Exploring the New World
"That's a pretty name," replied the woman. Astrid blushed and smiled shyly. The woman then pointed at herself.
"My name's Valka," she said, then she pointed at the purple Nadder, "That is Firefly."
Cloudjumper, now sensing that the human hatchling wasn't afraid anymore, emerged from the shadows.
"And that's Cloudjumper," finished Valka. Little Astrid climbed off the bed and slowly walked to the Stormcutter. When he widened his eyes and smiled at her, she felt her confidence return. She smirked.
"You look like an owl," she said cheekily. Cloudjumper rolled his eyes as Valka walked over.
"Told you so," she said. Valka then turned around to face Astrid and asked, "Would you like to see the rest of this place?"
"Um…" Astrid hesitated, unsure of what to do, until baby Stormfly chirped up at her and ran out. Astrid gasped and followed her, paying no attention to Valka who asked her to wait.
"Stormfly! Come back!" cried Astrid. But once she set foot outside the cave, she gasped in awe. Sunlight brought in a lush landscape with lots of beautiful plants and swarms of dragons were flying everywhere. The air was sweet and crisp and the grass felt nice and soft under her bare feet.
"So many colours," she murmured, almost unable to restrain her hyper-excitement. She barely noticed Valka walk up next to her.
"Would you like to see the king?" Valka asked the 4-year-old (who was soon to be 5).
"The king?" asked Astrid curiously. In her short life she had never heard of a dragon king.
"Come on then," said Valka, bending down slightly and taking Astrid by the hand. They walked towards Cloudjumper, who crouched down to let them on.
"Wait! We're going to get on him?!" Astrid squeaked in panic and started to hyperventilate. She tried to pull her small hand away from Valka's, but the woman held her firmly yet gently.
"I promise nothing will happen to you," Valka said. Astrid took a deep breath and calmed herself. Valka sighed with relief, before picking up Astrid and clambering aboard Cloudjumper.
When Astrid finally saw the King of Dragons – the Bewilderbeast – she felt very small. The magnificence, beauty and majesty of the king made her feel the urge to bow down to it.
The Bewilderbeast inspected her before gently breathing a snowy breath on her. Astrid squealed a little and shivered.
"He likes ya," smiled Valka, gently stroking Astrid's hair free of the snowflakes. Astrid had a big grin on her face that soon turned into a big yawn in less than a minute.
"I guess it's nap time for you, little one," said Valka gently, cradling Astrid in her arms. Astrid pouted.
"I'm not tired," she moaned stubbornly before yawning again.
"Uh huh. Sure," said Valka sarcastically as she motioned for Cloudjumper to fly back into the cave.
Astrid yawned one more time before drifting off peacefully in Valka's arms.
When Astrid woke up again, she found herself in Valka's bed. There was a small fire going on in the corner and Cloudjumper, who was sitting a few meters away, turned his head to face her.
"Cloudjumper? Is that you?" she mumbled, crawling out of the bed and walking over to the dragon.
Cloudjumper opened his right-side wings a bit so that Astrid could crawl in. Once she was in, he closed his wings so that Astrid was in a protective cocoon of sorts.
"Thank you, you big owl," she giggled before snuggling up, closing her eyes, and drifting off to sleep once more.