War Of Dragons, Part 10

  I arrived at the funeral right on time, not too early, not too late.  But when I got there something felt... off.  You know how it's always dark and cloudy at funerals?  Well that's bull.  That day it was sunny and bright, one of the nicest we had had in a long time.  But for everyone there it was dark and cloudy.  One of the best Dragons had died, and he was missed.

  I sat down on the grass, because there were no chairs, and watched as a preacher went up to the podium.  No one came to comfort me, no one came to tell me they were sorry for my lost.  I was beginning to wonder if the other Dragons even knew why I was there.  The Preacher had begun to talk, but I wasn't listening.  I didn't need him to tell me that Darsk was loved and would be missed.  I already knew that.

  Though something in his sermon did catch my ear.  He had said:  "All Darsk had wanted was peace, and he tried so hard to get it.  That's why we've decided to use his bones to create a brand new house.  That way future families may find peace ad harmony between his walls."

Oddly enough.. that felt right.  It was exactly wat Darsk would have said, and it was exactly what he would have wanted.  I wondered if Darsk would have been happy with his funeral.  It seemed to me that it was going all right.  After his sermon, the preacher and everybody else started to walk away, they acted like it was over and now they get on with their lives... I wasn't going to let it happen.

  I stepped up to the podium and said: "If everyone could stay, I would like to say something."  Everyone turned back around to hear me, and I noticed that the podium was bigger than me, but my voice could be heard. 
  "Darsk was a friend."  I started.  "But wasn't just that, he was a protector, a confident, and in many ways, the bravest person I've ever known.  When I was down here in those first few months, it was Darsk who talked to me, comforted me, informed me, and even protected me.  He did the things it seemed no one else wanted to do.  So in many ways Darsk was more than a friend, he was part of my family.  And for that, I will always love him.  Thank you."

  I stepped down from the podium and everyone stomped on the ground.  It's the Dragon version of clapping.  Surprisingly Scott was there in the crowd, I hadn't seen him before.

  "That was beautiful Abby." he said.

"It was the right thing to do." I told him. "It was the least I could do for Darsk."

  A different Dragon actually stepped to the podium.  I thought I recognized her but I couldn't place it.  I thought maybe she was a friend of Darsk's.  She was a dark green color, with a shorter neck.  She looked kind of like a sleek, green, bullet.

  "My fellow Dragons!" she said.  "MY name is Tw'One.  I didn't know Darsk, but I will say this.  This can not stand!  One of our own is dead!  And by human hands!  They're the reason we are down here in the first place. and they have the nerve to kill one of us?!  Isn't what they've done enough?!  I say it's time we overthrow the council!  If we follow their rues, we'll all end up dead!  Instead we should take the fights to the humans!  We'll take back our original home, and put them underground!  Now who's with me?"

  "Yeah!!!" screamed everyone else in the crowd, but by then I had ran away.  I was angry, steaming, full of rage!  However you want to put it!  All Darsk had wanted was peace, but instead a war had started at his own funeral.  

War Of Dragons, Part 9

  The very next day I went back to the hatchery.  When I had said "Training starts tomorrow." I had meant it.  We were going to hold a funeral for Darsk later that day, but for now... I had to start training.  It was what Darsk would have wanted.  Zarr was waiting, and I couldn't stand him up.

  Where we were training was the hatchery, but it was a separate room from where I had met Zarr.  Honestly?  I had no idea what to expect.  So I guess I was surprised when all I found was a roof with hoops dangling from the ceiling.  We were that important. 

  Zarr seemed happy with the setup though.  He was weaving in out of the wings.  He wasn't bragging when he said he was a good flyer.  When I looked at Zarr a little closer I noticed something.  He was well... bigger.  Almost adult size, and now he was big enough to ride.  In three days... he had grown to the size of a mini-van.   Though while he was flying all over he noticed me.  Which meant I had to stop staring, and start talking.

  "Oh... hi." he said.

"Hey..." I said. "Wasn't expecting this."

"The training room?" he asked. "Yeah, I guess they decided that having a dragon rider wasn't as important as they thought."

"Why?"

"Probably because yesterday you showed up on the back of a Dragon and they shot at you."

"Yeah, not a single person in that crowd thought 'Oh wow!  She's on the back of a Dragon!  Maybe they aren't as bad as we thought!'  So then why are we still doing training if we're not going to 'mend wounds'?"

"They're probably going to put us on a battle field."

  I was actually kinda surprised, he hadn't just grown, he had also matured.

  "I'm sorry about Darsk." he said. "I wish I had gotten to known him better."

