The Darksield Chronicles, Book 1: Legend of Spyro

Chapter 18: Elementary

Darksield POV

Darksield walked down the hall toward the elementary classroom with Spyro and Cynder leading the way. As soon as they walked through the door, Darksield's eyes widened. "Woah." 'Woah' was the only word for it. The room was massive, like a gym. He wondered how something this big would fit into the temple along with all the other classes, but then he realized that it was probably magic.

He glanced around. He saw racks of swords on one wall, bins full of something on another, a circular arena in the center, several targets on a far wall, and something that looked like an obstacle course off to the side. He glanced around the room. "Where's the teacher?" he asked.

Suddenly a voice said from behind him, "Right here."

He instinctively spun, tail blade whipping through the air, and barely stopped himself from decapitating Aurora.

He jumped back. "Sorry," he apologized.

She shrugged. "Apology accepted. Now...." She turned toward the other students. "Who is ready to learn and master their element?" She was greeted by an enthusiastic cheer. Aurora grinned. "Alright then." She pointed at Spyro. "Let's start with you."

He nodded and walked toward the targets at the far end, stopping thirty feet away. Everyone watched as Spyro took a deep breath. Then he attacked.

Spyro launched a fireball at one target, a boulder at another, an icicle at a third, and a bolt of electricity at the fourth.

When he was done, he turned back to the rest of the class. Everyone applauded. "Very well done, Spyro," Aurora called. She turned toward the rest of the group. "Alright, everybody. Get into a line and try to use at least three different attacks."

Everyone did. Darksield ended up being at the end. He watched as Ivy went first, shooting a boulder at one target, a spear of rock at another, and a rain of rock shards at the third. Marsh copied her moves. Flare shot a fireball at one, a stream of fire at another, and an arc of fire to slice the final target in half. Every time someone destroyed a target, a new one popped up. Apparently, the targets were magical.

Streak went next and launched a spear made of solid air that pierced right through one target. Then he launched a tornado at another target and sent an arc of pure energy at the third. When he finished, everyone clapped. "Nicely done, Streak." Aurora called. Then she pointed at Cynder. "Your turn."

Cynder stepped up. Darksield watched her curiously. Cynder sent a bolt of shadowy flame at one target, a stream of acid at a second, and a tornado at the third. Darksield guessed that her fear element wouldn't be very effective against targets that weren't alive. Everyone clapped as she walked back to the group. Darksield whistled.

Aurora pointed at him. "Alright, Darksield, let's see what you can do."

Darksield walked forward until he was thirty feet away from the targets. He was keenly aware of everyone's eyes on him. He charged a shadow comet and released it, blowing apart one of the targets. He felt lightning arcing inside him and pushed it toward his fist. He made a punching motion and sent a blast of lightning at the second target. Then he felt power surge through him, and he jumped into the air, using his wings to power his backflip, and released an arc of solid air that sliced right through a third target. He landed and slammed his fist into the ground, unleashing a blast of shadowy fire that raced across the floor of the room until it hit the final target in a massive explosion of black flames.

He turned toward the others. "How was that?"

Everyone stared at him.

Streak pointed at him. "You just used three elements."