Oooo, this is awesome already! The woldbuilding is so interesting and I'm excited to see the story progress!

I'm so glad y'all are liking it! :D @Reuby, here's a description of the uniforms:

Dragon:

Girls and boys alike wear a green polo shirt, with a green-and-white striped sweater if it's chilly, and tan pants. There's a tiny green dragon embroidered on the polo shirts.

Unicorn:

Girls and boys wear a navy blue polo shirt with a white rearing unicorn embroidered on it, but boys wear it with jeans or tan pants, while girls wear it with a navy blue skirt, also embroidered with a unicorn.

(Btw, the students are allowed to change out of their uniforms in the afternoons, when there are no classes, unless there's a special event going on.)

And... here's Part 2! :) (Just a note to the admin: Derek's comments on his mental health classes are NOT intended to be disrespectful or hurtful toward people who do need mental health counselors; I let him make those comments because he naturally has a cheerful, irreverent personality, so please don't delete what he says. Thanks!)

Part 2

Standing at the foot of the enormous oak staircase that curved up to the second floor of the Dragon School, where the bedrooms were, Eve suddenly felt a wave of weariness wash over her. Well, not weariness exactly, she decided, shifting her weight as she leaned against the polished banister. More like uncertainty. This day had been the craziest of her life. After Aurnia got herself knocked out by saving Ms. Ellis from the fireball, the field had turned into a complete battle scene, with teachers and brown-clad strangers alike hurling magical objects at each other, and some of the students - led by Ms. Ellis - had run for their lives. They had managed to enter the Dragon School, which was deserted. Some of the students had seen about getting a meal ready, while Ms. Ellis and Eve helped carry Aurnia up to her room. She was still unconscious, or at least she had been the last time Eve checked on her, even though it was afternoon by now. Eve glanced at the clock. Shouldn't Ms. Ellis be back by now? She had left them after lunch to go see what was happening at the Unicorn campus, or at least that was what she said she was going for.

Slowly Eve started up the stairs. They had no carpet, and they were worn in the middle from so many feet pressing on them, but they were broad and imposing. On the wall to the left hung an ancient oil painting of somebody who, according to the plaque next to it, was called Charles E. Johnson, 1800-1880, and who had apparently founded the Dragon School. To Eve he looked practically identical to the man in the portrait that hung next to the Unicorn School's grand staircase, except that his name had been Frederick S. Carlton, 1822-1900. She had rarely been inside the Dragon school before, but it looked just like the Unicorn one so far.

As she stood scrutinizing the dusty portrait, she noticed a white point sticking out of the gold curlicued frame. Curious, she looked closer. Oh, it was a piece of paper. Weird. She plucked it out and slipped it in her pocket, then continued up the steps.

When she entered Aurnia's room, she found her friend sitting next to the window - she was conscious again. Dreary storm clouds were gathering, hanging low and heavy over the school. A wind rustled and tossed the leaves of the maple tree next to Aurnia's open window, whispering in a silvery voice. But Eve hardly noticed this, she was so glad that Aurnia was all right.

They went back down the stairs together and sat in the large dining room, where the few students who had followed Ms. Ellis were gathered. They all looked glum. The room had a large fireplace, with a small bronze statue of a dragon atop the mantelpiece. A few lamps had been turned on; outdoors it was dim, and it had started to rain. Only the regular, dreary patter of the raindrops broke the silence. Once in a while a gust of wind lifted the raindrops and hurled them against the window in a new shower of tiny sounds.

"So, what do we do?" asked Eve at last, growing bored.

"Put on some music and have a party," a student named Derek suggested, glancing flirtatiously at one of the girls.

"A party when our whole world has been turned upside down?" objected Inanna Skye, an older girl.

"Yeah, totally," broke in Erik, Eve's brother, who seemed to be great friends with Derek. "Seriously, we were just learning yesterday in mental health class about how parties relieve stress -"

"We were not," broke in Derek.

"Oh, okay, but we should've been. The things they do teach us in mental health class are a complete waste of time."

"I know," agreed Derek, standing up. " 'Oh Mental Health Counselor, a bee stung me and now I'm traumatized and I'll never be able to face a bee again and SAVE ME!!'" And he staggered toward a sofa and collapsed there, mopping his brow.

A ripple of laughter went through the group, and even Eve felt herself smiling, though she hadn't intended to. Derek was a born comic, she realized. It surprised her a little, this sudden sense of relaxation that came from sitting around laughing together, and for a moment she found herself wishing fervently that Ms. Ellis, who practically never smiled and would have had hysterics at any sort of criticism of a mental health class, would never come back.

