“Alright recruits!” an bulky built, bare sleeved muscled man shouted. His dark skin seemed unwavering under the sweltering summers day sun. Even Allen, used to the coal fires of hell that was the inside of a ship was sweating. “Well that is someone I wouldn’t like to have on my back” Tanith commented from her view inside the safety of her stall. Allen had to keep his eyes from rolling, he paid all attention to the trainer that, showed an heavy build machine gun to the group. “This recruits is a browing M1919M2 machine gun. This will be your main defensive weapon on your dragons. Light dragons have one, medium dragons have two and bomber class have multiple operated by a crew. Can some poor sole tell me what kind of munition the M1919 has?”

“.303” Tanith spoiled for Allen “Sir” Allen said up, standing straight like the weeks in bootcamp has taught them. “Yes Walker, spill it” “.303 rounds Sir.” The Trainer gave an nod to him “seems someone knows his weapons. That is correct. This weapon  will shoot out twelve hundred incendiary and tracer rounds per minute at your target. You have 250 rounds per belt so use them sparely. I will learn you to take it apart, rebuild and clean this before firing. Only YOU” he waited a moment to let it sink in. “are responsible for maintenance, if I ever see a dirty gun, I will give you an ass whopping your mother will be proud of. In front of you can see an instruction manual on cleaning the gun. You will disassemble it, clean it, assemble it and come here to fire it. Am I understood?”

A ‘sir yes sir’ followed through and they went on cracking. Allen’s inexperience showed when it came to weapons. He was the slowest in working with the heavy weapon. “Walker! Get a move on! That weapon has to be ready when the enemy comes!” The trainer shouted to Allen. “just take it easy Allen. My previous pilot was slower at first”

In the middle of cleaning, Allen was distracted by another recruit claiming to have assembled the gun. Allen silently condemned himself while he watched the recruit walk to the front to have the gun inspected and fired. The recruit aimed the gun down the shooting range and fired it once. Inside the gun, poorly assembled parts came lose and the operation jammed. The bullet in the magazine was locked and blew the camber of the gun into pieces. The recruit screamed in pain when the fire enveloped his hands. He dropped on his knees as the drill instructor called for the medics.

“There is always one” Tanith called to Allen “I feel like sometimes more recruits get injured in this training then in war” Allen let out a heavy sigh as he watched the recruit get carried away with bandages around his hand. It caused him to second guess every single connection her made, he was sure he followed the instructions correctly, but was he sure enough of it to bet with his hands?

He had no choice in the matter, ones the Drill instructor saw Allen’s assembled gun he called him forwards. “I hope you did pay attention to assembling Walker.” The drill instructor point Allen to the firing stand to test out his gun. With slightly shaking hands he loaded the gun and prepared to fire. He could feel Tanith’s presence in the back of his mind even though she did not speak to him. “Any time now Walker” He was pushed on. He pulled the trigger, he expected the gun to explode in his hand. The gun fired rapidly, not prepared for the force of the feedback that aimed himself up. The drill sergeant hold his gun down. “aim dammit!” he shouted at Allen then looked at the group “At least you are able to fire your gun! So you are just slightly less dead! Go and take it apart and reassemble. You are going to do this until you can hit something Walker”

Tanith shook her head and withdrawn her from her lookout over her pilot. “How he is doing Tanith” Maximius asked her. “Could be better, He at least managed to keep his hands” She took a long deep breath. “He doesn’t need to be perfect, just good enough. Perfect gets you killed.” Maximius poked his snout against the bars separating the two. “You have someone who comes and visits you. That is good enough. I wish my pilot was like yours is.” Tanith could feel the jealously within Maximius’ voice. She could not help but to feel privileged to have met Allen. Another voice joined in to their conversation. “Honestly Tanith, could you have him over a bit less? It’s when he visits we have to keep quite.” The feminine voice sounded annoyed and accusing her. “We get it, you have a pilot who doesn’t treat you like a animal, but honestly…” The voice was interrupted by Maximius. “You don’t have the be quite Angel, Just speak to him like I do.” An snort came from another stall, followed by the sulphurous scent of dragon’s smoke. “Oh right, sorry, talking the an human fixes all those scars my body has. They will kill you when you are no longer useful, that boy of yours Tanith is no different. Sure, he is awesome now but when the service is trough with him he will just be bitter and hardened like the rest of him.”

