"Ten days till the Thawfest games!" Chanyeol announced as Phoenix shot through the gates of the arena. "Don't forget!"

"You have been counting down since three weeks ago," Chen groaned, tightening the straps of the saddle on his dragon. "How can we forget?"

"Yeah," Baekhyun agreed. "I dream about it in my sleep every night," he grumbled.

"That's good," Chanyeol's face lit up, oblivious to the complaints hinted at him. "You guys will start training then."

"What's the point?" Luhan asked. "Every year, it's only the nine of us joining, and it's the same winners every year!"

Over the years, the Thawfest events were modified to adapt to the supernatural powers of the Academy riders. It wasn't a fair fight anymore as they were free to use their powers in the events.

"Chen can join the dragons event now that he finally found a dragon," Chanyeol pointed out. 

"Oh, that's right," Baekhyun agreed enthusiastically. "You have a chance to win with a Skrill."

"Still not much of a difference to me," D.O said nonchalantly. "We repeat history every year. Even the villagers get bored. Luhan wins the Axe Throwing, Sehun wins the Log Roll, and I will win the Yak Lug. Only Dragon Racing is exciting."

"Haven't you heard?" Chanyeol asked. "Khita announced that we can't use our powers anymore, except for the dragons event."

"What? When?" everyone echoed in disbelief.

"Yesterday. Was nobody paying attention?" Chanyeol asked, slightly annoyed. 

"Ah, I was out with Thundervoice yesterday," Chen replied.

"I was training for the Freestyle the whole day," Sehun answered.

"I went to Lava-Lout Island with Stoneheart," D.O added.

"I rotted in the infirmary the whole day," Kris grumbled. "Lay wouldn't let me leave."

"Sleeping," Kai announced as he raised his hand.

"We know," the whole arena groaned in unison.

"Oh, and he also announced a new event!" Chanyeol added excitedly.

A series of complained murmurs rang through the Academy. "Again?" Chen whined loudly.

"What is it?" Luhan asked curiously.

"I don't know, he said he was going to announce—"

A loud horn sounded somewhere from the main island, startling everyone in the arena.

"Right now," Chanyeol finished enthusiastically. "Come on, let's go!" he urged as he mounted Phoenix. The other riders sighed and did the same before shooting out of the gates. Kris couldn't be bothered enough to leave, but Chanyeol pulled him up behind him before he took off as well, checking that nobody was left behind.

Khita was standing in front of the Great Hall when they landed, Tao and Fleet beside him. Most of the villagers had already arrived, patiently waiting for the chief to start his announcement. The Academy riders were gathered at the center of the crowd; the villagers had made way for their dragons to land. "Anyone missing?" Suho yelled above the noise.

"Don't you mean did Kai get left behind again?" Baekhyun shouted in response with an sly grin, earning chuckles from everyone.

"I'm right here!" Kai answered as he kept his hand up, weaving through the other riders from the back all the way to the front.

"Everyone don't move!" Suho ordered and started counting. After a moment of expertly muttering numbers to himself and pointing, he announced to Khita, "Okay, we're good!" while giving him a thumbs up, gesturing for him to start.

"As you all know, the Thawfest games will be held in ten days," Khita's voice boomed loudly. "I made an announcement yesterday regarding the prohibition of the use of powers in this year's events. Today, I shall provide some interesting news." At his words, everyone perked up their ears, curious to know what it was. Khita gestured at Tao, "Tao would like to introduce a new event called Stick & Stone."

Everyone watched as Tao stepped forward. “Stick & Stone is a very simple game. It requires a very large area with two posts at each end acting as a ‘goal’. A rock that is carved into a round pebble is used as a ‘puck’, and carved wooden sticks are used to hit the pebble. And most importantly, the land has to be covered with ice,” Tao said excitedly, completely in contrast to the confused atmosphere around him. “The players are separated into two teams. The team that shoots the pebble into the opponent’s goal the most in a certain given time wins!” he finished enthusiastically.

