“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” She apologized as she frantically pulled herself off his body. Kaden was too shocked to even know what to say. He hadn’t expected a cute girl to literally fall in his lap.

She put her hand out to him, offering him help. “I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going and there were some shiny threads on the ceiling and I was just looking to see what was up there and… I’m sorry. I should have paid more attention.”

Letting her assist, he let her pull him to his feet with a surprising strength. He laughed and said, “I was just doing the same thing. I haven’t ever seen all the other nation’s sigils, so I was staring. Someone else just ran into me, even. I was probably standing there gawking like a fool. I shouldn’t do that in the middle of a walkway.”

“You’ve never seen the other sigils before?”

He couldn’t help but pull his shoulders up in shame. “Yeah, I’m from a rural part of my nation. I hadn’t ever really seen anything, even about my own nation, before going on this trip.”

He didn’t know why he felt compelled to tell this random woman these things. Kaden knew he probably shouldn’t be so forthcoming with this information, but he couldn’t help it. He was nervous and out of place.

“You probably shouldn’t just tell random people your life’s story,” she laughed.

Shaking his head, he said, “You’re right. I’m just a bit out-of-sorts.”

“Well, where are you headed then? Maybe I can help?”

Looking down at a map Jaxtor has shoved into his hand, he said, “I think route 23?”

“You’re going to the capital… city… Wait a minute… You’re not a dragon rider, are you?”

His mouth fell agape at the blunt question. “I uh…”

Her head whipped back to the train he just got off of. There was a team of wind users moving Zuma’s trailer onto another set of wheels, moving her toward route 23. Her hair slapped him in the face again as she spun her head back to him, a smile swallowing her features.

“You are the Water Dragon Rider!”

“I—how do you—how do you know that?”

She laughed and said, “We’ve been waiting for you!”

A large man came up behind her with a grim look on his face, glaring at Kaden. Putting a protective arm around her shoulder, he tried to pull her away from him.

“Daddy, no. This is him! This is the rider!”

The man’s face changed instantly, gaining the similar softness she had. “Well, it’s about time!”

Kaden was utterly confused. He was obviously missing something big. “I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“I’m Sayori! This is my father Janori.” She leaned toward him, her eyes lowering as she said, “yes, it rhymes. He thinks he’s clever. Don’t feed his ego, please.”

“Hi… Sayori. Nice to meet you?”

Her father pulled her in playfully and said, “We’re from the Earth nation. Sayori here is an Earth Dragon Rider.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “The other… dragon… rider… Oh! You brought the glowstone shipment in!”

“That’s us!”

“What’s your name, son?”

Kaden felt a sense of relief at being around such friendly magic users. It didn’t help that Sayori was extremely cute. Her long dark hair shaped her face well. Her eyes were large and her nose was not too big and not too small, just the right size. His eyes darted away from her as if he knew her father could tell of his thoughts.

“Kaden. Kaden Berthoff.”

“I told you it’d be a boy,” she laughed as she elbowed her father in the side.

“Yes, yes.” He shook his head at her and moved in to wrap his arm around Kaden as well, leading them both down the path toward where he could only assume was route 23. “I hear you’re a brand new rider. We have been waiting for a Water Dragon rider for quite some time now. We didn’t think it was ever going to happen.”

“They told you about me?”

Sayori leaned forward around her father to say, “they said I couldn’t go on a pilgrimage until there was a dragon rider from each nation. So we’ve actually just been waiting for a water rider. Now you’re here and now we can finally go across the world!”

“How long were you waiting?”

Janori mulled the question over, his head bobbling back and forth, “18… 19 months? Something like that?”

“Almost two years?” He was truly surprised. He knew dragon riders were rare, but he didn’t know they were that rare. “I’m sorry you were waiting so long. I didn’t realize the dragon riders were actually that rare.”

“They say they used to not be. Back during the great war. Now, though, we don’t come around too often,” said Sayori.

Janori took his arms off the two teens and turned around, walking backwards so he could still talk with them. “The moment we got the news, we were jumping up and down! Our family was finally going to receive the proper recognition when Sayori could finally go through the trials.”

“The… trials?”

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The father and daughter shared a confused look. She gave an awkward laugh and said, “the trials with the matriarchs? You know we have to go to each nation… what do you think we were going to be doing?”

“Honestly, I don’t even know. Three weeks ago I was hunting for deer in a forest and now I’m getting on trains to the capital city with foreign people and I’m just overwhelmed.”

“Whoa, wait a second,” Sayori said as she pulled him to a stop. “You really are that new? I thought maybe they only just now told us about you. Not that you literally have only been blessed for less than a month. Wow.”

A heat of embarrassment rolled over him and he could feel his cheeks flush. Sayori threw her arm around him and pulled him into her side before she pushed them along the path.

“Don’t worry Kaden! If you stick with me, I’ll get you through the messy stuff. Together, we’re going to show these other nations what awesome dragon riders look like.”

Her attitude was calming. He had been so worried about what the other nation’s dragon riders were going to do when they met him that the fact she was being so open and friendly with him gave him some needed relief. He smiled and gave her a firm nod.

Janori decided to give him more of a tour of the train station, pointing out various statues that were littered around, commenting on what nation’s hero they were. It was like Eloise was with him once again, educating him on the basics of the world. If all he had to do was keep convincing kind people to give him tours, he may somehow get through this adventure.

They reached another gate and Janori stopped and whirled around toward them. Grabbing Sayori by her face, he made her look at him and said, “my darling butterfly, you are going to do amazingly. You already made your papa proud. Now it’s time to make your nation proud too. You will be a shining star in our family history. I love you and be safe.”

