Dragons of the Elements: Ascension (Dragon of Legend Approved Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Six

Chapter 6: Academy

Donovan was looking at himself running in third person, running from a skeleton man wearing a black cloak, swinging a farmer's tool at him. His own persona looked gruesome; cut, bruised, and bloody. He saw he was limping in an odd way, the skeleton swinging the curved tool with every step.

Still he saw himself hobble on, running from the undead danger, knowing not where he was going. Running... Running...

Donovan was jolted awake by a fierce pain in his neck. He jumped from his spot under the tree and dove forward. As he moved, his sword appeared in his left hand, and he swung across his chest, hitting only the empty space in front of him.

He remained in the same position, crouching with his sword pointed behind him from the swing, his arm still extended. Donovan stared intently in the direction he faced, demanding with his ferocious expression for the beast that startled him from his nightmare to appear, prepared to kill to protect him and his draglin.

Seeing nothing, he let the sword disappear into empty air. "Vitality musta clawed me or something" he thought. Turning, he faced the tree under which he slept, and saw Vitality stretching, only just waking up. Looking carefully, he realized the tree he slept under was a shade darker than the other trees. He then looked down to see that the dirt path surrounding him had a giant, dark shadow passing over it, passing over his tree, and going on into the woods.

As was natural to him to feed his curiosity, he twisted his neck to see a giant tower. Taller than anything he had ever seen. He saw dragons whirring by each other in the distance, mere specks in the sky. Speechless at the bewildering sight, he merely forgot his surroundings; that is, until Vitality nipped at his torn pants leg. Dragging Donovan along, Vitality led the way down the path.

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It was a while later when Vitality stopped short at the end of the path. In front of Vitality's tiny paws was a gate tall and wide enough to fit a large dragon. Beyond the gate lie a large clearing, mostly dirt and dying yellow grass. Imprinted in the dirt were thousands of dragon paw-prints. At the far back of the clearing was the magnificent giant tower. It was a cream color infused with wooden ledges and windows towards the bottom and wooden designs consistent with the lower portion as it rose.

Dragons rose and fell everywhere, riders slashing their swords at each other, not intending to cause harm but still extremely deadly. Looking down, he saw dragons and riders running races in the field. For hours, it seemed, he watched the glimmering dragons and their riders in wondrous outfits battle and race in the area around the tower.

A high pitched voice seemed to radiate out of thin air. "Welcome to the academy! I see you're new." Donovan looked down to see a young woman, maybe 25 summers, looking confidently at him. "I'm Brandi. I'm the head of the academy after the retirement of our old head master. What is your name?"

"I'm... I'm Richard." Donovan said, unsure whether to trust this lady or not. He saw the sword strapped to her side, and seeing the riders around him he knew she could use it just as well.

"Do you have a dragon, Richard?" she asked, not seeing a large dragon accompanying him.

"No, but I do have Vitality," Donovan replied, forgetting to hide his draglin's name, as he pointed to Vitality.

The girl, Brandi, let out a sharp gasp at seeing Vitality.

"Come with me Richard, we need to register you and begin your training as quickly as possible." She motioned towards the tall building, and began to walk towards the entrance. Donovan followed her, keen to see inside the tower.