The Dragon Rider’s Code #2
A 4-part fantasy story about a girl, her dragon, and the greatest test of trust and flight she’s ever faced. Part 2: The Gauntlet of Stone
The examiner climbed into the rear saddle with practiced ease.
“Kaelin, daughter of Mareth, what’s the name of your dragon?”
“Sable.”
He nodded once, then adjusted the cord binding his gauntlets to the saddle ring. “Three tests. You’ve studied them. But I’ll repeat them anyway. Nerves rattle memory.”
Kaelin swallowed and nodded. She could feel Sable’s heartbeat through the saddle.
“First is the Gauntlet. Technical flight. Canyons, arches, tunnels—tight enough to scrape your skin off if you sneeze wrong. No contact. Not a trace. Got it?”
Kaelin nodded. Her pulse kicked. Sable tensed beneath her.
“There may be surprises.”
“Understood.”
“Good,” he said, voice suddenly gleeful. “Now show me the sky.”
Sable leapt.
The wind screamed past them as they climbed. Cliffs flashed beneath. Kaelin leaned low into the dragon’s neck, becoming one with the streamlined form. The saddle creaked under pressure.
The canyon opened like a cracked jaw—ragged cliffs yawning into a winding maze. Sable tucked his wings and dove.
Kaelin’s world turned grey and stone.
The first tunnel was a throat of jagged rock, no wider than a merchant’s wagon. She whispered, “Steady,” and Sable slowed, barely flapping. Light flickered at the end. The wind died. They slid through like a ghost’s sigh.
A quick bend left—Kaelin yanked the left rein just as a stalactite swung into view. Too close.
“Fold!” she barked.
Sable folded his wings tight to his ribs and corkscrewed down through a spiral chute that hadn’t been in any of the practice runs.
“They’ve changed it,” she muttered.
Behind her, the examiner chuckled. “Surprise.”
They burst out into open sky again, cliffs rising around them like jagged teeth. Sable banked hard, claws nearly scraping a moss-slick ledge.
Then came the bridge.
A narrow stone arch straddling two cliffs, barely three meters of clearance underneath. A waterfall roared nearby, making the air turbulent and slick.
“Under,” she said. “Low and straight.”
Sable dipped his head.
They shot beneath the bridge so close Kaelin felt stone graze her hair. Water sprayed across them in a freezing sheet.
Still no contact.
“Very good,” the examiner murmured.
The next stretch was a narrow canyon lined with ironwood trees—unforgiving trunks that wouldn’t bend. The path was lined with glowing crystals embedded in the walls, creating a flickering tunnel of color and light.
Sable hesitated.
Kaelin whispered, “Trust me.”
He dove in.
The walls blurred past. Kaelin kept her eyes locked on the glowing crystal at the far end—her target point. Any distraction could cost them.
The canyon narrowed. Too much.
“Up!” she snapped.
Sable climbed—just enough to skim the gap—then plunged again before the wall curved.
But one wingtip swung wide. Just wide enough to brush the stone.
There was no sound, only the faintest tug.
A fragment of scale spun past her cheek, catching the sunlight like a shard of glass.
The examiner muttered behind her, “One more like that and you’re done.”
Kaelin didn’t answer. Her mouth was too dry to speak.
They burst out of the final pass into open sky. Kaelin’s knuckles were white on the reins.
She exhaled. Sable flared his wings, leveling out over a high plateau covered in frost-kissed grass. The dragon’s chest heaved, not from exertion, but from restraint.
Kaelin loosened her grip on the reins and let the silence fill her ears.
“We did it,” she whispered.
“For now,” the examiner said. He tapped her shoulder. “Test Two is waiting. Let’s see how well you hold up when someone’s trying to knock you out of the sky.”
Kaelin straightened, brushing wind-tangled hair from her eyes.
“Let’s.”
To be continued in Episode 3: The Dance of the Defenders
A fragment of scale spun past her cheek, catching the sunlight like a shard of glass.
I didn't see a scrape. Was it the sudden lurch that fractured the scale?
Cool! I was humming Test Flight from How to Train your Dragon while reading this.
Great job!