A Shadow Of Hope

Chapter 28

It had taken Ezra eleven days, but he'd finally managed to get his studying done. Fawn had told him she was going to set him a test that would see how much he'd learnt. The crew went out on a mission leaving Fawn, Ezra, Hurricane and Whiplash to the exam.

"Alright, most of the time, there's a time limit of sixty minutes for this test. But considering you're younger then most dragon riders in training, you have all the time you need."

"How old are most of the dragon riders in training?" Ezra asked.

"Normally nineteen to twenty years of age. You're by far the youngest Fawn's ever agreed to train" Hurricane told him.

"Might train" Fawn corrected the dragon sharply.

"It all depends whether Ezra finds his dragon or not."

Fawn gave Ezra a nine paged booklet with twenty questions on every side. Words failed Ezra, he just stared as he flicked through the pages.

"How many questions?" He asked after a while.

"One hundred and eighty" Fawn replied.

Ezra looked up at her, mouth slightly open.

"You're kidding. Some dragon riders have an hour to complete this?"

"Yeah, be thankful I'm giving you unlimited time" Fawn told him.

Ezra picked up his pencil.

"You can start" Fawn said.

The boy immediately began on the first question:
How many scales are on a Fire Fang? 
If Ezra thought the first question was a little hard, he hadn't seen anything yet.

Fawn spent her time reading more books on Dragon history, trying to find an explanation for Kyber's second rider situation.
Hurricane and Whiplash were either dosing or watching Ezra write the answers of his test. Occasionally, the boy would stop, look at the ceiling then continue.
There were some rather complicated questions in the test such as;

How do Forest Weavers get their powers?

In which year was the first Ritcemphrea discovered?

What is the chemical reaction when a Thunder Cry releases a toxin into a lightning storm?

It took about an hour and a bit for Ezra to finish, but he was definitely satisfied with his work.

"Done" he sighed with relief, putting down his pencil.

Fawn looked over her book and smiled at the boy.

"Nice job. I'll mark it tonight and let you know how you did in the morning. If you achieve over eighty percent, I'll take you to Kabera to get your dragon, if you've failed well, at least you did your best. Now go take a break, you've done a lot of work for someone your age."

"What if I've gotten a hundred percent?" Ezra asked standing.

"Then I promise you'll be a very successful dragon rider" Fawn told him.

"I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me when the others get back okay?"

Fawn nodded and Ezra left.

"Will you be mind blown if he gets a hundred percent?" Whiplash asked.

"Believe me Whiplash, if he does, saying I'll be mind blown is an understatement" Fawn replied.