AN: I should tell you guys why I went without wifi for what felt like forever today. My sister had winter guard practice today at some random elementary school that didn't have open wifi.
For those that don't know, look up any marching band and the people who spin the flags/rifles/sabers are the color guard. My sis does this year round pretty much. She loves it and it gives her something to do, or I swear she would drive me crazy all the damn time...
Enough of my ramblings.. Please enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 9
Over the next few hours, Ash was told firmly that she out of shape because of her lack of practicing what A'ilarin had told her. The jewel eyed Rider ran her into the ground, and she was exhausted. The hour long sparring was an embarrassment to say the least, to think that not having the time to practice would make it so Ash couldn't land a single hit on her mentor. On top of that, A'ilarin took the pleasure in getting every hit she could to Ash's ribs. The girl swore she had somehow heard her yell at Mer for bruising them in the first place. Exploit your enemy's weakness, combat 101. Though, with the way Ash had been moving before the multiple hits to the ribs, it couldn't have let anyone know that she was actually hurt there, and she didn't necessarily yell loud enough for someone outside the house to hear besides the dragons.
Ash gritted her teeth as she got up for what felt like the twentieth time. A'ilarin wasn't pulling any punches. Ash stood there panting, with a hand clutching to her side.
A'ilarin stood a few feet away with her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me you're almost done. From what you look like, one more hit and you'll be staying down." She smirked. She wasn't even out of breath.
"How…how did you know?" Ash asked between breaths.
"Know what?" A'ilarin tilted her slightly, and quirked an eyebrow.
"How did you…how did you know that…know that my ribs would be sore?" Slowly, Ash's breath was coming back to her.
"Oh, I assumed that they would be sore from the way the Mercury had tackled you earlier." Her mentor said as she took up her fighting stance.
Ash raised her hands in front of her face as she continued to regulate her breathing as best she could. "Sure, great assumption. But I never let it get to me until you decided to start wailing on them."
They started to circle each other slowly, watching for any movement that would signal a new attack.
"That is true, but I decided to test my assumption and you responded accordingly. Simple as that."
Ash shot forward and swung low with her leg, trying to knock A'ilarin of balance. The older rider leapt in to a round house kick. Ash ducked and rolled off to the side, out of A'ilarin's reach.
"I remember somewhere in that book you told me to study, that some Riders were able to pick up enhanced senses, with hearing, sight, and smell being the most frequent to appear." Ash theorized aloud as they started to circle each other again.
"Correct. You believe that I have enhanced hearing from being a Rider." A'ilarin left it as a statement. Then she launched into a series of punches and jabs that left Ash speechless for a moment as she focused on blocking and dodging.
Ash leapt away and shook her bangs out of her face. They had fallen out of the headband she was wearing along with her ponytail. "Yeah, I do." She said a little out of breath now. "It would make sense, since I had given Mer a piece of my mind when I got back to the house to change. My window was open, giving you a greater chance of hearing what I had said."
A'ilarin had remained still, her hands before her and her legs in a balanced stance. She merely nodded before straightening up and clapped her hands together to rid them of some the dust they had picked up.
"Good, you're starting to recognize some of the features of being a Rider." She walked over to the railing of the paddock they were in and grabbed a towel. "You may have not noticed since you became a Rider when you were so young, but you do have advanced hearing and sight, possibly smell at this point. Later on, your sense of kinesis with strengthen as well. Because of the young age you were at when you bonded with Mercury, it allowed you to assimilate more with your dragon, hence the stronger enhanced senses over time." She explained.
Ash let herself fall to the ground on her back, allowing the adrenaline to drain out of her body.
"Though, I have not heard of a Rider with enhanced taste, most of the enhanced sense are used for battle." Her mentor mused.
"That makes sense though. The Rider Corps used to essentially be a separate militia and the Governments were what put human armies on the map. We have always been a separate governing body compared to them. We had taken it upon ourselves to protect the general public from attacks, right?"
"In theory, yes. In the era predating this one, long before the Governments even existed, the Rider Corps was the leading governing body in the world. There were different sects throughout world, and there would be internal conflict nearly every turn of the century because one Rider or another would become obsessed with power and try to overtake the whole Corps. Even well before that, we were simply bred for battle. And over time, we would become peacekeepers. It is thought, that among the Riders that survived this latest war, our downfall was because we grew accustomed to peace and our senses were dulled. If our senses were as sharp as they were before our longest period of peace, we wouldn't have fallen as quickly, if at all." A'ilarin leaned against the nearest post, watching her student sit up and cross her legs.
Mercury had hopped in to the paddock and settled around Ashley, nuzzling her cheek lightly. She reached up and scratched his chin absentmindedly. "You said that there were more Riders that survived the war. Then where have they been this whole time? Wouldn't make sense to band together and send out search parties to find eggs and other young Riders?"
A'ilarin nodded. "Yes that would make sense, but we were actively hunted by the Governments for the greater part of this last century. It was only within the last decade or so that the Governments have been led to believe that the Riders have all died out. Humans live a much shorted life span than Riders do, so it is possible that they simply forgot that we can essentially live forever. Riders have their lives bound to their dragons, meaning they will live as long as their dragons. The dragon can pass on and the Rider will continue to live, but the aging process will begin again.
Ash opened her mouth to ask a question but A'ilarin continued without noticing her.
"The Rider's body will continue to age until they reach their physical prime, and then the bond that they share with their dragon will stop the aging. But, if the Rider dies before the dragon, the dragon will die along with the Rider." A'ilarin straightened up from her lean post and made her way to the house. "You can go flying now." She dismissed Ash with a wave over her shoulder.
