~*~ Chapter 1 ~*~

SWISH! The wind whipped through my hair as we dove in for yet another sharp nose dive. The sun was beating down from the cloudless sky, causing beads of sweat to form across my brow. I couldn't be bothered with any of that though. The red tangles that slapped against my face were hardly noticeable when you were plunging at eighty miles per hour towards your death. Or... you know the rapidly flowing river below. The timing had to be perfect in order to avoid being flattened into a pancake; I needed to maximum turn around in order to effortlessly lead my partner into the liftoff.

My hands tightened around the reigns as we drew in closer and closer, and that's when we reached the point. With a strong and quick snap back of my wrists the Drake snapped its wings and we were soaring upwards at a faster rate than either of us thought possible. My heart was pounding rapidly against my chest from excitement, nothing, not a word could completely describe the joys of flying. The turns in your gut, the pressure of the wind against your face…. How completely disoriented a sharp turn could make you, how terrifying it was… but at the same time how completely freeing. Could you imagine the thrill of soaring over your world, to see everyone wandering below like ants?

I grinned cockily as I pulled on the reigns, bringing my day partner to a midair standstill in front of the classes cave. My teacher and fellow student's glares made me want to laugh. The fools, what, were they worried about me? All it took to pull off that stunt was some simple aerodynamics and natural born talent! As I took in their annoyed looks I quickly realized that not a single one had reached any level of being impressed.

'Psh!', I thought to myself, 'The stuck up pricks… with their leather helmets pulling up at their eyebrows… it was no wonder they looked displeased. Their brains were obviously being squeezed to tightly to function!'

The flight instructor made an annoyed noise as I nudged my drake in for a flawless landing on the craggy, purple, cliff. Ignoring the continued daggers from my classmates I turned to my friend Kestrel as I moved to dismount. She at least looked slightly amused, but nervous at the same time as her eyes flickered to the Dragonmaster. He looked like he was ready to kill…

"Miss. Dragonbane," Proffessor Silverdrake snapped, "Is it your one and only desire to meet an early death?!"

I eyed him coolly as I turned his words over in my mind; his eyes were narrowed underneath his goggles, which made him look extremely ridiculous due to the magnified glass.

"Well you see Professor," I began slowly, drawing out the words in an attempt to aggravate him even further, "since I am a necromancer and all… I consider myself already half way there."

Kestrel snickered into her hand, but was cut off by the flight instructors burning glare. After a moment of awkward silence and the shuffling of wings, he turned back to face me. It took everything in me to not childishly burst out into laughter over the goggle effect. I swear he resembled one of my little sister drawings…

"I don't need any sass from you Miss. Dragonbane, you may be the daughter of one of my good friends, and a General of our great army, but by no means does that give you the right to act like a suicidal imbecile, nor the privilege talk to me in such a way."

I bit back another snippy remark, and instead shifted my focus down to my gloved hands, "Yes sir." I muttered, hoping that the eye roll that went along with it wasn't noticeable.

Some of the fire school students snickered, and I shifted awkwardly. It was then that the teacher began to list the end of the day procedures. Having already known them I allowed my mind to shift yet again towards the unfair caste system that had developed over the ages. You see, Dragonspyre was truly a world based on stereotype. You were given as much respect as the school of magic you practiced and for me as a death student that was little to none at all. A long time ago, when our first king rode into battle on his drake, and defeated the dragon titans it became common knowledge that he was in the school of fire. This lead many of our people to believe that Pyromancy was the ultimate school of magic to practice. From an early age our people are raised into meeting the supposed requirements of the school, we're drilled with books, sold on Dragnospyran propaganda, and ushered into more competitive activities such as war games. Yet although this significantly helped to boost the percentage of fire students, and therefore the power of our military, they were not always successful.

Storm was the runner up, naturally. This was because of their more powerful attacks, and Ice followed shortly afterwards because of their defensive capabilities. Life was also highly valued, for the obvious reason that they are able to heal, so they were kept as medics in the cases of war times. Myth was good as well, but not used nearly as much as the others, they were well known for summoning their minions… but they had sort of become pointless after the one hundred year war ended all that time ago. And death? Well… heh, how do I put this exactly? We're not very popular. People fear us because they fear what we are capable of. We're basically the go to guys if there's ever a sickness, but that's only because they blame us. And although I can honestly say that I can agree with the fact that we do have some really bad people among our ranks, it isn't all true.

