Perilous Skies; Wayward Royalty, Playing with Fire

Chapter 5 You can tell at a glance.

The rest of the walk was uneventful and lonely, not one other soul encountered on our trek due to our own volition. The silence was only prevented by the chorus of restless giants at the hardstone landing strip outside. The lingering confusion from the swirl of emotions before and Natalia's words clouded my anticipation of what lies ahead with an aura of suspense I was unprepared to experience. A strange paralytic paranoia crept down from the back of my neck down to my legs, it made me ache with every step.

Of course, this had to happen on the best day of my life!! Of course, she just HAD to go and make it awkward! That selfish piece of- I let a shallow moan to get the rude thoughts out of my head. How am I supposed to fix this? I can't meet them in this state, I have to clear my mind until I get there, I just-Sweet Imperials we're already here!? Well 'here' probably wasn't the best way to put it, my friend and I had finally reached the door outside where the rest of our peers and... the Dragons were waiting. I froze like a statue, my heart sank into my stomach and burned in the churning acid. This is it, my whole life is sitting outside those doors, waiting for me. Natalia was ahead of me and continued toward the door without breaking pace. But I remained unmoving, even as she disappeared into the blinding light, color, and the cries of hundreds of great reptiles.

I was gripped with a seemingly invisible force like great sharp talons. They dug deep into my heart, reminding me of all the worst things about my gift. I close my eyes to shut it out, but it's no use and the pain creeps in. The wait is all over, life will never be the same again! Who knows what is waiting to meet you? Will they love you or resent such a puny thing as their lifelong companion? Will you have to say goodbye to Natalia forever? Wh- suddenly the invisible grip was gone, replaced by a much more visible and beefier one.

"Come on Princess!!" Natalia shouted to me as she hoisted me into her arms, "I am not having another draining soap opera with you, we're going out NOW!!!!"

She raced to the door with the speed and rage of a flash flood, oh crap we're going too fast!! Panic started shooting all through my body despite my static being nullified, but my voice certainly wasn't, "Woah! Woah! Wait Natally, I am not ready!

STOP! Put me down this instant, I am going to drop my things!!

I-AAAAAAHHH!!" I was screaming now and she joined in as we crashed through those dark doors and were both consumed in a second flash, identical to the first. Only this time it didn't end, instead it grew and took shape.

We had exited into a vast sandstone landing site. The earth-colored stone was vibrant under the beaming sunlight while a few patchy clouds drifted leisurely overhead. Before we were all of our peers, they were gathered at a small metal gate. Many were jostling and fighting for a position in the front while some were content to hang back alone or in small friend circles. They didn't notice our arrival, all their eyes were trained on what was beyond that brittle gate. Most of them were Erymanthians like Natalia if a bit younger, and all of them were still somehow bigger and meaner than me. Seriously, what are people feeding their kids here? Whatever, I wasn't exactly tall back at home either.

Watching over the impatient herd were a dozen or so adult Archmages, our educators as they described themselves. They loosely lined themselves at either side to keep us in some semblance of order. These human-shaped artifacts of might, magic, and wisdom, clad in their silky and ornate robes. Supposedly many of them were over a century old yet appeared scarcely past their early 20s. They did little to interfere in our personal squabbles, simply snickered and whispered to one another content to simply observe the chaos for now. To them, we were sturdy creatures who could take a little rumbling and whatever bizarre undeveloped powers we unleashed upon each other. The only thing that they cared about was our ability to perform well in their classes or if our antics became their problem, mainly disrespecting them and property damage. This was rare, however, as we knew better than to provoke their ire. I always wondered where their dragons might be and how they must feel with soulmates as hard-hearted as this.