This fic was originally published HERE.
I pulled my wings close to me as I twisted and turned in the sky. If not
for my vast years of experience, I would have failed this test. Mock
battles like this didn't allow a dragon time to think. The time it took
you to think, you were falling to the ground. My wings barely avoided
becoming singed as Hugo threw an intense wave of fire at me.
There
was no time to compliment myself on how a Wildclaw had avoided an
Imperial's attack. Hugo was many times larger than me but that meant I
was more maneuverable than him. Though that also meant his attacks were
always larger and deadlier than anything I could come up with.
Elfangor,
Head of the Warrior Department, had created this mock battle to help
determine who should be in the Dracomorphs. That specialized division
would only be for the most talented dragons of Seitou's Clan. Who other
than the best could even hope to battle the demons that were slowly and
secretly invading Sornieth?
I barely brought up a shield in time
to deflect a Vile Bolt. The magical attack started to tear away at my
shield and I flapped my wings quickly to rise above. I had only been
able to tell the direction the attack had come from but not who had shot
me. Though many had already fallen, it was still chaotic up in the
skies.
As I dived into the fray I let out a mighty roar. It
joined the many roars of my clan mates. Both those fighting and those
observing on the ground. To make the mock battle fair to all
participants, Elfangor had commanded us to only fight with what our
deities had given us: teeth, claws, and our elemental powers. Though I
understood why the Mirror had done this, my claws felt empty without
Heartsbane in them.
The next few minutes or hours were full of
reacting without thinking. The Yun-Harla Department, lead by Vergere,
had sent out their few members. They were deadly foes that, through some
mysterious means, could tap into all the elements instead of just the
one they had been born into. It spoke to the strength of the Warriors
that we hadn't all been taken down easily.
As I dodged one
attack, Gabar slammed into me. The Nocturne didn't react as my claws and
teeth dug into her skin. As she turned to shake me off I landed a
killing blow in one of her eyes. She roared in defiance as she fell
down. I didn't have time to make sure the Medical Department caught and
healed her. Herbie, as Head of the Medical Department, was one of the
few who couldn't participate in this mock battle. During any mock battle
at least one member of the Medical Department had to be ready to heal
any injuries.
I shot out a Bright Bolt in the direction of one
attack, brought up my shield to protect from another, and attempted to
tear into the skull of a third opponent. My shield was only partially
successful and I felt a large bruise forming on my left arm. The pain I
could work through as my left arm could still move well enough to be
dangerous.
My wings felt a slight change of air beneath me.
Without giving myself time to think, I slightly changed my flight
pattern so I could use the thermal to rise up above the fray. I didn't
know if the thermal was an unintended effect of the magic littering the
air or a natural occurrence. In any case, it allowed me a precious few
minutes to observe the fighting now below me. Fighting that was slowly
becoming more clear and sane to me.
Rin and Virus were two
Banescales that were really one. Each dragon was the opposite of the
other and their love was deeper than many. It was because of her love
that she had decided not to be a Warrior since Virus was too much of a
coward to fight. While I hadn't consciously observed their fighting
style today, I had noted how Rin was always there to protect Virus.
Virus, in turn, was able to give Rin much needed openings.
Now
their dance today was coming to an end. Scourge had managed to tear one
of Rin's wings partially off. Virus tried to snap at the Wildclaw with
his teeth but my second wife avoided his attack. Once Rin started to
fall, Scourge landed a blow to Virus' spine that sent the Banescale
spiraling down.
The battlefield in the air was now down to the
most skilled fighters the clan had. Rachel and Jake went down as both
managed to land killing blows on each other. If she was down that would
only leave Scourge and Tobias. There was no hope that I could win
against her but I should be able to beat Tobias. Hopefully.
It
would be good to win second place as that might make Elfangor more
likely to declare me a member of the Dracomorphs. Scourge was good
enough to be part of the Dracomorphs though her nomadic nature might
make the Head of the Warrior Department doubt her fitness to be part of
the elite group.
My eyes couldn't see either Scourge or Tobias.
It would be more than easy for the pair to hide in the thick purple fog
that tended to encase all of the Shadowbinder's territory. The deity was
all about hiding and trickery to win battles. Sometimes the mist would
let up and at other times would be all consuming. Today there was more
blue sky than thick fog so at least there was more visibility than
normal.
With a quick prayer to the Shadowbinder, I descended
slowly towards the mist. I let my instincts take over so that whenever
Tobias or Scourge decided to attack, I would have a chance. Scourge had
grown up outside the continent while Tobias had survived in the same
area for a short amount of time. I, on the other hand, had never left
the comforts of the continent. To them I must be a child playing at war.
