The rising sun peeked over the horizon, bringing light to earth and sky, reaching a flying three masted ship cruising through the air over a mountain range with a flag bearing a multi-colored eye that glimmered under the sun.

  On the upper deck of the five decked ship, was a crowd of a few hundred people. With the light of the rising sun reaching the ship, the shadows casted over the few hundred slowly retreated to reveal the crowd was mostly made up of kids.

  The sun slowly rising from the east was the scene set as the background for the eagerly waiting Awakeners. With the sun to their backs and their destination in front of them, they kept their eyes peeled for any signs they were near their destination.

  “How long have we been up here? The sun is already up.”

  “I thought the Captain said we were here.”

  “Can you see anything?”

  “No. Some pine tree is standing in the way.”

  A boy of around twelve pursed his lips after hearing the comment, trying his best to hold the laugh that was on the verge of escaping to dodge the glare a teenage boy was sending him but his eyes full of amusement gave him away. With a glance from the corner of his eye, Damon spotted Rodrick rolling his eyes at the comment on him. Not bothering to give the comment or his friend any more attention than he already has. Instead he focused on what was ahead of them like everyone else.

  Each kid stood shoulder to shoulder attempting to look through the morning mist with excited and eager looks as they passed through the mountain range and the many trees that decorated them. The excited murmurs and chatter continued on until the morning mist began to gradually make its way to the ship dozens of miles in the air.

  Once the mist reached the ship, the excited chatter and anticipated looks from before disappeared the moment they discovered the morning mist rose up and covered the entire ship, making it difficult to make out the trees below or the mountains that surrounded them just a few moments ago. Even the sun's light began to dim, leading to the unsettling silent atmosphere.

  “Are we sure we went to the right place?” Sunny spoke out the words on everyone’s mind.

  “The captain said we’re here, so I guess so.” Baron attempted to calm everyone with his statement including himself.

  Damon squinted trying to get a good look on his surroundings, his chest rose and fell as he attempted to take a few breaths to calm himself. He didn’t believe that they were at the wrong place but he did feel a bit uncomfortable at the thought of mists surrounding him.

  Damon didn’t like the idea of mists surrounding him, it reminded him too much of his nightmares.

  “SOUND THE HORN.” Captain Hendrix shouted.

  Honk

  Suddenly a deep blaring horn erupted from the watchtower or the Crows Nest from what the sailors say.

  Every Awakener on board covered their ears but surprisingly, no faces bore annoyance or anger at the sound. Instead the feelings of excitement and eagerness were heightened with the fidgety body language and tip toeing individuals trying to get a better look.

  Honk

  A few seconds later a horn from below travelled its way up to enter the ears of the Awakeners.

  The moment the horn was sounded, the heavy mist began to swirl. The swirling mist began to gradually speed up, converging to a point, which then revealed the scene hidden in the mist and the Awakeners were given a sight they would never forget.

  The Awakeners stood open-mouthed, astonished by the sight of a giant mountain that towered over the surrounding mounds of earth giving off an aura of regality and loftiness. Below the mountain was all greenery, trees covered the lower half of the mountain and the grounds surrounding it.

  Once they got closer though, they realized the giant mountain that dwarfed its surrounding family, shockingly, was sliced in half losing a good portion of its upper half and although not in full form, nothing around it came close to its imposing size and grandeur.

  Once the ship brought them closer to the mountain, they were able to see that atop the cleaved mountain was a cluster of gleaming buildings that shone from the sun beaming down and a river that glimmered under the sunlight as it coursed through and surrounded the entire town. From up above Damon realized after following the river with his eyes made a pentagon shape and each section held buildings of different color that matched with the symbolic colors of the Elements. At the center of it all was a lone island with what appeared to be a single building inhabiting the land.

  Hovering over the mountain top were a few ships flying in and out of the mountain, carrying goods or in their case people to a silver landing dock bearing the sigil of the eye of the Academy.

  “Are those…?” Rodrick-the first person to break the silence of awe and reverence-spoke out of shock at the sight in front of him.

  Damon simply nodded his head too shocked at what he saw.

  After getting closer to the mountain top, they were able to find out that some of the ships that were flying around were not ships. Instead they were the legendary mounts of the Academy-Mystic Cranes.

