Ragin woke early the next morning to a thump on the wooden sliding door to the side. He let out a groan, taking a moment or so to gain his bearings. There was another massive thump, and the sound of someone yelling, though whatever they were saying was incomprehensible. He lay in the bed for another couple of seconds, staring at the rather high grey stone roof with blank eyes. He could see the beginnings of sunrays streaming out over the mountains and illuminating the white canvas he had pulled over the outside door. He frowned, it wasn't like him to get up this late.

With a yawn he pulled himself up, not bothering to hurry. Whoever was on the other side could wait. Akaysha seemed to be already up, though also reluctant to remove herself from the nest. He gave her a tired smile and she responded with a slight dip of her head. There seemed to be a slight turmoil in her head, causing him to frown slightly, before shaking it off. She was probably just as disorientated as he was. He gave her a quick 'good morning', to which she responded in kind.

After he had strapped his sword, quiver and bow into their respective places he finally sliding the door open. What he was met with was a short and very angry looking dwarf with a fiery red beard that reached to his chest. He had a stubby nose and wore a similar garb to what the other riders around wore. Ragin raised his eyebrow.

"About time you got out 'ere," the dwarf growled sternly, tapping his foot against the floor, "Are you one of those lazy bastards then?"

"No, I just didn't really want to get up," Ragin replied dismissively, "I'm assuming you're supposed to take me to the training place?"

"Don't dare speak down to me boy," the dwarf said, "I'm a trained and battle hardened warrior and your superior."

"Well, I am a trained and battle hardened warrior as well. No one here is my superior, and don't kid yourself thinking you are," Ragin said narrowing his eyes, "And, it's kind of hard not to talk down to you, considering how short you are."

"Why you little sh – " the dwarf began.

"Balro! I would prefer it if you didn't swear at the newest member of our order," came a voice from down the hallway.

Both of them looked toward the source. There was a man walking toward them. He was rather tall and fit, looking to be in his early thirties. His hair was light brown, and he had the slightest hint of stumble on his chin. The clothes he wore were rather regal and royal looking, and a golden sheath hung from his side. There was an amused smile on his face, as if he had witnessed the entire confrontation. The dwarf grumbled under his breath.

"Hello Ragin," said the man, "I am known as Logan Shadebane, we didn't get to make our acquaintance last time we met."

The rogue rider frowned slightly as he studied Logan up and down, before his eyes widened slightly, "You're one of the council aren't you? With the large golden dragon?"

Now that Ragin thought about it, he had heard Logan's name before. He was a legend in and of himself, said to be the most powerful magic user ever known, with access to powers most people could only dream of. It was said he single handily defeated an entire army of shades, destroying the species once and for all. From the information Ragin knew from the Black Hand, Logan had been one of the riders that they had been warned away from, considering his abilities. This knowledge made Ragin a little weary.

As he studied the rider a little closer he noticed something strange. The Gedwey Ignasia on his palm was different to the usual slivery scar. It looked more like a golden ingot had been melted over Logan's palm. The strange marking left Ragin questioning, but he didn't show it. Instead he returned the man's gaze with a steady one of his own, once again finding himself surprised by the knowledge in his eyes.

"Yes, yes I am," Logan replied, "I'm here because training was meant to begin half-an-hour ago. When Balro didn't return with you I decided to come and see for myself what was happening."

"I just slept a little longer than I usually do," he shrugged, "The journey here was tyring."

"I'm sure it was. Now, if you would follow me, and I will show you where you are supposed to go. Akaysha, you come as well," Logan said.

They began walking, the dwarf taking the lead and Akaysha following close behind, her claws clicking on the stone pathway.

"I didn't think that they would send someone as esteemed as you to get me," said Ragin eventually.

Logan laughed, "Well, I have been designated as your mentor, at least for now."

"Mentor? I thought the riders trained together."

"They do, most of the time. But each trainee has a specific trainer, or mentor, to look to for advice and for certain studying practices."

Ragin grunted, "I don't know how often I would come to you for advice. I know more than most riders about magic, swordsmanship and mental techniques."

"I know. That is why I am your designated mentor. And those aren't the only things important to being a rider. There is much more you still have to learn young one, even if you don't realise it."

The thief fell into a silence after that, finding himself disagreeing with Logan, but not willing to voice it up. They underestimated him and the knowledge he held. He would just have to show them how much he was able to do during the next couple of days. Maybe then they wouldn't put him through the same things that the other riders were forced to do. That being said, it might be a good thing to learn some more powerful magic from the man that was widely known as the most powerful magic user in existence.

'You're quiet today,' Ragin spoke to his dragon, noticing the turmoil in her mind was still there, 'Are you feeling alright?'

'I'm alright,' she replied, a little too quickly, 'You don't have to worry about me.'

He frowned ever so slightly. It was obvious she was hiding something from him, but he avoided probing her. He would ask her later, when it was more appropriate to do so. He focused back on their path. They made their way through the long corridors of New Doru Araeba back into the main hall and then from their out the entrance. Ragin frowned, if they were moving through the entrance wouldn't it have been much simpler to simply fly down from his room?

