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I really, really, REALLY hope this shows up correctly... my computer is acting glitchy and this is the first time I haven't put it in the correct font before submitting it... if this is totally haywire and unreadable, then I will repost. But (hopefully) here's the rest of Chapter 5:

We appear to be in a large clearing in the prairie, where the grass becomes scragglier and sparser. The squadron bounds forward and suddenly disappears.

Morrowmist? I ask silently, but she says nothing as she bounds forward like they did. There's a slight pop in my ears, and a whole new sight is spread out before me.

Dragons. Dragons at fires, dragons by nests, dragons with hatchlings, so many dragons I can't count them all. 

The dragons are all variations of gold and yellow and orange, each with a striped pattern like Morrowmist's. None of the patterns look exactly like.

With a start, I realize that this must be Morrowmist's family: Blaze Saphona.

The entire camp, for that's what I've decided it must be, falls silent. One dragon breaks the silence.

"Morrowmist?" they say in the equivalent of a dragon whisper.

"Chamarys!" screeches Morrowmist, and dashes forward. I am thrown off her back at her sudden movement, and I land on the ground heavily.

I bite back a whimper as I try to move the wrist I landed on. I think it's sprained, or at least heavily bruised. I can add it to the list of injuries on me. 

Morrowmist is embracing another dragon, the one she called Chamarys. Her head is resting on Chamarys's, and she's making a sort of crooning noise. Chamarys's wings are fluttering softly, like she can hardly believe it. 

"Morrowmist?" she whispers again, and Morrowmist croons louder.

"I've missed you so much!" Chamarys exclaims, and nestles her head even more firmly under Morrowmist's.

From behind me, Grytenth clears his throat. "Morrowmist," he says, "there's more dragons waiting to see you again."

Morrowmist makes one last crooning sound and then straightens her head. She pulls away from Chamarys but keeps her tail wrapped around Chamarys's. 

"I've returned," Morrowmist says magnanimously, though that fact should be obvious to everyone now. Her eyes sweep the crowd of gathered dragons.

Then her gaze lands on me, and she says, "Zoey, are you all right? I did not mean to knock you off; I was simply full of excitement over reuniting with my mate." She gestures her head towards Chamarys. 

I stand up, cradling my wrist against my chest. "I'm all right, Morrowmist. Just a little shaken up."

The crowd's murmurs stop as they trace Morrowmist's gaze back to me. There's dead silence as they stare at me: a human female, in the center of a ring of large, golden dragons.

One dragon steps forward. "Morrowmist," he says, "how nice of you to have brought the Elder Spark some dinner."

This is amazing! I can't wait to read more!

 

I don't mean to rush you, but plz, plz,  write more. 

Btw im changing my name to MJ

 

-MJ 

I've been writing lots... two new chapters for y'all! And I'm working on another one too! I changed the ending of the last chapter, made it end with "But I'm human... aren't I?" instead of the whole thing about becoming the One.

~~~

Chapter 8

Morrowmist, Chamarys, and Recium land in front of a large structure at the center of the camp. It appears to be made of trees taller than Morrowmist herself, woven together with prairie grass. The trunks are all varied: birch, aspen, even oak and pine, which I didn't know you could find on a prairie. As I slide off Morrowmist's back, a dragon barrels out of the structure, which I conclude must be the home of this 'Elder Spark'. A leader of some sort?

The dragon slides to a stop in front of Morrowmist and Chamarys, panting heavily. "The... Elder Spark... wants to see you," he says through his heaving breaths. This dragon is smaller even than Recium, who is, I have noticed, a below average dragon. He is a vibrant yellow, almost lemon, and his tail flicks around anxiously. His horns are also small, and his wings don't look full grown. With a start I realize I'm looking a a young dragon. I wrack my brain, but I don't think I've seen any since I arrived at camp. I remember Chamarys's words about the lack of females and realize that this dragon must be one of the only dragonets in this camp. He and I are in the same boat then-- a curiosity.

Recium steps in front of Morrowmist, almost smacking her in the face with his tail. "Nephim!" he barks, and the small yellow dragon straightens. 

"Yes, Centurion!" Nephim says.

Recium scowls. "Morrowmist knows she has been summoned. The Elder Spark sent me."

Nephim bows his head. "I know, Honored Centurion. But you were gone so long that Centurion Chauvelia sent me to make sure you were coming."

Recium scowls deeper but nods. "You may go back to your duties, Cadet Nephim."

Nephim nods and scurries back inside the structure, glancing only once over his shoulder back at us. This happens to be when he spots me on the ground next to Morrowmist, and his eyes go huge. He's so startled he almost trips over his own tail, but catches himself and continues inside. Once the end of his tail disappears inside, Recium turns back to us.

"The Elder Spark is expecting you," he says, and gestures Morrowmist and I inside. Chamarys hesitates to follow.

"Come on, Chamarys!" I say, waving my hand. "We're already late!"

Chamarys shakes her head and opens her mouth, but Recium beats her to it. "Certainly not! Only cadets in their year of servitude to the Elder Spark, Centurions like me, or Navigators like Morrowmist may enter the temple of the Elder Spark. I'm bending the rules even to be letting you in, Mighty One."

I frown and put my hands on my hips. "But, as the One, don't I have a right to choose my retinue?"

Morrowmist holds in her breath to keep from laughing. I think she's been waiting for someone to stand up to Recium since she met him, and is enjoying his discomfort greatly.

Recium ponders my suggestion for a second, then shakes his head. "It is widely believed you are the One. But until we are certain, and the Elder Spark has tested you, you may not disrupt the order that is right."

I frown deeper and open my mouth, prepared to push my point. I don't want Chamarys to be left out for a silly rule. 

Chamarys lays her tail on my shoulder. "It's all right, Zoey," she says. "I'm used to it. I'll meet you back at the nest, okay?" She takes off without waiting for a response. 

I reach out after her departing form, then drop my hand. Something Recium said clicks in my brain, and I turn to him.

"Did I hear you say you were not certain I was the One? That I needed to be tested?" I ask.

Recium nods, a satisfied smile fluttering across his snout. "Yes. Certain... concerns have been raised by some members of our tribe as to Morrowmist's credibility and your One status. We have devised a series of simple tests to make certain you are who you say you are."

"And--" I start, but stop to quell the tremor in my voice. "And what happens if I fail them?"

Recium's smile gets wider. "You'll be killed, of course."

Then he turns tail and strides inside, and I have no choice to follow him into what very well might be my grave if I cannot convince these dragons I'm something I don't think I am. 

And it's about time for me to start acting like it if I'm supposed to impress this Elder Spark Morrowmist and Chamarys spoke of.

