Fairy Bad Day(15)
A dragon!
She tried to focus her eyes to identify which breed it was, but everything was still blurry. She quickly grabbed her binoculars and raced back to the window, but even with a better view, she still didn’t recognize the species. It was small for a dragon, a lot darker than they usually were, and it didn’t seem at all affected by the fact that it was daylight. Even more disturbing, despite the fact that it was flying across the sky, no one on the ground below seemed to be paying any attention to it. Then, without warning, the dragon disappeared from sight, leaving Emma to wonder if she had imagined it.
Maybe she had? Nurse Reynes had said there was a small chance that she had mild concussion, so maybe it was all just a dream. After all, she was at Burtonwood, a place filled to the brim with sight-gifted students. So why couldn’t they see it? And more important, why was the dragon on campus in the first place? There were wards everywhere. Not just for dragons but for all elementals. In fact, Loni, who spent a lot of her spare time helping the tech guys maintain the equipment, used to joke that there were wards on the wards, all of them pulsing out positive electrons designed to keep Burtonwood elemental-free.
Emma rubbed her aching eye, but before she could figure out what it all meant, the creature suddenly reappeared in the sky, like a dark angry blot. Then she watched in horror as it made a dive directly toward the bus, where Brenda Vance was standing. Emma dropped the binoculars onto the ground as she realized that not only was this very real, but that the dragon was hunting.
Without pausing, she raced to the door and out into the hallway. Her legs pounded on the ground, her chest started to burn, and her shoes rubbed as she forced herself to keep going. Finally, she burst through the building doors, past the overhanging bougainvillea, and along the gravel path to where Principal Kessler was checking equipment and ushering everyone onto the bus.
“Thank goodness I caught you in time.” She panted as she came to a halt and tried to catch her breath. “There’s a dragon on campus. And it’s hunting.”
Principal Kessler looked annoyed. “Emma, I thought we’d talked about this. Anything else can wait until after this operation is over.”
“What?” She frowned for a minute before shaking her head in frustration. “No, you don’t understand. There’s a dragon. D-r-a-g-o-n. And it swooped so close to Brenda, it—”
“Oh my God. Emma Jones, you are so pathetic.” Brenda appeared holding a box of sonar gear, her hair looking remarkably un-dragon-ruffled. “Not only are you pretending you can see an invisible dragon that can break through our wards, but you’re trying to involve me in your delusions.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Emma stared at her. “Why would I pretend?”
“Oh, let me think. Hmm, now, why would the girl who is obsessed with following in her dead mom’s footsteps suddenly think she can see a dragon just days before the induction ceremony?”
“That’s not true.” Emma turned to Principal Kessler and shot him a pleading look. “I swear. I saw it. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”
“Really, so where is it now? And why didn’t anyone else see it?” Brenda retorted, and Emma twisted her head as she valiantly searched the skies. They were completely dragonfree.
“Okay, so I’m not quite sure where it went,” she was forced to admit before she turned to Principal Kessler and shot him another pleading look. “But it was definitely a dragon. It must’ve broken through the wards somehow.”
“Of course it did.” Brenda rolled her eyes. “Because that’s just so—”
“That’s enough,” Principal Kessler cut in as an angry scowl marched across his face and his pale blue eyes narrowed. “Brenda, you can get on the bus, and Emma, I can assure you that no elemental has ever broken through the wards, and if it had, the ops team would let me know.”
“But—”
“But nothing.” Principal Kessler cut her off. “I want you to continue with your assignment. Now.” Then, without another word, he climbed the stairs and signaled for the driver to start the engine.
“Wait—” Emma started to yell as the bus pulled away from the curb, but it was no good and she was forced to stand and watch it disappear out of the parking lot. Suddenly, there was a coughing noise behind her and she turned around to where Curtis was standing, leaning forward on his crutches. He had changed out of his uniform and wore a simple white T-shirt underneath a plain blue hoodie that stretched across his broad shoulders and seemed to make his tanned face look even tanner. He also had a very confused expression on his face.
“Um, Jones, did you just tell Kessler that you thought you saw a dragon on campus?” He knitted his brow.
“I did see a dragon on campus,” Emma corrected as she continued to scan the skies. Then she turned to him and let out a reluctant sigh. “Unfortunately, it’s gone now, and Kessler didn’t believe me.”
“But how is that even possible?” Curtis’s face went pale. “It’s daytime and we’re in a built-up area that is warded up to the eyeballs. Not exactly ideal party conditions for a dragon.”
“Thank you, but since I have studied dragon behavior for the last seven years and did actually grow up with one of the most famous slayers in the world, I do know that. However, I also know what I saw. It was a dragon. Why won’t anyone believe me?”