Tanith gave a small growl “That doesn’t have to be true Angel and you know it. He cares about me, I know it. I am not going to defend myself for enjoying myself a little bit in this shit hole.” Before Angel could reply the fourth voice entered as dragons arisen from their morning slumber by the commotion. “Ladies please” an heavy male voice said with a voice of authority. “Angel, stop being so pessimistic, allow Tanith to enjoy her pilot while she still can.” He grumbled “and Tanith, please keep in mind that you are the only one here who has a pilot who gives a damned.”

In the silence Tanith could hear the firing of guns in the background and Angel kneading the ground a few stalls down the line. “I am not the only one…Remember Freya?” A draconic laughter filled the stalls, resulting in one of the stall boys shouting at them “Oi beasts, shut it!” “Freya?” The heavy male voice rumbled again. Then Angel fallen in again. “Just like all our pilots, Freya doesn’t give a damned about it. She was going to help us. With her pilot being the admiral she has the power…but in the end did nothing!” Tanith felt an uncomfortable knot forming in her stomach. “We just need more pilots who give a damned, even if it’s just my pilot…don’t you think we can try to change? What you think Mirus?” The elder dragon seemed to think a bit “Maybe. We can influence the recruits like you are doing with your boy Tanith. But only airman get assigned a dragon, and those are hardened already.”

“and by the time they have a meaningful rank they can do nothing.” Maximius said softly “I can’t make my pilot to listen even if I know a manoeuvre is not successful, he is just to stubborn.” Tanith just gazed out again, gazing at the recruits training. “There must be something we can do” she told mostly herself. She saw how the recruits where cleaning up and apparently aligning for an important announcement.

“Alright recruits.” The corporal bellowed among the recruits. “Tomorrow is something special lined up for you recruits. You are all going to join an pilot in the saddle of their dragon. You will learn how it’s to fly.” A rush of adrenaline both filled Allen and Tanith “Finally I get to fly!” She was swaying her tail widely. “Your assigned pilot will be on the board before lunch. Now Dismissed!” the corporal shouted. Signalling the start of their free time. Without waiting Allen walked to the stalls. When he reached the doors he could hear something. An voice that caught him by surprise enough that he looked around if someone was near him “Just send him away Tanith, we want some privacy too” The voice Allen could not place but Tanith’s voice send chills down his spine, the anger in her voice was almost boiling his own blood. “We talked about this Angel! I will not send him away just because you can complain to us how miserable you are”

Allen took a deep breath and entered the stalls “What the hell are you all talking about” He said, trying to sound calm and stern. “I can’t remember I met you Angel, the pleasure is mine” He was met with silence from the unknown dragon. “Angel will not speak to you herself, she is to much of a prune to do so” Tanith spoken to Allen. The presence of her Pilot calmed her down a bit, no longer alone with depressed dragons.

“Well since the magic revealed now” A third voice spoke “The name is Mirus, While my pilot is still green, I am the oldest dragon here, so human I would like to demand respect from you” Allen took a moment to see who spoke but could see no dragon that obviously spoke to him. “Well the pleasure is mine Mirus, my name…” he started but was interrupted by Mirus “Doesn’t concern me. We will not speak for long. Most of us here appreciate you being less around all the time here.  I am only going to ask this nicely ones, else I will just make a racket every time you enter and then you are not going to see Tanith at all.”

“And here I thought you where at my side!” Tanith suddenly shouted to the older dragon. “Tanith” The elder dragon spoke again “I am sided with the dragons, like everyone of us. You are going to have to decide if you prefer a dragon or a human.” Allen slowly made it to Tanith’s cage and whispered to her. “What on earth is going on. It sounds like you are planning a rebellion.” Tanith did not speak but instead just curled her tail around him. “He is mine.”  She spoke to the elder dragon. “I don’t care what you do Mirus but you can’t take him from me”

“there are more ways to do that Tanith, choice wisely.” Mirus let the thread hang in the air. Allen could no longer see Maximius pressed against the bars like he normally would. “Well this is a warm welcome” he grunted while putting his hand behind her horns to try and calm his fuming dragon down a bit.

