I was awoken by a loud bang, my mind kicking into overdrive as my sleepiness got flushed out of my system. I hadn't gone through a ton of training yet, only weekly sessions with other Riders, but I had been on a hair trigger due to the approaching hatching.
I whipped my head around and tried to discern any threats, but the gentle moonlight flooding into my room barely illuminated anything. The candle I had lit the day before had already gone out and remained only a stump of wax sitting idly on my table so I had to conjure a floating light…
It wasn’t the brightest but it was enough to notice the figure towering over me.
"It's time!" The excited voice of Mom rang out throughout my room, echoing outside for the entirety of Dragons Heart to hear.
I would have cared about her shouting in the middle of the night if I didn't have an idea what she was talking about. My readiness drained away a bit, something about her aura just made me feel safer.
She stood tall above my bed and faced down towards me, a large figure of steel and muscle staring down, illuminated by the measly moonlight and my candlelight.
I scrambled a bit and managed to push my blanket aside, uncovering most of me. "What do you mean?" I dumbly asked, my mouth lagging after my brain.
She took off her helmet so I could see her proud face, a huge grin plastered on her face as her auburn braided hair fell onto her shoulder. "The egg, it's hatching!"
I basically rolled off of my bed and sprung towards the open door, sprinting down the hallway.
Mom would catch up.
Passing Ethan's room, I rapped my fists against the door, trying to wake him up as fast as possible. "Ethan!"
It took a few moments, but he eventually opened the door, rubbing bleariness out of his eyes. His hair was messy, and he only wore a loose shirt and linen boxers. "What?"
"It's time," I said, quickly following it to clarify, "the egg is finally hatching!"
His dark expression slowly turned into a shit-eating grin as he ran past me, slamming his door shut. "What are you waiting for?" he yelled over his shoulder, "it's time for you to become a Dragon Knight!"
I ran after him, laughing. What an idiot... I thought.
We ran and jumped through the hallways and quickly made our way to the Hatchery, Mom following closely behind us.
She didn't even break a sweat during the sprint, easily keeping up with us.
Ethan reached the door first and spun around, standing as straight as he could and putting on the most sombre expression he could.
It was a grin that reached from ear to ear.
I skidded to a halt in front of him as he grabbed me by the shoulders, patting non-existent dust off of them.
"Alright," he said, straightening out my tunic, "now you go in there and show that dragon who the boss is. I won't accept anything other than a perfect bond between you two and will wait right here until I am allowed to enter. Cold or Heat won't-"
"The egg won't wait for your speech," Mom cut him off, standing ready next to the door.
Ethan stepped to the side and stood as rigid as a soldier. He saluted after a second of consideration. "I'll just remember where I was and continue when he gets back," he said, "Go in there!"
I pushed open the heavy double doors and walked inside, seeing the Allfather already waiting for me, towering above the egg.
Another figure sat at the table, a large and broad man with an arm of steel. He was another Dragonknight, but I had never gotten his name.
A feeling of safety washed over me as I crossed the threshold and saw the egg safely nestled in the hay, heavily contrasted by the gaze of the Allfather on me.
I feared that I might have already missed it hatching but the Allfathers obvious displeasure was just as bad.
The egg rested inside of the nest with no signs of it hatching, simply laying in the soft hay. Its black shell looked checkered with all the lavender coming from the slits between the scales, it glowed slightly.
The long table had been filled with every imaginable meat, fruit and vegetable in the lands. Apples, Carrots, and rabbit all laid next to each other, an offering to the unborn dragon of a Knight. This must have cost a fortune as there were even meats from the Telkynese Deserts.
I just hoped that I could live up to the expectations that plague a newborn Knight. I was already a failure when it came to combat magic and the egg looked to tiny.
The Allfather sat down on one of the stools without a single word uttered, leaving me to my own devices. He didn't talk with the Knight or gave any indication if he didn't belong here.
It was probably some sort of test, like the famous test administered to babies where you offer them four different weapons and see which they choose. Mom had been disappointed when I chose the shield but Dad was over the sun.
He always told me how I sat between the spear and the shield while Mom tried to goat me to the sword, but I grabbed the shield with both hands and tried to lift it up. He had insisted that I wanted to use it as a hat.
I walked over to the table and looked over the offerings while Mom sat down next to the Dragonknight.
They shook hands with a resounding squeaking of metal coming from either his arm, her armour or both.
