“Good,” said Mr. Brunes. “And what do you think it stands for?” Sam paused for a moment, thinking slowly about all the things that were pasted on the dragon board. “I don’t know,” he mumbled, clueless. Mr. Brunes cleared his throat, then said, “The dragon board is a display of all the tactics and techniques you will be learning in this dragon battle class. Many of these methods are ancient, as ancient as the first breed of Transmalians. It is important that you study the dragon board because it will help you with your battle skills.”
Mr. Brunes then walked back to one of the walls in the room, popping open one of the gray padding squares. Then, he rummaged through the storage area behind it, throwing out a sword, a set of armor, a shield, metal gloves, and a pair of metal boots. “Put these on,” said Mr. Brunes. “You will be starting your battle training today.”
Sam rushed over to where Mr. Brunes was standing, struggling to pick up the armor and boots. He clumsily threw the armor on, wobbling from side to side under the weight of the metal. He then reached out to grab the sword, dropping it in surprise, as the sword was scorching, almost burning his hands. He bent down to pick up the sword, this time while wearing his metal gloves. Sam attempted to walk a few steps, but found that he was almost rooted to the spot in which he stood. The equipment he was wearing was so heavy that with each step he took, he felt as if he was being weighed down.
Mr. Brunes chuckled quietly, observing Sam’s plight. He slowly walked over to Sam and gave him a hand. “You will need to learn to master the use of your armor, and change your weaknesses into strengths.” Mr. Brunes began explaining some of the different forms of dragon battle, and techniques used to defeat any type of opponents.
Sam tried his best to pay attention, but every now and then, he found himself dozing off. The armor weighed down on him, hurting his back and causing him to slump. Mr. Brunes, sensing Sam’s lack of attention, decided to end the class early. “Take a break,” said Mr. Brunes kindly. “Learning all these skills from the very beginning can be challenging, but you’ll get it.” Sam sat down on the padded floor, panting and sweating. Not only was the metal painful to wear, it pressed in on him and caused him to feel faint. He sluggishly took the armor off and put it back in one of the storage walls. Just as Sam finished putting the armor away, the bell rang. He sighed, pausing for a moment, and then headed out of the classroom. He fumbled in his pocket, quickly pulling out his class schedule.
His next class was battle enforcement. As Sam entered the room, he was surprised to see another student sitting in the row of desks. As he neared closer to the student, he recognized who it was. The other student in the classroom was Max. Sam softly slipped into the desk next to him.
“What are you doing here?” asked Sam in surprise. “This is an integrated class,” said Max. “Since I am also the only student in my classes, they decided to put us both in the same class. Battle enforcement is a common class and isn’t specialized for a specific Transmalian.” Sam’s heart soared, as he was excited that Max was in his class with him. “What type of Transmalian are you?” asked Sam cautiously. Max took a deep breath, and said, “I’m not a Transmalian. My parents were Transmalians, but after the accident, I don’t think I can use my powers anymore. I was originally supposed to be a tiger Transmalian, and the teachers at the school are trying to help me get my powers back.”
“Oh,” said Sam quietly, “I’m really sorry to hear that. I can try and help you as much as I can. At least we’re in the same class so we can both learn together!” Max smiled faintly, and then pointed ahead. A tall, dark-haired woman with a pointy nose stared at them with her beady eyes. “Hello,” she whispered ominously. “I am Ms. Pierre, the battle enforcement teacher for special students such as yourselves. The first thing we are going to do today is read and research.” She then walked toward the front of the room, in which there was a chalkboard, a small filing cabinet, and a pile of books. She grabbed the two books that were on the top, and carried them over to where Max and Sam were sitting. She dropped the books on Max and Sam’s desks, raising a cloud of dust that led both boys to cough. The books left a lot of dust lingering in the air, making it hard to see and breathe.
