The Legend of Rune: Forsaken Blood

by Deeth Irteen

Four years have passed since the Malefor Ordeal has ended. Rune is enjoying life in his new home. However, things are not peaceful; new conflics have arisen across the dragon realms. The largest of which is Bergan, a purple dragon, and his daughter Tyrrany, a mysterious white dragoness. Rated M for mature themes and violence.

7. Act 1, Chapter 6

As a thunderstorm raged over the Mushroom Forest, it had terrible effects on the white dragoness.

As the hours passed, Tyrrany slept upon her mattress, tossing and turning to and fro beneath her covers. Her dreams were plagued with horrible memories; memories of the lowest point in her entire life. The faint pitter-patter of rain outside her window only served to further solidify the painful times she once faced, as did the wind blowing against the foliage just outside her window in the gardens and trees below.

Tyrrany mumbled to herself sadly, and tears fell from her eyes.

"Help me..." Her little voice called out. "Somebody? Anybody..."

It was in the middle of the night, during a storm even more terrible than any before or since. A powerful force of wind blew across the forest canopy, forcing many of the trees' branches to bend towards the south; some of them were even broken free and sent flying onwards.

The white dragoness was just a dragonling. Her limbs were short and chubby, and her talons were somewhat blunt-edged. She had very little hair on her head, and her four horns were only stubs.

Millions of ice-cold raindrops pelted the young girl's scales on all sides. The storm's winds blistered part of the dragoness's underbelly, and the lips on her muzzle were badly chapped. All four of her chubby limbs were drenched in black mud, as were most of her scales. The red glyphs on her body were dulled by the stains of mud and rainwater.

The little dragoness could barely see where she was going as she slowly made her way across the forest. Fear and sorrow engulfed her entire being as she tried to find shelter, and her belly was filled with pain from her increasing hunger.

The little dragoness didn't know how she ended up here, wherever here was. She didn't know anything at all: not even her name. All she could recall was breaking out of her egg, and finding herself in the middle of a puddle of slimy mud. Since then, she had been trying to find a place to hide from the freezing water, and also something to eat. Unfortunately, she had found little success in either department.

As she continued crawling through the thick mud, she wailed miserably, and the constant swath of rainwater upon her face hid her tears from view. Even though she could not speak, her mind was developed enough to form thoughts.

Help...

She couldn't stand this horrible way of living. She wanted to get out of this terrible place, and she was desperate for food. And yet, she was completely helpless and all alone.

Help me... Somebody...

The dragoness continued on her way until she came upon a hollowed-out log. The hatchling filled with relief as scampered around to the side to climb in.

Shelter... Finally...

The dragoness proceeded to climb into the log's opening and crawled deep inside it. She then came to a stop, started shifting around to get comfortable, and proceeded to lie down to get some sleep. For a few moments, she felt relaxation come over her.

Now I can get some sleep...

But soon, a low shrieking noise began filling the log and was coming from just behind her. The little dragoness immediately shook in fear.

What is that?

The young dragoness to find out what the noise was, and jumped in fright. Just behind her were at least six pairs of horrible, fiery red eyes. With a yelp, the dragoness turned and ran out of the log as fast as she could. As she did this, all of the red eyes chased after her, and once they were out of the log, they took the form of strange, furry, winged creatures, which all took to the skies and shrieked loudly.

The creatures weren't chasing the dragonling, but she ran as fast as she could, all the same, too afraid to turn back. As she ran through the mud and the weather, she cried miserably all over again.

Why am I alone? Why am I stuck here? The girl wailed once again. Why?

The little white dragoness continued fleeing through the canopy, completely overcome by her sorrow…

~~…~~

When the morning came, Tyrrany woke from her slumber in tears. She quickly sat up and looked around; she was lying on her mattress in her bedroom. She was safe.

"It was just a nightmare…" Tyrrany sighed, wiping the tears from her face. "I'm home."

Tyrrany got out of her bed and walked over to the large portrait by her window. Her eyes glanced upon the youthful face of her father in his teenage years. She sighed calmly, and a small smile formed on her face.

"You've done so much for me, Dad..." She stated solemnly. "I… I don't know if I can ever repay you for saving me."

Tyrrany turned her gaze to look at the remains of Elenar on the portrait. No matter how many times she looked at that portrait, Tyrrany's anger burned bright whenever she gazed upon it. But this time, Tyrrany growled in anticipation. After years of training her physical and magical abilities, the young dragoness would soon be able to hunt down the dragoness she believed to be the source of all her pain.

"We've suffered because of you." She spat with venom in her voice. "You broke my father's spirit and left me all alone. Well, you better beware, Mother… if you even deserved to be called that..."

Tyrrany reached out with a forepaw and slashed her talons through Elenar's visage with great vehemence, slicing several large gashes in the portrait.

"...I'm coming for you. And when I find you, you'll be sorry for everything you've done to us!"

After violating the portrait, Tyrrany turned around and approached her dresser. The dragoness spent the next half an hour preparing for the trip to Warfang. She put on a fresh disguise, and then packed an extra set of clothes into her satchel, along with a fresh container of purple makeup. She then packed up a few daggers, a map, a compass, and various other items she deemed necessary.

Tyrrany knew that getting to her mother Elenar would be no easy task. If the white dragoness was to have her vengeance, she would need a plan. And hopefully, Jonathan and that ridiculous gang of his wouldn't get in the way of things. Once all of this was over, she'd have to MARRY that imbecile. That wasn't going to be a fun ride. But things needed to be handled in order; dealing with her mother came first.

Tyrrany gathered all of her stuff together and then hung her satchel around herself. The last item she picked up for her adventure was her violin case. She ran her talons along the case's surface and nodded in satisfaction.

"No reason not to bring it along." She said. "After all; music helps me relax."

Tyrrany turned around and picked up her case in her mouth. She then returned to the doorway, turned the knob, and walked down the hallway, shutting the door behind herself with her tail.

As she made her way to the front of the building, she began to think again about her nightmare. She fought back a few tears and continued on her way.

It felt so real... as if I was alone all over again...

~~…~~

Flame was sound asleep in his bedchamber in his parents' mansion.

The mansion was built upon the eastern mushroom of the three giant stalks at the center of Faeshrine. The building stood five stories high and was made of a combination of marble and red Stone. It sat on the center of a platform that was as large as half a city block and was surrounded by a large, vibrant garden. A metal fence of black spikes ran about the platform's perimeter and stood about seven feet in the air.

Flame's bedchamber was fairly large, despite being relatively spacious. A circular mattress sat in the center of the room and was covered with various smaller cushions around the outer edge and a blue cloth blanket. A dresser made of light brown wood sat upon the eastern edge of the room, filled with a few sets of fine clothing. On the opposite side of the room was a large family portrait, consisting of Flame and his parents. A massive, glass window ran across a considerable portion of the far wall, letting in the sunlight as it approached from the east.

As the young dragon snored peacefully, a knocking came at his front door.

"Excuze me, zir." A female mole servant called from the other side. Flame mumbled a bit in his sleep, but stayed asleep. The servant knocked on his door once again. "Zir?"

When no response came, the mole was about to knock a third time. However, she was cut off by someone clearing her throat. The servant turned around and saw an adult fire dragoness standing before her.

"I'll wake him up." She dragoness said. "You go attend to your other duties."

"Az you wizh, Lady Melissa." The servant replied with a bow.

Melissa was Flame's mother. An elegant black cape was worn over her vibrant scales. She adjusted her spectacles as she stepped forward to open her son's door.

Melissa sighed as she looked down at the sleeping young dragon. She pulled away the covers and shook him awake. "Come on, Flamaedelus. Time to get up."

The young dragon grunted irritably and shifted around. With a sigh, his mother shook him even harder and turned on the lights in the room.

"HEY!" He exclaimed, getting groggily onto his feet. "What's the big-?"

Flame soon found himself looking his mother in the eyes, and Melissa cleared her throat. Immediately, the younger fire dragon slid onto the floor and chuckled nervously.

"Uh... Hi, Mom." He said sheepishly.

"Get ready for the day, Flamaedelus." Melissa prodded him in the chest. "President Bergan will be expecting you around noon."

"Alright…" Flame walked around his mother and approached the dresser. He shook his head to remove the tiredness from his mind.

Despite his father's insistence that Flame not get a coin of his family's wealth until he reached an appropriate age, the young dragon wasn't forced to go without all the luxuries of nobility. He was allowed to have and wear fine clothing, was attended to by his parents' butlers and servants while in their home, and even received the same fine tutoring that most noble children were granted. But despite this, it was made clear that these luxuries would be taken away from him if he proved to be overly dependent on them. And that was why Flame tried not to get too attached to any of them.

The young dragon grabbed a fresh brown cloak and scrunchie from a dresser drawer and his brown goggles from the top of it. He stood in front of a mirror and took his time preparing himself for the day. Melissa, meanwhile, approached from behind with a serious expression.

Flame frowned. "What's wrong, Mom?"

"I've been informed that Bergan's assigning you to be one of his daughter's bodyguards during your trip to Warfang."

"Uh, yeah." Flame responded, pulling his cloak over his torso. "I'm supposed to keep her from getting hurt."

"Seems like a waste, if you ask me." Melissa snorted. "That girl has proven to be perfectly capable of defending herself."

"I suppose so, Mom." Flame shrugged. "But if the President tells me to do something, I do it."

"Fair enough." The dragoness nodded, while Flame placed his goggles over his neck. "Though sometimes I worry about you, Flamaedelus."

"How come, Mom?" The younger dragon had just pulled his hair through his scrunchie.

Melissa stepped up to stand before her son. "I understand that you two are friends, but you probably shouldn't get too attached to the President's daughter."

"Too attached?" Flame grabbed a satchel from the corner of the room and put it on his back. "What do you mean?"

"Flamaedelus," Melissa gave him a pitiful look. "There isn't really any other way I can put it: she can't be your girlfriend."

Flame tensed up. He took a deep breath as the words bounced around in his head. It was the absolute worst thing he could have heard his mom say.

"Well… err… Why not?" Flame stopped to look up at his mother with a slight scowl. "What would be your number one reason? Is it because Tyrrany's a white dragoness?"

Melissa balked, and then pursed her lips. "Of course not, Flamaedelus; that has nothing to do with it!" She leaned in to poke him on the muzzle. "It's because she's BETROTHED."

