As Mycah, Sorrel and Dio walked out of the building the three dragons stretched their necks up to the sun and drank in the warmth; they spotted Chenyo and the Narai coming towards them.
“Mycah,” Chenyo’s voice echoed in her head. “I need you to talk with the Narai, they have important information on the Invaders that we need.” She nodded her reply.
“I’ll see you guys in a bit,” she said to Dio and Sorrel; “I have to speak to the Narai” she rolled her eyes and strode to join Chenyo with Raffy on her shoulder. As she got closer to them, Chenyo stepped forwards and bowed; Mycah frowned slightly and made to reciprocate the bow.
“No, Mycah.” He said softly, “you need not bow to me. You, Sorrel and Dio are above everyone else here now. You are the new Dragon Masters.” He finished with a smile and locked eyes with Raffy. “What is your dragon’s name?”
“This is Raffy,” she smiled and extended her arm towards Chenyo and he climbed down her arm, his long tail coiled tightly around her arm to help keep him balanced. His pushed him nose out towards Chenyo and blew smoke from his nose. He clambered back up her arm and with a flap of his wings he pushed himself back to her shoulder; he pushed his wings out behind him and Mycah could see completely through the webbing of his wings. The thin bones in his wings stretched before he tucked them back across his spine.
“I would like to reintroduce you to Mycah,” Chenyo said to the Narai. “This is Dragon Master Mycah and her dragon, Raffy.” The Narai’s eyes were wide as they looked at Raffy perched on Mycah’s shoulder.
“He won’t hurt you,” she said. “Come, we have much to talk about.” She walked with them towards the main building and through into a quiet room.
Orphan Mistress Elys walked across the courtyard and entered the orphanage; she made her way up to Mycah, Lux and Bria’s room.
“Mycah” she said gently as she knocked. As she walked in she was confronted with Lux and Bria wrestling to keep Mycah from squirming out of the window. “What is going on?” She demanded her voice harsh. “Mycah get inside immediately, Lux and Bria let her go, she can barely breathe!”
“Didn’t stop her clawing me,” mumbled Bria as she rubbed the marks down her arm. Mycah climbed down off the window ledge, her silver hair ruffled and still in her street clothes.
“Pass me that brush please, Lux.” Elys said and held her hand out; “Mycah come here, hurry now, we don’t have much time.” She positioned Mycah in front of her and started to brush through her hair, before long half of it was smooth and unknotted almost reaching her waist. Lux pulled her smart white tunic and trousers from the hanging rail at the back of their room and helped her into it while the rest of her hair was being brushed.
“Do I have to wear shoes too?” she moaned.
“Yes, Mycah. We’re going to see the Elders; you need to be dressed smartly.” Elys replied.
“Can Lux and Bria come too?” She begged turning around; Elys turned her back.
“Be still, I’m almost finished. And I’m afraid they can’t. The Elders have agreed to see me and you only.”
“Will the Ring Masters be there?” She turned just as Elys finished brushing her long hair; it flicked over her shoulder as she spun, worry etched across her face.
“I’m not sure, Mycah.” She put the brush on the side, “come now or we will be even later than we already are.” She took Mycah by the hand and lead her out of the orphanage; the walk to the Elders Council took fifteen minutes, by the time they arrived Mycah was bored and covered with a film of red dust from the tracks that ran through the colony. As they entered the tall white stone building they were greeted by a young girl who showed them through to the main meeting room. The six Elders were seated on high backed stone chairs in a semi circle around half the room their hooded tunics casting shadows over their faces. Elys and Mycah stood silent as the girl introduced them.
“Orphan Mistress Elys, why are you standing before us?” said of the Elders seated to the left of the room.
“I stand before you today with Mycah, she is five years of age and she was recently taken to the Ring Masters and she fought against a boy almost double her age. She beat him using the Elements.” The Elders shifted in their seats and two leant forwards to get a closer look at her. “We believe she is The Chosen One.” She finished looking at each of them in turn.
“We would like to test her and see if it is so and if she is The Chosen One we will contact the Dragon Centre and see what the Dragon Masters think.” Elys nodded when they had finished; one of the Elders rang a small bell which was on the desk in front of him. A young entered through a hidden door from Mycah’s right making her jump backwards and start to shift but when she saw he wasn’t a threat she stopped the shift.
“Impressive,” she heard of the Elders’ think and she flashed him a small smile. He bought forth a tray containing a small bowl, a candle and a pebble.
