"Approximately how many of the council members actually run this academy of yours?" Crona asked skeptically. Amp had been going on about how the dragon guardians were also the teachers at the dragon academy.
"Well each one teaches a different level of skills." Amp went on to explain. Master Kia is our instructor who teaches advanced flight and maneuvering techniques."
"When we move on to the next level of training, we will be under the instruction of Master Tectonica who teaches us how to orient ourselves in a combat environment." Terra continued.
"I can't wait for that class." Amp shivered excitedly. "I get to use all my training up until now in a sparring match. I've been waiting to spar some of the upper class dragons for a while now."
"Just be careful Amp." Terra warned him. "I don't want you getting hurt just because you're overly excited."
The lightning dragon nodded. "I'll do my best to not get too carried away." Amp leaned over and bumped her cheek with his snout to reassure her.
"And what about the others?" Crona asked. "I'm sure it's not just those two who are instructors."
"Well no." Amp scratched his cheek thoughtfully. "I know some of the city elders volunteer their time to the younger dragons like Maya to teach them about using their breath attacks and basic flying drills."
"I also seem to remember that Volcanus is the headmaster of the academy correct?" Crona added.
"Indeed." Terra nodded. "He is the final level in our training. Once we pass his course we'll be certified graduates of the academy and be nominated for high ranking positions throughout the dragon realms."
"Then wouldn't that be the same for every dragon who graduates?" Crona raised a skeptical brow.
"Not necessarily." Amp shook his head. "See, only a select few are chosen for his class to begin with. I know for a fact that Terra and I are candidates."
"Because you're a guardian in training," Crona looked at Amp before turning to face Terra. "And because your father is the current guardian of ice." Both dragons nodded sheepishly almost feeling ashamed that they were getting a free ride. Crona noticed and sighed to herself. "I suppose that makes sense. But what's so special about his course?"
"The fact that he prepares you for the world outside our city." Amp piped up, puffing his chest out proudly. "We'll be council level dragons and be able to take a more direct role in making decisions to help dragon kind prosper."
"I see." Crona nodded and scratched her chin. Perhaps if she stayed here in this time she could easily out last the other dragons and possibly do something to help stop the war with the apes from ever happening. At the very least she could help lead the dragon forces against the apes in hopes of ending it swiftly if for some reason she was not able to stop it's initiation.
Crona was lost in her private thoughts when a scream ripped through the dragon's pavilion. The three older dragons all jumped to their feet in alarm.
"Maya?" Terra cried frantically and whirled down the hallway with Amp and Crona close behind.
"It sounded like it came from the guest room!" Amp exclaimed. The three dragons ducked under the curtain, nearly tearing it on their horns and spines. Terra quickly looked around and spotted her younger sister curled around herself in the corner of the room, trembling like a leaf in the wind. Amp and Crona immediately noticed the male black dragon on the giant pillow cushion struggling to rise up on his feet. His leafy bandages, arching spines at the base of his tail and serrated tail blade gave him a sinister and threatening appearance as he stared at the four dragons with his one visible eye. Amp snarled and jumped in front of Terra and Maya with his wings spread and head lowered to the floor.
"Amp it's all right!" Crona calls. "Don't hurt him."
The black dragon's eye fell on Crona. It was a near perfect royal blue against the pale dark scales of his face. The black dragon groaned and forced himself to stand upright.
"Don't! You'll hurt yourself!" Crona protested and made a step towards him. The black dragon snarled at her causing her to stop in her tracks.
"I suggest you listen to her." Amp raised up out of his fighting stance, hesitant on moving away from Terra and Maya. "You should be relaxing right now, your wounds haven't fully healed yet.
The black dragon looked at Amp, then Crona. He reared his head back and brought his tail blade around to his front. Crona watched in horror as he leveled the spikes that extruded from the main blade with his heart.
