Lesson 1: Endurance

"Wow, just wow" Tristan bellowed as they walked on a stone path which led to the top of the mountain. He was trying hard to contain himself and not start jumping up and down like a child, thinking of the dragons flying above him and the adventures which would soon come.

Vertigo, who was flying above him, chuckled in his mind.

Too much sugar?, he offered and Tristan rose an eyebrow at that and smiled to himself. The rest of the riders in front and behind him did not seem perplexed by the sudden changes in his expression or mood. They were all dragon riders. They all had silent conversations with their dragons.

In front of him walked the head of the human race dorm, a woman who went by the name of Gwen. She was shorter than him, maybe by a head and she had a thin, muscled body. A river of dark brown curls reached her waist and touched her olive skin. He could not place her exact age but she looked to be no older than twenty years. Tristan often found himself staring at her figure as she climbed easily on the rocks that were next to the path. He had to keep clearing his throat and try hard not to blush because Vertigo was making teasing comments about his reaction to her. Close to Gwen, a human male rider, Gas, was climbing the rocks as well and looked to be in his thirties. Kayla was walking behind Tristan and Laer was at the end.

The dwarves, urgals and elves were walking ahead of them and Rikon kept stealing glances behind him. He hadn't been particularly happy to be put in a different dorm from his new friends in the beginning, but now he had started talking to some other dwarves and appeared to be more relaxed.

His sister suddenly shivered and almost missed a step but before he could turn and help her, Laer had already put a restraining hand behind her. He quickly removed it once Kayla was steady again and she shook her head.

"I am okay. Just tired" she said and swallowed. From above them, Tristan could see Aiedail flying lower, her gaze locked on the girl.

"I am glad you and Aiedail are getting along better" Tristan commented and smiled to her, just as he took another step upwards and she held tightly on a rock.

Kayla pressed her lips and nodded.

"Yes… We have an understanding" she replied looking up.

Finally, after what left like at least an hour of climbing and then going downhill they reached their destination, which was a green valley located in the centre of the island and surrounded by hills.

There were a few tall oak trees around and a river that flowed freely from the top of the snowy mountains, ending in a small lake. He could see the four buildings made to house the different races and each was placed in an environment which most resembled the one that the creatures had been brought up in.

At the end of one of the hills there were caves made for the dwarves and then a bit further down a building for the Urgals. The building for the human race stood close to the lake and was constructed in the elvish style but with slight influences from human, urgal and dwarven architecture. Surprisingly, most structures were made out of stone, not wood – even though they did have some wooden elements - and Tristan wondered why, since wood was easier to manipulate with magic than stone.

Wooden buildings would fare very poorly around creatures such as us. We do have razor-sharp claws and breathe fire after all. It would end badly for the wooden structures, Vertigo said, answering his question and appreciatively looking at his claws.

The only exception to this rule appeared to be the elven dorm which was inside the forest, higher up the hill, and was the only one made out of wood or rather the tree itself. It had individual taller structures at its back – as did all the dorm buildings - which were made exclusively out of stone and meant to house dragons.

In the centre of the valley, at the base of the dragon rider training centre, more stone buildings stood, all tall and grand. Stone paths connected the dorms to one another as well as to the base itself.

Gwen, their dorm master, followed one of these stone paths, reaching the human dorm and then walked inside. The riders followed her closely behind. It became apparent that the right part of the building housed the female riders and the left the males. As Tristan and Laer went to examine the building's interior they realised that their dragons had already settled inside the stone structures at the back and waited for them patiently.

Mmm… Very comfortable. And pillows!, Vertigo bellowed in his mind, looking appreciatively around him. Tristan smiled as well and saw that the inside had quite a lot of intricate wooden designs used for decoration, compared to the outside.

The riders' rooms were located on the first and second floor. The former floor also had a big room packed with food supplies and there were baths and something that very much reminded Tristan of steam rooms, though he wasn't sure, as he had never seen one.

Laer and Tristan quickly decided on their rooms and then followed the older human rider, Gas, as he showed them the facilities.

"…and don't forget to wash and shave every morning" he ended, pointing at the wash basins.

