Chapter 2

The breakfast bell woke Vin up from his sleep stretching his arms he yawned as he got out of bed putting on his work pants and tunic and his steel toed boots which all dragon boys and girls wore when working with creatures that could crush you in a second. He headed out to the barn other boys and a few girls were heading to another building the kitchen house the medium sized building was built next to his parents' house an even larger building next to the families house was the student lodge families who could needed money or wanted their kids to have a better life often sent their sons to work at dragon breeding ranches to make extra money for the family and hope he would be able to join the Aerial Guard. It was mostly boys who were sent away only a few girls who were daring or managed to get their parents to send them away to the ranches, most staid working on ranches while most would tried to catch the attention of Aerial Guard captains in hopes they would take them away most of girls ended this way while others the girls who had no desire to work or be the local relief for a passing Aerial Guard. But truly wanted to make their own living in the world those girls were able to join the Arial Guard protectors of the sky they lived near the mountain areas were plenty of grassy fields for cattle and other livestock that feed the dragons and their captains. All four dragon breeding ranches were in the dragon country which was the most protected area in the kingdom of Naternia.

His father was the best dragon breeder in the kingdom he knew just what dragons to mix to get the best offspring. Vin headed straight to the barn he wasn't hungry he just wanted to take care of the dragons, as he entered the barn he was greeted with hissing and snorts as the dragons inside woke up ready for their meal before they headed out the dragons were put in stalls that fit their weight and height he was passing the smaller dragon breeds called Runty weights no bigger than a small house Vin peered into one of the stalls inside an old male named Toothless because of his missing teeth he was an old Emerald Moss his skin once a bright green with golden bands now turned dull with old age he lifted his small head out of his bed of warm sand each stall was covered in warm sand heated up in pits in the dragon steam pools. All the stalls had large heat lamps on the roof to keep the dragons warm at night. "I'm hungry.'' he said sticking his pointed muzzle between the bars of his stall door "I know old friend.'' Vin said scratching the old males chin "But I'm not assigned to feed you today.'' He said patting the muzzle again all dragons could speak but they learned at an early age an older dragon would have a tough time learning it. All of his father's dragons learned how to speak but most were pretty quiet and didn't say much at all.

Giving Toothless one more pat he walked down the long hall towards the end of the barn he found the work chart for today going down the long list until he found his name reading it allowed " Gold Empress, Toothed King, Little Duke and Risk.'' "Alright.'' he loved these dragons because unlike the others who were grouchy or moody these four were more relaxed in the morning "Got your favorites again I see.'' He jumped at the familiar sound of Kevin with his dark hair and brown eyes he always picked on Vin like all the other students because he was the rancher's son and because it seemed that he got the best dragons to work with when his farther always switched the dragons around to keep everyone on their toes " Yeah so?' Vin said pushing past him "You always get the good ones.'' Kevin snorted as he checked his own name "I don't get the best they're all the good dragons if you treat them right.'' he said leaving before Kevin could reply.

The other kids were coming in as well they past him without even a word he didn't care he was used to being on his own ever since he was little he never seemed to fit in with any group of kids he just kept to himself and in the shadows the only friend he had was his sister Luna she was his best friend and the only one who was there for him when he needed it. But she was gone went to join the Aerial Guard she sent him letters about her time there and her dragon Chua a Serpentie dragon she harnessed.

Vin wiped his eyes as tears started to fill them he missed his sister very much everything just seemed empty without her around ,wiping away the few tears away he went for Golden Empress she was a beautiful Flaming Copper a Ton weight breed , her bright orange and yellow wings looked like flames against her bright red and orange body. She opened her mouth and gave a big yawn her ivory teeth shining in perfect health "Ready for breakfast Empress.'' he said as she licked her lips while he read her feeding chart unlike most breeders who let their dragons feed themselves and dragons begin gluttons will over eat and that effects not only their weight but also their fertility which was why his farther had a strict feeding chart for each dragon all on special diets for their breeds "One steer coming up.'' He said running outside towards the feeding pens where today's breakfast animals were rounded up steers, sheep, goats and red deer were screaming in panic as he came in all were wearing halters Vin grabbed the nearest steer once haltered the steer had no chance as he led it out of the pen an straight into the stall others were coming in also he passed them fast and headed to Golden Empress who was waiting patiently the steer bleated and dragged its feet as he pulled it into the stall Empress backed to the far corner and watched as he took the halter off the steer and quickly went out it didn't take long before he heard the shrieks of the steer as Golden Empress tour into it grabbing the head she dragged her prey into a corner still kicking and feasted he instantly smelled the blood and the stench of raw meat pulling a lever near the stall door it opened the back door that lead into the wide field for the dragons to sun and relax.