"No!" The white dragoness screamed as the black dragon went to collapse on top of his own tail blade. Suddenly the whole room stood still as Maya, Terra, Amp and the black dragon stood frozen in space. Crona rushed forward and rammed the black dragon in the chest with her horns. At the moment of impact she released her hold on time and the black dragon slammed hard against the back wall. He gave a loud astonished gasp as blood spilled from his throat and stained the leaf covering the laceration across his chest scales. Terra and Amp stood stunned as they watched the black body crumble to the floor in a mangled heap. Crona walked over to the dragon and stared down at him. The black dragon looked up at her with mournful eyes as darkness continued to take over.
"Why," he wheezed as more blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He opened his maw to say something else but what little strength had been in him was now gone. His eye closed and his muscles relaxed as he fell back into unconsciousness.
Crona stood dumbstruck before him. She had reacted on pure instinct and completely exposed herself in front of Amp and Terra. She looked over her shoulder expecting to see them staring at her but, much to her surprise, they had their eyes fixated on the black dragon crumpled on the floor. Terra still had her wing wrapped protectively around Maya who had her face buried in her sister's chest.
"What was that all about?" Amp asked curiously eyeing Crona. He felt like he had just blinked and the black dragon had been knocked backwards without Crona even moving.
"I have no idea." Crona shook her head as she stared down at the unconscious dragon. She ignored the fact that Amp was referring to her and trying to keep his attention directed on the wounded dragon. Deep down she felt a sick churning in her gut as she pondered the possibility of being found out.
"We'd better tell your dad about this." Amp said, turning back to Terra and Maya, making sure both girls were unharmed.
"What do we do with him?" Terra almost whimpered in fright as she looked at the black dragon. The expression on her face showed pure terror and Crona found herself more curious than concerned about Terra's reaction.
"I suggest we just move him back on the bed for now." The white dragoness sighed breaking herself of her curious nature for a moment. "Then we go get your parents and let them know."
"Alright." Terra nodded shakily.
"Why don't you two go out into the main chamber and wait for anyone to come home." Amp suggested. "No reason you two have to be burdened by this."
"Y-yeah." Terra murmured. "Good idea." She got up as Amp and Crona proceeded to hoist the black dragon off the floor and drag him over to the bed cushion again. Crona watched as Terra led Maya out of the room and glanced down at the black dragon. She suddenly felt extremely angry and disgusted in him. He had just tried to kill himself after being rescued from drowning. What made it even worse was that he had tried taking his own life in front of a dragoness no more than five years of age.
Crona growled to herself and let her end roughly fall onto the bed. Amp noticed but said nothing. He stared down at the black dragon with suspicious eyes before walking out of the room.
"So, our survivor has awakened?" Volcanus bobbed his head steadily.
It was late in the afternoon moving towards the early hours of the evening. Amp had rushed to the council hall to inform Nitrus of the black dragon's awakening which caused a flurry of agitation from the ice guardian. Nitrus had hurriedly left his seat in the circle and flown back to his home, bursting through the front doorway calling his daughters names. After finally calming him down Crona, Amp and Terra had followed him back to the council temple once Thundra returned to watch after Maya. The three young dragons all listened to Nitrus explain what they had told him with a grim taste in their mouths.
"It's good to see that our fellow dragon has survived." Kia nodded in agreement. "I must admit it did seem like the odds were stacked against him for a time there."
"More or less." Nitrus said under his breath. He glanced down at Crona and Amp. The lightning dragon stood close to his daughter and had a wing draped over her, holding her close. Crona on the other hand wore a stern glare as she eyed the council members . She did not like having to be in front of them despite realizing that they were ignorant of events to come. Her sky-blue eyes drifted over to the water guardian Cryus who smiled at her warmly, his gold armor glinting in the candlelight. Crona curled a lip slightly and averted her eyes.
Nitrus continued with his report. "He was asleep when I returned. But ultimately it is as you said, he has regained consciousness."
"And we welcome our fellow dragon back into the world of the living." Tectonica gave a half smile and Crona could immediately see how forced it was. There was a subtle tone in her voice that sparked a sense of caution from the white dragoness. "It's very nice to see he is as much of a survivor as the rest of us."
