Chapter 16: The first Test of ice and snow

Putting down his talon, the giant beast of black feathers returns on four legs before starting his noble march toward the very young and small dragon. Despite his appearance showing restrain over the use of his power, Kraydirn is a terrifying obstacle by being the heart of a forming blizzard. The wind is becoming freezing and merciless, and little stars now cover all the area as ice crystals are being born.

It is in a moment like this that Darkstalker is truly thankful to have a dress, and for Akhanta to make him one, because who know what nasty things would happen to his skin if he didn't wear one…

Holding his position, the nightwing keeps his wings tightly folded and always in contact with his body despite the reflex to use them as shield. Not even his head, eyes and ears being covered is worth deteriorating such parts of his being.

As time goes on, the great dragon of ice and snow continues walking, one step at a time, each adding one more log to the fire of his storm, to the increasing power of water turned into shards and disease for anyone not mastering it.

Little by little, the young one shakes more and more, bends and folds his body, laying down on the ground as low as he can. And yet, his ears are hurting as do his eyes, the pain stopping the poor dragon from even sensing correctly the black and white beast that is now so much closer to him.

Following a new instinct born from his core, Darkstalker closes his eyes, putting an end to his suffering sight. But as time passes, the seer starts to see essences and hear the great dragon's mind more clearly. As for his little sun, it has never burned as much as it does now, fighting against the tremendous power swallowing him.

With that newfound and growing strength, the nigh dragon gets to recover little by little, raising his body bit by bit, until it is enough for him to stand even the smallest of chance against one of the Five.

From the deepest part of his mind and body comes a new form of confidence, of will. One that isn't a lie, an illusion, arrogance nor foolishness, no…

It is an instinct, the voice of his own power, of the force that animates his very being, the well were his essences and others one have accumulated and grown. And now, all of that is united under one goal, to Fight back and Survive!

A Roar resonates and can be heard from so far away as the blizzard has failed to silence it. In an instant, a part of it is blasted into nothingness, revealing a young black dragon wearing a light blue dress. Such being is on fire as he dares, eyes opened, to face the bringer of winter like he is an equal, when such an entity could crush him with one of his titanic and hardened talons.

Judging the little night dragon with glowing eyes, the infernal beast that is Kraydirn takes a single step back and calms down his storm, cutting his intensity to only a third of his former glory.

- "Darkstalker."

Calling him out by name, the feathered great one make it clear that now is the time for him to pass the Test as he stands up on two talons.

- "Kraydirn."

Replies the night dragon full of power and determination, but not full enough to rival the one he faces. Despite that, he doesn't flinch, keeping himself ready for what will be thrown at him.

A loud clap can be heard, the one joining the talons of the feathered lord of the cold, spreading a shock-wave of pure essences that doesn't even have the time to turn into ice. Charging his front talons with power, the situation quickly turns for the worst as the energy accumulated in front of the young one would look ridiculous if it wasn't worthy of terror.

Charging his whole body in reaction, the surviving nightwing prepares himself for what is to come. If it wasn't for his burning essences, the magic-less seer would have laid down in absolute defeat, but he isn't that anymore…

Kraydirn blinks for the first time, the instant after his talons extends again until they are the farthest away from each other, marking the unleashing of the absurdly condensed Power.

In a matter of seconds, the blast of raw energy arrives, but Darkstalker is now above it, jumping by instinct and helped by all of his power, he ends up above the enormous dragon of ice and snow, with an altitude of three time his height.

Using all that momentum with his infused wings, the night dragon has now soared into the pitch black sky, and watches the result of the attack he avoided. Raw power and pure essences embrace all the ground facing the paragon of winter, consuming it brightly before turning the rocks into ice and the dust into snow a moment later.

Sensing a powerful presence near him, the smaller one looks back to see Akhanta, the great dragoness, flying behind him and strong-willed as well, even if the reasons of it are different. Moving through the air in circles above the great draconic beast, both dragons stays ready and even calm in a way, with the dark blue giant watching over the one she has to protect, and the small one feeling better to have her at his side.

Hearing the wind suddenly blowing loudly, both dragon see Kraydirn ascending in the sky before them, fearsome but graceful at the same time as snow and essences sublime his form, almost adding stars to his black skin for everyone to see, and reminding the nightwing of his tribe.