As soon as the older rider left heading to his space, Tristan walked to his room. There was a giant double bed in the middle and across him there was a large window which overlooked the place where Vertigo had curled up. Without further due he jumped on the bed and wasn't surprised to find that the mattress and pillows were extremely soft.

"It's…" he started and then he felt his dragon nudge his consciousness.

Amazing?, Vertigo added and opened one big black eye. Tristan smiled.

Yes… Amazing, he thought and felt his eyelids closing.

…

They woke up early the next morning. Kayla was used to sleeping during the day and being awake at night so she wasn't too bothered about it compared to her brother.

"But the sun hasn't even risen yet! Why are we up so early?" Tristan complained, rubbing his eyes while trying to follow them close behind.

"Trust me, you want the sun to be down for what we are about to do" Gwen said and Tristan looked at her quizzically.

Kayla wasn't sure what their first lesson would be exactly. She only knew that for today they would train separately from their dragons and she was glad for that.

She was following the human dorm leader as she took them higher on the mountain following the same path they had taken the previous day. They passed the forest and at the end of it they met the six young elven riders.

Out of the six of them, one elf stood out. He was tall, lean and agile, a characteristic of his elvish heritage and he had straight brown hair which reached his chin. His hair elegantly fell in front of his face but stopped just above his almost cat-like eyes. Kayla took in a breath of air just as Gwen, their dorm master, greeted him and the others.

The rest of the elves didn't look as enthralling. There were two twin girls with straight black hair that fell on their shoulders, two male elves, one with very short blond hair and the other with long, almost white hair and finally a woman which looked old for an elf and had pale blond hair as well.

Continuing their path upwards they passed the mountain caves, where they met up with the dwarves and then the urgals.

Once all the young riders had joined the group, Gwen took a left upwards turn and headed towards the volcano. Kayla wasn't surprised to see the elves and the urgals ahead of her - appearing not to struggle at all when walking upwards - and then the humans and the dwarves. She was the last one of the group and she could hear the conversations between her brother and the riders.

"Do you think they are going to throw us inside the volcano and ask us to fly or something?" Tristan asked Rikon.

The young dwarf shook his head, looked at the dark sky and swore under his breath.

"Barzul. It's too early for training and I better hope they don't do that, otherwise I will burn my beard" he said and stroked his facial hair.

Kayla smiled and Tristan rose an eyebrow at that.

"No offence but you don't have any facial hair yet. Which is a good thing considering we all have to be clean shaven" he said and smiled.

"You do, but dwarves can have beards if they so wish" Rikon said and smiled widely. Tristan was just about to reply to that but then Gwen raised her hand in the air and pointed next to the volcano crater.

Kayla looked to where the rider was pointing at and she could almost make out the outline of an Urgal. He walked quickly to where they were and pressed his arms over his chest. It was no one else than Stoic, who looked deadly serious and terrifying.

"We shall start easy today since none of you have done much - if any - training. Today we will run" the Kull said and flexed his muscles.

Tristan raised both his eyebrows.

"That's it? Running? No sword fighting, flying, magic or mind duels?" he silently asked Rikon, who appeared perplexed as well.

Kayla was just as confused as the two riders about their training and since she had not regained her strength fully she wasn't sure for how long she would be able to run for. She shivered unexpectedly and wished she had worn something warmer than the pair of leather pants and shirt she had found in her room's closet.

"You will go wherever I go. Whoever is left behind will have to complete the distance they didn't do today in the days to come. I suggest you don't fall behind" he warned and just like that he started running towards the volcano crater on the rocky path.

Kayla watched as the elves easily fell in step with him, the Urgals and older dwarves and humans following closely behind.

Tristan, Rikon and Laer started running as well.

Kayla took in a deep breath of air and gently pressed her right foot on the ground, then her left and then she went quicker trying to catch up with everyone else in front of her. She could feel her chest rising up and down, struggling to get enough air. Her muscles protested slightly and she still felt weak but she kept on going regardless.

The sun had started rising but the air still felt cold against her skin and every time she breathed, it felt as if a thousand ice needles were piercing her lungs. She shivered and almost lost her footing as they were descending towards a green, wet valley. Angrily, she shook her head and continued, following the people in front of her.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed but she could feel the sun on her skin, warming her up, but to an almost excruciating level. Kayla understood what the human dorm leader had been talking about when she had said that it would be better if the sun was down.

