I threw my shoe at the door again, leaving yet another scuff mark. The shoe joined a mounting pile of refuse I'd tried- glow orbs, a food tray, school books, it was no use. I'd tried pounding it, kicking it, throwing furniture at it, but it didn't make a difference. The window shutters and door were enchanted to be thief-proof. I'd found that out earlier when I tried to pick the locks with a hair pin. The enchantment had hit me so hard I could hardly see for ten minutes.

I glanced at the alarm orb on my dresser and practically screamed in frustration. The choosing part of the Ceremony would start any minute, and I was stuck in my room. I couldn't even transform to get out because Mother had taken all eight of my Alabris. But I couldn't stop trying because I wouldn't be able to try again for another fourteen years, if at all. I charged the door and bashed my shoulder into it, not making a dent. At least, not in the door.

Even so, I lined up to try again, feeling heat buzzing in my limbs. I would positively explode if I couldn't get out of the horrid room. With the door in my sights, I ran at it as fast as I could. When I slammed into it, some strange force threw me back against the far wall. Smoke filled the room, and I realized that it was coming from the door, which had a huge hole in the bottom half.

I guessed I'd set off one of the glow orbs. The door was open, though, so that was a good thing. As upset as I was with Mother and Father, I still didn't want the house to burn down. I grabbed a spare blanket from the closet and smothered the fire, then tossed all my clothes and my favorite books in a wooden traveling trunk. I hadn't been stupid enough to try and pack it earlier, right under my parent's noses, but now I wished I had in order to save time.

Without a second thought to what I was leaving behind, I raced out of the house with my trunk. I sprinted across the narrow lane and into an alley, heading for Farrow's Field, where they held the Choosing Ceremony. It was on the other side of town, but I just had to make it.

I caught the word 'mind-jinking' from a side alley up ahead and slid to a stop. If they were dealing in mind controlling artifacts, I didn't want to run into them. Problem was, they were right in the way of the fastest path to the field.

"Put it on a class seven, and be quick about it," I heard a man say. I realized that I'd just have to charge past them and hope they didn't stop me. One... two... three! I raced around the corner and between two men- a wizard and a cinem. The cinem was lightning fast and grabbed my tail, yanking me back. I struggled, but seeing as cinems had the strength of ten wizards and I didn't, I couldn't get away.

"What did you hear?" he barked, squeezing my tail. I recognized his voice as the one who'd been trying to buy the collar.

"Nothing, I swear," I answered, pulling away. He yanked me again, and I looked to the wizard for a chance at leniency. He was almost two feet taller than me and resembled a dragon in stature, big-boned but not fat. He seemed to recognize me somehow and grunted through his black beard.

"Let her go."

"What? Are you insane?" the cinem asked.

"No one would believe a talme over you anyway. There's no need for violence, even if she heard."

"But if she-"

"Let her go, or I won't sell you the collar," he growled. The cinem released my tail and shoved me away down the alley. I took off again, glad for once that no one listened to talmes.

No more than five minutes later, the field came into view. Ten-foot-tall stones, each bigger around than a tree, surrounded the short-hewn field with fifteen feet between each of them. I was panting so hard I could barely see straight, but I kept up my pace just long enough to reach them. Inside the stones were everyone who wanted to be picked.

There looked to be at least a few hundred of them. Some wore simpler small-town outfits similar to mine, but others, those from different parts of the province, wore more lavish attire.

To the left of the rocks was a gigantic crowd of people watching- family, friends, and anyone who just wanted to watch the Ceremony first hand. On the side of the field opposite the families were the dragons- all 36 of them without their collars and wearing saddles. I had hardly a moment to wonder how you were supposed steer without a collar before they were released to wander among the rows.

I raced to the stones, threw my trunk down outside them, and lined up in the nearest row of people, still panting. Almost immediately, I saw a dragon choose someone. It was a blue class 4, barely as large as a medium-sized horse. She walked right up to a blond wizard boy and bowed her head until it was right in front of his, which wasn't very much of a distance. He reached up a hand and touched her forehead. A blue haze appeared around them, glowing brightly. It was a swirling wind storm, getting brighter and brighter until I could barely stand to look at them. Then the haze exploded outward, falling to the ground as a glittering aquamarine dust.

The dragon-rider pair walked together down the row and out of the stone square to where several older riders from the Academy were waiting. There were three of them- a wizard man with a golden class 6, a wizard woman with a green class 5, and a cinem man with a white class 8. I'd never seen a class 8 or a white dragon before. There weren't any in the group of dragons choosing riders today.

I turned my attention back to the dragons who had yet to chose. My whole body trembled with anticipation at the chance of being chosen. I didn't think I could bear it if the Ceremony ended and I was without a dragon. Even if it was a class 4, it'd be enough. I could deal with having a runt of a dragon if it meant I was still a rider.