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.

 

[Nadya]

Nadya felt the stirring between the Storm Dragons, then cut her gaze to Cullen.

A thrill went through her as their eyes made contact, half love and half adrenaline. It had been too long since they both had been on a squad together, and she knew her vengeance would be answered tonight. He would be there right next to her, aiding her in the return of her family's legacy.

"We make our move. Now!"

---

Sirine had joined the fray.

Her Moon Dragon Eilyss tore silver teeth into the hide of a dragon that tried to outpace one of her flanked riders, effortlessly slowing the drake. It thrashed within the Moon's maw, where teeth designed to do damage did not need to work as hard to wound it's prey.

Disarray was in the skies, but the Thunder was relentless.

Three draconic figures speared down from the dark heavens; two dragons of storm slicked scales and a golden arrow in between them, the Wing Leader and her right hand rider now joining.

The Thunder worked to keep the thieves at bay, moving to surround them.

One rider tried to test their bluff, only to have the heavens crack with thunder and the bolts of lightning to follow. So startled, the rider slipped from his saddle, hanging off the edge with one hand gripping the reins for dear life.

Nadya Caliar's voice boomed, the winds projecting her words.

"By Order of the Royal Family of Thanasis, you are to surrender into our custody. Return what was stolen, or face a trial before the people." The Wing Leader and her Storm Dragon cut through the ranks of the thieves, ensuring they all heard her speak.

That they all saw the longsword forged out of the scales of her Storm Dragon. It was rumoured to cut through anything, and she was willing to test that theory on these criminals should they not yield.

 

[Mylo]

Mylo’s chest constricted as the air itself seemed to crackle with fury. Storm dragons. His blood turned cold.

He looked down at the egg strapped to him, its dark shell gleaming like polished onyx, silver marred like claw-marks. His stomach churned. A shriek split the air, his brother’s dragon, and Mylo’s head snapped up just in time to see a Moon Dragon's jaws clamp down on her. The beast thrashed, screaming.

“No!” his father roared, yanking Syrinx’s reins so violently the dragon banked hard. Mylo nearly slid from the saddle, scrabbling to hold on as Syrinx snapped his jaws at the Moon Dragon, claws raking for purchase.

“Stop!” Mylo’s voice was hoarse, cracking over the roar of wind, thunder, and dragons. “You’ll get us all fucking killed!”

But his father didn’t stop. Syrinx levelled out, dropping toward the treeline. Mylo’s heart pounded against his ribs as the woman's voice rolled through the skies, each word a death knell.

He clutched the egg, then lifted it high, his last desperate plea. “Here!” he shouted into the storm. “Take it!”

His father turned, fury blazing in his eyes at the sight. “You traitorous, cowardly little—”

His father ripped the egg from his grasp and backhanded him with a strike that snapped his head to the side. Pain exploded across his cheek as Mylo tumbled from the saddle, catching a strap with one hand at the last possible moment.

He dangled beneath the dragon’s belly, the ground a blur beneath him, feet kicking helplessly as blood roared in his ears.

“Pa! Land!” he screamed, voice breaking. His fingers were slipping, strength failing. “Please, pa!”

His father leaned over, face twisted in a sneer, and he said something that Mylo couldn’t hear over the wind. Then Syrinx twisted his head, eyes glinting, and struck.

Jagged teeth punched through flesh and Mylo cried out as fire lanced through his side. Then Syrinx tossed his head. And Mylo fell.

Time seemed to slow as the world ripped away from him, and then it all came rushing back.

Wind screamed past his ears, tore the sound from his throat as he plummeted. His stomach lurched into his chest, his hands grasping at air that refused to catch him. The last thing he saw before the sky swallowed him was his father’s face, hard, cold, utterly unmoved, and the glint of the egg cradled to his chest.

 

[Cullen]

Cullen saw the boy tumble.

“Shit.”

He yanked hard on Meala’s reins, smaller than the others, the golden dragon folded her wings and speared downwards like a thrown spear. The air screamed past them, trees and rock rushing up to meet the falling figure.

