The dawn sun blazed down on him as they all waited at the gates of the Citadel. A line of caravans sat in the cobblestone street. The Tauruses were restless, their broad backs of black and brown were already coated in a shiny lining of sweat.

Ignacio was talking with one of the caravan drivers. Like every year for the Tribulations, all of the participants were paraded down the street of each clan's capital city. From there, their destination was to Rift.

"Get in the caravan based on your assigned ranking. First rankers in the first two caravans, Second Rankers in the next two, and so on." Ignacio barked at them.

There was a little confusion at first but they all ended up in the right caravan after a few minutes of adjustment. Ignatius sat in the first caravan but he was not the top of First Rankers much to Iganacio's chagrin. That spot belonged to Enya; he was only second to her in the First Rankers. It was no surprise that Enya was the head of the First Rankers. She was efficient with a sword and had developed a tactical mind, earning her place as head of the First Rankers, a task that was difficult for most girls. Most girls ranked in the third rank or lower, earning a place in the second rank was an accomplishment. But earning the rank that she was an achievement worthy of being recorded in their kingdom's histories.

This last month had been a rough one with constant training and moving of the rankings. After his back healed, he was able to surpass all those who passed him in the couple of weeks he was passed by others. His only competition was Enya. They stalemated several times but only a couple of times one of them won a battle between them. Ignacio ultimately put her in first place of the First Rankings despite there being very little point difference between them. If he had won their first fight, he would have been in first place of the First Rankers. That was how close they were in ranking. Although, that also meant he would get to go during the second round at the Tribulations, after the first place First Rankers from each clan went. He wasn't in first place but he was second best. Ignacio wasn't too proud about it. He didn't talk to Ignatius for a week or even punish him. He just stopped acknowledging his presence. That was fine by him. At least he wasn't getting beaten like he feared.

Looking around he spotted two more familiar faces among him and Enya: Haco and Flint. Haco being in the first ranking along with Flint didn't phase him either. Haco was as cunning as they came. He would have been a greater danger if not for his small frame. However, his sharp mind up for what he lacked in muscle, still making him a foe of great dangerous potential. Flint, on the other hand, was a beast that lacked a clever mind. Flint would surely be fought over for his massive size and brutality, two key factors many of the more warrior based clans, such as the Pyri and Volcara Clans, looked for when recruiting new clan members. This often caused the two clans to clash with one another, resulting in quite a few blood feuds between the two Clans.

Aside from the four of them there was another boy. Ignatius did not know his name and did not bother with it. He would never see most of these people ever again or vice versa unless they ended up in the same clan, though that was unlikely. First rankers from the same birth clan never ended up with each other in the same clan. It never happened before, so why would it now.

The caravan suddenly lurched beneath him and they were off, down the cobblestone street. People cheered and screamed from the sides of the streets or from their balconies. Some of these people would follow them to Rift, others would stay behind. The families of the participants would be escorted personally to Rift.

Ignatius watched the faces of the citizens of Pyri fly by, all burning into his mind for a brief second before disappearing forever. Would he ever see this horrid place again? Would it be easier to escape in death than to face the cruelties of this wicked world? The Tribulations did have a four out of ten survival, however that was in the early days of the Tribulations, when the Old Tradition was still in usage. Nowadays, the survival rate was six out of ten due to the modification of the Old Tradition into the New Tradition. Back in the Old Tradition, participants would push themselves through the Tribulations till they died, literally. Going as far one could was considered an accomplishment even if it meant death. These days people rather live than die and stop where they know they've reached their limit. Some still push themselves through the Tribulations, but not as often as when the Old Tradition still lived.

The caravan rolled through the street and out to the arid land of Pyrisa. He hadn't been outside these walls during the day in so long. He forgot what Pyrisa looked like during the day, when it was in its full splendor of beauty. Pyrisa may have been a harsh, cruel environment but it was still beautiful to its denizens.

