Of all the enormous buildings, monolithic monuments and skyscrapers that graced the megalopolis of New Alveri, the one towered over all the others was the Grand Temple of the Holy Knights of Nod. The Temple itself had actually been the original city of Alveri, constructed on the foundation of an extinct volcano, yet as the city expanded infinitely outwards, the Temple had been granted an extra-territorial status. Very few commoners ever got to see the inside of the temple, yet what I knew of the place, it was a world onto itself, where only the Holy Knights, Nod's most elite defenders, were allowed residence.
As if to emphasize its separation from the rest of the metropolis, a giant moat surrounded the Grand Temple. As reckless a young dragoness I was, not even she was brash enough to attempt to fly in from one of its perches; not with those fully armed dragon Knights and their riders watching over them.
"I must be completely insane doing this..."
Yet I really didn't have that much of a choice. My parents both died when I was very small, and they had both been clanless, so I had entered into New Alveri as a drifter. I was taken into an orphanage for dragons, as it was a place I could have food and shelter, but as soon as I was old enough to walk on all fours, the caregivers had told me I would have to earn my keep by doing good deeds in the community. Good deeds meant involved me performing odd-jobs for the humans, like breathing fire as a street performer, guarding pubs, lifting heavy shipments for the various shopkeepers and other things that would get me a few gems. That was why I was so familiar with the humans, elves and the other smaller races. I learned to fight because I had to by necessity, and as I grew older, I challenged some of the watch dragons to fight for a wager. What won me so many fights was that many of these dragons didn't think a scrawny bronze dragoness would have any chance, but they did find out the hard way. However, that's the reason why they avoided me nowadays, because they now know I could fight and weren't willing to wager money anymore. Because I was almost fully grown, the orphanage was going to kick me out soon, which meant that I would have to find my own place, and have to resort to other means of getting income. Of course, for young female dragoness desperate to make money, there was that option. I grit my teeth in shook my head, that was NOT an option that I would want to be forced to face, so crazy as it was, I decided to try my luck to become a Holy Knight.
IHowever, there were bridges that led to gates on ground level. Like on the skyway entrances, the gate was manned by a Dragon Knight. Though these dragons were but of the lowest orders of the Holy Knights, they would make mincemeat out of Kaj or your typical civilian watch dragon.
"State your business here fledgling!!" growled the guard. I frowned. He couldn't have been that much older than myself actually. I would not allow myself to be intimidated.
"I wish to gain entry into the Grand Temple, and join the Holy Knights of Zod," I proclaimed, trying to sound as 'knightly' as I possibly could.
"Is that so?" the Knight responded, keeping his face rigid, but I could tell that he looked like he wanted to laugh out loud, "And what makes you believe that you possess the qualities to become a Knight?"
"I am a strong fighter, I train myself to get better every single day, and I take every opportunity to test out my skills!!" I answered. "What, on a human or an elf?"
"I'll show you just how strong I am!!" I threatened, baring my teeth. I knew this was a bad idea, but I couldn't think of anything else that might prove myself.
I was suddenly blindsided by a powerful blow to the belly, knocking me off my feet. My head spun, and I switched my gaze back to see the guard with his head cocked sideways, looking mildly amused. I bared my teeth and let out a roar, and charged at him again. Quicker than I imagined possible from a dragon that heavily armored, he moved aside and swung his tail around, once again sending me to the ground.
I had never been so outclassed in my entire life. He stood over me and lowered his head to my level.
"Your skill is lacking, but you do have a reckless spirit about you..." he answered.
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