Twenty-five years later...

"Wake up! Wake up Avrae!" Flare exclaimed. The fire dragoness bounced on her toes as her tail whipped around behind her, nearly knocking over a very delicate looking clay sculpture. Avrae groaned from under the mountain of animal pelts that she used as blankets.

"It's too early, just five more minutes," Avrae grumbled as she pulled one of the pelts over her head. Her friend rolled her eyes.

"Come on sleepy head. We can't be late for the ceremony," Flare stated. The shadow dragoness just mumbled something incoherent from under the pelts, her black scaled tail poking out.

"If you don't come out I'm dumping water on you."

This time, Avrae stuck her head out. "No you will not!" She shouted.

Avrae's orangish red eyes locked onto Flare's sky blue ones. Avrae crawled out from under her pile of pelts all the way, black scales glistening in the candlelight. Her feathered crow-shaped wings were black as the darkest night while the quills residing just behind her horns were tipped in blood red. Specks of red seemed to hide in her scales as if rubies had been embedded deep inside her soul and were resurfacing in her scales. She flicked her tail in annoyance as Flare smiled devilishly.

"Afraid of a little water?" Flare teased. Her crimson red scales seemed to light up the space just fine on their own without the assistance of any flame. An aura of power radiated around Flare, to which Avrae knew only came from primal dragons.

Primal dragons were much more powerful than regular dragons. Primals had magic, thicker scales, and much sharper claws. Regular dragons couldn't do much more than breathe their breath element, which wasn't much use if one had a sore throat. Sometimes Avrae wished she were a primal dragon. Or at least, a regular one. Primal dragons were incredibly rare and often died before they could even turn five years old. Parents of primals rarely named their children before then for fear of getting attached only to loose their child so young.

In Avrae's case, she had gotten lucky. Either that or she had gotten rotten luck disguised as good luck. She had hatched a primal dragon, yet the power hadn't manifested itself until she had turned twelve. Fear had kept her from telling anyone, as primal dragons manifesting their powers before the age of six months was unheard of if there hadn't been some sort of sign at the hatching. Her own parents didn't know she was primal. By the light of Tiamat's breath! Not even Flare knew!

"No, it's just water makes my quills get all soaking wet and my feathers stick together in the most uncomfortable of ways," Avrae retorted. She neatly folded her pelts and stacked them in a pile in her hammock that she rarely used for anything more than a shelf.

"Why do you always sleep on the floor?" Flare asked. The fire dragoness tilted her head in curiosity.

Avrae huffed, "Because hammocks are uncomfortable and my parents refuse to get me anything other than the hammock to sleep on." Flare hummed in thought, turning to survey Avrae's room.

It was mostly filled with sculptures. Sculptures made of clay, of stone, of diamond, of even bushes. The sculptures ranged from the size of a human's palm to the size of a full grown dragon, often depicting timestamps in dragon history. Specifically scenes in great battles in which Avrae had taken great fascination in.

Avrae's hammock hung between two diamond sculptures, the elegant shining dragons looking inside the hammock with bowed heads as they stood on their hind legs, wings folded in close to their backs as their tails draped across their claws with their front paws tucked into their chests. Science gibberish was scratched onto the walls of Avrae's cave while beakers and other lab equipment that Flare didn't bother to learn the names of were organized into neat piles on a rock shelf in the back of the cave.

"You ready for the ceremony?" Flare asked. Avrae stiffened, slowly turning to face Flare.

"What ceremony?" Avrae asked slowly.

Flare replied, "you know? The ceremony that will only determine what acadamy you will attend? I know you want to be enrolled in Elite High so you may join the Cletin." Avrae jolted upright, eyes wide.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" She exclaimed, rushing around various parts of her room and stuffing a bag made from snake skin with books, ink pots, several jars filled with strange liquids that glowed odd colors, and even some pieces of dragon armor. I need to pass the ceremony, whatever it may be! I need to join the Cletin! Avrae thought.

The Cletin. A very high ranking group of dragons that advised the Queen herself and were made up only of the best, most elite dragons in the entire colony. It had been Avrae's dream to join them ever since she was ten years old. If she could join, then her gadgets, her inventions, her science experiments, would no longer be seen as a waste of time and space. Maybe she could help the Queen and the colony with them! Maybe she could even use them on super secret missions that only dragons in the Cletin went on!

