Alright, so what I have in mind doing is posting the original ROTD story...but with a new cast using submitted characters for the book that I am writing. So why am I doing this? For a few reasons, really.
1. I want to reach out to new peeps who were not around when I wrote this tale and give them all a chance to read it.
2. For those of you who are expecting to read the new story, this will give you a chance to compare them when you do read it. You - by reading - will judge/compare the two and notice the many differences.
3. Just so I can have something to post and help ZD grow.
4. For true readers who come here and like to read.
5. And finally, because I am thinking about giving publishing a go with this original tale. I don't wanna have to wait till I finish writing out ROTD and then the other story that comes after that. I hope I make sense. In other words, I have mostly replaced the cast and have gone over the story and corrected the mistakes, but have also added new content--this so I can give publishing a go in mere days.
So enjoy, follow along because I guarantee a good time. I will be updating as soon as I get the chapters ready.
Characters who have replaced old characters that you will get to see in this updated story are the following:
Atsuma Zeledon--Artemys Titanium
Master Brute--Mistress Vee Englehart
Enedina Wolfhaff--Aisling Kurtich
Yosh Nataku--Lazarus Ryu
Janine Eilowen--Ashie Kazicane
Kate Manthys--Saskia Zeeron
Gen Hui--Caithyln Lampica
Lexi Xinn--Magatha Stargleam
Hazel Akinon--Abigale O'connor
Axle Kimera--Tyrus Sullivan
Omega Blaster--Ddraigh Afon
Ganondorf--Shadow
Daphnes Nohansen--Locke Cole
Yara--Althea Angelides
Oleg Obleg--Zordo Danascus
*And others who are yet to appear*
Rated PG-13, but really, I consider this story to be rated G.
The sun was hidden from view because of the many crowded, puffy clouds that were covering the sky that afternoon. The wind blew lightly but carried a hint of a fast approaching winter with it. A fine day in Dragiria as any that the southern realm had had through out the first seven months of the year.
Huddled within the remains of ancient ruins, a group of dragir awaited the arrival of their instructor, who had summoned them all out there for a reason still unbeknownst to them.
"Do you know why we have been summoned here?" a young beautiful dragir seemed to be asking the entire squad one at a time.
Artemys Titanium noticed her actions from where he stood reclined against a stony wall that still stood erect from those old ruins, which were located a few miles to the west of Crystal City. Those ruins were known as Arphen Ruins and had been the first city that the dragir had erected and resided in for centuries. That place now remained as nothing more than memories, for the ten thousand or so Dragir members now resided within their heavily structured and magically-sealed crystallized city.
Artemys 's arms were crossed over his chest, not because the slight chill reached into the ruins at times, but because he had been tired of standing with his arms hanging low. The dragir was dressed in an entire black outfit composed of pants, shirt, and boots. His hair was short, fell in bangs off to the sides, and his skin was a light tan. He had a noble stare, his eyes being as brown as his own hair. At his hips hung his precious weapons. A beautiful sword with a red jewel of sorts on the pommel was within a radiant, silvery scabbard to his left hip, while on the right side hung two daggers within small holsters and a satchel where he kept useful items.
Artemys, judging from what he had seen of the female mage, knew that she was just as nervous as he was and was just trying to find out why they had all been summoned there. It was unusual for a wizard to feel that way, -nervous- for they were usually calm and very collected. Mages, to Artemys’s beliefs, packed a heavy punch with all their magical knowledge. The dragir was not fooled at her size, he knew that she was just a scholar at the moment, a low-ranked student within the academy, but even a scholar such as she knew magic that could kill him in a snap of fingers.
Two other mages who had been summoned out to the ruins seemed perfectly calm at their places, Ao noticed. They both sat with their backs against another wall, which was smaller and partly destroyed. They seemed to be sharing a conversation and paid the rest of the dragirs no mind. They carried flasks and satchels on their waist belts and wore their mage robes loose. Artemys knew that they probably had covered themselves with some sort of protective enchantment that would keep the cold at bay. One of them wore glasses and had short, dark hair. The other one was a young female who had medium-length purplish hair and eerie-looking white eyes. Those colored eyes were strange for a dragir, who usually had brown, green, or blue eyes. Artemys kept on looking at them and noticed that the male mage was a dark element dragir, while the female seemed to be the total opposite of that: A holy-type dragir. Artemys was of the fire element. He was known to all Dragirian residents as a red. The dragon scales that partially covered random parts of his body were of a blood-red color with a black outline. Reds were the most feared Dragir in all Dragiria, they would become a real threat when angered and were very hard to kill.
