NOTICE: Due to getting published, chapters 27 onwards of A New Era have been removed from Wattpad. This is because of copyright reasons as well as Amazon guidelines.
"The academy," Dominique heard Akira whisper as they drew closer to Academy City.
"It's great, isn't it?" he asked her, "To bad only the council and some Watcher generals get to occupy it."
"You mean they don't train dragon riders there?" Akira asked, though she sounded somewhat distracted.
"Dragon riders?" Dominique let out a snort, "Not since the last century. Today everyone is a dragon rider, at least those who can afford it are."
He got no reply or even a sign to show that Akira had heard what he had just said, she was too busy staring at the city below, trying to take in the fact that it was there and all that was happening in its busy streets. Breeze continued to fly over until they had passed the small shacks and other small buildings. Now when they were above the shorter of the tall buildings he slowed down somewhat.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Let's go mingle," Dominique thought in reply.
In response Breeze began to descend. He flew down, aiming towards a tall building. Upon reaching it his dipped his wings and spiraled downwards around it. Suddenly he changed course and flew straight, joining an endless flow of dragons that were carrying riders. Akira's head moved back and forth as her eyes darted around, wide in wonder. No one even shot them a second glance, each seeming to busy concentrating on their own tasks.
Dominique sat calmly, as Breeze flew along, following the dragons in front. A few times he caught sight of dragons clad in blue and black with riders sitting ridged on their back, flying along with the flow, checking that things went right and no on disrupted the flow, ready to jump to any area where their assistance were needed. Watchers, Dominique made a face. He liked them even less in the daylight. Yet none of them seemed concerned with Dominique and Breeze, not one of them even shot him a second glance making Dominique smile. It was amazing what changing the color of your dragon could do.
"I've never seen so many dragons....outside of a battle field that is," Akira exclaimed in wonder from ahead of Dominique, she was looking downwards at the crowded streets below. Her head turned up when they flew under a high bridge on which more dragons walked.
"Well, at least now you don't have to wonder why you don't see any outside of the city," Dominique replied dryly. His eye suddenly light up and his hands tightened around Akira as he recognized the path Breeze was taking. Moments later the dragons in front of Breeze seemed to suddenly disappear, dropping from the sky. Breeze followed, without hesitation, diving downwards along with the rest of the flow, before turning a sharp right and then leveling out again with all the rest.
"How do they all know where to fly?" Akira asked, sounding fascinated.
"There are signs everywhere for the set paths," Dominique replied, pointing his finger over to the side of a building on which an electric arrow flashed forwards before it briefly changed towards the right, the words 'STABLING' briefly flashed. This was their turn off.
Without him having to say anything, Breeze turned right, away from the flow of dragons, and slowly descended until he reached the ground level and gently settled on the ground, pulling his wings towards him at once as he made contact, for once on the ground, dragons were not allowed to spread their wings due to the possibility of causing obstruction to others if they did so.
They had landed in what looked like a large courtyard. Pens were all around it, some holding dragons. They were just large enough for a dragon to fit in, yet once in they could not spread their wings and do little other than sit or stand the entire time. At one end sat two men, one thin one bulky, both sitting behind a table and watching Dominique, Breeze and Akira without much interest on their faces. Breeze walked towards them and when he was only a few meter away Dominique slipped off. Akira reluctantly followed.
"Good day gentlemen," Dominique said, glancing up at the electronic board that hung behind the two men. Across it flashed the same writing over and over again;
'one Dragon, five dracos'
Dominique frowned. "So, prices have raised overnight?" he asked his gaze coming to a rest on the men.
"You got a problem with that?" the thin man asked.
"Hey," Dominique held up his hands. "I'm just saying. Five dracos is really a lot for just stabling..."
"If you don't like it go somewhere else," the bulky man told him gruffly while his pal yawned.
Dominique reluctantly reached into his pocket and pulled out a five small coins. He looked them over mournfully. Each was made of copper, with a small line of silver through the middle. One side was branded an 'A', while on the other a 'C', standing for Academy City. Each city had their own brand on their coins, yet everywhere ten dracos were worth one silver coin. They were a large part of the currency used in the cities as most residents weren't rich enough to walk around with pockets full of gold or silver.
