A Fifth Daughter [Book 1: The Dragon Rider]

Smoke, Sept. 11th

Mom says you’re supposed to be coming home in three days. I hope in those few days you reconsider. Dragonmage is where you belong no matter how much you fear everything about it. You’ll always be accepted there, whereas at home you’ll get lonely. You have friends now; Eaton, Mandy, and Filly. Are you sure you want to lose that, lose them?

Sorry I can’t encourage you more. It’s your choice not mine, but I do hope you’ll think a little more on it rather than just come straight home and regret it later.

Love you,

Tempest Rage

Three days. Three days to make a decision I’ve already made. Three days to change my mind. Question is, am I trying to decide to stay, or to leave?

Walking through school while on the verge of being late probably isn’t the best thing to do. But if I cared about that I’d be running down the atrium instead of taking my time.

I stop in front of room one and ponder what to do. Filly is just down the hall and she and I need to talk. Like now. Before I explode.

Spinning on my heel, I round the corner and nearly smack into the little red-head I want to talk to.

“Whoa! Smoke.” Filly blinks at me, confused. “What are you–?”

“We need to talk.” I blurt, feeling my heartrate spike.

“Uh… about what? And now?”

“Yes,” I nod. “Now.”

She glances behind her at the students filing into the class she’s supposed to be in before the bell rings. Turning back to me, she nods. “Alright. Let’s go.”

We leave Dragonmage and head toward town. The September air stands still and heavy, like it’s suddenly a weight to carry around. Filly shivers and huddles deeper into her light jacket, her warm Eastern roots not liking the weather. I can’t say I like it much either, it’s the horrible time of year where the seasons are as confused as we are about what to wear; frost or greenery, gloves or t-shirts.

We head to Rabbit Coffee and claim a back booth. It’s a small café run by a family of large rabbit Shifters that hop around in half-form with trays of drinks and snacks. Filly orders a drink and I let myself gather all my thoughts until it’s been delivered and she’s comfortable.

“So,” she starts blowing over her dark drink, “what do you need to talk to me about?”

Might as well get it out now, says that annoying voice in my head.

For once, I take its advice. “I was dared to come to Dragonmage for two weeks, well, more like challenged but still…”

Filly’s eyebrows go up in question. “Okay…”

“Those two weeks are up on Sunday.” I explain.

“Oh,” she glances at her hands wrapped around the mug. “So, you’re leaving.”

I wince. “I don’t know. Two weeks ago I would be without question, I wouldn’t even have told you, just disappeared, but now…”

“You have friends and aren’t sure you want to lose that.” Filly concludes, looking at me.

I nod. It makes sense that she’d come to that answer. She didn’t have friends before coming here and now she’s got Eaton, Mandy, and I. Mandy has taken to calling us The Four Musketeers. Eaton says that’s an awful name, but Filly and I use it frequently.

“I want you to stay.” Filly says quietly. “But I know how much of a problem it is for you here with your fear. But,” she sits up, “that is the only thing dragging you down, right? I mean you have nothing against Dragonmage, nothing against dragons, it’s just that fear. Don’t you think it’s about time you stopped letting it control you.”

This isn’t the first time Filly has shown how brave she is in words, but it continues to surprise me every time she does it.

She’s right. I’ve let this fear hold me down for years and haven’t stopped to think that maybe it’s controlling more than just my life. It is about to destroy my friendships and future in doing anything useful.

I swallow. Just because I’ve had the revelation doesn’t mean it’s suddenly going to change though. I’ll be scared of heights until something comes up that I’ll fear more.

I nod. “You’re right.” I stand. “I’m going to find Alex. We need to talk.”

Filly smiles.

Like actually smiles. Her face brightens, her freckles dimming in the glow of her mirth. Her pale-green eyes darken and squint. This is a real smile. Real happiness. I turn, hiding a grin. I knew I’d get her to smile before two weeks were up.

Alex jumps slightly when I walk into his office. He obviously wasn’t expecting visitors while classes are in session. He’s lounging across the small couch against the wall, reading a book. Although I can guess he’s supposed to be doing all the paperwork piled on his desk.

He sits up, his feet dropping to the floor. “Hi, Smoke.” He frowns, glancing me up and down. “Is something wrong?”

I shake my head. “No, not really.” I pause. “Actually, there is a problem.” He motions to the armchair across from him and put his book on the coffee table between the furniture. I sit stiffly, mostly from how uncomfortable the chair is. No wonder he takes the couch. “It’s about this two week challenge.”

“Ready to go already?” He asks, running a hand down his face and looking exasperated.

“No,” I say quickly. “Actually, I’m here to tell you that I’ve decided to stay.”

His blonde eyebrows jump up while his grey eyes brighten. He surprised, which is understandable. “What changed your mind?”

“I’m still not a fan of riding dragons, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Alex waves me off. “No. I mean it seriously, what changed your mind?”

“Friends.” I say confidently. Although that suddenly doesn’t seem like a good enough response. ‘Friends’ could be the answer to anything.

