Merlin's Supernatural Academy: Complete series (Books 1-4) : A Young Adult Supernatural Academy Series

by K L Rymer

My stomach ties into a knot, and I swallow a lump.

  Myrddin continues. “Assuming the worst, Prince Llewlyn plunged his sword right into Gelert’s side, but only after he had delivered the killing blow, were the infant’s cries heard...

  Prince Llewlyn searched the room, finding his son unharmed, but nearby lay the body of a mighty wolf, the one Gelert had slain.

  Filled with guilt and remorse, the prince buried his ever faithful hound, and he was said to have never smiled again...

  Gelert had not killed the baby... but saved him.”

  The headmaster finishes his solemn tale, and a hush spreads throughout the room. No one speaks or even draws a breath. In fact, I hear a sniffle.

  Who knew... even magical beings loved dogs.

  Tears sting the back of my eyes, and my nose starts to clog. Screw that Prince Llewlyn! I’d never have done that to Chappy. He was my baby...

  At last the tears drip into the font. Shapes begin to take form, and the headmaster and I lean forward. They’re blurry at first, but then the water ripples and the image of a red dragon appears, throwing its great head back. It lets out a stream of fire from its mouth, aiming straight for me, and then the water explodes, splashing up into the air.

  I duck, covering my face, but I can’t help but notice that awful smell of sulfur. It fills my nose and my pores, and I cough, peering up at the headmaster.

  Now he’s the one looking at me like I’m the living legend. “It can’t be...”

  Confused, I turn back to the font and gasp. Its inside is completely blackened with soot. That dragon’s fire breath had shot the water straight out of the basin, and now all that’s left behind is a trail of smoke.

  “What... what was that?” I say, pointing at the font. The smell of fire still won’t leave me.

  Murmurs spread throughout the crowd, and I look around, my heart thumping in my ears. What are they pointing at? Have I grown an extra head?

  “Miss Williams...” Myrddin whispers and I follow his gaze, drawing a breath of my own.

  My blazer. It’s pitch black. Only... the red dragon on the emblem burns brighter than the white.

  The headmaster exhales heavily, and the expression he gives me next makes me feel even worse than poor Gelert after the prince had slain him.

  “Miss Williams. You are of House... Mendacious.”

  Oh, crap.

  Chapter 6.

  This all has to be a dream, right? Any moment I will wake up in the moors with Megan and Sophie. Perhaps Megan alerted one of the professors, and now the whole university is looking for me. Maybe they’ve already called out a rescue party?

  I couldn’t really have gone to a magical school in the heart of the mountains and met the famous wizard Merlin, right? And I couldn’t possibly have almost been burned by a ferocious dragon inside the water of an ancient font.

  Nope. It’s all real. As real as my new black blazer, which, for the first time since Myrddin magically put it on me, finally feels right.

  But how? Mendacious are the evil house. That’s where the crooks get sent to.

  I’m not a crook.

  All the students stare at me with fear and disgust (as if it wasn’t bad enough before), and I wish I could bury myself under the floorboards. It wasn’t supposed to be this way... I’m supposed to be the hero. Not the villain.

  Instinctively, my eyes meet Matthew’s, and I see that smug, satisfied glint. For some reason, this guy had decided to make an enemy of me right from the start. All because I’m human. All because I’m different.

  Well, I guess he finally got his wish.

  I’ll gladly be his enemy...

  There comes a long, drawn-out laugh next, and now my eyes fall on that tall, beautiful blonde by Matthew’s side. “See?” she cries. “Just proof of how all humans are evil from birth! Look at her blazer. Black as her soul! She shouldn’t even be in this school!”

  All students cheer in agreement, and I grind my teeth, keeping my burning hazel eyes on those icy blue ones. Not that I think much of Matthew, even in the short time that I’ve known him, but what does he seriously see in this one? Apart from good looks, she’s got nothing to offer. For one, she’s not even naturally blonde.

  I’m naturally blonde.

  “Miss Ambrose, since you’ve got so much to say, I think that you should do us all the honour of taking your turn next,” the headmaster interjects, his voice laced with sarcasm.

