Chapter 2

Sitting on the bench Amy purveyed the wide spectacle before her. Since coming to America and learning English as a young girl, in school she always felt a gladness, a relief when fantasy books were assigned as reading material. Though hard at first, comprehending a language vastly different than her own mother tongue, she could get lost in the stories, get lost in the epics of the protagonist, slaying monsters fighting against the dark figures of someone else’s imaginations. This grew into an unquenchable thirst. Soon she ferried from the world of reality and took the boat into the realm of the fantastic, where good was good, and evil was evil. Her English grew rapidly, but her mother often chastised her for reading only these books, ‘they’ll rot your brain’, or, ‘you need to think more about reality, find a man and marry him, have babies’, like any Vietnamese mother would say. It was a reprieve from her reality dominated by grey, complex, complicated, and tiring; and yet here she was in the center of such a world.

The many people before her bustled around, in splendid colorful garments concerned with their own comings and goings, queued and approaching desks filled with dwarves, although the purpose of their visits remained a mystery to her. As she sat drinking her coffee her mind once again wandered to Jeremy, that night as she hit the ground, she recalled seeing his form struggling against an unknown entity, through her closing, confused eyelids. ‘Why had he come back’, she thought, after a year, no word, no communication, he vanished into the night like the lingering smoke of a snuffed candle. Her eyes became sullen, and her chest became tight as the painful emotions resurfaced, tempering the exhilaration she felt from witnessing another type of world, a type of world that she desperately clung to in her books, when her boyfriend left, when all else had lost its meaning, she retreated from the frontlines of the battle with her sadness.

The scene before Amy was more familiar than she would have thought: a large building with many desks for various official business. There were many people clothed in fine fabric, long and flowing, some bright colors, some more subdued colors. Each individual displayed very humanlike appearances; and yet, some had elf like long graceful slender ears, while others had shorter statures, and drooping beards. Each person had an electronic tablet floating, swaying like a dance moving according to the user’s steps. Only until they reached the counter did they pluck it out of the air as if it were fresh fruit from a tree. Their steps echoed out on the stone tiles. Click clack was heard from the woman with a white flowing gown.

“You think this is the stuff of fairy tales, wait till you get to the tower”, Sean said as he watched Amy soak up the sights around her, drawing on his cigarette.

‘They seem mostly normal’, Amy thought to herself as her eyes roamed around. Amy was about to open her mouth to ask a question hesitantly.

“We’ll cover the details when we get to the tower”, Ian said as he focused on Sean with an interested look.

Amy’s stomach began to growl, “Are you hungry?”, William inquired, smoke swirling in front of his thoughtful eyes.

Anxiety began to brew in Amy’s thoughts, like a bag of tea in warm water. She was nervous in a conversation. While her reading comprehension of English was at a native level, her pronunciation and speaking, were not as polished. She often thought maybe if she could speak better, she could have kept Jeremy from leaving. She was conscious of her mouth's inability to shape the English language, and liked to remain quiet. Amy nodded her head in response to William’s question.

“Can I go home after eating”, Amy asked, she wanted to see her mother and let her know she was ok. She did not want to cause her mother to worry.

“Oh, you’ll not be returning home tonight lass”, Amy looked up at Liam as he spoke, trying to ascertain his motives his reasons, “You have magic now, we do not know its nature, but it is strong and old. We can tell it is not your power, but its proclivities we know not. We cannot let you wander into the human world lest an accident occur”, suddenly his face darkened a shade as he exhaled smoke, “hmmmm, these incidences trouble me, a suddenly vanished shop and shop keeper, an attack on you shortly after obtaining this wand. There is something here that we cannot fathom yet. It would be irresponsible of us to relinquish your person to the whims of the world, should the same thing happen again”, Liam stopped talking though Amy saw he had a mouth full of words, warnings, and premonitions.

Glyn coughed. “Right”, Ian said withdrawing his eyes from Glyn in a shared glance, not wanting the atmosphere to become too intense, “We got five people, we can take a company car as you Humans call it. I’ve wanted to try little bird’s bistro. It’s time for dinner, let us all relax”.

Liam, looked on at Amy his previous jovial face abundantly returned, a twinkle in his eyes and a smirk on the edge of his lips. His voice seemed to cut through the bustling, clanking sounds of the restaurant, with its clarity, and in his charming Celtic accent he began, “Sorry we don’t send birds with letters to notify you of your enrollment dramatically. We have our ways though and they are equally thrilling”.

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Liam looked with much yearning the bread that filled his toned hands.

“Oh, Oh Oh, you really don’t mean”, Glyn said excitedly as she let out a soft squeal.

Smiling, his charisma enhanced by his blond reddish hair and green eyes Liam took a letter out of his black jacket pocket and left it in the air as it gracefully found its way to in front of Amy. Liam looked around to be sure of no onlookers. Amy looked at Glyn next to her, as Glyn pressed her hand together in front of her face.

