Flying the Storm

Chapter One: A World for the Taking

This was the part of the job that I never got used to; the rush of adrenaline, the wind in my hair, the feeling of one of these incredible beasts beneath me. I could see the world beneath me, and above me, swirling and spiraling like the clouds. 

I felt my dragon's wings pumping against the wind, her breath forming mists in front of us in the cold mountain air. The clouds we flew through formed droplets of water on my goggles, I kept one hand on my mount while I swiped away the water. Vision was one of the most important things in dragon riding, second only to trust. 

I had only been working with Kahlia for a few weeks, and I was thrilled to have come this far. When she first came to the Rockies Sanctuary, she was scared, violent, and gave more than a couple of my colleagues major league injuries. She still wasn't fond of humans, but she let me fly with her without too much incident. 

We landed in the courtyard and I slid off of Kahlia's neck, pulling off my helmet and goggles once both feet were firmly on the ground. I was grinning as I shook the sweat out of my hair, I ran a hand through my curls while the ground handlers took Kahlia back to the stables. I had recently been promoted to a sky handler, one of the select few who are responsible for taking the dragons out for flights and ensuring they get back to the sanctuary safe and unharmed. 

"Ro!" I whipped around, looking for the source of the call. "Ro!"

My eyes flitted across the courtyard, finally stopping on a freckly blond running towards me. 

"Oz!" I yelled back, waving. 

He stopped in front of me, panting slightly. Ozzie, or Oz as he was known by most of the people in the compound, was a good friend of mine. He was a transfer from the Brindabella Sanctuary, and had found his place working with the hatchlings and eggs in the nursery. I had a lot of respect for him, working with hatchlings was hard enough, but throwing the mother dragons into that mix? Near impossible. 

"Great flight!" He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know how you do it, I get sick just watching you guys." 

He mimed a gag, I laughed. Oz's claim to fame in the Sanctuary was that he was likely the only dragon rescuer who was afraid of heights. 

"So, what's up?" I asked, "Usually you aren't out of the nursery until later."

His expression flickered. Through his normally smiley demeanor, I saw a crack of uncertainty. 

"The boss man wants to speak to you."

"Cassian wants to speak with me? Why?" Cassian was the head of the sanctuary, he was the first dragon rescuer in the area. We hadn't spoken since my promotion. 

"I don't know." Oz replied, cracking his knuckles. He only did that when he was nervous. 

I didn't press him any further, and instead allowed him to walk with me through the compound to Cassian's office. 

The Sanctuary was made up of, roughly, a score of buildings, all built into the mountainside of the Rocky Mountains. This was common for most dragon Sanctuaries, as most trappers don't dare venture into the mountains. The mountains are always swarming with dragons; we're taught how to handle an encounter with one, the trappers are not. I can count on one hand the number of trappers who have tried to trap in the mountains and made it back alive, let alone intact. 

Cassian's office was one of the highest points in the Sanctuary, aside from the dragon's towers. It was also one of the most difficult to get to if you weren't familiar with the area. We had to sneak through the nursery, which is why, I suppose, Cassian sent Oz to fetch me. Oz was practically a hatchling himself, judging by the way the mother dragons cared for him. Any friend of his was a friend of theirs I guess. 

The other places we walked through were places I was familiar with; the aviary, the stables, the kitchen. The dragons were calm, and the humans were friendly. I couldn't have asked for a better reception. 

Finally though, came the door to Cassian's office. Me and Oz both paused outside of it, casting a glance at one another before I finally took the leap to knock. 

Good luck. He mouthed at me just before I was beckoned inside. 

I stepped inside the door and went to close it, but before I could, Cassian spoke. 

"Oz, you come in too."

He blinked in disbelief, then walked inside. 

Cassian was staring out of the huge window that made up the north wall of his office. It overlooked the entire sanctuary, which would be useful if you were the head, I suppose. He turned to face us, then sat down at his desk, motioning for us to do the same. I realized as I was sitting that me and Oz weren't the only ones Cassian had summoned. 

Sitting on the far right was another handler by the name of Quin, I never caught their last name in all the time we had worked together, but I knew they were a ground handler. A damn good one too. 

Quin noticed us and gave us a wave. I returned it. 

"I bet you three are wondering why I called you here." Cassian folded his hands and rested his chin on them. 

"I don't know about these two, but am I in trouble? Is it something about my handling? If it's about the Water Spinners escaping, that wasn't my fault-!"

Cassian silenced me with the raise of his hand. "No Ro, you're not in trouble. None of you are. Quite the opposite actually."

We looked at each other in confusion.

"You three are some of the finest dragon handlers I have had the pleasure to train. You all do such amazing work within the Sanctuary, but I have decided that it is time that you three continue that work outside of the Sanctuary." 

"We're fired?!" Quin screeched. I had never seen them drop their calm manner before. 

Cassian held out his hands towards us. "No, you three are not fired. I have special assignment for you." 

"I swear to God, Cassian, if we have to clean the Razortail stables again, I will  kill myself." 

"Quin, calm yourself." Cassian said, leaning forwards in his chair. "You three are going to be retrieving an egg from an auction site in Vancouver. It is rumored to be a completely unknown breed, and therefore worth a fortune." 

"We don't have the money to bid for it Cassian." Oz interjected. 

He made a good point. I loved being a rescuer, but the pay was no. 

"Good point Oz, you three will not be bidding for it." Cassian replied. 

"So you want us to steal it? How? The place will be swarming with dragon hunters and collectors, they're like bloodhounds for rescuers." I crossed my arms and waited for an answer. 

"You three are responsible for the return mission, but we have wealthy allies who will be doing the bidding. All you have to do is get the egg from Vancouver to here." Cassian spoke gently, like teaching a child to ride a bike. "You three will be performing more missions outside of the Sanctuary, but this will be a good starting point."

It was a no-brainer, for all of us. There wasn't a chance in hell that we would pass up that opportunity. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Sanctuary, but the chance to be able to rescue dragons outside of the Rockies was too good to pass on.

In retrospect, I really could have never imagined the chain of events that taking the job could have set in motion.