The Water

Chapter Two: The New Year Begins!

We stepped through the portal and suddenly found out that Voren wasn't alone. Silver and Seven were there with him. Vicky ran and hugged Seven, embracing her brother. Starla and Silver said hello to one another as I walked up to Headmaster Voren.

"You look a lot better, my friend," Voren said, smiling. "I see that vacation treated you well."

I nodded, smiling. "Yes sir! It was fantastic!"

"Good," Voren said happily. "I knew a break would be good for you before the start of this next year."

I began to look around. Everything was better. It wasn't just my thoughts messing with me. The school was twice the size that it used to be. The battlegrounds were larger as well. Within moments, I could tell there were more students than I could have ever imagined. My eyes grew wide and my jaw hit the floor. Holy shit, I thought. Where did all these kids come from?

The Headmaster looked at me and smiled, "I knew this would probably take you by surprise."

"A little bit, yeah," I replied. "I had no idea so many people were elementals."

"You'd be surprised," Voren said, smiling. "The only reason there weren't this many before is because of Xorale. With him defeated, the students don't have any fear keeping them away from the school."

"So you mean that...?" I began to ask.

Before I could finish, Voren finished my sentence and answered my question at the same time. "Because of what you all did, there is now an opportunity for these people to be who they are really meant to be."

I smiled and Voren continued, "I also changed the way the school runs. Instead of your first class being the battlegrounds, everyone will start the day in a classroom, learning about your elements before anything else. If you're wondering why, it's so we can actually learn and work better as a school. The battlegrounds let some people excel at their elemental power but it also holds others back. The second class will be meditation. That is still equally as important."

"What about the battlegrounds?" Vicky asked, genuinely curious. "I mean they're so big now so we may as well use them."

Voren smiled. "Once a week, we will have a day on the battlegrounds to keep up with that practice."

"So if the classrooms are new, what was the building for before?" I asked.

"It was primarily for the students' rooms," Voren explained. "Hence why the school is double in size now. Anywho, you should all report to your classrooms now."

Before I knew it, we were all in our respective classes. I sat at a nice desk with plenty of other students in the classroom doing the same. Where's the teacher? I thought. Class started two minutes ago.

"Sorry I'm late," a booming voice said, as a huge shadow emerged outside the window.

Suddenly, everyone ran to the window to see what was going on, myself included. I looked out to find a giant red and black dragon. His gold eyes stared at all of us. I could feel the elemental energy from the fire flowing within him. How the hell is he supposed to teach us like this? I thought to myself. We have a classroom for a reason. Not to mention, his voice is gonna sound through the entire school.

Suddenly, he shrunk and flew through the window. He flew over to the teachers desk at the front of the classroom. Every single student in the room, including myself, stood in complete shock, amusement, and confusion. If it was physically possible, our jaws would have been on the floor.

"What?" The dragon said, his voice sounding like a human's. "You kids act like you've never seen a dragon before."

"That's because we haven't," the classmate standing next to me said. "I always thought dragons were creatures of legends. I never thought they were real."

"Kid, you create fires, you can blow stuff up, and you can create life," the dragon replied. "And me existing is the part that dumb founds you?"

"Excuse me sir," a girl said from the back of the class. "What should we call you?"

The dragon smiled. "Well, young lady, my name is Blaine. I am your teacher for this class."

"Blaine?" I asked, the question slipping right out of my mouth.

"Yes!" He responded. "What can I do for you today, Rick?"

"Oh nothing. I was just thinking that a dragon would have a more old school name. And how exactly do you know my name?"

Blaine flew over and hovered in front of me. "Well I do have a more old school name. But I go by Blaine because no human can pronounce my real name. And how couldn't I know your name? You're the one who killed Xorale."

The class began gasping and whispering to one another. People were saying things about how they couldn't believe they were in the same class as me. Some were talking about how they thought I'd be taller. Then there were a couple new students who didn't know what the hell was going on. I sat there, in shock and awe that a dragon knew my name. I knew I won a war, but it still took me by surprise.

"All right class," Blaine said. "Today, we will learn about how fire became available to humans. Many years ago, before the dawn of humanity, there were six mystical creatures who carried the elements and played a part in the development of the world. Once humans came around, we began to be hunted and destroyed. Unfortunately, people fear what they don't understand. As time went on, most of us we forced into hiding. However, as years passed, we were found by a great soul. He promised to never reveal our existence to keep us alive. He vowed to protect us at all costs. And by doing so, my brother granted him the ability of fire."

"Sir?" I asked, raising my hand. "How did the other elements become available to us?"

Blaine smiled. "I figured you would ask that, given that you've possessed all six elements. As one who has possessed them, I will tell you at another time, for the class is solely based on fire."

A few hours went by and next thing I knew, the bell went off and class was over. As everyone left the classroom, I finished writing down the remainder of my notes and I began collecting my things.

"Rick," Blaine said. "You're actually going to stay here for your meditation. After all you do need to regain your elemental energy."

I nodded and sat down, preparing for my next class.