Ages ago, when beats couldn't be tamed there were four kingdoms. Eldathren, Akasuna, Delvheim and Braitheld.
Each one had their own characteristics. Each one with its own environment, traditions, people, architect and... legends.


Braitheld had kings and queens.
There were princes and princesses.
Noble families, vassals, knights, warriors, wizards and witches, citizens and peasants.
One thing they all had in common were festivals.

Festivals could happen every month, to keep everyone happy and busy.
That day they would honor the crown. The whole square, outside from the palace, was filled with a crowd.
There were benches with food, drinks and other goods, even items such like small trophies and decorations.

Kings from around the realms would come often and bring their own gifts.
One found a good idea to give a well trained horse to the king of Braitheld. Rich brown, strong, with silver-steel armor and ready to go through any battle.
They left that horse to eat some grass a little bit further from the stable. It was a trained one, it knew not going away.
But the celebration didn't last for too long...

The sky got dark.
Something hides the sun. And everyone could hear a different sound from what wind usually did. Something was happening.

There was a small pause and then it came on again. They could see it. They could see huge wings, a tail and... a horse through the claws. It was a dragon.
 

 

The beast flew away with the horse that should be gifted to the king and vanished.
It vanished from the sky very fast. It was too late when the army went to the walls to prepare scorpions.

The next day the king called a council.
Vassals from around Braitheld gathered to discuss a probably upcoming threat. They talked about how they could take care of that dragon and where to set their differences.
But it came back, that day. Exactly the next after it took the first horse. Now it grabbed two more from the stables. And again, it was too late for the knights to react. It flew away, to the west.

Something should be done. And that's when help arrived.
A knight. His name was Konrand. Very good with riding horses and using a lance. He offered his services to go and seek for this dragon and find the reason why it steals horses. And maybe... get rid of this beast.

The king accepted his idea and gave him everything he would ask for. A good armor, weapons and the best horse of the realm.
And so Konrand left to ride west and find this dragon.
 

 

The knight rode west. He passed a huge forest, went through hills and cold mountains until he arrived at a valley that had a river and enough water to keep a dragon alive for years.
He thought he would be there. And he was right. He saw the dragon resting.
The beast just started to Konrand and half of it stood up. The knight was ready to ride against it with his lance. But the dragon laid on the ground again.
Surprised, Konrand decided to walk slowly towards and see what was going on. And why did he do that ? Maybe because he never seen a dragon before and he was so excited that didn't think of his own life ?

Once he arrived as much close as his horse would feel comfortable he didn't find bones or the remains of the horses around.
Instead, these horses were eating grass, hundred feet behind that dragon. Something was going on here.
The knight dismounted and walked closer to the beast. It's huge and sapphire eyes were watching the small figure. The dark shade purple and blue scales looked rough and strong. The tail was resting and his breath was ready to burn everything if it would open its mouth.
 

 

Konrand placed his hand on the scales. He felt a strong pulse and was getting stronger and faster. Then, he felt dizzy and fell on his knees. He didn't know why, but something was happening.

After a few moments something poked him. It was the dragon. It poked him and lowered the back more on the ground, like saying he should ride it. That was what the dragon wanted ?
To have someone ride it's back and go through many adventures and battles ? That's why it stole all these horses ? Because it felt jealous of kings and knights to mount them ?

And this knight was brave enough to accept the dragon's request.
He climbed on the top and once he settled himself the dragon started running.
In no time they both were in the sky. And they went to the east, from where Konrand came, to Braitheld.
They flew very fast and they saw the first city in less time than a bard's song would last.

The soldiers didn't fire their scorpions. Because they saw someone on the back of the beast and waited for orders to ask what they should do.
One of the commanders recognized Konrand's armor while it was gleaming from the sunlight and knew it was him. Taking the decision of letting him land to the capital was a risky one and if things would go wrong he would lose his head. But nothing went wrong.
 

 

The king rushed outside and saw something he had never seen before from that close.
Everyone was surprised. The beast was teamed. Or that was what they thought before Konrand explained what was going on.

The next day the king called a council. And they talked about a plan. Find more dragons to train them and keep their realm safe, before news would spread around and everyone would do the same.
A good plan, risky but a huge benefit for Braitheld.

And so the silver age, as they called it, of dragon riders began. With upcoming wars and tales that now we think they're just stories...

 

NOTE: The contents of this blog are not part of the World of Legends lore, and is not considered IG (in game). This is an independent piece dedicated to fantasy work.