The Dragon Knight Order (7 page)

“Yes Master. Come on Adria, let’s go,” I said pulling her by the arm to walk along side me. She didn't speak until we had left the Dragon hold.

“I don't like him. He might be a dragon but he thinks too lowly of humans.”

“He is not always like that. He will eventually grow on you. I know because I felt the same. After the first three weeks of seeing him every day, he became more cheerful and even encouraged me to try different spells and other stuff. He sometimes acts like a friend rather than a teacher. Besides, I had just left the hospital. How would you feel if your student got into a fight right after leaving the hospital? And let’s not forget he has trained me well enough so I could beat Eric and Lester on my own,” I said smiling at her.

“Ha! As if that is an accomplishment… I can beat them too you know and I am not even one of the ‘legendary’ Dragon Knights. You have to hear what our classmates think of you,” she said laughing. It was nice to see that smile I was so familiar with.

“And what do they say about me?” I asked curiously.

“Are you kidding me, as if you don’t know? The first Dragon Knight in twenty-five years and he is in our class. ‘He is so cool!’ ‘He is so strong.’ I wonder if they would find you so wonderful if they knew all your bad qualities like I do?” she said nudging me with her shoulder.

We were silent for a bit. Then a dark thought made its way into my mind.

“So tell me Adria,” I said seriously, “In two months you have managed to only speak to me when you absolutely had to. Some would consider that as a sign of hatred towards me. Why have all of my friends avoided me? More importantly why have you, my best friend, avoided me?”

She stopped and grabbed my arm. “How can you even think that? I have known you since we were kids and you would think that I didn't want to see you? It's not just me, Max, Jack, Maria, and Evelyn, we have wanted to talk to you but with all the rules of how we are supposed to act in front a Dragon Knight, we assumed that if you wish to talk to us, you would make an effort. But after the first week went by, we figured you either couldn't talk to us because of your other classes or you were told not to by the dragon.”

“Well I don't have any other classes aside from my training with Master, battlemage training and now healing training and Master didn't say anything about my friends, I just didn't have much time. I guess it is both of our faults.”  Remembering the long guide book of regulations and behaviors that were to be followed when a Knight was present and how a Knight should answer, it all made sense. ”I am sorry that I didn’t find a moment to talk to you, I promise it won’t happen again.”

“You bet it won’t happen again because I will not let it,” she said behind a small grin hidden by her hair, she squeezed my arm.

“I won’t let it happen either.” I said, glancing at her.

Again more silence as we started walking. “You knew who Master was when he first walked out of my shadow?” It wasn’t really a question as I just wanted confirmation.

“Well… I wasn’t 100% sure but aside from the Chairman, I don’t think there is anyone who could have done that except a dragon.”

“You have guts to interrupt, ignore and question a dragon especially that one. I have been with him for two months and he has shown me perhaps a fraction of his powers.”

“You sound like you admire him.”

I thought about it. Did I admire Master Shadow or was I simply in awe of his powers which was really the same thing.

“I guess I do admire him.”

Another long pause, “So looks like we will be seeing each other a lot more these next few weeks with us training together and all that?”

“Yeah I think so. It’s going to be fun, like the good old days when we were small,” I said smiling.

“Yeah.” Then she mumbled something I could barely hear, “Except we aren’t small anymore.” And then she looked down letting most of her hair cover her face.

Before I could ask her what she meant, we had reached the girls dorm, which was naturally off limits to the male students. This rule in particular is reinforced by a magic spell placed by the first chairman of the academy centuries ago. A lot of legends have risen of students dying from trying to break into the dorms, but those are just legends used to keep male students away. Master Shadow said so himself. ”It is just a rumor used to keep students away. All that spell will do is give you a nasty zap or frost bite if you try to force your way into it without the appropriate defense spells.” And since I wasn’t in any rush to be zapped or freeze a body part, I stopped a good 50 meters from the main entrance. 

“Well, this is where I say goodbye,” I said. “I hope you rest well.”

“Yeah, I hope you do too.” And with that she left and so did I.

Fated meeting

As I was heading back to the Sky Dome, I decide to take a longer route and wait for night to fall. I had wanted to see the stars for a long time but never had gotten the chance to do so. I was always too tired at the end of the day and after today’s events had it not been for those magic healers that gave me a bit of their power, I would have been sleeping long ago.