Artemys, who was just a warrior highly skilled with weapons and an expert in the arts of hand to hand combat, was just regarded as a low-ranked dragir, nothing much compared to a mage, but they were still feared. Sure, he could do his killing, too, if it came to that, but magic was where the fun and the real power was at.
Artemys’s father had been a warrior also. He had fallen in the field of battle sixty years ago, just like the rest of their family line had been falling as the years had gone by. Artemys had entered the academy fifty years ago and had enlisted as a warrior, not a mage, even though he’d surely had the capability to become a great mage in time. He had enlisted as a warrior mostly to honor his fallen family, who had all been experts in the usage of weapons rather than magic. Artemys – who was a member of a race blessed with long life - was 205 years old. He was well known in the Warrior's Academy for being a brave fighter and an expert in the use of the blade and the dagger. Artemys could also maneuver well using heavier weapons like Axes and Lances, and even a shield, but the young dragir preferred agility over power. Many dragir who attended the academy along with him believed that he preferred that style because of his small size. Artemys was scrawny but also buff-looking in his own way.
The young warrior glanced down to the ground when he noticed that the dragir female was now coming his way. When she stood directly in front of him, Artemys did not raise his head to acknowledge her presence, rather he just continued to stare down, but his eyes noticing the beautiful, white silky robe that she wore. She also emitted some wonderful smell similar to that of a recently cut rose.
Who could she be? Artemys wondered then.
"Excuse me," the mage said, causing him to look up at her face and forget about his silent question, which had crossed his mind just moments ago. Artemys could not ignore her now, she had asked for his attention in a polite way, so the young dragir warrior had no choice but to stare her way.
"Yes?" he asked her, keeping his tough-looking posture and a polite smile.
Her blue eyes locked with his own, and she offered him a light smile. Artemys smiled back and waited for her to talk. He noticed then that she was a thunder dragir, one of those who could shock any being simply by touching them. Her scales were sort of bluish and yellow with a hint of gray as an outline. Her hair was long and of a bright, blonde color. Her horns were smaller than Artemys ’s own, but they were like in color; dark.
So that is why she wears dark gloves, Artemys considered that as he glanced at her hands, which were covered with dark gloves.
"Would you by any chance know why Mistress Vee has summoned us here?"
Artemys shook his head right away, keeping his stare on her beautiful face. Her eyes were small and dreamy, and her skin was light tanned, just like Artemys ’s own but seeming more delicate.
"I don't know anything,” Artemys told her. “I was pulled from my training and was told to come here. I, too, want to know what is going on, but all I can do is wait. Mistress Vee will surely come and let us know. Or someone else if not her."
The dragir female closed her eyes and shook her head as if she was disappointed with the response. She sighed, then she leaned against the wall next to Artemys 's left. She stared down and noticed the silvery scabbard and the hilt of the weapon that the dragir carried on that side of his hip. She was very surprised at seeing the beautiful jewel on the pommel of the sword, but she wasn’t so surprised of its owner, who was simply a warrior, a sword fighter from what she was able to tell. But he was a mighty red, and that alone made her take a step farther to the left, as if in caution. Keeping her stare on the hilt of his blade, she slid down the wall and sat on the ground of the ruined place, choosing to forget about the dragir warrior and the whole dilemma that had been eating her from the inside ever since she had been told to come out to the ruins.
Artemys stared at her as she slid down and kept a smile to himself. He noticed that she crossed her arms and positioned them around her knees, which she had sticking up. She then sighed heavily, as if she was frustrated or tired.
Artemys turned his attention back to the rest of the clique. Ten dragir, himself included, had been summoned there. Seven were females and only three were males. Three were mages and five were warriors. The other two were archers. Artemys began to wonder again why they had indeed been summoned there, and he couldn’t help but slide slowly down, just like the beautiful thunder dragir had done so earlier. She stared at him as he did, and Artemys offered her a light, shy smile.
“My legs were sort of tired from standing,” he explained. “I’ve been standing here like for an hour now. I was the first to arrive, see?”
“Right,” the mage responded, then turned her attention the other way. Artemys simply nodded at that, uncaring, and then glanced back to the rest of the pack. He heard a female’s shout then.
“Oh, here she comes now!”
He quickly stood up, as did the female dragir to his side. Artemys moved out and headed to where the rest of the pack was gathering, the young female dragir followed quickly behind him, though Artemys did not notice her, for he was too concerned with the arrival of mistress Vee and two other figures, who were dressed in white robes and fully concealed from the head to the toes.
