Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space

Alec slumped on the nearest couch, dropping his saber at his feet. His cerulean eyes watched as the Academy guards placed River and Ceiver on the stretchers with gentle hands. Both the young men were found unharmed, yet unconscious, on the kitchen floor next to Mrs. Muriel's bleeding form. The woman mentioned was rushed out the doors not a few moments earlier.

He threw his gaze to the floor and leaned forward. He draped his arms over his knees before he covered his face with his hands. As he ran them through his hair, he groaned. This is my fault, he thought. This is all, my fault.

"The ones outside and upstairs have been dealt with," Gael said as he approached. "It seems they snuck in by pretending to be part of the Academy's guards. It's a good thing you know how to protect yourselves―"

"It was him," Alec cut him off. He stood from his seat and met the man's green gaze. "It was the bastard, Gael! He knows that I'm here! He knew Alen as well."

Gael stood staring at him with surprise before he looked away. He stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder with some hesitance. Still avoiding his gaze, he mumbled an order for Alec to settle on the couch once more. He obeyed with much reluctance. Gael kneeled on one knee in front of him before his eyes returned to meet his.

"I need to tell you something...and please don't get angry," he said. He stopped himself from nodding, and listened as the man continued. "This...isn't first time that bastard attacked or ordered people to do so," he said. "He has known that you've been here for a while."

Alec's brows scrunched in confusion. As realization sunk in, his hands curled in to fists. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before his anger could spike to a dangerous limit. "Since when? Since when has he known?"

The sound the guards made as they searched the dormitory filled the silence which fell on them both. When he thought the man wouldn't answer, he spoke.

"Since your second day here," Gael said. "When I knocked you out after trying to kill Gravis, arrows would've ended your life if Asher and Iris hadn't stepped in to protect you."

Alec opened his eyes and met Gael's gaze. He could see the fear in the pair's green depths and Alec knew why such an emotion was present. Still, he couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice came out calmer compared to what he had expected. Apparently, Gael didn't expect such a reaction from him. His eyes were wide by a small fraction before relief showed in them.

"If you had known, you would've left," he said. "And I can't protect you if you're not here. I promised I'd do that, remember?"

"If you had told me, I would've stayed away from the students," Alec said. "And now I learn that right from the start of my stay here, I had already endangered the people around me. If you had told me, I would've been more alert. I wouldn't have allowed myself to start feeling...safe again."

"I'm sorry." Alec's hands covered his face once more as he leaned forward. He released a sigh as he felt Gael leave his front and heard his words. "I know that you're thinking that what happened tonight is your fault, but it's not all right? It's mine and the headmaster's for being lenient about your situation. From the start we brought you here not as a witness to the crime. We brought you here to protect you. We have found things...that might say that you have a deeper involvement in all of this. And now that you mentioned that the man knew your brother, a few of those things are a bit clearer now."

"What are you talking about?" Alec stood and his eyes narrowed in confusion at the man. Gael sighed and ran a hand through his dark locks.

"What is going on?"

Their attention snapped to the direction of Knox's voice. He stood a few feet away with his fists clenched on his sides. Emotions like confusion, fear, worry and frustration appeared on his face. Areisha and Solana were behind him, staring at Gael and Alec. Solana had a look of confusion while Areisha's...he was unable to look past her stone mask.

They had forgotten that they could hear their conversation.

"Who are you?" Areisha spoke with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Who are you Alec Arden? Or should I even call you that?"

Alec looked away and refused to speak and meet their questioning gazes. His head snapped up when he heard a voice come from behind the three.

"He is Alec Arden," Kreis said. He approached them as he wiped a cloth over his bloody dagger. He slid it back on the sheath hanging on his side before he spoke once more. "He's your fellow student, dorm mate, Sentire, and friend. That's all you kids need to know. No more questions."

"You have no right―" The Ryder cut whatever Areisha had to say.

"I have every right to withhold any information. In case you're forgetting, I am the Head of the First Ryder Regiment. Only talk back to me in such manner when you finally ascend as a Skyland's leader. Even though you're an heiress, I have a higher standing than you."

Alec froze from the sight of his glower and the tone of his voice. It was a first for him to see the level of seriousness the Ryder had. It almost felt like he was looking at a different person. Silence lingered in their group, as Kreis gave the three a glare which effectively shut their mouths.

He looked up and his eyes met with Solana's grey ones. They still had the look of confusion in them, and it seemed that she hadn't heard Kreis' words at all. She stood behind her brother with one of her hands clutching one of Knox's arms. Her head tilted a few degrees to the right as her puzzled gaze looked over Alec.

"Solana," he called. This seemed to snap the young lady out of her thoughts as her eyes widened at him. Her lids blinked rapidly while she shook her head.

