A Fifth Daughter [Book 1: The Dragon Rider]

Smoke, Oct. 4th

Are you ready for tomorrow? Are you excited? You could be getting your dragon! I hope I’m not the only one jumping off the walls. You better write me a full description of what he looks like. If you don’t you’ll have me knocking on your cabin door.

So, the wedding is supposed to be soon. I’m not sure how soon, but hopefully within the next month. I’ve missed you guys so much. Thankfully Jacmerl is giving all three of us days off for whenever it happens. Well, as long as the world doesn’t need our help. If an attack happens during the wedding and we’re called back, I will be so stinking mad.

Love you lots.

Have fun tomorrow and enjoy Fiction.

Tempest Rage

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I start drowsily at the pounding on my bedroom door, but relax back down onto my books.

Someone pokes my side.

“I’m awake!” I shout, sitting up so fast that a sticky note remains attached to my forehead. Mandy laughs lightly as she pulls the yellow note off. I frown groggily at her, trying to wrap my brain around why she’s in my room and why she’s waking me up. I know she can be rude, but this is just… just rude.

I groan as my head spins in circles. Man, what time is it? Looking out the window proves it to still be nighttime. I don’t even try and find a clock to confirm my suspension that it’s before six a.m..

“Morning, Smoke.” She says, sounding for all the world like a very happy person that didn’t just wake up a very tired person.

“Hmm…” I mumble and drop my head back to the desk, blinking slowly. “Where’s the sun?”

“Still asleep.” She answers.

“Humph…” I slide from the chair and barely make it to the bed before collapsing. “Wake me when its morning.”

“Well, technically, it is.” Mandy falls onto the bed beside me. The entire frame shakes and I groan, pulling a pillow over my face. She pokes my side. “Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead.”

“No,” I moan, rolling away from her. “Go bother Filly.”

“She’s already up.” She’s too happy for my tired brain.

I groan again and curl up, fully prepared to go to sleep. I don’t even know why we’re being woken up, except that it’s very annoying.

“Come on, Smoke,” Mandy prods. “The Vixen is waiting at The House for us and will be leaving in an hour.”

“Why?” I mumble into the pillow.

“Cause you could be getting your dragon tomorrow.” She whispers into my ear.

Why didn’t she start with that?

I sit up so fast Mandy goes tumbling off the bed with a squeal. My heartrate picks a different beat to thump to and I breathe deeply. I am so not ready for this day. I was hoping it’d be worlds away. But Temp’s letter is on the desk, open and making me glare.

I swallow thickly. Mandy is sitting on the floor grinning like the little fool she is. “I’ll be ready in a moment.” I say, standing and walking to my closet.

She leaves, still smiling. I wish I could share her enthusiasm.

I’ve walked across this hanging bridge so many times that I’m still surprised I’m afraid of heights. I’ve ridden in the V2 every day since I got here and yet I still shy from the thought, and sometimes offer, of riding Nyx or Sky.

Mandy skips across the bridge, not caring about how much she makes it swings while Filly stumbles over her feet. I’m a morning person but not this type. I like being up to see the sunrise, not three hours before.

Filly moans, doesn’t try to say anything and grabs at the rope railing. I put a stabilizing hand to her shoulder, to not only hold her up but myself as well. She mumbles something that sounds like ‘thanks’ and continues on her way, pulling me along.

Mandy has reached the other side and waits patiently. Or as patiently as she can while she hops from one foot to the next. The October air makes her breath visible and she pretends to smoke.

“Why are you so excited?” I ask her when Filly and I are standing on stable ground. “You’re not even supposed to be coming.”

She shrugs, smiling shyly. “Alex said I could tag along. E’s coming too, although I promise I’m more excited.”

She’s lying. Her thumb taps her thigh, like when she lied to Eaton the other day and the time before back a while ago. Eaton lied earlier too. He hid it better, but the little narrowing of his brow does enough to tell how much he concentrated on not showing he was lying. There’s something going on that they don’t want us Acolytes to know about.

I know I’m right when we board The Vixen and there are just as many older students as there are newbies. I hear a few explaining that they’re taking a few days to go home and visit family. This might be fall break but they’re all lying. I don’t know their fidget like Mandy and Eaton’s, but each one has the look of a liar and I’m feeling betrayed. There is definitely something going on and I want answers. Preferably now.

