Ember (#Wattys2015)

Chapter One - I remembered black skies

I remembered black skies
The lightning all around me
I remembered each flash
As time began to blur

New Divide- Linkin Park

Two years later...

~EMBER~

Calcite perches precariously on the branch, her dark green wings beating great gusts of wind every few moments. I look over at River and grin.

"I cannot believe that its been two years since we left! It's gone so quickly." River calls up at me from where she is skimming stones across the narrow stream. Her dragon, Amber is sitting in a tree above her, curled up like a cat in a nest of branches. I never quite understood why they liked to stay in beast form. If I had the option, which I will soon, I'd stay in human form. It'd be cool to fly over Madison and set her hair on fire though. I can't wait until we're Dragon Masters so then we can do the same thing as Calcite and Amber.

It's strange. Although I train on Calcite all day, everyday, I have never seen her out of dragon form. According to our tutor, your hair reflects the colour of your scales when you change from a dragon to a mortal. Another perk of becoming a Master is you get to go through a series of quests and if you complete said quests you are granted immortality by the High Court.

The High Court is made up of six of the oldest and best Masters. For the past two years, River and I have been training rigorously to become Tamers, who not only go in search of other dragons, but protect the cities. I don't think I've ever seen a real dragon, only a Shifter like Calcite. Well, not a friendly dragon anyway. My eyebrows still sting from my first encounter with one. Tomorrow I'm going to invite Calcite and Amber for dinner. I do hope that they come in human form, but if not we'll just eat outside instead.

River throws her last stone and I clamber up on top of Calcite. I stroke her scales as I wait for River to scale the conifer. I call Calcite a she, but we aren't 100% sure that she is. Dragons are easily offended and Calcite is extremely proud, so when the Carers tried to check what gender she was, Calcite gravely injured one of them. Amber is far more pliant and is definitely a she.

River whistles for my attention and I soar off the branch into the sky. One of the first skills we learnt was how to mind-meld with your dragon, and I direct Calcite through the midnight blue sky. Because River and I have become so finely attuned to each other's emotions it wasn't difficult for us to learn how to use telepathy through our recently formed soul bond. Having a soul bond doesn't mean you are mates, it just means you can feel each other's emotions and wishes, which is extremely useful in fights.

We ride above the misty clouds, Calcite using her call to open the passage. Her wings flap faster, gaining enough speed to push us through. Suddenly light pushes into my vision, a blue and yellow dawn beckoning across the horizon. I look up to see Amber and River enter a spin dive down towards the earth, Amber's wings unfurling at the last minute. Show offs.

The Dragon Realm enters view as I push up the hill. It's beautiful, the copper walls of the kingdom bouncing off the fresh sunlight. I love this place, especially the food. Dragons do a fantastic chargrilled meal. We make our way towards the second largest building, the Dragon Academy. It seems so weird that two years ago we didn't know dragons existed and now we live with them almost 24/7.
We have two terms left of school left, but we manage to keep up with both of our lives.

As we hang in the soft pink and blue sky, I tilt my head and let the sun bathe my face. Barely a second goes by before a dark shadow flits over the sun, casting a shadow across the realm.

"ATTACK!" The call goes up from the north watchtower and a wave of dragons and their riders flood the sky, preventing the swarm of rival dragons from nearing the city. River directs Amber who darts down and I instantly know where she's heading. I let my instinct flood my connection with Calcite and she swoops down towards the weapon shelter.

As we near the ground I disconnect my harness and tumble to the ground, rolling to prevent injury. Within a moment I'm up and sprinting towards the crossbows. I grab one and sling a quiver of steel tipped arrows over my shoulder. I direct a command to Calcite and reach backwards. She nudges her head into my knees and I slither ungracefully backwards onto my saddle. The harness clicks home as I push the clip into place and Calcite lurches up into the sky. I grapple for an arrow and notch it into the string.

Calcite reaches altitude and I aim for a mean black dragon, loosing the arrow and it drives home into the wing. The effect is instantaneous and the dragon lets out a cry of pain, spinning helpless to the ground. I reach back for another arrow and quickly click it into place. Just as I'm aiming a burst of ice splinters across my vision and all I can see is white. Calcite shrieks and I feel the sense of falling, falling, falling...