The Nadder incident

A ten-year-old Delvin was training in the woods, perfecting his spear technique with a sharp stick when he heard the cry of a beast. It sounded like a mix of the cry of an eagle and broken glass, and it sounded angry.

Holding his spear close and dropping behind a rock Delvin calmed his breathing, momentarily panicking before slowly but surely getting his composure back. First, he took a breath then held it then released it, then repeated.

Inhale 123 exhale

Peaking over the rock Delvin at first saw no signs of whatever he had heard but looking around he now saw signs he had missed during his walk here, broken twigs, snapped branches, and a slight hint of iron

Something had likely been eating and hunting in this area for days now, something that he had a nagging feeling was close by

He was about to move out of his hiding place when the roar resounded, forcing him to cover his ears lest they begin to bleed from the volume. And as he was recovering from the thundering noise he felt the vibrations and heard the sound of footsteps

Swallowing his saliva and quieting his breath, Delvin listened to the sound of those steps, large and sharp. He could hear the claws scraping against the dirt and stone as it went, and he could see a puddle in front of him tremble at the force of those steps

This was a big one, a dragon

Not daring to turn around in case he alerted it of his presence all Delvin could do was sit and wait for it to leave. He sat for minutes as it moved around outside his vision, occasionally roaring or letting out a screech, he felt when it moved around and when it drew close to the rock he sat behind, its breath causing his hair to flutter all he could do was hold his hands over his mouth and stay quiet, trying not to scream

However, by chance or by the gods will a boar happened to arrive driving the beast's attention as it gave chase with a screech that rocked the world around him.

And only when he was completely sure that the dragon was gone did Delvin stand up, letting out a ragged breath as he did so and picking up his "spear" before making a run for it. As he scrambled through the woods, ignoring the branches that whipped at his skin his only thoughts were of telling the chief what he had found

So much so that he didn't see one of the branches until it slammed into his, knocking him to the ground and breaking his nose.

"#$%^^%$#!" he cursed, as he felt the blood rush down his face, immediately trying to staunch the bleeding as he groaned in pain at his injury. "By thor that hurts!"

And then he heard that same roar, like a demented eagle, followed by the sound of wing beats as the dragon gave chase to him

A deadly nadder

Coming straight for him. upraised tail loaded with far more spikes than he wanted near him. Ever.

And as those same spikes came hurtling towards him with a whistle all he could do was dodge out of the way, luckily rolling to avoid the spikes that impaled themselves into the tree beside him.

Running like his life depended on it, as it did, Delvin charged through the woods, weaving through the trees in order to avoid the numerous spikes and breaths of fire that besieged him, one spike slamming into his shoulder and staying there, impaled and one breath burned his left arm

Running despite his wounds and the tears in his eyes, Delvin kept running, panting as he went, unsure of where he was going, only wanting to escape the beast pursuing him. Finally after what felt like an eternity, the nadder still on his tail, Delvin came across a landmark he could recognize.

The Caliban Caves

Ironic that he would be running there for safety as it was the one place his mother had told him to stay away from due to it being dangerous. But as she said "don't go there unless you absolutely have to"

And right now he had to

Running directly towards the closest cave Delvin plunged into the dark, searching for shelter of any kind from the nadder

Thankfully he was able to lose the nadder, it lost his scent among the numerous smells of the cave. However, it was still in there and so was he

Creeping around in the dark, Delvin was able to find a small rocky outcrop of sorts, climbing on top of it and using his vantage point to keep an eye on the dark silhouette of the nadder and as he was hiding he felt his leg brush against something, a smooth rock

Flinching at its cold surface Delvin gingerly reached out a hand placing it on the "rock" as he felt its smooth and egglike shape, well egglike was an understatement

It was an egg

A bloody dragon egg

He was so shocked that he didn't notice the nadder had seen him until it was right in front of him, snapping at him from below and catching his leg in its maw.

Screaming in pain Delvin plunged his sharp stick downwards, stabbing into the snout of the beast and forcing it to release his leg, leaving it to dangle limply beside him.

And when the nadder couldn't resist itself, attempting to take a second bit Delvin plunged his spear downwards, into its eye, killing the beast unintentionally

Shocked by his own feat Delvin starred at the spear embedded in the nadder, momentarily confused before letting out a laugh

And when the search party later found him they found Delvin unconscious, tightly clinging to his spear and a strange yellow egg

[Author note: I'm sorry if you dislike this fact but I am adding a new dragon into this series for the MC to ride, this will likely be the only thing i will add or change from the original plotline. If you want a hint, the dragon originates from the monster hunter universe]

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