Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space

A scream ripped through the silence which befell on Star Dorm. Even without Solana's Sentiral Power, Alec knew the woman the yell belonged to.

Solana slumped to the blue floor covering her face. He was at her side at once with his arms locked around her. His fingers ran through her blonde locks as he whispered comforting words in to her ear. Through the gaps between her fingers, he could see the tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. His hands clenched in to fists. This is my fault, he thought with narrowed eyes.

"We need to help her...please Alec..." Solana whispered as her voice cracked. He held her tighter and whispered his Draelings' names. They emerged from under his bed and curled close to Solana.

"Solana, I need you to tell me where the others are, and where Mr. Muriel's scream came from."

She remained slumped on her knees as he rubbed her head. Not soon after, her hands fell on her lap and curled in to fists.

"Areisha is in her room. I can hear her cursing and shuffling about. So is Knox," she said. Her voice was a bit strained, nevertheless he listened. "Ceiv and River were downstairs earlier...with Mrs. Muriel in the kitchen. I can't hear them."

"We can't stay here. The other's outside might think it's a good idea to climb."

However, when he finished his sentence, a rope and claw flew through his window. The claw latched itself on the windowsill, digging the curved end in to the wood. Not a few moments later, a human shadow blocked the light coming from the moons.

As it happened, Alec reached for the hunting knife he kept under his bed. He felt the hilt at the same moment the figure stepped in to the room. Screeches filled his room when his triplets sprung from Solana. Alec saw their claws glinting under the twin moons' light as they flew to the intruder. The man let out a grunt as the Draelings scratched and bit at him.

Alec used his moment of distraction to leave his hiding spot. He launched himself at the man. Tilting his body, he crashed in to the enemy shoulder first. With the man's built it only made him stagger back. However, Alec was ready. He spun around the large figure. The butt of his knife struck a sensitive spot on his neck. Alec watched as he fell to his knees, eventually kissing the floor unconscious.

He wasted no time, and threw his sheathed knife at Solana. Once he saw her catch with ease using one hand, he whirled and took quick steps to his closet. He reached under it and took out the saber Professor Gravis gave him. The sound it made as he drew it from the sheath was music to his ears.

With a swung of his hand, he motioned Solana to stand and join him at the door. He reached for the knob, only for Solana to stop his hand. She brought a finger to her lips and she closed her eyes. Alec heard a click from the other side of the door before the girl pushed him away. Solana stepped to the other side, in the same moment another metal arrow flew in, creating a splintered hole on the door.

When the flap swung open, the two reacted. Alec raised a leg above the intruder while Solana ducked and kicked low. His attack knocked the man on the head, while Solana's struck his groin. The intruder dropped to the floor like a rag doll. They hopped over the body and they emerged in to the dark hallway. Entiny, Leyan and Midnight crawled close at their hills.

Through the darkness, he saw Solana's outline move. Her hand soon grasped his wrist in a tight grip. "Where do we go?"

"We need to get to your brother and Roselintine first."

But before Solana could lead him in to the direction of the two's room, another scream filled the air. He could guess it belonged to none other than Ceiver. Fingers wrapped around his arm, before a force shoved him on the closest wall. He heard Solana grunt, assuming the same thing happened to her. His Draelings released quiet but startled cries. He raised his unsheathed saber, only to pause when he heard a familiar voice.

"It's me," he heard Knox say. Solana left his side, and through his adjusting vision, he saw her embrace her brother.

"I could've cut one of your limbs off, Kosmos damn it" Alec hissed at him. He ran his finger through his hair and released a huff of frustration. Knox mumbled an apology before he spoke.

"The guards are the ones attacking. I don't know why."

"There are only twelve of them. Well ten now, I suppose," Solana said.

"What?"

As they continued their discussion, Alec zoned out. It was bad time to do so, but he couldn't help it.

The men were after him. He knew that for a fact. And he couldn't help but wonder if Crimson's killer was the one behind it. If so, then there was more than one person after him. There's a group of them? he thought.

One of his hands flew to his chest when he felt a tinge of pain. It felt like a hand constricted around his heart. He slumped back on the wall as he felt the area where his scars were throb. A dark forest and fleeing flocks of shrieking birds flashed before his eyes. His hand went up to his head as pain struck him there when the image appeared. His Draelings were on him at once, and rubbing against his shins.

"Alec, are you all right?" Knox's voice broke him out of his trance. "We need to go downstairs to the basement. We can use it to hide until Gael gets here."

"I'm fine," he said. "What about the others?"

"Areisha already knows where to go, and I know she'll be fine. River as well," he said. "I just don't know what to say about...Ceiv and Mrs. Muriel."

Silence engulfed the three of them. Still without words, they made their way to the staircase, sticking close to the walls for cover. When they reached the banister overlooking the lounge, they crouched and peered over it. It was too dark to see, but Alec managed to make out three outlines. His attention snapped to his right to find Knox's face faintly illuminated by the reddening light coming from the Sentiral Stone around his neck. He looked over the low wall using his ability before he spoke in a whisper.

"There are four of them. Two near the lounge, the rest close to the stairs."

"The fifth one?" Alec asked.

"He's not there. But I'm guessing he's not far."

They turned their backs on the wall and Alec's fingers clenched and loosened around the hilt of his saber. He knew what they should do, but it would be risky.

"Alec?" Knox called. He turned his head to where he saw the form of his dark-shrouded figure. "Two for each of us?"

"Are you both crazy?" Solana hissed at them.

"I'll take the ones in the lounge," Alec said, ignoring Solana's comment. He heard a faint scraping noise come from Knox's directions. Assuming that it was him drawing his sword from its scabbard, he stood. "Stay close Solana. Your fever might be gone but you're still in no condition to be moving a lot."

