Tate was unsure how he'd gotten here. A few days ago he'd had his first audience with the Elder. After that first lunch with the ancient woman. He'd been escorted to Lou. Lou was in an interesting state. He'd known Lou since he was a child and then had gotten to see him a few times since he'd returned. Lou had turned into a young man and a fully-fledged Dragon Rider. He'd changed a lot over the course of time Tate had known him, but one thing that had not changed was his cheerful and brash personality.
Which was why when he entered the room Lou was in the first day they were officially staying in the nest he was shocked to find a subdued and quiet person in place of the kid who always yelled and called him "big brother." Lou wasn't completely out of it, he was able to talk to him and ascertain how he was doing. Lou insisted that after the shock of almost being killed, he'd been treated very well. With a dry chuckle, he'd even admitted that the maids seemed to be going out of their way to put him at ease. They talked for a while longer about what had happened going over it from their different perspectives, yet Lou remained uncharacteristically quiet.
"What do you need to do to meet this Mage the Elder talked about?"
"A series of tasks. I'm told that these are the tasks that all dragonlings must undergo before their first ascension. For a dragonling how many tasks they pass determines what positions and jobs they can occupy. Failing is not a crime but it does limit their options. For us my failure will mean imprisonment here at best and our death at worst."
"But you're human not a dragon, what kind of tasks are they?"
"I've been told there will be accommodations made for my human state. I'm not exactly sure what that means and the Elder has refused to give me a list of the tasks. She says that I can find out on my own if I really want to know but that it might be best to just take them one at a time. I've been assigned one of the royal guards to be my guide and teacher for the tasks."
They talked a bit more and then Tate had been escorted to his rooms. For the next couple of days, he'd been summoned to a private meeting with the Elder each day. They had talked more about the "human realm" as they'd agreed to call it. She seemed just as fascinated with their beliefs and culture as he was about theirs. When he asked for more information about this side of the veil she was less forthcoming, At most she would assure him that in time he would come to know the answer to his questions.
Now here he was. Standing in a huge square courtyard. The ground was bare and open and the walls were so high that the few dragons who'd come to watch looked like small dogs sitting on top of the structure.
Word of his and Lou's presence had gotten out but they were being shielded from harassment and overt curiosity by the very guard that he was standing amongst today.
He heard a screech and even higher above the wall he looked to see a good ten or twenty dragons circling. They were here to watch him.
As for the Royal Guard, it had been explained to him that they were a ceremonial order. All he'd been able to find out so far was that there had once been a royal line of dragons but that they had died out. As the Elder had explained to him in passing she had been the mother of one of these royal dragons but she was not one herself. He didn't understand how that worked since in his realm she would have been named a queen if her son who was a king had died with no heirs. From what he'd been able to understand the late King of Dragons must have had a female counterpart who had also died.
He did wonder what had killed them and if there was expected to be another king but he'd yet to get anyone to answer that question. He couldn't blame them for not wanting to talk about it because the only place he could think to start that conversation was asking if the Elder could still produce children or an egg he should say. Those attending him had given him a strange and repulsed look when he'd mustered up the courage to ask the question. He didn't know what else to ask though since he was still so confused about how a person could give birth to a royal line, but not be considered royal herself.
Now this guard still existed in perpetuity. He'd been told they were an honorary order whose members actually belonged to regular military units unless they were called upon. They resided with their regular units except for one day of training each month.
He felt awkward standing in front of them now because of him the Elder had called them together for the duration of his Trials. The commander of this unit was a dragon named Bezhar. When he'd been introduced to him this morning he'd looked Tate up and down and grunted in disapproval.
"Well, at least this will be a short assignment." He'd mumbled under his breath.
Tate knew that he was not meant to hear those words, but the male's side comment was so loud that it was hard to ignore. He felt a fire of indignation rise up inside him. This dragon didn't know him. Yes, he was well aware that a dragon would always outperform a human in strength, but never in his life had anyone looked at Tate that way. Like he was a weakling.
Tate may not have been in the Corps for some time, but he had always taken pride in keeping up his training. Even though it felt like it was for no purpose he'd trained every morning of his life except for when he was injured.
This did not include the days since they'd come through the veil for that very reason. His injuries had been too painful to exercise with. The Elder had fixed that and given him some kind of healing tea to drink three times a day for the last few days.
This was why his training with the Royal Guards was beginning now. It was only last night that he'd been cleared by a healer as fit to do rigorous activity.
The unit which consisted of just eight dragons plus their commander all stared at him with blank faces. Everyone was in their human form out of consideration for him. He'd been informed that the unit would stay in human form for the duration of his Trials.
"This is the human Tate." Bazhar introduced to the stoney-faced males. "The Elder has charged us with training and guiding him through the four Trials of the Ascension. As I'm sure you all have heard by this point he and another human somehow made it through the barrier and would like to get back to their own side. The Elder has made the decision that she wants this human to prove himself before she introduces him to someone who could have knowledge on how to accomplish such a feat. This is where we come in. Since he's just a human, he will be weak and unprepared for our traditions. We are to teach, guide, and train him. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Commander." The eight answered.
"Well then, one by one introduce yourselves."
In a surprisingly orderly fashion, the eight dragons lined up. The first one to greet Tate was almost a head taller than him. The male had silver hair and red eyes. His figure was not bulky but Tate could tell there was not a spare bit of fat on him, instead, he was obviously chorded in muscle all over his body.
The male looked down at him with something between indifference and distaste. Keeping his arms crossed and his body leaning slightly back he looked down his perfectly straight nose and said. "I am Nox."
That was it for Nox, he turned on his heels and went back to his original place.
The next was a very bulky male, he almost seemed twice as wide as Tate. He had brown hair and brown eyes, yet still despite all his bulk he was still somehow just a beautiful person to look at. Tate was having a hard time with the paradox of beings that shouldn't be so beautiful looking like this.
"I'm Yokan." He looked Tate over. "You look like the wind will snap you in half."
Tate clenched his fist but the next two introduced themselves in quick succession.
"I'm Oben."
"And I'm Onen."
Both males were shorter than him and looked to be barely in their teenage years. However, Tate had learned that this meant nothing. They would not be here, he was sure, unless they were fully grown adults. He noted their blond hair, green eyes, and identical features, they were twins.
The next three also just said their names and nothing else.
Romin was another bulky figure but he was bald and his eyes were more of a sandy color.
Turaq was also a head taller than him, his skin was a darker shade than the rest and his hair and eyes were electric blue.
Koda was the friendliest looking of all, or at least he was the only one who smiled at him. Also taller than Tate, he had deep green eyes and white hair.
The last male approached him and Tate felt the urge to step back for the first time. This male had that kind of pressureing aura that the Elder had. He braced himself, determined not to show any weakness. His skin was the palest, he was almost as white as snow in contrast with his inky black hair that was tied in a cue at the back of his neck. The severe hairstyle pulled back the skin of his face and made the blood-red color of his eyes stand out even more.
"My name is Axashaw." Tate did his best to look him in the eyes. Something he didn't want this male to feel like he could push him around for even a second. He didn't know if he was successful because their stare-off lasted for long drawn-out moments but finally Axashaw smirked and walked back to his place.
Commander Bazhar clapped his hands. "Well, now that that is out of the way let's move on to the main point. The first task we need to prepare this creature for is the Quillintine."