The first Dragon Rider

One hundred years had passed since 'The Burn'. An event that marked the end of human supremacy on Earth and ushered in the age of the Dragon. During the Burn, volcano after volcano erupted across the Earth, each one spewing molten lava, ash and dragons. That day the dragons took to the sky and decimated the Earth.

They overwhelmed the armed forces' firepower, easily outmanoeuvring their fighter jets, then blasting them out of the air with fiery breath.

Multiple nations launched nuclear attacks against the flying hoard, but the beasts were born of fire and resistant to the immense heat of the explosions.

Their domination was absolute. The Earth no longer belonged to Humans. It belonged to the Dragons.

The entire of humanity now scraped out an existence in two colonies, Avalon and Eden. Both were in the cold north, where the dragons were slow, and man could defend themselves with the primitive weapons that they had left.

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The foraging party crept quietly through the forest, checking their hand-drawn maps, which had been handed down from the previous generation of survivors, showing them the locations of the old human settlements. They tried to scrounge any supplies they could to continue with their meagre existence. It was too cold to farm, and they couldn't keep animals, as they attracted the always hungry dragons. So they scrounged and foraged, always living on the edge of starvation.

The silence was absolute. No birds sang anymore, and the wildlife knew to be silent, or the dragons would come for them. The only thing that occasionally broke the stillness was a snapping of twigs as the humans crept along.

Hope was three years old. She was old enough to understand that you didn't make any noise when you left the safety of their caves. She tried to keep up with the foraging party, desperate not to be left behind by her dad, the only person she had left in the world. Hope's mother had not survived to hold her daughter, her life trickling into the birthing bed, a constant river of red. Until her skin was pale and her eyes closed for the last time.

But Hope's legs were too short, and it was only minutes before she was lost in the cold dark forest. She paused listening but couldn't hear anything. Her young mind told her to run home, so she dashed for the safety of the caves, but all the trees looked the same. She was lost, totally lost and alone.

She opened her mouth to shout, but the need for quiet was ingrained in her soul, and no words came out. She had suffered slaps and some punches from the adults to ensure she didn't make noise. They didn't mean to be cruel to the children, but all their lives depended on them being quiet.

Hope wandered, desperately searching for the familiarity of home. She finally stumbled on a clearing and sat down. Exhaustion, hunger and thirst overtook her. Her chin slumped onto her chest, and tears trickled down her cheeks.

She sat alone as the sun went down, and the impenetrable darkness of the forest pressed in on her from every direction. She sobbed until she had no tears left and huddled into her tatty clothes as the cold penetrated them with icy fingers.

She must have fallen asleep as the noise startled her into instant wakefulness. She recognised the the sound of wings cutting through the air above her, it was the sound of death, .

She knew she had to be silent; her dad would want her to be brave. But she couldn't stop the small mewling sob that escaped her lips.

The dragon's head swivelled around, localising the sound of the small animal. The great beast landed in the clearing in the forest and sniffed deeply as its snake-like head moved from side to side and its pupils dilated to allow it to see in the gloomy forest.

Hope shuffled as deeply into the hollow of a log as she could, squeezing her eyes tightly closed, so she didn't have to see her worst nightmare as it stalked towards her hiding spot.

With a final sniff, the dragon localised the scent of the creature who had made the noise and purposefully strode over to it. Thrusting its head forwards, ready for a snack. It opened its mouth to consume the delectable-smelling morsel, but it paused as another sob broke free from Hope. The dragon closed its mouth and sniffed again, confusion clouding its mind. The tasty morsel smelled familiar. The dragon pushed its nose forwards so it was right up against the warm creature and sniffed deeply. Its eyes dilated with recognition.

Hope couldn't move, her fear paralysing her. She sat with the dragon's rough snout pressed against her and sobbed as she waited for the pain and the end. She felt the fieriness of the dragon begin to thaw her frozen bones, and despite her terror, she revelled in the heat radiating off the beast. It was the first time in her short existence that she had felt true warmth.

Hope screamed when the dragon pushed her with its nose, which turned into a wail when one of the creature's taloned feet edged forwards and nudged the terrified girl out of her hiding place. Then, the dragon used one of its curved claws to tug her until it could wrap its whole foot around Hope's body and lift the trembling child into the air.

The dragon stared into the green eyes of the squirming human, and recognition flared deep inside its soul. This one, this human, belonged with him.

Hope stared back into the dragon's vivid green eyes, and her fear evaporated. She reached a hand out, no longer trembling but sure that this was what she should do and patted the side of its nose. She ran her hands over the armoured scales, marvelling in the texture and green hue so close to that of its eyes. She blinked a few times, realising the dragon wasn't an it, he was a boy.

She yelped when his talons tightened around her waist more firmly, and with two powerful flaps of his wings, he took to the sky.

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Hope held tightly onto the ridge scales of her dragon's back as they rode low and fast, clipping the tops of the trees with each beat of their wings. She couldn't remember much of her human language, having spent twenty years living with her dragon, but one of the words she did recall and know the meaning of was fire, so that's what she had named him. Over time she had adapted, using a made-up sign language that Fire understood and the few human words that she could remember from before Fire had found her in the forest.