She jumped into his arms and he watched as her father whirled her around in a big hug. Another dark-robed figure caught Kaden’s eye, sneering at them as they passed. The dark-robed people were obviously judgy and hateful if they couldn’t bother with a parent showing affection to their child.

They gave a few more heart-filled words before Janori turned to Kaden and said, “I know you just met my daughter, but you take care of her. She doesn’t have many friends out there.”

“Dad… I have a dragon with me…”

“So you better make sure she stays safe!”

He laughed and said, “Yes, sir! I will do my best to make sure we both arrive home safely.”

Giving a deep bow, he turned and was on his way back into the station. They both watched him leave, swallowed by the crowd of people. Kaden turned back to see Sayori grinning at him.

“Yes?”

“I’m just so excited! Let’s go get some seats,” she said as she locked her arm under his and drug him with her to the train.

Just as they were reaching the passenger carriage, he saw the crew coming up with what he thought was Zuma’s trailer. Closing his eyes, he pushed out his thoughts toward them, hoping they’d hear him. He wanted them to know he was near and everything was going to be alright. A cool wave of annoyance hit him and he let out a laugh before opening his eyes.

Sayori stood in front of him, squinting at him. “What are you doing?”

“I uh… Checking on Zuma?”

“Zuma? Oh, you named your dragon!”

He shook his head and continued toward the carriage. She was skipping along behind him. Her positive attitude was infectious.

“Why does everyone always sound surprised by that?”

“It’s considered bad luck to name your dragon before you finish your pilgrimage.”

“I think it’s just rude. What do you call them? Dragon? Hey dragon! Let’s go, Dragon! That’s rude, isn’t it?”

Her shoulders went up to her ears, and she had a coy look on her face. “I agree. Don’t tell anyone, but I named mine too.”

He laughed. To him, it just seemed like the right thing to do. If they were expected to spend so much time and have such a deep connection to a dragon, why wouldn’t they call them by a name?

Smiling, he led her to the train doors. They flashed their ticket and the wind mage let them on. Climbing up the steps and into the carriage, they were greeted with a trailer full of the dark-robed, rude people.

He motioned to a set of seats in the back near the far exit. It was the only one left that had room for them both. Bouncing her way toward the seats, Sayori didn’t even give the people a second glance. She was in her own world and not even caring about those around her.

Sliding into the seat across from her, he said, “Well, what’s their name?”

Leaning over and whispering to him, she said, “Taldor. They seemed to like it. I only say it in private, but if you call yours Zuma in the open, I guess I can use their name with you, too!”

“Zuma and Taldor. They sound like they will be best buddies.”

“I think so too,” she said as she leaned back with a plop in her seat. “You’re fun. This is going to be fun!”

Their carriage shook, and Kaden’s eyes darted to the window only to see the sails unfolding. The train was going to take them straight to the Capital City. The next thing they’d know, they’d be greeting the other two riders and be off on an adventure. He wondered if they too secretly named their dragons.

Sayori was very excitable. She wanted to know everything about Kaden. His heart warmed that she cared to ask about his family. Everyone else so far was more curious about how he got his powers, but Sayori just wanted to learn about him.

“So you grow crops and raise sheep?”

“Yes! My family didn’t get to keep too much for ourselves, though. It was part of our contract with the nation to produce the goods for our region.”

“That is so neat! I haven’t ever met a farmer! We don’t have too many farmers in the Earth nation. Well, we have them,” she laughed. “They just aren’t all over the place like they are in the water nation.”

“Have you met very many people from other nations?”

She gave an uneasy smile and said, “no. My family wasn’t privileged at all. We come from a poor mining village. Everyone pitched in to send me to a matriarch. Luckily she chose me and I came back blessed. The whole village gets a stipend if that happens. It helped us through the winter that first year!”

Kaden’s brows furrowed. “Your whole village was worried about the winter? Is this normal in the Earth Nation?”

“I… I probably shouldn’t talk about it. I don’t want you to think negatively of our nation… I’m not doing the best job at representing it, am I?” Her eyes fell to her lap and he saw she was wringing her hands together.

“If all the Earth Nation people were as nice as you, I think you have a pretty lovely country,” he said.

She gave him a weak smile and nodded. “I studied earth magic for a year and a half before they even let me see a dragon. They don’t let any new user get near them. They make you do these tests, these trials in the Earth Nation to prove you’re a skilled magic user before you can do so.”

“So you got good enough in a little over a year?”

Her smile grew again, and she said, “Yeah! I wanted to make my papa proud. I wanted to make my village proud! So I studied day and night to learn as much as I could. Every chance I got, I attempted a trial. Usually it takes people about five years to get through them, but I did it in a year and a half!”

“I bet your dad was thrilled!”

“Oh, he was!” She leaned back and gazed above him, reminiscing about the event. “I sent him letters every few days, letting him know how things were going. I knew he missed me terribly. Every time I passed a trial, he mailed me baked goods.”

“Baked goods? I would not have pegged your father as a baker.”

Giggling, she said, “he’s not very good at it, but it’s the thought that counts.”

“Hey, if someone sent me baked goods on the regular, I’d be thrilled too!”

“Right?” She snickered and said, “I was so lucky. It didn’t take long for a dragon to come up to me. Taldor and I bonded really quickly. Before you know it, I was sending my dad a letter about becoming a dragon rider! I got two pies for that news.”

He laughed and said, “I bet they we—“

The carriage lurched, and an explosion echoed through the air, vibrating the metal and glass. He felt a deep rumbled in the floorboards and before he realized what was happening; he felt his body lift as it was pulled into the air. The carriage twisted and threw their bodies like they were leaves in the wind.

The only thought he had was, “Cover your head.”