Semaj

by Amari A

Chapter 2

  I follow my dad to the edge of Salavania. He conjures a portal and we walk through it. Only royal dragons in line for the throne could conjure portals, no other dragon can. So my dad and I were the only two in the whole kingdom who could do it. It was banned for dragons in the village to do it because of some war that happened thousands of years ago where a dragon opened a portal and wreaked havoc on a lot of the other realms, putting all of the other dragons at risk. We step out of the portal and walk into a voodoo store. The owner and my dad have some kind of relationship where we can come and go as we please. No one thinks anything of it when we just appear out of nowhere. After all, strange stuff happens in there all of the time.

  “Welcome back, Gregor,” says Madame Netta. She’s an old black woman with long gray hair and multiple moles on her face. She kind of reminded me of an old cartoon character. Acted like one to.

  “How are you today, Netta?” he asks.

  “I’m living, so I’m okay. How long are you going to be around?”

  “A few days.”

  That raises my suspicion even more. My dad never stayed in the city for more than a night. He likes to be in the dragon kingdom as much as possible in case anything happens. So I just know that this is going to be an epic disaster. I can’t believe my parents are about to ruin my life by announcing their divorce! It’s the only thing that I can think of and it’s really starting to mess with me. The nerve of them! It could possibly be something else, but with the way that my mind was pinging, I was sure that it was divorce.

  “How are you today Miss Semaj?” asks Madame Netta.

  “About as good as I can be,” I say.

  “Well that’s good, you two have a nice night,” she says as she walks towards the back of the store.

  My dad nudges me towards the door and I go. The night air is dry and there are at least a thousand people on the street. I feel my dad’s hand on my shoulder and continue to walk through the crowd. We get to our apartment building and I press the button for the fifth floor. We step on and some boring elevator music starts to play. I look over at my dad who looks as calm as can be. Like he’s totally not about to ruin my life.

  The doors to the elevator open and my dad and I step off. Our apartment is right across from the elevator, so I get my key out and open the door. We’re immediately greeted by the smell of apple pie. That was the ultimate kiss of death. My mom always made apple pie whenever she delivers bad news. We have to move again, want some apple pie? Grandma’s dead, want some apple pie? Doctor says you have to get your tonsils out, want some apple pie? I throw my bag down on the chair and my mom comes out of the kitchen with an apron and apple pie slices in her hand.

  “Okay! Just go ahead and say it! You and dad are getting a divorce. That’s what the whispering has been about and that’s why you’ve made pie isn’t it?” I yell, getting frustrated that they were playing games with me like I was some little kid when I wasn’t.

  My mom and dad look at each other and smile. “We’re not getting a divorce,” says my dad.

  “Okay, so if you’re not getting a divorce then what’s all the whispering been about?” I ask.

  “Sweetheart, do you want some pie?” asks mom.

  “No mom I don’t want any pie! I want to know what’s going on!” I yell.

  “Have a seat, sweetheart,” says my dad.

  I take a seat and my parents sit across from me. “So what’s going on? Did someone die again?”

  “Well, do you know how you’re always studying legends?” asks my dad.

  “Yes, I’ve been studying a lot, though, so which ones?” I ask.

  “Do you know the legend about the 100th king having his daughter be the chosen one to lead the dragons into a new era?”

  “Yes, it was actually the first one I read, but it doesn’t say much other than she has to defeat great evils and lead the younger dragons into a new era.”

  “Well…you, Semaj, are the chosen one.”

  Clearly my parents have lost their minds. I couldn’t get picked first in a game of dodge ball and I was some kind of chosen one? Ha! Yeah, they definitely went off the deep end with that thought. “Clearly you’re mistaken, dad, because there is no way that I can be responsible for saving the dragon world. So I know this has to be some kind of sick joke to keep me from whatever it is you really want to tell me.”

  “Well it’s true, sweetheart.”

  “Dad I’m clumsy. I over sleep. I don’t know how to catch a cab and frankly, I think that they should teach classes for that. I barely understand high school and you want me to protect the dragon world? I barely even get this world and I spend too much time in other realms to be able to protect anything or anybody in that world.”

  “Yes, sweetie. We fully expect you to protect the dragon world despite all of the things you’ve just said.”

  Yep my parents had lost it. “But we haven’t faced an evil in hundreds of years. The dragon world is really as safe as it can possibly be right now with you as king.”

  “Yes, but I, along with some of the other older dragons, have been noticing strange things and feel a presence that just isn’t right. Something is coming and you need to be prepared for whatever it is. Your time to shine is coming up and you need to make me proud and not let our world down.”

  “So you don’t know what it is but you want to send your fourteen year old daughter after it? How smart is that?”

  “You’ll be fifteen soon and yes. You’ve been doing your dragon training and you’ve lived in almost all of the other realms. You’re prepared. You can handle yourself well under pressure. I know that you’re going to make me proud.”

  I sigh. “So, when do I have to go on this whole save the world mission? I mean I need time to prepare myself mentally for this disaster.”

  “In two weeks,” he replies.

  “Two weeks!” I exclaim.

  “Yes, we feel that it is best for you to start the journey into the world in two weeks. Hopefully you will discover what’s going on and be able to defeat it so that the land will once again be peaceful.”

  “Is someone going with me or will I just be winging it alone?”

  He nods his head. “Yes, you get to take one other dragon with you. And before you ask, yes, you do get to choose”

  “Well I’m taking Brenden,” I say. There was no way no other dragon besides him was going on this mission with me.

  He sighs. “How did I know that was coming?”

  “He’s my best friend. He won’t let anything happen to me. He has always protected me,” I say as I plead with him.

  He looks at me, then my mom, and then back at me. “Fine, you two will start intense training the day after your birthday. I’m warning you, though, it is nothing like basic dragon training. The lessons are much harder.”

  I look at him in disbelief. “You mean to tell me what we’re doing doesn’t get classified as intense training?”

  “No, that’s very basic training. These lessons will test every one of your abilities. You will learn how to defend yourself and how to attack. They are no cake walk and you need to master them.”

  I look at him and then back at my mom. I just knew they had plans to take me out one day and maybe today was that day. “So I take the intense training and then what?”

  “You’ll see, sweetheart. You’ll see.”

  I roll my eyes and look at the ceiling. Parents, they never tell you anything you want to know but will tell you everything you don’t want to know. Whoever invented them did so with the intent to torture kids everywhere. They were only useful when we couldn’t do things on our own and even then we have to beg in order for them to do that. They just made my life way more complicated than it needed to be.