by LJ Davies
It still felt like they were purposely trying to keep Tarwin out of the conversation. Naturally, I understood that if a war was coming, they'd be worried about it. But I saw no signs of any war, the worst things I'd experienced until a few days ago were sheep going missing or bears in the village.
To give them some credit, at least now I had answers about where wyverns originated. Although it all felt ridiculous, to my knowledge there was no record of such a world-changing event in human society. None of the spiritual talk ever spoke of anything of the sort, only divine deer, snakes and firebirds.
As I thought, the blue dragonesse’s eyes scoured the engraved carvings in the domed ceiling and despite my aching neck's protest, my eyes followed hers.
"These halls show all of our history, and not once has a dragon like you been recorded," she noted curiously, scanning the stone, trying to find something that she knew she wouldn't. "A dragon whose colour shows no element, whose scales are star-light white," she added, her gaze falling on me.
This talk again? I thought I'd been told this already. Of course my scales show no element, I don't have one!
I reckoned many dragons were the same. All I sensed was that they had suddenly sought to change the subject – what did my scales have to do with helping Tarwin? Despite my doubts, a small part of me grew more optimistic that there might be some purpose to this puzzling change in direction.
"What do you mean?" I enquired.
"You have no natural element, or if you do, it's not known," she continued, looking at me as if eager to solve the puzzle herself.
"Indeed," the red dragon agreed. "The occurrence of a unique dragon such as yourself appearing at this time is no coincidence. If it is true and the return of the Dark Guardian is approaching, you're being here is no accident," he added, completing his companion's sentence as if they had choreographed the whole thing.
I resented their reference to me as a mere ‘coincidence’ or an ‘accident’, but I allowed it to slip. I was far more interested with the prospect of this 'Dark Guardian' and my apparent new title of 'unique dragon'. Deep down I felt like I understood, or at least I should understand. I'd had a similar feeling of déjà vu when I'd looked at the golden seal on the door, the feeling of having been here before unnerved me.
Before I could think too hard; I unnervingly felt the four dragons staring at me in union.
"Go now, young dragon," the blue dragoness instructed.
"We will request you when we have more information," the red dragon added, reinforcing my choreography theory.
I wasn't one for being 'requested'. I wanted to say more, to continue, to argue my point, but something in my mind was telling me to resist that urge.
I should just do the smart thing and accept it, for now, at least.
If I refused to leave they may think I was being aggressive. I'd no idea how they might react to that, so I followed their orders. As if it had anticipated my approach the door had already started its mechanical dance. I walked through the monstrous, metal jigsaw to see my new friends waiting patiently on the other side.
Head hung low in disappointment, I passed them as the door ground closed behind me. I could hardly believe what I'd been told. The Elders were supposed to be the wise ones, yet all they could tell me was that some evil lord’s servant beasts had taken my friend? My optimism fell further at the thought of what the blue dragoness had told me, because if what they said about this Acrodan was true, then Tarwin might be…
No, I'm not thinking like that, I'm not giving up on her! I shoved the thought from my mind. She'd never give up on me, I'll never leave her!
Then there was all that nonsense about the colour of my scales, elements and my lack of one. It was either convenient or ironic, either way I disliked both possibilities.
What in the spirits' name does it have to do with this Acrodan character anyway?
That was the least of my worries. If the Elders wanted to tell me cryptic rubbish, then fine, but I wasn’t just going to sit around and wait for them to come up with a plan.
"Come on then, what did they say?" Risha’s excited question shook me out of my frustrated stupor.
I immediately attempted to hide my disappointment. She's really excited about this. I can't disappoint her after how she’s helped me.
"Oh, something about a war, a Dark Guardian and some other bad stuff."
If someone had said that to me, I'd have thought they were mocking me, and for a moment I regretted my curt response. Her excited expression diminished with every word until her face went blank, along with her brother’s. Then I laughed sheepishly, as if it had been a joke.
Come on, Blaze, don't offend them! Who else can you turn to in this place?
Boltock shared my dry laugh, while Risha paused for a moment, seemingly considering her words in a similar way to the Elders. Every moment she spent thinking, I spent fearing she would question my response. After what felt like an eternity of tension, she finally accepted it in much the same casual way as her brother.
Relieved, I quickly moved the conversation on to a new subject, telling them the Elders wished to see me again.
"If they sent for you twice, they must really think you're special," Risha said, her excitement blooming again.
"Oh, if the Elders think you're special then who are we to argue?" Boltock added, giving his sister a sly smirk.
She offered him her normal disapproving scowl, to which he responded with a fit of teasing giggles.
"Better be off to training, hey, sis?" he managed to utter through his laughter, nudging her side. "Don't wanna be late again."
"Yes, of course," she replied sharply, straightening up and pressing her wings flat to her flanks.
"You can come, if you want," she offered as she glanced at me. "That's if you didn't come to Dardien for any other reason?"
What they were training for intrigued me, but my interest was short-lived.
If I get to thinking about that, it's just going to cause more delays. I need to get out of here as soon as I can!
