His upper body flew through the air, pulling his torso this way and that. Zuma was doing their best to dodge the onslaught. Pulling his body closer to them, he tried to center it low, so he didn’t get whipped around and broken. It was the first time he had been on Zuma when they attempted any type of evasion tactics. Nothing could prepare him for dragons to be chasing them down.

A burst of air hit them hard on the side, and Zuma went spinning through the air. The only thing he could do was hold on tightly as gravity tried to rip him away. Flexing every muscle he had, he pulled as hard as he could toward their body as Zuma tried to right themselves. These weren’t just fire dragons, they could use wind as well.

A dark shadow devoured them whole. His eyes darted above and the underside of an extremely large dragon was above them. Kaden swallowed hard, a dry lump catching in his throat. He wasn’t prepared to deal with such a skilled and ancient beast. Fear crawled its way into his chest, wrapping its hands on his heart. The darkness he had thought he fought and defeated was edging its way on his soul by using his fear as a ferry. The sight of the enormous beast above him frightened him to his core.

Zuma tried to fly lower near the treetops, weaving their way in and out of them for coverage. A flash of scales zoomed by and he had to frantically brace himself as Zuma balked at another large dragon in front of them. It wasn’t nearly the size of the one above, but was at least three times the size of Zuma. There was no escaping them. They were larger, quicker, and deadlier than they would ever be.

Zuma floated in the air, flapping their wings to stay in place as the dragon above and in front of them let out terrifying roars. Their voices rattled his head, shaking his senses. His breath was rapid, and he couldn’t help but hug Zuma for dear life, trusting them to make the right decision.

His eyes fell upon an open meadow and he tried his best to will Zuma to notice it as well. They flapped their wings in a tense silence, not moving as the others roared their displeasure at the two of them. His eyes darted to the meadow again, and he tried once more to push his will to them, to get them to notice the meadow.

He felt Zuma move beneath him, toward the meadow, and he let out a sigh of relief. If he could get these riders to listen to him, maybe they would let them live. Neither Taldor nor Zuma had done anything to attack them. They had agreed to that before they left. They knew it was possible to run into dragon riders and knew it was their only chance of survival if they tried their best to be as neutral as possible with the riders.

They immediately followed, but didn’t let their dragons cast any more magical breath in their direction. Throwing his hands into the sky, Kaden tried his best to give off the feeling that they were surrendering, that he wouldn’t be fighting. Zuma reached the meadow quickly and landed with a puff of pollen and dust.

His hands were quick to unlatch the straps and before they could even land, he was sliding off of Zuma with his hands in the air as he walked away from them. He was trying to put distance between himself and Zuma in an attempt to show they were not a threat.

Sayori must have seen his move, as Taldor touched down close by and she too was hopping off with her hands in the air. Another dragon slid in between the sets of dragons, readying a breath of fire to incinerate the two of them as they walked. The largest dragon snapped and roared and the smaller immediately shut its breath down, dropping its flared wings, and stepping backward to its companions.

Sayori was close to him now, and she just shook her head toward him while her hands were in the air. “This isn’t going to work.”

“It’s going to work.”

“They’re going to kill us.”

He sighed and said, “have a little faith in me.”

She let out a nervous laugh and their attention was drawn to a puff of dirt exploding in front of them. A light wind quickly blew it away and a large, older man who was in a full suit of shining silver armor was marching toward them. He had jumped from the incredible height of the enormous dragon without an issue. His hand having blown the dust he created with ease. His stature loomed over their own, dwarfing their size just as his dragon did to the others. The man seemed familiar and foreign at the same time to Kaden.

He let out his own nervous chuckle as two more puffs of dust fell from the other two dragons. A tall feminine figure and a shorter, stocky built masculine figure were both headed their way in their own glittering armor. White Mage Riders. No one had to explain that one to him.

“You are in violation of the Daralty armistice treaty. You are under arrest,” said the large man in a deep, vibrating voice.

“We come from the train! We were under attack! They need help! There are many dead and wounded wind mages that need healing!”

The man hesitated in his step, placing his hand out to motion his companions to stop. The two white mages behind him shared a look. He knew that caught them off guard and let out a breath he was holding.

“Attacked? By who?”

Sayori tossed a serpent pin toward them, one that still had some of its owner’s blood stained upon it. She had told him she was going to keep that one as is for dramatic flair, figuring it would get them a better reaction. The man leaned over and picked it up, tumbling it in his hand as he examined it. She was right.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“House of the Serpent,” he said out loud for his companions.

They watched as the tall woman’s posture changed. She was less stiff at their presence. The other mage’s posture got more rigid. The shorter man said, “of course they’d lie about that.”

“Meinor,” the older man said his name as a command and Kaden could see the man stiffen his jaw. His eyes cut back to Sayori and he said, “You took this off one of the attackers?”

“Yes, sir.”

A silence hung in the air as he rolled the pin in his hand.

“Sir, may I?” The woman had spoken up in a deeper voice herself. Giving her a curt nod of approval, she said, “Why did you think that made it appropriate to fly into the capital territory?”

Kaden let his hands fall a bit and as he flared them out, he said, “well, there are several people who are currently dying of their wounds. We thought it was the quickest way to get help. The capital was closer to us from where we were than the station we left.”

