71
shocking discoveries2
LYZBEAM HAD FINALLY FOUND THE MESS. She, Dimitri, and Lopco got breakfast and their choice of drink. They sat down at a vacant table. Breakfast was grum; whatever it was, it didn't sound appetizing. It was a sloppy, white concoction of chunks and liquid. It had no colour what-so-ever.3
Two dragons came over to their table and took a set. The scrawny blue dragon dug into his grum and the other took a swig from his glass.4
“A-lo!” The scrawny one said. “Ma name es Artex. I can draw anythin! Yer those new guys da Colonels pulled in. Everyone knows yins.” He looked over at his friend. “Oh, thes es Faddy, short fer Fadrib. We’re new, too.”5
They continued eating. Lyzbeam couldn’t eat this disgusting slosh. “What is this stuff?” She asked.6
“Et’s all da stuff yer body needs ta servive! Don’t werry about et. Jus’ eat.” Faddy said.7
Lyzbeam looked at Lopco. He seemed to be enjoying the muck. Dimitri had eaten some, too. She scooped some up in her Spork and slurped it down. It was actually quite good! It tasted of steamed fruit with a hint of munch grass and rosemary along with some chicken.8
“Lyzbeam! Over ‘ere!” It was Scap motioning her to come over to his table. “Lopco, ma man! Dimitri, you, too!” Lyzbeam said goodbye to Artex and Faddy and went to sit with Scap and his friends.9
“Hey! These guys wanted to meet the three guys I put in the cell. This is Billy, Lefty, and Chile. That little dude over there, that’s Mouse. Smallest dragon you’ll ever see.”10
Scap finished and the others said hi. After breakfast they went to their specified training room. Dimtri and Lyzbeam were separated him being more experienced. Lopco went to a special class for other types of species. Lyzbeam went to Class BB, Basic Sword Handling.11
She walked in. Chile was there and was learning how to use new types of weapons. This way in battle, he could just pick up any weapon if he happened to lose his. The teacher soon arrived. She stood at the front of the room. Nothing was inside the room except hay on the floor for cushions and swords hanging on the walls.12
The teacher, a tall red dragon, held her sword in her right hand and introduced herself to the class.13
“Hello, class. I am Hivalt. Please pick a partner and do some one-on-one. I want to see what levels you are at. Oh, and absolutely NO magic powers, just swords.”14
Lyzbeam and Chile took their positions, swords at the ready. Their swords clashed and the fight began. Chile blocked every blow and Lyzbeam dodged it expertly. She back-flipped in the air but ran into another group.15
All the groups moved aside as the two new friends fought. Chile who had prior training couldn’t believe his eyes. He was a slow learner and had taken him four months to get this good and all she did was pick up a sword.16
She must be the one we are looking for! He thought.17
“That’s enough! I will not let anyone endanger his or her fellow students. You two definitely do not belong here!” Hivalt yelled and quickly promoted them to Class AAA, Pre-Swordsman.18
That was what went on for the next few weeks. Chile was the only veteran in a class because he was the youngest and he was a Sped. He moved up with Lyzbeam and they progressed through the classes and worked up into Neggi’s class. Neggi taught swordplay and expertise flying. 19
One day, after class, Neggi called Lyzbeam over to him. “You know when we were in Arneeya, I told you that I might be able to get you some lessons from a dragon named Mangescall? Well, I did! His room is just down the hallway. I am sure you can find it. Your gonna be his only student, so be on your best behavior!” With that, Neggi retreated to his classroom to break up a fight between two young dragons that were learning basic claw use.20
Lyzbeam turned away and walked down the hall. The tree bark felt cool against her feet as she opened the door to Mangescall’s classroom. She stepped inside and saw another Pygmy Dragon! He was a light reddish colour and was very handsome. His eyes were a deep maroon and his scales were nice and smooth. His wings were perfectly proportioned and his scales shone with an intellectual vigor. He turned around and looked at her and his eyes twinkled at the sight of her.21
