Word Count: 50,002!!

I DID IT!

“Are the others back yet?” she said frowning as she looked across to Chenyo.
“Not yet, you have only been gone three hours or so. It’s probably the fastest I’ve seen a team go,” he laughed. “Not that I should be surprised, you and Raffy are hardly average pupils.” He said his hands held behind his back.

Mycah, Sorrel, Dio and Chenyo set off for the Dragon Centre and as they walked Chenyo began to tell them the story of the Three Colonies and the millennia long war that they were stuck in.
“It all began with dragons,” he began as he walked. “In each colony a dragon was born and each selected a person it was paired with. Now, the three Dragon riders or Dragon Masters as they became known set up a place where they could live and still be connected to their families but also be connected to the other colonies and that place was to become the Dragon Centre. The Centre straddles the area where all three colonies meet meaning that the colony members didn’t have to walk across land belonging to another colony to reach it. It all started out amiably, that means friendly,” he said as he saw the flicker of confusion cross their faces. “That is until one of the dragons gave birth to an egg, the Shifter who was paired with the dragon believed that the egg should be offered to a Shifter first but the Mage and the Tele disagreed. The seeds of discord had been sown.” His voice became slower and more melancholic. “The three Dragon Masters began to fight and argue among themselves and the pact that they had said was soon forgotten, before long they were using their own magic against one another to cause harm.” The three chosen ones gasped in shock and looked at each other before looking back to Chenyo totally drawn into the story. “An epic battle ensured in which the three colonies got involved backing up each of their Masters. Soon all three colonies were at odds with each other and the war had truly begun. Unbeknownst to the ordinary magical beings the dragons had each laid another egg. Altogether four eggs had been laid, unfortunately one was badly damaged when a Mage snuck into the Dragon Centre and attempted to steal it. The egg was destroyed as any life form within it was long gone, the Masters finally died along with their dragons leaving only apprentices behind whom in turn became Masters and hired their own apprentices. We are the three hundred and twelfth set of Masters to reign at the Dragon Centre and we will not be the last by any means.” Chenyo paused to take in his surroundings, “we must remember what happened to the First Masters and ensure it does not happen to us. And most importantly we must remember that what the colonies began to fight for is not worth losing magic over; the war does not make you who you are, your magic does. The war does not involve you and if it did before, it most certainly does not now. You three are brethren and you must take care of one another and train with one another; should you find yourselves in danger you will only have each other to protect you so you must learn each other’s Magics and learn each other’s ways in order to become three instead of one. Do you understand?” He looked across to them and they all nodded in turn; he smiled to them. “Come, we are here. Yes Mycah, you can shift.” She grinned widely and shot off in her gibbon form as she swung through the trees before bursting into the open and coming face to face with the Dragon Centre for the first time. As Sorrel and Dio came through the trees Chenyo spoke softly.
“Welcome home, children.”

Sam met Jones and Pat just inside the ring and waited as they dismounted from their hover bikes;
“Morning,” he said cheerfully. “Do you want to see where the attack took place?” he asked as they removed their goggles and hung them on the handle bars of the bikes.
“Yes, please.” Jones said running a hand across his short cut hair. The three of them strode across the ring and Sam lead the way to where he had been logging. From behind, Pat could clearly see the outline of the bandage through his white top; though he did note it didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest. As they rounded a corner, Sam stopped beside a tree and tugged the arrow, shaft and all, from the tree. It was longer than his forearm and the feathers at the end were completely black; the twisted arrow head was exactly the same as the one that he had pulled from his arm. He handed it to Pat, who ran his hands across it,
“This is from the group to our West,” he stated passing it across to Jones who was working out where the arrow had come from. Jones took it turning it over idly in his hands and walked forwards tracing the arrow’s trajectory backwards. As he walked, Sam and Pat followed behind him tugging the arrow shafts from the trees and collecting a large stash of them; finally they broke the trees and into a clearing finding a patch of flattened down grass and a few arrows stuck into the ground waiting to be fired.
“They obviously knew where you were going to be working and waited for you.” Jones said crouching down to examine the floor in front of him. He could see the barefooted prints that the Mages had left as they didn’t wear shoes. “Mmhmm,” he said to himself, his fingers running lightly across the marks they had left. He paused and stood up slowly looking forwards.
“Jones?” Pat started until Jones held up hand up indicating him to stop.
“Do you feel that?” he said his voice quiet.
“Feel wha-” Sam said but before he could finish the sentence he jumped in shock as the arrows he was holding shot out of his arms, straight over Jones’s head and almost impaling him as they flew past. From the shadows emerged three hooded figures, their cloaks black with silver embroidery around the hemline and sleeves; from their sleeves protruded their tanned skin. Pat pushed Sam behind him and tugged a gun from his holster and one from the back of his trousers; holding one behind him he motioned for Sam to take it. Jones had his pointed levelly at the Mages; they stood looking at them, or so they thought. Jones raised his gun in the air and released a shot.
“Do not move.” His voice rang loudly through the clearing. They stood as they were unmoving. With apparently no movement all three guns were lifted straight out of their hands and hovered in the air ten foot above them. All three of them looked up gaping; suddenly dropping their eyes they looked back to the Mages who were walking slowly towards them.
“Stop!” commanded Jones, his voice angry; the Mages ignored him and continued walking until they were standing just beyond arms reach away from Jones, Pat and Sam.
“We could easily dispatch you.” One of them said though they were unsure which; “we have decided to only take back our arrows which we did not have time to collect previously. This time we will not kill you, as easy as it would be.” With their arrows floating behind them the raised themselves off of the floor and floating away into the trees; once out of sight the three guns dropped with surprising accuracy onto all three of their heads. Wincing in pain Sam rubbed the lump that was already forming on the crown of his head.
“I have no idea what just happened,” he said bending to pick up the gun that had landed behind him after bouncing on his head. He handed it to Pat by the barrel who tucked it back into the back of his combat trousers.
“We need to get back,” Jones said. “We need to send a patrol out to ensure the surrounding area is safe. Pat, we need to get back to the Hold and get Sam working with the Second Flux,” as he spoke they started to walk back towards the ring.
“That reminds me,” Sam said. “Would one of my work buddies, Craig, be able to work with me with the Second Flux?” He looked to Pat when he spoke for the most part.
“I don’t see why that would be a problem,” Pat said. “Can he start now or were you thinking more of tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow, he just wants to talk with his wife about it.” Sam said with a smile, “thank you though I’ll let him know when we get back, I’m sure his wife will be happy, she’s always worried about him getting hurt when he’s logging.”
“I’m not surprised!” Pat said, “Logging is actually quite dangerous,” he laughed.
“Well I can attest to that!” Sam said pointing to his shoulder with a laugh.

Mycah was sitting with her back to Raffy’s side who was humming quietly; his side vibrating gently against her spine which she could feel all the way through her body. She was day dreaming, her eyes focused somewhere in the distance but not taking in the beautiful view in front of her; Raffy shifted slightly which jerked Mycah back to reality and she blinked multiple times, looking up at him she grunted and he turned his head to look down at her.
“Yes?” he said his voice deep in her mind.
“I was having the most wonderful waking dream and you woke me up, so to speak!” she grumbled. He bent his head down and touched the tip of his snout to her forehead, his breath pushing the hair of her face.

Word Count: 48,338

“We swear to use our powers to defend those around us and keep them safe from harm. We will not use our magic against them unless there are exemplary reasons. As a team we fully understand the weight of our magic and we swear our allegiance, individually and together to fight for the Dragon Centre and represent them with our best behaviour.” They stumbled over some words but finished as a group and looked up to Chenyo curious as to what came next. From his pocket Chenyo pulled a piece of metal in a spiral shape with the points extending from the central point; he closed his hand around it and when he released the pressure and opened his hand it was burning bright white.
“I need your hands,” he said looking down at them; as he extended his hand they saw the healed burn mark on his wrist. Mycah stretched her hand out to Chenyo palm up. He gently held it in his hand and pressed the burning mark to the underside of her wrist; her small face contorted in pain but she held herself still until he took the metal off. “It must heal naturally but you can rinse it with cold water,” he said to her and she ran to the stream and plunged her little hand in. Dio offered up his arm next, determined not to show any pain, his brow furrowed and his lips came together in one thin white line as the mark was pressed to his unmarred skin. When it was completed he too ran to the stream and dunked his hand, wincing as the water ran over the burn; Sorrel hesitantly held his arm out and clenched his eyes tightly shut. When the mark hit his arm a small yelp escaped from his lips and his eyes opened violently, the mental struggle he was having was evident across his face as he fought not to pull his arm away. Once the mark was complete Chenyo pulled the metal away and he ran to the water to soak his arm in the stream. Closing his hand back around the mark, Chenyo cooled it down instantly and tucked it back into his pocket.
Mycah, Sorrel and Dio were all crouched by the stream with their hands extended and under the water, wincing on occasion when the water carried a small handful of grit into their burns. Mycah pulled her arm free and scowled before shifting and plopping into the water as a small but brightly coloured fish; she darted up and down the stream, zipping between rocks and floating twigs.
“I wish I could shift like you,” Dio said watching her shimmering scales casting tiny rainbows through the water; she shifted back to her human form and flicked her long wet hair back over her shoulders soaking both of the boys at the same time. They both shrieked and gasped in shock,
“Get her!” they shouted running at her splashing her with the water. Running through the water they drenched each other until they collapsed laughing at the side of the stream. Mycah pushed her hair off of her face and lay on her back; with a yawn she stretched her arms above her head.
“Hey, Chenyo?” she asked her voice shattering the silence that had enveloped them.
“Yes Mycah?” he said turning away from what he was doing to look at her.
“Are we leaving soon?” she questioned, looking at him from upside down.
“I would imagine so, we have a little packing to do but the other Dragon Masters have already headed back so it is just us to leave.” He smiled as he finished speaking and turned back to what he was doing before she interrupted him.