~~~ 

Chapter 9

Morrowmist ducks her head to follow me inside the Elder Spark's temple. The inside is dark and gloomy, heady with the smell of sweet smoke and prairie grass. On the inside, it appears to be much larger than it first was, and Morrowmist can now stand upright. I breath in the stifling air and almost cough, it's so strong. It's nothing like I imagined a majestic dragon temple to look like.

Recium flicks his tail with my arm and, once he has my attention, points me towards a trapdoor in the ceiling. He mouths, "You must go up there. The Elder Spark awaits you." 

I look at him, at the high ceiling, and back at him in disbelief. He shrugs, mouthing, "Your first test."

I grumble, and Recium immediately puts his tail over my mouth. "No speaking in the lower level," Recium mouths.

I sigh internally but nod, striding over to below the trapdoor to see what I can do. Morrowmist watches me with interest, perhaps wondering how I will manage this. If I even make it up to the height of the ceiling, I then have to open the heavy-looking trapdoor-- which opens into the room beyond, so I can't pull it open. I have to push it up, without falling from whatever perch I use.

I scan the room, looking for something I could drag over and climb on top of, but there's nothing. The only things in the room are Morrowmist, Recium, and I. Plus the log-and-grass walls and the log ceiling...

Looking around gives me an idea, and I scramble up one of the walls, grunting as I do so. Climbing trees at Northbrook did not prepare me for this. 

Morrowmist looks on thoughtfully and Recium scoffs, not knowing what I'm trying to do. I scan the ceiling and spot the perfect beam. I clamber back down the wall and search for something to execute my plan with. I spot the grasses in the walls and start pulling them out. Recium makes a distressed noise in the back of his throat and taps me on the shoulder. I spin around and he starts gesturing frantically, but I shrug and pretend not to understand him. Morrowmist shoots me an amused grin as i spin back around and remove more grass, dancing all around the structure to gather enough.

Once I judge I have enough to complete my task, I start weaving the grasses together, praying they'll be strong enough. A few of the grasses snap as I bend them, but most appear to be fresh and bend easily. 

I finish my weaving and smile appreciatively. I am now holding a long ribbon, roughly as wide as my two hands and as long as I am. I wrap it around my shoulders and scale the walls once more, the puzzled gazes of Recium and Morrowmist watching me. I hope I correctly estimated how big my ribbon would need to be and how strong the grass is. If not, I'll go plummeting to the ground and suffer much worse than a sprained wrist. 

I reach the top of the wall I'm on and wedge my feet in, leaving one hand holding on for balance. I use my other hand to slowly but surely unwind the woven swing from my shoulders, making sure I don't undo any of my painstaking work. I get it unwound and hold the middle of it, squinting my eyes at the beam I've chosen. In a fast movement, I throw the edge of the woven ribbon at the beam. It catches-- just barely. As soon as I tug on it, it falls.

Recium snorts and looks away, but Morrowmist looks at me with wondering eyes, catching what I'm trying to do. She nods at me, once, like affirming I can do it.

I nod back and look at the end of my ribbon. It's not going to slide over the edge of the beam without help. It's too light, and hard to throw. I break a piece of bark off the wall next to me-- Recium makes another distressed noise at the sight of me destroying his temple-- and tie it firmly to the end. I swing my makeshift weight experimentally, and it seems to hold. Now to see if it will actually work. 

