Page 40 of The Timeless Vigilante

Gen really hoped that Clipper didn’t have one of those devices that recorded information like pictures and events. She’d seen Liv and Sophia using them and they were a strange bit of magic. Those phone things everyone carried really could do just about everything—it was almost too much and the advances made Gen nervous.

“Does Dwayne really like anyone?” Jack questioned, fitting a saddle onto Emperor’s back, having offered to help with outfitting the pair.

“He loves me,” Sully boasted, handing Gen a thick pair of riding gloves. “He said I was his second in command.”

“He said you were the assistant to the leader of the Rogue Riders,” Clipper argued, not having offered to help with this first lesson. “Which if you ask me, isn’t a title at all.”

“Well, no one asked you, did they?” Sully spat back.

In the shadow of the sprawling Rogue Rider mansion in Beverly Hills, Gen faced her next grand challenge beneath the growing twilight. Emperor, her massive, iridescent purple dragon, stood with an air of ancient wisdom and indomitable power, his scales glittering like amethysts under the setting sun. His eyes, deep pools of psychic energy, regarded Gen with a mix of curiosity and impatience.

“Are you sure you’re ready to do this?” Jack asked her, standing back after checking the saddle.

“I grew up riding horses,” she stated with confidence. “And they are really dumb. I think riding a cooperative and all-knowing dragon should be easy in comparison.”

“But that’s where you’re wrong,” Jack countered, looking Emperor in the eyes. “Because they are intelligent, dragons won’t just allow anyone to ride them, not even their chosen rider—not if they aren’t ready or their approach is not right.”

He’s correct, Emperor said in Gen’s head.

She cut her eyes to her dragon. Well, are you going to allow me to ride you?

We’ll see, he replied slyly.

“Not to mention that it’s about like mounting a hippo,” Sully imparted. “It’s not as easy as you’d think.”

Clipper laughed. “How would you know what it’s like to ride a hippo?”

“There was this one time I had to chase these thieves through the zoo,” Sully explained, proudly. “Hippos are the most aggressive animals. You know more deaths happen from hippos each year than from shark attacks worldwide. Those massive creatures are dangerously aggressive.”

“And so you rode one?” Jack asked with a laugh.

“Well, it was that or be trampled by the fatty,” Sully stated. “I found myself in her enclosure and she was about to bowl me over. So I timed it perfectly and jumped into the air, landing on its back. Then I rode that girl straight into the perpetrators.”

Jack and Clipper laughed, both shaking their heads as if they didn’t believe the story. Gen, however, knew that he was telling the truth. Even without Jude or Diabolos around, she knew when people were lying or not. However, her focus was elsewhere as her tension rose for what she had to do next.

The first task was simple in theory, yet daunting in practice. It was to mount Emperor. As Gen advanced, the dragon’s telepathic voice echoed in her mind, offering cryptic guidance that felt more like riddles.

Approach this with the care and ease you would have holding someone’s hand, Emperor said in her head. You are not exerting your control onto them, but rather enfolding your fingers equally through theirs.

I’ve never held anyone’s hand, Gen admitted at once. My father held Elizabeth’s hand usually, while he chased after me.

Try and imagine, then, he offered.

Fine, she said, sidling up next to him, just then realizing how tall he was. The idea of hoisting herself onto his back seemed akin to scaling a massive, living fortress. Still, she covered her intimidation and tried to find her footing. However, the problem became immediately apparent on her first try.

Just as a knight in heavy armor might struggle to climb the slick, stone walls of a castle under siege, Gen found herself grappling with the smooth, unyielding scales of Emperor’s flank. Each handhold was as precarious as a rain-slicked rampart, and every movement required the strength and determination of a seasoned warrior storming a formidable keep.

Her attempts were clumsy, her feet slipping on the sleek scales, her hands grasping at the air. Laughter trickled from behind her as the fellow riders watched—amused by these attempts.

The wind also seemed to mock her as it tangled in her hair, pushing her sideways, making her task all the more Sisyphean. But with a determined squint, Gen found a ridge on Emperor’s foreleg to hoist herself up, only to slide down his side in a less-than-graceful dismount. Her pride bruised, but resolve unbroken, she finally managed to cling to his back, and ungracefully kick herself up and onto the saddle, finding a steady place on his back.

Sitting up, sweat dripping into her eyes from the efforts, Gen grabbed for the reins in front of her. She didn’t want to look at Clipper rolling around and laughing on the ground or Sully who was standing close by probably recording the whole thing. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Jack, but didn’t look at him directly.

“Well, if you found that easy, then the next part will be slightly more challenging,” Jack explained, an amused tone to his voice. “It’s about like riding a horse, but you tell him to go with your mind and you control him with your intention.”

“What are the reins for?” Gen asked.

“For holding on like hell,” Sully said with a laugh.

---