Rias pendragon

All I had to do now was the final step in this entire process of bonding with aethna. To name her probably, nevertheless I had to be tested as she desired. The test was simple do not succumb to her influence no matter what she threw at me whether it be dark memories of the past or straight-up manipulation. This time though she took a turn on how the test was conducted.

“Master is that you?”

“Hello aet-Hadriel.”

“Don’t jump the gun just yet… can’t call me that yet. You still have a test. I'll outline the test after you’ve jumped on my back. It’s simple.” Listening to her request I jumped on the dragon’s back, I had to say, being on her back made me feel so fucking small it’s unbelievable. As soon as I jumped on her back, she raised her two wings made of molten fire into the air and with an earth-shattering roar, with some strength she lowered to the ground. Leaping into the air the sounds of stone shot into my head nothing more than reverberated noise.

“The test is simple; you just have to stay on my back for ten minutes while I fly through dangerous terrain. Try not to die.” Though I wasn’t bonded to Hadriel the feeling of her sarcastic smirk and nature was something akin to a sixth sense to me, I knew this test was her way of fucking with me in a playful way. Hadriel was not a normal dragon like those in Nynwon or was she even a normal black dragon. She was quite peculiar to dragons and humans alike, unlike most dragons aside from sifta by extension her sisters, the rest were serious and dense individuals. Hadriel however even before she grew at my side, she was in her words very different.

This to her and me in my life as artura just meant she was sarcastic and irresponsible, but she was also possessive among so much more such as her hate towards Six’s dragon even dragons such as Aries and Akron. There was one other thing that did set her apart from her draconic kinsman she was very human in feelings such as emotions, feeling things like jealousy. This made her an outcast to the dragons who lived inside and outside of Nynwon. Her race did slowly recognize her ability to be one of them and made her a sort of leader in their world as the civil war went on.

“… I still remember our promise. After the summit is over, I'll help you find Bara and well there might be a fragment in the dragon realm I need.” I spoke carefully gripping onto hadriel as we flew over the southern front. The promise I was referring to was one when we bonded with the pact, to find Bara who was Hadriel’s mate. Bara like Hadriel was a female, she was a white-eyed dragon commonly known as spirit-angels. Spirit angels are known through the mythoi of dragons, as a race of abominations, creations of pure light and draconic blood. Just like gestalts, these hybrid dragons were created through pain and anguish.

Through my time bonded to Hadriel, we tried our best to find Bara to no success, the only place we couldn’t enter was Nynwon. I had asked the primordial dragons, but they had no idea. Redeemer tried her attempts to find Bara to no success only finding loose ends. A dragon without their mate was like a death sentence to them, the only things I could think of now were two people that could possibly have anything to do with this Aries or the Nemean lion king.

“I know… the last five thousand years I've searched. Every nook and cranny still nothing.” I didn’t respond just feeling the emotions that she conveyed. This didn’t last long as we soon reached the black mountains and the valley just a few miles from the biosphere ‘the jaws of mortar’. Like many openings or valleys or cavernous areas, the jaws of mortar were covered in large fractal protrusions that were oddly reminiscent of sharps teeth or fangs hence the name jaws of mortar. Whether it was true or not the black mountains are supposedly the remains of an entire slumbering god who also happens to be dead that’s the going theory.

As Hadriel flew through the black charred valley. I had to duck my head several times nearly taking a few close calls from losing my head to these large protruding spikes or slate teeth.

“You really know how to put me in harm’s way don’t you?” I teasingly asked using the chains of divinity to shatter a fractal protrusion before it could take my head clean off. At my words, I could feel hadriel smirk responding to my teasing, she tucked in her wings flipped more like rolled. Closing the distance into one of the valley walls with me between her and the wall. ‘Fuck me’ With a sigh I gripped hadriel tight. Feeling my emotions hadriel responded in kind by spreading her wings just enough to nearly stop and well close enough to the wall I could touch it.

Like how she flew off from the ground, hadriel span around so she faced the wall. With a sudden flap of her giant wings, she flew upwards. The black valley walls seemed like nothing but a passing ghost in my peripheral vision. The abyssal land at the depths of this valley was nothing more than a speck on the radar. The more and more hadriel climbed with her immense speed, I began to fully realize and remember that feeling of pleasantness I had whenever I used to fly on her back.

Dodging spike after spike using her magic even by slightly moving her wings felt like an oncoming storm even an earthquake waiting to implode. As Aethna the vulture of Chornobyl, she had the same feeling when I rode atop her. A way to describe it was indeed to refer to her as an earthquake or storm, which could even be described as an out-of-tune classical piece. Maybe it was me just not understanding the complexities of being a dragon rider and also not knowing my other lives. Now it was a different feeling.

