For those nightmares you wished had turned into dreams
Prologue
Rippling winds twirled and danced through the city's air, carrying with it the melancholy melodies that never end; The busy bustle of the city, of the noise of the land, of the people, and of the society. Faces pass by in flashes, smears of colour and emotion stained the murky sidewalk. No one asked for change, no one dared. For those lucky enough to live in the city, they had a small net of safety to guard them. It was certainly safer here than outside those walls that ran by the city's border. But do not misunderstand safer to safety. Brutality still ruled this city, inside and out. A veil of darkness always loomed overhead, the fear drove our people to a madness beyond protection.
But we were shielded in here, shrouded from the devilry impending outside. It wasn’t always this bad, only since the pearlies arrived. The Pearlies we called them. They had been roaming our lands for the last 5000 years, draining blood from bodies and stealing the souls from inside them. their dark impediment wasn’t restricted to just them. They brought panic with them, distilling fear across our land. But fear is never on its own, and with so many people, and so much diversity in such a small space, fear brought pain. Barbaric acts of violence erupted throughout our city, and eventually, became part of its culture.
We always knew they were out there, in their word, hidden, seclusive. They had remained on their own, living in ostracism from the rest of us for billions of years. The Pearlies were always undeniably dangerous, ‘demonic’ as some had described them, but they never came here, we never had a problem, not since the war 6 billion years ago. We were thought safe here, in our world. There were no repercussions from the war that sent them hastily descending back to their realm, there was never a sign of return.
Be that as it may, 5000 years ago they re-appeared, somehow finding a way to portal back into our world. They began appearing in small numbers, rumours spread faster than they themselves. Blind eyes were turned to the rumours for years, until, eventually, the rumours were proved true. They indeed came back. And they were everywhere.
The different species of our land came together to build a city. Central City, as we so call it. Aether, our god of elements, he gave us a gift of protection, granting us wards and barriers around our city to create a safe space from the Pearlies’. Our sun and moon goddesses backed up Aethers gift, strengthening and stabilising it. However, even the three of them together could not eradicate a species made by their older brother, Phosphorus. They did their best they could to contain the presence of the Pearlies’, and for that, we were grateful.
Many of the city's residents used to live in the Greenwood Forests. It was beautifully serene there. The definition of picturesque. Many of us had only heard stories of the wonders of the place and the dreams to return from those old enough to still remember it.
There were still many strong clusters of people who chose to live outside the barriers of the city.
There were the Sirens, who lived in the North Seas’ Cove. They were very secluded there. They were created by Crescent Luna (our moon goddess) and Phosphorus, when they were still young, and friends.. Being ‘cousin species’ of the pearlies, they possessed great mental strength and control. They were usually left alone by the pearlies as they were not deemed ‘easy targets’... not unless they were alone.
There were many shifters who also dwelled in the Heights, a vast mountain range in the North. They lived in groups called Packs. They were mostly wolf shifters, although some could shift into other creatures like bears and leopards and tigers, and the occasional rabbit. The strength brought to them by their packs was so tight-knit that it kept them reasonably safe. They still suffered attacks from rouges though. Rogues were groups of shifters that the pearlies had dominated and sent to do their dirty work.
The dragons were safe. They were too big and too hard to reach. They resided in the southernmost part of our lands. They lived upon mountains of rocks, unsustainable to any other species, but the dragons never fed upon food, but rather zeal an energy emitted from the core of our world. It powered, fed and sustained them. They lived in harmony with it, living on the barren lands above it to protect and nurture its spirit; even they couldn’t go nearer to the core than that.
There was a single road left in the land for travel, the great road as we called it. It was a dangerous journey, taking almost 7 weeks to conquer on foot. There was a constant threat of bandits, ransacking anyone who dared take the journey for all their money, gold and necessities. The bandits were found in strong teams of 4 or 5. Commonly tribrids or quadbrids, turned away from their homes and the city in fear of what they were. Our rulers deemed them ‘illegal’, claiming they were unstable as they possessed too much power, outcasting them to live on their own without the safety net or welcome of any society.
If you managed to escape the arrival of the bandits with your life, then you were to face the Pearlies. They plagued the area, taking advantage of any brave travellers, or anyone who wandered a little too far from home.
Training Academies were the only other civilization outside the city. The council of Masters sought out the strong every year, testing them with Scorched Panite, a jewel containing enough spirit to uncover those gifted with abilities beyond their species. These were the chosen. They trained their magic, mental and physical attributes in academies. The academies were safe from the Pearlies, as even if you knew the location, you could not find the academies without permission of the masters; the strongest of the dragons with the ability to shift into a human.
