Eldawin sat on his haunches, looking out over the destroyed island that had once been the greatest A.O.D.H base ever created. He didn't care about the sand that was getting into his scales, or the fact there were at least a hundred humans on the island with him. The occasional glance was thrown his way, but no one could see past the illusion he had created over himself.
The ocean water roiled, creating something of a whirlpool right above where the base had once been. It was like it was still struggling to grow accustomed to the changes in its now far deeper floor. Even if a week had passed. There seemed to be a steadily growing ecosystem below the waves however. Fish, sharks and other sea dwelling creatures had started making a home around the area. Already kelp and other weeds were begging to form along the edges of some of the open tunnels of the drowned base.
The mind dragon snorted softly. He wouldn't say he was angry. Annoyed maybe, but not angry. He knew he had made a mistake, the classical error of revealing too much of his plans. He had known Silver was close to a breaking point, and had still given her a cause to push herself. He had been overconfident, though a little surprised at the same time. He hadn't realised she had felt so strongly about what he aimed to achieve. A small sigh escaped him.
"Sir," said a voice, causing his head to snap up.
He glanced back at the human, resisting the urge to snarl. He had always hated the sight of the creatures. They were so small, so weak. All he would need to do was step on them and they would die. It infuriated him that they had managed to take over world, and was even angrier at the fact that they had pushed dragons from their place, and caused them to live in fear.
"Yes?" he grunted.
"We have located the machine sir," said the human.
He seemed a little nervous, as was expected. Even though Eldawin had an illusion around himself to make him appear human, there seemed to be a general fear around him. Sure, none of them had ever seen the leader of A.O.D.H before, and even as a human they would be extremely intimidated by him.
"And?" asked the mind dragon.
"It's mostly intact, with a few minor scratches and bumps. We should be able to retrieve it momentarily," said the soldier.
"That is good. Have you found any survivors?"
"We located a number of water dragons that had some how broke free. They attacked us as soon as we found them however, killing a number of our divers, but after a small struggle we managed to subdue them."
"That is good. How about down in the lower levels? Any of our scientists or the dragon hatchlings?"
The man seemed to hesitate, "No sir. We have an accurate record of all the deaths there, compared with the numbers prior to the attack. Everyone's dead."
"Including the dragon hatchlings?"
"... Yes sir. We recovered all their bodies. Most of them were either... drowned or crushed. A few of them their cause of death was unknown, but we assume it was the electrical current you said passed through the base."
There was something in the human's voice that suggested he was horrified at what had happened. He had likely been down there sifting through the bodies of dead dragons and humans, trying to figure out what was what. He knew many of the handlers actually cared for their dragons, much like one would for a dog or some other pet. While it annoyed him, it did help with making the dragons hate humans with a greater ferocity. Well, some of them anyway.
He was sad about the deaths of all those hatchlings, especially the two voids and the gravity. Those species were already as rare as they came, but it couldn't be helped. Besides, once he had done away with the human race, it would only be a matter of time before the species began to thrive in his new world.
"It can't be helped," Eldawin said slowly to the human, "Make sure to bury the bodies, at least give them some respect. Once that has happened, your top priority will be getting it back to the surface."
"Yes sir!" the man replied, before turning and walking away, relaying the information through a radio strapped to his waist.
The mind dragon smiled to himself, before turning to look back over the ocean. Now all he needed to do was find a way to complete his machine. That shouldn't be much of a problem however. With all the elronium scattered around the beach it would only be a matter of finding enough heat, and he had an idea of how to do it.
* * *
"Yay! Land! Finally!" cried West as he leapt onto the sandy beach from the ship.
Silver chuckled slightly, opening her wings and choosing to glide to the ground instead. The beach they had landed in was deserted, with very little evidence of human influence. There was a forest if front of them, with large green trees that would readily provide any cover should they need it. The sky was overcast, the weather being a little cooler then comfortable, but the dragons didn't seem to mind it too much.
A long ramp was pushed from the front of the bow and onto the sand, allowing the humans to walk off. They seemed relieved to be off the ship as well. After a week at sea one got tired of seeing the endless blue of the ocean.
