Fire Born Dragon (Rule 9 Academy Book 1)

by Elizabeth Rain

  I smiled and sat up, staring in wonder. I wanted to do that. I watched as my clinging vines fell away and slithered back into the earth.

  I STILL SMILED WHEN the forest darkened around me. Something thickened the air, and I struggled to breathe. A tug on my arms and knees and I realized that vines were creeping over my legs and up my sides again. But these were different. There was nothing friendly or comforting about the dark green leaves with the heavy red veins streaking them. A nipping pain and I realized these had thorns. They tightened, and I cried out as they reached my shoulders and drops of blood surfaced from the small wounds. My world faded until all I saw was gray mixed with spots of red. I opened my mouth to call out and gagged as the root like hairs entered my mouth and dove deep. I choked and struggled, held fast by the thorny arms. I couldn’t breathe. I tried to slow my panic, thinking back to the incantations we’d learned to call back the vines, but the fear made it difficult to think.

  Out of the gray floating mist, a shape emerged and solidified in front of me. The hulking breadth of it easily eight feet tall and several feet wide. Its skin oozed a wet slide of clay, forming and reforming upon itself as it floated closer and the features kept changing. The only color was in the eyes, as blood red as the wetness rising on my skin and running over my arms and neck. It came closer, and I tried to rear back, but I was held fast. None of this was like before. This was evil, I felt its presence sink its claws deep. The mudded giant stopped in front of me and its eyes wavered with delight. A hole formed just right of where a mouth might be and shifted into place, widening to reveal a circle of razor sharp fangs. With a grin of hungry delight, it leaned in.

  My panic reached a peak, and I closed my eyes and screamed inside my mind.

  “Leave me! You are not welcome here...”

  The air shifted with a roar so fast that my eyes flew open in terror and I looked around, shuddering, expecting to see teeth.

  It was gone. Vanished like an awful memory you couldn’t forget.

  My heart raced in remembered panic and my breath came in shuddering pants. I looked at my arms and felt my face, smooth and unblemished. I’d imagined it all. None of it was real.

  I looked around. No one else had moved. Feather Hodges had returned to her place in the middle of the circle and all eyes were on her as she answered questions and gave instructions.

  Class dismissed, and I hurried and caught up to Sirris. I opened my mouth to tell her what had happened and then closed it. What could I say? I had no proof. No blood or scratches. I’d missed something important; but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what it was.

  Sirris talked, and I tried to pay attention to what she said, something about meeting Thomas later. I’d think on what had happened when I was alone in my room, when I had more time.

  Thomas and the Tuttle clan were already waiting when we got to the lunch room. We grabbed trays and joined.

  I was about halfway done with my Chicken Pot Pie when I realized Fern Mason wasn’t at our table. I looked around. She wasn’t anywhere else in the lunchroom. I frowned. I wondered where she’d gone.

  THOMAS IGNORED US, deep in a quiet conversation with his brothers over something.

  I heard mention of Combat and Weapons and knew they were talking about Marcus Tannon’s class. A lot of students didn’t care for him. His ex-military training made him hard to read and difficult to like. I’d heard the buzz of different words used to describe him. But I lumped them all under ‘hard-ass’. I couldn’t disagree, but I didn’t mind either. If you paid attention and worked hard to succeed, he encouraged you and left you alone. But if you fooled around or arrived late to class, you were in for a miserable time at it.

  I had to work hard. I excelled with my crossbow. But so far, we’d only covered swords and bolos. Thomas and his siblings, all of them, excelled in weaponry of any kind. I did not. I was barely adequate with the sword and the entire purpose behind the rope and the attached spiked balls on either end of the bolos escaped me. I threw them all right. They sailed through the air to do their thing and wrap around whatever they hit with stunning precision. What I couldn’t do was get them to wrap around what I aimed at.

  So far I’d destroyed a sapling, broke a window and sent a student to the infirmary for stitches. I didn’t think we would ever be friends. More than once I’d caught Nick’s smirk and Marcus Tannon’s confusion as they watched me practice. The one infuriated me, the other just made me feel hopeless.