The whole village stared at him in confusion, including the contestants of Thawfest. Suddenly, everybody started talking and asking questions, some yelling out to Tao to ask him what he meant.

Even the Academy riders were asking questions, most of them to nobody in particular. “'Puck'?” Luhan asked, not familiar with the word.

"Ice?" Kai repeated, not believing his ears. "We're going to play on ice?"

“What does a ‘goal’ look like?” Chanyeol wondered.

“What’s the game called again?” Kris asked.

“Hey!” Khita shouted over the noise and everyone shut up. “Questions will be answered,” he said. “Just let him finish.”

“I already have the sticks and the puck carved,” Tao announced. “The game will be demonstrated at the Academy tomorrow. Everyone please gather outside the arena at noon, and all questions will be answered.”

“That is all,” Khita ended the announcement. “Oh, and I would like the Academy riders to stay back for a moment,” he added.

As the other Vikings dispersed, the riders remained, wondering what else could be more. They looked expectantly at Khita, but he just patted Tao on the shoulder before he walked off as well, leaving him alone with the riders.

“Well," Tao started. "I need to prepare all of you for the demonstration tomorrow," he said, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Cool," Chanyeol replied. "Let's get started. Where are we headed?"

Tao took a deep breath. "Dragon Mountain."

"What?" everyone exclaimed, and Tao flinched at their tones.

"We're not allowed anywhere near there," Suho pointed out.

"Khita banned anyone to enter that place," Luhan reminded him.

"He said it was dangerous," D.O recalled.

"That is why," Tao cut everyone off before anyone could give another reason to discourage his idea. "He won't find out."

"Awesome, let's go," Sehun exclaimed with renewed energy.

"Wait a minute," Suho interrupted. "Are you sure about this?" he asked Tao.

"Yes," he answered without hesitation. "It's the only way we can train."

After a moment of debating with himself, Suho finally sighed in resignation and said, "Okay, let's go."

After saddling up, the riders took off, neither of them knowing where they were headed. "So do you know where's Dragon Mountain?" Chanyeol asked casually as he steered his dragon up next to Tao.

"Of course," he replied.

"Have you been there before?"

"No," he answered.

"Then how do you know where it is?" Baekhyun exclaimed, clearly overhearing their conversation.

"I control time and I can fly," Tao reminded him, raising an eyebrow. "I highly doubt a mountain can hide from me."

"Oh, right," Baekhyun answered in realization before falling back into place with the other riders.

The riders had no idea where they were headed to, but they didn't have to worry about anything. The dragons were following Tao automatically, so the riders were free to do whatever they liked.

Suho was at the front talking to Tao, Kris behind his back. They seemed to be in deep conversation, but Chanyeol didn't think much about it.

Chen and Baekhyun were chatting animatedly, not even bothered to sit properly on the saddle. They had steered their dragons until they were very close to each other and were both sitting sideways. Thundervoice and Polarbeam were gliding as much as they could, for if they flapped their wings they would hit each other. It was sweet to see the dragons caring for each other; Chanyeol remembered Luhan sharing the story of their previous brawl and how they ended up being friends later on. 

Kai, as Chanyeol expected, was sleeping like a baby on his dragon again. He had lay on his back with his head on Blink's neck and fell asleep comfortably. His saddle was even larger than he needed; he had modified it so he could lie on the Changewing's back without sliding off.

Sehun was on Luhan's dragon saying something while tapping on Luhan's shoulder persistently. It must have been funny because suddenly Luhan was scrunching up his face in laughter along with Sehun. Havoc was gliding under Dreamfyre as his wings were very large. Sehun was the only one who learned how to walk on dragons so he could go anywhere he wanted, even airborne.

D.O was falling a little behind, reading a book he somehow brought along. Stoneheart was doing his best to keep up, but with his wingspan being the shortest, he was still slower than others. Chanyeol thought he looked lonely and decided to accompany him. He slowed down Phoenix until he was at the same pace as Stoneheart and said, "Hey."

