Spirit High (Spiritriders 1)

1. The Ceremony

I woke up in 15 minutes the most important day of my life would begin. At point midnight the ceremony started.

My mum entered my room, the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen in her hands. My mouth opened, no words coming out, when I saw the dress.

I jumped out of bed no tiredness of the night left. Carefully I got the dress on, so that I could close it properly my mum helped me.

The green dress fit perfectly. "You look stunning in the dress Leonora!", my mum said her eyes sparkling.

I checked my watch five minutes to midnight. Holding my mums hand I walked down. Together we walked under the blooming trees forming arches over us. As the bells stroke midnight we walked through the golden gateway into the beautifully decorated hatchery garden.

The ceremony had begun. I was shown the way to my egg, inside the hatchery. After a short search I found the egg, where my name was written on. Carefully I took the egg in my hand, it was green like the forest and my name was written on in purple letters.

The egg was hot and I could feel a heartbeat pulsing through the egg.

Holding the egg tight I left the building again. Outside my family was waiting, the sermon holding a white pillow in his hands. I walked towards the sermon, carefully laying the egg on it.

"...Now lay your hand on your name and think of a name for your spirit animal. Once you have found one, think it directed to your spirit animal three times in a row!", the sermon explained, his voice loud and clear through the silence of the nightly hour.

'Misty, starlight, Luna,... Emlyn', once I had thought that name, the egg gave a few sparks from it, i knew, Emlyn was the right name: 'Emlyn, Emlyn , EMLYN!'

The egg glowed bright, everyone around me closed their eyes, but I kept looking at the egg. Suddenly the egg cracked and the light faded into darkness, out of the egg cane a dragon that looked like a forest. It was big, bigger than i had thought could fit in a small egg. It was so bis that I could ride on it perfectly.

Everyone around me gasped surprised, a dragon hadn't been hatched in this town for many years. A dragon was the rarest spirit animal one could have and I Leonora had gotten one.

I hugged Emlyn, her skin was soft even though it was scaled. 'I love you', I thought and Emlyn responded her voice clear in my head: 'I love you to, my human, Leonora!' With that I somehow felt our connection growing in my heart, warmth surrounded me.

The sermon walked towards us, he got out a glowing needle and poked it into my skin and then I felt the poke in the place where the sermon had poked me, when he poked Emlyn.

That meant that we were now bonded together, till death.

I was talking to my family, telling them how I had called Emlyn, and they congratulated me. My mum was crying lightly of pride and happiness.

Then suddenly I heard dragon wings, flapping above us and a man landed. As he walked closer and into the light I saw that he wore amor and a badge of Spirit High.

'You and your spirit animal have been accepted to Spirit High, at Sunrise we will start the journey to the school!', the unknown man said. After that silence surrounded us and I for the second time that day couldn't say word.

Then my big sister Amethyst just started clapping and everyone except me joined in. I started packing and as i was told I wouldn't need a lot as i would get all the necessary stuff at the school i was finished just ten minutes later.

We still had my party, but 10 minutes to sunrise my mum hurried me inside, she gave me clothes I could wear better on the journey, and put the stunning dress in my bag.

After that I said goodbye to my family and the complete town, wich suddenly stood there, before my door.

When the sun rose the man showed me how to mount the dragon, and then we told our dragons to walk. We had to walk as I wasn't allowed to fly yet.