“Now, Meala!"

Meala’s talons shot out, the rush of air snapping like thunder as she snatched Mylo from open sky, the boy’s scream tearing from his throat as her claws closed around him just in time.

Cullen swore again under his breath, forcing Meala to level out just above the treeline. The dragon’s wings beat hard, fighting for altitude with her fragile cargo dangled between her claws, pale and shaking, blood trailing down his side where Syrinx’s teeth had punctured deep.

Cullen’s jaw set. “Hold on, kid,” he muttered, though he doubted Mylo could even hear him over the wind.

Meala angled back up toward the storm, carrying her prize, and perhaps the only bargaining chip that could stop the skies from running red.

 

[Nadya]

The egg was held up in the air, and Nadya did not need to be closer to inspect if it was the decoy or not. Esdyr's growl shuddered through the cloud cover, circling above and eyeing the egg that had been stolen from her. Stolen from that which she trusted it to her bonded family.

Nadya saw the young one fall, struck by a callous hand. Cullen reacted faster, a golden arrow spearing across the distance to save the boy. They would make do on their promise of the Princess. No deaths here today.

It was not time to hunt.

Kalyss was large, his wings made strong to propel them further ahead against the buffer of wind. The storm was as if a gentle breeze to the pair, having spent plenty of time amongst a storm. Nadya's legs tightened to her saddle, bracing herself as they surged to follow the brown dragon and the rider that clutched the egg.

They had to be patient, to be clever. Lightning would aid them, but a storm was not for the likes of mere dragon nor men.

It was a natural event, something that did not need the influence to come about.

Only a Storm Dragon could utilise this might.

Lightning flashed, striking some feet away from the brown. Energy would charge around them, make them feel just how close to the strike they had been. Do not strike them, the silent command need not be said aloud, for anyone to hear. Pursue.

"Halt!" She called out, her voice unwavering in it's authority. "Surrender to us and you will face a trial!" Failure to do so... It did not need to be said. Treasonous acts against Thanasis always resulted in death. These thieves no longer feared what death would feel like, but perhaps placed in a cell for years to come will make them reevaluate what they have done.

 

[Mylo]

Mylo’s body jolted so hard it knocked the breath out of him when the talons closed around his torso. His cry broke into a ragged gasp, blood running hot from the wounds on his torso where Syrinx’s teeth had punctured deep.

Had his own father just tried to kill him?

The thought slammed through his skull as he dangled helplessly, limp in the dragon’s grasp, every motion sending white-hot pain lancing through his ribs. His mind reeled.

Fear. Panic. Pain. Hurt.

He tilted his head back, green eyes locking on the gleam of gold above him, the dragon that had caught him. One of the Thunder.

Oh, he was fucked.
So, so fucked.

The world spun, the wind tearing at his hair, the roar of dragons deafening in his ears. His chest heaved as if he could somehow breathe the panic out of his body, but the pain was a heavy, suffocating weight dragging him under.

His eyelids fluttered, the storm above blurring to a smear of black and gold. He tried to stay awake, tried to keep fighting, but his body was done with him.

And Mylo blacked out.

Around him, the sky was fire and fury. His father’s dragon spat jets of flame, his brothers’ mounts snapping and thrashing at their pursuers. They dove, plummeting toward the trees and spires of rock below, desperate to lose the Thunder before they could be brought to heel.

His father called to Benjen, his being the smallest of the dragons, and the egg was thrown from father to son, before father turned his dragon upon the storm dragon and the woman upon it, and fired his crossbow.

 

[Nadya]

The bolt aimed true, if Kalyss had not veered left and effectively put his rider out of it's path. Nadya swore, colourful and loudly, but did not lose her focus. Perhaps the egg was no longer in his grasp, but each and every one of these thieves were to be brought forth before council.

"Malennis!" She yelled, knowing her dragon could hear the Wing Leader.

Nadya and Kalyss kept on with the older man. She did not know they were a family, that they all shared similar features. There was a goal before her, one that she wanted to be done with.

Force them towards the clouds. She relayed to her Storm.

