Chapter One - ONE - FORT FITZGERALD HAD TRAVELED TO other dimensions, flown with dragons, and fought off ancient horrors. He''d saved the city of London from a boy under the spell of Spirit magic; he''d held the sword of King Arthur--one of the Arthurs, at least--and made deals with the queen of the faeries. One thing he''d never done, though, was raise a pet. Sure, he''d always wanted one. He''d begged his father for years to get a cat, but his father had always refused, saying he was a dog person. So Fort eventually tried a different approach and asked if they could get a dog, only for his father to claim he''d always been a cat person, and just not into dogs. It''d been an ongoing battle that Fort had no chance of ever winning. Well, at least until now, ever since Fort had arrived home after being expelled from the Oppenheimer School to find a surprise in his old room at his aunt''s apartment--a surprise that Fort needed his friends to help him with urgently .
And so, the same night he arrived back at his aunt''s place, without even having had enough time to unpack or, more importantly, actually spend time with his newly returned father, Fort opened four circles of green light in the cavern beneath the original Oppenheimer School--teleportation portals to four separate places. Fort stepped through the first one, carrying a large green duffel bag that a few hours earlier had been filled with clothes but now had strange mewling noises coming from it. He winced at the sound as he looked around the cavern, barely lit by the glow of the portals. This wasn''t going to cut it, he decided. They''d need a bit more illumination, so he cast Heal Minor Wounds but didn''t release it from his hand. The blue magic of the spell played off the surrounding rocks, giving just enough light to see by. Behind him, the teleportation circle led back to his bedroom at his aunt Cora''s apartment, and Fort looked at it with a long sigh. As excited as he was about the little newcomer in the duffel bag, a huge part of him wished he could be in that apartment, spending every possible minute that he could with his dad.
They''d barely had any time together, between getting his father released from the TDA after days of debriefing and medical checks. And then they''d been watched on the military transport the entire way home, until finally they''d been handed over to Fort''s aunt. Even now, he worried that he''d walk back through that portal and find out it was all a dream, that his father was still gone, taken by the Dracsi. Fort had to constantly remind himself that his dad was home, awake, and safe , and that he wasn''t going anywhere. The reminder sent a shudder of relief through Fort. Granted, it wasn''t like everything else was okay. Cyrus was still missing after a fellow Carmarthen Academy classmate of his, William, had used Spirit magic on the silver-haired boy, forcing Cyrus to send himself somewhere else in time. Not to mention that Fort, Rachel, and Jia only had a year to find the Timeless One--the Old One of Time magic--and defeat him using Excalibur, or they''d be prisoners of the faerie queen of Avalon for the rest of time.
Oh, and where was Excalibur now? No one knew. Ellora, another Carmarthen Academy student, had jumped away in time with it, in order to keep the sword out of Colonel Charles''s hands. That had been a smart move at the time, but now they had no idea where or when she was, or if she''d be coming back with the sword. At least Merlin, a mysterious old man who seemed to be the mythical wizard from the King Arthur stories, had offered to train Rachel and Jia to fight the Timeless One. He hadn''t mentioned training Fort, which had stung a bit, but Fort tried not to think about it with all the other things to worry about. Still, all the training in the world wouldn''t help Rachel and Jia without Excalibur. And yet, for all of that, Fort had his father back. Even just reminding himself that his father was here, home with family, made the rest of it feel like it wasn''t so bad, that they''d be able to work it all out.
It also didn''t hurt that he was about to see his friends again after missing them for a few days, including one whom he hadn''t seen for even longer in person-- Sierra Ramirez passed through the second portal from where she''d been hiding in the UK, looking tired but still thrilled, her eyes on the duffel bag in Fort''s hands. Of course she''d already seen its contents from inside Fort''s head using her Mind magic, but that didn''t seem to dim her enthusiasm at all. "Fort!" she shouted, and gave him a huge hug, avoiding the bag. "Sierra!" Fort shouted in return, only to get all the air knocked out of his lungs as she squeezed him tightly. Even without any air, he couldn''t believe how great it was to see her. He''d been so used to talking to a Mind magic version of Sierra that he had forgotten how much better it was to see her in person. There was no one he felt closer to, not even Cyrus, considering how much of Sierra''s life he''d felt like he''d lived through her memories, back when he''d first arrived at the Oppenheimer School. "It''s been so long!" he told her when he could breathe again.
