Dragon Rider Academy Book 1

Side Story 3: Crosell

Surprisingly, Nathans plan had worked. Sorens father took him to the capital city on Nightwing and moved forward with his plan. When they arrived in the city, they met with the headmistress and explained everything that happened with Soren. His magic, him being chosen by the egg of a wild gold dragon and his power of Dragon Voice. The headmistress was very understanding about Sorens situation and agreed to everything he needed. She would make records of a gold egg that was easily missed and chose Soren on the 2nd try. Everything would be ready by the time Soren enrolled at the Academy.

After everything was taken care of at the school, Sorens family through a big celebration in honor of him being accepted into the Dragon Rider Academy. A large festival was held in the city with food, games and dancing. Nathan and Cynthia held a grand ball at the mansion for their sons celebration. They invited many of their family's closet friends, nobles from around the Kingdom came to celebrate. Many of these guests were fellow Dragon Riders. All of whom were dressed in their finest clothing. Even the King and Queen of Zestria attended the party. Sorens father went to the Academy with the King and Queen, who were dragon riders as well. The King  was a handsome man with short brown hair, green eyes and short brown beard. The Queen was an extremely lovely woman whose beauty was only rivaled by his mothers. She had long white hair, deep blue eyes and a very impressive figure. While the party was very fun, Soren could spent some of the time feeling uncomfortable. Probably because many nobles were introducing their daughters to him. Some of the daughters were his age, some were older and some were younger, but all of them were certainly lovely girls. Soren was very shy around girls his age, mainly because Amy was the only one he knew Thankfully, Aria and Luna saved him from many of those nobles, but that's when they introduced their sons to his sisters. It was thanks to his parents that it didn't any farther than introductions. Although, his parents did spent quite I bit of time talking with the King and Queen. Something about them "uniting their families".

After the ball and the festival ended and all the guests had left, everyone returned to their bedrooms for a long deserved rest. Soren was sound asleep in his room when he heard a strange cracking noise. Soren opened his eyes and took a few seconds to fully clear his mind and wake up. He looked around his room to find out where the cracking noise was coming from. Soren looked at the center of his bedroom where the brazier keeping his egg warm was place. The egg was moving around, shifting back and forth in the brazier. Soren knew what this meant. The egg was starting to hatch. "By the goddess! It's time!", he shouted as he got up from his bed.

Soren took the egg from the brazier and placed it on the floor. He knelled down in front of the egg, his entire body shaken with excitement. The egg began to shake harder as cracks started to appear on the surface. The cracks got bigger and bigger until two cracks merged and a piece of the shell to the ground. Soren saw a what looked like a closed eye in the spot where the egg shell piece fell off. He leaned in to get a better look when the eye suddenly opened causing him to yelp and fall backward onto his rump. Soren quickly crawled  back over to the egg as, one by one, every part of the egg shell cracked open. Just as quickly as it started, the egg had finally hatched and sitting there, in the bottom part of all that remained of the egg was an adorable gold dragon hatchling.

The baby dragon was the cutest creature Soren had ever seen. It was about the size of a small dog or the puppy of a large dog. The hatchling had four legs, two wings, a short tail, short snout, gold eyes, two short horns on both sides of its head, small spikes running down its neck and tail and golden scales covering every part of its body. The dragon tried to stand up and walk, but stumbled and rolled out of the bottom of the egg shell. The baby shook its head from the rolling and looked directly up at Soren who was only a few inches away. Soren looked directly into the dragons eyes as it looked right back into his. "Hello there, little one. My name is Soren. It's great to finally meet you", said Soren as he softly rubbed the dragons head.

The dragon made a purring sound as it rubbed it's head in Sorens palm. The baby then jumped onto Sorens chest and started licking his face. It was as if it already knew who Soren was. Soren laughed as he felt the soft kisses of the dragons tongue. "Wow, you just hatched and I can already feel how strong you are. You're certainly an energetic little guy, aren't you?"

Soren just realized something. He picked up the dragon off his chest and placed it on the floor. "I'm sorry, I still don't know what gender dragon you are. You are a male dragon, right?", he asked.

The baby dragon let out a loud yelping noise at Soren. He could tell that the dragon was confirming it was male. "Oh good. That's a relief. I was afraid that I would give you a female name while you were a male dragon. hehe".

The baby dragon made a strange noise like it was laughing too. Soren then picked up the baby dragon and got back into bed. He sat the dragon right next to him as he smiled down at the hatchling. "Wow. I can't believe your finally here. I've really been looking forward to meeting you, partner."

The baby dragon purred as he snuggled against Sorens leg. "My family will really be happy to meet you. And I know their dragons will be happy to meet you as well. Before that though, you will need to have a name first."

The baby dragon tilted his head like it wanted to know what name Soren would give him. Soren had to think carefully about this. He couldn't just blurt out a name and expect the dragon it like it. This dragon was his partner. The creature who would be there through thick and thin with him. They would be each others number 1 companion. He had to pick the right name. "How about......Crosell?"

The hatchling tilted his head to the other side like he was asking why use that name. "Crosell means 'partner' in your language. I thought that if you and I are going to be partners in this life, then I should name you that. So what do you think? Do you like it?"

The baby dragons eyes started glowing. Soren looked confused at why its eyes suddenly started shining like two small suns. That' when he felt a burning feeling in his right hand. He looked down at his right hand and saw a strange runic symbol appear in a bright yellow light. Soren knew what this meant. When a dragon accepts the name you've given them, they bestow the symbol to their rider and the bond is officially formed. Just like his father did with Nightwing and his sisters did with Tyraxx and Moonstone, Soren was now bonded with this baby dragon.

"Well then, Crosell it is".

The baby dragon smiled at him before he let out a big yawn. "Haha, I guess it is pretty late. I'll introduce you to my family and their dragons in the morning. We should get some sleep for now", said Soren.

Soren laid down and Crosell snuggled next to him as he purred while he rubbed his against his chest. Soren covered himself and Crosell with the blanket. The baby dragon yawned and closed his eyes. Soren smiled as he felt sleepiness start overcome him. He yawned and placed his hand on his new dragons stomach. He could feel the warmth coming from heat within Crosell. "I'm really looking forward to our new partnership, little buddy. Good night, .....Crosell", said Soren.

Crosell let out a quite roar as Soren just his eyes and drifted off to sleep.