The craft shuddered as it landed, making Ore dig her claws into the shoulder pad that her trainer was wearing. The other ten dragons and trainers were standing around Ore and her trainer, all trying to keep still and standing as the craft shook around them.

Then everything went still, except from the trainers and dragons, all of whom stumbled forwards. The dragons fell to the floor, remained on the shoulder pad, or hung from a strap going around one of their front legs. Ore's hind claws stayed in place, but she hung from the thick grey strap that attached her to the trainer.

Amber lights flashed from the plain white ceiling, making the walls and floors turn from light grey to amber before returning to their original colour. Her heart rate increased as her thoughts flashed back to the attack. When they stopped, the wall that they all were facing started to open, the bright sunlight hitting the floor, helping Ore to calm down.

Whines met Ore's ears, not the wines that an animal makes, but the wining of some fancy electrical thing. Assumed it was the craft that they had been travelling in, Ore climbed back onto the shoulder pad and tried to make heads and tails of the smells and sounds assaulting her.

There was just so many smells and noises.

All too quickly, the trainers started to move outside, Ore's head spun around as she looked at each and everything. Dark grey stone covered the floor in large squares, the sky was blue, the sun was too bright to look at, parts of the sky was covered in grey, and buildings surrounded them.

Everything was so different, none of the dragons could see, hear and smell fast enough.

The buildings were made of stone, lighter than what the humans and dragons walked on, and in smaller blocks as well. Large holes were cut out of the front, and a rectangle piece of wood was on the front of each and every building.

Humans were everywhere, nearly. They didn't seem to come close to where Ore had arrived, walking around instead, barely glancing in the direction of the dragons. There seemed to be a few distinct groups of humans.

The first walked around at a leisurely pace, looking at the buildings as they passed, sometimes going inside. Their clothes were bright but fit tightly to their body in places and flared out in others.

The second wore browns and greys, often carrying objects and walking quicker than the previous groups. Barely stopping, these humans didn't hang around much.

The third all wore the same clothes and walked around at a pace similar to the first. Always travelling in pairs or in threes, these seemed to watch every creature possible, their eyes darting from one to another. They seemed to have some armour on them, but why that was needed, Ore didn't really know.

The final group wore very similar clothes to the others in their group. The cloth making up the majority of their clothes was what Ore liked to call a mid-grey, not light or dark grey, but somewhere in between. But every human wearing these seemed to have coloured shoulders, whites, blacks, blues, greens, reds, oranges, multi-coloured, greys, browns.

It was five of these humans from the last group that approached the trainers and their dragons. All were wearing their grey clothes with the coloured sleeves. But as they got closer, Ore noticed that most of it looked similar to the armour that the guards wore back at the labs.

Stopping a few meters away, they bowed to the group of ten before one with dark blue sleeves started speaking.

"Welcome to Wibalish," the woman started, her brown hair was cut shortly above the shoulders. "I presume that you are the ten trainers and dragons to come and practice with the riders for a while. I am Liril and I am one of those that you will be training with," the woman said as her eyes narrowed as she looked from dragon to dragon. "If you don't mind me asking, how young are they? I presumed that they were going to be older."

"They are over thirteen months old; we know that they are young, but they have not been mothered like most dragons were when they hatched. They've been brought up fighting and learning so they have the skills of a dragon around two years old as this point in time," Ore's trainer said, his voice carried easily to the group of riders in front, and probably to those that were watching behind.

"That doesn't mean that they are harder to injure than those their age. Their scales are different, what's wrong with them?"

"They've been modified," Ore's blond trainer stepped forwards, taking Ore from his shoulder and holding her out so that the rider could see the little dragon. "They are metal, it's taken a lot of work to get this far, and there's more work to go. I will put it into perspective for you, twelve species, four dragons of each, ten are left." Liril ran a finger down Ore's spine, her eyes widened as she listened, and she took her finger off Ore's scales.

"Well, thank you. But we must get going if you are to be set up ready for your meal tonight. There's a lot to remember and I am not repeating myself," Liril said and turned around and began to walk down a wide stone path that went between two buildings and up a hill.

