The League of Dragon Riders

Training and Free Time

I have never considered learning how to fight. There were no true fighters in the village. Most people saw women as lower beings, anyway, so I doubt anyone would have helped me if I had asked. Madam Carmen would have definitely been against it anyway. I mean, sure, my chores kept my body in relatively good shape but I am utterly unprepared for anything more. 

Which is why I am having a horrible time. Erin had woken me up before sunrise and rushed to get me into this clearing. I had come waiting for some horrid beast but, instead, found myself in the middle of an intense training match where everything was against me. The only benefit of it is that it helps occupy my mind. 

“I hate you. I hate you all,” I moan as I run past the flaming dummy and dive past an arrow. I swear they are trying to kill me. I don’t mind, though, as it serves as a good distraction from my aunt’s painful words and my loss of Potts. I’m sure Potts doesn’t share the same sentiment but I can’t find her. I’ve been back three times and she’s nowhere to be found. I don’t even want to consider the fact that she might be dead.

“Me? I haven’t done anything,” Maxwell says, being the ‘damsel in distress’ that I am supposed to save. He is currently tied to a try. Fergus is acting as the bad guy and Erin is manning various contraptions that were originally created to kill people. Yes, this training is meant to kill me. 

We had landed in a clearing two hours ago and I have yet to save Maxwell. Every time Fergus gets the better of me, I have to start over. Every time I have to face the fact that a drunken man can overtake me with ease. 

“Come on,” I mutter as I surge forward. I slam into Fergus...and bounce back and onto my backside. I groan as I let myself fall back against the grass for a brief moment. 

“You won’t beat me with strength, Lass,” Fergus says as he pulls me to my feet. I glare up at him and swing my leg toward his sensitive area in a desperate attempt to win. It connects and his face contorts in pain as he falls forward with a low moan escaping his mouth.

With a crazy laugh, I hurry forward and untie Maxwell. He stumps forward, his shoulders shaking with laughter as I raise my arms in triumph. I watch Erin walk up to us with a wide grin on his face. He pauses to look down at Fergus where he lay on the ground in the fetal position. 

“Fine,” he groans as Erin helps him to his feet, “you passed like a dirty cheat.”

“You said I couldn’t win with strength,” I shrug, “and I didn’t know we were supposed to fight fair in fights like this.” 

“She speaks the truth,” Erin says, “well done.”

Fergus leads us back toward the three dragons resting in the sunlight, grumbling as he did so. I smile as I follow Maxwell toward Midnight and I slowly patt his head as he puts the saddle back onto the beast.

Fergus’s dragon is the large green one, though not as large as the red one from a few nights ago. It is bulky and strong with its head sporting thick and dull horns met for smashing, not stabbing. Erin’s dragon is a bright blue one. It’s legs are longer than Fergus’s but they are about the same length as each other. Midnight is smaller than the both of them but he’s a lot quicker.

“Let’s go,” Maxwell says as he climbs on. I climb on after him and smile as the dragon jumps into the air.

“You’re finally getting used to him!” Maxwell yells back over the wind.

“Yeah!” I call back as I hang onto him. I look down as the trees fly past. The world looks so much different up here. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be able to jump into the cool air whenever I want to. I smile as I speak up, “It’s so gorgeous!”

“You haven’t seen anything yet!” Maxwell yells as Midnight surges forward. I latch onto him and scream. I close my eyes as my hands tighten around him. My stomach lurches as we move upward and speeds I don’t want to think about.

“What are you doing?” I scream at him, my voice muffled by the wind. I don’t think he can hear me but I make no move to repeat myself. My focus is on trying not to fall off the smooth back of the dragon below me. 

“Shush!” he calls back and I’m about to retort until we burst up above the clouds. Midnight stretches his wings out and we glide over the white fluffy expanse. I frown as I stretch my arm out and smile when my hands flow through the cold, wet puffs of clouds. I can see the ground below through breaks in the clouds and I am awestruck. Everything looks so much smaller up here. Even Fergus and Erin who are still on their way to the cave. They don’t seem to notice us veering off course. 

“This is better,” I agree with a laugh. I loosen my grip on him as I lean over, desperate to see more of the world below. 

“Good,” Maxwell laughs and looks back at me. I’m getting used to his mischievous gazes and I wonder what he’s planning on doing now. I tighten my grip on him once again as I prepare myself for the worst. I take a deep breath before letting myself talk. 

