Dragon Rider (DragonMage Saga)

by Platt, S. P.

  Gavrie relaxing just a little with what Angel said, for he has known a few wizards who do have to eat a lot after using powerful magic, more than other wizards. So this is probably not anything to worry so much about. With them being younger than others students, it would probably be the reason they eat so much, they are younger.

  A smile comes to Gavrie’s face and he visibly relaxed and reassured them. ‘It’s ok I just remembered other wizards who eat a lot after using powerful spells. They would eat twice as much as other wizards and with you being so young with your magic coming on. I would say this is a way of your body refuelling itself and being young needs a lot more food. You know Angel your fa…’ He quickly stopped himself from saying what he was thinking. He had better quickly think of something to cover up his slip of the tongue. ‘Yow know there are still wizards at the school who eat more than the other wizards, so don’t worry too much. Well now I think I have had enough so if you want more carry on, I must go.’ He got up and went out the door leaving them to their meal.

  *

  When he was out the door he stopped and looked back at them, they sat looking at each other and he could see the slip of the tongue could catch him out. He would just have to hope Angel does not come and ask. I could kick myself for that slip, it’s just, he reminds me so much of his father and he would eat more food after using powerful magic.

  That’s what almost caught me out, I will have to have a word with Tish and tell her that she is going to need to talk to Angel about who his father was. I think it is time he knew but it must be Tish’s choice to tell him, I will just have to suggest she should do it.

  He gave one final look at the kids sitting at the table laughing and still eating. They still seam to be full of energy and they shouldn’t, there is a mystery here and I will have to get to it. I will try and keep an eye on them but that is hard at time especially when we are under attack. Which we must be due for again soon, the storms have held them back but for what the weather wizards are saying we should have some settled weather for a while.

  Gavrie headed off back to his room and get some rest for at his age he is finding using magic for portals takes a lot out of him. He has not been sleeping well of late with the worry of attacks and no Dragon Rider help and then there is Angel and his group, they are taking more of my time but what can he do.

  They are his reasonability with them being so young he must look after them and teach them and show them not to be frightened of their magic. Having four young ones is most unheard of and I need to watch how they develop their magic. I must nurture their magic and not have them burn out by using to powerful a spells.

  Today he needed to know how strong they were and so he needed a spell that would take a lot out of them. This he thought is what happened but seeing them in there now and the look in their eyes told him they had recovered from using such powerful magic. I will need to monitor their magic in class and teach them how to carefully control and use their magic.

  There are plenty of spells that will sap their magic given half the chance. If certain spells are used wrong then it will have the opposite effect on the user. They will need to understand those spells and learn to tell which of them can harm them if they get it wrong.

  I think in their classes from now on I will show them spells that can go wrong and suck their magic from them just as easily from the ones they want the spell to work against. They will need to know them and soon so I think tomorrow mornings lesions will be the right time to show them these spells.

  Also there are others spells they will need to learn that will shield them a little from backlashes that other wizards can do. Sending the spell back at a young wizard can harm them greatly so they will need to know which spells will do this and how to defend against them.

  They are going to need to know all this soon so I will start it tomorrow. I will be busy with them but maybe I can get a couple of the other wizards to help with certain spells they need to learn and there are a couple of wizards here that are very good with certain spells.

  *

  Things did not turn out the way Gavrie had planed the following morning as he had been called away early and so was not able to start what he had wanted. He left word with one of the head students to tell Angel's group they were to have today off.

  They were sitting at the table when the head student came over to them and told them. ‘Gavrie has left word today is free so you can get more rest to recover from the spells you were doing yesterday.’ He was about to go when he turned back to Angel. ‘Thank your mother and brothers for the help they gave us the other day as a lot of the students were sacred when there were that many creatures coming. We just wanted you to know that.’ He turned and left the hall.

  Angel looked at the others and they could see a glow of pride on his face. They smiled for him and then they got down to business. ‘Well lets go get some food to last us the day and go see our dragons. It will be good getting the whole day in with them. Angel got up and the others followed.

  They filled bags in the kitchen which the staff there had for wizards when they go on long trips or they want to work in their secret rooms. Having got that job done they headed off to their secret room, on the way calling their dragons to meet them.

  They found their dragons waiting for them on the next deck over and headed back to the dragons deck. They arrived and went to the dragons sleeping area where they stored their food and were about to go back out when Angel stopped and peered into the Dragon Deck cave.

  Shylyn saw him do this and went up to him. ‘What’s wrong is there something down there?’

  Angel turned to her then back down the cave before he answered her. ‘I just got a feeling there is something down there I don’t know what but it was there for a moment then it was gone. Oh well come on lets go?’ As he left with Shylyn he had one more look behind him into the cave and turned back and put it out of his mind.

