The Dragon Bond: Heirs of Lyra

Chapter 15

The sun was bright as Ralf walked towards the dragon training grounds to await his prodigy, David. David was a young, energetic and often impatient thirteen year old boy who was bonded to a dragon. The boy's slight impatience was nothing compared with the rowdiness of his dragon, Mukawa.

King Alan first learned of David and Mukawa's existence when the pair were only eight years old. David and his family lived on the eastern most part of Lyra, practically on the borderline of Lyra and the kingdom of Trueno. The reason it took so long for King Alan to learn of this young dragon in his kingdom was because David's parents feared for their son's safety. Though his parents trusted King Alan, they knew that if word got out that their son was bonded to a dragon, the whole family could be in danger from other kingdoms, specifically from Niebla.

However, after eight years of living with three children and one growing dragon, the parents decided to reach out to the king for help. King Alan had been curious as to the dragon's origins. Luna had only produced one egg and that had been Ralf's dragon, Mirum. David's dragon, Mukawa, had to be from another kingdom.

Though the situation was rare, it was not unheard of for an egg of a certain kingdom to be bonded to a newborn in a different kingdom. King Alan certainly didn't mind the asset. The more dragons the merrier in Lyra.

King Alan graciously offered David and his family safe homage in the castle, but the family declined. They were too fond of their little cottage and their acreage of land to leave. Instead, they made an arrangement in which Mukawa would stay in the Dragon's Den under the protection of the King. However, David was to stay with his family in their cottage and travel the distance to see his dragon every other week. The distance was hard for both David and his dragon. They were so fond of each other.

For the first couple years, King Alan and Queen Ariana instructed David and Mukawa. Recently however, Ralf had been appointed the task. At first, Ralf had been uneasy teaching someone the ways of the dragon bond, but now he felt at ease. It helped that David was so young and nonjudgmental. Not once had David ever questioned Ralf's disability. Instead, he seemed to look to Ralf as an older brother.

Now Ralf heard the swift beating of his own dragon's wings and looked up to see Mirum and Mukawa flying over to the training grounds. The prince continued to watch their descent and then clutched his cane with both hands as Mukawa's rough landing caused the ground to shake. The young dragon was still clumsy with his landings, despite years of practice.

Although Ralf hated to admit it, Mukawa and David were definitely not the strongest dragon bond in the world. David was a happy, bright young kid who was eager to learn. His dragon, on the other hand, was always more excited to play than to train. No matter how long Ralf and Mirum worked with Mukawa, he never seemed to improve as much as Ralf would like.

Ralf sighed as he watched Mukawa's attention change quickly. In just the minute that he had been standing there, Mukawa had managed to go from focusing on Mirum, to watching the clouds roll by, to chasing a butterfly. The large dragon looked ridiculous chasing such a small-winged creature. Again Ralf sighed, realizing that Mukawa was a hopeless ditz.

Still, the prince refused to give up. He walked over to the two dragons.

"Mukawa." Ralf said, attempting to gain the other dragon's attention.

After a minute, Mukawa finally paused and looked over at Ralf. "Yes?"

"As you know, David will be here any minute." At the mention of his rider's name, Mukawa grew even more excited. His tail was wagging ferociously, something Ralf had only ever seen dogs do. Again, he struggled to keep his composure as he addressed the odd dragon. "I need you to be really focused today. I only need a couple hours of your time to learn and then I promise you can have the rest of the day to be with David. But until then I need your full attention. Understand?"