Dragons and Destiny (Animage Academy Book 1)

by Michelle Wilson

“So, who was that?” Willa asked innocently enough.

  “Drew, my partner in defense class.”

  “Oh, that’s all?”

  “Yes.” Gracie started giggling. I chucked one of my uneaten fries at her.

  Hudson stood up abruptly, startling us. “I’m going to the library to work for a while. We have that werewolf essay to finish for history class, remember?”

  “Hey, I thought you were going to help us with that,” I said. “Seeing as how you’re a werewolf and all.”

  “Very perceptive, Dragon. Just read your book. It can tell you all I could.” And with that he was gone.

  “What crawled up his butt and died?” I asked, my good mood evaporating. Gracie and Willa didn’t offer an explanation, but they shared a look again. That was getting annoying.

  “Why do I feel like everyone except me is in on some big secret?” I asked. They looked at me like I had grown horns.

  “Forget it,” I said. “I’m going back to the room to ‘read my book’ since Hudson is so helpful. You guys coming?”

  “Um—no thanks, Will and I are going to hang out here for a bit longer. Right, Willa?” Willa nodded in agreement with Gracie. Just great. Not even my friends wanted to be around me for long.

  “Fine,” I said as I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed for the peace and quiet that was Waterstone. No one bothered me as I stalked out of the cafeteria to the dorm. It was a good thing, too. I was pretty sure I was getting ready to breathe fire in my human form. My room was blessedly quiet as I unlocked the door and let myself in. I let my bag drop and went into my bedroom to change.

  I froze. Something was wrong. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as a wind gust from my open window blew on me. My dragon uncurled inside of me, sensing danger. I gritted my teeth and tried to hold her back. To let her loose in my bedroom would mean bursting through the walls and ceiling. I knew what she was trying to tell me. Someone had been in my bedroom.

  My ears took in the tiniest sounds around me. A spider was crawling up the wall outside the window. The trees were rustling in the wind. I focused on my room and then Willa’s. No one was there. Whoever it was, they were long gone.

  My desk was in disarray. Books and papers were scattered on the floor, getting blown around the room by the breeze. I picked everything up off the floor, searching for the picture Hudson had given me. My nerves calmed when I found it. It was still safe in its folder where I’d left it. I took it out and propped it against the family photo on my desk. A flash of silver caught my eyes. Alone in the middle of my desk was an origami dragon. Black script writing wound its way across the paper. I unfolded it.

  You are hereby invited to your first meeting of the Immortal’s Club. By the pond. Midnight. Come prepared to be initiated.

  As soon as I finished reading, the paper burst into flames. I yelped and dropped it on the floor, stomping it out before it had a chance to ignite the carpet. The Immortal’s Club? Midnight? There was no way I was sneaking out to the pond at midnight. Besides, the Immortal’s Club sounded ridiculous.

  But I knew there were other students who were immortal, a traitorous voice in my head whispered. Wouldn’t it be nice to talk to someone else who just found out they were going to live forever? There were a few people who I knew shifted into mythical animals. Penelope was a pegasus. I’d heard Kylee had shifted into a chimera a couple days ago. And Drew. Drew was a gryphon. I considered going to find Penelope to ask her about it but brushed the idea off. This was silly, I wasn’t going.

  Pushing the thoughts of secret clubs aside I worked on the werewolf essay. My mind wouldn’t focus but I pushed through it anyway. Two hours in and I hadn’t even gotten through the first half of the century. Basically, all I could tell was that for much of history werewolf packs hated other werewolf packs. This would’ve been much easier if Hudson had been around to explain things. Even though he didn’t hang out with his fellow werewolves very much, he had a keen way of explaining werewolf history that didn’t make werewolves seem like the bloodthirsty animals that appeared in most human movies.

  The sounds of students out on the grounds having fun drifted in even through my closed windows. At some point, I heard our main door open and shut as Willa came back. Part of me wanted to go say hi, but then the other grumpy part of me remembered the looks she and Gracie kept exchanging. I stayed in my room and finished the essay. It wasn’t great, but it was done.

