Talon Academy

Chapter Four

I glanced around the head teacher's office. A huge bookshelf lined the wall; floor to ceiling. A large window covered the next wall with a view of the front of the school and in the middle was a messy desk that was far from organised.

Sitting behind the desk Miss Frey began speaking, "Please have a seat. May I call you Elizabeth?"

I moved to sit opposite her. "Of course, Miss Frey."

"Please call me Laura, I find that Miss Fey is just a little bit too formal for me. All this must have been a shock for you Elizabeth. I am here to answer any questions you may have."

"Well...I don't really know what to ask...it's all just..." I still wasn't able to process what she had said on top of that stage.

"It's ok. Nobody prepared you for this when you came to this school."

I couldn't quite agree with her. My dreams were a clear indication that I knew what was real and what wasn't. What I wasn't prepared to do was believe in them.

"How have I never noticed all this before? How can it just come to me? How am I good enough for this?" The questioned spilled out all in one and I willed myself to breathe.

"Before I can answer any of you questions I'm afraid I have one more shock for you, Elizabeth. You are not like the others in the hall because you aren't someone that later developed their power. You were someone who was born with it. Your parents-"

My breath hitched as my mind attempted to process this new piece of information. My mind struggle to see how that was possible. This means that maybe my parents knew. I never liked to talk about my parents. It hurt to remember them because all I could think of was the night I lost them.

In a silk soft voice Laura continued, "Your parents were dragonriders. They were great riders; both of them. I was also very close to them."

"My parents were...so why was I left at foster care?"

"It was because after that accident you were lost. The social workers had taken you before we could and despite are many tries to get you back we never could. Also you didn't show any signs of...strange abilities for a very long time so many of us were worried about...well whether you had taken any powers from your parents. Even though you didn't seem to be showing us any signs we continued to watch you carefully from a distance. And it was on your 16th birthday that you answered our questions."

"How did you know then that I possessed magical power?"

"We all have the ability to detect people who possess the power, it was the main reason why we didn't get to you in time that night. We had been there but we couldn't find any child with that pull of power that belonged to you. When you had been spotted, thanks to your ever so similar looks to your parents, the authorities had already taken you." She smiled as she continued, "On your 16th birthday you suddenly became a bright beacon. Brighter than even before your powers disappeared. Shining so hard that it was hard to for us to miss you in between the adranes."

"Adaranes?"

"Adranes are humans with a dormant soul."

"Adaranes," My tongue played around with the word; trying to say it in the same way she did. It still didn't sound right.

Laura smiled, "Ad-ran-es."

I repeated after her, "Ad-ran-es. Adranes," a smile spilt onto my lips as I finally said it correctly.

"Yes. They took you away before we could get you and without any proof or sign that you were one of us we couldn't claim you. So we did what we could and kept an eye on you. And when you turned sixteen we had enough proof to finally bring you here to Talon Academy."