𝕺𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖆

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 2

His breathing grew heavy, feeling his hands start to shake, but not by much. The adrenaline rushed through the human veins quickly, leaving no time to calm down. At this very moment, Ari had forgotten most of his training. Come on, think, Ari... Oh, gods- Run. Ari shook his head, seeing the dragon poke his head out of the tree's, showing its face.

The Wyvern had dark blue scales, having dark hints of black. Its light, luminescent, purple eyes shined against the sun. Out of the many years of him hunting dragons, he's never seen such a beast, starting back at him. Ari's face went pale, having all the blood drain from his skin.

He continued to point his bow at the monster, stepping back, trying to keep distance as the dragon slowly crept out of the trees, slowly showing its scaly body. Ari soon started to breathe heavily, trying to gain his courage, pushing away the fear. You got this, Ari. Make father proud. Kill. The. Beast.

Ari took in a deep breath, standing still, pointing the bow at the Wyvern. It's bold, beautiful eyes stared back at the dragon hunter, seeing the fear in his eyes. Ari stared back at the dragon's eyes, seeing the dragon mood change quickly. The curious expression on its face soon changed, having smoke soon come out of its nostrils, and through the small cracks in the lips.

"Oh, gods-"

Ari quickly put his bow and arrow on his back. He held the arrow tightly, not having enough time to stash it away properly. Right as the dragon blew out their fire, catching the trees on fire around him, Ari ran quickly out of range of the dragon's fire. The temperature instantly rose from a comfortable cold to a blazing hot. Ari hid behind a tree, keeping his arms and legs behind the tree, feeling the heat of the fire.

The dragon roared, making Ari close his eyes, trying to think of what to do. Birds flew off, of the surrounding trees, exposing their location. Ari knew the dragon was going to burn the whole forest down next. He took in a deep breath, soon grabbing out his bow again, putting the arrow in. He took another deep breath, soon jumping out from behind the tree, pointing the bow towards the - now laying down - dragon.

The whole situation shifted instantly from burning alive to peaceful. A shorter boy stood in front of the dragon, having some sort of herb in his hands, letting the beast smell it. All Ari could see was his dusty, silver hair. It was to his shoulders. Some strands of his hair were braided nicely. He was quite short, looking young for him to live out here alone. He wore a dark brown jacket, having black pants as well. The jacket looked like it could hold small things, like daggers, knives, poison.

Ari kept his bow pointing towards him, watching as the boy slowly turned to face him. He had freckles across his cheeks and nose, some scattered around his face as well. He smiled at Ari, having icey, green eyes looking over at the dragon hunter. His expression looked calm, kind. His smile was innocent and calming to see.

Ari cleared his throat, blinking a few times. He fixed his bow, straightening it to point at the strange, yet interesting boy.

"Who are you?" Ari asked, trying to sound - somewhat - intimidating. "And, how did you do that?"

The boy kept his hand close to the dragon's nose, keeping it concentrated on the herbs. "The question is, why are you pointing a bow towards me and Valerian?" He asks, ignoring Ari's questions.

Ari raised his eyebrow, staring at him confused. "Who's Valerian?" Ari only saw one human, the mysterious boy standing in front of him. He didn't lower his bow, not sure what he was up to.

"My dragon, of course! Who else do you think I'm talking to? The trees?" The human jokes, laughing softly to himself. 

Ari didn't seem to laugh at his joke, still having a serious expression on his face.

The boy noticed he didn't laugh with him, clearly an odd dragon rider. The boy put the herb down in the grass, having the dragon continue to smell it. He walked up to him, extending his arm out towards Ari.

"Dain. Dain Annson." He says, ignoring the boy. Ari slowly lowered his bow, shaking Dain's hand. "Ari... Just Ari."

"No last name? That's odd." Dain says, letting go of his hand, smiling up at the taller man. "Well, 'Just Ari' it's finally nice to have our paths cross." He says formally.

Ari pulled his hand back, putting his bow back across his back. He nodded softly at him, examining his clothing. He wore, very, unusual clothing for a dragon hunter. No dragon scales, dragon teeth, fur. Nothing from a dragon. Normal wool from sheep and leather from cow. I've never met a dragon hunter who doesn't wear his trophies. Ari thought for a minute, being cut off.

"So, what's someone like you doing somewhere like here?" Dain questions, looking up at Ari slightly, noticing the slight height difference. It wasn't by much, but it was noticeable to the naked eye.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ari asks, sounding a bit annoyed by his question.

"Well, you look tired and rundown. I know you don't live here." Dain says. Ari wasn't positive on how to answer his question. Honesty or a lie?

"Well, I don't actually live here. I came here by boat, searching for a Wyvern." Ari says, noticing the closeness of Dain and beast.

Dain nods, showing that he was paying attention. "Makes sense, but you can't have Valerian."

"Why do you keep calling that monster a name?" Ari blurts out, confused.

Dain was a bit taken aback, tilting his head slightly, his face slowly going red. "Valerian isn't a 'monster' she's a beautiful creature. She is no monster." He scoffs.

"They light buildings on fire, eat our livestock, killing our people. How do you think they aren't monsters?" Ari asks, getting slightly annoyed with Dain.

Dain huffs angrily, furrowing his eyebrows, scrunching up his nose. "Look. I don't know where you've been living or who raised you, but it was obviously incorrect! These creatures are beautiful, loyal, and will do anything to keep us safe! Once you gain their trust, they will always, always keep you safe." Dain argued, immediately getting pissed off at Ari.

Ari scoffs, thinking Dain is joking. "Oh, you're serious?"

How can someone so... short have so much temper and anger inside him. It's adorable that he thinks he's scary. 

 ~⨋~