The Phantom Calling: Dragonwood/Chapters 1 - 5

Chapter 1

Silverfire-
Walking onto the docks where several other people stood, I awaited for the boat to come, feeling the salty breeze brush against my hair. My guardians -or parents, as they like to call themselves- enrolled me to one of the best schools out there for “gifted” children; what they truly are? Liars. Oppressors. Deceivers. They plan to imprison us because of our skills- then again, why aren’t I surprised? The both of them are about as dense as a rock, even I have more common sense than them.

“Silverfire, cool it.” Turning around to see my brother Stargaze, I held back the urge to roll my eyes. He didn’t understand why I’m so angry anyways- why should I care about what he says? “It’s not like you’re the only one going.”

Stargaze was rather hard to see in the dim lighting- his face was dark skinned, not to mention how it was harder to spot his freckles. However, his pitch black hair was worse to find in the dead of night, as well as the fact that he’s short enough to the point where I could accidentally trip over him at this time of day, so I guess I really didn’t have the right to complain. The only part of his face that I could see properly was his pale silver eyes reflecting the clouded moonlight; my older brother had his glare focused on me, his eyes narrow. He was holding onto his bags, which I guessed was full of personal items.

Glaring at him, I muttered, “But you had the choice to go or not; I didn’t.” Stargaze shook his head and sighed, slight frustration showing in his eyes. He simply reached up and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I want to make sure you’re okay, Silverfire,” Stargaze whispered, his tone of voice stern.

“I-I…thanks,” I mumbled. Looking around, I caught the glimpse of my older sister talking to our guardians. From what I could tell, she was dressed in formal attire- she was dressed in a light brown shirt with a black tie over it. Her auburn hair was tied into a messy bun, and something told me that she was rushing to add some finishing touches before we left. After some back and forth conversation, Hazel stomped over to me and Stargaze with an irritable expression on her face.

“I’m coming with you,” She told us, her voice oddly snappish. Hazel was coming with us? Honestly, that was a pleasant surprise- I like her much better than Stargaze, he’s worse having to put up with when he’s in a bad mood. “The ferry’s going to arrive soon. Might as well grab our bags.”  Hazel picked up her bag containing her stuff and then gestured for us to do the same.

Grabbing my backpack, me and my siblings walked closer to the docking area, with me grimacing as I kept getting bumped into by other people. Other students were gathered there, also going to the same school. Surprisingly, some were genuinely excited. In my opinion, they’re fools. They don’t realize why they’re being sent to this prison yet.

Suddenly the loud chitchat of the students started to die down, much to my relief. Oh, thank Bright Scar. They know how to shut up, at least. Most of the people there were people I’ve never seen before, though it wasn’t I was allowed around other humans for various different reasons.

“Ahem! May I please have your attention?” There was a man with blond hair and green eyes looking at all of us, standing atop from a soapbox, oddly enough. Everyone nearby seemed to give him their attention, or at least, mostly everyone. “My name’s Mr. Connor. I’m the Headmaster of Dragonwood Academy. We’re so glad you’ve chosen our school to help your little ones grow and learn.” Yeah, right, you lying sack of scum. I hate you already.

“...you keep saying that…” A girl behind me muttered, flipping her black hair. At least she has the right idea, unlike these other idiots gathered around me.

The Headmaster kept talking, much to my dismay. “The ferry will be arriving soon to escort the students to school. There they will meet their roommates and receive their schedules.” Once he finished, a large boat sailed over to the docks. “Trust me when I say, your child will be a brand-new person by the end of our two-year program.” Two years?! It’s like they’re sending us to boot camp, though I’m not really surprised. This is a school for the “gifted”, after all. The other students got aboard the boat, including me, Stargaze and Hazel. Though really, it was mainly Stargaze and Hazel dragging me onto the boat as I refused to step one inch onto that contraption.

“Alright now, we’ll meet again in two years! Goodbye, everyone!” Mr. Connor shouted before the boat took off. I sighed to myself; time for my imminent doom. Feeling a hand touch my shoulder, I whipped my head around to face Hazel, whose warm hazel gaze glittered with concern; everything I needed to know about how she was feeling.

“Silverfire, don’t act like that. We won’t die,” Hazel reassured me. She’s not helping at all. In fact, she’s making it worse. That is to say, if it wasn’t considered ‘worse’ to begin with.

Stargaze glanced at us. “That’s right. We might as well meet some of the other students if we’re stuck here with them for two years.” He walked away to talk to some other people, much to my surprise and dismay; Stargaze wasn’t exactly the most social person, from my experience. Awkwardly shuffling away from Hazel, I decided to attempt to make a run for it- to escape with my life and never think of this place again.

That was until Hazel grabbed my hand. “You’re coming with me,” She demanded, annoyance flaring through her gaze. We went over to a corner, with Hazel dragging me everywhere she went. Suddenly I ran into something -no, someone- that made me (thankfully) lose Hazel’s grip. Is she in a hurry, or what? I guess I should be grateful, though- I’d rather not be tortured by being dragged along to socialize with Hazel. I nearly fell down, but I somehow managed to stay up, though I was just barely on my knees. Looking at the ground, I saw who I’d ran into.