Mycah climbed onto Raffy’s back carefully and lay flat on across him gripping onto the spines tightly; she wrapped her legs around his wing joints to make sure she didn’t slip off of him if he rolled. The second challenge was flying low through the forest without getting hurt to reach the assault course; Raffy took off carefully, keeping his wings tucked close to avoid clipping them on the trees. He preferred to bounce through the trees gripping his talons around the thicker trees that could support his weight instead of flying as there wasn’t enough space for his immense wings. As they entered a clearing Mycah felt her body slipping and Raffy stopped instantly so she could readjust herself before he flew the short distance; on re-entering the forest Mycah caught sight of something in Raffy’s peripheral vision.
“Wait,” she said, her voice sounding distant. “What’s that on your left? No you’re other left,” she said with a giggle as he turned the wrong way. He swung his huge head to the left ducking under a branch that Mycah hadn’t seen but he had obviously felt and the large white flag flapping through the trees was perfectly visible through the trees. “Go that way?” Mycah questioned.
“Sure, let’s have a look at what it is.” He walked towards it, his huge stride eating up the ground. As they neared the flag, Mycah could feel the ripple of magic in the air.
“Wait.” She said her body sitting up,
“The magic,” he stated simply. “I feel it too,”
“I don’t think it is bad magic, you know?” she said softly. Raffy stepped forwards more slowly paying proper attention to where he was going, feeling the magic and making sure he didn’t feel a surge. Mycah focused wholly on the magic feeling the slightest waves in the magic and wondering if she was imagining the slight increase in magic. “Wait...” she paused. “I can feel the increase slightly,” she frowned as she tried to keep her attention on it. “It keeps slipping away,” she growled. “It’s like trying to catch a fish with your bare hands when it’s covered in jelly!” she exclaimed angrily making Raffy snort and shoot flames from his nostrils.
“That tickles!” he giggled shaking his head from side to side.
“You will make me sick!” she shouted, “stop shaking your head,” she managed to spit out before starting to laugh with him.
“Come on let’s do this assault course.” He said, snaking his head around to look at her so she could climb down off of his back. Carefully she managed to get three quarters of the way down before she slipped and lost her grip on his spine and hit the ground heavily on her side.
“Ow!” she yelped. Hauling herself up she stood and slowly moved her body round to face the flag and begin the course. It started off very simply by walking across a board towards a see saw; once over the see saw she had to do monkey bars across a patch of swamp mud. She swung the last section of the gap and tipped backwards almost landing in the mud but with her flailing arms she managed to catch onto a wooden pole and pull herself upright.
“Now, now. No fancy tricks please because if you fall in that gross mud you are not riding back on me.” He stated eyeing her up carefully, Mycah burst out laughing and leant against the pole to stop herself from falling.
“You sound like Red!” she stuttered, struggling to breathe as she laughed.
“I do not!” he retorted angrily stamping a foot which only served to make her laugh even harder. Every time she almost had herself under control she remembered the tone of her voice before she collapsed into fits of laughter again. “Come on, or we’ll still be here in the dark,” he said sighing. Slowly she focused on his vision and moved onto the next obstacles which were floating logs which she had to walk across to reach the other side without falling; she just about managed it before she started to smirk again. The final part of the course involved her levitating horizontal to the ground and floating through several hoops; Mycah focused intently on Raffy’s vision and lifted herself off of the ground. Slowly she manoeuvred her body through the hoops; the first two were straight but the second two were at angles making it difficult to adjust her body. When she landed on the other side Raffy bounded across to her and she held on tight holding her body close to Raffy’s as he leapt into the air and pushed through the canopy before snapping over his wings. The thin membranes between his wings vibrated slightly and made a faint humming noise as he began to fly. Mycah could really feel the air pushing around her and the noise of his wings cutting through the air; she could even hear his tail swishing through the air behind him as he flew. His eyes brushed against the horizon and she saw the top of the main building’s roof, within a couple of minutes they had reached the Dragon Centre and Raffy landed lightly on his hind legs using his tail to balance himself before lowering himself down and taking some of his weight on his front limbs; with a couple of flaps of his immense wings he folded them in and tucked them tight across his back before lying down to help Mycah dismount.
“You may remove your blindfold Mycah,” Chenyo said from standing in front of Raffy who was looking at him out of one eye. Slowly she undid it and pulled it off blinking heavily at the sudden influx of bright light; with a grunt she shielded her eyes with one hand and turned her head away from the light. Raffy extended a wing over her head to block some of the light but his almost translucent wing membranes didn’t help as much as he had hoped. After a short while Mycah uncovered her eyes and allowed a small amount of light to come through her eyelids to adjust slowly.

Word count: 46,679

“How long for?” Craig asked,
“Maybe a month or so, I guess. It depends on my shoulder; they’re in quarantine for a month or so, so I’m guessing if I’m still working with them they’ll have me helping them settling into their village too.” Sam said, “they want to see the logging site where we were attacked. Do you know if anyone has been down there since?” Craig shook his head,
“I don’t see why they would have been, work hasn’t started yet and we all agreed to work elsewhere until it had been investigated, right?” Craig looked past Sam and smiled as his wife who was walking towards them with Nahla. “Hey hon, kids go off okay?”
“Sure did,” she said with a smile, standing on tip toes she kissed him lightly on the cheek and trailed her hand over his shoulder as she walked past. “I have to get to work, I’ll see you later Nahla, Sam,” she nodded and disappeared inside. Sam linked his hands with Nahla’s and locked eyes with her,
“So what do you want me to say to Jones and Pat?” he said looking back to Craig.
“Let me discuss it with Sarah and I’ll let you know tomorrow, check and make sure it would be alright with them, me helping out. See you later,” he too went inside leaving Sam and Nahla together.
“Everett and Kaylee are happily in school, you and I have nothing to do for a few hours,” she twisted until she was standing in front of him. “How about you and I have some adult time?” she raised her eyebrow suggestively and smiled with half of her mouth.
“You don’t have to ask me twice!” He said loudly picking her up unexpectedly and throwing her over his uninjured shoulder. She squealed in surprise and punched him in the back,
“Sam! Put me down!” She shouted laughing hysterically. He kept one hand firmly over her back as he opened the door into the house, kicking it shut behind him he took her to the bedroom and laid her carefully on the bed. “Well,” he said with a grin.

Mycah was lying between Sorrel and Dio on her blanket; she stretched her arms above her head and yawned loudly.
“Now I’m full, I’m so tired,” she said yawning again.
“Me too,” yawned Dio.
“Quit yawning,” moaned Sorrel yawning too. He grumbled and stared into the fire. “I thought you said it would be warm,” he complained. “It’s cold and I can’t feel my toes.”
“Quit grumbling, you’re worse than a woman!” Dio said, “not that I meant anything by that,” he recovered quickly stumbling over his words as he rushed to get them out. Mycah laughed quietly and shifted into her wolf; she shook her silvery fur out and stretched out. With a toothy yawn she sat down, her tail brushing across the floor in a slow arc; in her peripheral vision she could see Sorrel sitting with wide eyes. She brushed against his mind softly fully aware he couldn’t sense her.
“Look at her sitting there shifting as if its normal. It’s disgusting,” he moaned in his own head. “I bet I could take her on hand to hand no problem, she’s tiny. She cheated today; I bet Dio was helping her.” Suddenly she stood and howled loudly her head tipped up to the moon and her ears folded gently back against her head. Her howl was so loud it made Sorrel cover his ears and glare at her until he heard a response from the trees, far too close for comfort and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on air as he sat up violently.
“No.” Chenyo said looking at Mycah who rolled her lips and flashed her sharp canines. “No.” He said again. There was a long pause as he looked at her until finally he sighed, “fine. But,” he said. “You have to be back before the sun rises.” She jumped up and took off into the trees silently; her feet made no noise as she ran at a steady speed through the undergrowth. She followed a track to a certain point until she dove off of it without warning and headed through the ferns; her nose pointed down as she slowed to a trot snuffling as she ran. Stopping she howled again and heard a response just through the trees, as they were still howling she ran towards them bursting the trees in front of a large pack. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth and her eyes shone bright in the light from the moon; her tail wagged from side to side as she looked at them, she recognised them from her colony. The animals paid very little attention to the barriers set up by the different colonies and moved about wherever they wanted to. They recognised her too and the soft whimpering barks they made as they greeted her reassured her of that; they licked across her face and she did the same. Raising her head she released a long mournful howl that the pack reciprocated; the noise was deafening as they howled together heads pointed straight to the moon.
Mycah ran with the wolves all night and just as the sun began to light the sky up a faint orange colour she turned and ran for the camp; her fur tinged red from the stag they had killed during the night. She ran into a stream and washed the red from her fur leaving her a pure silver colour before she trotted into the camp; she stopped just in front of Sorrel and with a twinkle in her eye she shook violently showering him with droplets of water. He covered his face with his hands as he ran backwards away from the water; tripping over a log that had been put aside to sit on he landed heavily on his backside. With an angry growl he ran towards her expecting her to move away but she stood her ground and stared at him blankly. He stopped just short of her and looked down at her in disgust; yet he stepped back when she shifted back.
“So you think you can beat me hand to hand?” she said with a smirk which turned to a grin when she saw his look of shock.
“How-what?” he stammered taken aback. “You were in my mind!” he shouted angrily.
“Why are you so upset?” asked Dio, “you do it all the time. But that doesn’t seem to bother you at all.” He had his back to them both and was carefully whittling a small stick into a small bird. The knife moved easily in his hand removing just the right amount he wanted. “It doesn’t seem to disgusting to you though does it?” he pressed.
“Of course it doesn’t that is different!” He shouted.
“How is her entering your mind gently any different to you forcing your way into mine? Except of course she is far more considerate and doesn’t give me a headache which feels like my head is being split open.” Dio turned to look at Sorrel who was rapidly turning beet red both from anger and embarrassment. “I may not be a telepath but I can feel it when you are rooting away in my mind for no reason. Did you find everything you wanted?” Sorrel opened and closed his mouth not knowing how to talk himself out of this.
“I hope this has taught you a lesson, Sorrel.” Chenyo said appearing behind him with an armful of logs for the fire. “Entering other people’s minds without their permission is not proper behaviour unless you know them. So you rooting through Dio’s mind is similar to him performing magic on you. You wouldn’t appreciate it and neither does he. Let that be a rule from now on, no magic on one another unless you are duelling in which case anything goes,” he said with a sly smile. “And you,” he turned to Mycah, “were late. I said before sun rise not after sun rise.”
“It’s hard to see the sky in the trees when you’re close to the ground and colour blind!” she exclaimed. “Besides, I wasn’t too late and we aren’t even leaving yet.” She stated sticking her tongue out at him. Chenyo laughed and nodded,
“That is true, we aren’t leaving yet.”
“Why?” asked Sorrel still red from blushing.
“I need to speak with you all before we move on, it is less than an hour walking to get to the Dragon Centre and before then you need to say the pact and we need to establish some rules because there are clearly some issues between you all.” He looked at them each in turn, “and I said I would tell the story of why your colonies are at war.” The three of them looked quite excited until Mycah seemed to process the words.
“A pact?” she said with a slight frown.
“Yes, I will explain more about that later,” Chenyo said smiling to her. “First, the rules.”

