Survival (Sorrowfeld Academy Book 1)

by Bob Dattolo

  “People? Who? Who even knows who I am to even think about seeing me?”

  He let out a long breath, “I sent in my report yesterday. I’m sorry, I forgot to mention it to you. I sent it and I got a call last night around 10 asking for specifics. I shared what I had. Now…you have visitors.”

  “Why would you think I’d care about someone coming to visit? I get that I’m a freak and a curiosity, but if you haven’t noticed? I’m on the ragged edge of snapping right now. I’ve been attacked again and again, and I’m this close to laying waste to everything around me.”

  Another long breath, “Everyone goes through that at some point.”

  “Even you?”

  “Even me.”

  “How? Why?”

  “I attended here, Maddie. This very school, although the buildings have been redone. I experienced much of what you’re going through. The specifics may be different, but the result? They’re the same. At least mostly. Everyone I’ve ever met had those same feelings. Maybe the first time a friend dies. Maybe the first time a friend turns on you. Maybe when others attack, and you can’t attack back. It varies, but everyone goes through it.”

  “I don’t mean to be a bitch, but that matters to me how?”

  Damn, I can smell his thinking. At least mostly. Fear. Depression. Upset. Curiosity. Some anger, although not as much as I’d sort of expect. Then a ton of…acceptance. As if he knows there’s little he can do to redirect the fuckup coming down the pike.

  “In a nutshell? It doesn’t. I just didn’t want you to think that you’re alone.”

  “Good, then I’ll have people there when I devour Levi’s balls.”

  He didn’t seem to know how to respond, so just kept walking. I was shocked that we did not go to the admin building, as I thought. We’re heading to the class building. More specifically, to the dragon area.

  I’ve looked through the doors, and the space inside is colossal. When you have people that can turn into 30-foot-long dragons with even wider wings, you need a huge amount of space for them. Especially if they shift and are larger than that.

  There are three people in the huge room. Two guys and a woman. I can’t tell how old they are, although they look…50 or so? Or thereabouts. That means they’re old.

  The first is a fire dragon. He’s…hmm, 6’8”? Something like that. He looks like a Viking warrior.

  The second is an earth dragon. He’s maybe three inches shorter and looks like…Idris Elba? Huh, I had to look at him closer to realize it’s not him. I haven’t seen a whole heck of a lot since getting free and regaining my sight, but I’ve seen him. And Michael B Jordan. It’s a plus that Kynal looks so much like good old Mikey.

  The last is a steel dragon. She’s maybe six feet tall.

  They each have the normal tells in their hair and eyes, with each of them radiating power like crazy.

  Our ice dragon headmaster brings me to them and stops, gesturing with his left hand at them, “Maddie Stricken? I’d like to introduce you to your visitors.” The three people looked me up and down, and they do not appear to be impressed by what they see. “Ira Michael.” The fire dragon barely nods at me. “Imogene Lowery.” The steel dragon sniffs and puts her head back, literally looking down her nose at me. “And Dillon Hart.” The Idris Elba look alike cocks his head without it looking judgmental. All the while already giving me a judging vibe.

  They didn’t say anything as I looked them over, then nodded, “Awesome. Nice to meet you all. I’m gonna head back to my room now.”

  I made it around and took a step before the headmaster grabbed my arm, “No! Where are you going!” There’s a bit of panic in his voice, as if I’m making a horrible mistake.

  “You brought me here to meet my visitors. I met them. You introduced them to me. Now I’m leaving.”

  “You can’t leave.”

  “Why not?”

  “They haven’t gotten to speak with you yet.”

  The fire dragon snorts, “You haven’t been excused yet.”

  The tiny spark of me that had been creeping back inside of me packed up and fled, leaving me staring at him from across a field of partially devoured enemies, “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

  “You heard me, girl. I can’t believe we came all the way here to speak with a stricken.”

  “Me either. I’m sure you have little boys and girls to molest at home. You can leave now. Take your judgmental bullshit with you and get out.”

  “You dare talk to your betters that way?” His demeanor changed, and I knew it was his dragon talking now.

