Chapter Text
The night sky was beautiful this close up, all the constellations and the moon, being on a dragon’s back… his dragon’s back. Noli still hadn’t let go of its fur, gripping it tightly to stay on despite it feeling like something was holding him down; he hoped it wasn’t hurting… wait, was he supposed to name the dragon or did it have one already? He heard it chuff again, head raising to look at him and somehow staying on track without any fault to its flying. ‘For the record, my star, you grabbing me like that is but a barely persistent itch. And I do have a name, Miotas.’ Oh, that was perfect. He wasn’t the best namer for most things; look at the last pet he tried to name! Brown tabby cat named Bug. Noli heard Miotas snicker, having looked back in front of him. He hummed, trying to see if he could, well, see anything or if the two were too high up.
They were too high up.
His eyes started to get heavy, and he struggled to keep them open; the sound of Miotas’s wings against the air was starting to make it harder to stay awake. ‘Rest.’ That was the last thing Noli heard before slumping forwards and falling asleep, one hand still tangled in fur. Miotas huffed, head raising sharply for a second to make sure he kept the binding magic on Noli, it was quiet for a long time after that.
The sun slowly started to rise, and with it, the removal of their cloud coverage. Noli whined and tried to go back to sleep, but with the sun shining down onto his face, he couldn’t. His eyes slowly opened, and for a second he forgot where he was, jolting upright almost immediately, but then he remembered. He looked around, still more sky, but he could somewhat see the ground! Not much, though, just the blobby shapes of what might be houses and villages. But then it started to change into a dark forest mixed with rocky outcroppings. Noli perked up, recognising the land from the few trips he had been allowed to take there. They were coming up on the college he had so badly wanted to go to, to get in. And well, you kinda needed a dragon to attend, or you would be sent away, and the students would probably humiliate you for trying without a dragon.
That and you got a chance to actually get true magic. The majority of the populace only had lesser magic due to connections to land and their gods, things like being able to levitate objects a certain amount, a lot of small telekinesis was what it was really, and sped-up healing. Although the healing got reduced when you were bonded, sadly. Still had some telekinesis though! But not every bonded was entitled to a Gift; some still only had their lesser magic. Sometimes the rider's body just could not handle the Gift their dragon tried to give, or handle that kind of magic in general. It was honestly saddening, and a worry for those who wanted to rise high in the military ranks, or not have their reputation tarnished. Which led to another issue rising in the country: amplifiers or random Gift drugs, basically.
Noli was broken out of his thoughts when the air got considerably warmer; the scent of sulfur was somehow in the air as well despite the two still being far up in the sky. Miotas started to descend, wings beginning to curl backwards to protect Noli from the air that would’ve slashed against his face. He could see peaks of sunlight through the wings, a hand reaching out to lightly touch a wing when his stomach lurches and his body is forced against Miotas’s back. He can hear the howl of the wind, that almost silent whistle of dragon wings dragging against the air. Noli thinks he heard a chuff from Miotas? He heard something at least, before he felt like the two were spinning and gaining speed. Then he leveled out again, wings uncurling, and Noli could see again, he could see the college.
It looked like a normal college for the most part, just really sized up and made out of stone and bricks. There was a pine and oak forest surrounding it, Miotas was flying just above the treetops, wingtips barely touching the tops. He could see different kinds of dragons all around the college: drakes, wyverns, amphitheres, and westerns, all different colors and shapes, all different breeds. There was a large clearing up ahead leading up to it, and that was where Miotas landed. Everyone else had paused, humans and dragons alike staring at the two, nobody moved for a while, just staring. Then people were flocking towards them, crowding around Miotas’s ankle, hands out just shy of touching him. They’ve never seen a fae before, nor a wild dragon that had let someone ride it! Miotas sniffed, raising his head and staring a drake right in its face; it had gotten too close for his comfort, and it backed off.
The commotion had gotten the attention of one of the professors, and arguably the most terrifying from stories told, Doombringer. His dragon was perched on the gate outside; bits of the rubble had crumbled away, falling onto the ground, staring and maybe growling- no, it was definitely growling. It was a Western one, really bulky and reminded you of mountain lions but just a pale shade of red with some darker blue points. Noli could see when Doombringer started to basically shove past the students who weren’t moving, the crowd starting to part so nobody else had to be pushed, he watched as the man stood just below one of Miotas’s curled-up arms. Doombringer had crossed his arms, waiting for Noli to slide down Miotas, landing heavily on the ground, and a weird fuzzy feeling shot up his leg.
“Ah, Starborne, it’s so nice to see you again,” It really wasn’t, considering the last time Noli had set a building on fire, almost two buildings. “what’s your reasoning for being here? And it better not be to mess around this time.” he questioned, head tilting as his eyes narrowed at Noli, who huffed quietly and tried to get that feeling out of his leg.
“Isn’t it obvious? College is still accepting applications, isn’t it?” he retorted, Miotas turning to look straight at Doombringer and staring hard. Doombringer sighed, grumbling out a confirmation that, yes, they were. His gaze traveled up to the dragon behind Noli, still currently looking at himself, and freezing abruptly. Noli didn’t have that a year ago, nor did he ever have a dragon egg. Miotas growled lowly, stepping ever so closer to his bonded that it had Doombringer backing up.
“Get inside Starborne, you’ll find the front desk easily enough. Give ‘em this.” Doombringer handed Noli a small paper slip that had a dark red and blue tassel at one end and a stamped symbol at the other. “Then take your dragon to the cliffside stables.” Oh, that was for larger dragons and any visiting general's dragon. Noli beamed, that was one step down, and… at least two more to go. Oh well, time to get moving!