Short, clipped footsteps approached me while my eyes adjusted to the light.
A man in a crisp black suit stood five feet from me and spoke harshly," Name?"
Still struggling to catch my bearings, I felt an electric current rip through me as I yelped in pain while the man threatened," Speak, or it will happen again."
I was panting from the pain, and while stunned, I whispered," Xyverinos."
He questioned me," Age?"
I was barely aware of his questions as he shocked me again. Yelping in pain from the second shock, I whispered," Four, almost five in three months."
He nodded before he asked," What is your species?"
Breathing heavily and having no desire to get shocked again, I answered," Angelic Wyvern."
Fear took hold of me as I asked one of my questions," What are you going to do to me?"
His eyes hardened while he pressed a remote, and the chain around my neck tightened as I choked on it. He growled," We ask the questions, and you obey us, slave!"
Now gasping from the lack of oxygen, he pressed the button, and the collar untightened as he ordered," Now tell me, what are all your abilities?"
While it sounded like a question, I knew it was a command answering immediately," Breathe fire, read emotions, predict the next move in battle. Release a slight amount of light to illuminate my surroundings. Sharpen my wing feathers along with flinging them. The last one I can read minds."
He froze as he thought,' Being able to read minds would give us a huge advantage. I will have to Deniard as he is the leader of the collarless.'
Keeping a scared face, not to say I wasn't afraid, I kept this information later. The man smirked," Well, Xyverinos, you will be precious to us. I must ask this: Is that all the powers your kind has?"
Shaking my head, I spoke nervously," I don't know. Most likely not."
He sighed as he spoke, most likely to himself," Now, this is the fun part."
He called out some measurements as a whirring sound slightly lower-pitched than their flying objects came from above me. A second later, severe pain went through my neck and legs. I yelped in pain as I felt spikes puncture my legs and neck. Thankfully, I was still resting on the ground; otherwise, I likely would have collapsed.
A few moments passed as the man spoke," Good, they fit perfectly; sadly, we will have to replace them in a few years. Now, for directions, listen carefully. The moment the door opens, I want you to walk straight till you see a blue arrow that points to the right. Go straight again with another blue arrow that points left. Follow that arrow until you reach a large stadium where you will meet the others. Punishments are decided by the collarless. Though with your injuries, you got punished enough. Another thing about the collars is that you go in the wrong direction, attack someone, or try to use your abilities, and you will be shocked. Oh yes, that was my last question. What is a Dragon Hunter?"
I responded cryptically in a calm, soft voice," A dragon hunter of what I know is a creation made by the opposite wyvern. They are the world's best hunters."
He didn't even realize I was cryptic as he nodded," Alright, good. Thank you, pet."
Shivering as he left, I thought, terrified of the short journey I would have to go through,' So this is W.D.E.D.'
Shaking my head as the chains unattached from me as I lay on the ground, I heard a different whirling sound, and a large exit door slowly opened. While I looked through the long hallway, blue lights lit the hallway. Slowly standing up, I cried in pain and noticed bandages around the injuries I took from Unla. I could feel the barbed points from the collar and clasps on my ankles, dig into the muscles. Tears streamed down my face as I slowly walked through the hallway. I could feel my wounds opening, meaning it hadn't been long since my one-sided fight. The first arrow appeared in front of me, turning in that direction. My vision was going hazy from the pain and stumbling from the amount of pain I was experiencing. I forced myself to the next arrow. This one took far longer, as the pain was far worse on this last one. Turning on the final turn, I saw the distant glow of light far in the distance. Or it felt far to me. Sounds of liquid hitting the ground underneath me sounded as I realized it was my blood.
Now barely conscious, I made it to the light. Blinded by the bright light, I shut my eyes, and with that, I collapsed on the ground, shivering in pain and blood loss and unable to move now from the mixture of straining my recent injuries and the collars that were damaging the muscles in my ankles. I could only hope they wouldn't harm me while lying on the ground in pain.
