Draeyer Academy (First Ver.)

Chapter 1-The Theft

Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space

"Drae's shit!" a man swore as he sat straight in his seat. Papers cluttering his office desk stuck to his face. He groaned as he heard another knock from his double doors, and did his best to make himself, and his table, presentable.

"Come in," he said, as he stifled a yawn. One of the doors flew open with a creak that filled the silence in his grey and red office. A mop of black hair peeped out, before he saw the face of its owner.

"Did I ruin your sleep Professor Gael?" a boy said. He strode into the room with a stack of papers in his hand. Gael wanted to shudder at the sight, as he gave a side glance to the unfinished heaps of files still stacked on his desk.

"I was not sleeping, Knox," he said to him. Knox's face remained solemn as he placed the papers on his teacher's desk.

"As you say, Professor," he said and bowed. He was about to leave, but stopped when his hand touched the doorknob. Fixing his gaze back on the older man, he spoke again.

"I think it's best if you wipe away the ink from your cheeks, if you don't want the headmaster to mistake your face for one of his documents."

With that, he jerked open the door and dashed out of the room before his teacher could utter a word. Gael sat there with an open mouth at what his student said. He jumped out of his seat and made his way over to a cabinet with a long mirror.

He groaned once more when his eyes landed on the ink letters marring his face. It stuck so well, it almost looked readable if you faced a mirror. The most evident words were "Draeyer Academy" and the school seal, a silhouette of a baby Drae curled inside a circle.

He grabbed a cloth and proceeded to remove the writing as best he could. A couple of minutes later, only small black smudges were left on his cheeks as he went back to his table. He decided to clean up and sort out the files.

Once done, he glanced out his office's large window and saw the dusking sky. Shades of purple, orange and yellow filled the blue as the sun set beneath the clouds of the infinite sky. It would be dark soon, and he decided to go night riding with his Drae once the twin moons start to glow.

With every file tucked away and well organized, he left his office. As he stepped out into the white-walled hallways with red carpeting, he felt odd at the absence of the usual animated chatter of the students. He then cursed himself in silence when he remembered that classes ended hours ago, and the students were probably comfortable in their dormitories already.

His boots made faint thumps on the carpet as he passed through the halls. He felt unused to the silence, seeing that it was the first time he stayed late in the academy building. As he strode passed a hallway, he caught movement from the corner of his eye. He stopped in his tracks and turned his attention to his right. At the end of the hall his gaze landed on a set of stairs spiraling up. He knew full well that it was the steps of Ruby Tower, the tallest tower that overlooked the entire Drae Skyland, including the smaller skylands connected to it.

In his musings, he was unable to fathom how he ended up at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at the serpentine steps. Confusion filled him once he heard a set of footsteps from above him.

This place is restricted to anyone except the headmaster, he thought with knit brows. Then the footsteps stopped at once. He strained his ears once more, but after a couple of minutes standing there, he heard nothing but silence. He shook his head and prepared to leave. A clang resonated from the top, causing his head to jerk toward its direction. The sound of footsteps drifted to his ears like earlier, earning a frown from him.

Deciding that somebody was indeed up there, he ascended the stairs, disregarding the thought that the tower was off limits. His feet carried him on the steps as swift as the wind that blew throughout Kosmiks. He sighed when he reached the top after minutes of climbing.

"I need to stop cooping myself up in that stupid office," he whispered.

Another noise came from the only door in front of him. It stood at the end of the hall lined with white pillars. The place was spotless, not a hint of dirt could be seen, and caused him to wonder who came up here to keep it that way. Without hesitation, he made his way to the door, as his feet padded over the grey stone floor. His hand hovered over the knob, before he turned it and pushed the oak open.

His eyes widened in an instant as his gaze landed on the objects in the room. Glass pedestals lined up in rows in the square room. Inside the glass he spotted egg-shaped stones with different patterns.

"Drae eggs?" he said with knit brows. At least he was sure they were Drae Eggs. Instead of the bright colors, and the metallic shine at the top of the eggs, they were all grey. They resembled replicas of eggs carved from stone.

He looked up, and spotted a collection of swords which hung on the walls. He took a couple of steps towards one pedestal, but a sound made him pause. He whirled his head to it, and spotted a person in a black cloak, with a mask covering the lower part of his face. And through that, Gael saw the surprise in the person's grass-green eyes.

As if snapping out from both their daze, Gael lunged after him as the cloaked man darted toward a window. The latter got there in time, and he slid on the floor.

His outstretched foot connected with the person's shin. The intruder rolled on the floor once he fell, but jumped upright at once. He twirled and threw a knife at Gael's direction.

The teacher rolled away before it embedded itself on his throat. As the blade bounced off the floor, Gael took the opportunity and grabbed its hilt. He threw it back to its owner before he jumped out the window. It tore a piece of the person's cloak and buried itself on the wall. The cloaked figure hopped off the windowsill without a hint of hesitation.

Gael stood at once, and ran to the large window. Before he reached it, a gust of wind pushed him back on his rear end. He looked up in time to see a flash of red wings, and the back of a scaled creature. Once he saw the metallic shine on its upper side, from the wings, back, and tail, he knew what it was.

"A Drae," he said. His eyes flickered to the cloaked person that rode on its back.

"What the Blazen Gate!" a raspy voice came from behind him. He turned and his eyes widened.

"Headmaster Donovan," Gael said as he stood. At once, he noticed the ashen look on the old man's face as he stared at the flying figures that grew smaller as they made their escape.

"This is bad...I hope he didn't...." Donovan was unable to form a proper sentence. He fumbled around with his attire until he pulled out a key. The pale look on his face disappeared, as his face became a mask of seriousness.

He moved further into one corner of the room, and stood in front of a painting of the academy in the olden days. Gael watched from behind, as he pulled the art off the wall. The younger man's eyes widened when he saw a small metal compartment behind it. With the key, the small door flew open. Gael watched as the headmaster clutched the open door as they peered into the small space with nothing but an empty glass pedestal.

"Gael," Donovan called.

He tensed at once after hearing the seriousness in the old man's tone. He was used to seeing him with smiles and mischievous looks in his eyes as he talked or when he was planning something in that cunning mind of his. Seeing him like this, was unusual and rather concerning, at least to him. His mind snapped back to the present when Donovan spoke.

"Form a team," he said. "We must find it, at once."