Chapter 1:Into the Dragon's Cave

     The light was extinguished as abruptly as it had come. Velicity looked around at her surroundings, quite amazed. All around her, jagged rocks loomed forming giant towers that cast shadows on the dry, dusty ground.

     “Where am I?” she whispered quietly. Gradually, the sound of deafening wing beats entered her consciousness. Out of the cerulean sky, a gigantic dragon swooped over Velicity in a swift down stroke and landed on a sturdy column of rocks.

    Velicity gaped, jaw dropping at the sea green dragon. Its gleaming scales reflected the sun’s radiant rays; piercing blue-green eyes stared at Velicity, seeming to look straight into her soul. Perched upon the pile of rocks, it let loose an earsplitting roar, making Velicity shrink back in fear.

     “Who opened the ancient Dragon’s Locket of the Dragon Cave?”  bellowed the dragon.

     “I-it was me, Velicity,” Velicity answered in a small voice.

     The dragon gazed at her with a fierce eye, and then nodded approvingly. “You are indeed the first Dragonrider we have all been waiting for. I am called Sea Spirit, a Dragon of the Seas,” he said in a rather softer tone.

     “M-me?! I just came here! I don’t know anything about being a Dragonrider or whatever you call it!” Velicity protested, rather uncertain and startled at the change of tack.

     “Don’t worry: you will receive your training, now let me show you the Dragon Cave and the Dragon Council,” Sea Spirit said landing on the ground with a loud thud.

     One second at the beach, the next? Talking to a dragon, thought Velicity shaking her head.

     So with the emerald dragon leading, the unusual pair made their way across the rocks. Velicity was relatively nervous about meeting even more dragons after Sea Spirit. And what in the world is a Dragon Council? She asked herself.

     After several minutes of climbing and stumbling, the maw of a deep cave unfolded before their eyes.

     “I, Sea Spirit, welcome the first Dragonrider, namedVelicity, to the Dragon’s Cave,” he thundered into the cave.

     “The Dragon Council accepts Velicity Dragonrider into the Dragon’s Cave,” boomed several voices from the shadows of the cave.

     Sea Spirit led Velicity calmly into the depths of the cave. A short distance in, a roaring fire sat crackling, positioned in the middle of a spacious cave. The Dragon Council was assembled in a semicircle around it.

     “Welcome Dragonrider,” said a dark gray dragon who was seated at the head of the group. “We are the Dragon Council; each one of us represents an Element of Nature. Let us familiarize ourselves with each other. I am Stoneclaw, leader of the Dragon Council.”

     “Dragons call me Emberleaf. I represent the element of Plants and Forests.” The dragon’s voice was higher and obviously female. Her scales were a dark green color and she had golden eyes.

     “I am Darkclaw, ruler of the Shadow element.” The unfriendly reply was made by an ebony black dragon with red eyes.

     “Goldenflame is my name, Fire is my element.” Goldenflame had a voice like a raging fire, vital to life, yet dangerous when not handled with care.

     “Riverscale, representing the dragons of the Water element,” said a beautiful blue dragon said with a lilting voice.

     “Greetings, you may call me Windflyer.” There was no question that he was a Wind dragon; Windflyer’s sleek body was perfectly suited to the sky.

     “I am Lightningstrike, a dragon of the Storm.” He had piercing, bright yellow eyes. “We have long awaited the arrival of the next Dragonrider,” he added.

     “Welcome, you may call me Eclipse. I am a Lunar dragon,” said the smallest of the dragons. Her silvery scales that seemed to glow made up for her lack of size.

     “Hello, I’m Velicity as you know,” said Velicity finding her voice.

     “We have been waiting for the Dragonrider for a long time. This is all according to the Prophecy from Waterdance, our dragon seer,” said Stoneclaw looking directly at Velicity. “But you need not worry about it now. Everything will be revealed in good time.” Velicity’s mind reeled from Stoneclaw’s words. Everything was not making sense. Prophecy? Waterdance? Dragon Council? She had no clue what any of these things meant, so she decided to take Stoneclaw’s advice to not think about it for now. She would find out later.

     “Now, are you ready to become a Dragonrider and receive your first egg?” said Stoneclaw formally.

     I can’t let these dragons down . . . partly because I don’t know what they will do to me if I say no . . .

     “Make your own choices Velicity. What you decide could very well change your life.” Sea Spirit said in an understanding tone from behind her.

     “Yes, I am,” Velicity said firmly.

     “Good reply Velicity; many of our nesting mothers have recently had eggs. Sea Spirit will show you the nursery, where you will choose your first egg,” Stoneclaw said with an approving nod.

