"This blasted thing," I harshly grumbled as I tried working around my dress. I had taken Alec's words into mind as to equip myself with a better weapon than a few daggers, but at what cost? My patience was wearing thin as I tried cinching up the belt around my waist. I hiked up the dress's fabric over my head, and I was blindly feeling around for the end of the belt so I could tie it up correctly. If someone were to walk into my room seeing me in this state, I wasn't sure how I'd explain myself.

I let the material fall around me in a whisking wind of a black tempest. It seemed like the dress went on forever as I watched it fall around me and finally settling at my feet. The dress's front barely skimmed the ground, while the back had a little extra fabric to follow behind me.

Testing out how the sword felt when I walked around my room, I determined the placement would do. As I walked around, I thought of how I would access the sword if I needed it. I couldn't lift my dress in front of people. That would look a little odd. My hand skimmed over the material where the hilt of the sword lay underneath, an idea forming quickly.

"Sorry," I muttered to nothing in particular. Maybe it was to the person who spent their time working on creating the dress, or maybe it was to the dress itself. Either way, I felt only slightly terrible when I cut a pocket through the fabric, allowing me direct access to the sword if need be. Considering what Alec had said about what could potentially happen tonight, this was the most convenient thing to do. Especially when taking my required attire into account.

I exited my room and made the long trek down the stairs, where I saw the group of riders still huddled around the couches resting in the corner. As if on cue, one of the housekeepers scurried in through the front doors of the Academy, hurrying us all to get ready for the arriving guests. They were here; my parents.

My heart rate unconsciously picked up on its own as I felt my stomach stir in anticipation. I could hear the wheels of the carriages against the soft ground as the horses attached to them pulled them closer. I didn't wait for them to stop. I made my way outside and watched as dozens upon dozens of carriages entered the wide-open space in front of the Academy.

My eyes widened slightly as I scoured the area. Instead of horses, grey-scaled dragons pulled the passengers to the Academy. There were two on each carriage, just like the ones I had previously seen at Wintercrest.

I learned these dragons were bred over the course of years upon years to get to this specific state. They were bred to be smaller than a regular dragon so they could pull the carriages comfortably side by side, but also large enough so they could take flight with the carriage if need be. Apparently, it took some time to finally perfect it, and this was only a few years ago when it happened. Even though this was the purpose of these dragons, and this was all they knew, I was not fond of the idea. But then again, this was the same situation as horses being bred to pull carriages or to make difficult journeys with someone on their backs.

As the carriages came to a stop, the coachmen climbed to the ground, almost all in sync. The doors opened, numerous occupants spilled out into the open space. Unrecognizable eyes landed on me for a moment before they went off in search of another. I too was looking for the familiar faces of my family members.

I had the sudden worrying thought they didn't come. Maybe they hadn't been invited or made aware of what was going on tonight. Or did they receive the letter but didn't care? No. I wouldn't think like that. They had to be here.

Families around me gathered into groups, expressing their emotions through loving words and friendly gestures. I watched them with a slight tinge of downcast in my heart. I could feel the pinch of it as I once again looked out into the moving crowd. Where were they?

"Come on," I whispered into the breeze. My words were small as the air carried them around the heads of everyone in the crowd, but they fell on deaf ears as the crowd did not respond to my pleas.

My eyes tore over the people in front of me. Women with brown hair turned around, revealing their unfamiliar features did not match my mother's. I was becoming frustrated as I studied each family harder. All of these people came to see their sons, brothers, or grandchild, but no one had come to see their daughter. As I stared longer at the gathering families, I began to feel like an orphan, waiting for a family to chose me as their own.

"Would you mind adopting me for the day?" I wanted to say to one of the families as they stared at the riders trying to find their boy.

"Drama," Naxan piped up. He was quiet up until now, listening to my inner rantings.

"I'm not being dramatic," I huffed, staring into the cave he occupied on the side of the mountain. His blue eyes were the only thing I could see from here.

"Very."

I knew I was, but I wouldn't admit that out loud.

Naxan blinked slowly, the glowing blue orbs disappearing for a moment only to return again. I was too busy staring at Naxan to notice who had emerged from the crowd.

