Advanced Dragon Studies (Ember Academy for Magical Beings Book 1) Read online

  Advanced Dragon Studies

  Ember Academy for Magical Beings, Volume 1

  L.C. Mawson

  Published by L.C. Mawson, 2020.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  ADVANCED DRAGON STUDIES

  First edition. September 7, 2020.

  Copyright © 2020 L.C. Mawson.

  Written by L.C. Mawson.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Also By L.C. Mawson

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Dear Reader

  Other Series by L.C. Mawson

  Thank you to all of my Patreon supporters for helping me keep myself fuelled up on coffee.

  Special thanks go out to Seph De Busser, Peter Allan and Jo Curnoe!

  Cover by MoorBooks Design.

  Chapter One

  I bit my lip as I arrived at my favourite café, seeing my best friend standing outside, her blonde hair practically glowing in the summer sun.

  Her blonde hair that always felt so soft between my fingers when I kissed her...

  I instinctively pushed that thought away, as had become habit over the past few weeks, but I stopped myself as I realised what I was doing.

  In theory, this brunch was our way of celebrating my birthday, but in practice, it was my way of trying to move us from friends who occasionally hooked up while drunk to actual, you know, girlfriends.

  Which required me coming clean about a few things first.

  I smiled as Andrea finally saw me, her freckled face lighting up with a grin.

  “Skye!” She pulled me in for a hug as I got close, and I spent maybe a moment too long trying to figure out how much I should return the hug when all of my instincts were telling me to hold her close, and kiss her with everything I had.

  But no. World-shattering revelations first. Then kissing.

  “Happy birthday,” Andrea said as she pulled away. “I’ve got your presents here. But you said you have a reservation for eleven? We should get inside.”

  I nodded, smiling at the pink gift bag in her hands as I wondered just what exactly she’d gotten me.

  “Yeah, let’s get inside.”

  As soon as we headed through the door, the waitress, Chloe, saw us and smiled.

  “Skye! Here for your brunch?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, we are. Is the table ready?”

  “Yep. I even got you the good one by the window.”

  I grinned as she led us over.

  Once she left us alone, Andrea raised an eyebrow as we sat down. “A friend of yours?”

  “We went to high school together,” I said, deciding to leave it at that for now.

  Explaining what exactly we’d had in common would have to wait until I told her the truth about everything.

  Chloe came back with food and drinks. The brunch reservation had included a set menu, though I’d had to say no to anything with alcohol.

  “So,” Andrea said as she picked up her coffee, “what’s the plan for the rest of your day?”

  “Well, my family are throwing a party later. I was actually wondering if you wanted to come with me?”

  Andrea raised an eyebrow as her piercing blue eyes looked me up and down. “I thought your family was very particular about their parties. Only family and partners is what you tell me every year.”

  Heat rose through my chest and cheeks as I struggled to meet her gaze. “Well, yes, but...”

  I glanced back up at Andrea through the thick curtain of dark hair that had fallen to obscure my gaze, only to see that she was grinning.

  She reached over, gently pulling my hair from my deep brown eyes. “So, Skye, is this your way of saying that you want things between us to be more... Well, official?”

  My breath caught in my throat and it took me a moment to find my words. “I guess that depends on whether you’re still considering applying to post-grad programmes in other cities.”

  Andrea sighed as she tucked my hair behind my ear before pulling back slightly. “Ah, yes, your whole thing about not doing long-distance. What was the name of that guy again? The one who left you a mess during Freshers’ Week by leaving for another uni?”

  My jaw tightened and my hands gripped my own coffee cup so hard that they turned white. “Naveen.”

  I’d been in love with him for years, but he’d spent most of every year away at boarding school.

  He was supposed to come home for university and go with me, but just as I was ready to tell him how I felt, he revealed that he was going away again.

  Andrea smiled. “I don’t plan on going anywhere without you, Skye. Not if you want me to stay. Though, you could always leave with me. Don’t you want to maybe live somewhere other than your hometown? Get away from your parents for once?”

  I shrugged. “There’s actually something pretty specific about the city keeping me here. Something I should probably tell you if we’re going to be together.”

  Andrea frowned. “Like what?”

  I caught Chloe’s eye and she came over.

  “Something you need?” she asked.

  “I was just wondering if you could do me a favour and show Andrea your wings.”

  Chloe rolled her eyes. “Why can’t you just grow a pair of your own to show her? Surely the point you’re making here is that you’re not Human.”

  “Because if I try to shape-shift before my powers are tethered in the initiation ritual, I’ll tear my body in two.”

  Chloe frowned. “You still haven’t been through it yet? I thought it was once you’re an adult.”

  “My overprotective parents wanted to wait until the last minute. It’s later today.”

  Andrea looked between us with a frown. “Umm, what the hell are you two talking about? What did you mean ‘not Human’?”

