[IC] Shattermane Academy |Rise of the Dragoons|

[druple]

The air was absolutely electrifying in the small settlement of Estar. The majority of the time the tiny city had a habit of being rather quiet and peaceful. Once a year however the town would explode with activity. The reason for this being the graduation party of the most important building in Estar, perhaps all of Airengard. Shattermane Academy trained the most elite warriors in the land. Dragoons to be exact. Many years ago, the land was controlled by the dragons. The rest of the races feared their power, and thus offered tributes monthly to avoid perishing. The original group of dragoons had studied for years in secret, learning exactly what caused the dragons to be so powerful.

After nearly a decade, they had succeeded. The first dragoons were born, wielding powers that were far beyond any of the humanoid races. They trained endlessly, and when the time came they challenged the ancient race. Slowly they released the hold of tyranny that the creatures had held for so long. Though many were slain in the war, the dragoons of old succeeded in securing freedom for the land of Airengard. Lacking a purpose, the dragon warriors retired to the halls built in their honor. They vowed to prepare the next generations of heroes, so as to be prepared if disaster struck again.

A chatter of excitement rang through the town, as the sun reached the middle of the sky. The festivities would begin soon. Inhabitants and visitors alike flocked towards the middle of the town, crowding around the colossal fountain in the square. Occasionally a child would throw a gold coin into the vast waters, upholding the legends that it granted wishes. Applause erupted, as the leader of the dragoons appeared at the top of the stairs leading into the academy. All eyes turned to the form of the current headmaster Lucia, who had taken her place at the oak podium. She cleared her throat and the chatter of the square quieted. Behind her, stood the newest ranks of the great dragoons.

Edun Sternstride stood among his peers. The class had dwindled over the years that they had studied, but he supposed this was the case everytime graduation happened. The point of the academy was to weed out the weak links. Only the best of the best became dragoons. He had no idea what became of the rest. The brunette was boiling in his armor, but over the years he had become used to it. Joy bloomed in his chest as he looked down the line of the seven other classmates. Over the years, he had come to know them to some degree. Not that he could claim to be best mates with any of them. He had never seen any of them outside of the concealing armor. The most important rule of Shattermane Academy is that your appearance remained anonymous. It was strictly prohibited to remove your helmet outside of your room. Dragoons were of one mind, appearances didn’t matter. Doing so resulted in immediate expulsion and removal from the premises.

At least that’s what Lucia had stressed on his induction. If Edun had it his way he would have cast away his helmet right now. The headmaster cleared her throat once more, pulling him away from his thoughts. Beneath her own armor a clear voice rang out. “Today we are gathered to celebrate the graduation of these fine soldiers. They have expressed talents far beyond the normal inhabitants of this land. They are the cream of the crop, and from this day forth they will be treated as so.” She fell silent for dramatic effect Edun assumed. When she started again, her tone was very different. “Today is also the dawn of a new era. I have a pleasant surprise for all of you.” Her tone was sinister, and the brunette felt a shiver run down his spine. Something was wrong.

“Today you will all be subjects of a new world. A world that I have created. I have slaved over books for years searching for a way to make my dreams a reality. Let me show you what I have learned…” Edun looked at his peers. Though he knew that they could not see his face, he was puzzled. What did she mean a new world? Was this the same speech that all the graduates were graced with? Her next words left him in awe. What was going on here?

“Surge veteres olim, et virtutes, quæ i donare voluerint, ad me; Surge, et bestiae tradunt, antiquum munus, me in tua scientia et potentia. Gaudeamus, et contere impios, frustraque animarum errantium. Novum genus a nobis Aurora cinere.”

Lucia’s profile seemed to glow, her chant hypnotic. She repeated the same lines several times. Upon finishing it the third time. Edun shouted in fear, but his words were lost among the panicked shouts. The sky darkened, the sun disappearing behind dark clouds. Lightning rippled through the sky, all leading to the center of the vapor. The people who had gathered were now scattering, all trying to escape Estar. A few seconds passed, and Lucia turned to look at the alumni. She ripped her helmet off. Blonde hair fell to the middle of her back. She tossed the head covering from her. It fell with a clatter, before rolling to rest at the bottom of the stairs. The look in her aqua blue eyes was crazed.

“What have you done?” Edun screamed at her, drawing his mace. He attempted to swing for her skull to knock her unconscious. The result made him wish he would have held his tongue. Wordlessly she held up her arm. His blunt weapon collided with the side of her head, but he realized too late that she had activated Drakkenhide. “Be gone.” Flames swirled in her hand forming a tiny red orb. “You bi-“ He tried to snarl as she forced her half-assed Scalding Palm into his chest with a demented smirk. If he had been in plain clothes, he was positive that it would have killed him. The force of the explosion slammed Edun against the wall, knocking the breath from his chest momentarily. Stars flashed in his vision.

He was sure that she had knocked him loopy. As he gazed into the clouds, they transformed before his eyes. The storm was splitting into several clouds, their cottony looks changed, becoming scaly and serpentine. Roars rang out through the skies. Edun gasped. The dragons were back. They split off in different directions. The largest of all coming to hover over them. Lucia jumped into the sky, leaving gouges in the ground. Skyfall Edun found himself thinking in awe as she reached heights he believed unobtainable. She boarded the dragon, and the duo was gone in the blink of an eye, traveling at speeds that Edun thought impossible.

