Dark's Descent

by Basil Bacorn

  “Nothing,” Mr. Miller assured, “It's just that she's read every single book on this table since I called you.”

  That can't be! Susan had been called just five minutes ago!

  “I don't understand,” Mrs. Smith stuttered. “Neither do we.” said the principal, “Now follow me.”

  They entered a room with Cassie sitting at a desk smiling. Next to her was a stack of math books, and Cassie was completing one every ten seconds, moving so fast that her hand, pencil, and book were a blur. Cassie looked up from her work, still writing, and greeted, “Hi mom!”

  “How?” Susan asked her daughter. “It just happens, mom.” Cassie smiled. “Well I'm not going to question it anymore,” Susan announced, “and neither is anyone else, understand?”

  “Whatever you say, Mrs. Smith.” Mr. Miller agreed.

  Day after day was the same. Even when Cassie was the last one to get an assignment, she was still the first one done. After school, she would go home, not having any homework because she had already completed it, and play with toys, or watch TV.

  As Cassie was always told to be, she was nice to everybody, and always behaved.

  One day, the class realized that Cassie was special. So after school, they went to her one by one and got their homework done. Cassie didn't mind. It was fine until Mrs. Spencer saw her handwriting on every single paper.

  “Cassie?” Mrs. Spencer called, “Can you come up here please?”

  Cassie skipped to the desk. “What's wrong Miss Teacher?” she inquired, placing her hands on the desk. “I know you've been doing everyone's homework lately.” Mrs. Spencer informed her star student.

  Cassie grinned, “They all were so busy, so I decided to help them!”

  Mrs. Spencer smiled, “Well, you see, if you do everything for them, then they will never learn. So I'm asking you to only do your own homework, okay?”

  “Sure.” Cassie nodded. Mrs. Spencer sent her back to her seat and started the lesson.

  That night, Cassie obeyed her teacher and made everyone do their own work.

  First Revenge

  The Great Court of Everlanon met in the morning to decide what to do about the new prince due to be born any second. The Court met only when Everlanon was facing a great challenge, and since they were dealing with Evangeline, they were in constant session.

  Ever since the first record was written, the Court spoke in an ancient language belonging to them and them alone, in order to keep the matters they spoke of secret.

  In the Grand Court, they were screaming frantically in syllables that made no sense to anyone else.

  “Hatvd sjeéh ekéekc dédsz!” hollered the Elder One, presumably to get the Court's attention, “Decion!”

  The Court fell silent, and the designated speaker stood and yipped a string of sounds.

  The Elder One thought, and nodded. He then turned and headed to the throne room.

  Queen Graciela was on verge of giving birth when the Elder One walked in. “The Court had come to a decision,” he stated, “once the baby is born, and Evangeline comes to banish it, we will send someone of great bravery to protect the child no matter what. If Evangeline succeeds, the guardian will follow close behind, and we will get every wizard, sorcerer, and witch in Everlanon to work together and open a two-way portal between the realms, that will stay open for one year, in order to give enough time to find the Prince.”

  King Albert stood. “How long will it take to open the portal?” he stated, knowing that they can take a lot of time. “As you know, these things take time,” the Elder One answered, “so if we can get the twelve needed to open the portal, it will take sixteen years.”

  “WHAT!” King Albert screamed. “My apolo-” the Elder One was interrupted when the baby prince cried its first cry.

  “It seems you are a father.” stated the Elder One,

  “Congratulations.”

  “SIR ARTHUR!!!” cried the king, “You are the Prince's guardian!”

  Sir Arthur shuffled in and bowed. “It is my honor.” he insisted.

  “Did I miss something?” said a woman at the door. Stepping into the room, she twirled her hand and made a green cloud around the baby. Sir Arthur leaped to the baby and screamed as the cloud turned faster and faster. Within seconds, both the prince and the knight were gone. “So Albert, I heard you're making the two-way portal between here and the Realm of the Foretold.” the enchantress teased, “Call me when it's done, I have something to pick up there as well.”

