07. Golden Flames

Xander's vision was suddenly dyed gold before descending into darkness.

'What happened.'

Xander thought as he opened his eyes and looked around.

He frowned as he found himself in a void of darkness.

He couldn't see anytime, nor could he feel anything.

'This brings back memories,' Xander thought as memories from the past resurfaced in his mind.

-----

- Three years ago.

(Pov Xander)

'Where am I?'

He thought as he suddenly woke up.

All he knew was that he was in a place full of darkness.

'What is darkness?'

He questioned as the unfamiliar word appeared in his head.

'Is this darkness?'

He thought as he saw nothing around him.

The boy soon fell asleep with no answers to his question.

Time passed with the boy having multiple questions.

Who was he?

Where was he?

How was he here?

However, none of his questions were answered.

Time in the darkness passed by boringly with him only coming up with new questions to keep him busy.

Over time though the boy started to notice something different though.

The darkness that once gave him nothing started providing him a cozy warmth.

He didn't know what cozy or warmth meant, but he enjoyed the feeling he was getting from the darkness which made him feel at home.

After feeling warmth he started to hear a voice. It was barely audible, but the voice gave him a feeling better than the warmth.

He always tried following the voice, but every time he got close he met a wall separating him from it.

He tried destroying the wall so that he could hear the voice on the other side better, but he couldn't.

However, whenever he woke up he always went to the wall so that he could hear and feel the voice better.

As more time passed the boy realized that he wasn't alone in the darkness. It was an instinctual feeling that he couldn't describe.

He tried communicating with the other person in the darkness to help him reach the other side, but that was impossible for him. So, he spent the rest of his time staying near the wall of the darkness and listening to the voice.

One day everything changed as a light appeared at the bottom of the darkness.

The boy didn't even try to figure out what light meant as he only saw it as a way to escape the darkness and reach the person on the other side.

The process of reaching the light was slow and painful, but soon the place of darkness became one full of light which made him close his eyes.

As his eyes were closed he felt himself being moved around a lot which made him dizzy along with the voices of multiple people and found himself falling asleep, but before he did the boy heard the voice from behind the wall and his eyes shot open.

All he could see were blurs and his body felt weak, but he still turned his head toward the voice and could see the figure of a woman lying down on a bed.

'Mom.' Was the last thought he had before falling asleep.

-----

Xander sat down motionless in the darkness.

He wasn't a patient person, but he could only blame his stupidity for ending up here.

"Hmm, what's that," Xander said as he saw a spark of a golden flame in the distance.

Just as he was about to get up to get a closer look the spark suddenly turned into a flame and then exploded covering the whole void in darkness.

"What?!" Xander screamed in puzzlement as the void of darkness he was standing in changed into a world of golden flames.

The sky was golden, with occasional streaks of black lightning. Then the ground was covered in golden flames and volcanos that shot out golden lava into the sky. Even as Xander stood in the air, the heat coming from the flames was at least 10 times worst than the one he felt when Zuri snorted.

"Xandy?"

When Xander heard a voice calling him he momentarily forgot the heat and turned around in annoyance as he saw his younger brother.

"I told you to stop calling me that," Xander said as he glared at Xavier.

Before Xavier could rebuke his brother, they both suddenly heard a familiar voice from every direction.

"Good. You guys did not disappoint me."

The twins looked in every direction trying to find the voice to no avail until suddenly a golden throne covered in golden flames appeared in front of them. Black lightning snaked around the throne as a young woman materialized in it. In her lap was a small golden dragon with 4 wings and a scar on its left eye.

"Thank you for your praise Grand Dragon." The twins bowed as they saw Amara looking at them from above.

"Since you guys survived Zuri's attack you will be the first two disciples I choose," Amara said.

Although the twins didn't know how they were attacked they didn't care. Their bodies shook with excitement hearing Amara's words and didn't hesitate to thank her again. Being the disciple of a Grand Dragon would definitely increase their chances of surviving the Pendragon Rite of Passage and would also be an amazing opportunity. They could also learn more about dragons and life outside the cradle too.

