“Tardiness. Yeah, you said. There’s no way I’m getting into a car with you.”
“A car? One of those mundane contraptions? Certainly not. We shall travel by portal.”
“Por–” Whatever smart mouthed reply I’d been about to deliver was cut off by the sudden appearance of what could only be a portal. One moment I was staring at a patch of grass in front of a wilting bush, and the next there was an image of what I could only describe as a castle set behind iron wrought gates, floating in the air in front of me.
“What is that?”
“That,” Rufus said grandly, “is the Dragondale Academy of Druidic Magic.”
“No, I mean,” I gestured to the floating patch of colour, “What’s that?”
“Why, that’s a portal, of course. Surely you’ve seen a portal before?”
His brow furrowed in concern that would have been condescending if it wasn’t all so bizarre. I ignored him and peered cautiously round the back of the portal, where the rest of my little clearing was exactly as it always had been. It was as if someone had suspended a movie screen in mid-air. I stretched a hand out towards the image on its front.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Rufus said, clearing his throat. “You wouldn’t want one part of you to be here and the other in the academy now, would you, hm?”
No, probably not. I dropped my hand back to my side.
“It’s all real? The portal, the academy… magic?”
“Are you always this slow on the update, Ms Eldridge? Professor Talendale won’t be happy.”
“Well, excuse me if this is all a bit of a shock,” I snapped, putting my hands on my hips and then immediately feeling like an idiot.
“You did receive your letter,” Rufus reminded me.
“Yes, I know I received the letter, but–” I cut off with a groan of frustration. This bizarre conversation was going round in circles, and frankly I wasn’t convinced that stepping into a floating movie screen was going to do anything other than give me a bruise on my face. I looked at it again. The castle – or academy, I supposed – was easily bigger than any building I’d ever been in, maybe bigger than any I’d ever seen. It was made of chiselled grey stones and what looked to be stained glass windows, and it had several towers at either end. It was set in an endless expanse of green, with a backdrop of the brightest blue sky, and flying around one of the towers was…
“Is that a dragon?”
“Hm?” Rufus peered into the portal. “Ah, yes, they must be exercising Paethio. Don’t fear, he’s quite tame. It’s Dardyr you need to watch out for.”
“There are… dragons?”
“Why, of course. You could hardly have the Dragondale Academy of Druidic Magic without dragons now, could you, hm?”
Dragons. Right. I was staring at a portal to a magic academy that had dragons. If you’d said that the king of rock and roll had stepped out of his grave and popped by for a cup of tea, I don’t think I could have been any more surprised.
“Come now, we mustn’t linger. The whole school’s schedule will be disrupted if we’re late, and Professor Talendale wouldn’t like that at all. Not at all.”
“Right. Can’t keep Professor Talendale waiting.”
“Quite,” Rufus agreed with a sage nod, as if he hadn’t noticed the sarcasm in my voice. “After you, Ms Eldridge. Simply step through.”
Nothing about the idea of stepping through a magic portal sounded simple to me, but I stepped closer to it anyway, and tried to line myself up – because I didn’t want to leave a bit of me behind. I sucked in a deep breath, exhaled it slowly, and then stepped into the portal.
I made it to the far side with all of my fingers and toes, and no small amount of relief. I looked around me and burst out laughing.
“Is something else amusing you, Ms Eldridge?” Rufus asked, stepping from the portal behind me and looking mildly irked – although given that all his emotions appeared mild, he could have been absolutely fuming for all I knew. I made an effort to stifle my laughter.
“I’m sorry, it’s just… it’s all so ridiculous.”
And it was. I wasn’t standing in my clearing in Haleford anymore. I was standing outside the gates of the building I’d seen in the floating movie screen – the floating movie screen I’d somehow walked through – and any time soon I was going to wake up in my own bed and laugh about this whole ridiculous dream.
“There is nothing ridiculous about the Dragondale Academy of Druidic Magic,” Rufus hmphed.
“No, I didn’t mean…” I trailed off, peering through the gates at the vast castle. It was even bigger than it had appeared through the portal. “This place is incredible.”
Rufus seemed placated by my obvious awe, and smiled with a touch of smugness.
“Rather. It is quite something to behold. Over fifty thousand druids have studied in our ancient halls. The Dragondale Academy of Druidic Magic is a noble institution, steeped in honour and tradition.”
“Student name?” The voice came from what appeared to be a solid wall beside the gate, but as I looked closer I saw a hatch in the brickwork at about knee-height. Through the small window, a pair of yellowish eyes stared at me.
“Um… Uh… Lyssa Eldridge,” I managed after a moment.
The eyes disappeared and I fidgeted, staring at the hatch and wondering what very short creature with yellow eyes was concealed inside it.
“Goblin,” Rufus whispered from the corner of his mouth. “Excellent gate guardians, not to be trifled with.”
“Lyssa Eldridge,” the goblin said, making me jump and sounding like the words left a bad taste in his mouth. “You’re late.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” I tried to explain, but the eyes had vanished again.
“Why did he say my name like that?” I whispered to Rufus.
“Hm? Oh, try not to pay attention to that.”
