"Spirit was an old beast, one considered ornery by most if not all who met them. A dragon who had been riderless for at least half a century and notably, they seemed far from willing to take up any new riders. Deemed 'unclaimable' by many, the dragon was left to its own devices up until more recent years...
The ghost of the catacombs had bent the neck, not to any knight or king but to the young 'prince' of the kingdom. Dream, who had entered the catacombs against the will of his family in hopes of claiming a dragon - any dragon, so that he could earn their respect. So that he might be respected by them.
It's unknown why Spirit bowed to him of all people, but who can presume to know the heart of a dragon? And regardless they did, and a riders' bond is not something severed easily so there's no undoing what the 'prince' had done.
So now the great beasts roosts beneath a new castle, having come with Dream when he was married off to another king as a technical bargain by his family. Spirit has become infamous at this point to those in the castle, the great dragon who slumbers in the shadows, a beast beneath the boards who has torn cities and towns asunder. A creature who is all but tolerant to man, unless it happens to be their rider.
Though the dragon's intolerance for others is rightfully so, the bond between a rider and their dragon runs deep - Spirit feels Dream's pain, his distress, his anger... The dragon knows that their rider is not safe within the castle's walls and every day their own ire grows. A wish to burn the land and to protect the human who they've bonded with... But alas with Dream in the castle, their ability to do anything against those who've harmed him - those who continue to harm him - is limited at best.
So for now they lie and wait, appreciating the bits of time they have with their rider and the occasional flights they get to have when they happen. After all there's not much else they can do..."
----
Some bits of lore alongside the finished design for Spirit!! Oh also important lore note for some context since it's not that explained with my blurb and is just kinda subtext - Dream is trans (ftm) in this AU, and unfortunately that is rarely respected so there's a good bit of transphobia/general disregard for his identity most of the time. Actually, it might just be when he's with Sam that he's respected now that I think about it-
Anyways have some art close ups!
I'm really proud of the saddle your honor-
And I mentioned it on the wip post but this is for a little collab au with my very cool friend @robinthinkstoomuch :)