The sheep, chicken, and cow meat might be seen as something too docile, seeing as we breed them in captivity. He wouldn't want someone too weak, but someone like Mom. A second Destroyer.
Fruit and vegetables might have the same problems with being seen as too harmless, but maybe even worse as it's not meat and didn't have the weight of a life attached to it.
I didn't think the Allfather wanted me to feed it a predator like the rack of wolf ribs or the bear hindleg. It sent way too aggressive of a message and he might even cut my training short.
It had been a few years since the Allfather abandoned someone who had already hatched their dragon and it hopefully wouldn't happen anytime soon.
The last person to get thrown out had turned into the first Soul of Avarice, losing his mind and turning his own Dragon into a Devoured.
Mom probably went for the rack of wolf ribs for Uldru because he would have devoured those whole, even as a baby.
They needed a second Destroyer but a dragon that hatched from such a little egg could not eat a whole rack of ribs right after hatching.
I was getting distracted.
Maybe a slice of cheese?
What kind of message would that send?
I needed to decide quickly if I didn't want to embarrass Mom and myself.
I grabbed a turkey leg with the thigh attached and two carrots to give the dragon some variety and sat in front of the egg. I didn't think it'd want to eat an egg just after hatching from one.
I hoped that it wouldn't take too long for it to hatch.
The Dragonknight elbowed Mom in the side, trying to get her attention away from me. "Are you sure he'll be able to manage this?"
"It's just the Hatching," she said, waving him off. "There is nothing to worry about. I trust my boy wholeheartedly. We are just here to provide some support for him and guide him."
"We are here to make sure his Dragon has not been tainted," the Allfather said, disregarding Mom and the Dragonknight and keeping his focus on the egg. "A Dragon this small could have easily been corrupted by Zephyra, so it is our duty to ensure its healthy Hatching."
There was no way that it had been corrupted by Zephyra, I just knew it.
The purple tint of the egg did appear kind of menacing and the size was no great sign either.
The Egg shook once and I froze up, clutching the leg in my hand.
It must have been at least an hour, if not two of nervously fiddling with the turkey leg before the egg stirred again.
This time, it started shaking, a rapid tapping of claws against the hard shell sounding out.
The quiet conversation between Mom and the Dragonknight stopped as the Allfather raised his hand and balled it into a fist, our military sign for silence. It was good to know that my education hadn’t been in vain.
A crack formed on the surface with the next shake, splitting open a hair and allowing me to see the dark purple iris beyond staring at me.
I slowly raised my hand to the egg, only stopping when the eye widened at my approach.
I had no idea what I was supposed to do as this part of the Hatching was never really covered in my lessons. The only thing Mom could tell me was that it was laughably easy for her because Uldru basically jumped out of the egg and started devouring the feast until she reigned him in.
Could I interfere with it breaking through the shell or was that a Taboo?
This was supposed to be a test for me and it, seeing if we can bond and serve Ignatius like the others. Seeing it shy away from my hand this visible did hurt but I didn't think that it was intentional or any big sign.
It just hatched and there was some weird guy approaching, I could understand the apprehension.
I forged on ahead, trying to ignore the Allfather standing up and slowly walking over, and grabbed the top part of the shell as the- No, my- dragon continuously attempted to break free of the eggy constraints nature forced on it.
I tilted the top part, trying to break off a bigger chunk as it broke off smaller ones.
The Allfather towered over me, a scornful expression flashing on his face before being replaced by the deadpan stare I was used to. "Go ahead," he simply commented.
The top of the egg came off, causing the rest to tumble over and eject my dragon from it.
She landed in the hay, rolling over twice before coming to a still, covered in goo and hay.
I held the turkey leg towards her, offering her a bite.
I froze up as I mustered her, the sheer presence emanating from her causing me to stop in my tracks.
This was my partner for the rest of my life, my bonded companion that would serve to protect and strengthen me and my crew. She was going to spend almost every waking moment by my side.
Her form, reminiscent of a serpent, extended to the length of a cat, yet her presence resonated far beyond a mere cat. I felt an intricate bond that was already starting to form. Grey scales adorned her body, each outlined in regal hues of a dark purple, giving her a majestic aura.
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Her wings, emerging from her powerful front limbs, spanned with an elegance that defied her size, reaching from the base of her claws to the very típ ofer her tail. A masterful creation of Ignatius, these wings held the promise of a dominion over the skies, even if they made the construction of a large harness difficult.
