Tristian Magical Academy, Kingdom of Tristian; Halkegenia

It was a brisk spring morning in the Magical Academy of Tristian, on the continent of Halkegenia.The sun shone high in the sky, casting its warm light down upon the world below. The white stone walls of the Academy practically glistened in the morning light, creating the image of a grand stone fortress brimming with wealth and positivity... for nobles at least. Within the great walls of the Academy, the second year students began to gather around a large open courtyard. Young men and women of all shapes and sizes crowded around their friends, chatting in an animated fashion as they discussed the topic of the day; the Summoning Ritual.

Each of these students wore a long dark cloak over a white dress shirt, with boys wearing long black pants and the girls wearing knee length black skirts to help preserve their modesty. A large circular broach with a five pointed star emblazoned in the center of it kept the ends of their cloak from falling away, though it was rather quite bulky and impractical. No commoner within the entire continent could so much as afford the uniform of an academy student, thus it was no surprise that every single student on the grounds was from nobility.

Among the unruly band of nobles, a young woman with strawberry pink hair stood out from the rest of the pack, and for all the wrong reasons. Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière was quite petite for her age, and didn't look a day over 14 despite having lived for over 17 winters. She was among the shortest in her year, despite having come from a family of tall, charismatic nobility. She glanced around nervously, tapping her foot. She was right to feel rather apprehensive, after all, as a Mage she had never cast a successful spell in her entire life.

Her absolute failure to conjure up anything but an explosion had earned her the name "Zero" Oh how she loathed being called that! It took every mistake and failure and just threw it in her face and rubbed salt into her wounded pride. Still, she was a Vallière; a member of the most respected noble family within the kingdom of Tristian. With that name came a certain sense of dignity that no amount of name calling could take away from the young Louise for long.

"Ahem, students if I may have your attention please," A voice called out from across the clearing. Louise turned her gaze in the direction where the shout had come from and sighed softly to herself. It was Professor Colbert, the man who would be in charge of the ritual today. Though he was bald, the professor was quite clearly a fit man, towering over the rest of the class as he leaned casually upon his staff. His robes were cobalt blue and swept out behind him as he shook his head and took a couple of steps towards the crowd who didn't seem to have heard him. The mage cleared his throat, tapping the butt of his staff on the cobblestones to make sure that everyone had their eyes and ears focused on him.

"First off; I wish to give my congratulations to all of you. As second year students, today is an exceptionally important day." He continued, smiling at the young nobles as well as the few servants who were taking a break to watch the professor's address to the students. He paid the commoners no mind, after all it wasn't like they were going to participate in the ritual in any way. After all, only the ruling class were even capable of doing magic, and no commoner had a drop of magical talent within themselves.

"For today is among our most sacred of days, and arguably the most important day in any Mage's life. For today, you will call forth your familiar; your eternal servant who serve as your faithful companion for the rest of your days!" He said spreading his arms out wide. "The summoning of a Familiar is a sacred ritual, and whatever you call forth from the Ether and beyond is what you get. There are no do overs, am I clear?"

"Guess that Louise won't be able to summon anything but a massive explosion!" A particularly heavy set boy said off to the side. Louise glared daggers at him from the corner of her eye, but took a few deep breaths and tried to calm herself down. The other second years continued to snicker and giggle, which did nothing but piss off the pinkette even further.

"Hah! The Zero and her failure; what a beautifully poetic partnership that would be!" Came another voice from the crowd, this time from a curly haired girl by the name of Montmorency. Louise scowled, grinding her teeth but opting to remain silent. They were all so full of themselves...she would show them. She had to, the honor of her family depended on it...

"Oh come now, I'm sure Louise will summon the greatest familiar that anyone of us has ever seen." Louis whipped around, her eyes twitching with irritation. They locked onto a dark skinned girl that stood several heads taller than her with dark red locks of hair. "After all, with all of your boasting yesterday I would expect nothing less than the best." She said with a teasing smile.

This…Germanian harlot was known as Kirche von Zerbst, and Louise absolutely hated her. Not only because she had a tendency to sleep around with pretty much every boy that she could get her hands on, but also because her family had a long standing rivalry with the Zerbst family. Those factors, combined with her well developed, voluptuous body and exoticly dark skin made Louise the 'Zero' absolutely despise Kirche the 'Fever'.

"I will Zerbst! I'll show all of you!" Louis growled, seething with unconcealed anger as she stomped her foot into the dirt, kicking up a small cloud of dust and dirtying her pristine black leather shoes. Why did she have to go and open up her big stupid mouth the other day? If she had just bit her lip and held her tongue she wouldn't have to live up to the failure of…no! No she would not fail! Not this time! If there was one day for anything to truly go her way, it was today. After all, if she failed at even summoning her familiar…no, she wouldn't even permit herself to think that way!

