Meditation

Prologue:

Flint trembled as he landed, obviously shaken. Wings tired of the long flight, he stepped in front of his desk. A worried expression surfacing as he looked once again at the note he held in his claws. “No.. I still don’t believe this is happening- This.. is not true!” He held it up and glanced at the giant portrait he hung on the wall. “Why- why did he come back?! I thought I had gotten rid of him.. But.. He too was an animus, a danger on the loose.” As he continued staring into the portrait, memories flooded into his mind; practicing their animus magic, roasting fish with their fire. Those were good memories, which would never happen again. He lowered his head, tears streaming down his face as he began sobbing uncontrollably.

But... Even though I love you, I will never allow you to harm anyone. Especially my students! He snarled furiously, furrowing his brows as the final tears slid down his face “You know my weakness, but I will never let you have that advantage over me!” Flint said determinedly, gritting his teeth. “I too have a plan to destroy you and will not hesitate if you want to become my enemy. However.. Just in case, I’m doing this one more time.”

Although he knew his soul was already in danger of all the animus spells he performed in the past, he wanted to do this one last time. He picked up a glass bottle that sat on his table and held it out, beginning to murmur a spell. “I enchant this bottle I am holding to be able to let me see every action of any dragon I think about.” He waited, lifting the bottle to his eye and praying hard, but his face soon morphed into disappointment. “It didn’t work.. Again”

Flint gulped, heading towards the window and flinging it wide open, letting the wind swirl around the office. He didn’t notice, for he was too deep in thought. Flint jolted awake as the wind grew stronger, suddenly scared, he tugged the windows shut and locked them. However, that didn’t stop the sound that began to echo around the room, “I’m coming for you.. Brother..”

Chapter 1 - Adonis:

“Excuse me.” Adonis stepped through the crowd of dragons blocking his way. Clutching his leather pouch tight, he spread his butterfly-like wings and managed to soar up instead.
It was his first day of school, at a place named Sparkleclaw Academy. He already knew he would have trouble there, considering he’d been shut down in the little hive of his for most of his life as a SilkWing servant.. He took a trembling breath, then proceeded towards the entrance. What would everything even be like? He reached for his pouch and rummaged for his map of the school, hoping to get to the Great Hall on time for his first assembly.
Wait a minute… didn’t he pack the map!?
Looking around in distress, he tried to seek help.

“U-uh, excuse me, do you know where-” The first dragon passed him like a gust of wind, almost knocking him over.“Hello… would you mind if-” The second dragon scowled at Adonis and marched on.
Shoot, it was just as he’d expect the school to be. He was about to give up on asking when he heard a cheerful voice beside him. “Hello, SilkWing! You need help, right?” Adonis looked up puzzled, then his eyes landing on the SeaWing standing in front of him. She looked about his age, and seemed to glitter enthusiastically.

“Yes, I’ve lost my map, and I need it to get to the Great Hall.”
“It’s right down the hallway, silly! Are you new like me?” She smiled. “I’m Seashell.”
He blinked. Someone was talking to him! “..I’m Adonis. Nice to meet you, I am new.” Seashell reached her talon in her bag and pulled out something. “Here you go, it’s an extra map I brought in case I lost the first, but I can see you need it more than I do. Oh! I need to go now! I guess I’ll see you around.” Adonis took the piece of paper and smiled. “Thanks!” he called after her, maybe he had finally made his first friend.

Chapter 2 - Sorting Ceremony:

Adonis let out a sigh of relief as he arrived just in time before the Headmaster spoke from the platform in front of the crowd. Besides him were teachers standing on each side, looking strict and menacing. "Everyone take a seat!” The Headmaster's voice boomed, everyone soon quieted down. Adonis sat down, trying to blend into the crowd of dragons. The Headmaster then continued. “Welcome everyone back to Sparkleclaw Academy! For those who are new, I am Mister Flint, the Headmaster. You will wait until the crown calls your name. Judging from the color the gemstone turns once you put the crown on, you will be sorted into four houses. Red for the Griffin house of the brave, Green for the Serpent house of the cunning, Blue for the Kelpie house of the intelligent, and last but not least, yellow for the Sphinx house of the Loyal! After you are sorted, you will be guided back to your house's tower where you will meet your head of house. The sorting ceremony will start now. Good luck, students.” The microphone shut off, leaving the dragons murmuring to each other excitedly.

The crown began speaking, calling the dragons on one by one.

“Crescent the NightWing! “ A timid-looking NightWing walked onto where the crown was and carefully put it on. The hall was silent and the crown’s jewels then turned a perfect sapphire blue. The crown then spoke in a loud and confident voice, “You are an official member of the Kelpie House!"
This continued for some time, Adonis listened carefully for his name as dragons kept being called out. "Scathe, Sphinx! Crystal, Serpent! Titor, Serpent! Seashell.." Adonis' ears perked up once he heard the name of the friendly SeaWing he met in the hall, what house was she gonna be in? The crown soon continued, "Griffin!" There was a pause before Seashell punched a talon into the air in joy. Then, it was his turn. "Adonis!" The crown called. Adonis gulped and stepped next to the crown, putting it on his head. The silence of the crown seemed to go on forever, he soon began to panic. Oh no, do I not belong in a house? Will I even be allowed to stay in the school without a house? His thoughts were soon cut short as the jewel turned red like a shining ruby. "Griffin!" Adonis felt his heart flutter, he was in the same house as Seashell! But he wasn't at all brave..

