The Dragon's Gift

Chapter 12

The next day I begin training in my new level one class. I have to spar with the teacher, Levi. I am extremely anxious because I've never fought this guy before. I don't know how he fights or even what he fights with. Nervously, I pick up my glaive. When he sees it, something lights in his eyes. Really worried now, I have no idea what he could be happy about. Could he be really good against glaives, or does he notice my nervousness, before I can continue asking myself unanswerable questions, he picks up a glaive too. I understand why he lit up when I picked up my glaive. The worries almost melt away because I have so much experience against glaives. I was trained with one by fighting someone with one. Suddenly very confident, I strike first. I swing hard for his ribs. I caught him off guard and the blow lands. He doesn't flinch one bit. Instead, he stabs at my stomach but I jump to the side and he narrowly misses. I swing at his feet and he dodges but before he can completely move out of the way, I bring the blade up and hit his chin. He steps back. Just what I needed to get an advantage. I step forward and continue striking and pushing him back. He strikes at me and lands it. He uses my hesitation afterwards and slaps the pole into my side. I double over but before he can put the blade under my neck, I slam the end into his glaive and shove him back. I start to push him back more and more. I kick him in the stomach and spin to put the blade to his throat but just as I did, he blocks it and pushes back. I stab at his side but he spins and hits my fingers with the blade. I drop my glaive and it clatters to the ground. Obviously not wanting me to pick it back up, he kicks it away and brings the sword to my neck. I raise my hands in defeat.
"Not bad. There's room for improvement," he spits coldly. Before walking away, he kicks my glaive towards me. I grab it. As I'm walking down from the stage-like rock, Alex grabs my shoulder. "That's my dad, you know. I can make your life here torture," he says with a smirk on his face.
With a smirk on my face, I say, "And I can still kick your scrawny little butt. Also, I don't care if he's your dad. I can make sure everyone thinks you're getting special treatment."
"Y... Yeah right," he stutters. I walk away happy with myself.
"What the heck was that all about?" asks Kai.
"Oh, Alex trying to scare me by saying that his dad is the teacher. I made sure he knew that his place hasn't changed and that I could still kick his butt."
"Oh. Ok," he says.
"Next, Kai Summers," says Levi. Kai draws both of his swords. Levi picks up his glaive. Levi moves first. He shoves the blade at Kai. Kai moves out of the way. He strikes at Levi's side and lands both swords. He kicks him in the chest and brings his swords up to block an incoming swing from Levi. Kai seems a lot more aggressive than usual. I can't figure out why though. Kai's anger makes him unpredictable but easy to hit. Levi easily dodges a swing from Kai and slings the pole under his feet. Kai trips and falls. Levi drops his glaive and his features contort into a malicious look. I feel something weird coming from him. He rears back about to wield when a fireball slams into his side and throws him about five feet. I look around to figure out who did that only to see everyone staring at me. I realize that I shot the fireball. Yet, I don't even remember doing it. Just then, Jett comes marching my way. He looks furious. Not sure what to expect, I get ready to defend myself if need be. He stops about a foot from me. I wait for the worst. It doesn't come. He finally talks.
"What in the world were you thinking? Do you know that you can be locked up or even killed for purposefully striking an officer of the Guard? Come with me. Now," he says.
"Yes sir." We walk off and into his cabin. Once inside, he slams the door shut.
"What the heck happened, why, and how. I want the truth. Everything."
"Okay, well first, I started to spar with the teacher. He won. I didn't expect to win, I mean, he probably had years of experience, so no shock to me. He seemed cold and menacing though. Hateful. I thought he enjoyed hitting me too much. Oh well I thought. Then when Kai got up there, they started sparring. It started out normal enough, but Levi turned menacing. Almost like he wanted to kill someone. Then he knocked Kai off his feet. I felt something weird, he was about to wield and I knew he was about to kill Kai. Then before I knew it, a fireball is flying through the air at him and he flies back several feet. I didn't even mean to do it. I just did," I say.
"Okay. If what you're saying is true, then Levi has been corrupt for a long time. I believe you, but we're going to have a hard time getting the elders to see it the same way. You go get some sleep and we'll figure it out tomorrow."
