An unexpected foe

Aurelia

I didn't know life could get any better than this. Our days consisted of a similar pattern, we got up early, trained together before eating and packing up our small camp. We would ride every day for as long as we could. Kairios and I found moments here and there to be alone together, those were my favorite parts of the day.

Saira and I became closer as we grew closer to her father's lands. She would confide her fears about being caught by him, to face whatever cruel plan he could come up with if she was found alive. She was still bothered by the news of her death, it hurt to know that no one looked for her or believed she could still be alive.

We were about to cross the Warlock borders; I could smell the burnt and ashen lands long before we could see anything. Now passed the mountains, I could see the true devastation that was Saira's lands. There was nothing growing anywhere and the ground was covered in ash.

We tried to stay off the roads as much as possible to avoid anyone spotting Saira we needed to stay unseen throughout our little detour. As we got closer to the Warlock capital, my nightmares got worse. It seemed that every day I woke up from the same dream.

It was the same dark room, same blue fire, same table bed and chairs. The darkness always spoke about remembering what to place and the blood. I still had no idea what blood I was to remember and the room was completely unfamiliar to me.

I didn't tell Kairios or Saira about my dreams, they seemed crazy and irrelevant to my current task. The only purpose they served was to keep me tired. My mental energy seems drained but that was something to worry about later.

Today we would arrive at the Capitol and Academy would be in our reach. Our plan seemed simple, we would fly into the city in the middle of night, then we would enter the Academy. If we could find the book and leave the same way we came in, if no one saw us we would be free.

Flying into the city with the hardest part. I was large and strong enough to carry them, but I was large. It wasn't a regular sight to see a dragon with an elf on her back and a warlock in her arms. Our whole plan was everyone would be asleep and from what we could see, the guards on the walls would be bored or distracted by gambling and drinking.

Night soon fell and we had to get ready. We would only take what we needed to defend ourselves. Kairios carried both our bows and our swords. Saira was going to try and use a spell to hide us from any eyes wondering the sky. She wasn't very good at hiding all of us for very long. As I shifted to my dragon form our plan started to seem a little less simple.

It was time to go, the moon was high in the night sky and the city grew quiet. Kairios climbed on my back and I grabbed Saira as I flew into the air. The wind felt amazing under my wings. When all this was over, I planned to fly whenever I could. As we approached the walls my heart began to beat faster. Saira was chanting her spell and my scales felt a cool tingled, I hoped it was her covering us.

I flew right over the walls and landed in an alley way. No one saw us, no alarms were ringing. I didn't feel any sense of relief, we still had a long way to go. Saira knew the city and kept us in alleys and shadows. We came up to the academy and I was in awe.

Where its lands were ugly and burnt, this was the opposite. The entry was filled with murals and statues. They all depicted great warlocks casting great spells. They all reminded me of death and greed. We walked the halls openly, there were no more shadows to hide us.

"The library is down this hallway."

The hallways in this place seemed endless. There was no way any random person could walk into the library; this was a clear reason they had no guards. The history and spells were safe without being watched.

When we finally walked into the library I was again in awe. The walls were covered with shelves filled with books or scrolls. The center of the room had tables with lamps to study by. We followed Saira to the back of the massive Library. She walked up to a shelve that was covered with dust. It looked like it hadn't been touched in many years. Thats where she pulled some scrolls out and found a book wrapped in a scarf. She put the book inside her jacket and stood up.

"We need to leave now."

"You can try but you won't get far." A voice we didn't recognize said as a young man stepped out from behind a bookshelf.

We spun around drawing our bows. I shot at him but my arrow hit an invisible shield.

" I knew you would be back. When father told me the drop off for you was missed that it had to be a matter of time before you returned to the library. I can't say I missed you, sister."

"Little brother, I almost didn't recognize you. I knew father and Aideous wanted me gone. I should have known you were involved too."

This was an unexpected turn. Her youngest brother had been waiting for us. We haven't known it but we walked right into his trap. I had to think quickly. I had to get this guy out of the way, then find any big open window or roof top. First things first, getting out of this room as fast as possible.

"Surrender to me now and your friends won't get hurt. You can't escape me; my powers have grown stronger than you can imagine."

" I'll never give in to you."

He raised his hand and a bolt of magic crashed into Saira knocking her to the ground. Kairios used the opportunity to strike. Luckily Saira wasn't killed just stunned. Distracted by Kairios Saira's brother didn't see her get up and cast her own spell on him. She covered him in a shimmery haze, stopping him from moving now frozen in an attack stance.

"Come on, we have to go quickly someone else might be coming. "

"Take us to the nearest window. It has to be big; we can't go out the front and fly around out there. We need to be in the air as quick as possible."

We left the library, Saira took us down a different hallway that climbed upwards. It wasn't long before we heard footsteps behind us.

"Someone's behind us already!"

"Are we close to a way out?"

"Close, we have to go through those doors and then the balcony to take off from. You'll have to change fast."

" Kairios take my weapons."

With the door coming closer I start to rip off my clothes when we burst through, I start to change. Forcing it this hard hurt a lot. Pushing through the pain I fully change my Wings spread out and I crouched down for Kairios to climb on. I jumped up into the air as the doors burst open behind us. I grabbed onto Saira and climb higher as fast as I can.

I can feel the heat of his spell as it gets closer, just in time I see it's going to hit Saira. I rolled taking the spell fully into my side. I roar from the pain, it's the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. Feeling close to passing out and start to fall out of the sky.

Using all my willpower, I fly into the cover of the very few is trees lining the mountains. Giving way to blackness I crashed into the ground.