Talon's of Life & Death

13

"You never actually said if you wanted us all to escort you. So, we dressed up anyway." Sky mumbles in the corner, a void expression mirroring his face. Maddox rolls his eyes beside him at his blunt words.

"Oh." I blink, glancing at Mei.

I guess I hadn't.

"I'd like you all to come." I say, never really needing to consider it. I wanted them all there, somehow.

Kessa claps her hands, grinning widely. "Then we're coming!"

Mei chuckles lowly, taking Adrian's arm as we move to leave. The four of us trail behind our instructors. Instead of riding the Dragon's to the academy, it was a flimsy walk through the woods. Amazingly, the weather was cloudy today, rather misty. Unlike the sun that I had grown used to for the past few days. If that wasn't a sign, I didn't know what was. Maybe my flame would be a Futuna Dragon. Like Zola.

"It's a sign." Sky says behind me with Maddox. Kessa was to the right of me, Nikos to my left.

"What is?" I turn to look but also notice his head in the clouds, as mine was.

"That your egg will be different." He blurts, dropping his head to look at me.

"All our Dragon's are different." Kessa conceits, kicking stones on the ground.

Nikos hums beside me. "No Dragon is one of the same." Wrong. I almost blurted.

Obscurian dragons were one of the same. Twins. One Light, one Dark. Life and Death connected. One could not live without the other. How strange this world works?

We ascend the steps to the main building right when the clouds open and start to unleash its dreary tears. From the distance, back at the mansion, I witnessed Flick and Tulsa take to the air, probably to chase the heightened winds. It was still a teaching day, most of the students were in their classes, therefore the halls were empty. Although I caught a few students, mostly Mages peeking at the room's windows, whispering among themselves, knowing what was about to happen. Another Dragon would be found today.

We descend the metal, spiral stairs, past the bottom floor where the medical wing rested, but further down. When we reached the bottom, we stood in front of an old wooden door. Mei knocked gently; the door finally opening to reveal Frieda. Her snow white hair was dead straight, the front strands were pinned back behind her head, unveiling the snowy hue of her skin and the glowing scripture of her ice blue eyes. Mei's eyes sometimes flashed that colour, I knew that Nadine and Frieda had the same eye colour because of their religion, as Priestesses. I assume Mei's eyes were once that colour too. She stepped aside, allowing us to enter another room.

Chairs lined the dust brick walls, but that was unimportant compared to the giant round wooden door with a golden lock tied to its handle. The catacombs. Nadine stood close to the door, awaiting us. Waiting on me. Both Priestesses wore elegant white gowns, uniforms of sorts. But Nadine wore a silver pin over her heart, a symbol. Maybe it was the Priestesses symbol. A symbol of power. She was the woman in charge.

"Welcome, Sith." Nadine opens her arms in a wide gesture. Frieda steps back towards the round door and idly stands in front of it, her hands cupped together, holding a long golden chain with a large key dangling at the end of it.

"Hello," My lips lift slightly but the pounding of my heart in my chest overcome the deafening silence in the room.

"Allow me to offer some solace," She tilts her head and gestures to the door. "Being nervous is perfectly normal, your whole future rests inside this tomb." I gulp, she couldn't have been more accurate. "When we step inside, I want you to take your time. Don't rush, your chosen egg may jump at you straight away, but sometimes, for others, it takes longer. You may have to carefully examine each egg, either way, the result will be the same, you will find your flame."