The Keeper of the Dragons Chp 20

The Keeper of the Dragons
Chapter 20
The FireClaws Ask The Validus For Help?





Yeah, as much as I’d love to push past this whole Keeper thing, it never went away. Every single time I saw her she was always grabbing the attention, demanding things from others, or just being a full out priss, and I had another one of those awkward confrontations like the one with Christina.

It was probably maybe a few weeks after I got Scorch into that really nice community room. First off, the place had this medieval feel with the dark wooden floors, the detailed designed rug, and the thick curtains. The fireplace was made of stone that was built against the wall to the right. Big comfy couches sat around the fireplace and dark wooden tables stood behind them. It was a nice place and I was so thankful that Christina let Scorch make this his temporary home for the winter.

Anyway, I was just on my way there for lunch with a big bucket of Popeyes chicken for Scorchy since that’s his favorite. I just turned into the hallway when I walked into this FireClaw/Keeper rally. Audrey, Page, and Neelaja were standing on a table, yelling over the crowd of cheering Muneris. All I wanted to do was go through and get to Scorch but this huge mob of FireClaw followers was blocking my path. I would have just weaved my way through the crowd but I did catch a few words of their protest or whatever they were shouting about, and whatever it was had to do with The Validus.

Usually I’m invisible to these people but if the topic was on The Validus then I had a feeling that they would finally notice me at that point. So quickly turning on my heel, I headed straight for the door to the flight deck. I knew there was another door on the other side of the hallway so I decided that was the better choice to make besides grabbing their attention.

Sneaking through the back door, I quickly rushed to the community room and shut the door so quickly behind me that I almost slammed the wooden door on my scarf headband.

Scorch was lying down in front of the fireplace when I barged in. His head shot up like a dog hearing the mail man and he smiled at me, Hi Cilia! Did you bring me food?

I laughed and nodded my head, “Yes Scorchy, I brought you fo– what are you guys doing here?”

Turns out Scorch wasn’t alone in the community room. Mist, Warrior, and Shadow were in the room along with a bunch of other masters in the Validus. Lamina Woods the Earth Muneris was one of them and so was Matt the Accuracy Muneris. Then there was Bryan Jacobs, or Grav as everyone knows him as; Grav as in Gravity Muneris. He can manipulate the gravity around him to be lighter or heavier and he can also do that trick in fixed areas too. I know him ‘cause Scorch is friends with his Moonlight griffon, Patty.

Yeah, he was there. Storm, or Brandon Storm I should say, was also there. He’s like Warrior where he uses his last name as his Muneris name. He’s an Ice Muneris that Mist helped train, which is why I know him. He’s a beast at fighting, but it’s odd that he keeps apologizing to everyone when he beats the heck outta them.

There were other Muneris here too that I know but I’m not really acquainted with them. There’s Magenta who’s a Metal Muneris that can turn her whole body into an indestructible metal. There’s also Josh who’s a Transform Muneris who can turn himself into any dinosaur that’s been discovered, and Brittney who’s a Copy Muneris – her power is self explanatory.

Ten Validus all in the same room, including me, but everyone except me was a master, and not just any old masters. These are the strongest fighters in the whole Validus group. I wonder what all these powerful Muneris doing here in one room?

“Uh…hi?” I said awkwardly as I walked into the room. Scorch smiled happily as I handed him over his bucket of chicken, stuffing his muzzle into the cardboard container without hesitation, “What’s goin’ on guys?”

“Yeah, I’d like to know that too,” Warrior laughed as he looked around the slightly crowded room. He sat at the couch with Matt and Storm as Shadow leaned against the side of the sofa. Warrior stretched his arm behind him and tapped Shadow’s arm, “Come on man, won’t you tell us what this is all about?”

“You guys– you guys don’t know?” I asked. I mean, if this many Validus were gathered in this room I’d expect for them to know something about their purpose here, but apparently not.

Shadow stepped away from the couch, and the tap happy Warrior, and walked towards the fireplace where Scorch and I were, “I can tell you now that the last person has arrived.”

“Wa– wait, you were waiting for me?” I stuttered in disbelief as my gaze snapped all around the room, trying to look at everyone and everything at once in a wild nervous frenzy. Why were they waiting for me? What is this all about? And how the heck did they know that I was heading here to meet Scorch?

