The sun had begun to set on the horizon. The clear blue sky was now painted orange in the golden hour. Rune and his friends found a lovely island to land and pass the night. The experience they just had was still raw in their minds. They were all clearly shaken by it, their eyes looked lost, their bodies trembled. The purple Death had shown them what true power was in its undeniable form. It was so primal.
As each of them dismounted, there was still fear lingering among them. Weak knees caused some to almost collapse as they bore the weight of their bodies on their feet again.
"Did you see the size of that thing?" Sten said in disbelief.
"It didn't fully show itself" Forde added.
"Did you see the size of those teeth? How it easily took out the Submaripper?" Thyra said.
"It's force of nature on its own" said Virgil.
"I was shaken to my core. The roar was so raw, so primal" said Vyra, rubbing her upper arms as she shivered.
"It was scary, definitely. But that goes to show how dangerous the world we're in is. This was a needed reality check so that we don't go in over our heads and proceed with caution"
Rune's words provided a much needed calm to the group. His words were composed, and soothed the growing agitation in their midst.
"And that's why you're our leader" Forde said with a smile.
"Agreed. Now we have an idea of some of the things we are up against in this little expedition of ours" Sten chorused.
"I know for sure those hunters aren't going down this route. That thing will swallow their entire ships whole" Thyra added.
"What do we even call that thing? We've never seen a dragon like it" Vyra said.
"I think we should name it The Purple Death. It's as ferocious as the red death from the past and it's purple. I think it fits. What do you all think?"
"I like it. Although I don't know what the Red Death is but I did feel death when that thing looked at us" Virgil said.
"It fits. I'll start sketching it right away" said Forde.
"I'll meet up with you later after I make some additions to the map. Let's setup camp and put some meals in out bellies"
"You heard the boss. Let's move" Thyra echoed.
Rune and Forde created a makeshift workbench for themselves as they got down to work. It was imperative that they got to work straight away to avoid losing important details in their memory. As for the others, Thyra and Sten were tasked with setting up camp, Vyra was on food and Virgil was on security. He was tasked with making a perimeter and ensuring that they were not in any foul territory.
With Spikethorn utilizing her slow burn, Forde and Rune worked into the darkness with decent eyesight. Vyra was deep into cooking as the aroma engulfed the camp; bellies began to rumble as food came to the forefront. Thyra and Sten had set up the tents and were loitering about waiting for Vyra to finish cooking.
"Come on Vyra, how much longer? My tummy's killing me" Thyra cried.
"A couple more minutes and the stew will be ready. You must exercise patience"
Vyra was cooking over the campfire and Virgil had returned from his mission. He had seemingly gone full stealth mode with face paint, branches and leaves on his helmet and attire.
"I'm starving. Is it ready yet?" he asked.
"Not yet" Vyra responded.
"How was patrol?" asked Sten.
"It was good. We're in a good place. No dragons or nests around. The closest I found group of Timberjacks over a mile away. We're good for the night" he reported.
"That's great to hear. I'll take the first watch. Rune and Forde are still scribbling but I'm sure they will be done soon" said Sten.
"Are you done with the purple Death card?" asked Rune.
"Yeah. I redrew it a couple of times and had to think deeply to give it the appropriate stats and class. That dragon is something. Are you done with the map?"
"Pretty much. I drew this island and sketches of the Shellfire, Submaripper and Purple death in the waters. No sane person will move in a boat around here"
"Food is ready!" Vyra announced.
"Right on queue" Rune said with a smile as his stomach began rumbling.
The rest of the team flocked to Vyra with bowls in their hands, ready to eat after a long wait. She dished out their food and they didn't wait to dig in.
"Finally! Some sustenance" Sten exclaimed.
They ate until their stomachs were full and now they felt sleepy.
"Man, that was a meal" Virgil said before releasing a long belch.
"I will be *hick* retiring *hick* for the night" Forde said with hiccups.
"Let's sleep and wake up early tomorrow" Rune said before falling asleep.
Heavy feet dragged their bodies back into their tents except for Rune. He was basically forgotten out in the night as everyone went in. His only comfort was his best friend, Sandstorm. His dragon curled around him, placing him delicately within his paws and using his wings to block the winds. The two slept next to the campfire until it died out.
In the morning, the others began to search for Rune. They didn't find him in his tent and he didn't tell anyone where he was. Even Sandstorm wasn't with him so there were a lot of question marks.
"Where would he wonder off to without taking his dragon with him?" Thyra wondered, scratching the top of her head.
"That's unlike him. Even if he's sneaking off, Sandstorm is always with him" Forde said.
"Did he tell you anything?" Sten asked Vyra.
"Not a word. We haven't seen one another since last night" She answered, shrugging her shoulders.
"Very weird" Virgil commented.
"The only person we haven't asked is Sandstorm. If he doesn't know where his partner is then we might as well get a search underway" Forde deduced.
Sten walked up to the snoozing Sandstorm and decided to ask him of Rune's whereabouts.
"Sandstorm, you wouldn't happen to know where Rune is would ya? We haven't seen him today"
Sandstorm rumbled as he was awakened by Sten. The dragon's gaze was set on the Viking in front of him with slightly furrowed brows, showing his displeasure in being awakened early. Sten laughed nervously as Sandstorm's gaze remained. Sandstorm huffed, as he opened his wings and his paws to reveal Rune tucked away.
"What the- He didn't sleep in his tent?" Virgil said with shock.
"The last place we saw him was here-"
"Right before he slept off" Forde cut in.
"Then that means…"
"We left him here" Sten said, completing Thyra's sentence.
