Open Chronicles Forged in Flight.. (Thanasis)

[Raimond Thesius]

The only reason Leovold was getting a strongly-worded complaint to Vhagor instead of a fist to the side of his face for all of the unnecessary bullshit he insisted on injecting into Raimond's day was because he was too busy steering Ha'Than across the skies and setting out rings for the rookies to fly through to go over and deck him. Thesius really didn't want to loathe the man as much as he did, but Leo seemed intent on making peace the most difficult option.

That, and he just looked so damned punchable all the time.

Aside from Solherre's attitude, the first exercise went far smoother than Rai had been expecting. Ha'Than was an absolute unit when it came to maneuverability, owing to his slimmer proportions and thinner build. Raimond had been a little worried that he'd have trouble blowing out the rings and then getting out of the way, but his old friend managed it with ease. By the time the last ring of fire left his Dragon's maw and Thesius steered him to a safe watching distance, Eira, Tuon, Butch and Cullen were running the course he'd laid out in stellar fashion.

It almost made up for the fact that Khaato's dragon was carrying him back to the city, seemingly completely out of the boy's control. And that yet another straggler had found his way to the group.

Raimond had seen Quintus' name on the list earlier, but he'd also been told that Mr. Varro and his Dragon were having some slight difficulties in learning to cooperate with one another, and that he might not show. While he sympathized with the trials of early bonding, especially with a dragon as marvelous as the one Quintus was riding, he really hadn't wanted to wait around and let even more trouble find him after Leovold decided to make his day harder than it needed to be.

"Quintus Varro?" He asked, trying to hide the exasperation in his tone. How many of these guys was Vhagor expecting him to juggle? This was his first day at this job, for the love of-- No. He'd promised he was going to make this work. Roll with the punches Thesius. "Yeah, you're definitely a little late." He sighed.

Cullen and the others were finishing up the course, flying through the last couple of rings and making their way towards where he was watching them. Raimond nodded towards the rings, still alight but dimming. "Alright, well.. Go run the course real quick, let me see how you move while they're finishing up."

As the other four returned, Raimond tugged on Ha'than lightly to turn and face them, raising a hand for them to come to a stop.

"You four are pretty sharp! Good job, I was expecting at least one of you to get a scorch mark for your troubles, but you pulled that off about as well as I could hope." Raimond spoke with an eye briefly cast to Cullen, hoping he'd seen that exceptional job from 'The Branded' he'd been so sour on. "We've got 'another' straggler running the rings, and then we're moving on to combat."

 

[Quintus Varro]

Internally he breathed a sigh of relief, not even too hard a word sent his way. Almost immediately after though a second thought came in like a blow to the gut. The only reason for such lax was if the expectations were already that low. Listening aptly Quintus moved his eyes over the now slowly vanishing rings and knew with a certainty before they'd even started to move this was not going to be one of Vex's strengths.

Still, he'd be damned if they didn't give it their all.

With a few flashes of thought the young dragon dove straight into it. Quintus would flash images of patterns of rings he believed Vex might make it through, and with a just a few mighty flaps of his wings Vex went into it with gusto. Once he was flying there was no stopping Vex, he loved being in the air. His rider would have been a liar if he even played at disagreeing as well.

A great gust blew them both up at the end of the first series leaving Quintus coughing away as smoked filled his lungs. Hot smoke at that. For a moment it took his concentration leaving Vex to his own wills as the growing dragon tried a few of the tighter turns nearly losing his rider on one who gripped the saddle in sudden fear as he jerked. Coughing still he couldn't even yell out or focus enough to warn Vex how badly he was tossing him around. Or even that Vex had missed the last two tight rings in his efforts to do the hardest routes.

Finally after a minute Quintus' lungs cleared enough for him to focus on anything other then breathing. "Good effort, Vex, you mighty beast, but we're missing half of them. If I may?" Sending images of a different series as he spoke he felt the dragon rumble in discontent at what it considered the easier pattern but he did shift.

As they neared the finish line the powerful monster under him turned course and sent another complex pattern into his rider's head. It seemed Vex would rather fail and be challenged then simply take the easier road he could do.

"So be it. Show me what you can do, Vex." Thought to thought he sent a feeling of pride in the dragon, and his willingness to challenge himself. Gripping tightly the dragon spun and tried to bank left his great wings angling against the wind to push them towards the next ring. For Quintus it was like a solid wall of air but at least he was expecting it this time. With a rush he felt their direction change as the powerful wings held steady and while they missed the second ring he did bank in time for the third.

