Chapter #1: Kara

Kara Woodensly sighed as she pushed her scrambled eggs around her plate. It was the 22nd of Tarch, the day of the Jinbruary-Tarch summoning ceremony. Where kids who turned 16 in the latter half of Jinbruary and the beginning half of Tarch would go to their town’s temple and see if they were worthy to summon a dragon. 

Kara’s birthday was the 17th of Tarch, so she would be attending the ceremony, same as the four siblings that came before her. Like the four before her, she didn’t expect anything to happen. Her family hadn’t summoned a dragon in generations, not since her great-great-great-great-great aunt. That didn’t mean that she wasn’t worried out of her mind. 

If she summoned a dragon, she would have to go to training at Colinwood, the home of the Rising Dragons: an organization of dragon riders dedicated to protecting the country of Sarea. 

Most people dream of summoning a dragon from the time they’re little. A life of adventure with the Rising Dragons is something few people can have. However, the thought terrified Kara. She wasn’t heroic. She wasn’t an adventure seeker. She couldn’t fight and didn’t want to. All she wanted was to live a happy, peaceful life with her family. Settle down. Get married. Have kids. There wasn’t any room in her life plan for being a dragon rider. 

Her mother, who was busy in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast, noticed that something seemed to be off. “What’s wrong, Kara honey?” She came over to the table and sat next to Kara. 

“It’s nothing Mom.” Kara stopped messing with her food and started eating it, but something still told Mrs. Woodensly that something wasn’t right. 

“Is this about the summoning? I’m sure you’ll do great! I bet you’ll summon a red and everything!”

Kara laughed a little inside. The thought of anyone in her family summoning the highest rank of lower dragon was so unlikely, it was downright laughable.

“Don’t give her false hope Laura. Kara,” Kara’s father was in the family room off of the kitchen, “even though you deserve a red, it doesn’t mean that a dragon will choose you. Certain families are said to have a kind of bad luck around them that dragons tend to avoid. Ours is one of them, that’s just how it is.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Kara was calmed a little by what her father said, even though that wasn’t his intention. She didn’t need to be afraid of summoning a dragon, because the dragons were more afraid of her family's “bad luck” than she was of summoning them.

Kara finished her breakfast and put on her best clothes, though that didn’t mean much. Her family was in the trade of farming and baking, and with seven children, they didn’t have much extra money to spend on fancy clothes. For Kara, that meant a simple, green dress that reached to her ankles with sleeves going just over her elbows. 

She examined herself in the mirror. “It’ll have to work.” She went downstairs to where her two younger siblings and two of her older siblings were waiting to wish her good luck. Charles, the oldest that was still at home, gave her a big hug. “Knock ‘em dead, kid.”

Gail, the sister that came immediately before her, gave her a hug and a whispered warning, “Only one in every hundred people that do this actually get something. Remember that.”

The twins, Tae and Tyler, hugged her multiple times and didn’t bother wishing her luck.

“You don’t need luck!” Tae gave a smile that could make flowers bloom.

“You’re too awesome for a dragon not to pick you!” Tyler’s eyes almost gave off their own light. Both of the twins were excited for their ceremony, even if it wasn’t for another ten years. They were also very proud of their big sister Kara, who was the only one who would play with them now that the two oldest had struck out on their own. 

“Thanks you two.” Kara ruffled their curly blonde hair before meeting her parents outside to head into town. 

“You ready?” Her dad hugged her and patted her on the shoulder. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Kara took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

~~~

It was a chilly spring day with quite a bit of wind. Kara and her parents walked down the shop-lined cobbled street heading towards the town of Tealer’s dragon temple. After coming around a corner and out of the shelter of the buildings, the wind picked up and Kara had to keep pulling copper strands of hair out of her face. 

It took about twenty minutes to walk from the Woodensly household to the center of town where the temple was located. By that time, Kara was starting to shiver from the cold. It was a great relief when the dragon temple came into view. The huge building stood at the center of town, a mostly circular building of pure white stone with a dragon carved to curl around the single spire of the roof. Huge stained glass windows depicting the seven legendary dragons circled the building, making it sparkle as if covered by jewels. 

The double oak doors leading into the building’s rectangular antechamber were open wide, and parents and their 16-year-olds streamed in. Children and parents would come out at regular intervals. Most of the parents were comforting their disappointed children who hadn’t summoned dragons.

As Kara and her parents approached, there was a bout of clapping as a boy walked out of the temple with his parents. A small red dragon perched on his shoulder. Both Kara and her parents joined in the clapping. Only one percent of people end up summoning a dragon, but only about one percent of those people summon reds. The kid was blushing his head off and looking at the ground. It must have been nerve-racking to have all eyes on him in such a crowded place. 

The Woodenslys were soon let into the building, where they got in another line to see the board posted with the names of all the children due for summoning. Once they got to board, they found Kara’s name near the end at number 173.

Kara listened to the numbers being called out, and if she heard right it meant that she was only 12th in line. She took deep breaths to calm herself and thought about how low the chances were, especially with her family history. The family took their spot in the line leading up to the doors to enter the summoning chamber. 

The process for summoning was fairly simple, and the line moved at a decent speed. Kara’s stomach was in knots during the relatively long time it took for the person in front of her to get done with his ceremony. When he finally came out with his father, he smiled at Kara. “Guess I didn’t get anything. Good luck to you though!” 

He walked away and Kara waited for them to call her number, “173!” Called an older man wearing robes and holding a tablet, opening the door and inviting Kara and her parents in. 

The main chamber of the dragon temple was considered as beautiful on the inside as the outside, though Kara thought it was even better. Sunlight streamed in through the seven windows depicting the great dragons, and glinted off of the highly polished floor. Everything glowed with the multicolored light cast by the window containing the rainbow dragon, Opal. In the center of the room, there was an altar with an orb of glowing dark blue crystal on a raised dais. 

“Kara Woodensly?” The man with the tablet read off of his paper.  

“Yes.”

“This ceremony is very simple. All you need to do it walk to the altar and pray to your patron, whoever that may be. Then lay your hand on the crystal. If you are to summon a dragon, it will happen after a few seconds of having your hand on the crystal. Do you have any questions?” He gave her a kind smile. 

“No, I understand.”

“Then I will leave you to it.” He took a step back along with Mr. and Mrs. Woodensly. 

Kara took a deep breath and set her sights on the altar. She walked to it, and stared at the orb for a few seconds before closing her eyes and making her prayer to her patron goddess Tara. Tara, goddess of magic and life, please hear my prayer. I trust that whatever happens next, it won’t be anything more than I can handle as one of your servants. 

After opening her eyes and taking another breath, she carefully placed her hand on the deep blue crystal sitting in the center of the altar. The gem pulsed brightly under her hand, growing slightly warm, but nothing else happened.

“Thank you Ms. Woodensly, that should do it. You may remove your hand now.” The man with the tablet started writing down her results. 

Kara let out the breath she didn’t realize she had been holding as she took her hand off the crystal. As soon as her hand completely left its surface, there was a cracking sound, a flash of heat, and a stunningly white light. Kara was blinded by the light, and when she heard a gasp from her parents, she turned only to trip and fall off the dais and to the floor. Her head made contact with the stone, and everything plunged into complete darkness. 

~~~

“Kara… Kara… Kara!” Kara awoke to the sound of her mother’s voice as she tried to shake her awake. 

Kara groaned to try and signal that she was awake and could hear them, then tried to roll onto her side. This was a mistake. As soon as she moved she felt a stabbing pain in the left side of her head. She carefully reached over and touched her left temple lightly. It felt slightly sticky, and so did her fingers when they came away. And I’m bleeding. Great.

She slowly tried sitting up, wincing as pain shot through her head. Her mom helped her up and she waited until her head cleared before she opened her eyes to see the stunned expressions on everyone’s faces. They were still in the summoning chamber but were now by the wall. 

“What happened? What was that light?” Kara looked to the center of the room where the altar stood and would have fallen down if she hadn’t already been sitting. The altar was completely cracked in half, gem and all. The most peculiar thing however, was what was wrapped around the base of the altar. “A dragon?” It was somewhere between a statement and a question. 

The way the light from the stained glass illuminated the room made the dragon look like it was covered in a hundred different shades and colors, all of them seeming to glow. The dragon’s head was laid on the ground but was facing Kara with its eyes open. It seemed to notice that Kara had woken up, because it lifted its head before getting up and slowly walking towards her. 

As the dragon came closer to her, Kara started to notice something. While some of the colors came from the windows, many of them didn’t move and didn’t match what was shining on the floor. The colors were the dragon’s scales on their own. 

Kara sat up and inched herself closer to the dragon as it advanced towards her, only stopping when their noses were inches away from touching. Kara stared into the dragon’s silver eyes, and it stared back into her green ones. A name echoed in her head: “Opal.”

Opal. The rainbow dragon, the queen of all the dragons. The one that had died two thousand years ago in a battle to save the country from the black dragon, Nag. Kara was stunned, surely it was a dream. It wasn’t possible to summon one of the living legendary dragons, let alone one of the four that had died in that battle. 

She knew it wasn’t a dream when the dragon leaned forward and they touched noses. She had summoned a dragon - and not just any dragon. The rainbow dragon. She could faintly hear the sound of the man frantically scribbling something on the tablet. 

Kara looked passed Opal and back to the altar. Without it, the remaining kids wouldn’t be able to have a ceremony. Thinking about it made Kara sad for a reason she only kind of understood. The bond between a dragon and its rider was said to be even stronger than that of a mother and child. Kara was already feeling attached to Opal, and she hadn’t even gotten out of the dragon temple yet. Knowing that one of the kids behind her might have had a chance at that that they will probably never get again made her feel bad. The whole thing did seem like her fault. 

“Alright then,” the man straightened his robes, “Ms. Woodensly, I congratulate you on your new dragon. You needn’t worry about the altar. We should be able to send a request and get another one before midnight. Hopefully…” The day of the ceremony was important. Twenty-two was a sacred number, and 16 was the age where a child starts to make the transition into adulthood. If they didn’t find a way to hold the ceremony today, the kids behind Kara in line might never be able to. 

Kara slowly started to get up, with the help of both Opal and her parents, who still seemed shaken by Opal but were containing it for the moment. She managed to stay on her feet after she had been stood up. Now that she was standing, she could see that Opal was a good size, and came up to her waist at the shoulder; much bigger than the red the boy summoned earlier. 

