A True Friend

Chapter 1

Andriette Seaver was sitting in her dark room, on her bed, next to the window. She was supposed to be sleeping by now, but something kept her awake. Most people would blame the raging storm. The blinding lightning. The deafening thunder. And the rain that made it sound like an army was marching on her roof. But despite all that, she didn't think it was the storm that was keeping her awake. She had a feeling something was going to happen tonight.

And boy, was she right.

For now, she settled with watching the rain and the occasional lightning strike, which was almost immediately followed by thunder. Her mind kept wandering to a dragon from her favorite TV show, Race to the Edge. A dragon that was said to follow storms. One that could harness lightning. And fly at the speed of light by riding on a lightning bolt. Her heart leaped at the idea that a skrill could be nearby, diving in and out of the almost black clouds. Then her heart dropped thinking about how it was only fiction.

Dragons are only myths. The boring, logical side of her brain pointed out. If they were ever real, they disappeared thousands of years ago.

Shut up. The creative and imaginative part of her brain said.

She desperately wanted dragons to be real. She wanted more than anything to have a bond with someone (specifically a dragon) like the iconic duo, Hiccup and Toothless. She mentality sighed and started playing with her dark hair that hung loose over her shoulders.

At least that means dragon hunters aren't real. She thought.

She had rewatched the show enough times to solidly decide that she hated dragon hunters. Capturing and torturing dragons. Making them fight to the death. Killing them as a sport.

She shivered as she recalled the pain the humans inflicted on the mighty beasts. She let her mind wander again until she heard something she had been wanting to hear for years: a roar. At first, she thought she was going crazy. Part of her hoping she'd hear it again, and part of her hoping nothing would happen so she could convince herself it was her imagination. But she did hear it again. It was louder, closer.

This could be it! Her mind screamed. I could finally find a dragon! What if it's a skrill!?

The roar came again and Andriette scrambled to grab her phone off the charger. She searched up the skrill and found a recording of its roar from the show. She played it, and sure enough, it sounded exactly the same. Her heart nearly leaped out of her chest and she had to stop herself from jumping up and down like an excited little kid. Then she reminded herself: I'm fifteen. I can jump as much as I want. Screw maturity!

She jumped once and leaped back on her bed next to the window. She looked out, her eyes desperately searching for something. Brilliant blue lightning flashed in the clouds and was almost immediately followed by another roar. But this one sounded different. Like it was in pain. After a moment, she could barely make out a shape of something dark in the clouds, winging its way towards her.

It crashed in the yard right in front of her window. Through the rain, she could make out the shape of something large: the very creature she was just thinking about.

There's a skrill in my yard! THERE IS A SKRILL IN MY YARD!

Once she got over the shock, she finally realized that it wasn't moving. With no hesitation, she slipped on her rain boots, though she knew it would make no difference, and jumped out through her window.

She was instantly soaked to the bone, but she barely noticed. Her brain seemed determined to stay on a loop of, There's a skrill in my yard! There's a skrill in my yard! There's a skrill in my yard!