by James Riley
Fort stepped into a stall and quickly closed the door, locking it behind him. He cast a teleportation circle on the nearby stall wall back to the cavern below the old school, and a glowing green circle opened on the metal, revealing the book of Summoning.
Fort quickly grabbed it and closed the circle, letting loose a sigh of relief. He knew intellectually that no one would have been able to find it there, but he was still incredibly thankful to see it hadn’t been disturbed. He opened the book to the first spell and took in the spell words again so he could at least leave the smell in here behind.
As his body filled with magic once more, the bathroom door opened, and two boys wandered in, talking loudly. Fort froze, the book of Summoning still in his hand, and a spell at his lips. But if he cast it, the light of the teleportation circle might be bright enough for them to see.
“I’m just saying, it’s weird that they’re not having us learn more magic,” a boy that sounded like Bryce said. “If we’re only going to make more fireball bows, this is going to get boring fast.”
“It’s just the first day,” said a voice that Fort recognized as Chad’s. “Calm down. And besides, they’re awesome. Shooting a fireball instead of an arrow from a bow? That’s just cool.”
They chose stalls on either side of Fort’s, and he cursed silently. Ugh. Was he going to have to wait for them to finish their business now?
“Did you hear what Trey was working on?” Bryce said from Fort’s right. “He and a couple of others are trying to put the earthquake spell into some kind of hammer or something. I guess that’s one way to tunnel underground.”
Fort stared in disgust at the wall. Who talked while going to the bathroom? What was wrong with these two?
“I don’t know, man,” Chad said. “Trey said they couldn’t get it to work right. Like it was way overpowered still. It just seems like he’s not into things anymore. He told me yesterday after seeing that Foresight idiot that he was thinking of switching to Healing.”
Bryce snorted. “Healing’s for losers. Did you hear what they’ve got them doing? They’re not even making bandages anymore. Ambrose told ’em they’re going to just make shields with protection spells now, and fill up those staffs with Healing spells. How boring would that get?”
“I don’t know,” Chad said. “I saw that Jia girl working on something else. Rachel was in there too. No weapons, just talking to Ambrose in some other language.”
“Teacher’s pets,” Bryce said, and flushed his toilet. “So what do you think is wrong with Trey?”
“I think New Kid got to him when he beat that tentacle monster,” Chad said, flushing now too. Wow, had they synchronized themselves? Both stalls opened, but the conversation never paused. “I don’t know, man. Maybe he’s not cut out for Destruction anyway. He never really had his heart in it.”
“Aw, bro, that’d be downright depressing to lose him,” Bryce said as water started running. At least they were washing their hands. That was something. “Trey’s a good listener, and sometimes you just want to let loose with your day-to-day problems, you know?”
“I hear that,” Chad said. “He and I went to the cafeteria yesterday after dinner and just laid it all out on the line about my mom and that new guy she’s seeing. I won’t lie, bro. Tears were shed and hugs were had.”
“He’ll come around, bro,” Bryce said. “Give him time. But if he does want to go into Healing, no matter how pathetic it is, we’ll totes be his guys and support him. You with me?”
It sounded like they slapped hands for, like, five minutes. “For life, my bro,” Chad said.
As the door closed, Fort let out a huge sigh of relief, though he was careful not to breathe in again. Not willing to wait for anyone else to happen in, he opened another teleportation circle to the first place he could think of, the kitchen he’d been in the night before, and after a quick look to make sure it was still empty, he dove through the circle, closing it behind him.
The kitchen was dark and looked just like it had last night, so hopefully no one had been in it since. Just to be safe, he opened the book again and read over the spell words, just to have a new teleportation circle ready. He’d thought he’d be safe in the bathroom, and that hadn’t ended well. So who knew about the kitchen—
“Did you get the microwave installed yet?” shouted a voice from outside the door.
“No, Billy’s bringing it in now,” said another voice from a lot closer.
Fort sighed. Right, not here, either. He readied the spell words, only to pause midcast as a workman appeared in the doorway, holding a microwave.
“Hey, you’re not supposed to be down here,” the man said, giving Fort a suspicious look. “You’re not one of the students, are you?”
“No, no way,” Fort said, shoving the book behind his back. “I just got lost in all the hallways.”
The man nodded, looking relieved, but still not happy. “Well, no families are allowed down here either. I don’t care how high up your mom or dad is, okay? Now get back to the government quarters before I turn you in.”
Fort nodded. He had no idea what the man was talking about, but he wasn’t going to question his good luck. Instead, he walked quickly out past the workman, careful to keep the book out of sight as much as he could. Out in the hallway, he paused at the sight of people working everywhere, most of whom seemed to be looking at him suspiciously. Fort waved at them, then picked a direction and hurried away, just trying to get out of sight.
“Hey, kid!” the workman from the kitchen called, and Fort froze, his heart racing. He slowly looked back over his shoulder, sure he was busted, but found the workman pointing in the other direction. “You’re going the wrong way. Government quarters are back there.”
“Oh, right, sorry, I got turned around,” Fort said, and turned to walk in the other direction.
“Don’t worry about it,” the workman said. “I get lost here, like, every other day.”