As they walked out of the room there was a collective voicing of disbelief throughout the antechamber. The man with the tablet shushed them, “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but there has been a bit of a delay. The summoning crystal has cracked, and we will need to get another one before we can continue with the ceremonies. Feel free to leave for now. A message will be sent when we receive the crystal. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get it in from Colinwood before suppertime. I apologize, but thank you for your patience.”

There was a mixed reaction from the crowd. Some continued to stare quizzically at Kara and Opal. Some were outraged at having to wait, while others looked relieved. The rest simply shrugged and left. Eventually, even the people who were angry left, and Kara and her parents followed. 

The twenty minute walk from the center of town to home had never seemed so long to Kara as it did that day as she walked home with Opal for the first time. Everyone stared at them as they passed by. Kara even saw a few faces through shop windows. Some people were more discreet, and simply stole glances, others full on stopped and stared, mouths open. 

Kara could feel the weight of their stares on her back, and it was crushing. Her parents didn’t say anything to her, not even congratulations. Kara didn’t blame them. This was not a normal occurrence, and they didn’t know how they were supposed to react to it. She figured they would talk when they got home. The wind had only gotten stronger and colder since they had been inside the dragon temple, and it cut through Kara’s clothing like a knife.  

After twenty minutes of walking, Kara and her parents were at the door of their small house at the end of an older, more narrow street. Almost immediately after entering, Kara could hear the twins sequel simultaneously, “They’re back!” Followed by pounding footsteps running down the hall. 

Tyler was just a little bit faster and stopped dead after seeing Opal. This caused Tae to slam into his back, knocking him over. This was followed up by a fit of flailing arms and yelling as they tried to untangle themselves from each other with little success. 

Once they had gotten sorted out, it was back to the stare-of-awe that Tyler had given on walking into the room. After a few unsettling seconds of silence, they started squealing and jumping up and down with excitement. They both ran over and hugged Kara, then tentatively turned to Opal. 

Tae cautiously put out her hand, and Opal pressed into it like a cat. After the same thing happened with Tyler, the twins started hugging Opal. “See sis? I told you you’d get the best dragon in the world!” Tyler smiled at Kara wide enough that you could see his missing tooth. 

“No you didn’t,” Tae gave him a look, “you only said she’d get a dragon. You never said it would be awesome.” 

“No, I said it would be awesome.”

“No you didn’t!”

“Yes I did!” The two started chasing each other around the house arguing. 

“Man it’s loud over here - Oh.” Charles had finally walked in and saw Opal. “Well, I did say knock ‘em dead. I think this probably got some faints, so, close enough I guess?” He gave a nervous laugh and a shrug. Kara felt a settling weight. Even light-hearted Charles was acting differently now. 

Kara laughed at the joke anyway. “Yeah, but I think I’m the only one who fainted, so it kind of defeats the purpose.”
“Oh honey, the attendant was pretty close to fainting.” Her father was trying to help lighten things up. 

“Really?”

“Yeah, you were passed out by then, but the poor man nearly fell over.” They all started laughing, though it wasn’t that funny, so they couldn’t figure out why. 

“Someone seems to have had a good day.” Gail was the last one to join, and froze the second she saw Opal. “I can see why. Sorry I doubted you… I guess?” Gail acting weird was normal, so this didn’t bother Kara as much as Charles’s reaction did, but it still made her feel uneasy. 

“Kara, sweetie,” her mom touched her gently on the shoulder, “you might want to think about what you want to pack. They’ll probably come to get you tomorrow, and you don’t want to forget anything.”

It was then that Kara’s world started falling. The very thing that she had been avoiding was brought to the front of her mind. Training at Colinwood. Her mom was right. They did usually come the day after, so that they had time to sort records and travel. The last thing she wanted was to get to Colinwood and then realize she forgot something at home. “Thanks, Mom. Packing is probably a good idea.”

Kara dodged the twins as she made her way to her room, Opal following close behind. She took her knapsack and packed in her clothes using the rolling technique her mother had taught her. It was a bit of a tight fit, but it worked. She also put in a handkerchief, as her father said it was a matter of preparedness to carry one around, and a rag doll that Dorian, her eldest brother, had given her when she was three. She sat the bag next to her bed along with her gray wool cloak. It didn’t fit well in the knapsack, but she would be able to wear it traveling just fine. The days were still cool, so a cloak would come in handy. 

Kara didn’t have much else. She never learned to read well, so she didn’t have any books. She didn’t have any jewelry because it was too expensive, and she didn’t have any other toys because she had never needed any. 

“Is that all you’re bringing?” 

Kara jumped at the voice. She whipped her head around, trying to find where it was coming from. “Who’s there?”

“It’s me. Opal.”

Kara looked down at the dragon next to her. Opal was looking at her, “You can talk?”

“Of course I can talk. You don’t live for ten thousand years without learning to communicate.”

“You’re… Inside my head?”

“Yes. We have been linked by the summoning ceremony so even in this lesser form I can speak to your mind. Maybe if I regain my former power, I will be able to speak to others again.”

“How did I summon you? You’re supposed to be-”

“Dead? Yes, that is what I thought as well. I have no idea how you summoned me. You are correct in thinking that it shouldn’t be possible to summon me or my six kin. All you can do is put faith in Tara that this is for the better.”

Kara thought to the prayer she had made before her ceremony. She had to trust that Tara had answered it and that Opal wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. “Alright then, I guess I’ll have to trust her… Though I don’t see why the crystal would have broken. I feel sorry for the kids that didn’t get a ceremony…”

“The crystal most likely cracked because summoning me put too much strain on it. Those gems are made to conduct magical energy, but they do have a limit. I’m sure the children that were to go after you will be able to get the chance.”

Kara looked back to her knapsack of belongings. “This is a sign, isn’t it?”

“A sign of what?”

Kara’s eyes drifted around her small room. The brittle bed in the corner, the nightstand that was always covered in dust no matter how much she cleaned it, her dresser that had more drawers than she had clothes to put in them. “I’m not going to be normal again, will I?”

