Dragon Peak

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

Boys stood around, slouching against walls and tossing and twirling a bouncy ball in the air.

"Kallisto Lenhart?" An elderly, frail woman holding a clipboard approached the blonde-haired girl. "I am the Matron, the founder of the orphanage. Welcome to the Orphanage. Your new dormitory would be that way." The Matron pointed to a deserted-looking corridor.

Kallisto forced a smile.

"Thanks a lot."

* * *

Kallisto bit her lip. The orphanage could've sent a helper to guide her to her dorm.

Twists and turns had led her to yet another stairway. Just as she was about to descend it, a loud shout of, "Hey!" came out from a doorway to Kallisto's left.

"Shh!" someone hissed.

Curious, Kallisto turned the knob quietly and pushed the door open.

Two boys, about her age, immediately turned toward her with innocent faces.

"Oh," one said with obvious relief. "You're not the Matron."

Kallisto smiled uncertainly. "No, I'm not."

"Aren't you the new girl?"

"Yeah." Kallisto got ready to defend herself.

"Hey, that's cool," the other guy said, talking with warmth. He held out a friendly hand.

Kallisto began to grow angry, thinking the boys thought she was a child, needing to be guided. She was already bad-tempered with the fact that she ended up here, anyway.

"Do you guys think I'm a little gir-," she began to exclaim hotly. She broke off as the hand grabbed hers and shook it, knocking her books on the floor.

The other boy stooped and picked up her books, curiosity lighting his features. "You like dragons?" he asked, skimming through the pages.

"Give me back my books," she snapped, wrenching her hand away.

"What if I don't want to?" the boy holding her books asked; he sounded like he was teasing, but was holding onto her books tightly.

Kallisto growled inwardly. Those books were all she had left of her dad, who passed away not too long ago. She wasn't about to give them up so easily.

Kallisto clenched her fingers and threw a punch, which was blocked easily, almost dismissively.

"Want to play, huh?" the boy with her books asked, casually.

Kallisto ignored the question. "Give me back my books!"

"Make him," the shorter one sneered.

"Fine, have it your way!" Kallisto snapped. She brought her fists up defensively, foreseeing a fight that she was determined to win.

The two boys closed in on her, and when they were close enough, Kallisto dropped to the ground and swept a leg across the floor; both boys crashed down, having their legs knocked out from underneath.

Kallisto balled up a fist and swung it towards the taller one's face. He cursed through clenched teeth, quickly wiping a bloody nose, grimacing painfully and dropping her books.

Kallisto grabbed her books from the ground, flipping quickly through the pages to make sure they weren't creased or ripped.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the shorter boy scramble up from the ground, but she was ready. She twisted him into a headlock and held him there for a few moments, then let him go, when she saw the tall one halt.

"Still think I'm a pathetic girl?"

"Nope," the tall one muttered, and then the corner of his mouth twitched up in a grin, though the motion was slightly distorted by the blood. "Hey, my name is Joseph Noert."

He was brushing dust off his jeans. Feeling accepted, finally, Kallisto relaxed.

"Can I call you Joe?" Kallisto smirked, silently feeling pity for the boy.

Joseph winced. "Actually, you can call me Seph."

"Seph," Kallisto repeated, trying out the name. She shrugged. "Awesome. I'm Kallisto. Kallisto Lenhart," Kallisto said, sounding so proud of herself.

"I'm Paxon Scanfilar. Call me Pax for short." The shorter one approached her slightly cautiously, as if half-expecting her to pin him into a headlock again.

"You're in trouble though, Kalli," Seph grinned, immediately nicknaming her. "You'll have to explain to the Matron about the bloody nose. I don't think she knows the word respect. Well, only when it comes to her.

"And be proud of yourself for beating us single-handedly, even if we were kind of soft," Seph said airily, trying to make it sound like they never put any effort into the fight. "Oh and by the way, welcome to this little group of friends."

* * *

"Kallisto Olivia Lenhart!" The Matron sounded hugely disapproving. "How could you? You give Joseph a bloody nose on your first day! You seemed like such a sweetheart when I first met you!"

"It's not her fault, Matron," Seph said. "We were just playing. It just got ... a little rough." He exchanged a quick grin with Kallisto.

"Well!" the Matron harrumphed in displeasure. She looked down to check her watch. "Goodness!" she exclaimed. "Joseph, you are excused. Go to the infirmary, I'm sure Nurse Cara will help you with that bloody nose. Amber!" the Matron shouted.

A dark-brown-haired Asian girl around Kallisto's own age came into the room.

"Kallisto Lenhart will be sharing a dorm with you and Lily. Kindly show her the way. And memorize it too," the Matron added sternly to Kallisto.

"Whew, she's a menace," Amber said under her breath, after they closed the door. She immediately switched to sociable mode. "Hey! I'm Amber Levebre."