I get the beam in my sights again and throw the ribbon. This time, it sails through the air and over the beam, which I chose for the space at the top of it. The edge goes over and around the beam, dangling down the other side. I reach out with my free hand and brush the edge of it.

I grit my teeth and reach out a little further, finally catching ahold of it. I pull it back to my corner and wrap my hands with both ends, one hand per end. Now both Recium and Morrowmist are watching me strangely, Morrowmist with hope, Recium with surprise that I've made it this far. 

I take a deep breath and tug on the ribbon with both of my wrapped hands. It holds.

I take another deep breath, and another, trying to calm my racing heart as I prepare for what I'm about to do. I shift my body so I'm facing the wall, carefully taking my feet out of their tightly wedged holes and finding new, looser ones. My hands are still tightly gripping the ribbon.

One last deep breath, then I bend my knees and push off as hard as I can towards the trapdoor.

I swing out wildly, supported by my shoulders and arms in the ribbon.

I end up no-where near the trapdoor.

Which is fine, since that wasn't my intention. I swing back in and use my momentum to push out again, swinging like a pendulum.

I do this over and over, using my momentum to get farther and farther every time, gritting my teeth against the pain of slamming into a wall.

Recium and Morrowmist look awed as I continue to get farther and farther until I'm directly below the trapdoor. Another swing should do it. 

As I push against the wall, I rotate so my legs are curled against my chest. As soon as I make contact with the trapdoor, I straighten them and heave the gigantic door open. It smacks open and I go careening back to the wall, barely rotating back in time to push off once more.

I swing a few more times to make up for the momentum I lost in opening the trapdoor, and every time I do, I unwind my hands a little more, until, on the last swing, the only thing keeping me in place is my own sweaty grip. My shoulders are burning at keeping my body suspended for so long, and the ribbon is looking slightly worse for wear. As I push off the wall for the final time, I hear it rip a little.

I grit my teeth harder as I swing quickly towards the trapdoor. If I can't make it this time, I won't be able to make it at all.

This all happens in the second or two it takes me to swing towards the door. At the last second before I begin to swing back to the wall, I use the remaining momentum to fling myself off the ribbon, letting go of the ribbon as I do. I barely catch the edge of the trapdoor's frame, and for a terrifying second I think I won't be able to get up. Then, with a grunt, I pull myself up to the room beyond.

From below, I hear Morrowmist let out a great cheer despite the no-talking rule.

I grin even though she can't see me. My muscles are burning, my feet are bruised and sore, and my hands are red and raw. But I made it.

I really made it. 

 

You are doing awesome Starseeker! 