Five dracos was a ridiculous price for just stabling your dragon for a while, it was two whole dracos more than usual. Dominique would have taken Breeze along with him and not bothered with stabling, yet some areas in the city were not accessible by dragon, not to mention that he was less likely to get noticed without Breeze trailing along behind him.
"Here," he tossed the coin to the think man who caught it expertly. He nodded at the other man beside him who reluctantly got up, grabbing what looked like a thin metal card, from the table in the process. He trudged over to an empty pen and slipped the card into a small slit right beside it. The gate of the pen popped open and the man took a step back, motioning for Dominique to get a move on.
"I hate stabling, it's so boring. Standing and doing nothing until you decide to come back..." Breeze complained, shooting the open pen a dangerous glare.
"Come on Breeze. I know you hate it, but we're in the city. Besides, I won't take too long," Dominique thought reassuring.
"That's what you said last time," Breeze grumbled, but he turned around and walked backwards into the pen anyway. As soon as he was in the bulky man pulled the card out of the slot and the gate to the pen clicked shut. He turned and threw the card at Dominique who caught it and stuffed it into his pocket.
"You here for the race?" the bulky man asked, his eyes showing some curiosity as he eyed Dominique before his gaze turned on Akira who stood, looking at total loss.
"Which race?" Dominique asked, trying to look interested.
The bulky man leaned against the pen, missing the dirty look that Breeze shot him, "Why Kelp and Reptor of course! They're up against each other in the finals, they say it's the race of the century," he drawled.
Dominique knew the two dragons well, for how could he not? Kelp, a green dragon, and Reptor, a murky gray, were talked about almost everywhere in Academy City. They were said to be the two fastest racing dragons around in the city and everyone had waited to see them matched against each other. Dominique had not known the race was today, no wonder the city seemed a bit overcrowded.
"What time is it?" he asked the man. He had seen dragon races before, even used one or two of the racing tracks to get away from Watcher's before, yet he tended to avoid the races altogether of lately. He didn't like the way the dragons were forced to race, for dragon racing was no ordinary race, no, the dragons and riders raced on a track full of fatal obstacles. It was almost certain that in every race on or more of the racers would lose their lives, usually the dragons. And the audience, consisting of the rich and pompous, and a few poor who somehow managed to get a hold of tickets, just placed bets on which dragons would win, which would live, and which would die. It was just a form of entertainment for the public, at the dragons cost. And yet maybe it would be helpful to see part of the race, it would help Akira to see what the city life was like.
"Heard it starts at exactly noon, it's a real tough track today. My moneys on Reptor, he's got more stamina," the bulky man told Dominique.
"Tickets?" Dominique asked.
"All sold out," was his reply. Dominique nodded. It didn't matter anyway, for there were spots in the city from which you could watch parts of the race without paying, as the racetracks twisted amongst the streets. Tickets were sold for seats that were at the start and finish of the race, where you could watch the entire thing on a large screen, live.
"Thanks," he told the bulky man. He turned and grabbed Akira's hand, tugging her along and away from the stables.
"If you're not here by dark we have the right to sell your dragon, kid," the thin man called after him from where he sat.
Dominique raised his hand in acknowledgment as he dragged Akira around the corner, away from the area.
"You better be back soon," Breeze thought sulkily as Dominique walked away.
"What just happened back there?" Akira asked, sounding at total loss as they rounded the corner and stood in what looked like a small alley. "Why were all those dragons in those...cages?"
"They're called pens," Dominique told her as he let go of her hand and began to walk down the alley. "People put their dragons there if they need to attend business in the area but can't take their dragon along, either due to laws about no dragons in the area or because the area is not accessible by a dragon."
"So you lock your dragons up?" Akira asked, sounding shocked.
"It's called Stabling," Dominique replied calmly, "Not great, I know, but its city life, either you live by it or get punished."
"But...!" Akira began to protest.
