He was soaring throw the air. He could see the trees passing beneath his claws and beneath his wings. The outlaying mountain ranged grew as he glided towards it. As he reached the base where the forest ended and the rocky cliffs started, he started pumping his wings to raise him up the mountain. The cold air bounced off his green scales as he passed the snow cap. He still continued his ascent up the mountain side until he reached the highest peak of the entire range and landed on it, looking out upon the clouds that it towered over. He felt a sense of well being as the clouds roared against the mountain like storm waves do against rocky shores. He looked up to the black night sky and stared at the stars. Next to him he heard a voice of a woman.
“Why are you up here, child? Go back down before you hurt yourself.”
Jae turned to see a female woman staring at him in the eyes. “No. No, I’m a rider mother. I am no longer a child.”
“Being a rider doesn’t make you an adult, Jae, you may have the skills and the education of an aged man. But you will always be a child inside unless you learn how to be mature.”
“How do you know what’s best for me? You doubted the wisdom of the Elders as to choosing me as a rider. You tried all you can to keep me from actually going to my training as a rider. Now I am the happiest I will ever be!”
“No, you don’t know what happiness is, child. You don’t know what you really want.”
“And you do? Where I am now is fate and you can’t change fate.”
“You can’t change the past fate, but you can surely influence your future fate. I tried to change your fate, a fortune teller…”
“Even in death you still believe in fortunes? She also said you were to live a long life.”
“I am not dead, Jae, I am alive. I am alive further than you can truly understand.”
“I understand everything, mother. This is just a dream and you are dead.”
“You are still a child in every way you are. You are the same as you are when the riders came, killed me, and took you away.”
“No, I have grown. I am smarter and stronger.”
“Tell me then, if you are stronger, then why do I still haunt your dreams?”
Jae seems to stay silent. “You don’t, mother.” At that moment, he took swiped at her and pushed her off the peak. As she plummeted he could see a smile on her face as she closed her eyes until she fell through the clouds.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The sun leaked through a freshly opened window onto Jae’s head. He opened his eyes and looked around the room. He glared at the window and then rose out of his bunk to pull curtains over it. As he was walking his foot caught something on the floor that made him fall. Luckily he had put his arms out in front of his to stop him before he actually hit the floor. He looked at the object which caused him to fall and sent the same glare at it as he did the window. He picked up the sword and read the inscription on it. Property of Tzaol. He rolled his eyes, how could she be so skilled yet so reckless as to keep her own sword on the floor. He picked it up and tossed it on her bunk.
He was now fully awake and knew he could no longer go back to sleep. He put on his casual clothes (town clothes), and walked out of the bunk house. He walked past the landing yard, where two riders were fencing while their dragons watched. He noticed many flaws which he would easily over come, but he didn’t say anything. He walked into the kitchen where Tzaol was eating an apple.
“You know Zay, you should really watch where you keep your stuff. I found your sword on the floor when I woke up.”
“Shur thin boss.” she replied while chewing a large bite of the apple. “I’ll get on it right away…!” after she finished swallowing. “… Eh, maybe later. So, you slept late. I was afraid that you were poisoned by the man in the forest. I had to make sure, so I let some light in to see if you would wake up.”
“Thanks Zay. Always thinking about me, aren’t you?”
“Well I wanted to make sure, ya know.”
“Did it cross your mind that if I die, my dragon dies? You could of just checked on my dragon…”
“He was out, and I wasn’t serious. Can’t you take a joke?”
“No, no I can’t.”
“Liar. Do you know where Eizil went to? Well, of course you do. I’m stupid, you practically share the same brain!”
“He’s just flying around, above the forest. I tell him to come back if you need him.”
“No, I don’t. I was just wondering.
“Okay.”
At that moment, a Vulpan novice by the name of Yuolo walked into the room carrying a scroll. “It seems we got a new job, guys.” He said with a hint of excitement in his voice. “It’s in the mountains. It seems that the Caxian Guard’s outpost up there stirred up some trouble with the ferals. Like always, they need help.”
“How quickly do they need it?” groaned Tzaol.
“As quickly as we can get there.” responded Yuolo.
“Looks like we should get ready, Zay, we have some worthless guards to save.” said Jae.
“I’m going to tell the others. Don’t go up there without us. We’re stronger in larger numbers.” said Yuolo as he walked out of the room.
“Oh, Yuolo, take your good all time telling the others why don’t ya.” said Tzaol. The Vulpan started into a jog after hearing her comment. “Let’s go get our gear on, okay?” she said as she tossed her apple core out an opened window and walked to the bunk house. Jae followed closely behind, mentally calling for Eizil.
They both slipped on their gear which consisted of chainmail overlapped with a leather chest piece, a pair of leather pants, a belt that had their long swords’ sheaths attached to it, a pair of heavy boots, a blue cloak with their house’s insignia on it, and a pair of black rimmed flyers’ goggles.
“Am I missing anything.” asked Jae as he twirled around with his arms out.
“You’re so paranoid.” responded Tzaol as she glanced over him. “No, you’re good. Did I miss anything?” She performed the same maneuver as Jae.