"Please, the Zero can't even cast a proper spell, what makes you think that she won't screw this up as well?" said another snarky boy with blonde hair. Louise grimaced and clenched her wand tightly in her fist. Guiche de Garmout, or Guiche the 'Bronze' as he so often liked to be called held his rose shaped wand in front of his mouth, chuckling. Louise slowly reached into her robes, grabbing for the hilt of her wand...if Guiche wanted to pick a fight then by Brimir he would get it! However, before anything could escalate however, the professor stepped forward.

"Settle down, all of you! I will not have you bickering amongst each other during this sacred ritual!" He growled, cowing everyone else around Louise into submission. "Now if you don't mind, it's time for us to begin."

The first few summons were rather unremarkable. A bugbear here, a fairy there…wait, did Louise just see a little black dog? The young Vallière smirked and shook her head, trying to cover up her lips as she laughed silently under her breath. She would be embarrassed for summoning such a common, lowly creature. With her competition so lax she felt quite confident that she'd be able to upstage them all.

It was in that moment that the young Gallian, Tabitha summoned her familiar…a glorious blue scaled dragon. Despite the fact that it was quite young, it was still utterly massive and incredibly powerful. Louise's eyebrow twitched in irritation. Damn, now she had to top even that, or at least draw even with her. The young girl shook her head, determination burning fiercely in her red eyes. She would not let herself be discouraged so easily!

Guiche the Bronze being the pompous fop that he was ended up summoning a dirty mole the size of a large dog, fitting for someone who was the flirtatious fourth son of the Gramout family. Like a typical nobleman trying to cover up his failure, the young man went about proclaiming to anyone who would listen that he had planned on summoning the wretched creature the entire time. Louise smiled inwardly, reveling in his humiliation for the moment.

Kirche von Zerbst, much to Louise's chagrin, had summoned as fiery salamander. The great red scaled lizard sat at the dark skinned bimbo's side like a loyal hound, its fire tipped tail lashing back and forth as it glared at everyone in sight. The Germaninan noble looked over at Louise with a broad smile, gently stroking the beast's head. Everyone was crowding around her, gazing in awe at the exotic beast.

"Hehe, think you can top this Louise? Come on now, you know you can only try." The Germanian teased over the din of the crowd, winking at the strawberry haired girl. Louise fumed; there was no way she was going to ever be upstaged by that bimbo again, ever! She would show her, and everyone else that she was deserving of the Vallière family name!

Professor Colbert looked over the students and their familiars, watching them as they went about bonding with one another. He smiled, relieved that everyone seemed happy with what they had pulled forth. "Alright then, has everyone finished?" He asked, scanning the courtyard for anyone who did not have a familiar present with them.

"Louise hasn't gone yet!" Kirche said, speaking up over the throng of students. Several of their faces went noticeably pale as they stepped away from the young Valliere and looked over at the Germanian with horror in their eyes.

"You can't let her try; all she'll do is kill us!

"Yeah, she can't even get the most basic of spells right, what makes you think that she'll do any different this time!"

"Don't let her do it, its suicide!"

Louise's face burned a bright shade of red, and she had to fight the tears trying to form in her eyes. She bit her lip, nearly drawing blood as she stepped forward. Everyone near the summoning circle took several spaces back, clearly panicked as the petite girl raised her wand. Many of them ended up nearly falling over one another in their mad scramble to get away from the young Vallière.

"I'll show every single one of you!" She said in as dignified of a manner as she could produce despite the fact that her voice was quavering. She clenched her fist harder, causing her hand to shake violently as she tried not to let her rage seep into her voice. Professor Colbert stepped forward and gently placed his hand on the girl's shoulder, and Louise was rather grateful for the gesture of trust.

"You may begin when you're ready" He said, being the only person brave enough to be anywhere close to Louise when she attempted to perform any feat of magic.

The Vallière nodded, taking a deep breath. She summoned up her courage, and began to speak, raising her wand high into the air over the circle.

"To my servant who exists somewhere in this vast universe"

Several other student blinked, talking amongst themselves, seemingly finding it rather hard to believe what Louise was saying…and that her wand hadn't exploded in her face yet! No one had expected that...though it was likely only a matter of time before it happened. As such, each of them took another good step or two back, just in case.

"That's really vauge, can she do that?" Kirche asked, elbowing her friend Tabitha. The young blue haired girl looked up and gave the slightest shrug of her shoulders before returning to her book. However, unbeknownst to anyone her eyes peered over the rim of the leather bound tome as she watched Louise intensely, her glasses flashing in the light of the midday sun.