Jones and Pat had made their way down to the quarantine bay to visit the Second Flux who were getting the vaccines and their chips implanted today. They did not know about the chips and were clueless as to just how important they were here. When Jones and Pat entered they were scattered around the air hanger which they had called home for the last two weeks or so.
“Good morning everyone,” Jones said cheerily. “Today we need to give you all your vaccines which will protect you from various illnesses here and also protect the planet from some of our catching diseases. They are very simple and I can assure you they don’t hurt and they will not leave a scar. It’s something we have to do and every person on the base and in the village has had them too.”
“Which reminds me,” Pat interrupted. “We have a Rhesii from the First Flux, that’s the first group from Rheso, coming to visit you all later today to talk to you about moving into your village and what you can expect from life on Skyeyla.” He saw the interest building and the gentle murmurings as they spoke to one another.
“We will have one of our medics coming down here shortly in order to speak with you and vaccinate you,” Jones finished with a smile as he looked around.

Mycah stood on Raffy’s back as he walked towards the back of the main building of the Dragon Centre; Dio was standing behind her struggling to balance with Loki looking on carefully. Loki’s beautiful black scales were made lighter by the sun reflecting off of Raffy’s white ones; Red shuffled along behind them with Sorrel lying across her back looking up at the blue sky. Raffy ruffled his wings slightly and shifted Dio’s foot, he slipped half way off of Raffy with a yelp and clutched at Mycah’s top pulling her off of his back with her. He landed heavily on the floor in front of Raffy’s hind leg and Mycah landed solidly on his stomach; she rolled off of him quickly and he groaned loudly moving onto his side and holding his belly.
“Oh, crap that hurt.” He moaned still clutching his midriff.
“That’s entirely your own fault!” she said standing and extending a hand towards him, “come on we can walk round the edge of the building, it’s hardly far.” With a grunt she managed to get him standing and wrapped an arm around his side as he draped his across her shoulders. Raffy looked at them both in amusement and opened the channel between his mine and Mycah’s;
“Ah, the young love birds,” he stated simply. Mycah spluttered and looked up at him in shock;
“You what?!” she said loudly back at him.
“Huh?” Dio said confused.
“Not you,” she said, “him!” she pointed at Raffy who wrinkled his top lip revealing his bright white perfectly shaped canines. “Don’t grin at me!” she said angrily running towards him dropping Dio who crumpled to the floor. “Ah! Sorry!” she exclaimed hovering between picking him up and socking Raffy. Finally, she ran at Raffy and shifted in mid air, with claws flying she collided with his chest and knocked him backwards slightly; he dropped his neck and snaked it towards her. Rolling away from him she shifted into a bird and zipped around his head; shifting again she landed on his back and gripped tightly with her monkey hands. He jumped into the air and spun a tight circle landing heavily without dislodging her.
“Come on, Chenyo’s waiting,” Sorrel grumbled looking over at them with shielded eyes. Mycah jumped off of his back and landed human; she hauled Dio up and made their way round the corner where Chenyo was waiting patiently for them.
“Ah, you are here,” he said with a smile. “What happened to you, Dio?” he asked concerned.
“I was dragon surfing and I fell off and Mycah landed on me...” he trailed off.
“You were doing what with a dragon?!” He said perturbed.
“Standing up on Raffy and trying to balance. I think I broke a rib.” He finished with a groan his hand pressed against his side. “Well, I think Mycah broke a rib more than I did.”
“You pulled me off of my own dragon!” Mycah retorted with a grin.
“Did you not think to check your body with magic?” Chenyo said stating the obvious. Mycah and Dio looked at each other blankly,
“Oh yeah...” they said together. Dio checked his body and healed the cracked rib and winced as it fixed itself. He pulled a face as he stretched his arms above his head;
“Much better.” He looked across to Chenyo, “so what is this rite of passage we are supposed to be doing?” As he spoke he dropped cross legged to the floor in front of Red who had lain down and had been watching him the whole time.
“Well, this is about you and your dragons working together as a team; as one.” He said, lowering himself to the grass. “You need to use your dragon’s vision to see and only your dragon’s vision, you will need to complete a set of tasks which would be easy normally but I can assure you this will be very difficult. You need to transfer items from one basket to another without dropping them using only magic, they cannot hit the floor. The second task is to fly low through the trees without your body being injured; and the third and final challenge is to do a small assault course which has been built in the forest which you first must find. Once completed without falling you must find your way home and once back you can remove your blindfold.”
“Blindfold?!” exclaimed Sorrel in shock. Chenyo nodded;
“You must be blindfolded in order to make sure there is no cheating.” As he said this he looked pointedly at Mycah who stuck her tongue out in response.
“How long does it take?” she asked leaning against Raffy’s warm scaly leg.
“Half a day or so, it depends on how many times you fall or drop things.” Chenyo responded simply;
“Can we take as long as we like?” Sorrel asked.
“Yes, you can.” From his back pocket his pulled three black blindfolds which he handed out to the three of them. “Put these on and we will get started,” he said. Mycah watched as Dio and Sorrel tied their blindfolds and tied her own. “Connect with your dragons and share your vision.” Mycah tapped into her magic and felt the power flowing through her veins; she murmured a string of words and felt light swim into her vision. She blinked once or twice beneath the blindfold and saw what Raffy could see. Her vision was tinted slightly blue but was clear and she was able to see through both her blue and her amber eye; she could see Sorrel and Dio stumbling around arms outstretched trying to not fall over. Mycah reached an arm behind her and felt Raffy’s leg she stepped back carefully and climbed onto his foot; from this angle she could see well enough and not hurt herself though she was fully aware that flying would be difficult from here.
“You may begin,” Chenyo said indicating to his left, Raffy spun his head that way and Mycah wobbled dangerously on his leg.
“Ugh, don’t do that so fast,” she groaned. Raffy turned and began to plod slowly in the direction Chenyo had pointed. “This is not working I feel sick.” They stopped as she readjusted herself and managed to climb up his leg by touch more than anything. Once she had positioned herself carefully between his spines and gripped on tightly he turned away from her and looked back where he was supposed to be going. He leapt in the air and bounded forwards like a kangaroo to make the journey much shorter; each time he landed her vision jarred and shook. Every time he blinked it her vision disappeared making her feel strange as she had no control over where he looked or what he did. They rapidly made their way to where the first part of the task took place; Raffy tilted his head so Mycah could see herself reaching for the egg on the plinth in front of her; gingerly she managed to pick it up with magic and move it through the air to the large wicker basket in ten paces away. They had to repeat the process ten times and when they were almost finished Raffy turned his head away from Mycah leaving her looking into the trees with no idea what the egg was doing.
“Raffy! I can’t see!” she yelped,
“Sorry! I forgot you were looking through my eyes” he said looking back to her so she could see and place the last egg which had detoured towards the trees.

