I groaned, feeling like a million demons had assaulted me, and swiped a hand down my face. Tender bruises were peppered all over my body and I ached in places I didn't even know I could. I huffed a giant sigh and flopped against the cushiony pillows on the canopy bed I seldom used. Last night's events came rushing back to me and I squeezed my eyes shut tight enough for red and orange spots to dance behind my eyelids in the afternoon sunlight streaming through my bedroom window.

I didn't want to think about the demons or Bastion.

Or Zoran.

I wanted to think about nothing at all.

There was no way I could tell my father about the demon attack in Garrenth without disclosing the Dracnae's location. It was scary to think about the immense number of demons that charged through the cave. Our walls were better off keeping the demons in our empire rather than outside it.

I had arrived back at the Nyrial Castle just as the sun had started to rise behind the mountains. I'd traded Bastion's Ravos robes for my clothes back at the cave's entrance in Garrenth and summoned Rays to take me back home. He'd kept pestering me with questions, but I stared off into the distance, supplying him with minimal, vague answers until he'd given up on his grilling.

My father was holding another Remembrance Ceremony tonight for the students who died during our last challenge at Insignia Academy. I was already dreading attending the ceremony and debated whether I should even make an appearance at all.

Misty's body wouldn't be burned on a pyre. Her flesh and bones had been disintegrated by the Curse coursing through her veins. I couldn't go to the Remembrance Ceremony honoring the friend I'd killed. It felt wrong on so many different levels - not to mention I couldn't show my face in front of Pallonia's and Derryn's families.

So, I didn't go to pay my respects to the fallen at the ceremony. Instead, I stayed in my stiff bedroom and stared at the ceiling as bonfires burned in the distance at Clear Water.

I wasn't sure if I remained that way in my room for hours or days or even weeks, but I awoke one morning to an incessant knocking on my door.

"Get up, Aeryn," my father demanded from outside my room, "final evaluations are complete. Your graduation ceremony is at noon."

I lurched upright and scrambled off the raised bed, bare feet plodding on the hardwood floors as I ran to the vanity and assessed my appearance in the mirror. I smoothed down my untamed hair and rubbed at the dark circles under my eyes, hoping that would get some color back into my pale face.

"Yikes," I cringed, deciding it was best to bathe before attempting to make myself look even remotely presentable. I'd been a recluse longer than I'd thought.

I filled the basin with hot water in the bathroom attached to my room and took a quick bath, scrubbing my entire body and pulling my fingers through the incessant knots in my hair. Satisfied I'd fought enough of the tangles, I rinsed myself off and pulled a towel around myself. Once I'd fixed my hair in two braids halfway down my back, I sorted through the massive dresser in the corner of my room. The dresses were all too fancy for me and I chewed on my thumbnail as I debated what to wear.

With a sigh, I settled for a simple black dress with sequence sparkling along the top. I didn't want to constrict myself in one of the tighter dresses that would hug my curves and show more of my body than I was comfortable with, so I slipped on the midnight one with a loose-fitting skirt that billowed around my legs.

Pursing my lips, I analyzed the dress in the mirror and figured it would have to do. More of my chest was showing than I wanted, but it was the most conservative dress I had. I pulled my white fur cloak around my shoulders, glad it covered the exposed skin, and put on my steel-toed boots and fingerless, power-blocking gloves. I had my throwing stars strapped to my wrists, dagger on my thigh, and the topaz knives sheathed in the belt around my waist. I felt like the shining blades added a bit of glamor to the outfit.

Then, I opened the bottom drawer of the vanity and withdrew the clear vial of mysterious blue liquid from the Wielder. I tucked that in the belt, as well, and took one last look in the mirror.

Then it was time to head to Latovia for my graduation ceremony at Insignia Academy. I'd survived the academy and I was graduating. I felt proud at the thought that I'd made it this far, albeit without an Insignia, but that was just as impressive in and of itself. I'd made it through intense challenges without having a power to defend myself with.

With those thoughts fueling my confidence, I mustered a deep breath and reached inside my cloak, clasping all three dragon scales in a hand.

"This is for Racquel and Tauren," I said. "I couldn't have done it without the help of their dragons. We all made it together."

Exiting my room, the tip of my boot clanged against something solid and I glanced down to find the culprit; my obsidian crown.

In the center of the headpiece was a single blue gem.

The Ice Force.

I lifted the crown and tucked it under my arm, recalling how I'd requested the red stone of the Fire Force to be put on the tiara when I returned from the Wielder, but my father hadn't fulfilled it.

