Petra Price and the Last Dragon: Chapter 11
Merry Christmas! :D
This story is also posted here on FictionPress.com.
Description: Petra Price was perfectly ordinary, until a world of dormant magic was revealed to her and she became a witch. Taken away from the life she's always known, she's faced with new friends and a new power to be harnessed. Someone's life may be at stake!
Petra's return to the school was made to seem even more triumphant by all the decorations she could see upon stepping through the front door. Garlands of flowers had been strung up in voluminous amounts, blossoms in every color imaginable nestled between thick green leaves and twinkling like fairy lights. Petra was about to give her thanks and convey that they needn't have gone through so much trouble for her sake when Mister Glover clarified the situation.
“Everyone was worried about you,” he explained, “Miss Blake thought it might help to distract them if she had an excuse to make the place look more festive. It's one of the old magic holidays. Something to do with wand making in the past. It had gotten so they had to wait approximately a year between the times when a new crop of tools and supplies would be ready and there was always much excitement, with children getting to craft their first wands and such. Nobody's celebrated it for ages, not since long before this school was last populated.”
Even that short explanation had Petra's eyelids drooping. She would be perfectly happy to learn about another part of her magical heritage, but it would have to wait until at least the next day. She hadn't slept very much at all in the genie village. Only a few feet inside the school, relief at being back where she belonged washed over her. The energy and adrenaline that had been fueling her and making her push forward through the last few hours then took its leave. If she hadn't had Hilton on one side and Marnie on the other, she feared she might have sagged to the floor right then and slept the whole night through.
Aside from their footsteps shuffling through the halls, the school was still and quiet. Petra assumed that everyone had long since gone to bed until they neared the common area below the dormitories. Muffled voices could be heard before they even opened the door. Inside, Petra's friends parted to reveal that she was in their midst and everyone else in the room broke into a cheer.
There was a general rush of bodies towards her until Mister Glover stepped in front of her and held out his arms to keep the other students at bay.
“Our Miss Price has had quite the ordeal. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for her to tell you all about it in the morning, but as it stands she's nearly dead on her feet. If we keep her any longer she'll have to be carried up to bed. Now you've all been assured your classmate is safe, I say bed's where all of you should be as well. Good night.” He spoke those last words with a finality that would not be argued with. The students weren't long in dispersing, though a couple stragglers had noticed Martin and kept a curious gaze on him until they had climbed out of sight.
Hilton and Budgerigar took custody of the former genie, assuring Petra they would get him settled and take care of him until morning. Petra was thrilled that there was apparently to be no question of whether or not to accept Martin into the fold.
Petra couldn't help but find it funny that Martin was so much older than the rest of them, despite looking about the same age. She turned to Mister Glover as the three boys went off to their dorms. Only he and Marnie were left in the room with her.
“How long do genies live?”
“Oh, centuries,” was Mister Glover's reply.
With so many colorful decorations put up, there was a festive atmosphere around the school that was not conducive to doing work. The teachers were being very forgiving and lax, perhaps they thought it was just about time for a break. Most of the students had put the finishing touches on their wands during Petra's absence. It was a very draining process that would make anyone feel like they needed a rest.
Petra had had all the rest she needed. Given the current atmosphere of the school, Mister Glover had been ready to excuse her from morning classes so she could stay in bed. She was having none of it. She was up and ready at the usual time, and she worked hard to finish her wand while most everyone else took to goofing of or experimenting with their own.
She would have been finished long ago and able to help out with Mister Glover's little side project for the Toyffkins if it hadn't been for the little extra touch she'd wanted to ad.
It was the ring Miss Blake had presented to her upon her arrival at the school. Once her wand was complete, the ring would be as useless and ordinary as any other jewelry. It was still one of the prettiest things Petra had ever seen and she couldn't bring herself to dispose of it or lock it away. Instead, she was going to give it a place of prominence, somewhere where it would be even more noticeable than if she wore it on her finger.
“That should just about do it...” She mumbled to herself. She gave her wand a thorough examination before sliding the ring off of her finger. She took it and placed it atop her wand. It slid down the smooth, polished wood to the area she had designated for it. With the slightest of clicking sounds, it was locked into place.
“What an interesting choice,” Mister Harvey came up behind her, “I don't know of anyone ever thinking to do such a thing as that. I suppose most would think a magical item like that would interfere with the use of a wand, but it is unlike other magical objects. Most things have their magic dissipate naturally, you see, but something like your ring is meant to hold a person's power and is perfectly normal after all that energy has been absorbed by said person's body.”
Martin was the only person working as hard as Petra and he was still going even after she had finished. She kept an eye on him as she waved her wand around, casting a few test spells to make sure that it was in proper working order.