Remembering the millions of years riding atop a dragon as Sif or being bonded to all types of beasts as Marin, now I was able to understand the complexities of being a dragon rider. It was like a storm or earthquake. Aethna now Hadriel with this understanding felt like a melody or a pure symphony, the notes of an epic playing as she flung herself skywards from the strength she could muster from her wings. Hadriel noticed the change in how I felt while sitting on her back. She picked up a lot more speed whereas I slowly began to lift my hands from their grip on her scales.

Letting go of her completely all I had to maintain my grip on her back was my legs which we firmly planted on her back. Taking a deep breath, I felt the wind and world around me shift like an entire perspective. Keeping my hands off Hadriel I listened to her words before opening my eyes.

“You see it now. What it truly means to be a dragon rider. This--how you will see the world whenever you’re on my back or connected to me.” She spoke firmly not missing a beat in her words. I didn’t dare open my eyes just taking the warm air and feeling my mind shift to that new perspective I felt and the one hadriel mentioned. “Dragon riders are extremely rare… as much as the dragons say a true rider is considered impossible even those that can bond to the primordial ones. You Rias… yes, I know your name in his life as I've been in well three, I think. I'll explain more when we land.” She paused slashing her tail against the valley’s wall. “You are the first and maybe last true dragon rider and well the true descendant of a primordial spirit.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Clearing the valley Hadriel turned her body to fly against the ground. Opening my eyes I did indeed see the world differently in a new light, the only words I could use were freeing and well vast. Being connected to Hadriel my vision had been greatened, able to see so much more in smaller areas, my hearing was heightened. Every one of my senses kept imploding but it felt calming as if I unlocked a sixth even a seventh sense. This was how dragons saw the world in greater detail. A true predator of the hunt. The mana enhancements you could pull off with mana were nothing compared to this.

“Ah, here we are.” Hadriel landed on the edge of a small outcropping of land that overlooked one of the many rivers in the southern front of Numena. Still sitting on Hadriel’s back, I waited for something to happen like her abruptly just lifting her wings and taking flight however she started to get smaller. She shifted to her appearance of being a draconic humanoid minus the tail of course. Hadriel’s body was... well sexy I had to say, many thanks to the vibrant golden eyes.

Two horns protruded out of her head with kintsugi texturing. Her skin was fair with a porcelain white hue to it that didn’t certainly match her full draconic form. she also seemed to wear several hues of black makeup, which she didn’t happen to do in my life as Artura. Following suit like me she wore mascara, eyeliner, eye shadow, and lipstick to just name a few among a lot more thankfully it was subtle and not over the top. Most of it is in the tonal hue of black or abyssal grey.

Hadriel also wore a silky black lace gothic split dress that fitted her well, her physical appearance becoming even more beautiful and sexy heightened by the laced back and chest window. Through the split in the dress, I could her wearing dark Nottingham lace lingerie with fine fabric stockings that themselves had fine golden detailing. Which extended onto the lace covering Hadriel’s arm that did a pretty good job of hiding her scales. On her feet were simple heeled ankle boots that matched the outfit simply black in colour.

“No. Leave it down you look better that way.” I blurted out taking Hadriel’s wrist quicker than I imagined. A pause was set between us, silence crowded around me followed by a heavy gust of wind blowing Hadriel’s hair in all sorts of directions but never covering her face thanks to her two onyx horns. Though I blurted out my thoughts I was being careful how I worded it, I liked her creamy blonde to faded black hair better down than up. Letting go of Hadriel’s hand I watched her smile at me leaving her hair down to flow.

“I’m lying in the way I never wanted to test you. Unlike the others, I don’t see a point in it… well, I knew then at my birth and this very moment you will be the only person who can be my rider. I'll be your warhorse, your mount even your beast no matter the role, I'll play it. Take me to war again or just to fly around…” Hadriel lowered her head trying to hide her facial expression and to wipe from the tears that were forming under her eyes. With a deep sigh of readiness, I stepped towards her now clad in armour the blindfold no longer covering my face I allowed a smile to grace my lips.

“Hadriel, you don’t have to lower your head when you cry nor feel any sort of emotion. I’m no longer that unfeeling prick anymore, you stayed by my side. Took on the full weight of Chornobyl’s corruption while you waited for me and searched for Bara. I won’t dismiss your feelings if anything I'll expect them. whether we go to war or not isn't my decision alone.” Lightly I spoke to Hadriel lifting her head cupped in my hands. She looked at me with tears making my eyes water, why I didn’t take into account that for the last five thousand years she had been alone.

