A Dragon's Rider (Edited)

Chapter 8

No one else is called up and the blue robed man continues his speech.

"My name is Terrance and I am the head Water mage." The water mages cheer excitedly. "Alright. Settle down. Our instructors will now introduce themselves before your first class of the year!"

The instructors all come up but I only pay attention to the dragon riders. A large, buff man is Rei and he teaches Combat, a tall, thin man named Carl teaches History, and so on and so forth until there are only a few left.

Hunter steps up once and says, "I'm Hunter. I teach Strategy." I'm intrigued, strategy sounds interesting and I'm excited to learn about it.

Terrance finally comes back. "Okay! Get ready to go to your first class. First-year Dragon riders, you will ALL be doing fitness and ground training with ALL your instructors. Meet them on the field in the back when classes start. Everyone, classes start today at 8:30. Ready, set, go!" In a wave, everyone goes running to the doors. I stay seated until everyone else is gone and the boys stay with me.

"So." Alex says "What time is it?"

"8:00." is my response. "We have 30 more minutes. What're your first classes?"

"We all have Flight and Aerobatics."

"ALL of you?"

"Yep. We all have the same schedule."

"Nice job with Terrance," says James. "He is a royal pain in the ass."

I smile "Why?"

"He thinks that water mages are above everyone else and believes we should be serving them."

My smile turns to a frown, "That's wrong. Everyone has different skill sets."

"Yeah. Well, do you need to change or anything before class?"

"Nope."

"Great. We'll show you to the field. Maybe get a demonstration of your performer abilities?" I nod quietly, too lost in thought to really think about what he's saying. "Yes! I've always wanted to see a performer up close!" The boys whoop loudly and start chatting about what tricks they've seen and what they think I can do.

I follow their lead when they stand up and Airre squeaks from her place on my shoulder.

"Get up, you lazy dragon," I tease her. She sighs and unfolds her wings. One push and she's flying, twirling around our heads. Her purple streaks catch the light and look like shimmering silk.

After dropping our plates into the bin, the boys lead me down numerous hallways. Each one is longer than the last until, at the end of one particularly long hallway, there is a huge wooden door. It was at least twelve feet tall and had iron and silver details. Brandon pushes it and it swings open without a sound. Harsh, bright sunlight filters in, blinding me. The grass is green and lush, the sky blue with a few lazy clouds drifting by. Only a few boys are there and they look around in awe, similar to what I imagine my face looks like right now. Long, wooden table is are lining the green field and an array of weapons fill them.

Time flies by as I gawk at my surroundings, used to San Marral where the biggest weapon I'd seen was a longsword one of the Dragon Riders brought once. Most of the weapons on the tables are double or triple the size of the sword and I marvel at the thought that someone could lift them. I must have been standing there for 5 minutes before Alex clears his throat.

"You were going to show us your tricks?"

"Oh!" I had totally forgotten when I saw the training field. "Right, what do you want me to do?" Immediately, the boys start to shout of suggestions and things they think I can do.