Chapter 10

~~~ 

I roll onto my back and take great heaving breaths, rolling my shoulders as I do so. Morrowmist emerges from the trapdoor, closely followed by Recium.

"Well done!" Morrowmist cheers, clapping me on the shoulder with her tail. "That was brilliant. Simply brilliant! And when you jumped? I thought for sure you would fall! But no, you caught yourself, and it was amazing!"

I wave my hand in her direction. "That's... great," I wheeze, sitting up. "Now... if only I could... catch my breath..."

Morrowmist immediately helps me up, supporting me with a fore-claw behind my back. I rise to my feet and wave her off, bending over to cough. When I straighten once more, I see what I missed before. We are on another level of the temple, one I did not see outside. It's open to the air, and somehow appears to be bigger around than the room below us. I spin around to ask Morrowmist how this is possible, but she must have guessed what's on my mind. Before I can even say anything, she winks and says, "Magic."

This level is also populated with dragons, unlike the abandoned level below. I spot the small lemon-colored dragon from before, Nephim, along with a few others I recognize from the crowd that surrounded me when I first arrived. They are all going about their business, gathering grass from a pile in the corner and weaving it into the short walls, sanding the pillars of the open roof and top of the walls down with rocks, writing on scrolls and dipping their stained claws in ink. It looks a little bit like a school, actually. An open-air school.

The working dragons fall silent as they spot me. One of them-- possibly Nephim-- lets out a small squeak.

I tip my chin up and narrow my eyes a little, trying to seem regal. Morrowmist raises one eye ridge at my expression. 

"Too much?" I ask, turning to her and breaking the silence that has fallen. Morrowmist shakes her head, eyes wide.

I groan. "Don't tell me there's another ban on speaking on the upper level, too. Because I refuse to do that, ever again."

A low, gravelly voice clears its throat from behind me, and I spin around to find the largest dragon I have ever seen. Not that I've seen many, but I'm getting pretty good at judging size. I'd say that this dragon is maybe the size of Stratus. Its scales are golden-- and I don't mean the sunlit-prairie gold tones of many of the dragons here. I mean pure, metallic gold.

The dragon smiles at me, kindly. "No, there is not a ban, Mighty One. But many of the Cadets and Centurions prefer to remain silent at all times. It can be easier that way sometimes."

The dragon, who I think is very old, judging by his-- for I've decided it's a male-- size, twitches his tail towards Morrowmist, who is making an odd sort of bowing gesture, with her neck stretched flat out towards the dragon facing me and her tail curled underneath herself. The dragon adds, "Our Navigator was trying to tell you of my approach."

I nod, biting my lip with my upper teeth. "And you are..."

A collective gasp rises up from the crowd around us, and my face heats. Morrowmist sucks in a sharp breath and Recium, from his even-deeper-bowed position, hisses, "It's the Elder Spark!"

My face heats even more, and I bow my head. "Elder Spark. Forgive me, for I did not know who you were." All of the time I've spent reading fairy tales finally came in handy.

The Elder Spark chuckles and uses his tail to tip my head back up to face him. "No worries, Mighty One. You have been through many trials to get here, and you will go through many more. You need not worry about diplomacy in the midst of all that."

I smile, already liking this Elder Spark. "I will. Oh, and, call me Zoey, please."

The Elder Spark mirrors my smile. "I will... Zoey. Call me... Airimium, for that is what I was called before I was the Elder Spark."

A louder tide of murmurs washes over us at his proclamation. I nod, and add, "I will respect your wishes... Airimium."

As I say his name, Airimium shivers. "It is strange, to be Airimium once more," he says, staring into the distance. "I have not been him in... a very long time."

Then he shakes his head and breaks out of his memories. "Back to work, everyone. I need to talk to Zoey alone before she can begin her trials."

The crowd utters but disperses, going back to their inking and weaving and sorting. Airimium flicks his tail and leads me towards a large nest at the back of the pavilion. He settles himself into it and gestures for me to make myself comfortable. I pull myself up to the top of his nest, muscles burning now that my surge of adrenaline has worn off, and perch there. Airimium resettles his tail so that it's under my feet, supporting my precarious perch. I nod to him in thanks.

Airimium opens his mouth, closes it, and shakes his head. He looks me over once more and shakes his head again, a small grin flickering at the corners of his mouth.

"What is it?" I ask, thoroughly tired of dragons inspecting me without permission.

Airimium shakes his head again, still grinning in that scary way dragons have, with lots of sharp, pointy teeth. "I just... all my life, we've been raised on tales of the Three. The Mighty One, with hair like raven's feathers--" he nods to my short hair-- "The Honest Second, thought to be a direct descendant of the founders of the unicorn and pegasi lands, and the Destined Third, who will be different than others of his kind, whatever that may be. But it's the One we've all heard about. The One is the prophecy member who will find the other two and unite them against evil. But..."

Here Airimium stops and laughs ruefully. "I guess I never expected the Mighty One to be a young human female is all."

I raise my chin. "I may show you that I am more than that." I'm bluffing, but to my surprise, Airimium nods thoughtfully. "I think you will. I really think you will."

I twirl a lock of my hair around my finger experimentally. I've never really thought about it, but it is the exact shade of raven feathers. It even has the bluish shine to it that ravens do.

"What else does the prophecy say?" I ask. "You just said there were three heroes, but I thought I was the One, as in the only hero?"

Airimium says, "No, of course not. Being the One refers to your place in the prophecy. The ancient prophecy refers to three heroes who save the land, but they may also raze it. They'll do this all on the night of quill, which historians speculate might be-- you know what? Let's have Nephim just tell you the prophecy. It'll be faster than you listening to me ramble on and on." Airimium winks at me and then calls out, "Cadet Nephim!"

The small lemon-colored dragon from outside the structure hurries over, biting his lip anxiously. I didn't know that was possible for a dragon.

"You wanted to see me, Honored Spark?" he asks. Airimium nods. "I was just telling Zoey here about the prophecy. Would you care to say it for us? I know you've been working on memorizing it all week." Airimium smiles kindly at Nephim, but he still looks like he might faint right where he's standing.

"O--of course, Honored Spark," he squeaks. Airimium makes a grand gesture with his foreleg, still smiling gently. "Whenever you're ready."

Nephim takes a deep breath, opens his mouth, and stops. He closes his mouth once more and opens it again. He seems to have finally worked up the courage to speak as he says, 

