Name

Adelais

Age

243 (Young adult in dragon years)

Gender

Female

Species

Avesan (Oriental and western cross, essentially)

Continent

Aves

Personality

This dragoness has a peculiar nature, and it takes one that truly understands it to appreciate it. She uses manners when needed - and is respectful, but isn’t afraid to sneer at someone to their face.

Adelais is not one for conflict, but she will definitely not be buddy buddy for no reason. Being raised from the first few sparks of war to the now peak of it, her role was to be a warrior. Trust isn’t something that comes easy, but it does need to be earned. Ego is one of the things she hates the most, dragons who think they are liked by everyone will be avoided by her as long as possible. Her stoicness can come off as intimidating to some, but if you prove yourself, she’s a social butterfly.

Growing up in a colder environment (quite literally, as well) Adelais was never able to truly socialize in a warm, light way, so she doesn’t expect others to out of force of habit. If you’re on her good side, Adelais is very chatty and curious. She loves to express herself through art, and will show anyone who takes it. Sometimes her curiosity comes back to bite her in the tail, though, as she likes to get in more daring situations to protect either others or herself. A lot of the time she can come off as naive, and aloof. Making a mistake such as this is grave, as her trust is more delicate than the brittlest of twigs. Prone to snapping at dragons who don’t pick up on her signs that she wants to be left alone, Adelais usually isn’t too well liked among the other soldiers she works with.

Appearance

Adelais has scales resembling pearls; a pure white with an iridescent splash when hitting the light at the right moment. She has the facial structure of an oriental dragon, with the almost feline-like, long and elegant snout. Sprouting from beside her nostrils, two thin whiskers fall, just barely to shoulder length. Her body is slimmer than a western dragon, though she bears the physique of one. Her muscle mainly resides in the shoulders, jaw, and legs. The snow white and pearl iridescence continues on every scale of her body, down to her tail that's far longer than her body.

Wings unfurl from her shoulders, bat-like and long, a more matte white on the underside but keeping the pearlescence on the top. A frill of long, thin black spikes poke out from her cheeks like a frilled lizard, and they can either lay flat or flare up and out in shock or aggressive displays. A sail made out of soft, silky black fur runs from her forehead down to the tip of her tail. If you look hard enough, it reflects the light in teals, cyans, and purples as a raven’s feather would. Her eyes are sharp, piercing sapphires underneath a spiky brow. Horns flow from her forehead into a crown of matte white antlers, two small black spikes just in front of said antlers.

Her height and weight are regarded as average for her species, though to other dragons she's on the taller side.

Abilities

Her abilities follow classic ice dragon abilities: Immunity to extremely cold temperatures, barbed talons to grip ice, and lacking the ability to breathe flames as a stereotypical dragon does. Instead, she can breathe what’s essentially Ice VII; sharp ice that’s almost like nails, forming with the jaggedness of ice fractal shapes and can lethally latch onto scales or projectiles.

Weaknesses

Adelais struggles in humidity and hotter climates of course, as well as not being able to navigate heavily vegetated terrain due to the icelands of Aves being basically empty land.

Strengths

Her combat is excellent, but she has had no experience with water combat and swimming, so that would be an instant game changer in the midst of a fight. Her stamina is great when it comes to travel.

Name:

Agni

Age:

261

Gender:

Male

Species:

Western Inferno Dragon

Continent:

Ardens

Personality:

Agni is..complicated. He is the most fierce and aggressive male on the continent, but he’s also the biggest lover and protector.

His loyalty to his tribe goes beyond himself, but to every individual dragon of his tribe. This loyalty follows over in personal relationships as well. He will follow until the day he dies, but it takes him time to build that loyalty. Once he has given it to you, it’s hard to lose, but once lost it can never be gained again.

Agni is protective. He would rather keep all of the dragons he loves in one room and fly circles to make sure no one gets to them. With that being said his protectiveness can be overbearing and come across as controlling, but really it’s just hard for him to show feelings.

Like many of the dragons his age or close to it he was born into the war. He doesn’t know anything other than the fighting and death that has surrounded his world. Both of his parents were high ranking officials in his tribes military, they raised him barking orders. That, and being trained since the day he could walk, cause him to be an excellent follower. Not that he can’t make his own decisions, or think for himself, but he would rather have the order given to him so he could have the satisfaction of carrying it out. He has trouble listening to dragons he doesn’t have respect for. But once it’s earned he will do whatever is asked.

