by Katie Dunn
A massive school that reminded me of an English palace stood in front of me. Turning in a slow circle, I could see the paths and green lawn that I saw from the car. Off to the right of the school was a small building that upon asking about I discovered was a stable. I had never ridden a horse but the fact that I had the choice now sent thrills through me. On the other side of the school was a large garden with more flowers than I have ever seen in one place. Various trees stood among the lawn and within the garden as well.
“I will take you to Mr. Drakari’s office,” Laneli said, seeming a bit bored.
I looked back at the driver who got into the car and started to drive away. “What about my luggage?”
“Someone will have it brought to your dorm room.” Laneli walked away not waiting for a response.
I quickly caught up with her before I got lost and looked around in awe at the inside of the school. High vaulted ceilings, marble columns, decorated walls and floors. Students walking in pairs or groups stared at me as we passed and started whispering. I didn’t want to look like a nervous, scared new girl so I straightened my shoulders and looked ahead, trying to show confidence.
We took a couple turns and walked down long halls, eventually stopping at a door with a name on the front reading D. Drakari.
“Here you go. I guess I will see you around.” Again, Laneli walked away without waiting for a response.
I took a deep breath before entering the principal’s office. His office seemed more like a study with bookshelves full of books, some ancient looking, and a mahogany desk. He was sitting behind his desk looking at an open book as he took notes in a journal next to it. He did not notice my entrance, so I cleared my throat to get his attention.
Mr. Drakari looked up from his notes and smiled at me. He was wearing a long-sleeved black turtleneck and glasses. “Ah, there you are.” He leaned over and pulled out a drawer from his desk. “I have your schedule right here.”
He handed me a folded paper and I tucked it away. I would look at it later once I had a chance to settle in. He handed me another piece of paper, this one thicker.
“That’s the map of the school. I went ahead and starred your classes and circled your room,” Drakari said, pointing to the map in my hands. “Here, I will go ahead and take you to the water wing.”
“Water wing?” I asked following him out into the hallway.
Drakari turned right and started walking down the hall. “We have five dorm buildings here, one for each of the elements. Some mythological creatures are part of two elements, so we do our best to place everyone in the best dorm.”
“How can myths be part of two elements?” I asked, trying to understand the element system at the school. Laneli mentioned it last night but I was still confused.
Drakari opened a set of double doors and led us outside. We seemed to be in the back of the school now. “Take me for example. I am werewolf blessed meaning I am of the spirit and earth.”
I nodded slowly but still did not understand.
Catching my confused expression Drakari chuckled and stopped. “Don’t worry, there is a beginner’s class for that stuff that I added to your list of classes. You are going to be very busy.”
I finally looked up at our surroundings and saw five smaller buildings, yet large enough to house probably fifty people each, situated in a semicircle facing the school. A large grass lawn stretched from the school to the dorms and everything was surrounded by trees.
“That one is the earth wing,” Drakari explained, pointing to one of the buildings nearest the forest. His hand moved to point to the one directly next to it, “That one is the air wing.”
I looked at the next building that was standing in front of a large lake. “I’m guessing that one is where I will be staying?” I asked and nodded my head to the building in the middle of the five.
“Yes, and the other two are spirit and fire,” Drakari finished pointing at the last two. He leaned over and whispered, “we had to separate water and fire because of a long-standing rivalry.”
“Rivalry?” I looked between the fire and water buildings. You wouldn’t be able to tell there was a rivalry just by looking at the identical wings.
“Yes, unfortunately fire and water do not mix, and the students have taken it a bit too seriously.” Drakari shook his head at the drama that must have caused him many headaches then walked across the lawn heading for the water wing.
I walked beside him and soon we were entering the water wing. I expected aquariums or fountains to showcase the water aspect of the water wing, but I was met with only a plain sitting room and long bland halls branching off in four directions. He guided me up two flights of stairs until we were on the third floor. Great, I had to deal with stairs.
Drakari stopped in front of room 304. “Alright, this is where you will be staying. Do you think you will be able to find it again?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Good. Your roommate can show you around a bit. Your classes will start in the morning.”
Before I could ask about why my classes started on a Wednesday, he was already descending the stairs. I sighed and turned back to the door of my new home. Should I knock?
I gave a light double tap on the door before opening it slowly. I never had a roommate before, so I didn’t know what to expect.
The room was spacious with two twin sized beds on either side of the room, a dresser at the end of each bed and two desks side by side against the window which I was pleased to see looked out over the lake. A squeal had me turning in time to be crushed by a small child.
“Hi, I was so excited when I heard I would be getting a roommate!” The girl was around my age but was only about five feet tall and had brown pigtails tied with ribbons.
I stumbled back when her skin became clear and blue as if she were made of water then went back to normal.
“Oops, sorry, I do that when I am excited.” She beamed at me and held out a hand. “I’m Marion.”
I slowly took her hand and shook it, expecting to pass through it as I would in water. “I’m Serena. Um, what, uh, mythological creature blessed you if you don’t mind me asking?”
