He would savor this moment for years to come. His first battle, his first chance to earn his sword and prove himself a warrior. Everything came down to the first battle, because if you died here, or lived by sheer fluke, you still lost. There was no room for failure on the battlefield.
Sweat poured down his forehead, trickling into his eyes and between his lips, but he continued to fight, swinging his sword in high arcs and swift blows. His dark, sweat soaked hair hung limply, his dark skin glistening as tiny red flecks of someone else's blood splattered back onto him as his sword flashed, again and again, it's blade like silver lightning. His face was twisted in concentration and battle lust as he whirled about to face his oncoming opponents and came to face a nearly empty battlefield.
Only a few feet from him, a few familiar faces lay in ghastly positions, testaments to their death, some of them impaled by the crude copper swords of the Draconian, others missing limbs, torn off by Tigren, half man, half Tiger creatures with violent tempers, and still more who's deaths were too gruesome to be described.
But a warrior merely tallies the death count, never feels for his now ex-companions. So he stepped towards his General and nodded his head before saluting, his right hand palm up from his chest and then forward, symbolizing his willingness to give his heart to his leader.

~~~~
His name was Kirin, and he had sacrificed his last name and family's honor to become a warrior in the Dragon Armies, like all of the Dragon Army had done upon their induction. His heart belonged to the unseen Dragon Lords, brothers who oversaw all that went on in the Dragon Armies, and all years before he joined were no longer spoken of if not completely forgotten.
All three Dragon Lords stood around the Survance Mirror, their eye into the lives of all those dedicated to themselves and their work.
The Silver Dragon Lord nodded his approval, his acknowledgement that the boy didn't know he was receiving at that moment. He had taken a particular shining to the way the boy fought, his ruthless battle lust blocking out pain and fear, a trait that the Silver Dragon Lord held in high regard.
The Copper Dragon Lord shook his head, but looked back upon the boy contemplatively. In his opinion the boy had the amazing sword skill that the Copper Dragon Lord looked for in his personal army, but he was too violent even for the Copper Dragon Armies.
For a moment, the other was silent, his green armor reflecting the vision in the mirror. His cold green eyes were weighing the boy's attributes against what the other's had said. Kirin did have the warrior's heart, battle lust and sword skill that made him worthy of any of the Armies, but the Green saw something the other's had missed. Through his rough exterior, his dark hair, skin and eyes, Kirin was still as human as his parents that bore him. He still felt, not for those he fought with, those who died he had no regard for, but he felt none the less.
The Green Lord was the first to speak, his gruff voice echoing from within his Draconian skinned armor and into the room. "I reserve Judgement until such time that he has proven his worth."
The other Dragon Lords were taken aback, yet they did not question their younger brother.
"What then, shall he do to prove himself?" Came the commanding voice of the Copper Lord, his impatience obvious.
"A journey." came the voice of the eldest brother, the Silver Lord, his softer tones almost a whisper.
The other two agreed in unison.

It had been days since Kirin's first real battle and he was bored to tears. He'd been sitting in his room since he had returned, his sword taken from him, along with his armor, and for some reason his door was locked. He sighed and flopped back onto his bed, his arms behind his head, fingers interlaced. He heard someone at the door, and he nearly bolted to it, but no one came in, his food was merely slipped unceremoniously underneath the door. He nearly growled in frustration.
For a few hours he paced, having tried, and failed, to eat the food someone had slipped him. He began to get annoyed with his inactivity. He flopped back down on his bed, the thoughts he had avoided thinking while pacing now flooding down on him. What if I screwed something up? Did I do something wrong? What if I'm not good enough? What happens to me if I'm not chosen for an army? Do I get stuck with civilians or will they just kill me off to keep me quiet...?
His thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking on his door. He glanced out his barred window at the sun, trying to tell the time. Evening. Late evening. Again.
He stood at the door and reached for the knob before realizing that it was locked from the outside and he couldn't open it if he wanted to. So he merely stood and waited. There was a pause outside, as if they expected him to come barrelling through the door, and it creaked open slowly.
A young boy, with mouse blonde hair, blue eyes and a thin frame gawked up at him. "S-sir Kirin." He squeaked. Kirin nodded. "The Lord General re-requests your p-presence."
And with those words as his release, Kirin swept from the room.