Agni is a powerhouse of strength and power, but he’s unpredictable. If angered to a certain point he becomes explosive and volatile. Once he’s reached tangos point it’s almost impossible to bring him back until he has tired himself out. He gets to this point if he feels extremely frightened, or his loved ones are being threatened. He can’t exactly control his anger very well. He’s hot headed (no pun intended) and gets angry fast. But just as fast as it starts it fades, which makes him extremely unpredictable to those who don’t know him.

At heart he is a big softie. He would stop the war and have each tribe live in harmony if he could, but he knows that’s not possible. He craves validation and always does his best to please those around him. If given the chance he will be affectionate and kind, but that’s more rare than the quietness he gives when comfortable.

Appearance:

Agni is a large male. His bloodlines forcing him to be this way. He isn’t fully grown yet but he is nearly as big as a full grown dragon already and he still has a lot of growing to do. His wings are cast and stretch wide and far. His tail makes him seem larger, it’s long and thin and the end is covered in an odd shaped frill.

The young males scales are an unmistakably crimson red. Strange vein like lines of bright scarlet cup through his scales, like rivers of lava, each giving a different shape and direction. The very tips of his scales are a darker maroon color that give him a shadowed look when the sun is not hitting him.

Agnis wings, and tail sails are strange. They appear to be singed by fire, burnt to old shapes, and even having small holes in them, but this is how all dragons of his tribe are, each a unique burn pattern.

Down his spine, around his face, and on the joints of his wings he had thick spiky ridges like the rocks from the place he calls home. Along his back and shoulder/main wing joint they are largest and almost look like small volcanos on his scales.

His smaller features are just as important. His horns are a molten color, curving up towards the sky instead up arching down towards the ground. His eyes are a startling blue, the same color as the fire that comes from his mouth when his anger has reached its furthest point. His claws are are sharp, but in a rock slide kind of way. They will tear scales, not because they’re dagger sharp, but because they’re mountain thick.

Abilities:

As most dragons can do he can spew fire from his mouth. Unlike other dragons, because he is an inferno species, his fire can get twice as hot as the normal dragons. He often doesn’t use this temperature because it takes a lot from his body.

His body is fire resistant to a degree. He can be burned but usually only by another inferno type. He can’t stand cold whether and would rather sleep on the sun than touch snow or ice.

When he goes into his rage stage his body becomes hot to the touch. The rivers of scarlet seem to glow giving him an ominous look. This also takes a big toll on his body and he has to rest for a while after.

A minor ‘ability’ is that he can go days and days without water, but only if he uses his fire minimally

Weaknesses:

Agni isn’t the best in water or snow/ice scenarios. He will fly for days in order to simply not have to touch any sort of water. He doesn’t mind forests, but he is slightly too big to gracefully move through them. He could t outrun a snail if it gave him a head start...

Strengths:

He is a powerful fligher and fighter do to his large wings. He isn’t very fast, but he is strong. He has always been ‘proud’ of his muscle and will willingly show off his power.(mostly because that’s the only thing he has to show) he’s a good fighter, and often over powers his opponents rather than outs kill them.

Scarlet beams split through the bare lands. The ground was dark, the occasional crack giving way to thick bubbling lava. The sun was rising to the far north, casting a blood red sky over the home of the red dragons. One in particular was sat upon a large mound of molten rock, that had formed from years and years of lava rivers. His vivid blue eyes popped off of their violent red canvas. His name was Agni, and he always woke before the sun, if he slept at all.

Today was no different, he had woken and made his way to this rock to watch the massive ball of gas climb into view. It brought him a strange sense of closeness to the world. He could breathe and withstand the same thing that lit up their world, maybe not to the extent of the suns temperature, but to the extent of his brothers fire which was what pulled him from his thoughts. “Hey squid brain” his brother said trying to land beside him. Agni snorted, small puffs of smoke curling of of his nostrils. “What do you want Baskara” Agni said coldly. His tone may have been stiff, but his tail curled to be closer to the smaller dragon. “Mother and father need you” the small dragon tried to climb closer to his brother, or rather higher on the rock. Agni nudged him away with his wing, causing Baskara to flutter his wings to keep his balance. While he struggled to regain his footing Agni took to the air, his wings finding the air currents almost like they had minds of their own. “Come on lizard” he called back lightly.

