Dragon Tamer

Chapter 1

She stopped immediately after my apology then lowered down onto her knees so I could hop into the saddle sitting between her wings.

I hunkered down, holding the handles tight. "Let's go."

With a simple push from her legs, she leapt off the edge and spread her wings wide to catch the current. The glide down to the village was short, but I still kept my hood pulled tightly against my head, preferring to arrive home as dry as possible.

Like that would ever happen in this valley. When it rained here, it poured. It was like the gods swallowed up an entire ocean in the clouds then dropped it on us. And even then, around this time of year, mist was always in the air, clinging and drenching my clothes.

Elesor landed just behind my two story house. Most of the houses in Plum were scattered, allowing plenty of space for our dragons to come and go as they pleased. They weren't allowed near the center of town, where the shops and businesses were huddled closer together, though sometimes they were cheeky and tried to squeeze into our streets.

Slipping off her back, I remembered to give her an appreciative pat on her neck. "Have a good night, Elesor. I'll see you tomorrow for training the dragonlings?"

She nodded then pressed her muzzle into my chest, puffing a blast of hot air, which instantly warmed me to my bones. She pulled away and took to the sky for her nest in the mountains.

I stared at the large wooden door, held up by iron hinges. When I was younger, it used to be too heavy for me to open; Casper, my oldest big brother, would always have to open it for me. Now, after riding and taming dragons for so long, I was stronger than the average woman in her early twenties. 

Accepting the inevitable, I yanked the door open, the warmth from the fireplace billowing around me like a blanket. I quickly shut the door to keep the heat in and tiptoed into the kitchen, hearing voices. The stone hearth was especially pleasant to stand beside, the scent of stew wiggling its way to my nose. Kaden, the second oldest, was the best cook, apparently using a few tips and tricks Mom had passed down to him; only his cooking could smell this good and make my stomach growl louder than a dragon.

"That's not fair!" Tallinn roared from the living room.

Caught off guard by his sudden anger, I stumbled on the stone floor and nearly tripped on the wooden island standing in the middle of the kitchen.

"I'm your last son," he went on in his outrage, "it's only right I teach the last Acker prince!"

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you nearly got yourself killed! We had to put down poor Ruban for your mistake!"

Dad. Man, oh, man. He hadn't cooled off as much as I thought he would have. The only time I'd heard him this mad was when dragon scavengers had the nerve to enter our valley and hunt our dragons. He'd killed more than a handful of them before giving them the option to surrender. Fortunately for Tallinn, Dad would never raise a fist to us. Unfortunately, that meant he had to find some other form of punishment--and it sounded like he'd found one that hit low below the belt.

Prince Camden had recently celebrated his twenty-first birthday, which meant he was now old enough to begin his Rite of Passage to become a Dragon Prince. Our family was chosen to guide the Acker princes once they became of age, because we were the best dragon tamers in the valley, and we had been for generations. For Dad to take that honour away from Tallinn. . . it was cruel. He would be humiliated in front of the entire village.

Swallowing a load of courage, I inched towards the living room. All my brothers were here. Casper and Kaden were flanking Tallinn, who was sitting furiously in the pelted armchair. Harry and Giles were lounging on the couch, the former's legs swung onto the footstool while the latter hung his legs over the side. Dad stood in front of the roaring fireplace, appearing to be only a dark shadow looming over my youngest older brother with the way the lighting played behind him.