Nearly.
Huge, massive creatures of muscle, steel and flame that cut through the air like mere shadow. An abandoned government weapon, too valuable to be killed, to dangerous to be released to the world. And so, they were moved to an underground facility located deep within the jungles of South America. It is here that the newest generation of dragons and their riders remain, unaware of their dark history, wondering what purpose they could have for existence and the strange training that they endure.
Terra Dragons were originally engineered as the United States perfect fighters. Huge, fire-breathing creatures with razor-sharp claws and teeth that can teleport from place to place in a split second and coordinate their efforts through mental communication. The ultimate weapon. However, to survive, they need to bond to a human partner, called a rider, at birth. The rider must be of the same sex as the dragon. Otherwise, no one knows what causes dragons to choose their riders.
The dragons come in five different colors, due to varying pigmentation in the skin: red, blue, green, black, and white. Females are slightly larger than males, but otherwise there is no difference, other than genitalia. There is no difference between the colors, other than the color itself. They are as tall as a very small New York City skyscraper, and a little longer. They have smooth skin, not scales, although it as tough as leather. They have a row of sharp ridges running from the back of their head down to the end of their tail. Their “hands,” on both the front and hind legs, have five fingers, each equipped with a retractable, razor sharp black claw. These fingers are very similar to human fingers, both in appearance and dexterity. The hind legs are extremely muscular and very strong to allow the dragon to jump before takeoff, while the front legs are similar to human arms and are less muscular and shorter than the hind legs. They have large eyes, set in the sides of the head, which are equipped to see in both light and total darkness.
Their wings are complex, and very strong. They’d have to be, to support hundreds of tons each time the dragon flies. They are built rather like a hand, with the thumb attatched to the dragon, and the wingsail being spread across the other four fingers. Though the material that the wingsail consists of doesn’t look particularily strong, it is nearly as tough as steel.
Dragons are like people in the respect that each and every one has its own unique personality. Some have horrible tempers, some are very laid back and easygoing, and some will talk from the time the sun goes up until the sun goes down. But every dragon, no matter what color or sex, has one thing in common. They love their riders with single-minded devotion. No dragon will ever use harsh words with his or her rider (although at times, a little advice is necessary) and no dragon could even comprehend leaving his or her rider. To a dragon, the world revolves around the man or woman that is it’s lifemate.
Of course, it is not twenty-four seven god-like worship from dragon to rider. The rider feels the same love for his or her dragon. They interact more like best friends that have known each other forever and are perfectly comfortable telling each other anything. Because between dragon and rider, there can be no secrets.
Because the bond between dragon and rider is so strong, if the rider dies, the dragon goes into a coma and must be killed by lethal injection.
A hatching is one of the most wonderful moments in a rider’s life. It is the moment that their dragon bonds with them, and their new life begins. They already know what color dragon they will bond to, if they are going to bond, because there can only be one color clutch together.
Candidates for the hatching are chosen from all over the United States. They must speak english; not because the dragons speak any one language, but because they must be able to communicate with each other. They can have no psychological problems or handicaps that could prevent them from any form of physical activity, such as blindness, deafness, or paralyzation in any part of the body. They also may not have any fatal diseases.
They are trained for one month before the hatching on basic hatchling care and how things there work. Once the hatching begins, the candidates are led to wherever the dragon has laid her eggs (which will never be more than two or three miles away). There are always far more candidates than eggs to give the dragons a wide selection, and there are usually at least twenty eggs, which means that there are many disappointed candidates left standing.
As for those that do bond to a dragon, they are led back to their new community hatchling quarters to begin their new lives- and training.
Each dragon and his/her rider in the DC is a member of a Flight. A Flight is a group of twenty-five dragons and their riders, plus a Flightleader, Flightsecond, and Flightthird, that practice drills as a group. Each Flightrider can be identified by a small band of color sewn around the upper left arm of their flight leathers. (Flight leathers are leather jackets, pants, boots, and gloves that are worn during high altitude flying.) The Beryl Flight is green, the Azure Flight is blue, the Diamond Flight is white, and the Onyx Flight is black.
Each Flight will practice different drills each week, as specified by their Flightleader (FL). All drills practiced are for combat purposes, such as unison diving, barrel-rolling, flaming, or any combination of these. There are hundreds of manuevers that the dragons must learn, both during hatchling training and while in the first few months that they are in their Flight. The orders for what is to be taught to the dragons is sent in from outside the DC. No one knows exactly what the dragons and their riders are training for, although many have speculated.
The Flightseconds, known also as F2's, assist the FL's during drills and help to train the Hatchlings. They will also watch the dragons train and make a report to the FL. Flightthirds (F3) assist the F2's and FL's with whatever is needed, make sure that everything goes smoothly in the Flights, and also help with the traning of the candidates.
Dragons rise to mate once a year. It usually happens late in the evening, although it can happen any time of day. When a female rises, there is no warning. She simply leaps into the air and flies in an intricate spiraling pattern. This is also the only time that dragons will willingly fight each other. The males (all of the same color as the female) will then become very aggressive, clawing and biting at each other until all have dropped out except for one, which mates with the female. If the female has a preference, she may also join in, attacking those that she does not wish to mate with. The males will never go so far as to seriously injure or kill each other, but the injuries usually need the tending of a Dragon medic. The female will then lay her clutch a month to a month and a half later.
The effect that the mating has on riders is great. They feel the lust through their link, and the winner and females rider of the flight will retreat to her quarters for the night.
When the government was forced to move the dragons and their riders, they realized that a huge above-ground building the size of the state of Texas would be rather conspicuous. Faced with this, they bought a huge portion of land in South America and built an underground complex, known as the Dragon Complex (DC for short.) The main entrance, which is basically just a huge downward slanting tunnel that leads into the main DC, is hidden in the top of a series of jagged rocks along the coast. There are also several back entrances which are far smaller.
The DC is built in layers. The bottom layer is storage. Rooms upon rooms of enough food and supplies to feed a small country. The next two layers are staff quarters, for the medics, laborers, etc. The next five layers are the dragonrider quarters. Each color has it’s own floor. From the bottom up it goes: black, white, green, blue, and red. The next layer is the community floor, where the members of the DC can mingle, get to know one another, and just relax. Here they have the dining hall, game rooms, and other such facilities. The top three floors are the funcional rooms. Meeting rooms, communications rooms, infirmaries for both dragons and people, classrooms, etc.