Louise began holding her wand higher aloft. She could already feel the power surging through her body, causing her eyes to light up in delight! She had never felt such power coursing through her veins in her entire life! So great was her disbelief and pleasure that she did not notice the sky darkening overhead as the air slowly grew frigid.

"I, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, in the name of the Pentagon of Five Elemental Powers call out to you!"

It was then that the ghostly, barbaric chanting began. The sky rumbled and green lightning split the heavens. It sent shivers up the young mage's spine. This sort of thing hadn't occurred during the other student's rituals, but the young woman wasn't about to let this faze her as she continued to speak, inspiration now flowing through her as she whipped her wand through the air.

Several other students began to back further away from the young mage, feeling rather startled at the sudden turn of events. The fact that the Zero was actually doing something that no one had ever seen before didn't come as a surprise, but the otherworldly chant drifting upon the breeze and the darkening of the morning sky certainly did.

Many of them cowered behind one another, and a few of them took cover behind the professor as he watched the sky curiously. He quickly reached down and grabbed a tome from his bag, flicking his fingers to summon a floating quill and inkwell as he quickly began to take notes about the event.

"My wise, beautiful, powerful and divine servant who strikes fear into even the hearts of dragons!"

Louise continued, finally noticing that the air had suddenly becoming quite frigid. Something cold and wet brushed up against her face, prompting the Vallière to pause. Snow? In the middle of spring? How could that be? She shook her head and continued, determined to continue despite the protests of her classmates, who begged her to stop as the ethereal chant grew in intensity. She would show them all, this was her moment!

"Heed my call and bring yourself forth…My…Familiar!"

The sky flashed brilliantly, and a dazzling array of beautiful lights began to dance overhead in long, endless ribbons. It was a phenomenon of breathtaking beauty that no one present in the courtyard had ever seen. The dancing lights shifted and turned with all the colors of the rainbow. And then Louise noticed something even stranger than the light show overhead. Two moons hung in the sky, one currently hiding partially behind the other. To complete this already otherworldly view of the sky, the deep, unnerving voices broke into song, the air crackling like thunder all around the Academy.

Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin, naal ok zin vahriin

Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal!

Ahrk fin norok pall graan fod nus hon zindro zaan,

Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!

The ghostly barbarian choir had burst into deafening song, drowning out the screams of the students around her as they covered their heads in fear and collapsed to the ground in fright.. The sound of instruments followed, though no one could see their players as the music drifted across the breeze. The wind began to pick up, whipping the lightly falling snow around them into a frenzy.

So great was everyone's distress that no one seemed to notice Tabitha's dragon look towards the sky, its mouth agape. The young Gallian looked up at her familiar, seemingly surprised as she noticed how awestruck the blue scaled dragon appeared to be. She gently reached over to pat the great scaly beast on the leg...but it remained entranced by the chorus that shook the very heavens themselves.

Huzrah nu, ku do od, wa aan bok, lingrah vod,

Ahrk fin tey, bozik fun, do fin gein!

Louise herself now had to cover her ears and eyes as the snow began to blind her, chilling her to the bone as a distant roar echoed across the heavens, accompanied by several female voices added to the choir. This was too strange, she had never even heard of such an event taking place during a summoning ritual, and she had done many weeks of research in advance to make sure that she hadn't screwed anything up during this most sacred of days.

Wo lost fran wah ney dov, ahrk fin reyliik do jul,

Voth aan suleyk wah ronit faal krein!

The male voices continued, though far more muted this time as the female's calm, hauntingly beautiful voice overshadowed them. Louise could swear that she heard more echoing snarls and roaring drifting out across the snowstorm, but she couldn't be sure.

Fod zeymah win kein meyz fundein,

Alduin, feyn do jun, kruziik vokun staadnau

Voth aan bahlok wah diivon fin lein!

Even over the din of the trumpets playing, Louise could clearly hear the distinctive sound of a dragon's cry as she could distinctly see blasts of flame streaking through the falling snow. In fact she heard several different dragons. It was then that a massive shape appeared before her. The Valliere's heart soared, finally! Her familiar was here to greet her! The young woman squared her shoulders proudly, ready to see her dragon face to face.

The ground shook, and clods of dirt flying up into Louise's face prompted her to dive to the side and just in time too. For her glorious soon to be familiar plowed into the ground face first in front of her, leaving a great furrow nearly fifty yards long in its wake and destroying the carefully laid out chalk summoning circle. The white scaled dragon's face and neck were caked in blood from various ghastly wounds, several of which looked quite mortal. It was then that Louise noticed several arrows sticking out of her familiar's scaly hide, each one of them embedded deep into its flesh almost to the fletching.