“Hello! I am Mangescall, or that’s what they call me. I am sure they didn’t tell you my real name, huh? My real name is Daqura. How are you Lyzbeam?” He held out his hand to shake hers and she quickly grasped it, all shreds of thought of Dimitri pushed out of her mind.22
“I’m fine. Thank you!” Lyzbeam felt herself blushing as Daqura looked into her eyes. His touch was just so warm and comforting that she never wanted to let go. He let go and went over to his desk. There he had a table-full of concoctions, potions, remedies, spices, herbs, and different plants of different powers. 23
He sat down and poured different powders into a tall flask of purple liquid. “Do you know why you are here? No? Well, I was asked specially to teach you different spells and en-chantments that could help you in battle. Is this what you wish?” Daqura glanced up at her with a longing stare that seemed to want her to stay. 24
How could she say no? But what about Dimitri? No, she could not deal with him right now. There was just too much he was hiding. Why couldn’t he tell her anything? He never even hung out with her anymore. He was too enthralled in his classes and new friends such as Scap and Posh. This had left her heartbroken at first but she got over it, or so she thought. She found herself thinking about him often but now she could get back at him by taking a class with an attractive dragon like Daqura. Nothing would happen they wouldn’t actually date. But if the opportunity came up, she wasn’t gonna hesitate to grasp onto it. “Yes, I am willing to take your teaching.”25
Daqura smiled. “I thought so. I am the most experienced teacher here.”26
“I thought Earstine was!”27
“Ha! Next to me he looks like a scared werewolf with his tail between his legs! I am an expert and I am willing to pass some of my knowledge onto you if that’s okay. But it’s a lot of hard work and takes a lot of studying out of class. You’ll have to meet with me out of school hours too.”28
Was it just her or was he hitting on her? He was defenintly interested in her and he wasn’t afraid to show it. She knew why he wanted to see her in-between school hours and that was for dates. But she couldn’t deny it; she liked him, a lot! He was what, only seventeen and she was almost sixteen. Perfect match or it would be in her town. “Okay! When do we meet?”29
“Everyday, unless I tell you otherwise, at klery time (eight o’clock) and we go until we are done. That clear?”30
“Crystal!”31
“Sit with me at lunch and we’ll go over stuff, okay?32
“Oh, uh, yeah, sure. You wouldn’t mind meeting one of my friends would you. He’s quite a handful but I manage.”33
“Wouldn’t miss it! See you then!”34
She walked out the door but couldn’t help but let out a tiny squeal of excitement. Her teacher was totally gorgeous! She so hoped they could go out! He seemed much more open than Dimitri ever did. Lyzbeam had forgotten all about Dimitri and her crush but he seemed only to be old news. That was quite all right with her right now. She was sure by the end of the month she would have a new boyfriend.35
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“Something wrong Dimitri? You seem sort of sullen. Something eating at you?” Scap said as he sat down at the table with his daily dish of grum. 37
“Naw! I’m just, I’m just tired, that’s all.”38
“Oh, git used to it, mate!” Posh replied. “Your gonna be tired quite a lot if you keep haloofing around like that’n. Now eat ‘n cheery up your somber face.”39
Dimitri lifted his head and tried to look brighter. “Yeah, I’m sure your right. I just need to stay alert and maybe get more sleep then I’ll be all right.” He took a bite of his grum and looked over at a nearby table. It had been a week since he last spoke to Lyzbeam. In fact, he hadn’t even seen her! She was always prancing around with another Pygmy Dragon named Mangescall. She barely knows him a week and already they are eating at the same table and looking at various books.40
Get a hold of yourself! He thought. Lyzbeam is meeting new people just you and improving her skills also! Nothing is going on and nothing is going to change the friendship you two hold. He looked over again. They were sitting too close to each other for his comfort. Took more than friends to sit that close! Who did this Mangescall think he his!41
Suddenly, Billy caught his attention. “You know what? Lyzbeam, the new dragon, is getting private lessons with Mangescall, the best spell enchanter in the school! He thinks Lyzbeam has some sort of special ability to control It.”42
