Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space

Alec felt himself bouncing up on down on his bed as it shook. He refused to open his eyes and ignored it. His entire body was still sore from the harsh training he went through for the past three weeks. Gravis and Gael were merciless, especially towards him. It didn't help that he was still chained to Areisha. Fortunately, after the two long months, their punishment ended yesterday. He wanted to get rid of his body's tenderness before they leave tomorrow for Arktis with some sleep.

However, the movements on his bed never ceased and he sat up, groaning. After turning on the lamp-crima on his bedside table, he looked to find his Draelings bouncing on his bed. When they realized he was awake they paused and stared up at him. His Draelings were not an exception to his irritated glares. The three ignored it though.

"What?" he said. "You guys know I'm supposed to be resting."

They roared quietly at him before Midnight jumped down his bed. A few moments later, he came back and sat a glowing object on his covers. Sleepiness left him at once as he reached for the journal the Gue had given him.

"Pruf."

The same blue light the first time he held it in his hand emitted from it and illuminating his features. A few moments later, the Gue popped out from the leather cover in a ball of sparkles. Alec raised a brow at it when the creature twirled on the tips of its oval feet and released another "pruf." To his surprise it floated to his neck and hugged his collar with its triangular arms. Despite its adorable actions, it failed to lighten his mood. He was used to being awaken early in the morning. Rousing in the middle of the night was a different matter.

"What do you want?" Alec said. The Gue broke away and glared, and then it stuck its tongue at him. "You can't expect me to be nice when you wake me up in middle of the fu―night!"

Kosmos! Kreis, I'm starting to use your profanities, he thought.

The journal floating in front of him snapped him out of his thoughts. The Gue landed on top of it before drifting to the door. It hovered close to the golden knob before the door swung open on its own. His Draelings followed after the Gue as it passed the gap.

When he finished cursing his aching body and putting on his sandals he ran after them. He tried to make his footsteps quiet as he descended the stairs, taking two steps at a time until he reached the ground floor. His speed gave him time to watch the Gue open the entrance. A groan escaped as he bit his lower lip in attempt to suppress it somehow.

Moments later, he found himself shrouded by the shadows of the trees around the dorm when he followed the four creatures. He shook his head when unpleasant memories of him and Beuen came back as the undergrowth thickened.

Even as the lush environment scratched at his skin, he continued to run while using the pale light coming from the journal as his guide. To his surprise, he emerged in a familiar clearing where he first conjured his Flame. The large Pinorin Tree stood tall and shadowed his form from the brightness of the twin moons.

His attention fell downward when he heard a growl next to him. Entiny looked up at him with her excited amber eyes before tugging at his pants with her toothless mouth. He sighed and told the Draeling to lead him to where he should go. Entiny disappeared behind the Pinorin Tree, and he stepped and hopped over its large roots to go after her. Once he did, he found the Gue and his Draelings waiting for him on the soft grass. The glowing leather journal remained hovering over the furry creature.

"Pruf," the sound came from the Gue. It hopped on top of the journal, causing it to glow a little brighter than before. It flew to a tall rock nestled between two of the tree's large roots. The light allowed him to see a plain black circle under a mossy surface. The Gue raised both of its arms and traced the ring. Alec's eyes grew big as the outline glowed and rose off the rock. The small creature pounded it back with surprising strength, before a lever jutted from the ground. His Draelings nudged him toward the earth and grass covered object when he hesitated to approach it.

"We're leaving early tomorrow morning, you know?" he said. The four creatures stared at him with impassive eyes before they growled at him. The Gue in particular transformed in to a ball of white spikes with teeth-filled beak and red glowing eyes.

Alec, given no other choice, pulled the lever toward him with a lot of hesitance. When he heard a clank, his heart almost jumped out of his chest when the ground beneath him slid to the right, throwing him lightly to the direction of his companions. He landed on the grass, before rolling over lightning-fast when he felt something prick his back. An angered "pruf" flew to his ear.

With a groan, he sat up and found a dusty staircase leading down into the ground. There was nothing but pure darkness below it.

Like all he did for the past couple of minutes, he followed after the Gue and his triplets, using the light from the mysterious journal. Fed up from using the tiny source of light, he raised one of his hands and called on his flame. It appeared on the palm of his hand before hovering. The light it gave off as he made it float at his front was enough to brighten the path in front of him.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked the Gue. The journal turned so the creature faced him with the same glint of excitement still in his pale blue eyes. His feet moved to keep up with his Draelings as the Gue sped away. "Wait!" he called. He turned from one passage to another, left then right, then right again. He felt like he was trapped in a giant maze and he kept tripping on fallen rocks or slipping on wet moss. The air was damp and he could feel a spine-chilling wind pass by every now and then.

