''...Oliver!...Wake up!...''

''...Crazy kid...Bring to Ding Dong...''

''...Very lucky...Life force...''

Oliver woke up with a gasp all around him he could see a big white curtain and above him he could see the familiar gray ceiling of the metro. Beside him he could see a heart monitor faithfully beeping with each passing seconds.

He heard the curtain move and the face of a young woman poke from the entrance. ''I thought i heard a sound. I'm glad you finally woke up, you made a young girl worry about you, you know?'' She said in an almost reproachful tone.

Instantly he knew who she was talking about and he smiled sheepishly. ''Sorry, I'm told I can be reckless sometime.''

What he presumed to be the nurse nodded her head. ''Yes I can see that, wait here while I retrieve miss Clara I'm sure she's dying to see you.'' Then the curtain was closed and Oliver was left alone with his thoughts. He still couldn't believe they had just killed a Dragon it almost seemed like a dream. But he knew it was real and he knew that the sacrifice they made for it to happen was also all too real.

Finally the curtain was opened once again and a familiar girl emerged from behind it. Oliver was almost disappointed to see her in her human form. He had gotten use to see her real self. But he knew that she was still self conscious about what she had become, so he decided to not bring it up.

Then he saw someone else behind Clara and his eyes widened when he saw that his arm was in a cast. ''Xofamai what happened to you?!''

Xofamai looked down at his arm like it was a mere inconvenience. ''Oh this? That happened when Boreas sent me crashing throught the window of that store. Don't worry about me, I had way worse than this.''

Clara crossed her arms and glared down at Oliver. ''It's you, you should be worried about! What were you thinking Boosting your Elestia twice in a row?! You could have lost years of your life doing a stunt like that! You should consider yourself lucky that you only lost consciousness! That and reopening your wounds even thought Aqua warned you! You're lucky Xofamai woke up soon after. I didn't have enough strenght left to drag you by myself.''

''Sorry, sorry! But we couldn't let Boreas get away... Especially after Justin gave his life for us...'' He said with a deep sadness in his voice.

Clara stayed silent for a while too at the reminder of Justin's sacrifice. Xofamai looked deep in thought and finally he talked. ''I misjudged him, I didn't want to completely trust him because of his past. I had very bad experiences with the Knights before and my experiences with them tainted my view of him. But Justin was a true hero, I have known a lot of soldiers in my time with the Resistance and I can count on one hand the ones who wilingly sacrifice themselves for others like he did. Risking your life and willingly dying are two different things.''

''Say Xofamai.'' Clara started. ''You've met a lot of people in your travels right? Have you ever met a Jasmine Jones?''

Much to their surprise Xofamai immediatly tensed. ''Where have you heard that name?'' He asked seriously.

''Justin said it was his sister, he told us to give her this necklace if we ever saw her.'' Oliver said before presenting the half heart pendant.

Xofamai looked at it with a blank stare before sighing deeply. ''Jasmine Jones... Is one of the Duchesses of the Knights of Humanity.''

- - - - -

Oliver had recovered enough to finally leave his hospital bed. But he was still banned from any missions for at least a week maybe even more. Word spreaded quickly throught the Ding Dong Community about what they had done. Everyone they passed looked at them with a mix of awe and amusement. Because they knew the two teens would never hear the end of it with the General.

But for now the group was hungry and as such they had made their way toward the mess hall. To celebrate the death of Boreas the General had organised a veritable feast. Meat and vegetables from all over Orchestralia were spreaded over the tables. As usual Clara decided to stick with vegetable while Oliver decided he would try some of the meat.

''I can't believe you can still eat meat after becoming a Chosen.'' Clara with a frown on her face.

Oliver responded by rolling his eyes. ''Oh not this again. Come on Clara there's nothing wrong with eating meat. Elestia are eating each other all the time it's just the circle of life.''

''Just because they do it doesn't mean we should do it too. It was arleady bad with animals but now we're talking about sapient creatures!'' Clara said in scolding tone.

Oliver then took a brown gem from his pocket and called out Sandy's name. The deer-like Elestia appeared in front of them and she look at the feast around her with wide eyes before digging in, in one of the many salads on the table. Deciding he should let all his Elestia enjoy it he called out Bolt too who immediatly went over the giant bowl of nuts. Clara followed the example and woke up Marie who went over a table full with pizzas with cheese made of Elestian milk.

''So Sandy, me and Clara had an argument do you think it's bad to eat Elestia's meat?'' Oliver held his breath while waiting for her response.