"I tried telling you but you were too busy snoozing to listen!" Flare scolded. Her tail swished behind her this way and that as a frown carved its way into her face. The white stripes across her body seemed to sparkle like snow in sunlight whenever she moved, which wasn't really helping Avrae focus on gathering her belongings at all.

"I like my sleep thank you. How you can wake up so early is beyond me. Do all fire dragons wake up with the sun?" Avrae asked. She didn't know much about the daily habits of other species of dragon aside from life dragons and light dragons. She didn't even know much about her own species of dragon for that matter either.

Flare scoffed. "Of course! Fire dragons wake up with the sun so we may sunbathe and absorb its warmth. You know, in Elite High they teach about other dragon species."

Avrae snorted, "I know, I know. It's just intresting to hear it from you that's all." Flare smiled as her white tipped quills raised slightly in amusement. Uh oh.

"Aaaawwww, you want me to be your teacher now, do ya?" Flare asked sweetly, taking a step towards Avrae.

"No, please no," Avrae told her friend, eyes widening. "Please, have mercy on my soul."

Flare barked out a laugh. "Have mery? Mercy? No mercy for you little missy!" Flare shouted as she reared up on her hind legs and spread her wings wide in mock intimidation. Avrae couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she walked towards the enterance of her room.

"You ready yet? I'm pretty sure my pet mouse is terrified of you by now," Avrae chuckled. Flare got down on all fours again as she followed her friend.

"You mean the mouse you forgot to feed and is now dead?" Flare asked. Avrae nodded as they walked past the giant stone slab in the main room of the cave that served as a table for her family to eat at.

"Yup. That's the one," Avrae replied as she slung her bag over her head and buckled the straps so it wouldn't fall off while she was flying.

"Hey!" A voice barked. Both Avrae and Flare jumped, heads whipping towards the source of the voice. A vibrant green dragoness with hints of purple in her wings and purple scales splattered across her body stared at the two friends, one talon pointing at them sternly.

"Make sure to stop by Grywell's cave and tell him he better be here at moonrise or I'll drag him here by the horn!" Avrae's mother ordered. Avrae's mother was a life dragon, though she wasn't a primal dragon. But that didn't mean she didn't have the sharpest tongue of all dragons alive. Avrae pittied whoever got a scolding from her mother next.

"We will mother," Avrae answered. Her mother turned to Flare, her talon still raised in the air.

"And you. Stay out of trouble or this time it's a slap on the face. I don't care if you're a princess or not," Mother hissed. Flare gulped, hastily nodding. Yup. That was Avrae's mother. "Oh, and you two please stay safe out there. Humans have been reported getting dangerously close to the nesting caves."

"We will," Avrae repeated. She didn't dare roll her eyes at this time. Not today at least.

Flare and Avrae scurried out of Avrae's home and onto the landing pad outside. Avrae's calws clicked on the stone as she welcomed the fresh air. Her wings spread wide, the wind tickling her feathers as she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation if only for a few moments.

With a powerful beat of her wings, Avrae leaped into the air, her feathers spread wide to catch as much air as possible. The echo of a second pair of wings told her Flare was following close behind as they gained altitude, the sunlight warming their flesh and lighting their path.

"Do you think Grywell's egg has hatched yet?" Flare asked. A piece of cloud clung to her horns as they soared high above the mountain peaks below.

"Maybe, I don't know," Avrae answered. Flare looked at her friend, one eye ridge raised.

"I thought you were supposed to be the smart one here! Didn't you make the calculations for when his egg will hatch?" Flare said, tilting her head. Avrae blinked.

"Yeah, your're right. By my calculations his egg should hatch... today," Avrae reported. Now it was Flare's turn to blink. Flare looked forward again, a smile forming on her face.

"On that note... race you!" Flare exclaimed as she sped through the sky with a powerful beat of her wings. Avrae yelped, eyes wide. How had she not seen this coming? She should have known!

