Young Writers Society

Chapter 4

Jarid wanted to go see Vapor right away, but classes were not going to wait for him. It felt so strange waking up in the morning and going to class as if nothing had happened. Everyone had decided to wait until supper to discuss their plans and visit Vapor.

They all needed a bit of time to think about what had happened and focus on their classes. There were tests coming up in many classes over the next few days in preparation for the break. Still, it was hard to pay attention when all he could think about was the dragons they left in that place. He knew that Vapor was probably safe, but what about all the other dragons that refused to bend to humans? He knew the answer even if he wished he could deny it.

They would be broken.

That was probably why most of the dragons in the tunnel stalls were so distant and submissive. Their spirits had been crushed. There was no way he’d let that happen to Smolder or Vapor. And now he wasn’t alone in his striving toward that goal. Now he had Black Squad by his side.

When supper time came, they all grabbed their meals and sat down to discuss the events of the previous night. Steven was the first to speak up.

“Well guys, I guess we’ve all had enough time to think about everything that happened last night.”

Felicia shivered. “That was just horrible. I mean, I get how most people think dragons are just monsters, but even so…”

“Yeah, but for now we need to focus on how we are going to keep our end of the deal,” Ben agreed.

“Sorry for making that deal without asking you guys first by the way,” Jarid added.

Airel waved his comment aside. “If you’re confident we can pull if off I’m sure we can do it.”

The others all nodded in agreement which made Jarid smile slightly.

“Even so. We should decide who will be choosing her. It would have to be either Airel, Ben, or myself,” Ethen said thoughtfully.

“Well, I think it should be Airel,” Felicia suggested.

“I agree.” Bed nodded.

“Me too.” Steven grinned.

“Wait a moment, shouldn’t we discus this first?” Airel asked in a slightly panicked voice.

Jarid just gave her a big smile to let her know her fate was sealed.

“I guess it’s decided then. By popular vote, Airel will be the one to choose Vapor!”

Everyone clapped and gave a small cheer for Airel. Jarid smiled warmly as he watched Airel get swarmed by encouragement and slaps on the shoulder for good luck. It would be good for her if she was nervous about riding a dragon. Vapor would probably be easier to ride than any other dragon in those stalls.

Airel’s shoulders drooped for a moment, but then she sighed and stood up strait. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

Jarid nodded. “Good. Then I think it’s about time I properly introduced you all to my friend, Vapor.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As they came up to Vapor’s stall she got up, wincing as the movement made her bruises ache, and came as close to the bars of her cell as she could. Jarid smiled softly and reached through the bars to pet her head.

“Hello Vapor,” he said in dragon. “Would you mind if we used human so my friends can understand? If you don’t understand something they say, I’ll do my best to translate it for you.”

She nodded and turned to the others. “Greeting. I am Vapor,” She said in her best human while gesturing to herself.

Most of them were stunned. Even though they knew she could speak human, it was still a shock to hear a dragon speak for the first time.

However, Ethen’s face was shining with giddy excitement. In his eyes this was the biggest ground-breaking discovery ever.

The others recovered from their initial shock and Airel was the first to speak. “Uh, hi. My name is Airel. I hope that, when the time comes, you will accept me as your rider.”

Vapor looked at Jarid in confusion. “I thought you would be me rider.”

Her growling accent made it sound a little more aggressive than intended but she got the message across by tilting her head in a very innocent and confused way.

Jarid shook his head. “I am not allowed to choose a dragon until next year. Besides, he needs my help a lot more than you do.” He jerked his thumb at Smolder who was asleep in his stall.

Vapor looked over at the Flame Wing and nodded sadly. Jarid smiled and patted her shoulder.

“I think you and Airel will be great for each other. The important thing is that you know you can trust her. So, in the two days we have before the choosing ceremony, I’m going to try and give you as much time to get to know each other as possible.”

Ben nodded. “We’ll all help. I’m Ben by the way. I’m delighted to make your acquaintance.” He said bowing. Steven was next.

“Hello, I’m Steven. It is good to make your acquaintance.” He said with a flourishing bow.

