ON HOLD (EDITING) Rise of the Dragons: Beginning

Chapter 17

I was flying through the forest. My feet barely made a sound as I shot past the trees, sending the leaves fluttering in my wake. It felt amazing. Adrenaline was pumping through me. Fueling me. Pushing me to run faster. And that's exactly what I did.

I let out a overjoyed laugh, as I crossed the landscape, and ran right underneath Eridors' shadow. Eridor roared into the sky, and I threw my head up towards him. It was like I didn't even need to keep my eyes on my surroundings. My instincts were telling me exactly what to do, and what not to do. 

"I'm beating you!" I yelled up to Eridor, my voice breathless and joyful. 

Eridor roared down at me, and with a swift flick of his tail right over my head, he barrelled forwards, passing over and ahead of me.  

Catch me now! I dare you! 

I laughed and pushed myself. The trees were blurs and streams of green and brown. The sky a pool of blue and white, with a speck of green, that I was getting closer to with every stride. I gave a triumphant cry, as I caught up to Eridor and raced neck to neck under him. 

I'm going to win! I shouted in my mind and voice. 

Good Luck! 

I grinned and turned my head to the side, looking for Rivildor. I could hear the whirring sound right next to me, but I couldn't see him. I pumped my legs harder, trying to beat him, but the whirring sound never left my side. 

Still slightly ahead of me, Eridor gave his wings a mighty flap, and a torrent of air hit me. It didn't affect my running, but I squinted and turned my head to the side away from the wind.

As I did so I saw Rivildor. 

He had a wide grin on his face and was staring at me, awe evident on his face. His arms were up by his sides, cutting through the air, his longish hair whipping around his head as he ran. His legs were blurring and coming into focus with the speed. 

I had the feeling that something was coming up in front of me, and instinct told me to jump. I looked away from Rivildor, and sprang of the ground in a flying leap that carried me over a fallen tree.

I laughed breathlessly, as my leap carried in me the next foot as well, before my feet hit the ground, and I was off again. The whirring sound had flown with me in the air, but it wasn't there anymore.

Was I in front of him? I smiled at the prospect, but realized that the sound was level with me, but further away. That made no sense.

Then Eridor roared, and I tilted my head up towards him, and saw him straining his wings harder, getting further away from me. My eyes narrowed, and bent forward running in a crouch-like stance, to give me more speed, as I pushed myself to keep up.

Eridor suddenly banked, his wings springing out to his sides with a loud snap. His whole body swung backwards, and hovered in midair, sending a huge blast of air smashing into me.

I screamed in shock, as my feet left the ground, and I was thrown violently backwards. I flew through the air, and my eyes seemed to zero in on everything at once, with shocking accuracy.

I saw Rivildor standing of the the side, his body angled in my direction, tensed in a crouch, ready to jump into the air at any moment. 

I saw Eridor, flying slowing, wings angled towards me, watching. Waiting.  

I saw the trees all around me, swaying back from Eridors blast of air. 

But my eyes were focusing on only one thing. The one thing that my instinct cared about. The one thing that was going to stop me from crashing into the ground. Hard.

My left hand, my good hand, shot out and wrapped around a thick branch, as I passed it. It should have been impossible to grab it at the speed I was falling and the angle it was at, but I did.

Instinct told me to relax my shoulder so it wouldn't get dislocated from the pull, and to tense my wrist so I wouldn't lose my grip.

I felt the impact through my arm, as my the branch stopped my fall, and held me suspended for a second. The momentum threw my body up, and my hand turned with it. I tucked my legs in as I flipped around the branch, and let go of it as I finished the revolution. 

I was propelled through the air, and as the ground came closer and closer, I pushed my knees away from my body and landed in a crouch. 

One knee on the ground, the other up. Hands digging into the dirt to steady myself. Head down and tensed. 

I held that position for about half a second, before I sprang out of the crouch, shooting to my feet, and bolting through the forest in the same second. 

The whirring started up again I knew Rivildor was running. Eridor had started flying, as soon as I was up of the ground.

YOU ARE SOO GOING TO GET IT! I growled in my head at Eridor.

He responded with a barking sound that flew to my ears, and I realized he was laughing. Right. I was sooo, getting to the clearing before him. 

The whirring sound was right behind me, and would overtake me in a second. I traced the route in my mind, and saw that I was nearly there. I could beat them.

Tucking my head down against the wind, I shot through the trees. My breathing was harsh, as I pushed myself. I was practically flying through the forest. 

Rvildor had said that elves and vampires ran so fast, that their feet didn't even touch the ground. But I was doing exactly the same thing. My feet barely swept the ground, as they carried my body through the trees. 

The whirring ground had fallen behind, and I glanced behind, but saw nothing. What the? I'd seen him before. When I was squinting! 

I squinted behind me, keeping my pace, and saw Rivildor. His brow was furrowed, his legs and arms a hazy blur as he pushed himself to catch up to me. I was beating him. 

But I couldn't say the same thing about Eridor. He was ahead of me by about a foot. We were close. Extremely close. I could tell, because his wings were locked to his side as he sped the last few feet to the clearing. 

The whirring was suddenly right beside me, and I turned my eyes back to the forest, breathing hard as I struggled to stay ahead of Rivildor. 

We both broke through the clearing at the same time, to find Eridor tucking his wings to his side, as he had landed a few seconds before we burst into the clearing.

Edward and the others were on their feet, and jumped back as we burst into the clearing. I skidded to a halt, and bent over, bracing myself with hands on my knees. 

I could feel Rivildor standing next to me and looked up into his sparkling eyes.  "That was amazing!" He exclaimed, staring at me in awe and shock. "I've never seen anything like it! Your brilliant!"

I blushed and smiled back at him. "You mean other riders can't run that fast?"

He shook his head. "No. When a human becomes a rider, their speed is enhanced, but not to that level. No rider becomes able to run as fast as an elf or vampire." 

That's because my riders very special. 

I turned around and was met with Eridors face inches away from mine. Putting my hands on my hips, and scowled at him. Not letting his comment deter me from what he'd done earlier. 

"What exactly was that stunt you pulled back there?!" I snarled.