AN: Now we are getting into some of the good stuff! I hope you all have enjoyed it so far, I'm having a lot of fun with this. :)
Chapter 10
In front of her stood a dragon who was snarling at her, baring its fangs and growling lowly.
The dragon bared its fangs at her as she took a step back. She knew that there was a small chance that the rogue Rider was still around, but she didn't imagine them staying within their property. It was like yelling at the top of your lungs till someone found you. It was bound to happen eventually. Ash took another step back, still having her pistol raised at the dragon.
Mer, we have a problem. She said.
You don't have to tell me twice. The dragon replied. She heard his growl from behind her.
She focused her attention to the dragon in front of her again. It had fire orange eyes that glared at her, waiting for her to make a move. Ash stood her ground, but lowered her pistol, clicking the safety on as she did so. The dragon lowered its head and increased the volume of its growl. Ash made a decision.
"I won't hurt you." Ash said slowly. She crouched down on the ground and set her pistol down in front of her before she stood back up and took a step back, putting distance between her and the weapon.
The gun was pretty much useless in this situation anyways. It was loaded with regular ammo, all it would do is bruise the dragon's scales and make it angrier. Ash raised her hands in a platonic gesture, trying to convey that she really was not going to hurt this creature.
"I appreciate that you aren't going to hurt my dragon. I would hate to have to return the favor to yours." A voice said behind her.
Ash spun around and took up a fighting stance. The fire was bright enough that it back lit the person now standing in front of her. All she could tell was that they were tall and most likely male by the width of their shoulders. Ash simply glared at the man before her.
The male crossed his arms, probably glaring at her as she continued to glare at her.
"You know, I thought that since we established this to be a peaceful encounter by not injuring anyone, that we can drop the physical threats." He said.
"You stated your intentions towards my dragon, not myself." Ash responded coolly. She didn't shift out of her stance.
The Rider's dragon growled from behind her, and she heard Mer's response from across the fire in the clearing. The fire glinted off of his scales, making him look like the living embodiment of the flame.
The Rider in front of her sighed and pinched the bridge of is nose between his first finger and thumb. "I knew you were stubborn, but not this stubborn, Ash."
Ash's eyes widened in shock. "How do you know my name?" She asked warily, her lead foot shifted, prepping her in case she had to defend herself.
The Rider sighed and turned and walked towards the fire. "Feuer, you can stop growling at her, she said she wasn't going to hurt you." He said over his shoulder.
Mer snarled as the man made his way towards the fire, lowering his head and baring his fangs. The dragon took a couple steps back as the man sat down next to the fire. At this point, Ash was beyond confused. This man knew her, but she did not know him. Mer continued to growl and snap his teeth in warning but the man ignored him as he stoked the fire.
"I would suggest telling your dragon to back off before Feuer takes it the wrong way." The Rider said.
Mer. Ash looked at her dragon, worry in her eyes. His dragon is bigger than you. I don't want to see you hurt.
Mer looked at her and upon seeing her worried look, he backed off, closing his wings and raising his head regally. I do not trust him or his dragon. Don't let you guard down. Was all he said before moving off to the trees.
Ash nodded and continued to watch this new Rider. He didn't seem threatening but this whole situation felt wrong. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she it was as if she was simply experiencing déjà vu.
The dragon behind her, Feuer, bumped her with its nose, pushing her forward. She stumbled a little before turning and shooting the dragon a look, but she continued forward until she was standing next to the Rider.
"You know, for a while there, I thought I was the only Rider left." He said after a moment.
Ash shrugged. "I had more than a hunch that I couldn't be the last one either." She wasn't going to give away A'ilarin or Nyetia until she was certain that she could trust him.
"Was that the reason why you were flying around? Looking for more of us?"
"No. This is my land. I patrol it every now and again to make sure nothing is sneaking up on us." Ash watched as the other Rider's dragon made its way over to one side of the clearing.
It was a dark gray dragon, almost black, and it had a fire orange underbelly, the same color as its eyes. It laid itself down, curling its tail around its front claws.