Amy’s eyes stared at the letter, should she take it open it read it she thought to herself, or should she thank them for their kindness, and leave before things became more complex. She felt she knew that these people had genuine concern, genuine thought for her wellbeing.

Sensing her hesitation, Ian looked at her with earnest eyes, and said, “What will happen if you take this and accept this card, you may be thinking. We cannot tell you with any confidence what future events may happen. Sometimes you go out your front door to go to the store, and the world with its all its turning and scheming decides to pluck you out of your everyday life. And then you may find your humble imaginings overtaken by the vast machinations of the world”.

Amy nodded, unsurety became a spark, became a flame became a fire, an adventure waited her, and she knew she would never be the same afterwards, and still she picked up the envelope, ‘Letter of Acceptance to The Magical Academy Arbellodduin in The Tower of Arbellon’, the gold letters engraved themselves into the front of the envelope and as soon as Amy finished reading them, then they disappeared like a lie. She carefully turned the card over, and carefully broke the wax seal.

She was so focused on reading the letter she didn’t realize Liam’s mouth was moving he wore a focused expression, sharp and concise, his eyes glistening like the blade of a keen dagger. The air vibrated as Liam’s soft but clear voice moved through the air, as a boat draws a wake in a small pond. The people around paid no mind, neither did they look onward to this spectacle. Then they vanished hence from the table with no trace save for the amount for the bill and a hefty tip.

A bright light filled Amy’s perception. Her vision went from food, plates, and platters, to scales, claws, and horns. Amy perplexed, stepped back immediately looking for a rock to hide under.

“Dragons??!!”, Amy said in a shrill, tense voice.

She was so affected by these massive creatures; she could not see the forest around them. The backs of these massive creatures seemed to compete with the skyline of these old towering unmovable trees. Yes, a forest, firs, pines, and cedars she was in a steppe; and though the four dragons were hundreds of yards away she felt like she was pressed up against their snouts. Yes, a forest her peripherals began to stream into her awareness: the clear mountain air, the darkness of the cloudy forest night. The dragons though, abode at their position, a luminous green halo of light surrounded their fluorescence emerald eyes, all staring intently at her. Her spine shivered as she received their focus.

“Forest park huh?”, Sean said as he waded through the tall grass of this small steppe, which could be called a large meadow, “good spot, and what a smooth location transfer spell Liam. I wanna be just like you!!”.

One of the dragons cocked its head at Sean as he spoke, as the largest one reared on its hind legs. Scales of the truest blue sparkled in the faint light from the obscured moon; its belly seemed like a small skyscraper clawing at the sky. It flapped its ever-reaching black wings once, and a gust of wind blew through the grass it seemed like hurricane knocking over trees like they were merely dominoes. The wind lifted Sean off the ground and deposited him roughly several yards back. Belying its massive size, it came down on its forequarters with a surprisingly light touch. Amy realized she was sitting, no longer standing, on the ground, on her butt from the shock.

“Hold on to your dignity, you excitable fool!”, the voice of William rang out from the snout and fangs. Indeed, it was William’s voice, but amplified with the strength to deafen an occupied, busy, bustling arena. It filled the wide-open air around them. As if it was a cue, the dragons approached Amy leisurely.

“Brother, I am the very definition of excitable, how come you don’t scold me”, Glyn’s voice strongly echoed despite the thick humid spring air, as the sleeker more feminine head turned towards the largest one amongst them, and nibbled on his jaw in a teasing manner.

“You’re a lost cause that’s why”, William said with the smallest sign of a smirk on his massive face as he flapped his wings once more to push Glyn off himself.

Amy didn’t know a dragon could smirk, and she just discovered this interesting fact. Boom, boom, boom, Glyn came frolicking along towards Amy, although that frolic would be considered a national disaster in some countries. With her long slender neck, with a Giddy look on her sleek snouted face, she moved until her eye, which was as big as Amy, was in front of the lone human girl. Amy could see her reflection in the pupils as she reached out to touch Glyn’s scales.

Glyn snorted in pleasure, “The little sister I always wanted”, she squealed rattling Amy’s bones.

Amy gulped and turned towards the lights of Portland, “I wonder if I can see my mother and sisters again’.

Glyn put her snout on the Ground, “Of course you’ll see them soon, now hop aboard lass”, Glyn said, “this is the last flight out of Portland”, she snickered.

As Glyn gracefully arched her purple neck, the moon pushed through the clouds and lit a soft purple glow on Glyn’s violet scales. Perched atop Glyn’s crown, she looked down on the steppe, it seemed she was eight stories high. She felt her body press down on Glyn’s head, as Glyn reared up. Amy moved back and got behind Glyn’s horns as she sat down. Clouds of small trees, brush, and dirt kicked up behind Amy as Glyn burst forward. One flap, two flaps, three flaps, and they were soaring far above the tree line, off into the cloudy night.