Fairflight Academy

Chapter 1

I adjusted my grip on my suitcase, swallowing nervously as I stared at the bus that had halted outside my house. This was my gateway to my future, the school that would enable me to discover my magic.

A hand touched my shoulder and I turned around. My mother hugged me tightly, folding me into her arms and squeezing before I'd turned all the way around.

"Have fun," she whispered in my ear. "I know you'll do great." I nodded, our cheeks brushing, and hugged her back, clinging to her as if she was a lifeboat.

A toot sounded from the waiting bus, and my mother disentangled herself.

"Off you go, sweetie," she told me. "Make your father proud."

"I will," I told her, embarrassed to feel tears welling up in my eyes.

The bus hooted again, and I hefted my suitcase, lifting it onto the first step of the bus.

"Anna." I turned to look back at my mother as she said my name. "Love you."

"Love you too." I stepped up into the bus, and watched as the doors closed, sealing me inside. With my bag in one hand, and the pamphlet to Fairflight in the other, I turned around to look inside the bus and meet the other students.

There was a sharp jolt as the bus pulled away, and I lost my balance for a second, putting out a hand to steady myself. When I looked up again, everything had changed.

At first, I just gaped at where the two rows of double bus seats had been, struggling to figure out how it could have been transformed into a wide, spacious looking living area, with couches arranged in small clusters.

I took a half step forward, which rapidly turned into a near face plant on the floor when someone crashed into me from behind. I tucked myself inwards and rolled; back on my feet in seconds. Silently thanking my mum for the gymnastics lessons when I was younger, I turned to look down at the person who had walked into me.

She must not have had gym lessons, because she was sitting on the floor, scowling at a grazed knee. It didn't look too bad, wasn't bleeding or anything.

"Sorry about that." I reached out a hand to help her up. She raised her face to look at me, and I did a double take. Her eyes were violet. Not just dark blue, but proper violet. She accepted my help, and I pulled her to her feet, her dark hair swinging around her face.

"Oi, you two!" I glanced around for the source of the cranky voice, and found it in the form of a short, stout goblin. "Get out of the entryway!" he yelled, shooing us out of the way.

The girl grabbed my arm, tugging me sideways and we collapsed on one of the couches lining the sides of the room, dropping our bags at our feet.

"I'm Iola," the girl said, holding out her hand, palm up.

"Anna. Well, Orianna, actually, but no one really calls me that," I replied, placing my hand on hers, my knuckles brushing her palm.

"Anna." Iola grinned at me, dimples showing in her cheeks. "Is this your first airship?" she asked, noticing me scanning the room.

"Is that where we are?" I thought about the area, and realized that I could feel movement beneath my feet. "Wow." Iola was right; I'd never been on an airship before. I'd heard that they were powered by Air fairies working some human-designed system.

"Yeah, cool huh? The buses are fitted with a teleport system that the driver activates when a student steps on. If anyone else tries to get on the bus, the driver can either switch the teleporter off, or teleport them to a selected area that they can be detained in." Iola loaded me with information, her bright eyes flashing. "It's a pretty cool setup, and perfect security for a prestigious school like Fairflight. Otherwise, all sorts of weirdos could end up on the airship and sneak onto Fairflight campus. That would be really bad."