What were they talking about? Lyzbeam, have special powers? No way! Or did she? 43
“What are you guys talking about?” Dimitri finally said.44
“Ah, there’s me ole’ matey, back from the reverie!” Posh cried. “Lyzbeam may have the powers to control a precious stone. It’s black as night but as cool as a December frost. It holds in its core the Paranormal Moon and our four beloved stars: Blaze, Arless, Erthrow, and Wirriga. They have a power that only one can control. None yet has had the power. We thought Mangescall was the one chosen to do so but it proved fatal. That’s when he swore that he would retire until he found that one dragon whose will in life was to control the crystal. He thinks Lyzbeam is that dragon and is willing to go to death to prove it. If he is wrong, our Lyzbeam will surely see death and won’t be as lucky as our Mangescall. 45
“But so far, she seems to fit the part, er, that’s what Earstine says. Don’t take my word for it, mateys. I’m not even sure if it is true. But keep your pipers shut and your eyes popped so as to not miss anything.” 46
Lefty slurped up the last of his grum. “I heard some of the teachers talking and they said the Time of the Partolkine has come. That’s the stone’s name. It means...” The bells in the tower of the tree rung. Time to return to classes. Lefty picked up his tray with his left hand (his only hand) and carried it to the trash. 47
“Wait! Wait!” Dimitri yelled at his group as Lyzbeam and Mangescall left the mess hall. “I want to learn more of this Partolkine Stone. When can you tell me?”48
Seeing the desperation in his eyes, Chile laid his hand on his shoulder. “These fools of dragons don’t know quite as much as someone I know. Meet me after lights out in my dorm. The smartest dragon in my pod should know enough of the Stone to write a book and…” He looked at his companions. “And he is reliable. See you then. You want me to tell anything to Lyzbeam? She’s in my next class? You haven’t been talking to her lately and I thought this could help.”49
Dimitri looked down the hall to see Mangescall and Lyzbeam leaving the science wing with some beakers and old test tubes. “No. I have more important stuff to do. I have to go to the library.”50
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The library was a monstrous hollow in the lower corridors of the tree. It had shelves galore of books; any book that you may need, from the very bases of dragon kind to the most educational schoolbook to the most mystical fiction book. Dimitri, as he had said, went there after lunch and looked up every book that even slightly mentioned the Partolkine Stone.52
Piles among piles of books lay on a vacant table by a giant self-illuminating mushroom. This mushroom gave off its own natural electricity, which made it very dear to the dragons that owned it.53
Dimitri returned to his seat, yet again distraught at what he had found. Few manuscripts went into the detail he needed to find out if what Billy and Lefty had said were true. 54
Many gave descriptions and very intricate drawings of what the Stone should look like. They gave its place of origin but didn’t tell how it was found. Or one book described a war but it was distantly outdated. It said the war would be in the year tythink-voin. It was now year untuk-pon. He would never find anything accurate.55
Dimitri started to put his books away back on the shelves. As he was passing by a heavily packed bookshelf, an old cloth-bound book caught his eye. He dropped his books onto the floor and quickly snatched up the interesting book. The cloth was royal purple and crinkled at the touch of his hand.56
Carefully, so as not to disturb the papers within, Dimitri opened it. A waft of dust flew up and made him sneeze. A loud “Sh!” from the librarian made him cringe and he returned to his table.57
This book looks interesting to read. Full of ancient recordings and everything! He thought as he flipped through the crusty pages. The librarian eyed him closely. Dimitri’s eyes ventured over to the sign that said:58
ALL BOOKS BOUND IN CLOTH ARE RESTRICTED TO STUDENTS AND ARE TO BE KEPT ON THE SHELVES AT ALL TIMES. PLEASE ADHERE TO ALL THESE RULES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.59
