The Drowning City

Chapter One

    "Forever and ever, through time and through the end of reality, will she forever be trapped in Jasz. The stone will be kept safe, under King Gallicco's command, in the Sanctuary of Dinia."
    My teacher closed her book, setting it down on her desk. She smiled at us all, her plump cheeks making her eyes narrow. "So tomorrow, we are visiting the Sanctuary of Dinia. I'm sure you've heard about it from other students." Under her breath, she added, "even when we told them not to tell anyone."
    My class didn't cheer. Instead, they beamed at my teacher. We weren't happy to go to the Sanctuary. It wasn't exciting or anything, but it's better than sitting in a building for hours on end.
S.C.H.O.O.L.
Seven
Crappy
Hours
Of
Our
Lives
Sums it up. If you don't go to school, great. You don't have to deal with horrid teachers who can't get over themselves, or don't see their mistakes, or clearly think you're a disappointment and lie to everyone else who can get them in trouble. You'd think that, even in the Jungle, everything would fine and dandy, but no. Nothing ever is. There's con artists and people who have egos as tall as the Grand Tree. Just... here, it's dealt with better: with magic and things to keep everyone safe and keep the peace in the Jungle.
Then the bell sounded, ringing through my ears. It was like music: happy, upbeat music. School had ended for the day.
    I glanced to my left, and a student sighed. She was always excited to learn, no matter what class, what teacher, what assignment she had to do. I liked her. She was a good person. Not that she was very fun, so I was never able to be friends with her, but I still liked her.
    I grabbed my bag leaning against my desk and swung it to my shoulder. It was small and light, enchanted with a spell that made everything inside shrink to fit. Most creature's bags were like that, some weren't, but the biggest luggage-holding industry always made their items like that.
    "Are you going to the Grand Tree?" The good student, Tric, asked me. She had a soft voice that matched her round face, big eyes, skinny build and short height. She also had large claws that replaced her finger nails and feathers that stretched from her head to her tailbone. It also matched her personality: the learning nerd.
    "Why would I be going to the Grand Tree?" I asked, raising an eyeridge at Tric. I stood two feet from her, towering over her. I wrapped my tail around my leg to keep it from tripping anyone.
    "There's a celebration there tonight. It's the Kings birthday today, and he announced that he'd be holding a ceremony yesterday at the Grand Tree. He never specified what we'd be doing, but my dad's making me go. I was hoping if you'd come along."
    "Oh yeah... King Hamnk," I mumbled. He's the new king. His father, Ex-King Eerll, had passed only a year ago. Hamnk took over at the age of 14, and now he's 15. He doesn't seem like the type to celebrate birthdays, but maybe he's trying to change for the Jungle. "My moms never told me about that. I wonder if they're going." I thought for a quick second. "I'll come, I will. Just allow me to tell my moms?"
    "I can come with you," Tric said with a large smile. Her feathers fluffed a little with happiness and I smiled back.
    "Alright, it's not too far, just about five minutes away," I told Tric. I weaved around the desks to the door and waved goodbye to my teacher. Tric followed silently behind me, down the hall that lead out into the courtyard. The courtyard was surrounded by tall hedges that weren't easy to climb. Guards (what we call them, they're really just yard duties) stood on either side of the only entrance in the yard. To leave the campus, you have to show the Guards your ID. As we walked by, we held up in a glass plate with a white engraving on it:
Krystyna Hamboll
Age: 14 / Gender: Female
Grade: 9 / Pack: Hurrie
The Guards let us through, down a path with beautiful trees lining the side. The trees' branches hung down and touched the ground, covered with beautiful pastel-pink flowers. The gravel path was dotted with petals. It felt way too fancy for what actually occurred inside the campus.
"It's amazing to think that our current King is so young," Tric suddenly commented, her eyes tracing a pattern in the trees. "I can't imagine taking on that kind of responsibility at this age. Can you imagine what would would happen to your head?"
I shook my head, curling my tail around my leg so it wouldn't drag on the small rocks. "No. I can't. Though I do know I wouldn't like being Queen now." I wasn't really thinking about what she was saying, or giving her more than half of my brain use. I store at the ground, really not wanting to be at the Grand Tree.
***
We approached the large tree, it's trunk reaching for the clouds, surpassing the heights of what we could possibly climb to. About 50 feet away from the tree, in a clear patch, stood a stage. Upon that stage was a King. I tried to get as close to the stage as I possibly could, as I didn't want to be near the Grand Tree. I never liked it. Not because it was tall, or I was afraid a branch would fall on me, but because... well, here...
I was pushed backwards by a group of people who advanced into my personal space. My eyebrows drew close but I didn't argue. I tried to go around them, dragging Tric with me. We were getting pushed closer and closer to the tree, and my heart was beating faster and faster. As we approached, I heard them.
The screams, their pleads and begging, the scratching along the inside of the tree. I winced as we drew closer and Tric had unfortunately realized.
"Are you okay?" She asked, tilting her feathery head.
I forced my eyes opened and nodded, smiling at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." I wasn't okay. My head began to throb at the noise, as it grew louder, as we were being pushed towards the tree.
I never realized how loud they actually were. They called my name, asked me to help them, begged, actually. I never noticed how loud they pleaded. I've never been this close to the tree.
It sounds weird, but I avoid events near the tree. I've come to a few with people who ask if I can accompany them, but otherwise, I tend to not go. The few times I've gone, we stayed off to the side, or near the stage. Never was the place so crowded, never were we pushed back so much.
Their screams filled my ears, and I had to throw my hands to my ears.
"Krystyna?" I could barely make out her voice beyond the screams.
"Sorry," I said through clenched teeth. "I've got a headache." That wasn't a lie. My head hurt so much.
I tried to look at her, to reassure her, but my eyes caught a glance at the Grand Tree. An outline of a door, with a golden nob, revealed Hell. Demons scraped at the invisible door, their ear-scratching screeches making my head hurt. Their mouths were bloody, nails torn, hands bleeding. Some had been fighting others to get to the door, wounds dripping crimson. It was much worse than what could be described.
Tric looked at the tree. "What are you looking at? Are you sure it's just a headache? Do I need to take you to a healer?"
"NO!" I blurted, shaking my head, and beginning to walk away. A screech caught me off guard and I stumbled on a rock. I fell to my knees, unable to take my hands off of my ears.
"Krystyna, here, let's get you out of the way," Tric said hurriedly, trying to drag me to the tree. I know her intentions were good: she just wanted to get me out of the way.
I protested, throwing out my hands. I wasn't able to get any words out of my mouth, but I kicked and lashed my tail. I felt really bad, Tric was clearly concerned for my health. I've never done this before, and we know each other quite well for just school-mates.
As we made the space between me and the doorway to Hell shorter, my head began to fog up. Soon I was only focused on making the noise go away by covering my ears (not like that helped me any) and closing my eyes. Eventually, I wasn't aware of anything around me. I didn't know that a few creatures had come to my aid when they saw something was wrong. I didn't realize that Tric had begun to cry. Finally, I didn't realize that I had passed out.