Dragon Rider (Derick and RisqueRed)

[Derick]

Dragon Rider's a fearsome title given to a Rider and a Dragon. Yet in this world, they needed a rider, a child born with a magical gift. Once the two were bonded, the Dragon would survive off the magic of his partner, not going feral. The partner while perhaps never gaining access to their magic, unless they would gain attributes from the Dragon. A longer life was guaranteed, and greater strength or speed, health, as well as an affinity and protection against that Dragon's element. In the Rider's ranks all were equal, Male and Female, Nobility and Peasant, upon the birth of a new Dragon a new partner would be chosen.

Kael, was a purple scaled Thunder Dragon. Two equally scaled Dragons, having long served as Mounts to their respected riders. Much was expected of this young Dragon, as his parents had performed many acts of service and heroism. He would eagerly await his partner, waiting to be paired with someone as skilled a warrior as his father's partner, or someone as talented with magic as his mothers partner. Yet it took a long time to find one, yet one was found. A human child, a female at that. Not completely normal to be paired with a partner of the opposite sex, but it happened as needed. He would not survive much longer without her.

His attitude would not change much over the years, as they grew up and aged together. Challenging her decisions, debating and arguing with her constantly. Yet they did excel at every test put before them, each individually strong. Yet they would approach their final test. Journey into the Forbidden land, a land closed off. Every Dragon Rider had done this final test, yet none would ever talk about it. The Premise was simple: go in, find one of the many ruins, and bring something valuable back. Yet it was dangerous, for as many successful pairs, there were pairs were never heard from again, if any did return the Dragon was gone.

[RisqueRed]

Viktoria was a young but gifted orphan girl. She never truly knew her roots. Her mother had placed her in a basket on the doorstep of the orphanage one early morning years ago when she was just a small baby. Life for young Viktoria was not easy. She learned from an early age that with great power comes great responsibility.

It became known to the orphanage that Viktoria had a strong magical affinity with water. One day, twelve years ago, the other kids had teamed up against Viktoria at the local creek. They had picked on her horribly and some of them took turns trying to drown her. Young Viktoria, fearing for her life, made a big motion with her hands. She didn’t know how she did it, but she made the water throw the bullies out. The kids that had ganged up against her were not able to reenter into the water. Viktoria, at the young age of six, had successfully placed a ban on those kids from entering the creek as long as she was there. Upon seeing this, the adults of the orphanage had sent Viktoria off to become a Dragon Rider.

Viktoria’s training was very intense and hard. Over the years, Viktoria was able to gain a better understanding of her magic. But she still wouldn’t say that she has mastered it. There is still much more to learn.

Viktoria was introduced to Kael at a young age. They paired her up with Kael since she was nine. They had spent nearly every day with each other training. The two of them don’t necessarily see each other eye to eye. Viktoria is strong, but she isn’t necessarily a strong fighter. She also has a very strong grasp on her magic. But she isn’t exactly the most skilled sorceress out there. Viktoria is a good well rounded middle ground person. She wasn’t perfect, but she was at least pretty skilled in both aspects. But to Kael, she had to be perfect. Viktoria tried, she really did. But she could never be as skilled of a sorceress as Kael’s mother’s partner or a great warrior like Kael’s father’s partner.

Viktoria secretly envied the skilled warriors and sorcerer’s and sorceresses. She wished she could be as good as them. However, Viktoria firmly believed that as long as she worked hard and tried her best, she will (hopefully) someday make herself a legend.

***

It was morning time. Viktoria groaned out to herself as she got up and stretched. It had rained last night and she felt refreshed. Her magic felt fully recharged and she felt like she could fight anything. Viktoria walked outside of the small hut that she liked to consider as her “home”. Although, this place didn’t necessarily belong to her. But all of the other dragon riders and Kael, her dragon, all knew this is where she liked to sleep. She even had some of her possessions in this but. The hut is located right in front of the river that borders the dragon rider’s camp. Viktoria loves sleeping next to the water. That way her magic can recharge as she sleeps, she didn’t even need to think about it. As long as she was next to water, her magic would recharge automatically while she slept.

Although Viktoria was an orphan, she was blessed in many ways. She had long red hair and blue eyes. She is a very strong sorceress with a strong affinity for water. And she was lucky enough to be paired with a strong dragon.

