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The clearing was large enough to hold
thirty large dragons, an open space of dirty ice and slippery rock.  His father
crouched beside the regular training teacher, a huge stocky grey dragon by the
name of Tannis.  His name, which meant boulder, was extremely appropriate for
the dragon, he was as solid as a rock and being hit by his claw was like having
a mountain descend upon you.
     Ramaeka
tucked his wings closer to his body, trying to warm himself in the cold
mountain air.  Surely there must be somewhere in Amaria warmer than this he
thought wistfully.  His mind wandered to Isahn’s offer again as it often did,
he wondered if it was warmer where the school was.  His father prowled back and
forth before twelve of the youngest dragons in the mountain hold.  He stopped
in front of one of the biggest. 
    “What are our
most powerful weapons?”
    “Our claws,
our tails, our fangs and our magic, sir!” the dragonet responded rapidly.
    Ramaeka winced
and mentally shouted at his brother, you forgot wings you rockhead!
    His father
narrowed his eyes at the unfortunate dragonet in front of him.
    “Is that it?”
    The dragonet’s
eyes widened as he mentally went over what he had said. 
    “Um.”
    Ramaeka sighed
internally; his siblings were rarely ever very bright though many had the same
sly cunning as their father.
    With a growl
his father yanked his brother forward and grabbed his tail.  He dragged him over
to the edge of the cliff and dangled his son over the side by his tail.
    “Does this
bring anything to mind?” he asked coldly.
    The dragonet
squealed and squirmed in his father’s grip.  Ramaeka idly wondered if his tail
would stretch.  Having a longer tail wouldn’t really be such a bad thing.
    “Wings, wings!”
the dragonet cried.
    “Wings what?”
    “Wings, Sir!”
he yelled.
    With a grunt
the black dragon tossed him onto the ground by the other dragonets.  Ramaeka
snuck a quick look at his brothers tail, it didn’t look stretched he thought a
little disappointed.
    He pulled his
attention back to his father who had begun speaking again.
    “Those five
weapons are the most important in a dragons arsenal, never forget that,” he
paused.  “Today I want to see you use all five of these skills, pair up for a
free fight.”
    With a sinking
feeling in his stomach Ramaeka glanced around.  Free fights were bad news,
there were no rules and serious injuries, even death were common results,
though usually that was with the older dragons.  He was the smallest in the
group so he was always paired with the dragonet who wasn’t fast enough to grab
a better partner.  None of his siblings wanted to look weak in front of their
parent by willingly pairing up with the smallest in the group.  Unfortunately
today the slowest dragonet was the one with the sore tail.  He scowled at
Ramaeka baring his long white fangs as he squared up in front of him, wings
half spread.
    “You may use
any part of the terrain you wish, there are no rules.  Except you will cease
the moment I give the command.  Understood?”
    “Yes, Sir!”
they all chanted.
    As his father
scanned the group shrewdly, Ramaeka hunched in on himself knowing what was
about to happen.
    “You two first,”
his father commanded pointing a single claw at Ramaeka and his partner.
    The other
dragonets moved back creating a half circle around him and his opponent.  He
crouched low to the rock, spreading his wings and curling his tail slightly for
balance.  Through the rock he could faintly feel the shiver of power from the
earth deep beneath him.  Drawing strength from it he took a deep breath,
clearing his mind and focusing on his opponent.  His adversary was more than
twice as large as he was; he was also a rock element which meant that he would
be able to draw strength from the fortress behind them and the mountain below
them.  He was also furious from being humiliated earlier which would make him
more vicious.  On the plus side being a rock