I eventually slipped off to sleep again, and my alarm orb woke me up at the crack of dawn, seemingly only a few seconds later. It screamed shrilly, waking Leera up as well. I was glad she hadn't left again. Then she crushed my alarm orb with her claws, and I was slightly less glad. It whined to a stop as I got out of bed.
"Bad dragon," I chastised, waving a finger at her. I was too tired to do anything else. She growled and thrashed her tail, but I ignored her. Breakfast was in half an hour, so I didn't have much time to get ready. After last night, I would've preferred to go back to sleep, but I didn't have much of a choice in the matter, at least not if I wanted to eat.
A glance at the clock reminded me of how little time I had, and I scrambled to get ready, briefly checking the dress code before throwing on one of the daily uniforms - black pants and a blue-gray shirt with long sleeves. There were patches on the shoulders that each had a multi-colored flying horse on them. I brushed my hair and pulled it up into a ponytail, using a black hair band that wouldn't break the dress code, which had a thing against bright colors.
After putting on a pair of black work boots, I hurried downstairs and into one of the bathrooms to brush my teeth. When I saw myself in the mirror, several things caught my eye. First to draw my attention was a squiggly white mark on my forehead that was the same as the one on Leera's. I'd seen a Rider's Mark in a book before, but actually seeing it on my own skin was something else. They appeared wherever dragon and rider first touched during the joining. Usually that was on the hand for the rider, but when I'd been too afraid to raise my hand and start the joining, Leera had taken the matter into her own claws and touched my forehead instead.
Once I'd gotten over how strange it was to have a Rider's Mark, I noticed my Amillian necklace and tail scarves. Unfortunately, both violated the dress code. I'd worn them both for as long as I could remember and couldn't imagine going without them. My necklace was all I had of my parents, and the scarves hid my scales, which were a paltor mutation. That made me even more hesitant to leave my tail bare.
I decided that I could go without my necklace during training, seeing as it would probably end up broken if I kept it on. As for my tail scarves, I didn't want to break the dress code on my first day, but I knew that keeping my secret was more important.
I finished up in the bathroom and hurried upstairs to get Leera ready. When I went in my room, I saw that she had disappeared again. I rushed into the hallway and ran to the hangar room. Sarafin and Raven were already waiting in there with their dragons. Leera was there as well.
"Come," I instructed, gesturing towards the hallway. She bared her fangs and growled softly. "Come on, I don't have all day." When she still didn't move, I reluctantly retrieved her saddle from my room and hauled it all the way back to her. She stood still while I put it on her, though she didn't kneel, which made actually getting the saddle onto her back a bit difficult.
"Our first day, so exciting!" Liz exclaimed from the doorway. She walked in with her violet dragon, followed by Tawny and her dark blue mount. Both of them had their mounts kneel, then they climbed on their backs as if they'd done it a million times before. I, on the other hand, couldn't get Leera to kneel for the life of me.
"Ella, those tail scarves are against the dress code. If you wear them, they will make you take them off, then parade you in front of the entire island," Sarafin commented from the other side of the room.
"Really?" I asked, the end of my tail twitching nervously. The last thing I wanted was for everyone on the island to see my scales.
"They are very strict. I would advise you take them off before we leave," he answered. Reluctantly, I went back to my room and removed them. I figured that people were less likely to notice me as one talme during training versus someone being paraded in front of everyone. When I returned to the hangar room, no one commented on the fact that I had scales. I was relieved, but I thought that others on the island might react differently, which could be dangerous.
"Mount your dragon, and let's head out," Sarafin instructed. Everyone except me was already in their saddles and waiting for me. I was keenly aware of them watching me as I vainly tried to get Leera to lay down by whispering "kneel." When she didn't, I resorted to climbing up her tail and onto her back. The others gave me some strange looks. Leera did too, turning her head to peer at me over her shoulder.
Sarafin led the way out of the hangar room, followed by Raven and Tawny. After Liz had gone out, I tapped Leera's sides with my heels to get her to leave. I felt her muscles tense beneath me, moments before she bolted outside. We plummeted five heart-stopping feet before she spread her wings just short of the ground. The stop was so fast that my forehead smacked into the saddle's handles. While I was regaining my bearings, Leera started speeding upwards. In seconds, my house mates were smaller than ants on the backs of dogs to me, but Leera kept going. I could hardly breathe because of the fear compressing my chest.
Suddenly, while we were still flying almost vertical, she closed her wings, and we started falling backwards. I gripped the saddle's handles even harder as the ground rushed up to turn us into so much pounded flesh. I screamed my throat raw. Just when I thought that this was it, Leera was going to kill both of us, she snapped her wings out. I hit my head so hard against the saddle's handles that I passed out for a few seconds. When I came to, Leera was landing gently on the ground by the others, who had also landed. Raven put a hand over her mouth, but I could tell she was smiling. The other three actually looked worried. Leera promptly sat down, and I slid to the ground, barely avoiding her spines. She took off a second later.
"Ella, are you injured?" Tawny asked. I pounded the ground with a hot fist before standing.
"I'm fine," I snapped, barely keeping my hands from igniting.
"You could ride with me," Liz offered. I shook my head and started marching away from the house.
"If she wants me to walk, I guess I'll be walking," I shouted over my shoulder. I heard them take off without me, and I kept on going.
As soon as they were out of sight, I let my fingers start sparking. I couldn't really stop it, not for more than a few seconds. Dangerous powers I didn't want, a dragon who hated me, and an island full of people who would love to hand me over to the enforcers if they knew what I was. I wouldn't wish my situation on anyone.
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