The Dragon's Master

Chapter 2 - Colours

Sarah WillowTree's POV

"Ungifted," My eyes snap open to the word, the deep voice stern and final, "Be at the Town Centre by 7am." I recognise the voice of the Demonic from last night. The one that already hates me for who I am.

Once I've heard him leave with a rush of air behind him from his swiftness, I get up. I make sure the door to the room I stay in is closed all the way, before I grab my uniform, quickly getting dressed. I'm paranoid someone's going to open the door the entire time I'm changing into the uniform, until I realise, why would anyone need to see me?

When I'm dressed, and ready to go, I grab the handle of the door to my room. But, it won't budge when I try to push it open. My eyebrows furrow in confusion. I try to push the door open again, but harder. It still won't open. I hear giggling of a couple girls fading away as they quickly leave to get to the Town Centre. "Hey!" I exclaim.

"I think it's best you stay in there today." I hear a Demonic's voice on the other side.

"But, The Choosing is today," I say.

"Exactly." He says with a hiss. I hear the sound of his black leather shoes as he leaves. I can imagine the pristine, newly shined leather and the perfect suit he'd be wearing for The Choosing.

For a couple long minutes, I tried and tried to open the door, but it just wouldn't budge. Someone must've pushed something extremely heavy in front of the door to keep me stuck inside the room. I kick the door angrily, before I exhale a long breath. I'll never make it to The Choosing in time. I'm just simply not a part of my generation. I'm an outcast. An Ungifted. Will I ever be able to become anything if I miss The Choosing? I doubt it.

Not a Witch, not a Demonic, Unicorn Rider, Wolf, Angel.

"Is someone in there?" I hear a voice behind the door. It's different from a Demonic's though. He sounds much more kind, rather than like the deadly Demonics. Perhaps those Demonics put on that voice just to intimidate people like me, who have come here to find their true Gift. Also, to hold back the Ungifted ones like me. I was always told not even to try becoming a Gifted after my eighteen years of being an outcasted Ungifted. But, I never lost determination.

"I'm in here! Please, please let me out," I basically beg, watching the door. I hear the sound of something- perhaps wooden- scraping on the timber floors right outside my room. The handle turns and the door is pulled open to reveal a tall guy, my age, with dark black hair and eyes that are a peculiar golden colour. We hold eye contact for a few seconds, that feels like hours in the moment. "Thank you." I say gratefully.

"You're welcome, but you better hurry, we're both going to be extremely late." He says with a charming smile. We end up rushing down the halls with each other. Both of us pretty late. No one else is in the dorms, having already arrived at the Town Centre. "My name's Darius." He says.

"Sarah," I simply respond.

I walk ahead of him, stepping through the wide open door to the dorm building, out into the morning sunlight with Darius. The town is very small, as it's only the ground that The Choosing is held every year for every generation. There's a couple houses lining both sides of a dirt road that leads up to the Town Centre. Hundreds of people, that are my age, sit at around ten or twelve long tables that stretch widely across the clearing in front of the Town Centre. There's a woman with giant white wings of feathers resting at her back. She wears a long white dress that falls to the floor, the hem of it lined with gold, a glorious pattern reaching up to the perfect colour with waves of lightly sewn gold. The dress tightly hugs her figure, flowing out slightly at just a little higher than her knees. She has perfect red hair, the front pieces of hair twirled and held back into a small ponytail, the rest flowing down, reaching halfway down her thighs. Her skin reminds me of a dolls skin, perfect.

"The Queen comes to these?" Darius sounds amazed.

"Queen Rebecca RiverKey." I marvel, looking at her giant wings as we rush over to a random table with empty seats. It's only once we sit at our seats that I finally take my eyes away from the Angel's beautiful wings.

I swear she makes eye contact with me as she speaks. I'm surprised she doesn't seem phased by me being there, I think she even smiles slightly. "Truly, it's my honour to be here every year for the new generation of Gifted. For you all to have made it here, Gifted, or even Ungifted. Even if you are Ungifted, truthfully, there is almost definitely a gift inside somewhere. You just have to keep searching." She smiles softly. The sunlight gleaming down on her dress seems to make her glow. "Witch Zoe KindStone will now be finding your Gift and you will be driven in one of our carriages to your training arena to prove your Gift true." She gestures at her side to a beautiful young woman who wears a dark purple outfit with a long coat that reaches the back of her knees and black leggings, with high heel buckled boots. She has midnight black hair and vibrant blue eyes.

With that, the Queen calls names one by one. They would get up from a random spot from the tables and they'd make their way up to the front in front of the giant double doors. The Witch would place her hands on the temples of the person's head and they'd both shut their eyes. After a few seconds, the Witch would open her eyes revealing her irises a different vibrant colour as she would announce the Gift of the person.

I notice that for a Witch, her eyes would become almost a neon ultra violet. For a Unicorn Rider, her eyes would become a vibrant gold. Demonic, her eyes would become a vibrant red. Angel, her eyes would be a vibrant green, and for a Wolf, her eyes would become a shining silver.

"Darius TerryReed." The Queen calls into the crowd after around twenty people have gone up. He instantly gets up from beside me, making his way between the tables to the front of the building. He sends the Queen a charming smile, before he stands in front of the Witch, who places two fingers on his temples on either side of his head. They both shut their eyes and after around five seconds, she opens her eyes revealing a vibrant shining silver. He opens his eyes at the same time.

"Wolf." She announces, letting go of him and stepping back. He seems pretty happy at that, Queen Rebecca directing him towards a carriage with the other Wolves. They greet him instantly, like a pack. All of them accepting each other, as the others had.

After around forty more people, she finally calls my name with a warm smile, "Sarah WillowTree." She calls.

Nervously, I stand up, feeling most eyes turn to me. I make my way up, weaving between the tables, before I finally get up front. I glance back out at the crowd. I see the same Demonic from last night in his maroon suit, a misting black and red aura surrounding him. A few other Demonics stand around him. He seems convinced I won't have a Gift.

The Witch places a hand on my shoulder, standing me in front of herself and placing two fingers on my temples. I shut my eyes as soon as she does. With my eyes closed, I see different colours flash by my vision, before my eyes seem to forcefully open after what seems like many minutes. In front of me, the Witches irises have become a glowing, vibrant black, before it consistently switches between every other colour. Purple, red, gold, silver, green, and that strange black. She seems confused, quickly letting go of me, blinking, her eyes returning to normal. "It can't be," She whispers.

I'm extremely worried, does that mean I'm still an Ungifted? What does that mean? Even the Queen seems amazed. "Mystique." She announces, rather than the Witch this time.

"What does that-" Suddenly, the ground shakes beneath everyone's feet. There's the sound of crumbling earth. Talking and chattering begins instantly, some people standing up worriedly.

"It's okay, everyone!" The Queen shouts over everyone and the crumbling and shaking.

I step back, "What does that mean? What's a Mystique?" I instantly begin to question.

"Stand with me. I'll explain soon enough, Sarah WillowTree." Queen Rebecca says, placing a hand on my back.

The sound stops and the shaking stops along with it. Everyone's still talking, and standing. "Please stay calm everyone!" She calls over the crowd, "Sit down and stay silent for the rest of the ceremony!"