The Dragon Riders Origins

Falathiel grimaced. She didn't like magic. Nonetheless, she was the first to stand and step back into the water. She was downstream of Adaire and she intended to keep it that way. She stared at the water flowing around her, and forgot about the others. The stream flowed very smoothly, danced around her body in a way she had never notice before. Captivated, Falathiel reached out and touched the water with the softest Agolla. The water paused in its dancing, stilling itself around her. A tad bit disappointed, Falathiel instantly released it's magic and splashed out of the stream.
 
Ellian brought herself to her feet again,of course she knew the connection between her and her dragon would remain, but the words he spoke sounded very distant now. Her gaze went to Draigon for a moment, knowing he had been looking at her for a while. With little enthusiasm she stepped back into the water some small fish swimming for their lives. She had to smirk upon seeing that however. Her right hand dipped into the water feeling it move around them and push against it at the same time. She felt and saw how the current had stopped twice now. "Agolla...." For a split second the water froze in place, the little fish from before stopping like time had closed her hand around it. the width of the area she had stopped was just a few feet and she released it again. She didn't like water after all. Her eyes kept on the small fish as it was taken away by the stream. Ellian wanted nothing more than to have hand to hand combat, not all the magical elven training or whatever it could be called. She shook the water off her hand and waited, remaining silent.
 
Al-Iodin slowly returned to the stream. He was nervous about trying this without Traka-Shen. With her strength and encouragement, perhaps he could still the water as the others did, but without her...he didn't know. Iodin crouched in the stream and placed his hand gently on the surface of the running water. At first the fish moved away from him, but then they realized he wasn't trying to harm him, and ignored his intrusion. Iodin closed his eyes and quietly said the magic word. "Agolla."
Nothing happened. A little worried by this, Iodin said it again, this time louder. "Agolla!"
Still nothing. Iodin was getting frustrated. His dragon's element was water, afterall. As he kept his hand in the water, feeling like a fool, he felt the stream wash over his fingers. Before he realized what he was experiencing, he felt the flow of the entire stream as it bent to and fro through the woods. He felt the heartbeat of the tiny river.
"Agolla!"
The entire stream became still. All motion left the stream and its surface appeared to be made of glass, reflecting everything through it. The fish continued swimming beneath him. Even their movements didn't disturb the surface of the water. The entire stream remained immobile for about twenty seconds, then it once more flowed freely.
Iodin couldn't believe what he'd done. He'd never tried his hand at magic in his life, and here, on his first attempt, he silenced an entire stream. But Iodin suddenly realized he had put more into that spell than he should have. He felt weak-kneed, as if he'd stopped the stream with his body rather than his magic. He stumbled out of the stream and quickly sat himself on the ground.
"I think," he sighed, "I tried a little too hard."
 
Falathiel recorded this all silently. That one is a proud one and will be quick to anger. She thought, tucking the information into a pocket in her brain, A common trait and a fatal weakness to be thoughtful of if we riders must ever fight together.
 
Adaire smiled and knelt by Al-Iodin and placed a hand on his arm. A flood of energy filled his tired body, revitalizing him. "I am proud of all of you my students. As you progress and develop your magic skills spells like this won't drain you I promise." Adaire stood and stepped away from the stream. "Now if you don't mind, let us move back up towards the study. We have other things that are just as important to work on."
 
( That awkward moment when more than half of the other people didn't get to go)

Falathiel sighed inwardly, pushing herself off the ground. She regretted not getting out on the side with the other riders. Now she would have to get wet again.
 
Adaire was telling them that they could use magic but Draigon couldn't help but to laugh to himself. That's foolishness he thought. Magic that's only in stories. But after seeing some of the others do it or it at least looked like it couldn't hardly tell because it seemed they only could stop a small part. Draigon stared at the water muttering the word Adaire taught them but he failed. Then Al-iodin stopped the whole stream which made Draigon a little jealous he did not like being the weakest link but he pushed it away and said. "I rather have a blade any day." More loudly than he intended as the made there way to Adaire's study to probaly study more magic which Draigon was not looking foward to.
 
Ellian was silent most of the time after using the spell. She knew her magic would never be good, then she hear what Draigon said and had to let out a soft chuckle. She knew so well what he meant. She waded back to the side of the stream and climbed out seemingly ignoring her wet and sticky clothes. How did she know magic would be horrible for her? Simple; she was tired. A bit cautiously she followed her hand softly patting the sword on her side. This elf however, this Adaire, was she planning on teaching them all magic whilst they were the ones who knew if they were capable of using it or not? That would be foolish, even for the first rider. The differences between us is what makes us strong.... We're not all gifted with the art of magic, some are bound to the weapons forged by hand. She stared at the back of Draigon's head, wondering if it was possible for riders to make those spiritual links as well.
 