In short, Dragonspyre had a really messed up system of government and society. It was all about building up our strength to crush our opponents, even though nobody bothered to make any direct attacks on us…. Sighing, I snapped myself out of my thoughts. Castamir was sending us home for the day, and although I was reluctant to head back to that warm and fuzzy home of mine, I remounted my drake, nudged its sides, and with a slight scratching of its claws leapt gracefully from the cliff to join Kestrel on the flight back.

"Nice work earlier today," she laughed in that posh Marleybone accent of hers, "the professor was absolutely livid."

"I couldn't help but notice," I laughed wryly as our Drakes soared through the rocky purple canyon, "although it was hard to take him seriously with those goggles of his."

"He looks like a bug." she agreed with another laugh

"That's one way of putting it I suppose." I nodded.

"Indeed! So, how do you think you did on the necromancy test this morning?" she asked with that ever chipper look on her face.

I rolled my eyes in mild annoyance, "How do you think I did?"

"I don't know…" she laughed, "Let me guess… you aced it?"

"Naturally…." I bragged, "There wasn't a single question that I couldn't write a detailed paragraph on…."

Her smile faltered a bit before she covered it up with another grin, "Well that's good."

"Of course it is." I quipped, after a moment of pause I added on an awkward, "So how do you think you did?"

"Oh!" she grinned, "I mean… I think I did well enough, I'm not really used to your form of testing just yet…"

I felt my ego inflate just a little bit, "Well, that's understandable… we're a really driven academy, you know us, all about war and strategy."

"Yeah." She nodded, "I noticed… it's just, it's nothing like Krokotopia."

I frowned, "Well yeah, we aren't exactly drowning in sand…."

She laughed a bit, "No not in that way, what I mean to say is that it was a lot more laid back there."

"Oh." I said. The thing about Kestrel is that she was raised in Krokotopia because of diplomatic reasons. Her father was a long time ambassador from Marleybone, so naturally she was raised there so her family could be kept together. Due to the station she ended up joining the school of balance, since it was the closest school to the home that she loved. Once she mastered that though, it came time for her secondary school, and she ended up choosing Death because of the traps that went along with it. I always considered that a strange reason, but she thrived on supporting others. In all honesty I think she would have made a better life student…

"So, excellent job flying today! Although I can honestly say that it probably wasn't the safest thing for you to do…" she piped up after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Thanks," I smiled, absolutely beaming from the positive attention, "You too."

"Oh please," she laughed, "like you were actually paying attention to anyone but yourself."

Making a face, I redirected my attention forward.

"Not to call you self centered or anything-"

I laughed, "Kestrel, no need to stop being blunt now, I'm ridiculously self centered. Feel free to point it out whenever you please!"

"Hmm…" Kestrel nodded, "If you say so then…"

"Blame my childhood."

"Or I could blame you."

"Hey!"

"You said I could be blunt." She shrugs

Grumbling under my breath I refocused my attention towards landing. Which was easy enough, I couldn't help but feel a little upset at the loss of being airborne though. Leading my partner into the corner that she was assigned, I busied myself with removing her armor, which was a requirement to wear in flight. As it was an absentminded task, my brain began to absentmindedly go over the conversation Kestrel and I had just been through. She was right, I was partially to blame for my attitude, I didn't do well with losing, and I pushed most people away, but background had a lot to do with who you are, and considering the way I was raised well…. Just imagine being spoiled rotten, having everything in the world, all the opportunities imaginable in front of you, and then with a single test, having all of that wiped away. So now I studied a lot, I lived for knowledge, the ability to become more powerful, to push myself to the ultimate limit. I wanted to be approved of again, to be respected, not shunned….

I smiled to myself as I ran my hand down the Drakes snout, admiring the ruby and gold shades that adorned its scales. There was nothing that I loved more than flight… and these creatures. It's said that if the rider develops a close enough bond with them that they would speak to them, this also became possible with age… I wonder what they would say to me.

Maybe I should just do this when I grow up, I think, At least I'd enjoy taking care of them.

My fathers disapproving face popped into my mind and I shook it off.

"Yeah… nevermind." Reaching for my pack that I had dumped in the corner of the cave I pulled out a chunk of raw ninja pig meat, just as I was about to hand it over to the Drake however Kestrel appeared.

"Eugh…" she grimaced, "You're actually feeding it?"

I smiled, "Yeah, I sniped it off of some myth student when they were practicing their out of arena magic…"

She gaped at me.
"What?"

"You're ruthless."

I shrugged, "Well, I'm from Dragonspyre! It's what we live for!"

