Dragon Prince: The Storm's Heart

Chapter One: Eight Years Later

Through the sparse canopy of leaves, the light of the fading moon shone through in soft rays of light silver. The air was frigid, so frigid, that even the clouds that hung in the sky were stiff with cold weather. All the animals were huddled in their nests and dens, trying to keep themselves hidden from the horseback riding human within the forest. The only creatures that dared be out were a few rabbits that munched on the leaves, and a few skittering squirrels, searching for spare acorns on the forest floor.
A pair of hooves splashed through a pile of snow and a sound of a murmur was hardly heard. The rustling leaves crunched as a dark blue cloaked girl riding a lightly dappled gray horse quietly through the almost soundless woods. A little cluster of light rain clouds had passed through the evening, dampening the ground and filling the air with the scent of fresh snow. The distant mountains were delicately sprinkled with the fading mist from the rain, like faint white frosting on cake slices. Puffs of fog appeared in the air at her every breath. With her hands on her reins, her eyes, which were almost hidden by the hood of her blue cloak, searched through the trees, looking for something. But she heard a faint rustle of leaves and grass, the faint sound of it made her smirked in dry amusement.
"Snap."
Instantly, the human pivoted herself into a defensive position and her mare went into a protective stance, whipping out her hand faster than the blink of an eye. Her eyes flicked around warily, her breath quick as she scanned for the source of the noise.
"Snap."
The mare nearly reared backwards when the noise sounded again almost right at their feet. The girl looked down, and scrambling around in the snow-covered leaves was a tiny fawn, watching her curiously.
The human and her horse held theirs fighting stances for one moment longer, before the girl and her mare calmed down with a sigh.
"Are you trying to scare the living daylights out of us?" The girl asked the fawn, gruffly amused of the curious fawn. The fawn bleated before it scurried away from the two partners and back into the depths of the forest, making the girl rolled her eyes and chuckled softly as she continued riding through the forest.
The wind was howling vigorously like a pack of wolves at a full moon. The snow was packed in a thick layer and on top walked a pair of feet slowly and carefully. Riding through the trees, the girl looked around her surroundings into the early dawn for any sign of danger. Pulling her cloak closer to her shivering figure, the determined girl rode on, on her back was on her archery equipment and her breath visible in the ice cold air. Carefully descending the mountain slope, she continued riding through the forest not to far away, moving with the shadows as one.
Despite the cold weather of the mountains, it's uniquely beautiful around them in the girl's hidden eyes. In the gathering dusk, the icicles glowed like firelight marble, covering most of the snowy forest and the valley. Snow dusted around them and the ground all around them; more crystalline flakes were falling more quickly from the sky. Soon, an incredible mountain range appeared before her after they continued walking through the mountain pass, rivaling the Mountains of Katolis in height and breadth. Its surfaces were frosted with bright snow from the peaks to the bottoms. The snowy landscape was dotted with sheer cliffs and pure blue lakes. Ahead was a valley, and the snow seemed to be trampled from wild horses, revealing pine trees and bushes. She saw a white bear in a cave from a safe distance, a herd of elk were hidden amongst the forest, a couple of winter foxes went into the woods, a few white owls swept past them, and a pack of wolves had slicked across the tundra. But, at the foot of the mountain pass, was a massive frozen lake. The wind was strong, and it pushed the fog towards the mountains and blew the snow around them hard.
When the girl continued her ride, the girl rode into the sunlight on the forest's path, revealing the girl and her horse. The girl is none other than Shira, and her horse is named Tempest.
Shira is tall and slim, but she has hidden strength within her. She long, wavy sandy-blonde hair that goes over her shoulders, though she has a partial ponytail and tied back by a blue hair tier. Her striking eyes could shame a pair of deep blue sapphires with little effort and sparkled like a spirited fire. Her fair skin is lightly tanned from her time in the sun. She's wearing a linen blue tunic with a tan-colored shirt underneath it and a dark blue cloak flowed behind her. She has a leather corded silver dragon pendant necklace and around her left wrist is a bracelet with a moonstone that radiated pure beauty, gleaming milky white with a sheen of sky blue. She has a pair of dark brown pants, along with dark brown combat boots. She has a wooden bow and quiver full of arrows strapped to her back.
Shira and Tempest soon came up a hill to see a mountain village. The small, quaint houses were covered in at least a foot of snow, and smoke rose from the chimneys. A towering mountain with a flat top created a backdrop for the town.
She smiled softly at the village she has grew up in by herself. As the sun had started to rise from the golden and blue sky, the people of the village had started to awakening and getting ready to start their day. The adults had started heading towards nearby markets or started heading towards work. The teenagers had started working their morning jobs or meeting up with each other in their favorite hangout spots. While the kids had started helping their parents, playing with their older siblings or playing with their pets. Shira rode through the village and nodded respectfully towards the greeting villagers.
The cottage was slightly hidden by the nearby forest. Outside of the cottage stood two horses (a light gray stallion and a bay pinto mare) eating hay. In the front yard, there was a small piece of land and behind the cottage was a barn and a larger paddock. Inside of the pasture are two cows, three pigs, and three goats.
