[COMPLETE] R E V E R S E #NaNoWriMo2k17

Chapter 2

Ajax paced nervously, looking around. Behind him, the training stadium loomed formidably, a dark splotch in the white Icefields terrain. Torches flanked the doors like sentry guards, occasionally flickering when the wind blew through. A sculpture of the Icewarden sat precariously on a tiny ledge, overlooking it all. He had been here countless numbers of times, and yet it still felt like he was stepping into a foreign, mysterious land whenever he arrived.

Someone huffed and he turned around to see Tas landing on the snow, yelping then it shifted, sending him sliding onto his back.

"You could've landed on the path."

"I wasn't bothered, frankly. Besides, the ground looked firm from in the sky."

He shrugged. "Did you bring your sword this time?"

The Wildclaw took out a shabby leather sheath and made a sour face. "I really don't like having to bring this sorry excuse for a weapon to training."

"Don't forget the last time you forgot Pandra made you run fifty laps around the entire court."

"I know that and I remember it. I just hate it, you know? Wish I could get a fancy sword like you."

He winced. "I'm only given it because of our family name. It's more of a dumb tradition than anything special."

"Wish that were my tradition."

"Don't wish it. You don't know half the story." He turned away. "We're wasting time. Pandra will be here any second and we'll be in trouble again." He grabbed his arm and started pulling him. "Come on, move!"

They rushed down through the hallway and burst out on the other side into an open field. To his disappointment, his other classmates were already there. The Fae herself was standing on her classic silver perch, towering above all of them. She turned her pink eyes to them and scowled.

"You're late," she growled. Her fins flared. "Again."

Tas stood forward confidently. "Miss, we're deeply sorry -"

"Spare your apologies, Tas Okul. This is the fifth time, you hear me? Fifth time in two months. You should be ashamed."

"I am."

She snarled, making them all jump. "Stay after class. We need to have a talk about your attitude."

"...yes Miss,"

"As for you." She swung her gaze around to Ajax, who flinched as if stung. "I'd expect more from a Reijal. Do not have any sense of family pride? Or are you truly as thick headed as you look?" She leaned forwards maliciously, looking down her nose. "You come from a family of distinguished warriors and officers. So act like one, instead of an untamed animal."

He bristled. Now she was being unfair. All he'd done was arrived late, and she was comparing him to an incompetent idiot.

"Excuse me -"

Tas elbowed him sharply. His sentence ended in a high pitched wheeze.

She glared at him. "Did you say something, Reijal?"

He shot daggers at his friend, but the Wildclaw only shook his head 'No'. He gritted his teeth.

"Nothing, Miss. I understand."

"Good. Now!" She barked suddenly, causing a large number of dragons to jump. "We all know that every war is fought for a cause. Can someone tell me what this one is for?"

A wing shot up at the back. "To eradicate the monsters from this land and drive the Beastclans back to their proper places."

"Exactly. Thank you for your input, Tria. As you all should know by now(if you don't I swear by the Arcanist I'm throwing you out of this class), us dragonkind are at war with the Beastclans. In the past decade, the eleven flights have united for the first time in a millennia to cooperate and work together." She swept outwards with her wing. "The Beastclans may be small, but they are vicious. They will stop at nothing to get what they want. The leader, whom we believe is a harpy named Talona, is the worst of the lot. Pray to the Warden that you will never have to face her."