Kallisto was relieved. Amber was friendly, but not in the way that Seph and Pax had been. "Hi Amber! I'm Kallisto Lenhart, as the Matron was kind enough to point out," Kallisto said, rolling her eyes.

"What's up, Kallisto?" Amber grinned.

"That wood bar," Kallisto smiled, ducking a bar that swung from the ceiling. "What happened there?"

Amber rolled her eyes. "Jay and some other guys started jumping on the bed. That broke, then the boys' weight was so heavy, it broke through the floor in their room and fell here. That's why there's a hole here." She pointed to a crater in the staircase. "The ceiling's only half-way fixed though."

Kallisto laughed.

Changing the subject, she said, "So, is Lily as nice as you?"

"Hmm. That's tricky. 'Cause everyone knows I'm the awesomest," Amber laughed.

"And modest," Kallisto joked.

"Definitely," Amber said, trying to look serious. "But Lily's much prettier than me."

"Well, I won't know until I see her, will I?"

"True," Amber said. She babbled on and on about everyone, clueing Kallisto in on everything about everyone.

"Wow, you're a gossiper, huh?" Kallisto laughed.

"Yeah, you could say that. I'm not the snotty kind who teases people though," Amber said quickly, then grinned and jumped up the stairs, two at a time.

"Hey!" Kallisto protested. "Wait for me!"

"Slow poke!" Amber grinned and sprinted down the hallway. "Keep up if you can!"

"Wait ...," Kallisto huffed, bending over to catch her breath.

Amber waited, then spread out her arms. "TADA! Room 232 on the second floor. Oh, you'll need this to get in." Amber handed Kallisto a room card.

Kallisto smiled; this one was not forced. "Thank you."

Chapter Two

Lily looked kind of like Amber, but, as Amber said, she was slightly prettier.

"Lily is really smart," Amber said, sounding impressed.

"Are the classes here hard?" Kallisto asked warily, then scanned the room. "Wow, this is our dormitory?" She gasped.

"Yup, cool, huh?" Lily smiled.

The dorm room looked more like a hotel room. In the back there was a window that let in a big stream of light. Along the left side of the wall, there were two bunk beds.

"I get the bottom, Amber has the top," Lily explained. "You're lucky; you have a bunk bed all to yourself."

Toys and board games lined the other sides of the wall, and every once in a while clothes were found strewn over the floor (then hastily picked up by Lily and thrown into the laundry chute).

A long, big mirror was propped on the wall, exactly opposite of Kallisto.

Kallisto examined her slim, hourglass figure and shoulder-length dirty blonde hair in the mirror reflection.

Kallisto smiled at the girl in the mirror and the girl smiled back, her calm blue eyes twinkling.

"Do you like it?" Amber asked, biting her lip, jerking Kallisto back to the present.

Kallisto laughed, recovering. "It's awesome, Amber."

* * *

"Okay, math is ... Room 57, where's that?" Kallisto mumbled to herself, locating the room on her map.

Someone bumped into her in the crowded hallway (not a surprise), knocking her textbooks to the floor.

"Great," the boy muttered in exasperation. He bent, helping Kallisto collect her possessions.

"Hey, sorry about that." The boy straightened up, holding her books. "Oh." He jerked in surprise when he actually got to see her. He was immediately shy. "Um ... hey, I'm Jason. You can call me Jay, though."

Kallisto suppressed a giggle as she remembered what Amber had said, "Jay and some other guys started jumping on the bed. That broke, then the boys' weight was so heavy, it broke through the floor in their room and fell here. That's why there's a hole here."

"Kallisto," she grinned.

"Where you headed?" he asked, getting more comfortable.

"Math," Kallisto groaned. "Do you know where Room 57 is?"

"Definitely; follow this hallway then turn right, it's the second door."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Kallisto hurried to follow his directions, leaving Jay staring after her curiously, a smile twitching on the corner of his lip.

* * *

A month later, Kallisto had seen every corner of the orphanage and had been acquainted with every single child there. The boys seemed to worship her, tagging her every step, always looking for some excuse to brush her arm, and often caught staring at her in wonder.

Amber occasionally grumbled to her, "The boys are so excited to meet a pretty new girl ... since you totally ignore them, send some my way won't you?"

One bleary, cloudy Friday, after school, Seph cornered Kallisto on the playground with Paxon.

"Hey, Kallisto."

"What's up?" Kallisto asked.

"We have to show you something; you can't tell anyone, promise?"

"Promise," Kallisto agreed.

"Okay, follow us," Seph said. He went to the farthest corner of the playground, out of sight from the other kids. "Watch this," Seph grinned.

Paxon started making a weird sound, like a kissing noise, but oddly comforting. Seph took a bag out from his coat pocket and waved it around. Kallisto peeked over his shoulder to see what it was: left-over dried fish.

A black-and-white shape sprinted towards Seph, not even looking at Paxon.

Of course, Paxon was making mouse noises.

The cat speared a piece of fish with a claw and flipped it in the air, pouncing on it as it hit the ground. It crouched down and nibbled an edge.

