Cilia
I can't remember what happened. Right now, I'm getting dragged by Ayla and Liam to the foot of the Celosian Volcano on Volcano island. Apparently the place is named after Zarina's followers or something. Liam takes out the teleporting stone out of his pocket, and steps on it, making a crack. A digital attendant appears, and says, "State your form of travel." Liam answers "Innerport", meaning we're traveling withing the boundaries of Zyrinx. "State your desired location." "Sophix School in the city of Sophix, in the country of Crystalline, school for minor spirits."
A large black hole appears where the attendant was. I know Ayla and Liam are letting out sighs of relief. We were all unsure whether it would work or not. But I'm confused as to why they look sad. Then, I realize for the first time, Rivera is not here.
I try to ask them, but decide to let the question remain unanswered, at least until we're back in Sophix. So I step into the portal after Liam. Ayla follows. The horrible sensation of not being able to breathe hits me. Soon, I'm standing at the entrance of the School of Sophix. At least, what used to be Sophix.
All three of us stare in horror and in shock as we slowly take in what is happening before us. Dragons- real adult dragons fly through the air, setting the school buildings on fire. There are three of them, each with their own rider. I recognize the riders from history books. The most famous of Zarina's followers- the dark spiritesses. The spirits who betrayed Zyrinx and chose to take Zarina's side during the war. They have the power over natural disasters. I see Sophixians- senior students, who are rounding up the younger ones, protecting them from the burning line of fire. Teachers and the oldest Sophixians are attempting a counter-attack, but right now, they're barely managing to defend themselves.
I rack my brain and think. What can stop these dragons? Water. Ayla reads my mind and gets to the nearest hose. She turns it on, but not a single drop of water comes out. They've jammed the pipes. That's why the teachers, who are mostly spirits, cannot stop them. You can't summon a blast of water without a source of water. The teachers yell for the students to retreat into the city. Although that's not a wise choice, it's a far better one than heading towards the easily flammable woods. Soon, even normal citizens are out of their houses. Some running, some fighting.
Then one of the dragons dives. It's heading straight towards me. But when I run away, I realize I was wrong. The dragon's rider is after Ayla. I grab onto the dragon's tail, working very hard not to get killed by its huge motions or its spiky, poisonous tail. I concentrate, wishing for my rings to transform into something useful. I open my eyes, and am pleased to find out it is not a mug this time. I'm holding a chain rope and a knife. I ram the knife into the dragon's tail, and race the blade down, causing the dragon to roar in pain as its scales fall out. The rider finally realizes what's going on, and not a moment too soon.
I've had time to tie the chain around the tail. I hop off, desperately hoping I have enough strength to reach the tree. Sophix's tree, which is over a thousand years old, stands on a small mound of grass in the park. The tree which is said to be able to withstand any type of attack or force.
I reach the trunk. I run around it, and about a minute later, the chain is wrapped once around the tree. The dragon pulls with all its might, but can't get free. I use all I have learned, and thrust my hand into the air. Water blows from all pipes in the surrounding homes. I feel a panicking sensation- what if something goes wrong? I can't control all this water. But at the same time, I feel determined. Determined to do something good, for once.
I direct the water towards the dragon's mouth- its weak point. But before it reaches the dragon, the rider hops off and touches the water hurtling towards the two of them. The water immediately freezes over. This is Beira, the spirit of blizzards.
Beira breaks off the point of the giant icicle. It's wicked sharp. She charges. I have just enough time to think "fire" before she reaches me. I see a huge wall of fire erupt all around me. I did not do this. How could I have done this? I'm horrible at magic. The water magic was a lucky try. This fire magic is impossible for even a fully trained Sophixian to do, yet I am performing it. I'm surrounded by fire. Fire is my shield. Beira stops and doesn't know what to do.
