Chapter Three

She dodged backward, flipping, her hands barely scraping the ground. She landed in a crouch and launched herself towards her opponent. They stepped back to avoid her swords but she ducked and hit their leg with her foot, catching them off balance. They fell backward and hit the floor hard. Her foot was placed on their chest, and her sword angled at their heart. “That is enough!” Rang out from the mouth of their instructor. Ember’s foot moved to the ground and her sword was moved to her side and into its sheath as she heaved.

“Both of you have improved very much these past few years.” The instructor said delightedly. “Soon, due to all of your progress, all of you will be going to the praetorian tree.” There was a discussion at those words. Everyone was delighted to go to the praetorian tree because it meant they would get their permanent armour and weapons. The closer to the tree, and the higher in the tree you go, the more dangerous it becomes, including more powerful weapons.

“I am obviously going to the highest.” A voice said from a small clump of people in the centre of the room.

“Of course you are Sorrell. You are the best fighter our year after all.” One of the girls said dreamily. Sorrel was the most obnoxious of everyone that was in Ember’s year. She hated him, and could easily beat him if she wanted to, but they would claim she was cheating or get mad at her because she was better than the best, especially she is only a grey.

She was quite excited to go to the tree though. Many others had weapons and armour their families had given them due to their noble status, but she was forced to borrow a sword from the guards and wore simple leather armour. She would finally get the chance to get a decent set of armour and noteworthy weapons that made her old, rusty ones look like they were from the dumpster “I will let you go early today to prepare for tomorrow. Remember, This is an opportunity not everyone gets, and you only get one, so once you have received your weapons and armour, make sure it is what you want. But do not be overzealous and go too far. After all, It could cost you your life.”

Nimue and Ember sat on the balcony talking over some tea. Nimue started the conversation."The captain offered a temporary space in the guard for you. She wanted you to train with them."

"She offered me a spot? Why?" Ember asked, taking a sip. She was surprised at the offer. She knew she didn't have the best record with the guard, though that was only because she went to Pheranomia. They hated the kids that went there because almost all of them neglected the opportunity of going to Pheranomia. They never got that chance, and they, of course, saw her the same, especially with her on the wall every night.

"The captain saw how well you were doing in class, and when she learned how much of a knack for sword fighting you have, she thought it would be good for you to train with the guard as well." Ember wasn't sure how she felt about it. It would be an amazing opportunity, but she wasn't sure it was sincere.

"Can I decide after tomorrow?" She asked.

"Of course Ember," Nimue said. For a few more seconds, they sat in silence.

"Excuse me, I am going to get started on my homework." Ember stood up and went back to her dorm. When she looked in the mirror, she still got excited at her uniform. It was quite simple, a blue jacket, with a white shirt underneath and a blue skirt to match. She let out a breath of air. Tomorrow, she would be wearing her armour instead. It brought a smile to her face.

The next morning she got up feeling a long missed glow of happiness. She was wearing a simple short angled skirt dress with one long sleeve, and a flourish of silver piping. Over that, she put on a long, dark green jacket with a hood, and tied up like a corset in the front.

She was sitting on one of two airships that were heading to the praetorian tree. Her cheeks turned pale realizing that it would not be an easy task due to the spirits said to be residing there. They made people mess up on easy tasks without the victim's knowledge, and some of them cost people's lives.

She had grey eyes, and in turn, little connections to the ancients. Sorrell had the greatest connections, due to his heritage and his blue eyes. Though nobody had silver eyes. If they did, they would be able to make the spirits get the armour for them. She smiled at that thought. ‘Must be great to have silver eyes huh?’ she suddenly felt at ease. She was calm and felt like she had nothing to worry about. She looked around and everyone seemed to be on edge, and at this she was confused. She looked towards the head of the ship and saw a tree.

It was actually multiple trees, intertwined around a giant, blue crystal. Around that, there were mountains and ruins. The remains of the ancient civilization that used to live here. The tree leaves were a pale orange, and the bark was almost white, though, at closer inspection, it looked silver. The tree was close to floating, the only thing holding it up was large roots digging into the ground. We knew of course, that they were hollow, and we would have to travel underground to enter them, to get into the tree itself. They also weren’t actually roots, but tunnels left by the ancients to enter the tree.

