Smoke tickled my throat and stung my eyes. The air around me was slowly being snuffed out by the fire surging around the Academy. The fire was the last of my concerns as I stared at the man before me. His aura seeped through the thick smoke and clung to my skin like tar. He looked human, but my instincts were telling me he was anything but that. The shadows had revealed what was before me, but who? If he was indeed a Kellso, then who was he?

"Navi, dear," Danazzo's voice filled my ears, but now I knew there was someone else controlling it. "As I said before, you're an open book." His sneer shot through his voice with an ugly tone.

"Who are you?" My voice felt weak, but the glare on my face remained solid. More Kellso emerged from the shadows, surrounding us two in a circle. They didn't move after completing their process; they stood back and watched the two of us.

As he circled me, I kept my front facing him, never exposing my back. Plumes of ash fell in my line of vision as I watched where he walked. It looked like snow falling when the winter seasons would plague the lands, snuffing out all life from the earth. Fire was the same way, except it burned fast and killed painfully. I couldn't decipher which threat was worse; being burned alive or having a predator circling in for the kill. Nonetheless, I remained as calm as I could be in such a situation.

Even though flames roared around me, I could still hear the ongoing battle in the next room over. My friends and family were in there fighting off the rest of the demons while I was in here with another I did not know, but they knew me.

"You've been a person of interest to me for quite some time, Navi. A female Valariex dragon rider, unheard of." He chuckled lowly as his eyes came up to scan my face. I refrained from flinching away from his inhuman gaze. He made my skin prickle with a chill even though the room temperature was searing hot. "When I first found out about you, I didn't believe a word I heard, but my sources were quite adamant about your existence."

Realizing I was without a weapon, I discretely scanned the ground for my sword. It was lying behind the Kellso as though he purposely positioned himself between myself and a weapon. I needed to get to it.

"So, I had some of my people follow you around and keep tabs on you and your dragon. I was surprised to find out you had incapacitated one of them. You're not as weak as I originally thought." I sidestepped him as he was talking, inching my way closer to my sword laying behind him.

As he spoke, I was placing the puzzle pieces of his words together. To my knowledge and overall experience, a Kellso possessing another body takes a strong mind, but even then, it isn't easy to do so. The Kellso I came into contact with when I first arrived at the Academy could easily be picked out just by looking at the minor details. Its eyes were completely black, its voice sounded forced and gurgled in its throat, and when it moved, it was almost like an invisible force was holding it back. With this Kellso, its movements were fluid, natural-looking. Its eyes, although inhuman, could still pass off as normal. The Kellso before me had to be stronger. It said it wanted me for whatever plan it had up its sleeve. It had people follow me to watch over my capabilities and to monitor me.

"You're the Kellso King," I merely whispered in complete shock. Here before me stood the leader of our greatest enemy, and no one figured it out.

"Twoleg!" Naxan's fear flowed through me. "Get away from him! Get out!"

"Very good, Navi," He spoke with a fluid tongue. Anger bubbled within my gut as my lashing glare attached to his face. I ignored Naxan's calls of distress as I now knew who was standing before me. I felt disgusted to be talking to such a monster. As the fear left my body, so did all rational thoughts. I made a move to step around him, ducking away from his revolting hands and grabbed my sword in a tight grasp. He may be my greatest enemy and a strong one at that, but he was limited to what he could do in a body that was not of his own.

I stood before him with my sword at the ready, aiming straight toward his chest. "What business do you have with me, demon?" Venom dripped through my teeth as I spoke with a heated rage. The shadows were all but delighted to feel this emotion flowing through my veins. They grew with intensity, the candlelight in the room becoming dimmer with each second.

"That's quite a nasty temper you have. You remind me a lot of your ancestors in that way. They all had such an aggressive nature, especially Raeder Salic." The familiar name rang warning bells in my head, another monster whose existence plagued these lands with death and blood. Thankfully, he was long gone. "Such a pity of his death. I quite liked the man."

I scoffed. "Of course, you would like someone with such an evil nature."

The Kellso King merely smirked. "But of course. That is why I am so rather attracted to you, Navi. What you possess within you is only just coming to life. Your powers mixed with his legendary bloodline. Think of the potential you could have with the proper training. I could offer you far more than that pathetic old man you call a leader."