Suddenly, I'm not in the town of Sophix, but in a house. My house. I see my own mother promising we will meet again. The house is on fire. The two year old me begins to cry. I see out of the corner of my eye, a man. A tall muscular man. Max. The source of the fire is him. He's creating the accident that will cause my mother to die. .
"Cilia! Please, Cilia, wake up!" I open my eyes.
The bitter taste of smoke fills my mouth. Ayla sighs in relief. The wall of fire is gone. The dragons are gone as well. Only one dragon remains, which is the one I captured. It is doused with water, and I see one of the Sophixians rubbing pink goo on its eyelids. The pink stuff is calming paste.
"What happened?" I groan. Ayla begins to explain what happened. "It's been almost half an hour since you passed out. The fire wouldn't go out until a few minutes ago. Nothing could smoulder the flames. When you summoned that fire, the dark spiritesses just flew away. It's like they only came to see you conjure the fire."
I'm trying to take all this in, while attempting to ignore the throbbing pain growing around my hands. Just then, the dragon awakes. It lets out a tremendous roar that causes everyone to jump back. But Ayla slowly approaches the dragon. Her eyes. . . It's like she's in some sort of trance. But then, as if I've imagined it, she breaks away.
But she's still heading towards the dragon. She touches it. Miraculously, she doesn't die. People very slowly begin to lower their weapons. The dragon lets out a loud sound again, but this time, it's a calm snore. Everybody's in awe. Ayla, the sixteen year old daughter of the Mind, has calmed a dragon. A real dragon.
Ayla asks for some pine from the forests. Minutes later, the dragon is munching happily on the bark of many pine trees.
Citizens and students all head towards the school. All the buildings have been wrecked and scorched. But by nightfall, the town's spirits and minor spirits, along with the teachers and students, have refixed the school. The dragon has found itself a new home in the woods. Luckily, it's a plant-eating dragon, so there's no danger of it swallowing people around town. And although it's risky, we all decide the dragon should stay. Such powerful, rare creatures can become great allies if things get worse.
It seems like everything is back to normal. But one question remains in everyone's heads. 'Why didn't the major spirits come and help?'
Did they think we could manage it? No, that's not true. If it weren't for the riders' strange behavior of retreating voluntarily, all of Sophix would've been toast by now. It was too large of an accident for them to have not seen it. Then why? And there's still one unanswered question that I need a reply to. What happened to Leo Rivera? I want to ask Ayla, but I can already hear her snoring. With difficulty, I fall asleep as well.
I've flown back into the cave with the boy. I hand the child of anger over to the head of jailkeepers. I tell her to use this boy as a guard or something. Then I walk towards the outer yard. In the huge junkyard, three magnificent dragons stand with the three dark spiritesses on their backs. I send them off, but tell them to wait for my signal before they start the attack. I then walk over to my own ride; A pegasus, with a coal black mane. I signal the Fulcans- seven demonic half-human, half-falcon creatures who are always thirsty for blood. Together, we fly towards Crystalline. Hidden amongst the clouds, I summon a powerful bomb. I repeat this action eight times, so that all of us have these weapons in our hands. I pull the trigger of my bomb. The timer reads: 10:00. I throw it to the roof of the castle. The Fulcans pull their triggers, and they swoop into the castle. I send a message through my head to the dark spiritesses: Start. I hear the Fulcans creating havoc in the castle. Just as the bomb ticks 00: 00, they all fly out of there. Eight nuclear bombs erupt, sending the entire castle to the ground. I touch the Fulcans, and we're standing at the entrance of my cave. I tell my followers to ready all the ships we have collected over the past decades. We're going to visit some of our very close friends.
I wake up with a start. Zarina. She's after the merpeople. I get up from my bed, and out of my room, to see all the teachers setting protective enchantments and weapons all around the building. The head teacher, Finn, notices me, and asks me what's wrong. I tell him about what I've just seen, and how Zarina's after the merfolk. I expect him to run to his office and alert the major spirits at once. But he doesn't. Instead, he just mumbles to himself.