“I know you would be here” Allen was suddenly shaken up by a familiar voice. When he turned around he could see the drill sergeant that gave him the diary like book. “Sir” he stood and saluted with now honed precision. “At ease walker” The sergeant said. “Have you read the book I gave you Walker?” Allen scratched his head “Partially Sir…I scrolled to the last pages and well” The sergeant gave an sad smile. “Walker, there is only so much pain a human can bear. I seen you a few times in the stalls so I hoped, I hoped that you would be kinder to your dragon. Don’t take this as an excuse to get soft recruit” The sergeant warned “You will fight and you will not disappoint” The tone between when the sergeant showed some emotion and when he fallen back to his old role, was odd. “Walker, I will be reassigned tomorrow. We will not see each other, Take care of your dragon” He said before turning around and walking away. Leaving Allen slightly shaken. “What just happened?” Tanith wondered out loud tasting the air that lingered from the Sergeant. “He was the pilot from the book?” Tanith asked “yes he was. Seems I am not the only one who care about their dragons.”

“I know you are not the only one Allen, but humans who care are few and far in between” She hummed softly and coiled herself into a half ball. “Could you let me know when you know more about your assignment tomorrow Allen” Her human gave a soft nod and scratched her just behind the horn “If I have the time to do so, and if the dragons allow me back in the pens, but lets see what tomorrow brings”

The first thing that Allen noticed when he entered the barracks was a giant board with white papers stabled on it. A group of recruits where standing around it and looking at it interested. Out of curiosity Allen joined them “What is up?” he asked someone who was standing next to him, trying to see something of the long lists posted. “Flight schedules, Apparantly I join on Maximius” The recruit said before turning away. Allen gotten a closer look, seeing one list of recruits and a list of pilots and their dragons who took them on. Allen searched through the names until he saw “A. Walker” peering over to the list of accompanying pilots he saw “Adm. Evans, Freya, Tanith”

“lucky boy” Another recruit said while his finger was gazing over the paper until he stopped with his name. “P. Tennant | G. Brown, angel” The recruit looked disappointed “of course I am getting paired with the green boy” He turned around to introduce himself to Allen. “I suppose we haven’t met before, Name is Peter. Aren’t you that one who saved a dragon?” he asked with some interest. Allen gave a soft nod “Allen is the name, and yes I did somehow managed to safe a dragon”

Peter smiled and offered Allen to share a table with him. “It’s the first time I seen the admiral on the list.” He said while is plate got filled with sheperd’s pie. “Suppose it’s because I managed to safe Tanith” Peter looked at him puzzled “Tanith who?”

“The name of my dragon, the admiral told me” He lied, not wishing to reveal he was talking to his dragon that readily. “Well, seems like you will be made an example of one way or another” Peter commented dryly. “Fail and you properly be court marshalled for something, succeed and you will be paraded around.” Allen took a deep breath “If I don’t get shot out of the sky the first time I encounter an enemy dragon”

“Why would you think that, we will win this war” Peter’s voice was filled with determination. Something Allen did not share “At what cost Peter, the carrier I served on counted at least twenty dragons when we set sail. Within half a hour that count was reduced to one.” His voice was sour “And I still don’t know what this damned war is about.”

“Better an airman then being dug down in the trenches” Peter said softly “We must win this war Allen, I don’t care if you are right. We must win it, I want to see my family again” A silence fallen between the two as they took a bite of their sheperd’s pie, greasy and bland. “You have brothers?” Allen asked and Peter nodded. “Yes five, well three now. Richard died last year during an rush, Matthew last week. According to the letter an mustard gas contained exploded while he was loading it.  If we can end this war the other three will survive!” Within that flash of moment  Allen could see the same thing in Peter he saw in Tanith the day on the ship. Desperation, just clinging to something in the hope that will change anything.  “My condolences for your brothers” Allen said “I lost my parents in a air balloon bombing, after that well gone straight to the boilers of a ship.” Peter looked perplexed “Common you must have a girl back home who is waiting for your return” Allen shook his head, causing Peter to chuckle. “This talk of death makes me all gloomy, when we return from this training, I will take you to town to meet some girls” “And if you want, I can give some advice too” Tanith joined in, woken by the sudden rush of emotions. “Trough I doubt you human gals will enjoy the same courtships of a dragon, but my last pilot was a womanizer so, maybe…” Allen ignored the rambling Tanith. Being a womanizer was the last thing he wanted to become. “Alright Peter, perhaps I join you. I could use a pint of two.” Peter hit his shoulder from across the table. “now we are talking” he smiled.

