01-27-2019, 08:18 AM
The ethereal voice chimes once more as they step out onto the mountaintop, and it sends a shiver down Pteron’s blue spine. The Queen of the Frost Pixies has an unmistakable voice, even when it comes from the air around them rather than a tangible body. Pteron’s eyes are caught by the movement of the dragon long before he sees the tree. Unlike his Queen, the icey monster looks incredibly solid, and incredibly dangerous.
The tobiano colt barely manages to keep himself visible. He instinctively wants to disappear and protect himself, but instead he stands firm, shimmering only slightly before becoming decidedly visible. Ilma had not run in the crystal blue caves, and so Pteron cannot leave her here to face this dragon. The yearling has already told her that he is no great warrior, but regardless of this he moves to stand abreast of the white mare and the other pair – the spotted mare and the fox-horse.
The dragon is of a mind with the Queen of the Frost Pixies, for his thunderous voice also speaks words of congratulations on their progress thus far. Maybe he is not there to oppose them, Pteron thinks. He hasn’t attacked, after all. Maybe he is here to give them the jewel? Pteron is eternally optimistic after all, as children are so prone to be. The dragon’s fierceness, the intensity in his blue-flame gaze feels as though it bores down into Pteron’s very core. He returns it as best he is able, his chest puffed out like Dad’s when he’d faced down the jackels and his olive eyes steady and firm.
The dragon’s breath blows back his mane and shakes the feathers of his wings, but Pteron does his best to not shiver or step back. His eyes water in the wind, but he blinks it away before it can fall as tears and be taken as a sign of weakness or fear. He might be afraid (and what boy would not be against a creature that could swallow him in an instant?) but that does not mean that he will back down. They have made it this far, after all. He cannot be the one to give up when the Ice Queen is counting on all of them.
The four of them had made it to the Mountain on their own, but they had needed each other to make it through the cave. Their individual abilities had gotten them through the obstacles in their path, but only because they had worked together from the beginning. It is this sense of solidarity that emboldens him. Why should they separate now, after all they have done together? Just because a dragon has told them to?
No, Pteron thinks. He remembers the words of the Ice Queen too well, and the cold of the cavernous mountain too strongly.
<b>“We <i>are</i> one.”</b> He says to the dragon, his voice still firm and steady. It will break if he tries to shout aloud, he knows, but he suspects that such a large dragon must also have ears large enough to hear him. <b>“One team, here for the jewel.”</b> None of them know what the jewel looks like, he realizes, and only then does his gaze turn to the tree beside the dragon. The glowing fruits that hang from it shimmer like the boy assumes a jewel must, but there are so many. Why would the Queen of the Frost Pixies be so reluctant to share if she has so many life saving jewels?
<b>“Are those the jewels?”</b> The boy asks the dragon. If they are not, he reasons, perhaps they don’t have to pass the dragon after all, and can stand as one and be judged by their purity of heart as a team rather than individuals.
The tobiano colt barely manages to keep himself visible. He instinctively wants to disappear and protect himself, but instead he stands firm, shimmering only slightly before becoming decidedly visible. Ilma had not run in the crystal blue caves, and so Pteron cannot leave her here to face this dragon. The yearling has already told her that he is no great warrior, but regardless of this he moves to stand abreast of the white mare and the other pair – the spotted mare and the fox-horse.
The dragon is of a mind with the Queen of the Frost Pixies, for his thunderous voice also speaks words of congratulations on their progress thus far. Maybe he is not there to oppose them, Pteron thinks. He hasn’t attacked, after all. Maybe he is here to give them the jewel? Pteron is eternally optimistic after all, as children are so prone to be. The dragon’s fierceness, the intensity in his blue-flame gaze feels as though it bores down into Pteron’s very core. He returns it as best he is able, his chest puffed out like Dad’s when he’d faced down the jackels and his olive eyes steady and firm.
The dragon’s breath blows back his mane and shakes the feathers of his wings, but Pteron does his best to not shiver or step back. His eyes water in the wind, but he blinks it away before it can fall as tears and be taken as a sign of weakness or fear. He might be afraid (and what boy would not be against a creature that could swallow him in an instant?) but that does not mean that he will back down. They have made it this far, after all. He cannot be the one to give up when the Ice Queen is counting on all of them.
The four of them had made it to the Mountain on their own, but they had needed each other to make it through the cave. Their individual abilities had gotten them through the obstacles in their path, but only because they had worked together from the beginning. It is this sense of solidarity that emboldens him. Why should they separate now, after all they have done together? Just because a dragon has told them to?
No, Pteron thinks. He remembers the words of the Ice Queen too well, and the cold of the cavernous mountain too strongly.
<b>“We <i>are</i> one.”</b> He says to the dragon, his voice still firm and steady. It will break if he tries to shout aloud, he knows, but he suspects that such a large dragon must also have ears large enough to hear him. <b>“One team, here for the jewel.”</b> None of them know what the jewel looks like, he realizes, and only then does his gaze turn to the tree beside the dragon. The glowing fruits that hang from it shimmer like the boy assumes a jewel must, but there are so many. Why would the Queen of the Frost Pixies be so reluctant to share if she has so many life saving jewels?
<b>“Are those the jewels?”</b> The boy asks the dragon. If they are not, he reasons, perhaps they don’t have to pass the dragon after all, and can stand as one and be judged by their purity of heart as a team rather than individuals.