The DragonRiders

Chapter 1

"Hey, Hayes, where ya going?" a voice calls from behind me. I quicken my pace, clutching my books for the life of me. I shift my books into my left hand, and with my right, pushed my glasses back up from the tip of my nose. The sun's rays beat on my back, stinging the back of my neck.

Another insult is thrown at me with perfect aim, hitting me square in the depths of my mind. I suddenly spin around and face Bryant. "What is it this time, Bryant?" I ask blankly. Laughing, he starts to turn away. I sigh in relief; that is until he stops, reels back his fist, and socks me in the stomach. I make an 'oof' sound and double over. My books splatter onto the ground, along with my glasses. I can no longer see anything other than blurry outlines of objects around me. Another blow completely knocks me over onto the asphalt. A blood sensation courses through my mouth. I cough it up and wince as Bryant kicks my side. I roll furthermore down the asphalt to the middle of the road.

"You see what happens when you talk to my girlfriend, Hayes? Don't let it happen again!" he booms above me, casting a shadow. Suddenly his blurred self looks down the road. He turns around and runs to the sidewalk in a panic. Bryant looks back at me and waves at me, motioning for me to get up.

"Come on, man! Get over here! I'm serious!" he hollers at me. A humming I hadn't noticed earlier turns to a roar, and I just barely have the strength to look in the direction of the roar. Two bright lights are further down the street, cruising right towards me. I reach my hand out to Bryant.

"Bryant, help me!" I say weakly. Then, I feel a new impact hit me. Not that of a punch or kick, but of a four ton vehicle. It cleanly rolls over my body, and it never cares to stop. My ribs crunch. I cannot breathe. The last thing I see is Bryant, cupping his mouth and shaking his head. All of my senses leave me. I am dead.

********

Jonathen awakens in a court room. He is emotionless, and somehow he knew exactly what was happening. Seven judgelike characters sat before him. Three to the left, three to the right. There was one in the tallest stand, but the courage to look at him wasn't there. He could feel the main judge's eyes piercing him though.

"Jonathen Hayes, sixteen years young, do you understand where you are?" the judge on the far left says with a slight speech impedement. He is bald like the rest but with grey, thin eyebrows. His nose is out of perportion, and his eyes look tired, almost exhausted.

"I think so," he says softly. Truthfully, he wasn't all too sure what was happening anymore.

"Liar!" the judge screams. He pounds his hands on his stand and stands upright. Jonathen is taken aback from the judge's exclaimation. The main judge bangs his gabel and orders for silence. The judge looks at him faintly and sits back down. His face is a redish tint; however, he is more serene.

Another judge chimes in, the one to the right of the angry judge. "Please excuse him. He is the Judge of Accusation. I am the Judge of Wisdom, next to me is the Judge of Honesty. The main judge you see here is the Judge of Reason. To his right is the Judge of Confession, and the right of him is the Judge of Vision. The last man, well, he isn't a judge. He is your mentor." They all resemble each other but have their own distinct differences. The mentor isn't anything like the judges though. He has peculiar maroon eyes that are full of life. His hair is raven black, which rests above his eyes in a sideswept fashion. He is wearing a full body wetsuit with the same maroon color strips down its dark gray sides.

"I, the Judge of Honesty, can determine every lie that slips out of your pathetic little mouth."

"I, the Judge of Confession, can make any living-or dead-thing fall weak to his knees as he confesses."

"I, the Judge of Vision, can detect your future and read your past."

"And I, the Judge of Reason, will come to the final conclusion of your fate. Will you be revived from your coma and sentenced back to Earth? Will you go to hell and rot from your human mistakes? Will you go to heaven as an angel? Or will you thrive as a DragonRider?"

Jonathen is overwhelmed by the judges' intimidation. Hell doesn't sound enjoyable, and all he wants is to return to his life. But if he wakes up from his coma, will things remain the same or will he be treated like a freak? The best choice seems to be DragonRider.

"What is a DragonRider?"

The judges roar with laughter, even the grumpy Judge of Accusation chuckles. The mentor glares at them and silences them. He stands up and looks at Jonathen with determination.

"DragonRiders are only the most underrated forms of death there are. There's angels, demons, ghosts... But what about us? We live as we please in a kingdom called Epalia. Dragons and Riders live in equal librium. We do not own the dragons, nor do they own us. We each have dragon soulmates. If our dragon dies, we die. We are currently, however, in a war with the other kingdom of Locnet. They believe dragons are just a form of transportation and war," the mentor says with fury rising in his voice. By the last sentence, the court is rattling.

He sighs and looks nervously between Jonathen and the main judge. "I want to join the DragonRiders," Jonathen says simply. The judges stare at him in amazement. The Judge of Wisdom speaks up.

"A wise choice indeed."

The mentor smiles when the judges make it official. He looks at Jonathen and extends a hand. "My name is Malcolm. And welcome to the DragonRiders."