D.O looked up from his book and replied, "Oh, hey. What's up?"

"I've always wondered what Dragon Mountain looks like," Chanyeol said excitedly. "Now I'm actually going to visit that place."

D.O snorted in response. "Well, I—"

"We're here!" Tao announced, cutting off D.O mid-sentence.

Everyone resumed their original positions and Blink used one of her antennae to nudge Kai awake as she took her place. The Academy riders had established a standard flight formation in which they used when they were patrolling, on a mission or merely airborne. That way, the dragons would less likely clash into one another when flying as all their wingspans varied widely. 

"Whoa," everyone muttered in awe as they saw the view in front of them.

The mountain was covered in ice instead of snow. Large spiky shards were sticking out of the surface, and there was a cave that was barely visible through the ice. 

Tao entered the mouth of the cave and everyone followed. It was dark with little light shining through despite the overhead sun. Chanyeol expertly lit up a fireball that illuminated the cave, only to realize that Tao didn't need to see to navigate around the cave. 

"I thought you said you've never been here before," Chanyeol accused suspiciously.

"I dreamt of this place before," Tao explained. "It came in a vision."

"Oh," he replied. "Well, then. By all means, lead the way."

Wordlessly, Tao turned around and headed deeper into the cave, the others shuffling loudly behind them. There was a small tunnel that lead to who-knew-where, but after examining it, Tao turned and headed down another direction. 

"What's wrong with that one?" Chen asked from behind.

"Large dragons can't fit through there," Tao answered. "We'll have to use another entrance."

"But our dragons are not—" he turned to the left and found Havoc the Typhoomerang sticking close to Sehun protectively. "Oh."

After a few minutes of walking, the riders saw light ahead and soon enough they had reached the heart of the mountain, the Dragon's Den.

It was surprisingly warm and beautiful, not like what Chanyeol expected. There was a big waterfall over the cliff on the right, and there were plants and grass everywhere indicating that the freezing cold outside the mountain did not affect the inside. There were dragons flying freely everywhere, some of them which species Chanyeol couldn't recognize. He had no idea why Khita would ban them from coming here.

"Whoa," Baekhyun whispered in awe. "I've never seen anything like this. Why would Khita say this was dangerous?"

"Stoick the Vast died here," Tao answered, silencing everyone. "He died protecting his family."

"I guess he didn't want to keep tragic memories of our history," Suho said.

Out of a sudden, a few baby Scuttleclaws flew over and started nudging the riders playfully. The dragons got defensive and snarled at the Scuttleclaws but the riders seemed to like playing with the babies. Scuttleclaws were presumed to be huge dragons as they were already large as babies, and they listened to no one. They weren't even afraid of the snarling dragons and decided to disturb them as well.

"You can look around if you like," Tao said. "I'm going to get things prepared for the practice." He left before anybody could protest.

"Let's explore this place!" Chanyeol suggested. "It's not everyday we get to come to Dragon Mountain."

"Be careful, guys," Suho warned kindly. "Make sure you stay within earshot. Tao will come back anytime."

"Yes, mom!" Sehun responded playfully before mounting Havoc and taking off, earning chuckles from the others as they too saddled up and took off.

Chanyeol rode Phoenix around the Den. The first thing he noticed was that the top of the Den was covered in layers of ice, and yet it didn't melt under the humid climate. Chanyeol flew up to the top to get a closer look and blended in with the wild dragons. There were so many species; he recognized a Raincutter, a Hotburple, and even a few Hobblegrunts. As he spiraled upwards along with the dragons, they stared at him like he wasn't supposed to be there. "Hi," Chanyeol greeted them politely. "Hello," he nodded to a Hideous Zippleback as well.