The Rider noticed her gaze. "I was paired with him when I was around four years old. He was mostly orange then, but my first thought was 'fire' when I saw him crawl out of his egg. It was quite deceiving to find a smokey black egg and having an orange dragon emerge from it, you know." He laughed a little bit. "But when I was that young, I couldn't quite say 'fire' right. It wasn't until earlier this school year that I had apparently given him the same name but in a different language."
"What do you mean 'earlier this school year'? I haven't seen you at school before." Ash said, a little taken aback. There was no way another Rider was attending the same school as she was. But then again, there wasn't supposed to be another Rider in the area besides her and A'ilarin.
"Come off it, Ash. We have half of our classes together." He said, sounding slightly offended.
Ash took a good look at him. Despite his claim to know her well, she had no idea who he was. He had the same fire orange eyes as his dragon, which was slightly unsettling. They looked tired, cold even. The Rider had shaggy hair that look as windblown as hers probably did at the moment. His face was sharp with cheeks shallow and his eyes slightly sunken in, as if he was malnourished. For the life of her she could not place his face within her memory. Her eyebrows crinkled together as she stared at him, waiting for it to all snap into place.
His dragon snapped his teeth and looked pointedly at his Rider. He looked over and they locked eyes for a brief moment before the Rider chuckled and leaned back on his hands.
"That would explain it. Thanks, Feuer. I completely forgot that I use a glamour at school." With that his face shifted slightly, becoming rounder and younger looking, and his eyes dulled to a rich brown. His hair became shorter, not as unkempt as it was before.
As soon as Ash met his eyes, everything made sense. "Oh my freaking gods! Jason? What the hell?" She yelled in alarm, taking a few steps away from him.
Her yell caused Mercury to get worried and he bounded into the clearing and took up position right next to her, snarling at the boy before her.
Jason laughed at her reaction, throwing his head back in his mirth.
"Took you long enough. I'm surprised that even with all your magic you didn't see through my glamour before." He said, chuckling still.
"What are you talking about? I was told the Riders have very limited magic, not even enough to pull off glamours." Ash was dumbfounded.
Jason let his glamour fall, and the unfamiliar face reappeared. Jason's eyes crackled with amusement. "Yeah, but there are a lucky few of us that are born with a large amount of magic. You and I are two of them." He explained.
Mer was still snarling, still wary of this new Rider. Ash waved him off and he silenced himself before settling down next to her. Ash took a seat on his front leg, grasping her head in her hands, still unable to believe that the boy who barely spoke to her was a Rider like herself.
Ash…? Mer asked, lowering his nose to rub against her shoulder.
I'm fine… just a little shocked is all. She replied as she massaged her temples.
Is this the Jason you mentioned a month ago? The one you thought was the rogue Rider that attacked us. Mer inquired.
Yeah. Ash breathed in through her nose and let it out slowly through her mouth before looking up at Jason.
He was still grinning as if he won some prize for apparently pulling one over on her. He was watching her, waiting for her to ask another question. Ash couldn't help but shiver slightly, his eyes unnerved her. They were very draconic in color.
"Were your eyes always orange like that, or were they a different color before you met Feuer?" She blurted out.
Jason blinked at her, he clearly wasn't expecting that question from her. "They changed over the years. They used to be a light brown, but sooner or later I noticed that they were this blazing orange that they are now. I know it makes people nervous, but I couldn't stand those colored contacts that they make these days." He explained as he looked away from her. She relaxed a little now that she wasn't under his unnerving gaze. He seemed a little apologetic about the color of his eyes, Ash felt badly for suddenly asking about them.
"Sorry, I didn't really think about what I was saying." She apologized.
Like you had much of a filter anyways, Ash. Mer muttered, blowing on her hair.
"Oh shut it, you lizard." Ash muttered back. She was rewarded with a billow of dragon smoke around her and more laughter from Jason.
"That explains why you always smelled like smoke." He said after he finished laughing at her.
"That bad, huh?" Ash ducked her head.