"Before I go, is he dead or alive or what?" I ask.
"He's going to be fine but that was a pretty hard hit he took." I walk out and head to my cabin. A few minutes into my walk, I hear a stick snap.
"Who's there?" I say with a fireball ready to throw. No response. I sum it up to me being paranoid or just a squirrel. Just before getting to the cabin, someone grabs me from behind and drags me backwards. I elbow whoever grabbed me as hard as I can. A grunt that I would know anywhere is what comes back. Alex. I bite his finger to force him to let go of my mouth.
"What the heck are you doing?" I shout.
"Getting back at you for hurting my dad."
"Oh shut up you stupid runt. Your dad needed to be put in his place. I stopped him from killing someone. If I didn't, he'd be in the dungeon beneath the castle rotting away. You should be thanking me," I shoot back.
"No, I should be killing you," he shouts as he wields a large rock at me. I slice it in half with a whip of water. It falls in two around me. I use the same whip to knock him off his feet. I wield fire around him and trap him. Three snake like ropes of fire intertwine to form a cage of fire around him.
"Now, you will tell me the truth. If not, this cage will shrink. Clear?" I ask.
"Sure," he spits in a smart aleck tone.
"Why did your dad enjoy striking me in our spar?"
"He hates you. And Kai."
"Why?"
"You don't need to know that," he says.
"Really?" I say as I tighten the cage around him.
"Fine. I told him that you and him have been bothering me."
"Oh okay. Why did he try to kill Kai?"
"He embarrassed me so I wanted to get even."
"Even? Even?" I shout. "All of this, just to get even?" Just then, the air shimmers and Kai materializes out of nowhere.
"Whoa, what's going on here?" Kai asks.
"Just getting a few answers out of Alex."
"Oh. Okay. Now why is he trapped in a fire cage?"
"To ensure the validity of his answers." I fill Kai in on everything that Alex said.
"Oh ok."
"I assure you that killing someone is not a way to get even. So, for that you owe us. We won't tell anyone about this as long as you don't." I remove the fire from around him.
"Now run along little runt," I say.
"Now what happened?" Kai asks.
"Short version, Alex tried to jump me, I elbowed him, trapped him, interrogated him, you showed up, and we're up to date now."
"Now. How'd you appear literally out of nowhere?" I ask, somewhat jealous.
"Oh that. So we learned our second elements yesterday and so I learned how to manipu-"
"Short answer, please," I say, hoping to skip a tedious lecture.
"Ok. Basically, I can teleport."
"Thank you. Now I'm getting some sleep. You probably should too unless you want to fall asleep during a sparring match tomorrow." We head off towards the cabin. I lay down on the bed and I'm out like a light in a matter of seconds.
The blasting horn that's become normal to me once again sounds. I leap up, surprisingly well rested. I almost run out of the cabin to eat breakfast. I smell fresh bacon and syrup, so we're either having bacon and pancakes or waffles. Today's going to be a great day. Everyone gets in there about five minutes after me. Kai walks up with a funny look on his face.
"Why are you up so early? You're usually five minutes behind everyone trying to sleep," he says.
"I don't know. I'm energetic this morning. I have no idea why."
"Okay." I get three pancakes and three pieces of bacon. Kai gets about five of each.
"You eat like an elephant," I mock.
"Oh good one," he says back.
"I know. I stayed up coming up with it all night."
"Sure." I finish my breakfast and head to the training area.
"Hey, Phoenix right?" says a familiar voice. I turn around. Commander Jett.
"Yes that's me, sir."
"Okay. I somehow managed to convince the council elders that you acted in the best interests of a fellow peer and that Levi Harrison was way out of line. You're in the clear, but don't do anything that stupid and impulsive again, okay?" he asks.
"If my friends are put in danger, sir, I will most likely do something much, much stupider. With all due respect, sir," I say.
The only reply I received was a glare.
"Thank you sir." I continue on to training. I see a new trainer waiting. He seems a lot nicer and less menacing. He waits for the entire class to get there to begin.
