I heard the crowd gasp and then it went silent for a few minutes. It was so quiet you could hear the stage as it creaked under the subtle movements of the dragons. I could feel it, nobody liked how quiet the crowd had gotten. Not even the dragons who I could sense were tensed up behind us.
The Kaveva rider was the first one to break the silence. They clear their throat and begin to speak but the crowd cuts them off. It seems that once the silence was broken everyone wanted to say something at the same time.
It was so jumbled that I could only hear snatches of what was said but it all seemed to be the same thing. "This is an outrage!" "There's no way she is a rider!" "Who even let her participate? Everyone knows girls are not allowed!" These painful comments continued until I heard a voice in my head.
"Don't worry little one I will take care of this."
"Anvar what are you doing?"
"Commanding silence Nightshade. Surely you don't wish to hear this any more of this than the rest of us?"
"Certainly not just don't scare them too bad."
"I can try."
All of a sudden the Kaveva's fire dragon, that I now know as Anvar, let out a tremendous roar that silenced the crowd. Anvar's rider looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. "Thank you Anvar." I then heard another voice speak up. "People, I know your town forbids the women from being riders but a person chosen by the judgment dragon is fated to be a dragon rider."
It was the rider with purple and blue hair. She was strongly defending me. I guess the villagers didn't think much when they decided to protest women riders in front of one. She turned her head towards me and gave me a reassuring smile. "If she is fated to be a dragon rider then it will happen no matter how you try to shield her. Wouldn't it be better for her to learn everything at a good pace, surrounded by people who can help her?" She has a point and the villagers know it. A few start mumbling to each other, probably voicing opinions of agreement and disagreement.
The Kaleva rider decided to step in as well. "If she is left here and somehow obtains the dragon that she is fated for what will happen when something comes along that she would need help in handling? If she doesn't know how to do something she may hurt herself and others trying to figure it out on her own."
I'm not so reckless as to do something dangerous in the village but they do have a point. Even if I wasn't in the village when something happened it could still affect them somehow. Scaring off the game in the woods, creating uncontrollable winds, or even executing an emergency crash landing could really mess everyone up.
All of the mumbling died down except for a few people who continued to mutter unhappily to themselves. It's probably a lot of the boys who didn't get chosen as riders. They must be upset with the fact that a girl was chosen as a rider but they weren't. The rest calmed down enough to see that the riders were right, though I suspect a few were just too scared of angering Anvar again to voice any more complaints. Either way, I was relieved that they weren't hurling insults at me anymore.
The Kaveva stood next to me and clapped their hands. "Alright, so now that that's over we can continue with the ceremony. Would our two riders please step up to the judgment dragon once again?" I looked at Storm and smiled as if to say, "See? I told you we'd get in." He just smirks and rolls his eyes, understanding what I'm trying to convey.
We stand in front of the judgment dragon again and she stands up on the pedestal. "This will mark you both as dragon riders and then you may go home to pack and say goodbye to your families." We both knew what was next. We have both seen these ceremonies several times by now. We stand side by side and both hold out our right hand.
The judgment dragon stands up on her pedestal and uses her sharp claws to prick a spot in the middle of our hands. She wraps her tail around Storm's wrist. Once, twice and then licks his palm. The small pinprick heals and the dragon removes her tail to reveal a new mark of a dragon's tail wrapped around his wrist. The mark stays white for a second before fading to the same black, grey and blue colors that mark him as a tempest dragon rider.
Now it's my turn. The judgment dragon turns to me and looks deep into my eyes. Her tail wraps around my wrist. Once, twice, three times? It's only supposed to wrap around twice, why do I get three loops? The judgment dragon, seeing the confusion in my eyes, narrows hers in a way that makes me think of a child who tells you they know a secret but won't tell you what the secret is. What could she be hiding in that pretty pearly white head of hers?
Never breaking eye contact, she maintains her mysterious gaze as she licks my wound and a mark with three loops forms on my wrist. Shaking off my suspicion I tear my gaze away from her eyes and look down at my new mark. It changes from white to a light sky blue with the streaks of white. My mark as a wind dragon rider.