"Oh…" Flame groaned. He looked himself in the mirror to finish sprucing up. "To be honest, Mom… I really don't think it's going to happen."

"And why not?" Melissa demanded.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Flame asked as he brushed his mane. "Tyrrany hates Jonathan's guts. Do you honestly think she'll want to have kids with him? Let alone run an entire company with him?"

The dragoness sighed in irritation. "Flamaedelus, even if it's true that Tyrrany finds Prince Jonathan detestable, she's STILL going to marry him."

"Why?" Flame exclaimed defensively. "If she doesn't want him, doesn't she have a right to say no?"

Melissa growled at her son, which made him flinch. "Do NOT raise your voice to me young dragon!"

"Sorry, Mom." The young dragon replied softly as he bowed his head. The dragoness sighed to calm down a bit.

"But to answer your question…" She took a breath to calm down. "In a few ways, Tyrrany does not have much say on the matter. The union of Aeroshard and Faeshrine is all-important for the future, and the marriage between the two cities' heirs is the ideal way for the said union to unfold. Lady Tyrrany knows and accepts this, as do most of us. You should do the same, Flamaedelus." She lowered her head down. "Like you said: When President tells someone to do something, they do it if they know what's good for them."

The young fire dragon groaned: he'd set himself up for that. And now Flame couldn't come up with another counter-response that didn't give away how he REALLY felt. All he could do was take another breath and try to finish freshening up without drawing his mother's ire.

"I… I'm almost ready to go, Mom." He said in defeat. "Do you need me to do anything before I head to the caravan?"

"Not off the top of my head, no." Melissa moved toward the doorway. "In fact, there are a few things I need to do myself before I go meet up with your father at the docks."

"Hmm?" Flame turned to look at her curiously. "Are you going somewhere, too?"

"We have a… business trip soon," Melissa said as she stepped outside.

"Where to?" Flame hurriedly made to follow after her. The dragoness didn't respond; she only took a deep breath and kept walking forwards. Flame grimaced as he trotted behind her. "Mom?"

"It.. doesn't concern you, Flamaedelus." She said sternly. "Come: We must be on our way."

"Uh, okay Mom."

Flame became silent as he followed Melissa down the hallway. Along the way, he sighed a few times and shook his head.

I guess I'll ask the President when I see him next.

~~…~~

"Clara, dear," Bergan scolded lightly, "Please let go of your sister's mane."

Bergan was in his office; He sat on his haunches upon the floor behind his desk, with his tail wrapped around his legs. He was joined in the room by all of his nursemaids, as well as his children (save for one). Bergan was well aware that he wouldn't be seeing his children for quite some time after he left with Tyrrany on business. So, what better time was there to spend a bit of quality time with the rest of his children? And, of course, their mothers were all too happy for the chance.

Joseph had climbed up onto his father's back and was hugging the purple drake's thick neck as best he could. Niccolo and Louise were within reach of Bergan, playing with piles of blocks and cooing. Clara and Ethel were seated just to the side of their father; the earth dragoness was tugging on his sister's mane and pulling it tightly, making the fire dragoness yelp.

"Clara, stop!" Ethel shifted left and right to try and get free. But Clara only giggled and kept pulling.

Eventually, Bergan had to step in by bringing his forepaw down and grasping his daughter's paws in such a way as to make her let go. Clara looked up at her father sheepishly, while Ethel rubbed her head and glowered at her.

"You're such a jerk, Clara!" She yelled.

"No no no, Ethel," Bergan stated, waving a talon in the air. "That's no way to speak to your sister."

"But she pulled my mane again!" Ethel protested. "You saw her, Dad!"

"I know, but you shouldn't talk to her with such foul words." The purple dragon turned to look the earth dragoness in the eyes. "And Clara, you know it's not nice to yank on your siblings' manes like that, right?"

"Yes, Daddy," Clara said quietly.

"Are you going to tell Ethel you're sorry?" Bergan asked, an eye ridge raised.

"Okay..." She turned to look into her sister's eyes. "I'm sorry, Ethel."

"That's my girl." The purple dragon looked over at the fire dragoness. "Now, what do you say, Ethel?"

"Uh... it's okay, Clara." Ethel mumbled.

.

"There." Bergan declared with a smile. "Everything's all better now."

The purple dragon reached out and ruffled both dragoness's manes with a forepaw, which made them giggle. Joseph giggled as well as he hugged his father's neck tighter.

"Ugh…" Bergan gagged a bit. "Joseph, you need to be more careful; you're on the verge of choking your poor father."

"Sorry, Dad…" Lightning dragon shrugged as he loosened his grip. "But it's not every day that you're in town. How else am I supposed to practice climbing?"

"Doesn't your mother help you?" Bergan asked.

Joseph's ear frills drooped. "Kind of…"

"Hmm…" Bergan scratched his chin. "Perhaps, if there's time, I'll have a little talk with her about-"

CRASH!

Bergan's eyes widened; he quickly shifted his forepaw to put it behind Louise's back. The flora dragoness had nearly toppled over after a stack of blocks fell over and pushed her. Niccolo had been preparing to make a tower, only to gasp at the carnage.

"You two need to be more careful," Bergan said as he gently put Louise down. "You nearly scared your poor father half to death."

The two frowned at him for a moment, before carefully gathering up the blocks to try building something else. Bergan couldn't help but sigh, and he lightly patted both of them on the head.

This was very much how things went for some time. Bergan tried to get some last-minute work done, while also spending some quality time with his darling children. But while the rest of the bunch happily played around and upon their father, Bergan's oldest son was off to the side. Frederick sat at a smaller desk and went over some music sheets for his piano. He slumped down and he tried to concentrate, only to sigh and start from the beginning. This happened several times, which made Bergan frown.

"Frederick, my boy…" Bergan said to get the golden-scaled boy's attention. "Why don't you put those away and come join your family?"

"I…" Frederick sighed and turned to look at his father. "I guess I'm waiting for Annie to get here."

"Ah, I see…" Bergan stroked his beard. "I suppose that's only fair. Though you won't have much time left after she gets here."

"I know…" Frederick sighed again. His siblings looked at him uneasily and then turned toward Bergan.

"What do you mean there's not much time left, Dad?" Clara asked worriedly.

"Well, I'll have to leave soon," Bergan explained. "Your Daddy's got a lot of important work to do."

"Can't we go with you, Daddy?" Ethel asked pleadingly.

"Yeah." Joseph agreed. "You never let any of us go with you, Dad."

"I'm sorry, little ones." Bergan lamented. "But I can't take any of you with me."

"Aww." The three younger children said sadly. Frederick only sighed and bent his head low.

"But why?" Clara asked, tearing up a little.

"Daddy's work can get very dangerous sometimes," Bergan answered. "I wouldn't want any of you to get hurt."

"What about Tyrrany?" Ethel asked with a little pout. "How come you always take her places?"

Bergan sighed. "Tyrrany is a little... different, sweetie." He patted Ethel on the head. "Plus, she's a lot older than you. You wouldn't completely understand."

As luck would have it, right as Bergan was saying this, Tyrrany opened his office and peered inside.

"Good morning, Dad." The dragoness said flatly. "I'm ready to leave."

"Ah, just who we were talking about." Bergan declared. "Come on in, dear."

Tyrrany pushed the door all the way open and walked across the office. Upon seeing her, the nursemaids bowed their heads.

"Good morning, Milady." They said together.

"Hi." The cloaked dragoness replied halfheartedly.

As she approached, Bergan carefully lifted Joseph off his back and sat him gently on the floor beside his siblings. He smirked and leaned down to the younger children as he carefully picked up Niccolo and Louise.

"Why don't you all greet your older sister?" He suggested with a wink.

Tyrrany was halfway to her father's desk when she heard this. She tensed up and froze in place as Clara, Ethel, and Joseph all rushed around the desk. One by one they slammed into her forelegs and wrapped themselves around her. Tyrrany's purple face flushed a bright pink as her three younger siblings hugged her.

"Morning, Sis!" Clara exclaimed as she brushed her head against Tyrrany's chin. Ethel and Joseph made their signs of affection by walking around their sister and brushing themselves against her legs, their tails raise into the air like kittens.

Tyrrany just sighed and put on a patient smile. "Hello, guys."

As Tyrrany walked forward, her three younger siblings followed after her. Tyrrany sat down on her haunches by the front desk as Bergan sat down in front of her. Off to the side, Tyrrany noticed that Frederick was approaching her cautiously.

"Uh… H-Heya, Sis." Frederick bowed his head a bit. Tyrrany sighed pity.

"Heya, Squirt." She said, using a forepaw to rub Frederick's head a bit. The golden-scaled youngling smiled at this a little.

"Do… Do you think we have enough time to play one more song together today?" Frederick asked her.

"Hmm…" Tyrrany bit her lower lip; she just couldn't shoot down any request her brother made. She turned to look at her father. "Dad, do you know what time we're leaving?"

"Why do you ask? Eager to get going?" Bergan raised an eye ridge.

Frederick frowned, while Tyrrany sighed. "I mean I want to know how much time is left." She rubbed Frederick's mane again. "I want to take some time to do a duet with the Squirt, here."

"I understand." Bergan nodded. "Unfortunately, I was just about ready to get up and go before you walked in the door."

"Oh…." Tyrrany nodded. "I see…" She looked down at her brother and frowned. "I'm sorry, Squirt. Looks like there isn't time."

"Okay…" Frederick bent his head low and sighed in disappointment. Tyrrany felt awful seeing him like this; she wanted to drape a wing over his back, but couldn't move it out from under her cloak.

"Here, why don't you walk with me while I'm heading outside?" Tyrrany suggested. She stood up to turn around, only to grunt in pain as Joseph scrambled to climb up onto her back. Tyrrany's legs trembled as she struggled to adjust to her brother's weight.

"Don't leave already!" Joseph pouted. He wrapped his wings around Tyrrany's neck and locked his wing-thumbs together.

"Joseph, watch it." Tyrrany scolded. She took a step forward, only for Clara and Ethel to cling to her tighter.

"Can't you play with us for once?" Ethel asked sadly. "You only ever spend time with Freddy."

"Uh…" Frederick grimaced. "N-Not that I like taking up your time, Sis."

