The League of Dragon Riders

A Beautiful Night and A Red Dragon

“Alaina,” Maxwell’s voice pulls me out of dreamless sleep. I groan as I roll away from him. He chuckles softly as he lightly shakes my shoulder. I  open my eyes and sit up. The only light comes from the small candle Maxwell holds. I can see, and hear, the sleeping forms of the other men. I force myself to sit up and glare at the man that is slowly becoming a close friend. 

Huh, I’ve never had a close friend before. Maybe I need to take a step back. It has only been three days, after all. I shake the thought out of my head and twist to face him. He leans over me with a thoughtful look on his face. His curly long hair is a mess on top of his head but that does nothing to make him less attractive. I sigh as I turn my attention to the problem at hand. 

Don’t get carried away.

“What’s going on?” I ask him as I untangle myself from my blankets. If he’s waking me up so early in the morning, something must be wrong. He smiles as he offers me his hand. I stare at it for a moment before grabbing it. He pulls me up and starts leading me toward the exit. 

“I want to show you something,” he tells me as we make it to the exit. The dark sky is lit up beautifully by billions of stars and I have never seen them from this close before. I remember spending nights looking up on the roof of the inn but...nothing compares to this. Oh my, it feels like a lifetime ago that I was still living in the village when it was only a few days ago.

“They’re beautiful, right?” Maxwell says, his voice strangely quiet.

“Yes,” I mutter back as I sit down on the edge. He sits down next to me and we sit in silence until the cave shakes under us. We jump up and Maxwell pulls me away from the entrance and into the trees that surround it. I hear Midnight bounce up beside us as we look into the sky.

“What was that?” I ask as I hold onto the back of Maxwell’s shirt. He pushes me toward Midnight before he answers me.

“They found us,” Maxwell yells as he charges into the cave, “stay with Midnight!” 

“Wait!” I call out as I stumble forward. Midnight pushes his head against me and I turn toward him. I sigh and climb onto him just as the three come running out. Does Fergus have an axe with him? Where did that come from?

“Where are they?” Fergus demanded, holding his weapon ready, “we should fight this time, Erin! I’m sick of running!” 

“And lose?” Erin asks angrily as he whistles. His dragon comes running toward him with Fergus’s right behind, “we have to go. We have someone to protect now. Maxwell, take off with her. We’ll hold whatever it is back.”

“What?” Maxwell demands, stepping forward, “I’m not leaving you!” 

“Maxwell!” I call out as I look back and see a familiar red dragon lighting up our mountainside with flames. Erin curses as he and his dragon jump into the air, “get her to safety, Maxwell!” 

Maxwell comes running toward me and his waiting dragon. I sit back as he climbs on. I wrap my arms around him as he jumps into the air, narrowly missing a fire blast. The red dragon notices us as we jump into the air. It pays no attention to the other two as we dart to the side as it follows after us.

“What now?” Maxwell asks as Fergus glides besides us. Fergus looks back and shrugs at us.

“No clue!” he yells back. 

“You and Fergus turn off,” Erin orders as he catches up to us. Maxwell nods as we dart to the side. I see Fergus do the same thing on the opposite end. The dragon does as Erin wanted, and follows after him.

“Why are they after us?” I ask. 

“Because we are the only one that can oppose them,” Fergus yells back as he flies beside us, “any ideas?”

“One,” Maxwell grin, “but you won’t like it!” 

He doesn’t let either of us question him as Midnight dives forward and under the dragon. Red dragons might be the biggest and the baddest but they sure weren’t the fastest. 

“What are you planning?” I ask as I hold onto him for dear life. 

“This!”

Midnight throws himself up against the bottom of the red dragon, with me and Maxwell still on top. I scream as I slam against the smooth underbelly before we descend. The dragon roars and we dodge a slice of a claw.

“Why did you do that?” I ask as the dragon turns to face.

“To get his attention!”

“What about-” I ask but a blast of fire interrupts me. It hits the red dragon, who spins to face its attacker. Fergus sits tall on his dragon with a wicked smile on his face. Erin’s dragon crashes into its other side and I watch as both dragons fall through the air for a moment before righting themselves. 

“Are we trying to intimidate it?” I ask Maxwell.

“Yes.”

“Is it working?”

“Not at all.” 

