"Where in the Spirits is the rest of my logs? We had an agreement..." A wealthy looking man stood outside a small store berating an elderly man that stood with a nearly empty wagon bowing his head down in apologies.

  Near them was a group naughty children approaching the wagon in silence before pausing and turning away after hearing the conversation.

  " We got lucky last year with that boy from the Briggs family. We probably won't get another genius like him for awhile."

  "He ain't no genius. Commander Ricks was a genius. Too bad he died in battle. He could've been the greatest Elemental to ever come out from our city." Across the street, through the crowded streets, was a group of older gentleman sitting down arguing about other people's greatness while sipping their tea.

  "How many you think our city will get?" "I say two. We had four last year. We need to balance it out." Passing by the group of old men were a group of ladies making guesses on the amount of Awakeners there would be before passing by a pair of boys who looked to be around the ages of twelve to fourteen.

  "Are you scared?" Damon scoffed at the question while dodging a group of giggling ladies before turning his head to the boy walking beside him with a sneer. The boy a head taller than him merely responded with a mocking smile below a growing mustache as they walked the crowded streets of Sparking city.

  "Me? Scared? C'mon Roddy." With a brow raised in disbelief at the question. "Why would I be scared?" Damon asked, clutching a pouch around his hip as the contents inside were of major importance. And with today being Awakening Day, he was on the constant lookout for thieves who became very busy during this time of year.

  "Then what took you so long to leave the house? Praying to the Spirits that they showed pity towards you." The taller of the boys threw his head back in laughter at his own joke causing a few dark strands of hair to fall on his forehead, escaping his messily made bun. Damon still wondered how he left the house like that knowing how much importance his friend's mother held on presentation. Especially on a day like this.

  "No" A sarcastic smile creeped its way onto Damon as he immediately thought of a comeback after a smiling group of courtesans walked past them leaving behind a scent of flowers in their wake that his friend took the opportunity to relish in. " It's just that my family and I came together to pray to the Spirits that when we leave the house we wouldn't have to see that perverted mustache of yours."

  Rodrick gasped "Impossible" Rodrick covered his mustache in horror "Little Riles wouldn't participate in such a demonic ritual."

  "She's young." Damon countered. " She doesn't know that some monsters come in human form."

  Damon looked up to the clear blue sky and grinned in victory feeling he won before it quickly morphed into a grimace as his view of the clear blue sky quickly turned into the gray cracked streets of Sparking city due to being held in a headlock. Damon, aiming for revenge, pinched the sides of Rodrick drawing out a shriek from him catching the attention of those around them. Frowns and smiles of amusement were sent their way resulting in both boys releasing their hold of each other to smile and bow in apology. Side-eyeing each other with pursed lips, both boys broke out in a fit of giggles before continuing their journey through the busy streets of Sparking City.

  ***

  The city of Sparking City was always alive during this time of year. Mainly due to the influx of visitors from outside the city in the forms of townspeople and village folk from the surrounding areas who came to support their children who are eligible for the upcoming Awakening Ceremony. And with more people meant more pockets. Merchants, peddlers, farmers and many others came to the city in droves hoping to catch the waves of silver and gold making its way through the city. With a big boom in population, the sights on the streets of the city were many.

  As city locals, the boys had certain a level of experience. Walking through the crowded streets dodging elbows, fists and spit, the boys were able to spot the familiar and unfamiliar sights. Peddlers selling their items from their carts as they pulled them up and down the street shouting out their wares. Merchants standing outside of businesses, complaining about products that should have been ready for them, leading to shouting matches or in some rare cases, fights. A sight most common after sunset. Parents scolding their children after witnessing them take a tumble or being the reason why someone else took a tumble, much to the amusement of the duo. The sights were many in the now crowded city.

  As the duo continued their journey, they noticed a small crowd off to the side expressing aloud 'oohs' and 'aah' catching the attention of the duo. Rodrick glanced at Damon who shrugged his shoulders before making their way to the crowd. Slipping past bodies and dodging elbows was the path taken by Damon. Rodrick with his tall stature had to push past people with smiles and apologies before he could get to where Damon was standing, welcoming him with a broad smile. "Your height didn't help you there did it?"

  Rodrick gasped, wearing an exaggerated look of concern while pointing at Damon's cheek. "Hey, I think you weren't careful enough, it looks like you might have bumped into someone's shin on the way here." Damon stuck his tongue out at his friend who responded with a smile of victory.

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  With their quick battle of wits over, they shifted their attention over to the reason for the crowd. A shirtless man stood in the middle of the crowd carrying a torch in both hands, waving them around as he danced in the center captivating the crowd with his elegant and dangerous stunt. Awe and curiosity could be found on the faces of everyone within the crowd including Damon and Rodrick. Although they have seen similar performances in the past, they never got tired of them. It was the closest thing to a legendary Fire Elemental that they ever got to experience. Or any type of Elemental, since Elementals were rarely seen in the Outer Districts. Most are usually personal guards of those of status or they are sent to outposts on the Republics borders.