The morning came quickly to Allen, perhaps a bit to quickly if Allen troubles in standing up in the morning had anything to say for them. He could barely sleep thinking about flying again with Tanith the thrill of his first flight that had faded in his mind rushed back. The freedom that he felt Tanith had when she sored trough the sky. He was up and about getting ready to dress in full pilot gear, wanting to give the admiral his best impression.

Trough ones at the stalls he discovered he was among the last to get out of the barracks. Corporal Smith took one look at him and shouted “What are you doing standing around recruit. Get your dragon over here before the admiral come and make sure that beast stays in line or else I will have Maximius eat your head for supper. “I would never eat a human” Maximius snorted. Maximius received a stab from a prod for the comment and he flinched from the pain. The corporal did not speak more but his intentions where clear.

Allen rushed to Tannith. “Alright lets get you ready.” He whispered to her. “Trough this means we might not be able to casually talk like so many nights before” Tanith lowered her neck to help Allen with getting the chains that pinned her down from her. “I don’t mind trough I am disappointed that you cannot talk the same way I do” Allen gave a pained smile back at Tanith as he worked the heavy metal pin. “Maybe someday” He worked as fast as he could. On his own the metal chains where almost to heavy for him, designed to be fitted by two trained officers he was welcome that Tanith helped him in any way she could.

He rushed her on a short leash behind him out of the stables to line up with the other dragons. Next was the saddle that he rushed from his stash. Trough on his own the saddle was impossible to fit even with Tanith’s help. He was quite a sight for the other pilots who all had their crew. He had none, officially he should not even have a dragon. He could hear whispers among the crowd and the judgemental eyes of the corporal.

“Let me help” Peter appeared near Allen. “I have permission” he continued while taking some of the straps and wrapping them on Tanith’s neck.  “I never get used people touching me with whom I can’t talk” she commented, trying to keep as still as she could “OEF! Not there clumsy human”  she said in discomfort as Peter stepped on her feet while trying to get higher up to grab a buckle. “Peter careful where you step, dragons are not made of stone” Allen warned him “Oh oh right” Peter said quickly before moving. “Thank you” Tanith commented to Allen.

Allen could see in the corner of his eyes that some of the other dragons gazed at them not with judgement but with jealousy. It did not dawn on Allen until he was done with the saddle and thanked Peter that none of the other dragons spoke to their pilots while they where dressed out for flight. Even Maximius who dared to speak when ever his pilot threatened Allen did not speak about anything. Trough Allen had not much time to think about the issue at hand, peter was only barely back in place before the admiral appeared. She was seated in a glamorous that seemed like a child of art and war. On either side of her Lavender dragon she had two turrets mounted that could be operated from her seat. Her dragon was armed in metal plates that protected the dragon’s most vulnerable parts. “gosh, she is beautiful” Tanith said when she laid eyes on the dragon.

“Eyes front cadet!” A feminine but powerful thundered. It was without a doubt the dragon, Freya Allen thought was her name. and from the looks he would conclude that the name was a worthy name for the dragon. She carried herself with pride, never buckling under the weight of her armour and armament. The corporal shouted to the group “Attention, stand for inspection!” at command the group saluted for the admiral to pas and walk down the rows of dragons all ready to fly. She stopped before Allen, He tried to keep his resolve but in fair, Freya was a huge dragon and he was rather impressed with her size just before him. “Pilots!” Admiral Evans shouted “You know your mission, gather your recruits and be off” she turned to Allen and gazed at him. “Walker” she said loudly, so everyone could hear. “You join me, this week we will find out you are worthy to be a pilot or we shall cast you off to the coal pits where you claim to come from”

Allen swallowed and nodded a ma’am yes ma’am. “Pilots to me, in formation” Corporal smith commanded while climbing on top of maximus. “Ready, take off” with a blow of a horn the dragons took to the sky and flew off along the coast. Now he was standing there all alone with admiral Evans and her dragon.

“So I heard that you can hear all dragons” Freya said directly to Allen. “what?” he could hear admiral Evans say to Freya.