I
did a backwards flip and Tobias went shooting underneath me. I did a
series of quick rolls to the side and flew up to avoid more attacks from
the Wildclaw. He roared when I was finally able to put some distance
from him. I roared back to show my dominance. While I was evading him, I
kept my senses alert for Scourge.
For all I knew her plan was to
allow Tobias to attack me so she would have an easier time. It was a
good strategy to allow opponents to weaken each other so that you'd have
an easier time defeating them. While she and I loved each other dearly,
for mock battles we were ruthless even to each other. If either of us
saw an opening, we would take it.
Just as I started to form a
strategy, my second wife attacked. Somehow she had perfectly hidden
herself in a piece of mist that was removed from the rest. It appeared
like a little cloud and so I hadn't thought that anyone could hide in
it. I was wrong and that was my downfall.
I turned so that my
feet dug into her hips drawing blood as they did so. As we bit fiercely
at each other's face, sometimes drawing blood as we did so, I wrapped my
arms around her neck as if in a lover's embrace. Her own hand continued
to slash at my chest. Our bodies were intertwined and she was winning.
We
twisted and turned in the air to try and get an advantage, no matter
how small, over the other. Scourge got that advantage and in three
motions too quick for my conscious mind to follow, my right wing held
onto my body by only a tendon. I roared at her in joy as I quickly fell
towards the ground.
While my roar had started out as joyful, it
quickly turned to painful. Now that the fight was over for me, all my
pain was no longer hidden. All dragons of the clan were trained in basic
uses of magic, though many preferred pure physical attacks. But in a
mock battle where we weren't allowed our usual weapons, we all had to
resort to magic at some point. So there were burns from fire, water,
light, and other elemental attacks. Most hadn't impaired my movements
but now they all hurt.
The most painful of my wounds was my wing
that had fallen off a few seconds before. I tried to hold my pain inside
but my mouth continued to cry out. The feeling of my wing breaking off
was a quick, sharp, and deep pain. I wanted to try and quicken my fall
so that I could be healed sooner but resisted as I didn't want to marked
as a coward. If I were to become a Dracomorph, Elfangor couldn't see
such weakness in me.
I needed something to distract me. Anything
so that I would stop crying out for help. So I looked up to see how
Scourge's fight with Tobias was going. Both Wildclaws were experts in
the air. Before Scourge had joined the clan, Tobias had been the best
fighter when it came to air battles. As I fell I got lost in what seemed
like a dance between the two dragons.
Scourge's shiny red and
white form was a blur that seemed to mix with Tobias' more reddish brown
colors. Blood started to pour from the sky as the pair were locked in a
deadly battle. Whoever came out as the victor would have a better
chance at becoming a Dracomorph. At least I had finished in third place
and so might have a chance at being offered the role.
My
remaining wing picked up on an odd wind current. A moment later the rest
of my body understood I was being pulled to the ground. I didn't know
if that was because of any magic or air currents. With a sigh I looked
back at the battle between Scourge and Tobias. It was hard to track
their movements as they were far away from me. If there had been enough
strength left in me, I could have improved my vision just enough so that
they wouldn't appear as more than blurs. Elfangor was probably using a
spell to increase things like his eyesight so he'd be able to observe
the mock battle better.
I pulled my remaining wing close to my
chest so that it wouldn't be ripped off as the force pulling me down
increased. After a moment's thought, I pulled my tail to my chest more
for comfort than anything else.
Soon after I had pulled my tail
close to me, my body stopped feet from the ground by a force field. The
wings of a Fae flew towards me. I turned my head to see the small form
of Mary Graham coming towards me. The small dragon seemed like a
snowflake, especially as she wasn't wearing any of her clothing. Most
likely because it must have been a constant job of healing dragons ever
since she was defeated in the mock battle.
"You finished third, Jorah." Mary said in a tone I had learned to identify as impressed.
"I
never expected to win against Scourge or Tobias, Mary." I replied as my
body was quickly healed to the point it didn't look like I had ever
been injured.
With a brief wave of her front claws, Mary took
away the force field and I stood on the ground. Both of us looked up to
the sky. I wanted to offer the dragon my shoulder so she could rest a
moment but that would be extremely disrespectful to her. Most of the
time she appeared to be one of the weakest dragons in the clan but she
had been allowed in for a reason. While she didn't like fighting on the
battlefield, she would do anything to save a life. Mary was strong in
all the ways that mattered.
