Callum drew a deep breath of cool air into his lungs. He tightened his grip on his weapon, bent his knees, and slowly began to circle his opponent.
Eight days had passed since his fight with Firrol and receiving his sword. In that time, every spare moment that they had, Wenrys and Callum were practicing their swordsmanship.
The day after the big fight, Ferric, Firrol and Raela's father, had been kind enough to drop by and teach the boys the basics.
"Remember, these are not toys, they are tools of battle." Said the blacksmith. "They should be used only to protect lives, and in turn, should never be drawn unless you intend to take a life. Let's continue to settle petty arguments with our fists."
Firric was a burly man with bright red hair, like his daughter. He wore a light leather shirt with no sleeves and a leather apron to protect his cloth trousers. His arms had very little hair on them and seemed to always be tainted with a layer of black soot.
During his visit he had made it clear that he held no ill will towards Callum regarding the fight. He also mentioned that he had disciplined Firrol for using a weapon in their fight and being needlessly aggressive and cruel.
Currently both Callum and Wenrys were in the open field near where the fight had occurred. They were circling each other, weapons raised, each one watching the other intently trying to read their moves.
Wenrys moved first, he took a step forward and in the same motion slashed downward to strike Callum across his chest. But Callum was faster, he quickly parried the strike and delivered a counter blow that Wenrys was only barely able to block. Wenrys then lunged forward in an attempt to stab Callum's gut but his momentum left him off balance. Callum spun to his right as Wenrys fell forward, squared his feet and landed a blow across Wenrys exposed back.
"Ahhh, damn that stings!" Wenrys shouted while helplessly trying to rub his own back.
"Well, I suppose it's a good thing we decided to use these sticks instead of swords, huh?" Callum laughed. "Actually, I think this may be the same one that broke my arm." He then broke the stick on the ground and threw the remaining piece away.
"You're just too fast. No matter how much my skill improves, it's no use if I can't keep up with your movements." said Wenrys.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it." Callum replied. "After all we have all the time in the world to train, I have no doubt you will be as fast as me eventually. I would say that right now you are more skilled than me so I need to watch my back."
"Callum, do you think we will be chosen to be Riders?" Wenrys tone had changed to a much more solemn one.
"Of course I do, we were born to be Riders. Flying through the clouds on the backs of our mighty dragons, slaying vicious beasts…rescuing maidens." Callum said while mimicking slaying beasts with an invisible sword. "There have never been two better candidates than us."
"What about Raela and Firrol? They're fast and strong, they were raised like warriors. Don't you think a dragon would choose one of them over someone like me?" Wenrys was now staring at his feet trying to hide the worry on his face.
"Oh come on, you know that's not how it works. Dragons choose souls that are compatible with their own, and don't you think that being smart, kind, and brave are traits that a dragon might be searching for?" Callum now had his hand on Wenrys shoulder. "We are both going to be riders."
Callum's confidence had helped to calm his worries, off only a little. "I hope you're right." Wenrys said, finally looking up at Callum. "Let's go get some food."
Callum pat Wenrys firmly on the back as the two started walking back towards the village. After a few steps Callum thought he could hear a faint rumble coming from far off.
"Wait, do you hear that?!" Callum whispered in an almost nervous voice.
All of the animals in the area were suddenly behaving as if they were frightened. They all ran to the cover of the trees, the horses were bucking wildly.
The sound was like rolling thunder and it was getting louder and closer by the second.
"Dragons! They're here!" Wenrys shouted.
The boys were running as fast as they could now, towards the river at the south end of the village, there was a clearing that the Riders would always use when they arrived for The Hatching. As they ran, they could see all of the other villagers leaving their homes and looking to the skies.
Soon they saw Orin, standing outside the butchers hut holding their swords. As they neared they didn't slow down as Orin threw the swords to them. "Catch! I'll see you down there." He shouted followed by a throaty laugh.
They were getting close to the water when two massive shadows could be seen moving rapidly past them.
They looked up just in time to see two dragons, one as large as a house, the other was even bigger. They circled above the water briefly before finally tucking their massive wings tight to their bodies and landing only a dozen yards away from Callum and Wenrys in the clearing at the waters edge.
The larger of the two raised up on its hind legs, it's thick, barbed tail whipping back and forth as it unfurled its massive wings, and let out a mighty roar that shook the very ground they stood on. As it dropped back on all fours, Callum could tell that it's head was no less than twenty feet from the ground and another thirty from its snout to the tip of the tail. It was dark brown on the top and got lighter as they got close to the beasts belly and the leather of the wings, like the color of dessert sand. It's scales were bulky and rigid and Callum thought that this particular dragon could have been carved from a mountain.
The other, smaller dragon was nearly the opposite in every way visually. Its scales were a bright silver with certain parts verging on white. When the midday sun hit the scales just right it sent beams of light dazzling across the ground. This dragon was smaller than the other and it's scales more sleek and streamlined, but Callum could tell that it was no less fearsome. It stood at the edge of the water and seemed very aloof as to what was happening around it as it pawed the smooth river rocks with one of its massive claws making jarring scraping sounds.
Callum and Wenrys were so fixated on the dragons that they were unaware that the rest of the village had arrive on the beach as well. He finally realized that there was a presence to his left and he turned to see Raela standing quite close to him. She turned to him and smiled a beautiful smile, her green eyes shining in the sun. He blushed and quickly returned his view to see the two riders climbing out of their saddles located just above the dragons shoulder blades, and dropping gracefully to the ground in front of them. Each of them holding something that Callum knew immediately to be dragon eggs.