Waiting for them was the massive golden dragoness from the meeting hall. Logan's dragon. Much like the others, she was an impressive creature, far larger than most other dragons Ragin had come into contact with. She looked to be nearly on par with Saphira and Firnen, maybe a couple of feet away from being equal. Her scales shone with a golden light, as if she were the sun itself. When her conscious touched Ragin's the human couldn't help but let out a slight gasp of surprise, the massive mind feeling so completely alien to what he had felt from dragons before.

'Hello young rider, young dragon. You have taken your time on this morning,' when she spoke it was like ripples ran through Ragin's consciousness and he shivered slightly, 'My name is Sashi, partner of Logan.'

Logan seemed slightly amused at Ragin's reaction, and the dark rider quickly hid his amazement and shock, "Akaysha, you will be heading out with Sashi this morning. I do not mean to sound rude by saying this, but because you have not been able to live among dragons for the first part of your life I suspect there are things you still have yet to find out and be acquainted with."

Akaysha blinked with surprise, looking slightly nervous in the shadow of the far larger dragon. Eventually, after a slight boost of reassurance from Ragin, she bobbed her head in agreement. She suspected that there were still a number of things she still didn't know, that she should by now, and she was a little eager to begin to integrate in with her own kind. The only problem was she wasn't entirely sure how the others of her kind would react to someone who hardly knew anything about them, and who, until recently, had been living a life of solitude. Not to mention her dangerous power.

"Ragin, you will join me," said Logan, "We will be heading down to the training grounds to do a small test on your skill and see if you are indeed telling the truth."

'Follow me, young dragon,' Sashi said to Akaysha, opening her golden wings, 'I want to show you something.'

Together the two large creatures ascended into the air, Akaysha's dark form rather obvious against Sashi's golden hide. After circling the two humans on the ground a couple of times they shot off into the mountains, leaving their riders watching. As his dragon disappeared Ragin turned to Logan with a raised eyebrow.

"Where to next?"

The dwarf, Balro, spoke up, "This is where you were supposed to meet this morning. But 'cause you were late, they start'd without you. Follow me."

Ragin had the strange urge to bash the dwarf over the head. He restrained from retorting, trying to ignore the pompous attitude being directed his way. He had expected it, but it still unnerved him in a way that he wouldn't admit. Maybe they would eventually start seeing him with a little respect, but he guessed that it would take a while. He had once been the rider's enemy after all.

The trio made their way down the long path from the mountain city toward the large stone buildings on the other side of the river. They crossed over a bridge that lead onto the other bank and found themselves in between the four large stone buildings that made up the centre of the valley. Now that he could see them up close he was rather impressed with the towering structures. The stone they were made of was the same as what was inside the mountain, though seemed to be more polished and smooth. Each building had a large opening at the front, except for the one furthest from the river, which instead had a double door that no dragon would be able to fit through.

The other three had their contents revealed to the open, and Ragin looked around in interest at what lay before him. The building on his left had something resembling an archery range, with targets at varying distances and sizes lined all the way to the back. The building behind him was seemingly empty except for a pool of water and dirt ground, but he did catch numerous scorch marks along the walls and ground and a distinctly magical feel. It was the building on his right that really caught his attention however.

A clash of blades rang through the air as two glittering swords collided. The two sparring counterparts were an interesting match, one being an urgal and the other a dwarf. The urgal held a long green blade while the dwarf held a much shorter and stockier blue one. The two were struggling against each other, dancing back and forth with surprising grace for their races, before the urgal finally got the upper hand, using the superior strength and size to knock the dwarf onto its backside.

A chorus of cheers echoed from around the party as the onlookers congratulated the winner. There were six in all, including the two in the ring, and Ragin immediately recognised two of them. Freya was there, donned in leather armour and her hair tied up behind her head, and so was the elf boy, Hanzi, he had met the previous day, wearing a similar garb with his own turquoise blue sword in its sheath at his hip. The final two were both older people, one elf woman and one human man, and seemed to be the overseers of this training exercise.

"Logan!" said the human, "I see you have managed to get the rogue down here."

Ragin was about the retort but Logan cut him off.

"Aah, give him some slack Gerald, he's been lugged across half the world, and probably needed the rest."

Gerald grunted something unintelligible before turning to look at Ragin, "I'll let you off this time rogue but tomorrow I expect you here earlier, I don't care how sleepy you are."

Ragin raised an eyebrow, "I'll be there when I want to be."

Freya sighed, shaking her head, and Gerald narrowed his eyes, "It would be wise not to get on my nerves kid."

"I'll keep that in mind."

A tense silence followed the reply as both Ragin and Gerald glared each other down. It was broken when Hanzi spoke out loud, in the same jolly and mischievous tone as he had the day before.

"Hey, Master Gerald, did you know that Ragin managed to defeat both Master Zayphoz and Master Eon," the elf boasted on Ragin's behalf.

Gerald grunted and turned around, "I wouldn't be so excited about that Hanzi. Magic and trickery was involved in both cases. Either way, I want to see how much you know about fighting, Ragin, and so today you will be getting in the ring with Hanzi here to show me what you can do."

