Dragon Tamer(On hold)

Chapter One

Light leaked in through the crack in the curtains, rudely wakening Sumner Henderson from a sound sleep. He stirred and groaned, rolling over onto his back, one arm rested above his head on the pillow. He'd been having the most wonderful dream.

Suddenly Sumner sat straight up in bed, a broad smile spreading across his face, lapis lazuli eyes alight. Of course! How could he have forgotten? Today was the day of the Apprenticeship Test. Full of energy and excitement, Sumner flung off his sheets and padded across the hall into the bathing room. Sumner smiled. It looked as though his mother had already readied the tub for him.

Twenty minutes later, Sumner was washed and dressed, his wet blonde hair messily brushed back. He thumped barefoot down the hall and passed through the living room into the kitchen. There he found his mother standing over the stove, bacon sizzling in a frying pan, filling the room with a delicious aroma that mingled with the fresh air from the open window. His mother turned around when Sumner sat down at the table. She had her long brown hair pulled back into a loose bun, like she did every day. She smiled. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?” She flipped a slice of bacon and then planted a kiss on his cheek.

“It was alright.” Sumner replied, picking up an apple from the fruit bowl centering the oaken table, polishing the skin on his sleeve. It had been alright after he had finally fallen asleep after many hours of tossing and turning. He’d had too much excited energy to sleep.

Sumner bit into the apple, a trail of juice leaking down his chin. He wiped it off with the back of his hand.

I wonder whose apprentice I will be, he thought to himself. Vladimir, I hope. Vladimir Norton was the Dragon Tamer for the kingdom of Knedd, and it has always been Sumner’s dream to be just like him. Sumner dreamed of soaring high through the sky on the giant, broad back of a dragon. If he did graduate as a professional Dragon Tamer one day, and was assigned to his own Region, he would have his own dragon. Imagine flying anywhere you wanted whenever you wish.

Regions were the different parts of Alphan. Alphan has six Regions: the Scotts, Nemheath, Knedd, of course, Limpton, Dawsitch and Beacant. Each region had a king.

Sumner snapped out of his thoughts when his mother set a plate heaped with eggs and bacon in front of him. She also set down a basket of fresh bread and a bowl of butter. Ladling food onto her own plate, she sat down across from her son.

“Thank you.” He said before picking up his fork and shoveling a forkful of eggs into his mouth. It was delicious as always. His mother chuckled at his large appetite. Even his nerves wouldn’t stop him from eating. She assumed he did have some nerves, hidden under all the excitement.

The two sat and ate in silent, which was only broken by the clinking of their forks on the plate and the chirping of the birds outside, along with the occasional distant voices of others.

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Sumner paced round and round the living room, itching with anticipation and excitement. His mother sighed, setting the red tunic--a black dragon inside a white kite shield embroidered on the sleeve--and needle down in her lap. The tunic was for the Apprenticeship Test later that day at noon. All the contestants would be wearing one. ”Sumner, sit still. All of that pacing to and fro won’t help you any.” She sounded sympathetic. “You’re getting all worked up for nothing.”

Sumner sighed and straddled a chair, his arms rested on the back. His mother gave him a look, but allowed him to sit like that, just this once. After all, today was the day that decided his future.