"Whereas if you just went to a party... and danced with your crush... you'd forget about the aforementioned bee in two seconds," Derek continued, still looking at the girl he had seemed interested in before.

Inanna leaned forward, looking earnest.

"You know what? In all seriousness, I'm pretty sure we should be thinking about how to get away from this place. I don't want to stick around, especially if the Aquimans are about to take over. I mean, the battle's still raging, and for all we know, our side might lose."

She had said, in a few brief, well-put sentences, what was lurking in the back of everyone's mind.

"Well, what are we going to do about it?" said Summit Raincorn. He was a Dragon boy, several years older than Eve, with a self-assured air and a way of assuming that everyone would do just as he said. "Let's hear everyone's ideas. You first, Onyx." He pointed at a slender, black-clad girl near the edge of the room.

His take-charge manner irritated Eve.

"Just a minute," she said, leaning forward. "If anyone's going to lead the discussion, it's me. Or some other Unicorn. Not you."

Summit's eyes narrowed. "Point number one, can you explain why it should be a Unicorn? Point number two, no, it'll be a Dragon, thank you."

"Oh, stop it!" interrupted Derek impatiently. "Guys, can we not focus on the power struggles? Look, I'll start with my idea, and then we can all say whether we agree or disagree. I think it's pretty clear that we are not in a good position. Obviously these schools have been set up by some organization to take advantage of our magic. We don't know if it's good or bad, but from what Karendis said, this organization was using the Aquimans in some way - up until now, of course. The Aquimans seem... pretty ruthless. I honestly don't think a good organization would've teamed up with them."

"I think you're right," said Erik and Eve at the exact same moment, which made some of the students giggle.

"Yes, you're right for sure," agreed Inanna in her serious way. She frowned, fidgeting with her long golden-blond hair. "I just wish you weren't..."

Eve, bored once again, slipped the piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it. She frowned. It was covered in fine spidery writing, lying across the yellowed notepaper almost like hairs. In this light - she got up and moved closer to the lamp. That was better.

If you would wish for help, turn to the east and say aloud the three words upon this paper. And then, written in a different handwriting: And do not, by all you care about, think this is a prank note and toss it in the fireplace. Got it?

There followed three words: "Nireta, caladia kiryan." They had an odd, golden, liquidy cadence that caught Eve's attention at once; she had never seen such words before, but she knew that if she spoke them, she would pronounce them correctly.

She knew that the east was the direction in which the tall pine tree just outside the dining room stood, so she turned in that direction and murmured, very softly, the three words. A warm tingle rushed over her as she whispered, unlike anything she had felt before.

Behind her the conversation was continuing. The storm outside was gaining in intensity. Lightning flashed through the room every few minutes, illuminating their tense faces. Eve began to feel odd. This wasn't an ordinary storm. This was something otherworldly, just as everything today had been otherworldy. She shivered.

And then for a moment the rain and the wind and the thunder all reached a crescendo, and in the midst of the noise came a strong thump! thump! thump! on the door.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" a voice called.

Tysm, everyone! @Lyric, the Aquimans and the Dairnsfolk will be explained as the story goes on... @Forest, I'm glad you'll be reading along; I hope you enjoy :)

Part 3

Through the instant nervousness that the knocks caused him, Erik saw his sister get up and, with tightly compressed lips and a pale, set face, move toward the door.

"Eve, what are you doing? We don't know who's out there - it could be anyone -"

Eve turned and looked at him. Her dark-blue eyes were full of certainty. "It's all right, Erik. I think whoever's out there may have been sent to help us." And she opened the door.

Beyond it was a thick, gray curtain of solid rain, veiling the dark, frothing shapes of the maples that dotted the campus. Even in the dim storm-light, Erik was sure he could see no one there.

Eve bent and picked something up from the threshold.

"What's up?" a girl called Shyama asked.

"Come on, Eve," Erik groaned. "Please just close the door."

Eve closed it, as if in a dream, and set a box down on the table. It was a small, wooden box, painted a soft creamy color and decorated with golden scripts and lines and swirls. Silently Eve opened it.

Within lay an exquisite jewel - at least, Erik supposed it was a jewel, though it seemed much more alive than any stone he'd seen before, as if it were a drop of golden light that had somehow been caught and held in the air. It shone with the intensity of a fire, and it was of a clear, pure amber color, not yellow and not orange, but something magical and enchanting and glowing.

For a moment everyone just stared at it, too amazed to do anything else.

"Why do I feel as if I've seen this jewel before?" asked a slender, black-clad girl softly.