The human looked at his peers, ripping his own helmet from his face. “What in the hell just happened?” Edun asked in bewilderment, though he was sure that it was painfully obvious. The dragons were back, and they were angry. “I’m going after her. There is sure to be a path of destruction leading to these beasts. Join me if you wish.”

[Lucius Cypher]

In his hometown, Ralthavar was celebrating the graduation of his training. Years spent training, and today was the day were he would be rewarded for it. It was the day of graduation in Estar, and the entire town had gathered for this day. His own parents were allowed to take a front-seat view of his graduation, no doubt filling both him and his parents with pride. Not that you could tell; all the dragoons wore unique crafted armors, most of them with face-concealing helmets. While others would find armor to be cumbersome, Ralthavar was right at home in his metal plates. He wore his armor like others would wear their clothes; constantly. Though it has yet to been proven, he considers himself the fastest in his full armor; he did not even need the dragonartes of Zephyr Dash or Esper Blessing to run with great speed or move like a dancer. And this included if he was armed with his weapons; his massive tower shield simply known as "Ralthavar's Wall" and his smaller but still fairly massive claw known as "The Claw". Names wasn't really something Ralthavar put much work in, but both were his tools, his weapons, and he was a master with both.

The ceremony began with all the graduating Dragoons standing in their full armor in front of a crowd of Estar's civilians. Lucia, the headmaster, arrived to give an opening speech to the dragoons. Ralthavar had been present to some of the graduations of the dragoons, each one a little bit different, but most of them following the same formula. Hence why Ralthavar was so surprised when Lucia began to chant. "I know this," An ancient phrase, one that Ralthavar had dismissed as pointless mysticism. When he tried to research the meaning behind the chant, all his efforts met with dead ends. But he could not imagine that this is what would happen when the chant was used. Ralthavar saw Edun charge towards Lucia, and Ralthavar followed suit and shot The Claw at her. However when she used the Scalding Palm dragonartes, the force was strong enough to knock his Claw off course, missing Lucia completely. By the time he retracted his Claw Lucia had taken to the skies on the back of a dragon, Ralthavar tried, in vain, to grab onto the beast, only to hit nothing but air. Once his Claw was back in it's place, he turned to Edun who proclaimed that he would chase after Lucia. "Quite a way to begin our graduation as Dragoons... But it's appropriate. We became dragoons, and now it is time to prove our worth." Is what Ralthavar thought. He looked towards the crowd, many of them who have managed to reach safety including his own parents. Though they could not see his face nor hear each others words, Ralthavar and his parents knew what he was going to do.

The orc walked over to the comparatively human dragoon. They were all young, and what they were doing was foolish. This was no time to be playing hero, but that wasn't going to stop them. The headmaster has become traitorous, and now possibly leads an veritable army of dragons who threaten the world. Who else could stop them but the Dragoons? "Lead the way."

[Blackwolf]

Antafien stood in the ranks of his fellows. He was a little bit taller then the rest, but being an elf it was only natural as he looked through the slit visor of his helmet. He hated these things, though he wore a light weight armor chest piece that was all he wore. The speeds at which he could move even with out dragonartes was impressive, and you didn't want your vision obscured when you had to react to things so fast. So their he stood watching at the festivities. Maybe because he was drow, maybe cause he was an urchin he didn't know, but the other races loved there celebrations and he couldn't quite understand it, despite those thoughts however hidden away by his helmet he did smile . He was proud at all he had accomplished, a Drow urchin living among the other races, many said he would achieve nothing, looked at him with open hate and disgust, or with barely managed contempt. But here he stood, people looking on in a bit of awe at him and the warriors next to him. Never in his life has he felt so welcomed, and even admired.

Despite always wearing helmets people knew what he was in the academy or that he was at least some kind of elf. Unless you knew the diffrence between elvish and Drow their languages sounded very similar. So he looked on taking in a deep breath as he smiled behind the cover of that helmet. He closed his eyes and listened to head mistress Lucia, but they were open as he noted that she was ranting, talking like a mad woman, and then he heard her chanting as he looked over and then up as the sky started to darken and dragons once again roomed the skies. He judged the situation. Lucia was the best of them, the strongest in dargonartes as he watched two people attack her and she swatted them away like flies before leaping into the air. This was an interesting turn of a events.

He looked to the human as he threw off his helmet and stood up asking questions and vowing to give pursuit . Antafien walked forward "I would say that our dear headmistress has gone crazed, summoned dragons once more into a world, and left to start building a kingdom of her own image." His voice was smooth like slik, but had a sharp hiss like a snake as he sounded rather calm. He smiled taking his helmet off, he never liked rules very much. His long pure white hair falling down as those bright red eyes looked on. He fixed his coat and slipped off the gloves on his hands as there was no need to hide the color at this juncture, he never liked hiding what he was anyways. "So you ask us to risk our lives, chasing after the strongest of us, now with an army of dragons at her beck and call." he paused for a moment as he grinned wide and his eyes narrowed some giving him a rather sinister look. "Sounds like fun to me." he stated his voice taking on a harsh tone. Soon his eyes turned looking over the candidates "And who else will Join us in our dance with death."

