"You Saggeesians can never know how it feels to lose a loved one because…you Saggeesians know no love!" Aurora's voice kept echoing in Reis' head.
Suddenly, Reis found himself floating in empty space.
"Reis Dragonhaart, this is just the beginning of the trials you are about to face but remember, you must never lose heart for it will be by your strength that Ryugaeia will be 'dragon earth' again!" the omniscient voice said.
"Who are you? How can I find you?" Reis asked.
"You will find me…soon, very soon. You and I will be one and the path to your true destiny will open" the omniscient voice said.
Almost immediately, a symbol of light appeared above Reis. Reis shielded his eyes for the symbol was really bright. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and Reis opened his eyes.
"Reis! Reis! Are you okay?" Shin looked down at Reis.
"Did something happen?" Reis asked with a yawn.
"You were screaming like crazy. Did you have a nightmare?" Shin asked.
"Well, part of it was a nightmare about yesterday but the other part was plain weird" Reis said.
"I think Master Jin needs to know about this" Shin suggested.
MINUTES LATER...
"And it told me not to lose heart for it will be by my strength that Ryugaeia will be dragon earth again" Reis narrated his dream to Master Jin and Kyla at the dining table.
"Isn't it just weird?" Shin said.
"I must agree with Shin on this one" Kyla said.
"Reis, from what you've just told us, I think the voice from your dreams is a dragon that is trying to reach you" Master Jin said.
"A dragon? Really?" Reis questioned.
"And the persistence of this dream shows that the dragon is very serious with its words. I don't know what it means by 'it is by your strength that Ryugaeia will be dragon earth again' but I can tell that you have a great destiny" Master Jin said.
"Hey, wait a minute, aren't we forgetting something important?" Kyla asked.
"Like what?!" Shin snapped at her.
"Like Reis' exams!" Kyla exclaimed.
"Oh no! I'm late!" Reis exclaimed as he ran to his room. He opened his wardrobe and took out his new satchel. He had packed all he needed for the exams the previous night. He checked to see if everything was intact, then he hanged his satchel on his shoulders and ran down the stairs.
"Reis, we'll escort you" Kyla said.
"Thanks a lot but I'm late so I think I'll be faster if I go alone" Reis said.
"Oh really? Do you even remember where HQ is?" Kyla asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Ha ha, I guess not" Reis laughed sheepishly.
"I thought so. Besides you're not that late. You've got about fifteen minutes left. Enough time to make it to HQ" Kyla said.
"What a time freak" Shin and Reis muttered under their breaths.
"Did you say something?!" Kyla glared at them.
Shin quickly hid behind Reis.
"N-no, I just said l-let's go" Reis lied.
"Well then, let's be off" Kyla laughed.
"H-He actually fooled Kyla?! Sheesh, Kyla sure has grown soft these past few days" Shin thought to himself.
"Shin, are you alright?" Reis asked.
"Seriously Reis, what other talents do you have?" Shin asked.
"What do you mean?" Reis asked as he walked out the door. "Goodbye Master Jin!" he waved.
"Goodbye Reis!" Master Jin waved back.
"Well you've done a lot of amazing things since we met you and now you actually have the ability to fool Kyla? You've got to teach me!" Shin whispered with a sinister smile.
"You want me to teach you how to lie?" Reis asked, a bit surprised by Shin's request.
"Well yeah!" Shin said with wicked pleasure.
"I can't teach you something like that" Reis said.
"Why not?!" Shin asked.
By then, they were halfway to the Ranger's HQ.
"What are you guys talking about?" Kyla asked inquisitively.
"Nothing that concerns you Kyla!" Shin said rudely.
Reis shook his hands to signal to Kyla not to be offended.
Kyla turned away.
"Hmm, I was just thinking of preparing Chicken Light Soup with Fufu this evening. It's a Novatian delicacy. What a shame, I guess we'll go with Tuo Zaafi instead" Kyla pretended to be regretful.
