Arxet stood before the gates to the Rider Academy once again for the first time in three months. Idami was with her, straddled comfortably between two of Arxet’s back spines. They both had business on the grounds today, different parts of the same journey.
It would be Idami’s first day of enrollment. Unlike Arxet when she had entered, Idami was leaving her coldmark out for all to see. Her sleeves were rolled up leaving her forearm exposed. The dragon didn’t know where she got the confidence for that—wait, no. That’s right. Tiamat was adopting her. That was pretty good for confidence wasn’t it?
Arxet, for her part, would be participating with seventeen other dragons to view the graduating class for the session and try to decide on a rider. A few dragons may even go ahead and choose today, but generally this was a meet and greet. A chance to see her options and who she thought might be a fit. After that, any prospective riders would spend the next two days in the city searching for appropriate gifts to impress a dragon, maybe something specific if they were trying to impress one dragon in particular. “As if there’s anyone in there who hasn’t already given me a dirty look or spat at my feet.”
“Yeah, well. Could see if anyone’s smart enough to apologize.” Idami and Arxet had grown a bit closer over the last two months. Idami had been offered by Tiamat to move in with her at the Ziggurat, but she turned down the offer on account of having to climb ten stories every time she came and went. Instead, she had taken one of the rooms in Emren and Amjazel’s residence. Many of the normal rules given to a dragon’s chosen had been relaxed for the girl. After all, she knew dragonkind’s biggest secret already just from growing up around them.
Amjazel was ecstatic to have her new younger sister join her. It was something of a relief to Arxet that the dragon’s near obsessive doting and care would now be split between the two chosen at different stages of the process. Even then, though, the dragon had almost boundless love to give, so it was not a radical reduction.
Idami being in on the secret and Amjazel’s excitement had lead the dragon-to-be to joining in on many of Arxet’s lessons, mostly dragonology and telepathy practice. She was capable before of listening to dragons in her mind, but after two months of training she could go back and forth just as well as Arxet, who had managed to stop unwanted thoughts and memories slipping through. In between lessons, the two often wandered the city together, played games of senet and asha (using a few dragon sized boards Rubis let them borrow), and just generally hanging out. As it turned out, Idami was something of a musician, and Tiamat jumped at the chance to buy her a new lyre to play for everyone.
“I doubt they’ll recognize me until I start talking.” The dragon huffed and lowered herself down for the weasel to hop off. “Maybe I just have to wait for your session to end. You can tell me which ones aren’t dicks.”
“There’s got to be someone there for you. If not, maybe mom can recommend a priest to you.”
Arxet tilted her head and squinted. She still didn’t understand why Idami had so quickly accepted the dragons as her family. She hadn’t even taken Tiamat’s blood yet. “How are you already calling her mom?”
“How are you not calling her grandma?” She retorted. “You’ve got to understand how awesome that is, right? Having a goddess as your grandmother?”
She supposed there was some truth to that. A powerful family came with perks, perks she was admittedly already privy to, but on an emotional level, accepting Amjazel and Emren as her mothers felt wrong. “I’m an adult, you’re even older than me. I think? It just doesn’t feel right to accept someone like that after I already grew up. Especially after I already made it past the worst parts of my life. Having parents won’t do me any good now.”
“What’s the worst part then?” She crossed her arms and shot back a knowing look. “You were still barely scraping by before Amjazel found you, weren’t you? I was even worse off. I never learned how to steal or whatever it is you did to get by.”
“I- well. Being- as a kid it was worse before I figured out how. I didn’t spend as many nights hungry when I got older.” She shrugged her wings and blew a bit of hot air on an applicant who had lingered too long to stare at her. She still had not figured out her flame even after Tiamat herself stepped in to help with her lessons. She was starting to think that the coldmark’s magic had somehow outright rejected parts of Tiamat’s gift to her. A bit of hot air was still easily accomplished. At her size she could project quite a bit of it.
Idami giggled as the applicant skittered off away from the grumpy dragon.“So less often, but not never. And when was the last time you went to sleep hungry?”