“Gather around, gather around,” Mistress Vee spoke to them as she was just arriving. She was kind of tall for a female dragir at five-ten. She had pale skin, had a horn broken in half, and a kind smile always seemed to reflect on her beautiful face. Mistress Vee, who was one of several instructors at the academy, was dressed in fine mail and hardened, silver plates, with a red, royal cape dropping to her waist at the back. She was it! She was the best trainer at the academy. But not only that, she was the top boss in the Academy. Artemys knew her too well, and he looked up to her, admire her quite a lot, just like many other young dragir did. Mistress Vee was also an expert in magic, and she was one of few dragir who had the privilege and honor to sit at the Daelden’s honor table.
But who were the other two? Artemys wondered, his eyes falling on the mysterious beings as he kept on going towards the rest of the group.
Artemys gathered around the rest of the bunch, keeping his attention focused on the two robed figures. As he got to his place, he came very close to another female dragir and bumped her roughly on the shoulder, for he had been intently staring at the robed figures that he hadn’t paid much attention to his surroundings. The female dragir, who happened to be carrying a magnifying glass on her left hand and a white sack on the other, dropped the sack due to the rough bump. She turned on the fool and gave him a hard stare as she bent low to retrieve her belongings from the ground.
“Watch where you go,” she said, although not menacingly. Artemys regarded her, becoming aware that she wore glasses.
“Alright, I am sorry, I was distracted,” Artemys was quick to apologize to her. The dragir even attempted to help her up, but she was already rising from the ground. Artemys offered her light smile. He noticed that she had yellowy scales covering part of her face. She was an Earth dragir, or a yellow. Yellow scaled dragir were kind in spirit and behavior.
“Don’t let it happen again, alright?” She bade him, her tone full of sympathy. “Just watch your step next time and you will be fine.”
Then, without saying nothing more, she turned to face the front.
“Alright,” Artemys said, then he turned to the front as well, for mistress Vee was calling for their attention once more.
Artemys settled down and paid attention.
“Alright, listen up, and listen well. You all are probably wondering why you have been summoned out here. You are here because you were hand picked by me,” Vee assured, staring at the young dragirs one at a time. “You ten are the best fighters that the academy has produced up to this point. The time to show your worth has come. Every dragir who I think has a chance of making it big in our realm gets this kind of opportunity. It is a once in a lifetime deal, if I must say. Why is this?”
She stared at them and knew that she had their full attention. She started to pace back and forth in front of them, keeping her hands behind her back.
“I will tell you why, young ones. Because the realm is always in the need of new heroes. Our war with the sleechurs goes sour in the east. Lady Medusa’s kin are pressuring us heavily. To make matters worse, Shadow’s furrion folk have decided to form an alliance with them. You might have heard the rumors, or maybe you haven’t at all, for we dragir don’t usually spread rumors. The furrion armies are coming strong from the west, not only against us, but also against the good people of Phyd. We expect them to hit our shores in a week or so. As to the phydians…Well, they don’t know nothing of all this, of course, their Phydian eyes cannot see beyond magical curtains. To Phyd and its people all that exists is them, their precious little world, and those who inhabit it. King Locke Cole knows not that war is upon them. When he does realize it, it will be too late. He and his people don’t know that we Dragir exist, nor does he know about the Sleechurs, nor the Furrion, nor the faeries, nor do they know anything of our centuries of conflicts. Their ignorance was bliss, until now...
Our enemies have taken another approach in our war. They know how we have protected the phydians as if they were our own kin, and so the sleechurs and furrion folk have allied themselves in an attempt to exterminate them and us. The enemy is astute, and so forcing us to divide our forces here and there, will surely weaken us.
The fairy realm has fallen in the south. The furrions invaded it and have forced the fairies to flee to Phyd. The fairies arrived there unseen, but will surely be crushed nonetheless if we are as well.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and so that is why we are all here reunited today.”
Artemys felt nervous just by having heard all that. No, he felt a little scared too, and he felt sorry for the fairies and the phydians, creatures that he had not laid eyes upon before but had heard a great deal about in the academy history class.
He sucked in a deep breath and listened on, fearing for his realm and those others that Mistress Vee had mentioned. If he had been summoned here to be assigned some sort of mission, be it desperate or not, he was ready to obey and take it on.
“These kind beings you see standing before you and to my left, you have never seen before. And you surely won’t see more than you are right now, I am afraid. All you need to know is that the Amura, sages of old, are ready to lend their aid to the cause. Few of them remain. They are the fountain of all magic, it is because of them that magic came to exist. If the Amura are extinguished, all magic ceases to exist. The two Amura that you see before you, are here to stay. They have become our allies. We have pledged our allegiance to them. Five of you will go with one, while the rest of you will go with the other. They will guide you where you must go and let you know what you must do. Now, when I call your name, you move and position yourself to wherever side I point to. You bow to the Amura, do not be disrespectful by showing your back to them. If you do, you will surely die by my blade here today.”
