Black Magic

Mine

Chapter 15: Mine

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Joonmyun lifted his head, pausing in his tracks as a loud, keening call rent the air.

From his position in the courtyard, he could pinpoint the exact location of the disturbance.

He cursed and immediately dropped the library books in his hands, running full speed for the Training Fields.

No doubt some poor soul from the Beginner's class had just experienced his or her First Change. It was a scenario that was bound to happen at some point or another. Joonmyun was actually surprised that this was the first occurrence of the semester.

He rounded the corner of the dormitory and immediately caught sight of Ryeowook attempting to herd the remaining students toward the school. Joonmyun could sense that the teacher himself was fighting against the effects of the new dragon's scent; the slight man was stopping every once in a while to shake his head vigorously, like a dog ridding himself of water.

"Ryeowook!" Joonmyun called, trying to gain the instructor's attention.

The older Water Dragon caught sight of him and exhaled in relief, shoulders relaxing slightly. "Chanyeol and Kai went after her," Ryeowook explained quickly. "But I don't think they can handle it. Soojung was---well..." He shook his head again. "Let's just say her scent was pretty strong."

An understatement. Joonmyun could smell Soojung now, and she wasn't even in the vicinity.

Joonmyun was instantly racing across the field, smoothly transitioning into his dragon form along the way.

Chanyeol could maybe handle the situation. But Kai? Definitely not. They would need help.

Only several miles away, the School of Magic had created a sort of safe haven for newly Changed dragons. A quiet place that was stocked with supplies, bedding, and privacy. But Joonmyun knew that it could be a challenge to find the place if you were in fight-or-flight mode. Especially since the place happened to be a cave.

Students who had yet to go through their first Change were warned of how it affected not only the body, but the mind as well. Joonmyun could recall from his own experience that there was no logical thinking that took place during a First Change. It was all instinct.

So the job of actually corralling the new dragon in the direction of the caves was usually left to an older dragon, one who could keep his mind in his head (the one on his shoulders) when the pheromones hit.

But as Joonmyun took to the skies, wings pulsing fast in order to catch up with the others (they were definitely heading the wrong way, dammit, Chanyeol, focus!), he became slightly distracted by an unfamiliar blue form that glided just ahead of him, obviously trailing after the scent of the newly Changed dragon.

It wasn't unusual for dragons that were not students to join in on the Chase. The City of Exolin often hosted dragon merchants from different factions, some who came to trade their wares, others who came to visit, and those who came with the thought of staying long-term.

But what threw Joonmyun about this foreign dragon wasn't his color. It was his size and his shape. Something was off. The dragon was missing the characteristic webbing of skin that most Water Dragons sported along their skull and spine; and the dragon's tail was also web free, long and smooth with no ridging.

He was male, Joonmyun could tell, and young.

And though Water Dragons did grow large, this guy was huge, his wing span reaching much farther than Joonmyun's own.