Dimitri gritted his teeth. Uh-oh! She’s coming right toward me! What should I do? Thinking fast, he slid the book underneath his rump and pulled his cape about him. The librarian eyed him suspiciously but turned around and returned to her desk thinking she was mistaken.60
Dimitri pulled the thick book back out and flipped through the pages, eagerly looking for his subject. Chapters and chapters of notes, recordings, and stories ran across the papers with different scripts and recorders. How much history was there to learn just from this book alone? Most of the contents of the book were probably not even mentioned in school. Then his gaze fell upon such a chapter. Maybe it had the type of recording he needed. There it was! 61
Thendrev records: The Partolkine Stone.62
This is the recording of Thendrev and the finding of a precious stone. It is luminous and seems to create its own radiance. I don’t understand its magnificence. It seems to hold its own sky in its core and creates a power none other can fathom. It came from the father of TigerEye, Ghereth, the most powerful sorcerer of our day. It came from the heart of the mountain Staxsun in the Eastern Kingdom. Ghereth bent it to his own will so as to control its power. Without it, he is nothing. But our brave dragon Frodswyn defeated him and retrieved the Partolkine Stone. Yet it only has one ruler and Ghereth is dead. Who is to be its new master? I lay down a prophecy on this piece of parchment that may help those in the future. In the year untuk-pon, a leader shall arise out of the mists of the Northern Kingdom. This dragon shall be renamed Yshinu, or heir/heiress of the moon. They will defeat anything that comes their way and their army shall be victorious. But, things that have advantages also have disadvantages. Someone will give their life, the heir/heiress or someone they hold dear. But this is just a record of an old dragon that shall not have long to live. It’s just a prophecy. And that ends my recording I must go eat the pudding in the Cathedral Hall now. I hope it’s not tapioca! 63
~Thendrev III64
Dimitri’s eyes widened. So it may not be true. There was still hope that Lyzbeam was not the true heiress to the Stone. Besides, to be a heiress you had to be from the direct blood of Ghereth. Lyzbeam couldn’t be in his bloodline. She was a Pygmy Dragon. 65
There must be something in here about Ghereth! Maybe it’ll tell me of his life or something that could link Lyzbeam to him. Dimitri skimmed through the pages some more. Many recordings in the book at something to do with Ghereth but none of them went into the detail Dimitri needed.66
Then a subscript caught his attention and Dimitri began to read.67
Breffenor Recordings: Ghereth & Lucinda68
Ghereth our arch nemesis has remarried and has had three children. One was killed at birth and thrown out the window to rot on the roof of his castle. The other, a splitting image of his father, obviously the favorite and heir of the throne. That was why he remarried, so his rule would not fail. He needed a strong male to replace him and to follow in his cruel footsteps. But the other left him shamefaced. Yes it had the shade of his own scales before he dyed them red, a turquoise, but it did not show promising cruelty like its brother. For ‘twas female! Not wanting anything to do with her or her mother, he cast her out of the kingdom and left them to die. His mother sought for shelter or for someplace of refuge, but she did not survive. Nothing is known of the whereabouts of the child or if she ever lived. 69
~Breffenor70
A tap, tap, tap startled Dimitri. A long stick had been tapping his shoulder for a few seconds and he hadn’t even noticed. He turned around to see the librarian glowering down at him over her thick-rimmed spectacles. A low raspy voice made him shiver. “Rrreturrrn that book to itsss rrrightful plassse, sssir! I’m going to have to rrreporrrt you!” She grabbed the book from him and pointed a long, lank finger towards the doorway. “Now, out of my librrrarrry! I don’t want to sssee you looking at thessse persssonal rrrecordsss again! Do I make myssself clear?”71
“Yesss, ma’am!” Dimitri chortled as he ran out the door, mimicking her rasping lisp. As the door shut behind him he could hear something hit it knowing that the librarian had thrown a book meant for his head.72