Shadow didn’t answer my question. He just moved towards the center of this area with his back towards me as he faced the group of masters, “I’ve gathered you today to talk about a new problem that’s come to Calvatrace.”

Instantly we all looked at each other and everyone knew what this conversation was going to be out. Heck, we could even hear said new problem from right outside this community room. It was almost instinct as our heads bobbed up and down as we muttered, “The Keeper…”

Winter, Scorch stated as if it was clearly the obvious answer. Only Shadow and I could hear him, so it only made us laugh; or me since Shadow just glared at Scorch, Oh, The Keeper?

“Yeah…” Shadow continued, “Anyway, if you haven’t heard already Neelaja and her gang of FireClaws are going to every Validus they can and demanding that I see The Keeper.”

“What for?” Lamina asked as she chomped on a fat piece of blue colored gum. Okay good, so I wasn’t the only one in this group who didn’t know what was going on. Then again, I always think that the prissy chicks knew what was going on and apparently Lamina didn’t know, then again…again, Lamina is a pretty tough prissy chick with her soft ball background.

Shadow even eyed the closed door that leads out to the FireClaw rally before he continued, “The Keeper is insisting that she join The Validus so that I can personally teach her to become stronger.”

“She wants to be a Validus? Hell no! She’s not even worth the time,” Grav scolded, pounding his fist against the armrest of the couch; the orange light of the fire behind me catching on the  silver watch on his right hand and a bright golden shine flickered from his wrist.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself…” Shadow agreed with a smirk, “Which is why I’m going to tell those exact words to her face.”  

“So…why do you need us?” Storm asked, his eyes wandering over the whole crowd of Muneris; again, thankful that I wasn’t the only one in the dark in this situation. At that point it seemed that the room got eerily quiet as the cheering rally from the FireClaws outside ceased. The noise dimmed down to the point where all we could hear was the fire crackling in the fireplace and Scorch chomping down the rest of his chicken.

Shadow stood there for a moment, cautiously staring at the door with narrowed eyes before answering Storm’s answer, “Well, this is the FireClaws we’re talking about. What do you think?”

A fight…great…I thought to myself. I didn’t want to fight the FireClaws. I’ll say it again, everyone here is a master, meaning that they’re experts at fighting and they can stand in a massive fight against the FireClaws. So where does that leave me?! I’m just a Phi. That’s basically four steps away from the bottom of the ranks. I wouldn’t even last two seconds in that fight. I suck at fighting! Everyone knows that! I can’t even light a flame in my hand right now if I wanted to. Why did they think that I could even try to fight in this one?! As these thoughts jumbled up in my mind, I could feel that my nerves were getting to me as my body temperature drastically dropped to the point where I was shivering, and I was standing in front of a fire place.  

One by one, the Validus began to stand up and head towards the door. Mist slowly peaked out into the empty hallway before fully opening the door and walking out. Before I left the room, I told Scorch to say in the room. Even if I was most likely gonna die from this I didn’t want to get Scorch involved.

Walking out of the room, I closed the door and followed the crowd of masters. I had no idea where they were heading, but that really wasn’t my concern at this point. I was stressing on how I could even last in this fight. Maybe I could hide behind someone? Or maybe I could just find a way to sneak out of this? Or maybe–

“Don’t even try to get out of this one…”

I jumped as my heart slammed against my chest. How did I not see Shadow walking right next to me just proves that I’m as blind as a bat, even with my glasses, “W-Why not?! You know I can’t fight! Why would you even think about letting me fight is a good idea?!”

“Because…” He said, hesitating a bit as if he was choosing his words carefully, “Because you need more experience. You know, fighting that’s outside of training and Tournament Day.”

“And letting me fight in this death battle is gonna help?!” I asked in disbelief. I sighed and looked away, ashamed and embarrassed that my nerves were showing as each step I took a shiver ran up my body.  

Shadow looked and watched the other Muneris as they led the way before responding, “Yes, because the last time you were in one of those fights a Creperum ended up beating the crap out of you…”

I could tell that he was trying to be his dark yet encouraging normal self, but in that last sentence I could hear the slight pain in his voice. Shadow’s already told me and everyone else countless times that he’s sorry for letting that Creperum take over him. He’s already told us that he was guilty from that, but apparently that guilt still hasn’t gone away.