  Her smile vanishes. “But... my name begins with an A. I should be one of the last students up there.”

  Professor Myrddin smiles, and I see that rebellious smirk playing across his lips. “But I insist, Angelina. I’m sure you’re eager to show everyone who you really are...”

  Angelina’s unnaturally pale skin flushes in fear, and for a moment she almost looks human. I’m just glad the focus has come away from me. The beautiful girl nods and climbs up the steps, not meeting anyone’s eyes. She passes by me and doesn’t even spare me a glance.

  Headmaster Myrddin catches my attention. “You may be excused, Miss Williams. Professor Jones, would you be so kind to escort our new student to my office? I wish to speak to her in private later.”

  The small, clipped woman nods and marches over to my side. I notice she’s the same sharp woman who held the door for me earlier. “Come on. Let’s not cause any further trouble now.” She yanks me away by the arm, hauling me out of the room. All eyes are trained on me.

  Before I pull away, I meet Zahara’s sad gaze. She gives me a little wave, and I wave back, catching a lump in my throat. I knew her for five minutes, but even I know now that that budding friendship is over. I’ll probably never make friends here now.

  Professor Jones keeps her iron grip on my upper arm, leading me through winding hallways, and I start to grow dizzy. It just seems to go on and on, and I swear new corridors keep cropping up.

  I’m going to get lost in this place.

  I glance over at the professor. She’s a militaristic woman with short-cropped hair and a stiff upper lip, and my stomach drops. She couldn’t be any more different to our loving, bumbling headmaster.

  Finally, she pauses outside a solid oak door and turns the handle, throwing me inside. “The headmaster will be with you shortly. Help yourself to tea and biscuits at his request.” She slams the door before I have a chance to speak and I sigh, dropping down onto a couch by a crackling fireplace.

  Even his office is as eccentric as he is. There are knickknacks everywhere such as a model train, snow globes, music boxes, and shelves filled with miscellaneous books such as cooking books, sewing instructions, and even a Roald Dahl title. Matilda. Classic.

  Whereas I expected dusty tomes of ancient magic, he has children’s books. There are a few beakers and jars of pickled creatures, and one shelf seems to be lined with potions, but that’s about it.

  Maybe his real workshop is hidden deep away in the bowels of the academy...

  On one wall hangs a sword, and my heart accelerates. I think I have a good idea of who that sword may have belonged to. Upon second glance though, it’s clearly a replica.

  It even says so on the plaque.

  “This is merely just a replica. You didn’t think I’d have the real one hanging all willy-nilly on my wall, did you? Tsk, tsk.”

  Word for word, that’s what it says on the plaque. (Seems Merlin loves to troll you.)

  Who knows how long I’m going to be in this room. By now the university must have called the police. It must have been hours since I left Megan and Sophie collecting newts on the moors. I wonder how many they’ve found. I also wonder if Megan got over her cold and if they’re both planning another night of drinks. It is still Freshers’ Week after all.

  Instead, I wait for His Magical Excellency, thinking about the image I saw in the font.

  What did it mean? Why a dragon? If I weren’t mistaken, it looked like the dragon on the Welsh flag. I am studying in Wales now, at two Welsh schools at that.

  I haven’t even thought about ho
w that’s going to work. Back and forth, over and over. Would I have to give one up over the other? Give up a friendly school filled with my fellow humans? Or attend this school full of mean, magical assholes who look down their noses at me and call me “Human Trash”.

  At least at Bangor, I don’t have to wear this blazer, one that’s marked me evil. Mendacious.

  How did this happen? I’ve never done a bad thing in my life. I’m the world’s most boring teenager. Instead of partying, having sex, and taking drugs, I stay at home and binge on anime, or game until six in the morning.

  That’s just me, boring old Bryn. No wonder I wanted to attend this magical school. Call me cliché, but a part of me has always believed this stuff existed and that I was something special. Someone different.

  Yet I’m not Audacious, Ingenious or Magnanimous. I’m Mendacious, corrupt, like all humans (as Angelina kindly put it).