"Hey," Dominique stopped walking and turned to glare at Akira. "It's either that or facing the risk of facing charges later on and getting hunted down by Watchers. While we are in the city we act like people do in the city, whether we like it or not, it's the only way we don't attract attention to ourselves!" even while he was talking Dominique couldn't believe what he was saying. He sounded so much like Ray giving one of his lectures. He actually sounded responsible, and since was he responsible?
Akira was watching him, not looking pleased with his answer, yet she did nothing to argue.
"So...why are they locked up so tightly that they can barely move?" she asked softly, seeming curious once again.
Dominique ran a hand through his hair. "Not all the dragons like their riders very much. Some of them will run off the moment they get the chance. Not to mention the theft going on....dragon dealing is after all a big business." he could tell by Akira's look that she had only understood the first half.
"Look, just forget it," Dominique told her. He turned and continued to walk down the alley way with Akira following close at his heels.
When he reached the end of the alley Dominique took a step forward to find himself beside a busy road. He shot Akira a gaze to see that she her eyes had grown as wide as saucers, and he understood why. The first time this was always a bit much to take in.
They were standing down on the ground level, around them buildings towered above them. Street vendors had carts close to the buildings, shouting out their latest goods that they were selling. People walked to the right and to the left, and yet in the middle there was a giant road over which a few dragons walked, one way on one side, and the other on the other.
Dominique turned his head in the direction he wanted to go. He wanted Akira to see the markets, the shops. He also wanted her to see part of the slums and at the same time he wanted to let her see part of the race. All of those places seemed like good things to show a new comer to give them some insight into the life in the city. Calculating how long it would take he decided that if they didn't take too long in one place then there would be enough time to do most of the stuff before they would have to head back and grab Breeze.
He turned to tell Akira to follow, yet she was no longer where she had been standing. Panic filled him and Dominique whirled around, trying to find her. He saw her seconds later, standing some distance from where she had been before. Her head was tilted up and she was staring at the buildings around, whirling around as though trying to take it all in, an awed expression on her face. Relief filled Dominique as he saw that she was fine, yet that relief disappeared when he saw where she was standing.
For a split second he froze before he leaped into action. Pushing past people, who were walking in the opposite direction, he ignored the fowl words they shouted after him, his eyes only on Akira who seemed to not notice the dilemma she was in. He reached her with seconds. Reaching out he grabbed a hold of her and jerked her towards himself, just in time to prevent her getting run over from a dragon pulled cart that catapulted past.
Dominique breathed hard, holding onto Akira tightly. She stared up at him, her eyes wide, before she turned her head and looked after the dragon pulled cart which was disappearing down the road, shock written on her face.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Dominique asked holding her an arm's length away from him and glaring at her. At that moment he felt like a responsible parent scolding their child.
"I..." Akira turned her head to look at him, the confusion on her face making Dominique realize that either she really did not know anything about city life, had somehow seriously forgotten, or was a really good actor. He didn't know why but somehow he felt the first possibility true.
"Look," he said suddenly feeling bad for scolding her. She probably didn't know any better after all. "That," he pointed to the road on which Akira had been standing before, "Is where only dragons and their riders walk. And this," he pointed down to where they were standing, "Is where the dragon-less humans walk. Understand?"
Akira nodded dumbly, looking a bit overwhelmed.
"Right," Dominique sighed, "We, are going this way." He grabbed a hold of Akira's hand, determined not to lose her again, and pulled her along. He walked with purpose, brushing past people. Behind him Akira stumbled along, suddenly seeming very self conscious.
When they got to a slightly less busy street Dominique slowed down, letting Akira catch up and walk beside him. Sure that she was where he could see her, he let go of her hand. They past walked past street vendors, each trying to catch potential customers attention by shouting and pointing towards their stalls, at the different goods they had to offer. Food, jewelry, decorations, it was all there. Dominique let Akira look, yet he didn't stop, knowing that they had a lot more to see. The further they walked the more stalls appeared and suddenly the streets became crowded once again.
And then they stepped into the large courtyard that was filled with stalls. It was the center square of the city, the place where you could buy anything and everything. A few dragons stood beside some stalls, standing patiently as riders strapped newly bought good onto their backs.