  At that, Chloe glanced around the café, making sure Andrea was the only Human there, before she dropped the glamour spell keeping her golden butterfly wings hidden from view.

  Andrea stared as they glittered in the sunlight from the window. “What the hell...?”

  “What Skye is trying to say is that the two of us are only part-Human. I’m also part-Fae and she’s part-Dragon. And she doesn’t want to leave the city because it’s one of the only safe places for magical beings on Earth.”

  Andrea just turned to me with wide eyes.

  “It’s true,” I said. “I don’t have any magic to show you until tonight, but my Dragon powers will be awakened this afternoon. I didn’t want to lie to you about this once I got my powers. Not if we’re really going to be together.”

  “But you were lying to me before?”

  I cringed at the sharpness in her voice, her words slicing into me like a whip. “Well... Look, this city is considered a safe place to tell Humans the truth, but that’s... It’s tricky. Some magical factions still consider telling Humans about magic to be illegal. So, it’
s not encouraged outside serious relationships.”

  Andrea frowned at me, looking me over as if she’d never seen me before.

  She then glanced to Chloe for a moment before bringing her focus back to me, as if to check that her wings were still there. “What did she mean about you growing wings?”

  “Well, part-Dragons come in different kinds. I’m a Dragon Priestess – it’s kind of a botched translation and refers to old social roles in the Vulcan Plains that don’t exist any more – but it means that as soon as my magic is tethered, I’ll be able to shape-shift into a Dragon.”

  I bit my lip as I realised that my nerves had led me to ramble and over-explain.

  Which had probably just overwhelmed her.

  “Are you okay?” I asked as I realised that Andrea wasn’t going to respond without prompt.

  She took a deep breath, shaking her head. “This... It’s a lot, Skye. You know that I don’t... I get that someone who’s into all this fantasy stuff would probably be super excited right now, but... I don’t want this. It’s too much.”

  “It’s not that much,” I hurried to say. “Really. My life is almost entirely normal, and it will continue to be, even with my powers.”

  “Except for lying to everyone you know. What about my family, Skye? Would I have to lie to them?”

  I managed a small, half-shrug. “You... You couldn’t tell them even if you wanted to. This city is safe because it’s warded. If you tried to text or call your mum to tell her about magic, it wouldn’t get through the wards.”

  Her disbelieving look turned into a glare and I found myself briefly glad that she didn’t have magic, before I remembered that we wouldn’t be in this mess if she did. “What the hell, Skye? You say that your life is normal, but you have the power to do things like that?”

  I winced. “Not me! Other people do, but... Not many.”

  Very few people actually knew who had powered the wards, and everyone wondered just who exactly the Guardians had roped in to do it.

  Knowing the people who led the Guardians – and being best friends with their kids – meant that I knew the truth, but I wasn’t about to drop a name like Amelia Bennett in the middle of a café filled with magical beings.

  No, everyone was probably better off not knowing that it had been the work of the magical world’s most wanted criminal.

  Andrea tightened her jaw, her glare not letting up. “What about when I go home tomorrow? What if I tell her then?”

  I bit the inside of my cheek, knowing that she wasn’t going to like the answer. “The second you pass the wards, you’ll forget everything you know about magic.”

  Andrea sighed. “Maybe that’s for the best.”

  “Andrea–”

  “No, Skye, don’t.” Her glare finally let up as she ran her hand through her hair, refusing to meet my gaze as her next words came as little more than a whisper. “Please. I don’t want to have to lie to my family. I don’t want to be involved in... All of this. I’m sorry. I wanted things to work out between us, I really did. But... I just can’t. I think I’m going to apply to that course in York, rather than coming back. I’m sorry.”

  At that, she got up and headed out of the café, leaving me alone with our half-eaten brunch and a pink gift bag.

  I grabbed my coffee, desperately gulping it down in the hopes that it would burn away the tears forming behind my eyes.

  Chloe came back over to the table with a sympathetic look. “Want something stronger?”

  I shook my head. “I can’t drink before my initiation.”

  “Well... At least after your initiation, you’ll be able to hang out with the Dragons in their underground city. Surely there’s a Dragon or two who could act as a suitable rebound.”

  “Yeah, I guess...”

  Chapter Two

  I trudged back home, having stopped at Gregg’s on the way.

  I might not be allowed to drink before the initiation ceremony, but I could stuff my face with cheese pasties and jam doughnuts. My doctor would probably kill me – she was never happy with my curves that refused to budge – but I was about to get shape-shifting powers, so I no longer cared.

  Also, given that both of my biological parents had been genetically engineered to be the perfect soldiers and assassins, these curves were scientifically designed.

  Not that my GP could know that.

  I arrived home to see my dads already waiting for me, both awkwardly hovering by the door.

  “Are you okay?” my Da asked as I softly closed the door behind me.

