Dragon Riders: Legacy(Book 2) Completed

Chapter 1:Dragon of Ice:Ermine

Ermine was hiding behind a igloo in his village from his father, Chief Tonraq, one of the three chiefs of Arctica, and brother to Chief Hakoda, who ruled another village in Arctica.
"Ermine! Ermine stop this nonsense and come out. Have you seen Ermine?" His father yelled for him, and asking every Ardu he met if they had seen him.
He didn't want to come out hiding. He was only seven, and his father already insisted on teaching him everything the children of a chief should know. He didn't want to be chief, all he wanted was to be free from his responsibilities. He wanted to escape like his older cousins, Korren and Kya, who three year ago bonded with dragons and left a year ago to start their training on the secret base of the Dragons Riders with the reclusive Dragon Riders, who disappeared about ninety-one years ago. And have been protecting Erdas for the last two thousand some years.
   He then heard the soft crunch of boots on snow, and he quickly ran off, hunched over. He ran between the igloos to make it harder for someone to see him. He ran till he got to the outside of the village. Then when he was sure no one could see him, he took off running at full speed.
   Once he was out of earshot of human and Spirit Animal, he let out a wild whoop in triumph. He was free! He could stay out here all day because of the eternal day and night. It was the eternal day this time of the year; six months of the year was the eternal day and the other six the eternal night.
   He knew his father would send out a search party, but he would come back on his own; he knew the way back, that's all that mattered besides being free of his tedious lessons with his father.
   He continued running till he could run no more, and continued walking to the place he had been yearning to see ever since he heard of it: The Ice City.
   He continued in the direction of The Ice City till he came upon a ice hole that looked like the ones cut into the ice for seals to come up in breath out of them then the Ardu would ambush the seal and kill it. This hole however, had no water in it, but carved ice steps that just went down into the dark hole.
   Ermine put a foot on the first step to determine whether he was going to slip and slide all the way down. His foot didn't slip out from underneath him, so he cautiously continued the ice steps. Then all of suddenly his feet flew out from underneath him, and he went sliding down the ice staircase or hard, bumpy slide; he couldn't tell.
   Then he landed in a pale lit corridor. He pushed himself up, already feeling bruises forming on his back, bottom, and legs. He then walked down the corridor till he entered a brightly lit, ginormous room.
   He was speechless when he saw the apartment like houses carved in the sides of the ice walls. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Everything was carved in curves and arches, there were no straight edges.
   But he wondered where the light was coming from? It should be pitch black down here.
  He looked around for the source of the pale light till he saw a large rift covered with thin ice. Pale sunlight shown through the thin, semitransparent ice and reflected off the icy city.
   Now knowing the answer to his question he cautiously walked through the Ice City, not knowing if anyone lived down here, but he was pretty sure people lived down here because he could hear the sound of soft snores coming from some of the apartment like buildings.
   He walked till he came across a walkway and walked along it till he reached the end of the rift and at the end of the rift was an enormous ice palace.
   The exterior of the ice palace was thick and the ice was a deep greenish white. Except for the windows which were made of a thin, transparent glasslike ice. The palace rose several stories high and were supported by thick ice pillars that had carved frosty vines wrapping around each pillar. A pure white triangle roof sat on top of the palace.
   There was no doorway, and when he entered he was greeted by a great hall. Carved tiles were engraved in the ice floor. Delicate pillars held the roof, a grand staircase with a huge chandelier of ice hung above it all.
   He wanted to explore the rooms, but his attention was caught by the real beauty of the Ice Palace: Suka the polar bear.
   Suka was frozen in a block of ice that was in the middle of the great hall. She was at least thirty feet tall on her hind legs, with her jaw slightly open, and her talisman tied to her left paw was the Crystal Polar Bear.
   He awed at such a sight. He never thought he would see Suka in person.
   He walked around her ice prison, and saw the many gifts the Ardu had laid at her feet. There were beautifully carved walrus tusks, ivory beaded necklaces, knitted clothes, and many more gifts. The strangest thing he had seen among the gifts was a pile of snow.
   He wondered what was so amazing about a pile of snow.
   He looked more closely at the pile of snow, and could have sworn he saw something white and round with a touch of blue to it. Curious, he looked up at Suka and said to the massive polar bear, "Forgife my curiosity O' Great Beast of Arctica." Then putting his ungloved hands, so he could feel better, into the chilling snow he searched in the pile of snow till his finger brushed something hard and cold. Curious to see what it was he found the object again, and lifted it out of the snow.
   It was a round shaped object that was white with light patches of ice blue. It was cold as ice and heavier that it looked.
   He set it in his lap and gently rapped on its surface with his knuckle, and found it to be hollow.
How could something this heavy be hollow? He asked himself.
   He wondered if this object was some kind of rare stone that some Ardu found, and hid it in a pile of snow to keep people from stealing it. Though no Ardu in their right mind would dare steal from Suka, especially a gift given to her.
   He put out the object/stone thing back in the pile of snow and was just about to start covering it back up when the object started moving.
   Alarmed he threw a few handfuls of snow on the rocking object; scared that he made the Ancestors mad, the lights that danced in the sky.
   He backed a few feet away, not going any further because his curiosity got the better of him again.
The object, half hidden under snow, continued to rock back and forth till a crack sound emitted from the object along with thin cracks appearing all over the surface.
Ermine then became fearful that whatever it was, was not suppose to come out of the snow and was now breaking because it was out of the to long.
Then bursting threw the white-blueish surface, a ice blue feathered, white head popped out of the object.
   Quickly realizing his error he realized that the object/stone thing was actually a dragon egg, and a dragon was hatching. For him!
   He looked up at Suka, thinking that it was her  who answered his wish and kept this dragon egg safe till he came here to receive his wish.
   He folded his hands and knelt and brought his folded hands up to his forehead and doubled over in thanks to Suka.
   When he got back up he noticed that the little white dragon with a feathered icy blue mane and tail had finished escaping its egg and was staring at him with icy blue eyes.
   He knelt in front of the little dragon and cautiously reached out to pet the little dragon.
   The little dragon looked at his ungloved hand above its head and sniffed the chilly air with its nose and ice blue forked tongue. Then the little dragon touched the palm of his right hand with its cold, feathery head.
   He yelp in pain when the contact occurred. He pulled his hand back as a icy energy flowed from the spot on his palm where the dragon touched him and through out his whole body.
   He looked at the little dragon, who had the same dark, icy blue eyes as him, and asked the little dragon, "What was that for?"
   He had been clutching his right hand after the contact, trying to warm it up after the icy energy flowed through him, numbing his whole body with a chill he couldn't get rid of. When he uncovered his hand he found a white, spiral mark where the he had touched the little dragon.
   "Well I guess I got the wish I always wanted." He said to himself.
   The little dragon tilted its head at him, and then climbing out of the pile of snow and curling up on his lap.
   The little dragon was about a foot tall and three feet long, he observed.
   He gently started stroking the white dragon like he would his Uncle Hakoda's huskey. The little dragon hummed in its throat and chest, and rubbed its head against his hand when he stopped stroking it, asking for more.
   He continued stroking the little dragon till his hand was numb with cold from the air and the dragon's ice cold scales, that seemed to emit a cold temperature from them.
   He pulled his gloves on, and looked up at the ice rift. It was almost dinner time; he didn't even realize how hungry he was.
   Gathering up the white dragon, he placed it on his neck. The dragon's sharp claws digging into his skin through his thick shirt. Ignoring the pain he pulled his hood up over his head, hoping no one would see the white dragon draped on his neck.
   Then he walked out of the Ice Palace, and walked all the way to the ice carved stairs, and then started up them. Once at the top he began his long walk back to his village, fearing his father's wrath.

