Hi! I'm the author Abraxos, you can call me Brax. Lately I've been reading a bunch of Dragon books and found inspiration to write. With my little dragons by my side I've decided to craft up another book. At the point of starting this I don't know if there will be a sequel or prequel, maybe later if this becomes popular I might write one. Who knows 😏👀...
I hope you enjoy the story, I'd love feedback... my little lizard is curled up beside me so pull up a seat and grab your little lizard get ready to explore a whole new world. 🤔🤭🤫
P.S: IF ANY OF THE IMAGES ARE YOURS PLEASE MESSAGE ME AND I'LL TAKE THEM DOWN OR IF YOU'D LIKE CREDIT I CAN DO THAT TOO. SORRY. ALSO THIS STORY IS COPYRIGHTED :D
- Brax Xx
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Skycrest:
One late frigid morning in the small quaint town of Skycrest icy snow began to float down from the grey cloud-filled skies above. The small country town is known as Skycrest due to the large open skies and clear view of the snowy Alps. The town is full of families and travellers, although small, the townhouses a few thousand residents and is located a few weeks journey on foot from the capital.
Today, despite the weather, people mill about doing their own things in the chilly morning air, the first snow is always somewhat of a big deal in the small town. It's a day for pranks and sharing stories, for sitting in front of a warm fire and drinking mugs of steaming hot cocoa with little marshmallows and whipped cream. The discrete village isn't much but it's peaceful and is naturally integrated into the lush greenery surrounding it. A sparkling clear blue lake lay to the east of the village, where the children went swimming in the warmer months and played and skated joyfully on the frozen surface in the winter months. Great willow trees sweep down towards the packed and well worn grass-covered earth and provide a shaded area for families to sit and small creatures to take refuge from the vicious weather. Colourful plants with bright flowers and unique leaves are scattered around the small town while in the centre of the big turquoise lake is a small rocky island fitted with a tall stone watchtower standing guard, and harpoons and bows at the ready to fire on unsuspecting trespassers.
"RIA!" A deep growl of outrage echoes through the bustling streets of Skycrest from beside an old pie stand in the middle of town. Alaria, a girl of 16 with shoulder-length snow-white hair, piercing maroon eyes, and a short stature, had just pied her best friend, Blaze, with a lemon cream pie. The old shopkeeper chuckled at Ria as she was always getting into trouble during the first snow. She was known around town as the Snow-bandit during this particular time, the first snow was when she didn't stand out... it was when her hair blended perfectly with the pristine snow. She wasn't mocked or teased for her hair colour and bright eyes during this time unlike during other months when she was taunted by the other teens. She was different from everyone else, never majorly cared what people thought of her and she lived life how she wanted, not what everyone else deemed appropriate. This angered many townsmen but she also had gained respect from other citizens, never the ones her age, however, showed any respect for her.
Ria's best friend Blaze is that one guy who everyone either wants to date or wishes to be, he leads a seemingly perfect life. His family is wealthy, his parents are married and he is always smiling and joking around. Blaze is well known for his sporting and fighting skills, he has a strong jawline, tousled auburn hair, and golden lions eyes, he's fit from fighting and competing in sports tournaments over the years too. At only 16 years of age Blaze is already fairly tall, towering over most people in the community especially Ria's small build.
Ria out of most of the young girls in town never viewed him as more than a friend, she loved him but only to the extent of a brother or best friend. Their close friendship has made it harder for Ria to make female friends as each of them over a short amount of time becomes jealous over her friendship with Blaze and ends up pulling away and sacrificing their whole friendship over the simple human emotion of jealousy.
So you may be wondering; How did two complete... or not so complete opposites become best friends? It began on Ria's first day of school. Living in a tiny town and recognising almost all your neighbours meant there were rarely any new faces, friendships were already made and newcomers were welcomed with open arms and pulled straight into the rich crowd. That is until they are kicked out at least until they became useless to them.
Ria's family aren't rich but they lead a happy, joy-filled life, her parents own a popular fusion restaurant in the heart of town. It's one of the most popular in town. It's a place for peace and serenity, but growing up there could get tough. She meets everyone but never forms connections with them as they leave until the next time they want food from their restaurant and families on the richer side view her working-class parents as trash. Like mosquitos on a humid night. Annoying.
Blaze on the other hand is part of the rich crowd, they are the crowd who treat the commoners poorly unless they require something from them. However Blaze's family are different, they treat the commoners with respect and help them out from time to time. Blaze lives with his parents and baby sister who is 5 years his junior, the large gap does mean they aren't extremely close but still, he tries to help her out occasionally... or when Ria forces him too.
