Dragon Academy

Chapter 1

I looked up at the huge clock tower, and swallowed in nervousness. It was giant, looking over like a disappointed parent scolding a child. This was what I had to look at every day?
My name's Meril Saitasa, and today is the first day of my year at Draconus Academus.
I'm still surprised I could get in, but I guess it doesn't hurt when your father is one of the teachers. All that "uphold the family legacy" crap. I just don't wanna break it to my old man that teaching isn't my style.
I shook aside the thoughts of my dad and adjusted my bag, then strolled through the massive wrought iron doors. Inside was the even more massive campus courtyard. A statue of the school mascot, Gaskelle the Dragon, stood in the middle of the campus, dominating everything else as a huge gold monolith. Around it was a basin filled with amazingly crystal clear water, which was said to be able to cure any disease, for the price of a coin flip. The stone courtyard was filed to look like dragon scales, each stone overlapping over the next in swirling patterns. Sadly they weren't coloured to look like real dragon scales, and they were in dull grays and browns. Students wandered around campus, freshmen like me mixed in with the seniors and teachers who were doing work, exercises, or just lazing around. They all wore the school uniform, a tunic and trousers of varying colours - red for the freshmen, blue for the older students, and purple for the teachers. They weren't all the same, they all had little bits and bobs to stand out or to acknowledge some kind of accomplishment. As a freshman the only thing I had on my red tunic was a sheath at the back for when I made my first Dracolance. That and my Slippers of Spider Climbing in my backpack, but I didn't count those.
I strolled through to the front door, and with a heave, pushed open the heavy wrought-iron doors.
Inside was the biggest entry hall I had ever seen. I don't even think I could describe it if I had all the time in the world. All I could probably describe properly was red-gold floors, a statue of the school mascot - whose name I did not know - and a high ceiling with a crystal chandelier hanging from it.
Yup, this is a high-prestige school, I thought. How could people even afford this place?
I was standing in awe of the surroundings, so I didn't notice the human-sized rocket flying towards me until-
WHAM!
"Ow...hey! Geroff me!" I grumbled. Something was on my face, and it smelled like leather, sweat, and grass.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" cried a female voice from on top of me. "I didn't see you there, Mr....?"
I fidgeted more, trying to get her butt off my back. "It's..ow....Saitasa. Liam Saitasa." The weight shifted again and she fell over, suddenly revealing a face, inches from mine. It was bespectacled, with cute, mousey features and an unruly heap of curly hair. The face smiled, a cheerful, welcoming grin.
"Well, my name's Sydny. Sydny Otakan. Nice to meetcha, Meril."
She rolled off and sprang to her feet, brushing dust off her uniform. It was red like mine, but in the form of a tunic and short skirt. Wonder if she gets cold like that, I thought. "So," I started off slowly, "what classes are you taking?" A nice simple icebreaker.
Sydny grinned. "Right now I have Draconic Defences and Safety. You?"
I did a mental double-take. "I'm taking that class too. My dad's actually one of the teachers here."
"Oh really? What's he teach?"
"Dracolance Proficiency. Professor Saitasa."
Her eyes widened. "No way! You're dad is THE Saitasa? The one who took on three dragons and won with a broken Dracolance?"
I shifted uncomfortably, like I always did when people talked about my father. "Well, it was actually two dragons, but yeah. That's him."
Sydny's mouth formed a perfect O. "Oh. My. Gosh. You're my new best friend. I'm friends with the son of a legend!" She seemed lost in her own little world, twirling and holding herself like a kid with a new toy.
I smiled to myself. If this was the greeting, I could only wonder what the rest of the year would be like.