Take To The Sky

Sky Fight

Two hours as the dragon flies and Nova was flying right over a town called Hidden Water.
Show time.
Quiet literally.
It was really just a show.
A show of power.
He flew high into the air and circled.
The higher he was the more likely the whole town could see him but he didn't want to be so high that they couldn't tell how large and powerful Ilwomar was.
"Give me some fire Illy."
Ilwomar threw her head up and spit fire into the sky.
Ilwomar was a blue fire dragon.
Fire dragons are by no means rare.
Blue dragons are.
Blue fire dragons even more so.
Most fire dragons were red, yellow, orange, or some combination of the three.
Nova rode quite the specimen.

He flew along the perimeter of the town, nice and low for a good scare.
He could already hear shouts of panic and he had just got here.
After going around the town twice he pulled back up to do some stunts.
He never got to.
He heard a roar. A dragon's roar.
Behind him.
Twisting in his saddle he saw two riders coming straight at him.
"What the hell?"

Shit! Shit shit shit!
This was supposed to be simple.
They weren't supposed to have dragons!
He was sent because of a protest!
"Illy this is bad! This is very very bad!"
Ilwomar growled deep in her stomach.
They arched up higher and leveled out to face off the other Riders.
They were older than him. Late 20s early 30s.
Their gear was the really deal too.
One rode a red Flame Dragon and the other a White Dragon with diamond shape on the end of it's tail. You didn't want to get hit with that.
Where the hell did they get a White Dragon?
The one on the White dragons had blonde hair and was tall. He sat in the saddle like a Rider who knew exactly what he was doing.
The man on the Flame Dragon had a darker completion. He appeared to have black hair.
He seemed confident but not as comfortable as his comrade.

The one on the White Dragon spoke up.
"Aren't you a little young to be flying Solo?"
"Aren't you a little old to be flying at all?"
The man smiled at him.
"Not as old as you would think. Not that you know that much about age. You don't know how old you are do you?"
Nova gritted his teeth.
He did.
He shouldn't but he did.
"Age is meaningless. If you knew my age you would judge me by it. But age has nothing to do with skill."
The man nodded thoughtfully.
"True. But... I do have more experience. Probably been riding since before you were born."
Nova puffed out his chest.
"I was raised in The Program! I've been doing this my whole life!"
The man smiled at him and leaned on the pommel of his saddle.
"I was the 2nd class to ever graduate The Program. Overseen by Tarvin himself."
Nova's face fell but his heart leapt to his throat.
"That... what? How? But you aren't... You're a Rebel!"
"You ever question an order?"
"Never!"
"Why not?"
Nova flushed as he searched for an answer.
He didn't want to talk to them but if they stopped talking he would have to fight.
If they fought he would lose.
He couldn't fail twice in a row!
Marsha's words echoed in his head.
"If you fail me again your punishment will be much worse."
They would kill him!
Or torture him!
They would beat him and lock him in solitary for a month!
"I... I don't have all the information. I can't make an educated decisions."
"Why would they withhold information from you on a mission you fly Solo?"
"I don't know. I just follow orders."
"But why?"
Frustration raged through his system.
He asked himself these questions all the time but always pushed them away. Buried them somewhere dark.
Never answered them.
"ITS NOT MY PLACE!" He yelled in frustration.
The man straightened and gave him the most enraging look.
He looked at Nova with pity.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Specialist Nova! I was top of my class! I've been flying solo missions since the day I graduated!"

The Pity only grew.
"Nova. I'm Silver. Thats terrible."
"No! It's an honor! Are you stupid?"
"They told you it was an honor and you believe them. But I bet you get pretty lonely. I flew in a Trio for five years before I started running solo missions. You can't fool me. I know how it is. It's lonely. You get scared and afraid because if you go down nobody is dragging you back. You get so depressed, and your in denial the whole time."
The truth of the words left Nova speechless for a moment.
"Maybe I'm stronger than you."
"Being strong doesn't mean you don't get lonely."