Light & Dark: The Awakening of the Mageknight (14 page)

"We wouldn't want you to fall out, now would
we?" Sabrina said with a slight smile.

"I suppose not," Danny wiggled against the
confining belts.

Making her way to Chris, Alonso, Matt and
Doug, Sabrina provided them with the same service, pulling the
straps tight, causing a series of soft grunts.

"We are ready, Father," turning to face the
large looming head of Tyramear.

The dragon dipped his head low and grunted,
Danny could feel the grunt vibrating up from somewhere beneath him,
it was accompanied by a soft puff of white smoke that steamed from
both of Tyramear's nostrils.

"Have a safe trip," Moon called from
below.

Danny watched with barely-stifled excitement
as Sabrina leaned over him and waved goodbye. He smelled the sweet
aroma of her perfume, the subtle scent of roses. Then it was over
as quickly as it had begun. Sabrina returned to her seat and
strapped herself in.

Danny felt the large body beneath him lurch
upward, causing his heart to skip a beat. Tyramear's leathery wings
expanded to impossible lengths as the dragon turned and angled his
long neck down the makeshift runway. Hunkering down, so that his
long, silver talons dug deep into the soil, extending his neck
straight as an arrow, Tyramear made ready for the launch.

"Hold on," said Sabrina, smiling.

Danny gripped the armrests on either side of
him. Beneath him, Tyramear shifted backward for a split-second,
before bounding forward. The acceleration was so quick that it
forced Danny deep into the seat, causing him to touch the wooden
paneling underneath the padding. He heard a few incomprehensible
words from behind him, suggesting that his friends were
experiencing the same sensations.

The harness jostled as Tyramear powered
forward on all fours, picking up speed. Then he leapt into the sky.
Danny suddenly felt like he was floating on a cushion of air. The
wind whistled, whipping past his face as Tyramear traveled higher
and higher into the night.

The sun had since given way to the rising
moon, just a sliver short of full. The sky was clear, allowing the
moon to bathe Tyramear's sparkling scales in soft light as he
traveled toward it. However, just before Danny thought he might
reach out and touch it, the dragon turned away from the heavenly
light, dipped downward, picked up speed and turned south.

Tyramear leveled off and maintained heading
as well as height with a few heavy flaps of his wings.

The motion dwindled to a soothing sway as
Danny found his breath coming back into his chest.

"That was amazing!" yelled Chris.

"I think I'm going to throw up," added
Alonso.

back to top

ours passed. Danny watched the world below with
mesmerized attention from high atop Tyramear's back, the lights
beneath stretching out like a reflection of the glittering stars
above.

"Are you cold?" Sabrina asked, pulling his
attention from the wondrous sight.

Caught off guard, Danny could do nothing but
stare at her as words caught in his throat.

"You are shivering," Sabrina pointed out to
him.

So taken in by his vantage point and
Sabrina's proximity, Danny had failed to notice his body's
reaction. He finally realized that he was definitely cold. The wind
had grown colder over the past few hours. It was cutting through
his clothing, chilling him to the bone.

"Just a little," his teeth chattered in
between words.

"Here," reaching forward, opening a small
compartment in front of her. Pulling out a heavy blue blanket, "Put
this over you."

Draping the blanket over his shoulders, Danny
noticed that Sabrina held on to the opposite half.

"We can share it," she said, smiling broadly
at him.

Danny's neck hair stood on end at the
prospect.

Sabrina told the boys behind her that similar
caches of blankets were stowed in front of each of them. She turned
and pulled the blanket over her body, causing it to pull taut as
Danny held the other half.

Danny felt the buildup of body heat, he
ceased to shiver.

"Better?"

"Much," said Danny, smiling, blushing.

Free from the biting sting of the cold,
feeling self-conscious regarding Sabrina's proximity, Danny
returned his gaze to the view below.

More hours passed, causing the lights beneath
to disappear as the Earth began its nightly slumber. However,
cities twinkled well into the night, a mass of illumination
spreading out from a bright collection of lights, thinning as they
neared the edge of civilization. Danny watched large cities coming
into view, passing them with interest, trying to guess the amount
of people that inhabited each one.

Time seemed to slow as the combination of
Sabrina's warmth, the lull of the moonlight and the sway of
Tyramear's beating wings took their toll. Danny's eyelids grew
heavy, inviting him into the embrace of a restless slumber. On the
verge of unconsciousness, Danny fought against the pull of sleep,
causing the night to pass in a flutter of images.

"Danny," called the familiar sweet-sounding
voice.

Coming sluggishly awake, Danny pried his eyes
open.

"Danny, wake up, we are almost there."

Peering over the edge of the harness, Danny
saw the outline of the landscape, illuminated by the soft glow of
the moon. The coast of Florida stretched out below him; looking
closer he saw a series of waves cresting and crashing along a
beach. He felt Tyramear shift beneath him as he turned toward the
utter dark of the ocean.

"Hold on!" Sabrina yelled.

Danny gripped the sides of the carriage as
Tyramear dipped low in a steep descent. Forced back into the seat,
Danny's heart skipped a beat once more. Angling toward the coast,
Tyramear stretched his wings wide, slowing his dive, leveling out
just above the surface of the roiling water. Lingering over the
waves for a fleeting moment, Tyramear coiled his wings around
himself and slipped into the sea. His sheer size, combined with his
speed, caused a large splash.

The refreshing salty mist splattered Danny's
face as Tyramear came to a sudden stop, floating lazily on the
surface. Using his wings as paddles, Tyramear propelled himself
forward, following the lapping waves toward the coast, where a
single globe of light, held by a lone shadowy figure, illuminated
the white sand of the beach.

