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Chapter 75

Emma was having none of that shit, stiffly walking away as the headmaster looked at her funny, before closing the cell once again.

"We should see Cynder, she may be able to tell us more." Emma said, her face neutral. The headmaster nooded, taking lead and opening another cell. Just before Emma could walk through though, the headmaster placed his hands on her shoulder for support.

"Be careful with the dragon, she's gone farther then Ashley has." He said, his eyes glossy. The girl nodded, going through the cell to see the pink and purple dragon. The headmaster wasn't kidding when he said that Cynder had gone farther. Parts of her body was turning into a beetle like black shell, her fur had fallen off, and her scales were hanging off the skin like hangnails. The poor dragon was whimpering in pain, her two eyes glossy white with the beetle like shell around her whole head.

"Oh Cynder....Emma trailed off with a lump in her throat. The dragon didn't deserve this, it had tried to do anything for Ashley, only to be punished by her riders actions. Hel, did Ashley even ride her dragon anymore?

'Oh dear, it seems my time has finally come to tell you some secrets." Cynder painfully huffed. The dragon was chained down in a pool of water, many medical herbs floating in the warm water. The cracks in Cynder's skin were healing, but black veins remained under the skin that healed. The dragon could lift her head, but the chains on her neck kept her from keeping it up too long.

"I need to know as much as I can about this magic, and how to stop it." Emma begged, sitting on the floor to ready herself for answers. The dragon looked at her with its milky eyes, sadness still in her eyes.

"I suppose he told you the creatures outside are reborns, correct?" The drgon looked for a nod, and Emma frantically gave her one as she bribed the dragon to continue.

"Good. I guess we don't really have a name for this...curse, but what I do know is that anyone can hear this voice. It's almost like an instinct, but, most humans don't hear it because of there dragons, were like a defense mechanism." Cynder said with a bitter tone. She didn't like the thought of being used as a tool, but look at her now.

"Ashley was dumb enough to inject herself with someone else magic, and that caused many great horrors. The voice grew the more magic she took. It wasn't much, but each time she didit, it, the voice, it grew. I couldn't let my mind slip for one minute, and if I did, I would lose control. Ashley never thought to check on me, she never cared." She said with pain. Emma wanted to comfort the weak dragon, her body weak and frail as this 'curse' are away at her body.

"It kills the dragon Emma, and once we're gone, the human is driven mad. But do you know how? It's that voice, when it's introduced quickly, it pains the mind, driving the cursed one to end the pain. The voice, it doesn't want this, so it waits, it waits for a person to transfer another's magic that they don't have in them into there blood stream, and it talks to them, slowly, and once the dragon dies, it takes the cursed ones soul and transforms them, burning them into a new body. They're reborn in another form, another mind. They listen to the voice, they obey until their dying breath." The dragon closed her eyes, trembling as she shook off the grip of death. Ashley's groan could be heard from the other room, and Cynder whined, perking her head up to see her rider.

"But what about the girl in the northern academy? She turned faster then any slow and agonising process like Ashley." Emma said, confused.

"That is a rare case, when the rider and dragon are close, they're 'bonded', and with this bond, comes great emotion. That girl injected herself with magic, and it leaked through the bond and killed her dragon immediately. With such a fast transformation, the voice can hold its new puppet faster, but not quite completely. With cases like that, the reborn is weak and able to ignore It's thoughts and the voice, leaving only instinct to take over." Cynder looked away from Emma's grey eyes, not wanting the judging looks.

The girl felt a pang in her heart, knowing that this dragon was going to die soon. She stood up, walking in the water that soaked her clothes. The dragon looked shocked, trying to move her head away from the girl.

"I don't understand you, how can you be immune to the transformation process?"

"I'm not, I hear the voice too, I just refuse to let it take me away from the ones I love." The girl came closer, raising her hand in the air and waiting for Cynder.

"I don't understand, I want to live too, I wanted to become closer to Ashley for her to simply love me!" The dragon roared with pain, and the sounds of chains snapping pierced the air. Emma looked back to see Ashley running through the door, pushing the headmaster back as she leaped I the water.

"Cynder!" Ashley cried, clutching onto her dragon. The dragon was shocked at the contact, and her eyes went into a milky state to a faint pink. The two began crying, enjoying each others presence as they cried their tears away. Emma looked back to the headmaster, who only shrugged and reached into his hat, pulling out a candy bag and began stress eating.

Emma chuckled, looking at the area of skin on Cynder where Ashley was touching her dragon. It was getting darker quicker; black veins growing under the skin, but neither cared, not until Emma pulled Ashley off the dragon.

"What the hell Emma! Let me enjoy this moment! Please!" Ashley sceamed and begged at the girl. She didn't have time to do anything else as the headmaster scooped her up and put his hand over her mouth, silencing her as he dragged her back to her cell. Emma looked back to Cynder, who was now collapsed on the ground, her soul leaving her body with one final death shake.