Crona almost scoffed aloud. "Yeah, if you count the fact he tried to kill himself after waking up." Nitrus and the council didn't hear her but Terra and Amp did. The two huddled closer to one another and Amp proceeded to make soft soothing whispers to Terra to keep her calm. To Crona, Terra seemed even more shaken up by the black dragon than little Maya. The grey dragoness hadn't left Amps side since they arrived at the temple.
Nitrus cleared his throat and looked Volcanus square in the eye. "Perhaps, now that he is somewhat better, we may look into the possibility of relocating him too another living facility."
"I would beg for you to let him stay a little longer Nitrus." Volcanus shook his head as if apologizing for suggesting the idea. "At least until he's fully recovered. Perhaps," he glanced at the other council members who locked their eyes on him. "Maybe we can educate him in our ways."
"Do you really believe that's a wise idea?" Tectonica asked suspiciously. "I mean," She glanced at Terra who looked away as if ashamed of some dark secret.
"It's the dragon way." Kia spoke up. "I know the circumstances of having the black dragon here. We all do." The other council members nodded alongside her. "But it would be more ethical of us to give him a chance before passing judgement."
"That is a foolish choice." Tectonica nearly spat causing Kia to rear back with her fangs bared. The earth guardian glanced at the younger dragons and lowered her voice as she leaned in towards the wind dragoness. "If we go along with that we may be setting ourselves up for disaster. Would you really want to jeopardize all of what we have just for the sake of being ethical?"
"I'm suggesting it," Kia hissed sternly. "Because we may be able to change what has been predicted! And for the better of all dragons everywhere!"
"That's enough, both of you!" Volcanus's voice echoed throughout the chamber. Kia and Tectonica fell silent and turned to the fire guardian. "We all know the circumstances that ride upon this decision." He leaned forward and looked at the white dragon on the crystal pedestal. "Master Sin, what would be your suggestion?"
Crona turned to look at the white, wingless dragon to see he had his icy white eyes locked on her. She froze and narrowed her eyes at him. Both white dragons shared a long tense stare as they sized each other up. Crona felt a growl resonate deep in her throat as she concentrated on the energy around her. Sin's energy was flowing gracefully around him; she could sense it. He was powerful but even she could outmatch him in any fight.
"I believe," Sin spoke up in a tone that sounded surprisingly like a child's voice. "That Master Nitrus should allow the black dragon to room with his family until he proves himself otherwise ready to leave."
There was a mild gasp from the council members as they looked at one another. Nitrus's jaw dropped as he looked at the oracle in dismay then back to Volcanus.
"Very well then." The blue fire dragon sat upright. "The black dragon shall remain in your care Master Nitrus until further notice."
"They can't be serious." Amp thought to himself. The very thought of the black dragon caused his quills to stand on end and emit slight charges of electricity. Terra felt the surge and yipped in surprise.
"Amp!" She scolded hurtfully.
"I'm sorry." The young dragon replied remorsefully and nuzzled her cheek. He looked over at Crona who was busy eyeing the guardians with a suspicious eye. The more she looked at them the more her eyes seemed to narrow. Amp wasn't sure if she fully knew what was going on but right now Crona was not his concern. His only priority right now was protecting his dragoness.
Thundra padded out of the storage room and into the guest room. Maya lay on her back, coiled into a little scaly ball between her shoulder blades. The little lightning dragoness was close to falling asleep but each time Thundra entered the guest room, Maya would raise her head alertly to peer down at the sleeping dragon.
"Dear, why don't you run off to your room and try and get some sleep." Thundra murmured softly after the fifth time.
"No! I don't want to! I want to stay with you!" Maya protested over energetically.
"You're getting tired sweetie. You need your rest."
"But I want to stay with you!" Maya whined even louder. This caused a soft murmur from the black dragon. Thundra turned away from her daughter and Maya squeaked in surprise. Slowly the black dragon's eye opened. The head of a large sleek yellow dragoness before him was blurry and he had to blink several times before he could focus on the mother before him.
