The Dragon Knights - comment please? :c

[Lonin]

Bleh kinda rushed and rubbishy chapter. >:
Lonin is disappoint.

Chapter 2:
The creature blinked a few times, turned in a circle and sat down. It reminded Nala of the sand lizards she used to chase at the beach. It had dark grey scales and a mane of soft fur the colour of smoke. A pair of wings sprouted from its back with membranes the same soft grey swirled with black, and translucent so it looked as though its wings really were made of smoke. A small, dark gem glittered on its forehead and it stared at Nala and Sam with a disconcerting spark of intelligence.

Nala remembered the stories she had been told as a girl. This creature was clearly a dragon. A real dragon. It was much smaller than she expected, barely bigger than the cats that slept in the barns to keep mice away, and skinny too. The stories told of giant beasts capable of breathing fire and destroying towns with a swipe of their tail. The thing sat in front of her didn't look capable of snapping a twig.

Hello, a bright, feminine voice appeared in her head. From the look on Sam's face he'd heard it too. Nala was a lot calmer than she thought she'd be in a situation with a telepathic dragon, easily accepting that it was talking to her inside her own head and could do it to others too. Something about it seemed almost comforting. The dragon, Umora, stepped closer and her tail began to wag like a dog's. I'm Umora, who are you?

"I found her egg a few days ago. I stayed here last night and when I woke up the egg was shattered and she was sleeping in the shell," Theo moaned. "Umora, this is Nala and Sam, remember I told you about them?"

Yes I know, but which is which?

Sam burst into laughter and gazed at Umora, eyes sparkling. "This is so...strange! Theo, if you've found a dragon you know what that means?"

"No," Theo slumped against the wall and slid to the floor, burying his face in his hands. He knew exactly what it meant.

You're a Dragon Knight, Umora said proudly. Your friends are knights too.

"We are?" Nala stared at the little dragon. The things the three of them could do - the...magic - it meant they were knights? She knew that not many others on the island could use magic but she'd been told that on The Mainland and in other countries it was very common. That shouldn't make them so special.

She thought back to all the nights they'd spent in the cave sharing what they could do. It was one of the reasons they were friends, they'd kept their magic from the rest of the villagers. Sam brought a skin of seawater and entertained them by making it dance like a snake or throwing globs of it at Theo. Nala often lit the fire for them with her fingers, it didn't burn her she even found she liked the feel of flames running along her skin.

Theo had shown his magic first, however. One morning she remembered he'd gone to the Dead Forest with Sam while she was being taught to sew. She'd never found out what happened there but the boys had whisked her to the cave as soon as she left the sewing room, Theo had looked more scared than she'd ever seen him but Sam was flushed and breathlessly excited muttering magic under his breath. All she knew was that Theo did something to the light, he could take it away but not bring it back.

"Does that mean we get to leave? Can you fly? Can you fly us to The Mainland? Can you breathe fire? How can you talk if you were born less than a day ago?" Sam asked with barely a pause between.

We will need to leave, yes. I can fly and breathe fire, she explained with unusual patience for a newborn. True Dragons are not like you knights. If we die we're reborn. Dragons are beings of magic made flesh. We know things in the shell that help us find our knights or that we remember from the past. Being able to speak is one of those things. I'm too small to carry the three of you across the sea so you'll have to stay here a bit longer. You two are still missing your dragons, too.

"I don't want to leave," said Theo in a tiny voice. He was promptly drowned out by Sam.

"We're going to get dragons too? How are we going to find them? How do you even know we're knights? When will we get to leave?"

I can just tell. All dragons can, and their knights too if you know what to look for. When is your volcano going to erupt again? Umora asked, deftly ignoring Sam's other questions. She focused her intelligent black eyes on Nala and twitched the tip of her tail.

"In a few months," Nala responded. Closer to a year than anything else, the village was preparing for the eruption even now. She wasn't looking forward to hiding in the Common Hall for a few days with the rest of the villagers while fire, smoke and ash fell around them as if Dracer himself were raining upon them. It would be weeks or even months afterwards before it was safe to leave the confines of the village. They'd need to make sure they had enough food and fresh water not only for themselves but for the hundreds of cattle, sheep, chickens goats and horses that they kept for food and work.

Theo tells me you're the one that can move fire. I think we should leave after the eruption, the gods might shine on you and show you your dragon. If not I should be big enough to fly with all three of you by then, Umora said. She bared her teeth in a strange grin and her tongue lolled. Or we'll have found the water dragon. We're surrounded by the stuff it can't be far.

The thought of keeping a dragon hidden on the little island for close to a year scared Nala more than she'd like to admit. Umora would have to grow very fast and very big to carry the three of them, the thought of how much food she'd need made Nala shudder. But the prospect of being a Dragon Knight and getting to leave the island negated the fear. She was almost excited.

It was going to be an interesting year.

[naturalharmony.]

It's really good. I think it created really great imagery and I think if I liked this kind of book I would love to read on! Well done for making such a great story.

[Lonin]

:B Yay thankyee

XD A really terrible and rushed picture of Umora. :B

[Lonin]

:B Bump and stuff~

[Lonin]

Bump and stuff

[Lonin]

Bump bump bump and stuff

[Lonin]

:B
Chapter 3:

It was raining on the day of the eruption. Fat drops battered the roof and ran down the thick glass windows in streams as Nala made sure her meagre possessions were packed and ready. Tonight they were going to leave, Umora had promised them. Nala still wasn't entirely sure she wanted to go, she was certain she wasn't ready to abandon her mother. Without telling the others since they'd agreed not to leave anything behind, Nala had written a short note to her mother, telling her she was safe.

