Gabe skated the best game of his college career that day, earning three goals – a hat trick – for the team in the second period. His talent brought the Dragons to a 10/3 victory over the Wildcats; putting them first in the division. At 23, he was the most popular player on the team, a junior at Victory College, and in the running for the big-name award for hockey. Little did he know that his life was about to change.
* * *
Gabe awoke in the middle of a hayfield, the sun streaming hotly in his face. Squinting, Gabe sat up, and wondered how he’d gotten to wherever he was. He didn’t drink or do drugs – there had to be some viable explanation for this. He’d been driving up to the north shore for a day with his girlfriend after the game…
Gabe froze. Was he dead? There in the tall grass before him was his hockey gear. He had to be dead, and in hell. If this was heaven, why wasn’t there ice?
Gabriel picked up his bad, chose an arbitrary direction and started walking.
After walking all day, stopping whenever he could find a bit of shade and something to quench his unbearable thirst, Gabe reached what appeared to be a small farming town. Not that Two River was exactly small. He was greeted by some nice folk, and before they could offer him any hospitality, he sunk to his knees and lost consciousness.
The healers were called – their diagnosis was heatstroke – not that it wasn’t obvious to farmers, but the folk wanted to be extra careful with strange visitors.
In return for their caretaking, Gabe helped out wherever he could. Farmwork was as good of a workout as a day’s practice, but it wasn’t mentally challenging, nor was it skating. The people he worked with happily told him all about East Rock and the dragons – once they got done being bothered that he was completely clueless about life as they knew it. Gabe was inspired. He wanted to meet these dragonriders. Maybe they knew where he could find some ice…
A few days later, Gabe awoke in the early morning, and went stretching to his window. Dawn’s light gilded Verran’s rock, and the quartet of dragons perched upon it’s massive back. Two browns, a green, and a blue, who craned his head to look towards the hold as if he knew someone was looking at him.
Of course, Amitath did know, and began making arrangements. That young man was something special.
Gabe was in the dining hall sometime later, thanking his lucky stars that the food was better than what they served in the caffeteria back at school, and fervently wishing for a soda, when a tall stony man in a leather jacket stopped at his table.
"Mind if I sit here?" the man asked.
"Go right ahead." Gabe said.
W’ren sat down. "You’re not from around here, are you?" he asked casually.
Gabe shook his head. "How’d you guess?"
Had W’ren been a less stoic man, he would have smirked. "You haven’t said anything dragon-related yet."
Gabe was a bit put off. "What do you mean?"
W’ren stuck out his hand. "W’ren, rider of brown Hirlath."
Gabe gave it a shake. "Gabriel McKenna – but you can call me Gabe."
"Well met, Gabe" W’ren said.
"You’re the first dragonrider I ever met." Gabe said, feeling a bit silly suddenly. What an obvious thing to say.
W’ren nodded.
"I don’t suppose I could talk you into hauling me somewhere where there’s ice?" The hockey star ventured.
"We can do better than that." A voice said from behind Gabe.
W’ren looked up at his friend J’rin. "You can’t be serious." W’ren said.
J’rin smirked. "Of course. You can’t help it, so why must I be?"
Naturally, W’ren didn’t react.
"I’m Searchrider J’rin, blue Amitath’s rider, and this is my fiancee Maiahn, green Yemlith’s rider." The bouncy man said introducing himself and the shy woman beside him. "Would you be interested in perhaps impressing a dragon of your own?"
Gabe stared. "But I’m not…"
Maiahn laughed, cutting him off. "Gabe, if a dragon wants you, they won’t care where you’ve been or what you’ve done."
Gabe was silent.
"Would you like to go?"
"I’ll go." Gabe said. Fate had gotten him this far…
* * *
His things were loaded onto Amitath, and soon they were off. J’rin asked what was in the big bag.
"Hockey gear." Gabe told him, expecting to have to explain it again.
"Cool." J’rin replied. "We’ve a team at Ryslen."
The shocking cold of between ended the conversation.
| Time passes, you know. Between the time Gabriel McKenna vanished from Earth and the time the Dragons vanished from the same stretch of highway was six years – but the Dragons arrived in East Rock ten weeks earlier. |
After settling in at VellaCrean, Gabe sat down at a table in the main hall to relax. There was an open book and a ballpoint pen there. The first he’d seen since he arrived. Without another thought he picked up the book and began to read, skimming along the script with his brown eyes.
My name is Jayni Klein, I’m 22, and I have wings and a tail. Before you panic, yes, I am a Dragon. In fact, I’m the mascot.
The team pretty much ignores me, and the cheerleaders loathe me because the fans like me better. Figures. The fans don’t care who’s playing ‘Wings’ as long as the skating blue dragon is on the ice.
I’m not exactly sure how we got to East Rock. Last thing I knew, I was starting to doze off on the bus, and then zow! Snowblind in the middle of nowhere with the team.
Gabe felt a bit of deja-vu, but before he could continue, the book was snatched out of his hand by an athletically slim blonde with gorgeous green eyes.
“Keep your claws off what isn’t yours, you… You’re Gabe McKenna!” The girl started angrily, but ended shocked. Her knees went weak, and she sank into a chair.
“You must be Jayni.” He said with a smile. She replied with a dumb nod.
The hockey star noticed a small embroidered image on her shirt. A stylized dragon and a crescent moon. “Waaaaait… you’re the mascot for Victory?”
“Um, yeah.” Jayni said.
“What happened to Bill?”
“He graduated Gabe.”
Gabriel stared. “He was only a soph!”
“Gabe… you’ve been missing for six years!”
He blinked. “I’ve only been here two weeks!”
“I don’t understand it either, McKenna, but here we are.” Jayni said, keeping her head as she always does when her personal privacy isn’t being violated.
“You didn’t happen to bring the cheer team with you?” Gabe asked randomly.
“Oh god no!” Jayni exclaimed.
“Thank heavens for small miracles!” He said with a laugh. “Cheerleaders are the last thing I need right now.”
Jayni giggled. “Wait until I tell the guys.”
“Tell them what?”
“That you’re alive! You’re their hero!”
Gabe gawked. “I’m no hero. I’m just a forward with good aim.”
Jayni smirked. “Gabe, you were up for the Hobey. You would’ve had it if you hadn’t vanished. You never let the fans down, even when they were dweeby highschoolers or girls who wantedto play hockey.”
Gabe nodded. “Okay, I guess…”
Jayni smirked.
“Six years, huh?” Gabe said, running his hands through his hair. “Did they ever make the team CoEd like we were trying to get?”
Jayni nodded. “We’ve got a few gals on the team, but most females prefer women’s hockey, where they won’t get smashed into the boards.”
Gabe laughed. “And they say women have higher pain thresholds.”
“We do.” Jayni said. “Just most women are wimps.” They had a good laugh over that.
After a bit, Red came to the table. “Gabe, we’ve found a lake that’s solid enough to be safe.” He said happily.
Gabe grinned. “Great! I’ve been dying to skate!” he said as he rose.
“Me too.” Jayni said, hesitating a moment.
“Got your skates here?” Gabe asked. “I could sure use company.”
VellaCrean
Background by Tiyanni!