Akira stared with the same awed expression that made her look like a child who had just been given a dragon egg. Dominique chuckled. Shaking his head at the child like fascination that soon followed as Akira suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him towards one stall.
She stared in awe at all the different clothes it had laid out, and she fingered the material with somewhat disbelief. Dominique watched her touch a blue dress made of silk, looking as though she was scared that even the slightest touch would break it.
"It would be a perfect fit!" the stall owned ensured, her face lighting up at the thought of a potential customer.
Dominique had to hide his grin. Stall owners would say anything to get someone to buy one of their items, and yet he had to admit, the dress did look like it would fit Akira perfectly.
"Um...we're just looking," Akira said politely.
"Why don't you try it on?" Dominique asked, surprising even himself. He had no idea why he had suggested that.
Akira shot him a surprised look to which Dominique just shrugged in reply and then jerked his thumb to the small changing chamber set up behind the stall. It consisted of thick woolen cloths giving a person just enough to change in privacy.
"Yes, why don't you?" the stall owner beamed.
"I don't know..." Akira began.
"It will only take a minute," the stall owner told her grabbing the dress off its hanger and already ushering Akira towards the small chamber. Akira shot Dominique a helpless look but he only grinned in response, amused by the fact that Akira looked, if anything, uncomfortable.
The lady from the stall shoved her into the small changing chamber, thrust the dress into her hands and closed the curtain. All in all it took no more than five minutes before Akira's hand slowly came forward and she timidly pulled the curtain away. Dominique's eyes widened and his mouth dropped.
The silk dress was indeed a perfect fit, flowing around Akira's body perfectly, reaching all the way to her ankles. She looked like one of the girls belonging to the upper class that had been pampered since birth and spent all her money on beauty treatment. She looked stunning, like a girl who would be bound to break more than a few men's' hearts.
Akira herself, was staring down at the dress in wonder while the stall lady clapped her hands in triumph, probably pleased to find, that for once, her prediction had been right. Shyly Akira raised her blue eyes to meet Dominique's, the blue in the dress making her eyes seem a darker shade of blue than ever before and for a moment Dominique felt himself getting helplessly lost in them.
"I've never worn a dress....not one like this," Akira murmured, her hand trailing down the fabric.
"It's only eight dracos," the stall lady proudly declared.
Dominique choked at the high price making the stall lady turn to glare at him.
Akira looked at the stall lady and smiled and smile of regret. "Thank you, but no, I don't even have any..."
"You can have it if you want," again the words were out of Dominique's mouth before he knew what he was saying. Had Akira's gaze not turned on him he would have slapped his forehead. eight dracos was almost worth a whole silver piece, it was a small fortune. If he paid that now he would really be digging into his money supply.
"Thanks Dominique," Akira smiled a dazzling smile at him, "But no." The stall lady's face fell yet Dominique let out a small sigh of relief, scolding himself to next time think before he spoke, yet it seemed that when Akira was around it was getting kind of hard to do. He watched as she went back into the changing chamber and five minutes later came out again in the clothes she had been wearing before, which suddenly, somehow, just looked out of place on her.
"I'm sure someone else will buy it," Akira told the stall lady as she handed the dress back over.
The lady grunted in reply, all sense of politeness gone as she realized that Akira wasn't going to turn out to be a customer after all. With a huff she turned back to her stall. Akira watched her with a puzzled expression. Shrugging it off she turned to Dominique, a smile on her face.
"What next?" she asked.
For the next hour they walked through the town square and Dominique found himself being dragged from stall to stall by and excited Akira. Although he grumbled the entire time he knew that deep down he was actually enjoying it. Akira's excitement was something different, and when she laughed at the sheer pleasure of looking at some of the items on sale Dominique felt something in his heart give way. From that moment on he wanted nothing more than to hear Akira's laugh and to see her smile......
"Pull yourself together man," he thought to himself shaking his head. Why was he feeling like this? He didn't even know anything about this girl, other than she was crazy of course. Yet somehow, all that didn't matter in the time that they spent in the town square.