Once Agni arrived to his cave he landed and walked in, his claws clicking quietly on the ash covered stone. “Agni” a voice came from the dark. Two pairs of eyes were seen before the owners. A large male and female dragon peered at him, disapproval practically written on their faces. Suddenly the younger male felt small and helpless. He dipped his head respectfully and spoke “you called for me” he stated quietly.

“We have not called for you,” the male stepped closer, his wings cocked at an angle to make him look larger. Agni hunched more, he was nearly the same size as the adult male, but his confidence and ego weren’t nearly as large. “For some reason the King and Queen require your audience” his father continued. At this the younger dragons head popped up. “Me?” He asked. “Did I stutter?” His father growled. “No, I apologize” Agni said quickly. With a snort his father turned his back and walked away, an interaction Agni knew so well. The female dragon stepped forward and lowered her snout towards him. “Make us proud” her voice was skeptical, but her eyes betrayed the affection she wished to give him. With that Agni turned and hurried out of the cave taking to the sky and flying hard and fast, passing a tired Baskara on the way out.

It took Agni nearly an hour to get to the palace of the royals. The ‘castle’ or what was called the castle was a small volcano that had massive craters in the sides, these had been changed into bedrooms, prisons, and thrown rooms. Carefully Agni found his way to the thrown room. Two massive dragons sat on large, clean cut, stone slabs. The grey stone stuck out like a sore talon against the dark molten room. Rivers of lava flowed between the slabs, and into a large circle in front of them. Nothing in the room wasn’t grand and eye catching. Satires and Ruby’s hung from the necks of the massive dragons on the slabs. They each had bracelets and earring and extra pieces of jewelry that Agni didn’t even know the name for. “Come on young warrior” the kings voice boomed. Agni didn’t have a choice he carefully walked in, stepping over the lava river and into the circle. “Your majesty’s” he bowed deeply and held it for a moment before returning to his stance. They gave him a nod of approval and a strange sense of pride airhead through him at the small acknowledgment.

“We have called you here because you are the son of two of our greatest war generals. You have been trained by both of them and you are loyal to your tribe. We have a mission for you, but before you are told you will travel to a secret location for a war council with the Avesan. There you will be informed of your mission.” Excitement tingled through his feet. A mission? A mission from the king and queen? Oh this must be really big! “You leave now” wait. He thought. Now? He couldn’t leave yet. He had to tell Baskara. He had to make sure the young dragon was going to be ok. He couldn’t leave yet.

Agni looked at the king to respectfully inform him of the delay, but the king raised his talons in silence. “Your young brother will be taken care of. Elio informed us of the strong responsibility you feel for him. He will be taken care of” Elio was the princess. The clumsy, loud, horrible fighting, princess. She was kind, but not the brightest. Although she was funny and gorgeous, she and Agni had grown up together they were practically clutchmates. Agni dipped his head in thanks. “Then as you wish your majesty” the king let out a small growl noise and four other dragons came into the room. Three soldiers, and the head of the war council for his tribe. They all looked at him, then to the king.

“Haco” the king said to the council leader. “Take the soldiers, and Agni, and go to the war council. Speak to no one of why, if you get in trouble turn back immediately” the secretiveness of this caused Agni to twitch in apprehension. Haco, the council leader bowed then quickly ran out of the cave, the soldiers following. It took Agni a moment but he caught on that he too was supposed to follow. He ran out and flapped his wings hard, catching up up with them.

This was going to be the most exciting thing Agni had ever done, and he didn’t even know what it was yet.

A long, snow-white dragoness sat, perched on a long, jagged boulder jutting upwards with her wings hugged tightly against her sides. The sapphires placed in her skull her visible through small slits; which were squeezed half shut. Her tail hung over the rocks like a scarf would be tossed aside onto a seat - like waves overlapping the rock she sat upon.

