Dragon Unleashed (Book 1 of the Dragon Mage Saga)

The Test of Tests

After gobbling down the rest of her breakfast with the speed as if she had never eaten before, Darla watched as everyone in the dining hall filed into neat lines and headed out the door-to class, presumably.

            “Um, I have no idea where to go,” Darla said to Charles, who was shoving the last bit of jingaberries down.

            “Here, just come with Ruby, Hugo, and I to the Level 8 classes. I’m assuming the Director will come see you soon and place you on a Magix Level,” Charles replied, smiling reassuringly.

            Darla’s stomach buckled? Level 8? That seemed quite high…too high. She knew she was supposed to have great power, but it didn’t feel like it. She just got here after all.

            “Maybe I can just go to Cecily’s Level 5 classes,” Darla tried hopefully.

            Hugo smirked. “That might be better. Wouldn’t want you to make a fool of yourself.”

            “Hugo!” Ruby looked appalled. “How dare you speak to Darla that way? Do you know who she is?”

            Hugo rolled his piercing black eyes, making Darla feel icy cold inside. “She’s the all-powerful Dragon Mage, She with the Magicks, our Messiah…I don’t care. I’m sick of the Dragon mage getting all this special attention. They just get magic handed to them on a platter. Unlike the rest of us, who work extremely hard to master our powers!”

            Charles scoffed. “He’s just jealous.”

            Darla remained silent as she followed Charles, Ruby, and Hugo out of the dining hall into a nearby green field. The grass appeared manicured and freshly groomed. Everything about this place screamed the best money can buy.

            A large circle of teenage boys and girls were gathered in the field, chattering loudly.  They reminded Darla of the buzz of a hornet.

            “Oh my stars, are you Darla Hawthorne?” squealed a tall, copper-haired girl rushing over to them.

            Oh my stars? Since when did anyone say that? Apparently in Pharix they did. Darla still had so much to catch up on before she could truly fit in this strange realm.

            “Yep, it’s me,” Darla said, flashing the bubbly redhead a smile.

            The girl’s eyes lit up. “I’m Arabelle. I’m a dragoline. I’ve heard so much about you.”

            “Dragoline?” Darla repeated, confused. “What’s that?”

“A dragoline is a dragon that had been chosen by fate from the human realm. They posess the soul of the dragon, so on their thirteenth birthday they are brought here. They do not need dragon ancestors or to be born from dragons to be a dragoline,” Arabelle explained.

            Much like Darla herself…she didn’t need to be related to dragons to be a dragon. Or at least, that’s what she understood so far.

            Just then, a tall, burly man strode over. He looked to be in his mid-forties with fair skin and a grayish brown beard curling around his chin. His sharp gaze met each individual student, making them tremble like an earthquake.

            “Darla Rose Hawthorne,” he boomed, eagle-eyed gaze landing on her. Darla stiffened and felt everyone’s stares glued on her.

            “Yes?” Darla asked meekly, voice barely hovering above a whisper.

            “It’s time for your placement exam to determine what Level of Magix you are on. Come up here.”

            Darla slowly walked over next to the man. “I’m Professor Ludwig, by the way. What we will be doing is called the Immersion.”

            The Immersion? That sounded frightening. Darla felt tense.

            Ludwig let out an inhuman howl. A deep, sunset orangish-pink flame erupted from his outstretched hand, plummeting upwards. Darla watched in amazement as it formed a bubble, surrounding her. She could see through the bubble, although everyone was tinted orange.

            “Now, Darla,” Ludwig boomed. “Turn around and walk down the hallway.”

            “Hallway? What hallway?”

            “That one.”

            Darla whirled around to see a long, black hallway within the bubble. Where did that even come from?

            Nervously, she turned back around expecting to see the bubble around her, but it was replaced by a red brick wall. What?

            Confused, Darla headed down the dark, dripping hallway. It smelled pungent, like a mix of fungus and sulfur. She felt bile arise in her throat.

            What sick placement exam was this? Darla felt a frosty breeze smother her, coming from seemingly nowhere. Just then, she spotted something in the distance. A door.

            Darla quickened her pace and hurried towards the door, opening it. Maybe this was her way out…She seriously doubted it though.

            The door opened into a small, blindingly white room. Darla winced, the whiteness hurting her eyes. It was all so bright, so heavenly and pure. She could barely stand it.

            Darla noticed a small, wooden brown box with a golden dragon carved on it. OPEN ME was scrawled at the top in messy cursive handwriting.

            Darla gingerly unlocked the box.

            Nothing. Empty.

            She sighed angrily. Would she be stuck in here forever? Just then, Darla felt someone tap her shoulder.

            She spun around, coming face to face with the most hideous creature she had ever seen.