Dragon Blood

I

All mages have dragon blood. Not all of the mages appreciate their ancestor's magic, however. I read it in a book once, a long time ago, that dragon's magic used to be wild, free and unobtainable. They were the storms, the earthquakes, and the mysterious gods that walked the land. But then, when I was three, The Bands were invented. It was no longer true. They were captured and treated as less than human by the Dragon Riders. Any mage, any person with even a drop of dragon blood could become a Dragon Rider, becoming nobles and high knights that protected the realm. All the children would talk about it, dream of owning a dragon. I never wanted to. Maybe it's because I was born before the dragons were rounded up in Rook. I still had memories of their power. I had seen a dragon many times before in my life, but every time they came to Eldervale to test the children for the ability I was always surprised at their size.

***

The last scroll contained information about the ancient religion of Goddess. I didn't really know why Argus had it, but I tied it up and put it in in place in the stack. Shouts suddenly began to be heard outside the house. Glancing out of the window, I saw a huge red dragon landing in the square below. A fire dragon, I thought from the paintings Argus had shown me. The Dragon Riders had come again. Most of the children were eagerly swarming around the scaled beast, and even the teenagers that were to be tested were almost as excited as the smallest boy. It was mandatory, but I still wished I could have gone with Argus again, up into the mountains for the week. He didn't like the Dragon Riders much, and in previous years had taken me with him, but this year he had no choice but to leave me behind. I put the organized scrolls and books back on the shelf in Argus's study, and then walked down the rickety stairs to open the front door. I walked just outside the door into the edge of the crowd of villagers excitedly buzzing, wishing this day never had to come.

The man on the dragon stepped off, and a circle cleared around him in the crowd, the happy talking suddenly quieting.

"Anna Wells, Kyle Smith, Shira Kingbreaker, James Baker and Gwyn Scribe, come up here please." There was only a one in ten chance I would have to leave, and so hopefully all would go well and I wouldn't have to leave. I stepped through the crowd until I reached the circle, surrounded by the other kids eligible for the testing.

The man held up a black stone surrounded by iron, careful not to touch the stone itself, and signaled for Anna to come up. She touched the stone, and the crowd went silent for a few moments, before the man waved her away. The stone had remained black, with no change in the stone's color. Kyle came up next, and again the stone did not change. When Shira touched the stone with her hand, it glowed softly, green shot with gold, and the crowd cheered.

"That's one Dragon Rider!" the man shouted, and then had James come up. The stone remained black for him as well, and so it was time for me to do it. I walked carefully up the stone, scared of what I would find. I laughed at myself. The chances were so small, so insignificant. Besides, Shira was already chosen as a rider. Their couldn;t be two in such a small village. Was I the only kid who didn't want to be a Rider? I lowered my hand to the stone, and carefully set it down on the smooth surface, and then I was blinded by pure, silver light streaming from the stone, a million times brighter then Shira's had been.

"Woah," the man muttered. "That's brighter than Alexander's, and his grandfather was a dragon." I removed my hand from the stone, and the light slowly faded away. The man picked it up, and for the briefest moment I saw on the stone red and gold swirling together.

"I'll give you some time to say your goodbyes and get your things. Then we go." I hurried into the home I shared with Argus, quickly gathering up the things I would need. I was in a state of shock. How on earth could this have happened? The one person who didn't want to be a Rider, forced be one? I wrote Argus a goodbye note. He deserved one, after all he had done for me.