The first day of school had arrived and Ria was nervous, being only 5 years of age she barely knew anyone however at the same time she knew everyone but Ria had few friends none of which were in her class. She loved cooking and animals but also adored weaponry and reading. Unlike most girls her age who wanted fancy dresses, shoes, or dolls, all Ria wanted was weapons and trousers. From a young age, Alaria has had an extreme interest in weapons and their usage, now at age 16 she's trained with different types of weapons and can defend herself from others with almost all types. The girls look at her in disgust and the guys find her too independent and sharp-tongued.
Her dad walked her to school that dreary morning of her first day at school and waved goodbye at the small gate which led up to the doors of the old dilapidated school building. Ria turned around and waved to her father, taking a deep breath she walked into the small classroom. Students were going crazy, flinging paint and sticks everywhere. By the time she found a spare seat in the corner of the classroom, her Snow White hair was covered in splatters of multi-coloured paint.
As a 5-year-old she didn't mind getting dirty so she went on with her life not caring about her paint-covered hair. A third of the way through the first day a young boy about the same age as her and the rest of the class walked in, hand-in-hand with an older man, presumably his father or guardian of some sort. Ria had seen them around town together so presumed he was the late kid's father.
"Aah sorry for being late, had an emergency at home." The older silver-haired kind-faced man smiled at our teacher.
In return she smiled too, "It's alright. Who do we have here?" She beckoned the small child forwards.
"Hi, I'm Blaze." The young boy smiled at the teacher before walking further into the classroom.
"Hi Blaze, go find a seat."
Ria looked up from the corner and studied the young boy, he seemed friendly enough. He - Blaze - would most likely end up in the popular group. She ignored the interference and went back to colouring. The day flew by, it was soon lunchtime and the class went out to sit in the blazing sun.
A pack of the town's rich girls walked over to Ria who was sitting in the sun against the white picket fence, they each introduced themselves seemingly kindly but Ria knew they were up to no good. The soft snickers from some girls behind them gave away their secret. Before she could react they were splashing paint all over her. Her already-colored snow-white hair was completely covered in paints along with her clothes and bag.
From further down the garden Blaze was watching, assessing the escalating situation. He hated watching people be picked on, much like how his family despised it. Blaze scrambled up and went marching over never taking his golden lion's eyes off the scene that was unfolding, the ignorant teacher lounged in the sun completely oblivious to the bullying.
As the 5-year-old Blaze got within hearing distance of the group of young girls he heard Ria growl, "Get off me!" As Blaze watched he saw the small ostensibly scared girl's eyes flash from maroon to silver and back again. The bullies ran screaming and whimpering from Ria who was still seated on the floor covered in wet paint but looked calm as though nothing had just happened. Blaze rushed over and pulled Ria up from the puddle of paint.
"That was horrible!" Blaze looked with contempt at the bullies. He quickly turned back to Ria realising he hadn't introduced himself "I'm Blaze by the way. Also, that eye trick was super cool!" The young boy smiled at the young girl genuinely.
"Ria." She stuck out her paint-covered hand and Blaze shook it not caring about the paint getting on him. "Those girls are mean... also thanks, my eyes? what?" She shrugged looking at her paint-covered clothes.
"Let's go inside." Blaze tugged her arm for Ria to follow, completely ignoring her confusion upon the eye comment. Together they charged inside the classroom and sat down in the back corner against the wall away from the view of bystanders. "Here." Blaze finds a clean handkerchief in his pocket and hands it to Ria, she smiles gratefully and wipes the paint off her face. Her eyes begin brimming with uncontrollable tears, her shirt, pants, and bag were wrecked.
Blaze gently pats her head awkwardly attempting to soothe her shaking body. From that point on the two have been inseparable, pulling pranks on others and hanging out at each other's houses. Many townspeople disagree with a lowly and ranked being friends but their parents don't mind which they both believe is more important.
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Now back to the present.
Ria threw a pie at Blaze and it doused his face in lemon cream. "Mmmm... at least you chose my favourite." Blaze throws a casual wink at Ria before wiping off the cream from his face. Ria handed a few coins to the old shopkeeper before skipping off to find her next victim. Blaze watched in complete fascination as Ria's eyes changed colour from maroon to silver, she never seemed to realise it happened. Didn't even believe Blaze until he showed her in a mirror one time when they were 8.