The dragon growled menacingly as it tried to stand, but it's wings would no longer support it's gargantuan bulk. As Louise reached down to try and comfort the wounded creature, it's mighty jaws snapped, narrowly missing the startled noblewoman's bare hands. Louise couldn't understand the hate that burned in the creature's icy blue eyes. Why had it tried to bite her? She had just summoned it after all.

She never got her answer, for the dragon's eyes soon closed forever and it's head slumped over to the side. As the monster's body went limp, the young Valliere looked over the white scaled beast in shock. What in the name of the founder had killed her glorious familiar?!

Suddenly, the entire world shook again as a powerful voice ripped through the air, shaking everyone to their very bones.

"Lok vah koor!"

The snowstorm immediately began to settle, revealing two more dragons locked in deadly combat…with a single man. The stranger bore only a blade and shield, with a bow strung over his back. Judging by the pattern and bulkiness of his clothing however, it was rather easy to see that he was wearing some sort of armor as well. He stood at the ready, his shield raised in a defensive position as both of the beasts circled him.

Louise gasped in shock; she had summoned not one, not two, but four separate beings. Anyone of them could be her destined familiar...However, the young noblewoman stood there transfixed by the deadly battle, unable to move or lend aid to either side. The man standing before both of the great monsters was no doubt a commoner judging by his choice of weaponry, but Louise could only imagine the courage it took to face a single dragon in battle, yet alone two on very uneven terms.

Both of the dragons were equally magnificent in her eyes. One of them bore great bronze scales and a massive mace shaped tail, while the other one was more of your archetypal flying green lizard. Either way, binding a dragon to her service as a familiar was the surest way to prove to everyone that she was truly a great mage…now only if she could bring herself to break up the fighting.

One of the dragons spewed forth a great ball of flame, its voice drowned out by din of battle. The man dodged to the side and rolled, prompting Professor Colbert to step in and raise his staff, projecting a ward around him and his students. The fire washed over the shield with a loud resounding crash and dissipated, but not before almost driving the Professor to his knees. "Remarkable…" He muttered under his breath. Then he remembered his duties to the school and rose further to his feet. "Everyone get behind me!"

Nuz an suul, fent alok, fod fin vul dovah nok,

Fen kos nahlot, mahfearaak ahrk ruz!

The man, whilst heavily outnumbered and outmatched was more than willing to continue putting up a fight, much to Louise's surprise. She had expected the commoner to break off and run for the safety of the nobles, the fact that he was willing to stay and fight branded him as incredibly brave…or an utter fool. Knowing that he was of the lower birth of a commoner, it was more likely that this man was simply too stupid for his own good.

A fireball suddenly landed in the midst of the battle, melting the freshly fallen snow into a thick cloud of mist. The stranger jumped to the side once more to avoid the wall of flame that had been thrown up and glanced over his shoulder at Professor Colbert who had his staff raised while he prepared another spell.

However, as the warrior broke eye contact the other dragon reared up, taking a deep breath before spewing forth more fire. Louise grimaced and closed her eyes, prepared to pick up the scent of burning flesh. It was not to be as the strange man lifted up his shield which appeared to be made from brass or bronze, and charged. The fire washed over him, apparently doing no harm as the metal aegis broke the force of the attack.

The green scaled dragon took off, throwing up a flurry of snow with its mighty wings. Inevitably it was the smarter of the two, seeking to gain an advantage while its companion had the warrior busy. The armor clad individual wasted no time in smashing the brutish beast in the face with his shield, knocking loose several of the bronze dragon's teeth in the process.

Paaz keinzaal fen kos stin Alduin jot!

Steel bit into flesh, eliciting a roar of pain from the bronze scaled dragon. Blood poured from the gash in its neck, staining the snow around it bright red. The great beast roared, lunging forward with jaws snapping in an attempt to sink its great fangs into the warrior standing before it. All it managed to do was break several teeth on the rim of the man's strange shield.

Louise couldn't be sure from this angle, but it almost looked like the face of his escutcheon was layered in polished pearl, with an odd thin strip of metal projecting upwards from the center of the boss.

Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin, naal ok zin vahriin

Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal!

Ahrk fin norok pall graan fod nus hon zindro zaan,

Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!

Electricity rippled across the dragon's body as the stranger's blade yet again found its mark, cutting deeper into the enraged creature's neck. It almost seemed as though the insane man was trying to sever the dragon's head from the rest of its body. Louise couldn't tear her eyes away from the scene, and she wasn't the only one.