"So you've said…"

"Mmmhmm." I agreed as we walked out of the cave and down towards the academy…

The familiar awkward silence feel upon us as we walked past the after school practice groups, many of them were joining up for some extra swordfighting or-

"I'm dead awful at that class." Kestrel interrupted my train of thought as she nodded towards the out of arena practice team.

"It's not that hard."

"It takes to much energy out of you." She frowned.

"Well yeah, you're supposed to build up resistance over time, like flexing a muscle."

"But it's pointless!" she exclaimed as we continued on down the path and out of the academy doors. "You should just challenge people to duels, you don't have to send a, I don't know, fire dragon after a person!"

"That takes a lot out of a person." I frowned, "But the occasional quick use of a spell isn't that bad. It can come in handy."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, look Kestrel, I'm going to head off to the library now so I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Alright then Deirdre!" she smiled, although a bit confused at the quick change of subject. She knew that that was who I was though, I lived for the library.

"See you soon." I smirked before turning and heading towards the portal, secretly relieved that I finally had gotten her out of my hair. I just couldn't wait to head off and read!

I walked in through the front doors of the library; the room was hushed in a deep silence as Milos worked to organize some knowledge crystals from behind the desk. Grinning, I came to a stop in front of the reception area, and cleared my throat.

He looked up, his eyes brightening at the sight of my face, "Ah Deirdre!" he whispered "What a surprise!"

I laughed , "It's hardly a surprise I'd assume Milos, what with me coming in here everyday since my first year at the Academy…"

He smiled, "And for some time before then to Miss. Dragonbane."

"So is there anything I can do to help?," I asked after he questioned me on my day at school.

"Not much," he admitted after a moments thought, "As always you can organize some of the books that were left out on the tables, but then the library is yours!"

"Alright then Mr. Bookwyrm," I said before heading off to tidy up. Library time was the best, so I spent as much time as I could here, it was the one place where I truly felt like I could relax and that no one would judge me. Milos had been around for as long as I could remember, always suggesting new books for me to read, and different topics to study. On slow days when I was little he used to read to me, tales about the titans and far away places. One of his favorites was a story about pirates, and I had to admit that it captivated me as well. The idea of being able to roam the spiral, to live every day freely, to not be stuck in the same old dull routine, that was something that entranced me. Dragonspyre was fixed on schedules, it felt tight and restrained, like it trapped you. It was probably why I took to flying so much…

Once I was finished with the sorting I headed to the back of the library, my fingers running along the spines of the books until I reached something of interest, a book on strategy. I was obsessed with becoming powerful, I just wanted to prove that death wasn't as useless as everyone else seemed to think. Especially if what father had been hinting at was true, we would soon need as much man power as we could get. Sitting down in my favorite chair I pulled the book and began to read. My brain running through the words as I focused on committing the multiple strategies to memory. It wasn't long before I became lost in the book, which was very interesting just so you know. It talked about everything, all the different battle scenarios, all the different uses for traps, non magical combat… With final practical exams coming up next week I'd need to be as prepared as possible-

Scritch scritch scritch

I jolted out of my book reading trance, what on earth was- I glanced around the library. It was empty. Dammit. Rising from my chair I put the book back on it's shelf. And head towards the front door, it was time to lock up, put the protective spells up around the building…

Scritch scritch scritch

I freeze. There was that noise again… what on earth… I couldn't be just imagining it! Summoning my sword into my hand I unlock the door and charge outside, slamming the door behind me. With a couple of clicks it locked and from the faint glow around it, I knew that it projected the invisible shield designed to defend it.

But… what was that noise? I stopped my breathing and listened. There was nothing. Just the rustling of the wind through the trees, the sound of the stream trickling nearby.

Everything should be fine I decided after a couple of moments, I didn't hear a thing, no footsteps rustling in the grass. It was safe…. But… what if it wasn't? And it was with that idea in my mind that I teleported home. I had a plan…

A/N Okay then… well… it's good to be back in the fandom again! Hi! My name's Emily and I'm actually really excited about this story! I used to write for this fandom, but I changed accounts due to a long period of absence. Anyways! I had the idea a couple of years ago with my friend Emma, but since I stopped playing for awhile I kind of lost interest. But now it's back! So yay! Anyways I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I intend to hit the ground running with this story, so expect it to seriously begin to speed up in the next chapter! I'm sticking close to canon, but am adding in a few of my own ideas because it makes things fun! ^_^ so leave a review, and I am excepting OC's to appear during different times… so yeah! No major characters, but if you want to make a baddie go ahead!