Chapter II

Orion's POV.

    The city was a lot different from what I had expected. From the outside, it looks like a cold fortress covered in snow, stone, and unhappy soldiers. But once we actually entered the gates, I realized it was a city of many hardworking, young children like me aiming to get to the top. They were fighting fiercely in the courtyards, wearing suits of armor decorated with their clan symbols. Snakes, Dragons, Lions and Tigers all training together as one in an attempt to get stronger. Our cart rolled to a stop as soon as the horse reached a small checkpoint of guards, the snow beginning to gently on our cold heads. Those from the Southwestern Kingdom were clearly uncomfortable with the weather, but we Dragons and Snakes were accustomed to it.

    "Hatchlings!"

    A booming female voice made me jump, and all of us in the cart turned to face whoever it was. We were greeted by a glowing set of blue eyes, matching with blue hair. The female in front of us was clad in regal leather armor, holding a helmet in her left hand and placing her right on the hilt of her blade. Her expression displayed boredom, which caused me, and Israfiel, to narrow our eyes in suspicion.

    "Lady Medusa," Our teacher had courtside, and so did Juno to follow her lead. "These were the children selected by Jasper and Haru Hiruma themselves." 

    Lady Medusa did not appear pleased with us. Her eyes trailing over the five of us, disappointment present in her stone cold eyes. "Names? Ages? Strengths and weaknesses?" Ms. Seri had scrambled to search for a bunch of papers I just thought were notes until now, and passed them off to Lady Medusa. As she read through the ink-covered pages, her bored-yet-somehow-disappointed glare did not fall.

    "Weak dragon hatchlings… I should've chosen the Aatma instead."

    Red hot anger began to build, and it was obvious on my face. Lady Medusa must've noticed, because she gazed at me with a lifted eyebrow.

    "Do you dislike my words, tiny dragon?"

    "I do." My voice came out angrier and snappier than intended. Ms. Seri reached out to grab me by the arm and smack me, but Lady Medusa waved her off.

    "What's your name, Tiny Dragon?" Her expression was amused now, but while a smile was formed with her lips, annoyance was painted in her eyes. I didn't understand, she was confusing me. Reluctantly, I replied.

    "Orion."

    Medusa stepped forward and I flinched as she grabbed me by the neck. Her grip was firm, but not enough to cut off my air flow. Who did she think she was?! "You are a very Tiny Dragon. A disrespectful one as well. You are all Tiny Dragons, weak, and will never amount to anything. I am here because I was forced too, not because I want to sit and babysit a bunch of hatchlings. I will not waste my time training a bunch of foolish children. Now shut up and let me explain the reason you are here."

    She released me from her hand and I was dropped back into the cart, my head hitting the seat I was previously on. A tiny dragon? Hatchling? Those were only insults for the Dragon Empire, clearly.

    "Alright, names… names… Juno?" Lady Medusa had called out and Juno had answered by lifting her hand in silence. "Wrong. You're name will from here on out be Purple Hatchling. Understand?"

    "Yes, my Lady." Juno did look sort of offended, but she restrained that and showed respect to the lady who had done the opposite. I sneered as Medusa moved on.

    "How the hell do you pronounce this one? Ice-ra? Is-ra?"

    "Israfiel, my Lady." Israfiel, beside me, had stared at Medusa with a blank glare. She rolled her eyes.

    "Incorrect, Angry Hatchling. You will respond to that, to hell with whatever that name was." Medusa moved on with a wave of her hand, looking over the paper. "Edan?"

    Edan had lifted his hand in silence as Juno did. The red-haired boy with darker skin gave a fiery grin to Medusa, to which she simply stared at with the same blank expression, and spoke. "Red Hatchling, Balkus?"

    It took her one glance at the white-haired, purple-eyed, slouched child for her to decide. Medusa visibly shriveled back in disgust. "Ghost Hatchling… you've seen better days."

    He paid no mind to it, and simply nodded. And finally, Lady Medusa turned to face me. We locked eyes, my glare not dissolving as neither did hers. "Tiny Lizard, that's what you are, that's what you have been, and it's what you will remain. Now that we have gotten that over with…"

    Medusa jumped into the cart with us, kicking down the back piece of wood and shoving us all out and into the snow-covered dirt. I fell first, and I felt Balkus fall on top of me. Disgusted, I shoved him away and nearly threw up.

    "My apologies, Tiny Lizard." He sneered in response to my disgusted look, and an almost inhumane giggle left his lips. After recovering from the hard hit, I stood up. Israfiel, Juno, Edan, and Balkus all doing the same thing. While we were on the ground, Medusa had moved and was now standing in front of all of us.

    "Now, Hatchlings-" She paused, her blue eyes staring directly at me. "-and Lizard, I am Lady Medusa Hebidoku of The Snake Empire. Heir to the throne, commander of The Royal Guard, Founder of the Scientific Researching facilities throughout the continent, and your new squad leader. Every single group who has come here has been assigned a noble from their Empire to guide the-"

    "Then why are you here instead of a Dragon Noble?"

    Medusa's eye visibly twitched as she was interupted by Juno, but with an annoyed tone, she answered the question. "Because your rat's nest of an Empire is led by only three Nobles, and my father, King Hebidoku, offered assistance because the Snakes are high in number. Now, shut up and let me speak. Save your questions for the end, understand?"

