Chapter Text
The stars were bright tonight, for once not covered by clouds or the rooftops of the small village he was born in. Tears made the path hard to see, made these small blurry spots appear in his vision, made him trip over a stone just barely jutting out of the forest path that he could’ve seen if not for the tears.
Noli barely felt the pain that shot into his kneecap, scrambling to get up and move once more. He could just faintly hear the yells of the village, hear them yelling for him to come back, for him in general.
He didn’t look back, he went on running further into the forest, further away from them. The forest was quiet, barely any insects or night creatures making a sound.
He remembered why he was doing this, he couldn’t bear to be in that village another day. Not when they still thought of him as wrong, when they thought to tear him away from what he dreamed of most: dragons and everything that went against what he was born as. No, he would not be there another day or night.
But some still had dragons with them; they would most likely be on his trail soon or come morning. His whole family had dragons! Why couldn’t he? His sisters were soon to get their dragon eggs, bred just for them. Why was he exempt from that? He just had to get out of these woods and he would be free.
But the forest was really quiet, and he meant really quiet. The trees weren’t swaying in the faint wind, the air seemed to just be still for multiple moments until a stick cracked behind him. The shifting of bushes and leaves gave way to something larger than any animal that should be in these woods. Then the air started smelling of sulfur and smoke, something that should be burning. Noli jerked around, but there was nothing there, nothing to give away what should have been there.
But there was something to give away what it was. Grass was parted, flattened like something was standing there; a bush was pushed down further than it should’ve been. The smell of sulfur should’ve given away the dragon instantly; the imprints also should have done that, but there was nothing there. No dragons were able to turn themselves invisible either, well, the domesticated ones at least; no one knew much about the truly wild ones. Something was there at least; it may not be a dragon exactly, but something was there.
“What... are you?” Noli barely whispered, afraid he was just hallucinating, and the villagers looking for him could be nearby. Then there were two huge, milky purple eyes right in front of his face, a couple more little dots just under the two main ones. They blinked slowly, and then there was a face to put those eyes on. More of it appeared, all charcoal black with dark purple and grey accents all over its body and a white splash on its face looking like a question mark. It… looked like a dragon for the most part, just more insec…toid… oh. Oh. This was a fae dragon. It was huge, why was it crushing itself into being between the trees?? It crooned lowly and something in him just… snapped into place. Was… was this meant to be his? His dragon?
It nudged against his chest, right in the middle, like a confirmation. Then there was a faint sound being carried by the wind. Wingbeats. It- his dragon perked up and moved closer to him, and Noli could see a lot more of it now. It had six legs, though two were curled up against its chest, and four wings much like a butterfly; the pattern on them reminded him of Black Swallowtails. He thought its tail was split at the end too, but it was too dark to confirm that, and it had grabbed the back of his shirt in its jaws, lifting him slowly. Noli yelped, scrambling for a hold on something but only grabbing the air as he was brought up and over the treetops. Then everything tilted, and no, he did not let out a scream despite what his dragon might suggest otherwise, and he was on its back, hands grabbing at soft fur. It was silky in Noli’s grasp, felt like touching clouds. The moment was ruined by louder wingbeats and a roar. His dragon chuffed, legs bending and wings unfurling; it stayed like that for a couple of heartbeats, head looking straight at the incoming dragons and riders. A quiet voice spoke to him in his mind, ‘Hang on, my star,' and then the two were off.
It was unlike anything Noli had felt before, being on his own dragon without someone trying to take over or to ‘guide’ him. He heard shouts, felt the heat of fire and the cold of ice, but nothing could get him away from this. Not ever again. He would have his dragon. Noli would have his dream.