Bloodlines: Dragon Rider Book 2

Chapter 20: Burn Marks

Hey everyone, sorry for not posting for a bit, I had an exam one week and then I was just too tired to write for the other. But here is a new chapter for you all, I'll post two more on Sunday (I'm still trying to work out a healthy writing style that doesn't involve me writing for 8 hours everyday lol, not that I mind, though).

BUT, can we all take a moment to appreciate this drawing of Rima by Razorwhip_queen2 ! Like, holy shit, it's so

Like wow, it's so good! And I am so stoked that they took the time to do this for me. They have the picture on their page where they draw people's OC dragons for you if you give them a description. If anyone wants to make fanart like this, I'll post them on my chapters.

Anyway, here is another delayed chapter for you all. :)

    Warm-ups are finished faster than usual, rushed by the instructors watching us jump and duck under their mage-made obstacles. Each day the training gets harder and longer, leaving me sore and unable to move by the end of the night. The themes change too, going from scorching deserts to snowy tundras that freeze more than a few students. But certain things remain the same.

    I go first. Always. The first matches are always harder, not so much in fighting, but in thought and strategy. The first group never knows what to expect or how to win, unlike the other groups who watched after us. Though this is compensated for by matches that are harder in physical strength and with rougher terrains.

    Teams are now required to hold an even number of both mages and dragon riders on each team. Holland says it's because riders and mages need to understand how to fight together, while Clarika explains that it's because my groups have always won over the others. And, dragons are required to stay out of the arena, at least for two more days. But like us, they also have their own training to undergo.

    With my team already picked and warmed up, we make our way to the arena seating while the mages work on changing the arena. The ground shakes, hills sinking into an oval-shaped empty pool. As I sit down off to the side, i see Easton in the corner of my eye talking to Valerie and the rest of our team. Earth mages create a large, circular platform resting on thick, stone stilts. Hydromages come in after them, waving their arms to create a swell of water that rises and crashes against the arena walls and below the platform. The spray presses to my face, tasting faintly of salt.

    Instructor Kell stands at the bottom of the arena, his golden hair billowing from side to side. Air mages use their ability to carry his voice throughout the crowd, mimicking their powers with the other instructors spread throughout the arena. 

    "Contestants! A hundred millennia ago, the gods ruled from the skies over Andis. They ruled in harmony until one day, an asteroid fell from the stars and its impact threw Andis off its normal celestial course. This caused the planet to fracture, with earthquakes and tidal waves destroying the continents. Fearing the planet's destruction, the gods sent a contingent of warriors to the Andis'core to correct the planet's magnetic fields and control the molten center. Once it had been stabilized, these warriors attempted to return to the sky realm, only to find that they had been cursed to be the plant's internal guardians. Over the years as the sky dwellers began to forget their counterparts, their magic slowly weakened until one day Goddess Inia was able to chisel a path up to the surface. When the sky dwellers saw Inia and her people, they formed a massive army to push them back. Thus, waging a war that would last millennia until the Battle of Uros, in which the sky realm managed to place a ward at the underground entrance, forever blocking the dwellers from ever surfacing again."

    "The goal of this exercise is to reenact this final battle. You will be playing the part of the sky gods. You must find the ward in order to seal the surface dwellers below. To make it easier for all the spectators to view these events, we will be using water as a stand-in for the planet's crust."