The Odd Dragon Out: Reckoning of the Cinder-Born

Passing through the entrance hadn't been quite as scary as Ginger had thought it would be. Before, he had seen the other students disappear as they passed into it.

He and Noam – with the latter holding his shoulder – passed through as easily and as mundanely as possible, however. Only the view and audio shifted.

Ginger saw a lot of students and what he assumed were teachers moving about on the fresh lawn and intersecting stone pathways. There was loud chatter and the picture ahead was expansive.

Now that he thought about it, Ginger compared Noam's attire with that of the other older dragons he saw.

'Is he a teacher?' he wondered.

Noam was dressed in a long, dark blue coat with a fluffy collar that blocked his neck. It somehow managed to look both formal and casual and was different from the others he saw. A clear, golden badge with a strange symbol was attached to the breast of the coat, and Ginger assumed it marked him as an instructor.

"Stop gawking," Noam said to Ginger without turning his head.

The plump boy looked down, feeling a bit embarrassed.

While passing scores of other students, Ginger realized that they were not First Years, judging by the way they dressed.

Over white shirts united with navy blue ties, most of the students regardless of how old, wore pewter grey jerseys. Boys wore smart, dark grey long pants while girls wore pleated skirts, though more than a few could be seen with slacks.

Excluding the dozens of scarfs added on, this was the school uniform.

Ginger pictured himself in the attire, and a smile tried to creep below his nose.

The greater bit of him was excited, since according to Ira, he had just been accepted as a student, though through a channel he didn't think was official. But who cared?

He was one step closer to his goals.

Now, if he didn't blow it, he'd be learning to master his power as a dragon, which still seemed a bit too fantastical. One of the reasons why, was that Ginger had yet to see the dozens of dragons he thought he'd see on getting here, flying in the air.

'Well, I'm here now. And I have Ancor to thank. The least I could do is give it my all...' Ginger thought resolutely.

Despite thinking this though, the dragonling was lacking confidence.

He looked around him.

The bright faces of the other students differed from his own morbidly downcast visage. They all seemed confident about who they were. Everyone looked so sure of themselves.

And Ginger?

Halfling.

Born from the Wild.

Ginger shrank when he remembered the look on Ira's face as he mentioned these two things. Like any society, it seemed the prospect of not originating from where everyone else was from, and not being what everyone else was – or most people were, at least – was a taboo.

The Wild seemed to be viewed with quite a degree of disgust here, and when he thought about it, Ginger could see a little bit of the reason why.

The pressure on the plump boy mounted on when some of the students took notice of him, and his unsightly attire. Ginger bit his upper lip when heard fleeting conversations.

"Where did that kid come from? I thought the big wigs were trying to make sure dragons don't ever have to look like that?'

"Poor thing. He must be glad he made it."

"Eh. He looks like Squire material. Not all of us end up in the best positions anyway."

"Pfft! I've got something to look forward to now. When he gets to Fourth year, we might actually see the world's first pudgy dragon."

A roar of laughter burst after the last comment.

Ginger shrank with each whisper that he heard.

Once again, Ira's words rang in his mind.

If people found out that he was from the Wild, when they were already looking down on him because of the way he was dressed, and how his body looked...

He didn't dare continue the thought.

"If you are letting them get to you already when they are restrained, you might as well give up. This should be the least of your worries," Noam's voice came again, and still, he didn't look at Ginger.

His words didn't make the boy feel any better but on the subject of worries...

"Ah, excuse me, sir..." Ginger began, slowly.

"It's Professor Mara."

"Yes...uhm... Professor Mara. You said something about burning?"

Noam, or rather Professor Mara, sniffled condescendingly.

"A Burning. Your first. This institution is built for teaching dragons to awaken from dormancy. The first step is the Burning," he explained. "I will have to escort you to a more... reasonable Professor and supervise how you turn out. Hurry up."

Ginger didn't understand what Professor Mara had just said, but he did understand what 'hurry up' meant. The stern man seemed eager to get away from the keen eyes of the students as they swept through.

As a shadow cast over him, Ginger's mind was torn from his apprehensions and led once again to the distinct surroundings.

Past the bushes, shrubs, and neatly mowed lawns that populated the way to the entrance, buildings of different styles rose from every direction. Several other constructs stole the eye too, but none could compare to the cube-shaped castle that Professor Mara was leading Ginger towards.

Its size was grand, and other buildings seemed to connect to it one way or another.

Many figures were going in and out of the huge double doors that led into the castle, and when Professor Mara and Ginger entered, the plump boy marveled at the wide, clean space that appeared.

Ivory tiles with a clean shine clapped as numerous students and staff strode over them towards rising stairs at the far ends of the floor, or rooms hidden from view.

