Blood + Tears (all 15)

Chapter 11

I sucked in a breath. In a voice that I hoped didn't sound shaky, I asked them. "Dragons? I didn't know that they existed."

Nathan took a seat at the long table in the middle of the room. "Dragons are gone, but they will be back."

Luke pulled a seat out motioned for me to sit. I sat and waited for the others to sit. I looked at Nathan in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Sean answered. "It's part of the history. About a thousand years ago, there was a king, named Cassian, who brought the small kingdoms in this land into one kingdom. He had two close advisors, a mage and a dragon shifter. The mage Marley was a man who excelled in planning, and the Dragon shifter Kai was a man who excelled in battle. They were the King's advisors and closest friends. Twenty years after the king united the kingdoms, the dragon shifter became greedy and bloodthirsty. He rebelled and assassinated the king. The mage fought the dragon shifter and almost died, but the dragon shifter escaped. Years went by, and dragon shifters were persecuted and killed. One day, Kai appeared with an army of dragon shifters and sympathizers. Marley with the kingdom's army and the hero Adrian battled the dragon shifters. The dragon shifters were pushed back. Marley and Adrian pursued them where they found Kai injured and alone. He cursed Marley and Adrian, vowing that dragons will be back and annihilate what should have been destroyed long before. With his last breath, Kai cursed Marley and Adrian. Marley and Adrian were concerned for the future and built the Academy. The Academy has been training people to fight in case the dragons return."

I nodded, thinking about the history. No wonder dragons were hated. They had waged a battle against their own king who was their friend. Something nagged at me, but I couldn't ask them.

A knock made the four of us turn our heads at the person standing at the door. Mr. Blackbourne and Kota were standing there with a smile on their faces. Mr. Blackbourne walked towards us, his eyes were searching mine. "What do you think of our history?"

I looked at him, making sure I kept a cap on my emotions. "It's interesting. I never knew this." I titled my head. "Why are you guys here?"

Kota chuckled. "We are here to take you to rank your powers."

"Rank?"

Corey nodded. "Like I said earlier, we need to know your rank."

Nathan smiled. "This part is fun. The Academy has rank placements. There are six ranks- red, black, orange, silver, and gold. Red is the lowest rank which means the shifter has a fraction to no magical capabilities or their abilities are dormant in nature. The Reds are the weakest because they are classified as too weak to be perceived as beneficial to the shifter world but enough to not be ranked an average human. If their dormant spirit grows in nature, revealing capabilities, their rank is upgraded."

Luke continued. "Black is the next level. They are below average which means they are only able to use physical and mental strengths. They have either weak or no magic abilities."

Marc spoke next. "Orange is average. They can use a certain percentage of magic abilities and spell casting. The next rank is silver. They can use magic and many of their spirit abilities. They can partially shift or able to change certain body parts into their spirit form. It's like a host shifting their hand into claws but unable to shift to full bear form."

"Gold is the next level." Sean smiled, relaxing in his seat. "This is the second highest rank achievement. Shifters are able to use advance levels of magic, sharp physical abilities such as expert levels in swordsmanship, archery and general athletics. It also includes fighting. Shifters can shift fully for short period of time, but once their stamina is depleted, the host and spirit are rendered powerless for long period of time."

I frowned. "If gold is the second highest rank, what is the first?"

Mr. Blackbourne spoke from behind me, making me jump. I had forgotten he was there. "The highest rank is Pink. The shifter would have to posses master skills in physical, mental, and magical abilities. They are stronger than the average spell caster and can withhold a longer threshold, allowing the shifter to completely shift and stay in such form for a longer duration without depletion of stamina. This is an extremely rare rank; there have only been six in the history of the Academy."

I nodded. I didn't know how much my power would rank but if I could guess, it would rival theirs. Kota held a hand out, which I didn't hesitate to take. Standing, I smiled at the unsmiling Mr. Blackbourne. "After you, Mr. Blackbourne."

His eyes glowed, telling me that Royal was also watching me. When his eyes dimmed, Mr. Blackbourne straightened his tie before nodding. "Thank you, Ms. Armani."

I smiled at the last name that I gave myself. I gave a nod before following the guys down the halls of the palace. "So what ranks are you guys?"

Sean skipped next to me. His eyes were filled with curiosity and happiness. "We are all gold. There are only hundred of the gold ranks in the Academy."

I blinked. The fifteen of them were really powerful.

About five minutes of walking and talking to the men that would talk with me, we came to a door which Mr. Blackbourne opened and motioned for me to go in first. I blushed, still unaccustomed to being treated nicely.

The room was another library but much smaller. It seemed like it was a personal library. From the pop of orange in the room, I would say that it was Gabriel's library. On the mahogany desk was crystal orb. It glowed a myriad of colors. Mr. Blackbourne waved a hand at the orb.

"Place your hand on the orb, and pour your all of your power into it. It will show what rank you are."

I nodded, stepping up to the orb. I looked inside of myself, gazing at the power that I had. I laid my hand on the cool object and readied my powers. I closed my eyes before starting to pour my powers into the orb. My power flowed into the orb like a river when suddenly the orb in my hand grew hot. I ignored the heat, thinking that it was just changing colors. I kept pouring my powers into the orb when suddenly I heard gasps. Making sure my powers still flowed into the orb, I opened my eyes. At the sight of the orb, I felt my eyes round at the glowing pink orb. Something attracted my eyes, but when I focused on it, there was nothing but the color pink. Suddenly the orb grew to hot for me to bear but before I could place it back onto the desk, a crack appeared. When the orb cracked,the earth seemed to tremble beneath my feet. With an eerie silence, we watched as the orb burst, showering all of us with bright pink dust. I stood with my back to them frozen. When no one spoke, I turned around to face five shocked faces. I wrung my hands together and smiled sheepishly. "Um,... oops."