“All of you must feel uncomfortable right now. That is the influence of the ancients, and it is completely normal. Everyone gets affected.” Ember tensed up at the last part, thinking there was something wrong. “Don’t stress out if you feel uncomfortable, just calm down. You will become used to it. We will soon be going into the tunnels, and from there, you will be able to receive your weapon.” At those words, the ship went down, and a plank was let down so everyone could get off. Ember was the first to walk down to the ground. Her classmates followed, and the supervisors were last. A few were giving her spiteful glares due to them being nobles, and thinking she didn't deserve to go to Pheranomia. All of them chose one of the tunnels and began walking down.

They soon split up in many of the branching tunnels, and only three left to go down the centre. Ember was first of them, cutting down her share of monsters, and bypassing all the sets of armour and weapons. As soon she reached the root, and the ledges leading up the root. She jumped up to the highest one she could, and began climbing. The others were lagging behind, having the spirits to deal with as well. She was soon in one of two trunks in the tree. There were many monsters in her way, but she mostly ignored them, as they were not the target. This trunk looked much like a library, with many floors and ladder to each individual one. The only difference was that instead of books, you would find monsters and weapons. Ember stood and Marveled the beautiful patterns around the room in the bookshelves and even the floor.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

She went to the nearest ladder and began to climb to the top of the towering armoury. Some of the creatures would grab the weapons off the shelves, and brandish them at her, but she mostly just laughed and continued. After all, most of the creatures were smaller than the weapon itself, as they were tiny foxes and chipmunk creatures. She did know that they were quite dangerous though. Soon she found herself at the top, after climbing numerous amounts of stairs and ladders alike, and saw a giant, blue door. It seemed to be made from the same material as the crystal in the centre of the tree. It was an open room, and many other pathways were available, but her curiosity overcame her. She moved towards it and touched the crystal, as she did this, an explosion of mana was pushed into her hand, but it only calmed down her excitement and filled it with disappointment. It suddenly stopped, and then she looked at her arm.

She took off the jacket she was wearing to see in full view the image peeking out from underneath. There was a tattoo of a dragon snaking around from her wrist to her shoulder. She touched the door again, and the same symbol appeared on the door, and it opened. Sleeping there, was a dragon. Dragons were mythical creatures and had only been told of in the stories. Suddenly, her legs gave in, and she collapsed to the floor, too little energy to stay awake. The last thing she saw was the door closing behind her.

Nova was circling around the dragon and suddenly stopped in front of its face. “What?” The dragon asked, opening its one of its eyes.

“Why are you here Selan?” Nova asked the dragon.

“I am here because I want to be. Is that a problem?” He asked. Nova sighed. Selan looked towards Halo.

“What happened to her?” He asked obliviously. To this, Halo pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

“Your door is broken,” Adrielle explained.

“Oh. I should fix that.” He stood up and walked towards the girl lying in front of the door.

“DON’T WAKE HER UP YET!!!!” All three spirits shouted in unison.

“Why not?” He asked them.

“She thinks she is a grey. She doesn’t know about us yet.” Halo explained.

“Well, that is stupid. Why didn’t someone tell her?” He asked.

Nova let out a sigh. “They either don’t know or want to hide it from her for some reason.”

Selan looked towards the girl, and back towards the spirits. “War?” He asked.

“Yes,” they said in unison.

Ember woke up, feeling a hard snout against her shoulder. When she opened her eyes, a bright orange eye was staring back. She crossed her arms. “What are you looking at, ya scaly drake??” She said, narrowing her eyes.

“Hoping I could scare you. Darn it. Stupid drakes. Always been dragon rip-offs.” he muttered. She sat up. The dragon was a dark purple, almost black. It had two sets of horns, the one on top was long and angled down all the way till the end, where it curved up slightly. The second pair was longer, and it started underneath the first pair. From there, it twisted around it all the way to the end where it came to a spiral that seemed sharp enough to cut. Its wings were normal at first glance, but underneath, it had a pattern that looked like stars.