  My growl flowed out before I could stop it, and I took two steps closer to him, practically dragging my massive headmaster. “If you need any help from me finding your white van with free candy painted on the side, just let me know.”

  “I would stop talking if I were you.”

  “Yet you’re not me. You’re an ancient fucking fire dragon that comes in here and acts like he’s king shit. Well guess what? I’m not bowing to you.”

  He stood taller, facing me head-on, and tilted his head back more than a bit, “Kneel, girl!”

  More growling.

  The steel dragon hit him in the stomach, lightly, “Enough, Ira.” She nodded at me, “I see. You seem to hold yourself in high regard.” She sniffed, body adjusting, “Let us talk to your dragon.”

  “You are.” It came out before I thought to hide it.

  She twitched, mouth falling open a little.

  The earth dragon raised his hand the tiniest bit, and I could tell that his dragon was already driving, “You are Maddie’s dragon?”

  My smile caused all four adults to twitch, “Maddie’s dragon? No, I’m Maddie.”

  Headmaster Anderson jerked his hand away from my arm, “I’m sorry? No, they want to speak with your dragon. Not you.”

  “Since it’s only me in my head, you’re already talking to my dragon.”

  The fire dragon sent out a mass of magic, sending a huge wash of flame around him, “Enough! We shift and pull her out. I can’t believe we wasted our time with this. A white eyed freak of a stricken. She never should have been allowed in here.”

  I’m so tempted to try and challenge him, but I’m holding on to meet with Levi if I can.

  Instead, each of the adults stripped, putting their clothes off to the side. Then they each shifted into their dragon forms.

  Ira’s dragon is a solid 40 feet long, at least at a guess. Imogene is maybe five feet longer. Dillon is…35 feet long or so? Headmaster Anderson has them and has got to be at least 55 feet long.

  Hard to guess and be all that close, but that’s what they look like to me.

  Each of them leans down to stare at me from less than 10 feet away. Huge armored and crested heads that make me want to cuddle up with them. I swear I loved dragons before all of the craziness in my life happened. Now, though? It’s a weird feeling.

  “Shift, stricken.” Imogene’s voice is much deeper like this than before. Obviously.

  “No.”

  “You dare defy us?” Dillon stomped his huge front foot and lashed his tail down, making the floor jump, “Do you know who we are?”

  “No? Other than your names and your attitudes, I don’t know a damn thing about any of you.”

  Headmaster Anderson snorted out a gust of ice crystals, “They are researchers. They have stepped back from ruling their territory and act as researchers for our race, for lack of a better word.”

  “Oh goody. A powerful council or something like that?”

  “From your perspective? We’d be gods.” Dillon smiled at me, head coming closer. “Now shift. Don’t make us force you. You can’t even remotely begin to stop us.”

  “How about no? I’m not sure my parents ever taught me this, but I’m pretty sure they told me not to get naked with strangers. You’d see my no-no square.”

  “It’s like the girl’s daft. Let’s force her. Bring her dragon out. I want to see her shift and speak with her.” Dillon looks ann
oyed. I’m not upset about that.

  Instead of answering his comment, something flowed out of all three of them, no, all four of them. It’s like magic, but it’s more. It builds around them, then flows over to me and wraps me tight.

  Hmmm, I can feel it now. They’re basically trying to force me to shift. Like…like a command presence thing. How fucked up is that?

  When I don’t respond, the pressure gets stronger.

  “Don’t bother fighting, child.” Imogene ruffles her wings. “Shift. We talk to your dragon. We leave.”

  Ira sends out a huge ray of fire, maybe ten feet above my head. “Shift. Now.”

  “No.”

  I wasn’t expecting it, but he roars directly at me, hitting me full-on with a superheated ray of fire that burnt through my clothes. Dillon’s loud voice practically shakes the room, “What have you done! We just wanted to talk to her!”

  The breath cuts off, leaving me standing there again. Naked. And pissed.

  Four insanely shocked dragons stare at me.

