“Would you please stop mumbling to yourself and pick something?” Blood Claw asked. He’d been at it so long that two other whelps to finished their hunts. Well, finish may be a tad generous of a term. The blue whelp had rejoined them after respawning in the hatchery. The wyvern though, had at least managed to return with a dead Blood Vulture. Darin looked up from his character sheet, and realized that the others were staring as well.

“I don’t want to mess it up, I didn’t get a lot of points.” He explained, in his own defense. Firebrand just shook her head at him. Her expression was somewhere between amusement and annoyance.

“Just put them in Size. You’re too small anyway.” Scorch suggested. There was no malice in his voice, but there was an obvious disconnect.

“I can’t.” Darin explained. “Size, defense, carry weight, HP and MP are all locked.” That drew a few odd looks from the others. Blood Claw mumbled under her breath and studied the window the appeared.

“I see. Well, you still have physical and mental stats you can spend them on. Honestly, you are fretting far too much.” Blood Claw advised him. “You’ll have plenty more points in time. For now, just spend them on what ever gives you the largest return.” She then gave him a glare, one that dared him to disagree.

“You’re probably right. If I can’t kill them, I may as well be able to escape them.” Darin grumbled, as he put both points into his Agility. His base Agility raised from 15 to 17, which factored with his Size raised his effective stat to 68. Much to his disappointment, it didn’t affect his other stats. The lack of visual changes or special effects also seemed underwhelming. Maybe I just move a bit faster now, he pondered.

“That’s it?” Scorch asked, when Darin’s window closed.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been in a rotten mood for an hour, with your beak pressed to the status window. Then she nudges you once, just once, and you go with it?” He asked. Darin didn’t know how to answer at first. It was true, but somehow it wasn’t quite accurate. Blood Claw had already earned his trust. Beyond that, it was her job to help new players.

“If she hadn’t said something, I might have.” Firebrand stated, much to their surprise. “In battle he thought fast and acted faster. Doing so served him well. But left to his own time and devices, he’d have gone all day before making a simple decision. Heed me whelps, you are far too young to let such a small decision bewitch you for so long a time. When you are old and tired, then you can act senile like Dark Flame.”

“Indeed- What?” Dark Flame asked, turning to glare at her. He puffed himself up before returning her insult. “Insolent soldier, I am an Elder and to be respected.”

“So am I.” Firebrand reminded him, taking him down a peg.

“Me too.” Blue Shark added, though no one had asked her. The black dragon glared at both of them before exhaling smoke.

“Are you really threatening a member of the Fire Clan, with flames?” Firebrand asked, not bothering to hide her amusement. That must have meant something to the others, because he huffed once and turned away. “I thought not.” She added, sounding quite pleased.

“Insolent wyrm.” He muttered before looking back to the forest. “Has it been long enough to disqualify her yet?” Dark Flame asked.

“It’s been less than 10 minutes since the green one went in.” Blue Shark reminded him. He glared at her in disgust and laid down.

“Can we get one of the others to break the oath?” Dark Flame suggested, looking for ways to break his boredom. When the others glared at him, he snorted and let his eyes drift closed.

“Typical.” Blood Claw muttered.

“Growing senile.” Blue Shark replied. To which the other’s nodded. Not long afterwords, a low rhythmic rumbling announced that the elder was down for his nap. Not a bad idea actually.

“If I were to nap, would you wake me before we moved on?” Darin asked, as he’d exerted both body and mind earlier.

“Go ahead. We will wake you, when it is time.” Blood Claw assured him. A glance upward showed that the sun had almost reached it’s zenith. A siesta then, Darin mused before closing his eyes.

* * * * *

“Come now, we are ready for you.” Darin wasn’t sure who was speaking, but it didn’t sound like Blood Claw. “Young one. We have taken the time to prepare, don’t let it be wasted.” The voice urged him on. With a slow and muddled effort, Darin roused himself from his sleep. With great effort he opened his weary eyes, only to find confusion. The amber glow of sunset, colored the distant sky. But wasn’t it mid-day when we were hunting? He mused.

“Did I miss it?” He cried out in alarm, snapping awake and leaving claw marks in the ground. He looked around in panic, but only found a single dragon near him. It was the wyvern elder with the marbled hide.

“No young one, no. Calm down.” Tome instructed, his voice was both soothing and level.

“But where are the others? Shouldn’t we be moving on to the next test? Have I been left behind to fail?” Darin asked, unable to keep the fear out of his voice. If nothing else, it was an unpleasant way to awake.

“Do not fear little one, all is well. Yes, the others have moved on to their next trial. Long since, actually. But no, you have not failed. Blood Claw stayed with you until I was able to arrive and keep watch. She oversaw the final testing of the others and now, as the sun sets we are able to test you as well.” Tome stated in a calm and pleasant voice.

“I- I don’t understand. I thought we would all take the tests together.” Darin told him, looking to the elder for some explanation.

