Draconic Testament

A Sovereign’s Precipice – Draconic Testament
By Zac Atie
 

C
opyright © 2013 Zac Atie

All Rights Reserved

Chapter One – Abnormality
Sebastian Slater
In the middle of surrey, in the middle of a nameless park, within a fenced off area shielded from view from the outside world, a 16 year old boy named Sebastian Slater stirs back into the real world, out from his dreams. He sits up, cursing. “Done it again.” He hisses, referring to him sleeping outside in this fenced off area of the park. He rubbed his cheeks, as they felt numb from the cold. It was practically always cold in the UK, and it seemed to rain constantly, even during the summer, though he knew there were days where it was sunny. It’d never last long though. Luckily, it hadn’t rained. Sebastian was an unusual child. He was in his own little world most of the time, always thinking about this place. He called the area he was in ‘The Haven’, though usually only to himself. He loved it. If it had rained while he slept, he probably wouldn’t have woken up. He didn’t know why he liked this area so much, but ever since he found it at the age of 9, he’s been coming here every chance he got. He read, he played, he ate, and like tonight, he even sleeps here. This was because that it was only here that he felt truly at peace… nobody else wants to be in this place but him. He knew he was seen as weird, to the eyes of everybody else, but not to him. It felt right. It felt normal. He often asked himself if he actually
was
normal or not, as this was by far the least strange thing about him, but in the end, he decided he didn’t care what other people thought of it. When he found it, it was full of litter and rubble, but he himself decided that he’d clean the place up, removing the grime and dirt, painting the shed and storing stuff there, refitting planks in the platform and even cutting the weeds and nettles. But he kept the bushes, he liked the privacy, no need for the whole park to see a teenager sleeping here… he didn’t care about what people thought of him, but they’d likely not leave him in peace. Typical teenagers. Luckily for him, everyone stays well away from this area, since there are football fields and a play area on the other side of the park, which was a common thing for boys his age to be doing, as well as chasing girls. He had padlocked the gate, and usually enters through a small hole in the fence, shrouded by a bush. He didn’t know what it was that pulled him back here, but whenever he’s here he feels a sort of supernatural feeling around him, warming and comforting him. This is where he begins to see where the other kids are coming from, calling him strange. He used to be very casual in talking about it when he was younger, to other kids, since he didn’t know that the other kids never felt like he did about the area. To others, it sounded crazy. Whenever he sleeps here, he dreams of the same thing. A very real and obscure dream. He feels like he’s actually there, standing on top of an ocean, the view an endless sea of blue, waves in the distance, but from where he was standing, it was just silence and peace. He would walk, and swim, and get nowhere. He was the only being in this private little world of his. Of course, there’s the odd statue in the distance, this jagged eyes and a smiling mouth, with blue gas emanating from the skull-like orifice that should be his nose, and the waves used to crash against this statue, making it practically unmissable. “Better go” He sighs, picking up his bag and checking the time. 7PM, and school ended at 3:35PM. His mother was going to be in a fit of rage.
Sebastian rushes home, not very far from the park, only about 3 blocks or so. Leaving the Haven was hard. It felt like that once you go there, it stabs a hook into part of your soul, and when you leave, that hook tugs and tears part of it away. He really wanted to know what this obsession was… hours of searching on the internet of supernatural feelings usually ended up with ghosts and demons, but hardly any mention of an addiction to an area. He didn’t believe in demons or ghosts. He thought that was a bunch of crap, even if he was feeling this supernatural presence. When he looked at it from a logical view, his claim of there being a supernatural presence that keeps drawing you back to an area would be absurd too. That’s what makes it so frustrating. He ends up at his house, identical to most of the others in the street, not all that grand, and rings the doorbell. “Alright, get ready for it.” He thinks to himself, as he hangs his head and prepares himself for a loud lecture from his stepmother. He never knew his real parents, though he thought his stepmother was his biological mother for a long time, until she told him the truth at the start of high school. The news bothered him a little, saying that he was left at the doorstep of her house. She tried to tweak the story by saying there was a note that said that they could not feed him, but he had learned by then to tell when his mother was lying to protect him from being hurt. The truth, in his mind, was that his parents didn’t want him. He grew to accept it, and he dramatically told his step-mother that he didn’t care if his biological parents didn’t want him, she’ll always be his mother to him. That bit of news had made them very close throughout the years, and she tolerated him going out to his Haven, since he does study there quite a lot. But to sleep there, and disappear until 7PM without telling her? That was another story, a story that was about to be told. The door swings open, and Sebastian meets the gaze of his 40 year old, black haired, harpy voiced step-mother, Tina Slater. “An’ where in the bloody ‘ell ‘ve you been!?” she shouts, piercing Sebastian’s ear drums as he bites his lip, trying to look innocent. “It’s 7 o’clock! Do you know how worried I’ve been! I was about to call the police! Why didn’t you answer your phone!?” She rants, and continues on as Sebastian thinks ‘yada yada yada’ in his head. He scratches his head, keeping it low as passersby look on at the commotion as they pass, amused. Even his best friend, who was his neighbour, Vander, who was returning from archery class look on, laughing under his breath, amused at Sebastian's embarrassment. He keeps up the innocent look until Tina takes notice and says “Don’t make that look.” clipping him over the ear and ushering him in, unconvinced. Away from the eyes of strangers, Tina grabs Sebastian and hugs him. “Don’t do that to me...” She hisses in his ear.
