The DragonRiders

Chapter 2

Malcolm leads Jonathen outside of the court room. Once they are a few hundred feet away from it, Malcolm looks at Jonathen with great pride.

"You've made a wise decision, you know. Dragons are pretty cool," Malcolm says with admiration. "But first things first, any questions?"

Oh, Jonathen had thousands of those. But half of them didn't seem to relate to the current issue. So he starts out with one question that has been bothering him the most. "Will I ever own a dragon?"

Malcolm explodes with rage. His eyes turn a brighter red and his teeth grit. "I ought to knock you out right now! You obviously listen as well as a web strainer! Did I not tell you we live in equal librium?! When the time comes, you will find a bond. But until then, I suggest you keep your fat pie hole shut," Malcolm exclaims. Jonathen starts to ask what a web strainer was, but he decides he should do as told.

Malcolm grabs a spiral charm necklace he has on and blows on it. A four note melody comes out. Suddenly, Malcolm grabs Jonathen and runs towards a cliff. Jonathen yells in protest, but it is too late. They are both falling quickly off the edge. Jonathen squeezes his eyes shut and flails his limbs. Malcolm rolls his eyes at him and forms a flat position. Malcolm's dragon appears underneath them, catching them both.

Jonathen hits the dragon with an "oof". The dragon shifts uncomfortably as he hugs tightly onto it. Malcolm lands softly and nudges Jonathen. Malcolm is sitting upright and clutching the dragon's scales on its neck. Jonathen follows suit. The ride becomes a little more bearable but is still unnerving to Jonathen.

They land at a medieval themed kingdom on a magnificent volcanic island. Malcolm whispers something in a foreign language to the dragon. It nods heavily and Malcolm gets off. He motions for Jonathen to do the same. They turn to face the dragon as it flaps its raven black wings. Its dark grey body moves gracefully throughout the crisp blue horizon. The dragon looks back once more with its ginormous crimson eyes and disappears into the skyline. Looking between the dragon and Malcolm, the resemblance is extremely uncanny.

"We will go around the town to get to a seamstress. Your looks will disturb the people and dragons," Malcolm speaks. Jonathen isn't sure whether to take that as an insult or not, but he walks along side of Malcolm anyways.

Soon they arrive at the rear of a boutique of some sort. Malcolm knocks three times on the back door and waits. The door flies open. A bouncing woman leans against a doorway with a dragon behind her. She has short, curly violet hair with orange eyes. She has a petite body type with a lighter purple body suit. Her dragon isn't near as big as Malcolm's. It is only about four feet long and tall. It stares at the two with curious orange eyes. It has the same violet wings and purple scales. And the two look oddly alike.

"Malcolm! Why is it you never visit your dear, dear Aunt Amelia, hm? Annie also misses your dragon, oh, what's her name, Maurice! Yes, Maurice, correct? Or was it Maggie? Molly? Oh, it isn't a matter now, please come in! Both of you!" Amelia says ecstatically. She ushers them inside.

Once they sit down, she really starts talking. "Your name is Jonathen? Oh, that is such a cute name! I have a daughter, Caroline. She is going to the Bonding event tonight to find her dragon! Oh, I remember when I was bonded with my sweet dragon, Annie. I was fifteen, just like Caroline! How old are you, Jonathen?" she says, making the whole thing sound like only one word.

"I just turned fifteen, a week ago. So, is there-"

"Oh, how cute!" she squeals, "you and Caroline would look so precious together! I should introduce you two. You should go to the Bonding event tonight together! Well, that is, after I renovate you. Come, come. We only have four hours!" Jonathen is a little frightened by being "renovated" by this woman, but he follows her to a scaly chair with a dragon shaped mirror. More than a thousand hair supplies are in cabinets, closets, and just being displayed. 

She practically skips over to a closet of shampoos. She examines them carefully. "Now, Jonathen, would you like Dragon's Breath or A Walk Through Epalia?" she says, resting her hands on her hips. "You know what, you seem like a 'Perm-A-Frost' kind of Rider, am I right?" She scoops the shampoo and its matching conditioner into her arms and sets them by the sink. Amelia spins Jonathen's chair. He rests his head on the sink while she washes his hair and babbles continuously about Annie and Caroline. Malcolm doesn't say a word.

"Malcolm, you are never this quiet, m'dear! I'm sure this fine young Rider would like to know more about you!" she says with concern, "did you know that Malcolm here is already level three in DragonRider level?"

"That's just a measure of how strong my bond with Myra is. When it gets to five, we will both be given a certain power. That's for the Oracle to decide, though. Most aren't worthy enough for powers so they are just sent to protect our kingdom," Malcolm states.

"And I had the choice of powers or staying here. I don't believe I will use my powers wise enough so I declined. Annie didn't want it either," Amelia chimes in. She heads to another closet. "This is extremely important; What color hair do you want?" Jonathen almost laughs but contains it. No one ever dyes their hair at his old school.

"Uh... How about a forest green?" Jonathen says. Amelia digs in the closet and pulls out a dark green. She rubs some dye on her hands and then scrubs it into his hair. Almost magically, his hair turns a forest green. "What do I do about my eyes? I mean, all of you guys have different color eyes... How does that work?"

"That is your dragon's decision. Not everything is up to you. In fact, they choose your body suit too. But it will have to do with green, yellow, or blue. Until then, you walk around nude."

Jonathen stares at her with his eyes wide. "What?!" he starts protesting when the two burst out in laughter. Even Annie chuckles.

"You are very gullible!" Amelia mocks. Jonathen's face turns bright red.

"Amelia, I am ready to go to the Bonding event, are you-" Caroline calls, waltzing down the stairs. She stops when she sees Jonathen. "Who is this?"

"Oh, this is Jonathen! He is such a card! He is going to the Bonding event tonight, why don't you, Jonathen, and Malcolm go together?" Amelia replies, showing off Jonathen. He looks at Caroline then realizes he is staring. He flips his head to the mirror and stands up. 

Suddenly, he realizes his nerdy imagine has disappeared. His dark green hair is short and spiked up fashionably. His original sea blue eyes seem brighter. The freckles he once had are hardly noticeable and a farmer's tan covers his body. He is more muscular now. He might have even grown a few inches.

Caroline has snow white hair with grey-blue eyes. She is about five foot nine and hardly fattened. She has no visible acne or freckles on her face. Her skin is tan, almost as much as Jonathen's.

"Uh... Hi, I'm Jonathen," he says lamely, extending his hand. She slightly blushes and shakes it.

"Caroline."

"Can we leave, before I gag?" Malcolm sighs. They both blush and walk with Malcolm to the door. As soon as it shuts, Amelia squeals with happiness.

"They are so cute!" she exclaims and watches them walk together to the Bonding event.