As he left the group of dragons to explore more, he spotted some of the riders minding their own business. He found Chen and Thundervoice taking a leisurely stroll down below. Chen noticed him and waved. He flashed a peace sign as he zoomed past. Later on he spotted Suho and Riptide diving down the waterfall. He guessed Suho was finally learning to survive underwater. Luhan was flying low with Dreamfyre and Chanyeol hollered to him. Luhan laughed and yelled something unintelligible back. A little further down he spotted glimpses of Kai appearing at different places really quickly. Apparently, Kai was playing hide and seek with Blink, only their version was different. Kai would teleport to different places and Blink would camouflage then try to guess the correct spot to reappear next to her rider simultaneously, attracting peals of laughter from Kai.

Suddenly, a panicked scream that sounded all too familiar to Chanyeol echoed around the Den and drove all the wild dragons into hiding. Next thing he knew Baekhyun and Polarbeam slammed into him and Phoenix, sending them crashing to the ground. Phoenix quickly folded Chanyeol into his wings to cushion his fall while Baekhyun landed on Polarbeam's head then slid onto the ground. The dragons recovered immediately and growled at each other, but was quickly intervened by the riders who murmured reassurances to them. Chanyeol turned to Baekhyun and exclaimed, "Thor Almighty, what happened now?" 

A loud roar sounded in answer and Chanyeol looked past Baekhyun to find its source. Slowly, a large white shape turned at a corner and came into view. "Bewilderbeast!" Chanyeol shouted in alarm. The Bewilderbeast roared again and started heading towards them, crushing a pile of rocks on the ground along the way. 

All the other riders, clearly hearing Baekhyun's scream too, gathered around them. Suho reached first, obviously worried about his responsibility. "Baekhyun, what did you do now?" he asked, exasperated.

"How are you so sure it was me?" Baekhyun asked in bewilderment. "Can't it be Chanyeol?"

"Please, all of us have various versions of your screams branded into our brains," Kai commented as he popped into sight with a puff.

"Less talking," Luhan ordered. "More fleeing!"

Everyone saddled up and dispersed to avoid getting trampled. "Riders! Formation!" Suho yelled, taking charge. The riders gathered immediately and went into flight formation, heading for the exit. Cold air blasted into Chanyeol's face but he felt as hot as a stove. The fire in his veins mixing with the adrenaline rush was making him exhilarated and pumping with energy.

"Baekhyun, you disturbed a Bewilderbeast?" Sehun exclaimed in disbelief.

"It was an accident!" he protested.

The Bewilderbeast followed them out of the Den, letting out a loud roar. The riders hovered airborne, facing the dragon. They waited patiently, ready for a fight. Kris dropped from Riptide's back and transformed in midair, growing into a Snaptrapper. He took his place beside Suho, also getting ready to fight. Tao flew out towards them too after a few moments. "Baekhyun!" he reprimanded.

"It was an accident!" Baekhyun whined, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation.

The Bewilderbeast shot out a blast of ice at the riders, breaking their formation. The shot missed Baekhyun by inches as he steered Polarbeam to the left. It shot again, but Stoneheart intervened with a lava blast. "It's aiming at Baekhyun!" Chanyeol announced in realization. 

"Oh, damn," Baekhyun muttered and steered Polarbeam close to the Bewilderbeast. "Sonic shriek, guys! Steady!" he warned before Polarbeam let out his famous scream, trying to affect the Bewilderbeast even a little. The riders grunted as they tried to steady themselves on their dragons, all of which were trying to maintain airborne. The alpha dragon, on the other hand, was not in the least affected and it seemed to get only angrier. Taking advantage of their close distance, it took a shot at Baekhyun with pinpoint accuracy, blasting him with ice square in the chest.

"Baekhyun!" the riders cried as he slid from Polarbeam and started falling headfirst to the ground. Everything happened really fast then. Polarbeam zoomed after his rider, trying to fight gravity while Riptide blasted boiling hot water at the Bewilderbeast. Polarbeam managed to curl his tail around his rider and gently lay him down on the ground, hovering next to his unconscious body. 