Alex walks into the car and begins looking over everyone. Filly pulls on my sleeve and I realize I stood up and was leaving the pew.

“Where are you going?” She asks, still sounding tired.

“Uh…” I start, watching Alex. He’s talking to one of the older students and looking prepared to leave. “Nothing. Sorry.” I sit back down and she leans against me, her head falling to my shoulder.

“Stay still,” she commands. “I’m going back to bed.”

I slouch back, getting comfortable while the wheels screech and the train begins to move. Filly’s head becomes heavy and she relaxes. At least one of us will sleep, because I’m suddenly wide awake.

Mandy taps my shoulder from where she sits with another girl I don’t know the name of. “Ready?” She asks.

I shrug. “I guess.” I don’t sound excited but Mandy doesn’t notice. She just smiles and sits back. I turn away, so aware of my surrounds I’m worried that the something-wrong feeling I have is something really bad. My fight or flight instinct is active and trying to tell me to run, to hide, to do something other than sit here and let my heart race.

I stomp the feelings away, shoving them into a drawer to be forgotten about. There shouldn’t be anything wrong, shouldn’t be anything bad. Maybe it’s just my worry and fear of getting a dragon gnawing on my bones like a hungry wolf. Yes, that’s all it is. But maybe it is something else.

Grr… being circulatory doesn’t get me anywhere but back to where I started.

“We’re here.” Mandy hisses into my ear. I slowly wake up, feeling like my bones are slushy and weak. I’m glad I fell asleep, but I wish I could have stayed that way.

“Hmm…” I close my eyes, my breathing and heartrate too slow to get me going.

Filly lifts her head from my shoulder, still obviously tired even though it must be past six. I can feel the sun warming my skin, trying to coax my body to wake up so I can start the day.

Mandy seems to have the same idea as she continues to stab at my ribs with her long fingers. “Get up, Smoke. You can sleep in the hotel room.”

“Hmm…” I moan again, but obey. My eyes peel open, my arm stretches out, fingers grabbing the seat in front of me and slowly pulls my body up. I’m really tired. It’s probably from all the nail gnawing I’ve been doing lately in my worrying about this day and tomorrow.

I somehow make it down the aisle and steps without stumbling and find myself on stable ground even as my head spins. Regret, worry, and lethargy fight like squabbling thieves between my stomach and heart, doing some weird and cruel things to my head.

The station is basically deserted as we walk from the platform, inside and then out into the city of Fiction – also called The Glass City – our nation’s capital. It is not, under any definitions of the term; deserted. At all. Creatures are everywhere. Sidewalks are as busy as the streets. Shops, cafés, and stands all line the busy capital, making it nearly impossible to stay with the group. The walk from the depot to the hotel isn’t long distance-wise, but it seems to take forever as we maneuver around creatures and smelly food stands.

The hotel has a nice homey aspect to it on the outside. Four bay windows stretch from the first floor to second, standing like sentries for the revolving door. A roundabout court yard in front is paved of engraved stone and a large fountain dances in the center.

I’ve only stayed in a hotel once in my life, when I was four, so I don’t know the standard, but the foyer is open and ends in a curving staircase going to the second floor. A long reception desk fills the space on the right side and couches gather around twin fireplaces on the left. The floor is dark hardwood and our multiple footsteps echo off the walls.

Filly keeps close, watching everything with wide eyes. “Cities are loud.” She says.

I laugh lightly. “Yes, they are.”

Mandy, Filly, another girl, and I are all given the same room on the third floor. So, up the stairs we go to find another flight, and another. From there we wander the hallways trying to locate our room. Once that’s found we all seem to lumber to the beds, mutter about who’s sleeping where, and fall right back to sleep.

When I wake up for the third time it’s because Filly is pounding on the bathroom door, demanding that Mandy get out as it is an emergency. I lazily drag a pillow over my head and try to block out world. It lasts five minutes before someone is knocking on our bedroom door. The other girl isn’t in here so I’m left to answer as Filly doesn’t seem to want to move from her balancing act in front of the bathroom door.

Grumbling, sighing, rubbing my eyes, and yawning I trudge to the door, and blink slowly at the person outside.

