Merrik rose at 5:00 as he usually did, rising to greet the sun as it broke the horizon and its light danced about in the stained glass window pane above his bed. He took a moment to wake up, washing his face with cool water from a basin in his room and dressed in cotton pants with a fitted black shirt before placing his “light” armor on over top. He had always trained in armor to simulate realistic procedures that would be used in battle. Drawing open the drapes that closed off his loft from the open space of the stables, he smiled fondly at Obsidian Nova who was laying in the shallow pool of crystal water in the corner of his stall. [i]”A good morning to you Merrik, I’m going to hunt, I’m craving small game today. I’ll be back before your breakfast is over. You and the others may find me in the meadow warming my wings.”[/i] Merrik nodded as the lack dragon lifted its bulk from the clear fluid and shook its scale’s dry before departing silently. Merrik slipped down the ladder, making his way to the kitchen area at the back of the stable to prepare breakfast for the tamers. He knew his way around a kitchen and soon enough he had assembled a rather large breakfast consisting of pheasants’ eggs, boar bacon, homemade bread toasted over a pit of embers in the corner of the kitchen and collected handfuls of fruit from a cool place beneath the countertop, juicing some and cleaning others to be served. He laid out the meal on the large, wooden table that consumed a portion of the room and sat down to eat while the rest of the tamers made their way in to join him, some sooner than others.

~~~

[b]6:30am (Warm-ups)[/b]
[b]”As you all should know, warming up your body is of the utmost importance for any athlete, and as soldiers, you are athletes, like it or not. Each morning I expect a lap around the meadow, on foot, then a lap in the skies. This is to warm up your bodies and minds. After that, I suggest you all perform stretches to meet the needs of your own bodies. Drakes, be sure you clear out your flare passages, I shouldn’t need to remind you. For the first few weeks we’ll be focusing on your work with your dragons more than your own personal training as we need you and your drakes to become a team. After I’m content in your abilities to work together we will begin to fine tune your bodies and minds, effectively forming a lethal group of elite soldiers.”[/b] With that, Merrik took off running along a cobblestone path that follow the perimeter of the meadow while Obsidian Nova departed from the skies and landed next to him, running along side him like a panther after prey.

[b]7:00 (Balance Practice)[/b]
Merrik stood before the group of tamers and dragons, but not in the way that one would expect. He stood on the back of his black drake, feet on either side of a row of spikes that ran down his back, just above the shoulder blades where the dragon’s curves evened out to a workable level. He stood tall and proud, arms crossed, while Nova lifted his front legs and pulled back onto his haunches. Merrik hardly moved a muscle for Nova knew how to move to ensure his tamer held perfect balance. [b]”During flight, during battle, and sometimes in tricky situations, you will need to learn to balance on your dragon’s backs as if you’re still on solid ground. Your place on your drake’s back should be no more unusual than your place on this earth, it [i]must[/i] be second nature for you to be effective soldiers. For today, and most of this week, I want you to use the leather straps you received after bonding to secure yourselves to your drakes. You will remain on the ground this week, but I expect you to work on your balance. Learn to stay firmly on your dragon’s back without holding on. Learn to lean with their movements, learnt to sense each other’s intentions and move fluidly to ensure you remain planted at all times. Next week, I expect to see you in the skies, so take care to perfect your ground work.”[/b] Merrik would not work beside the tamers today; he had long since attained a level of perfect comfort on Nova’s back and anything he needed to work on now would look like he was showing off, and Merrik was not the man to draw jealousy or spite to himself. So instead, he and Nova made their way around the group, giving advice and praise to the tamers as they worked.

