The Chosen One

• [ 13 ] •

Rose's POV

With my eyes remaining closed, I feel the force of our acceleration blowing my hair back, the loose white curls flowing against the air current. The wind pricks against my skin as we continue onward, my lungs trying to grasp at the sharp air. The altitude making the evening feel colder than it really is. I am thankful for my decision to wear longs sleeves with leggings right now. On the back of Oceanus, I feel at ease, I feel at home. The thrill of the ride leaving a bright smile on my face. Several hours pass and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. The dragons increase their pace, the wind whipping around us. We still have about an half an hour to go until we reach the Academy.

I turn to Joel, Marcus and Aiden, who were all somewhat relishing in the silence. Two other kids from my village were on the saddle, but both looked like they didn't want to be disturbed.

"So what kind of classes do we get to take at the Academy?" I ask. Aiden turns to me first.

"Well, the school day starts at 7 o'clock and ends at 4 in the afternoon. A tip of advice, don't be late to your classes, your instructors will greatly dislike you for wasting their time. We have seven 1 hour time blocks in our schedule and a 30 minute lunch, your last class is around 50 minutes. Your assigned lunch time is based off of what Level you are placed in, Level 5 being the worst, Level 1 being the best." Aiden says.

"Not too many first years are placed in the higher levels, many of them starting out as a Level 4 or 5. There are some pompus asses in the school that you should steer clear of, just like that John kid. You will know who I am talking about when you see them." Joel pipes in.

"As for the classes, since in your village, taking the course history of dragon riders and magii users was mandated, everyone will be exempt from taking the class. All first years must take the class, unless their village makes it a required course like yours did. This just opens up an extra space in your schedule. Usually, lots of people get to take the courses they find interests in because there are eight class periods, but for the rarer chosen ones, their schedule is pretty much full." Marcus adds.

"Yes, especially you. Because you can wield all elements and ride dragons, you will have 4 separate classes dedicated to learning each of your elements. Also, you need to take a required dragon training class and language class. It is possible to be exempt from the language class depending on how much Latin you know." Aiden says.

"Are all dragon riders fluent in Latin?" I question.

"I am not. When I graduated from the Academy, our language class only required of us to learn a few phrases and commands, then practice them with our dragons. Now, the language class is more difficult, you must remember commands while learning the language itself." He replies.

"Okay, so do you think I may be able to be exempt from this language class? I mean, I am already fluent in Latin, so the class would serve no benefit to me." I try to explain without sounding to arrogant.

"I don't know how to explain it well.." Marcus says sheepishly.

"I can," Joel volunteers. "In order to be exempt from the class, you must take a summarization test that they give at the end of the year to see how well a dragon rider has progressed in learning Latin. That, or you must have Headmaster's permission. They do this to see if the dragon rider will need to continue Latin into year 2, or if they know enough to have the course accounted for in their credits. That reminds me, for every class you take, at the end of the year, you will be ranked on your knowledge. It's like finals, but the ranks, 1 being the worst and 10 scoring perfect, will end up on a report card that comes into play when you apply to Universities within the magii community." Joel explains fairly well.

"Got it. So, to summarize what all of you have said, I have a short lunch period along with eight class periods. I am required to take a class per element to discover my capabilities with each one, and a dragon training course as well. I may or may not be exempt from the dragon rider mandated language class, but that will leave me with 3 open classes to choose from." I summarize.

"Actually, no. You will have two open class slots because everyone at the Academy no matter their year or status, is required to take weapons & combat. The classes will be determined by Level, so essentially, you will see many of your friends at lunch, but will be seated by your level. This way, people from lunch will go straight to their combat class." Aiden corrects.

"Okay, that doesn't seem too bad. How do guys know all of this?" I ask Aiden and Joel.

"One of our best friends is a dragon rider. He complained about the language class all of year 1 because he was mostly fluent but not enough to get the credit accounted for. He is less annoying now, but you still have to be weary with him." Joel responds. I nod in acknowledgment, feeling slightly better knowing that I can somewhat expect what is going to happen. I think of another question easily.

"How do you determine ones Level?" Joel looks like he is about to respond but is cut off by Marcus.

"I am sorry, but we are not permitted to tell you." He says.

"It's alright, I understand." I reply. The thirty minutes flew by, because when I settle my gaze on the scenery around us, I see a large castle like structure approaching.

"Is that the school?!?" I say excited. The two Trinity Stone Villagers look at me weirdly.

"What do you mean?" One of the boys ask.

"What do you mean what do I mean? The school is right there." I say, pointing in the direction of the school.

"You can see the school?" Marcus asked surprised.

"Yes. Not to be rude or imply anything, but it is right in front of us. It literally looks like a castle with the school crest on the side of it. What I should be asking is why you guys can't see it?" I retort.

"The school has a protective barrier around it that only allows for certain people to be able to see it. I can allow us through the barrier with the amulet I have around my neck, but Headmaster Jackson is still notified of anyone who crosses the border." Marcus explains.

"So in this very moment, none of you are able to see the school?" I ask again, as we almost approach the barrier. The other 5 males in the saddle shake their heads, I hum in response. Strange.

When we pass the barrier, I feel the same feeling I did when I first touched the universi di scitis stone, tingles rapidly spreading throughout my body. The dragons fly over a large field before landing. I assume I will be spending a lot of time out here in the near future. As the riders help the village boys off the dragon, I gaze over the top of the saddle. The ground doesn't look that far off the ground and one of the boys is literally taking forever to get off Oceanus.

I tuck my legs underneath me and jump of the saddle, bracing my legs for the impact. A weird sensation fills my legs as I land in a squat position, numb from having not been used in the past four hours. I pop back up to see Marcus muttering under his breath, words along the lines of reckless little girl. I chuckle at his behavior when I notice that the crowd of students and dragons from other villages looking at me with interest.

Everyone's attention is shifted from me to the front center of the field where a make shift stage has been set up when a booming voices sounds.

"Welcome to Stone Heart Magic Wielding Dragon Riding Academy!"

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