Ahead awaited two and half dozen air gondolas. Attached to each sturdy woven basket were a team of six cold-blooded Hippogriffs or Cold Hipps. They climbed into the gondola based on their ranking once more. Soon they were off, the Cold Hipps working together to haul them all up into the sky. Travel by air was far faster and easier as long as the weather remained favorable. This means of transport was engineered by the people of Aeris, who became fond of this type of travel to navigate their mountainous home. It is unknown if the people of Aeris developed more ingenious and efficient methods of air travel since they closed their borders and refused any visitors, denying even other monarchs from entering. King Agni Aelius of Pyrsia was the last known monarch to enter Aeris under the rule of King Erjon Taranis twenty years ago.

Ignatius looked down below, everything looked like a giant patch-worked blanket. An orange patch indicating the lands surrounding Pyri, a black patch was the Lava Lands, the giant and largest yellow patch was the Fire Sands Desert, the pale tan patch gave way to the Chaparral, the last patch and only semi-green one, in the very north, was the Northern Plains.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Enya said next to him.

Without looking at her, he said, "It is. I just hope this isn't the last time I'll be able to see it."

Enya hummed in response.

A moment of silence gaped between them.

"Good luck." Enya told him.

This time he looked at her and saw that she meant it with her burnt orange eyes.

"Thanks. You too."

Enya smiled. "I don't need luck."

He couldn't help but smile.

~ ~ ~

The Rift loomed before them by noon. His first impression of The Rift was a giant looming crack in the earth waiting to devour them all, dragging them down to the Neth below. It looked like someone had cut straight into the reddish-black earth. The Rift ranged from the base of the Phoenix Flame Mountains to about a hundred miles north. Aside from its impressive length, its width and depth did not compare. At its deepest part, The Rift was a mile deep and five hundred feet deep at its shallowest. The widest part was easily twenty miles whereas there was only one spot in the entirety of The Rift that connected to the other side. But that spot was also the one closest to the Phoenix Flame Mountains where a thin river of lava emptied down into a dam closing it off from The Rift.

Ignatius watched the approaching of Rift. Rift was a small town that was under the jurisdiction of all of the clans even though it was in the Lava Lands which was controlled by the Volcara Clan. Rift wasn't inhabited by normal citizens. This was the place where all those who failed the Tribulations or accused and committed crimes were sentenced to serve out the remainder of their lives by taking care of the monsters housed in the walls of The Rift; many of the crimes committed were minor enough that they did not warrant exile. Pyrisa did not need a prison, not when they had one already. Aside from housing the monsters and their caretakers, Rift worked as a prison. It had no walls. There was no need. The mages of Rift bound the caretakers of Rift to the small town and The Rift. The spell also prevented criminals from harming each other. It was the perfect prison that served its dual purpose without the need for volunteers.

Below, milling about, were two other clans. His eyes latched on to the banner of Volcara Clan, who came across the man dug river to the east where Mount Volcana lurked in the haze of its own smoke.

Ignatius watched the lone black mountain and its glowing rivers of lava that prowled down the blackened rock forming the deadly moat of liquid fire at its base. A stronghold worthy of a king or a queen. The stronghold of the Volcara Clan was in fact named after their founder and the historic Princess Volcara, who like her other siblings laid stake to the Phoenix Crown after the sudden passing of Queen Pyrisa and King Sindur. At one point during that long and bloody war, Princess Volcara was the only one to take the Phoenix Crown and hold it for three days and three nights before being dethroned by her younger brother, Prince Pyri, who later succeeded her as King of Pyrisa.

Even after over four hundred years, there were still bitter ties between the two clans. He hoped those old rivalries would stay buried until well after his time had passed and he returned to the ash.

The Sandur Clan from the Fire Sands Desert were also present. They only awaited the Sundur Clan from the Chaparral and the Lahava Clan, who had the farthest to travel. Located in the Northern Plains, the Lahava Clan was the most isolated, bordering the western mountains of Aeris and the northern and western Coasts of Elementa.

The last two clans were due to arrive before dawn tomorrow when the Tribulations would kick off.

While lost in thought, the gondolas set down on the rocky, volcanic soil.

They were ordered to follow Ignacio and caretaker to the Pyri Clan's tents, where they would wait until the start of the Tribulations the following day. Ignatius stepped out from the gondola and felt the volcanic soil beneath his feet. It felt like a consistency between sand and rock, neither firm nor yielding.

Ignatius walked along as they were led over to an area pitched off for each clan. It was a way to prevent clans from mingling and resulting in fighting before the Tribulations started. There would be plenty of fighting once they started, he was sure of it as old feuds resurfaced once more.