Artemys swallowed hard and trembled at that, so did the other nine young dragir who stood around him, some even glanced at each other in confusion and fear.
At that instant, one of the Amura moved to Master Vee’s right side. The other remained standing where it stood. Artemys glanced at it, glanced at the veil that seemed to cover the Amura’s face. He cowered right away and lowered his stare, believing that the Amura had been intently eyeing him. He was right in his assessment.
“Ddraigh of house Afon, to my right,” Mistress Vee spoke then, her hand stretched out as she signaled to the right. A lengthy dragir who had dark, spiky hair shifted uncomfortably and then moved to stand before the Amura, bowed, then went to stand off to the side. Artemys could tell how nervous the dragir was, but he was probably more nervous than that warrior.
“Artemys of house Titanium,” Mistress Vee’s voice came calling, but Artemys did not hear it. He was lost staring at that black haired dragir, who reminded him so much of his father.
The dragir bunch glanced at each other as if trying to figure out which of them was Artemys.
“Artemys of house Titanium, to my left!” Mistress Vee rose her voice but kept it in a calm manner. Artemys trembled and snapped out of it.
“Oh,” he uttered, nervously. “That’d be me.”
Mistress Vee and the rest that were gathered there noticed his nervousness. A short, white haired female dragir blurted out giggling to his left, and Artemys headed to stand before the other Amura, the one to the left and the one that he had believed had been staring at him from behind the veil. He slightly nodded at the Amura, bowed, then stood to the side, his eyes meeting those dark ones of Ddraigh of house Afon. The six-foot-five-inch tall dragir sort of nodded at him.
“Aisling of house Kurtich! To my right.” Mistress Vee spoke louder. A beautiful black haired dragir headed to stand briefly before the Amura, bowed at the kind being, then went to stand next to Ddraigh. She was one of the archers.
“Lazarus of house Ryu!”
The dragir who wore glasses headed to the left, bowed at the Amura, and then proceeded to stand next to the last remaining member of House Titanium. Artemys paid him no mind, though.
“Ashie of house Kazicane!”
The short, white-haired dragir was quick to head to Mistress Vee’s right side, bowed at the Amura, and then stood off to the side of Aisling Kurtich.
“Saskia of house Zeeron!”
The female dragir that Artemys had bumped earlier proceeded to go to the left, performed the bowing routine to the Amura, and then stood next to Lazarus. Artemys turned his head to his left and looked past Lazarus to stare at Saskia, who had intrigued him a bit. One thing that Artemys had noticed on her was that she carried a very short, weird-looking sword at her left side hip, but the sword was so short that it resembled a dagger. That’s what had interested Artemys about her, for she appeared to be carrying just that weapon with her. Saskia noticed the dragir's eyes on her, so she turned and stared at him, giving him a raise of her eyebrows and a kind smile. Artemys smiled and then straightened when he heard mistress Vee's cough.
“Caithyln of house Lampica!" the mistress went on. "To my right.”
The purple-haired dragir headed to the right and did the usual routine of bowing and then standing off to the side. She was the mage that Atsuma had seen earlier, the one sitting next to Lazarus.
“Magatha of house Stargleam. To my left!”
Artemys observed as the small-sized thunder dragon that he had met earlier moved to the left enthusiastically. She bowed at the Amura, turned halfway around and stepped on Artemys ’s toe deliberately and stared at him briefly before proceeding to walk to the side, her back not showing to the Amura, rather her left side.
Artemys wondered why the dragir had stepped on him. Had it been by mistake as she had turned? Did she hate him or something for being a red? Many dragirs were not too kind to reds, so the young dragir believed that was probably it.
“Abigale of house O’connor!” Mistress Vee shouted.
A red haired dragir who carried a long bow at her back moved to the right, her hazel eyes shining beautifully as she headed to bow to the Amura. She was also a red like himself, Artemys noted as the archer moved away to stand next to the white haired dragir, who appeared to be the youngest of the bunch.
“Tyrus of house Sullivan!” Mistress Vee called.
Another lengthy, black haired dragir moved to the left, bowing quickly at the Amura and then moving sideways to stand at the end. He was carrying a dark, green hilted sword. Artemys, who was a lover of blades, couldn’t have looked more amazed that time.
Mistress Vee and the two Amura came close to each other then, as if huddling for a meeting. Every dragir saw as they interchanged undecipherable words.
Moments later, Mistress Vee turned and informed them all, “The Amura have agreed to leave immediately. They believe time is of the essence and I assure you that it is. They will provide you with all the details you will need to know and I expect you to obey. If all goes well, young ones, very soon you will all be back here, the war would have come to an abrupt end and peace will reign instead of chaos. Good luck!”
