The sandy ground started to shake when gigantic, monstrous claws made their way between rocks and jungle foliage. Running like a redshank i tried not to get caught by the snapping jaws right on my tail, barely staying on my feet as I dashed and slipped over the mossy rocks all across the path

After about five minutes we arrived at the camp, and just ran on, waking everyone up with our noise. Kindle and Rellian walked by, and I waved them hello. Behind me the dragon snorted, I had slowed down slightly and he almost caught up with me.

"You wish!", I shouted, and I pulled a sprint, regaining my lost lead. Many new members of the guild found it strange that their leader, despite his strictness, raced his dragon in his spare time. Others laughed, or even ran along for a bit.

Myrdor, my faithful friend, came running alongside me, and it was as if we were flying through the camp, my feet just touching the ground. The adrenaline flowed through me. This is how it feels to be free. To live. The cliff came into view, and I cheered with joy. Victory! I got ready to jump, dived off the cliff, into the depths.

The water of the waterfall tumbled down like a long blue curtain. One misstep and I would crash into the rocks and cliffs below.

Just before I hit the water, I landed on Myrdor's hard-shelled back. He flew just above the surface of the sea, and different kinds of fish became visible. The water was sapphire blue. This was my most favored place to fly, ever since I joined the guild.

We flew on straight for a while, then I made Myrdor make a sharp turn, and he flew back the way we came. The cliff was a little bit hollow, and widest at the top. Here and there natural pillars of hard sandstone had sprung up, through which, if you were a good dragon rider, you could fly. Myrdor picked up speed, folded his wings and flew through the first hole, still not flying high above the water. We zoomed and tumbled through the cramped holes, giggling with delight. We left the coast and Myrdor flew straight up.

That's when everything went wrong.

We crashed into something, in mid-flight. Myrdor roared, his wings refused to work and we tumbled into the depths of the abyss from 200 metres, in free fall. This time there was no dragon to catch me. I looked up helplessly, and saw what we had flown into, as it glowed bright purple in the sky. A force field. We had crashed into a force field, and not a small one! I knew what it meant. Just before I hit the water, I saw how the glow spread across the whole landscape, probably even further than the horizon.

And then the pain kicked in, a hard stab in my back, and all the air was squeezed out of my lungs, to be replaced by swirling water.

Sherdol has returned.