Sandy seemed deep in thought then she shrugged. ''Sandy no see problem, predators need eating yes? Unhealty fighting against biology.''

Oliver looked at Clara with a victorious grin. She only huffed in response before returning to her salad. Their relatively calm meal was interrupted as someone turned on the radio and a loud static noise drowned out every other noise in the mess hall. Finally a deep manly voice came from the radio and rose above the static.

''...This on?...Shit come on...Ah there we go, welcome everyone! This is Krazy K-9 coming to you from the great old ruins of Orchestralia! Awooo! Bringing you the news no matter how crazy they are. Talking of crazy I heard from a little bird that The Cult of The Great Ones have abducted even more people. If you see a bunch of crazy people wearing cloaks stay as far away from them as you can. Or at least bring a gun just in case.''

A blonde man who they recognised as Dave, the grandson of Olivia turned to the burly man who had turned the radio on. ''What is this?''

''It's Krazy K-9! He appeared just a few days ago. It's been a long time since there's been anything on the radio. I don't know how but this guy really know what's happening out there. I managed to avoid a herd of Treemoose and Flodeera thanks to him.''

The voice of Krazy K-9 continued to talk above the noise. ''But those crazy lunatics are old news! We've been hearing about them for weeks now, I hear you say. Well get ready for this because this is probably the biggest piece of news you will hear in your life! Boreas, Lord of Winter, bringer of snow and the destroyer of Orchestralia...Is dead. No, no. Your radio is not malfuctioning, you heard me right. One of the great eight Dragons is dead!''

Silence hung in the mess hall before everyone turned toward Oliver and Clara who looked back at the crowd with sheepish expressions.

''About two days ago Boreas, being the regular asshole that he is, attacked the Ding Dong Community, killing and injuring many people. Well four people from the Resistance said enough is enough and decided to take matter in their own hands. Their name? Xofamai a very well respected Ranger from the Resistance who has led many missions to protect citizens from wild Elestia attacks, Justin Jones a former Knight of Humanity who deserted the organisation and lived with the Resistance for about a year and finally and this one is kind of hard to believe, but two Rookies from the Resistance named Clara Balsam and Oliver Wilden.''

''How does he know so much?! This just happened yesterday!'' Clara asked in shock and Oliver was wondering the same thing.

''Unfortunately we are sad to announce that the brave Justin Jones has given his life in order to fight the Dragon. However even his sacrifice was not enough to kill the beast! It was the two young Rookies who delivered the final blow and exacted revenge for their fallen comrade... So beautiful! It bring a tear to my eyes.'' He said the last part in an overdramatic voice. ''Well I for one cannot wait to see what these two Rookies can acomplish in their future! But I got to say killing a Dragon? That will be a hard accomplishment to live up to, let me tell you. And with that I bid you adieu until next time, it was Krazy K-9! Awooo! Bringing you the news! Because if I don't who else will?''

Suddenly music started to blare on the radio, it was Believer by Imagine Dragon. Clara couldn't help but shake her head ironically at the choice of music. It was then that a muscular man wearing a sleeveless pink shirt and pink jean walked to the two teens. ''Oh my darling! It seem like we have celebrities among our mist! Can I be the first one to ask for your autograph before everyone else crowd you?''

Oliver looked at him in disbelief but relaxed once the man teasingly winked at him to signal he was only joking. It was then that Oliver realised who the man was. ''You're one of the men who saved us from Boreas when we first arrived in Ringabell City.''

''Bingo darlings! My name is Steven Pierce try to don't forget it. I'm so jealous of Xofamai I was the one that wanted to take both of you under my wings but the General thought Xofamai would be a better teacher for some reasons. Oh I was wounded, I tell you! I would make a perfect teacher! We would sing songs, try new clothes and we could even play truth or dare while camping and eating marshmallows!''

Oliver suddenly felt like he had dodged a bullet, but he tried to smile politely toward the...Interesting man.

Dave walked toward them with a frown. ''Stop bothering them Steven, you're causing a scene... As usual.''

The man wearing pink huffed at that. ''You're such a killjoy, would it kill you to remove the broom up your behind?''

''You two are arguing again.'' A familiar emotionless voice said and suddenly everyone in the mess hall turned silent as Xofamai walked in the room. ''This is a mess hall for military personnel, not a schoolyard, start acting like it.''

''Yes sir.'' Both of the men said before turning back to their seat.

Xofamai walked toward the two teens and he frowned. ''I heard about the news. Look like all of Orchestralia will know about what we did. I hoped we would have more time.''

