Every third Wednesday of October, the 16-year-olds of every village in the Kingdom of Respive are tested to see if they have the blood of a mage in their veins or, if they are especially lucky, the blood of a Dragon Rider.
Twins Nix and Flamma Nocte...
Through our bond, I could feel Clara's exhaustion, her wings tired and I knew they would be sore when she finally landed.
"You okay, chicklet?"
"I'll be fine," she grunted. "Just focusing on getting there."
I sighed and sent her my love. She hummed deep in her chest in response.
The ride wasn't actually that bad. It was actually amazing. I loved flying with the other half of my soul. Saeva wasn't as happy, however.
I mean, it made sense. A sapling was a baby tree and that is what the earth elements are named after. They're still expanding their roots, testing the dirt and drinking as much water as possible to grow. They can't do that if their roots are in the sky.
Within a few more minutes, I could see the outline of a castle in the distance, on an island on top of a mountain.
As we approached, I couldn't help but marvel at the royal palace.
The stones were light beige mixed with orange, and their seemed to be several levels to the castle. The spires and the roofs were a calm blue. The autumn forest that was beginning to lose its leaves accented the entire thing. It took up a huge amount of space, and it was beautiful, but I couldn't help but wonder how all of the Dragons would fit in the courtyard.
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As we started to circle down and land, my vision seemed to warp and the courtyard that looked like it could handle maybe ten dragons seemed to expand until there was enough space for all of them, including Obliviscatur. There was a huge willow in the middle of it that looked like it had been burned through.
When we landed, Clara's head drooped as she panted, a bit of yellow frothing at her mouth as her tongue lolled out.
I frowned in concern and slid off, going over to her head to look at her and barely noticing as Saeva slid off and wandered away. "You okay, chicklet?"
Her pants lessened slightly as her blue eyes that matched mine flicked over to me. "I'm perfectly fine. It's not like I just flew for five and a half hours straight while carrying not only you, but someone else for the first time."
I placed my hand on her cheek and closed my eyes, leaning my forehead against it as well. "I'm sorry, Clara. I'm sure that the royal family knows how exhausted the first-year Dragons must be and have done something to let you all rest."
"You would be right," Jayden called, making me blink my eyes open and turn to him.
"What now?"
He snorted. "When Cal and I first came here, he was so tired that it was kind of ridiculous. A servant soon came out and told us that our dragons would be free to go wherever they wanted on this island, but that they had an area toward the east coast that was specifically for them to eat and drink whenever they were hungry or thirsty."