"Not enough to be too noticeable, I'm sure Kate wouldn't notice unless she invaded your personal space." Jason assured. "But for a Rider's nose, it's pretty defining." He chuckled again.
Ash groaned, no matter how much she scrubbed at herself when she showered, the smell of Mer's smoke always clung to her. She had almost gone as far to ask A'ilarin for perfume in order to cover it up.
"Like I said, I wouldn't worry about it. Normal people can't smell it unless they are practically in your face." Jason said, sensing her distress.
"Thanks," was all Ash muttered as she waved the smoke away. She let hand fall and the fell into silence as the sun finished setting, and all the light they had came from the fire Jason had created earlier.
Jason broke the silence first. "Did you have to fend for yourself this whole time when you joined with your dragon?" He sounded hopeful for the prospect of there being more Riders nearby.
Should I tell them about A'ilarin and Nyetia, Mer? I not sure if we can fully trust him. Ash asked.
The dragon rumbled. It's up to you, Ash. If you say that you trust them, then I have to trust them too.
Ash met Jason's gaze and shook her head. "No, I didn't. I was found by one of the few Riders that survived the war a century ago. They took me in and raised me, trained me, and educated me." She sighed loudly. "I only ended up in that high school was because they didn't have anything left to teach me. My Rider isn't gifted with an excess of magic like we are, I guess. So yeah."
Jason watched her. "They didn't have anything left from the war about magic?" He inquired.
"I mean, yeah. This area wasn't hit as hard as some other areas during the war. This is actually their birthplace and their home. They have some books on magical theory but I haven't gotten approval to start studying them yet." Ash admitted with a shrug. She wasn't particularly interested in magic. She should be though, she had noticed her magic growing the past few weeks.
"Approval? Was your Rider something like a general of war?" Jason scoffed. He motioned for Feuer to come over closer to the fire.
Ash shrugged again. "You could say that. But considering they survived the war and were hunted down by the Governments, can you blame them for running a tight ship?" She asked.
Jason glanced at her before shrugging it off. "I guess not."
"What about you? Were you alone this whole time?" Ash asked in return.
Jason stiffened and Feuer nudged his shoulder. He shot his dragon a glare and Feuer returned it. Clearly they had a differing of opinions when it came to this topic. The two toned dragon gave her an apologetic stare as Jason sighed in defeat.
"Not the whole time. I used to have a Rider that had raised me, but they were killed awhile back. Not in this area. You wouldn't be flying around so care free if that were the case." Jason said finally.
Ash snorted. He was probably right in that case. Mer lowered his head and she started to scratch his chin without even noticing. She stared off into the ever darkening woods, lost in thought.
Jason watched her, a small smile playing at his lips. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that he had to go with her to continue to survive. He and Feuer had run out of food a long time ago, and hunting the area had been increasingly difficult with Ash and her Rider patrolling their property. The one time he ventured too close had resulted in them springing one of his mental traps. He hadn't really stuck around to watch the aftermath, he was leaving just as Ash had come barreling from out of the woods and ran straight for her dragon and the other Rider. They had crashed landed not moments before and the Rider had broken her leg from falling off of the silver dragon. That was when he knew for certain Ash was a Rider, and one with as much magic as himself. They only found out about his presence there was because Feuer had thrown a fit about leaving like cowards. The stubborn dragon was worse than Ash in those regards.
It is with good reason that I am that way. Nova and Garrett raised us that way. You have forgotten their teachings in all the years that they have been gone. Feuer huffed, shooting a spark towards to the fire that was just about to go out, igniting it again.
I haven't forgotten what they taught us, Feuer. It was simply the wrong time to try and confront them. Garrett had mentioned that there was another pair of Riders in the area, but he wasn't sure and wanted us to keep our distance until the time was right. It said so in his memoir. Jason shot back.
