Of dragons breathing without the frame of fables
ISOLDE'S POV
"Stop vibrating, will you? I feel sick just by looking at you," Dhara warned me again even though she was fidgeting herself; constantly checking her clothes and hair.
"But I can't, I'm too excited! it's our first day of academy!!" I explained myself for the third time today.
Yes! today is the first day of the academy. My first time in any kind of educational place actually.
Oh, Mama! You would be so happy to see me here.
The last two days went in a whirlwind with me running around preparing for the first day. Collecting new books, getting the funds from the nearby bank, buying new clothes, and whatnot.
Apparently someone was funding my education. They won't tell me that person's identity for some reason.
So here I was, after all the preparation, standing in front of the Base Magic classroom in my newly bought white ankle-length dress and yellow jumper.
I never had such beautiful clothes. So in my excitement, I even sewed a butterfly on one of the sleeves.
Everybody in our room woke up early today. Well, in my case, couldn't sleep a wink because of the excitement. I jumped out of bed as soon as the morning call came and dashed to the bathroom. Dhara woke up next, then Miss Abdallah from her beauty sleep.
Then everything was like a race against time. Dhara and I were frantically running around whilst our third roommate started taking out some bottles from her closet and sat in front of the mirror.
She then proceeded to put everything on her face. After we finished dressing up, she was still doing her eyes with a black liner.
Gods, how many things does she use on her face? In the village, even the brides only wore rouge and lipstick.
I was rooted on my spot; dazedly watching her highlight facial features beautifully. She made her eyelids so pretty with something sparkly.
Maybe If I ask politely, she'll teach me how to do that.
Later maybe. I am still not brave enough to voluntarily talk to her.
We left for the mass hall, leaving Miss Abdallah alone in front of her mirror.
After finishing breakfast, the two of us almost ran to our classroom when we saw some other students crowding in front of the locked door. We stood alongside others which brings us to our current predicament with me vibrating with excitement and embarrassing Dhara.
People around us were chattering constantly, introducing themselves in hopes of finding new friends. One blond boy came up to us as well and started to introduce himself,
"Um, hello. What's your name? Mine's Arthur Alcott," he finished with a cute dimpled smile. Next to me, I saw Dhara twirling her hair nervously.
Was she nervous? And was it because of the first day of the academy or Mr. cute dimples over here?
I have spied on enough village couples to know that it was the later.
Seeing as how Dhara was more willing to shyly look at her feet rather than introduce herself, I took matters into my hands.
"Hello, I'm Isolde, you may call me Izzy. My friend over here is Dhara. Nice to meet you"
"Nice to meet you too. So how are you lovely ladies finding the academy?" he enquired again.
"Not bad, actually we are quite settled. How about you?" I asked.
"Hmm, it would be better if I didn't have my current roommates," he added after a brief pause.
"Why? Are they not friendly? Rude maybe?"
"They aren't actually outright rude to say but kind of aloof. Keep to themselves. Both of them are childhood friends, so I'm left out," he said with a sheepish smile; running his hands through his ginger mane.
"Well, that's not good. You can spend time with us, right Dhara?," with that I nudged Dhara who was still busy observing her shoes.
"Oh yes, sure. You should definitely come with me, I mean us, yes, us, that's what I meant. Yeah....", she drawled out lamely and looked at me to salvage the situation.
"What she means is, of course, you may stay with us!" I gave him an assuring smile, just in case.
"Thank you so much! You don't even know how bored I was!" he exclaimed and let out a dramatic relieved sigh.
"So do want to-", my words were cut short by the sound of the door opening . We looked towards it and saw Inayat standing there with a huge grin.
"So kiddos, welcome to Base Magical Education class, I am your instructor, Inayat Baig. Now try not be awestruck by my beauty and come on in," and with that, we all rushed in.
"Magic is everywhere. In nature, in animals, and in humans," Inayat voice boomed in the classroom.
He looked rather different without his robes today.
I am guessing that was due to fact that he was wearing an extremely thin almost see-through white shirt with a black vest on top of it which was single-handedly preventing the big scandal that was his outfit for today.
There is something deeply wrong with this man.
"I can see your surprised faces. Yes! we all are born with magic. I mean, how else would you explain this?" he gestured towards himself.
There was a murmur of laughter that rippled trough the class and I visibly felt everyone relaxing.
"We are just blind to it until a God, Goddess, deity, or a spirit decides to open our eyes to an aspect of magic. This process is called a blessing. It happened to all of you here, didn't it?", his question rose a murmur of agreement.
Seeing the affirmative nods, he began again, "Do you guys remember the exact moment? When you felt like you understood everything about a certain aspect? like nature or darkness or earth?" his question echoed in the large classroom and we all nodded.
"See, in that exact moment, your blindfolds were lifted and you saw the magic around you. At that moment, you were reborn as a being of vision, as a Mage," with that he went quiet and looked at us before beginning again.