Opal didn’t respond for a few seconds, instead opting to look at the floor. “I think that the next few years will bring you much more than most see in their entire lives. You are not normal, but I think the catch is that you were never meant to be normal in the first place. Be strong, Kara Woodensly. For I fear a storm is coming.”

~~~

The next morning, Kara was busying herself with morning chores while Opal chased mice around the back. The house the Woodenslys lived in was small, but it had a yard that was just barely big enough for a chicken coup. It was Kara’s job to take care of the chickens, which meant collecting the eggs and giving them food and water every morning and evening. Opal just scared the chickens, so she was catching mice to try and help out with something. 

The atmosphere of the house was so tense, even the twins felt it. Carrier dragons made sending messages fast, and with a good horse, a representative of the Rising Dragons usually picked up soon-to-be dragon riders within a day of the summoning. 

Kara picked up the five eggs that were in the nesting boxes and carried them into the house with a basket, setting them on the table before going to talk to her mother in the kitchen. Mrs. Woodensly was busy preparing eggs and toast with jam, something special for what might be Kara’s last meal at the house. She perked up when Kara walked in. “Good morning my little sunshine! Thank you for getting the eggs already.”

“No trouble. I figured I should do it sooner rather than later. No telling if someone will show up or not... I love you Mom.” Kara hugged her mom and kissed her on the cheek. 

“I love you too sweetheart. Breakfast will be in just a minute, so you can hang tight at the table. Your father had to leave to get the bread going, but he said he loves you too.” It seemed like her parents were sure the representative was coming this morning. 

Kara happily ate her scrambled eggs and toast spread with cherry jam. Opal came inside from catching mice through the door Kara had left open for her. “Are you ready?”

“I think so.” Kara and Opal had spent a portion of last night practicing talking to each other with thoughts. It was a little tricky, but it would make things a lot less complicated if they could communicate without speaking. 

“I suggest that you become fully ready quickly.”

“Are they here?”

“Yes. A male. Five foot eleven inches tall, in his middle thirties. He has two horses with him. He’s walking up to the door.”

“How can you tell?”

“I can hear him, as well as smell him. He’s at the door now. It’s time.”

Three knocks came at the door, loud and sharp, echoing slightly through mudroom and into the rest of the house. Kara’s breath caught. She was nervous. The time had finally come to leave her family behind and head to Colinwood. 

Kara’s mother tensed up and she paused in stirring the scrambled eggs for the twins before removing them from the stove and hurrying to open the door. Kara followed behind her, stuffing her last bite of toast into her mouth. Kara watched as her mother opened the door, but stayed back, opting to look from around the corner. 

“Mrs. Woodensly, I presume?” The man was as Opal described him. About five foot eleven inches and appearing in his mid thirties, he had a pleasant voice and well kept dirty blonde hair. His face was clean shaven and his clothes were on the finer side as well. He wore the purple cloak of the Rising Dragons and had a serious look at his face.

“Yes?”

“I’m here from the Rising Dragons. I hear that your daughter Kara has had a successful summoning, I’m sure you know what that means.”

Mrs. Woodensly’s face fell, “Yes.”

His face softened. “I see you care for your daughter. Rest assured, she will be happy and well taken care of. She has been given a great blessing in the form of her dragon, but if she and the dragon aren’t properly trained it can lead to problems in the future. I hope you understand.”

“I do.” Kara’s mother turned to her. “Kara, the Rising Dragons are here.”

Kara took a deep breath before stepping nervously around the corner and into full view. Opal came up next to her and rubbed against her leg. “It’s going to be okay, just breathe. Don’t tell him about us talking yet, it isn’t something commonly known.” 

Kara gave a small nod that only Opal noticed before speaking to the man. “Hello.”

He smiled. It appeared warm, but it seemed like something he wasn’t used to. “Hello, am I correct in assuming that you are Kara Woodensly?” Kara nodded. “Wonderful. My name is Trevin Akers, I’m here on behalf of the Rising Dragons. I hear that you summoned a dragon, congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Kara spoke quietly but managed to keep her voice from shaking.

“You know why I’m here then?”

Kara nodded. “Yes.”

“Then you should get your things and say goodbye. We have a long road ahead of us. Do you know how to ride a horse?” Kara nodded again. “Good, that makes this much easier. I won’t keep you longer. Take what time you need, but not more than that.”

Kara gave a final nod before turning and going down the hall to her room at get her bag. She saw the man stiffen out of the corner of her eye when he saw Opal follow her, but he didn’t say anything. Once she got to her room, she put on her cloak and bag, and looked in the mirror attached to her dresser, noticing a single tear roll down her left cheek. She quickly wiped it away before going to the twins' room, which was next to her’s. 

The twins were doing their own things; Tyler was reading and Tae was drawing with graphite sticks on some paper, “Hey you two, I have to leave now.”

Both of them snapped to attention. Tyler dropped his book to jump up and hug Kara. “Now? But it’s so early! Why can’t you stay longer?”

Tae was more careful because she didn’t want to mess up her drawing, but she went to hug Kara in distress. “We don’t want you to go!”

Kara knelt down so she was eye level with them. “Trust me, I want to stay too, but I don’t have much of a choice. Training is important, I’m sure you’ll learn that when you get your dragons someday.”

“You think we’ll get dragons?”

“Of course! If Opal isn’t proof that our family’s dragon-less streak is over I don’t know what is. I love you both, but I need to go now. Say goodbye to Opal too.” The twins nodded and hugged her harder before hugging Opal the same way. Opal was very tolerant, and even nuzzled them a little. “I need to say bye to Charles and Gail now, so you be good, okay?”

“Okay!” They chimed in unison. 

Kara went to Charles and Gail’s room, the next one down from the twins. There she found Charles writing at his desk. “Hey Charles, I um, need to leave now.”

He looked up from whatever he was writing. “Already? Man, I didn’t even have time to finish the poem I was writing for you. Tell you what, I’ll send it to you when I’m done, ‘kay?”

Kara smiled and nodded. Charles aspired to be a writer, and poems were his specialty. He would write them for birthdays and other special occasions. “Thanks, Charles, you’re the best.”

“Don’t let Dorian hear you say that. He’s touchy about his status as ‘best older brother’ you know.” They both smiled and laughed. Charles got up and hugged Kara, then turned to Opal. “Take care of her, got it?” Opal gave a respectful nod. Charles seemed satisfied. “Good then. Stay out of trouble, go say bye to everyone else. Oh, and be expecting letters from both Dorian and Claia.” He ruffled her hair before pushing her out the door. Of course, Kara didn’t think that the two oldest siblings would be kept in the dark about their little sister summoning a dragon. She could imagine Claia sending a lengthy letter about how proud she was, but Dorian was more likely to come bursting into Colinwood to hug her.

Gail wasn’t in the room with Charles, which most likely meant she was in the garden off the side of the house where the family grew things like carrots and herbs.  Kara went out the back and around the side to find Gail weeding the herb portion of the garden. Gail spoke without looking up, “You’re leaving?”

Kara nodded, then realized that Gail wasn’t looking at her to see. “Yeah, I’m leaving.”

Gail paused in her weeding and stood up, turning to look at her sister. “Are you ready?” Kara nodded in response. Gail sighed, “I guess that’s all you can hope for.” She walked over and gave Kara a big hug. “Go live the dream I wasn’t able to.” She pushed Kara away and went back to her weeding. 

Kara stood in silence for a moment before turning and walking back inside. It had been Gail’s wish since she was little to be a dragon rider, and she had been the most affected out of Kara’s older siblings when she failed the summoning. 

Opal nudged Kara’s hand. “That’s all of them, right?” 

Kara nodded. Her dad wasn’t home, so the only person left was her mom. Kara went back into the mudroom, where her mother and the man were waiting in awkward silence for Kara to return. 

“Ah, there you are. Hurry up then, say goodbye to your mother and then meet me outside.” Trevin turned and walked outside to wait. 

As soon as he was gone, Kara rushed to her mother’s side and buried her head in her chest. “I love you Mom, I don’t want to go!”

“Look at me Kara.” Mrs. Woodensly’s eyes were on the verge of tears, but she held them back for her daughter’s sake. Kara looked up at her mother, tears flowing gently down her cheeks. “I love you too, which is why you need to go. Don’t let us hold you back.”  She looked down at Opal, who was standing behind Kara, then looked back at her daughter’s face. “You have a dragon now. You are going to be more than any of us will ever be. To do that you need to leave, so do it with your head held high.” Kara nodded, and Mrs. Woodensly turned to Opal once more. “Please, take care of my daughter.”

Opal gave a respectful nod. “Tell her she has my word.”

“I thought you said that we should keep this a secret?”

“There is nothing stronger than the love a mother has for her child. A nod doesn’t do enough.”

“Mom,” Kara’s mother looked back at her, “she says you have her word.” Mrs. Woodensly’s eyes widened, but Kara gave her a final hug and ran out the door before she could say anything. She called back, “I love you!” but didn’t turn around. 

Opal followed behind her. “You’re doing great.”

“Am I really?” Kara took a second to rub the tears from her eyes and collect herself before walking over to where the man was waiting. 

He stood next to two horses, a roan and a gray. “Are you ready?” 

Kara laughed a little in her head. “I’ve been getting asked that a lot, haven’t I?”

“Have you found your answer yet?” Opal looked up at her, silver eyes glinting slightly in the light of the sunrise. 

“Yes.” Kara answered both at the same time. 

“Then we should get going. The gray is yours - you said you knew how to ride?” Kara nodded. “Good. Hop on, she’s good with younger riders. We need to meet up with my associate and the other successful summoner, they should be waiting at the edge of town.”

Kara nodded again and walked over to the gray at an angle, holding out her hand and keeping her eyes down as she tried to remember what else her uncle had taught her about meeting a new horse. The gray sniffed her hand. Kara thought through what she needed to do, Now I breath back… Kara blew gently on the gray’s nose. This went back and forth for about thirty seconds. Kara gently stroked the horse on the shoulder. “Good girl, good girl…”

“Hurry up, she won’t throw you.” Trevin was getting impatient. Kara slowly moved to the horse's side and mounted. It was a little awkward with her skirt, but she managed to adjust it so it wasn’t too unbearable. “There, you see? Come on then, we don’t have all day.” He got on the roan and set into a fast walk. Kara did the same to keep pace with him, and Opal jumped into a low flight and followed beside her. “You really do seem to know a lot about horses.” Trevin called over his shoulder. “Where does a working class girl from Tealer learn something like that?”

“My uncle.” Kara raised her voice slightly so it would reach him over the wind that was blowing again today. “He lives in Samdra, and trains horses. We visit him in the summer sometimes, and he taught us how to ride.”

They rode in silence for about twenty minutes until the reached Tealer’s east gate across town. They stopped, and Opal landed next to Kara’s horse. “I’m going to go hunting. Don’t worry, I’ll catch up with you later. It would be better for your traveling companions anyway. I’m not surprised to be off putting.”

“Right. You can meet up with us after we start if you need to.”

  Opal took off and the wind picked up again, and Kara pulled her cloak tighter. Trevin did the same, but was more discreet about it. “We made good time, looks like we got here before them. It shouldn’t be long though, so hold tight until then.”

Almost as soon as Trevin finished speaking, someone called from down the street, “Ho there! Sorry we’re late, the lad’s never ridden before so I had to give him a crash course!” The voice was that of a burly man with a kind face, unkempt red hair, and a scraggly beard riding a black horse laden with traveling packs. He was leading a white horse carrying the same boy who had summoned a red the other day, his dragon sitting on his shoulder again. 

“No worries Erwin, I was only lucky to get the one that could ride. It’s not like it’s a common skill around here.” As the man passed he and Trevin clasped hands. 

“Heh, easy for you to say, you always ‘get lucky’.” The man named Erwin grinned and moved his attention to Kara. “Hello miss, my name’s Erwin Cathey. I’m from the Rising Dragons as well.” He held out his hand.

“Pleasure sir, my name is Kara Woodensly.” She shook his hand. 

“Strong grip miss, you’ll make a fine dragon rider!” He turned to the boy, who was staying back and looking nervous. “Come on then, they won’t bite.” Erwin pulled the rope attached to the white horse’s bridle and pulled it forward. 

The boy looked at his horse’s neck and muttered, “M-my name’s Brenden. Brenden Kinder. Pleased to meet you miss.” He stuck out his hand and turned bright red. 

Kara felt bad for him, he obviously didn’t feel comfortable around people. She shook his hand. “Pleased to meet you too. Looks like we’re dragonriders now.” She gave a smile that she hoped was welcoming. 

It seemed to be, and he became a little less red. “Right. Dragonriders.”

Trevin moved up and Kara moved to the side. “My name is Trevin Akers, I’m with the Rising Dragons as well. Pleasure to meet you master Kinder.” This seemed to have the opposite effect, and Brenden grew red again. Trevin didn’t seem to notice and continued, “Now that we’ve all been acquainted, we should head out. We want to get there before nightfall, if at all possible. Keep your eyes sharp, this forest if full of sprites, boggarts, and twauges.” He then set his horse into a trot, and without another word, road out through the gate and into the forest. 

Kara took his advice and kept a lookout. It was true, nasty things lurked in the woods during the day. Sprites were small elementals that manifested as glowing lights of various colors. In the forest they were mostly earth sprites, so they would be brown or green with an occasional blue water sprite. Boggarts were small goblin things, with pig-like noses and ears, and sharp teeth. Twauges were the least problematic on their own, but a group could pose trouble. They would be best described as carnivorous squirrels. 

They rode in silence for almost an hour before Kara felt awkward enough to break the silence. “So Brenden, what’s this little one’s name?” She gestured to the dragon sitting on the boy’s shoulder. 

“Oh, this is Barge. He’s a little shy, but he seems to like animals. Isn’t that right?” He reached up a hand and scratched under Barge’s chin with his index finger. Barge gave a quiet purr in response. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, where’s your dragon?”

“Oh, um, she went off hunting before we left. She should be meeting up with us soon though.” Kara hadn’t decided the best way to introduce Opal to people. She probably should have thought about it before she asked Brenden about his dragon. As Kara turned back to the road, she saw a flash out of the corner of her eye. “Wait.”

Brenden stopped his horse so fast he almost flew out of the saddle. Trevin ignored her, Erwin slowed gradually and stopped. “What’s wrong miss?”

“I saw something jump across the trees. Over there.” She pointed to where she had seen the flash disappear. “I can feel… eyes.”

At this, Trevin finally slowed and stopped, turning his horse and looking around as he spoke. “Probably twauges. They don’t pose too much of a threat, especially since it sounds like you only saw the one. Keep moving. We’ll outpace them regardless.” He started his horse up again and the rest followed, but Kara continued to feel the eyes on the back of her neck and knew that they hadn’t outrun the twauges yet. 

