73This story starts out soooo rough, I know, but believe me when I say that the writing matures a lot as it goes along. This was started a loong time ago, but it works up to much better characterization and plotting and...well, everything. I would be endlessly appreciative of people to keep reading, andto hear constructive criticism or just any sort of review, really! Thank you very much, I hope you enjoy this!
.Part I: Conspiracy.
The cold was like cruel steel fangs on my skin as I crossed the field to the Academy, hauling what was, I wager, four damned tons worth of the 'basic' supplies we had been instructed repeatedly on the importance of bringing. Head-high drifts hid my destination from me, and concealed the dangerous sheets of ice that lay silently awaiting an unsure foot beneath me. I trudged along wearily, never seeing my feet through the white death someone had given the name of 'snow'.
It was all being kept quiet, you know, what was going to go on that day. All we knew - all I knew - was that our senior-year friends from not only last year, but every year since I could remember hadn't come back from wherever they were going, and now it was finally our turn.
This would be our 'time to shine', as Headmaster Galen Fetherward had so nobly put it.
I spotted a few others plodding through the snow, looking quite forlorn; they were most likely mirroring my own grave expression. They, too, were struggling valiantly along with a pack on each of them the size of a small elephant. I smiled a little coldly as I slurred out the words, 'Misery loves company,' and shifted my pack to an only slightly less agonizing position.
I would have had more than a few complaints about the cold, if it hadn't been for the disturbing fact that I'd gone all but numb below the waist about twenty minutes before.
Despite my willed terror at what was to become of the fifty-some senior students attending Cladhwrought's Academy for the Gifted - that means the magically inclined, for those of you who don't know, or couldn't figure it out - a sense of warming and belonging filled me as I entered the huge oak doors. Brilliant, golden light flooded the courtyard, though there was no sun, and no windows there that I could ever see. Lush green grass carpeted the ground, and the whole place smelled earthy and fresh. No more than a few small paths cut through the neatly trimmed paradise, and trees grew everywhere in an attractively haphazard way. Honeysuckle bushes sprouted up in a few places, and students were always licking drops of nectar off of the fat blossoms.
'Summer!' I heard a witch named Gwen call out, and I turned quickly to look. Her hair was platinum blond, now – although the last time I'd seen her she had been a brunette, it wasn't exactly legendary for Gwen to change her hair now and again. She was very swiftly crossing the courtyard, which was charmed in such a way that it was always summer inside.
'How are you?' Angeline smiled sweetly as she appeared beside us. She, too, was a witch - the vast majority of students attending Cladhwrought's were.
From what I had gathered, there were actually very few magical beings besides witches left on Earth, although I had no idea where the rest would have take off too - perhaps they died, though that is a sad though if ever there was one.
'Well, I was cold,' I laughed a little vaguely and walked to a bench to unload my gear, sighing heavily with relief as I dumped my pack down; the seat creaked slightly with the weight, but it held.
'So?' Gwen looked at me with an anxiously questioning expression plastered to her face.
'So . . . what?' I blinked at her in a confused way, rubbing my legs, feet and hands in a desperate attempt to return at least some of the feeling back to them.
'What's your theory on all of this 'shining' nonsense? We've got a few betting pots started around the courtyard, and I was wondering if you wanted to take a shot at it?' She flashed a somewhat half-hearted glance toward Angeline, who merely shook her head in a disapproving way before speaking.
'May I ask who 'we' is, Gwen?' She raised an eyebrow. 'I refuse to take part in gambling; I happen to dislike parting with my money, and if you should end up losing any of this,' she gestured toward Gwen's handful of bills, 'then don't come crying to me about it.'
For a moment, Gwen actually believed that Angeline was upset with her, but a slow grin slid across her face when she caught the way her friend was desperately trying to hold back a smile.
'So, Summer - you in?' Gwen returned her attention to me, but only after whacking Angeline in the arm.
'Sorry, but betting just isn't really my thing, and even with this monstrous pack I don't have enough money to spare, so no, thanks. I would love to hear some of the theories, though.' Even without my bet, her face lit up when I gave her permission to tell me about it all. Gwen did love to scheme, and even more than that she loved to talk about it.
'Hmm, let me see . . . well: Will Masterson heard - from God knows where, of course, that we're being sent to capture that rogue dragon that's been terrorizing ships in the Philippines - although I didn't say anything to him, that wouldn't account for all the people who've gone off in previous years, but hey - more money for me, right? Well, anyway, moving on here . . . . Si Yong told me that Sarah Longly was eavesdropping and heard Galen talking to Madame about something, but it was very muddled and she hardly heard more that a few words, those being-' Gwen pulled out a little notepad '-quest, fallen, dangerous, and seaward, so she's betting that it has something to do with all of that, then, I suppose. I can't believe she chipped in a twenty for something as unreliable as that! Of course, I believe that we're heading to some sort of training camp.' She smiled triumphantly.
'Oh, none of those sound even remotely plausible, Gwen . . . but if you want my personal opinion? We're about to find out!' Angeline pushed us down - rather forcefully, I might add, and turned us to face a pillar that was now rising quickly out of the ground, with none other than Galen Fetherward standing proudly upon it.
Gwen's amber eyes gleamed with delight as she watched him, doubtlessly wondering who would get the money. I bet there was a fair bit of it by that time, because by the way she had sighed when Angeline had forced us to sit, there were more bets in than just those three.
