Battle of the Dragons

Aether Would Aid

Finally they arrived outside the door, and got called in by the head of the school. Aurora departed from there and went out to train more.

“Hello, headmaster. I am the rider of the captain of the fire dragons in the great war. My dragon’s name is Blaze, and I am Paul. Blaze sent me on a mission, to find recruits for our army. I request some of your riders for soldiers.”

Paul spoke to the headmaster as though he had power over him, but underneath his calm exterior, Paul was nervous. He had no idea how powerful this elderly man really was, and what would happen if he disagreed with the idea to give away some students for a war. Another thought quickly crossed his mind.

“I also would like to have that pretty young girl and her aether dragon, they would give fire the upper hand, and that is what we need. My warriors tire fast, and it would be very helpful to have magic at our backs.”

The headmaster appeared to be considering this offer, but in reality he was trying to think of a way to decline it politely. A frown crossed his mind when he heard the second request. To have an aether dragon helping them could kill the entire water dragon army, but it wasn’t likely Draco and Aurora would agree to it anyway. That was when a perfect idea came to him.

“You may have some of my students and their dragons, but only if they wish to fight for you. In an elemental war, only the two elements that are at war fight, therefore it would be against the laws for young Draco and Aurora to join you, not that they would like to go anyway. I will gather all my students of the fire element and will ask them each if they want to fight for you. You may go now, Paul.”

A slight feeling of frustration ran through Paul at the rejection he had received from this headmaster, but he nodded his head calmly and walked out to the courtyard. His guide, Tamica, had flown away it seemed, but he caught a glimpse of a white dragon flying around with a brown dragon on his tail. Paul’s eyes opened wide with surprise as he saw a new attack strategy happen before him. The white dragon flew slightly lower and used his wings to brake, before flying on top of the brown dragon, dropping on one of his wings and knocking him down. He stored that memory aside for when he saw his dragon; it would be a useful move. After watching the white dragon and the brown dragon for some time, he began to admire his fighting skills. None of the moves he used had been seen before, and all of them were working to his advantage. He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and looked over at the cause. A slight feeling of surprise and longing coursed through him as he realised who it was, the beautiful girl, Aurora.

Aurora watched as Draco and John trained with each other, and Draco used moves never seen before.

“Draco, Come here, that scratch looks nasty.”

She called out, unaware that she was being watched by Paul. Her dragon dropped from the sky and landed next to her. He had a long scratch along his side, and it was freely bleeding.

“You need to be more careful, that wound would kill you in the wild, or it would hinder you in a dragon battle. If you’re not careful enough, I would lose the most prized thing in my life.”

Her dragon nodded and winced slightly as she placed her hand on the cut and muttered the words for a healing spell. After he was healed, she got a weird feeling she was being watched. She mumbled into her dragon’s ear, and after nodding slightly he grabbed her in his jaws, placed her on his back, and flew slightly upwards, his wings straining to support the extra weight. She looked around suspiciously before spotting Paul in the forest, watching her and her dragon, his eyes laced with curiosity.

“Paul, what are you doing there?”

He heard a shout from Aurora as she sat on the back of her dragon without a saddle. He was amazed to see that, very few riders would ever ride bare back, but he didn’t show it. He just jumped down out of the tree he had been sitting in.

“I have a proposition for you. The fire dragons are struggling in a war with water dragons, which are much stronger than we are, due to them being the stronger element. I believe that the magic of an aether dragon would greatly aid us in this war. Would you and Draco be willing to fight alongside me and my dragon, Blaze?”

Aurora looked at Paul before laughing.

“As if I would risk my life for an element that isn’t even my own. Aether dragons stay out of these wars, because they would swamp any other element. If I join, all the other aethers would need to join, and they would pick their own side.” Draco stated, explaining Aurora’s reaction, “She wasn’t laughing at your offer, she was laughing at how much we would actually inconvenience you.”

Paul nodded, deciding that this made perfect sense, before he walked out of the meadow and towards the main building again.

He saw a lot of fire students and dragons standing there, but all of them looked scared or nervous.

“Think, Paul. These students have never seen real conflict, and have lived with nothing other than peace. Don’t threaten them or they will flock away like dragon chicks.”

He walked up to the stage and stood before all of the pupils. After a moment of astonishment he recognised one of them as his niece.

“Hello, uncle!” She called up, and he just waved it off.

“Fire students of Aether Academy, I am proud to have such strong willed people and dragons among me with the element of fire. I am here to hire recruits for the war between fire and water. The fire dragons are suffering the most, as we are disadvantaged, since water dragons can put out our flames. I need the strength of today’s youth to join me by my side in the war of the elements!”

His speech created a mass movement in the crowd. Riders everywhere were hopping onto their dragon’s back, and taking off into the sky. Paul followed suit, and flew in front of the mass of students. His niece flew up beside him, and he tried to shoo her back.

“I fly beside you, or not at all.” was her stubborn, continuous reply. In the end they all took off in the general direction of the school. He had finally found a decent amount of recruits. His face went into a grimace. How many of these young children were going to die or lose their dragons? How would he cope if the young, enthusiastic girl beside him died? He pushed these thoughts out of his mind and continued the flight back to the fire camp.