Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space

Fragrant scents filled his nostrils as his eyes took in the sight of the brightly colored flower garden. To get to the main building, Alec and Gael followed the cobblestone path which passed through the garden. A few heads turned toward them every now and then. Alec would look down and zone out when some students and teachers approached Gael to share some greetings. A few moments later, they stopped at the bottom of steps leading to the large open entrance of the giant structure. Alec craned his neck to get a better view of how big the building was.

"It's bigger and more beautiful up close, right?" Gael said. Alec snapped his attention to him, and looked down with a faint smile on his face.

"You're not used to interacting with people," the older man stated instead of asked. "You should learn to fix that here if you want a nice and happy stay in this place."

"I didn't even want to be here in the first place," Alec said. Gael only laughed and climbed up the stairs, as he shook his head. "I was serious about you not expecting me to get good grades," he said, but Gael continued to laugh.

When they reached the top, they passed though the entrance and Alec was met with the grandeur of the vicinity. Like the outside color, white covered the academy's walls as well as swirls and abstract carvings. Crystal chandeliers made of lamp-crimas hung on the cavernous ceilings, shedding enough light in the building. On either side of him, where a few students roamed around, he spotted wide hallways lined with big doors on one side. He looked over to the side, and his reflection stared back at him from the clean floor.

A red thick carpet covered the spot from the entrance and split in two at the bottom of two parallel curved staircases which both led to the second floor. Between the stairways, a lounge could be scene dotted with couches, multiple small cushioned seats and a low table with a vase of red flowers. They headed over to the sitting area and Gael stopped in front of one of the couches, before turning to him.

"Stay here," he said, and pointed at the blue cushioned single couch. Before Alec could utter a word, Gael passed through the lounge. Alec stood there and watched as he disappeared inside a grey-walled hallway not too far away from the staircases. Left with nothing else to do, Alec dropped himself on the chair, and rested one foot on one of his knees, while his arms draped over the armrests. He yawned, the fatigue from flying finally caught up to him. He rested his elbow on the armrest and cradled his head there as he leaned to the side. His eyes drifted closed, hoping to get a bit of sleep.

But before that could happen, shuffling of feet caused his eyes to fly open. He looked to the side, and spotted a group of students in their black, and white patterned uniforms running through the wide halls. Their heads whipped from right to left, as if looking for something. Some stopped in front of the lounge while the rest disappeared toward the hallway across from where they came from. Soon, he was left alone again, or so he thought.

He looked down when he heard faint thuds from under him. He saw nothing, but looked to the side of his chair when he heard it coming from his right. His brows knit when he saw nothing once more. He shook his head and looked to his front. His heart almost jumped out his chest in shock, as he came face to face with a creature. He leaned back on his chair and stared at the small emerald green animal seated on the low table giving him a toothless smile.

"Kosmos! Why do you Draes keep scaring the Blazen out of me?" he said as his shoulders slumped forward. The little creature directed a growl of laughter at him before hopping off the table. Its paws landed on the red carpeting and hopped over to one of the chair's armrests. "What are you doing, little Draeling?" Alec said. He chuckled when the baby Drae stepped onto his lap and looked up at him with big pink eyes. It nudged his chest before purring as it rubbed against him. A smile formed on Alec's face as he reached out a hand and petted the silver on its head. The Draeling continued to purr as he kept running his hand from its head to its spine. The small creature closed its eyes, and curled into a ball on his lap. "You seriously thought you could sleep on me?" Alec whispered, with a smile on his face.

"Emera," a chorus of voices called out. Alec whirled his head toward the group of students he saw earlier, and spotted the relief on their faces when they ran toward him. Shock replaced that relief, as their eyes widened when they landed on the Draeling on his lap.

Their mouths formed O's once they stood near Alec. He raised a brow at them as he continued to pet the creature that chose his lap as a sleeping space.

"Where's Emera?" a female voice said from behind the students. Alec stopped stroking the creature, when the Draeling awoke and sat up. Emera, as the students called her, hopped off of him and ran to where a brunette girl parted the students. Her dark blue eyes, framed by long thick lashes, landed on the green Draeling and she bent down to pick the creature up.

Alec's brows met in the middle when he noticed the difference of her uniform from the female students. Her coat, shorts, and boots, although similar in style, were white instead of black. The patterned lines remained the same, but it was white instead of the same dark color on the others' attire. Yet, the red ribbon below her collar and the Academy's seal on her coat, proved her as a student. He looked away and resumed to his initial position before the Draeling came and scared the daylights out of him. He felt eyes still lingering on him, and he was unable to help but look up and met their gaze.

"What?" he said. He saw how some tensed up after hearing the chilling coldness in his tone. One in particular seemed unaffected though.

"Why was she with you?" He looked up when the brunette girl spoke up with Emera in her arms. He sighed and sat straight in his seat.

"She came to me, and almost made my heart jump out of my throat from surprising me," he said as he shrugged. The girl raised a brow at him, with a disbelieving look on her.

"You expect me to believe that she ran away from me to come looking for the likes of you?" she said, and laughed. Alec's eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath before his annoyance spiked up.

"Look," he said, "I don't particularly care if you believe me or not, as long as you leave me alone. And I don't like the tone you used just now."

