In the hallway, Mel pulled on her shoes and grabbed her backpack from the hook. She balanced a piece of toast in her mouth and quickly pushed the door open. Rays of sunlight hit her face, and she was greeted by a flock of singing birds hanging out in her parents’ apple tree.

“Mel, wait up,” her brother yelled from behind her.

Mel closed the door and ran out to the mailbox, down by the road. She shuffled through the brown envelopes until she found one with her name on.

To: Melissa Temper.

Her heartbeat sped up, and she suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. She had checked the mailbox for weeks, just to look for this one letter, and now it had arrived. Her knees felt soft and her legs were jelly-like.

In the background, her brother called after her. She heard his steps on the small stones leading up to the house.

He yelled her name repeatedly.

Mel regained her focus and tucked the letter in her backpack quickly before her brother caught up with her by the mailbox.

“What are you checking that thing for?” Andrew asked.

“What do you mean?” Mel said, hiking her backpack up on her shoulders.

“We never get anything in the mail,” Andrew said. “And you’re not even bringing in the letters for mom and dad. What are you up to?”

He gave her a sideways glance and she felt the pressure of lying to him and hiding things. She walked toward town, looking down at the road before her. Not answering her brother's question.

He ran after her, catching up and walking side by side. They passed similar looking houses, with a small garden and a chimney sending up lines of smoke toward the sky. Mel and Andrew walked this road almost every day, rain or sunshine, and today was no different from the rest.

“Are you nervous about your birthday coming up?” Andrew asked, seeming to have dropped the previous topic.

“No, why would I be?” she said, feeling nervous energy forming a lump in her stomach.

“Because you’ve been acting weird lately,” Andrew said. “And I know you said before you were nervous about turning sixteen.”

“When did I say that?” Mel asked.

“I don’t know,” Andrew said. “But I don’t think you have to be… Nervous. They’re only going to reveal your destiny. It’s still the same you have today. Only you will know it.”

Mel stopped looking at the road and looked up at her brother. He caught her gaze. Her eyes felt wide and beady. She tried to give him a smile, but Andrew scrunched up his face when he saw her expression.

“You don’t understand,” Mel said. “It’s a lot of pressure. You’ve heard mom, she’s so excited and the whole town will be there. They will make this big deal out of it and I will be locked into fulfilling whatever it is the High Priest says.”

Mel shivered at the thought of what would happen if she was still in Windbrook come her sixteenth birthday. She didn’t even want to know. She didn’t plan to stay here to find out. But she couldn’t tell Andrew that. No one knew about her plans and it had to stay that way.

“But most of your classmates had theirs already, right?” Andrew said. “They survived, and I mean they seem kind of happy with what they got. At least most of them. Maybe not Dorian West, but I think he deserves his destiny, anyway.”

“Don’t say that,” Mel said. “No one deserves their destiny. It’s just something horrible the priests make up and force you to live by for the rest of your life. It’s brainwashing, really. Making you serve the cult diligently and keep Windbrook the way it’s always been. I don’t buy it.”

“Really?” Andrew said. “Wow, you’re so cynical. Even more than I thought, sis. Maybe you don’t deserve to have a great destiny. Maybe it should have been me who was born to greatness.”

“Don’t say that either,” Mel said. “You don’t understand the kind of pressure that comes with being a chosen one. I’m glad you won’t have to deal with this kind of nonsense. I’m glad the expectations of you are reasonable. For me, I just seem to let everyone down. It’s always like; Mel, why don’t you get better grades? Aren’t you supposed to be the golden child? Or; Mel, why aren’t you more connected with the dragons? It doesn’t even seem like you sing in the chapel.”

“I’m just sick of it,” Mel added.

Andrew scrunched up his nose, but said nothing more on the matter. For the rest of the walk, they were silent and when they finally got into town; the streets were empty. The only sound was that of small feet heading in the direction of the school.

The market hadn’t opened yet, and the messengers were all still in bed, resting up for the day to come. Only teachers and students were out this early in the morning, and Mel and Andrew made their way inside the school.

It was a small building, a wooden structure, painted in red, like the rest of the town's buildings. It was the cheapest color to get around here and painting the wood made it sturdier against rains and storms.

Auburn Hills had enough paint to throw it away and would always sell it cheap to all the nearby towns. Usually, Windbrook would trade apples, transported over Dragon Lake by ferry.

Her father would often buy some of the copper bars created from the Auburn furnace when uncle Joe made the trade in spring and fall. He always complained about not getting a discount with uncle Joe, saying that they were family and therefore he should get at least ten percent off.

Mel’s and Andrew’s mother usually answered that if they used a family discount in Windbrook, there would be no normal prices. Since practically everyone was family in some way or the other. A close knit community like Windbrook didn’t have many newcomers and the love prospects were few if you didn’t want to marry your cousin.