“No, you’re also good.” They heard wing beats in the courtyard. “Eizil’s back.”
‘So is Laoz. Let’s go.”
As they walked out of the door, they could see the other Novices finally starting to arrive to get ready.
“You guys are so slow!” yelled Tzaol to them.
“The first ones to battle die first Zay!” yelled one of them back.
“No, only the weak ones who are first die first.” she returned.
“True, Zay, True.” the novice replied as he disappeared into the bunk house.
Jae and Tazol emptied out into the courtyard to find other dragons to also be arriving.
“Should have been faster, shouldn’t we, Zay?” asked Jae.
“I hate this congestion, it happens every single job!” responded Tzaol.
“Better organization is what we need.”
“Yup.” Eizil and Laoz lowered their bodies to give them an easier time getting on the harnesses. “We’ll go there earlier so that they know we’re coming, okay guys?” she screamed back to them as their dragons readied to take off. She heard a couple “Okays” before they were launched into the sky.
Both the novices held close to their dragons as the wind rushed over them like a wild current as the their companions flapped their wings furiously. Dragons were capable of insane speeds when needed to be so riders usually wear goggles to protect their eyes. The mountain range in the horizon zoomed in to them and soon they could make out the tower built into one of the steep jagged mountain sides. A large shallow cave gave them their only landing spot as the dragons slowed down and lowered in altitude and flew into the cave.
At arrival they were greeted by a Lupin guard captain often called “Bolt” by others. The story goes back too far to effectively explain the name.
“Look, we got some novices! What we really need is a real rider.” said the guard captain.
“What you really need is to learn how to take care of your selves.” Replied Jae. “We can’t keep on saving your sorry asses just because you’d like to have an outpost in feral territory.”
“Chill, Jae.” intruded Tzaol. “What do you need us to do, Bolt?”
“We are being attacked a lot today. Usually the ferals don’t do much except for attack a random shepherd or caravan traveling through the mountains. Something must have spooked them.”
“So what is it that you need, again, I don’t remember hearing it the first time.” asked Jae.
“We need you to kill the pact that’s been attacking us. It’s the only way we will fully stop the attacks. They are red dragons that live about two miles east along this cliff. I hear from one of the scouts that they live in overhangs, so it shouldn’t be all that hard to destroy their nesting spots.”
“How many ferals are we talking about here?” asked Tzaol.
“A dozen, maybe two. It shouldn’t be all that hard.”
“Okay, we have to wait for the others to get here first though.” responded Tzaol.
“It’s only a dozen, Zay. We can attack them while waiting for the others to come.” said Jae.
“No, Jae it’s not safe. Remember what Yuolo said?”
“Yuolo is a horrible rider, why take his advice?”
“No one is a horrible rider, Jae.”
“Whatever, I’m going. Come now or later, I’ll still be there fighting.” said Jae as Eizil took them off and out of the cave towards the nesting spot. Tzaol let out a sigh.
“Tell the others when they come that we’re already there.” she said as Laoz took them out.
“Will do!” bolt screamed back.
Jae came upon the section of cliff where the ferals had made their home. He counted 18 ferals total. “Easy.” he whispered as he smiled. He then singled out one of them and dove straight for it. The unprepared feral dragon was hit square on and was rammed into an outlaying rock. Red blood dripped down the rock face.
“One down, 17 to go.”
He chose a new target that seemed all aware of his presence and what he had just done. It sped away, but Eizil raced after it and eventually sliced his claws on its wings, causing it to spiral down into the trees.
“16 down.”
At this moment, Tzaol and Laoz arrived at the scene and glanced at Jae before diving at one of the ferals and pulling into down into a freefall before letting loose at the last moment to let the dragon scrape its way down the cliff. Jae chose another target to ram into the wall, but it saw Jae and dodged the attack my dropping down. Eizil quickly changed direction so he was know chasing the dragon with his wings perpendicular to the cliff face. Jae could see the others arriving. However, his eye caught a glimpse of a black dragon that caught him by surprise and rammed Eizil into the cliff’s wall. Jae could hear Eizil’s screams of pain and wing bones cracking against the wall. They then plummeted and Eizil was scraping against the jagged rocks until they hit an overhang that luckily lessoned the damage of fall if they were to hit the forest level. Jae stumbled as he dismounted and looked up to the see the blood streak along the cliff wall as his vision blurred. He looked back at his dragon, whose body and wings were bent into ways that were not natural. He could hear the screams and almost fell the pain his dragon was experiencing until his vision went completely black.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“How is he still alive, master?”
“I don’t know, Jalo, usually a rider will die with their dragon due to their spiritual connection. However, he didn’t. Curious.”
“Has this ever happened before?”
“I’ve only heard legends, myths of people surviving, but they a millenniums old. We haven’t ever had a documented case.”
Jae started to slowly open his eyes.
“Look master, he’s waking up!”