The ground below seemed the same for miles. Bumpy waves of snow darkened by the dwindling cover of night interrupted by shrubbery and other rock piles. There were little waves within waves of snow; as though thousands of snails left marks throughout the land. Through the dense constant fog in the arctic sky of Avens mountains split the land perfectly, faintly visible to the awaking dragoness. The sky itself was a beautiful sight to behold, the land and sky warm with the cheerfulness of the sun waking with her. A small, almost white dot painted the entire sky with pastel colours; orange, to pink, to pale yellow, which sunk into the creeping pale blue. This was the only time of day she could appreciate in peace. Soon, everything would be dark blue, as though the ocean depths reached up to seize the sky in their talons. The snowfall had already began, soon to gather rage into a stinging blizzard into nightfall. A sigh escaped her throat, sending a miniature flurry whirling around her snout. The whiskers that gracefully fell from her snout danced above the stone in the disturbed air, settling once again. Studying her barbed talons, she poked at the slits dug into the underside of her claws. It reminded her of fishing. Perhaps it was going to be another chore her father asked her to take care of once again. Maybe one day she could switch - the other sides of the mountain were far richer and each one of them seemed to live in luxury. The palace was smack in the middle, at the highest peak in the ridge splitting Aves.

Crackling of snow and lazy wingbeats disturbed her, causing her eyes to fully open. "Adelais! You slept in, you know you need to go hunt. What will mother think?" Her sister, an ashy cold gray dragon that took to the more western part of their breed, looked up at her older sister with teasing emerald eyes. The freckles of blue along her body shimmered iridescently in the sunrise's light, similar to Adelais's own pearlescent white scales. "Mother can shove two herring up her nose for all I care. I'm sure she's considered it. Imagine seeing only this for centuries on end." Adelais squinted at the land stretching before her, the exact same albeit the mountains and odd hill. "I wish we could go to Aquilae. It's colder than Runswick and so much more cervidae." The smaller dragon smiled into the distance with a vacant look. Adelais's little glutton of a sister adored feasting on anything with a set of hooves. "They closed their border to us. Imagine being the landmass in between the most violent war right now, Araceli." Adelais frowned at her sister. She was jealous of the little thing, Araceli wouldn't have to go through the rigorous and physically demanding training her entire childhood as she had. "Well, I bet they would've allied with us." Araceli snuck her nose in the air snootily, the two white whiskers matching Adelais longer than her own body following her movements. "Sure. Were chores all you needed to bug me about?" Adelais let herself crack a smile. "Oh, no no no! Dad wanted to talk to you. Mother might be there." That was all Araceli revealed, spreading her tiny wings and flapping loudly into the distance the way she came. Volume matched up too.

'Really? I made sure to catch extra after training yesterday. I hope it's a reward.' Curiosity won her over. Adelais unfurled her wings that stretched far over her head, hesitating to stretch and gather strength before kicking off. The flap left an indent in the snow below the boulder, a crater of snow left behind. Two small clusters of marigold were revealed below her.

Thoughts circled lazily in Adelais's mind as she flew. Were they really going to reward her, finally? Was it just reminding her to refreeze fish she caught? Maybe even a promotion to squad leader instead of soldier over and over again. ...Deployment? The last thought was snuffed out as quickly as it came. Adelais suddenly took a sharp dive; eyes locking on the entrance to her family's cave just as her flying instructer taught her when she was young. Talons stretching out and hind legs reaching forward, Adelais landed softly, gripping the ice below with crackles and wingbeats slowing her momentum. Folding them close to her sides, Adelais's tail swished against the snow leaving a snake-like mark behind her. Soft humming and howls of wind began to pick up against the middle sized mountain her parents resided in, which quickly faded to quiet whistling upon Adelais entering. She flared the small thin black spikes lining her cheeks to better expose where her ear holes lay as she walked, the clicking of claws ringing around the walls and bouncing back to her. "Dad?... Mother? You wanted to talk to me?" Adelais hesitantly called out, her soft but carrying voice echoing down the hall. A soft rustling answered her - like the closing of a scroll. "Of course. Come in farther in case there are any nosy little sisters." Her father's rumbling voice got louder at the end, and the soft skittering of presumably Araceli's talons faded into the distance.

"You aren't in trouble, as much as your Mom wants you to think. The queen needs to speak with you, the king accompanying her. Hopefully, rather. Be on your best behaviour." Esen, the young soldier's father, draped his tail over her shoulders. The dark, raven-like scales covering his body more ominous in the dawn lighting in the room. "Where is Mystral, anyway?" Adelais tilted her head. "Call her Mom. On a flight to supposedly 'clear her head'." Her father smiled, almost in a mocking way of his mate. "...Sure. The palace? Really? Now of all times?" Adelais's question was genuine, her head tilting to the side. This was a decision she regretted, her rack of snow white antlers hitting the stone wall. 'I need to stop doing that.' "Yes, now. It's not about the army, but treat it like it is. Don't stress and good luck." Esen smiled down at his daughter, who promptly turned around, sprinting down the halls and taking off with nothing but a half glance back.

