Darla saw no dragons that first night at Dawn Academy.
After she showered quickly in the tiny dorm bathroom and changed into some clean white linen pajamas in her pre-filled wardrobe, she expected them to appear in shadows. After all, she was heading to bed. It was about time for them to make an appearance.
Darla, despite being exhausted to the point of barely even being able to keep her eyes open, couldn’t fall asleep. Her eyes kept scouring every darkened corner of the small bedroom. Nothing. They weren’t here.
Now that she herself was a dragon-or at least, some sort of dragon shape shifter-maybe the phantom dragons no longer needed to bother her. That would be quite a relief. It felt foreign to fall asleep so soon, without the sight of dragons in her peripheral vision. When was the last time this happened? Years and years ago.
It felt good.
That night, Darla had no dreams-just pure, blissful, soothing sleep. The perfect remedy to a chaotic, anything-but-ordinary day.
The sound of high-pitched, overly cheery music blasted into Darla’s ear.
“What is that?” she moaned, groggily stretching.
“Ah, sorry. That’s just the clock’s alarm. I like music better than that god-awful horrendous beeping,” a girl in the bed next to her chirped.
Darla looked up, startled. She began to take in her surroundings-an average-sized room with two beds, peach-colored walls, two desks, a closet with two wardrobes in it, and a bathroom. It looked like Cherry Creeks dorms, but ten times nicer. And the view…it was nothing like Indiana farms.
Peering out of the ornate stained glass windows, Darla could see the palace, gleaming white in the sunlight, drenched with morning dew. She could make out every brightly colored flower and white-frilled tree sprinkled in the palace gardens. A glimmering blue pool glinted in the sunshine nearby.
“I’m Cecily-Cecily Hannigan. You know my father,” the girl said, her voice so cheerful it made Darla cringe.
Cecily was quite pretty, the kind of girl who was wholesome and sweet as a baby lamb. She had light brown skin, dark eyes framed by thick, luscious lashes, and jet black hair that fell in spiral curls to her chin. A tiny dimple pierced her left cheek. Darla always wished she had a dimple.
“Uh, I’m Darla,” Darla replied, not quite sure what to say. She was always antisocial, a loner. Her only friend was Piper-that was, until Piper turned into a grotesque devil beast. Now, she was officially friendless.
“Oh, trust me, I know. You’re the Dragon Mage! Next in line after the Great One-the Almighty Laurel! The golden dragon with the ocean blue eyes! You are…you’re the most powerful dragon in Pharix, Darla,” Cecily gushed, her chocolate brown eyes widening. Her pupils were huge.
Darla felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “I highly doubt that. I just found out that I was a dragon yesterday. I know next to nothing about magic and fighting and all that dragon stuff.”
Cecily grinned. “Don’t worry about that-something tells me that you’re going to be a natural.”
Before Darla could reply, Cecily sprung up off her bed. “Ooh, we need to get dressed! The uniform is in your wardrobe.”
Uniform? That didn’t sound good. Images of white starched blouses and plaid skirts sprinkled through Darla’s mind as she opened the glossy wooden wardrobe doors to reveal several racks of clothing. These clothes were quite abnormal-nothing like the clothing kids wore in Indiana.
Cecily must have seen the confusion on Darla’s face, because she quickly snatched out two pieces and thrust them into her hands.
“Wear these. They’ll look adorable,” Cecily squealed. The excitement in that girl could fill a canyon…
Darla headed into the bathroom to change. The shirt was a peculiar beige button down with heavily padded shoulders and elbows. Black laces crisscrossed across the back like a corset. The next item was a black skirt with strange silver toggles running down the side. This must be what the kids in Pharix dressed like-or at least the dragons.
Darla quickly changed and glanced at herself in the mirror. She looked…weird. This wasn’t her usual attire. After running a comb through her long blonde hair, Darla headed back out.
Cecily was still choosing between two dresses-a charcoal gray dress with black sleeves and an inky floral print on the front, and a floor-length mocha brown with white ruffles.
“Which one?” Cecily asked, her dark eyes narrowed.
Darla wasn’t really sure-none of the dresses were her style. “The gray and black one.”
Cecily beamed. “I thought so too.”
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes tight. Before Darla could ask what she was doing, a ball of soft green fire arose from her curled hands. The fire swirled around her like a cloak. When it disintegrated, she was wearing the dress. It appeared to have fixed her unruly hair, which was now in a neat and tidy bun. Her formerly bare feet were clad in black slippers.
“How’d you do that?” Darla asked, amazed.
“It’s easy-a Level 3 magix.”
“Magix?” Darla questioned.
Cecily giggled. “Just a word for a trick or incantation of sorts that we do with our dragon magic-the fire.”
Darla closed her eyes and began to feel the strong rush of magic within her. She channeled it, imaging shoes on her feet.
“Now just let it bubble out. Don’t try to control it-let the magic do its work,” Cecily soothed.
Darla felt the golden fire arise from her palm. She heard Darla gasp as the fire wrapped around her feet. When she opened her eyes, she was wearing black lace-up combat boots. A silver dragon charm dangled at the tops.
“Love it,” Cecily squeaked. “You have golden fire-the most powerful dragon magic of all!”
“So,” Darla began. “I’m kind of hungry. I haven’t eaten since yesterday breakfast. Anywhere we can go to eat?”
Cecily’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yeah, the dining hall is a little walk down. Here, I’ll take us!”
Before Darla knew what had happened, Cecily had summoned a large ball of green fire. It engulfed them, compressing her tightly. In a flash, they vanished from their room.