“Lastly, mountains can form a multitude of different shapes and regions depending on how these continental plates impact each other.” Amelia continued to ramble about how mountains formed—It felt like it had been hours since she started talking, the table shifted around continuously to show exactly what she was describing.
I could feel my eyes growing heavy as the lecture dragged on. I was fairly certain that Hico had fallen asleep with his from the way he remained staring directly forwards. Lucia somehow looked intrigued by every word that Amelia said, and Silva… I still wasn't sure how to read her.
Just as a yawn broke free of my jaws an echoing ring of the grand bell snapped my eyes open. It was so loud that I could feel even the air as the room vibrated and drew everyone into a silence.
“Ah, it seems we’re out of time for today—If you have any questions please ask them tomorrow before class!” Amelia piped up with a smile returning to her face as she backed away to her desk at the forefront of the room.
“Finally…” A muttered under my breath as I stood up. Hico was already out of his seat, Lucia wasted no time to stand up and leave the room without a word. Silva remained sitting, looking down uncomfortably as she narrowed her lips into a thin line.
I was about to approach her and ask if she was alright—But Hico’s peppy voice cut me off.
“Where’re ya’ off to next?” Hico asked as he moved to stand next to me. I was surprised to see he was actually barely even taller than me, being one of the only people I had met in the school that I could comfortably look in the eyes without pivoting my head upwards.
“History, you?” I asked as I glanced at Silva; she was slowly gathering her strewn about items into a bag beside her.
“Awh… I’ve got my lessons with my magic instructor next. Guess I’ll see ya ‘round Kirin!” Hico gave a jovial wave, leaving the room with a skip in his step.
I let out a slightly relieved sigh as Hico left. He seemed nice but the outward and blunt socialness he embodied was a lot to handle at once for me. I turned my gaze to Silva once again, giving her a friendly smile.
“You alright?” I asked softly as she stood up. Silva didn’t say anything—She didn’t even physically react to what I said for several moments, not until her shoulders sagged forwards slowly.
“Yea… just, a lot to handle now I guess.” Silva spoke with a timid tone. She almost looked like a shaking kitten with how she spoke, keeping her head low as she turned to the door.
“I can… understand that a bit, wanna talk about it?” I offered gently. I wasn’t quite sure why I did, but I felt a need to reassure her. Maybe it was just Tulip rubbing off on me more.
“Not really…” Silva muttered unconfidently. “Thanks, but we just met and all—And I’m not too sure I wanna open up to someone I’ll be competing against, no offense…” She continued with her lowered tone, shaking her head.
“None taken. I get it honestly,” I answered wholeheartedly as I turned to the door. “I should try and find my way to wherever this history class is… but the offer still stands if you ever want to!” I continued, hopeful. Silva perked up a little bit, giving the faint vestiges of a smile crawling across her face.
“Thanks—I’m actually heading to history as well. We can head there together… i-if you want that is!” Silva’s smile quickly faded away as her tone trailed off. I was frankly surprised by how she acted, she seemed so much more confident in herself when she was on the stage. It was almost like the person in front of me was entirely different from the one I saw just last night.
“That would be great.” I felt a warm smile crawl across my face, happy that I wouldn’t be getting lost in the maze of a school again. Silva took a moment, nodding softly as she took the lead and began down the halls.
No words were exchanged between the two of us for several long moments once we entered the hall. I followed just a pace off to her side, my beaming gaze shifting around the halls filled with bustling activity as students flooded out of their respective rooms to find their next classes.
“So… you said Miss Carmine selected you out of the blue?...” Silva asked, breaking her own imposed silence that I had been respecting.
“Yeah—I didn’t even know her name before the old guy called her name on stage…” I muttered slowly. That entire night felt like it was a dream even still when I thought back upon it.
“That’s… absurd,” Silva sighed, shaking her head. “But that sounds about right from what Miss Nenema had told me about her. You’ve gotta be good with magic though, right?”
“Uhh… about that…” I let out an anxious chuckle, looking away to the side. “I sort of… barely even know how to use magic still? I mean—I get the basics of it but I only just learnt I had mana a few months ago.” I trailed off as I spoke, Silva just gawked at my words.
“She’s insane…” Silva trailed off.
“She’s insane.” I couldn’t help but agree with her.
Silva let out a baffled sigh, shaking her head. She fell back into silence just in time for us to arrive at our destination—A doorway with a sign depicting a clock hanging above it. Silva pressed against the door gently, forcing it open after a second shove.
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I took a step in just behind Silva, glancing around the far more extravagant room that the history class sat within.
The most immediate thing that stood out to me was just how packed the room was—While the geography class only had four students, there must have been thirty or more inside of this class. Most of the students were divided into groups, mingling and chatting amongst each other around a few tables while a large number of empty tables remained near the back.
I couldn’t recognize a single person here so I opted to follow Silva as she made her way to the back of the room, sitting down at the desk directly next to hers as I glanced around the room to take in more of the details.
The front of the room held a massive board with a series of hand-drawn notes spread across it in white chalk. This board sat behind a gilded desk that was etched with dozens of ornate carvings and shimmering metals to accent the well-polished, rosy colored wood.
