Dragon Riders

Chapter 19: Temporary Teffs

Aspen POV:

The light peaking over the horizon woke me. I sat up, my mind still reeling from the dream I had last night.

Cade asking me to be his lady and such! I reminded myself What foolishness! He would never... My thoughts halted as I felt Cade's arms wrapped around my waist. My hand flew to my forehead. I wasn't dreaming. I was Cade's lady! The fireflies, him calling me beautiful, falling asleep beneath the stars; it was all real! I looked down at his sleeping form. His ruffled, golden hair framed his peaceful expression. I smiled then turned back to the sunrise. The hazy star appearing in the distance, cloaked in hues of purple, red, and orange reminded me. Sunrise! We have to be back for training. I quickly turned and began shaking Cade's shoulders like a lunatic."Wake up!" I yelled frantically. His eyes flew open and he stared at me, clearly confused. Rubbing his eyes, he wondered,

"Aspen, what is it?"

"We'll be late!" I panicked. "Sunrise is almost over! We need to go to training!" He gulped and jumped up, pulling me up along with him. He offered me his hand; I took it as we raced down the trails. We burst into the meadow just as Iris arrived. Panting, we bent over and caught our breaths. Iris raised her eyebrow,

"Why are you two holding hands?" Her eyes lingered over our intertwined fingers. We both released and smiled,

"No reason," I covered up our strange behavior. Over the next few days, we practiced using our weapons and learning new tactics to strengthen our fighting skills. Finally, after all the long practice, we got to reunite with our Teffs for more training. Surprisingly, this was the first time I saw Serafina since earlier that week. I had been spending every spare second with Cade, and I have no idea where she was. Probably with Orion if all went well.

"Follow me," Iris ordered, beckoning the Viys behind her. I strode beside her. Turning to me, she asked, "Aspen, what's going on between you and Cade?" I was taken aback by her straightforwardness. Apparently, that was evident, because she bit her lip. "Was that too personal? Because I just thought, we had become close enough that I could ask and..."

"It's fine!" I assured her. We both glanced back at Cade who was comparing swords with Eli. The ten year old boy seemed to glow with delight while in Cade's presence. Of course, I felt the same way! I leaned close and whispered in her ear. "A few nights ago, he asked me to be his lady!"
"No way!" Iris screeched. I nodded. "That is so sweet! You two are perfect for each other!" I sighed longingly and smiled. At that moment, we emerged in the meadow. Our Teffs watched and rushed to meet us. The flock of Dragons approaching us did not include Serafina nor Orion. After the initial rush, we snuck under and around the reuniting Viys and Teffs. After we escaped from the crowd, we spotted our Teffs in the back of the meadow.

"Serafina!" I called. She turned away from Orion and smiled at me.

Hello, she greeted me mentally. Aspen, listen, I need to tell you something.

I need to tell you something first, I told her.

Alright, but mine is important! She warned.

Mine is too, but it won't take to long! I promised. She nodded in consent. I decided it would be best to just come straight out with it. Cade asked me to be his lady!

Wow! She asserted. And you said yes, of course! I nodded eagerly.

Now, what did you want to tell me? I pondered.

Something quite similar actually! Orion and I are in love!

Congratulations! I stated. We should go out together! Midnight flys! It could be great!

Definitely! She agreed.

"Alright!" Shade called the meadow to order. "I am glad that you all are reuniting, however we will be switching it up today!" Everyone turned and began whispering to one another about what that could possibly mean. Shade rolled his eyes then shot a bolt of lightning into the sky. That sure caught everyones attention as a couple of girls shrieked. "Teffs, head to the right side of the meadow and Viys to the left!" We quietly went to our respective sides.

"Now," Iris started. "Viys, find a partner!" we all turned to our best friend here. "One you don't know very well!" Eli ran up to Cade and tugged on his hand. Cade smiled down at the boy.

"Why don't you and Aspen pair up," he suggested to the young Viy. Eli nodded and eagerly skipped over to me. Cade walked over to Iris and asked to pair up with her. She nodded.

"Does everyone have a partner?" Shade asked. No denials and the quiet confirmations told him everyone did. "Good! Now take a few minutes to get to know your partner!" Since Eli and I already knew each other a bit, we chatted casually. Shade caught everyone's attention once more with another lightning bolt. "Okay! Now, Teffs find your Viys!" Once this was done, Iris continued Shade's instructions,

"Viys, your partner's Teff is your Dragon for the day!" Cade gulped nervously. He knew that Shade hated Orion. I decided I should keep an eye on them. Anyways, I got to ride Gwen. "The point of this exercise is to make sure you can work with a Dragon other than your own. It is a useful skill, just in case something ever happens in battle. On several occasions, a Teff who has lost their Viy and a Viy who has lost their Teff will establish a mental connection, because they understand each other's grief. So, today, you will be learning new maneuvers with your temporary Teff! So, meet each other then be ready to train in five minutes. Once again, Gwen and I already knew each other so we struck up a pleasant conversation, during which I frequently checked on Cade and Shade. They seemed to be fine each time, so I let my guard down.

For the rest of the morning, we learned a maneuver called the fake out. This new strategy, developed by Iris herself, had us pretend to head one way then go the other. It was very useful in many different situations. Then we learned the corkscrew, which allowed us to literally fly around our attacker. After this, we broke for lunch. I approached Shade, but his saddle was empty. I whirled around to catch Cade in the act of surprising me, but he wasn't there. I slowly turned to Shade, who was conferring with Iris. I pulled out my sword and put it to that big lizard's throat. Iris gasped and tried to rip my arm away from Shade, but I just shook her off.

"Where's Cade?" I growled.