  There it was, the grey cloud in the room.  I was trying my best not to break down, but I was failing miserably.

  "It's okay." I sputtered. "We better start training!"

  I tried to perk up, and managed to fake it, so Zarr lowered himself to the ground, that way I could get on. 

  "Okay, here's the trick." he said. "I have to be blindfolded while you guide me through the rings."

"All right... where's the blindfold?" I asked.

"It's over there by that harness... you'll need the harness too... this means you'll need to get off me."

"Awwww..." I joked.

So I slid off his back and to the ground where I grabbed the tools.  And after fiddling with them for an hour we were finally ready to go.

  "All right." I said. "So I guide you with my voice?"

  I was sitting in the harness on his back while he struggled to see through the blindfold.  The harness was clinging to me tight which meant if we crashed, we both went down with the ship.
  
"That's exactly what you do." he told me. "We begin whenever you're ready."

  "Okay then.  Up!"

  He flew up and through the first ring

  "Down!" I shouted!

  He flew through the second one.

  "Alright.  Down!  Up!  Left!  Left!  Left! No wait I meant right!" but it was too late.  We crashed head first into a wall!

  "Sorry!" I said.

"It's fine, I have tough scales.  Let's just try again."

  Because of my screw up we had to start from the beginning, which was a pain.

  "Start with... Up!  Now Down!" he flew through both rings with ease.  "Down!  Go up!  Left!  Another left!  Right!  Left!  Right!  Up!  I meant right!"  but again it was too late, and CRASH!!! his head met the wall!

  "One more try!" said Zarr.   

"Fine." I grumbled.  "Up!  Down!  Up!  Down!  Left!  Left!  Right!  Right!  Up!  Now a down!  Now right!  A left!  One more!  Down!"

We landed on the ground as lightly as a Dragon can land.

  "Huh." said Zarr.  "We aren't dead."

  I just ignored him and asked:  "Will we be able to use reins next time?  It's kind of hard to stay on."

"Yeah, they just want us to listen to each other while flying.  Especially since you can see more one my back than I can."

"Makes sense." I said.

  We were both quiet for a minute.
'
  "This was fun." I said.

"It was."

"I have to go.  I can't be late."

"Thanks for coming." he said.

"Next time?" I asked.

"Next time."

War Of Dragons, Part 8

  I woke up right where we started: in my room.  Scott was there, Darsk wasn't. 

  "Wh-what happened." I groaned.

"You're awake." said Scott.

"No.  Really?" I grumbled.

"You don't sound good."

"Give me time, give me time."  I was hurting all over, seriously hurting.  It took all my effort just to sit up.

  "What happened?" I asked again.

"They... um... we were shot down..." he mumbled a little more. "We were shot down over the crevice."

"And Darsk?" I asked.  He lowered his head.

  "I'm sorry." He told me.

"No..." I whispered.  That's all I could say.  I was quiet, I was crying, and I was angry all at the same time.  My best friend had died.  Was I going to feel like a part of me was gone forever?

  "It was my fault." I whispered.

"What?"

"I-I was the one who encouraged him to go there!  If I hadn't he'd still..."

  Scott hugged me, his arms were strong but I paid no attention.  Darsk was dead.

  "It's not your fault." He told me.

"It is."

"It's not." He was quiet for a moment, like he was thinking.  Then he said: "Did I ever tell you about my cat?"

  "I didn't even know you had a cat." I said

"Yeah, I did.  You remember when we set out to find this place right?"

"All too well." I thought, but I just nodded.

"Well, I asked one of my friends to feed my cat and clean up after it while I was gone.  I thought it'd be okay, but when I got back the cat had died.  It had died of starvation.  At first I blamed myself, thinking I should have never left home and the cat, but then I realized that it wasn't like that.  I should have blamed the friend who didn't feed my cat. 

  So should you blame yourself?  No, though you should blame the fighter pilot who launched the missile.  To a further extent you should even blame Sophie, who told the pilot to shoot Darsk."

  I looked at him.  "Why are are telling me this?  We barely you know each other."

"I'm telling you because you need it." 

  It wasn't the first time someone I knew had died, but it was the first time close to me had died.  It felt like I had a hole in me. 

  "What would Darsk want you to do?" Asked Scott.

"He'd want me to keep fighting."

"Then that's what you do."  I thought about that for second, then I told Scott everything about the Dragon Riders.  Including that they want me to be one.

  "Wow." he said. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Tell the council." I said

"Tell them what."

"That training starts tomorrow."