I walked into a lecturing hall. Tiered seating behind long desks led down to the teaching area with a podium, table and chair tugged behind. A guy with honey-colored eyes and golden blond hair waited on the podium with his hands behind his back. He kept smiling as we entered. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a black t-shirt with a tribal print design covering his chest. The guy couldn’t be a teacher. He was way too young.
I stood in the entryway as everyone took their seats.
A large chalkboard took up half of the wall behind the guy. Shelves with books and glass cases lined the back of the class. Paintings of Labyrinths and House of Stairs Lithograph art hung covered parts of the walls. The House of Stairs paintings freaked me out. My gaze landed on a sword hanging from a hook behind one of the glass cases. The sword looked old and weathered.
“Welcome, Elena. Glad you can join us. Take a seat.” The guy pointed at one of the open seats behind the tiered desks.
He knew my name, and I walked up the stairs and took a seat in the third row.
“My name is Sir Edward. In this class, you will learn Paegeia’s mysteries,” he said, staring at me. The entire class sighed, deflating their obvious displeasure. “So where were we yesterday?”
“You were telling us about the King of Lion Sword,” a boy with bulgy eyes and dark brown hair said.
“Thank you, Trevor,” Sir Edward replied.
“The King of Lion Sword is the only sword that can slay evil too strong for non-magical weapons, especially dragons. Why is this sword the only capable sword, Becky?”
A girl with short, dark hair shrank into her chair. “It’s the only sword blessed by King William, a thousand years ago.” She’d clearly sucked the answer out of her thumb.
“Yes, and how did the sword get blessed?” he asked.
“Holy water,” she answered, and everyone laughed.
Sir Edward smiled. “No. Riley,” he called on a girl in my row whose hand reached the highest.
She flipped her hair and gave Becky her ‘I’m-smarter-than-you-are’ smile. “No one knows for sure, but there are plenty of ideas.” Riley gave a breakdown of a million possibilities.
“Impressive, Riley,” Sir Edward said.
“So we shouldn’t rule out holy water,” Becky chirped, and the class broke out in laughter again. My lips curved.
“No, Becky, they tested that theory,” he said. “Who can tell me what the Japanese call it?”
The know-it-all, Riley, was the only one who knew the answer this time.
“Riley?”
“Shishiwo,” she said.
While she was answering, Becky was doing an accurate impersonation of Riley, and I pressed my lips tightly against each other to keep the laugh from exploding. She seemed cool. Like someone I could be friends with. Someone I wanted to be friends with.
“Here, you deserve it.” Sir Edward tossed Riley a chocolate bar.
“Who can tell me how many King of Lion weapons we have?” he asked. This time, everyone’s hands went up, except for mine. One, I knew the answer, but I would not pretend to be a know-it-all.
“Charlie?” He pointed to a boy with carnival red hair in the first row.
“One,” the boy said. “Now where’s my candy?”
Sir Edward chuckled and tossed him one too.
“So if something happens to the King of Lion, we’re basically screwed?” another boy with mousy blond hair asked.
“Don’t think of it that way. Hope is always near to those who believe. The sword is well protected in the city of Elm.” Turning from the front of the room, Sir Edward walked my way. As he passed our row, he dropped a handbook on my desk. “Please, if you can open to page sixty-seven.”
For the next few minutes, flipping through pages reached my ear. Mysteries that the other side questioned covered the pages of this book. I finally reached the page, which was a drawing of the sword.
I looked over my shoulder at the glass case that carried a sword. It wasn’t the same sword. The marking on the sword behind the glass were different. My eyes scanned over the title at the bottom. The King Of Lion Sword.
An image of Excalibur popped in my head as I looked over the page. It had a golden hilt that curled up the divine blade with a lion’s head emblazoned on the hilt. The text below the image explained that Richard the Lion Heart once possessed the sword.
“The story we’re going to cover is the recovery of the King of Lion. The year 1320 BTW.”
“A Japanese folktale of danger, love, sacrifice, and adventure in the Daki islands,” Sir Edward began. “A chieftain called Hio Tukituki banished a samurai named Kalibi Shima. They exiled him to a small island called Yamasaki, of the Oki Islands. Kalibi had an eighteen-year-old daughter, Kayatan, whom he loved very much.”
I became lost in his tale of a brave Kayatan who saved her father and slayed a dragon that was torturing the villagers. In return, the town gave her the King Of Lion Sword. I wondered if Dad told me this one, too. I could never have done what Kayatan had. They had to force me.
I jumped out of my seat as the bell rang and the students began packing up their books. I lifted the book and Professor Edward shook his head with a smile. My lips curved as I put the book in my backpack and got up.
I looked at my schedule for the next class: arithmetic. The map showed me where it was and I followed it all the way down the hall opposite the cafeteria. An ocean of people scattered to get to their classes and the kids with the crazy color hair stood out the most. There was even one guy that had green hair.
I walked into a similar class to mysteries. More tiered desks that looked onto a podium with the lecturer’s desk and chair in front of a blackboard welcomed me. But the decor slightly differed. Art of equations mixed with magic symbols hung against the wall.
