Dragon Riders:A New Generation(Book 1)

Chapter 14:The Potions Master:Kaya

So far Kaya's first day of training was going poorly.
She had only been through Charms and D.A.D.A so far and she was already frustrated and disappointed that she hadn't been able to cast a spell as well as Kumaglak.
   She just wished she could cast a spell as good as Kumaglak, just one, that was all she asked. She then silently prayed to Suka the Polar Bear of Arctica, one of the fifteen Great Beast that have been around for about two thousand some years, for help and to not let her embarrass herself in Potions.
After not being able to cast Fumos in D.A.D.A Class she already felt embarrassed for not trying hard enough. But she guessed that Kumaglak offering to help her was a good thing. Maybe she could learn how he made it look so easy. Did it just come easy for him, or did he practice with Darkstalker back in Arctica?
Kaya didn't know she was just focused on how not to make a fool out of herself in potions after what happened in D.A.D.A. She was the only one who wasn't able to cast Fumos. And she had to be able cast Lumos, Fumos, Lumos Maxima, and Nox successfully by Friday. She didn't know how she was going to do that.
While thinking about her sucky day on the way to Potions she almost walked into Nimue, who had been standing in the doorway of the potions Classroom.
Kaya managed to stop herself before walking into the taller girl, who didn't look very happy after Charms. Who still didn't look very friendly during D.A.D.A Class.
Kaya didn't know why Nimue didn't look happy after Charms, but she had a feeling it had to do with the pot and the plant. She then wondered if Nimue was hiding something from her, Kumaglak, and the Elders.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Nimue look over shoulder and look down at her like she was the one who broke the pot and killed the plant and blamed it on Nimue.
Nimue then turned her head forward and marched into the Potions Classroom, and took a seat at a table with four stools around it.
   Kaya and Whiteout followed Nimue and Hurricane into the room and Kaya sat across from Nimue on the rectangular, black stone table.
   The room was large with small patches of sunlight shining in through the windows close to the ceiling. The room had many cabinets, shelves, a chalkboard, a desk, and a dragon head above a basin that looked like water came out of it.
   The room was also a little chilly, she didn't mind the cold she just missed the warm sunlight flooding into the room like in the other rooms she had been in. She suddenly felt a longing for Arctica and it's cold winds and snow and ice. As well as the warm, bright sunlight that sometimes reflected off the icey ground.
   "Stop worrying about doing everything perfectly, it's only the first day." Whiteout said to her after catching on to her thoughts.
   She looked at Whiteout sitting in the corner of the room close to the sunlight that managed to come in through the window.
   "I know, I just wish I could cast spells as well as Kumaglak. I just thought I would be good like him you know because we're twins. I guess not." She said with a sigh.
B "It's okay, you can't expect to learn everything or be able to cast all these spells in one day. It takes time and if you rush things then your not training or learning you're just speeding through everything just to get  done. So listen to me and don't rush or else you're not learning anything." Whiteout said to her while looking at her with her light ice blue eyes, that were the same color as her own.
   She thought about what Whiteout said for a few minutes before wondering where Kumaglak and Darkstalker were. The first bell had already rung, so where were they?
   "Do you know where Kumaglak and Darkstalker are?" She asked Whiteout, who just looked at her.
"No I don't know where they are, but I hope they hurry up or they'll be late. I can try contacting Darkstalker though if you like."
   "Thank you." She replied.
   Once she got done talking to Whiteout she caught Nimue looking at her before quickly looking away.
   She wondered why Nimue was looking at her. Was Nimue looking at her because she was looking at Whiteout and her having a mental conservation with her. Or did Nimue just start to hate her, she didn't seem that mean when she and Kumaglak first met her. Maybe it was just an act to get her and Kumaglak to like her. She didn't know the reason, but was interrupted by Kumaglak and Darkstalker, who had just crossed the threshold as the tardy bell rang. They were both heavily panting like they had just ran from a hungry polar bear.
   "What's wrong with you two?" Nimue asked suspiciously.
   Kaya wondered why Nimue sounded suspicious. Did Nimue not trust them, or maybe she was still in a foul mood.
   Kaya was starting not trust Nimue so much, she seemed suspicious of everything that went on around her. Perhaps she was always vigilant and grew up not trusting people.
