Dragon Scars

Chapter 5

        Riley again woke to the smell of peppermint. She sat up in bed slowly, and walked over to the vanity. Riley brushed through her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail.

        Yawning, Riley walked over to the closet, picking out yet another outfit, and tossed the clothes she was wearing, underneath her pillow, and changing into the other clothes.

        After she was awake enough, Riley opened the door to her room, only to find Ariana about to knock on her door.

        "Oh, hi! I was just going to wake you, and lead you to the Dining Hall!" Ariana said happy as ever.

        "Thanks," Riley replied still yawning.

        "Let's go!" Ariana said, turning to skip down the hall. After making it about ten feet, she turned and motioned for Riley to follow. Riley jerked forward as if just waking up, and followed Ariana quickly in order to keep up.

        When they arrived, Ariana was just finishing telling Riley about her first few days staying at Dragon Scars. She led Riley to the line of people waiting to get their food. It looked as though it would take forever to make it through the line, so Riley started up another conversation with Ariana to pass the time.

        "I know this is kinda random," she said, "but why does it always smell like peppermint in the morning?"

        "What do you mean? It never smells like peppermint when I wake up," Ariana answered disappointed, "if it did, it would be a big step up from what I smell in the morning. Sweat and dirt. I end up taking a shower every morning."

        Riley was curious about why she smelled peppermint in the morning, but continued a different conversation with Ariana.

        By the time Riley and Ariana finally reached the food, they had talked over many topics and subjects.

        Most of the food was picked over, but there was still plenty of good food left.

        Riley and Ariana sat right next to each other at an empty table in the same room as the line. They talked to each other until a boy walked up and sat across from them.

        "Eric," he said reaching across the table to shake hands with Riley.

        "I'm Riley," she replied.

        "Cool name," he said nodding nervously.

        "Thanks," Riley said.

        "Ariana, are we starting training at ten or eleven today?" Eric asked Ariana.

        "I think we have it in an a hour, so, ten," she replied.

        "Thanks," Eric said as he stood up and left. He had on black jeans, like everyone else in the room, including Riley, and a white T-shirt. His hair was blond like Ariana's, except more of a dirty blond.

        "Eric is in level eleven with us," said Ariana after he was completely out of sight, " He is your age, but he has been here longer, maybe about three years. We level up every year if we pass the level test for the level we are in. He has passed every year, so he started on level nine."

        "I thought I was the only one to ever make it past level eight on the initiate test," Riley said quite confused.

        "No, Jen said most initiates don't make it past level eight, not all," Ariana said making it clear to Riley.

        "Oh," was her only reply.

        A few minutes later Riley and Ariana picked up their trays and dumped the extra food in the trash, then they stacked the trays. Doing this reminded Riley of school, and she wondered if she would ever go to school again.

        Riley shook the thought from her mind. She needed a clear mind for her first day in training. Both girls jogged through the halls, although Ariana had a natural skip to her jog. Soon, the two reached the doors to the level eleven training room. Slowly, they pushed the doors open.