Zoe, the Girl with Eyes of Fire

Zoe, an ordinary girl with green hair was being chased when her secret was revealed...

Art by Simone Ford

This story began a few years ago in a town that was near a big forest. In this town there was a high school. And in this high school there was an ordinary girl called Zoe. At least, that's what everyone thought...

Ring!

The sound of the bell filled the hallway and classes, marking lunch time. The usual scuffle and noise soon followed, as students streamed out of classes towards their lockers. Banging and loud conversations broke the silence of the school. Everyone chattered like birds singing off-key in the morning.

All except for the Exiles. The nerds. The losers.

Zoe was one of them. Not because she wasn't nice and funny but simply because no one knew that. She never spoke unless she has to and her mute personality matched her flat, green hair, her pale skin and her scuffed second hand clothes. The only part of her that didn't match the rest of the puzzle were her eyes. They were a mix of grey, blues and greens, with a ring of gold around her pupils. But the most extraordinary part was that her eyes were lit by an internal fire; not that anyone noticed. There was just something about her eyes that resembled flames and fire.

In that moment the girl with eyes of fire, was walking quietly down the hallway and towards her favorite spot in the garden outside; a secret bench in the side of a large willow tree that no one noticed. Just like her, Zoe thought, as she walked down the gravel path, kicking stones around with her old Converse sneakers.

She didn't notice the two boys and one girl following her until it was too late. Like a pack of hyenas they started surrounding her, laughing and cackling madly. Crap, Zoe thought.

"Come on stupid girl! Give us your lunch. Give us your money!" they yelled.

Zoe gulped and with a terrified stare she began to run.

"Get her!"

They ran. Predators hunting their prey.

Zoe looked behind her, as her sneakers thumped on the ground. The hyena kids laughed as they ran, never letting her get too far away. Always on her tail.

She ran faster. They ran faster.

Soon they were off the school campus and on the streets.

Suddenly, Zoe turned a sharp right down a street with a dead end. The hyenas laughed louder. But Zoe knew these streets like the back of her hand. She picked up speed and right before she hit the wall she put her arms out and jumped. She landed on the top of the wall on her hands and flipped off the wall onto the other side.

The hyenas stared. Their laughter stopped. The wall was 6 meters tall. That jump was... impossible.

But soon their laughter filled the air.

They quickly stacked the cardboard boxes strewn around and made a very tall stepping stool. Helping each other they climbed over the wall and dropped down onto the other side like potato sacks.

They grumbled as they got up and looked around. They were in the forest.

"Where is she?!"

"I smell fear. Follow me."

They laughed and with a loud cry the hunt continued.

Zoe, who had been walking calmly under the familiar trees stopped when she heard the cry. And the footsteps.

She cursed and ran.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of running, Zoe was stuck.

She was on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea but she wasn't afraid of that. She was afraid for the pack of hyena kids advancing. They appeared under the cliff, out of breath. Zoe wasn't even sweating. They saw her and laughed. Slowly they started approaching her.

"Well, well, well. Mute Girl is stuck."

"Mommy won't hear you from here. Oh wait! You don't have a mommy."

"Or a daddy."

They all laughed and high-fived each other. Zoe clenched her hands, making tight fists. The fire in her eyes darkened.

"Aw. You scared? You mad?"

"Give us what we want and we'll go."

"Yeah, just give us your money Mute Girl! Your fear is better than your lunch and the chase was refreshing."

Suddenly Zoe held her head and closed her eyes with pain. She stayed there for a few moments, appearing to have an inner conversation, while the hyenas just stared.

Slowly, they approached her until they were a few meters away.

Zoe opened her eyes. She shook herself and stood taller.

"Go away. Before I make you." she said. Her voice was confident and in spite of themselves, the bullies got a little scared. But not enough, Zoe noted. Fine.

"Oh look, Mute Girl found her voice! Wanna be all brave now?!"

"Give us what we want!"

"Or we'll take it from you!"

Zoe yelled, for the second time in her life.

"NO!"

And with a glare she jumped off the cliff backwards.

The bullies froze.

"Oh my god. She just killed herself."

"We're screwed."

The last bully just gaped, no words coming out of his mouth.

Suddenly, as if the sky itself was falling, a loud whistle sound filled the air as a huge creature flew from under the cliff and into the sky. It's giant wings made the bullies fall, as the beast zipped past, it's body angled upwards. It roared as it hovered in front of the bullies, it's teeth glinting dangerously.

