Children of the Dragon: Chapter 1

Leaves and branches cracked as she stumbled her way through the forest. Pumping her arms, she felt like she was out of breath, her chest heaving as she went but she kept pushing. She kept going and stumbled over a weird gap in the grass. Stumbling she hit the ground and threw her hands forward.

A gust of wind caught her and she flipped forward, landing on her feet shaking.  But she kept going. She could feel the wind flying over her shoulder and then ducked as a sudden gust struck and made the trees bend and shake. It hit her in the back and she was almost taken off the ground.

Throwing her hand down she caught herself on another gust of air. Landing gently, she hit the ground and fell forward onto her hands and knees panting. Hitting the ground, she scowled and dragged her pale purple hair out of her face. Tossing it over her shoulder she forced herself to stand again.

She rushed through the forest and heard the roar. Heard it echo through her mind and she almost cowered and covered her head. She looked around as the noise came again. It was a roar that went straight through to her core. Looking back up to the sky she watched the sky be eclipsed by a shadow.

Finally breaking out of the forest she slid along the grass, now suddenly slick with moisture. She hit the ground hard and groaned holding her head tightly. Getting off the ground she looked at her hands and saw it covered by pale liquid. It was like water except thicker. And it smelled terrible. Saliva.

The ground shook suddenly. She went still, frozen to the spot. But it wasn’t magic that froze her. It was raw fear. The ground trembled as footfalls came forward. She turned slowly and screamed and immediately a roar overtook her own voice. She could only stare at the blood soaked teeth of the creature. She stared down into the endless maw of its throat.

She sat up in bed suddenly tossing the sheets away. She saw a shadow and screamed at it. She jumped, saw the gently flickering light in front of her, and screamed at it. Her door opened and she jerked her hand forward shooting out a gust of wind so powerful that the door slammed shut again and she could hear a pained grunt from the other side.

But then she realized what was going on. She wasn’t being eaten. She wasn’t running through the forest. She was in her room. The curtains were drawn. Her stuffed dragon was across the room, one wing lopsided and showing the results of many stitches. Her door opened again and groggily she looked away.

“Okay Sofie. Don’t blast me again. Please. It’s really early,” he said. His long curly purple hair a few shades darker than her own was sticking in every direction, and long enough to hit his shoulders. He was tall, taking up most of the door with his frame. His brown eyes blinked and he stifled a toothy yawn.  He was wearing an old tunic and shorts.

“Sorry Seffy,” she mumbled. “I’m okay.”

“Good. Cause you know. Screaming in the middle of the night and blasting your older brother with a gust of wind usually means something’s wrong. But totally glad you’re fine.”

She made a face at him and then stared at the bed again. “I said I was sorry Sefirin. What are you even doing here?”

“Was in the area.”

“So you were seeing Lulu even though you’re not supposed to be in the dorms,” she said teasingly.

He held a finger to his lips laughing, “Hey hey. No need to talk about that.” Sighing softly she nodded as he made his way over to the bed and fought off his yawn, “Wanna talk about it?”

“No.”

He sat on the foot of the bed and looked at his little sister. She and him shared the same curly hair though she kept hers a lot shorter, barely around her ears. Her skin was a pale brown, lighter than his. She had a small mouth always quirked in one face or another and a small gently curved flat nose with high cheeks bones. And her eyes, settling on a bright vibrant orange, gave away her heritage. For a sixteen year old and having a four year age gap on her brother she was close to his height.

“Is it school?”

“No.”

“Is it mom, dad, or una?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

She remained silent looking at her bed.

“Sofie.”

No response.

“Sofia.” Her eyes shifted to a cold blue and she glared at him. He held up his hands quickly and looked down. “Whoa my bad. Don’t give me the evil glare Sofie.”

 “Only mommy, daddy, una, or q’una call me that.” She glowered at him. “And you know I don’t like it.”

“Q’una says its dignified.”

“Q’una is old fashioned,” she pouted. “And I don’t want to be an old lady. I’d rather be Sofie.”

“Okay Sofie not Sofia who attacks her brother when having a not nightmare for the third week in a row. Got it,” he winked and she rolled her eyes but they softened back to orange and she sighed. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes Seffy. I’m okay. A little rattled still but I’m okay for now.”

“Okay. Well I’m gonna go back to bed. Get what little sleep I can get before we have to go in the morning,” he stifled a yawn again. “We’ve got a big day.”

“Right,” she rubbed her eyes and shook her head. “Okay. I’m okay Seffy. Go back to bed. I’ll see you in a couple more hours.”

He gave her a lazy thumbs up before leaving the room. She watched him go and sighed hard. Looking over from the bed she looked at her stuffed animal and slid out of bed. She trailed over to it and picked it up slowly. She stared at the single beady black eye, the other having been lost long ago. Raising one of its wings it fell back down as she remembered her nightmare. The teeth and the heat and the breath.

