A Fifth Daughter [Book 1: The Dragon Rider]

Chapter ~ 4

~ Chapter 4: Ring Around the Dragons... We All Fall Down ~

Accepting Day has arrived and I feel like the world's most sour person. Mom had to basically shove breakfast down my throat while I glared out the window. All through breakfast Mom kept giving me strange looks; like I'm a bomb and my timer is counting down faster than she can think to say anything. Although, I'm not a bomb (in the terms of blowing up into oblivion), I do only have thirty minutes until I'm supposed to be meeting with Alex Oxford.

And I still don't know what to do about my Choice.

Two days went down the drain with no decision.

The good part about all this? Ryler looks just as sick as I feel. Nerves have a way of changing even the bravest, most stubborn people.

"Okay you two." Mom about slaps the table but thinks better of it as her hand curls away. "Get out of the house. Alex and Jacmerl will be here soon to talk to both of you."

Jacmerl would be Fantasy's Battlemage Headkeeper. If Dragonmage trains the air police, then Battlemage teaches the ground military. Unlike the Dragonmage – which is made up of two schools in different locations; Legend in Folklore and Lore in Myth – Battlemage is an all-around type deal located in Southern Myth. There might only be one school grounds, but it can hold up to hundreds of thousands of students from all Realms. Vampires are the more typical race to enter the school, but humans have just as high population percentage.

As Ryler and I leave the dining room and filter out to the backyard the noise of a truck coming down the gravel driveway turns our heads.

"They're here." Ryler says, wincing slightly.

Well, at least one of them is. "And we'd just escaped." I mutter back.

Ryler chuckles nervously. "Maybe we can prolong for a little longer." Mom bangs on the dining room window and gestures for us to come back in. He sighs. "Or not."

"She should make up her mind. Does she want us inside or out?"

Ryler shakes his head and I follow him back inside. We should have expected this. You always get a taste of freedom when escaping the pot, that is, until you find out there's a fire burning below.

We retake our seats while everyone else filters out, leaving only Mom. Chase answers the door when someone knocks, but I don't try to see who it is. I'm way too distracted and in too much destress to do that.

Apparently it's Battlemage's Headkeeper Jacmerl Dale driving the truck. She's a burly Dwarf. Red hair is spiked off her head giving her more height than her 4'4" allows. Blazing amber eyes stare at us, ping-ponging between Ryler and I. She wears the usual garb of Dwarves; thick fur tunic tucked in a wide belt and leather pants wrapped in bushy fur boots. Silver earrings dangle and gold bracelets jingle. She doesn't smile, although she doesn't glare either, just a neutral face that could crack stone into ash and make the strongest enemy crumble. It doesn't help that her nose is huge and divides her face like a fat mountain. I shiver. Ryler gulps. Mom smiles hesitantly.

"Which of these ducks here are signing for Battlemage?" Her thick western accent throws me off. Most Dwarves are from the South, where the Pétris Ravine runs with precious stones like our bodies run with blood, not the West where forests control the land.

"Nice to see you too, Jacmerl."

The dwarf huffs. "I'm late, Allied, so I can't bother with formalities. Now which one do I get to pick up tomorrow?"

Mom stands and motions for Ryler to follow. "This is Ryler."

Jacmerl eyes him up and down either appraising or disapproving, I don't know. "Have your siblings given you any training, or forewarning about my school? I don't need you backing out after a week."