The station bustled with noise and life. Tranley and Eloise stood together, wiping tears away as they loaded Zuma into her own train car.

“I don’t understand why we have to hide Zuma like this,” Kaden said to Iratoi.

“There are reasons,” she said while stuffing more books in his bag. “You can’t fly into the central city for one. It’s considered an act of war. Only approved riders are allowed in their skies.”

“Well, that’s a bit much…”

“Second, you don’t really know how to fly Zuma all that well in the first place. What if another storm comes by? You won’t fare well, not yet.”

“I think that’s a little unfair to say.”

“Third, there are things happening in our world you’re obviously oblivious to.”

Kaden gave her a blank stare. She wasn’t wrong. There was a lot he didn’t even know about being a water mage, and yet he was about to go to the central city to represent his entire nation. He didn’t even understand the drama surrounding the King’s Lords being investigated by the Guardians, and it was extremely dramatic.

Tying the bag as tight as she could manage, she handed it back to him and said, “it’ll be safer this way, I promise.”

Heaving the weighted bag over his shoulder, he grunted. “I don’t think I’m going to be a good representative. How am I supposed to teach these other magic users anything if I don’t know anything?”

Patting the bag on his back, she said, “that’s what the books are for.”

“You can’t learn everything from a book!”

“Well, that’s a lie! All the books have all the knowledge. It is known.” Tranley had chimed in as they closed Zuma’s train car. They gave Kaden a pleading look before he lost sight of them behind the car walls. “Don’t worry, they will be safe in there. Nothing will be able to see them and there aren’t any runes that will take her magic away. I made sure they avoided that!”

“I just don’t like leaving them in such a state,” he said.

Eloise was wiping tears away as she said, “Just take your time reading over your studies and by the time you arrive at the central city, you’ll be an expert!”

“No, he won’t. Don’t lie to him like that,” said Tranley.

Iratoi laughed and shook her head. “Be careful.”

“Careful of what?” he asked.

“Everything. We may be at peace currently, but that doesn’t mean you can trounce around the other nations with no regards. You don’t know them, don’t know those people. Choose your words wisely and try not to make anyone mad. You’re now a representative of our nation. Whatever you do is a direct reflection of this entire country, more so because you’re a dragon rider. All the eyes will be perched firmly on you and your companions because of this.”

He could feel a sense of panic crawling across his face. “That’s not intimidating or anything.”

“You met a wild matriarch,” Tranley said as he poked Kaden in the stomach, “if that didn’t intimidate you, then nothing will.”

“Oh, she very much intimidated me.”

Throwing his hands up as he walked away, Tranley said, “Oh, well, you’re screwed.”

“Where’s Jaxtor? Did he not want to see me off?”

Smirking, Eloise said, “He’s on the train already with your paperwork. Jaxtor will accompany you to the earth kingdom convergence.”

“The what?”

Iratoi shook her head and put her hand out for him to shake. Awkwardly, he took it and she gave him a hard squeeze, pulled him in toward her, and gave him a hug. “You’ll figure it out. Just read your books and be nice to the other nation’s riders. We’ll see you back here, eventually.”

Eloise tackled him with a hug, followed by Tranley wrapping his arms around both of them. He felt the squeeze of affection between the two and was surprised he had already made such deep connections with his fellow mages. He hoped that when he was done with the pilgrimage that they’d let him be assigned to the southern temple with them. It was the least they could do for him.

A whistle rang, and that’s when he got to see what exactly this train station even was. He had never heard of a train before. As they explained it, it was a mobile carriage that ran on rails but powered by air mages.

Large sails unfurled, rolling out around the train cars. Their colors were bold, matching all the different nation’s preferred styles. They said that the train cars were a gift from the wind nation to connect all the people together. He overheard Jaxtor saying they probably did it to control the trade routes, but he didn’t know enough about either the nation or the status of the trade economy to make an accurate commentary himself.

He had to skip and jog his way to one of the first train cars that held passengers. Several workers passed by him, who he assumed were wind magic users. They were all decked out in tightly fitted clothing that was the iconic emerald green and gold of their nation’s colors. The rest of the workers in the area didn’t wear specific outfits or colors, but that group, they were dressed and polished. He was able to catch a glimpse of a few pulling themselves atop the car before he had to step in.