~~~

“Alright everyone, time for lunch.” Trevin brought his horse into a clearing at the side of the road. Kara figured it must have been frequented by travelers. There was a small stone firepit and log benches, as well as a few posts to tie up horses. Trevin pulled a silver watch emblazoned with the lilly crest of the Rising Dragons out of his pocket and checked the time. “We’ve made good progress. At this rate we should make it to Colinwood long before nightfall. Take a rest and eat something. There’s food in the packs.” He grabbed a canteen and went to take a drink. No water came out. His face looked like he was about to swear, but he regained his composure quickly. “Looks like we forgot to fill up on water while we were in town. Brenden, Kara, take the canteens and see if you can find water nearby.” 

Brenden and Kara each grabbed four canteens at set off into the woods to try and find a source of water. They walked in awkward silence for a few minutes before Brenden heard something. “I think I can hear running water up ahead. Maybe there’s a stream?” He pointed off to their left. 

Kara didn’t hear anything, but they didn’t have anything else to go off of. “Sure, let’s try. They usually set up rest stops within walking distance of water, so if there’s a stream it should be close.” 

They walked in the direction that Brenden had pointed in for another three minutes before Kara heard the sound of running water, followed by the sight of a small stream. “There.” Brenden walked over and knelt down by the water. “It looks clean. I think this will be our best bet.” He set down three of his canteens and began filling the fourth. Kara sat down next to him and did the same. 

Barge jumped off Brenden’s shoulder and into the water, splashing Kara and Brenden. He swam around some and dove under water before flying out in a shower of water drops, and landing on the bank to shake dry. 

Kara gave a small laugh. “Looks like he likes to swim. And people always say reds are afraid of water.” She gave Barge a rub under the chin and he purred. 

Brenden murmured under his breath, “I like her too Barge.”

“What did you say?”

“What? I-I didn’t say anything!” Brenden’s face turned bright red and he became increasingly flustered. 

“You can hear him, can’t you?”

“How di- No I can’t!” Barge jumped onto Brenden’s leg and stared up at him, giving a small chirping sound, almost like a fox. Before Kara could say something, both Barge and Brenden sat up straight and tilted their heads slightly, Brenden put a finger to his lips to request silence.

From the trees there came a low chittering noise that Kara heard as it gradually grew louder. She began to see eyes and noses poking out of every shadowed clump of leaves and sticks. Twauges. Lots of them. Kara dropped the canteen she was filling and slowly moved to pick up a stick from the stream bank. 

Almost as if they knew they had been discovered, the twauges started their attack. One jumped at Kara, and she swung and hit it with the stick. Barge did his best to defend Brenden, blowing small jets of red flame in their faces, lighting several of the sharp toothed squirrels on fire. Brenden himself picked up pebbles from the stream and threw them at the twauges, hitting one in the head and causing it to fall to the ground. 

“Put your back to mine like they do in books!” Brenden turned his back to her and began throwing more pebbles. Kara didn’t know if it was smart to trust what characters did in books, but it wasn’t like she had a plan. She put her back to Brenden’s and continued hitting twauges with her stick. 

They managed to hold their own for a short time, but because they didn’t do much damage many of the twauges they hit got back up and attacked them again. The two were covered in scratches from where twauges had made it through, and they were starting to get tired. 

Unfortunately for them, the twauges brought reinforcements. A fresh batch came from the trees and swarmed over the three. Brenden was the first one to trip, and because they were standing back to back Kara was caught off balance just enough to fall over. She covered her face and clenched her jaw as they scratched and bit at her arms and legs. She thought she could faintly hear Brenden start to cry. 

All of a sudden there was a crashing noise, followed by a loud roar and a wave of heat. The twauges on top of them scattered and Kara managed to push herself up, wincing as her now bloodied arms moved. Opal was standing only five feet away, her entire body putting off steam. About twenty twauges lay on the ground, half burned, half bashed with either a rock or a stick. The remaining twauges had disappeared, and Kara turned to see if Brenden was okay. He was breathing heavily, and was in fact crying a little. His clothes were longer sleeved, so his arms weren’t scratched up quite as badly as Kara’s, but his face was bloody. He hadn’t covered it with his arms like Kara had. Instead, he had curled them around Barge to protect him. 

Before Kara could check if he was alright, Opal had come to her side and was inspecting all of her for major damage. Satisfied that Kara was alright, she buried her head in Kara’s chest. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s alright. You couldn’t have known.”

“It’s my job to protect you. I didn’t get here fast enough.”

“Is Brenden okay?”

“Barge says that he should be.”

“Wait, Barge says? You can talk to Barge?”

“How do you think a species survives if it cannot communicate?”

“Fair point. We still need to check on Trevin and Erwin though.”

“Can you stand?” 

Kara tried pushing herself up, hissing as it disturbed drying blood. “I think so.” She looked over at Brenden, who was staring intently into Barge’s eyes and nodding slightly. “Can you stand?”

Brenden blinked, as if snapped out of a trance. “What? Oh, um, I think so…” He tried pushing himself up, wincing as Kara did but managing. “Okay, then- WHAT THE HECK?” Upon seeing Opal, he backed up, and would have fallen over again if Kara hadn’t caught his arm. 

“Brenden, this is my dragon. Meet Opal.” Kara felt incredibly awkward, but there wasn’t much she could do. Barge gave what looked like a bow, and Brenden tried his best to do the same. Kara felt a little embarrassed, but Opal didn’t seem to mind. 

Brenden stopped bowing when Barge did. He started to say something, and then stopped to rethink. “So… Um… How..?”

“Trust me, if I knew how, I’d tell you.”

“Right. Then… Um…” Brenden fidgeted nervously. “Maybe we should check on Erwin and Trevin… In case… Um…”
“Right, right.” Kara grabbed her canteens - only two of which were full, and set off with Brenden back the way they came. 

“Ah, good to see you’re okay.” Erwin gave a smile. “Seems we ran into a quarrel of twauges. We were just about to go looking for you, weren’t we Trevin?”

“What? Oh, yes, you had been gone awhile.” Trevin was adjusting straps on the horses’ saddles, and spoke without looking up. When he did he almost swore. “You two sit down, and give me that water. I think we have salve in the bags, we need to clean you up before those cuts become infected.” 

Kara and Brenden handed over the water canteens, only five of which had any water in them. They then sat down at the log benches at the rest stop. Trevin dug through the bags in search of salve. After a minute of rummaging he pulled out a small jar filled with a pale blue cream. 

“Give me your arm.” Kara held out her cut covered arms and Trevin spread some of the salve on them. “Twauges are notorious for the sickness they transfer with their bites. If you leave them for too long, you can get very ill very quickly.” After he had applied the salve to Kara’s arms and legs, he moved on to Brenden. “How in the name of the gods did you manage to get your face messed up so badly?” Trevin was more than a little condescending as he spread the salve on the cuts on Brenden’s forehead.

“I had to protect Barge…”

“Barge is a dragon. He can take care of himself, and he should have taken care of you. Make sure you reprimand him for that later. Dragons need to learn to protect their masters with their lives. A dragon that won’t die for you won’t do any good.”

Brenden looked at his feet. “But…”

“Look up, I’m not finished.” Trevin put more cream on a nasty sized cut on Brenden’s cheek. He sighed, “This one will probably scar, but it’s the best we can do.” Brenden didn’t have any noticeable cuts on his arms and legs, so Trevin closed the jar and put the salve back in the bag where he got it. He turned to Kara, “It would be best if you took this opportunity to change into something more suitable for riding. You can change in the trees, I assure you that none of us will go back there until you return.”

Kara nodden. She was starting to get sore from riding in a dress, not that changing would help much at this point, but hopefully it would prevent it from getting worse. She took her bag back into the trees. When she was out of sight of the camp, she took a pair of riding pants out of her bag and put them on. 

Opal came up next to her, “Is it common in this time for women to own pants?”

“No. My uncle gave them to me, he said that anyone who knows how to ride should have at least one outfit they can ride in.”

“Interesting. Before I… Died, women were never supposed to wear pants, regardless of the situation. I wonder what else has changed…”  It was hard to see, but Kara could tell that Opal was spacing out and staring into the trees. 

Kara suddenly felt very sad. She ran her hand from the top of Opal’s head down her neck, and knelt down to hug her. “You’ll get it eventually. You’re back, that’s what matters. You can make up for the years you lost.” Opal gave a nod, but didn’t say anything. “We should head back.” Kara walked back the way she came to the camp. 

“Ah, you’re back. Took you long enough. We should head out as soon as possible if we want to reach Colinwood by nightfall.” Trevin mounted his horse, and Erwin did the same. Brenden sort of scrambled to do it quickly, but ended up almost falling off. Kara sighed, reluctant to get back on the road, but she got on the horse all the same. 

“I’ll stay with you this time.” Kara was surprised to hear Opal from behind her. 

“You don’t need to if you feel uncomfortable.”

“I’d feel uncomfortable leaving you alone after what happened.”

Kara felt the sudden sadness again. “Alright, I just don’t want to hold you back.”

Trevin took the lead and road out in front of everyone. Erwin made a point to fall into sync with Brenden. “Don’t let him get to you. Trevin has a difficult past that shapes his philosophies, but that doesn’t mean that he’s right. In fact, most people will say what you did was the best thing you could have done. There is no trust stronger than that formed through love. You trust your dragon, and I’m sure he trusts you.”

