Chapter 5

V

“Woah! Incoming!!!” shouted a voice from the skies.

In the next instant a great shadow loomed overhead, a hollow growl and a woosh came forth, nearly knocking the four knights accompanying Talan, Maya and Cedric.

Talan and Maya held their ground and calmed their horses. Cedric was fortunate to manage the same. They looked above and the shadow in the sky made a turn and hovered close to the group.

“My deepest apologies master rider. This one is a fairly new mount.” said the voice coming from the shadow.

Cedric covered his eyes from the glare of the sun to get a better view of the shadow. Great leather like wings spread out for several meters towards the side; huge limbs riddled with horned plates and massive claws on its toes; Its enormous head bobbing on a very long and thick neck.

“A Dragon!” gasped Cedric.

“Not just any dragon, it’s a Horned Ashborn.” replied the dragon rider, seemingly pleased with himself.

“And a fine one it is…” remarked Talan.

“Are you the ones from Azuria? I expected there would be more of you, at least twelve, but all I count is seven.” inquired the dragon rider.

“We were the only ones sent here, the rest are on their own agendas on the other academies.” replied Maya.

“I see, well it doesn’t really matter. Welcome to the Dragon Lands, stomping grounds of the mighty dragons of Kalen and home to the Mevenoth Academy. If you would follow me I would direct you to the main building. My name is Ocim and I shall be your guide.”

The dragon rider took the reins of his giant mount and pulled it over to one side. The Ashborn let out a small growl but inevitably walked the way his rider intended. Talan and his group followed shortly after.

“The Dragon Lands are made up of the six small sovereign states of Dragonmill, Ashbourne, Drakehedge, Scalerock Crags, Dreco Point and Marshclaw. The Fairwick Mountains, a group of crags detached from the main mountain range of Dragon Ridge is where we find most of these majestic beings. Dragon Ridge itself has several species of dragons living among its heights, but they are too difficult to tame, the ones in Fairwick are easier to handle.”

The group came across the main road, it was wide enough for four dragons the size of the one that is accompanying them to sit side by side.

“Our way of life here circles around these fine creatures. So we tend to accommodate anything relating to dragons, as you can see here our roads are an example.”

“Pretty impressive I must say. How far are we from Mevenoth?”

“It won’t be long now sire, after we pass through that bend we shall come across a valley and you will see then Mevenoth sir.”

When they came across the bend they beheld a grand castle of stone built at the side of a mountain. A glimmer of lustrous purple due to the crystals embedded in its walls can be beheld from where they stood. The way the architecture was done made it look like the castle grew out of the side of the mountain naturally. Several spires surround a grand structure with a leveled top in the center of the castle.

As the group started descending down the valley there suddenly came a booming growl from behind them. Before the group could turn two winged reptilians flew overhead and gusts of wind followed them.

One was colored blue and the other hued in yellow. The two zoomed through the air with such swiftness that they are nearly streaks of blue and yellow. They seemed to be enjoying it as they spiraled, plummeted, dashed and performed other aerial tricks.

“Hmph, show offs…” muttered Ocim.

“What species of dragons are they?” inquired Talan.

“Well they aren’t really dragons per se. They are called Drakes. “Dragon” is just a collective term for the winged reptiles but they are subdivided into classes.” replied Ocim.

“That blue one is an Azure Drake and the yellow is a Golden Leatherhead.” pointed Cedric.

“Yes, that they are. I’m assuming you take particular interest in Dragonry since it is hard to actually tell what they are with just a glance especially at that speed.”

“No not really, I just read a few.” said Cedric sheepishly.

“Since we got quite a way ahead of us, won’t you care to enlighten me some more about these dragons? I’m eager to learn more.” said Talan.
“Why certainly!” said Ocim with enthusiasm.

“There are about five main classes of Dragons. First is the True Dragon, like my Horned Ashborn here. This is the image you would associate with when the term dragon is mentioned, long thick neck, four limbs and bat-like wings. Of course there would be other details when you mention the different species within the class but let us not go into that.

The two you saw that were showing off were Drakes. They look very similar to the True Dragons but there is a striking difference if you would take a second look. Their wings are actually their forelimbs. When on the ground those wing flaps fold in and you could clearly see the forelimbs.

Then there are the Wyrms, serpent-like dragons, it is rare to find those in this area but I heard they thrive in the oriental regions, namely Windburn Isles.”