She stopped in her tracks and looked up at the sky. Blaze looked up too, noticing the look of awe scrawled across Alaria's face, dancing through the snow-filled clouds high above were dragons of all colours and sizes. Dragons are creatures of mystery and allure, they are respected, and becoming a rider is one of the greatest honours. It is almost everyone's wish to be either a rider or Isalor, the rider is the tamer of the beast while the Isalor is the person who fights on the ground and side-by-side with the dragon and rider. There is a rare possibility that if two people are closely bonded and both are riders they can be one another Isalor's too but that's only happened a few times.
Together the two of them watched the dragons arc through the sky weaving in and out of the clouds, some blasting flames, ice, electricity, wind, or water. The group of dragons fly away from the small town of Skycrest and out of view in perfect sync, Blaze watches mesmerized. Ria having seen Blaze watching the dragons fly off sneaks up behind him.
"BOO!" Ria hisses into Blaze's ear, letting off a whoosh of warm air into the frigid morning sky. Blaze reacts to the sudden sensation and spins around bear-hugging a laughing Ria. They stay like that for a few moments, everyone just walking around them ignoring the two of them completely.
"Come on let's go back to my house and we can cook something new!" Ria smiles at Blaze knowing his love for concocting new and improved dishes.
One of the favoured dishes at Ria's family restaurant was created by the two of them a few years earlier, a modern take on lasagna. Together they raced over to the restaurant as Ria's family owned the rooms upstairs. Although small the area was cozy and homey, the kitchen was spacious as Ria's whole family enjoyed creating and perfecting new recipes.
Arriving back to Alaria's after a short walk the two teens raced upstairs to the kitchen. Long hours of cooking later the pair had each created a new 3-course meal. They swapped and perched at the dining table, critiquing one another's dishes based on appearance and taste. That afternoon the duo decided Ria's had tasted better, the plating however went to Blaze. He had an eye for designing plates of food compared to Ria's monstrosities.
"Alaria! Alaria!" Ria's mum's voice boomed from downstairs. Her mum never used her full name unless stressed or angry. Ria and her mother Daphne had a very rocky relationship, some days Daphne treated Ria as though she was pure good while others she was treated as waste.
"This can't be good," Ria scowled at Blaze but got up, "I'm not sure how long I'll be so I'll meet you at the fountain in a few hours." She smiled and sprinted downstairs to see what her mum requested.
o-o
For a few long hours, Ria helped in the kitchen cooking and waiting tables. The customers all loved her as her service was quick and collected but polite and understandable. Eventually escaping the restaurant Ria went in search of Blaze, it was long past the time they were meant to meet but Blaze would've eventually gone to their spot. An afternoon the pair had gone adventuring and found a cave in the forest near Ria's house, they had decorated it together with newspapers and wood scraps that they had made into furniture. It was their little escape.
Ria jogged at a fast pace through the forest following the well-worn path until reaching the tree stump that informed her that it was where she was to leave the trail, a short 2-minute hike later she had reached the cave entrance covered in vines. The trees surrounding the outside meant it was well hidden from the path but easy enough for them to leave and find their way back. Ria pushed her way through the drooping vines and into the cave, torches were lit along the wall sconces which ultimately proved Blaze was there.
"Blaze!" Ria called into the well-lit cave, there was a movement from her left and she dodged to the side. Her quick reflexes allowed her to evade Blaze from tackling her to the ground with practised ease.
"Lame!" Ria calls out from her perch against the wall where she leans watching Blaze regroup with a calculating eye. Blaze just grunts and goes to sit down in the armchair the two had made together a while back.
Ria strolls over and slides onto the other armchair they made to match the first, they chatted for a short while until the sun sank to produce beautiful glowing stars. The moon shone brightly in the dark sky illuminating their path back home, the pair hopped up and raced home. Tonight Blaze was to be eating with a few other rich families and had to go home leaving Ria to go to her house and face the possible anger of her mother.
Late that night after everyone had gone to bed Alaria sat on the window sill of her small room and watched the stars when she was little if she had trouble falling asleep she would sit and look at the constellations. The one that glowed the brightest was always the dragon juggling a sun and moon, it was Ria's favourite constellation for dragons was her passion. The uniqueness of each represented so many things to her and she loved the sun and moon. She found her personality more like the moon, pure white and hard as a rock, her eyes changed colour similar to the moon's eclipse.
That night she fell into a deep sleep gazing out her closed window at the never-ending orbs of light, creating patterns in the stars and the soft patter of freshly falling snow.
o-o
So... Did you like it? That's chapter one down and a bunch to go, I enjoyed writing this so hopefully it's alright. Please leave love and critique in the comments but please no hate.
- Brax xx