Chapter Three

Even now, there were very few ice dragons alive, and most were males. Because of this large unbalance in genders amongst the ice dragons, not many ice dragons were being bred. Queen Arabelle had dedicated herself to making this breed more common, but the simple fact was that there were few pure and truthful people out there willing to become a dragon rider.

Breeds such as fire dragons and storm dragons were becoming more and more common, because many brave and fierce men - who were also often short tempered - were enlisting to join the Royal Dragon Riders Army, or commonly known as RDRA. These massive increases in those types of riders then lead to the massive increase of those types of dragons. Next to ice dragons, air dragons were the most uncommon, though only because there were so few calm and peaceful riders.

"So, why exactly do you want me to continue competing?"

Christian stopped once they were outside and alone, excluding the dragon, "You are an Ivanov, and a very powerful one, so it seems. The king could use a man like you in his army."

Casimir laughed, "No way that I am joining the RDRA."

"Why not?" Christian asked curiously, "Men from the RDRA get paid triple their worth in gold for every mission they take on and succeed in."

"And how many of those men return to collect that gold?" Casimir asked, "Look, I am just a swordsman from Altair trying to make a good name for myself as a swordsman. I don't need a dragon or any bargains to do that."

"How about having your lost pride restored to you, dragon hunter?" A female voice asked as a woman approached Christian and Casimir. Though she had a strong Tionian accent, she looked very similar to an Altairian person, with her olive skin and long, black hair. Her only Tionian feature was her emerald eyes.

"Who are you?" Casimir asked with a sharp tone. How had she known he wanted to restore his pride?

She smiled and looked at Christian, who gave a slight bow. He looked at Casimir, "This is Princess Avery Tiona, eldest child to the current king and queen of Tiona and heir to the throne. She is also the supreme general of the Royal Dragon Rider Army."

Avery stretched out a hand to shake, "Please, no need for titles and formalities." Immediately, Casimir noticed that it wasn't a soft, delicate hand that he would have imagined for a member of royalty, especially the future queen. She saw his examination and chuckled, "Here in Tiona, our royalty always learns to fight. It would be lazy of us to leave all the hard work to our dragons, even if they would do it for us. I don't know what it is like in Altair, but that is what it is like here."

"It's very different in Altair," Casimir said and shook the woman's firm hand.

"On that point, you do well to speak Tionian. Isn't it easier for you to just speak Dragonese?"

When the Tionian rulers and Altairian rulers first met and arranged a treaty between their two countries, it was decided that Dragonese would become the language used between the two countries for communication instead of favouring one country's language over the other. Most people in each country learn their mother tongue, along with Dragonese, but not the other country's language.

Casimir shrugged, "As a boy, I was interested in the language. I can speak all three fluently."

Avery looked impressed as he took her hand away. "As can I," she replied in Altairian, and it was Casimir's turn to look impressed.

"I understand you two are both very happy about being able to communicate, but right now we have other things to discuss," Christian said, mostly towards Avery. She stepped away, a little embarrassed.

"Sorry, Poppa," she said with a smile. Poppa? It dawned on Casimir who Christian was. He had recalled a very famous dragon rider from Tiona who had stayed in Altair for some time as an ambassador. It could have been only ten or maybe fifteen years ago, and someone had said he was the previous Queen of Tiona's advisor and half-brother.

Christian nodded thanks before turning back to Casimir, "I have a very difficult task that I need you to undertake. Before you argue," he said as Casimir began to open his mouth, "yes, only you can do this. With your hunter's ability to force your will upon dragons, the risk for you is far less than the risk would be for any other swordsman I know of."

"I don't even know if I have any real abilities!" Casimir said. "Sure, I accidentally made your dragon bow before me instead of eat me, but I don't know how I did that."

The old man walked forward and stabbed a finger at Casimir's chest, right above his heart, "It's all in there; all that hunter blood running through you. It's why Nadi listened to your order. She never even used to listen to my orders as obediently. What you did to her can be done to any dragon. Do you know how dragon hunters, true dragon hunters, and not just swordsmen who thought they could kill a dragon, came to exist?"

Casimir shook his head.

Christian rolled his eyes, "Of course you wouldn't. What do you kids even get taught these days? Many, many generations ago, before the time of Salvidor and Arifion, even the time before House Tiona and the others, when the country of Tiona was nothing more than a wilderness yet to be settled. The first people to form the Tiona house were also the rulers of the tribes that lived here. It was a time when dragons were the supreme hunters: unbeatable and fearsome creatures.

"They ruled this country for years. Humans cowered in fear of them, and yet they worshipped them like gods because of their power. No other creature could compare to the dragon, until the first witch appeared. You do know that witches exist, right? Oh good. She told one of the tribes that she could create a human with enough power to defeat a dragon, possibly even tame one as they had with wolves and horses.