On a normal day the pace would have been easy to follow but they had been already running for a long time and her body was exhausted. She stumbled and this time she did fall on the ground, scratching her knees on a rock and she saw blood falling on the wet patch of earth.

She winced in pain, just as Tristan, Laer and Rikon paused and went to help her up. They all looked weary, with red cheeks, sweaty brows and trying to catch their breaths.

"You okay?" Tristan asked her, concern evident in his tone, as he put a hand behind her back and helped her up.

"Nobody stop! Otherwise whatever distance you haven't done today you will do tomorrow!" Stoic warned in a loud, almost mad voice.

Kayla pressed her lips together, feeling anger pumping inside her body. Somewhere, she could feel Aiedail's consciousness, but the dragons were too far away to be able to speak to their riders, so she could only sense feelings and see some images from her. Worry and annoyance emitted from the purple dragon.

"You! The four of you! Why have you stopped?" the Kull demanded, approaching them, his horns looking gigantic as the sun fell on them. The rest of the riders paused and watched the scene cautiously.

"My sister is a bit tired, she is still recovering" Tristan explained in a rather serious, protective manner and stood in front of her. Rikon and Laer stood a bit further away and Laer had his eyes closed as if concentrating really hard on something.

"We all have the same capabilities. Now, stop wasting my time and follow me!" Stoic continued and Kayla could feel resentment rising in her chest and a pressing need to scratch his yellow eyes out of their sockets.

"This is unfair! Urgals and elves are better suited to run – everybody knows this - and this is just our first day here!" Tristan bellowed as the Kull came closer to him, his shadow falling on all four of them, his gaze terrifying.

"We are all dragon riders here, boy! You think this is unfair? Life in unfair! Now keep up with the running! You need to teach your body to endure but it won't do so if your mind is stopping it. Your mind can endure anything and so can your body. This is your strength. Whatever happens you must keep on going! Do you understand?" he shouted angrily and Tristan pressed his lips together and nodded.

"If you want to stop, tell me and I will stop with you" he whispered in her ear but Kayla shook her head.

"No, I will run" she replied and she pressed her limbs to do so, even though they protested greatly and every muscle in her body felt like it was on fire. The only redeeming quality was that they were going down so it was easier on her lungs but not on her knees, which struggled to keep her upright.

More time passed and Kayla could now feel the sun's rays directly above her. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep on going. Her mouth felt dry and her tongue was like sandpaper. Sweat was covering every inch of her body.

Suddenly her limps felt weak and wobbly, like jelly and she fell on the ground, her eyes closing.

Kayla must have fainted because when she opened her eyes again Tristan and Laer were standing above her.

She saw Stoic's tall figure approaching and the rest of the riders moved to the side but they all had concerned expressions on their face. They looked to be in no better shape than the younger riders, with their cheeks red and puffy, sweat flowing freely on their skins.

"If you can't even run this long how will you be able to fight your enemies? How will you be able to save the ones you love? You won't. Think you will be in a much better state after a fight than what you are now? You will be like this and worse! Now run!" he screamed at her but his breath came out in a struggle and he quickly wiped the sweat from his brows.

Kayla didn't even make a single move to run and just returned his furious gaze with her own icy one, feeling a tiny spot inside her mind slowly coming back to life.

"Stoic-elda I think we have all had enough running for today. Besides it is their first day here…" Gwen started but the Kull raised a hand in the air and took in a deep struggled breath.

"Our biggest strength is to endure. Our biggest weakness is to give up" he screamed at the top of his lungs and then paused to take another breath.

"Tomorrow you will run twice this distance. I suggest you come prepared" he said in a more even, silent tone and run at the edge of the hill they had been standing on. He jumped from it only to land seconds after on his gigantic dark brown dragon – a size close to Saphira's – who spread his wings and flew high.

So yap this was a longer chapter than the previous one even though I tried to keep it to less than 3000 words. I am thinking of posting a new chapter every Sunday or Monday. Could you tell me in your review or pm if that's okay? Again, thanks for reading !