Rainbow Magic (Dragon Rider #1) {EDITING}

Chapter Seventeen: The Many Joys of the Palace of the Dragon

Blinking in shock, Sora stared at the strange woman with only one question on her mind. "Excuse me, ma'am, but do I know you?" she asked, shifting on her feet. "It's just I've never seen you before in my life... like... at all." Well, as far as she could remember... besides, she'd realised what was bugging her in the far corner of her mind. Something had been niggling at her ever since she'd laid eyes on the woman. She was old. She'd aged far beyond her prime, and that could only mean one thing – she wasn't a dragon rider. So what was she doing in a city full of them? The forest they were in should've been well within the bounds of the gigantic city walls. The older generations of riders couldn't let anything happen to their successors.

The old woman only chuckled lowly, gesturing to the seat opposite the small table at which she sat. It was about the height of a coffee table, the seat being a cushion on the floor. The table was smooth, the surface varnished so that it shone in the gaslight of the strange room, the only object on it being a large spherical ball similar to that which Ethan had originally tested her magic with. "Relax, dearie, and get your toosh on that seat," she said, dry lips cracking into a grin. "I don't bite."

Sora narrowed her eyes, hesitantly doing as she was asked. It had to be part of the test after all...

"I mean you no harm... and even if I did, there's nothin' lil ol' me over here can do about it," she spoke, cackling like one of those desert animals from the south. "But to answer that question you're getting all worked up over – no. You don't know me... but I certainly know you."

She blinked. "How's that supposed to work?" she asked, leaning away from the woman as far as was polite. "Wait a minute... who even are you? You're not a dragon rider..."

"Nope." She popped her lips together, a wet smack sounding, and Sora shuddered. "Besides... are you really sure I'm the one you should be directing your question at?" she asked, tilting her head, staring at her with that little smile which said she knew better. She knew something Sora didn't... and it was going to irk her.

"You're the only other person here."

Her grin widened. "You sure about that?"

"What do you mean?" Sora glanced around, eyes wide as she searched for any sort of movement. Anything to indicate another's presence... but there wasn't anything. Not even a rustle of a purple curtain.

A loud cackle startled her, head swivelling back to fix on the old lady laughing like there was no tomorrow. "Never mind, dearie... seems it ain't time for that horrific business just yet."

"Then... what is it time for?" she asked. "I'm supposed to be doing some test, right?"

The old lady nodded. "Correctamento."

"So...?"

"You can call me Evangeline, dearie," she said, folding her withered arms. "As for your little test... that'll be coming up soon. There's just a few things I wanna go over before you get yourself stuck in that mess."

"OK..."

"Well then, let's see what you know about the set of cloaks inside this place..."

Sora stared at her blankly. "So... you mean like the speciality of it or something?" she questioned, shifting on her cushion. She didn't know a single thing about the cloaks. She didn't even know whereabouts in the forest they were.

"Ah." She chuckled lowly. "Seems you really don't know anything about this place... though I'm not all that surprised. People tend to be rather tight lipped about this place, not that it does the next generation any good... but if what I've seen is true... this might just be the last generation."