All of her classmates looked on in both fascination and abject horror, many of whom had never seen such violence up close. Even more so, it seemed that this man, whoever he was had somehow gained the upper hand in this fight, landing more powerful blows to the beast's head and neck.

Among those watching the battle, Tabitha of Gallia looked on with an unrivaled amount of interest as she raised her staff, ready to throw her might into the midst of the battle as well. However, it was unneeded.

The great dragon howled in pain yet again as the stranger's blade drew a livid red line across its scaly eye, rendering it blind on that side. The monster growled, it's remaining eye locked dead with those of the man who had taken it's sight from it, and Louise could have sworn it spoke…It was then that the circling dragon struck, spewing forth flame at both of the combatants. The grounded dragon looked up, completely astonished that a fellow dragon had attacked it.

It was the last mistake the beast would ever make as the warrior sank his blade into the bottom of the creature's jaw, thrusting it up into its brain. The dragon's look of surprise and horror would be forever frozen on its face as it died instantaneously, its body convulsing uncontrollably as its life blood spewed forth from the mortal wounds it had sustained.

The circling dragon, seizing its chance dove at the warrior with a fierce cry of rage and triumph. However, at the last moment it realized that the dragon slayer

was readying himself for such an attack. He raised his blade, taking careful aim before cleaving downwards, his blade connecting with the base of the dragon's wing...and just like that, the fight was over.

Daaah uhn daaah uhn daaah jah! Daah uhn daaah uhn daaah jah!

The dragon crashed head first into the ground, its wing severed from its body. The beast's body skidded many yards before finally coming to a stop only a few feet in front of Kirche and Tabitha, covering them both in torn up grass and icy snow. Louise almost cursed as the dust cleared. Why couldn't the dragon have at least squished the haughty Germanian? Well, at least her clothing was now effectively ruined...or at least, she hoped it was.

The impact had killed the beast instantly, leaving the man who stood before everyone else in the courtyard victorious. He looked exhausted, but the thrill of victory shone bright in his stormy eyes. It was unbelievable, a single commoner armed with only a sword, shield and bow had managed to take down three mighty dragons, the most powerful creatures in all of Halkegenia, and he was still standing like some ancient god of war amidst the bloody sea that spilled forth from the bodies of his slain foes.

If that wasn't enough, the bodies of the three fallen dragons began to grow hot and glow. Flames licked up around their sides, consuming the flesh of the beasts as a divine wind blew, surrounding the dragon slayer in an ethereal light. It was as though he was consuming their very essences…their very souls.

Louise stepped away from the corpse of the white dragon as it too burst into flames, the fire eating away its flesh until nothing but bones and tendons remained. She had never seen a body do that before, though to be fair she had never seen a corpse up close in her life until now. The snow around the skeletal dragons melted, leaving the grass around them stained red with their blood. However, even that began to evaporate into red steam.

She looked over at the supposed commoner with awe in her eyes. This man, this dragon slayer had accomplished something that most mages could only dream of. He who strikes fear into even the hearts of dragons...Louise thought as she watched the warrior flick his blade to cleanse it of blood before he sheathed it. Her heart skipped a beat...this man was certainly no commoner in her eyes. Anyone who could accomplish such a task had to be a knight at the very least...though the young noblewoman could discern no family crest that she recognized on the man's unusual armor.

However, just as Louise made an attempt to move towards her familiar, Professor Colbert stepped forwards, his staff still held aloft as she moved to position himself between the stranger and the . He pointed it at the dragon slayer who had in turn taken a step towards the young girl. "Halt, stay where you are stranger…" He said, his tone brooking no argument. The man simply looked up at him, with confusion in his eyes. The armored warrior opened his mouth and spoke, but the words that came out were unlike anything that anyone in the courtyard had ever heard.

Judging by the look on the man's face as he took another step forwards, the stranger was quite lost, and looked a bit delirious. As night slowly turned back into day, it was easy to see that the man was soaked in steaming blood…and that his armor appeared to be made from the scales of the very creatures he had just slain. Louise looked up at the sky, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it had returned to the way it was just before she had begun her summoning.

She heard her familiar spew forth more unintelligible drivel before he stopped, swaying ever so slightly. Louise's eyes widened as she saw him collapse forwards onto his knees as his strength apparently gave out. The small girl lunged, catching the unconscious stranger just before his head hit the ground. She felt the side of his face pressing into her lap, causing the young noble to blush slightly as she noticed something else that was very off about him...he was built like a damned grizzly bear crossed with an orc!

Where in in the Founder's name had this giant of a man come from?!