Storm shook his head to try and clear away the stars that were dancing across his vision.
In the center of the room stood Aurora with a mortified expression as she held a bright light crystal that was the cause of his blindness in her claws.
"Sorry!! I got excited!!"
"It's all right! I'm sure my vision will return ... Eventually..." Exclaimed Storm.
He shook his head again, then looked around.
Every dragon living in the settlement was present in the room.
His parents were standing close together at the far side of the room.
Several of the newly hatched baby dragons of the settlement were in the far corner, ignoring the adults in favor of spending more time wrestling with each other on the ground.
Even the dragons that spent most of their time away from the Grounds on missions like Storm's adoptive uncle, Pyros, made the time to attend.
In the center of the room, several tables were set up with enough food for all the dragons present.
The selection on offer was a list of Storm's favorite foods.
Pyros walked up to him and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Congratulations, Nephew !! Good to see you again. It's been a while!"
Pyros was a large dragon with crimson red scales with black stripes along his body. His eyes were bright red and seemed to be glowing as if a fire was lit inside the two orbs.
He had a mane of red brown hair growing from the back of his head 6 horns grew from the back and sides of his head.
Unlike other dragons, a small of fur grew from his chest before ending at his belly that was the same color as his mane.
He rarely saw his uncle as he was always away from the nesting grounds on some highly secretive mission from his father.
Last he heard, his uncle was on an undercover mission to one of the human cities to secure supplies for his father.
Pyros was a skilled shapeshifter, that used his magic to create a false identity as a human mage in one of the humans largest kingdoms
From there he could 'procure' supplies from right under the hunter's noses, before carefully shipping it back to the nesting grounds.
While on these trips, he would often send gifts and trinkets for Storm and Aurora.
Storm grew up hearing all kinds of stories about his uncle's many exploits. He always idolized his adoptive uncle and intended to follow in his footsteps one day.
"You're here, uncle?" Exclaimed Storm.
"You didn't think it'd miss my favorite nephew's 50th hatching day, did you?
Time sure flies by quickly! When was the last time I saw you?"
"30 years ago! At that midwinter feast my father forced you to attend!" Storm replied without hesitation.
"Ahh, yes. I remember now. I won't take up too much of your time, my boy. you shouldn't neglect your other guests after all."
Storm walked up to his parents to address them.
"You really didn't have to go through all this trouble. "
"Nonsense! You only get to turn 50 once! I wanted you to enjoy it!" Said his mother.
"Can the settlement really afford to waste all the resources spent here? I thought we were struggling?" Asked Storm.
"We are. Which is why your mother and Aurora worked so hard over the past week to hunt and gather what was used here.
None of what you see here was taken from the settlement's stores."
Storm was very touched by the trouble they went through for him.
He spent the remainder of the evening, mingling with the other dragons.
His father left first, so that he could go watch over their unhatched eggs. Pyros left with him so that he can introduce him to his future nephews.
As the other dragons all started leaving in pairs, Storm sought out Aurora one last time.
"Thank you... for all the trouble you went through to organize all this. I had a lot of fun tonight. "
"It was my pleasure! I'm glad you enjoyed it!" She responded.
"Aurora....
I'm leaving tomorrow..."
"Leaving?!" She Exclaimed.
Storm nodded his head. "On a mission from my father."
Storm could see that the news worried her.
"It's not dangerous, is it?" She asked.
"They're all dangerous, Aurora. But this is a simple scouting mission. I shouldn't be gone for more than 4 days at the longest."
"That's good, then. Please be careful, Storm. "
"I should get some sleep. I need to set off early tomorrow. I'll see you when I get back."
"Take care of yourself, Storm. "
He left the celebration soon afterwards, He checked up on the eggs one last time, then he returned to his nest to sleep.
He must have been nervous about the outcome ahead as his dreams were especially troubling and he slept lightly.
The next morning, Storm made his way to the main entrance to the Grounds and was just about to take off, when a voice stopped him.
Raijin!! Wait!!"
He turned around and saw his father approaching him.
"You'll have to stop at least once on your journey, when you get to the Elessian Falls, look behind the center waterfall.
You'll find a hidden hollow with shelter and supplies there.
Take what you need and rest up there, before continuing on the journey. "
"Thank you, Father. I will do so. And don't worry about me. I'll be back before you even notice that I'm gone."
"Clear skies on your journey, son!"
Storm left before he could changed his mind about going, making sure to fly high, so that people on the ground would have difficulty identifying him.
The first leg of his journey was uneventful, and he even had a light tailwind that helped him speed up his journey.
As a result, he reached the Elessian Falls just as the sun began to set below the horizon.
As it was extremely dangerous to fly around after dark, Storm decided to stop for the night.
He found the shelter his father had indicated at the exact place described.
The shelter was nothing more than a small damp cave with a few crates of preserved food stored within.
After eating his fill, he curled up and slept for the remainder of the night.
As the sun rose again the next morning, Storm discharged his breath organ to ensure that he was fit to fight if need be, before continuing with the final leg off the journey.
By midday Storm was able to make out the village from the air.
Everything seemed fine from a distance, but Storm couldn't see any elves no matter how hard he looked.
After circling above the village a few times, he flew closer and landed at the main entrance.