Barge nuzzled Brenden’s neck in response. “Thank you Erwin.”

~~~

The rest of the road to Colinwood was uneventful, and they arrived at the massive building just before the sun set. It was five stories tall, made of the smooth white stone used in dragon temples and altars to the light gods, and surrounded in front by a wall of the same material and half the height. The entrance was a huge oak door emblazoned with the lily of the Rising Dragons. 

Trevin brought his horse up to it and knocked three times in rapid succession. A metal slot in the door opened. “Who goes there?” An eye appeared through the gap.

“Trevin Akers, here with Erwin Cathey with new riders from Tealer.”

The metal slot closed again, and Trevin backed up his horse as the door swung open on well oiled hinges. It opened into the courtyard in front of the actual building, a large area combining cobbled pathways and lush grass. Stables were to one side, what looked like a smithy was to the other, the entrance to the actual building was straight ahead. 

A hunched over man with graying hair and an unpleasant expression came over to talk with Trevin, “You know where to take them, same as last year. Maybe try being a little more on time though, eh? Everyone else is already here.”

“Apologies, we ran into a bit of a delay. Thank you for the assistance.”

“Pfft, I never will understand why you’re so formal all the time. All I did was open the door. Honestly, I’ve known you since you were 16, you’d think that you’d be a little more familiar by now.” He looked past Trevin, eyes widening when he saw Opal. “She goes to a different room.” He pointed to Kara. “The other three are here already. Second meeting room.”

Trevin nodded, but didn’t say anything. Erwin picked up for him. “Come on then. Get off your horses and Cretcher will take them to the stable for you.” Everyone got off their horses.

“So now I’m a stable boy, eh?” The hunched over man named Cretcher shook his head and sighed, but lead the horses to the stables anyway. 

Trevin started walking to the building’s entrance without a word, and the other three followed. The entrance to the building was much smaller than the entrance to the courtyard, but is was still twice Kara’s height. Trevin pulled a key off a ring on his belt and used it to unlock the door. It swung open without a sound and the four went through before Trevin locked it behind him. 

Kara’s breath was taken away almost instantly. Much like the inside of the dragon temple, Colinwood’s walls were so highly polished they practically glowed. Bright tapestries adorned the main hall and ornate vases rested in niches along the walls, interrupted periodically by doors. 

Kara heard a breathless, “Wow…” from Brenden as he looked around as well. 

“No time for gawking, we need to meet with the others. Looks like you aren’t the only one Miss Woodensly.” Trevin started walking to a side hall, Kara and Brenden rushing to keep up.

Erwin gently grabbed Brenden’s shoulder. “Not you lad. Miss Kara has… Interesting circumstances. You’ll be coming with me to meet up with the rest of this year’s class.”

“Oh, um, right.” Brenden gave Kara a nervous look. Barge rubbed against his neck and purred. Brenden calmed down a little, and followed after Erwin down the main hall.

Kara tried her best to keep up with Trevin, but they took so many turns she was sure she would lose him. Eventually they came to a slightly fancier set of doors, and Trevin brought her to the one marked “2” before turning to her, “Through this door will be Ms. Greenwitch, director of the Rising Dragons. She will give you, as well as three others like you, instructions and direction about what you are going to be doing here. Keep quiet, be respectful. Do you understand?” 

Kara looked to Opal, who simply nodded. “I understand.” Trevin opened the door.

Chapter #2: Quinn

Quinn Seabury couldn’t have been more excited. It was the 22nd of Tarch. The day of the Jinbruary-Tarch summoning ceremony. Where kids who turned 16 in the later half of Jinbruary and the beginning half of Tarch would go to their town’s temple and see if they were worthy to summon a dragon.

Quinn’s 16th birthday was the 27 of Jinbruary, which meant that she would be attending Mealky’s summoning ceremony that month. It had been Quinn’s dream to summon a dragon ever since she was a child, and she was determined to do it.

She didn’t care if she only got a green, a dragon was a dragon, and dragons were the best. Quinn was unbearably optimistic for someone her age with her living conditions. Her mother had died two years ago, her father had resorted to alcohol, and she had to pretend to be a boy to work on fishing boats to make money.

Despite all this, she had remained true to her “glass half full” philosophy. She had found friends among the boys she worked with at the docks, and it wasn’t like her dad became violent. She was sad about her mother, but she moved on after being reminded that missing her wouldn’t bring her back. Quinn was undoubtedly a ball of sunshine, but she knew that she wouldn’t have been able to make it if it wasn’t for her dream.

When she was younger, Quinn would go to the library and read stories about the first dragon rider and his green dragon, and had always wanted to be just like him. If it wasn’t for the way out of her situation that Colinwood provided, then she likely wouldn’t be as happy with her life as she was.

She had inhaled her breakfast that morning, and had made it to the temple before her father had even woken up. She went inside, found her number, 156, and got in line. It took two hours of intense boredom, but eventually they got to her number.

The girl in front of her came out without a dragon, “Oh well. Looks like it’s your turn, good luck!”

A young woman in white with a tablet called out the numbers, “Number 156, your turn.”

Quinn jumped up from where she had been sitting against the wall and rushed over, “I’m here!”

“Quinn Seabury?”

“Yes ma’am!”

The woman frowned slightly and her tablet and looked Quinn up and down thoroughly, “There must be a mistake. This says that Miss Seabury is a Miss Seabury.”

“I am a miss ma’am.”

The woman looked at Quinn with a raised eyebrow. Ankle length brown pants, a loose linen shirt, short cut hair, and boots suited to walking around the waterlogged decks of fishing boats. Quinn didn’t have much of a female air to her, not that she ever saw that as a problem. It was an asset when she was trying to get work, “May I ask where your parents are?”

“My dad’s at home sleeping.”

The lady turned and sighed, “Follow me.”

Quinn followed the woman through the door and into Mealky’s summoning chamber. The huge stained glass windows depicting the story of the first dragon rider and his dragon filled the room with a multitude of blues and greens, making the room feel like it was underwater. In the center of the chamber was a pale yellow green orb of crystal resting on a shrine.

“The summoning process is fairly simple. Just walk to the shrine, pray to your patron, and place your hand on the crystal. If you are to get a dragon, it should happen a few seconds or so of placing your hand on the crystal. Do you understand?”

“Yep!”

“Go ahead.”
    Quinn had to restrain herself from running up to the shrine. When she got there, she took a deep breath and tried to calm the excitement she felt. She closed her eyes and prayed to her goddess, Sapphira, lady of the ocean and the water that flows through all of us, please let me have a dragon. I don’t care if it’s a green or a blue, just, please. Let my dream come true.

Quinn took another deep breath, and placed her hand on the crystal in front of her, Here goes nothing!

A second passed. Then ten.

“You can take your hand off now.”

Hearing those words, Quinn could hear her heart ripping in half. Her hand fell away, and her face lowered in defeat. A good thing to, or she might have been blinded by the flash of light that came from the crystal after her hand left it. There was a loud cracking noise, followed by unbearable silence.

“Now this is... interesting.”

Quinn felt her heart soar when she heard the voice in her head. She opened her eyes, which had closed on reflex, and there she was, reflecting the light from the colored windows like a mirror. Standing in what remained of the altar stood a dragon.

“I did it…” Quinn whispered to herself, a smile washing across her face like a turning tide, “I did it! Yes! Thank you Sapphira!” By the end she was calling loud enough for the heavens to hear.

“Oh dear, a loud one.”

Quinn looked back at the dragon, and ignoring what the dragon had said, introduced herself, “My name’s Quinn, what’s yours?”

“My name is Kiea. How did I-”

“Nice to meet you Kiea! Looks like we’re going to be partners!”

“Please keep your voice down. No one needs to know you can hear me except for you. Try talking in your head.”

“LIKE THIS?”

“Yes, but quieter.”

“Like this?”

“Better.”

Kiea took in her surroundings, “The Mealky dragon temple? How did I get here?”
    “Whoa, you knew where you were just by looking at the ceiling? That’s awesome! You must be one of the older dragons then.”

Kiea gave Quinn what can only be described as a blank stare, “Do you… Do you have any idea who I am?”

“Should I?” While Quinn had read the first dragon rider stories more times than she could count, she couldn’t think of any dragons other than Vemrin, the first bonded dragon, that had a name she should know, “Hey, now that I think about it, what color are you supposed to be?”

Kiea’s stare did the impossible and became even more blank, “Have you ever read a history book?”

“Nope!”

“That might do it, but I still don’t see how you get through your entire life without learning the names of the seven great dragons.”

“The who?”

“Maybe we should take this conversation outside.”

“Okay! One sec,” Quinn turned to the lady with the tablet, “Hey, um, have you finished logging my dragon?” The lady is question had passed out, “Oh, um…” Quinn walked over and picked up the tablet and pen the lady was writing with, “What color are you again?”

“Platinum.”

“But that isn’t a dragon color-”

“Just write it.”

Quinn wrote “platinum” in the space on her sheet that said “color”, and “Kiea” on the space that said “name”, “There, all done. Let’s go!” Quinn had never been prouder than when she walked out of the summoning temple that day. Kiea followed close behind her and attempted to look in every direction as fast as possible. The two attracted a lot of stares and whispers as she walked through the antechamber to the temple, as well as some confused clapping.

When they got outside, Quinn tried to talk again, but Kiea cut her off, “Take me to your house first. Then we can talk without so many people staring at us.”

Quinn noticed the stares for the first time, and was instantly put off, “Yeah, you’re probably right. Um, my house is this way.”

Quinn set off down the street towards where her house was, holding her cap on her head to keep it from blowing away in the strong wind that was coming off the sea. It took about five minutes to walk from the dragon temple to Quinn’s house in the rundown east section of Mealky.

“Dad should be asleep for another hour, so we have some time to kill. What do you want to do?” Quinn unlocked the door to her two bedroom house and moved some piles of junk out of the way to make room for the dragon to walk.

“Is this place always so messy?” Kiea wove her way through boxes and piles of paper as she followed Quinn to her room.

“It didn’t used to be this messy. Dad boxed up a lot of his stuff after Mom died, so it’s gotten a little crowded. I won’t let him throw it away in case he wants to be a scholar again.”

“Your father was a scholar? Why do you live here?”

“We got kicked out after he swore at his boss. It’s fine though, we didn’t need a house that big anyway.” Quinn made her way down the cluttered hallway and opened the door to her room.

It was small and lined with bookshelves, light streaming in through the single window on the far wall. In contrast to the rest of the house, it was very clean. The shelves were filled with orderly rows of books, and the only thing on the floor was a rug. Even the bed located under the window was well made.