“The rules of the Dragon Centre are as follows, number one. There are no colonies. Number two; there is no fighting between apprentices or Masters. Number three; you will learn a lot of magic which cannot be shared outside of the Dragon Centre under any circumstances. There are more rules which you will learn during your time with us, but these are the major ones you will follow. If you cannot or will not follow them then you will have your powers removed and you will be sent back to your colony with only the powers of your colony.” Chenyo spoke quietly addressing the three chosen ones sitting cross legged in front of him. He watched their eyes widen in surprise at the final part.
“Why?” Dio asked looking up at him.
“Because if you are not willing to stick to the rules you cannot be trusted outside of the Dragon Centre with magic that powerful and we will not risk your life of the lives of those around you if your magic strays or becomes too powerful.” Mycah nodded as Chenyo spoke. “Do you all agree to obey the rules of the Dragon Centre?”
“Yes, Dragon Master Chenyo.” They chanted in unison, their voices melding together to form one unit.
“I’m glad,” he replied with a smile. “Okay, now I would like you to repeat the Pact after me.” They all nodded and leant forwards slightly in anticipation; he handed them all a slip of paper with the Pact on.
“I, Mycah-”
“Sorrel-”
“Dio, do swear to fight the fight as three and not one. To protect the planet Skyeyla as it is, or was. To defend the people of Skyeyla from all colonies against the Invaders no matter the personal consequence.” Their voices were once again speaking in unison apart from when they spoke their names. Chenyo watched them focusing on the paper in front of them as they spoke to ensure they didn’t get the words wrong.

Word Count: 43,335

Sorrel walked with Chenyo to the edge of the colony and found their way to the place that the others were staying. Mycah and Dio were nowhere to be seen so Chenyo called him with his mind.
“Mycah, Dio, come and greet Sorrel, please.” He said and waited for them to appear; within seconds Mycah barrelled out of the trees as a wolf and shifted as she ran towards them. Sorrel’s eyes bulged out,
“A shifter?!” he said astounded. “What is a shifter doing here?” his voice became angry and tense. “She shouldn’t be here.” Mycah glanced at him and shrugged.
“Got any food?” She asked Chenyo with a grin, “I’m starving and still won’t let me hunt,” she scowled at him. He passed her a hunk of bread which she snatched from his hand and scampered away. Chenyo looked down at Sorrel who was standing with his shoulders tensed and his small hands curled into tight fists.
“Mycah is not a shape shifter, Sorrel. She is a Dragon Master and so are you just as Dio is not a mage.” He put his hand on Sorrel’s shoulders, “You are no longer a telepath. You are a Dragon Master and you will accept Mycah and Dio as your kin. If you don’t you will have your powers removed and you will be cast from the Dragon Centre. Do you understand?” Sorrel looked up at him shocked,
“but-but she’s a shifter. Teles don’t accept shifters.” He stammered and looked confused.
“You do now. Do you even know why the three colonies fought to begin with?” Chenyo asked, his eyes locking with Sorrel’s.
“No, Papa said he’d tell me when I got older.”
“I will tell you, Mycah and Dio the story tonight before we eat. Until then you will accept her and do as you are told, understood?”
“Yes, Dragon Master Chenyo,” he said softly lowering his eyes and unclenching his fists.
“Good, now go and meet Mycah and Dio, I’m sure they are close by.” Chenyo said walking past him and into the building where they were staying. Sorrel stood still for a moment before heading into the trees where he assumed he’d find the girl and the boy that Chenyo had spoken of. As he entered the shade below the trees he cast out his mind and he instantly sensed a girl close to him, though he couldn’t see anyone.
“Where are you?” he said, the air in front of him shimmered and she shifted into existence barely a meter away from him. He took a step back in shock as he stared at her scowling; her head barely came to the top of his chest and her hair was long and silver in colour with bright amber eyes which stared at him intently. “What are you, like five?” he said with a hint of contempt.
“Yep, she said simply, seemingly not understanding the joke was on her. She paused and he felt a vague touch on his consciousness, “you are eight.” She stated simply. He looked at her confused;
“How did you work that out when you didn’t enter my mind?” He said confused and not impressed.
“Magic,” she said with a grin and jogged away. “Dio’s over there,” she points into the trees. His grown was audible through the branches of a nearby tree,
“Why?” he grumbled. He appeared, pushing a fern out of his way. “Hi.” He said looking Sorrel up and down, “I’m Dio and yes I’m a Mage.”
“Hi, I’m Sorrel and I’m not a Mage,” Sorrel said with a small smile.
“Technically we are all Dragon Masters now and not Shifters, Mages and Teles” came Mycah’s sing song voice from the trees. Both of the boys grunted their response and started to talk to one another ignoring the hidden presence of Mycah.
“Chenyo said he’d tell us the story of why our Colonies are at war,” Sorrel said quietly.
“Don’t you already know that?” Mycah said scathingly. “I learnt that when I was three.” Sorrel scowled at her and clenched his fists. “Oh am I making you mad?” she said with a faint grin stepping out of the trees.
“I wouldn’t,” muttered Dio.
“I can take her.” Sorrel said his voice rising, “easy. She’s only five.”
“You’d be surprised...” Dio said trailing off and sitting down to watch just off the path. Mycah stood with her feet together and her arms loose by her sides; she simply stared at him and waited. She didn’t have to wait long, he tried a sudden mental assault relying heavily on it being a surprise, but he was a telepath, she fully expected it and easily swatted aside the assault leaving him reeling. He stuttered out a few words before she thrust her right arm forwards her palm facing him and sent him flying backwards with a whoosh of air that ruffled Dio’s hair. Dio snickered quietly to himself and leant forwards to watch Sorrel pull himself up off the dusty ground and run towards her intent on reaching her. She spun lazily and sent him flying with a wall of water that knocked the air straight out of his lungs; he smashed back into the ground just where he had got up from, drenched from head to toe and gasping for air.
“I did warn you,” Dio said. “I got the same warning and I...well I didn’t get her either.” He said smirking slightly and looking across to Sorrel who was still gasping for air on the floor.

Mycah awoke slowly, her eyes bleary and blinking heavily. She groaned and half rolled over to find Chenyo standing beside her; with a shriek she propelled herself backwards and thrust out a hand shoving him against a wall. She fell out of the bed and a tugged her blanket down with her which she held across her chest.
“What the hell are you doing?!” she shouted still pinning him against the wall, his eyes were closed as he tried to not look.
“I-well-oh-please let me down.” He stammered with his eyes tightly shut, “I didn’t realise you were still in bed and obviously you were and I had just come in and then suddenly you were screaming and now I’m here and you are crushing my chest slightly.” He said breathlessly and she dropped him; he crumpled to the floor heavily. “Thank you,” he said as he felt across the wall to find the door which he promptly fell out of.
“Jeez,” Mycah said keeping the blanket clutched tightly as she made her way to her en suite bathroom; she conjured water into the large reservoir above the shower head and heated it to the right temperature before stripping down and climbing straight in. She was in and out in less than five minutes, when she emerged she smelt strongly of raspberries. Striding back into her room she tugged on her panties and a thin sleeveless top before pulling one of her usual Dragon Master robes on; it has slit sleeves similar to her fancy robe and also a slit running to her knees on both sides. Pushing her arms through she collected her fighting bandages as she wanted to go to the Dojo and practice some combat; as she went to leave she doubled back and collected her cut offs and her sword belt. As she exited she noted Chenyo standing outside awkwardly.
“I’m very sorry Mycah, I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t expect you to be there and I didn’t see anything I swear.” He spoke quickly and wrung his hands nervously.
“Sorry I overreacted, I didn’t mean to mash you into the wall...I just didn’t expect to see someone standing over me as I woke up.” She said with a small laugh, “all is forgotten,” she said and walked towards the Dojo. Chenyo walked beside her silently until they reached the Dojo and he left awkwardly and made his way to his office. Entering the Dojo she saw Dio standing there with a staff mid practice,
“No Sorrel?” she said, dropping her sword belt on the floor just inside the door.
“What do you think? It’s still pretty early,” he laughed. He too was wearing his Dragon Master robe for a change and he twirled the staff above his head with one hand before bringing it crashing down to the mat in front of him. With a sweep he knocked his imaginary foe off of his feet and stabbed the staff into what would have been his head.
“Nice,” Mycah said with a small smile; she tugged her robe over her head and pulled her cut offs on. “Help me wrap up?” she said to him holding out the bandages.
“Sure” he said tucking his staff under one arm and striding over to her.
“You’ve grown,” as she spoke she looked up at him and deduced he was two or three inches taller than her now.
“Uh huh,” he said cupping her arm in his hand as he began to wind the bandage around her arm. “Is that tight enough?” he said as he did up the Velcro; she flexed her hand and nodded and passed him the other hand. His skin was warm against hers and she could feel every time his fingers brushed her arm, it felt like fire. When he had finished she flexed both hands and formed fists which she held up in front of her, with a grin she struck him on the upper arm. “Oh, oh!” he exclaimed loudly. “That’s how you want it huh? Come on, bandage me up!” he said with a grin chucking her his bandages from his pocket. She extended her hand waiting for his and he dropped it in hers; quickly bandaging him up she repeated his question.
“Tight enough?” he too flexed his fingers and nodded; she wrapped his other hand up quickly too and they bounced away from each other on their toes. Both of them raised their arms in front of their faces to protect themselves and bounced on their toes in circles around one another. “Come on then,” she said with a grin, her hair bouncing around her shoulders. They came closer together and he jabbed at her which she easily defended herself from and sent a low jab at his stomach which he blocked. With a sly grin, he sent a wall of air towards her which she allowed to pick her up; she corkscrewed in the air and with a murmured word sent herself shooting back towards him like a bullet. As she collided with him she wrapped her arms around his chest and they both thudded into the mat. They landed heavily, Dio rolled over until he was on top of Mycah, with a knee on each side of her body. His hair hung in front of his face as he looked down at her his eyes shining,
“Hi,” he said with a small smile,
“Hi back,” she replied breathless. He leant down towards her slowly and she watched him coming towards her when suddenly Sorrel burst into the Dojo tripping as he came in; Dio rolled off of her quickly and stood up. Mycah sat up and flicked her eyes towards Dio who was blushing slightly before getting to her feet.
“You are beyond clumsy, Sorrel.” Dio said looking at him sprawled on the floor.
“Ow,” he replied rolling onto his back and turning his head to look at them. “Chenyo’s looking for us by the way,” he said groaning as he stood up.
“Why does he want us?” Mycah asked unravelling her bandages.
“Something about a rite of passage...” he mumbled limping slightly.
“Another one?” groaned Dio, putting his hand on Mycah’s back gently as he passed her, their eyes met and they looked away awkwardly.