"Huh?! HUH?! AAAANNNNHHH?!!! FUFU?! Why didn't you say so earlier Kyla! Come on and join in our conversation" Shin's attitude suddenly changed.
"Got him! Shin's a sucker for fufu" Kyla whispered to Reis.
"Fufu? Tuo Zaafi? What weird names for food" Reis said.
(Shut up Reis! I'm trying to make you more Ghanaian!)
"Hey, did you guys just hear that?" Reis asked.
"AAAHHH!!! He can hear the author's thoughts as well!" Kyla and Shin screamed.
(Pretty cool huh? That is just by the way).
Soon, they reached the Rangers' HQ. There were guards all around the Temple. The captain of the guards approached them.
"Only Reis Dragonhaart can proceed from here" the captain said.
"How do you know my name?" Reis asked.
"There's no dragon ranger in this guild that does not know your name" the captain said.
"Jeez, how could you forget? You announced it to all the dragon rangers" Kyla said with a bored look on her face.
"The name is…Reis Dragonhaart!" Reis recalled his declaration.
"You're right, I remember" Reis said with a nervous laugh.
"Anyway, we'll wait for you Reis" Shin said.
"Good luck Reis. I know you'll pass" Kyla said.
"If you don't pass, then I've seen everything in this world" Shin joked.
Reis laughed and walked away with the captain. Kyla and Shin watched as Reis disappeared into the Temple.
"Shin, you'll wait here, right?" Kyla asked.
"Are you going somewhere?" Shin asked.
I'm going to borrow money from Master Jin to buy the ingredients for the food, it's been quite a while since we ate fufu and we've run out of supplies" Kyla said.
"Great! I wish I could escort you but someone has to be here when Reis comes out" Shin said.
"Okay, thanks for the thought though" Kyla said as she left.
"Hu-Huh? D-Did Kyla just thank me? Being around Reis sure is good luck" Shin said as he turned to face the temple.
"Reis, you must definitely pass" Shin said.
Reis meanwhile, was being led to an examination room. When they reached the door that led to the examination hall the captain opened the doors and led Reis inside.
"Take a seat" the captain instructed.
Reis took out his pen and other instruments. Then, he took his satchel outside.
"What are you doing?" the captain asked.
"Making sure I don't cheat" Reis answered.
"What a strange boy; he hasn't yet learned anything, yet he doesn't want to cheat, I like people like him" The captain thought silently.
"Wait here Reis, the Dragonlord himself decided to present you with your papers, he'll be here soon" the captain said.
Reis took a seat.
There was silence for a while.
"E-excuse me but I was just curious, how different is a guard from a dragon ranger?" Reis asked.
The captain smiled.
Not many dragon rangers seemed interested in his work like Reis was.
"It's not really different. Not many dragon rangers your age know this but the guards are another elite class of dragon rangers whose mission is to protect the Dragonlord as well as all dragon rangers" The captain said.
"Wow, you guys are like modern day Dragon Knights! I wonder if you knew my father" Reis asked sadly.
"Your father was a Dragon Knight? Who is he?" the captain asked.
"I don't know. My gramps told me my father died three months before my birth and my mother died at my birth, I don't even know their names" Reis said sadly.
"I don't remember anyone by the name of Dragonhaart but I think I can guess how you feel" the captain said.
"Do you have a son?" Reis asked.
"A daughter, she's your age but right now she's on a mission to one of the Novatian villages. The village has been overrun by treacherous bandits who strangely seem to have Dragon abilities" the captain said.
"I hope she comes back safe" Reis said.
"But you don't even know her, how can you hope for her well-being?" the captain asked.
"That's because it's my wish to see everyone happy. I hated seeing sad faces yesterday, that's why I want to become a dragon ranger. To make sure that everyone has smiles on their faces" Reis said.
Unknown to them both, the Dragonlord had been standing behind the door, listening to their conversation. He smiled when he heard Reis' ambition and stepped into the examination hall.
"I see you're quite taken in by our young Reis" the Dragonlord said.