Quinn sat, or rather dropped, on her bed. Kiea looked around the room, “So many books… And, I expected it to be messier?”

“Dad said I should read. Mom said I should keep my room clean. I guess it was just how I was raised.” Quinn picked a leather bound book off a shelf and flipped through the pages before closing it again and putting it back on the shelf.

“Have you read all of these?”

“‘Yup! At least twice.” She picked up a thick book from a table that stood next to her bed. It’s cover had once been green and printed in silver, but was now so faded that Kiea couldn’t read the title, “This one has always been my favorite. It’s a collection of adventures of Ilien the elf and his green dragon, Vemrin.”

“The first dragon rider…”

Quinn nodded, “I think I was five the first time I read this, and I’ve dreamt of bonding with a dragon ever since.” She smiled, “You’re my dream come true.” She put the book back on the table.

Kiea was silent as she thought about what Quinn had said. Quinn started to worry that she had said something wrong when Kiea finally spoke, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, I guess? Anyway, this is enough about me, tell me something about you! We’re going to be partners, so we should learn as much about each other as possible.”
    “About me? I’m not sure where to start. I still can’t believe with all these books you haven’t heard of the seven great dragons.”

“I don’t want to know about them, I want to know about you.” This was the second time now that Kiea had mentioned the “seven great dragons”, but Quinn still didn’t have any idea what she was talking about. They certainly weren’t in any of the books she had. Though to be fair, the only ones that were “historical” were the ones about Ilien and Vemrin.

“Me… Not them… Well…  When I was still alive, I was in charge of watching over the southernmost portion of Sarea. My cave was at the center of what the humans called Wild Wood. I had a library there, with more books than can be read in a human lifetime. For the most part, I was alone. I had few friends outside my colleagues, despite how high ranking I was. I never had a mate, and never planned on it either. I devoted my life to seeking knowledge, and did so until I died. There isn’t much else to tell, really.”

“You keep saying you died, but, I thought that after dragons died, they were, you know, dead. You can’t summon a dead dragon. It isn’t reincarnation. So how-”

“That is exactly what I’m trying to figure out. It wasn’t possible to summon me before I died, but after? None of this makes sense. The last thing I remember is a bright light and then numbness. I died. We all died. I felt them die…” Kiea trailed off.

“And what about that about not being able to summon you? I thought you could summon any dragon that wasn't already bonded to someone as long as you were worthy.”

“You can’t summon us. The seven great dragons can’t be summoned by anyone. Not the elves, dwarves, or humans. We were designated as guardians over Sarea, so Tara made it so that we couldn’t be summoned. It wouldn’t have been good if one of us had been dragged away from our duties by a bond. See, none of this scenario is possible.”

Quinn though hard for a few moments before jumping off her bed, “I’ve heard that one before!” She started scanning the spines of books for a title, “I know it’s somewhere… Ah, here!” She pulled a small book with a red cover off the shelf. It had been tucked close to the edge and partially hidden by a much bigger book, but Quinn remembered reading it at one point or another, “‘Dragon Color and Its Effect on Rank’. I almost forgot I had this. Dad got it for me after I said I wanted to learn about dragons. He said it was the best place to start.” She flipped through the title and filler pages until she got to the table of contents, then flipped through even more pages until she got to the chapter she was looking for at the end of the book, ‘The Seven Great Dragons’. She began to read.

The seven great dragons are seven metallic colored dragons that were appointed by the seven elder gods to look after Sarea. They are the only dragons known that cannot be summoned.

They rank in this order, from least to greatest; Bronze, Copper, Electrum, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Rainbow. The four most powerful of them, Silver,  Gold, Platinum, and Rainbow, were each given a portion of Sarea to look after, while the other three each resided in the ring of mountains at the center of Sarea. Each of them has a different affinity, which I will detail later on in this chapter.

One hundred seventy seven years ago from when I write this, the four most powerful were killed a battle against a black dragon, called Nag. After that, the remaining three dragons took over their duties, watching over all the lands except the Rainbow dragon’s, which had been destroyed and shrouded in darkness.

The book went on, but Quinn thought she got the idea. Kiea had told her to write ‘Platinum’ under color. Kiea was the second most powerful dragon in the world. She had summoned the second most powerful dragon in the world.

Quinn tried her hardest to keep her squeal of joy internal, but a little manages to eek its way out and make her sound like a mouse on helium. After she had gotten that out of her system, she tried to calm down a little and start thinking about the situation, “Do you think that maybe I was able to summon you because your death stripped whatever barrier kept you from being summoned?”

Kiea had a silent moment of thought before responding, “It’s possible, but that doesn’t change that fact that I’ve been dead. If I had died recently then you would have known who I was because of the battles with Nag, regardless of whether you had ever learned anything about history.”

“Right…” Quinn was too tired to try and think up a good explanation for that. Summoning a dragon as powerful as Kiea had taken a lot out of her, and she needed rest, “Well, I’m going to sleep. Goodnight!” She flopped on her bed and closed her eyes.

“What? You can’t sleep now! Regardless of whether this discussion continues, you still need to pack your things and prepare to leave tomorrow. Don’t tell me The Rising Dragons have become lax. It has always been their policy to fetch successful summoners on the 23rd, the day after the ceremony. At least start packing a bag.”

“But I don’t wanna…” Quinn buried her face in her pillow.

“You’ll regret it tomorrow.”

Quinn sighed. As much as she didn’t want to get up, she knew Kiea was right. Mealky was a good distance from Colinwood, and even though the representatives came by dragon instead of horse, Mealky’s future dragon riders had to get up earlier than most.

“Fiiiine.” She sat up and dug around under her bed until she found her old backpack. Her mother had always liked camping, but Quinn hadn’t gone in the years since she had died. The bag was a little dusty, but it was big and would work well for traveling a long distance. Quinn emptied her dresser of the few clothes that still fit, which meant pants and linen shirts like what she was wearing now. She had been dressing as a boy for so long, none of her dresses, skirts, and blouses fit anymore.

With what space was left, she packed books. Dragon Color and Its Effect on Rank, A Tale of Lief and Airia- the book she was currently reading, and of course, The First Dragon Rider- her favorite. She folded her blue wool cloak on top of it. Quinn had done a lot of research into dragon riding, and she knew that the heights dragons flew at tended to get cold. She bought the cloak in hopes of one day wearing it to ride a dragon.

“There, now I’m going to sleep.” Quinn flopped on her bed once again and closed her eyes, and, for better or worse, drifted off into one of the happiest dreams she’d ever had: Soaring across the sky on her platinum dragon.

***

    “QUINN! Blausst it where are you girl!? It’s tife for you to make dinnner!” Quinn woke up to the sound of her father yelling. Kiea had been looking through books, but jolted out of her trancelike state when she heard the noise.

    “Is he… drunk?”

    Quinn yawned and sat up, “Yeah, probably.” She straightened her clothes and got out of bed.

    “You aren’t concerned?”

    “No, he gets like this a lot, it’s fine.” She raised her voice and yelled through the wall, “COMING!” She sighed and walked to the door, “I’ll be back soon, hang on.”

    She walked down the hall and turned into the kitchen. Mr. Seabury was sitting at the table with a bottle. He looked a little wobbly, but more sober than usual, “There you are you ufseless girrll, I’m hungry and therfe’s no food on the table. Now who’s fault is that?”

    “Heh, sorry Dad. It was my ceremony today, so I was kind of tired-”

    “I know about you’re bloody teremony, just hurry up and make food. I already held off to make you fell better about not getting a damn drakon…” He trailed off. That would explain why he wasn’t as wasted as he usually was.

    Quinn messed around in the kitchen getting food ready, “But I did get a dragon.”

    She heard the sound of a glass bottle slamming into the wooden table, “WHAT?”

    “I went to the temple, and summoned a dragon.”

    “Don’k you lye to meh girl, the ifs no possible way, that you ummoned a drakon.”

    “Why not?”

    “Beckaus I said so!” He went back to drinking.

Quinn turned on the stove and started making omelettes. The milk and eggs were probably going to go bad soon, so she used all that was left, along with some rosemary from their window box herb garden.

After a about fifteen minutes Quinn put the two omelettes on plates and set them on the table, one in front of her father and the other in front of her seat. She sat down and started eating. When she was done she went back to her room without a word to her father. She knew he’d eat it when he noticed it was there.  

“That was… shorter than I expected.”

“He’s busy drinking, so I didn’t really talk to him much. It’s fine though. I made him dinner, and he’ll eat when he realises it’s there.” Quinn thought for a second, “Speaking of dinner, are you hungry?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it… I suppose I could use some food. What is there to eat?”

“That depends on what you can eat. There aren’t any woods nearby- aside from Wild Wood- but you might be able to catch rabbits or something like that in the plains. If you want fish, we are right next to the ocean…”

“I’ll find something. Go ahead and go to bed, you’ll need the extra sleep for the long flight tomorrow. I’ll be back by morning.” Kiea started to head to the door, but Quinn stopped her.

“Hang on a sec,” she went to the window over her bed and unlatched it, “It’ll be easier to go this way,” she pushed it open.

“Thanks…” Kiea jumped up on the bed and through the window into the street. Quinn watched as she spread her wings and took off in the direction of the coast.

“Well, I guess I’ll get some sleep!” Quinn flopped on her bed, barely taking the time to kick off her shoes before falling asleep with a smile on her face.

***

“Quinn, wake up. Quinn! Can you hear me? Someone’s at the door.” Quinn woke to Kiea standing over her, the dragon’s voice urgent in her head. A loud pounding noise came from the front of the house.

Quinn blinked and stared at the ceiling, trying to collect her thoughts. Once she had woken up enough to process what was happening, she sat up so fast Kiea had to jump back to avoid getting hit in the face, “The Rising Dragons are here!” The next five minutes or so consisted of Quinn scrambling to comb her hair, straighten her clothes, put on shoes, bag, and cloak, and shove a piece of bread in her mouth. After she decided she looked presentable, Quinn dashed to the door and opened it.

The boy waiting nervously on the other side of the door was just that- a boy. He wore the purple cloak of the rising dragons, but he couldn’t be older than 18. He had messy brown hair and wore a simple apprentice tunic. In his hand he clutched a crumpled paper, “Ah! Are you Miss Seabury?” His nervous face looked more relieved when he noticed Quinn.