Kirin sighed anxiously. He had never dreamed of using magic and frankly, didn't quite trust it. He had heard stories back in his village of mages, sorcerers, and necromancers that had all fallen at the hands of their own spells. He stroked the axe on his side before wading into the water. He stared into the clear water as it rippled. He felt a little dissuaded at Al-Iodin's talents but he attempted the spell anyways.
"Agolla..." he whispered. Nothing happened. After a few more tries, some finger wiggling, and a couple concentration induced headaches, Kirin finally gave up trying. He grasped the axe and spun it in his hand, watching the sunlight gleam off of it's sharp edges. "I don't need magic anyways," he muttered to himself. "I've know how to handle myself in a fight. Plus I have Vas with me now." The thought of his dragon sent a ripple of doubt through his mind. Vas was so small compared to the other dragons. The others were quite large and imposing while Vas was just large enough for Kirin to fit on his back. He was growing rapidly and gaining in strength but Kirin feared that his partner would remain dwarfed compared to the other dragons. He shook his head absently. "Well at least I'm not the only one who cant use magic.." He glanced over at Draigon before wading out of the stream to the rest of the group.
 
As he got up and followed Adaire, he couldn't help feeling bad. He had shown up all of them with the water spell without even meaning to. Some had failed to silence the stream at all. He had never done magic before, so he didn't know how hard to try. Apparently, he had tried too hard. At hearing Draigon's comment about being better off with a blade than magic, he felt a little better. He knew nothing about how to handle a weapon; he couldn't even handle a fishing rod. If their next lesson came to sparing, he would make up for his earlier success.
 
With a heavy sigh, Falathiel waded back into the stream and onto the opposite bank. She did prefer a bow or knife to magic, but she wouldn't deny its usefulness. It would certainly come in handy in the future. However, she knew how important it would be for her to balance the art of magic and the art of the hunt.
 
"Don't be disappointed that you cant use magic students, it will come to you with time. As you further bond with your dragon your magic skills will develop and you will notice that your muscles will better develop and you will get stronger and faster. This is because-" An arrow whipped through the air and thudded into the tree next to Adaire's head. "The Dandin! Get down!" Tall humanoid figures appeared through the trees holding bows and wielding daggers. They were draped in black from head to toe and had veils over their noses and mouth.

Tarsus we need your help! Little one we are still far away. Hold off, we will be there in five minutes! Adaire placed herself in the path of the oncoming attackers. She drew her sword from the it's sheath. The pommel held a bright diamond on the pommel formed into a sphere and the metal of the sword was colored a light blue to match the blue on the tip of Tarsus' tail. Adaire muttered word and an oncoming Dandin's arrow stopped dead and shot backwards, striking it dead. Adaire raised her sword "If you can fight, now is the time to do it!" she shouted. The Dandin had them easily outnumbered, there were close to twenty and each were well armed. Adaire jumped forward with a shout.

The Dandin were much faster and stronger than humans and exceeded the speed of an untrained elf.
 
Her eyes snapped open when the sound of an arrow hitting the bark of a tree reached her ears. She was hesitant at first, yet when Adaire told them it was ok to fight if you were capable of doing so, she grinned. An almost insane look came into her eyes and the peace between her human and elven side was destroyed. Her hand twisted the blade on her side, releasing it from its sheath with a soft click. The heavy weapon was easy to be handled with one hand, at least for her. The blue eyes of the girl radiated a blue hue when she selected her first target.

It was a slightly shorter one than the other Dandin, only to test.... Ellian's muscles became tense for a moment and a warm feeling coursed through her veins when she leaped forward, her sword soon clashing with the metal of the dagger the humanoid was holding. Her grin faded to a wicked smile, eyes wide of excitement. thinking she got to use her skill with the blade so fast. Her ears twitched from a soft fluting sound on her side and she dropped down to her knees barely dodging the arrow which was aimed for her head. These Dandin were fast for sure, yet they had to be faster to hit her now. Or get serious since this still didn't look like it. Or they had to be surprised a girl would just throw herself to them with a great-sword in her hand. Ryag... you should see this! With a soft chuckle she lifted the sword from the ground, taking advantage of her lowered position to make a slash going from the right ankle to the left shoulder. Of course it didn't hit, yet....
 