He was working steadfastly at creating his own wand, something that seemed to excite and enthrall him. His hands moved nimbly even though he seemed tired. Petra had questioned Budgerigar and Hilton about it at breakfast. They had explained that the former genie had simply been too keyed up to sleep. He had tossed and turned before leaving Hilton's room, where he would be staying until proper arrangements could be made. Hilton had heard him come in during the early hours of the morning and had had to wake him for breakfast.
“I hope he gets settled into the school routine,” Petra had said, “I know it's a big adjustment and I don't want it to be any harder on him than it has to be.”
Petra went over to show Martin her finished wand before letting him get back to work. A couple other students were trying to finish their own, as well, but kept getting distracted by the hushed conversations and games that were going on in the back of the room. When she joined them, Petra's friends were engaged in a game of cards. Ruby Tyler had enchanted the cards so that the symbols would sometimes jump from one card to another, changing their value. It looked like it was giving everyone a hard time and no one was even close to winning. Petra watched them, not particularly interested in joining a game that was already in progress.
Petra had only been sitting there a moment when Chip Sparks approached her. He had a pair of tiny figures in his hand. He explained to her that if they used magic to make the little dolls fight, it would help to fine tune the use of their wands.
At first they made the dolls battle each other, but soon they were doing silly things like making them dance around and mess with the card game going on next to them. Chip and Petra were laughing together when Chip quickly sobered.
“I'm sorry we didn't wait for you that day. I can't help thinking you wouldn't have gone missing if I'd stayed behind.”
Petra gave him a reassuring smile, “Oh, don't you worry. If it was anyone's fault, it was my own for sticking my nose where it didn't belong. I certainly don't blame you or Ruby for any of it. Anyway, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I gained a friend.”
“More than one, I should think.” Chip was returning her smile.
There was to be a special banquet that night, not only to celebrate the ancient magical holiday the school had been decorated for but also in favor of everyone having finished their wands. It was also the last dinner they would all share before the holiday break came. The students would be returning home for a couple weeks to spend time with their families.
“I guess I'll have nothing to do but wander around on my own while everyone else is gone,” Martin lamented. “At least I'll have plenty of time to catch up. I think I'll take classes with everyone else when the break ends. My wand will be finished if I work really hard tomorrow and I'll be ready in that respect.”
Petra passed him a bowl of mashed potatoes, “Don't be silly, you don't have to stay here if you don't want to. There's plenty of room at my house. Hilton's even going to come visit for a little while.”
Petra was more excited about that than she was about any other part of the holiday break. Before they'd met up at school, Petra hadn't seen Hilton for ages. It would be nice to see him outside of the school setting, where they could both fully relax. She didn't think her parents would mind having Martin around, at least not too much. He wasn't loud or bratty like some of the other boys Petra knew. He didn't even act very strange, for someone who had only been human for a couple days.
Having Martin home for the holidays would also be the perfect opportunity to inform him of their plans regarding Miss Blake and the truth spell they had learned. They still didn't have any really solid ideas on what questions they should use the spell to ask, but they intended to try and cast it as soon after the holiday break as they could. They might have done it sooner if Petra hadn't had her little adventure, but there really wasn't any rush. Presumably Miss Blake would still be there when they got back.
The hardest part was trying to think of questions they could ask that couldn't be answered in such a way as to give little or no information. If they asked her who she really was, she might just say that she was “Charlotte Blake” or “The Principal of Rosebury Academy” and leave it at that. Their spells might not even affect her in the slightest, only revealing their activities to her. Petra didn't know what they'd do then. Hopefully there would be time to brain storm with Martin after she brought him up to speed. He was wise beyond his apparent years, after all.
“I wish I could come, too.” Marnie let out a sigh before continuing, “My parents will probably drag me off to someplace dreadful. We've got horrible luck when it comes to vacations. No matter where we go, more often than not the weather will take a turn for the worse as soon as we get there.”
As it was assumed that nobody would be able to get to sleep early on the last night before they all went home, all the school's pupils were rounded up and taken to what Mister Glover referred to as a “Picture Show.”
They went deep into the school to an area Petra had never visited before, down a wide set of stairs and into a large theater. There was no screen up at the front as Petra had expected, but instead a stage with a shelve of books taking residence against its back wall. Mister Glover went to the shelf and selected a book, placing it on top of the bookcase with its pages spread open. It grew many times its original size until the vivid pictures painted within it were clear and Petra was almost able to read the words within the book from where she sat in the audience. Just as she started to try and make out the top line, the content of the book vanished and its pages were left blank.