“Call me Quinn,” she stuck out her hand like her father had taught her, “Are you from The Rising Dragons?”

He shook her hand, “Yes, my name is Nanden Bliss, I’m here on behalf of The Rising Dragons. Are you the successful summoner?” Quinn nodded, Nanden looked relieved, “Great, this makes it so much easier,” he coughed, “Do you want to say goodbye to your family?”

“Dad’s sleeping, he doesn’t like it when I wake him up. I’ll just leave a note, it’ll only take a minute,” Quinn rummaged around the multitude of boxes looking for a pen and paper. She one in the form of a calligraphy set, and scrawled a quick note to her dad.

 

Hey Dad, The Rising Dragons are here, and you’re still asleep so… I have to go! You told me not to wake you up when you’re sleeping, but I thought you’d like to know where I went. Don’t worry, I’ll still visit on holidays!

                Love, Quinn

 

“There!” She set the note on the table where she was sure her father would find it, and went back to the door, “All set! When do we leave?”

Nanden blinked, “You’re done already?”

“Yep!”

“Um, then I guess you can call your dragon and follow me. We can set out right away.”

“Okay!” Quinn turned back to the house, “Kiea, we're leaving!”

“Alright, I'll be there in a minute.”

“She'll be out in a minute.” Quinn smiled. She was so excited to finally be heading to Colinwood, she couldn't wait.

“What did you say her name was?”

“Kiea.”

“Like the-?”

“Yep! You'll see!”

Kiea wove around boxes until she made it to the front door. Nanden’s face went white when he saw her, but he kept a straight face, “I guess I did see. Well then, let's head out.” His voice shook slightly, but he maintained his overall composure.

He turned and started walking down the street, glancing behind to make sure that Quinn was following. She was of course, with Kiea only a step behind her. After about five minutes of walking in silence, the two made it to the northern- and only- gate of Mealky.

“That was faster than I expected. Maybe you won’t be a trainwreck of an apprentice after all.” Waiting for them by the gate was a stout woman in what seemed to be her thirties. Her dark auburn hair was twisted into a braided bun, her purple cloak almost completely covering her short body. She had her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

“Gee, thanks, Yvette. I’m glad you have such confidence in me.” Nanden rolled his eyes at the woman.

Yvette ignored him and held out her hand to Quinn, “The name’s Yvette Bliss, nice to meet you. I see Nanden managed to get you back in one piece. Sorry if he was mopy or whatever, he’s just mad he got apprenticed to his sister.”

Quinn shook Yvette’s hand, “Nice to meet you! My name’s Quinn.”

“Well, we need to head out if we want to make it to Colinwood before it gets too late. Alex is waiting outside the gate for us.” Yvette turned and went through the gate. Nanden followed close behind, along with Quinn and Kiea.

As soon as they rounded the corner, Quinn’s eyes lit up. Curled up with its tail under its chin rested an enormous, emerald green dragon. Beyond it spread the vast rolling plains between Mealky and Flomon Forest. Quinn had seen dragons before- she watched kids who summoned dragons leave the temple- but she had never seen a dragon this big before. Its head alone was the size of a small horse, its eyes were closed. A large saddle was strapped on its back, and straps emulating reins curled around the dragon’s horns and neck. “Whoa…”

“Interesting. Greens don’t usually get that big. I wonder…”

“Meet Alexandra, my dragon. She’s a bit bigger than most, but that makes us perfect for transport.” Yvette rubbed between the dragon’s nostril ridges, and Alex opened her eyes.

The green uncurled her tail and lifted her head, slowly rising to stand. When Alex noticed Kiea standing next to Quinn, she immediately turned and bowed her head, flaring her wings behind her. Kiea nodded and Alex rose. Yvette shot a glance in Kiea’s direction for the first time, her eyes becoming wide. She didn’t pale like Nanden did, but it was obvious that she was filtering her actions more.

“Well, let’s get going. Come on Alex, stretch out some so you don’t cramp up.” Yvette patted Alex’s nose again as the dragon started to stretch and flap her wings slowly, then made her way around the dragon to adjust the straps of the saddle. When Alex was done warming up and Yvette was finished adjusting the straps, Nanden and Yvette showed Quinn how to climb up the rope to get into the saddle.

Quinn was internally screaming with excitement. While she had seen dragons before, she had never been on one. The saddle was very comfortable, thought saddle wasn’t really the right word. It wasn’t like a horse's saddle, where you had to straddle it. It was more like a leather bench, it had a back as well as space to put your legs in front of you, and sides to keep you from falling out. The saddle Alex wore had two rows, and each row could fit three people.

Yvette climbed the rope ladders into the saddle, got into the first row and grabbed the reins. Nanden got into the second row next to Quinn, who  sat her bag between her legs. Kiea stayed on the ground, “Aren’t you going to get on, Kiea?” Quinn looked over the edge at her dragon as Yvette and Nanden pulled in the ladders and did a safety check.

“I’ll just fly next to Daefnhia.”

“Who?”

“The dragon, that’s her name. She introduced herself when she bowed, you couldn’t hear her? Interesting…”

“But Yvette said her name was Alexandra.”

“That’s because Yvette named her Alexandra. Dragons have names before they are summoned, but few humans can hear their dragons, so the names are often lost.”

“Oh…” Quinn brushed it off and moved on to her second concern, “Won’t you be slower with your smaller wings? How will you keep up?”

“I think I can manage.”

“Alright! I think we are cleared for takeoff. Just fasten your belt and we can head out.” Yvette buckled her own belt and messed with the reins a final time while she waited for her two passengers.

Quinn found the straps of leather on either side of her and fastened the belt loop, shifting while she did so to find the most comfortable position, “Ready!”

“We’re in,” Nanden yanked on his belt.

“Then here we go! Alex, let’s go girl!” Yvette gave a gentle pull up on the reins to signal Alex- Daefnhia?- to take off.

The green spread her wings and started moving forward towards the down side of a hill, slowly gaining speed as she ran. When she reached the drop, Daefnhia pushed of with her legs and wings, and launched into the air.

Quinn watched in wonder at the ground falling away beneath her. She was flying… She was flying! Kiea jumped into the air and followed them, catching up quickly. Quinn was too busy to notice, she was enjoying the view of green grass and the city of Mealky slowly getting smaller below.

Quinn pulled her cloak tighter against the chill. Dragons used magic to protect their passengers from things like pressure change, low oxygen, and wind, but they could only do so much. Quinn was glad she had gotten the cloak all those years ago, even if she had over estimated how tall she would be by the age of 16 when she had bought it.

After half an hour of looking and the ground, the wings of the dragon, and the sky above, Quinn finally got bored. She dug around in here bag for one of her books. The first one she found and pulled out was The First Dragon Rider, the book that had started it all- both for her and for everyone else.

It was a gift from her father when she was five. Her first real book. She'd fallen in love with the stories about Ilien the elf and his green dragon, Vemrin.

She flipped to the first page of story and started skimming. She'd read it so many times she didn't actually have to read the words, but it didn't feel right otherwise.

Before Ilien, the dragons had protected Sarea from threats on their own, living in caves mostly in the Dema mountains at the center of the country. They didn't interact with the three other intelligent races much, and only did their jobs because the gods decreed it.

Ilien believed that the dragons could be both happier and more able to do their job if they worked closer with the other races, so he set out to try and make a friend.

Vemrin, had a similar belief. Dragons lead lonely lives, and he wanted a friend.

They meet when Vemrin gets hurt trying to fly in a storm and crashes in the forest near Ilien's village. He gets attacked by lizard creatures called drakes that used to live in Illidea, the elf home, and Ilien saves him.

That had always been Quinn's favorite part of the story. She loved how Ilien was ready to help a creature he didn't even know, just because he felt it was right.

Vemrin was grateful, and asked what he could do to make it up to the elf. All Ilien wanted was for Vemrin to become his companion. The gods took note and blessed the friendship.

After that, people from all three races were offering friendship to the dragons, and Ilien started the Rising Dragons to teach them how to work together.

The rest of the stories in the book described adventures fighting of sea monsters, saving the human princess Lina, and driving of bandits from the southern tip of Sarea. Quinn had read all of them more times than she could count.

As she looked at Kiea somehow keeping pace next to the huge green dragon, she thought of all the great adventures they would have. Of the book that might one day be written about her.

She closed The First Dragon Rider and put it back in her bag, opting to spend the next six or so hours staring up at the sky; daydreaming about her future adventures.

***

At least, she thought she would. Quinn fell asleep shortly after that, and was jolted awake as Daefnhia touched down.

She bolted upright. “Are we there yet?” Her question was meet by sweeping fields and a decent sized river. The sun was high in the sky, and Quinn didn't feel hungry yet. It had not been six hours.

Yvette chuckled, “Haha, not yet. We've still got another three or so hours left. Alex needed a break though, so we're stopping for lunch and water.” She was already out of the saddle and tending to Daefnhia. Yvette patted the green on the snout, the dragon letting out a deep purring sound.

Nanden dug around in his bag before pulling out a loaf of bread and tearing of the end. He offered it to Quinn, “Hungry?”

“Ah, no, I'm good thanks.” She smiled. Quinn wasn't used to eating lunch, having such a tight budget and all. Breakfast and dinner was all she needed.

“Really? Alright then.” He bit into the bread and continued going through his pack.

Quinn carefully climbed down the rope ladder and on to the soft grass of the field. Green was starting to show through the dead brown left over from winter, and the air was getting warmer.

Quinn walked to the edge of the slow moving river, and saw Kiea staring into the water. Quinn crouched next to her so they stared into the river together. The water was a light brown color.

“It used to be clear.”

“What?”

“What have I said about talking to me out loud?”

“Oh! Sorry… What?”

Kiea sighed, “The water in this river used to be so clear you could see to the bottom. Now it's…” She splashed her paw into the water.

The ripples fanned out across the otherwise smooth water. Quinn didn't know what to say. She couldn't imagine going away for so long that everything was different when she came back; let alone dieing.

Without thinking she ran her hand down the side of Kiea's neck, petting it. Kiea started for a second, surprised, then let out a soft purr.

“Do you need to go hunt? I remember you didn't eat breakfast this morning.”

“I caught a mouse on the fly.”

“That's not enough!”

“Please, you only had a slice of bread.”

“Yeah, but-”

“I'll eat more if you eat more, deal?”

It was Quinn's turn to sigh, “Fine.” She got up and walked next to Daefnhia. “Hey Nanden, is the offer of lunch still on the table?”

He looked over the edge of the saddle and smiled, “‘Course it is! Catch!” He ripped the other end off the bread and tossed it to her.

Quinn caught it, fumbled, and then held it up triumphantly. “Thanks!”

“No problem!” He went back to whatever he was doing with his bag.

