Original Fiction: "Faydragon"

Pale fingers gripped the silver hilt of the sword sheathed at her waist, head held high and black eyes staring unafraid into the entrance of the labyrinth before her.

“Kilian of the Noble House of Chandestroy,” a voice from the palace wall above roared, belonging to the captain of the Royal Guard, “and Teryn of the Noble House of Iladrin! You have been chosen as the final candidates to compete for the title of Dragon Rider!”

She gave a proud toss of her thick onyx black braid and snorted. Why did they not simply give her the title and save Kilian the embarrassment of defeat? Hm. On second thought, she would rather that her rival was shown his place – perhaps it would stomp his ego down to the proper size.

“The challenges you must overcome to prove yourselves to your potential partner will be great,” the captain continued so loudly that Teryn was almost certain he could be heard across the entire capital, “but your reward will far outweigh any danger and obstacle you will strike down! Honor! Eternal glory! Power beyond your wildest dreams! And of course, the great privilege of serving this great land of Raikera as an elite warrior!”

Teryn already knew all of this – she had spent her entire life training for this moment, and so had that son-of-a-shrew Kilian. Her free hand twitched at her side and her other tightened around her sword-hilt. She was itching to go charging into this challenge and slash down a few things; preferably the teenage boy she knew was situated at the opposite entrance of the maze.

“Your strength will be pushed to its limit during this test! However, the Faydragon you fight for will ultimately decide which of you is the stronger! Now, young warriors, go forward to victory!”

A canon was fired, and Teryn’s feet were off so quickly, they hardly touched the ground. With a shing, her blade was drawn and readied as she rounded corner after corner of the enchanted labyrinth. The current Dragon Rider force of the kingdom – those who commanded the six Faydragons of Earth, Wind, Water, Thunder, Darkness and Light – had raised this maze in the palace courtyard and woven it with enchantments of elemental traps and creatures that spawned at random. The purpose was to test Teryn and Kilian’s strength and also to slow them in their search for the Faydragon that, somewhere within the earthen walls, was hidden from their sight, gauging their abilities, choosing its future Rider. Neither Teryn nor her rival knew the name or commanding element of this Faydragon, but it wasn’t like they had any desire to pick and choose.

Another corner was rounded, and Teryn came face to face with a deafening roar belonging to some gruesome Darkness elemental that nearly knocked her back into the nearest wall.

“OUT OF MY WAY!” she yelled, and with a single slash of her gleaming steel blade, the creature released an unearthly shriek of pain and dissolved into nothingness. Her first kill of the challenge. Teryn shivered with adrenaline and anticipation and resumed her advance forward – there was still more, much more, to come.

Combat was not new at all to this girl, coming from a knighting family with no male children; she had been expected to carry on the warrior legacy of her house and had been trained in the art of war since she was old enough to hold a dagger. Every elemental unfortunate enough to be in her path fell. The rush of battle was spreading through her body and sharpening her senses – her surroundings felt brighter and her nerves hyper-sensitive. In this state, she was confident she could stand up to anything and take anything down, and yet failed to notice the tendrils of frigid air creeping around her limbs until it was too late.

“Gah!” she cried, suddenly jerked to the ground and quickly realizing that she was unable to move. Upon looking down, she saw what was holding her down – thin trails of unnaturally strong ice, simply ice, anchored her to the dry grass. “What in the Great One’s name…” she growled, beginning to struggle against her strange bonds, but froze as still as a statue as she heard footsteps pattering in the distance. Not the footsteps of a monster…it was the sound of the soles of boots against the ground and a clear human stride.

A voice rang out as clear as day from her memory: “Please, twerp. What makes you think you’ll be able to make it as a knight – or even catch up with me? You’re a girl – you’ll never be stronger than the rest of us no matter how much you try.”

The sudden wave of rage at the very person running up the path towards her was all it took for her to muster the strength to break free and spring to her feet, but a moment too late. She was still in mid-crouch when a flash of olive skin and black hair nearly ran by her but skidded to a stop.

Kilian was a well-built sixteen-year-old boy and incredibly handsome, but however nice he may have looked, his contemptuous attitude ruined his entire being for Teryn. Even now, as he stood over her, barely worn out from the exertion of his own battles, that self-righteous smirk was plastered on his face.

“Need a lift, twerp?” he teased.

“Leave me be unless you want a blade in your gut,” she grumbled, her face beginning to burn.

With a presumptuous shrug, he turned away and set off down the path again. “Suit yourself. Best of luck, Teryn – you’re going to need it.”

As soon as she was sure Kilian was out of earshot, she pushed herself to her feet and let out a strangled scream of frustration. She took off in the direction opposite the path Kilian had taken, rabid anger almost making the world take on a red tint. How could she have allowed that dullard to make a fool of her like that?!

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than did another trap spawn – this time, tendrils of ice were weaving together and creating a blockade down her intended path. Another cry of frustration tore past her throat as she tried to slash through the frozen gate, but apparently the enchanted frost couldn’t be cut by sharpened steel. She quickly whirled about to try and find another path. Since when had the Water Faydragon and her Rider been able to conjure up ice? This was certainly an inconvenient time to reveal the ability, Teryn thought.