They kept moving along the path towards Mevenoth when to their right they saw a group of bi-pedal reptiles grazing.

“Those ones over there are called Dragoons. Their frame is smaller than that of normal dragons. Though they have forelimbs as well, they are not used for walking but rather for holding since as you can see they are quite small. You would also observe that their wings are independent from their limbs.”

Ocim took out a sling shot from a leather bag and hurled a projectile at the herd. Alarmed the herd started moving, dashing off away from the group and then after a few moments started taking flight.

“Out of all the dragon classes these are the only ones that actually group into herds. That being said they are the most common ones found here in the Dragon Lands and widely used by the armies, more so than horses actually.

Now the rarest class of dragons is the Wyvern. Characterized by having two legs, two wings and no forelimbs, not much is known about them since they are harder to find than the wyrms. They say a few have been spotted east of the Dragon Ridge, but that is Devall Territory and we do not venture there.”

They finally reached the massive gates of Mevenoth. It too was made of stone. Ocim took out a hollow curved horn and blew on it. A replying horn sound came from one of the gate towers and the gates started to open.

“I find it strange that there aren’t any villages or towns in the valley before we got here.” remarked Maya.

“Ah, that is because they are all living inside the mountain. As close as we are with the dragons, they still see us as potential prey, and any human caught unguarded in the open valley are pretty much open games for the wild dragons that still come and go.”

“Is that the same with all of the other townships?” asked Maya.

“No, Mevenoth is unique in that this is like the melting pot of the dragons, for some reason they seem to favor hanging about in this area. Other towns such as Dragonmill and Dreco Point need not go into hiding and just need a basement or something built in their houses just in case a stray wild dragon decides to lay waste to their town.”

“So Mevenoth is not just merely an academy for dragon knights but is a town itself?” asked Talan.

“Yes, that is correct. But the town came in later after the institute was established and the castle built into the mountain.”

They entered its large corridors and came into a very large hall. Everything in Mevenoth seems to be in grand scale. Even dragons have enough room to move about as evidence that Ocim did not even dismount when coming inside to Mevenoth Castle.

“I have read that Mevenoth was huge but nothing in the books could ever describe what I’m seeing now…” Cedric gaped.

“We are at the lower entrance of Mevenoth, this leads straight into the town proper. The Academy is several levels up.”

They strolled further into the entrance and soon found themselves immersed in downtown Mevenoth. It’s not quite like Azuria, though it seems to be a busy place the streets are exceptionally wide, the buildings have flat roofs, most likely for dragons to land on. The place was located in a huge cavern, large enough to contain a big town and have enough space for dragons to fly about. To the side of the cavern there are stairways leading to different parts of the mountain.

“Over to the side there is the stairway that leads to the academy. It’s easily seen since it has the emblem of the school right on its stair posts.” remarked Ocim pointing to his left.

“I guess we have to leave our horses here since they can’t climb stairs, what about your dragon Ocim?” asked Maya.

“No worries, I’ll just fly. There is an attendant waiting at the stairway; you may want to leave your horses to him. He is a wild mage so he will calm down your horses. I’m pretty sure they are skittish being so close to an intimidating creature. So I guess I’ll be meeting you at the top.”

And with that Ocim snapped his reins and the Horned Ashborn flew off leaving a cloud of dust behind.

The company of Talan followed shortly and eventually reached the top of the stairs. Ocim and his dragon where already there and he seemed to be discussing with someone.

“I thought you guys had an important shipment coming in? If it’s so important how come I don’t see any guards at all.” argued Ocim.

“We don’t want to attract any unnecessary attention from the townspeople or even the spies of Devall. You should actually keep your voice down, we don’t want word of this spreading around.” came the stern reply from the other person.

“Well you better make sure nothing happens to that shipment, or else the general would have all our heads.”

Ocim spotted Talan and his group and came up close to them.

“Sorry about that, Mevenoth politics. Now if you would just follow me we shall meet the headmaster of the academy.”

Everything in Mevenoth seemed to be made of stone, from the walls to the furniture. The company was led to a chamber in one of the sections of the academy. When they came across a window Cedric peered outside and realized they were in the central tower, the big infrastructure surrounded by the spires. They reached the only wooden door that they ever come across in Mevenoth. Ocim knocked twice and then went in signaling Talan to follow him.

