by D J DuMont
Willow shook her head no, which earned her another eye roll from Locke. She shouldn’t have been surprised that he had spent his summer trying to get ahead in class. Locke came from a family with a history of Dragon Heart Agents, and he thought this meant he was better than Willow. The only Dragon Heart Agent in Willow’s family other than herself was her father, and he was missing. Despite the fact that her father had been one of the best Dragon Heart Agents in modern times, Locke constantly ridiculed her. It didn’t help that Willow had been the worst in the class at almost every magical subject last year. But despite her poor performance in class, Willow had earned the Golden Dragon Heart Award for being the best student of the year. Her performance on their final exam had earned her that honor, and Locke had been livid. Willow expected him to do his best to make her life miserable this year.
Surprisingly, the fourth student in their small class, Cara Moss, spoke up to hush Locke. “Oh, leave her alone. She’s been working all summer. Of course she hasn’t had time to look over the syllabus.”
Willow shot Cara a startled but grateful look. Cara also came from a long line of Dragon Heart Agents, and had done her fair share of snubbing Willow and Sylvie for their lack of a pedigree. But today, Cara had more important things on her mind. Her green eyes held a worried expression as she nervously wrung her hands.
Willow guessed that Cara was anxious because of the assassination. Despite being awarded a courage ring last year, Cara was constantly panicking.
“It was a busy summer for me, that’s for sure,” Willow said, smiling politely. “How was your summer, Cara?”
Cara shrugged, her curly red hair bouncing off her shoulders as she did. “Fine. I spent it on vacation in Europe with my family. We got back a few days ago, and I was feeling so relaxed until this morning. I just can’t understand how anyone could manage to get past the security detail surrounding the President. The C.I.A. doubled the number of Dragon Heart Agents watching him after the attack on the White House last year.”
“Do you think the Dark Sparks are behind the attack?” Sylvie asked, looking at Willow with a worried frown.
“I’m sure they are,” Willow said. “If this summer taught me one thing, it’s that the Dark Sparks aren’t a group we want to underestimate. They’ve been searching for the secret behind magic and dragons, and all of the evidence we have seems to suggest that they are aware that it comes from a virus.”
“So they know it’s not just something you’re born with?” Cara asked in a shaking voice.
Willow nodded. It was hard for her to believe that it had only been a year ago that she’d first discovered that magic existed. Anjali had told her in a matter-of-fact tone that a virus existed known as the Dragon Heart Virus. The virus was lethal in most cases, but for a small portion of the population, it was actually beneficial. Those who had what was known as the “Dragon Heart gene” were able to fight off the deadly virus. And once they recovered, they were left with the ability to do magic. Willow had this gene, just as her father did. She’d voluntarily agreed to subject herself to the virus, and now she was a modern wizard.
Without thinking about it, Willow reached up to rub her upper arm, where a triangular scar of three dots indicated that she’d been injected with the Dragon Heart virus. She’d been careful to hide the scar from her mother all summer. Willow’s father had had the same scar, and Willow worried that her mother would become suspicious if she saw it on Willow’s arm. Willow’s mother didn’t have a clue that magic or dragons existed.
“I just hope they don’t figure out a way to make the virus mutate,” Locke said, still leaning back lazily in his chair. He looked relaxed, but Willow caught the underlying worry in his voice.
All of them were worried. How could they not be? Beside Willow, Sylvie visibly shuddered. The possibility of the Dragon Heart Virus mutating weighed heavily on everyone’s mind. If Stein Viker did indeed know that the virus existed, the first thing he would try to do would be to find a way for the virus to give magic to anyone, not just those with the Dragon Heart gene. But if anyone could do magic, the world would quickly spin into chaos. Wizards without proper training or control could destroy lives faster than they could be stopped. The Dragon Heart Agency kept wizards accountable to using their magic for good, not evil. Without that accountability, a world of magic would be a scary place.
