Burning Flame

Chapter Twenty-One

Blaze shot into the sky along with his mother and father. Today was the day he would go into training, and along with it came terrible anxiety and excitement. He'd never met other dragons his own age. He'd only ever seen his mother, father, and their Protectors. Even then, the encounters with their Protectors were always brief. Solaris was okay, in his mind. She just seemed a little odd and aloof. Siege, on the other hand, was a monster inside and out. Blaze often felt that if he weren't the King's son, Siege would've squashed him and used his bones for toothpicks.

He watched as hills passed underneath him and grass rolled peacefully in the wind. They passed small patches of wood with lithe deer that bounded off when they approached. Then the ground leveled off into beaten down flatlands filled with dirt and a few scattered trees. Soon Blaze spotted strange mud and stone huts on the horizon. They flew towards it, slowly readjusting their wings into an easy, gradual dive.
This must be the camp, Blaze thought as they got closer and closer.
He saw adult soldiers milling around, waiting for orders from their superiors. It seemed to him that there weren't that many, but then he realized that many of them were probably out on patrol or training somewhere else.
Then he saw a huge figure shoot up into the sky out of the corner of his eye. In a few moments Siege was up next to his father, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Inferno shared a few brief words with him before they all started to land on the outskirts of the camp.

"So... Are you sure he's ready to train?" Siege asked as he inspected Blaze.
"Of course I'm sure," Inferno growled, "Why? What's wrong with him?"
Siege shook his heads and chuckled to himself.
"Nothing that can't be fixed by training. He's just a little soft, that's all."
Inferno let out a puff of smoke.
"Then I expect you to harden him. Shape him into a dragon that will make others tremble in fear and admiration. Can you do that for me?"
Siege smirked.
"Of course."
"Solaris will also be a part of his upbringing. She has a lot to teach him. Perhaps you two should talk about taking him for certain lessons and periods of time. He could really use the knowledge from all of us," Magma chimed in.
"Should I summon her now to tell her?" Siege asked.
"No, that's not necessary. You two can figure it out at a later point. Just try to get together relatively soon. I want my son's training to be perfect so he can be the greatest King dragonkind has ever seen," she exclaimed proudly.
Blaze stood idly during the entire exchange, staring at Siege's huge claws as he circled him. Now he knew what it was like to feel like his prey before the kill.
Suddenly Siege stepped aside and Magma took his place in front of Blaze. She lowered her head to nuzzle his head and neck, letting out a soft hum as she did so.
"You're going to be fine. We'll try to visit you as much as we possibly can. I promise," she whispered, "I love you."
"I love you, too, Mother," he replied in the same hushed whisper. He felt his voice crack a bit as the fear and nervousness started to kick in. She smiled gently down at him before nuzzling him one last time.
Then she stepped aside and Inferno took her place. He placed a scaly hand on his son's back, pulling him roughly into his chest. He lowered his head close to Blaze's frill, his snout close to his ear.
"Make me proud, Son. Be the best dragon you can be. I know you can do it," he growled quietly.
Blaze hesitated for a moment. Then murmured,
"I'll try my best, Father. I don't want to let you down."
Inferno stood up instantly and touched his son's shoulder with his wing tip.
"That's my boy! You'll do just fine."
He glanced at Siege and leaned in close to Blaze once more.
"Siege will teach you some of the best fighting skills around. He's a little rough around the edges, but you'll get used to it. Solaris will teach you, too, at some point. She's pretty powerful. Your mother has a good eye for Protectors," he said.
Then he walked away to stand beside Magma.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked.
"I think so," she murmured, her gentle, concerned eyes locked on Blaze.
Then she turned to Siege. She got in his faces, her scales bristled and her eyes burning.
"If you ever hurt him without cause so help me I will rip out your throats and feed them to the wolves. Am I clear?" she hissed.
Siege nodded once, very grave.
Magma offered him a small smile.
"Good. I'm glad."
Then she gave Inferno a look and they both dashed in the same direction before launching themselves into the air.
"Goodbye Blaze! We'll see you soon!" Magma cried as they soared away.
"Goodbye!" he squeaked in return.
As they gradually disappeared into the distance the view of his parents was blocked by the hulking mass of dragon that was Siege. The hydra smirked down at him with all three heads, and Blaze felt a shiver as he saw the scar on his middle head. He was always afraid of Siege.
Who wouldn't be?
"Alright, let's get you introduced to the others. I'm not running a nursery around here, so get moving!" he rumbled.
He turned and Blaze followed hurriedly after him. They walked into the camp together, heading straight towards what he believed to be the center.
Other dragons turned their heads to watch them as they walked by. Murmurs rose up among them, making Blaze feel slightly exposed. Siege just moved along in front of him at his own leisurely pace, and Blaze found himself dodging his long spiked tail as it waved back and forth.
When they finally reached the center of the camp, Blaze realized that there were dragons about his own age standing around. They stood near the larger hut that was in the middle of the ring of huts all around them. He assumed it was Siege's home, since Siege was obviously bigger and he was the general.
"Everyone get into a line! I'm not here to herd hatchlings!" he snarled.
The young dragons scrambled into single file, and Blaze found himself next to a lean green dragon and a bulky brown dragon.