[Caeramon]

The day had finally come. Bram and his fellow classmates had finally passed all the tests, completed all the training, and were on their way to become full fledged members of the Dragoons. The only problem he saw was that he had to wear a helmet. Who would want to cover such a magnificent smile? "Oh well, I guess. It's as hot as the Ethereal Sands in this thing." He was trying to get any of his classmates to make some small talk, because in truth, he was a little nervous about being on stage. He usually had his flashy Rope Dart maneuvers to hide behind when was in front of a group of people, but even then he had not gone in front of the whole of Estar.

He had walked onto the stage, clad in his pale blue plate mail with his Rope Dart wrapped across his chest like a satchel. Bram wasn't the tallest or shortest among his peers, but for a human he was considered above average. His emerald green eyes looking through the slit in his helm could see the giant crowd in front of him, but something strange happened towards the end of the ceremony. The sky turned dark and he could hear Lucia speaking something strange. The clouds had started to take form into what he remembered from the text and paintings he had studied, Dragons. Bram quickly removed his helmet and watched as Edun was flung backwards by the strongest Scalding Palm he had ever seen. What seemed like the largest dragon to be created from the clouds had swooped down and retrieved Lucia. The tallest of the newly admitted Dragoons tried to hook onto the Dragon, but it was quicker than anything he had even dreamed of. I don't think even I could have hit that with my trusty rope dart Bram thought to himself.

He heard Edun's speech about chasing after Lucia and considered him slightly delirious from being knocked around so roughly. Don't we need a plan first? I mean, these are the dragons that we were taught about, we have no actual experience battling the monsters of lore. Bram ran over and looked into the deep red eyes of the Drow, "I will gladly perform my duties as a Dragoon, but our main priority right now is to get the civilians to safety." Bram clamored out of his heavy armor, as he preferred to wear lighter clothing to better use his Rope Dart with, and began to search the immediate area for any injured civilians. "This mess is more than I thought today would have been, and I haven't even got to drink any mead yet..." Bram sighed.

[Soulserenity20]

The day was bright and young, the sun reaching its peak as it projected blistering heat down onto the partakers of the ceremony. It had been many years since Aerea had first ventured into Estar and found herself at the gates of the academy. She had spent her time wisely, never slacking, always deep in her studies and focusing solely on becoming the best dragoon she could possibly have been. Taking a red handkerchief, from her pocket, she wiped her brow; black armour was hardly appropriate for the middle of the day and her mouth and nose were crying out for fresh air, but the rules of Shattermane were law, and she had always followed them without question. Today, as she stood alongside her comrades and peers, she felt a sense of belonging she had not felt for most of her life. She had grown accustomed to the different armour sets worn by her fellow students, rarely seeing their faces. She had learned to respect them for their talent and the cause for which they fought.

As she let her eyes observe every detail of her surroundings, taking note of specific citizens before her, of places that would provide cover in the case of an attack, hardly listening to what the headmaster had to say. But her ears perked up as an eerie chant began to fill the air. Her eyes shot towards Lucia "...frustraque animarum errantium. Novum genus a nobis Aurora cinere.” Her mouth dropped open as she realized what was happening.

"Is she-" her words we muffled by the power of Lucia's skyfall as she leapt up into the air, mounting a hellish beast as its scaled mass soared above the collection of townsfolk.

"No.... no, no. How DARE she do this! That traitor! For all these years we trusted her! Such filth would raise an army of her own opponents only to sicken the process further by summoning back the snakes of this earth! That harlot will die." She immediately ran towards where Edun, Ralthavar, and Bram had collected.

"We cannot let this go. She has threatened the safety of the entire land! It makes no sense, why would she train elite warriors with the potential to destroy her and her devious intentions? Is this some sick game conjured in the mind of a mad-woman?" She pulled out one of her two daggers, twirling it in her hand out of nerves as she always did. "We need to develop a plan of action. There is little we can do at the moment while she soars away on the back of a hell serpent. We've no clue where she's gone and no idea what awaits us. We need to fix the mess here first." She paused to think as she heard the twitter of birds on the roof of a nearby house.

"Should I seek knowledge from the animals of these lands? Surely they have taken notice of the drakes in their skies, perhaps they have an idea of where she's been keeping the foul snakes?" Her eyes drifted to the scattering, terrified crowd of civilians. There were children here today... she felt a deep hatred and rage swelling up inside of her. That woman would pay for the danger she instilled on these lands.

[Card Captor]

Graduation day had finally come. After all his hard work, his blood and sweat, he was finally a real dragoon. And not just because of who his father was, no. Kain had earned this. He deserved this just as much as everyone else on stage with him today. So yeah, he was feeling pretty good. He was no longer just a dragoon's son, he was a dragoon himself. There was a small part of him that worried that this was all just a dream, that he would wake up in bed and find that he really wasn't a dragoon. That maybe he had dreamed most of (if not all) his life at the academy. However he quickly discarded that notion, as it was really silly. So yeah, Kain was feeling good. In fact, he was pretty close to saying those cursed words; 'what could possible go wrong?' Had he really said those words (internally or out loud), what happened next would have been his answer

Kain stood there on stage slack-jawed "w...what just happened!?" he asked no one in particular. "Did someone really just summon a dragon!?" his eyes were starting to twitch. Before he broke out into some sort of psychotic episode, he sighed a face palmed "well this is just great. My first day as a dragoon, and someone's already started so insane scheme to take over the world. With dragons no less. This can only end badly for everyone involved" he said while drawing his family's weapon; the spear Gae Bolg

