No sooner had they arrived, everyone was in the air, eager to get going, and others not so eager, and all heading out to face the unknown by order of the King. There were a few people watching the riders, sending prayers to the sky, hoping for the safe return of their dear riders, as it was has been a tradition since the Dragon Riders were founded. The families, friends, and other people associated with our brave riders were amongst them. Well, those who had such people in their lives anyway.<br/><br/>This was such an odd mission. Many were asking the same question: why so many riders? What was out there waiting for them, and how dangerous was it?<br/><br/>They would find out in due time.<br/><br/>As the wind rushed past her, Olga felt liberated. She and Vehrgeist were a little ahead of the others at first but kept a steady pace once everyone caught up. Just like training, everyone kept in formation. As part of the tradition, the dragons all flew past the statue of Valiar and Urvail, which stood at the gates of the city, the very symbol of Ma’aekhiol. Vehrgeist let out a roar as she passed by; the echo made it seem like Urvial had roared back at them, wishing them good luck as well. There was also Argus, the man who trains the Riders, standing by his dragon Cerinas, watching with pride as his prized riders took their leave. The scene never got old. Olga soaked this moment up every time she went through it, and it truly reminder her of why she enjoyed what she did so much.<br/><br/>At first the thought of flying terrified her. It took her two whole weeks for her to get over the fear, mostly thanks to her brother teasing her about it, and once she did she was absolutely in love. Whenever she was up here, looking down at everything from several hundred feet in the air, she was overcome with a truly amazing feeling she could never find words to describe. It was a powerful feeling seeing how small and insignificant everything seemed. It also reminded her of how much she loved being a rider. Not because she liked that everything seems so small, but because it was almost peaceful up here. She could hear herself think, more often than not her mind would be set on something; her mind was definitely set on this mission.<br/><br/>She was chosen for a reason. Even though it appeared like she was acting like a child, she was quite serious about her job. Her eagerness was showing through quite a bit, perhaps a little too much, it was rubbing off on Vehrgeist. While the dragon kept in formation, she would release a puff of fire as if she was venting some of that energy,<br/><br/>Olga would admit that she liked attention. Maybe not right away, even though it was pretty obvious, but she never seemed to mind being confronted about it. However, there was a time and place for everything and once they were passed the kingdom’s gates, she let out a soft breath. Her thoughts were on the mission. There had not been a lot to go on, which did concern her a little. The King would always make sure that everyone was filled in whenever he handed out an assignment, especially a personal one. It was strange to her, and she wondered if the others were thinking the same.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Hey, V?</span>Olga decided to turn to her dragon for ‘expert advice,’ using telepathic communication like everyone else. She probably didn’t need to mention anything to her companion. As they shared a physical and emotional bond, Vehrgeist was aware of almost everything that went through Olga’s mind. But it didn’t hurt to get if off her chest.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF8000">Yes, Olga?</span>Came Vehrgeist’s calm voice. For a female dragon, her voice was pretty deep and almost sounded masculine, but was very soothing at the same time.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">I was just wondering about this mission. Something about it is making me uncomfortable.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: #FF8000">Fallen kingdoms are a good enough reason for anyone to feel uncomfortable. Myself included. I’ve not heard of many kingdoms falling, or witnessed it for myself, but I hear through the grapevine that it isn’t pretty. Apparently, you can feel the curse weighing down on you the moment you set foot beyond the gate.</span><br/><br/>Olga’s brow furrowed in thought.<span style="font-style: italic">I… Well, I hope we can get the job done and be home in the morning.</span>Not a hit of doubt showed on her expression, trusting Vehrgeist’s word completely. There were a lot of old stories about fallen kingdoms and cursed lands, but has always thought of them to be just stories. Most of the time. She was not stupid enough to think lightly of these stories, and would not dare to brush them aside. Curses did exist, unfortunately; thankfully whenever a curse fell it was over a small area and could be expelled easily. In this situation, she knew it couldn’t be a simple curse. Mages could easily be sent out to deal with it, maybe some local crazy who knew about hexes and the like, as there were a few of those around, rather than having to send out a few riders to get the job done.<br/><br/>She gave Vehrgeist a nudge to fall back a little until she was a little closer to her comrades. Since she wasn’t alone up here, she might as well gather what the others had to say about this whole thing.<br/><br/>Looking over her shoulder, “So, has anyone heard of Neyr? All I know about it is that it’s in the mountains somewhere, and it was a pretty busy place.” She said, deciding that was as good of a conversation starter as any. After all, she was curious to know what was known about Neyr, if anything. What caused such a flourishing kingdom to fall?