Clara was confused. ''I mean I'm not really a fan of becoming a celebrity but it seem like you're worried for another reason.''

Xofamai sighed. ''You remember about what I told you about why we chose this place as our community?''

''To get away from the Knights and other people who hate Chosens.'' Clara said then her eyes widen as the realisation hit her.

''I see you understand. Without Boreas acting as our deterrent, the Knights won't hesistate as much before attacking our community. I had hoped to fortify our defense before that happen. But with that announcement now everyone know that the Winter Dragon is dead. If we're not careful this could blow in an all out war between the Resistance and the Knights.''

Both Clara and Oliver gulped at that, they hoped it wouldn't come to that...

- - - - -

A woman sat upon a throne of ice. Her eyes were as cold as the throne she was sitting on. Before her stood two men in armor kneeling before her. ''So let me get this straight, you abandoned the fight as soon as Duke Beauregard died. The two of you fleed like cowards and then when I issued order for your arrest, you escape us for days and now you expect me to show mercy?''

''P-please your majesty, we will do anything!'' One of the man pleaded.

''Very well, from now you two are under the command of the new Duchesse Scarlet Vulcan.'' She said with finality.

''N-no! Anything but her please!'' The man pleaded.

The woman gaze turn to ice as she glare at the cowering man. ''I give you a second chance and yet you plead again? Do you want to die, is that it?! Because I'm this close to just kill you and be done with your pathetic excuse of a life.''

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. She turned her gaze at the door with an annoyed look. ''Can't you hear we're busy?!''

''Sorry my Queen but I just heard very important news I thought you would want to hear immediatly.'' The voice on the other side said.

She forced herself to not sigh in annoyance. ''Very well you can enter Gunther.''

An old man entered inside the throne room he was an old balding man wearing a black tuxedo with a red tie. ''Sorry to disturb you milady, but a new radio station has appeard in the last few days, a radio station that broadcast about news all over Orchestralia.''

The Queen did not looked impressed at the news. ''And? Is that it? I really couldn't care less what a bunch of bumpkins do with their radios.''

''No of course not, but you see my Queen I heard a very interesting bit of news. It seem a little far-fetched but if true it could very well changed everything. You see the radio host claimed that the Ding Dong Resistance just killed the Winter Dragon yesterday.''

''What?! Are you serious? And do you think it's true?'' She asked impatiently.

The old man shrugged helplessly. ''Unfortunately I could not verify the credibility of said claim. But even if it's fake we have to take this seriously. Already people are begining to see the Resistance in a better light. Settlements who had previously only dealt with us might try to call on the help of the Resistance which would reduce our influence all over Orchestralia.''

The previously icy glare of the woman turned to fire as anger started to overwhelmed her. ''Send a pair of scouts immediatly and verify the validity of that claim! We have to act fast before this situation get out of control. If it's fake we will be able to spread the truth and discredit the Resistance.''

''And what if it's true, my Queen?'' Gunther asked with a wary tone.

The Queen expression turned into a sadistic smile that sent shiver down the spines of everyone present in the room. ''If it's true then let's prepare the drums of war.''

- - - - -

All around Orchestralia the temperature was slowly but surely rising until at last warmth encompassed the whole nation. Spring was finally over and the first rays of summer were piercing the heavens. And no other place felt it's effect quite as much as the frozen city of Ringabell.

With Boreas gone the curse of the Winter Dragon had finally been lifted. Slowly but surely the frozen building and people who had been frozen in time for ten long years were now melting. It was as if time had finally returned to the region and the graveyard that was Ringabell had finally found peace.

Before long all that would remain of the once vibrants city would be nothing more than a very large puddle on the ground. But all was not over, for the people of the Ding Dong Community had finally decided to emerged from their hiding spot underground. Preparations had arleady been made to build a new community above the ground.

Xofamai had insisted that the first thing they built would be a large wall surrounding the whole community. Chosens were using their Earth Elestia to raise large stone walls all around what would become their new town.

As for the name of this new town it was kind of obvious. A man erected a sign on the entrance to the town. On it it was proudly written: 'Welcome to New Ringabell home of the Ding Dong Resistance.'

A large stone wall had also been built in the middle of what would become the town on it was written all the names of the people that had died here ten years ago. Or at least all the names they could find, there wasn't much records left of the inhabitants of the city. Most of the name were taken from words of mouth from people who used to live here. Here at the top of the list Oliver could see two names standing out to him. 'Franklin Wilden' and 'Justin Jones.'

He felt a hand on his shoulder and as he turned back he saw the sympathetic face of Clara smiling at him. ''Sorry you always have to find me here.''