"Three Heroes Born To End The Fight

Three Heroes Come To Repel The Night

Save Or Raze The Land They Will

Fate Shall Unfold On Night Of Quill

A Maiden Of The Raven Hair

Shall Come To You From Lands Out There

Time Ago Banished Here

Far Away Across The Mere

A Pure Descendant Of Cloud

True, Honest, and Golden Browed

Does Always Noble Endeavor

And Shall Be One Of Three Heroes Forever

One That Does Not Fit

One That Cannot Flit

Scorned By Those Who Cannot Foresee

He Will Be One Of Destined Three

An Evil Is Coming To Choke The Land

All Will Perish By Their Hand

Time Again Will Repeat

Unless The Evil Can Be Beat." 

Nephim finishes and shuffles his feet, looking pleased with himself.

Airimium praises him, saying, "Well done, Cadet Nephim! Your year is almost over, is it not?"

Nephim bobs his head in a nervous yes. 

Airimium smiles. "I hope you will come back to be a Centurion, Cadet Nephim. I can sense the promise in you."

Cadet Nephim beams. I can practically see the happiness rolling off of him as he bounces back to his work, whatever that may be. Airimium turns back to me with a bemused smile on his face.

I sigh, stretching my sore arms up over my head. It hurts, but in a good way. Like I have stretched the muscles to their very limits in a good workout... that determined the fate of my life. I snort at this though, which quickly turns into full-blown laughter the longer I consider the impossibility of my situation. If someone had told me a few days ago that I would be sitting here, in another world, having a casual conversation with a dragon about the fate of the world, I would have said they had been drinking too much. But here I am.

As my laughter subsides, it is now Airimium's time to sigh. "I liked the sound of your happiness," he said. "Dragons are never quite so happy as humans. We have more to think about."

"Seems to me like dragons don't have many emotions," I say. "Morrowmist told me earlier that she had never seen someone cry before, and here you are saying that dragons are rarely happy. So do dragons just not feel anything?" I meant it as a bit of a joke, but Airimium seems to take it seriously. He tilts his head to consider my statement and he is silent so long I fear I have offended him.

When he finally speaks, it is slow and halting. "We do have emotions," Airimium says. "It's just that we show them strongly or not at all. Dragons feel less strongly about the little things. We find it difficult to laugh, or cry, over something like a joke or the death of a lesser creature. We show emotion with larger things, like the death of one of our kind or the promotion of a Cadet to a Centurion, if they so choose that path. It is... dangerous for a dragon to become too emotional. There is a fire burning in each of us, called a Spark. It's what gives us our unique ability to breathe flame, those Blazes that do, at least. It grows stronger with emotions."

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" I ask. "It being stronger, I mean?"

Airimium says, "Yes. Little advances can boost our longevity and firepower. But too many emotions at one time will make the Spark consume us from the inside out. It is dangerous to even cry a single tear. Some of the Blazes with weaker Sparks, such as Blaze TideFire and Blaze PineFire, show more emotion than we do, with one of the strongest Sparks in all of the Blazes. These weaker-Sparked Blazes have more freedom to emote than we do."

I nod, understanding this concept.

Another dragon, one who I haven't seen before with light orange-yellow scales, comes up to Airimium's nest and waits. Airimium stretches his head over the side and the dragon whispers something in his ear. Airimium whips his head back in surprise, then turns back to me. "In light of... recent developments," he says, "Your testing will begin immediately. Go with this dragon here--" he gestures towards the dragon that interrupted us-- "and he will lead you to the site of your first Test. May the Fire-Mother be with you, Mighty One." Airimium bows his head solemnly and I return the gesture. Airimium lifts his tail to give me a boost as I clamber out of the basket. I drop the last few feet to the ground and land in a crouch, rising to my feet quickly. The light orange-yellow dragon leads me away from Airimium and down once more, to the heady-aired room I entered. This time, however, the drop seems smaller. Maybe it is because the other dragon flies down first and catches me gently as I fall, or maybe I was over-exaggerating the drop beforehand due to excitement. Or maybe it's magic, like Morrowmist said.

I chuckle to myself and the orange-yellow dragon looks at me sideways. "Why are you making that sound?" it asks.

I grin lopsidedly. "I was just thinking about something Morrowmist said."

The dragon cocks its head. "The Navigator?"

I shrug. "I guess so. Why do you call her the Navigator when she has a name? And what's with the Centurions and Cadets and stuff?"

The dragon looks confused. "The Elder Spark did not explain our system to you?"

I shake my head.

The dragon frowns. "If the Elder Spark did not tell you, then it may not be my place to tell you either."

I smile in what I hope is a reassuring manner. "I'm sure he just ran out of time. Your arrival was rather sudden."

The dragon frowns deeper. "If you're sure..."

I nod. "I'm sure."

The dragon takes a deep breath and says, "Long ago, our ancestors set up this system for us. In it, there is a leader of us all, called the Elder Spark. These Elder Sparks are usually spiritual leaders, but we have been blessed with an Elder Spark who is both wise and clever. He is able to spiritually guide us with his awareness of the Great Flame, where our Sparks come from. He is also able to lead us in everyday decisions, such as treaties, food sources, that sort of thing. Below the Elder Spark are the Navigators. They are the few blessed dragons who are able to navigate the In-Between, like the Navigator that brought you here, Morrowmist. She is one our more skilled Navigators, though there are not many to compare her to. Born Navigators are very rare to find. These are the dragons that have the instinct to Cross from a very early age. Otherwise, most of our Navigators are taught by the Born Navigators. It is a difficult and risky task to take, but Navigators are highly prized by all the Blazes. Below Navigators are Centurions, who serve the Elder Spark. Below even the Centurions are the Cadets. In their tenth moon-cycle, each young dragonet in our tribe must learn from the Elder Spark, Centurions, or Navigator for one year. Then, the most promising are selected to remain here and begin an apprenticeship, if they so choose."

I nod, taking all this information in and adding it to the plethora of facts that have been thrown at me the past day or so.  "And what are you?" I ask.

The dragon puffs out his chest. "I'm a Cadet. I was chosen last year to become a Centurion. It's a huge honor," he adds, looking at me hopefully, like I might congratulate him.

I oblige, and say, "Congrats! What's your name? I'm Zoey."

The dragon seems to have emerged out of his nervous, unsure shell as he says, "I'm Jelein, Mighty One."

"Zoey," I say.

The dragon, Jelein, says, "You want me to call you by your name and not your honored title?"