  A few hours pass, and the headmaster finally enters. I rise to my feet. “Professor, I’m—”

  He waves me off politely, pointing towards the seat opposite his desk. He takes the wingback chair by the window, and I gawk at that magnificent backdrop of fields and mountains behind his shoulder, the sun and the asteroid burning bright in the sky. “There’s no need to apologise, Miss Williams.”

  He’s right. There is no need. Yet why did I feel the need to say I was sorry? I did nothing wrong, I think...

  I take the chair in front of him, and now we sit in silence. The pendulum of a grandfather clock swings from left to right, the sound soothing in the quiet. At last, the headmaster peers my way, expelling a long, gravelly breath. “Now... I guess you have many questions...”

  “Yes,” I start. “Why am I here?”

  He raises a brow, confused. “Well, you were there, Miss Williams. I’m sure even a human such as yourself would know that that was not the norm at this school.”

  “I don’t mean the vision. I mean, why am I here? Why was I invited to join the Academy in the first place? I never even knew it existed three days ago. Hell, I didn’t even know Bangor did a year ago. This country’s strange.”

  He smiles, and it reaches his eyes. “I promise I will tell you when you’re ready, but, Miss Williams... I think we need to discuss what we saw in the font. You saw it too, didn’t you? A ferocious, red dragon?”

  The hair rises on the back of my neck and I shudder, remembering the heat that its fire gave off. I never knew flames would make me feel so cold. “Yes... what was that? Did it mean something?”

  He grins again though tightly this time. “Well, I could tell you, but something tells me that you’re fed up with my stories today.”

  I firmly press my lips together, wishing I could growl. “One more story wouldn’t hurt, I guess. Though I will never get over that dog story. Seriously, why did you think it was okay to tell me that one? Is making students cry normal around here?”

  He chuckles. “In what school isn’t that not normal?! Teachers can be brutal.”

  I guess he makes a point.

  “Still... I’ll never get over it. Poor Gelert. He just needed someone to tell him he was a good boy, even until the end...”

  My chest hurts and I suppress a sob, gazing out at the mountains. Ah, I’m such a sucker for animals. I’m doing a zoology degree for a reason. I want to save them all. Every last one.

  “Well, why don’t you just tell him yourself?”

  I look up. Come on now, that’s just impossible. The dog is dead. No magic could bring that poor puppy back.

  Headmaster Myrddin smiles, giving a long, drawn-out whistle, and then a cool breeze brushes up beside me, raising the hair of my arms. I turn, coming face to face with the pointed nose of a large deerhound, and shriek. “Where... where did that dog come from?!”

  The headmaster laughs, and I look his way incredulously. Was the dog hiding in the room all along? I had been in there for hours and sensed no dog.

  “Don’t worry, Bryn. He’s friendly and extremely loyal. He would protect you from any wolf, as you’re already aware...”

  I gawp back at the dog who sits on his haunches now, gazing at me adoringly with his big, brown eyes. His tongue lolls from his mouth, filling the room with the sound of his heavy panting.

  “No... no way... I-i-it can’t be...”

  I’ve seen a lot of weird shit today, but seeing the ghost of a medieval dog just takes the cake. No way would I be able to accept this. Wizards, dragons, sure, but not ghosts.

  “Bryn... this is Gelert, the dog that I’ve told you so much about. Say hello, Gelert.”

  The dog barks, and I quake in my shoes. I never would have thought I’d be afraid of a dog. I prefer dogs to people.

  Slowly, I take my seat again, and the dog sidles closer, whining at me. I peer up at the headmaster warily, and he encourages me along. So, I reach my hand out, petting the ghost dog’s scruffy head. Wow... he feels so real. He’s not even cold like I would have imagined.

  “Gelert is an old friend. My spirit guide, in fact. He often sends me messages back and forth from the other side. It seemed befitting to entrust such a role to him.”

  Well, that warms my heart. It’s nice to know Gelert is living on as Merlin’s personal spirit animal. There’s no dog purer in the end.

  I smile, letting Gelert rest his chin on my knees. “I imagine you have a lot of friends on the other side if your old legends are anything to go by.”