"Now you, Xander," Amara said focusing on the black-haired twin. "What is it that made you so bold to walk up to me."

Amara remembered the look in Xander's eye as he looked at her and Zuri. She saw it in all the children's eyes as they looked at her and Zuri, but the fear in their eyes covered most of it. Even Xavier looked toward his brother after hearing Amara's question. It was the first time he had ever seen Xander like that.

"It's because I wanted to become your disciple," Xander plainly responded.

"Well, that's obvious everyone in that room wanted to become my disciple. What I'm asking you is, what drove you to try and ask me that." Amara asked annoyed at having to repeat herself, while also adding some pressure on the boy.

Xander looked down while clenching his fist and biting his lips. Some drops of blood fell from his hands and mouth before he took a deep breath and relaxed. After a few moments, he looked up at Amara.

She looked like a Monarch as she sat on her golden throne while looking at them from above.

"I want to find the bastards who poisoned our mother," Xander stated. "And kill them."

Amara's eyes widened as she heard that and saw Xander's eyes glowing. Multiple questions appeared in Amara's head as she didn't expect that answer from Xander, while Zuri opened her eye again to look at the boy. A low growl escaped Zuri's mouth which made Xander calm down and his eyes turn back to normal.

Composing herself Amara looked at Xander and Xavier. She could see the surprise in Xavier's eyes too as he heard Xander's words making her focus back on Xander.

"How do you know about that," Amara asked while squinting her eyes at Xander.

The boy felt like he was naked as Amara's golden eyes scanned him from head to toe trying to find out all the secrets he hid.

Luckily he didn't have to answer as Amara already wasted enough of her time with the twins.

"Nevermind, we will go back now that everyone has awakened," Amara said before Xander could answer. "However, Xander if you really want to accomplish your goal, reach the level of Grand Dragon, and maybe the Partrich will tell you. After all, he is the only one who can give you that answer."

Amara said nothing else to the twins as their vision blurred and they found themselves back in the room. They found themselves at the front of the room with everyone else looking a the with envy.

Looking around they found themselves standing in front of Amara and her dragon Nuri along with 8 other kids. Four of them were boys and four were girls making it 6 six boys and 4 girls in total. The twins had an idea about why they were up here and were slightly surprised when they saw Arthur was up here too.

"These 10 will be the disciples I choose, after their evaluation, I will start training them immediately." Amara voiced out before she and Nuri disappeared leaving everyone in the room baffled.

'So that's how she came in without us noticing.' Xander thought before looking at the other children Amara choose.

Besides Arthur, he didn't know the rest of them, but they each had a confident and prideful presence that he could respect.

"Since you children are the 10 disciples chosen by the Grand Dragon, your Evaluation will be conducted first."

The ten nodded and followed the man to one of the platforms which had an altar and three different devices on top of it.

On the left side of the altar, there was a fist-size clear orb. Then in the middle of the altar was an orb the size of a head which had three smaller orbs inside it. Last on the right side of the altar was a small metal box that had a red dot in the center of it.

"This first item is an affinity stone, it will reveal your element along with its properties and any other things about your element."

"What do you mean properties?" One of the girls asked.

"When I say properties I mean like mutations in your elements that make them different. An example would be like white fire which heals instead of burns." The man said clearing everyone's confusion.

"The second item is a talent orb. It will show whether you have talent in mana, meaning you will form a mama core in the future. Aura, which means you will be able to tap into your aura after hard training. Last is spiritual energy, as Pendragon descendants, you all have a talent for spiritual energy you just don't know how to access it or use it. Luckily for you, a Grand Dragon will be teaching you how to use your dragon energy."

"Then the last item is a power level measure. It isn't completely accurate, but it will give a good estimate of your power levels which will help the Grand Dragon make a training route that will benefit you. The three measurements it will show are your magic, strength, and spirit. Now whoever wants to go first may go."