Dragon Rider Chronicles—The Hybrid’s Rising

                          Chapter III


Thank God today wasn’t a day of band camp, thought Theo as he was letting Nightblade run around and play outside. It was apparent from that morning’s incident with the cat that he needed to release some energy, so Theo contently watched as Nightblade ran around in his back yard, chasing bees away from pollinating the tiny clover flowers amongst the grass. He made sure that the infant dragon didn’t wander into his front yard, as to keep the public’s eye away from the thought-to-be-mythical reptile. Dex kept his distance from the hatchling, wandering around the small garden a few yards up from Theo’s house.

“And you still haven’t figured out why you have him yet?” Aaron walked out from the back door carrying some food he got from a local restaurant for lunch.  

“Nope, I have no idea. That old man just handed the egg to me and said nothing more about it. I’ve got to admit I’ve really taken to this little guy.” Theo replied, looking at his dragon pouncing at bees in a flower bed.   

“And you’re absolutely sure you don’t know who the man was? Not at all?” Aaron said, unwrapping hamburgers for the three of them.

“I haven’t the slightest clue. His looks reminded me somewhat of my mother’s side of the family, but that’s all.” Theo turned to start eating his lunch when he noticed Nightblade carrying something in his mouth.

“Oh God he has a snake in his mouth!” Amber yelped, pointing to the hatchling.

Theo smiled at his little hunter. “Good job boy, you killed a garter snake!” He gave Nightblade a congratulatory pat on the head, and the little dragon contently sat down to devour his prize.

“It’s alright, Amber. He’s only doing what his instincts tell him to do—hunt and eat.” Aaron said, taking a rather large bite out of his hamburger.

“Oh I’m not upset about that. I just hate snakes. At least you won’t have to worry about those with him around, Theo.” She stole one of Aaron’s fries causing him to smirk at her.

Theo smiled at the great day he’d been having so far, and it was only eleven o’clock in the morning. The weather forecast called for thunderstorms which could turn severe late on, but for the moment being it was very bright and warm out—not a cloud to be seen anywhere. Although still unsure of why he was given a dragon, he was content at how well summer break had kicked off. His freshman year of high school had ended only a week earlier, which really made him happy as he wasn’t low man in the school anymore. Theo then heard the phone ringing inside the house. Letting out an annoyed sigh, he got up to go answer it.

“I’ll be right back, guys, the phone’s ringing. Do me a favor and keep your eyes on Night—“ Theo looked down to see that the hatchling was right beside him, following him into the house. He gave his dragon a smile and walked over to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Theo! How are you?”

“Oh! Hey Grandma! I’m fine, how are you?” Theo was relieved it was his grandmother and not a pesky telemarketer.

“I’m great, just dandy. But there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“What? Did I do something wrong?” Theo was worried.

“Oh no, not at all. It’s something that I should’ve told you a while back—but neglected to do so. I’m going to come over in about an hour and we’ll talk, okay?” his grandma explained to him.

“Oh, yeah, that’s fine. Although I hope you don’t mind that I have some company over right now.”

“That’s fine. Who’s there?”

“It’s only Aaron and Amber.” Theo then remembered Nightblade. “Umm, grandma, there’s something I need to tell you but I highly doubt you’ll believe me.”

“I know, Theo. You’ve been given a dragon. That’s what I’m going to talk to you about. I’ll see you in a while, okay?”

Theo paused in shock. “Umm, yeah. See you in a bit, grandma.”

Theo hung the phone up and came to the realization that there was a lot more to this dragon than he had previously thought. He looked down at Nightblade who was rubbing up against his leg, begging to be given a petting.

“Hey Theo! What happened to ya, buddy? Did you die in there?” Aaron yelled from the door, as Theo had been in the house for a good twenty minutes or so.

Theo picked up his dragon and headed back to the doorway.

“Funny. No, I had to take an important phone call that has really left me in wonder.” Theo replied, stroking Nightblade from head to tail.

“Who was it?”

“My grandma. She’s coming over later to talk to me about, believe it or not, this whole dragon thing. She knows about it. How? How does she know about all of this?”
“—That’s really strange. You think she’s been keeping something from you?”

“Definitely. There is definitely something going on that I have no idea about. Well, when she comes over in about an hour, she’s going to get a lot of questions from me.” Theo sat down with Nightblade to finish eating, but the baby dragon snatched the rest of the hamburger before Theo could even look at it.