Ginger assumed Professor Mara would lead him to the stairs, but the tall man pulled him towards a set of incredibly thick pillars several paces from the entrance. These pillars, as Ginger discovered soon, opened to reveal dragons that rushed out, and others would go in only to be hidden by a wall that dropped from above.

The duo reached one of the pillars, and a part of it rose to let them in. As soon as Professor Mara pushed Ginger inside, they were closed in by the wall. The interior didn't look like anything special. It was as though the two had walked into a smoothly tempered ivory rock.

This was until Professor Mara wound his hand in the air... and the walls lit on fire.

Ginger let out a subconscious scream, as for a moment, he thought he was going to be burned alive. To his relief, though, the walls returned to their usual state as quickly as they had set themselves alight, and an opening popped up for the two. Professor Mara walked out without paying Ginger any attention.

It remained unknown whether he didn't hear Ginger's ignorant scream, or had heard and found it amusing, but he didn't bother to express it.

Ginger followed but gave a last look at the pillar.

When he turned back from it, he found to his surprise that where they were, was different from...

"Hurry along," Professor Mara called from ten steps away, and Ginger ran to catch up. The man seemed to be moving faster with every minute.

A series of jogs later – all for Ginger to catch up to the Professor – the duo arrived at a door which Professor Mara swiftly opened.

The first thing Ginger saw, was a few students that looked his age. He even spotted familiar faces that he'd seen on the way here. All of them were whispering, which created a decently loud cacophony.

Curious.

Before Professor Mara opened the door, Ginger would never have figured that there were people in this room, which turned out to be an office. There had hardly been any sound at all.

The second thing he saw, beyond the cordon of students, some of whom turned to see who had just entered, was a bonfire.

It was a flame of a ghostly nature. It didn't make a sound and didn't wiggle as much as the fire Ginger knew from the Wild.

It was nested inside a deep hollow in the wall.

If the golden blaze emitted heat, Ginger did not feel it. Only a radiant light burst from the burly flame, and with a closer look, the plump boy saw that... there was someone within the fire.

It was one of the students – a thin body with a long face.

"Yes. Relax. It will not consume you. This fire is a friend to all dragons. Breathe in as much of it as you can," a hunchbacked old man with a coat similar to Professor Mara's said encouragingly to the student within the golden blaze. He stood just beside it.

It seemed he was a teacher as well. He barely paid Professor Mara and Ginger's entry any mind, choosing instead to keep his focus on the student. On the student's chest in particular.

Ginger looked on in awe.

He had always found fire tolerable, but it wasn't to the point where he would walk into it.

This was the Burning Professor Mara was talking about?

Fortunately, the thin boy in the fire wasn't burning alive. Even his clothes were fine. He kept his eyes closed shut, and his face was a little stiff, expressing that he was feeling something.

"Yes, yes. Steady. Steady does it," said the hunchbacked Professor delicately, as if he was leading someone carrying fragile loot.

"There! Step out, boy! Hurry!"

The old man urged the thin boy who smiled deeply and leapt from the flame. Tenderly, the old man led the boy to something that was on a desk a few paces from the fire.

It looked like a large oil lamp with its glass casing having several demarcations. Behind the casing, were tendrils of wispy smoke that settled at the bottom of the lamp, looking to be close to dispersing.

The old Professor led the boy who had just come out of the fire, scarf wrapped tight around his neck, and had him place his hands on the cylindrical glass of the lamp.

The moment the boy did, the smoke inside turned a bit thick, and then thicker, and started to slowly rise from the bottom as though it were alive.

"Oh! Your Kardia responds rather quickly, dear boy!" the old man enthusiastically remarked.

The other students voiced their shock and jealousy.

Ginger possessed neither.

Why was everyone getting so excited over smoke?

The thin boy showered with compliments, grinned, and looked to be close to chanting for a bigger reaction from the lamp.

Surely, the smoke within it grew thicker, and then it sputtered, emitting sparks that whirled to form a weak, tall flame.

At this point, the contents within the glass case reached a marker just below the one indicating the halfway point of the casing and passed it slightly.

"Brilliant!" the hunchbacked Professor applauded and patted the thin boy encouragingly. It seemed this was the limit of what he could achieve.

"Your future is bright. I hope we meet in classes someday."

The thin boy expressed his thanks, smiled, and walked over to his peers.

Ginger watched as a girl strode from the group next, and waited her turn to enter the fire.

'If I'm a half-dragon, what if I get burnt to a crisp when I walk into that fire?' Ginger suddenly thought ominously, and his doubt in Ancor soared again. 'He didn't consider that, did he?'

Well, someone did.

"Excuse me, Professor?" Ginger heard Professor Mara call for the attention of the old, hunchbacked man. "May I have this one go in next?"