writingcamp The Aurelian Dragon

    Staring at the ceiling, Nika is reluctant to get out of her bed. Her nerves have been getting the best of her these days, making her grow restless in anticipation of her eighteenth birthday, or in today’s world, her transition. Transitioning is a change in the physical being, allowing your inner powers to be awakened and heightened, strengthening your mana reserves and connection to the earth.      Thinking about what she wanted to do with her day, she knew that training would be a major part of it. Those that are determined to have great powers typically are awoken earlier than normal, but only in small spurts, usually one specific skill at a time and only sometimes gives a key to your ultimate element affinity. Nika’s first skill happened to be creating fire. Not only was it a shock to her parents that it happened at only 13, but she nearly caught one of the stables on fire. It wasn’t entirely her fault though. Her horse got spooked, it ended up rearing and nearly trampled her. The shock of that trauma must have triggered something within her mana to wake.      Before she knew it, the paddock was burning and the eaves of the stable were starting to smoulder from the heat. Fortunately one of the stable hands was nearby, and was able to put out the fire, but from that day forward she had started training, and barrels of water were kept within reasonable distance.     The other thing on her mind this morning was the dragon eggs. They were due to hatch less than a month after her birthday and she was sure there wouldn’t be one there that would match with her, considering that it was such a short time after her transition. Being born with powers didn’t guarantee anyone to be matched, but it certainly made their chances better. She was also the first born to the king and that definitely helped her chances and it was very unlikely she wouldn’t get matched. The issue? She didn’t want to wait two more years for the next batch to hatch, and be behind on her dragon training when she was sure most of her class would be starting this year, with only Kole having been matched from the last brood.      Kole was her best friend, and always had been since they grew up in the castle together. They had their little fights every now and then, but what friends don’t? In the last few years he had really grown up with the amount of training he was required to do now. Even as a higher mage, it really added some mass to his once scrawny frame, though he was still lean. In reality, anyone born with powers was considered ‘mage-born’ but those that specialized in the craft were called ‘higher mages’. Kole was considered one of the higher mages, along with his father, who was ranked as the Elder Mage.      Seeing the sun starting to poke over the horizon, she figured she may as well get out of bed already as much as she didn’t want to, but she had made plans to run. She shuffled over to her closet, selecting a flowy tank and pair of shorts. She would probably have to change again anyway after her run, it was how she started every morning, clearing her mind and connecting with the earth.      She was probably the only one that ran barefoot, most others wore lace-up sandals since they stayed the most secure. But Nika, she liked to feel the earth, feeling grounded in its power. Overall it was very important for her to stay grounded anyways, at least according to her instructors. The amount of power she held this early before transitioning was troubling to the elders, and they suggested connecting with the earth to help balance her. It certainly helped keep her mana more stable, but they didn’t realize how much stronger it was making her as well.      As she reached the main doors of the castle, the guard pushed open the door for her and she headed out, thanking him for the gesture. She started to head toward the orchard on the south side of the castle, when she was nearly taken by surprise by Kole. He towered over her now by at least six inches at a hefty 6’6”, his unkempt brown hair looking messy as usual, and falling in his face. She noticed that he already has sweat beading on his brow, making her suspect that he had been out here for a while, already getting a head start on his training.      “Don’t do that!” she exclaimed, “You know that scares the crap outta me when you sneak up on me like that!”      He grinned at her knowing well he did it on purpose, just for her reaction.      “Besides, what are you doing out here already anyways? I thought we agreed on meeting just after sunrise?”     “Well, it’s already after sunrise, and I’d bet you took your sweet time getting out of bed this morning as usual,” he said with a laugh.      “Ugh, whatever!” she replies, not wanting to admit that he was right, as he usually was. He knew her habits like no one else, it was infuriating sometimes. “Let’s just go run, I’m already starving and we can’t eat until our morning workout is over.”     They ran off, giving a slight nod to the others that decided to join in as they were heading out farther away from the castle, passing several houses as they went. Finally out of the city, they reached the dirt road heading out to the farmlands. Nika ran on the side of the road, pleased with the feeling of grass under her feet rather than the rough gravel that lined the city streets. She also felt more relaxed this way, allowing her to connect with the earth more freely rather than through the compacted stone.      Glancing at her watch, she looked back slightly to see how far they’d gone so far. By time she had guessed about a little over three miles, and it looked that way from the distance as well. She motioned to the others that it was time to turn around and head back. She turned, and everyone behind her ran up to that point before changing directions. Her stomach growled, agreeing that it was indeed time for breakfast, thankful they were now going towards that goal rather than away.      