My grip tightened around my sword as I gave the Kellso a quizzical look. "I may have had a rough start, but that doesn't mean I would ever consider siding with someone like you." Anger surged in my blood as I pointed my sword straighter at the Kellso King. "I'm nothing like Raeder. I'm not a traitor to my own kind."

I didn't expect laughter to fall from the Kellso's mouth after I finished speaking. "You are more alike to Raeder than you know." The Kellso King's smile faded. The action seemed unnatural for the Kellso, but I could see laugh lines spidering over Danazzo's face, making it look like he was used to laughing. "I'll let you in on a secret," He spoke softly as the familiar glint of wickedness filled his eyes. "Raeder never came willingly. He, too, fought against me, that is until I broke his strength of body and mind where there was nothing left of him except the empty husk of his body. He was no longer a man but an empty shell ripe for the taking, and I took it."

My arms felt heavy as I held my sword in front of me. The words the Kellso spoke were reeling within my mind, trying to form together to make sense. My arms dropped completely as I realized what he meant. The Kellso King had taken over Raeder's mind, possessing his body. It wasn't Reader who waged wars or captured those dragons so long ago; it was the leach standing before me.

"So, you see, Navi. You will be mine, willing or not."

I shivered involuntarily at the information I had gathered. My knees became weak with the dizziness pounding at my skull. The lack of oxygen in the Academy was starting to get to me as the flames roared louder and the smoke grew thicker. The Academy was burning to the ground, and I was standing in the middle of it with the last person I would like to be in my company.

I felt Naxan's presence shift from outside. All was silent until he let out a rage-filled cry before slamming his body against the window. It spidered with large deep cracks along the entire wall of glass. Then, he stopped. His anger bubbled into something else, almost a survival instinct. Growls erupted from the shadow of the night as Naxan left the window behind. There was another dragon out there with him, and it was not on our side. I felt the need to run out to Nax, but I could do nothing to help him against another dragon. He would have to fight it on his own as I stood by and watched. This feeling made me antsy, but I was no good to Nax standing in the middle of two fighting dragons.

I returned my gaze to the Kellso, glaring at him as he produced a smug look. "That'll keep him occupied for a while," The Kellso King chuckled as he moved around the room.

I flinched at the sounds of jaws snapping together and pained screams coming from outside. I knew Nax wasn't hurt because of the bond, but I still feared for his safety. But worrying about him wouldn't do us both any good.

As I faced the monster in front of me with my sword raised at the ready, I prepared myself for the fight that would commence. Instead of waiting for the Kellso to figure out my plan, I lunged towards him with my sword pointing straight at him. He was quick and dodged to the side. Moving my footing, I followed in pursuit. He was without a weapon, as far as I could see, so all he could see was dodge out of the way of my attacks. I only had so much room to move for the other Kellso hissed and stretched out their claws toward me, but they never broke rank from the circle they trapped me in.

My burst of energy soon faded into a dull ache where my muscles protested with my every movement. I had exerted the last of my energy into this small battle which would end in me losing the fight. The Kellso seemed to have all the energy in the world as he continued to dance around my sword, mocking me as I missed with each swing. I stopped my assaults, breathing heavily as I focused my burning gaze on him. It was pointless to continue like this if it wasn't getting me anywhere.

"My my, Navi." The Kellso's words met my ears like poison. "Is that all you've got?"

Taking in a deep breath, I regretted it as I felt the smoke strangle my throat. I didn't realize how much I craved fresh air. Even with the hole exposing the outside world, no air seeped in, but the smoke billowed out in thick, rolling clouds. I wasn't sure how much longer I would be able to last. I needed to get out of the Academy before it crumbled on top of me.

Naxan's victorious bellow sounded through the air. I felt relieved as I knew he was now safe. "Nax?"

"Fine, Twoleg." His weight shook the ground as he paced outside.

"Go find some help," I said to my dragon. I could tell he felt useless standing out there and not being able to reach me.

He gave out a gruff "alright" before taking flight. I couldn't hear the sounds of battle any longer, but the flames were much more intense now, where they could just be drowning out the noise.

I refrained from coughing as my strangled breaths became weaker and more ragged, but I wouldn't be seen as weak in front of this monster. That's what he was hoping for. I would stay strong for as long as I was conscious. That would give Naxan enough time to find some help so I could get myself out of this mess.

"You're wearing thin." That was all the Kellso said as he came closer to me. I took a few steps away from him, holding my head up high.