The dragon snapped his teeth and turned his head away. Jason sighed. Their relationship had been strained ever since Garrett and Nova had been killed by the Governments. They followed the instructions Garrett had left them in his memoir and made their way to this part of the country, searching for the Rider that had been living here for the past decade. They had enough money to put Jason through a few years of school here, to keep up appearances, and a safe house in the woods. Jason had stretched the money as far as he could for the past three years, but it was running out quickly. He had given up buying food for the past six months, living off of the land much like Feuer. He placed a hand on the pocket where the memoir was safely located for reassurance, any little amount it could offer was better than none
Jason looked over and found Ash and her dragon watching him. She smirked and patted her dragon's head that rested on her shoulder, causing her to lean slightly.
"What?" He asked.
She rolled her eyes. "Oh nothing, Mer just had something funny to say." She drawled, sounding bored.
"Mer? What? Like Merlin the almighty wizard? That's your dragon's name?" He scoffed.
Her eyes swirled like twin storms. "His full name is Mercury. Mer is just a nickname." She snapped.
"Well I guess the name's appropriate for the dragon." He laughed at her retort.
"Hmmph, at least I could pronounce my dragon's name when I named him, unlike some people." She goaded, gracing him with a glare.
"Hey! That's a low blow!"
"You admitted to it first." She said as she stood up and made her way over to the woods. She disappeared for a moment before walking back towards the fire. The pistol was in her hand again and she was busy fiddling with it, causing the clip to fall into the palm of her hand expertly. She racked the firearm causing the loaded bullet to eject into the air before she caught it as well.
The girl tucked the main part of the weapon into her waistband and let her hands continue their routine of putting the bullet back into the magazine before she pulled out the gun again and slamming it home again. She let the action click forward before she clicked the safety off and on again. She made her way over to Mer and climbed up his shoulder and rummaged through her saddle bag again. She pulled out a jacket and replaced it with the firearm. By now it was fairly late and she was due back at the house soon. She zipped up the hoodie and started to strap herself in again.
"You planning on leaving?" Jason spoke up from the ground. The dancing light from the fire illuminated his face, and she could tell that he seemed disappointed that she was leaving so soon.
"I have to get back before my Rider thinks the worse and comes searching for me." She explained. She tugged on the straps, double checking that they were secured. They still were dancing around each other, not wanting to fully trust either. Too many secrets were still being kept.
"Oh," was all that he said. He stood up and dusted himself off.
He looked dejected and Feuer was no exception either. She watched them as Mercury stood up, rustling his wings to warm them up again. Jason started to climb on to Feuer bareback and they had just started to turn away before she called out to them one last time.
"Wait." She said. Jason paused and looked back at her. She fidgeted under his gaze, suddenly unsure of herself.
"Yeah?" He asked. Feuer swept a tail over the fire, dispersing the flame and the coals.
Ash fidgeted with the saddle straps, attempting to hide her nerves. Wait, why was she nervous? She shook her head to clear and met Jason's eyes once more. "Were you that rogue Rider that attacked us a month ago?" She finally asked.
Jason looked away and his shoulders slumped. "I won't make excuses about laying that trap." He said after a moment. He cast his gaze to the sky, the stars were fully visible by now.
"But…?" Ash said tentatively. Mer shifted underneath her sensing her uneasiness.
"But it was not intended for your Rider or your dragon." Feuer's tail whipped side to side as he shifted around, waiting to take off. "Feuer and I were out hunting and laid the trap. We didn't realize that we had travelled so close to where you were. I hope there were no lasting injuries." He apologized.
There hadn't been any lasting injuries, A'ilarin had healed her leg herself, and Mer only had a few bruised scales from crash landing. Same with Nyetia. None of them weren't permanently damaged form the fall.
Ash shook her head. "No they're all fine now." She said.
Jason glanced back at her. "Why did you want to know?" He had a feeling he knew the answer, but again she surprised him.
"I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't another Rider still out there, I'd hate to come up to them, guns blazing like I did to you today." She said with a shrug.
He was certain that she was going to say something about not wanting the Governments finding them, but she seemed so sure that they had forgotten about this area. He chuckled to himself. In the month that he had gotten to know her, Ash failed to fit into any stereotype. It was always a guessing game with her.
Jason and Feuer turned to take off but she stopped them again. Feuer was anxious to be up in the air, rustling his wings in agitation.