The trainers and other riders followed Liril; the other humans parted for the group of fifteen. The dragons were given a lot of stares, a few of which came from scarred faces who frowned before walking quickly away. Others came from young humans who watched them in wonder and wide eyes.

Back on the shoulder, Ore started to sort through the tapestry, singling each smell and identifying it before moving onto the next. Sweat, salty, flowery, smoky, nice smells and horrible smells, Ore sifted through them all, matching them to a place or object. As they travelled some smells disappeared, some became stronger and some appeared, and Ore tried her best to match each one.

A stone wall towards before them, people in the same type of clothes as the riders walked in and out of the ginormous gate. Ore knew that she was small, but now she just felt tiny, as if she was an insect. Something made of stone behind the wall could be seen towering into the clouds. Roars of dragons met her ears, far older than herself, it chilled her to the core. What were they doing in there?

Her trainer's steps brought her through the gate.

A giant building rose high into the sky, the top disappearing into the clouds. Dragons flew around, humans dressed in the grey and coloured clothes sitting on their backs. That's what the colours mean! Ran through Ore's head before her eyes bounced from each person in the group that took the trainers and dragons to this place. Liril must have had a water dragon, going off the dark blue sleeves, she and the other riders continued down the stone path towards the doors of the building.

Ore watched two silver air dragons swirl around each other in the air, their movements clear and concise as their riders swung metal blades at each other. Neither seemed to be able to get past the other's defences as they were finally called back down.

Elsewhere, a bunch of dragons landed, tired and dirty, to one side where the stone building seemed to stretch out a little. Their riders slid off and walked towards the building whilst the dragons took flight and flew up to one of the many giant holes dotting the building's side.

'The humans are using the dragons. This must stop.' Echoed around Ore's head, the annoying voice was back, but Ore tried her best to ignore it whilst watching the various ages of dragons train around them.

'Listen to me! They will use us too when you are old enough unless something changes-'

Ore butted in, well I don't care, it will give me a purpose and, I'm going to say, I enjoy working for the humans. So, go away. Noticing that they had gone through the large open wooden doors, the boards reinforced with metals crisscrossing it.

"Hello, it is nice to have some interesting dragons for the bonded dragons here to practice. I am sure it will give both groups a variety of opponents so that they will be able to adapt to new and potential enemies," the man standing in the entrance said once the group of ten trainers and five riders stopped in the large hallway. He spoke slowly, as if he was being careful with the words that he was choosing.

"It is wonderful to be here. This Academy has the best teachers in the world where it comes to dragons," Ore's trainer stepped forward, again. The blond-haired man took Ore off his shoulder and onto his left training glove before bowing to the other man.

It would be best to describe him, and Ore noted down his features because he seemed much more important than Liril and the riders which had come to bring Ore and the others to the Academy. His greying, once a chestnut brown, hair curled at the ends. Warm grey eyes looked out of a tanned face, where wrinkles were starting to appear.

The clothes were very similar to those that the dragon riders wore. Except that the sleeves were weird. Instead of a solid block of colour that all but the rainbow dragon riders had, they were a mix of blue and purple, but about as dark as the grey that made up the rest of the uniform. Not only that, but the seams had three colours: black, grey, and white.

Something thumped inside, something big and heavy.

Ore, the trainers, and the other dragons turned around to look. A tall, muscular dragon stood in the hallway, its horns swirling up behind its head.

The colours were magnificent.

Light bounced off the dragon's scales, revealing a dark mix of blues and purples, exactly like the sleeves that the older man wore. Ore nudged her trainer's arm with her tail, making him look at her. She pointed with her nose at the dragon before turning to point her nose at the man behind, who was grinning as he watched the trainers start to shuffle together.

"That galaxy dragon is yours?" Ore's trainer said, breaking the silence. "I never thought I would see one outside a facility, they only exist here, don't they?"

"That is correct. Starlight here is the last galaxy dragon to hatch to a rider before they took the galaxy dragons away from our variety of eggs," the man said, walking forwards and stroking the big dragon's snout. Ore watched the dragon's purple eyes, which widened from their narrowed state as her scales were stroked.