Landing as gracefully as possible on the sheer mountain side early into noon, the sun was a barely visible speck in the gathering storm. It was much lighter than at home, closer to the wealthy side of Aves. Awe filled her gaze, her mind, and was visible in her clumsier steps. Sapphires, diamond, and even freckles of emerald bedazzled the natural landscape, the trees, the entrance to the gaping cave, everything. Adelais looked over at the two female guards, who had been eyeing her through their steel gray and desaturated blue armour. Lowering her head but still holding eye contact with them, Adelais entered the hanging strands of diamond as a "door".

The palace - everything about it was a greedy dragon's dream. Glass mosaics streamed any colours on the cool side of the spectrum all over the floor, and art of dancing dragons and battling ones alike hung from the walls arching hundreds of meters above her heads. Swirling colours of buzzing workers passed overhead, landing on balconies, chatting, or talking with important tones to guards. It was nothing short of beautiful; everything fit in it's place like a puzzle of millions of interlocking pieces. A small, thin sage-green dragon approached Adelais hurriedly, holding a scroll right up to block his face. "A, A, A... Oh! It's you. Very important matters, yes. Right away, right away, come along now!" Tossing the scroll to the side, she stared blankly at it as the shorter male lizard blinked at her, wearing gold spectacles far too big for his face. His giant crown of straight emerald green horns curled inwards slightly, atoms away from touching. "My, my, are you going to stare and keep Her Majesty waiting or are you going to move those flashy talons of yours?" His short dark green whiskers bobbed up and down with his disapproving speech. Silently, Adelais continued, her talons softly clicking against the marble floors with each step.

The.. Manager? Walked in an almost zig zag motion, his talons skittering comically as he did so. Down a hall, two left, one right, and up. Very high up, and she wasn't even allowed to fly. Not long after she reached a throne of pure ice; welded to the also ice floor. It was light blue in colour, spikes sprouting from the floor beside it, on the arm rests, and up the back of it in a menacing way. A skull or two mounted at the spike in the middle of the top would be the cherry to it all. But in the throne was the true eye catcher. A gigantic dragoness, pure teal with veins of white flowing from her chests, to her chin, down her legs and back, and in an explosion of a fractal pattern in her wings. Diamond and silver decorated her talons, sapphire embedded into her knuckles and brow. The King was beside her in a similar chair, just barely shorter. His colour scheme was like that of the ocean - infinite blues and dark cyans swirling over his scales. Orange eyes sat in his skull, almost sizing up Adelais. "You. You're Adelais, top of the class and daughter of Mystral?" Queen Makani stretched a talon to point at her chest, glimmering diamond rings flowing to the base of her claw. The motion was a gesture of importance to Avesans usually paired with a question. "Yes, Your Highness." Adelais arched her neck to touch her snout to the tip of her talon to respect the gesture. Makani withdrew her talon, approval dancing in her gaze as she grinned smugly down at her. "I respect your family's contributions. The reason you were summoned is of utmost importance - one you will soon find out. You are the strongest of your entire generation on this continent, no feat to take light. A mission falls on yours and another's shoulders, if you shall accept." The Queen looked over at the lower ranked King, who;s nod was no more than a twitch.

Four forms flowed through an entrance hidden behind the thrones; two on each side. "You will follow them if you accept. Anvindr is the leader, she will personally guard you along with three soldiers joining these four. You must leave at once." He looked down at Adelais expectantly. She felt like an ant. These were behemoths, treating her like a head soldier. "Yes- Yes of course, absolutely. I'll be honoured to, your Highness and my King." Adelais said fervently, smiling with a slight wobble to her expression. Makani giggled, waving dismissively.

It was a flowing wave, guiding her out the door and into the skies within seconds. The dragons were silent and nothing short of a gorgeous sight. Perhaps her life will finally break cycle once and for all.

-

(Oh goodness this turned out to be a novel lol, don't feel obligated to match the word count! Sorry about that)