The Dragon Knight Order (10 page)

“
And finally the rank given to only one Knight at a time and only if they achieve it, Dragon Paladin. This rank makes you automatically the strongest human and Dragon Knight alive. He who obtains this rank has mastered all three legendary attributes, and also has full control over the five legendary spells. The title allows answering to no mortal being, aside from the Lord of Time. He is to guide the Order in times of war or hardship, thus putting him on level with the Emperor, Dragon Council and Leader of the Twelve Noble Houses. His uniform is usually made according to his liking and a dragon is selected by him to become his travel companion and protector.”

“While there might not be a Dragon Paladin at the moment, we still answer to the Order's second highest ranked Knight, Dragon Rider Arthur Mulik, the rest of the Order is composed of Dragon Masters right now.”

“What rank are you Alex?” asked Ilean.

“I would be a Dragon Knight, a recently appointed one too.”

“And you and Evey would be Dragon Dealers,” said Axcel.

“Making both of you equal in power to Axcel and I,” finished Adria.

“Wrong. Master told me that after you had gotten settled in I should give this to you.” I said walking toward the fountain. When I came back I handed her a uniform just like mine.

“You mean?” she gasped her eyes shining and hands over her mouth.

“That’s right! You're a full Guardian. As such I expect you to help me train these three. And I also expect you to behave the way you’re supposed to,” I said smiling and teasing her a bit.

Her only answer was hugging me tightly and only letting me go so she could change into her uniform.

“Well, let’s get you all settled in to your new rooms and taking a grand tour of the central academy,” I said leading the way to the dorm area of the Sky Dome.

I spent the rest of the day touring around the school with Ilean and Evey, explaining what it means to be a Knight as well as our role while in school and after we leave the academy. I suppose Master had felt the same way I did while on the tour, full of excitement. During the tour of the academy, I learned various things about both girls and I also learned I had been mistaken in my opinions of them. Ilean was warm hearted, understanding and a fun person to be around, while Evey was callous, cold and for the most part expressionless.  All of my attempts to talk to Evey were met with short, dry answers and they allowed no room for conversation.  They are just as much polar opposites in terms of looks. Ilean has blonde hair, white skin and deep green eyes, a rare trait among the inhabitants of the north who typically have blue eyes.  Evey on the other hand is tan with brown eyes and black hair. Ilean is left-handed and Evey is right. One is from the North and the other from the south. They represent the two sides of a coin in all aspects.

After getting everyone settled in, I took them to have dinner in the Sky Dome as I didn't want them to be slammed with questions in the mess hall. I thought it would be a good moment to bring up the start of the examinations.

Details

“Evey and Ilean. As you know all 5 academies of the Empire hold an examination every semester to determine if you are proficient enough to take the next course. Well here at the Central Academy, it’s a little different than in the other academies. We take the examination in the form of a battle tournament. It is broken up into two parts, team matches and single matches. The team matches phase consists this year of a two on two and the rules are simple. You have to defeat three teams in the team phase and seven other students in single matches; any weapon, magic and healing spells are allowed as long as they are not deadly. You can forfeit a battle at any point. And if I am not mistaken, you win when either you have cornered your opponent into surrendering, knocked him unconscious or one of you has run out of stamina.”

“There are no rules against hurting other students? Isn’t that a bit barbaric?” asked Ilean sounding a slight bit worried.

“I agree with you Ilean, but rules are rules. In this case, you don't have a choice,” said Adria.

“Who am I partnered with?” asked Evey suddenly show interest in something for the first time since arriving.

“Ilean and you are partners because you are the only students of the first year who don't have one,” said Axcel.

They looked at each other with distaste. It was easy to tell they didn't like each other.

“Okay, I just hope she doesn't get in my way,” said Evey disregarding the fact Ilean was sitting next to her.

“I was about to say the same thing,” said Ilean.

“I really hope you are not fighting amongst yourselves so soon,” said Master Shadow walking towards our table in his human form.

Adria, Axcel and I stood up right away and bowed; Ilean and Evey followed our lead a second later and did the same.

