Marman scratched at his swollen eye with his claw. He had not enjoyed the fight. Not only did it hurt, but it made Marman feel weak and small, considering that he was excellent at flying.
First, the yellow dragon grabbed him by the throat, then hoisted him up in the air, and then scratched Marman's eye. After only five seconds of the fight, Marman surrendered to the yellow dragon. Master Gostir had called him a fool, but Marman was just thankful that the fight was over.
Soon after, Master Handel assembled all the dragon cadets.
"Since it is the beginning of the school year," he said, "We are assigning you to new squads."
Marman didn't know what a squad was, but he pretended to know so he wouldn't feel left out.
"I will call out names for the different squads," said Master Handel. "For the Trolls squad, we have... Jessica!"
A giant, purple, female dragon lumbered next to Master Handel.
"Rupert!"
A massive brown dragon went and stood next to Master Handel.
"Ferdinand! Wolfin! Burtaga! Rithen! Pum! Orn! Mornon! Biggs!"
More large dragons walked towards Master Handel.
"Very good," said the master. "All the trolls go towards Master Boron over there. Now we will call out the names of the Ork squad. Burt! Gretel! Foul! Mammal! Repting! Smeel! Renny! Pool! Nought! Strime! Sting! Mump!"
Twelve scrawny little dragons went to stand next to Master Handel.
"All the Orks go to Master Urin over there. Now for the Goblins. Chunk! Munch! Gruad! Pietail! Hedd! Buck! Chubbs! Morton! Bummy! Chopps! Meat! Brood! Hroth! Yoona! Bengal!
Fifteen grumpy and giant dragons marched towards Master Handel.
"All the Goblins go to Mistress Blake over by that tree. And the rest of you are in the Dragon Squad, so go to Mistress Horns by the stump beneath those trees!"
What a creative name, thought Marman, sarcastically. The Dragon Squad.
Marman and five other dragons went where Master Handel told them to go.
Next to the old stump was a bright purple, female dragon with horns on her head and a blue stomach. She was beautiful, Marman thought, but didn't know how she would teach them survival skills.
When the six dragons flew towards her, she immediately straightened.
"Welcome, cadets," she spoke in a smooth but stern tone.
The dragons landed in front of her under the shade of the trees.
"Before we start," she said. "I would like to introduce myself. My name is Mistress Horns..."
"Please, Miss," said one of the dragons (Marman noticed it was the same dragon he had fought earlier), "What's your real name? All the masters expect us to call them by their 'master name' but if I'm going to stick with you for the rest of the dragon year, I want to know your real name."
"You will not know my real name," said Mistress Horns. "It is respectful to call me what I tell you to call me. Now, as I said, my name is Mistress Horns, your leader of the Dragons Squad. My goal is to prepare you for the dangers that lie ahead as you grow up and face adulthood. First, we will all introduce ourselves. Let's start with you." She pointed at Marman.
"Oh... well... I..." Marman's face flushed. "My name is Marman."
"And?" asked Misstress Horns. "Where do you come from?"
"I... um... come from the Harad Desert."
Everyone went silent. Then Mistress Horns said, "Well... erm... You have quite an imagination there, Marman. I'm sorry, I meant in what family do you come from?"
"Oh... I... erm... don't actually know," Marman frowned. His mother had never told him her story.
"My, well that is interesting," said Misstress Horns under her breath. "How about you?"
She turned to a female dragon with blue scales and long eyelashes.
"My name," said the dragon in a proud, silvery tone, "Is Ofelia. My family were originally sky dragons, but then my great-great-grandmother married a sea dragon. When my great-grandmother was born, she married a desert dragon. When my grandmother was born, she married a mountain dragon. When my mother was born she married a sky dragon. So our family is a mixture of sea, desert, mountain and sky dragons."
Ofelia beamed and Misstress Horns moved to a different dragon. This dragon was brown and fat.
"My name," said the dragon in a deep voice, "Is Uff. My family were originally rock dragons."
"My name," said the third dragon with blue scales and a broad neck, "Is Fronan. My family were sea dragons."
"My name," whispered a shy female dragon with pink scales and small wings, "Is Berovor. My family were air dragons."
"My name is Petrix!" boomed Petrix. "And My family were cave dragons."
"Very good," said Misstress Horns. "Now that we all know each other, shall we begin training?"
YOU ARE READING
Hatch: A Dragon Story
FantasiaGrom has arisen from the fiery depths of a volcano. He is ready to finally become the most powerful dragon in the whole world. Nothing will stop him now. Except for a tiny egg which had just hatched in the sandy desert of Middle-Earth. 17 years late...
