blue eyes white dragon

The air grew thin and the silence became absolute as the traveler ascended. For weeks, they had been climbing, the world shrinking below them until it was nothing but a hazy map of greens and browns. The quest for the dragon’s ancient knowledge was a fool’s errand, so they were told, but the corruption that plagued their homeland offered no other hope. ​The final ascent was a brutal climb of jagged, frost-slicked rock. Exhaustion gnawed at their bones, but the thought of what lay at the summit—or what lay in wait—drove them on. Finally, they crested the last ridge and the wind hit them, a powerful current of ice and sky. ​Before them, on a sprawling, windswept aerie, stood Veridian. She was more immense than any tale had dared to describe. Her scales were a blinding white, like sculpted alabaster, and her vast wings were folded gracefully at her sides, a mountain of bone and membrane. Her head was turned to watch them, and as the traveler's gaze met hers, a jolt of pure awe went through them. Her eyes were not merely blue; they were two blazing sapphires, ancient and fathomless, piercing through the biting wind. ​Veridian made no sound, gave no sign of welcome or hostility. She simply waited, a living monument of stone and wind and ice. The traveler, their heart pounding against their ribs, took a step forward, ready to make their desperate plea to the mountain’s guardian.