"You don't have to go back to wherever you go, you know. I'm sure my Rider wouldn't turn you away if you asked to stay." Ash said sheepishly. She was rubbing the back of her neck and looking anywhere but him. If she was being honest with herself, she was had no idea what A'ilarin would do if she brought back another Rider, they struggled themselves to try and hide the fact that they were feeding two dragons, three horses, and themselves. Their grocery bill was outrageous every month.
She finally looked over at Jason, a look of shock on his face. "You sure?" He said quietly.
"Well, yeah, for the most part. She can be kind of a stickler about things, and she won't ever admit to it, but she does have a soft spot for kids on their own." Ash prattled off. Mer rumbled, his sides vibrating as he laughed at her. She pulled on one of his spines in retaliation.
Before Jason could answer, Feuer spoke to her for the first time. He's an idiot and won't actually accept your offer because he thinks that we will all be better off by ourselves. He sounded like he wanted to give his Rider a whack on the head for good measure too.
"I wouldn't do that!" Jason objected loudly.
Ash chuckled. "Well, either way. I'm sure you could find the house without me leading you to it, but I have to go. It's late enough as it is." And with that, Mer leapt into the air, leaving the boy and his dragon behind.
Feuer took the air quickly after that, following Mercury whether his master commanded it or not. He spotted the quicksilver dragon in the distance and pushed his wings harder through the air in order to close the distance between them.
Why would you say that? Jason asked furiously. He was quite upset that his dragon had embarrassed him so thoroughly.
You were too shocked at her request to even bother answering her. Feuer said.
But did you have to say like that?
It was the only way to snap you out of it.
They were now a few dozen yards behind Mercury and Ash. Despite the darkness of the night, the moon had lit up Mercury like a beacon, causing him to shine almost as bright as one of the many stars in the sky. Ash was sitting back in her saddle, watching the sky. She looked like she trusted her dragon explicitly, even as Mercury quickly dove to the trees before pulling up to skim swiftly over them. Jason barely heard her laugh over the wind, and he wished he had such a carefree attitude. Soon Mercury began to circle a rather large clearing and Feuer followed suit, slowing down so that they could land.
Mer touched down in the paddock before skipping out of the way, allowing for Feuer to land as well. The door to the back of the house slammed open and light poured out into the backyard. Ash heard a low growl from behind them and turned in the saddle to find Nyetia snarling at Feuer, and Feuer growling back at her defensively. She rapidly started to undo the straps keeping her in place, but the next thing she knew was that she was being thrown off of Mer and into the ground next to him. Ash struggled to get her face out of the ground and caught the murderous glare of A'ilarin just behind her shoulder. She heard Mer leap over to place himself between Nyetia and Feuer before anything else could happen. Jason remained where he was on Feuer.
"What is the meaning of this, Ashley?" A'ilarin ground out, tightening her grip on the girl.
"Let me up and I'll explain everything." Ash said. "Please."
A'ilarin hesitated before shoving away from her and waving Nyetia off. The purple dragon snapped her teeth, but she ceased her growling.
Ash stood up slowly, rotating the shoulder she had landed on. She knew that A'ilarin would react unpleasantly at first, but she didn't expect her mentor to become violent towards her. It was only on the rare occasions that Ash had upset A'ilarin enough that the older Rider had to resort to physical correction.
"Explain yourself. Now." A'ilarin said, standing front of Ash, glaring.
"They needed a place to stay. I offered." Ash said curtly, gesturing towards Feuer and Jason.
"And you think that we can hide another dragon and their Rider here? Maybe you're not as bright as I thought you were. We cannot. We can barely support ourselves, let alone take on another Rider." A'ilarin seethed.
"Yeah? And they've been on their own for gods know how long, A'ilarin! We can't just kick them out to fend for themselves in these woods. We have a greater chance of surviving if we gather together!" Ash yelled and gestured wildly.
"We also have a greater chance of being found! It is hard enough hiding the diets of two dragons, let alone three!" A'ilarin yelled back, effectively losing her cool demeanor.
