<The Battle For Yreland>

<Chapter 1>

The year 2010. It was an ordinary day in the High School of Orion's Field, or so everyone thought until they saw an odd boy in the hallway. He stood outside Ms. Sheldon's door and knocked slightly hesitantly. After a little while the door opened.
”You must be Skye Dunmore, right? Welcome to Orion's Field." Ms. Sheldon said and told him to come in. Mary Sheldon taught the other second class, 2.B., in a High School. When the door had closed, loud whispering started in the hallway. Here're some pieces of conversation.
”…did you hear? He comes to our class…”
”...again he gets another one to be bullied…”
”…there's one good side. That idiot will leave Maya alone...”
When five boys and one girl clashed in, the whispering stopped quickly. The leader of this group, David, is the one they were talking about.
”Another new!? Come on, last year that nuts Aussie girl came here! And now a blockheaded New Zealander! Well, let him wait...” David shouted and walked away. David has been in this school from the day it was built, as it was built when David started the second class in comprehensive school. He's one of the few 'original' students. Only ten per cent of the students are original nowadays. And only a half of the teachers are original, for example Mr. Dunslow is one of them (well, he is over fifty years old). David fights changes strongly, and new students are included (especially foreign ones). So with David it is: 'Bye, rookie'. He's been able to repel three of them already. He tried the same tricks on an Australian girl Maya, who had come to the second class a year before. Maya's interested in everything mystical and that has something to do with astrology. Because of all that, and that of being Australian, David bullies her. He bullies all new, but he beats the boys up and calls the girls names. Maya happens to be really sensitive. David had no idea that Maya's big brother would come to protect her. When David was calling her names, Maya, of course, started crying. Her big brother was there and, seeing the event, he walked up to David. He lifted him up by the lapels and growled: 'If I ever see you hurt her again, you'll be sorry for it'. David fell to the ground and stayed sitting there, looking startled. Maya finally got herself some friends and her self-esteem rose. She no longer cried or seemed to get hurt. Until one day she got mortally offended and shouted: 'You dimwit screwball! Don't you dare hurt me ever again!', and then kicked a fairly good karate kick at his legs. Thus was found out that Maya's father was a Senior Karate Champion and his daughter was the Junior Champion. She knows karate, judo and taekwondo and is a Champion in all of them. From that day forward David has decided to keep calling her names, but from a distance and surrounded by a good gang. In David's gang are Lee and Jera of the first class, David's own class's (second's) Andrew (called Andy) and Henry and Derek of the third class.
”Just wait until the new guy comes out...” David muttered. Finally, when Skye came out, David and the gang surrounded him. Skye tried to get past, but the circle tightened. Finally Skye lost his nerves and he tried to push through them by sheer force. Jera, the only girl of the gang, pushed him back into the circle.
”What's wrong? Could you let me through?” Skye asked and stared at David.
”Guess again, stupid. You'll get nowhere until you've answered Lee's question." David replied with a sneer. Skye still looked at him. Then he turned to look at Lee.
”Okay, what's up?” Skye answered.
”Could you help me find my dog? It vanished from the yard an hour ago." Lee asked. David showed the 'a-okay' sign to Lee secretly. Lee grinned while Skye nodded. When Skye left with them, the other students started discussing again.
”…we should've told Skye…”
”…he doesn't know what's in for him…”
”…lets follow them!” a voice shouted from the hall. The voice belonged to Jonathan of 3.B. He was going after them, when one of his friends, 2.A.'s (Skye's class's) Dawn came to him. Jonathan turned his head and looked at Dawn, whose curly red hair swung behind her in a ponytail. When Dawn put her shoes on, Jonathan nodded, with his pale blond hair falling over his forehead. The duo walked away and the whispering continued more loudly.
”…they'll never make it…”
”…Jera will beat Dawn…”
”…Jonathan's no match for Derek…”
”…there are only two of them, if Skye's already been beaten up…”
”Lets go, quickly!” 3.A's Ray shouted at Remus of 1.B. When Maya of 3.A. told them she was coming too, everyone calmed down considerably. When the gang of three left, going to join up with the two first ones to form a gang of five, they'd be equally matched if Skye'd be okay. When they left, the bell rang and the lessons continued. The students went back to the classrooms. During that in the mountains surrounding the school:
”That dog can't be this far.” Skye remarked to David, who was walking beside him. David shook his head and pointed at a brown spot which was seen between two boulders. When they got to it, it was only a stuffed fur.
”Well, rookie. Here we are and now you're in trouble.” David snapped and hit Skye's head in the side with his fist. Skye staggered but didn't fall. He raised his arms to block the strikes that were coming from six different directions. Then a clear girl's voice was heard.
”Leave him alone, you dolt! You have no right to beat him up!” Dawn yelled. Jonathan was already running toward Derek. David turned around and gave a crooked grin.
”What did you have in mind, you dimwit? You two attack all six of us? You have the worse of it, helplessly!” David shouted and hit Jonathan squarely in the stomach. When the other gang was going engage, three voices shouted. Ray, Remus and Maya had arrived. David turned again and his smile faded.
”What kind of a gang are you?” hän asked derisively.
”We are the Convoy, you megalomaniac!” Ray answered.
”The Convoy?” Dawn asked incredulously. Ray nodded and turned to Henry. When the fight really started, it seemed to never end. Suddenly something amazing happened. They had, while fighting, moved to an opening surrounded by rocks. Though the opening was covered with the twisted tops of the trees, light started increasing. The fighting stopped as everyone stared at the ground, which was vanishing fast. When it disappeared, they fell into a black chasm. They fainted...
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<Chapter 2>