Viktoria thought about all of this as she ate her simple meal of oatmeal. After eating, she cleaned up and changed. She chose to wear a long blue dress with long blue sleeves. She tied her long red hair up into a ponytail. She grabbed hold of a couple of dragon scales with extra stored magic in case she needed a boost. She placed one extra scale in her bra and one more in the side of her boot. You can never not have enough magic. Especially as her and Kael gear up and prepare for their final test in the next few days.

Viktoria gritted her teeth at the thought of the final test. She didn’t think she was ready yet. And the test was in a few days. She had wished they could push the test back. But a request like that is dishonorable.

“I guess it’s about time that I go find Kael. We have much more training to do if we are both going to come back from the final test alive.” Viktoria said to herself as she left her small hut. She walked up the gravel trail to the dragon caves. It was still raining, yet Viktoria was not getting wet from the rain. With her magic, she summoned the rain to either move around her or else her body naturally sucked the rain up and harvested it to power up her magic. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked across the sky. Viktoria jumped and yelped out in surprise. As much as she liked the rain, she hated the thunder and lightning. It always scared her, and she just couldn’t shake her fear of it.

[Derick]

Kael shifted and grumbled waiting for Veronica, as he looked over the gear that they would need to carry. Tent, bedding for the night, water, food. It was all the equipment she would need, and he would most likely have it strapped to his back, along with that silly saddle to let her ride on his back.  He would be relegated to her beast of burden, at least until they found a place to set up camp. His mood was made worse by the weather, and knowing she was in fact a water mage. Rain and lighting were almost inoperable, you rarely lightning without rain, and rain almost always seemed to dictate and control where and when lightning struck, as if it was in control of something as powerful as lightning. Yet despite the rain, he could feel the power of every bolt of lightning that struck the earth, enjoy the terrible sound of thunder, as it announced each and every strike. His rider was probably cowering somewhere, some magus, riding a Lightning Dragon, scared of thunder. He would get some joy feeling her cower on his back as they were to practice flying today, flying with all this gear attached to him.

He knew he needed his rider for survival, he now needed almost as much magic to simply survive as he could simply absorb, true on a day like today it  was better, and if he could freely fly into the sky with that lightning, he could truly benefit. Yet now as he got older, he would need more magic to live, to breath, to be a Dragons. Let alone fight and defend himself. Once his stores of magic were gone, he would be no more. Oh his body would remain, but who he was, his memories, his personality would be lost, as he would go feral. It was the fate of all Dragons eventually.

Humans and Dragons used magic differently, humans could use magic, till they were exhausted but perhaps after a single day or a couple of rest, they could do it again. This is why they were paired off, once properly bonded together, he would borrow some of her magic. Yet he had questioned this, he could just take her magic, and she would get it back the next day. Even among his own kin, this thinking was frowned upon. Dragons that had refused to get riders, and prey upon others to sustain themselves, were usually hunted down and killed. Magic could be stolen, a forceful will could simply take it by touch if they were stronger. Yet he was obviously asking too many questions, yet he could piece together the rest nicely on his own. 

Their trial would last many days, if they even managed to return at all. Yet there would be no superiors to judge and condemn his thoughts. Yet in part he did condemn his own thoughts, not the act of borrowing her magic, but the method he learned and was planning on, was also exciting him at the thought. Despite her being a human and he a Dragon, and he had watched her grow up from a child to a lady, she was appealing to look at. Yet for now, he had to be happy with feeling her tremble riding him.

He would notice her around the same time, a particularly loud crack of thunder and a bolt of lightning arced across the sky. “Still scared of Thunderstorms…. “ muttering out loud. “Hurry up and secure the Saddle, you should know well enough by now, that not a single lighting bolt will hurt you when you are on my back.

[RisqueRed]

Viktoria rolled her eyes and shook her head at Kael. Although he was her dragon, they both didn’t always get along with each other. “I’m not on your back right now, am I? I might be gifted with magic, but unlike you a lightning bolt would kill me.” She shot Kael a dirty look then moved over to the saddle and supplies. She checked and made sure everything was accounted for and strapped it all tightly around him. Viktoria hopped onto Kael’s back and tied a rope connecting her waist to the saddle strapped tightly around Kael. She had ridden Kael numerous of times. But she always preferred to tie herself to Kael, just in case a strong wind picks her up and blows her away.

