Breath of Fire

Chapter Three

I glanced left and right as the five of us approached the building; which I realized now, was actually several buildings.
    "That building over there is where us students sleep. The buildings that surround it house the main classrooms," Caspian started to explain as he pointed out different areas.
    "What is this place? Some sort of school? A school for dragons?" I couldn't help the laugh that bubbled forth as I thought about how strange that sounded. I'm sure to them, it was nothing out of the ordinary, but it just seemed so bizarre to me. Dragons, actual dragons...waking up in the morning and going to school everyday; sitting in classes, taking notes, doing homework...just like every other human student on earth. I don't know what I expected a dragon's lifestyle to be like, but it wasn't this.
    "College, actually, but basically yes. Every dragon has to learn to control their urges otherwise things get very ugly, and what better place to do that, than at a school?" Elios answered.
    "It, it just seems so...so human, I guess?" I said, slowly, not sure how to phrase my comment in a way that didn't come off as offensive.
    "Yeah, well, this might come as a shock to you, but dragons existed long before humans. You humans are descendants of us dragons; not the other way around," answered Blaise, giving me a reproachful look as he stalked forward.
    I scowled back at him, trying to hide my surprise at this news.
    I continued to walk in silence as I followed the four men into one of the buildings and down several corridors. Where are they taking me?
    Too bad I couldn't ask them; I had a strong feeling that they wouldn't be answering any of my questions anytime soon. With every step I took, I was getting more and more nervous about the testing they had mentioned earlier. I really did not like the sound of being poked and prodded. Did anyone?
    Ten minutes later we finally stopped outside of a large set of oak doors with thick door handles covered in what looked like metal dragon scales.
    Caspian walked forward and used the heavy door knocker three times before stepping back once more.
    "Just one moment!" I heard a raspy voice cry out.
    I took a deep breath as I waited impatiently for the door to open. When it finally did, I found myself facing the oldest looking man; well dragon, I guess, I had ever seen in my life. I didn't know if ethnicity worked the same way here, but the man standing before me looked like he was of Asian descent. But for all I knew, there were a whole set of different states, countries, and continents, in this realm.
    "Professor Pyrion, thank you for seeing us!" Caspian hurried to say. "We ran into some trouble earlier tonight and discovered something that may or may not be important," Caspian continued to say as he glanced over at Blaise and I. I rolled my eyes. His words weren't exactly very eloquent. But I had more serious things to worry about than the way Caspian chose to phrase his sentences...
    "Of course, gentleman, come on in, come on in! Sit down and tell me everything that happened from the start." The professor ushered us all into the room and closed the door behind us. I glanced around the room as I nervously joined the four guys on the couch. "Would anyone like a cup of tea? I just made a fresh pot!" Professor Pyrion asked politely as he held up an ornate tea pot. We all nodded; me, more out of politeness than anything else. I didn't want tea...I wanted to get the bloody hell out of here!
    I stared around the room as the others began to tell the professor what happened over the course of our evening. If I hadn't had so many other things on my mind, I might have noticed the fact that it was dark outside when we had left, but bright and sunny when we arrived in the dragon realm or whatever this place was called.
    The professor's office was filled with the oddest assortment of doohickeys I had ever seen. I had no idea what any of his stuff was, but they screamed luxury and opulence; most of his possessions being solid gold or silver or inlayed with the most dazzling sets of stones. Rubies, emeralds, lapis lazuli, and pearls, glinted at me from all sides. I couldn't help but feel jealous as I thought how just one single object in this room would have been enough to keep me living a life of wealth back home; and this old man had a whole room full!
    I continued to sit and stare around the room as the evenings excursions were detailed out to the professor. I didn't bother to give my input as I knew nothing I had to say would matter to these dragons.
    About an hour went by before I was startled out of my thoughts by the old dragon suddenly standing up and stalking over towards me.
    "Can you show me your abilities, little one? These young dragons sitting beside you might not be able to sense anything but human from you, but I have seen centuries fly by before they were even born and my magic is strong enough to break through whatever protection is blocking your power from being detected." I blinked up at professor Pyrion in surprise. He's lived for centuries?! Holy moly! And hold on, did he just call me little? Why must everyone make that mistake?