"Hey, look at that!" Akira exclaimed suddenly as she rushed over to another stall. Once there she stared at the goods it displayed, which were small child toys, made of wood. They were figures of a dragon, all different. Some with the dragon standing up on its hind legs, some with it sitting, others with its majestic wings spread out. And all of the dragons were one color, white.
Carefully Akira picked one up, looking over it in wonder. "Redemption?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Exact replicas of the dragon of legend," the stall owner proudly declared.
Akira chuckled as she looked over the carved dragon. Dominique watched her, wondering what it was that she was amused about.
"Ree would have a ball," she murmured.
Dominique frowned, yet the stall owner seemed not to have noticed. "I even have replicas of his rider...." he boasted on and on about all the different objects he had to sell, yet Dominique could tell that Akira wasn't listening.
He watched her carefully put the dragon back on the stall and pick up a small figurine of a woman, dressed in a flowing white dress, her black hair stylishly piled on her head and a sword strapped to her side. Akira raised it up, obviously trying to hold in her laughter.
"How are you supposed to fight in a dress?" she asked, obviously amused.
"Beats me," Dominique replied with a smile, he had often wondered if the people who carved the figures ever considered that.
Akira fingered the hair style, her eyebrows raised while her eyes sparkled with amusement. Placing the figurine back down her attention moved on. As her eyes landed on the black dragon and rider Dominique saw her tense somewhat. He watched as she looked at, but did not pick up, either rider or dragon. The dragon in itself was hideous looking, covered in scratches that were supposed to represent scars, and with a distorted face, its head not in the natural shape of a dragon but too long. The rider on the other hand looked dangerous, wearing a helmet decorated with two horns. It was tradition to make the black dragon and his rider look unappealing.
As Akira's eyes past the black dragon and rider her eyes suddenly widened. Dominique followed her gaze to find a pile of books stacked up, the top one reading;
"The Adventures of the Last Rider of Legend."
Slowly Akira reached out her hand and picked it up.
"The life of the rider of legend, recorded exactly as it was," the stall owner declared proudly.
Akira gave him a look that expressed serious doubt. Dominique snickered making the stall owner shoot him a disproving glare. Ignoring him Dominique shifted impatiently from foot to foot, hoping that Akira would just hurry and finish looking.
He saw her open the first page of the book and couldn't suppress a groan. Surely she wasn't going to start reading it? He saw her eyebrows rise after just reading a few lines and she looked up, seemingly amused.
"Recorded EXACTLY as it was, huh?" she asked, her eyes twinkling. Dominique had a feeling that she seemed to be having a private joke and he felt somewhat annoyed at not knowing what exactly was funny.
"Yes, yes," the stall owner bobbed his head up and down enthusiastically in answer to Akira's question.
Akira turned her eyes back to the book, biting her bottom lip in an attempt to hold back laughter. Trying to see if perhaps he could figure out what was amusing her so much Dominique leaned over her shoulder and glanced down, his eyes scanning over what was written near the bottom of the page. It said;
"And so Akira went to dragon academy, bringing the dragon of legend along, a free spirited dragon, a dragon only she managed to tame. She sought the council's guidance and they taught her how to expand her already great knowledge on fighting techniques. Within days she surpassed all training levels, learned to master every training move, and could even form fire, just as her dragon could. She rose above all others, gaining the skills she needed to defeat Haiden with ease."
The page ended and Akira didn't bother turning to the next one. Dominique shrugged, having no idea what was amusing about what had been written. But then again, Akira was.....different. He watched as Akira shut the book with a chuckle and put it back towards the pile. Yet suddenly her smile disappeared and she seemed to freeze.
Wondering what the problem was now Dominique glanced at the pile of books. The book, onto which Akira had just wanted to place the one she was holding, was another book about the rider of legend. Its title read;
"The Life and Death of the Last Rider of Legend."
Akira put the book she was holding down beside the pile, her eyes glued to the new book. Dominique watched as she reached out, pausing as though scared of touching it. She stretched her fingers out until she was touching the title of the book. Slowly her fingers slid over to the word "death," her eyes fastening on it, her face somewhat pale. Shaking his head Dominique scratched the back of his head, wondering what now.