They continued to yell back and forth as Jason and Feuer watched. Mercury and Nyetia simply watched as well as their Riders argued to the point of their voices going hoarse. Each were coming up with more and more reasons why the two newcomers could either stay or leave, until Ash mentioned Jason's and Feuer's mentors.
"And their mentor died on the run from the Governments years ago! They've been on their own since then. They can't keep living like this for much longer." Ash was breathing heavily from voicing her frustrations with A'ilarin about the situation.
What she said caused A'ilarin to pull up short. She blinked at Ash before she spun around and faced Jason and Feuer for the first time.
"What were their names?" A'ilarin asked.
Jason remained quiet, a bit confused about the sudden change in the woman. Feuer shifter uncomfortably as the Rider made her way towards them.
"What were their names?" She asked again stopping just in front of Feuer.
Jason looked at Ash, trying to decide whether or not her Rider alright. Ash merely nodded.
"Garrett and Nova." Jason muttered quietly.
A'ilarin froze completely. Both teenagers and their dragons watched as the Rider didn't move a muscle. They jumped when Nyetia let mournful noise and bowed her head to the ground. A'ilarin collapsed not a second later, staring down at her hands.
"How long?" She whispered.
Jason slid off of Feuer and stood next to him. "Barely three years ago." He said in a hushed voice.
"Did… did he die with the honor of a Rider?" A'ilarin looked up from her hands and met the eyes of the boy.
Jason just nodded. Even after three years, he still hadn't come to terms with the death of his teacher.
A'ilarin sighed with relief as she rose to her feet. She stumbled slightly, but Ash was there to steady her. She placed a hand on her student's shoulder and nodded before speaking up again.
"Both of you, meet me in my office. Ashley, take care of Mercury." She ordered before she met Jason's eyes. "I'm sorry you had to witness that," she apologized. "You are welcome to stay in the meantime." Then she turned and made her way to the house.
Few moments later, the paddock was engulfed in darkness as the door closed behind her. Nyetia was still mourning loudly. Ash made her way over to the dragon, making calming noises as she reached out and stroked her forehead. After a few minutes, the dragon finally quieted. Nyetia butted her head against Ash, silently thanking her before she stood up and walked away, a depressed droop still evident in her wings.
Mer nudged Ash's shoulder, getting her attention. The girl rubbed his nose before nodding, not needing any words to know that Nyetia needed time alone. Mercury turned and made his way over to the barn and settled just outside of it, waiting for Ash to come take off the saddle.
Ash sighed before turning away from the direction Nyetia had wandered off. She gave Jason an apologetic glance as she passed him to get to Mer. Then she busied herself with undoing all of the buckles and straps of the saddle.
She heard Jason make his way up to her as she was finishing up.
"So…" he began awkwardly.
Ash sighed. "You don't have to worry about it being like this the whole time. A'ilarin has been on edge for a long time now, but she hasn't explained anything to me yet." She explained as she slid the saddle down Mer's shoulder.
"Well, that was the least of my worries." Jason said, trying to lighten the mood.
Ash graced him with a smirk as she walked away with the large saddle. She placed it on the ground, making sure it was out of the way. She would take care of it tomorrow when she buffed and oiled Mer's scales she decided.
"I wouldn't sweep it under the rug, either." She said when she got back. "A'ilarin may be a creature of habit for the most part, but it is all for good reason. The Riders who survived the war always had it pretty rough before the Governments decided they weren't worth their time anymore. And I have to admit, the two of us have been lucky for as long as we have been here, as far as Riders are concerned."
Jason didn't respond as he watched Ash rub Mercury's nose for comfort. The dragon purred quietly for a moment before pushing her away, telling her to stop making A'ilarin wait.
She turned back to him, a determined look in her eye. "Come on, we might as well get this over with. I actually want to get some sleep tonight."
Ash let him to the house after instructing Mer to stay where he was with Feuer. Jason followed her without another word. It was going to be a long night.
AN: And there we have it. Hope you guys liked it!
Please R&R!