The night was still. When I looked up to the sky and my eyes adjusted to the darkness and it began to glitter to life. Thousands of bright spots shined, some were blue, others red and a few yellow and white. Had it been really been that long ago that I last looked at them? The stars seemed to be so much more alive than before, so full of color. It was like an ocean, an ocean of stars. It then occurred to me, my eyesight should have also improved after the becoming a Dragon Knight, everything else had so why not my eyesight?

It was then I started to recall all that had happened in such a short period of time. Two months ago I was an orphan, living in an orphanage with my friends and the people I had known for all of my life. Coming to the academy had always been a goal for all of us at the orphanage, to escape the life of a simple peasant; here we could study to become anything, mages, battlemages, scribes, lawbringers and other important things. But I got the ‘distinct’ honor of becoming a Dragon Knight. Meant to serve all of humanity and protect it from its enemies
and
itself if need be. It wasn’t what I wanted especially when it had stripped me of all my friends, even Adria, my most precious friend.

My thoughts were disturbed by a voice suddenly coming from behind me. “Beautiful isn't it?” said the voice behind me.

I turn to see a woman standing behind me. I should have sensed her approaching, how did she get so close to me? Was I so involved in my thoughts; that I lost all perception of my surroundings or maybe she was an exceptionally powerful magician, powerful enough to hide her presence from a Dragon Knight with a darkness attribute in the middle of the night?

 “Yeah, a truly beautiful night. I have never seen so many stars before,” I said trying to sound friendly. 

“Seems more alive today then it normally does, doesn't it?” asked the woman.

“Funny that you should say that, I was just thinking the same thing,” I said wondering who she was.

“Today is the celebration of the birth of the Dragon Knight Order. It is said that when dragons die they become stars in the night sky and they shine especially bright in days of importance to the dragon race.”

“Really? I wasn’t aware of that.” Odd that master wouldn’t share the anniversary of the Order with me, I thought to myself. 

“A Knight that is not aware of the anniversary of the Dragon Knight Order?” she asked raising an eyebrow.

“I kind of skipped over the first parts of Dragon Knight School. Missed all the history classes,” I said jokingly.

She laughed. It was a weird magical laugh. It was perfect; beautiful, and glorious. The world seemed to react to the laughing and the colors of everything seemed more vivid. And then when she stopped, the world became grey. I was perplexed by what kind of magic she would have possibly used to cause such an effect.

“A humorous Knight, that is a very rare trait in Knights today.”

“I have been told the same thing quite a few times,” I said. Whoever she was, I liked her. She seemed fun.

“And why have you neglected your studies Knight?” she asked noticing my release of tension from her presence.

“I haven’t neglected them, I have just had very little time to study the ways and history of the Dragon Knights. It was decided that I should first learn the combat aspect, as I might need it to defend myself sooner rather than later,” I responded feeling a strange trust towards this woman. It was as if I knew her and this feeling became stronger every second I was in her presence.

“And how do you feel about that?” she asked with her bronze eyes staring me down.

“Well, at first it was all very confusing and frustrating, but then it got easier to understand and I got used to the rhythm of the training. But I still would have preferred to learn it the traditional way.”

“I meant how do you feel about having to fight?” she asked in a very serious tone.

“The Order exists to protect sentient beings. The most obvious of which are dragons and humans, might the threat be Irkanian or from within the species. If fighting is the only way to solve a problem, then so be it. But if negotiations and mediating are still options I would rather try to reach a peaceful agreement.”

“You will make a fine Paladin one day and on that day, you will also make Shadow the proudest dragon ever to have lived. But remember young Knight you have a duty to all living things regardless of their intentions; you must try to safeguard all life. It is sadly something most Knights have forgotten.”

“What do you mean with becoming a Dragon Pal-…”

“I better leave. It has been a pleasure Alex, you are far more interesting then I had been told. We will be meeting again soon,” she said cutting me off.

 “How do you know my n…”

She had suddenly vanished into thin air. I used a variety of methods to track people that Master had shown me but they all failed to detect the woman. Whoever she was, she was now gone. The impression she left on me however, was permanent. It was odd how I felt comfortable enough to answer the questions of a woman I had never met before but I didn’t think any harm could come from it. One thing is for certain though; she was very powerful and filled me with nostalgia.

