Three months later
Curled up in my blankets and pillows, I listened to the conversations around me, or the ones outside my cell, to be exact. During these past three months, I have made tremendous progress in the ranks. I was in the next batch to be tested to be collarless. My injury was much better; while I got some pain from the damage caused by Unla, I could now move easily. My bones have entirely recovered from being smashed into the ground. My theory about Demonic Wyvern's darkness seemed to be correct. Their shadows are my greatest weakness.
My mentor's voice came from the door tinged with amusement," Still in here, Xyverinos. All you do is lay in here."
Looking up, I chuckled," You're not wrong. I stay here, so I don't have any gazes on me, plus I am also somewhat comfortable. It also lets me practice a recent skill I learned from watching Yrvae. A bit harder for me, though, to do."
He sat by the door," What is this new skill?"
Shrugging, I answered," Being able to manifest orbs of light. Do you want to see?"
He shrugged and sighed," Sure, but after it's time for a test, so go to the dome after."
Closing my eyes, I concentrated for several seconds, willing orbs of light to appear in the dark cell. I opened my eyes to see two glowing spheres of light floating on either side of me while I panted," By no means is this easy for me to maintain."
My mentor shrugged," It's new. It takes time. Now go to the dome."
Muttering curses, I sighed, standing up from my semi-comfortable bedding before walking past my mentor and heading toward the dome. Walking into the room, I moved to my spot and calmly watched what unfolded. The week's newcomers were a sea dragon, an earth dragon, two fire dragoness, and one plasma dragoness.
Deniard smirked," Welcome to W.D.E.D. This week's newcomers are a sea dragon, an earth dragon, two fire dragonesses, and one plasma dragoness. I think this is the first time we have only had all dragons. As per tradition, whenever newbies come, we test for possible collarless. Oaphae of Fire, Rundi of Earth, Yterralth of lightning, and Xyverinos of Light to come up here."
I heard multiple whispers as I made my way from the outer edge. Deniard questioned," Xyverinos, where are you?"
Deadpanned, I spoke up," In front of you."
He looked down and growled," How you moved so high in the rankings is beyond me. Now, let's begin. Oaphae of fire, how long have you been here?"
Oaphae breathed outwards," Now, nearly a decade."
Deniard nodded," I remember that next question. Have you ever thought about escaping?"
Oaphae shrugged with her tail swinging slightly," Honestly, I did quite a bit when I was younger."
Deniard smiled," Thank you for admitting it. The last question for you, suppose if W.D.D.C were to attack, would you kill the other wyverns or dragons attacking if they were attacking our human mentors and masters?"
Oaphae thought momentarily," Probably yes, not all humans are cruel. Some of the trainers here, including my trainer, are kind. They must break us down to remold us into how they see fit."
Deniard looked at me," Is she telling the truth?"
Shrugging, I looked at her silently, asking for permission to read her mind while she nodded. Finally, after several minutes of reading her mind, I withdrew her mind. I nodded," Yes, she is telling the truth. All Oaphae questions are answered with the pure truth."
Deniard nodded and looked at the other collarless as Deniard announced while three earth spikes hit the chains on her ankles and neck. The fire dragoness winced while she took out the barbed chains. She threw them down as Yrvae and the fire wyvern smiled as it dawned on me how similar they looked.
Shaking my head, I mused,' They are siblings, huh? I am such a fool.'
Oaphae stood next to Yrvae and the fire wyvern. As Rundi stepped forward, De.niard took note of her posture and spoke," Rundi of Earth, I am going to have to ask you to step back."
Rundi growled but complied while Deniard looked at Yterralth as he spoke," How long have you been here? You moved through the rankings at a pace."
Peaking into the Lightning wyvern's mind,' This fool doesn't know that I will escape when...why is that little wyvern looking at me? Oh, crap, he's reading my mind!"
Looking at Deniard, I said," Yterralth, why don't you step back? There is no point in doing this if you plan to escape anyway."
Deniard smirked," Well done, Xyverinos; I guess it is your turn. Now, how old are you now?"
Looking at him confused, I replied, slightly concerned," Five now."
He continued," Do you view humans as allies or friends?"
I looked at him strangely for the absurd questions," Yes and no. Before you ask me to elaborate, I will. Yes, because I had friends who were humans. I still hold a slight grudge against them for attacking the Valley of Wind. To finish, I don't mind it here. At least I am not getting continuously chased."
Deniard looked at the collarless as all of them nodded. Earth spikes shot up, striking all the collars. Wincing, I got rid of the ankle shackles first. As they came up, they closed instantly. Using my wing claws, I got the collar off.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I walked next to Aldrentoa as she smiled," Wow, congrats Xyv."