Mycah, Sorrel, Dio and Chenyo had all set off for “home” just after the sun had risen, the journey itself would last around a day and a half to reach the main territory of the Dragon Centre, but to reach the actual centre would take another half a day. They walked quickly and mostly in silence; Sorrel was still fuming over being beaten by a five year old girl, though he obviously wouldn’t admit defeat he was simply biding his time before he could “get her back”. Mycah was fully aware of his intentions and made sure she kept half her attentions on him. As soon as they entered the trees she shifted into her gibbon and disappeared into the trees.
“Is she meant to do that?” Sorrel said to Chenyo, vaguely frustrated that he wouldn’t be able to pounce on her as they walked.
“I don’t mind now we are out of the way for the majority of the Teles,” he said. “Besides she keeps herself connected to my mind the whole time, so I know where she is and she knows where we are.” He paused as he looked down to Sorrel, “can you feel her touch?” Sorrel shook his head but concentrated deeply and could just sense a light touch at the back of his mind.
“Now, I can. But I can’t do much else,” he said and as soon as he began to talk he lost the sensation. “Why is she touching my mind?” He said angrily.
“She likes to know where we all are, and yes, she knows you are annoyed that she beat you in that little fight you had. Which you deserved for being rude,” he finished. “I also saw Dio’s warning to you which you did not heed, neither did he when I first warned him that Mycah was superior in magic to even me, he too learnt the hard way and I hope this stops now.” Sorrel mumbled to himself and agreed to not harass her again.
“I’ll just kick your butt again,” came the echoing voice of Mycah in his mind.
“Mycah.” Warned Chenyo seriously,
“Sorry,” she giggled. Suddenly she swung into view across the path before vanishing back into the branches. They continued to walk on in silence until the time came to bed down for the night. Sorrel and Dio found that Mycah had led them, via Chenyo, to a clearing that was just off the track with a little stream trickling past.
“It’s going to be warm tonight, we don’t need cover,” she said appearing out of the trees opposite them.
“How do you know?” Sorrel said snippily.
“Can’t you feel it?” She said genuinely surprised.
“I can,” Dio replied from the tree line, he had started to collect some old branches for fire wood. “It doesn’t feel damp like before rain, or sticky like before a storm. It’s just warm,” he stated. Mycah grinned at him and started digging up some rocks to ring the fire with. Chenyo and the other Dragon Masters were setting up blankets for them to sleep on as Mycah and Dio set up the fire once it was prepared Mycah tipped forwards onto one toe and did a complicated double arm movement and a flame burst from between the branches. It twisted into the air a pale blue colour before subsiding to the usual red of a flame. She dropped down beside it and warmed her hands watching the flames moving intently; Dio sat beside her, his legs crossed and his head resting in his hands.
“I’m hungry,” they said in unison before looking at each other grinning.

“Everett” called Nahla, “Kaylee, come on breakfast.” She heard the thudding of feet on hard wood floor as they came running towards the kitchen; quickly scrambling up onto their chairs they waited patiently as Nahla spooned scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and beans onto their plates. She did the same to another two plates at the table before dropping the pans into the sink to soak. “Sam!” she shouted, “Everett will eat your breakfast if you don’t hurry up!”
“Oh no!” came his wailing reply followed by his much bigger feet thudding across the floor. “Don’t eat my brekkie Ev!” he said looking sad.
“I won’t daddy,” he giggled cramming bacon into his mouth. Sam was wearing a white t-shirt tucked into camouflage trousers secured with a plain black belt.
“Nahla, do you know where my boots are?” he said talking through a mouthful of egg.
“In the mud room,” she said as she sat beside him to eat her breakfast. “What are you doing this morning?” she asked.
“I’m going to talk to Craig before he goes out to the log site and then I have an appointment with the Doc, I’ll pick up some groceries on my way home and then Pat is coming to pick me up on a hover bike. Jones can’t make it, he has a dilemma apparently. You?”
“Well I have to get these two little rascals to school and then I’m probably going to do some gardening, I’d love a Caylo Tree to grow in our garden. They have some beautiful tasting fruit!” She said with a smile. Everett was slurping through his cup of orange juice being extra careful not to spill any down his shirt;
“Momma,” he started. “Can I wear my spider man t-shirt to school today?” He looked at her brightly with his piercing green eyes, his head twitched his dark brown hair from his face.
“Sure can sweetie,” she said with a smile.
They ate the rest of their meal quickly and in silence, when they were finished Everett and Kaylee ran upstairs to get changed for school; Sam went and found his work boots and Nahla began to clean up the kitchen.
“Come on kiddos,” she shouted to them and they once again came running; quickly they tugged on their shoes and picked up their bags. Walking hand in hand with Nahla she led them across the village to the hall where the school was temporarily being held. They ran in excitedly and greeted their friends; Nahla stood and talked with Craig’s wife, Sarah.
Sam, meanwhile, was lacing up his nice clean work boots and tucked his trousers into them carefully. Now he was looking smart he wandered outside to find Craig and ask him a favour.
“Hey Craig,” he said as he walked over,
“Hey Sammie” Craig responded picking up the trash bag and carrying it easily to the bins they had all been given. “What’s up?”
“I’m working with the Soldiers until my shoulder is healed, Nahla doesn’t want me to get infected and I get to work with the Second Flux. I was curious if you wanted to join me, they need people to settle them in and get them to understand what it is like living out here.”
“What like getting shot with an arrow?” Craig said a grin splitting his face. Sam laughed,
“Well, ignoring that. But the regime and the work ethic and stuff like that.”

I forgot again... #3

When he emerged he dressed quickly in his normal clothes and headed to the Tech Room where he was expected to meet Jones in a half hour; Pat was always early to meetings despite his “bad boy” attitude. Tucking his top into his trousers he sat down to lace up his spotless boots which he had spent the evening before polishing. With a sigh he stood and began the walk to the Main Building; as he walked he was deep in thought. He was thinking about the planet he had left behind and even the family; soldiers were not permitted to take their wives and family out with them to the new planets but they were nearly always the first to be taken to other planets so there wasn’t a distraction from their vital work in making the planet habitable for the Rhesii. His planet had once been an amazing place and full of life, but it had begun to die from the inside which left them unable to sustain life. He shook his head as he walked and punched the code into the door and strode into the building, as he thudded up the stairs he found himself face to face with Jones who was also heading towards the Tech Room.
“Pat.” Said Jones tensely.
“Jones,” was the simple reply from Pat. They walked awkwardly towards the Tech Room in silence; as they entered they switched straight into work mode.
“Update,” Jones said, his voice echoing over the hubbub of the workers. He was rapidly told that there had been a breach which had been neutralised and then he paused and gaped open mouthed for a moment.
“What happened?” interjected Pat stepping forwards frowning. The man turned to Pat instead of Jones,
“The First Flux was attacked by natives. They are all in one piece however one of them was injured by an arrow.” As he spoke his voice quivered as he was fully aware of the ramifications of what was being said.
“Why weren’t we informed before now?” demanded Jones, his voice full of anger.
“It has only just been patched through, Sir. They were logging and they were attacked by arrows but they couldn’t see a person firing them. They all made it back to the Circle with the help of two of the men and the attack ceased once they were in the perimeter.” He paused and flicked his microphone back up to his face, “copy that,” he said before pushing it back down. “I just had another report that the man who was hit with the arrow is fine and back logging albeit one handed.”
“Thank you,” said Pat with a small smile. “We need to get out there and reassure them before they realise the danger that the natives are.” Jones nodded, he motioned to a black haired man who was sitting a few desks away from where he was stood.
“You. The Second Flux need their chips putting in, delay it until tomorrow morning, I’m not going to have time to supervise with this happening.”
“Sir, yes sir.” Was the quick curt reply and he swivelled his chair back to his computer and tapped in a short code. “Chip implantation has been delayed, Sir. Shall I book it for tomorrow at oh nine hundred hours?”
“Yes, make sure that the chip reader is working this time. And I want the chips scanned and set to the right frequency before they are put in. I do not want a repeat of what happened with the First Flux.” He commanded before leaving the Tech room closely followed by Pat, who was stripping off his smart jacket and as they passed his quarters he ran in to pick up his thicker one which he would need for the night air in Skyeyla could sometimes drop suddenly; as they were planning on being out until after dark he was definitely going to need it. Although it was after nine pm in the evening it was still bright out and it would be for another three hours or so according to the information they had been sent. They boarded the hover bikes and started to head out to the First Flux’s village.