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“Wow! And all I have to do is carry some powdered Unjine leaves with me and then sprinkle some on the ground and I’ll be able to put them under a sleep spell? Amazing!” Lyzbeam stood over a jar of Unjine powder in Mangescall’s room. They had been discussing spells all day and had studied throughout lunchtime too.74
“Yes, that’s all you have to do. Didn’t think this stuff would be this easy did you, Lyzbeam?” Mangescall grabbed some potions off of his cupboard shelves and set them on the table. “Now let’s go over these. Which is which?”75
Lyzbeam bit her lip. These were the five potions she would have to know by sight and smell for they were the basis of every potion. “Um, the third one is Earth Potion, the second Fire, first is Water, and then Air and Light are the fourth and fifth.”76
“Good, you are learning fast!” Mangescall returned the potions to their rightful place and returned to his seat by Lyzbeam.77
“Daqura? How can you say I’m learning fast if I learn a few spells a day? There are thousands of spells and I won’t be able to learn them all, not in such a short time!”78
Daqura walked over to her side and put his arm around her shoulders. Slowly, he led her over to a giant spell book that always lay open upon his desk. 79
“Lyzbeam, Lyzbeam! Don’t worry! Like I said, I am the very best and I assure you, we will succeed in learning all there is to know in this book.” He pointed at the bounded three thousand-pages.80
“By the time we’re through, you won’t have to even think about casting a spell. It will just come naturally!” He opened up his hand and a crimson rose immediately appeared. He handed it to her and walked out of the classroom.81
“Same time tomorrow, Lyzbeam!” Daqura said as he shut the door behind him. 82
Lyzbeam sighed. Everything was happening so fast and she liked all the attention she was getting from the others students, the teachers, and especially, Daqura.83
She was strolling down the hall when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. She turned around to see Dimitri running towards her with some papers. 84
“Lyzbeam! I’m so glad I found you! Look, I need to talk to you!”85
“What’s the hurry?” She said eyeing him suspiciously and twirling the rose around in her hand.86
“What do you mean?”87
“I mean, you never seemed to care to talk to me before. Why the sudden need to speak to me? Wouldn’t you rather go talk with your new friends?”88
Dimitri, taken a little aback, ruffled through his notes from the previous visit to the library. “I don’t know what your talking about, Lyzbeam! What is your problem?”89
Lyzbeam gasped. Did he honestly not know? How could anyone be so clueless? “My problem? My problem? You’re the one with the problem, mister! Ignoring me for the past few weeks and all doesn’t really make a person happy. And now your running up to me with a sudden need to tell me something? Oh, yeah! I really have a problem!” She started to walk away in a huff.90
“No, Lyzbeam! Don’t walk away from me! This is really important! If you could only give me five minutes ” 91
He tried to catch up and gain her attention when she whirled around and glared at him. “You have four minutes and fifty-seven seconds left!” 92
Okay that’s a start! Dimitri looked down on his papers as Lyzbeam rolled her eyes.93
“Okay, Lyzbeam, there is a problem. Mangescall thinks that you’re the dragon that can control this sacred magical stone called the Partolkine Stone. Now that is a powerful stone that has the moon and four stars entrapped in its core giving it magical powers that can bestow upon its master unimaginable control! 94
“Now, the only person, so far that we know of, that can handle this Stone’s power is TigerEye, but he doesn’t have it, we do. And Mangescall seems to believe that you are the heiress to the Stone, but that can’t be true. The original master of the Partolkine Stone was Ghereth, TigerEye’s father and the Stone can only be wielded by a direct heir of TigerEye, and ”95
“Sorry, your time is up!” Lyzbeam said sarcastically, not wanting to listen to his nonsense any longer. “I got to rest. Daqura and I have a lot to accomplish tomorrow!” With that she turned her back on Dimitri and walked down the girl’s dormitory hallway.96
