DragonDrune

Chapter 1

Thalya Dinskadi hefted her sword with a grunt and chopped off the head of a dragon.

Not a real dragon, a training dummy of a dragon, but still.

It was time. The moment she had been training for since she was 2 years old. She was finally going to be a DragonDrune. A slayer of dragons, hopefully. Someday she could be a hero just like her idol, the great DragonDrune: Alecton. He was the greatest DragonDrune that had ever lived.

But, before she could be like him, she actually had to get to Neptune.

Within recent years people had developed the technology to fold space and time to get people to different planets within the span of weeks. If people didn't have the technology, it would take Thalya 11-12 years to even reach Neptune, and by then, the Dragon Purge would be over and won.

"Thalya, hatchling." Her trainer, Rhion said. She was standing at the door of the training room, her arms crossed over her chest. She was a large woman, built of mostly muscle, with her brown hair in a mohawk style. She had penetrating blue eyes and a merciless personality. Thalya thought of her as the mother she never had, even though she could be rough.

"It is time to go?!" Thalya asked, turning and painting heavily.

"It is." Rhion said with a nod and the very slightest of smiles.

Thalya jogged over to her weapons rack and set her broadsword down, then joined Rhion at the door and gave her a salute, resisting the urge to bounce up and down.

"Go to your room, get ready. If you forget clean underwear, I will sell you to the dragons myself." Rhion said.

Thalya nodded, grinning. She never knew when Rhion was joking or not.

Her room was right on the edge of the training facility, looking over the atlantic ocean. The facility was right on the edge of North Carolina.

When she got to her room, she showered and changed into the tight blue undergarments of her spacesuit. The fabric was light and it almost felt like she was naked.

Thalya stood in front of her mirror and did her auburn hair, which was just long enough to tuck under her arms, in a braid down her shoulder. She studied her features; short, broad muscular shoulders from swinging swords and shooting bows, olive skin with a blush in her cheeks that never seemed to go away, wide-set brown eyes, and neat eyebrows. She wore no makeup, and her only accessory was a silver earring that curled up and around her ear in the shape of a snake.

Thalya quirked up one side of her mouth in a catlike grin.

"I'm going to Neptune to fight as a DragonDrune." She told herself with a curt nod. She had been telling herself that every morning since she was 6. Now she was 17 and it was becoming a reality. She didn't need to say it any longer.

She packed her things and laced up her boots, but as she left her room, she collided with something very large.

"OOF."

"Thalya, you didn't think you would be able to leave without saying goodbye, did you?" Said a voice in her ear as she was crushed in a bear hug.

"Cayl?" Thalya asked. She struggled out of the hug and met his eyes. He was her oldest friend, a complete goofball, and a little clingy. Nothing about his appearance matched his personality though. He was stocky, easily over six feet tall, and generally looked like a football jock.

"You goose, you're coming to Neptune in a month, only! You'll see me then." Thalya laughed.

"Yeah, but that's a month. I can't say goodbye?" He protested.

"Fine," Thalya sighed and punched him playfully in the stomach. He pretended to be in pain and offended but they both ended up laughing.

"I've gotta go now or Rhion will feed me to the dragons," Thalya said, grinning at her oaf of a friend.

He nodded and rubbed his knuckles into her skull. "See you in a month, Thalya."

She set off to meet Rhion at the spaceport.

***

    "Come, hatchling," Rhion said as Thalya came up to her, "They are waiting. Neptune is waiting. Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Thalya said, setting her jaw. "Let's fold some space."

They walked up a giant ramp and into the rocket, Celestae. After storing their things, they strapped themselves into the passenger bay along with the other DragonDrune trainees going to Neptune and waited for the rocket launch.

"Are you excited?" Thalya asked the girl next to her. She had seen her in training a couple of times, but had never talked to her.

The girl, tall, lanky, with jet black hair in a buzz cut style glanced at Thalya for a moment, said, "Yeah, you?"

"So excited!" Thalya said with a wide grin.

The girl snorted a laugh. "Yeah, the dragons will probably get you first."

Thalya scrunched up her nose. I'll show her. She thought.

"10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Ignition"

Space, here I come. I am going to be a DragonDrune.

Vote if you would like to go to space! Would you fight dragons on the coldest planet known to mankind?