If I could have said something, I would, but apparently we were close to wherever this encounter would be. Mist continued to lead the pack as she pushed open one of the doors and all ten of us spilled out of the building and into the open field outside. To my left, I glanced out to the calm watered beach as it reflected the sun high in the sky. In front of me, I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach as I looked out into the massive crowd of FireClaws as they clustered in front of the orange and yellow trees that lined the forest.

Letting out a nervous breath, I watched as my breath puffed in front of my face in the cool crisp air. There was so many of them. There had to be at least a hundred people in that group. How could just the ten of us stand against all of them?!

Standing in the front of the crowd, Neelaja stepped forward in a thin fall jacket and high raising boots. Even if the rest of the FireClaws had this look of disgust and intimidation, Neelaja kept a calm and friendly face as she watched Shadow approach the front of our small group. I don’t even think these two met face to face before considering that Neelaja was acting so kind to him, “Hello leader of the Validus. My name’s Neelaja, I’m The Keeper of the–”

“Skip the introduction. I know who you are…” Shadow snapped, not wasting any time with this.

Neelaja raised her eyebrows in surprise, but she wasn’t exactly fazed by his snappy remark. She just smiled and took a couple steps forward, “Well, I also know a lot about you. How you’re tough and strong and you can help a poor weak girl like me.”

Oh god…that’s disgusting…I thought as my face cringed in disgust. Seriously, that was just so wrong in so many ways. Mist thought so too as we glanced at each other and stuck out our tongues at each other just to mock her.

“How long have you been here in Calvatrace?” He asked, obviously not giving into her sappy flirt, but that didn’t stop her from trying.

Neelaja batted her thick black eyelashes and tilted her head down, “Oh, since the beginning of the year. I wasn’t really that popular so I couldn’t find anyone to teach me, but maybe you could help me now that you know that I’m The Keeper?”

She took another step closer to him, but Shadow side stepped her and began to walk around her, “Is that the best excuse you can come up with? Do you honestly think that just because you’re The Keeper that I’d help you?”

“Yes. Didn’t Christina say that you’re the one who would train The Keeper when she ever shows up?” Neelaja backfired, her flirtatious tone now switched to a snappy one.

Shadow snorted as walked a full circle around The Keeper and returned to join the Validus again, “Please…why you, of all people, would want my help? You’re a FireClaw. How do you not know this rivalry that we have? Or maybe you’re just that dumb…” Neelaja’s jaw dropped in surprise but clenched as if she was ready to retort, but Shadow just smirked and laughed, “Or maybe you need my help because your so called ‘leaders’ aren’t even good enough to train you their selves…”

Boy did that trigger it. Page, her face full of rage from that insult, jumped forward and blasted a wave of lightning towards Shadow. Shadow nonchalantly stared at the stream of lighting flying towards him and didn’t move an inch. Right before that lighting hit Shadow, Warrior stepped out of our little crowd and held out a hand toward the lightning. The electricity flew to him like a lightning rod. He absorbed the power of the bolt and shot it back through his other arm. The lightning stream shot at Page’s feet, making her jump back and meld back with the FireClaw group as Warrior stepped back to our side.

After Page’s attempt, Audrey attacked next. Razor sharp leaves shot out of her wrists and flew towards Shadow, but this time Lamina stepped forward. Holding out her hands, a wooden bat formed from the grass underneath our feet. Slamming her foot into the ground, a baseball sized rock flew out of the ground. With a powerful swing, Lamina slammed her bat into the rock and it exploded into smaller power-filled rocks that flew right into Audrey’s leaves and the whole thing just exploded in this big earthy mass. Audrey jumped back at the reaction while Lamina lowered her bat as she stepped back to our side.

“If you’re The Keeper and you know it then all of your powers should come back to you naturally,” Shadow called out to her as the short battles raged around him, “You should remember how to use your own powers. Do you even know how to do that?”

Neelaja’s eyes darted everywhere from Audrey and Page behind her to Warrior, Lamina, and Shadow in front of her, “N-No, that’s why I need your help!” But Shadow frowned and said nothing in return.
       
Another Muneris decided to jump up and attack. A guy raced out of the crowd as his eyes flashed a light blue color. A nearby picnic table was illuminated with that same light blue aura as it flew into the air and headed straight for Shadow. This time Matt stepped forward to defend him. His whole hand clicked and shifted as if he was a robot and transformed into a laser cannon. Matt aimed in seconds and fired at the flying picnic table with amazing accuracy, wood splints raining down on us but that was easily dealt with as Matt stepped back to our side.
       