"Good, you're wake." Thundra whispered gently so as not to alarm him. It was her own personal opinion that Maya being in the room had startled the black dragon in the first place; she was not going to make the same mistake.
The black dragon only opened his mouth slightly to take in a deep breath or air before sighing loudly. When he sighed the wind in the room picked up and blew several of the medicinal leaves around.
"Goodness," Thundra exclaimed mildly. "A wind dragon. What a rare sight you are." The black dragon only stared at her silently, his eye making quick movements around the room, taking in his surroundings. When he was sure of himself he started to move his right forelimb. "Oh no you don't." Thundra stopped him by placing a large talon on top of his paw. "You need to rest. No moving around for you until I say so." The dragon only stared at her silently. After a long awkward silence Maya peeked over her mother's shoulder. When the blue eye fell on her she ducked back out of sight. The black dragon didn't so much as twitch a muscle.
"Well then, I suppose since you're up we should get some food in
you." Thundra raised up and reached back with her tail to slide a fairly large bowl of fruits and meats forward. She also moved a dish of water up to the edge of the cushion so the dragon could drink from it. Much to her surprise he crawled forward a little and submerged his snout into the pan of water. Thundra watched with wide eyes as the black dragon inhaled the water into his maw. The cool soothing liquid was gone in a matter of minutes. When the pan was empty, the black dragon inhaled deeply, creating a vacuum into his mouth that sucked up the remaining droplets of water.
"Dear ancestors, you were thirsty!" Thundra nearly slapped herself in the head in surprise. The black dragon only rested his head back on the pillow and stared at the wall. He sighed again but didn't say anything. Thundra looked from the empty water dish to the food tray. "Aren't you hungry? You should eat. You've been without food for over a week, you have to be starving." The black dragon only blinked once and Thundra fell silent as well. She picked up the water dish in her talons and turned towards the curtain. "I'll be right back, I'm going to fetch you some more water." She looked down at the tray of fruits and meats then back to the dragon. "Do try to eat some though. A dragon your age needs to be eating as much as possible." She ducked under the curtain with Maya staring back over her tail before disappearing from sight.
The young dragon looked at the tray of food. He sniffed at it and immediately his stomach growled. He shut his eye until the hunger pains went away but continued to stare at the tray. He was definitely hungry, there was no doubt in his mind about that; but his desire to live was long gone. He could not bring himself to lean over and fill his stomach with life-giving nutrients. The black dragon sighed again and closed his eye and let himself start to slip away.
"He woke up again?" Nitrus's brows jumped in surprise and he stared down at the sleeping black dragon.
"He sure did," Thundra bobbed her head slightly then looked sadly at the tray of untouched food in front of the black dragon's nose. "He drank a full pan of water too."
"Did he say anything?" Crona asked as she kept her eyes fixed on the dragon's closed eyelid.
"Not a word. Just sighed over and over again." Thundra looked at her mate with a solemn stare. "It almost makes me think that he's gone through some horrible traumatic experience from the way he kept sighing on and on."
"That goes without saying." Crona thought to herself as she inspected the black dragon's chest wound. It had been cleaned and re-bandaged with fresh leaves since they had left that afternoon.
Nitrus stared down at the black dragon with an uncertain look in his eyes. He could hardly find it within himself to go along with the council's request seeing the upstart created by this dragon's awakening and the effect it had on his family. Thundra could sense the tension building up inside the ice guardian and planted a kiss on his cheek, snapping him out of his trance.
"We should get some rest. Perhaps he'll be more willing to talk tomorrow if he wakes up."
"Hm," Nitrus growled before turning away from the dragon. Thundra escorted him and Crona out of the room before blowing out the candles with a gentle swish of her wing.