    "I'm not little!" The words burst forth before I could stop them. I had wanted to say something that sounded intelligent or at least like something a normal person would say, instead I chose to blurt out the first thing that came to mind. Way to go Ari, way to go...I mentally patted myself on the back for my excellent choice of words.
    "Everyone is "little" compared to me, but what should I call you if not by that name?"
    "I think I heard someone call her by Samantha at the bar?" I heard Terrance offer up. I shook my head but chose not to correct him. I didn't trust these men one bit so no way in hell was I going to give them my real name; Aria.
    "I go by Sammy," I mumbled, hoping no one could sense my lie. It wasn't a full lie, since I had been going by Sammy for the last three months. From the mischievous gleam in the professor's eyes, I had a feeling he saw right through it, but if he did, he didn't say anything to my immense relief.
    "Okay, then, Sammy. I will ask again, can you demonstrate your abilities for me so that I may assess them?" I frowned, was this the "testing" portion of the day? Or was this just the prequel?
    "I don't know what you are talking about," I hesitated as the professor eyed me suspiciously. I glanced over at the four boys sitting on either side of me. I didn't want them to know that I was the reason for all of the chaos that had happened in the alley. None of us had gotten hurt, but they hadn't seemed very happy about what had transpired.
    "Would the four of you give us the honor of privacy?" I glanced up to see the guys giving the professor cold looks. "My apologies for the inconvenience, but I think the girl would be more comfortable without you in the room making her nervous," the professor added. Why was he talking to them as if they were royalty? It was his office! Plus, he was apparently centuries older than they were, seems like they should have been the one showing the professor their respect, not the other way around. Everything about this whole situation seemed the opposite of what it should be.
    "He's right, guys. He will be able to get a better result if we aren't around potentially interfering with the process. I don't think Blaise is right, but if there happens to be any truth behind his accusations, than we need to know as much about her as we can." I narrowed my eyes at Terrance as he said this. I hated being talked about as if I wasn't in the room.
    "Fine, we'll be waiting right outside the door, just don't take too long, I refuse to stand around waiting. I have better things to be doing!" Blaise stomped out of the room, sending me one final glare of frustration before he did.
    "They are gone now, so will you tell me the truth now? It will be best for you in the long run since I will get the truth whether you tell it or not, has no one ever told you it is impossible to lie to a dragon; or for a dragon to lie?"
    "Well of course not! No one has told me anything about dragons! Up until a few hours ago, I didn't think they existed!" I exclaimed angrily. Though unable to help but draw an uncomfortable connection. I had never been able to lie growing up. It had gotten me into trouble several times over until I had learned how to dodge the truth as best as possible. Did that mean there was a possibility I really was a dragon? I had to stop myself from going down that path. It was absurd! No way was I one! I had never woke up to find myself covered with scales all over my body, nor talons, or a tail!
    "I don't doubt the truth behind your lack of knowledge over the existence of dragons, it is quite clear you know nothing," I frowned at this. Hey, I'm not stupid! I may not know a lot of things, but it's not like I wasn't intelligent enough to have survived this long! Though from the way things were going, the odds of me making it to next week; let alone tomorrow morning, were not in my favor. "What I need to know the truth about, is your gift. Blaise said that you were able to control fire. He seemed quite adamant about the fact it wasn't him earlier and I believe he is telling the truth whether his friends think the same or not. Now, I don't know if any of those youngsters bothered to explain why it it is almost impossible for you to have control over fire in the manner that you do? But it is a very rare gift to be able to directly control or manipulate any of the elements."
    "You think I'm a dragon, right? But how can I be? The guys said I smelled human to them; though I like to think I smell just fine, thank you; better than anyone else who has had to survive their whole life living on the streets!" I caught myself as I started to go off on a tangent. Professor Pyrion smiled kindly at me as he held up a hand and motioned for me to stop talking.
    "Yes, you give off a distinctly human scent. However, as I mentioned earlier, I am older than most dragons and your protection charms, while very good, don't fool me."
    "What protection charms? I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. This is completely absurd! I am not a dragon!" I stood up and started pacing around the room.
    "You truly believe that, don't you," the professor stated, not bothering to phrase his words as a question.
