The Dragon Rider’s Code #3
A 4-part fantasy story about a girl, her dragon, and the greatest test of trust and flight she’s ever faced. Part 3: The Dance of the Defenders
The plateau shimmered with morning haze. Below, the valley curled like a sleeping beast—mist draping its back, sun warming its flanks.
Kaelin sat tall in the saddle. Her pulse had steadied. Sable’s wings rose and fell with calm, rhythmic grace. The technical trial was behind them.
But the second test would be different.
“See that ridge?” Solas said, pointing across the valley. “Your opponents will launch from there.”
“They’ve trained for this?” Kaelin asked.
He nodded. “As much as you have. This isn’t about surprise. It’s about control.”
The Ambush
They descended into the valley slowly, coasting on thermals. Trees rustled below, tall and old—a forest older than the code itself. Kaelin scanned the sky.
Nothing yet.
She tugged once on the reins, and Sable responded, banking left, scenting the wind.
Then—movement.
A blur to her right.
“Left!” she shouted, and Sable twisted midair. A second dragon dove from the canopy, claws out, aiming for the underside of their saddle.
Sable barrel-rolled, narrowly avoiding the impact. The two attackers split—one rising, one vanishing beneath the trees.
“They’re working together,” Kaelin muttered.
“Oh, good,” the examiner said. “You’re thinking. That’s progress.”
Kaelin gritted her teeth. “Hang on.”
She let Sable climb, higher than instinct would advise, into the thin, icy air above the valley. The dragon strained, wings slicing the wind. Behind them, two shadows pursued, slower but relentless.
“Cloud cover,” she whispered.
Sable disappeared into the mist.
The world turned grey and wet. Visibility dropped to inches. Kaelin blinked water from her eyes.
“Don’t lose altitude,” she murmured. “Hold steady.”
The air shifted.
A shape loomed ahead—massive and dark.
She yanked the cord hard.
Sable twisted right as the third dragon exploded from the cloud wall—teeth bared, eyes blazing violet.
He’d been waiting. Above the clouds. A perfect ambush.
Sable dropped like a stone.
The Dive
Wind howled in Kaelin’s ears. She pressed her chest against Sable’s back to stay low. The ground spun upward—trees and stone and lake—
“There!” she shouted. “The lake!”
The water glittered like a sheet of glass.
Behind them, three dragons screamed through the air, the sound rattling her bones.
“Faster!”
Sable obeyed. The valley narrowed, cliffs on either side forming a bottle-necked corridor. At the last moment, Kaelin whispered, “Under.”
The dragon drew a massive breath and plunged.
The lake shattered in a wave of silver.
The Deep Path
The cold hit like a punch.
Kaelin’s lungs seized. She clenched her eyes shut, then opened them again in the dark.
Sable was swimming—wings pulling like oars, tail whipping behind.
A strange quiet had fallen. The chaos of flight was gone. Only the muffled sound of bubbles and the slow beat of Sable’s heart surrounded them now.
She adjusted her grip on the reins, then glanced behind.
The examiner held on, hair waving like seaweed, utterly calm.
She envied him.
The lakebed was a maze of volcanic rock and twisted roots. Light filtered down from cracks in the surface. Hardened lava spires rose like teeth.
Kaelin urged Sable forward.
Her lungs burned. Just a little more.
There—the narrow gap. A hidden pass between two underwater cliffs.
She kicked her heels gently. Sable surged forward.
They broke the surface with an explosion of water and light.
Kaelin gasped, filling her lungs with sweet air. She turned Sable mid-hover and hovered, watching the rift they’d come through.
Waiting.
Nothing.
One breath. Two. No shadows. No dragons.
She let out a ragged laugh. “We lost them.”
The examiner snorted. “So sure of that?”
The Monster Above
The sun caught something above—a flash of dark wings.
Kaelin looked up.
One of the pursuers had outflown them, circling above the mountain ridge. He dove like a hawk on prey.
Too fast to dodge.
Kaelin’s mouth opened, but no order came.
Then the mountain moved.
Stone cracked. A jaw unfolded from the cliff face. Her attacker never saw it coming.
A rock beast the size of a fortress snapped its jaws shut and swallowed the attacker whole.
Kaelin stared, frozen.
The valley echoed with the crunch of bone and scale.
The rock monster vanished into the mountain like it had never been.
She turned slowly to face the examiner.
He raised an eyebrow.
“That’s what happens when you forget the nature around you.”
Kaelin didn’t speak. Couldn’t.
“Ready for the third test?”
To be concluded in Episode 4: The Last Truth
Then the mountain moved.
Oh my .......
That was awesome... An Earth elemental.
"That's what happens when you forget about nature."
Yep, true, without a doubt
Yanno, I never thought about dragons' swimming before. That was pretty good thinking.
Awesome job! I really liked it.