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The moment their eyes met, Katsum had seen all.
She saw the echoes of his past, of things she knew to be true and some thing she didn’t. She saw the peace between man and dragon, the bitter betrayal, the battle between Nidhogg and him, the Prince of Crimson Thunder, as the people fled. She watched as Nidhogg struck him down and left him to die where Bridgette found him and they made a pact. She watched them flee to the isle of Esk Dran, the isle of his nest, where they built the kingdom of Draic, the dragon’s kingdom; Katsum’s home. She watched the histories unfold before her and knew it all to be true. These were the stories she grew up listening to, yet still something bothered her. If the stories were all true and this was the Dravanian the resided within her necklace, why was he so...beastly?
All the stories she had ever heard had painted the Prince of Crimson thunder to be a kind dragon, one that sought to protect her people from destruction, yet there was only fury and rage in his blackened eyes now. He never spoke a word to her either, not even when he had chosen her to rule. She’d only seen him in a flash when he’d protected her in the past, but never for very long and he had never answered when she called. What had made him lose his mind to where he was more beast than dragon?
“Bridgette...”
Suddenly, a voice echoed in Katsum’s mind, one that spoke in a Dravanian language.
“Bridgette...my friend where have you gone…? Why can I not find you…?” The angry beast before her suddenly looked more frantic than furious, like he was looking for her and trying to find her, “I will find you, Bridgette. I will bring you home and keep you safe as I promised...as I promised...but where have you gone and why...can I no longer hear you…?”
Now she began to understand. No one ever spoke of the day Bridgette died though it was known that she passed of old age, surrounded by her children and with her husband beside her. It was a peaceful passing, one that everyone always wishes to have, yet it broke the hearts of all in the kingdom for their beloved queen and savior was gone.
A great roar split the silence and made the Miqo’te jump. Never had she heard a more heartbroken sound, yet she had felt it once before as it had been her own not long ago. Now she understood. He was lost in his own mind, driven to madness by his grief when his dearest companion faded and disappeared from the world. It was why his eyes were black, devoid of the life and color they held when he knew her. So lost was he that even his soul had surrendered to a beast of rage and primal nature, fighting only to survive and destroying anything that woke it from its slumber. It was why she only saw him when she was seconds from death because she was his charge, the one who had a pact with him because unlike the last king, she did not force him to appear. Not until now.
As the echo faded, Katsum found herself kneeling on the ground, looking up into the dragon’s blackened gaze. She stood slowly to her feet and he hissed and crouched low, lifting his wings in a most threatening way, promising death at every angle.
Yes, she could see just how lost he was, how alone he was.
And she knew that only she could bring him back.
“Can you hear me, o Prince of Crimson Thunder?” The dragon growled in response, swiping his tail around as she dropped her sword and shield beside her, unclipping her cape and removing her cornet too and laid them down.
“My name is Katsum Aurora Almor, a descendant of your beloved Bridgette,” She expected some kind of response to her name, but he offered none and she sighed, “I know you are still there, and I intend to find you again...one way or another.”
Fighting with force would not win this battle. No, she would need other means of awakening his lost soul.
And the only way she knew to tame a dragon...was to ride them.
“I know you are lost, so allow yourself to be found now. It’s time to wake up now, Raihogg .”