The Dragon's Gift

Part 5

The next day, Mom and I started my lessons. First, she sat me at the kitchen table and told me about her life as a Nogard.

"First, I need to explain how I found out I was a Nogard," Mom said as she sat down.

"Why?" I asked.

"Just in case your kids become Nogards."

"And this has to be my first lesson? I'm only twelve. I'm not going to have kids for a long time."

"Just listen, okay? I won't be too long."

"Okay," I said. Mom smiled.

"So, um, I don't know where to start. How about...got it! So, the way I found out I was a Nogard was, well, I saw a dragon."

"Really?" I asked. "How did you react to that?"

"Oh, well, let's just say that I freaked out and ran to my parents. But they didn't believe me. She was amazing."

"She?"

"The dragon. Later on, I found out that the dragon that I saw was the mother of my dragon, Tamalia. You see, when I was off on a walk one day, when I was about thirteen, and a year after I saw my first dragon, I heard a noise. Like a growl/whine/roar. By the way, that's the sound dragons make when they're happy. Anyway, I heard that and I went towards it. It was getting louder and louder as I walked closer and closer. After I was following the sound for about five minutes, I came to a really big bush. I pushed all the branches out of the way as I walked through it. And then, I saw her."

"Who?" I asked.

"The dragon I had seen a year before. She was making that noise. I had to duck so they wouldn't see me."

"They?" I asked.

"Her, her mate and their babies."

"Really?" I asked. Mom nodded. "Hey, you haven't told me what the mother looked like."

"I was getting to that," Mom said. "Anyway, there were five babies. If I remember correctly, there were three boys and two girls. One of the girls was Tamalia, my dragon. But I obviously didn't have her yet. Anyway, Ruby was feeding her babies-"

"Who's Ruby?" I asked.

"Oh, I named the mother dragon Ruby. Ok, so, I was scared yet fascinated by these beautiful creatures. One of the dragons looked very sad where she was. Her siblings were taking all the food so there was none left for the little dragon. Ruby and her mate, I didn't give him a name, didn't do anything about that. So, I felt bad for the little dragon. But, I had to go back home. So, the next day, I went back to the spot where I saw the dragons the day before. They were a still there. Ruby was feeding her young, once again. But little Tamalia was left out. So, I snuck around to where Tamalia was. She saw me. I motioned for her to come to me. She didn't budge. I motioned again. She blinked at me. I had a feeling she wouldn't understand. I started to walk away when I heard a small roar. I turned and saw Tamalia coming towards me. I smiled and slapped my knees and told her to come. She came waddling to me and stopped in front of me. She looked up at me and blinked. Suddenly, there was a burst of flame that came from Ruby. She spotted me. She growled but then, nodded and turned back to her two other babies. I looked back down at Tamalia who was still staring at me. I smiled at her and picked her up. I officially had my own dragon."

"Wow," I said. "But how did you learn all the stuff about talking to dragons and riding them?"

Mom smiled. "We'll get to that tomorrow. Now, it's time for YOU to train. Let's go!"