  Twisting her hand, Evangeline summoned hundreds of crows into the room that flew around her, speeding up until it was a black blur. The blur disappeared, and Eva was gone.

  A stranger hears screaming from under a bridge and hurries on. Under the bridge was a man named Arthur Braddock dressed as a knight and holding a naked baby while screaming. Looking around, Arthur stopped screaming and ran down the road.

  He found himself outside a hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By this time, Arthur realized that no one was wearing armor, so he took his off and hid it in a bush. Wearing only his underwear, he ran into the hospital with his backstory in mind. Normally, knights in Everlanon weren't all that bright, but Arthur was different. In fact, he was a genius!

  Seeing the naked man, the receptionist flew her finger to the alarm, but before she could press it, the man flopped on the ground, throwing the baby in the air. Fortunately, the receptionist used to be a football player. She leaped over the desk, catching the baby and landing on the floor. The boy never even noticed. The lady got up and quickly yelled for a doctor.

  Dr. Shale ran out to the waiting room and saw the scene. He shouted out orders, and had the man and the baby in a room in under a minute. He had a nurse stay with the man and told her to call him if the John Doe awoke.

  As the nurse turned, Arthur sat up. “DOCTOR!” she yelled and Dr. Shale ran back in.

  “What's your name?” the doctor asked, “What happened? And the baby?”

  “My name is Arthur Braddock, and I am visiting here. I was looking for somewhere I could become a citizen, because my baby was born just now. My wife, who I met here, and I were on our way to the nearest hospital, because I just delivered my son.” Arthur continued the story, “Then a man hit me over the head and took my wife. The worst part is I don't know where to go now, with my baby, and I forgot my wife's name.”

  Seeing the confused look on the doctor's face, Arthur remembered the Re-Life Powder he snatched from Everlanon. All he had to do was sprinkle the powder on him and the baby and it would slam them into this realm as if they were from here to begin with. They would get a new life!

  “Oh no!” Arthur yelled, scaring the staff with him. He jumped up, grabbed the prince, and ran outside, with the hospital staff running after. He got his armor and reached inside, getting the powder. Opening the bag, he sprinkled him and his baby with it.

  The staff stopped in their tracks as the powder shined brighter and brighter. A flash so brilliant that it blinded the whole city, and Arthur Braddock found himself in a house in the New York City suburbs, decorated to his liking. There was a big box, with a paper hanging on it. Before reading the paper, Arthur opened the box and received a chill. Frightened, he slammed the door shut and saw the paper.

  Shimmering in the light, the paper read 'Sir Arthur Braddock's New Life'. According to the note, Arthur is from Albany, NY, and went to college for four years before moving to NYC to become a school teacher at Abagail Elementary. It also says he had a son with his wife who died giving birth. His son was born today and is named William Albert Braddock.

  At the bottom of the paper, it read 'Take this wherever you go, it will help you'.

  Bring Your Parent To School Day

  Cassie was abuzz with excitement. Yesterday, Miss Teacher told the class that tomorrow is Bring Your Parent To School Day. She said that they could bring their mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, and so on. Since her dad had to work, Cassie was told that her mom was going.

  As usual, Cassie
got her mom up at 3:30 A.M. and Susan would get up, make pancakes, and take her to school. Only this time, Susan would stay at school with her daughter for Parent Day.

  Mr. Miller stood by the door and greeted the parents as they came in. Once they were inside, Cassie showed her mom her desk. “Very nice.” Susan congratulated.

  When everyone was settled, Mrs. Spencer stood at the front and welcomed all of the parents to their first day of school, which made the kids giggle.

  “Today, we will go through the day as usual until 1 o'clock.” the teacher announced, “At 1, we will have some special entertainment.”

  Motioning to the chairs beside every desk, Mrs. Spencer continued. “All the parents can have a seat next to your child's desk, and then we can continue.” The parents obeyed and sat down.

  “Now, I'm sure you have noticed some improvement in your child's reading skills, so as a demonstration,” Mrs. Spencer smiled, “Every student is going to read their favorite book in front of the class. Who wants to go first?”

