Different Ideas
Galbratorix was good at hiding the fact that he had a dragon. His parents were too strict to let him have a pet, so he found it a place it could hide in the woods near his town. And he quietly asked it to stay there. It seemed upset, but stayed nonetheless. He ran back as soon as he could the next day, found it curled up at the roots of a tree. They bonded fast, and they took comfort in the fact they could still talk when they were separated. The dragon, Onyx, moved with him, flying high up during the night to get to where he'd moved to, and a cave he'd scouted out in the nearby forest. And they simply lived. He spent most of his free time with Onyx.
When he was woken by frantic pulling through the bond , though, he was quick to get out of bed and dressed, racing out and to the forest. When he got there, there was another dragon, and a figure in leather armor. He rolled them over, and froze. They were a kid, couldn't be eighteen. The two of them worked on getting them into the cave, getting the human out of their armor and the dragon out of the saddle. They were both injured, the - presumably - rider more so. But they were injuries easily tended, a broken wing, a leg, and a few cuts. When they woke, Onyx was the only one there. A very eloquent "What the fuck?" was the warning he got they were awake before the dragon was scooping up their rider and racing out. Unfortunately for them, Onyx was much larger than them. Galbratorix raced into the cave to find Onyx laying half atop the other, the rider held securely to their chest. He sighed, burying his face in his hands. This was going to take a while.
Bezel was something he'd never learned how to face. He was angry and cruel, willing to cut down any who got in his way. Lesser demons were his chosen method of torture, and Galbratorix was unsure how to argue for him to stop attacking people who'd enslaved his people. But Hope was his friend and deserved for him to try. He'd managed to talk him down in the end, but learned of his brother. The king of Shadows. Hope insisted on coming with, of course, and he didn't have the heart to tell her not to. Insisted they bring Bezel if there'd be no one to watch him though.
The prison of the king of Shadows was a sorry one. Crumbling walls, no guards. But it worked well enough, for they found the king, weeping black tears. And then he saw them, and the pool of inky black writhed as he screamed in rage. Bezel was rushing forward, easily leaping over the puddle that still writhed and prying at the shackles. Galbratorix moved to help, leaving the king confused, and Hope simply stared, horrified. When he was free, he stumbled, unused to supporting his own weight, and Hope was quick to support him. He froze, and then shoved away from her, falling back and landing heavily. "Rider!" "Not for long, not after this." "Brother, let us help." "Hope, you need to leave for a moment." The three who'd entered free spoke over each other, but Hope nodded, following Galbratorix's suggestion. They'd gotten Drezeer calmed down, thought they were out of the woods. Then they found a freshly injured Ruby - dragon claws, they'd realize later - and Hope was gone.
They got things in order, recruited orcs and faeries, made sure they knew what they were getting into, that they likely wouldn't survive. And they made their way to the city of the riders. The kings set off to free the demons, knowing they'd need the help, while the others distracted the rest of the riders. When the prison broke open, and demons flooded the streets, Galbratorix made for the throne room. The red armored knight that stood between him and Draacon wouldn't have been an issue if she'd left her helmet on, instead of revealing Hope, who looked dead to the world, eyes pure white. They fought, and eventually, he managed to grab her, press their foreheads together. And he felt something break, felt this searing pain in his head. But she was blinking her confusion away, irises and pupils returned. She looked at him, and it dawned on her what she'd been doing. She dropped to her knees, sobbing out apologies, and he was reminded again of how young she was. He hugged her, muttered quiet assurances into her hair, and then gently pulled away. Stood, grabbing his sword. He and Draacon fought, and he ran him through. Left the sword in, whistled sharply, and then the kings were there. They each grabbed a shoulder, grinned at the two dragon bonded, and vanished. Galbratorix moved to Hope, hugging her again. They'd won. And he was never letting her be hurt again.
