The Trials of Ascension ~ Chapter Ⅹ

Instructions

She threw a gold cube at the far wall that everyone could see. The cube grew rapidly until it was the size of a table. Out of it shone a screen that displayed footage of the Selections of each tribe. The CanyonWing’s was the simplest. Their lady, Lady Gorge, reached into chests, and plucked some lapis lazuli coins, and the coins were animus-touched. The other Selections passed in a blur. The CaveWings navigated an underground maze of caves to find their own small chest that was placed there and filled by ancient animus-touched birds. The chests had dust inside that determined if they went to the Trials. The MythWing Selection was similar, but their companion animals held a locket made of a certain mineral, made by an animus-touched forge that made it a certain color. The eligible MythWing draganets had to find their companions, whether they were lions or manticores, and retrieve the locket from them. The SnowWing’s, however, was completely different. They simply were called into an enclosed room and came out, and 5 dragans were picked. The SongWings, like Dreamcatcher had said, were picked by a ‘mystical entity’ in a crystal ball that only Lady Siren could hear. Allegra smirked a little when the SongWing Selection was finished playing. The cube progressed to play the SkyWing Selection. Sunrise noticed dragans throwing her looks while it played. “Do you think she cheated…” a whisper came. Obviously, some draganets were still upset over the mock Trial. Sun clenched her hands together, and Dreamcatcher touched her shoulder. Sun jumped. “What?” Sun whispered. “How did you get in?” “The pods have rope bridge things that connect them.” Dreamcatcher whispered. Sunrise nodded as the cube began broadcasting the StrongWing Selection. Her jaw dropped. The StrongWings had to race through a daunting obstacle course filled with lava, swinging blades, and more, battle full-grown dragans, and finally, find their way to a large crystal in a cave, where they were deemed either worthy or not. She stared down at Aloisia, who was lounging in a small hollow filled with blankets. The StrongWings were all glaring at the SongWings and SnowWings, as if to say, See? We actually DESERVE our place here. The PlantWing Selection went like this: The eligible draganets all stood in a line, and Lady Redwood held an enchanted arrow carved out of emerald, and it guided her to the 5 draganets that were to be entered in the Trials. Indigo swirled through the PlantWing’s scales, indicating pride. The LunarWings flew around the island to a small bay, where they were given scrolls which were written by an enchanted quill. They were opened by Lady Hecate herself, which was an honor because Lady Hecate rarely saw dragans that were not part of her court. Sun struggled to keep her eyes open during the SwarmWing Selection, which was conducted after finding out what bug types to look for in the draganets. They released certain animus-touched bugs, including stag beetles and ladybugs. They flew through a diverse forest and landed on the draganets who were now in the SkyWing palace. The DesertWing leader, Lady Isis, simply plucked floating tokens out of the air in a special room in the palace, which were carved after a draganet’s naming. Once she tried many times, 5 tokens came loose out of the many hundred in the bright room, all carved of topaz: a palm tree, a scorpion, a cactus, a Agave plant, and a hare. The 5 DesertWings in the room smiled to themselves. Sun fell asleep during the OceanWing Selection, just after all of the draganets had brought their oysters back from the kraken’s cave.