Tyrrany sighed and looked down at her siblings; they all gazed at her rather sadly. Try as she might to be angry… she just couldn't bring herself to snap at them. Tyrrany looked back at Bergan as he held the twins tenderly in one foreleg.

"How much time do we have before the caravan leaves, Dad?"

"The caravan leaves when I say it leaves." Bergan chuckled as he stood up. "But we can't be delayed for too long; business is business."

"Aww…" The younger dragons all frowned again. Tyrrany frowned a bit as well. On a whim, she leaned down and nuzzled Clara and Ethel on their foreheads.

"Listen, why don't you all walk with us?" Tyrrany suggested. "That way you can all say your goodbyes when Dad and I leave with the caravan. Okay?"

The younger cubs perked up a little bit, and Joseph loosened his grip on his sister's neck. Frederick, however, still frowned; He stepped up beside Tyrrany and nudged her a bit.

"So, there's really no time for the two of us to play another duet?" He asked uneasily.

Tyrrany sighed. "No, Squirt. There isn't time…" She rubbed her brother on the head again. "But when I'm in Warfang, I'll play some music on my violin for you. Okay?"

"Okay…" Frederick smiled a bit. "And I'll play my piano for you, Sis."

Bergan walked up to a nursemaid and carefully handed her Niccolo and Louise. He then leaned down to tenderly nuzzle their foreheads, making them giggle.

"Alright, everyone…" Bergan said as he turned toward the office door. "Let's get going."

Tyrrany and Frederick were the first to follow the purple dragon out of the office. Next went the younger siblings, and finally the nursemaids. Each dragoness walked beside their respective child, with Frederick's mother holding a patient smile as her son stayed beside Tyrrany.

~~…~~

Rune hit the floor hard, his sword crashing a short distance away. The prince grunted in pain as another sword blade was pointed at his neck, a mere inch away from piercing his flesh. The wielder of the sword sighed sadly and stepped back a bit.

"Six seconds, prince," Apella said with disappointment. "It took me six seconds to disarm you and render you helpless."

Rune sighed and picked himself up. "Sorry, Apella."

The two were in the center of the training arena of the Dragon Spire. The arena was of massive size, and completely circular. Statues of ancient dragons, five in all, stood on various sides of the room, each one an almost exact likeness of one of the ancient dragon Guardians who used to teach in the old temple. Ignitus, Terrador, Volteer, and Cyril seemed to stare down in judgment at the prince, ashamed that a black dragon would be such a poor student. Rune shuddered and looked away from them… only to find himself gazing at the biggest statue of all at the far wall: The one of Lord Spyro. The ominous amethyst structure had such an imposing and cold face; Rune could feel a shiver run down his spine just looking at his ancestor.

"Prince?" Apella asked as she prodded his shoulder. "Hello? Dragon realms to Prince Rune?"

Rune grunted and blinked his eyes before looking up at the Deep Shadow. "S-Sorry, Apella."

"Sorry, sorry, sorry…" Apella repeated, an eye ridge raised. "Your highness, there is no 'sorry' on the battlefield." She walked across the arena and adjusted her stance. "If I were a real opponent, you would be long dead by now."

Rune winced as he picked his sword up with his jaws. Many stories were shared by the Deep Shadows of how the sword's previous owner, the late King Baneth, could use his dark magic to make the sword levitate and fly through the air. Rune was nowhere near that level of mastery of his magic; thus, he had to learn to fight with it in his maw. And boy did the hilt taste awful.

Apella held a patient face as she stood at the ready. "Prince Rune, I know very well that you haven't spent much of your life training to wield a blade. Few dragons do these days. That's why I don't expect you to manage to defeat me in a training duel any time soon."

"I know, I know…" Rune slurred around his sword.

"However, I at least expect you to put up a decent fight," Apella said sternly. "I don't want to simply gain the upper hand in under half a minute."

"Well, can't you go easy on me?" The prince asked.

"I have been 'going easy on you." The golden dragoness declared. "I've adapted my fighting style to accommodate a being of your lack of prior training."

"No, I mean, why don't you let me win every once in a while?" Rune demanded.

"Certainly not." Apella scolded and wrinkled her muzzle. "My primary objective is to make you a master swordsman. And mastery takes great work and discipline. I may alter the challenges to match your level of skill, but I won't give you free passes to success." She fanned out her wings. "If and when you defeat me, it will be of your own efforts. Do you understand, Your Highness?"

"Yes, I understand," Rune said glumly.

"Good. Now then, we shall begin once again." Apella turned her gaze toward the upper row of seats. "Wraith, if you please…"

The crimson dragon had been watching the training the whole time. He rose from his cushion and stretched out his wing. "Alright, alright. Hold on a sec…"

Wraith waved a forepaw through the air for a moment. As he did this, Apella's and Rune's swords became surrounded by a thick, black aura. Rune spread his wings and lifted himself into the air, and turned his head from side to side to prepare for the training.

"What are we using these auras for again?" He asked. Apella lifted herself into the air while Wraith spoke.

"The spell creates a small shield of energy around the blades." The crimson drake pointed a forepaw at Rune's blade. "It allows you two to strike each other with the swords, without cutting each other into bloody stumps."

"Aye." Apella agreed, getting into a fighting stance similar to Rune's. "Now then, before we begin, I want you to review and recite the basics of your swordplay that I've taught you up until now."

"Again?" Rune grimaced.

"Yes, again." Apella nodded insistently.

"Okay…" Rune said glumly. He cleared his throat as he recited what he learned. "Never blindly point your sword at something you don't intend to attack. Be mindful of those around you, allies and enemies alike."

"Correct." Apella nodded.

"Also, a sword-wielder must be always moving, lest you give the enemy an opening."

"Mhm." Apella smiled.

"And most importantly…" Rune sighed. "A sword-wielder must never stop learning. There's always a new tactic or strategy that they can add to their repertoire… or something."

"Close enough." Apella clicked her tongue. "Now, let's move on to the next part of the training for the day."

"Okay…" Rune forced himself into one of the various practiced stances she'd taught him.

"We'll have the standard training duel," Apella said. "Your goal is to disarm me and only disarm. No using magic-"

"Then I've already failed," Rune said, shaking his sword for emphasis.

"…No using your OWN magic. Apella continued with a huff. "No horns and no talons, either: you need to focus entirely on fighting with your sword. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Rune nodded.

"Good." Apella looked at Wraith. "You know what to do."

"Right." The crimson dragon stated. He cleared his throat and made his voice as loud as he could. "Three... Two... One... BEGIN!"

In a flash of movement, Rune and Apella charged at each other. The sounds of steel hitting steel filled the air. Apella was, naturally, a bit faster than the prince, though she mostly preferred to fight on the defensive. Rune, meanwhile, dashed around the Deep Shadow as he tried to slash his sword at her. Several times his blows were blocked, and more than once he was pushed backward.

Time and time again, Rune circled around Apella. He tried everything he could to knock that sword out of her maw. But she was just too fast; every single blow he tried to deal with was blocked or parried.

Nothing I do is working! Rune scowled as their blades clashed again. This is so frustrating! I swear, she's just toying with me!

Or you just suck, Runefor chided. Rune hissed and charged forward with greater speed. But this only resulted in him being deflected and blocked even faster.

"Come now, Prince." The dragoness scolded. "Relying on berserker tactics will get you nowhere."

"Well, what else am I supposed to do?" Rune demanded. "I can't win without my magic!"

"Hey, calm down," Apella said. "This is only a training exercise; it's not a life or death fight."

The more Rune and Apella clashed their swords, the more frustrated Rune became. Sure, he wasn't disarmed, but he never came any closer to dislodging Apella's sword from her maw.

"How are you able to remain calm?" He demanded as he attacked again.

"One must remain calm when wielding a bladed weapon of this size." The Deep Shadow replied, deflecting the blow. "Also, one must keep their mind clear of distractions on the battlefield, including practice battles." She side-stepped his attack and backed up. "For example, pay no attention to that nasty wound you have."

"Huh?" Rune stopped to look himself over. "What wound?"

Apella bonked the prince's forepaw with the flat end of her sword, making him yelp in pain. The black sword fell from Rune's maw and clattered on the ground. Apella then backed up and pointed her sword at Rune's neck, making him flinch in fright.

"You're dead again, prince." Apella scolded.

"Oh, come on!" Rune snapped. "You cheated!"

"I warned you about distractions, prince." The Deep Shadow declared.

Rune was about to speak, but Wraith forcibly cleared his throat, drawing the other's attention.

"I have to side with the prince on this one," Wraith said as he stood up.

"Excuse me?" Apella stuck her snout in the air.

"Intentionally misdirecting your student is more than a little cheap, Apella." The crimson drake snapped.

"The method I use to teach the prince is no concern of yours, Wraith," Apella said with a huff.

"Yes, it is." Wraith snapped. "Don't get me wrong: I understand how you're trying to show the prince that success isn't handed out on a silver platter, but now you're just hitting him with the platter."

"This is how MY teacher taught me swordplay, Wraith." Apella snapped back at him. "There was plenty of warning to the deception beforehand; the point was for the prince to make note of that and-"

CLANG!

The prince smacked the sword out of Apella's maw. She gasped as it fell onto the floor by her forepaws. While she wasn't looking, the prince picked up his sword to strike again.

"I did it!" The prince declared. "Finally!"

"Uh…" Apella fell back onto her haunches. "Good work?"

"Ah, I get it now!" Wraith chuckled. "You created your OWN distraction so that Rune could learn from his own mistakes!" He clapped his forepaws. "Not bad."

"Gah… Err…" Apella became quite flustered; her golden cheeks began to turn a shade of pink. She took a deep breath to calm herself and stood regally on all fours. "I'll consider that a victory on your part, my prince… Good work."

"Are we done with this for the day, then?" Rune asked. He placed his sword on his belt, and then picked up the other sword to present it to her. She took the blade from him and snorted in slight annoyance.

"Very well…" Apella put her sword in her hilt and sighed. "For the day, at least."

With a wave of Wraith's forepaws, the magic surrounding the drakes' swords vanished. Rune wasted no time turning around to get out of that blasted arena.

"Are you just going to leave without saying goodbye?" Wraith snorted.

Rune lowered his head and groaned. He then turned around and took a regal pose. "I, uh… I bid farewell for the day. Thank you for the… uh, training, Apella."