I nod. "Until I finish these tests, I'm not the One. I'm just Zoey, a plain girl from Earth. Nothing special."

Jelein jumps at the word "tests". "Oh!" he says, starting towards the corner of the room, where there is now mysteriously a staircase heading downwards that I'm almost positive was not there before. "I;m supposed to be taking you to be tested!"

I grin and sprint after him, his longer legs outpacing my shorter ones. As we travel down the stairs, Jelein resumes our conversation, like there was never any pause. "But the mere fact you are from Earth makes you special. I've never met anyone from Earth. What's it like there?"

"Well," I begin, "It's a lot like Zentara, actually. Everybody lives in little camps, but we call them cities instead. And everyone usually loves with people like them. The youngest humans learn from the eldest ones, but not an Elder Spark. The land is divided up into sections like yours-- forests, oceans, prairies. But ours is mostly gone now. We've cut it down to make more cities."

We keep going farther and farther down, so far I think we must be heading into the Center of the Earth of we were still on Earth. Still Jelein leads me downward, and still I follow.

"You cut down the land to make cities?" Jelein says, his orange-yellow snout wrinkling in confusion.

"Well, yeah. Not exactly the lan itself, but what grows on it. Trees, plats-- we need room for our families."

Jelein looks very confused but nods anyway. He opens his mouth to say something but closes it, as we have finally reached the bottom of the staircase. It's a wide room with nothing in it but six staircases, seven if you count the one we just came down. All of them lead up but one, which leads down. Actually, that one is a bit more of a tunnel than a staircase, but I digress.

Jelein clears his throat and I turn to look at him. He looks a little bit uncomfortable now that we've become the One and the Centurion's Apprentice once again. 

"You will be given one hour to complete your trials," he says. "You will be led by a series of clues, which you will have to figure out and then complete the task it gives you. "

He hands me something, gingerly, wrapped in a white cloth. I take it and unfold the cloth. It's something golden and round, but slightly concave, like a shallow bowl, and about as big as my hand. There's writing on it in emerald ink. I examine it closer until I realize what it is.

It's a scale.

And I know that particular shade of golden orange.

"What have you done to Chamarys?" I gasp.

Jelein bows his head, looking guilty. "The Elder Spark required it as incentive for you to finish. If you do not finish or you fail, not only is your life forfeit, but the Navigator's mate's is as well."

I dash forward and grasp the part of Jelein I can reach-- his tail. "Please," I beg him, trying to meet his eyes, but he will not look at me. "Please don't do this. I can't let Chamarys die because of me!"

Jelein avoids my eyes as he says, "Then you will just have to make certain you don't fail."

He turns and begins the trek back up the staircase, but I am still holding his tail. "Jelein, please, stop this," I beg, tears filling my eyes. "Jelein, please don't do this. Please."

Jelein turns back to look at me, his eyes stony and cold. "Let go of my tail," he says, pulling it out of my grasp. I fall back and land on my behind with a thump.

At the sound of my thump, Jelein looks back, and his stony gaze softens at the sight of me, on my behind, tears threatening to spill out of my eyes.

"Your time officially starts when I reach the top of the staircase," he says. "I'll give you a few extra minutes. That is all I can do. I am sorry, Zoey."

I nod and stand up, wiping at my eyes. "Thank you, Jelein! Thank you!"

Jelein nods and half-smiles. He turns once more, but I say, "Jelein?"

He looks over his shoulder and raises an eye-ridge. 

"If I..." I start. "If I fail, and I never see Morrowmist again, will you tell her I'm sorry? That I tried to save Chamarys?"

Jelein nods, compassion filling his gaze. "Of course." Then he turns for good and starts up the stairs. Before his tail has even disappeared from view, I snatch up the scale clue I dropped when I realized what it was. I peer at the emerald green writing of it. At first, it seems to be a jumbled mess, but as I stare at it longer, it rearranges itself into words.

Find the shining scales of dragon

They are gliding over long lost lagan

"What?" I say aloud, and it echoes through the room. "It looks like a poem..." I murmur, to myself. The silence is eerie and I feel the need to break it. I trace my finger along the word 'lagan'. 

"I've heard this word before..." I say. I close my eyes and think. Where? Where have I seen it? With a gasp my eyes fly open and words pour across my mind. I'm doused in memories...

It's dark in Delta Dorm. I'm reading by flashlight as I listen to the snores of the E squad. It's one of my first nights there, where everything had still seemed like a fantasy that would fly away if I breathed too hard. I'm reading a story, a fairy tale, with mermaids in it. I remember the mermaids.

"Mermaids, with shimmering tails and siren songs, lure the prince to the edge of the lagan," I read aloud to myself.

I gasp as the memory stops. For a few moments there, I was back. Back on Earth. Back in Delta Dorm. And... Back in time?

I shake my head. It was just a memory. A memory I don't have time for, if I want to save Chamarys. 

So a lagan has something to do with water. A shipwreck, I think. "I need to find the ocean," I say aloud. "Didn't Chamarys says something about a Blaze that lives in the water? I need to find them!"

I turn back to the staircase we came down and stop. When Morrowmist was flying me here, all I could see for miles and miles was prairie. It would take much more than an hour to make it to the sea, and this is just the first clue. There has to be a shortcut somewhere. Probably something to do with one of these staircases... but which one?

I go towards the one to the left of the one I came down. This one spirals up and up, so high I can't see where it ends. When I touch it, a breeze whispers across my neck and I get the feeling of flying. I quickly retract my hand and look down at my feet to make certain I'm still firmly on the ground. "That must lead to the sky," I say. "Wind, flying-- isn't there a Blaze that lives in the sky?"

I move on to the next staircase. This one is straight, and at a slightly sloping angle. When I touch it, I feel more wind, but this time, it's gentler, and makes a different sound. I smell wood, and moss, and moist dirt. "Definitely not the sea," I say.

When I move on to the next staircase, though, I smell salt, and it feels like I've been dumped in a bucket of ice water. This is the staircase that was more of a tunnel. I take my hand away from the entryway and take a deep breath. I can't fail these tests. 

I have to go through this tunnel.

I step into the tunnel-staircase, one foot at a time. As soon as I have both feet inside, I hear a slight pop. I look behind me and the room is gone. Poof. Just like that, my only escape route is closed.

I take another deep breath. I've chosen this path. And now I must stick to it, or lose not only my life but Chamarys's too.

