Moordryd's Lullaby
Chapter 3: Alliance
Separating from Moordryd had been hard. It had taken three days for her to stop looking for him and sit still. But they had been notified that the teams for the trinity challenge had been set. Brain had cackled herself silly, telling Lyra that they would be living in mid-city for the next three months while the challenge took place. They packed the dragon-transport. Usually Brain rode the bull-class dragon but this time she called for her psi-class dragon. Phantom was a beautiful male with black lightening patterns over a gunmetal gray body. "Well we better get moving. We are living with two separate crews. One from mid-city the from down-city." the smaller rider called from the saddle of Phantom. "Lets get going!"
Penn stables was in a frantic squall, they had been notified that as the mid-way point for their partners they would be the hosting party for the challenge. Artha was cleaning extra stables they other teams had sent the number of dragons they were bringing and people as well. Kit had been assigned to a different team so she had left that morning to meet them. Lance was helping Parm make room in the Gear shed for the other team's gear. Connor was expanding the table so the teams could eat together. The teams would provide a set amount a month for housing and feeding but had to cover all costs after that.
Moordryd was only bringing Cain and a brat with him to tend the gear. He packed all the grooming supplies and the clothes he would need into cases that were loaded into the dragon transport. He watched the brat's dragon mag things into their places and the brat net them in place. When the packing was finished they mounted up and headed up for mid-city. It annoyed him deeply he had to live the next three months with the stable-brat and his crew. Cain and Zip looked at one another. "you know Cain, he seems depressed." The 11 year old said. Cain nodded. "If he hears you your crow-drag food." the boy nodded and was quiet. Artha and Moordryd had to be separated after arrival and set at different sides of the stable to keep from arguing. They heard the rumble of another dragon transport Lance and Zip turned and seeing the symbol of the team on it. "Dad! Its them! The Heart of the Dragon crew!" Connor and Parm came out seeing the seal. The large bull-class snorted at them. A small girl waived blushing.
Two dragon's came to either side and walked up to Connor. The riders smiled at him. "My Lady. Nice to see you again." She grinned. "Its Lyra. And this is Meeka." The girl with blue streaked black hair waived and spoke. "Feel free to call me Brain. I'm the Crew's gear/track expert. This is Mari." Brain pointed to the kid. "She is our helper and keeps the transport organized." A low call caught Lyra's attention and she smiled. "I think I am going to like it here for the next few months." Connor looked at the two boys. "Go get the others." The boys took off. Zip slammed into Cain around a blind corner, Moordryd looking at them both annoyed. "The third team is here!" They heard laughter turning the corner, the three teams stood. "The Dragon Eyes greet all." Moordryd's voice toned the ceremonial words, as he stepped into the inner circle. "Penn Racing welcomes all." Artha spoke next stepping forward also. "The Heart of the Dragon is greeted and welcomed, and also returns that kindness on those who spoke it." Lyra stepped before them. Her hands each taking one of theirs.
They broke apart and got to work. They could hear Lyra and Brain arguing as the girls settled into their places. Lyra was fresh from a shower and had a brush in hand as her hair gleamed around her. "Not Drac, Brain. I need to be more maneuverable on a course like that. We have no idea the strengths of the men or their dragons." Brain nodded. "I am aware of that Lyra. We need to hold a meeting after dinner. The first race is next week.." The dinner table was loud yet pleasant. Lyra was engaged in a conversation with Artha and Moordryd over their racing styles. Meeka had Parm, Cain and the kids going over track data and the gear needs. Connor was misty eyed as he remembered something similar 25 years prior. Him and Word arguing with Tannis and her smacking them upside the head for stupid comments.
"No you crow-drag. We have nearly a 45 degree turn right before a drop. There isn't enough time to get the dragon back up to speed after having to slow for the turn." Parm growled, Cain snorted. "Shut up." Meeka said. Both boys looked at her. "There is a way. Lyra?" She called and the red-head looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "We have an issue. There is a section of the track that will take maneuvering." Now all three racers were looking at her. She showed them the hologram of the track section and all three looked it over carefully. "I can ride it. But Nyghtmayr is too heavy in bone mass to make the turn then jump." Connor was surprised she was humble enough to admit her faults. "Yes. I realize that. But after carefully calculating the separate track elements and adding you three then the abilities of the dragons. We might have a tentative solution." Parm said and he got two raised eyebrows and an odd look.
"Your gonna have to ride each others dragons. The stable-brats dragon can make the turn, but he doesn't have the experience. Decepshun is too light to have the muscle to jump after such a turn. Your dragon is the only one who can run nose to nose with the upper city dragons on the straightaways." Cain said and Brain smiled at him. "He's right. But saying that Lyra you will have to ride Penn's dragon. There are four turns of varying degrees and difficulties. They have a balance section that will require Payne's Dragon. Put Penn on her and we have a chance there. By putting Payne on Nyghtmayr he has the most experience with down hill tracks. With him being the heaviest of the three it will make it hard for the others to jar him around." The three racers looked at one another and sighed.
"Ok so we wind up on each others dragons.." Artha said. "The gear is next. You Artha will be using blue balance gear. Level 7. And two Level 5 red thrusters." Artha nodded. "Payne will wind up with Level 5 White sled, repel, aero and the same thruster set up as Penn. Lyra you'll need Blue turning, balance. Level 6,White aero, repel. And four level 7 thrusters." The three grinned darkly, tomorrow was sounding fun. "Zip, Mari. I need those gear sets loaded into the transports. I will help you to make sure the right ones go to each dragons section. Cain, Parm I need the transport lined up to make it easier to load. As we brought a larger gear transport its easier to share." The other teams nodded and then with slight insults they split off to get their chores attended to. Lyra enjoyed grooming the dragons they hummed and whistled to her as if they were talking. Lyra only smiled and repeated the sounds as close as she could.
The next morning saw the three down at the track, gearing up each others dragons and running the track with them. Lyra was the last to run, when she rode past Lance was pulled off his feet by the wake. Her braid danced behind her as she used Beau's speed and some Level 7 balance and turning gear to get a sense of him. She turned toward the jumps spotting the gear pit she grabbed the white aero gear and red thrusters. "Come on Beau, Show me you want to win!" She said to the dragon. He lengthened his stride and she flicked her fingers at the last second to extend the aero wings and they were airborne. When she reached the peak of the flight she turned the thrusters on and they became a shining arrow. Beau focused on the landing and felt the woman-child make adjustments to allow him an easier landing. She rode with him like Artha, yet she had more experience on racing. Her soul was darker then Artha's yet was warm with real emotions. His brother and the girl matched wonderfully. Maybe she would teach Artha some of the skills he would need to help stop the dragon-human war.
Moordryd flew down the track with Nyghtmayr, the heavier dragon gave him the advantage and tolerated his control. They practiced everyday until they felt eack could ride the others dragons as smoothly as their own. Though there were a few interesting things. Moordryd got to unknowingly ride the dragon of legend, and Lyra rode Decepshun a pure black draconium dragon. Finally the Day of the race came. The three of them stood there trying to come up with a name and symbol. They had argued until Lyra had whacked both of them upside the head and walked off with the papers. When she returned both boys wee still in shock as Connor laughed. She had drawn silhouettes of their dragons in the backgrounds and used the word Heart of the Dragon in ancient Draconian. "To win, we must be strong and work in unison. We must be like the Heart of a Dragon." They all nodded and finished the team colors were black, blue and silver. One color each.