Dimtri’s jaw dropped to the floor. If she didn’t listen to him, then she could be in real danger. What if TigerEye tried to kidnap her, then she would wish she had listened to him. She had no idea what TigerEye was capable of doing. He had experienced it; it was dreadful! Dimitri remembered the poem TigerEye had said to him before he had escaped:97
No one knows,98
No one understands,99
What will happen,100
To these ‘ere lands.101
No one will survive,102
No one will stand.103
This declares104
The Iron Hand.105
No one knows what he is planning. I cannot tell for I was sworn to secrecy, under pain of death. He looked down at his papers. Useless pieces of junk! He thought and returned to his room to wait for lights out.106
*************************************************************************107
“Where es ‘e?”108
“Don’t worry, he’ll be here.”109
“Well, I’m not gonna wait ‘ere fereva. If ‘e’s not ‘ere in five, I’m outty!”110
Suddenly, the door creaked open and Dimitri entered cautiously. The other two dragons motioned for him to come over and sit with them on the floor near some candles. The scent of citrus spice wafted up to him as he sat down.111
“A-lo! So what es et ya wanted ta talk ta me about, hm?”112
It was Artex, the dragon they had met at lunch their first day. “The Partolkine Stone. What does it have to do with Lyzbeam?”113
Artex looked down at Dimitri’s stack of papers. “Tried ta do a lil extra searchin, eh? Da Partolkine Stone es somethin I ‘aven’t seen fer years. It looks like, um. Let me jus’ draw et fer ya.” He grabbed one of Dimitri’s scrap pieces of paper and pulled a pencil out from behind his ear. In less than twenty seconds, he had a detailed drawing of the Partolkine Stone.114
“The teachers are all scared. They ‘aven’t seen any signs of a dragon that fit da description in da books. Yeah, I snuck a few peeks ‘ere an’ there in them books, too. Then Lyzbeam comes along, an’ they jump ta da conclusion that she may be da one they’ve been lookin’ fer all these years. They think she es da one that kin wield da Stone.”115
Dimitri wrinkled his forehead. “But to do so, she has to be a direct descendant of Ghereth and TigerEye! She can’t be though.”116
“She can if she’s not full Pygmy Dragon. Ya see, ‘er mutha would ‘ave ta ‘ave some type of Pygmy blood in ‘er fer Lyzbeam to be Pygmy. Et’s a simple concept.”117
Dimitri looked at Artex attentively as he began to tap his pencil on his knee. “How do I know if she is a descendant of Ghereth? As far as I know, asking her is out of the question. She still thinks she’s an outcast. She doesn’t seem to have a clue that she may be another type of dragon.”118
Artex quit his tapping and Chile gave him a piece of paper. “All ya ‘ave ta do es git ‘er DNA in a drop of blood. Jus’ prick a finger or cut ‘er doin some one-on-one. Just git et on a piece of cotton and git et back ta me. This es ma room.” Artex handed him the piece of paper. It said:119
Wing: 12120
Dorm: 26121
Room: 175122
“Come dere when ya ‘ave da stuff.” Artex got up to leave but Dimitri stopped him.123
“One more question. What’ll happen if Lyzbeam can control this stone?”124
Artex sat back down, his eyes full of sorrow. “She’ll be put inta war, leadin the front ranks. She won’t ‘ave time fer dragons like us. She’ll be so powerful. Basically, yins know as much as I do. Ya know what I speak of. If Lyzbeam es da heiress, she es gonna die!”125
Artex, looking solemn, got up and took his leave; Dimitri looked up at Chile. Chile, not knowing anything that was discussed previous to the conversation, sat on the floor dumbfounded.126
“Chile, you all right?” 127
“Die?” Chile murmured underneath his breath.128
“What?”129
“Lyzbeam is gonna die?” Chile’s panic stricken face filled Dimitri with dread. He, of course, didn’t want her to die. She meant a lot to him and he was gonna prove the prophecy wrong.130
“Chile, we don’t know that for sure yet. She may not fit the description in the prophecy.” But inside, Dimitri knew she was. She fit in with the whole puzzle so far and exactly what TigerEye had said when he was in his clutches. “Don’t worry about it. I won’t let her die!” Dimitri left after he made sure Chile was okay. He sneaked past the night guards and slipped past the teachers who were late sleepers. 131
Once back in his own room, he was cautious as to not making any sound. He crawled into his fur bed and drew the covers up close about him. Over and over again he reassured himself thinking, 'I won’t let her die!'132
