Chapter Five

“7o’clock? I thought it we were only setting off after lunch!” Acacia tapped her screen, exiting the school e-Paper comapp and switching to her alarm comapp to reset her alarm. iComs, comapps and a lot of other things in Dyia were adapted or copied from the aliens on Cloudstorm. Dyians weren’t very creative, so the creations of many aliens surprised them especially since Cloudstorm was run without any magic.

            Estrella was very popular and was basically the centre of the gossip rings. As a result, she had billions of chatgroups. Acacia was her direct opposite. She only had one.

Claris and Annice were still up despite the curfew.

Claris: Guys, do you know the time for the field trip has changed?

Annice: Obviously. We should sleep now.

Acacia: I agree, it’s already very late.

Claris: There you go, being all mature. Night-night.

            Acacia switched off her iCom, preparing to sleep for the night. After brushing her teeth, she hopped onto her bed, flopping on her soft cushion-y pillow. “Night, Estrella,” she mumbled. Estrella sounded like she was smiling when she replied, “Sure, good night.”

                                                            zvzvzvzv

            “Pack up your breakfasts! Keep in a line! I’m taking attendance!” Mr Claus, Acacia’s history teacher, sounded flustered as he went down the row of students on the hovermotor, frantically ticking on the piece of crumpled paper on his clipboard.

            The hovermotor’s driver was getting impatient, tapping on the steering wheel every minute to remind Mr Claus that he was waiting. The hovermotor—a bus with no wheels, and two round holes underneath it that radiates gravitol, a gravity-defying gas that allows the hovermotor to float—hadn’t started off to Hillary Hills yet, despite it being ten minutes past its departure timing.

            A girl with inky black hair bounced onto the hovermotor, panting loudly. “Cai Ling, do you know how late you are?” Mr Claus scolded. “Quickly sit down somewhere! We can’t afford any more delays!”

            Cai Ling scrambled to sit beside someone, accidentally tripping over someone’s foot, almost falling face first onto the ground. Mr Claus exploded.

“Daniel! Don’t leave your feet lying all around the place, how many times do I have to tell you that? Christelle! Why did you drop your sandwich on your dress? Go to the bathroom outside this instant and clean up! Railei, stop pulling Veleta’s hair and—Miara! Don’t use bad words! Christelle! Why are you still here? Go clean up your dress!”

            Mr Claus was put in charge of sixty-five students aged from ten to twelve, and all that experience and boldness from his past twenty years teaching went out of the hovermotor’s window. Acacia giggled and texted Claris and Annice. The three of them were all split up into different hovermotors to get to Hillary Hills. Claris and Annice were in the third hovermotor, and Acacia was in the fourth and last one.

            Her nerves buzzed as the hovermotor finally levitated off the ground, heading towards Hillary Hills.  

                                                            zvzvzvzv

            “Okay everybody, we’re here!” Mr Claus announced.

            Acacia picked up her small blue pack—another alien-copied idea—and stood up like the rest of the students had. Mr Claus herded everyone out of the hovermotor, making them stand in two straight lines.

            Hillary Hills looked amazing. A wooden sign hovering in the air above everyone’s heads had the reserve’s name on it in brilliant golden lettering that glittered under the blue sun of Skysun. Moonstar had a red moon.

            Acacia could see the three hills, which were expansive tall mounds that were hollowed out. Further from the entrance on a lone island stood a tall volcano, with smoky clouds hanging over it. Streaks of lava flowed down the volcanic mountain, adding on to the river of lava surrounding it. Dragons swooped around the mountain, flying into caves, some even diving into the lava river.

            “Good morning, pupils from Dyia’s School of Magic. Welcome to Hillary Hills!” A lady appeared directly under the sign. “My name is Canton Hillary, and I will be your hostess today,” she continued.

            She started walking into the Visitors Centre, gesturing for everyone to follow her. The Visitor’s Centre was an enormous pavilion with wooden benches and tables placed in three neat rows of twenty. Three more pavilions beside the one they were heading to were already filled with students.

            Acacia tried to spot Claris and Annice, but the bobbing heads of other students obscured her view.

Canton handed everyone a small leather satchel. “Okay everybody. In the first event, you will need to be in groups of four. The last few students with no group will have to form one together—and they might not be who you would prefer—so please keep in mind who you want to be on your team.”

            Acacia spotted Claris and Annice at the second pavilion and waved her arms to get their attention. She pushed her way through the crowd of students, hoping she could reach her friends before anyone else asked them to join their team.

            After Acacia finally reached Claris and Annice, she sighed in relief. She didn’t have many friends. She didn’t know who she could be a in a group with if Claris and Annice were with someone else. “Is everyone in a team?” Canton Hillary boomed. A few students raised their hands—including Acacia’s group.

            Canton Hillary matched up all the remaining students, and put Cai Ling with Annice, Claris, and Acacia. Cai Ling was a Shadow Elemental—an Elemenability—and a Hypnotic, the Magiablity to hypnotise those around her and control their minds. The Magiability was dangerous—but not powerful enough to be a Prowability because Hypnotics could only control one person at a time. Hypnotising people continuously also drained their energy.

            “I am so glad I’m with you guys,” Cai Ling said as she made her way over to them. “If not, I would be stuck with my roommate, Hester, and his ridiculous ‘girlfriends’ chanting his name over and over again. He only gets relationships for the attention!”

Acacia wondered if Estrella was part of that group. Would her feisty but cool boys-loving roommate want to know that her so-called boyfriend was leading her on?

            Canton Hillary’s throat clearing snapped Acacia back to attention. “In the Muzzle Maze’s dead ends, there are red, blue, or yellow crystals. Red crystals are worth three points, blue crystals are worth two points, and yellow crystals are worth one point. You will need many points for the next event, but if you spend too much time in the maze, you will be disqualified. Usage of Superabilities, Magiabilities, Prowabilities and Mixabilities are not allowed. You will also be disqualified if caught using them.”

            Claris pumped her fist despite the ominous warning. Annice sighed. “I guess this is a little better than I thought it would be.” Acacia laughed. She wouldn’t have if she’d known someone close to her was plotting her death right at this moment. Hiding away until their time came to swoop in and take over.