"I still have some fight left in me," I sneered, my teeth clenching together.

The Kellso gave me an amused look from where he stood. "You won't have much of that once I'm done with you."

The feeling of nausea took over my senses as I felt the burning desire to dry heave. I was uncomfortably hot, and I knew the colour from my face was draining into a pasty white. "That won't happen." I seethed, anger taking over. He thought he could break me into nothing and use me for whatever game he wanted me in. That wouldn't happen. Not as long as I was alive and breathing. He would not break my spirit.

His laugh corrupted the air around me as it fell out amusingly. "If I could break Raeder, I can break you. You're weak; breakable. You are nothing." I felt the venom through his words, but I didn't let them get to me. I was more than he realized. I was a female Valariex dragon rider, the first of my kind. He had no idea what he was up against.

I crackled a smile as I heard a commotion coming from outside of the ballroom. Help had arrived. I was not alone in this fight, something that I will forever cherish. I had my friends and family to look out for me. That was a bond that could never be broken.

The Kellso Kings smirk faltered into a glare. He backed out of the circle, and as soon as he was clear, the remaining Kellso charged at me from all sides. Okay, Navi. I said as my surroundings wavered in slow motion. You've got this. I pushed forward and fought off the Kellso, where the King had disappeared. I needed to get to him before he escaped. I took down three Kellso blocking my view, and as I moved forward, I was no longer trapped in the middle of the swarm. Their stone-made bodies crumbled to the floor.

He was gone, vanished into thin air. I had no time to dwell on his whereabouts as I turned to face the Kellso in pursuit of me. As the swarm of bodies dwindled in numbers, I noticed Baylen, Tomi and Fin fighting as well.

"Thanks, Nax," I said as my sword went straight through a wolfish creature's eye socket. Within minutes, the Kellso were dead on the ground, and the Kellso King had escaped with a good head start.

"Navi, are you okay?" Fin came to stand beside me, following my gaze to where the King had retreated to.

I stayed quiet, feeling defeated.

"Navi?" Baylen shook my shoulder. My eyes wandered over the three boys' faces as the same question rolled around my brain. Was I okay? I didn't feel okay, not after hearing what the Kellso King told me.

"How bout we get out of here? Then we'll talk outside." Tomi said as he moved toward the entryway of the ballroom. The structure before us groaned and creaked before giving away in a pile of burning wood and broken stone.

"We'll go through the glass wall. Naxan managed to break enough off that we'll be able to fit through it." I said as I hurriedly backed away from the burning pile. Tomi went first with the help of Fin hoisting him up, being careful not to cut himself on the jagged pieces of glass. Baylen pushed me in front of him to go next. I grabbed onto Tomi's outstretched hand, and he pulled me out of the burning Academy and into the fresh air surrounding us. Then came Baylen and finally fin with the help of the other two pulling him up.

"Nax, we're behind the Academy and coming to the front."

Naxan's response was humming through the bond. As we made our way to the front, I saw a large crowd had formed in front of the Academy. Medical care was being provided to those with severe injuries, and Colin was rushing around like a concerned mother hen.

My first instinct was to find my family. I broke ranks from my friends and darted toward the large crowd, scanning over the faces until I spotted someone familiar. I noticed Ronan was sitting with my two brothers. As I rushed over to them, I noted they were pretty much unharmed except for Keaton's shoulder, which was dangling and hanging limp at his side.

"Navi!" Chay called over once he noticed my approaching form. I smiled softly before my eyes wandered back to Keaton's arm.

"What happened?"

Keaton blew out a heated breath as he glared at the ground. "Of all things, the roof came down on top of me. I think my arm's broken."

My fingers twitched to heal him. I hoped I had enough energy left in me. "May I?" I asked as I reached for his arm.

"What are you going to do?" He asked with a quizzical look on his face.

"Just watch," I calmly spoke as I held onto his arm. The shadows rose to meet my calling. Although I wanted to heal my brother's arm, I couldn't ignore their desire to break it even further. I had to do some separation training of when I heal or further harm someone. Ignoring their whispers of harming Keaton, I let my powers flow through me and into his arm, where I heard a satisfying snap as his bone moulded back together.

"What?!" Keaton's voice was nearing a scream as he stared at his now functional arm.

I smiled softly as I sat on the grass to regain my vision. As I did so, I noticed my mom was nowhere to be seen. "Wait, where's mom?"