  They went over to the others who had joined their dragons and were playing with their magic for that is exactly what they were doing, playing. ‘What’s going on here might I ask? Playing games and you lot didn’t even wait for us, we weren’t that long.’ Angel smiling as he and Shylyn went over to join them in there fun.

  They were joining their shields and then playing with fire balls. Angel and Shylyn were just about to join in when Aura came into his mind. ‘The Renegade comes the dragon warns us. He tells me his wizard is very angry today and is determined to make a bigger hole.’

  They move and their dragons move into their cave to wait out of sight. Angel then decides it would be better if they went and waited in the tower when the Renegade comes, so they will be able to study the old spell he uses.

  They make a quick run through the decks till they get to the one the Renegade uses. They climb the tower and go into the room just below the floor he uses. The room is small but has junk stored in it and so is easier to hide if the wizard should stop and look. They find a nice little place where they can’t be seen if the door is opened.

  They sit down and wait, for the Renegade should not be long. They waited and waited and waited, but there was no sign of the Renegade. Angel got in touch with Aura to see if she could find out where they were. So they now just waited to see if Aura could contact the dragon.

  Again they waited but not long this time as Aura came into his mind. ‘I can’t contact him; the dragon is not answering my call. I would not come out of hiding just yet stay there till I can find out.’

  *

  They sat there for a good hour just waiting thinking about there lives and what has happened to them since coming to the Wizard School. Shylyns life had been difficult as she had lost her father when she was six; he never came back from going between. Her mother had found a new partner and he was not a nice person.

  He’s got a look in his eyes that make me want to look away but it’s hard. He’s got my mother under his thumb; she just can’t say anything against him. I get the feeling he just uses her to make pe
ople think he is normal. I just can’t get the feeling about him right.

  He looks at me in a way that makes me feel I am not there just a nothing; if he could I wouldn’t exist. Then one day my magic came on and my mother took me away to the wizard school she didn’t even talk it over with him. I feel for my mother who is still with him and can’t get away.

  I just get the feeling that if she could she would go but the hold he has over her is to strong. I’m glad I’m away from him. I just wish mum could get away. The only good thing is finding and meeting Angel, for he has given me my life’s wish to ride a dragon.

  Shylyn looked at Angel and a smile come to her face and a little tear trickled down her face which she quickly wiped away. She at lest was away from her mothers partner now and in a way she thanks her mother, as she found out about her magic coming early and she rushed her away from the house.

  Her mother that day she brought her to the school was very happy as she left her there with Gavrie. Her mother gave her a wave as she left a tear rolled down her face. Gavrie had a funny look on his face as he waved her mother good bye. Gavrie knew what he was like and the look on his face was of sorrow for her going back to him.

  Shylyn suddenly become aware of the others sitting around and smiled for she has got some true friends and they would look after her. She just wished her dad was here for she still misses him very much. Looking at the others she wandered weather their lives were better than hers up till now.

  *

  Medwin sat there thinking of the day he found his magic had come on sooner than any has before. It was a shock when it came on him for me as I was playing with friends and we had got into a fight when all of a sudden they flew from me across the room. At the time a pattern came into my mind.

  The pattern was a spell I had seen in my fathers’ room when I had been playing there. If father had seen me playing there I would have been in big trouble. The book had been open on the table and I just looked at it

  It looked really cool so I traced it with my finger, going from the centre out just like a spider. As I drew my finger over the pattern it appeared in my mind, it was a strange feeling as I traced the pattern. My mind seamed to feel the pattern as I traced it, the feeling going deep into my body.

  All of a sudden I heard a noise and I came back to where I was, quickly grabbed my ball and left the room before I was caught. It was the following day when I was out playing with my friends. We always had play fights but this one got out of control.

  We had been pretending to cast spells at each other just like we usually do when we started arguing about who won the fight. It came to blows and as I was getting hit the pattern I had seen in fathers book come into my mind and I cast it aside so I could see who was hitting me when they all flew.

  The feeling as I cast the pattern was a feeling deep down and the pattern just seamed to flow out of me. Next minute I knew my friends were lying on the ground away from me just sitting looking a bit stunned. They all looked at me and they yelled that I had cast a spell at them.

  I was just as shocked as they were to cast a spell when I was two years away from the magic coming on. I knew they were right I had cast a spell and I could feel deep down what I had done. The thing I was thankful for was the spell I had seen yesterday had only been a little spell, for a more powerful one I could have killed my friends.

  I had to go home and tell my parents what I had done, that was the hardest part. I had got home and they were both there, but I had to tell them before my friends parents came around to see father.

  They were in the kitchen when I got home, I walked in and then all of a sudden I burst into tears. My father came over and asked what was wrong; all I could say at the time was got into fight. My father wanted to know who had hurt me and I had to stop crying to tell him what had happened.

