Chapter One

Eight squires enter the king’s castle. A wizard standing next to the king and queen shakes his head as the squires talk about nothing but becoming a knight. They are eager and too excited. 

Queen: “Young squires, are you ready to prove yourselves as a knight?”

Percy: “Didn’t we already prove ourselves?”

King: “That’s what you think.”

Logan: “So what do we have to do? Go through the course of doom?”

Blake: -snickers-

Queen: “No. You must survive in the Dragon Academy.”

Luca: “What?”

Leo: “Your majesty...we, we’re humans. Not dragons.”

Queen: “I am aware of that.”

Blake: “Hold on, hold on. This is a joke, right?”

Queen: -shakes her head slowly- “You must survive the dangers of fire breathing dragons–”

Shires: -say “no” in different ways-

King: “Very well. I will see to it that you all remain a squire for the rest of your life.”

Squires: “NO!”

Percy: “Okay, okay, okay, okay. We’ll go.”

Blake: “Uhh…do you have a map?”

Wizard: “Ah, yes. And this book will be helpful too.”

Alex: “A book?”

The wizard gives Blake a rolled up map. He gives Koda an informational book about different dragons.

Blake: -unrolls the map- “That looks far away.”

Luca: “Can we ride horse–”

King: “No.”

Jake: *bleep* -_-

Percy: "But won't horses get us there faster?" 

Wizard: “They won’t get you up that tall mountain.”

Alex: “Wait, there’s a tall mountain?”

Blake: "Well *bleep*"

Queen: “The sooner you get started, the sooner you will arrive. Now, you are dismissed.”

The squires immediately went on their way. The wizard again shook his head as the squires took off like complete amateurs.

Koda: “Are you sure you’re holding that map correctly?”

Blake: “Uhh, yeah. I’m sure.”

Leo: “And just how sure are you?”

Blake: "Ummm..."

Percy: "You're not sure are you? "

Blake: "No."

Leo: “I could hold it.”

All: “No!”

Leo: “Fine…” -grumbles-

Logan: “Oh hey look,”

Logan points at a very dark and eerie swamp.

Logan: “It’s the forest of doom.”

Jake: -gulps-

Alex: “Come on Jake! There’s no turning back now.”

Jake: -nervously- “Okay.”

Blake: “Oh hey what do ya know. The map even says ‘Forest of Doom’. Ha!”

Koda: “Looks more like a swamp.”

Alex: “Forget about what it looks like okay? Let’s get through this forest–”

Koda: “Swamp.”

Alex: “Er-Whatever, and get to the Dragon’s Academy.”

It was indeed a very scary swamp. The fog was so thick one could barely see, there were so many branches that looked like beasts, and the wind…don’t even get me started.

Jake: “Are we near the exit yet?”

Blake: “No.”

Jake: *bleep*

Alex: -SCREAM-

All turned to Alex who was looking at a branch.

Logan: -laughs- “You got scared by a branch.”

Alex: “Shut up.”

Luca began trembling as something wooshed through the air.

Luca: “What was that?”

Blake: “Maybe it’s the wind. After all, this place does play a lot of tricks.”

Koda: “Suuure.” 

Mysterious creature: -hisses-

Jake: “I thought snakes didn’t live in swamps.”

Koda: “What kind of idiot told you that?”

Logan: “Your mom.”

Koda: “This isn’t a time to joke, Logan.”

Jake: “My brother told me.”

Koda sighs and palms his face. He then puts his hand on Jake’s shoulder

Koda: “Jake,”

Jake: “Yeah?”

Koda: “there will be snakes.”

Jake: “I know.”

Koda: “And they will be everywhere.”

Blake: “How come we haven’t seen a single one so far, though?”

Leo: “I thought that ‘woosh’ was a snake.”

Everyone: -Looks at Leo with an ‘are-you-stupid-or-something?’ look-

Leo: “What? I thought that’s what YOU guys were saying.”

Koda yet again palms his face

Koda: *murmurs* “I am surrounded by idiots.”

A tiny creature lands in front of them. For a swamp creature, its colors were very bright.

Squires: “Aww!”

Jake: “Koda, what is it?”

Koda: -opens da book- “It’s a type of dragon…we really should be going…”

Jake: “Says who?”

Koda: “Says the one holding a book.”

Jake: -rolls his eyes-

Creature: “WHAT ARE YOU DOIN IN MA SWAMP?”

Squires: O_O

Leo: “...It–talks.”

Dragon: “Yes I talk.”

Blake: “Interesting…”

Percy: “Hello, little dragon. Nice swamp ya got here. Very ah…swampy.”

Creature: “Well, uhm, thank-you.”

Percy: “You’re welcome. So…uh, er, what are you called?”

Blake: -really face-

Creature: “I am BUBBLE!”

Koda: “Bubble…riight.”

Alex: “Not gonna lie, but I kinda like that name.”

Koda: "You guys, the book!" 

Bubble: -snatches book out of Koda's hands- "*BLEEP* THE BOOK!"

Blake: “What’s wrong with the book? Is it cursed or somethin?”

Bubble: “I’m only telling this to you because you seem like a nice bundle of knights, but the only thing that book leads you to is death. -Dramatic pause- A group just like you guys came through a few years ago, and only 1 came back alive. Beware.”

Koda: -murmurs- “‘Beware’ my *bleep*.”

Bubble: “What was that?”

Koda: “Nothing.”

Bubble: “That’s what I thought. Anyway, allow me to lead you to the academy.”

Blake: “So I guess we won’t need this map then.”

Koda: -facepalm-

Bubble: “Well, come on then. We have a long journey ahead of us.”

The soon-to-be-knights trek through various biomes, and eventually stop in front of an ice cave.