"There are creatures who can see magic from birth, they are said to be born with blessings. Their very essence is magic. Can anyone give an example of any such creature?"
Arthur's hand went up before Inayat could even finish the question.
"Yes, Mister-?" Inayat pointed at him.
"Arthur, sire."
"Pendragon? Back already?"
Another wave of laughter washed over the classroom.
"Unfortunately not, sire. Just plain old Alcott, I'm afraid."
"Had me shocked there, Mister Alcott. So, your answer please."
"Dragons, sir," Arthur answered confidently.
"Excellent! Dragons. Now, what do we know about dragons?" He threw the question out for the class.
He answered it himself when no one seemed to be brave enough to say anything, "They are extremely prideful creatures who are oftentimes said to be the mount of Gods. For example: Solebian, Fire dragon of Sol. Dragons are born with such powerful innate magic, it's almost close to impossible to fight them. Very few mages can hold their own against a Dragon. Their hearts are said to grant Immortality. No one knows if it's true or not," he was interrupted by a white-haired boy.
"But Sir, doesn't the grandmaster ride a dragon?" he asked and we all looked at Inayat again with curiosity.
Everyone wanted to affirm stories of their childhood hero.
"That is, indeed, true. The grandmaster is friends with a dragon. Not just any dragon, however, Solebian himself," Inayat said with one of his usual smirks.
The Grandmaster rode the Dragon of the Sun God? How is that even possible?
"Some people say he was only able to do so because he was part Dragonborn. But it's simply not true." He paused for a moment after saying that as if to remember something.
"Dragonborn are simple worshippers to Dragons, who cower under their might. Dragons do not respect the Dragonborn. A Dragon's respect has to be earned. And the Grandmaster did just that. He fought Solebian valiantly which earned him the great creature's respect," Inayat explained in a proud voice.
"Sir, the Dragonborn?" one girl at the back asked, timidly
"Just like magical creatures, there are magical races who are much similar to humans in terms of appearance and anatomy. The Dragonborn is one of these races. They dwell deep within the lava caves of Kan-Laon and worship Dragons, specially Solebian. Their sense of smell is said to be so strong they can even smell sickness or upcoming death of a person. Currently, they help the Noble family of Ryuuzaki with magical seal making,"
"Are there any other races?" the girl asked again, this time not so timidly.
"Well, there are loads of other races like the Elves of Maraud and Lorath, Djinn of Al-Kahallah, the Lwa, the Orek, the greed demons, the Nagas and so many more. Some of them had made contracts with the noble ancestors and they work with their families till this da-", his voice was cut short by the sound of people entering the classroom.
I saw Miss Abdallah and the red head thief at the front. Behind them were four boys and two girls. By the looks of the crests on the sleeves of their clothes, they must be nobles. They all sported a look of guilt and looked at Inayat.
"Our apologies, Inayat. A third-year tried to attack us without provocation. It took us some time to solve the issue", the red-head answered Inayat's questioning gaze.
"A third-year tried to beat you guys up for no reason? Really, Akira? Using tricks on the master, are we? Now tell me the real reason. Naeem tried to charm his lover, didn't he?" the instructor asked with a raised eyebrow.
By the looks of their sheepish looks and a dark brown-skinned boy's smirk whom I'm assuming is the culprit in question, I'll say Inayat was pretty spot on.
"Just come inside and take a seat, I'm not in the mood to deal with you, rugrats. You all get detention after your lessons," Inayat made a hand gesture towards the seat and they all shuffled in.
"Oh Sol, those two are my roommates!" Arthur said all of a sudden.
"Which two?" Dhara asked, finally finding her voice back.
"The red-head and the Blonde one with a wreath on his head. Looks like all nobles have a hobby of breaking rules. Must be nice having parents in places of power," Arthur remarked, watching the noble kids taking seats.
Wait, Red Head Robber was a noble?
Eboni's warning rang inside my mind again.
"True, one even broke into our room. It was your roommate actually," Dhara said.
"Heavens! It was your room! The dorm head made quite a fuss about it. I think even his parents were involved. He sulked for two whole days," Arthur said with a light chuckle.
Our conversation was soon interrupted by Inayat calling me,
"Miss Morozova, please move a bit. Akira over here needs a seat."
What? I looked ahead to see the redhead standing in front of me with a smug smile and a hint of mischief in those sea-green eyes.
Why was Sol so desperate to prove that he hates me?
GLOSSARY
*Arthur Pendragon: Legendary British King. Said to come back to life when his people need him the most. A prominent figure in Welsh and English folklore.
*Dragon: Large serpentine creatures that appear in mythologies and fairytales from all over the world.
*Lwa: Haitian Vodou spirits.
*Djinn: Supernatural creatures of early Pre-Islamic mythology and later adopted into Islamic theology. Said to grant wishes, sometimes at a cost.
*Naga: literally means serpent in ancient Sanskrit language of India. Shape shifting serpents.
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Hope you like this chapter. And what do you guys think of the noble kids?