[b]8:00am (Agility)[/b]
[i][b]”Our next goal,”[/b] [/i]came the voice of Obsidian Nova into the minds of all before him.[i] [b]”Is to fine tune our agility. It is key that you learn to maneuver in flight in even the smallest, most crowded places. We’ll begin this training in the woods. For the first few weeks, I want you all to think of it as a game of high speed tag.”[/i][b] He looked at the dragons, specifically. [i][b]”Your dragons are familiar with this and have become quite adept at the process, so hold on tight. You’ll need to learn to work with them as they take you through the thickly wooded area I will lead you to. You will be veering about to the sides, taking sharp turns, swooping up and diving down. It won’t be easy at first for either of you, as your drake must learn to accommodate for the addition of a tamer on their body, changing their memorized figure, and for the tamers as your balance and wits will be key in staying on your dragon. Be sure to communicate, if your tamer is trying to tell you to slow down, don’t be rash and ignore their requests, it could end badly. Work at your own pace, that is the fastest way to excel.”[/b][/i] Merrik sat atop his black, scaly back and smiled as he felt the excitement of a good game of tag seep into his mind. This was one of his fondest memories; time spent in the woods, dragons weaving in and out of the trees, tagging each other with licks of sparks. The tamers would enjoy this once they got used to the heat and speed of the event.

[b]10:00am (Flight Training)[/b]
The group was called to gather in a large open area of the field just south of the stables. Merrik was pleased with how training had gone up until this point and decided to give the tamers a break from focus and strain. [b]”The next hour would normally be considered flight training during which you would work on aerial maneuvers, however, since this is your first week and you’ve all shown exceptional progress, I’m going to send you out to roam with your dragons. Do what you wish, do not attempt anything dangerous or reckless. I only ask that you remain in the air at all times. Enjoy your time and spend it how you may. Under no circumstances are you to stray more than a few miles from the garden. Now go, have fun, know that you’ve done well. Work on becoming one with your dragons in flight.”[/b] He smiled, feeling a strong sense of hope as he looked out over the new Order.

[b]12:00pm (Lunch)[/b]
The tamers gathered in the stables for lunch. There was laughter and excitement flowing through the halls that day. Some of the newcomers helped Merrik prepare a wonderful lunch of soups, sandwiches, and salads made of the produce grown throughout the meadow. The dragons took this opportunity to relax and socialize amongst each other, not needing to eat more than once a day. When the hour waned, the day’s training commenced again, spirits were uplifted and stamina replenished from a hearty meal and good company.

[b]1:00pm (Swordsmanship & Defense)[/b]
[b]”Before we begin our real blade training, I need to get an idea of where each of you are, skillswise. I’d like for you all to pair up and spar between each other, anyone without a sparring partner will be work with me.”[/b] Merrik retrieved a pile of weapons from a storehouse behind the stables with blunted edges so that no real harm may be done above bruises. [b]”I’d like you all to select a weapon from this cache, as they’ve been dulled for sparring and proceed to the dirt ring on the southern end of the meadow.”[/b] The group paired off and made their way to the ring where they would practice their offensive and defensive abilities. As the tamers went to work, Nova noticed the dragons had collected around the ring and were cheering their tamers on, as if watching some advance cock fight. He let out a stern snarl at the yearlings and they reluctantly backed away, giving their tamers the space needed to focus on their sparring.

[b][i]”And do you think this hour exempts you from training? Take to the skies now, all of you. I expect to see you all practicing your attacks and defenses as well, and please young ones, stick to sparks and embers, Merrik should not have to concoct more burn heal on the first week. Now come, let us test your strength.”[/i][/b] The black dragon took to the skies, his wingspan offering him a fast ascent. He reached an acceptable altitude and turned to face the younger dragons as they gathered above the grounds, dipping and diving in pairs, shooting waves of cackling sparks and embers at each other, dancing in their attacks and evasions.

[b]3:00pm (Magic Training)[/b]
[b]”This part of your training will be, by far, the most difficult and potentially the most dangerous for the power upon which you draw is connected to the very life source of your dragons. Magick is an intricate, and precise art. There are more things that can go wrong than right, and it is up to you to take great enough care that you do not end up with a fallen drake at your side and a dead void in your soul. For the first two weeks we’re going to be focusing on a simple act; we will be accessing the mana pool given to you by the bond, and we will be summoning a simple flame. I’ve chosen the fire element to approach first since it is the natural magic of dragons; their instinctual understanding portrayed through your bonds will offer you a [i]simple[/i] concept to tackle. And I say simple in no light way, do not ever assume the use of magic will be simple.”[/b]
Obsidian Nova stepped forward then and continued Merrik’s words. [b][i]”Magick, is 80% understanding, 10% desire, and 10% mana. Without understanding how something works, you cannot hold a hope of applying your mana to it in order to manipulate it. Fire, is so much a part of a dragon that our very soul’s understand its workings, and as a result of the bond, it will appear to make sense to you as well. Do not assume it is as simple as it will appear in your mind, you must take a moment to observe a flame; how does it move? What give it life? How does it feed? Why does it bite? How does it die? You must consider all aspects of the element or object you wish to manipulate.