"Here you will learn about other species of normal dragons, learn their strengths and weaknesses. How best to care for them and most importantly, how to improve both you and your dragon," the man turned to face the group.

"You will be treated with the same standards given to all dragons and riders here at the Academy. That means that you will be sleeping in dorms and your dragons will be sleeping with the others that are their age. However, we have provided two empty dorms as you lot are older than most students here. But you will eat and train with the rest of the students. Any questions?" The man crossed his arms and waited.

"What time do we get up at the morning? When is breakfast? What time do we finish? How old are those that we are training with? And finally, how do we know where we are going?" Ore's trainer asked, she had heard the trainers decide on five questions in total during the trip on the weird craft.

"Breakfast is at seven, there is a break at one for lunch before classes finish at five, which is also when you will have your final meal of the day. The dragons were two at the start of the year, so about two years and three months, the students are around seventeen and eighteen in the classes that your dragons are in. We have provided maps in your dorms, where you will be shown to by Liril. I seem to remember you..." The man, probably one of those in charge of the Academy said.

"I was a student here, Mr Tinlit," Ore's trainer said, Ore turned her head to look at her trainer. His brown eyes looked into Ore's silver eyes before looking up towards the man. "I was the student who lost my..." Ore's trainer shifted on his feet, something that Ore had not seen him do until now. He always seemed so confident. "Dragon."

Silence followed his words.

"She was an angel dragon, if I remember correctly. That was a tragic accident," Mr Tinlit shook his head and came over to Ore's trainer, putting a hand on his shoulder before glancing down at Ore. "The demon dragon is still alive, surprisingly, seeing as though they run some of the most dangerous jobs for, ironically, the same place you now work at. Even more ironically, they may have brought your dragon's egg, or parent's, or of ancestor's egg to the labs. What is she? Light? Air?"

"Ore is an angel dragon. She lost her trainer shortly after I moved into her program, so I was sort of floating around," her trainer said running a finger across Ore's head before rubbing the spot behind her horns.

What a wonderful spot.

"Interesting name for an angel dragon, I assume it is because of the scales. Right, you should get moving, both you and I have things to sort out," Mr Tinlit said. Ore watched his eyes look at the various trainers before walking over to his dragon and climbing up the side.

"You may not have the same bond that you did have over your angel, Malim, but it is no less precious. Treat her as you would have treated your last angel."

Ore's trainer, Malim stayed still as wingbeats grew quieter.

"You didn't say that you had a dragon, and that you were once here," Ore heard one of the trainers say.

Silence.

"Are you going to say anything about it?" The same trainer said.

Ore was nearly thrown off her trainer's arm as Malim walked away from the group and down a smaller hallway before walking towards the side. Little indents where the windows stood high and proud was where her trainer walked into before sliding down the wall.

"I know I've been cold with you. I just don't want to go through the pain of losing someone that I love again. I don't want it to happen to you either," he mumbled, Ore barely made out the words but rubbed his face with hers.

"I declined being your trainer at the start of the program. They wanted someone with experience with angel dragons because they have a voice telling you to do things. I said no. I guess that that doesn't matter now," he carried on mumbling, but Ore lost the meaning of the sounds that he was making.

They stayed in the alcove until a bell rang somewhere.

"We need to go, I guess that I know where we are staying. I'll show you where I am first so that if anything happens, you know where to find me."

Malim stood up and started walking back the way that they came, at this point, humans were crowding the ginormous hallway. Many looked at the pair and muttered something before continuing on their way.

After climbing up a few flights of stairs, Malim walked down one of the corridors. They passed a few doors before he stopped by one on the left side. He raised his fist and knocked on the door. Voices came from within, younger than those of the other trainers. Then the door opened without a creak.

It was not a trainer. The boy was older than Liril but younger than all the trainers.

"I just wanted to grab some things that I forgot to get when I was here. The Academy knows I'm staying in a dorm elsewhere. Just let me in for two minutes then you don't have to see me again."