"Not so fast, fire dragon!" Avrae called, the gears in her brain turning. With Flare's flight path and the location of Grywell's cave, Flare would be there within sixty seconds, thirty if she folded her wings in tighter and straightened herself out like an arrow. But Flare was travelling at a diagonal and was riding a wind current that would slow her down, as always.

Avrae let a grin split her face. She would win this race, as she always did. She ran the calculations, and knew what the correct path was. Avrae folded in her wings close to her body and just let herself plummet straight down.

"Thought you were smarter than that!" Flare called, watching Avrae plummet. Flare shook her head, muttering curses under her breath.

Avrae counted in her head. 100 feet. 90 feet. 80 feet. Avrae waited, keeping her course.

70 feet. 60 feet. 50 feet. The ground was getting close now.

40 feet. 30 feet. 20 feet. Pull up!

Avrae flared her wings, catching the wind current she was after. She allowed it to carry her straight up, past Flare, and straight towards Grywell's cave where she peeled off the current and landed at the entrance of the cave with grace. Flare landed a whole thirty five seconds later than when she should have arrived, mouth hung wide open in shock. Avrae suspected Flare had been so shocked that she had stalled in the air and missed a wingbeat or two.

"What? How!?" Flare demanded. A sly smile crossed Avrae's face as she headed inside the cave.

"I never tell my secrets," Avrae replied in an almost smug tone. Flare growled in frustration as she followed her best friend inside.

"She's smarter than you'll ever be," Grywell's gravely voice sounded from the shadows. Avrae tensed as Flare straightened with a groan. Grywell's golden eyes appeared in the darkness moments before he stepped out into the light, dark brown scales seeming to glitter with malice.

Grywell was rather massive, being more than three times Avrae's size. She barely even reached his elbow he was so large. But despite being in the presence of such an intimidating dragon, Avrae didn't show any fear. Among dragons, fear meant weakness. And weakness meant demotion in rank.

"Has the egg hatched yet?" Avrae asked, her keen hearing picking up the sound of Flare's claws just barely scraping against the stone floor - a sign that she was going to attack if things escalated. Grywell smiled as he stepped aside, allowing a tiny feathered wind dragoness to grace Avrae and Flare with her beauty.

"This is Sage," Grywell introduced. his head held up high in pride. "She hatched just as the sun began to rise today." Avrae couldn't help but notice Sage's golden eyes were identical to her father's, but that was where the similarities ended.

Grywell was a primal earth dragon and as such it was expected that any offspring he had would be primal dragons too. Though Sage was a wind dragon; as could clearly be seen by her lack of scales and the purple feathers covering her body in their place; just like her mother had been.

"Wrble," Sage squeaked. She put one shaky foot in front of the other as she slowly made her way towards Flare. Avrae blinked.

"She's a fast learner," Avrae observed. Most dragons didn't walk until they were at least six hours old. Little Sage here wasn't even two hours old yet. Grywell smiled as he glanced between his daughter and Avrae.

"She gets that from her mother," he informed. Meanwhile, Flare had picked up Sage and was cradling the hatchling in her arms while muttering something that made Sage giggle.

"Is she a primal dragon?" Flare asked loud enough for the other two dragons to hear. Grywell shrugged.

"Don't know yet. There was no gust of wind around her egg or anything when she hatched. Just a normal hatching. So, I figured I'd name her," Grywell answered. Sadness clouded his eyes. "I only wish her mother had been alive to see it."

Avrae hung her head as the cave fell silent. Sage looked around with wide green eyes. She cooed as her paw rested on Flare's arm, as if trying to comfort her. Flare looked down and smiled at the hatchling, a purr rumbling through her.

Grywell frowned as he gazed upon the sight. He leaned over Avrae's shoulder and whispered into her ear, "she makes you soft you know."

Avrae looked back at the earth dragon. "Who?" She asked. A question she already knew the answer to, yet one she asked anyway. Grywell nodded towards Flare.

"Her. You are going to be in the Cletin and the princess is only diminishing your chances of getting in. The sooner you dump her the better," Grywell informed, not particularly caring if Flare herself heard or not. Avrae tensed, her quills prickling upright. Slowly, Avrae leveled a glare on her superior. She even lifted herself up on her hind legs to do so just so they could make eye contact... or as best as she could anyway.

