13

She received an email on Thursday night, an official email from Klavan.

'All students are to converge for numeration before take off at the Faculty of History and Culture on Friday.'

That settled it. On Thursday night she had packed the essentials; torches, batteries, water bottles, mosquito repellents, and tubes of sunscreen even though Sunny Island was anything but sunny. She had even set aside ingredients for the sandwiches she would take tomorrow. She was excited about what they would uncover. For once, if she found a real dragon she would become a believer. But for now, she retained her doubts and waited for the morning to come.

And morning came bright and early. It was an unusually bright day for Sunny Island. Sarah had just gotten up to take care of her teeth when the doorbell went off. She padded across the white carpeted floor to open the door. There opposite the door was a tired-looking Cooper. He smiled.

"We got extras at the bakery last night," he said holding up a plate of muffins. "I thought we might share them."

Sarah laughed softly. "This morning?"

"Well I worked late last night and I didn't know what to do with these chocolate muffins after we closed and I thought 'What the hell? why not have them for breakfast?'" he smiled then dropped his voice. "Besides, food tastes better shared.

"So I heard. Unfortunately, Cooper, I won't be able to stay for breakfast this morning. I have an early day…"

"Oh," he looked disappointed. "I guess…"

"But," Sarah added with a mischievous grin as she plucked some muffins off the plate. "I can't bear to see these babies go to waste. I could use them for lunch today."

"That's great. Will you be back today? I can make dinner for two."

Sarah's eyes widened. "Cooper!"

He shrugged. "I love to cook, you love to eat, I don't see a problem."

She laughed and playfully rolled her eyes. "The problem is I might get addicted to having you here and become dependent and what happens when you leave or if I have to pack up?"

He assumed a thinking expression then said, "Then we move in together."

She laughed and couldn't help to think how sweet he was and she suspected he might have just a little crush on her. His green eyes sparkled behind his glasses when he spoke and laughed. He was sweet as opposed to Ace's gloom.

"I'm sure I'll like that," Sarah generously replied. "Anyway, thanks for these, I look forward to dinner tonight."

"Alright then. Have fun today!" he waved off before leaving.

Sarah wrapped the muffins and placed them in her backpack with the other things. She still had 2 hours to get ready and she got right to it. She chose a pair of shorts that she considered sensible for the exercise and a brown cotton shirt with a pair of worn-out sneakers. Mrs. Klavan and a group of people were piling around the bus they were going to take in front of the designated faculty for take off when Eric dropped her.

"Glad to see," Mrs. Klavan said as she handed her a bus pass. She got the front seat behind the driver. "The best seat in the house for our A student, I thought we could discuss some more about the folly of the dragon history of Sunny Island, I am sure you have a lot to say."

Sarah smiled and got into the bus, her eyes quickly drifting to the back of the bus. No sign of Ace.

Hmm.

The other seats held excited students ready for a day of exploring but none of them were Ace. She was disappointed.

She took her seat and reached into her bag for her phone but her fingers made contact with the wrapped muffins. She brought them out and unwrapped one to eat. It was delicious and in no time at all she finished it.

The bus started and they were soon moving out of Sunny's main city to the wastelands bordering the Island. The excitement in the bus could be felt as they drew closer to the excavation sites. There the terrain was rough with spikey rocks jutting off the ground and the bouncing of the bus began to make Sarah uncomfortable. Her butt bounced uncomfortably on the seat and her head lolled from side to side. She began to feel queasy and sleepy with the rhythmic bounce of the bus. After what seemed like an eternity the bus came to a stop on a jagged land that held the ocean on one side and the other side was lined with yellow nylon ropes indicating that it was roped off for excavation. As soon as the bus engine was cut off, silence reigned. They were so far away from the main city. Here in the remote wasteland, there was no mobile service, no industries, no machinery except those to be used for clearing rumbles and rocks, and the waves of the ocean.

As soon as they got out Sarah went off to throw up the contents of her belly.

Klavan was there with a couple of students to show their concern.

"Are you alright, Dragenar?"

She nodded quickly and her belly heaved again.

"Are you sure?" Klavan asked worriedly as she produced a bottle of water from her bag which she splashed on Sarah's face.

"Yes, I am…must have been the bus…"

"Maybe you should stay back in the bus then, we won't be here long after all. We'll just see what has been unearthed and…"

"No!" Sarah said firmly. She didn't want to be left out. Straightening to her full height she took a sip of water to calm her belly and tried a wobbly smile. "Thank you for your concern but I'm strong enough to participate in the exercise."

Mrs. Klavan was watching her with a critical eye. "If you are sure…"

"I am."

She took hold of her backpack and swung it over her shoulder.

After one last look at her Mrs. Klavan called the rest of the group.

"We can proceed now. We will go slowly for Sarah's sake. Here," she took the lead. "There's a path here that will lead us to the tomb, there we will meet our guide who will lead us to the unearthed tomb and tell us what we need to know about the artefacts."

The students took their places behind her. Sarah was the first behind her and they walked over jutting rocks and sharp shrubs to the entrance of what looked like a cave in a huge boulder. There were several like it in the area. Exactly as Klavan had said there were two people dressed in rough worn-out clothes and emblazoned caps there to meet them.

"My name is Kelvin, this is my partner, Celia, we will be showing you what you need to see, come with us."

They filed into the dark cavern with flashlights blazing and almost immediately a deep rumbling started in the ground.

The students murmured among themselves looking frightened.

"Keep calm, this happens once in every…"

The ground suddenly tilted and the students were thrown on their backs. Sarah screamed out as she fell hard on a bit of slippery black rock. A pair of hands held her still and when she looked it was Mrs. Klavan holding her, a wild look in her eyes.

"Everyone hold on to something!"

The cave lurched them forward again and something like a steel blade flashed before Sarah's eyes. She could barely register that when the tilting became even more vigorous. Screams filled the air as suddenly flashlights went off and a loud roar echoed in the cave. It suddenly became too hot to breathe and sweat dripped off Sarah's face as she struggled to get her bearing. Klavan still held on to her and suddenly a strange look came to her eyes. Her eyes flashed an iridescent gold and reached into the fanny pack around her waist. A strange feeling crept up Sarah's neck at the same moment she hit her head on a rock and blacked out.

As soon as the darkness engulfed her, a gust of wind blew into the cave scattering loose rocks and dislodging jutting rocks off the stony walls. As darkness engulfed the entire cave a pair of talons took hold of an unconscious Sarah and with another gust of wind a huge black dragon rose in the air over the cave and lifted into the sky.