I look over to Storm and the other two riders. Storm looks as confused as the two riders look surprised. What do they know about this extra loop that Storm and I don't? The Kaveva rider is the first to recover. They clear their throat, clap their hands, and offer us a smile as they turn to address the crowd.
"This marks the end of the riders ceremony. Please continue to enjoy the festivities or return home. Would the families of Storm and... uh," she paused. "What was your name?" She whispered to me. "Silvia." I whispered back "Right. Would the families of Storm and Silvia please come to the stage."
I can't help but giggle a little bit at the sheepish look they send my way. "Sorry about that. I couldn't remember if you told me your name or not. I would rather look forgetful in front of everyone than call you by the wrong name." She offers me a friendly handshake along with a big grin. "My name is Akara and this is my friend Kali."
"It's nice to meet you both," I say shaking Kali's hand and returning their smiles with one of my own. "These are our dragons-" Akara starts but I cut her off. "Anvar and Nightshade right? Thanks for helping me earlier."
"Of course little one. Their prejudice was extremely uncalled for. It bothered us as well."
"Yes, if Anvar hadn't done something then I would have."
Their answers made me smile even more. I'm glad that these people take me seriously. "Wait what's going on? Sil, how do you know their names?" Storm said from behind me. Akara answers him as she walks up to us. I hadn't even realized that we walked over to the dragons. "It's simple, they told her. Now the real question is how could they tell her? She shouldn't be able to hear them until she gets her own dragon." Kali pitches in as well. "Maybe she just reacts differently to the riders mark or somehow came in contact with her dragon before it was old enough to hatch for her."
That could be it but I don't think it is. Why can I converse with dragons already? Besides, it feels so natural for me to talk to them like this. I feel like if I tried I could probably talk to them mentally so they could hear me from farther away without yelling something to them.
"Oof, get off of me you big lug!" My brother had just run up and tackled me in a hug while I was distracted. "But you're leaving! Don't get me wrong I'm so happy that you're getting to live out your dream as a dragon rider but I'm gonna miss you." He's so sweet. My dad helps me up and pulls me into a hug with my mom and brother. I kiss my parents on the cheek and then turn and look into my brother's eyes. They hold a mixture of glee and excitement but also sadness and loneliness.
My brother and I have been inseparable for the longest time. Whenever I'm not out training and hunting with Storm I'm with my brother. Auric understands me like no other. He understands my facial expressions and body language and uses them to find out how I feel about something. Several people ask if we have a mental sibling connection because we read each other so well.
Akara's voice brings me back to the real world. "Well, now all we need is your family Storm. Do you see them anywhere?" Oh, that's right they wouldn't know about Storm's family. "I'm an orphan. I never knew my real family. The closest thing I have to family is Silvia, her parents, and her brother." The rider's smiles quickly disappeared and were replaced by looks of shock mixed with sadness. This time it's Kali who recovers first "Oh, I'm so sorry we had no idea." Storm just shakes his head and offers a small smile. "It's ok. Neither of you knew."
They give one final sympathetic glance at Storm before motioning for us to lead the way, presumably to our houses. "We can stop by your place first Storm. It's on the way to my house anyway." He smiles and nods at me before he starts walking with the rest of us following his lead.
We stop by Storm's house first. He runs inside, packs what he needs for the trip, and comes back out moments later. Yup, he's excited. The only other time he's that fast is when there is an overabundance of the game in the woods. We would run into our houses after running simple errands and be ready for hunting in no time.
"I realize you can use this house if you ever come back here, but what will you do with it while you're gone?" I asked, genuinely curious. Most people like Storm don't return to their village once they've left. "I'm going to let Stella and Cane use it." That makes sense. Stella and Cane were Storm's closest friends when he was at the orphanage.
He met them about two years after he met me. Before he met them he would return to the orphanage alone when we had to split up at the end of the day. I hated leaving him like that because I knew how much he hated being alone. I always tried to keep him with me for as long as possible. It even became normal for my mom to make extra food for lunch and dinner. We would always eat lunch together and if he couldn't stay for dinner we always ate our food on the way to the orphanage. After he met Cane and Stella I wasn't so reluctant to leave him when we had to separate because I knew that he wouldn't be alone once I left.
