The Dragon Rider's Curse

Whenever I thought about turning back I looked down at the kids around my ankles. Skinny with slightly bloated bellies and bones showing everywhere. I wasn't in any better shape but hid it well with oversized clothes. We had to do this or starve. I didn't care about me but the twins, I would go to the moon to save them. I loathed having them come along, but raids had gotten worse, and it was more dangerous leaving them in the hiddy hole we had been using for the past month. I pulled out the deep red jacket I had secured last week. It was a tad tight so could only zip it to right below my breasts. I was a K cup I'm guessing since I spilled out massively of the DDD cup bra I had scrounged. But nothing for it so I shouldered my pack again and slipped into the hole in the fence camouflaged by a massive vine. The twins followed me, unnaturally silent. We grew up seeing happy kids run and play but when you were abandoned and starved like us you never wasted energy not even on words. We kept to the shadows and shuffled along the stone wall toward the corner structure. It was a huge mess hall from what I gathered on all my passes at the wall. The stone wall kept commoners out of the elite training grounds for Dragon Riders. But the grounds had maid services, chefs, Dragon Keepers, and so many more staffed here. Word was the food overflowed here and you could even find decent items in the trash here. Winter was coming and I needed stuff to keep the walls warm, however the first priority was food. Many people could not get in and if they did and were caught you were fed to the dragons. I only finally dared it after finding the dragon apprenticeship jacket and when I knew the twins had days left. Like we agreed they found tiny crack in the wall scaffolding work and hid. I crept along toward the mess hall. Sitting in the shadows completely still whenever I thought I saw or heard someone. It was achingly slow but I was almost there I could smell the food and my stomach growled mournfully. The trash heap was right there but slightly away from the wall and in it's own wooden box-like structure. The opening faced the mess hall back doors. The large open sides were closed as the cold clung to the air but anyone could walk out one of the small doors at any minute to dump a trash receptacle. I went around anyway grabbing an old tray to look like I was dumping my own trash hopefully if someone came out. I was blown away at the food there. There were whole apples with tiny bad spots and whole loaves of bread. I also found blackfruit. I had never had it before as it was flown in from far north. It had some bites out of it but I didn't mind. We would feast tonight. It was minutes and my pack was stuffed. And I had made it out before anyone noticed me. I slunk back the way I came going slightly faster gear to get out. I suddenly froze feeling a prickling up my back. I slowly turned looking for a pair of eyes but there wasn't anyone out here the cold keeping them inside. I looked up at the tower, The General's home and where he and his massive red dragon Strike lived. I saw a flick of red but was too far away to see clearly so no one could be watching me from there. I reached the twins hiding spot about to call them out when boots crunched on the gravel running this way. My eyes darting around for a way out. The whole was to far away to make a run for it. I signaled for the twins to stay quiet and hoped they saw me as I ran back towards the mess hall. Two guards ran out of the dark from the direction of the South guard tower. "Halt! Identify!" they yelled running my way. There was no use I had to stop and try my lie relying on the red jacket to boost the fib. I turned slowly to face them as the guards reached me. I stood ramrod strait with my wrists clasped behind my back, feet a shoulder width apart. Just like I had seen apprentices do. "First Turn rank, Dragon Rider Apprentice, Rose." I said stiffly. I hoped it was correct. My rank might need to be higher for a jacket but it was the only rank I knew. I could guess and say second turn but I wasn't sure that was a rank. The guards looked at each other. "What are you doing out here First Turn?" "Couldn't sleep so getting a walk in before turning in, Sirs." I added. Not sure a First Turn should address guards as Sir but they were older than me. I was sweating bullets now shoring up my resolve by thinking of the twins. "First Turn Rose you will have to come with us." One guard started to flank me. "NO!" The twins screamed running to me. No no no. I thought frantically. The other guard turned his hand on his sword like he was facing a threat. "No!" I jumped past him to stand between him and the twins protecting them with my body. The guards both advanced pulling their swords as an apple tumbled out of my pack and rolled into the darkness. Think think think. I could make the twins run for it while I held them off. I pushed the pack at Alex the boy hoping he could carry it. While I stonily faced the guards. "Run!" I shouted at the twins while I blocked the first guards strike by stepping into his space past the sword hilt avoiding the strike