Story spoilers in this article!
While this is canon to the story, it might change at a later date.
Waking up in the morning in an arctic desert is by far my least favorite thing about this trip.
Azier thought to herself as she stretched. She got up and took a peek outside of her tent, the cold arctic air stinging her eyes. The dragons, all huddled up together, were lying on the coals of last night's fire. The others were taking down their tents and rummaging through their packs to find something to eat.
I don't even think our dragons like it up here. Honestly, what kind even would? There's nothing up here but snow and ice.
The dragonguards finished packing up their belongings and ate whatever wasn't completely frozen for breakfast. They tried flying on their dragons for a bit, but it was too cold for them to fly any faster than a walking pace. Even Sabretail's metal prosthetic wings were seizing up. They landed and kept hiking north through the forest; it only seemed to get colder with each advancing step.
They finally came to the edge of the forest and stared out into a completely empty ice field. Small berry bushes sparsely dotted the desolate landscape, and the Frostcrest mountains were just barely visible in the distance.
"Well, I hope the rumors are right that there are caves leading to the mountains over there. 'Cause otherwise we've gotta hike through this icy bullcrap. Too cold to fly, even for Sabretail." Said Ivis.
"Yeah, I really hope there is. Hell, my prosthetic leg is seizing up as well. I do not want to have to hike through that. Hopefully those caves are warm enough too." Zella groused.
"Vailstrym and I will fly up just for a bit to get a better view; see if there's anything out there at all." Azier said as she mounted her dragon. Vailstrym let out a little whimper.
Azier patted the side of Vailstrym's head and said, "We're just going to hover there for a few seconds; I know the wind hurts."
They lifted off and flew high into the air to get a better look. The visibility wasn't the greatest, but they could see a little mound of rocks and a depression in the ground off in the distance.
"Hey, it looks like there's a hole in the ground a little ways into the fields, pretty much dead ahead. So the rumors might actually be true. Or at least we could take cover from the wind behind the pile of rocks." Azier said as they landed.
The wind out in the open ice fields was much stronger and colder than in the forest. The ground somehow seemed harder, too. It wasn't fluffy snow anymore, but a hard, solid mixture of ice, packed snow, and rock. Passing a berry bush, Ivis stopped for a second and picked one.
"Hey, a cloudberry! Although the ones this far north have a blue tint to them." Ivis said, popping one into his mouth. He made a scowling face and remarked, "Ah, it's just as cold as the air itself."
He paused, rubbing his head like he had just gotten a brain freeze. "Huh, it's like vanilla ice cream. Which is the last thing I want in this hellscape of a place."
As the dragonguards finally came upon the small pile of rocks, they peered down into the cavern's entrance. Something didn't quite seem natural about this; it almost looked like there were Wyrm tracks coming from the entrance and out into the ice fields. They argued about whether they should head into the cavern or not.
"Well, I don't think we've got much of a choice right now." Ivis said, pointing to a snowstorm closing in. The others quickly agreed, and they headed down into the dark cavern.
The dragonguards advanced further into the cave; at least they were protected from the arctic winds. It was a very large cavern with almost no end, and it looked as if it were partially natural and somewhat carved out by a large creature. The deeper they explored, the warmer it actually got. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally came upon an enormous chamber with a waterfall, a little lake, many kinds of plants, and even an opening all the way to the surface. The cold air blowing in mixed with the warm air at the ceiling, cooling it down into a cloud. There was an impressive quantity of plants, animals, and fungi, many of which had bioluminescence.
As the group walked into the large chamber, the wyrm returned to his den. The dragonguards scurried behind some plants and rocks. The wyrm slithered down the entrance from outside, his long, serpent-like body scraping against the rock. He stopped just after entering the cave and glared right at a dragonguard hiding among the plants. Then he slowly slunk his way over.
The wyrm spoke with a booming, low, gritty voice, "It seems a snack has wandered into my abode."
"Oh god, it talks; why is it talking?" Ivis panicked as he hid behind his dragon.
"Ah! A whole meal!" The wyrm exclaimed as he came closer and saw the rest of the party. "Ancients like me have been around for generations, long enough to learn your human language."
The wyrm stooped down to the group's level, studying Sabretail and his prosthetic metal wings. Sabretail took a few steps back and glanced at Zella a few times. She stroked his head and gripped the hilt of her sword.
"Interesting. Creating such a complex augmentation to help a dragon fly again." Said the wyrm as he slowly backed off.
As he started to slither back to his flat resting rock, Vexx came through the same tunnel the dragonguards did. The wyrm saw this out of the corner of his eye. Vexx halted as the giant creature stared right through his soul.
The wyrm snarled, "You minikin animals are like pests! Are we all just invading my dwelling?"
"I- I'm only here for the amberstone; they're the ones that are a threat to you." Vexx proclaimed, pointing to the dragonguards.