"S-sorry sir, I-I mean my Lord" the captain said nervously.
"It's okay Captain Hiru, it's good to forget about work sometimes, anyway, Reis, if you're that ambitious, then prove your determination by passing this exam" the Dragonlord said with a sly smile.
"Hiru, step back, these questions are for Reis' eyes only, at least for now" the Dragonlord said.
Captain Hiru stepped away from Reis' desk.
"Here are your papers Reis. You haven't learnt anything yet and there is no one else here so there's no need to talk of cheating. You've only got forty minutes to answer these questions. Don't worry, they are quite few, you can see for yourself" the Dragonlord said.
Reis turned the papers. He counted five pages in total.
"Seventy five objective questions and five theory questions in forty minutes…that's…that's…" Reis looked at the papers in surprise.
"What?! Dragonlord sir, you can't be serious!" Captain Hiru exclaimed.
"It's…it's much less than I expected" Reis sighed.
"Oh?" the Dragonlord said in amusement.
"What is wrong with this boy, average students, even masters would have trouble beating the time!" Captain Hiru said in shock.
"Okay, it's thirty past nine right now, you'll stop at exactly ten-fifteen. Reis Dragonhaart, you are hereby ordered to start work!" the Dragonlord ordered.
Reis looked at the first question. It was about the elemental balance. Reis answered it easily. The second question was no problem too. It turned out that the first fifteen questions were about the elemental balance. The next fifteen questions were about the various ranger classes. Kyla had taught him about the dragon ranger classes the previous night and he could still recall her briefing the first time he arrived at the rangers' guild. He cleared those questions with little difficulty. Then suddenly at the thirty first question, the language of the questions changed radically. The questions were now in the Drakan language but Reis strangely enough could read the Drakan language just as easily as he could read the Saggeesian and Novatian languages. The next twenty questions were about the names of the dragons.
"Number 31, Fire dragon, its name is Dragnarok. 32, Psychic Dragon, Draco. 33, wind dragon, Ehum. 34, water dragon, Marina. 35, good dark dragon, Sum-Kebi. 36, Lightning dragon Saanyigre. 37, Earth Dragon, Terra. 38, a group of earth dragon are called Kusibe. 39, Light Dragon, Alpha" Reis murmured as he answered the questions.
"Hmm, it seems our young drake is doing better than I expected" the Dragonlord said.
"Dragonlord Sir, you are so considerate, giving the boy such easy questions" Captain Hiru said in admiration.
"Don't be deceived Hiru, he should have been stuck long ago" the Dragonlord said seriously.
"Just what questions did you give him?" Captain Hiru wondered.
"50, Ice Dragon, its name is Ayes" Reis murmured.
He looked at the next set of questions. The last twenty five questions were about the tragic legend. Reis' grandfather had told him all his life about the tragic legend. Reis answered those questions easily.
"Number 75, the dark dragon that waged war against the humans is called Armageddon" Reis sighed. "Phew, I finally cleared the objectives. Now, it's left with the theory. I've only got thirty five minutes left" Reis said as he turned the page.
To his utter shock, all the theory questions were about the tragic legend. In twenty minutes, Reis had answered four of the questions. He looked at the final question and was saddened by it.
"Who was to blame for the Great Extinction that occurred after the sealing of Armageddon (three lines)?" the question stated.
Reis looked at the question and began to feel guilty. It hurt him a lot but he didn't know why. Reis took his pen and began to write.
"As much as we want to blame Armageddon, he was not responsible for the Dragon Extinction, the Dragonhaart was. Only the Dragonhaart is to blame for the great extinction" Reis wrote, unaware that he had misspelled Dragonheart and instead written his name.
He had unconsciously accused himself of being responsible for the Dragon Extinction. Reis sighed sadly and arranged his papers. He knew he had to look through his work but he didn't want to see that question again. So it remained, Dragonhaart is to be blamed.
"I'm done" Reis said.
"You can't be serious!" Captain Hiru said doubtfully.
Reis handed his papers to the Dragonlord.
