Dragon Rider

 

Jen watched her younger brothers high above, performing loop-the-loops in the sky. Clay and Arnold were dragon riders, and they were showing off the things they had learned at the Academy. Filled with envy, Jen had always wanted to go, but it was impossible. Girls weren’t supposed to become dragon riders.

            While her brothers dived and glided on their dragons, Jen thought about what that would feel like. She just wanted to ride one once. She wondered what it would be like to be borne through the air with a dragon’s wings stretched out below her. Her thoughts were so caught up in the vision that she didn’t even notice when the demonstration finished. Mom tapped her on the shoulder and she snapped out of her reverie. “What?” She looked at Mom who looked a little irritated.

            “I need you to go to the market for me,” Mom said impatiently. “We’re out of flour and I wanted to bake a cake for the boys.”

            “Oh, yeah. Sure, Mom.” Clay and Arnold hadn’t been home for months, and Mom wanted to make things special. That was fine with Jen. Although she was only nineteen, people in town had already started to think of her as an old maid. Having her brothers home gave everyone something else to talk about for a while.

            A few minutes later, Jen was walking down the road with an empty pack toward the market in town. Visions of dragons and flying continued to swirl through her head. She had walked this path countless times and didn’t pay too much attention to her surroundings – until a deer bounded across the road right in front of her. It was so close that Jen could have touched its soft fur as it dashed by.

            That was when Jen noticed the smell – something was burning. Looking around, she saw smoke coming from the trees to her left. It wasn’t just a small stream of campfire smoke. Clouds of black smoke wafted through the trees.

            No wonder the deer had almost run into her. She knew she would need to go back and get help to put out the fire, but first she had to find exactly where the smoke was coming from.

            Stepping into the trees, smoke immediately filled her nostrils, and she put a handkerchief over her face so she could breathe. She couldn’t see any flames yet, but the smell of fire grew stronger as she stepped further into the forest.

            To her surprise, as she followed the smell of the fire the smoke started to dissipate. Soon, she no longer needed her handkerchief, but her curiosity grew. She kept going until she saw a flicker of orange up ahead. Jen was deep in the forest now, and she wondered who could have lit this fire. As she got closer, she realized that the fire was contained in a large ring of rocks, at least five feet across. There was no sign of anyone else around.

            Who had made this fire? Jen knew there was no danger from it now. She stood mesmerized by the orange and yellow of the flames. Suddenly, the fire went out. She gasped when she realized what the fire had been heating – a dragon egg! Only those chosen to be dragon riders had ever seen one before, but everyone knew what they were supposed to look like.

            Her heart pounding, Jen took a few hesitant steps toward the egg. As she approached, the egg rattled with a series of clicks and knocks. Curiously, she didn’t feel any residual heat from the fire as she crouched down right next to the egg. She studied its rough surface and the way it reflected the sunlight.

            Jen hesitated for just a moment with her hand over the egg. Wondering if this was a good idea, she touched it. It was surprisingly cool. She picked it up to get a better look when an almighty “CRACK!” rang out and a fracture appeared on the side of the egg. Hastily setting it back down, she watched, fascinated, as more cracks and fractures appeared on the egg.

            With one final “CRUNCH!”, the head of a dragon emerged and Jen found herself looking deep into its eyes. Feeling like she was watching herself from afar, she stretched out her hand to pet its glimmering blue scales.

            As soon as her hand touched the dragon’s head, she felt an invisible bond tethering the two of them together. In the dragon’s eyes, she saw that they were now inseparably connected. She instinctively knew that neither of them would survive without the other.

            She heard a voice inside her head whisper, Hello, Jen. My name is Artemis. I’ve been waiting for you.

            Flabbergasted, Jen forgot how to breathe for a moment. After she finally inhaled, she said, “Are you sure? I thought only boys were ever chosen.”

            Artemis’s voice sounded again inside Jen’s head. We dragons choose only the person who would best suit us. I have chosen you.

            Jen looked inside herself and saw that it was right. She and Artemis were meant to be together. She thought back to how she had been jealous of her brothers before. This is what she’d always wanted, right? She would finally know what it felt like to ride on the back of a dragon! Feeling a grin break out on her face, she said, “Okay, I’m ready.”