Breaking through the horizon, I could see it. The lands of Pontheugh. Home.

My heart raced in my chest as the slit of land grew as we got closer to it. It was around ten months ago when I was sailing away from Pontheugh, and now I was back. I was unsure of how to feel, but my mind and heart were reacting with every emotion I landed on.

The waves of the sea lazily hit against the ship, splashing so far up and then falling back down into the ocean where another would take its place.

I could feel Naxan flying from above. The cloud cover was the only thing that allowed him to be so close to me. He was the only reason I was able to keep myself from falling apart.

"Naxan tries best."

"I try my best." I softly correct him. I turn away, unable to watch the land grow in front of me. Instead, I walked across the deck of the ship to Kayne.

"Are you glad to be back? I'm sure you missed your dragon." He was sitting on a set of steps.

Kayne broke his gaze from the land before us. "I was speaking with Rypth just now. She is happy with my return."

I softly smiled. He had been away from his dragon for more than a week. I could barely go a couple of hours without seeing Naxan. Our journey on the boat took about three days time, and I was feeling the effects of not seeing Nax.

"Are you jealous that another female had my attention?" And there goes the moment. I rounded on Kayne to say something nasty, but Baylen weaselled his way into the conversation.

"Are we talking about dragons over here?" He maneuvered his body past mine to stand between Kayne and me. "You would enjoy meeting Nypae." His tone and the way he wiggled his eyebrows suggested something behind his meaning.

"How so?"

"Because she's gorgeous. Just like her good-looking rider." He winked at me.

I scoffed, turning my head to look at Pontheugh.

"Oh, come on," He groaned. "Why does loverboy over here get all of your attention?" He sounded like a whining child. "Okay, the real question here, Navi, is who do you like more? Me or loverboy?"

"Neither." My reply was quick.

By the time the ship had docked on Pontheugh's lands, Baylen and Kayne had talked my ears off. They seemed more cheerful, in a way. Their personalities bubbled with a new side of them I had not seen before. I believed they were happy to be home and to soon be with their flame-bounds.

"Home soon?" Naxan asked. I could tell that he was beginning to get tired from the long flight. He was not used to making such trips.

"Soon," I said. "If you want to catch your breath, go land somewhere in the forest further off. But don't be seen by anyone." Naxan agreed, and I felt him fly off into the distance.

Even though Naxan was a stubborn dragon, his exhaustion won this time. Thankfully, he was able to find some shallow waters and small sandbars where he was able to rest during our travels across the sea. Otherwise, he would have fallen from the sky with fatigue.

I looked at Kayne, whose gaze was looking far off in the distance. "We'll be leaving soon. Gather all of your things, and we'll start heading this way." He started walking through the town of Lancaster. Kayne walked on with a determined stride, and once we made it out of Lancaster, he stopped and waited. I had been glad to leave the bustling streets of the town. It would take some getting used to since I had grown accustomed to the quietness of the island full of dragons.

Hanging low in the clouds, I could see large shadows rippling through the white and grey masses. The clouds parted, and three different dragons landed before us. I could pick out Nypae right away. Baylen was right. I could understand why people would be wary of the dragon. Starting at her clawed feet were dark, black scales that slowly moulted into red. The red extended through her body and her wings, which turned purple and black again. Her maw had black scales as well, which turned to red, and her horns twisted into black obsidian. She was a beautifully made dragon.

Another dragon had scales of a rich, forest green, which moulded together with bronze on his underbelly. The bronze edging of his wings glinted when the sun peaked through a weaker part of the clouds. Around his maw, bronze melted into the forest green scales, and his seafoam green eyes looked at every one of us with calculated precision.

The other dragon I recognized immediately when I looked at her. She was the golden dragon that had been at the hunter's island. She was Kayne's dragon. Her golden and bronze scales moulted into each other like a painted mosaic. Her scales didn't need light reflecting off of them to shine. It looked as though she was glowing from the inside out. Her amber eyes were soft when Kayne walked up to her to place a hand on her muzzle. Her tail swung lazily behind her as she and Kayne communicated.