"Can I leave now?" Reis asked.
The Dragonlord nodded. Reis walked out of the room. The Dragonlord looked through his papers. Then he looked ahead.
"He really is done" the Dragonlord said grimly.
Reis walked through the corridors of the Temple and eventually reached the hall of the temple.
"I'm closer to the outside" Reis said as he came out of the Temple.
Shin was sitting outside drawing pictures in the sand.
"Shin, I'm done" Reis said as he approached Shin.
Shin stood up.
"You've finished already? I thought you'd use at least an hour and forty five minutes to complete your paper" Shin said.
"Why?" Reis asked.
"Isn't it obvious? That's the standard time for Dragon Ranger's to complete their papers" Shin explained.
"Really? That's weird because the Dragonlord only gave me forty minutes to complete my paper" Reis said.
"Then I guess the old guy was considerate and gave you less questions?" Shin asked.
"Yeah, the questions did seem kinda less. I only got seventy five objective questions and five theory questions" Reis said.
"WHAAAAT?!!!" Shin exclaimed in shock.
"Th-that can't be possible. But you answered them all right?" Shin asked.
"Yeah, all of 'em" Reis said.
"So they were easy right?" Shin asked.
"The first thirty were really easy. They were based on the elemental balance and Ranger classes. The rest…well…I pretty much guessed" Reis said with a nervous laugh.
"Let's go home, Master Jin must hear about this" Shin said and they left.
Reis followed him. They walked half of the way and saw Kyla in the grocery shop.
"Hey, that's Kyla! Come on Reis" Shin said as he pulled Reis into the shop.
Kyla had bought plantains, cassava, chicken, tomatoes and a lot of pepper.
"Great! You guys are here. I was beginning to wonder how I was going to carry all of this home by myself" Kyla said.
"You really were serious about the fufu" Shin said in surprise.
"So you see, you really would have regretted had you not changed your nasty attitude" Kyla said.
"Kyla, you're the best!" Shin complimented.
The things Kyla was holding dropped to the ground.
"D-Did Shin just compliment me? Being around Reis surely brings good luck" Kyla thought to herself.
Reis and Shin picked up the items which were in four baskets.
"Don't worry yourself with any load Kyla, that's what I'm here for" Shin said with a laugh.
"Being around Reis is good luck indeed" Kyla thought with certainty.
Soon they had arrived home. Kyla took the groceries to the kitchen. Master Jin arrived a few minutes later.
"You're back early Master Jin" Kyla said.
"Yes, I heard that Reis had completed his exam so I took permission from the Dragonlord to leave early. So, anyone want to eat lunch out today?" Master Jin asked.
"Sure! I'm in!" Shin said with joy.
"I'm in too" Kyla said.
"Reis?" they all asked in a chorus.
"Well, I've never eaten out before. Sure! I'm in too!" Reis said with a nervous laugh.
"Great!" Master Jin said with satisfaction.
"H-uh-um, Master Jin, there's someone I'd like to invite" Reis said nervously.
"Sure, just say the name and we'll invite him!" Master Jin said happily.
"It's Captain Hiru" Reis said.
"I see, so you're already friends with Hiru" Master Jin said happily.
"He's a really close friend of the family" Kyla whispered.
"Not many people understand Hiru. It's good to see that he has a new friend" Master Jin said with a happy smile.
So they walked back to the Rangers' HQ. Captain Hiru was standing guard as usual.
"You need to take a break Hiru" Master Jin suggested.
"I wish I could take a break but even if I did, I'd be lonely without my family" Captain Hiru said.
"Your daughter is still on that mission with your wife, Ethan and Effuien?" Master Jin asked.
There's not a day I don't worry for them" Captain Hiru said.
"You need to have fun. We came to invite you out to eat. It was Reis' idea though" Master Jin said.
"Thank you for remembering me Reis. Your concern earlier on was genuine. Wait here while I ask permission from the Dragonlord" Captain Hiru said.