“Now, if you'll each take one of these tokens and place it in the armrest of your chair,” Mister Glover passed a sack down the two occupied rows of seats. As soon as Petra clicked the token into place, the writing in the book appeared once more. The pictures were still gone but that was because they had taken on a new form. The stage was now outfitted to look like a kitchen, and it was occupied by people who looked very much real. Several people gasped when Mister Glover went back to the enlarged book and flipped the front page over, walking through one of the women on stage to get there. On his way back, the figures had started moving and he dodged around them.
One of the figures on the stage turned to the audience and gave a polite bow, though Petra was sure that it was like the ghostly people in the school records room and wasn't really aware or capable of doing anything but a preset group of things.
“I would like to inform you that someone has not properly inserted a token. Please tell them to do so now or they won't be able to enjoy our performance.”
Petra knew her own was in correctly as she had heard the warning in the first place. Everyone else seemed to have heard the man as well, for a few people glanced down. With a shrug, the man resumed his place on the stage and the show began.
Nearly everyone was well and truly exhausted by the time the people onstage once more disappeared into their book. It was surely time to go to bed. They would have classes the following day and then the cars would be there to collect them and drive them to their respective homes. It was going to be quite a busy day, what with packing and last minute plans to get together being made.
When it came time to leave the next day, they had to exit the school the way they first entered it. It was up a dark staircase and out into the garden, then through the old wreck of a house. There was only one car waiting for the lot of them, it was big and very long. Everyone climbed in without question. Petra wondered how it would take each of them where they needed to go in a timely manner until Queenie Swan's seat broke away from the rest of the car. There was an alarming fraction of a second where Queenie seemed to roll along on just a car seat and one wheel before a proper, smaller car safely ensconced her and made a turn. She waved to them from the back window for a moment before turning around and belting herself in.
Focusing more on goodbyes after that, eventually everything had been said and everyone was gone except for Petra and Martin. She was glad to be last, she wouldn't have to experience the car splitting into pieces around her.
Just as she was having the thought, the car did in fact split itself. Petra was left in one half while Martin was in the other. She reached out a hand to him only to have it press against solid glass.
“There's been a mistake, he's supposed to be coming with me!” Petra cried out to the driver.
“My apologies, we'll meet up with him soon.”
Petra couldn't see where the car with her friend in it had gone. She wondered what mistake had been made, and where it was they thought Martin needed to be.
This story is also posted here on FictionPress.com.
Description: Petra Price was perfectly ordinary, until a world of dormant magic was revealed to her and she became a witch. Taken away from the life she's always known, she's faced with new friends and a new power to be harnessed. Someone's life may be at stake!
Petra's return to the school was made to seem even more triumphant by all the decorations she could see upon stepping through the front door. Garlands of flowers had been strung up in voluminous amounts, blossoms in every color imaginable nestled between thick green leaves and twinkling like fairy lights. Petra was about to give her thanks and convey that they needn't have gone through so much trouble for her sake when Mister Glover clarified the situation.
“Everyone was worried about you,” he explained, “Miss Blake thought it might help to distract them if she had an excuse to make the place look more festive. It's one of the old magic holidays. Something to do with wand making in the past. It had gotten so they had to wait approximately a year between the times when a new crop of tools and supplies would be ready and there was always much excitement, with children getting to craft their first wands and such. Nobody's celebrated it for ages, not since long before this school was last populated.”
Even that short explanation had Petra's eyelids drooping. She would be perfectly happy to learn about another part of her magical heritage, but it would have to wait until at least the next day. She hadn't slept very much at all in the genie village. Only a few feet inside the school, relief at being back where she belonged washed over her. The energy and adrenaline that had been fueling her and making her push forward through the last few hours then took its leave. If she hadn't had Hilton on one side and Marnie on the other, she feared she might have sagged to the floor right then and slept the whole night through.
Aside from their footsteps shuffling through the halls, the school was still and quiet. Petra assumed that everyone had long since gone to bed until they neared the common area below the dormitories. Muffled voices could be heard before they even opened the door. Inside, Petra's friends parted to reveal that she was in their midst and everyone else in the room broke into a cheer.
There was a general rush of bodies towards her until Mister Glover stepped in front of her and held out his arms to keep the other students at bay.
“Our Miss Price has had quite the ordeal. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for her to tell you all about it in the morning, but as it stands she's nearly dead on her feet. If we keep her any longer she'll have to be carried up to bed. Now you've all been assured your classmate is safe, I say bed's where all of you should be as well. Good night.” He spoke those last words with a finality that would not be argued with. The students weren't long in dispersing, though a couple stragglers had noticed Martin and kept a curious gaze on him until they had climbed out of sight.