    We all nodded, even Balkus. The movement alone caused Medusa to flinch. "You are here for a National tournament held every onne hundred years. You will competing with children your age from other Empires, and the winner is given a high-ranking position in their lands. Only three winners will be selected of the fourty children who have arrived. And selecting more than one winner from the same Empire is strictly forbidden. That is why I'm here, to attempt to groom each of you for success."

    Everyone in our group suddenly felt their eyes widened. Only one? I glaned over at Irsfiel, who was very good with a sword. What if he beat me?

    "Chance of death is high in this tournament and it will happen. You are all to gather in the palace tomorrow morning. Now, most Squad Nobles are going to begin there training after tomorrows meeting. But you all are so severely behind, that I'm going to start tonight. Put your armor on and meet me by the city gates."

    And just like that, Lady Medusa turned and climbed onto her chestnut colored steed and took off towards the gate. We all glanced at one another, before reluctantly complying to the orders and heading into the barracks to slip into our armor.

-

    The armor was heavier than anticipated, but warmer than the rags I showed up in. The armor around my body itself was made of leather, but Iron protected my shoulders and wrists. Bear fur wrapped around the iron bracers to keep my arms warm, and I was given black leather gloves. I had heavy boots and trousers that not only looked awesome, but would probably protect me from the harsh cold outside. Finally, the matching cloaks we were given added an extra layer of warmth. The hood itself was black, as well as most of the cape, but a giant golden dragon was sewn onto the back to proudly display who was wearing it. When I stood, it was only an inch or two from touching the floor.

    I glanced over at Israfiel, his colors lighter than mine. He looked like a knight in shining armor without his cloak on. His armor being stained white and gold, matching his lighter hair and eyes. "It suits you." I commented.

    He stared at me, blinking for a brief moment before shrugging and putting on his cloak. His knight-like appearance quickly fading away with the addition of the darker clothing. As we walked out, I noticed Balkus wearing differant armor than us. His was a lot lighter in weight, made up of just furs with scraps of leather. Before he put on his cloak, I noticed a bunch of wolf fur padding his back, and leather bracers around his wrists. As we all walked out, I looked towards Juno who was wearing the same as Balkus. Where was Edan?

    "Where'd the Red Hatchling go?" Balkus asked, Israfiel shrugging. Juno looked behind me and was about to speak, before being cut off by a shriek.

    "I look so freaking cool!" Edan ran out of the barracks, wearing full Iron  compared to us. A matching shield with a dragons head on it as well. His smile not fading one bit as he marched towards us, his black cape brushing against the ground. 

    "Okay, brute, let's hurry and get to the gates. We've taken long enough. Lady Medusa is probably going to skin us." Israfiel shivered as he spoke, and we all agreed to hurry out way over to The Gates. 

    After walking for a few minutes in the cold, we were greeted by five unmounted horses. All of which looked mean and wild, rearing up against the ropes that tied them down to a fence, which was nearly ripped out of the ground at this point. Medusa, atop her own horse, grinned down at us.

    "Took you all long enough. Aw… look at you, acting like you're worth something. We will be riding to the watchtower south of the city. A two hour long walk, maybe half a day through this snow. But on a horse… that's a different story." 

    I then realized what she was implying. "If you can tame the horse, you won't have to walk. I'll be waiting at the watchtower, the first that gets there will earn their name back."

    And then, without hesitation, Medusa yanked on the reigns of her steed and the horse began galloping through the snow in the opposite direction. Completely shocked, I looked up, trying to search for the nicest horse of the five. Sadly, the calmest one was brutally slamming his body against the fence. So much for that plan…

    While me, Israfiel, Edan, and Juno all stood there trying to think, Balkus stepped forward. The white stallion he approached had reared up, aiming to cut the bow down with his hooves. "Balkus no-!"

    Balkus had to only stare at the horse with his wicked purple eyes to scare it into submission. The horse gave a frightened whiney, and lowered it's legs and head back to the ground. Balkus climbed up onto the steed, gave an arrogant grin to the rest of us, and took off by kicking the horses ribs. 

    "What the f-"

    "Hush, now." I snapped my head over to Juno, who I thought was whispering to me. But no, she was actually slowly approaching a beautiful brown horse, who was anxiously grunting, backing up as far as it could. "I won't harm you, please calm down."

    I couldn't stand by and watch more horses get tamed. I stared up at one of the three remaining horses left. A tan colored one, a spotted horse and then one that looked like the spawn of King Sonaq himself. Evil.

    "I want THAT one." I said, causing Edan and Israfiel to facepalm, before focusing in on the other horses.

    This specific horse had reared up at the mere sight of me, and I quickly jumped back to avoid a beating. As Juno galloped away on her new friend, I growled. Staring up at the midnight beast who arrogantly huffed at me. I approached one more time in an attempt to get closer, but my worst nightmare came to life and the rope holding the damn thing snapped and he took off running at me. 

    There wasn't much I could do in this situation, so the second the horse go close, and jumped to the side, grabbed it by the neck, and held on for dear life as he sprinted across the snowy plains. 

    "Orion! You're going the wrong way!"