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.
Akira felt her blood go cold as soon as she had heard the dragon's faint scream. It was so faint she wouldn't have picked it up has she not been through the battles she had where hearing dragons scream was just part of the fight. Hearing it she turned, heading down the road, heading towards the direction of the scream without another thought.
She heard Dominique call out to her, yet she ignored him, wanting to find out what was going on. Without thinking she rushed down the road, dodging people walking in the posit direction, pushing past people going in the same one. Yet when she had come to the end of the road she froze, everything around her seemed to disappear, except the scene before her.
A large stall stood right in front of her. A man dressed in black and blue standing on either side, as though guarding it. Boxes were stacked up behind it, tilted somewhat so that people passing by could see the contents. Each box was filled with a velvet blanket, and nestled in each blanket was a large, smooth, round, dragon's egg. The shells white, as always, yet the glow coming from within giving away the dragons colors. The stall owner stood, bending over a young boy who was pointing at an egg glowing a soft red. The child's father, a man dressed in silk, his fingers covered in gold rings, handed over a bag that jingled, to the stall owner, who in turn turned and put a lid on the box with the egg in it, before he handed it over to the young boy.
Akira stared, stunned, not sure if she was understanding this right. She had come across humans who had taken abandoned eggs home before, yet they had never paid for it as the dragons were not theirs to keep because once hatched the dragon had its own will. And yet here she had just seen an egg being sold, sold to a young boy who was not even old enough to be responsible for a dragon.
Her eyes traveled to the small pen in which dragons, no larger than a house cat, walked about, looking somewhat bewildered and lost. Their size showed that they were clearly draglins, which were dragons that could have hatched no longer than five days ago, as after five days, a dragon grew to full size over a period of a few hours. How and why, no one knew, but dragons never had a long childhood, instead they lived a longer adult like.
Akira watched as a few of the draglins tried to spread their small wings and fly, yet the top of the pen was firmly closed with wooden bars, too close together for the draglins to slip out of. A few seemed to realize the hopelessness of their situation and resigned to sitting on their hunches. Akira met the yellow eyes of one such draglin, a small female, a pale bay in color. Although a draglin was incapable of choosing a rider, and therefore could not communicate with a human, Akira was sure that this draglin was pleading with her to do something and she felt her heart split in two.
A roar of pain and anger made Akira's eyes snap to the left just in time to see a full grown Orange dragon being driven into a closed cart, to which two dragons were strapped at the front. A few men had surrounded the dragon, each holding a thick tube in their hand that they had pointed at the dragon, something blue that was making a crackling sound, sparking at the end. Akira's eyes wondered to the dragon's wings to see that they seemed to somehow have been strapped down to its side so that he could not spread them. It seemed to at first fight against the men driving him, swishing his tail and trying to hit them, yet whenever he did so one of the men would seem to shoot a blue ball at the dragon and whenever it hit him it would make him stagger forward, screaming in pain, as he took that one step closer to the box, that one step closer to submission.
Akira's eyes wondered from him to the large pen, similar to that of the draglins except much larger, in which full grown dragons were in, some running around, roaring in anger and pain, others standing still, hopelessness in their eyes. Well dressed men and women walked around the pen, some provoking the dragons on purpose, now and then pointing one out and asking a man who stood nearby, a question.
"It's the dragon market," Dominique's voice said softly from behind her. "It's where dragons are sold or exchanged. Usually only the richer and middle class folk come here, they are the only ones that can usually afford a dragon."
"Why?" Akira whispered, pain filling her as the orange dragon let out another scream. She clutched a hand to her chest as she watched him stagger another step forward before he was fully in the cart and two men quickly snapped the door behind him shut. "Why are they doing this?"
"You mean treating the dragons like dumb beasts?" Dominique asked. Akira could hear a trail of anger in his voice. She shot a glance back to see that Dominique had his fists clenched as he watched the cart with the dragon in it, pull away. "Because, they think we're above dragons. That dragons are nothing but useless beasts, made to serve us."
"But they have feelings. Dragons are just like us, they are our equals..."
"Try telling them that," Dominique jerked his head in the direction of the people walking around the large dragon pen.
Akira felt anger fill her, anger at the fact that the people treated the dragon, a noble creature that was equal of any human, like just another piece of meat. Not even Haiden had dared to treat dragons in such a way, so why exactly where they doing this, what was the reason behind it? She didn't even need Redemption to be able to feel the dragons' pain around her, they were suffering.
