by Martha Carr
She gasped as the air returned to her chest. “Okay. Still alive.”
Once she caught her breath, she leaped to her feet and picked up a nearby rock, throwing it at the dragon. “You want respect? Here’s respect! What do you want? Is this a game to you?”
The rock bounced off Leander’s chest. “There’s nothing fun about being here, little girl. I would hardly call it a game.”
She threw her hands in the air. “Get your damn wings clipped. I tried to help you, and you decided to be a bastard about it! Not my fault!”
Raven grabbed the gate and yanked it open, slamming it behind her as she stormed out. Once she was a few steps away from the pen, she put her hands on her hips and looked up at the setting sun, frowning.
William walked over to her. “Problem?”
“I can’t do a damn thing with him, and he’s going to kill me! We need our familiars as soon as possible. I’m going to fall behind. Get me a different one.” She crossed her arms, frustrated.
He put his hand on her good shoulder. “Stop making it about you. Dragons respond to our truest intentions. Frankly, all animals do. You must have noticed that with the goats. Yes?”
Raven nodded, letting out a tired sigh.
“Notice your victories, Raven. You got the saddle on him. Without any formal training or experience, you saddled a fully-grown male dragon, and you’re not a human fried potato. That’s huge. The fact that you’re still breathing means there’s a connection.”
“Sure as hell doesn’t feel like it.”
“One step at a time. You’re getting through to him more than you think. He just needs to trust you before he lets you ride him. It takes time.”
Raven shook her head. “I don’t have time. He doesn’t have time.” She paused to think about her next plan of attack. “What does he have to do to keep from getting his wings clipped? How does he prove he can be trained or whatever?”
“I’ve told you this.”
“Tell me again.”
“Fine. Every dragon has to do a time trial for their first test. It’s a race around a track with an obstacle course. There’s flying, diving, going through a series of hoops, and burning a few bales of hay.”
“That all sounds pretty pointless.”
“Yes, except it shows control, and that’s the key. Every dragon who comes out of the Moss Ranch has to demonstrate their ability to control instincts or impulse. They need control over their strength and their abilities. They can’t be throwing fire at everything.”
“What if he doesn’t make it through the course?”
“Sometimes they don’t.” William looked back at Leander. “Each dragon gets three attempts, but it’s our job to make sure they don’t need all three. We have a test track set up just beyond the pasture. I can get it ready for you to try to put him through the paces, but you’ll need to ride him.”
She scoffed. “He won’t let me. He’ll just have to do it by himself.”
“No, that won’t work. He needs to have full control of his wings, legs, and his fire. He’s got raw power and instinct, but not control. You have to get on his back and teach him. Neither of you can accomplish your goals alone.”
“He sure seems to have a lot of control already. What if we take him over there and see what he can do on his own?”
William looked at the setting sun. “We might have enough time to do it, but it would be kinda pointless. He’s not going to do well.”
“Maybe there’s a way I can train him without riding him.”
He closed one eye in confusion. “I thought you wanted to be a dragonrider or something? How can you be a rider if you don’t, you know, ride?”
She looked at him with desperation in her eyes. “I don’t have time, William, okay? I’m late to this, and I need to pass my mage tests, too. I can’t do that without a familiar. Start from where you are, right? I need to get my ass back to that academy with this big, stupid animal. Maybe we can shortcut it for now and figure it out later. I don’t know.”
“You can’t take a fire-breathing beast that size to school for show and tell if you can’t ride him.”
“Let me try, please. I have no time to waste. Let’s get him over to the test track.”
Chapter Twenty
William exited the barn carrying a long leather strap that split into two strands at one end. This whole thing feels half-baked. I’m going to get this girl killed. He handed it to Raven.
“These two strands connect to the saddle on either side of his body,” he explained. “You can lead him out by tugging on the other end.”
Raven was puzzled. “This is it? How do we make sure he follows? What if he gets out and takes off? He’s way stronger than both of us.”
“Uh-huh, exactly. He’s a dragon. In some ways, he always has choices. That’s why we don’t release them until we have reasonable control over them. But if you believe you can keep him in line, then you’re going to do all the work here. Just don’t blame me if he takes off and drags you along with him.”
“What a nice sentiment.” She held up the leash, inspecting the strands so that she knew how to handle it. “Okay, well, if I can’t get him to go, I’ll lose anyway. Might as well try.”
“You could be a mage. It was good enough for your mother.”
Raven rolled her eyes and reached up to touch the pin. “Let me make my own way.”
They walked over to Leander’s pen and William crossed his arms, shaking his head. This will be a bloodbath if she’s not careful.
Raven noticed the look in his eyes. “I’ve got a plan.”
“Oh, good, a plan.”
She walked into the pen and closed the gate, leaving the leash by it. She approached Leander slowly, looking him square in the eye.
“What do you want now, little girl?” He sneered, dragging his claws through the dirt and leaving deep ridges.
“I’m not a threat.”
“I know that. I know that better than you know it.”
“Fine. You don’t want me on your back. Is that right?”
A grunt.