“I guess when I took a nap with you in The Pit…” Why must people always make such excellent arguments against her? It made her look like a tool when she always lost them.
“So it sounds like those two have done you a lot of good. They’ve put a roof over your head, fed you, and are teaching you life skills.” She poked Arxet on the chest. “You know what that sounds like?”
“I’m not gonna say it.”
“So think it then.”
Time to deflect!“Go get in line, tiny.” She bent her head down and shoved the weasel toward the front gate.
“Is that any way to treat your aunt?” Idami stuck her tongue out and made her way in. The same old rat and brown dragon were there to greet the applicants. Unlike Arxet on her first day, Idami waited patiently in the throng. She knew she didn’t have to worry about the three hundred applicant limit, and had all the time in the world to check in.
Arxet circled around and sat on the edge of the shallow pool by the brown dragon to watch. Plenty of the throng were now staring at her as well. Her scales sparkled considerably more than the other ruddy brown fellow here, and she was actually bigger. Was he only a little older and just a pipsqueak?
“You must be Amjazel’s new youngin’.” The dragon stretched and moved closer to get a better look. Much to her annoyance he spent a considerable amount of time staring at her coldmark. “It was making the rounds that she chose someone for last session. You came out big, didn’tcha? What are they feedin’ you kids these days.”
“Are- are you not a ‘kid’ too?” She was taken aback at how familiar he was acting. Technically they were some sort of family, but she had never even spoken to him before.
The dragon let out a throaty growling sort of laugh. “No, no, I’m usin’ magic to keep small. If I was in my full size I’d be about the size of your big sister, Rubis. I like watchin’ these kids react to seeing a dragon for the fist time, but I’m too big to fit otherwise. Most aren’t as unimpressed as you were when you came through. Word got around that your mom was having another!”
“Right. I’m just dropping off Idami. The whole rider viewing is after she has her whole ‘welcome to the academy’ speech from Tiamat.” She craned her neck to keep an eye on the weasel as she sank deeper into the crowd.
“Is she entering to be your rider? Suppose she’s got a coldmark too, it’s a good fit.” He huffs as if he’s made a joke. “Why’re you goin’ to the viewing then?” The older dragon seemed to be missing key information. Arxet grinned a little at her realization.
“Nah, she’s a chosen.” She smirked and swished her tail through the water.
“Oh? You’re a bit fresh to be takin’ one, aintcha?”
“No, no. She’s Tiamat’s.” Arxet tried to remain as casual as possible for it. This guy was both overly familiar and just sort of a dick. Knocking him down a peg seemed like a good time.
The dragon exclaims his surprise with a small roar. “She’s- I hadn’t heard she was-”
“Yeah, chose her two months ago.” Oh this was fun. The guy had such a patronizing attitude a moment ago. “Guess you didn’t know? Wonder why.”
“No. I had not heard that Tiamat was taking a child for the first time in almost a thousand years!” He huffed. “I know I’m eighth generation, but I would have thought-”
“You would have thought it would make the rounds?” She took that opportunity to disengage. Idami had exited the throng and was getting waved down by ‘Fatima Mattar’ just beyond. The two were embracing and excitedly discussing her class schedule.
“-and you won’t need to attend the magic course either since your older sister has been kind enough to tutor you! That only leaves your combat training and dragonology, which you’re already well ahead on, so your schedule should be quite open. Remember that my home is open to you if you ever want to visit!” Arxet had never seen Tiamat so energetic. The goddess normally kept a rather placid demeanor, but she was almost tripping over her words in her excitement. “And remember, if anyone gives you trouble for the coldmark, you can let me know and I’ll expel them.”
Idami’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you sure? That seems extreme, and embarrassing. I always tried not to let Miveri’s position go to my head. I don’t want to feel like I’m abusing your power.”
“It’s not like that.” Tiamat shook her head and squeezed her daughter’s hands. “No, what happened with you and Arxet has made me realize I’ve been too lax.” She sighed. “Far too late I’m afraid. It isn’t only about their treatment of you two, it’s about all of my coldmarked children, mortal or dragon. I cannot allow anyone else into my church who continues to hold these beliefs. I need to know who needs to be rooted out. Until I get to them though, you can do what you need to as long as it doesn’t result in a permanent injury.”