“Good afternoon, miss.” Says the courier, a middle-aged woman who smiles too brightly for how slow my brain is moving. “I’ve been sent to inform you that due to weather everyone is to stay inside the building. Here’s a schedule for tomorrow’s events, please read them thoroughly and if you have any question call the number here.” She hands me a small slip of paper and points at the four digits under CONTACT FOR HELP.

“Thank you.” I say, my voice scratchy and tired.

Her smile widens and she walks to the room across the hall, knocking and prepared to probably give the same speech. I close the door before seeing who opens the other one and walk back to the bed, smack the paper onto the kitchen counter as I go. I’m glad we’re not allowed to go out, I’m too tired and just want to lay around and do nothing before my life becomes hectic tomorrow.

“Where’d you go?” Mandy asks, towel drying her blonde hair.

“Paper delivered.” I mumble, closing my eyes.

I hear Mandy move and the slip of paper sliding across wood and then silence while she reads over it.

“Huh…” she says after a moment. She moves again, this time to bang on the bathroom door. “When you’re done, Fil, come out.”

Filly’s answer through the door doesn’t reach me but Mandy huffs. The bed jumps when Mandy drops down onto her back with a sigh. I open one eye and watch her hold the paper up and reread it.

Filly exits the bathroom and squeezes between the two of us. “Read.” She commands, curling to snuggle into my side. She relaxes and I have a feeling will fall asleep soon.

“So, we’re not allowed out of the hotel due to the storm that is apparently happening right now. Dinner…” she checks her watch. “Whoops, we missed it. Supper will be at six, which is in two hours. Everyone is supposed to be in their rooms by ten thirty… Yady, yady, da… Breakfast is at nine. More yady, yady, da… And we leave for The Nursery at eleven. Lunch will be on the Vixen around one and we should be back in Legend at six o’clock tomorrow evening. Sounds like a game-plan.”

I groan, nod, and turn my head away, succumbing to a restless sleep once more.

“Smoke!”

I turn at my name and find Alex waving me down. I only take two steps forward before he’s in front of me. “Come with me, please.” He sounds rushed and continues to cast a long look around the room, as if something major will happen in the two seconds he’s looking at me.

“Where?” I ask, rubbing at the sleep in my eyes. My early breakfast made me feel much more refreshed from my tiredness yesterday, but I’m still trying to get going.

Alex runs a hand through his hair. “To The Nursery.”

I frown and check my watch. It’s not even eight yet. “Now?”

He nods. “Yes. They called last night saying that with how many there are of us, it’ll be nice if some come earlier. So, I contacted twenty last night telling them about it and then saw you up this morning, thought you’d want to get this over with.”

I nod slowly and he smiles.

“Well, then let’s get going, shall we?”

I shiver as we step outside of The Nursery and into the huge arena that houses the hatched dragons. After going through many aisles of eggs and their warm lights, the outside was a shock to my heated skin. There are only three of us left of the twenty-one brought over, only three of us are having to face two facts: our dragon is either already hatched or has died.

Personally, I don’t think I mind knowing my dragon could be dead.

Of course, the universe doesn’t care about what I ‘don’t mind’ and instead throws a large, black scaled beast in my path.

Deep, dark blue eyes stare at me from a high, strong head. Horns curve from above those eyes and sharp ears twitch. He’s huge. Approaching small skyscraper huge. Four burly legs, board chest, long tail, sharp, black scales, and wings that fold twice to not brush the ground, all make him stand out even without the blackness of his body. His tail weaves around behind him like a cat finding its catch. The point is duded, as if chopped short.

He holds me with a look of frantic surprise; as if I’ll disappear if he doesn’t stare at me. If he keeps staring I might just disappear. His gaze averts and he blinks twice. Then he growls lightly; possessively.

“Mine,” a voice – I somehow know is his – growls in my head. Just from that one connection I know who he is. He is a rowdy, cocky, beast with an awareness of knowing he is the biggest, most feared dragon out there.

And he. Is. Mine.

I regret that thought as soon as he pounces.

Being held between three curved nails that could dice me into little pieces at any given moment and then be chomped down on by serrated teeth the length of my arm, just to sometime come out the other side, has given me much to think about. Yes, I am scared. Yes, I think I’m screaming. No, I haven’t puked… yet.