Jarid had almost forgotten that his friends were nobles. Except for military formality they were quite casual when talking with him and each other. After everyone had finished introducing themselves Jarid pushed his head between the bars and whispered into Vapor’s ear.

“Are you ok?” He asked in dragon.

“Yes. After you left, they put me back in my cage and left me alone. This morning one of them even gave me extra food and cleaned my cuts.”

Jarid nodded. “Ok then. I’ll let you speak with the others for now but don’t hesitate if you need me to translate something for you.”

Vapor smiled. “Of course.” Then she turned her attention to the others, switching back to human.

“Well, I think I start by telling you about me. You know me name is Vapor, and I am Storm Wing. I past live in one small village on shores of sea.”

“Is that the main city where the Storm Wing’s live?” Ethen interrupted. Vapor shook her head.

“No, great city of Storm Wing on hidden small land on sea almost one day fly from shore. Me only be there once but it very beautiful. More even during night.”

Jarid wondered what she meant by it being more beautiful at night but didn’t have time to ask as she continued.

“My mother past move away from city because someone stealing eggs for prophecy. I didn’t care much though and didn’t care about her warnings. Me thought she just scared too easy.”

She gave a small sad laugh. “Me should have past listen. Me run away from her to go find strange little human creatures live nearby while on food gathering trip. They like when we fly over them but this ones seemed scared of me, so I picked one up to try and tell them it was ok and I didn’t want to hurt them.”

Airel and a few of the others winced. Imagining how terrifying a dragon flying down and snatching up a person would look.

“Then some others brought big nets, tangled me up and brought me here.”

“That must have been scary.” Felicia said comfortingly. “I was scared when I got here too…”

As they talked, both humans and dragon shared a few of their own struggles. It was almost time for lights out by the time they finished. Jarid had to translate a few things, but he was proud of how far Vapor had come in speaking human. They all promised to talk again the next day.

As Jarid fell asleep he thought over everything that had happened over the past few days. It seemed so strange that less than two days ago he’d thought it would take forever for the dragon selection ceremony to arrive, and now he was wishing for more time.

He knew friendships and trust didn’t just form overnight but spending time with each other and going through hardship together would help. He only hoped that the hardships they would have to endure wouldn’t be too much for them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next day Jarid realised that in all the time he had known him, he had never asked Smolder where he came from. So, he decided to use some of his studying time to go see Smolder.

He was confident in his math class so he could afford to miss a study session. Even if Ethan was going to patronise him later.

“Hey Smolder! How are you today?” Jarid asked as he reached Smolder’s stall.

“About as well as any dragon held captive by horrid little humans can be, I suppose,” he huffed.

“I just thought I’d come see you since we won’t have much more time together before the dragon choosing ceremony.”

“You say that like I might actually let some other slimy human ride me.”

Jarid chuckled shaking his head. “No, no. I just mean that I’ll be away for a few weeks while the second year students get used to their dragons.”

Smolder jumped up. “You’re leaving!? Why?” Then he quickly settled down. “Not that I care at all. I just want to make sure you keep your end of the deal,” he said indignantly.

Jarid smiled. “Don’t worry. I am not leaving you here all alone. I’m just going home for a few weeks while my friends get used to riding their dragons.”

Smolder laid down with his head on his front claws with a sigh. “So? What did you want to talk about?”

“I was actually curious about where you came from and how you got here. You don’t have to answer of course, but I would love to know if you’re willing to share.”

Smolder considered it for a moment. “Alright, I don’t think it really matters anyway.”

Jarid sat down in front of the cage while Smolder got into a more comfortable position.

“Deep in the volcanic mountains lies the great Mt. Pyre, and in the molten crater at its peak stands the capital city of the Flame Wings. I was born in the Temple of Flame which resides in the center of the city. In our tribe the queen rules and passes the throne on to her daughter when she is ready. But the current queen has only one heir.

“Me.

“I was always destined to have the throne. The first male ruler in many centuries. It would be a great responsibility, but I could do it. I was so special that I was told I could never leave the capital because there was a group of dragons trying to steal me away.”

Smolder smiled proudly as he shared his noble heritage.

