Page 23 of Monster's Melody

“Now then, since we’ve all been away a minute and the dragons haven’t been ridden since before the holidays, today we’re going to practice greeting our dragons and then mounting them.That is all.There will no flying today.”

Everyone groaned.

“Perhaps if everyone performs adequately today, we might take to the skies next time.Now then, while my assistants aid me in bringing out the dragons, I want everyone to partner up, then find a second partnership to make a group of four.”He did a swift scan of the class, then added, “One group may accept a fifth.”With that, he disappeared into the stables.

I whirled toward Mikaela and Kasi, hoping to somehow avoid what I knew was coming, but I was too late.

Vorzak slung an arm around my shoulders, hauled me to his side and announced, “We’ll be partners.Kasi and Mikaela, do you want to join us to make a group of four?”

“Sure,” Kasi said, apparently not noticing the look of horror on Mikaela’s face.

I knew that look had nothing to do with me andeverythingto do with Vorzak’s snakes.

It took a bit of time for the dragons to reach us and for each group to be assigned one.

“Oh, great,” Vorzak muttered, when Professor Vesely motioned us toward one of the larger dragons.

This particular dragon was a dark gray female named Nika and from my experiences working with the dragons last semester, she was the crankiest of them all.

“ All right,” Professor Vesely called out.“One at a time, slowly approach your dragon and greet themwith respect.”

With Vorzak hanging back, eyeing Nika with trepidation, and knowing that Mikaela would delay as long as she could, I glanced at Kasi, who just gave me a nod to indicate I should go first.

The minute I stepped forward, Nika whipped her head toward me and stared me down.

“Hello, sweet Nika,” I crooned softly, keeping my eyes focused on the bumpy ridges of her chest.This angle allowed me to see any sudden movements she might make, but also ensured I didn’t accidentally challenge her by looking her in the eyes.“Everything’s going to be just fine, okay?”

I had an advantage the other students didn’t have.As a siren, my voice could enchant and when faced with a dragon that could crush me in an instant, or burn me to a crisp, I wasn’t above using a bit of that magic to calm the beast.

I lifted my hand, palm toward her and hummed a simple melody under my breath as I waited.

Eventually my patience was rewarded and Nika lowered her head and nudged the palm of my hand with her snout.

I gently stroked her several times, humming all the while, then under my breath, whisper-sang, “Might I mount you, sweet dragon mine?Carry me, carry me, won’t you?”

A long moment passed, then Nika slowly settled on the ground.

“Thank you, sweet girl,” I whisper-sang, then after one last stroke of her snout, walked to her side and clambered up onto her back.

Once I was settled, Nika rose again.

“Excellent job, Ms.O’Donnell,” Professor Vesely said, “and the first to gain your seat on a dragon, as usual.”

Many of my classmates were making progress with their dragons, but none had attempted to mount theirs yet and one was not making much progress at all.

I rolled my eyes when Taggart’s dragon, a beautiful white named Aniu, who was usually the sweetest of the bunch, knocked Taggart on his ass with a vicious headbutt.

The white spikes on Aniu’s head were bristling as he stamped his feet and growled low.

Taggart scrambled away, apologizing profusely.

Idiot.

I winced when I saw that Sunny and Daya had the misfortune to be partnered with both TaggartandMagnolia.It was a toss-up which would be worse: Taggart who was a jerk and a bully at the best of times or Magnolia, who was a bit of an airhead and wouldn’t be much help in a crisis.

Considering Sunny and Daya had been a couple minutes late due to their quest for snacks and beverages, I was guessing they’d gotten stuck with the two no one else wanted to partner with.

That was a lesson to us all.