The others let him pass without saying anything after that, and Fort made his way down the hall, then made a quick turn as soon as he could, just to get out of sight. He wasn’t sure what the government quarters were, or why there were families here, but he knew he’d get caught if he ended up there.
What he needed was another empty room, one that didn’t have anyone working in it. Even another bathroom might be worth the risk, if it’d give him enough time to cast another teleportation circle and get out of here.
He continued down the hall, passing rooms with people working on the wiring in some, installing beds in others, and for a moment Fort wondered how big the facility actually was.
Unfortunately, it was way too large to find his way around, and the farther he went, the more lost he became, until finally he turned a corner and found himself at a dead end. A giant round metal door hung open at the end of the hall by just a foot or two, enough to see that the door had to be at least three feet thick, as he still couldn’t see inside whatever lay beyond it.
Fort sighed and started to turn around, only to hear footsteps back the way he’d come. Moving quickly, he ran to the huge door, not even sure he could move it, considering how heavy it must have been. But as he pulled, the door opened easily without even a squeak. He yanked it open just enough to slip inside, and then pulled it back shut again from the other side, unfortunately cutting off all the light to the room too.
At least if it was this dark, it had to be empty, so that was something. Fort felt around on the wall near the door and located what felt like a lever. Hoping it was for the lights, he pulled it, and the room lit up, instantly revealing something familiar, if still unnerving.
The room was huge, just like it’d been in the last school. But this time there were no wooden crates containing weird artifacts or inhuman remains. This version didn’t even have glass displays on the wall.
Instead, large metal boxes were pushed against the far side of the room, both of them opened. Inside the boxes were the skeletons of two dragons, a large catlike creatu
re, and four magicians, the source of the books of magic that had been found on Discovery Day.
- TWENTY-TWO -
ALONE WITH THE DRAGONS, FORT wasn’t able to resist getting a closer look. To keep it safe, he hid the Summoning book behind some packing material in the corner, then slowly approached the skeletons. He knew he should just teleport out of here, go somewhere he could practice in peace, but being alone with the bones of actual dragons was just too amazing to pass up.
This was only the second time he’d ever seen the dragon skeletons outside one of Dr. Opps’s memories, let alone seen the bodies of the magicians who’d been masters of each type of magic.
And this time, they weren’t behind glass.
He tentatively reached a hand toward the largest dragon skull, feeling guilty about touching it. Even without the glass, the display still felt like a museum, and a lifetime of being told not to touch things was hard to break.
But this wasn’t just history; it was magic. And when else would he have the chance to touch a dragon?
His fingers brushed the dragon’s teeth, and he quickly yanked them away, just in case the monster came alive and tried to bite off his hand. But when nothing happened, he reached his hand out again, and this time touched the creature’s jawbone. A feeling just like magic flowed through him, and—
“Hey,” said a voice from behind him, and Fort’s heart stopped completely as he whirled around in terror to find Gabriel, of all people, standing in the doorway. “I don’t think you’re supposed to touch those, you know,” his roommate said, grinning.
“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Fort hissed, trying to calm himself down. “What are you doing here?”
Gabriel pushed his way in, then closed the enormous door behind him. “Isn’t the more important question, what are you doing here?”
“No? I know why I’m here.”
Gabriel snorted. “That kid with the silver hair told me I’d find you here. He said you needed a friend.” Gabriel stepped closer, a thoughtful look on his face. “You know, if it was me who all the guards were after for taking something I shouldn’t have, I might pay more attention if I was being followed. I was at the end of the hall when you came in here.”
Ugh. Cyrus was too good to be real. Even after Fort slammed a door on him, Cyrus still sent someone to check to see if he was okay.
But why Gabriel? Unless he was the only one Cyrus could find who’d still even want to talk to Fort.
“I don’t know what Cyrus meant,” Fort said, incredibly glad he’d hidden the Summoning book. “I’m just here to see the dragons.”
Gabriel nodded. “They walked us through here on the tour,” he said. “I never wanted to come, but even I was pretty blown away by this. I’m surprised they left it open.”
“They’ve been doing a lot of work on this floor,” Fort said, giving him a little space as Gabriel neared the dragons. “Probably just a mistake. I didn’t realize they gave all the new students a tour of everything. Last time I saw something like this, I had to… well, rules were broken.”
“Oh, there weren’t any other students,” Gabriel said, staring at the dragon. He reached out a hand and touched it in the same spot Fort had. “Just me and my mom.”
“You got a private look around?” Fort said, wondering again who Gabriel was. “Why?”
“Why were you out past curfew last night?” he asked, giving Fort a sidelong glance.
“Okay, fair.”
Gabriel turned back to the dragon and went silent for a moment. The other boy seemed lost in thought, so Fort took a chance and glanced over at where he’d hidden the Summoning book. From where they stood, it was still out of sight, but if Gabriel moved toward the large cat skeleton, he’d probably be able to see it.
“Do you think there are any left?” Gabriel said out of nowhere.
“What, dragons? Don’t you think we’d have heard about it if there were?”
“Unless they only woke up when magic did,” Gabriel said, running his hand down the dragon’s neck bones. “They could be out there now, anywhere. It’s kind of crazy to think about, huh?”