Hilton and Budgerigar took custody of the former genie, assuring Petra they would get him settled and take care of him until morning. Petra was thrilled that there was apparently to be no question of whether or not to accept Martin into the fold.
Petra couldn't help but find it funny that Martin was so much older than the rest of them, despite looking about the same age. She turned to Mister Glover as the three boys went off to their dorms. Only he and Marnie were left in the room with her.
“How long do genies live?”
“Oh, centuries,” was Mister Glover's reply.
With so many colorful decorations put up, there was a festive atmosphere around the school that was not conducive to doing work. The teachers were being very forgiving and lax, perhaps they thought it was just about time for a break. Most of the students had put the finishing touches on their wands during Petra's absence. It was a very draining process that would make anyone feel like they needed a rest.
Petra had had all the rest she needed. Given the current atmosphere of the school, Mister Glover had been ready to excuse her from morning classes so she could stay in bed. She was having none of it. She was up and ready at the usual time, and she worked hard to finish her wand while most everyone else took to goofing of or experimenting with their own.
She would have been finished long ago and able to help out with Mister Glover's little side project for the Toyffkins if it hadn't been for the little extra touch she'd wanted to ad.
It was the ring Miss Blake had presented to her upon her arrival at the school. Once her wand was complete, the ring would be as useless and ordinary as any other jewelry. It was still one of the prettiest things Petra had ever seen and she couldn't bring herself to dispose of it or lock it away. Instead, she was going to give it a place of prominence, somewhere where it would be even more noticeable than if she wore it on her finger.
“That should just about do it...” She mumbled to herself. She gave her wand a thorough examination before sliding the ring off of her finger. She took it and placed it atop her wand. It slid down the smooth, polished wood to the area she had designated for it. With the slightest of clicking sounds, it was locked into place.
“What an interesting choice,” Mister Harvey came up behind her, “I don't know of anyone ever thinking to do such a thing as that. I suppose most would think a magical item like that would interfere with the use of a wand, but it is unlike other magical objects. Most things have their magic dissipate naturally, you see, but something like your ring is meant to hold a person's power and is perfectly normal after all that energy has been absorbed by said person's body.”
Martin was the only person working as hard as Petra and he was still going even after she had finished. She kept an eye on him as she waved her wand around, casting a few test spells to make sure that it was in proper working order.
He was working steadfastly at creating his own wand, something that seemed to excite and enthrall him. His hands moved nimbly even though he seemed tired. Petra had questioned Budgerigar and Hilton about it at breakfast. They had explained that the former genie had simply been too keyed up to sleep. He had tossed and turned before leaving Hilton's room, where he would be staying until proper arrangements could be made. Hilton had heard him come in during the early hours of the morning and had had to wake him for breakfast.
“I hope he gets settled into the school routine,” Petra had said, “I know it's a big adjustment and I don't want it to be any harder on him than it has to be.”
Petra went over to show Martin her finished wand before letting him get back to work. A couple other students were trying to finish their own, as well, but kept getting distracted by the hushed conversations and games that were going on in the back of the room. When she joined them, Petra's friends were engaged in a game of cards. Ruby Tyler had enchanted the cards so that the symbols would sometimes jump from one card to another, changing their value. It looked like it was giving everyone a hard time and no one was even close to winning. Petra watched them, not particularly interested in joining a game that was already in progress.
Petra had only been sitting there a moment when Chip Sparks approached her. He had a pair of tiny figures in his hand. He explained to her that if they used magic to make the little dolls fight, it would help to fine tune the use of their wands.
At first they made the dolls battle each other, but soon they were doing silly things like making them dance around and mess with the card game going on next to them. Chip and Petra were laughing together when Chip quickly sobered.
“I'm sorry we didn't wait for you that day. I can't help thinking you wouldn't have gone missing if I'd stayed behind.”
Petra gave him a reassuring smile, “Oh, don't you worry. If it was anyone's fault, it was my own for sticking my nose where it didn't belong. I certainly don't blame you or Ruby for any of it. Anyway, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I gained a friend.”
“More than one, I should think.” Chip was returning her smile.
There was to be a special banquet that night, not only to celebrate the ancient magical holiday the school had been decorated for but also in favor of everyone having finished their wands. It was also the last dinner they would all share before the holiday break came. The students would be returning home for a couple weeks to spend time with their families.
“I guess I'll have nothing to do but wander around on my own while everyone else is gone,” Martin lamented. “At least I'll have plenty of time to catch up. I think I'll take classes with everyone else when the break ends. My wand will be finished if I work really hard tomorrow and I'll be ready in that respect.”
