Prompt: "Everyone wants to hunt a dragon, but what happens you're tasked to find a one of a kind beast that only exists in legend?"

Story word count = 490

High on the windswept ridge, a dark cavern appeared, an entrance into mountainous depths. A moist frigid breath spilled out among the tumbled gray boulders. My quarry laid within. I felt it.

The hand of fair Gwen I ultimately sought. Sweet full lips, deep eyes of emerald, and long flowing hair of golden wheat; the slightest thought of her warmed me like the noon sun on a winter's day. On nights under the silvery moon, we would steal away, hearts bound.

But as a farmer's son without a drop of noble blood, her father opposed me. When I asked for her hand, his paunch shook with laughter. "You? I think not!" he exclaimed loudly. "But I make you this promise, if you would bring the head of the Eisdrache, I would allow you my daughter."

He thought the task impossible, forever denying me. Fire dragons inhabited the high craggy mountains of the north, but the ice dragon was but a myth, a legend never seen. So he believed.

A flickering lantern lit the way into the mountain void. Jagged rocks extended from above and below like teeth of a stilled monster. Bones of elk and deer laid scattered across the floor, and a damp musk smell invaded my nose. A predator lived here. My skin prickled from more than the icy cold, but also from a primal presence. I froze as something stirred beyond the light's reach.

The villagers blamed dragons for all sorts of harm, from snatching livestock to burning homes. In truth, the magnificent creatures rarely came near. In righteous fervor would the people bustle and clamor. To their ire, had I opposed the hunts.

Like my father before me, I had a sense of the beasts, an ancient connection of legend. But to claim publicly such a trait would lead to banishment.

That connection had led me here. The Eisdrache rose high before me, extending massive wings and baring razored teeth. Overlapping silver scales shimmered in the lantern light, and dagger talons clacked on the stone floor. Cold steel eyes pondered me, such a foolish human to have wandered here. It huffed, letting out a blast of frigid cold.

Slowly, I crept forward, extending a cautious hand. A touch of the dragon's icy snout opened our minds to each other. The quickening took hold, forming a bond between us. The beast reared back and arched the scales above its eyes, the mental connection confusing to... her. I sensed her name: Slayl.

We communicated not with words, but by abstract thought. I saw through her eyes and felt her existence: strong, proud, and true.

I said in my mind, "Slayl, a favor I ask. Go with me to the land of men. Let men see a dragon. Either by fear or awe, hearts may change."

I smiled. To bring a dragon's head was required to win my love. How much better if I brought a whole live dragon?