Draeyer Academy
Drae Skyland
Northeastern Space
"Yes! Finally you can have lunch with us again!" Solana yelled to her. Areisha shook her head as she chuckled. She moved closer to chair and sat in front of the table. Emera scampered to the other side of the table where Dia was busy eating her raw meat.
"My extra subjects have been moved, so yes I can join you guys from now on," she said. At that moment, a server came and placed her plate of meat and vegetables. She looked up when Knox came back carrying a tray of sweets. She shook her head.
"Where's Alec?" he asked when he sat down. Areisha turned her attention back to her meal and resumed eating, at the same time keeping her ears open to their conversation.
"Head Ryder Kreis arrived earlier and dragged him somewhere. He should be back any moment," Solana said. She filled her mouth with her usual salad of fruits and veggies. All of a sudden though, she stopped. Her head turned to Areisha as she swallowed the food in her mouth. A bright smile appeared on her face and Areisha couldn't help but wonder what was in her mind. "Have you seen the sheet posted on the announcement board?"
At her words, Areisha rolled her eyes and released an annoyed groan. On her way to the cafeteria, she saw it and it almost soured her mood. It was the results for their recent examinations.
"I assume the groan means yes," Solana giggled.
"Oh that's right," Knox said, "you and Alec are tied at 1st in the ranking! Somehow I wasn't surprised." The twins suddenly burst out laughing and luckily she had control over her mind and stopped herself from shoving their faces on top of their meals.
"Why are you all laughing?"
Their attention fell on the approaching Alec. He was busy fixing the sling which held his injured arm. He then helped his triplets first on to the table and they began eating with Dia and Emera. He moved over and sat next to Knox.
Areisha's eyes fell on the object in his hand. It was half of her forearm's length and covered by a piece of brown cloth held by a string. Solana and Knox seemed to have noticed it too.
"What's that? Did Mr. Kreis give it to you?" Solana said as she pointed at the object. Areisha still hadn't taken her eyes off of it.
"Just something I asked him to return," Alec said. A lady came and gave him his food, and soon he was eating quietly while watching the Draelings on the other end of the table.
"Can I see it?" As always, Solana's curiosity―more like nosiness―took over again. When she finished she made a move to grab the object but Alec snagged it before her fingers reached.
"No," Alec said simply.
"Please?"
"No."
"I'll give you strawberries!"
"Tempting," Alec said. "But no means no."
"Oh Grandma Eden, are those strawberries for Alec?" Solana asked.
Alec turned his head behind him to look, as well as Knox. Areisha could only shake her head at the two for falling in to her best friend's trap. Like lightning, Solana tore the item from Alec's hand. She raised it above her head with a triumphant smile on her face. Areisha forced herself to ignore their schoolmates who stopped eating and watched them.
She almost jumped on her seat when Alec stood. He slammed his palm―the one on his good arm―on the table so loudly that the students around them quieted. He had a frown of irritation etched on his face.
"You know, your love for those berries will be the death of you someday," Solana commented.
"Give it back Solana." Alec said as he reached for it, only to have Solana jump away from her seat. "Give it now."
A crease formed between her brows when she saw Alec glance at her from the corner of his eyes. There was something akin to fear or apprehension in their pale blue depths.
"No," Solana said. Right after she spoke, she tugged on the string holding the cloth. It came undone and the fabric fell on top the table.
Once she saw the object, it was as if time stopped. Her gaze ran over the shining metal blade all the way to the black hilt decorated with small sapphire stones. It was a dagger she was too familiar with. Her mother's dagger.
"One day, I'm going to give this dagger to you," she heard her mother's kind and loving voice. "But you must be strong enough by then, all right?"
She shook herself out of the memory and stood from the blue-cushioned bench. With shaking fists, she narrowed her eyes at Alec while she spoke in a low tone.
"Why do you have that?"
Alec tensed as he met her gaze. He broke away and picked up the cloth. He took the blade from Solana and wrapped the fabric around it. Her friend had a light frown of confusion on her face as she stared back and forth between her and Alec. Without any more words, he left with his Draelings trailing close to his heels.
Areisha stood there amidst the stares of her friends and schoolmates directed at her. She ignored them and followed after Alec who disappeared behind the doors of the cafeteria. With heavy stomps on the shiny stone floor, she ran out of the large room. Her eyes darted around to find Alec and she saw him heading further into the East Wing of the building.
The few students in the hallway whirled their attention to her when she zoomed passed them. However, she paid them no attention. She reached Alec in a matter of moments and grasped a fist full of his school jacket. He stopped in his tracks. The triplet Draes jumped to the side and looked on with curious amber eyes. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Emera sitting close to them.
"Why do you have my mother's dagger!" she yelled. They were alone in that hall. "Answer me, Arden!"
She removed her hand when he turned to face her. When she saw the stone look in his icy eyes, she had the sudden urge to punch him. Not now, she thought.
They continued their staring contest, none of them daring to break away from the other's gaze. As moments passed, Areisha's urge to beat his face with her fists got worse.
"I can't tell you. I'm sorry," he said. She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination but she heard something snap from inside her. She swung her right fist and it hit an unsuspecting Alec square on the face. He stumbled back as he groaned, but managed stop himself from losing his balance. One hand covered his bleeding nose as he panted. The Draelings released an earsplitting shriek. Alec raised a hand toward them and they stopped any attempts to approach them.
"Don't give me that 'I'm sorry' shit! I've had enough of everyone using that as a bloody excuse to hide things from me!" she said. When she was angry, she couldn't really stop profanities from escaping her mouth. Not that she wanted it to stop. "I'll ask again. Why do you have Erinna Roselintine's dagger?"
When he kept quiet and stared hard at the ground, it didn't help her calm even for a bit.
"That dagger was lost when Mother was...was...murdered," she panted out through the pain of recalling the memory. "I've been searching for it ever since...and then I'll learn that all along you had it! Don't tell me you―"
"I had nothing to do with your mother's death."
"No," she said. "But maybe your father or your brother―"
"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.