   "I...had...to run...up to...my room... because... I forgot...my scroll...for notes...for Potions." He said to them panting with his hands on his knees. Darkstalker also looked tired, he had his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth and his black and white scaly sides were heaving.
   Kaya got up from her seat and grabbed Kumaglak by the arm and led him to the table and sat him down on one of stools.
Kumaglak put his head on the table and took deep breaths.
Darkstalker half walked half stumbled over to where Whiteout was with his tail dragging on the ground. From what Kaya knew Darkstalker hardly every let his tail drag on the ground. He must have ran hard up four floors from the D.A.D.A Classroom.
   About a minute after Kumaglak and Darkstalker made it in the room Anaba entered the dreary classroom. She looked at all of them. Kaya thought she saw Anaba looked at Nimue a little bit longer than her and Kumaglak.
   Anaba then walked over to door in a dark corner of the room, that she had not seen, and opened the door and entered. She then came out of the room with three cauldrons, three long, wooden spoons, and three fire bowls that had circular metal grates on top of them. Kaya guessed the grates were for the cauldrons to sit on. Anaba then set one down each in front of them.
   Anaba then went up to chalkboard by the desk in the front of the room and began writing. Once she finished she said to them, "Today we will be brewing a very simple potion all young Dragons Riders learn to brew. You will learn how to measure and weigh your ingredients for your potion today. The potion we are learning is The Cure for Boils, this potion can remove boils that were magically cursed on someone. Now I want everyone to look at the board and then go get the ingredients and tools you will need. All the ingredients are labeled and if you need help please ask and also come and get your Potions Book from the desk. The page number you need is on the board." Anaba finished.
   Kaya looked the board and it said:
Tools-
Mortar and pestle
horn measure
Coal
Knife
Stirring spoon
Cauldron
Tinderbox
Thermometer
Timer
Mitts
Ingredients-
Six snake fangs
Four horned slugs
Two porcupine quills
Ten dried nettles
Steps-
1. Add six snake fangs to mortar and crush into a  fine powder with pestle
2. Add four measures of powdered snake fangs to cauldron
3. Put coal in fire bowl and lite with tinderbox and put cauldron on grate of fire bowl once it reaches 250 degrees Fahrenheit
4. Cut up dried nettles and put them in cauldron
5. Wave hand over cauldron and leave to brew for 33-45 minutes
6. Add four horned slugs to cauldron after brewing for 33-45 minutes
7. Take cauldron off and add two porcupine quills
8. Stir clockwise five times
9. Wave hand over potion to complete
Magical Drafts and Potions
page number- 14
   The three of them got up and went over to the shelves and cabinets and started getting their supplies.
   After Kaya got all her supplies she sat down at the table, opened her book, she began working. 
   She crushed her fangs and put four measures, with the horn she got from the back to measure her powder with, and put it in her cauldron.
Then she put the coal in under the circular grate on her fire bowl. She then opened the tinderbox and took out a piece of flint and a fire striker. She struck the flint against the fire striker till a spark jumped from the flint and on to the coal. Kaya blew gently on the coals and put a little bit of tinder on the coals and watched as the small flames slowly dance to life, eating at the tinder and the coals. The flames soon grew into a small fire, licking at the sides of the fire bowl.
She put the metal metal thermometer, that was a narrow, one foot long rectangle with carved numbers by ten's that ran up the side of the thermometer. There was silver liquid in a small glass tube that sat at the bottom of the thermometer in a small that was slowly moving its way up the glass tube. The thermometer also had a long, thin metal rod on the bottom on it, that was supposed to be pushed into the coals to measure the temperature.
   She put the rod end in through the grate into the coals, the thermometer was above the grate off to the side of the fire bowl. She then waited while the flames grew hotter every minute. 
After waiting for about ten minutes the flames finally reached tow hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit, she placed the cauldron on the fire bowl. Then she took her knife and cut up the dried nettles into small pieces. She put the nettles into her cauldron and then closed her eyes and concentrate and waved her hand over the potion.
Once she done that she opened her eyes and looked at the potion that was now bubbling gently. She then took the small windup timer, like the one Anaba gave them for a alarm, but this one was a little bit different instead of having the numbered hours of the day it had minutes ranging from one minute to one hundred and eighty minutes. She twisted the knob to thirty-nine minutes, because it just felt right, and set it on the table next to her cauldron and prepared for the next steps.