꧁ The Last Hope HBD IC (semi open- PM ME!) ꧂

۝ Ilia || Kyrena  ۝

Ilia turned to Byx slightly, letting the students think and come closer. "If you'd rather be elsewhere, that's completely fine. No need to stress anyone on just the first day. Raymond, I'm guessing you already have plans, but Kyle, if you'd like to join in then feel free to. Once lessons get started, same applies - for most lessons."

Kyrena grumbled low in her chest, bored with all the chatter and no movement. Ilia straightened back to the students, none had left. Good enough. A sharp screech sounded from behind Nyx, a shudder going through Ilia at the unexpected noise. The falcon soon peeled away from her handler, returning to the dorms. Well then.

"That's certainly a wake up call. Off we go I suppose! I'm sure most of you have had a chance to at least look at the dorms and, if not, after this you'll have lots of time to go and see. Not terribly important but the fences behind your dorms will eventually hold some animals - sheep, cows and the like. Where us headmasters sleep is just in the building close to yours, as well as Raymond." Ilia gestured to the dorms as she spoke, soon letting her hand fall into a more relaxed position. Moving away from the small bubble they'd kept the group of adults in, she headed closer to the stables, also moving closer to the entrance of the cavern.

"The stables - not only will you learn about wyverns, you'll be learning about horses as well. Slightly easier to travel with, less showy and much less obvious. Which is disappointing but alas, need to keep the wyverns and ourselves safe. Fairly simple, we have a few in there. Just enough for everyone I'd say. And that's pretty much all of the above level points of interest. Most of what we do happens in the cavern." Ilia continued. Kyrena had let her walk off, hanging behind the students to keep an eye on them. The wyvern was, however, less concerned about their safety and more concerned as to whether they'd try and wonder off. Ilia and Byx were enough, the cavern was not a place for foolish children wandering around.

Ilia had walked closer to the cavern, pausing to turn to the students. Kyrena kept pace behind them walking towards the side but keeping them in Ilia's general direction.

"This cavern is where most wyverns originated from. It's also where the last few wyverns are living. Which means that there are stricter rules. Please, keep to the paths. None of you need to go anywhere other than various classes, and you'll likely have someone with you when you do have to move. There are staircases but most do have a smoother ramp as well, it's easier to get around on wyvern back but you have a while before any will be grown enough to carry you. You cannot leave either a group or a teacher - not even we know where all of the passages lead and if you get lost then it's up to the wyverns to find you. Neha may be glad to help but I cannot say the same for Kyrena." a deep breath and Ilia continued. "If you aren't sure whether you want to go in, then you don't have to. I can arrange for a carriage to take you back home, but that will be the end. You will not remember what happens here and you will not come back. Is that clear?"

۝ Ilia || Kyrena ۝

A small chorus of understanding, a few just setting their jaw and waiting for whatever came next. Good enough.

"Don't fall. We'll go down just one level, and you can see the few caverns up here. Most we won't be using for a while but there's some that may be introduced sometime. Then we'll head down, and you can see the knowledge based classes. History of this land, of dragons, general knowledge. Things like that." Ilia explained, checking to see if everyone had been listening and receiving small nods in reply before turning and leading the way down.

Kyrena, watching Ilia walk into the cavern, huffed grumpily. A lick of flame escaped her maw, smoke dispersing into the air. Waiting for the group to move forwards she settled on the edge, watching until Ilia left her sight. Time to wait, she supposed, pushing off the rock face and opening her wings to slow the fall.

There were essentially three 'levels' of entrance, a great waterfall careening down one side. Similar to rings, the top two were only accessible by flight, climbing the mountainside. Faint remains of were wyverns once sat, perhaps as ritual or watch, maybe preparation for flight, were imprinted on the circles of stone. Covered in moss, vines, and undergrowth, the rings dip towards the cavern and lead the waterfall down. Inside the cavern, the waterfall drops directly into a pond with river splitting away. The pond is surrounded by islands, some with swords embedded in stones - training rings, helping riders prepare to fight on unstable and slippery ground - some with plants almost covering tables with built in bowls and stands. Some islands have bridges crossing the gap, some don't, and there's a few that breach a larger gap of water to solid ground. On one side, caverns, filled with more human things. On the other, trails lit by lanterns and various species of plant lead away and deeper into the birthplace of wyverns. It's massive - easily able to fit wyverns and humans. It's not just smooth walls leading down, there's ledges for wyverns to sit on and open caves where saddles and armour of old once were. Now only one is in use - inhabited by just a few saddles and slowly developing armour. After all, it's difficult to design and work with metal without knowing much about it. In some caves, old nests sit, still dry and useable but only reachable by wyverns. As close as wyverns and riders are, there are limits and eggs are generally only saved for the most trusted. Not that the few living have much of a choice, without the headmaster's help, the wyverns would only have instinct to go off and for a fire and storm dragon to keep water and ice eggs incubated was simply impossible.

Staircases ringed the area, claw marks and some smoothed by the water the only indication that this was once a place full of life. It had fallen to abandonment, the last dragon handlers simply too old and unable to reach almost anywhere in the cavern. Difficult with only a few people to fix something that was centuries old.

Ilia paused, looking to the open area as Kyrena sailed down, a gust of wind passing through the empty feeling cavern before the customary scuffle of claws as she alighted on a ledge, one of the bigger caves the wyvern had chosen as her own. Stepping back from the entrance to the nearest 'classroom' she made a small gesture, showing off the area. "Not all of these are useable but here's a few that we may be using. Feel free to explore, there's another room beyond this one. Any books and the like in here have history, of the land, wyverns, some may even have fighting based contents. If you feel like it, then you can take a few back to your dorms." She needed to figure out who knew how to read and write already, whether anyone may need to learn... ah, that'd come later. For now, they can explore and see just where they'll be for the next while.