Rider Displaced

Chapter 1

Pain.

Pain and darkness was all he felt and recognized. He couldn't see anything and he wasn't sure why. But he was in a lot of pain and it discomforted him. It felt as if one was taking a heated knife blade and stabbed it into his forehead, reaching his brain and causing an unbearable headache. It was so bad that if he wasn't dead already he wanted to be.

To him it felt like hours, but in reality it was merely a minute or two as he floated around in the darkness, enduring the unbearable pain before he was finally able to respond with a loud groan.

Feeling started to return to him as he finally picked up the strength to move, somewhat. His first instinct was to reach for his forehead with his left arm, feeling the leather and cloth covered hand come into contact with his skin and hair, bringing out another groan of discomfort as he tried to make sense of things. It wasn't easy when you were in an immense amount of pain.

More senses kicked in as he began feeling the rest of his body. He was laying down with back against a rough uneven surface that was very uncomfortable. Likely dirt as he was all but most familiar with it in his line of work. But why was he lying in the dirt? He eventually found himself the strength to open his eyes, peeking open his lids before his pupils were flooded by blinding light as if he were looking directly up at the sun.

Because he was looking up at the sun.

His vision slowly began clearing, feeling the pain lessen but still reminding him of his plight. Either way he noticed how he was looking up at the rich blue sky, noticing pockets of green along the edges of his vision. Said green slowly took the form of leaves, which then became trees, making him realize he was looking through an opening in the canvas of many trees.

He was now wake, still bearing the skull burning headache but very much awake and alive. He immediately stood up, checking his surroundings to try and find where he was. All he saw were rows of trees from all sides, with bushes, rocks, and piles of sticks scattered across the ground in between.

He was in a forest.

But somehow that didn't seem right. His memory was fuzzy as he tried memorizing a few things that may've hinted to how he got here. He unfortunately got nothing as his mind was still trying to figure out what was going on. However brief flashes of the past did hint to not being in a forest. Especially one as green as this. So how did he get here? What was he even doing here?

A loud noise, sounding much like large reptile in pain, caught his attention from nearby making him look over his shoulder to investigate the origin. He was surprised at first by what he was looking at, but memories quickly flashed through him and he felt ashamed for being surprised.

This was his companion since they began training. The only individual he trusted his life with. His parter of heart and soul, and much more.

"Amber?"

Laying down on it's side was a fully grown, adult dragon with magenta scales along it's entire body mixed with striped patterns of crimson and rose under scales running from neck to tail. The dragon sported twin black ivory horns jutting out from the top edges of it's head and running back above the base of it's neck, with a pair of elongated ears underneath and ending in a sharp edge. Crimson spines ran along the creature's back from base of neck to tail, which ended with a pair of fins that were used for stability and maneuvering in flight, but also served other uses. Two massive wings jutted out from it's back, capable of reaching a large wingspan when fully extended. The membranes were rose, as were the fins. On it's back, between the wings and neck was a saddle, secured using straps that wrapped around the forelegs and reached it's hind legs before continuing up it's spine above the wings. The design was made for the comfort of both dragon and rider. It's slim body structure and curvy muscles hinted to it's gender as a female.