"Well, that was interesting," She muttered to herself. It wasn't often that A'ilarin dove into her teacher mode. Most of Ash's life was asking a question and having a book be thrown at her with the answer hidden somewhere inside.
Let's not question it. It isn't every day that you get an answer without having to go research it yourself. Mer said nuzzling her cheek again.
Ash shoved Mer away and stood up and stretched for a good ten minutes. There was no way that she was going be able to move tomorrow without feeling the beating she got today from her mentor. She redid her ponytail and gave up on the headband. Her bangs fell across her face and she swiped them out of her face. While flying, they would be blown back and out of her face, so she wasn't currently worried about them. Next she walked into the barn where they kept the dragon saddles. She hefted the hulking piece of leather full of buckles and straps. It was an old hand-me-down from when Nyetia had been as young as Mer. A'ilarin since then had had crafted a finer saddle for the purple dragon. The saddles were made so they grew with the dragon, ranging from the size of a normal horse's saddle to the size it was now.
Ash walked over to Mer and tossed the saddle across his shoulders, just in front of his wings. She commenced to dart around the dragon, secured straps and belts snugly, so the saddle wouldn't shift out of place while flying. All the straps had tick marks along them, marking when she had to change their length because Mercury had grown once again.
She huffed, it was taking longer because some of the straps were now too small, once again, her dragon had another growth spurt since the last time she had put this thing on him.
"Dang it, Mer. You grew again." She sighed as she scratched her head, thinking of where she had put the leather punch in the barn.
Mer blew a smoke ring around her and let out a rumbling growl as he laughed at her. You should know that males tend to be larger than females.
Yeah, but that means sooner or later, we are going to have to make you a new saddle. This one isn't going to last much longer if you keep growing at this rate. The main strap only has a few more inches left to adjust with. Ash complained, making her way over to the tool box in the stable.
My growth has slowed down the past couple of years, it would take a couple more years for us to actually come to that point. The dragon reasoned.
The environment that we live in is the only reason you haven't grown faster. Right now, you're simply a forest sized dragon. If we ever have to leave this place, you're going to start growing again. Ash shot him a look over her shoulder as she continued to dig through the tool box.
Finally she found what she was looking for and made her way back towards the silver dragon. She worked thoroughly, making new holes in the straps here and there to accommodate her dragon's new size. After a minutes she finished and tossed the tool into the saddle bag that sat behind her. She might as well keep it with her things if her dragon was going to keep growing.
Nyetia made her way over and settled into a lying position in front of them. You aren't going to do anything special today. Just a routine flight around our property line. A'ilairn took more out of you than you realize, Ashley. You should take it easy for the rest of the night.
"Okay, Nyetia." The girl smiled up at the dragon, and then climbed onto hers. "You heard her, Mer. A routine flight. No funny business." She said as she strapped her legs into the saddle.
He puffed out a smoke cloud and took off without warning, causing Ash to go through some whiplash before she was able to grab onto one of his spines.
God dammit, Mer! What did I tell you? She reprimanded.
I only took off. How is that supposed to be considered 'funny business'? The dragon chuckled.
Ash sighed and face palmed as he continued to climb so he was just underneath the clouds, from up that high, he could be mistaken as bird of some sort, and they could escape into the cloud cover before anyone decided to second guess themselves about it.
The two of them enjoyed the silence as they flew through the air. It had started to become colder as the seasons changed, and soon winter would be upon them. Winter wasn't the best season to fly in; there was always a constant risk of dragon wings becoming frosted over and hypothermia for the Rider. Overall it was an unpleasant experience for both parties, and it was an unspoken rule between them that they wouldn't fly during the coldest time of the year if they didn't have to.
They soared around the woods. Their property was nearly the entire woods in between their town and the next one over. It was broken up by a few rolling hills from the mountain range just north of them, but for the most part, the sea of trees was fairly flat. There were a few clearings here and there that broke up the trees as well. A shack or two could be found in a few of them, they were small safe houses that the Riders could use if they were found out, but since the Governments had more than likely forgotten about their possible existence, they had fallen into abandonment. The Riders weren't able to come back to them anymore.
They continued to circle around the forest, and it was then that they noticed a stream of smoke rising from one of the clearings in the distance.
Mer, you see that too right? Ash asked, she reached behind herself and found a pistol in her saddle bag. She always traveled with one just in case.
I smelled it a while ago, but I wasn't certain it was within our area. The silver dragon confirmed.
Ash readied the pistol, making sure it was loaded before nodding to herself and putting it back in the saddle bag for now.
Land in a clearing far enough away that whoever they are won't notice us. And try to glide in. Ash instructed, focusing her attention on the smoke.
Got it.
They flew for a few more minutes before Mer angled himself downward and landing two clearings away from where the smoke was.
That's as close as I can get. I'll follow around and come at them from the opposite side.
Alright, I'll go straight ahead then. Be careful. Ash grabbed the pistol and shoved it into her waistband in the back. She slid off her dragon after undoing all of the straps that kept her place while in flight.
Same goes to you. Mer said as he crept off into the woods silently. Dragons were the top predators for a reason when they still inhabited the world fully.
Ash made her way through the woods, the smell of smoke leading her. It was stronger down on the ground than it was up near the clouds. It took her almost ten minutes before she was close enough to the clearing in order to see who was watching the fire. She grabbed her pistol and kept it ready.
There was a person sitting with their back to her. She heard a twig snap from behind her and she whirled around, bring her pistol up. Her eyes widened in shock. When she had come to inspect the fire, she had not expected to find this.
AN: Yeah I know it's kinda short compared to the last couple of chapters but if I didn't split it up, the next chapter would have been close to 10,000 words and that's a little ridiculous in my book.
Please R&R!
