“How full of shit, can you get?” Asked the blue whelp, the first to break the silence. Which caused a flurry of laughter, and jeering amongst the whelps.

“Who the hell sees that much?”

“Man, he must have to compensate a lot…”

“His tales are as believable, as his flames are long. Only an idiot would get caught in -”

“Hey. It was a sneak attack, a sneak attack I tell you. He’s a tricky little bastard.” Scorch defend himself.

“Either way, it’s not nice to bully.” Greenie said, looking at the others.

“Ahem. Thank you whelp, your story has been recorded.” Vile Fang told him, having some trouble keeping his voice formal. They followed the same ritual as the rest, but all of the adult dragons seemed pained by something. Darin left the circle and resumed his place in line, while the remaining whelps went through the rite. Blood Claw unlike the elders, seemed angry and brooding. To her credit, she did her best to preform her role.

“We have heard and recorded your testimonies of ancestry.” She declared, her scolding gaze raked across the young. “As well, we have heard many other words that had no place here. So I will remind you, that you may be judged by how you present yourself at ALL times during the trials. Not just,” she snarled out, “when you yourself are being tested.”

“Blood Claw, your den mother, kindly warns you of the truth. Heed her words, young ones.” The blue elder stated in formal tones. When the other elders nodded in agreement, the room went quiet again. If dragons could sweat, a few of the whelps would have been standing in puddles in the silence that followed. Blood Claw sighed, and moved on to the next task at hand.

“The next stage of your trials, shall be the trial of-” She began.

“Fire.” Stated the elder named Dark Flame, cutting her off. She looked shocked and her jaw hung open for half a second. The red and black whelps, showed eyes wide in surprise. It seemed that this was not their first time taking the trials, but they dared not speak up yet.

“Pardon elder. But does not a different trial come next?” Blood Claw asked. She had been quick to regain her mental balance, but seemed a bit shaken by a change to the script.

“Yes, yes. Normally, we would have the trial of Lore next. But considering how long we’ve been here already. I’d prefer to move to the other trials for now. We will come back when the room is more properly…” The black scaled elder paused to consider his wording. “More properly prepared, for the depth of such questions.”

“Honorable and patient Den Mother. Would you lead them to the room of Flames, and wait there for us? It may take us a few minutes, to get the recordings into the archivist’s hands. As well, I believe a few other elders had interest in today’s events. It might give them a better chance to…catch up.” He suggested. The others looked from him, to her and then to Darin. Oh hell, what now?

“Why yes dear Elders. I will lead them there, please take all the time you need.” She responded in a sweet, yet savage tone. “You lot,” she snapped at the whelps, “follow me. Now.” She commanded. And with that, she turned about and headed out the door. In short order, all six whelps followed her out. Some reacting and moving with more speed and dignity than the others. As he passed through the exit, Darin caught a small snippet of of rumbling as the elders murmured to one another.

“No, to deal with this we need-”

Darin couldn’t tell who had spoken, but he knew it was going to be a mess. Should I have played stupid, and said very little? Or was all this part of Muse’s grand scheme? He wondered. The walk to the next room was quite, and quite nervous. If that wasn’t bad enough, the gray wyvern was in front of him this time. Having one tail thrashing about was bad enough. But having two tails in front of you, which kept accidentally taking swipes at your head was just annoying. By the time they reached the room of Flames, he was more than a little ready to set something or someone on fire.

When the entered the room, Darin realized that he’d been there before. It was the room with scorch marks and a fair selection of lava rocks. In silence, they lined up a dozen feet back from the nearest rocks and then, they waited. Blood Claw hadn’t said a word, so neither had the brood she was overseeing. A few claws tapped nervous rhythms on the stone, and a few tails lashed about. Otherwise, the next several minutes passed in silence. Truth be told, the waiting did nothing to improve Darin’s mood. After the first few minutes of waiting, the two whelps on either side of him had drifted back. As if they had sensed, the small furnace of agitation burning in his core. For an angry dragon, is a very dangerous thing.

When the elders made their appearance, it was a great relief as well as a surprise. The blue female elder was no longer with them, in her place was a red female who seemed to emanate an aura of heat distortion. When the elders had taken their place, with a clear view of all, the rite began. “I am Firebrand, an elder with the honor of serving in the Fire Clan. And I have joined you today, so that I may see for myself the truth behind your flames. Den Mother, please do begin.” She declared. There was a fierce determination to her, and it carried over in her voice.

“We have gathered here today. To begin testing you in the gifts of the Mother. Fire was one of the first gifts given, it gives us a means to defend ourselves and lay waste to our foes. While some of the blood lines diverged, changing from fire to-” Blood Claw began, then noticed the look that Firebrand was giving her. “Shall I just skip ahead then?” She asked with a sigh. When the elders nodded, she turned to face the whelps. “Okay, who’s first?” She asked, dropping all pretense of ritual and getting down to the test itself.