"OH MY GOD!"

"AAAAHHHHH!"

The last bully just squeaked in fear.

"IT'S A FREAKING DRAGON!"

And sitting on it's back, with her hair flowing in the air, Zoe laughed.

They bullies whimpered and with one last high pitch scream ran under the cover of the forest.

The dragon turned and flew into the sky, until it disappeared from the horizon with a girl on it's back.

Zoe hummed quietly, the only sound in the quiet sky except for the familiar wing-beats of Landor. She loved this feeling, flying. Flying on Landor, her dragon.

A loud snort filled her head.

*Wasn't that worth it?* Landor thought.

You see, Zoe and Landor could communicate in their heads.

Which was super cool, Zoe thought.

°Oh yes. Totally. But what are we going to do now?°

*Don't fret so. We'll fly to a nice island where we'll spend the rest of our days.*

°Oh goody. Boredom at it's best. But I can't go back now. Those guys will tell everyone.°

*At least I'll be with you.*

°Aw. That's true.°

With that they both returned to their separate thoughts. Zoe closed her eyes and an old memory resurfaced. The day she meet Landor.

It had been one of those rare days without classes and Zoe had managed to escape from the orphanage. A happy day.

She had decided to go exploring and ended up on an abandoned street full of graffiti on the walls. Once it had been the "place" for countless rebel teenagers but rumors of black magic had made the people run away as fast as they could. If there was one thing this town didn't tolerate it was magic.

But Zoe wasn't afraid.

She remembered walking down the street, looking at all the graffiti art when she saw something moving. There. A green flurry of wings seemed to rush through the art.

Zoe stepped closer to the wall, not believing her eyes. A... moving dragon? It peered at her with curious, innocent eyes. Aw, Zoe thought, a baby dragon. She didn't really care that it moved. Life was full of surprises, she thought.

Suddenly, it jumped out of the wall and onto her face. Zoe screamed for the first time in her life and the dragon screeched right along with her.

The dragon flew off her face and landed on a box near her. Zoe calmed down and slowly approached it. Her hand extended and she carefully petted it's green scaly back. The color of emeralds, she thought.

The dragon looked at her, right through her as if it was observing her character. With a tiny roar it jumped onto her arm, and curled its tail around Zoe's arm.

It shrunk before Zoe's eyes until it became a... bracelet. It was beautiful, overlapping green petal scales with gold engravings. Zoe looked at it but a breeze of wind made her green hair cover her eyes.

Wait. Green hair?! Zoe gaped in silence as she looked at her now green hair. She also felt... Stronger.

*Oh yes. You'll have changed quite a bit now that you're a Dragon Carrier. My name is Landor by the way, the dragon you just Connected with.* A deep voice said in Zoe' head.

°Oh my god. How.... What.. I...°

*Calm down.*

Zoe returned to the present with a shiver. Meeting Landor had been... fantastic and... crazy.

*Ha. Remember how fast I grew?*

°Oh yeah. From a tiny little lizard you became...°

*Glorious*

°Well, that's debatable.°

As they teased each other back and forth they never noticed a lady with short red hair approaching them from the side, on the back of a huge red dragon until it was too late. The woman whispered some words in another language and Landor and Zoe froze. The only part of them moving were Landor's wings, which kept them in the air. They could only think, but not with each other. The red dragon picked up speed and Landor, despite himself, followed as if under a spell.

Eventually, after hours of flying they started heading up into the sky. The dragons and their riders popped up from the clouds, and facing them was a huge castle balanced on a cloud. Flying around, were other dragons and riders flying around.

The red dragon landed on a platform near the castle and Landor landed near it. Where are we, Zoe thought. The lady jumped off her dragon and whispered some other words in another language. With a gasp, Zoe felt her limbs again and moved them with love. Oh, I'm back, she thought. Landor, on the other hand, roared in fury and shook his wings and body.

*How dare they?!*

°Being angry won't help. Let me do the talking.°

But before either could do or say anything the strange woman, in silver armor with red engravings spoke.

"Welcome. We have awaited many years for you."

"Um... Who the hell are you, exactly? And where am I?!"

"I will explain later. Now come. Your training awaits."

And with those words, the woman turned and disappeared through a door that led into the castle. The red dragon followed her, it's wing brushing the sides of the enormous door.

With a look of wonder Zoe and Landor followed too, for there was nothing else they could do.

Their destiny had begun.