“We can do this without me being on your back. I’m going to take that leash over there and attach it to you. You’re going to follow me to a short obstacle course. You finish that obstacle course, and we’ll get you out of here for good, okay? This is only going to help you.”
The dragon didn’t respond.
“Don’t know why I keep thinking silence is golden, but here we go.” Raven grabbed the leash, walked to his left side, and attached the hooks of the leash to the rings on the front of the saddle. She walked around his head to the other side, and Leander followed her with his eyes, not moving a scaly muscle.
Once the leash was attached, she stepped back and smiled. “Good. See? Not so bad.” She picked up the handle. “Now, when I tug on this, you follow me. Got it? Remember, we’re doing this to get you out of here. I’m not going to lead you into any harm, and I don’t want to be violent about this.”
The dragon let out a snort of derision.
“Okay, I don’t want you to be violent about it, you got me? Ready? A little tug and we’re moving. Let’s go.”
William partially covered his eyes, waiting for the inevitable swat or buck or snort of fire—something that would inflict injury on his friend. His eyes widened in shock, though, as Leander rose to his feet and followed her.
With a smile on her face, Raven opened the gate and led the dragon out of his pen onto the open land.
“That didn’t go how I expected it to go. I’m impressed.”
“Shit, me too!” Raven raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Show me where this track is, and we’ll get started.” She was breathing hard, standing in the shade of the two-story dragon.
“Come on. It’s on the far side of the pasture.” William led them along the outside of the fence containing the free-range dragons, who were milling about in their pasture. Several of them raised their heads to watch Leander walking beside Raven.
A large silver female lifted her head and let out a loud screech. Leander stopped in his tracks, pointed his nose to the sky, and screeched in return. William and Raven winced in pain, ducking.
“I thought that was going to pop my eardrums.” Raven clutched one of her ears with her free hand. “What was that?”
Leander turned and faced his trainer with a forlorn look on his face. “That’s my mother. I haven’t seen her since they threw me in that pen.”
Raven shot a quick scornful glance at William, who shrugged. “Cooperate with me, and maybe we can find time to get you and your mother together.” Raven gave the leash another firm tug, and Leander once again continued to walk beside her.
“Seriously, I can’t believe this is working so far.” William shook his head. “I didn’t think it would happen.”
“Hang on a second. Will you make up your mind?” Raven said, frustrated. “First you tell me I’m chosen by these dragons, then you say this is impossible, then you give me instructions and talk about how it’ll work if I give it time, then you say you can’t believe it’s working. What gives?”
“Sorry. It’s not that I don’t believe in you. I just think you have to approach this with the same methods that my family has been using for generations. There’s an art to training dragons, and you’re just barging in here and doing it however you want. And even though you’ve done, well, considerable damage to your body, you’re also making progress. It’s just weird to watch, that’s all.”
Raven shrugged and looked up at Leander. “He’s a pain in the ass, but maybe he’ll be all right yet.”
The dragon snorted. “I could say the same thing about you.”
“Don’t get cocky,” William warned. “You still have to get him through the course successfully. I have my doubts there too.”
She laughed. “Yeah, but you also had your doubts about getting him out of the pen. What happened to those doubts? I bet he passes with flying colors. I’m starting to feel confident again.” She looked back at Leander again. “You crush this course, and you get out of the pen. We’ll see your mom. Freedom is just on the other side of this thing. You can do it.”
They approached a long stretch of track four hundred feet long, surrounded by iron fencing, not unlike the pens that held the dragons. But rather than being empty, it was full of bales of hay, and large rings attached to both the roof of the fencing overhead as well as on the sides and the ground itself. On the far end was a large body of water.
William stopped and turned to face them both. “This is an exact reproduction of the obstacle course you are expected to complete for the kingdom’s officials. Leander, you must adhere to the rules of this course. You have to get to the far end to pass.” He pointed to the finish line.
“However, before you do that, you must move through each of the seven rings that are dispersed throughout the course, including those overhead, without tearing them down. You will need to fly to reach those. In front of the lake at the end is a large bale of hay. That bale of hay needs to be completely incinerated by your flames.”
“Easy.” Leander nodded confidently.
“Then fly over the water. Move around the other obstacles and skim over that wall in the middle. It’s all pretty straightforward.” He pointed at Raven. “But you have to teach him to do it.”
She shrugged. “What’s there to teach? Looks easy to me. He says it’s easy.” She looked at the far end of the course, shading her eyes. “If he doesn’t fly over the water but swims across, is that a problem?”
The dragon shot her an anxious look, black smoke billowing out of his nose.
He laughed. “That won’t be a problem because it won’t happen. Dragons will not submerge themselves in water. The one way he’ll be able to bring himself to clear that water is by flying over it, not touching it.”
Raven clapped her hands and waved to Leander. “You’ve got this. Just get through the hoops, fry the hay, and fly over the water, okay? Natural instincts!”
Leander clawed the ground. “Watch and learn, flyboy.”
William brought his finger to his lips, staying quiet. They’re communicating. She’s making more progress than I thought. Could this possibly work on the first run? Nah. He shook his head. Nope, nada, can’t be done. Can it?