Master Jin and the others waited patiently for Captain Hiru. Soon, he came out looking joyful.
"The Dragonlord agreed to give me the day off. He said I've done enough work for the day" Captain Hiru said as they began to walk away.
They walked halfway down the road and turned right. They kept walking straight till they reached a classy restaurant called 'Kamikaze Restaurant'. They walked into the restaurant and had a seat. A waitress came to them.
"Do you desire anything?" she asked.
"I'll have some coconut juice please!" Shin ordered first.
"I'll have some orange juice" Kyla ordered next.
"Pineapple juice please" Reis requested.
"I'll have some beer, the best you have" Master Jin ordered.
"Same as he" Captain Hiru said plainly as he pointed to Master Jin.
The waitress took their orders busily. She was gone in an instant and faster than she went, she returned with their orders.
"Whoa! You're really quick Miss…uh…" Reis tried to guess her name.
"My name is Diane" the waitress said as she handed them the menu.
Shin ordered for the Great Aponkye Kakra (Goat Light Soup) with fufu. Kyla ordered for Chicken sauce with Fried Rice and for Reis, he ordered for Kaiser Wolf meat, the Saggeesian delicacy. It took a while but the food was soon before them.
"What a brave meal you've ordered" Captain Hiru praised Reis.
"We were rather unfortunate to encounter a Saggeesian Kaiser wolf on our recent mission and I tell you, they are very unlike our Novatian Kaiser wolves. Reis defeated it single-handedly when even I couldn't" Master Jin said proudly.
"Whoa-ho! You must be really strong to manage such a feat without a dragon ability" Captain Hiru said.
Reis washed his hands. He broke off part of the Kaiser wolf meat and was about eat it when he noticed that Aurora, Darak and their Master had just walked into the restaurant. Aurora was looking at him disdainfully and he was beginning to get angry. Suddenly, he felt an uncontrollable urge to annoy Aurora and ate the meat like a hungry lion, tearing it wildly with his canines and ripping it with his fingers. Kyla, Master Jin and Captain Hiru watched him in surprise.
"T-take it easy Reis, no one's chasing you" Kyla said nervously.
Shin noticed Aurora's presence and smiled a mischievous smile.
"Hah-huh! I think I know why Reis is acting all crazy" Shin said with wicked pleasure.
In less than fifteen seconds, Reis had eaten every bit of the Kaiser Wolf meat, bones and all.
"Hmmph! Some people can be really uncivilized" Aurora said disdainfully.
Reis was hurt by her statement but he ignored her. Darak glared angrily at Reis too.
"If you have time to eat like a wild boar, shouldn't you be packing?! I'm sure by tomorrow, your results will be out with a big fail! I'd love to see the look on your face then!" Aurora said rudely, loud enough for Reis to hear.
Reis didn't respond.
Kyla was burning with rage. Reis noticed that Kyla wanted to say something very hurtful to Aurora so he stopped her.
"Don't worry Kyla, it's okay" he said calmly.
"Hey Kyla, are you going to eat that?" he asked with the intention of calming the infernal mood.
"No, I just lost my appetite" Kyla said as she folded her arms angrily.
Reis took Kyla's plate and placed it in front of him, she hadn't eaten much. Everyone was annoyed by Aurora's behaviour and Reis wanted them to forget about it so he came up with an idea.
"Hey you guys, want to see an eating technique I developed in Saggeese?" Reis asked.
"Sure!" everyone exclaimed.
"First, let's flip a coin. Heads say I'll win, tails say I'll lose" Reis said.
"I'll do it" Captain Hiru said as he removed a golden coin from his pocket.
He flipped it and caught it in his palms and opened his palms to reveal it.
"Tails, you're going to lose" Shin said confidently.
Reis sat down.
"Wanna bet?!" Reis challenged as he stomped the ground.