She hugged it tightly and brought it back into bed, rolling over onto her side. Closing her eyes tightly she willed everything away and to just be able to sleep. No nightmares. No running. No monsters. Just sleep.

And that’s what she managed to do. She woke up hours later to the loud bird song through her open window. And by that she meant the birds that had decided to make their nest in front of her window and didn’t take any sort of hint that that spot was definitely taken and their presence wasn’t welcome.

Grumpily she tried to hiss at them, let her eyes turn into a muted red but the birds just looked at her. They just stared at her chirping all the more. Clearly, they were not afraid of her or even startled by her existence. Just mildly inconvenienced. She scowled and shoved both hands forward trying to conjure a gust of wind but that just made them flap and relocate while getting louder.

Sighing she backed off and closed the windows trying to ignore them best she could. Stifling a yawn, she went around the room getting ready. Putting on a soft purple blouse, a pair of pants, and laced up boots she was ready. Stretching her arms above her head she let out a breath.

She raised her hand and thrust it forward and a small ball of light manifested in her palm. She manipulated the orb and tossed it back and forth between her hands. It flew around her waist and she motioned for it to go to her other hand. It didn’t make it the way she intended and crashed into the wall with a dull thud.

Making a face she tried again creating the ball of light and repeating the routine. It was on the fourth time that she succeeded, catching the orb and crushing it into an explosion of tiny sparks. The moment she succeeded she pumped her arms delighted.

“Okay Sofie,” she slapped her cheeks gently. “You’ve got this. Show Sehren and Daddy what you’ve got. Shove it in Silva’s smug face too.”

She nodded pumped up and barged through her door. And as she did, she stumbled running into someone passing by. Catching herself she shook her head, “My bad. I’m sor-“

“Watch where you’re going Sofia.”

Sofie’s eyes widened as she looked at the woman. Shorter than her by almost half a foot but the way her cool eyes pierced her soul she could have been giant. The three year age gap felt immense. She had straight hair with a luster that shimmered like a sheet of silver. She stood wearing a straight silver button up blouse, skirt, and satchel over her shoulders.

Her skin was a lighter shade than hers or Sefirin’s, bordering on the pale porcelain of their unas. Her features were the same chiseled out of stone except for her eyes. They were large and expressive despite her attempts to keep them empty.

Sofie took a step back and tried to blank out her face, to remain calm and let her eyes go back to blue. The pair of faerie women regarded each other and then started walking down the academy hallway keeping stride despite the height difference. As they entered the stairwell Sofie decided to strike up a conversation.

“Morning Silva,” she said tilting her head up. “You sleep alright?”

“Better than you it seems Sofia,” she replied not looking at her.

Immediately Sofie bristled, missed a step and her calm blue eyes bled into a frustrated red. That brought a smile to Silva’s face, her eyes dipping into an easy orange. Leaving the spiral staircase, she took the lead shaking her head. They left the dorms of the academy cutting across the campus to go straight to the cafeteria.

“Father called. Said that he and una won’t be able to make it. Things came up at home. They need them both. And mother is still away. But he says ‘good luck Sofie’” she said mimicking her father’s voice.

One of the school workers nodded toward them both and Silva waved, dipping her head. Sofie did the same and then scowled at her sister. “Come on Sofia. Lighten up,” Silva said softly. “It’s too early in the morning to be so wound up.”

“Rich coming from you.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, I bet,” she shoved past her going to the cafeteria.

Like much of the academy there weren’t many people awake at this hour. Unless there were exams or a late night project most students enjoyed sleeping in. As they crossed into the cafeteria, Sofie sniffed the air and she could smell the fresh bread. Tarts as well. She was more interested in those than anything else.

Going toward the kitchen she went to the door as it swung open. A woman gasped holding a pan of fresh bread and almost ran into Sofie. She reached out to catch the wooden pan, winching slightly but smiled at the woman. They maneuvered around each other slowly to keep the bread from falling so that she could continue forward.

“Little Sofie! Are you alright? Didn’t get burned, did you?’

“No no. Sorry. Just eager for breakfast,” she said looking away embarrassed her eyes a dark green. “I’ll get out of your way.”

“You’re alright. Here. They’re warm but not hot,” she smiled holding out a fresh roll. Taking it gratefully she lowered her head and backed away taking a bite. As she bit she could taste the butter and jam within the roll and her eyes watered at how good it was.

She stepped back and bumped into her sister who caught her by the shoulder. Raising her eyebrow, she shook her head slowly, raising her own roll to her mouth. She flashed her teeth and tore out a massive chunk of It, chewing contently. She took another large bite and glanced at her sister wiping her mouth, “Something to say Sofia?”