"You're welcome." Apella put on a patient smile. "Go retrieve your belongings and be on your way. I'll see if I can schedule another sword-training session with you before you leave for Glenhaven."

"Uh, okay…" Rune bowed his head toward his teacher. He put his sword in the scabbard on the side. "I'll be on my way, then."

"Be sure to be back here in a few hours with your brother for your Magic training," Wraith called after him. Rune slowed to a stop and sighed with his head low.

"Okay, Wraith…" Rune said behind himself. He then picked up the pace to trot out of the arena before either Deep Shadow said anything else.

Once the prince was gone, Wraith spread his wings to glide down to the arena. Apella cast him a slight sneer before walking forward out the opposite gate. As the two left, the floor rumbled and opened up. A massive statue of Lord Spyro, even bigger than the one holding up the ceiling, emerged to fill up the arena; it was rather gaudy, in Wraith's opinion.

"You're rather brutal, you know that?" Wraith asked with a snort.

"How so?" Apella demanded.

"The way you train the prince in swordsmanship hasn't been too easy for him," Wraith said. "I don't see why you need to resort to cheap tricks to make him fail."

"I'm not making him fail; I'm testing his awareness." The golden dragoness snapped. "In a fight, there's always a chance that one's opponent is trying to get the better of you." She flapped her wings indignantly. "The prince needs to be aware of that, or he could get himself killed."

"Yeah, sure." Wraith rolled his eyes. "Next you'll tell me that you only pretended to be distracted so he had a chance to smack your sword out of your chops."

"That was an accident on my part." Apella huffed. "I can't believe I let you distract me with an argument…" She glared at him. "Speaking of which, I'd appreciate it if you didn't make snide comments about my teaching methods right in front of him."

"It wasn't that bad." Wraith replied. "At the very least, he can see that even the most highly-trained of warriors can still make slight mistakes here and there."

"Like the mistake of angering a dragoness skilled in Solar magic?" Apella looked down her snout at the crimson drake. Wraith could only laugh at that.

"Calm down, lady." Wraith flapped his wings. "Maybe next time you smack the prince around I'll keep my trap shut… if you promise to give him more windows of success, every now and then. The kid needs some morale boosts if he's going to get any better."

"I'll think about it…" Apella sighed. She came to a stop in a hallway that went in two directions. "I've got work to do elsewhere. Good day, Wraith."

"Yeah…" Wraith nodded. "I've got a class to teach in about an hour myself. See ya around, Apella."

Wraith snapped his fingers and vanished in a cloud of smoke. Apella, meanwhile, sighed and made her way out the western doorway. What a day.

~~…~~

Rune didn't want to admit it. But the truth was that his days in Warfang had become routine.

After eating lunch in the cafeteria, he tried to blend in with the crowd of students going about their days. Unfortunately, being a black dragon, a lot of eyes were always upon him. Shadow-jumping around the Spire only got him so far; he needed to be able to see where he was going to avoid any accidents. And going in and out of pools over and over only made him sick. Thus, he had to stick to walking around, hoping he didn't draw too much attention to himself.

He'd walk near the walls, keep his head low, and still, there'd be young dragons trying to draw his attention. For the most part, he'd smile, wave, and even have polite conversations. But more often than not, Rune wished he could go back to the days when he wore a shroud of darkness, and pretend he was only an average fire dragon.

Why can't they just leave me be? Rune grimaced. Can't they see I need to get to class?

"Hey, Rune!" Someone called. The prince was about to glare in their direction, but he blinked in surprise when he realized it was Chalice. Rune sighed a bit and stood up to smile as they came to a stop before him and grinned.

"The others were wondering where you'd gotten off to." Chalice said. "Why are you all alone over here?"

"I'm just trying to keep myself scarce, like always." Rune shrugged.

"Well, maybe other students would leave you be if you stuck to a group." Chalice snorted. "You know the apprentices are always willing to give you a paw, right?"

"I guess so…" Rune said. "Do you know where they are?"

"They're halfway to the gym." Chalice moved to Rune's side and brushed a bit of mane out of their face. "I can even escort you there if you'd like."

"Yeah, okay…" Rune sighed and followed Chalice down the corridor. "So, where is Cyrus?"

"He's right down the hall." Chalice nodded. "He was waiting for you to-"

WHAM!

Rune and Chalice gasped; someone had been slammed against a wall. A bunch of nearby students gasped, making Rune and Chalice take off into a trot to investigate.

"What the…?"

They discovered that a water dragon had been slammed against a wall; he groaned as he rubbed his face. The blue drake looked up worriedly, where he saw Prince Cyrus scowling furiously. Cyrus stood with his limbs spread out and his wings flapping. The prince growled as he loomed down over the water drake. Rune and Chalice exchanged uneasy glances before rushing toward the scene as a crowd formed nearby.

"Still think I'm a girl, chump?!" Cyrus hissed; his cheeks were bright reddish pink.

"It was an honest mistake!" The water dragon pleaded. "I'm still new around here! I didn't mean anything bad by it, Princess-"

Cyrus gave a deathly glare, which made the water dragon yelp in fright.

"Prince, Prince!" The blue drake said quickly. "I meant Prince, I swear!"

"Yeah, sure you did..." Cyrus snorted. He leaned down and glared daggers at the dragon. "That still doesn't change the fact that you grabbed my arse!"

"He did what?" Chalice balked. Rune could hardly believe his ear frills… though the sounds of giggling students from all around seemed to cement it. Cyrus's cheeks flushed more, and he glared around at them.

"Wow…" Said the familiar voice of a wind dragoness. Brisa zipped through the crowd and came to a stop a short distance from Cyrus. "Did he really? That's hilarious!"

"It's not funny!" Cyrus yelled as he pointed a talon at Brisa's snout." You wouldn't like it if this creep did the same to YOU, would you?!"

The blue dragon gulped and sank lower. Cyrus turned back around and looked ready to punch the student's lights out. Rune grimaced and made to step forward to stop his brother… only for Chalice to stop him.

"What are you doing?" Rune demanded. "Do you really want Cy to-"

"Cyrus, cool it!" Someone yelled from across the way.

Rune gasped and looked down the hall: It was Tina, who was scrambling to rush to Cyrus's side.

"I think this is under control." Chalice whispered to Rune. "Just wait a bit."

Two others were just behind Tina; Holly and Ricin. The dark-yellow dragoness came up and tugged on Cyrus's foreleg, while Holly made to step beside Brisa.

"What happened?" Holly asked.

"Cyrus just had his rear end pinched by a new student." Brisa snickered. Holly and Ricin gasped; the former covered her muzzle as her eyes shrank, while the latter cast a glare down at the water drake.

"You want me to teach him a lesson for ya, Cy?" Ricin asked, trying to sound big and tough.

"Oh no, you don't!" Tina yelled. She flicked Ricin on the side of his head. She then threatened to do the same to Cyrus, who winced.

"Hey, cut that out." Cyrus backed up a bit.

"No, YOU cut it out." Tina glared at him. "As one of the older apprentices, it's my job to make sure that YOU, my prince, don't make a complete arse of yourself."

Cyrus's eyes widened. "But, he-"

"Apologized." Tina interrupted as she gestured toward the student with a wing. "He said sorry, and he IS sorry. So CAN IT already, before you get into REAL trouble."

Cyrus's jaw fell open in disbelief. He looked over a Ricin, rubbed his head, and pouted. Brisa was enjoying the show, while Holly stood in the back and watched worriedly. Finally, Cyrus looked down the other hall and finally saw Rune and Chalice. Rune shook his head pleadingly… which made Cyrus sigh in defeat.

"Alright. Fine…" Cyrus flapped his wings and turned to leave. "I'm done with this guy. Just forget it."

Cyrus only paused long enough to flash a glare at the water dragon, who winced again. The prince then just snorted and walked down the hall.

"Cyrus, wait up!" Ricin called. The indigo drake paused just long enough to flash his own glare at the newcomer before trotting after the prince. Tina was the third to leave, rolling her eyes in the process.

Before long, the crowd dispersed; murmurs and laughter filled the air. Brisa took off faster than anyone could blink, leaving Holly behind. She stepped up and offered the down dragon a paw, much to their confusion.

"Pinching people's flanks is rude," She scolded, "but so is NOT helping them up off the floor."

"Uhh…" The water drake sheepishly accepted the help up onto his paws. He then slumped his shoulders and turned to leave… only to bump right into Rune and Chalice. He yelped and lowered his head as the other prince glared down at him.

"Like she said…" Rune narrowed his eyes. "Keep your talons to yourself, kid."

"Okay, Okay…" The water dragon practically crawled around him to hurry off down the corridor. "I'm sorry!"

Rune kept glaring after the student until he vanished down the hallway. He then took a breath and glanced at Chalice, who nodded in approval.

"I'd say that was handled pretty well." Chalice grinned. "Though, that guy certainly made quite the first impression on the student body."

"Hmph…" Rune shrugged as he walked forward down the hallway. Holly soon dashed up to walk beside the prince, opposite from Chalice.

"How was your sword practice, Prince?" Holly asked cheerfully as she eagerly appraised his scabbard. "Was it fun?"

"About as much fun as being knocked down over and over can be…" Rune huffed.

"Aww, I'm sure you got better at it, at least." Holly nodded.

"Well… I did manage to knock Apella's sword out of her grip once." Rune admitted.

"There, you see!" Holly beamed. "You're getting better already!"

"Thanks, Holly," Rune said as he smiled at her. "You're the best."

She stepped forward a bit and wagged her tail… at least, as much of her tail as there was left to wag. Rune tried not to look directly at it… but a few of the other students gasped at the sight. From what Rune could understand, there was an accident ten years ago, during the night The Hive fell. Holly's family home collapsed, and it cost her much of her tail. Still, none of that seemed to make a dent in her bubbly, happy-go-lucky personality.

After rounding a corner, Rune, Chalice, and Holly found Cyrus, Ricin, and Tina a short distance away. The other prince had slowed his pace and was muttering to himself about the encounter. It wasn't long before Rune's group had caught up, and Tina smiled at their arrival.

"Oh, hey, guys." Tina waved a wing.

"Hi…" Cyrus said through gritted fangs.

Ricin glanced between the two uneasily, but eventually, he just tried to stand up tall and look chilled out. "What's up?"

"Not much…" Rune said to Ricin, his eyes never leaving his brother. Rune scooted up to walk alongside Cyrus and looked him over for anything out of place. "Did that guy do anything to you?"

