Chapter 4

The stable

The doctor comes in and says I have to get out of bed and move around a bit. 

“Should I get Rafe and ask if he has time to show you around now?” I nod and smile. I wait for Rafe to come, and a little later he’s here. 

He smiles at me. “Ready to see the academy?” I nod at him. “Then come with me.” 

We start walking around while he tells us about the different things. We met some friendly people on the way. We go out the big door and out into a big square with a big fountain in the middle. 

Rafe looks at me. “Where do you want to go, The camp side, the stable or the dormitory building?” 

“The stable maybe,” Rafe nods. “What kind of animals are there?” Horses and stuff like that for sure. 

“Dragons and phoenixes.” 

“What?! Are there dragons?!” 

“Yes? Do you even know anything about this world?”

"Not really." I admit. Rafe looks at me in shock, but before he can say anything, a dragon flies over us and is about to blow us away. Rafe looks up. 

"Damn it, Alex!" Rafe covers me up. The dragon lands on the ground and a boy with blond hair, light blue eyes, and tanned skin jumps off the dragon. He gets closer.

"Come on Rafe. Can't you let me have some fun?" He looks over at me and then back at Rafe. "Who is it?" 

"That's the guy I told you I found in the cave in the woods." The boy looks at me again. 

"Oh, so you're Leo, huh? My name's Alex." He holds out his hand to me. I take his hand, and he takes mine. I give him a small smile. 

"Hi." 

Rafe steps in front of me, breaking contact between me and Alex.

“What-” Alex tries, but he’s interrupted by the adults running towards us.

“How many times do we have to tell you not to ride the dragon outside of practice lectures!” One of the adults grabs his arm and pulls him away from us. Rafe and I watch as he’s pulled away.

Rafe rolls his eyes and looks at me again. “He’s always been like that. You have to be careful with him.” 

“Okay,” I say. One of the adults gets on the dragon and flies it back to the stable. 

Rafe looks at me. “Should we go to the stable?” 

“Yes, let’s do that,” I say.

We walk to a huge wooden building, where you can hear the dragons roaring and the flapping of wings. 

“The stable is divided into three parts,” Rafe says. “Baby initiative, fire dragons, and phoenixes.” We enter through a large gate, with dragons in stalls on either side. Down at the end, the phoenixes are flying and some are sleeping. I look around at all the different colored dragons. 

“Oh, there are so many dragons here,” I say, surprised. 

“Yes!” Rafe says and smiles. “It's the school’s specialty.” 

I look around in amazement and look at all the small and large dragons and phoenixes. They are so beautiful. Some with cool tones, others with warm tones. The big, beautiful tails with feathers and scales. The phoenixes with their fire-like appearance, which glow like fireflies in the dark. It looks magical. 

“Do you like the view?” Rafe says out of the blue and surprises me. 

“Oh, uh, yes, it is very beautiful.” I say and look at Rafe, a little embarrassed that I zoned out. I look at the dragons again and see the one Alex flew on before. 

“Isn’t that the one Alex flew on?” I say and walk over to it. It’s even more beautiful up close. 

It looks at me with its big round eyes, a beautiful dark red color with an orange glow from the light. Its smooth red and orange scales on its head, where you can see every time there’s a new one on top of the other, and all the mixtures of red and orange from scale to scale. The scales shine from the sunlight that streams in from the entrance, almost as if it’s sparkling. 

I want to try to touch it. I reach out to it, but the next thing I know I’m being pulled away by Rafe’s arm around me before it can bite my hand off. 

“Watch out!” Rafe shouts. “It’s not safe to touch dragons if you’re not familiar with them yet. And especially not this one!” 

I fall to the ground in shock and pull my hand towards me. I could have had my hand bitten off. Rafe sits in front of me and takes my hand to see if it’s okay. 

“Are you okay?” he asks with concern in his eyes. 

“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.” I say and smile a little. 

I get up again and Rafe follows. I brush the dust and sand off me. I look at Rafe with a questioning expression.

“Are all dragons this aggressive?” 

“No, not all dragons,” says Rafe

“Why was it so aggressive towards me, but not others?”

“You’re a new person, it doesn’t know that well, it needs to get to know you better. But it’s also one of the more aggressive dragons, it only trusts Alex and one of the teachers.” 

“Okay, then I understand better.” I nod. “Do any dragons here even like me?” I say with a hint of sarcasm in my voice. One of the dragons roars down at the end of the stable. It’s a loud roar. 

“Shit.” says Rafe and runs towards the dragon. I follow.

“What’s wrong Rafe?” I see the dragon.

“It’s laying an egg, but I don’t know how it happened. The school has a rule that dragons aren’t allowed to have eggs,” he says panicked. 

We come to a stall with the most beautiful dragon I’ve ever seen. Its beautiful blends of pale blue and a hint of light purple. Rafe turns around so he’s face to face with me. 

“Leo, stay here, I’ll run out and get a teacher, okay?”

“Okay.” I say and then he’s gone.