His foot bounced from the ground as if propelled by an invisible force and his knee hit the tip of the table-top hard. The table top rolled into the air like a flipped coin throwing the various foods from their plate. Reis concentrated and time seemed to slow down for him. He quickly swallowed all of Kyla's food, placed the table-top on its legs and arranged the various spilled foods in their plates in a pattern. Then he gradually slowed his movement to return time to normal. He then caught the various foods and shuffled them on the table. When time returned to normal, the table-top was spinning really fast much to the surprise of everyone and when it eventually stopped spinning, the food was lined up in front of everyone with the exception of Kyla's plate which was completely empty. The food before them formed the words "GOTCHA!"
"A-Amazing!" Shin exclaimed in shock.
The waiters and waitresses at the counter as well as everyone in the restaurant began to applaud him.
"See? You've just got to know how to come back with style" Reis said and the others laughed.
"Hmmph! Show off!" Aurora scoffed.
"H-He just downed all of Kyla's food in just one gulp! What an insanely weird talent!" Darak acknowledged.
Reis made a thumbs up and bowed.
"Thank you everybody" he said politely.
"Hmm, weird, the Novatian G has never lied before" Shin wondered.
The applause began to get to Reis' head and he laughed proudly.
"Heh heh heh! It was nothing EKKKHHH!!! COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!" Reis began to cough and wheeze uncontrollably.
"Heh heh! Told ya the Novatian G never lies!" Shin laughed wickedly.
"Reis! Drink some juice!" Kyla ordered worriedly.
Reis picked up his glass but it was empty.
"COUGH! Kyla…no juice!" Reis struggled to say.
Everyone else had finished their drinks.
"Waitress! Some water please!" Captain Hiru ordered.
"Jeez! What a reckless thing to do" Darak said as he struggled to stifle a laugh.
Aurora watched Reis. He seemed to be in a lot of pain.
"Serves him right" she thought to herself but now, Reis was clutching his chest.
Without thinking, she grabbed her glass of water and rushed to Reis' side.
"Here, drink this!" she ordered as she handed him the glass.
Reis gulped the water quickly.
"Hhhaaaahhh, thank goodness. Thank you Aurora, I owe you my life" Reis said as he regained his composure.
Aurora giggled.
"Next time, think twice before you pull a crazy stunt like that because next time…" Aurora suddenly stopped laughing and became serious, "…even if I'm there, I won't help you!" she said rudely and walked back to her table.
"Sheesh, how cold can you get?" Reis muttered under his breath.
"My point exactly" Shin agreed.
Reis and his new family had such a great time that they were quite oblivious to the passing time. It was already evening. As they sat enjoying themselves, a guard from the Rangers' HQ arrived and whispered something to Captain Hiru, them, he left. Captain Hiru looked serious.
"Reis, the Dragonlord has finished marking your papers. Tomorrow, your results will be announced at Dragon High. That's the school for Dragon Students" Captain Hiru informed them. Reis looked sad. Kyla noticed this.
"Don't tell me you think you've failed" Kyla said with concern.
"It's not that" Reis said.
"Then can you tell us what is bothering you?" Kyla asked.
"It's nothing much" Reis said.
Kyla sighed.
"You still feel guilty for the Great Extinction, don't you?" Shin asked seriously.
"Reis told us in Saggeese that he felt guilty for the Dragon Extinction but he did not know why" Shin said.
Kyla nodded.
"Well, that's true. The last question I answered asked who was to blame for the Dragon Extinction" Reis informed them.
"And you said it was Armageddon right? Everyone knows Armageddon was to be blamed" Captain Hiru said.
"No, I said it was the…the…don't tell me?!" Reis suddenly exclaimed.
"What?" Kyla and Shin asked.
"I wanted to write the Dragonheart is to be blamed but I spelled Dragonheart wrongly. Instead of h-e-a-r-t, I spelled it h-a-a-r-t, I wrote my name instead" Reis exclaimed.
"Th-that's bad!" Shin exclaimed in shock.
"What on Ryugaeia possessed you to accuse the Dragonheart of the Great Extinction?! Are you mad or did your grandfather tell you a different version of the tragic legend?!" Kyla yelled angrily.