Cyrus's face flushed with anger. He took a deep breath and sat back on his haunches. Cyrus brought his voice to a low whisper as he tried to keep his anger in control.

"He didn't just pinch me." He said lowly. His cheeks flushed red as he looked up at the others. "Before that, he… asked out on a date."

Rune and Chalice blinked in surprise. They exchanged incredulous glances, and then looked at Cyrus… and struggled not to laugh. Cyrus sucked in a breath and blew smoke out of his nostrils. Ricin gasped, and then made to dash around to glare at Rune.

"Hey, it's not funny!" Ricin snapped.

"Easy there…" Rune coughed as he worked to keep his composure. "I didn't mean to laugh…"

"He's your bro!" The poison drake stamped his paw. "Aren't you going to defend him!"

Cyrus shot Ricin a glare. "Oh, put a sock in it."

Ricin looked at Cyrus incredulously, while the prince simply snorted and glanced at his brother.

"I'm really sick of this, Rune," Cyrus said bitterly. "That guy was the third new member in less than a week to think to think I'm a girl."

Chalice smirked. "But he was the first one to get touchy-feely."

"And he better be the last…" Cyrus gnashed his fangs.

"Look, I'm sorry Cy…" Rune smiled at his brother. "But after a while… it does start kind of getting funny whenever it happens."

A few of the other apprentices started snickering in agreement… but Cyrus just glared around at them as he squeezed to talons for emphasis.

"You wouldn't be laughing if one of the new students started playing pinchy-pinch with any of YOUR behinds!"

"I suppose you're right about that…" Chalice shrugged. "But still, exploding at new students isn't going to endear anybody to you. You need to learn to chill out."

"I'll chill out when people stop being so STUPID," Cyrus yelled, extending his wings. "Listen to my voice! Do I even SOUND like a girl?! What is WRONG with some people?!"

"Y-You're nothing like a girl, Cy!" Ricin said pleadingly. He ran back around and gestured proudly to the prince. "I mean, look at you! You've got a handsome face! Those fierce and pointy horns! Your… fabulous cape. And there's your… uhh…" Ricin's smile faltered as he looked around at Cyrus's features. "Your… luxurious, wavy locks?"

That got some more snickers; Holly and Tina were struggling to hold back. Cyrus just rolled his eyes and lightly shoved Ricin out of the way so he could keep walking.

"Go draw a dirty picture or something…" Cyrus grumbled as he kept walking.

"Cyrus, I'm sorry!" Ricin exclaimed as he followed after Cyrus. "I was just trying to cheer you up!"

As Cyrus and Ricin rounded another corner, Rune just frowned and made to follow after him. Chalice, Tina, and Holly weren't too far behind.

"Darn it…" Rune sighed in defeat. "How did I get so bad at cheering him up?"

"Maybe we DID push things a little too far…" Tina scrunched up her face. "To be honest, I had to fight the urge to slap that kid across the face when I saw him hitting on Cy."

Chalice once again smirked and leaned in to whisper to Tina. "Nobody gets to pinch Cyrus's butt except YOU, right?"

"Ugh, you're terrible." Tina lightly smacked Chalice on the side, but that only made them laugh. Rune just ignored them and kept walking, still feeling rather terrible… up until he felt someone drape a wing over his back. Holly had appeared at his side and was giving him a comforting smile.

"I thought you could use a hug." She said innocently.

Rune wanted to be annoyed… but he couldn't help but smile at her. "Thanks, Holly."

~~…~~

It was time for Combat training.

The gym was quiet as all of the students sat in the bleachers; everyone had changed into leather training armor in preparation for the day's events.

Rune and Cyrus sat at the very top, out of view of most of the other students. Rune hoped that this would give him some time to relax and read a book before he had to get his scales dirty. Cyrus was just beside him; the worst of his anger had died down, but he still looked pretty annoyed. Down below them, all seated together, were Holly, Ricin, and Ozul. There was an empty space between Holly and Ozul; a certain someone was fashionably late again.

Holly frowned at Ozul. The crimson boy was shivering from head to toe-talon. His eyes were wide open, and he twitched as he looked left and right. Ricin, meanwhile, kept glancing over his shoulder at Cyrus, who shot him the occasional glare here and there.

"How are you holding up, Ozul?" Holly asked tenderly as she shook his shoulder.

"H-He's coming…" Ozul's fangs clattered as he glanced at the front entrance. "He'll be here any m-m-minute!"

"Don't make yourself into such a target, and he won't pick on you." Ricin declared.

Holly pouted at the poison drake. "Ricin, you're not one to talk; you're always making the General angry."

"The difference is: I do it on purpose." Ricin snickered. "It's way too easy to push the big buy's buttons."

"I… I'm not looking to push any buttons." Ozul shivered. "I just wish he didn't get so angry all the time."

"It'll be okay…" Holy patted his back. "Just take deep breaths."

Meanwhile, just behind them, Rune leaned over to nudge his brother on the shoulder. Cyrus was annoyed but looked at him anyway. "What?"

"Hey, Cyrus…" Rune whispered with a wing over his muzzle. "Do you know anything about a dragon named Runileon?"

"How should I know?" Cyrus shrugged. "You're the big history buff, not me."

"Well, it was worth a shot…" Rune sighed. "I need to ask Mom about him when we see her next."

"Whatever, Rune…" Cyrus looked down at the apprentices; Ozul was still struggling to keep calm. On a whim, the prince held his forepaw out and lightly tapped Ozul on the shoulder.

"EEP!"

Ozul immediately sank into his shadow, making Ricin and Holly gasp. Cyrus scrunched up his muzzle to withhold his laughter as he watched Ozul poke his head out of his dark mist.

"Th-That's not funny, your highness," Ozul said with a sneer.

"You need to learn to relax." Cyrus scolded. He reached down, grasped Ozul, and pulled him up out of his shadow. "Keep being on your nerves like that and you'll wind up tumbling into your own shadow all the time."

"Does that mean you're relaxed now, Prince?" Holly asked him.

"…A little," Cyrus said with a quick breath. "I'm relaxed enough to teach you, kids, how to keep the Deep Shadows from busting your chops, anyway."

"We're not that much younger!" Ricin declared. "We'll do just fine today, I'm sure of it!"

"Uh-huh…" Cyrus raised an eye ridge.

As Cyrus chatted with those three, Rune relaxed in his seat and picked up one of his history books; there was just enough time to read something before the training started. He wasn't sure what he was looking for; he's already read most of what this book had to say. And besides, there wasn't any information about Runileon in here; he'd checked twice today. Still, it was better than having nothing to read at all, he supposed. Stories about the exploits of Spyro and Cynder were always marginally entertaining these days.

The doors were abruptly pushed open, and all of the students went silent. The first two to venture inside were Chalice and Tina. The two assistants were dressed in similar training gear as the students, although they stood standing at the door. And behind them, coming in with heavy footfalls, was the silhouette of a hulking drake with one eye.

"Oh no…" Ozul gulped as he shrank his head down. "He's here."

"Everyone…" The General's voice was deep and menacing. "Shut up, and pay attention!"

"Everyone, shut up and pay attention." The Deep Shadow bellowed. Rune quickly put his book away and hoped that Grail hadn't noticed him reading.

Grail strode into the room with a slow gait. He came to a stop before the bleachers and glanced around at the students with his steely gaze. While he did this, Rune noticed someone peeking into the gym through the door. There was a gust of wind just before Chalice closed the door. And as Grail turned his head, someone whisked past most of the students and came to a stop between Ozul and Holly. Before Rune could even look to see who it was, he heard a growl from the General.

"Late AGAIN, as always…" Grail said as he turned his eye toward the apprentices.

Holly and Ozul shuffled uncomfortably as Brisa sat between them. She nonchalantly looked at her talons and pretended that her helmet wasn't on sideways. Grail stepped closer to the bleachers, making the students shudder as he bore down at the wind dragoness.

"Care to explain yourself?" Grail demanded.

Brisa's confidence melted a bit, and she chuckled awkwardly as she adjusted her helmet. "N-No, Sir. I'm very sorry, Sir…" She barely dared to look him in the eye. "I thought I had a bit more time, and… well, I didn't want to be absent."

"Late is still LATE, Brisa." The General snapped. "I expect you to use that speed of yours to arrive EARLY next time. Otherwise, you're getting another demerit."

Brisa gulped and flapped her wings worriedly. "Err, Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir."

"Hmph…" Grail glanced over at Chalice and Tina. "You two should make sure to keep an eye on her."

The two assistants exchanged dubious glances, and Chalice cleared their throat. "Shall we begin the exercise, Grandfather?"

"Very well…" Grail stepped back a few paces and turned to address the whole class. "Today, you will all demonstrate your physical prowess in a Combat Gauntlet." He gestured toward the ring. "You're all to face off in the arena against waves of training dummies. So make your way to the center of the arena and prepare for battle."

Rune and the other students stood up from their seats to make their way down to the arena floor. Rune had to admit; he liked how Grail would often be direct and blunt about his orders. Just as long as the General didn't draw attention to him by-

"Oh, and I forgot to mention: NO MAGIC." Grail grinned.

Rune paused. Uh-oh.

"You'll all need to fight with your wits and talons alone." The General declared. "Here's hoping that some among you don't have trouble with that handicap."

It wasn't long before all eyes were on Rune and Cyrus. Rune just sighed and nodded; that's what he got for thinking too soon. Cyrus, meanwhile, just rolled his eyes and glowered. That's when the princes noticed that Grail wasn't actually looking at them, but at Ozul. The shadow dragon gulped as all four of his legs wobbled under the General's steely gaze. Rune frowned and stepped over to cautiously point Ozul toward the arena.

"Take a deep breath…" Rune whispered. "You're not on your own out there."

"I… I guess you're right…" Ozul's voice was even quieter.

"Yeah…" Cyrus added. "Just stick by one of us, and we'll handle the worst of it."

Cyrus then fluttered his wings and took off to glide down to the arena floor ahead of the others, while Rune walked briskly with Ozul and the other apprentices. Ricin and Holly glanced dubiously at Brisa, who held her head high and hummed.

"What were you doing that made you so late again?" Holly asked.

Brisa smiled chortled and winked. "Stuff."

