Page 17 of Dragon Rider (Rise of the Dragon Master)

Holy hell, the man was intimidating.

“Yes, Sir.”

“And I willnevertake you there.”

Right.

He stared me down until I nodded, then spun on his heel and headed for the staircase once more.

“You are not going to thank me for saving the princess?” I called after him, seeing his steps falter. He turned around slowly. “I mean, Asher did… I’m just saying.” Humor engulfed my words, and a slow smirk made its way into my lips. If I had conquered Old Man Müller, the king of grumpiness himself, I doubted Kingston would hate me for long.

Amusement filtered into his expression, but he instantly glowered at me, not allowing the smile to take hold. For a moment, I wondered if Kingston could shoot fire from his eyes. I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned into a Dragon or something. He was that scary.

“Be ready for training tomorrow morning.” He vanished into the darkness of the corridor and I made a face, sighing.

“I pity the fool!” I exclaimed, heading to the showers.

* * *

Evie wasn’t at dinner.

Maybe I should have assumed as much, given how she needed rest to properly heal, but I couldn’t help to feel disappointed. I had hoped she would be there, and we would be able to talk, but I supposed tonight wasn’t the night. Although, given the way the vast dining hall was set up, with the royal table on a stage far away from the rest of her people, I wasn’t sure that even if she had been there, we would have been able to talk.

I had half a mind to roam the castle after everyone was asleep, but Mr. T would probably expect me to do that, and offer me as a holy sacrifice to his Dragon or something. The stern glances he’d thrown at me from the stage tonight, were as sign as any that he was somehow predisposed to expect the worst from me. I had no idea why.

My feet halted when the other trainees and I walked by a window. An actual window carved into the wall, and I went to it, peeking to the magical city just outside. “Wow.”

“I know,” Aaron agreed, stopping by my side while the others continued to the dormitory. “I’ve lived here for almost a year and I’m still taken aback by it. This kingdom is proof that there is nothing you cannot achieve if you want it badly enough.”

“Now I know where all those people were hiding,” I joked, remembering the rows and rows of tables in the dining hall. The place was packed to the brim. There were thousands of people in the room, including warriors, civilians, families, and kids.

The whole thing seemed surreal. It was as though someone had enclosed the city in a giant snow globe, protecting its innocent habitants, multileveled houses, and even the colorful markets that reminded me of something seen in Aladdin.

“What are those up there?” I asked, my eyes lifting to the roof of the enormous inner mountain. What seemed like honeycomb caves extended along it, forming a ring.

“Those are the Dragon lairs.”

“Really?” My attention fell to him as he nodded, then went to the lairs again. Intrigue whirled in my mind. “How many Dragons would you say there are?”

“Hmmm. I don’t know. Fixty maybe?”

“Holy Hell!” I gasped out loud, eyes wide. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” he answered, confused by my shock. “The Sky Riders Legion alone has like forty men, and then you have to count the Dragon younglings… Maybe even more if you add the babes too. There are far more that live outside the mountain, but they are wild and have never been ridden or taken part in the war.”

That brought my attention back to him. “How long has the war been going on?”

Aaron’s shoulders lifted and dropped as though he didn’t really know. “Most of the people you see here were born into it.”

“So, more than twenty years?” I asked, baffled, and a heavy sigh left him.

“The uprising occurred when our parents were about our age, and that gave way to the war. Unfortunately, even before then, none of them knew peaceful times. Most of our elders died fighting for the promise of freedom, and we inherited that. Now we fight in their memory, fueled by their hope that one day all of the hate would be over.”

The words Evie shared with me when we first kissed returned. My chest tightened, knowing her parents, her aunt—and those of many others here—sacrificed their lives so their sons and daughters could one day see a world they themselves never knew, one taken from them.

Now, their children fought for them.

In a world of cellphones, shopping, and capitalism, it was so easy to lose sight of what was important. So easy to take for granted the life and choices we got to enjoy every day. Being here, among these people, really opened my eyes in a way I would have never thought.

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