Clara shook her head. ''No it's okay, I understand it must be nice to finally have a place to remember him properly.'' Oliver sighed and nodded, then Clara looked back toward a familiar man who was standing in the distance waiting for them. ''So are you ready for today's mission?''

''Yeah! We're going to...Umm what was the mission again?'' He laughed sheepishly.

Clara rolled her eyes. ''We're protecting a trading caravan from wild Elestia.''

''Oh right, right. I knew it just wanted to test your memory.'' He lied with his best smile.

''Sure whatever you say.'' She said before they both walked toward Xofamai.

They arrived at a large stone gate that almost looked like just another part of the wall. It was made so only Earth Elestia could lower or raise the gate. And guards were always on patrol to make sure no wild Earth Elestia would come to lower the gate. Even if Earth Elestia were pretty rare around this region.

One of said guards noticed the three of them standing there and smiled cheekily at them. ''Well, well, well. If it isn't the three legendary heroes of the Resistance!'' Xofamai grunted in response. ''So what can I do for you today?''

''We're going on a mission please lower the gate.'' Xofamai said in his usual dead tone.

''Very well, try to not kill another Dragon on the way there, my heart wouldn't be able to handle it!'' He said with a chuckle.

''It's been a week since the whole thing happened and yet they haven't stopped treating us like celebrities.'' Clara said with a bit of an irritated frown.

''You can't really blame them, no one ever killed a Dragon before and if you still plan on killing the other ones you will assuredly be immortalised as the greatest heroes of human history.'' Xofamai said with a rare teasing smirk on his face. Then he took a cigarette and lit it up before putting it in his mouth.

''Well if I have to deal with the annoyance of being hounded by fanboys to save the world then so be it. But Justin was right, we won't be able to kill all of them on our own, we have to make more people follow our cause... I just don't know how to do that.'' Oliver said with a frown on his face.

''Let's worry about that another day you're still recovering from your fight with Boreas it's a miracle that the General allowed you to participate in a mission this soon even if it's a rank C mission.'' Xofamai replied.

A small strident cry interupted the group and a familiar little bear made of snow appeared before the group. ''Oh no, not you again! Haven't you learned your lesson?'' Oliver asked with a scowl on his face.

The small bear narrowed his eyes at him and let out a small roar... and nothing happened. The group looked at each other in confusion and the little bear tried to roar again but just as before nothing changed. It was then that realisation dawned on Xofamai.

''The Ice Elestia were getting their power from Boreas, with him dead they can't use their powers anymore.''

Oliver smirked as that same realisation seemed to dawn on the small bear made of snow. ''Ah! Serve you right! Now you won't be able to attack us!''

The small Elestia whimpered and tried to run away but he tripped on his own paws and fell down on the ground. Clara looked at the creature with pity. ''I feel bad for it, it just lost an ability it had all it's life it would be like losing the ability to hear or to see. Without their power Elestia are completely defenseless.''

Oliver looked confused at that. ''What do you mean all the Ice Elestia lost power right? So they're on equal ground.''

Clara shook her head. ''Yes but the other type of Elestia haven't lost anything, With the eternal snow gone pretty soon other kinds of Elestia will come around here and when that happen the Ice Elestia might be hunted to extinction by other Elestia and maybe even humans.''

Oliver looked at the pitiful creature that was whimpering and covering before them before he sighed, ''Fine then, how about you join my team then? I can give your power back, you will be fed everyday and I will take care of your every need. In exchange you keep me and my friends safe while we go on missions to protect other people.''

The small bear seemed unsure at first but then he realised he wouldn't get a better deal than that and he nodded his head. Oliver took a pale blue gem from his backpack and proceeded to touch the Ice Elestia with it. Instantly the Elestia was engulfed in a pale blue light and was putted inside the Draconid Gem. Then Oliver concentrated and felt his mind enter inside the gem.

- - - - -

All around him he saw a large snowstorm that engulfed the whole area. The whole place was covered by a thick blue blanket. Because yes the snow in this world was blue for some reason. All around him he could see trees similar to firs. Or they would be if the trunk and branches of the trees didn't look like some sort of frozen slime.

Oliver shook his head, the more he visited this world throught the vision of his Elestia the least it made sense. It didn't take too long before he found the small bear hiding in a pile of snow. ''There you are! So are you ready to do the pact?''