"Who is responsible for this?" Akira asked, her eyes flashing.
"For what?"
"All this!" Akira waved her hands around.
"If you're asking who's in charge, it's the council," Dominique began. Akira whirled to face him, shock filling her before it was replaced by pure fury. She watched Dominique's eyes widen and he took a careful step back, as if slightly afraid.
"The council?" Akira growled.
"Like I said before," Dominique told carefully, as though what he said might trigger her. "They aren't exactly the greatest. Why do you think the Resistance formed?"
"But why, what's their reason?" Akira demanded.
"Who, the Resistance?" Dominique asked looking confused.
"The council!" Akira growled, taking a step towards him. Dominique took a step back.
"Um......they say that since the rider of legend defeated Haiden and Fury on her own its proof that her dragon was no more than a sidekick, a tool to be used at her dispense. They say that it's proof that dragons are less than humans and are destined to serve us."
Akira froze, numbness spreading throughout her body. Her head reeled at what she had just heard. "Her dragon was no more than a sidekick, a tool to be used at her dispense," Dominique's words echoed her mind.
"No," Akira shook her head in disbelief. "No," she took a step back, away from Dominique. He was lying, he had to be. It couldn't be true. She and Redemption had defeated Haiden together, so why did the council believe otherwise? Her eyes darted towards Dominique, silently begging him to tell her that what he had said was a lie, yet his eyes showed that he was far from lying.
"Are you okay?" Dominique sounded worried. He took a concerned step towards her.
Akira shook her head, wrapping her hands around herself. It wasn't possible. Somehow, everything was as it was because of her. It was her fault, all because the council believed that she had done something on her own. She was the cause of all this. Akira shivered, suddenly feeling cold.
Dominique eyed Akira. She had gone deathly pale and had wrapped her arms around herself as though she were cold. He was mystified at her sudden change in attitude. She had gone from being horrified, to angry, to looking like she was about to collapse, within seconds. When she shivered he decided that maybe it was better to get her out of here.
"Hey," he walked up to her and pulled her close. "Let's go," with both his arms wrapped around her he turned and began to guide her away, back the way they had come. As they went further away Akira seemed to recover somewhat. She pulled out of his arms, her face downcast, as she walked. Realizing that she was walking aimlessly Dominique quickly caught up to her, walking beside her so that she would know where to go.
He tried to pick up conversation again, yet when Akira did not reply he decided that maybe silence was better than him having a one way conversation. He debated whether or not to take Akira to see part of the dragon race, not so sure anymore, especially after what her reaction had been to the selling of the dragons. He decided against it, but somehow they ended up on a bridge, walking up, above the ground level. They reached the middle of it when the cheering began and he realized that the bridge was above part of the race course.
Cursing himself for his bad luck he shot Akira a look, hoping she hadn't noticed the way people on the bridge were leaning over and talking excitedly while the cheering in the distance continued. Yet she had. Before Dominique could stop her Akira had also walked over to the edge of the bridge, peering over at the narrow road below, her gaze traveling along it, up to the point where the road disappeared, past it to where it suddenly continued up to a tight corner ahead. Seconds later two dragons, a gray and a green dragon, running almost side by side, though the green dragon was slightly ahead, appeared around the corner at full speed, it was Reptor and Kelp.
Dominique reached out to pull Akira away from the scene, yet he paused, watching as the dragons bunched up their back legs and leaped, one slightly after the other, soaring over the point where the road suddenly disappeared. Gracefully they cut through the air, seeming to be flying. Yet neither dragon was using their wings. No, for most races dragons were forced to have their wings strapped down, making it all the more 'interesting' for the spectators, and also making some of the obstacles harder to overcome.
Both dragons cleared the gap, with Kelp, the green dragon, landing on the very edge of the other side, making some of the ground behind his back foot crumble, yet he was already speeding on. Too fast to think about the close call he had had. Both dragons zipped past, their riders leaning as far forward as possible, urging them on.
The spectators on the bridge cheered them on, yet it died down again as the dragons were past in a second, heading to the next obstacle which consisted of blocks that stood in the middle of the road which they had to dodge, the catch, there was a spike sticking out of every other block, making it that if a dragon smashed into it the chances of survival wouldn't be high, due to the dragon ending up as dragon kebab.
"What are they doing?" Akira asked. She had turned as the dragons past, shading her eyes to see them weaving in and out of the concrete blocks.
"Racing," Dominique replied softly.
"Do they want to?" Akira asked.
