The Enchanted Warriors (Dragon Riders AU)

85💙

One Month Later

Winter wrapped Draconyas Academy in silence.

After the brutal end of the trial, the school gates had closed for a month-long break. Snow coated the stone pathways, the towers disappeared behind veils of mist, and the once-roaring training grounds stood still.

Tori was gone.

Injured, quiet, and distant after everything, she had returned home without a word.

Y/N hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye.

She tried to pretend it didn’t hurt but every day, every hallway, every seat beside her that stayed empty, made it harder to lie to herself.

She missed her.

Y/N didn’t leave for winter break. Neither did Hanbin. Nor the boys. The academy had become their home, even in its stillness. But the weeks dragged, quiet and aching, with too many memories and not enough distractions.

The great dining hall buzzed again — warm and alive as students poured in with wind-chilled cheeks and arms full of books and gossip.

Y/N sat at her usual table, picking at her breakfast, eyes scanning without meaning to.

She wasn’t looking for anyone.

That’s what she told herself.

A flash of red hair.

A familiar slouch in the shoulders.

Time stopped.

She shot to her feet.

“Tori!”

Her voice rang loud across the hall.

Dozens of heads turned. A few students frowned, others stared. But Y/N didn’t care. Her heart had already leapt out of her chest.

Across the room, Tori froze.

Her eyes darted left and right, as if unsure whether to run or stay. Her hands trembled where they clutched her bag. And for a second—just a second—Y/N saw it: the fear. The hesitation.

Then, slowly, carefully, Tori began walking.

She didn’t raise her head.

She didn’t smile.

She just kept walking—toward Y/N.

Y/N couldn’t wait anymore.

She ran.

Chairs scraped. Someone muttered something under their breath. But she didn’t hear it. All she could see was her best friend — bruised by time and distance, but here.

Alive.

When she reached her, Y/N didn’t ask for permission. She threw her arms around Tori, pulling her into a fierce, shaking hug. Her smile was too wide, too real, too much emotion to hold back.

For a breath, Tori stayed frozen in her arms.

Then Y/N felt it — the slow, hesitant grip of arms returning the hug.

And finally… finally… Tori smiled.

Not the hollow kind she'd worn before she left.

A real one.

They held each other like that, in the middle of the dining hall, while the rest of the world kept moving.

But for them?

It had just started again.

Next day