Read the previous part: The Calm Before the Storm.
A day after the king of Braitheld sent 50 brave men to find dragons and their eggs, they fell into a trap. They splitted in two teams and one of them fought till death. Meanwhile, Akasuna is preparing the banners for a war, to stop Braitheld from gathering an army of dragon riders and the possibility of getting ruled by them…They believed they arrived at the edge of the world.
Endless mountains, as far as the eye can see. And then nothing. There was no need to move further. They wouldn't risk it anyway.
It was decided they were going to search for dragons and their eggs around that area where they stopped.
But they found more than that...
Forgotten legends.
The bones of a giant, in the size of a mountain, stabbed with an enormous sword.
Who did that ? Why they fought each other. But most important, who were they ?
These were questions none could answer. But they were there for a mission.
They set a small camp and searched as much as they could. No more than a week. That was the order the king gave to them. To not stay more than a week out there. They already had a dragon. If they couldn't find more, none would search as well. They had a weapon, they won already. That's what they thought, the nobles, knights and everyone in Braitheld.
There was a forest close to their camp. A forest that the trees, on the top, were missing and they made a glade. They thought it was for the dragons, to land easier down on the ground. And they were right. Because they finally find one egg !
It weighed 22 pounds. A small creature was inside and they knew it was a dragon. And when there's eggs, there's the mother as well. Who arrived right away, like it sensed the egg was in danger.
The men took defensive positions and raised their spears. The dragon landed in front of the egg and growled. It was ready to blow fire, until another growling could be heard, in the distance.
The dragon and the soldiers started to the west. They could see a dragon was coming with... a rider on the back. It was Konrand !
He followed them, flying high to the sky and arriving at the right moment.
He landed with his dragon in front of the soldiers and the anxiety they had, if they were killed, left. Because they had a chance to live now. And it seemed the rogue one could communicate in some way with Konrand's dragon. Because it calmed more.
It seemed like every dragon wanted to have a rider and since the rogue beast saw Konrand's tamed it grew a feeling of trust.
It bowed its head. This meant it agreed to go with them and maybe... more would follow
They left. Konrand would watch them from the sky, to make sure they would arrive safe, with the new dragon following back and the egg being carried by three men.
And as they walked back to their meeting point they found none else. Just the bodies on the snow.
The group of twenty five men arrived back to Braitheld.
The first thing they said to the king was about the trap and the loss of the other half of their group. But the king didn't care. He just asked if they found dragons.
They told him the whole story and showed the egg to him. He was very happy and excited. They also told him the other news. That Konrand followed them and saved them from getting burnt by the rogue dragon, which owns that egg.
Of course he was mad with Konrand but in the end nothing bad happened. In reality he got another dragon and he had to look for a new rider. And, of course, send an army to find the rest of the kind.
Once Konrand was called to meet the king they discussed ideas of who to call to be the second dragon rider of Braitheld. And the young knight had one more surprise.
He introduced to the king a female elf. He was surprised the elf was with him and Konrand explained she helped him find the correct way to the north-east of Braitheld, because he lost the sight of the land when he flew very high and the clouds covered the view.
When he landed on the ground there was a small village and he met that elf, who's name was Aliphera.
After a long conversation they agreed to take this elf under the service of the king. But the most important thing was that both elves and dragons could live for many years, even centuries, than men. And that would make a strong bond between the rider and the beast.
They would start the training the next day while more men would go outside to find more dragons and eggs.
Back at Akasuna, \the rest of the army walked on the bridge to get into the castle and reinforce the main army.
They were getting ready for a war...
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...