The three humans continued eating and talking for about forty five minutes until Theo’s grandmother pulled in the driveway. She got out of her car carrying a very old-looking book and started up toward the table. Nightblade got somewhat defensive at this stranger coming toward he and his father, but seemed to calm down once she got more definable in his eyesight.

Shirley sat down at the table after giving a hello to her grandson and his friends and then proceeded to open up the antique of a book to a page around the middle.

“Theo, I’ve kept something from you now for a long time. I didn’t feel you were ready to know about it until now. The families on your mother’s side of the family—are far from normal.”

“Well okay grandma, but what’s with this dragon?”

“That’s what I’m getting to. The dragon relates to your mother’s side.”

“Alright, how?”

“Listen carefully to what I’m about to read to you.” Shirley scanned over the page for the right passage of text. “Alright, now, before I begin, you of course know that the families on your mother’s side of the family are the Isemans and the Klingensmiths.”

“Right, you married Grandpa Klingensmith and he died in 1979.”

“Correct. He was a Klingensmith and I am technically an Iseman. Listen to this carefully.” Shirley began to read. “The Iseman and Klingensmith families are two very powerful generations of dragonriders. They are by far one of Earth’s oldest families in the history of time, originating nearly one hundred fifty thousand years ago—“

“Whoa! What? Dragonriders?” Theo stopped his grandmother in shock.

“Yes, Theo. The families are indeed dragonriders.”

“But dragons have never existed on Earth—well now that I have Nightblade that seems questionable.”

“You’re right Theo. Dragons have never existed on this planet. They have, though, and very much still are existing on another planet.”

“Another planet? You’re telling me that there’s another planet with life out there? For a fact?”

“Yes.”

“And this isn’t worldwide information because?”

“The Earth population with the exception of chosen dragonriders has no idea of its existence, Theo. Now may I continue?”

Theo, very confused, managed to nod yes.

“Very well then. These families have always been of extreme importance to the planet of Actias, a world inhabited by dragons, anthropomorphic dragons, elves, dwarves, and gnomes, with the exception of Earth riders who choose to live there.”

“This isn’t all just a story?”

“Not at all Theo. This is all quite very real.” Shirley went on to explain in depth everything about Actias and its past, including her experience as a dragon rider.

“You’re a dragonrider?” Theo asked his grandmother.

“Oh my yes, Theo.” Shirley thought for a moment, and then passed the book to Theo. “Here, I want you to read this in its entirety.”

Theo looked down at the book and began to read.

The Choosing of the Isemans and Klingensmiths by his godliness Luminarius
Written E2998.90-S2/205

The Iseman and Klingensmith families were chosen one hundred twenty thousand years ago to be the dragonriders of Luminarius, the Actian dragon god of light. The gold-scaled god for unknown reasons chose these families from planet Earth. He used his mind to transport two males from each family to Actias. As it is written on a bronze plate by Luminarius himself, today kept in the temple of Luminarius by monks believed to have some of his blood in their bloodlines, these males were told by the gold god that their next child would be a male with a few draconian genes. These children would be the first Dragonriders of Luminarius, and every other firstborn child, which would be male, after them would have these genes and be considered a rider. They were to do everything in their power for the good of Actias and its citizens from that point on for as long as the planet existed. They continue to thrive strongly today, and keep the planet in as best order as they can. It has been prophecised, though, that one day a firstborn rider of the Isemans will be female, and she will be the first female Iseman Dragonrider of Luminarius. She is supposed to wed a Klingensmith rider according to this prophecy, and give birth to a daughter that will carry a hybrid of both genes to her son, who will be the hybrid of both of these families. It matters not who their daughter weds, because the child, to be named Theo, will possess the hybrid gene regardless of his father’s bloodline. This hybrid child is prophesied to be the actual rider of Luminarius himself, when he is set free from the depths of the Xer’nekitan Sea. Together Luminarius and Theo are to destroy Heolstor, the dragon god of darkness, on this era’s Termina. This Termina is to be the War of Light and Darkness. Nothing more about this could be made out from Luminarius’s writings.   

Theo looked up at his grandmother utterly stunned by what he just read.

“So I am, for certain, this hybrid?” Theo managed to blurt out after a few minutes.

“Indeed you are Theo. You’re by far the most important Dragonrider of Luminarius, heck, you technically are the Dragonrider of Luminarius.” His grandmother responded.

