EMERSON 

"Can you believe it, Emerson? The time has finally come. I'll attend the Sotsyce Academy of Dragons, and I'll bring honor to this family. I've trained so hard for this," my elder sister, Belinda, gushed.

"I do not doubt that you will do well."

Sotsyce Academy of Dragons was a school for young dragons and their riders in Draconix. It was believed that dragons were disastrous to society without their riders to reel them in and center them. The school helped train both parties until they understood each other well enough to be released from school.

Once every year, the delegates would come to a human family with an invitation letter to the school. The only chance of getting this privilege was if your family's name was drafted on the list.

Ours had been, and for months, our parents had dropped us off at the local school that trained us for the challenges we were likely to face in the Sotsyce Academy.

Belinda had learned every lesson diligently, while I skipped the classes, running off to the house. When my parents saw I had no interest, they gave up on convincing me to take the classes. All of the pressure and attention had cracked down on Belinda who loved every second of it.

Why she'd want such pressure on her shoulders baffled me. The picking ceremony happened every year, but for two years, no one got an invitation, and when the opportunity finally came this year, our family had been the only one to get on the list all across the nation. This filled people with envy. I didn't want to face that.

"You should've trained with me, Emerson. We might've both gotten into the school."

I snorted. "You know only one person gets picked from a family. Besides, I'm not interested in attending that school. I'll stay here to take care of our parents."

Belinda beamed at me. "I'm going to miss you so much. I'll send a message whenever I can."

She talked my ear off all the way home, yammering on about how the dragons would be too stunned by her beauty, and how they'd fall over each other to get her attention.

She was a beautiful girl, and she made sure to flaunt it every chance she caught. You couldn't catch her dead wearing a piece of clothing that wasn't in style or out of season.

We were poles apart in terms of our behaviors. She was a social butterfly, and while I enjoyed dolling myself up, social gatherings didn't appeal to me, so ninety-eight percent of the time, I was dressed in sweats and a baggy tee. That and the fact that my parents prevented me from going out, so the need to dress up didn't arise.

"Wouldn't that be amazing?" She gushed.

"Yeah, sure," I replied absentmindedly. 

Something wasn't right in the air.

The aura around our house was different. I could almost smell the power sizzling in the air. I pushed the little, wooden gate open, taking in the empty front yard. 

Our front door was slightly ajar.

Mom never left the front door open because she didn't want the cold from outside to enter the house. It was currently freezing outside, and she had zero tolerance for cold. She would never open the door.

I reached for my sheathed knife, squeezing the hilt in my hand as I took stealthy steps toward the house. If someone had broken in, I didn't want them to know I was coming. I had to have that advantage over them.

"What's wrong with you?" Belinda asked, giving me the usual crazy look I got from her more times than I could count.

"Someone is in our house," I informed her, and instead of the scared reaction I was expecting, my elder sister grinned.

And she said I was the crazy one.

"It must be the delegates from S.A.D."

"Sad?"

"No, silly!" She giggled. "Sotsyce Academy of Dragons. That's what the students call it. I figured I'd brush up on their lingo since I'm attending the school. Now tell me, do I look pretty enough for the delegates?"

"Sure. Sometimes, looks don't mean everything."

"It's what's in your heart," she completed with an eye roll. "Yada yada yada. I don't want us to argue over something so little before I leave." She opened her arms up to me. "Sisters?"

I stepped into her hug. "Sisters. Now let's go see those delegates."

We stepped into the foyer, and there we found the delegates floating above the ground, their foreboding presence sending chills down my spine. My parents stood across from them, the excitement visible on their faces.

The school representative who came with the delegates stepped forward, handing the invitation letter to Father who broke the seal, his hands shaky from excitement.

"What?" He choked out when he opened up the letter.

"What's wrong?" Mother asked, moving to his side. The color drained from her face when he looked at the paper.

Was there something wrong?

Belinda moved to my mother's side, yanking the paper out of her hands. Her eyes filled with confusion after she finished skimming through the paper.

"This is a mistake, right? You meant me, didn't you? This has got to be a mistake. It says Emerson instead of Belinda," she said to the representative. "My name isn't Emerson. I'm Belinda."

Emerson? My name was on the paper?

He shook his head at her. "The Knights don't make a mistake on who they choose."

"Are you sure?" I asked, my heart rate accelerating.

This couldn't be. I wasn't properly trained for this. I didn't know anything about the academy. I wouldn't survive there.

"Yes, I am. The delegates have picked you."

"No!" Belinda screamed, throwing the vase on the coffee table against the wall. "No. This can't be. I trained for this. I worked hard for months."

The representative didn't bat an eye at her. "Control your daughter," he said to Father.

"Come here, honey. Let's go calm you down," Mother whispered, wrapping an arm around Belinda.

"You don't understand, Mom. It's supposed to be me. Me!"

"Shh. I know," Mother said softly, leading Belinda away.

"You've shown qualities of a fierce dragon rider. Draconix needs more people like you," the school representative said. "It's time to receive your blessings from the Mother." He held an envelope out toward me.

Dad nudged me forward with an encouraging smile on his. "Go on."

Swallowing back my fear, I stepped forward. All five delegates stretched forth their swords, a beam of power leaving the tip and pouring into my body. They chanted words I didn't understand repeatedly before they disappeared abruptly.

"Are you okay?" Father asked.

I nodded. I didn't feel different at all. It didn't feel like something had happened to me at all.

"We have to leave tonight," the academy representative said. He held an envelope out toward me. "Here is all you need to know about Sotsyce Academy."

"It's too late in the night. Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Father asked.

"We don't have time to waste. She's already far behind as it is. She has a lot of catching up to do if she wants to help Draconix."

"Let me say goodbye to Mother and Belinda."

I rushed out of the living room, pausing in the hallway when I heard Belinda sobbing.

"Linda," I said softly, but she didn't raise her head from her bed.

"What is it, Emerson?" Mother snapped.

I reared back at the sharpness of her tone. Never had she spoken to me in such a manner which led me to believe she was angry. She was angry that I took Belinda's 'spot'.

"The academy representative wants us to leave immediately. I came to inform you two."

"Congratulations, Emerson. You may be on your way now."

Confused, I walked into the living room. The representative had an impatient frown on his face, but that was the least of my worries. Why couldn't Mom be happy for me, but she was over the moon when she thought Belinda was the chosen one?

Even when Dad enrolled me and Belinda at the school, I'd overheard their conversation one night. Mom didn't want me to attend Sotsyce Academy. 

A part of me began to wonder if it was because I wasn't her biological daughter. I also knew that because I eavesdropped on their conversation. I never felt the need to ask them who my real parents were because they were a family to me. If my parents were alive and they wanted to talk to me, they could find me themselves.

"We have to hurry," the representative said, snapping me out of my reverie.

"Can I not grab my clothes?" I asked, looking around at my childhood home.

"They'll be provided for you once you arrive at the school."

I smiled at my father, relieved that he didn't react the way my mother did. It wasn't like I planned this all along.

"Call us when you get the chance," he said, pulling me into his arms.

"I will."

"Don't be scared. You might not have trained for this, but I bet you'll still do tremendously well."

"Thank you."

I didn't share the same optimism as him, but there was nothing I could do about it. My fate had been sealed. I would be the newest member of the Sotsyce Academy.