Dominique didn't reply.
Akira sighed, turning her head to look back in the direction the dragons had come from, the direction from which the cheering now came from the crowd sitting at the start and finish line.
"They're all cheering," she murmured. "They're all having fun, why?" she whispered the last part.
"I think it's time we left," Dominique said out loud. He decided that he had had enough, not to mention that he didn't want to see Akira like this, he wanted to cheer her up some way, and right now the city was the last place that was cheering her up. He turned and began to walk back the way they had come.
"How long?" Akira asked.
Surprised Dominique turned to face her.
"How long has it been like this?" Akira elaborated.
Dominique sighed. He knew what she meant. "Ever since I was born. From what my father told me it went on in his time already, and in my grandfathers time.....I think maybe three hundred years long, it started not long after Academy City was built."
"Can't they see the pain and the agony they are causing them?" Akira asked pain in her eyes. "Cant the see that they're hurting them?"
Dominique shrugged. "I guess the answer to that question is no. But what I haven't been able to figure out is why the dragons haven't fought back yet. I've been expecting a war against humans for ages but it just isn't happening. Breeze says they can't, but I don't get why not.
"Because, a dragon can never turn against his rider," Akira said duly.
Dominique stared at her in surprise. How did she know this?
"A dragon is connected to his rider, there is a bond between them, a bond that makes the dragon do anything to keep his rider alive and safe, it's supposed to also be the other way around...but if the dragons are being forced to chose their riders then it would make sense why it only works one way. As long as a rider doesn't fully accept their dragon, that bond is never fully fledged from one side, making it incomplete. In that case, a dragon can resist, but he cannot kill his rider, it would devastate him."
"Um..." Dominique didn't know how to respond. He was stumped. Akira spoke as though she knew this all so well.
Surprising him Akira walked past him, in the direction they had been going before, back the way they had come. Shaking his head Dominique turned and followed. They didn't speak for the rest of the way, walking in silence as they headed back to the place where Dominique had stabled Breeze. Dominique knew a short cut and so it didn't take quiet as long, yet with the silence it seemed like a while.
"About time you came back, I'm dying of boredom here," Breeze told Dominique dryly when he walked back into the courtyard, Akira trailing slightly behind him, her head down. "What's with her?" Breeze thought. Dominique didn't reply, knowing that Breeze could pick it out of his head.
"Boy, she took it hard, huh?" Breeze thought. "At least she understands....."
"Hey boy," the bulky man from before was there, leaning against an empty pen.
Dominique gave him a nod of acknowledgment as he headed over to Breeze's pen. He pulled the metal disk from his pocket and slipped it into the slot making the gate to Breeze's pen swing open.
"Finally," Breeze thought as he walked from the pen. He stop for a moment, stretching like a cat to loosen up his muscles.
"You see the race?" the bulky man called over to Dominique, obviously in the mood for talk.
"Some of it," Dominique replied motioning for Akira to come over.
"Told you Reptor was going to win, didn't I?" the man puffed out his chest. "I won myself two gold pieces."
"Good for you," Dominique muttered as Akira reached him. He let her get up onto Breeze's back first before he got ready to follow.
"He won comfortably to. Kelp went too fast round the last corner, the high one you know? Anyways, he went right of the edge. Luckily he had his rider bailed, had a parachute on. The dragon wasn't as lucky, you know how they strap those wings of theirs down?" the man continued.
Dominique gritted his teeth. This wasn't what he needed to hear right now. He shot a look up at Akira to see that she was sitting rigidly in the saddle, her face as white as marble, her hands gripped the saddle until her knuckles went white.
"Anyways, crashed all the way down, all three stories, even broke one of the bridges on the way. Poor bugger never had a chance, what a waste, eh?" the man didn't wait for an answer. "Anyways, I heard that people were complaining that the race was thrown, with the rider having a parachute on him and all."
Dominique pulled himself up behind Akira. The news the man had just told them was the last thing Akira needed to hear right now. He turned in the saddle and threw the metal disk at the man, it landed at his feet.
"Congrats on your win," Dominique told him sarcastically. The man eyed him, seeming to realize for the first time that Dominique wasn't very enthusiastic. He grunted in reply.
"Let's get out of here," Dominique thought.
