Eryn wondered what the world would look like when there was no Ice. Yet people talked about a long forgotten world with green fields in stead of white ones. She couldn't believe such a land existed. Why would they have abandoned it to stay in the cold valleys of IceLand?
"Eryn, quit your dreaming!" her mother yelled.
"Yes mom." Eryn said and focused her eyes back on the long road ahead.
The summer villages had been abandoned once again to find shelter against the harsh winter cold. To the Sea in the East they were going, the sea never froze over and would provide food in the long dark days that were coming. It had been this way all her life and had been that way for many generations now.
Eryn and her mother were walking in the rear. Like most women and children they stayed back for the hunters and fighters to gather food and protect them from any stray wild animal that might be crazy from hunger enough to attack a moving line of humans 2 kilometres long. Winter could do that to an animal.
Winter could do that to her too. She didn't mind the cold, she had enough furs to cover her body twice. The cold had always been there, like a friend. The waiting however was what got her going crazy. Being cooped up all day long in a big winter village, making some soup and listening to the elder women talking about the world that's going to end this winter. She hated the winter villages.

That night the troop camped near a big icy mountain range. It was the Eastern Part of the Great Mountain Range. Eryn looked up, squinting against the last rays of the autumn sun and smiled as she saw some eagles flying. 
She ran inside her mother's tent and grabbed her bow. Better take advantage of her last free days. Once in the winter village she wouldn't be allowed outside to hunt. Eryn started climbing the mountain. It had an icy layer, but that was good. The cold ice had formed cracks in the mountain where she could place her hands and feet. After maybe an 2 hours of climbing she reached a plateau. She sighed. She hadn't even gotten halfway. This was a nice place to take a rest though. The plateau was large. What was even more interesting was the big cave. The entry was small, like most caves. But inside it was one big room in stead of hundreds of small alcoves that you usually saw in these mountains. The walls were so smooth they almost seemed carved. Eryn sat down along one of the sides and looked in. Light came in from a frozen waterfall in the far corner. Eryn didn't smell any animals so she went in further carefully. It was too cold and big for any animal anyway, warmth wouldn't linger long in this cave. Eryn shuddered as she felt the sweat of the climb freezing on her body. So much for two layers of furs. 
A sudden spark on the waterfall caught her attention as she came nearer. The spark didn't change like the others, it stayed exactly where it was, like a light that shone through from within. It was beautiful. She came closer and closer, never noticing that the light started to shine brighter. Then she touched the waterfall, trying to feel if it was warm. It wasn't. She sighed. Oh well. Time to get back down before anyone missed her.

Outside something was wrong. The sun stood higher than when she had started climbing. Odd. And when she looked down the camp was gone. Had she been in that cave for a whole day? That wasn't possible. 
She carefully made her way back down and saw that the mountain wasn't the same as the one she had climbed the day before. Where was she?
Suddenly she heard a loud roar. From the echo Eryn could tell the creature was still far off, but it must be big to have such a loud cry. She felt anxiety clenching around her heart and swallowed to get rid of a lump in her throat. This wasn't right at all. Were there still humans around? 
Down she looked all ways and thought she might as well follow the mountain range as she had done all her life. Same mountain range or not. 
About two miles further she noticed a big blue dot on the horizon. She squinted to see it, but what she saw frightened her. It was big, blue and looked like it could snap her in two with one bite. It came closer fast. Eryn tried to find a decent hiding place, but there wasn't a cave anywhere near. And she couldn't start climbing, the creature was too big to get safe. She lay down behind a small stone and hoped it would miss her. As the creature got closer, she noticed there was someone on top.
"Hey there missy." the boy said, "What are you doing here?"
"I don't know, I touched the waterfall and now all is different."
"This is Spectral Rhea. Nobody knows how people get here, but they do. Where were you from?"
"IceLand."
"Never heard of it.3
"There aren't many humans in IceLand, the cold takes lives fast."
"I see. The cold here can take too, that's why me and my dragon are searching for pregnant Ice Dragons that are in trouble."
Eryn looked at the huge Ice dragon. Could a dragon as big as that get in trouble?
"Oh, I see." she said.
"I'll have to ask you to join me...surviving here isn't simple, I can take you to the village."
"Thanks." 

The village was huge. And there were no tents. In stead there were wooden structures that had a strange beauty to them. 
"You live here all year round?" she asked.
"Yes, where else?"
"Even when it gets dark."
"We're at the very south of the Cold Regions, We get a few hours of light."
"oh. Can I stay?"
"Well you are free to do as you please. But we ask all newcomers if they would like to adopt a dragon."
"I would love that." Eryn said, to be with a creature as magnificent as the ones she had seen would be more than she could have dreamed off.