  It didn’t help that Nick Seul continued to taunt me any chance he got. Almost as if my failure was top on his to do list. As the TA for the class, I would have thought he’d behave better and not abuse his authority. And he did, for everyone else but me.

  So far he’d avoided pairing up with me for a sparring partner and for that at least I could be thankful.

  I realized Sirris sat too quiet beside me, picking at her Cod and nibbling on a shrimp. I wondered if she was still smarting from the disaster in Elemental Magic that morning.

  Thomas spoke in my ear and I jumped.

  “... We should meet in the library after dinner. There’s something I want to talk to you guys about. Something weird is going on.”

  “There’s a curfew.” I began.

  “It’s Friday, remember? Entire building is open until 11:00.”

  “What about Game Night? I thought we were doing that?” Thomas rolled his eyes. “We can do that earlier, but later in the library we meet.”

  I shrugged and got up, taking a last bite of apple as the twenty minute bell rang. “Okay. Here at seven first though.” I moved away from the table, reaching out a hand to snag Thomas’ left over brownie. He slapped my hand and snatched it up, shoving it into his mouth as he got up, giving me a dirty look.

  Sirris, Thomas, and I moved towards Sutter’s Field at a fast clip. Sorcery and Enchantment was our next class, and it took every bit of those twenty minutes to get there. None of us wanted to do extra laps if we were late.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Dinner hour at Rule 9 was 4:30 to give students a chance to use the library in the evenings and to make it back to our dorms and prepare for class the next day. Curfew was 9:00 sharp Sunday through Thursday, which lined up with daylight hours before the bank of lights that lit the school grounds up like a football stadium came on. On Fridays that mean ten minutes past curfew and they stayed on until ten after eleven to keep up with the extended weekend hours.

  I spent an hour at my desk in the privacy of my dorm studying for the test we had on Monday in Professor Hodges. After, I took a shower and cleaned up, heading over to the Commons Building for Game Night after 7:00.

  Thomas wasn’t there yet, but I joined Sirris and Kimmy for a game of Exploding Kittens. We were laughing like crazy when he came in a few minutes later and joined us, sliding in beside Sirris on the bench seat. By 8:00 we’d been joined by most of the Tuttles and three students from the table next to ours. At five minutes to 9:00, Thomas, with a glance in our direction, excused himself, mentioning an exam he had to study for. Sirris and I waited another few minutes and excused ourselves.

  We met Thomas in the back of the library at a long table in the corner next to an aisle labeled Ancient Magic. We unloaded text books from our bags. To anyone passing by it would appear we were studying hard for that exam. We were there only ten minutes when to my surprise Kimmy and Fern showed up and sat down. Kimmy said little as she unloaded her books and buried her nose in the words. Fern was right in character and never said a word. Thomas waited another ten minutes before he looked up from his textbook and looked around. As near as I could tell, we were the only idiots in the library studying on a Friday night. He leaned in to whisper and we sat forward to listen.

  “Okay. Now that we’re all here. I have something I need you to see. It’s not here and we’re probably going to be gone past curfew, so if you want to bow out, I understand. I’m going back to my dorm to get my bolos and knife. I’ll meet anyone interested in what I have to show you at the f
ire pit near the edge of Sutter’s Field at 10:00.” Nods all around. But nobody smiled.

  “Listen, I won’t blame anyone that doesn’t show, but if you do, don’t be late and come armed.” Nobody argued as Thomas packed in his stuff and left without another word. I looked at Sirris in confusion, started to speak, and then changed my mind. Instead, I packed my pack and headed for the door, Sirris hot on my heels before the door banged shut behind me.

  “Have you any idea what’s going on?” I asked her. She shrugged and struggled to keep up.

  “No, and I almost always know what Thomas is about. This is odd, even for him.”

  “How we going to get back in when they lock the doors. I don’t know about you, but I’m not eager to spend my Friday night on a log in the woods waiting for the doors to open.” I mumbled. We were almost to the dorm. I left Sirris to go on to the second floor in 207, almost straight above me.