“And you have, for all your normal trials. Even if they were not in proper order. Your final test, I regret, is not a normal test at all. With all that you have said and done in this day, you have created circumstances we need to deal with.” Tome explained, or tried to anyway. The more he spoke, the more it put Darin ill at ease.

“And just what will be involved, elder Tome?” He asked. In response the elder sighed.

“I fear that I am poorly explaining this. My answers are only causing more questions, and I fear that will be the case for quite a while. Come, let us skip this headache and simply go now to your trial.” The elder had not stated it as a request. Nor was it the most friendly wording, despite the elder’s prior assurances. But as the Elder turned about, Darin was left with no choice but to follow.

“Where are we going?” He asked, in hopes he might learn more along the way. The elder wyvern turned his neck and glared at Darin a moment without even bothering to stop.

“We are going to the Council Chamber, now that all is prepared. So save your questions until we have arrived.” Tome replied, cutting off any further questions before they could be asked. Not the talkative type I see. Or are we back to the solemn ceremony, the one we derailed? Darin pondered, but he didn’t dare to ask. After several minutes of walking, the two of them had traveled deep into the mountain. The air stayed fresh and the crystals set in the wall, kept their path well lit. It was strange though, for such a wide and well kept hallway, they passed very few dragons. Despite the length of their journey, Darin remained relaxed. He knew that he could not get lost, so he doubted that his guide could either.

When they turned a corner, into a small room with other dragons, Darin couldn’t help but feel disappointed. The room was well decorated, with carvings and arches, but it was not impressive. Metals had been worked into the stone walls, there were even full sized stone doors leading out, but the room still felt quite humble. Compared to the Dining Hall and the Rumble Rooms, this room was more like an alcove than a council chamber. Blood Claw waited at the far end of the room, with some of the elders he’d me today. There murmurings stopped as Darin and Tome approached. So this is our majestic council chamber, and they our council, he mused.

“Thank you for keeping watch over my charge, elder Tome.” Blood Claw stated, her tone was respectful and she bowed her head in thanks.

“Think nothing of it Den Mother. You do us all a great service with your vigilance of duty.” He replied. The others, except Dark Flame were all quick to agree.

“So, my trial?” Darin asked, keeping his voice neutral to hide his concerns. The older dragons turned to him, studying him for a moment and putting his nerves on edge. The room went silent for a few moments, until the Den Mother spoke.

“Your last trial will begin just as soon as things are ready.” She began, before pausing to think. “Please understand that there is a natural course to things. And even for such rarities and oddities as today, we must still follow the Mother’s will.” She explained.

“So all of you will be the,” he paused seeking the correct words, “judges of this trial?”

“We will be amongst those present, yes.” Blood Claw stated, giving him an odd look. She glanced to the others for support, but none of them seemed better equipped to answer him.

“Amongst. So there will be others there as well?” Darin asked, trying to glean what information he could. He suspected his own ignorance, but something didn’t quite add up.

“There will be many, many others in attendance.” Firebrand stated, sounding quite pleased with the notion. Darin would have frowned, but beaks really weren’t designed for it. He glanced about and waited a few moments, but no one else volunteered to speak.

“Then, when will the others be arriving?” He asked, trying not to grow frustrated with them. The elders, still had a great deal of sway in his fate. Firebrand looked at him in confusion, but it was Dark Flame who made the connection.

“Did you actually think that this,” Dark Flame gestured around them, “was the council chamber?” After asking the elder began to laugh, and was soon joined by the others. Darin couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, even Blood Claw was laughing at him.

“I’d hoped not…” He stated in a timid voice, causing them to laugh more. It took a few moments before any of the elders had collected themselves enough to speak. Blood Claw, was the first to find her voice.

“Oh Darin, do give us more credit than that.” She stated, her voice was gentle yet full of mirth. A few of the others gave her odd looks, but she thought nothing of it.

“Names are earned, not carried over.” Firebrand reminded her, with a light nudge into her side. A hint, to behave in front of the other NPCs?

“Are we ready then?” Darin asked, choosing to ignore her slip. Several of the elders nodded in response.

“Follow me, I will lead you to the center where you must stand. The rest shall be explained once we begin.” Blood Claw instructed. When he nodded in agreement, she walked over and pushed open the massive stone doors. Darin followed close behind her, and saw the light stream in as the doors swung wide. As she stepped down, into the room, he got his first clear view of the council chamber. Darin froze mid-stride, as his beak fell open. Holy shit...

- - - - -

Personal side note: Today, counting the intro(should it be prologue?), makes 30 days of a chapter a day. Easy? Hell no. Rewarding? Hell yea! I wonder if I can stretch this to 45 days or even 60? No promises, but man it feels good to be productive and appreciated. Ahem. Please pay no further attention to the man behind the curtain, he’s doing a happy dance.