“Oh please, sit already… I never did like that custom. I am afraid I don't have much time for pleasantries, so if you all don't mind I will be taking a long walk with Alex,” he said walking away.

I looked at everyone and headed off after Master, it was very unusual for him to rush things. But then again he was a dragon, not the most predictable creatures in the world.

“Sorry to have asked of you to follow me in such a mysterious manner. But I must speak to you about topics the rest are not prepared to learn about just yet.” He waited for my nod that meant I understood and proceeded. “Alex, as you know from what Lord Vicis and Luz told you the Empire is on the alert because of the growing Irkanians threat along the border. The Emperor has ordered for his armies to march toward the border as a show of force hoping to put doubts within the Irkanian Empire about their success in a possible invasion. We dragons have also started mobilizing our forces to the front lines. The Dragon Knights, although few and spread far and wide, have also started to gather at the border in several key locations. This has happened in the past, but the Council, Emperor, the Nobles and the Imperial Highguard feel this time the Irkanians won’t back down. When we all agree on something, it’s usually an inevitable event… It smells like war in the Halls of Alexandria.”

“A war we are not prepared to win?” I asked fearing what his answer might be.

“I cannot answer that question Alex. The Knights are practically extinct. Your supposed leader is by no means strong or reliable enough to command you and those below him are too few to have an impact on the outcome of a war. Humans might have come far in the last five centuries but peace can make even the toughest warriors soft. As for us dragons, we have not forgotten the horrors of the last conflict. We will fight with all our might, but so will the Irkanians. And if the past is to show us something about their might, it is something to fear.”

We were both quiet for a while; only the night air carrying the sounds of the Dragon Hold up into the Sky Dome seemed to move.

“And that is not all the bad news I bring you tonight. Three days ago, we captured a spy in Aerlion, the Imperial city. He had complex plans detailing every single wall, staircase, hallway, door and entrance into all five academies and a kill list. The first name on the list was yours Alex, followed by mine, the chairman and Evey and Ilean.”

“What? Why?” I practically shouted as my hands began to shake.

“We weren't exactly sure why the Irkanians would put you above me on a kill list, so we investigated your past. Vicis spent hours searching through Lux, his and my memories, trying to figure out why killing you is so important to the Irkanians. We searched and searched until we finally arrived at an answer.” He paused, gathering air to continue, “You are of Noble birth and as if that wasn’t enough, you’re what can be considered a Natural Knight.”

“Natural Knight?” I asked.

“It pains me a great deal to have to consider you a part of my Noble house until proven otherwise,” interrupted Lord Lux coming out of the shadows. “But in lame terms a Natural Knight is a person born from parents that were both Knights and belonged each to one of the three ruling houses; Darkness, Light and Time. A Natural Knight is the closest thing humans have to a living god. Only three have ever walked this earth and they have all become Dragon Paladins, as well as led the Order during dark times. Once you one master the time attribute only Lord Vicis will be a match for you.”

“I don't understand,” I said trying to keep my calm. I failed miserably as my voice started to become louder and began to crack. “If both my parents are Knights and Noble, why would I be raised in the orphanage? And where are they?”

“We think they both died after you were born. What we are not sure of which House they belonged to. But at the time of your birth, there were only four of the ruling Houses members in the Dragon Knights, a pair of sisters from the House of Time and a two men each a member of the House of Light and The House of Darkness. So naturally that makes you a Time Noble.  But what we are unsure of is whether you belong to my House or Lux’s House.”

“I am a….a… Noble…” I couldn’t speak. I sat on the cold floor and thought that after so long I had finally been told who my parents might have been, but I didn’t find any happiness in knowing as I had often thought I would.

“I told you he couldn't handle the truth Shadow. Look at him sitting on the floor like an idiot. So fragile, I do suppose it is natural for a human to be like that.”

“Enough, Luz! You are here on Vicis’s orders to make a deal with him. Get it done and leave,” ordered Shadow with a growl, causing the temperature to quickly drop and the shadows around us to thicken.