  “That’s…that’s what happened in the challenge.” Headmaster Anderson shakes his head, “I heard stories that she brushed aside ice powers, too.”

  Imogene moves closer, sniffing, “I don’t believe it. Prove it.”

  Before I can even start to answer, my headmaster hits me with his ice breath. It leaves me in a coating of ice at least two inches thick when he’s done, which I shatter as I move, sending the chunks to the ground.

  Their power increases at that point, and I stare at each of them in turn.

  “Only the strongest dragons can hold off a demand like this.” Imogene is starting to sound iffy.

  “She’s a stricken! She’s not powerful!” Ira snaps his teeth together, “Shift, you pathetic vermin! Let us talk to your dragon!”

  All four adults freeze as I explode into my shift, spreading my wings wide, “Ira Michael? If you call me vermin again, I will challenge you. If you don’t feel it’s a warranted and legal challenge? I’ll kill you where you stand.”

  Dillon staggers back a step, “Mother of…what was that? How did she shift that quickly?”

  Imogene starts to move around, me, looking at me from every angle and sniffing again and again. “I don’t know! I’ve never…I’ve never even contemplated something like this as being real. Always dreamed, who hasn’t, but expected to see it?”

  Ira bumps his nose against me as he sniffs, “And you are a stricken…”

  “I am. I was.”

  Imogene asks from behind me, “Tell us about that. Tell us what you remember.”

  I walked through everything without going into a ton of detail. It took maybe 20 minutes to relay the high points that included coming here. When I was done, Imogene squinted at me, “Now, tell us how you fought off the fire? The ice?”

  “I don’t have a clue.”

  “What affinity are you? You’re white.” Dillon flares his wings before settling down.

  “As far as I can tell, I don’t have an affinity.”

  “Every mage and dragon has an affinity.” Ira sounds so sure of himself.

  “Then you tell me what I am.”

  “Don’t play with me, ve…girl!” He catches himself just in time.

  “You tell me, then! You’re a fire dragon. You can manipulate fire. He’s an earth dragon. He can manipulate earth. She’s a steel dragon. She can manipulate metals. He’s an ice dragon. He can manipulate ice. As far as I know, I don’t seem to have an affinity!” My rising anger and frustration had me saying more than I anticipated.

  “Can you not cast any spells?” Dillon sounds reasonable without warning, which has me pretty suspicious. As you’d imagine.

  “She hasn’t been able to cast any spells in classes so far. Although, during her challenges?”

  “During her challenges what?” Imogene doesn’t look at him, although it’s clear that she wants to. She’s just too busy studying me. I should be weirded out by having someone stare at me like this, but I’m not.

  “There were things that happened that I have no explanation for. That I can’t easily put into words. Then…you read the report about her interaction in the gym. You saw what she did with fire and ice.”

  Imogene finally stares at him, then jerks back to me. I can smell excitement from her, “Dragon? What do you call yourself? Do you have a name for yourself?”

  “I told you, I’m Maddie. The voice that I used to hear when I was little? It went away when I escaped the earth dragon that owned me.

  Frozen adults beyond their huge chests rising and falling.

  “Integration?” Dillon’s the first to react.

  “That’s what she said. She was driving. I wanted out of there. Escape or death, I was okay with either. She said that I’d die. That we’d need to be integrated to make it. I’m not sure what she did or how, but…I’ve never heard the voice again, and my thinking? It’s what I picked up from her when she was driving me. As far as I can tell? Yeah. Integration. As for what I call myself? I’m Maddie. I think of myself as a diamond dragon, though.”

  “Diamond? What does that mean?”

  “No dragon has ever integrated with their human.” Ira talks over Imogene.

  “Hmm, then I’m lying. This is all a joke. Smoke and mirrors. Industrial Light and Magic had an intern show up and set this up. Haha. Wasn’t that funny? I’m gonna leave now.” None of them react before I turn away from them.

  Imogene’s voice stops me, “No! You call yourself a diamond dragon? You handled fire. You handled ice. Can you handle this?”