"No, but that is just how I feel" Reis said.
By that time, it was 6:00pm in the evening and Captain Hiru took leave. Master Jin paid the bills and they left. It didn't take them long to reach the house.
"Shin, I'm sorry I can't keep my promise, it's late and I'm tired. But tomorrow, I'll make the fufu extra special" Kyla apologized.
"What are you apologizing for Kyla, I had a nice time and tonight's meal was the last thing on my mind. Take your time and rest easy" Shin said.
"Thanks Shin, goodnight guys" Kyla said as she walked upstairs.
"Goodnight Kyla" Reis, Shin and Master Jin answered in a chorus.
Soon, Reis and Shin were in bed.
"I told ya the Novatian G never lies, you lost!" Shin laughed.
"We-ell, you could call that losing, or you could call it cunning!" Reis said with a cunning smile.
"What do you mean?" Shin asked.
"I lost on purpose to create humour plus Aurora was kinda nice to me, so I call that a double win" Reis said with a laugh.
"You sly devil. So the Novatian G really did fail. Well, it's not like I believed in luck anyways" Shin said as he covered himself with his blanket.
"Goodnight Reis" Shin said.
Goodnight Shin" Reis responded.
He stared at the roof for a while and finally fell asleep.
The following morning came and Kyla was in the room banging silver pan lids. Reis and Shin fell from their beds.
"Sheesh you are so loud Kyla!" Shin yelled angrily.
"I've got to admit that was really annoying!" Reis yelled angrily.
"If you think I'm being annoying, look out the window!" Kyla defended herself.
Reis and Shin looked out the window. Dragon Rangers in full uniform were walking on the streets.
"See? They're all headed to Dragon High for the declaration of your results and you two lazy bums are still sleeping, go take your baths, and then get dressed. Reis you're wearing your Ranger uniform today, now hustle, before I get annoyed"
In less than a second, Reis had taken his bath, dressed in his ranger uniform and was standing in front of Kyla.
"I'm done" Reis said.
"Great! So now you're a speed freak as well" Kyla said.
"Kyla, can you leave now, Shin's done as well and he'll be entering the room any moment now" Reis said.
Kyla left the room.
No sooner was she down the stairs than she heard Shin's voice as he walked out of the bathroom.
"Great, he's psychic as well" Kyla said as though she wasn't surprised.
Shin entered the room and stared at Reis in his new uniform. It was a leather vest with a bronze breastplate. There was a sheath that fitted his sword attached to the back of his vest. The vest itself was sleeveless. It was light grey in colour. Reis' trousers on the other hand were dark grey in colour. It was also made of leather. There were two black belts made of leather that crossed Reis abdomen in an X pattern.
"You look great Reis" Shin said looking at Reis from head to foot.
Reis was wearing grey leather boots that matched his trousers.
"So how do you feel in your uniform?!" Shin asked.
"It's not yet complete, all it needs is…this" Reis said as he removed his father's sword from the wardrobe. He spun it around and placed it in the sheath at his back.
"Hey Reis, your dragon scar is showing" Shin informed Reis.
"I nearly forgot. I can't let anybody else see it" Reis said as he searched the wardrobe.
He removed the red bandana he had worn three days ago when he and Shin had annoyed Kyla in their outrageous outfits.
"Got it" he said as he tied the red bandana around his scar.
His scar was completely hidden by the bandana.
"It fits perfectly" Reis said.
"Are you guys ready?" Kyla's voice sounded from downstairs.
"We'll be down in a second" Shin said as he led Reis downstairs.
When Kyla saw Reis in his uniform, she couldn't believe her eyes.
"Wow Reis, you look great I could almost fall for you" Kyla said with a laugh.
"Thanks" Reis said rubbing the back of his head nervously.
Master Jin descended the stairs in his uniform and they ate breakfast.
After breakfast, they left for Dragon High. Dragon High was at the Eastern most point of the township so they walked quite a distance. After about thirty minutes of walking, they saw a tall white building in front of them. It had a huge field around it and it was fenced around by a wall. They could only see the inner field because they were far off.