"Flare is my friend. Not my competition. Not my rival. If you have a problem with it then you can go chew on your tail," Avrae hissed. Grywell froze, disbelieving, before taking a threatening step towards the younger dragon with a growl.

"You listen here, shadow dragon. That is no way to talk to your superior," Grywell scolded. Flare froze, her eyes darting between her friend and the massive earth dragon before her.

"You have no business butting into my friendship and saying what I can and can't do and you know it," Avrae snapped. Flare slowly put a confused Sage back on the ground, watching Grywell warily.

"Get out," Grywell ordered. Flare didn't need to be told twice before she leaped out of the cave, putting as much distance between herself and Grywell as possible.

"Meet you at the ceremony!" Flare called over her shoulder as she flew away. So much for friendship. Avrae thought bitterly. She shot another glare at Grywell.

"Flare is my friend. And nothing will ever change that," Avrae hissed. Grywell snorted, and Avrae knew that if he were a fire dragon then smoke would be bellowing out of his nose. Sage, having no clue what was going on, crawled over to Avrae and nuzzled her leg with her tiny nose, her tiny feathers tickling Avrae's scales.

"The Cletin is only accepting thirty new candidates this term, and only twelve will become full fledged members. I'm sure you're smart enough to know what that means," Grywell grumbled. Avrae took in a deep breath.

"I know."

"You may have to reveal yourself sooner than you'd like."

"I have no intention of doing that. But you should know that by now."

"When do you intend on telling Flare? Or the queen for that matter? What you are doing can be considered treason if you're not careful."

"I know. You are my teacher after all."

"I am no longer your teacher, for I cannot teach you anything that you don't already know or can learn from the Cletin themselves."

Avrae stomped her hind foot, frowning. There was no way that she would reveal her deepest, most terrifying secret she kept to any other living soul. Only Grywell knew her secret, and she intended to keep it that way for the time being. No matter how much she refused to accept the truth, she knew Grywell was right.

Sooner or later, her secret would be revealed to the entire colony. The question was though, how would the other dragons react to it?

* * *

Avrae glided down to land next to Flare, her wingbeats so soft that they barely made a sound. Flare turned, eyes wide. "Where have you been? Nitsu is about to give her speech!" Flare exclaimed. Avrae shrugged.

"Had a chat with Grywell," she stated simply. Flare gasped.

"You didn't claw his tongue out did you?" she asked. Avrae just looked at her friend as if Flare had grown an extra pair of horns.

"Since when did I become that savage?" Avrae asked, one eye crest raised. The last time Avrae had clawed out someone's tongue was about six years ago, when another nestling had compared Avrae to Zerkon, and, well, she may have lost her temper just a little bit.

Flare scrunched up her snout, giving Avrae a look that clearly stated 'I know you better than anyone and I know that you would 100% claw out someone's tongue.' Avrae just scoffed and turned to study the dragons assembled in the coliseum.

The ceremony was being held in the only coliseum in the kingdom, which was an absolute giant. Normally, it would have taken at least ten years to build it, but with the help of primal dragons it took only a few months to build. It was amazing how primal power could accomplish such tedious tasks in a fraction of the time.

The coliseum was made of smooth stone with golden footprints embedded inside it while lush green vines encircled the entire structure and was wrapped around every pillar that held it up. Flowers of every color lined the sandy pit that was in the center of the coliseum while torches hung from the walls. Great battles between dragons and humans were painted on the walls of the arena, all of them playing a huge part in dragon history.

Avrae's gaze flickered around the stands, where dragons both young and old gathered around. Excitement rippled through the crowd as Nitsu flew into the coliseum, landing on the sands of the arena with a grace that only a wind dragon could replicate. Nitsu's dark saphire blue eyes scanned the stands, and for a brief moment they met Avrae's own eyes.

A soft breeze caressed Avrae's cheek in that instant, as if saying 'good luck', before vanishing. Avrae knew better than to think that this was the wind's doing. It was really Nitsu who did that despite the sheer amount of distance between them, as Nitsu was a primal wind dragoness.

The crowd quieted as awe rippled through each and every dragon like a tidal wave. Nitsu closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath as she seemed to gather herself together just as her soft white feathers seemed to ripple, the blue accents along her spine seeming to shine even brighter. Flare and Avrae leaned in, straining to hear. After a few moments of silence that felt like hours, Nitsu finally spoke.

