Safehaven

Chapter 39

The mess hall was, well, a mess. More kids than usual crowded the tables, and soul mates chased each other around on the floor. Chili was being flung through the air, and breadsticks had become swords. All in all, it was complete chaos. But, despite it all, my 5 friends were all seated calmly in their own little corner, having a hushed discussion. Gwindol and I dodged a breadstick and strode over, only to be dive bombed by a dude with butterfly wings(Really?  A butterfly as a soul mate?) who wielded a large spoon loaded with steaming chili.  Sage saw us approach, and offered us a seat beside her and Dash. My friends were talking about their day, and what exciting things and what boring things had happened today. By now, it had become a ritual. Over dinner, we would all chat like family. I quickly joined in on today's discussion, which was about how Quinton had nearly killed himself with a cauldron in potions. As we laughed and chattered, the time slowly went by. Kids still were chucking things at each other, and chili was catapulted, but it was all fun. Finally, Nathen took head of the room for nightly announcements. He always gave tips on what was going on tomorrow, and events that were coming up. Food stopped flying, and cheers erupted as Nathen slowly made his way to the front. After a few minutes of trying to calm everybody down, he gave us the normal heads up. We all had finals coming up, and, after that, winter break. Through all the announcements, there was no smile on Nathen's face, which was not normal. Usually, he would laugh and grin with us. But tonight, something was different. As he made his way through the list, he seemed to become more and more anxious. At last, he made it to the last thing on his list. His eyes darted around as he read his notes. "Starting tomorrow, all school and extra- curricular activities will be canceled." There was silence. Nothing was ever cancelled for good. Nobody cheered for a week off from studies, because we all knew that something big was going to happen. And, by the look on Nathen's face, it wasn't just big. It was huge. "All of you are aware that Morian is getting stronger and stronger. And it has come to my attention that we need to do something about this." I didn't like where this was going. "The faculty and I have all agreed on taking action, instead of sitting here like ducks. Now, everybody here knows of the Prophesy. Though no one is positive who it is about." Nathen's eyes found mine, and I shifted in my seat. Nope, this was going from bad to worse. "Next week, all students will be issued a specialized test. Results are not to be shared or talked about. Those who complete the test will be notified so, and will come and talk to me at the end of testing. Those few will be qualified for a quest. Until then, farewell." With that, Nathen spun around and went to join his fellow teachers. We students were left there, staring at the back of our leader. I had so many questions in my head, I though they were on the verge of falling out my ears! Silently, students began to slowly drift out of the mess hall, towards their dorms for the night. The whole way back to our rooms, my friends and I made small talk, all thinking about what had been said. I had no idea what a quest was, but it certainly wasn't good if even Nathen was hesitant to talk about it. And the Prophesy? He knew that I was in it. So why did he bring up the fact that he DIDN'T know? That man made no sense. When my pals and I reached the poster that marked the entrance to our room, the riddle appeared and Jada solved it in seconds. We all shambled in, along with our animals. Wordlessly, we all gathered around the eternal fire, which was our tradition at the end of the day. Around Antigone's head, miniature storm clouds were forming, and Quinton's hands twitched nervously. Holly broke the heavy silence. "So what's going on?" Beside her, Rinal nodded her ead in agreement to the question. Nobody answered for some time. Fat snowflakes were falling outside, sticking to the windows. And strong winds whipped around the castle. At length, Quinton answered. "Whatever this test it, it's pretty serious. I mean, school is cancelled! That can't be good..." Antigone snorted. "Thanks, genius. We sort of figured that out." "What I want to know is why we even need to take the test." Sage shot back. "We already know Shiloh is in it, so what?" I brought my chin to my chest and sank down, self conscious of all the attention I was getting. I didn't sign up for this, so why did it have to be me? "Well, the Prophesy did mention the elders, and we know Holly is one of them." I muttered, trying to shift the focus of the current conversation. Now, it was Holly's turn to hunker down. "Yeah. So that means we sort of already know who the other are." Quinton pointed out. "Just think about it. It's just got to be us. Who else do you see with mythical creatures besides us! We're the only flipping ones! No offense, Felix." Quinton had to add the last part, since Felix, his nemian lion, was glaring at him. Sage shifted her position. "Sure, we know that. But does everybody else? We just can't waltz in a say 'Here we are! We're your future saviors. Bow before us!'" Everybody laughed at the last part. It lightened the mood slightly and shrugged off some of the seriousness. We were teenagers, for crying out loud! We deserved to have at least some fun! Jada sniggered. "No, we can't. So, we'll just wait for the test results. I bet you that all of us will pass. And if not, well..." Everyone went quiet. "Then we'll have to kick you out of the club!" Roars of laughter pealed off the ceiling, and I'm pretty sure some snow tumbled off the roof. The joke wasn't even that funny, but we couldn't stop laughing! It felt so good just to let it all out. By the time we all stopped chuckling, I had tears in my eyes, and Sage's face was completely red. Our spirit animals were the same way. Finn was on the floor, looking like he was having a stroke, and Kai was shaking, so it looked like he was hacking up a hairball. With chuckles still on our lips, my friends and I bayed each other good night and started to head up the stairs towards our private rooms. We playfully shoved one another up the steps, and often rammed into the person in front of us. At last, everybody was safely up the stairs. Gwindol and I staggered to our room, and whispered the password to the knocker, who accepted it and opened the door. Once the door was shut, we prepared for bed tucked ourselves in. For once, the dragon was in his own bed. Though, I suspected that he would just crawl in mine once the lights were out. I slipped on my night gown and crawled into bed. The scales of my wings slid along the smooth sheets, sending shivers up my spine. Once I found a comfortable position, I snapped my fingers, and the fire in the lamp that hung over my head extinguished itself. Out of curiosity, I snapped again. The fire didn't rekindle, but a small flame had started dancing over my finger. It swayed for a little, before I huffed it out, and shadows swallowed the walls. Soon, the snores of a dragon filled the room, and it lulled me to sleep. For once, I went to bed with a clear mind. No questions, no thoughts, no nothing. That would have to wait for tomorrow. Right now, it was time for bed. I shut my eyes, and sleep took hold.