After a quiet lecture from his mother, he was freed from her grasps. He takes off his shoes, and places them in the shoe rack. His house smelt of pinecones, not from any illegal substances, but mainly from his mother and her odd collection of foreign items that she decorated the house with. Sebastian heads up to his room, slinging his bag in the corner and ripping off his school blazer. He goes into his en-suite bathroom and prepares for a shower, since sleeping on the platform at his haven is actually not very hygienic. He rips off his clothes, taking out his pyjamas and turns on the shower, waiting for the water to turn hot. He examines his face in the mirror. Sebastian had blonde hair, almost golden, and he slicked it back so that it wouldn’t go down in front of his face, which is something that annoyed him ever so much. It was long, and grew fast. He decided he’d keep it around shoulder length. He had very soft skin, which was odd, and hazel eyes. He knew he was good looking, and could easily lull a girl into becoming his from his dashing wit, but he was far too modest and respectful to admit so. He was very different to the other boys within his school. He didn’t seek popularity, he didn’t seek girls, he hated football and he didn’t like violence all that much, although he did decide to learn how to fight. All of these things made him look weird, and he wasn’t a very popular person because of it. But that was fine with him. He was a good, kind person, but chances were that most people he’d meet in the street he would dislike, just simply due to human nature, and the way his neighbourhood was. He went to a sword practice school, learning how to fight with a Katana. He dreamt of having a large baton concealed in his pockets incase he was jumped or provoked, in order to fight with it as if it was a sword, which he thought would be rather deadly, but as he wizened with age he figured it would be best to switch to boxing. Besides, if you attack people with a weapon in England, it doesn’t look all that good. He also loved spending his time to read books, expanding his knowledge, especially on history. He brushed his teeth, and paused as he examined his canines. His canines bothered him, severely, since they were far too sharp. They weren’t very noticeable, but they were larger than the average humans. “Pisses me off, this does.” He sighs, as he taps his canines. Between his soft skin, his canines, and his obsession with his haven, Sebastian thought that there was something severely wrong with him… but his problems didn’t actually end there. “I'm sure other people have proper problems too.” He sighs. “Probably have herpes or turn into serial killers for no damned reason.” He says this, but he knows that he’s only really trying to convince himself that he’s not crazy and weird. Whenever he stood in front of this mirror, looking at himself and reflecting on why he was like the way he was, he always felt down, like he didn’t know who he truly was. When he was younger, just starting high school, he used to stand there and cry. He changed school because he was bullied for telling people about the Haven. It depressed him. His mind was fine. He could see and perceive things fine. He could tell a crazy person from a normal person. He had a great sense of right and wrong. Yet, all these abnormal things about him made him feel like he wasn’t even human. Because of how he was bullied, and these problems he sees within himself, he turned into a cynic. He was always sharp when he was talking to people, telling people how it was and never sugar-coating the truth, and because of that, he was usually seen as a bad person to befriend. Was he? He waved away the questions, thinking he was being too emotional, and just went with his usual thought. “Fuck people.” He said, as he got in the shower, and washed himself. After the shower, he went downstairs to spend time with his mother and eat.
High School, the next day, lunchtime. After finishing his Year 11 morning classes, Sebastian retired for the library, reading a history book on the topic of Sir Francis Drake, a pirate that was knighted and allowed to live as long as he plundered Spanish ships for gold, and gave it to England. Sebastian wasn’t reading it because he needed to for revision, but rather because he enjoyed it. It was a habit of his, something that never seemed to be sated. While other boys played football and hanged around with their friends, he sat in the corners of half empty rooms, filling his head with unnecessary information, but it was an addiction. His mother told him that people could get addicted to anything. Eating, shopping on EBay, surfing video hosting sites, etc. That made him feel a lot better. He was halfway through reading about the circumnavigation of England when his girlfriend, Talia Killjoy, walked through the door. She spotted him amidst the crowd almost immediately, and then made a B line towards him. Talia’s a rather wild and very vocal girl. She’s not very girly, and she likes activities that you wouldn’t see many girls participate in. One thing she loves with a passion, is Rock climbing. She has short hair, which she dyed blue, and she wears jogging bottoms and a track top, in direct violation of school regulations, which state that you must wear uniform at all times. “How does she get away with that?” Sebastian thought, as she sat at his table.
“Bastion.” She says, smiling, calling him by his nickname that practically everybody calls him. “Thought I’d find you here, being a nerd as usual.” She says, taking out her bottle of Lucozade, once again breaking the rules of the school. She didn’t mean the insult. Insults from her never bothered him, as they were usually as weak as her capacity for learning. “Oh, what a rebel you are.” He laughs. “Perhaps you should try being a ‘nerd’ once in a while, since exams are coming up.”
