OG First Flight Scene
So this scene takes place somewhere between Chapters 6 and 7. Initially, Prisoners of Thornbrill skipped the entire 5 years between Scalaed being a hatchling to when he was fully grown. It simply went, “5 Years Later, Melanie moved out and had her own place and Scaled was grown up.” Beta readers expressed their want to see what really happened during all that time, because clearly a lot of story happened.
The main reason this scene was cut, is everything was way too convenient and rushed, hahah. Back then, I wanted to speed through the boring logistics of raising a dragon to get to the Tindoira part, but…how is raising a dragon in Arizona boring?! Readers want to know! So I cut this scene + others and replaced it with the more thorough backstory we have today.
As always, these deleted scenes have not been edited in any way apart from my own self-revision.
While Melanie did her best increasing Scalaed’s food, it reached a point where her allowance wasn’t capable of such expenses anymore, and it was time for Scalaed to relocate. So Melanie and Jason went exploring one Saturday evening in hopes of finding a more suitable and natural habitat for the dragon where he could stay out of sight and hunt for himself.
“And this property is just lovely!” Jason stated, doing his best real estate agent impersonation. “And look here! This property has a single cactus! And isn’t that a lovely shrub? The property directly across from you has fourteen cacti. And best of all, they’re all completely free!”
Melanie ignored him.
Jason ran to the edge of a cliff and said, “Yo, Melanie! Watch this!” He stuck his right arm and leg over the edge of the cliff.
“Jason! Oh gosh, don’t do that!” Melanie screamed as she raced to where he stood. “Get over here right now!”
“I stand on the edge of planet earth!” Jason laughed psychotically. “The eternal chasm opens up before me!” A gust of wind made Jason sway like a drunkard. Then he fell off the cliff.
Melanie shrieked as she skidded to a halt on the edge of the cliff. “Jason!”
“Melanie, look!” Jason’s voice echoed up and Melanie saw him standing amidst a cloud of red dust six feet below her. He wore a crazy grin.
“How can you smile when you could have fallen to your death?” Melanie shouted angrily.
“Mel, look around. I do have situational awareness. Mom burned that into my brain for years. Forget about that. Look! I found a cave, and it’s huge! Scalaed can stay here.”
Melanie groaned and called down, “Well, thank goodness, but how am I going to get you out of there?”
“Get your dragon down here, then fly me up!”
It was such an abstract idea, Melanie actually laughed. She had only ever let him out to fly on moonless nights when he would never be seen. Also she had never ridden him before.
“Hey, I’m serious. By the time you get him, it’ll be dark and no one will see you guys.”
“Okay, just hang tight, I’ll be back,” Melanie called as she biked back to her house, not thinking about how she was going to fly on Scalaed.
***
“Scalaed, come on! I have to get Jason off of a cliff before I get in trouble with Mom and Dad!” Melanie was trying to hopelessly push Scalaed out of the barn. She gave up and plopped on the ground. “Scalaed,” she said seriously, “if you don’t get a move on …” She picked up a splintered plank of plywood and swung it around in front of Scalaed’s face. Unfazed, he snorted and trotted out of the barn.
Melanie threw down the plank and ran after him. “No! No! No! This way! That’s too close to the house, come here, let me put this thing on you!” She ran after Scalaed with an old folded tarp to fasten above his shoulders between his spikes.
Scalaed looked at the make-shift saddle with successive expressions of surprise, discomfort, then disgust. He huffed for an explanation.
“Sorry, boy” —Melanie smoothed the tarp— “but I don’t want to hurt myself or you.”
Melanie climbed Scalaed for the first time then said, “This is the first time for me, so we’ll see what happens, okay?”
Scalaed shook his head and stretched his thirty foot wingspan. Holding tightly onto the spike in front of her, Melanie braced herself for Scalaed’s leap into the air. The dragon was a little wobbly, given the fact it was his first time with a rider. Eventually, his instincts kicked in, and he soared smoothly through the sky. Melanie, breathless with awe, grabbed onto Scalaed a little more tightly. Her stomach lurched as they bobbed with the beating of his wings, but she didn’t let it bother her. The sandy landscape raced by under them. She had seen the Arizona landscape all her life, but never like this. The cool evening air billowed through her clothes. She smiled, loosened her grip slightly, and let out a laugh. It was the most amazing thing she ever experienced.
Melanie and Scalaed located the cliff where Jason was impatiently pacing around in circles. He looked up and exploded in complaints, “You took forever! How long does it take you to mount a dragon? I could have done it in less than half the time it took you!” He sighed and approached Scalaed but stopped. “Whoa,” Jason gasped. “I’m actually about to get on him, huh?”
“It’s absolutely amazing!” Melanie assured.
“Okay, Kool-Aid,” Jason strained as he scrambled on board. “Don’t drop me, I am precious to the world.”
On the flight home, Melanie explained that since Scalaed would be able to hunt for himself, she wouldn’t have to buy meat as often, thus staying within her budget. She would drop the next supply of meat over the cliff in front of the cave, and told Scalaed about his new home with plenty of space to fly and hunt. Jason was not listening; he was awestruck.
When they landed, Scalaed flew back to his new cave, and Melanie asked, “You were quiet the whole trip, Jason, and that is not like you. Are you afraid of heights?”
Jason looked at her. “We’re doing that again!”