 “I wasn't planning on staying long.” The white dragon in human form walked over to me and placed his forehead on mine and mumbled the words needed to begin a deal and after I had done my part of the deal, he disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

“Humph… Someday I will have to teach him a lesson in humbleness like his father taught me,” said Master Shadow shaking his head. I had never noticed before how humanlike dragons behaved sometimes.

“Master... I don't know what to make of this. I don't know what to do and suddenly making another deal like that… I...,” I said, feeling helpless.

“Alex, I cannot tell you what you must do or what is right or wrong. All I can do is give you the tools you need to survive and the rest is up to you. Keep training. Master the darkness and light attributes and they should be enough to keep you safe for the meantime. Be on the lookout for enemies and remember the assassin can be any one, so choose carefully the people you trust. If we had more time, maybe things could be different but alas, as Lord Vicis would say ‘time waits for no one’. I hate to leave you with so few answers and so many questions but I must go, my presence is needed elsewhere,” said Master Shadow fading into the shadows, a hollowness ringing in his voice.

I slept horribly the rest of the night. Master's words haunted me in my sleep. Whenever I started to fall asleep, I would remember that the Irkanians had marked me for death. It made me shake in bed. I would stand up and walk around the room for a while before trying to fall asleep again. I repeated that routine for the rest of the night and whenever I did find sleep a sort of nightmare kept creeping up on me.

It was a snowy night, a blonde woman with blue eyes was holding me and a tall man sat next to her. Everything was quiet, but I could sense the happiness in the chariot that we all sat on. The woman started to play with my hair when there was a blinding flash of light. When my vision cleared again, I was laying on the cold snow with a thick river of blood coming down my head and reddening my vision. I sat up severely hurt and confused. I started to cry, and I called out for the blonde woman.  No one came. After a while of just crying in the snow, a figure emerges from the flames of the carriage. It looked like a man only this one was taller than any normal man I had seen; he held a sword and wore a skull mask. He scared me. When he was within striking distance from me, a woman appeared from thin air and transformed into something that resembled a giant dragon but instead of two wings, this one had four.

At that point I would always wake up. 

At the break of dawn, I got dressed and headed outside to begin my own personal training with light based magic. From what I understood from previous classes on magic, it worked the exact opposite of darkness magic. Instead of consuming everything it comes into contact with, it destroys it with the objective of creating more light making it a creation type magic. In theory, or at least I think, this type of magic should not drain me physically like darkness magic does. After much thought on how to proceed with my training, I came to the conclusion that following a training sequence like I had for darkness magic was the best approach.  I concentrated on forming a ball of light in front of me. As its starts gathering, I noticed the sphere gradually growing on its own consuming the air around it thus creating a void around itself where no air could exist. I stretched my hand towards the sphere and I felt it suck in the wind. The heat it was generating was intense. When my hand finally passed into the void area outside of the sphere, the heat stopped and my hand moved aimlessly in the void. I became fixed on touching the sphere of light and with one small thrust of strength my fingers touched it. That turned out to be a bad idea.  I pulled out my hand so fast from the sphere I fell on the floor, biting back a curse as I looked at my burnt fingertips. The sphere was so hot it had burned the skin off my fingers. I cut off the magical energy it was reserving from my body and started to cast a minor healing spell when I staggered forward almost falling. That sphere had drained me more than any spell I had previously learned aside from the darkness Vorm and Brunas.

It was a dangerous magic, unlike darkness that is self-contained, light magic expands rapidly and on its own.

I made my way up to the Sky Dome's mess hall to eat something and regained a bit of my strength before testing light magic again. When I got there, I was surprised to see both Ilean and Evey had already woken up and were eating silently next to one another. I smiled at the scene forgetting momentarily what had happened last night. They might fight a lot but they do get along. I ordered my food and sat down silently in front of them.

“So,” I said taking a bite out of an apple, “Ready for the examination tomorrow? It will only be the team matches phase so it should be relatively easy to reach the top 20 for both of you. All you need is good teamwork. I recommend going with the cornering your opponents approach to winning. That way you won't waste any more energy than you need to.”

“That’s exactly what we thought and since our deals complement each other, it should be easy to win at least five matches before we start feeling tired,” said Ilean.

