William and Lukka

                  “You know, just because you say it out loud Doesn't mean it's going to magically come true.”

                  “Oh, be quiet.”

                  “I'm just saying you keep going around telling everyone you're going to be a dragon rider, but it takes real effort, actual practice, and genuine talent.” Lukka was a mid-sized dragon. He walked with his friend down the busy streets of Hallador.

                  “Wow, what's your problem? You're sounding like the kids at school!” William was a young man, small for his age. But determined to one day be a dragon rider.

                  “No, I'm just trying to lookout for you.” Lukka was growing more concerned about the heightened level of obsession William was displaying. “I know we will make it into the dragon flight games. We're both talented, but there's still a lot we must do in order to get into those games. You know exactly what I'm saying. We’ve talked about this before. We just need to pace ourselves, be consistent, and we will eventually get into the dragon flight games someday.”

                  “Well, that day is today!” William said. He hurried through the city streets, weaving his way in and out of the busy shoppers and travelers along the roadways and alleyways. His dragon friend paused for a moment at the boy's statement, then increased his pace to keep up with William.

                  “OK, what's with you today? You seem to have this entire aura of seriousness about you. That's not like you, William. I don't know what you’ve got going on but you gotta talk to me.? We've talked about those kids at school. Do we need to go visit them again?” Lukka asked.

                  “No, no, it's not that. I'm just so tired of talking about being an official dragon rider and never actually doing it. I'm so tired of talking! I just want to do it!” William looked at his dragon friend, frustrated and concerned. “You know how bad we want this? So why don't we do it already? You and I we are like the best delivery team there's has ever been. We get some of the fastest times out of anyone, and they still don't trust us with the more complicated deliveries.” William’s face filled with frustration. He knew his dragon friend felt the same way despite his recent ranting on about being levelheaded. “We are good at what we do. But I know we can be so much more than just delivery boys.”

                  Lukka held silent for a moment. He knew exactly what William was talking about. But Lukka was driven to protect William. He felt it was his job to keep him safe. But it was also Lukka’s equal desire for accomplishment that kept the two close friends. Still, Lukka felt he had to be the rational voice. “We both know that there's so much more out there for us. But it all takes time. You can't rush into things like this. You're likely to get hurt.”

                  William stared at his friend, furrowing his brow. “Sounds like you don't believe it as much as you think you do.” William turned abruptly and continued walking.

                  “What's that supposed to mean?” Lukka called out.

                  William stopped. He turned around, looking directly at his friend, “You don't believe in me. Well, I’m going to compete in the dragon flight games, with or without you.” William whipped around and continued his fast-paced walk.

                  Lukka stared at his friend as he walked away. William’s behavior was concerning and confusing to Lukka. With several leaps, Luca was standing in front of William. “Whoa whoa whoa slow down there. What has gotten into you? This isn't like you. Tell me what's going on?”

                  “It's nothing!” Williams maintained his furrowed brow.

                  “That's a lie.”

                  “No, it’s nothing. Now just leave me alone!” William said. Anger was seeping through.

                  Lukka knew something was not right. “Look, it’s not nothing. Something is going on. We compete in the games together. Together. William and Lukka. We were a pair from the beginning, and nothing will change that. Now just tell me, what is going on?”

                  William’s persona shifted; his posture relaxed as the anger fizzled away. But William was still fidgeting as he tried to speak. “No, I'm fine it's…. its…” William took a deep sigh and shook his head and looked at the ground. “It's my mom. She's getting worse.”

                  “What do you mean?” Lukka asked.

                  “She's just getting worse. I don’t know what it is, but I can see it every single day. She can't get around as easy, she moves less. Whatever's wrong with her, it just seems to get worse.” William said. His confession brought out some emotion in his eyes.

                  “I didn't know this. She has said nothing to me,” Lukka said.

                  “Of course not. She’s not one to say anything to anyone since she’s the one taking care of everyone else. She gets up and acts like every day is normal. She tries to cover it up with her positive attitude. She never asks for help, she just does everything on her own. She hasn't even said anything to me, but I see it,” William explained.

                  “I'm so sorry. I… I just didn't know.” Lukka said.

                  William sat silent, staring at the ground. “I just don't know what to do anymore. The doctors keep giving her treatments, but I don't think any of it is helping. I keep thinking and thinking, but it seems like no matter what I do, her condition just keeps getting worse. The least I can do is give her some form of comfort. Sitting around doing the same thing every day will not help. School will not save my mom. School will not pay our bills. School will not take care of our family if if…”

                  “Hey hey hey hey stop thinking like that. You don't know what's going to happen.” Lukka tried to console William.

