The Dragoso Series 1: Discovery in Hardship
Chapter 8

Six days later brought about a clear, sunny day. Though it wasn’t a day for enjoying the sunshine as Trevor fell from the air, grunting as he landed on one of his wings. He stood and stretched his wing, looking up at his siblings hovering above him.

“You alright, Trevor?” Brenda called down to him. Trevor snorted and shook himself out, watching his siblings for a moment.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Trevor mumbled. He exhaled slowly before looking over at the flight teachers. Trevor wasn’t sure about them, considering one stood in his dragon form while the other sat on his back in her human form.

The dragon was Sonar, the blind male who had woken them up their first morning at Voutneth. He was an Earth Dragon that was truly blind. He looked as though he stared off into space all the time. The human on his back was a Water Dragon that went by the name Tikimune. She was a handicapped dragon, having only one wing. The combination of a blind dragon and a dragon that couldn’t even fly brought some doubt, but they had teamwork and unbroken trust.

“Get back up there, Trevor, try it again,” Tikimune called and Trevor shook his head before opening his wings.

“I’m sick of this face planting,” Trevor mumbled and he took to the air again. He faltered for a moment before he hovered with his siblings. “Why is it so hard for me to stay in the air?”

“Your wing beats, that’s what,” Sonar spoke below them. They looked down at him before landing, or in Trevor’s case, falling.

“What do you mean?” Brenda asked. Tikimune dropped from his back.

“Despite dragon bones being hollow but super tough, there’s still a lot of weight on your bodies. Two things are needed to be able to stay in the air. Strong wing muscles and correct wing strokes. Each dragon has a specific amount of time needed between wing beats to stay in the air. Small dragons need faster beats while larger dragons need less but stronger strokes. You need to work on your wing strokes more.” Tikimune explained.

“And how am I supposed to figure that out?” Trevor snapped.

“You have to learn that on your own,” Sonar snorted. He puffed his chest and stared at Trevor with his clouded pupils. Trevor backed up a few steps and looked away. “Back in the air everyone, give me ten laps around the track! Work on endurance, not speed.” Trevor’s siblings launched into the air and started their laps. Trevor exhaled and opened his wings to follow them, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Hang on, Trevor. We should get you started on some training suggestions to help with your wings. You were in football in high school, yes?” Trevor nodded to Tikimune. “You have more muscle in your body, your wings need strength as well.”

“I’m listening.” Trevor actually sat down and listened to Sonar and Tikimune explain different exercises for him to do everyday to strengthen his wings. By the time they finished, his siblings were done with their laps and panting.

“David, too much speed. Brenda, too many wing strokes. Aya, not enough height. You all need to work on that to keep your endurance up,” Tikimune commanded. She looked at her watch before looking up at Trevor. “Get your siblings in on your wing workout as well, it’ll help all of you. You best be getting to lunch.” Trevor nodded and turned human.

“C’mon guys, lunchtime!” Trevor called and his siblings became human, running for the mansion to get to lunch. Trevor simply walked and took his normal spot with his siblings. Today’s lunch was pizza sticks, something they hadn’t had since school.

“Pizza sticks! Yum!” David exclaimed and dug in. The dragon that usually took their order, a Shadow Dragon named Darkness, smiled at them.

“Best part, you get as many as you want! I heard they only give students in human school just two. That’s no fun!” Darkness stated and Trevor nodded.

“No kidding, everyone went crazy for these things, even if they are just cheese sticks that have pizza crust for the coating. Even I missed these,” Trevor noted and Darkness nodded.

“Glad we could make you guys happy. Heard you’ve all been having trouble with flying. If you need help anytime, you can come to me.” Darkness offered.

“Thanks, Darkie, we’ll be sure to do that,” Brenda responded and Darkness walked off to assist others. “Nice of him to offer us help.”

“He’s kinda like a friend of ours now, huh?” David pointed out and Trevor shrugged.

“Staff member who’s offering help, that’s all it really is,” Trevor stated and continued eating lunch.

After eating, there was no doubt that the Williams kids loved the Care of Griffins class. They rushed outside and straight to their partner griffins. Grabbing the bucket hanging outside of Stephanie’s stall, Trevor opened the stall door and was greeted with a nudge to the face and a coo.

“Afternoon, Stephanie. How are you?” Trevor asked her. The blue griffiness gave him an excited chirp and snorted. Trevor set the bucket down and began grooming Stephanie. It was a daily thing for them. Walk in, groom the griffins, get their tack on, and exercise them while learning important riding skills on the graceful creatures.

Once Stephanie’s fur was brushed out, Trevor switched to a special comb and began grooming the feathers of her head and wings. The comb was designed to be gentle and get rid of any dirt or dust in griffin feathers. Trevor spent a good amount of time doing this before he slipped Stephanie’s halter on and led her out of her stall to stand in the walkway. He clipped a rope to her halter next to her stall and went to retrieve her tack.

“Roselia’s claws are getting long,” Brenda mused to Aya in the tack room. Aya nodded.

“I know, Malice said they’re all due for a nail and beak trim. Whatever that means,” Aya replied.

“They do it with pet birds when the nails and beak get too long. Bird beaks are like fingernails, they keep growing,” Trevor explained. “Kathey told me about it. Turns out she loves animals to the point she understands vet care.”