He hadn't seen the other's fly up close but he knew well enough they were all more agile that he had seen. Still they'd managed to challenge themselves if nothing else. "Excellent job, my friend, I'm proud of you."

Vex seemed to glow from his words for a moment. Then as he realized he came near the other dragons he twisted in air hissing and spitting all around him as he dived away from the group coming to slowly rest opposite them with distrustful eyes.

 

[Butch]

Finally, it's my turn, Butch would think, grinning. The powers afforded to him by his dragon were perfect for this. He was gifted the ability of enhancing the strength of his body, and also growing and shrinking to twice or half his size respectively. Granted, not exactly the most flashy and powerful stuff compared to actually just fighting with a dragon, which was the man's usual MO, but fitting through rings? That couldn't have been any more convenient. Still, despite the task being easy, his dragon HATED going small.

Small meant weak and sad, and though Butch agreed most of the time, he certainly couldn't make anything easier for either of them by doing what Tartarus really liked, which was becoming two times as large. That really took energy, though, enough to nearly kill Butch. On a good day, he could handle turning his dragon just a tad bigger before becoming fatigued. "Look. I want to not disappoint Thesius. He's a bit upset at me already for being late. I know going small pisses you off, so I'm sure it'll be fine to go out for a while and hunt after this, kay? I won't stop you, just help me out here," he'd plead, completely at the mercy of the irritability of his flying partner.

With a growl Tartarus would suddenly become smaller and lighter, big enough to ride on and probably still fully capable of eating a cow whole but more than small enough to fit through the rings without even grazing the edges. Swooping down, Tartarus immediately gravitated towards the hardest route of rings and Butch sighed as he began to give a death grip to the saddle, knowing and yet somehow still fearing what would come next. A few sharp turns and not breathing later and thing s got even worse. I'm...yeah, this is totally payback. Butch would think as each new turn consecutively knocked the breath out of him. "Hey, fuck-" To this start of a sentence Tartarus would fully barrel roll, silencing Butch.

God, I'm so sorry. Just please, don't do that. Butch would inwardly beg to Tartarus, who let out a smug growl, which the man was too scared to reply to. Finally they got through the last ring and Butch sighed, grateful he wasn't sick. That had been very close. "Thank you for...Thank you....for....Not killing me." Butch groaned, joining the rest of the group with a tired hunch. Tartarus' getting smaller had done nothing but make him even more of a giant jerk. In fact, the whole thing seemed harder than just being normal size.

 

[Leovold]

Leovold simply sat atop Iralux, circling and bored, his dragon growing evermore antsy as time passed. With each passing moment it seemed like yet more tardy, ascended stragglers showed up to the party, and each fresh arrival only served to add to the itch of irritation that gnawed at Leovold.

This was incredibly dull to the Solherre heir, and was proving his point. Every display of incompetence before his eyes elicited a new groan. These plebeians were all unworthy of their dragons, and Raimond was wasting his time here--as was Leo. If something didn't make things marginally more exciting soon he'd be making his way elsewhere...and perhaps that was for the best.

 

[Cullen]

As Meala gracefully soared through the floating rings, Cullen's focus was unwavering. He guided her with subtle shifts in his weight, trusting in her instincts as much as she did in his. Together, they weaved effortlessly between the fiery rings.

Despite his concentration on the exercise, Cullen stole occasional glances at the cadets around him. He watched as they navigated the challenge with varying degrees of skill, noting moments of struggle and flashes of brilliance. His gaze also swept over to Raimond, a flicker of gratitude in his eyes for the instructor's support.

He made a conscious effort of avoiding any acknowledgment of Leovold's presence, however. The noble's presence was like a lingering shadow, threatening to unsettle him, and he couldn't afford to let anger or paranoia distract him now.

It was when he noticed a fleeting shadow pass over him that his gaze shot upward, and his heart dropped like a stone into the pit of his stomach. A set of wings, two...three. The unmistakable silhouettes of the wyverns on the hunt, descending toward them from above.

"Eyes up!!!" he called out, his voice cutting through the wind as he urged the cadets to attention, just as a stream of fire descended from the sky, hurtling toward them with deadly precision.

 

[Tuon]

Nazharul was quick but not quick enough to avoid the ambush. The jewelled dragon twisted away as the jet of flame pummelled the group but a lick just caught Tuon's right arm. Her armour saved her from losing the arm entirely but pain enveloped her as her skin began to almost immediately blister. Her pain only heightened her dragons anger and mid roll he snapped out his wings with a snarl and raced after the wyvern who had shot the jet of flame. The other two wyverns had plunged into other parts of the group scattering the cadets across the skies. Tuon could faintly hear their instructors shouting commands but the pain made her head hazy and it was all she could manage to hold on to her seat.

