Dragons-The Story Of Fang And Blackstar

Contests Day One

Sleeping without the glue on my shoulder was a bad idea. When I woke up, the gash had gotten somewhat larger. The area around it was a deep red and there was dried blood covering my shoulder and chest. It was throbbing pretty hard and it hurt extremely badly. I tossed off my sticky sleeping bag and grabbed a change of clothes before heading for the shower. Ash was already there, just getting done and Lynx was beside him, both Rider and dragon had taken on slightly red tints on their skin and scales.

“Dude”, he said, “your arm looks like it's about to fall off.”

“Yeah”, I said, “I pulled the glue off before I went to be last night, guess it was a bad idea.”

“I don't think glue is gonna cut it”, Ash said looking at my shoulder, “that needs stitches Max.”

“No”, I said, “no needles. Also...please tell me you two didn't share the same shower?”

Ash laughed, “your sick Max.”

I laughed, “I'm not passing judgment. You have any idea how hard it was to get Blackstar to take a bath when she was little? I used to take her into the shower with me all the time.”

Ash smiled, shook his head and left the shower room. I quickly showered off and glued the gash shut before dressing and leaving to look for Blackstar. Waypoint reminded me a lot of Midkiff. The salty air, the constant breeze and the sounds of the waves braking on the shores. Unlike Midkiff it wasn't raining all the time and the people here wouldn't kill me if I so much as mentioned the word “dragon.” The people who had camped out last night were all just starting to wake up and the camp grounds were lively with people and dragons, the noise comparable to the launch of a space shuttle.

I found Blackstar laying on her side in front of our tent waiting for me. She picked up her head and slapped the ground with her tail as I walked up to her.

“Did you sleep well with your new boyfriend?”, I joked.

She just licked me.

“Relax”, I laughed scratching her behind her ears, “is joke.”

I heard someone shout, “it's master Fang!”

I suspected it was Ash trying to get back at me for my comments at the showers. Before I had time to get away, I was swarmed by no fewer than sixty people. They were asking for my autograph, to get their picture with Blackstar and a few really little kids asked me if they could ride her. The parents of the little kids said that they were sorry to bother me, but since Blackstar seemed to like their attention, I replied.

“No let the kids have their fun, this is one week out of a year.”

I may as well have left my partner to freeze to death in the Arctic. The little kids swarmed her. There were boys, some as old as 17, covering her with warpaint and little girls fighting it with ribbons and rainbow colored designs. I sat there watching them, if Blackstar started trying to get away, or gave me any indication she didn't like what they were doing, they'd be gone.

“Attention”, the loud speaker blared, “the races begin in one hour, all Riders wishing to race must register now. The 24 Laps of Rally Di Postainio will begin within the hour as well. All R3 Class Cars are invited to race.”

The perfect excuse to rescue my little girl.

“All right guys”, I said walking up to the mass of bodies, “I need my partner now.”

“Do we have to?”, a little girl asked as I helped her down.

“Yes”, I said, “I need to get her ready for the races.”