The tail, starting as wide as her regal torso, tapered to a spaded end, a symbol of latent power and controlled might, the length easily doubling her body's length. As she righted herself, it swept through the air, brushing the ground with a deliberate grace, leaving trails of goo on the hay beneath.
Above her fierce visage, a pair of horns curled, pointing towards her temples. They spoke of a lineage tied to the very roots of mythical lore. In her eyes, gleamed the profound spark of intelligence of a creature that carried the weight of legends in every sinew.
This dragon, born of scale and wing, was not merely a creature of the mundane, but a living embodiment of the extraordinary- a testament to the grandeur that lay hidden in the heart of the Dragonknights.
Claws dug into the hay to steady herself as she crouched down like a cat, her tail wagging to steady herself as she prepared to jump me.
The thigh attached to the leg was as big as her head, maybe I should-
She surged forward and chomped into the thigh, hissing at the thigh and trying to bite through the meat and bone not even a minute after hatching.
She was definitely feisty, I thought, trying to help her rip into the meat by wiggling it around carefully.
It didn't help, but she recoiled after a few seconds and slapped her claw onto the leg, getting close and picking off the skin with her front teeth and chirping happily.
The Allfather waved his hand, activating a set of runes below the nest, glowing green runes shining through the hay and thatch.
He knelt down, causing my dragon to bite into the thigh and hiss at him, before lowering his hand and putting his thumb on her forehead. "Dosor shall be your name. Rise, newest of the Order of the Dragonknights."
Dosor went rigid, slowly let go of the meat, and stood up on her shaky legs.
"From now on," the Allfather started, moving his finger up her head and slowly down her spine and leaving a trail of red glowing runes. "You serve the Will of Ignatius, to keep the order of the world and protect it from the horrors of Zephyra. The bond you two share will nurture and strengthen you like no other can."
He raised his other hand and rested it on my forehead, chanting in a language I did not understand.
I doubted that the Allfather spoke Elvish, not with them having been banished into the Borthfin Forest years ago, so it must have been dwarvish. The Orcs didn't speak any coherent language after all.
A feeling of warmth washed through me, shackles of heat settling around me and giving the Illusion of warmth. It was not a feeling of pride but of an obligation, the heat of the shackles steadily escalating until searing shackles bound me and Dosor tightly together.
I ground my teeth in pain, trying not to scream out in pain as the heat ramped up until I felt like I was inside of a forge.
Why did Mom not tell me about this? I thought, glancing over at her.
She had a hand on the handle of her greatsword and was halfway to us, prepared to draw her sword and strike down the Allfather.
The pain stopped suddenly as the chains cooled down, binding us tightly.
"What did you do?" Mom asked, glaring at the Allfather beneath her helmet. A raw feeling of power filled the room as she charged up a spell. "Explain yourself."
"Nadia!" The Dragonknight yelled and stood up, accidentally throwing the bench over. "How dare you talk like this with the Allfather?"
The Allfather raised a hand to calm her down. "Calm yourself, Nadia," he said, "I have never seen such a violent reaction to the bond being formed. He must have a high affinity to detect his own soul or mana."
He turned to the Dragonknight. "Lasse, make sure to train him accordingly. Do not fear to push him. Abilities like these are best trained at the brink of death and can turn the tide of any battle if developed properly."
"Of course," Lasse said with a bow, "I will adjust my plans accordingly."
The Allfather turned and walked away, seeing that his job was completed.
Lasse walked over, which gave me the first real chance to inspect him.
He was easily two meters tall, wearing armour made out of black leather, ending in metallic prosthetics covered in runes on his left arm and right leg. His short grey hair was well groomed, similar to his beard. He wasn't wearing an obvious weapon, only the hilt of a shortsword graced his belt with no blade attached.
I had heard rumours of his fighting style, but all of them conflicted with each other, some stating that the control of his greatsword challenges Moms and others that said he fought with two daggers, running through the shadows, cloaked in a magical cowl of darkness.
"We can work with this, " he said as he looked down at Dosor, "You might have to think differently from your mother but I can stuff the necessary instincts into you, but how you use them is your responsibility. Take the rest of today to get to know your dragon and relax. Training starts tomorrow at dawn."
He left, slamming the door closed behind himself before Ethan could have come through.
Dosor rolled over and pulled herself onto my lap, trying to get to the meat again.