  Mystic Cranes were magical creatures that enjoyed taking in the breeze in the air and were the size of carriages. Damon has only read about Mystic Cranes in his books and it was always a dream of his to see one in person.

  The creatures were similar to the normal White Cloud Cranes founded in the Southern Kingdoms. They are known to be both docile and friendly, even similar in build and color. The only difference was the feathers on the crown of the heads of Mystic Cranes, where the colors on White Cloud Cranes were white, Mystic Cranes feathers on the crowns of their heads could be either blue, red, green, brown or gold and each color corresponds to one of the Five Elements they are able to control. It is said that only the most gifted students or alumni of the Academy are able to own one.

  With these magical creatures leaving the books from back home to now appear in front of him in real life, Damon felt he was dreaming.

  “Alright, I hope you kids got a good look because we are now about to land on your new home for the next five years.” Captain Hendrix brought everyone out of their reverie. The Captain was shockingly piloting the ship-The Beginning- after leaving his own ship-The Horizon Chaser- back at Soaring City.

  Damon remembered his father talking about those people who were Captains of their own ship who wouldn’t even think about sailing another ship but their own. And yet there Captain Hendrix stood behind the steer smiling and laughing like a madman.

  Captain Hendix as if he heard the thoughts of Damon abruptly turned around and smiled. Damon nearly had a heart attack until he realized the Captain was smiling at something in the sky behind the ship.

  Damon turned around to spot a ship of the same size as their ship trailing not that far behind. Damon was confused on how the ship got there considering they were the only ship to make it their way. A question he would save for the golden boy.

  “Hahaha.” Captain Hendrix laughed out loud before saying “Captain Jakob, how was the trip to the spoiled lair?”

  A high pitched voice answered Captain Hendrix with annoyance clearly heard in his voice“You idiot. You’re not supposed to say it to their faces.”

  Captain Hendrix simply laughed in response as he slowly landed the ship on the Academy’s landing docks that were currently holding around a dozen airships, but none came close to the size of The Beginning.

  Damon and company waited with bated breath and excitement as the ramp was slowly lowered. Everyone on board soon began to make their way down the ramp, anticipation clear on their faces.

  The moment the Outer District Awakeners had their feet planted, they took a moment to scan their surroundings. The flying cranes and ships carrying people from all over the lands were eye-catching. And behind them was a cliff overlooking the rest of the mountain range was a sight to behold. They took it all in, treasuring the moment.

  “This way.” Their treasured moment was abruptly spoiled by a nasally voice that caught their attention. Walking towards the Awakeners was a group of black robed individuals who bore different types of Elemental symbols on the left side of their chest. Leading the group was a rotund blonde-haired woman who looked like she was waddling her way towards the Awakeners who bore looks of annoyance at the interruption of their moment.

  “ I said ‘this way’. Your group of people deaf or something.” The woman's interruption, her voice and now her comment, already had her on everyone’s ‘don’t like’ list.”

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “I’d listen if I were you. This woman is Grace Moon, the Assistant Department Head of the Earth School. So try not to piss her off.” Captain Hendrix said as he passed by the Awakeners, sending a wink towards the round woman who replied with sneer before making his way to a tall pale gaunt man who appeared to be sick. “ Captain Jakob, old friend, how are you?”

  “Like the Giant said, I am Grace Moon, Assistant Department Head of the Earth School. You can call me: Ms. Grace, Assistant Department Head or Ms. Graceful.” Satisfied at the few nods she got, she turned to the group of black robed individuals behind her. “Alright, escort the brats to the Welcoming Hall. There is still one more ship.”

  Damon’s group were quickly escorted by a group of individuals in black robes with the Academy sigil-An eye with its iris made up of the colors that represented the Elements- to the giant building made up entirely of stone that was being held up by pillars around the same size as the pillars from the Arena back at Sparking City. From the beige color and appearance, Damon assumed the building to be made up of the surrounding mountains.

  The building was so enormous it blocked the entire landing platform from seeing what lay behind it.

  As they got closer toward the giant building, Damon was able to get a good look at the building to find a plaque hanging over the giant stone door.

  ‘The Welcoming Hall.’ The plaque was written in elegance and gave off a calming aura.

  The Outer District Awakeners stared at the sign with awe and respect, feelings that were pulled out of them the moment they set their gazes on the plaque.

