Chapter 1

     “Come on Saur. It’s our day to scout.” Wesley poked Saur, his dragon, to try and wake him up.
     Saur opened one of his large golden eyes. ‘Fine,’ he thought.
     “You don’t have to think so grumpily.” Wesley chuckled. He covered his bad eye with his blonde hair and glanced around the room.
     “Saur, where is your riding blanket?”
     ‘It’s on the hook, where you left it.’ Saur stood up in his pen and stretched. ‘Can I come out now?’
     Wesley opened Saur’s pen and grabbed his riding bag and blanket. He tugged on Saur’s reigns and led him outside of the stalls.
     The sun was bright for the pair since neither had been outside yet. The air was warm and there was a small breeze. It was a perfect summer day, great for riding.
     “Go ahead and do your warm-ups,” Wesley said, “Try and do them quickly.”
     ‘Hurry? Why?’
     “You’ll see…” Wesley grinned.
     ‘Hmph.’ Saur stretched again, but this time he unfolded his wings the farthest that they reached (which was several feet). At the same time, he his scales from bright red to grass green and his inner wing from a smooth orange to a deep dark forest green.
     Saur flapped his wings slightly and hovered for a few seconds. Then he trotted around the pen and stopped in front of Wesley.
     ‘I’m ready.’
     “Good.” Wesley threw his riding blanket over Saur’s back and climbed up.
     ‘Why are you so anxious to go?’
     “I told you, you’ll-“
     “WESLEY LUMAN!!!”
     “-see. Crap. Go, Saur, GO!”
     Saur started running to the end of the pen (a cliff). ‘What did you do this time?’
     “I didn’t wash my breakfast dishes. Mom’s trying to lessen the work for the maids again…”
     “DON’T YOU DARE FLY OFF! YOU WILL NOT GET ANY LUNCH IF YOU LEAVE THIS GROUND!!!”
     But it was too late. Wesley and Saur were already flying away.

.~*~.

     ‘So… aren’t you worried about lunch?’
     “Wesley laughed. “No. I snuck some food into my bag last night. Speaking of lunch, let’s stop in that forest there.”
     ‘Okay.’ Saur swooped down into a small forest and landed next to a small creek.
     “Keep walking until we get to a clearing,” Wesley instructed.
     ‘Okay… Wait. I see smoke!’
     “Smoke? Maybe… it’s another rider…”
     They walked into the clearing and saw that Wesley was right. It was another rider… but it wasn’t one of theirs. This man had a tiger.