"She was given ten of their strongest men to turn into hunters, who were the original members of the ten legendary hunter families. Of course, they all had illegitimate children and runaways throughout time which is why many hunters don't belong to these families, but these ten are the officially recognised hunter families. Ivanov was one of them, Casimir, which is why you have a strong connection to your hunter blood."

Casimir wasn't impressed, "If there were ten families, then why are there no other hunters? Heck, why am I the only one in my family to be a hunter?"

Avery answered one of his questions, "The other nine families are pretty much extinct. Being hunters didn't make them invincible to dragons, and many lost their lives and ended their lineage because of their cockiness. That is why the Ivanov line is such a fearsome hunter family. Not only did they kill the largest number of dragons during the era of dragon hunting, but they continued to be some of the best swordsmen in the king's armies for years afterwards. Somewhere along the lines, they vanished entirely, though it is clear now that they simply left with the dragons to go to Altair."

"So why only me?"

Avery shrugged, "I don't know the answer to that. Your siblings are all riders, yet most dragons refuse to let those of hunter decent ride them. It's almost like a blood feud thing."

"Figures," Casimir scoffed. "If that's the case, then why make me continue to compete in the tournament?"

"You will need a dragon," Christian said. "Don't worry about the time it will take for it to grow up. We are already getting it hatched and speeding up its growth pace, so it should be a fully grown dragon by the time you win the tournament, along with Leopold."

Casimir was beginning to find the entire thing amusing. Here he was, being told he was from a prestigious dragon hunting lineage by the princess and future queen of Tiona and her greatuncle, and that he was being given an important task by them that required him to tame a dragon.

"Okay, so say I do end up winning this tournament, what will I do with the dragon? I have never gotten a single dragon to like me, let alone become my dragon and allow me to ride it," Casimir said with an accusing tone.

Avery snickered, "Simple. If you win this tournament, you prove to the dragon you are a worthy rider. Even if you are a hunter, the dragon won't be able to deny your worth. Also, you can just force it."

"I told you already, I don't know how I did that!"

"Then just work on it," Christian said with a flick of his hand, turning around. "Now, if you two will excuse me, I have to return to the judges' area so that this tournament can continue!"

As he began to walk off with Nadi in tow, Casimir saw Adaline and Leopold approaching. Leopold looked quite smug with his trick, while Adaline just seemed exceptionally annoyed.

"What the hell was that?" She snapped. "You should have just fought the damned thing!"

"Chill out, Addie," Leopold said, his smug grin still on his face. "The whole thing was a set up. Avie asked me to let Casimir take my place in the tournament so that they could see whether or not he really was an Ivanov."

Avery seemed irritated, "Don't call me Avie."

Casimir closed his eyes and sighed, mentally banging his head against a wall, "Leopold, you seriously plotted with those two to get me into the arena?"

"Yep."

"Do you even know who they are?"

"Nope."

"Then why did you trust them? Why did you go along with it?"

"I dunno. Guess I thought it'd be funny to see you fighting a dragon?"

Adaline hit her brother over the back of the head, "You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Then she turned to Avery, "So you're name is Avie, right? What family are you from?"

Avery paused, thinking about her answer. Should she tell these two she was from the Tiona family? Since they were Tionian people, they might not be so calm about being near their future queen.

"Well, her name is actually Tatiana Belrose. She lied about her name to Leopold in case he went and did something stupid." Casimir cursed to himself: Tatiana is an Altairian name, not a Tionian name. No one else seemed to notice this.

Avery turned to Casimir in surprised for making something up on the spot. Adaline seemed a little unsure whether or not it was true, "Oh really?"

She shrugged, "What can I say? Your brother doesn't appear like the most trustworthy person."

Leopold almost looked offended, if he wasn't completely entranced by Avery's appearance. Even Casimir would have to admit she was an attractive woman, especially when she was wearing the white and green dress and cape that she currently had on.

"Just so you know, Tatiana, I am known as the most trustworthy swordsman in all of Tiona. No one is more fair and honest in the arena than I," Leopold said proudly.

Something flashed through Avery's eyes, "Oh, so you're a pure and truthful swordsman? Interesting, that."

While the Colburn siblings appeared to be confused, Casimir understood what she was getting at. Leopold will ride the ice dragon, leaving me with the storm dragon, huh? He thought to himself.

"Hurry up now, you two. The second test will begin soon," Avery said, pushing the two boys towards the arena and letting Adaline follow behind.

"Wait, but I didn't do the first test," Leopold said, getting a laugh from Avery.

"Don't worry about it, you get to jump in at the second test. Good luck both of you!" Avery said, winking at the two boys before dragging Adaline in the direction of the entrance doors.