Frustrated, I ask, "Why aren't you getting the major spirits? We need to move, now!" But he just shakes his head and says, "Miss Jewel, don't you think I've been trying? We can't get through to them. All forms of communications with them have stopped." But even before he says this, I know that Crystalline has disappeared. "I saw, in my dream, Crystalline being blown to bits." Finn's face turns pale.
The next day, Finn announces what I told him last night. About how Zarina is, indeed back. About how she demolished Crystalline castle- the castle built up from centuries ago, built from rare stone. How Zarina sent the dragon attacks on us, and how she's after the merfolk. Gasps run throughout the building.
Finn speaks again. "We must go to Crystalline ourselves and find out what's going on. Since us spirits need to stay here to guard the school, I suggest we ask some of the Sophixians to volunteer for the sake of all of us." Some agree, but there are more dissensions. They all obviously feel scared about facing her. And they have a right to do so. I don't know what courage fuels me to do this, but I say, "I'll go."
Immediate silence. All heads turn towards me. Finn's the first to speak, in a shaky voice. "C-Cilia, you're only sixteen. You are. . . barely capable of magic. You've been going crazy nonstop. Besides, we need you to show us more visions." But I don't change my mind. "If I'm able to see into her mind, she might as well be able to see into mine. It's just more dangerous for me to be here. I have to go."
People are nodding now. But nobody volunteers. Then, Liam steps up. When people see this young, hurt kid with a broken leg deciding to volunteer for Zyrinx, they all gain confidence.
Soon, a total of six Sophixians and me, Liam, and Ayla are chosen to go on the crazy adventure. When I ask why we can't just teleport there, Finn says that all teleportation systems have been blocked as well. If we were to go into a portal now, we would be getting sucked into Oblivion with no way out. In other words, a portal means we might as well be signing our death contracts right now.
Oblivion is the realm between reality and death. Or that's what I learned, anyway. Apparently, once you get stuck in there, you can't get out. For example, if you opened a portal into Oblivion(though why you would do that, I'm not sure), and you actually stepped in, the only way you would be able leave is through a portal opened from the other side- the real world. And there's no way the people on the real side of the world can open up that same exact portal into Oblivion you fell into, meaning if the portal that you came through closes, you're as good as dead.
Confused yet? I had a test on this a few years ago, and it was the only test I actually failed, so don't feel bad if you can't understand a single word of this Oblivion logic.
In the end, we all decide flight is the most safe and fastest way to Crystalline. We are lent the only flying car our school has. A roofless family car. A guy called Alex is driving. Alex is a senior Sophixian, and is the son of one of the spirits of Magic.
I look down below, and automatically feel a sense on dread. Heights. The one thing I am truly scared of. I try not to think about the fact that we are billions of feet above the air. Instead, I breathe in and out, trying to get some more information from my brain as to why the major spirits aren't answering.
After about two hours, we have crossed into the borderline of the capital city of Crystalline, and we break into our supply of snacks. The car's filled with the laughter and jokes of nine minor spirits. It's very calm up here, although we're right above one of the biggest and noisiest cities in Zyrinx. It's seems perfect. Too perfect.
I dare to look down. I can only see clouds. Or ar they clouds? When I look more closely, I see the clouds are tinted blue. I reach our for the clouds. I don't feel any wetness. My hand feels numb.
I call out, "Stop the car!" The car slows to a halt, and Alex and the others turn to look at me. "These clouds are numbing poison. We're just above the reach of these clouds. That's why the city's so silent."
Realization that I'm right slowly dawns on everyone. Alex calms everyone down. He says, "Right. We're going to go above these clouds first." Once we're above, he adds, "We have two choices. One, check out what's happening down there. Or two, we hope the major spirits will help us fix this when we go and find them."
The answer is obvious. Go get the spirits. That's what we came here to do. It would be much easier. But it's not like Sophixians to just run away from a scene like this. Just as we're about to reach a decision, we hear a tremendous screech.