Leaving Golden Empress to her meal he went to Toothed Kings stall the Tuskore male snorted as his meal was brought in "Took you long enough." He hissed as he gorged he was a handsome dragon red with green splashes on his wings he was deadly with his long horns which his breed was known for, but he had more of an attitude then any dragon in the barn.

Next was Little Duke a runty breed called a Finchy orange with white freckles and spikes all over his body he was the only Finchy on the ranch and the cutest of all the dragons his farther bought his egg as a present for his mom on their wedding day. He chirped happily as his goat was brought in an he pounced on it just as Vin untied the rope around its neck, last but not least he had to feed his father's dragon Risk the Cobra was chewing on his rabbit treat when he appeared with his meat dragon, meat dragons cousins to dragons were breed for their meat they were no use in fighting or flying they could only glide short distances then had to stop and rest. Risk greeted him in his usual way playfully nipping at his hair as he brought the meat dragon in kicking and squealing "Morning little one.'' Risk said waiting patiently until it was untied and Vin was out of the way. He lunged forward grabbing it by the neck crushing it in his strong jaws it was over in seconds "That's a good boy.'' He said as Risk licked his chops and continued to gorge, once he was done he headed outside when the door was open Vin smiled and checked on his other charges who were finished with their meals and were waiting to be harnessed all the dragons had to were light harnesses to show ownership so they weren't stolen or taken as ferals by other ranchers only Risk, Brown and Little Duke didn't have to wear harnesses since they had riders unlike the others. Empress easily slipped into her harness each harness had the dragons name on it written on a metal plate.

After harnessing Golden Empress and the others he was doing his next job egg watch all the eggs were housed in a small barn near the hatchling barn both barns were warm thanks to the hot steam room used in the hatching room all eggs that weren't being sold to the Aerial Guard were kept in a another room each marked with black ink to show they stayed on the ranch the eggs were placed in square chambers clutches staid together only separated once they were about to hatch.

Vin touched the smooth eggs and sighed if only he could have one of his own but sadly his farther declined and said he needed to train more before he would consider giving him an egg of his own. After he checked to see the temperature was stable he left the egg room and went to check on the hatchlings his mother was their giving vaccines to some newborn hatchling Flaming Coppers the dragonet squealed and protest at getting a shot but after the injection he went quiet an scurried away to his clutch mates who were hiding in the corner "All done you three.'' His mom said Marla was a beautiful woman with the perfect slender body despite the fact she had, had four children she had her hair tied in a knot and wore working pants like a man she took care of the hatchlings and made sure the dragons had their vaccines and were up to date with their growth. " Still dreaming Vin .'' she said smiling at him she wiped her pants free of the warm sand he looked into the other stalls all full of hatchlings with their clutch mates well feed on chopped meat they grew fast and would become future breeders to the ranch.

His mother shook her head and left him he was always the weird one unlike his other younger brothers who didn't seem to have a problem making friends or playing sport games Vin staid to himself and dragons he didn't like sports much and acted different from the other children she had often wondered if it would have been better if they had sent him off to one of the Aerial Guard Dragon holds. She sighed and left the barn heading towards the house.

Vin went back to the adult barn his father and uncle Dave were in the wild stall section the stalls were kept separate from the other dragons to prevent them from harassing the tame ones. They were in the new dragon's stall and boy was he mad he was hissing and roaring as Shawn and Dave tried to get a rope around his neck the dragon's eyes were red instead of its normal gold, Dave managed to get a rope around his tail preventing him from swiping them with it.

With his tail tied down he had to uses his talons striking out he missed them by inches Dave managed to rope one of the talons giving Shawn a chance to rope the neck the Iron-Gold roared as he struggled to get free with the help of some of the more older workers they managed to pin him down long enough for his farther to get the choke chain around his neck he leaped onto its back grabbing the chain "Quick cut the ropes and open the door fast.''