The rumble he made could be felt below her, the sound reverberating through the cage of her bones. Nadya was used to this, the eerie sound almost like a dragon's laughter.

The sooner they got this over with, the sooner they returned the egg, the sooner Nadya could put to rest the threat that was Ilir. She wished she could look around, to find Cullen. If he was hurt, she would know. It would weigh in her gut, would alert her not all was right.

She had to trust he knew what he was doing.

---

Sirine appeared seemingly from nowhere; a Moon Dragon undetected visually until it was too late. Precision and stealth, if one knew how to train a drake so. Her hands gripped the pommel of her saddle, braced for impact.

The Moon Dragon barreled into the small dragon, knocking them off course.

 

[Cullen]

Cullen’s heart shot into his throat.

“NAD—!” The shout tore from him, sharp and panicked, but Nadya was already veering clear of the bolt. He exhaled, a sound closer to a growl than a sigh, and rage sharpened every line of his face as he hauled Meala around hard.

Let the others worry about the egg. He had his prey, and the old bastard was already loading another bolt.

Meala tucked her wings and became a golden spear in the storm-dark sky. They closed the distance in a heartbeat, Cullen’s jaw set like iron.

“Burn him,” he hissed.

Flame answered. Meala’s fire washed over the brown, lighting the sky a hellish orange. The dragon shrieked, the stench of scorched flesh filling the air as its rider screamed, a raw, animal sound swallowed by the storm.

Meala’s jaws clamped down on the brown’s neck, teeth punching through scale and muscle and bone. Blood sprayed hot into the night as she wrenched, ripping away flesh and ripping at the beast's throat. Killing dragons most certainly hadn't been on the agenda...

The man’s clothes had ignited, skin blistering, hair and beard burned to nothing on one side of his head. His scream cut off when Meala flung them both loose, dragon and rider tumbling together to the ground, disappearing into the trees and stone below.

“PA!!!” The scream that followed was ragged, feral, one of the sons, face twisted with grief and rage, locking his sights on Cullen and spurring his dragon after them.

Cullen’s eyes narrowed, a cold fire in his chest.

_________________________________________
​

Benjen’s grip tightened on the egg until his knuckles ached. He barely had time to curse before a shadow swept across him, and then the Moon Dragon struck.

The impact was like being hit by a boulder. His smaller dragon shrieked, wings buckling under the weight of the assault, and Benjen was thrown hard against the saddle.

“Hold, damn you!” he snarled, yanking on the reins, but there was no holding the beast steady. The Moon Dragon slammed into them again, and this time his mount couldn’t recover.

The world became a blur of rock and sky.

They clipped a spire, stone exploding around them, before crashing through the brittle top of a tree. Benjen felt the breath punched out of him as the saddle tore free and his body was wrenched from it.

The egg spun from his hands, tumbling into the underbrush below.

Benjen hit the ground a moment later. Hard. The impact knocked every bit of air from his lungs and left him sprawled on the forest floor, the storm above a deafening roar in his ears. Pain screamed up his arm where he’d landed, white-hot and blinding. His dragon’s cry echoed somewhere distant, wounded..

Benjen lay still for a heartbeat, stunned. Then the truth hit him like a second fall.
He’d lost the egg.

 

[Nadya]

The egg fell, but Sirine and her bonded dragon were quick to get to it before fate and earth made it's plans.

Her dragon opened her maw, lifting that serpentine tongue and position so that the egg fell there, below her tongue and kept safe and protected beneath the muscle. Sirine's body was fueled with a rush, satisfaction that the egg was now returned to the rightful possession.

It was relief for the honour to be executed by herself, a member of the Princess' Gilded Guard.

But there was another half of the journey left to go, the journey of arresting all of these men and taking them back to the city to stand judgement.

---

Two dragons dead could only mean two riders were also dead.

Nadya swore, but did not move to chastise Cullen in front of every one else. They had formations to stick to, and now that she was given the opportunity to look around, she could see all on her squad were accounted for. Her eyes fell upon Sirine, the rider holding her gaze before giving a curt nod.

