The Rider War Academy came into view after a ten minute flight that would've taken an hour on pegasi-back. I'd known the Academy was located on a floating island, but I'd never imagined it would be quite like this. It hovered hundreds of feet over the Darkend Forest. From above, the island looked like a massive dragon with its wings spread. The three older riders led us on an aerial tour of the island.

"Those are the wizard houses, one for each element," the black-haired wizard shouted over his shoulder. He gestured at a line of red-brick buildings along the edge of the right wing. Each one was two stories and easily ten times the size of my house. "Cinem dormitories, one for males, one for females," were next- two of the biggest buildings I'd ever seen sitting at the northern edge of the east wing. Then we circled around and flew over the middle of the east wing. I leaned forward in Leera's saddle, curious.

"The Talme House," he called out as we passed over a huge two-story building. It looked like it could've had three or maybe even four floors if it was a normal building; the second story sure was tall enough. Just past the Talme House was a giant open-air amphitheater. The infirmary was a little farther away, right on the southern edge of the island.

Again, we circled around, passing over the island's massive back and being shown the director's office, which was right on the dragon's head. When we flew over the left wing, I saw that most of its southern half was empty grass with large squares outlined in white. The wizard said those were the "outdoor classroom areas." To the north a bit was the dining pavilion - a mammoth of an open-walled tent with circular tables and chairs underneath it. Just to the right of the pavilion was the "doballick field." I'd played the sport before, but never on an official field, and especially not one with stadium seats surrounding it.

The last thing they showed us was on the western edge of the west wing, where there was a line of shops that the wizard said had "everything from axes to handkerchiefs."

After the tour, we split up. Each of the three older riders took a species group. The black-haired wizard led us talmes to the Talme House. He flew right up to to a giant rectangular hole in the wall on the second floor that led to some type of hangar-like room. The wizard had his golden dragon close its wings at the last second to make it in through the hole. I suddenly remembered that this was actually the first time Leera had ever flown outside the exercise enclosure at the stables. Supposedly, knowing how to fly was instinctual, but what if she'd lost part of that instinct because of the mind-jinking collar?

I wanted to hold back until the other three talmes had flown in, but Leera had other ideas. She suddenly pulled her wings in halfway and dove straight for the hangar room door. I screamed and closed my eyes, clutching the saddle's handles. A split second later, she landed in the hangar room. I opened my eyes and was glad to see that we were both in one piece.

"Kneel," I commanded. Leera looked back at me, then promptly sat down. I clung to the saddle as gravity threatened to send me sliding down her back and onto her tail spines. "That is not kneeling," I grumbled. "Kneel!" The wizard gave me an odd look from across the hangar room, and I tried to look as if I knew what I was doing. "Kneel," I hissed when Leera didn't move. She growled softly and shook violently, detaching me from her saddle. I slid down past her wings but managed to push away from her back before I met her sharp tail spines. Just as I fell the few feet to the floor, my trunk followed and nearly landed on top of me.

I hurried to stand with my trunk and move to the side so the other riders could land. Leera stood and moved with me, blocking my view of the entrance. When I tried to go around her to look, she moved in front of me. That didn't make much sense, nor did her unwillingness to follow simple commands. From what I'd seen and read, most dragons were pretty obedient with their riders. And back at the stables, Leera had never seen like the wild type. What if it was because I was a paltor? I'd read that a lot of animals didn't like paltors because of the smell or something. I didn't know if dragons were the same way, but if they were and someone realized that Leera was acting strangely because I was a paltor... That would only end badly.

"Ella, are you the one hiding behind Leera?" It was Tawny asking the question, and I tried looking past Leera's legs to see her.

"I'm not hiding," I answered. All I could see were her legs and the legs of the blue dragon next to her. She must've been flying with the group this whole time, but I was too distracted to notice her.

"Then may I ask why you are standing out of sight?"

"I just am. One second," I replied, pushing at Leera's side. She had started pressing me against the wall. "Move over," I hissed. She took a single step away, just enough for me to dart around her and into the open. Tawny was standing near Leera with her dragon, a class 5. I was glad to see a familiar face here. She looked like she was going to say something, but another rider flew in before she could.

When the new rider landed, for a second, I thought I was seeing double. She looked completely identical to Tawny - from the dark brown hair around an oval face to the slender, chestnut tail. I could only tell them apart because the other rider had much shorter hair - only reaching her chin - and a jagged scar that curved down the length of her throat. As she slid off the back of a maroon class 5, Tawny introduced her.

"Ella, this is my twin, Raven. Raven, this is my friend, Ella." Raven looked at me and raised an eyebrow, moving to the side of the room with her dragon.

"Your dragon was mind-jinked, wasn't she?" She asked. I nodded, and the last talme rider flew in a second later. It was another girl - someone I'd never seen before. She must've been from another part of the province. Her dragon was a violet class 6. I suddenly realized that Leera was the biggest dragon in the room and felt a small glow of pride in spite of what being chosen meant for me.