Sides

We followed our mother and Baragon.

"Where are we going?" I asked my mother.

"The next battle against the Elemontols shall soon begin, and we need all the Dragons we can get. They are relentless in battle." As she said that, I saw her body shake just a little. "So for the next while, you, along with your brothers and sisters, will all be training." I looked around, and I could see many other species all around us. There were those with two legs, four, more than four, or none at all, some had wings, and some had none; others had fur. There were so many different types that I had never seen before, or rather, it was my first time seeing them.

"Now," Baragon said, "unlocking your magic should not be too hard; let your elemental energy flow into the ground." I placed my claws firmly on the ground beneath me and concentrated hard thinking about all the trees and plants around me. I felt my elemental energy flow into the land, and a thin vine sprouted from the earth.

"Very good," my mother told me, "most need a few tries before they get it."

"I believe that you are ready," Baragon said to me. "Now, once a young one unlocks their magic, we feel that a good way for them to improve is by fighting others with similar or stronger power levels." I looked to my left and saw that two were duelling. There was one who stood on two legs with two arms ending in short-clawed hands with four fingers like all of us. A short neck, long tail, and sharp yellow thorns covered its body and head. Their opponent also stood on two legs, but instead of fingers, there were two long scythes, one at each arm's end. The first had green skin, whereas the other had light brown skin and branch horns. I could tell that the one with sythes was bark Scyclaw; the other was a vine and thorn Mancer.

The Scyclaw raised its arms, and thin trees sprouted around the arena; thorned vines rose near its feet and readied to wrap around him, with himself countering by cutting them down with his blades. The Scylaw around the Mancer as more vines advanced, his blades lighting up with brown energy.

The Scyclaw spun, sending spinning crescents of brown energy towards the Mancer, her rising a wall of vines to attempt to stop the attack. The wall was cut in two, and so was she, now crawling backwards on the ground.

"Stop," I cried out, "they are killing each other," I leaned forward to save the Mancer, but in a flash, my mother's wing blocked me.

"Let me tell you one of our rules," she stared at me, "never interrupt a Dragon's fight; they will never forgive you; she is at little risk of dying. Look." I looked at the Mancer and saw that vines from the ground had wrapped around her torso and had formed new legs. "There are many factors that keep them safe. I already mentioned our passive regeneration, but our cores also grow with our power, so young cores are tiny.

Furthermore, we instinctually relocate within our bodies in response to attacks; we use elemental energy for all of our actions, and even healing ourselves costs some. So the duel is over when one can no longer fight." I nodded in agreement. "Now pay attention to that vine and thorn Mancer, watch her movements and learn her spells." I kept watching as she talked, now able to watch sure there was little risk either would die.

With the Scyclaw forcing the Mancer to prioritise healing, he could finish growing his trees around the arena. The Scyclaw leapt towards them and used its blades to spin round each branch and flew from tree to tree going higher and higher. The Mancer, now healed, focused her attention on her opponent, cutting down each and every tree with thorned vines. The trees fell into each other, knocking each other down.

The Scyclaw knew his window of opportunity was closing with the falling trees catching up. He stopped, then climbed, growing the tree as he went; as this one was knocked into, he braced his legs against the tree and sprung off; the force knocking the tree back. The Scyclaw roared as he flew, blades outstretched, long thorns grew from the Mancer's arms and shot towards him.

Some stuck, piercing right through the flesh and embedding themselves, but the Scyclaw did not stop. He could not stop. The Mancer rose another tendrill wall, it trapping the blades as it fell into the wall. More blades pierced right through, coming from the wall; he tried to free himself but only became deeper trapped as more vines curled around him.

His mouth was not ensnared, and from it, a thing tongue went through the wall and wrapped around the Mancer's neck, pulling her into the exposed blades. I saw her squint in pain, then smile, and holding her arms out, pulled the scythes deeper within her chest.

Next, she lowered the wall and wrapped her arms around her opponent with the thorns over her body growing and impaling the Scyclaw, the spines going right through him. He roared in pain but managed to sever her arms with his blades. Now freed but with deep gashes and holes across his body, brown blood dripping out and staining the earth, they closed their wound and then circled.

I could see they were talking; I could not hear what they were saying as I was far away, and the others' training was too loud. I could still see that the Scyclaw waved its scythes at the Mancer, she held her arms out and then slid her hands down her body.