Galen was a tall man in his mid-thirties who could be easily distinguished by a shock of red hair and dancing green eyes. He was quite the strange figure to be standing on top of a huge pedestal-style pillar, when he looked like he might well have been the high school misfit. I tried valiantly to hush my thoughts and looked up at him, wondering if he would really explain why we were all hauling around ridiculous amounts of crap. Galen was notorious for being cryptic, you see, and it could really be quite annoying at times.
'I imagine the whole lot of you are wondering why in the world we are gather-' Galen stopped, mid-sentence, as the huge oak doors opened up, and through them - along with a large amount of wind-blown snow, came Lysander, my boyfriend of two years.
He was gorgeous. Sandy blond hair, perfect physique, and the deepest set of river-blue eyes you've ever set your sights on, not to mention the fact that he was really one of the nicest, most gallant and courageous guys you would ever meet. Keep it in mind that all of that is without even mentioning the British accent.
See, I was born in the USA, and the Academy is actually somewhere in the far north of Russia, but the majority of the students attending are from western Europe - that being a very magical place, you understand.
Before I go even one bit further, I should tell you about me. Firstly, I'm half-elfish. I do, in fact, have pointy ears, although they're a shade different from your standard elf ears. Secondly, I have these really, really faint . . . well, this is going to sound pretty idiotic to you, but hear me out - spots, that are kind of like an incredibly odd birthmark or something. I don't really tell a lot of people that, because you can't even see them at all when I get a good tan going, but they sort of look like something you'd see on a cheetah, besides the fact that they gradually stretch out into bands around my wrists and ankles. Other than that, I suppose I look pretty normal - blond hair, grey eyes, and no less than five foot six. In case, for some reason, you wanted to know, I weigh in at a neat one-hundred-and-twenty-five pounds, which can be attributed to the twice-a-day weapons and combat training provided at the ever so splendid Cladhwrought's Academy.
So fair enough, the spots are a little bit weird, but I can tell you that I'm a hell of a lot luckier than some people are. Will Masterson, for example, grows scales, fur, or feathers according to the seasons - usually on his head, around his hairline, which isn't so bad. Danny McClellan has claws. Silvish Falrek has a forked tongue and a few scales, not to mention razor sharp teeth and disturbingly lizard-like eyes.
Lysander is mostly witch, so he looks human. I think the eyes might be elfish, though he doesn't know for sure. Oh, but I'm getting way off topic here - so Lysander comes in . . .
'Ah, Lysander. I was a bit concerned that you were ill, or something of the like. Take a seat, please.' Galen was at least nice enough not to start on some sarcastic rant in a desperate attempt to appear cool. He readily accepted he was anything but - embraced it even. Somehow, this actually had an adverse effect, and caused him to be very hip.
'Sorry, Mr. Fetherward. That storm is a lot worse that it was earlier, and getting more so by the minute. I was the last one out of our dorms, though, and I'm not even sure if anyone will be able to get back inside the building for awhile.' Lysander took a seat next to me, looking very relieved to remove his pack.
'Hmm, well - back to the point. You are all here because you are senior students, and this will mark the end of your senior year. I suppose that someone has started up a betting pool again?' Gwen looked sheepish, and Angeline was picking at her nails, as though they had suddenly become extremely interesting. 'Well, now you get to find out now who the lucky winner is! We- excuse me, you will be going on a . . . journey. That's the word. Wherever you end up, that's where you're going. This, my much-esteemed students, is how one finds their place in the world - just not this world. You are going to Gythaen. I imagine you've all heard of it before, if casually. What whoever it was who was telling you about it probably left out was that it is where almost all magical people like ourselves end up. So by all means, you should go with your friends. You don't get a second chance, and if you split up, then you probably won't see each other again. However, you will meet a whole lot of new people along the way. They may be almost comically weak, or phenomenally strong; they may become your friends, or simply dismiss you. Well, you know, on the other hand they could capture you, cut you up, and sell your organs for quite a pretty sum, so please be careful. This is not a game, an assignment, or a test, I assure you. That is why your friends from years past haven't come back - they're making a life for themselves somewhere. Well, that or being eaten - which is not a pleasant thought, but not such an unrealistic one, either.
'So, when you walk back out those doors, your packs will be lighter,' Galen gestured toward the oak doors, 'and your spirits will be high. You will also be somewhere quite other than I imagine you would expect to be. I would suggest you all stick together for the first little bit, and stay in at least groups of five or more, because I honestly don't want someone to play hero and go it alone - you will almost certainly end up dead, or perhaps enslaved. Oh, and I'm definitely not supposed to tell you this, but it would be wiser to take the right fork in the road when you first come to a turning - it will save you a lot of grief in the long run, believe me. Be off, then, and be careful. You will notice your packs are smaller, lighter, and have more in them than what you came with. So use what you have!' With a last swish of red magic, that swept the courtyard and changed everything, he was gone.
Galen was truthful; our packs were much smaller and lighter than when we had come, and our spirits were higher than they'd ever been as we walked out those doors.
Lysander and I were holding hands so tightly it hurt, so we wouldn't get lost. This was much to the amusement of Gwen and Angeline, who we now traipsed along with.
He was also right about us being where we didn't expect to be - for we walked out from that day-lit, summer courtyard into a disproportionately large forest, and it was the middle of blackest night.
Ok, well . . . there's the first section! I hope you liked it (well, actually . . . I just hope you read it, since it's probably the worst part of the whole book, believe me!). Please continue reading, and remember to R/R so I know that this is at least being seen!