“Ah, come in, come in my guests. You must be Talan I have heard much about you. Oh, and lady Maya. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Hmm, and who is this young one?” the headmaster was quite energetic for an old timer, shuffling off his chair and approaching the newcomers, giving them firm handshakes.

“His name is Cedric Northwade, a student at Azuria. I requested that he tag along with us, extracurricular activities as one might say.” replied Talan.

“Ah, very good, very good-oh, where are my manners, I am headmaster LaDryn. How may I serve you?”

“We just came by to visit, do a little sight seeing.” said Talan.

“Is that right? I see, well you are in luck since there is an event taking place up on the roof. There are some training exercises being held for our Dragon Knights. You will see them do their rounds on the roof and in the air. I’ll take you there myself if that pleases you.”

“We are honored.” replied Maya.

And LaDryn led them up into the top of the tower. They passed through a few small hallways fit only for humans and possibly smaller framed dragoons which led to a grander hallway. It then led to a stone embedded path that inclined upward.

“This is the Causeway; going down it leads straight to downtown Mevenoth. Going up you will end up at the top of the center structure. That is where we receive most of our shipments from the neighboring towns of the Dragon Lands. The lower entrance is for the shipments from other towns that don’t use dragons or airborne means of transportation.”

The group soon reached the roof and was met with a myriad of dragons and their riders. One side of the leveled roof was specifically set aside for the knights and their drills. The other was kept clear for landing dragons and airships.

“It is amazing that no fights break out between the dragons.” remarked Maya.

“The dragons are not allowed anywhere unless they are fully tamed and trained. We used to catch wild ones back in ancient days. But then we opted to breed our own, we still have a long way to go in perfecting that method but we are getting there. Dragoons seem to be the easiest class to breed.” stated LaDryn.

“Taming is a whole different matter. Dragons seem to be picky with their riders. You can’t just go and break one in like you do a horse. Doing that would result in death. From the time of capture or breeding a rider must be in contact with his desired dragon, and even then it is not certain that the dragon will allow the rider to ride him.” added Ocim.

“I see there is a lot going in to being a dragon knight. So I guess those who actually make it out alive are considered the best of the best.” said Talan

“Yes, something to that effect. Ah, here is the shipment we requested from Marshclaw.” Ocim pointed at an airship flanked by two dragoons.

“About time these got here. I have been trying to acquire this particular package since-“
All of a sudden a loud explosion was heard. Flames spewed from the cabin of the airship and its balloon started to deflate. The dragoons flanking the airship tried to get close and assist the people inside but then a fireball came out from the sky and hit one of them, sending the dragoon and its rider careening down into the landing.

“Bloody hell! Look alive knights we got ourselves a situation! I need three dragons to help that airship make a landing, the rest of you ready for a scramble!” Ocim started barking orders.

As dragons and people were trying to organize themselves another fireball fell from the sky and crashed into a docked airship.

“Damn it! Get your butts up in the air! This is not a drill! Why are the Spires not working!? Charge ‘em up! Watch out! Incoming!”

And another fireball exploded just a few yards from Ocim.

“Talan, Maya, we sure could use your help here.” said Ocim crawling out of debris.

A shrieking growl is heard in the air. As Cedric looked up three silhouettes of dragons can be seen above Mevenoth. The silhouettes then did a nose dive and the two spiraled around the center silhouette. As they did so, flames started forming on the snouts of the three. In the next instant another fireball was free falling towards Mevenoth.

It was about to hit one of the passenger airships when Maya suddenly came in the path of the fireball and deflected it with her bare hands. Seemingly from out of nowhere she suddenly pulled out her weapon, a chain scythe. As the three dragons pulled up to prepare for another assault Maya thrusts her scythe into the air and the blade flew out of the staff and found its mark in one of the dragon’s leg. She flicked the staff and the resulting whiplash drove the blade deeper and ended up cutting off the leg of the assailing dragon. It gave off a deafening shrill and tried escaping but it only got to a few meters before another whiplash from Maya’s scythe brought its blade right through the skull of the dragon.

The dragons of Mevenoth have already taken flight and are starting to charge towards the two remaining dragon attackers. They were about to close in when a volley of fireballs met them. A number of dragoons, true dragons and drakes fell from the ambush. Six drakes and four dragons came swooping down to assist the two assailants. They circled above the landing readying another onslaught.

“This does not look good.” said Ocim.