The tents were semi spacious though he still felt like they were all still on top of each other. Ignatius made his way to the back of the tent where he would not have to endure any of Haco or Flint's nuisances.

He laid down on the cot and closed his eyes and listened to the soft cacophony as others did the same as him. This would probably be their last true moment of peace and relaxation before all Neth broke loose tomorrow. It would be on that fateful day when the deities of Aeth and Neth would decide their fates. For many of them they would be saved by Aeth's hand but for the unfortunate, Neth's cold hand would grasp them tightly and carry them down to the void below where all that awaited them was the Realm of Death.

~ ~ ~

It was late into the evening when the other two clans arrived. They were allowed to watch the arrival of the two clans. It was a sight to behold.

The Lahava Clan entered in similar fashion to Ignatius' clan with Hippogriff gondolas. However, that didn't match up to the Sundur Clan. The Sundur Clan can riding in full force. Over ten scores of Pegasi of varying colors and patterns came soaring across the magnificent clear blue sky.

The beat of those feather wings were loud enough to sound like the peals of thunder that used to echo across Pyrisian skies when Thunderbirds still reigned as the lords of storms, only second to the mighty Storm Dragons, the true kings and queens of storms. But like all dragons, they too vanished, their awestriking magic unable to save them from their inevitable extinction.

Ignatius watched in amazement as the beautiful equines descended from the sky and onto the ground. The Sundur Clan were most known for their ability to train and ride Pegasi and other creatures—Pegasi were the most common since they were the easiest to train—across their scrubland home. It was a useful talent during war campaigns. Not many of the other kingdoms devoted as much as time and resources to training creatures for combat like the Sundur Clan.

With the arrival of the final two clans, the Tribulations of Pyrisa would finally commence the following morning.

~ ~ ~

Drums beat loudly, thrumming along to his rising heartbeat as the commencement of the Tribulations of Pyrisa were announced to all spectators, mainly those from Teriah that were ready to see blood being spilt for entertainment. Many Pyrisians never came to watch anymore; save for the families of the participants. If they did, they were from higher ranking families that could afford to travel to The Rift.

That thought made his blood boil. The Teriahians saw them as nothing more than a source of income and entertainment. That was all they were, nothing more. He knew other Pyrisians hated it as well. But there was nothing they could do about it. The Kingdom of Pyrisa had been deeply in debt to Teriah for over thirty years. The reason was still a mystery, a secret between King Lazuli Belomonte and the late King Azar Aelius, father of the current King, Agni Aelius. But the outcome was well known. The Tribulations of Pyrisa would be treated as a spectacle for the Teriahians where they could place prices on the participants' heads to buy if they were unwanted by a clan or the standing army. It was a cruel fate for those bought as livestock. Any proud Pyrisian would sooner go to war and die horrifically than succumb to fate as a lowly servant, a slave. But war was impossible with Pyrisa's economy. The economy was so unstable and relied heavily on exporting trained creatures, livestock such as Tauruses, and crafted weapons and armor that it wouldn't be able to recover from if the two kingdoms were to go to war. War could have been possible if Teriah didn't hold an iron tight monopoly on them.

Ignatius had a feeling King Lazuli and the Teriahian nobles made sure of that so as to keep their source of entertainment and slaves coming. It made him sick at how another human being could do that to another, even if they were from different kingdoms. It was still a horrible act that needed to be ended. He couldn't help but think of all the innocent people that were bought as slaves by the Teriahians just because they could. The parents that would never see their children again. The children that were forced into servitude. It was atrocious. But there was nothing he could do but hope and pray he never became one of those unfortunate people. That was all he could do in the face of the greater power that loomed over them all, ready to rip out their throats if they so much as breathed the wrong way.

As the drums continued their pounding, Ignatius and the rest of the first rankers from his clan and all the other clans were led to The Rift first. He noticed that most of the first rankers from the other clans were male with the exception of a girl in two other clans. Out of the thirty or so of them, only three of them were girls. He didn't know how they stood it. Being the only girl in a group composed of mainly males. They lacked the strength, height, and probably the speed he and the other males held over them. He knew there was nothing that could be done but it still made things unfair.