    "Wouldn't I know by now if I was a dragon? I hate to break it to you, but I don't have scales, or a, a tail, or horns, or, or anything dragonish!" I stomped over to the large window and stared out at the grassy field. How ironic. The world seemed so peaceful on the other side of the glass, while on my side, it was nothing but chaos. Story of my life...everything beautiful in life right in front of my face for me to see, and yet, out of reach. I lifted my arm and traced random patterns against the clear panel as I stared out at the students that walked in and out of view.
    "If the protection charms were not of your doing, perhaps your parents might know? If we could reach out to them and -"
    "No!" I declared coldly as my body went numb.
    "Look, I know this is a lot to take in, but the sooner we get answers the sooner -"
    "It's not that I don't want answers, believe me, I want them more than any of you, but my parents are out of the question -" I started to say. I trailed off, not wanting to complete my sentence. I was sick of the looks of pity and regret I always received any time I told someone about my parents.
    "If I could just -" the professor continued to press.
    "They are dead. So I'm going to stop you now. They didn't tell me anything about dragons or powers or anything about anything! They were murdered a long time ago and I've been hunted ever since that night. I have no idea why and there is no one else to ask. You know as much about me as I do..." I said, cutting the professor off. Try as I might, I was unable to disguise the resentment that saturated my voice.
    I watched as the professor slowly sat back down in the chair behind his desk and interlaced his fingers before staring at me with clear disappointment.
    "Well that is certainly quite a setback, but should not be impossible to work around. If you are okay with it, I would like you to stay on here at the school until we are able to learn more about your abilities and what you are exactly."
    I turned around to look the professor in the eye.
    "You're saying I have a choice whether I stay or leave?" I was hopeful, but doubtful.
    "Of course! We're not monsters here; going around holding people against their will," the professor said, failing to mask his surprise. I rolled my eyes. Really, you're shocked? That is exactly what just happened to me; not to mention, isn't kidnapping young girls and hoarding treasure what all the books said about dragons? In addition, by definition, everyone here was a monster! Though it was yet to be determined whether good or bad...but if dragons were anything like humans, things weren't going to be black and white around here.
    "Could of had me fooled," I mumbled as I glared at him and scratched at a few of the scrapes on my arms that were itching.
    "I apologize on behalf of those impudent hatchlings. Their actions were uncalled for, nevertheless, try not to be so quick to judge the rest of the dragons here; assuming you decide to stay on for a bit. The decision is entirely yours, but I'd recommend giving it at least a week before you decide for good. If you decide to go back to the human world, there would be no coming back, ever. And if you decide to stay, as I said, we might be able to help you control your ability; you might learn more about yourself as well as your past. What do you say?"
    What the professor was asking didn't seem entirely unreasonable. A week and then I could chose to stay or leave. That sounded a lot better than the invasive testing and forced memory wiping the brothers had mentioned at first. That thought reminded me of something.
    "If I decide to go back, would my memory be erased? I heard it being mentioned," I inquired.
    "Unfortunately, yes. Knowledge of this realm must remain a secret from the humans. That is paramount. Rest assured, the memory wiping process is painless, but yes, it would be necessary for the protection of all dragons - and for your own as well. There are small groups of humans who have learned of our existence and if they ever found out you knew anything about us, they would come looking for you." The professor looked at me gravely as he said this and I shuddered. As if I needed anyone else hunting me down!
    "Do you think these individuals you mentioned might be the ones who killed my parents and are already hunting me? Maybe they already think I know something?"
    "Perhaps, it is certainly a possibility. We can look into the matter further if you decide to stay beyond the week, but for now, have those rascals outside take you to one of our healers to get looked at. And then I daresay you could use some food and rest."
    I nodded my head and slowly backed away towards the door. That hadn't gone as badly as I was expecting. Maybe things wouldn't be so horrible here? From the sound of it, I might be able to finally learn to control my abilities, though everyone still seemed to be under the illusion that it was just fire that I could command at will. Since no one had directly asked me if I could manipulate all four, I didn't have to worry about lying about that detail, but I had a feeling it would become a problem if they ever did find out.
    Ugh, that will be a problem for tomorrow. For now, I just wanted to get these wounds taken care of and then some food in my belly. I looked down as my stomach growled, clearly agreeing with that particular thought. I nodded my head once more at the professor before pushing the heavy doors open and exiting the office with a heavy sigh of relief that I hadn't been poked or prodded - yet...