~~~

Chapter 11

I look behind me. Now, there's nothing but a long tunnel, stretching out for who-knows-how-long. In front of me is the same tunnel, but there appears to be a light at the end.

I walk briskly towards the light, which I presume means a way out. As I do, I trail my hand along the wall. It's wet and soft, and with a snort of disgust, I realize it's coated in some sort of sea plant-- sort of like seaweed, but with a mossy structure. I pull my hand away hurriedly. With every step, the scent of salt gets stronger, and a breeze whips at my hair. I start going faster and faster until, with a gasp, I stumble out onto a beach. All around me is the ocean, for miles in every direction. I spin in a circle, but I cannot see the tunnel I just stepped out of, or any sign of land at all besides the island I'm on and an island far off to my right. I squint at the sunlight glinting off the sea around me, looking at the other island. When I tilt my head just right, I think I can see a flash of gold. The next clue! 

I start wading excitedly into the sea, thinking that maybe I could swim there. I mean, I've never really learned to swim, but it can't be that hard, right?

As soon as the water reaches my shoulders, I have no choice but to figure out how to swim. I know people move their arms, and paddle their legs...

I sink underwater despite my flailing. A huge wave comes up and pushes me back towards shore, tumbling me underwater until I'm not certain which way is up and which way is down. With a crash, the wave pushes me back ashore, and I spill onto the beach of my little island. I roll over onto my back and cough up water, shivering despite the sun in my soaking clothes.

I sit up, shaking violently and still spitting out salty water. I brush my hair out of my eyes and find... a dragon?

I yelp and scoot backwards on the sand. The dragon-- or whatever it is-- tips its head to the side, watching me curiously. My first assumption might not be correct-- it's longer than the dragons I know, and it has gills. Its legs are shorter, and its talons are webbed. Its horns are wavy instead of gently curved, and there is a ruff of what looks like more webbing behind its ears and all down its back. The entire dragon is a shimmering shade of teal. And its wings-- I stifle a gasp as I catch a glimpse of them. They are barely anything more than fins, perhaps useful for short flights, but nothing more.

"What-- what are you?" I gasp.

It tilts its head to the other side and opens its mouth. It has no tongue. 

"Oh, you poor thing!" I say, reaching out despite my revulsion. The dragon, for that's what I will call it for now, flinches backwards.

I instantly withdraw my hand. It flicks its tail towards me, and I see that it has a curvy tail tip, not unlike Morrowmist's Astra. I reach for it, gingerly, and the dragon moves it closer, as if encouraging me. As soon as I touch it, a foreign presence appears in my mind. It's less concrete than Morrowmist's presence was, more-- for lack of a better word-- watery, and harder to pin down. It's also older-feeling, more primordial. As I internally reach towards it, an image comes to mind: me, flailing in the water, and a feeling of concern. I realize it's coming from the dragon itself.

