The School of Dragon Riders [Dragon Riders #1]

Chapter 28 (edited)

I was eating in silence while the dwarves talked, laughed, and drank. The three of them made almost as much noise as the whole Great Hall back at the school.
After a while, I got tired of listening to them and I cleared my throat for attention. They immediately stopped talking and looked at me.

"I have a few questions that will probably determine my future. What is this surface guardian and what kind of challenge do I have to face?" I asked once they were all quiet. Fahrg exchanged glances with his wife and looked back at me.

"The surface guardian... ya see, Darky, the moment ye entered the tunnels ya got all yer Elements back. Until now, ya couldn't have had shape changing and the healing one. Ya'll have to fight the surface guardian, but he's a human and one of them Purebloods. He's thousands of years old and his Elements are very powerful, kid. Ya'll have to beat him to pass. Nobody beat him before."

A Pureblood... Could a young Datonx beat an experienced Atonx? I wasn't very sure. Actually, I thought I had no chance, but I felt Shade's presence more now. Maybe that would weaken the guardian, but it was very unlikely.

I sighed, my appetite gone. I stood up and took my plate to wash it, but Finny stopped me and took the plate from me. I shrugged. If she liked washing plates, she could go right ahead.

Fahrg stood up, and motioned for me to follow him.

"We're leavin'. Ya might want to practice after ya've met 'im. He won't go easy on ya since yer a Datonx," he said as he opened the door. That's when I noticed that the doors were actually made so that humans could go through with ease, but the doorknobs were lower than usual. Fahrg said that the guardian was an hour's walk through this big tunnel.

During our walk, I took in the details of the tunnel: the lights and the dwarves. They all had a tint of hate when they looked at me, but some of them were curious. None approached us, though. They must have known that we were going to the guardian. Otherwise, they wouldn't be too shy to approach us. At least that's what Fahrg told me usually happens.

After a while, I felt the Atonx's presence tugging at my mind. He must have sensed me, and he was trying to break through my mind. However, Fox taught all of us how to protect ourselves from weaker attacks, and he didn't seem to be using all of his power for reading a stranger's mind.

Minutes after that, we saw some sort of temple with diamonds, rubies, gold, and more precious ores put symmetrically on the walls and the roof. There was no door, and Fahrg entered slowly.

The inside was made out of gold and the brightness was hurting my eyes. In the middle of the room stood a man. He was tall, and shirtless. I had never seen such muscles. He was as tall as two of me standing on top of each other and two more next to each other. He was blond, like most Atonxies and had a beard of the same colour. He was looking at me with a smile on his face, probably happy that he'd get to kill another creature that day.

"So, you wish to pass?" he said in his deep, booming voice, after which he let out a laugh as loud. "A Datonx wishing to pass? You should turn back, girl. All that crossed me died," he said, his smile turning into a grin.

If I couldn't defeat him, I stood no chance against Shade. I knew that in order even to stand a chance, I'd have to let the dark take over. I knew that I had to learn to do what Shade did, to be in the dark form while controlling it. In order to do that, I knew I'd have to practice going in and out of the dark form. I should have started doing that earlier.

"Answer me," he commanded.

"Yes, I have come to challenge you," I said, taking a step forward, so we were standing eye-to-eye. Except that my eye level wasn't anywhere near his. He laughed.