Midnight Raiders

• Tayla Hughes, Grade 10, Mandurah Baptist College
• Short Story
• 2016

Excellence Award in the 'Top Secret 2016' competition

Quietly I jumped down from the branch, landing in a crouch on the leafy dirt. My bow fixed securely around my shoulder, my quiver of arrows sitting snugly on my back.

I exhaled softly. It wasn't the first time I was out here, looking for them. I wasn't a beginner at these kinds of things. My group, we are known are the Midnight Raiders. We work at night sleep in the day, it was our routine.

I glance to my right, making sure I couldn't see any of the Raiders. I pull on the hood of the cloak and creep forward.

We're not called the Midnight Raiders because we raided homes and things; we were called this purely because we only worked at night.

The slight glow ahead and indicated that they might be here.

A low pitched whistle was heard and I looked behind me to see my friends crouched down low.

I did a few had movements.

This one’s mine.

They reply with a couple of clicks and retreat into the shadows, silently.

I close my eyes and finger the dirt below my fingers. Moist. Projecting my awareness out I scan for any heat signatures. Coming up clean I removed the hood and load my bow. Just because I couldn't detect a heat signature, doesn't mean there aren't any vampires watching over them.

I creep forward, silently. My senses on high alert. The ground begins to slope down and I notice it going into a ditch. I laugh lightly.

I stand and put my arrow away. Walking up to the middle I notice there is only one. Hesitantly I reach forward and touch the large object, hissing when I feel the shell seer my hand.

I whistle and my group creep out from the shadows, in turn they each touch the egg. Grumbling when it burns them.

Harmony, the newest of the recruits smiles when the egg doesn't burn her.

"Way to go, girl!" I whisper. She turns to me her dark eyes gleaming.

We are dragon riders. The only ones left.

Harmony picks up the egg.

Our destinies are written, that to acquire our dragon, we were to travel far and wide in search for the eggs.

Harmony, Elizabeth and Jolie. Three of the four girls had now found their dragons. Jolie's dragon hatched a while ago. It was a female Fire dragon named Neemay.

I watch Harmony as she places the egg in her satchel carefully. I smile to myself. She'll be happier now she has that egg. I sigh.

"It's ok, Emma." Jolie whispers from next to me. I grimace and nod. This was my third year as a raider, and no luck.

"You know, there are only two dragon riders left to find their dragons!" Elizabeth calls from in front of me.

"Yeah, I wonder what that means." Deuce yells over from Flare. I think for a second. If it's only Miles and I that need to find our dragons, what happens next?