He did not like that and plunged his blades down into the ground; from the wound, the land changed. She tensed her fingers, and I could see she was angry as he turned the surface of the earth between them into tough bark so she could not raise her vines. She would have to use the vine ground, which meant her attacks would have longer to travel. Smart. As if my mother could read my state of mind, she responded with.

"Do not think too highly of what he did; it is quite simple."

"Well, it is clever."

"Indeed," Baragon replied, "Dragons of the same kingdom can quite easily turn one sub-element into another; all plant matter is similar. The difficult part is changing different elements into your own, but you will not have to worry about that." The Scyclaw ran at his opponent, tearing up the ground with his feet and hurling them at the Mancer. She had to dodge instead of blocking with her vines. She was slower, with many hitting her and forcing her back when one smashed into her face; I could feel her anger in my core. She drove her claws into the bark earth, and the rough turned light and smooth.

A wave of vines rose, ready to crash down upon the Scyclaw; he blocked them by mancing the bark ground to his sides up and forming the two into a shield. The Mancer pushed, gripping the earth for support, with him trying to slam the shield into her and force her down. I saw her merge with the vine wave, becoming a part of it and then travelling over his guard to his exposed back. As she reformed, I saw her form a thorn spear on each of her arms.

"A," Baragon said, "now that technique is far harder to perform.

"Vine merging is easy though, I would be impressed if that Syclaw bark merged."

"At least they did not acid or sap merge," without looking, the Scyclaw waved his tail to the side, and she raised her body with a vine and stuck down. He leaned to the side with the spear embedding itself in the bark shield; he spun around and attacked to the side with herself raising her body on the trapped arm. She swung her free spear, but it was batted aside by the other half of the shield, and she lost her balance. The other half fell towards the earth, with her snapping free right before the bark plate crashed against the ground behind her. She stood with haste and resumed her assault as she raised thorned vines from the holes among the bark ground with one and shot thorns with the other. Using his ground for blocking would give her more space, so he formed new plates from his own body to easily block her attacks.

Pulling his arms inward, the fallen trees behind her broke apart and became a swarm of tree chunks hurtling towards her. I saw that her focus was on offence, so she paid little attention to her surroundings, with the shards slamming into and sending her tumbling along the ground. She snapped upright, going to attack only to be flattened by a tree fragment.

Moments later, I saw her rise from the earth from another location, and vines began to wrap around the Scyclaw. A blast of bark fragments from his own body shredded them, and a blow from another tree shard sent her down. I could both see and feel that the Mancer was getting frustrated; I even heard her roar. She rose a large vine and drove it towards him. The Scyclaw responded by plunging his scythes into the ground and sending a storm of spiking trees just in front of her. They ran through her body, with the large tendril falling, and the braches caused even more damage as they jutted out with a wave of his arms, each of the tree-spikes exploded.

"Bark magic is incredible," I said in amazement at what the Scyclaw could do.

"It sure is," Baragon replied, "one of the most versatile elements there are."

"You may learn it if you wish," my mother said, "though, since the time of the First-born, our family line has come Vinadra and Solagon, though your brothers and sisters can continue the line."

"The big three are well suited to three elements," Baragon said, followed by a "huh," in realisation. Getting back to the duel, I saw the Scyclaw was scowering the arena for the Mancer who had vanished with no trace of her body. I saw vines sprout from the ground and begin to hurl away all bark from the area, as the Scyclaw raised an arm to grab hold of the fleeing matter was when she struck. She burst from the vine ground with thorn blades on her arms and hands exposed; the Scyclaw had his scythes folded along his arms for better mancing. She got the first blow as she thrust a spear into his chest and cut to the side to leave a wound across his whole body.

"Where is the honour in that," Baragon commented.

"She is getting desperate," I said. The Scyclaw stepped back, healing the wound as he did. He stopped and pointed towards her, arching one of his scythes up and down. An invitation to his style of combat. She waved both her arms and gestured one towards him. I could not hear what she said; it probably went.

"Let us see how tough that body is when I cut you down to your core." Then he would have answered with.

"Come and get me then," or something like that, she charged, spears at the ready. When they were close, he thrust with the mancer moving her body to the side. Again and again, every strike having the same outcome as the first. He stuck his tail in the ground, lifted his whole body, and kicked her down with both feet, she went down hard, and as she stood, her legs shook. She stood still, baring her teeth at him, her arms and blades lighting up with green energy.

