The first in a series of dragon guide books that goes deeper into the know information about the dragons of Calluncia. Published in the year 1958 D.E. (Dragonotic Era) this book is considerably old, however is the only guide about dragons.
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The Cold Sword Dragon is a close relative of the Shadowblade with the major difference between the two being how well it adapted to it's frozen environment, the great shift in coloration, and the fact that unlike the rest of its cousins, it breathes a jet of insta-freezing mist or cloud rather than fire. Thus the species is called "Iceblades" and are as dangerous as they are rare. Iceblades have thick bodies with two layers, the first being a downy feathery that keeps heat trapped close to the body, and the second, outmost layer being overlapping scale-like bits that keep the cold from getting in. Their talons are jagged, enabling them to climb the ice capped peaks of mountains or the vast walls of the giant glaciers that they call home. Another feature of the Iceblade is that their entire bodies are covered in icicles, even their horns are frozen over with the stuff!
The coloration of an Iceblade is opposite to that of an Shadowblade. Instead of being a deep, rich, dark color that enables night-time camouflage, they are nearly pure white. Though, true albinism is still rare, the majority of this species are white like fresh snow, a light blue color of packed ice or icicles, and sometimes silver like a cloud's lining. Their claws, horns, and such are eggshell white with only the tiniest hints of yellow. They are so well adapted to their environments that one can walk on an Iceblade in the wild and not notice it, though this is something that's very not advised. An Iceblade's egg is a lighter blue or a frosty white color.
The lifecycle of an Iceblade is much like any other arctic creature. Iceblades are said to have the breeding mentality of penguins and polarbears. (Something that needs much more research into.) It is during these period that Iceblades can be found en masse, if at all. Like penguins, they migrate deep into the heart of any nearby glaciers, socializing along the way before the grand rut begins. Males bellow and challenge one and another to prove their worth to the females. Once wooing one, the pair separate from the group for some privacy. Once the act is done the male returns to his spot in the runt to woo more potential mates or mate with those from previous ruts while the female flies off, back into her own territory to hunt and find a suitable den site to hibernate in. In the icy world, survival of the fittest is pushed to it's limits. Monogamous mates are something of a myth with these dragons. While females usually have one or more mates, usually three to four her entire life time, males are entirely polygamous having up to seven or more mates per year, definitely more if he is the top dog of the rut while less if he is either inexperience or born with poor genes.
Once a female finds a perfect den site, she will defend that one spot with her life. Other females may try and take the site from her in an attempt to increase their young's survival. If and once she is well fed and her den site is secure, she will begin to hibernate. Before she does, she digs a small depression in the ground of the den and lays her eggs. five to seven is usually the case however less are a common aspect of inexperienced females and a rare wopping ten is more likely to happen with older, more experienced females. Once that task is complete, she will plug up the entrance to her den with her own body and hibernate. This is the earliest defence the young will receive and one of the best. the temperature rarely fluctuates and most predators are kept at bay just by their mother's scent. Only clever predators are able to break into an den of an experienced mother and steal her eggs.
Spring arrives and both the mother and the brood awaken from their winter slumbers. The eggs immediately start hatching at their mother's awakening and soon, fuzzy white hatchlings are born. Babies are born with a smudgy grey down that helps keep them warm, but it is only a temporary measure and cannot ward off the worst of the cold. They are greyish, to hide better in the dark of the den. This is their first, inborn defence against predators while mama is away hunting. Another feature is that after their initial meal, they can go through a miniature hibernative state until their mother returns with food, as to help ward off starvation. They young are like this until their first summer, when the first feathery-layer grows in, then they become more active. By the time their second spring arrives (one year of age) they have grown their second insulating layer and can fly. The young will stick with mom until their second year, when they are driven out by competition by each other and their mother. Iceblade males are able to join the rut by their second year while females tend to wait until their fourth year despite being able to on their third year.
Iceblade's are not only great at ambushing prey in their arctic home and climbing steep cliffs, but their more lethal ability becomes more so reliable with each passing year. As they age, much like most other dragons, they can breathe their ability longer and at a more focused skill. Elders are able to drop a room's temperature down fifteen to twenty degrees in three seconds, their breath ability lasting over two hours, non stop, tops. However their breath ability tends to spread out after the initial jetting, creating a cloud around it's head and the area it blew at. This ice cloud is visible, as the water in the air itself is frozen instantly. What's worst is that the cloud lingers and keeps it's lethality for a long period of time. This make this dragon the deadliest known species in existence.
Tips! Iceblades are territorial, however are compared to jaguars of the southern jungles in a sense that they "escort" humans out of their territory, only acting out if threatened or when it's territory is violated. There are two unofficial species of Iceblades in existence: The northern breed who live in the icy plateau and meadows of the north arctic circle and the southern breed who have webbing between their talons to aid in chasing after their prey. The northern breed likes to eat seal pups and reindeer while the southern breed eats penguins and adult seals. Also, there has been an increase in sightings where a male patrols an area where females den during the winter. Some say that the males do not end their relationship with the females they mate with at the ruts but go out of their way to protect them while they hibernate. This is just some theory, and the only evidence to back it up is an famous event when an experienced elder mated with an inexperienced female and guarded her and her den for the entire time she was mated with him! The elder died to a rival male two years later, but not after fathering 23 hatchlings by that female alone. It was later discovered that the male who defeated him was his own son from a previous mating almost fifteen years prior thanks to an dragon mage who had been tracking the elder for twenty years. That dragon mage was the last in the entire area who knew how to track these dragons. Today there are no Iceblade experts around to take his place.
