Dragon Rider in the Modern World.

The Beginning of a Journey

I want to dedicate this chapter to Elise Kova, the awesome author of Air Awakens. She inspired me for some of the elements of this book, and gave me a lot of encouragement when I talked to her through e-mail. If you haven't read her books, you really should, since they are amazing.

Valerie's POV:
I opened my eyes. A thin beam of light was passing through a gap between my curtains and the window. I reached out to grab my Kindle. I wasn't really thinking about much, I just wanted to keep on with Air Awakens, one of my favorite series, which I was currently rereading.

"Don't you know what day it is? Get up!" Isaldrí shouted at me mentally.

"Stop screaming at me, and let me read in peace! I'll go to see you later." I snapped, obviously annoyed. I had totally forgotten that today was the start of our trip to find the other Riders.

"Come on! You should know what today is."

"What?"

"Guess." She said teasingly.

"Please tell me." I begged.

"I'm really surprised you forgot."

"Please."

"Ok. I relent. Do you by any chance remember-"

"Cut to the point. What is happening today?" I was getting bored. Isaldrí really was being annoying and insufferable today.

"Something about a trip. Other Riders? Ring a bell?"

"Now I remember!" I exclaimed. "I really can't believe it took me that long to remember, to that I even forgot."

"Exactly! Now get out of bed now! I want to get going!"

I gave in to her demands, got out of my bed, took a shower, and dressed in warm and comfortable clothes for traveling. I had packed my bags the night before, and when I was ready I went down.

We had agreed to meet at the clearing, and Anne was coming with us to say goodbye, and help keep up the illusion. We had made sure that it wouldn't falter, but if it did, Anne could call us, and we would fix it. I arrived to the stables, tacked up Flicka and rode to the clearing. Since the discovery that I could speak to her with my mind, we had been getting pretty close, and as a result, working better together.

Arriving at the meeting place, I dismounted and greeted my two friends, who were already there. It was almost time to go. I repacked all my things in Isaldrí's saddle bags, trying to delay the time to leave. I was excited, but I really would miss everything here.

"Well, I'm ready." I announced.
"Good luck. I'll be waiting here for you, and I expect to hear about everything and be able to meet the Riders you find."
"Of course we will tell you! You're our best friend."
"I'm going to miss you." Anne admitted.
"We are going to miss you too."

It was pretty emotional, but we couldn't possibly drag out our departure any more. Raven and I mounted our dragons, and they took off. We quickly ascended to the level of the clouds, casting an invisibility spell that only the four of us could see through. We had decided to first check the main cities in Canada, if the tracking spell we had placed led us to that area. We weren't exactly in a hurry, but we flied until sunset. We were bordering the US, and since we had left kind of late because we had dragged out our departure.

We landed I Alberta, close to the capital. From tomorrow on, we would check every city to find the Rider. Now that we were in the state, we wouldn't have anymore clues, till we got close to whoever the person was.

We decided to camp tonight, instead of staying in the hotel. By now, our partners were big enough so that they could each cover us with their wings, which would act as a tent. This also saved us space and money that we would probably need more later on.

After dinner, which consisted of sausages and potatoes cooked over the bonfire we made, we slipped into our sleeping bags. After talking for a while, we fell asleep. I knew that the trip wouldn't exactly be easy, and we had to wake up bright and early the next day, so we took the opportunity to rest our tiered bodies from flying. It obviously wouldn't be the hardest flight, which would actually be crossing the Atlantic, but we still had to get used to the long hours of it.

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We both woke up at around six in the morning the next day. Stretching my arms, I admired the landscape. In the distance, I could see the skyline of the city, the sun starting to peek out from the spaces between the buildings, making a beautiful landscape. I thought that it would make an interesting drawing.

We packed up everything again, removed traces of our camp, and mounted. It would be a long day of searching for the Rider, and I hoped that we would find him or her quickly, so that we could continue with our quest.

Hi guys, this chapter isn't exactly the longest, but I needed to set up for the next chapters where the duo will start recruiting the Riders. If you noticed, the map at the top shows the rough locations of the cities where they are, and you can follow their journey from there.

~Valerie.

Ps: I'm going to be tweaking the first chapters a little, since my English teacher is helping me revise them to make them better, and more entertaining for the reader, but nothing absolutely dramatic will be changing in the storyline.