Silver turned to looked around with a smile, taking a small step forward and letting out a small cry of alarm, almost falling face first into the sand. She steadied herself, spreading her legs a little and shaking her head. The land still felt as though it were moving below like an ocean weaving and swaying. She moaned, shaking her head. It seemed the others were suffering from something similar, though Reha seemed quite fine.
"What the heck?" muttered the silver dragoness, shaking herself.
"Ha, I didn't think dragons were suffer from land sickness," said one of the humans, a man named Denzon.
She glanced at him, "What?"
"It usually happens after a long voyage. Your body gets used to the swaying motion of a ship, so used to it that when you return to land it struggles to adjust," he explained, "Give it a couple of hours and you'll be fine."
"Oh," Silver muttered, before choosing to lie down on the sand instead of struggling with this strange feeling. It didn't help her feel any better, but she preferred it to staggering around.
During the days at sea the dragons had become quite good friends with the ex-handlers, often talking and laughing with one another. There was little else to do with such a small place. They had learned quite a lot from the humans about the outside world, and in turn had revealed a lot about dragon cultures and what it was like for them. In the end they had all agreed it would be worth it to bring them to Sky Mountain, as their knowledge of A.O.D.H and the outside world would come in very useful.
As O'hen had instructed, Silver had also revealed the true purpose behind A.O.D.H, and who its leader was. As she expected the humans had been horrified, not believing her at first, but in the end they had agreed that it had made sense. The dragons had been a little slower to react. They were shocked, a little angry and annoyed that there capture had been the result of another dragon, but they were undecided at whether destroying the human race was for the best or not. It had left Silver a little worried.
They set up camp along the beach, pitching tents and starting a small fire with help from Blaze. The sun was still rather high, an hour or so before dark maybe, but they all wanted a small rest before they headed out in the morning. It also gave Silver a chance to meet up with the time dragon again, for he had instructed her to come and meet him once they landed.
Rumbling an excuse about going hunting the dragoness got up and quickly padded into the forest, not giving anyone else a chance to offer to go with her. To her relief, no one attempted to stop her as well. With a small smile on her face she padded through the large wooden trees and mossy undergrowth. It was an interesting area, with a strange scent of damp leaves and rotting logs. The ground almost seemed to fall beneath her feet, creating largely visible paw marks.
She walked for a couple of minutes, getting a feel for the surroundings, before stopping at a small clearing she found, sitting down on her haunches. She felt a little nervous about meeting with the time dragon again. He was a strange character, full of mystery and a power that she knew she wouldn't want to face as an enemy. His eyes were so full it was intimidating, but it caused her to look up at him. She knew that even with her equilibrium, she wouldn't be able to face down someone so undoubtedly powerful.
It only took a minute or so before a familiar silvery glow washed over the forest, like stars falling. Time appeared in his physical form, the silver scales and starlight underbelly immediately recognisable. It seemed, almost for a moment, that everything suddenly flashed before the dragoness's eyes, causing her to stagger backwards, blinking and shaking her head.
"Hello Silver," spoke the rich and powerful voice of O'hen.
She lowered her head slightly in respect, "O'hen. I've come to begin with your training."
"I know," he flicked his tail, looking around the forest, "An interesting place you've chosen to begin. I think it will serve our purposes quite nicely."
The dragoness bobbed her head in agreement, "Can we begin?"
"In such a hurry," sighed the time drake with a chuckle, "You realise that, at this moment, you and I are the only ones not frozen in time. We could spend however long we like and not have anything change."
"Oh," she said, looking around.
It was true. Even the clouds above had stopped their movement. All sound had disappeared leaving an unnatural silence in its place. It made her a little uneasy, but she ignored it, instead choosing to focus on O'hen.
"Before we begin, can I ask you something?" she asked.
"Very well," he said.
"Why are you doing this? I thought you didn't like meddling with time," she said.
"I don't," he replied, "It always ends up for the worse, but when the future is already heading for the worst possible place it can be I find myself faced with a difficult choice."
"Well... I guess that makes sense," she said, before shaking herself, not wanting to think of the 'worst possible future', "Well lets begin."
