Thursday, April 26, 2007

Here's is my new story's first chapter
Chapter One

Curator Academy sat nestled in its huge, perfectly round valley, its gates closed at one end where students, fresh from summer vacation, waited for the new school year to begin. Will Vanda sat on the sun-warmed granite steps with his best friend Zax Jour, watching the milling crowd with dark eyes. Zax’s mouth ran on and on about his summer in Ireland, while his large blue eyes scanned the crowd. The pair was famous in school, known as the Shadow and the Sparking Shifter, and they were inseparable.

“So, have you heard the news? The Silver Dragon of Ireland is coming to the Academy.” Zax Looked at the crowd, picking out the newbies and greeting old friends as he watched Will, who was looking up at the sky.

“Yeah. She’s the one who won the Tournaments three years running, isn’t she? She must be powerful, if she can do that.” Will nodded towards a bunch of girls walking by. A tiny girl broke off from the group and jogged towards them with an easy, graceful lope.

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” Mona sat down in front of them, crossing her long legs and leaning back on the heels of her hands. Known as Heaven’s Warrior, Mona was both stronger physically and magically than she looked. In Will’s Sight, she blazed with shadowy Power. She was also one of the biggest Info. gatherers in the school.

“Have you heard the big news, Mona? The Silver Phoenix is coming to our school.” Will cocked his head as he watched her eyes widen.

“The Silver Dragon?! The Dragon of Ireland? You have GOT to be joking!” Mona shook back her short, black hair from her neck and stood.

“The bell is going to ring right……………..about…………….NOW!!!!” The bell rang, and she was gone, running through the now open gates towards her first class. She waved goodbye over her shoulder before she disappeared into the crowd. The two boys followed at a slower pace, heading for the third garden, where their first class, Properties of the Earth, would begin.

When they entered the shadowy garden, they were surprised to find that the students already there were crowded around the base of an ancient oak, talking excitedly. Will pushed through the crowd to see what was going on.

A tall, lean girl was sitting high up in the tree, her green and tan clothing helping her blend into the branches. She looked down at the group with annoyed green eyes. Her eyes narrowed as Will looked up at her. He stared up at her, too shocked to speak.

“Look, how about you all clear off and give the girl some room to breathe. She can’t stay in that tree forever, you know.” The students turned and parted to let through the Head Healer, Sensei Treelight, a dark elf from Japan. The teacher looked up at the girl with amused black eyes.

“You can come down now, Ms. Baron. They are only curious. It is not often that we get a new student from Ireland.” Will’s eyes widened as he looked up at the girl again. This was the Dragon? No Way!!

The girl leapt down, landing softly on the ground with barely a thump. Standing, she looked around at the other students with scornful eyes. As they came to rest on Will, he shivered. A silver scar shaped like an opened winged dragon with a long tail arched around her right eye. This was her trademark.

“Now, please find a place to sit so I may start our lesson. You may all ogle at Ms. Baron later.” The teacher turned and waited while the students scrambled to find a place to sit. Sari Baron leapt back into her tree and leaned back against the trunk, her gaze fixed on the teacher. Will sat under her, Zax beside him.

An hour later, the bell rang. Will jumped away from the base of the tree as Sari jumped down. He got a better look at her.

Thick, dark hair fell around her shoulders, framing a pale, heart-shaped face and hiding the silvery mark around her eye. Pine-green eyes looked at him with a bored expression.

“What are you looking at?” Will blinked in surprise. She rolled her eyes and walked away. Shaking his head, Will hurried after her, Zax close behind.

“Hey, let’s start over. I’m Will. This is Zax, my best friend. Welcome to the Academy.”

“It’s nice to meet you Will, Zax. I am Sari Baron, from Ireland. You know me as the Silver Dragon. I have heard of you, Will. You’re known as the Shadow, and your friend is the Sparkly Shifter.” Zax gritted his teeth. People always got his name wrong.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“I have my ways. Do you know where the Battle Arena is? I have Weapons Advanced next.” Sari looked up at him, which surprised Will. He had thought she was taller.

“Weapons Advanced? That’s like, one of the hardest classes in the Academy. Why are you taking it, and at fifth year?!” Zax slid in between them and stared at Sari with wide eyes. She raised an eyebrow.

“Because the normal Weapons class is too, how should I say this, too boring. I already know everything in that class, and since I am required to take a fighting class, I might as well take the hardest one.” They stopped in front of an archway leading into one of the larger arenas. She turned.

“Are you two in this class? Because if you aren’t, you had better get to class. The bell’s about to ring.” She turned and disappeared into the shadows of the corridor.

“Well, I have Chemistry next, so I’ll see ya later.” Zax ran off towards a tower on the other side of the courtyard. Sighing, Will followed Sari into the arena, hoping that he wouldn’t be humiliated.

*

“Welcome to Weapons Advanced. I am Swordsman Skulker, and this is my Partner, Hella. This week I will be pairing you off against each other so I can assess what you know. Now, I want you all to call your Partners, if you have one, so I know who I should pair off.” A tall, muscular man with thick black hair stood in the middle of the Arena, looking over the class with shrewd, brown eyes. A large, gray and black wolf sat by his side.

Sari watched as, one by one, her classmates walked out into the middle of the Arena and called for their Partners. Birds, cats, dogs, reptiles, a couple of bears, and a pegasaii joined the class before Will, the strange boy she had met that morning, took his place.

He stood, head bowed, in the middle of the Arena, the sun glinting off his thick red hair. The place was silent as everyone waited with baited breath for the boy to call his Partner.

A high-piercing shriek filled the air, making several of the more sensitive students cover their ears with cries of pain. The sun was blocked for a second as a dark shadow flew by. Sari looked up in time to see the silhouette of some huge beast before it settled next to Will.

It was a shadow dragon. At least thirty feet long with an extra twenty feet of long, whipping tail, the dragon was magnificent to look at. Scales as black as midnight glistening in the sun, while slanted green eyes as large as Sari’s head glared down at her. (it sorta looks like the red eyes black dragon in yugioh). Its slender body coiled around Will, the dark wings folding gently against its sides. The boy grinned.

“This is Sabine. You can kinda see why my title is ‘The Shadow’.”

Swordsman Skulk raised an eyebrow as boy and dragon stepped off to the side, letting Sari take his place.

“If you think that was cool, then watch and learn.” Turning, Sari flung her head back and let out a long, clear, bell-like call that echoed through out the entire campus. A mighty roar answered her call as a long, slender dragon with silvery-blue scales soared over the arena and, spiraling down in a tight cork screw, landed next to the girl with barely any back lash.

“This is Tsunami, a Sea dragon from the Arctic sea. I found her when I went to see some…….. relatives down there.” Sari grinned at the look of wonder on her classmates faces. Will was pretty amazed too.

“Take your stance.” Sari and Will faced each other. Sari crouched, her weapon held behind her along her arm. Will leaned back, placing his weight on one foot and holding his staff against his chest. The dragons stood to one side; they would not participate in the fight.

Swordsman Skulker held up one hand.

“And………. Begin!!!!”


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