Honestly, I did not know what I had expected but this was not it, we had been trekking through the snow for two weeks now and we were not any closer to our goal. We had been faced with the harsh weather of the plains plus to add insult to injury we had been attacked by a multitude of monsters along the way.
Looking around I saw Strom was constructing earthen walls around our campsite, the sun had already set the fire was burning and the rest of the squad was preparing for the night to come, night time was the most dangerous time of day because that was when the most dangerous monsters lurked. Cornelius was sitting down at the campfire deep in contemplation, something had to change and he knew it, things could not continue as they had or something bad would happen he could feel it in his very soul.
He was still in contemplation when he felt a tugging in his soul, it started out as a simple tugging but soon turned into a deep and painful pull as if something was being ripped out of his soul, he fell to his knees clutching his heart. The pain was coming from his bond with the egg, without thinking about the consequences he took the egg out of his spatial ring, the pain grew in leaps and bounds, and the egg itself was pulsating with light which attracted his squad to come and see what was happening, when they saw the egg shock appeared on their faces but Cornelius could not focus on that as the egg had started to crack, the pulsation of light growing in intensity.
His squad had taken a step back when the cracks started to appear, but for Cornelius that was irrelevant as his soul had become as tranquil as still water and his mind had reached a different level of clarity. When he opened his eyes he saw a small dragon standing in front of him she, he did not know how he knew it was a she but he did, she was beautiful her scales looked like a beautiful onyx black with golden scales mixed between in a pattern of that made it seem like lightning was trapped inside. He was enraptured with her beauty her golden eyes with slitted pupils were focused on his face, she moved closer until their faces were mere inches away from each other, and the bond between them responded with an influx of emotions making their way into his head, curiosity, recognition, and a feeling of safety in his presence.
She raised her head into the air and let out a roar although coming from such a small creature it was more adorable than intimidating but she was announcing her birth to the world a sense of pride rose from his bond. “Is… is that a dragon?’ Halva asked incredulously.
Cornelius was shocked out of his stupor as he heard this and looked up at them “Yes,” he said simply as he did not really know what to say. “I… I thought they had gone extinct,” Strom said a tone of awe clear in his voice. He looked at each of his squad mates individually, they all seemed in awe but Karra gave him a look a question clear in her gaze but she chose to stay quiet, he was thankful for that for he was extremely exhausted after the pain he had experienced from his soul.
Instead of answering any more questions he simply stood up and and picked up the baby dragon and went to sleep next to the fire.
(In Cornelius’s dream)
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He found himself in the field of corpses once more, the strange man was standing there once again but this time he was closer and it did not take long for him to notice Cornelius. He looked at him once more the red eyes looking back at him, there was a palpable bloodlust in the air. Cornelius’s hair stood on end goosebumps marring his flesh, he was afraid whatever this thing was it was not a man, its limbs were elongated, and the proportions were all wrong, now that it was closer he could see that this creature had fangs, one of its arms were made of metal that looked like writhing worms and one of its eyes were replaced with a metallic ball the iris was gold in color, it had the same ash gray hair as Cornelius but more white than gray, it gave of an air of ancientness.
It looked at Cornelius and tried to speak to him but he could not make out what it was saying except for a single word ‘father’ and that was when he woke up, a baby dragon curled up on his chest sleeping soundly.
He was gasping for air his heart pounding in his chest whatever that dream was he did not take it as a good omen for that creature was truly ominous, as he finally got himself to calm down he looked around and noticed Karra was sitting at the fire the sun not having risen yet so he picked up the sleeping dragon in his arms and made his way to her.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked as he sat down next to her giving her a passionate kiss. “No, I could not,” she said staring at the fire. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“The expedition, I don’t know is just wrong, the way the weather has turned against us is not a good sign it means the spirits are displeased,” she said a sour look on her face.
“Weather the spirits are pleased or not does not matter,” he said shaking his head “What matters is that we complete our mission and that we are together,” he said clutching her hand a warm feeling growing in his heart for the first time since he lost his parents he felt at peace even here in the middle of enemy territory, he felt that there was more to life than revenge or the restoration of his house, but hope for what the future would bring.
A few hours later when the sun started to rise he made his way and started to wake his squad mates as they had a long day ahead of them. They had dismantled their campsite and started their long trek, they walked for hours before they reached the first landmark on their journey, the great glacier of Tuneval it was an absurdly massive glacier spanning hundreds of miles long.
They walked for another hour in the blistering cold before calamity struck, they had been walking on the glacier on the snow when Karra who was in the lead fell through the snow, Cornelius ran as fast as he could to try and catch her, she had fallen in a large crevasse that was hidden by a layer or snow. When he reached her she was clinging tightly to a ledge a few meters down in the crevasse. “Karra,” he yelled the worry clear in his voice, no, no, this can’t be happening not now not to her, he thought.
She looked up at him a sad smile adorning her face as she let go and fell down the crevasse for she could not hold on anymore, he watched her fall until he could see her no more, he stayed there for hours the sadness he felt was beyond comprehension, just when he had finally attained happiness and had hope for his future, life had to go and rip that away from him. Slowly but surely his heart grew as cold as the very ice that had taken the life of his beloved, all emotion left his face the emotion in his heart replaced by cold wrath, his body went through a permanent change his eyes stayed with the lit pupils his fingernails were forever replaced with claws and the anger was like a pit that kept growing.
From his bond he could feel the baby dragon mourning with him for she could feel his pain, he decided that she would be called Karra after his lost beloved. “Let us go,” he said to his squad mates his voice devoid of emotion, they looked at him the worry on their face palpable but he did not care anymore all he cared for now was to see his enemies burn, he knew it was not their fault but that is all that could help with his ever-growing wrath.