 Once you have achieved an understanding, you must consider what it is you want it to do. You must understand your desire, clearly, perfectly. What do you want the flame to do? Would you like it to twist this way? If so, why? And how? How would the flame twist to the side? Certainly not of its own accord. You must understand that the flame does everything with a reason, the flame flickers as it blinks in and out of existence in that space, consuming the oxygen in that space, reacting with the very particles of the air. Would you like it to grow? You must think of why it must grow, and what it needs and how it must function to grow.
When you understand your desire for the object or element, you must apply mana to it. The mana will come easily, but you must execute a level of control. Do not allow it to flow freely, for it will quickly empty itself as it desires to be let free. Should you release all the mana in your dragon’s soul, your dragon would fall to death where it stands. Luckily, all of the dragons here have been trained in the ways of mana conservation and have perfected the process of maintaining a small store to ensure they survive. Though I’m sure each would give up its last drop should your life depend on it. You will feel the mana flowing like a river, controlled by a muscle that may let more or less flow through into your spell. Focus on this and only take what you need to apply to your spell.

Once you have understood and utilized the flow of mana, direct it with your will and your mind into your spell; urge it aid the flame to grow or to bend. It is this process that will allow you to successfully utilize your magicka.”[/i][/b]

Merrik stepped forward again, offering a display of magick use. [b]”Through many years of study and great practice, I have gained and fine tuned my ability to harness the unique mana possessed by the nightmare drakes. Each of your dragons has a man unique to its pedigree, in a few weeks we will begin to unlock the doors to these unique magics and start focusing on personalizing each of your magickal uses. As Obsidian Nova said, you must understand what you manipulate and understand what your desire is.”[/b]

 He lifted his hand, whispering in a language not spoken in the modern days. A slender, snake-like flame slithered up from the palm of his left hand. In his right, he urged forward a black void, a tendril of anti-matter. [b]”I understand what fire is, what it needs, what its purpose is and, though not fully, I understand anti-matter. I understand that it is not a matter at all, but the result of a void in all things, down to the tiniest particle of air. It is the absence of matter.”[/b]

He lifted his palms up above his head and muttered a few more words. Then, suddenly, the two snakes shot up, growing longer and longer with each foot they travelled, and began to intertwine and weave into each other. They continued to move and weave and slither about the sky until an intricate pattern formed in the shape of a dragon, embers glowing within a blackness so empty. He whispered again and urged the magickal dragon up into the sky, watching as it soared to the cloud and exploded into a spray of sparks and empty pieces of darkness. His gaze fell back onto the tamers before him. [b]”Now, let’s begin shall we? And perhaps we’ll work on the sparring field so to prevent any unnecessary burns to our beautiful meadow.”[/b]

[b]4:00 (Study Hours)[/b]
The tamers were expected to focus their attention to gaining knowledge then. Merrik sent them to gather books from their lofts and find a suiting place to read them, researching anything they wanted to know, studying biology books on draconix anatomy, reading about past tamers of their dragons’ breeds. Seeking knowledge and expanding their minds. Some stayed in their lofts, some brought their literature to the meadow and sought shade under fruit trees as they read by the light of the afternoon sun. Some curled up with their dragons, reading aloud and discussing exciting new concepts. Merrik took this time to focus on his journaling and transcribe his thoughts of each tamer from the day. He was please with the new order and even more so with the young dragons who had, once again, made him proud. Obsidian Nova soared about the skies over the woods as he often did, pondering his own secrets, occasionally passing over the stables to open his mind to Merrik and share whatever thoughts he wished. The meadow was full, of life and of hope; if only Merrikhai could see the place now, after so many hundreds of years, the halls echoed with the sounds of claws on stone and the skies were dappled with the silhouettes of dragons against the spring sun.