“I had a few friends among the nobles, or at least I thought I did. They knew that I wished to someday explore the lands far from the palace. A few years ago, one of them named Scorch, offered to take me on a trip to those lands so I could see them for myself. He told me that we had to be secret and that I couldn’t tell anybody so they wouldn’t stop us. Of course I believed him.”

Smolder snorted and shook his head.

“He showed me quite a few places and we slowly got further and further from our territory. Then he led me to a human village. We had a few snacks in this big square made of sticks and he told me to get some sleep. The next thing I knew I was being tied up. Scorch was flying nearby, just out of reach of the humans. I called out to him for help, but he just laughed and wished me a painless death as he flew back to the palace,” Smolder growled.

Jarid put a comforting hand on his shoulder through the bars of his stall. “Sorry. I don’t really know what to say other than what he did was terrible. You are an amazing dragon and one of the few people I can call my friend.”

“Yeah of course. I knew that” Smolder snorted. Then he turned his head away. “Thanks anyways I guess.”

Jarid smiled. “I’m glad to.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When Jarid finally made it out of the tunnel he took a deep breath in and out.

Whew. That was a lot heavier than I was expecting. Got to get my head back in the game for the next test.

There was one last major test before the break in pretty much every class. Today’s test was in his favorite class. Dragon training.

Even so, as he approached the dragon dome, he began feeling the nervousness only a student about to do an important midterm knows. The dragon dome had become a familiar place, but sometimes, like today, it still felt like a cage.

There were four instructors waiting on the arena floor when Jarid arrived. Whatever test they were about to go through, it was going to be very dangerous.

“All students line up!” Lt. Tekar called.

After they had all lined up the other three instructors brought out a big rack of armor. It looked like the entire thing was made of dragon scales from head to toe, and it had the Dragon Rider Academy crest emblazoned on the chest.

It was exactly the kind of armor Jarid had always dreamed of making himself. It looked light and easy to move in while also being tougher than steel. Jarid felt almost giddy with excitement just looking at it.

“This test will be divided into an applied portion and a written portion. We will be testing your knowledge of everything we’ve been learning in class up until now in a real situation. And as a bonus, the student who does best will earn the right to fight a young dragon in one on one combat. If you are victorious, you will earn the right to have your very own suit of armor crafted from that dragon’s scales!”

The students all looked at the armor excitedly and began chatting about what features they would add to their own personal set. Meanwhile Jarid was feeling like he was going to throw up.

Up until now he hadn’t really thought much about how the armor was crafted, and the thought of killing an innocent young dragon for what basically amounted to a fancy piece of clothing made him sick.

“For your first test you will each choose a set of armor from the rack and put it on. If you need help, ask one of the instructors.”

Everyone selected a set of armor and put it on. Jarid took a few moments to steady himself and asked for help to put it on. He didn’t think he could do it himself without vomiting.

After a few minutes they were all strapped in and Lt. Tekar continued.

“This armor was made in the great magic city and has been enchanted to protect the user from one lethal blow. After receiving enough damage a wind spell will automatically carry the wearer into the stands where we will be waiting to treat your wounds. Of course, when this happens your test will be over. We will be releasing dragons into the dome and your job is simply to survive as long as you can.

“Any questions?”

One student raised their hand. “Do we get extra points for taking down one of the dragons?”

“And what if we manage to win?” Asked another.

“If we deem you were responsible for taking down a dragon, we will award you a few bonus points on the test in addition to the merit points we normally assign to your squad. But killing a dragon is a loss of merit for your squad as always.” Then he gave them all a sinister smile that gave Jarid goosebumps.

“And don’t worry about winning. Adult Dragons are monsters that can tear kids like you to pieces. You should count yourselves lucky if you survive a battle where you outnumber one of them 10 to one. Up till now, all you’ve had to face are the young and weak dragons that weren’t suited for riding. But you won’t be fighting one or two weak dragons this time.”

With that he gave a signal and used earth magic to jump into the stands where the other instructors were waiting. The gates set into the arena walls began to raise and Lt. Tekar laughed maniacally.

“This time, you’ll be facing ten adult dragons!” He boomed as ten fully grown dragons of almost every type Jarid had seen at the academy charged into the arena.