The dragon roars before shooting a blast of flames towards us. Midnight dodges out of the way quickly and I scream as I lose my grip on Maxwell. Just as I move to catch myself, Midnight lurches upward and I roll off his back and into the open air. Time seems to slow as Maxwell turns back toward me with horror in his eyes. He holds out his hand but it’s far too late. I’m already falling and he doesn’t have time to save me. 

I never thought it would end this way. I never thought about death at all. I’m only eighteen. Eighteen year olds don’t think about death. I close my eyes as the trees get closer and closer. I wait for the end but the end never comes.

I open one eye and find myself gliding over the trees. For a weird moment, I think it is me. I think I am flying. I look up and find a dark purple claw wrapped around my ankle. The dragon isn’t one I know. The dragon’s dark purple scales glows in the moonlight as it flies me away from the fight happening above. 

What was this?

It drops me in a clearing and I roll to a stop on the soft ground. I lay there for a moment in the soft grass as my heart hammers loudly in my chest. I watch him for a moment and roll toward it as it lands a good ten feet away from me. I watch it for a moment before I push myself to my feet. I step closer to it and freeze when it shakes its head and plops onto the ground. It just saved me and now it doesn’t want anything to do with me? I frown as I watch him and place my hands on my hips. 

“What is up with you?” I ask out loud. Where did it even come from? It is the first dragon I’ve seen without a rider. Why would a dragon go out of its way to save me? The answer is obvious, I’m sure, but I can’t figure it out.  

“Alaina!” I hear Maxwell’s voice as Midnight lands in the clearing. He snarls at the other dragon and moves to stand between me and the new beast. Maxwell slides off the dragon as I move to calm him.

“Wait,” I say and step between Midnight and the other dragon. They snarl at each other but make no move to attack one another. Maxwell follows after me and grabs my arm. 

“Alaina,” he says, his voice deep with warning. I glance back at him and frown. He doesn’t seem worried for me. He looks more curious than anything. His eyes flash a different color than the familiar green and I turn away from the trick of the night light. 

“No, I…” I pause as I trail off, turning my attention back to the dragon. I know this dragon. I don’t know how but deep down I know it. I know it isn’t going to lift a claw to hurt me. How do I know this dragon? I gasp as a memory pops into my head. A memory I don’t remember but feel to be true...

I giggled as the little reptile climbed up my arm. I twist and turn as I watch it. My dad watched with a grin on his face from a few yards away. I grabbed it from my shoulder and held it out in front of me. It was the size of a cat but a lot longer. Its purple scales shone off the lazy morning sun. 

“That’s your dragon, Princess. He’ll be with you when you need him,” My father said as he took the dragon away from me. I watched him leave as he walked away from the me.

“That’s my dragon,” I say as I step toward the dragon. These lost memories are opening so much for me. How much more do I not remember? How could I have forgotten something like a dragon?

“Your dragon?” Maxwell asks as he follows me. I hear Midnight follow after.

“Hello,” I say as I reach my hand toward his face. It kneels down and bares its teeth at me. I jump back into Maxwell. He places calming hands on my shoulders as he nudges me forward.

“If it’s your dragon, it won’t hurt you. Go on, Alaina,” Maxwell says.

“It’s okay,” I say as I step forward. I reach forward as I slowly move toward him. I smile and freeze as he lunges forward. Something wet slides across my palm. I stumble back as I look at the glop that now covers my hands. 

“Ugh,” I groan as I shake my hand. Maxwell jumps forward and takes my hand with a concerned look on his face. He looks back up at me with a raised eyebrow, “he licked me. Gross.”

“I’d say he’s yours,” Maxwell laughs as I shake the spit off of me. I look up and into it’s bright, green snake eyes. I smile as I rub the bottom of its neck. It tilts its head up as I scratch it. I giggle as I hear the sound of its tails pounding on the ground behind him. Maxwell laughs with me as he places a hand on his shoulder. 

“Yeah, he has been since day one,” I say. My dad had said he’d be there and he was. I patt the dragon’s nose and look up to see Fergus and Erin circling above us. They slowly descend and jump off their dragons. I smile as they walk toward us. 

“What are you going to call him?” Maxwell asks with his eyes on the sky. I glance up in fear, scared that the red dragon is waiting for us up there. The sky is clear, though, as far as I could tell in the night sky. 

“Jordan,” I say with a smile, “for my father.”