The School of Dragon Riders [Dragon Riders #1]

Chapter 1 (edited)

Blood distorted my vision-it flowed all around me. Unable to move, I tried to make out my surroundings. I couldn't feel the blood; I simply knew it was there.
Suddenly, my vision cleared and I could see the chaos unfolding around me. My gaze flew across a rocky cliff side, with the sea crashing on the rocks. A nice view, you must think. However, I saw anything but nice, because dead bodies covered the dull, dirty ground, turning the green grass red. The sight was far from pleasing, so I tried to look away, just to find out that I couldn't. Could this have been a dream sent by the famous Dragon Riders to punish me for playing tricks on the village folk? I admit it, I like tricking people. I am called mean and evil for doing so, but it is all the fun and adventure that I can get. Scaring them a bit is rather like a hobby to me, like shouting that we are under attack in the middle of the night. However, I couldn't imagine that what was happening was really punishment for my pranks. That was impossible, so I concentrated on the battlefield, trying to find the meaning in what was happening before me. Just then, I noticed living beings. On one side of the clearing were Ogres, bloody and weary from a battle. On the other side, Humans. They were bloody and tired looking as well. Everyone knew about the war that we humans had with Ogres. I still didn't understand why we had to fight so much- I was sure that peace could be found. Nevertheless, as adults told me repeatedly, it was none of my concern and I should stay out of it.

Suddenly, a battle cry was heard from the biggest Ogre, whom I assumed was their commander. He said something in their language. I didn't speak Ogre, and I never knew anyone who did, so to me it was just a series of growls and shouts. Humans roared as well and various shapes began filling the sky. Dragons. I heard stories about Dragon Riders, so seeing them in a dream was truly remarkable. I never saw a dragon myself, though there aren't that many Riders and they are usually at the School or at war. The size of the dragons didn't vary a lot, but they had different colourings and markings. I saw blue, white, yellow, red, and many other colours. From what I knew about dragons from stories, they were all strong, clever, and could spit fire. Some of them were faster, some were stronger, and some were smarter, but it had nothing to do with the colour.

As the two clouds of dragons were about to collide, I heard a voice.

"Medea, wake up!"

Suddenly I was jerked away from the interesting dream to find myself safe and warm in my bed. It was a little before dawn and my father was calling me. I have no mother, since she died when I was young, too young even to remember her. Why would my father wake me up so early? Then I remembered. It was the choosing day. You see, each year, in every village in the Human Kingdom, Dragon Riders come to test children my age, which is 14, for magic. There is a magic stone, and if you have magic, it shines when you touch it. There are many magical abilities. My mother was a Dragon Rider and she had Mind. Some people have an Element when they are born, some even two, and a test is done to see which one they have when they get to the School. There are four Basic Elements, which are the most common: water, fire, earth, and wind. Powerful casters could control ice as well as water, or create large hurricanes with their wind powers. The advanced Elements are Darkness, which allows the caster to turn invisible or create shadows. If they are powerful, they can even summon dark creatures, which is the rarest. Then there is Mind, which allows the caster to read people's minds, make them forget, and if powerful, control them. Next is Light, which mostly involves healing, and last are the Shape Shifters, who can shift into different animals and is another rare Element.

I groaned as I slid my aching legs out of bed. All afternoon the day before, I was running from angry kids. They were angry with me because I had hidden their toys. In spite of them being younger, I couldn't win a fight against them. I was outnumbered, and I wasn't that good at fist fights, so I preferred running instead of fighting.