  Damon watched the performer swinging the torches in hands without fear of burning himself. It was like the performer was able tame the fire. Damon flinched before letting out a laugh after the man lifted both torches up to the sky and blew them causing a burst of flames to shoot up into the air. Applause and laughter broke out from the crowd as the man took a bow signaling the end of his performance.

  All of a sudden, the near midday sun's rays of light was blocked and a shadow was cast over the crowd of spectators. Damon, turning his attention to the sky, froze in shock after witnessing a dragon flying overhead. The sight of the creature elicited shrieks and shouts of fear from the crowd as everyone stepped back, ready to run at the sight of the behemoth roaming the skies before pausing and taking a closer look. The giant creature that spread fear across the crowd wasn't a dragon but a ship. An airship. Damon had seen airships before like the ships the Academy sends every year to pick up their students. But the airship in front of him differed from the familiar wooden airships. The airship currently sailing across the skies for one had a dragon head that everyone had mistaken for a real dragon of lore as the bow of the ship and at the stern of the ship was a tail swishing back and forth.

  The dragon head was covered in black scales the size of an adult human that shimmered around its nose from the sunlight hitting it. It's nostrils occasionally released smoke to add a more realistic approach and its eyes made up entirely of rubies sparkled every few seconds as if it was observing its surroundings with majesty. At the stern of the ship was a tail made up of similar material as the dragon head, swishing back and forth releasing bursts of flames similar to the flames the performer from earlier produced only bigger. Connecting both ends was a ship covered in the same black scales.

  On the side of the ship visible to Damon, was a sigil he recognized from the many books he read. With a ruby red background as its backdrop, a black dragon with ruby colored eyes raised its head to release a roar towards the skies.

  Damon and everyone around him watched in silent awe at the ship making its way to Governor's Mansion where the only landing platform existed. A piercing cry from a baby broke the silence bringing everyone out of their trance.

  "I've never seen an airship like that before." Rodrick said as he marveled at the retreating ship. "Its way better looking than the ships that came before." Rodrick widened his eyes "Hey, maybe thats the ship the Academy sent to pick up this years Awakeners."

  Damon hearing this perked up before quickly deflating.

  "Sadly, you're wrong." Damon doused the older boy's excitement.

  "What, why?" Rodrick asked for an explanation and before Damon could explain a voice cut him off.

  "Because that ship doesn't belong to the Academy. A flamboyant ship like that would never be under the flag of the Academy." A tall muscular man with dark shoulder length hair styled in a ponytail interrupted their conversation to explain the reasoning why they won't be using the flying dragon ship. Beside the man was a short slightly chubby woman who was carrying a bundle in her arms being shaded by an umbrella the intimidating man who interrupted their conversation was holding.

  "The ship belongs to House Lyle. If you paid more attention in school maybe you would have known." Rodrick adopted a bland look, scanned his surroundings for anything interesting to escape his father's scoldings. Frowning at his son's reaction, the tall man ready to utter a barrage of scolding was stopped by the woman beside him who elbowed him

  "Kade" The short woman said with a glare.

  "I'm sure our son just forgot. Right Roddy?" Rodrick's mother smiled at her eldest who nodded halfheartedly.

  "Answer your mother with words boy." The stern voice of Rodricks father passed through the air infecting it with tension.

  Damon witnessing this could only smile awkwardly and hope someone would break the heavy tension.

  "DAMON. Did you see Sparky's brother?" Riley came running with their parents trailing behind. Damon glad someone came to slice the awkward air in half, happily dove into the conversation with a frantic nod at his sister who held up her dragon stuff toy towards him.

  "We sure did." Rodrick answered enthusiastically, also happy someone came to save him. "Your brother got scared but don't worry I was here to protect him." Rodrick patted himself on the chest, face filled with pride.

  "Were you scared" Riley asked her older brother who rolled his eyes at the question.

  "Me? I guess you don't remember the time I looked under the bed to make sure there weren't any monsters hiding? Or when you were too scared to walk down the dark hallway to get a glass of water so I followed you to make sure nothing happened? Hmm?" Riley nodded her head at the memories of her brother braving the scary world for her.

  "I'm not afraid of anything." Damon slapped his chest in pride, satisfied with himself and his past actions. That is until he felt eyes on him. Looking towards the right he saw his parents staring at him in amusement. Feeling his days of being afraid of the dark coming to light, he quickly grabbed ahold of Riley's hand and said "Onwards"

  Rodrick grimaced at his friend's choice of words, muttering to himself " What a weirdo."

  Sadly for Damon, he managed to hear the remark causing him to redden in embarrassment. "How about you give your mother a break and take your brother off her hands." Waving the hand that held Rileys "Be a good big brother for once."

  Rodrick offended at the brash remark marched his way to his mother to grab his baby brother swathed in a bundle of blankets. With a smile of reassurance to his mother, he was able to have his brother in his arms. Turning around and pointing to the center of the city mimicking his friend "ONWARDS."