About two weeks later one of the Ice Dragons was having her baby. Eryka was invited to try and lure it into taking her on as a caretaker.
"Isn't it bad that the mother leaves her child?"
"In some ways it isn't, that way only the strong survive."
A few minutes passed.
"This one looks strong enough to make it. Lure her, fast."
Eryka looked at the small little blue dragon and awed as she saw the darker coloured patches that made her even more beautiful than her mother. Quickly she held out a piece of fish that was shoved into her hands.

The dragoness looked curiously at it, while her mother was already getting up and walking away.
"Won't the cold make her sick? She's wet." Eryka said.
"She'll dry up soon, and baby Ice dragons already have the thick scales and skin that protects them from the cold."
Carefully the dragon came closer, ever closer until she was close enough to grab the fish out of Eryns hands. She devoured it whole.
*burp*
"How cute!" Eryn said.
The dragoness tilted her head sideways, her long horns pointing to the East.
"Well, you are very cute. Can I call you Polar Wind?"
The dragons eyes lit up as she heard her name and ran towards her new caretaker. She jumped and tackled Eryn.
On the ground Eryn laughed as the Ice Dragon licked her ears.
"I have a toy for you too. So you don't need to run off with my ears."
Polar Wind looked up and waited as Eryn took out the yellow Myr-cat toy she had sought out for this occasion.

Polar Wind crept through the snow. No-one would ever hear her coming. She growled softly, showing her blickering white teeth. Her prey knew nothing of her presence. She could feel Eryn crouching down on the other side of the mountain, guarding Polar's Prey. She listened. Eryn didn't know she was here.
Polar Wind suddenly jumped in the air, crossing over the last wall of snow that defended Eryns castle. She caught something! She uttered a brief shout of joy and rolled over to see Eryn laying on the ground. Only it wasn't Eryn, it was a snowdragon.
Polar Wind looked around and tried to find out what had gone wrong. Suddenly the thick hairs in her neck stood up. She started turning, but the snowball hit her on the side.

"You've got to get better than that! I heard you coming a mile away.... and I smelled you too, why did you eat rotten fish?" Eryn said.
"It smelled good." Polar Wind answered.
"If you say so. Let's try again."
Eryn ran off and jumped behind some blocks. She was gone before Polar Wind could ask her how she could improve. She put down her nose and started sniffing...

Eryn looked at the horizon. She and Polar WInd had still hours to go before they would reach the main adoption center. The two of them had been out riding. Although Eryn started to like her new environment a lot, old habits did die hard and she still loved to roam around the icey plains by herself. Climbing mountains sure had gotten easier with Polar Wind around.
Suddenly Polar Wind stopped. The ice around them one big blue-white slippery surface.
"What is it?" Eryn asked, "Are we lost?"
"No," Polar Wind snorted, annoyed by just the thought that Eryn would doubt her capacities, "But we are standing on a piece of ice that is about to break."
As always, saying things out loud made them happen. Polar Wind jumped, trying to reach safer grounds. But the ice cracked too far for her to reach.
Eryn felt the cold water biting her legs, then her waist and finally she was barely keeping her head above water. Polar Wind was trying to get out, swimming and making so many waves Eryn feared for her life.
Suddenly some upward force lifted her out of the water onto the dry land. Eryn was still trying to get warm when Polar Wind crawled out of the water beside her. Despite her obvious discomfort Eryn had to laugh when she saw her dragon. Talk about drowned kittens...
"What happened?" Eryn asked.
"We went for a swim." Polar Wind answered.
"But how did I get out?"
"I helped you out." a male voice came from in the water.
Polar Wind got up and raced through the crack. Eryn followed as fast as she could. Beneath the ice the dark blue form of a water dragon is viewable, slightly lighter than the sea beneath it. A smaller, lighter blue form swims aside it.
"Who are you?" Eryn asked.
"My name is Aquar and I am the fastests dragon in all the seas."
"I am the fastest dragon on land!" Polar Wind dared.
"Well you aren't as fast in the sea I've seen."
"What were you doing here?" Eryn interrupted.
"I was looking for a mate." a soft twinkle in both dragon's eyes alerted Eryn that the match had been made. Polar Wind lay down on the ice and nuzzled Aquar's mouth.
"So shall be it." she said and looked at her rider, "We will need to settle this in a race though. Open water preferably since I don't see you coming on land."

MATED TO WATER AQUAR

Eryn was a Candidate at Spectral Rhea
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