Dragons of War - Rising Storm

Chapter 9 (3/3)

The sky above me was a creamy-pink. The horizon line faded in a pale yellow morning haze. I stood strong against a relentless wind at the edge of a sheer cliff. The red-orange rock beneath my feet spread out in either direction then dropped off to reveal an open expanse and a landscape that stretched out further than the horizon would allow.. Half was desert, scattered with the skeletons of trees long past, and patches of stiff grass-like needles in the earth. The other half was more thick with brush and plants that followed a stream toward a forest far in the distance. Where mountains could be seen, thick and green with trees.

Behind me, stood a group of people. Dave had told me earlier that morning when he'd come to get me from my quarters, that I was a part of the very last Dragon Warriors to be changed. Since they were just starting their training, I guess it was meant to make things easier for me. I quickly found this not to be the case, though.

While Dave had gone off to speak to another officer before the lesson had begun, the class was left to their own devices. The entire group must have been familiar with each other already because right away they all formed into their small groups and began conversations. Me, on the other hand, I took the chance to see a view of the sunrise I never imagined I could.

It felt like I was among the clouds.

"Attention!" I heard Dave's voice bellow out behind me and I turned on my heels and raced back to the group.

I jerked to a stop next to an older man, my shoulders tense enough to feel like there was a bar of steel between them. The man next to me glanced down at me with wide eyes but then returned his attention to out instructor.

"Now then, as you all have begun training already I expect you to help those who are not yet up to speed as we begin." Dave gave everyone a sharp look and they glanced between themselves. It didn't take a genius to figure out who he was referring to, though.

I guess I was a sore subject for them as well. How surprising.

Everyone around me sank down to the ground without a word and sat cross-legged. I looked around with wide eyes and dropped to the ground with them.

Why were we sitting now?

A hand appeared next to me and I looked over to the older man on my left. His hand out in a gesture of greeting, he had a soft smile on his face.

"Name's Fred," he introduced. His face was weathered and gray speckled his short hair and beard. Despite the pills dulling my senses, I felt nothing withheld in his soft green eyes.

My shoulders loosened a bit and I took his hand gently. He shook it with a deeper smile on his face.

"I can't say that I will be able to get you through training but I will try to help you where I can. No child should be here, and certainly not alone." He told me.

I smiled in reply but that was all I could do and I looked down at the ground.

Great. No one expected me to survive.

Did I?

The thought sent a cold spear of fear through me and I sat up straight, my eyes even to the horizon around me. There was a peace to be found in that endless direction for me.

"Right now we are just doing the morning meditations, it helps train our minds, for when we first transform." Fred went on.

"Don't bother, she'll die on the first mission – if she even manages to become a dragon, that is." A man next to Fred spoke up.

Dave turned his head toward us and I sat straighter and closed my eyes quickly. If meditation was what we were supposed to do, then that was what I would be doing. I may not have been very good at much, but following orders wasn't that hard, right?

Fred must have noticed me and I heard him shift and follow suit.

"Howard, did I hear you say something?" The Dave stomped over and I peeked out at them.

"No, sir!" Howard shouted out. He was a large man but younger than Fred, with thick, short brown hair and a square jaw.

"Really? Because it sounded to me like you were degrading your own comrade." Dave went on.

Howard remained silent.

"No more, loose lips? Well, why don't you share your opinions openly instead of going behind my back, for the class please." Dave went on.

Howard opened his eyes and glanced around. By then the rest of the group had been broken out of their meditations and were watching.

"... I do not believe she is suited to be here, sir!" He replied.

"And why is that?" Dave pushed.

"She is just a child! No training! She will not get through the classes!"

"Well now, I wouldn't be worrying about her when we aren't sure if you will even be able to pass them." Dave patted Howard on the shoulder and then looked around at everyone else in the group.

"I want this known to all of you! Your newest comrade in arms is one of you in every way, treat her as you would anyone next to you. If I hear that any of you have any complaints of this, I want you to excuse yourselves until those complaints have ceased! Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" They all replied in unison.

"Jaya, I did not hear that." The instructor looked directly at me and I ate my heart.

"-Es sir!" It only half came out and I bit my lip. I couldn't even talk right.

I noticed Fred next to me crack a smile.

I couldn't share his amusement.

Howard was right. I didn't belong there.

Every human being in that line that I sat among, were soldiers. Some had already fought in the war as humans, others were just getting into it, but every one of them had training that I did not. Whether it was months or years in the making, it didn't matter. They knew how to fight with their human bodies. They knew the ins and outs of what they were capable of.

I wasn't even fully grown.

Doubt sprouted in me like poison ivy, and I felt it wrap itself around my heart. It grew with every piercing thought but in the back of my mind, there was just one thing that kept me going.

I was a Dragon Warrior now, and nothing was going to change that. I had the power I'd always wanted. I just needed to find it. I would work through this, no matter what. I would see the enemy burn and it didn't matter what anyone thought of me until then.

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