  Nobody moved. Seeing the restlessness of the room, Cassie raised her hand.

  Mrs. Spencer got a scared look on her face. She was going to have Cassie go last, or 'forget' about her. Now everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to pick the first student. The only student practically falling out of their seat with excitement. Mrs. Spencer smiled, “Anyone want to go first?”

  The parents looked at her with confusion. Why wouldn't she choose the little girl on a sugar-high?

  Mrs. Spencer dropped her head, and said, “Everyone, it looks like our best reader wants to go, Cassie?”

  Cassie ran to her heavy backpack and got out her favorite novel. She found it in a library, and since the librarian knew nothing of the book, she gave it to Cassie. The book had a leather cover with golden spirals for decoration. It was about 1,250 pages long and entitled 'The Land of Everlanon'.

  Skipping to the front of the room, Cassie plopped the book on Miss Teacher's podium.

  Mrs. Spencer was twiddling her thumbs in anticipation. Susan tapped on her daughter's desk nervously. What would the other parents think?

  Cassie read the cover slowly. “The Land of Everlanon.” Cassie stated, “My favorite book.”

  As fast as lightning, Cassie opened the book and started reading. Faster and faster she went, and then the impossible happened. The words leapt off the page and took flight, with Cassie still reading.

  In amazement, everyone watched as the words blurred into a picture. A room of old men with pointy ears talking in a different language, signing a paper entitled 'Everlanon'.

  Blurring again, the next was a woman dressed in black with the ability to do impossible things. She twirled fast and vanished in a poof of smoke.

  The woman appeared again, this time pregnant, walking to a castle, where she gave birth to a baby girl.

  Susan gasped. The baby looked exactly like Cassie!

  Next, an army of knights came and shot gold arrows at the mother. One hit the lady and seemingly drained her power. Scared, she ran into the woods.

  Adjusting the focus, the next picture was a knight riding his horse through the woods, eventually capturing the woman and taking her baby.

  At this point a whirlwind took form in the classroom, blowing papers everywhere.

  The image showed the baby being delivered to the heroic king. The baby was then thrown into a whirlpool that appeared out of nowhere.

  Then came a similar scene only with a cloud that surrounded the victims instead of a whirlpool.

  A final image showed the old elf-men gathering twelve strange looking people in an arch. The twelve people then threw their hands towards a large wall. Within seconds, powerful beams shot from their hands at the center of the wall, creating a small hole that started to grow.

  With a bright flash, the image dispersed and everyone was dazed and confused. Everyone but five people, Mrs. Spencer, Cassie, Susan, a kid in the back, and his father, Mr. Arthur Braddock.

  The latter two exchanged glances, and Mr. Braddock decided he should keep an eye on this Cassandra Smith girl.

  Mrs. Spencer then started clapping, and soon everyone followed. Nobody asked any questions and Charlie asked to go next, and everything went back to normal until it was time for math.

  The last person to read was Will Braddock and when he was done Mrs. Spencer told the class that they were going to play a game.

  “We are going to work on our math facts. I'll hold up a flash card for two people and whoever answers first goes to the next desk and the game continues.” she explained, “This game is called 'Around the World'.”

  Cassie smiled. She loved math games.

  This is how it went:

  Chelsea vs. Andrew

  3 + 5

  Andrew won.

  Andrew vs. Xavier

  2 + 2

  Andrew won.

  Then it was Cassie's turn. Mrs. Spencer showed the flashcard and Cassie answered. She moved to the next desk. Flashcard, answer, flashcard, answer. Cassie flew from one desk to the next.

  Then it was Cassie vs. Will Braddock. Cassie never noticed him before, but she didn't care. Mrs. Spencer held up a flashcard that read '7+2', and they both answered '9' at the same time.

  Remembering that both Cassie and Will were math geniuses, she grabbed her multiplication cards.

