MAGNUS

After the panicked rush to help the Snow Foxes the journey into the Rattler’s cave was a bit anticlimactic. While they weren’t sentient, they did have enough individuality that we found one of the serpents that was curious about what life was like outside the mountain and would bond with Richard. Compared to the rest of the nest that serpent was on the small size, but when you were describing a fourteen foot long, one foot wide, metal scaled snake; well that was when small wasn’t really a proper description.

We also came across a young male Cyclone Cougar that was trying to find a new place to den that had decided Mai would be an acceptable person to brush his fur. There was also a Verdant Singer, a bird similar in shape and size to a hawk but with leaves instead of feathers, that had been attracted to Jessica’s own melodies during our second night's camp.

Normally I would say this had been a successful hunt so far. Normally I wouldn’t be hanging from a rope after losing my grip and almost falling off a damn mountain though. Richard and Takahashi were steadily pulling on the rope, hauling me up the few feet from where I was dangling over a ledge. The ground wasn’t that far away, maybe thirty yards; a survivable fall if painful, so long as I didn’t keep going off that outcropping and out into the open air for a much longer fall.

We had decided that Noraleth was probably our best bet for the third day of the hunt, rather than trying to track down a Silver Trapper. Noraleth at the least would just send us away, a spider might decide we were dinner.

As I crested the ledge that I had fallen from I said in a dry tone, “That was fun.”

Jessica giggled and said, “I really wish I had a snowboard for the trip back down. At least then going off a ledge like that would be intentional.”

It took her a minute to explain what a snowboard was, but after I got the general image I had to agree: that likely would be fun. I shook the thought of recreation out of my head and pointed up to the top of the area we were currently climbing.

“There should be a plateau there, with stairs leading up to Noraleth’s home,” I said.

Tak asked, “Why would there be stairs to a dragon’s nest?”

“Because Noraleth used to be the other half of a soulbond with my grandmother, and she didn’t want to scale a mountain anytime she came to visit,” I said.

He looked to the ledge they had just kept me from falling off and said, “That’s still a climb.”

Vara pointed out, “She had a bond with another creature that could fly high enough to reach the plateau. I think it was an evolved form of some type of bird.”

“Grandfather told me it was a Mist Falcon originally, but said that it left for the northern mountains when she passed,” I said.

“Well then we should probably get a move on, at least the lair of a dragon will be warmer than it is out here,” Mai said.

I smirked and said, “Noraleth is a Frost Dragon.”

Mai started climbing while letting out a stream of curses in the Azure Islands dialect. Her brother just smiled softly and followed after. I whispered to the other three, “But she likes having a fireplace for making tea.”

The three laughed and joined me as we continued climbing, Richard occasionally driving spikes of metal into the path to prevent a long fall. It took us another hour of climbing to reach the plateau, and I could see the remains of what looked like it might have been a gazebo off to one side.Human hands hadn’t kept the place up, though I was pleased to see that the stairs were better maintained. There was just an absurd number of them before we reached Noraleth’s home.

“I like exercise as much as the next girl, but I say we take a breather before we try to tackle that Stairmaster reject,” Jessica said.

No one disagreed so broke out our trail rations and had an early lunch. While we ate, Takahashi asked, “Do you know why Noraleth didn’t return to the northlands?”

I nodded and swallowed before saying, “She had already made a home here and had no reason to return to the north. The peak stays snowy throughout the year so she isn’t in any risk of not generating enough aether, and occasionally she will come down and talk with Alara and Fenris if she’s lonely.”

There was more to it of course, but they didn’t need to know that Noraleth also wanted to be in the vicinity of someone she knew could stop her if she did become a monster. There were actually a number of sentient creatures that took sanctuary in these mountains simply because they knew Morgan Ward wouldn’t let them go on a rampage. I always wish he would tell me how he gained that reputation with creatures that normally didn’t speak to each other, but somehow he managed it.

We finished eating and set off up the stairs. The air was thin and cold this high up, but we managed to reach the cave entrance relatively quickly. I call it a cave, but that didn’t do any justice to the view. A massive twenty foot tall archway was carved into the stone and inscribed was the pictographic language of the old Azure Islands language.

“Herein reigns Noraleth, Blizzard Queen and Stormrider. Be welcome to those who come in peace,” Jessica translated.

Takahashi said, “I wasn’t aware you knew our old language.”

