The League of Dragon Riders

Race

Fergus is a lot of things. He is loud and obnoxious. He is very skilled in hand to hand combat and using his weight to his advantage. He is also, as shocking as it may be, a skilled cook. Potts would have liked him, I think to myself as I much on the bits of cooked meat. It has been a while since we’ve had something like this. I wonder what the occasion is. I glance up and frown. Fergus and Erin are standing a few yards away from the fire. They’re talking in low voices but Fergus is definitely angry. I lean forward but Maxwell grabs my arm. He shakes his head slightly before turning his focus on my lap. 

“You done?” he asks, gesturing toward my empty plate. I nod and he sets it aside before grabbing me hand. I let him pull me up and toward the entrance of the cave. I look back and I narrow my eyes at the two of them. Something is off. Does Fergus not know about our morning training? I narrow my eyes as I face forward again. Maxwell doesn’t look back at me and smiles as the dragons bound toward us, ready for action. I smile as I scratch Jordan’s neck, happy that he’s responding to me. Maxwell shares a smile with me as he greets his own dragon. 

It doesn’t take long for the other two to step out of the cave. Erin hurries to his own dragon but Fergus walks leisurely to his own. He moves to walk past me as he heads toward his dragon but he slows his steps as he nears me. I watch Erin from the corner of my eye and I can see him glaring at Fergus’s back. Something happened between them but I can’t figure out what. 

“Some people are not who they seem to be,” Fergus whispers to me as he passes by. I turn and watch him climb onto his dragon. His words echo my dad’s and I frown as I turn toward Jordan. I take a deep breath as I try to dismiss the horrid feeling I have in the pit of my stomach. Earlier, I could just dismiss it just as a terrible dream. Now, I can’t just dismiss it. I can’t, however, assume Fergus’s comment has anything to do with my father’s. He can mean something totally different. I can’t imagine Fergus being part of a group that attacked my village. 

“Hey,” Maxwell appears beside me, causing me to jump. He tilts his head with a lazy smile on his face, “something wrong?”

“Nope,” I say and pop the p, “nothing is wrong. I’m just a little jumpy is all.”

“Okay,” he nods, his smile never leaving his face as he continues, “excited? We’re actually doing something different today.”

“Like what?” I ask as I climb onto Jordan. Midnight nudges Maxwell with his head and he pulls himself onto the dragon.

“Leader initiation. It’s a huge ceremony,” he explains with a nod of his head as our dragons start walking down the slight slope outside of the cave. Fergus and Erin seem to be arguing and Maxwell doesn’t seem to want to be a part of that. 

“A huge one?” I ask. 

“Yes,” he nods and smiles widely, “with three people. It’s going to be epic.”

“If there are only three people, well, four people, why do we need the ceremony,” I ask as we jump into the air. We fly up until we’re above the clouds. We soar beside each other as we wait for the other two. I raise an eyebrow at Maxwell and he smiles as he continues. 

“Well, you see, there used to be a lot more people in this league. After the dragon wards, we are a forgotten race,” he says with a shrug, “it’s a tradition that we want to keep passing on because, well, I think it’s the only one we know. I wasn’t there for your father’s initiation but I’m told there was a lot of drinking involved.”

“You must be very excited for that,” I comment with a laugh. 

“Not as excited as Fergus,” Maxwell says with a wink, “he can’t live without his ale.”

“Where is the initiation?” I ask.

“You’ll see,” Erin says, appearing beside me. I winced at the sight of him but sigh as I remind myself that we’re not in a dream. He watches me for a moment before continuing, “it’s a brilliant place.”

“Excited, aren’t you, Lass?” Fergus asks from the other side of Maxwell. 

“More scared than excited,” I reply. Fergus lets out a good hearty laugh before flying forward. Maxwell follows him and they twist and chase each other in the air.

“Don’t worry, Alaina, you’ll make a good leader,” Erin says with a wide smile. I smile back but his smile puts me on edge. It reminds of the bald guy when I had first met them. 

“Yeah!” Maxwell yells out suddenly as he follows Fergus’s dive. They pull up right before the trees, nearly giving me a heart attack. 

“Wait up!” I call out as I follow after them. Maxwell looks back at me with a crazy grin. His eyes are wide and crazy.

“Why don’t you just catch up?” He challenges as he speeds forward. Fergus laughs and does the same.

“Come on,” I yell as I urge Jordan to go faster. Jordan shoots forward and pat Fergus. Maxwell is a good distance in front of me but I’m eager to focus on something beside Erin being creepy. 

“Let’s get moving, Princess! Catch me!” Maxwell yells with a laugh but doesn’t look back at me. I giggle and follow after him.

“You got this, Alaina!” Fergus yells from behind me.

“Yes, I do!” I yell back. I follow after him, his dragon’s tail twitching weirdly. I open my mouth to ask him when he speeds up. I follow after him but he dives and disappears in a group of clouds. I follow after, slowing as my vision is hindered by the white wetness.

This whole day has been strange. What is going on? 

It doesn’t take me long to realize that we are heading towards the MaChay Mountains. I can barely see the peaks from my dad’s inn. They are sharp and foreboding, seeming almost threatening as we drew near. My dad had said that they were named after the sorcerer, MaChay, who had cursed the mountain range to an eternal winter. We are still quite a ways away but the air is already growing colder.

“Where are we going?” I ask, hoping I’m wrong, as I bring myself to fly beside Erin. I forget my chase of the other two as I turn my focus to the older man. 

“To a small village up the MaChay Mountains,” Erin responds. 

“Why?”

“You’ll see,” Maxwells says as he flies in line with me. He starts to descend, as does Erin, and I follow after them. Fergus is already standing in the snow and I watch as his dragon scurries into the trees. 

We land just before the slopes of the large mountains. The trees standing around me were covered in a thick snow. I grab my bag off my dragon and watch as he too takes off into the trees. I take a step after them but Fergus’s hand stops me.

“We rest here tonight,” Erin says as he walks toward a wooden building that is almost buried in the snow around it, “tomorrow we brave the slopes.”

We all follow after him, our boots sinking in the snow as we do so. I look up the slopes and sigh. They look mighty intimidating in the setting sun. I hang my head and wonder what tomorrow can bring. Maxwell claims it is a time for celebration but, as Fergus said, some things aren’t as they seem.