In the large hall at the end of the central building sat five men, all eyes on the door. At the head of the table, the Lord General, commander of the training barracks. To his left, down the side of the long table, sat the Silver, Copper and Green Dragon Lords, all decked out in their ceremonial Draconian scale armor. To his left, a recorder who would document the meeting that was to follow in full detail.
The General looked ill at ease sitting next to his superiors, feeling like a subordinate. He assumed that the Lord probably wanted Kirin for Judging like they usually did, but never before had they come to his chambers and demanded direct audience with one of his trainees.
Kirin entered the room, looking annoyed with the General for having locked him in his room, but his face turned completely shocked when he saw the Dragon Lords there. His dark brown eyes widened and his thick eyebrows drew together. The look on his face, the General realized, was less shock than realization of something he had been contemplating. It was as if he had foreseen something like this coming.
"Do you know why we asked you here Kirin of the Dragon Army?" commanded the voice of the Copper Lord.
Kirin's face returned to normal, a mask of impasse, no emotion showing. The General noticed the Green Lord nodding slightly and was puzzled.
"Have I not been summoned for a mistake I made on the battlefield." It was not a question, but a statement of his fears made aloud. The Dragon Lords shook their heads as if amused.
It took them a few moments to respond, spanning seconds into minutes for the poor boy who stood there as if he couldn't care less that these men were here. When they did finally explain, it was the Silver Dragon Lord who spoke. "No, it is no such thing. You have been chosen as a candidate for the Silver Dragon Knights and as such you must be sent on a journey to prove your worth."
As if on cue, a man entered carrying a suit of silver armor, a silver sword belt strapped to his waist. Kirin whirled to face this newcomer and gazed in awe at the armor. Whatever he had imagined, this wasn't it. Again he spun around, his dark eyes locking with the Silver Lord's.
"What's the catch?" He questioned, his tone level. Like dangling a bone in front of a starving dog, they had presented him with the highest honor a member of the Dragon Army could receive. But he was tentative about biting in and tasting poison. "What could I possibly have that the others in this training grounds do not?"
Nodding knowingly, the Silver Lord stood. "You want what we all want. To make sure that you aren't signing something you can't get out of. There is no catch Kirin. This is what we -what I- present you with. The chance to become a Dragon Knight." He came to a stop next to the male with the armor and drew the sword from the belt. It was Kirin's sword, aptly named Lightning. He turned it so that the hilt faced Kirin and made the silent offer.
For a moment, no one in the room moved, and it could hardly be said that the General or his recorder breathed. Kirin's eyes bored into the Silver Lord's own, as if reading the man's thoughts. His hand raised, but it stopped and hovered inches from the simple handle of the blade.
"You offer me what I most wish for, you stand here and promise me there is no catch. I take that promise on your life and mine, and should it prove false..." His hand closed around the sword hilt, and a tiny smirk played across his face.

He had closed a deal with the devil. This was the first thought that crossed Kirin's mind as he began to suit up. Of course it was worth it, to become a Silver Dragon Knight, but what they were asking was ridiculous, there was no way he could do it.
The task was simple. Find a man named Iori, find out the location of a Dragon Stone which had been stolen three years ago, and then find the Dragon Stone. Simple enough. Till you threw in the fact that Iori was hidden somewhere in Trele Mountains, a nest of thieves and cutthroats, built into a honeycomb like mountains. And that to get to the Trele Mountains, you had to cross the White Desert, which was actually both blazing hot and covered with snow at the same time.
Though a bonus was his new armor. It was silver and and light weight, with dragons etched into it across his back and down the right side of his chest. He had the Silver Dragon's crest pinned to his right shoulder, and the crest of the Dragon Army on the other. They didn't give him his helmet, but that was because that would finish his entrance to the Silver Dragon Knights. He had obtained a new sheath, which was silver with a dragon twisting around it, but he still had his old Lightning. His trusty sword that he'd had with him when he started his training, and through his first real battle.
"Silver Lightning." Kirin whispered the words, as if the sword would be too proud to hear them. They fit. The words fit the blade perfectly. Kirin began to wonder if he should have the name etched into his sword. It was then he realized that his name would not be Kirin Dragon when he finally passed his tests, but Kirin Silver. The thought made him beam with pride as he hefted his sword and sheathed it.
He was ready now, though he didn't know how ready he would need to be to find this Iori...