  Creak

  The giant stone door slowly split open to reveal what it hid behind it. Dust and wind hit the around three hundred Awakeners who raised their hands and arms in defense. A moment later the Awakeners lowered their arms to find a hallway lit up by Illumination Stones embedded into the walls. Walls that were covered in intricate designs and swirls of colors that if observed more closely, could be seen moving.

  “This way, Awakeners.” A girl in her teens wearing white robes lacking an Elemental symbol but still bore the Academy sigil, welcomed the Group of Awakeners with a bow before gesturing to them to follow her.

  It did not take long to reach their destination. Their destination was a giant hall at the end of the hallway with an elevated stone platform in the center that was being lit up by a giant hole in the ceiling allowing light to enter and illuminate the hall that was for some reason lacking Illumination Stones.

  Standing in front of the platform were around two hundred people in lines waiting in silence, watching them enter the room. Damon and Rodrick glanced at each other before shrugging their shoulders before following the group to stand next to a group of around twenty other Awakeners who were taking a look at their group. After a quick scan, whispers broke out amongst the crowd of Awakeners.

  “Is that a Lyle?”

  “Where? There you idiot. With the big dragon on his robes.”

  “Look, it's Tristan Grier. I wonder if he is as good as they say with a sword.”

  Similar whispers echoed through the silent hall until a loud creak travelled its way over to the five hundred Awakeners.

  Damon believed this was the group that was being led by Captain Henrix's friend, Captain Jakob.

  “That’s Himel Killian ain’t it?”

  “There’s Esther Yara.”

  “It seems like the City of Embers is here.”

  Damon heard the whispers surrounding him, and turned to find the two people they were talking about.

  Leading the group was a teenage girl and a boy who appeared to be the same age as Damon.

  The boy wore robes of orange similar to the color of flames and if someone wasn’t familiar with the color of flames, the robes carried the design of flames on the hems of the robe that ended in black. A clear sign of what the family element consisted of. Besides the robes, the boy was adorned in jewelry from head to toe, showing off his wealth with a proud smirk.

  Damon observed the boy, watching as the necklaces he wore swayed just enough to spot his House sigil on his breast, a flaming bear coming out a burning forest: House Killian.

  Beside the boy was a pretty girl wearing a pink floral dress, also adorned in jewelry, only they appeared on her hand, which made it easier for Damon to spot the flaming rose in front of a green background: House Yara.

  Damon watched the group of nearly thirty people stand beside his group not bothering to look over. That is until someone caught the attention of Himel.

  “LENNOX.” Himel shouted, his voice obvious with anger.

  “Killian.” Damon turned to see Governor Lennox youngest son, Louis, glaring at the heir of a Great House with folded arms.

  Himel remembering the embarrassing memory of him being punched to the ground caused his face to flush with anger. “YOU-”

  “Silence” A raspy voice interrupted the soon to be argument.

  “But big sister Esther, he was the one that…” Himel trailed off in fear of the older girl who was glaring at him.

  “We are in the Academy, not Ember City. Show some respect.”

  “Yes, Esther.” Himel nodded before he turned over his shoulder to glare at Louis who returned the action.

  With the short debacle over everyone went back to talking to themselves in their heads or doing whatever to keep themselves busy without making a sound.

  Damon simply began taking in his surroundings with curiosity. The hole in the ceiling was what caught his eye and after a few minutes of observation, he came to the conclusion it did not seem as if it was a design but a mark. A mark of battle. When? Damon was clueless. But for something to leave such a big hole at The Academy. It must have been strong.

  With his investigations on the hole done, Damon shifted his attention towards the Platform that was being carried by four pillars similar to the ones outside only much smaller. Leading up to the platform was a stone staircase. What caught his attention was that the stone staircase seemed to glimmer for a few moments before going back to being a plain staircase.

  After observing the platform for a bit, Damon noticed the entire platform did the same thing. The pillars seemed to follow the walls in the hallway bearing intricate designs barely moving but glimmering. The entire thing glimmered simultaneously after every few seconds. It looked like the entire thing was alive. Like it was breathing. As Damon continued to watch the platform that was slowly being lit up by the rising sun peeking through the large hole in the ceiling, captivated by its actions, he realized it was not breathing but beating.