Except for another potentially disappointing meeting with the Elders I'd no real reason to stay. I needed to restart my search and now I at least knew where I had to go.
You really want to go flying all the way up to the far north right now? This Ilivar place is half a world away, maybe seeing how real dragons act first will help?
I considered that as I accepted Risha's invitation, I had to kill time somehow and I’d no one else to hang around with. Meanwhile, the blue dragoness beamed happily and I did my best to hide my underlying conflict.
"The more the merrier," Boltock muttered, rolling his eyes at his sister and gesturing for her to follow as he moved away.
I watched as the two of them walked over to one of the tunnels leading off from the main hall. Before following, I took one last look at the icon in the centre of the golden door. It depicted a sphere surrounded by four armoured dragons. The sphere could have represented anything, but with the knowledge I now possessed I knew it symbolised much more.
"Blaze, you coming?"
I heard my name called and for the first time in my life it was someone other than Tarwin.
I pulled myself away from the golden seal and hurried over to the others, continuing to follow as they passed into the side tunnel. Other dragons crowded in front and behind, most about my size and all walking in the same direction. Over the many horned heads and winged bodies I could see a slightly distorted light at the far end of the passageway; it looked like it was shining through a curtain of flowing water. A loud gushing sound and a cloud of moisture swept through the tunnel, also supporting my water theory.
Coming out; we entered a large chamber split over two levels. The first looked like the main floor, a flat base of stone, while the second sat a few paces above, curving around the back wall of the cave. The passageway deposited us onto the upper ledge, opposing a huge window, crossed by natural stone pillars and stalactites that led to the airways outside. The li
quid veil of a gushing waterfall half-covered the opening, filling the chamber with a fine mist.
The lowest level was full of dragons, all around my size, using what I assumed were their elemental powers. Bolts of fire and spear-like shards of ice flew towards strangely shaped dummies, magically appearing to repair themselves after every blow. Dragons flew obstacle courses around stalactites, zipping between the rocks on air currents they created themselves. While others launched large boulders at bull's-eye targets carved into the walls.
"This is where most of us younger ones come to train," announced Risha, as she pulled me aside for dragons to pass.
"Train for what?" I inquired, trying not to think about some of the odd looks I was getting from strangers.
"The elemental orders, of course," Boltock interrupted suddenly.
"You really don't know, do you?" Risha asked, as if she'd not been totally convinced until now.
"No," I replied, trying to hide my blush with a subtle head bow as she elaborated.
"All dragons are able to control an element: blue-scaled dragons control water and ice, red and orange govern fire, green and brown command earth and grey control the air, including the weather. A worthy Sovereign is granted the power over all of the elements, although Aries seems to be lacking in that regard."
I was slowly beginning to put the pieces together, but I still couldn't quite figure out how it worked; for instance, who was this ‘Sovereign’ they kept referring to? And what was it about the colour of my scales?
"That's why we're all so interested to know about you. Your scales are white, which represents, well, no element, at least none that I'm aware of," she concluded, curiosity finally seeming to get the better of her.
She's just as interested in me as the Elders. I thought with a sigh. At least she's kinder about it.
I was just about to ask what the elderly dragons had said to her when they'd called for me, when at the last moment, I decided not to.
It's not her fault, so why should I associate her with those dragons and their stupid riddles?
I could still feel the heat of embarrassment in my cheeks, not a sensation I was used to. I guess it means I wanna be friends with her, but...
"Risha, Boltock!" an excited female voice hollered, interrupting my awkward thoughts.
A gust of wind swept up from the wings of another dragoness as she landed beside us. Slightly larger, she looked like Risha, only her scales were a bright, almost fiery, orange with a darker underside. Much like the others, she had symbols on her flanks – hers were red and resembled flames, as did the bony ridge of yellow scales along her back. As for her tail, it lacked any defining features, ending in a slim point. She also wore gold bracelets, like Risha, only hers had deep-red rubies lining the edges.
"Ember!" Risha replied as the new dragoness moved towards us.
My keen senses quickly became aware of the effect the newcomer had on Boltock. His attitude suddenly changed as he rushed over, overtaking his sister in a sudden burst of enthusiasm.
"Hi, Ember!" he announced excitedly.
"Hello, Boltock," she replied, lifting a forepaw in slight apprehension.
Her focus on the siblings was brief, however. Her reaction to my presence, on the other paw, was far more noticeable, as was the fact that it felt like everyone else was watching me.
Okay, I know I'm different! But this is really making my scales crawl.
"Who’s this?" Ember enquired, directing her words at Risha.
"This is Blaze, he's... new," she answered, moving quickly to my side and putting a wing over my back as if she needed to protect me.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Blaze," Ember greeted with a pleasant smile.
She seemed to look past my unique exterior far quicker than the others, almost like the differences were trivial to her. A second gust of wind interrupted our conversation, when another dragon appeared from the lower levels. I’d no doubt he was male, with a bright hide of fiery-red scales and a smoky black underside. He was slightly larger than the others, with a small tear in his right wing. The two horns on his head were straight like mine, and instead of spines he had a black fin running along the top of his neck, stopping where his back began.
