Rainbow Magic (Dragon Rider #1) {EDITING}

Rainbow Water

Frantic shaking woke her in the morning, an exasperated scowl informing her exactly who'd decided to wake her up at an ungodly hour in the morning. Ethan. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up, yawning. "What's up?"

"Get dressed. I'm taking you to get that damn test done before anything else can get in the way..." He shook his head, yanking her out from under the sheets. "You've got five minutes."

"Don't I get any breakfast?"

"After."

"Mm. Kay," she slurred, staggering over to her wardrobe as Ethan made his escape—having promised to be back exactly five minutes later. Sora grinned weakly, throwing a set of loose training clothes over her aching body as quickly as she could... because when Ethan said five minutes, he meant exactly that. Not even one second over.

That was unacceptable in his book.

"You ready yet?" He popped his head back into the room, taking in her tired form before proceeding to drag her out away, dragon egg in tow. "Isn't that supposed to be in the hatchery?" Ethan asked, having finally taken note of her shimmering silvery egg. "You're not supposed to take them out, you know."

"Not my fault," she mumbled. "It followed me."

"How?"

Sora shrugged. "Why the hell would I know...? It was just there."

"I suppose it doesn't matter." Ethan said, grumbling incompressible mutterings under his breath, and Sora knew it was no doubt to do with the fact a little side trip to the hatchery would ruin his perfectly planned schedule.

He loved those, and she knew it.

"Where's this test thingy?" She asked, trying once again to strike up conversation with the sullen man.

"Up a mountain. Vrax will have to fly us up." Ethan explained, tapping his foot against the ground as he waited for her to reach him.

Her egg was safely once again in the hands of the hatchery, where she was hoping it'd stay until it hatched. Though she doubted it... If there was one thing her egg liked to do it was surprise her and pretty much everyone else.

A large blue-scaled dragon interrupted her musings, intelligent sapphire eyes locking on hers.

"Is this the girl?"

Ethan nodded alongside Sora.

"Yes."

"Yep."

Ethan froze, as did Vrax, two sets of eyes locking on her as she shuffled back. "You can hear him?!"

She shrugged. "Yeah. No big deal... You said we'd be able to communicate with our dragons once they hatched... I mean, mine hasn't yet, but it's an unusual egg... Maybe that's why?"

He shook his head, as did his dragon. "No. You can only hear your own dragon."

"Unusual egg, remember?"

Ethan stroked his chin, a puzzled look creeping onto his face. "Perhaps." He mumbled, but his face was pure disbelief. "Let's just get you to your damn test. You've skived off it far too many times." With that said, he grabbed her by the arm, hauling her up onto his dragon with him. "Hold on tight."

"To what?!"

"Spines, or my waist." Ethan called over the rising winds. "Whichever you'd prefer..." He trailed off, stiffening slightly as Sora latched onto him. "It's only a short flight... and Oz said you were fine when you rode with him."

"Huh?"

"He said he let you ride with him..."

Sora blinked, soon slotting the pieces together. "I was unconscious."

"Oh."

"I guess Oz didn't bother to mention that part."

"No. Apparently not..." Ethan sighed, staring straight ahead as their destination came into view, despite the low-hanging clouds. "Nearly there... and we're ten minutes behind schedule, I'll have you know."

Sora merely sighed, already oddly well-accustomed to Ethan's ways.

The building was tall, considering it was build towards the top of the rocky mountain. Dark grey brickwork melted into the side of the cliff it'd been built in front of, seamlessly blending into the scenery, aside from the windows dotted about the building.

They flew towards the place, a set of large archways underneath the foundations of the castle-like structure coming into view as they came closer and closer—their destination, if Vrax's course was any indicator.

Sora tightened her grip on Ethan, silently assessing the size of the gaps, her worry evaporating as Vrax effortlessly flew through one of the large entranceways. A short flight later, and they were inside what looked like a cavern, evidently though that wasn't the end of her journey. A lift shaft had been built into the rock, and it was that which took them up to their destination.

"A pool?" She stared at the dark blue waters, noting the strange platform in the centre—just below the surface of the water—a creamy white stone which looked large enough for three people to sit comfortably on.

"Go and sit down," Ethan said. "I'll start your test."

"Umm... How am I supposed to get there?"

"The walkways, idiot. Take off your shoes and get moving. We don't have all day."

Sora sighed, quickly doing as she was asked. She didn't want to annoy Ethan, let alone Oz by taking longer than she was supposed to. She was due to be at the Training Grounds soon and, just like Ethan, Oz wouldn't be happy if she was late.

"Try not to drown."

"Helpful," she mumbled, walking down a similarly submerged walkway, taking a seat smack bang in the centre of the weird pool.

"You ready?"

"Going to release the sharks?"

"Very funny."

Sora smiled ever so slightly, swirling the waters around with her fingers, freezing in the next second as colours bled out of her into the clear dark blue of the pool.

"Well..." Ethan blinked, staring at her from the other room he'd wandered into, staring at the camera which showed the colours surrounding her. "That was unexpected..." He said, staring at the rainbow waters all around her.