Part One: Into the Night

Chapter ONE: Walk, Run, Fly.

Darkness surrounded me, as I looked out over the edge of the balcony. Storm clouds covered the moon, making it near black outside, but the wall shone with pacing lights. The guards. All of the security was amped because of the party, but with a room behind the palace, the guards were more spread out. I looked down. I couldn't see anything, but i knew that there was a haystack down below me. It would catch my fall. Because, even though my bedroom was a 50 feet in the air, nothing could delay my escape. Nothing.

I walked around the room. I caught a glance of my reflection in the window. My pure black outfit covered my arms and legs. Every curve of my body was shown. It was made of flexible leather, completely unadorned. It was made for blending into the night. Most wouldn't imagine a princess wearing something so plain, but it suited me. My hair was still braided up fancily from the party. My bangs twisted, and tied back from my brown eye. The other side up twined down into a side braid, giving full effect to my grey eye. I turned back to the room. I circled it again. Laying on the end table was the last book I brought from the library. 'Legends of Cerceia'. It was my favorite book, full of Dragons and their riders, Elves and their secrets, Witches and their spells. I loved reading it, and picturing myself in its pages. I picked it up and put it into my pack. I had a feeling i would need something to entertain me. I glanced out the window again, and saw the receding lights. Perfect.

I steadied myself on the rail of the balcony. I placed my hands on it and dangled out the edge. I would drop in 5… 4… 3… 2…1… GO!

I let go of the balcony. Falling felt peaceful, and just for a moment, i relaxed. Then i hit the soft, itchy, hay. I rolled out of the stack. I turned toward the palace wall, and ran as fast as i could. I made it to the base of the wall in no time. I found a seam in the brick and started climbing. The rock scratched my hands, but i kept climbing. The top was about fifteen feet into the air. I could see the village outside the palace from the top. All the little, quiet houses with their, meek little people. I looked and saw the Longshire Forest. That is where i am going tonight. The dark trees would provide cover until i could sneak off the island.

I made my way down the wall. The moment my feet touched the ground, shouts arose from the wall.

"The Princess Rayna has run from her room!"

"What do we do?"

"Find her, you idiots!"

I sped away from the wall. Crap, they might find me. I continued running. The forest got closer, and closer.

"I see her! Running to the Wood!"

I heard the noise of pursuit as i passed into the tree line. Dogs brayed behind me as i kept the sprint. I slowed to a light jog as i battled the briars to make it farther in. i spotted a stream and ran through it, to throw the dogs off scent. I continued jogging. A small flash of lighting lit the sky above me. I stopped to admire it. It was beautiful. Thunder followed, almost shaking the earth. I laughed into it.

A bolt of lightning came down in front of me. It glowed with a strange purple light. The shockwave flipped me backwards. I landed on my back. A shape loomed in front of me. The next flash of lighting revealed it to be a… a… Dragon.

The dragon stared at me relaxed, and I saw the pure beauty of it. It was a rich purple, with a yellow underbelly. The eyes were like storm clouds, grey and cold. The large horns were yellow, with purple tips. The most striking feature was its wings. They were at least double the dragon's body length, with green streaks on them. They were spread out slightly as the dragon faced me. I noted the yellow on the underside and the purple on the top. The tail was long and flexible, with yellow razor sharp spines. Each spine was tipped with green. Another feature popped out with the next lightning flash. A crown of small horns decorated its face. Going from short on the edges, to tall in the middle, made a lovely crown. Four spiky flaps went down the jaw. Every edge of the face horns was tipped in purple. The dragon held itself the way a queen did. Tall, proud and regal.

She locked eyes with me and i straightened up. I have seen a dragon like this before. In a dream. A dream that was almost like a memory, but not. The dragon bowed to me. I wanted to return the bow, but an electric shock went up my spine. The feeling traveled up my spine and gathered at the back of my head. A small gasp passed my lips. I felt as if another presence entered my head.

'Hello. I am Thalia.' The dragon said in my brain.

"Wha...um...Hi? I am Rayna," I hesitated

'Chase.' The dragon supplied.

"How did you know that?" I said, completely shocked.

'I am a dragon. The dragon.'

My hand went to my amulet. My grandmother's legends about a dragon. What was it called...?

Thunder burst into my ears. The storm was getting worse. Wait, storm?

"The dragon. The Storm-Chaser!" Even the words sounded ridiculous. That was just folklore. A book I had in my bag. But here it was; right in front of me.

"If you're real, then what other legends are true?"

The dragon just stared at me, like: figure it out.

"Alright. First things first, we need to get off this island."

Thalia just tilted her head. I lifted my hand. I reached out to stroke her nose, but Thalia recoiled from my touch. I stared into her eyes, and reached out again. I stroked her nose. I ran my hand over the spikes on her jaw toward her wings. I ran the back of my hand over her wing joint. I leaped and swung my leg over her back. I mounted and felt Thalia roll her shoulders. She took off running. I was jostled off balance. This was so much harder than riding a horse. Thalia opened her wings and i got into a jumping stance. She lifted off the ground with a hard beat of her wings. It was bumpy. She dipped drastically with every wing beat, but we rose higher.

'Am i too heavy?' I asked myself.

'No; Your fine. It will be smooth in a second.'

I was startled. Could she hear my thou-

The ride smoothed out. The sky stretched out. We sailed through the air. She started climbing higher and we burst through the cloud line. I sat up and stretched my hands out, feeling the clouds. Stars stretched in every direction and the moon glowed brightly. The wind was cold, but I couldn't feel anything. This was amazing!

"Woo-Hoo!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Thalia reared her head and shot a ball of fire in front of her. It exploded in a blue and purple starburst. I felt the heat run over me, and Thalia suddenly started flying higher. I grabbed on tighter. As sudden as the rising, she tucked her wings and dropped like a stone. Colors blurred together as i held on for dear life.

We landed in a palace courtyard. The entire place was empty. She walked up to a door and nudged it open. She preceded walked up several flights of stairs and we came to a room. It was a grand bedroom. A bed with curtains. A wooden bed table. The rest of the details skipped from my mind as Thalia dropped me on the bed. I fell asleep instantly.