"Clearly she's off her rocker if she thinks she can control the dragons long enough for whatever it is she's planing. I don't doubt that whatever plan she has is going to collapse under the pressure of and vast amount of things that can go wrong, bu that doesn't mean the dragons aren't still a problem. Although I doubt it's going to be easy, we need to try and nip this in the bud fast." Sighing, he continued with "either she's completely crazy, or there's something we're not seeing. Either way, this is a big deal, and people are going to die. I doubt we can catch up to it though, considering how fast it flew. So unless anyone has some idea, we don't have much to go on"

[Barioth]

Guan stood rigid and unmoving. The sweltering heat made a drop of sweat roll down the side of his face. His metal helmet was like an oven turned up on high. He fidgeted a bit as he wiggled his legs, he was not accustomed to standing in the same spot for such a long time, he needed action. Action was what kept his attention from the droll of laziness, he wanted a fight, anything to keep this feeling of boredom at bay. He looked out from the corner of his life towards his teammates, all completely still. "How the hell do they do that!?" He thought to himself as he changed the way he was standing for about the twentieth time. "Am I the only one bored as hell?" The thoughts continued as he changed his attention to the crowd, maybe if he thought about something else, the ceremony wouldn't drag out as long as it seemed. It had been years since he left Osorcul, a poor boy who was the son of a poor potter. It was interesting to see himself, a low-class kid, stand as one of the most honored warriors throughout the land in front of a huge crowd. He doted on his personal vanity for a short time before remembering he was bored and excruciatingly hot, "Geez, whose idea was it to have the ceremony in hell's own weather? he thought with a sarcastic smile on his face. His whole life had lacked action, maybe as a Dragoon he would find some fun, his thirst for battle had become an obsession to find conflict, he needed something desperately.

Guan looked up from his daydreaming to see Lucia begin to chant. Curious, Guan looked around the rest of his peers and noticed they were just as confused as he. He felt the hairs on his neck stand on his neck stand on end and his blood began to boil, something exciting was about to happen. He felt a tingle in his teeth as he clenched them, his martial artist's instincts were all firing off, whatever she was doing, Guan wanted to make sure he found out. He craned his neck to look to the sky. The sky turned dark and lightning began to crack, the clouds descended and became dragons. "This looks fun" he thought with a crazed smile. He turned his attention back to Lucia who had taken off her helmet. "Well she's pretty hot, a bit crazy, but hot," He said as he drew his Guandao from his back. He watched as she knocked aside one of his classmates with a scalding palm. He was excited now, his blood was boiling and he was stirring for a fight, a mere strip of self-control was keeping his battle lust from making him jump in and have a go at Lucia himself.

He ripped his helmet off and threw it aside with a crazed smile. This was it, action, what he craved, what he desired. He kept himself from attacking Lucia, as he watched another of his classmates shoot his claw at her but miss. There was no way he could fight her now, he had waited his whole life, he could wait a little longer to fight. His fingers clenched around his Glaive as he brushed a hand through his hair while chuckling to himself and trembling with excitement. He couldn't contain it, he let out a roar of joy as he watched Lucia flew away. The journey to defeat her would be nothing short of a blast. Carefully, he collected himself, still trembling a bit, he spoke to those who were now gathering, "I can't wait, this'll be the most fun I've had in a while."

[Blackwolf]

Antafien looked at the man who and stood in front of him. He looked straight into his eyes, though it seemed like more then just a polite looking at someone when you talk. It was like he was looking into the depths of his eyes. That gaze met his red hues as he could feel something start to stir inside of himself. The way those eyes looked filled him with the feeling of...well you know he felt....well...he felt Completely weirded out. That awkward moment hung for a few moments as his head drew back and looked to the right, as his eyes shifted left to look at the man in a kind of 'can I help you' expression as he averted them looking right before looked back left to see if he had moved. Though he supposed everybody walked different "lifestyles", and it was a bit flattering, he always considered himself a rather good looking fellow. But still that awkward moment of silence seemed to drag on forever as it would never end, before thankfully it was soon broken by others speaking up in what seemed to be barely contained hysteria.

His eyes shifted to the man with the spear as he spoke of Lucia, he also took a step back away from Bram, didn't need him getting the wrong idea. Kain was his name he believed, that spear of his let him stand out, as people would know him by that long coat he always wore, he watched as Kain seemed to rant and ramble on, and not soon another spoke. This man with a glaive didn't even bother trying to contain his hysteria, either that or he was touched in the head, though it did sound like a bit of fun. Finally he drew his attention to Kain "Only a fool underestimates their opponent, She has clearly planed all of this for years and nobody knew about it. I wouldn't write her out so easily" he stated as while he liked.... Guan he believed his name to be, while he liked Guan's enthusiasm he seemed more like a fanatic then a warrior. "Calm your self, you don't want to rush in with out knowing what your up against, as you would only be rushing to your death" Finally he looked back to Bram, still feeling awkward as he took just one more step back just be safe. Despite that though the man spoke truth "Bram, It's Bram right?" he asked before looking out of the town after getting an answer "Bram is right we need to see to the safry of the civilians, our number one priority, and our duty is there safety" he stated as he averted his eyes to the sky, it was quite for this moment, but how long that moment would last was a mere gamble. "In worse case we may have to support a mass exodus."

