Callum, Wenrys, and Orin sat quietly in wooden chairs outside of Orin's home as they watched the sunset, each wondering what was to come.
Callum watched as the sun finally set below the horizon, briefly leaving a burnt orange streak where the sky met the land out in the distance, and he knew this would be a sunset he would remember for the rest of his life. He stood slowly, tapped his sword hanging on his hip, then tightened the sling holding his injured left arm. Orin and Wenrys stood as well. They all looked at each other, then Orin hugged each of them and stepped off of the porch towards the river. "It's time boys." He said as they both followed him, one on each side.
As the walked through the village, it seemed oddly quiet and as they reached the center of town their paths crossed with Firric who was leading Raela and Firrol in a similar fashion. As they met, Orin and Firric grabbed each other by the forearm in a customary greeting, when they did Callum stood face to face with Raela, who flashed him a sweet smile before turning and nodding encouragingly to Wenrys. Then a silent nod between Callum and Firrol that indicated all animosity was on hold for the moment. They all turned and continued their walk to the river.
As they neared the edge of town they could see the rest of the village waiting in lines on either side of their path. They spoke words of encouragement and offered hugs and smiles to the teenagers. Halia was the last to greet them as she hugged all four. She could be seen whispering in the ears of each of the teens, and when it was finally Callum's turn she said softly, "You were born for this boy. Your parents would be proud."
Finally, with the rest of the village behind them, they could see the area by the river where the ceremony was to take place. A large circle of wooden tables and chairs surrounded a blazing fire in the center. Near the fire was a massive and intricate archway that appeared to be made out of the river rock found nearby. Callum wondered how such a thing could be made in just a few short hours.
They arrived at the center and stood before the archway as the other villagers found seats in the circle. To either side of the the archway were the massive dragons, guarding the two eggs that sat upon a decorative cushion on a stone pedestal.
Brenna and Varyn stood before them smiling softly, their faces illuminated by the flickering light of the fire. Brenna then spoke, her voice amplified like before. "Who are the souls that find themselves worthy of participating in our most sacred of ceremonies, The Hatching?"
Orin put both hands out gesturing the two boys forward. "I present Wenrys son of Orin, and Callum son of Gwain. May you find them both worthy."
Firric gestured likewise and said, " I present to you, Firrol son of Firric, and Raela daughter of Firric, may you find them both worthy."
Brenna smiled and gestured towards four elaborately carved stone chairs and they all took their seats.
"As always, we will begin by retelling the story of the origins of the Riders, Varyn, will you do the honors?"
"This is my second favorite part." Varyn whispered playfully as he walked past Callum before enhancing his voice the same as Brenna.
____ ____
"One thousand years ago, while our land was still young, there lived a woman and her twin sons. They resided in a small village that is now our largest city of Starcia and lived a relatively happy life until her husband, the boys father, was killed while out on a hunt. The woman was devastated, she could no longer eat or sleep, it took everything she had to wake every day and take care of the boys.
A day came when the boys were sixteen, a mysterious woman had arrived in the village, and whispers began spreading that the woman practiced blood magic and could speak to the dead. Overwhelmed with hope to speak to her dead husband and against the advice of the other villagers, the mother approached the woman and asked to speak to him just one more time. The blood witch agreed but there would be a cost, she required the blood of the two sons to complete the ritual. The mother reluctantly agreed. That night in the darkness of the mother's hut, the witch began the ritual. She enchanted strange words around a fire and sliced the forearm of each of the young men, mixing their blood in a chalice before finally raising it to her lips and filling her mouth with the liquid. The mother and her sons soon saw menacing shadows dancing throughout the hut, the witch was slowly dribbling blood into the fire, her eyes rolling into her skull. With each drop the shadows became darker and began to take terrifying shape, but before the last drop could fall into the fire the men of the village burst into the hut, intending to stop the dreadful curse that was being birthed. In a flash the shadows enveloped the witch and she vanished from sight.
The woman, realizing her mistake, pleaded with the village leaders to spare their lives, if not hers, then at least her sons, for they had done no wrong. But it was too late, not knowing what kind of evil magic had been worked, the leaders cast the three out of the village, never to return.
They wondered aimlessly for days hoping to find a place they could call home. Then one cold night the witch appeared before them again, cloaked in her shadow beasts. She told the mother that her debt was not complete and she needed the blood of the sons to complete her ritual, but this time the mother refused. She fled with her sons in the night but the witch sent the shadow beasts after them. They were slowly losing hope when one of the sons spotted what looked like a cave entrance. They made a desperate rush to the opening and for a moment they thought they would make it, until a shadow beast caught up to the mother. She fell to the ground while being savagely ripped at by the beasts. She told the boys to leave her but they refused, they ran towards the shadows swinging their torches wildly and to their shock, the shadows retreated.
They pulled their mother's body through the cave while she clung desperately to life. Finally, they saw a silver light and followed it into a large, dome shaped cavern, and in the center was a strange tree that seemed to be a part of the cavern itself. They boys laid their mother against the base of the tree, and with her last breaths she sang to them a song that contained all of her hopes and her fears. Her last gift to her children, and as she sang the tree reacted and hummed with a silver light all throughout. As she finished her song, her life had expired but her final gift remained. On three of the branches of the tree appeared the first dragon eggs. One bright blue, like the sky of a new day and shimmering like a sapphire. One black and rigid, not unlike the tunnels leading to the chamber that they were in. The final egg was dark red, shockingly similar to the blood that covered their mother.
The blue egg hatched to the younger of the boys, Astram, the black one to the older, Lukias. The red egg remaining on the tree.
The shadow beasts still lurked outside of the cave awaiting the boys inevitable exit, but they had changed. The mother's blood had given them physical form. They were now winged serpents, an ironic, bastardized beast that seemed to be born as a hellish counter to the noble and glorious dragons that were inside of the cave, the were the Drakal.
But the boys didn't leave, somehow the tree was sustaining the four of them. For months they waited in the caves while their dragons grew and finally when they were mature enough, they made their way out of the cave to the lurking drakal. A fearsome battle ensued, but finally the drakal were driven to retreat. Astram and Lukias returned to the tree where they had buried their mother, to say their goodbyes. They retrieved the third egg and headed out into the world in search of a person that may be worthy enough for the egg to hatch.
Eventually that person was found and the dragon that arose was the first female of her species and the mother of all dragons. The name of the rider and the dragon has been lost to history but we do know that the three riders and their dragons eventually settled on Scaleforge island, founded the order, and served as the first three elders. There, together they created the traditions that we follow still to this day."
___ ____
As Varyn concluded his story silence fell upon the village as each person present contemplated the events that happened all those centuries ago and how they shaped the world that they live in.
Callum had heard the story before but this time a few details stuck out to him. The two boys, the cave with the strange tree in the center. He had seen them all in his dream, but how, he wondered.
As his mind wondered, Brenna finally broke the silence.
"It is time, rise and join me under the arch, the hatching will commence."