Sam was working with the others out in the trees with his shoulder heavily bandaged; the head of the arrow had gone all the way through but the shaft had stuck firmly in the muscle. The village Doctor had been unsure how to remove it until Sam snapped the arrow head off and told him to pull it out so he could go back to work. He pulled it out slowly and cleanly leaving Sam with a hole through his arm but even that couldn’t stop him from working. It was about time for them to finish up and the two soldiers who had come to check on them had been informed of the incident that had happened earlier in the day. They trooped back to the circle and entered the village, Sam and Craig lived next to one another and they walked together to hand in their saws as they both had children at home and they didn’t want heavy items lying around with curious youngster so they kept their saws in a specially designed locker. Making their way across the centre of the village they said their farewells to each other and entered their homes to a chorus of “Daddy!”’s.
“Hey, little buddy,” Sam said hauling his five year old son up off the floor and dangling him upside down by one foot. “What are you doing that way up?” He said with a laugh, his son’s peal of laughter echoing through the house drawing out his seven year old daughter. Nahla, his wife came from the kitchen a smile playing on her lips until she saw the bandaged arm.
“Sam?” she said concerned a hand crossing her mouth as she walked quickly towards him. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you once we’ve fed these two rascals,” he said wrapping his arms around them. “I’m fine,” he mouthed to her with a smile. He was crouched on the floor with his children and he stood to hug his wife. “You are looking particularly beautiful this evening,” he said with a grin as he caught her in a bear hug and lifted her off her feet.
“Sam!” She laughed tipping her head back and wrapping her arms around his neck; she planted a kiss on his forehead much to the disgust of her children who shouted “ew!” then went running into the play room. “Dinner is in half an hour,” she called after them as Sam put her back on her feet. “What happened to your arm today?” she said fingering the edge of the bandage gently.
“Some of the natives fired arrows at us as we were eating lunch and I got caught in the shoulder. It’s clean, it’s been looked after and more importantly, I got to keep the arrow head!” He grinned excitedly as he tugged it from his back pocket. “Look at how amazing it is,” he exclaimed holding it in the flat of his hand. It had been carved from bone and was triangular with cut outs throughout it in different shapes. “The soldiers said they are all different, this is entirely unique!” He was so excited she couldn’t keep a straight face for long.
“Come on, let me look.” He whined loudly and she shot him her best mum look and he sat down heavily on the arm of the sofa with a fake scowl. She unwound the bandage carefully making sure to keep it clear of the floor so it could be washed and used again. As she saw the extent of the damage to his arm she gasped, “oh Sam,” she said softly. She ran her fingers gently across it feeling the ridge where the arrow had pierced the skin; she looked carefully over the stitches the Doctor had put in and was sufficiently happy with the result. Nahla walked to the side unit and opened the top drawer which was full of medical equipment and pulled a fresh bandage out which he proceeded to wrap around his arm and secure safely with a pin.
“I told you I was okay,” he said standing and wrapping his arms around her middle looking deeply into her dark eyes.
“It worries me you being outside the circle,” she said quietly tearing her eyes away.
“I will always come home to you,” he said kissing her softly on the lips.
“Daaaaad!” shouted Kaylee, the seven year old. “Everett’s not playing fair!”
“I’m five!” he shouted back making everyone but Kaylee laugh.

Jones and Pat arrived on their hover bikes and jumped straight off them and powered through the ring into the village. They made their way to Sam’s house and rapped loudly on the door; a short while later Sam opened the door bleary eyed. He was wearing only his boxer shorts and his shoulders was bandage with a small blood spot marring the pure whiteness of the bandage. He looked at Jones and Pat blankly and blinked slowly.
“Who are you?” He said sleepily looking at them while rubbing his eyes. Jones and Pat exchanged a glance.
“I am Chief Commander Jones and this is Co-Commander Patrick. We heard about the attack and that you were wounded and we wanted to ensure you were okay and check out the sight.”
“Sam? Who is it?” came Nahla’s voice from the bedroom.
“Jones and Pat,” he said talking over his shoulder. Nahla quickly dressed and quickly came out adjusted her belt; she said hello to them both and handed Sam his pyjama bottoms which he tugged on.
“Can I get you a fruit tea?” she asked politely.
“Yes, please” replied Pat with a smile. His eyes flicked to something just behind her and she turned to find Everett standing in his pyjamas clutching his teddy and his blanket. “Hey little guy,” he said, his voice much softer. Sam extended his arm and Everett ran over and climbed on his lap and curled up watching to the two strange adults in the room. Nahla left the room to make the tea and bought Everett some warm milk to help him get back to sleep.
“Can you tell us what happened when you were injured?” Jones asked, leaning forward as he spoke.
“We were cutting wood and we took a break for lunch and suddenly arrows were being fired at us; Craig and I helped some of the boys which had been left behind and just before we broke the circle I got hit. Craig hauled me over the circle and the arrows stopped and now I’m here.”
“Where did the arrows come from?” Asked Pat
“A bow?” Sam said with a grin, “I don’t know, we couldn’t see anything or anyone except the trees and besides we were kind of busy trying not to get killed.” Nahla walked in with a tray holding the cups of varying flavour fruit teas; she leant round Sam to scoop up Everett who was curled up fast asleep.
“Please, help yourself,” she said as she took Everett back to his room; she returned shortly afterwards minus a child and settled on the sofa beside Sam. “His shoulder is okay, but how can we stop it from getting infected if he refuses to stop working?” She scowled at him as she spoke.
“I can get our medic down here to assist your doctor,” Jones said clutching his mug of apple and raspberry tea.
“Would you be willing to work with us until your shoulder is healed?” Pat asked looking straight at Sam. He looked across to Nahla who reached a hand out which she placed on his knee, he wrapped his hand around hers and smiled to her.
“Of course, would I still receive the same amount of food that we are getting now?” He asked tearing his eyes away from Nahla.
“Definitely, I’ll set that up tonight when we get back to the Hold and I will send someone to collect you in the morning to begin your first day as a soldier,” he grinned.
“We will collect you in the morning so that we can see where the incident occurred.” Jones paused remembering the chip implantation that he had scheduled for the morning. “It will be around midday actually, we have a prior engagement before then.”
“Sure, I’ll be here.” He said smiling to Nahla, she smiled back and leant her head against his shoulder.

Mycah lay on her back watching the fire flickering in front of her casting shadows across her face; the fire was bright on the dragon’s scales as they lay curled up beside the chosen ones. She rolled over onto her side leaning on her hand; she looked over to Sorrel and Dio who were playing with the fire. They were both trying to mould it and failing but both had burnt their fingers and even their arms from playing. Mycah lifted a hand and a ball of fire separated from the main flame and flew across to her hand; she rolled it through her fingers before closing her hand tightly around it. The flickering light was still visible through her fingers.
“Catch,” she said throwing it to Sorrel, who yelped but managed to catch it without burning himself.
“It’s so warm, but without being burning hot.” He said turning it from hand to hand looking at it intently.
“Pass?” Dio said sitting up and preparing himself for the fire. As Sorrel threw it, he tapped into his magic and caught it easily. He grinned as he felt the tickling heat.
“How did you get it out of the fire?” Sorrel asked staring into the fire.
“Focus on it and tap into your magic; you need to will the fire towards you and when you reach out your hand the fire will bend towards you but you need a portion of it to separate so as you reach release some magic and it should come towards you.” She said as she rolled back onto her back; she tipped her head back to see Raffy who was looking straight down at her. He puffed smoke out of his nose into her face, coughing violently and sat up waving her hand by her face. “Raffy!” She coughed out, “that’s gross!” With a push of her arm she sent a wave of water towards him which seemed to materialise out of thin air; in reality she had drawn it out of the ground below her. It hit him in the chest and pushed him into his hind legs with a look of shock on his face. He grumbled and took in a deep breath, anticipating the flame she shifted into a small bird and shot over his head easily avoiding his huge jaws which snapped shut behind her. With a chirping laugh she spun in the air and twisted around his body, zipping under his belly and between his front legs. He snapped at her lazily before shooting a long spurt of fire from his mouth; she rolled around it, shifting in mid air and landing on one knee human. She had one hand outstretched, palm wide facing Raffy; the fire parted around her hand and passed her body not harming her. She could feel the heat but it wasn’t painful and she enjoyed the blue hue his fire cast over the dark world. Sorrel, Dio, Red and Loki sat and watched the goings on with amusement, they were firmly aware that Raffy wasn’t going to get Mycah not even when he tried. Mycah’s natural magical ability beat the rest of them by far even the dragons; they could match up to her speed and her ability to do magic without uttering a word. When the fire ended Mycah stood up and grinned to Raffy who released a ground shaking roar which echoed across the forest disturbing birds in trees, sending them screaming into the air. Red and Loki tilted their heads back and release ear ripping roars with Raffy. Mycah joined the action by shifting into a wolf and howling loudly although the noise coming from her mouth was barely audible over the dragons. Sorrel and Dio concentrated and managed to shift into wolves too; they added their own voices to the melee and soon the whole forest was alive with them. Every bird, mammal and lizard shouted into the night air filling it with a cacophony of sounds which melded together to make the planet feel alive; it echoed in waves across the trees weaving in and out of the trunks until finally they all stopped. The silence following it was eerily quiet; nothing moved or even breathed for a long time until the quietest whisper of wind wound its way through the canopy causing gentle ripples across the lake. Slowly the forest returned to normal, the gentle croaking of the frogs in the reeds beside the lake; the haunting bark of the foxes hunting in the brush and the crackle of the fire in front of the chosen ones.
“We should get back...” Mycah started confident that Chenyo and the other Dragon Master would have heard that. Sorrel and Dio nodded and climbed aboard their dragons; Raffy stamped on the fire before he took off sending sparks shooting outwards bouncing up his leg. As he took off his tail whipped wildly to one side as an extremely strong gust of wind caught him in the side, both he and Mycah felt the magic in the air and turned ready to attack but instead found Sorrel barely hanging onto Red who looked displeased with his actions. Raffy barrel rolled over Red and as they were directly over her, Mycah reached down and grasped the shoulders of Sorrel’s tunic hauling him off of her and into the air where Raffy caught him expertly with one leg. Howling, this time not from laughter, Sorrel shriek was ear splitting. Red retaliated by flipping and catching him with her own talons and pulled him free where he climbed carefully up her leg and back between her wing muscles. Dio watched from the sidelines until he and Loki attacked in unison; Dio ran down his tail and perched on the tip, suddenly he was flung headlong towards an unsuspecting Mycah. He collided with her in the air and the pair of them went spiralling down towards the canopy below them as Loki knocked Sorrel out of his precarious seat with a tip of one wing. All three dragons dipped their wings and tucked them in, shooting down at speed; each of them caught their chosen one with not a lot of room to spare between them and the trees.
“No more now,” laughed Mycah settling into her position. She leant backwards and watched the stars go by as they flew. When they finally landed back at the Dragon Centre she was exhausted and slid off Raffy’s back landing on her feet but over balancing and landing on her backside. With a tired giggle, Sorrel pulled her up and they said their goodnights to one another and their dragons and headed to their quarters to sleep. Mycah tugged her top and trousers off and slid between the covers on her bed, as soon as her head hit her pillow she was fast asleep.