"Navidean," A breathy whisper flowed towards me as the breeze carried the sound. I could physically feel my heart clench as I heard the familiar voice. Tearing my eyes away from Naxan, I focused on the man and woman before me.

"Mom. Dad," I spoke shakily. My heart pounded in my chest as my eyes darted from both of my parents. My face cracked into a smile as I lunged for both of them, my arms wrapping around their necks and pulling them closer to me.

"Hey, kiddo," My dad said as he rubbed my back. Could I even call him dad anymore? He was the man who raised me, but he wasn't my blood. I would worry about what to call him later. Right now, all I could focus on was hugging the people who were familiar to me.

"Navi," Another familiar voice spoke up from behind my parents. My eyes widened as I recognized who it was. My two younger brothers, Chay and Keaton, were standing behind my parents in the best clothing they owned. They all were dressed in their finest.

I pushed past my parents and hugged my two brothers. "Aren't you two supposed to be training?" I pulled away as I stared at them. They had lost the baby fat in their faces as their chiselled features showed the men they now were. Even though Keaton was eighteen and Chay was nineteen, they were growing up fast, and they were already men. I couldn't believe it. Only a year had gone by, and they had grown a few inches taller and developed a decent amount of muscle.

Keaton shook his head. "We were able to leave to come to this event. I guess since our sister is the one and only female dragon rider, you were our get-out-of-training free card." He smiled, shoving my shoulder.

"I'm a pretty big deal if you didn't already know." My voice was playful through my grin.

I heard a snort come from behind me. I turned my head to see Tomi shaking his head while smiling. His blue eyes were crinkled with humour. Around him was the family I had silently asked to adopt me for the day. "More like a big pain in the ass."

"Why you-" I started to say but was cut off by another voice piping in.

"Who are we talking about?" Fin asked as he made his way around the group of people. "You?" Fin pointed a thumb to Tomi.

I laughed as I saw Tomi's glare. Tomi was smaller than Fin. Well, everyone at this Academy was, but it was comical seeing him glare up at Fin.

"This is Tomi and Fin," I said as I pointed at the two riders. "Guys, this is my mom and dad and my two brothers, Chay and Keaton."

Fin stepped forward, grabbing my mom's hand in his. "Now I can see where Navi gets her good looks from." He produced a small kiss on the top of her hand. I rolled my eyes. He was such a flirt with everyone's mothers.

"It's nice to meet you," Tomi said as he went around and shook everyone's hands.

The two of them then proceeded to introduce their families. I understood now what Fin had been talking about with Tomi's mom. She was a beautiful woman and packed with muscle. I learned the two of them came from the same town, Worchester. Their town was in the mountains, surrounded by mines where people worked to dig out precious metals, stones, and jewels.

Tomi's little sister, who looked to be around eight years old, was a sweetheart. Her curly blond hair she got from her mother. She was adorable to look at as she ran around the open field with the other younger children. She continuously ignored her parent's calls to slow down so she wouldn't ruin her dress, but she didn't bother listening. She reminded me a lot of myself in that way.

"They're cute," My mom whispered to me as the men were talking together amongst themselves. I widened my eyes at what she said. I mean, maybe they were, but I was not interested in them whatsoever. They were good friends, at least I thought they were.

"Mom," I grumbled, glaring at her. My mom only grinned as she turned back to the conversation with the other mothers. Chay and Keaton stood behind me who pestered me about seeing my dragon. I swatted their impatience away, claiming they would get a chance to see him when he was ready. There were so many people, especially younger children—siblings to the riders. They played games with one another on the green grass, causing quite the commotion, and I feared it would be too much to handle for Naxan who stayed hidden within his shadowed cave for now, observing the new environment around him.

The moonlight was bright, soaking the clearing in a milky blanket. Most of the men had already ventured inside, but some stuck around outside, emersed in conversation. I remained by my moms side as the women got to know each other.

"Navi, right?" I turned to look at Fin's mom, nodding my head. "Has my Draffin been treating you well?"

I smiled at her question. "Yes. Both he and Tomi were one of the first few people I met when arriving at the Academy. I consider them to be my close friends."

"How close?" I heard Chay grumble, which I ignored for the time being.

