It wasn't often in life that one became used to being woken by the tongue of a dragon licking one's face, but Mathias had. On this particular morning, he was being nuzzled as well, the scaly nose of Eira, his Dragon, pushing on his cheek gently.
"Alright, I'm awake, stop it!" He complained, swatting her away. He breathed in the familiar scent of the Dragon stable, hay and wood and warmth. He slowly stood up, stretching and flicking pieces of hay off his clothes. His white jacket had a slight brown stain. He decided not to think too long about what the stain was from. Eira snorted and licked him again, her tongue raspy on his arm.
"I said stop it!" He reprimanded lightly, patting her nose. She was a beauty of a dragon - light blue in colour, with four clawed feet that could rip you in half in an instant. Her eyes were grey and twinkled with wisdom. But her wings were what made her special; she was one of the fastest dragons at the academy.
"I'll be back soon." He promised, giving her a goodbye pat before strolling out of the stall. Eira was well behaved, so it was rare that he had to close the stall door. Some of the other dragons were awake, but some still slumbered. While the stable was huge - big enough to fit 20 dragons - not all the dragons slept there. A few preferred to rest in the mountains. The black dragon in the stall beside Eira's was occasionally making puffs of smoke as it slept, nostrils flaring every time it breathed.
"Sleeping with your dragon mistress again?" Tino called from the stable entrance. Mathias grinned.
"Knock it off, short stuff!" He called back, jogging to join him. Tino was a cheerful student in his year, although not the best rider. Rumour was that he once broke someone's arm for insulting his dragon, but that was almost certainly a myth; it was impossible to imagine Tino ever hurting anyone, with his happy lavender eyes and slightly chubby appearance.
"I'm barely shorter than you!" Tino huffed. He was a good ten centimetres shorter than him, but Mathias decided not to point that out. He was dressed in a red top and grey baggy trousers that looked rather too big.
"You just spike your hair up!" He added. Mathias grinned. His wild blond hair was always gelled up in chaotic spikes.
"It makes me look like a viking." He replied.
"Not a cloud in the sky." He observed, glancing up. It was a beautiful summer's day at Drage Academy, which itself was quite beautiful. Drage Academy was placed up in the mountains, with snowy peaks surrounding it. The dragon stable opened into a cobbled square about as long as a soccer field and twice as wide, with a magnificent fountain in the centre. Along one sides of the square were the dormitories, beautiful viking longhouses. Opposite to the dormitories the square opened up to a massive field, where lessons were held. And in front of them, past the fountain, was the grand hall. Carved wooden walls depicted violent dragon battles and the slanting viking roof was dark and forbidding. A massive brass bell sat next to it, dwarfed by the hall.
"Pea-brain, midgard to Mathias, you alive?" Mathias was snapped out of his musing by a rather bored-looking Emil. It was as if he had teleported to get to Mathias's side - he had the creepy ability to just somehow appear beside you without you realising he was anywhere near. The youngest of his friends, Emil was cold, sarcastic and ultimately a bit waspish at the best of times, but he got along well with Mathias by some odd miracle.
"Yeah, yeah." Mathias replied, mind still absent. Now he was thinking about breakfast. Mm, he'd kill for something hot. By the time he had zoned back into the real world they had walked up to the fountain. Twice as high as Mathias, it was a spectacular stone statue of a rearing dragon, wings outstretched. A stream of water flowed from its open mouth and made an arc through the air before spilling back into the basin underneath. Flopping down on the stone side of the fountain, Mathias yawned.
"You'd feel more awake if you slept in the dorms." Tino pointed out. Emil rolled his eyes.
"The day Mathias stops sleeping with the Dragons will be the day Asgard falls." He said. Mathias was about to argue over this trivial point when the bell was rung, its melodic tone filling the square.
"Finally, breakfast!" Mathias cried, overjoyed. He had a feeling today would be better than usual.
"Race you!" Tino yelled, already sprinting towards the grand hall.
"That's cheating!" Mathias called back, breaking into a run. With a groan Emil started to run as well. Mathias won, slamming his hand on the side of the grand hall proudly. Surrounded by other students it was a bit of a battle to find Tino and Emil, but he finally rejoined them and they walked into the grand hall.