"Drae's shit!" He bolted awake.

Another knock—the sound that woke him—came from the closed door. He blinked, and tried to rid his drowsiness. Annoyance coursed through him as he did so. Someone had pulled him out of his well-deserved nap.

"Wait a moment!" His hands fumbled over the desk, organizing the scattered papers into neat piles. He then threw a couple of crumpled ones to the bin beneath his desk. "Come in," he said. Straightening his spine, he sat back against the red cushion of his seat.

The door opened with a quiet creak, but the sound loudly bounced off the grey and red walls of his silent office. A mop of black hair appeared out of the gap, and a pair of familiar gray eyes peered at him.

"Did I ruin your sleep, Professor Gael?" Knox said. The young man strode into the room, hands carrying a large stack of papers.

Gael wanted to shudder at the sight. He had just finished some documents the headmaster asked him to work on. Judging from the pile Knox was carrying, the old man had no intention of giving him a break. He pasted a smile on his face, and acted like he'd been wide awake the entire time.

"You didn't ruin anything," he said. "I wasn't sleeping."

Knox's lips wobbled, like he was trying to suppress a smile. Gael could see the laughter in the young man's eyes though, and embarrassment washed over him. Still, he continued to pretend that he was an adult who did not make it a habit of sleeping in his office. Again.

"If you say so, Professor," Knox said. "The headmaster asked me to give you these files. He said you have a week to work on them."

Do not grimace, Gael. Do not look so unprofessional in front of someone who looks up to you like an older brother.

"Thank you," he said, smile still on.

"I'll take my leave then," Knox said, then paused, "and Mother and Father want you to come to dinner this week, by the way".

"I'll try to be there."

Gael let a little sigh escaped when the boy left, only to stiffen when Knox turned with an amused smile on his face. "You might also want to wipe the ink off your face, or else grandpa might mistake it for one of his documents."

Before Gael could utter a word, Knox closed the door. Gael could hear his laughter from the hall and his mouth gaped. He jumped out of his seat and made his way to the tiny square mirror hanging on the wall across from him.

He groaned when his eyes landed on the ink letters marring his face. The words were visible enough that he had no problem reading them through the mirror. The most evident words were "Draeyer Academy" and the school seal, a silhouette of a baby drae curled inside a circle. He grabbed his handkerchief and wiped the ink off as best he could. Note to self: do not fall asleep on top of the documents. In fact, do not fall asleep on your desk at all, he thought.

Please, you know you'll do it again.

Gael threw the inner voice towards the back of his head.

His hand soon grew tired from rubbing at his cheek and he stopped. There were still black marks on his face, but you would need to get up close to his face to see them. He shrugged and yawned. It was only Monrion, but he felt like he could sleep through the rest of the week.

He glanced out his office's large window and saw that shades of purple, orange and yellow had replaced blue as the sun set beneath the clouds of the infinite sky. It would be night soon, and he decided to go night riding with his drae once the twin moons were bright enough to illuminate the sky. He decided to call it a day and clean up his desk.

Soon, with every file tucked away and well organized, he left his office. When he stepped out into the white-walled hallways, he felt odd at the absence of the usual animated chatter of the students. Classes had ended hours ago, and the students were probably comfortable in their dormitories already. He grumbled and glared at the black marble floors. Sometimes he wanted to be a student again. I miss the days I could skip class and not submit my homework.

An eerie silence engulfed him as he made his way through the halls. His eyes narrowed at the sensation of being watched. He paused and looked around. Nobody but him was in the corridors. Still, the hair on the back of neck rose.

"I hope it's Knox playing a prank on me," he whispered. Or else I'll have to believe the ghost stories told around the academy for decades now. He shivered.

As he strode passed another empty hallway, he caught movement from the corner of his eye. He stopped in his tracks and turned his attention to his right. At the end of the hall, his gaze landed on a set of stairs spiraling upwards. He knew well that it was the steps of Ruby Tower, the tallest tower that overlooked the entire Drae Skyland, including the smaller skylands connected to it. He also knew that only the headmaster was allowed up the tower steps, unless under some circumstances.

He made his way over and paused at the first step. Closing his eyes and listening, he heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps on the stone stairs. It was faint, like someone was trying to be sneaky.

Heavy footsteps. Possibly male. Fast, too. He opened his eyes and his gaze narrowed up the stairs. And definitely do not belong to Headmaster Donovan.

Seeing the possibility of an intruder, Gael disregarded the restriction and climbed the stairs. Unlike the intruder, silence came from every step he made. Once he reached the top, he concealed his frame behind a tall pillar and looked down at the end of the hall.

Large double doors stood at the end of row of white pillars lining the tower walls. Gael heard a thump from the room beyond and rushed for the door—feet still light and silent. He slipped through the gap like a snake and took in the room.

His eyes flashed over the landscape paintings on the walls before tingles ran up his spine.

Drae's shit.

Pain tore through his left cheek. He dropped to the ground, a knife missing his ear by a hair. Rolling to his feet, he caught sight of the cloaked figure heading for the open window. Gael lunged, pulling the man onto the carpet. He wrestled with the man, trying to pin him down. But the intruder was stronger than he looked.

Gael had just enough time to see dark green eyes glaring back at him before a headbutt to his nose tore a cry from him. He rolled away, trying to shake off the stun to his system as blood ran out his nostrils. Another knife flew for Gael's throat.

"Enough!" he shouted. He caught the blade threw it back. It flew out the window, missing the falling intruder.

Gael ran for the window, only for a gust of wind to push him back. He looked up in time to see a flash of large red wings and the back of a scaled beast. Once he saw the metallic shine on its upper side, from the wings, back, and tail, he knew what it was.

"A Drae," he said. His eyes flickered to the cloaked person that rode on its back.

"What the Blazen Gate!" a raspy voice came from behind him. He turned and his eyes widened.

"Headmaster Donovan."

At once, he noticed the ashen look on the old man's face as he stared at the figures that grew smaller as they made their escape.

"This is bad...I hope he didn't...." Donovan was unable to form a proper sentence. He fumbled around with his attire until he pulled out a key. A serious mask fell on the old man's face as he moved further into one corner of the room. He stopped in front of a painting depicting the academy in its early years. A majestic grey stone castle standing amidst thick woodlands.

Gael watched from behind, as Headmaster Donovan pulled the art off the wall. His eyes widened when he saw a small metal compartment behind it. With the headmaster's key, the small door flew open. Gael watched as the headmaster clutched the open door as they peered into the small space containing nothing but an empty glass pedestal.

"Gael," Donovan called.

He tensed at once after hearing the seriousness in the old man's tone. He was used to seeing him with smiles and mischievous looks in his eyes as he talked or when he was planning something in that cunning mind of his. Seeing him like this, was unusual and rather concerning, at least to him. His mind snapped back to the present when Donovan spoke.

"Form a team," he said. "We must get it back at once."

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I'M BACK! WOOP! WOOP! LET'S GOOOO! I STARTED THIS AT 16 AND I WILL FINISH IT EVEN THIS EVEN IF I GO PAST 30!