Marion kept up her cheery tone and popped around the room, cleaning things up. “I’m sprite blessed.”
An image of a Sprite can filled with bubbly, carbonated soda touching Marion’s head with an angelic light surrounding her filled my mind. Somehow, I didn’t think that was what she meant. “What is a sprite?”
“Well the one that I was blessed by was a water sprite, a spirit of the water, almost like a fairy but not as solid.” She jumped in front of me. “And you are siren blessed right?”
I guessed that was why she had a not-so-solid body sometimes. “Uh, yeah, I guess I’m siren blessed though I am new to it. Wait, so if a water sprite is a spirit but lives in the water…”
“Yup! That means I have an affinity with the spirit and water elements, though water is stronger which is why I live in this dorm.” Her attention shifted to something behind me. “Ooo, do you want me to help you unpack?” She ran over to the other side of the room making me turn to keep her in sight.
She stood by my bags near the other bed that must now be mine. “No, I think I can manage.”
“Alrighty! Ooo, what are your classes?” She asked excitedly.
She seemed to not be able to sit still as she flitted around the room and jumped from one topic to another. I was starting to think she had ADHD or something.
I pulled out my class schedule and handed it over to her. I left her studying it and walked over to my bags to start unpacking. It had only been about a couple hours, but I was already feeling homesick.
“Figured that one, interesting, yes, mhm, ick, aww you have Laneli, boo,” Marion mumbled as she looked over my schedule.
“What’s wrong with Laneli? She seemed okay when I met her.” I grabbed a stack of socks and walked over to the dresser to dump them into a drawer.
“Nothing too bad.
She is just, mmm, how do I put this, a drama queen. She thinks she owns the water wing and is the main antagonist in the water-fire rivalry. Her and that dragon blessed guy.” Marion shook her head in annoyance but gave me a bright smile that contradicted her words.
“Do you mean Elliot?” My interest was piqued since I happened to meet the two people Marion mentioned yesterday.
Marion rolled her eyes. “Ugh, yes. Don’t let his good looks fool you. He is dangerous and hates all water elementals.” Marion walked over to my bed and flopped onto it, handing back my schedule in the process. “Enough about them. How about I give you a tour, it is almost lunch.”
My stomach grumbled. “Yeah, thanks, I am getting pretty hungry. Wait, don’t you have classes you should be at?”
Marion let out a tinkling laugh, reminding me of a fairy. Or a water sprite, I guessed. “They let me skip today so I could show you around.”
We walked out into the hall and down the stairs until we were standing in front of the building. “Did Mr. Drakari already explain the dorms?” Marion asked looking at the semicircle of buildings.
“Yeah he said that one over there by the forest is the earth wing, then air, ours, spirit and fire.” I was pleased I remembered.
Marion took me around to the back of the water wing. “Right. Let me show you our lake. It is the most amazing thing and every water myth blessed seems to have an instant connection to it. Some people say naiads used to live in the lake.”
My brows scrunched as I tried to remember the mythology of naiads. “Aren’t naiads bound forever to whatever water source they were born in?”
Marion put a finger on her lips and looked out over the water, looking for the answer. “I think so.”
“But you said, ‘used to live.’ What happened to them?” I looked at the glittering blue lake and wondered if there were naiads like she said.
Marion shrugged. “I also said ‘some people say’ so it could be a legend or something. I’ve never seen any.”
She led me down to the lake and crouched by the water’s edge reaching a hand into it. Marion’s skin turned clear again, and she seemed to be drawing energy from the water. She reached out and yanked the water up until it was standing upright in front of us.
“Whoa, how’d you do that?” I asked in wonder.
For some reason, I was not afraid of the display. I reached out to the standing water but paused before my skin touched it. Who knew what magical water would do to a person? It continued flowing in the same vertical column before Marion let go and it splashed back into the lake.
“I can control water, although I am not very skilled.” Marion studied me for a moment. “Come here and dip your hand in the water.”
My nerves instantly flared, and I took a step back. “I don’t know about that. I think I am fine standing here.” The lake turned from peaceful to frightening in a second.
Marion leaned forward and grabbed my hand, pulling me to the edge. “It’s not going to hurt you, just touch the water.”
She was right. I don’t know why I was freaking out. We were not going all the way into the lake. It was only the edge. Images of my near-death experience surfaced in my mind, but I shook them away and leaned down. Slowly I put my hand in the water and felt…nothing. I was expecting some kind of powerful feeling or energy, but it was just water.
I looked into Marion’s excited and expectant eyes. What was she expecting to happen? Her smile dimmed a bit, and a confused frown creased her forehead, but she hid it by turning and walking back to the lawn, calling me to follow her. She was surprisingly quick for someone so small. I ran after her and let her take me on the rest of the tour, figuring she would explain to me about the lake eventually.
I was shown the location of the classrooms that I would need to find again tomorrow, the garden, stables, an outside training area almost like a gym, the library, and finally the cafeteria. Smells of delicious food wafted from the cafeteria when we neared it causing my stomach to grumble. I had been too nervous to eat breakfast that morning, so I was running on empty.