She whistled and led the animals away into her family's stable. The cows were led into the united stalls, as did the pigs, goats, and chickens. But as Shira led her horse towards her stall, a buckskin mare with a white rose-shaped white spot on her forehead poked her head out of her stall, watching them curiously. The mare is Rosie, Shira's late mother's horse and heavily pregnant by two months. Shira patted the animals and went outside to have a breather outside by the fence.
She closed her eyes and focused on her surroundings. Shira heard birds singing, people chatting, animals playing with children, and...galloping hooves? She opened her eyes and looked towards where the snowy ground was shaking from.
"Runaway horse!" Shira jumped back as a fiery chestnut horse galloped out of the road and into the forest.
"Seriously?" Shira rolled her eyes to the sky before she went into the stables to get her horse. She started searching for a horse to ride when she heard a familiar, shrill whinny from one of the stalls. At first, Shira flinched sensitively of the sound, but something in the horse's eyes reassured her. Her eyes were so mild. Blue like the cloudless sky. She seemed to be studying her, as though she could see straight through the girl. Her fear was replaced with curiosity.
She smirked as she walked towards the mare and placed the riding equipment on the stall. She is silvery-gray as thunderclouds, and her mane and tail is silky and white as snow, but she has a white lightning-shaped blaze.
"Hey Tempest." The mare whinnied to Shira. "Ready to help me track down a nervous horse?"
A pair of hooves splashed through a pile of snow and the eager sound of a startled yelp was heard. Galloping into the depths of the forest was Shira riding on Tempest racing through the forest. A little cluster of light rain clouds had passed through the evening, dampening the ground and filling the air with the scent of fresh rain. The distant mountains were delicately sprinkled with the fading mist from the rain, like faint white frosting on cake slices.
They were running together, as though they're one in the same. Shira felt the wind whooshed through her. She was intensely aware of Tempest's movements underneath her. She felt herself smiling and Tempest let out a loud whinny. Shira raised herself up slightly as the grassy ground disappeared underneath them for a bit. Tempest had leapt over a log. She felt her hair flowed behind her and her stomach lurched. She almost felt as if she and the mare were both flying. She tightened her grip on the reins and Tempest slowed down for a moment, long enough for her to regain her balance again and calm down her excitement. Shira took a deep breath, calming herself down and nodded to Tempest, who nickered softly and continued the ride.
Tempest soon came to a stop and Shira started looking around the area, checking for any sign of the runaway horse.
"Dang it," grumbled Shira. "Where in the heck did that horse wandered to?"
As she started searching, Shira saw a trail of hoof-prints leading her into the forest. She looked at the spooked horse. She sighed as she dismounted her horse and took out the leading rope.
She carefully stepped towards the horse and let him watched for. But the horse reared and she stopped, waiting for the stallion to calm down. The stallion soon calm down and Shira started walking towards the wild stallion.
"Easy boy," Shira said soothingly to the nervous stallion. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
The stallion snorted as he watched her warily stepped towards the stallion. Shira decided to calm the anxious stallion by a lullaby that she likes. Shira breathed in deeply and gently sang the lullaby to the stallion.
"The Sun is down, and the Moon is high.
Baby yawns wide with a sleepy sigh.
The Sky fills up with Stars that blink.
Baby's eyelids start to sink.
The Ocean kisses the Earth good night.
The waves say hushhh... little baby, sleep tight."
Nearby, a hidden Moonshadow elf named Rayla was hidden away in the branches of a tree and being a spy for her team. Rayla's heart skipped a beat from a tree. She knew that melody — her mother used to sing it to her when she was a wee elf. She gazed down at the human girl, so innocent, so brave. In that moment, she knew she wouldn't want to hurt the brave girl.
Shira carefully stepped towards the stallion and the horse lowered his head as Shira clipped the leading rope onto the stallion's halter. She led the stallion towards Tempest and tied the leading rope to the saddle-collar. She mounted Tempest and rode out of the woods back towards the village's stables, leading the nervous stallion back into his pasture.
"Thanks Shira," said Riven, a member of the village's guard.
Instead of replying, she just nodded and led her mare back into her home's stables. She almost never speak to others, considering that she had a rough life in the past and prefers to keep quiet most of time.
Shira soon went inside of her mother's study. There's a large desk made of solid wood with books and quills strewn across the top and stacked in piles. The walls were covered with bookshelves that almost reached the ceiling. But there was a foggy window at the far right corner. Shira shuddered from the slight drop in temperature as she stepped into the room. She had a feeling she should be in the room and shouldn't be in the room. But she started looking at the books anyways, going with her strongest instincts.
She found a lot of books about Xadia, Rulers of the Kingdoms, forts, villages, and so on. When she found the last book showed a fair amount of wear, appearing to have been well-read with illegible comments in the margins. But her curiosity for Xadia is something else. Shira found a blue-covered book on the table. She quietly read the golden title, "Magic of the Sky." Shira flipped through a few pages and a note had slipped out of the pages.
She took it out and read out loud, "Dear Shira, This book is for you. I believe you have Sky magic within you. This is one of my final gifts to you. Love Mom."
Shira felt tears run down from her face and smiled at the note as she slipped back behind the cover of the book, knowing what she should do.