Sam and Theo didn't seem as affected by the idea of permanently leaving behind their only home. Theo had thrown himself into preparation and had thought of things none of the others ever could. Sam had been far too excited, he'd spent most of the last year with a grin plastered permanently on his face. Nala was sure his cheeks were hurting by now.

For some reason, and no one could tell her for certain, the villagers were sure that there was a shield around the island to stop anyone from entering. That meant once they left - if they were able to leave - they might not ever be able to come back. Nala wasn't sure she wanted to be one of the first to find out if the shield was real or just a myth.

She double checked she'd packed everything she'd need, made sure her pouch of jewellery was still there - she was quite sure The Mainland traded in gold coins and hoped to sell some things - and slipped out her window. The four of them had been preparing to leave for nearly a year and had exhausted a list of things they could need in The Mainland, and the ways it could be different from their island. As no one had travelled or visited from The Mainland for hundreds of years, it had been very difficult. But with Umora's help they'd prepared for some things - the dragon seemed to know more than she should about the world over the sea.

Most of the villagers were meant to go to the Common Hall during the eruption - all but those tending to the animals - but there were still a few hours before they should be there and by the time anyone realised they were missing it would be too late to search. To the west the volcano groaned.

Doubt crept into her mind like a fog, Umora was still so small, would she be able to carry the three of them and all their things across the sea to The Mainland? Would they even be able to leave the island? What if someone saw her walking away and followed? Or saw Umora flying? The dragon had been spotted several times already, but these sightings were shot down by the other villagers. Each time they pleaded with Umora to be more careful but it never did any good. There was something frightening about that dragon.

When she was a few months old and the size of the dogs they used to herd sheep, the three of them had entered the cave to find the remains of a pig scattered across the floor. Umora wriggled out of the widening hole in the tunnel wall covered in blood and hissed at them, jumping on top of the pig and flaring her wings to look bigger. It had taken several tense minutes for Theo to calm her enough to let them sit down. They'd never received an explanation for how she'd managed to get a whole pig into the cave.
Nala paused beside a tree and scanned the village in the distance, searching for Sam or Theo, or anyone who might have seen her leaving. Aside from a stray dog chasing a bird through the rain there was no one around. She continued to the cave on the northern shore, the journey taking twice as long as it normally would. Every so often the volcano would rumble and belch smoke. Still, it would be a few more hours before it started throwing rocks and lava over the island.

Umora and Sam were waiting in the cave by the time Nala had lowered herself in. The dragon was sat beside Sam and her shoulders were level with his waist. She stared at Nala with her dark eyes and stretched her wings. In the year since she'd hatched she'd grown several times her original size but was much smaller than Nala had expected. She was lean and delicate like a bird but possessed considerable strength for something her size, she reminded Nala of a hawk or an eagle.

Do you have everything? Umora asked. Without waiting for an answer she stood on her hind legs and attempted to open Nala's pack before she'd even put it on the floor. Satisfied, she dragged it to the corner where two similar leather bags were stuffed full of anything they might need. Resting beside them was a harness covered in many straps and belts designed to fit around Umora's head much like a horses bridle, which is where Theo had gotten the idea for the design. He'd wanted a saddle but Umora had refused to stand still while he measured her for one. None of them were sure how they were going to fit anyway.

A few hours later Theo finally crawled into the cave.

"We've been waiting for hours, Theo! Where have you been?" Sam asked but there was a smile in his voice instead of anger.

"I...lost my glasses," Theo answered sounding suitably ashamed. "We have to wait for the eruption anyway, I'm not late."
Sam just laughed and picked up a pack in each hand. "It's probably about time to go."

Grabbing the other equipment, Nala, Theo and Umora followed Sam back to the top of the cliff. While the three humans used the harness system Umora gracefully leapt out of the cave opening and flew up and down the cliff face a few times while she waited, drops of rain bouncing off her wings.

Based on the many species of bird that lived around the island, they had expected Umora to start flying after a few weeks. Every day they took her to the top of the cliff and every night she climbed back to the cave.

One day a few months later, for no particular reason, a gust of wind blew her to the edge of the cliff and instead of stepping back she spread her wings and fell. With a powerful beat she rose high into the sky and began to lazily circle above them.

A few minutes later she landed in front of them, fur mussed and eyes shining brightly. Sam laughed and scooped her up in an embrace, depositing her back on the ground before he got scratched.

That was quite fun, she said, looking at her paws and pretending to yawn.

Great pillars of smoke were coming from the volcano once they'd left the cave. The ground shook and lava began to pour from high above them. Ash shot high into the air and began to fall. At the northern part of the island they were too far away for anything to reach them, but the eruption meant it was time for them to leave.

Their plan seemed dangerous, even stupid to Nala as she watched fire spill from the belly of the earth. Umora would fly as close as she could while the others searched for anything unusual around the site. Nala doubted they'd find her dragon swimming through the lava but without a better idea they'd agreed upon it. Umora had reasoned that it was far more than coincidence that she'd hatched when she did, that the fire knight lived on an island dominated by a volcano due to erupt.

Are you ready? the dragon asked, pulling Nala out of her thoughts.

With a nod Umora stretched out like a cat and then began to grow. The process took only seconds and when it was over Umora stood in front of them, easily larger than a horse. She flapped her wings a few times, feet lifting off the ground, and bared her teeth at them in a grin.

"Oh."

[Jet The Saiyan]

It is good, keep going. Bump!

[Lonin]

Yay thankyee

[Jet The Saiyan]

Welcome.