The wall opposite of where we had entered was lined with hundreds of books—I couldn’t even begin to make out details from the books thanks to the distance from even the nearest shelf, but I could tell they were at least rather old from how dusty they all looked.
Lastly, my gaze looked upwards. I took in the sight of multiple hanging skeletons along the roof, some of smaller beasts, while a skull of a gargantuan creature with a crown of horns sat hanging on the back wall. I couldn’t recognize what any of the skeletons were, but they were all fascinating to look at.
“Don’t worry about being too lost… We were just starting a new section on the Era of Scales.” Silva whispered to me as the room fell utterly silent, leaving me without a chance to even try and inquire what the Era of Scales was.
Another powerful ring of the bell brought everyone to an absolute silence, and as if it was their que to do so—The door swung open.
From the doorway walked a man that looked to be in his mid thirties, well built, but far from the muscularity I had seen even from just Kendrick and Erick. He was quite tall, definitely over six foot. Upon his face a heavy pair of circular glasses sat making his yellow eyes seem far larger than natural. The most bizarre part about his look however was the soft, pastel pink color his hair shined with.
“Hello, hello yes—You may all take your seats.” The man spoke confidently as he moved towards his desk. “I hope you have all enjoyed your break, and for any new students we have had transfer to this class: Welcome! My name is Henry Felinde, and I will be your teacher for the foreseeable future.”
“Now,” Henry snapped his fingers. Upon every single desk a book appeared, floating gently down to where it landed before opening up. They all shifted around until they sat about a third of the way completed, settling upon an untouched page. “We shall begin with recapping the last thing we read before entering into the Era of Scales. Please read along with me the note copied into these pages.”
“An excerpt from an ancient letter written by an unknown individual about the ‘Pre-Sapient’ era. Otherwise known as the ‘Era of Scales.’ The following is a direct copy of these notes.” My eyes glided across the first paragraph at the top of the page.
“Guess you don’t forget how to read so easily…” I thought to myself as Henry cleared his throat, beginning to read aloud as I read the page myself.
“Greetings my old Friend. How long has it been since we last met? I’m not quite sure. However, I do vividly remember our last conversation.”
“After combing through my parents' old records I finally found that story you wished to hear so desperately about. That ‘Era of Scales’ in which all of us Draconians seem to know of, yet in truth we know very little about it in a factual form. Most of this history is spread by word-of-mouth. However, without further waiting I shall let your curiosities rest as much as I am able to.”
“Ancient Enadelle, long before the emergence of the modern ‘Sapients’ that we are all so familiar with. In these lawless lands beasts ruled the world. Magic belonged solely to them, and amongst them all—Dragons.”
“This ‘Era of Scales’ is from when true Draconians, not us Humanoid-Draconians ruled the world. Parts of this history are scattered, but many legends refer to these same ideals and legends, and all points of legend have some form of an origin point.”
“It is said that the end of this era only came about when the Elves and Humans first discovered magic, scattering many dragons to the wind once their remnant dominance was questioned.”
“The Era of Scales was the era in which the five great draconic families ruled the world in a much similar fashion to the five sections our modern world is divided into. The leaders of these five families were known to the world as the ‘Five Scales.’”
“Upon those great mountains to the west lived a great earthen drake, a beast so massive that mountains bent to his will. The Great Mountain-Mover, Ghidul. It is said that the eldest mountain in that entire range was once his den, and perhaps if one were to dig deep enough they would find untold riches, the likes of which had never been seen in the world.”
“Upon the lands of the Ogre and Oni lived the great flocks of Wyverns. Ruled by The First Flame, Infulme. His great scarlet wings were said to scatter flames into the horizon that even nature could not recover from, while his breath was so infernal that the stars would shake from his heat.”
“In the heart of the human lands rested the Golden Dragoness, ‘The First Light,’ or ‘The Gentle Light.’ We have no known name for her, but it is said that she was the one who first taught us how to use magic. Her blessings eventually passed upon every race who would accept her grace.”
“In the heart of the continent, before it was split into a great desert and a dying jungle.The endless, lush life of a Jungle larger than nations sat. Overwatching this land was the great Wyrm, The Evergreen Dragon Ellenia. It is said that when she died her scales scattered, blocking the encroaching desert from ever consuming the remnants of her once lushious domain.”
“And in the far, far north, lay the last of the great scales. The dragon so large that only Skypiercer could be his home, The Frozen Titan, Helden. It is said that some dragons called him ‘The Great Skypiercer,’ however these rumors have never been confirmed. It has however been confirmed that the epicenter of those icy wastes is in the very heart of that accursed mountain, an ice so cold that it was banished into exile by the other four scales.”
I stared at the empty end of the gently yellowed page, blinking several times as I took in the information. Henry’s voice fell silent only a moment after, reaching for a cup next to him to take a sip from the glass before clearing his throat.
“Now, let us begin upon the written history of the Era of Scales. Pay attention to everything read in these pages, as there will be a test once this section is finished.” Henry spoke calmly. I reached for the book, gently turning to the next page—Curiosity was driving me. A lust for knowledge about the world that had always been hidden away from me, and I also wondered… Was that a dragon that had flown over me during the ceremony?