  Who really cared if I failed anyway? No matter what anyone said, I wasn’t going to be on the Council. The ins and outs of all the werewolf packs weren’t my concern. I just wanted to get through the next four years at the Academy and then maybe get a job searching for supernatural historic sites in the Sahara, far away from anyone who seemed to think being the dragon suddenly meant I mattered.

  I crawled into bed, but sleep wouldn’t come. I kept turning over and checking the clock by my bed. Ten turned to eleven. The last thing I needed right then was to belong to some secret club. I had wanted to come to Animage Academy and stand out. But not like that. I wanted to make a name for myself on my own terms, not riding the coattails of my father. Not the dragon. Just Sophie.

  At eleven thirty I got back out of bed. Kicking myself for my incessant nosiness, I pulled on a pair of dark jeans and a black tank top. I couldn’t just ignore the invitation. I had to go and find out what this Immortal’s Club was all about. That late at night the halls of Waterstone were deserted. It was a small blessing there wasn’t even anyone sitting downstairs at the study tables. I whispered a spell I learned in primary school to see if there were any alarm spells on the front doors. Nothing. I had to wonder if the professors really cared if the students snuck out at night if there weren’t even wards on the door. Careful not to make any noise, I opened the door and slid out, closing it softly behind me.

  The night air was cool, but I was so anxious to get to the meeting place I didn’t even notice. Everything was bathed in inky blackness as clouds covered the sky. I made my way across campus, I realized that my eyes were adjusting to the dark. Soon I could see just as clear as in the daylight.

  “Neat trick,” I murmured to myself. I enhanced my hearing, too. The pond sat on the very edge of the Animage Academy property. A perfect meeting spot for a clandestine club.

  There was no one around the pond when I arrived. I checked the new watch my parents had sent me. It wasn’t as fancy as my smart watch but at least I could tell the time. It was a quarter until midnight. I found a tree close to the pond and settled in to wait. My nerves hummed and every gust of breeze made me jump.

  Midnight came and went. Still nothing. This was ridiculous. The crunch of grass underfoot caught my attention. Someone was standing beside the tree. The newcomer was Kylee. I scoffed and walked toward her. She jumped when I stepped on a twig and spun around.

  “Well, if it isn’t the dragon. What are you doing here?”

  “Nice to see you, too.”

  “So, how does it feel to be a dragon? Is your daddy finally proud of you?” Heat flooded my body. I clenched my jaw to keep from responding.

  “Do you feel all great and powerful? Much better than all of us underlings that don’t have the might of the great Council on their side?”

  “Shut up!” I growled. “I’ve never done anything to you, Kylee. Leave me alone.”

  Kylee took a step closer, so we were eye-to-eye, “Your very existence annoys me. You and your father and the Council force us to live our lives in hiding. It’s because of you my mother felt like she had to hide who she was, felt like she could never be free. It’s because of you she’s dead.”

  “I’m leaving.”

  “No one is leaving.” We whirled around to see six people in black cloaks behind us. I kicked myself for letting Kylee get under my skin and distract me. My dragon uncurled inside me. Kylee growled. The newcomers had surprised her too. My skin vibrated, my hold on my human form was slipping. I wouldn’t be able to hang on much longer.

  “Move,” My voi
ce echoed in the night. So that was how Dad did it.

  “No,” was the only reply. A melody arose on the wind, it caressed my ears. The adrenaline flowed out of my body like water. My dragon curled back inside. My eyes were heavy. I was so sleepy. This wasn’t right. The ground approached rapidly as I fell to my hands and knees.

  “Don’t close your eyes,” I called out to Kylee. A gentle snore told me she was already gone. I had to resist. But it wasn’t working. My eyelids shut against my will, surrounding me with darkness.

  My head was so heavy I couldn’t lift it. Something thick and rough was in my mouth. I tried to spit it out, but it wouldn’t budge. Slowly, my senses began to respond. The ground underneath me was damp. Water seeped through my jeans and shirt, chilling my side and my back. My arms wouldn’t move. I couldn’t move my ankles either. Thick bands of panic gripped me.