”Don’t need to be a nerd, I have you for that. You’ll just help me revise, push my grade up to a bare pass, like you always do.” She giggles. She usually left everything to last minute then jumped on Bastion’s back whenever she needed help, but Bastion didn’t mind. His mother taught him a bit too much about respecting ladies, since his mother had been treated badly in the past. It wasn’t like he was ever doing much, anyway. “Where have you been all lunch?” He asked, putting down his book since he figured he’d have no time to read.
”I had to stay behind for ICT.” Talia huffs. “Should be eating right now, I'm hungry, but I figured… we could have something to eat afterschool.”
”Sure, no problem” Bastion said, although he wasn’t hungry. He was considerate of her. “What do you wanna get?”
”Something plain and boring, like you.” She teased. “Chips and a cheeseburger, perhaps. We can even go to your ‘Haven’. Speaking of that, I'm surprised you hadn’t snuck off to it today.” Bastion had never shut up about the haven once he had found it, so much so that he had to move to this school because he had a reputation of being called weird. Talia also moved to this school when she found out that Bastion did, because she was crazy about him, though he doesn’t know this. “Yeah… Nah.” He murmurs, not liking to talk about the haven. “Hmm… Well, it’s almost time to go to crappy lessons… What do you have again?” She asks.
”Erm, Biology. Most fun lesson ever.” He says, sarcastically.
”I bet it is...” Talia said, though she had a hint of spite in her tone. Bastion picked right up on that, and knew what it was aimed at, but pretended not to notice. “We should go.” He says, getting up and kissing her. She gets up and follows him out of the library.
In the final two years of high school in Britain, you are to take GCSE’s, which are real exams that you take with you for life. In advance, you are to pick which subjects you want to study. One of Bastion’s subjects was Biology, which his best friend Vander also took. Vander was a rather odd boy, much like Bastion, and that was probably why they got along so well. They had grown up with each other since they were children, making them childhood friends, and they were also neighbours. Vander would disappear to see his father every month, and would stay away for up to a week. It was a mystery as to where he went, and what he did, as whenever he was asked about it, Vander would simply smile and be sarcastic. That was the type of person Vander was, and it was so obvious when he was exaggerating or being sarcastic about anything, as he would close his eyes, shrug, smile, then spout his lies. Bastion called this move the ‘Vance’. Vander had blue eyes, extremely blue eyes, and short black hair. He was a weirdo at times, and a sex symbol at others. It was a role that he switched with whenever he wanted a lady, as he was far better with the ladies than Bastion, but a lot less respectful. Vander was picked on for his name, though Bastion always defended him back in his primary school days. Now, nobody messes with Vander, because on the exterior is a dork, while on the interior is a ferocious beast. For some reason, Vander goes about his name as if it’s a religion. Vander means Archer, and is an English name, oddly enough, and because of that meaning he took up archery lessons, although Bastion has trouble seeing it come in handy in everyday life. But, within every good friend there are bad points. One noticeable bad point was that at times, Vander would feel as if he were inclined make fun of people for no reason. Bastion hated that about him, and this, unfortunately, was one of those times. The Biology teacher was a woman called Mrs Akechi, and she was teaching the class about blood vessels within the body. Bastion was uncomfortable because Vander, who was racist at times, decided he would make fun of her, and that had attracted her attention. She knew it was happening, but she didn’t want to say anything about it. “Why does she keep giving me evils?” Vander giggles to Bastion. “Oh, I don’t know, perhaps she doesn’t like being made fun of by a racist?” Bastion snapped. Vander could see the frustration within Bastion, but it didn’t stop him from continuing. “You obviously didn’t get the joke.” He chuckled. He never got angry with Bastion, he would always be nonchalant to his anger and his light insults. Biology would have been a boring, but easy to learn subject if not for a certain element about the class, though it wasn’t the subject itself… it was a certain classmate within the class. Bastion looked over to his left, two seats down. There, sitting upright, paying full attention to Miss Akechi, was a girl named Veronica. She had blonde swept back hair and a fringe, shockingly beautiful, skin soft and smooth. She was, of course, an attraction for the boys, but she usually just ignored them and moved on. From what he had heard, nobody had been successful in even getting her to talk to them if it was for any reason that involved a companionship of any type, friend or otherwise. Bastion was mature, and respected a woman’s privacy, but despite this, he often examined and stared at her, because he couldn’t figure her out. A supernatural feeling sort of… emanated from her, much like from the Haven, but this was more… dangerous, as if she was emanating a warning to stay away. This was one the only other supernatural feeling that he felt other than the Haven… and she was right here in the school...he was certain she was dangerous. He wished he had not moved to this school at times. If he was to compare the feeling to anything, it would be like seeing everyone glowing a blue colour, and she was glowing a red. However, they were alike, although she took the whole being unpopular and hiding in the shadows act to the extreme. She spoke to nobody, had no friends, took very small parts in class activities, and disappeared to a library outside of school all day… Though nobody knows this but him. He’s the only one that pays that much attention, though he didn’t really know if that was weird or not.