Raven led Leander to the entrance of the course and put him in the stall, unclipping his leash. “I’m locking this gate behind you, and then you have to make your run. You have… Hang on.” She turned around and yelled, “How much time does he have?”
“I didn’t bring my timer.”
“Seriously?”
“Raven, he’s got to finish the thing first, okay? Then we can worry about how fast he’s doing it. Have a little patience.”
“Whatever. Okay, Leander, I believe in you. You’ve got this. Let’s light this cannon. Go!”
The dragon snorted, releasing a billow of black smoke into the air, and rocketed from the gate. The first portion of the course was a series of blocks that he managed to weave around effortlessly, pivoting on his feet and keeping his tail under control, missing all the blocks.
“Excellent form!” Raven clapped and gave William a thumbs up, her heart pounding in her chest. “There’s a ring at the end, don’t forget to glide through it.”
Leander eagerly dove through the ring at the end of the obstacles, soaring and banking back to the other three rings attached to the side of the pen at various heights. He jumped through the first two and activated his wings just enough to get through the last one.
“All right!” Raven clapped as she ran along the outside of the pen. “You’ve got this already! Now jump that wall!” Her red hair streamed behind her.
William stared in disbelief. This can’t be happening.
It wasn’t happening. Once he reached the wall, Leander stopped, paced in front of it, and appeared confused.
“Over!” Raven shouted. “Go over the wall! Jump!”
Instead, Leander took a few steps back before charging forward, throwing his weight into the wall and breaking it down. Dust and bits of brick flew into the air, getting into the dragon’s eyes. He threw his head around wildly, trying to clear his eyes.
“No, no!” Raven waved her hands.
Leander kept stumbling around, spewing fire in all directions with uncontrolled frustration.
His anger grew until he unleashed an enormous fireball. Raven clapped her hands on top of her head, her eyes wide. “That’s the biggest fireball I’ve ever seen.” She ran back a few steps, trying to get out of the way.
The bale of hay at the far end was obliterated too early, the stretch of grass that led up to it a streak of black ash. The rings that had been secured to the fence with thick rope were cut loose by the flames eating up the line. They crashed to the ground, making a loud clanking sound that agitated Leander more.
He stumbled through the burning bale of hay and fell into the water, submerging nearly to his chin. Leander felt the icy water rising over his scales and bellowed.
Off in the distance, his mother returned the wailing screech.
Raven sprinted to the far end of the course and opened the gate, waving for Leander to get out of the water and away from the course. He struggled, water dripping off his body as he pulled himself out in a panic, flames still shooting everywhere. He stood in front of the water, letting out a baleful wail. Again, the reply came from the distant pasture.
Raven sprinted toward him, desperate to help as William jumped down from his perch and began to run. The dragon stumbled across the open ground toward the safety of the open gate. Raven stopped halfway, looking up at him. “This way! This way!” she shouted, waving her arms over her head.
The dragon swung around, burning the grass in an arc that stopped just feet from Raven. He stumbled toward her voice and she started to run again, looking over her shoulder as she headed for the gate. She got there just ahead of the red dragon and held onto the open gate.
He passed through, banging against the sides and
threatening to crush Raven as she ducked and swiveled, connecting the leash to his saddle, one hand on the side of his body. “There, there. I have you. I have you,” she kept repeating, keeping her voice low and soothing. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault,” she choked out. She kept her hand firmly pressed against him, still dodging his flailing body, tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
William ran down the length of the fence. His mouth hung open, and his stomach was in knots as he surveyed the damage. The bale of hay was gone, which was expected, but the wall had also been destroyed. Flames still danced on the top of the cage as the fire consumed what was left of the ropes holding the rings in place. The rings were piled on the ground in the middle of the course.
“Everything has been destroyed. I can’t believe it. It’s going to take me forever to get this fixed!”
Raven looked at the dragon, who was covered in dust and dirt and panting heavily. “That wasn’t what we were looking for, Leander.” Without thinking, she laid her head on his neck and closed her eyes.
William got to the dragon but couldn’t see Raven anywhere. “Raven! Are you all right?”
She lifted her head and came around the dragon’s neck, looking underneath. Her face was covered in soot. “I don’t know what happened!”
“You keep acting like it doesn’t matter what you don’t know. Like the universe will take care of you. Someone could get hurt. Leander almost did.” He was practically shouting.
They headed back to the other side of the pasture, William walking silently beside them. I knew I shouldn’t. I knew it, and I let them anyway. Now I have so much extra work, caused by an errant dragon and an untrained trainer. A mage in training. Dammit!
“I’ll help you clean up, William. I can come here after class tomorrow. I’m sorry.”
He saw the tears in her eyes, and his heart softened. He sighed and waved off the suggestion. “It’s fine. It’s my job. This is always a risk. That was pretty bad, though. Damn. I’ll have to get the plans from the kingdom again so I can duplicate the setup. It’s an exact reproduction. I’ll need to make sure everything is perfect.”