DRAGON ACADEMY: THE CHOSEN

CHAPTER 4

Cody’s eyes widened “what are you talking about?” he tried denying

“Your mother told me”

Cody was stunned. He paused for a moment. “She knew?”

“It was to protect you”

“She could have at least told me” Cody said, his voice cracking with hurt

“She already lost a husband. The risk of losing you was worth not telling you”

Cody then composed himself “so you know, what are you going to do?”

Principal Diana moved closer, her voice in a low and serious tone “I’m saying this because having you here is putting the Academy, which I’ve spent thousands of years to protect, in jeopardy. So my advice?...”

She rested her hands gently on his shoulders “stay low”

She then walked away, leaving Cody alone with his thoughts.  As Cody wandered through the courtyard, thinking what the principal had just told him, he saw two older boys shoving a smaller kid around.

“Hey! Leave him alone,” Cody shouted, running towards them.

One of the bullies took off immediately but the other hesitated. He and Cody locked eyes for a tense moment. 

“C’mon Richard, let’s go” the other bully called after his friend

Richard finally turned and ran. Cody rushed to the young boy and helped him off

“You okay, kid?”

The boy dusted himself off “it’s Austin”

Cody smiled gently “you can’t let them push you around like that” 

“Easier said than done” Austin shrugged

The school bell rang

Cody squeezed his shoulders. “Well, try”

He then hurried off to class.

HISTORY CLASS

In history class, the students were settling in. Cody rushed into the class and sat next to Kenzy. Mila was absent. Daniel, the new kid Mila had met, was also in the class. Ms. Green appeared at the front, the plants gently moved aside to make way for her.

“Welcome to the second class of the week. Now, we are going to use this period to learn”

She was about to begin when Daniel raised his hands. 

“Yes, Daniel?”

“Are you going to teach us boring stuff like Independence Day or something?”

Ms. Green chuckled “no” she then smacked her lips thoughtfully “But I am going to tell you a story of this very Academy”

The whole class leaned in, awed.

“This happened many years ago, during the period when humans despised the Gifteds”

The Gifted students in the class booed. 

“There was a group called the Enlightened Ones, founded by a man named William Hunter”

Ms. Green waved her hand, and plants shifted to reveal a portrait of a stern-faced man.

“It was a group of humans who wanted to learn and study about different Gifteds, for they believed they had more knowledge of us than their peers. But their love for Gifteds quickly turned into hatred.  And our own principal who was a part of them… left to build this Academy. When the Enlightened Ones saw that she had left them, they became furious and planned to overrun the Academy…”

As Ms. Green narrated the story, Kenzy whispered to Cody “After this, we’ll go to the library and read about spirit people”

“But I don’t like the library” he whispered back “remember?” He then imitated himself by rolling his eyes white and shaking.

Kenzy giggled, then hushed him “shh… she’s talking”

“But the principal overpowered them,” Ms. Green continued. With a gesture, leaves parted to reveal a mural which shows a dragon blasting fire at the Enlightened Ones. 

“And saved Dragon Academy”

The entire class erupted into applause. 

“But that wasn’t all” Ms. Green added “Hunter’s descendants kept trying to destroy the Academy… until she decided to wipe them out”

The class didn’t respond. 

Daniel then spoke up. “So, our principal is a murderer?”

Ms. Green was about to reply but Cody answered before she could “it’s not murder if you’re defending yourself"

Daniel turned to Ms. Green “So, you really think Principal Diana killed off Hunter’s lineage?"

Ms. Green raised an eyebrow “yes, I’m sure” 

Daniel eyed Ms. Green a malicious look. The bell rang and the students began to  file out. Cody followed, but then Kenzy grabbed his arm

“Where are you going?" Kenzy said with a sassy tone

“For P.E”

Kenzy shook her head “we need to go to the library. The sooner you know about yourself, the better for us”

Cody frowned “us?”

“C’mon. Let’s go” Kenzy said as she pulled Cody in a different direction

SCHOOL FIELD

On the field, Jack, in his full werewolf form, approached Anna who stood alone, throwing knives to bullseye with deadly accuracy

“Hey, Anna” Jack greeted

Anna turned to face Jack, and was visibly surprised “Wow” 

Jack wagged his tail slightly. “You like this form better?” 

“I’m not answering that”

“Well, do you want to join the others?”

Anna looked behind her to see fellow werewolves playing on the field recklessly.

“I’m busy” she finally replied 

Jack gave her a long, pointed look “doing what?”

“Knife throwing” 

“But you’re good at it already”

Anna turned away and threw over her shoulder without looking. It hit bullseye dead center. 

“Maybe later”

Jack whimpered softly in response

In the science lab, MIla was alone practicing her water bending. Music began to hum, and the water she was shaping pulsed and flowed in rhythm to the beat. He walked out of the hall to follow it.

She wandered into an auditorium and stopped.   

Cole was on stage, singing while playing an old piano, his voice rich and emotional . She quietly took a seat and watched. He didn't look up immediately. 

When he finished, Mila slow-clapped as she made her way to the stage.

“You know,” she said “Most Atlanteans I’ve heard about use their voices to sink ships. Not… whatever this is”

Cole glanced up. He wasn't startled by Mila’s sudden appearance. 

