Chapter 2

"Close your eyes and try to relax. Don't tense your muscles. Breathe slowly." Reon's soothing voice helped Roknier obtain the proper posture. Roknier was doing his morning routine. First on the list was flexibility poses. He did these while in his elven form. He did walkovers to build back flexibility, the splits to develop leg flexibility, and a bunch of other stretches to build arm flexibility. He finished the last one and went over to the obstacle course.

The obstacle course was in a clearing in the valley. Roknier was wearing a light brown tunic that was kind of offset from his flaming red hair. It kept him warm in the cool autumn air. He shivered as the sweat cooled on his body. Reon followed close behind. The obstacle course was made of magic. It changed every day for every person using it. According to Reon, it had always been there. Roknier walked up to the scanner. It was designed to read a person's soul to see what dragon they were bonded with, to make the course suitably hard. The scanner recognized Roknier's dragon and raptor bond, and started developing the course.

Roknier stepped up to the beginning post, and began the course. The first part he did in elven form, flipping, dodging, and doing other various reflexive activities. After a short while, he switched to his Enderfury form. He soared up into the sky and performed different aerial maneuvers. He dropped to the ground and changed into his raptor form. He did agility exercises. At the end, he ran past the finish post. By that time, he was panting and wheezing. He changed into elven form and went back to see the end score. Out of 93 obstacles, he only messed up 11 times. His overall time was one minute and 17 seconds. Roknier felt like he had done better than yesterday. He turned and went back to the hut.

When he got there, Erira was waiting. "It's your turn to hunt, Roknier. Bring back some wild boar or deer or something." Roknier nodded and grabbed his bow and quiver from their place on the wall and headed out. He needed to practice his archery skills anyway. Heading off, he moved silently and swiftly in between trees, moving from trunk to trunk. He tried to be aware of everything. Every movement, every track, every sound. At one point, he stopped and examined some boar tracks in the soft loam. They were over a day old. Roknier moved on. With so many dragons in the Mountains of Fire, the deer herds were beginning to vanish.

Soon Roknier was in a meadow, on his stomach, watching a small herd of deer feed by a bubbling stream. He pulled an arrow out of his quiver. He slowly took aim, trying to be as quiet as possible. He shot, then quickly fired two more arrows. He took down two of stags, missed the last one, and the rest vanished into the forest. He cursed under his breath. He switched into Enderfury form to carry the deer home. A small Dappler came out of the forest. It tried to steal some meat, but Roknier scared it off with a short growl.

When he got home, he went about skinning and gutting the deer. When that was done, Erira took the meat from the haunches and took it into the hut. Roknier and Reon hung the rest of the meat out to dry, and stored the entrails in the cellar. They took the bones and piled them up behind the house. Tired and hungry, they both went into the house to eat breakfast. After breakfast, Roknier headed to the arena. It was never used by anyone anymore, except for Reon and Roknier. Roknier practiced fighting in his elven form against his father, also in elven form. Both of their fighting styles were fluid and snakelike, their blades weaving in and out as they tried to overcome the other's defenses, humming in a deadly dance. Each had an array of weapons on them, and switched frequently. From battle-axes, to daggers, to flails, they switched. They had magical shields that recorded how many times either one of them got hit.

After a short break, they went on to other fights. Dragon vs. human, dragon vs. dragon, human vs. dragon, and raptor vs. human. They paused in the middle for lunch. At the end of their fighting, it was time for supper. After supper, Roknier did the obstacle course once more. After that, he practiced magic; spells, curses, enchantments, artifacts, and dragon magic. Then, Roknier went to bed. This had been his routine every day for almost a year, ever since he had turned fourteen. His father was preparing him for his fifteenth birthday, when he would go out into the world on his own. He would find a place to call home, and find his place in the world.

The next morning, Roknier woke up earlier than usual. Something in the air didn't feel quite right. He trusted his raptor instincts, and slipped out the back door. Crawling on his stomach, he cautiously peeked around the edge of the house. What he saw stole his breath for a moment. Three men in black cloaks stood in the moonlit clearing. Their staffs glowed an eerie blue. One of them raised their staff, and a bunch of...caterpillars? came out of the ground and headed for the house. Roknier backed up and ran into the house. He quietly woke up his parents, and they slipped out the back door

Roknier turned to his father. "Let's turn and fight. I bet we could take those three humans down, then the other things would leave!" Reon whispered back, "No son. We can't fight them. They are stronger than you think. Especially in magic." Roknier would normally listen to his father's counsel, but today, he thought he knew better. He had more confidence in him and his father then his father did. He shook himself loose from his father's grip. "Can they fight all the dragons in this area?" Reon just shook his head at his belligerent son. Roknier took that for an answer. "I'll sound the dragoncall." Reon sighed. He turned to his wife. "Erira, stay here. It is our duty to fight. I don't want you to get hurt." Erira just shook her head. "If you think you can stop me, you're mistaken. It is my duty as well. We will stop this together."She turned to Roknier. "Sound the dragoncall."

They all changed into their dragon forms, and Roknier cried in the magical language "Ingvorin! Atareen! Zhierit!" Dragons flocked from the nearby areas and began attacking the men. Lightning crackled from their staffs at the dragons. Some were hit, and other shifted out of the way. Reon and Erira attacked from the ground. Roknier flew up and zoomed around, shooting blasts of fire at the men, then disappearing into the night sky. His shots should have hit the men, but they deflected them. The men picked up the grub things in a whirlwind and flung them at the dragons. Roknier, Reon, and Erira avoided them at all costs, because most likely they were deadly.

Every dragon that a grub landed on began howling. A creeping blackness spread from the grub to the dragon, their eyes turning fully black. Then, they turned on the other dragons that had not gotten bitten. Roknier nearly stopped flying because of the state of shock he was in. At this rate, they would never kill the men. His dragon vs. dragon skills came in handy here, in this aerial battle.

He shot blast after blast of fire at the black dragons. Some fell, but most turned and chased him. He flew up into the clouds and lost them. He flew back down and saw his parents engaging the three wizards. He dove down to help them, trying to think of a way he could help them. He looked inside himself at his soul, at the point where his souls came together. In order for him to switch forms, he tugged on the soul he wanted to change into. He wondered what would happen if he pulled on the "knot" that held them together. It might help him defeat the men, or it could make him weaker. It might even kill him. That was a risk he was prepared to take. He pulled and felt something inside of him come loose. Pain suddenly wracked his body. Then, he exploded. The force of the magic killed everything within a half-mile radius, and there was a crater in the middle.

When the dust cleared, all that was left was a solitary figure in the middle of the crater. He was shaking uncontrollably, and constantly shifting forms unconsciously.