I was young. Younger than most. I was quite small, too. Tiny, really. I was weird, too. An outcast, to be truthful, in most of my tribe's eyes. But I was fast, and I was just barely of age. Today, my life was going to change.
I was eleven, much younger than any of the other kids daring to attempt this. I was kind of short, as thin as a stick. I was an anomaly in all sorts of ways, so I had been told. My name is Irikai Stormrider Finlock. I was the daughter of a small fisherman and a baker. My older brother Gorgon was already on his way to becoming a great warrior for the tribe. My younger sister Viera was following in my mother's footsteps. But I was different. Those were things any viking could do. I wanted to be one of the dragon riders.
I'd aced all of my classes and trained hard to become stronger and faster than most kids my age. I'd proven myself able to try to do this. I was the only kid going to the nests that hadn't had a dragon rider previously in the family. Now all I had to do was find a dragon that would choose me. Here on Drawlk, dragons chose their riders.
The kids who went to the nest had to search the eggs. If they were cold to the touch, that dragon didn't choose them. If it was warm, you took the egg and waited for it to hatch. It took about four weeks, sometimes less, depending on how long the egg had been there.
I dressed in a black long sleeved shirt with a hood, dark pants, and my favorite black boots. I'd pulled my long white hair back from my face in a series of braids that came together. My one pink eye, one yellow eye were hidden in the shadows of my hood. On my back, I carried a large black basket my father had woven for me.
I met the other kids on a cliff overlooking a wide open plain. Beneath our feet, dragon eggs were nestled in crevices, on ledges, and everywhere within a huge chasm. The other kids glanced at me, but didn't seem to recognize me, or they would have made fun of me.
One of them, the chief's son, was Forest. He had just turned thirteen. He was a bit taller than me, a bit more muscular, but just as thin. He was dressed in leather armor over a blue long sleeved shirt, brown pants, and dark green boots. His blonde hair was long enough that it hung in his eyes, and constantly messy. His eyes were the grey of storm clouds, with flecks of gold in them. They reminded me of the sun peeking out from behind the clouds. You could say I had a bit of a crush on Forest.
The other kids were Pinweedle, the triplets Flora, Tora and Sora, Gam, and Heath. They ranged from twelve to fourteen, Pinweedle was the oldest at fourteen, and the son of a poorer family like mine, although his father was a dragon rider. Flora, Tora and Sora bickered a lot among themselves, but they made a good team. They were thirteen, but would be fourteen in half a year. They were from a wealthier family. Gam was a strange girl, like me, but her oddities were cool because her family was second in the hierarchy. She was twelve. Everyone in the village expected Forest to marry her when they were older. Heath was twelve, too, and Forest's younger brother. He had the same messy blonde hair that hung in his eyes, but his eyes were both entirely gold. He had no pupils, although he has whites. It made everyone kind of scared of him. He had the same kind of build as his brother, and was a couple inches shorter, but still taller than me.
We were met on the cliff by Beta, our riding instructor, should we recover an egg that chose us. She was a large woman, and didn't take crap from anybody. She normally didn't take no's either.
"Welcome to the Nests. Should each of you recover an egg, I will be your riding instructor. It's good to see so many attempting this mighty feat. We need more riders. You all know what each egg looks like, what each type of dragon is. That's why you're here. So, get in there. Go see what dragon chooses you. Go!"
The other seven kids turned and started racing down the walkway of the cliff. I dropped down over the side and started climbing. It would take the other kids half an hour to run around the long way. My way only took ten minutes. I slipped into the cavern before any of them could even tell I hadn't followed them.
I traveled deep into the caves, ignoring the flaming red eggs of the Monstrous Nightmares, the little blue scaled eggs of the Deadly Nadders, the rocky eggs of the Gronckles, and the smoking green eggs of the Hideous Zipplebacks. I didn't want one of those common breeds, all placed close to the front of the cavern. Further back, I began seeing less commonly known breeds. Fireworms, with glowing golden eggs. Changewings, with smoking black eggs. Thunderdrums, with blue eggs with a glowing purple spark within. I even saw a beige Timberjack egg on a ledge. But I passed all of them. If I couldn't find something else I wanted, I'd probably go back to the Timberjack egg.
The tunnels started getting warmer as I went deeper and further. I came to another wide cavern, with several more eggs of all sorts. My attention was drawn to a faint blue light on a far back wall. The egg itself was hidden behind a pillar.
I made my way to it, and looked behind the pillar. I was extremely confused. I was looking at a dark purple egg that had faintly glowing blue veins all over it. I'd never seen anything like it, even in a book. I had no idea what creature this was. There weren't any other eggs like it in the whole of the caves, I'd bet.
I hesitantly reached my hand out to the egg. Just before I touched it, I heard a clack overhead. The first of the other kids had entered the cave. I focused back on the egg in front of me. I closed my eyes and quickly pressed my hand to the shell. It was warm, and I could feel a heartbeat from within. The blue veins glowed a little brighter at my touch.
I stared at the egg. It was amazing. The most beautiful egg I'd seen, and the first one I'd touched. I'd been chosen by a breed my village didn't even know of. I pulled the basket from my back and carefully stashed the egg inside. The glow of the veins was hidden within.
Good. I pulled the basket back on, surprised to find it barely heavier than when I had brought it down. I hurried back the way I'd come, finding the other kids closer to the mouth of the cave. The triplets were all holding Changewing eggs. Gam had a Gronckle. Pinweedle held a Deadly Nadder. Forest had a Monstrous Nightmare. And Heath had the Timberjack egg I'd seen earlier. Good for him, exploring deeper in the caves than his brother.
