Chapter Two

It was almost disappointing to feel her feet back on the ground. Although MeiAnne was happy she didn't have to hold onto Yulan anymore.

He led her along with his dragon towards the more crowded side of the yard where they landed. It was bustling with both humans and dragons alike. From a distance the buildings behind them looked like larger stables, but as MeiAnne grew closer she saw they were more than that. Each dragon had a room of sorts, with padded bedding and large pillows, with enrichment that resembled cat toys, with elaborate water systems so a dragon could drink whenever they wanted. MeiAnne was no craftsman so she could only assume some type of piping was involved.

As she saw Yulan lead his dragon into its space she remembered she never asked for its name.

Once again Yulan seemed bothered by her interest in his dragon. "Atra is his name." He responded in a curt manner.

"Thank you Atra." MeiAnne bowed her head slightly to the violet dragon. In return he seemed to angle his head down to her with a tilt, as if he was grateful for the thanks. It gave MeiAnne another chance to take in the beautiful eyes that reminded her of jewelry.

Yulan then led her back through the crowd, however this time she didn't have a dragon to help clear the path. She had to weave through jutting shoulders all the while struggling to keep up to Yulan, who seemed to forget his legs are longer than her own. Eventually she saw through the crowd that they were heading to a building complex made of three main parts, each in descending order. On the left were large apartments that seemed to be the barracks for the soldiers here. The next one seemed to have a domed roof to it, and the last on the right was small and appeared to be better kept than the previous two.

MeiAnne found herself being led into the smallest building. As she walked in through the doorway, she saw that it was more decorated than she would expect for a military building. She soon found that to be because this building was reserved for the military leadership and officers.

"The enlistment officers are down the hall. You'll need to take a right and it will be the third door on the left." MeiAnne was taken aback to be given instructions as opposed to being led further.

"Will you not join me?"

"Not unless you wish me to bring you back here after." He smirked, gesturing to a room she could only assume to be his own. MeiAnne stifled back a shudder before shaking her head vigorously in dissent.

MeiAnne quickly turned away from Yulan, who she didn't even feel the need to say goodbye to after his comment. She followed the instructions she was given and found herself at a door with "ENLISTMENT" gilded just above eye level.

She cracked open the door enough to lean her head in. "Hello, I -um, was brought here by Yulan. To enlist." How was she supposed to know what to say? She made this decision so fast and it was finally catching up to her.

"Sit." The lady behind the desk gestured for MeiAnne to sit in front of a desk just before the same lady plopped a large folder of paper on it. "Finish this, and hand it back to me."

MeiAnne nervously did as she was told. Most of the paper seemed to be large amounts of reading handbooks requiring just a signature. At one point she had to prove she could read and had a basic education. She learned besides having housing and food provided for, she could also expect a small wage that she could use to spend as she wanted. With each signature she felt her hand getting shakier. However she could still complete them all. MeiAnne stood, closing the stack of papers back into their folder and handing it to the lady, who seemed rather bored. The officer skimmed through the completed paperwork and signed a few of her own.

"Here is your room key, your copy of the handbook, your training schedule and unit, and report at the time I circled on the top of your paper to be fitted for riding gear and a uniform."

All MeiAnne could muster was a nod as she collected all that she was handed. She walked herself back out of the building, barely looking up from the ground before her feet. It wasn't until she heard a commotion that she was snapped back into the present.

There was a thunderous sound of wings coming down to the same field where she landed not so long ago. In the now golden light of the afternoon sun she saw a large formation of dragons coming to land. In the very front was a dragon that dwarfed all others that she had seen the whole day. This beast was pale white, eyes varying from deep red to light pinks, and two or even three times larger than the dragons beside it.

Its rider remained strapped into his saddle until the dragon laid down, propping up one leg so he could use its elbow as a ladder of sorts. MeiAnne saw the young man remove his goggles, revealing an equally rare sight. His hair, despite being windswept back, was so white it shined silver. His eyes a pale blue that seemed to be almost nothing besides his pupil and whites. That man was not just a rider of the largest dragon to exist in centuries, but was also one of the few alive still haunted by the Silver Curse.