I had forgotten that they had already formed their first deal and I hadn’t taken the time to ask which one. I need to do a better job at being a senior Knight. I could feel Master’s words crawling back into my head, echoing through my mind; with the warning he had given me. An uneasy thought passed through me. What if Ilean or Evey where the assassins? I looked at them while Evey ate and Ilean waited patiently for me to say something. Impossible, I wouldn’t have lived to see a new day two weeks ago when they arrived. I was becoming paranoid. 

Sighing heavily I asked, “What deal do you have?” I thought it would be better not to bring up the conversation I had with Master last night.

“I have an electrical deal,” said Ilean.

“I have a wind deal,” replied Evey.

“And how far into those elements have you both trained?” I asked between bites.

“Well, I had started Vorm training before I left to come here,” said Ilean.

“Same,” said Evey without looking up this time.

“Hmm... Not very far then, but far enough to get both of you into the top ten,” I said. “After the examinations are over, I will start to train you to fully master your first deal. Until then I can't teach you because I need to conserve my energy for the matches.”

“Which deals have you formed Alex?” asked Evey staring intently at me.

“Because there wasn't any other dragon around, my first deal was with Master Shadow and my second deal was with Lord Lux,” I said. “Although my deal with Lord Lux was fairly recent.”

“Those are the only deals you have formed?” asked Ilean almost jumping up from the table.

“Yeah, I know it's not what normally happens. The first few months were hell; I fainted more times that I care to count. After a lot of hard work, I mastered creating Vorms and I am currently on the third stage of darkness magic. But anything else, including basic elements, I am pretty much useless; same can be said about light magic, although I assume it can’t be that different from darkness magic.”

“You must be the youngest Knight in history to be granted two of the legendary attributes in your first year,” said Evey with evident interest.

“I think he is. When I was selected to join the Order, my father; the director of the Northern Academy told me all he knew about the Dragon Knights and from what I can remember the youngest knight to obtain a deal of two legendary attributes was Evander the Great. He would eventually rise to lead the Order during the war with the Irkanian Empire,” said Ilean.

I was so absorbed by what Ilean was saying, I failed to notice Adria was standing behind me and had placed her hand on my shoulder. I immediately jumped from where I was seated and started shouting Brunas. The dark armor appeared out of my shadow and within seconds I was ready for a fight with a dragon. Because it was darkness magic and Brunas increases the wear’s power, the mess hall become cold and extremely dark. When I saw it was Adria who had touched me, I released Brunas.

“I am so sorry Adria, I didn’t sense you coming behind me like that. I was just… I just…. I…. am sorry,” I managed, looking down at the floor.

“Someone’s jumpy today,” said Adria visibly shaken.

“More like tired and jumpy,” I grumbled, still looking at the floor. “I am truly sorry.”

“Hey, no harm done. It’s okay really stop worrying about it.”

“Master gave me a lot to think about and after forming a deal with Lord Lux, I tested light magic to see how much I could use it.” I was talking for the sake of talking with no real direction. I tend to do that when nervous or when I almost hurt my friends.

“A lot to think about? And that is great news! It seems like that arrogant dragon is trying to warm up to you and how did the test go?”

Seeing through her attempt to get me to tell her what Master had told me, I answered as plainly as I could. “Yeah, it really is good news.” I hoped that would deter any more attempts at getting the truth out of me.

“You know… You used to trust me with everything. Now I am lucky to get a fraction of the truth out of you and even only after much persistence on my part. Can’t you tell me what’s wrong Alex? I can help you.”

Her words dug deep into my skin. They hurt…. They hurt a lot, but for her own good I can’t tell her what Master told me even if she hates me for it.  “I still trust you. Master simply made it clear that if we didn’t reach the top 5 ranks in the upcoming exam he would make us train to the bone. It’s not important,” I managed with a smile.

She studied my face for a moment then turned around and said, “If you say so I guess I will have to believe you.” With that, she walked away. Ilean and Evey’s faces showed they were curious at what was going on too. I simply ignored them, sat down and kept talking about Dragon Knight history with them.