Legacy in Ruins: Dragon Rider Book 1

Chapter 1: The Start

Not wanting to argue, I nodded, silently. This topic was something my family had with me often and it always ended up the same way: they're our friends and I've 'known' them since I could barely walk. I knew everything about these 'friends' from the forced conversations my family made me have with them, talking about stupid politics and daily gossip when I could be using that time for training or studying.

Every week there seemed to be some party to hold or attend. There was always someone to talk to and someone to discuss battle tactics with, though I didn't mind the last part. But since the rebellion of rogue dark mages, my parents hadn't needed to focus on their armies as much and therefore transitioned to keeping up appearances with the other mages.

The pale woman walked up to me, her heels clicking against the mahogany wood. She leaned forward, placing a delicate hand on my cheek and kissing my forehead. Her soft skin was warm, unlike that of my sister or father. The flames of fires brewed within her, keeping her body warm even in the coldest of storms, while my sister and father stayed cold in the hottest of summers.

"I know you'd much rather be out training in the courtyard, my dear child." She said, bending forwards to be eye level with me. "But you are a Crimson and you are turning eighteen tomorrow."

Her lips spread into a gentle smile, her thumb caressing my cheek lovingly. "And this is your Choosing party. Tomorrow at noon you will place your hand on the stone and it will tell you who you are truly meant to be; a mage like me, your father, and everyone before you." Her smile grew brighter. "Tomorrow you'll be a true Crimson and bring great things upon this world."

I sighed, feeling no relief in her words only the weight of an entire bloodline resting upon my shoulders.

Choosing Day happened when someone turned eighteen. Everyone had to go through the mandatory ceremony, though it never felt mandatory to anyone. The stone of Thesiah was a magical tablet-like-rock given to the mages by the goddess Thesiah, goddess of choice and chooser of fates, thousands of years ago. The tablet was said to contain the spirit of Thesiah. When it came into contact with a human, Thesiah would dig into their soul and decide their fate; a dragon rider, a commons person - someone who wielded no powers - or an elemental mage. But no matter what family you came from or how well you trained, you could never belong to more than one faction.

"What if I don't get anything, mother?" I asked, my eyes saddening before a small hint of panic peeked through. "What if I'm a dragon rider?"

"Oh, nonsense, my dear." She assured me, waving it off like there wasn't even a possibility for such a thing. "You will be a powerful mage, for that I'm certain. You will not be one of those scale-suckers."

Scale-suckers is what my parents and basically every mage out there called the dragon riders. Mages believed the riders rode around on beasts, destroying everything that displeased them. Their dragons were horrible, filthy creatures who rolled in the mud without a care in the world or any thought about consequences.

But I never thought of them like that. They were just people like me or someone down the street. Someone who walked up to the stone and were showed a dragons egg. The stone didn't care if your parents where mages or commons people. It didn't care if you were rich or poor, it just chose who you were meant to be.

I nodded while still not feeling assured. "Thank you, mother."

She nodded, kissing my forehead once again before my father cleared his throat. "Excuse me, m' ladies, am I interrupting something?" He asked with a smirk, bending in half to tease my mother.

"No one says that any more father." My head dropped as I shook my head. His father puns seemed to be getting worse and worse each year.

Mother stood up, turning her body towards the man with icy white hair. Every mage was an Elementalist, meaning you could have powers of either earth, water, fire, or air. Unless you were extra special, then you could get the ability to control light or dark -- manipulate shadows or light rays, things like that.

"No, not at all, dear." Mother responded with a kind smile. "We just finished up."

Father smiled, his playful blue eyes on me with another smirk as he made his way down the stairs against the farthest side of the large open room. He walked over to me and ruffled my hair with his hand. "Is your mother still trying to fix your slouch?"

"She'll never win. I won't let her." I cracked a lopsided grin and he chuckled, his deep voice rumbling through the large mansion.

"Good." He agreed, earning a playful shove on his shoulder. My father leaned in close, raising a hand to one side of his mouth and whispering loud enough for both me and mother to hear. "Don't let her win. It'll be too much power for her to handle and it will all go to her head."

"It will not." Mother protested, giving him another shove.

Father and I quickly steeled our faces, glancing at the brunette behind the lean man. We both nodded, having a silent conversation to antagonize mother. "Okay." We both smiled innocently as he stood up. The sleeves of his white dress shirt were rolled up to his forearms, and he wore black pants and chocolate dress shoes finished his assemble.

Mother huffed, folding her arms over her chest as her lips twisted to the side. "Fine. Be that way. But I win."

"Of course you do, my love," Father replied, twisting his upper body to her and planting a quick peck on her cheek. The head General of the mage army looked back at me, giving a quick glance down at my black skinny jeans and cherry red shirt. "Norah, dear, I need a few things picked up from the store. Would you mind picking them up for me, seeing that you're already dressed."

"Of course, father." I happily obliged, internally dragging my feet with the longest groan possible. "I'll be home before training."

"And the party," Father added as I quickly sped to the front door to get the errand done as fast as possible.