The Dragon Trainer

The Dream

Adrian and Jay hopped on their bikes hurriedly as it was already close to dinner time. The night brought in a cold wind. The school looked like a haunted mansion at this time of the night. It was surrounded by fir trees, swaying gently with the wind. The parking lot was empty, not a sound to be heard. They didn’t realize how the time had passed. Both of them couldn’t stop thinking about what had just happened. They started pedaling home in a hurry, partly because they were late and partly because the chilly night set into motion some kind of a fear. Jay lived on the same street as Adrian. “What do you think? Should we let the school know about this thing?” asked Jay. “No. Of course not. Not unless we find out what this is.” “This could be against the rules,” said Jay with an uncertain expression. “I know,” replied Adrian. 

Adrian’s home arrived soon and he waved a hasty goodbye to his friend. He was so shook by the secret staircase that he couldn’t even decide if it was real or if he had just had a dream. He parked his bike near the door and knocked on it. “Where were you?” asked a girl in a cranky voice. “None of your business,” replied Adrian dropping his bag on the couch.  “Adrian, be nice to your sister.” Avery was Adrian’s younger sister. She was just as curious as her brother but slightly bossy and short tempered. She had black hair just like her brother. She had wide set eyes and a small nose. Avery was not a happy child. She always had a sullen expression on her face. “What took you so long though?” asked Anne, Adrian’s mother. “I was in the library,” replied Adrian absentmindedly. “He’s obviously lying. He’s not visited the school library since a decade,” said Avery rolling her eyes. “That’s enough Avery. Come on now you two, let’s have dinner. I'm starving!” Adrian dragged through the dinner without speaking a word. His sister and mom were surprised. Adrian was never the one to be quiet at dinner. He always had something to say. Adrian got up and started washing his dish. “Is this because your dad can’t come this weekend?” asked Anne, guilt spurring up in her voice. Adrian’s parents were divorced. His dad hardly ever came to see them. “No, I have stopped expecting him anyway mom,” shrugged Adrian. He got his cell phone out and went upstairs to his room. Anne sighed and kept washing the dishes. 

“Mom. It’s not your fault,” said Avery trying to console her. Avery was very young when their father left them. She couldn’t even remember the time she had spent with him. For Avery, Anne was her world. On the other hand, Adrian was close to his dad. He had loved him and expected so much from him but now he just felt alone. He never expressed it but those feelings were always crowding up in his mind. Adrian’s relation with Avery was complicated. Avery was too hard on Adrian and Adrian didn’t care about Avery. They were at two far ends of their relationship. There was a link which was missing between them. Avery was in the same school as Adrian. She loved reading and she was a great singer. She believed that she was the best. Well, that was one thing that ran through the family.

Adrian went into his room. He switched on the light. It didn’t switch on at the first go. He tried again. The light lit up but it was very dim. Adrian thought that it needed repairs. He then opened the windows with a small creaking sound. It was very chilly outside and it wasn’t even winter. There was something very queer about the weather. The wind flowed slowly but it was really cold. Adrian could feel that there was something different in the air. He sat on his study desk and grabbed his laptop and surfed through the internet. There was just one word in his head. “Flamento.” What could the meaning of this word be? He could not find anything resembling exactly with the word but it did have to do something with fire and blazing. He remembered that the candles in the chamber immediately lit up when he entered and burned out when he left. Was this a coincidence? He couldn’t understand what all this meant but the only one who could answer all his questions was Sahara. He had to talk to her. Adrian fell asleep on his desk while surfing the internet but his sleep was interrupted by the wildest dream.

Adrian was in the library again. He took aside the plank of wood on the floor. This time he was alone. Jay wasn’t there with him. He entered the chamber and the candles lit up again. He walked down the stairs slowly. He could hear his name being called by a voice. He went on stepping down the stairs until he finally reached the same wall which blocked his path. This time he wasn’t turning back. He tried pushing it, scraping through it but nothing worked at all. Adrian was tired and sweating. He was about to give up when suddenly he felt there was something in his hand. It was a piece of paper. Flamento was scrawled on it. Adrian closed his eyes. He put his hand on the wall. “Flamento,” he recited. There was a loud noise from within the wall. Suddenly there was a pattern forming on the boundaries of the it. The pattern consisted of designs resembling dragons all covering the four borders of the wall. The mouths of the dragons were all facing at the centre. The patterns were then filled with a bright lava. Adrian took a step back and kept looking in awe. It was a sight, that he had never seen before. After the whole pattern was formed something unexpected happened. The mouths of the dragons let out blazes of fire all together at the centre of the wall. Soon there was only fire in the place of the wall. Red and orange flames coming from each side let out a bright light with heat and smoke. It was real fire which could burn anything to ashes. Adrian could not believe what his eyes were witnessing. He could then see the fire slowly burning out. The wall was gone and the path was soon clear for him to go. He was about to step forward but something stopped him. There was a tap on his back and his name was being called. It was the voice of a girl. It was Sahara’s voice. The tapping on his back become continuous and faster.

Adrian got up with a start. “Its past eight, Adrian. Jay has been waiting downstairs for quite a while.” It was Avery. She had been trying to get Adrian up since an hour. Adrian quickly got ready. Anne had prepared his breakfast on the table while Jay was sitting on the couch waiting for his friend. He wore his usual Beanie and a shirt with a checks design. “I can’t eat right now mom. I am really late.” He got his bag and was about to leave. “Adrian, wait.” He was already out the door calling Jay’s name. “Sorry, Mrs Paulson,” said Jay following his friend out the door. Anne just shook her head and cleared the table. “Avery, how come you didn’t leave for school? You usually leave before him,” asked Anne. “I have my singing practice today. I can go an hour late.” “Alright. So how is your practice coming about?” “Good. I might get selected for the competition this year to represent the school.” “Really? That will be great Avery. I am so glad to see your passion for music, honey.” Avery smiled in agreement. 

“Adrian. Is something wrong? You haven’t uttered a word” said Jay. He was really concerned about his friend. Adrian had been really silent. It felt like he was in a daze. Jay was worried. “Are you still thinking about what happened yesterday?” asked Jay hoping that the answer would be no. He did not want the topic to spring up again. Jay just wanted to forget about that day. He was the guy who always played it safe. He did not want to get into trouble but then that’s what made him so ordinary. He never wanted to take any risks. While on the other hand Adrian just wanted to get to the core of almost everything. He could not help it even though sometimes it got him into big trouble. Jay and Adrian were childhood friends. They were so different from each other but then that was the reason they were friends in the first place.

Adrian finally woke up from his daze and opened his mouth. He told Jay all about the dream he had had the other night. “It surely did mean something,” said Adrian. “Or maybe it was what it was. Just a dream,” said Jay. “We don’t know what it was but I know one person who surely knows what this is all about.” “Adrian I really don’t want to have a word with her. She is really weird and scary.” “It’s our only option. We have to talk to Sahara.”