   By the time Ermine made it back to the village it was already four hours from midnight.
   He walked up to his family's igloo, and peaked inside and saw no one. Just as he was about to enter he heard someone say his name.
   "Ermine Tonraqsson! Where in the name of Suka have you been?" A feminine voice he immediately recognized as his mother's voice.
   He turned around to face his mother's stony gaze. Her dark, ice blue eyes pierced his, forcing him to her in the eyes.
   "I'm sorry mother. It's just...you know how father is...and I just wanted to get away for once. You know, be alone by myself, no one telling me what to do. I just wanted a little freedom. That's all."
   His mother's gaze softened, and he looked at his boots.
   An uneasy silence settled between them before his mother finally spoke, "I'm sorry I got so mad Ermine. I just wish you would have told me you wanted some space to breath and I probably could have arranged it with your father." His mother put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
   Then looking up at his mother he asked, "Is father going to be mad?" He feared what his father might have in store for him.
   His mother sighed, and then said, "Ermine I really don't know. He might be since you ran away from him when he was calling for you. Other than that I just don't know. Now go eat, there's some seal meat I left out for you from dinner, then go to bed. Your father can deal with you in the morning." His mother then walked off to go find his father.
   Turning back to the entrance of the igloo, he entered, and made sure his three year old brother, Sokka and one year old sister, Korra, were both asleep.
   Then lowering his hood, and grabbing a bone knife he cut off a few small pieces of meat and gave them to the little dragon. The little dragon begged for more after the first helping.
   By the third helping the little dragon was so stuffed that Ermine could feel its fully belly against his neck.
   Then digging into his cold cooking seal meat, he finished it a few minutes later, and walked into his room.
   Careful not to wake his little brother, he set the little dragon on his bed, and then changed into a thick shirt and pants and left his thick socks on. He laid out his parka and boots to dry.
   He climbed under the warm caribou hides, careful to hide the dragon incase his brother or father were to rip off the covers. He slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep, listening to the soft breathing of his brother in the other bed, and the feeling of the dragon's cold chest rising and falling against the side of his chest.
   He soon fell into a peaceful, quiet sleep, but when he heard the sound of footsteps and peaked open a eye, he could have swore he saw his father's form in the dark room, and the feeling of warm fingers stroking his hair.

P.S. Hope you guys are enjoying.
   I used Sokka and Korra and Tonraq and Hakoda's name from ATLA and LOK because I like their names, but their personalities and appearances will not be the same.
   If you want more information on the Ice Palace you can look in the book Ice and Fire from Spirit Animals series or you can look it up on the internet.