     Sea Spirit rose to his feet behind Velicity. “Good luck, Dragonrider,” rumbled Stoneclaw as they entered one of the tunnels leading into the heart of the cave. Velicity followed Sea Spirit, her eyes adjusting to the darkness of the cave.

     Deeper and deeper they went, the further in they progressed, the more sweltering the air was. Then it came to a point when it was scorching hot.

     The reason for the boiling hot temperature is because Dragon eggs have to be kept at extremely high temperatures for them to hatch.

     “Are we there yet?” gasped Velicity, perspiring heavily.

     “Right around here. . .” Sea Spirit answered, not at all affected by the burning heat. They turned a corner and Velicity found herself in a cavernous chamber. It was apparently the nursery as several females were curled up around eggs, chatting away with neighboring dragons. And it. Was. Hot.

     The chatter died away as they saw Velicity and Sea Spirit.

     “Our new Dragonrider has come to select and egg,” explained Sea Spirit to a female dragon devoid of eggs.

     “So, our next Dragonrider has indeed come. By the way, I’m Morningsky. Follow me,” said the light blue dragon.

     “Pleased to meet you Leafdance,” Velicity followed her to the heart of the cave.

     “The nesting mothers in the center are the ones that have the eggs that are most ready to hatch. I’ll come over when you have chosen your egg.” Leafdance walked away to assist a nesting mother.

     Velicity hesitated at first, uncertain, then went around the cave looking at the clutches of eggs. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for, until a lone blue egg among a clutch of silver eggs caught her attention. It was guarded by a silver female.

     “May I touch your eggs?” Velicity asked politely seeing as the mothers were very protective of their clutch.

     “Yes, just be careful with them,” said the female dragon. “You can call me Silverwing.” She uncurled halfway and continued. “You must’ve seen my mother, Eclipse, at the Dragon Council?”

     “Yes, the Lunar dragon, right?” she asked, trying to hide her surprise. Velicity picked up the blue egg gently. Silverwing gave a nod to her question.

     The egg was warm and sent a strange vibration through Velicity the moment she touched it. Velicity felt right, completed somehow, as if the egg was a final piece to her inner self.

     Morningsky arrived by her side. “Have you found your egg?” she inquired.

     “Yes, this is the egg I want . . . if I may keep it, Silverwing?” The silver-gray dragon nodded, pleased that Velicity chose one of her eggs.

     Leafdance handed Velicity an old, wooden box with an intricate design on the cover. “Here, place the egg inside. It is important that it stays there so that it can hatch.” Velicity did as Leafdance instructed.

     The egg nestled perfectly in the soft, warm material in the box. Without saying a word, Velicity closed the lid feeling contented.

     Velicity felt more complete than ever before. On Earth, a constant longing like an invisible magnet was barely noticeable, but in the Dragon’s Realm, it was tugging even harder on her soul. Now the other part of her was there and the ache in her heart was gone.

     “Thank you Silverwing,” Velicity said. She was extremely grateful to the generous mother.

     “We will meet again soon,” said Silverwing.

     Velicity crossed over to where Sea Spirit was waiting patiently.

     “I’ll show you where to stay,” said the sea dragon. “A human place,”

he clarified seeing the question in Velicity’s face.

     “I won’t be going back to Earth in a while then,” Velicity said after a pause. The truth had finally dawned on her. A mix of emotions: loneliness, anxiousness, longing, and happiness coursed through her.

     “You will definitely be staying here for a while,” was the reluctant answer.      

Reviews

[rmhans]

I like the premise of this story. I am interested in seeing how much further it goes. The only thing that sort of confused me was Velicity's seemingly abundant knowledge of the dragons and their ways. For example: ' “May I touch your eggs?” Velicity asked politely seeing as the mothers were very protective of their clutch.' How does she know that mothers are very protective of their clutch? Or how does she know that she must ask to touch the eggs? Also, how did Velicity know that the chamber has to be blistering hot in order for the eggs to hatch? These are statements that all imply that Velicity is familiar with dragons. That needs some clearing up. The reader must know whether Velicity is a complete stranger to the Dragons' ways or if she is familiar with their customs. You might want to have Sea Spirit explaining these things along the way.

Other than that the writing is excellent! I want to read more! :)

[Innocence Wasted]

Not bad, but I agree with rmhans on this. Why does she know so much about the dragons? Also, all the names are a little much to take in at once.

But other than that, I don't see any problems with the grammar, or spelling, and the language used is very good, I'll keep reading :-)