Quinn walked back to the riverbank and sat next to Kiea. “There.” She took a bite of the bread.

Kiea sighed, “Fine. I will be back shortly.” She jumped up and glided across the field. A few minutes later, Quinn had finished her bread. Kiea came back shortly after with a limp rabbit in her jaws, “There. Proof I caught something. Don't worry, I'll eat all of it… But you might not want to watch.”

Quinn got the idea, and certainly didn't want to see a dismembered rabbit, “Alright, then. Just finish up so we can get going.” Quinn got up again and went to talk with Yvette more.

Yvette was filling canteens with water from the river, putting a filter over the opening before dipping it in. “Here, catch.” she tossed Quinn one of the full canteens. “Drink up. Flying for too long will dry you out.”

Quinn nodded and too a sip from the bottle, surprised and how fresh it tasted. “This came from that?” She pointed to the river.

“Yup!” She smiled and held up the filter, “Orii designed them for us. They're the best at filtering out dirt and other junk. I heard that you could drink someone's spit after filtering it with this thing! Haven't been brave enough to try yet though…” She trailed off for a second before snapping back to attention. “Sorry! I'm rambling aren't I?”

Quinn had to keep herself from laughing, “You must really like that kind of thing, huh?”

“Well… Yeah, I guess? Let's go with that. We'll be leaving soon by the way, so if you have any business you need to do, get it done.”

“Ummm, I think I'm good. I'll go tell… my dragon.” She walked back over to where Kiea was finishing the rabbit. All that was left was bones.

“See? Now we've both eaten.”

“Hehe, right. Yvette said we'd be leaving soon. Anything else you need to do?”

Kiea thought for a moment, “I don't think so. Go ahead and get your stuff together.”

“Are you sure?”

“Head.”

“Right, right. Are you sure?”

“Very. Now go on.”

“Fiiine.” Quinn didn't stay long enough for Kiea to reprimanded her for saying it out loud. She climbed the rope ladder back into the saddle and got all the straps fastened.

“Ready to get going already, huh?”

Quinn jumped a little; she had almost forgotten Nanden was there. “Oh, um, yeah, I guess. Just… ready to get there.”

He laughed, “Yeah, I know the feeling. We're from Deamara, so our flights were long too. Nothing beats the feeling of arriving at Colinwood for the first time.” He grinned.

“Alright! Start strapping yourselves in people. We're preparing for take off!” Yvette called from the front as she walked back with an armload of canteens. “Catch!” She yelled and tossed three up. Nanden caught two and Quinn caught the other. Yvette held the least two under her arms as she climbed up the ladder. The got into the saddle and pulled the ladder up behind her before setting the bottles down and getting into position. “Everyone ready? Then let's go!”

Daefnhia directed herself away from the river and started running to pick up speed. Take off was a little harder without a hill to help, but they managed just fine. Kiea caught up to them like she had before.

Quinn tried reading for a little while, but she was too excited to concentrate properly and eventually gave into daydreaming again.

***

“Wake up sleepy head. We're here.” Nanden gently shook Quinn awake.

She opened her eyes and yawned. She succeed sleep out of her eyes and stretched, not fully processing what was being said.

She blinked once. Then twice. Then her eyes wide and jumped straight up. Well, tried to, hey seat belt pulled her back down until she remembered to unbuckle it.

They had landed in clearing in front of the Rising Dragons dragon den. Yvette and Nanden were unloading the saddle and letting Daefnhia get a drink from the watering hole.

Quinn stood in awe at the five story building. It's smooth white surface glistened in the sun. Even from the back, it was impressive.

Quinn climbed down the rope ladder and ran to Kiea, who was getting a drink next to Daefnhia.

“Isn't this awesome? We're really here, at Colinwood!” She was so excited that she almost forgotten to speak in her head.

Kiea looked up from her drink too gaze at Colinwood, “It hasn't changed.” She sounded wistful. Quinn could tell Kiea was feeling sad again, but she didn't know what to do.

“So, how'd your first fetching go Nanden?” Quinn heard a voice she didn't recognize and turned around. A boy with curly red hair and a mass of freckles came out of the den and walked over to Nanden, leaning on his shoulder.  

Nanden pushed him off his shoulder and punched the red head gently, “Hey Cidus. It went well. I think so anyway.” He looked to his sister for confirmation; she nodded. “It went well.”

Cidus laughed, “Well that's good to hear. My first fetch was a disaster…”

“Pfft, I know, you've only told me a million times.”

“One hundred ninety three. Far from a million.”

“You've been counting?!”

“No, but it sounds cooler when I throw out a random number.” Nanden punched Cidus again. “Ah! How dare you.” He said, feigning offense. “Anyway… Who's the lucky recruit?”

“Hehe, see for yourself.” Nanden pointed in Quinn's direction.

Cidus looked over. Quinn waved at him. He waved back. Then he saw Kiea. His mouth dropped open, he clutched his chest, and he gave a theatrical fall to the ground.

“Thanks for the warning friend.”

“Anytime.” Nanden helped him get back up.

Cidus walked over to Quinn and offered his hand. “The name’s Cidus Tollorn. Pleased to meet ya’!” He grinned.

“Quinn Seabury, nice to meet you!” Quinn smiled, and stood to shake his hand.

“Quinn huh? Welcome to The Rising Dragons.” He looked over his shoulder at Nanden, “I like this guy.”

Yvette rolled her eyes. “Yes Cidus. Now, Miss Seabury needs to go meet up with the rest of her class.”

Cidus’ eyes went wide. “No.” He looked at Quinn. “Really?” Quinn nodded. He looked back at Yvette. “No.” Yvette nodded. Cidus flushed red. “Okay then… I'll just be… over here… trying to wash off this embarrassment…” He retreated into the den with his head down.

Yvette laughed, “He's too easy.”

Suddenly, a blue blur came out of the den and tackled Nanden. “Ack!” He fell over, a blue dragon the size of a large dog sat on top of him. “Frear, I love you too buddy, but you are heavy.” The dragon jumped off and started rubbing against Nanden’s leg.

Kiea’s eyes went wide. “It's a hatchling…”

“A hatchling? Like a baby?”

“Yes. Dragons are summoned from our homeworld as adults, and usually become smaller during summoning to reduce the amount of power needed to summon us. Every once in a while, this doesn't work and a fully grown dragon is summoned.”

“Okay, and?”

“Most dragons grow again quickly, only taking a few years to become big enough for a human to ride. Nanden summoned that dragon about two years ago, yet they’re still very small. That's because they were still growing. It's amazing really, there are few hatchlings at any one time, and they are rarely summoned.”

“Huh.” Quinn looked at the small dragon. It did seem to act like a puppy.

Nanden managed to stand up. “Quinn, this is Frear. He's my blue. Say hi Frear.”

Frear looked over at Quinn, partially hiding behind Nanden as he did so. When he saw Kiea he immediately stepped out front and gave a sloppy bow.

“Haha. He's adorable. A bit of a runt, but I love him anyways.”

“You don't have to bow little one. It's nice to see that younglings still exist in this world.”

Frear stood straight again, and gave a small chirp. Then he cautiously walked over to Quinn. She held out her hand, and Frear rubbed against it, and then her leg. He chirped again.

“Looks like he likes you. Come on Frear, Quinn has to go meet her classmates. Say bye?” Nanden smiled. Frear nuzzled Quinn one last time and chirped twice before rushing back into the den.

Yvette finished getting Daefnhia’s saddle off. “You have to take her in Nanden. It's part of the whole ‘first fetch’ thing. I can't do it for you.”

“Fine. Can you get the saddle by yourself?”

“If I need help I'll just yell at Cidus. Get going!”

“Alright, alright!” He turned to Quinn. “Come on, I'll show you to where the class is meeting.”

Nanden lead Quinn out of the dragon den area and into a walled garden. Despite it being early in the year, plenty of flower buds dotted bushes and trees, and a few fully opened blossoms caught Quinns attention. She paused to stare before Nanden pushed her along towards the towering main building of Colinwood. Again, Quinn became distracted by the five stories of polished white stone until Nanden pulled her back to reality.

They arrived at the back door to Colinwood. Nanden took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, revealing a small, simple antichamber. “Now let's see if I remember the way. These back hallways always confused me…”

He closed and locked the door behind him before leading on to the rest of the building. After a couple turns through plain, white, stone hallways, he opened a door into what had to be the main hall.

“Hah! Knew I remembered that shortcut. Now I just have to find the right room…” Indeed, the hallway sporadically broken by doors. Quinn wondered how she'd ever keep them straight.

The stepped into the hall and Nanden closed the door behind them. It almost disappeared into the wall. “Cool! There are secret doors here?” Quinn was excited by the very fantasy-adventure-esc element.

“Yep, all over the place. They're only really useful if you know where to find them though…”

He trailed off and continued down the main hall in the direction of where he thought the meeting room was.

“This is so cool!” Quinn did a little spin around to get a better view of the hallway.  

“Please contain yourself. It's not that impressive.”

“Easy for you to say! I bet you came here all the time.”

“Occasionally. The outside is the same, but they downgraded the inside so much…”

“This is downgraded?” Everything seemed so big and bright. Even the carpeting seemed fancy.

“Yes. Almost everything used to be crusted with gold, silver and jewels. I suppose at some point they ended up needing the money back.”

Quinn was quiet. She couldn't imagine the vaulted ceiling and polished-to-glowing walls ever being anything but that. It was the kind of thing that seemed eternal.

“I think this is it!” Nanden stopped in front of a fairly plain door labeled “1” with the words “Lir trenelii ilien liene rem.” carved into the wood.

“What's ‘ler trenaly ilien lean rem’?” Quinn tried to read the carvings, but she didn't recognize the language.

“Oh, that says ‘your new life starts here’ or something like that. It's in elvish. ‘Supposed to be a tribute to the founder, I think.” Nanden knocked on the door. “Hello! Special delivery from Mealky!” A girl with long black hair opened the door. “Ina, you're back already?”

“Duh, I was only up in Freama. I got back like half an hour ago. You got the successful-” she looked around Nanden at Quinn. Then she saw Kiea. She muttered under her breath, “Holy shit another one.”

“Um… Hi!” Quinn smiled, but she felt very awkward.

“Hi, I'll introduce myself later. Promise. Nanden,” she turned to him, “get her to meeting room two before these other kids see, or there will be a freakout. Two others like her are waiting already, just go.” She shut the door in their faces.

“She seems nice.” Quinn's voice was void of the expected sarcasm.

“Yeah, real nice.” Nanden's was not. “Well, come on then. Guess we're going to meeting room two.” He walked across the hall. “Normally that would take forever, but lucky for us, I know a shortcut.” He pressed on the wall and it opened up.

The walked down so many random hallways full of paintings, vases, and suits of antique armor that Quinn's feet started to hurt. She was glad Nanden knew a shortcut.

“Here!” They stood in a hallway lined with doors slightly fancier than all the others. They had stopped in front of the one marked “2”. “Ready?” Quinn nodded. She couldn't wait. “Great.” He started to open the door. “Oh, but Ms. Greenwitch is probably going to be in there, so be on your best behavior. Kay?” She nodded again. “Great. Here we go…”

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 02.07.2018

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