Ignatius and the others were led over to a plain old stone barn-like building that they entered. The building was empty on the inside with a dirt floor in place of stone or wood. There was nothing remarkable about it. He wasn't sure why they were placed in here and why more people kept coming in. It seemed a little excessive for just the first rankers of each clan. Maybe there were more first rankers in some of the other clans than the Pyri Clan.

His unease grew as he saw more people entering than he expected for the first rankers of each clan. Before he could question it further, a loud voice drew his attention to the top of the barn.

Ignatius looked up to set a catwalk stretching across the barn where a few other people stood.

"Listen up, I'm only going to say this once for the sake of time. All of you will enter The Rift through the trapdoor below." The man said, gesturing to the large opened wooden door that led underground and to The Rift. "You will do so single file with no pushing, fighting over who gets to go first, or tomfoolery. If myself or any of the others escorting find out about these things or anything else, you will be disqualified from the Tribulations of Pyrisa and will be sentenced to whatever punishment King Agni Aelius deems fits. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." Ignatius replied on command.

"Good", he said to them. The man made a gesture to some of the other men down on the ground with them and they started separating and directing them into groups.

Ignatius was placed into a group with those from his clan and several that were not. As soon as they were in their group, they were pushed towards the giant hole in the floor where another man with a lantern awaited them.

"Follow me," his soft voice said in a meek tone. He didn't look much older than himself. Maybe a few years at most. He must have failed the Tribulations or did something that got him in trouble. Ignatius was placing his hunch on that he failed by the way he hunched his shoulders in a way that suggested he was shy and not comfortable around a lot of people.

The man's lantern casted a bright golden light around them, like a shield from the darkness around them. It took all of his self control to not huddle closer to those around, to the light that was like his life line away from the sticky pitch that tried to cling to him like an arachnid's web.

Something warm brushed against his arm and he withdrew his arm and whipped his head over to the source.

Burnt orange eyes looked at his. Even in the darkness and the poor lighting, he could still see the compassion in Enya's eyes.

Without saying a word, she let her fingertips graze the top of his hand. The gesture was enough that it said "It's all right. Everything will be okay" as plainly as spoken words. It calmed that wildly energy that raced inside him from the fear that lurked in the depths of his mind.

He didn't know why being around her could calm him with just a look. It was a bizarre thing. He never even knew her that long. So why was it that it only took being in her presence for a mere minute to sooth him when it took him hours to still his nerves after having an attack. Whatever the reason, he was grateful for this little source of comfort.

Enya continued to brush her fingers across the top of his hand while they walked in the darkness. It helped him more than anything else he had tried. He would forever be in her debt from this day forth. A debt that he would find some way to repay.

"Watch your step here." Their guide told them as a set of stone stairs appeared out of nowhere. With the guide's warning, they were able to ascend the stairs quickly without issue.

Ignatius' ears pricked up when a loud and continuous sound resonated into the dark tunnel. He wasn't sure what it was at first but once they broke to the surface, the deafening Human screaming nearly had him doubling over. It was so loud. Louder than anything he had heard before and they weren't even in The Rift yet, where sound would bounce back and forth like a ball being thrown.

Once his hearing had adjusted after a minute, he took notice of the rough stone carved room they were in. It was somewhere isolated from The Rift but not too far. Based on the set iron doors before them, he bet those led outside of the room to The Rift if not to an antechamber for The Rift.

In an instant the doors were open and the one before them as well. They were pushed out of the two rooms and out into the true thundering might of the crowd.

The roaring of the crowd was loud enough that it made him want to cover his ears. But he was constrained from doing so due to all of the bodies being shoved into The Rift together. Bodies bumped into bodies, limbs pressed against limbs, restraining them as over two hundred people were corralled into a small space like livestock.

This was not right. He could see the confused faces on everyone else's faces that they were just as clueless as him. This wasn't how the Tribulations were usually conducted. No, usually they each fought the sigil creature of each clan singly while the Warlords watched and decided which of them they wanted for their clans.

Ignatius drew upon what few memories he had of the Tribulations—Ignacio only took him once when he was thirteen—and none of them involved all of the participants being in the The Rift at the same time except at the very end for the Choosing Ceremony. But then why were they all together? It didn't make sense, none of it did. His only option now was to keep an eye and ear out for what would happen next.

