The Trials of Ascension ~ Chapter Ⅷ

Instructions

S T O R Y : Sunrise gasped and jumped to her feet, along with Dreamcatcher and Pacific. They rushed past Apocrita and Citrus into the large hall. They slipped into the crowd and pretended that they had been there all along. Lady’s Peregrine began: “We will show you to your room a bit early today. But keep in mind: First come, first served to a bunk.” “Room?” thought Sunrise as she got into the line going to the room. It was only a single room, but it was as big as two of Sunrise’s houses put together. Many beds were scattered around the room, including hanging beds not unlike the one she had at home. She flew quickly up to one before it was claimed, put her name on the sign hanging on the side so no one else could take it, and went to grab her stuff. When she came back, Dreamcatcher had taken a bed beside her, but Pacific had preferred to sleep in a small pool in one of the corners of the room. Now that the initial rush was over, Sunrise got a good look at the large pod. It was egg shaped, with a small opening going in that could be covered with a curtain. Inside, there were shelves wrapping around the back, with two small windows on the sides. The bottom had a plush beanbag-like mattress, with blankets and pillows. Satisfied with the bed she had picked, she decided to look around the room. The room seemed to be divided, because most dragans were preferring to bunk with other draganets from their tribes. Some SnowWings were sleeping in nests that were made out of sheets of ice and snow. (Of course, Pine had the nicest one.) Firefall, the firescales, was also in an ice nest, which must have been made by an icescales, because it was not melting. Some PlantWings were in small cocoon-like beds not unlike the bed Sunrise was in, except they were woven out of leaves and vines. Citrus was among the PlantWings, and she was in deep concentration. Sunrise watched with curiosity as, with a flick of her hands, Citrus made the nests bigger. Sunrise noted to look into that. Pacific and two other OceanWings were chatting while in crystal-clear pools that were plenty large. The SongWings were all clumped together, in basket-like nests with down blankets and griffin feather pillows. Next to them were the MythWings, glaring at the pillows, clearly not liking them. Sunrise knew that MythWings summoned animals when they were born, and they were together for life. draganets from all of the other tribes were there too, but they were all conversing, and Sunrise couldn’t tell which tribe from which. Someone tapped her on the shoulder, surprising Sun, and she whirled around. “Whoa!” yelled Dreamcatcher. “You nearly took my head with your tail!” “Then you shouldn't sneak up on me like that.” Sunrise grumped, turning back around, just in time to see a Silver walk into the room. Silvers were the eldest three of a Lady’s daughters, then Bronzes, and Metal. All sons were classified as Metals. You could tell her rank because she wore a silver circlet with a ruby in it. The Silver announced, “Come to the Great Hall.” Sunrise looked at Dreamcatcher, who shrugged and whispered, “There’s going to be some announcement.” They joined the group of draganets leaving the giant room. They all shuffled into the Great Hall, where the same solemn old dragan from before was waiting. “There has been an emergency,” he started. A collective gasp of surprise went up around the room. “What happened?” asked a CaveWing. “A fire has broken out in one of the nearby gardens. All of the guards have gone to put it out, so you are unprotected.” Some draganets started murmuring to each other. “Are we safe?” called out a muscular StrongWing. “O-of course!” stammered Heron. “We are perfectly safe in the castle.” Just then, the lights went out as one, and the sound of shattering glass echoed through the hall, along with the roars of unfamiliar dragans. All of the draganets screamed and started stampeding out of the room. Only Sunrise, Dreamcatcher, Pacific, and the StrongWing from before stayed behind. Dreamcatcher muttered to the others, “12 dragans. Coming in from in front of us. Jump them when I tell you.” A few nerve wracking moments later, Dreamcatcher roared, “Now!” The StrongWing swept towards a clump of three dragans and started grappling with all of them at once. Dreamcatcher breathed fire at one’s eyes and they shrieked and clutched their face. Sunrise raced around another dragan, breathing fire, and tripped them. They had just gotten up when Pacific hit them, and she took down another. Citrus appeared on a balcony, for her camouflage had been hiding her. She swept her hands at the dragans, and they were all trapped by vines. After a moment, the lights flickered on to reveal the dragans were each of a different tribe. The CaveWing Dreamcatcher had blown fire at rubbed her eyes. “Congratulations, you brave five! You have passed your first Trial.” called out Lady Peregrine.