The person I’d bumped into was a girl who looked a little older than me. She had black hair and small amber eyes that seemed to shine like the sun. Her skin looked pale- not exactly sickly but not exactly healthy looking, either. As well as that, there was a large blush across her face, though it was probably due to the fact that her eyes widened, her entire body shaking violently. The frightened girl stayed on the ground, whimpering to herself.

“I-I’m so sorry!” She wailed. I could tell without a doubt that she was genuinely sorry for it, though her facial expression pretty much gave it away, if you asked me. “I should’ve been paying attention!”

Shaking my head, I sighed, feeling my cheeks redden. “I-It’s okay. I wasn’t paying attention either.” Looking around the ship’s crowded deck, I couldn’t find Hazel nor Stargaze in the crowd. Well, that’s odd; Hazel usually notices if she accidentally leaves me behind. Then again, this is probably the lucky chance when Hazel doesn’t notice that she left me behind; might as well take that as I will. “And now I don’t know where my older siblings went, so now there’s that.”

“You’re also lost…?” She murmured. Nodding in reply, I couldn’t help but smile in an awkward fashion; I wasn’t sure what to say, not to mention I do have trouble talking to attractive people… “I don’t know where my sister Twyla went, either. C-Can I tag along with you?”

“Sure. Just stay by me,” I told her. She smiled a little and then stood up next to me, her amber eyes gleaming with relief.

“M-My name’s Violet, by the way,” She added, her voice soft. Her name’s Violet? That’s actually…a really pretty name, especially for someone like her, I suppose. I guess it also does fit well with her silky hair and- I really should stop gawking at her. And thinking about her features so much. Maybe that might make things less awkward. A small blush spread across Violet’s cheeks, though her gaze drifted off to the floor momentarily before looking back up at me. Just what was that about?

Chuckling a little, I murmured, “My name is Silverfire. Nice to meet you too.” Violet smiled back at me, a hint of excitement dancing through her eyes. Does she like me or something? We walked over to the ship’s Western rim, looking at the ocean water shimmering against the moon’s pale glow. The waves of the ocean created ripples spreading across the sea, making me exhale gently to myself. It’s so beautiful...no. It’s a trick.

“Hey, Vi!” I turned around to see a girl with long brownish-green hair and light green eyes. She had on silver glasses, which I hated to admit made her decent looking. Is she Twyla? “Who’s your boyfriend?” She asked, confounded as to why I was with her. B-Boyfriend?! I hardly even know her! Violet seemed to have the same reaction, though she looked more uncomfortable by the idea of having a boyfriend, if anything.

“I was hanging with Silverfire until I was found. He’s also lost,” Violet corrected Twyla, slightly irritated glimmer in her eyes. Twyla glared directly at me, her light green eyes burning with hostility.

“I doubt your real name is Silverfire,” Twyla hissed. She looked at Violet. “I can’t believe you just went with the first person you bumped into!” Literally. “Have you forgotten Aspen already?” Huh? Who’s Aspen? Well, whoever they are, they must’ve done something to harm Twyla and Violet if they’re acting like this at the mention of their name- probably about to start fighting any minute if things worsened.

Violet growled at Twyla. “Yes, and unlike you, I’ve moved on from that incident.” Twyla glowered at me and Violet for a split second before walking away, headed towards a slightly younger boy who had similar features to both Twyla and Violet. Were they related? Violet turned to me, sorrow in her amber eyes. “I-I’m sorry, it’s just...me and Twyla haven’t gotten along ever since...that man entered our lives.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I sympathetically murmured. She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. “H-Hey, don’t cry. It’ll be alright.” Wiping away her tears, Violet soon stopped sniveling, though some snot rolled down her face in addition to that, much to my disgust.

“T-Thanks, Silverfire,” She mumbled, glancing around the deck. “I wonder where your siblings went.”

I scratched my head, shrugging my shoulders. “I have literally no clue.” Soon the boat came to a sudden stop, almost making me fall on top of Violet again. Luckily that didn’t happen, because then it would’ve made things feel more embarrassing, mostly from my side of things.

“Alright students of Dragonwood Academy, we’re here at last! You may calmly walk onto the school docks so you can get your schedules and find your dorm rooms.” Mr. Connor ordered from the top deck of the ferry. Ugh. I really dislike you. Everyone else got off as quick as they could, pushing and shoving everyone in their way; again, I’m not that surprised- these people are idiots too. That Twyla girl included. Violet visibly winced after I’d thought that, and I had to wonder just what was up with her, but I had no time nor patience to really care.

As soon as I started walking, I felt someone grabbing onto my arm, causing me to halt in my tracks. I turned to see Violet latching onto my sweatshirt, her eyes wide with anxiety. “Could I stay with you until we find out our roommates for our dorms?” She whispered. Violet’s not going to leave me alone yet, is she?

Finally giving in, I nodded to affirm my answer; though I wasn’t exactly the happiest about it. She should be doing this herself. Or with her sister, for Bright Scar’s sake! Once we walked off the docks, a hulking building with tons of windows came into view, along with a somewhat similar and smaller building to its right. It had dark green vines growing along the sides, as if it was drilled on. The coloring of the building looked pitch-black when compared to the night sky, which was already dark enough, in my opinion. In Bright Scar’s name, what on earth did my guardians force me into?