“If something this size started flying around, I’m going to guess it’d make the news.”
Gabriel snorted. “Use your imagination, kid. Who says they have to look like dragons? Birds are descended from dinosaurs. Maybe dragons hid when magic disappeared. Maybe they look completely different now.”
“Like what, Komodo dragons?” Fort began to get antsy, anxious that he didn’t have the book on him. Why had he put it down? Now he wouldn’t be able to grab it without Gabriel noticing. “We should probably get out of here. If you go first, it’ll look less suspicious—”
“Maybe those Old One things started as dragons,” Gabriel said, ignoring him. “Or maybe these magicians did. Dragons turned into all kinds of things in old stories, and for all we know now, those could be true.”
“I’m pretty sure dragons are just dragons,” Fort said, pointing at the skeletons in front of him. “Why would they hide what they looked like?”
“To keep hidden, maybe,” Gabriel said. “If you were the last dragon, would you want to stand out?”
Fort’s eyes widened at his roommate’s words. The last dragon? That was the same phrase the Old One had used in his dreams the last few nights. “What did you just say?” he whispered.
“I’m saying, if there’s just one dragon left, maybe it tried to hide,” Gabriel said, looking over at him now. “You don’t ever wonder if Dr. Oppenheimer knows about one that’s still around? You know that guy has tons of secrets. Someone at this school probably knows.”
Fort stared at him, not sure what to make of this. It couldn’t just be coincidence that Gabriel was using the exact same phrase that the Old One had. And Gabriel had said he had nightmares too. But the same dream? It couldn’t be possible. Why would Gabriel be dreaming about Fort’s father? Could Gabriel have overheard him saying the phrase in his sleep?
“Why are you so interested in some random last dragon?” Fort asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
Gabriel went silent for a moment, then gave him a long look. “What are you doing in here, Fort?”
“I told you, I came to see the skeletons,” he said.
“Actually, you said dragons.”
“I was mostly just looking for someplace quiet. But you didn’t answer my question.”
“I’ll answer your question if you tell me what that book is, the one you hid in the corner there,” Gabriel said, nodding toward the spot where Fort had hidden the book of Summoning.
A cold chill passed through Fort. “I told you earlier,” he said, hoping to sound braver than he felt. “I can keep a secret.”
Gabriel nodded. “That’s important, kid. And I admire that about you. But eventually there comes a point where you have to take a leap of faith, and just trust someone else.”
“You should take your own advice, maybe.”
Gabriel laughed. “You really do remind me of my little brother, Fort. Listen, I don’t know what you’re doing, and you don’t need to tell me. But if I were you, I’d find a good, solid hiding place for that book, and stop throwing it in corners if you don’t want to get caught.”
Fort swallowed hard. “That’s… good advice.”
Gabriel nodded and turned to go, then paused and looked back. “Just in case you were here for some other reason, I’m going to help you out. Dr. Oppenheimer doesn’t have anything on dragons, not in his office. So don’t bother breaking in there, I already checked. Now, I’ll see you at dinner, yeah?”
And with that, he walked out, leaving Fort more confused than ever.
- TWENTY-THREE -
FORT AND GABRIEL DIDN’T TALK about what had happened in the display room at dinner, given how many other students were around. But Gabriel didn’t mention it later that night, either, and Fort couldn’t figure out a way to just bring up Gabriel’s dreams. Hey, roomie, you’re not having nightmares about huge tentacle m
onsters from beyond all space and time, are you? Weird, me too!
Instead, he waited until Gabriel was asleep, snuck into the bathroom, and retrieved the book of Summoning from where he’d hidden it after the whole dragon conversation. Then he teleported back to the display room, and practiced the spell until he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer.
Before going to bed, he touched the amulet around his neck, wondering if what Agent Cole had told him had been true. There was no way Sierra had actually rigged the thing to knock someone out if they took it off. Why would Dr. Opps ever want an amulet that could do that? The situation wouldn’t have ever occurred to him.
Still, he found he was so nervous about actually removing it that he had to wipe the sweat off his hands just to get a good grip.
Here’s hoping I don’t get knocked out, he thought, then quickly yanked the amulet off.
Nothing happened, and for a moment he shared a few choice thoughts with Agent Cole. But not wanting to waste any more time, he called out for Sierra.
An hour went by, with him calling her name in his mind, but no response came. As more and more time passed, he grew more concerned. Maybe she was just asleep? Or trying to lie low, if the TDA agents were still after her?
Eventually, even his worry about Sierra couldn’t keep him awake, and he fell asleep, the amulet on the bed next to him.
The dream, of course, kicked in instantly. This time, instead of an underground city lit by lightning or a tunnel closed by teeth, he relived the attack in D.C., ending with the Old One demanding the last dragon once more. Fort awoke with a start, sweating beneath the sheets from fear.
And beside him, Gabriel seemed to be having a nightmare too, moaning fitfully and tossing around.
Not sure what else to do, Fort reached over and gently tapped his shoulder, only to have Gabriel grab his wrist and twist it painfully, pulling Fort to the floor.