I lowered the thigh to her level, letting her slowly gnaw at it while Mom walked over.
"I did it," I said dumbly, looking at her.
I didn't know what I expected to happen but if I just said it aloud, maybe it would have helped me realise that this was real.
Mom had her helmet on but I was sure that she was smiling proudly beneath it as she asked "Are you alright? You sounded like you were in a lot of pain when your bond was formed."
"Yes, I am fine. It was just... unexpected," I lied.
"I apologise," she said, letting her head drop, "I never went through anything like that when Uldru hatched. I didn't even think that it was possible to use magic like that without dipping into Necromancy. He certainly didn’t manifest the bond I have like that."
"It wasn't your fault," I reassured her, putting a hand between Dosors horns and scratching her scales. "He helped us establish a bond when we failed. He couldn't have known that I would react so violently."
"He could have asked before casting a spell on you," Mom said, kneeling down in front of me.
It was one of the basic rules but I assumed that he didn’t have much time to explain before something irreversible happened.
She slipped the gauntlet off of her hand, carefully laying it next to her.
Dosor started purring in my arms at my scratches.
"Come here," Mom cooed, reaching out the hand without the gauntlet for Dosor to sniff.
She sniffed Mom's hand.
A little yip escaped Dosor's throat as she bit Mom's finger, drawing a singular drop of blood.
Mom froze for a second, staring at Dosor.
"At least I know that you'll be in good claws," Mom laughed, easily withdrawing her hand.
She took her gauntlet and stood up. "I will leave you two alone. Enjoy the times when you can still be alone with your dragon without your entire crew around. They’ll get rarer by the minute."
Ruffling through my hair, she started walking towards the door. "Should I let Ethan in?"
"Of course."
Mom walked through the door and exchanged a few words with Ethan.
He rushed in shortly after she left, not even leaving enough time for the door to close. "There they are! Look how adorable he- she? They are!"
"She," I told him with a smile. It was cute how he cared when she probably didn't. Did she even know the concept?
"I can already tell that she will be one of the strongest dragons in the world," he said, sitting down next to us. "Uldru will tremble before your might."
"Why would Uldru tremble?" I asked. "We aren't going to fight him. There is no way that I'll fight another Dragonknight!"
"You can tremble because of your competition," Ethan defended himself. He was fidgeting, playing around with the loops on his pants.
He wanted to ask something, and it could really only be one thing.
"Caleb," he started, clenching his fists. "Can I pet Dosor?"
"I don't know," I honestly answered. "I think you should offer her some food and then reach out to pet her, she might like you more then."
He crawled over to the table and picked a carrot to feed her.
Walking back over, he shook the carrot and made a tsk-ing sound to get her attention. "Come here, I don't mean you any harm to you."
Dosor stopped gnawing on the bone to growl at him, tightening her grip on my leg.
"Calm down, I am friendly," he said, slowly moving the carrot closer to her. "Here~"
The door burst open, slamming against the walls as a diminutive figure rushed inside.
Rachel slid over, dropping down to her knees and coming to a halt in front of us three. "Look how cute she is!" She squealed, clutching her hands in front of her chest. "Can I-"
Dosor jumped off of my lap, impacting Rachel's chest and bowling her over.
Purring rang out as Dosor settled onto Rachel's chest, clawing her to get more comfy.
Rachel grimaced as Dosor finally laid down on top of her still-crossed arms. "Does that mean she likes me?"
Ethan looked at me for an answer, but I just shrugged. "I assume so. I don't know why she reacted so violently differently to the two of you. She growled at Ethan."
"Maybe I am just more comfortable," Rachel gloated, smiling at him mockingly. "I know Eva thinks that."
"What do you mean?" He asked, "I thought you hated her."
"I don't hate her," she disagreed, "but she did mention once that I look very comfortable and I do not remember her saying it about you."
"Can you two stop riling each other up for one minute?" I asked, leaning over and placing the bone in front of Dosors snout. "I'd think that you two were into each other if I didn't know any better."
"No!" Rachel yelled out, startling Dosor.
Ethan poked her side, causing her to jerk away, almost tossing Dosor off of her chest. "I wouldn't go for her if she was the last woman in Dragon's Heart."
Dosor dug her claws into Rachel's chest and stomach, trying to keep her claimed place regardless of any disturbances. She hissed at both of them before grabbing the bone, and gnawing on it.