After that attempt another girl gave it a try. She opened her eyes wide and charged up her power to shoot out a laser beam, but Brittney got to her first. Brittney locked her fist with the girl’s face to snap her concentration. With that physical contact, Brittney was able to copy the girl’s ability as she opened her eyes wide and shot yellow lasers towards the FireClaw girl. She screamed in panic and retreated back to her group while Brittney stepped back to our side.
       
Neelaja continued to watch the fights, her concentration with dealing with Shadow was slowly breaking and so was her confidence, “Well can’t– can’t you just, I don’t know, just test me for The Validus?” She pleaded, “You let anyone test for The Validus right?”
       
“No…” Shadow muttered, keeping his hard glare on her.
       
The next Muneris stepped forward and ready to fight. He lifted basketball sized chunks of rock from the ground and hurtled them towards Shadow, and this time it was Mist to step out to protect him. She jumped in the air and swatted her tail towards one of the chunks. Her tail was so powerful that she was able to send the first chunk of rock right back at the Muneris. After her tail whip, she blasted water at the other flying rock that was so intense that it flew over all of the FireClaw’s heads and landed behind them. Mist landed on the ground and watched as the Muneris ran from his own attack before she stepped back to our side.
       
After that Muneris’ attempt, two twins decided that they were going to give this thing a go. The twins moved together as they both created bombs the size of bowling balls and threw them at Shadow. Grav stepped forward and held out his hands towards the twins. The area around them began to swirl and distort and so did the area around the bombs flying towards him. Distorting the gravity around those four subjects, the bombs flew back towards their owners and exploded in their faces. Grav shut his hands and dispelled the gravity distortion before he stepped back to our side.
       
“But you have to test me!” Neelaja called nervously, “That way you can see, uh, you can see how bad I am with my powers and then you can train me!”
       
“I already know how bad you are with your powers…” Shadow mocked with an expressionless face.
       
Another Muneris tried their hand at attacking the Alpha Validus. This time it was a transform Muneris. She jumped forward and transformed into a large brown tiger and ran towards Shadow, but Josh stepped forward and transformed into a velociraptor and opened up his larger, more intimidating mouth in an ear shirking roar. He swiftly turned on his heels and used his thick scaly tail to swat the girl away as she transformed back into a human. Josh also morphed back into a human before he stepped back to our side.
       
With another attempt, a different Muneris ran up to try. The guy held out his hands and a jet stream of water surged towards Shadow. This time Storm stepped forward and blew towards the streams of water, instantly freezing them. Then Storm used his own powers to control those frozen sticks of ice and sent them back to the Muneris with twice the speed, making the FireClaw follower retreat back into his group while Storm stepped back to our side.
       
“Why?!” Neelaja cried. She looked like she was out of options, as if this whole confrontation was a terrible idea that wasn’t even hers to begin with, “Why are you so stubborn? Why can’t you just let go of your stupid pride and help me?!”
       
“Because you’re not worth my time…”

A girl tried her attempt by thrusting out her hands, shooting pin missiles towards Shadow’s chest. Magenta quickly stepped forward to intercept the missiles, transforming her body into an indestructible metal that made the pin missiles bounce off of her as if they were tooth picks. She then clapped her metal hands together, sending a piercing ring that only traveled forward toward the girl’s direction, making her wince in pain as she backed up towards their group while Magenta stepped back to our side.
       
After that, another girl ran out of the group and threw her hand like she was throwing a baseball and it was as if the world went in slow motion. I watched as fire ignited from her palm as she chucked a fireball towards Shadow. Fear spiked in my chest and I felt overwhelmed with pressure. I knew what was supposed to happen, it was my turn. I was supposed to intervene and stop that fireball, but I was so scared and nervous that I was practically petrified with my own anxiety. What should I do? Should I go out there? But Shadow can handle it himself, he can do it. But it’s my job to stop it, is it?
       
Don’t think, I whispered in my head as I held my breath, Don’t think. Don’t think. Don’t think. Don’t think.
       
I repeated that over and over again as I ran forward, my heart pounding so hard in my chest that it blocked out all other sound. Rushing towards the fireball, I extended my hand and caught the fireball with my right hand before twisting my body to the left. Keeping that momentum, I spun around in a circle before I chucked the fireball back towards the girl. She gasped as it hit her square in the chest.
       
