Dragons Trust Book 1 - The Start

Bonds

Octavia watched as I sparred with Marcus. Micah sat next to her talking about something. Marcus swung his sword towards my feet. I avoided it and put my knife to his throat. He held his hands up in surrender.

"I still don't understand how you do that," he huffed. We had been sparring for awhile. I was breathing heavily, but not as much as Marcus. When it came to stamina and physical strength, I was leagues ahead. Book smarts went to Marcus. He was the one with the best grades in school. Everyone knew he would have been valedictorian if he hadn't have been a dragon rider. People were Micah's thing. He could talk to anyone for hours. Negotiating with him was almost impossible to do if it was something he didn't want.

"You buried your nose in books, I was constantly outside avoiding school," I pointed out. A small breeze brushed against my stomach. My shirt was haphazardly thrown on the ground. Ares was sprawled out like a giant puppy. Solona and Brantley doing the same. I sat on the other side of Octavia. A book was in her hands and she seemed to be about halfway through. "They let you pack some stuff?" I asked. Normally students weren't allowed to bring many things because they would have everything they needed here. But she was wearing clothing she could normally be seen wearing. Simple skinny jeans (sometimes sweatpants or joggers) and an oversized t-shirt. My hand grabbed the book and tilted it up so I could read the cover.

"A Guide to Understanding Dragon Species"

"We'll, sort of. I don't really have many things to begin with, besides the stuff y'all got me. That's really all I brought." She looked up as if she were thinking. "That man that brought me to you guys last night said he will have someone make me some clothes that would fit me."

"You could just wear mine," I said. She looked away from me and held Ares' gaze. In her defense she didn't know I could also see through his eyes if I wanted.

"Yes Noah, because you're clothes fit me," she said with a playful attitude.

"My shirts do," I nudged her with my shoulder. All three dragons sat up quickly. Confused, I was about to ask them what was wrong. Before I could, a lithe blue dragoness landed in front of us. Her mesmerizing blue eyes locked onto Octavia. The three of us boys slowly moved away. Very, very, slowly.

Octavia didn't move a muscle. She sat frozen in front of the ice dragon. Her eyes were wide and unfocused. The dragon was talking to her through a link. This was Octavia's dragon. Only a bonded pair could speak telepathically.

After a moment Octavia doubled over. Her hands flying to a spot on her collar bone. A pained cry forced its way out.

Marcus grabbed my arm. I didn't look away from Via. None of us did. There was nothing I could do to stop the pain. If one of us stepped in, the dragon would attack.

Getting your Rider Mark hurt. It hurt like nothing ever felt. It was also a test. If you could get through the pain, you would be bonded for life. If not, then you would never be able to bond with a dragon.

"It hurts," she whimpered. I could see tears fall from her face. Octavia was looking down, holding her hands to the area the mark was forming at. My hand went for Mika's arm. One of his grabbing me as well. The other probably going to Marcus.

We can't step in.

We can't step in.

We can't step in.

I can't step in.

After what felt like an eternity the dragoness bowed. Octavia took in a deep shaky breath. I pulled free of the other two and bolted for her. My knees hit the ground behind her. I pulled her as close as I could get her. She leaned into me in return.

"Hey, it's okay Birdy," I mumbled to her. "You're bonded now." The ice dragon nudged Birdy's leg. No dragon ever wanted to hurt their bonded but it couldn't be helped. If a person couldn't handle The Marking then they didn't deserve to be riders.

"Show us your mark!" Micah said as he and Marcus sat down. Octavia pulled at the collar of her shirt with a shaky hand. An arctic blue dragon curled on the sharp edge of her collar bone. It matched the icy blue of the dragoness. A perfect shade to hunt in the icy waters of Prilubean. I stood and picked her up, much to her protest.

"Wha- Noah what are you- Put me down." A blush took over her face. She tried to hide it, not that she could anyways. I continued to carry her back to cabin.

"Nope," I said popping the 'P'. "You just went through a massive amount of pain and we don't need you collapsing." That was only a partial truth. The other part that I didn't say was because I just wanted to carry her. It had been so long since any of us had seen her. Truthfully, I was scared it was all a dream.

"Can one of you tell him to put me down?" She asked the other two.

"No he's right. We don't want to you to collapse," Marcus grinned. That was my best friend right there. He knew she could probably walk on her own. We just all liked to fuck around with her. She huffed as if she didn't like me carrying her around.

"I'll go get Clinton," Micah said and walked away. We walked to the cabin and I dropped her on the couch.

"So mean," she pouted.

"You'll live. Clinton will be here soon and he'll tell you everything you need to know. Just a heads up though, there are no other women up on the islands. Only dragon riders are allowed up there." With the islands only having dragon riders living on them, it was relatively nice. Besides the fact it was all men.

"Will it be as bad as the ride here?" She asked softly. That was a question I wished I could tell her no. The islands would be so much worse. Military Officials were already trying to find reasons to get her out. None of them had ever met her before.

"Sadly, yes. And it might be a lot worse," Marcus chimed in for me. He was right. One of us would have to be with her at all times just in case. There was no telling what these men would do to her. Especially the boys that had not seen a girl since they came here. Sure the Underside had women and what not, but riders weren't allowed to leave until after a certain amount of time.

"Good to see the stone wasn't wrong," Clinton strong voice came from behind us. I sat down on one of the chairs. Via nodded. "I will begin to show you how to fly with your dragon the day after tomorrow. For now, I want you to get to know her." He began to explain everything she needed to do. First would be naming the dragoness. That was probably one of the hardest parts. Each dragon was picky and wanted something they liked.

It took me a week to find a name Ares liked. Then it took me even longer to get him to pick. When we finally did, I wrote it down and Clinton pronounced it the wrong way. He said it like Aries, like one of the gods that used to be followed thousands of years ago. Ares did not like that and tried to bite him. All the while saying his name was Air-res.

Amusement flowed through my bond as Ares and I both recalled the memory. He had been very proud of himself for scaring Clinton. I was not.

Clinton would also show her how to fly. That was probably the most important part of sealing the bond. You had to trust your dragon completely. They also had to trust you.

Surprisingly, riding a dragon was a lot like riding a horse, but so very different at the same time. On a horse, you would have to sit a certain way or it could hurt them. A dragon wouldn't be hurt. The beasts were big. But, much like a horse, you had to shift around with your dragon. It made things so much easier. Of course, you could just sit there and let your dragon just fly. The only downfall to that is you would be extremely sore and whiplashed.

Then he explained the islands. She would be staying at mine and other two's house. Putting her with the other new students was out of the question. Her uniforms would be tailored to how she wanted as well. For the first few days she could wear a plain shirt and pants.

The last thing was that one out of the four of us would always be with her. Classes, walking around, eating. She was not to be left alone.

"So it will be like before. Just without Danny and Wes," her blue eyes looked at the three of us. We all smiled and nodded.

Just like before.