“I have a few names and faces I can point you to.” Arxet interjected. “Biting someone worked well for me, by the way. It also just happened to be my last night there. But you’ll do fine. You got armor like I did, and an even bigger weapon.” She gestured her nose at the short sword on her hip, a gift from one of Amjazel’s other sisters that Arxet had mercifully yet to meet. “Lot you can do with that thing that won’t be permanent, long as you don’t hit anything too important.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.” She came over to hug Arxet. “Thanks for flying me over. Good luck with selection. If you really need I’ll get a list together for you from my session.”
“Eh, we’ll see what happens. Sounds like you’ll have free time though. Could meet up maybe?” She refused to admit it, but she was going to miss her ‘aunt’. It was nice having someone else who was not only her age but also coldmarked around. She too understood the struggle in ways Amjazel, Emren, and Rubis simply couldn’t.
Tiamat grinned at the invitation. “You absolutely should, just make sure you’re making time to bond with your rider, Arxet, whoever you pick.”
“Yeah… if I can even find someone. I didn’t exactly have a good experience here. If they hated me as a rat I can’t see us getting along that much better as a dragon.” She craned her neck past the crowd toward the courtyard. There weren’t any prospective riders yet. There wouldn’t be any for another hour or so, but it was hanging in her mind.
“Oh don’t worry about that. If they hated you before, then just teach them the error of their ways.” She patted Arxet’s jaw. “I need to go get ready for my welcoming speech. I’ll see you tomorrow for more flame practice, Arxet, and you in your classes, Idami. My love lives in you both.” With that, the goddess separated from the pair and moved into the building through a side passage.
“Well, I guess I’ll go wait with the others. Just… come by the house if you have the time. You can help me teach my new rider how to behave or whatever. Good luck.”
“You too, Arxet. Don’t lower your standards too much.” Idami waved and followed the stream of students into the courtyard.
After Idami had disappeared around the corner Arxet stepped aside into a more open area where she would be able to take off. A few applicants crowded around to watch the spectacle. “Jokes on them. I’m not a graceful flier at all!” She bent her front down low, wiggled her tail in the air, extended her wings, and with a mighty flap and a push with her legs she launched into the air. She flapped both wings vigorously to gain altitude until she crashed against the side of the building and clambered over the edge, claws digging deep gauges into the stone as she went. “Don’t look at their reactions, Arxet, it’s not worth it.”
She found an open space away from the other dragons getting comfortable on the roof and curled her tail around her paws. She’d already had more than enough awkward interactions with strangers for today with that brown dragon out front.
There were about thirty in total up here, more than she’d been told. Some, admittedly, might have other chosen for this session, or be more interested in the applicants from it rather than the first class session. It’s not like there weren’t about three hundred prospective riders for them to share.
“Hey! Arxet!” A familiar voice called in her mind. Her head swiveled to find a ruddy pink and gray dragon on approach. One of the chosen from her class maybe?
“Oh, hi?” She lifted her nose some at them as they approached in suspicion. None of the other chosen had had anything good to say to her before. “Are you…?”
“Oh, right. You passed out after you changed, didn’t you? It’s Brin, Impisio’s chosen. Well, one of them.” They happily dropped down onto the stone just next to her. “Not that I’m- trying to say- well you weren’t the only one who passed out. Layna and I didn’t, but Anecia did.”
“What do you want, Brin?” Ah, that’s right. Brin was the one who was surprised about her becoming a dragon.
“Look, I just came over to apologize. Dad gave me a… let’s say a talking to when he found out how Layna and I treated you. So I’m sorry.” They grin at her. “Hope we can move past all that.”
Oh, great, someone else showing she’s the weird one for not wanting a dragon parent.“Alright? Is that all?” She still wasn’t sure what they wanted from her.
“Yeah. We all good?” Brin gazed at her expectantly.