“Okay, Kael, before we take off can we just put aside our differences? I’ll do my best to put a brave face on and not cower in fear until we get back from our final trial. In exchange, I don’t want to hear any rude or snarky remarks from you. We are a team. We need to work together instead of putting each other down. Plus, we both have to depend on each other for the both of us to survive the final trial. Wouldn’t you agree?” Viktoria asked with a subtle hint of annoyance in her voice. She wasn’t in the mood to put up with her dragon’s bull shit. Plus she worked hard to try to prove herself to Kael, the other rider’s, and dragons that she is worthy enough to be gifted with her magical gifts and to be paired up with a powerful dragon.

As Viktoria spoke, she created a shield of sorts to protect them from the rain. She had done this numerous of times in the past to protect Kael’s eyes from the rain and to protect her body from getting pelted hard in heavy down pours.

Viktoria gripped onto Kael tightly as she waited for him to take off into the air. She started to feel anxious again as she waited for his response. Her thoughts went over to the final trial. They wouldn’t survive it if they kept arguing with each other and overall kept getting on each other’s nerves.

Just then, another heavy bolt of lightning flew across the sky with the loud booming sound of thunder. The lightning hit a tree about a half mile away. Viktoria instinctively flinched as she heard the noise. Her breathing picked up from her fear and her heart started to race. She took a few deep calming breaths and started to stroke the back of Kael’s back. Although the soothing strokes were meant for her to get a hold of herself.

[Derick]

Kael immediately rolled her eyes, "If we were properly bonded... you would have that same gifting." And he would be properly getting magic in return from that bond. It was something she would know, if she remembered, but the truth was their bond was minimal. Yet her later words were true as she climbed on him as he grumbled, in truth he needed her to survive.... well he needed her magic to survive, but they were suppose to be a team, "Loosen that rope, part of this final lesson is that you need to learn to practice and trust me. Their will be times when you need to mount me in a hurry, and their will be times when the saddle has not been prepared. If you fall off my back, their is no way I will be able to properly grab you mid flight and you will be awkwardly dangling from me until I reached land. If we are a team then you have to trust in my ability to catch you, and bring you to land. On top of that you need to develop the strength to simply hold onto me with your legs along, you wont always have that saddle."

He would stretch his large dark purple wings, his scales almost brighter in the sunlight, as he leapt of the cliff, his wings catching the air as he felt the air underneath them. Flying was one thing, but flight with another person on your back would be harder, and carrying their gear would be harder still. He was not a huge dragon, perhaps the size of a small horse, he knew flying with all the gear would be tiresome, from the Airey it was located on a natural cliff edge, the leap making take off easy, from ground it would be harder, yet now taking height, the storm still around them. The air was charge with the energy around him, allowing him to fly a bit faster, each stroke of his wings, brining power, as he flew towards the clouds, almost wanting to dance with the lighting bolts. He would never get struck, because he knew where they would form and when, absorbing the much energy had its costs. Her shield was good, as the rain did not touch either of them, yet he grinned with glee as she trembled, and quivered with each lightning strike. As they reached the clouds, he could feel the building energy their, and nugged his flight path ever so slightly, as the lighting would flash, each and every bolt could be felt with all their tremendous power, but none would ever strike him. He doubted she would ever trust him, especially if she knew what was going on his head right now. Tomorrow he would taking his turn to ride her.

"I am returning to the ground now..."

[RisqueRed]

“Ugh, I hate when you’re right.” Viktoria groaned out. She hesitated, but she loosened the rope from around her waist. She knew that Kael definitely was t patient, so she quickly grabbed the rope and tossed it aside. “Unfortunately, I think the saddle will stay. I’m already on your back and we have to get going. Maybe next time we can try flying without it.”

When Kael leaped off of the cliff, she braced herself. She wrapped her legs around him tightly. The wind made her long red hair fly around every which way. As Kael took off into the clouds, Viktoria could just feel the energy from the lightning and precipitated water. This much energy was making Viktoria feel oddly tired and weak. She felt as if she couldn’t take any more of it so she released some of her magic to her dragon. She touched his back, releasing some of it to him.

Just then, some lightning flashed from one cloud to the other right below them. Viktoria squeaked out and shook from her fear of being struck. The loud sound of thunder made her tense. She blushed immediately after. She really had to somehow overcome her fear of lightning.

