Order of the Gears

Chapter 9

Author's Note: Remember when I mentioned dragons? You'll finally meet one today.

Just to clear it up: the garden that Syl ventures into is practically endless as far as she knows, and the dragon is as far as can be from the palace. If you actually walked all that way to his pen, well, it'd take you a long time.

Enjoy, comment and vote please!

3 Votes: July 30

Normality: August 1

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It was unnaturally cold in the garden for a September evening, and I had made the mistake of simply wearing a t-shirt and not going back up to grab a jacket. My hands, at least, were kept warm by my gloves.

            Trying to ignore the chill, I walked further into the garden. Roses grew on the bushes and every now and then, I would find a bench someone could sit on.

            The sun set, the mist increasing.

            “What’s with all this fog…?” I grumbled. “I should start walking back if this is going to keep up…”

            I turned around and fear struck my heart. The fog had suddenly become so thick that I could only see in a four feet radius. The palace had disappeared as well as any light but the small lamps that lit up the corners.

           I felt a chill run down my spine and I slowly turned around. A low growling, no, rumble, was coming from behind me, and when I looked, glowing yellow eyes were peering through the fog. The ground began to rumble as the eyes came closer and I began to back away.

            A mighty roar shook the earth and the fog blew away when I heard beating wings. Above me was a golden-scaled dragon…

            “Oh…” I muttered. “This isn’t good.”

            Dragons were ferocious creatures, hostile to anyone but their Riders. It’s said that when a human and a dragon create a bond, that human can ride the dragon anywhere and the Rider will be the only human they’ll ever listen to. They can be friendly to Rider’s friends, but that’s as far as they’ll go to get to know people. If you weren’t their Rider or a friend that they know, well, you’re screwed.

            I squinted through the fog, and saw the saddle on its back. So it had a Rider!

            But… how could a Rider just leave their dragon here? Unless this dragon belonged to someone in the palace?

            Before I could get another thought in, I saw its giant claw move upwards, ready to crush me. I had nothing to defend myself with, at least nothing that could help me fight a dragon. Their hides were the toughest thing to pierce in Varse!

            I flinched, ready for the impact when…

            I opened one of my eyes to the claw had retracted and instead, I was looking at the nose of the dragon. I straightened up, surprising myself by looking it right in its golden eyes.

            I felt the hot breath on me as it leaned in closer. I thought it was going to fry me, but instead, it touched my forehead with its nose and it sat down instead.

            “Wha…?”

            I guess I should consider myself lucky that I hadn’t been killed by this dragon.

            It gave me this look, the look of, “Well, are you getting on or not?” If this dragon was offering me a ride back to the palace, sure, I’ll take it!

            I clambered onto its front claw and up to the saddle, holding onto its neck tightly. The reins had disappeared somewhere and the saddle seemed extremely old, like no one had used it in years. When it decided that I was safe enough, it batted its wings and took off.

            “WOAH!” My eyes widened as we were above the fog and the palace could be clearly seen. “This is wicked!”

            I swear that dragon just smirked.

            ****

            It landed me in the front of the palace, right inside the gates. When I slid off, it leaned its head down and I stroked the scales.

            “You’re pretty nice considering I’m not a Rider,” I smiled and it cooed. I looked over at the palace. I had never seen the front at night. The golden exterior shone even more with the lights that were hidden in the plant life and all the windows had lights in them. Despite all the light, the stars still shone above us (well, they were easier to see in the garden, at least when the fog wasn’t covering everything).

            “I wonder why you were alone out there…” I mumbled as I kept stroking its head. It seemed to really like it and had laid down for me to continue. “Is there a dragon pen there?”

            It let out a snort of fire and I leapt out of the way. I couldn’t help but laugh now, after that moment of absolute fear. The flight had been absolutely amazing!

            “I need to back inside, have to go to sleep,” I said and the dragon frowned, nuzzling me with its nose. “That tickles!” I laughed, but hugged it anyways.

            “Syl! That’s dangerous! Luna’s going to -!”

            Tom was running up to me till he saw that I was still hugging… er, Luna?

            “But it’s a guy,” was the first thing I said. I don’t know why, but all of a sudden I said, “Its name is Freed.”

            “Wait, what?”

            After a bit of confusion, I let Freed go, and he rested his head on the cobblestone as he watched Tom and I talk. I explained everything to Tom, and then said, “I have no idea why, but all of a sudden I knew this dragon was a male and its name was Freed, like it told me. I’ve never seen it in my life… I don’t know why it let me ride it.”

            Tom shook his head.

            “But this dragon has a rider, Princess Sylvia.”