Racing the Storm

Chapter 1

White noise.

That's what the cheering became after this many races, white noise. Nothing could stand out. They were so used to the sound. 

But she felt the crowd. Felt their excitement, their anticipation, their competitive energy. It radiated off of them and infected every one of her senses. She couldn't ever make out a single face in the sea of people, but she could make out the colors. To see the black and green dominating the stands knowing they were depending on her filled her chest with adrenaline before she even left the starting line.

She ran a hand down the two largest horn's on the dragon's head. She felt the ridges and the way it curved slightly upward towards the end and eventually thinned out. She felt the large scaly body below her shift, readying itself for what was to come.

From the small stand in front of the bleachers a hand rose, a small revolver held tightly in its grip.

BANG

Two large deathly grey wings bursted away from the sides of the dragon beneath her and propelled the massive body forward. Wind sliced at the girl's face as the colors of every object around her blurred together until it was all unrecognizable. 

She tightened her grip and pushed down just a bit. With ease the massive creature turned its grey snout  towards the rings in the sky. Held up by other dragons the rings waited patiently for someone to pass through, bobbing slightly with the wingbeats of their carriers.

As they leveled the dragon pressed its wings to its body tightly to make it through. The girl hardly even noticed they had gone through the first one until the wings unfurled in all their grey-blue beauty to get to the next one.

She guided her steed using its own horns and made it successfully through each ring. But the nearby hissing told her she was not alone.

She spared a glance back to see someone riding a black night crest dragon. She focused her gaze forward once again, not incredibly worried about the competitor behind her. Instead she leaned to the left and pushed down that horn too. The dragons body tilted and brought the pair towards the lake.

The glistening blue depths of Dragonnet Lake awaited the pair. Even in the darkness of the night, the moon and the lamps wee enough to illuminate the gorgeous blue waters that welcomed the racers. With a simple tilt down the pair zoomed over its surface, disrupting the stillness and elicited cheers from those around its shores.

A smile spread across the young riders face as the bright lights of the stadium grew closer and closer by the second.

She leaned forward but did not apply pressure. The dragon snorted and flapped his wings harder, pushing and pushing until they ripped over the finish line.

She sat back and slowed her dragon. Wings shot out as the creature positioned himself vertically to slow himself down before they ended up out of the field. 

The crowd was no longer white noise., she could hear them now.

"Thalia! Thalia! Thalia!" The crowd chanted. 

She couldn't help but grin. The rest of the racers began to fly in, second place coming quite a few seconds after Thalia while third and fourth nearly tied. The rest, Thalia was not concerned about. 

Her dragon landed gave a triumphant roar, blue smoke arising from his mouth as he drowned out the cheers with his own voice. Thalia chuckled slightly and made her dragon walk her to the center of the field.

The cheers got louder, drawing out any of the other school's students.

It was all about Thalia right now.