Safehaven

Chapter 22

Whispers seem to follow us even more now, as my friends and I walked down the halls. Apparently, word had gotten around that this was the group that had taken Mark down. Though most of all, it was that group that had the "dragon girl". Heads turned as we passed people in the hallways and mutters followed in our wakes. We were getting all of the attention. In other words, I hated it. You see, I have never been one of those people who always want the spotlight. I like to stay in the shadows and blend in. It was part of my nature. Now, however, I was continuously goggled at like I was in a zoo exhibit! After our little "wow!" moment on the hill, the 6 of us and animals had come back inside to spend that last day of our weekend doing something fun. Come tomorrow, we were expected to start regular classes and attend school. Badon had carefully explained to us that classes were divided according to a certain order that Badon himself organized. The system ensured that there was a little bit of everything, like jocks and geeks, in one group. That way, everyone was equally balanced. There would be no severe ganging up on. I had been a little excited. I had the slightest chance that I might not be in the same class as Mark! I was no longer the loner that saw things that weren't there. Sadly though, Badon and Nathen had come up with our little groups for us. And, unfortunately, we, my friends and I, we're all in different classes. Well, Antigone and Jada were lucky enough to be grouped together. But the rest of us were out of luck. Seeing as there were 5 separate classes, it was just fate that we were all apart. So, I had no one to stand behind me if I got in trouble. Fantastic... At the moment, though, different things occupied my mind. I could worry about that stuff when it came around. My 5 friends and I were strewn about the common room doing different things. I sat with Gwindol, playing chess. His scaly paws made it difficult for him to move the pieces, but he managed. So far, he had beaten me in 3 out of 5. On the other side of the room, Jada desperately tried to connect with her fwen, Finn. I could tell that she felt left out, being the only one with out a gift at all. The poor girl was having a heated conversation with Finn. Sage and Holly were off in some corner chatting up a storm with each other while their creatures dozed by the fire. Last of all, Quinton and Antigone played cards together with their animals. It was quite a funny sight. The griffin and lion had trouble keeping their cards, so Sage had come up with a brilliant solution. The cards were suspended in the air with Quinton's force fields. Each time the animal needed a new card, they pawed it and Quinton let it fall. A new card would rise. From the look on his face, everybody knew that the boy felt proud that he could do that. Anyway, back to me and Gwindol. It seemed that wherever I moved my little army, the dragon found a way to counteract my moves and eliminate many of my players. His peaceful, patient manner overpowered my quick, reckless pattern. The score showed it. As I moved my king out of harm's way, I reached my hand back and felt the individual scales on my wings. It felt like a fairytale I used to read when I was little. A little girl had gotten wings so she could fly away into the clouds and live happily ever after. It sure didn't feel that way. Instead of a happy ending, I had gotten a deranged man that wanted to kill me. Who wants to trade? But let's put that aside. When I had gotten back in from exploring the hills, I had gone straight up to my roomand gazed at myself in the mirror. My wings were about as big as I was tall. They had a silvery sheen and rippled with muscles. I could tell that Gwindol was proud. My wings looked just like his. I had test flapped them a little before getting bored. I couldn't fly yet, the dragon assured me of that. It would take time and practice before I could even glide. In the meanwhile, I had settled to sharpen my mind. And so far, that was a complete waste. Checkmate. Gwindol sang, as he cornered my king with several other pieces. I sighed and pushed the board away, sending kings and queens toppling over each other. "I'm bored. What else can we do besides play chess?" We both sat there, thinking hard. We had just about exhausted all the activities in the room so far. I was sick of cards, had read more than half the books, and had destroyed the game closet. None of us wanted to go out into castle because we would be stared at. We would get enough of that tomorrow. So we all had opted to stay in the room till in was time to go to bed. We had already eaten lunch and nobody was hungry enough for dinner. Right now, it was about 5:30. Curfew was at 8. We still had a good 2 and ½ hours. I was just about to suggest that Gwindol and I join the game of cards when Jada and Finn came over. The girl was smiling like a lunatic. "I got it." She giggled. "I can heal things." Jada laughed again. "Finn told me so. It took a little pesting to get it out of him." The girl shot the fwen a dirty look. "But I got it out of him. Also, I'm immune to others gifts. So your fire won't burn me." Jada held her hand over mine and egged me on. A flame sputtered over my fingers and raced up my friend's palm. After a good 15 seconds, she pulled away. There was not a burn on her skin. "Cool, right?" I had to smile. Jada had her gift. Her bonding with Finn had grown stronger. "I don't want to have to heal somebody right now, but Finn says that it was a power that the elders, who we are descended from, valued it highly. I can't wait!" The girl chuckled and bounded around like she was trying to achieve lift off. She was like a little kid on Christmas morning. Gwindol rose to his feet and strode over to the fwen. Their eyes connected, and I knew they had shared a thought. I was too tired to care about it. Even though it was now 6, I felt so tired I thought I was going to fall face down on the carpet, no joke. Jada saw it in my eyes and yawned. "You're right." She said, without me saying anything. "It's about time we got to bed. It's going to be a big day tomorrow and nobody, well I know I haven't, has gotten a good night's sleep in the past few days." Antigone and Quinton glanced up from their game of cards. Sage and Holly, too, glanced around Simultaneously, they all yawned together. Their animals also looked beat. The 6 of us plus our soul mates slowly cleaned up our mess and began to head up the stairs to our rooms. I related the password to my doorknocker and the door swung open. I shambled through and my dragon followed in the same manner. The door shut behind us and I slowly got ready for bed. It was a bit difficult to get my wings tucked securely into my night gown, but I somehow managed. I promised myself that tomorrow I would cut holes in all my robes for my wings. The robes I had worn today were only temporary. With that, I crawled into bed. Gwindol leaped up with me and turned a few times, not unlike a dog, on the bed before settling to the right of me. I didn't care right now. I was too sleepy. I snapped my fingers, and the fire inside of the oil lamp that hung from the ceiling extinguished. Shadows danced on the walls from the sun that had almost completely vanished behind the tree line in the distance. Ever so slowly, my mind went into hibernation. Gwindol was already humming in his sleep and was curled into a quaint little ball. I smiled sluggishly, eyes almost closed. Tomorrow didn't matter. Who cared if people stared tomorrow? If they wanted something to look at, I'd give them something! I was who I was truly meant to be. That was the only thing I cared about. I had a roof over my head, food at the table, and friends to share with. What else could I want? Life was good.