"Ow, Ow, Ow," Rachel yelled, endlessly repeating her cry of pain as Dosor settled down, resting her snout on Rachel's stomach. "Can you get her off of me?" She asked me, a grimace on her face.
"I don't think she is willing to give up her place, she looks comfy," I replied. It didn't appear like she had drawn blood but that weight on her stomach can't be comfortable.
"Can't you do anything?" Rachel asked, peering over Dosor's wings.
I put a hand on Dosor’s neck, scratching her, tracing along her scales and trying to get her to relax. "There, there..."
"I meant to get her off of me," Rachel whined, gesticulating wildly while simultaneously trying not to throw Dosor off of her.
It did make her look quite crazy as she kept her arms in the air, waiting for an answer.
I grabbed her hand and moved it down onto Dosor's horn. "You look so comfy though. I'd hate to disrupt her first-ever nap when she looks that peaceful. Plus getting her off would be even more painful."
"Wha- I- " Rachel stammered, her arms freezing midair. A blush started to creep onto her face. The weight of Dosor must have been starting to wear her out. "Shaddup."
She lowered her hands as Ethan nudged her. "Hey, hear that? You're comfy, Rachel,"
"Shaddup."
Ethan burst out laughing, pointing at Rachel. "Your face!"
"What?" I asked, looking between the two.
"Nothing," came the lightning-fast response from Rachel.
Ethan patted Rachel's head, veering away from her arms as she tried to retaliate. "Yep, nothing at all."
"I hate you two," I said, frowning at Ethan. Rachel couldn't see my face so I didn't bother to face her.
"I promise it's nothing bad," Ethan reassured me.
He stood up and grabbed the basket of apples from the table before sitting back down. "I guess this is it. Everything is going to be a lot harder from here on out, now that we are officially a crew." He handed out apples to everyone.
"I don't have to start my training tomorrow, do I?" Rachel asked hopefully, wrapping her arms around Dosor. She looked up at me with a pleading look, pouting.
I wished that I could have granted her wish, but the training would only get more difficult the later one started.
"You should," I said, taking a bite from my apple. I didn't want to order them around, even if it was my right as the Knight. "You do lack a bit of training."
Dosor decided that Rachel's embrace was too much and wiggled out of her grasp, plopping herself down next to Ethan.
He wordlessly sat an apple in front of her snout, which she started to nibble on.
"You're right," she conceded. "It's just that I don't know if I'll be able to keep up..." She fiddled with a strand of her hair. "It's Lasse after all."
"He doesn't seem too bad," Ethan said, waving her off.
"What do you mean?" She asked him, stretching. Dosor laying on her must have taxed her more than expected. "It's Lasse. He is one of the best swordsmen around! He could beat the Destroyer easily," she said. She quickly added, "if no spells were allowed."
"Is he not a spellsword?" I asked.
Most Knights were spellswords or mages, with very few focusing on swordsmanship. The Bond between a dragon and the Knight did bolster the Knight's mana reserves and the dragon's intelligence, so most tried to use the mana granted in every fight.
Rachel shook her head, causing her hair to bounce everywhere. "He only has augmentations that he doesn't have to use in combat and uses tiny spells when he sees an opening. He supposedly won against a Hydra with only a rapier."
"What about his Dragon?"
Ethan answered first. "Dead."
He swallowed heavily. "He lost his dragon to the Pale serpents, fighting Al'kaar. Your mom saved his life, and you know the rest of the story."
I appreciated him not retelling a story I've heard dozens of times, a story of people praising my mother and reassuring me that I'll be just as great.
Dad dying had and will always just be an afterthought to them.
Many great people were lost to the Pale Serpents, but Mom finally put a stop to it when she obliterated their leader, Al'kaar. I just wish we could have reacted quicker to Al'kaar turning into the Soul of Avarice.
Necromancy was way too powerful for a mortal soul, and he gave up on resisting.
"Anyway~" Rachel sang after noticing my gloomy expression, "It's still the middle of the night. Do you want to sleep only with Dosor in your room? We could keep you company."
“Yeah, I’ll retreat to my room with Dosor, but thank you,” I said, wrapping my arms around Dosor's front legs and picking her up. “Good night.”
I left them to their own devices, expecting them to retire to their rooms for the night, and walked down the hallways. We had enough staff to clean the tables up and I wouldn’t even know what to do with all of the food or the plates.
I quickly cleaned Dosor in my room and went to bed with her curled at my feet.