[Yog Sothoth]

Dorrin stood beside his fellow students who were graduating from the academy, and to the dwarf, he was glad to have finished this school year without failing too many of the tests. It was a hard journey to becoming a full fledged Dragoon. Even though they were graduating from Shattermaine Acedemy, they were still required to wear their armor which hid their faces from view. But it didn't matter to Dorrin, it was quite obvious that he was a dwarf thanks to his short stature and his way of speaking, but rules were rules. He was curious to see who his fellow graduates looked like, but he would probably have to wait until the ceremony was over before he could get a look at them. Despite his small size, he stood proudly beside the other students and watched as the graduation ceremony began. The academy's headmaster came onto the platform and began her speech. At first it sounded like a proper speech to give graduates of the academy, but then her words changed from congratulations to talks of power, Today you will all be subjects of a new world. A world that I have created. I have slaved over books for years searching for a way to make my dreams a reality. Let me show you what I have learned…”

That didn't seem right to Dorrin, was this how the ceremony was suppose to go? He had a bad feeling about what might come next. headmaster Lucia then began to chant in words that Dorring did not recognize, and after those words were spoken the sky began to darken as clouds covered up the sun. Then lightning and thunder appeared, followed by something that Dorrin was not expecting for a while, dragons!. He couldn't believe it, dragons in Estar. He knew that this meant something was really wrong, and that their headmaster was the cause of it. Luckily he had his weapons with him, and was ready for action. After he saw Edun attempt to take a swing at Lucia, Dorrin was about to rush in and aid his fellow graduate in detaining the mad headmaster, when she hit Edun with a Scalding Palm technique and then jumped high into the high thanks to the Skyfall ability. He watched her land onto the back of a dragon and fly away at incredible speeds. Dorrin cursed at himself, it all had happened too fast, he could have probably jumped onto the dragon as well with his Skyfall technique and chased after her.

But it was too late now. He needed to help the innocent people get to safety and hoped that his fellow students would aid in the task. He looked to the other graduates and saw that they took off their helmets. Dorrin decided that it was not a time to follow every rule of the academy since its own headmaster appears to have gone mad, therefor making it a special occasion. He was happy to have the helmet off since it was really inside it and made it rather uncomfortable. He was surprised to see that one of the graduates was Drow, he had guessed that the student was an elf of sometime but he didn't it was Drow. Now that they were all aware of each others' appearance, they needed to do something. Dorrin walked over to where the others were standing and asked, "What do you suppose we should do? we could go after Lucia or stay and help these innocent people."

[druple]

The sky lightened little by little until it was if Lucia had never said such damning words. Edun took the time to listen to the entire groups’ opinions. Clearing the civilians from the square seemed like a fair idea, but another second spent on calming them. Lucia was moving at an alarming rate, and Edun feared that they would be unable to track the madwoman. So many of his classmates were talking at once, that is was impossible to address them all. What was clear though is that they had to act quickly. Estar had evolved from shock into complete chaos.

It was clear that the inhabitants were disturbed by the return of the sky demons. It crossed Edun’s mind that there was noticeable absence in the veteran dragoons. There was an obvious lack of leadership now that Lucia had deserted Shattermane. “Okay!” He shouted thinking as quickly as he possibly could given the circumstances. “Spread out, and contain the anarchy!” Edun yelled addressing the group as whole. “Politely escort the civilians into their respective homes.”

“You,” He said jabbing a finger in Bram’s direction. “We need to find out the fate of the older inhabitants of the academy!” Without another word, he rapidly retreated into the academy halls. With Bram on his heels, the duo fled down the stone hallway in the direction of the veteran quarters.

[Lucius Cypher]

Ralthavar simply nodded his head when Edun took command. Ralthavar himself never really saw the human as a leader, but right now he was the only one with initiative. Hopping off the stage Ralthavar went to find some of the civilians; most had the mind to go home on their own, but he did come across a few lost children who had separated from their parents. A few were willing to come with him, but all he had to tell them was that he was a Dragoon, and they would at least be willing to come out of hiding. Ralthavar continued to search for survivors, gaining a few adults who could keep the children in line. But the dragons did not merely scatter the people; many buildings were damaged, some toppled. Ralthavar himself found two victims of the disaster, crushed to death underneath the rubble. He got their bodies out and hid them with a sheet of cloth if he could find one, continuing his search and rescue.

The orc remained in full armor as he searched, and he did have to deal with a few hysterical townspeople. The few he met demanded answers for questions he did not know, others blaming him or at least the academy for what Lucia had done. But he took it all in silence, letting them vent their frustrations until they are willing to leave their hiding spot and head back to their homes. Only one tried to do anything close to harming him by throwing a rock at his head, which bounced off harmlessly thanks to his helmet. Even than Ralthavar did not draw his weapons or speak sternly to the madman, merely suggesting that he goes home himself if he does not wish of Ralthavar to bring him there. He still needed to find the parents of the children, and he considers himself ill suited to deal with the anger of the people.