Iodin didn't know what to do. He had never even been in a fight, let alone an ambush. He looked around frantically, then ducked behind a tree. He heard the arrows thud against the wood on the other side.
Traka, are you and the other dragons on your way soon? he asked.
Yes, Traka-Shen replied. We shall be there soon!
Iodin watched as the other riders leapt and fought with the Dandin. But he had no weapon. What could he do? Can you show up a little quicker than soon?
Before he got an answer, one of the Dardin poked his head around behind his tree. He slashed at him with a dagger, and it buried itself into the tree where his head had been. Al-Iodin stepped back with each slash, trying to avoid the tiny blade. He ran back to the stream, a crazy, stupid idea in his mind. As he ran, three or four other Dardin saw the chase and joined in.
He ran into the water and on top of one of the larger rocks. The Dardin - there were four - rushed into the stream after him. Iodin placed his hand in the water, felt the stream through his fingers, and shouted, "Agolla!"
The stream instantly went still, trapping their feet. Most of the Dardin fell into the water, but one stayed upright, swaying his body to keep from falling over. When the other three fell into the water, Iodin said the spell again, and this time the still water trapped them face-down in the water. He held them there until they drowned in the stream.
But Iodin had another problem. There was still one Dardin left, and he was now completely drained. Worse still, the remaining Dardin was now furious. None of the other riders were there to help him. They each had their own battles.
"Come on, Traka, where are you?" he asked.
The Dardin began to approach. Iodin, out of ideas and much strength, plunged his hand into the stream and pulled out a rock, which he quickly through at his head. The Dardin, stumbled but kept advancing. a trickle of blood coming down around his eye. Iodin didn't know if it would work, didn't know if he even could, but he scrambled to his feet, side-stepped the dagger and placed his hand on the Dardin's cut.
"Agolla," he said.
The blood in the Dardin's body went still. He held the dagger in a hand that could do nothing more than tremble. With his last reserves of strength, Al-Iodin wrestled the dagger out of the stiff hand and stabbed it into the Dardin's heart. He held onto the knife blade until his spell wore off and the Dardin collapsed, Iodin with him. He crawled out of the stream and lay panting by its bank. If another Dardin came along, he would have no way to stop them. That last trick had left him drained, unable to even move.
 
Kirin flinched as he heard arrows hit wood all around him. It took him completely by surprise. He watched and listened as the first rider told them all to fight if they could. It seemed as if they didn't have a choice. Kirin had killed quite a few bandits as his village was quite susceptible to their raids but he had never even heard of these Dandin, much less faced them in battle. Two of the tall dark figures came directly for Kirin, brandishing wicked looking daggers. He pulled the axe on his side free from its holdings and swung it sideways, planting the axe head deep between one of the Dandin's ribs. Blood splashed like a wave onto Kirin. The dark hot liquid smelled sour on his skin. Kirin stared as the hooded figure writhed in agony, it's death throes marking an end to its existence. The grisly sight distracted Kirin from the second Dandin bearing down on him. It took him by surprise, knocking him to the ground and striking down with its dagger to sink the weapon deep in his breast. Kirin deflected the blade away from his heart but it was driven deep into his left shoulder.
"Ahhh!!" Kirin cried out before reaching into the stream and smashing one of the cleaning rocks over the Dandin's head. The pain in his shoulder infuriated Kirin. Now on top, Kirin, enraged, continuted to bash the creatures skull with the stone until it was nothing but bone fragments and gore left upon the ground. He stood up, painfully pulling the evil looking dagger free from his shoulder. He looked around to see Al-Iodin trap a few of the Dandin in the stream and drown them but saw him collapse upon the bank. A lone Dandin was creeping up to him, dagger drawn for the killing blow. Without a seconds hesitation, Kirin hurled the dagger pulled from his chest and sent it spinning into the assailants back. It dropped wth an gurgle just in front of Al-Iodin. Kirin turned around to pull his axe free from the first attacker's chest when one of the arrows flying found its mark in Kirin's leg. With a painful cry Kirin fell to the ground. "I hope your coming Vas! I'm not looking so good out here!" His thoughts shouted in his mind. There was little else he could do with an arrow in his leg and blood streaming from the opening in his shoulder. Kirin whispered to himself, "The dragons better get here soon..."
 
As he watched the Dardin fall, Iodin saw Kirin brandishing his axe. Good. Someone who could fight. Iodin considered himself lucky to kill the ones that he did, but this one had skill.
"Thanks," he managed to gasp out to him. "Can I have a little help up?"
But Kirin looked a little busy at the moment. He was bleeding and badly injured, but still fighting. Iodin had suffered no injuries, but was physically drained. If their dragons didn't get there soon, they were done. With his voice and his mind, he called out for his dragon.
"Traka! Traka-Shen we need you!"
Hold on, Iodin! He heard Traka say. We will be upon you shortly!
 
Adaire pushed back against the Dandin with everything she had. These beasts were heartless and she knew they would slay her young students before they had even gotten to begin truly bonding with their dragons. Adaire saw how badly the battle was going for the riders and made a split second decision. Drawing upon whatever magical reserves she could and pulling life from the surrounding area she muttered a phrase. "Dothe derein nomslezkjit raiysus!" It took a moment for the spell to take effect, but once it had the effect was instantaneous. All Dandin still alive in the area dropped dead, the life ripped from them. Just as the dragons began landing in the clearing she too collapsed. Tarsus let loose a roar of anger. He knew she wasn't dead, only drained, but it still worried him. He thundered to her side stepping on every Dandin in his way and nuzzled her quieted body.
 
