Legacy in Ruins: Dragon Rider Book 1

Skyfall

A sky that was once blanketed in grey clouds now bleeds shades of red, yellow, and orange. Balls of rocks engulfed in flames fall from the sky filled with fleeing dragons and their riders. But some dragons are too slow to dodge the oncoming meteors and fall, their roars and yells of their rider shaking me to my core. I watch them fall from the sky, listening to the sound of buildings crumbling with the weight of a crashing dragon.

My heart thunders against my chest as Easton, Joshua, Tin, Abraxis, Rima, and myself sprint through the city, trying to find a safe place to collect ourselves. Blake and his dragon were one of the stupid ones to take flight in one of the worst meteor showers ever recorded on our planet. I want to be mad at the future warrior, he should have better composure than this. He left us, just like my family left me almost an entire years ago.

Selfish. I think to myself, turning a corner as people in brightly colored clothes scramble for cover. Blood and dirt smudge across everyone's faces, eyes filled with as much terror as I'm feeling.

"This way!" Joshua waves at us, at the end of the main road, gesturing to a much narrower brick road. His dragon stands next to him, alarmed, and with a brown wing hovering over his human in attempts to keep the rubble of falling buildings off him. Rima does the same as she keeps my pace, running beside me.

My boots nearly clip Easton's heels, grabbing the corner of a stone house and flinging myself onto the new road. This one is less crowded by panicking people, allowing the dragons more space to run.

I want to think about my family, remembering how a rock nearly the size of Rima crashed into the caboose in the arena. Rima growls at me, telling me to not worry about people who could care less about their daughter. But they stay in the back of my mind, constantly, no matter what my dragon says.

We turn another corner as a flaming rock rumbles overhead, so close I feel like I could reach out and touch it. My eyes widen, picking up my pace to pass Easton and Joshua as a blue dragon, lays on its side.

"No." I breath, instantly recognizing the dragon. Quickly, I kneel beside the head of the barely conscious beast, watching it's blue eyes open slowly to see me. My hand goes to his snout, trying to reassure him while I stare at the large gash running lengthwise against his ribs. "It's okay, Seb."

"Where's Blake?" Easton slows to a stop, his eyes searching frantically through the crowd of mages, commons people, and other fellow dragon riders. None of them stop to help and continue to shove people aside like their nothing but useless paper.

"He would never leave Seb, something's wrong. They must have fallen from the sky." Joshua concludes, standing beside me as the tree dragons huddle close behind me. Rima's heart aches seeing a fellow dragon on the verge of death.

"He's not dying." I hiss, barely giving a glance over my shoulder to the red and white dragon behind me. "Don't say that. We'll get healers over here. They'll save him."

"We're not mages, Norah." Joshua says, voice laced in worry. "We don't have healers that can fix our wounds with the touch of a hand."

"Where's Blake?" Seb asks, his voice more air than it is breath.

"I don't know." I say, trying to reassure him though I know my words mean nothing to him.

"Crimson! Easton!" My head snaps to the silver-haired man, running towards us with his green dragon trailing close behind him. A woman, probably early thirties runs beside him with black hair tied into a tight bun. She wears a deep blue shirt with trousers and black boots.