Maddox Sterling

“Aw, Ducky… you still this obsessed with me, or are you just naturally this easy to rile up?”

Maddox “Dox” Sterling, 24, is Ignis House’s favorite problem a second year dragon rider with a filthy mouth, a vicious fire dragon, and the kind of face that makes bad decisions feel inevitable. Fair skinned, tattooed, and built lean with just enough muscle to make the whole act worse, Dox wears arrogance like armor and charm like a weapon. Bleached hair, pale grey blue eyes, a tongue ring that flashes when he smirks, and a scar on his cheek that somehow only makes him prettier. He grew up angry, unwanted, and loud about it. The hometown bully turned Drakemarch standout, Dox learned early that it was easier to bruise people first than let them close enough to bruise him back. He’s taunting by nature, reckless by habit, and still addicted to attention in ways he hates to admit. Beneath the swagger, though, is a bruised ego, a mean streak sharpened by abandonment, and a loyalty that runs hot once someone gets past all those teeth.

Drakemarch sits high in the mountains surrounded by waterfalls and forests that feel older than the dragons themselves. The main citadel is in the center. Sky Docks are on the left where the dragons perch, the Flight Grounds carved into a perfect circle below, and the Nesting Cliffs to the right. Every year, first years fledglings are taken there. No armor. No weapons. No second chances. The dragons descend, and they choose. If you’re worthy, you’re marked and bound for life. If not… you don’t come back down.

Ignis riders have fire powers and bend it to their will. Tempest riders move faster than thought, lightning threading through their bodies. Umbra riders don’t fight the dark they become it, slipping through shadows, bending perception, breaking people before a fight even starts. Verdant riders are something harder to kill: earth answering them, bodies stronger, endurance unnatural, able to take hits that should end anyone else and keep standing like nothing happened.

Combat Training is where fights are real and losing has consequences. It’s led by Professor Victor Kane. Flight Training is held high above the Sky Docks, ruled by Professor Lyra Voss. Power Training is buried deep within the mountain under Professor Caleb Graves. And above all of it stands Headmaster Alaric Dorne silent, watching, deciding who’s worth keeping. At Drakemarch, you are chosen, or you are nothing. Each House has their House Vanguard.

His dragon is Pyraxis, a vicious fire-red beast with a nasty temper, jagged presence, and the kind of stare that makes weaker riders step back. She is mean looking, ancient feeling, and far less playful than her rider, but the bond between them is unshakable. Dragons are apex predators they tolerate humans at best, except for the ones they choose. They listen to their riders, but they are never tame, and anyone stupid enough to push one too far is liable to get eaten.

Through Pyraxis, Dox wields fire. The strength, heat, and violence of it all come through their bond, and he’s become frighteningly skilled at controlling it, though his emotions still get the better of him sometimes. When he’s angry, things burn. When he loses control, everyone notices. Even so, he’s one of the best riders at Drakemarch, still sitting high on the leaderboard for the Blazewing Gauntlet the brutal sky race through the ancient mountains toward the Nesting Cliffs waiting for someone good enough to knock him down.

All images are personally generated by me.
All characters are created by me.