(OLD/DISCONTINUED) The Dragonriders of Calem

Final Race Training

Today we have some wonderful fanart of Eclipse by BookDragon20075 ! Thanks for the great drawing!

The Test was approaching quickly, and Nira was both excited and terrified. She was intent to show her skills, but she'd never done any kind of riding in front of a crowd. And more specifically, against people.
She didn't know how the other riders would act. She hoped that they'd just ignore her. Competition wasn't her strong point. Nira wasn't really a competitive person.
     Two more weeks, and she'd truly find out what was going to happen. Two weeks until the Test began.

"Nira, are you listening to a word I'm saying?" Skandar's voice cut through Nira's thoughts.

"Nope, sorry. I'm a bit terrified, to be honest." She admitted.

"Hey, what's the worst that can happen? You can either win, and be the first winner from Calem in a century, or you can lose and nobody will care." Skandar shrugged.

"Thanks. I think I'll try and concentrate on winning, though." Nira laughed.

"Good. So, how is Eclipse's speed? The Final Race is pretty important. Most people will just show up for that event."  He asked, lifting one of Eclipse's wings.

"Schwers are fast, but I haven't really done any kind of speed training, if that's what you're asking." She told him.

     Skandar gestured to the lake, as a silent 'well, go on then.' Nira roused Eclipse, mounting the soon-to-be-replaced saddle. Eclipse roared in anticipation and leapt into the air with the excitement that she always seemed to possess.
       Nira closed her hands tightly around the reins. She was going to go as fast as possible, and did not want to fall off. In her many years as a dragonrider, she had learned how to judge the best way to fly by observing the direction of the wind. But Eclipse always knew best.
Eclipse leapt upwards and dove quickly, diving towards the water and pulling up immediately before crashing. The speed from the fall helped accelerate her and she streamed over the water quickly.
Nira gripped both the reins and the saddle, wind hitting her in the face. She narrowed her watering eyes and stared forward, the streaming air causing them to sting.
She almost didn't even notice how fast she was going. Almost. She looked over the silver dragon's side at the water that rushed below her, her reflection distorted from Eclipse's claws dragging through it.
      Eclipse turned around when the reached the opposite side of the lake, not slowing her speed. It had only taken her about forty seconds to get across the water. That was extremely fast. 
      Eclipse's silver claws collided with the soft mud of the bank, causing her to slide a few feet forward and nearly fall over. Nira leapt off of the saddle, pumping her fist in the air. And then she fell over. Going that fast made her dizzy.  
      Eclipse sniffed Nira's arm curiously, nudging it with her snout. The rider shook her hand to motion that she was alright. She stood up, brushing the dirt off of her clothing.

"That was pretty awesome, I will admit." Skandar exclaimed, high fiving his dizzy friend.

"Darn right. Nice work, Eclipse! I didn't know that you could do that!" Nira said, petting the side of the dragon's neck.

"You know, Nira, you might just win that Final Race." Skandar suggested, poking Nira in the arm.

"I hope so. We'll know in half a month." Nira said in a hopeful tone.

      Sorry that that was so short! Also, sorry for using the word 'that' twice in a row. I hate the English language.