The high peaks of the Zephyr Mountains were home to legends. Cloaked in perpetual mist, jagged peaks soared beyond the eye’s reach, their shadows stretching over the villages below. There, in the vast emptiness between earth and sky, the Beast Riders ruled—warriors astride colossal creatures, winged titans of fur and iron scales, bonded to their riders through ancient rites.
Among these warriors was a boy named Aeron, who had yet to claim his place in their ranks. He stood at the edge of a cliff one day, gazing at the horizon, where the mighty riders soared. His heart ached with envy and hope. For years, Aeron had tried to bond with a beast, but none had accepted him. The bond was sacred, a melding of spirit and will. Without it, he could never fly among the clouds, never ride as a protector of his people.
But fate has a strange way of guiding the lost.
One crisp evening, while walking through the ancient woods that clung to the mountain’s base, Aeron stumbled upon something extraordinary. Beneath the gnarled branches, he saw a glimmer of light, as though the moon itself had descended into the forest. Moving closer, he came face to face with a creature of unspeakable grandeur. The beast was larger than any he had seen before, its body coiled in massive folds of steel-like scales, feathers shimmering like molten silver. Its eyes, deep pools of midnight, locked with Aeron’s, and in that moment, an understanding passed between them—an unspoken oath.
Without hesitation, Aeron approached. The beast did not stir but waited, watching him with a gaze full of ancient wisdom. Slowly, Aeron placed his hand upon its snout, and the world seemed to shift. A pulse of energy surged between them, a bond forged in silence. This was no ordinary beast. It was one of the old ones, creatures whispered about in tales passed down through generations. A beast of the first sky.
With a great rumble, the beast unfolded its wings, each as wide as the largest of the mountain ledges. Aeron felt his heart soar as he climbed atop its back. His hands gripped the creature’s mane as it leapt into the air, its wings beating against the wind. The world fell away beneath them.
The feeling of flight was unlike anything Aeron had imagined. The wind roared in his ears, but beneath it, there was a silence—an endless stillness that enveloped them both. The vast sky opened up, stars glittering like lanterns in the dark. Every rise and fall of the beast's wings sent tremors of exhilaration through Aeron’s body, a sense of power and freedom he had never known. Below, the mountains turned to mere whispers of stone, and the forests became shadows, barely more than memory.
He had found his calling.
But his newfound joy was short-lived.
As Aeron and his beast descended from their flight, they saw smoke curling from the mountaintop. The village! Something was wrong. Urging his beast forward, Aeron reached the encampment of the Beast Riders, only to find chaos. Raiders—brutal invaders from the plains—had snuck into the region under the cover of darkness. They had captured the warriors, binding them in iron chains, their great beasts tethered to the earth, unable to fly.
Aeron's heart pounded. Without the warriors, the village was defenseless. But as he looked at his beast, a sense of determination filled him. They were not powerless. Together, they could stop the invaders.
With a sharp command, Aeron guided his beast into the air. The great wings beat with a thunderous sound as they ascended, silent as the night itself. Aeron spotted the raiders below, gathering in their ranks, preparing to take their captives away. He urged his beast into a dive.
The wind screamed as they plummeted from the sky, the beast’s claws extended like talons of iron. The first raider never saw them coming—he was swept from the ground with a single strike, cast into the abyss below. Panic rippled through the invaders as Aeron and his beast descended again, attacking with speed and ferocity. The beast roared, a sound that shook the mountains, sending the raiders scattering.
Aeron felt the rush of victory coursing through him. With each strike, they freed another warrior, another beast. Soon, the air was filled with the deafening sound of wings as the freed riders joined the battle. Together, they fought, a swarm of fury and vengeance against the raiders who had dared invade their sacred home.
By dawn, the battle was over. The raiders lay defeated, their banners torn and trampled into the dirt. Aeron, his heart still pounding, stood among his comrades, the great beast beside him. The other warriors stared in awe at the creature that had bonded with him—the largest, most majestic beast anyone had ever seen.
He had done it. He had not only found his place among the warriors—he had saved them.
From that day forward, Aeron’s name was spoken with reverence throughout the mountains. The boy who had once been overlooked had risen, not just as a warrior, but as a legend. And every time he took to the sky with his great beast, the people of the mountains would look up in awe, knowing they were safe under his watchful eyes.
