Private Tales In the Vicinity of Thunder

[Nadya]

The clouds stayed dreary all throughout the day, and no matter what direction anyone was to take, they would find no beam of sun ripping through. It was dense cover, the type that heralded the promise of a storm should the wind pick up. No rain would come, but there was something in stirring in the air as thieves were minutes from arcing over the ranges south of Thanasis. From there, they would begin the lengthy flight towards Ravaryn, where trade was booming and frequent and anyone that way would pay handsomely for a dragon's egg or three.

They were not aware they were being hunted, a tracker rider keeping them in sight, and messengers going between them and the main heavyweights of the pursuants

The job had gone without a hitch. Believed to be close to having evaded the Thunder of Thanasis.

A roar rumbled through the skies, the brown dragon, small and scrawny but seated two men, began to steer towards their new destination. The other dragons followed suit, and the man that bonded to the brown turned his head to look at the younger male behind him.

"Don't you drop that egg now."

It was an egg that looked to be purple so dark, it looked black, and the silver that came through looking to be scratched and roughed through. Like paint being scratched off. A Storm Dragon egg. An egg rarer than a Moon Dragon's.

 

[Mylo]

Mylo’s heart hadn’t slowed in its relentless pursuit to burst free of his chest. The red welt on his cheek was bruising now, throbbing with every beat, and he’d been warned there would be another if he so much as opened his mouth again. A disappointment, his father had called him. A coward, his brothers sneered.

He wasn’t a coward. Not for knowing what this truly was. Not for seeing it plain as day.

To steal a dragon’s egg was the highest of crimes. To steal a Storm Dragon’s egg, one belonging to the royal clutch, wasn’t just crime, it was sacrilege. A spit in the face of the gods themselves. It was a fucking death sentence. His brothers might laugh, his father might dream of coin and power, but all Mylo could see was the pyre waiting at the end of it.

The thing was swaddled now, wrapped tight in cloths and lashed against his chest, his arm forming a cage around it. He couldn’t stop staring at it.. A beautiful, terrible thing, with so much power in such a tiny shell. It would be a curse upon them all.

They would be rich, they said. They would be remembered. Mylo only believed the latter, because he was damn sure the royal family would make quite the example of his family when they got their hands on them. At least they had no name to lose, and they didn't have far to fall. They were the lowest sort of rats in the streets of Thanasis, but rats could still suffer.

“I won’t,” he shouted back over the wind, jaw clenching.. Syrinx banked suddenly beneath them, the brown dragon's wings snapping through the air, and Mylo gripped the egg tighter, swearing under his breath as his stomach lurched. He scowled at the dragon’s ridged neck as his father and brothers laughed.

 

[Nadya]

The winds whipped at them, all the conversation needed between rider and dragon. Nadya could smell the promise of a storm, but rain was not on her forecast. Energy was welling between the softness of clouds, darkened with their intent. It was perfect conditions for Kalyss and Esdyr, the latter riderless and intent on joining the hunt. No one could stop her, no one but Nadya were able to voice displeasure, but the female drake led with an advantage.

She knew the scent of her eggs.

Sirine had flown ahead, flanked by other riders, and were given the order to corral the thieves to a point where Nadya, Cullen, and the three dragons would block their path. They would be surrounded, given the chance to surrender as the Princess of Thanasis had wished.

Nadya knew she had blood pounding through her, intent on lashing out her frustrations by killing one of them, but her dragon was the one to throw caution down their bond. Lightning was unpredictable, but to wield it meant one had to be calm and focused. The storm was above in the sky, not the mind.

Esdyr's growl rumble like thunder, and Nadya turned her head to the side to look at Cullen. She held up her hand in a fist, signalling for him to slow. Kalyss changed direction, surging towards the clouds and finding air to hide their presence. Up here, other dragons could not scent them.

Without the wind buffeting her words, she called out to Cullen. "They are near. Esdyr and Kalyss will listen to the storm clouds and figure out when we make the drop."

---

Sirine Malennis flattened herself to her dragon, hidden between the scales that could turn a Moon Dragon near invisible. The two riders that had flanked her went on ahead, with the order to be in pursuit while she kept back as their shadow. She had not trained with the Wing Leader before, but in order to become a Gilded Wing, it meant many hours of training and proving it was all worth for something. Not just anyone can become one of the six.

The two riders ahead rode a blue and a black, smaller dragons but were quick to pierce through the resistance of air and gain speed on the thieves. Warning shots of fire went their way, signalling the beginnings of disrupting the plans the thieves have made.

 

[Mylo]

Mylo could feel the shift in the air, the crackle of tension, of an impending storm.. He looked over his shoulder, shaking his head.. "I think we should land.. Something isn't right.." he called over the roar of the wind. It had been too easy.."Don't be daft, boy. We're almost over the ridge.." his father dismissed.

He'd been about to argue when a flash of fire caught the corner of his eye and he turned, paling at the sight of dragons behind them. "They're on us!"

Mylo’s gut clenched as the fire streak lit the sky, brief but blinding against the thick bruise of clouds. For a heartbeat he forgot to breathe, forgot to hold tight to the egg, his grip loosening before instinct returned and his arms clutched the bundle to his chest like a lifeline.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck..”

He twisted in his saddle. Dark shapes cut through the stormlight with ease, their wings slicing the air, their roars rising above the wind. Riders. Trained, disciplined, furious.

“They found us!” Mylo’s voice cracked, raw with terror. His brothers only jeered, the eldest pumping a fist in the air as though the hunt itself was sport. “There's only two of them! Let them try!” the eldest bellowed back at the sky, laughter ringing over the wind.

Idiots. All of them.

“They’ll burn us alive before we clear the ridge!” Mylo snapped, the words tearing from his throat. His father’s elbow shot back to drive into his jaw, warning enough, but Mylo grimaced and bit down hard on his tongue to stop himself from saying more. What more was there? The truth was written in fire and shadow behind them.

Syrinx gave a startled, rasping hiss, his body twisting as the brown’s eyes tracked the predators gaining ground. The dragon was no fool. He smelled death on the wind just as Mylo did.

The egg throbbed warm against his chest. Mylo’s arms tightened until his knuckles went white, his heart hammering so violently he thought it might split the shell itself. He couldn’t look away from the sky behind them, from the death chasing in their wake.

“They’re not going to let us go,” he whispered, too quiet for his father or brothers to hear. It wasn’t just pursuit. It was judgment. The storm was coming for them.