Marion let out a tinkling laugh at my stomach noises and guided me into the room. The cafeteria looked cozy with stone walls, an actual fireplace, and tables set up around the room.
She led the way through the short line. I was surprised and highly pleased to see an assortment of appetizing food. I grabbed some fruit, pizza, a yogurt and Sprite and followed Marion to a nearby table that gave us a view of the room.
As we ate, Marion pointed out certain groups of people eating in the room. I did not know why I was surprised to find cliques in that school. We all may be myth blessed, but we were still teenagers. I saw Laneli with two other girls who looked almost identical to her sitting at a central table. Another table held some of the more powerful air and earth myths and I noticed two of them had birds perched on their arms. A couple others held smaller animals on their lap. There was a table with students who wore all black and glared at anyone who came near them. Apparently, they were spirit blessed who happened to be closer to darkness such as vampires and wendigos. Marion pointed out the fire group with a missing Elliot. One of the students in the fire group had a ferret and another had a dog by their side. I blinked in surprise when I took a closer look and discovered the dog was truly a fox. Before I could ask about it someone dropped a tray on our table.
The stranger had short curly black hair, darker skin, a small scar near his eye, and glasses. The most noticeable part that was hard to look away from was the eagle perched on his shoulder. He leaned over and kissed Marion on her cheek, not seeming fazed by the large bird.
Marion blushed, turning clear for a second like I saw her do earlier in our room. “This is Devon.”
Devon flashed a set of perfect white teeth and waved in greeting.
I gave Devon a small wave. “I’m Serena, Marion’s new roommate.” My eyes were drawn back to the bird that no one had mentioned yet.
“Oh! So, this is her,” Devon said to Marion with interest.
Marion nodded excitedly.
Since no one was explaining I decided to ask. “Why do you have an eagle on your shoulder? And while we are on the subject of animals, why are there animals in the cafeteria, like that fox?” I asked pointing to the fox at the fire table.
“You haven’t told her about familiars?” Devon asked Marion astonished.
Marion shrugged, looking guilty, but Devon was the one to explain. “Some myth blessed people have more power than others. When that happens, an animal usually becomes bonded to them, traditionally one having to do with their myth, that helps them channel and control the power. This here is Gus.”
I remembered the large lizard that stood by Elliot last night. Moto was Elliot’s familiar then, meaning Elliot must be powerful if I was understanding correctly. That also meant Devon had a lot of power. I wondered how an animal could help control and channel the power inside.
“What myth are you blessed by?” I asked Devon but stared at Gus the eagle.
“Griffin,” Devon answered with a mouth full of his sandwich.
I knew griffins had the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, so Gus made sense as his familiar. I looked between Marion and Devon. I assume a Griffin is of the air element, so how did Marion and Devon meet? I probably shouldn’t pry into other people’s business, so I stayed quiet and ate the rest of my food.
The doors to the cafeteria crashed open causing total silence in the room. Elliot with a frown in place and Moto with a slithering tongue stood in the doorway searching the room. His eyes locked on to someone from across the room, his frown deepening as he stalked forward with clenched fists.
“Uh oh, here we go. I didn’t think you would see this so soon, but I should’ve known better,” Marion said shaking her head.
“See what?” I asked glancing briefly at Marion before looking at Elliot’s furious stalking again.
Marion pointed at Elliot silently telling me to watch.
Elliot and Moto st
alked toward the table where Laneli and the two other blonde girls were sitting. “You’ve taken this too far,” Elliot growled.
“Whatever do you mean?” Laneli blinked innocently up at him.
“You know you are not allowed to use your enchantment outside of class! Making them stand outside in their underwear was uncalled for!” Elliot shouted with clenched fists. Moto hissed and sidled closer to Laneli.
Marion whistled low under her breath. My eyebrows rose at the image of Laneli singing and putting some guys in a trance. I didn’t know we could tell people to do things while they were in that trance.
Laneli stood along with her two companions. “I don’t know what you mean.” Laneli’s smirk contradicted her words.
A fireball formed in Elliot’s hands, and black scales erupted over parts of his skin, but Laneli didn’t back down. Before either one could do anything, Mr. Drakari was there standing in between them. I didn’t even see him come into the room.
“Back down, Elliot.” Mr. Drakari stared into Elliot’s eyes, not even glancing at the fireball.
Elliot glared past Drakari at Laneli but extinguished the fireball. His scales slowly disappeared until he looked like a normal human.
“Both of you, my office now.” Drakari waited until the two started moving in the direction of the exit before breaking out of his stance.
The three of them left causing the silence to end. Groups chatted excitedly among themselves, discussing the new drama that unfolded.
I turned to Marion and Devon. “Are they always like that?”
Marion shrugged. “Pretty much.”
Chapter 4
First Day
The next day, I had to wake up around seven to get to my first class on time which was myth history. I had already learned some of the basic history about how mythological beings blessed human children, in turn giving them some of their special abilities. Mr. Drakari found it necessary for me to take the beginner class anyway.
