A Dragon's Rider (Edited)

Chapter 5

"For what?" I voice my confusion

"For your egg to hatch."

"Ok..." I trail off. "How long will that take?"

He chuckles. "A bit impatient, are we?" I blush and don't reply.

"How long have you worked here?" I try to start a conversation.

He shrugs. "Not sure, maybe 10 years. And a new charge each year. Most of them survive, don't worry." He sees my shocked face and laughs. "I'm kidding. 80% survive." I don't say anything and an awkward silence falls over us again.

In the silence of the room, everyone suddenly hears a noise that sounds like breaking glass. My eyes go immediately to my egg and I see it is shaking. As I am kneeling down to touch it, all the soon-to-be dragon riders and their attendants come over to see. I reach out a hand and the surface of the egg is pulsing. It flares and rocks violently. The heat spikes, and suddenly, a small piece of the shell breaks off the top. We all gasp, and the egg goes still. No one moves for a few minutes until we hear another crack. A jagged line has appeared in my egg, and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. The line flares once and everything is quiet again.

Suddenly, the egg fully splits into two nearly perfect halves. A small body rolls out and lies in the nest, breathing shallowly. Small, pebbled scales cover its body and two graceful horns curve from its head. The scales are a rich navy color, but its feet, nose, tail, and the tips of each horn transition into a light purple. I instinctively know it's a female, Airre. Her name is Airre.

Airre's eyes open and everyone gasps - the base color is the same light purple as here horns, but there are visible spots of dark gold. She looks like a large cat in some ways, yet she is completely different at the same time. Her body is the same shape, but her back has little ridges on it, she has a more narrow, feminine, head, and go course, large wings. Slowly, everyone leaves me, Berian, and Airre alone. There are more cracks and gasps until everyone has their dragon.

The dragons are a sea of colors - blue, green, orange, red - that all blend into each other. Each one has a unique scale and eye color. I hear whispers among the trainees as they say their dragon's name for the first time.

"Zephyr."

"Thalia."

"Tide."

"Carma."

"Heath."

"Harlow."

"What's her name?" Berian asks

"Airre." I whisper.

He smiles. "Beautiful," he says.

"EVERYONE LISTEN UP!" I hear Hunter shout. "Okay! Now that you all have your dragons and their names, you are free to go to dinner." I stare, stunned. This had taken all day? What?

"Well," I turn to Berian "see you at dinner."

"Okay," he smiles at me and I realize how handsome he is. His black hair is just messed up to make it endearing and his light gray eyes sparkle with mysteries.

I am running to the dining hall when I hear the cry. It sounds like a whining cat and pulls my heartstrings. I skid to a stop and wait. It calls again but is closer. A large blob comes rushing around the corner and knocks into me. My head hits the ground hard and I see red spots dancing in my vision. Groaning, I sit up and see what attacked me. There, sitting on my chest is Airre. She is mewling like a lost kitten and kneading my chest with fat, blunt claws. Her beautiful eyes look down at me and sparkle. She croaks out a short cry and jumps off.

Shakily, I stand up and head towards the dining hall, until a sudden weight on my shoulders almost has me falling again. I straighten, with much difficulty, and look down. Airre is lying down around my neck, head on my right, tail on my left. Her tail is hooked around my neck and if I were to move the wrong way, I would get choked.

"Alright," I sigh "You can stay." If she hears me, she doesn't let me know and just rests her head on her paws. The rest of the walk is uneventful, and sooner than I anticipated, I am standing next to the great oak doors. I hear the shouting before I even open them and it only gets louder when I do. One one side, there is a huge buffet with everything you could ever want. On the other, there are round tables that look like they could hold seven people each. I look swiftly around before recognizing the boys. I walk towards their table and slip into a seat. They are arguing and haven't seemed to notice my presence. I clear my throat and everyone jumps. They look at me briefly, nod their head and go back to arguing. I give them five seconds.

Their heads snap towards me and the little dragon on my shoulder. Alex is the first to speak.

"Liora, don't freak out, but there's a thing on your shoulder. Stay still and we'll get it off." He slowly approaches me and is about a foot away before I stop him.

"I know. It's Airre."

He blinks. "Who?"

"Airre. My dragon." It feels good to say that, almost like something has been missing and I finally found it. I finally found Airre.