  Creak

  Once again the stone doors entrance was opened and everyone’s attention shifted to the hallway waiting for the last group. From the way everyone adjusted themselves and the slight bows of head from those that once carried arrogance, Damon assumed that whoever was coming must be of high status.

  “Welcome, Young Lord Leon Terre and Lord Garret Flint.” The same girl who escorted the Awakeners shockingly paused in front of the hallway and announced two names that carried history.

  Damon widened his eyes at the famous names of:Terre and Flint. Both Ancient Houses.

  A large group of around forty individuals came out the hallway being led by a pair of boys the same age as Damon smiling and scowling.

  One of the boys came out the hallway with a scowl aimed towards those in sight while wearing red robes and a golden ring, nothing to block the way of his House Sigil on his chest of a flaming fire: House Flint.

  The smiling boy in brown robes beside him simply wore a stone bead necklace that had symbols on each stone to match the sigil on his chest of a mountain: House Terre.

  The large group led by the pair of boys made their way to the center of the multiple lines. There, the groups that took up the center silently moved to the side making space for the large group who wore arrogance on their faces.

  With all groups present, it wasn’t long before someone came to welcome the five hundred Awakeners.

  “Welcome, young heroes,” A raspy and breathless voice greeted the gathered children from behind the platform. With the sun now bearing down a beam on the platform, they were only able to make out seven figures a half a dozen meters up.

  Snap

  A quick snap followed by a ball of flame appearing out of thin air, lit up the seven figures revealing an old man accompanied by six other people trailing behind him as they walked out of a doorway in the wall that no one ever noticed.

  After walking out, the doorway in the wall closed up behind them, making it appear as if the hole in the wall never existed. The display of Elemental skills did not stop there as the old man took a step and with each step a small stone platform would shoot out from the wall creating a staircase leading to the ground.

  The Awakeners kept their eyes on the small group of seven making their way to the platform in the center with synchronized footsteps that echoed through the silent hall.

  As they reached the platform, they waited in front of the stairs for a few breaths before making their way up the steps.

  The moment their feet landed on the steps, the pillars lit up with swirls of colors and symbols as if the stone platform was welcoming their presence.

  All seven individuals now stood on stage with the old man in front, scanning the crowd in front of them.

  Damon followed their actions and scanned the intimidating seven individuals standing on stage.

  “Greetings Awakeners, I am Professor Richard Harris. Department Head of the School of Fire.” A middle-aged man in black and red robes-that like the pillars, had intricate designs found swirling in certain areas-took a step forward to introduce himself.

  After the man was the black and brown robed woman beside him who took a step forward to introduce herself with a confident smile, a smile that couldn’t be missed with her green lipstick that stuck out. “Hello my adorable future students. I am Professor Mara Lynn, Department Head of the School of Earth. You can call me Professor Mara or Professor Lynn. Whatever you prefer.” The woman ended her introduction with a flip of her brown hair that matched her robes and a smile that was mirrored by the majority of the boys, including Damon and Rodrick.

  “I am Professor Gregory Quails. I am the Department Head of the Lightning School.” After the woman was a short bulky man nearing his fifties who bore an intimidating glare that was helped by the burn marks on his neck that peeked out his black and gold robes who spoke only what he needed to.

  Next to the intimidating man was a woman just as intimidating with her green eyes staring into the Awakeners eyes below the platform who reacted with a break of eye contact to glance at the ground or ceiling.

  “Hello. I am Professor Blair Sunders. Head of the School of Wind.” The short haired woman started and ended her speech with no emotions.

  “Good afternoon young heroes. I am Professor Lancel Laurel. I am the Department Head of the School of Water. I hope to get the chance to teach you to become Elementals whose names will echo through time.”

  Damon’s eyes went to the Golden armored individual behind the Professors for an introduction but it seemed he wasn’t going to give one and movement from the old man in front solidified his guess.

  The old man slowly walked up to the very center of the platform breathless. After a few moments of trying to catch his breath he gave a quick scan of the Awakeners before a wide smile broke out on his face. “ I am Lucas Fray. Dean of this Academy. And as Dean of the Academy it is my responsibility to do the honors.”

  “AWAKENERS.” His shout reached the ears of the Awakeners.

  “ I WELCOME YOU TO THE ACADEMY OF ELEMENTALS”