"Good," the time drake looked around the area, as if thinking for a moment, "There are... eight aspects for a dragon that decide whether or not they will win a fight, this is excluding external factors like luck or numbers on their side. Four of these factors are physical: Strength, power, agility and speed, and four of them are mental: Skill, control, willpower and wit. Do you understand?"
Silver nodded her head.
"Good. You have already have a massive amount of willpower, so that is something that I have no need to train you in. You also have an enormous power, excellent agility and above average speed. Your skill is also quite exceptional, though could use a bit of work. These are things that you already have at your disposal, so I will not be focusing on them. Also, for the type of battle you are facing, any physical abilities that you lack, like strength, are not important. So, I will be focusing on your mental skills, because only mastery of yourself can help you defeat Eldawin."
Again the dragoness nodded her head. She had already suspected something along these lines.
"Now, how good are you at controlling your element?" he asked.
Silver hesitated, "Umm.... I think I'm quite good."
"Show me what you can do."
With a small frown she thought for a moment. Flicking her tail she decided to warp and change the shell on her back, letting it flow over her until she was in her full metal form, and still she expanded the shell. Her tail became a whip; her wings became razor sharp, as did her claws. An extra horn grew on the tip of her snout and spines appeared out of her back. When she was done, she tilted her head at the time dragon, opening her wings slightly and grinning.
He nodded his head, "So you can self enhance yourself. For a metallic dragon... it's rather easy to do."
She frowned and snorted, letting her shell return back to its original state, "Is that so?'
"Yes. I suspect you are capable of more, but just haven't realised it," he said, "Especially with your equilibrium."
"Oh?"
"Okay, I want you to do something for me," he said, "Breath a stream of metal in any random direction, except for at me."
She did, choosing to send a spike into the bark of one of the nearby trees, embedding the peace of metal rather strongly inside it. She then turned to O'hen, wondering what he had in mind. He grinned at her, and then suddenly everything became dark. Silver yelped in surprise, turning and looking around frantically, but everything was pitch black.
"Wow, wow, calm down," spoke O'hen, "I've just frozen the light around your eyes in time, preventing you from being able to see. I will fix it once you are done."
Taking a couple of deep breaths the dragoness nodded her head, "O...okay."
"Now, focus on that metal you just fired, find it, and pull it out of the tree."
"What? How am I supposed to do that when I'm blind?" growled Silver, lashing her tail.
"Figure it out. It shouldn't be too hard," he replied.
She snorted, before taking a hesitant step forward, trying to picture what she had seen before everything became black. It had been a small clearing, with trees and bushes surrounding it, and if she remembered correctly there had been a small ditch in a couple of steps. Feeling the ground with her paw she found the ditch and stepped over it. That was the first obstacle. Whimpering softly she looked back to where O'hen was.
"Come on... I didn't memorise the area beforehand. How am I supposed to find the metal?" she rumbled.
""Are you giving up?" chuckled the mind dragon, "I didn't think you would fail this easily."
"No," she growled, lashing her tail again and taking a deep breath, "I'm just figuring this out."
There was a small sigh, "Silver. You and your metal are one remember. You are connected, even when you are apart."
Something suddenly snapped with her and she smiled, suddenly realising what he was trying to do. Forcing herself to relax she focused on that connection she had with the metal, that gentle tugging that lead her toward any piece of elronium she had created. Almost without thinking her feet began to walk forward. She made sure to go slowly, as to not run into anything. She padded up to the tree she had speared and gently reached up and pulled the spike out with her jaw. Instantly her vision cleared, causing her to blink in surprise, before turning to look at O'hen with a grin.
"Well done," he said, "Not the way I would have done it, but I guess it accomplished what you needed."
Dropping the spike to the floor Silver asked with a smug grin, "What's next?"
"Go again," he said, "Flick a spike in any direction, or breath a blot of metal. Whatever you choose, then collect it without your vision."
She sighed softly, but did as she was told. For around the equivalent of an hour they continued this practice, and each time it was made a little more difficult. O'hen had the dragoness hit certain points that were behind rocks, or high up a tree, and each time Silver managed to collect it. It was a little difficult, but she always managed with only a few scratches and a bruised foot when she ran into a low hanging branch to collect a higher spike.