*End of Part 1*
1. I want to reach out to new peeps who were not around when I wrote this tale and give them all a chance to read it.
2. For those of you who are expecting to read the new story, this will give you a chance to compare them when you do read it. You - by reading - will judge/compare the two and notice the many differences.
3. Just so I can have something to post and help ZD grow.
4. For true readers who come here and like to read.
5. And finally, because I am thinking about giving publishing a go with this original tale. I don't wanna have to wait till I finish writing out ROTD and then the other story that comes after that. I hope I make sense. In other words, I have mostly replaced the cast and have gone over the story and corrected the mistakes, but have also added new content--this so I can give publishing a go in mere days.
So enjoy, follow along because I guarantee a good time.
I will be updating as soon as I get the chapters ready. Characters who have replaced old characters that you will get to see in this updated story are the following:
Atsuma Zeledon--Artemys Titanium
Master Brute--Mistress Vee Englehart
Enedina Wolfhaff--Aisling Kurtich
Yosh Nataku--Lazarus Ryu
Janine Eilowen--Ashie Kazicane
Kate Manthys--Saskia Zeeron
Gen Hui--Caithyln Lampica
Lexi Xinn--Magatha Stargleam
Hazel Akinon--Abigale O'connor
Axle Kimera--Tyrus Sullivan
Omega Blaster--Ddraigh Afon
Ganondorf--Shadow
Daphnes Nohansen--Locke Cole
Yara--Althea Angelides
Oleg Obleg--Zordo Danascus
*And others who are yet to appear*
Rated PG-13, but really, I consider this story to be rated G.
RISE OF THE DRAGIR
Part 1: Summoned to Represent
Part 1: Summoned to Represent
The sun was hidden from view because of the many crowded, puffy clouds that were covering the sky that afternoon. The wind blew lightly but carried a hint of a fast approaching winter with it. A fine day in Dragiria as any that the southern realm had had through out the first seven months of the year.
Huddled within the remains of ancient ruins, a group of dragir awaited the arrival of their instructor, who had summoned them all out there for a reason still unbeknownst to them.
"Do you know why we have been summoned here?" a young beautiful dragir seemed to be asking the entire squad one at a time.
Artemys Titanium noticed her actions from where he stood reclined against a stony wall that still stood erect from those old ruins, which were located a few miles to the west of Crystal City. Those ruins were known as Arphen Ruins and had been the first city that the dragir had erected and resided in for centuries. That place now remained as nothing more than memories, for the ten thousand or so Dragir members now resided within their heavily structured and magically-sealed crystallized city.
Artemys 's arms were crossed over his chest, not because the slight chill reached into the ruins at times, but because he had been tired of standing with his arms hanging low. The dragir was dressed in an entire black outfit composed of pants, shirt, and boots. His hair was short, fell in bangs off to the sides, and his skin was a light tan. He had a noble stare, his eyes being as brown as his own hair. At his hips hung his precious weapons. A beautiful sword with a red jewel of sorts on the pommel was within a radiant, silvery scabbard to his left hip, while on the right side hung two daggers within small holsters and a satchel where he kept useful items.
Artemys, judging from what he had seen of the female mage, knew that she was just as nervous as he was and was just trying to find out why they had all been summoned there. It was unusual for a wizard to feel that way, -nervous- for they were usually calm and very collected. Mages, to Artemys’s beliefs, packed a heavy punch with all their magical knowledge. The dragir was not fooled at her size, he knew that she was just a scholar at the moment, a low-ranked student within the academy, but even a scholar such as she knew magic that could kill him in a snap of fingers.
Two other mages who had been summoned out to the ruins seemed perfectly calm at their places, Ao noticed. They both sat with their backs against another wall, which was smaller and partly destroyed. They seemed to be sharing a conversation and paid the rest of the dragirs no mind. They carried flasks and satchels on their waist belts and wore their mage robes loose. Artemys knew that they probably had covered themselves with some sort of protective enchantment that would keep the cold at bay. One of them wore glasses and had short, dark hair. The other one was a young female who had medium-length purplish hair and eerie-looking white eyes. Those colored eyes were strange for a dragir, who usually had brown, green, or blue eyes. Artemys kept on looking at them and noticed that the male mage was a dark element dragir, while the female seemed to be the total opposite of that: A holy-type dragir. Artemys was of the fire element. He was known to all Dragirian residents as a red. The dragon scales that partially covered random parts of his body were of a blood-red color with a black outline. Reds were the most feared Dragir in all Dragiria, they would become a real threat when angered and were very hard to kill.
Artemys, who was just a warrior highly skilled with weapons and an expert in the arts of hand to hand combat, was just regarded as a low-ranked dragir, nothing much compared to a mage, but they were still feared. Sure, he could do his killing, too, if it came to that, but magic was where the fun and the real power was at.