His slow opening soon turned into a few blinks as his vision cleared. He lifted up his head to look around the stone room to only see the Lupin Master Rider Hylaes and his apprentice. He suddenly felt pain in his left shoulder and moved his right arm to feel it, but as he did, he felt the same pain there. He soon felt the pain all over his body that he didn’t feel before and groaned. The master took a tiny flask of an unknown concoction and poured it into Jae’s mouth. The bitter liquid pierced Jae’s dry tongue as it flowed past it. He tried to spit it out, but his chest filled his pain as he tried to do so.
“Don’t fight it boy, it will help to eliminate the pain.” said Hylaes.
Jae laid back and tried not to move. He felt the pain slowly fading away as the mysterious liquid did its work.
“Should we cast the spell on him now?” asked Jalo.
“Yes, as I said before it will only work when he’s awake.”
The master took a scroll that was lying on top of a small table that had a few vials on it also. He unrolled the scroll and placed it on Jae’s chest. The scroll was covered with small markings, runes. It was a sequence; most spells required sequences to work. Jalo took a strange tool and made sparks that ignited the scroll in a flame. The runes started to gain a bright glow as the fire engulfed them. The runes burned into Jae’s flesh and the spell started to work. Jae could feel his who body tingling with energy as bandaged wounds, dislocated bones returned to their rightful places, and shattered bones repaired themselves. When the spell ended, Jae rose slowly to sit up. He felt dizzy and fell back to his laying down position.
“What… What happened to me?” He slowly let out.
“You were healed by a spell!” responded the apprentice.
“I think he means while he was out, Jalo.” interrupted the master. “We found you and your dragon on one of the cliffs over hangs. We thought you both to be dead, but further inspection found you to be alive. Tzaol, or is it Zay you call her, carried you back to my domain on her dragon. She had been waiting outside the room since. She is one true friend, did you know that?”
“Zay is here…? How did the battle go?”
“You novices eventually ran them off, and finished all of them off. But one of the novices wasn’t as lucky as you. I think his name was Yuolo.
“Where is Eizil?”
“Eizil’s your dragon right? As I said before, we thought you both to be dead. Eizil didn’t survive.”
“I don’t… I don’t understand…”
“Neither do we, you should be dead, but you’re not and that’s what counts.”
“But… Eizil…”
“I don’t know what it would feel like to live though losing my companion; it would be like losing part of you…”
Jae remained silent, staring up at the roof.
“I guess I’ll leave you to yourself right now. Jalo, seems like we have a letter to write to a child’s parents.”
Jae sat in the bed staring up at the roof. He didn’t understand himself anymore for some reason. As Hylaes said, it felt like he was missing something inside of him that he had his whole life. He felt dead. Why did this happen to him, why couldn’t he have a better fate as to die with his dragon and not to be without him. It was all because of the ferals…
Tzaol slowly opened the door and peaked in. She then came though and walked over to Jae’s bed when he motioned her in.
“You carried me back?”
“Of course I did, when we took roll call we you and Youlo weren’t present. We scouted the area and found you, alive, and Youlo dead. We didn’t think you were alive, but I carried you back anyway.”
There was a brief pause between them. “How does it feel to be without Eizil?”
“I don’t know what I feel like,” he paused, “I feel broken, shattered. Now that I think more about it, I feel angry… Angry towards the ferals, they’re just beasts, selfish beasts. We leave them alone, but they keep on attacking… I hate them…”
“Hating won’t get you anywhere, Jae. Don’t let it over take you…”
“You don’t know what it feels like to lose part of you, Zay. I am partly dead, and that part that died was killed by the ferals!”
“My mother used to say to me that everything happens for a reason before I became a rider initiate. I didn’t want to go to the academy when they told me I was chosen, I wanted to stay with my family. But what she told me gave me faith in what I was chosen for and I put my mind towards it.”
“What about things such as the ferals? Such chaotic and unpredictable creatures that only cause pain and hurt wherever they are. Do you think they happened for a reason?”
“I don’t know…” Tzaol looked down. “But I have faith that they do have a reason.”
“Well, I don’t. They’re a glitch in the world, a disease that needs to be purged out now.”
“They barely attack settlements, this was a rarity. They aren’t a disease.”
“But isn’t that how a disease starts? One rarity in one person starts the disease as it spreads to others. The feral problem will only get worse if we don’t act now.”
“Well, we are just meant to protect and prevent, not attack.”
“Maybe you are, but I’m no longer a rider with out a dragon.” He smiled. “I am no longer bound by their rules, their regulations.”
“I guess you are no longer a rider, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still act with the chivalry a rider does.” She paused for a moment, looking into space. “I have to go; Laoz says we need to get back to the complex before dark. I suggest you read the myths of the three. I hope they can help you with this struggle.”
“I don’t want fairy tales, Zay.”
“Suit yourself. Hylaes said that you may want to spend the night here, just in case there are any additional injuries. He also has a book on the myths, if you change your mind.”
“I won’t.”
She looked down. “Okay.”
“I never thanked you for saving my life, Zay.”
“Well, you’re welcome for your life. However, you are making me think saving your life was a bad thing.”
“It might have been.”
“Be happy that you’re alive, Jae.” She left the room.
Jae returned to lying down and stared at the ceiling until he fell asleep. However, it took quite a while of time for the thoughts of anger and sadness inside Jae’s head to quell down.
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