The Light Fury Rider

Prince of DunBroch

Meridus was riding his horse, Angus, through the forest one sunny afternoon. The reason why he was riding was because he needed to think about the discussion he had with his mother, Queen Eleanor, earlier. The discussion was about marriage. A topic he never liked talking about. The clans were somewhat pressuring him into getting married. Meridus wasn't so keen on getting married. He knew that the other princesses wanted to marry him because he's a prince. He unfortunately scared off most of them, which made him happy. He wanted a girl to like him for he is, not as a prince, but as a person. It wouldn't matter if she was royalty or not. However, he knew that type of girl won't ever appear or probably doesn't exist. He sighed heavily at the thought.

Suddenly he heard a 'whoosh' sound and looked up to see a white creature fly over his head. He wanted to know what it was so he decided to follow which direction it went to. He urged Angus into a gallop, trying to catch up to the creature. When the creature began to slow down and head towards the trees, he made Angus slow down. But once he did, Meridus lost sight of the creature. He pulled the reigns, making Angus stop. He sighed heavily for losing sight of the creature. 

Suddenly he saw a familiar creature, the one who led him to find a witch who gave him a spell that would change his fate a year ago: a wisp. He dismounted Angus and walked over to the wisp. He knelt down and reached his hand out to it. When he touched it, it disappeared and then reappeared in a long line. He mounted Angus again and urged him to follow the wisps. As soon as he got to the end of the line of wisps, they all disappeared.

Meridus sighed, "Where did you wisps lead me to?"

Then he heard a voice nearby. Curious to who the voice belonged to, he urged Angus to follow the voice. When he reached a pair of big bushes, he dismounted Angus and went towards the voice and noticed that the voice belonged to a female. Unexpectedly, something tackled Meridus to the ground. He looked up and saw blue eyes with slit pupils, staring at him like a wolf. He couldn't help but gasp at the creature. It was a dragon. A real, living, breathing dragon.

"Skylar, stop!" A female voice yelled.

The dragon obeyed the female voice and went over to stand beside a girl.

"I'm so sorry. Skylar is just protective of me, and she was relying on her instincts." The girl apologized as she held her hand out to him.

Meridus gently took hold of her hand and helped him back onto his feet. When he finally stood on his two feet, he gazed upon the girl who saved him from the dragon. She had long auburn hair that was braided and forest green eyes that he was almost lost in.

"Who-Who are you?" Meridus asked, nervously.

"Oh, I'm Hicca and this is my dragon friend, Skylar." 'Hicca' introduced herself and her dragon, "And you are?"

"Meridus." Meridus introduced himself.

He didn't know if the girl could be fully trusted yet, so he kept the fact that he was a royal a secret, for now.

"I didn't expect to meet a girl out here."

"Yeah well, we're just passing through." Hicca said.

"Passing through?" Meridus asked.

"Yes, we're looking for a place to call home." Hicca replied.

"Why if I may ask?" Meridus questioned.

"It's kind of long and complicated story." Hicca answered, sheepishly.

Meridus shrugged, "Well I got the time." 

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And so, Hicca and Skylar brought Meridus to their campsite. He was surprised that there were more dragons with her. They were all in different shapes and sizes. She introduced them all to him. Meridus was fascinated by all of them. But he was mostly curious about her Light Fury. 

At the moment, Hicca was cooking some fish over the fire. Meridus sat across from her. He wondered why this girl and her dragons were here and where did they come from. But why did the wisps lead him to this girl?

"So where are you from, Hicca?" Meridus asked.

"Well, I'm from...Berk." Hicca replied hesitantly.

"Berk? That's an island in the Barbaric Archipelago...wait a minute...you're a Viking?" Meridus's eyes widened.

"Ex-Viking." Hicca corrected, "I left my tribe."

"You left? Why?" Meridus questioned.

"Personal reasons." Hicca answered and then sighed, "Even if I did go back, I would still be killed."

"How come?" Meridus asked.

"Harboring a dragon is considered treason and you'll be sentenced to death by blood-eagle." Hicca replied.

"Could you tell me why you left?" Meridus requested.

"Sure." Hicca accepted.

And so, Hicca had told Meridus everything that had happened her: from how she was treated her whole life to how her Night Fury friend died.

"I'm sorry, Hicca." Meridus apologized, "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"It's okay. You wanted to know why. So you don't need to apologize." Hicca assured him, "Luckily Skylar was able to get me out of my wedding."

"Your wedding?" Meridus blinked.

"My father arranged me to be married to Asher," Hicca responded, "Skylar came in and grabbed me before I got to the ceremony." She gently petted Skylar's head who purred at her touch.

"You're lucky to have a friend like Skylar." Meridus said.

"Yeah, I am." Hicca smiled.

Meridus was awed by her smile. He believed that she looked beautiful when she smiled. He couldn't believe that this girl had gone through so much. Somehow, she gained another friend when she was at her very lowest. She bravely broke away from the place that had caused her so much misery and found the happiness with her dragon friends.

He was glad that he followed the wisps who led him to this girl.

Perhaps, he was meant to meet her somehow.