Andrew walked Mel to her classroom and followed her all the way up to the entrance.

“What are you doing?” Mel asked. “Are you going to join my class today or something?”

“No,” Andrew said, looking over her shoulder and then down at his shoes.

“Then what?” she asked.

He looked over her shoulder again and something caught his eye. Mel looked back and saw Minnie and Marcus standing by her desk, talking. She turned back to her brother, seeing a blush creep up his neck. Mel rolled her eyes.

“Aren’t you too young for that?” she said.

“No,” Andrew said. “I mean, I don’t know. Shut up.”

He turned and walked away, leaving Mel standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. If Andrew started liking Minnie, that could be uncomfortable for her. Minnie was her best friend, and she didn’t think she was interested in going out with a nosy fourteen-year-old.

Mel sighed and headed into the classroom, to her desk.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Morning, sunshine,” Minnie said with a bright smile on her lips.

“Hi,” Marcus said. “I mean… Morning.”

“What’s up?” Mel asked.

She slammed down her backpack on her desk and looked longingly at the leather strap, tying the pack closed. She wanted to sneak away and open the letter before classes started, but she couldn’t. Mel couldn’t draw any more suspicion to her behavior than Andrew had already had pointed out.

“We’re just talking about your birthday coming up,” Minnie said. “And how excited we are for your reveal. I wonder what it could be. We have all sorts of theories, you know. Maybe you will be like an expander of the cult, taking it to other towns around here or even across Dragon Lake, creating your own little parish.”

“Or maybe you will stay here in Windbrook and become the new high priest,” Marcus said. “I mean, someone has to take over after High Priest Alcon.”

“Oh, wow, yes,” Minnie said. “I can see it now. Mel in a big fluffy red robe and a feather boa around her neck, becoming High Priestess Temper.”

“What’s with the feather boa?” Marcus asked. “High Priest Alcon doesn’t wear one of those.”

“No, but that’s because he’s a stuffy old man,” Minnie said. “I think if we had a high priestess instead, they would definitely have to bring in red feather boas as the official priest wears. That can be your first decree, Mel.”

Mel winced. “Please don’t say that. I really don’t want to become a priestess in the cult, even if I get to wear a feather boa. Okay?”

“Then what do you want your destiny to be?” Marcus asked.

Mel knew the answer to that. It was laying in her backpack, waiting for her to open it. She wanted to become a mage smith, one who worked the great dragon forge in Aldrion. One who created weapons to fight the beasts and got to work with the dragon stones. It would be so cool if she got into Falden School of Magic and got to practice smithing there.

But Mel knew that if she didn’t escape town soon, that dream would never become true. She needed the letter in her backpack to be a letter of approval and then somehow find a way out of Windbrook before her sixteenth birthday. And also make it all the way across the mountain to Aldrion.

Mel sighed and felt her shoulders slump.

“Yeah, Mel, what do you want?” Minnie asked.

“I don’t know,” Mel said. “And it doesn't matter, anyway. I won’t get to choose my own destiny. None of us do.”

It was quiet for a beat and both Minnie and Marcus stared at her with wide eyes. Mel had killed the conversation with her bad attitude and she swallowed the lump forming in her throat.

“I mean,” Mel said. “I’m just nervous, of course. Who wouldn’t be before their sixteenth reveal, right? Weren’t you nervous too?”

“Dragons bless you, sweetheart,” Minnie said. “I was so nervous, you’re right. Nerves all over. But when my day came, I was also so excited. And I mean I got a great destiny, just what I wanted, in fact. Even though I would never have put my love and care for others into those exact words myself, I feel as if the dragons had read my heart. I’m looking forward to working toward fulfilling my duty, to become a carer in our community. It’s great.”

“Wow, that’s so cool,” Mel said. “I also think it suits you, Minnie. I’m so happy for you.”

“I mean, I was also nervous,” Marcus said. “Even though I would never have admitted it at the time, but I was. And actually, it’s quite funny. It was the same for me. It was like the dragons had read my mind, you know. I always wanted to protect people and those I love. It’s sort of always been a dream of mine.

“I mean, I maybe wouldn’t have added the part about protecting people with a great destiny. It sort of sounds like being someone’s bodyguard of sorts. But now, it makes sense to me. Of course, I should be a bodyguard to the more important people. That will help us all to carry out the dragons’ wishes.”

“That’s cool,” Minnie said. “And it suits you.”

Minnie poked Marcus in his bicep and put on a devious smile on her cute face. She flipped her light brown hair to one side. Marcus was kind of burly-looking, but with a nice face. Like how one would imagine a sympathetic ox to look like, if there were any.

Marcus’ cheeks became red, and he buried his face in his hands. He looked down at the floor and then over at the blackboard. They finally stopped and landed on Mel, a weak smile covering his face.