As the air cleared, Sam realized that his teacher was on fire. Her skin was glowing and red, flames erupting from her hands, feet, and shoulders. Her eyes were a ruby red, and her face began to change from light pink to bright red. Sam looked around the room to see if anything else was on fire. As he glanced to his left, he realized that Max was on fire as well! His skin emitted a strange orange-red color, and his hands began to grow fur. Sam looked down at himself, and saw that nothing had happened to him. He seemed to be completely normal.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked in shock. “The books I just gave you are extremely ancient, and released some dragon dust,” said Ms. Pierre. She let out a stifled cough. “Only dragon Transmalians are immune to dragon dust, which is why you are not undergoing a transformation.”
Ms. Pierre began to breathe heavily, her breaths getting longer and longer. Max seemed to be having the same problem, his neck and face turning bright red and his eyes becoming bloodshot.
“What can I do?” asked Sam worriedly. “Grab that white bottle over there,” gasped Ms. Pierre in between breaths. Sam rushed toward the white bottle that was perched on top of the filing cabinet. He grabbed it and ran back toward Ms. Pierre, panting. “What should I do with it?” he asked. Ms. Pierre’s face began to turn red, and she seemed unable to talk.
Sam’s heart beat faster and faster as he realized that he had to make a decision on his own. He quickly opened the white bottle, and without hesitation, poured the liquid within it all over Max and Ms. Pierre. A few moments passed, and nothing seemed to have happened. Suddenly, white smoke began to rise all around the room. The smoke gathered around Max and Ms. Pierre, making them hard to see. Sam squinted, attempting to see them, but he could only make out shadows. However, the smoke soon began to clear, and both Max and Ms. Pierre were visible again.
They were sprawled on the ground, and neither of them appeared to be conscious. Sam rushed toward them, feeling for a pulse. He felt nothing. Their bodies were cold, and neither of them had a pulse. He was just about to call for help when all of a sudden Max jolted awake. “Are you OK?” asked Sam, fearfully. “I’m fine,” said Max softly. “It’s Ms. Pierre we need to worry about.”
Max pointed over to where Ms. Pierre lay, shivering and shaking. Sam slowly inched toward her, his spine tingling in fear. Ms. Pierre was still breathing heavily, each breath stifled with a cough. Sam patted her on the back, hoping that whatever was making her cough, would fly out of her throat. She continued coughing for a few moments and then was still. Sam peered over his teacher, wondering what had happened to her. Ms. Pierre awoke with a start, her eyes watering and face bright red. “What happened?” she asked, panicked.
Sam took a few moments to respond and said, “You and Max were covered in white smoke, and you both passed out.” Ms. Pierre let out a sigh of relief. “I’m so sorry that the class had to start like that,” she said. “I didn’t know that the books had dragon dust on them. I was only able to tell once the side effects started showing up.” Sam let out a small, tight smile and said, “It’s fine,” even though he was quite shaken by the incident. He didn’t want to cause any more trouble.
Ms. Pierre picked herself off the ground and walked back to her desk. Max and Sam walked back to their seats, waiting to hear what she was going to say. “For the rest of the class,” she said, “you will be reading these battle books and analyzing them.” Sam and Max groaned, knowing that the rest of the class would be boring. Both of them attempted to read the books, but found them unbearably dull.
The two boys then began talking to one another, and got away with it, as Ms. Pierre barely paid attention to what they were doing. “So Max,” inquired Sam, “how do you like the school so far?” Max gave a puzzled look and said, “So far it’s been good. I mean I’ve only been here for a couple of d
ays, so I don’t know.”
Sam nodded in agreement, and then asked, “What was your old life like?” Max gulped and said, “I was homeschooled, so I never really spent time with any people other than my parents. I was always kept indoors and never had any friends.” He smiled and then said, “This school is different, and because I came here I got to meet new people and learn about my parents, and my past. I’ve learned about so many things that my parents kept from me.”
Sam felt pity for Max, because he was an only child and never had a normal life. His real life began when he came to the Nightfire School. Sam waited in silence for a few moments, wondering why Max wasn’t asking him any questions. Just after their short conversation had ended, the bell rang to break the silence. Sam rose from his seat and said, “Bye, Max. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He then waved good-bye to Ms. Pierre and exited the classroom.