  When I stopped crying enough and told them what I had done my father and mother were very surprised. They wanted to know exactly what had happened right down to at the precise moment when the pattern appeared in my mind. When I had finished they had sat down and were looking at each other.

  They sat there for a short time not saying anything just sitting there looking at each other, then at me. My father then got up and came over to me and knelt down in front of me and told me that my magic had come on. He then told me I would have to go to the Wizard School as soon as possible.

  The following day they brought me here where my life changed after meeting Angel. He brought a dragon into my life bringing a great happiness, for riding a dragon is something I had always wanted. I always hoped the magic would not come to me so that he could ride a dragon.

  Medwin silently thanked Angel for making his life full, he came aware of the others and seen a tear rolling down Shylyns cheek. He could feel a bit of a tear in his eyes or a bit of wetness, but he quickly wiped his eyes just in case.

  *

  Maive sat there her mind on her home life; it was not bad just she had a lot of brothers and sisters. I being the youngest was left to in the care of my older siblings who looked after me well. My parents loved us all but between working and looking after us all, it was very hard work for them. We would try and do a lot around the house to help but there were still a lot of things we couldn’t do.

  We had all gone to the market in the town and there were a lot of people there. My older siblings would make sure we all held hands so we wouldn’t get lost, but this day the town was very busy. We had been walking around a short time when someone tripped and fell into us breaking the link.

  I found myself being swept away with the crowd moving away from my brothers and sisters. I could hear them yellowing out for me but could not get to them. I got moved along with the crowd to the outer part of the centre of town. This was not a good part of town and I was scared.

  I tried to move around the side of the crowd back the way we come into the centre when some hands grabbed me. I screamed but the person kept pulling me into the ally when I started to feel funny and my vision went funny. The person who was pulling me into the ally suddenly started to try and let me go but couldn’t.

  He started to yell at me to let him go but I didn’t understand what was happening. The man started to scream so loud and it was a funny yell. Then it started to get scary as he tried to shake his hand loose. Next minute there were people all around us and they were yelling at me to let him go.

  I still held on till there was a loud command to quite down, a man knelt down in front of me and held his hand in front of my face. I then started to feel myself drift and then all of a sudden I could see clearly what was happening.

  I screamed for the man who had tried to take me lay on the ground and he had terrible burns all over him. The man moved my head to look at him and told me it was all right. The man would be ok so you can relax, just come away from him and we will see if we can’t find your family.

  Just then my father turned up as he had been in the area when I had been taken. The others had told of losing me when we got parted so he came looking for me. He had heard the commotion and come over to see a wizard with me. He knew the wizard and wanted to know what happened.

  They looked at me and asked me what happened, I told them about getting parted and moved to the edge with the crowd when that man had grabbed me trying to pull me into the ally. I told how I came over all funny and next moment found the man trying to let go of my hand.

  They looked at me and the wizard and my father said my magic had come on so here I am with friends and a dragon all my own thanks to Angel. Meeting my friends was the best thing that has happened to me. I could feel the tears running down my cheeks for my new friends.

  *

  Angel looked at his friends and seen the damp eyes and the tears and he felt for his friends. He knew here in this group were his friends for life, they would look after me and I would look after them. We are a family here when our own families are away from us.

  For us with our dragon who share what we have deep down and who will kn
ow us like we know ourselves. They are apart of our group as we are apart of their group, I am glad they came with me that day to meet Aura for if they had not then we would not be here.

  They trusted me when I took them to meet Aura, and that was a good thing. We now would trust each other with each others lives and we have already done that. With what we have to do these are the people and these are the dragons I would rather be with.

  He felt tears running down his face as his thoughts were of the friendship they now have. The bond is for life and he can feel it with each and every one of them. They will win through with what they have to do for the strong bond is there. We will win I know it.

  Contents

  The First Real Hint

  They sat there just a little longer when their dragons came into their minds. ‘We can’t contact the dragon so they are nowhere around, I wander where they went to, for the dragon told us they were coming?’ She sounded worried as she told Angel; she did not want it to be a trick.

  ‘It’ll be ok we will come back now, can you come pick us up?’ Angel calmed her down as they went out of the tower.

  They waited outside for the dragons and they soon came flying up over the deck to land not far from them. Climbing on they decided to head back to the school and see how the battle for the school goes. The dragons agreed they should go back for they still did not trust the dragon.

  They flew under the decks as they usually do just above the waves of the sea. There was a lot of room under the decks, from the bottom of the decks to the sea was twice as high at the school. It was a weird feeling flying under the decks as the sea did not roar up against the cliffs. They put this down to the old spell holding Nirvana.

  Coming up on the deck where they usually come up, they just hover under the deck and Aura puts her head out to see if the creatures are attacking, for they don’t want to be seen. Pulling her head back in, the next minute they all flew up onto the deck.