  Headmaster Myrddin snorts. “I suppose so, but enough of that now. It’s not important. The reason why I summoned you here was to discuss the strange vision in the font. The Red Dragon... As you probably already know, there were once two dragons, one red, one white...”

  “Well, no, not really. I just know about the Red Dragon.”

  “You’ll learn a little bit more about them in History and Legends, but for now, I will stick with the short version. The humans have their own version of the story, too, but there are some similarities... The red and white dragons once fought for rulership, but in the end, an old human king buried them deep within a hill where they stayed asleep for many, many years. Only they were awoken once again by a new king, and their battle commenced in which the Red Dragon succeeded. No one knows what happened to the White Dragon. Some say it died, but others believe it’s lying in wait, ready for the day when it shall strike again.”

  I nod, taking it all in. “Well, what has this got to do with me?”

  “Well, it’s prophesied that a child born of a human woman will be the one to awake the Red Dragon and ride him into battle to fight the mysterious white heathen. The White wants to reign over the magical and human worlds combined and burn it to ashes. Yet the Red only yearns for peace between the realms. They say that day is soon upon us, but no one knows when the White will strike. It could be tomorrow, next week, or another thousand years...”

  I slump back in my seat, my body numb. “So... the Red Dragon... does that explain the vision?”

  “I believe it may, yes. But there’s only one way to find out.”

  My heart rate increases as I meet that determined glint in his eyes. “What’s that?”

  His face turns grim, and I quiver in my chair, clutching Gelert closer. “You will have to try and wake him, Bryn. Only then we will know.”

  A cackle bursts from my throat, and Gelert and Headmaster Myrddin startle in surprise. “Me? Wake a dragon? You’ve got to be out of your mind!”

  He shakes his head, but I continue my laughing jag. It’s more nervous laughter than anything, but still. Me? Wake a dragon? I’m no knight.

  “Shouldn’t you send someone in the Audacious House to wake him? If you recall, I’m Mendacious. I’m neither noble, brave, or a fighter. I’m corrupt, evil. Maybe I should be the one to ride the White Dragon instead.”

  I chuckle again, and the headmaster pinches his brows. “Bryn... this is no laughing matter. It has to be you. There’s no other explanation. Besides... you’re not the only student who had a vision of a dragon today...”

 
I stop then, wiping tears from my eyes. “Well, who else?”

  He removes his hand from his brows, and those serious, austere eyes return. “Matthew Humphrey. Only... his dragon was white.”

  I fall slack in my seat, letting my gaze fall toward the window.

  Well, that explains everything. Why we clashed the moment we met (and not because he was an arrogant, cocky jerk).

  Matthew and I are natural born enemies.

  Crap.

  And here I was hoping to make friends at this academy.

  Chapter 7.

  I arrived back at the moors where I left my fellow zoology students, but to my surprise and dismay, I had only been gone several minutes.

  What... how does that work?

  I wish I could have taken a picture of Megan’s and Sophie’s faces when I came stumbling back, claiming how sorry I was for disappearing and making them worried.

  Yeah, I must have looked like a crazy person, but I was near the point of tears.

  I had decided to make the academy my new home from now on, but I will still be able to continue my classes at Bangor. I gave up my dorm room in the end and provided the university with a new address, obviously a bogus one. (I couldn’t very well tell them I was living in a magical school now, could I?)

  It’s going to be a nightmare, but Myrddin gave me a magical pin so I could travel back and forth between schools. The pin has the academy’s Dancing Dragons’ emblem, and now I finally understand; it’s the white and red dragons from the legend. One of which I am destined to wake and ride one day.

  The pin has an enchantment cast by the headmaster, and I wonder why he couldn’t have saved me the trouble in the first place and sent me this pin. But then I wouldn’t have met Shankfoot. The only friend I have at the academy at the moment.

  Lucky for me, I only have several lectures at Bangor a week. The rest of my time is devoted to studying. Although I have a feeling with the time difference at the academy, I will have even more hours in the week.

  I’m going to be so jetlagged.

  Two weeks later, just after Freshers’ Week, normal classes begin, and I’ve just finished my first lecture learning all about a cow’s genitalia.