Born to Die BOOK 1-Wingless-

5

After the incident in the girls' bathroom, Aric and I hurried to our rooms for study time. Aric had invited me to study in his room, and I accepted. His room was on a different floor, and had more room than mine. The walls were filled with trophies and artwork.

"Thanks for letting me study here," I said as I settled into a chair by his desk.

"No problem," Aric replied with a smile. "It's quieter here, and we can concentrate better."

We spent the next hour going over our class notes and practicing different clan magic. Aric was patient, helping me understand the details of clan magic and fighting styles. I felt safe in Aric's room.

As the sun began to set, we heard the bell and got up to head down to dinner. The boarding school grounds looked  beatifull in the twilight, but my mind was still thinking about the hooded figure I had seen earlier.

Aric noticed me thinking hard as we walked towards the dining hall. "Hey, you okay, Hunted?" he asked.

I hesitated. "J... just thinking about the dragon we saw in the hallway. The one who even you didnt know who they were."

"Are you sure you couldn't see their face?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, it was too dark to see clearly. But something about them... it felt...off."

Aric nodded. "I'll tell you if i see them again. Maybe it was just another student playing a prank."

We continued walking in silence, both lost in our thoughts, until we reached the cafeteria.

I smelled freshly cooked food as we entered, and I felt a pang of hunger. We joined the line and filled our plates with lots of food before finding a table to sit at. The cafeteria was filled with chatter and laughter, nothing like what the students who bullied me earlier were like.

After a couple of minutes, Aric's friends Tharelashaw Martsen, Bloodmoon Fenn, and Ariston Reed. Aric told me they liked tehir nicknames better, but only their friends could use their nicknames, so Aric told me to use their full names for now.

As we ate, Aric tried to lighten the mood with stories about his family. His parents were important Swiftclan dragons, known for their magical research. I listened closely, absorbing the information, but also watching my suroundings.

Just as I started to relax, I felt a cold breeze brush against my scales, raising the hairs on my neck. I looked up and saw the hooded figure again, brushing past me and moving swiftly through the cafeteria. This time, I caught a glimpse of their eyes, a flashing golden color, before they disappeared into the shadows.

"Aric, did you see that?" I whispered urgently.

Aric followed my gaze, but by the time he looked, the figure had vanished. "...No." he replied, "Are you sure you arn't seeing things?" he asked.

"o...Of course i'm telling the truth! I saw their eyes," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "Golden eyes... like a Sunclan."

Aric's expression hardened, his instincts alert. "Let's finish eating and then investigate. We need to find out who that was and why they're watching you."

I nodded, whoever the hooded figure was, they couldn't scare me. I would find out who they were sooner or later.

Dinner passed in a blur. Aric and I kept out an eye for any sign of the hooded figure with the golden eyes, but the dining hall was quite busy, making it difficult to spot anyone.

As we finished our meal, Aric suggested we take a walk around the grounds before heading back to our dormitories. The evening air was cool, and the moon shone with a silvery glow over the grounds. Despite everything, I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

We walked along the paths in silence. The boarding school seemed quieter at night, eerily still. Every shadow seemed suspicouse, and I found myself glancing over my shoulder more than once.

Suddenly, I felt a chill run down my spine. A figure stepped out from behind a cluster of trees, their hood pulled low over their face. My heart pounded in my chest as I recognized their familiar golden eyes.

"Aric," I whispered urgently. "There they are."

Aric froze beside me, his gaze on the hooded figure. "Stay behind me," he muttured, his voice low as he growled.

The figure stood motionless, like a looming shadow in the moonlight. Aric took a step forward. "Who are you?" he called out.

For a moment, the figure didn't say anything, their hood lowered. Then, slowly, they reached up and pulled down their hood.

My breath caught in my throat as the moonlight lit up their face, revealing a dragon with scales as dark as midnight and eyes that glowed like molten gold. Their expression was bland, like a statue.

And then the midnight colored dragon launched themself at us.

WORD: Asexual COMMENT: Meh...

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