Petra passed him a bowl of mashed potatoes, “Don't be silly, you don't have to stay here if you don't want to. There's plenty of room at my house. Hilton's even going to come visit for a little while.”
Petra was more excited about that than she was about any other part of the holiday break. Before they'd met up at school, Petra hadn't seen Hilton for ages. It would be nice to see him outside of the school setting, where they could both fully relax. She didn't think her parents would mind having Martin around, at least not too much. He wasn't loud or bratty like some of the other boys Petra knew. He didn't even act very strange, for someone who had only been human for a couple days.
Having Martin home for the holidays would also be the perfect opportunity to inform him of their plans regarding Miss Blake and the truth spell they had learned. They still didn't have any really solid ideas on what questions they should use the spell to ask, but they intended to try and cast it as soon after the holiday break as they could. They might have done it sooner if Petra hadn't had her little adventure, but there really wasn't any rush. Presumably Miss Blake would still be there when they got back.
The hardest part was trying to think of questions they could ask that couldn't be answered in such a way as to give little or no information. If they asked her who she really was, she might just say that she was “Charlotte Blake” or “The Principal of Rosebury Academy” and leave it at that. Their spells might not even affect her in the slightest, only revealing their activities to her. Petra didn't know what they'd do then. Hopefully there would be time to brain storm with Martin after she brought him up to speed. He was wise beyond his apparent years, after all.
“I wish I could come, too.” Marnie let out a sigh before continuing, “My parents will probably drag me off to someplace dreadful. We've got horrible luck when it comes to vacations. No matter where we go, more often than not the weather will take a turn for the worse as soon as we get there.”
As it was assumed that nobody would be able to get to sleep early on the last night before they all went home, all the school's pupils were rounded up and taken to what Mister Glover referred to as a “Picture Show.”
They went deep into the school to an area Petra had never visited before, down a wide set of stairs and into a large theater. There was no screen up at the front as Petra had expected, but instead a stage with a shelve of books taking residence against its back wall. Mister Glover went to the shelf and selected a book, placing it on top of the bookcase with its pages spread open. It grew many times its original size until the vivid pictures painted within it were clear and Petra was almost able to read the words within the book from where she sat in the audience. Just as she started to try and make out the top line, the content of the book vanished and its pages were left blank.
“Now, if you'll each take one of these tokens and place it in the armrest of your chair,” Mister Glover passed a sack down the two occupied rows of seats. As soon as Petra clicked the token into place, the writing in the book appeared once more. The pictures were still gone but that was because they had taken on a new form. The stage was now outfitted to look like a kitchen, and it was occupied by people who looked very much real. Several people gasped when Mister Glover went back to the enlarged book and flipped the front page over, walking through one of the women on stage to get there. On his way back, the figures had started moving and he dodged around them.
One of the figures on the stage turned to the audience and gave a polite bow, though Petra was sure that it was like the ghostly people in the school records room and wasn't really aware or capable of doing anything but a preset group of things.
“I would like to inform you that someone has not properly inserted a token. Please tell them to do so now or they won't be able to enjoy our performance.”
Petra knew her own was in correctly as she had heard the warning in the first place. Everyone else seemed to have heard the man as well, for a few people glanced down. With a shrug, the man resumed his place on the stage and the show began.
Nearly everyone was well and truly exhausted by the time the people onstage once more disappeared into their book. It was surely time to go to bed. They would have classes the following day and then the cars would be there to collect them and drive them to their respective homes. It was going to be quite a busy day, what with packing and last minute plans to get together being made.
When it came time to leave the next day, they had to exit the school the way they first entered it. It was up a dark staircase and out into the garden, then through the old wreck of a house. There was only one car waiting for the lot of them, it was big and very long. Everyone climbed in without question. Petra wondered how it would take each of them where they needed to go in a timely manner until Queenie Swan's seat broke away from the rest of the car. There was an alarming fraction of a second where Queenie seemed to roll along on just a car seat and one wheel before a proper, smaller car safely ensconced her and made a turn. She waved to them from the back window for a moment before turning around and belting herself in.
Focusing more on goodbyes after that, eventually everything had been said and everyone was gone except for Petra and Martin. She was glad to be last, she wouldn't have to experience the car splitting into pieces around her.
Just as she was having the thought, the car did in fact split itself. Petra was left in one half while Martin was in the other. She reached out a hand to him only to have it press against solid glass.
“There's been a mistake, he's supposed to be coming with me!” Petra cried out to the driver.
“My apologies, we'll meet up with him soon.”
Petra couldn't see where the car with her friend in it had gone. She wondered what mistake had been made, and where it was they thought Martin needed to be.