Max briskly walked to his next class, Transmalian history. He was greeted by a young woman with fiery red hair. Her face was dotted with orange freckles, and her eyes were an intense hazel color. “Hi,” she said, attempting to introduce herself. “I am Ms. Camp, your history teacher.” She extended her hand, firmly gripping Sam’s. “Let’s begin class, shall we?” “Of course,” said Sam, nodding. Sam noted that this class was by far the most boring.
Unlike the last class, he had no friends, and his teacher was not exciting in any way. The class dragged on, filled with endless minutes of Ms. Camp pointing to a bleak chalkboard and spilling out historical information on Transmalians. As much as Sam enjoyed learning about the past of the secret race of people he belonged to, he needed sleep, and more than that, he was starving. It’d been so long since he’d had breakfast. Sam was close to falling asleep throughout the whole class, and he was relieved when the bell finally rang. Even though he’d retained no information whatsoever, he was glad that he had almost made it through the day.
Then, he remembered that his least favorite part of the day was approaching, the training room with Instructor Ivy. Sam grudgingly headed to his last class of the day, praying that it would go by fast. He headed over to the same spot he had sat in the last time. The room looked no different than it had previously, and the students in it seemed just as unhappy to be there as they had before.
Sam struggled through the class, drifting in and out of sleep as Instructor Ivy went through each animal group, testing their strengths and weaknesses. When she finally got around to him, the class was almost over. “What powers have you used so far?” she snarled. “None,” he said meekly. Her beady eyes narrowed in on him, and her upper lip began to quiver. “You mean to tell me that I have a student who knows nothing at all?” Sam began to shake uncontrollably, barely managing to say “yes.” His fear and terror kept growing, so much so that his vision became blurred and his palms sweaty. Sam began to wonder what Alana had told Instructor Ivy, since she hadn’t used any of her powers either. Sam closed his eyes, hoping that Instructor Ivy would walk away and leave him alone for the rest of class. “Talk to me after class,” she said gruffly. Sam groaned, knowing that part of his dinner break would be cut off. Now that he was thinking about dinner, he remembered that he hadn’t even had lunch!
None of his teachers had allowed him to take a lunch break in the middle of their class, which was surprising. Sam was still quite confused as to how the lunch breaks worked, especially in this nocturnal schedule. He was still getting used to sleeping during the day, and training during the night. Sam drowsily watched as Instructor Ivy shuffled from group to group, questioning each of the specific Transmalians.
Finally, the bell rang, dismissing students from the class and to dinner. Sam stayed behind, wearily watching as the students filed out of the training room. Once everyone had left the room, Sam walked over to Instructor Ivy. He was just about to open his mouth and ask her why she had asked him to stay after class, but she began talking straight away. “I’ve been told to keep a close eye on you and your sister. I know that neither of you have ever used your powers before,” she said. She then let out a small smile, and patted Sam on the back. “Go to dinner now,” she said. Sam let out a sigh of relief. Before, he was stressed that Instructor Ivy would interrogate him, but he now realized that she wasn’t as bad as he had thought.
He walked out of the room, picking up pace, as he was excited to meet Alana and tell her all about his day. He walked down the long corridor and took a left, turning toward the dining hall. The great oak doors were open, and Sam walked straight into the hall, licking his lips as the wonderful smells of pasta and chicken wafted through the air. He scanned the room, looking for Alana. He was sure that she was in there, but just wasn’t sure exactly where. Oddly enough, he couldn’t find her or Max. He decided to head to the buffet, get his food, and then go from table to table looking for her.
Sam began getting hungrier and hungrier as he eyed all the food. He quickly grabbed a bowl of pasta, some buttered rolls, a fruit cup, and a slice of mousse cake. He then looked around at all the tables, trying to see if Alana was sitting at any of them. He weaved through the long tables, passed through crowds of people, but still no Alana. Sam began to wonder what had happened to her, if she had even come to get dinner. Suddenly, he noticed a girl sitting at a table in the far left corner of the hall.
