Dragons Rising ✔️

Ch 63: The Test

Daybreak arrived before anyone came to take us off the beach. I'd slept a little, but frequent nightmares and the uncomfortable feeling of being alone in my own head meant I woke up exhausted. A yellowish-tan katalni landed on the beach as I was getting up. He wasn't as big as the other katalnis which I'd seen, which made me think that he was younger than them.

"The two-legs are to be guests of the Council. Their things are to be taken up for them." He nodded at Tezzla.

"You must be joking, Pendro," she said.

"Orders from Elder Jortingal. Apparently, the two-leg leader is very convincing."

"Very well."

We left the thunderbeasts behind, and after a twenty-minute walk, we stopped in the entrance hall of a simply enormous building that the katalnis called their main meeting place. The entrance hall was mostly empty, and our footsteps echoed throughout the huge space. It was a beautiful room, paneled with gold-leafed redwood that matched the spiraling designs on the columns lining both sides of the hall. At the back of the room stood a set of double doors so large that two katalni standing on each other's backs could've walked through them.

Pendro had spent the entire walk up detailing how important his work as Jortingal's aid was. He started to talk again, and I thought he was going to brag some more.

"Only two of the two-legs are allowed to enter. Elder Jortingal said their names were Galantra and Ella."

"I'm Galantra." Galantra ran forward and gave Pendro a sly smile.

I hesitantly joined her. "I'm Ella."

Pendro nodded at the two silver-armored attendants standing beside the double doors. They opened them, revealing a meeting room almost as large as the entrance hall. Galantra and I went in, though she seemed much more excited about it than I thought she should've been. As soon as we entered, they closed the doors behind us. Being shorter than the room's massive conference table, I couldn't see much from where I was.

The nearest katalni offered his forepaws to us. Galantra sat in one and I and the other, and he lifted us to stand on the table.

Farot sat on the table next to the elderly brown katalni from last night who was probably Elder Jortingal.

To my surprise, our dragons were in the room as well. The four of them sat together on Jortingal's left. Unlike the katalnis, who sat on the ground and could easily reach the table with their claws, our dragons had to stand to reach the table with their snouts. Leera looked away when I noticed her.

Jortingal lowered his head to look down at us. "These two are both mages?"

"Galantra is." Farot gave me a strange look. "But I do not know why Ella is here."

"She passed through the shield around our island before it was lowered. Only someone with katalni or mage blood could do so. Her heritage is assured, though I know not of Galantra's. Let me test her." Jortingal clicked his teeth together and opened his mouth wide.

I summoned the quickest fire shield I could and threw it up in front of us. Jortingal's flame hit the shield and drove me back. The heat was so intense that I started to sweat, while Galantra simply crumpled to the table. My hands shook as I held them out to maintain the shield. The flames streamed around the edges of the shield, scorching the air. It was worse than any fire I'd ever been in, except maybe the one caused by the bronze katalni.

Only then, it hadn't been direct katalni fire, just fire the katalni had summoned. This was so much worse. Drenched in sweat, I fell to my knees, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. I could hardly breathe, but Jortingal didn't show any signs of stopping. Cracks formed in my shield.