Adonis stumbled out of the hall dazed, still thinking about how he was sorted to Griffin. A familiar voice then rang in his ears, it was Seashell again! "Hey Adonis! I can't believe we're in the same house!" She hugged him quickly before running off, most likely to the house tower. Adonis stood stunned. Did she just.. hug him? He felt his face burn red, what was he feeling?

Chapter 3 - Scathe:

Scathe literally bounded through the hallways into her house tower, flapping her wings excitedly. Oh my gosh I can't wait! She gripped her small cotton cactus plush hidden in her bag and squeezed it, almost bursting with joy. She entered the Sphinx house tower, she marveled at the beautiful designs on the walls and doors.

"Hello." A voice spoke in front of her, catching her attention. It was a SkyWing, orange scales and speaking in a rich, strong voice. "I'm Copper, the head of the Sphinx house," She spoke before Scathe could as who she was. "Follow me, I will show you to your room. You will be paired up with Glider as your roommate." Copper looked at Scathe for confirmation that she understood, once Scathe nodded, she continued. "Tomorrow morning, after some rest, you will be lined up to head to room 304. Where you will receive your wand and pedant. Robes are in the closet of the dorm room, do you have any questions?"

"Nope, thank you so much!" Scathe grinned as they stopped in front of a door, she pushed it open and gasped at the view she got of the mountains. She turned and was about to thank Copper but saw she was gone. She must've gone to help another student.. She shrugged it off and put her things on a bedside table before jumping onto the bed.

Soon after what seemed to be a few minutes, the door opened again and a small SkyWing walked in. There was a clear sizzling sound which obviously indicated she was a firescale. Scathe whirled around in panic, afraid that the room would be set on fire but that didn't happen. She looked closer, the SkyWing had a sliver necklace, is that enchanted to stop firescales? The SkyWing then spoke up "You must be Scathe, my aunt Copper said you'll be my roommate. I'm Glider" She held out her talon to shake with Scathe, who cautiously touched her. Surprisingly she didn't get burned and only felt strong heat, seems like it was enchanted after all.

Scathe watched as Glider began to unpack, she seemed quite at home here. She felt it too, this was way better than her crowded home where all her siblings ignored her, the typical middle child. Maybe she could grow to like it here. Scathe smiled to herself. Maybe I could finally make a friend..

Chapter 4 - Crystal:

Trotting through the school, Crystal wore an annoyed expression. It was her first year here, and she did not enjoy socializing with others. Why was she even here? She turned around at the commotion behind her, ugh.. what now?

Glancing behind her, she noticed a bunch of new students heading towards their houses. "well I forgot there are more dragons from other tribes than us IceWings..: she murmured under her breath. Rolling her eyes, she flew off towards the door leading to one of the flight platforms. Spotting one of her fellow friends who was studying a map, she flew towards him. "Hey Bliz, I haven't seen you since my parents separated us, how're you?" the pale blue IceWing turned to look at her with an expression in his eyes which she couldn't comprehend, "Sorry Crystal, she wouldn't let me talk to you" he lifted his wings to prepare for flight, it was clear that he was missing one of his legs. Crystal yelled after him "Is it about the accident? They know it's an accident, I swear it was!" He just shook his head and flew away from her, leaving her with tears welling up in her eyes.

She took a last longing stare at Blizzard's disappearing shape and twisted her face into pure fury. She leaped into the air and started flying in the direction of her house tower. As soon as she landed, she wiped her angry tears before walking in. A LeafWing with a snake necklace met her gaze. I supposed she's the head of my house The LeafWing tilted her head before grinning "You're Crystal, your parents told me about your.. special powers. But don't worry, there's a lot of students like you!" Her last response caught Crystal off guard, others like me? Does she mean my ice-scales? "Ah, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Evergreen (yes she's totally not named after me), head of the Serpent house." Evergreen reached out a talon to shake Crystal's, before leading her into her dorm where a HiveWing was sitting.

Crystal entered the room. The HiveWing turned around to snarl at her, Crystal could see the tomato red spots on her face before turning her expression into a matching scowl. For a moment she could see the HiveWing look surprised but still didn't stop glaring at her. "Crystal.. this- this is Striper. Striper, this is Crystal" Evergreen seemed to notice the tension and made an attempt to break it. It didn't work like she wanted to, she sighed and left the room, leaving them to talk out things themselves.

Chapter 5 - Crescent: (WIP)

Cresent pushed through the crowd of chattering dragons, head throbbing from all the voices. Please just let me get to the Kelpie house tower! Her older brother was also attending the school but was in the Serpent house. She cursed it under her breath, wishing she was also put in the same house as he was. She reached a platform and walked out, spreading her wings to get away from the crowd of dragons while being able to reach her destination faster.

It's hard being a mindreader.. with your unintentionally listening to thoughts and being blamed for it. She reached up to rub her temples, relieved that the chattering in her head finally stopped. Before she could focus on her flight and catch the current, a sudden vision flashed in her mind, almost knocking her out of the air. "What was that?!" she exclaimed, trying to understand what just happened. Right after spotting her house tower, she shook the vision off and landed on one of the balconies.