Rainbow Magic (Dragon Rider #1) {EDITING}

Second Day of Hell

Ethan had been silent on the journey back down the mountain, Sora simply burying her face in his blue coat as the wind whipped past them. Everything was confusing the hell out of her. Her magic couldn't seem to make up its mind on what colour it wanted to be... which meant no training for her in that area. She had no idea where she stood in the grand scheme of things, and it made her nervous.

"About damn time you got here..." Oz remarked, watching as Ethan helped her down from Vrax's scaled back. "I was worried I'd have to make the Truant do extra laps of the city or something."

"Just on time, peasant."

"Nice timing, Sor... We were just about to get started." Raelynn grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

"What are you so happy about?" Oz scowled, glaring at the overly enthusiastic blonde. "Do you want me to give you extra laps instead?"

"Don't let me interrupt your training," Ethan mumbled, retreating towards his dragon, pausing when Oz beckoned him over instead.

"You're not," he said. "In fact, you'll be helping it, if you tell me what magic the Truant has. I'm planning on starting them off with some basic exercises for their magic."

"Ah."

"What?"

Ethan shrugged. "Sora's magic seems to be a bit of a mystery..."

"What?" Oz echoed, his eyebrows scrunching up. "Didn't you just—?"

"Yep."

"You really are a weird one..." Oz turned his gaze back on her, examining her from head to toe. "Honestly, what am I gonna do with you?"

"You're the instructor, you figure it out," Sora grumbled, irked by her apparent lack of ordinary magic—an oversight she regretted sorely a few seconds later, having received one of Oz's trademark hits.

"Three extra laps around the training grounds for you."

"Of the training ground?" Sora blinked. "Are you going easy on us today?"

He laughed. Loudly. "No." One second her was chuckling, the next he was staring seriously at her—a sickening grin curling at the corners of his lips, and Sora knew they were in trouble. "Now get running."

***

"Right." Oz clapped his hands, staring around the group of sweaty exhausted teens. "Now that you're all warmed up—"

"You call that a warm up?" Raelynn puffed.

"I can make it longer if you'd like?"

"That was a fantastic warmup," she said, straightening under his glare.

"Glad you agree," Oz said, nodding at them, "because it's time to move onto the next part of your training."

"Next part?" Silver tilted her head, Ivana mirroring her rider's actions as she perched on her shoulder.

Oz smiled. "I'll be starting you on some basic exercises for your magic," he explained, casting a glance in Sora's directions—his grin widening—and her stomach dropped. "They vary according to what colour you've obtained."

"And?" Silver looked oddly nervous.

"Don't worry, Granny, you've got your own private field," Oz sighed, his eyes flickering to the brunette waiting by the small opening in the fence enclosing the training ground. "You even get your own personal instructor."

"Why does she get a whole field to herself?!" Raelynn scowled. "That's hardly fair!"

"Five laps. Get moving."

"Eh?"

"Since you're a special cupcake, you get to run five more laps. Shoo... unless you want me to hit you?"

Raelynn started running.

"Go on Silver, I'll expect you back at seven on the dot," he said, turning away from the silverette. "Now, for the rest of you lucky ones... I'll need you to separate off into your colours, OK?"

The twins looked at each other. "We've got black."

"Yellow," Callum stuttered.

"I'm a Red." Beatrice grinned. "Raelynn's a Greenie... and Sora—"

"—is another special cupcake," Oz said, before turning to each of them at a time, setting them all off on different exercises which involved everything from crystal balls—a sight Sora loathed—to buckets of water filled with an odd black gloop. "Right." He turned to her, having settled the other five. "Let's try and see if we can't crack open that magic of yours..."

"Umm... How?"

"By putting you in a life-threatening situation." Fire cracked to life in his hand, the flames an inky black touched with silver. "I do hope you dodge this..."

And that was how Sora found herself sprinting around the training grounds, narrowly avoiding the black fires which tore up chunks of grass and dirt until seven in the evening—when she finally collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Nothing marginally interesting had happened, aside from Oz cackling manically as he lobbed flaming ball after flaming ball at her, and all she'd gotten out of it were improved reflexes and an unhealthy respect for black flames.

A foot nudged her prone form, her eyes fluttering open as a hand patted her cheek, Oz's glinting green eyes peering down into her own for a few seconds before they rolled back into their sockets and her mind slipped into unconsciousness.

Only to find herself in a white room seconds later.

It wasn't the hospital, and it certainly wasn't anywhere on earth. She recognised it instantly, still, having been there once before—her mindscape.

Puffy white cloud-like structures surrounded her unlike the last time, blocking her sight of everything around her, and the air felt oddly heavy as she stepped into the whiteness. Her eyes widened, her body feeling sluggish and exhausted the further she went into the seemingly unending white mists.

"You're not strong enough yet." A familiar voice echoed around the place—the so-called Monster that dwelled within her cloak taking on a ghostly form behind her. "You won't be able to find him like you are now... not unless he wants to be found..."

"He?"

"Rest now, little cub," the Monster whispered, the words acting like a lullaby as Sora slumped forwards, blinking as a bed sprung into existence underneath her. "You'll understand everything soon..."