The Trials of Ascension ~ Chapter Ⅵ

Instructions

S T O R Y : Draganets slowly came out into the training room, where they split into groups of two or three and drifted off. Sunrise walked to the fire-breathing station alone, where she met a LunarWing. “Hello.” greeted Sun. “Hi! What's your name?” greeted the other draganet, much bolder than Sunrise. “My name is Sunrise!” replied Sun. “I’m Dreamcatcher. Nice to meet you!” Dreamcatcher smiled as they were let into the practice room, where they were instructed to hit moving targets. She started hitting the targets with unnatural skill and speed. “Wow!” Sunrise exclaimed. “How long ago did you get your fire?” “A few days ago.” replied Dreamcatcher. “My parents are elite soldiers. They trained me. Their names are Obsidian and Moonfire. Have you heard of them?” Sunrise wracked her brain for a moment, and nodded. “Aren’t they part of the Blaze unit?” Dreamcatcher nodded. The Blaze unit was a high-ranking soldier unit who were trained by masters to use their fire to the extremes. There were rumors that they could withstand fire from all the volcanoes on Sirroca! Dreamcatcher continued: “So, my parents decided to train me in case I got into the Trials. And here I am.” She fell silent as a group of 2 SongWings and a SnowWing walked by. She started to talk again, but Sunrise interrupted. “Who were they?” Dreamcatcher sighed. “They are.... dragans I know from school.” she explained. Sunrise was immediately interested. She had gone to school with only other SkyWings, so this concept of learning with other tribes was new to her. Dreamcatcher continued. “They were… the class bullies. The first SongWing, the jade one, was Aria. She is the daughter of a councillor for Lady Siren, so she acts like she is above everyone. And of course her ego got larger when she was chosen for the Trials. Honestly, I think the SongWing Selection is rigged. Only the best SongWings were chosen.” Before she could continue, Sunrise asked, “How does the SongWing Selection work? I didn’t watch the other tribe’s Selections last night, and the SongWing one only shows then.” Dreamcatcher explained, “Lady Siren and her councillors bring out a crystal ball, and it says five names. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. Only Lady Siren can hear the ball.” Sunrise nodded with understanding while Dreamcatcher continued. “The blue SongWing was Allegra, Aria’s best friend. They’re practically sisters, they’re so close. She backs up Aria on everything she says. Everything. The SnowWing is Pine. She’s actually royalty, which is really rare in the Trials. She’s Lady Evergreen’s niece. I bet she’s been trained specially because of this, so she can win.” She became silent as a turquoise OceanWing came walking up. “What are you talking about?” Sunrise thought quickly. She didn’t want to get in trouble for gossiping about the other Candidates. “The Selecting processes of each of the tribes. What’s the OceanWing’s?” “Oh.” The large OceanWing began describing the Selecting process. “On the outskirts of the underwater part of our kingdom is a giant cave. A kraken lives in the cave. It can see the future. Long ago there was an animus-touched item that allowed us to talk to it. It has been lost, but we have passed down information for generations. On the Selection day, all of the candidates swim one by one to the cave where the kraken lives. It will present each of them with an oyster. They will swim back and the councillors open the oyster. If it has a sapphire pearl in it, they are Trial Candidates. We also do this for jobs. Gold is councillor, and so forth.” “Thanks… what’s your name?” Sunrise asked. “Pa-” she started, before Dreamcatcher interrupted. “Pacific.” Dreamcatcher finished. “How did you know that?” Pacific shouted.