You were wondering if I was okay? I think back. The dragon just blinks at me. Okay, non-verbal communication then. It sent me an image and a feeling-- maybe I can do the same. I close my eyes and focus on feeling happy and well. The dragon makes a small noise in the back of its throat, like a dolphin might. The dragon sends back a curious feeling, and I interpret it as wondering what a human is doing so far out in the ocean. I don't know how to send all this through images and feelings, and so I think of the island and the flash of golden scale I saw. Then I think of what it felt like to be running down the tunnel, hoping that this will accurately convey my meaning.

The dragon tilts its head once more, and thinks back an image of the island once more, with another feeling of curiosity and my own memory of traveling. I think of the island again, this time opening my eyes and pointing to it. The dragon opens its eyes as well-- it must have closed its eyes when I closed mine-- and follows my hand to the island. The dragon's tail twitches under my fingers as it thinks of itself, then me, flailing under the water, and back to the island. Then back to the feeling of traveling, but this time from the dragon's perspective-- twisting and leaping through the white-capped waves amongst an entire herd of dragons like it. Then back to me, and back to the dragon. It stares into my eyes, and I can almost feel it willing me to understand. I frown and furrow my eyebrows. It thought of itself, and then me, and then traveling to the island. Then itself and me again. Does that mean it will take me?

I think of curiosity again, then itself and me and the island and traveling. The dragon sends back a feeling of affirmation, of feeling that you've done something right. Then it turns and sinks back into the ocean.

I sigh. My understanding must not have been as good as I thought. But then, the dragon crests the surface of the sea again, a little distance away. I have no choice but to follow. I take in a deep breath and splash into the sea. I wade as far as I can out towards the dragon before having to swim once more. This time, however, as I begin to flail, the dragon rests its tail underneath me. Its Astra flicks against my leg and an image comes into my mind, of lying still in the sunlight. It's one of the dragon's. I try to lie still as the dragon's tail sweeps me forward until I am right behind its massive head. It makes one of those peculiar squeaking noises again, sending me an my own hands, then its back fins. I hope I have understood it correctly as I gingerly take ahold of the spine right in front of me. The webbing stretching between this spine and the next is slightly gooey as I touch it, and I shudder and pull my hand away, choosing to hold on to the bare spine above the webbing. The dragon chirps again and sends me another image, this one of me on the beach, taking a great big gulp of air, and then another feeling of curiosity.

I take a huge breath, then another, and send back a feeling of affirmation.

The dragon flexes its tail once and then dives beneath the waves, me clinging to its back like a pesky human burr. Or, in this case, a barnacle.

I don't dare to open my eyes. Seawater can't be good for them. But even so, I can feel how fast we're traveling through the water-- much faster than I could have done on my own, or even in a boat. Then, just when I think my lungs might burst from lack of oxygen, we crest the surface of the waves. I gasp, pulling air into my deprived lungs as fast as I possibly can. The dragon gently scoots me forward again, over its head and onto the shore of the second island. I stand up quickly, seeing the scale at the top of the dune of sand I'm at the bottom of. I start to scramble towards the top and stop, looking back down at the dragon below me. I slide back down the dune and back to the dragon, reaching for its tail even as it curls it towards me. The dragon is the first to think something, a picture of me climbing up the dune and a feeling of curiosity. I send back a feeling of affirmation.

The dragon wilts a little and sends back a feeling of sadness, which I mirror back to him. With my free hand, I reach out and put my hand on the dragon's snout. It pushes up against my hand, slightly, like a cat to its chosen human. I smile and stroke its snout gently. The dragon's Astra twitches in my other hand, and it sends an image of seeing me talk to it, then it hearing something in the ocean, then it coming to me on the beach. Its eyes will me to see, to understand that if I ever need it again, I need only call. I stare right back into its eyes. "I understand," I whisper. "I won't forget you." I send back a feeling of affirmation, and the dragon turns to go, its Astra and snout slipping out from my grip. It pauses a second, then reaches its head down to its foreleg. With a sharp movement of its head, it neatly rips out a scale and reaches out its neck to me, pressing the scale into my hand. I wrap my fingers around it and its head retracts, eyes searching mine as it sinks below the wave once more. I see ripples as it glides away, and then it's truly gone.

I turn back to the dune, rotating the shimmering teal scale over in my hand. 

A line from the clue echoes through my head. "Find the shining scale of dragon..." I whisper to my head, tucking the scale into the breast pocket of my academy shirt with the first clue, which I hadn't even realized I had kept. I dig my hands and feet into the burning tower of sand, gritting my teeth against the heat as I do so. I slip and slide, going backwards a step for every one I take. I can't help but hope that another friendly dragon might just pop out of the sand, but there's no such luck for me. This task is all my own.

I finally make it to the top and pull out the scale. I turn it over and over, but there isn't any writing on it at all. I bend over it, trying to see it better, and my shadow falls on a corner of the scale. With an emerald flash, part of the writing there is revealed. I gasp and lean over the rest of the scale, covering it with my shadow, until I can read:

Find the dragon of the trees

Far away from rolling seas

~~~ 

This one isn't quite finished, but I want feedback on it. Thanks!

~Starseeker