I forgot again... #2

“Oh yes! I never remember that...” Mycah said flashing her a grin and angling her body towards her more leaving the boys to watch Tom for any signs she would miss. “So how do we enter the computer?” She spoke the final word slowly letting the syllables roll across her tongue.
“That is such a weird word,” she said to Sorrel and Dio who laughed back at her.
“It’s really very simple,” Jenny began. “First you have to enter a password like a code to get into the main frame. Then you need to open up the Solstice Screen.”
“The sol-what?” Mycah asked her face creasing in concentration.
“Solstice Screen. It allows you to access all of the networks on all of the computers and technology that the Invaders have.” She paused to breathe in as Mycah nodded intently. “Once you’ve hacked into the main frame you have to enter a series of codes quickly in order to start the deletion of files and shut it down.”
“Can’t they just turn it back on?” She asked incredulously.
“In theory they would be able to, but with a certain code it corrupts everything with a virus and every time they try to reload or restart the entire database will crash.”
“Okay,” Mycah nodded slowly.
“Are you following so far?” Jenny asked with a smile.
“Oh yeah, sure” she said. “Okay, no. I have no idea what you are talking about.” She and Jenny both laughed.
“Try thinking of the computer as a person. If you say or do the right things you can get a person to do what you want, right?” Jenny started slowly, looking to Mycah for acknowledgement that she understood.
“Yeah, I get that...” She said, flicking her eyes across to Dio who she knew was listening intently. Tom was leaning back against a wall staring up through the gap in the roof.
“Okay, so if you enter the codes into the computer it does the right thing. Can you delete memories with magic?” She asked.
“You can...but it’s complicated they can sometimes come back.” Mycah said beginning to make the connection.
“Exactly the same with a computer, but if you add the virus it stops it from coming back. Does that make more sense to you now?” She asked, her upper body tipped forwards as she talked intently.
“Definitely!” Mycah grinned, “so I put in a code and open the Solstice Screen...then I put in some more codes and activate the virus which kills it.”
“Pretty much,” Jenny said with a broad smile. “I’ll have to teach you the codes and how to work the computers but I don’t think that’ll take too long,” she added. Sorrel snorted and Jenny looked over to him curiously.
“Have you ever tried to teach Mycah anything?” he said with a laugh.
“Hey!” She shouted, “I learn perfectly well, you’re just a bad teacher!”
“Now,” she said telepathically to Sorrel and Dio who, with barely moving lips, said the magic to send Tom and Jenny to sleep. Their eyes rolled up and closed; Jenny tipped forwards dangerously and Mycah stepped forwards to catch her.
“I’ll work on him,” Dio said sitting beside Tom with his eyes closed.
“I’ll do her, Sorrel keep an eye out, don’t let anyone come anywhere near, okay?” He nodded and sat in front of them cross legged and stretched out him mind to the surrounding area so he could distract anyone that came towards the courtyard.
Working slowly but methodically Mycah and Dio entered their minds and moved slowly until they were able to access memories, they both opened the memory at a similar time. A stillness came over the courtyard as they all focused intently on the job at hand; Sorrel successfully send detoured two apprentices and one rebel away from the courtyard with a simple spell which made them think they had somewhere else to be.
“Hurry up,” he said quietly and received grunts from both Mycah and Dio who was still watching the memories playing back. Mycah slowly removed her consciousness from Jenny’s and waited until Dio did the same from Tom.
“Okay, you to go, I’ll wake them from up there,” she pointed to the courtyard roof. Sorrel and Dio scarpered and she jumped up catching the edge of the roof with her fingertips and pulled herself easily; she leant down to see them and muttered the reversal of the spell and watched Tom and Jenny stir and wake up. Groggy and disorientated they looked around while rubbing their eyes;
“What happened?” Tom said slowly, his tongue thick in his mouth.
“I don’t know,” Jenny said pausing. “You don’t think we fell asleep in front of Mycah and the others do you?” She sounded horrified which made Mycah giggle, the noise attracted their attention and they turned and looked up. With a quiet gasp Mycah pulled her head back and took off across the roof; she shifted into a bird and flapped her wings lazily, she coasted toward her quarters and landed. She shifted and jogged inside to find Sorrel and Dio waiting awkwardly in her room.
“They are awake.” She moved to her chest and tugged another braided top out; turning her back to the two boys who looked away blushing bright red. She pulled her robe over her head and half turned to drop it on the bed, she smiled at their discomfort and tugged her braided top over her head. She still had her white panties on so she walked back across the room in those and her top to get her trousers which she had draped on the unit opposite her bed.
“Embarrassed?” she said with a grin. They both mumbled quietly and averted their eyes looking at anything other than her and her semi naked torso. She tugged her trousers on and faced them;
“Are we going to the lake, or what?” They both heartily agreed and sprinted out of the room their faces still flushed bright red; Mycah followed much slower as she called to Raffy with her mind.
“Raffy, we want to go swimming!” She shouted to him; seconds later he thudded down directly behind her, the rush of air would have knocked her clean off of her feet if the rush of natural magic hadn’t protected her. She bounded up his leg and just as she went to sit down behind his wings he took off; almost sliding off she gripped his wing joint and hauled herself into place. Red and Loki quickly joined them as they flew low over the forest; their tails waving behind them like a rudder. The sun reflected off of Raffy’s bright white scales practically blinding Mycah who shielded her eyes with her hand and squinted ahead wondering how far it was to the lake. The steady beat of Raffy’s wings made as he kept his immense body weight in the air with ease; Mycah looked past Raffy’s long snaking neck and saw the sun reflecting on the water not too far in the distance.
“Do you see it?” She asked Sorrel and Dio telepathically and got resounding yeses as a response; as they drew closer all three dragons began to rapidly gain altitude. As they peaked, they tucked their wings in close and pointed straight down; gaining speed so quickly meant the three Chosen One’s found it hard to stay in their seat, gripping tightly they leant forwards close to their dragon’s necks. Just before they hit the water the shouted magic protected them from the wall they hit; it rolled off of them easily and allowed them to see easily under the water. The dragons opened their wings and used them as flippers to swim deeper into the lake, the water was beautifully clear and they could see one shore in front of them and between them and it were fish half as large as Mycah. Their scales rippled casting tiny rainbows on the water surface which were quickly overshadowed by Raffy’s iridescent ones.

Pat ran his fingers through his long hair, pulling it off of his forehead which was beaded with sweat. He tightened the bandages on his hands and bounced on his toes his fists raised in front of him; he struck out multiple times at the hanging punch bag in front of him. His muscled torso tensing at every punch, he had removed his white tank top before he began to work out and it was tucked into the back of his camo cut offs. He was bare foot and enjoying the rush as he worked out. Finally he stopped and bounced backwards and dropped his hands; unwrapping the black bandages wound around his knuckles to protect them against the material of the punching bag. Wrapping them back up he put them in his pocket and grabbed for his towel; he dried his face and swung it over his shoulder.
“Hey James,” said one of the boys as he walked towards the punching bag. He nodded to him and walked towards the lockers; he dug out his full sized towel and threw the bandages and sweat drenched towel into the back of the locker. With a stretch of his shoulders he tugged off his cut offs and strode naked into the shower.