The way he said it made Ragin think that the older rider was expecting him to loose. Ragin studied Hanzi a bit more closely. The elf definitely had the race advantage, likely being faster and stronger than Ragin would ever be able to be, but judging from his attitude he was likely ambitious. Adding to the fact that he was used to defeating most humans, dwarves and urgals that came up against him he was likely to be overconfident in the match to come.

"Will it be a real fight or just swords?" asked Ragin.

"What do you mean?" Gerald said with a frown, "No, you are not allowed to use any other weapons, yet anyway."

"I mean are we allowed to use mind and magic as well."

"Not yet," it was Logan that answered, "For now we just want to see your skill with a blade."

Ragin gritted his teeth, that would make the fight far more difficult. Most battles he fought he would use everything in his power to win, which was why he was able to defeat most elves in a real battle. One on one without using his other advantages made it a little less likely on the outcome. He shrugged his shoulders, it would be probably be more interesting that way. He walked into the circular ring, sidling by Freya as he did.

"Morning," she said.

"Morning," he replied.

The ring was more of a circular pit in the ground so that one could not easily step out if the fight was going bad. It was about a metre down, with a dirt floor that was slightly damp and ruffed up from all the previous matches inside. Ragin pulled his bow and quiver from his back and placed them on the side of the ring, before turning to Hanzi and drawing his narrow sword. The elf already had his sword out. The turquoise blade had a standard hand-and-a-half sword hilt with an average length blade, the tip probably slightly more rounded than usual. It was good for all sorts of combat, but didn't specialize in a single one. It told him that Hanzi was more of a hack-and-slash swordsman, but could change his style should the need arise.

This meant that Ragin's narrower blade would be hard pressed to defend against heavier attacks. He needed to avoid getting locked at the hilt, and instead of blocking strokes he would likely need to deflect them to be able to knock the elf off balance. Usually in these situations he would say he would be faster, but because Hanzi was an elf, he doubted that would be the case. He would likely be on the defensive most of the time during the fight, and his key to winning would be forcing Hanzi to make a mistake, maybe stepping forward too far on a strike, or putting too much power into an attack.

"The rules are simple," said Gerald, "You keep fighting until I decide the winner, or until one decides to yield. You may begin."

Almost immediately the elf leapt forward with a battle cry, swing his sword in a swift side attack. Ragin danced backwards, easily avoiding the strike. Hanzi stepped forward in the follow up, bringing his blade in a backhand overhead, seeming to be attempting to overwhelm Ragin with his speed, but the rogue rider had already seen the mistake. It was heavy attack, far too heavy for such risky manoeuvre. Ragin stepped forward to meet it, angling his blade to the left. The two sword clashed, but instead of the heavy resistance Hanzi was expecting from the attack, he stumbled forward, his own blade sliding down Ragin's. As he stumbled, Ragin slammed the hilt of his sword into the elf's forehead, not hard enough to knock him out, but enough to daze him. The dark rider then stepped backwards, striking Hanzi's knuckles with the flat of his blade, causing the elf to drop his sword with a cry of pain, before quickly stabbing with his blade, stopping the point at the other rider's neck, the blade prickling his skin.

Everyone on the outside of the ring was in startled silence as, just like that, Ragin won. Hanzi stumbled backwards, clutching his forehead with one hand and glaring at the bruised sword hand as if it had betrayed him. After shaking the injured appendage he looked at Ragin with surprise, and slight awe.

"Wow, you destroyed me," he said.

"You swung too hard on the backhand," Ragin replied, "It was a simple matter to deflect the blade, which knocked you off balance and allowed me to disarm you."

Ragin bent down and picked up the turquoise blade. It was a well designed weapon, with perfect balance and a solid grip. Along the blade ran a number of glyphs in the ancient language, spelling out the word 'vindr' or 'wind'. He walked over to the elf and gave him the blade, also taking the liberty to heal his hand with a quick word. Hanzi nodded gratefully and sheathed his weapon with a breath.

"Usually that works," he said with a sigh.

"It would if your opponent tried to fully block your attack, in which case they would find themselves struggling to keep a hold of their weapon, or their arm ringing in the attempt, or even staggering backwards. But it can be incredibly risky, for exactly the reason I just showed you."

"You know a lot about this it seems."

Ragin shrugged, "I've had a blade in my hand since I was six, and was trained by an elf with centuries of experience. You tend to pick up on a few things."

"I'd say," Hanzi grinned.

"Yes... aah... well done Ragin," Gerald said, causing the rogue rider to smirk, "Now... let's move on. Freya and Bemron. I believe it is your turn."

Ragin exited the ring, sheathing his sword and picking up his bow and arrows, before settling back to watch the proceedings studying each fighter as they took their turns in the ring. The others continued to give him sidelong glances, and some seemed to want to speak up at times, but they left him alone in the end, still startled by his easy victory over Hanzi.

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Hey guys! New chapter! I'm sorry it took so long. University has been a pain, but I've finished first semester now so I should be getting them out a little quicker from now on. Anyway, vote if you enjoyed and comment what you think. It's a bit of a longer chapter this time. The next chapter will be out as soon as I can get it. See ya!

Pennator^^