"Everything's explained in this note," said Eve, waving it aloft. "It was lying on top of the box. It says: 'Your teachers and principals are part of the Nighthawk Organization, or NO, which intends to force you to help them conquer the last remnants of the non-evil magic beings, so that NO may rule. If this happens, the whole world will be in grave danger. Therefore you must flee. Come to the foot of Ardaris Hill and you will find someone there to guide you further. The jewel in this box is an Archenian jewel, a Topaz - it and the other Archenian jewels are scattered far and wide, and they are far more precious than ordinary stones. Keep the Topaz and guard it with your lives; it may guide and protect you, for you are the descendants of its ancient guardians.'"

It never crossed Erik's mind, or anyone else's, to distrust the words Eve read aloud. Perhaps the students were too naive, but it was more than that; something inside them, an instinct that they had never yet known they had, accepted without question what the note said. Naiche drew a deep breath.

"Well, that fits in with what we'd decided already. I guess this is where our journey starts, then."

"Ardaris Hill isn't too far away," said Aurnia. "We should get there in a few minutes. I'm so excited!"

Erik looked around at the faces of his fellow students. Some were excited, some nervous, but there was no trace of the suspicion that usually existed between Dragons and Unicorns. They had all forgotten about it for the moment, but it might so easily come back. A flash of premonition siezed him - or was it just wisdom, young as he was? Years later he was to wonder how he had known so clearly the difficulties that he and his companions would face, and what they must do to avert them.

"I'd just like to say a few words to you," he began. "We've never faced anything like this before and we don't know what lies ahead. There might be danger and even evil enemies out there, people and magic we can't trust. But I'll tell you one thing - there's one way we can get past it all. By sticking together. We're talented and smart and we've got our own magic. Or at least we will have our own magic at some point. Right? And the world needs us to hang together and fight for it for all we're worth. And to do that we have to forget about our differences, about Dragons and Unicorns and all the rest of it."

His words stirred his listeners. There was a feeling of awakening among them, as if they were seeds and Erik's words were rain on fertile soil. And, too, they were realizing that Erik was right in his other point - the world needed them. Not the adults they were used to receiving orders from, but this negligible band of students who couldn't even use their magic yet. Heads lifted, shoulders straightened, eyes sparkled. Suddenly a sprinkle of applause filled the room.

Erik cast his gaze over the group. This was the moment.

"So I propose," he went on, "that we take a vow to stand by each other whatever comes. Because if I'm honest with you, I have a feeling our enemies will try to divide us, and we have a lot of differences which will make it easier for them. Not to say it isn't good to have differences, but we've got to remember our similarities too. So let's vow by -" he glanced around and saw the Archenian jewel on the table, glowing in the golden lamplight - "by the Topaz. Because it symbolizes what we stand for."

One by one they vowed, solemn and grave. It was a hurried affair, for they had to leave quickly, and yet there was a purity and strength to it that Erik never forgot. For the first time he saw his classmates striking up conversations with the Unicorn students, tentatively teasing them, welcoming them into their circle. And though he couldn't know it, it marked the start of a new era - for the students and for the world.

Please don't let this be just a momentary thing, he whispered. Please let this be enough.

"Guys, we should go," said Eve at last. Her eyes were shining. Erik knew just how she would be feeling - lively and eager at the prospect of an adventure, with none of the hesitation that he himself felt.

"Erik, how about you keep the Topaz?" Naiche asked.

Erik nodded. "Thanks." He picked it up, his fingers warming from the firelike glow of the stone. "Let's go."

They all filed out, the rain still coming down as hard as ever. Erik was the last to go out. He paused a moment and looked around at the dining room, the neat hardwood table, the fire still burning merrily in the fireplace. Whatever might lie ahead, whatever far-off home was waiting for him, this would always be the place where he felt he belonged, and it gave him a wrench to leave it. Then he caught sight of the gold-and-green dragon head on the mantelpiece, its lips curled back to show its fangs, its eyes savage. An unconquerable sense of evilness washed over him, and he stumbled back and shut the door behind him.

Through the night the little group walked, united at last - or so they thought. There was one boy, named Albine Weisswith, who did not agree. He said nothing. But as they set off, he muttered to himself:

"Just you wait, you fine Erik Brightwillow, you! I'll get back at you someday for making us forget about our Rules and associate with Unicorns, which I won't do. I'll have control of this group if I die for it. So just watch out!"

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It's mostly dialogue, but there'll be more action in the next part! 

THis is lovely! It really is like the begining to a book.