Hey everyone! Here is my new story called Child of Steel. This story is based off of a dream I had once, and I hope that you like it. After you get done READING and REVIEWING this story, maybe you could go READ and REVIEW my other story, Country Kids. Just a suggestion :). Without further ado, onto the story.

Chapter One

Cold. The first thing that I knew was cold. I woke up in a frozen forest, unsure of how I got there, and where I was. I didn't even know my own name or my age. I unevenly got to my feet and staggered forward. Immediately, I had to stop and lean against a tree for support. This won't work, I thought. I was almost too weak to stand, and I didn't even know where I was going. Sitting down, I tried to think about who I was, how old I was, and where I should go.

I looked down at my feet, and realized that I was wearing tennis shoes that were about size seven. I twisted around and pulled my shirt tag forward. It said I was wearing a shirt that was the size 10/12. I quickly did some calculations and figured out that I was probably about eight years old.

With that knowledge at hand, I tried to figure out what to do next. Shelter, I thought. I needed to stay warm. To find shelter, I would probably have to get up and move. Great. Sighing, I pushed myself up, using the tree for support. There was a tree about five feet away. I told myself to try and make it to that tree. I pressed myself back against the tree that I was at, then shoved forward, using my momentum to rocket myself to the next tree. I did this three more times, and then came to a clearing.

Across the clearing, there was a fallen tree that would make for a good shelter, if only I could get there. I thought for a moment, and then dropped to my knees. It would probably be easier to crawl across the clearing, even if the snow was pretty deep. I took a deep breath, and then started off.

I was half way across the clearing when a spooky sound reached my ears. It was halfway between a cackle and a gasp, and for some reason, the sound struck fear into my heart. I started crawling faster, but the next thing I knew, there was nothing. The frozen forest was gone, and all I could see was black. My feet weren't touching the ground, there was a smell like dead things, and I kept hearing the sound that I had heard in the clearing.

I started panicking, flailing and screaming, reaching for anything solid. But there was nothing, only darkness. The sounds kept echoing, making them all the scarier. I screamed until my throat was hoarse, thrashed until I could move no more, and still no help came. I was just about to give up when a small amount of light passed through, seemingly a tongue of fire. Then a hole was in the darkness, and slowly, ever so slowly, I was sucked through it, out of the blackness.

I was plummeting, freefalling through the air. The ground below was white, so I assumed that I was still above the frozen forest. However, that didn't help at all. Suddenly, something snatched me up, and I feared that the darkness was back. But when I looked up, I saw green scales. Then I realized that I was being carried by...a dragon. I only had time to see the shape of a rider on its back before I fainted, fading into a blackness that was far more comfortable then the one that I had just left.

I awoke in a small, white room in a large bed with white sheets and large pillows. In the corner, two people were watching me intently. One was a girl about my age, with long dark brown hair and piercing green eyes. The other person in the room was a grown woman with dark strawberry blonde hair and intelligent gray eyes. Once they saw that I had woken up, they moved to stand by my bedside.

"Where...Where am I?" I stuttered.

"The Baldaur Dragon Training Academy," said the young girl excitedly. "Are you going to join?"

"What?" I asked, now greatly confused.

The girl tried to answer, but the woman cut her off. "That's enough, Riley." She said. "We don't want to frighten our guest off. Why don't you go check on Jade? She must be tired from sending out that blast."

Riley looked like she was going to protest, but then sighed. "Yes ma'am," she replied, and then trudged off.

The woman turned to me, and then held out her hand to shake mine. "I'm Sonya Kaman. I am the headmaster at this school, the Baldaur Dragon Training Academy. You may be wondering what you are doing here. Well, you were captured by the darkness just south of our school. Riley just happened to be out flying on Jade, her dragon, and saved your life. You fainted, and she brought you here."

"What did you say about dragons?" I asked.

"We train and raise dragons here." The headmaster said. "When a new student comes to us, they are matched with a dragon to be their partner until they die. The student and dragon train together until the student reaches the age of thirteen. Then, they graduate and become full fledged members of the Academy, and are able to go out to try and fight the darkness. Since you are here, I hope that you will join us. You may be able to find out about your past, and why you were brought here. And, I don't mean to be rude, but it seems to me that you don't have any other place to go. So, do you have any questions?"

At that moment, I knew just what I needed to do. I turned to her, looked her in the eye, and said: "Just one. How do I sign up?"

R&R please

Lillypool