  5x8

  “40”

  10x5

  “50”

  4x9

  “36”

  Frustrated, Mrs. Spencer grabbed the division deck and it went the same way. So she went to her desk and pulled out her old calculus flashcards.

  log (22)/507

  “0.00264777649”

  “Okay! That's enough math for today!” Mrs. Spencer announced, “Let's just call it a tie.”

  Everyone agreed and ran back to their original seats.

  Mrs. Spencer looked at the clock. It was almost time for lunch.

  “Okay, let's get ready for lunch, everyone wash your hands and get in line!” Mrs. Spencer encouraged, “Today we are eating outside!”

  Everyone scrambled this way and that, hurriedly getting ready for the parent picnic.

  The lunch ladies at the school were so into their jobs. They always went all-out. On the first day, they had fudge-filled cupcakes with little signs that read 'Welcome!'. In addition, every day, they hid a sticker on one of the trays, and whoever had the sticker, got a prize from Miss Café, the head lunch lady. Her real name is Miss Patts, but since she's so dedicated to the cafeteria, everyone calls her Miss Café.

  Yesterday, Miss Café had bought 3,000 picnic baskets for only $60.00. She is an expert at bargaining and extreme couponing.

  For lunch, each student got a picnic basket filled with goodies to share with their parent. The basket also contained a plaid table cloth to sit on.

  When Cassie and her mom got their basket, Cassie ran outside and yanked the table cloth out and put it on the ground. After straightening it out, they sat down and started to chow down.

  “Cassie?” Susan asked with curiosity, “What was that reading?” Cassie looked confused. “Never mind,” Susan sighed, “How about you let me have your book and we can forget all about this, okay?”

  “Sure mom,” Cassie nodded.

  Susan reached down and fixed her special child's hair. They ate the rest of their meal in silence.

  After lunch, everyone went back to their class rooms. When Cassie got back to the room, she was shocked! All of the desks were gone, except for a few pushed against the walls. There was a carpet laying where their desks used to be. Mrs. Spencer came in and told everyone to sit on the floor. Cassie sat down.

  “We have a presentation, and then we are going to have some entertainment.” Miss Teacher started, “But during the presentation, you have to be quiet, okay?” Everyone nodded.

  Then Miss Teacher sat on the floor too! Cassie almost fainted.

  “Hello, kids!” said a cartoony voice, as a big puppet stage rolled in. A small green man pop
ped up in the middle. “My name is Scott, and I'm here to teach you about strangers!” Charlie Myers popped up and screamed, “STRANGER DANGER!”

  Scott the green man smiled a puppet smile. “You are right! When we see a stranger, we think 'STRANGER DANGER' and avoid them!” Cassie pulled her friend down.

  “Strangers can be dangerous and-” the puppet was cut off when a man walked in the room. Just then everyone jumped up and yelled, “STRANGER DANGER!!!”

  Mr. Miller laughed as he followed the stranger in. “Don't worry kids, this is just the new superintendent.” the principal reassured.

  “I am Superintendent Sfendenhiemerdufflesmirtzabelle, but you can call me Superintendent S. because no one here can pronounce my name.” The superintendent chuckled.

  “I don't trust him.” Charlie whispered into Cassie's ear, “Come to my house after school, okay?” Cassie asked her mom and her mom nodded.

  The little green man soon finished talking and rolled to the next class room.

  “Now we are going to finish off the day with a relaxing movie.” Cassie stopped listening to Miss Teacher and thought about the new superintendent.

  When the movie started, Cassie whispered to Charlie. “That superintendent is really creepy.” Charlie nodded, “He was looking at you and Will a lot, maybe he's interested in nerds.” Cassie

  The three smartest kids in Mrs. Spencer's class were Will, Charlie, and Cassie. Even though Charlie acted like a goofball, he was still the third smartest student. Cassie and Will were different. They both got everything right and were slightly mysterious, but while Cassie was an overachiever, Will was more of an observer.

  Charlie giggled. “Can we talk later? I wanna watch this.”

  “FINE.” Cassie huffed.

  When the movie was over, it was time to go home. Susan and Cassie rode with Charlie and his grandmother to their house.

  The Dragon