Pyrus: Rise Of Darkness

Assault

Morning comes early for me. I am awoken by Firebolt's cries. When I trudge sleepily into his room to feed him, I am greeted by a very sarcastic, "Oh, look who finally decided to come feed me."
I frown at him. "Watch it, bud. I don't want you're mouth getting to big for your skull," I warn him. Yawning, I scoop some homemade dragon food into his bowl, which he gobbles down.
"Ok, listen up, buddy. I have magic training with Richard soon, so I need you to stay put. I'm trusting you to not run off, so I will leave you outside the door. Stay put!" I instruct. "When you hear 10 chimes, head down to the tower. There is a dragon on top of it, so you don't have to search hard." He nods.
"Not to worry," he says. After he finishes eating, Firebolt waddles to his bed for a nap.
"I'm going to head to the mess hall for breakie today," I inform him. "I don't feel like making my own. See ya soon." I get snores in reply.
Shaking my head, I stroll down to the mess hall. Pushing open the heavy oak doors, I peer inside. Only a couple kids. Guess I'm early.
I walk over to the food station and grab a plate. Gaia's head pops up.
"Ah, Pyrus, good t' finally see ye down 'ere," she exclaims. "What can I get fer ya?"
"Just some oatmeal, please."
"Sure thing. Oh, 'ave ye 'eard? 'Ere's a funeral fer Delta at noon."
"Thank you. I'll be there." Gaia scoops some oatmeal onto my plate and I go to one of the tables and plop down on the bench. I begin eating slowly. Ahh, there's nothing like some oatmeal to wake you up in the morning.
The doors creak open. I glance to see who came in. Gale and Lilly. I wave to them, ushering them over. They wave back, and Gale mouths, "One sec. Food."
They grab their breakfasts, same as mine, and sit down with me. We eat mostly in silence after saying hello until Lilly breaks the quiet.
"So. How was your evening?" she asks, trying to fill the lull.
"Better than you might think," I reply sleepily. I yawn.
"Gosh, you look tired, Pyrus," says Gale with genuine concern. "Did you sleep ok?"
I shrug. "Eh," I answer. "I have a very pushy dragon."
"You can understand him now?" Lilly asks. The two girls start clapping when I nod. "That's great!"
I shrug again. "His mouth is a bit too big for the rest of him. He's a very sarcastic dragon. But I love him anyways." I think for a second. "Ok, he actually isn't that bad, but still." The girls chuckle.
"So what did you two do on your time off?" I ask, trying to keep the mood friendly.
They shrug. "Mostly just hung out at home, I guess," Lilly says. For the most part, the mood was silent. We finish our meals and leave the building. I walk back to my house, eager to get on with the day. Firebolt runs up to me as I open the door.
"Hi! Hi!" he greets, bouncing around.
"Hey, buddy," I say. I give him a hug. "I'm just going to change into something...cleaner." He nods, still hopping around.
I walk into my closet to find a new something to wear. I grab my other fall outfit and put it on. It feels nice. I stride out of the closet, feeling a little more awake. I kill time with Firebolt until lessons. Finally, the bell chimes, signalling that it is time for classes. I head over to the tower, and bump into Sky and Rocky on the way.
"Hey," I say, startling them a bit.
They whirl around. "Pyrus!" Rocky calls out, giving a hug.
"'Sup, little dude?" I say, ruffling his hair. "How are you, Sky?"
"I'm doing well. Still full from last nights events."
I grin. "You still got some of those cookies? I hope you didn't eat them all in one sitting," I tease. She snickers.
"Why? You want a couple? That is, if I even have some left," she kids back.
Rocky interrupts. "We're you at Pyrus's last night, then?" he asks slyly.
"She might've come for a little visit," I reply, winking. "You guys live together?"
Rocky nods. "You should come check it out sometime," he offers. I nod in agreement.
We reach the tower, it's doors open welcomingly. We poke our heads in. "Hello?" I call.
"Right up here!" comes the muffled reply. "In the training room!" We climb the oak stairs to the cobblestone room and find River already there. Curious. Classes only just started.
"River wanted to get out early," Richard explains, as if reading my mind. "Shall we begin?"
Training flies by. Nothing new, just continuing to work on our accuracy and reliability with our magic. I am still at the bottom of my class, but no one really cares. When we climb down the spiral staircase, Firebolt is already there, waiting for me. I greet him and we head to the animal training class. The others had to run and get their pets, so I arrive first.
"Alright, 'ou lot. E're gonna be 'untin' today," she commands, like a drill sergeant. "Yer pets 're gonna learn 'ow t' catch game. I assume y'all can converse with yer wee Devils?" I am actually able to raise my hand this time.
"Good!" she yells. "Now, let's go." She leads us out the doors. I shudder. I really don't want to go out here, not after yesterday.
Suddenly, I hear a hissing sound from behind me. I jump, then hear laughter.
"Did you see how high he jumped?" teases a slick voice. I turn around. Thunder.
"Go away, Thunder," I say coldly. "I don't need you here." He and his cronies laugh. Firebolt growls at them and begins stalking forward.
Just then, a large snake slithers out from behind him. It hisses at Firebolt, who yelps and cowers behind me, bringing another round of laughter from them.
"That's a Basilisk!" Firebolt hisses from behind me. "They're nasty, evil creatures. Can kill you just by looking at you, though I suspect this one has been specially bred considering the fact no one here is dead right now. I can't believe Gaia would let someone own one." I pat his head.
"Look, what's the big deal, here?" I demand angrily.
"Euh, what's the big deal, euh!" Thunder mocks. "Nothing, idiot. And go tell your girlfriend to give me all the mice her pigeon catches." He snickers.
Well, that just about does it. "She's not my girlfriend and her OWL is much more intelligent than you, you gorgon!" I shoot back through gritted teeth.
He steps back in mock fear. "Oh no, I'm so afraid!" He cries sarcastically. "Whatever will I do in the face of such 'brave', 'strong' souls?"
Then it's Firebolt's turn to snap. He suddenly darts forward, clamping onto Thunder's leg. Thunder cries out, then flicks Firebolt of his leg, sending my dragon flying into a tree. He yelps, unable to move.
"Get him!" Thunder hisses at his followers. Bad move on Thunder's part. I bring down two trees in their path, causing them to trip. They all topple onto the ground in front of me. Not wanting them to be able to get up, I bring down another tree on top of them, small enough not to hurt or kill, but heavy enough to trap them. They cry out and squirm, but can't get the tree off of them.
"That's for my dragon," I hiss. Then I walk over to a shocked Thunder and sucker punch him right in the jaw. He falls on his butt and yelps. "That was for Fluffy." Then I rush over to Firebolt. His leg looks broken and he's breathing hard.
"Help!" I scream, cradling Firebolt. "Somebody, help!" Tears start, just as Sky and the others come.
Sky gasps and her hands fly to her face. "Oh my god, what happened?" she shrieks. "GAIA! GAIA! GET OVER HERE!"