I unhooked my belt and slid the crown through it, hiding it beneath my cloak as I pulled the door closed behind me. I summoned Serene when I was outside of the castle and gave her a few affectionate pats before she flew me to the academy.

We landed at the cave facing the structure and we parted ways as she padded over to the side of the academy and took up a spot on one of the obsidian perches attached to the building, hanging upside down as she closed her eyes to wait for her moment to choose my Champion. My stomach flipped at the thought of seeing Zoran again for the first time in...was it weeks? I hadn't seen nor spoken to him since he'd shown me his second power.

Clasping my hands together behind my back, I held my head high and entered the academy.

Students were bustling with nervous excitement in the arched hallways, talking with their family members and telling them which Duty they hoped to be assigned to, as well as what they'd achieved during their one and a half years at the academy.

Racquel's, Tauren's, Penn's, Bast – and Misty's families should all have been here. Even Nyaxia should have been here with her sister, but the academy's ruthless challenges and the demon attack forbid several students from making it to graduation. I should have been making my rounds between them and joining in their enthusiasm to begin our Duties.

Instead, I walked alone down the center of the passageway, ignoring the curious stares as I navigated my way to the amphitheater with my solemn thoughts and feelings to keep me company.

The theater we'd held class in countless times before was unrecognizable. The entire room was illuminated by torches along the walls and the rim of the stage. The seats rose from the stage and were sectioned off halfway up the auditorium. The front rows were designated for the graduating pupils and the back rows were for their families.

Each chair at the front of the room had the student's Insignia stamped on it with their last name under the symbol of their power. Even more students were in this room, taking their seats as their family members climbed the stairs to the upper rows.

I scanned the seats for the only one that would not have an Insignia on it. It was easy enough to find my seat close to the center of the room in the front row since our spots were assigned in alphabetical order according to last name. Not to mention, mine was the only solid black chair among the decorated ones. The silver lettering of "Glastos" without an Insignia squelched my earlier confidence and I sat to cover the absent emblem.

A podium was set up to one side of the stage and a screen took up the entire wall behind the stage. Images of dragons in flight were displayed on the screen, as well as Draconians performing various Duties like apothecaries working with vials of liquids and miners hacking at the tunnels in Haddington, or Champions wielding off demons and scouts searching for herbs and resources outside our gates. One leader representing each Duty sat in a chair on the stage, including the Commanders of each Elemental Force decked out in their respective uniforms.

"This feels like a déjà vu," a deep voice drawled from directly behind my seat.

Heat flooded my chest and my heart jumped. I was brought right back to Instructor Bayer's class when Zoran sat behind me, infuriating me with his comments while he insisted I bet on him to win the match against Eowyn.

I refused to allow the blush to surface, and I closed my eyes for a brief second before twisting around to find Zoran leaning back against his chair in a lazy manner. His arm was draped across the seat next to his and his booted foot rested on his bent knee.

I'd forgotten what he had said for a second. Zoran's appearance distracted me more than I would ever allow myself to admit.

His dark hair had grown longer since the last time I'd seen him. The silky strands were combed back from his face of sharp angles and trimmed stubble, and his emerald eyes heated as the yellowish-brown ring in the center of his irises brightened. The top half of his white collared shirt was unbuttoned, and I forced my eyes away from his visible chest, pushing thoughts of what his bare skin had felt like against mine in the cave in Garrenth.

"Looks like we're the only ones without family here," he said, folding the sleeves of his dress shirt to his elbows. I didn't mistake the bitterness in his tone, especially as he said, "The parent I want to be here isn't, and the one who doesn't make an effort with me, is."

I empathized with him. I felt the exact same way.

I flicked my head at his mother on the stage, saying, "That'll be you someday."

"Yeah, and I won't be nearly as polar as she is. The Ice Force is already a cold reality as it is. Add any more frost to it and the Champions will freeze up in the most vital moments."

"You're not all that toasty yourself, Masters," I said.

Zoran leaned forward and planted his foot on the floor, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared into my eyes. He lifted a hand and I discovered he'd covered up his second Insignia with the power-blocking glove once again. Placing the tip of his finger under my chin, he tilted my head up to look at him.

"Then why does your face heat up with a fiery blush every time you talk to me?" he murmured. "The way your body reacted to mine as we were pressed up against each other in the hot spring also says otherwise."

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Hi! I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy the story so far! :)