With their crouched forms and back to the banister, the three Draeyers and baby Draes took one step at a time as they descended the stairs taking Knox's lead. Knox sprung down the steps and raised his sword. Alec caught a glint come from it and heard the whoosh it created as Knox brought it down on the first intruder.

A loud groan followed before thud followed. Not a second later, another moan of pain filled the air, followed by the same resounding thump on the floor. This time though, it was accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. All the lamp-crimas engulfed the dormitory with their bright light. Alec hissed as he covered his eyes. He heard the same come from Solana and his triplets.

He shook his head to snap out of his stunned daze. Standing, his eyes fell on the men near the lounge. He placed his arm on the banister and swung his body over. He landed on the floor close to the living room and ran for the men still rubbing their eyes from the sudden burst of light. His Draelings flew past him and attacked one of the men while he dealt with the other.

He swung his blade, but his presence seemed to focus the enemy. The man drew the bastard sword which hung at his belt and blocked his swing. Metal clanged against metal as Alec parried and swung his weapon against his. He prided himself for his speed, and it didn't fail him.

As the man swung his blade from the right, Alec ducked. He sprung up. His saber struck where the man's sword connected with the hilt and sent it flying to the other side of the room. Alec kicked the man on the chest and sent him soaring as well, with his back crashing against the glass center table.

He spun and ran for his Draelings' aid. However, he paused when he saw Solana. She stood with her foot pressing on the back of the unconscious man lying in a small puddle of red blood. His eyes fell on her hand, and saw she kept tossing and catching his now bloody hunting knife. His Draelings stood close with their amber eyes narrowed on the faintly-breathing man.

He shook his head when he saw the smirk forming on Solana's face before fixing his attention to her approaching brother. His brows rose and his head tilted to the right when he saw orb in his hand. It was blue and almost the same size as the crystal sphere the Gue had given him. A jagged crack ran down the middle and he assumed the glass breaking sound he heard from earlier came from it.

"What is that?" he asked as he approached.

"It's a Repressor," Knox replied. "It suppresses the energy stored in low-power crimas to prevent them from working."

"It seems this was planned carefully."

They raised their weapons when they heard Solana's yell. When they turned, Alec caught Entiny before she could land on the floor. She lay unconscious in his arms, while Leyan and Midnight stood on either side of him with their glaring amber eyes fixed in front of them.

"Yes," a brown-cloaked figure said, "this was planned."

The man stood behind Solana with a steel arm around her waist. The sharp end of his one-edged sword pressed itself against the blonde's neck. The light bouncing off the metal blade allowed him to see a portion of the face under the cloak's hood. Alec's hand tightened around his blade when he saw grass-green eyes and a jagged scar near the man's lips.

"Let her go, bastard," he said with his tone low and calm. His vision dimmed. However, he got a hold of himself before he could fully blackout. He needed to be conscious.

"It's a bad idea to go black with rage, right? I guess you understand that now," the man said. "Your big brother would be so proud of you."

Solana gave him a confused gaze. His attention snapped to Knox when he spoke.

"You know him?"

Instead of answering, Alec growled while narrowing his eyes at the man.

"You're exactly like your brother," the bastard said. " You will never forget the face of a murderer of those ones you hold dear."

"Shut up!" Alec yelled. "You will pay for what you did to Crimson."

"Why do you even care about Heden? He was a useless old Drae. He would've died sooner or later. I just quickened the process."

"You cruel beast!"

"That's rich coming from you." The thief's mocking laughter filled the lounge.

Alec took a deep breath when his sight darkened once more. As they always did, his Draelings, with the exception of an unconscious Entiny, gave him the comfort he needed. He saw the man's green eyes fell on the triplets and his laughter ceased.

"Why, am I not surprised to see that you're a Draeyer of three?" he said. Alec heard him mumbling incoherent words under his breath after that. Whatever it was, it caused Solana's eyes to almost pop out of their sockets.

"Let her go," Knox growled.

"No can do, young lord," the man pressed the tip of his sword even further on Solana's neck. "I'm afraid that if I do, I'd be a cold corpse long before her―"

"Lana!" a voice came from the top of the stairs. Alec glanced from the corner of her eyes and spotted Areisha. She raised a hand and her palm faced the direction of the intruder.

Alec's eyes flashed back to the man. Then he saw the one-edged sword shrink to the size of his thumb, much to the hooded man's surprise. Solana stumbled, but rolled away from her captor.

Alec and Knox sprinted forward with their blades raised. They brought it down. The man twisted. His position placed him in between the swords, harmlessly cutting air at his front and back. He spun and his raised fists connected with his and Knox's faces.

While Knox staggered back, Alec swung his saber blindly. He felt it dig in to flesh, only for it to leave his hand. When he looked it landed with a thud on the carpeted floor.

"You will pay for this!" the bastard yelled at him.

However, they all froze when they heard a series of loud heavy footsteps heading for the front door. Alec heard voices, and among them, he could make out ones that belonged to two familiar men.

The intruder narrowed his eyes at the doors before clutching his bleeding arm. The rivulets of blood created purple stains as it fell on the blue carpet. The shadow of his hood had covered his face once more, but Alec could feel the deathly glare directed at him.

Alec jumped back when a black hole appeared midair next to the man. It grew in size to fit the intruder's frame. "Brace yourselves." The bastard's head turned to Areisha who stood half-way down the stairs. "You're both marked for death. And I'm not letting you escape.

"This isn't over, Alec," he said. "This night isn't over yet."

They stared on with wide eyes as he entered the hole and disappeared in to the darkness. The opening vanished like thin air, leaving no trace of the man whatsoever―except for his shrunken sword. At the same moment, Gael, Kreis, and the guards burst through the wooden doors.

As they filed in to the dorm, Alec had one thought swirling in his mind.

He knew my brother.