“Mycah, I would like you to fill the bowl with water please,” said one of the Elders pulling his hood down to reveal his face; Mycah shot a glance to Elys who nodded to her with a smile. Muttering a short string of words she twisted her palm and folded her forefinger and pinkie finger by her side; the Elders watched as the bowl filled to the brim. “Thank you, now would you light this candle please.” He held the candle out to her and she stepped forwards to take it from him. As she took it the wick lit instantly with a pale blue flame, she handed the candle back to him and watched in amusement as the candle went out. She lifted her hand and watched as the pebble flew towards her, catching it deftly she rolled it in her hand.
“Want it back?” she asked with a grin.
“Sure,” said one of the Elders and she sent it flying back towards him.
“We will be talking to the Dragon Masters and we will send word when we hear back from the, Orphan Mistress Elys.” One of the Elders spoke from the far right of the room.
“And you, Mycah, maybe try not to beat up the Ring Masters again...” said the Elder who still had his hood down. She grinned and left the building with Elys.
“Welcome to Skyeyla,” Jones said with a beaming smile as he cast his eyes over them. “This is the quarantine bay. You will all be taken through to the building next door where we will book you all in.”
“Due to the nature of this planet you will have to stay in quarantine for around three weeks, but you’ll be happy to know it will pass quickly!” Pat interjected with a smile and a flick of his ruffled hair. “If you’d like to follow Todd, wave Todd, through those doors he’ll start booking you in.” Slowly they began to file through after Todd as Jones and Pat left the building and headed up towards Bay One; entering the code, Jones swore as he got it wrong.
“All the numbers are different,” he grumbled as the door buzzed open. Striding in, he pushed open a door and greeted the first flux of civilians. “Hello everyone, I’m just here to give you a quick message. I am pleased to let you know that you have all been declared sound of health and you can now move into your housing on the main facility!” A loud cheer erupted from the group of one hundred and fifty civilians. If you would like to follow me I’ll be able to walk you through to your new village, please leave all personal items here and they will be brought to you.” He and Pat lead the first flux out of the building and across the concrete towards the forest.
“We have a short walk through the forest to reach your village, but do not be alarmed there are no beasts or monsters lurking in the trees. There are many hundreds of birds and a fair few mammals floating around but nothing that will cause you any harm,” Pat said. They continued walking and murmurs of interest passed through the group as they passed the unusual trees and plants, none of which they had seen before on Planet Rheso. The journey took less than ten minutes at a leisurely place which allowed everyone the time to look around and see the wonders that they could now call home. Stepping over a ring of stones they entered the small village that had been built among the trees;
“Welcome, to First Flux” Jones said with a smile. Almost a hundred houses had been built in a large circle surrounded by trees and a ring of rocks to protect them. “You have been assigned houses, if you would like to go through and find yours feel free, you are welcome to move around as you wish. You are not permitted to leave the ring for now; you will be shown around the forest in a short while, but not until everyone has settled in. We will station five men with you for the first couple of nights until you are feeling more confident. We will leave you to settle in!” He finished with a laugh and watched as they all disappeared to find their new house. Pat and Jones had called for a ride back and as they made their way back towards the ring they heard the deep humming of the hover bikes. Rounding a corner on the track they saw the five bikes coming towards them; two of the men climbed off and switched the engine off which lowered the upgraded quad bike to the floor. They quickly saluted and mounted behind two of the other men; Jones and Pat straddled the machines and typed in their personal ID code into the engine keypad and the bikes started with a deep throbbing which echoed across the forest. They floated up to around a foot off the ground, gunning the throttle they turned quickly and shot down the track. The journey was over in less than two minutes; they burst out onto the concrete and barrelled towards the main building.
“Hey, Jon-o!” shouted Pat. “Let’s go for a spin!” Jones nodded and laughed and the two of them peeled away from the other bike and headed towards the end of the concrete slip way. As they shot through the forest along the bike track, they rounded corners at speed and shot over jumps; the freedom let them forget about their duties and have fun. They stayed with the bikes until it started to get dark and they headed back more slowly; they were both covered in dirt and had mud splattered up their faces from the rivers they had crossed. As they dropped the bikes off in the Vehicle Bay they both went their separate ways, Pat headed to the bar he had set up and Jones headed up to the Tech Room to check in before retiring for the night.
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