“But if I’m the dragonrider of this god, then why is he at the bottom of this, however it’s pronounced, Xer’nekitan, Sea? And if that’s the case, then why do I have this dragon instead of him?” Theo questioned.

“That part I cannot answer—it’s supposed to be in Luminarius’s prophecy of you. I have never got a chance to read it, though, as there are no obtainable copies of it anywhere on Actias.” Shirley explained. “But what I am certain of is that you are the hybrid, Theo.”

Theo leaned back against the house, thinking. Basically, the very fabric of reality had been torn apart before him and he didn’t know what to make of it. He was supposed to be some kind of savior to a planet that he didn’t even know existed until ten minutes ago. Theo remembered a foreign term he read in the text.

“What’s the Termina?”

“That’s the last, the very last, day of an era on Actias. Something of planet-shaking proportions always happens on that day. An era lasts one hundred thousand years—” and she went on to explain to Theo the time system used on Actias as well as other things he’d need to know about the planet.

At this point, Aaron and Amber were both in shock, even after discovering that the mythical being known as the dragon actually existed. They could never look at Theo the same way again—not in a bad way, but they were just utterly baffled by the knowledge they had just obtained about their best friend. He was the dragonrider of a god, and his bloodline was a legacy.


Actias


Vulcan turned up the volume on his music player as he jogged down the sidewalks of Capitus Actia on a very warm morning. It was dawn and the sun was just barely over the horizon. He glanced out at the Xer’nekitan Sea to see it rising from where the water met the sky. The golden rays streaming over the glassy ocean made the buildings shimmer in the beauty of this morning. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He’d been exercising vigorously lately and barely eating anything at mealtime, and he wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t overweight, and never was—in fact he might even have been slightly underweight. He loved to jog in the mornings mainly because it was the only time he could really be alone with himself. Every day was an endless stream of Actian inhabitants—from dealing with academy students at his job to putting up with many meetings between himself and Luminarian Scholars in order to prepare him to be the sensei of the hybrid. He felt that many of these meetings were unnecessary, but as the Scholars he met with told him, “This is the Dragonrider of Luminarius we’re talking about. Not just a regular Iseman or Klingensmith.”

Vulcan took a large drink of water from a bottle he had bought at a local convenience store about an hour before, when it was still dark out. It was refreshing, he thought, and savored the moment—but this was all interrupted when his cellular phone began to vibrate.

“Damnit! Who the hell would be calling me this early?” He pulled the phone out of his jogging shorts pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was Tuomas. He answered it.

“It’s a bit early don’t you think?” Vulcan continued jogging while talking to his elderly friend.

“For you? Ha! I know you, and you’re always up jogging ridiculously early.” Tuomas replied to his bronze friend.

“Yep, that’s me, old man. Where are you?”

“I’m driving to Theo’s house on Earth, well, at least trying to. I’m on a highway and I can’t seem to find the Kittanning exit—wait there it is!”

Vulcan stopped jogging immediately and his eyes grew the widest they’d ever been. “You’re bringing him here today?”

“Oh my yes. I just got off of the phone with Shirley, and she said that she told him all she could. She said he’s rather baffled right now, and I just can’t wait to bring him to Actias to shake the very foundation of reality he’s come to believe even more. Oh! And the dragon’s hatched. It’s a black male with a fiery red stripe running from its forehead to the tip of its snout.” Tuomas chuckled over the phone.

Vulcan placed a hand of worry on his forehead. He wondered many things at this moment—was he ready? Did he know all he needed to know? Would he make a good sensei? Would the hybrid like him?

“Dear heavens! You should’ve let me know sooner Tuomas!”

Tuomas laughed. “Don’t worry buddy, you’re ready. Remember that I can find out what you’re thinking. You’ll do fine Vulcan, stop worrying so much.”

Vulcan breathed a sigh that was a mixture of worry and wonder. “I suppose you’re right, friend. I’ll be ready for him at any time today. Just let me get home and freshened up, because I’m rather sweaty and need a shower.”
“Of course. I’ll see you in a while, and don’t worry I’ll call before we get there so you don’t have to worry about getting walked in on in the middle of changing.” Tuomas replied.

“Ha, that would be much appreciated Tuomas. Alright, see you in a bit.” Vulcan hung up his phone and jogged quickly home to get ready for Theo’s arrival.