Eventually she began to grow tired of it, "Okay, I've done this a dozen times and proven that it isn't a challenge anymore. How is this going to help me defeat Eldawin?"
The time drake tilted his head, "You are right. Doing what you are doing won't help you defeat Eldawin."
"Then what's the point!" she growled.
He sighed, "One more time, then I will explain what you want to know. Aim for the top of that tree over there."
Grumbling to herself Silver flicked her tail, sending a spike into the higher branches of the tree O'hen had pointed it. It was an accurate shot, the spike embedded deep within the wood. It would be the most difficult challenge so far, and would require her to either climb the tree of fly up there. Despite the fact she was quite bored of this activity, she couldn't help but feel a bit eager for this challenge. Her vision became blank once again and she opened her wings to take her into the air, deciding to do this one quickly.
"Oh, and Silver, this time you have to stay in a single spot," he said, "You're not allowed to move."
"What?" she grunted in surprise, "How will I get it when I can't go to it?"
"If you can't go to it, make it come to you," replied O'hen.
"How on earth am I supposed to do that?"
"Don't ask me. It's not my metal. It's yours. It's part of you, it is you. Make it come to you."
She frowned, shuffling her wings slightly, trying to grasp what he was saying. She had to... make it come to her? That was impossible. She could control the metal connected to her quite well, but this one wasn't. The metal on her back was alive, and thriving, but anything she breathed was... not. Unless of course that had changed since she had reached equilibrium. Frowning softly she focused on the connection between her and the spike, but instead of following it she tugged at it.
On the tree above the metal spike wobbled slightly, as if being pulled. The dragoness growled and twisted her tail, pulling at the connection a little harder. For a moment nothing happened, then the spike shot from the tree, heading straight toward the dragoness. Event though she couldn't see it, she could feel it coming toward her and let out a yelp, diving out of the way as it hit the ground right where she had been.
Her vision cleared, and she looked at the spike with wide eyes. Glancing at O'hen she tilted her head, wondering what had just happened. The time dragon only smiled at her.
"Well done," he said, "That was what I originally wanted you to do."
"Okay... what did I do?" she asked, standing up and shaking herself.
"You controlled your metal," he said, "The first step to mastering yourself."
"Oh," she looked down at the spike, before looking at O'hen again, still surprised.
"The reason you need to learn this has great reasoning. Throughout the entirety of time there are only ten dragons in total that completely master their element, with a possible eleventh. The first was a fire dragon named Therren, and the second an earth dragoness named Terra. The third.... is Eldawin. He has mastered the power of the mind to its utmost. He can create the greatest illusions ever seen. He can control thousands of dragons at the same time individually. He can warp a dragons mind, implant memories and take them away. He can disable parts of your brain so your heart stops beating, or you loose all feeling, or all your pain receptors fire at the same time. This is the type of power you will be facing.
To defeat it, you need to learn to control every aspect of your body. You need to learn to control your metal, your movements to the finest degree. You need to learn to control your ability to breath, your heart rate, how you physically see the world, how you perceive pain. If you manage to do this, then, and only then, will you be able to defeat Eldawin."
She gulped softly, "And... is this what you will be teaching me?"
O'hen nodded his head, "Yes, I will. But you must learn quickly Silver, for even without your help, the machine will be finished. It is only a matter of time."
"Then why can't you go and kill Eldawin?" growled Silver, "Stop him from completing the machine?"
"Because killing him won't stop the machine from being created, and to do so is to delve too deeply into my manipulation of time. No, I am doing as little as I can to help you, whether or not you like it. I will train you, but that is all I will do. Nothing more, nothing less."
The silver dragon growled softly, "But.... Aargh, its just... why do I have to do it?"
"Because you are the only one capable in the time frame set," he replied, "But we will continue this later Silver. Tomorrow, when you have a chance, find a space and I will come to you to continue. Until then, you have some hunting to do."
"Wait!" she roared, but it was already too late. The time dragon disappeared back into his realm.
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Hey guys! New chapter! I hope you enjoyed, this one was a rather long one :) The next one will be out as soon as I can get it... but I do have exams this week so we'll see how I go. Vote if you enjoyed and comment what you thought. See Ya!
Pennator^^