In my book I often reference what I call ‘Dragon Riders’, I realize this might be a little confusing to someone who doesn’t know the history of my book so I have decided to explain it here.

The face value of the term is, someone who rides dragons. In my fictional version of Antarctica, however, it has an entirely different meaning. A Dragon Rider is a uniquely gifted person who can use the power of the dragons. Dragon Riders can only be from Antarctica and even in Antarctica there are very few, rarely more than one at a time. To fully explain the Dragon Riders power I must first explain the different dragon powers. Dragons have two types of power, Elemental Power and what I refer to as Dragon Fire. Elemental Power is the type of power you would typically think of a dragon having, there are three types: Fire Dragons, Ice Dragons, and Water Dragons*. These are exactly as they sound and simply mean that the dragon can breathe either fire, ice, or water. Now for Dragon Fire, not to be confused with Fire Dragons, Dragon Fire is less physical than actual fire. It comes in three different types: Silver, Gold, and Copper. 

Silver is the most controlled, the user has the largest amount of power to source from and is able to use it in a relatively controlled manner from the start. Most dragons don’t have Silver Fire, because it is usually limited to those directly connected to dragons related to a king or queen of the dragons. Dragons with Silver Fire can limit what the fire harms, for example if they breathe Silver Fire on two different walls made of brick they can keep the fire from harming one of them if they wish. 

Gold is more common than Silver Fire, but the dragon has to hone their skills to a much higher degree before they can actually use it without putting everyone around them at risk. They generally start with a lot of raw power, meaning it isn’t as controllable as the Silver Fire and they can’t limit what they destroy unless they are trained very well. 

Copper is the most common of the three, approximately two thirds of the dragon population has Copper Fire. Copper can’t really do that much and is usually used as a show of power verses being used for any practical purposes.  

It is important to note that when Dragon Fire (DF) is used it reduces whatever it is used on, to dust. Now that I have explained the different types of DF and Elemental Power (EP), I can go into how they affect Dragon Riders. Dragon Riders (DR or DRs for more than one) are mentally attached to a dragon for their entire life, but it usually isn’t discovered that they are a DR until they are thirteen or fourteen. DRs can only use DF but they can use it to the same extent as their Dragon, of course they can train to be able to use it better than their dragon. DRs also have a more pronounced version of what we call ‘the sixth sense’. They can feel if someone they are close to is in danger, or if something bad is about to happen. The last important thing that DRs can do is their ability to just know something, this one is a bit harder to explain so I will use an example. Ex: You’re a DR and you walk into a room filled with people, you will immediately know everything about everyone in the room. Not what they are thinking, although a DR can use telepathy, but everything important about them: their ages, if they are married or not, their full name, and any important things that have happened to them. That is my basic breakdown of Dragon Riders and what they can do.

*Water Dragons are not to be confused with Sea Dragons. A Sea Dragon is a breed of dragon, known for their maneuverability in water, and their mostly blue and green colored scales. A Water Dragon is a type of Elemental Power.

Have a great day!
~Elowyn A. Archer