"Sure…" Ricin rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, just before Cyrus could come to a landing, Grail suddenly stepped in his path. The shorter prince gasped as he bumped into the General's chest and fell to the floor, much to the laughter of the other students.

"Hey, what gives?" Cyrus demanded. Grail held his forepaw out toward Cyrus, who balked at the gesture.

"I said NO MAGIC," Grail said seriously. He pointed at the convexity crystal around Cyrus's neck. "Take it off."

Cyrus looked at him indignantly. "It's not even filled all that much charge. I wasn't going to use it for-"

"Take. It. Off." Grail's eye seemed to pulse with anger. "That's an order!"

Cyrus winced and backed up a bit. "Alright, alright…"

The prince removed his necklace and placed it in Grail's grasp. Cyrus then grumbled and stepped around the General to join the other students. Rune leaned in to whisper again.

"Why do you wear that thing around if you don't use it, anyway?"

Cyrus just snorted. "The same reason you still have that sword."

Rune just sighed and looked away. Perhaps he was right; what else did Cyrus have to remember their father?

A moment later, Rune and Cyrus stood in the middle of the arena as the other students got into position around them. Ozul, Holly, Brisa, and Ricin formed a half-circle just beside them, while all the other students formed their own rings. Rune took careful breaths as he prepared for the oncoming fight. He glanced across the way and saw Chalice and Tina making their way toward a control system on the far side of the arena. Both of them looked at the princes and gave little winks and thumbs-up; they were clearly rooting for the princes to do a great job.

Grail looked over the students and checked their faces as he went over a clipboard. Over and over, Grail's eye glanced from face to face.

"Hmm…" The General sneered. "We're missing two. Where are-?"

The doors were pushed open, and Grail and the students looked to see who it was. Rune had mixed feelings as he saw the familiar forms of Helianne and Lantel.

The golden prince was dressed in his training armor, which exposed much of his rippling muscles. Helianne, meanwhile, was still wearing her regal clothes; she shivered as she looked away whenever Grail inspected her. The General scowled as Helianne waited by the door, while her brother approached with a stoic expression.

"Care to explain yourselves?" Grail demanded.

"I don't have to," Lantel said, as he held up a scroll he'd been carrying. "This is from Guardian Apella."

Annoyed, Grail took the scroll and read it over. His eye widened, and then he scowled over at Helianne. "ANOTHER excuse to get out of training, little missy?"

Helianne winced and looked away, while Lantel's eye twitched.

"She's to receive private training with our Aunt." Lantel continued, not caring as the General glowered at him. "Simple as that."

"Hmph…" Grail pointed angrily at the group of students. "Get your arse in line with the others, boy, before you get a demerit."

Lantel simply snorted. He glanced briefly at Helianne, who shrank back and winced. The golden prince then stepped around the General and made to push his way through the other students.

Lantel stood tall and proud as he towered over most of the students. He didn't quite shove them over, but it was clear he wasn't going to let anybody block his path toward the front. Lantel kept his head held high the whole time as if he were still dressed in his fancy attire.

Before long, Lantel was pushing his way through the four apprentices, who all groaned at being taken out of formation. Ozul practically melted onto the floor to avoid being pushed by the brute of a prince.

"Hey, not cool…" Brisa snapped as she resumed formation.

Lantel didn't even acknowledge them; he simply made to sit down next to Cyrus, as he glanced at the two princes in turn. Rune tried to hold a calm face, while Cyrus was much angrier.

"Good day… Princes." Lantel said flatly.

"Ugh…" Cyrus groaned as he stepped out of the way of the bigger prince. "Just WHY do you have to come over HERE, Lantel?"

"There's no rule saying where I can and can't stand to prepare for the exercise." Lantel snorted. "So pardon this humble dragon for wanting to be ready to prove his worth..." He cast a glare toward Rune. "…Because I'm NOT moving from this spot."

Rune didn't really want to talk to Lantel; he was too busy glancing at Helianne. The flora dragoness was trying to make herself scarce as she crept her way over to the bleachers to sit down. But every time the General glowered at her, the princess shivered and looked down at her paws.

Rune frowned at her cape. "Is she… still not able for regular combat?"

"It doesn't concern YOU." Lantel hissed. "Guardian Apella is doing everything she can to"

"Deep Shadow," Holly said. The princes looked at her as she coughed awkwardly. "She's… She's a Deep Shadow now, right?"

Lantel's eye twitched. "Shut it."

Holly yelped, while Brisa and Ricin glared at the golden prince.

"Don't you go starting trouble with her, you!" Ricin hissed.

"Yeah!" Brisa fanned out her wings. "You want a piece of this?!"

Lantel's only reaction was to roll his eyes and take a deep breath before rising to a proper stance. "Save it for the training, dummies."

The apprentices glowered as they made to take formation, while Rune and Cyrus did their best to keep their composure.

Across the way, Grail took his seat beside the control console, while Tina and Chalice stepped to the side and struck militant poses. The General gave everyone another steely gaze from his eye, as his forepaws grasped the controls.

"You'd all better be ready…" He said with a snort. "Because the exercise will begin without warni-NOW!"

Grail flipped the switch suddenly, and a foreboding aura appeared around the perimeter of the ring. All of the young dragons gasped and groaned as the anti-magic field roared into life. Rune winced and struggled to keep standing; he felt as though every drop of magic was suppressed into near nothingness. Rune couldn't complain aloud, but he HATED this feeling; it brought back terrible memories of the last time magic was forcibly stripped from him. And he didn't like thinking about the reasons WHY…

Look behind you, Skippy! Runefor shouted.

Rune snapped to attention and quickly whirled around. Sure enough, the wooden blade of an axe came swinging down at him. Rune tuck-and-rolled to the side as the axe crashed into the floor. The ape that wielded the weapon growled in anger as it tried to pry its weapon free. Rune wasted no time charging forward to crash into the ape's chest to knock it to the floor.

As the big ape fell, three more apes rose to join it. Then came six more across the way. And then another DOZEN surrounded the other students on the northern side. Soon, a perfect ring of wood, straw, and angry snarls formed on all sides around the students.

"Oh, no…" Brisa grimaced; she flapped her wings and tried to lift herself into the air.

"By the way: Anyone who tries flying overhead gets extra homework tonight!" Grail quickly yelled over the crowd. Brisa balked and immediately landed with a pout.

"Three minutes on the clock to beat all the waves!" The General bellowed. "GO!"

A buzzer sounded overhead, and all of the dummies lurched forward to attack. There were panicked cries from the students as they scrambled to avoid being hit.

It wasn't long before a chaotic frenzy filled the arena. Rune did his best to stay by Cyrus's side as the smaller prince did battle with the nearest dummy. Talons crashed against the wood. Rune struggled to pay attention to what was directly in front of him, but it was difficult thanks to the constant barrage of the chaos of battle.

Ugh, my ear frills are ringing… he thought as he dashed around the side of a small ape. He swatted it away, only to have to dodge a blow from a larger ape seconds later. Jerks.

Pick the pace, idiot. Runefor growled in his head. Do you want Grail to think you're slacking in your training?

As Rune was dashing around, he saw Brisa and Holly arrive beside him and Cyrus. The blue dragoness defended the prince's flanks, while the green girl rammed into a small ape and sent him flying. The princes then worked together to slash and claw at a large ape's legs. It crashed onto the ground and howled in pain as Cyrus leaped onto its chest and dug his talons into its throat.

Across the way, Ozul and Ricin tried to stick together as they slashed at a large ape… but three smaller apes charged up and practically bowled Ozul over. He yelped and flopped onto his back as the apes rose their weapons to attack…

And then three of them to be smashed into one another, as a great golden behemoth slammed into them. The ground shook as Lantel landed on all fours beside Ozul. The golden prince spun around and rammed into the nearest ape, sending it flying across the way. Lantel then made quick work of the other apes, giving Ozul a chance to rise to his feet.

"Uh…" Ozul gulped as he looked up at Lantel. "Th-thanks?"

Lantel simply rolled his eyes and turned away from him. "Get back to fighting, pipsqueak."

From there, Lantel bolted forward, slashing and clawing his way to get back over to Rune and Cyrus. He gave a hearty roar and tore through any ape that dared stray too close to him. The golden prince howled and growled like a beast; he even managed to scare some of the smaller apes away to go attack some of the other students instead. It wasn't long before he was fighting right beside Rune and Cyrus, drawing quite a few awkward looks from the apprentices nearby.

"You know…" Cyrus began with a sneer at the bigger prince. "You could just deal with the small fries yourself, instead of having someone else deal with them."

"What does it matter?" Lantel scoffed. "Just as long as SOMEBODY smashes them, it's fine.

"That's not the point!" Cyrus yelled.

"Then what IS the point?" Lantel chided. Cyrus's eyes flashed with anger; he would have attacked Lantel right then and there if Rune didn't leap in his way.

"Focus on the dummies, Cyrus!" Rune snapped and whirled around.

Cyrus rumbled under his breath as he turned away. "Which ones?"

The apes just kept coming; wave after wave. An alarm went off when the two-minute mark had been reached. Rune panted as he tried to keep himself going. Enemy after enemy… just what was the point of this? How many more waves could there possibly be? Was Grail just trying to kill them or something?

I'm so tired of this… Rune growled.

Oh, quit complaining. Runefor snapped. At least you get to fight. All I can do is watch!

"Maybe we need a plan of action…" Rune turned around. "Brisa, Holly, head to my right and…"

Rune blinked: the pair weren't behind him anymore. Somehow they were forced further away by a particularly large ape. He swung his axe at them horizontally, but they ducked beneath it. Once there was an opening, Holly charged against the ape and forced it onto its back, while Brisa leaped over and slashed at its throat with her talons. But while Brisa and Holly weren't looking, two more of the dummies crept up from behind and hefted up their axes to strike. Rune gasped and whirled around.

"Guys! Look out for-!"

Lantel charged over and smashed against the first ape. Not only did it drop its own axe on its head, but Lantel sent it smashing against the second ape with the momentum of his charge. Both apes collapsed into a heap of straw and metal on the floor behind Holly and Brisa. They heard the commotion and whirled around to see Lantel smirking over them.

"You're welcome." He said, before whirling around to charge toward another ape nearby.

"Uhh…" Holly's ear frills drooped. "Thanks."

"Stay focused!" Brisa flapped her wings and whirled on another ape. "More are coming!"

