The School of Dragon Riders [Dragon Riders #1]

Chapter 35 (edited)

"Jack? The Jack that went on a mission to kill Citro?" Syl asked in amazement. Everyone heard about the story of Medea, and about how she and other brave students went on a journey. Jack was the only one who came back alive.

Jack nodded, his eyes getting sad for a moment. Syl felt guilty instantly.

"I'm sorry, I..." he started, but Jack cut him off.

"Don't worry, I got over it. There is still a chance that Medea will come back. I am currently searching for people to help me save her. Of course, it has to be done in secret, and you would be the perfect teammate with that hook of yours. It's something new and would certainly take enemies by surprise, once you learned how to use it, of course. Think about it," Jack said.

A mission... Syl liked going on adventures, and a chance to save the legendary queen of evil was not something he'd say no to. Nevertheless, he knew that it was dangerous, and he could easily lose his life. Before he could reply, Jack turned into a wolf and ran away.

"I will do it," Syl said to himself firmly. As he was about to call his dragon to take him to the forest so he could practise using the hook, the lunch bell was heard. He was hungry, so he decided to eat before going.

Once he reached the hall, he sat next to Andrew.

"So, did you do it?" Andrew asked. Syl decided to tell him everything, including what Jack said, since he knew that Andrew would never pass up an opportunity to fight. The War with Ogres had stopped for now, since they too had trouble with Citro and Medea, so they weren't a problem at this time.

After he told him Jack's offer, Andrew's eyes immediately lit up.

"That's amazing! I want to come too! Can I?" Andrew asked.

"I think so, but we can't tell anyone else. You're a good fighter, Andrew, so I am sure that Jack will allow you to come."

***

Syl stood outside the school as a greyish white, small dragon flew towards him.

"Narr," Syl said, liking the name on his tongue. He and Narr understood each other's thoughts really well, and Narr knew instantly what they were going to do. He made a thought about it being illegal to go outside the school, but Syl assured him that their goal justified it. Narr puffed out a breath of air and agreed.

He wasn't saddled, but it didn't bother Syl. He was going to spend the time flying around on his own, anyway. He climbed on Narr and they were off.

He hoped that nobody would notice them leave the school grounds and enter the forest. The trees were high enough for him to use the hook comfortably. He was sure of that.

Once they flew over the gate and landed in a clearing, Syl climbed off Narr and got ready.

He aimed at the nearest tree and fired, pulling himself towards it. This time, instead of hitting it face first, he put his legs up to it and landed in a vertical crouch, still attached to the tree.

He then decided to do something risky. He released the curves and pushed himself backwards, using the wind to keep him in the air. He aimed at another tree just as his focus started to fade, and he was flying towards it, boosted by the wind he made.

He couldn't handle the speed, so he passed the tree and quickly released the hook. Using wind, he slowed himself down just enough to aim at another tree, and he fired again.

He was swinging around for some time until he got the hang of it. He was only going forward, though.

The next thing he tried was turning. After aiming at a tree in front of him, he turned backwards in mid-air, careful not to hit the tree. He aimed right of the tree and made a 90 degree turn, boosted by the wind.

He didn't fail once during his flight session that lasted around two hours. Narr was just watching and flying around, showing support and sending love.

Syl then decided it was time for something new. He climbed onto Narr and told him to fly low. Narr was small, so that wasn't too big of a problem, since the trees were quite tall and had a lot of space between them.

He aimed at a tree and jumped off Narr, shooting the tree and boosting himself towards it. He told Narr to fly in front of him, so as he passed the tree, he landed directly on top of Narr.

Luckily, he shot the hook at another tree before that, so the landing was nearly painless.

"That was amazing, but I'll have to interrupt you now. Medea attacked another village, and we believe she will move on to Stone Tooth. This is our chance. Your friend, Andrew, can join as well, but we need to go now, and we need to do it quietly, so fly low and follow me."

Syl heard, and turned around to see Jack flying on a much larger dragon than his with the beautiful snow-white scales. They were going now? The Hook was ready, but Syl didn't have enough time to practise working with it and using weapons while doing it. Suddenly, he was afraid for his life, but he wasn't about to back out.

It was time to hunt down the hunters.