"When that man held you hostage," Alec paused, "what did he mumble for you to look so surprised? Could you tell me?"

Solana was uncharacteristically quiet and she gulped the lump which formed on her throat. She bobbed her head up and down at him.

Before she could speak, the light in her eyes vanished. She tipped forward unconscious, but Knox caught her before she could hit the floor. However, Knox fell to the floor next to her soon after. Alec turned to Gael. His body moved on its own accord, and supported the man's frame. Unlike Knox and Solana, Gael's eyes were wide open as his face contorted in an effort to keep his lids up. His attention landed on Kreis when he too fell to the blue floor in a sleep-like state. Soon, the guards running about dropped like flies as well. The rise and fall of their chests were the only indication that they were alive.

He dropped to his knees and clutched his head. In doing so, Gael had to lean on the nearest couch for support.

Alec didn't notice him as pain assaulted his brain. His mouth opened in a soundless scream as he tugged handfuls of his hair. It felt like needles and knives had pierced his head and prodded at his brain. Once again, images of a dark forest and fleeing shrieking birds filled his vision. He leaned over until his forehead connected with the floor. An image of black boots followed before pure black eyes with violet irises took over his mind.

He failed to notice the worry and fear on Midnight and Leyan. They watched him from where he ordered them to look after the still unconscious Entiny. The two Draeling's curled into balls and used their armor-covered wings to conceal their frames. Their amber eyes never strayed from their Draeyer though.

Everything that happened in the woods of Maenin City's Simbhan came flooding back. The dark forest, the pain, and the cold violet eyes of the Eimion sent shivers down his spine.

The pain vanished in an instant and he was left out of breath. However, screams finally escaped his mouth when he felt his scars throb and burn. This time, it was accompanied by feminine yells. He twisted his head and it allowed him to see Areisha writhing on the floor as deafening screams passed through her lips. Only a few mere feet separated them from each other. Her hands moved and tried to reach for her back―for her scars, Alec presumed.

"A-Alec..." the call came from Gael who leaned against one of the couches. Through the pain, Alec managed to wonder how on Kosmiks the man was awake while the rest lied motionless on the floor.

Tears formed on the corner of his eyes as he forced himself to stand. The pain he felt was bearable compared to the first time. However, he knew fear was the main factor that caused his stiff movements. He's here, he's here, he thought. His limbs moved, but only allowed him to crawl.

He believed Eimions were real just as much as the Gelions. But he was never afraid of them, even when his brother told him stories of them in attempt to scare him. He had no idea why he feared one so much now.

His fear only grew when the agony he felt receded slowly with every passing second. Areisha's loud yells of pain failed to help him calm his nerves. Why is it still affecting her? he thought. By then, he only felt the occasional stings as he continued crawling toward her.

Alec raised his head before his body froze. He saw thick black mists whirling, gathering, and floating towards Areisha. Boot-clad feet appeared before the haze swirled and materialized in to a cloak covering a broad muscular frame. The Eimion stopped before the brunette with his emotionless eyes peering down at her. Her screams had ceased but Alec could still see the pain and fear as her eyes fell on the horned being next to her.

"Eimion..." he heard Gael whisper. This seemed to earn the being's attention, and his violet gaze locked on his guardian. Alec didn't have to look to know that his guardian had stilled from fear.

"Why are you still awake, pathetic human?" the Eimion said. Alec shuddered from his chilling voice, the same way he had when he first heard it.

"Assaults on the mind...don't...work on me," Gael struggled between breaths. Obviously, the presence of the unholy creature was indeed affecting him in some other way.

The Eimion only nodded with a blank face. His hand slipped out of his cloak and a violet-hilted knife appeared from a black cloud above his hand. He crouched before Areisha and poised the glinting blade high above her chest.

"Stop!" Alec yelled. He lifted himself till he managed to sit. The position left him vulnerable though.

The Eimion paused and twisted his head to regard him. He suppressed the shudder he felt from his gaze. The horned-being lowered the blade away from Areisha.

"I was hoping you'd remain quiet," he said. "But it seems that every time we meet, you get more resistant to my presence. You are nothing like the others and little Cyrene that we have here."

Cyrene? he thought.

However, he received his answer when Areisha's cracked voice escaped her. "H-How...do you...know my second...name?"

The Eimion's face remained blank as he grabbed her chin between his fingers. Areisha released a hiss when he made contact. He lifted her upper body by it. "How do I know?" he said, his tone still devoid of emotion. "It's the name dear Erinna gave you, is it not?"

All of a sudden, he released Areisha. Before her torso hit the floor, an invisible force pushed her away from the Eimion, throwing her over the twins' forms. Alec dove forward and caught her as she landed. He grunted from the impact. However, he felt little pain compared earlier, and he found he could move more freely without the aches hindering him much. It allowed him to bend on one knee as he caged Areisha in his arms.