An alarm sounded to announce the start of the one-minute mark, and it still seemed like there was no end to the waves of dummies. How many of them had been taken out? Fifty? A hundred? Rune had lost count somewhere in between.

Rune's muscles ached, and he panted heavily. He was lucky that he was still standing; a few of the other students had passed out after losing the battle of attrition. Soon, only a dozen were left standing. Rune was beginning to wonder if he might as well just give up and let the timer run out. All of this was just physical exercise, right? It's not like it was really a life-or-death situation.

As he dwelled on this thought, the prince looked around. The apprentices were still in the fray, but their morale was dropping. Holly grimaced as an ape grabbed her tail stump and tried to toss her around. Brisa blew the ape off his feet, but she was soon ganged up on by three smaller apes. Ozul dashed around the apes in a panic; he kept trying to open up his shadows to sink inside, despite the anti-magic preventing it.

"Keep it together, Ozie!" Ricin exclaimed; He tried to get the apes off of Ozul's tail, but he wasn't quite strong enough to push them over.

But while they fought on, most of the other students had given up. They were tossed out of the ring, and they wearily wandered over to the bleachers to sit down and watch. Grail, especially, kept glaring at Rune the entire time. Tina and Chalice watched as well, though with more sympathetic faces.

It was clear as crystal; the vast majority expected Rune to keep fighting. He had to push on; he dodged around attacks, ran around the edge of the arena, and struck when he got an opening. It was all for the other students. He was a prince of Warfang and the future king. He couldn't just give up; what kind of example would he set for his future subjects? What would they-?

WHAM!

Something struck Rune across the head.

Rune's thoughts were interrupted when something struck him in the head. He howled as he was knocked onto his side across the way.

Rune struggled to stand back up, only to be kicked in the side. He tumbled around and fell onto his back; his eyes watered as he gazed at the ceiling. An ape lumbered over the prince and cackled as it pinned him down with a foot to the neck. Rune gagged as he clawed at the ape's foot with his talons and fangs, but it did little to free him.

That's when the voices of the four apprentices cried out. "RUNE!"

Immediately they all turned and scrambled to reach the fallen prince. Holly and Brisa darted around the larger apes, with the latter using her tail to try and trip them up. Ozul fumbled over himself as he finally stopped clawing at his shadow… only to smack into another ape. Before it could attack, Ricin slammed into the dummy and knocked it over, buying Ozul a few more feet. But before any of them could get close, more of the dummies rushed into view, blocking their path.

Across the way

Rune instinctively tried to open up his shadow to sink inside, but of course, all he got was a stinging headache from the anti-magic field. The ape gave a holler of sadistic glee as it pinned Rune even harder to the floor. The ape pointed its axe blade at Rune's face, right between the eyes.

Get up, you idiot! Runefor snapped.

I'm trying! Rune hissed as he wriggled. But as the prince wracked his brain, he just couldn't think of a means to free himself. He was pinned down… trapped… doomed…

And then the final alarm sounded.

All at once, the ape dummies came to a stop and dropped their weapons. The ape who had Rune pinned down dropped his axe to the side. It then slumped over, finally giving Rune the freedom to roll over and dash away. Rune panted as he got onto his feet and coughed a few times; that boot on his throat felt all too real. But while Rune wasn't looking, a large shadow loomed over him. The prince shivered as he heard familiar talons tapping the floor in a rhythmic tone.

"Congratulations," Grail said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "If this had been a REAL combat scenario, you'd be dead."

Rune sighed as he turned around and looked up at the General; he couldn't think of any kind of response that would appease him. Still, he couldn't just stare blankly at him…

"I'm sorry." Rune bowed his head. "I'll… I'll do better next time."

"Hmph. Not just YOU, I hope." Grail spun around and gazed out amongst the crowd of tired younglings. "The whole lot of you could stand to learn to deal with combat situations when magic is being negated." When the students grumbled, the General snorted. "Oh, don't give me that. You all need to be prepared if the day ever comes again when your magic is stripped away."

"As if you'd know what that's like," Lantel said under his breath across from Rune.

Rune was about to snap at the golden prince to watch his tone around Grail… but the General made his anger clear right away. He whirled around to sneer at Lantel, who stood his ground and didn't budge.

"If you have something to say, say it out loud, Prince." Grail snapped.

"Well, what I have to say is that I'll bet you've never had your magic forcibly taken away in combat before," Lantel said loudly. He stood up and unfurled his wings. "In fact, four years ago, you had the exact OPPOSITE happen to you!"

Rune and a few of the other dark dragons gasped at the outburst, while the other students held an awkward silence. Grail, however, fell back onto his haunches and blew little red smoke clouds from his nostrils.

"You're not wrong," Grail said. "I and a lot of dark dragons became practically drunk with power thanks to that eclipse way back when." He wracked his talons on the floor as he gave a sardonic grin. "That level of power… It's something I'll never forget."

Almost as soon as it came, Grail's smirk was gone. He gave a serious face as he leaned his head over Lantel's. "However, I've had my magic stripped away times than you can count."

"What are you talking about?" Lantel snapped.

"You think that anti-magic field is some fancy new toy we have here in Warfang?" Grail snorted. "And do you honestly think I got this big, muscular physique by spewing magic out of my face constantly?"

The General rose onto all fours and walked around Lantel. He made imposing stomps as he trudged around the arena; his shadow loomed over the students in an eerie way. Ozul in particular nearly passed out with fright.

"My people, the Fear dragons, used anti-magic fields to train younglings to fight with only their wits and bodies from an early age." Grail declared. He stomped his forepaws on the arena, sending small vibrations through the area. "A dragon shouldn't rely solely on his magic when in battle. If you put all of your faith into magic, only to have it stripped away, then you have next to NOTHING!"

"But magic has its uses beyond just combat!" Lantel snapped. "My Solar beams can light dark places! It can provide warmth in the cold! It can-"

"You're missing the point, boy!" Grail snapped. "You are here to learn to fight." He looked over the golden prince's body and snorted. "I would have figured you knew how important physical strength was… but then again, perhaps you traded brains for brawn."

Lantel gasped, and then snarled. He reflexively beat his wings and dug his talons into the floor. A murmur filled the student body as they backed up; everyone expected the golden prince to attack.

"Watch it, boy." Grail sneered as he lifted his own body to tower over Lantel. "I've put bigger and dumber Solar dragons in their place before; don't push your luck."

Lantel seethed in anger… and then took a deep breath. He shut his eyes and exhaled slowly before he backed up and refused to say another word.

"Hmph, perhaps you DO have some brains after all." Grail chortled. "Now then… To deal with the OTHER princes…"

Rune was still rubbing his neck by the time he felt the General's glare on him again. Rune coughed slightly and fell back on his haunches to gaze up at him. Cyrus made their way through the crowd and came to a stop beside his brother as Grail pointed at them.

"You two of all dragons should be learning the most in these classes," Grail said.

"You two of all dragons should be prepared, if and when your magic is stripped away." The General sneered. "You need a plan of action. You need to know how best to protect your subjects. You need…"

Rune groaned; he hated it when Grail got like this. He was tempted to ask him if having no magic would be effective when fighting someone like Runileon. But then some aches and pains flared up across his body, and he shook his head to get rid of the idea. He looked around; plenty of the other students were getting tired of the General's rants as well. The other apprentices had backed up against the bleachers. And Ozul, poor Ozul, couldn't even look in the General's direction as he cowered behind his friend's back.

Eventually, someone finally moved: Rune spotted Chalice leaving their spot by the wall to walk up to the General during his rant.

"Hey, Granddad?" Chalice asked. They poked Grail in the foreleg several times. "Granddad!"

"…And that's not even getting into the…" Grail blinked and cast a glance at Chalice. "What is it, Chalice?"

"Didn't the Queen tell you to keep your lectures brief?" Chalice asked. "I'm pretty sure the next class needs to use the arena in, like, five minutes."

Grail froze. He cast his gaze at the nearest wall clock, and immediately tensed up. He rubbed his head with a wing-thumb and grumbled while a few of the students snickered.

"Alright, fine." Grail huffed. "The combat training is completed for the day. Get out of here, the lot of you."

There were sighs of relief all across the arena, and Rune was no exception. He turned on his feet to get out of the arena as soon as possible. And as he left, he cast a glance toward Chalice and mouthed a "thank you" their way. Chalice chuckled and gave Rune a thumbs-up, and then nodded over at Tina. The dark-yellow dragoness flipped a switch with a quick jerk. Rune shut his eyes and exhaled slowly; he could feel his magic returning to full form as the anti-magic barrier vanished.

The students left the gym and went to get refreshed in the adjacent locker rooms. Rune's muscles ached as he stepped into a stall to remove his gear. His limbs felt heavy, and his tail practically dragged the ground He gave a low yawn and lumbered forward while the other students made to use other parts of the locker room.

While Rune was drying himself off, he heard a few dragons approach him; Ricin was doing his best to help guide Ozul along. The former struggled to stay standing, while the latter had all but passed out.

"Are you two alright?" Rune asked.

"Yeah, I guess…" Ricin grumbled as he forced Ozul to sit back on his haunches. "But Ozul feels like he weighs a ton of bricks."

"I can't… Ozul let out a yawn. "…help it"

"Looks like you ran out of adrenaline," Rune said in amusement. He stepped forward to help, only to groan as soreness erupted in various muscles along his body. Rune slumped over and winced. "Darn it."

It took Rune a few minutes to get himself ready to walk again. By that time, Ricin and Ozul had barely managed to get out of their armor to get clean. After a bit more waiting, Ozul lumbered wearily out of the stall to try and heft up his satchel. Rune winced; Ozul's satchel was almost bigger than him and had all sorts of strange objects poking out of the pockets.

"Whoa, easy there." Rune stood up to stand by Ozul's side. "No need to overdo it."

"No, it's fine…" Ozul wiped his eyes as he put a forepaw on his satchel. "I've got this."

Ozul created an aura of dark mist around his satchel, causing the whole thing to shake. After a moment, the satchel lifted and hung seemingly weightlessly on Ozul's flank. The shadow dragon then took careful steps forward to get out of the locker area. Rune grimaced as he walked beside Ozul, while Ricin came trotting down from behind.

"Hey, wait up!" He exclaimed as he made to dash over to Rune's other side. "Don't leave me behind!"