Artemys’s father had been a warrior also. He had fallen in the field of battle sixty years ago, just like the rest of their family line had been falling as the years had gone by. Artemys had entered the academy fifty years ago and had enlisted as a warrior, not a mage, even though he’d surely had the capability to become a great mage in time. He had enlisted as a warrior mostly to honor his fallen family, who had all been experts in the usage of weapons rather than magic. Artemys – who was a member of a race blessed with long life - was 205 years old. He was well known in the Warrior's Academy for being a brave fighter and an expert in the use of the blade and the dagger. Artemys could also maneuver well using heavier weapons like Axes and Lances, and even a shield, but the young dragir preferred agility over power. Many dragir who attended the academy along with him believed that he preferred that style because of his small size. Artemys was scrawny but also buff-looking in his own way.
The young warrior glanced down to the ground when he noticed that the dragir female was now coming his way. When she stood directly in front of him, Artemys did not raise his head to acknowledge her presence, rather he just continued to stare down, but his eyes noticing the beautiful, white silky robe that she wore. She also emitted some wonderful smell similar to that of a recently cut rose.
Who could she be? Artemys wondered then.
"Excuse me," the mage said, causing him to look up at her face and forget about his silent question, which had crossed his mind just moments ago. Artemys could not ignore her now, she had asked for his attention in a polite way, so the young dragir warrior had no choice but to stare her way.
"Yes?" he asked her, keeping his tough-looking posture and a polite smile.
Her blue eyes locked with his own, and she offered him a light smile. Artemys smiled back and waited for her to talk. He noticed then that she was a thunder dragir, one of those who could shock any being simply by touching them. Her scales were sort of bluish and yellow with a hint of gray as an outline. Her hair was long and of a bright, blonde color. Her horns were smaller than Artemys ’s own, but they were like in color; dark.
So that is why she wears dark gloves, Artemys considered that as he glanced at her hands, which were covered with dark gloves.
"Would you by any chance know why Mistress Vee has summoned us here?"
Artemys shook his head right away, keeping his stare on her beautiful face. Her eyes were small and dreamy, and her skin was light tanned, just like Artemys ’s own but seeming more delicate.
"I don't know anything,” Artemys told her. “I was pulled from my training and was told to come here. I, too, want to know what is going on, but all I can do is wait. Mistress Vee will surely come and let us know. Or someone else if not her."
The dragir female closed her eyes and shook her head as if she was disappointed with the response. She sighed, then she leaned against the wall next to Artemys 's left. She stared down and noticed the silvery scabbard and the hilt of the weapon that the dragir carried on that side of his hip. She was very surprised at seeing the beautiful jewel on the pommel of the sword, but she wasn’t so surprised of its owner, who was simply a warrior, a sword fighter from what she was able to tell. But he was a mighty red, and that alone made her take a step farther to the left, as if in caution. Keeping her stare on the hilt of his blade, she slid down the wall and sat on the ground of the ruined place, choosing to forget about the dragir warrior and the whole dilemma that had been eating her from the inside ever since she had been told to come out to the ruins.
Artemys stared at her as she slid down and kept a smile to himself. He noticed that she crossed her arms and positioned them around her knees, which she had sticking up. She then sighed heavily, as if she was frustrated or tired.
Artemys turned his attention back to the rest of the clique. Ten dragir, himself included, had been summoned there. Seven were females and only three were males. Three were mages and five were warriors. The other two were archers. Artemys began to wonder again why they had indeed been summoned there, and he couldn’t help but slide slowly down, just like the beautiful thunder dragir had done so earlier. She stared at him as he did, and Artemys offered her a light, shy smile.
“My legs were sort of tired from standing,” he explained. “I’ve been standing here like for an hour now. I was the first to arrive, see?”
“Right,” the mage responded, then turned her attention the other way. Artemys simply nodded at that, uncaring, and then glanced back to the rest of the pack. He heard a female’s shout then.
“Oh, here she comes now!”
He quickly stood up, as did the female dragir to his side. Artemys moved out and headed to where the rest of the pack was gathering, the young female dragir followed quickly behind him, though Artemys did not notice her, for he was too concerned with the arrival of mistress Vee and two other figures, who were dressed in white robes and fully concealed from the head to the toes.
“Gather around, gather around,” Mistress Vee spoke to them as she was just arriving. She was kind of tall for a female dragir at five-ten. She had pale skin, had a horn broken in half, and a kind smile always seemed to reflect on her beautiful face. Mistress Vee, who was one of several instructors at the academy, was dressed in fine mail and hardened, silver plates, with a red, royal cape dropping to her waist at the back. She was it! She was the best trainer at the academy. But not only that, she was the top boss in the Academy. Artemys knew her too well, and he looked up to her, admire her quite a lot, just like many other young dragir did. Mistress Vee was also an expert in magic, and she was one of few dragir who had the privilege and honor to sit at the Daelden’s honor table.
