Draeyer Academy (First Ver.)

Chapter 40-Flames

"Alen knew nothing about this dagger!" Alec yelled. His nostrils flared. He had the same anger in his eyes when Professor Gravis insulted his brother a few weeks ago. He wiped the blood away from his nose, staining the white sleeve of his jacket red.

"Then tell me why you have it!"

"I already told you!" he roared. "It's not something for you to know!"

In a flash, Areisha lunged and aimed another punch. This time Alec was ready. He caught her fist and twisted it behind her back. She gritted her teeth to prevent a sound from escaping her mouth. Alec's injured arm came to her front and prevented her escape. However, she was quick to free her other arm and she elbowed his injury. It was underhanded, but she could care less.

Alec yelled in pain, and he let her go. He stumbled back, clutching his left arm to his chest. She saw the blood which seeped in to his coat and she suppressed the guilt for opening up his wounds. Their Draelings had shrieked once more, but they seemed to heed Alec's command to stay where they were.

"You don't want to make an enemy of me, Roselintine," he said through gritted teeth. "Whether you're a girl or not, if you use up my patience I won't spare you any mercy!"

Areisha was unable to stop herself from flinching at the dangerous edge in his tone. She felt the chill coming from his body. His eyes had turned a shade darker than they were before. It reminded her of their exchange back at the dorm after the snake-incident. He had the look in his eyes similar to predator's ready to shred his prey into pieces. And it had instilled fear in her being.

Even so, she ran forward and pressed him against the wall. Once again, he yelled out in pain when she used her hand to press against his bleeding arm. Her other arm was pinned against his chest. The neck would've been a better spot if only she wasn't shorter compared to him.

"Tell me!"

"Isha, Lec," Solana's voice rang out. "Stop it!"

However, she paid no attention to her and continued staring up at Alec's cold and darkened eyes.

"Burn in Blazen!" he said.

With cry of rage, she grabbed his collar. Using all her strength, she threw his large frame over her shoulder and he flew to the other side of the room. There seemed to be more blood flowing down his arm, and it stained the floor as he rolled over it. At the moment, she realized that the pain must've been making it hard for him to fight back. She couldn't help but wonder what the situation would have been if he was in top condition. I'll probably be close to the losing end, she thought.

Solana appeared by her side, and twisted her arms behind her back. "Isha stop this at once! You're going to kill each other!"

Areisha turned to look at Alec to find Knox and a few of the other prefects cautiously approaching him. He had a dark look in his eyes as he glared at her.

Like lightning, he sprinted across the hall and his blue Flame combusted on his raised fist. Areisha broke free from Solana and copied him, coating her hand with green fire.

In the next moment, she caught his fist and their Flames roared against each other's hand. Their powers spiraled around their arms as they each exerted strength to keep the other at bay. Their hands didn't seem to move despite the obvious frown of effort they both had on their faces. They were tied.

All of a sudden, the Flames vanished. A moment later it appeared between their hands. First it was a small ball of blue and green. It abruptly grew in size, shoving her and Alec to opposite directions. When she hit the wall, she covered her eyes from the blinding light which came from their Flames. There was a loud boom, and she felt the tremors which came from it. She then felt a force pin her further on to the wall, knocking the breath out of her. It was cold, yet had the texture of the vines which she would often command to form from her Flame.

When she regained her breathing, she forced her eyes to flutter open. Her eyes stopped fluttering and remained wide open. On the spot where their Flames had clashed, tall plants had grown and turned the area into a small jungle, minus the trees. She was trapped and pinned by vines with thickness that could compare to grown tree trunks. The only difference was, instead of the green color, the plants varied from icy blue to snowy white.

Looking over the weird colored vegetation, she saw Alec's unconscious form draped over a thick vine. Blood still dripped from his arm. Then she saw his triplet Draelings flying toward him with worried growls.

Moving her head to the left, she saw Solana and Knox, along with the other students. Their eyes were wide as they stared at result of the two's clash. It was definitely something to be surprised about.

"Alec!"

She saw the Head Ryder of the First Regiment, followed by Professor Gael. They separated. The former ran for Alec, while the professor headed for her. They ducked and hopped over the plants until they reached each of them. She ignored Gael as she watched Kreis bring Alec down from his position on the vine.

"Kid, wake up! Damn it!" Kreis yelled. After checking on him for a few more seconds, he spoke. "Headmaster, we need to take him to the nearest hospital!"

"We need to take them both to the nearest hospital!" Gael yelled. Only then did Areisha notice his hand pressed against the side above her waist. She looked down and saw a lot of blood incessantly dripping down her side. The vine next to her had an icy pointed tip which cut her. The blood on it was proof enough.

No wonder she had felt weaker than she should've been.

The hand she used to catch Alec's fist felt numb, and when she looked, thick ice had encased it. She sighed in relief when she noted it wasn't frozen to the very core like the snake from before.

Her eyes slowly fluttered closed as the tiredness seeped in to her body. The last thing she heard was the headmaster's voice giving orders, before she gave in to unconsciousness.