“No, not really.” She stood and prepared to find a new spot. This interaction clearly was not going to be over any time soon.
“But I apologized!” They shot to their feet and followed.
“And I don’t accept it.” She stopped and glared back at the pink dragon. “Can you leave me alone?”
“Why not! You’re being unfair.” They snorted a flame at her.
“Because I think it’s funnier if I don’t.” She stuck her tongue out and kept moving.
“WHAT? What’s wrong with you?” The pursuit continued. At this point, Arxet was just leading them on laps around the rooftop to see when they would quit.
“I have a coldmark, remember? I’m just not like normal people.”
“I never said that!” They growled and snapped their jaws at the air.
“You know what else you never said?” She whirled on them and growled back. The two were both the same age as dragons, but she did just barely eke him out on size. “’Hey, leave poor Arxet alone. She doesn’t deserve that!’ So no, I’m not accepting your apology. Get lost.”
“I’m telling my dad!”
“What are you? Fucking seven? I said get lost.” Arxet laughed in their face and hopped over a larger dragon to put a barrier between them. What a tool. Some dragons had no taste in who they chose to become one of them.
Tiamat’s speech to the new students came and went, once again without Arxet listening at all. Why change tradition? From her perch atop the roof she watched Idami and the others slowly file out of the courtyard towards their assigned dorms. Oh wow, and a trio of students were already cornering Idami and harassing her. That must be some kind of record. “Need a hand?” She mentally prodded the dragon-to-be. “Or would it be a claw? A paw?”
“I won’t say no. Go big or go home.” She looked utterly nonplussed by the goons that had surrounded her. “They’re either dumb or stupid doing this where all those fucking dragons can see. I guess they never bothered to look up.”
Arxet circled around the edge of the courtyard’s skylight until she was right above them. A few other dragons had indeed already taken notice and were beginning to stand, obviously also intending to intervene. “I got it, I got it.” Arxet waved them away with a wing. “I dropped her off for Tiamat, I can handle some idiots for her.”
The other dragons relented and stepped back for her to jump down and pounce on them. “Probably best you do it,” a huge golden wyrm chuckled at her, “I might not leave any bones intact if I did it.”
She launched off the ledge and used her wings to angle herself back around to drop directly onto one of the students. There was a crunch from somewhere inside the poor human, hopefully nothing too permanent. The other two jumped back as the two ton dragon dropped down from seemingly nowhere to crush their friend, one stumbling and falling on their ass.
“Ooh, hopefully the school healer can handle that.” Idami moved past Arxet and towards the last of the three who was still standing. Arxet stepped off the human to loom behind the weasel and bared her teeth. “I told you three I had friends in high places. Literally and figuratively I guess. Did none of you idiots look up?”
They seemed too terrified to speak. The one on his feet grabbed and lifted the one on his ass up and they both bolted, leaving the one with a broken bone behind. “Shit. Do I have to take that guy to the healer myself?”
“Proooobably should, yeah. He’s got a bone sticking out of his thigh.” She nudged the screaming human with her foot. “Hopefully that’ll teach people not to mess with me. I thought wearing Tiamat’s red diamond would be plenty of a deterrent, but I guess not everyone knows what it means.”
“Well, glad to teach some dicks a lesson.” She clamped her jaws over the back of the man’s robe and started dragging him away.
The next two hours passed without any other incident. The first session students were running late, she could only guess why, but it was getting to be a pain. She didn’t want to spend so much damn time out here. “I could have gone home for a nap and come back by now.”
Finally, a trickle of students began to fill the courtyard. Arxet could recognize most of their faces from here, her eyesight as a dragon was specially made for spotting things from the air. A roof was practically nothing. Once all three hundred had made it in and taken their places ‘Fatima’ emerged from one of the side doors and took the stage.
“Welcome, everyone!” She spread her arms wide. “Congratulations on your graduation! Today, you will all have your chance to meet with your potential life partners! I know most of you won’t be chosen, but don’t take this as failure or a fault on your part. Dragons select by personality and social compatibility more than by raw skill or power, and it is still an honor to serve in the ministry if you are not chosen. Many minsters do more good in their lifetime than a rider by engaging with their community and helping those in need from the ground rather than the air.” Arxet huffed. Fat lot of good those ministers did her.