“This is just a tale. Everyone knows it is treason to fly into capital territory without approval. It’s why the wards went off,” harped the man named Meinor.

“They didn’t even attack us, they just fled,” said the woman. “If they were wanting to do damage, they’d have done more than dodge.”

The older man squinted his eyes at Kaden and Kaden felt the need to straighten his arms back upright. “No one told us there were any riders arriving today.”

“See? They’re Serpent agents.”

Kaden could feel the annoyance coming from the woman when she said, “they didn’t even attack us, Meinor.”

“So we would be having this conversation and they could get into the city. Stop being dense.”

“Laudy, Meinor, you will cease this conversation.”

Both mages straightened their posture again before the older man said, “Per the treaty you have violated, regardless of your intentions, you will be taken into custody and made to answer for your crimes.”

Sayori let out a frustrated growl and said, “We’re not trying to do anything. We’re new riders who got attacked on our way to the city. We’re just trying to help people!”

“Regardless, you will be taken into custody and the council can sort out what to do with you.”

He made a motion, and both mages moved in with a speed Kaden didn’t think was possible. The short man, Meinor, ripped his arms out of the air and pulled them behind him, tying them with some type of metal chain. He could only assume it was one that had runes on it like Sayori had mentioned should have been used for their dragons. They were being bound, so they couldn’t use their magic.

Kaden didn’t grow up using magic, he didn’t grow up even thinking he ever would. His skills were of a farmer and of an archer. He didn’t need magic to hurt something. He hoped it wouldn’t come down to that, but he had to remember his roots if needed. It was becoming increasingly apparent that he couldn’t rely on magic to save him.

Sayori was similarly bound, and they were both led toward the older man. Leaning down, he attached his own chain to each of theirs and looped it onto a ringlet on his armor. They wouldn’t be able to flee now. Sayori was just shaking her head at the situation while giving annoyed sighs at the White Mages’ actions.

Zuma let out a startled noise, and he twisted his head to get a look at what they were doing. The Mages’ dragons had moved closer and were both spraying a fog toward Zuma and Taldor. The Mages had their hands lifted into the air, moving in strange motions as both dragons struggled against the fog. He could feel Zuma’s fear pressing into his mind before it was suddenly gone. Their posture eased and their noises ceased.

“What did you do to Zuma?”

“Zuma? Did you… name your —“

“Yes, I named my dragon. Their name is Zuma. What have you done to Zuma?”

“Charmed them.”

He gave him an incredulous look and asked, “I’m sorry, you did what?”

Sayori rolled her head and said, “He’s new. He hasn’t ever seen a white mage or dragon. He has no idea.”

The man let out a huff of a laugh at them and said, “it will not harm them. They will just follow us to the dragon pits where they will be held until it is decided what is to be done with you two.”

Raising the side of his mouth in a mocking smile, Kaden said, “all we’re doing is trying to help people.”

“You chose the wrong way to do so, son.”

He flared his hands and said, “and what should we have done? Not gone for help? Walked?”

The man didn’t reply as he turned and pulled them toward his enormous beast. The closer they got to it, Kaden felt a familiarity about it. Its scales sparkled an iridescent light. A light popped into his vision, floating across it until overtaking him with a burst. A wave of energy, hot and powerful, slammed into his mind. He fell to the ground, grasping at his head. He heard Sayori’s voice shouting at him, but it faded away, lost in the light.

The visions were never truly gone, the darkness never truly defeated.

The storm crashed around him, ripping apart the skies. Everything felt so real despite him knowing it was just another vision. He could feel the rain blowing into his face as needles against his skin. Looking down, he saw that he rode on a larger Zuma. Looking around him, he was surrounded by various dragons and their riders. Every rider was fully armored and ready for battle. Their dragons were flapping in the air, keeping themselves afloat, but not moving. They were poised and waiting… for something.

There, flying next to him, was the large iridescent dragon with the older white mage proudly sitting atop. It was the first time he actually recognized someone in his visions that wasn’t his own family. Someone new he had yet to meet. The man turned to face him, giving a deep bow.

They both turned back to face forward, and that’s when he saw it, the darkness. It was swelling and gurgling in the sky. He had an army of riders with him, challenging the darkness.

He let out a gasp, and his vision blurred away, his reality coming back into focus. Sayori was holding him upright as they were sitting on the back of the large iridescent dragon while flying through the sky. He began to cough as the wind caught in his throat. The large man turned his head to look back at them.

“You’ve awakened.”

Rubbing his head, Kaden said, “just barely. Where are we?”

“You passed out,” Sayori tried to explain. “He threw you up here and told me to hold on to you. Some other riders met us in the skies and they went to the train. We’re on our way to the citadel.”

“To be thrown in jail, I presume?”

She grabbed his cheeks and turned his head toward her. “What the hells was that?”

The deep voice answered her. “Visions.”

Tossing his head away from her, she mumbled something in an angry tone.

“What did you see, son?”

Taking a deep breath, he said, “I saw you, sir.”

Kaden watched as the man’s large body moved with a deep sigh. “I was worried that was the case.”