Legacy in Ruins: Dragon Rider Book 1

Chapter 21: Do Dragons Come With Training Wheels?

Hey everyone! I just want to thank every single one of you for supporting this book. I know I've said that I never thought that this story would get more than a few views, but here we are with almost 2 THOUSAND reads. Like holy shit, my mind is blown.

Anyways, my college classes started last week and now I actually have to study, but I'm going to try and keep posting on the weekends as much as I can (I know I'm kinda inconsistent with posting) but I'm working on it *winces*

Enjoy!

"One miss step. One mistake, and your teammates will be wiping your remains off the rock!" Holland bellowed, pointing a finger at each and every one of us. His dragon nodded behind him and narrowed his eyes at us.

"Actually." Lydia raised a finger, ready to counteract our instructor's firm warning or threat I haven't decided which one yet.

"No." Holland closed the distance between him and Lydia with two long strides and whacked her behind the head. "I don't want to hear your blabber. Shut up and listen. If you don't learn the dangers of riding miles above the sky you will die. It is not an if or a maybe it is a when."

Behind me, my dragon lowered her snout to my head and nudged my head with a snort. Her hot air and smoke made my muscles tense and I stepped forward with bumps all over my skin.

Hollands angry eyes snapped to me. "Do you have something to say, Crimson?"

I quickly shook my head and stepped back to my dragons side. My jaw tightened as Rima's amusement and little school girl giggles sounded in my mind. You're not funny. I almost got in trouble because of you.

I wish you would of.

Why did I have to get the dragon who thinks she's funny? I asked myself and sounded dead serious, but the smile in my heart betrayed my tone of voice.

Behind our instructor and his towering green dragon, blue water glistened. The sand beneath everyone's feet sloped inwards towards the crystal clear water. If I remembered my geography from Fullerman's class, we were at Lake Lucent, one of the coldest and largest bodies of water on the islands. And like most of the island outside the city, large pine trees surrounded us.

Cora raises her hand warily, eyeing our instructor like she does when she thinks her question is stupid. Holland raised his chin towards her, prodding her to speak. "Why are we at the lake?"

"Do you think dragon riding is easy?" He asks and she shakes her head. "You can't just fly a dragon, you need to deepen your bond with them, learn each other's thoughts before you even think them. In order to do that you need to fly whenever you can under," he repeated slowly. "Supervision."

"So you brought us here for... bonding time?" Lydia asked, wanting to smile.

"He brought us here to learn how to fly." The boy who had been quiet all day, sighed, rolling his eyes. "And to bond."

Easton had been different since everyone returned with their dragons. He's been the same with Lydia and Cora, maybe treating them more of his equal now that they all have dragons. But with me, the spoiled boy still gets under my skin, and we still sneer and bicker with each other, but it's different. Nicer. I think Rima's made him realize that I'm not a mage anymore, that I'm an actual dragon rider.

"Right." Holland agrees. "If people listened to me, you would remember that I had told everyone that water won't exactly kill you if you fall off your dragon." His icy blue eyes roved over each and every one of us, including the dragons behind us. After a long few moments, Holland straightened and mounted his dragon.