The Soul of a Dragon

Chapter 1

„Yes, that's my girl!"

Turning around to see the dragons we just freed with a big goofy smile on my face, I start to cheer and head for the clouds. The dragons disappear into every direction, grateful to have received some kindness. I made sure that those dragon-hunting bastards got to meet my lovely fists and some of the more revengeful dragons even came back to help us, apparently wanting to treat some of the hunters the way they treated them. I don't blame them.

With each powerful wing strike, both my girl and I try to reach the stars. It has been a rainy and cloudy day, much like my mood these past few weeks, but as soon as we emerge from the heavy clouds, it feels like every worrisome thought has left my body.

The wind carries us calmly across the clouds, and as I lean back to watch the clear night sky, I let millions of bright stars and the silence hypnotize me into a drowsy state.

This much needed peaceful moment is suddenly interrupted when we catch the faint sound of screaming somewhere underneath us. My curiosity peeking, we stealthily use the clouds' protection to find the source.

With a surprised but acknowledging look on my face, I watch a small gang of dragon riders attack three ships that greatly resemble the one we burned to pieces moments before. They are fully dressed in armour made of what seems like dragon scales, and sit on saddles that are strapped onto their dragons. I never got the appeal of saddles. They're heavy, itchy, and require a lot of care.

I let my gaze drift from rider to rider, still staying out of sight. I recognize a sweet Gronckle with a rather large rider. I am not surprised, though. Gronckles are known for their resilience and strength. As the Gronckle head-butts several dragon hunters, a graceful green-blue and agile Deadly Nadder flies by and release spikes from her tail to help the large guy. Judging by her small yet fierce posture, I can see that a girl is riding the Nadder. Further to the left, I spot a blood-red Monstrous Nightmare, flames roaring from its body. Protected by the dragon's scales on his armor, the rider hops off his dragon and single combats several hunters, screaming and howling like a wolf with each victory. Circling the boat on the far back, I see two heads of a green Zippleback, steered by two very similar-looking riders. I cannot tell if they are both girls or boys. But either way, they seem to be having fun putting the hunters through as much anguish as possible. I catch myself smiling a little, but quickly regain my composure. More and more flames appear with each blast cast from one of the riders. I can faintly sense the heat tingling the skin on my bare face and arms. Putting my hood and mask back on, I straighten my back and shift my eyes from left to right, and back.
I could swear I saw five dragons when I first set eyes on this battle. Normally my eyes don't betray me but I must be tired from all the travelling and fighting today.

All of the sudden, I hear a very familiar whistling sound and notice a shadow moving across the stars. For a moment it is quiet, but before I can attempt to answer my questions, a blazing purple light illuminates the sky and seconds later, I see the boat in the middle sinking mercilessly into the deep dark of the ocean. A purple light? Could that have been a plasma blast?
As if to answer my question, a second and a third blast destroy the other boats. The hunters that are left, jump into the icy water and desperately try to hang onto some wooden pieces of the boat to stay afloat.

I cannot believe my own eyes when I observe the shadow emerging from the night sky, into my line of sight, and halting mid-air to observe the satisfactory damage that's been caused.

A night fury. No f-ing way.

During all of my years roaming the world, I couldn't find one individual left of this species. All of our desperate attempts to finally find this majestic creature, even outside the Archipelago, were hopeless and we failed more times than I care to count.