Looking back toward his companions, he saw Eloise excitedly waving her goodbyes. Giving one last wave, he pulled himself inside before the train took off without him. Once there, he saw the rows and rows of padded seats. Jaxtor was sitting near the back, waving him over. As he took a step, the train lurched and he could hear the rustle of wind blowing before the door behind him was sealed shut.

Looking out the window, he saw the sparks, the green sparks of wind magic, pushing the sails backward. The whole train car started to move. A few jolts of the car threw his balance off as he walked toward Jaxtor, but eventually the ride smoothed out and they were on their way.

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“It’s incredible that they figured out how to do this,” he said as he sat down.

“Don’t let them hear you say that. It’ll go to their heads.”

“I’m surprised we’re on the ground. Couldn’t they do the same thing in the air?”

“I’m sure it takes a lot more work to keep things afloat than just pushing it along the ground. The sails work well when they can control the wind, but if there’s a bad storm out there, it’s quite a bit slower moving.”

He was pressing his face against the thick glass, looking out at the sails he could see. The wind mages must have been on top of the cars, pushing their magic through to create the needed drafts. He was in complete awe at the cleverness it took for them to make such a contraption.

There was so much about the world that he didn’t know or understand. They weren’t giving him the proper time to take it all in. Looking out a window and marveling at sails was one of the nicest things any of them let him do in a long while. Jaxtor simply shook his head with half a smile creeping on his face.

“So I already got all the paperwork with the conductor.”

“Okay…” Kaden said while still watching the sails bend and shimmer in the magical wind.

“You’ll be transferring at Frosty Bend train station. I won’t be going any further than that with you.”

“I—“ his attention was brought back to Jaxtor, “Wait, you’re not going to go all the way with me?”

Jaxtor crossed his arms and nestled his hands into the bends before saying, “I have to escort a shipment of glowstones from the earth kingdom back to the temple. They need extra stones to store magic for this ridiculous investigation.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry, we already have the transfer set. They’ll move Zuma’s carriage over to the other line, and you’ll just switch to the other train.”

“So I’ll be going to the Citadel all alone, then?”

“Well, no. Not alone.”

Raising an eyebrow, Kaden couldn’t keep the confusion from washing over his face. “It’s not like I know a lot of people out here. Who am I going to be traveling with now?”

“One of your future companions.”

Kaden’s eyes popped open wide. Jaxtor meant one of the dragon riders he was supposed to travel around the world with. He didn’t think he was going to meet one of them so soon. He thought he would at least have some time to adjust to the citadel before being thrown into another crazy social situation.

“We got word that their dragon rider is coming in with the glowstone shipment. They’ll be transferring over to that line as well. So the both of you will be heading to the citadel together.”

“Do we know anything about them?”

“We know it’s a girl and she’s close to your age?” Jaxtor laughed and shook his head. “You like girls, right?”

Kaden could feel his cheeks blush. Was this person a new magic user like himself or did she come from a family like Iratoi’s who was raised with it? His mind raced with the thoughts of this woman. He could feel the tension growing in his chest, his breath quickening.

“Calm down. It’s going to be fine. Even if she knows more about everything, you’ll have to travel the world with her, so you all have to at least get along.”

“Yeah, like that’s no pressure,” he said through increased breaths.

Jaxtor laughed. “Yeah, I’m not very good at this, am I?”

They spent the rest of the trip going over the things that Kaden would have to do at the citadel. He’d have to present himself to his nation’s delegation. They’d get him set up where he needed to be. He would have to direct them on how to handle Zuma and go to a party, even.

It was making an uncomfortable knot form in his stomach, the responsibility weighing heavy on his soul. Everything had happened so quickly. He had hardly started to grasp the basics of water magic, and he was expected to just show up as a representative of his nation in front of all the most powerful mages in the entire world. Somehow he was supposed to convince not only his traveling companions, but guardians of every nationality that he was a respected water nation magical user.

