chapter 16

Elena's first history lesson

The day was exactly like all the others.  The only class that I looked forward to was Sir Edwards. Mysteries had all sorts of things that still made no sense to Paegeia. Like why a dragon is born out of an egg and how it is that they can shape into a human form. There is a lot of debates.
            Some students say that dragons came with magic others believe that God created them, just like the humans and didn't have it in his heart to destroy them like he did with the Ice age. It is nice to think that God played a big role in magical creatures too. Maybe He did created the dragons but mankind didn't see the beauty in them. Anything is possible.
            The rest of the day was a big nightmare and wish I could wake up.
            At three I went to the cafeteria. There were only two groups. A tall Chinese boy lifts up his hand. He wasn't as oriental as I imagined and look like he was part of some other race too. He was sort of beautiful if you look past the thick glasses.
            "You must be Elena. I am Cheng." He said and hold out his hand for me to shake. I noticed the bronze shine in his hair.
            "You are a dragon?"
            "Busted" he smiles and I have to admit it was very contagious. "I hope that it is not going to make you uncomfortable."
            I shake my head. I am used to them now. "Good, shall we take a walk" he asks and I nod my head. He took me the same route as Arianna did yesterday, through the main door that leads towards the dome. We went to the stables and he tapped a horse gently on her nose.
            "Horses like dragons?"
            "No, only the Metallic ones" he replies in a very soothing tone.
            "What is it about them that you find interesting?"
            "They are such graceful creatures Elena. I do believe that they have a soul too. The way some humans use them to get over their fears tells me that they are teachers just like us, in their own special way" he answers admirably while stroking one softly.
            "Yeah, there is something soothing about them" I agree remembering my trip with Lucian.
            "I know history can be boring but you are looking at it the wrong way. Without history we would not know where we came from or what direction to go" he said while blowing gently into one of the mares mouths. Her lips vibrate and she stump gently with her feet, neighing.
            "What are you doing?"
            He chuckles. "I am making her use to my smell. It is a small human trick, the Sioux Tribe used to believe that blowing gently in their faces makes them use to you. I hope it is true otherwise I just look like an idiot."
            I laugh.
            "So what is it that makes history so exiting?"
            "What are they teaching you."
            "Oh, very boring stuff about mid evil times."
            "You don't like the mid evil times" he asks as we exit the stables.
            "Not really, they were cruel and it was the time they saw dragons as the enemy, right."
            "Yes, it was. I am really lucky to be born in King Albert's time" he replies in a grateful tone.
            "Why were they so afraid of the dragons?"       
            "It was  mostly the Chromatic ones that gave them reasons to fear us. There was no enchanted wall back then and Paegeia was free for everyone to visit plus you could return back to where you have came from. The Metallic dragons, like myself were wise to hide. They knew that the humans would never trust them so they hide amongst them. At that stage it was still a dragon secret. I can just imagine how hard it was for them to see how their kind gets slaughtered like monsters. When King Alexander  took over and with the help of the great sorcerer, they put up the wall to protect magic from the humans on the other side that wanted more."
            "A sorcerer" I ask.
            "Yes, I wish he died before he could produce" he sulks.
             "Why?" It's a weird thing to say.
             "Because the most powerful sorcerer that ever lived came from his bloodline. His power consumed him and he betrayed and murdered his best friend."
            "Who did he betrayed?"
            "King Albert."
            "His best friend was a sorcerer" and Cheng nods his head.
             "It happened about fifteen years ago. The Seer did worn King Albert or so I am told by my mother. She said that someone in his kingdom will betray him. He didn't want to believe her because everybody loved him but she planted the seed of doubt. He started to became more suspicious. At first he thought that it was his dragon" he started to tell me the story of King Albert and I was hooked. "He was the only one that gave Chromatic dragons a chance. Sir Robert was very evil. Night-Villains are not very pet like. That is the Metallic dragons job" he jokes. "But as scary as it was, he did claim him and was the first human wanted to claim a Chromatic dragon. It change Paegeia forever. He opened Dragonia. The minute he realized that the humans born with the dark mark can bond with them in a magical way he chuck them inside too" and I laugh. "The first brotherhood told him that it was the other way around. That the Dragonians has the ability and that they are only the carriers." I was hanging onto his lips. "I don't know why people like that always has to die. The world don't have many of them to start with." His tone was soft and could hear some sadness in it.