Remus was the first to wake up and after that he went off to wake the others. Finally, after David's gang had awoken as well, the fight almost broke out again. Then they looked around and were stupefied by what they saw. There weren't any rocks around them anymore... there was a town in front of them. It looked oddly familiar.
”Where are we?” Derek asked. Andy shook his head and looked confused.
”Let's go to the town.” Maya suggested quietly. Everybody agreed, even David. When they walked in through the gates, people turned around to stare at them curiously. After a while the young found an inn, which was called the White Tiger. When they entered, the inn-keeper walked towards them. David stepped forward.
”Excuse me, but what town is this?” David asked.
”Droichead Atha, commonly known as Drogheda.” the man answered looking surprised. David looked frightenedly at everyone else.
”We… what place is this?” Maya asked.
”Funny, I thought you knew. You're in Ireland, a little northwards from Dublin.” the inn-keeper answered again. Maya looked at everyone. She breathed a sigh of relief.
”We stepped into some kind of 'warp-gate' that warped us into Eastern Ireland. Uh, what year?” she asked while turning to face the inn-keeper.
”2010, as you probably know. What were you talking about a warp-gate?” the inn-keeper asked.
”Well, uh, we... All right. We were in Orion's Field in the States. We were at school, when we tried to save this Skye here from those guys' bullying. Our gangs got into a fight and, before we even noticed, we were in a clearing and the ground started disappearing from under our feet. We fainted. When we woke up we were just outside your town.” Maya told him. The man looked oddly understanding.
”I know that thing. I came here from Australia thirteen years ago in the same way. You have one little problem. This isn't the world we knew. We're in a parallel dimension. The rulers of this world died long ago, because of the deeds of the powerful Shadow Sorcerers. They're black-caped, gloomy people, who've been usurped by the darkness. Some of them use disguises and hide among ordinary people. Some of them must've seen you when you came here. They're very dangerous. Only a few people have survived from their hands to tell their story, but they've always been dead the next morning. I must ask you to stay here. This is the only land that's not under their rule yet. This is a safe town.” the man told them and looked even more strange. The gangs nodded. When they were in their rooms, they gathered in the living room that connected their bedrooms together. Everyone sat quietly in place until Skye:
”I can't believe it. First day at school and we get into an adventure. How're we even going to get back?” he wondered aloud.
”Oh yeah, Maya, Skye. S... sorry.” David stuttered and blushed in embarrassment. Maya and Skye both nodded.
”Now that's settled, too. How about we work as one huge team? Then we'd be safe.” Dawn suggested. Everybody agreed. David and Skye would work as the leaders and the 'second-in-commands' would be Jonathan and Jera.
”Hey guys? Have you by the way noticed that it's the year 2010 and these people here still live like it's the Middle Ages or something?” Andy mentioned in passing. Maya turned to look out the window.
”You're right. There are no cars, not even bicycles. Just horses and wagons pulled by them.…..Wait a minute. What's that?” Maya wondered and stared up at the sky. Suddenly she was thrown backwards and the window opened by itself. Three black creatures, looking to be half eagles and half lions, flew in. They had lion's ears, body, front legs and tail, but an eagle's head, hind legs and wings. They started shimmering like the air above a campfire.
”What's happening!? What are they!?” Dawn shouted above the wind. Everyone, except Maya, shook their head.
”Griffins, Dawn! They're griffins!” Maya yelled back. Dawn nodded and stared at the horrifying sight. The three griffins shimmered more powerfully and finally disappeared. There were three black-caped humans standing in their places. They were gloomy, scary and surely dangerous.
”Shadow Sorcerers.” Derek notified indifferently. One of the hooded heads turned towards Derek. The human lowered the hood. It was the inn-keeper! He motioned to the other two and the three formed a kind of a circle around the twelve young.
”I've come to warn you. Stay out of our way and you won't get hurt. And keep your mouths shut about everything you saw. Or else one of you doesn't wake up tomorrow morning. There's still one thing. There are a lot of us, but not enough. If some of you want to join us, inform me about it. You'll get very much power and might if you do it. Until that day you'll stay here and won't be allowed to go outside Drogheda.” the inn-keeper talked in a very calm and dangerous voice. Then he turned and the three sorcerers flew away. Everyone slumped down to the floor. Leaving will be dangerous, but now they want to get away more than before. So let's hope that they manage to escape.