I took a seat, and the lecturer, who was a woman, started the class. All the professors here seemed way too young. This one wore a pencil skirt with a white button blouse. She took her brown hair into a messy bun and she had the darkest eyes I’d ever seen.
She walked to my table, smiled and plopped a thick textbook in front of me. “Welcome, Elena,” she whispered, and I nodded. She walked back to the front. I got a feeling that they all knew me.
I hated maths, and this was plain torture. The math part didn’t even make sense.
But the torture ended after forty-five minutes and then it was the last class before lunch, which was served to us at eleven.
Professor Pheizer’s class was interesting. She was old with gray hair, but the friendliest face you could ever imagine on someone. Her eyes were bright blue as she smiled at all of us.
I grabbed a seat in the fourth row and looked around. Pictures of dragons and Dragonians on top of their back, a yin-yang symbol that wasn’t one either, lined the walls.
The class finally calmed down. There were no textbooks in this class and thank heavens I had this one from Bayleaf.
“It’s the first time you are with me and welcome to Bonds. I’m professor Pheizer and will teach you everything there is to know about Dragon bonds. What makes dragons ticked and how the Dragonians who tamed them blends in with them. It’s quite a beautiful symbiotic relationship. So for the dragons, the Dragonians are not your property and for the Dragonians, they are not your pet.”
The class laughed.
“You will even learn what happens when a Dragonian Ascend. It’s a magical time for them. And all of you are going to ascend closer to your sixteenth birthday. Sometimes it takes longer.
“We’ll also discuss Dents and why their bonds are so strong, even though it’s a lot of speculation as you will never get a dragon that is part of a dent to reveal what truly happens to them.” Her eyes scanned over each and everyone of us as a grin formed on her lips. “They are rare, but I can tell you there is one dent sitting with you in this class and I got a feel for a second one.”
A second one.
“Still speculating though, but a feeling.”
I raised my hand.
“Yes, Elena.”
“I thought dents are rare?”
“They are, but the more darker the times are, the more there seem to be. Makes you wonder what it is they have to face.”
More shit. I laid back down in my chair. Everyone twittered among each other.
She sure made the class magical, the way she carried on about the different bonds. At least some people have choices.
When the bell rang, we went for lunch.
I struggled to choose as the choices of today’s menu were hard. There were pastas and so many stews, with roasts and vegetables. The smell of honey, garlic, chili, and cheese sauce caressed my nostrils. My stomach grumbled.
I found a seat closest to the buffet. A few girls greeted me, and I smiled, telling them my name. They immediately spoke about other things, ignoring me again. I should’ve started on Monday. It was going to be so hard to make friends.
I used the last few minutes to get dressed in my training outfit for Art of War.
My face lit up when my second tutor, Mia, stood in the middle of the training arena. She walked up to me and planted a kiss on each cheek. “I heard Micha is relentless.”
I raised my eyes at her. “Relentless is a kind word.”
Mia laughed. “Go sit.”
A couple of students stared at me as I took a seat on the first step next to Vivian, who shared a room with me.
“You know the professor?”
I nodded but didn’t elaborate on how I knew her.
“Okay, so who is ready to take the podium today.”
A boy with blond hair in the third step jumped up.
“Why am I not surprised,” Mia said, and the students chuckled. Her eyes landed on me. “Elena, you ready to take him on?”
“She’s a girl,” the boy said.
“Oh, are you afraid of a girl, Collin?”
“No.” His lips curved. “I can’t hurt a girl.”
“Yeah, villains don’t have preferences of genders.”
I got up and walked to the podium.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized.
I shook my head, and Mia walked to our other side.
I waited for him to attack me, and the idiot took the first step. I was fast, and he was on his back in less than five seconds. Everyone gasped.
The look on Collin’s face was priceless when he looked up at me and rolled onto his knees, and pushed himself up. He looked at Mia. “I wasn’t ready.”
“Get on your feet, Collin.”
He got up and bounced on the one spot, shaking out his arms. “Okay, I’m not sorry.”
He came again, trying to kick me and I blocked him so fast, had him in a monkey grip and we both fell on the ground.
He grunted before he tapped the mat hard.
For the next few minutes, he tried everything to get the upper hand. It was hardly a work out.
Everyone kept staring at us, and a lot of the girls cheered me on. It felt great, like I was on top of the world.
Collin tapped hard on the mat with a groan for the umpteenth time.
“Enough,” Mia said, and looked at me. “You need a different sparring partner.”
Collin went to sit down, and his one buddy chortled. “She beat the crap out of you.”
“Haha, I like to see how you are going to see your ass with her.”
It was hardly a beating.
Mia stood in front of me, and the class applauded. “Don’t hold back, Elena.”
My lips curved into a tight smile.
I took my stand and Mia came in. Her jabs were fast, and the fight was hard. But I eventually got the upper hand and Mia was on her back. She got up, and she came for me again. I forgot how quick she was. She tapped me hard in the throat and instead of panicking because I couldn’t breathe; I kept on blocking her, and she smacked hard on the mat.
I coughed as I took a deep breath.