It was a little lonely for me at first. I would always go out of my way to stretch the time we hung out as far as I could and suddenly I didn't have to. I talked about it with Storm, Stella, and Cane and we came to an agreement. If we learned to hunt and cook we could gather for lunch and dinner without having to worry about splitting up so early. I talked to my mom and dad and they agreed to teach us. We took lessons from them and a few years later we were able to cook as well as hunt.
We decided groups for hunting and cooking. Storm, Cane, and I formed the hunting group. Stella stayed behind, since she didn't have the stomach for hunting, and helped my mom cook what we brought back. It became a usual sight to see Storm, Cane, and Stella at our table for dinner. More than once my parents told me we would have adopted all three long ago if we had space.
I can't help but smile as I reminisce. "I hate that I can't say goodbye to them before we leave." Storm nods and my brother offers to pass on any notes we want to leave behind for them. They left on a trip to another village not far from here a few weeks ago. They should be back by the end of this week but we have to leave for the school tonight. Storm notices my glum look and tries to cheer me up. "We can always write to them Sil. They will understand. Besides it's not like we're never coming back." I smile at him and he smiles back. He always knows how to cheer me up.
We arrive at my house and I rush up to my room. I grab a bag and put a few outfits in. "Hmm, there's still plenty of room." I look around and decide to grab a few of the things that decorate my room. I grab the chunk of crystal that I found when I was hunting one day. Nobody in town would buy it because they said it was so common it wasn't worth anything. Apparently, it was a bit of crystal that grew in the cavities of old trees. Nobody knows why they do but they sure look pretty when they glow in the moonlight. I also grabbed my favorite daggers, a few hair ties, a necklace, and a ring that my mom got me when I was younger. The metal is beautiful silver with strange but mesmerizing gems. (Picture above. Yes I used galaxy because I'm a sucker for anything galaxy XD)
I look around one last time and spot two pictures. One is of myself standing with my parents and brother. The other one is a picture of Storm, Cane, Stella, and me again. I pick up the pictures, looking at them fondly. I put the pictures in my bag, telling myself that it will help me get through any homesick feelings that I get later. I do one last sweep of the room just to make sure I don't forget anything and then rush back to the group. As soon as I walk through the door I'm pulled into another hug by my parents and brother. I hug them back before turning to the riders and Storm.
Kali smiles at me and asks, "Are you ready to leave?" I take one final look at my family before I answer her. "Yes, I'm ready to go whenever you guys are." Anvar and Nightshade rise from their sitting position and stride towards us. "Well, then you're with me on Anvar. Storm, you ride with Kali." I look towards Anvar and smile. Akara helps me onto Anvar and I wave to my family before returning my hands to Akara's waist. I hold on tight as Anvar launches into the air and watch as the village gets smaller and smaller behind me. It's a little strange to be surrounded by fire but feel nothing more than a pleasant warmth. Even more strange was how I got used to it so quickly. For some reason, it actually seemed quite comforting to me.
Stop it Sil, it's because he helped you earlier and the fire isn't hot. Is that really why it's so comforting though? I keep trying to make sense of these new self-discoveries. Why can I already communicate with dragons? Why do I have three loops on my arm, and why did it seem to surprise Akara and Kali? Why is dragon fire so comforting? Is it because it reminds me of sitting around a fire with friends and family or is it something else? I sigh to myself and try to push away my thoughts for now.
"School for dragon riders here I come."
Okay, so I'm really happy with how this is going so far but I HAVE to do something with the character sheet and dragon intro. in the beginning of the book. I keep changing who's in the story or, more accurately, adding to it. Seriously there is no entry for Sil's family, friends, Akara and Kali, or Anvar and Nightshade. Should I just take those two parts down altogether or edit it periodically so it only talks about the characters that have been brought into the story? I'll leave it up to you guys.
Also, the pictures of the riders marks were created by me just for this chapter so I hope everyone likes them. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I hope you have a good day. See y'all next time!