Rainbow Dragon (Dragon Rider #2) | On Hold | Pending Rewrite

Chapter Ten: The Wills of Silver and Gold

Sora blinked. Because she counted three. Three cities, if there was a necromancer, a dragon rider, and a mage. Her brow furrowed, confusion written all across her face. Even through the books she'd read, she'd never heard anything about that. There was the Outer City and Central City – that was all. Unless two of them made one city, she mused, tilting her head as she stared intently at Oz alongside the rest of their group, minus Raelynn. She chewed on her lip, brain ticking over in the dramatic silence that'd fallen as a result of their instructor's words. He was finally teaching them something else aside from how to beat people up and take a beating themselves, and it was shaping up to be something interesting. She leant forwards, eager, and evidently Silver was too.

"Well?" Silver glared at him, impatience written all across her face. "Tell us more about these founders then."

"Interested?" One eyebrow rose, a smug expression on his face as he stared at all of them hanging off his every word. "Guess I'll have to do more lessons like this... strange. I thought you'd much prefer beating people up." He tapped his chin, a sardonic smile on his lips.

Silver folded her arms. "It's hardly fun when we're the ones getting bruises."

Oz lifted a finger. "Part of learning how to fight is learning how to take a punch, but anyway... moving on to the part you want to hear," he said, tucking his hands back into his pockets. "There were three cities formed at the end of the Crimson Era – and before you ask, yes, it's called that due to the amount of blood that was shed – and they were each founded solely by a necromancer, a dragon rider, and a mage."

"The Outer City was made by the dragon rider, correct?" Silver inquired, smiling widely as Oz nodded in agreement.

"Correct. Our city was made to house dragon riders and their eggs, as a method of protection for both bonded eggs and their riders," Oz explained, his expression grim. "Central City was made by the mage – to protect his own people."

"But what does that drivel have to do with the Wills of Silver and Gold?" Leif grumbled, huffing loudly. "Get to the point already, Ozzy—OW!"

Oz removed his fingers from the red mark on his forehead. "Now, before I was so rudely interrupted... I was saying that the Wills of Silver and Gold come from the necromancer and the dragon rider, respectively."

"And what does this have to do with mages and curses exactly—OK, I'm sorry, I'll shut up now," Leif muttered, flinching away from those fingers.

Eir snorted. "He can't even handle Oz's flicks, Twin."

Eisa smiled. "I suppose he should just be grateful it wasn't a punch, though I suppose Oz wants us all conscious..."

"And Princess can't take a proper hit due to his delicate sensibilities, Twin," Eir finished, a wild grin on her face.

"Would you two—OW, dammit, why me?" Leif complained as his forehead was flicked yet again. "They're the ones who started it."

Oz smiled sweetly, and Sora felt shivers run down her spine. "I'm trying to educate you, Princess, so please wait until the lesson is over before you start shouting."

Leif bit his lip, pouting furiously at their instructor.

It had no effect, obviously, and Sora sat there patiently, waiting for the answers to the questions burning in her brain. She wanted the information – the knowledge, that which she always craved.

"The mage cursed the pair, and while the finer details of this curse are still unknown, it's believed it fragmented, likely due to the strengths of those original three," he said, smiling slightly. "Every shard of that shattered curse magic scattered throughout the world, fragments of gold and silver all being attracted to different people based on their core values and beliefs... and for every Will of Silver in the world, there's a Will of Gold to match it."

"That's ridiculous—"

Oz cracked his knuckles with a grin. "And that's the story behind the Wills of Silver and Gold. There's plenty of evidence too—"

"Found by the mages," Leif muttered.

Oz smiled, all teeth. "And verified by us dragon riders. Are you doubting me, Princess?"

"No!" Leif squeaked.

"Excellent," he purred.

"What exactly was the purpose of that curse though?" Silver asked, a scowl on her face as she sat there, glaring daggers at the rug like it had personally offended her. "Curses are only fragmented if they're rebounded from what I've heard... and that means the curse wasn't successful and didn't act the way it should."

Oz sighed. "Well, it only partially rebounded, so it was only partially fragmented – which is likely the reason why nobody knows what happened to the necromancer and dragon rider in question." A wicked grin stole across his face, and Sora sighed, feeling another shudder running down her spine. "Rumour has it though, that every generation or two, their beliefs and ideals are manifested in those bearing the most potent fragments of the curse. Some say it's the unfragmented part of the curse, others say it's a build-up of curse shards."

"But those are just rumours," Leif muttered. "Not backed up by facts."

"Yes, but—you're quite the sceptic, aren't you?" Oz said, sighing as he shook his head. "Someday you'll learn not to dismiss rumours. They're often clues and can help you solve problems when it comes to investigative work... well, either that, or you'll die thanks to your own stupidity." He shrugged. "Your choice at the end of the day."

The room was deathly silent for once.

Oz clapped his hands together. "And on that cheery note, shall we all get to the real reason I called a meeting?" His eyes narrowed, and he wandered over to the large wooden desk in the room, forcing them to all climb out of their nice comfy seats to stand around their instructor. "This map," he said, unfurling the scroll he'd been carrying in his pocket. "Those red dots show each place our wonderful necromancer has targeted over the last few months... and let's be honest and say he wasn't there for a vacation." Oz scowled. "He's after something, and we don't have any idea of what it is – hence why we're here to research around this." His expression darkened. "The Dragon Council have given me – and by extension all of you – a mission. Head to the Central Library and research what the hell all these spots have in common, because I guarantee you, it's nothing good."

Sora stared at the map, looking at the red splotches marked on there. She couldn't see any sort of pattern... which was probably why they were looking through the library trying to find that out.

"Shouldn't Raelynn be here for these instructions, or are you going to tell her everything after she comes back from the hospital you put her in?" Silver folded her arms.

"You really aren't going to let go of that anytime soon, are you?"

In case you haven't guessed it, unfortunately there will be very slow updates, especially from now on, since I'll be heading back to university soon. But I will not be discontinuing anything. Updates might just take a little while.