The Last Dragon Rider (Book 1 of Rider Series)

Chapter 17

Something was wrong; I could feel it as I stirred back into the land of the living and tried to process what had happened.

I knew that I wasn't in the meeting room anymore, no sound of discussion filling my ears as we talked about whatever we needed to get on the same page as others. There was no sound of shuffling as people got comfortable or the occasional sniffle and cough while Jonah led the discussion, and I answered what I knew truthfully.

There... was nothing, and it didn't process through my groggy mind that I was nowhere near anyone else until I opened my eyes to be blinded by a bright light.

Quickly, I closed my eyes and groaned, the feeling of this strange soreness covering my body like the quilted blanket I normally used when I slept at home.

Home... a place where I needed to get back and help with the chores that I hadn't done the day before, but it was also the place where I didn't know how to get back to.

After a while, the soreness became bearable, and I was finally able to stir and open my eyes to check out my surrounding. Slowly, I sat up and looked around to notice that I was in a meadow spotted with an array of different colored flowers ranging blues, grays, reds, pinks, and golds that shifted with the coming of a soft breeze.

I closed my eyes to the breeze and felt it gesture for me to follow, so I stood and started to walk in the direction that it wanted me to go before running when it picked up speed, feeling its urgency. I ran as fast I could, my bare feet touching the ground softly and not making any noise to alert others that I was there.

All too soon, I came to a halt in front of a drop and ignored the wind as it tried to push me across the ledge. "Wait," I hissed, hoping that it would stop trying to push me where it wanted me to go. "Let me get ready. Let me prepare myself for a second."

The wind pushed me in that direction one last time before backing off, understanding my need to prepare myself for whatever came next. It didn't back off completely, playing with my brown hair and dress while I took a deep breath.

I closed my eyes and nodded my head, making up my mind to jump. I took a couple of steps backward and opened my eyes, feeling determined. My heart pounded in my chest, the steady beat going thump, thump, thump as I prepared myself to take a leap of faith into the realm of the unknown.

The wind gently blew around me, and I had this feeling that it was encouraging me to jump. It was excited, nervous, even as if it knew what laid underneath the ledge and knew that I wouldn't get hurt.

Again, I took a deep breath and let it out before starting to run in that direction with the wind pushing me, feeling my hesitance, and not letting me stop again and think of my next step. I didn't let myself think either as I got to the edge and jumped, praying that nothing bad would happen to me because my mother couldn't handle another heartbreak.

***

I grunted when I landed on something hard and warm, instantly opening my eyes when I noticed I had closed them. I was clutching something; I knew that I was, but it took me a moment to realize that I was clutching something that was moving faster than I had ever moved before.

Stunned and not knowing where my head was, I looked down to notice that I was clutching and riding something scaley. Slowly, I lifted my head to notice that these golden scales went all the way up until it reached a face, a face with an eye turned towards me.

Dazed, I let go of the scale in front of me and rubbed my eyes to make sure that I wasn't dreaming or imagining such a magnificent creature that I had never seen and only heard about in passing.

"Dragon," I whispered, surprised that the wind didn't carry my voice away with it. I felt the cr- dragon underneath me shake from a chuckle and clutched at the scale again with one hand.