Ember stood up and walked towards him. I think your door is a little broken by the way.” She said, pointing towards the door.

“I know.” He said seeming embarrassed. “Well if you would like, I can help you get the rest of your stuff.” He offered. Ember was surprised.

“First, what do you mean rest, second, I can get it myself.” The dragon laughed.

“Well, now that you have found me, I am your dragon.” He said, giving her a watch. “And second, I was just offering. No need to be insulted!” Ember put on the watch. When she tapped the face, it looked like there was a cut in space. A rift. “If you ever need my help, just tap the face like that, and I will be able to come through.” He seemed happy at the prospect of helping her.

“Tha… thank you!!” She stuttered, confused at why he wanted to suddenly help her.

“Now come with me. I will give you access to the next area, where you will be able to get your weapons and armour. He walked into the back wall, and as soon as he touched it with his claw, it rippled and faded, opening up into a massive room. Suddenly, all the light was sucked away, and Selan was gone. All she saw was a horrifying and deformed monster. It had shallow, small black eyes, and it had five legs, each one from a different creature. It seemed to have blood dripping from its neck. It smiled, but instead of lips, it had a rip at the bottom of its face. Its mouth was open, a pure black surface inside. The teeth were a dark red, and so was the dripping saliva that spilled out from the corners of its mouth.

“Are you trying to scare me?” Ember asked. She crossed her arms, unimpressed. It laughed. It sounded like a nail to a chalkboard. The scene lit up, and the demon was gone. She saw the town. Her town. She was confused and scared. A flash and she saw the monsters once again. Not even worth being called animals. Fires were burning, and she heard a voice through the screaming. “MOM!!!!!!!!” Rang out through the ash; Her voice. Her eyes went wide as she made her way to where she remembered her home to be. She saw herself. Herself crying over her mother's body. She was a scared little girl, that didn't know what to do.

She heard growling, and she snapped out of her pain. She saw a monster approaching her younger, more vulnerable self. When it lunged, Ember spun underneath it and stabbed it in the heart. A howl from the beast summoned more to the scene. She looked back at the girl and didn't see herself anymore. She saw a scared child, that died that night. She saw lives that could have been saved. Something clicked inside her brain. ‘the smoke went for a few hours. They could have made it in time. The trees aren't tall enough for it to be invisible to Pheranomia. After the bandit attack, we sent hunters to ask for help against any more bandits, but they never came back.’

A monster lunged at her, and right before it touched her, it turned to ash. She saw a blue, open room now, with a table. This table had a necklace, a kind of rose pendant, a bow, and two sheaths with swords in them. “Congratulations. You faced your biggest fear, and opened your eyes to the truth of your biggest lie.” Selan said sarcastically from behind her.

“ I didn't realize they would be one and the same,” Ember said, crestfallen.

“Sometimes It happens that you are scared of knowing the truth. I was a very long time ago.” Selan reassured Ember. She looked up again and moved towards the table. She put on the necklace and grabbed the other weapons. Then she picked up the last pendant and closed her hand around it. She brought her hand to her chest, and suddenly a metal choker formed around it, and a corset around her body. Metal and scale arm bracers appeared on her arms, the arm with the dragon going higher and covering it.

A skirt with a length of cloth going down the side, the skirt being an angle, making the illusion that it was bundled to make it shorter, on her legs metal plates to protect them. When she looked closer at the skirt, she noticed they were embroidered with tiny dragon scales. When she brought her hand to her ear, she noticed a metal ring around the whole ear, and on the other side, there was a flame clip holding her hair out of her face. She touched the pendant again, and the armour disappeared, her old outfit returned. She then looked at the necklace and asked herself what it was, and a notification popped up right above it.

Storage Necklace. Holds 1000 items. Used slots- 3/1000

She willed her bow, which was still strapped across her back, and the swords, which were at her sides, into the necklace. Then she put the pendant in the necklace and looked almost exactly the same as before. Only additions were the watch and the necklace. “Let’s go.” She said, tapping the watch. Selan then walked through the rift created, and once he was through, she tapped her watch again, closing the rift. She then left for the base of the tree, only looking back to where her past self stood.