The men followed his orders without fuss when the door was opened and the ropes cut loose the dragon instantly bolted out and took off heading straight towards the mountains his father pulled on the collar forcing the dragon to turn back to the ranch it hissed and snorted but when it did the collar tightened on his throat making it hard to breath it hissed in irritation it flew like mad twisting and turning trying to throw him off but his father knew how to break wild dragons. The more the beast struggled the more tired he became the choke collar did its work every time the dragon tried to pull in a direction his farther didn't want him to go. In on last desperate attempt to lose his farther the dragon went up high as high as it could go before plummeting down fast and hard his farther didn't even flinch as they headed towards the ground the dragon pulled up at the last minute.

After that last attempt the bull was broken exhausted he had no strength left he stood in midair flapping to stay aloft giving the dragon a gentle pat, he signaled for it to land the beast gently headed down but just as he was about to land he jerked forward causing his farther to lose his grip on the chain he was known hanging on the dragons collar barely holding on everyone gasped uncle Dave was ordering the men to get on a harnessed dragon and get them down but his farther had other plans. With a whistle Risk was in the air coming to his riders aid the Iron-Gold bull was making speed towards the mountains but Risk was faster cutting the male of the bull hissed and tried to attack Risk but the Cobra was too fast for him he managed to get above the bull and flying sideways he came close enough for Shawn to get aboard the dragon rid of his passenger flew off but it wasn't over yet using the whip attached to his belt he managed to wrap it around the chain hanging off the collar and with a pull the dragon was jerked back. With a signal from Shawn Risk flew fast the Iron-Gold tied right behind him they flew around and around twisting and turning diving down and then back up until finally the bull had, had enough defeated it could fight no more.

When they landed Shawn asked the men to see to Risk while he took the dragon back to the stall it didn't even struggle it was exhausted returning it to its stall he put it in harness but not a light harness like the tame ones wore it was a lot heavier not to heavy that it was unbearable to wear the bull whined a little his farther gave it a gentle pat "Easy my wild friend you'll like it here there's plenty of females here for you to mate with.'' The male perked up a little even though wild dragons couldn't talk they could understand some parts of human language showing just how intelligent they are. "That's what I thought know my men are going to get you a nice big meat dragon fit for a king.'' The dragon's jaws opened he was indeed hungry. "Men see to it that this bull gets a good meat dragon.'' He ordered and the man quickly obeyed.

After all the excitement was over and all the dragons were fed and let outside for air the ranch boys and girls cleaned out their stalls getting rid of cold sand and replacing it with warmer sand they did this every two weeks since the dragons were trained to use the latrine on the far side of the ranch there wasn't much to clean but a few bones and an old tooth they lose every few months always growing new ones.

Vin had quit a collection of teeth from them each marked with the dragons name he had them hidden in a box under his bed and always added a new tooth when a new dragon was added to the barn. After cleaning the pens it was time for the baths calling for his charges he lead them to the bathing pools large hot springs near the ranch it had one large pool for the ton weights and another pool for the middle weights and the smaller pools were for the light weights and runty breeds the dragons bathed themselves splashing and rubbing against each other they rubbed off old scales and dirt and shined like gems while bathing others went to the warm sand and took naps curled around and on top of each other in a warm massive heap of bodies Vin could only laugh and sighed as the lunch bell rang following the others he went into the kitchen house the smell of meat dragon meat and biscuits made his stomach growl finding a seat at the far side of the room he took a tray a filled it up and ate alone while others talked about what their parents were doing others were gossiping about who liked who and other things he wasn't interested in. Two girls spotted him and walked over to him one was a dark blond girl called Elani and the other with short blond hair was Abby they weren't really his friends they were more like fleas that just wouldn't go away " Hello Vin how are you?'' They said at the same time as he stuffed his face "Fine.'' He said swallowing and taking a sip from his cup.

Elani and Abby started gossiping about some boy when he heard the familiar roar from Risk shaking the whole building , running out before anyone else could get on their feet the Cobra was hissing and snorting hiss muzzle pointed towards the sky Vin stopped and looked up and could see why Risk was so upset a Monoe was circling above natural born enemies Cobras and Monoes would fight as soon as one caught the other in its territory , Shawn was running towards Risk who was kicking up dust and sand as he flapped his wings furiously the Monoe refused to land despite his captain's pleas. Shawn managed to get Risk to relax but barley as the Monoe's captain finally able to get his dragon under control finally landed as he did two more dragons dropped down one a beautiful Buckskin Admiral a light weight breed with red rings on its tail and a black Serpentie a middle weight with its white speckled belly it had long tendrils going down its face and a beautiful ruff with horns it had a serpent like body and unlike other dragons it didn't have wings it had air sacs that helped keep it aloft.

