Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space

"Remind me again, why we're heading away from the main building?" Alec said. They entered under the canopy of trees as they descended the hill which held the path towards the main building.

"Draeology class is going to be held in the Sanctuary today!" Solana said, as she skipped down the paved path. "We're classmates for this period, just so you know!" Alec rolled his eyes and looked ahead of him, ignoring Solana's ear-splitting humming of an unfamiliar tune. As he walked, his mind drifted off to find a reason why the girl wanted to be his friend, and why he started to feel alright with it. He didn't look friendly and he knew that for a fact. He never liked bold and loud people, but that trait of hers seemed to make him enjoy her company. He sighed, and shook his head in silence. A slap sting on his arm broke him out of his thoughts before they could go deeper. He reached up to rub his upper arm as he glared daggers at Solana, the culprit.

"You're not listening to me!" she said, as she placed her hands to her hips. She blocked his path, but he slipped to the side in a blink of an eye, hearing her gasp of surprise.

"I thought that was already obvious," he said. He heard her angry stomps on the pavement as she fell into step with him, with her arms crossed over her chest. Her cheeks puffed out as she muttered things under her breath. She looked up at him, and he met her gaze with a raised brow.

"You're so moody," she said, as she faced her front again. "During lunch you we're smiling and even laughing, but right after you started acting like an ass." Alec held back his laugh and resumed ignoring her, even as more students joined them when they passed the dorms. The trees shaded them once more, and Alec felt a heavy arm land around his shoulder. When he saw a familiar fiery-red hair, he paid no attention to his face and looked back at the direction they were heading.

"I'd appreciate it if you remove your arm," he said. He heard him laugh, earning Solana's attention at the same time. Her brows knit and her eyes narrowed at the boy next to him.

"Don't bother him Rei!" she said. "Whatever you're thinking in your small brain, leave Alec out of it!" Rei jerked his arm off Alec, and raised his hands in surrender as he laughed.

"You're too serious Ms. Prefect," he said. "I was only trying to be his friend."

"The last time you tried to be someone's friend you dragged them down with you, and ended up repeating an entire year of school because of you!" she said.

"Real friends don't leave each other!" Rei snapped. His eyes narrowed, and his playful air vanished like it wasn't there before. "They'd be willing to join you in anything, and not let you do crazy things alone!"

"If you two are going to argue, don't do it with me in the middle," Alec said as he swapped places with Solana after grabbing her arm. Rei huffed, and ran off, hopping on top of a rock, and used it as leverage to jump onto a low branch on a tree. He soon disappeared from their sight as the canopy shook from his transfer from one branch to another.

"And I thought you we're moody," Solana said. Alec on the other hand just shook his head, and resumed walking. Moments later, they reached the end of the path, and he spotted the translucent tunnel bridge which connected the main campus to the Sanctuary. He looked beyond it, and his eyes widened. When he stood there two days ago, he had no time to witness its size. The vast expanse of greens could compare to half the size of Draeyer Skyland, as the tallest trees, Alec had ever seen, grew close together.

Roars and sounds of beating wings drifted to his ears as they entered the tunnel, and for once since the morning, he found interest in this subject, although his face betrayed none of that thought. They spotted a group of students, including Rei, gathered in front of arching trees which served as the entrance to the Sanctuary. They turned their attention to them when they came near, and unlike before, Alec met their gaze. They broke away at once as they jerked their heads toward their friends, trying to start a conversation. Alec still noticed them glancing at him from the corner of their eyes.

"When will they stop staring?" he whispered. His eyes grew big, when Solana answered.

"If you would keep giving them that cold look of yours, they will," she said as she examined her nails. She turned to him, and pointed at her face. "The one like this!" she said. She contorted her face, until a frown formed and her eyes turned glassy. Alec stared at her like nothing which made her laugh for some reason.

"How can you hear me, even when I'm whispering?" he said. Solana's laugh grew louder, until she bent over laughing. When she calmed down, she spoke as she wiped the corner of her eyes.

"I'm a Sentire, Alec, as you can see from my uniform. I inherited this ears and powerful hearing ability from my grandfather," she said. "Which is kind of not so great, because I can hear people gossiping about stuff...my young mind wasn't supposed to hear since I was a child. You get my point?" He only nodded, not knowing what to say at the last part.

"Wait, do you even know what a Sentire is?" Solana asked with a raised brow. Alec sighed as he rolled his eyes and turned to face their class' Professor emerging from the tunnel.

"As what I noticed so far, I'm guessing a Sentire is someone who has an ability that others don't have," he said. "In a much simpler term they're unique." Solana laughed and slapped his back, earning a hiss of pain from him. He glared at her, but she ignored it.

"You're the first person to actually have an answer since Sentires were recognized and grouped together in this place," she said. "But, it's only a bit close to the accurate definition."