As he moved in closer, he realized it was Alana. He rushed toward her and sat down next to her. She looked up, and was relieved to see Sam. Alana had already finished eating her food, which was surprising since she was typically a slow eater. “I’ve had the longest day ever,” she said, yawning. “Me too,” said Sam in agreement. He then started eating rapidly, scarfing down all of his food in a matter of minutes. After he was finished eating, he proceeded to tell her all about his classes, and what he’d done in each of them. Once he was done narrating the main incidents of the day, Alana began sharing hers. To Sam, it seemed as if Alana had the same classes as he did, they were just based around a different animal. In some ways, Alana was lucky because her teachers were more understanding of her and seemed to be giving her an easy time. Sam began getting more and more tired as each minute dragged on. He wanted to leave the dining room immediately, but Alana wanted to go and get more food.
Both of them got up and walked toward the dessert table. Sam was surprised to see that Ms. Montrose was at the table, talking to students. This was news to him, as he didn’t know that she ate meals at the dining hall. When Ms. Montrose saw Sam and Alana, she walked over to where they were and began talking to them as well. “How are you liking the school so far?” she asked, smiling.
“Well, all my classes are pretty good so far,” said Sam. “Same here,” said Alana in a distracted manner, while she debated about whether to get a macaroon or a cream puff. “I’m glad to hear that!” exclaimed Ms. Montrose. She then asked, “Do you like all of your teachers?” Alana poked her head out from behind a stack of colorful pastries and said, “Most of my teachers are really nice.” Sam was about to respond when suddenly a blood-curdling scream followed by a loud explosion broke the air.
ESCAPE
Sam looked in the direction that the noise came from, and a chilling fear filled his heart. “Alana,” he whispered, while pointing toward the front of the room where there was a gaping hole. Flames erupted in the front of the room, and smoke began to float through the air. Ms. Montrose grabbed Sam’s hand and motioned to Alana to duck under the dessert table. They spent a few moments under the table before Ms. Montrose said, “We’re under attack. There’s no time to explain. You both need to get out of here as fast as you can. They’ve come for you.” She took a breath and continued. “There’s a trap door a few tables down. All you need to do is crouch down and crawl from this table to that table over there.” She pointed to another dessert table that was about twenty-five feet away.
“You go before me,” she said, giving them both a firm push. Sam crawled frantically between frenzied people, trying his best to avoid the hundreds of feet that were pounding on the dining hall floor. He looked ba
ck for a quick moment, making sure that Alana was close by. She was bobbing and weaving in between people, slipping under tables and crawling over fallen chairs and silverware.
Sam was getting close to the trap door table, when suddenly a flaming blue bomb landed nearby and exploded in the ground. Electricity crackled through the floor, and Sam found it more and more difficult to continue crawling. Looking behind, Sam could see that two men dressed in blue were scouting the area, searching for them. Sam made a break for it and slid right under the trap door table. He furiously tore at the floor, removing three pieces of glossy brown hardwood that revealed a metal square. Sam tugged at the square and pulled it off. He could see a small shaft, and at the end of it, light. Alana and Ms. Montrose crawled up to the table and motioned for him to continue. He slowly lowered himself into the shaft and slid down, darkness encompassing him.
Sam hit the ground with a thud, finding that it was soft. He got up, and walked into the light. Surprisingly, he found that he was back in Ms. Montrose’s office. He looked back into the dark shaft and saw that both Alana and Ms. Montrose had just arrived. “How did we get here?” he asked, amazed. Ms. Montrose smiled mysteriously and said, “There are many escape shafts leading directly to my office.” She looked up, then whispered, “We must hurry. They will find us.”
Ms. Montrose led them through her office. She ran to a filing cabinet and pulled out two red backpacks. “These have some clothes and basic necessities. Take them.” She handed them each a backpack and ushered them to one of the side doors in her office.
“Follow me,” she said softly. Ms. Montrose walked quickly down a dark hallway, leading to a bright red door. A golden letter G was inscribed on the door, and the engraving of a bear was right next to it. Ms. Montrose opened the door carefully and beckoned Sam and Alana inside. Sam knew that Ms. Montrose was worried about them, and strangely he felt sad about it. The door led to a dimly lit room, sparsely decorated with furniture. Ms. Montrose led them straight toward a large portrait of a mysterious-looking red dragon with green eyes. Ms. Montrose said, “Rare species and so grand, so magnificent. Sam, before you leave, you need to know that you are the direct descendent of this dragon.”
The Transmalians Page 5