The Elestia responded with a huffing sound before nodding his head. Oliver felt a little dissapointed that just like Bolt the Elestia wasn't talking inside his gem. But he decided to put that in the back of his head and focus on the task at hand. ''So this may sound bad but are you male?'' The Elestia looked a bit miffed by the question but made an affirmative sound. ''Okay, then how about Frost?''

The ice Elestia grunted and shook his head in disaproval. Oliver sighed, ''Okay then how about Igloo?'' Another grunt followed by another shake of his head. ''You're really picky huh? Then how about... Snowy?!''

The Elestia seemed to think about that before slowly nodding his head. Oliver smiled victoriously. ''Alright then from now on you're known as Snowy. Welcome to the team!''

- - - - -

As he reemerged from the Draconid Gem Oliver instantly called out the name of his new Elestia. ''Snowy come out!'' As soon as he came out the small bear tested out his newly returned power by unleashing an icy breath toward the trunk of a tree. The trunk instantly began to turn to ice and the small Elestia began to jump around in joy at being reunited with his power.

Clara took this opportunity to take out the GEEK and find out more about their new ally. ''Blizzacub the snow bear. These Elestia can become extremely dangerous in winter due to their ability to become bigger and more powerful the more snow they absorb. In summer they have to drink a lot of water so they can produce the snow that make out their body. If a Blizzacub melt in summer they can still come back to life the next winter as the water they have become turn back into snow.''

''Don't worry I won't let you melt.'' Oliver said after the Elestia made a worried frown. Snowy smiled at the boy's reassurance. He returned the Elestia inside the gem and the group began to continue their walk toward their next mission.

Unbeknown to the group they had an observer hiding in the trees. her gaze was solely fixed on the boy. Her fist clenched tightly enough to draw blood before a sinister smile lit up her face. ''I finally found you...Oliver.''

- - - - -

A week earlier

What not a lot of people knew was that the Dragons all over the world had a spiritual connection to each other. So when Boreas the Lord of Winter died every single Dragon in the world felt it.

Some of them roared in rage that one of their own had been bested by lowly humans. Some of them rejoiced to have less competition over territory and food. One however was a bit more special.

A lonely woman was sitting at a cafe, today was a slow day and she was the only customer in the store at the moment. It was raining outside and the cafe owner was busy cleaning the counter. He didn't pay much attention to the woman afterall most of his customer came here for peace so it would be rude to stare.

So when the woman began to wince he didn't notice it. Then as the pain fade away she began to smile to herself. ''Interesting.'' She said to herself before walking out of the door into the pouring rain. She smiled gleefully as she lifted her stare into the sky. ''I thought humanity had lost the will to fight ten years ago, it look like my calculation were wrong. This will be interesting, very interesting. Show me what you got humans.''

Then without warning the woman disappeared without a trace most people who noticed her explained it as a trick of the light and moved on. Not knowing they had just witnessed the most powerful being in the world...

- - - - -

Michael Balsam let himself fall unto his chair completely exhausted. He had been slaving away at his work for the last few weeks but finally he was done. A cloaked woman arrived in his lab with an unpleasant frown. ''What are you doing sitting doing nothing? You should be working on project Rebirth!''

The professor pointed to a large vial on his desk. ''I just perfected it, it's ready. Now all we have to do is mass produce it. Oh great Chosen One Claire Kaida'' He said sarcastically but the woman didn't seemed to notice the sarcasm in his voice and continued to stare at the vial.

''Very good, you have served my organisation very well Professor Balsam. So this will really allow us to transform everyone into hybrids?'' She asked for confirmation.

Michale sighed. ''Yes but most of them will still inherit some Elestia physical traits if you just gave me more time I'm sure I could make in sort we could get Elestia's powers without making us turn into circus freaks.''

Claire shook her head. ''Being turned into part Elestia is not a problem. In fact I would go as far as to say it is a blessing. We want to become the children of the Great Ones. Sharing traits of their original children will make us seem even more legitimate. I was only worried about the high risk of death of the previous tests.''

She was about to walk way but Michael stopped her in her track. ''I created this to create a better humanity! But if you do this there won't be a humanity left!''

The woman putted a hand on his face. ''Oh poor Professor. You should have realised by now that I don't care about humanity. All that count is that we all become the children of the Dragons. Everything else is irrelevant. This is the world of Elestia and we have to become part of it if we want salvation!''

With that she walked away from the lab leaving a seething Michael behind. ''I will never leave this world to these monsters, mark my word. Once I have perfected this formula, humanity will rise from the ashes like a glorious Phoenix! And you my dear Claire will not be part of this new world.''

To be Continued... In World of Elestia: A Song of War and Dragons