Cara had just opened her mouth to say something else when the door to the conference room opened and Anjali stepped in, wearing her official Dragon Heart uniform. The sleek black boots, shirt, and pants were accented with gold embroidery over the left chest. Anjali’s uniform not only had the Dragon Heart Agency logo, but also a golden chevron underneath the logo which indicated she was a Master Dragon Heart Agent. The uniform looked magnificent, and was befitting for the woman who was the head of the Dragon Heart Academy of Magic. Willow suddenly felt very underdressed in her jeans and simple tank top. She hadn’t been planning on coming straight to a meeting with Anjali, and had dressed in comfortable clothes for the plane ride.
But Anjali wasn’t here to nitpick over clothes. Her face looked drawn and pale as she stood before the students, all four of whom now sat quietly at attention.
Anjali smiled, but that didn’t hide the agitation in her eyes. Her voice sounded strained when she spoke.
“Welcome back, students. I hope you had a good summer. Unfortunately, the school year is starting on a rather somber note. With news of the President’s assassination, the Dragon Heart Agency is in quite an uproar.”
Anjali paused and looked down at her hands as if gathering her composure. Willow had never seen her act that way. Usually, Anjali looked like the very picture of confidence. But the assassination had shaken her. She seemed uncertain, and almost frightened. Willow’s stomach turned uneasily. You knew things were bad when even your fearless mentor felt fear.
Anajli regained her composure and looked back up. She made eye contact with each of the students as she spoke, and her voice steadily grew stronger.
“I’m sure you are all eager for information on how the assassination happened. Unfortunately, I don’t have much to tell you. The Dragon Heart Agency is investigating, but we have few leads to go on. We suspect the Dark Sparks were behind this, but we have no solid proof. And given that they seem determined to attack any groups of Dragon Heart Agents they find, we feel we have no choice but to restrict all of you to campus grounds.”
Locke sat up straighter. “What does that mean?”
“It means none of you are to go beyond the campus boundaries. You may be here on the Dragon Heart campus, or you may be on the regular Birch Point campus. But you are not, under any circumstances, to go beyond school property.”
Willow wasn’t too bothered by this. She hadn’t ventured much past campus last year, anyway. The closest town, Birch Point itself, was twenty miles away. It was a nice town, but not anything to write home about. And the Birch Point Academy campus was large and full of activities and food. Sylvie and Cara also appeared nonplussed by Anjali’s announcement. But Locke crossed his arms and huffed.
“I don’t see why we should be punished for the fact that the Dragon Heart Agency can’t get its act together,” he said.
Willow’s mouth dropped. Locke tended to say some pretty outrageous things, but badmouthing the Dragon Heart Agency itself was extreme, even for him. Usually, all of the students tried to maintain respectful attitudes toward the Agency. Or at least to act like they were respectful, even if they really would have liked to roll their eyes.
“Locke, this is not up for discussion,” Anjali said, crossing her arms and glaring at him. She was about to say something else when her mobile phone buzzed. She looked down at it and sighed, then looked back at the students. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I have more to tell you, but I’ll have to end this meeting for now. Be here tomorrow afternoon for your first class of the semester. Please make sure you’ve read the first chapter of your Earth Magic textbooks.”
Willow had no id
ea what Earth Magic was, or that she was supposed to already have a textbook for it. She glanced over at Sylvie, who seemed completely unsurprised by this news.
I am so behind already, Willow thought in frustration. As the recipient of the Golden Dragon Heart award last year, Willow was supposed to serve as the “captain” of students this year. But she wasn’t going to make a very good captain if she couldn’t even figure out what subjects she was supposed to be learning. She chanced a glance at Locke, but quickly glanced away when she saw that he was smirking at her. She had hoped that the summer would have mellowed him a bit, but he seemed more determined than ever to make fun of her this year.
“Oh, and one more thing before I dismiss you,” Anjali said. Willow turned back to look at their teacher and mentor. Anjali pointed her finger at each student in turn, emphasizing every word as she spoke.
“I am not kidding when I say not to leave school property. Anyone who does will face expulsion from the Dragon Heart Academy of Magic.”