            "So this best friend that betrayed him, he still around."
            "Goran" he gives me his name. "He's the reason Etan is forbidden. On the night of the king and queen's death something went wrong and big creepers came out of nowhere closing Etan completely off. No one can enter or get out."
            " Yes, Becky told me that, except for Blake and his Dragonian" I reply and he grins.
            "I doubt that anyone would be able to claim the Rubicon" he admits.
            "Why do you think that. King Albert has claimed the first Chromatic dragon." He looks at me surprised.
            "You've listened" he sings.
            "Well your story is interesting" I complimented him.
            "It is history Elena." I frown and realized what he's saying.
            "Then why is mine so boring" I ask and he roars with laughter.
            "Don't tell anyone but I agree." We both laughed and he sigh. It was quiet for a short while before he talked again. "I know you and Lucian got something going on, and don't get me wrong, he got the makings of a great knight but I truly don't believe that he will be able to claim Blake."
            "Why not?"
            "Easy, the Seer."
            "The Seer suck things out of her thumb" I sounded pissed off.
            "Yes, most of the times but when she makes a true foretelling it always comes true."
            "You mean like when the so called wind blows and her eyes became silver" I joke and he chuckles.
            "Yes, it freaks me out too" he replies in a tone that saw right through that lie.
            "It happened when you was with her" and he nods his head. "What did she say?"
            "That is only meant for me Elena. Foretellings are very personal and you will never find anyone that will reveal what the Seer told them."
            "Then how do you know that Blake won't get claimed" I ask. He smiled.
            "Because it is written in the Book of Shadows for everyone to see" he replies mysterious.
            "What did she say?" I was curious.
            "That the only one who will ever claim Blake is his true Dragonian. He's egg hatched three years before King Albert and Queen Catherine was murdered. When she said that the Rubicon would be claimed by a royal, it meant them. When she got foretellings about King Helmut or King Caleb, she would refer to them as the Knights. My mom said that it was the best news she ever gave them because she was telling them indirectly that they will get a child. It was the only thing they ever wanted. My mom said that the queen prayed for it every single day for at least a hundred and fifty years" and I gasp.
            "She had the essence of life too."
            "Yes. Their dragons gave them each a piece of their hearts. King Albert was two hundred and fifty years and queen Catherine was about two hundred and forty five." Jeez. It sounds so old for trying to have children.
            "Are you sure it was one of their children" I ask and he nods his head. "What if the Seer just have it wrong this once."
            He laughed."Then she won't be an Seer."
            "Is it true that all Moon-bolts can see the future."
            "Depends on how old they are."
            "I saw one, before George I mean."
            "Yes I know. How did it happened" he wanted to know and I can't believe that I  was going to tell him about that night. I guess he was easy to talk to.
            "My dad was a Copper-horn. I never even knew that he was a dragon. We use to flee every three months or so. He told me a lot about Paegeia when I was little but I thought it was just bed time stories" tears started to well up. The pain that was buried so deep returned and I miss dad so much. I stop with the Moon-Bolt. "It was the last thing I remembered." My voice broke on the last sentence and I look away to wipe off a tear before rolling down my cheek.
             "No wonder you don't cope with the classes. You hardly dealt with all of this."
            "I just don't know why it happened. Why did he die?"
            "He was your father Elena, did you think that he was just going to leave you."
            I shake my head.
            "I should have listened to him that night. It's my fault that he is dead. If I obeyed him like he had asked he would still be here. I just wanted a life so badly. To stop running. Now that I got my wish, I feel like such a nobody. The way some of the student look at me as if I don't belong here, makes it worse."
            "You are not a nobody and your dark mark is what made you end up in Dragonia Elena, not who or what your father was."
            "Then why don't I get anything Cheng."
            "Give yourself some time. You will get there" he assures me in a very patient tone. It was as if he know something I didn't.
            "When" I wanted a specific date as if he could see the future too.
            "Rome wasn't built in one day, or so I heard" he jokes and it worked, it made me smile. I sigh. "You put so much pressure on yourself, why do you do that?"
            "It is stupid, you will laugh."
            "Try me."
            I took a deep breath, I might as well tell him. I mean I have told him everything so far and it feel as if I can trust him with my entire life. "Because I never felt so alive" I finally  admit.