“Hey, Trevor? Can you help me with Midnight’s bridle? It’s still really hard to get it on her,” David mumbled beside him. Trevor smiled and nodded to his little brother.

“Grab her stuff, I’ll help you out before getting Stephanie together, I don’t think she’ll mind.” David nodded and grabbed the bridle and saddle for Midnight and Trevor followed him to the black griffiness.

David pushed the step stool next to Midnight and started to strap her saddle on. Trevor watched as he did, correcting him as needed before they moved to the bridle. Trevor showed him how it was done and David watched carefully.

“Thanks, big brother!” David exclaimed and hugged Trevor.

“Anytime, buddy. You know I’m always gonna be around to help you out. I better go give Stephanie some love, she doesn’t look too happy.” Trevor returned to the tack room to grab Stephanie’s gear and her container of treats. He pulled a few from the box and shoved them in his pocket. “Sorry, Stephanie. I’m always there to help my brother, I hope you understand.” Trevor stated as he approached her. Stephanie sniffed at his pocket and Trevor smiled, pulling a treat out and giving it to her.

Trevor worked quickly to get Stephanie’s saddle and bridle on, giving her another treat and leading her into the riding arena. He pulled on the provided riding helmets and stuck his foot into a stirrup, pulling himself up and into the saddle. Trevor reached out and stroked Stephanie’s neck. Malice stood in the middle of the arena, waiting on the siblings to be ready for their lesson for the day. There were a few jumping fences set up that they were going to practice with today. The fences looked to be only about two feet tall, but they were just starting with jumping so it was beginner work.

“We’re doing jumping today?” Aya asked as she walked in with the pink griffiness. Roselia snorted and lifted her head higher, not pleased by the fences. Aya tried to pull her into the arena, but the female wasn’t having it.

“C’mon, Rose, don’t be a priss,” Malice remarked. Roselia glared at him before obeying the tug to her reins. “She doesn’t like jumping practice. She likes doing the fancy dressage stuff. Don’t you?”

“I guess so, will it be hard to do the jumps with her?” Malice shook his head as Aya moved Roselia to the step stool nearby to mount up.

“Nah, she’ll listen. She’s just not a fan.” Malice stretched his arms in the air as Brenda and David entered and mounted up. “Alright! Few things to know. When you jump, heels have to go down before and during take off. You always look between their ear tufts at the ground in front of you. Move your weight with the griffin. Don’t be afraid if they open their wings, sometimes they prefer to glide over jumps after taking off, you still have full control, the landing is just later than what you expect. These jumps are low so we can avoid that, but if it happens, it happens, just don’t get scared. Who’s first?”

Trevor raised his hand and Malice nodded, standing beside one of the fences and Trevor directed Stephanie a few feet away from the jump. “Faster than a trot, slower than a full on run, got it?” Trevor nodded and exhaled.

He situated himself in the saddle before tapping his heel against Stephanie’s side. She snorted and started forward, reaching what would be considered a canter with horses. Trevor pushed his heels down, leaned forward and looked straight through Stephanie’s ear tufts as she leaped from the sandy ground and over the jump. She landed, kicking up sand and trotting around the return to her original spot while the others clapped.

“Nice one, Trev!” Brenda praised and Trevor smiled. He pulled one of the treats from his pocket and tossed it in front of Stephanie. She wasted no time grabbing it and eating it up. Trevor watched his siblings do the jump before they all took turns practicing with the few jumps that were set up. They eventually situated the fences in a row and jumped them continuously. Trevor was up to do the jumps now. He situated himself before starting forward, only to be stopped suddenly.

“Malice!” Kathey’s voice called out. Trevor pulled back on the reins and Stephanie slid to a stop, coughing slightly from the bit being yanked back.

“What is it?” Malice asked. Trevor looked back to see Kathey approaching him.

“There was a hellhound sighting at Drake, Trevor, you and your siblings are coming with, ride the griffins, the Compass Boys and I are flying in as dragons. Let’s go!” Kathey grabbed Stephanie’s bridle and led her towards the gate. Trevor looked at his siblings and shrugged.

They followed in suit and found Sylark and Zoymey standing outside in their dragon forms. Sylark an Ice Dragon, Zoymey and Earth Dragon. Kathey and Malice changed into their dragon forms. Malice was a yellow Thunder Dragon and Kathey, the ever rare pink Flower Dragon.

“What’s the plan, Anna?” Zoymey asked Kathey, or rather, Anna in her dragon form.

“Dragons will fly overhead while the kids ride the griffins into the town on the ground. Are you all ready to fly on these guys?” Anna asked.

“Wait what?” David exclaimed. Anna opened her wings and took to the air. Malice, Sylark, and Zoymey followed her. Stephanie looked up at Anna before a shrill whistle rang in Trevor’s ears, making him cringe, as well as his siblings. The griffins opened their wings and took to the air after the dragons. Trevor held on for dear life as Stephanie’s powerful wings hit the air and rose her higher off the ground.

“What did we just get ourselves into?” Brenda called to Trevor. Trevor looked from his sister to the dragons before he replied.

“We wanted to help, this is us helping. Let’s just hope it’s nothing too serious.”

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