When Onyx left his den the next morning, he could tell something was off. There were more guards than normal and the adults were talking in hushed tones. He soon spotted Angelite working on the new tower. While walking over, he was stopped by one of the nearby guards.
"Where are you off to little dragonet?" She asked.
"I was just going to speak to my friend," Onyx replied.
"The bell is about to ring, you don't want to be late to school," the guard stated.
"Oh, it shouldn't take me to long. I won't be late," he reassured.
"I don't think you heard me, go to school," she ordered, flaring her wings.
Onyx gulped, then flew off to school as fast as his wings would carry him. He barreled into the classroom and nearly landed on Opal.
"Whoah there buddy, what's wrong?" She asked.
"Nothing, just thought I'd come early. That's all," he said between breaths.
"You have never come early, tell me the truth," Opal demanded.
"I was trying to talk to Angelite, but was stopped by a guard before I even reached him," Onyx whispered.
"Something similar happened to me. I was going to grab a quick bite from the Sundrop before I was ordered here as well," Opal commented.
"Quiet down class," Scale demanded as he walked in.
"Sir, why were we ordered here as soon as we woke up?" Tanzanite asked.
"They wanted to make sure you weren't late for your pop quiz, that's it. Nothing to worry about, I promise," Scale reassured.
The 15 dragonets all looked at each other worriedly, not fully believing what their teacher told them.
Over the next few days, Onyx noticed even more changes. School became more rigorous and competitive. When they weren't in school, they were all but required to be in their nests studying. There weren't only changes in schedule. The presence of guards kept increasing, and the older dragons were increasingly on edge. Hunters kept coming back with less and less food, and the portions served to everyone was getting smaller.
"This is getting bad Opal," Onyx said while walking between classes one day.
"I know. I've talked to some older dragons, and they say nothing like this has ever happened," Opal replied.
"Why is this happening?" He asked.
"Apparently one of the hunters heard something. It sounded like a distorted animal growl," she answered.
"Couldn't that just be the injured animal? Why would they start panic?" Onyx wondered.
"I don't know, but that's the best information so far," Opal responded.
"Something is going on, and the information is being kept from us. I intend to find out what's going on."