He landed next to Ember, suddenly quashing Boltock's interest as the green dragon edged away.
"Hello, Pyro," Risha greeted.
Her words were followed by a, "Yes, hello," from her brother as he timidly scurried back to her side.
‘Pyro.’ I consciously made an effort to remember the name, stashing it along with Ember's.
"You’re late," Pyro rumbled, his stern eyes like crimson daggers.
"We had other things to do first," Risha responded with an eye roll and flick of her tail in my direction.
All my thoughts froze as Pyro's focus fell on me. The larger dragons sharp, intimidating gaze wasn't followed by words, but a curious purr. Then he turned his attention to Boltock, who was still mulling about behind his sister.
"What are you doing?" he questioned, head cocked and left eye-crest raised.
"Nothing," Boltock replied, quickly standing up straight and brushing dust from his paws.
"Nothing indeed," Risha chuckled, nudging her brother away as she added. "Well, this is all well and good, but shouldn't we get to work?"
"Yes, work sounds perfect right now!" Boltock was swift to reply, almost jumping on the spot like a giddy child.
Without another word he moved toward the edge of the ledge, almost stumbling over as he shot a smirk at Ember. The two fiery dragons followed, the three of them gliding down to the lower level.
"What should I do?" I asked Risha as I ducked under my wing to avoid prying eyes.
"Well you can watch, I suppose, or you can try to find out what element white represents," she chirped, admiring my scales one last time before joining the others.
I moved to the edge, watching her elegant glide until she landed gracefully.
She almost puts me to shame. I observed, before shaking my head. Okay, let's not get ahead of myself.
I followed a moment later, landing beside her. Down here the spinning and twirling elemental chaos was almost overwhelming. Through the throng I could see a boulder neatly tucked away in one corner, providing a perfect place from which to observe. I quickly made my move, gliding onto it, before making myself comfortable.
I knew the elements that Risha and Boltock controlled and from their colours I assumed Ember and Pyro controlled fire. That was confirmed when I spotted them through the melee. Spinning their bodies to generate balls of flame. The fire started as sparks amidst their scales, growing in waves across their bodies before shooting downward. Each molten bolt was fired with a flick of the tail, sent blazing towards targets carved into the walls.
Boltock was able to manipulate the stone around him, causing small grains of sand and pebbles to levitate into the air, compacting together to form larger pieces which he raised high and launched toward the self-repairing dummies. My eyes were drawn towards Risha most of all, I watched her in awe as she conjured up whirling balls of water, holding them in orbit around her, before they moulded into spear-like shapes, froze solid and launched at another magical dummy.
As I observed I became more aware of the other dragons, and it was increasingly clear that among all of those in the chamber, none of them were like me – even some of the air elementals with the palest-grey scales. It was then I realised I'd spent my whole life wondering where I'd come from, often wondering whether there were any more like me out there. Now I'd found out there were, and yet, I still felt so different.
Great, I started the day hoping for answers and I've just found more stupid questions!
A loud whoosh of wings pulled me from my contemplation when a stormy grey dragon erupted in through the waterfall. The newcomer circled like a malevolent cloud, before his long claws tapped against the stone floor as he landed. He was significantly larger than me; not one of the largest dragons I'd seen, but certainly intimidatin
g. His scales glistened with a coat of fresh water, while his sharp eyes perused his surroundings as one may do insects under their boot. He had two horns growing straight from his skull, the space in between covered by several shorter spines.
He pushed the others aside with his considerably larger wings, clearing a path for himself. He spared me no attention, and for every moment he was here I hoped he'd continue to ignore me. He approached one of the self-repairing dummies and the moment he saw him Boltock scurried over to his sister, just as he'd done when Pyro arrived.
"Well, if it isn't the master earth dragon," the new dragon muttered, catching sight of Boltock. "Oh, how the Order will benefit from such greatness," he added, pressing a forepaw to his chest and spreading his wings in mock glory.
Boltock ducked behind his sister as she turned to the towering dragon.
"Shut your snout, Thunder! It's not like you have anything to brag about." Unfazed by his arrogance, she shouted back, standing upright with wings tight at her side.
Like a rabbit creeping from its burrow, Boltock slowly raised his head.
"The Order's military wings are reserved for the elite, scaleless whelps like him belong in the floramancer guilds," Thunder rumbled, drawing the attention of every dragon in the chamber. "Although you could be far more than a fighter," he hissed, snaking his head up beside Risha.
She growled and straightened herself further. "Don't even think about it, snake."
"Such a good little fighter! Why settle for a place as a healer, when you could be with a warrior like me?" he cooed.
"Enough!" a booming voice suddenly sounded; all eyes turning to Pyro looming on the higher section of the cave.
"Oh, if it isn't the Fire Order’s finest as well," Thunder snapped, his gaze turning to challenge the fire dragon's.
"Don't play games, snake!" Pyro growled, spreading his dark wings.
Thunder remained unfazed.
"And what are you going to do? Oh, right, nothing – you don't have the authority to intervene," he sneered.
What? The word suddenly exploded in my mind. He's easily big enough to deal with him.