[Barioth]

"Calm your self, you don't want to rush in with out knowing what your up against, as you would only be rushing to your death"

The words spoken by Antafien made Guan smile. He knew well to feel out his opponent before going in for the kill, and that was what he planned on doing, he would find their weakness and strike with unmatched fury like he always did. For the few moments he had seen the dragons descend from the sky, he counted quite a few. A dragon would make for a worthy opponent, he would make sure to make one of those dragon's heads his own. Their battle would be inevitable, Guan just had to be patient. Having allies would make the time till a battle with the dragons and Lucia shorter. He said nothing in response to the drow but a slight nod of his head as he turned his attention to Edun, a human in armor.

He had seen Edun fight only a few times in the academy but he knew his skills were dragoon worthy. If he wanted to play leader, Guan would have to be sure, he wouldn't be led by any coward, and he had yet to see Edun's mettle. He would follow his orders for now but if it became apparent that this man was craven, he would push to find a new leader for this "group" that seemed to all be bent on the same goal.

"Politely escort the civilians into their respective homes.”

Now somewhat calm, Guan gave Edun a mocking salute before moving out into the city to help suppress the chaos that was raging throughout the city. The time lost in the pursuit of Lucia would make the chase all the more fun. He weaved and jumped through the rubble in the streets, while assisting those who were too dazed and confused to move. With his helmet removed he didn't seem as scary or intimidating to people who needed his help. Guan carried a distraught child who had just lost his parents out of their home. The boy wouldn't stop crying and it annoyed Guan who wanted to finish this up and go save someone else, with a sigh, Guan pulled a dagger out from the rubble and handed it to the boy. "Don't cry you're a man now, " the boy took the dagger in his hand and wiped his tears, "Cry after you've taken vengeance," Guan said as he left behind the boy in the street.

[Blackwolf]

Antafien listened to his fellow graduates, his attention turned to Aerea His red eyes looked at her, he found her rambling a bit bothersome as this was nothing they didn't know already, but he had learned to keep his words more tactful "there is nothing we can do at this moment aside from helping out the town, that should be our first priority. Help with that for now, and try to remain calm, for the civilian's sake at the least." he said as he turned toward the door that Edun and Bram had ran into "For the most part other races tend to be more afraid of my kind then anything else. Most would simply run at the sight of me. I would be of little help in the town, I will investigate the academy with those two" he had no illusions of how people looked at him, simply for being a Drow. Most people thought he was going to flay them alive and make clothes out of leather from there skin.

He walked into the door then broke off into a sprint, he as one, if not the fastest of the group as he didn't take him long to catch up to the pair. "so what is the plan then" he stated as he easily caught up to the pair.

[Caeramon]

Bram didn't quite understand why Edun thought himself in charge, but now wasn't the time to be arguing over who was now in charge. He took off down the hallway close behind Edun, making sure to ready his weapons in case of emergency. The echoing chambers of the main hallway made the clanking of two sets of armor seem like an army was marching through Shattermane. Edun and Bram weren’t too far down the corridor before the Drow, Antafien, had caught up to them. So what is the plan then , words Bram could barely make out over the vast sound of the colliding armors. “The plan is simple; we head for the veteran quarters and try to find out why we haven’t seen any of seniors yet. It’s not like they could have slept through something of this magnitude.”

The triad reached the entrance to the academy’s senior barracks no longer than it took Bram to finish his previous statements. In the quarters there were two side hallways, each leading to personal rooms for the elder Dragoons. Before the two hallways split however; there were two massive oaken doors that loomed forebodingly, marking the dining hall by the veteran's quarters. The creaking of the hinges set a very haunting tone for the entire quarter, Something isn't right here, it feels far too calm. “I’ll search the dining hall, you two can take the east and west wing. I think something has gone terribly wrong here, the calm is killing me.” Bram sprinted into the dining hall. It was quiet for the dining hall; usually the hustle and bustle of the kitchens gave a slight clamor and jolly feeling in the old eatery. There wasn't a slight hint of any food being prepared at all actually. Bram looked into the kitchen to find it empty. Now that is odd.

A muffled cough came from the backside of the kitchen. Bram quickly ran over to investigate. Lying on the floor in the back corner was Thorundir, an elderly dwarf and Dragoon. Thorundir was probably the eldest of the dwarven Dragoons, he had served Shattermane for more than most humans entire life span. “Thorundir! What has happened to you?” Bram noticed a very similar singed smell to when Lucia had struck Edun back. Thorundir had a large burn mark right where his heart was. The wound seemed beyond recovery, Thorundir’s time was running short. “Lad, I was hoping one of you greenskins would be smart enough to come here during all the commotion outside. Listen, I’m not going to be here with you for much longer. Lucia has betrayed all of Airengard, she has poisoned and killed all the Dragoons that were stationed here just before the ceremony of your induction. I caught her murdering my brothers and tried to stop her, you see how well that went don’t you?” A heavy cough spilt blood from Thorundir’s throat. “Boy, you must stop her. There are many Dragoons still out posted in the other cities, go find them. Hopefully, they do not share my fate.” Thorundir’s eyes lost focus and a calming smile came to his face. The dwarf had left this world, and had given Bram a final task. “Rest peaceful my comrade, we will make sure no harm come to this land for your sake.” Bram found Thorundir’s hammer off to the side of the room, he took it to the late Dragoon and laid it across his chest. “May your ancestors welcome you with open arms and heart.”

Bram left to find Antafien and Edun out in the hallways. I hope their luck is better than mine.