I felt the shadows inside of me twitch. My skin prickled with the sensation of energy as the shadows awoke at the feeling of their strong abilities.

"Navi, you can ride me with." Baylen was beside me, pushing me towards his dragon. A deep excitement rose through me.

"No. She's with me." Kayne said, looking from me to Baylen. I stopped myself from groaning at the level of testosterone they were throwing into the air.

I broke free of Baylen's grasp and ignored both of them. "I'll ride with Hames. If his dragon is okay with that." I gave them both a pointed stare before turning to Hames and his dragon.

Hames gave me a curt nod, humour reaching his eyes. It was rare to see a form of emotion in his hard-set glare.

"I realize you haven't ridden on a dragon before, but I won't let you fall."

If you only knew.

Instead, I nodded my head in thanks and waited until Hames mounted his dragon's back. The dragon had a saddle on his back that Hames sat in comfortably. I wondered if I would get one of those.

"Naxan will not wear such things." His growl made it clear that he did not like the look of the saddle.

"It will be easier for me to hang on to you." I grabbed Hames's extended hand, and he placed me in front of him. "It doesn't seem like the other dragons mind it."

"Tames," Naxan growled in displeasure.

Hames's dragon looked to be the biggest out of the bunch, so Sige climbed up with Hames and me while the others went to the other available dragons.

"Should be with Naxan." He was beginning to grow angrier by the second.

"It's okay, Nax. We'll be at the Academy soon." My voice was soft as I tried to soothe my jealous dragon.

As we made our way to the Academy, the rider's smaller dragons playfully flew around us. Dipping and diving, calling out in playful growls. It was entertaining to watch. At this moment, everything felt surreal. I was watching Pontheugh from above, seeing my homeland pass by me in quick waves of green. There wasn't a speck of snow on the ground. It looked like Pontheugh decided to have spring earlier than usual.

Our group travelled the entire day and most of the night before settling on the ground to rest. Naxan, although determined to not show how tired he was, flew a fair distance away from the convoy but close enough if something happened he could be by my side in an instant.

"Sleep, Nax. You're exhausted." I dismounted from Hames's dragon with ease. Stretching out my aching bone, I walked into the trees to gather firewood. Baylen was by my side in an instant. I shook my head at his grin and continued to pile broken-off branches in my arms.

"Here, I can carry those," Baylen said as he came up beside me. I backed away from him with a glare plastered to my face.

"I am capable, thank you very much," I started walking off toward camp. "Find your own to carry." And I left him behind in the dark woods.

A fire was started immediately in the middle of the clearing of trees. I removed the hide from my body and set it up as my bedroll. I was too tired to stay awake once my head hit the soft fur, and I fell asleep as the others cooked their meal for the night.

The next morning before the sun rose was when we took flight once again. I could tell Naxan was feeling reenergized as he spoke more through the bond. He made it very clear how he didn't like me riding on the back of another dragon. This went on for the remainder of the day as well as into the night.

"Twoleg said be at Academy soon. Lies." Naxan grumbled as he flew through the clouds. From his view, it was gorgeous to look at. He was above the clouds, where he could see the moon and stars shine brightly above.

"We're almost there Nax," I said as I stared through his eyes. We would arrive at the Academy tomorrow morning, which was only a few hours away. Instead of setting up camp, we flew through the entire night.

Dawn emerged and slowly the sun glinted over the mountain peaks. And then, there it was. It appeared suddenly and without warning: the Academy of Ryhdderck. The last time I was here, I had some old fools determine my fate. That was not going to happen again. Hatred bubble with a nasty gurgle in my gut. Or was it just my nerves playing tug of war with my emotions?

The dragon I was riding landed in the large stretch of grass that was surrounded by trees and mountains. I jumped off of the dragon, looking around at the familiar scenery. My stomach was in knots at this point. I couldn't believe I was back.

"Lots of twolegs here." I could feel Naxan was close.

"I told you there would be." My eyes scoured the area. There were dragons of varying colours walking or lounging around in the sun. Men were training outside, and the sounds of metal on metal clashed in my ears.