"Naz... stop," she bit out as the golden-scaled dragon closed the gap. The wyvern twisted in an effort to lose them but Nazharul followed close behind, his teeth getting closer to the creatures tail. Almost as soon as they were within snapping distance the wyvern spun to face them, talons out stretched, and locked the dragon in a tumble towards the earth.

 

[Eira]

Eira stiffened in her seat as Tyafainne's rare ferocity came to the forefront. She had sniffed out a hunt, but Eira knew better than to steer her clear.

Her own stream of fire was loosed from the deep burning well she kept, successfully catching one of the three wyverns in her fiery net. Tyafainne locked her maw around one throat, grazing her razor teeth into the flesh there before releasing and letting a shower of blood rain on those below.

"Go wide!" Eira bellowed to her bonded, through spoken voice and their mental connection. Protect your—

Her dark eyes caught sight of Tuon, but her dragon's path was getting further away from the Stryker girl. Her heart leapt to her throat, stomach dipping suddenly at the sight of the wyvern rounding back and tearing talons into the jewelled dragon.

They were falling into a fast descent, and Tyafainne was pulling focus of one wyvern upwards. Wyverns struggled at higher altitudes, the moon dragon knew this and continued despite Eira's tightening her hold and seat upon her back.

Raimond Thesius Quintus Varro Butch Leovold Cullen Tuon

 

[Raimond Thesius]

If Raimond hadn't been so busy stewing over the absolute ridiculousness of the day so far, maybe he'd have noticed perhaps the biggest obstacle yet soaring overhead. Worse, these obstacles had claws, teeth and wings. Wyverns, and to a hungry Wyvern, an inexperienced dragon rider may as well have been a free meal to go. The moment he heard Cullen's call, Raimond's head shot up and his lips curled into a snarl.

"Oh for fuck's-- FAN OUT."

Too late, they were already bombarding his recruits with hellfire. Tuon took the first hit, sending her golden dragon into a rage well out of the young woman's control. Nazharul didn't heed orders, instead lunging up at the Wyvern who'd launched the first volley. Naz wasn't precise enough, and now the three of them-- Dragon, rider and wyvern, were all hurdling towards the ground at a deadly velocity.

"Leovold! The girl!" He called over to the red-haired noble, who was watching from far closer to where Tuon was spiraling out of control. They'd bickered, but Raimond had complete faith in Solherre when things got hairy-- He was an asshole, but he wouldn't let a comrade die if he could help it. "I'm gonna draw the last one off!"
Eira's dragon had also lost her composure, and engaged the Wyverns, managing to kill one of them in rather gruesome fashion. Now, though, the Moon Dragon was trying a stunt far too dangerous for her inexperienced rider, and Raimond was getting closer and closer to having another rookie fall to their possible demise. Luckily, Ha'Than was as nimble as they came, and with a sharp cry he shot up into the air with blistering speed, catching up to Tyafainne and the Wyvern as the beast sent another volley of fire down to meet him.

Ha'than corkscrewed to the side, tucking his wings in as he spiraled upwards. Raimond tucked himself against his dragon's back, pulling the dagger from his him and brandishing it high as Ha'Than cut Tyafainne off.

"I've got this! Calm her down and get low!" He barked over at Eira, drawing back with the dagger and throwing it the short distance toward the bloodthirsty Wyvern. It was a miss, which wasn't a surprise, but the act did seem to take the beast's attention off of Eira and Tyafainne. Instead, it lunged at Ha'Than, who quickly rolled and began to flee, hoping to draw it away from the recruits.

 

[Quintus Varro]

So engrossed was Quintus is their efforts as he spoke internally with his young friend his he couldn't even pretend to see the wyverns coming. Yet as he did he instantly moved towards the fight even as Vex moved away. He felt the anger and fear in the dragon, but the golden dragon didn't care if the others got hurt, only if it's rider was. So the adolescent dragon decided by instinct to flee to fight another day.

Quintus though, Quintus was a soldier and all parts of him rebelled as he looked behind as they flew like an arrow away from the flames of the wyverns. "No! Back to the fight, Vex! You don't leave your brothers behind in a fight!"

