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Chapter 76

The headmaster and Emma walked back up the stairs in an uncomfortable silence. After that final death rattle from Cynder, Ashley was supressed with meds to keep her pain low, and keep her unconscious before she tried to do anything to end herself.

It was a sickening method, and neither Headmaster nor Emma wanted to do this to the girl, but they needed to know if they could stop this, they needed to keep Ashley alive.

"Emma, what do you think of this? The voice I mean." The older male asked. Emma was deep in thought when he asked, and when she heard him, she was at loss of words.

"I can't understand most of it. Why does this curse attack dragons first, then humans? Wouldn't dragons be better, and stronger to use as a soldier? Those reborns are people, but if the curse can do that to humans, what could it do to dragons?" The girl asked to no one in particular. The climb of stairs was almost done, and Emma couldn't deny the burning feeling in her legs as her breath shortened.

"Dragons are blessed creatures, and in legends, they were supposedly created by the white dragon themselves, just as the black dragon created his own beings." The headmaster hummed, trying to think of any logical conclusion.  "So that could be a possible reason as to why...."

The air was full of questions that desperately needed answers. The end of the stairs was like heaven, and Emma collapsed on the main floor with happiness. The headmaster carefully locked the door, heavy metal swinging closed and tough locks clicking in place. The headmaster nodded, patting Emma's head twice before walking back to his office.

"Wait." Emma wheezed, relaxing on the floor. The headmaster stoped and turned around on his heel, giving the girl a concerned look. "What am I supposed to do?"

"That's up for you to decide." The headmaster said with a wink. He continued down the hall and turned out of sight, leaving Emma alone once again. The girl stood and dusted herself off, her ears straining to hear anything to do. She needed to find her friends, that was her main priority.

Turning some halls and wandering though her school, her eyes picked up on one of the very few seniors of the school. His white uniform stood out compared to everyone else's white and black uniform, and the black undershirt he wore under the white sweater. His pants were also a crisp white, and most were suprised to as that they never got stained or dirty.

He was supervising the nature mages tend to the inside greenhouse, planting delegate plants and putting fertilizer to help the growth.

The fourth year noticed Emma; his emerald green eyes darting from her to the younger students, and he gave her a smile. He wasn't bothered by the girls presence, for he grew accustomed to her for two years, just like all the other third and fourth years.

"Emma, glad to see you're still alive and kicking!" He said with a smile. A few students glanced at the girl with grey eyes, but didn't question and went back to their jobs.

"Surprisingly. Although death wouldn't be a bad idea right about now." Emma said light-heartedly. The fourth year grimaced at the suicidal joke, but brushed it off, looking at the plants that were covering tables from corner to corner. "So what is the headmaster having you do here?"

The green eyed student took a breath of the moist air before continuing. "We're speeding up growth so we have plenty of supplies for when the attack hits. The earth mages here are using their magic to speed up the growth of the corn here."

Emma nodded, watching as the stalks of food grew faster then a plant should. The stalks of corn had bright yellow corn on them, and they were immediately being harvested for later. Emma watched for a good while as the process repeated many times, and only the warm hand on the girls head took her out of her trance. The third and fourth years may not have minded the strange girl, but that didn't mean that they wanted to be near her for long.

"Emma? You feeling corny yet?" The familiar comedian joked. Emma wanted to slap Peter for the dirty joke, but instead she clicked her tounge and turned to face him slowly with a grin.

"Thank goodness you guys found me. I thought I wouldn't see you guys again until supper." Emma said, now following her group of friends around the halls, leaving the fourth year behind to do his own buisness. Jasmine was leading the way; hands twiddling together as she nervously looked around, although she had no idea where she was going, and David was watching the interaction of Emma and Peter very closely. Peter gave Emma a bear hug; complaining that he never wanted her or David to leave for two weeks again. Peter smirked at David's jealousy from the Peters intimate actions.....

"I'm going to take a well deserved shower, and coming from the smell from Peter, I think he needs one too." David said while reluctantly looking at Emma. The grey eye girl smiled at him, rufflimg his dirty blue hair.

"And we'll be waiting in the cafeteria for you when you're done. I plan to take a hot bath later tonight anyways, so take your time." Emma said. Peter looked at David then at Emma, then smirked like an evil movie character. The pair's split, the two males heading back to their dorms to shower. Jasmine was tense and silent as she walked the halls with Emma, the the brunette was confused with the actions.

"Hey....Emma....remember that book? The one we barley managed to snag from the library?" Jasmine muttered, just loud enough for her friends to hear. They were in the middle of an empty hallway, no students found near now silent friends.

"Yeah....the one that needed magic to open. What's up with it?" Emma asked, looking at the guilt in Jasmine's eyes. Her hands brushed nervously through her silver silky smooth hair. Emma leaned closer to the girl, putting her hand supportively on her friends back. "What happened Jasmine?"

"There was this boy, one with red hair. He never said his name, but he had a few dragonettes with him at the time, and he asked me about the book. He said he could open it, that he could find what we needed if I gave him the book....." Jasmine looked away, ashamed. She took a short breath before spitting out the next few words that sunk into everyone's mind. The next few words that came out of the girls mouth made Emma's blood boil.

"Its been stolen."