Smoldered Flames: Part I of the Edonia Series
Chapter 15

Valeri

Valeri

This was pure chaos. Students pushed and shoved one another. Some people shifted to their animal counterpart, while others zoomed ahead.

Nerissa smiles widely with a challenging glint to her eyes. “Well don’t just stand there! Unless you want to become an omega?”

After that, she takes off. I soon run after her not knowing what will wait for me. The ground is saturated with mud and sand, making it a challenge to dash forward like the rest, but I push through. Mangrove trees block out the sunlight. I almost lose my footing in their roots.

I hear a shriek in the distance. Ignoring the sound, I make headway. I can see Nerissa not far off. Zooming forward, the vivid greens and browns of the swampy terrain is a blur. It feels like I’ve barely touched the ground. That is, until something hits my head. I crumble frontward onto the ground, yowling in shock. Rolling over, I see a small pile of brown feathers. It croaks in when I gently poke it.

At least it ain’t dead.

“Hey little birdy, where did you come from?” I crooned.

Its dazed brown eyes scrutinize me as I creep closer. More birds fall towards the ground. What the hell was going on? Dry slithering sounds from behind me. Something takes hold of my left leg before lifting me off the ground like a whip. I scream before I’m thrown over the treacherous trees. While I’m sailing through the sky, I can see the reason behind the birds dropping like flies. Live vines rise from within the roots of the mangrove trees. It seems they are knocking down anything that tries to reach the sky. A deep green colored vine grabs me from the sky and slams me into a small body of water.

I close my mouth to avoid inhaling lungfuls of brackish swamp water. The vile creeper plant refused to let me go. I grab at it from my sides, kick around, even attempt to wrestle out of it’s grasp, but no luck. The familiar warm feeling from earlier gathers in my chest. I push the feeling towards the tips of my fingertips and see my hands glow magenta for a second. The magenta colored light wraps it’s claw-like grasp around the creeper, almost burning it to a crisp. The vine squeals in pain as if it were alive. It lets me go and I kick out of it’s way. I rise to the surface, gasping for breath.

I drag my body out of the treacherous swamp with exhaustion leaking its way into my body. whatever I did sapped my energy. Taking a look at my surroundings, I see that I’m in a deeper part of the swamplands. At this rate, I’d definitely lose the race. What was the point of it anyways?

Hauling myself to my feet, I traverse a few feet from where I landed. Kicking sticks around in frustration sent me into another hidden part of the swamp. This time, I accidentally swallowed a lungful of water, and it was horrendous! Something drags me under the brackish water. It felt like suction-esque tentacles latched onto me. I was out of energy and couldn’t use that magic trick anytime soon. I try to summon my black claws like earlier with no use. It seemed I was out of options.

Suddenly a blinding light blots out the darkness. I took a quick glimpse of what had a hold of me. It had a kraken-like physique, but with gator features. Whatever it was, it dropped me like a bad habit and left like a bat out of hell.

The bright light dims before disappearing completely. I go towards the source of my saviour and find an oval shaped stone. It was small enough to fit both palms of my hands. I break through to the surface with the stone and sit by a nearby solid ground. Its smooth pitch black surface was cool to the touch. Towards one end of the object were similar to the gold and magenta colors I wore today. Except it resembled embers of fire going out.

I yelped as I heard, and felt, a thud in my hand. Picking up the object again, I realize it’s alive. Was it… no, it couldn’t be.

Was this a dragon egg? It needed warmth. The egg needed a hearth if it was to survive the hatching process.

Wait, did I really need another problem on my hands? I’m already in enough trouble as it is, let alone trying to figure out what kind of world I’m living in. A part of me felt drawn to this egg, but the other logical part of me knew that it was best to be left for someone else to find it. Then I remember the way that blue dragonling fondly looked at Nerissa, or the way Naka protects Kamau. Going against my better judgement, I tuck the egg gently within my large breasts before taking off again. I was careful to not sink back into anymore swamp pockets.

I found a trail and dash forward. It seems I found a shortcut, because I spotted Nerissa a few feet from me and the rest of the class further back. I’m shocked to see that she’s faster than the wolves behind us. There’s a ribbon in the distance and I zoom to be first in line.

“Oh, I don’t think so!” shouts Nerissa.

I roar with laughter while we are at pace neck and neck. Icicles shoot from her hands and create an icy ground in front of me. I jump into a nearby tree and continue to leap through the trees like a majestic cat. Nerissa continues to shoot icicles through the branches near me, but misses.

I laugh again before leaping down to the ground. I sprint to the finish line. I’m a breath away from the checkered ribbon when suddenly I trip over a hidden wire. My body is launched in the air and hits a tree. A fucking wire and a tree stops me from winning the race.

Breath whooshes out of me as my back hits the ground. I groan in pain while my fellow peers rush past me beating me to the finish line. I punched the ground in anger because I was so close.

“You’re right where you belong, mutt!” someone hollers.

“Hold that pose, this is going on the ’X!”someone else chortles.

I hear the snapshot of a device taking my picture. I duck my head to avoid them taking a clear shot of my dishevelled appearance.

“Each of you has two seconds to delete those photos before I destroy your devices,” Nerissa says darkly.

They immediately put their devices away. What kind of power did she have to command such instant fear and respect. No one hesitated to do as she demanded. Her aura was different from that blonde demon. It was motherly and protective.

Nerissa makes her way towards me and holds out a hand. ”Do not show weakness in front of hungry dogs. They feed on it like their lives depend on it.”

I grab her hand and she helps me off the ground. I was a muddied mess. A huge shadow flies over everyone before Naka settles on the ground. Her dark gray scales shine like a metallic engine in the dim light of the sun. Professor Luxembourg lands with a powerful black pegasus.

“Alright you runts, those of you who were the slowest are officially an omega for the remainder of semester.” she yells.

Adeyemi takes over. “The omegas will stay behind and take care of the weaponry. The rest of you are dismissed.”

Nerissa turns to me. “I expect you to fill your end of the bet, but I will hold my end of the bargain. It seems you are in need of an acquaintance.”

I don’t know what to make of this budding friendship. “Um, thank you?”

“No need to thank me.”

“Lady Nerissa, we are leaving,” says the golden elf.

A huge golden dragon looms over everyone. It was thrice as big as Naka and thrice as wide. Its golden eyes seem to twinkle in elation when it comes my way. The dragon purrs while sniffing my shirt.

“Uh, ummm, nice dragon. I wouldn’t taste very well.” I stutter.

“Do you think I am an imbecile?” a voice thunders in my head.

I grab the sides of my head. “No, no I don’t.”

“You carry something precious within you. I’m not sure what they see in you, but do well to protect it with your entire being. Or not even your puny soul can protect you from the Might of the Golden One.”

Its gigantic white claw reaches for my face and scratches me.

“Hey!” I yelp.

It makes a deep gurgling noise in laughter. “You are very bold, young dragon. Until next time, then.”

Nerissa stands in front of me, her eyes taking on a serious glint. “In our country, it is considered rude to address a dragon without their partner’s approval. You are very lucky to not only being addressed to two dragons, but survive the encounter. You may not be so lucky next time.”

And with that, everyone launches off into the lilac colored skies while a few of my peers and I are stuck cleaning weaponry.

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