The Falling Rider

Chapter 1

"Focus Adira!" My mother scolds. She looks away for a second and I roll my eyes. Right now, I'm in a lesson. A preparation lesson at that.

So, let me tell you a few things about me. My name's Adira. My father is the king of our kingdom, Drakona, and my mother is queen. I have a little sister named Li. I also have a dragon named Storm. He's a blue water dragon that has the power to control waves and summon any kind of storm. He's one of my best friends. I have a few other best friends as well. My bestie named Skyrah who's strong, smart, and amazing in many other ways, my friend Leo who's also strong and very protective of me, and my friend Darius who's brave and courageous. They all have dragons too. Skyrah has a red fire dragon named Ember who has the power to shoot lava as well as fire. Leo has a yellow air dragon named Lightning who has the power to summon storms like Storm can. Darius has a green earth dragon named Quake who has the power to summon earthquakes. Anyways, more about me later.

"You need to focus if you want to get this technique down." She scolds as I practice walking to my throne.
"It has to be perfect." She says as she watches me. I try to keep my posture as perfect as I can, but apparently it's not good enough for her.
"No, no, no! Adira, sweetheart, don't just focus on your posture, but other forms of  body language as well." She says as she walks over to me.
"Head held high." She says as she lifts my chin up into the air.
"Shoulders back." She says as she puts my shoulders back.
"Back straight." She says as I straighten my posture. She takes a good look at me and nods. I slowly walk towards the throne, silently praying this is the last run through I have for today. I get to my throne after what seems like forever, turn around, and sit as properly as I can. My mother stares at me and slowly nods. Finally.
"Ok, good Adira. You're free to go." She says as she turns around and writes down a few notes. I quickly get up and run out of the gathering room. I close the doors behind me and run to the dragon stables. There, I'm greeted by Skyrah.
"Hey Adira! How were lessons?" She asks as she gives me a hug.
"They were okay, but they took forever." I say as I grab Storm's saddle and go into his stable. His head perks up as he sees me. He walks towards me and puts his head on my shoulder. I wrap my free arm around his neck and smile.
"Hey Storm! What've you been up to?" I ask as I place the saddle on his back. He growls, annoyed that I asked since I already know the answer.
"Absolutely nothing since I've been waiting for you all day." He says. I guess I forgot to mention that dragon riders have a special bond with their dragon and they can speak to each other through their minds.  Oops.
"Sorry, but it's not my fault." I say as I finish putting his saddle on him.
"I know, it's just boring here without you." He says sadly as he looks down.
"Hey, don't worry. I'll be finishing up preparation lessons this year! I'm almost 18 now and when I turn 18, I won't have lessons anymore." I comfort him as I take his head in my hands and scratch under his chin. He croons in delight.
"Then I can't wait for you to turn 18." He says kindly.
"Hey, you guys ready? Leo and Darius are meeting us as the cliffs today!" Skyrah says.
"Yep! Ready to go!" I say as I walk out of the stables with Storm following behind. Skyrah and I get on our dragons and start flying towards the cliffs.

After doing a few tricks and our dragons showing off, we finally made it to the cliffs. Skyrah lands next to Darius and I land in the middle of her and Leo.
"Hey Adira." He greets, smiling warmly.
"Hey Leo." I greet, smiling and waving.
"How were your lessons?" He asks.
"They were okay. They can take forever though, so I'm glad I finally got out of there." I answer.
"I'm glad you finally got out of there too. I was beginning to think you weren't gonna come at all today!" He exclaims.
"What?! That's insane! I could never skip a flight with Storm and you guys." I say as I pet Storm's neck.
"I was beginning to think you weren't coming either." Storm jokes.
"Oh hush." I say to him in my mind.
"Leo likes you." Storm teases.
"Will you stop with that?" I ask him.
"Nope." He answers, then starts talking to Ember. I turn back towards Leo to see him staring at me and smiling. I smile back and can practically feel Storm smirk when he looks at us.
"Are you guys ready to fly or what?" Skyrah asks us.
"Uh, duh! Let's go!" I say. We fly into the air and pick up speed as we fly to no where in particular.
"Where do you wanna go guys?" Darius asks us. Leo and I shrug.
"Ooh! Let's go to the cave crystals! Please?" Skyrah asks.
"Yeah! Let's go to the cave crystals!" I exclaim as my smile widens.
"Alright, alright. Let's go to the cave crystals." Leo says and we start flying towards the cave.

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Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this story! I'll try to post at least one chapter every day.