There were two academies. The city council sought out people called the ‘chosen’. They used a spirit-bound crystal Panite to assist them in locating the chosen ones. Esteemed by our culture in every way, these blessed individuals were taken to the Dragon riders academy in the south. They were sent into the sanctuary, where all dragon eggs and unpaired dragons lodged and lived. If they were fortunate enough to pair with a dragon then they would stay there to train, learn and become a dragon rider.. Otherwise, they were sent to the other academy in the north, where they would train all the same, but without a dragon.
=Chapter One=
The Academy
Alice
I woke to the chatter and excitement of new potential dragon riders entering the foyer above my refuge of a bedroom. I lived under the dragon riders’ academy, hidden in secret passageways connecting throughout the castle-like building. The building was made entirely of cobblestone and smooth marble, the place took on a very historic look. Inside the main foyers, classrooms and dormitories, accessible to, well, everyone except me, was adorned with quartz. Bright spirit gems littered the walls as decoration. The most high-tech facilities were available to the boys at the beckoning of their voices.
The excited tittle-tattle of voices rummaged its way through the walls to my hideout, the masses of new chosen boys running through our halls. I would have to stay extra hidden today, I couldn’t take any chances of being seen.
Now, don’t misinterpret my situation. I am not a delinquent, I am a stowaway. The great headmaster had brought me here as a young child. He said he found me wandering along the great road on one of his travels, with no memory or idea how I got there, alone.. He had saved me from ultimate despair. The only catch, because I was an abandoned human, to prevent me being sold as a slave, I had to stay here, and stay hidden.
Here's the thing about dragons, as magnificent as they are, they hate females. Stories say that they used to love and adore us, some people go as far to say they used to worship us. They say there even used to be female dragons. Rare as they were, they apparently existed, all myth now. However, 5000 years ago, when the pearlies first arrived, the dragons retreated to the rocky landscapes of the southern ranges, moving closer to their source of enrichment, the core.
The dragon riders academy already existed here, but soon common people began to withdraw from the area, no longer visiting. They moved into the city, the journey becoming too dangerous for a regular being.
Females especially stopped coming here. For illogical reasons, the dragons began to turn on females, killing any that were caught in or near their home. They don’t seem to care about harming females away from their home, although they still avoid us like the black plague.
Even now, years later, and no one seems to know why the dragons changed their mind so dramatically about us females. So now I live in hiding in the academy, unable to be seen or known about by anyone except the headmaster, because if the dragons get even a whiff of the fact that I'm here, then I am dead.
~ 2 weeks later ~
This year's new batch of boys have arrived and settled into the academy. Today they do their first set of trials. It's basically like a big exam.
Every year, a 12 day long event is held at the school. Each student will have to do 15 rounds of assessment, 11 practical tests and 4 theory tests. They all get scored and ranked against each other on big display screens. Then, at the end of the week they are given their official grade mark, and a specialty class (or help class, if needed). The trials bring lots of excitement, and many of the royals, leaders, headmasters from the other northern academy, and other well-known and powerful men like to visit the academy during the trials to assess the challenges and outcomes for themselves, or sometimes they just come to enjoy the festivities of the event.
Although I cannot join in on any of the fun, like the food stalls or games, it is still my favourite time of the year. It's always very interesting to watch the trials, plus the best time of the year to learn how to fight just by sitting and assessing the competitors.
I have resided in the old clock tower with a home-made picnic spread that I stole from the kitchens earlier this morning. The masters and other onlookers had settled into the watch stands for the first set of trials.
The cornu horns were blared through the academy, signalling the beginning of the trials. First up was the Powers Test. The students lined up in their age groups to begin their registration of the tests. The 6 masters stood alongside the headmaster in the arena. On a plain marble stand in front of them sat the Scorched Painite, a jewel that contained a rare form of spirit, a fathom spirit. This jewel was used to find the chosen, and when used correctly, could also be used to decipher their abilities and strength.
Slowly but surely, each student came forward, calling out their full name and species, before placing both their hands firmly on the jewel in front of them. The more immediate reactions happened for the more powerful chosen. For some of the students, -mostly the purebred humans gifted small amounts of magic from the gods,- it even took up to a few minutes for any reaction to occur at all. The longer they had to wait for a reaction from the jewel, the weaker their power was; which usually occurred in a smaller reaction, like the turf around them growing gradually more sodden, or a small flicker of fire coating the edge of the jewel or their hair, sometimes a dim green light emitted from the jewel, signifying the presence of healing abilities.