The boy's eyes looked Ore's trainer before stopping on Ore.

"You one of those visitors from that stupid lab? You here to take one of us away?" The boy took a step back.

"No. I was a student here a while ago. But I left some of my things. I'll prove it."

Ore watched as Malim pulled down the hem of his shirt on the right side where a faded, silvery mark, sort of in the shape of a dragon, stood out from his skin.

"You were a rider?" The boy stare at the faded mark.

"Yes, she was beautiful. Two small minutes and I'll be gone. Please," Malim said, his voice dripping with desperation and sadness.

"Fine," the boy stood to the side as Malim stepped through the door. There were four others in the room, each had a bed in varying colours and storage under and next to their bed, Ore hopped onto her trainer's shoulder as she watched.

Malim walked towards the bed before kneeling down on the floor and running his hands over the floorboards. They stopped over one before they moved to opposite ends, Ore watched as he pushed down on one side and pulled on the other.

The board gave a long creak before it started to move.

Everyone watched as Malim reached in and pulled out a few silvery and copper scales before taking out a sword in a sheathe.

"That was under the floor the whole time?" One boy said, his voice going higher.

"A few years. Now you know where to hide things. I used to hate fighting, I wanted to study, but my father gave me this blade when I got my dragon," Malim pulled the shining sword out of the sheathe and swung it with simple ease.

"That is a noble's sword!" Another said, Ore's head turned around to see five boys leaning over to look at the sword.

Turning the sword over, Ore could see engravings lining the other side of the blade, starting at the hilt and running a third of the way down. Malim's finger ran down the blade before it sopped coming near the blade. Both sides were the same as each other and she had seen it one before: it was the same mark that lined Malim's skin.

Sighing, Malim picked up the sheathe and slid the sword in, the light caught the marks of writing running down one side. It stopped three quarters of the way down, this was where Malim hovered his finger over.

"Thank you. We better be going," Malim stood up, Ore nearly fell off, but dug in her claws enough before he started standing. With the sword in one hand and the scales in the other, he bowed his head before heading towards the door, closing it behind him.

"I wish that we could communicate with each other. You do understand me, don't you? I watched your old trainer train you; it is a shame that he died. The boys needed to understand that anyone can lose their dragon, and that they can move on afterwards. I think that the dorm will be up here," Malim started to climb the stairs.

Malim's legs took them up so many more flights of stairs that his breathing started to become more audible and breathless. Looking up, Ore noticed that there couldn't be much longer before they reached their destination as there could only be a few more floors.

"This isn't the tallest part of the building," Malim said between breaths, "but it is the only part that doesn't have some sort of lift system." He stopped walking and continued speaking. "The younger ones get more exercise this way as their classes are easier than the older students who stay further down."

Now that his breathing was nearly normal, he looked around, "one more flight." Malim started to finish his climb up the stairs.

As they turned the last corner, Ore saw the other trainers panting on the start of the corridor, most of which looked at Malim before staring at his sword in confusion.

"You are a noble?" The trainer that did the calculations said, his eyebrows closer together than normal.

"Yes, but does it really matter? If you must know, my family have been shunning me for leaving this sword here for some years. Is there anything else you wanted to say?" Malim looked at each person for a minute before jumping to the next.

"Did you pay your way onto this program, or did you actually have to use that rich brain of yours?" Someone murmured, Ore looked around, but couldn't find who had spoken.

"I worked, a lot," Malim's hand clutched the scales in his left hand until his hand went white. Ore's eyes picked out the various scars crisscrossing the hand that she hadn't seen before. "I was offered a place on this program before their eggs started hatching. I declined, knowing that something like this was going to happen. Where's the dorm?" Ore followed Malim's look towards Liril, who was leaning on the stone wall, picking dirt out of her nails.

"Men are third door on the left, women are the third door on the right," Ore watched as Liril didn't even look up. "You're not meant to have dragons in there. But I think that you know that."

Malim walked down the corridor and opened the third door on the left. He walked over to a bed, took Ore off his shoulder and fell, face down into the pillow and moaned.