On the return path, she admired the castle as she liked to do on occasion. It had tall, sturdy walls built from hewn stone, placed carefully with every seam fitting snuggly. The towers rose up several floors, the highest being where they would view the stars and planets, recording their movements to be on record for generations to come. The rest of the halls in between the towers were no more than three stories, but most of them only two.     Overall the castle itself was massive, sprawling over a large area. Her father said they did this to not have to build vertically as much. It took more materials and engineering to hold such large amounts of stone, and when it was built several hundred years ago by her grandfather, they hadn’t recovered the technology that they had today. She thought about asking her father to expand upward, as the population was growing, as well as the number of knights, they were starting to need more space.      Reaching the edges of the city, those that joined dropped off, heading back to their homes to eat breakfast with their families. Two of them stayed with them to head back to the castle, their friends Jakob and Joslyn, who were twins and about the same age as Nika and Kole, and children of one of the king’s knights. When they finally reached the castle they went inside, immediately heading for the kitchens in hopes of grabbing a snack if breakfast wasn’t ready yet. Walking down the hall they smelled wafts of bacon, sausage, pancakes and coffee, steering them towards the dining area rather than the kitchens.      Making their turn into the huge room, the long table was filled with dozens of platters filled with different foods. Nika’s stomach growled again, and she looked on at the plates filled with fruit, and another with her favorite scones. The four of them sat down and started to fill their plates, the guys reaching for as much protein as they could, and the girls leaning towards a more balanced meal.      Nika looked around and to the most part, everyone had a good variety on their plates. Looking down at her own, she wasn’t entirely sure of where to start. She had some eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash browns, fruit and then two scones off to the side. Grabbing the butter and syrup, she dressed her pancakes and proceeded to eat them, moaning in delight over her food.      “Mmmmm, this is soooo good”, Nika says with a sigh, almost seeming to exaggerate it, but they all knew she was serious. This girl *loved* her food.      Joslyn looks over, shaking her head, not surprised with Nika’s behavior. Jakob pours himself some milk, asking the others if they also wanted any. The three of them simultaneously gave either nod or a ‘yeah, sure’ in favor of his gesture. As they ate, more people started to come into the hall, sitting down and helping themselves to the meal that was laid out for them.      Breakfast in the castle was typically a free for all buffet style meal. It was the easiest way for the staff to provide for everyone considering the wide differences in work and training schedules in the morning. Most of the early comers were the late teens and young adults, they had the most vigorous schedules between training, classes and their mentorships. Those with more flexibility or no early training came in later, after the early rush.      Nika, Kole, Jakob and Joslyn were finishing up their meal, and Joslyn brought up Nika’s birthday in a few days, making her blush. This was not something she wanted to talk about, every year her parties ended up being either embarrassing or super lame, which was also embarrassing.      “You all know how I feel about my birthday. Some sort of stupid crap ends up happening at my party and then I hate the whole day. With my luck I’ll end up burning something down”, she says rolling her eyes, clearly annoyed.      “Awwww but we love you! And we want to make sure you have a great day, this year is a big one! We’ll just make sure that B stays close by so he can put it out.” Jo says with a giggle.      “That’s not helping, I still don’t want to catch anything on fire. At least not by accident, when I do it on purpose it’s fun and also not a building.”      “I guess you have a point. But before the party we could do some training to wear you out, a version of damage control I suppose,” Kole chimes in. “If you aren’t at full strength, then if anything happens it won’t be near as bad. I promise’” he adds with a smile.      “Ugh, you two spend too much time together. But I guess he’s not wrong. I’m sure you’ll be through transition already so you’ll have even more steam to blow off. I’m sure a few more of the crew wouldn’t mind joining in as well,” Joslyn replied.      “Fine. I guess. But if something goes wrong, I’m blaming every single one of you,” Nika reluctantly agreed, looking at them accusingly.      Since they had all finished eating, they got up to clear their places, heading to the end of the hall near the kitchen. Setting their plates up, they thanked the girl that took the now full tray into the kitchen. Walking out of the hall, the group turned the corner to head to the sparring grounds for weapons training, and nearly ran into Henrik & Myra.      “Seriously guys, again? Can’t you two find a better place to make out than the middle of the hallway?” Kole says, mocking a grossed out expression.      Henrik and Myra happened to be dating, and they were fairly certain they were a fated couple. They wouldn’t know for sure until they were 25, so only a few more years for them as Henrik was the oldest in the group.      “Whatever, it’s not our fault you haven’t gotten anywhere with anyone. If I recall, you haven’t even tried,” Myra rebutes, smirking at him.      ‘She isn’t wrong,’ Kole thought to himself, sighing.      “Besides, what else were we going to do while we were waiting for you all to finish eating?” Henrik says, giving Myra a loving look.      “Alright, enough chatter, we have training to get to and we’re going to be late. I am NOT about to do punishment for being late. Move people!” Nika said, raising her voice towards the end of her chastising.      She may have been one of the youngest, but she was still the princess and the heir, therefore their superior. They conceded, rushing down the hall that led to the training grounds, hoping they wouldn’t be late.