He didn't have to wait long. In an instant a loud, booming voice reached his ears and filled the entirety of The Rift.

"I would like to announce the official beginning of this year's Tribulations of Pyrisa and thank all our clan brethren and esteemed guests from Teriah for traveling this far to watch our young warriors in training become true warriors of Pyrisa."

The voice sounded familiar. He had heard it somewhere before. It was a voice he knew and remembered but couldn't place the name with the face. His ears traced the voice and directed his eyes to the wooden pavilion with a dock that stretched out over The Rift a good fifteen feet. At the edge of the railed dock he saw King Agni Aelius. The King's voice had to be amplified by a skilled Air Elemental Mage or rune else his voice would have never been able to carry to him or the crowd.

"This year, however, we are mixing things up a little. Instead of our young warriors fighting each Beast Lord here in The Rift one at a time, I have decided to bring back the Old Tradition."

Ignatius stared dumbfounded. They wanted them to reenact the Tribulations? Why would they change it all of a sudden? There had to be a reason why. He just didn't know yet.

"For those who do not know what the Old Tradition is, it is a reenactment of our first queen and founder of Pyrisa's own journey of defeating each Beast Lord. It is our way of honoring our first queen, founder, and namesake of our kingdom, who won this land for us by fighting and triumphing over the Five Beast Lords."

King Agni stopped speaking for a second before his voice rumbled down to them along with his stinging gaze. "It is required that each of our young warriors fight each Beast Lord and bring back a trophy as proof of defeat of the beast. The young warriors are also required to defeat each Beast Lord in order. There will be no skipping around. If you get caught you will be disqualified and denied the chance of being accepted by a clan or going back to your old one. You will end up here in Rift, the army or exiled. It is your choice and life, I suggest you make good choices. Now, for each Beast Lord trophy, you will need to bring back the horn of a Taurus Bull—slaying of a female will disqualify and exile you—, the fang of the Amphithere, the stinger of a Scorchion, the claw of a magma Drake, and the feather of a Firebird. Once you have those items you will have to bring them back here to The Rift and place them in each clan's respective brazier. After you have done that you will be done. You will be assigned to your clan by the end of the Tribulations, which will last one month."

A month! The Tribulations lasted a week at most. Now it was supposed to last a month! How long were they talking? If it was over a month, he wasn't confident the seal Liekki placed a few days ago would hold up. Maybe that was just how much time they had to finish the Tribulations. So he could probably get done in less than a month if he worked his ass off the entire time.

"There will be lodging provided for all those who wish to stay longer than the usual week. Do not fret either. There is enough room and resources for everyone." He distantly heard King Agni say to the crowd.

"Now getting to the next thing of importance that may be on everyone's mind: how are we going to monitor and make sure none of these young warriors cheat? I would like to think none of them would since the stake of dishonor is so high, however, we have come up with a solution to that little problem. With some cooperation and volunteering from the clans, we have set up a check-in system. This system entails that each participant of the Tribulations must check-in at each rendezvous, which has been picked to be the stronghold of each clan, except for the Pyri Clan. So all participants must check-in at each stronghold after slaying the Beast Lord of said clan." King Agni then looked down at all of them. The King's eyes and facial details were too far away to see but Ignatius could tell the King was focusing on each and every single one of them, like a predator. "If you fail to follow this rule, you will be disqualified and will be thoroughly punished after the end of the Tribulations. I hope that is understood.

"While at the strongholds, participants can trade parts of their slain Beast Lord for provisions and other useful items and goods. You may also choose to stop the Tribulations at any point. Once you check-in and wish to end things, you only need to tell those in charge of the check-ins and they will write it down and that information will be passed along for the assessments.

"In addition, there will be another system set in place to ensure whether anyone has died or not during the Tribulations. Together, our mages and those from Teriah have invented a new rune that will be able to detect death of the wearer with the rune and report that information back to the main or mother rune. I am told that the rune will also tell the location of everyone with it. We will be finding that out over the next few weeks.

"Participants, please line up in order from First Rank to Fifth Rank and allow the mages to place the rune on your forearms." King Agni ordered.