“For today, simply speak with whatever dragons you can. Do not be intimidated, they all are here for the same reason you are, to find a partner. When Tiamat created the first dragons she realized they needed companions. Not only to be their hands and their voice, but their link to the mortal world. It can be easy for her children to become isolated. It can be difficult to relate to mortals after living such a long life, and a rider is an essential bridge between mortalkind and dragonkind. All dragons here understand this, so do not be shy. And remember, if one dragon catches your eye, get to know them! Come back in two days for the selection ceremonies with a gift to earn their attention!” She brought her hands back together with a clap that reverberated around the stone walls. “Now, go, mingle!”
With that she stepped off the stage and stood to the side to watch the goings on. Students began making their way toward the stairwells leading up toward the roof where the dragons were watching. Arxet watched them all, going over each one by one. Sure, not every prospective rider here had directly said or done anything to her, but they hadn’t said anything to stop her treatment either. That wasn’t exactly a golden badge of honor to her.
Brin had already approached another student and clearly made mental contact with a deer girl from their class. Her face lit up and she hugged the dragon’s chest and climbed on. Must be nice to have friends from their class. The closest Arxet had was…
Her eyes wandered to search for the fox in the crowd until they finally locked onto her. Tifse. She was hanging back with her usual posse of assholes. Each one of them had done something to harass Arxet in her short time in the school. Her blood boiled at the fact that the girl had still gotten away with hiding her coldmark. Her sleeve had clearly been patched up where Arxet had torn it up with her teeth that night. She’d never gotten the chance to out the girl to everyone to give her a taste of her own medicine.
… But maybe it wasn’t too late.
An idea was forming in her mind, a beautifully cruel idea to get back at the little, prissy, hypocritical noble. She stood and prepared to once again pounce down from the rooftop as she had before. The fox never saw it coming. She landed square on top of her and pinned her to her back before anyone could even react. The members of her little gang only cursed and scattered as she slammed down onto their ringleader. “Hey there, little fella. Can never look where I’m going, can I?” She growled down into her face.
“W-wait, wha-” She didn’t get the chance to finish her question as Arxet hooked a claw into the fabric of her arming doublet’s sleeve and tore it free as easily as a bit of parchment, showing off the cold mark to everyone present and leaving her gauntlet to clatter to the ground, now unfastened.
“Thought you’d seen the last of me? I told you everyone would find out, you little hypocrite.” She clamped her jaws over the girl’s shoulder and lifted her off the ground so her arm would hang out for everyone to see. “All your idiot friends who harassed me are being expelled or ejected from the church by the way.”
“Arxet?! Wait! Wai-” The fox’s little friends were taken aback as the sun hit the bright white snowflake mark emblazoned across Tifse’s wrist. She struggled and tried to get out of the dragon’s grip, but was only forcing Arxet’s teeth to dig into her. She opened her mouth to try and explain herself but Arxet wrapped her forelimbs around the fox and spun her around away from their view.
“I think I’ve found my rider.” She launched off the ground and managed a rough parabola out of the building and into the streets outside.
“What! Why? You hate me!” The fox struggled and dropped out of her grip when the two hit the ground. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Once a rider has been chosen by a dragon you can’t really say no.” She began to circle the fox with a chipper gait. “I can boss you around, and if you say no then Tiamat will expel you for your position on coldmarks.” She forced the memory of her earlier conversation with Tiamat through the mental bridge. “She wasn’t happy when she found out how pricks like you have been treating assholes like me.” Her circling stopped and she brought her head down to be eye to eye with the fox. “So, what’s it gonna be, short stuff?”
Tifse grit her teeth at the revelation. Her situation had gone from promising to atrocious in only about twenty seconds. Her fists were shaking with rage at the dragon, but she knew Arxet was right. She pushed herself to her feet, took a step forward and locked eyes with the dragon. “Bring. It. On.”