She had just split open the head of her target and buried her sword in the abdomen of a second attacker when the other Dandins dropped to the ground. She snapped. That elf again. Just when she was getting started. It made her mad, why did she had to interfere Why couldn't she just kill the ones which were out of her range and let the other be. Painfully she grit her teeth, sinking down on the chest of the Dandin and burying her hand deep into his stomach. Damn this.... Her hand clenched and something ripped, her hand pulling back and leaving behind an even darker stain in the already dark fabric of the now dead creature. It wasn't soon after that Ryag had made contact with the ground and knocked her over, simply holding her down with his weight, knowing her intentions towards the elven lady with one look at her hateful eyes. No Ellian. Don't be foolish now. "Get off me Ryag" She grunted in response, not even capable of getting order in her head. No. Please Ellian, don't let your anger take over. She grunted again most of the oxygen was knocked out of her lungs the moment her dragon had pinned her, and now she was laying besides the body of the dead Dandin. Just great....
 
These creatures which he heard Adaire called dandin attack out of no where. He heard of these dandin before but never faced one. Arrows came shooting by. Draigon barely doged one. He pulled his double edge sword from its sheath he went to grab his shield which he usually kept on his back but he left with his horse which wasn't close enough for him to try and get. But he knew he could without. One of the dandin charged at him with an long sword, Draigon ducked his blow and went to stab it in the back as it swung past but he the thing was quicked and already turned around to parry his strike. "Curses." Draigon said to himself. Draigon was sure of himself if he was trained with the blade he would have done perished but luckily he was but it didn't save him from all the cuts he was getting. He recieved a gash on his leg and several cuts on his arms. But in the moment he didn't notice his adrenaline coursing through his veins making him feel untouchable. He finally landed the killing blow which was a swipe to neck which didn't fully decapitate leaving his barely hanging as he fell to the ground.

Two more was already charging at him before the body even hit the ground. Draigon charged back screaming his battle cry but before they could clash with each other they just fell over dead. Draigon was confused at first but still on his battle high he kept his sword ready. He thought it was some sort of trick so he quickly cut off the heads of the two who charged at him. Korra landed next to him. They looked at each other in the eyes the mental link automaticlly reconnecting their emotions telling each other more than words. "Is every one ok?" She asked. He looked around saw Ellian and her dragon which seemed to be fighting or wresting with each other. Saw Adaire laying on the ground with her dragon nuzzling her body. His first thought he thought she died but then realized how Tarsus was acting which he thought was good. "Over there!" Draigon looked the way she was indicating ready for another attack but saw what she meant. Al-iodin and Kirin on the ground looking badly injured. So Draigon and Korra rushed over there to see if they was ok as Draigon made his way over he felt the pain in his leg and tightness of his breast plate from where it almost caved in at from a blow from the dandin. He wasn't sure who to check first but saw the Kirin was coved in blood he went to him first. He kneeled down and asked. "Are you ok?" which was probaly a dumb question. He glanced at Al-iodin worrying the same thing.
 
Adaire you have to get up and take care of the other little ones. They do not know how to heal yet and Iodin has used to much energy, I fear lasting effects if we do not do something fast. Adaire wanted to respond, she wanted to answer Tarsus, to give him any indication that she was okay. Unfortunately she couldn't even get her thoughts together to answer him. She had risked a lot with that spell and the wording hadn't been definite. It could have easily killed her as well and the power it took her to cast such a spell was enormous if she had not drawn life from the organisms around her she would have died. After a few minutes of heavy concentration Adaire was able to reach out and touch Tarsus' mind. Lend me strength. It was all she could get together, but she hoped it would be enough for her partner of mind to understand. Slowly a pour of energy coursed into her veins and gave her strength. Her muscles felt the vigor return and her mind returned from it's sluggish state. She sat up and patted Tarsus on the snout, it may have been energy to keep her alive, but it sure didn't beat a nap. She allowed herself to look around and saw that all of the dragons had flown back, and Tarsus hadn't even carried little Ryag. She felt a moment of pride and was glad for the small dragon, but her attention was needed elsewhere.

Slowly Adaire pulled herself to her feet and allowed herself to stretch a moment. After touching Ryag's mind Tarsus had realized Ellian's intentions and conveyed them to Adaire. Thank you, continue to restrain her until I have helped the others. Although she had energy she was still really tired and so it took her a moment to get over to Draigon and Kirin. "Thank you for checking on him Draigon, I will heal him." Adaire kneeled down next to Kirin. His wounds seemed a bit extensive, but nothing too serious for her. "I can heal you if you so choose Kirin. I just want to know if you will allow me to heal you please?"
 
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