But who were the other two? Artemys wondered, his eyes falling on the mysterious beings as he kept on going towards the rest of the group.
Artemys gathered around the rest of the bunch, keeping his attention focused on the two robed figures. As he got to his place, he came very close to another female dragir and bumped her roughly on the shoulder, for he had been intently staring at the robed figures that he hadn’t paid much attention to his surroundings. The female dragir, who happened to be carrying a magnifying glass on her left hand and a white sack on the other, dropped the sack due to the rough bump. She turned on the fool and gave him a hard stare as she bent low to retrieve her belongings from the ground.
“Watch where you go,” she said, although not menacingly. Artemys regarded her, becoming aware that she wore glasses.
“Alright, I am sorry, I was distracted,” Artemys was quick to apologize to her. The dragir even attempted to help her up, but she was already rising from the ground. Artemys offered her light smile. He noticed that she had yellowy scales covering part of her face. She was an Earth dragir, or a yellow. Yellow scaled dragir were kind in spirit and behavior.
“Don’t let it happen again, alright?” She bade him, her tone full of sympathy. “Just watch your step next time and you will be fine.”
Then, without saying nothing more, she turned to face the front.
“Alright,” Artemys said, then he turned to the front as well, for mistress Vee was calling for their attention once more.
Artemys settled down and paid attention.
“Alright, listen up, and listen well. You all are probably wondering why you have been summoned out here. You are here because you were hand picked by me,” Vee assured, staring at the young dragirs one at a time. “You ten are the best fighters that the academy has produced up to this point. The time to show your worth has come. Every dragir who I think has a chance of making it big in our realm gets this kind of opportunity. It is a once in a lifetime deal, if I must say. Why is this?”
She stared at them and knew that she had their full attention. She started to pace back and forth in front of them, keeping her hands behind her back.
“I will tell you why, young ones. Because the realm is always in the need of new heroes. Our war with the sleechurs goes sour in the east. Lady Medusa’s kin are pressuring us heavily. To make matters worse, Shadow’s furrion folk have decided to form an alliance with them. You might have heard the rumors, or maybe you haven’t at all, for we dragir don’t usually spread rumors. The furrion armies are coming strong from the west, not only against us, but also against the good people of Phyd. We expect them to hit our shores in a week or so. As to the phydians…Well, they don’t know nothing of all this, of course, their Phydian eyes cannot see beyond magical curtains. To Phyd and its people all that exists is them, their precious little world, and those who inhabit it. King Locke Cole knows not that war is upon them. When he does realize it, it will be too late. He and his people don’t know that we Dragir exist, nor does he know about the Sleechurs, nor the Furrion, nor the faeries, nor do they know anything of our centuries of conflicts. Their ignorance was bliss, until now...
Our enemies have taken another approach in our war. They know how we have protected the phydians as if they were our own kin, and so the sleechurs and furrion folk have allied themselves in an attempt to exterminate them and us. The enemy is astute, and so forcing us to divide our forces here and there, will surely weaken us.
The fairy realm has fallen in the south. The furrions invaded it and have forced the fairies to flee to Phyd. The fairies arrived there unseen, but will surely be crushed nonetheless if we are as well.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and so that is why we are all here reunited today.”
Artemys felt nervous just by having heard all that. No, he felt a little scared too, and he felt sorry for the fairies and the phydians, creatures that he had not laid eyes upon before but had heard a great deal about in the academy history class.
He sucked in a deep breath and listened on, fearing for his realm and those others that Mistress Vee had mentioned. If he had been summoned here to be assigned some sort of mission, be it desperate or not, he was ready to obey and take it on.
“These kind beings you see standing before you and to my left, you have never seen before. And you surely won’t see more than you are right now, I am afraid. All you need to know is that the Amura, sages of old, are ready to lend their aid to the cause. Few of them remain. They are the fountain of all magic, it is because of them that magic came to exist. If the Amura are extinguished, all magic ceases to exist. The two Amura that you see before you, are here to stay. They have become our allies. We have pledged our allegiance to them. Five of you will go with one, while the rest of you will go with the other. They will guide you where you must go and let you know what you must do. Now, when I call your name, you move and position yourself to wherever side I point to. You bow to the Amura, do not be disrespectful by showing your back to them. If you do, you will surely die by my blade here today.”
Artemys swallowed hard and trembled at that, so did the other nine young dragir who stood around him, some even glanced at each other in confusion and fear.
