Arayna's Journey

The Council's Decision

"I'm gonna be late thanks to you Rayn. Quick get on!" Kelton offered Arayna a leg up since she was still too small to make the transition herself very gracefully. 

Arayna jumped up with Kelton's help and took her seat in the saddle. She felt Daiys wiggling around in her sack to get comfortable for the journey. The winds today were too strong for such a little dragon, and knowing Daiys, the guardian would rather be napping then bothering to watch. 

Kelton climbed into the saddle in front of her and began lining his dragon up for their take off. Arayna wrapped her arms around Kelton's strong middle and braced herself as the dragon accelerated. She held her breath as the dragon dove off the perch in front of her cliff side home and spread it's wings, quickly catching the air beneath them and gaining altitude. 

"Alright?" Kelton turned and shouted to be heard over the winds. 

"Yes, fine!" Arayna yelled back, the wind pushing her voice behind her in an instant. She nodded and smiled in case Kelton hadn't heard and loosened her grip around him. He gave her a satisfied look as he turned and focused on flying. 

The journey pasted quickly, because though Arayna's family was far from the central part of the city, on a morning like this with the wind blowing the direction they needed it was quick work for Kelton's dragon to get them there. As the approached the city the wind lessened and Kelton flipped in his saddle to face Arayna. Watching him do that still made her nervous but with his training to be a Millitant he had started doing more air acrobatics.  

"Since you made me late I'm going to drop you off at Sunslyde, you'll have to walk the rest of the way but I can't afford to be any later for training. I won't be here to pick you up so if the council doesn't fly you to your next assignment make sure you talk with Ladyn, he can fly you to Dah-ta. And good luck today Rayn." He winked at her but her mood was far from light.

"Do you have to drop me off? I hate jumping down. It's so frightening." Arayna felt a chill and knew it was nerves. She'd always feared drop offs. It just seemed so risky to jump off a dragon down into a net. If you missed the net you were dead, if you jumped too late you could fall down off the mountains, certain death. If the net snapped, again down you went to the jagged peaks below to be impaled. Too many bad scenarios for Arayna's taste. 

"Yes!" Kelton replied impatiently. "But I'll get you as low as I can. Promise."

Arayna nodded and resigned to her fate. She pulled her back pack around and coaxed Dayis out. "You better fly for this one. I don't want to squish you." Dayis looked at her with round eyes and cocked her head, she flattened her wings to her side and gripped Arayna's fingers tightly with two of her claws. "No rebelling. You have to if I have too."  Dayis shook her head in disagreement but released her tight grip. 

Kelton flipped back around in the saddle and then began the dragon's spiral around the netting. Kelton signalled to the guard who would help Arayna out, and then looked behind him at her. Arayna gnawed her lip nervously as the spiral got tighter and tigher and the net grew closer. "Now!" Kelton said focusing on his dragon's position. 

Arayna slipped one leg over the dragon's body and slid down the side of the dragon her arms outstretched and her back towards the netting. As soon as Kelton and his dragon had passed over, Dayis let go of Arayna's hand and spread her wings flying along side Arayna. 

Slam! Arayna's body hit the netting and bounced as the net absorbed the impact. Dayis chittered at her as she clumsily made her way to the planking surrounding the net. The guard posted there offered her his hand and a friendly smile as she approached. 

"Morning younin'. Off to council?" He asked cheerily. 

"Why yes," Aryana said hesitantly. "How did you know?" Her brows lowered as she looked suspiciously at him.