The Falling Rider

Chapter 13

It's been about a month since we left the kingdom. Right now, I'm peacefully leaning against a sleeping Storm, drawing the scenery in front of me. A beautiful lake with a waterfall streaming into it. Many trees surround this area. Behind the waterfall, it has a cave full of patterns and crystals. It's so peaceful and calming. I usually come here to clear my mind when I'm thinking about him. I haven't been able to stop thinking about Gallagher for a while now. I haven't been able to keep my mind off of him. Even when I'm with Leo. Leo. Leo and I are doing well, but I've noticed whenever he looks at me, his eyes are full of lust instead of love. It confuses me, but I usually just ignore it. We all love it here. When we went flying to find an island farther away from the kingdom, we found this island. It's perfect. I absolutely love it here, but I can't help but miss the kingdom. What? It was my home for 17 years! Speaking of my age, I'm turning 18 tomorrow! I haven't mentioned it to anyone and they haven't mentioned it to me. Well, all except for Li who won't stop bothering me about it. Speaking of my little sister, she finally has a dragon to ride. With a lot of convincing from her, I helped her train one. He's a star dragon, meaning he shoots meteors. Cool, right? He's all black with silver eyes and claws. He's a bit smaller than Storm. His name is Midnight. As if on cue, I hear a few wing flaps behind me and Storm's head perks up. Midnight is like Storm's little brother. I turn around to see Li running towards me.
"Adira!" She shouts as I get up and hug her. Storm walks over to Midnight and chases him. Li looks up at me excitedly.
"You're birthday is tomorrow!" She yells.
"Yes, I know! I'll be turning 18!" I say. She squeals and tackles me in a hug again.
"Let's go back to camp! Leo wanted me to get you." She says as she pulls me over to our dragons.
"Leo sent you?" I ask and she nods. He could've came here himself. It's not like he doesn't know about this place. Storm and Midnight walk up to us and nudge us. We get on them and start to fly back to camp.

We land at our camp and everyone rushes up to us. I look to Leo to see him smirking at me. What happened to his loving smile... I don't like it when he smirks at me. It makes me feel weird. Storm senses this feeling and growls at Leo. Everyone goes from talking loudly to silent. Leo narrows his eyes at Storm, then looks up to me.
"What the hell is wrong with your dragon?" Leo raises his voice, making me flinch. Storm growls louder as my fear grows. It's not like Leo has ever hurt me, he's just been scaring me lately with his smirk and lustful eyes. It's just creepy.
"I-I don't know." I answer quietly as I get off of Storm. Skyrah, Darius, and Li walk away from us, talking and watching us intently. Leo clenches his fists.
"What do you mean you don't know?!" He asks angrily. Storm snarls and circles his tail around me protectively. I put my hand on Storm's head, trying to calm him down.
"He's your dragon! You should know!" Leo shouts and I flinch again. He's asking what's wrong with my dragon?! What about him?!
"I just... I don't know." I say, looking away from his glare. I look back up and he looks furious.
"Well, you better calm him the fuck down!" He shouts at me. Instead of flinching, this time I glare back at him.
"No, you need to calm down! Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?" I ask.
"What do you mean?! What am I acting like?! Huh?!" He asks, taking a few steps forward.
"Like an asshole!" I shout as he comes closer. His eyes widen in shock, but soon turn back into a glare.
"Don't you dare call me that you bitch!" He threatens. Li gasps from a few yards away. My eyes immediately widen and now I'm fuming.
"You wanna curse in front of my little sister again, Leo? See what happens!" I shout, walking towards him. He scowls at me and clenches his fists tighter.
"You know what?!" He asks before... slapping me across the face. A slap that made my left cheek burn. I hear multiple gasps and a protective roar. I hold my hand out to Storm who backs off obediently, still snarling at Leo. I hold my my hand up to my left cheek and wince.
"You... You slapped me..." I whisper. I don't believe it. Tears form in my eyes as I look back up at him. His eyes turn from glaring to guilt in an instant.
"Adir-" he gets cut off by me punching him in the face. Yeah, that's right. I don't take shit from anyone. He falls to the floor and holds his jaw where I punched him. Tears stream down my face as I quickly jump on Storm and we fly into the distance.