The more powerful students were the ones to watch. The reaction was almost immediate, fire barreling towards the sky, or lightning striking the ground nearby. Some of the stronger aqua elementals had orbs of water of all sizes floating around them, glistening from the sunlight, it was glamorous. While all the powers displayed were exceedingly intriguing, I certainly had my favourites.
The cold powers were satisfying, icicles floating in the sky around them, the jarring edges reflecting the sunlight perfectly. Some students even froze the ground around them, cold arms of frostbite crawling out for metres around them.
Many of the more powerful elemental students had 2 or 3 elements. There were even a few students who had more unique powers, witchy powers. Witches weren’t commonly picked as chosen ones, but when they were, the air glowed purple around them, a thin shimmery fog leaving it difficult to see outside-in. There were a few vampires in the mix as well, their red eyes gleamed as two long pointy teeth emerged from their mouths, and the veins around their neck and face pumped a deep red, almost black.
I was hoping to see a shifter that became something other than a wolf, or at least a different colour, unfortunately they were the same old grey wolves. Their transformation was always fascinating to watch, don’t get me wrong. But they were always the same grey colour when they changed. I wanted to see an auburn or black wolf like I'd heard about in stories boys told their friends in the halls; or what would be even cooler, a shifter that wasn’t a wolf. Apparently one of the shifter alphas, Harper, was a tiger shifter. Most people have never seen her shift though.
It was nearing midday now, and only half of the students were tested. It was always the slowest part of the trials. I don’t mind, the anticipation made it worth sitting up here all day. There isn’t a lot to do when you're stuck in hiding all day everyday.
~ 60 hours later ~
Hot blood coursed through my veins, the pumping in my body thrumming steadily as sweat dripped endlessly from my flushed frame. I had just finished my workout, and it was now day 3 of the trials. They were undertaking a battle strategy test, so there was nothing to watch. Yesterday I spent the day observing the 1 vs 1 fighting skills of all the students at the academy. I studied their posture, footwork, the way they attacked and the way they defended. I had no one to train me how to fight, but if I ever left this place, I needed to know something.
~ 3 hours later ~
Even though there were only theory tests today, the academy was still bustling with people everywhere. The boys had taken the off time to play some type of kick-ball sport in the arena outside. I was sitting back in the old clock tower, trying to figure out the rules to their game. I didn’t understand it. Taking a break from watching them play I looked up at the sky. It was probably only an hour from sunset, the rich blue from the sky had begun to dull into a softer, lighter blue. A few of the students were flying around on their dragon’s backs, seemingly practising different battle positions. I stared in awe at the sleek and steady movements. The teamwork between the giant and the rider looked so calm and tranquil, as though it was natural and took no extra effort or muscle strength at all.
A sensation of being watched startled me from my muse. On the oversized tower, opposite my tiny clocktower, and staring at me, was the Drakon. An undeniably beautiful dragon. Standing at 22 ft tall, the Drakon was well toned indeed. His midnight coloured feathers lined his body, red, purple and gold hues of colour dancing along his frame. He looked like something out of a drawing, he looked like a myth. Slowly, he stood further upright, reaching his full height. He began tucking his large, perfectly pruned and feathered wings into his side, before beginning to change. I knew some dragons could become human, especially ones like Drakon, but I'd never imagined I'd ever get to actually see it. Not even moments later he stood, surely nearly 7ft in frame and dressed in black suit pants and a tight dark grey sweatshirt. He never broke his gaze as I took in his lean frame, his only slightly tanned skin almost glowing in the sunset. His hair and eyes were the most captivating though, flames seemed to almost flicker through the blood coloured tones of his hair. Finishing my visual assessment on the Drakon, I moved my line of vision back to his eyes, and I swear, even sitting here, at least 50 metres away, I could see the bright blue tincture radiating off his eyes.
My moment broke when I realised, for the first time in the last few minutes, that he was looking my way as if he could see me. Cursing profusely, I leaped to my feet, making a run for it down the stairs of the tower, and back into hiding in the abandoned corridors behind the academy walls.
My head hit the old lumpy pillow on my bed.. Well, an old raggedy blanket on the floor. I was anticipating tomorrow to be a big one.. Drakon saw me. That means I’ll only have until the regal meeting on day 12 to get out... 9 Days from now.