“No. I just forget that you eat as messily as our brother.”

Silva scowled and Sofie laughed walking away quickly as she took a smaller but no less eager bite. Silva walked past her and found a table off in the corner. The pair of girls sat across from each other ignoring one another. Silva reached down and put her satchel on the table. Popping open the top she got a book and slid it across to her.

Finishing her roll, she looked at the book confused and looked up at her sister, “Last minute studying. Knowing you you’ll need the help.”

She glared but she picked up the book and read the title. “Faerie magic conceptualization for beginners. Thanks,” she said dryly and tossed the book back at her. “I don’t need it.”

Silva raised her hand and caught the book in a circle of magic. She floated the book around her flipping through the pages. She rotated it quickly around and then set it down. “Can you do that at the very least? If not, I can show you.”

“Yes. And I don’t need you to show me anything,”

“I don’t know. Your performance the last time was piss poor. I think I was more adept when I was only four year old.”

“Shut up.”

“Maybe you need to be held back a grade or two. Just to make sure you ‘get’ it.”

Sofie glared at her harder and stood up abruptly. “You’re just trying to throw me off my game for when we do our performance review with Sehren. It’s been two years and you still blame me? I’m not gonna take it anymore! It’s not my fault the faerie magic went to me! At least I’m not some kind of half baked faerie bitch!”

The moment she said it she wished she could take it back. She saw her sister’s face grow expressionless and her eyes turned golden, her pupil turning to a thin black slit. The only way that she’d know just how angry she was. And Sofie’s turned yellow in response as her sister stood up. She felt it before she saw it and even then, she couldn’t avoid it. Then again there wasn’t much to see because Silva didn’t move.

One second, she was standing and then the next a gust of wind was shoving her off the ground and sliding across the floor. What few students nearby were immediately startled by the sudden aggressive action. Sofie rolled back to her feet groaning. But she felt an invisible force grab her around her shoulders and forced her back to her feet.

Sofie tried to break out of the telekinesis but she couldn’t focus. Couldn’t break out. She began to panic. The yellow and red of her eyes blended into a messy combination as she struggled. She conjured a small orb of light and tried to fling it at her sister but it broke apart into nothing on the air. Her sister walked over to her slowly and snarled almost animalistic flashing real fangs

“Say it again Sofia. Go on. A half baked faerie bitch? Who’s the real faerie now? Break out of my spell! Come on!”

“Silva!”

She stopped, her snarl lessening to a scowl. Turning around she watched as Sefirin marched over to them. His face was a dark glare that may have scared or startled anyone but not Silva. His eyes mirrored her own, golden with black slits for pupils. She glared at her brother as he stopped in front of her.

“What do you want Seffy?”

“Don’t bullshit me Silva. Let her go. Now.”

“If she’s so special she can break out on her own.”

He glared at her, “Stop this. She’s our little sister.”

She didn’t break his gaze and was acutely aware of Sofie struggling. Finally, she blinked and her eyes returned to their normal shape but burning red.  Ending her spell, Sofie fell to the ground stumbling from the weakness of her legs.

Silva jabbed Sefirin’s chest and said, “Just because you and everyone else dote on her doesn’t mean I have to too. She’s lucky to even call herself a faerie.”

She shouldered past him going back to her table. Sefirin went over to Sofie immediately and helped her back to her feet. She held onto his hand tightly gasping for breath.

“You okay Sofie?”

“I’m fine,” she said looking at the ground. Her heart was racing. She had a headache and she stumbled away from him. He reached out to her and she shook her head quickly. “I’m fine Seffy. Don’t worry about it.”

“You are not fine,” Sefirin said walking after her.

“I’m fine!” she shouted and a gust of wind blew at him and he raised his arms. Her eyes widened as she looked at him and she couldn’t take it anymore. Blowing open the windows, she ran out onto the balcony and jumped over the railing. She stared down at the forest of trees below her and whipped her arms around her quickly. The wind wrapped around her as she crashed into the leaves and branches.

Sefirin ran over as fast as he could, grabbing the railings barely seeing where she crashed down but she was gone. Turning to look over his shoulder he glared at Silva as she came over. “Are you happy?”

“She’s just throwing a temper tantrum.”

“Yeah like you just did?”

She scowled, then looked away, “She’ll find her way back.”

“I’m going after her.”

“Of course you are.”

“And you’re coming with me.”

“Like hell I am.”

“She’s our sister and this is your fault.”

“Bullshit,” she growled.

“Whatever you say. All I know is I’m not going to explain to dad, mom, or una why Sofie isn’t here. Now come on.

He jumped over the edge, his body flashing silver as a huge pair of wings appeared at his back and then he flew down into the forest overhead. Silva huffed but jumped over the railing her own wings sprouting and she flew after her brother and sister.