They stared at each other in silence for a while and right when Mel thought maybe they’d looked at each other for too long, Minnie broke the connection.

“Well, I guess that means you and Mel will always be together.”

Marcus’ eyes shot down to the floor, and he winced.

“I guess,” Mel said with a nervous chuckle, and she dragged a hand along her neck.

God, this felt uncomfortable. What was Minnie doing?

“Everyone, go to your seats.”

The teacher interrupted the hellish moment between the three of them, and Mel let out a long sigh. Marcus and Minnie walked over to their seats, and Mel slipped into hers. She pulled the backpack into her lap and opened the letter strap. There she looked at the letter laying on top of her books, taunting her.

Mel flipped the letter over and read the backside.

From: Falden School of Magic, 1839-1 Aldrion, East of the Mountain.

She picked up her books and had to fight her own instincts to keep the letter in her backpack. She placed the pack on the floor beside her desk and took in a deep breath. Mel would check it after school, after her class. The letter would wait for her, it would be there for her to open after the lecture.

“Open up to page 39 of your history book,” the teacher said.

#

After class, Mel snuck into the bathroom, making sure no one followed her. There she looked under the stalls until she knew she was alone. In front of the mirror, she stood for a moment, holding the letter in her hands. Knowing that this was one of those moments that would decide her life. If she got into Falden or not, it would change her entire future, her destiny. More so than any dragons could.

She dragged in a ragged breath, feeling like she had run a marathon to get here, to this moment. She ripped up the brown envelope in her hand and pulled out a similarly looking piece of paper. At the bottom, the official sigil of Falden was stamped in red ink. The letter was real. It was from Aldrion.

Mel read from the top, her hands trembling as she held the letter.

We regret to inform you, Melissa Temper, that we had to reject your application at this time. We hope you will find another school more suitable to your skills and grades. As of now, we cannot accept you into Falden School of Magic.

Keep safe, Headmaster Lorken.

Mel’s hands trembled furiously now, and the letter slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor. Tears formed in her eyes and spilled out over her cheeks. She looked at herself in the mirror, feeling hatred for who she was. She wasn’t good enough. Her grades weren't good enough. Her blacksmith skills weren’t good enough.

She’d sent in the dagger she’d made with her father in his forge as her apprentice test. He had approved her work, but had that been because he was her father? Or because it had been good enough?

The tears seemed to stream down her cheeks now and she just stood there, watching her brown eyes glitter from the sunlight shining in through the window. Her hair was too long for a blacksmith and her hands were not callous enough. Maybe if she had worked harder, she would have been better. Maybe if she had been someone else who didn’t grow up in stupid Windbrook with the stupid dragon cult, she could have gotten in. She could have gotten to become a mage smith.

Now she was stuck here, stuck in this stupid place. She hated herself for not being better.

“What’s this?” Minnie asked.

Mel turned and saw her friend standing at the entrance of the bathroom with Mel’s letter in her hands. The letter of rejection. The proof of Mel’s failure in life.

Mel swatted at the tears on her cheeks, trying to dry them all off. She didn’t want any signs of her stupidity showing and she didn’t want to be in this moment any longer.

“Nothing,” she said.

“It’s a letter from Aldrion,” Minnie said.

Mel stared at her, then jerked the letter from Minnie’s hands.

“No,” Mel said. “It’s nothing.”

“Yes, it’s something alright,” Minnie said. “You’ve applied to Falden School of Magic all the way in Aldrion. What were you thinking?”

“It doesn’t matter, okay?” Mel said. “So, drop it. I didn’t get in anyway. You saw the rejection. It’s over.”

“But,” Minnie said, her lips quivering. “You’re not allowed to. We’re not allowed to. You know that. What if the priests find out?”

“They won’t,” Mel said. “Only you have seen this letter and you won’t tell them, right?”

“No, of course not,” Minnie said. “But Mel, this is important. Why would you do something like this?”

Mel put her arms out to her sides and let out a frustrated groan.

“Because, Okay?” Mel said. “Because… I don’t want to be stuck here in Windbrook. I don’t want to serve the dragon cult. I want to go to Aldrion. I want to be someone else. You don’t know the pressure that comes with having a great destiny. You don’t know what it’s like. I’m a failure, I’m nobody. Why can’t the dragons see that?”

“Mel…” Minnie put her arm around her. “I don’t know what to say. I didn’t know you felt this way. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Mel said. “It’s not your fault. It’s this cult, this town, everything. I just don’t want to be here anymore.”

Mel reached down to the floor and picked up the envelope containing the address to Falden and stuffed it together with the letter into her backpack. She swung the pack over her shoulders and wiped her cheeks once more.

“I need to get to work,” Mel said. “Father’s expecting me. I’m sorry, Minnie.”