Kali sighed and asked her dragon to glide back down to the institute. He glanced back at her, and exhaled a puff of smoke. Her eyes widened, but not with fear, with excitement.
He pulled his wings in against his body, turning torpedo-like. His eyes turned to slits and he pointed his body at the cliffs. Kali leaned forward, hunching herself over his neck.
They shot downward, gravity puling on them harder and harder. Kali's hair whipped behind her like a streamer. She laughed, her voice getting carried away by the wind.
At the very last second, he snapped his wings out, instantly halting their dive. He reached out with his back legs and gripped the edge of his den. He lay flat on the floor so Kali could hop off.
He looked at her, his partner. She was slightly less than five feet in height, slender too. Kali looked like she might shatter if touched too hard, but that was a mistake that many had made.
In truth, she was rock hard, and had a fiery temper to match. Her hair was auburn, and her eyes bright green, like emeralds. He loved her eyes. Kali had just the right skin tone- not dark, but not light.
All in all, she was a splendid creature. How was that for a nice glide? He asked. "Perfectly wonderful. How fast was that? It must have been at least eighty." He grinned, displaying a full set of razor sharp teeth. Hmm...I'd have to say eighty-five.
"I suppose you're right." Kali said. Dragons were very good at these things. He nodded in agreement. You'd better get back to bed, before Mrs. Crouse finds you.
"Oh," she said, rolling her eyes, "right." Mrs. Crouse was the meanest, hardest instructor in the whole institute. It figures that Kali got landed with her.
Kali gave her dragon a hug goodnight, and scrambled down the cliffs. She reached one of the eight bridges connecting the students with their dragons and sprinted up the stairs to the base of the school.
From there, she climbed up the rock face, never once pausing to see where the next handhold was. She didn't have to. She could probably climb the wall blind folded. That was how well she knew it.
She finally reached her window. Just as Kali finished slipping into her room, a voice came from a dark corner of her room. "Well, well. Good to see you back in one peace." This voice was like a whip. Kali cringed. Mrs. Crouse.
Her glasses appeared, followed by her face, head, and body. She was in her forties, maybe early fifties, but she still looked evil. Mrs. Crouse had black hair with streaks of gray in it. This hair was always pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head.
She was pale, with some wrinkles around her face. Of course, no one dared to think about that, for it was certain death. Her eyes were small and black. Those eyes were her worst feature. They could see everything, and they threw daggers at wrong doers.
That is what Kali got when she looked at her teacher. Kali glanced away, but she could feel a hole being born in the top of her head. "So? What do you have to say for yourself? Sneaking out at night. You know that is not allowed."
"Yes, ma'am." Kali mumbled, not wanting to look up. "You know what this means, don't you?" This time Kali looked up. "But...I just wanted to see him!" Mrs. Crouse shook her head sharply two times.
"No excuses. Three hours detention tomorrow, and no weekend freedom." Oh, man... Kali thought. Weekend freedom had to be earned. It meant that for one whole weekend, the student could do whatever they wanted, within reason.
Kali had been working hard to earn this for months, and now she had thrown it out the window. "Yes, ma'am." She replied solemnly. Why did life have to be so hard for her?