Bubble: “The trial requires you to come through here. There’s a tunnel inside that leads to a…relatively safe path up the mountain, which is where you will reach dragon academy.”

Alex: “Define ‘Relatively safe’.”

Bubble: “Good luck, I’m too cold to stay out here.”

Percy: “Bye, Bubble!”

They all peak into the ice cave.

Jake: “It looks safe enough.”

Logan: “Looks can be deceiving. We should send a scout.”

All: -look at Leo-

Leo: “Why is everyone looking at me?”

Alex: “Go check the cave.”

Leo: “Why me?”

Alex: “Because.”

Leo -sighs-

Leo walked inside the cave. It was quite dark.

Logan: “Well, we’re never gonna see him again.”

A few hours later…

Alex: -Runs stick through the snow- “When’s Leo gonna get back?”

Koda: -scoffs- “Wouldn’t be surprised if he got lost.”

Percy: “No, he’s got a point.”

Alex: “Should we check on him?”

Logan: -Stands up- “My legs are stiff, anyhow. Besides, we could possibly leave him behind as we make our way to the exit.”

Everyone else immediately stands up.

Jake: “We’re in.”

The squires go into the icy cave. Light from an unknown source illuminates the ice in many different colors.

Luca: “Woah! So worth it.”

Percy: -stares in wonder- “Uh-huh.”

Alex: “Hey guys, come look at what I found!”

Everyone looks at Alex, who is standing next to a stone statue, a sword drawn and in a defensive stance.

Alex: “Cool, right?”

Jake: “So cool.”

Logan: -Mimics statue’s position- “Onward, my fellow squires!...Wait, I see another statue.”

They all walk over to observe the other statue

Koda: “He looks like he’s half-way into falling down.”

Alex: “I prefer the ‘Onward’ guy.”

Another statue next to it had a sword pointing at the floor, a touch of scarlet on the edge of the blade.

Luca: “I like the scarlet, it reminds me of blood. Nice touch.”

They continue on to the end of the cave, where they see a strange statue.

Logan: “Hey look you guys, it looks just like Leo!” -In a stupid voice- “Hey guys, I’m Leo, and I have, like, zero IQ.”

Blake: -snickers-

Koda: “Wait, guys. This looks a little…too much like Leo.”

Percy: “Are you suggesting that Leo is a statue?!”

Alex: “Only one way to find out.” 

Alex looks at the bottom of the hilt, where a distinct symbol is embedded.

Alex: “It’s Leo’s family crest!”

Luca: “Leo is a statue!”

They peer around the corner, and there is a cavern full of statues. They all panic.

Blake: “Holy *Bleep*!”

Logan: “We’re all gonna get TURNED to STONE!!!”

Koda: “Guys!”

They all become quiet.

Koda: “I’ve read about this. It’s a dragon species called Medusa.”

Luca: “What do we do?”

Koda: “Does anyone see an exit?”

Blake: “Umm. Yeah. There’s only one other cave.”

Koda: “Huh. Convenient. Anyway, walk towards that cave in a tight, straight line. Fix your eyes on the heels of the person in front of you.”

They carefully walk forward. Jake jumps as he hears the sound of more hissing.

Blake: “I can see the exit!”

Without hesitation, they ran towards the light, but they didn’t expect what could have been on the other side of the cave. After reaching the end of the cave, the path had ended. 

Blake: “It looks like we’ll have to climb.” 

The other squires groan.

Logan: “REALLY?”

Jake: “COME ON!”

Alex reaches out, trying to grab onto the side of the mountain. 

Alex: “I almost got it…” 

Medusa: -hits Alex’s back making him fall-

Alex: -screams-

Koda: -quickly grabs Alex by the hand- “Get your *bleep* back up here.”

Luca: “Well…”

Jake: “Don’t you think we’ve already done enough climbing?”

Luca: “Apparently not.”

Two hours of more climbing later…

Logan: “IT’S SO WINDY UP HERE!”

Blake: “WHAT?”

Logan: “I SAID, IT IS VERY WINDY!”

Blake: “Oh…”

It was indeed very windy. Blake lost his grip and fell off the mountain due to the strong winds.

Logan: “There goes that guy.”

Koda (who just so happened to be right next to Logan): “That GUY had our map, you imbecile!”

Logan: “Oh…”

Another two hours of climbing later.

Jake: “ARE WE THERE YET?”

Koda: “NO!...I DON’T THINK.”

Luca: “BRUH, WE’VE BEEN CLIMBING FOR TWO HOURS STRAIGHT!”

Koda: “HOW CAN YOU TELL?”

Luca: “THE TRANSITION SAID SO.”

Jake: (Who is right next to Luca.) “Dude, no 4th wall breaking.”

Luca: “Oh, sorry.”

Percy: “GUYS, THE TOP’S UP HERE!”

They all catch up. The top was, indeed, up there, where the wind had settled a little. They all gazed up at a huge, almost 10-story high arc.

Alex: -mouth drop- :0

Logan: “Dude…that’s huge.”

Jake: “If dragon academy isn’t somewhere past this arc, it’s nowhere.”

Koda: -puffs a sigh- “I guess. It’s our best shot. Ya know…” -glares at Logan- “NOT having a MAP.”

Logan: -wmiles- “WHAT? THE WIND’S TOO LOUD!! I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!”

Koda: -slowly shakes his head.- “Why do I try?”

They continue to walk on, the giant arc looming over them. A furry dragon shows up. They almost look like a wolf. But with wings.

Furry Dragon: “You must be the new squires.”

Alex: “Uhh…”

Logan: “Yup. That’s us!”

Furry Dragon: “Then allow me to lead you to Dragon Academy. Follow me this way please.”

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