"Every Dragon has its power split between two aspects, the physical and the elemental," I heard Baragon say.

"So the Scyclaw is more physical, and the Mancer is more elemental."

"Correct, physical Dragons trade deeper reserves of elemental energy along with control for greater strength and speed. So she is much weaker than him in the physical sense. Still, she has deeper reserves of elemental energy; see her arms and those thorn blades?"

"Yes," I replied, "that is called charging, you will learn it when you are older, but it uses elemental energy to make the limb faster and stronger."

"And since she has more elemental energy, she can use more without too much loss, thus making her charged attacks even stronger." He swayed his head to me, and I could see his eyes were wide and bright; he gently placed his hand on my head, enveloping it.

"Wonderfull answer," him gently rubbing my head as the two Dragons clashed, "my, just hatched, and already you are a battle genius. Though she has to charge both her arms and her blades to make up for her physical weakness and be on the same strength level as a physical Dragon." I stood on my hind legs and lifted his fist off my face, I scratched my head, and I could see Baragon was shocked before smiling at me.

"That makes sense," I said, "damn it, how could I have been so foolish," I said lightheartedly.

"Remember our agreement Baragon, after this battle, I will devote the whole one hundred years to teaching them all that I know," she said. Rubbing my head with her own, "then you may teach them bark magic if they wish, but the elements of their ancestors takes priority."

"But of course," he replied, "I would not have it any other way," his voice faltering just a little bit."

"Now, where are the others? They need to unlock their magic."

"I have not seen them," I replied; I saw her look for a moment and then bound off to my brothers and sisters. Lowered her head, nuzzling those who were able to sprout vines and encouraging those still trying. She even swayed her neck upwards when she found one shooting solar bolts from their mouth.

I snapped my attention back at the fight, a flurry of strikes, counters, and evades; she stabbing and slashing, he dodging and countering but not fighting back. I could see her slowing down, now stopping and panting arms dangling blades dragging.

"Hatchling mistake," he said, "she spent too much elemental energy too quickly. If she does not restore and continues, I will have to end the duel."

"Why is that?" I asked. "Let us just say it will be a threat to us all," he said, shaking slightly. I drew my focus back on the battle; I saw the Mancer hurl both blades, going still after. The Scyclaw leaned to the side to dodge the first, and cut the second down the middle; he leaned back, formed a large horn on his head and charged. She was still weak, only firing small thorns which bounced off; she placed her hands on the ground but threw up a green liquid instead, her face strained. She drove her head down and began tearing into the ground with great ferocity; the Scyclaw leapt back. Baragon snarled just slightly.

"Well, I disapprove of her tactics," She stood back arched and swallowed the rest of the vine caught between her teeth; during their melee, I saw thorns had begun to jut from her back. Those thorns were now far larger; with a sway from her hands, they flew into the air and hovered, their tips aimed at the Scyclaw. They shot forwards with more coming from her back to keep up the supply, the Scyclaw doing his best to dodge the lances. Baragon breathed in, "one of the costs of bark magic is that it makes the user slower; it is not as flexible as vines," he said. As more and more thorns shot towards the Scyclaw, the Mancer rose vines to lash out, and the Scyclaw was beginning to lose his footing with several grazing his body. He ran to the side, but her attacks followed, and if he ran forwards, she would have a clean shot at his body. So he stood his ground and rose bark shields to block the blows, they rained down all around him, and his barrier did little against the vines.

With his shields packed with thorns, they were ripped apart with himself stepping back from the force, right onto a bed of thorns and the other ones which littered the ground around shot into his flesh. I could see him trying to move, but with all those spears in his body, she now had control; vines constricted him to ensure that escape was impossible. I saw his body lay still in acceptance of defeat. When I looked at the Mancer, I saw her chest light up with bright green energy, it crackling from her body like lightning. I could even see her thorned spiral core through her body with its glow. I looked away.

"By Eldragoon who taught her a core art," Baragon snarled, "this duel needs to end."

"What did my mother say?" I replied, with Baragon grunting back.

"If he can not get out, then I am ending this."

"Are core artes forbidden?" I asked.

"No," he answered, his voice different, "it is what can happen if they are used at the wrong time." I saw her mouth fill with bright green energy; she was even on all fours. Luckily for the Scyclaw, a large piece of bark was near, it crashed behind him, and I saw his body merge with it as a spike broke through the vine cage.

