The New Breed

Inanis(1)

This is what I imagine Inanis' dragon looks like.

Rrrrring!

I took my place at the back of the classroom, waiting for the lecture to begin.

"Hey.  Psst. Inanis.  Back here."

I ignored the ninth grader trying to get my attention.  Probably just wanted a stick of gum or something.  Well, it could wait.

I opened the purple binded notebook and took out a pencil, lightly doodling a flower.  Mr Featherton coming in made me pause.

"Alright, class.  As you know, this class is called Training and Teaching, a class where we will discover our powers and learn to use them.  For those of you who do not know what your powers are, we have a series of tests useful in these unique situations."  I raised my hand.  "Yes, Inani?"

"It's Inanis, actually, and what if these tests don't give any results?"

"Don't worry, Inanis, I have been informed of your...unfortunate...situation, and we will make accommodations to remedy that."  I had the urge to roll my eyes.  That was putting it lightly.

"Now.  If I could draw your attention to the board behind me, you shall see the four groups of modern-day powers, five if you include the extinct one as well, but that is not important to this class."

I rolled my eyes and went back to doodling.  The most common chart had been drilled into me since a baby, and I could recite as follows;

50%:Flames, Water, Wind, Rocks, Speed, Sound

30%:Heat, Cold, Plants, Strength, Light

18%:Poison, Healing, Dark, Lightning

2%:Frost/Ice, Shadow-Travel

No records since 1642:Void/Chaos

I heard oohs and ahhs, as well as the occasional 'my sister has...' surround me.  Personally, I didn't care who had the most rare power in my life.

You see, my 'situation' as Mr Featherton so kindly pointed out was that I was an orphan.  Yep, an orphan with no idea who my parents were and didn't know of any siblings.  To top it off, I didn't know what my power was.

You see, before a child accesses their element, they have one display which puts you into a certain category.  For example; a two year-old could suddenly burst into fire at the dinner table, then go back to normal as if nothing happened.  In these situations, the child would have no recollection of the event, and the parent would inform the school of his or her element.  If nothing happened before high school, the teachers did a series of tests and found their powers.

Well, I did my display before I was born.  I was in the womb.

There were no witnesses, for my mother died unexpectedly from it, and my father was at work.  If I had any siblings, they were probably at school at that time.

Now I was parentless, powerless, and friendless.  All because of some stupid event that couldn't wait two weeks longer.

I shaded the lower half of the flower, sketching the stem in the process.  I was so engrossed in drawing a bumble bee I was startled when Mr Featherton called my name.

"Sorry sir, what was that?"

"I asked if you would like to try the test for flames we are about to perform."

Seeing not much of an option, I shrugged.  "Sure."

Mr Featherton led the undetermined kids through an adjoining door.  He told us to shift into our dragons, then went back to the classroom.

I scanned the kids around me.  Some were having difficulty, but most had already shifted or were in the process of doing so.  A large amount were orange and red, the typical default color of the dragons.

I closed my eyes and focused on my dragon form; the diamond claws, velvet wings, scaled haunches, double-bladed tail.  I felt my bones crack and shift, and soon enough a midnight black dragon stood in my place.

Now, I've seen myself in the mirror before, and when I say black, I mean pitch-black.  Not the sort of silhouetted shade, or the shiny kind.  My scales did not reflect off light like those around me.  The only color I had were my blood-red eyes, golden underbelly, and grey striped horns.

I heard those in the classroom and those around me give a collective gasp.  I looked like a demon with my overhanging fangs and horns adorning my head.  I felt my thick tail curl around my hind legs, retracting the blades so as not to scratch myself.

We hear a voice over the loudspeaker.  "I have taken note of your dragon's color, shape, and size, and have decided on a few of you.  Your results will be posted outside my office tomorrow morning.  For  now, change back, your final bell has just rung."

I shifted back into my human form, instantly feeling tiny and vulnerable, which I knew was pretty foolish, but I did anyway.  I exited the classroom, snagging my backpack on the way out.  Scampering down the school steps, I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to Sana, the one person in my life I could almost entirely count on.  I suppose I could consider her a friend, but I didn't know if her almost-kindness was in her nature as a healer dragon or not.

"Hey, Sana, what's up?"

"The sky."  I rolled my eyes.  "Kidding."  Her voice took on a much more serious tone.  "I've heard rumors that Ignis and his lackeys are waiting for you again."

I stopped mid-stride and pulled her to the shadow of a building neighboring the girls' dormitory.  "Where?"  As much as I disliked hiding, I didn't want to get into another fight with a very successful weredragon; one beating a day was enough.

"I don't know, but your accompanying teachers into the dormitory won't work anymore.  They're all in a conference."

I swore under my breath some foul language that would have kicked me out of Alcatraz after committing mass murder.  "Where is this conference?  Is it near my room?"

Sana shook her head mournfully.  "It's in the boys' dorm this time-more specifically, the Sound section."

I bit my tongue to keep from cursing again.  The Sound section was filled with dragons just learning their sound powers, consequently making it extremely noisy.  Those boys were also known for prolonging the teachers' stay till way past midnight.

I was just about to ask something, when I heard a shout and turned my head to see the twins Ignis and Calor approaching with a large group of scruffy boys, their signature smirk fixed on their faces.

"Well, well, well.  Look who we have here, Calor.  The mistake of an orphan hanging around her healing buddy again.  Couldn't have picked someone with poison, maybe?  Too bad we can't touch a healer.  I'll give you five seconds to scram, dweeb."

Sana sent me an apologetic look, one I returned with despair.  Healers could only heal themselves, they couldn't actually do anything.  She shifted into her petite, yellow dragon and took off into the sky.  The boys turned their attention back on me.  I ignored the instincts of reaching for the unknown power inside me and just stood there.

Then, the punches began.

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