Chapter One: Jewel
Jewel Cadwell was never scared, but right now, she certainly felt her heart beat faster when she turned a corner only to find another dead end in the never-ending maze of alleyways.
Why do I have such terrible map skills? She thought to herself as she continued looking at the large map in her hand that was filled with pen marks and scribbles. Her reddish brown hair fell in her face as she traced the path she had taken with her finger. The sun was going down and she was going to miss dinner. She didn't want to admit it, but she was lost. This usually happened after arguments with her uncle, which was almost everyday. But getting lost had never been this bad. Usually, Jewel found her way out of Amaya's many streets after about thirty minutes. But it has been almost an hour and she still found herself going through what looked like to be the same path.
Calling her uncle definitely wasn't an option. He would only ridicule her. Jewel wasn't in the mood, especially after the fight that got her out here in the first place. All she wanted to do was go outside for a walk, but her uncle just wouldn't let her. After a bit of bickering, Jewel's uncle slapped her, and told her to leave his sight. Stunned, she left the house in a rush; feeling bad for leaving her five year old sister, Nini, behind with such a monster. She missed living with her parents. The Conquerors took them away two years ago because her parents were running a top secret refugee camp for the marked. Just remembering it made her feel the pain of that slap again.
Jewel shook her head. "What's done is done. I can't go back now." She spoke aloud to herself.
But fear still gripped at her. How was she going to get home?
She looked up from her map when she suddenly felt something hard in front of her. At first, Jewel thought it was a wall, but when she looked up, her insides froze.
A man twice the size of her stared harshly at her from above; blocking the entire alleyway.
Jewel jumped back from the man's cold gaze; only to find that she was eye level with a badge that read "Amayan Police Department."
Jewel knew that she was in trouble. There's a new law in Amaya that says children under 18 cannot be outside after seven pm without a parent. Jewel had to be very convincing to get out of this one. Making the sweetest voice she could muster, Jewel looked up at the bald man's angered face. and spoke quietly. "I'm sorry sir. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm on my way home right now so if you wouldn't mind moving over just a squeeze so I could get through?"
"Come with me," He had to look down to make eye contact with her.
He gripped her arm before she could protest and began to pull her down the street.
"Hey you can't take me anywhere! Don't pull me like that!" Jewel shouted at the policeman.
"Stop fighting me or else you will be charged with resisting an arrest."
Jewel opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it.
Well at least he can show me the way out. She thought positively to herself.
Their walk together was silent as he pushed her onwards through the alleys. It was dark outside by the time they made it to the police station. Jewel must have really been lost in there.
The policeman held the door to the station for Jewel to walk through. She looked surprised at this, but shrugged it off and walked inside with him following behind.
The waiting room wasn't too big but it was mostly made up of chairs and tables. There was a lady sitting at the front desk. She looked up from her laptop, her mud brown eyes first meeting the police officer and then to Jewel. Her brown hair was in a messy bun and it looked like she had been at her job for a few hours. The bags under her eyes stuck out from her symmetrical face; as if they were screaming for sleep. Her face had no emotion when she spoke.
"Another one, Peter?" She asked the muscular man.
"Yep, Meg, caught her wandering the streets at seven thirty two. Could've gotten hurt," he turned his attention to Jewel. "What's your name, kid?"
"Jewel. Jewel Cadwell. Your's?"
The lady smiled. "Call me Megan."
She paused for a moment to think. "Well Jewel it looks like you're in trouble," Megan spoke with a gentle tone. "Did you hear about the new law? Children must be indoors by-"
"Yeah yeah I know I won't do it again." Peter gave her a harsh look. "Can you just let me go? I just got a little lost that's all."
"You can leave once you fill out these papers. Who is your guardian?" Megan asked as she grabbed a stack of papers from her very organized desk.
"My uncle. He doesn't live too far from here."
"Alright. Well, just write everything down there and we'll send you home with a warning."
Jewel took the papers and pen from the lady. She made sure to answer each question truthfully before finally handing it back to the her. Megan took a good look at the papers, but when she got to the back side, she raised an eyebrow.
"Ms. Cadwell," She looked extremely worried. "You turned 13 in August, correct?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"You wrote here that you haven't taken the Nectar yet."
"So?"
"You do know that not taking the Nectar of Ninani can lead to sickness, yes?"
"Umm…" Honestly, she had never been to a Nectar ceremony. From what she remembered, her parents didn't have spirit animals and her uncle surely didn't. She had only ever heard stories about the great beasts and how children of age must drink the Nectar. If they were Wild Born, one sip from the Nectar of Ninani would reveal their spirit animal. Jewel remembers her parents telling her how her grandmother had a mouse and that it gave her inhuman abilities. But that's all she ever knew about it. She was shut off from the magical world because her parents wanted to protect her from their secret business.
"Peter, please go get the proper things for the ceremony, and quickly! We do not have a moment to lose!" The man began to run down the hallway as soon as Megan asked.
"Wait what's going on?" Jewel was extremely confused.
"Kids age thirteen must drink the Nectar. Otherwise they will become incredibly ill and possibly become insane or hospitalized for the rest of their lives."
"What? No one ever told me…"
Just, then, Peter rushed over to the counter with a large bird cage filled with many colorful parakeets and a flask that held a honey colored liquid. The parakeets squawked whenever he took a step.
"Here it is," Peter set the cage on the counter and uncorked the flask. He handed it to Jewel and she took it hesitantly.
Jewel eyed the liquid that moved slowly inside the bottle. It looked almost gooey.
"What am I supposed to do with this? And what's with the birds?" Jewel questioned the lady.
"it's said that having animals around during a Nectar ceremony raises the chances of connecting with a spirit animal," She explained. "The flask in your hand holds the Nectar of Ninani. One sip will be enough."
"Okay…" Jewel slowly put the glass up to her lips. Tilting it, the taste of the Nectar poured into her mouth with flavor. The taste was incredible! Jewel thought it tasted like the popsicles her and her family used to make at home, which were always a treat. It reminded her a lot of her parents.
She removed the flask from her lips and sadly handed it back to the policeman.
"So what's supposed to happen now?" Jewel felt perfectly fine.
But then she suddenly didn't.
Is it just me or is the room spinning? Her thoughts were a mess and her brain felt like it was going to burst. She fell to the floor but the spinning soon stopped. For a moment she thought it was over, until a flash of yellow light burst in front of her. Her eyes were temporarily blinded for a moment.
As the light settled, she heard the gasps of Peter and Megan as a large figure stood in front of her. It took her eyes a moment to tell what it was. Standing in front of her was a bright yellow dragon! It had blue spikes lining its chin and cheeks. Giant electric blue horns poked out of his head. Its wings matched its magnificent colors with a hook-like spike on each tip. Its spikes ran all the way down its back. The dragon appeared to be glowing. The dragon flapped its wings and stared quietly at Jewel with its emerald eyes.. It sat back on its haunches, waiting for her to stand up.
Jewel finally stood and studied the dragon. She didn't know how, but she somehow knew it was a male. Feeling an urge to do so, she put her hand gently on the dragon's forehead. An electric shock sparked Jewel's fingers for a moment.
"Ryu," she spoke the dragon's name without thinking. "His name is Ryu."