[druple]

Edun and Bram hurtled down the hall, attempting to locate the elders. The halls were unnaturally quiet today. It was very unlike Shattermane to remain silent. As they paused at the end of the hall the Drow had pulled even with them. Edun gave him a curt nod. The human wasn’t particularly fond of elves, but this was no time to bring forth an argument over races. As Bram elaborated on the plan further Edun voiced his agreement. From there the trio had split in different directions. Eager to find the fate of the veterans Edun felt his pace increase. Upon reaching the large oak doors leading into the western wing, he took a moment to calm himself. What he saw next left him speechless.

The west wing was in shambles. A battle had clearly taken place. Edun’s heart began to race. No.. He found himself thinking repeatedly as a lump formed in his throat. Armor was strewn everywhere, some ripped into pieces. Had he not been so used to battle, he imagined he would have spewed his breakfast onto the stone floor. Pinned to the wall by his own bastard sword was his mentor, a man that Edun had come to be quite fond of. “Loric…” Edun’s voice rang through the halls full of grief. The man was clearly dead, blood trailing down the wall forming into a puddle on the ground. The pool of gore was congealed, indicating that the man had been lifeless for a while.

“Is anyone here?” Edun called out, but the only noise that returned was his own echoes. A sob escaped his lips, and the greenhorn dragoon was overwhelmed in his own sorrow. He walked the halls of the quarters finding evidence of more struggles. Some were killed in their own beds, while others were clearly trying to flee from Lucia. That bitch. She killed my mentor. She killed the elders. The moans of his mourning became quieter. Instead replaced with a burning anger. A rage that was being fueled by the deaths of his comrades. She will pay. I will make her pay.

Turning his back on the struggle, he closed the door to the west wing once more. Their deaths would not be in vain. Without another backwards glance he returned to where the trio had departed. He wiped his face to rid himself of his tears. Of the evidence that he had a moment of weakness. The human was sure that Ant and Bram would discover the same fates of their companions in the rooms they had been charged with investigating. When he returned, he shook his head in Bram’s direction. “They clearly perished at the traitor’s hands.” Edun said bitterly. The brunette awaited Antafien's return with baited breath.

[Yog Sothoth]

Although Dorrin was a little indignant at being given orders from Idun since he didn't remember the human being appointed leader, he still did as he was told and went to help the people panicking about the city. Several people had been killed from being trampled by the crowds of fleeing citizens, and Dorrin needed to work quickly before anymore people would be killed in the chaos. It was a hard task getting people to listen to him while they were in a panic since he was a dwarf and they were humans who were taller than him. Not to mention the damage that some of the dragons had done to some of the buildings during their climatic entrance. Several houses were on fire and Dorrin knew that he had to check those first since there could be innocent people trapped inside. Since some of the houses had doors that had been blocked by mounds of rubble, Dorrin had to use his Skyfall ability to jump up to the upper levels of the homes were the windows weren't blocked off. He smashed through the window and into the home, landing not very gracefully on the carpet floor.

He looked around and found it hard to see because of the thick smoke that everywhere. Dorrin needed to look fast before the smoke completely cut off his air supply inside the house and suffocate. The dwarf hoped the owners of this house if they were still inside, were not dead from the smoke. He eventually found them, and saw that they were a family of five. Dorrin wasted no time with explaining to them who he was and that he was a Dragoon who had graduated from the academy. Right now he needed to get them out of the house. First he grabbed two of the children and ran straight for the window he smashed through. He heard the parents give a cry of alarm and tried to stop him. But luckily dwarfs were very fast sprinters, and Dorrin outran them and leaped out of the window. Despite the children being very young, he was still only several inches taller than them and a fall from this height could severely injure them. So Dorrin spun in the air to have his back facing the ground and the children above his chest. He slammed into the ground a good amount of force, but his armor had helped protect him from any serious injuries, it still hurt. The children were not harmed, and Dorrin quickly jumped back into the burning to get the third child, followed by the parents one at a time. After he was done with that, Dorrin was quite sore and his limbs ached from falling from a building several times. But he still had a duty to complete, and he quickly moved on to help the other citizens of Estar.

[Blackwolf]

As they ran down the halls Ant couldn't help but notice the quite with exception for the heavy armor of the other two, and his own light foot steps echoing through those halls. Turning his head to Bram he nodded as they soon were in the west wing. He turned to the east wing and left. Walking through he found nothing but death, bodies lain about in shambles as those red eyes looked over with a calm gaze. Stepping over bodies and around fallen debris it looked as if a true battle had taken place. His mind wandered to his fellow's who wished to give chase after Lucia so soon. These were some of there best, and now here they all lay in there own life blood, burnt, cut, and maimed.

His ears twitched, hearing a feint sound as he walked, seeing a man crawling and barley alive. He approached him and got to a knee turning over as a very familiar face looked up at him with eyes fading of life, coughing up blood it smiled "Antafien, I see you are a live then" he said as the Drow looked at him "As you lay dieing, old man" he replied as that old man smiled "the old die, it's what we do" he stated coughing up more blood. Ant pulled out his dagger, "I can't keep my promise I made, I am sorry" Said the old man as that dagger slipped between his ribs and pierced his heart, ending his suffering as he took a last breath before the life left him and he was still.

