Many centuries ago before the great mother Earth took her last wheezing breath, thousands of large ships flew from her wilting surface in search of new, better homes. Some ships did not go far and set up colonies on Mars and just above the Earth’s ozone layer. While others went further, migrating to entirely new systems. One such ship, the NeoJapan XXIII, was heading for a colony set up fifty years before its departure on the nearest solar system to the Milky Way. The ship’s coordinates were true and its navigators the best, but for unexplainable reasons that ship never made it to its destined colony. Reports across the Earth’s Galactic Alliance all claimed the ship destroyed and the occupants all dead. This was not true.

NeoJapan XXIII had in fact crash landed on the sandy shores of a beach on the small Planet of Auster IX. All of the ships occupants lived and with a spring in their steps developed a fishing colony right on those shores. Everything looked fine until four months later when thick green sludge fell from the sky and as it hit ate through everything it landed on like some demented, living acid. The occupants of the colony didn’t have a clue as what to do and many suffered deadly burns. On the next fall of the living acid five months later they were still not prepared, but this time help came. In the form of gigantic lizards with large bat wings and majestic looking demons riding upon there backs the acid was destroyed in a mixture of fire and magic.

This was the start of the relationship between humans and the dragon riders that called themselves demons. They were angelic looking creatures with perfect features and extraordinary powers. They told the humans the tales of their kind and explained that for each demon born a dragon egg came with them. Each demon had a dragon that suited their inner soul the best. The merchants of the towns had small faerie like dragons the size of small lizards that darted around like hummingbirds. The traveling merchants had runner dragons or dragons that walked only on their powerful rear legs and had small front legs for grasping. They were strong steeds with tiny wings built to carry supplies and their master with pure speed and endurance not flight. Next came the fishers that had long serpentine dragons, most without wings. They had shimmering scales like the wild fish in the sea and helped to heard schools of fish into their partner’s nets.

The most important of all the dragons were the powerful knights. They walked on four legs and had strong wings for flight and a large gullet for breathing fire. Their magic was the strongest and carried over to their demon partners. They were the guardians of every town that burned away the acid before it ever reached the ground and were forever training. The partnership between a Knight and its rider, their bond, was greater then any other. In fact it was the dragons’ choice of their mates that decided who the demon would mate with. The dragons knew their soul mates apart from all else and a dragon bound mating never failed.

The dragons and their riders where the backbone of Auster IX and the key to survival, but when the humans tried to bond with a dragon none succeeded. In the end the humans had to migrate into a demon city and work miscellaneous jobs under their protection. Everything seemed fine at first but as time moved, like all things, their relationship morphed. The humans forgot the Earth they came from and were enslaved to various demons. As more humans were born they were dragged further into servitude and spread about the planet for the demons` pleasure. Even now centuries later the humans are still slaves to their demon protectors and not once has a dragon given the bond to a human.

***

A sigh left slightly parted lips as tan arms heaved a large basket of fresh smelling hay. A teenage woman with silky black hair pulled into a ponytail and brilliant blue eyes heaved the basket with ease for one of her size. She wobbled over to the corner of the barn and poured her stash into the stable. “Donder will like this, straight from the field,” she cooed in a gentle voice as she swung the basket in her arms and moved to collect more straw. She worked alone in the barn, carrying basket after basket of hay into the stall until there was a large heap growing. With the stall cleaned she lifted half a deer carcass into the plastic container connected to the stall side. Well at least her people called it a deer, in fact it was a large animal of about ten feet at the ear tip with four sets of sharpened antlers on their head. They had thick wooly fur that was shaved for clothing and had a warm mossy color to it.

Kagome, the stable girl, was dressed in some of the fur now its warm green cloth covering her in a simple long sleeved shirt and pants. Auster IX was a naturally cold planet with its highest temperatures only reaching to 70 degrees. The city Kagome lived in varied from -10 to 60 degrees during the year and with autumn setting in it was time for her warm fur clothing. She took in deep breath of the straw and the metallic scent of blood from the fresh kill. It wouldn’t be long before Donder arrived and devoured the meal.

Her guess was right, as soon as she started to organize the ridding equipment a knight dragon of rather small proportions bolted into the room. It was built for speed with light blue scales and lightening streaks running over his sleek body. Compared to most of the Knight dragons he was pathetically weak but his speed was well used for traveling quickly through the ranks to hand out supplies or orders that couldn’t be delivered telepathically.

She smiled as she ran her hand over his smooth scales. Kagome had been lucky enough to be given a kind master that feed and clothed her properly with only reasonable amounts of work and days off. Her master was a shipping merchant with a serpentine dragon and his kind son was the partner of the knight before her. They were both horse demons with a calm, peaceful nature. Actually most slaves were treated kindly by all the demons or treated indifferently. The only demons that were cruel to their humans were the reptilian types. Lucky for most humans they were stuck with their family until death or separation from sale, which was rare.

From outside a large bellow was heard in the air, echoing through the streets and across the sea. “The Inus,” Kagome cried in excitement as she ran to the door of the barn and stuck her head outside. The sky was full of dragons like normal but higher up in the clouds three streaks of color danced entrancing patterns in the sky. These streaks were the powerful inu core in other words the three men of the Tashio family who had proved themselves to be the best fighters in the land. There was the leader of the group, the father, Inu who rode upon a magnificent golden dragon that was a mixture of grace and power. Then there was the eldest son who rode upon a silver dragon whose movements were so smooth he looked like moving water in the sky. Then there was the youngest son with his red dragon with its powerful jerky movements like a living wildfire.

