An Alternate Dimension: The Language of Dawn

Chapter 13- Aaron

They skipped training that day because Sabina spent a long time telling the story. Even though his thoughts usually wandered away whenever someone was telling a story - he remembered his parents telling one about a duckling who lost its mother before they were caught by one of the queens and sent to prison - Sabina's story was extremely captivating, even the first part, which he had already known about. It was clear that as well as having the ability to talk to wolves, she also had the gift of storytelling.

The whole afternoon, dragons asked her questions. Sabina had also declared that the black wolf was now called Chestnut and the white pup Timber, because she would grow strong enough to bite through a plank of thick wood. Their previous names had been unpronounceable for dragons.

Now, it was morning again. Aaron stretched on his bunk, trying not to accidentally make a hole in the wall as he spread his wing out. Then, he climbed out of it and headed outside of the hut. A few dragons had already woken up, but some were still dozing, so he made sure to be quiet. Today it was his turn to train, and he was sure he would win against Sabina with his strength and size.

Sabina was sitting on the beach, petting Chestnut and Timber, who were lying down on either side of her. They seemed to have instantly bonded. Aaron smiled and walked on, found a nice spot in the nearby forest, and sat down under the trees to stretch his legs and wings, preparing for his fight.

After lunch, Sabina summoned all the dragons from the Shade of Dusk - they were called that now - to spectate battle training.

"Right, Aaron, you'd better be a good example so we can move on so that instead of the Shade of Dusk fighting me one at a time, they can fight each other to speed things up." She planted her talons into the sand, staring at Aaron, sending shivers down his spine. He never thought Sabina could be so terrifying. Chestnut and Timber watched from the crowd of dragons.

Aaron took his place in front of Sabina and dug his claws into the sand. He was ready. From the corner of his left eye he could see Misha staring into the ground, not concentrating on the fight. She probably didn't like violence. From the corner of his right eye, he could see and hear Terrence pumping his fist and screaming at the top of his lungs "GO AARON! SMASH HER!" Somewhere behind him, Max and Eric were cheering him on as well. Aaron wasn't entirely sure if this was still considered battle training, but that was what Sabina called it.

"Aaaand... GO!" Sabina yelled as she made the first move, slashing out with her front talon, narrowly missing Aaron's eye.

"Aargh!" Aaron cried. He tried to claw her back but she caught his talon, and it became a game of talon wrestling, with Sabina trying to twist his wrist - only slightly, not to damage his wrist - and Aaron trying not to get his wrist twisted. Sabina won, and released her grip on Aaron's talon.

"WHAT? THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE. I HAVE SUPER-STRENGTH AND YOU DON'T!" He yelled in fury.

Chestnut barked from the sidelines.

Sabina laughed and said, "Chestnut said that it's about technique, even he could see that!"

Aaron grumbled and flicked up some sand at Sabina with his wing, not thinking.

"Ow!!" She said, "You got some in my eye!" She was smiling though.

"Permission to use this new technique against you?" Aaron asked.

"Permission granted." Sabina said. "But just remember there won't always be sand available."

Aaron shrugged and began flicking sand at Sabina whilst she shielded herself with her wing. He took this as an opportunity to attack while she couldn't see him. Rearing up on his hind legs, he began punching her wing.

"Ow, ow, ow." She said after each punch. "Okay, you win with your super-punches, just get off me!"

Laughing, he stood back down on all fours. "Did I win?" He asked excitedly.

"Sure, you won." Sabina said, obviously not very happy.