  My eyes flew open. I was still next to the pond. All I could see was the dark water stretched out before me. My heart beat rapidly in my chest. Sounds were muffled in my ears. I realized my hearing was normal, not enhanced like I was used to. It felt like I was deaf. The rapid beating of my heart drowned out everything else. Cool water lapped the bottom of my pants, soaking my feet and ankles. I twisted as much as I could to get a better look around. me. Now I was facing the dark water. I was so close to the edge; the water was getting my pants wet. I tried to move my head and look around. Kylee was next to me in the same situation. Her eyes were wide as she struggled.

  I couldn’t think. Anxiety flooded all my senses and made it impossible for me to focus. I tried to reach for my dragon. She wasn’t there. The panic escalated. The gag in my mouth prevented me from using any spells. I thrashed against the ropes, but they were knotted tight.

  I reached for my dragon. She was there, but I couldn’t budge her. My heart started to race as panic began to set in. I couldn’t use any spells with a gag in my mouth. I growled my frustration.

  “Good, they’re awake.” The voice behind me sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. If I was going to get out of there, I had to quit panicking. It was hard to focus when I was scared out of my mind, but I tried anyway. I pushed past the fear gripping my heart and found the quiet place inside. When my mind was still, I reached for my dragon again. This time I found her, but she was just as groggy and confused as I was. I called, and she started to rise. She was so slow. I didn’t know if she was going to make it in time.

  “This is stupid.”

  “It’s not stupid, it’s tradition. If they want to be one of us, then they have to prove themselves.”

  “Whatever, I’m leaving.” Footsteps of someone faded away.

  “Let’s get this over with.”

  Pain bloomed on my lower back as a foot kicked me into the water. I thrashed again, but it was no use. Something splashed into the pond beside me. I was tied to a cement block. It tugged me under, into the dark depths of the water. I barely managed to suck in a quick breath before the water enveloped me.

  I shut my eyes against the spray of silt when I hit the bottom. When I opened them, Kylee was sinking down to lay beside me. My super strength wouldn’t come, no matter how much I willed it to return. My lungs were starting to burn. They cried out for air.

  Beside me, Kylee was panicking. She tried to suck in a breath and realized her mistake. Fury hot and passionate filled every inch of my body. Who did these people think they were, kidnapping students? Unbidden, my dragon roared to life as the anger shot through me. She filled my skin until she burst through with a flash of light. As I shifted, the ropes on my arms and legs broke apart.

  I shot to the top of the water. My fury exploded out of me in the form of red-hot flames as I roared my rage at the black cloaks standing on the shore. They scrambled to get out of the way. One of them shifted into a pegasus and took flight. Another raised their hands and a protective bubble of blue magic surrounded a group of them. The rest ran as fast as they could out of my range. I wanted to chase them all. Hunt them down and taste their bones crushing in my teeth.

  That savage thought shocked me. My humanity took over and the flames stopped. I didn’t dare shift back, though. Adrenaline was still coursing through my body. To my surprise, instead of running, my captors stepped closer and began clapping. Except the one who was still trying to put out the flame that caught the hem of his cloak on fire. The pegasus landed and shifted back into human form. It was Penelope.

  “We could have done without the flames, but wow, what a dramatic entrance,” she said. “Incredible job, you get 10 out of 10 for sure.”

  “Um, guys, Kylee still hasn’t come up.” I whipped my head around to find her still at the bottom of the pond. With my dragon senses restored it was easy to see her struggling against the ropes.

  “She just needs to shift and she’ll be fine. She’s a Chimera.”

  “She’s panicking.”

  “Well then she panics. She’s not fit for the Immortal’s Club.”

  “Do we save her?”

  Disgusted I roared again and dove just as Kylee lost consciousness. I grabbed her in one of my taloned feet as gently as I could and rocketed back to the surface. My wings and tail worked just as well to propel me in the water as they did in the air. In seconds we were back on land again. I laid Kylee on the ground and shifted back into human form.