The sound of crunching woke Crona from her sleep. The sound was subtle at first and it jolted her out of her sleep. She was about to dismiss the sound when another crunch brought her mind out of its slumber. The dragoness raised her head and looked around groggily. The crunching was soon replaced by a loud smacking noise and mild slurping. The white dragoness got to her feet with an irritated groan and staggered out of Terra's room and down the hallway. The noise was surprisingly loud yet no one else had woken up from it. The sound was coming from the guest room and Crona growled to herself.
"Oh great," She muttered in her mind. She crept up to the doorway and peeked in from behind the curtain. Inside the room, in the glow of the full moons was the black dragon. He had forced himself to rise on the pillow cushion and was gorging himself on the tray of food Thundra had left. He chewed down the succulent meats and devoured the fruits before licking up every morsel and scrap left. Once the tray was empty he lifted his head to the ceiling. Crona saw the way he winced in pain as he took in a deep breath and sighed, this time more in sad satisfaction rather than depression.
Crona's eyes widened when she saw the black dragon bring his tail blade to his front again and inspect it.
"No! Not again!" She screamed in her mind. She wanted to rush in and knock some sense into him but some part of her kept her from doing so.
The black dragon spent several long quiet minutes inspecting his spiked blade in silence. t last he took in a deep breath and sighed, closing his eyes and groaning in pain. He had no idea the white dragoness was watching him until she slipped gracefully under the curtain in the doorway.
"Planning on killing yourself again?" The black dragon jumped in surprise inciting another wave of pain to sweep through him. However he remained silent as Crona took a couple of bold steps towards him. "You know, you're lucky to be alive right now. If we hadn't been at the silver river that day you would have died for sure. But Amp carried you all the way back here and Thundra took care of you every single day. I know that you were attacked by apes and that's how I know you're lucky to have survived such an encounter." The black dragon only kept his stare fixed on the white dragoness's blue eyes. If he showed any sign of recognition or acknowledgment to her words, he didn't show it. "But after all the trouble we went through to rescue you and take care of you, you're ready to just throw it all away." Crona thrust a wing out to the side in angry frustration. "Without any consideration." She narrowed her eyes at the black dragon. "Do you have anything to say for yourself? Or do you even care?"
The black dragon was silent for a minute. Just when Crona was about to give up on expecting any sort of intelligent answer from him he spoke.
"You may as well have just left me for dead." He growled in a low voice. "You may have just been doing me a favor."
"That may be true." Crona nodded mockingly. "But next time be sure to leave a note so good dragons don't go out of their way to save you for no purpose."
The black dragon narrowed his eye at her. "Why did you stop me earlier? You don't know what I've been through. You don't know whether or not I wanted to be saved."
"True," Crona paused to think of an answer that would put the dragon in his place. "I'm not one to tell you how to live your life. But if you're going to kill yourself then do it elsewhere where no one has to clean up after you or your mess. And especially not in front of a little girl."
The two dragons continued to glare at each other curling their lips into silent snarls. At last Crona straightened up and gave a curt turn, the tip of her tail spade catching the tip of the black dragon's nose. The male dragon snarled and made a move to come after her but his legs were still weak and he fell onto the cushion. Crona smirked at him and raised the curtain with her wing barbs.
"I don't care what happens to you. But don't make others suffer because of your own misfortunes or your actions."
Before the black dragon could reply Crona disappeared behind the veil leaving him in silence with his mouth hung open. The dragon closed his mouth and looked down at his tail blade a several minutes and brought it to his chest yet again. The tip of his tail twitched in eager anticipation to plunge into his flesh but the stabbing pain never came. He looked up at the curtain to see if she was watching at all and then looked back down at his blade. After a loud sigh of despair he sank into the softness of the cushion.
"Damn it." He whispered to himself as tears streamed down his cheeks.
Outside the room Crona remained outside the doorway listening to what he would do next. When she heard him flop down with a dejected sigh she smirked to herself feeling triumphant in having gotten through to the black dragon.
The next morning Thundra walked into the guest room to see the entire tray of food picked clean and a pleased grin spread across her face.