"Who are you?" Forest asked me.
I pulled my hood back, revealing my identity. "Irikai."
"Oh, right. The girl who only got to come because you were top of the class."
"Isn't that saying quite a bit for me, though, considering you were in that class?"
Forest looked taken aback. "Yeah, well, I never studied. I bet you had to all the time."
I shrugged. I hadn't really studied most of the time. I'd normally been training to get faster and stronger, or exploring the island. I only studied when I had a test the next day.
"So, what kind f egg did the freak get? I don't see an egg. Maybe none of the dragons wanted a part of her freakiness," Pinweedle commented.
"Actually, I was chosen. I don't know what breed it is. The egg is unlike any other egg I've ever seen."
"Let's see it, then," Heath said, not unkindly. He gave me a warm smile, and I reached back, pulling the basket off my back again. I pulled out the strange dark egg, it's blue veins still glowing in the sunlight.
"Woah, what kind of dragon could that be? I've never seen it in any of the books," Gam commented.
"With her luck, it's probably not even a dragon," Sora taunted. Being the only male child in his family, he always felt the need to put down everybody to make himself seem cooler.
"Yeah, what Sora said," Tora commented. \
"You wouldn't be good enough to get a rare dragon that isn't even in the books," Flora added.
"I don't care what you all say. This is a dragon egg, and when it hatches into something magnificent, I'll show you all. Until then, shouldn't we be getting back to Beta?"
All the kids grumbled in agreement.
"I'll race you," I commented slyly.
"Alright," Forest said. "Let's see what you've got." All the other kids lined up, ready, as Forest called out, "Three...two...one...go!"
All the other kids took off without looking back. I pulled the basket onto my back again and scaled the cliff. Going up took longer than coming down, but I was still there in half the time of the other kids. Beta seemed surprised to find me the first one back.
"Well done, Irikai. What kind of egg is it?"
"I don't know." I lifted the lid of the basket and showed her.
"It's a dragon, alright. No idea what breed, though."
We waited for the other kids. Forest, of course, was the first one. He slowed to a stop next to us, panting heavily. He glared at me, not understanding how I could have possibly beat him.
"So how'd you cheat?"
"I didn't. There are no rules in a foot race. It's just first one there wins, right?"
"What shortcut did you take up here?"
"I didn't actually run. I climbed."
"Climbed?" he asked as Heath and Gam arrived, also breathing heavily. They were followed by the triplets, and then Pinweedle, who'd never been particularly fast, but very strong.
"Yeah. I climbed the cliff."
The other kids stared at me, dumbfounded.
"So that's how you got down without anyone seeing you even go in the Nests?" Heath asked.
"Yeah."
The other kids stared at me in disbelief. They all put their eggs down and fell on their backs in the grass, catching their breath.
"Well, interesting story. Brains beat brawn. Anyways, congratulations to all of you. You're officially dragon riders."
"Irikai isn't. She didn't even get a dragon egg," Sora commented.
"She did, although I've no idea what breed it is," Beta said with a glare at Sora, who backed off. "Now, all of you, go home, get some rest, and wait for your eggs to hatch. Then your real training will begin."
The other kids started trekking home. I stayed with Beta a while longer.
"I always have hated bullies. When I was your age, I was the target, the one that they laughed at. I was a lot like you, but a bit bigger. Don't worry. They'll come around. And if that beast on your back is as impressive as I think it will be, you'll show them all up."
"Thanks, Beta. I should probably be getting home."
Beta nodded, and gave me a little push. I grinned at her, then raced off, down the cliff through the village, and in between people, surprising them when I dodged under or jumped over various things they carried.
"Mom, Dad, Gorgon, Viera, I've got a dragon!" I yelled when I got into our little four room house.
"You actually got one?" Gorgon asked in disbelief.
"Yay!" my little nine year old sister cried with joy, hugging me.
"That's great, honey," my mom said.
"A dragon? My little girl is going to be a dragon rider?" my father asked me, his eyes glowing with pride.
"Yup!"
"Come here!" I ran to him, and he picked me up in a hug, spinning me around while I giggled. "Not a very heavy little thing, is it?" my father asked, setting me down. I shook my head.
"It must be a really rare breed, too, because Beta didn't know what kind of dragon it was, even though she knew it was a dragon. It's not in any of the books."
"Really? Let me see the egg."
I pulled off the basket, and lifted the lid, showing my family the dark purple, blue veined shape.
"Impressive, little sis," Gorgon admitted, grinning at me.
"It's pretty!" Viera squealed.
"Very nice, honey," my mom commented, not entirely paying attention as she made dinner.
"Guess we'll have to wait and see what it is when it hatches," my father commented.
"Go put it in your room, and then wash up. It's dinner time," my mom told me.
"Okay." I ran upstairs and left the basket in the corner of the little room I shared with Viera. I put the egg in a little nest of cloth and pieces of weaves. It looked cozy. I washed my face and hands and went back downstairs for supper.
Surprise, surprise, dinner was grilled salmon with fresh baked bread and yams. I cleared my plate, enjoying the meal. We normally sold the salmon my father caught, since it was worth a lot of money.
I went to bed that night with Viera snoring softly in the bed next to mine, wondering what kind of dragon would hatch from the egg next to me.