Dragon Gaze

3. The Marvelous City of Kioo

The moment Jackson said we were entering Kioo, I rushed towards the window and stuck my head out of it. He was right, we had nearly arrived. As I looked around, I spotted one little (read huge) detail, the gigantic crystal that pierced through the center of the city. It was a dream come true, I had never seen the grand piece of glowing rock from this close. I was fascinated. Vines and long old trees were overgrowing the whole structure and rays of light shone through the tangle of nature. What I didn't notice was that the green eyes of my necklace were glowing. "Great ain't it?" Jackson too, was impressed of the crystal. "Ya know, I can feel it's aura. It tells me that this thing has been around for quite some time." Beside the crystal there was a lot more to see. Every second we spent in the air we were coming closer to the city itself, which was beautifully built around the floating piece of land. The first road merchants appeared and I could not believe what I saw. It was a literal flying marketplace. A giant Renga dragon was hovering in the air and dozens of stalls were built upon it's back. Shouting merchants and hundreds of shopping citizens filled the crowd. From above it all looked like one big lump of vibrant colors.

'Want to buy something?' Suddenly a chubby old man, wearing a blue cloak appeared in front of Jackson and me. 'I have amazing souvenirs. Let's say two for one?' The man showed his arms to us. They were full of bracelets and necklaces with fake little crystals. ''Sir, I am afraid we won't buy this kind of... I tried to complete my sentence but Jackson pushed me away. ''I take them, maybe they carry some kind of special spirit power deep inside of them!'' I started to doubt the whole 'I can feel the aura of the crystal' from before. He had already started counting his coins, but suddenly he looked a bit worried and turned to me. ''Dude, can ya lent me a sol? Turns out I'm not as rich as I thought.'' He tried to convince with an awkward fake smile. 'Are you kidding me.' I grasped my own money pouch and gave him the remaining sol he needed. ''Thanks man! Ya won't regret it.'' Actually, I already did. The merchant seemed overjoyed. 'Thank you my friend, come back anytime!' He pulled the reins on his dragon and flew away. ''Man, this is so awesome! Look at them!'' Two little leather bracelets were dangling in Jackson's hand. ''Ya know, he said two for one. I want you to have the second bracelet.'' I was happily surprised. ''See it as a token for our new friendship and rivalry.'' He handed over the bracelet and I strapped it around my right arm. 'Thank you, I can really appreciate it.' I took a good look at the crystal. It actually did not look that fake. The moment I wanted continue the conversation, the hammerhead landed and it's rider announced that we all had to leave the cabin. I turned to Jackson and said with a confident grin on my face: 'I think it's time show what we got'.

As I stepped out of the cabin, a bright light shone in my face. I was overwhelmed and it took a little while before I could see normally again. I was able to put myself together, and what I saw was breathtaking. A giant fortress that had been built up against the crystal was covered the entire horizon. It was even bigger than the stories in books had told me. Of course I had seen the fortress from afar, but from up close it all looked even more grandiose. ''All right rookies, this year you are granted the chance to join the honorable force of the Dragon Knights.' A man wearing armor with a deep voice drew the attention of the future dragon knights towards him. 'First, I shall introduce myself.' I am captain Endeavor, leader of squad Omega.' My first impression was that he was a suitable candidate for being a captain and squad leader. He looked pretty muscular and his spiked helmet accentuated his potential power. Also, it seemed that he took the militairy guidelines extremely seriously. 'Follow me novices. You lot still have a lot to learn, well, if you are able to overcome the obstacles of the entrance exam of course. I doubt a lot of you will get in.'

The gate opened and giant courtyard revealed itself. At first glance it all seemed like your usual castle like area. A blacksmith forging weapons, patrolling guards and a training area for soldiers filled the courtyard. But as began to look around more, I noticed that there was actually a lot more than meets. Above me on the gates, dragons were carrying pieces of armor and in the middle of the open space, a bridge was built that functioned as an airstrip for incoming dragon knights. I also noticed giant holes in the wall, but there were no cannons. Jackson saw me staring at the holes. ''Probably asking yourself what those are used for, ain't I right?'' I turned to Jackson and nodded. ''Gotta say I don't have the slightest idea either.'' I was baffled, but I also made laugh. The indifference of the guy walking next to me was actually quite funny. 'You uneducated peasants don't even know what these are used for? You ought to be ashamed of yourself.'' A boy with black hair and an expensive looking leather outfit interrupted our conversation. 'These ''holes'' you commoners are referring to, are used for cannons.' ''Ha!'' Jackson pointed his finger at the boy who was lecturing them. ''So Seth was right all along!'' The boy did not seem impressed and pushed Jackson's hand away from his face. 'Not so fast, I was not talking about real cannons. I meant the dragons.' Jackson looked a little bit confused. 'During battle, dragons that can not fly, but are able to produce fire balls will be positioned behind the holes. On commando, they can fire. That way, cannons have a lot more firepower and can be shot more accurately.' The boy showed a false grin on his face.

Of course, I was impressed by the boy's knowledge . However I couldn't let him get away with this. 'Who do you think you are, calling other attendants peasants like that' The boy did not look impressed. 'Well well, quite the big talk aren't you.' I am not short-tempered, but now I really was pissed off. ''Okay, I will leave, but before that, let me at least introduce myself. My name is Basil Astus, and I am the first in line to be the count of the realm of Astus.' He held his hand in front of heart and it looked like he was proud of his title. 'Actually, my father is the well known and beloved commander Wolf.' I was still mad at him, but I could not deny that it was pretty impressive. I just stood there and nodded. Jackson didn't really know how to react, so he decided to copy me. 'Well, nice to meet 'the other kind' of potential knights of the squad.' He tried not to laugh. 'Until next time losers!' and Basil left.

''Okay, we know right from the start who we need to avoid.'' Jackson was still a little bit pissed. 'Yeah, I think you're right. I am pretty curious if actually can fight or if he is just all talk.' Jackson nodded. ''we will see soon enough.''

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Dear reader,

I hope you are enjoying Dragon Gaze and I am actually pretty proud of myself if my readers actually make it this far. Thank you for all the support!