Ghost in the Roses

“Let’s begin shall we!” the elf says slyly.

I can’t imagine how many times he put cadets to the test and by the look on his face, it doesn’t seem to ever get old. Like livestock, we follow our metal shepherd.

There they are. The dew shimmers on the rows and rows of black scales and their wing span twists and twirls the mid-morning mist. I stand there in awe and feel their low growls in the soles of my black boots. Such majestic creatures, but still very scary. Their beauty commands respect.

“These dragons are going to be your ride the rest of the way to the Academy,” the elf raises his voice for all to hear. “You’ll have the rest of the day to do that. Don’t bother if you won’t be able to show up by nightfall. If you do, then the dragon you choose is yours to name,” he then climbs on his dragon and takes the reins.

“This is your test! Good luck!” with those last words, his dragon pushes off the ground and vanishes into the fog. There’s no one else left to give us any further instructions. We’re on our own.

I don't understand why he gives us so much time. The castle is right past the valley, on top of the hills. I can see its silhouette standing tall. By the looks of it, it shouldn’t take any more than half an hour to get there. Something’s up and Kai looks just as confused.

“Let’s do this together,” I nod at him.

“But we’ve never flown a dragon before. None of us has,” his eyes size up the massiveness of his chauffeur.

He’s right. All our knowledge about them comes from books and now it’s time to put what we’ve studied to the test.

“Come on, let’s go say ‘hi’,” I pick out a fish from one of the barrels and stand in front of one of the dragons.

It pays no attention to me and remains busy cleaning under its scales with its razor-sharp teeth. I wait till the creature is done. The last thing I want to do is to startle it. Then, I present my peace offering and wait for the smell to catch its attention. It does.

On the knuckles of its wings, it moves like a ribbon in the wind towards me. Its shoulder and hip muscles rise and fall like the waves of a restless sea. With great care in each step, the dragon slowly starts to shift towards me. The massive body is low to the ground.

Is this predator stalking me?

I stand my ground, hoping that the monster is only messing with me for its amusement.

To my relief, the dragon decides not to pounce on me and instead, gets close enough to properly examine my smelly gift.

“Do you want this?” I say as its nostrils force out the air and blow my hair back.

Between the gaps of those teeth, drool sips right on top of the fish. The dragon does want it.

“I have a proposition to make; I’ll give you this fish and you fly me to the Academy. Sounds like a deal?”

The dragon nods.

“Thanks. Here you go,” I sigh with a smile and throw the fish into the air. My arranged ride swallows it whole with ease.

Kai follows my lead and soon we both climb onto our dragons’ saddles. As we become airborne, other riders join us too. The cadets who’re still on the ground are less lucky and we leave them to figure out that respect and kindness go a long way.

One of the cadets finds that out the hard way; the dragon she tries to tame picks her up and throws her like a rag doll. That girl's back hitting a train car is the last thing we see happen as our view below melts into the fog.

“Oof. That had to hurt!” Kai exclaims like a sports commentator.

Everyone disperses and I no longer see anyone near, except for Kai. It’s peaceful and quiet in the sky. The only sound is the wind whooshing in the dragons’ nostrils and under their wings. It had to have been a good fifteen minutes since our take off and so far it’s uneventful.

“Do you think this was it?!” Kai calls out.

“I don’t know!” I reply.

“Not much of a test if you ask me.”

He speaks too early. Out of nowhere, Kai’s dragon gets hit, hard. I have no idea where it came from or why, but its evil intentions are clear. The brute force of this massive entity gets what it wants- to have Kai let go of the reins. My heart skips a beat at the sight of Kai's empty saddle.

“Kai!!!” My reach for him is pointless.

My eyes explode from shock to see that the attacker is a fellow cadet. The heartless motherfucker salutes me and motions the reins to get his dragon to go on about his way.

“Fucking asshole!” I’m not losing any more time and signal my dragon to fall into a dive. It seems like forever and the longer it takes, the tighter grows my grip.

“Kai!” I leap off my dragon right as its paws meet the ground.

No reply.

Shit!

“Kai! Answer me!”

But, he doesn’t. This torturous silence keeps stealing the air out of my lungs and I can't seem to catch my breath.

“KAI!” My head spins in circles and can’t make up which way to go.

The fog haunts the valley just as it does the sky, turning everything into a ghostly haze. At last, a howl-like whimper from afar gives me a clue. Something bad had to happen to make a such tough-scaled animal sad like that.

My dragon’s triangle ears perk up and begin to shift, trying to home in the cry. Then, it gives out a growl. Kai’s monster answers. I have no idea what is being said, but my flying partner knows what to do and in my mid-run catches me in the saddle. Together, we leap to the rescue.

“Kai!” Finally, I find him. His dragon seems alright and keeps near Kai’s still body. My dragon goes to check on his friend, just as I do on mine.

“Kai!”

“Shut up about my name already! I’m alright!” at last, he says something. At last, I can breathe again.

“Fuck you! I thought you might be dead!” a mixture of tears and laughter chokes my throat.

“Ugh, did you get the tag number of that dragon?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t have a pen and paper on me.”

“Help me up,” groaning, he reaches for me.

“Come on,” I ease him up to his feet as he grinds his teeth in pain.

“Are you guys alright?!” a very concerned voice almost on the edge of terror calls on us. A kind cadet comes down from the sky to check on us.

“He’s hurt!” I answer. Kai would have been too proud to admit it.

The pretty voice grows clearer and so does her face. A pair of most beautiful eyes as big and bright as emerald part the mist. Her flowing red braid is a much-needed touch to the gloomy background. I’m ashamed to forget my injured friend like that, as I watch her run up to us.

“I saw what happened! I can’t believe this!” Her eyes quickly examine Kai. My best friend might be still shaken up from the fall, but his head is clearly still able to register her beauty.

Like a dumb-ass, he smiles at me, “I think that asshole got us both. I think we’re both dead.”

“Are you God?” he turns to her, looking pleased to assume be dead.

“No. I’m the devil in disguise. You’ve been a very naughty boy and now I must take you to hell with me,” she humors him.

“Come on. You’re riding with me,” I say to him.

“No, I think I rather go to hell,” he points at the pretty girl.

“Come on, then. I’ll roast you over my fire pit.”

“So that you can eat me?” he’s almost at the point of being miraculously healed.

“Nah, I’m not hungry. But my dragon is,” she winks at his paled face.

The girl and I manage to get Kai situated on her dragon.

“Thank you,” I say.

“Of course,” she smiles. “My name is Nina Sarova, by the way.”

“Adrien Rivers. And my friend up there is Kai Renin,” I return her courtesy. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

“On the other side of the valley that is. Let’s hope there will be no more attempted murders,” that's the last thing she says before continuing the flight to the castle.

Kai’s dragon and I on mine, follow her lead.