The bark around the arena rushed towards the Mancer, her seemingly swallowing the energy and standing with thorn blades ready. As the bark neared, I saw him emerge with his scythes in a pincer formation; when he stuck, the Mancer arched her body down and spring up to impale the Scyclaw. With another driven into his chest, she lifted him with the tree fragment falling to the ground. The energy returned to her mouth, and she held his body out, but he still had his blades, and with a stroke of both, her arms were severed.

Whilst forcing the thorns from his body, he spun round to cut her apart, but with a stomp and a roar, he was swatted away by a thick vine. She screamed again with her arms regenerating near-instantly, along with the rest of her body and surged with bright green energy. She rushed after the Scyclaw with new thorn blades and more covering her body. The two Dragons clashed in the air in a series of parries before she was able to slap his arms away with her tail and then smash him down with a kick.

She slashed the body apart as she searched for his core.

"You have to stop this now," I said, "she really will kill him," he was silent, "Baragon!" I roared. Wait, I was a first-generation, and he was a second; even though he was stronger, I felt I could defeat him, and being of the first Dragons trumped even that. "Baragon, I am ordering you to end this duel," I was then that he spoke whilst looking up.

"No need to; he has done it."

"What? I said, staring up. I saw his core as it flew from his body, wow two at once; I hated myself so much that I would have turned away again if not for the pull of the battle. The surging Mancer also darted her gaze upwards, and upon seeing her opponent, leapt for him. I saw the Scyclaw regenerate a new body and form a bark ball beneath his feet; the Scyclaw turned and pointed towards the Mancer. He charged both his arms and blades before he kicked off the ball, sending the mass shooting off in the opposite direction; he flipped in the air and tore off her legs with a foot swipe.

He severed her arms and head with his claws, then cut away at her body until her core, larger than before, was revealed. Not again, I thought. He stuck her down to the ground with another kick and bound her with roots. Next, unleashed a series of brutal strikes against her sparks, weakening just slightly. With a pull from his arms, the orb he jumped from smashed against the core, dimming its spark further with the ball shattering. Several glowing slashes later, and her soul-crystal went still. He laid down, his body stilling and the core sinking into the ground.

"So what do you think?" Baragon asked with relief.

"Is she going to be alright?" I asked, turning my head to him.

"No need to worry, there are a pair who have the duty of cleaning up; one is a Vinemancer with exceptional core sensing. When he senses a duel has ended, he pulls the critically injured down and takes them to a sporemancer. Now how about facing him as your first opponent."

"Are you serious," I blurted at him, "do you not see what he did to her."

"I am telling you the truth," he replied; "I am serious when I say you should face him, and I am sure you will win."

"Well, I was only just born, and the only thing I can do is spawn thin vines," I replied.

"Remember what you are; you are a Primordagon. You are already near equal to him even though he is much older. If he was one of the great three of the same age, then you may be in trouble."

"I am sorry," I said.

"What for?" He replied. "I nearly used my status to force you to do something that could have gotten you killed. I could tell she was mad with power. If you got close to her, then she would have attacked you."

"Drydra," he said, "it is alright, you were only doing what your instincts told you to do, and there is nothing wrong with that. Besides, if I were to face her, I would have been able to subdue her," he said confidently, "but if she got anyway near close to you, I would not hesitate to kill for you."

"Because I am a Primordagon? I asked.

"No," his voice turning serious, "because I care about you, even if you were a hatchling of the third generation, I would still do it."

"Thank you," I replied.

"Anyway, no one died, and that is what really matters. Believe it or not, we resist elemental attacks so that Mancer will be fine, but not from her core-surge." I looked over to the Scyclaw, him nestled on the ground, "the memories from the battle will be fresh in your core, why they will never be forgotten."

"Yes, I still see them," I replied.

"Those movements, to the best you can, combined with your energy, should let you replicate her spells. I would not recommend training as that will spend energy; in fact, looking back on the entire battle will give you good battle experience," he said. "Besides, when he wakes, you will not be just born when you fight him and be able to sprout far more than thin vines. Though thin vines are great for slashing attacks with enough force behind them.

"Damn it, you are right," I said, him smiling back. I closed my eyes and waited for the Scyclaw to wake while playing back my memories; they were as if I was seeing them for the first time.

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With herself restored and with a new body, the Mancer walked back home, her steps difficult and her feet dragging.

"By Enordial, what were you thinking," a voice said as her body became bound to the walls. "That was not the time," he snarled.