"What? Felt insulted?" she said, with a raised brow. He sat up to face her with glassy eyes.

"Yes, a bit," he said. "But knowing that you're no one of importance to me, why in the bloody Blazen should I let it affect me?"

He saw how the girl's brow twitched, and heard the gasps and whispers of the students behind her. He smirked in silence at his retort.

"Watch your mouth!" a male student yelled. "Don't you know who you're talking to?" Alec kept his gaze on the vase of flowers as he yawned.

"Obviously I don't," he said. "And if I did, I don't care."

He raised his hand when he felt something coming. He caught cold metal between his fingers, along with the light sting on his skin. His eyes flew open, and he saw the small knife that almost hit his shoulder. Its length matched with his middle finger, and managed to knick one side of his thumb. He took hold of its tiny hilt, and whirled his head when he heard a tiny growl. His eyes widened when he saw Emera standing on all fours next to his chair. The Draeling's teeth protruded out as it bore them at the brunette girl, and her wings spanned to the side with the silver armor glowing.

He looked up to find the girl looking back and forth between him and Emera with an open mouth and knit brows. He sighed, and stood to his full height. He moved around the chair and bent down, cradling the baby Drae in one arm.

"It's only a small scratch, Emera," he said as he stroked her neck. "It's too small to make a fuss about." Emera's teeth retracted into her gums, and leaned into his touch.

"Sorry, to keep you waiting Alec," he heard Gael say. He turned around and spotted the older man heading towards them. Gael's brow rose when he saw the green Draeling in his arm. He looked over Alec's shoulder and saw familiar faces in the group behind him.

"Good day, Professor Gael!" they chorused as they bowed their heads.

"Good day to you too, everyone!" he said. He smiled as he fixed his gaze back on Alec.

"I see you're getting along with Areisha's Draeling," he said. Alec turned his back to him, and walked towards the brunette. Once there, he transferred Emera into her arms, ignoring her wide-eyed Draeyer.

"Don't run away from you're Draeyer again," was all he said, and petted her head.

"Professor," he said as he faced Gael. "I would just like to say, that the students here have a very nice definition of a warm welcome." He dug into his pocket and threw the small knife towards the older man. Gael caught it with ease, and his brows formed an angry frown as he saw the object in his hand.

"Areisha Roselintine," he said, with the firmest of tones. Alec saw how the brunette tensed and hugged Emera closer to her. "I hope your temper hasn't made you step out of the boundaries we set up for you and your fellow Sentires," Gael finished. He threw the knife at her. As it flew through the air, Alec saw how it grew in size. Areisha raised her hand and caught the knife which now compared to the length of her forearm. He looked down and hid his surprise and curiosity.

"I'm sorry, sir," he heard her speak.

"Apologize to Alec, not me," Gael said. His head shot up when he heard what he said.

Alec lifted his head and met Areisha's wide blue eyes. He saw how her fists shook as she stared hard at him. He sighed and tucked his hands into his trouser's pockets.

"There's no need for her to do that, Mr. Gael," he said. "It looks like she would die if she were to do that. And besides, I wasn't asking for her to apologize anyway."

"Come on, Alec don't be like that," Gael said, as he crossed his arms.

"No really, I don't mind," he said, as he looked Areisha in the eye. He brought his scratched finger to his mouth and licked off the dribble of blood. "Besides, I'm too tired to care about anything right now, except sleep," he said. Silence filled the sitting area, as his shoulders drooped forward when he closed his eyes. He heard Gael sigh, causing his eyes to fly open.

"The headmaster is ready to see you. Actually, he said he's been ready since last night, and he hasn't slept a wink," Gael said. "The only reason I took so long, was to make sure that he didn't put any fifth year questions for a first year transferee in the entrance exam. Like last time when he got over excited."

"Like, I said. I'm too tired to care," Alec said. "I just want to end this situation you put me in without my consent."

"But you agreed to it quickly in the end," Gael said.

"I had no choice, did I?" Alec countered.

Gael roared in laughter and walked over to him. Like earlier, he wrapped his arm around Alec's shoulder and trapped his head in a headlock.

"If you get a high score, I'd let you sleep the whole day tomorrow and you can attend classes the day after," Gael said.

"And if I don't?" Alec said as he freed himself from his grasp.

"I'll make sure that you're up for the entire night later, as I teach you everything that you will get wrong in the exam," Gael said as he shrugged.

May the Almighty Kosmos curse you, Alec thought.

Gael roared in laughter again making Alec, and the students present, look at him like he grew two heads.

"Wasn't that a bit too harsh to say Alec?" Gael said as he crossed his arms over his chest with a grin.

Alec looked at him with an open mouth as he recalled the words he said yesterday.

"Maybe I read your mind?"

"Kosmos! You were serious about what you said yesterday," Alec whispered. To his own surprise, he felt no need to ask him about his ability. It felt normal to him, causing his brows to form a frown at that thought.

Gael grinned at him, before grabbing his arm and dragging Alec with him.

"Have a nice day, everyone. See you in class tomorrow," Gael waved at them.

Before Alec entered the grey hallway, he saw how Areisha narrowed her eyes at him into a glare.

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Two updates! I'm going to be busy so I was afraid I won't be able to post anything