Wings of Fire: Holocaust of the Skies {FINISHED}

Chapter 5

Shadowshift set up obstacles for Gavin in the courtyard of the NightWing palace. The courtyard was surprisingly unharmed by the SandWing attack. The courtyard was vast, shaped like trapezoid, Its walls surrounded on all four sides by a portico with double rows of arches, opened by slightly horseshoe arches supported by in various marbles, like granite and porphyry. Marble statues of dragons were placed on each corner of the courtyard, three of them held objects that looked like moons. One sculpture held a moon that was in a waxing crescent, another sculpture held a moon that was in a waning crescent, and another one held a full moon. The last sculpture was a dragon standing on it's hind-legs and holding a spear that had two sharp heads. They were gigantic, and they proudly towered above Gavin and a water fountain full of silver-colored fish and white flower petals.

"Gavin," Shadowshift says as picks up a spear. "Levitate this." Shadowshift threw the javelin to the ground. Gavin opened his talons, and the spear easily lifted in the air. Gavin smiled. Even though he has done this multiple times before during his past training, he was still impressed with himself and his power. "Good. Now, I want you to throw it." Shadowshift commanded. Gavin frowned as he looked at the floating spear. "Uh.."

Come on, Gavin. Just throw the spear! You killed that SandWing by THROWING a spear, so just do it again! It can't be too hard, Gavin thought to himself as he was unsure if he was able to throw the weapon. When he tried to cast the spear and move his arms in a throwing motion, the spear only wildly spun away from his magical grip and clattered against the ground. "Try again," Shadowshift's expression straight and almost emotionless. He looked a bit calm as he just watched Gavin fail from a distance. Gavin levitated the spear, and aimed it at one of the sculptures. He pulled his arm back, and threw.
The spear fell straight to the ground.
"Try again," Shadowshift says again.

☾

Gavin swore he was about to go insane if he hears Shadowshift say "try again" one last time. Throwing an object with his magic was difficult. He perfected levitating and grabbing items with his magic, but throwing them seems impossible. Shadowshift sighed irritatingly. "Are you not able to throw a spear, Gavin?" Shadowshift opened his wings. "Are you really still useless even with a useful power? Pathetic."
Gavin hissed under his breath, and he wished he could throw a spear right through his skull.

The two NightWings trained for hours, rarely taking breaks at all. Gavin would go unconscious caused by exhaustion, and that was considered his "break". Shadowshift was fierce, even without animus powers. He dodged nearly every attack Gavin sent out to him, even numerous fire blows. Shadowshift roared, flaring his giant wings. "Stop acting as if I'm your best friend! Attack me like a SkyWing! Treat me as if I just killed your family!"
Shadowshift hissed before sending a gust of fire at Gavin. Gavin dodged the plume of fire, rolling under Shadowshift and scratching his underbelly with his talons. Shadowshift roared again, but this time in pain, and flames shot from his nostrils. Gavin grinned, proud of himself for finally hurting the bastard, before Shadowshift smacked him across the face. The force of the hit was so strong that Gavin tumbled across the floor, laying on the ground, his stomach heaving. A bit of blood leaked from his cheek, but it didn't matter, anyway. "Don't stop fighting, you squid-brain!" Shadowshift bolted to Gavin and slashed his claws at him bit he dodged it. Gavin tried to go for Shadowshift's wing, but he was fast enough to kick him back. Gavin tumbled across the floor again, but he gripped the stony floor and sprinted towards Shadowshift and leaped, attempting to scratch his wings. But he missed, and landed headfirst into the ground. Shadowshift chuckled a little, and he slowly walked to Gavin, before running at a slow pace, trying to tackle him. Lucky for Gavin, he completely dodged the attempt and he rammed his shoulder into Shadowshift's face, causing the tail-less NightWing to collapse to the ground. He didn't move, but his stomach still heaved. I knocked him out. Ha.
He flew over the NightWing, but in that exact moment, suddenly, a sharp pain struck his underbelly when he was over the dragon's legs. The kick caused Gavin to yelp loudly, and it sent him to the ground, groaning in pain. "I didn't expect you to really fall for that trick," Shadowshift said as he got onto his feet and shaking off dust and rocks. Gavin's only response to that was another painful groan.

☾

In his home cave, his talons ached as he flopped on his side, exhausted from all of the training. It was already a few hours after dusk and he was more tired than a sleep deprived scavenger. His mother was already asleep by the time he got there, and he was glad. He didn't want to be asked how his day was, because it was horrible. And physically painful.
Gavin quickly fell asleep, shutting his eyes and relaxing as darkness surrounded him.

Gavin woke up a bit earlier than he expected. It was still dark out and crickets chirped loudly as he yawned, stretching his wings and his massive body. Gavin quietly stood up and observed the bats that hung from the cave's ceiling, the tiny fanged mammals occasionally squeaked with welcome. He puffed out a small flame from his mouth so he could see his unorganized pile of scrolls. He took a step forward towards the scrolls, but then he stopped. He thought to himself, I'm sure I can grab those with my magic.
Picking up a scroll a little scroll wouldn't cost him his soul, right? No, it shouldn't. Don't worry.
Gavin opened his claws, beckoning for the scroll he wanted to read. After a short pause, the scroll obeyed his request and slowly floated to his claws. His body felt light and his talons tingled again, but it felt natural, as if he was supposed to levitate things and cast spells and whatnot. Gavin unfurled the scroll and began to read.

"Animus dragons of Pyrrhia, Talons of Power," Gavin read softly to himself. "Animus dragons can enchant objects to do nearly anything. Some examples range from levitating, creating an object that can visit someone's dreams, forcing an entire structure to collapse, finding a specific dragon, to even controlling another dragon's movement and thought, even if the animus dragons themselves aren't fully aware of their powers."
Gavin began to grin. "Enchant?" Gavin forgot the scrolls mentioned that animus dragons can enchant things. He looked around his home for something to enchant, wanting to test his powers. He found a chair laying in a dark corner. Gavin stood up.
"I enchant this chair to dance for me," Gavin said as he held his talons out towards the chair. The chair immediately began to dance in the air, bouncing in a rhythmic movement and spinning. Gavin smiled, even beginning to dance with the chair himself. The chair spun around Gavin and kept bouncing as if a whole band of dragons were playing music right next to them. This isn't too bad, Gavin thought as he swayed his tail at the same rhythmic pace as the chair's bounces.

"Gavin," a deep, masculine voice suddenly says from behind him. Gavin whirled around, lowering his claws, which also caused the chair to drop down too. It was only a NightWing guard. He wore a large, thick and silver chestplate and other protective coverings on his body.
"The Queen awaits for you in the palace."