My gaze travelled toward the stables, where there was a large field full of different coloured horses grazing on the lush grass. A particular red spotted pelt caught my interest, and I smiled knowing that it was Angus. He had been a good travelling companion of mine, and I was glad he made it back home.

The doors of the front entrance to the Academy were wide open. It looked like an open mouth to a wicked beast. The headmaster walked out and was making his way toward us. My eyes widened. I quickly turned around, making it look like I was admiring the dragon behind me.

"You are peculiar." The dragon's voice seeped through my head. I felt the ancient power behind it, as old as the mountains around us and the soil beneath our feet.

"Is that so?" I stared into the dragon's seafoam green eyes.

The dragon gave me a long, lasting look before speaking. "You are young, and yet, your soul is as old as time." His nostrils flared as he took in my scent. I turned slightly to see the riders were exchanging words with the Headmaster. "You struggle with much for such a tiny human."

I felt as he slowly withdrew from my mind. Naxan filled in the space the other dragon had occupied with a wave of grumbling irritation.

Hearing my name being called, I turned to look at Kayne. The headmaster was standing beside him. I waited for a reaction to come from him, but he made no indication that he recognized me.

"Yes?" I spoke softly.

"This is Colin, the headmaster at the Academy." Kayne gestured to the man standing beside him. I already know that.

"Hello," I said curtly.

"I hear you come from Aeberuthey." His owl eyes never left my gaze.

I nodded my head in response.

His eyes were calculating as he stayed silent. I didn't break from his gaze as he watched me. "You've certainly been through a lot. You may stay here until you are ready to travel home."

I've heard that one before. And luckily, I made it out of here before anything could happen to me. Colin turned away and spoke with Kayne about a few things I didn't care to listen to. My throat felt tight from my anxious nerves rising from my stomach.

"Something feels wrong," Naxan said from somewhere in the mountains. He was flying around the peaks, watching from above.

"This whole place feels wrong." My gut clenched with worry again. I looked around for something to distract my mind from my underlying emotions. I knew I was nervous about being here, but for some reason, it seemed like there was something else causing me to feel this way.

I felt the urge to search within the shadows, but I was unsure if the others would be able to feel me using my powers. I quashed the growing shadows inside me and focused on trying to breathe. Something felt terribly wrong.

And then, everything inside of me snapped. The shadows that I had been pushing down fought against me, and they burst from my grasp. My body was alit in agony as they screamed in my blood and bit at my flesh.

I looked around at the familiar faces. They seemed unbothered by this feeling that I felt around me. They continued to chat amongst themselves, and even the dragons were lazily splayed out in the sun.

That is until someone shouted from an unknown direction. "Kellso!" All around me, the peaceful and calming air turned dark. Bodies that were as black as the shadows within me crawled from the mountains. There were hoards of them. Dragons with scales of moulted and dull colours rose over the peaks of the mountains and circled the air from above. I was shoved behind a body, a line forming in front of me. "Where the hell did they come from?" Baylen shouted to Kayne. Swords were pointed out in front of them, drawn at the ready.

They were distracted from looking at the chaos unrolling in front of them. I slipped away and went to the nearest saddlebag attached to one of the dragons. I pulled out a sword from the sheath.

"I don't think so." Baylen grabbed the sword from my hand and put it back in its holder. "You are going to hide." He tugged my arm and pushed me into the Academy. With the help of others, the doors were closed, and I was trapped inside the walls of the Academy. My fists pounded on the large doors, but the sounds of the outside world were far louder. I fell back, feeling useless.

Thinking of the other entrance, I quickly ran down the halls and pushed on the door. It opened, and all I saw was chaos outside. Broken bodies of black lay scattered on the green grass, the smell emitting from them smelled of a mix of charred carrion. I placed my body flat against the brick walls as I moved beside the Academy. My goal was to grab a sword from where the training area was. Stacks of swords were lined up in a row, just waiting for me to pick one of them. Reaching the stack of swords, I quickly chose one and felt its weight in my hands. It was heavier than what I was used to training with, but only slightly. This would work! I was not helpless. I would show them who needed to hide.