He nods and pats his knees. “Well, then. Welcome to Dragonmage, Smoke. Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” He checks his watch and I smile shyly.

“I’ll get going then.” I say, standing.

He smiles quickly. “Oh, your Pure One teacher should be here for your class this afternoon at 4. Room two. Don’t be late.”

I nod, although inside I’m glaring. That Werewolf guy, Coal Raymond, had to leave the day after I met him and hasn’t been back. He doesn’t even know that I’ve found my Jade. Really I was hoping he died or something and this class was cancelled.

For the most part, I’m still pretty creeped out about whoever sent the Jade to me. So much so that I’ve started locking and double locking the cabin doors at night. Call me paranoid, but I have valid reasons to be. Someone is watching over me and I don’t know if that is a good thing or not.

Coal comes around the corner and glances at the door a few down. Apparently, he hasn’t been to room two yet.

“Hey!” I call. He spins around sharply, his body tensing. If I’d wanted to attack him I wouldn’t have called out. That’s just common understanding. He smiles faintly when he finds me leaning against the door to the correct classroom.

“Hello, Smoke.” He says. “Sorry, for all the delays.”

“It’s okay,” I say, even though I wish I could say instead; I got a lot of homework done because we didn’t have class and I also spent more time with friends because we didn’t have class. And because we were not having class and I was spending time with my friends I’m now staying in Legend. That’d be just rude to say aloud.

Coal opens the door and ushers me in. He glances around and whistles at the high seats and raised stage. “I think this might be a little big for just the two of us.” He points to the stage. “And I definitely don’t plan on a long class or boring lectures.”

I smile politely, shrug and sit in the front row. Coal leans against the desk and crosses his ankles; shoving his hands into his jean pockets. It’s a relaxed manner, but it puts me on edge. I don’t particularly like the guy. I mean, he can’t be much older than me and he doesn’t really act much older, but still there’s something about him. A bad vide around him. Maybe this is what it’s like for all Pure Ones to be in each other’s presence; maybe he even feels the same about me. But that thought doesn’t help me shake the feeling.

“So, have you come up with anything in your past, or that you might have, as your Jade?” He asks calmly and quietly.

I pull the dragon scale from my jacket pocket and show him. In the faint light coming through the glass roof, the scale is a midnight black and the copper wiring a deep, rustic red. It’s warm to the touch from being in my pocket all week, but I couldn’t put it on. I can’t seem to make this situation any more real than it already is.

Getting the Choice brought forth secrets, coming to Legend was just enough to prove those secrets, finding the Jade seemed to open my eyes a little more, putting it on will be the last step before getting a dragon and then everything will become reality again. Because there’s no way I’ll still be enjoying this dream when I’m riding a beast.

It takes me a moment to realize Coal has taken the dragon scale and is examining it under his Werewolf-green eyes.

“How long have you had this?” He asks. “And why didn’t you say anything of it before? It’s obviously not something someone would forget about.”

Tell me about it. It’s been a brick in my pocket all week.

“Just recently.” I say, answering both of his questions.

“How recently?”

I’ve thought about how to answer this question. I don’t know if I should just say I found it and laced the copper around it, or if I should tell the truth about someone sending it to me. No one knows about the random sender, no one even knew about the scale until today.

“The day you and I met. Someone sent it to me.” Talking in short sentences seems to make it easier to speak. Because if I could sum up life, it’d be in short phrases that have no emotion but explain everything.

“Someone sent this to you?” He asks incredulously. I nod. “Who?”

“I –” How to go about this. “I don’t know. There was no return address.”

He frowns at me. “Was there anything else with the package?”

I hesitate. “No,” I shake my head to make the answer seem real. “Nothing.”

Again, just like last time, he takes my answer, but doesn’t believe me. I can see it in his too-green eyes; the rising questions that threaten to break lose. He reins them in and hands back the Jade.

“Well, now that you’ve found it, there’s really nothing we can do until you have your dragon. Your abilities have yet to mature.”

“What –” I pause, debating if I actually want to ask or not. “What abilities are there?”

He almost smiles. “There are many different ones. And none are predictable. They’re always different.”

“What’s yours?”

He stretches out his palm and a moment later the tips of his fingers flare a light orange. Very slowly, the color brightens and just as slowly it flows down his fingers and collects in his palm. A small flame bursts alive and dances across his skin, never burning but always moving.

“Wow,” I gap at the flame.

He chuckles – the first emotion he has expressed since we’ve met. “I’m a Pyro, controller of fire, and one of the Elementals.” The flame diminishes and then dies, leaving the burnt smell of fire behind. “As long as there is a breath of warmth in the air I can summon the power. There are many other powers like that, and then there are the rare ones. You never know what you’re going to get. You could have a whole history of Pyro ancestors and suddenly be able to fly or speak in tongues.”

“So, I could have anything?”

He nods.

I sigh. I was really hoping he’d give me some answers, because no one else seems to be able to.Either that or everyone is lying.