"I was in your head, like, twenty minutes ago," she said, grinning widely. "All I did since then was reach out to the other two, and show you where they''d be so you could open portals." "I meant since we were together in person," he said, blushing a bit. Sierra laughed, then hugged him again. "I know, Fitzgerald. I''m just messing with you! I can''t believe how good it is to see you for reals too, instead of just in our minds--" "Is this the big emergency?" said a voice, and Sierra immediately pulled back, turning to find Rachel Carter passing through her portal. "More importantly, where is--" She was interrupted as Jia Liang arrived, throwing nervous glances back through her own teleportation circle. But as soon as Jia saw Rachel, both girls brightened and hugged with even more excitement than Sierra and Fort had.
Fort rolled his eyes. "You two just saw each other, like, a week ago," he said. "Shut it, Fitzgerald," Rachel said to him over her shoulder. "A lot has happened since then," Jia said as she pulled away from Rachel. " You two got expelled, and now they won''t even let me go to class." She shook her head. "They''re guarding me constantly, because Agent Cole thinks I''m going to steal a book of magic or something." "Tell her we did that already," Rachel said, her tone joking but her face showing she wasn''t thrilled about how Jia was being treated.
"I can''t stay for more than a few minutes," Jia told them, giving Rachel an especially apologetic look. "I didn''t want to take the chance of a guard walking in if we opened a portal to my room, so I told them I had to use the restroom. They won''t wait long before checking on me." She glanced back through the portal behind her, where the ugly green tile of a bathroom in the second Oppenheimer School gave Fort unpleasant flashbacks. "So what couldn''t wait until tomorrow, Fort?" Rachel asked, her eyes on Jia. "Um, here''s the thing," he said, looking down at the ground, suddenly less excited about showing them now that he''d heard about what Jia was going through. "Remember when D''hea, the Old One of Healing, was going to destroy the world because he thought all the dragons were gone? We didn''t know at the time that Damian actually is a dragon, so I convinced him to just make a new one out of magic." Rachel began to groan loudly, while Jia just stared at him with her eyebrows raised.
Meanwhile, Sierra had covered her mouth with her hand but wasn''t able to hide her laughter. "Are you serious, Fort?" Rachel said. "You and I just got expelled. Jia''s basically a prisoner--" "I mean, Dr. Ambrose is sneaking me the Healing book every so often," Jia said. "And you brought us here to share that you''ve got a baby dragon in there?" Rachel finished, pointing at the bag. "Is that what you''re saying?" A tiny meep escaped from the bag, followed by clawing noises. "Well, kind of?" Fort said, and Sierra burst out laughing.
"Wait until you see this thing!" she said, laughing harder. "It thinks Fort is its daddy!" Rachel snorted at this, while Jia reached up to cover her mouth, just like Sierra had a moment ago. "Come on, Sierra, this isn''t funny," Jia said, but her voice broke a bit as she tried not to laugh. "She''s right, Mindflayer," Rachel said to Sierra, her own mouth twitching violently. "It''s incredibly serious. I mean, does Fort even know how to change a diaper?" This set all three of them off, laughing so hard that they missed the very annoyed looks Fort was giving them. "Hey, all right ," he said, setting the bag down. "It''s not funny, okay?" "Fort, tell them what you named it!" Sierra said, having trouble breathing now.
"What?" Jia shouted. "You have a name already?" "Please tell me it''s Fort Jr.!" Rachel said. Fort rolled his eyes. "First of all, it''s a she . I think." This set off even more gales of laughter. "But her name isn''t important!" Fort shouted over them.
"What am I supposed to do with--" "He named her Ember !?" Sierra said. "Is that not the most adorable dragon name you''ve ever heard?" Rachel and Jia both stopped laughing long enough to shout "Awwww!" at him, but that was the least of Fort''s.