Meanwhile, the Eimion remained in the same crouched position and watched them for couple of minutes. All Alec could do was wonder about the thoughts running through his mind.

His attention snapped to the young lady in his arms when he felt her gather a handful of his shirt and tugged. Her eyes were half-opened, and when Alec moved his fingers on her back, she winced. He felt her right arm move until her hand clamped around his wrist. It guided him until his fingers touched a familiar shape attached on a belt at her side. His fingertips ran over the studs and metalwork, feeling the coldness from it. He understood what she wanted him to do with it.

His attention snapped back to the Eimion when he stood, taking his violet knife with him. With long quick strides, he was two feet away from them in less than three seconds. He stepped forward again, before he dropped on both knees. He sat on his heels and tossed his blade in the air before catching it expertly.

"I've asked before, and I'll ask again," Alec said. "Who are you?"

For the first time, a small smirk formed on the Eimion's face. For some reason, Alec wanted his emotionless façade to return.

"I didn't tell you before, but I guess I'd tell you now...since you're about to die," he said. Alec's eyes narrowed at him. "I'm called Beuen. And let's just say I was one of the people who looked after you when you were mere babes."

Alec's fingers grasped the hilt of the blade hanging at Areisha's side. His eyes never broke eye contact with the unholy creature while he did so. He kept his gaze, even when Beuen leaned towards him and grasped his chin and pressed his long fingernails on his cheeks.

"You two were my favorites...you and Cyrene...I could still remember your cries and up to this day and they lull me to sleep."

Alec glared at him while he felt Areisha inching away from the evil presence, burying her face on his chest. A little closer monster, he thought.

"How does it feel to be prey, dear Cenred?" Beuen asked. He leaned further, and Alec smirked in his mind.

"I don't know," Alec said. He saw no hint of confusion on the Eimion's face whatsoever. Still, he continued. "I am never the prey."

Areisha's hands shot out and slapped the Eimion's hand away from Alec's face. Alec drew the black-hilted knife on her side at the same moment and impaled it on Beuen's shoulder, hilt-deep. The metal blade glowed hot read and caused smoke to rise from where it was buried, burning a portion of the cloak and flesh in the process as well.

"I am always the predator," Alec said.

The Eimion released a roar of pain which caused the windows to crack and almost bleed Alec's ears. With enough strength, Alec freed Erinna Roselintine's dagger from the flesh, and watched as Beuen stood and staggered back. He clutched his now bare shoulder to his chest. Alec could see the purplish-liquid flowing out of his injury and down his arm to the floor. The skin on his shoulder changed to black and cracked.

The Eimion's eyes glowed and the round pupils became slits. Sharp teeth protruded as he opened his mouth and his horns and nails grew long and sharp. "Fools! Why do you have that wretched dagger?" Another holler of pain escaped Beuen as he slumped to the floor on one knee. The black and cracked skin not only covered his shoulders, but also crawled near the area of his neck and his left arm.

While with ragged breathing, Beuen managed to stand. He raised his good arm, and his nails grew longer than before. Shrieks filled the air when three small figures swooped down and knocked him back. The force sent him down on his rear.

Entiny, Leyan, and Midnight stood side by side with their wings spread wide. Alec felt worry tug at his being, but confusion overpowered it soon after.

Strands of Antenier lashed around and covered his Draelings' bodies and seemed to merge to form a silver ball above them. It was faint, but it was there. Low threatening growls escaped through their gritted teeth.

Meanwhile, the Eimion froze on his spot. For the first time, Alec saw a tinge of fear in his violet irises as he stared with big eyes at the Draelings. Beuen inched away.

To Alec's surprise, another black hole in midair appeared. It threw up none other than the man he had faced an hour ago. He didn't spare them a glance, and instead grabbed Beuen's good arm and draped it over his shoulder.

"You are late, idiot" the Eimion spat at him.

"I apologize, my lord."

Alec's Draelings folded their wings. They twirled and ran for him and Areisha. When they were near, he allowed them to climb on his shoulders and head. While he did so, he noticed the growing trepidation in Beuen's eyes. It vanished though, as they narrowed in to slits at him.

"I've changed my mind," he said. "You will be last. There are five left, including Cyrene. I guess that would give you enough time to enjoy your life. When I come back, prepare for the suffering straight from the pits of Blazen. Including your Draes."

In one jump, the two disappeared in to the hole of darkness. Once again, it vanished without a trace.

"Bastards," he heard Gael say. When he turned to the man, he was standing upright while sucking in large amounts of air for his greedy lungs. "Bloody Blazen...."