"Hello class. I'm your new trainer. Since the incident yesterday, your former trainer decided to quit. He was rather rude and said that he's not fit to be a trainer if he can be so easily bested by a student. Let's get started. Phoenix, I'd like to retest your skills, along with everyone else." I step up. I grab my glaive. He draws a long sword. I wait for him to strike. I don't like striking first because it shows people how I fight too early. He takes a small step forward and swings at my legs. I step back. I swing at his neck. He moves but the glaive still strikes his chest hard enough to knock him back. I keep pressing forward, pushing him back. I shove the blade at his stomach. He dodges. He then swings at my stomach. I try to move but too late. I stumble and fall. Before allowing him to pin me, I roll and get behind him. I move to pin him but he whips his sword back and blocks my strike perfectly. Amazed, I stare at the way he blocked it. Not paying attention, I get hit in the side and before I realize it, I'm on the ground again. I try to get back up but this time he's already about to move his sword. All I manage is to barely knock his sword aside just enough to get up. Not willing to lose so quickly, I find renewed energy and put every ounce of into my swings. My muscles were already beginning to get tired. I fight, each swing slower and less precise. Eventually it's all I can do to lift the glaive above my stomach. One last strike and it becomes too heavy. I kneel and put my weight on my glaive, exhausted. He moves the sword to my neck. I put my hands up, signaling my surrender. I rake my hands through my sweat soaked hair. My body aches all over, not just where I was struck. I sit on the ground with my glaive across my lap. I watch while everyone else spars. Eventually the horn sounds to go to our next training session. I wait for Kai and then head off.
"I've never seen you give up," Kai says.
"I know. It's all I can do to carry my glaive. I hope element training is easier."
"I guess we'll find out," he says. I walk to my spot as does Kai. My mom gets up in front of us all.
"Good evening everyone. Yesterday, you either mastered your element better or learned a second one. Today, you will master them further. Begin."
I'm really curious as to what's in store for today. Marissa is my mentor, as always.
"Phoenix, today I want you to freeze water. Create it like you did yesterday, but this time, remove the energy from it. Quickly. That should be enough to freeze it. Eventually you'll be able to create ice and not have to freeze water. Let's get started." I create the water and try to remove the energy from it. All that happens is the water falling to the ground with a plop. I try again and again with Marissa's instructions. Soon enough, I manage it. It's really fun actually. Then, a guy named Caleb takes Marissa's place and teaches me more about fire. He teaches me to make it hotter, more intense. My flames go from reddish to orange to blue. He tells me that my fire is now level two. Whatever that means.
"What does level two mean? Is it better or worse than one?" I ask.
"It's better. Level one is starter, two is next up, three is expert level, and four is perfection. Four is nigh impossible to reach," he says.
"Why did my fire change color?" I ask.
"Red or orange is level one, or beginner. Blue is intermediate. Green is expert. Purple is mastery," he responds.
"Well how do you get to a higher level?" I ask.
"By increasing your understanding of fire and practicing," he says.
"Oh. Thank you. How do you know so much? A few months ago, we just found the stone thingy and now we have people who act like they've known about this for a millennia," I say.
"We have. We've studied the elements for thousands of years. I've studied fire, others have studied the other elements. All of them are here to teach you greatly advanced techniques that you could never learn on your own. In a month's time, you will become like masters. You will be unimaginably strong, just as the elves are with their magic," he says.
"Wait a minute, back up please, how have you studied this for thousands of years, much less, thousands of years before we found the stone?" I ask incredulously.
"Elves live indefinitely unless killed in battle. We are the same. We contain the same energy they do, but it takes the energy from that stone to make it useful. Without it, it's about as useful as a box of rocks."
"So, I'm practically immortal unless killed in battle?" I ask.
"Yes, along with the rest of mankind. The dragons gave each of the races a gift to balance each other. The elves were to keep the humans from being to powerful. The dwarves were to prevent the elves from getting out of line. Humans were to keep the dwarves in check. Then, an elf and a dwarf teamed up to prevent the humans from obtaining their gift but only partially succeeded. That stone is the result. But that's enough for today, get some shut eye."