Dragons Trust Book 1 - The Start

Secret

The newbies were slowly getting the hang of riding their dragons and training with Clinton. Octavia was the fastest out of all of them. She had more of an evasive type of fighting style. Almost like mine but not quite.

Her and Sunny worked well together. She would act as a bait, draw their opponent out. Sunny would be more offensive. Once Via pulled one out, he would attack from behind.

Her and Tommy weren't as compatible when it came to fighting, but they made it work. She stayed behind him. When he would hit, she would hit right after.

She was also much more agile than the others in her group. Her body moved with fluidity much like her dragon.

Tuarana's species was made for freezing waters and icy lands. Arctic Reapers we're like ribbons in the water. Able to twist and turn to avoid chunks of ice. Their sleek build gave them the ability to move through the water with ease. Webbed talons and a tail that had slight sails that could fan out to help turn.

The pair matched each other perfectly. Dragons and riders usually did. Sometimes an unlikely pair would be made, but not too often.

Now Via and Eric... They didn't work well together. She would always try to find a way to compliment his fighting style in a way that worked for both of them, like she did the other two. But Eric never made it easy. He always switched it up and confused her.

Clinton was now yelling.

"How hard is it for you two work together?" He asked. Via flinched slightly, like she always did. Her chest rose and fell trying to catch her breath.

"She's not even trying. Tommy and SunnyRay can work just fine with me," he sneered. Octavia looked around helplessly.

She was trying actually. Trying her best to work with him. I could see it in the way she watched him closely. I stood and walked over.

"Actually, she's doing everything in her power to work with you. You're just being a dick and making it harder than it needs to be," I corrected. Clinton hummed in agreement. He saw exactly what I saw, that much I knew.

The way Octavia fought wasn't very good on its own, but incredibly useful when paired with others. It wasn't a common fighting style either. She was good at it though.

Eric opened his mouth to argue but Clinton stopped him.

"He's right. I can see it as well. You might be a pure blood, like Noah here, but that doesn't mean you can do as you please. I don't know how other instructors teach you, and I don't care." His eyes narrowed. "But with me you will treat the other as equal." He turned around. "That's enough for today. I expect you to have a different attitude tomorrow."

Ares stepped out from the shadows of the trees and walked over to us. Tuarana landed behind Via. I looked at her for a second before speaking.

"Come with me. I want to show you something." I climbed onto Ares' back and waited for her to do the same. Once she was ready Ares took flight and led the way to our destination.

The flight was a decent trip but nothing too long. We stopped a large pond. A stream running in and out of it. The mountain behind it gave us a cool spot. But this wasn't what I wanted to show her. I turned in the saddle.

"Have you gotten to the underwater breathing?" I asked her. She would be able to breath underwater since her dragon could. The gills on the dragoness' neck flared. Via nodded. "Good, you're going to need it."

The dark red scales on Ares' neck moved to reveal gills as well. He was the king of dragons, so he could do it all. In turn, so could I. Ares walked into the water. Tuarana followed us close behind.

Seeing underwater was definitely harder than above it. The night vision all water dragons had so they could see in the depths of the oceans kicked in. I checked on Octavia. Her eyes were glowing the dark blue of Tuarana's. Gills had opened up on both of our necks. To say it was off putting was an understatement.

The bottom of the pond was nothing special. Just some underwater grass and mud and sand. A few fish poked around but that was about it.

Ares took us through a hole that was hidden behind a wall of tall grass. We swam through the tunnel, that was just as bland as the pond, until it opened up wider into an internal lake.

We were now inside of the mountain. The night vision wasn't needed here. A canopy of trees at the top let in enough light to see.

This place was much better to look at. It had all kinds of plant life. And the water was beautiful and clear. A few lizards darted about the plants and rocky outcroppings. Fish swam in the lake, all kinds of different colors and sizes. Ledges with hanging vines were placed around. A few trees even grew in here.

This place was much prettier at night. Everything glowed in the lack of the sun, even the lizards and fish.

It also smelled earthy and sweet in here. This lake had reminded me of Octavia when I had found it. So secretive and beautiful. Like you never wanted to leave.

The water was also warm. All times of the year it was heated by something I could never figure out. Our uniforms were also water proof.

The dragons moved to the land and I slid off.

"What do you think?" I asked looking at her. She was still taking it all in.

"It's so pretty," she said breathlessly. The gills on her neck changed back into regular skin. I forced myself to look away from her.

"You should see it at night. Everything glows and it's so much prettier." I paused. No one else knew about this place except for me and Ares. "It made me think of you when I found it. Actually, I was just wondering around because I had nothing else to do. I was really missing you that and I stumbled across the pond. Literally, I tripped over a broken branch and fell into it. Ares said he had seen something behind that tall grass we came through, so we checked it out."

It had been the middle of the night when we found it. One day I decided to skip class and come out here. I still thought it was beautiful, even without the glow. Maybe it was because I knew it held something even better. You just had to know when and where to look.

"Does anyone else know about this place?" She asked. Her voice sounded mystified. I shook me head.

"No, nobody knows this is here." I watched for her reaction. I knew she wouldn't tell anyone else though.

"I won't say a word about it." Her eyes landed on me. I smiled at her and grabbed her hand.

"I know." My hand brought to the back of hers to lips. I then placed a ghost of a kiss on it before pulling her close to me. A blush covered her face. "Do you trust me?" She nodded. "Perfect."

I picked her and pulled the both of us into the water. She yelled at me when we surfaced.

"Asshole!" She cried.