She smiled and replied, “I have a Talent for communication.”

I snorted and stepped up to the archway. I placed my hand on a section of the arch, brushing away the snow to reveal a sigil inlaid with jade. A small flow of aether into the sigil and I could hear a tone sound deeper within the cavern.

“Holy shit, the dragon has a doorbell,” Jessica snorted.

“Come child of my friend, you and your companions are expected and welcome,” came a rich sonorous, yet somehow light and musical, voice from within.

As we entered I called out, “Good afternoon Granny Scales.”

A massive snort echoed out and the air started to feel a bit warmer as that same voice called back, “Impudent child; I’ve told you not to call me that.”

“And the old grump tells Fenris not to steal pants. Like you he smiles way too much when he says it to be truly annoyed,” I said.

We turned a corner and stepped into a large room to find an ice blue shape lounging on a rug before a fireplace scaled to fit her size. Even curled up like she was currently she was the size of a small house, her long neck stretched out to allow us to see her wedge shaped head and golden eyes as we entered. We couldn’t see them with how she was curled but I knew her four limbs were tipped with long curved claws that she was surprisingly delicate with. Her broad wings were currently wrapped around her body as her dexterous tail moved a pair of couches over closer to the fire for us to sit on.

“Come give me a hug child, before I start feeling unloved and turn you into a. Oh what did that man call it.. Oh yes, a child-cicle,” the dragon said.

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her head. She tilted her head forward into my chest to make it easier and I could still barely reach her jaw. Vara spoke up behind me, “That’s both adorable, and freakishly terrifying at the same time.”

Soft chuckles escaped the old dragon's mouth as she said, “Will you introduce your friends, child?”

I introduced everyone and explained that we had come to find another dragon for Takahashi to bond with. Tak spoke up, “I don’t wish to cause any trouble for you my lady, but Magnus said you would know if any of the resident drakes may wish to bond.”

She looked over to the islander and said, “I can sense the bond you have with your dragon. Do you seek to form another such bond?”

Tak smiled and said, “I wouldn’t object, but it isn’t necessary. Amakakiri and I kind of stumbled our way into that bond by accident. Now I wouldn’t trade it for a kingdom of my own.”

The large head bobbed up and down and said, “I may know a few drakelings that are curious as to what the world is like. Their progenitors came here before they hatched and most wouldn’t mind leaving.”

She sat up on her haunches and stretched a scaled claw out to the large teapot hung over the fire and said, “Why don’t we have some tea and you all can catch me up on what’s going on in the world and tell me about yourselves. I should be able to figure out which of my kin would suit to go with you.”

We each took turns telling the old dragoness about our recent doings, and the school where we now spent our time. She was intrigued about the pattern I had discovered in spellbinding. She used that same claw to gently pat me on the head when we told her about the encounter with the Snow Fox earlier in our hunt. Though she wasn’t exactly pleased when we told her about the plan to try and catch a Silver Trapper.

After we had finished our tale she tapped her scaled chin with one claw, for all the world looking like one our professors, before she said, “I know of three drakelings that may wish to come with you. Jetoran is an Ice Drake that came here to deliver a message from my Sire and decided to stick around for a bit. Asala is a Book Wyrm, and it sounds like she would get along more with this Selena you mentioned.”

She paused for a bit looking a bit pensive, which isn’t a very flattering view on a dragon’s face, before she said, “Linaravax is a special case. She wants to go out and about, but has a bit of a stigma attached to her due to both her sire and the minor madness she languishes under.”

“Her Sire?” Mai asked.

“Kerovax, the Dread Dragon,” Noraleth said.

I saw the others shudder a bit. I understood their hesitation, but I was more curious about the madness, so I asked, “What do you mean minor madness?”

“The poor dear tried to force an evolution into a Book Wyrm. It didn’t work out for her, and now she can only speak in rhyme unless she is shouting curses, which she does at random times.”

Jessica giggled and said, “That could be funny.”

“She gets embarrassed easily when it happens. She is however a powerful Ashwing, and honestly languishes here because of what her father did,” the old dragon said.

I made a snap decision and said, “Well she can come with me if she wants to. It might take a while to heal the madness, but it should help her reputation with the other sentient dragons if I’m the one she travels with.”

“Sweet boy, you're going to make this old woman cry. Are you certain you want this burden?” she asked.

I nodded and pulled out the summoning crystal Jessica had made for me.