The Sixth Dragon Rider

Part 18

Aura stumbled back into the class, the previous images she;d just witnessed still a tangled web, crowding her thoughts at the forefront of her mind.  The rest of the class had already gathered in a haphazard semicircle, and for the first time Aura got a good look at all their dragons.  Each one was a massive beast, with rippling muscles and shining scales.  They were an impressive, and fairly intimidating, sight to behold.  Unlike Nirvana, who was lithe and supple, these dragons were pure powerhouses, standing as tall as buildings, with huge talons and large chests made for breathing in lots of the thin air at high altitude, they seemed to have no flaws.

Regaining her balance and catching her breath Aura hurried to join the circle, quietly slipping into place, embarrassed for having drawn so much attention to herself.  The other boys shot her nasty looks as she took her place among them, silently belittling her for being late, and probably for even being there at all.  Jerald too jumped on the bandwagon and shot Aura a disgusted glare of his own as he stepped up in front of the class.

"Well Miss Aura, so kind of you to join us. Next time though, please enter my class with a little more composure won't you?  This isn't a school for little village girl ruffians with no manners, its a school for dragon riders, so do attempt to act like one, won't you?" Jerald said, haughtiness laced in his voice.

"Yes sir, my apologies, I'll be more prompt next time," Aura replied, sensing this wasn't the time for a fight, especially when she had been late.

"Very good, now class it is time for our lesson.  You all have procured your dragons and took some time to practice shooting, or at least most of you did, and now I will introduce our newest skill to you.  Today we will be learning mounted archery.  One of the most useful skills of the dragon riders, it allows us to bring down our opponents from the safety of the sky.  I see some of you smirking, you think this will be easy, hmm?  You will find yourselves sorely, sorely mistaken.  This is a skill only for the bravest and most daring.  Some of you have proven incompetent at even getting your arrows within a distance of your targets while you stand still on solid ground.  I highly doubt you will find it easier to do so leaning off the side of a flying dragon, and anyone who thinks it will be so for them is an utter, complete and total nincompoop.   Now, to being this lesson I must ask that you all mount your dragons, with your bow and quiver Ivan, with them, it's like teaching a bunch of monkeys," Jerald said, finishing in a mutter under his breath.

Turning away from her teacher Aura bent down and placed Nirvana on the grass so the dragon could change her size without crushing Aura.  Quietly, and without warning, Nirvana shifted her size to that of the other dragons, causing Aura to fall backwards, as she landed on the hard ground with a groan.  Looking up at the dragon she was amazed at just how large Nirvana could become when she wanted.  Sure she'd seen the dragon at a fairly large size when they'd flown to the castle but now she was simply enormous.

"This good?" Nirvana chirped cheerfully inside her head.

"Yep, little warning next time thought alright?" Aura said as she pulled herself up off the ground.

Gathering her bow, and the arrows that had spilled all over the ground when she fell, Aura collected herself and prepared to mount the dragon. The grass crackled softly as she shifted her weight, preparing to throw herself over the Nirvana's back.  Time seemed to slow and Aura could here the individual rustle of each leaf in the background as a breeze gently nuzzled them.  The rest of the world was lost around them and it was just them.  Aura and Nirvana.  Rocking back on her heels slightly Aura gently grabbed onto to the dragon right below her neck and swung herself onto Nirvana's back like she would a horse.   She landed softly, and for a second the world was quiet and still, before their reverie was broken and everything came rushing back at her senses.