  “Don’t just stand there, you idiots. Help her,” I yelled once I could speak with a human mouth again. No one moved. Kylee was still unconscious. As soon as I was all the way back in human form, I ran to her side and flipped her over. She wasn’t breathing. I began pumping her chest. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

  Her body jerked, and she began to cough up water. I helped her roll to her side and held her hair.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “Someone hand me a cloak,” I demanded. Again no one moved. My dragon stirred within me again. Even my human mind wanted to roast all the cloaks where they stood. “Now!” I growled. To my surprise, fire burned in my chest. Someone pushed through the line of students in cloaks and handed me one. It was Drew.

  “Congratulation, Dragon. You passed the test,” he said.

  “What?”

  “You saved yourself, and you saved Kylee. We’d heard about the dragon’s protective instincts, but we wanted to see them for ourselves. Color me impressed.”

  I sat back on my heels. I looked down at Kylee and she was grinning. “What?” I repeated.

  “I wasn’t in any danger,” Kylee said, pulling on the cloak Drew had handed her. “Penelope put a spell on me so I could breathe the whole time. This was your initiation. Mine was the night I shifted. It wasn’t nearly as fun as yours.”

  Anger, fast and hot rose within me again. My dragon rose with it. I jumped to my feet and stepped away from the group until I could get it under control. I really didn’t want to get into trouble for setting fire to a group of students, even if they deserved it.

  “You weren’t in any danger? Really?” I asked Kylee.

  “Really.”

  “Alright. I’m leaving.”

  “You can’t leave,” Penelope said. “This was your initiation.”

  “Watch me.” When I started back to the dorms, no one followed me.

  “You’ll be back,” someone called as I stalked off. “We’re your people now.”

  Chapter Seven

  Mrs. Winnifred was waiting for me outside the gym one morning a week after my night with the Immortal’s Club.

  “Sophie, would you come with me, please?” I waved my friends on into class. I had forgotten it was the day I was supposed to have my special dragon lessons with Dad.

  “Mrs. Winnifred, today is supposed to be Gracie’s first shift. Can I go after that, please? Tell Dad he can just wait a minute.”

  “I will tell the dragon no such thing, come on. We must respect our elders.” I sighed and followed her down the street and into the administration building. Instead of going to the headmistress’s office, Mrs. Winnifred led me to a little conf
erence room on the first floor. Dad was already there.

  “Headmistress Adiana thought we would be more comfortable here.”

  “She probably just didn’t want us to keep using her office.” He grinned.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

  “So, what do you got for me today, Pa?” I asked, my words dripping with sarcasm. My father raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Sophie, this isn’t funny. This is serious stuff.”

  “Oh, I know it is.” I sat down in one of the chairs and propped my feet up on the table. “Last week you informed me I was immortal. That I get to live and watch the years go by and go by. Watch all my friends and family live and love and die.

  “What do you got for me this week? Am I destined to save the world? To end it? You know, one of my friends informed me that the dragons are always at the center of history. Does the balance of the supernatural world hinge on my very existence?”

  My father didn’t speak. He took his time sitting down in a chair and putting his elbows on the table. He met my eyes, looking sheepish.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

  “Sophie, keep your voice down.”

  “The balance of the supernatural world hinges upon my very existence, doesn’t it? That’s what I get for being dramatic. Because what sixteen-year-old girl doesn’t want that kind of responsibility? Why should I worry about friends or boys or makeup when next you’re going to tell me I need to fly to outer space and hold the Earth in orbit for eternity!”

  My father sighed. “Simon is the only one who can calm you down when you’re being dramatic like this.”

  “Yeah, well, Simon isn’t here, is he?” I asked.

  “Have you talked to him recently?”

  “Of course. I send him a letter at least once a week. We haven’t been off campus to meet up, though.”

  “They keep a tight lock on the animages.”

  “Yeah,” I said. I put my feet on the floor and propped my head up on my elbows. I looked at Dad and raised my eyebrow at him like he did to me. “Why is that?”