I was about to press him for more answers when the gates swung inwards with a creak.
I took a hesitant step through, wondering what on earth had happened to my nice, normal life. Rufus swept his arm towards the huge oak doors and smiled broadly.
“Welcome to the Dragondale Academy of Druidic Magic.”
Chapter Three
Rufus wasted no time leading me up to the giant oaken doors, which opened seemingly by themselves at our approach. I shot Rufus a look, waiting for him to tell me there were more goblins here.
“The doors are enchanted. They open when they detect a magical creature approaching. One of the many safeguards against mundanes entering our hallowed halls.”
Magic-detecting doors. Yeah, that wasn’t weird. I hurried through, hoping the enchantment wouldn’t wear off and cause them to squish me, but it wasn’t until we were over the threshold that they started to swing closed. I spun in a circle, taking in the ceiling high above my head, and the banners hanging from the walls, interspersed between cabinets groaning with trophies and photos of previous students, going back what must have been hundreds of years. What on earth sort of competitions did druids get up to in their spare time? Our spare time, I supposed. I was a druid. I frowned and swayed a little on my feet as it started to sink in. I was a druid. I had magic and I’d come to a magical academy to be trained. Surreal didn’t even begin to cover it.
“Quickly, please, Ms Eldridge. There will be plenty of time for sight-seeing later.”
Right. We were late. I hurried to catch up with Rufus, because the last thing I wanted was to be lost in these vast corridors by myself. I’d never had a particularly good sense of direction at the best of times, and I was definitely not at my best right now. I took in as much as I could while keeping up with Rufus’s long strides, looking left, right, up, and down, and trying not to trip over my own feet. High up in the corners, and along the length of the corridors were flaming torches that cast bright light in every direction as they flickered. I stopped for a moment and stared. They weren’t torches. They were more like… like floating balls of fire.
“We really must be going straight to the main hall. I’ll have someone take your bags to your–”
He broke off with a frown.
“Is that all the luggage you have, Ms Eldridge? Where are your books, your uniform, your ceremonial robes?”
All the ‘luggage’ I had with me was my backpack, filled with a couple of textbooks I’d been planning to revise from in the clearing, a bottle of water and a notepad.
“Well, I wasn’t exactly expecting to come,” I pointed out, trying not to sound snarky. “Wait, did you say uniform?”
“No matter,” he said, hastening me along. “You can portal to the magical market this afternoon and get what supplies you require. Quickly now, this way, please.”
He swung open a door before I could ask how I was supposed to know where to go, or what supplies I needed, or even how I was going to pay for them – because I had a grand total of about a fiver in my pocket.
My questions died on my lips as I peered in through the door at the huge room, with more of the fireballs floating by the ceiling. I wondered for a moment how the whole place didn’t catch fire, but the flames never touched a thing, just flickered contentedly mid-air. Which was just as well, since all the furniture in the room was wooden, and the stone walls were draped with more banners and tapestries, these ones depicting people in cloaks, alongsside dragons and flying horses, and a whole menagerie of other creatures I didn’t recognise. The itself room was a designer’s fantasy, oozing with seventeenth century charm – high ceilings, exposed beams that twisted like living branches, and arched doorways. The cobbled floor was lined with chairs – at least a several hundred of them – all facing a stage. Most of the chairs were already occupied, so when Rufus gave me what I’m sure was supposed to be an encouraging nudge, I stumbled into the hall, almost falling over my own feet in the process, and sunk into the nearest unoccupied seat.
The girl in the seat beside me turned to me with a wide smile, revealing a set of perfect teeth that seemed to glisten under the flickering fireballs. Her green eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement – trick of the light, I’m sure.
“Are you a first year, too?” she whispered, pushing a lock of her straight reddish hair from her pale face.
“Um, yeah, I guess.”
“I’m so excited to finally be here,” she gushed. “I’ve heard so much about it.”
“From who?”
She gave me a funny look.
“Why, from my parents, of course.” She gasped and her hand flew up to her pink lips. “Are you the firstgen?”
“The first what?”
“The firstgen – a first generation druid. You know, the first one in your family? I heard there was a firstgen starting this year. There hasn’t been one in over fifty years.”
“I… I suppose so?” It came out more like a question. I mean, I’d never seen either of my parents throwing around magic, and no-one had told me about the academy, and you’d have to think this was the sort of thing they’d have mentioned. And why else would they have been so obsessed about my university rejection letters, and insist I study to resit my exams? No, they couldn’t have known anything about this, not–
“Oh my God, my parents!”
“What about them?”
For a second I forgot the girl sitting there, caught up as I was in my horrifying realisation. The words poured out of my mouth, leaving me with an empty, queasy feeling.
“They don’t know I’ve come here. They’ll be expecting me home in a couple of hours.”
“Oh no!” The girl’s forehead furrowed for a moment, and then she brightened. “I bet the headmaster will let you contact them if you explain. Everyone’s very nice here, or so I’ve heard. I’ll help you find his office later. I have the academy map memorised.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“No problem. I’m Kelsey Winters, by the way.”
“Lyssa Eldridge.”