by getting closer to him and kicked him in the groin before he could recover from the shock. I picked up a stone and threw it at the other guard's head hard enough to draw blood. With a roar he turned to me leaving the twins. The other one behind me was getting up whimpering as he clutched himself. My blooded pounded in my ears followed by a woosh of air. Thump woosh, thump woosh. Or was that outside my ears? The twins screamed and raced past the guard with the bleeding head to my side and out of the shadows a sleek black head came within feet of the head clutching guard. The head was almost like a horse or maybe the river monsters with all the teeth, covered in scales. Great black horns curved back around it's pointed ears, leading to a scale covered black neck. The neck was bigger around than a great tree trunk. The guard's height only spanned the distance from it's mouth to just past the nostril. His head wouldn,t even be level with the dragon's eye. We were all frozen. The dragon turned it's head slightly and tilted it considering me, completely ignoring the guards. I gently pushed the twins behind me. The guard may be back there but between the guard and a real live dragon I choose the guard. The dragon came within inches of my chest. I could see the white canines that peaked out of it's mouth. It sniffed the pack Alex held behind me as he shook with fright or cold, or both. I didn't even hear the jangle of metal or see the guards taking a knee. The dragon was terrifyingly amazing. Deadly but beautiful. I couldn't help it. I reached out to touch the scales next to it's mouth. They were cool but the longer my hand blocked the cold air I could feel the warmth below. I stroked along the scales and the dragon closed it's eyes and a deep rumble rattled in it's throat. "You found his weakness." a voice said much too close. I looked past the dragon's nose to a metal clad being past it. This man, this dragon rider, must be seven foot tall with wind tossed dark hair and was strikingly handsome. I gapped openly still trying to shield the twins from view. "Well trainee were you just on a raid?" He asked. "Raid?" I asked blandly. "Yes a raid. Is that where you found the two foundlings? Or are they slaves?" The man raised a dark eye brow over piercing steel eyes. Was this man giving me an out? If the twins were marked as foundlings they would be housed here in the child barracks, fed, and trained in a trade. Most raids whether you were a foundling or a slave everyone caught was marked as a slave and sent to the fields as free labor. It was supposed to be a job, but you were barely fed and often died from work or whippings. I was a foundling as my parents died without debt and I never took loans to cover food or housing and never sold myself either, no matter the offers. The twins were too. I found them in a fishing boat after a storm when I was around 13, and took them in. That had been five years ago. We all remained free of ownership and debt. "Yes. They are foundlings and I was in a hurry to get them out of that place." I gestured at the wall indicating the city beyond. "Very well. We will take them to the barracks and then get you settled." The dark man drew closer. The twins clung to my legs. "I think they need baths too. Perhaps they can stay with you for tonight. We can settle them in the morning." The man held out his hand toward the tower and the buildings below it while taking the pack from Alex. I started that way my feet filled with lead. What had I gotten myself into. I felt scales touch my hand and jumped. The dragon was gently, which was quite a feat considering his size, nudging my hand. I stroked the space between his nostrils and the rumble started again. "Quit horing yourself Bain." The man said from behind me slapping the dragon's cheek. The dragon huffed and lifted his head beyond reach. As we neared the buildings he took off in a whirlwind of air. The twins clutched tighter. The man took my elbow and steered me to the dragon rider dorm. My skin tingled where he touched it even through the jacket. I tried to count doors and exits as he steered me and the twins by their clutching me, to a dorm room on the third floor. 306 was printed on the door and he shoved it open pushing me inside. This room was sparse with only furnishings. A small bed shoved in corner with a blue blanket, a desk with lamp that had a fresh wick and full oil, and two doors. He opened the door on the right of the desk. "You guys want to wash up in here?" He said giving the twins a small smile. They crept forward and peeked in eyes wide. I peeked around the doorframe and had to hold back a gasp at the bathroom in there complete with wooden tub. As a First Turn this should be normal to me. The twins immediately went to the bath and pumped out clean water drinking greedily. As they were now occupied the dark man turned to me. "Now we need to have a little chat." He said as his eyes looked me up and down catching briefly at my chest. I crossed my arms but nothing could really hide them. This seemed to be and empty dorm room. Was he going to exact payment for his rescue now? Those steel eyes were unreadable.