Draeyer Academy (Rewrite)

Chapter 5-Bickering Men

Alec let out a small sigh. He turned to look at the wares and his eyes caught sigth of some earrings. The earrings were not meant for humans, judging from the size. It was meant for an adult drae. His gaze was drawn towards a silver earring with a small gem. The gem was same light blue color as his eyes.

He smiled. Alec had noticed that his new friend liked shiny things. It would make a perfect gift for the drae. He turned to ask one of Granny Rey's helpers to wrap the earring and asked for sweet dried fruits and meat.

Granny Rey noticed his purchase, and raised a brow. She looked like she was about to ask him something but held back. Instead, she gave a small smile and nodded at him.

Alec had no idea what to make of it.

Soon enough, Alec left the stall with his purchases. As he walked, he noticed a group of people gathered near the mouth of the square. Two of them were having quite a loud conversation near the outside of the square.

"Why are we in this blasted place?" A man with blonde hair and brown eyes said.

"You have the audacity to complain? You were the one who insisted on coming along, even though your subordinates were enough," The second man, black haired and green-eyed said.

The rest, probably the subordinates mentioned, had fed up looks in their eyes. It looked like it wasn't the first time the two men had the same conversation.

Alec glanced at them for a moment more, before passing by, heading for his home.

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Hours later, he sat down on the edge of his still messy bed, and sighed. His attention went to the open window and stared at the white landscape, hoping to spot a familiar red that he had grown fond of the last couple of weeks. The drae was still nowhere to be seen.

He stood and dressed in his warm wool clothes, before heading out the door. He took his fur coat that hung next on it before he went out into the freezing air. He scanned the surroundings from left to right, before his boots made scrunching noises on the snow.

Figuring that the drae was near the Edge again, he decided to trudge up the snow-covered path that led there. Once he was almost there, his eyes widened when he saw the drae's large footprints. But, what surprised him the most was the blood that covered the snow with it. His brows knit in worry as he fell into a run, following the tracks.

Minutes passed, his worry growing, only to pause in his steps as his eyes grew big at the figure ahead of him. The red drae lay on the cold ground as growls and hisses of pain escaped its mouth. He ran to it, and bent on one knee in front of its head. The creature peeled one of its scaly eyelids open to regard his presence.

"What's wrong?" Alec said. He reached a hand out and rubbed soothing patterns on its head and snout. The drae's teeth retracted into its mouth as soft whines reverberated in its throat. It leaned into Alec's touch, as if trying to draw out comfort from his presence.

Alec turned his attention to the rest of its body, when it lifted one of its wings. His mouth fell open, as his brows knit in anger and worry. There on the spot, just below where its wings connected with its shoulder, a sword could be seen half-way buried through its flesh. Crimson blood kept flowing out of the creature. Its scale color made it hard for him to notice at first glance.

"Shit," he said to the beast. He stood and positioned himself so he faced the sword. As he reached out to touch it, he felt a presence behind him. Before he could do anything though, he felt cold thin metal pressed against the side of his neck.

"Go ahead and try to pull it out, kid," a low voice said, "I'll make sure to cut at least one limb off you."

Instead of tensing, Alec inhaled quietly and let his shoulders relax. He loosened his fingers when he noticed that they clenched into fists. As his form sagged, he felt the sword dig a bit more on his skin, almost enough to draw blood.

"You did this?" he said more than loud enough for him to hear. His voice came out hoarse from unused to speaking in such a high volume.

"If I did?" was the reply he received.

In one swift motion, Alec twisted and elbowed the man's sword arm. The weapon fell to the snow, earning a grunt of pain from its owner. He followed his attack with a kick at the man's gut, but the man blocked it with his other hand. Even so, the force he used was great that the man stumbled a few feet away.

Alec spun once more, bending one knee, as the other stretched out behind him. In the process, he reached into his boots and pulled out five of his daggers. He thanked the Almighty Kosmos that he was too lazy to remove them from his boots. The knives whooshed through the air, as he aimed it at his target.

Alec saw how the older man's brown eyes grew big, before he pulling out a dagger from his waist. With consecutive strokes from right to left, he parried the knives that aimed at his shoulders, knees, and stomach. While he was preoccupied with the blades, Alec reached for another dagger. As the man parried the fifth dagger, he failed to see the sixth one. His cry of pain rang through the air as the blade embedded itself on his shoulder.

"Bastard!" the man hissed at him.

Before Alec could say a word though, he felt an unimaginable amount of pain on his head. Black dots danced in his vision as his body went limp and fell to the snow.

"Gael, he was mine!" the brown-eyed man yelled to somebody behind him.

Even with the pain, Alec forced his head to turn to his other attacker, curious of who managed to sneak behind him. He did not feel his attacker's presence at all, like how he did not notice the brow-eyed man. Clear green eyes stared at him with an odd mix of suspicion and curiosity.

It's the bickering men from earlier this morning, he realized.

He watched as the green-eyed man frowned, before darkness embraced his mind.

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Alec, meet CHAOS DUO!