  She reached out a hand to stop me and I paused. She grabbed my hand and opened it, dropping a small gold key into the middle of my palm and closing my fist around it.

  “Did I mention that one of my special talents is sleight of hand? I might have lifted the key from Margie’s desk the other night. I could make a few copies before I put it back. It relieved her to find it under her desk the next morning. I kinda thought it might come in handy?”

  I wanted to kiss her. Something else occurred, though. “But how do we sneak past her when we come back?” Again, Sirris smiled. “Did I mention that Thomas made cupcakes?” I remembered the large container of candy Margie always had sitting on her desk. Margie, who was plump, loved sweets. “Well, Thomas paid attention in Potions and Poisons class.” My eyes grew round.

  “You’re going to poison her?” I gasped, appalled. Sirris giggled.

  “Of course not. We’re just giving her an early nap.” I didn’t like it. But I’d never been one to turn down an adventure either. I rolled my eyes and pocketed the key, pulling open the door. “I’ll meet you in the lobby in fifteen minutes.”

  “See you then.” Sirris agreed.

  WHEN I CAME BACK DOWN, a short time later Sirris was already waiting in the lobby. I looked over at Margie, the prefect in charge of our dorm. She popped the last crumb of a pink frosted cupcake into her mouth and sighed.

  “Sorry, last one Sadie.” Sirris said, eyes gleaming. I glanced over at the prefect, smiling at me around a mouthful of iced cake. I hoped Thomas knew what he was doing.

  Margie stared at my bow, one eyebrow raising. I shrugged. “Piece broke on it, I’m having one of the guys look at it.” I lied.

  SIRRIS AND I MOVED beyond the grounds of Rule 9 and towards Sutter’s field. A small amphitheater sat in the woods, a huge fire pit at its center. They used it for small groups occasionally to conduct ceremonies and as a central meeting spot. I hoped no one was using it tonight.

  But the coals lay dark and cold. The benches weren’t as several shrouded figures rose out of the darkness to join us. We were the last to arrive.

  “Okay Thomas. We’re here, we’re risking expulsion. Where are we going?”

  “Bane Lake,” he answered. I recalled the small lake I’d glimpsed across the valley on the way in.

  “That’s a fair walk in the dark. Are you going to tell me what you think we’re going to find there?”

  He nodded. “This is my second year here in the same room with the same roommate. My window overlooks the valley in that direction. The last several nights I’ve been seeing strange flickering lights after dark there. I want to know what they are.”

  I stared at him. “We’re walking a mile in the dark after curfew to explore a light?”

  “That’s right. While we’re attending school in Drae Hallow, secure on the inside of Shepard’s Mountain? Those things are still on the outside. What about those other things too? the smaller ones that they controlled? I want to understand what they were. Just because our life in here has changed doesn’t mean life stops out there. Something’s off. The guards are antsy too. And they’ve been leaving Drae Hallow at night.”

  “Okay, I get all that. But what does that have to do with Bane Lake and seeing lights there in the middle of the night?”

  Thomas stared hard at me. “Maybe nothing.”

  Or something.

  I still didn’t like it, but we all fell in step single-file behind him as he led us beyond sight of Drae Hallow. The moon lit our way well enough if we were careful. Not long after, we were beyond Bitterroot Lake on our left and moving deeper into the woods. Fern’s silence I took for granted. But it seemed strange not to hear Kimmy and Sirris chatter. I took comfort that at least the shields surrounding Shephard’s mountain and Drae Hallow not only protected us from outsiders, they also prevented the things we’d seen down the mountain from coming in. Whatever wandered in these woods lived here. The night forest was alive with sounds if you paid attention. Mr. Hooty owl called out our passage, his hollow call a haunting echo in the absolute darkness of the dense woods. Furtive rustling in the underbrush as we moved past drew my notice; but it was only something small, probably a raccoon or chipmunk. I listened closer. Something long and thin and sinister slithered there too, following those movements to pay Mr. Ground squirrel a visit and invite himself to dinner. Not everyone heard what I did. But Thomas probably did, and Kimmy.

