Once fertilized with rich soil, sprawling yards of green grass, expansive fields growing wide varieties of crops, and bustling with hardworking farmers, Mavis was now a desolate and deserted ghost town riddled with death and rot. The sporadic patches of grass were dry and yellow, the crops were brown and shriveled, and the people had either been killed or evacuated due to the recent demon attacks. I couldn't understand what three demons and a demon shifter could have wanted here – and now my chance to ask had retreated into the sky.

"My father has been discussing the uptick in demon attacks with his Consul," I said, deliberately leaving out the part about my attendance at today's meeting, "and it's a bit unnerving to see him worried. Random demon sightings are one thing, but a rogue shifter in Mavis is concerning. I would have thought he would be fighting in the war with his kingdom's military - not exploring this area alone."

"It makes sense if you think about it. We have scouts who venture into the demons' territory and most of those Ravos demons were once Draconians,and their descendants, who fell to evil and were exiled for their excessivegreed for power. That shifter could have been a Ravos scout looking for herbs or any surviving crops in our region," Racquel explained.

"I guess you're right," I agreed. "I'm just hoping that shifter goes back to Ravos and doesn't come back."

It was unlikely the demon had left for good, and he was probably telling his kingdom about our encounter. I still wasn't sure what he had done to me, but I knew enough that I didn't want him informing the Ravos about what he'd seen poking around in my head.

Racquel was silent for several seconds and scrunched his brows in thought. Shaking his head, he forced a smile and said, "Let's just focus on getting assigned our Duty and working towards graduation. Come on, we should head back to the academy now."

Removing the iridescent dragon scale from my pocket, I rubbed the smooth surface with my thumb until it heated in my palm. Neon blue flames erupted on the ground in front of me, hitting me with a blast of heat as a dragon burst from the Frost Fire. Standing at just ten feet tall, the Frost Fire Dragon was one of the smaller breeds, but she made up for her size with her fierceness and unique Frost Fire breathing ability.

Serene opened her white wings and the moon reflected off her iridescent scales as she brought her head down to my level. Shutting her golden eyes, she nudged my hand and sat on her haunches as her tail swirled with excitement, kicking up gusts of dust as the puff of fur on the tip of her tail moved around in the dirt. With a grin, I scratched the furry spot between her horns and massaged under her chin, causing her to scrunch her snout in pleasure and release hot steam from her nostrils.

"Okay, okay. We're going to head back to Insignia Academy now, Serene," I said as she lowered her head to the ground. I kicked a leg over her neck and grabbed onto her horns as I hefted myself up and took a seat. Shooting a look over my shoulder at Racquel as Serene lifted her head, I found him adjusting himself on his larger, yellow-scaled dragon. Racquel's Insignia marked the center of his dragon's forehead, and I felt a pang of jealousy as I focused on the circle surrounding the symbol of his power – a pair of hands bound together by a bandage.

"Ready?" I shouted at my fellow Dragon Summoner.

Racquel patted the side of his dragon's head with a nod, and they took off into the night sky. Serene bounded after them, needing to gain speed on the ground before following them in the air. She took a leap and expanded her wings, pumping them hard a few times as she lifted off.

The cool air whipped my cheeks, but growing up in the Wrexial Mountains of the Nyrial Empire had accustomed me to the freezing temperatures. Serene's body heat warmed me as we gained altitude, flying vertically alongside the mountain until we approached the academy at the cliff of the one of the highest points of the mountain, Latovia. The temperatures dropped significantly, and I was thankful for the lined cloak wrapped around my shoulders as Serene landed beside Racquel's Gaseous Dragon named Rays on the path leading to the building. The mountain's cliff jutted out above the academy. A deep cave hollowed out the inside of the mountain next to the building.

"Thank you," I said to my Frost Fire Dragon as I slid off her neck. She huffed steam from her nose again and trudged towards the edge of the cliff to sleep. Rays followed her as Racquel stood beside me on the stone path. The dragons flew to the cave formed under the overhang of the cliff and dug their talons into the ceiling to hang upside down and rest for the night.