Sandstorm grunted as they realized what had transpired. Not the best look for them. Rune slowly began to wake up. He rolled in Sandstorm's grasp as his eyes moved under his eye lids. Slowly they opened up as he found his team standing around him.
"Good morning guys. Is there a problem?" he said before going into a long yawn as he stretched.
"Nothing" Vyra answered sharply.
Sandstorm grumbled.
"Seems like someone's grumpy this morning" he said before placing his hand on Sandstorm's head and rubbing it.
Sandstorm purred.
Rune then begam to wonder how and why he was with Sandstorm. Then it hit him, he must've fallen asleep here and Sandstorm must have come to shield him from the cold. His friends were probably looking for him and then they met Sandstorm here and he showed them where he was. Rune just shook his head.
"Let's get packed up. We have a busy day ahead of us"
They packed up and took to the skies. They bore it in mind that they were going to take a little tour of the island before they left. The rider's maintained a good height over the trees, they were far enough not to get ambushed by something lurking but not too far to the point that they couldn't see anything.
"This place is pretty calm, we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary" said Forde.
"Yet" Sten added.
The island had two large mountains on the south side of the island that were facing one another. Forestry covered most of the island except the valley in-between the mountains and the plain that led up to the valley. It was a good open area with lots of grass and herbs growing.
"Changewings hunting, Zipplebacks gassing the place up. Saw a Stromcutter and two of her hatchlings flying towards the mountains. The dragon species here seem to be doing okay" Rune stated his observations.
"With the Purple death lurking, of course no hunter in their right mind would push this far west. That thing literally made a barrier that no one in a ship can cross. We are only fortunate to get here because we are riding dragons" said Sten.
"That, I can agree with" Vyra said.
"That means we could find some rare species around here. If the purple death has protected this region for this long, we are bound to come across some legendary dragons. Maybe even a Night fury" Forde stated.
"It is plausible. In this world, never say never" Rune said with a little smirk.
Rune got out his spyglass, looking at the plains for any sign of dragon life. Then he spotted a red dragon in the plain but it didn't look like anything he had seen before. Looking further, he found another brown dragon of the same shape spread away from the one he had just seen. Under further observation, he found a few more spread out across the plain.
"This is interesting" he said.
"What did you find?" Virgil asked.
"A dragon species I have never seen before. We need to get closer so I can really make out what it is" answered Rune.
"Let's go uncover that species" Forde said with excitement.
The group flew in for a closer look and Rune identified more of them as they closed in. His count went up to nine now that they were closer.
"This dragon doesn't ring any bells. What do you make of them Forde?" Rune asked.
"It's on the tip of my tongue. I can see their picture in the book of dragons but the name is blurry" he said as he stressed over the name.
He placed both hands on his head and closed his eye, focusing hard and grimacing as he tried to remember.
"That's one way to try and remember" Sten said, taking a jab at him.
"Not… helping" Forde grunted.
"I think I know it. It starts with a B, umm I remember. Is it the Buffalord?" Thyra guessed.
Forde's eyes sprung open as both he and Rune turned to her in shock.
"What? Did I get it?"
"From the look on their faces, I think you did" said Vyra.
"Yes! I just started reading through some dragon cards to refresh my memory. I'm so glad it paid off" she said, full of joy.
"Looks like the dragon heads on their high horses have been left stunned" Sten giggled.
"Is that bad? I didn't mean to make you mad Forde" she apologized immediately.
"It's fine Thyra. Honestly. We're not just used to someone else contributing to these things, but it's good to have someone else join the club. I can borrow you a few of my notes and extracts if you'd like?" Forde offered.
Thyra nodded her head repeatedly, not only was she accepted but now she could get to spend more time with him.
They landed in the plains as the Buffalords grazed peacefully, paying the riders no attention. The dragons and riders gazed in amazement, a species rumored to be hunted to extinction with very few spotted over the years. Now they happened to stumble upon nine of them, including three hatchlings, all healthy.
"This is truly a remarkable discovery" Rune said as he watched the red Buffalord graze.
"Tucked away in a far island. Guarded by the purple behemoth, they thrive away from Viking eyes" Forde spoke. He got out a note pad and began to scribble things down.
"They seem very nice and easy going. They aren't even scared by our presence" said Vyra.
"Buffalords are very docile except under specific conditions. Conditions we will try not to test" Rune explained.
The group spread out in pairs of two to observe and to count the dragons. This finding will bring joy other riders. Some species had managed to avoid extinction in secluded regions. It was an assurance that their efforts were somewhat helping dragons make a recovery.
"Well now we know where to look if anyone has Scourge of Odin" Sten said. He looked at the red Buffalord straight in the eye and for some reason, he pissed it off.
The dragon puffed out steam from its nostrils as it inflated itself, becoming more than double its original size. The spines on its body stood, ready to fire at will.
"Sten, what did you do?" Rune said with a concerned voice.
"Nothing, I swear it" Sten responded.
"Well whatever you did or didn't do has pissed it off" said Forde.
"Then I suggest that we get out of here before things get ugly" Virgil suggested as he retreated to Hothead.
The riders cautiously retreated to their dragons and flew away, as they avoided the fury of the spines.
"What an interesting island" Thyra remarked.
"Indeed. We must do our best to preserve it. For the sake of the Buffalord species" Forde added.
"What are we going to name the island?" Sten asked.
"I initially wanted to leave it unnamed or call it twin peaks because of the mountains, but now that we've discovered the Buffalords, we can include them in the name" Rune stated.
"I think leaving them out of the name would do them a world of good" Forde suggested.
"Agreed. We don't want to draw any attention to them if we are trying to get their numbers back up" Virgil chipped.
"Then I guess we go with Twin Peaks?"
They all unanimously nodded and it was agreed. The island was named, Twin Peaks.