Snippet #1389582

Morgana Drake sat at her desk, reviewing a few last minute things about her introductory speech. Her office, the headmaster's office, was quite small and cozy for what it was. It had years of great dragons and dragonologists along it's walls, so many pictures that it was next to impossible to tell what the wallpaper looked like, and the one piece that had no pictures had a bookcase instead. Morgana collected up her speech, strewn about the heavy wooden desk, and read it over. It had to be okay, she was going to have to read it to the world's newest dragonologists. She looked out the window... And was greeted by Butterfly's long face. She shrieked quietly, before starting to laugh at the dragon, and opening the window.
"Hullo, stranger." She smiled at the dragon, whom had come to cling to the wall outside her window. They hadn't gotten much time to be together, between Morgana setting up the school, and Butterfly settling in, learning the lay of the land. Butterfly had always been thorough about things like that. Morgana thought for a moment, before she tossed her speech over onto the desk, and hoisted herself out of the window. Butterfly, figuring out what that madwoman was doing, flattened her head against the wall, allowing Morgana to slide down her neck, into the saddle. Butterfly swung off the wall and beat her graceful wings, pushing the pair upwards, until the school was about the size of a bluebird. Butterfly was already, in her head, timing how long they were out, so that Morgana would be back in time to talk to the dragonologists, while she talked to the dragons.

Elisa clipped the last buckle on the worn bridle she and Tom used, standing on the balls of her feet to reach.
"I hope this goes well." She murmured, checking how loose his bridle was. Tom didn't see why they had to go to a school for this, Elisa was a natural rider, and he could, and did, compensate for anything that could only be remedied by instruction. He realised it would teach more than just riding, but did they really need to know it? He nudged Elisa with his nose, to tell her to hurry up anyway, the sooner they were there, the sooner they knew that he was right. She laughed quietly, barely even audible in the dusty barn.
"I'm going, just give me a second." She murmured, wrapping her arms around his nose. She clambered up the pile of hay that stood on the other side of the barn, while Tom walked over so that Elisa's usual seat on his back was positioned correctly. Elisa stepped off the haybales, sliding her leg down until she sat on Tom's back with a leg on either side. She picked up the long reins, and the pair walked out of the barn, Elisa ducking the doorframe. Elisa's family stood around in the front yard of the farm, her parents looking proudly at their dragonrider, on her first day of long distance flying. Her two youngest elder brothers, Dawson and Peter, were on the clydesdale, Bessy.
"What are you two doing?" Elisa asked, leaning to the side to see past Tom's head easier. The boys almost answered, but Elisa and Tom's attention were immediately called elsewhere. Elisa's grandmother tapped Tom's shoulder, asking to be helped up, which Tom complied to, raising one leg as a step up. Nana, as she was called by her grandchildren, stepped onto the leg, and lifted onto Tom's shoulder, next to Elisa, and placed a kiss on her granddaughter's forehead.
"Good luck, my girl" She smiled, before climbing back down, with the aid of Elisa's sister, Brenda. Elisa nodded her thanks to her family, as Tom turned round to face the long dirt road that ran alongside the field. Tom started to trot along the road, and Elisa realised why Dawson and Peter had been on Bessy, as they trotted alongside. Elisa turned in her seat to wave to her family one last time, as she and Tom started to fly, and as Bessy broke into a gallop to keep up.
"Goodbye! I'll be back before you know it!" She shouted to the clydesdale, and her two riders, who were waving frantically in farewell to their youngest sibling. Elisa kept on waving until she honestly could no longer see the two, at which point she turned her head back to her and Tom's route, and took a steadying breath.