"About time," Breeze replied, sounding disgusted. He shot the bulky man a glare before he walked forward, out of the courtyard. He could not fly out, for rules stated that you could only into a stabling area, not out of it. To lift of the ground you had to be in a legal fly area. So Breeze walked, moving from road to road, until they began to walk up a bridge. Up ahead the road suddenly dipped away and all the dragons ahead of Breeze that reached the edge spread their wings and flew. Breeze did the same, leaving the ground behind as he soared upwards, following the other dragons' path.
"So....I'm guessing the slums are out of the question?" Breeze thought.
"We can do a quick pass over on the way out, forget a detailed tour," Dominique thought in reply.
Breeze mentally agreed, feeling the difference in Akira's attitude. He flew along with the flow of other dragons until they came to an area where they could bail. He turned, dipping his wings, towards the outside of the city.
"Did you get the chance to find out anything about her?" Breeze thought.
Dominique remembered that he had wanted to ask around, to see if anyone knew Akira, and yet, the way she had acted in the city he doubted that she had every been there before. Besides, no one shot her a look that showed that they recognized her.
"I see," Breeze thought as he picked up Dominique's thoughts.
He flew on in silence, the tall buildings become scarcer until suddenly there were only smaller houses left and eventually those turned into shacks. Flying lower than they had on the way here it was now easy to see the dirty state of the shacks below, to see the waste material they were made of, the mud and sand that lay about, the kids playing in the dust, woman cooking what little food they had scavenged for lunch. The stench of urine and other waste drifted up to where Dominique and Akira sat.
"What is it?" Akira asked staring at the place below.
"The slums," Dominique replied. "The place the poor live," he sighed, guilt filling him as he remembered what Ray had been talking about, about the poor getting snatched and turned in by the rich, being accused of being part of the Resistance, all because of him.
They passed over the slums, leaving them behind. Breeze began to ascend once more, turning to make a wide arch around where he knew the quarries were. Yet even the wide berth wasn't enough for the moans of both dragons and humans to drift towards Akira and Dominique.
As he tried to ignore the sound of suffering Dominique felt something wet drop onto his hands. Confused he glanced up only to see that there was not a cloud in the sky. So where....? Realization hit him.
"Akira?" he asked softly.
She turned her head slightly towards him and he saw the glistening trail the tear had left. Shock filled him.
"Why are you crying?" he asked softly.
"All the pain, all the suffering," Akira whispered, pain filling her eyes. "I caused this."
"Uh..." Dominique felt at total loss, "I'm afraid don't understand."
"You said it yourself Dominique!" Akira told him. "You said that the reason behind this was because the council believed that I defeated Haiden and Fury on my own..."
"Um correction, I said they believed that the rider of legend defeated Haiden and Fury on her own, not you," Dominique told her. Yet Akira wasn't listening.
"That makes it all my fault," Akira murmured.
"Akira. This has nothing to do with..." yet he never got to finish.
"This isn't how it's supposed to be!" Akira protested.
"Welcome to the club of the few that agree with that," Dominique muttered, "But unfortunately this is how things are. The Resistance is trying to change them, but unfortunately we can only do so much," again he wondered at how much he had sounded like Ray just then.
"But I defeated Haiden!" Akira shook her head. "I ENDED his rule. There was supposed to be peace, prosperity....dragons and humans living in happiness alike! Why on earth would things turn out like this? Why would humans enslave the dragons? Why would they cause all this pain and suffering? Haiden is gone! Meaning that I'm the only one whose example was left to follow.....it's all my fault."
Dominique tightened his grip around Akira, his wrenching at the thought that she was living in a lie. That she believed that she was the rider of legend, and above all, that she was blaming herself for all this.
"She sounds awfully sincere for someone who only thinks she's the rider of legend," Breeze butted in.
"She's confused Breeze, she's convinced herself she's something that she's not," yet even as he thought it Dominique wasn't so sure anymore. "Please, I can't be falling for that story, that would mean that I was mad to," Dominique thought.
"You, mad? No!" Breeze thought, though somewhat dryly. "This coming from the boy that actually enjoys being chased by Watchers, the one who provokes them on purpose just to make the chase more interesting, the boy who isn't satisfied unless we crash towards the ground from an unimaginable height, the boy who..."
"I get it," Dominique thought.
"Just I thought I'd remind you. You aren't exactly sane either, Dominique."
"Hah, well neither are you," Dominique thought, a smirk on his face.
"All too true," Breeze agreed, "All to true."
And so they flew leaving Academy City behind. Yet the sights and sound of all those suffering remained in the air. It would have been easy to just forget and move on, and yet, forgetting would have meant to lie to oneself that everything was fine, when in truth, it was far from it.