Survivor (A Dragon's Academy Book)

Chapter 1 (NEW)

A/N: I am rewriting this story. There will be elements in chapters that I haven't gotten to that are very different from the new ones, and won't make sense. I will try to get through the chapters and continue on as fast as I can, but you will be confused. Any chapter titles without the word NEW in parentheses next to them are old and do not necessarily make sense with the new story. Please bear with me.

"Wake up! Wake UP ALREADY!" a familiar voice shrills in my ear. I can hear her, I'm up, but that doesn't mean I have to obey her. Maybe if I pretend to be asleep for long enough, she'll go away. I know that I should be awake, but I was up decidedly late last night waitressing a good deal of drunken men.

My father owns this inn, technically, but he fell ill and was consequently bedridden five years ago. My twin brother and I operate the inn, with him handling the finances and me caring for my father, younger sister, and the hospitality/employee management side. Not that we had too many employees. My small team consists of two cooks(husband and wife), and four maids. I work as barmaid, serving wench, and hostess.

On this thought, I remain still on my small bed, lying on my left side, facing the door, one arm tucked under my head, squishing my cheek so I look younger than I am, and the other arm sprawled out in front of me as I focus to keep my breathing even. This task is not too difficult, as I am soon falling back asleep.

I am vaguely aware of her leaving the room, not closing the door behind her I might add, and I can faintly hear her footsteps clomping down the stairs. I sigh happily. Sleeeeeeep.

Just as I am drifting off, I am jolted out of my beautiful, wonderful sleep by a bucket of cold water straight to the face. I jump out of bed, glaring, and I am met with the smugly smiling face of my sister. "Oooo, you're dead," I growl.

"I don't think so... unless of course you want to be late?" Adalie teases. She spins on her heel and waltzes comfortably out of my room.

No way. She couldn't mean.... How could I possibly forget!? My eyes widen considerably and I bolt out of bed, rooting through my wardrobe to find the one nice dress I have. I refuse to own any others, as I have no particular affinity for those tight and uncomfortable clothes.

Slipping into it and brushing out my long, dark brown hair, I quickly splash some water on my face and scrub my teeth clean before slipping on some sandals, glancing at the mirror, and running out of my room. I skid around the corner onto the stairs that lead down to the main tavern, dodge a few tables, and burst out of the door into the blinding light.

The square is crowded with people, all of the children of sixteen years old waiting for the ceremony to start and their families there to support them. I am sixteen years old, and as such, by law, must participate in the ceremony.
It's a sunny day, with a blue sky and no clouds. The square has a large stone fountain in the middle, depicting two dragons twining around each other to spew water out of their mouths. It's not uncommon for there to be lots of dragon monuments all over, they are the ones that protect our kingdom, after all. A four-foot tall stone pedestal with carved dragons winding around it sits in front of the fountain, seeming to have grown from the ground. I have passed the pedestal on numerous occasions before, but have never seen it used. Only people above sixteen are allowed to attend the ceremony, and only the sixteen-years old are tested, once a year. I only have one chance.

Dusty dirt scuffs up under my feet as I make my way to the crowd. A fluttery feeling takes residence inside my chest. I know it's wrong to hope, since I would never be able to abandon my responsibilities here to attend the school, but I can't stop the seed of cautious optimism planting itself in my heart.

And the dragons! Dragons are legendary creatures, elusive and dangerous and beautiful, and even if I don't turn out to be a rider I will be glad to have at least seen them.