Lightning shot out from the sky and a
red blur dodged the attack. Tobias roared loudly while Scourge remained
eerily silent. All dragons were at one point consumed by the need to
roar for one reason or another. My love did not suffer from that which
made most dragons unnerved by her during fights. Tobias was too familiar
with her for that to get in the way of his attacks.
"Come on." I breathed under my breath as both Wildclaws seemed to blur into one.
Suddenly
both forms came hurtling towards the grounds. My voice joined many in
cheering the dragons on. I yelled for Scourge while other voices favored
Tobias instead. As a clan of the Shadowbinder, we were used to being
quiet the majority of the time but now was different. Now was much too
important for silence.
My feet clutched at the ground as the
blurs started to become separate entities. I cheered as a reddish brown
blur fell to the ground while a red blur rose. Mary scoffed as a few
dragons turned out to have been betting on the fight.
"Why no one just accepts Scourge's superiority is beyond me." A voice from behind me scoffed.
Mary
and I turned to see one of the most unpleasant dragons. The Wildclaw
was still looking up at Scourge. Unlike usually, he was naked since he
felt it unnecessary to bring clothing to a mock battle. Luckily for me
he had used the time waiting to bring me my clothing and sword.
"Maybe
because nothing is for certain." Mary replied and her crest flared up.
"Just because Scourge is a good fighter doesn't mean she'll always win."
"Scourge wins!" Elfangor shouted with his magically enhanced voice.
"Of
course Scourge can lose, but if you're betting it's better to look at
who's most likely to win." Alexander Isaacs said, his voice softening
slightly. "One of these days maybe Marco will win."
A slight
blush crept up the Fae's face. It was clear that she wanted to do
nothing more than fly away. But she was resisting her fear to stay
hovering here. My husband handed me my clothing and I quickly changed.
When I put Heartsbane in its sheath I felt that all was right with the
world.
"I've heard Birch talk about requesting you to breed for
the honor of the Shadowbinder." I said to try and break the awkward
silence.
"And you're wondering why I'm fighting if that's the
case." Mary replied with a brief nod. "I've refused the breeding request
as protecting Sornieth from the demons is more important than spreading
my genes."
"I hope that you will be chosen, Mary."
"Same, Jorah." Mary replied and then flew off as Herbie was calling his department to him.
I
tried to relax my posture once she left. It wasn't as though Alex would
try to harm me and he had been a great help to the clan. The problem
was that I always felt uneasy being around him and yet there was a need
to protect him. I didn't know when he was beaten in the mock battle but
at least he had made an effort. No matter his faults, he wanted to
become brave. He hadn't wanted someone protecting him like Rin did for
Virus.
"I'm sure you'll become a Dracomorph, Jorah." Alex said as
he watched the sky to see when Scourge would decide to land. "Scourge
didn't choose you because you're a coward."
"If she doesn't like cowards, why did she choose you?" I replied a little more harshly than I meant to.
"I
don't know why, I just know she did. The day I thought she died...I owe
her everything. I hope I can one day become the man she deserves."
Scourge
had saved Alex as well as me. She was an amazing dragon that had
survived more than anyone should ever have to. And instead of her
upbringing driving her away from forming relationships, she still had a
heart that cared for others. Though she wasn't always able to express
her emotions like most dragons. Even a Fae, like Mary, was easier to
understand unless you got to know her.
"I shouldn't call you a coward." I apologized. "A coward doesn't venture out with Scourge."
"I've
gotten better." Alex said with a nod. "At least I wasn't with her when
she discovered Kali. Jash has been able to get her under control
but...that dragon is what Scourge would be like if she wasn't so
controlled."
Scourge loved Alex beyond reason. At one point she
had saved him from certain death at great risk to herself. There was no
reason for a dragon to do that unless they truly loved another. That
meant it was my duty as a husband to treat Alex with respect. He would
be staying with myself, Scourge, and Daenerys until we died. I had to do
a better job at treating him with respect.
"Thanks for waiting for me, Alex." I said.
"I
fell so quickly that there wasn't much else for me to do." Alex
replied. "If Daenerys weren't on a mission of her own, she would have
put up a fight. What she lacks in fighting skills, she more than makes
up in pure perseverance."
I gave him a curt nod to acknowledge
the compliment. My first wife had been a queen at one time so it had
been hard to decide what part she would play in the clan. It had
eventually been decided that she would be a diplomat. The role fit her
as well as anything could.
"How is the morphing technology progressing?" I asked.
While
I was curious, I had asked the question because I wanted to be polite.
He had complimented Daenerys, something that was a rarity for him. So it
was best that I reward him with an unusual question of my own. But Alex
had seen through my facade and let out a long sigh of annoyance.
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