  Magic shot out of her and I whirled, finding a spike of steel racing at me. Without thinking, I grabbed at it with magic and wrenched it from her mental grip and shot it back at her. She had only just started to recoil when I stopped it, a fraction of an inch from her eye. The adults were locked solid as the metal tore apart under my command, fading entirely.

  Headmaster Anderson’s huge bulk hit the floor as he sat without warning, “What…what…what the fuck was that?”

  Chapter 31

  Imogene touched my shoulder, “Please, you have to tell us…just one more time. Walk through what you did when you said you were trying to escape?”

  We’ve been talking for most of three hours now. I didn’t intend to spill much of anything, yet I’ve been talking to them about most of it. They’re not stupid. They picked up that I could manipulate affinities from the fire and ice. The metal had been a test, which she had been pretty sure I could stop. She was not expecting me to yank it from her and nearly blind her.

  “It’s like this…” I walked through everything again. Telling them what I had been thinking. What other-me said to me. I didn’t tell them about how I got the mortmagi out. Or how I can heal. They were focused on integration, so I tried to cover that in as much detail as possible.

  They each shifted back to human long ago, although their dragons keep popping in and out at odd times.

  “That doesn’t seem like it should be possible.” Much of Ira’s anger has gone down. Just not all of it.

  “I’m not sure what to say. At all. I felt like…the barrier that’s between you when you’re not driving?”

  They each nodded. “We know.” Imogene’s dragon is driving again.

  “I don’t know that it matters, but I was fighting? I wanted to come out. To drive. Somehow, something she did sort of created an opening? I tried to squeeze through. With pretty much everything in me. It felt like we grabbed each other’s arms and pulled…and then I wasn’t behind the barrier any longer. The barrier is gone. I haven’t heard her voice since. And, like I said? My thinking changed immediately.”

  Dillon paced, not caring that his penis flops with every movement. Not that anyone else cared. Not even me, although I’m looking like crazy. “We have to test this somehow. If we can do this? Every dragon that I have ever met has thought about what it would be like to be integrated. To have our thoughts be one.”

  “I told my roommate and two others. They sor
t of had an intervention with me to find out what my dragon was like. I didn’t understand what they meant, so they explained theirs. Demanding. Dominant. That sort of thing. I had no clue what they meant, and it came out. They said pretty much the same thing. Everyone talks about it as a possibility. How being on the same page would be helpful. Honestly? I can see it. When I was separated, it was hard to be there in the background and not be able to impact things. Something would happen and I wouldn’t have handled it that way, that sort of thing? Now? I have our thinking. My thinking. I have my memories, however damaged they are, and I have the memories that she had when she was driving all that time I was a pet. They…smushed together, for lack of a better word. I know how I thought at the time something happened. I know how she thought at the time. Yet the overriding thought it a weird combination of the two together.”

  Headmaster Anderson sighed, “This is amazing. Integration. You have…your magic…yet you’re hiding everything in class?”

  “I am. Some people know that I can do things, but none of them know that I can do more than one affinity. I’ve showed people light spells and things like that. No affinity. I don’t know how or why I can do them, but I can.”

  Imogene tilted her head, “What is your breath?”

  “Umm…my breath?”

  “Your breath. Your dragon breath. What is it? Can you show us?”

  I moved back to my dragon form as I contemplated not showing them the real thing. I don’t feel like they’re my enemies, yet they’re not my allies. Not my friends.

  Instead of fucking around, I inhaled and worked at finding the same feeling as before. Once I had it, I roared, basically, and sent the same jet of plasma out.

  The adults jerked away from it, although I wasn’t aiming it at them. They did not seem to know how to handle it.

  When I was done, I ruffled my wings and waited.

  Ira was the first to recover, “I…I don’t know what to say. If I had to guess, I would say that was raw magic. Completely raw.”

  “I agree.” Dillon’s eyes were wide, and he had the look of someone seeing something amazing. Not what I was expecting.

  “So, for lack of a better word? We have an integrated diamond dragon whose affinity is…is magic.” Imogene shook her head, “And you’re heading into your first trial in three days.”