I shook her hand but was prevented from saying anything else by the figure who stepped onto the stage. A hush fell over the entire room. The man was wearing a long, heavy robe swirled with red, blue, yellow and green that reached right to the floor and trailed slightly behind him. He looked to be in his fifties, with short, dark hair and wrinkles starting to set into his face, which wore a stern expression as he looked out over the sea of students.
“Greetings, students, and welcome to the Dragondale Academy of Druidic Magic, or welcome back to our second and third years. For those of you who do not know, I am Professor Talendale and I am your headmaster. Alongside the other professors, I will be over-seeing your education in the coming year, and I expect you all to give your absolute best in every lesson you attend.”
He swept that imperious gaze over us all, and I shrank further into my seat. Just great. There was a reason I hadn’t been able to get a place at any of the universities I’d applied to. All I needed was another set of lessons to fail.
“Firstly, to address the rumours you may have heard that we have a first generation druid joining us this year, I can confirm that this is correct. I hope you will all make Ms Avery feel very welcome here.”
Ms Avery? My mouth popped open and I felt rather than saw the sideways glance Kelsey gave me. Who the hell was Ms Avery? And did that mean one of my parents was a druid? No, surely not. Not my parents – they were as ordinary and mundane as it was possible to be. There must have been some sort of mistake, that was all. Two firstgens after none in fifty years, though. What were the odds?
“Now, as I’m sure you are all aware, you will be sorted according to your primary element. The four elemental houses are Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Heads of Elements, please make yourselves known.”
Four figures seated near the front stood up and turned around to face us. They each wore a robe – one emerald green, one citrus yellow, one crimson red and the other brilliant blue. They waved, and then took their seats again.
“Your dormitories will be assigned by element, and I urge you to bring honour to your house. Those of you who do not yet know your primary element, you may find your name on your elemental house list, posted at the rear of the hall.”
A few necks craned backwards, staring at the wall behind me. I tried not to make accidental eye contact with anyone, and stared at my feet until the headmaster spoke again.
“Is there a Lyssa Eldridge in the hall?”
A murmuring started up, and Kelsey stared at me with her mouth hanging open.
“Stand up,” she hissed from the corner of her mouth, her eyes almost as wide as mine. I scraped my chair back and stood on unsteady legs, cringing and trying to ignore the hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at me with unhidden curiosity. The silence was absolute.
“Ah, Ms Eldridge, good. There was some dispute regarding to which elemental house you belong, given your… unique situation.”
Unique situation? What unique situation? I said nothing, just turned steadily redder as I tried not to look at anyone.
“You will present yourself in my office later this morning, so that we may discuss where you are to be placed.”
He continued to stare at me. I gave a shaky nod, not really sure how else I should react, and not trusting my voice with all the other students staring at me.
“Very well, you may be seated.”
I sunk back into my chair and the students all faced forwards again – all except for Kelsey, who was still staring at me with wide eyes and mouth agape. I gave her my best ‘don’t ask me’ shrug and avoided her eye.
“Finally,” Professor Talendale continued, “A reminder that the academy grounds are off limits to first years after dark. Further, the Unhallowed Grove is also off limits to all students this year. Failure to observe this rule will result in detention, or in extreme cases, expulsion.”
Detention? I held back a snort. For a moment I felt like I was back in high school. No-one else seemed to find it amusing though, so I kept my thoughts to myself. The professor looked around the hall with hooded eyes for a long mom
ent, and then gave a curt nod.
“Classes will begin tomorrow. You may spend the rest of the day getting acclimated, and should you have any questions, your elemental heads will be able to assist you. You are dismissed.”
Chapter Four
The din of several hundred people leaving the hall was so loud that I had to lean close to Kelsey as we left the hall so she could hear what I was saying.
“You don’t need to check your Elemental whatever assignment?” I practically shouted, as we passed a small group of first years clustered round the lists pinned on the wall. Kelsey shook her head, sending thick red locks cascading around her face.
“Elemental House. And no, my elemental power already manifested itself. I’m a Fire.”
“Oh. Cool.”
I nodded and try to look as if it meant something to me, but I had no idea if any of the houses were better than the others, or if being in Fire was a good thing. I followed her lead as she strode through the corridors like she’d been here all her life.
“My father is a Fire,” she said, “So it was always likely that I would be, too. Speaking of which, I thought you said you were a newgen?”
“I thought I was. I mean, I am. It must have been some sort of mistake.”
She looked at me like I was crazy and tucked her head down as we walked.
“Alright, what?” I asked eventually. “What am I missing?”
“Well, the admission letters are sent out by the Tilimeuse Tree in the centre of the academy’s grounds. It knows every druid who is the son or daughter of a former Dragondale student, and every newgen born in all of England. The Tilimeuse Tree is as old as the academy itself. It doesn’t make mistakes.”
“The lineage thing, it’s patriarchal, right?” At least, I was pretty sure that’s what Rufus had said back in the clearing-grove-thingy, although it was all a little blurry. My head was swimming with all the new information crammed inside it. “Which means my dad would have to have been a druid. And trust me, there is absolutely no way he knows anything about magic.”
Druid Magic (Druid Academy Book 1) Page 2