"Who's that?"

"A friend."

Tyramear swam forward and then rose high
above the water as his legs met the shallow seabed. Padding out of
the water and onto the beach, he hunkered down, swiveled his head
toward his passengers, and sniffed.

"We are here," said Sabrina, throwing her
piece of the blanket aside, un-strapping herself from the seat.

Content to be back on solid ground, Danny did
the same. He allowed Sabrina to step over him and toss the rope
ladder down Tyramear's scaly side.

"Come on," she said, as she climbed down.

Danny glanced back to his friends, they were
also in the process of removing their harnesses. He looked down and
noticed that Sabrina was almost at the bottom so he began his own
descent. Two steps from the base, Danny jumped the rest of the way,
landing lightly in the sand. He followed Sabrina's footsteps up the
beach; she was hugging a man in thick black robes.

"It's good to see you again," Sabrina said in
the midst of disengaging from the embrace.

The stranger wore a thick hood pulled over
his head and carried a brilliant lantern in an outstretched arm,
creating a pocket of shadows that hid his facial features. In his
opposite hand, Danny noticed a glint of emerald, perhaps it was a
Bonded.

"Are you a Knight of the Light?"

The hooded man's head swiveled in Danny's
direction. Seconds passed as the man looked Danny over. "Of course
I am," he pulled his hood back and revealed a slick, shaved head,
complete with pointed goatee. "And who might you be?" he asked, his
grey eyes reflecting the light of the lantern.

"I'm Danny Firoth."

"Tis good to meet you, Danny, you can call me
Mick." He shoved his sword deep into the sand, presenting his right
hand in greeting.

Danny took Mick's hand at the wrist and felt
the intense strength of his squeeze. Danny's eyes lingered on the
jade-hilted blade stuck in the sand.

"Her name is Jayden," said Mick, following
Danny's eyes.

"…Her?"

"My Bonded," said Mick, retrieving the sword,
holding it up to the light.

Looking closer, Danny noticed that the hilt,
which looked like it was made from pure jade with thin inlays of
silver, ended in the head of an open-mouthed dragon, the silver
lines winding together to form a wicked array of teeth. The
scabbard, crafted in green-tinged gold-colored metal, contained an
intricate engraving of the Light symbol.

"And who might these boys be?" Mick asked as
Chris, Alonso, Doug and Matt joined the group.

All four boys introduced themselves one at a
time, but before conversation could continue, Tyramear bellowed a
rumbling grunt.

"Forgive me, my friend," said Mick with a
smile. He turned toward the huge silver dragon. "Despite your
immense size, it seems we somehow forgot about you."

Tyramear cocked his head to the side and
snorted, obviously not amused.

"Come, let us relieve your father of his
burden," said Mick, walking toward the massive from of Tyramear
with Sabrina pacing behind him. "You boys can help, too, if you
like."

Danny and his friends followed, making their
way beneath Tyramear's massive front legs, stopping beneath his
sternum, where the harness remained attached.

"Like this," said Sabrina, demonstrating the
proper way of releasing the straps that held the saddle tightly to
Tyramear's body.

Once the last strap was undone, Tyramear
grunted in relief as he stood up to his full height, rotated his
long neck, and locked his jaws around the sides of the harness. The
wooden saddle creaked as he lifted it from his back and positioned
it on the beach, causing it to sink into the sifting sand.

"We best get back," said Mick, herding
everyone from beneath the dragon.

Free of the harness, Tyramear twisted his
body from side to side, flinging the saltwater from his scales.

For a moment, it felt like rain. Danny held
up his arms to protect himself from the sudden spray. Licking his
lips, he could taste the essence of the ocean, sea salt.

Tyramear dipped his head low to regard the
soggy group and released a series of guttural grunts, it almost
sounded like laughter.

"Very funny, Father."

Ignoring his daughter's comment, Tyramear
straightened his neck and sucked in a mass of air. Closing his eyes
in concentration, his silver scales began to glow, rivaling the
moonlight. His sharp talons disappeared beneath the surface of his
fingers; his long neck compacted; his tail shortened, shrank, and
then disappeared into his back. Once the transformation was
complete, Tyramear opened his silver eyes and released his breath
in a sigh of relief.

Danny knew that Tyramear’s transformation
would always amaze him, no matter how many times he saw it. The
others also stared in awe at the man now standing before them
dressed in a silver-striped suit.

"Epic," said Matt, adjusting his glasses.

Mick was the first to step forward. "It's
good to see you again, my old friend."

"And you," said Tyramear, adjusting his
Bonded on his back. He cocked his head first to one side, then the
other, causing a series of pops and cracks to break the
silence.

"Come, I have beds already made," said Mick.
"You must be tired from the journey. And the Squires will need
their rest for tomorrow’s activities."

"…Squires?" Doug asked.

"You will find out soon enough, little ones,"
said Mick.

"I'm not little," said Alonso.

"Soon you will not think so boldly," said
Mick with a smirk. "Come," he continued, not waiting for any other
questions. Holding the lantern out before him, he began to move up
the beach.

"What about the harness?" Danny
questioned.

"Leave that to me," said Tyramear, bending
down and gripping the thick, braided rope attached to the base of
the harness. Pulling the cord taut, giving it one good pull, the
heavy saddle lurched forward.

Seeing how easy it was for Tyramear to haul
the harness across the beach, Danny stepped to the side, amazed
once again at the strength the full-blooded Dragonic commanded.

Tyramear surged ahead with ease, pulling the
harness up the sandy path, taking a position behind Mick. Even with
the weight of the saddle dragging behind him, Tyramear matched Mick
stride for stride.