                  William looked away from his friend, hiding his face. Lukka slowly stepped up next to William to be by his side, but said nothing.

                  William finally spoke up. “I just can't stop thinking if I could just win that prize money in the games. It doesn’t even have to be first place, but just something. Any prize money would at least allow me to give mom some form of comfort. Something to celebrate, some form of joy. If I could just make her smile. She has done so much for Sam and I, I want to give her something in return.” 

                  “Silvi is an amazing woman. We wouldn’t be together without her.” Lukka said.

                  “I just… I just have this sinking feeling.” William’s emotions overtook his courage. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I don’t think it’s going to end well.” William’s tears streamed down his cheeks.

                  “Hey, hey, hey, look at me, look at me!” Lukka reached out with his wing arm and pulled William in close, leaning his head in close to William’s. “Look at me. Remember who you are. You are William. You are part dragon, are you not?”

                  William looked up at Lukka with a slight smile.

                  “You remember that, don’t you?” Lukka said.

                  William nodded.

                  “Ever since you were a small little human, you had the courage of a dragon. And the energy to match.” Lukka leaned his head into William’s. “You’ve got this.” The two friends held silent for a moment.

                  “Now, let’s hear it,” Lukka said.

                  William looked up at his dragon friend.

                  “Go on, give me your roar!” Lukka said.

                  William wiped the tears from his cheeks. He looked at Lukka. Grateful to have such a genuine friend.

                  “Raaaawwwwr!”

                  “Oh c’mon, that’s not a roar, let me hear it!” Lukka said.

                  “RRRRRAAAAAAAaaaaaaawwwwwwwrrrrr.”

                  “Okay, okay, we are getting there, but let me hear your real roar. You are WILLIAM, PART DRAGON!”

                  “RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!”

                  “There it is!” Lukka roared back. Lukka and William leaned in, pushing their heads together, exchanging snarls, growls, and roars.

                  “Now, what do you have in planned?” Lukka asked William “For Silvi, I’m all in.”

                  William looked at Lukka with a smile. “I’ve been working on a plan. C’mon”.

                  The two friends hastily moved through the city, weaving through the crowds of people traveling throughout. Rounding the corner, they stood before the colossal stadium. The home of the Dragon Flight Games.

                  “There it is.” William said to Lukka. “The Grand arena.” William and Lukka spent a lot of time wandering around the Grand arena. It was their go to place to dream of life as one of the dragon rider teams competing in the dragon flight games, basking in the attention of their abilities, and successes! The duo have yet to actually be inside the Grand Arena, but in their dreams, it was like home. Tickets to the games were always just out of their reach. Food and other living expenses seemed to always have the top priority. They knew every aspect outside the area. Just never had that opportunity to go inside.

                  “C’mon, let’s go.” William led the way. William looked around, observing the open gathering areas around the Arena, scoping for some options that could make his plan work. Circling around to one of the side entrances of the arena, William and Lukka approached one of the arena’s service booths. William walked up to the booth while Lukka held back.

                  “Hello, I’m here to sign up for the preliminary trials to the games.” William said, leaning casually on the booth’s ledge.

                  The woman stared at the young boy and raised an eyebrow.

                  William’s smile shrank. He stared back, raised his eyebrows. “Well, not for me of course!” Nervous laugh. “My dad sent me over here,” William turned and pointed to a man in the courtyard who was prepping his rider set up. “I run all they busy errands. He focuses on the flight, and the skills, and you know, he and his dragon need to focus if they are going to… you know, plan and win… the game. The games,” William said.

                  “That’s your father?” the woman in the booth asked.

                  “Yep! My one and only!” William turned to look at the man, then turned back to the woman in the booth.

                  The woman did not look convinced. With a shrug from her eyebrows, the woman pulled out several papers. “You’ll need to fill this out to register for the trials. The participant needs to sign the contract here.” the woman pointed to a blank section of the document. “Half of the registration fee is due up front; the other half is due a week before the event.”

                  “Got it! Thank you, I’ll have him fill this out and pay the registration fee. Thanks, thank you!” William said.

                  “And he has to sign it,” the woman said.

                  “Oh yes, of course, yeah, no problem,” William said. He turned to walk away. Then stopped. He turned back to the woman in the booth. “Any chance you have a blank sheet of paper? I told my dad I would make a list of things he needed, and I, uh, I forgot my uh bag with supplies. I mean, I could just run and go get it, but he’s in such a hurry, if you had some uh paper …”

                  The woman in the booth stared back at William, then help up a sheet of paper.