Ignatius shuffled himself in with the group of First Rankers and watched as a line of five mages came walking out from a small iron personnel door.

Slowly the line inched forward toward the dark haired mage. When it was his turn, Ignatius rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and allowed the mage to take his arm in their warm hand. The mage's brown fingers hovered above his forearm as strange words tumbled out of their mouth at frightening speed. As the words came falling, so did the pale light. The light wrapped itself around his forearm before seeping into his skin like water to dirt. He felt a small zap course throughout his being but it was over in a second. In its place was black rune; it looked more like the scribbles of a child. He could make any of the scribbles of magic. The mysteries of magic withheld by those born with the gift and curse of magic.

In Elementa, magic was seen as both a gift and curse. It was an honor to serve one's kingdom with magic yet it was also a sentence of enslavement to one's kingdom. The needs of the kingdom came before anything, including family. That was the life of a magic user in Elementa. Especially since the greater the magic, the greater the desire for that magic user. He was grateful he had never been born with such an unfortunate life. Although his current life wasn't much of an easy or joyful one either. It was road covered in obstacles from the moment he had been born and surely till the moment he died. He would never have an easy life that was the one thing he did share with the magic users. Both of them were destined to be enslaved to the commands of those who held higher authority and power over them; whereas they controlled the real power that could not be used against their masters. That was their fate.

"Now, the last thing I will be going over is the method of transport. In the Old Tradition, each participant of the Tribulations were allowed to select a mount. However, we decided to make it a little bit more exciting and test your efficacy at quick thinking.

"Once the horn is blown, you will all quickly gather a supply pack—which includes rations, medical supplies, and a waterskin. You will also have to select your own weapons and armor. The armor is already packed up and ready to go in the bags there." Her father nodded to the large pile of canvas bags. "Inside you will find either leather armor, chainmail, or rigid armor. You can take your time and look but I advise against that.

"After all that you will need to select a mount. The mounts vary from Pegasi to Wyverns. There will be no taking turns to pick. This will be a free-for-all. Whoever gets there first and stays on the mount long enough to get airborne gets to keep it. Though, once outside The Rift, the ownership of mounts is up to you all to maintain. Just because you're a First Ranker doesn't mean you can keep your mount. A Fifth Ranker can easily steal your mount. So keep an eye out. Anything goes beyond The Rift. Also you will not be able to use your mount for the final Beast Lord. At the foot of the Phoenix Flame Mountains, you are to yield your mount and find your own way into the heart of the Phoenix Flame Mountains to find and kill the Firebird. Then back out to The Rift. Now, with further ado, I pronounce the start of the Tribulations of Pyrisa. May Fya's Flame guide  and Pyrisa's Sword protect you."

Everything seemed straightforward but challenging. His only real problem would be completing the Tribulations before a month had passed. Time was something that would not be on his side for this. It never was in the end. It never was.

Ignatius watched as those iron doors creaked open and a horn blared. Then they all took off to the opening where he could already see the supply packs ,weapons, and mounts ready for the taking.

Ignatius rushed through those doors with the others and dashed over to the table where the supply packs laid. He grabbed one and slung it over his shoulder before heading over to the weapons. He latched onto the hand and half sword, a shield, and two twin daggers along with a bag. He didn't know what lay in the bag, but it had to be better than the clothes on his back for protection. Swinging the sword and bag of armor over his bag, tying the shield to his arm, and putting the twin daggers in his belt, he made for the mounts.

He was sure to look over them all quickly. He needed one that was fast but able to sustain itself for a month in the wild. All of these creatures were captive raised so choosing between an herbivore and carnivore mount was vital. He noticed that most chose Pegasus, Hippogriff, and Griffin mounts. He would have chosen one of those two if not for the Wyrukh and Drukh mounts available.

He quickly weighed his options. Wyrukhs were scavengers, making them more unreliable since they would scavenge anything they could find. Whereas Drukhs were carnivorous and would hunt for their own food. Nonetheless, the faster one ultimately determined the one he would choose.

Ignatius charged forward under the weight of his equipment. As he went, he saw Enya's burnt orange hair as she rose into the air on the back of a juvenile Wyvern. Of course she would pick the same mount that had an attitude so similar to her own. But it wasn't a bad mount either. Wyverns were known for their amazing hunting skills as well as their stubbornness as mounts. However, since this Wyvern was a juvenile it might be easier to ride than an adult. He secretly wished her the best of luck.