"Every term, which is three years for you young dragons just leaving your nests, the Cletin Trials begin. Those who pass the Trials join the Cletin as candidates, and the candidates who pass the final test join the Cletin officially as full fledged members," Nitsu started. Avrae could barely contain her excitement as she bounced on her toes. "Under normal circumstances, the Cletin would recruit twenty new members out of the thirty five candidates. But this term the Cletin is only accepting twelve new members out of thirty candidates."

Just like what Grywell had said. How did he know? Grywell wasn't apart of the Cletin, for he never passed the Cletin Trials to become a candidate. He had never ranked higher than the Cletin either in his entire life, so how he knew was an even bigger mystery to Avrae. A mystery that had to be solved at another time.

"At this time may the Mentors please come down to the arena," Nitsu instructed. Four dragons that looked older than two hundred years old took to the air and glided down to land next to Nitsu. Orange, brown, blue, and purple. Avrae's heart leaped in her chest as she recognized them.

Hella, Marble, Slyther, and Freya! Hella was Flare's older sister and was famous for the numerous battles she had won. Didn't believe the stories surrounding her? Hella's scars told stories on their own. Especially the set of wicked scars that ran from the corner of her jaw down to her chest on her left side. Hella's smooth orange scales seemed to shine like fire in any light that dared to grace itself upon her hide. Her dark green eyes seemed to glitter with malice as she scanned the stands. Many a dragon shrank back in fear while some whispered prayers in hopes that they wouldn't have to spar against Hella as apart of the first Trial in the Cletin Trials.

Avrae wouldn't mind sparring against Hella. She actually found it kind of fun. Of course, she suspected Hella had been going easy on her every time they had sparred.

Next to Hella stood Marble, the dark grey and brown mind drake with golden raindrops spattered across his back and wings. Avrae didn't know much about Marble, well, apart from the fact that Marble hated nestlings. Sparring against Marble would be easy as long as Avrae kept her mental defenses up and didn't expose her secret. Freya too. But Slyther was the one who Avrae prayed she wouldn't have to spar against.

"If you hear your name called, come on down to the arena. Those sparring against Princess Cletious Hella will be..." Nitsu began, listing off the names of multiple nestlings around Avrae's age. Flare wasn't called, of course. But neither was Avrae.

To Avrae's amusement, the majority of nestlings called were so frightened by Hella that they rapidly shook their head and fled the coliseum. She had counted at least forty-seven names that were called, but now there were only three nestlings gathered by Hella. Three brave souls. Three brave individuals that Avrae would outpreform in the Trials.

"If you hear your name called, you will be sparring against Cletious Marble," Nitsu announced again. This time, only a handful of nestlings fled the coliseum upon being called. To leave the coliseum, Avrae knew, meant to forfeit the chance to join the Cletin.

Freya's name was called next, and to Flare's delight the fire dragoness was called. "Good luck!" Avrae called to her friend, shooting her a thumbs up. Flare grinned back at Avrae before disappearing into the throng of exited nestlings gathered by Freya. But to Avrae's disappointment, she wasn't called.

That disappointment turned to gut-wrenching fear as realization struck Avrae. There was only one Cletin Mentor left, and that was Slyther. Slyther, the primal ice dragon who enjoyed beating others into a pulp. Slyther, the dragon who had hated Avrae's guts ever since she had accidentally smashed one of his delicate ice sculptures while wrestling with Flare in his ice garden. Slyther was going to pound her into a pulp. When Avrae finally heard her name called, she spread her wings and hesitantly glided down towards the arena.

"Oh no, not him! I'm out of here!" A voice cried from Avrae's left. She looked just in time to see a pale blue and pink wind dragoness flee from the coliseum in a frenzy.

"Wait for me! I never wanted to be in the Cletin anyway!" Another nestling cried as he fled. More and more fled until... it was just Avrae. Her claws touched the sand, now trembling in terror. She looked around with wide eyes, her wings twitching as if wanting to flee just like all the other nestlings in her group had.