“For the love of Flame, if you don’t stop screaming I’m going to eat you! I only grabbed you to talk.” The amusement filled voice that enters my head unwanted has a lilt and I instantly feel violated. “If you’re so afraid of heights, why’d you choose Dragonmage? I really didn’t mind being the oldest and most unwanted dragon around, you know.”

A sarcastic dragon, great.

Now, to figure out how to respond. I grasp around in my head for a moment, trying to locate his presence. I find him digging through my memories, and the feeling of being ripped apart makes me dry heave. “I’m not afraid of heights, just of falling.” I counter with a stern thought, shoving him away from the gaping wound he’s opened while uprooting my buried dreams and memories I’ve tried to forget or had forgotten.

“So don’t fall.” He arches his head down and gazes at me through narrowed slits of black eyelids filled with a blue abys.

“You sound like my mother!” I shout over the wind. The corners of his eyes crinkle with a smile and I can feel his amusement course through me like fumes of laughter.

“Well, at least you’ve stopped your screaming, you about gave me an ear-ache.”

Realization quickly dawns. He’s been buttering me up to be quiet. Wonderful, a sarcastic and sneaky dragon. I growl out something unintelligent and roll my eyes.

“Jerk,” I mumble just because my insult vocabulary doesn’t get much worse than that.

“I heard that.” His thick lilt flows through me with possessiveness. Even his thoughts voice how much he’s mine and I’m his. Owned by a dragon, who would have thought it?

But I’m not having it. No, sir. Once we land, I am high-tailing it home and I’ll lock the doors and never come out again. But for now, I guess I’m going along for the ride. Considering, I’d really rather not fall to my death.

“Where are we going?” We’ve been flying much too long for my taste, but his little comments and prods have kept me occupied from the fact that I can’t see the ground period and that the clouds have made my shirt stick to me.

“Strange how little you lesser creatures know of your own world.” The dragon answers instead.

“I’ll assume that to be an insult.”

“It was.” There’s a haughty nod to his voice.

“Humph…” I wish I could cross my arms, but they’re too busy holding onto his sharp claws. “So, what is it that us “lesser creatures” don’t know about our world?”

He hums playfully. “The list continues to grow.”

I growl. “Well, in this instance, what are you talking about?”

“Dragon Island.”

I scoff. “We know plenty about Dragon Island.”

“Of course you do. You also know plenty about ignorance.”

Humph… “What don’t we know about Dragon Island – and if you say ‘everything’ I’ll slap you.”

He chuckles. “I’d love to see you try, human. But, since you asked with moderate politeness, I’ll give you a moderate answer; everything that is hidden from the world, all the bad, all the classified, is shoved away into the caverns of Dragon Island. Along with a relative of yours. I hope you’re prepared for a little family reunion.”

I blink a couple times, but can’t seem to wrap my head around that fact. Relative? The only relative I have, that aren’t immediate, is my dad’s sister and her kids, they live in Far Country away from the hustle and bustle of life.

“What relative?”

The dragon glances down at me, cocking his head curiously. “You’ll see. Now,” He straightens back out and I feel the difference in speed. “Hold on, Traitor’s Pass is very treacherous.” He chuckles quietly to himself and dives. The thick clouds roll away to show the crashing waves of an ocean below. Ahead a thick fog has set in above the tumbling waters.

I yelp as my stomach drops and the dizzying effects of fear latches onto my head. This is not what I planned to do today. In fact I’d really hoped my dragon was dead, or at least unhatched. Everything would have been so much simpler if he’d been dead.

“For the love of Flame, you’re very morbid. I like being alive, thank you very much.”

I glare up at the dragon, once again trying to get him out of my head. It’s like he’s turned into an octopus and his eight tentacles are suctioned to my four brain lobes, two for each to make sure he stays there.

“My name is Cai, by the way.”

Oh, good, now I can curse him to some region of the world I’ll never visit.

He chuckles. “That’d be amusing. You’re not a Warlock sweetheart.”

Before I can spit out the words rolling around on my tongue, we entered the heavy fog and he takes a sudden swerve to the right as we narrowly miss running into a pillar of stone. He takes another quick turn to the right, avoiding another pillar. My stomach beings to feel very cramped and wanting to dump some of its contents.

“We couldn’t fly over this… because?” I grumble, closing my eyes.