Viktoria watched the clouds fly by them. She had ridden on Kael’s back numerous times, but the views have always been breath taking. Viktoria heard Kael’s words about landing. She braced herself once more. The grip of her thighs tightened around him. Her thighs started to burn, since she was using muscles that she honestly didn’t use often enough. Ignoring the pain, she gritted her teeth and wrapped her arms around Kael’s clavicle. Viktoria wrapped herself around Kael’s body so she wouldn’t fly off of him. Her breasts dug into his back and her dress started to fly up from the wind. Fearing, losing her grip from Kael, she ignored the exposed feeling she felt from her dress flying. “Okay, I’m ready when you are. Please take the landing slow, I don’t want to fly off of you.” There was an edge of fear to Viktoria’s voice. Her grip on him got tighter as she waited.

[Derick]

Kael, simply glides down to the ground, only a dozen or so feet from the ground does she shift as his gliding turns into deliberately powerful pumping of his wings, as he shift his descent almost flying in place for a moment as he lets himself down onto his feet, his wings folding at his side. Her saddle is at the base of his neck and the top of his body, so she stays almost completely upright as he descends.

"All of the gear we need for our trial is here. The only thing left is for your personal gear. Finishing packing, and I believe we have prepared as much as we can for this trial. I don't want to put this off, whether or not our superiors think we can succeed or not. We do the trial, or we don't. I don't think going through these exercises another 10, 20 or even 50 times will make us any better than we already are." Settling down on the ground, so she could dismount easier, he did want some distance from her for a bit, he had his plans in his mind, and he did not want her to suspect anything different till they were away on the trial, to much delay and she might be able to determine he was plotting something.

"I am going to stretch my wings one final time without all that gear, before I get it loaded up. Return here when you are ready to head out." She could disagree with him, but she hope she at least saw his reasoning as he could hardly leave for their trial without her.

[RisqueRed]

Viktoria held on tight to Kael as he made his descent. Once he landed back on his feet, she slid off of him. Although she did sometimes enjoy flying on his back, she definitely preferred being placed safely onto the ground. When Viktoria went back onto the ground, she gave Kael a strange look. It was normal for him to complain about having to carry her and her gear. But he had never complained this much about it before. She stared at him briefly but soon snapped out of it. “I suppose you’re right. Tomorrow it’s time for the two of us to prove ourselves. And I guess I can pack some more. Plus it might be smart if I find all of your dragon scales that you have given me in the past and charge them all up with some magic and practice some spells. Maybe read some more from my potion making book in case I need it.”

Viktoria dusted her dress off. Although she preferred wearing dresses, she knew that dresses were not the best clothes to wear. Especially for a trial to the ruins. “Will I be seeing you at all for the rest of the day? Or can I expect to see you tomorrow morning at dawn as we embark on our trial?”

[Derick]

Kael pauses at that strange glance, he did not know exactly what it was for, yet he was still annoyed with the sheer amount of gear he would be required to carry. %u201COnce I return I will spend most of my time back here. Once the gear is all packed, I am going to get some help from the senior members to properly make all this stuff can be strapped to me, and I don%u2019t lose my balance. That would make flight hard, and get us in trouble if we encountered any trouble in the air. Beyond that I will be at my usual haunts.

Normally the rider and the Dragon shared the same cave in the massive cave network that was the Dragon roost, as that always did help the bonding process, but they had slightly separated living quarters simply because of the pairing of genders, perhaps they wanted to prevent what was exactly going through his mind as as he looked at her one more time before stretching his wings again.

His thoughts made him pause for a moment. Was he dooming himself? Was he dooming her? Many had gone on the final trial and never returned, would they be another similar pair? Stepping away from her, as he flapped his wings taking to the sky, free from passengers or luggage, yet this was also the first time in his pairing with her that he wanted to be with her alone.

He did not hate her, nothing of the sort and it was not that she was not good enough either. He could sense the magic inside her, he did not know the exact reason for his dissatisfaction, he just wanted more from her. He wanted more of her magic, but he wanted more, not just her magic but herself. Yet for now, he could fully enjoy the storm. He would be in the sky for hours, descending finally not tired,  but simply settling down for the day, to let the assistance finish packing the equipment, and test fitting on him. Once stratified that he could move and fly with a an number of containers strapped to his side fitting just behind his wings. He could fly and land, he would return to his cave to settle down for his final night, wondering what was going on in Viktoria head about now.