            He just look at me and frown softly. "I will help you with whatever I can Elena. If it is that important to you not to fail, I will give it my best."
            "Thanks, I really appreciate it. You are really cool."
            "Wow, I don't think I heard that one before. Most of the other students think of me as the geek" and I laugh again.
            "Well maybe they don't know you."
            "So you wanted to know why I believe Lucian won't claim Blake" he changed the subject and I nod my head. "It was another foretelling she made a couple of years later. It is also written in the book. She said that only the King of Lions can claim him."
            "The King of Lions, like in the sword" I ask and he nods his head.
            "Nobody knows what she meant. Not even her. They still think that using the sword is the answer but it's also the one thing that can kill Blake, so they don't even consider it."
            "You don't believe that?"
            "I can give you a lot of theories Elena. Crown-Tails love theories. If you ask me I think she didn't mean the sword at all."
            "What then."
            "I think it's got to do with King Albert's bloodline. The King of Lions sword has been for thousands of years in their possession. See, it's the only sword that can defeat any type of evil, doesn't matter how great it is. Nobody knows where the sword comes from, only that it is one of a kind. I think what makes the sword so special is not because it is enchanted but because who's blood is spill on it."
            "What do you mean who's blood?"
            "The blood line of the King Albert."
            I finally got what he said. The king had some sort of special blood, like they had a different color or something. "You think that they were aliens."
            He roars.
            "No Elena, not like that" he replies through chuckles. "They were definitely not  aliens but their blood line was special. Like it was containing a little bit of magic too. I guess that is why nobody believes my theory."
            "You actually told someone about that" and he nods his head.
            "Master Longwei."
            "What did he say?"
            "That nothing is wrong with my imagination" he jokes. It wasn't funny. What he said made some sort of sense but I have to agree it sounds little farfetched. Nobody owns blood that has that kind of powers.
            "Is it true that Blake will become evil?"
            "Yes, if not claim by a certain date" he replies.
            "Which date?"
            "That is only for him to know."
            "What does it mean for us?"
            "A lot of s**t" he sigh again. "I bet Goran is marking the days off as we speak. With the Rubicon by his side, Paegeia don't stand a chance."
            "But we still have the one sword that can defeat all types of evil" I reply and he gives me a satisfying smile.
            "Yes, the only problem is that we don't have a knight pure enough to use it. Maybe in a couple of years Lucian might be able to." He bumps me softly as he saw my huge grin. I giggle.
            "Well I'm sure Master Longwei is very brave."
            "He is a dragon Elena."
            "Dragons can't use the sword?" and he shake his head. "Can Goran fight with the sword?"
            "Yes, but he fears it more than wanting to use it as a weapon. He has tried on numerous occasions to steal it for destruction."
            "How" I ask. "With him being captured behind the creepers and the sword is in Elm."
             "Through really advance type of magic that only some ancients knows. Using that kind of magic is against Paegeia's law, unless granted by the rulers, which in this case means King Helmut and King Caleb, but the two of them almost never agree on anything."       
            I got goose bumps just by thinking what kind of magic is there. I mean Arianna scare the living crap out of me and she is only a student. I don't want to know what this Goran can do. I wanted to change the subject.
            "Why doesn't the two Kings agree on anything."
            "King Albert was a really good friend to both of them but King Caleb always played it safe.  King Helmut was like King Albert. He claimed a Sun-Blast right after King Albert claimed the Night - Villain. He won King Albert's vote most of the time. I guess King Caleb finally feels that he has a saying now and nothing gets granted without the two kings approval. It is sad, because they use to be really good friends when King Albert was still alive."        Our time was up quickly and have to admit, history with Cheng didn't felt like history at all.  I can't believe that Blake doesn't have a Dragonian. If Cheng's theory is right, Lucian is only wasting his time and Arianna got really high hopes.
            I finally understood why Sammy is so worried about her brother. She believes the same Cheng does and knows deep down in her heart that her brother would never be claimed. I forced myself to think about something else. Tomorrow is my first session with Lucian and I never looked forward to an Art of war class before.  I hope that he can transform me into a warrior the way he did Becky, but wondered about that slave driven demon thing the way she accused him off.
            I fell asleep and had a dreamless night. I guess Cheng's information was too much, even for the mysterious lady.