The adrenaline had worn off and my legs trembled as Racquel and I approached the academy. The obsidian triple story structure gleamed in the waning moonlight and the stars from the sky seemed to sparkle on the dark walls. Even the drifting clouds floated along the walls as if the sky were projecting itself onto the building. The academy might as well have been a castle for how large it was. It dominated the entire cliff and had several thick horizontal pillars for dragons to perch while their Summoners went to class. Insignia Academy rested on the edge of the Wrexial Mountain and overlooked the expansive lake of crystal blue waters below.

Our footsteps crunched through the snow as we worked our way along the path. Racquel opened the heavy door for me, and I stepped inside the massive entranceway. Two hallways branched off on either side of the spiral staircase leading up the domed section in the middle of the building. The domed ceiling was painted with dragons in flight and the back wall was made up of a floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the cliff and lake below.

We turned down the hallway to the right. Wooden arches lined the hallway as we navigated our way to our classroom. More dragons were painted across the ceiling, some breathing fire and ice, others gas, one frost fire, and a few magma spewers were present.

Just as we reached the double wooden doors to the auditorium, Racquel grabbed my wrist and hushed, "Don't tell anyone about the Demon Shifter."

Caught off-guard, I asked, "What? Why not? We should send Hunters or Scouts to the area to find him."

Racquel shook his head, grabbing the door handle as he turned his sad eyes to me. "You're the Emperor's daughter, but you also don't have an Insignia yet. You might be seen as weak for being powerless and letting a Shifter go. Our classmates haven't exactly hidden their...disdain for you and I don't want to give them another reason to come after you."

"Oh." I scratched my palm, catching sight of Racquel's Insignia as he held the door open for me again and gestured for me to go ahead of him. He followed my line of sight to his palm and looked like he felt guilty about having a power.

Once inside, I found my friends as they boasted about their night's events to each other. Excitement buzzed throughout the amphitheater, but I wanted nothing more than to just go home and sleep in my bed. I was disappointed in myself even though we'd been able to kill three demons. My mistake of letting the Shifter flee clouded the victories we'd made. I was in no mood to find out which pair of Draconians won the challenge and which advantage they'd be granted in the next challenge.

"Aeryn!"

I glanced up to find Penn race down the stairs as she barreled toward me. Her short, dark hair flew away from her face, displaying her high cheekbones and her thin, angular eyes outlined in thick eyeliner. Her hair was strewn between the small brown horns on her head and her hazel eyes lit up as she held up a severed bone finger, poking me in the nose with it.

"Eugh!" I gagged, swatting her hand away.

Penn laughed and buried the finger in the deep pocket of her brown leather cloak. "Bastion and I cut that off a Demon Shifter. How'd you two do?"

Bastion's dark blue eyes hardened as he watched Penn pocket the finger and he met my eyes over her shoulder, worry drawing his light eyebrows together. He opened his mouth to say something to me as he skirted around Penn, but Racquel hurried to answer Penn's question.

His tan cheeks flushed as he answered, "Not bad for being assigned to Mavis. I thought there wouldn't be any demons around after the entire town was destroyed months ago. We killed three demons."

Penn smoothed down her hair and tucked it behind her ears decked out in gold hoops, explaining, "Nice! We were able to take down seven demons in Solas."

A simultaneous hush descended in the auditorium as Instructor Bayer walked out on the stage. His gray hair was slicked back like always and his thick mustache faded to white as the days went on, aging him. I took a seat next to Penn towards the front of the room as we turned our attention to the teacher. Just as Racquel bent to take the seat on the other side of me, Bastion nudged the smaller draconian summoner out of the way and sat.

Standing behind the podium, Instructor Bayer plucked the wire-rimmed glasses from his face and scanned the crowd. He adjusted the microphone to align with his mouth as he voiced the question of the night.

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What do you think about Chapter Four?

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