"That's Dragon High" Kyla whispered to Reis.
"It's amazing!" Reis exclaimed in awe.
Soon they were inside the school compound. They followed the other Dragon Rangers into the school building and were soon in the Assembly Hall. After a minute of searching, Master Jin found them front row seats. They sat down quietly and waited for the Dragonlord. After thirty minutes of waiting, many Dragon guards entered the hall with the Dragonlord in their midst. The Dragonlord walked up to the stage and handed many papers to the Dragon Guards.
"These papers are going to be distributed to every Dragon Ranger but none of you must look at the words on it now" the Dragonlord said.
The Dragon Guards shared the papers among the Dragon Rangers. After they had finished distributing the papers, the Dragon Guards formed a perimeter around the stage.
"You are all aware of the event that took place yesterday. Reis Dragonhaart join me on stage" the Dragonlord said.
Reis walked nervously to the stage and climbed it.
"Young Reis Dragonhaart here wrote the promotional exam yesterday to decide whether he will become one of us or not and he…" the Dragonlord paused as he looked around for the Rangers' reaction.
They seemed indifferent except for Master Jin's team who seemed anxious.
"He passed with a percentage of one-hundred percent!" the Dragonlord declared.
"HE DID IT!" Kyla and Shin jumped from their seats in joy.
"You can't be serious! Unless the questions given him were for Drakes!" one ranger who still didn't like Reis yelled.
"Hmm…I was expecting this but if you think I was soft on Reis…you can all turn the papers you received" the Dragonlord said.
All the rangers turned the papers and looked at the questions. For a while there was no reaction but when they reached the thirty-first question, there were exclamations of shock.
"IT CAN'T BE! Thirty of these questions are in simple Novatian but the rest are in the Drakan language!" one ranger exclaimed in shock.
"D-Dragonlord! Don't tell me these questions were set to purposely fail Reis!" Master Jin exclaimed in shock and anger.
"Precisely" the Dragonlord said grimly.
"It isn't possible! These questions, even we, Dragon Masters can't answer all of them" Aurora and Darak's mistress exclaimed.
"Don't fool yourself Kira. These questions, even if you could understand them, not even the Dragon Knights could answer them all correctly" the Dragonlord said grimly.
"You can't be serious!" Aurora exclaimed.
"I've never been more serious young Aurora" the Dragonlord said seriously.
"The questions weren't even set by me. They were set by the dragons. It is still unclear why but Reis' presence has gotten them excited and without a doubt, I know you all agree that Reis deserves to become a dragon ranger" the Dragonlord said.
There was silence.
"Reis, raise your right hand and repeat after me" the Dragonlord said.
Reis placed his left hand on his chest and raised his right hand. The Dragonlord smiled slightly so that even Reis couldn't notice.
"As a Dragon Ranger,
I will be an enforcer of light
I will be a protector of dragons
And follow the teachings of the Dragon Knights.
I will protect the weak and free the oppressed
I will obey the Dragonlord
For I am a Dragon Ranger
And a Dragon Ranger forever"
Reis repeated the Dragon Ranger pledge after the Dragonlord.
"Now kneel Reis Dragonhaart!" the Dragonlord ordered.
Reis knelt on one knee. The Dragonlord conjured up a rainbow coloured flame.
"By the holiness of this aurora flame, before the God of the heart and man, by the power vested in me as Dragonlord, I name you Reis Dragonhaart, Dragon Ranger of Ryugaeia" the Dragonlord declared.
There was applause and Reis bowed his head in honour.
"Rise now Reis Dragonhaart, a new destiny awaits you" the Dragonlord said.
Reis stood up and looked at the crowd. Kyla, Shin and Master Jin were cheering for him. Reis raised his eyes.
"Dad I did it, I'm a Dragon Ranger like you" Reis said happily.
Reis' destiny has just began. Next time on Dragon Ranger, Daughter Of The Captain.