Silence overtook me again with only the warm wind at my back, the only thing making any noise. We didn’t speak for a while not even Luna said anything, she just seemed to slumber inside my eclipse core even if it wasn’t comfortable for her. Hadriel now calmed down took a few steps back. Delicately she lifted and opened her hand, she began to form the magic seal from her own draconic sorcery, which had a light azure hue with a touch of gold. Becoming a true dragon rider was something I knew little of well nothing and I doubt any other dragon or rider knew of to any extent over my own this was confirmed by Hadriel’s own words.

“It's simple really… I tested you and you named me which is how bonds are normally formed. A true dragon rider pact or bond is formed similarly with the added thing of we are connected down to the bare bones of our souls and emotions even further than any other bonds aside from love. True love is eternal and unbreakable. I only know all this because the mother of all primordial beings Vritra told me so… she showed me how and said this is for one use. Lost to time after we are bonded.” Placing my hand over the draconic sigil waiting for something to happen.

“O’ great mother of the hunt. Mistress of all beasts and divine spirits… allow this bond to be true and only this one for all eternity, I give my blood and theirs to link us to our souls. The first and last true dragon rider… master of the hunt.” The symbol between us shifted beginning to spin into a cradle. Our exposed palms were cut by an invisible blade of lightning covered in divinity, paying it no mind for now I followed the symbol as it spun between our hands the blood mixing.

Time and fate seemed to wrap themselves around and through the symbol, as it spun around between our palms the colours of both time and fate began mixing within the blood that began to finally dissolve. Soon the symbol stopped spinning, and I repeated Hadriel's words to initiate the pact with some differences here and there. “O’ great mother of the hunt. Mistress of all beasts and divine spirits… allow this bond to be true and only this one for all eternity, I give my blood and theirs to link us to our souls. The first and last mount… my formidable beast of the hunt.”

“The pact is complete my master. All that’s left is—well that’s up to you.” Hadriel smiled her body being covered in a thin grey smoke. The thin smoke began to expand to the size of a small dragon. After the thin smoke shifted in size which was a bit smaller than my phoenix form, freely moving hadriel and I both noticed that she could alter her size willingly to limits that hadn’t been seen or recorded. Through her draconic magic, she altered her size to around one hundred fifty meters by three hundred give or take, herself as aethna felt small compared to her new body.

Through the oddly thin veil of grey smoke, I saw hadriel’s body shift becoming more demonic. From the musty silhouette, I could see onyx horns protruding down the side of her maw past its edge. Spiked protrusions lined her neck, head and back spine. Her body shifted in proportions warping into pairs of twos and fours. Her two molten fire wings became four black solid stone wings following suit from her scales with an odd slate texture. Her long burly and hefty tail became two spiked whips with a scale blade at the tip. When the veil of grey smoke was fully lifted I gazed upon the dragon before me.

All I had seen through the veil was clearer, a black dragon through and through. Her black stone scales had a texture of kintsugi amongst it having the same effect it did on her old body. Under each scale was a thin fainter glow of azure and gold, the gold coming from kintsugi and the azure coming from the flames produced from her explosive bile. What I hadn’t noticed was the dirty cream-coloured mane that flowed down her head, neck sort of like the mane of a cleric beast or horse.

Just like her old body, two eyes stared down at me into my soul, their gold colour matched my own just livelier than my own. Even the scar through the right eye was the same as mine, there were no visible white lines over her body, or black ones for that matter like on my own skin. Our dragon bond felt stronger than ever, time and fate were here but had hardly anything to do with this. Hadriel spoke in my head through the link we shared, her voice wasn’t that of a gentle mature woman anymore. Now it was a younger tone similar to that of a wise scholar finishing their studies and becoming a master in a certain field or practice, on the cusp of turning twenty-five.

‘I feel lighter maybe mhm... because of my split tail and my four wings? Might take a while to get used to. At least I still have my four legs, wouldn’t be very dragon without them.’ to the best of my ability I reached up to hadriel placing a hand on her neck, her stone scales rippled feeling the cold warmth of my mechanical hand. An open ocean on the whims of the moon is the only way I could describe it. Lowering her head and neck some more allowed me to brush my hand through her bushy cream mane which also helped me jump atop her back.

“Go whenever you are ready.” Not stalling for time Hadriel after my comment flapped her wings as hard as she could, lifting her entire body. Keeping her four wings still for a second and with a slight bend in the knees she readied herself to dive off the cliff into flight. Counting to herself at the same time jumping off the cliff, she flapped her wings once to gain a slight bit of height over the light sapphire sea. Feeling the ever-so-gentle winter warmth at my back brought a smile to my face, under the protection of my helm I spoke looking at the rising sun.

“Fly high my beast of the hunt.”