahead of them, they just couldn't stand idly out of fear, and as one, they put all their fears behind them and walked forward. Besides, for all they knew the creatures might just turn out to be figments of their imagination, illusions brought about by the last few days of endless walking without food and water. They walked past the two dragons and headed for the barricade, and at the gates three watchmen stood, having seen the way the trio had handled seeing the dragons from afar. “Hold it right there”, one of the men said. “Who are you? Where is your permit?” “Permit?”, asked Felix. “All tourists and visitors must come with a permit, especially when c
The three visitors fell asleep not long after eating, making it obvious just how exhausted they were. It was at the table they slept during the long but fun conversation they had with James and his wife, Daphne. Daphne covered them with blankets and put a candle close to them before they too went to sleep. It had been a long night, but it felt short. These guests were more than fun to have around, and they took a special liking to the witty, Richard, whom they mistook for a reserved and laid-back person when they each first saw him. The night went by peacefully, and not long after, it was daytime. Everyone was ready to resume their daily duties, and the trio of travelers also got up as well, getting ready to leave. When the trio had packed up and gone outside, James and Daphne came out, with the husband holding a large sack. “While you were asleep my wife and I prepared some provisions for you”, James said to them, handing ove
After returning to the present reality, Cyrus looked at James. “How long is my training going to last?” asked Cyrus. “As long as it takes” James answered. “It won't take more than a month, right?” asked Cyrus, and all the other riders burst into laughter. “Are you serious?” asked Wayne as he wiped off a laughing tear. “We aren't just teaching you how to sit on a dragon while it flies in the direction you tell it telepathically. You want us to teach you the complicated stuff, like improving balance and synchronization during battle, improving the speed of telepathy, and so on. Also, your dragon hasn't been ridden by a human before, so it's her first time following directions from a human. She hardly gets along with other dragons except Nebula on a few occasions, so don't think playing well with a human would be any better.” “So how long would all that take?” asked Cyrus. “You would be lucky if it takes