Shards: Intro- Part 1 (old)

Chapter One: Disembark

It was just before 0400 in the morning. The lecture would start then, so mostly everyone was situated. I looked around me and found the grounds to be so busy, that making out any vegetation would be almost impossible. If anything, almost the entire city will be here by daybreak; not me. After the lecture, I intend to spend the rest of the day at home with Mum and Father until I have to leave.

I absentmindedly sat criss-cross and watched the creature-filled night sky until something eventful happened. A few minutes later, the eternal altar across the harbor shrieked and hissed with energy. The blue beam it emitted became larger and red. Bells began ringing across the city, and were also ringing everywhere else in Atlantis. This meant that Excursion Day has begun.

All the creatures in the sky made immediate nosedives towards the grounds. They carefully looked for landing spots and in many colorful flashes; morphed back into human forms once they found them.

Through the clouds up north, I could make out a large flaming winged form; a Phoenix. That must've somehow been our lecturer. The creature must've had a 20 foot wingspan—making it the largest creature I've yet to see in my lifetime.

In fact, I've never seen a Phoenix before. The vast orange flames coming off its form shouldered as the Phoenix flapped over the mound and landed casually on the grass. To my surprise, the grass didn't burn.

Some shocked teenagers up front cowered back a little, and few even screamed. The Phoenix's blazing wings formed an 's' shape, then they encased around its form until it was round. The orb became a blinding bright orange until all that was left of it was an orange shard around a young woman's neck. The young woman had straight red hair, a long neck, and good posture.

She looked in regret at an area where a few teenagers were still looking dumbfounded at her for that landing she pulled off.
"Sorry!" she said in a high pitched voice. "I'm actually not the best when it comes to improvised landings, you'll have to forgive me."
"No, no, please do that again!" A rough voice sounded a little behind the group.
The woman just rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth in annoyance. "Aaaaaanyway," she started. "I'm Matidia of Anant, and I'll be lecturing for this; The 7,338th upcoming expedition!"

A few ooohs and aaahs came from the same section as that rough voice. You could hear them across the entire grounds, because everyone else was trying to listen to Matidia; who was now slightly red and visibly embarrassed.

"HEY." I was so loud that everyone's eyes were on me. I could make out a shirtless group of guys, who were looking at me like I just slapped each of them. "Are you sure you're in the right expedition?" I continued. "'If you're not 16 years old' the sign said, wait at the bottom of the mound like everyone else." The guys didn't say anything, but just sat wide-eyed, gawking at me; who was only almost half the biggest one's size. Nobody else said anything either. Suddenly, realizing what I did, I adopted a more passive stance and cleared my throat.
"For god's sake, just let the lady speak," I said as I sat back down and focused my attention back on Matidia.

She looked a bit pleased and regained her composure. "I can see we already might have excellent candidates for leadership on this expedition. Good. I would first like to thank each and everyone for being here. The soothsayers predicted a record low in the need for chaperones this quarter, and we have one of the largest yet seen expeditions ever!"

To my relief, The crowd stood up and clapped; getting most of the attention off me. It took about 3 minutes for Matidia to quiet down the crowd again. "I must apologize, but I ask that only until after my speech is finished that you should applaud. It's vital that I finish in time before the Skyliners arrive, is that ok with you guys?"
Matidia gave a questioning thumbs up. The crowd nodded, yayed, said yes, or did something to acknowledge understanding before Matidia started again. Arms folded behind her back, she turned to each part of her large audience.