The Mind's Perspective
an excerpt

“I can’t believe she’s making me do this. Why me? Why not Arkos? Or even Akai?”
Zoi regarded her best friend coolly as the younger woman paced back an forth. She sighed and leaned back against Zale’s chest and the smoky grey dragon dropped her head to nuzzle her rider affectionately. Zale carefully arranged her forelimbs to encircle Zoi, keeping the girl close to her chest.
Why does she always carry on like this, Zoi? Zale asked curiously.
Because that’s what Renna does, my love, Zoi replied, careful to shield her mind so even Renna could not hear. Out loud she said, “Look, Ren, if you want to know why Tenniel laid the task before you, why don’t you ask her? She’s your master, you’d know her better than I. I might be able to help you if it were Master Briya, but it’s not. It looks like it’s all up to you and Rysk.”
The larger dusky violet dragon snorted at Zoi’s words. It’s not up to me. I had no decision in this. It falls to my rider. I merely support.
“So you’re game for this, Rysk?” Zoi asked.
Rysk nodded her great crested head slowly and Renna narrowed her eyes.
“I still think this is ridiculous!” Renna exclaimed. “I’m one of the newest riders in the Order. Arkos has been doing this for well over seven hundred years. Let him train the boy!”
Zoi shook her head. “I don’t think that’s the point Renna. Tenniel obviously thinks that you have something to offer that Arkos, Akai or even Hyleah cannot. The Masters do not choose these things lightly.”
“Zoi, you don’t get it. I don’t want to do this,” Renna said, turning her hazel eyes on the Shadowrider. “There are days where I almost wish I was still sailing the seas, answering only to my captain. But those days are fifty years gone and I can’t live them again. Not that I’d ever give up Rysk,” she added with an affectionate slap to the dragon’s neck. “I just don’t think the boy can keep up is all. I’ve spent nearly the past year raising and conditioning his dragon and I think that if the boy is anything like the dragon, I’ll be forced to kill them both. That dragon is-- is--”
“Just like you?” Zoi supplied as Renna floundered for words.
“E-Excuse me! Would someone kindly explain to me what’s going on?”
A lad strode forward, having finally managed to free himself from Rysk’s grasp. His sunbleached blonde hair was messy and fell forward into his face. Renna turned to look at him warily. She took a breath and was about to say something when Zoi clamped a hand over her mouth.
“You’re already familiar with the Order, aye?” Zoi asked, pulling her hand away from Renna’s mouth before her finger could be bitten. The boy nodded and Zoi continued. “You’re the rider we have been searching for these past eighteen years. You’re the Sixth Manipulator of Mind. Renna is now the Fifth. For the past year she has cared for the hatchling dragon who was destined to be your life mate. Momentarily we will call him, thus sealing your fate. Renna is to train you in the ways of the Order, specifically in the Manipulation of Mind. Do you understand?”
The boy shook his head slowly and Renna asked, “What’s your name?”
“B-Baz. My name is Baz,” he said quietly.
Renna exchanged glances with her dragon before gazing back at Baz’s lean frame.
“Then welcome to eternity, Baz.”
As Renna spoke, a dusky blue dragon appeared in the skies and landed gracefully nearby, kicking up dust with his wings. His crest and markings were dark and the young dragon had a distinctly rakish look to him. Baz felt as if his heart were going to burst. All his life it was as if something had been missing and this was what had been missing. The boy stepped forward and laid a hand on the blue muzzle. The dragon crooned softly and Baz murmured, “Banner.”
Suddenly he understood clearly what Renna had been trying to tell him. Without another word, he understood everything. And all at once his senses exploded as he seemed to gain a second consciousness. Baz realized that this was what it felt like to be Tied to a dragon. This new awareness and sensation was his own dragon, Banner. Baz turned back to Renna, grinning with a new surge of confidence. In a way, he and this dark haired girl were now equals. They were both dragon riders of the Order.