                  “…. That uh, yes, that would be great! Thank you.” William grabbed the piece of paper and turned to join his dragon friend. “C’mon, I need to get dad to fill out these forms.”

                  “Sure thing, sure thing!” Lukka said, smiling at the woman in the booth still watching them as they walked away. Then turning to William in desperation, “What are you doing? We are going to get thrown into jail, or worse, banned from the dragon flight games! You can’t just sign up for an event like this.”

                  “Just trust me, keep walking, make it seem like we are talking business. Don’t look back at her. Wait, is she watching us? Wait, don’t look back. Just keep walking.” William tried his best to lead Lukka on his mission, but exposing exactly how nervous he was. William and Lukka kept walking, inconspicuously checking on the woman in the booth. They found a bench near the man unknowingly playing William’s father and filled out the form.

                  “William! What are you doing? This is your plan?” Lukka asked.

                  “Yes, maybe I’m figuring out a couple of things, but this is going to work!” William said, concentrating on filling out the form.

                  “FIGURING THINGS OUT! William! Have you lost your mind? There is no way that woman is going to believe us. We are in plain sight; she can see everything you are doing. This will not work. I’m all for this, but we may want to step back and plan this out.” That’s when he noticed William creating several signatures on the blank page of paper. “Uhhh, what are you doing?”

                  “I’m creating signatures.”

                  “Why are you signing that page that many times we only need one signature?” Lukka asked.

                  “Would you just be quiet!” William said, trying to keep Lukka in the game which Lukka clearly knew nothing about. “Seriously, this is the critical part of the plan. Just look up and watch that dragon rider over there. We’re just going to watch him for a little while, then follow my lead.”

                  “You mean your dad, your made up imaginary dad that doesn’t even know he is your dad?” Lukka was nearing a hyper state of panic.

                  “Yes! Now stop talking so much and just watch him,” William said, giving his firmest direction.

                  Lukka took several deep breaths to control his nerves. He knew he said he was all in. He never would have guessed William planned to move this fast. Lukka watched as the dragon rider and his dragon checked all their equipment. The man looked rugged and strong, older for the sport of dragon riding. Maybe he could have been an instructor. He was clearly experienced. His dragon partner was a beautiful dragon, with a long, elegant body structure and an impressive wingspan, but not very large. Lukka watched as the man working with his dragon glanced their direction a few times since they were sitting so close, awkwardly staring in his general direction. 

                  “Okay now.” William got up and began walking towards the dragon rider. Lukka took a deep breath and followed along. William approached the man while he was working. William continued to stare awkwardly at the man while he continued to work. The man noticed. Smiled and nodded, then kept trying to work. William continued to watch the man work. The man noticed that William would not leave.

                  “Can I help you, son?” the man asked.

                  “Yes, I’m so sorry to bother you,” William said, “but I’m a huge fan of the dragon flight games, and aren’t you one of the dragon riders?”

                  “Well, yes, I guess I am,” the man said.

                  “That’s amazing!” William did not know who the man was, but he did his best to look impressed. “I love the dragon flight games. I’ve been watching them for years, and I just thought, and I’m sorry to bother you, but could I get your autograph?”

                  The man turned his complete attention to William. The dragon also turned her head to see the adoring fan. “So, you are a fan of what we do?”

                  “Yes, absolutely!” William said. “Well, I’m still meeting a lot of the other dragon riders as they come in and out, So I’m still learning about some of them, but my goal is to get an autograph from all the dragon riders competing in the games. Do you mind if we get your autograph?”

                  “Yeah, sure, always glad to support my fans.” The man smiled at William and motioned for him to hand over his paper.

                  Lukka felt he had to help sell the story, speaking to the man’s dragon partner. “And I love what you do. I mean, the dragon riders wouldn’t be dragon riders without us, now would they?” The other dragon simply smiled and tipped her head to acknowledge. William held out the the pages. One page with several signatures on it, covering the registering papers, all except the blank space at the bottom. The man signed it with a smile.

                  “You boys plan to compete?” the man asked.

                  “Oh yeah, we’ve always dreamed of competing in the games. But we’re too young, so we’ll just keep practicing, and hopefully one day we will get in,” William explained as innocently as he could sound.

                  “Well, never give up on your dream. Stick to it, no matter what.” The dragon advised.

                  William and Lukka exchanged more thank you’s, and praise to the dragon rider and his dragon, then made their way back to the stadium.