The Dragon snorted at that, brothers? What brothers had he? Images of the dragons fighting each other as bitterly as they now fought the wyverns swam into Quintus head. Still though the tinge of fear was there, a child's fear against the fury of fully grown wyverns. That part gave Quintus paused. The dragon truly was still just in his adolescent. Perhaps one day he would be as massive as his wings suggested but for the moment he was still just a child. Hells his own flames were nothing compared to massive steams of liquid flame that were searing the sky. That fear he could understand. That fear gave him pause.

Was he trying to force a child into battle?

He froze for just a moment before telling Vex he must at least turn and watch.

"Keep your distance, little flamebringer, but watch and learn. Some day you will grow into your own and such minor lizards will be as nothing to you. You must learn though, so stand and watch."

The growing dragon had no argument to return for that though, more so as all three wyverns seemed either occupied or dying. With a grumble it turned and watched the maneuvers being used following the fights as best he could.

 

[Leovold]

Smoldering eyes flared bright as Leovold observed the flock of wyverns enter the fray. Vermin, that's all they were, but troublesome vermin nonetheless. No sooner had the beasts descended upon the recruits had chaos broken out, wyverns and dragons sparring with all the ferocity one would expect of warring hyenas and lions.

Tuon was locked into a downward spiral almost immediately, and Raimond was quick to call out a command for Leovold to rescue her. Tch. Such nerve. Leovold had been watching, and he was not about to let a glorified vulture humiliate Thanasis, no matter how much he detested the Ascended.

"On it!" he hollered.

Iralux had sensed Leo's intentions and responded with enthusiasm, roaring his glee as the sun dragon took off at full speed. Narrowing in on Nazharul and the wyvern wasn't difficult; they were a tumbling ball of scales and massive, leathery wings, not a diving dart like Iralux had made himself. What would be an issue was getting the wyvern off of Nazharul without injuring the dragon or its rider. Any other dragon's breath attack would be nearly worthless in this matter, the inaccurate, spreadfire nature of their exhalations prone to catching both targets in their effect. Thankfully Iralux was not any other dragon.

"You know what to do, Iralux, on my command," Leovold ordered his bondmate as they further narrowed the gap, slowing only once the sun dragon had come astride the struggling ball of winged reptiles. Sharp eyes, burning like the sun, watched with utmost scrutiny as the wyvern tangled with Nazharul. Iralux did the same, pointing his head eagerly towards them and letting his jaw hang open, the light within his chest beginning to burn brightly.

"Not yet, not yet..." the noble guided his mount, watching the cycle between dragon and wyvern, dragon and wyvern, knowing all the while that the ground was rapidly rushing to meet them. Leovold inhaled and held the breath, waiting for the perfect shot, when... "NOW!"

A jet of searing heat and light surged from Iralux' mouth for but a moment, a precise burst that trailed a perfect line across the wyvern's back and overtop one of its wings. The verminous beast shrieked in pain, its instincts telling it to flee as it tried to wrench itself from Nazharul's own claws and fangs.

"Get out of there NOW, girl!" Leovold shouted to Tuon before pulling away himself. The earth was fast approaching, and neither Leovold nor Iralux would be buried beneath it this day.

 

[Cullen]

Well, this was one way to practice flight maneuvers.

As the ambush unfolded, chaos engulfed the skies, shattering the relative tranquility of their training exercise. Cullen's instincts kicked into high gear, and Meala's swift maneuvers spared them from the worst of the fire, but the chaos that followed sent a surge of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

There was another stream of fire, and though Cullen narrowly avoided it, there was another screech of a dragon and the shrill scream of a rider who's name he had not known, as the young lad fell from his saddle. Cullen tore after the beast, it's target now Raimond and Ha'Than.

The Wyvern's tail lashed across Meala's face before she could clamp her jaw down upon it and hinder its hunt. The creature's wings beat hard against the air, thrashing and screaming out another burst of flame as Meala's teeth sunk deeper into it's tail, giving Raimond the opportunity he needed to bring it down.

 

[Tuon]

Tuon was certain she was going to be sick. The question was whether she would die before she had the chance.

Wyvern and dragon spun as they plummeted, each attempting to roll the other to put them at a disadvantage. With every league they fell their speed increased and the ground grew closer, and closer. After Nazharul's display she had no doubts her dragon would be able to make the death defying turn that would save his life. First, they had to get the Wyvern to let go. Second.. she would have to somehow stay in the saddle during it.

A flash of gold appeared in the corner of her vision but in a blur it was gone again. Tuon just hoped the more experienced rider knew what he was do--- Heat seared across her vision as the sun dragons blast hit the wyvern across the back. The creature screeched in agony, its talons slipping free of Nazharul's flesh so it could twist and attempt to flee.

