Your Wyvern grew up along side you.

The dragon riders of Illeria believed this was the way to create the ultimate bond.

Whenever a new Illerian child was born. They were taken to the nest and one of the captains would walk them past each egg. Whichever egg glowed would become that infants future mount.

Though the wyverns grew faster than humans, they became a second layer of protection for the child until they were of training age.

Given unlimited space to roam and fly the beasts could make relationships with others of their kind, and come and go as they pleased but they would always return home. No bond would ever compare to that of wyvern and their fated rider.

Indigo’s mount was of just that colour. Her parents had actually waited to name her until she had made the connection. Her wyverns egg had been of a stunning deep blue that reflected purple in moonbeams the night she had been born.

Those colours now lay in the scales of Kaida. Named for her size, she was smaller then most mounts but Indigo didn’t mind. She was fast and able to take sharp turns and dives quicker then anyone else’s wyvern in their fleet.

Indigo knew that when the time came to ride into battle, those types of maneuvers could easily save both their lives.

Indigo didn’t like to think of death. If one of them died the bond would break and it was said to be the most excruciating pain any human could ever experience.

There was thought to be the same pain for the wyverns as on multiple occasions in war if a mounts rider was lost to blade or fire they would go into a sort of frenzy. Often killing the individual responsible before sacrificing themselves to the fight. It was as if they couldn’t live wholeheartedly once their rider was gone.

As for the humans, they were never quite the same. The ones she knew of that had lost their mounts had often turned to drink. Unable to fight in any capacity and many times isolating themselves from the community.

Only one person had been an exception to this experience from what she knew. Captain Dain. He had lost his mount in the battle of deep bay and when he had arrived home he was told that a young child had died of Ricker pox that same day. This left their mount alone and broken. Captain Dain had gone to see it. A rather risky endeavour given how unstable mounts could be after they lost the connection.

It is said they rebonded. No one knows what exactly happened between the two of them. Maybe it was the timing of it all. The mirrored loss they could see in each other. It was the only instance of something like that happening to her knowledge.

Captain Dain now flew with his mount Roko and actually trained Indigo’s fleet.

She loved observing the various connections in their group, the strange way each mount and rider complimented each other.

Neil and winlo. Both intelligent.. calculated. His red hair matching her cracked belly. Many said Neil and winlo were rumoured to be the next captain and mount as Neil often created the best strategies with winlo acting as unwavering combat support.

Rinna and Banthor. Her physical strength and stature was perfectly matched in Banthor’s impressive size. He was even gifted with a flail for a tail that could hit like a fist.

Aowen and Luna. The two both soft in colour and temperament. Agile and smooth. Aowen walked with a grace that made it seem as if she was floating. Only to be mimicked in Luna’s flight. Their movement was like a dance and everyone loved to watch their performance.

And then there was Indigo and Kaida.

She couldn’t observe herself the way she could the others but she knew they were both small, sneaky and dark like night.

She supposed her favourite thing about their connection was that neither of them had been expected to be much. The runts of their litters. Indigo had been born too early and was never expected to make it past a few hours. As for Kaida, throughout history small mounts had never been anything of note.

However, in spite of all that after the two had been paired and were of age to begin training, no star could outshine them. They were consistently top of their class and when the time came and the stakes were the highest. Indigo knew, it would be her and Kaida called to action to protect Illeria.