                  “I can’t believe this is working!” William said to Lukka as they returned to the booth.

                  “What? You said you had it all planned out!”

                  “I did, but I didn’t think it would work!”

                  “William! What am I going to do with you?” Lukka shook his head. “Wait, if we are fan boys looking for autographs, why are we headed back to the registration booth?”

                  “Good call! Mix it up!” William took a sharp turn. The two friends wandered around back and forth, trying to avoid observation by the lady in the booth, and making sure the man with the signature lost track of them. When the timing was right, William and Lukka returned to the booth.

                  “Here’s our registration! I mean, for my dad, I’m running all the errands for my dad,” Williams said. “But he is eager to get in and get set up.”

                  The woman at the booth took his papers, stamped them, then filed them. William was watching every move like his life depended on it. The woman did her job like nobody cared. “And payment. How would you like to deposit your registration fee?” the woman at the booth asked.

                  Lukka’s eyes went wide, and with a slightly baffling looking smile turned to William.

                  “Ah yes, I have it right here.” William began pulling out stacks of gold and silver coins. He carefully counted, stacking them as he counted. Then he pulled out some loose coins and added them, several spilling out of his hands and rolling to the ground. William carefully picked them all up, stacking them on the booth counter. The woman patiently watched.

                  “My dad, he has so much of this around the house. You know, from winning games and such. He’s tired of all the coins in the way, so he had me clean them all up. Wanted to get rid of them.” William gave a goofy smile as he pushed the coins towards the woman.

                  “Hmm, I see.” The woman counted the coins, placed them on the lower counter, looked around her booth for a moment, then called out for security.

                  William’s eyes went wide.

                  Lukka leaned in close to William. “They are on to us. Let’s get out of here!”

                  Talking through his teeth in a whisper, William said, “No, we have to stick to the plan if we are going to sell it!”

                  “They are going to arrest us!”

                  “No! just trust me!”

                  “Why are you so stubborn?”

                  Both Lukka and William went silent. As security arrived at the booth. The woman pointed to Lukka and William and gestured a few things. The guard looked at the two friends, then at the money on the counter, then reached into his chest pocket…

                  William just kept smiling.

                  Lukka whispered, “This is it; we’re done for!”

                  …And pulled out a key. The woman walked back to her counter, unlocked a safe with the Key, scooped up the money, and locked it back up again. She exchanged pleasantries with the guard and he was on his way. Lukka and William stood there wide eyed, still frozen from the encounter.

                  The woman gathered several pages, keys, and several bags and boxes. She gave them the instructions how to get into the arena, how to clear security, and where their preparation room was. She explained the schedule and all the amenities available to them as participants in the trials.

                  William and Lukka were beaming with excitement. The woman shared the information just like another day on the job. William and Lukka gather their papers and goodies and began walking into the grand arena.

                  “Keep calm, keep calm, keep calm,” William said.

                  “I am!” Lukka said back.

                  “I know I’m talking to myself!” William said, trying to keep as calm as possible.

                  “Where did you get that money, anyway?” Lukka asked.

                  “Let’s just say we need to run some extra deliveries this month.,” William answered.

                  “William! are you insane!?” Lukka quieted down as they approach the security gate.

                  William waved to the security guard, and he casually waved them in. William curled his lips between his teeth to control the smile that wanted to erupt.

                  “We are entering the arena!” he whispered.

                  The two friends tried to act as calm as possible and began walking down one of the long hallways to find their preparation room. Their emotions surged with nervousness, fear, excitement, joy, a strange cornucopia of feelings as they walked the legendary halls.

                  “It looks like we turn here. It should be just around the co—” Lukka realized William was no longer by his side. “William?” William was walking directly to a bright light. The opening gate to the arena. “William, where are you going?“ Lukka stopped mid-sentence. Lukka and William stepped out of the tunnel, into the massive Grand arena.

                  “Whoa.”

                  “Whoa is right.”

                  “This is so much larger than I ever imagined.” Lukka said. William slowly gazed upon all aspects of the Grand arena. The different obstacle courses, the skills challenges, the competition arena. It was awe-inspiring.

                  “William, I don’t know. It’s not too late. This could be dangerous. I promised your mom I would always keep you safe.”

                  “Nothing great was ever accomplished by playing it safe.”

                  “Yeah, well, this is… this is a whole new league…” Lukka mumbled, getting caught up in the grandeur of the arena.

                  The two boys stared at the epic arena.

                  “Raaawwwr.” William softly spoke.

                  Lukka looked at William with a smile.

                  “Raaaawwwr.”