"Ah, I see you've seen another great one," the stall owner nodded his head. "That sure is a good one, I can assure you, it has the entire life of the rider of legend in it and her untimely death..." he droned on, not seeming to notice that Akira's face seemed to have just paled even more. Dominique frowned, wondering if she was not feeling well. He watch as Akira seemed to be deliberating if she should pick up the book or not. She was chewing her lip, as though the decision of whether to read the book or not was a hard one to make. And then she suddenly curled up her fingers and withdrew her hand.
"You do not like it?" the stall owner asked looking worried at the possibility of making this sale slipping out of his grasp.
"No thanks," Akira shook her head.
That was when Dominique's stomach growled loudly. He let out a sigh, shooting the food stalls a mournful look. If only Akira would hurry up, then they could get something to eat. He turned his head back to fine Akira standing, looking off in to the distance with a glazed look.
"Untimely death," he heard her whisper. Shaking his head Dominique wondered what had gotten into her now. Yet when his stomach growled again he decided that he had to do something to sooth his hunger.
"Come on," he grabbed Akira's hand. It was time to buy a Rolich. He made his way over to a street vendor who had what looked like a large, stone fire stove beside his stall.
"Two please," Dominique told him as he reached the stall. Akira suddenly seemed to forget whatever she had been worrying about before and watched in fascination as the street vendor made it. She watched his every action closely as he rolled out a small piece of dough, fried a pan of meat and vegetable separately. He then took a small portion of the fried meat and vegetables and put them into the middle of the small piece of rolled out dough. Akira's eyes followed his hands as he folded the dough over the top of the meat and then put the now neat pocket of meat and vegetable, wrapped in dough, onto another rolled out piece of dough, larger than the first. He surrounded the pocket with meat and vegetables then proceeded to once again fold the dough neatly over to cover the meat and the pocket within. he repeated this process three times, with Akira hanging on his every action, before he wrapped the whole thing in some large green leaves and then placed it into a fire.
Three minutes later he brought it back out and handed two to Dominique in exchange for one draco. Dominique at once unwrapped his, throwing the leaf to the side biting a chunk out of his meal, only to burn his mouth. Too hungry to care he wolfed the whole thing down and turned to Akira only to see that she had only unwrapped hers and was now turning around the entire thing, examining it with narrowed eyes.
"Try it, it's great," Dominique encouraged.
Akira gave him an unconvinced look before she brought the Rolich to her mouth. Closing her eyes she took a careful bite, chewing slowly, her face one of concentration.
"And...?" Dominique asked.
Akira swallowed and slowly opened her eyes. A smile spread across her face and she took another bite, much larger than the first, following Dominique's early example and finishing the Rolich within seconds.
"It's good, isn't it," Dominique grinned. Akira bobbed her head ecclesiastically in reply. "Want another?" he asked, still feeling hungry. Akira shook her head. Shrugging Dominique proceeded to buy himself another, this one going down as fast as the other.
Akira watched him, her eyebrows rose, "Where do you put all of that?"
"Come on," Dominique chuckled, not bothering to answer. His brother and Celine teased him endlessly about his appetite. "Let's go this way," he turned and began to walk. Akira followed, catching up and walking beside him. Yet they hadn't walked far when Akira suddenly froze in her tracks.
Confused Dominique stopped with her, giving her a questioning look, yet she didn't notice. He realized that she was staring down another road, going towards the right, a look of disbelief and pain in her eyes. Dominique shot the road a look, feeling understanding fill him as he realized where it lead.
"Akira," he told her softly. Yet before he could continue Akira turned and began to walk down the road at a brisk pace.
"Akira!" Dominique protested. He hurried after her. She was heading to a place he hated being, a place he had come as Strider once or twice to try and help......yet other than that, he tried to avoid the place as much as possible. He increased his pace, catching up just as Akira reached the end of the road, freezing to the spot she stood, her eyes wide in horror. Dominique knew why, he understood. For Akira was now staring at the dragon market.