The Monoe hissed and snorted at Risk who clawed the ground aggressively giving the Monoe a deadly stare "Risk if you're not going to behave go to the hot springs and stay there until our guest leave.'' His farther shouted Risk gave Shawn a challenging look before he leapt into the air circled for a few minutes then headed off. "Sorry about that if I had known you were coming John I would have sent him away sooner.'' John shook his head as he jumped off removing his helmet he was a tall man with short dark hair and muscular arms he wore a leather riding jacket with gold bars and dark boots, he was an old friend of the family "Oh, its quit alright I should have warned you ahead of time but it just couldn't wait.'' he said turning towards the other rider who removed her helmet releasing a wave of long black hair, Vin yelled for joy "Luna!'' It was his sister in the flesh she seemed taller than usually she wore a leather jacket with gold bars too and had a leaders badge pinned on her chest the golden dragon symbol flashed bright as it hit the sun. " It's good to see you to Vin.'' she said smiling just as she said hello the Serpentie Chua made aloud clicking sound to get his attention "Oh, sorry Chua how are you today.'' he said the last time he saw the Serpentie he was no bigger than a horse but know was at his full height he was bigger than the house and could easily swipe the roof clean off their house with one of his talons , Chua rubbed his head against Vin's hands " I'm fine little brother of mine.'' he rumbled happily.

"He's the sire of two new eggs.'' Luna said and Chua immediately puffed out his chest showing his muscles as if showing off to some female "That's great news.'' Vin said Luna sighed "He's such a show off every time someone says something about his siring he shows off.'' Chua snorted bumping his nose against Luna's back almost knocking her down "I do not.'' he grumbled.

John and Shawn were still talking when Marla came out " Oh, Luna so nice to see you how is the Guard ?'' she said wiping her hands on her apron " Fine thanks .'' She gave their mom a quick hug "Won't you stay for dinner?'' Marla said talking to John "That would be nice we have to see to our dragons first and will meet you in the house.'' He said nodding to Shawn and leading his beast away Chua following "It's so nice to have her home.'' His mother said before heading back inside, Vin went to help Luna unharness Chua the dragon then coiled himself up near the feeding pens sending the steers and other animals running in terror the big dragon just snorted and went to sleep Luna giving him a gentle pat on his side, "He's been flying three hours straight he needs the rest.'' She said heading towards the house the Admiral's captain was saying a few quick words to John before he climbed aboard his beast and they were off.

They ate dinner a little earlier then usually and class was cut short because of John and his sister's arrival, no one complained about class being cut short and everyone quickly disappeared to find other things to do. Vin was cleaning Golden Empress's harness when Luna came through the barn door with a big smile on her face, putting the harness on the rack he meet her half way down the hall " Pack your bags your coming with me.'' She said fast and with joy Vin confused tilted his head "What are you talking about?'' it took Luna a few seconds to get herself calm her hands were shaking and her face was bright "Your coming with me to Logan Shire.'' She said her eyes sparkling.

He knew about Logan Shire it was the largest dragon hold in Naternia it was the first Aerial Guard castle built there were at least three other dragon holds but Vin couldn't remember their names. "Why am I going with you?'' he asked still trying to figure out what the excitement was all about "There's a Monoe egg ready to hatch in a few days' time and in need of a captain.'' He screamed for joy finally all his waiting had paid off he was going to get his chance at a dragon and wasn't about to lose it "When do we leave?''

They headed out early the next day before the sun even appeared in the sky, Luna was getting Chua into harness while John and Shawn were discussing how the new eggs he had purchased where going to be delivered to the castle "Chua can carry them in his belly-netting.'' She said Chua didn't abject to the idea after all one of the three eggs bought was a Serpentie and he seemed to think it a great honor to bring another of his kind to the castle. The eggs were brought out wrapped in warm towels, the eggs were placed in a special harness to keep them hooked onto the belly-netting Vin's few things he packed were loaded on. His mother showered him with kisses his father and uncle gave him pointers on the harnessing of a dragonet and wished him good luck, even after he was in the air and out of earshot.