They moved near the group when their teacher called them over. Their professor, a lanky man with yellow-brown eyes and blonde hair, looked over them all through his round glasses. Even with his skinny appearance, the air around him commanded respect, and Alec could feel it from where he stood.

"Good afternoon everyone," he said, as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "I have to acknowledge a new student's presence, but I don't care, so let's start with class." Chuckles filled the air, including one which came from Solana. Alec shook his head as a scoff of laughter caught in his throat, while he watched their teacher stand in front of the arc.

"That's Professor Linan," Solana said as they followed along with their classmates. "He doesn't really care about anything unless you don't listen to his lectures. He doesn't seem to know his students, but he actually does, and just prefers to ignore them."

"Alright, listen up," Linan said, "Today, you're going to apply what you've learned in taming wild Draes. Since it's too dangerous to do that with actual wild ones, you're going to be trying it on the Draes of your schoolmates. For those who are already Draeyers, do it with a different Drae." The students erupted in yells and they walked through the archway. Alec paused when he felt the weight of a heavy gaze on him. He looked up and found Linan standing a few feet in front of him, staring at him from head to foot.

"As for those who weren't here last week," he said, "Good luck in getting a passing grade for today." With that, the professor stalked after the students, leaving Alec behind to stare at his back. His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched inside his pockets. He flinched when he felt a hand slap his back. He knew who it was, so he used no energy to whirl his head and see who it was.

"Don't let him get to you," Solana said. "He's a wonderful and nice teacher once stay longer in his class and get used to him." Alec nodded at her as he reached for the aching spot she slapped while hopping it would leave no bruise. Solana jogged up to the others while, he settled for a normal pace.

But, after he entered a few meters through the archway, he saw Solana running away from something. He looked over to the direction she came from, and spotted a horde of Draes, flying and some running, chasing after her and their classmates. Their loud screams filled the air, along with Professor Linan's voice yelling at them to remain calm. None of his words went through, and they continued to run away. As they did that, they didn't notice that the Draes weren't after them at all.

"Shit!" Alec said. A black creature swooped down from the sky, and trapped him beneath. Before he could do anything, he felt something hot and wet run over his cheek. His eyes flew open and met with white ones. "Get off me Asher!" he said. The Drae licked his face once more before hopping off, creating a thud on the ground as he landed. Alec groaned as he sat up and wiped his face. The Drae, sat on its hind legs, as it looked down at him with its head tilted to the side.

"What are you looking at?" Alec said. Asher bent down and nuzzled his face with his snout. Alec couldn't resist his smile and ended up laughing as the Drae continued to lick up his face, and rub on his ticklish parts. He grasped Asher's snout in order to stop him.

"Stop," he said. "I still have class, and I don't want to smell like whatever it is you've been eating." The Drae growled out a laugh as he went behind Alec and pushed him up to his feet. Once he stood steady, his eyes grew big at the number of Draes earlier, standing right in front of him. They kept their slit-eyes on him, while he did the same. When he raised his brow, the Draes lowered their heads close to the ground, as if bowing.

"What in Blazen..." he trailed off. He whirled around with knit brows toward Asher, only to be taken by surprise when he saw him in the same position as his fellow Draes. Asher jerked its head up, and ran over to the group. Not a second later, he came back, pushing a purple Drae toward Alec. Once the two Draes stood in front of him, Alec stared at the purple one, as it seemed to avoid eye contact with him. Asher on the other kept nudging the Drae to get closer to Alec. Not knowing what he was doing, Alec stepped with an outstretched hand. Taking the purple Drae by surprise, he placed his hand on its neck. Once he did, the creature stiffened before leaning into his touch and purred.

"Nice to meet you," Alec said. "Are you Asher's friend?"

"Her name's Uriel," a voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw Professor Linan. The man stared at him with crinkled eyes and an impressed smile on his face. "She's my Drae, and Asher's mate." Alec turned to raise a brow at the black Drae, and shook his head with a smile.

"Well, looks like Asher is very proud of it," he said, when he saw the Draw tilted its head up.

"He better be, or I'll take Uriel away from him," Linan said. With that said, Asher's shoulders squared, and he came nudging Uriel away from the two males, leaving them to chuckle at the way he acted. Alec raised his hand motioned the creatures to leave and the Draes scattered off in different directions.

But right after he did, he felt a throb in his head his hand flew to his forehead to ebb the pain. It happened again, and the pain coursed through his body, and stayed at his legs, causing him to fall to his knees. He stopped himself from crying out by biting his lip, drawing out crimson blood. Linan bent down and grasp his arm.

"What happened?" he said. At the same time, the pain disappeared except the sting on the wound he created by biting his lower lip. Alec noticed his deep pants, and brought his sleeve to wipe off the liquid he felt dripping down his mouth.

"I don't know," he said.

"You should rest for now," Linan said. "You already passed with the highest mark I'm going to give anyone in my entire teaching career. And here I thought I was going to repeat my lecture again."