Chapter 5

                Arran’s heart was pounding in his chest. This was the moment of truth. If he wanted to become a hunter, he would have to not fail, just this one time. He began to sweat even more. The walk there was torture. Arran went over several different scenarios in his mind of what could happen. He could be sent to the mines. He could just not be picked. He could be picked. He could die. He could dishonor himself. He almost sighed out loud. There were just too many thoughts scrambling around in his brain. There was almost no chance that anything good would happen. Arran could see the Hunter’s compound in the distance as they slowly approached it. Arran sent a prayer to Skrior, and hoped against his doubts that he could become a Hunter. The building got closer, and Arran became more worried. He and the other students waited at the entrance of a circular compound for the head Hunter to come out. Arran began to tremble. This was it. Now or never. The man came out. He looked to be in his late 40s. He had dark eyes. His hair was a dull reddish-orange, and he had a small beard on his face. Following behind him came a man in a black cloak with the hood up. He had a black staff, with some form of blue metal intertwined within it. Arran didn’t give him a second glance. He remained at attention until the Hunter invited them inside.

                Arran followed the other students into a large arena. Massive gates lined the side of the pit. Low growls could be heard coming from behind them. What in the name of Morzaer are behind those gates?, he wondered. The man ushered them all into the middle of the arena. He gestured to the gates. “Behind these doors are just a few of the creatures you might live to face if you are chosen to be a Hunter.” He pointed to a table Arran hadn’t noticed before. There was an array of odd looking objects on it. “Those are your weapons”, the man said. He softened his tone. “Some, are deadlier than others.” He walked over to a lever on the wall. Arran began to move over to the table, which was behind everyone while they were facing the gates. The man pulled down on the lever. Arran sprinted the rest of the distance to the table. He could hear the creak of the gates as they slowly opened.

                He looked around for anything that might protect him against the creatures that might come out. He grabbed a handful of what looked like black marbles. He shoved those into his pockets. He grabbed a round, golden object. He hoped it could be used as a shield. The last thing he grabbed was a ruby colored rod. By then, all of the students were crowding around the table. Arran realized that when they were all in one place, it made them easy targets. He fought his way out of the group. What he saw then, stopped him cold. There wasn’t just one creature. There were two raptors, a long silver dragon, and five very small dragons about the size of dogs.

                The raptors spotted him. One began circling around to the back of him, while the other approached from the front. They were closing in on him. In desperation, he pressed a button on the rod. A blinding light filled the room, blinding everyone, including Arran. He shook his head to clear his vision. He recovered quicker because he hadn’t been exposed to as much light as the rest of the group. Youth and dragons blundered around. The raptors seemed almost unaffected. Great, thought Arran. That didn’t work. One of the youth ran into a raptor. It turned and sprang onto the youth. Arran pressed another button on the rod. This time, white fire flew from the end of it. He ran at the raptor. The raptor noticed him, and abandoned the youth he was about to kill. Arran and the raptor circled warily. Arran couldn’t stand any more of it. He turned and ran the other direction. The raptor followed suit. Arran looked behind him. The raptor was almost on top of him! He began to turn his head back around when he ran into something.

                He looked up to see the silver dragon looming over him. Its long snout pointed down at him. He held the fiery rod at the dragon’s leg. It had no effect. The dragon growled and Arran knew he was in trouble. He held up the round golden thing he had grabbed form the table, just as the dragon’s mouth opened. Arran expected fire to come out, but none did. Instead, a dark mist began to fill the room, coming from the dragon’s mouth. Arran couldn’t see. He ran blindly until he hit a wall. He sat down against the wall. What are the Hunters trying to do? Kill us all? He looked down at the flaming rod in his hand. He noticed that it was burning away the mist! He threw it out ahead of him, and it burned a path, so he could see where he was going. What am I doing? He thought. I’m not a fighter! Then he remembered the people out there that were probably getting hurt. That single thought was enough to get himself off the ground, and go into the ring again.

                This time, he sought out the dragons and raptors. He went for the raptors first. They seemed to stay away from the flaming rod in his hand. They instinctively knew that fire was a bad thing. With the raptors staying away from him, he ran around the arena, burning away as much mist as he could. The small dragons were swarming all over the youth. It seemed like the others couldn’t even see them! Somehow they failed to see these small dragons that were going around, biting some and streaming others with fire! Arran turned away from that. Those dragons were occupied, which was a good thing. He put down the golden device and grabbed the black marbles from his pocket. He hurled one at the silver dragon. It hit the dragon’s leg and melted onto its skin. Arran could then tell wherever the dragon was, even if he had his eyes closed. Instead of a weapon, he had grabbed tracking mechanisms! The dragon swung its head around towards Arran. It roared. Arran threw a black marble into its mouth. The dragon coughed and sputtered. Enraged, it lumbered towards Arran. Arran grabbed the golden object off the ground. He inspected it quickly. There was nothing on it but some odd runes. He stared at them, and they began to from a word. Ingvo. It was the word that the blacksmith had whispered earlier that day. Arran raised the object. Something from deep within him began to rise up. He shouted, “Ingvo!”. Fire flew from the edges of it, and spread across the arena, singeing the animals, but not the people. Well, almost all the animals. Once again, the dragon was immune to the fire.

                It came at Arran and swung its long tail. Something in Arran’s leg snapped with the dragon’s tail hit him, and he went down. Arran dropped the object he was holding and pressed the last button on the ruby rod. A glowing sword came out from one end. Arran threw it at the dragon. It hit the dragon’s leg, and get stuck. Further enraged, the dragon raised its tail. Several spines stuck out. It whipped its tail towards Arran, and several spikes flew through the air. Arran tried to roll away, but one hit him in the shoulder. Grimacing in pain, he tried to crawl to the edge of the arena. He heard the dragon scream in pain, and then go silent. Arran turned his head. One of the youth had sliced the dragon’s head off. Arran looked around. The raptors and the smaller dragons were all dead. The other youth had taken care of them. Arran felt ashamed. He had not killed anything. He knew the Hunters wouldn’t choose him. After all, what good is a Hunter that can’t hunt? He tried to sit up, but the pain was too much. He began dragging himself to the edge of the arena. Once again, and like always, no one paid any attention to him.

                Or so he thought. He felt someone lift him up, and support him on the side of his injured leg. He lifted his head, now almost delirious from the pain. It was the youth that had killed the dragon. Why would he help me? I’m just a nobody that was trying to impress the Hunters, and almost got killed for it. He took another look. It was the kid that he had saved from the raptor. The kid had gashes along his arms and legs. How is he still going? How is he able to support me as well as himself? He lifted his head once more. He saw the head Hunter, and the man in the black cloak. They were staring at him in a way that made Arran feel very uncomfortable. He whispered. “Thank you.” To the boy, and then fainted because the pain had become unbearable. His las thoughts were That’s it. I’m now headed for the mines. Tenvon is probably so happy to get rid of me. Everyone always is.

Author's Note

This chapter was a little rough. It's not the best one I've written.