A shaky breath escaped my lips as my heart pounded furiously in my chest. I did it…I didn’t think I could but I did it. I stared at the girl in surprise as she retreated back to the FireClaw group, ashamed that she too failed at trying to tag the Alpha Validus. My hand was even shaking, not from the fire, but from the fact that my powers didn’t fail me. With a deep breath, I clenched my fists and slowly backed up until I stepped back to our side.
       
Neelaja shook her head in disbelief and stress. She could possibly be more nervous than I was just there. She really did run out of ideas at this point. Looking back to Audrey and Page, they nodded to her with a fiery determination that Neelaja understood.
       
“If,” Neelaja started, still unsure of her words, “If you won’t teach me then I’ll just have to battle you and make you teach me!”
       
Even when I was high on adrenalin, I could tell that was a terrible move. You’re the weaker one here chicky and you want to fight your teacher to make him teach you? It’s so stupid and it doesn’t even make any sense!
       
Neelaja stretched out her neck as she transformed into her Keeper form. Flexing her newly clawed fingers, she bared her fangs at Shadow and sprinted towards him. She looked determined, but even with that newfound determination she still looked scared. Scared that this new plan wouldn’t work, and we all knew that it wouldn’t.
       
She curled her fist and swung it forward, aiming for Shadow’s face, but Shadow caught her fist in his hand with little effort. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, pulling her towards him before he jabbed a fist into her stomach. The Keeper wheezed as the air was forced out of her system. Then Shadow twisted around so that his back was facing her but he still had a hold of her arm. Arching his back and pulling hard on her arm, Shadow flipped Neelaja over his back, letting her land on the hard ground that knocked even more air out of her body.
       
Neelaja gasped for air and coughed as Shadow just stared down at her with his hands casually tucked in his pocket, “You give up now?”

“Never,” She hissed in a painfully raspy voice. Still having some strength, she scrambled to her feet and growled, “You just made a big mistake…”

“Yeah, sure…” Shadow said, clearly not intimidated by her words. The Keeper attempted another punch to the Alpha Validus’ face, but Shadow side stepped her attack and slammed his foot hard on her tail. She screamed in pain and tried to kick him off, but Shadow leaned back and watched as Neelaja slipped from her own attack and slammed her face into the dirt.
       
“You give up now? I’m not even using my powers here…” Shadow asked, a hint of boredom lining his words.
       
She spat at the ground and tried to catch her breath. Man, if she wasn’t a Muneris, or even The Keeper, she could have broken a bone or somethin’. Or maybe just seriously hurt but she still looked like she had enough strength to keep on fighting, “What makes you think that you’ll win this fight?”
       
Shadow frowned at her and narrowed his eyes at her, “I never make fights I know I can’t win.”
       
That statement just seemed to enrage Neelaja, giving her some more strength to use. She growled and slid on the ground, swiping her tail across his feet. Shadow leaped in the air and did a backflip. After his trick, he landed an uppercut to her chin. I cringed as I could hear the crack of her pointed teeth from the impact, but somehow she was still able to fight, just barely. Holding her face, she curled her fingers and slashed them towards Shadow, but he just kept backing up as she tried to hit him. It was obvious with each swing that she was losing her momentum, her energy to fight. She was just wearing herself out.
       
The Keeper tried once again to use her tail to her advantage but Shadow grabbed it at his side and slammed her to the ground, “Are you done yet?”
       
“NO!” She screamed. Raking her claws on the ground, she scratched upward towards his face but all she really did was fling loose pieces of grass towards him. Shadow could have just dodged the attack like he usually was, but this time he not only dodged her attack but he ran forward, grabbing onto one of her horns that poked out of her head and he slammed her back into the ground with so much force that she should have broken something at this point, but she’s The Keeper, so she’s strong.
       
“Now are you done?” Shadow demanded, his voice hard and cold and screaming for her to give up.
       
Neelaja breathed hard and shut her eyes. She really looked like she was going to give up, she even looked like she was going to cry from this. But Neelaja rose to her feet and wiped her nose. Looking back at the FireClaws and their followers behind her, The Keeper rose her head and cried as loud as she could, “ATTACK!”
       
And now the real fight began.