A loud voice came from directly above me," Good, the last of this week's newbies made it: one wind dragon, two lightning wyverns, one earth dragon, two fire dragons, one fire wyvern, and a young...wind wyvern?"
Weakly correcting him," Actually, I am an Angelic Wyvern." I could sense his emotions: shock, fear, and a bit of happiness.
The same loud voice corrected himself," An Angelic Wyvern. I must ask, why are you so injured?"
Opening my electric blue eyes weakly, I responded, looking at a gigantic earth wyvern," Do you want the short explanation of long."
The earth wyvern laughed," Short."
Now breathing heavily, I responded," I fought a Dragon Hunter."
Looking around the room, I noted that the entire population of dragons and wyverns over ten were in shock. A fire dragoness hissed," How are you alive?!"
Cowering under the terrifying glare of the adult fire dragoness, I whispered, still on my spot on the ground," It let me go."
The fire dragoness snarled in pure fury, lunging at me. Most likely to kill me.
The giant earth wyvern barked an order," Yrvae enough. Get the other collarless here."
Yrvae spun around with a snarl and left with flames from her nostrils.
I was forcing myself to stand as I shakily stood. The giant earth wyvern watched me as he looked at me," Now that you are up, what is your Name?"
Now, with labored breathing, I answered," Xyverinos."
He grinned," Well, nice to meet you, Xyverinos. Welcome to W.D.E.D, where we educate you about being pets. My Name is Deniard. I am your superior, teacher, and maybe one day a friend."
My eyes widened as I looked at Deniard's neck. He had no collar around it. Sure, there were scars here and there, but they seemed to have healed for the most part. Glancing back towards the fire dragoness, Yrvae didn't have a collar.
My mind was moving a million miles per second,' They don't have collars. Do they have a hierarchy here? I can guess that to become a collarless dragon or wyvern, in my case, you have to be friendly to humans. That is not that hard for me. I do wonder if Sasha and Thomas are okay.'
I heard a laugh above me," What did you think about, little one?"
My eye narrowed at being called a little one as he laughed loudly," You have some fire in you."
He jumped into the air and landed on another high-up spot. Limping forward, I felt the emotions in the room. Fear, confusion, excitement, and respect were all present. Scanning the room, I noted that up with Deniard, Yrvae, a lightning wyverness, a wind dragon, a water dragoness, and a fire wyvern.
Peeking into Yrvae's mind, I was unsurprised,' What does our dear leader want to do with the Angelic Wyvern? If we do not break him before he turns eight, well, he could defeat all of us. I wonder what my brother is thinking.'
Her mind shifted to the fire wyvern as I hid my surprise barely,' Who knew a wyvern and a dragon could be siblings.'
Still following her thoughts, what I heard next shocked me,' I can't imagine my old friend's son is still alive. To survive a dragon hunter at this age, I know you are listening to this, Xyverinos. I know how curious you are about the world and why we Collarless dragons and wyverns think it's wise to listen to humans. We do this so we do not get threatened. Well, except for the moron over here. Sadly, none of us here are strong enough to defeat him. He is an earth wyvern of equipollence. Deniard is the only one who likes to be submissive to humans. I will try to help you with flame manipulation as your mother trained me with my flames.'
Narrowing my eyes at Deniard, I knew I couldn't do anything to him for a long time.
Deniard announced," I would like Aldrentoa of wind." My eyes widened as I recognized her; she was like another sibling to me. When Innurth and Allit were busy, she would take care of me. Snapping out of my thoughts. I heard him continue," Rundi of earth and Oaphae of fire have all decided to try their luck to join the rank of the collarless."
Flicking my tail, I breathed slowly and lightly as Deniard asked," Aldrentoa, tell me, how do you view humans as our masters?"
Aldrentoa replied smoothly," I view them as doing the right thing."
Deniard nodded," Alright, next question. How would you punish someone?"
Aldrentoa thought for a moment," As cruel as necessary. If one were to try to escape, the punishment would be the most severe."