I forgot again...

“Look at it,” he whispered, his eyes huge. The dagger in his hands was fourteen and a half inches long, the blade a kris shape. The cross-guard was in the shape of an open dragon’s mouth with flames spurting down the blade; they continued to the tip of the dagger raised and sharp. The hilt was the shape of a dragon’s neck and scaled deeply, in the pommel was a perfectly shaped chrysocolla stone. The stone itself was a bright blue colour inlaid with green and small flecks of orange; the blade was white at the tip and slowly changed to a beautiful green colour which reminded him of the grasslands that had surrounded his home. He continued to look at it in wonder before turning to Dio;
“Do you have one too?” he asked. Dio nodded and removed it from the sheath, Mycah and Sorrel gasped in shock.
“It’s gorgeous!” they said together as Dio laid it flat in his hands. The blade was almost fifteen inches long and split at the bottom until around five inches up where the blade was one again. The cross-guard was a gently curved shape and looked similar to open dragon wings with the tail wrapped around the hilt with the tip of the tail wrapped around one half of the double tipped blade. The cross-guard had the skeletal shape of wings but none of webbing or muscle work. The detail across the pommel was astounding, the delicate shape of a dragon head was clear and the pommel was shaped like a dragon eye with a big oxblood coral stone; the bright orange stood out against the rest of the dagger. The overall colour was a deep dark purple but the raised edges along the blade were tinted orange; the hilt was also fade through orange which bought colour to the black that he always wore. He carefully placed the dagger in the sheath on his hip and they headed towards the main building where Tom and Jenny were waiting for them.

“Are we nearly there?” moaned Mycah. “I’m bored and hungry and you won’t let me hunt” she grumbled. They were traipsing through the forest after two days of walking and they were still half a day away from the open grassy plains of the Telepath colony. Dio was looking equally bored but he didn’t say anything but rolled his eyes and looked at Mycah with disdain.
“Don’t look at me like that” she growled at him.
“Oh really? Or what?” He said pointedly, looking down at her as she stood in front of him. Being stuck together with no time to adjust had made everybody crabby, especially as they were from different colonies. Although neither of them knew why their colonies hated each other, they hated one another and didn’t bother to hide it. Mycah was much more accepting of Dio and treated him like any other person she knew, but Dio refused to talk to her unless he had to; Chenyo was ignoring his stubbornness for the time being as he knew he was very stressed and was probably feeling very homesick at present. Mycah thrust her arm towards him and sent him flying backwards as if he had been punched in the chest; he collided with a tree and slid down it gasping for breath and clutching his chest. The anger rolled across his face as he pulled himself up and began to mutter under his breath, his lips moving with almost no sound coming out; the orb of magic that shot towards her was rippling with power but with a single flick of her hand Mycah dispersed it and sent it barrelling back towards Dio who didn’t finish his shouted magic before the orb hit him and he spun backwards.
“I did warn you,” Chenyo said as he walked past collecting Mycah. “Come on, leave him alone.” She shrugged and shifting, disappearing into the trees. Chenyo offered a hand to Dio who ignored it and pulled himself off; as he walked away he brushed the dead leaves off of his robe and stalked past Chenyo.
When they finally drew nearer the edge of the forest, Mycah was instructed that there was to be no more shifting and she donned her Dragon Master robe again; with a sigh she tugged the hood up and walked beside Chenyo. Dio also pulled his robe on without making a noise though he looked less than impressed. As before, they found a place to stay at the edge of the colony before Chenyo moved to find the Elders.
“I am here to collect the boy,” he said to the Elder who was stood before him.
“Of course Dragon Master Chenyo,” he said bowing deeply. “He is just through here; I will have him bought to you.” A woman appeared quickly and ran past them to a room off the main hallway; she reappeared quickly with a young boy with cropped blonde hair and grey eyes who was followed by a tall man with a serious look on his face.
“Hello, Dragon Master,” said the man as he bowed. “I am Rohyr, Sorrel’s father. I am very happy that is coming to learn with you.” Chenyo nodded and inclined his head towards Rohyr.
“I am afraid I cannot stay long, we must move on. There is a long journey home and there are more of us than anticipated.” Rohyr frowned slightly,
“More?” He asked curiously,
“Indeed, I have collected two other children in the last few days.” He responded,
“Ah, apprentices,” he nodded knowingly.
“Not this time. I have two other Chosen Ones.” They all looked at him in astonishment.
“Two? From the same colony? Or...” The Elder trailed off leaving the question open.
“One from each.” He said, fully aware of the implications of what he was saying.
“Three?!” yelped the Elder. “You know what this means?” He said.
“Of course,” was Chenyo’s reply.
“Of-of course you do, I apologise, I forgot myself.” He stuttered, “but this means it will happen.” Chenyo nodded wisely leaving Rohyr and Sorrel looking completely lost.
“It will. We will of course be recruiting some new apprentices soon, if you have names please inform us and we will let you know when we will be collecting them. We must leave now, come Sorrel.” He turned on his heel and started down the corridor. Sorrel wrapped his arms around his father’s waist,
“goodbye Papa,” he said quietly and ran after Chenyo who was rapidly disappearing, his long legs eating up the ground.
“Where are you staying?” Sorrel asked immediately after catching up with him.
“At the edge of the Colony.” Was the curt response as Chenyo walked down the steps outside the Elder Council and joined the throngs of people who were buying and selling goods at the market directly outside the building. Sorrel yelped as he tripped down the stairs and would have fallen if Chenyo hadn’t used a wall of magic to push him backwards onto his heels and get him standing properly.
“Thank you!” He said with a grin, “I’m sort of clumsy sometimes,” he laughed and continued walking making sure to be careful where he placed his feet.

“What is the problem?” He asked, his voice hushed. “Why are you risking contact? You know the job.”
“I know, I know.” The other voice replied, “there’s been a complication.”
“Explain.” Said the first voice impatiently.
“We lost visual on DDC and audio is sketchy at best.” Came the slow reply, the voice was quieter this time.
“Well replace them,” they were getting impatient.
“We can’t risk, we think they are aware. We aren’t going to get caught doing this, we want out.” The first person laughed heartily.
“We bought you here, you are not irreplaceable do you bloody job and do it well or face the consequences.”
“You can’t get us if we stay here.” They said defensively, the pitch of their voice rising.
“We can get you anywhere. Do what you were trained to do and get out. Or we’ll drag you out and you can enjoy the flight back to Rheso.” The conversation ended with the numbing sound of the dial tone.

Mycah, Sorrel and Dio made their way slowly towards the main building laughing and joking as they went.
“After this we have got to go swimming at the lake,” Sorrel said.
“I agree, you’re getting stinky,” Mycah said with a laugh; Sorrel punched her square in the arm and yelped when she punched him back.
“Ow! Man you’re getting more power in that thing I swear,” he rubbed his upper arm where her fist had made contact.
“Come on or we will never get to speak to the Rebels. What are their names again?” Dio said from behind them,
“Tom and Jenny.” Mycah said as she readjusted her dagger belt and pulled her hood down. Her hair was still loosely braided from the Dojo, she flicked the plait over her shoulder and entered the main building. She sent out her mind to find them and found them at the centre point of the building. They made their way quickly through the building and entered the courtyard;
“This is my favourite place too,” she said shattering the silence making both Tom and Jenny jump. “I didn’t mean to frighten you,” she spoke more softly this time.
“It’s okay, we were just thinking” Jenny said with a smile. “You are Mycah, I think I got that right?”
“You did, I am Mycah. And this,” she indicated to her left, “is Sorrel and that’s Dio.” They stepped out of the shadows and inclined their heads to the pair of them.
“Hello,” said Jenny, Tom simply returned the head nod.
“We need to talk to you about the Invaders Hold again,” Mycah said moving to sit beside them. “We need to finalise some details before we make our attack.” Jenny nodded, while Tom looked bored though Mycah could tell he was listening intently. “We don’t want to get caught out, I mean we’ve never been there before.” She saw the flicker of doubt cross Tom’s face; in her peripheral vision she saw him open his mouth to speak then rapidly change his mind and turn it to a yawn.
“Sorry about that, I didn’t sleep particularly well last night.” He said locking eyes with Jenny. Mycah smiled to herself, she knew that Chenyo had purposefully kept the information from them. They were fully unaware that she had been captured by the Invaders when she had passed out after moving Sorrel and Dio to the Dragon Centre; the only way they could possibly know is if they were in contact with the main Invader Hold somehow. It only further cemented the belief that they were being set up but in order to complete the Dream Watch she had to extract the information she needed from them.
“Did you see that?” She said to Sorrel and Dio, they both had. “They are clearly in contact, when they are out can we see if we can work out how?”
“Of course, though we could use a truth potion...” Dio said, his eyes wandering pretending to be distracted.
“Oh, yes. Let’s do that instead, take them on a walk and slip it to them.” Sorrel said a faint smile tracing his lips as he flicked his hair from his eyes one more time.
“We know that the technology that you and the Invaders have far surpasses anything we could possibly dream of so we need some detailed instructions on how to enter the comp-,” she paused. “What is that thing called again?”
“Computer,” said Jenny, her hands crossed in her lap.