Jaxtor tried to ease his mind by telling him about his own companions from when he went across the country. Only one of them was blessed with another magic, so he shouldn’t worry too much about that, as it wasn’t a common occurrence for anyone to get more than one magical ability.

“Lord Loratyk has more than one,” he offered.

“Does he? I didn’t know that. Which one, and how do you know that?”

“He told me privately when you were all sleeping on our way to the temple. He showed me even. Made a little twister in his hand.”

“Oh… Wind. Yeah, that tracks. He seems like a wind person.”

“What does that even mean?”

Jaxtor bellowed a laugh and said, “I forget you don’t know anything about anything.”

“Hey now…”

“Wind magic is that of ambition. Loratyk seems like a very ambitious man.”

“Do the different magics have different… emotions?”

Shaking his head, Jaxtor said, “Yeah. They all have different aspects to them. The dragons each bless individuals that show those qualities best. Each element represents different qualities.”

“Well, what is water, then? What quality did I show off?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” He motioned behind them toward where Zuma was kept. “It’s all about caring and compassion. When you showed that compassion for Zuma and saved them from the trap, you showed a selflessness that most don’t.”

“So we’re all a bunch of softies, is what you’re saying?”

“The softest.”

They both let out a chuckle. Taking a deep breath, Kaden asked, “What about Fire and Earth? What magics do those represent?”

“Hmm. Earth I believe is Balance and strength…”

“Like actual strength?”

“More like strength of will. A lot of mental fortitude.”

“And Fire?”

Throwing his hands up like he was popping something open, Jaxtor said, “Passion and life!”

“So Lord Loratyk has compassion and ambition, then?”

“Yeah, wind also comes with innovation hence,” he motioned outside to the sails, “the contraption we are in. They prize being clever and discovering new ways to use nature. So who knows, maybe Loratyk really likes to tinker.”

He had made himself laugh at that and Kaden couldn’t help but join in at the thought of Lord Loratyk huddled over a workbench, whittling away at some project. It did not fit the man at all.

His gaze went back out the window. Their carriage was now floating over a bridge, the shimmering wind magic carrying them across the landscape at an incredible speed. Their innovative contraptions really were amazing. He couldn’t imagine having the pressure to constantly create, though. He wondered how the average magic user managed in that environment.

“Do you think Loratyk is the one trapping dragons?”

Jaxtor shook his head. “I really don’t know. Honestly, I don’t know the man. I want to believe him and believe he isn’t kidnapping dragons, but I guess that’s for the rest of us to find out, huh?”

They fell into an awkward silence for a while before Jaxtor made him review some of the basic customs of the water nation. Tranley had been drilling them into his head for the past few days. He was still nervous about representing their nation. Before they knew it, he felt the carriage lurch, and the wind shifted above them. The sails flapped back in the other direction to slow themselves down. He had wondered how they would stop their momentum.

Jaxtor gave him a long, tight hug before pushing him out of the tram. He stumbled across the threshold only to look back at a laughing Jaxtor. He waved toward him and yelled at him to make them look good before hopping off himself. A man with a strange yellow hat greeted Jaxtor before leading him away.

Kaden stood there awkwardly as people pushed themselves around him. He was alone in a crowd of strangers. Looking above him, he saw the arched metal holding the tent of the train station roofing on. They wove the colors and sigils of every nation into the threads. He felt a shove into his shoulder as a dark-robed man pushed past him. Kaden stumbled and took a few steps to keep his balance.

“Hey! Watch where you’re—“ he said as the man turned back to him, giving him a deep, seething glare, “ —going… This is going to be hard.”

He ran his thumb along his lightning scars. Zuma being so far away from him was the hard part. All he wanted to do was make these comments to them, talk to them, and let the azure dragon give its little chuckle-shake of a response.

Turning around to look for the signs Jaxtor had told him about, he felt another push against his shoulder. It forced him to stumble and fall. This time, a body fell with him. His back hit the ground with a flurry of black hair whipping him in the face. A warm body had fallen atop him and wide eyes were staring at him in shock.

A beautiful woman laid across him with panic in her eyes.