"When we ran exercises like that everyone in the camp would get hot-blooded. They would want to show their best moves, swordplay or riding.
My promotion from boot camp came from one of those exercises being used as a test, Isan and myself had been separated into different scout squads on the same team. To try and take the enemy commander faster.
We were split and I was ordered to lure the enemy VIP out of the valley with a small forest in it, at the time Leora was still quite small for a dragon, standing at just over 2 metres. I was nearly as tall as her which always annoyed her" laughing at the memory of standing with his dragon and making jokes about how she was closer to a lizard than a dragon.
As Leora was small and agile our scouting flights were one of the best, we could navigate through the forest while flying under the trees or just above. She had black scales that covered her, making her look like the night sky without the moon. Small tiny scales were flecked with white but could only be seen at night for some odd reason.
Instead of taking a team of scouts I decided that the best course of action would be to have a team wait at the top of the mountain for me to fly over the valley after attacking the VIP, coming in to back me up once they saw me fly out.
Everything had gone well. I used the cover of the forest to fly without being hindered and found the VIP with a squad of guards.
I wasn't sure how I would be able to get them to chase after me, so I had to come up with another plan...
The VIP on the other team was a hothead who wouldn't normally have been the VIP, but in this exercise, the camp runners were using him as a way to test not just my team but the other team's patience and when to know when to discipline someone who was a VIP.
Leora and I split up, coming at them from two different directions. There were four guards and four dragons, we used magic to distract them from where we first sneaked up. Digging a small hole and leaving an enchanted ball to blow up when it felt magic touch it.
Dragons have some of the finest control over magic and it was Leora who set it off before pouncing on the biggest dragon there and biting down on a necklace around the dragon's neck that was enchanted to make it sleep. Every competitor had this type of necklace or place on their armour that would be classed as an automatic kill.
The dragon she pounced on was three metres tall and at the back of the group, presumably to keep them safe from attacks like this. When the dragon thudded on the ground the two closest dragons and riders turned and prepared to attack.
One of the last things they expected was me to throw stones from across the forest at my side and hit them on the head, knocking the two riders out cold.
There were only three more dragons and two more riders left as well as the VIP who was panicking, taking their sword out and screaming orders to protect him. One dragon and one rider rushed forward to where the stone had come from, seeing me in the shadows.
Across from me preparing to do my best to fight them off, Leora was whipping her tale against the head of the bigger of the two remaining dragons, before using her wings to fly back a few metres and running in a circle to reach me.
I was in the middle of using the blunt side of my sword to swing and hit the side of the rider who was attacking me, he fell into the dragon's paw that was swiping at me. Knocking him down hard into the ground.
Feeling Leora behind me, I ran away deeper into the forest. When I could see her run next to me, I jumped onto the saddle, grabbing the handles to hold on, before I swung off. The two dragons behind us were getting closer and closer but thanks to Leora being smaller we could take off and fly through the woods a lot easier than them.
We saw a gap in the trees letting in light, we flew out there and up turning to face the two dragons.
They were battered from the trees hitting their wings but still full of energy to get some payback for their fallen comrades.
They both rushed us, but we were better than them. Twirling in the air and dropping to just over the leaves of the trees we flew over to where the VIP was shouting down at them and calling them all the insults we could think of.
Because the VIP from the other team thought that we running away he got on the remaining dragon with the rider who was left and flew after us along with the other two dragons right on our tail.
We were flying to the mountains to the north that had the highest peaks, where Isan and the others were meant to be but we heard the cries of multiple dragons coming from the west and fast..."
I can only apologise for the accidental release of chapter 26, it wasn't meant to come out until the 12th. To make up for it I have double released on the 12th, editing some of the chapter and including this one. Originally this was going to be a 2 part interlude, but to help give me time to figure out how to progress with the novel and to make up for my mistake on releasing the chapter I have split it up and given myself more time and you a more detailed short story than I planned.
I hope you enjoy!
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