Loading his feathered black wings with power, the bringer of ice and snow accelerates more and more, passing near the two dragons as he goes away to the light in the distance, to the top of a burning tower.

Landing on the roof, the dragon of ice and snow stare at Darkstalker despite important distance between them, and speaks in a voice whose power marks anyone that hears it.

- "Xymri Darkstalker! Xymri tosmyl Zu tunis!"

Finishing his words, the feathered black dragon lets himself fall from the tower, diving head first to the ground but opening and beating his wings full of essences at the last moment. A minute later the titanic being is passing above the two dragon almost like a shouting star, the excessive use of his power creating a fully fledged aura of wind and snow, as well as a long trail of the same nature.

Keeping an eye on Kraydirn, the nightwing retains focus and continues to let his essences guide him, possessing his body to better react in a dire situation. While the dragon of black and white seems to lost himself in the distance, his speed defining such a trajectory, the seer doesn't believed for a second he won't come back soon.

Staying close to Akhanta, the night dragon feels safer as he can hear in her mind how much the great dragoness desire to protect him.

She won't fail me. Thinks the seer with all his heart at the moment.

Not even half a minute later, the beast of ice and snow comes back at him, and passes so much closer this time, his body being so huge the night dragon needs to beat his wings like never before to dodge the charge.

A moment later, the feathered dragon does the same move again, but a bit more vertically this time, forcing the young one to drastically change his trajectory by unleashing the power of his wings exactly like before.

But there is little time to rest as the draconic star comes back at him a third time. His wings are fully unfolded and ready to slam into him, but for a target that small, the attack is easy to escape from.

Finally, for his fourth attack, Kraydirn fully dives into him faster than ever before calming down, letting the young one a small break from the force of nature he is challenging. Darkstalker's wings start to ache, but he isn't surrendering yet, as his essences still burn brightly inside him…

As the incarnation of ice and snow quickly moves above them, the nightwing gets the feeling he is being stalked by a predator. With that in mind, the young one prepares to dive should he needs to move away from the fastest and most powerful of the feathered beast's attacks. But he'll have to wait as the great one decides to simply target him with his breath of ice and snow, something the night dragon can evade simply by turning to the left.

While the supreme entity chases him with his breath, almost like it is some sort of game, he seems to get bored pretty quickly as he stops that whole act and starts to accelerate. Getting closer to the seer, the bringer of winter musters his incredible power to dash into his target. In the blink of an eye, the titanic dragon starts to catch up to the little one, like the distance that separated them didn't matter that much.

This is it!

Gathering all the strength he has left, Darkstalker starts an instantaneous dive by folding his dark blue wings and bursting essences at the end of their membrane. Evading the great one's form by coming straight toward the hard ground, the nightwing watches the shape of the legendary beast shrinking in the distance...

The sound of a great detonation slams through the desolate lands as the entity bearing the name of Kraydirn returns from such distance with the speed of a shouting star to end up where the highest clouds would be.

And from that zenith, the chosen one of ice and snow falls to the earth like how thunder goes to struck what is below it.

Against all that power, the once young god of Pyrrhia can do nothing as his entire being ends up in the claws of the greater dragon, chained to his chest. As the avatar of winter recovers from the dive at the last moment and starts to circle, the young one can feel all of Kraydirn's essences, the tremendous power that flow in his veins…

Slowing down and landing, the dragon of ice and snow respectfully lays the little dragon on the ground, only to breath heavily and have his body bending after that action, exhausted by all the power he unleashed. When the seer looks at the tired great dragon, he sees hopes in his mind, hope as he stares at the little one that the nightwing is.

Whatever Test he has been through, the night dragon seems to have succeeded.

Hearing powerful wingbeats, Darkstalker turns his head to see Akhanta landing near them. Grabbing him directly without warning, the great dragoness holds him close to her scales and examines him to see if he is in good shape. Seeing tiredness but no wound at all, the dark blue giant quietly sighs in relief and puts him down.

- "Zu ykane uthu, Ankonalmirh." Mutters the dragoness.

As the three dragons starts to recover from the intense Test, they begin to walk toward the nearby tower to settle and rest, at least for the young night dragon who needs that more than ever...