"Everyone state your names, starting with you!"
Siege pointed one long claw at a dark green dragon on the end.
"Slash, Sir!" he bellowed, but his young voice could never match the deep boom Siege possessed.
And so the bellowing continued down the line until the brown dragon next to Blaze had his turn.
"Cliff, Sir!" he roared proudly.
Blaze took a deep breath, knowing it was his turn. He felt the unyielding stare of the general on him as he let out his best bellow.
"Blaze, Sir!"
Next to him the green dragon stated his name.
"Fern, Sir!"
The name calling continued until it reached a blue she-dragon at the other end.
"Aqua, Sir!"
Siege, satisfied with the efficiency of the procedure, walked up and down the line of about two dozen young dragons. He inspected their claws, teeth, eyes, scales, spikes, and overall build as he passed by each of them. He let out a puff of smoke every now and again through his nostrils.
When he was done he returned to the front and center of the line.
"Today I'll go easy on all of you, since you are just getting your bearings around our base camp. I'll take you to our training grounds so you can observe mature dragons in practice combat. This will be your first lesson."
Suddenly Siege broke into a sprint and rocketed into the sky, buffeting the dragonlings with the wind from his wings.
Blaze took the hint and followed Siege's lead, flaring his wings and leaping into the sky behind him. Fern and Cliff followed, then the rest after them.
They flew for about a mile, with patches of forest and ponds grabbing their attention below. Then the land grew sparse abruptly as if it had been manually cleared.
More dragons than Blaze had ever seen moved about below him. They looked up with disinterested eyes at first, but when they saw Siege their whole demeanor changed. Dozens of dragons started working all at once, as if they had shifted into hyper-focus. Some battled each other, others worked on drills, and some drew battle plans out in the dirt. When Siege landed in the middle of the training ground every dragon stiffened and turned towards him. The dragonlings circled above him, unsure of whether they should land behind him or not.
One of Siege's heads whipped over to look up and back at the group of young dragons.
"Land, now!" he hissed.
They all hesitated for a moment before descending to land behind the hulking hydra. He watched them silently with his right head while his middle head spoke to the rest of the dragons.
"Attention!" Siege roared, making the soldiers salute with their wing tips in response, "This here is our new lineup of trainees. I brought them here so they could start to understand the rigorous tests they will be put through in order to become mature soldiers. With that said, we'll show them a simple drill."
Siege walked forward among the ranks, his right head still watching the young dragons.
"Basic strength drill," he growled.
The bulkiest, most muscular dragons worked their way to the front to volunteer themselves.
Siege gestured to a copper male and a black male. They shuffled forward and farther apart from one another, until they were facing each other from a few dragon lengths away.
Siege made another gesture at the two.
Suddenly they roared and charged at each other, their heads down and frills flared. They collided with a crash of scale, tooth, and claw.
The dragonlings watched in fear and awe as the dragons shoved against one another, trying to pin each other with their brute strength alone. The copper dragon's muscles started to shake as his opponent slowly drove him to the ground. Then he was pinned under the black dragon's muscular weight. The victor grinned down at him before stepping aside to let him up.
Siege nodded his two heads and the head watching the young dragons winked.
"That's just a taste of what you'll be doing soon," he explained.
Blaze blinked up at him, unsure.
Sure I've wrestled with Serenity, but nothing this intense. Plus, I've never wrestled with another dragon.
Then Siege turned all three of his heads and starting running the soldiers through different drills.
Fern came up beside Blaze and grinned.
"Hi there! You're Blaze, right?"
Blaze inspected the green dragon. A small grin crept onto his face.
"Hi. Yeah, I'm Blaze. You're Fern?"
The other dragon nodded.
"I just came over here cuz I thought you kinda looked like me, you know, with our longer necks and horns and everything. I figured if we do any wrestling you'd probably be good competition."
Blaze laughed quietly.
"Yeah, you seem like good competition, too."
Fern puffed out his chest and his frills showed proudly around his face.
"Personally, I think I'm better at climbing than anything else. I can scale a rocky wall in a few seconds flat," he boasted.
Blaze cocked his head at the other dragon, his grin growing wider and his eyes glinting slyly.
"Me too. Maybe we should see who's faster some day," he suggested.
Fern laughed quietly and bumped Blaze lightly with his shoulder.
"I like you! I thought I would only have one friend in this camp, but now we can form a trio!" he exclaimed.
Blaze was slightly taken aback.
He's already friends with another dragon?
Suddenly the dragonling, Cliff, worked his way over and clapped a wing on Fern's back.
"I heard trio! Who's gonna be our third?"
Blaze quietly looked the newcomer over. He was brawny and his earthy brown scales weren't nearly as vibrant as Fern's. He looked like he was built to fight, but his friendly eyes eventually put the suspicious young dragon at ease.
"I hope I can be your third," Blaze said.
Cliff grinned.
"Of course you can! This is gonna be great. We'll stick together through thick and thin, go on adventures, cause mischief..."
He paused when Siege swung one of his heads over and glared at the group. He lowered his head and the hydra turned back to his work.
"I don't know how he heard us... Oh well, maybe not the mischief part. Either way, we'll be the best team around!" Cliff whispered excitedly, lifting his head up to smile at the other two.
Fern and Blaze smiled back, innocent excitement fluttering in their young hearts.