HOW HAD THE dragon found me? Matt said they were all dead. I should've run but my feet were rooted to the ground. My heart pounded painfully as the warmth of the dragon's fishy breath blew over my skin. Goosebumps rippled across my flesh. I strained at my frozen legs with my last ounce of strength and lurched into a retreat, stumbled, and landed flat on my ass.
As much as I wanted to look away, I couldn't. My eyes were locked in terror on the scaly blue beast standing before me. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. The dragon roared while stomping its feet. The ground rumbled, shaking me violently in the quake.
A tear rolled down my cheek as I couldn't look away from its beady eyes. They were dark, like rippling pools of onyx. As I stared deeper and deeper into their murky depths, I could feel myself drowning.
"Dammit, George, this isn't funny!" Becky screamed right next to me, bringing me sharply back to reality. Everything began to move again slowly, as if in that moment time had stood still. Someone whistled loudly in the distance, and the blue dragon looming in front of me turned around and lumbered away in the opposite direction. Laughter echoed off the walls and I couldn't tell if it had just started or was just dying out. Regardless, I could feel my face blush a harsh crimson in my embarrassment.
I coughed again as the strong antiseptic smell so commonly found in hospitals burned my nose. Humid air clung to my face, making my flushed skin feel hot and sticky. Beads of sweat rolled lazily down my spine, making me shiver.
"I'm so sorry, Elena," Becky said, sounding terrified as she crouched beside me.
"What happened?" Lucian had reached us and helped Becky get me back onto my feet, shaky as they were.
"Elena, are you okay?" Becky asked, concern filling her voice.
"What happened?" Lucian demanded this time and shook Becky.
"It was George!"
He grunted with agitation. "Which way, Becky?" he asked, determination punctuating every syllable.
She pointed in the direction George had run. I watched Lucian disappear through the mass of people gawking in the hall, until I could no longer see the broad lines of his back.
"Elena, please snap out of it," she begged, while some students stood there staring and chattering to each other as if I had lost my marbles. "There's nothing to see! Go to your classes!" she yelled.
"Why did George do that?" I managed to say, my voice breaking.
She grabbed my neck and pulled me into a tight hug, stemming the tears threatening to expose my fear to the entire hallway.
"It was a stupid prank, Elena. I told you those guys are jerks!" She led me back toward the cafeteria, slowing her stride to match my hesitant steps.
"Where are you taking me?"
"To Master Longwei."
"No, please, Becky. I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?" she asked with reservation in her voice.
"Yes, can we just go to our room please?"
The second we crossed the threshold, bile rose in my throat and I made a run for the bathroom. I barely made it to the toilet before I hurled. My body was wracked with painful dry heaves as it tried to expel the adrenaline that had been pumping through my veins. This was so stupid. I wiped my mouth gently with the back of my hand. Rising, clumsily, from the porcelain bowl, I got up, walked over to the basin, and turned on the tap full blast. The girl looking back at me in the mirror looked terrified. Strands of blond hair shielded her face from the harsh glare of the lights. Hints of fear still remained in her light green eyes, and she trembled slightly. I closed my eyes and the horrified expression on the face in the mirror disappeared, replaced with the image of the blue dragon.
"Elena, are you okay?" Becky's voice came from the other side of the door as she knocked softly.
"Yeah," I yelled back, and splashed cold water over my face before I opened the door.
Reaching out, she hugged me again. "I'm so sorry about what happened."
I took a few deep breathes to compose myself, as Becky piloted me to the couch. "Here, sit." She ran over to the fridge.
I buried my face in between my legs and took another long, deep breath.
"The sugar will help," she said, and thrust a soda into my hands.
I frowned at the word Coca-Cola twirled in white letters all over the can.
"How's this possible?" I asked, perplexed.
"Oh, they're so fast in between morphing. They need five seconds at the most," she explained with a Coke clutched in her hand as well.
"Not that Becky. This?" I held the Coke can out for her inspection.
She frowned.
"Apart from the dragons and inexplicable things like a school built on air, you guys live a normal life with things I'm familiar with from the other side. How is it possible that you guys have Coke and know about stuff like pizza and burgers?"
A small grin played around the corners of her mouth. "We have cell phones too." She took out a phone. It looked like a smart phone, but was slightly smaller "They're way more advanced, or so I've heard." She settled herself in the chair next to me, sliding the cover of the phone open. "It is called a Cam-phone."
The top didn't have a screen, just a small, red, blinking button.
"Watch this!" She turned the phone upside down and spoke with a soft voice to the rubber part on the back corner of the cell. "Lucian McKenzie." She turned the phone back again. After the tenth beeping sound she started to tap her thumbs impatiently. A hologram in the shape of Lucian's face appeared before us.
"I'm not losing another Cammy, Becky," he whisper.
"Sorry, I'm showing Elena our cool toys," she said, putting the phone on her lap.
"She okay?" he asked quietly.
"She's a tough girl; I don't think she's going to the wacky-bin."
Lucian shook his head. "Bye." The hologram disappeared with a small flash.
"You can send text messages too, but we don't type. We say what we want to, and the phone transforms the voice recording into writing. Then you can send it by speaking the person's name. They'll read the text the same way Lucian's face appeared. It comes with so many apps, like silent mode, and a homework app, but you have to be careful of it. Sometimes it gives you the wrong answers. My favorite is the What-looks-good-on-me-app. Just to mention a few. Cool, huh?"
I nodded, still impressed by the talking hologram.
"The dragons still do business on the other side. We have the currencies of every country in the world right here in the bank of Paegeia." She took a sip of her Coke. "I mean honestly, Elena, who do you think invents most of the technology?"
"Dragons?" I asked tentatively.
She nodded, touching the bottom of my can and lifting it to my mouth.
