Starsky Academy

4.

At first, the dizziness was sickening. I blinked many times, rubbing my forehead with a sweaty palm, trying to calm the turbulence in my stomach. It had been a long time since I had felt such severe motion-sickness.

"Hello there!" I heard a voice call out. I opened my eyes to take in my surroundings. I was in a forested clearing, with cobblestone paving underneath my feet. A small fountain bubbled in front of me.

I couldn't locate the voice at first. Then, I turned around and saw a shocking figure indeed. In front of me stood a smiling, bubbly girl.

Except she wasn't a girl - not a human one, at least.

She was a fairy.

I'd heard of fairies before, but never seen any. That wasn't surprising, though, Aerilon was a small town, and fairies were usually thought of to be more lavished creatures; they enjoyed luxury and richer areas.

This fairy had long, curly red hair. She was very short - as all fairies are - and wore a green dress that wasn't exactly formal, but not cheap-looking either. She had bright green eyes, a small nose, and full lips. her wings were translucent and shimmering. In her hand was a small staff, with the handle being a glowing orb resembling tree roots.

"My name is Tazanna," She chirped, "But I'd prefer Taz."

"O-oh, um, hello." I smiled back, ignoring my thumping heart. Then I peered around. As gorgeous as the towering, swaying trees were, and the detailed marble fountain, it didn't appear anything like an Academy.

"If you don't mind me asking," I began, making eye contact with Taz, "Where is the Academy?"

She giggled. "You didn't think it would be right here, did you? I mean, that could be pretty bad. What if someone who wasn't a student managed to get through the teleporter? We wouldn't want them to be able to hurt the dragons."

"Has that happened before?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I'm sure it has," She nodded before continuing with her familiar, big smile, "But I wouldn't worry. Starsky is probably the safest building in all of Yer!"

"Anyways." She paused now, looking serious. "I need to understand that you are a student. Can I have your information?"

Out of a small satchel I hadn't even seen before she pulled out a notebook. It's cover was a deep emerald green, and it's pages were smooth and white.

"My name's Lana Pennington." I spoke. Taz nodded, flipping through the book, murmuring names, until she found me.

"Alright. Your gender, age, and hometown?" She asked.

"Well, I'm a female," I scratched my head with a smile, and she laughed too, "I'm 15 but my 16th birthday is in two days, and I've lived in Aerilon with my mom for 12, nearly 13 years."

Taz's pencil scratched at the paper. "Yep, yep, and yep."

After a brief moment of reading whatever was in the notebook, she looked back up at me. "You're all set to go!" She grinned.

"Pardon?" I cocked my head. Was I going to the Academy now?

"Yeah. There's another teleporter amulet in my pocket. You'll go through it and my other friend Mabel will help you out."

"Is she a fairy too?" I asked.

"Yeah." Taz answered.

"Are there a lot of fairies around here?"

"Not a lot - I think it's five or so? You probably won't see all of us. The Academy's a big place."

There was a brief pause as Taz reached into her bag and pulled out a similar amulet to the one I received. "Here," She smiled at me. "When I press the button you can head on through."