Antafien closed the eyes of the dead man before standing up cleaning his dagger, those words he spoke as a child to the man that old man who recruited him echoed in his mind "I am great, make me a legend" he spoke softly as he turned his looking further down the hall. All that remained here are ghost of the past, as he looked down a the bodies and rubble, it almost reminded him of the tunnels he used to run through back in Veneel manly that they were in Ruin and with the constant smell of death. He had seen all that he needed two as he put his blade back into it's hiding place.

He appeared to be the last to arrive at where they split as he looked to Bram and Edun. "Nothing but death and ruin remain in these halls, let use leave these ghost to their rest" he stated as he didn't wait and turned walking back towards the entrance of the academy. The Drow's face as as calm as ever, as if he had seen nothing and was simply walking through a park, though an old saying of his people entered his mind, "Hate is a dagger--best when hidden and deadliest when precise." He was not overly fond of his own kind, but they did have there own twisted wisdom.

[Card Captor]

Sighing, Kain ran after Edun and Bram 'I know we've all graduated and all, but we've only just graduated. Even though we're all officially dragoons now, I still think we're in way over our heads. I should probably follow them, who know's what else could happen today.' As Kain ran through the west wing, he could smell a strange burning stench. His first whiff of it nearly made him chock, it was just that bad. Taking a few seconds to gather himself and adjust to the smell, he continued searching the west wing for the two other dragoons

As he ran through the ruins, his mind started to wander. He recalled, very vividly, various memories he had made here. So many familiar places and things, marred by the dragon's wrath. Then there were the bodies. Some he could vaguely recall, others were complete strangers to him 'this is madness. Pure and utter madness' he began to seethe with rage. 'No! Remember what dad said. Keep yourself calm. Anger makes you stupid' he corrected himself, starting to calm down

Finally, he came across the other two boys. "There you two are! We shouldn't just be blindly running around now. We need to get-" he was stopped by the bodies he saw "...are......are those the elders? Did...did they all die? How?" His voice began to warble "this...this is worse then I could have imagined. For the elders themselves to die. How could this have happened right under out noses?" Kain was now ever more worried then before. For the elders to be dead at the beginning of...whatever this was, was clearly a bad omen

[Lucius Cypher]

Unsure of how long time had passed, Ralthavar was at least able to get all the children's parents found, or left in the care of those who would look after them. Most of the people had calmed down now, and found their ways home themselves. Ralthavar led two more people back home personally; his parents. They had helped others in what ways they could before their son asked them to return home. It was mostly quiet on the way back aside from Ralthavar's mother asking him to help some of the others with mundane tasks such as carrying something for them, which he did diligently. It wasn't until they reached home that his father spoke. He asked Ralthavar if he knew what had happened, what Lucia was planning on doing, or simply what she had done. "She has summoned dragons back into this realm, father... The world will be more dangerous that it has before. And it is my duty to protect this world, and stop the dragons. And her as well. I could not imagine that this was how it would be done, but I am a dragoon now. There is nothing that will stop me."

Ralthavar spent some time at home with his parents, mostly final goodbyes. Though they tried to maintain their emotions during the cerimony, in privacy tears were shed. They were orcs, strong and proud people, but they were also parents who worried about their son, despite evidence that he would be well. There as one parting gift from Ralthavar's mother that he was required to talk: Her mother's battleaxe, which she has used since the day she left home. She's never slain a dragon with it, but it was more solid than a mountain, and could cleave through bones as though they were twigs. He felt it's weight on his arms, naturally swinging it through the air. One final hug from his parents were all that was given before they allowed him to leave, His battleaxe strapped to his back.

Ralthavar returned to Shattermane to find the others. Surely now they would have found the elders, living or dead. They were going to need a plan of action, since they no longer had the chance to follow Lucia. He had walked in just as Kain asked in exasperation how all the elders died, Ralthavar had only one answer. "Complacency. We should consider ourselves fortunate that we did not share the fates of our masters."

[druple]

With the grief of the loss of the elders fresh on his mind, Edun reached the same enormous oak doors that the group had entered previously. As he, Bram, Ant, and Kain all arrived at the footsteps of the academy, a roar erupted that shook the very foundation of the city. All thoughts of the perished were pushed from his mind, which was now occupied by the echo of the rumble. The question of the creator was quite obvious as a massive shadow eclipsed the sun. Edun gave a startled cry as he leapt from the stairway to the street below. Above them a dragon hovered, its scaly hide reflecting the rays of light.

The serpent crashed onto the slates of Shattermane, collapsing part of the roof in with its razor sharp talons. Mortals, it began with a piercing scream into the minds of all that surrounded the area. I am Razeth the Clever, consider the denizens of this expanse under my rule from henceforth. Subject yourselves lest you be destroyed. Razeth snarled with malicious intent. A molten jet of flame erupted from Razeth’s snout, leaving the strong smell of sulfur in its wake. Despite the pain resonating in his head, Edun retorted by unshouldering the yew bow entrusted to him by his parents. He docked an arrow with a loud sneer. “I serve no beast!” He bellowed in response, releasing the projectile which produced a whistling noise as it tore through the air.

Razeth scoffed as he discharged another spout of fire, incinerating the arrow. Then die like one. It snarled in response, rising in the air with leathery wings. As if to prove a point, Razeth crashed into the rooftop leaving the school in shambles. Shattermane was no more. Edun silently counted the group’s blessing that they had escaped unscathed. Razeth’s talons clenched at the wreckage.

Resistance is futile.