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I woke with a start and almost fell out of the upper bunk I was in. By the time I’d gotten to it the night before, everyone in the girls’ dorm had claimed the bottom ones. The redhead who was sleeping beneath me had turned her back coldly when I asked if she’d consider switching and I hadn’t had the energy to ask anyone else and deal with extra rejection. I rubbed my eyes, gathered my things and made my way slowly down the ladder. I could work ladders, it was just more difficult because I had to hop down every step, holding the rung carefully with two hands and dragging my bad leg.
If it wasn’t for the fact that no one here thought I would last the week out, I’d love the girls’ dorm. The bunks were solidly built and soft with white, crisp sheets, and woolen blankets piled high on every one. I’d never slept so well. The ceiling was high- vaulted with huge windows lining one stone wall, open to the outdoors. Silken curtains floated in the breeze before them. I was beginning to understand that Dragon Riders were outdoors people. They lived, breathed, bled and died in the outdoors. I’d never been very outdoorsy. It was hard to get very far over uneven ground on my crutch and most of the chores I could help my family with were done inside, things that required quick hands rather than a strong back.
I found the fresh, breezy dorms stimulating. Fortunately, I was the first up, so I had time to wash at the long stone basin the washroom at the back of the dorm. Someone had carved a bathroom area out and water splashed into the long wash basin in a continuous flow. There was even a large area at the back where it dripped down from the roof as if it were constantly raining. If I had more time I’d like to see what it felt like to wash under that rain, but for now, the flow in the basin would be enough. I’d never expected to live in luxury like this, with hot meals and water delivered right to the washroom. If I really did die this week, it would only be after living in a virtual wonderland.
I tied my waist-length dark hair back and scrubbed my face clean. I didn’t have to be pretty today, I had to be functional and that meant no hair getting in the way of the work. I tucked my plain shirt into the rope belt, trying to make it as streamlined as the clothing of the Inducted I’d seen the night before. We hadn’t been issued Dragon Rider clothing yet, so I’d have to make do with my peasant clothes and hope I could get them tight enough not to interfere with the work.
“You won’t be able to make them any better no matter how hard you try,” Savette said, walking to the basin beside me and splashing her perfect, high cheekbones with water so that they pinked up like a summer rose. “Peasant clothes will never look like Dragon Rider clothes.”
She wore soft green wool that hugged her form almost as well as Dragon Rider leathers, and small woolen ties imitated what I’d seen in the dining hall. I didn’t usually envy wealth – what point would there be in that? I may as well envy her beauty – but I did envy the functionality of those clothes. It would be nice to be able to be prepared for what was coming.
“Breakfast starts next bell, but if I were you I’d get a move on. We only have a half-bell to eat and if we are late to the stables there will be penalties.” Her face was impassive but I saw a flicker of something in her eyes.
“Don’t warn her,” the redhead complained, coming into the washroom and quickly stripping out of her silken nightdress to step under the showering rain. Her voice was muffled by the water. “If she gets cut first it gives us a better chance!”
I didn’t look at Savette as I left the washroom but as I walked by I whispered, “Thank you.”
She hadn’t needed to warn me, and yet she did. Why? I had plenty of time to puzzle about it as I left the dorms and began to climb the ladders to the first level – the stables. The rock of Dragon School glinted brightly with flecks of mica under the sun of the cloudless sky. I was enjoying myself despite the difficulty of the climb. I slung my crutch through the back of my belt and took the rungs of the ladders one at a time.
By the time I reached the second level, the bell for breakfast had rung. I took a moment to catch my breath, looking out over the rolling hills and river delta below the cliffs. Somewhere out there, my family was beginning the work of the day. I could almost see my mother’s smile in my mind’s eye. A pang of homesickness tugged at me but I swallowed it down, blinking back tears. They would be fine – better off, even – without me. I needed to remember that my decision was the best thing for all of them. Besides, it was too late to change my mind now. I belonged to Dragon School now.
A rushing sound filled the air and I hastily brushed my sleeve across my eyes in time to look up and see the belly of a purple dragon rear up in front of me. Its massive wings blocked out the sun and a keening sound filled the air. I froze, fear and fascination warring within me. What would it be like to ride on the back of such a magnificent beast? This wasn’t Raolcan, was it?
Not a chance, little human.
It spoke to me, too! Would I be able to hear all dragons now? There was a snickering sound in my mind, and then the dragon’s belly raced past, the scales blurring in the speed of its passing, and it was racing – up, up, up – until it was nothing but a black silhouette between me and the sun. I gasped and let myself enjoy the wonder of the moment. I lived in a school where dragons were as every-day as water. What could be more amazing than that? A single “bing” – a half bell – rang and I scrambled back onto the ladder. I had two more levels to climb on the face of this cliff or there would be consequences.
Now that I’d seen a dragon in flight - so close that I could hear its thoughts and then so far that it was nothing but a speck in the sky - now that I’d felt the rush of its wings and seen the power of its bunched muscles unleashed into flight, now I couldn’t think of not trying to ride one. A sudden image filled my mind – me falling through the air towards the sharp rocks below. I squashed it down and brought up a better mental image – me soaring on the back of a dragon, free and liberated as the dragon himself. I clung to that thought as I climbed higher. Whatever happened from here on in had to include that. It just had to.