DragonElements: A New Era Chapter 1

Here's a sneak peek at book 1. It's just a way to whet your pallet, and I know it is a little rough around the edges, but there are some major changes to the storyline. Here you go.

The cool breeze was nice except it kept blowing my paper around. The sun was warm on my skin and the air smelt of pine because I enjoy setting my table under the large tree in the center of the campus. I stare at the paper in front of me, concentrating until my vision blurs and I see something else.  My hand moves furiously over the blank sheet till my drawing represents the picture in my head.  I let the image dissolve and exhale with the relief of its absence.

            “There,” I sigh, “One fortune telling for the happy couple.” I look up at the two students that stand before me. A young freshman girl, small and blonde, hanging off of the junior wearing a cotton letterman with the school logo. It didn’t take the small town fortune teller to see that this relationship won’t be going anywhere. The picture I drew was of the boy making out with some cheerleader, Stephanie I believe, and this girl here walking in and seeing them. Oh, and, surprise, surprise, she was holding this very drawing in her hand when she found them.

            The young girl bursts out crying and begins to yell at the boy who looks at me angrily. I roll my eyes and look at my watch. There was still about fifteen minutes till lunch was over and I’d have to go to go to my Physics class. I like that class, the teacher’s funny and I actually understand it.

            “Another happy future?” A familiar voice says behind me.

            “You know it,” I reply, turning towards Lacie, my childhood friend. Lacie is a thin girl, about average height with sandy blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Her skin is pretty pale and she dresses generally in a t-shirt and skinny jeans. She’s actually pretty athletic, but prefers to stay to herself and throw in sarcastic comments every now and then. “Sometimes I wonder why people ask me to do this for them, then I remember humans can be stupid.”

            “And stubborn,” She says looking at the couple who turned back towards the table.

            “Thank you for the reading,” The girl was again smiling and dried her eyes, “now we can avoid this happening. See ya tomorrow Luna! Bye Lacie,” and they walked away, the girl holding the picture in her hands.

            “They never learn…” I say, annoyed.

            “Seriously. Do they think they will be the one and only exception to your reading? I mean, you’ve been doing this for. What, ten years now and have never been wrong.”

            It’s true. When I was around seven I had a vision about a man who was going to get hit by a car and when I warned him he completely blew me off and the next day… dead. Of course I was seven and it’s understandable to not believe a kid about these things, but it was frustrating. After a while I learned to control the visions, and now I’m the town fortune teller. I run a witchcraft shop with my mother and we sell crystals, charms and readings. Everyone in this small town knows us.

            “Hey, are we hanging out after school today?” Lacie asked me as she sat under a tree next to my table.

            “Definitely,” I say. “We can go downtown and take a look at that new boutique that opened up. I heard they have some cute clothes and I just got paid.”

            “Lucky. My mom says I don’t get any money till I finish cleaning the cellar… who even HAS a cellar anymore! It’s really creepy, so I haven’t done it.”

            “Hey, I’ll buy us something while we’re there. Maybe some smoothies or something.”

            “Cool! Oh, we should go to that antique shop too! I saw this chair shaped like a shoe with leopard print on it and thought of you.” We laugh for a bit and joke around some more till the bell rings. “See ya after school Luna!” And she runs off towards her class, barely stopping to lean over and scoop up her backpack.

           

            After school I run to the bathroom to clean up. I walk to a sink and look in the mirror, studying my face. I had to fix up my eyeliner, but that was about it. My long, light brown hair was still smooth and shining. I step back and study my clothes, making sure it’s all in place. My skirt hung just over my knees with leggings underneath. My black boots were all zipped up and buckled in place, the chains hanging from the sides. I wore a purple tank top with a floral pattern around the neck area, and I hang my hair over my shoulders. I reach into my bag and pull out my necklace, a gold crescent moon with a star sitting on top, and clasp it in place.

            “Alright. Time to go,” I say to myself.

            “About damn time,” I hear a voice say.

            I turn to see Ceres, a friend of mine. We joke around every now and then, but don’t see each other often. I look at her, a sarcastic smile on her lips. She has long, black hair and wears red contacts to school. I asked her where she got them once, but she laughed and said they were real, of course I remain skeptical. She likes to wear dark clothes to school, for example, today she is wearing dark red pants and a black shirt with a black hoodie and combat boots. She says light clothes hurt her eyes.

            “Hey Ceres.”

            “Where you off to all nice?”

            “Just going downtown with Lacie,” I sling my bag over my shoulder as I walk towards the door of the bathroom. “We’re going to look at some clothes and stuff.”

