It was the beginning of Autumn, and Bayard was creeping through the thick undergrowth of the forest. Night was settling over Berk like a blanket, and Bayard knew he had to return home soon. As his sixteenth birthday was upcoming, and that was the customaryage
to begin dragon training, he had been seeking out the right dragon for a week. He didn't want a common dragon like a Monstrous Nightmare, Gronckle, or a Deadly Nadder, he wanted something special. He crawled between two boulders hoping to seesomething
soon. *Crack* Bayard spun on the spot, reaching down and grasping the handle of his Fireworm lantern. The light emanating from the lantern reached into the darkness discovering nothing out of the ordinary. Looking down he realized that itwas
he himself that had stepped on a branch. "Wow that scared me!" He exclaimed out loud. "I need to watch my step" he said, more to the darkness than anything in particular. He grabbed his satchel, which contained a few basic

necessities such as dragon grass, dragon root, a few fish and a fire starter, and took a step forward. His foot plunged through what turned out to be an ancient trapdoor and he crashed down into the opening blacking out as he hit the ground.

Bayard awoke and realized, due to the moon shining in the sky above the trapdoor, that in must have been nearly midnight. He sat up rubbing his head, which was throbbing from the fall, and looked around. He appeared to be in

some kind of underground room. He realized that his lantern had smashed and his Fireworm must have fled. He peered around his eyes adjusting to the darkness. To his amazement, Bayard saw that the room had a passageway in one of the walls. After realizing
/that he was unable to climb out after several failed attempts, Bayard gathered up his pack and cautiously padded down the passageway, brushing spiderwebs out of his way. There were ancient Viking runes carved into the walls, and pictures showing
Viking

Mbattling dragons. After Bayard had walked for around two minutes, he started to notice the walls around him grow brighter. It was then that he stepped out into a massive cavern. Openings in the ceiling let moonlight shine upon the floor of
the cavern,

/which was filled with shimmering pools of water and glittering crystals reflecting the moonlight around the walls. Bayard, who was in awe at the awesome sight, muttered, "wow…", and jumped when his voice echoed back to him. He then noticed

the large black and yellow shape in the center of the cavern. The mass unfolded itself and stretched out to reveal a Triple Stryke. The dragon had black wings, three tails braided together with stingers on each end, what appeared to be long ears like
/those of Hiccup's dragon Toothless, and stood about as tall as a man. The dragon looked down into one of the glimmering pools and began to admire itself. Likewise, Bayard, thoroughly impressed by the dragon, admired it. "That's the perfect dragon!"
/He muttered excitedly. The dragon, hearing his muttering turned and uttered a low growl. *Grrrrrrr*. "Hey, it's okay bud!"Said Bayard, reaching into his pack. He pulled out the two cod he had brought with him, along with his dragon grass.

He waved one of the fish in front of himself and said, "Here, do you want some cod? I caught it earlier today." The dragon sniffed and inched closer, still sniffing. When the dragon had reached only a few feet away, Bayard threw the fish

to the Triple Stryke, which skillfully caught it mid air and swallowed it whole. Bayard pulled out the other cod, and tossed it to the dragon as well. He pulled reached once more into his satchel and retrieved the dragon grass. The dragon growledas
he reached into the bag and dashed off into the shadows of the cave. "No, wait!" Said Bayard, slowly following the dragon. As he followed, he noticed how the dragon slipped in and out of the shadows, almost vanishing each time. Finally,

after the third time he approached the dragon, the dragon did not flee, but instead eyed him cautiously and sniffed, smelling the dragon grass, it crept forwards and came ever closer to Bayard. Bayard extended his shaking hand. After what seemed

like an eternity, he felt a push against his hand. The scaly hide of the dragon dragon pushed into his hand, and he knew, this was just the beginning of a long journey.