Rainbow Dragon (Dragon Rider #2) | On Hold | Pending Rewrite

Prologue

A glance at his alarm clock was all he needed to realise he was truly and utterly doomed.

The bright red numbers taunted him, like they always did, making him shoot out of bed in a flurry of limbs and blankets. He was late, dammit, and that was a never a good thing to be. Not with the instructor he had.

He threw on his clothes at record speed, knowing he should've been out of the door at least half an hour ago... and if he wasted any more time then his team would come looking for him.

And seeing as he wasn't bed bound or horribly ill, a house visit would only end one way – with him on the floor, writhing in pain.

Feet slapped against the tiles, heart pounding frantically in his chest as he sprinted through the city. He glanced down at the crudely-drawn map, carefully navigating his way through the maze of streets and haphazard fencing. Micah had given him the map to help him find his way, and he'd never been more grateful for it in his life.

He was a true friend.

Even if he insisted on insulting them and denying that fact at every turn.

He sprinted around the next corner, ignoring the red banners ruffling in the wind above him as he ran towards the familiar courtyard. The one their lovely instructor forced them to meet at every single day. The same one he usually arrived late to every single day.

"He's still not here, huh?"

He panted, pushing himself towards the sound as fast as he could. Maybe he wasn't that late... Maybe their instructor miraculously wouldn't be there... Maybe his luck would actually ring true just once... Boots skidded to a stop, screeching against the tile as he made it to their courtyard.

"I'm here," he breathed, winded from his run.

"About damn time," a brunette boy sitting on the stone bench muttered, glaring darkly at him. "How you can manage to be so late pretty much every day astounds me... I drew you a damn map for a reason."

He laughed weakly, scratching the back of his neck. "Sorry, my alarm didn't go off..." he said, freezing as he felt a shadow appear behind him.

A fist slammed down on his messy black locks, pain radiating through his skull at the familiar painful knock.

"Owww! Dammit Lionel," he moaned, glaring up at his instructor. "Do you have to hit me every single time?"

"I was hoping to knock some sense into you," Lionel said, his signature smirk firmly fixed in place.

Personally he couldn't wait to knock it off his face.

It was one of his life goals.

"Come on, idiot," the brunette scowled, glaring at him in annoyance as per usual. "We do have better things to be doing, you know."

"Aww, don't be mean Micah," a blonde boy said, throwing an arm around his disgruntled teammate's shoulders. "We're a team, and teams are supposed to stick together."

"It doesn't give him an excuse to be late every single time," Micah muttered, looking away from the overly cheerful blonde.

He smiled as the pair bickered, running a hand through his inky black locks as his eyes flickered between the last four members of their team.

The twins were far too busy arguing between themselves to even register his presence, and the love-obsessed imbecile was busy making goo-goo eyes at the girl he liked. He rolled his eyes, nursing his abused head as he wandered over to join the rest of his team. It was then that the sole girl on their team finally looked up from the book she was always so engrossed in, lips curving into a small smile as she finally spoke.

"You're late, Oz..."