Dragons of the Elements: Ascension (Dragon of Legend Approved Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Seven

Chapter 7: Introductions

"Come, Marty. Let's get you to the infirmary so they can check out your head. Donny, go all the way down the hall and to the right to find Brandi. Think you can do that without almost killing anyone?" Donovan heard his sister say.

"It's possible. But what if I wanted to wreak havoc on the poor people of this floor?" He replied with a grin.

"Oh, shut up," she giggled as she rolled her eyes. "Now go see Brandi before she thinks you gave up on the stair challenge."

She began to walk away when she heard her brother shout "What's the stair challenge?"

Shouting in return, Mary said "New riders must climb the 24 flights of stairs to prove their determination, blah blah, Brandi likes seeing people tortured like that."

"Oh," gulped Donovan, turning to the hallway and taking a few cautious steps to avoid his sister's gaze. He walked all the way down the hallway, and saw two doors. To his right was an elaborately decorated wooden door. To his left, what looked to be a supply closet.

Vitality hopped down from Donovan's shoulders and ran directly to the left door, pawing and scratching at it impatiently. Donovan, wanting to appease his curiosity and discover what made his draglin so jittery, opened the left door to find Brandi, at a plain wooden desk, filing paperwork.

"Oh, hi Brandi," said Donovan slowly when she looked up at him from her work. "Why are you in here and not in that fancy room?" Donovan watched as his Draglin scurried over to a wooden barrel and began to claw at the side, determined to get inside it.

Brandi walked over, flipped the top off the barrel, and tossed out a handful of it's contents onto the floor for Vitality as she responded "Hello Richard. To answer your question, I don't like fancy schmancy stuff. Simple, wooden desk. Simplicity us key."

"Richard?" questioned Donovan.

"Is that not your name?" Brandi quickly said with a smirk.

"No... I'm Donovan. Mary's brother."

"I know... It seems you have finished the stair challenge relatively quickly. I take it you are in shape?"

"Suuuuuure. No some dude... Marty I think, took me on the scariest ride ever. I am NEVER doing that again."

"So I see... Well let's get you started on entering the academy. Read this while I finish this paperwork." Brandi handed him a piece of paper, with words all over it. "Paper!" he thought, "They have real paper! But how? It's so expensive!"

He caressed the paper, letting his hand slide down it's smooth surface; looking at the handwritten words as if they were written in gold. He took enough time off to look for his draglin. He found him in the corner, munching up the last bit of barrel content. He seemed to have gotten much bigger within the past hour.

"It's draglin food. Very good for their growth. Cuts their maturity time from a week to several days. Highly controversial," he heard Brandi say from her desk. "Now please read that paper, it will tell you all of the basic information you need while at our academy."

His eyes naturally searched for his Draglin, only to see him inside the Draglin food barrel, eating to his hearts content. Throwing the paper at a surprised Brandi, unread, Donovan snatched Vitality from the barrel, almost dropping him from the size he grew within the hour. Brandi laughed at the results of Vitality's hunger's results.

Groaning from the weight, he placed Vitality on the floor carefully, watching as he rolled onto his back comfortably.

"I've never seen a draglin WANT to eat this stuff before! At his size, he should be fully matured by morning! This is amazing!"

"BY MORNING?" Donovan replied, ecstatic at the news. Looking at his draglin, he felt a wave of pride. Vitality returned his gaze, except his was a look of pain. 'My stomach is going to explode!' he heard ringing in his head.

"Who... Who was that in my head?" Donovan said aloud. Brandi, looking up from her desk at the statement, caught Donovan's gaze.

"I was right, by tomorrow he will be mature. Your draglin and you have established a bond. It's in it's earliest stages, but you'll learn more about it later on. Now follow me to your room."

Brandi giggled as she headed towards the lift, with Donovan close behind. She arrived there, and pushed a button, waiting impatiently.

"No! No never again!" Donovan thought. Resisting the urge to turn and run for the stairs, he turned his gaze upon Vitality. "Laziest draglin ever." he said aloud, Brandi laughing in agreement.

Vitality had given up on walking and was sliding his belly across the ground, too lazy to pick up his feet.

The lift arrived, and Donovan was shoved in it. Brandi giggled ad Vitality waddled in, easily the size of a large hunting dog. Laughing maniacally, Brandi flipped a switch and pushed the lever forward four times. "To the bottom!" she yelled in pure joy. "HOLD ON TIGHT!"

Donovan, already expecting this, was holding on to the bar along the side for dear life. The lift seemed to just drop, a 25 story free fall.

"I'm surely gunna die!" he thought as the lift came to a stop. Vitality was jumping up and down; the adventurous look in his eye a dead giveaway of his wishes to go again.

Donovan followed Brandi, as she began to give him a basic tour. "Down here on the bottom floor you have your armory, and the Training Area, known to most students as the Sparring Ring." she said. Donovan watched as she pointed outside, and heard her say " And out there we have our field, our stables, or Dragon-Inn as students call it, our Practice Arena, and a game-sized racetrack."

"Game sized?" Donovan questioned as he saw the sun make it's final descent in the sky.

"In time, young grasshoppa," said Brandi with a giggle. "Now it's dark out. Best to show you your quarters."

"I'll be sleeping here?" He questioned.

"Of course! Now bring your draglin to the Dragon-Inn and let him rest."

Donovan walked his draglin, now about the size of a small bear, to the stables. "Now stay, ya hear?" he said in a joking manner, mimicking an accent he heard at the academy.

Donovan left the stables and followed Brandi up two flights of stairs, onto the third floor, and walked him to his room.

"This," she said as she opened an elaborately decorated, seemingly new door of the colors red and yellow "Is yours."