I took a few more gulps. The sugar helped, and the knots in my stomach start to loosen. "Why didn't I see any of the dragons?" I was still trying to take it all in.
"You couldn't. They're very good at disguising themselves. But, if the Council thinks they won't be able to contain their true form, especially the Chromatic dragons, they won't grant them a pass. They're not allowed to invent anything on the other side of the Wall, because they could draw too much attention to themselves. On that side they're only allowed to give the humans ideas, and it's usually enough for the humans to fill in the missing pieces."
"Why does the law forbid them?"
"They're filled with the essence of life, which means they age differently than humans. Most of the Metallic dragons can live up to twelve thousand years."
"Twelve thousand years?" I exclaimed, stunned.
"The coolest part is that, if their bond with their Dragonians is strong, they can grant them a part of their essence."
"How?"
"I'm not a hundred percent sure. Dragons and their riders are very secretive about it. It's rare, the same as the dent thing. A normal dragon bond isn't that strong, but King Albert had the essence from his dragon. King Albert celebrated his two-hundred-and-fiftieth birthday the year he died."
"Wow. How do you know if you're part of a dent?" I asked.
"We have a Viden. She's a Moon-Bolt dragon. They have the ability to foretell the future, but they don't always predict it in a way we can understand. Our Viden lives in the tower behind the boys' dormitories and everyone is required to see her at least once a month. You will too. If she picks up a Dragonian in one of the sessions she has with a dragon, they mostly end up in a brother-hood or sisterhood. She even feels something when it's time for one of her predictions to be fulfilled. That part is amazing, but most of the time she sucks predictions out of her thumb." She laughed. "Sammy's version is easy; she says the Viden speaks a lot of shit."
"How will I know whether she speaks the truth then?"
"Believe me, you'll know. It's best to wait until you see her."
All this new information swirled around in my head and the intricacies of ascending were on my mind once again. "So do you know what ability you'll get?" I asked, hoping one day I wouldn't have to be constantly asking questions.
"No, but I have a feeling I'm a fire wielder. When that happens, Sammy and I will team up."
"You're going to claim Sammy?"
"No, the Metallic dragons don't throw tantrums the same way as the Chromatic ones. They usually decide they want to be your dragon and surrender, but there is still a lot of paperwork that is just as painful. You need to register with the Council and give them a statement of intent. Lately, we have to ask the Council permission for everything. That's why I envy Blake. He gets away with everything, especially when it comes to the Council. I think it's because he has so many abilities," she said.
"Wait, if he's both, why doesn't he just surrender?" I placed my empty soda can on the coffee table. "I mean, if he needs a Dragonian, and he's half Metallic, why doesn't he choose?"
"Elena, not every story ends with good overcoming evil. In Blake's case, only his Dragonian can keep him from turning."
"But you said his Dragonian doesn't exist."
She inhaled deeply.
"I'm asking way too—"
"It's not that. Blake can get claimed, but whoever is going to claim him needs a miracle. Arianna, the princess of Areeth, has tried once and Lucian twice now. He almost had him the last time, but he got a surprise blow from an ability none of us knew Blake had. The problem with a claim like his, and this might sound crazy to you...," she said nervously and put her feet on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest. "There are ways to keep the Chromatic dragons, that don't dent, from becoming evil—"
"What ways?" I asked, intrigued.
"Beating the evil out of them," she said and shrank into the chair.
"What?" Disgust laced my tone.
"I know, it sounds pretty awful, but it's the only thing that works."
"So whoever claims Blake has to beat the living crap out of him so he won't become evil?" I said skeptically.
"Pretty much."
"Lucian knows this?" I asked, though I still couldn't believe it.
"Yes, Elena. He says it's a sacrifice he is willing to make in order to not lose the Rubicon this time."
I struggled to wrap my mind around the whole beating thing, while simultaneously processing the fact that Lucian was okay with doing that. Any attraction I had once felt disappeared in a flash.
"Told you it sounds nuts, but I take my hat off to the ones who want to claim a Chromatic dragon if they're not dents. They say when the Chromatic is good they'll do anything for their Dragonian. No matter how crazy the task is."
"So basically they let their Dragonians abuse them and then let them take advantage of them after the fact. Sounds like a match made in heaven."
"Elena, you make it sound so...evil."
"Becky, it is!" I could feel my voice rising, though I wasn't really upset with her.
"No, it's not. Look, they don't get beaten on a daily basis. Only when they really need to control their evil selves, and on this side we grow up knowing that Dragonians don't always get the ability they want. If fate messed up and we get the ability that matches one of the Chromatic dragons, we know what needs to be done. They'll let their Dragonian know when the dark in them becomes too much to control." She was trying to get me to understand the situation from her point of view, but it wasn't working.
"I don't understand," I said solemnly, refusing even to consider the situation as anything other than abuse.
"Dragons know what it takes to stay good. Why do you think Sammy has different classes than us? She learns other stuff."
"So the dragons want their Dragonians to beat them?"
"Only the Chromatic dragons, and yes, they truly love their Dragonians for helping them stay good. It's not a cruel game, nor do we enjoy it. So please, don't go start a group against dragon abuse."
"They really beg their Dragonians?"
"It's not that difficult to grasp, Elena, believe me, the Dragonian hurts more than the dragon."
"The Dragonians don't like beating them?"
"Not unless they're psychos."
I still couldn't come to terms with the abuse, but I decided I would do as Becky asked. I told her I wouldn't say anything bad about the beatings or bring them up ever again.
Suddenly, the bell rang and we both jerked. "You ready to go back to class, or do you want to stay here?"
"No, let's go back," I said, thinking my current problems weren't as bad in comparison to some of the others I would have to confront in this new world. I would even face another dragon if I had to, because running away was part of my past now. Heaven knows I'd had enough of it.