She occasionally got the feeling she was missing something, that before the dragon found her, there was someone else in her heart. But she only had to stare into the eyes of her dragon to forget there was ever anyone else in her life.

She risked a glance over her shoulder, hoping that they were beginning to put some distance between themselves and the black dragon that was twice Fire's size, whose territory they had accidentally strayed into when they were out on a joy ride.

They were exploring and had ventured further from their home than ever before. They didn't even see the monstrous dragon before it was upon them, as it came at them with the sun behind it. Fire and Hope had turned so tightly to escape that Hope had almost been thrown from the ropes she used to help her remain seated when they flew.

Hope frowned and craned her neck even further around, blinking a few times to make sure it wasn't still spots from the sun dancing in front of her eyes. But there was a human-shaped figure riding the black dragon. Her hand relaxed on Fire's ridge scales and she began sliding to the side in shock. There was another dragon rider. She always thought she was the only one.

After two decades of partnership with Hope, Fire was so attuned to the feel of her riding his back that he instinctively shifted to catch her when he felt her body slip. He pushed his long neck forwards and pumped his wings harder, desperate to get away from the large male dragon.

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Hope relaxed in front of the roaring fire that Fire had lit with a single stream of his breath. She rested her body back against Fire's side, who was asleep and snoring gently, small puffs of steam and sparks coming from his nostril with each exhalation.

She slept every night cradled against her dragon's side, for his warmth and his protection. She had learned not to wander too far from Fire, as most dragons attempted to kill her on sight, and she still had nightmares about how close she had come to being eaten.

But she noticed a pattern among the dragons she met. It didn't matter what colour their scales were, but those with green eyes, like Fires, never attacked. They always seemed intrigued by her. She wished she had the language to ask Fire about it, but despite being so in tune with each other on so many levels, it was too complicated a concept for her to convey.

She started when she heard a twig break in the trees to her left, and she knew Fire heard it too, as the gentle snores abruptly stopped and his eyes shot open. He slowly lifted his head off the ground, extending his neck and peering around to isolate the cause of the sound. His leg moved protectively around Hope as he surveyed their surroundings, and she felt him startle and grab hold of her in his talons, ready to take flight. But a loud huff from the dragon who approached them through the forest stilled his wings, and his body relaxed slightly, the hold on Hope no longer stealing her breath away.

A small figure walked next to the dragon and called out to Hope.

"Hi. Please don't be frightened. We mean you no harm." The boy held his hands out towards her, showing he held no weapons.

Hope stared back at him, tilting her head from one side to the other, mimicking the way Fire looked at things when he wasn't sure about them. She recognised some of the words, but she left the other humans when she was three and could recall very little of their language.

"I'm sorry we scared you earlier. We were surprised to see you. We didn't mean to chase you off. We want to talk."

Hope didn't move or say anything. She made a sign to the stranger, asking if he was a friend or foe.

But he didn't answer her in any way she understood, as he kept saying words that she didn’t know. She eventually tuned him out and watched Fire and his interaction with the other dragon. They conversed in huffs, grunts, and sparks of fire. It wasn't long before Fire took his talons off her completely, and she felt his previously tense body relax.

She put one hand onto his rough scales for reassurance and made her gesture for 'friend' to the other human.

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"On your right," Marcus yelled to Hope as the feral dragon came from behind and below, where Fire hadn't noticed.

"Thanks." She yelled back as Fire dodged away from the snapping jaw and reaching talons of the other dragon.

It had been five years since Marcus had approached Hope in the forest and managed to convey to her that he was a friend. In those five years, Hope had learned to speak English, and Marcus had learned the sign language that she found so useful in communicating with her dragon.

They spent most of that time searching for more dragon riders until there was a group of twenty of them. They were still vastly outnumbered by the feral dragons, but they found safety in numbers, and their lives became easier with other dragons and their riders to watch their backs.

The newest of their group had been found by their dragon only a few months ago and, despite only being a young child, could still remember where her human family lived. The riders had spent a long-time debating but finally came to the agreement that it was time to start protecting the other humans. To try and prevent the decimation of their species.

They had chosen to go to the human settlement to try and help them. But when they arrived, they found it under attack from a group of feral dragons. Who had smelled the sheep the humans kept and were determined to get to them and snack on the humans along the way.

Hope felt the air pressure change above her and tapped Fire's side, who immediately responded to the command and put his head down and dove towards the ground, his wings pinned to his side as they plummeted. Hope clung tightly to his gleaming green ridge scales and shifted in her saddle to look over her shoulder. As she planned, the other dragon was pursuing them. She tapped again on Fire's side, and he flung his wings out to halt their rapid descent, spun and immediately spewed fire at the dragon attempting to chase them down. The feral dragon plummeted from the sky and crashed to the ground. Fire pulled up and rejoined the air-born battle.

Finally, the last feral dragon fell from the sky, and the riders landed in a row. Hope ran a concerned eye over her family, relieved to see while a few of them were a little charred around the edges, they were all alive.

She slid from Fire to the ground and was joined by Marcus. They walked forwards together, approaching the humans cowering in front of them. When they were close enough to be easily heard by the humans, Marcus nodded to Hope.

She examined the row of humans before she proclaimed. "We are the dragon riders. We are here to save humanity."