Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-34320391-20181119131046/@comment-34572969-20181220192419

Katina

At last. The final and possibly one of the most important Trials. I listened intently to the elder announcing what it was going to be. I was determined not to mess this one up, not after I had come so far.

"For this Trial, I thought, why not make it a dragonless trial?" he announced. The excited faces of other Initiates dropped as their shoulders sagged. Personally, I didn't mind too much, but it would have been harder without Flame.

The dragon in question squawked in defiance at the statement from where he sat crouched on my shoulder. I flinched at the noise as Flame crawled up to rest on my head.

"Ow, that was loud," I deadpanned, rubbing me ear.

The elder explained that we had to bring an item that we treasured most back to that spot within half an hour, or else we would be disqualified. I fought the urge to let my mouth drop. Of course I didn't want to be disqualified, but I couldn't think of anything that I truly treasured enough to bring back. I pulled the sleeves of my coat over my wrists.

I thought about it all the way back to my house. What did I have that held enough value to bring back to him and Freygair? I pushed my way into the house, not bothering to knock, and scrambled up the carpeted staircase to my room with Flame flying along beside me.

Papers and drawing were scattered around various counters, with pencils, coloured pens and other stationary littered around messily. Grey sketches of nameless people were spread around untidily, acting as a sort of tablecloth for the oak surface.

Whilst it was a side of me that didn't show often, art was on of my passions. Whether it was writing, painting, drawing or doing anything creative in general, I enjoyed it, and it served as an escape from the outside world.

Oh right, my item!

I looked around for a bit, searching through drawers and other random containers that I'd forgotten I even had for something to return with. I glanced upwards to the top of my closet, where I knew various old items were hiding away.

"Flame?" I called out. The Terror poked his head out from underneath a pile of old drawings and followed my gaze upwards. He seemed to understand and attempted to fit in through the gap between the top of my closet and the ceiling.

However, it was roo small for him to fit through, and came out sneezing with his head coated in dust. I raised an eyebrow at him as he slowly came down.

"How come you can glide effortlessly through an airborne kransen-" I paused. "...I'm not sure I used that word correctly -yet you can't squeeze through that one gap?" I asked jokingly, dragging out a chest from under my bed to stand on. I stepped up with Flame hovering beside me, searching the slab of wood that topped my cabinet.

Flame tried to help searching, peering through the gap along with me, but he only ended up distracting me and accidentally getting in my way.

"Flame! Get off!" I said, gently batting him away. He remained persistent, though, and his efforts to try and help me ended up with me tumbling off the chest and onto the floor below me.

I made a significant thump! sound as I hit the floor, quickly followed by a, "Honey? What's going on? Are you alright?" from my mother.

"Yeah, my coat just fell...whilst I was still in it," I deadpanned, silently groaning. I glanced behind me and found the chest I was previously standing on now open, with a single pendant lying on the floor in front. The silver chain that it used to be connected to had gone.. Curious, I took it into my hands and opened it up.

It was a picture of a significantly younger version of my parents, with a bundle of cloths in my mother's hands. My dad was just as I remembered him: untamed, dark auburn hair, deep brown eyes and a cheeky grin.

They seemed to be standing on a dock, with the clouded blue sky behind them. It was the day before my father went off exploring the outside world for the first time, only to return every year or so.

I recognized it almost instantly: a gift I had gotten from my mother a few years ago. I knew immediately that this was the item I wanted to bring.

"Flame! C'mon, we should probably be getting back before we get disqualified."

We headed off quickly after that, then began the Trial as Flame watched me from the sidelines along with all the other dragons. The Trial was that we had to try and retrieve our item from a post, or, in some people's cases (such as Isla), branches and tree trunks. But, of course, there was a catch: we were retrieving it whilst being attacked by fully grown men.

Traning, don't fail me now, I thought to myself, before getting myself into a fighting stance. Determined to win this battle, I smirked at my incoming opponent.

"Fight me bro."

He went in first with a punch, which I easily sidestepped. While he was still distracted, I kicked him down and he toppled onto his side.

Convinced that I was victorious, I started running towards the tree trunk, only to get tackled by the man. I attempted to struggle out of his grip, but it remained firm, and only then did I spot Aidan watching everyone else with concern glimmering in his eyes. He must have already finished the Trial, and was looking to see if our friends were okay.

His gaze swept over me, still obviously worried, and I kicked the burly man off of me with the limited movement I had. I stood up and snapped my fingers sassily at the still observing Aidan. I didn't need anyone to worry about me.

I felt another force slam onto me, and turned to find Jack wrestling with his own opponent.

"ISLA!" he screamed angrily. With the way I saw her no longer with someone defending her possession, it seemed she had passed him off to Jack.

"Get off you idiot!" I shouted to the bully. I shoved him off my back, seeing him fall to the floor clumsily.

"You know, I'm not even gonna apologize for that, that was hilarious."

I leapt forward and grabbed the pendant, seeking its warmth despite being made of cold metal. At last I was able to call Flame over after Freygair announced I had finished, and watch as the other Initiates completed their Trials.

I went home shortly after that, Flame nestled comfortably in my hands and slowly but nodding off. I entered the house, only to find a man I didn't recognize speking to my mother. I coughed to gain their attention.

The man turned to me. "Ah, Katina Erikson, correct?"

I nodded.

"Well you might want to sit down, I have some news about your father..."