            “That‘s cool. Can I tag along?”

“Sure. I’ll text her and tell her we’re on our way. I’m driving, is that alright?”

“Yeah,” We both walk out and head towards the parking lot.

I pull out my phone and message Lacie, “I invited Ceres, hope you don’t mind. Meet you there.”

Almost instantly after she replies, “Yeah that’s cool. See ya there.”

 

As Ceres and I pull up I spot Lacie sitting on a bench on the sidewalk shuffling through her backpack. I pull into a spot in front of the shop. It was just a small stretch of street with a long line of shops all connected. The new shop had a large window in the front with some fake models wearing different clothes and hats, all very cute. The name of the shop was literally Downtown Boutique and I was practically drooling at all the different styles.

I look back at Lacie, who was clasping a snowflake necklace around her neck and tucking it into her shirt, out of sight. “Ready?”

We all walk through the door and I instantly go towards the jewelry. “Oooh, look at this bracelet! Oh! And these earrings! I think this ring is real turquoise!” I was holding a ton of jewelry before Lacie or Ceres even had the chance to look at their first shirt. I put them in my small basket and moved to the tops, pulling off shirts and pants and throwing them in the basket as well.

“Geez Luna! Slow down, the clothes aren’t going anywhere,” Lacie said.

“Except in my basket!” I call back while holding a skirt to my waist, testing the size before throwing it in the basket as well. “Can I wear this out?” I call to the cashier. It was a low cut, white shirt with a tiger on it.

“Sure,” She says in disinterest.

Ceres was holding a couple shirts and Lacie was standing by the door looking at another shop across the way. I walk up to the register and dump the basket over and the girl puts on a fake smile, “Will that be all?”

“Ummmm…” I look over and grab a new eyeliner and throw it on the pile, “Yes.”

She scans everything, bags it and looks up, “That comes to… $105.23”

I smile and hand her my card, she swipes it, and smiles, “Thank you, have a nice day”

“You too.” I then walk towards the door and Ceres follows after paying for her clothes.

“So, now what?” Ceres asks.

“Some antique shop down here. Lacie wanted to show me something funny.” We walk out of the shop and I take a deep breath of fresh air. “Plus, they have cute stuff there every now and then.”

The antique shop is like my mother’s garage: cluttered, dry and musky, but there are various sets of cutlery and tea sets, old fashioned clothes and mirrors, and lots of feathery hats. I was just meandering through the store, looking over the old items, noting all the real and fake items. I have an eye for these things. I was looking at a genuine, old painting when a guy bumped into me.

“Oh, pardon me. I’m terribly sorry…” And the guy just trailed off as he looks at me. “You shouldn’t be here.” Despite acting a bit weird, he was cute. He was maybe six feet tall and had black hair that hung long enough to cover his ears, but not too long. His bangs were side swept and his eyes were blue on the outside and green on the inside. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt and jeans with a belt and an empty sword sheath hanging at his waist.

I tilt my head sideways in question. “Um… what?” I look him over once more before continuing, “I live here. You’re obviously new though, I haven’t seen you around before and it’s a small town.” He looks panicked and began turning to walk away when Ceres came up and blocks him, also looking him over with that smirk on her face again.

“Why, hello Jaden,” she says smiling to herself.

Jaden tenses up, his hand moving towards his empty sheath before silently cursing to himself. “Hey, Ceres. I see you’ve met Luna.”

“I see you haven’t. Aren’t you guys a little slow. I’ve been going to her little human school for months now.” Her red eyes seem to glow.

Lacie comes up behind her, “Hey guys, what’s going on?” She saw Jaden and Ceres and looks towards me with a question in her eyes. All I could give her was a shrug.

“Hey, Lacie,” I intervene, “This is Jaden, Jaden this is Lacie.”

I could have sworn he grew paler as I introduce Lace to him. “Well it was nice to meet you guys. See you around Luna, Lacie,” He shouldered past Ceres, “See you at school.”

Ceres’ face grows read and she looks angry. I put my hand on her shoulder, worried she might punch him in the face.

“You’re going to go to school here?” I respond.

“No.” He quickly walks out of the shop and turns down an alley.

“Wow… that was fucking weird.” Lacie says.

“No shit.”

Ceres is fuming and follows Jaden out the door and turns down the alley Jaden turned down, but stops at the end and cusses.. Lacie and I go over there and see that the kid was gone. “Man! I wanted to kick his ass so bad too…”

“Ummm… smoothies? Anyone?” I ask.

“That sounds amazing,” Lacie replies.

End of Chapter 1. Tell me what you think :) !