"LET GO," she screamed over the roaring wind. "You need to PULL UP."

At last the jewelled dragon listened and the wyvern twisted free with another screech of triumph. The ground was barely more than a hundred feet away and Tuon braced for the dragon to level out and pull up. But instead, Nazharul did the unexpected. Flipping nose over wing in a dizzying circle the jewelled dragon re positioned itself to face the retreating wyvern. Tuon left the seat of her saddle for a brief, horrifying moment, before coming down hard, unbalanced, just in time to witness her dragons golden scales change. It started in the very tip of his snout and rippled down to spikes on the end of his tail, golden scales shifting to a deep, fiery orange. Tuon didn't have time to open her mouth in a waning but hopefully the sun dragon had enough intuition to move--

A jet of fire unlike anything Tuon had ever seen erupted from her dragons maw heading straight for the fleeing wyvern. The full force of it caught the beast square in the back, at the sensitive spot between its wings. Instead of blasting a hole through the creatures body like a blue dragon's Helfyre might have done, or searing the scales off the things back like a sundragon's blast, the fire spread. The wyvern's screech turned to a keening high pitched scream of agony as the fire licked its way across every inch of it. The beasts wings stuttered to a stop.

Then, for a second, a perfect, statue-like wyvern hung in the air, glittering like a thousand fire topazes.

Gravity seemed to remember its purpose a moment later and the statue tipped then tumbled, falling far faster than it had when it had lived towards the mountain peaks below.

 

[Eira]

Her lungs burned as she tried to fill her lungs with the last breaths of air.

Moon dragons were protectors and great hunters, keeping their breeding grounds effectively undisturbed by unwanted visitors. It was Tyafainne's instinct to protect her rider, to keep the enemy away, but the dragon forgot the most vital part of her rider.

She was human.

The bond between them stretched and quietened as her consciousness became unstable, and as soon as Raimond called out to them, she was glad the young moon dragon gave up it's daring move. Tyafainne arched, intending to spearhead right to the earth with speed, but Eira would unseat herself no doubt. She was a small thing, and the dragon willfully left the wyvern to others.

Tyafainne landed by the wyvern she had killed moments before, a satisfied snarl rumbling through her and roused Eira from her thoughts of unease. Dark eyes lifted to the corpse, the torn unprotected flesh on the underside of the neck was open to her, giving the young noble a glimpse of the wyvern anatomy. She dismounted quickly, falling to her knees with a wince but heaved for breaths, prayer, anything to keep her from being ill in front of everyone else.

The nausea settled, but she refused to look upon the damage a moon dragon's teeth could do.

 

[Raimond Thesius]

Raimond could no longer afford to worry about the others, or even pay them a passing glance; Now that Eira's dragon had thankfully come to her senses and heeded her bondmate's call, the final wyvern of the pack was entirely Thesius' problem, and any distraction from that problem would lead to a rather untimely demise.

Ha'Than was swift enough to easily avoid the wyvern's initial fury as it gnashed and swiped at the flawless white scales of its new prey. It wouldn't be so simple as running, though; an angry wyvern was a relentless beast, and Raimond was going to have to stop the attack by force.

The head of Raimond's dragon whipped back whenever there was a lull in the pursuit, bolts of flame erupting from his mouth and nearly singeing his hair off as the angry flames roared above his head. All in vain; it was too difficult for Ha'Than to get a clear shot behind him amid such a furious chase.

The three of them were nearing the end of the clearing, two tall rocky cliffs looming over the field on either side marked the beginning of a harsher expanse of mountain range, one that would be far less forgiving to mistakes. Raimond quickly patted the right side of Ha'Than's neck, signaling him to curve tightly around the cliff edge in an attempt to throw their unwelcome guest off and open it up to an attack. The white dragon let out a huff of hot air in response and began to tilt to the side, committing to the turn...

The Wyvern was faster; it slammed into Ha'than's side, driving the Dragon into the cliffside with a thunderous crash. Raimond was nearly unseated, saved only by his grip on the long spines that lined his bondmate's neck. Still, pain radiated up and down his back as he was briefly pinned between Dragon and rock.

Ha'Than's thrashing and struggling allowed him to escape, using the spines to climb free through sheer adrenaline. The Wyvern overpowered his companion, scratching and biting at his flesh, staved off only by bursts of flame from the dragon's maw. Hanging from Ha'Than's back, Raimond could only watch and pray for a miracle.