“And most water masters I’ve heard about don’t sneak into empty auditoriums to spy on people” 

“I wasn’t spying. I was following the sound”

“Then the piano worked” he then played a single chores and let it linger

Mila looked around the empty auditorium “So, why are you playing here?”

“I do that sometimes. I find a place to sing… it helps remove all the distractions”

“Why with the piano?”

“It’s old,” he said, “probably older than this school. There’s something about it. Everytime I play here, everything just goes quiet, my father, the title… all of it”

He paused. 

“At least your power is graceful. Water bending is almost like dancing”

Mila raised an eyebrow “An atlantean calling water bending graceful, my father would call that treason”

“Mine would call this…” Cole gestured to the piano with looking at it “embrassing” 

Mila laughed at that. Quietly, she got up from her seat and sat beside Cole at the bench.

“So, you actually know music”  she said “like, properly” 

“Atlanteans have the perfect pitch. We’re built for it” he then played a run of notes “the hypnotic part, it only works if you understand tone, rhythm, frequency. My father taught me that to control someone, you have to know what moves them first”

Mila watched his hands “ and what moves you?”

Cole stopped playing for a moment 

“Honest answer?” 

“Obviously”  

“this. Just this. No agenda behind it. No one drowning” cole answered 

Neither of them spoke for a moment. 

“You know our people have been at each other’s throats for centuries,” Mila said eventually “Atlanteans flooding water masters territories, water masters redirecting your current lines..” 

“You redirected the vel current in 1803,” Cole said “my people still talk about it” 

“Your people colonized the Mira shallows first” 

“That’s disputed”

“It’s really not” 

Cole turned to look at her, properly this time, not the half glance he’d been doing since she sat down.

“And yet here we are,” he said “sitting on the bench”

“Here we are” Mila said quietly 

The silence grew intimate. Cole leaned in closer 

“Umm…” Mila murmured

“Too soon?” he asked gently

Mila shook her head “no”  she leaned in closer “if you want this to work, you have to promise me you won’t use your voice for the wrong reason” 

“I promise” 

They gazed into each other’s eyes. The moment hanging between them. Then Mila pulled her gaze away and fixed it on the piano

“Play something else” she said

“Any requests?” 

“Something that doesn’t sound like a war anthem” 

Cole almost smiled. He turned back to the piano and began to play something slower this time. Mila folded her arms, leaned back slightly and stayed.

LIBRARY

In the library, Kezy was frantically searching through books. Cody sat watching her.

“How is any of this supposed to help me be a spirit person?” he asked

“That’s why you have to read them,” Kenzy said without looking back. 

“How do you know any of these are legit?”

“Please, these books are as old as the principal”

“What are the abilities of the spirit people?” Cody asked, staring at his wrist tattoos 

Kenzy finally paused. “They can affect spirits, talk with them, control them, alter them and control energy. It makes them powerful”

As she spoke, a folded piece of paper in the shape of an envelope fell from the book she was holding. Cody’s eyes locked onto it.

“What’s that?”

Kenzy picked it up, opened the envelope and brought out another paper “it’s just an empty piece of paper”

Cody noticed faint writings on the back of the paper.

Cody shook his head “no, there’s something on it” he took it from her “you can’t see it?”

“I can’t… this must be part of your abilities”  Kenzy said

“Really?”

“Yes, spirit people can read messages that were once left behind… what was on the paper only u can see it”

Cody opened the paper. His eyes scanned through it, the words started to form out the more. 

“It’s a letter. ‘Dear Iris…” Cody reads outloud “battle has heated up and Principal Diana's not giving in. In case anything happens, I want you to take our son , Nathaniel… and run. Your deadly beloved, W.H.’” 

Kenzy’s eyes widened with shock “that means William Hunter… but his wife’s name was Sam”

“He stepped out on his wife,” Cody said grimly 

“That means there was another lineage of Hunter” Kenzy said, worry in her tone, she turned to Cody “check if it still exists”

“How am I to do that?”

“Sprirt people have the ability to see across timelines” Kenzy explained “try”

Cody closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly as he concentrated. After a moment, he sighed in frustration. “It’s not working”

Kenzy placed the paper in his hands and stared into his eyes “close your eyes”

Cody obeyed. She leaned closer.

“Now, try focusing on the name Natheniel”

The name echoed in Cody’s mind. Then the ripples began.

He saw a man; sharp-eyes, severe, writing by the candlelight. Then the image shattered and rebuilt itself; a different face, a different era, the same cold eyes passing down through blood. 

The visions came faster.

Cody’s hands began to shake, the paper trembling. His breath went unsteady as the timelines accelerated, generations collapsing into seconds, each face was bleeding into the next.

Suddenly, he cried out in pain, clutching his head.

Kenzy grabbed his arm immediately “are you okay?!”

“I’m fine” Cody replied, panting heavily 

“What did you see?” 

“So many faces, different times… but I recognized one” his replied, voice trembling from the shock

“Who?”

“Daniel. The guy Mila met this morning. The one that talk back to Ms. Green at history class”

They stared at each other in shock, then bolted out of the library. Behind a bookshelf, Austin emerged, his face a mask of surprise of what he had just overheard