And with that, Anajli said “Dispareo” and disappeared from the room in a cloud of smoke. Willow had never seen a teleportation spell before, and she couldn’t help but gawk at the empty space where Anjali had been moments before. Her fellow students were gawking, too, and Willow couldn’t help but smile. She’d only been back at school for about thirty minutes, but she’d already seen a brand new spell.
This year was going to be interesting, that’s for sure. Perhaps a little too interesting.
Chapter Five
After Anjali left, Willow wasn’t quite ready to go over to the “normal” campus. Birch Point Academy itself was an ordinary boarding school, full of ordinary humans who had no clue that magic or dragons existed. Great care was taken to hide the dragons and Dragon Heart Academy from nonwizards, and using magic on the Birch Point side of campus was strictly prohibited. Willow had been carefully hiding magic from her mother all summer, and she wasn’t excited about hiding it from all the students in her regular classes.
Sylvie agreed to walk with her through the halls of the main Dragon Heart Academy building, and Willow found the familiar sights and smells of the magical classrooms soothing.
“Remember last year when you made a cauldron explode?” Sylvie said with a laugh as they walked into the Alchemy classroom.
Willow made a face. “Which time? I’m pretty sure I did that more than once.”
Sylvie laughed again, then went to the front of the room where Anjali normally stood while teaching. Standing up as tall as she could, Sylvie began to do a surprisingly good impression of their teacher.
“Now, students, you’ll notice that Locke and Cara have managed a perfect transformation of a stone into a flower. They did so by carefully following the instructions in your alchemy textbooks. Willow, on the other hand, appears to have turned her stone into a foul-smelling black sludge.”
Willow threw a wooden spoon at Sylvie, who ducked and laughed.
“Hey, even though you made more black sludge than the rest of us combined last year, at least you won the Golden Dragon Heart award. You’re still the top student.”
Willow frowned. “Yeah. I know it’s supposed to be an honor and all, but I’m not sure how I’m supposed to serve as ‘captain’ when I can’t get simple potions right.”
“You’ll catch on eventually. You always do,” Sylvie replied. “Besides, you’re the best at dragon flying. And that’s the most important skill for a Dragon Heart Agent.”
Willow shrugged. She was the best at dragon flying, but she didn’t think that excused how horrible she was at the other magical subjects. Anjali was always saying that Willow had hidden talents, but Willow wasn’t so sure. Suddenly, she didn’t want to be in the alchemy classroom anymore.
“Come on, Sylvie. Let’s go explore the rest of the building. I’ve always been curious what’s up on the top floor.”
Sylvie raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure we’re supposed to be up there.”
Willow grinned. “We’ve never been expressly told to stay away. Isn’t it better to ask for forgiveness than permission?”
Sylvie still looked doubtful, but Willow turned and started heading into the hallway before her friend could protest again. Quickly and silently, Willow made her way toward the one staircase that she knew went to the very top of the building. She was feeling adventurous, and had always wanted to see the top floor. With Anjali and everyone else preoccupied with the president’s assassination, now was the perfect time to sneak up to the mysterious top level.
Sylvie muttered under her breath about how this was a bad idea, but Willow didn’t slow down or stop. She climbed up the creaking wooden stairs until she reached the door that said “7” for the seventh and top floor. Taking a deep breath, Willow pushed the door open. Her heart pounded with anticipation as she wondered what she would find here. Ancient magical artifacts? Old magical textbooks? Records from students who had been here years ago? Dusty old furniture? Or something more sinister? Perhaps a magical weapon, or ingredients to make restricted potions.
Sylvie had stopped her muttering, and must have been holding her breath, too. As the door opened, Willow clenched her right fist, just in case. She wanted to be ready to use a defensive shield spell if necessary. But her worries were unfounded. When the door had finally swung open, there was nothing to see except a long hallway lined with doors. Far away, at the very end of the hallway, sunlight streamed in through floor-to-ceiling windows. The sunlight lit up the dust particles that floated thickly in the hallway, and the walls were smudged with dirt. No one had cleaned up here for several months, if not years.