Smiling, I replied," Thank you, Aldrentoa."
She smiled as I breathed outwards; closing my eyes, I sensed the emotions in the large dome—happiness, sadness, exhaustion, anger, shock, and respect. Happiness was mostly radiating from Deniard for having me as collarless; Yrvae, Oaphae, and the fire wyvern are delighted for all being collarless. Sadness from the newcomers, along with exhaustion. Anger from most of the others. Shock for seeing me and respect from some of the others.
Another emotion came into play as I tensed slightly, scanning the crowd and the shadows.
Deniard's voice came behind me," Welcome to the rank of collarless Xyverinos and Oaphae."
Ignoring him, while I finally realized who it was with a shaky breath, I muttered," Not good, why is he here."
Deniard, by the confused tone of his voice, questioned," He?"
Merely glancing at him, I took note of his curiosity," Unla is here."
Yrvae growled," The dragon hunter, eh? Xyverinos, go back to your cell. We will get you later."
A sinister voice chuckled, causing all the dragons or wyverns," It's too late for that. Oh, no need to give me that look, Xyverinos."
I was glaring at him with my blue eyes sparkling with raw anger. I snarled," What do you want with me, Unla, or more precisely, what do you want?"
Unla stepped out into the room and smirked, chuckling," Oh, no worries, I just wanted to see if you have recovered from my injuries."
A blast of fire raced at Unla, who made his shadows pierce the fireball, causing it to disperse as I growled," Don't attack him; only my flames have any effect on him."
Unla chuckled," Very wise."
He appeared before me a moment later as he stood looming over me. In terms of size, he was slightly bigger than my mother. We both knew I was still outclassed as he laughed," With the injuries I gave you, well, I thought you would die."
Taking a calming breath," If that is all you can go, Unla."
He sobered and continued," Your power is increasing; you realize that, right? Despite being an obstacle for you, I came to warn you that you will awaken to the next stage of your power soon. Either you get out of here or vaporize this place off the map. My master wanted me to tell you this."
Deniard growled," Die!"
An earth spike shot from the ground, racing at Unla as he chuckled, stopping the earth spike in a terrifying display of strength with a single clawed arm. I could watch as his element flooded into the spike, destroying it from a
Unla looked at Deniard and smirked. He lashed out before any of us could react. I watched a blade of darkness lengthen from Unla's spine like a tail. Moments later, in slow motion, Deniard's head slid off his body as Unla shook his head with a grin and again turned towards me.
He concentrated on me and mused," A heads up, an attack force from W.D.D.C is headed towards you."
He disappeared into a random wyvern's shadow a moment later as I breathed lightly outwards.
Cursing silently, I looked at Yrvae," I am going to be in my cell for a bit."
She nodded while I left my spot where the collarless sat. Trudging through the halls, I flicked my wings as my mentor's monotone voice came behind me," You seem in a bad mood."
Without looking, I confirmed," You're not wrong."
I moved into my cell; the alarm blared as I winced as the sound hurt my ears. My mentor ran in and growled," I will muzzle you for a bit. Just a heads up; they must not know you are here."
He quickly muzzled me and put it on the hook. Shaking my head, he returned with other chains without barbs as he spoke," Sorry, Xyverinos."
He chained me down as I just laid down in my spot. The doors shut, and I heard the lock click. Standing up, I used my razor-sharp talons and cleanly cut the muzzle off without resistance. Closing my mouth, I waited for the heat of my flames to come into the back of my throat. I knew this was my only chance to escape. Blasting my chains, they melted instantly.
Turning my flames towards the door, they melted as I burst out to see my older sister.
Allit's eyes widened in shock as she uttered," Xyverinos, little brother is that you?"
Nodding, I confirmed," It is the elder sister."
Sharpening my wing feathers, she narrowed her eyes while my brother's voice called," Allit, what's the holdup? We still have orders, you know."
Allit growled," It's not like we could disobey, but just come here."
Innurth came into view and froze. During this entire time, I was building up heat in the back of my throat, releasing it in a powerful ball of spirit fire that covered the whole hallway—using my wings to fan the flame and fling feathers out. They raced through the flames at insane speeds. Shooting off the ground and right through the fire. The only sound was the crackle and heat of the spirit fire as I passed through it. I was now flying through the long halls again.
Allit cursed," He is still small enough to fly through narrow passages."
Flying right into the dome, I noticed that the top was open. Oaphae yelled from her spot," Get out of here, Xyv."
Getting into the air, I flung one of my feathers into the air, remembering where they placed the tracker. Flipping midair and helping with my future sight, my feather hit the tracker as it fell back to earth. My wound instantly closed up while I bolted towards the haven that betrayed me.