 I took one last deep breath of the night air and headed to the Dragon Hold, thinking about my strange meeting with the woman and my conversation with Adria. Being a Knight was turning out to be far more troublesome then I had imagined.

Training

Master had not been kidding when he said I had to forget about rest. He pounded me constantly, ordering me to try out different spells and each one was more complex and difficult than the one before it. If by the end of the day I wasn't tired beyond belief, I knew tomorrow awaited a new set of trials I had to pass that would be harder than the ones of the previous day. But it wasn't that bad as I had finally gotten the chance to eat a normal lunch with my friends in the mess hall. I saw Adria all day long and Max and Axcel would join from time to time in our training. The speed with which I was gaining strength was astonishing; Master said it was due to pushing my limits, every time I was left nearly empty of magical power I was able to store more in me. It was a dangerous way of training but results were spectacular. As I got stronger, so did Adria and our teamwork improved to the point where it had become flawless.

It was the week before the new Knights were supposed to arrive. Master let us have a day off because he wanted to teach us a new and more powerful spell that would consume all of our magical powers unless we were fully rested.

“I don't expect you to master this spell in one week or in a whole year for that matter, but when you do master it, you will be on the same level in terms of power as a general in the Imperial army. Just keep in mind this spell carries a heavy burden on the wielder, for you Adria, it will feel like someone is draining your magical powers from you at an alarming rate. Alex, you carry the most risk even if you are proficient with the basic elements of magic, as your strongest and by far most used magical attribute, has become darkness. That means that you always feel a drain when using it. When you use this spell, it will feel as if a giant boulder was placed on your shoulders to hold and a drain you of energy equal to when you attempted to form 3 darkness Vorms during training. It is not a spell to be used outside of special circumstances or extreme combat situations. Eventually you will have enough stamina to use it in conjunction with various spells or simply sustain it over a long period of time.”

He continued, “Brunas is one of the great five spells created by the first chairman.”Brunas' is one of the few spells that needs to be said in order to activate it. You can't use your mind to activate it no matter how much you practice because of the extreme level of complexity involved in forming it. It is also one of the few spells in which you can actually see the magic forming into the armor that is Brunas. When active, it will act as an exoskeleton. You will, for all intended purposes, become a superhuman being able to take direct attacks that would normally kill you, raise your spell power and make you as strong as a stonewalker. It’s hard to explain in words but it will make you very hard to harm. It would be easier to show you its effects but since only three people in the Academy can use it, you will have to learn from observing each other. Remember, at first you will feel terribly tired during and after using Brunas, but after you have gained more experience with it you will be able to use it for longer and handle the energy drain it places on you. Oh and just so you know, if you manage to activate it for more than 10 seconds on your first try, I will be deeply impressed.”

I could hardly sleep that night. My body was completely shattered. Brunas was every bit as destructive as Master had said. For thirteen seconds I was on par with a dragon in terms of raw power. Then the power left me and with that, I crumbled to the floor. Adria suffered the same effect but slightly less since she was only able to last ten seconds with Brunas active. Master had predicted correctly that it was close to impossible to hold the spell for long periods of time on the first try. Regardless of that, Master tested my Brunas to great lengths, even going as far as bathing me in his black flames and striking me with his tail.

When I wasn't training, Master was teaching me how to be a senior Dragon Rider. During one of his classes I learned that the name Dragon Knight was the name given to all members of the Order. Dragon Dealer is the lowest rank and Dragon Paladin was the highest given only to the very best. For the most part, all I learned was what my role would be in their training and what I was supposed to teach them. I wasn't sure what to expect from the two girls. I didn't have a high opinion of the Noble girl but the commoner was a different story. She was like me, an orphan. Her parents had died fighting in the border with the Irkanians, her mother was a well-known mage in the frontlines and the father was also a fairly respected healer. As for the Noble, her parents came from the House of Halla, also known as the Ice Dragon Knights. They were the founding members of Halla, the northern academy, with which they share the name and to this day serves as the chairman and directors of that academy. If I get lucky she will be like Axcel and at the worst like Eric.