Hi all!
This week I thought I'd share with you a snippet of chapter one of Blood and Water! I hope you enjoy!
Dragons may have been the first to rule the world, but humans have ruled better.
The large, terrifying lizards plagued the Earth with their constant territorial fights. Like most things in nature, they were responsible for their own downfall.
I carefully close the old book in my hands.. The cover is faded and worn, and the pages yellow from age, but I don’t care. It is the handbook for my next step in life. The chance to be more than just a regular girl. The chance to see my brother again.
Ignoring the roar of the train around me, I flip to my favourite chapter, identified by a folded corner and a faded blue ribbon. This chapter is full of colourful pictures of dragons and people working together. Some of them build houses; others help with shopping. My favourite picture is of a silver dragon soaring through the skies, a middle-aged woman wearing a leather jacket confidently clutching its neck. I hope that my future dragon will be faithful to me, though I know that’s a stupid thing to worry about. As long as I treat my companion well, it will be loyal.
Closing the old book carefully as the train shoots around a bend, I glance out of the window, watching nature zoom by. Gnarled trees and pastel flowers dot the landscape. I even catch sight of a fluffy brown rabbit rushing into the undergrowth. The outside world is hidden to us as children. We are hardly ever told what happens out there or what it's like. They don't tell us so that we won't become curious, but it has the opposite effect. At nineteen we leave our town and are released into the wide world, a thought that terrifies me. There's no way of knowing what's on the other side. At fifteen, I only have four years left until I find out.
“Hey, look! I can see the camps on the horizon!”
Someone at the back of the train jumps out of their seat and excitedly taps a window. “Look! One of the Years is practising dragon flying!”
Everyone oohs and aahs at the sight of a royal-blue dragon soaring through the air, its large wings slicing through low clouds. Its companion grips tightly on the reins, almost as if they are scared but trust the dragon's judgement. The dragon is about eight foot tall, its scales covered in emerald-green squiggles, almost like patches of ivy weaving up a tree trunk.
It's probably one of the older Years. Dragons don't finish growing until Year Three.”
I'm nervous.
I’m going to a new area, with new people, new school lessons and I'm going to see my brother for the first time in a year. I'm moving to Aria, one of the best towns in the country. While in a Primary Town you can't visit the people in a Secondary Town, and vice versa. The adults say it’s so we don’t hurt people if we discover our element early, but I doubt that. I've missed my brother, and my friends too – Marco and Maya the most. It's been hard not having them around every day. But now that I'm moving to a Secondary Town I can see them again and hang around with them.
Hopefully.
That's it for this week! Next Sunday I'm going to write about what element I would like to have if I was born in the Elemental Dragons universe.