"How are we a threat to anything? We bond and have a companionship with dragonkin." Asserted Azier as she stepped forward.
"The Dragonguard kill dragons to protect their cities. You're not fooling me, and certainly not this wyrm. Yours are simply not starving currently, so you're fine. But all it takes is one bad day." Snapped Vexx.
"That was a long time ago. And we defend our cities from any opposing threats. We have since come to a mutual accord over the years and no longer fight them. We bond and have a companionship with dragonkin now." Scolded Zella.
"I can deal with the Dragonguard, and as payment, I'll take the amberstone and be on my way." Vexx said to the wyrm as he advanced further into the cavern.
"Are you for real?" Growled the wyrm. He quickly moved in to block Vexx from advancing any further.
The wyrm monologued, "In what way did you think that I, the Wyrm of Chaos, would let you leave with the amberstone so peacefully? I have seen what you've done to other humans and to dragonkin, my own kind. Even I can see through your facade here. You are a disgrace. You, Vexx, have no place on Azlov."
Vexx stood frozen in place as the wyrm moved in closer to him.
The wyrm's voice shook the very bones of everyone standing nearby. "Who do you take me for? I know the amberstone's abeyant capability; why do you think it's here? Who would try and best the Wyrm of Destruction to obtain it?"
The wyrm paused for a bit and looked at the intruders, then muttered to himself, "Perhaps the village nitwits would."
He circled back to his flat rock and said to the intruders, "Now leave, or you will be left as folklore where you stand."
Vexx wasn't going to be deterred so easily, though. He started walking and mumbled to himself, "I'm not leaving without that amberstone, one way or another."
The wyrm heard him, whipped around in the blink of an eye, and was right in Vexx's face. He could feel the wyrm's breath on his forehead.
The wyrm growled in a low voice, "Try me."
With his arm stretched out, Vexx slowly crouched to the ground. He grabbed a fistful of dirt with the other hand, then quickly hurled it into the wyrm's eye. The worm recoiled and screamed in pain. Vexx sprinted right past him towards the amberstone. The wyrm saw a blur of motion and whipped his tail vigorously, trying to stop Vexx. Though with his damaged eye, he missed, and the wyrm's tail hurled into the group of dragonguards. They tried to dodge it, but it struck Sabretail, slingshotting him into the wall with a loud thud and shattering his metal wings. The dragonguards took a defensive stance as Zella ran over to assist Sabretail. He tried to jump up and fly back to the group, but with his damaged wings, he was unable to do so. He then tried to remove them, as they were no longer useful and would be less weight to carry.
"Yeah, they're kind of dead weight at this point, aren't they?" Zella said to Sabretail as she cut the straps of the broken wings.
She then mounted onto the saddle, and they ran back towards the group. The rest of the dragonguards were dashing after Vexx while he clambered up a rockface. The wyrm was closing in quickly behind them, revealing his sharp teeth with a snarl.
The wyrm snapped at Thornfire and Ivis, who just barely managed to evade. Sabretail was sprinting as fast as he could, trying to catch up. The wyrm heard his heavy footsteps from behind and lunged at them with a sudden volte-face. Sabretail leapt into the air, flinging Zella onto the wyrm's head. She clutched one of the horns as the wyrm snatched Sabretail right out of the air. Zella was struck with fear as Sabretail let out a bloodcurdling screech.
The wyrm thrashed his head back and forth, sinking his teeth further into the dragon. Sabretail whipped his tail fin at the wyrm's face, lodging it into his left eye. The wyrm expelled an ear-piercing shriek, releasing Sabretail from his serrated grip. As he fell to the ground, his right tail fin, firmly lodged into the wyrm's eye socket, snapped off. Sabretail smashed into the ground with a weighty thud.
Zella managed to gain a stable foothold for a brief second. With the short window of opportunity, she drove her sword into the base of the wyrm's skull between the overlapping scales, severing its spinal chord. The wyrm's now-lifeless corpse slumped to the ground with a thunderous boom and a cloud of dust. Zella leapt off of the wyrm and alighted briefly, bolting to Sabretail lying on the ground.
The dragon had huge puncture wounds and heavy, labored breathing. Sabretail lay there, unable to stand up on his own. Zella pressed her forehead against his and stroked the side of his head. There was nothing she was able to do; his injuries were too severe. Sabretail was bleeding out quickly, and with his last breath, he looked helplessly into Zella's teary eyes.
Vexx managed to escape with the amberstone before the others could get to him. The dragonguards returned to Zella's side and sat there in a moment of silence. After a few minutes, Zella took the only remaining intact piece of Sabretail's prosthetics — his left tail fin. It was a long and quiet journey back to Rayhaven. The dragonguards erected a statue of Sabretail in his honor, using the only recovered prosthetic piece. Sabretail was given the highest Dragonguard award post-mortem.While this is canon to the story, it might change at a later date.
While this is canon to the story, it's all an early WIP, so it might change at a later date.
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