"Oh, good. It must be hard adjusting to such a life. I'm glad my boy isn't making it harder for you." Fin's mom's smile was warm, and I found myself smiling in return.

"No ma'am."

"It is a relief." Tomi's mom nodded. "It must be hard here being the only female rider."

"Um yeah, it has its downsides. But I have people who support me." A sudden feeling of agitation ran through me. I was confused until I realized it wasn't my own emotions I was feeling.

I turned around to where I knew Naxan to be. At the opening of his cave, there were a bunch of kids peering inside. The curly blond-haired girl came running over to her mother in a frantic mess.

"Mom!" She yelled as she attached herself to her mother's leg. "Mom!" She repeated again.

"What is it?" Her mother bent down to her little girl's height. Tomi came over at the sound of his little sister's voice.

"The other kids are throwing rocks at the dragons!" She pointed to the group of kids I had my eyes on. "I told them to stop, but they didn't listen!" Her eyes looked watery as she clung to her mother's leg.

"Nax?" I called to my dragon.

"Get these pests away from Naxan." He hissed. I knew he wouldn't hurt them, but he was clearly agitated.

I watched one of the younger boys throw another rock into the cave as he yelled, "C'mon dragon. I want to see what you look like."

"Whose kids are those?" I asked, my eyes set into a glare. Most of their parents were most likely inside, leaving the little goblins unattended.

"I'm not sure." I didn't look to see who had spoken.

"Their parents should be throttling their bottoms for throwing rocks at a dragon. Where's their common sense?" The moment I saw another kid throw a rock into Naxan's cave was the moment I snapped. As I marched over toward the children, I heard footsteps following behind me.

"What do you think you're doing?" The kids turned around in shock as they saw they had been caught.

The one kid who I had witnessed throwing the rocks stuttered as he tried thinking of something to say. "We wanted to see what the dragons looked like." He finally composed a complete sentence.

"And do you think the way you're doing that is smart?"

"Um..." The kid looked around him, not meeting my eyes. "No?"

"Would you want rocks being thrown at you?" Instead of reaming out the kids, I decided to make him feel stupid about his actions.

"No." He hung his head. The other kids around him had backed away slightly. Smart decision.

"Then I suggest you quit. Next time you want to see someone's dragon, you ask their rider. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." He said in a small voice. The boy looked around the crowd that had formed in front of him. I observed Tomi's smirk, shaking my head and ghosting a smile with a hand covering my mouth so as not to break my stern character in front of the children I just scolded. His little sister held onto his hand, swinging it to and fro as she watched me with a finger to her lip.

"Is this your dragon, Kayne?" The boy asked. I turned to look behind me, noticing Kayne and others had formed a small half-circle behind me.

Kayne shook his head, smiling slightly. "No, Jaen. You're going to have to ask Navi here if you can see her dragon."

The boy's mouth dropped in shock as he realized who I now was. The poor guy's cheeks were turning redder by the second as he shuffled his feet together. "Um...?" The boy seemed unsure of himself now.

"It's clearly a Ceosil dragon, Jaen." A man spoke from behind me. "You've already seen that breed before."

Oh? I thought to myself. Clearly, my rider's mark must be deceiving to the eye, for it shows that I am bonded to a Valairex breed, a dragon of the shadows.

Naxan exhaled a stream of flames through his nostrils, igniting his shadowed cave with a sudden light, insulted by the man's comment. His blue eyes rose as he stood from within the cave. I held onto my smug grin as Naxan walked into the pale moonlight, showing everyone his ebony dark scales. It could not be mistaken now what breed my dragon was.

I heard audible gasps from behind me as Naxan fully emerged from the cave's opening. He decided to put on a small show to his audience as he opened his jaws wide in a yawn, stretching out his body and wings. He moved his body elegantly as he was aware of the growing sets of eyes now focused on him.

The boy, who was standing in front of me, took multiple steps back as Naxan towered over him. I didn't blame the kid for moving away from such a fearsome creature but considering the bond we shared, I walked towards him and placed a hand on his scales. I turned to the crowd of people who were gawking at my dragon. One man, however, had his eyes set on me. I couldn't quite decipher the look he was producing, but it made me slightly squeamish.

It was the same look the captain of the hunters had given me when he first discovered I was bonded to a Valairex dragon.