"Wanting to leave are you? Well what's stopping you?" Slyther asked, malice tinting his deep, gravelly voice. Avrae looked her soon-to-be sparring partner in the eye, holding her head high as she stuffed her fear into a tiny box in the farthest corners of her mind just like she had done countless times before. When she next spoke, her voice held a confidence that would have made even the greatest warriors in history see her in a new light.

"Pound me into the ground if you want, but I am not going anywhere," Avrae stated defiantly. The coliseum fell silent in shock, and Avrae could just about feel the eyes of thousands upon thousands of dragons burn into her very flesh.

Maybe that wasn't such a great idea... she thought. She wanted to curl up into a tiny ball and hide from everyone, but no matter how much she wanted to... she didn't. Instead she stared Slyther in the eyes without ever blinking - a challenge in the dragon world.

Finally, Slyther huffed, "you've got guts. But guts won't do you any good if they're splattered across the arena sands." Avrae puffed out her chest as she spread her wings ever so slightly.

"At least I have guts. I'm pretty sure you left yours in your ice garden," Avrae hissed. Immediately she knew she had crossed the line judging from how Slyther's lips peeled back into a snarl. Oops. Well, no taking it back now.

Slyther made an act of sniffing Avrae before turning away with a growl. He stalked over to Nitsu, hissing something into her ear before going over to stand next to Hella. Despite being a fair distance away, Avrae's keen hearing had picked up Slyther's words. "Don't recruit her. She's impulsive and reckless; such traits will only get herself and other dragons killed."

Avrae's gut wrenched as the quills on the back of her head behind her horns pressed tightly against the back of her head in concern. Did she just blow her only chance at joining the Cletin? Would Nitsu, the leader of the Cletin, turn her down because of her big mouth? She hoped not.

"Nestling. Tell me your name," Nitsu commanded. Avrae jolted out of her thoughts, hurriedly composing herself the same exact way she had done at the beginning of Grywell's lessons in the past.

Wings held firmly at the sides? Check.

Head held high and at attention? Check.

Tail held straight out and still? Double check.

Face holding no or very little emotion? Still working on that part.

"Avrae ma'am," Avrae answered in the best soldiery voice she could manage, which came out rougher and more harsh than intended. From inside Freya's group, Avrae could just make out Flare face palming.

It seemed to amuse Nitsu though. As she smirked and shook her head. "You don't need to do that. This isn't the military," Nitsu said. No. This was only the Cletin, which took on missions that the military didn't even dare touch. Avrae thought. "Since you are more than eager to spar with Slyther, why don't you go first?"

Slyther's head whipped around at the mention of his name, shock momentarily crossing his face before vanishing within a blink of an eye. Avrae stared, mouth gaping. "What?" she and Slyther both asked at the same time.

A sly smile spread across Nitsu's face as she turned to face the audience. "Avrae and Slyther will spar first!" She announced. "Take your places. Yield or knock out, no killing on these sands today. Use whatever is at your disposal. Leaving the arena means you forfeit the match and you fail the Trial."

Avrae gulped as she took her place across from Slyther. His glare practically screamed 'I'll make sure you'll never forget this moment.' Avrae took a deep breath as the other nestlings and Cletin mentors left the arena sands to sit on the lowest row in the stands, in a special area there that was reserved for those waiting their turn to take their first Trial.

Avrae and Flare's eyes locked for a brief moment before Flare spread her wings to hop up into the stands. But in that moment, words were silently exchanged.

'Fight smart.' Flare told Avrae. Avrae nodded.

'I will.'

With that, Avrae turned back to her opponent. She buried all emotion into the corners of her mind, leaving the massive ball of pure shadow power in her soul untouched for now. She shifted her weight to her toes just like Grywell had taught her as she looked Slyther dead in the eyes.

This was it.

Sink or swim.

She had to win this. Had to join the Cletin. It's what she's wanted ever since she was a mere little hatchling many years ago. If she didn't win... no! She had to win! Loosing this Trial was not an option!

Avrae braced herself as Slyther paced around on the spot, danger screaming from him. Shards of wickedly sharp ice formed on his tail and wings, as if in preparation to tear Avrae to shreds. Which he probably was.

"Let the fight commence!" Nitsu declared.

No amount of training could have prepared Avrae for what came next.