"Oh my god, that is the cutest cat ever!" Kallisto squealed affectionately.

Seph rolled his eyes. "Girls."

"Hi, little guy," Kallisto cooed, tickling it under the chin. "That's a girl. We named her Mia," Paxon explained.

"That's sweet," Kallisto murmured, taking another strip of fish and hand-feeding Mia with it.

"Bengie!" Paxon called, making the mouse noises again. An orange-and-white tabby bounced playfully over to Paxon, licking his finger and rubbing its scent all over him.

"That's a kitten we named Bengie. Paxon seems to like him best, and Bengie likes Paxon best," Seph shrugged.

"Can I keep Mia?" Kallisto asked.

"Sure, she seems to like you, but you can't bring her into the orphanage or anything, or else the Matron will go nuts."

"Of course," Kallisto grumbled, as if offended Seph would've thought she'd do such a thing.

"Okay, now to the other problem," Seph said.

"What?" Kallisto asked, puzzled.

"You're one of us, right?" Pax asked.

"Yeah, I thought so," she said, even more confused.

"Okay. Well, I know you like dragons because of the dragon books you were carrying when we first met you. So, you probably know about the Great War already, you know, with the basilisks and dragons?" (Kallisto nodded vigorously.) "Pax and I found out a few months ago, before you came, by listening to the stories of an insane guy who came to the orphanage; do not ask me why or how. He bore stories of mythical creatures living at the top of Mount Morte, which is one of the mountains in the Yggdrasil Mountains. Kallisto, you should've heard it! It was ... wow. He said that dragons had made their lairs there, brownies made their nurseries, and basilisks made their dens.

"A lot of the kids just snorted and said it was a fairy tale that he hallucinated. But Pax and I were stuck on it as the guy talked on about ancient wars and beasts.

"Of course, no one really knows if the man was telling the truth. We pestered the Matron and she looked up Mount Morte but told us that she couldn't find anything out except for this: 'Not many go to Mount Morte and come back, alive, untouched, and right in the head, which is how it got its name, seeing as Morte is Spanish for Death, Seph and Pax. If you're thinking of looking for that mountain, stay away from it!'

"When you heard us, we were talking about it. We wanted to explore, just to see if the storyteller's words were true. I mean, dragons, basilisks, phoenixes, brownies, wisps? We wanted to know if there were such things as these creatures. Plus, we might as well go someplace out of this orphanage!

"We might even live there! No one will find us, it's a forbidden place, and it's told to be a pure, untouched, wild place. You can't find much of those any more!" Seph finished, gasping for air after his long speech.

"So? What do you think?" Pax pressed.

"What do I think? It's a great idea! Can I tell Lily and Amber?" Kallisto asked excitedly.

"Sure; make sure they don't tell anyone else, though," Seph warned.

Kallisto was already halfway into the orphanage; she turned back, yelling, "Don't worry! They'll get our backs."

"We'll leave in about a week!" Seph shouted at Kallisto's fast-disappearing figure.

* * *

"Don't worry, we'll cover for you," Lily promised after Kallisto explained everything.

"I remember that crazy guy!" Amber said excitedly. "That was a cool story, though he scared me a little. So, I'm gonna stay here." Amber sniffed. "I'm gonna miss you though!"

"I'll come back to visit you," Kallisto said, secretly crossing her fingers behind her back.

"Oh, will you?" Amber beamed.

"I'll try to," Kallisto promised, serious this time.

"We'll really miss you." Lily seemed really sad.

"I'll miss you guys, too," Kallisto said, gathering them up in a group hug.

"When will you leave?" Lily asked, miserable at the prospect of Kallisto leaving, but enthused at the prospect of Kallisto going to Mount Morte.

"Um ... in about a week."

"We'll help you pack then," Lily assured her.

* * *

Kallisto paced around impatiently in her small dormitory.

Tap, tap, tap.

Kallisto wrenched the window open. "It's about time, Seph!"

"Hey, Kalli!" Seph grinned, obviously waiting for Kallisto to notice he was in the air. "Well?" he scowled. "Aren't you going to ask?"

Kallisto rolled her eyes and obeyed, "How are you in the air?"

Seph grinned and gestured below him proudly, then put a finger to his lips to remind Kallisto to keep silent.

Kallisto glanced at Lily and Amber. They had already exchanged teary good-byes and promised to cover up for them, then went to sleep. Lily turned in her bed; her breathing was steady and calm. Amber mumbled something in her sleep that sounded like, "No, stop it; touch that bag and you will get slapped, mister ..."

After assuring herself that the room next to her was asleep, Kallisto peeked over the window ledge and below Seph. There was Paxon, straining to keep Seph in the air. Seph stood on Pax's shoulders and Pax's forehead glistened, in the faint light of the moon, with beads of sweat.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Dragon Peakby Julia Wang Copyright © 2009 by Julia Wang. Excerpted by permission.
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