At that instant, one of the Amura moved to Master Vee’s right side. The other remained standing where it stood. Artemys glanced at it, glanced at the veil that seemed to cover the Amura’s face. He cowered right away and lowered his stare, believing that the Amura had been intently eyeing him. He was right in his assessment.
“Ddraigh of house Afon, to my right,” Mistress Vee spoke then, her hand stretched out as she signaled to the right. A lengthy dragir who had dark, spiky hair shifted uncomfortably and then moved to stand before the Amura, bowed, then went to stand off to the side. Artemys could tell how nervous the dragir was, but he was probably more nervous than that warrior.
“Artemys of house Titanium,” Mistress Vee’s voice came calling, but Artemys did not hear it. He was lost staring at that black haired dragir, who reminded him so much of his father.
The dragir bunch glanced at each other as if trying to figure out which of them was Artemys.
“Artemys of house Titanium, to my left!” Mistress Vee rose her voice but kept it in a calm manner. Artemys trembled and snapped out of it.
“Oh,” he uttered, nervously. “That’d be me.”
Mistress Vee and the rest that were gathered there noticed his nervousness. A short, white haired female dragir blurted out giggling to his left, and Artemys headed to stand before the other Amura, the one to the left and the one that he had believed had been staring at him from behind the veil. He slightly nodded at the Amura, bowed, then stood to the side, his eyes meeting those dark ones of Ddraigh of house Afon. The six-foot-five-inch tall dragir sort of nodded at him.
“Aisling of house Kurtich! To my right.” Mistress Vee spoke louder. A beautiful black haired dragir headed to stand briefly before the Amura, bowed at the kind being, then went to stand next to Ddraigh. She was one of the archers.
“Lazarus of house Ryu!”
The dragir who wore glasses headed to the left, bowed at the Amura, and then proceeded to stand next to the last remaining member of House Titanium. Artemys paid him no mind, though.
“Ashie of house Kazicane!”
The short, white-haired dragir was quick to head to Mistress Vee’s right side, bowed at the Amura, and then stood off to the side of Aisling Kurtich.
“Saskia of house Zeeron!”
The female dragir that Artemys had bumped earlier proceeded to go to the left, performed the bowing routine to the Amura, and then stood next to Lazarus. Artemys turned his head to his left and looked past Lazarus to stare at Saskia, who had intrigued him a bit. One thing that Artemys had noticed on her was that she carried a very short, weird-looking sword at her left side hip, but the sword was so short that it resembled a dagger. That’s what had interested Artemys about her, for she appeared to be carrying just that weapon with her. Saskia noticed the dragir's eyes on her, so she turned and stared at him, giving him a raise of her eyebrows and a kind smile. Artemys smiled and then straightened when he heard mistress Vee's cough.
“Caithyln of house Lampica!" the mistress went on. "To my right.”
The purple-haired dragir headed to the right and did the usual routine of bowing and then standing off to the side. She was the mage that Atsuma had seen earlier, the one sitting next to Lazarus.
“Magatha of house Stargleam. To my left!”
Artemys observed as the small-sized thunder dragon that he had met earlier moved to the left enthusiastically. She bowed at the Amura, turned halfway around and stepped on Artemys ’s toe deliberately and stared at him briefly before proceeding to walk to the side, her back not showing to the Amura, rather her left side.
Artemys wondered why the dragir had stepped on him. Had it been by mistake as she had turned? Did she hate him or something for being a red? Many dragirs were not too kind to reds, so the young dragir believed that was probably it.
“Abigale of house O’connor!” Mistress Vee shouted.
A red haired dragir who carried a long bow at her back moved to the right, her hazel eyes shining beautifully as she headed to bow to the Amura. She was also a red like himself, Artemys noted as the archer moved away to stand next to the white haired dragir, who appeared to be the youngest of the bunch.
“Tyrus of house Sullivan!” Mistress Vee called.
Another lengthy, black haired dragir moved to the left, bowing quickly at the Amura and then moving sideways to stand at the end. He was carrying a dark, green hilted sword. Artemys, who was a lover of blades, couldn’t have looked more amazed that time.
Mistress Vee and the two Amura came close to each other then, as if huddling for a meeting. Every dragir saw as they interchanged undecipherable words.
Moments later, Mistress Vee turned and informed them all, “The Amura have agreed to leave immediately. They believe time is of the essence and I assure you that it is. They will provide you with all the details you will need to know and I expect you to obey. If all goes well, young ones, very soon you will all be back here, the war would have come to an abrupt end and peace will reign instead of chaos. Good luck!”
*End of Part 1*
I love it. I like the sorting part 
Now here is part 4. 
