GONG!

Sahara leaped to her claws, sand cascading down her body.

GONG! GONG!

Sahara ran to shake Conch awake. She reached her tail into the water to raise the temperature. The SeaWing princess crawled out of the pool, dripping wet.

"What's going on?" She asked Sahara.

"It's time for classes!" Sahara said, "We're going to be late!" She ran to rouse Starmind, but there was only a bundle of blankets.

Sahara grabbed Conch and tore down the hallway, her venomous tail bobbing.

They pulled into a cave with a large, dusty-white dragon sitting in the middle, back facing the outside opening. They were surrounded in a semicircle of dragons, all different colors.

"Is this our winglet?" Conch asked. Sahara looked around and saw Starmind curled up next to a dragon that was shifting through iridescent colors, then settled on a warm mahogany.

Sahara nodded and pulled Conch through right as the gong rang three times.

They ran over to join the semicircle of dragons.

"Well then, since we're all seated, we'll proceed with the lesson." The large dragon in the middle hissed. She had a warm voice, but her tail flicked between her teeth and her dark eyes glittered with emotion. Her venomous tail curled into itself beside her.

"We'll introduce ourselves. I'll go first. My name is Desert. I work for Queen Palm and the Peace Confederation. I have two dragonets-" Sahara watched her eyes soften-"one named Coconut and the other Camel. Now you." Desert pointed to the mahogany dragon next to her.

"Um, I'm Hibiscus. I'm a guy, and I like to tree-hop. Um, yeah." Hibiscus shifted his colors to a pale purple, but settled back to brown.

"I'm Starmind and I like reading." The little black dragon next to him said simply. Sahara got the feeling there was much more that she wanted to say from the look of those big, dark green eyes.

It was Sahara's turn next.

"I'm Sahara...and I like drawing. Um, I grew up only around my parents, so I don't really know any other dragons." And also I have animus powers and can do literally anything I want to.

Starmind glanced over at Sahara and gave her a weird look. It was almost like she read her mind. Starmind narrowed her eyes at her and looked away.

Conch went next.

"Well, unlike you shy dragons, I'm not afraid of who I am. I'm Princess Conch of the SeaWings, the middle sister in my family. I like to write...and swim." She got a nervous look in her eyes, but she shook it off.

The next dragon to go had a warm brown color and gold on her underbelly.

"I'm Heron, and I like...hunting. I guess. And making friends, but I stick with my sibs whenever I need to. So, yeah."

Then a glittering, pale blue dragon.

"I'm Polar." He said shortly. He glanced at Starmind, but looked away. Palm looked at him disapprovingly. Starmind gave him a quizzical look.

The last one to go was a big red dragon that Sahara recognized from the prey cave. He coughed his throat and pulled up his wings.

"I'm Raptor, and I like flying. Um, and food, but also flying. I pride myself on hunting, I guess. I'm also a SkyWing prince, but it's not like I'm unique. There are so many of us it's freaky." Raptor took a sideways glance at Sahara and looked away.

Conch laughed.

"I know, I feel the same way about my brothers. Last I counted, I have...what, forty-seven? It's crazy."

Raptor let out a nervous laugh.

Desert clapped her talons together.

"Let's get on to today's lesson. We will be learning about-" She cut herself off when Polar stuck his talon in the air.

"Will we be learning about NightWing mind powers?" He asked shortly. "Were they real and are they still?"

Sahara didn't know what rock he'd been living under. Desert answered irritably.

"Of course they were real. They still are, as well." She said.

"So they can still read our minds? There needs to be something done about that." Polar complained.

Sahara looked to and fro from Polar to Starmind to Desert to Conch and back to Polar. Starmind was giving Polar an irritated but confused look. Polar had narrowed his eyes at her and looked like he was straining his head. Almost as if he was shouting something in his mind.

Sahara knew all too well about the NightWing powers. She grew up reading stories about them. There was nothing wrong with them. At least, she couldn't judge, she had an even worse power.

Starmind closed her eyes and put her claws over her ears. The poor thing, the dragons must have been crowding the cave with their loud, obnoxious thoughts about NightWing powers.

The teardrop scaled at the corners of Starmind's eyes shimmered as she turned to look Sahara directly in the eye.

Don't worry, Starmind. I'll keep your secret as safe as I can, Sahara thought as loudly as she could. She turned away, pretending nothing had happened. But, in the corner of her eye, she saw Starmind grin, then pull herself up.

The cave was now clamoring with subjects suggested for study. The MudWing, Heron, had asked about the SandWing Succession War. Raptor asked about the MudWing war fighting tactics. Even Conch, weirdly enough, asked about the ancient Darkstalker story and what happened to his mate, Clearsight, after she trapped him underground. Sahara couldn't help but add, herself, what happened to that ancient SandWing animus, Jerboa? Their teacher, Desert, raised her talons to settle them down.

"Alright, maybe we need a bit more time exploring the grounds and getting to know each other before we start learning, eh?" She asked the class, her forked tongue flickering between blunt white teeth. Desert's venomous tail bobbed up and down as she leaped to her feet and backed towards the exit to the cave.

As the class followed Desert fly out of the cave, Sahara found herself being swept up in a motion of other dragons' wings. When they were out of the cave and in the open, Conch flapped up to her.

"Want to go fishing in the lake with me later? I mean, I understand if you don't, but..."

Sahara nodded. What else to do anyway? She had planned on visiting the library, but that was a reality very far away.

"You know, I thought Desert would be a stiff, old, creaky dragon, but she seems pretty cool." Conch told Sahara.

"Yeah, I guess. She seems pretty young to be teaching here. She's just really, really big." Sahara responded.

"You should try to bond with her and learn more about SandWings." Conch told her. Sahara laughed nervously.

"Yeah, when the Sand Kingdom gets flooded." Sahara retorted. Conch giggled.

"I could help with that. I mean, I am a water dragon!" On that note, she flew away to dive into the lake below.

Sahara twisted around and spotted a sheep-like thing on a mountainside. She flew down to grab it, but pulled away at the last minute when she saw a glittering blue streak zoom down and carry it off. Polar had gotten it for himself, and looked pretty smug with himself. How rude, Sahara thought.

"It's okay, he did that to me as well." Sahara started at the small voice beside her. Starmind had sneaked up behind her. Sahara immediately slammed a figurative wall of sand down on the bad thoughts she had had at the moment. Starmind winced.

"Oh, sorry! I keep forgetting-"

"Yeah, that I'm a mind-reader? It's okay, I kind of deserved it. Thanks for not giving me away in the cave, by the way. I probably would've had my throat ripped out by Polar right then and there. Or any of the other dragons at the time." Starmind told her. Sahara nodded, trying to keep a blank mind. Starmind's face fell as she saw Sahara struggling to keep an empty consciousness.

"Well, it's no big deal. I have the same kind of-" She cut herself off before Starmind shook her head.

"Mind-reader, remember? Yeah, you're an animus. I think that's pretty cool, though. I'll keep your secret until you want to share it, don't worry."

Sahara breathed of relief. Her talon went up to her locket unconsciously. She could the feel her mental wall crumbling like the sand it was made of.

Maybe I should enchant something... She thought when she was further away from Starmind. She decided against it, though. Who knows what it would've done to her soul. She wasn't prepared to risk it. Her parents had warned her-Only for emergencies. But what if this was an emergency? It was the first day of school, and she was already torn up between what might be a life-or-death situation.