His Draelings turned another corner. But when he followed, he paused at the mouth of the channel. Torches on the walls lighted one by one and illuminated his way. On the other end of the short tunnel, he could see a room filled with soft yellow light. He moved forward and soon found himself inside the circular room―if you could call it a room. The ceiling was cavernous and torches gave it the golden color he saw earlier. The space was two times wider than the Academy's banquet hall. The stone walls were covered in blank-painted images depicting a story of a man and three Draes. Before he had a chance to further look into the story, he turned when he heard his Draelings' call.

"Kosmos..." were the words which left his mouth. His triplets stood before a giant skull attached to a skeletal body big enough to hold it in place. Silver covered the upper side of the large skeleton; the spine, wings, claws, horns, and head. It had no teeth whatsoever. The majority of the bones were the color of dusty brown. He was in utter shock once he realized to what creature the giant framework belonged to.

"Pruf!" the Gue called to him. The creature and the journal appeared hovering next to him as he approached the Drae skeleton.

"How did it get so big?" he asked himself. His brows knitted when a question popped into his mind. Why didn't this body become one with the infinite sky?

His attention fell on the Gue as it floated over the snout of the humongous Drae skeleton. He briefly wondered what the creature was like in its prime.

A thump resonated as the Gue dropped on the bone. Alec jumped away when teeth protruded from the upper jaw. One tooth was the length of his torso and they still looked sharp as a living Drae's.

Something gold glinted amid two of the teeth. He strode closer when the Gue drifted to it on the journal. With a wave of one of its tiny white arms, the object wiggled out of the old bone. It hovered in the air for a short moment before following the Gue as the creature flew to Alec. The guardian animal jumped, flipped in the air, before landing on top of his longish hair. However, he paid no attention to it and maintained his gaze on the two floating objects in front of him. He reached out with both hands and took them. The golden object looked like a key with a circular handle and three sided pyramid on one end. "The key to the journal," he said. "That's why you brought me here." The Gue jumped once more and landed on the journal again. Its arms swung from the key to the hole on the book's lock.

Before he had a chance to open it, he dropped them on the ground and spun when he felt a presence. His fist came up but a strong grip held it in place.

"Calm down, my boy," said a familiar voice. He stepped back to take in the appearance of the old white-beard man. Smile wrinkles became evident on his ancient face as he gave Alec a small grin.

Alec quickly bowed at the waist. "I'm sorry, Headmaster Donovan."

"It's alright Alec," Donovan said. "What I want to know is what you're doing here in the middle of the..." Alec raised a brow as the old man trailed off when his eyes fell on the objects on the dirt floor. The young man never failed to notice the shock on his face and how he was quick to bend to take the items. Next, Donovan's attention fixed on the Gue. Alec felt a chill run up his spine when an emotionless mask covered the old man's face. The creature had its head down as it sat on the dirty ground.

"Pion," the headmaster said. Bending on one knee, he raised a hand and beckoned at the Gue as it raised its head. Pion, the Gue, waddled to the old man on his tiny feet. Alec soon found the little creature on the headmaster's palm. "Pion, don't do this again." The Gue bounced its head up and down with sad eyes. Pion glowed before merging with the journal tucked under the headmaster's right arm.

"As for you," the headmaster turned to him as he stood, "you're supposed to be asleep. I'll turn a blind eye on this one, but you must promise to never enter the underground passages ever again."

The cold tone the man used was enough to have Alec stiffen like a statue. He nodded after a full minute of staring at Donovan. "I promise, headmaster. I'm sorry."

A smile quickly lit up Donovan's face. In that moment, Alec knew were Kreis and Gael learned to change their facial expressions in a matter of moments.

"Come. The night is getting colder. The temperature may not bother you because of your Flame but it's harsh on me," he said. "We leave early tomorrow, or did you forget?"

Alec sighed and fell into step with the headmaster. As they exited, he turned his head back to the Drae skeleton, more curious about it than the journal and key the headmaster confiscated.

"It was an Elder Drae," he heard Donovan say. He fixed his attention to the old man and found him tucking the three dimensional key inside his brown coat. "However, they are extinct now―at least that's what the younger generations believe. They're a rare kind of Drae that can grow ninety feet long. They can live up to two hundred years."

"How can you tell if a Draeling is an Elder Drae?" Alec asked. His blue Flame lit up the path Donovan was leading them in so he had nothing to worry about.

"You can't," the old man answered. "There's a possibility that out of a thousand eggs, only one or none at all, would be an Elder Drae. That's how rare they are."

"Then, why didn't the body back there become one with the sky, like the other dead Draes?" Alec asked.

Donovan smiled at him before reaching out to ruffle his hair. "You need to cut your hair," he said. "An Elder Drae can decide whether its body becomes one with the earth or the sky. Kosmos favored their kind you see."

Alec nodded. Not soon after that though, his mind returned to thinking about the journal and the key to it. He sighed at himself. It was very like his mind to be curious again once questions previously bothering him are answered. Curiosity is a never ending thing, he thought.