“This is…kind of boring looking,” Sylvie finally said.
“Agreed,” Willow answered. “But maybe there’s something interesting behind some of the doors. Let’s take a look.”
Sylvie looked uneasy, but did not protest as Willow moved toward the closest door and attempted to open it.
“Locked.” Willow grunted in frustration, then went to try the second door, which was locked as well. She started walking down the hallway, trying each door handle as she went. None of them budged, but the further she walked, the more she started to think there was a strange noise coming from somewhere down the hallway. She stopped and strained her ears to listen. For a moment, everything was quiet. Then a sudden crashing noise followed by loud grunts filled the air.
“What was that?” Sylvie asked, her eyes widening in alarm.
“I’m not sure. Let’s go check it out.” Willow started walking toward the sound, and Sylvie followed with a doubtful look on her face. A year ago, Willow would have shied away from a potentially dangerous noise. She hadn’t been the type to go looking for trouble. But something about learning that she had magic inside of her had made her bolder. She crept toward the door where the sound was coming from, and put her ear up against it to listen. Sylvie crowded in next to her, and the two of them held their breath as they waited to see if the sound would repeat.
For a few moments, everything was silent. And then, suddenly, a loud voice said “Prodeo!” This was followed by a loud crash, and a string of curses that made Willow blush. She looked at Sylvie, whose eyes were wide.
“That’s Locke,” Sylvie whispered.
Willow nodded, chewing her lower lip. “What’s he doing up here?” she asked in a low whisper. “And do you think he’s okay? He sounds like he might be in trouble.”
Sylvie gave a helpless shrug. “We should check on him.”
Willow hated to admit it, but Sylvie was right. As obnoxious as Locke could be, he was their fellow student, after all. They couldn’t just leave him up here without help if he needed help. With a resigned sigh, Willow reached to try the door handle.
This door was unlocked, and easily opened as she gently pushed on it. She tried to be quiet, not wanting to alert whoever or whatever might be in the room that she was there. She had only opened the door a few inches when she caught sight of Locke, standing in the middle of the room with his right arm raised. His ri
ght hand was in a fist, and he was pointing it toward a large tower of cardboard boxes. The boxes were all about the size of a television, and were stacked in an uneven pyramid shape.
“Weird,” Sylvie whispered. Willow had to agree. This looked very weird. It didn’t look like Locke was in any kind of trouble, unless there was more to those boxes than met the eye. Before Willow could think too much about it, Locke was once again screaming out “Prodeo.”
Almost immediately, a huge blast of blue light came rushing from Locke’s magic ring. The blast knocked him backwards and he lost control of his arm. His hand ended up pointing at the ceiling, where it left a huge scorch mark. Willow gasped as she looked up and saw that there were several other scorch marks on the ceiling.
She clamped her hand over her mouth, but it was too late. Locke had heard her gasp, and swung his head around to look at her. His cheeks turned red with rage when he saw her, and Sylvie urgently pulled on the back of Willow’s shirt.
“Come on, Willow. Let’s get out of here.”
But Willow shook her head. “No. It’s too late. He’s already seen us. And besides, we shouldn’t have to run away. We have just as much right to be here as he does.”
That may have been true, but it didn’t stop Locke from storming toward them with his fists raised angrily. “What are you doing here?” he yelled.
Willow stood tall, feeling strangely calm. This day had been bizarre, to say the least. But if she could face down Stein Viker, then surely she didn’t need to fear Locke Nash.
“We were exploring the top floor of the building. What are you doing?”
Locke crossed his arms and looked like he was going to refuse to answer her, but then he shrugged and pointed at the boxes. “Practicing magical projection. Something much more useful than just exploring.”
He said the last word in a disdainful tone, and Willow forced herself not to react. He always knew just how to get under her skin. Besides, she wanted to keep him talking. She wasn’t sure what magical projection was, and she was curious. That blue light looked awfully similar to the blue light she’d seen come out of Stein’s gun earlier today, and she wondered whether it came from the same type of spell.