“I’ll go first.” Scorch announced. He eyed the large red dragoness with something akin to hero worship. He had probably already set his sights on joining such an honorable clan. A terrible shame, that he had to earn that honor before it could be awarded.

“Then do so.” Firebrand stated in a cold, blunt tone. The whelp looked shaken, but puffed himself up, reared his head back and loosed a single fireball at a lava rock. At ten feet away, it did not take the flame long to reach the rock and explode on it’s side. It wasn’t the cleanest shot, a glancing blow, but still it hit. He seemed quite proud of himself, so proud that he attempted a second shot. Eager to impress, he puffed himself up again, reared back…and exhaled smoke. His wings drooped a bit at his folly, he’d over extended himself. When he turned to look at the elders, he lowered his head in shame.

“Next.” Was the only judgment they stated aloud. But if one thing was clear, his new hero looked more disgusted than amused. There was a brief silence in the rooms, then Greenie stepped forward next. She gave a single nod to Blood Claw, then a nod to the elders. In a sudden gust of breath she launched a single, somewhat smaller, fireball into a lava rock. So the inhale is optional? She made no attempt at a second shot, but her first had hit her target dead center and left the stone glowing. With a slight bow of her head, she stepped backwards into line.

“I don’t breathe fire.” Spikey admitted in a weak tone. When all eyes turned to him, he walked over towards one of the stone vases filled with flowers. At about five feet back, he inhaled and steadied himself. A moment later, he exhaled a dark fog onto the flowers. Within moments, they had withered into ruin. The water they had floated in now churned in agitation. He looked back to the elders, who nodded at him, then he marched back to his place in line. Well, that’s one mystery solved.

“I’ll go next.” Offered the gray wyvern. When no one protested, he walked closer to the lava rocks. He closed his eyes a moment and gathered himself, before taking a deep breath. When he exhaled, a shimmering cloud of fog surrounded a pair of rocks. A moment later, small flashes of lightning arced all around within the cloud. The stones were hit several times and the energy leapt between them freely. It only caused the faintest of glows amongst the rocks, but it was clear that it had done something. Returning to his place in line, he turned too sharply and slapped Darin with one of his tails. A small Growl escaped Darin, as a notification popped up.

Wyvern whelp has dealt you 1 damage.

A few of the other whelps snickered, but the wyvern had the grace to mouth an apology in silence. It didn’t do much good for Darin’s disposition, by now he was quite ready to set something ablaze. “You, go next.” Blood Claw commanded, pointing at Darin with her claw. She was giving him a target to vent his anger on, before that became one of the other whelps. As he walked up towards the lava rocks, the snickering behind him only got worse. It might have had something to do with the fact that he had to enter point blank range to hit the stones. When he stopped, there was not quite two feet between him and either of the closest two stones.

“Should we get you a step stool too, itty bitty dragon?” The red whelp taunted him, earning a sudden and nasty glare from Firebrand. All eyes swung back the Darin.

“Show me your Anger, show me your Flames!” Firebrand roared at him, goading him further. It was all it took, and the dam inside him shattered. He didn’t even bother to inhale, he just opened his beak and let the anger fly out. Savage flames, short as they may be walked their way up the lava rock to his right. After about five seconds of constant flame, he’d reached the top and cut off the breath. Without skipping a beat, he turned to the left and seared that stone from top to bottom before his mana ran out. He sat there for a moment, saying nothing as both stones glowed with a vibrant red light. He took a long slow breath, and was surprised to see a notification window.

Racial Passive unlocked: Heart of Fire.

You have reached deep within yourself, and now you know what it is to truly burn.

Effects: +5% Flame Range, +5% Flame damage, -5% MP cost of Fire Magic.

"Fire Fire, burning bright. Leave naught but ash, by morning’s light."

Darin cleared the message and looked up. The room had fallen silent, and the glow of the rocks was just starting to fade. He gave a sharp nod to the elders and turned about. Feeling a little more at peace with himself, he marched back into line. Funny, is it me…or is scorch suddenly looking quite pale? He mused.

“You were right, Vile Fang.” Firebrand stated, opting to break the lingering silence. “I should come to these trials, more often…”

- - - - -

Author’s Note: I hope you enjoyed, I believe I did. I was also really glad to see that my humble little story has gotten over 100 followers and 25 favorites. Thank you! As ever, thank you to those that have helped me catch mistakes. And thank you for all the positive encouragement and feedback. Night! Advertisement Previous

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