Deniard replied," You didn't answer the question, but I like where your head is."
He rose his wing and aimed his sharp talon, and faster than I anticipated, and in an instant, three earthen spikes shot from the ground, hitting the chains on the ankles and the collar. Each of them shattered in an instant. He immediately did the same for Rundi and was rejected. The same happened with the fire dragoness Oaphae, who had a slightly more aggressive reaction and lunged at Deniard.
A strange instinct took over as I grabbed his mind and hissed into her mind,' I wouldn't do that if I were you; I could read his mind. Deniard was planning to shatter your bones. I know how much it hurts; as I am sure you know, I have broken bones from a Dragon Hunter. So think carefully.'
Before Oaphae got into range, she stopped and took a shuddering breath as Deniard smirked," Very wise not to attack me, Oaphae. For stopping yourself, I will allow you to keep your rank, but you will not be allowed to try to be collarless for two rounds."
Oaphae shivered and bowed," Thank you."
She turned away and walked back into the crowd towards me, stopping next to me," Thank you for stopping me."
Smiling weakly, I whispered," You welcome. I was about to jump in but could hardly walk with my injuries."
She nodded and smiled," You have my full respect. Be careful of the collarless, though."
Shaking my head, I winced as I moved my neck, causing the spikes to tear some neck muscles," I already know one of the collarless from back then. An old friend of mine, if she is the same."
With the excitement over the collarless choosing ceremony. The rest of the dragons and wyverns separate from the assembly. Turning around, I limped towards a corner and laid down slowly, hissing with minor pain.
A kind voice came from above me," Hello, Xyv."
Looking up at the face of an old friend, I lightly smiled," Aldrentoa. It's been some time. I don't know whether to congratulate or blast you with my flames. Probably before I could even attack you, the collar would activate and electrocute me. I do not need that right now. I am in enough pain as it is."
She nodded and sat beside me," You are as soft-spoken as ever, and yeah, it has been a while, and you're right about the collar. I assume you stopped Oaphae from attacking."
Looking towards Deniard, approaching us, I replied," Yeah."
Deniard looked at Aldrentoa," Congratulations, Aldrentoa. Do you know Xyverinos?"
Aldrentoa nodded," I do, yes; I cared for him when his brother Innurth and sister Allit were busy with missions when he was a year or two old."
Deniard laughed," I see, so was he a troublemaker?"
Aldrentoa shook her head," Actually, no, he was very mellow and still is. If he raises his voice, you know you are kinda screwed."
Growling softly, I hissed," I am right here."
Deniard looked at me amusedly," So, little one, according to our masters, you can read minds. Is this true?"
Without a word, I nodded as Yrvae, who had walked over, smirked," I knew his mother, and yes, it is true."
Deniard growled," Remember, we have that meeting in a little bit, Yrvae."
Yrvae shrugged as I noted they had the same auras of power as my brother and Lady Argenta.
A large door opened as a human, maybe in his low thirties, walked over to me and spoke flatly," Hello, Deniard, Yrvae, and Aldentoa. If you do not mind, I will take our little hatchling here as his mentor."
Shivering under his gaze, Aldentoa looked at the man," Watch out for his injuries." The man nodded, reached around his back, and held a strange leather set of bands as he bent over, slowly moving towards me as I stifled a hiss; he undid straps while wrestling it over my head. Hearing several clicks, I felt one of the straps on the other side of my horns. Where my horns faced my back, other pieces were just behind my eyes, in front of them. The last part was in front of my nostrils.
He ordered," Get up." He also grabbed a long rope attached to what he had put over my jaw and tugged it lightly.
Wincing, I slowly got up and followed him. He led me through a series of halls but kept slow before opening a metal door and sposaidThis is your cell. I will imprint you with your number, but for now, rest."
He left as I closed my eyes on the ground, knowing I needed to get used to it. Falling asleep quickly, I didn't wake up until the.