“Alright, young lot”, Stephen said to them. “You all are going on your first raid this morning. Now that you are Dragon Slayers, now is the time to show what you are capable of. You will be going with me to one of the nearby caves. Now is the mating season for dragons, meaning that a lot of mothers will be laying eggs by now. You will be egg-hunting. Each of you team up in the best way you see fit, but all hundred of you are required to come back with at least ten eggs.”
“What? Ten eggs?” “It's almost impossible for a party of twenty to get one, let alone ten!” “What if this is just another stupid metric he's putting before us just to make us push past our limits?” “It has to be. Because there is no way we are cut out for this, at least not now.” Then, to their surprise, Kelvin, the more strict instructor came forth, standing beside his brother. “The mission expires by nightfall, if you lot don't return with all teAfter the additional two had given up on trying to join them, Zenos turned to Faora. “Why did you have to chase them off like that?”, he asked her. “Won't we be better off being five than three?” Faora gave him no response, keeping her eyes straight and barely even acknowledging his existence. Then Thornicus spoke up instead. “Those men weren't looking for a group of people to fight with”, he said to Zenos. “They were simply looking for strong people they can leech off of by sitting back and allowing them to go ahead and do the dirty work while they sit back and do nothing. Given the situation we are headed towards, I don't think we have that luxury. Besides, we are better off this way - there will be fewer to no liabilities, now that there are no weak, persons among us.” “I hope you are right”, Zenos replied. Then Faora spoke up. “He is right, Zenos.” It was the first time he heard his name come from Faora, and fo
All the dragon riders stopped moving, standing still as they watched the massive male dragons guarding the cave with utmost vigilance. “Get down”, Stephen instructed in a low tone, afraid the paranoid male dragons would hear him, and those around him got on a knee. Those far behind followed suit when they saw those upfront kneeling. “I've never seen dragons act this way before”, Dorcas said, and Stephen turned back. “It's something that rarely happens, especially around these parts”, Stephen said. “They must be a new species, look at their scales. The color patterns are quite different from what we are used to, don't you think?” “Yes, they are”, Mark said before placing a hand on Stephen's shoulder. “You are sure of what we are up against, right?” “I hope so”, Stephen said, and the others closeby widened their eyes. They had expected their instructor to know everything that was going on, but it turned out that he
Stephen lunged towards the two beasts, which were now looking back at him with a fit of new anger. “That's right!”, Stephen said. “I'm your meal! Come and have it!” Stephen propelled himself upwards by the flames from his feet as he engaged the dragon head-on. “He is now flying?”, Troy asked as he noticed how their instructor had remained airborne for a long time now. “We were never taught how to do that, were we?” “That is an advanced technique”, Thornicus said. “It is way beyond our level. Most of us can barely generate flames let alone control it as we please.” “But we can”, Faora said as she tried to out get out of Thornicus's embrace and on her two feet. “You want to join him?”, asked Troy with an arched brow. “I'm not afraid to die for our cause”, she told him. “Are you?” “Of course not”, Troy said. “Especially when you also want to do so. Faora shook her he
Faora, Thornicus, and Troy got into the cave, hoping desperately that nothing had happened to their comrades. And when they got in, it was a nightmare. All three dragons were in full rage. They weren't as weak as the instructor said they would be. Sure, they were incubating their eggs at that time, yet they weren't at rest, being as agile as they would have been before the mating season. “How can this be?”, asked Troy. “I thought they are in mating season. Aren't those the eggs I'm seeing?” “You are right”, Thornicus said. “They are supposed to be weak at a time like this. What gives?” “It's because they are a new species!”, Faora said. “That's the only explanation.” They watched in horror for a moment as some of the Dragon Slayers were set on fire and getting burned to death while giving screams of pain. Faora then snapped their minds back to what they were supposed to be doing. “Snap out of it!”, sh
With all three dragons defeated, the mission was as good as done, and they looked around, gathering as many eggs as they could. Those who wanted to stay behind crying for their loved ones stood their ground, refusing to either be comforted or taken away. But that was when they heard people's screams coming from outside. “Damn it”, Troy swore. “What now?” “Of course, it couldn't have been this easy”, Faora said as the quad ran outside to see what was going on. And to their dismay, there was another male dragon, and it had burnt up several of them outside. Some of them were so disfigured due to the several burns from the dragon's breath that the trio could barely recognize some of them. Without thinking, Faora levitated up high and lunged at the dragon, forcing out fiery explosions from her feet while doing so to increase her momentum. Her arms were set ablaze as she blasted off toward the dragon, which had just barely noticed he
All the bodies were gathered together and the cremation began. They were all set ablaze amid the cold south wind that blew against the thriving flames. It was getting dark, and it wouldn't be safe for them to remain out in the open, given the nocturnal creatures that lurked around the area during nightfall. “The weather isn't appreciating this”, Troy said. “Someone would have to watch over this for the next few hours for the cremation to be completed successfully without the bodies getting desecrated by wild scavengers.” After Troy said this, everyone stayed silent for some time, as if expecting a Selfless hero to give his or herself for the scary task that was proposed. Thornicus noticed Faora was also looking around, wanting to speak up once she was sure nobody was going to speak up. “All of you can head back to the cave”, Thornicus said. Faora looked at him with widened eyes, and he stared back at her with a smile. “There
When the divine dragon had gotten out of view, Thornicus struggled to get on his feet, still shivering in fear. Being the laid-back and nonchalant person known by most back at home, this was an odd experience for him. Never had he felt fear like this in his entire life. With great care, he walked over to the pile of ashes lying on the ground, and couldn't stop himself from falling to his knees, panting heavily. He hit his knees, commanding them to stop shaking whenever he gets up, but whenever he did so, he found himself falling back down, unable to keep his standing posture for long thanks to his jerking knees. He needed to get his act together, as the winds were only getting worse, and at this rate, all the ashes would either get blown away by the wind or get mixed up in a lot of snow. So while he was still on his knees, he pulled out his outer cloak, wanting to put all the ashes inside. He gathered as much as he could, putting it into t
Thornicus remained where he was, staring out to the distant horizon, oblivious to how much time had passed by. When the watchmen changed shifts, none of them bothered to ask him why he was sitting there for so long, seeing that he was perfectly conscious even when they walked back and forth to the entrance, where he sat. There he sat, and there he slept. And just as you could guess, he dreamt of the dragon. But instead of dreaming of fighting or killing it, as he had always done in his dreams, this time he was riding it. The beast moved in the direction he hinted at, following his every command, not as a slave but as a friend. Though the shape of the dragon's mouth couldn't indicate whether she was happy or not, somehow he knew by her roars and the swift manner with which it twisted and turned as she flew over the high horizon, that she was elated. She looked as beautiful as ever, with her bright and colorful scales reflectin