"I'll go check on him," Suho announced. "You guys distract that thing." Riptide dived to the ground and Suho ran to Baekhyun's limp body. When he touched him, his whole body felt like ice. "Baekhyun," he called. "Get up," he pleaded.

"How is he?" Luhan yelled from above.

"He's freezing," Suho replied.

"Can we get him to Lay in time?" Chen asked, worried. 

"I doubt it," he replied. "Chanyeol! Get over here!"

Chanyeol obeyed immediately and hopped down from Phoenix. "How can I help?" he asked without hesitation.

"Warm him up," Suho ordered. "That's the only thing we can do now. We'll try to buy more time."

"Okay," he replied and kneeled down beside Baekhyun. "Don't hurt it, though. It's still a dragon no matter what." He hauled him up into his arms and placed him on Phoenix's saddle. He had fireproofed it as Phoenix could light himself up at will. It had burnt his old saddle once and he didn't want to keep making saddles just because Phoenix was frustrated that he couldn't catch a sheep. "Light up, boy," Chanyeol ordered and Phoenix obeyed. The ice around them melted in seconds but Chanyeol was unaffected. He ripped open Baekhyun's tunic and warmed up his hands, his phoenix tattoo pulsating and glowing in his inner wrist. He placed them on his chest, the spot where he was hit. "Gosh, he is freezing," Chanyeol murmured worriedly. He could feel Baekhyun's heart beating faintly under his hands which grew slightly clearer after a few seconds of warmth.

"Whoa, isn't he going to burn?" Chanyeol heard Kai ask from above, panicking.

"Kai, shut up and keep firing," Sehun replied. "Chanyeol knows what he's doing."

Chanyeol raised his hands a few degrees higher, getting worried. Baekhyun still wasn't responding although his heartbeat felt normal. "Dammit, Baekhyun. Get up!" he exclaimed and hit his chest. What he didn't realize was that he had accidentally lit up a fireball in his palm as he hit him lightly.

In response, Baekhyun shot up into a sitting position, gasping heavily. "Ow!" he complained and Phoenix extinguished himself immediately. "That burns," he said, rubbing his bare chest.

"Ugh, thank Odin," Chanyeol muttered as squeezed the air out of his lungs. 

"Chanyeol," Baekhyun managed to choke out. "Can't breathe."

Chanyeol released him immediately. "Sorry. Are you okay? Anywhere hurt?" he asked as he examined Baekhyun's body from head to toe.

"I feel okay, just a little cold," he answered. "That Bewilderbeast has some nasty shots."

"Come on, we have to help the others," Chanyeol said and saddled up, Baekhyun following suit.

"Baekhyun, you alright?" Chen asked immediately when he saw Polarbeam shoot up from the ground.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied.

Chanyeol was about to throw a fireball at the Bewilderbeast when an unfamiliar voice shouted, "What is up with all that no—Snowflake, stop!" Everyone stopped firing and turned in the voice's direction. To all the riders' surprise, the alpha dragon obeyed without hesitation.

"Well, that was easy," Luhan commented.

There was a man with visible hoar silver hair and streaks of blue standing on a flat patch of ice at the side of the mountain that Chanyeol was sure wasn't there the last time he remembered. "I'm sorry, she's still young," the man apologized. "I hope nobody got hurt because of her." The man slid down from the patch of ice, earning a few gasps from the riders, only to find him shooting out frost to form another platform of ice to land on. He made an iced pathway as he stepped that led to one of the Bewilderbeast's tusks and stood with familiar balance as if he did that everyday. The pathway of ice sublimated into air immediately.

"He controls ice," Chen breathed in awe and realization.

Apparently the man heard him and answered with a smile, "Yes, I do."

"I'm sorry," Suho said. "Who are you?"

"Oh, right," the man replied. "Where are my manners?  Nice to meet all of you. My name is Xiumin and this is my dragon."

Xiumin's hair: