The Odd Dragon Out: Reckoning of the Cinder-Born

The words Ginger heard from Madam Agathe, regardless of them being rather casual and harmless, sent a striking chill crawling up his spine. They pushed away his confusion and sobered him up enough to recognize the dark reality that was moments away from occurring.

'...'

Right!

The Warden was behind that door, and should she enter, the image she would see was far from impressive.

Many thoughts scrambled through Ginger's head.

The fact that Madam Agathe was, as she had gladly made all the First Years aware, a guardian of the Frost Mount's Tooth and all other buildings in the institute, made all that Reiss had accused Ginger of, even more preposterous.

However, whatever Reiss was smoking, prompting outlandish delusions to tap dance in his head could wait. The duo couldn't afford to be expelled after less than a Stride since they began classes.

But what could they do? If Madam Agathe entered...

Wait.

Ginger looked past the deathly pale Reiss who was now pressing his fingers against his temples, and saw a key sticking out from below the doorknob.

That and...

'That's right!' his mind raced into thought. 'Last time I came into this room, I couldn't hear anything until the door was opened. So...'

The office was soundproof.

The fact that sound didn't leak from the office had boggled Ginger back when he had his First Burning here. Of course, this effect only worked one way, but the truth of the matter still stood.

'Better to try!'

Ginger took sufficiently quick steps towards the door. Along the way, he wrestled Reiss who practically dived in his way while shaking his head vehemently and mouthing "No, no, no, no!" before finally placing his hand on the key.

The plump dragon sucked in a deep breath, his fingers trembling on the key.

"Goodness Gregory, I've knocked already. Answer, will you? Being Warden doesn't make me any less valuable than you, you know," Madam Agathe said from behind the door... and then the doorknob shook.

She was about to enter.

Ginger felt the chill in his spine worsen. His adrenaline, if dragons called it that, spiked, but he forced himself to remain calm.

With everything his body was doing right now, he didn't know if the heavy sensation pressing against his face was coming from his comprehension of Madam Agathe's Kardia wafting from behind the door, or if his body was just being overly conscious of the danger he was in, but regardless...

Click.

Ginger tenderly fondled the key, turning in to lock the door.

The impeccability of his timing only became excruciatingly clear when the doorknob turned once, then twice, and thrice with a bit of violence.

Both Reiss and Ginger stood still and gulped.

"Damn old smoker! Why I share my life with you is a darn mystery?" the two heard Madam Agathe mutter angrily before her steps clapped against the tiling, growing faint with each second.

Ginger, who had felt like he was close to french-kissing death, though with a pane of obscure glass between him and the irritable entity, breathed out a long sigh.

"What did you... what are we going to do now?" Reiss furiously whispered while shaking Ginger.

The plump boy dropped to the floor and felt for his face. The tension was yet to flee. He had only delayed the epilogue to the inevitable.

"Madam Agathe is going to catch us. We're done for! One way or another, she's going to see this," Reiss pointed at the old Professor Alexandros with both his arms. "That is if he doesn't wake up before that and deal with us himself. Good grief! I shouldn't have bothered with you. I should have just minded my own business."

Ginger whipped his head to Reiss.

"Calm down, will you?!"

"Stop shouting," Reiss whispered.

"This room is soundproof. At least from the outside. If it weren't, we would have been caught by now with all our shouting."

Reiss looked to have a lot to say, but for a moment, he looked taken aback by the fact that he didn't realize such a simple detail.

"Quit pretending as if everything is going to be alright. If we're caught, I'm confessing! I'm telling them all that you... that you dragged me here and did something to the Professor!"

Ginger glared at Reiss.

"What are you talking about? I'm just as confused as you are. All I remember is going to sleep and waking up here. I didn't drag you over. And how could I beat a Professor? I can't use Kardia!"

Reiss didn't back away from Ginger's defiant eyes. For a moment, he looked like he was about to argue his case again, but he relented.

He emitted a breath and wore a less frenzied visage.

"Are you telling the truth?" he asked with a difficult expression.

"Of course. I'm in this mess too, aren't I? What's in it for me if I get expelled?" Ginger said matter-of-factly.

Reiss surveyed his face closely. He was evidently teetering between reason, rage, and fear.

"What really happened?" Ginger asked.

Reiss turned back to Professor Alexandros laying on the floor.

"I think it's better if we get back to the dormitories first," he said.

Ginger grimaced.

"But we both can't use the Waiting Furnace," he said, dreading the other possibility.

Reiss massaged his temples.

"Yeah, well, we have a long walk ahead of us. The stairs. It's how you... it's how we got here."

Ginger shivered.

"That's a long way."

"We can't stay here for too long. Like I said, he could wake up. He's breathing, so whatever happened to him probably won't stall for long," Reiss said while taking deep breaths to summon his bravery.

Ginger turned to the hunchbacked Professor.

'Shunting Shamans...' he cursed.

There really was no other choice.

*

Despite acting as though they only had ten seconds before they had to leave, Ginger and Reiss didn't make their way out of the office immediately. Given that Madam Agathe was evidently very familiar with Professor Alexandros, and that her attitude minutes ago didn't suggest some kind of finality, it wasn't a stretch to assume that she would return.

Perhaps the Warden was even lurking in the Frost Mount's Tooth at this moment, watching the office closely.

The method she used to travel to other buildings was unknown to the two boys, but they both hoped and prayed – one to the Five Dragons and the other to whimsical Shamans out there – that there existed a window in time that would allow them to traverse from this floor to the tenth without being caught.

There had to be.

Moving as silently as they could, Ginger and Reiss exited the office. The latter made sure he closed the door as quietly as possible.

Unfortunately for the two boys, Professor Alexandros' office was located on the third floor, which wasn't as complex as the fifth, sixth, and seventh – where the classrooms were – which was to say there was a shortage of twists and turns.

Aside from the Waiting Furnaces a short distance away, rising to the ceiling from the floor, there was only an open stretch of ivory tiling that was determined to make every step the two boys took akin to loud gongs.

It had been a mystery to Ginger how in the world he had on his shoes right now when he had removed them before going to sleep. He was forced to carry them in his hands.

As the two moved silently, stifling even their breaths, Ginger was constantly pestered by obvious thoughts.

Was Reiss right?

He denied it vehemently, but what reason did Reiss have to lie? Well, perhaps there were a few, but still.

Was this some kind of prank?

Really, how did he end up here?

Behind Ginger, who was taking the lead, Reiss was looking at him oddly, wondering something along the same lines. He had questions, but it meant more to him to keep a perfect record of no misdemeanors.

Besides that, Madam Agathe hadn't exactly promised prizes for offenders.

Ten minutes later, the duo arrived at the end of the floor, and a set of wide stairs appeared before them. They looked anything but inviting.

Ginger and Reiss looked at each other before turning back to the cold stone.

They took the first step at the same time.

"First Years? How daring."

The sudden voice crushed both Ginger and Reiss.

More than that was the grip that fell on both their necks from behind, as well as the severe pressure that ground onto their heads.

"I didn't think there was such a lively bunch this year," Madam Agathe said with a deep smile. She may have always looked old, but her smile, which shaped her downturned dark eyes into crescents, made her age look all the more creepy.

The mission had failed, and there was no luck for a next try.

***

The bright flash of the Waiting Furnace unsettled Ginger much, much more this time around.

It illuminated Madam Agathe's features beautifully, but she didn't look good in his sight right now.

Her flowing grey-black hair only looked more haunting, as did her hooked nose. Her dark coat which covered most of her body, draping on the floor, gave her the likeness of a grim reaper hiding its scythe for a surprise blow.

Ginger and Reiss knew they were in deep trouble, but it was hard to know the degree of trouble they were in when the person responsible for dishing it out hadn't said much besides beckoning them to the Waiting Furnace and leading them to...

The tenth floor?

As the Waiting Furnace opened to reveal the three, Madam Agathe was the first to walk out, taking suspiciously hurried steps toward the doors that represented the First Year dormitory.

It was only then that she spoke to the two.

"I imagine you two were treated to a cruel Draggard-Phoenix welcome by your upperclassmen. Sadly, you aren't the first or the last. Worse yet, I won't be charitable just because you were gullible enough to be tricked into sneaking off after hours, " she said. "I have several other idiots smarter than you two to chase. Because of that, I shall delegate this matter to your Prime Instructor. I'm sure you will feel better talking to them instead."

Ginger and Reiss were confused, but they did not desire to engage the old dragon at all.

Besides, Madam Agathe didn't care much for their responses. She had the two tell her who their Prime Instructor was before dealing the last, dark blow.

"Unless you decide to sneak off again, I will see you during the Breather. We three shall be spending some time together till the beginning of the next Stride."

With that, Madam Agathe turned and disappeared into the Waiting Furnace.

While Ginger and Reiss hadn't suffered harsh mouthfuls, this seemed worse.

Terribly worse.