Dark Skies: Book 3 of the Imagination Academy Series

Chapter 1: The Wizard Stronghold

We fly through the air, doing loops and spins, playing tag. Julia, my mother, watches, a faint smile on her face. You would never guess she was a sea serpent, or even magical, if not for her conjured wings.

I see something in the distance, and stop tag for a moment. The others follow my gaze. The ocean. We are headed directly towards it, based on my mother's directions.

"Are you sure we're headed the right way?" I ask.

{Thank you for voicing my question before I had even said it.} Ripple, my blue cat familiar says, who is curled up in my pocket. I've only known her for a few days, but I've already figured out that she's a bit sassy, but also sarcastic.

{They go paw in paw, don't they?} Ripple says dryly.

"The Wizard Stronghold is on an island, making it safer. Yes, it does seem a little far, but it's only a few miles. The wizards have it in a hidden hollow in a dangerously sharp rocky outcropping, so no boats come near. Nobody has found it by accident in about..." she thinks. "two thousand years?"

"Okay, then." I say, stunned at the measures the wizards have taken to protect their island. "When will we be there?"

"See those rocks over there?" she says, pointing. A small island of sharp rocks is about a mile off shore. We have reached the ocean now. "That's it."

We reach the stronghold in a matter of minutes. Flying over it, I see a deep crater or depression in the rock, as Julia said. It is covered in green trees and grass, a small lake at the center. A large forest off to the side, made up of huge trees, so large around that five Headmaster Wrens with their wings spread out could barely cover it. These seem to house the wizards. As we land, someone rushes from the forest.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"We are a party of apprentices." Julia says. "I am Julia the serpent, this is Aurora Taylor, my daughter, and her friends. They are all 'originals.'."

"Oh, oh, come with me!" he says, half tripping over his own robes. As we follow him, I get a closer look at the wizard. In dark blue robes, he sticks out among all of the green. His head is covered with shoulder-length, blonde hair. He has no facial hair at all, and one of his eyes is a startling blue, the other a bright hazel. Definitely not your stereotypical wizard, he looks to be around sixteen. A green and orange snake is wrapped around his shoulders.

He leads us into the forest. Taking us to the center, he takes us to a tree even larger than the others, as big as a house. Drawing back a door made of one huge leaf, we step inside.

It's one huge room. It's lit by floating globes of light, drifting around the room. Looking at one closer, it seems to be a little creature, levitating above the ground. I accidentally bump into it, and it opens its eyes and squawks.There are about twenty chairs, all carved out of the tree itself. Around ten desks with chairs behind them were made in the same way. Behind each desk is a wizard. Five women, five men. This is a council.

"Who are these people?" one asks.

"The children are apprentices for this city. The other," he says, gesturing towards Julia, "is Julia the serpent."

"Come, come, apprentices." the first speaker says, beckoning to us. "I see you already have familiars. You do not have a magic item, though. I will answer questions later."

"Wait!" I say. "I have to say goodbye to my mother." I run up to Julia, and hug her, our awkward embrace becoming more tender. "I'll miss you." I say softly.

"Don't worry. Wren, Aritch and I will visit you guys every month, we agreed to it."

"I'll still miss you."

"I know."

Running back to the others, I go further into the depths of the tree.