She didn’t give me a break, and she got a few kicks in. I got a few jabs in and eventually I grabbed her into one grip, mixing it with something Armand taught me. She couldn’t get out.
We both landed on the floor, and Mia tapped hard against the mat.
I let her go and got up fast.
She stared at me with enormous eyes still sitting on the floor. “You are on fire, girl.”
I would’ve worried if I didn’t advance after her training.
I took a bow in front of her, and she clapped her hands. The rest of the class applauded with Mia.
The bell rang and Mia came toward me as I went to my shoes.
“You are going to do just fine, Elena,” she whispered as everyone walked out.
Micha entered the classroom and everyone who knew her stared while trying to get out of the Parthenon Dome. A few guys twittered her name, but Micha ignored them and walked toward us.
“Good luck,” Mia walked out, and we trained for the next two hours with weapons. I didn’t get tired anymore, but my arms were jello after the training.
“Go take a shower and come back tonight around seven.”
I nodded.
I took a shower around three when school was out. There were so many students here, and I held my head down low as I entered my room.
Why was it so hard for me to make friends?
BLAKE
I kicked George’s ass on the newest game I got. He was a bit grumpy lately but the guy refused to elaborate on that. Tabitha was lying on the couch. She knew we couldn’t be together anymore, but she kept gracing us with her presence. I wondered many times if I shouldn’t just break everything, even our friendship.
The door opened, and Lucian entered.
“What are you so happy about?” Tabitha asked Lucian.
“Blake, I just ran into Micha.”
“Le Clerk?” I paused the game and George protested.
“Yeah. She looked like she got in a great workout.”
I got what he was saying and put the console down. “You think she is here?”
“I don’t know. He was pretty adamant that she would not come, but she might be here. What reason would Micha be here.” I jumped up and left the room. Lucian followed.
“Give it a rest, Tabitha, she is his rider.” George’s words reached my fine hearing.
“What did Micha say?”
“Nothing. I greeted her, she greeted me back and walked through the door leading to the dorms. She didn’t answer me when I asked her what she was doing here.”
We went first to the cafeteria. Lunch hours finished, but there were a few of the students hanging around, chatting with friends.
Both our eyes skidded through the people that occupied the tables and a few tweets about the Prince of Tith and Blake Leaf popped from their lips as their heartbeats thumped in my ears.
She wasn’t here, and we headed to the training courts. It was empty, but Elena’s scent lingered in the air. My body shifted as the bubbly feeling in my gut grew.
“She’s here?” Lucian asked.
“Yeah, her scent is in the air.”
“I guess he changed his mind.”
We ran up the girl’s dorms and the ones that chatted with each other on the stairs froze as we passed them and then shrieked using their inner voices.
We opened the first level door and walked down. All the girls stared at us and smiled. A couple of knocks led to more doors opening, and more curious faces peeking from their rooms. I could feel their eyes on the both of us.
I struggled to pin point her scent but it was lingering everywhere among the others.
There was no sign of my sister or Elena. The second level was the same.
A few of the girls actually introduced themselves to us. Lucian was such a flirt. Even asked if they knew the room to Elena Watkins.
They shook their heads.
“Just have a look at dinner. She is here.” Lucian smiled.
“Okay,” I said, and we walked back down the steps as the bubbly feeling was slowly dying out.
We passed Master Longwei, who waited in the lobby.
“Blake, Lucian. The boys’ dorms are on the other side. I’m sure you would’ve known that by now.”
A couple of girls giggled.
“Had to give something to my sister.”
“Sure.” He spoke and followed us with his eyes. I ran up the stairs. She was here. Her scent was here, meaning she was hiding somewhere.
Around six, we left for dinner. I found Sammy, but not Elena.
Lucian and I sat down at her table. She was the only dragon among all her friends.
The girls all froze as they stared at us. Their hearts beating like crazy and a mixture of sweet and musky scents, filled with Oxytocin reached my nostrils.
“Okay, you are boxing me in. What do you want?”
The girls laughed at Sammy and stared at us.
“She is here?” I whispered in Latin.
Sammy’s eyes grew. “I thought you said she isn’t coming.”
“I think they change their minds. She is here, Sammy. Her scent was everywhere in the parthenon dome this afternoon, but I can’t seem to find her.”
She laughed.
“It’s not funny,” I hissed.
Lucian chuckled.
“He’s like a kid on Christmas,” my sister teased.
“Just make friends with her, please.”
“Fine. What is her name? Maybe I already met her.”
“Elena.”
She frowned. “Nope, I haven’t met her yet.”
“Well, keep your eyes open, okay?”
“I will. Now scoot before you are going to give one of the girl’s a heart attack.”
I looked around. Everyone still stared at us.
I got up, and Lucian followed. “Enjoy your dinner,” Lucian said in a flirty tone.
“Where is she?” I groaned as we exited the cafeteria.
“Calm down, okay. We’ll find her, eventually. They have breakfast around six in the mornings. Maybe she had dinner earlier tonight.”
“Earlier?”
“Yeah, they served dinners around five during Orientation, Blake.”
“Fuck!” I pulled my hands through my hair. There were two days left. I have to speak to her to get this rift between us out of the way.