The monsters seemed to be spawning at a much faster rate, this time bringing with them strange Ice elementals that somehow didn’t seem to be fully alive. Every other corner brought with it a new frigid trap or roadblock. Never before had Teryn fought this hard or this long – fighting that had once been simple for her now seemed more draining and complex as her frustration and hopelessness grew. Was Kilian facing the same trials she was right now? Surely he couldn’t be feeling the same fatigue she was – she had seen him fight off more than this before with no repercussions to speak of. Her chance was slipping away – he was winning.

And with that passing thought, the ice was back, this time tripping her off her feet and planting her sprawled across the hard ground and pinning her there. And that was the last straw – she was at her limit. No matter how hard she tried, how much she yelled at her muscles to move, she couldn’t muster up the will to break free. Desperation swallowed up her pride at last.

“You win!” Teryn screamed to the sky. “I give up! YOU’RE STRONGER!” He was stronger.

The blatantly true confession seemed to break something inside her, as if a great load was being lifted. It was over. She had given up and the Faydragon would choose Kilian. Not her. Being defeated by her rival was awful enough, but now it seemed to dim in comparison to everything else. What would her family say of her failure? Her noble peers would be able to put her down with reason now. And she thought of the other Riders and their Faydragons – how they spoke of their bond as the greatest friendship one could have – and realized that bond was now something that she would never possess. Tears of both anger and despair stung her eyes.

A strange chill crept into the air, bringing with it a comforting presence foreign to her throughout the previous ordeal. The air around her seemed to be darkening. She turned her head to look up and what she saw nearly made her gasp in wonder had she not been so fatigued.

A twinkling sphere of pale blue hung suspended in the air, seeming to draw all the light in the area to it – or perhaps it was simply the surrounding landscape darkening in comparison to its brilliance.

“You have gone through much to find me, little one.”

The ethereal voice was that of a young man’s, but reflected wisdom far beyond mere mortal comprehension.

“You’re the Faydragon,” she managed to whisper weakly.

“I am Azuré, the Faydragon of Ice.”

Teryn could do little more than stare in wonder. She felt her bonds melting away bit by bit, and soon she was pushing herself up onto her knees, but still continued to stare into the Faydragon’s spirit form.

“The Faydragon of Ice,” she whispered, understanding finally striking her. “It was you who kept slowing me down.”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“Kilian’s cruelty made him blind to my presence. It was your pride that hid me from you. Only through my humbling you into defeat could you be made worthy to become my Rider.”

Teryn barely even noticed that she was still staring like a dumbstruck fool at the immortal being. “Become…your Rider? Why me? I’m…weak.”

“We are all weak in at least one way, even I. While you may be weaker in body than your young adversary, weakness of the spirit is far more deadly. I see honor and bravery beneath your pride – if you choose to embrace that honor, I will accept you as my Bonded Rider.”

Teryn nodded, closing her eyes and bowing her head, a bit afraid and yet longing for what was to come.

All at once, the warm light delved into her chest and seemed to illuminate up her entire body, which felt as light as air – a surge of great power opening her mind to a presence that felt so foreign and yet so perfect. Years – no, centuries of wisdom, memories and emotions poured through her expanded awareness but she could not latch onto any of them. The power reached a peak which she could barely contain, and it was at that moment the warmth faded, although a remnant of the presence remained, an eternal part of her inner self.

“Rise, Lady Teryn, my Rider. May the Great One give us strength as we serve this kingdom.”

Teryn opened her eyes and rose to her feet, steady and stately, and cast her eyes upward. The labyrinth had vanished into mist, leaving her standing in the open palace courtyard, and there towering at least a story above her was a lanky and elegant dragon, gleaming with scales of ice blue and snow white in the deepening twilight. Slowly, with reverence and a strange air of companionship, the great beast spread his wings and lowered his head down to Teryn, where a large ice-blue gem shimmered upon his forehead. Teryn, now smiling genuinely for the first time in this ordeal, placed her hand upon Azuré’s head. It was then that she noticed the delicate ice-blue marks that now swirled up and about her wrist and arm from a gem similar to Azuré’s that rested on her right hand, one of the many marks that now adorned her as a symbol of one touched by the Faydragons. Azuré blinked his great blue eyes and gently pushed against Teryn’s palm in a sign of affection.

“You’re beautiful,” Teryn said.

“As are you,” Azuré responded in kind with a deep rumbling sound that almost resembled a feline’s purr.

The cheers of the royal court, the knights and the Riders, and the celebratory roars of the other six Faydragons now broke through Teryn and Azuré’s own little world, and they at last took notice of their surroundings. As Azuré roared to his Faydragon kin in return, Teryn looked around in bewilderment to see none other than Kilian Chandestroy approaching her and her new partner.

Contrary to her earlier belief, he appeared to be quite worn out, his black hair tangled and matted with sweat, and his body covered in scratch marks. The look in his eyes could be described as a few things – humiliation, defeat, disbelief – but in spite of that, his lips twitched up into a ghost of a genuine smile as he stood before her.

“Nice job, twerp,” he offered his congratulations in his own way, extending his hand.

Teryn gave him only a tiny smile, lightly vaulting up to take her place on Azuré’s back at the hollow between his shoulders. Now having to look down to see her former adversary, and with a soft laugh that clearly said, ‘I cannot believe what I’m about to do,’ she reached a hand downward to him.

“Need a lift?”