Dragons Trust Book 1 - The Start

Bright Blue Skies

Ares' wings were silent as we flew.

Octavia was right behind us. Micah and I had found our youngest brother, Tommy, as well. He was next to Via. Micah and Marcus on either side of them. Not an ideal formation in all reality. It was just a precaution in case one of the two fell off or freaked out.

Clinton had told us to work with them. He couldn't always be there when they wanted to fly, and we were the ones he trusted the most.

Two short whistles came from the back. I turned in the saddle to look at Marcus. His hands moved in question.

To make communication easier for riders, a type of sign language was made. Talking back and forth was out of the question at high speeds. Dragons could call back and forth to each other and give the responses to their riders, but sometimes it wasn't ideal. Riders could also learn to understand the draconic language. The beasts mouths didn't move like ours did so they couldn't speak like we did.

Communication through the link was always understood though. It was an odd thing, the link between dragons and riders. Emotions could be passed back and forth. Images could be shared. Once bonded, your mind was never your own again. It was joined to the dragon. Dragons and riders could sense what the other wanted to do without any talking or thinking.

My hand pointed to the clouds.

The clouds were a great exercise. A human couldn't see in them. Dragons, on the other hand, could. Their eyes were much sharper, all other senses were too. They would be able to navigate through them with ease. The only set back was trust.

A new rider would be nervous. In turn, this made their dragon hyper aware of them. It also made the dragon nervous of failing their rider.

Not to mention the mist that would be left behind, making everything slick. Of course all riders had custom straps that kept them from falling off of the saddle just in case, but we could still move quite a bit.

Ares slowed down to a stop. The wing beats of the other dragons forced me to yell.

"Alright listen! This is a trust exercise. We're going to have you fly around in the clouds and avoid each other. You won't be able to see anything but your dragons can, so you have to trust them. One of us will always be near you just in case. You'll have to avoid each other and us." To a new rider it sounded difficult. And to be honest it was. Not a lot of new students could do it. One of them always freaked out or managed to unstrap themselves in a fit of fear and fall off.

Ares chirped before pushing himself up into the clouds. We were completely out of sight from the others. My vision switched from my own to his. The outlines of the other dragons stood out against the clouds as they rose up.

Ares and I played in the clouds. Raising and dipping and twisting and turning. Always aware of what was around us. Chirps and growls and rumbles could be heard from the dragons communicating. All of it was as understandable as Eseti, our native tongue.

A blue wing passed inches from my head. Octavia and the dragoness were cutting it close. Crimson wings carried us to get above the ice dragon, more specifically known as an Arctic Reaper.

Once we had positioned above the pair, Ares clicked to her. He let her know I was dropping down to check the straps and other things. Micah would be doing the same for Tommy.

I unstrapped from my saddle and slid off of Ares' side. He pulled away and disappeared into the clouds with ease. My boots landed lightly on the Arctic Reapers back. I stepped lightly and made way to where Octavia sat.

"Hey Birdy," I called out. She whipped towards me. Her knuckles were white from the force of her grip.

"How the hell did you get here?" She asked.

"I jumped. How are those straps holding up?" I crouched down behind her. My knees on either of her body, chest against her back. She gripped one of my arms with one hand as I tugged on the straps one by one. Moving around on a flying dragon had become another second nature.

"What the hell do you mean you jumped?!" She demanded.

Her scent was intoxicating.

It was hard to explain. A mix between something musky, like a man's cologne, and sweet and earthy. Almost like moss or a large body of water. She had always preferred the smell of men's cologne over women's.

"I jumped," I said with a shrug. "It's something you'll learn to do as time passes. Not anytime soon though. Most people our age can't, or won't, do it. I'm just stupid. Anyways, you're still good so I'll be going." Without another word I stood and stepped off of the ice dragon. Ares caught me by the torso and threw me back up. All of this in a span of just seconds. I could hear Octavia yell at me as well. She was definitely going to hit me later. Well, if she could stand by then anyways.

We continued this for about an hour. Letting Tommy and Octavia get comfortable on their dragons. Eventually Ares called for the other dragons and we were heading back to the school.

The lake underneath us glimmered. Rays of light reflecting off of it. Tommy's dragon, an earth dragon named Takiren, leveled out beside me and Ares.

Tommy was red headed and built like a twig. What was odd about our family was that most of us boys had completely different hair and skin complexions. Micah and I looked relatively similar though. He smiled at me. Not having seen him in years there were a few differences. None of them bad, thankfully.

As I waved to my brother, Ares closed his wings and we plummeted towards the lake. A surprised shout left my throat. The fall wasn't quick. We had been just under the clouds, so the more we fell the more speed we picked up.

Just before we hit the water I unstrapped. If I hadn't the force of the water breaking would have killed me. Ares hit first, sending up a massive splash of water. Then the water closed in around me.

I let my self be suspended for a few seconds before a taloned paw grabbed a hold of me.

Oh shit.

Ares shot out of the water like a rocket. When he got level with the other dragons he stopped and threw me up.

"God damnit Ares!" I could hear the others laughter over the wind hissing in my ears. The crimson dragon grabbed me again but this time allowed me to climb up his side and back onto the saddle.

"Ten points to Ares," Marcus cheered. Water dripped from both of us. I shook my head trying to get as much water out of my hair as possible. Brantley sneezed as he was a bit close.

"This is bullying," I pouted.