  “Was it that obvious it wasn’t going to go well?” I asked. He couldn’t have told based on my face, given that he was blind, and I hadn’t spoken yet, but his tone told me that he knew exactly how badly things had gone.

  “No, but I could smell the Gregg’s. Given that you had gone out for food...”

  I responded by making my way over to him and hugging him tight.

  My other dad turned to me with a concerned frown. “Really, Skye, are you okay?”

  I sighed. “Andrea bolted pretty much as soon as I told her that magic existed. I didn’t even get to the really weird parts like ‘oh, and that Human part of me is from genetically engineered warriors designed to fight magical beings until they rebelled against their creators, who actually spliced the Dragon parts in before trying to dissect my dad’.”

  “I’m sorry. I know that you really cared for her.”

  “Yeah,” was all I managed to say as tears choked me up.

  I hadn’t just cared for her. I’d been starting to fall for her.

  Had she just never felt the same way, or had magic really been enough for her to give up on what had been growing between us?

  I took a deep breath, forcing my tears away as I extracted myself from my dad’s arms. “It’s okay. I was actually thinking... Maybe after my initiation, I could stay in the Dragons’ city for a while with Auntie Nyssa. She’s going to have to train me to use my powers, so maybe I could take that training seriously and stay in a place with no Humans for a while.”

  Dad looked away as Da went over to him, placing a hand on his arm.

  “What?” I asked. “Is there a reason why I can’t?”

  “No,” Dad said, a little too quickly. “But what about going to Ember Academy instead? Naveen and Elizabeth are going there for post-grad courses, aren’t they?”

  I folded my arms, refusing to meet his gaze. It would be good to spend more time with Elizabeth, but I refused to get close to Naveen again. I’d let him captivate my heart for most of my teenage years with his quiet, sensitive nature without even a hint that he might return those feelings.

  That had been my fault, not his, but I was certain that I needed a rebound after this heartache before spending any real time around him, or those crimson eyes would draw me back in with very little effort.

  My dad continued on. “There will be other Dragons there as well. Ms Griffin – the woman who runs the school – actually asked your Auntie Nyssa to go and teach there. If you went, she could teach you alongside other Dragons and you could find that refuge you want.”

  I frowned. “I could also find it in the Dragons’ city. But you don’t want me to go there, do you? Does this have anything to do with why we haven’t been back there since I was ten? Why you always find excuses to keep me away?”

  Dad awkwardly glanced over to my other dad, despite the fact that he couldn’t see his worried look.

  That didn’t stop Da from mirroring his concerned frown, though.

  I suppressed a sigh as I realised what was going on.

  Why they wouldn’t talk to me.

  I wasn’t Human enough for Andrea, and I was too Human for the Dragons.

  I would never find a place to belong.

  “All right,” I said, pushing any upset or anger down and away, where I didn’t have to deal with it. “I’ll think about Ember.”

  Before my dads could do anything more than give me a relieved smile, there was a knock at the do
or, and I remembered that I had somewhere to be.

  I opened the front door to reveal my Auntie Alex.

  She smiled as she saw me, the burn scars across her face moving awkwardly as she did so. If not for her scars, Auntie Alex was probably the family member I most resembled, both of us having the same long, thick black hair and dark brown eyes. Though living with the rest of the Enhanced meant that she'd kept most of her American accent where my dads had let theirs soften into a hybrid American-British, and I rarely slipped into anything but a northern English accent.

  “Hi, Skye,” she said as I let her inside. “So, are you excited about your initiation?”

  Dad answered before I could. “Her excitement got a little dampened. She tried to tell her girlfriend about magic.”

  Auntie Alex winced as she turned to me. “I take it it didn’t go well?”

  I sighed. “She’s leaving the city. For good.”

  “I’m sorry, Skye.”

  I forced myself to smile and refocus. “It’s fine. And I am still excited for the initiation ritual. Who wouldn’t be? I mean, who wouldn’t want magic?”

  Auntie Alex smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Well, I suppose. Though, Skye? I know you’re both adults and I might just be being overprotective, but–”

  “Don’t show off too much in front of Cass tonight?”

  “If it’s not too much to ask. I know this is exciting, and she’s said that it doesn’t bother her that she didn’t inherit any powers from me, but as you said, who wouldn’t want magic?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll keep it in mind.”

  I was pretty sure that my cousin would be furious if she ever found out that her mother had asked me this, but I was also sure that Auntie Alex was right to say that she would be upset if I rubbed my new powers in her face.

  My dad turned to me. “Skye, do you want to put on your ceremonial robes so that we can head to the Dragons’ city?”

  I nodded, determined to focus on the excitement ahead of me, rather than the disappointment behind.

  I quickly hurried to my bedroom and pulled out the robes that Auntie Nyssa had given me last week.