“That’s involves making this simple, I like to complicate things.”

I groan and hold my head in my hands as he continues to take sharp turns every-which-way to avoid running into the high columns rising from below. He slows down eventually, his wings stroking back to pull him to a halt just as the fog lets up. A mountain is in front of us, having risen out of the ocean and now a pentacle of beauty in this water world.

“Dragon Island.” Cai says, there’s a strange note to his tone, like grief, but also like controlled anger. “Get on my back.” I forget about figuring out what he might be sad or mad at, and swallow.

I glance at his wing arches, at the space between them made for a Rider – made for me. It suddenly looks a lot further away than I know it to be. “Yeah, I’m good.” I pat the sharp talon wrapped around me. “It’s nice a comfortable down here.”

Cai scoffs.

And then he drops me.

If I happened to find myself at all threatening, I’d have cursed Cai up one side down the next, but because I’m a little human and he’s a massive beast, I don’t think me squaring up to punch him would be seen as much of a threat.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I can’t try and strangle him as I hold on tight to his neck.

He dropped me after all.

It doesn’t matter that within seconds he caught me again.

He still dropped me.

And I prefer to not be dropped, or reminded of the vast distance between me and the ground.

Cai is chuckling. He’s been doing it for a little while now.

It’s annoying.

“If I’d known having a Rider was going to be this fun, I wouldn’t have thought of eating you.”

I scoff. He only threatened to eat me, but right now, I’m thinking about what he’d taste like, scales, blood, organs, and all.

From my perch on his back, the world blurs into colors of blue and white, only to be quickly replaced with browns and mossy greens as the ocean disappears to become harsh cliffs and jagged trees.

“Welcome to Dragon Island, Smoke Green.”

It’s an island of dragons alright. They drift above the forest, fluttering up toward the mountain, and alighting on the beach. All beautiful colors of strong differences no matter how related they are in shade. Cai leads the flight, making the distance look small as he circles the mountain and slows at a large cave entrance. He lands inside and shrugs me off. I land strongly, still amazed at the sights around me.

Cai chuckles, nudging my back. “Come along.”

He walks ahead, folding his long wings to his side and holding his head high on his rising neck. I follow, feeling increasingly small.

The caverns of Dragon Island are a labyrinth of tunnels, rooms, and dead ends. Even with Cai leading I still get the feeling I could be lost. My thought process has turned into little snippets of phrases. It’s unnatural. All of it. Is that a door? Where’s the light coming from? That dragon did not just grow ten feet taller before my eyes. Hundreds of thoughts are swimming around in my head, giving me a slight headache. But, I can’t seem to shut them off.

Stalactites drip from the high cave roof above us and stalagmites grow up to meet them. Some are taller than most of the tallest dragons, others are barely taller than me, and some are just little mounds barely the size of my pinky toe. There are probably hundreds – perhaps thousands – of caves with thick, tall speleothems around the world, but I bet none of them are as clear as glass or as smooth as polished chrome.

“They’re what make the caves hold color.” Cai says as I stop to look at a column rising from floor to ceiling, a small green dragon on the other side appears to have seven heads and fourteen eyes. But Cai’s right. The green of the little dragon’s scales bounce off the glass like a mirror and reflect onto the wall like colorful shadows. Everyone’s colors are shown in here, creating a painting no one could ever paint. That is – everyone’s but Cai’s. His just blends in with the wall, and I nearly feel sorry for him. That is until his knowing, mischievous gaze flickers to me and I remember he’s in my head and that there is no way I can find him beautiful until I get used to it – not that that’s going to take long, he seems to have figured me out already.

“Where are we going?” I ask as we begin walking again, Cai’s dark shadow following after us; and me ignoring the fact I called him beautiful.

You almost called him beautiful, reminds that nagging conscience of mine.

“To see, well, meet your grandmother.” he answers and I nearly stumble over my own feet as I come to a quick stop. “Oh,” he cringes, although he doesn’t actually look phased with what he said.

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

Cai turns and considers me, looking positively mischievous. “Your mom’s mom is called grandmother, correct?”

I nod, slowly, blinking with bewilderment at him.

“So, yes, you’re going to see your grandmother.” He shrugs, looking proud. His head comes to circles around to my back and he begins shoving me forward. “Come on, human, some relatives are impatient.”