Kagome watched them every chance she got. Their practices were addictive and every time she cried at the beauty of it all and cried, too, for herself and the dragon she desperately yearned for. Why was it that humans could not be given the freedom of flight with a dragon partner, the chance to find their soul mate and merge minds with a mighty dragon?

Kagome sighed as she watched the practice and realized that their pattern was different then normal. The streaks of silver and gold circled around the red, stirring up the clouds, before they fell to the ground in a perfect parallel dive. From the ground another dragon with light blue scales that merged with the sky shot upward and together the blue and red dragon danced dangerously close together. “A mating pair, no way. The eldest still hasn’t found his pair yet how can the youngest?” Kagome trailed off as she watched the delicate waltz of the mates. The dragons tested each other carefully for about fifteen minutes before they too dove to the ground. This time Kagome knew that the dragons would be going to the stables to create a perfect little egg while their riders would disappear to one of the nice rooms in the mating stable to create a little life of their own. This was the Waltz of the Soul.

The next day Kagome awoke in a great mood. It was one of her days off and she had already decided to head over to the mating barn to see the new egg. She wanted to know what color the new dragon would be and if she managed to catch a glance of the Eldest Son that was just a bonus.

“Father,” Kagome called as she entered the main house through the kitchen door. There was an old horse demon sitting at the table with a bowl of thick green soup in front of him.

“Yes child,” he responded, looking up at Kagome with a soft smile. He had always felt bad for the little girl that had lost her father young and had been separated from her family through a sale. Kenja had lost his own mate some years ago and had never been gifted with a daughter, but the cheerful, kind woman in front of him was just as he imagined a daughter to be.

“I wanted to head over to the mating barn to look at the new egg,” Kagome asked jumping on the balls of her feet.

Laughing, Kenja responded,” Yes of course dear, go, go. Have fun, but be careful.” He gestured her away with an agonizingly slow movement of his hand. Kenja was always slow. He did everything with careful precision and endless patience. Only once when he was driven as close to demon rage as a horse youkai could get he had sped up drastically and his strength had increased. She was surprised at her adoptive father’s power and remembered to never forget that demons were always demons. Kagome smiled softly as she nodded her promise before taking off down the road. Her path was a dark and winding one as she took each back road she knew. It was best for her to ignore the main roads for their city by the sea attracted a great many reptilian youkai that would sooner kill her or steal her than see her walk around freely.

The mating barn was just a large building with two huge stables always full of fresh straw. They were built to hold two mating dragons and to be a soft spot for them to sleep afterwards. The rest of the building was two large rooms that held magnificent beds of the softest down and a warm fireplace for the human partners to combine along with their dragons. The entrance to the barn was huge and Kagome had no trouble slipping right into it in search of the newest addition to Auster IX.

In the very back of the barn the mighty red and light blue dragon slept peacefully. Snuggled safely in between their massive forms was definitely a Knight dragon egg about two feet tall and a foot wide. The outer shell was such a light red it was almost pink. “Guess their having a girl,” Kagome laughed as she looked at the glittering surface of the egg. “So pretty,” she cooed, itching to reach out and touch it but knowing better than to mess with a dragon mother. She sighed as she sat down in front of the egg and just watched the two beautiful creatures in front of her as their chests moved languidly up and down.

There was a clank of sound to her right and in an instinctive movement she bolted into the tiny spot behind the sleepy dragons and peaked out to see what was happening. From one of the smaller doors two snake youkai slithered into the room, carrying a large filmy egg in their hands. The egg had no shine or sparkle and looked suspiciously like a bad egg that a female had produced after the bonded egg. These eggs were hardly ever hatched and the few that were disappeared to become wild dragons. Kagome had never seen what happened to the unbounded eggs but as she watched the snake youkai lick their scaly lips as they placed the egg down she had a sinking feeling.

“Letsss get sssssome ssseassoning for thisss treatsss,” one of the snakes hissed and the other hissed its answer before they slipped away.

Kagome gasped at the idea and with little thought to her actions she ran forth as fast as her legs would carry her and snatched the filmy egg into her hands. It had a slimy surface that slid in her hands but she tucked it against her bosom and made a run for her home. She didn’t stop even for a breath until she was safely in her house barn and had already tucked the egg into the thick straw she and laid down the day before. The straw stuck to the surface of the egg like glue and when Donder walked over to sniff the egg he backed away with a snort.

Kagome sighed dejectedly as she looked at the sad little rotten thing she had saved. It smelled horrible and would attract attention soon, and it was not like a dragon would possibly hatch from it. Death permeated the air around the shell and Kagome had to resist holding her nose. Really she had only saved it to stop from seeing the body inside being gobbled down by a bunch of reptiles.

“I just wish,” she sighed as she looked at the mass of sticky straw,” I just wish this wasn’t my lot in life.”



***

Authors Note: Now I love this story dearly and I will try to update as much as possible but I recently joined the army and it has a habit of stealing my tim and inspiration.

Now I`m going to go through and do a quick edit of these stories for some of the problems and inconsistencies many people have brought up.

Also I would like everyone to know that this story is loosely based on a combination of Anne Macarthy`s Dragon Riders of Pern series, The Eragon Series, and Jane Yolan`s Dragon`s Blood. I have been told that it gets a little too close to the Dragon Riders of Pern but trust me read until chapter 8 and the similarities dissolve.