  We’d been walking for a while when the inky blackness ahead folded back. We came into a clearing. Leaving the dim recess of the woods, we spread out along the banks of the placid lake. Smooth as glass, Bane Lake was a fraction of the size of Bitterroot. Still, it was substantial and stretched long and wide before us to the other side. I watched the moonlight as it carved a sharp path across in a straight line to the opposite shore, ending at the continuous forest that butted up against it almost to its edge. Beyond the lake, halfway around from where we stood, I made out the massive walls of the inside of the mountain rising thick and black in the air. We’d reached the other end of the valley in Drae Hallow.

  But there were no lights. We’d taken a midnight walk for nothing.

  A sudden movement on the far side of the lake caught our attention. A figure stood silhouetted by the moonlight on the other side. Impossible to recognize from the distance, the shrouded form stood still looking back at us. Whoever it was must have realized they were being observed. We watched as the figure moved back into the woods with a whirl of a dark cloak. My eyes met Thomas’, gleaming silver in the moonlight. I shivered. It was easy to see the wolf lurking inside if you were looking. His preternatural eyes in the darkness glimmered beyond creepy.

  “I wonder who that was.” I whispered; the sound foreign in the inky night.

  “Don’t know. But I intend to find out. Nobody should be out here this time of night.” He moved out along the path that wound around the lake perimeter. I didn’t bother to remind him we were.

  It took us the better part of twenty minutes to circle around to where we’d seen the cloaked figure standing. I moved up beside Thomas and we bent close to the damp ground. Using the reflection of the moonlight, we could just make out the imprint of boots. We stood back and looked to see where they’d come from. A path led back through the woods towards the mountain of stone that formed the back wall of Drae Hallow.

  Thomas made a motion with his hand to indicate silence and we all fell in step behind him. Whoever it had been, they hadn’t wanted to be seen. That meant neither did we. The path dead ended a short way later in a wall of granite. I frowned and ran my hand over the wall, while the others did the same. The rocky face felt damp beneath my fingers, but it was just rock. The face rose in utter darkness, but my sense of touch found what my eyes could not. Odd Whorls and a bumpy surface made my hands pause and then move back as electric pulses shivered through my fingers. I knew that feeling.

  “Thomas,” I whispered, and he was there, his fingers circling mine and then freezing as comprehension set in.

  “I wasn’t aware there were any doorways through the mountain on this side of the la
ke.” He murmured, stepping back. His silvery eyes met mine.

  “I wonder who knows about this besides us.”

  “I don’t think I’m ready to follow whoever that was that didn’t want to be seen into the mountain when nobody knows we’re here.” I whispered.

  He sighed. “No, you’re right. I’m not sure we’re ready to know what, or who, is through that door. I don’t like it.”

  I didn’t either. I felt the fine hairs along my arms standing at attention, sensing danger.

  “I’m ready to go back if you are.” Sirris said at my shoulder. I jumped. I’d almost forgotten she was there.

  Thomas glanced at Kimmy and Fern. “This isn’t over. I want to know who was here before us, sneaking around and trying to not be seen. But not tonight. Something is going on. I want to know what it is.”

  I did too. We turned away and moved back the way we’d come. I just wasn’t sure I was ready for the consequences of that knowledge.

  IF I FOUND THE PRACTICE of Sorcery and Enchantment to be a challenge, Combat and Weapons was torture.

  I was a crack shot with the bow. There ended my expertise. Archery was a class to be covered near the end of the semester.

  I managed to be just adequate with a sword, but I had some skills with a knife. Apparently, my mind equated them to tiny bolts shot from my hand and connected the two to make me sufficient.

  I was lethal with a staff too, but not in the way I intended. I threatened to take out half the class when we practiced. I had no sense of the balance necessary to make it effective. And if I possessed any magic to wield it, its existence remained a mystery. I was equally ineffective with the bolos and the nunchaku. My learning curve appeared steep.

  Marcus Tannon was a harsh and demanding teacher. I imagined his military background had helped to carve him into the demanding master of the arts he was. But he was fair. I believe I frustrated him to no end. It was only a few weeks in and nobody wanted to spar with me, except Nick Seul.