He turned his attention back to his chosen mount and found someone else racing him for it as well. He should have known Haco would have figured out the Drukh was the best option of all of these mounts, with the Wyvern and Wyrukh only being second.

He wasn't going to let Haco take this away from him. This mount was his and he was going to fight for it.

The ground was hard under his feet as he pushed off harder, striving for greater speed against the weight he carried. He would not quit now. He could rest once he got the Drukh.

He and Haco raced one another as others took off into the sky and through the opening in the chain-mesh net keeping all the mounts from leaving unless through the opening at the other end of The Rift.

He was determined to not lose. He would—the hard impact of the ground sent the breath from his lungs. Laughter rang in his ears and a familiar voice told him who shoved him. He scrambles to his feet to see Flint mounting the Wyrukh and taking off. He knew it was Flint, still loyal to Haco to the very end.

Turning his attention back to the Drukh, he found Haco had reached the Drukh and was already starting to climb up the saddle.

Ignatius took off for the Drukh again. He was lucky that the Drukh was having none of Haco's desperate attempts to lug all his equipment up to the saddle with its constant shifting of its feet, making it more difficult for Haco.

That was another thing about Drukhs: they were highly intelligent and even more stubborn than their Wyvern cousins. Something they gained from their Dragon and Rukh ancestors. They also got extremely agitated from large noises, which the crowd provided so graciously. He couldn't help but smile as Haco continued to struggle. It gave him more time to get there and set things right.

He reached the Drukh and Haco within a couple minutes and started climbing up the other side of the Haco. Haco's ash black head whipped over to him, sickly orange and gold serpentine like eyes wide with surprise and annoyance.

Ignatius ignored and continued his climb. He could see why Haco was struggling. The weight of all the equipment and supplies along with having to climb fifteen feet up to the Drukh's shoulder didn't help. But he was almost there. He was close enough to reach a hand over the top of the saddle to the handle to pull himself up. His hand had just wrapped around the handle when sharp pain erupted in his hand. The pain was shocking enough that it caused him to let go and fall fifteen feet on his back. The fall and impact was enough to leave him wheezing on the ground. He was stunned enough to watch vacantly as Haco unlatched the chains of the saddle to the ground, allowing the Drukh freedom to fly.

He could still turn everything around if only he could get up. He tried to force his body to rise but it refused, still trying to recover from the fall. He could only watch as the sandy gold Drukh took a few steps forward before stopping.

"What are you doing? Move you stupid beast!" Haco yelled. By this point, he was able to miraculously rise to his feet and watch as the Drukh's long neck twisted to look at Haco with its intelligent, pale golden eyes.

Without warning, Ignatius ducked as the Drukh reared up and sent Haco flying from its back. Then the Drukh was off, threading slowly before starting to pick up speed. Ignatius gave chase. He needed to catch it before it got airborne. Once it did, there was no hope of catching the Drukh.

His lungs burned as he pushed his legs and lungs beyond their breaking point. But he did not give up, not when he was this close. He almost lost the Drukh once. He wouldn't lose it this time. The Drukh continued to gain speed as its feathered wings slowly started to spread for takeoff, he used the rest of his strength to give himself one last burst of speed before jumping. His fingers brushed against a feather-fur hide and then digging into it to the softer under and clutching to the Drukh's hide. He clung to the back leg of the Drukh as he slowly climbed his way to the empty saddle. His entire body burned as he labored against the weight, the Drukh's shaky movements, and wind that ripped at his clothes and hair as the Drukh was now running. He didn't have much time yet. He ignored his shaking limbs and once more grasped the saddle and pulled himself into it and clung to the handle as the Drukh jumped and soared through the hole, feathered wings beating to make the climb into the air.

Ignatius looked down and smiled. He made it. He did it.

Grabbing the reins that connected to the pair of slightly curved horns of Drukh, he gently nudged the Drukh to the north where his first Tribulation awaited. 

Author's Note:

Let me know if you guys catch any mistakes while reading this. Thanks! Hope you enjoy!