“What?” I demand. 

“You ready?” he asks. 

“For what?” I ask suspiciously. I have learned never to say yes with him. 

Maxwell simply laughs as Midnight tucks his wings in and we start to fall. I scream as we spin and twist downward. Maxwell’s laugh breaks through my screams as we fall to our deaths. I bury my head in his shoulder as we lose altitude. The world becomes spiraling colors of blue, white, and green as we fall toward the forest below. 

You’re not going to die, I tell myself, not today. I repeat it over and over to myself as we fall. I know I’m not going to die but the feeling in my gut keeps telling me I am. Maxwell wouldn’t save me just to kill me, right? 

When Midnight finally straightens himself, I want nothing more than to slap the smug smile off Maxwell’s face. I can’t see it but I know it’s there. The dragon is already leading us toward the cave when my anger subsides. The dragon lands softly and Maxwell jumps off him easily. He turns and offers me a hand. I shove it away as I slide off the dragon and move to step around him. I wobble to the side slightly, my legs not wanting to obey me. He grabs my shoulders to stop me with a laugh that echoes off the cave walls. 

I can hear Erin and Fergus within and I make my way toward them, eager to be in someone else’s company. I have no wish to stay with him. While I can’t be angry with him, as I expected such a thing, I can ignore his meaningless apologies. 

“Come on,” he argues as he follows me toward my sleeping mat that Erin had made up for me, “you can’t say that it wasn’t fun.”

“No,” I reply as I snatch a jug from Fergus. He glares at me as I take a chug of the cool water. I hand it back to him and turn to glare at Maxwell, “it was terrifying, Maxwell, there was nothing about it that was fun. You could have warned me!”

“No warning makes it even more exciting!” 

“No!” I argue and I sigh, “I guess technically so but you can’t just to that to me, Maxwell. I’m never going to want to fly with you again.” 

“Oh, come on,” Maxwell sighs, “you can’t really mean that.” 

“It was uncalled for,” Fergus speaks up and gains a glare from the other teenager, “you should apologize.”

“Sorry,” Maxwell says, though his apology is more pointed at Fergus, and plops down on his sleeping  mat. He isn’t sorry, we all know that, but I make no move to argue anymore with him. I may have only known him for a total of three days but that was all I needed to know that he never apologized for anything, at least not seriously. 

He’s annoyingly stubborn that way. It’s strange how much I’ve learned from every one of them in the short time I’ve been here. Fergus just wants to eat and read. He enjoys romances, ironically enough. Maxwell loves excitement and thrills, events that he usually loves to bring me into. Erin is the most complicated part of the little team. He hardly speaks about himself and spends most of his time deeper in the cave. I don’t dare follow after him. Something about him seems off. Perhaps it’s because the other two seem so open and he’s so closed off. 

“There’s still two hours til sundown,” I point out as I lean against the cave wall. Fergus chuckles as he turns his attention away from a book he had on his lap. He looks up at me through a pair of thin reading glasses with a wide grin, “you slept in this morning too. You can’t actually be tired. You were just a damsel today!” 

“Your point?” Fergus asks as Maxwell cuddles into his blanket, “this is our free time. We are free to use it as we wish.”

“You’re sleeping your life away,” I tell Maxwell, “I don’t understand how you can sleep so much. Are you feeling okay?”

“It’s me free time,” he mutters back, his voice muffled from the blanket, “I will use it as I wish.”

 I roll my eyes as I move to lay on my own sleeping mat. My body is sore from the day’s training and perhaps an early rest can help it. Erin had said that tomorrow would be far worse and there is no way I’m looking forward to that. However, there is an upside to it because I hate free time. It gives me time to think and that is the number one thing I don’t want to do. I don’t want to think about the criminal my father could have been. I don’t want to think about the fact that my own aunt wanted to throw me away. I don’t want to think about Potts and her death. I don’t want to think about any of it or the mess my life has become. 

A true leader. I’m supposed to take his place. A place that hasn’t been filled in over ten years. Why are they just coming to me now? Why do they suddenly need a leader? I take a deep breath and calm myself. Sure, I have no idea what I am supposed to be doing but anything is better than hanging out in a village that doesn’t want me.