The egg was safe.

No need to yell it across the airfield.

It took more than ten minutes to round up the surviving riders, their dragons forced to kneel before Kalyss. Storm Dragons helped shape the Thunder, were the force behind the heralding sound. His guttural growl was something crafted of ancients, his ancestors were they dragons that were obeyed.

Nadya stayed in her saddle, looking down at them all, the ones that deserved death. She was a woman of her word, had made a promise to the Princess to take them back alive.

"You will be taken back to Thanasis. You are all to stand trial before the people for judgement. If any of you have any pleas, save it for then." Home. She was growing anxious for the return, to be alone with Cullen and tell him off for killing a man. It made her look as if she could not hold a promise. Each death was on her hands as Wing Leader.

But she wanted to be home to ensure her friends and her family were safe. Of course, she trusted Fedyr and Tomyris, but she needed to see them with her own eyes.

"Storm's about to get rough. We should make camp in the forest." Sirine suggested from her left. Her dragon kept quiet, for the egg was beneath her tongue. Esdyr lurked behind Kalyss, ready to snap at the arrested humans.

"See that it is done." Sirine nodded, and called to the other dragon riders to follow. All except Cullen. Nadya looked to him, argument on the tip of her tongue, but she held it.

"We are to make camp and wait out this storm. Each of you will be chained to a dragon. Step out of line, and leave your fate to them."

 

[Mylo]

Meala’s shadow fell over the clearing as she descended, her claws careful, precise. With a rumble of warning, she set her talons wide and lowered her hold until the boy’s battered body brushed the grass. Then, as gently as she could manage, she uncurled her claws and left him there, beaten and bloodied against the earth.

Someone was beside him in moments, hands working quickly, pressing against the torn mess of his side where dragon’s teeth had sunk deep. The boy flinched awake at the touch, a sharp gasp of pain splitting the quiet, his face pale and slick with sweat.

“Easy—don’t move,” someone muttered, voice clipped but not unkind.

Mylo’s eyes fluttered, desperate to close again, but the sound of boots dragging across dirt forced them open. He turned his head just enough to see the blackened body being lowered onto the grass, half of its face melted, hair burned to nothing. His heart stuttered.

“Pa?” The word cracked out of him, broken and small. He tried to sit up, but fire lanced through his torso and he collapsed back with a cry.

Zacrys and Benjen were there, both wild-eyed, grief twisted into fury.

“This was you,” Zacrys spat, voice shaking with rage as he pointed across the clearing at his youngest brother. “You killed him. You caused this.”

“Coward,” Benjen growled, his voice raw. “You’ve always been a fucking coward.”

“No…” Mylo’s voice wavered, eyes locked on his father’s ruined face. His tears blurred the sight, but they wouldn’t stop coming. He shook his head, weak, broken, breath hitching in his chest. “It’s my fault.”

He tried again to rise, teeth gritted against the pain, but strong hands shoved him back down into the grass.

“I’ll kill you for this,” Zacrys snarled, stepping forward, murder blazing in his eyes. “You little traitor.”

 

[Cullen]

Cullen swung down from Meala’s saddle once the last of the riders had peeled away toward the treeline. The storm pressed heavy on his shoulders, but it wasn’t the thunder that set his jaw tight, it was the silence between him and Nadya. He could feel it like the crackle before a lightning strike.

Meala shifted behind him, wings folding as she lowered herself to the earth, but Cullen didn’t move. He stayed rooted, gaze lowered just enough to show he knew exactly what was coming.

Finally, he exhaled, slow through his nose. “Go on, then,” he muttered, voice quiet but steady. “I know that look. Best get it out of your system before it eats us both alive.”

His eyes lifted to meet hers, the fire in them dimmed to something almost contrite.

“I shouldn’t’ve done it. Not like that. But I won't lie to you, Nad, if I had to make the choice again, I’d still burn him from the sky.” He swallowed hard, shoulders rolling back, braced for the strike of her words. “So go on. Say it. Tell me I’ve fucked this all to hell.”