"We couldn't if we tried, Ricin." Rune mused.

Rune spent a few minutes waiting just outside the gym so that his brother had a chance to get freshened up to head out. Ozul and Ricin waited a short distance away, though Ozul looked a bit anxious.

"Can't he hurry up?" Ozul pouted.

"You're free to go on ahead." Ricin nudged him on the shoulder. "Nobody's telling you to stick around."

"N-No…" The shadow dragon gulped. "I… I prefer to stick to a group."

Rune looked at Ozul in pity; he wished he knew what to say. But those thoughts were distracted some of the other students began passing by… and stopping to make small talk.

"You did well today, my prince…" A wind dragon said quietly.

"You were incredible…" A poison dragoness replied as she winked.

"Uh, thank you…" Rune gave a smile.

"You know…" Ricin stepped up and gave his own, more mischievous smile. "You're incredible, too."

The dragoness stuck her snout in the air and walked away in a huff. Ricin just groaned and slumped back over to sit beside Rune and Ozul.

"Better luck next time…" Ozul said between yawns.

"Very funny." Ricin pouted.

It wasn't long before the trio heard the tell-tale signs of Cyrus stepping out of the gym. He was soon followed by Brisa, Holly, and Tina; the three dragonesses were chatting about this and that, while Cyrus was busily re-attaching his convexity crystal to his necklace.

Rune sighed and stood up; the gang was all together, with one exception. Once Cyrus was by Rune's side, the two princes led the way down the hall.

"Just a few more classes and we can finally head to the study hall," Rune said happily.

"Yeah…" Cyrus grumbled as he double-checked his crystal. "Thank the ancestors that gym is over. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that Grail's trying to work us to death."

Cyrus yawned and shifted from side to side. Rune looked at him worriedly. "Are you doing okay?"

"I'm fine." Cyrus chuckled. "It's n-nothing that black dragons can't handle."

He took a step forward… and winced as pain flared up in his back. Cyrus collapsed onto the floor and flopped onto his flank as he tried arching his back. "Oww…"

Right away, all eyes were on Cyrus; they all crowded around to check on him. Ozul nearly slumped over as he tried to get close.

"That doesn't look too good," Brisa said with a wince.

"Shorty, what's the matter?" Tina asked as she rushed over to his side. She and Rune worked together to get Cyrus back up on his feet. She looked at his back and winced. "Geez, what happened? I didn't think you got messed up THAT bad."

"I guess I just…" Cyrus stretched out his limbs, only to wince and shake. "Overworked myself?"

Suddenly, Cyrus felt a cold stinging sensation on his back. Holly was at his side, whipping up some icy mist, starting between his wings and working down toward his flanks.

"Maybe you should sit down a while?" Holly suggested. "Back pain can be really nasty."

"Thanks, but no thanks…" Cyrus carefully stood up. He wobbled forward a few paces, only to stiffen here and there. "Darn it."

"I'll help ya, Cy!" Ricin exclaimed; he dashed over to the prince's side and stood up tall to offer support. "Just lean against me, and-"

"I'm fine…" Cyrus grumbled as he stepped to the side. "No need to get all touchy-feely, Ricin."

The indigo dragon scrunched up his muzzle. "If you say so."

Cyrus slowly walked forward again, and Rune made to stay close to him. The rest of the dragons walked together in a ring around Cyrus, in case he collapsed again. But as they walked down the corridor, the group heard someone gaining ground from behind. The apprentices were the first to turn around… and the first to gasp and dash out of the way as Lantel thundered down the hall.

"I should have known you wouldn't be too far away," Lantel said gruffly.

Rune and Cyrus groaned, and they turned around to see the golden prince swiftly making his way up to them. Lantel came to a stop and glanced between the two of them.

"What do you want, Lantel?" Rune demanded.

"I'm just curious to see what you're in…" Lantel looked between the pair. "Hmph, you're both liable to pass out…" He couldn't help but smirk despite the animosity in his eyes. "And here I was, thinking that all black dragons were invincible. Guess I was wrong."

"Oh, shut up." Cyrus snapped. He made to walk down the hallway with a proud stride, only for the aches in his back to flare up again. "Damnit."

"Oh dear, are you tired, Cyrus?" Lantel pursed his lips. After glancing around at the apprentices, Lantel put on a shocked expression. "Am I to understand that none of your subjects offered to carry you to bed?"

Cyrus snarled, which made Lantel smirk. When the black prince tried to whirl around to snap at him, Cyrus lost control of his limbs and collapsed onto the floor. With a snort, Lantel stepped forward to reach out for Cyrus, but then Ricin and Tina stepped between them and glared.

"Don't touch him!" Tina snapped.

Lantel snorted. "I wasn't going to hurt your main squeeze."

"Sure you weren't…" Ricin showed his fangs. Behind him, Cyrus struggled to stand back up as he growled.

"Lantel… I hate you." Cyrus looked the golden prince in the eyes. "I hate you SO MUCH."

"You're ugly when you're angry." Lantel chided. "Maybe you should just go to your room for some beauty sleep."

"Oh, just stop it!"

Lantel blinked and whirled around, while the others glanced around him to see who it was. Helianne was fast approaching with a glare locked on her brother. Just behind her was Chalice, who moved briskly to keep up the past.

The first thing Helianne did was look at Rune in sympathy; specifically, she inspected his neck. When she didn't see anything wrong, the flora dragoness nodded in satisfaction before returning her angry look at her brother.

"Would you please just stop antagonizing them?" Helianne demanded.

Lantel's nostrils flared. "Sister…"

"You are annoying." Chalice added. They stepped up and locked eyes with the golden prince; Chalice wasn't bulky, but they were tall enough to strike an intimidating posture.

"Oh, what do YOU want?" Lantel said bitterly.

"First off, I'm disappointed that you butted heads with my granddad… again." Chalice snapped. "Secondly… do you really think anyone's impressed by the way you antagonize the twin princes?"

"It's none of your business, Chal." Lantel stuck his muzzle in the air.

"Oh yes, it is." Chalice pointed a talon in Lantel's face. "You might be a prince, too, but that doesn't give you the okay to posture around like a big idiot."

"They're big boys; they don't need someone standing up for them." Lantel snorted. "So butt out of it."

"Lantel!" Helianne yelled, drawing his attention. "One of these days, that mouth of yours is going to get us into trouble. "What would Daddy say if you picked a fight with either of those two?!"

Lantel flinched and then growled. "Don't bring him into this, Helianne!"

"I say let him pick a fight!" Cyrus declared. Chalice, Helianne, and Lantel turned toward the shorter prince; who struggled to stand tall and proud as he fanned out his wings.

"If you want to start something, then do it." Cyrus dug his talons into the floor. "I'm not scared of you, Lantel."

"Scared of me?" Lantel tilted his head. "Who said I was trying to scare you?"

Cyrus growled. He tried to step forward, but lost his footing and collapsed onto the floor. Ricin and Tina tried to help Cyrus up, while Chalice and the others winced. Lantel sucked in a breath to try and stop himself from laughing.

"You're just a pest, Lantel." Chalice snapped. "One of these days, that attitude is going to get you in trouble."

"I can fight my own battles." Lantel stood up tall.

Rune just stepped back as Cyrus and Chalice glared at Lantel. He looked at a wall clock; he didn't have all day to stand around in that hallway. Rune should have just turned and walked off… but when he glanced at Lantel's grinning face, the black prince felt fire burn in his chest. He almost growled, but he caught himself and shook his head.

Not in front of Helianne… He told himself. Not in front of Helianne.

Chalice is right, you know.

Rune sucked in a breath. Oh please, not now.

You have the means to teach that big idiot a lesson he'll never forget.

That's not happening. Rune snapped. I'm not about to risk damaging the good standing my mother has with King Horus.

Hmm, I'm not hearing any cries of "violence is wrong." Runefor snickered. Could it be that you're just trying to make excuses for yourself? Trying to hide your… violent urges?

Rune growled in anger at the voice in his head; he dug his talons into the floor and shook in place a bit. It was bad enough being mocked on the outside by Lantel; having to deal with it on the inside was even worse. But while Rune was trying to keep from getting too angry, the apprentices all turned to look at him funny. Helianne was especially uneasy; she looked ready to step around her brother and run to Rune's side.

"Uhh…" Brisa blinked. "Are you feeling okay, Prince?"

"I… I'm fine." Rune stood up tall and took a deep breath. "I'm right as rain."

Lantel turned to cast him a glare, but Rune ignored it and focused on his brother.

"Cyrus, we need to get going," Rune said. "Let's just drop all of this and get to our next classes."

"Fine, fine…" Cyrus sighed. He stepped away from Chalice to stand beside Rune. And one by one, the apprentices all formed a group around the princes. Tina and Chalice, meanwhile, stepped away to stand together across from Lantel and Helianne. The golden prince looked all around with a snort.

"Fine, just go." He said as he flapped his wings. "I've got my own business to attend to."

Helianne raised an eye ridge at her brother and then turned to look right at Rune. "I'll see you later, Rune."

"Yeah…" Rune flapped a wing and avoided an angry scowl from Lantel. "See ya."

Rune, Cyrus, and the apprentices turned to head down the hallway together, leaving Lantel and Helianne behind. The flora dragoness waved goodbye and then turned to walk the other way. She went a few paces and then looked back at her brother.

"Come on, Lantel." She said.

Lantel stood alone for a short time, glaring after the dark dragons. He watched as the apprentices chatted together, while Rune kept a close watch on the weary Cyrus. Cyrus stood up proud and tall, despite his shaky body.

Lantel tapped his talons on the floor. He took a deep breath and glared down at Cyrus, refusing to look away.

Lantel took a deep breath. He glared after Cyrus until the prince turned a corner and was out of view. After that… Lantel sighed. Why did that prince have to be so… frustrating?

"Lantel?" Helianne asked; she walked up and brushed against his flank. "Come on, we've got to go."

"I know, I know…" Lantel sighed again and turned around. "Lead the way, Helianne."

~~…~~

Greetings, friends and loved ones.

Hoo boy, this rewritten chapter went on for a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would. In a past rendition, I might have just cut my losses and just split the whole thing in half. But I'm happy with what I've written, and I still want to try and keep everything in 12 chapters per Act. So, here's hoping things are under control in the future.

Tenebra ecce Veritas.