"Alright Malefor, if you can perform the move I just showed you perfectly I'll move you to the twelve year old class." Xander instructed.
Malefor stepped into the middle of a hot round room. The walls floor and roof were brown and covered in scorch marks. But that was to be expected since this was the fire dragon class room.
It had been three months since Malefor had revealed his fire powers. Already he had gone from the eight year old class to the eleven year old class. The class was only made up of three other students then Malefor; a red dragoness, a gray dragon, and an orange dragoness. Malefor never learned any of their names already knowing there was no point, since he wasn't going to be in the class for vary long.
"Well Malefor, we're waiting." Xander said.
This is gonna be too easy. Malefor thought while taking in a deep breath. When he was sure he had enough air he let out a burst of fire. As the flames rose up Malefor blew a stream of fire right through it. He kept the stream going as the fire collected together causing the stream to grow.
Suddenly the fire split in two streams as it came out of his mouth. This isn't supposed to happen. Malefor thought as the flames began to swirl around each other creating a flaming vortex. Malefor released the stream and watched it spiral out of existence. That was so cool." He mumbled.
"Wow Xander's never taught us that." The red dragoness gasped.
"So Malefor's getting special training?" Asked the gray dragon. "That's not fair."
"I haven't taught Malefor anything I haven't taught you." Xander assured. He turned to Malefor. "In fact I've never seen such a move. Where'd you learn it?"
"I don't know; it just happened. All I did was blow." Malefor said.
"Hmm… Interesting." Xander mumbled seeming to be deep in thought. "Alright Malefor, you want to be in the fifteen year old class right?"
"More than anything." Malefor said.
"If you can repeat that vortex I'll put you in it then." Xander offered.
"Hey, that's not fair." The gray dragon whined.
"Yeah, what if we could do the vortexy thingy too?" The red dragoness asked.
"Well then I guess it would only be fair to move you to the fifteen year old class as well." Xander said. "You all have till I get back from my mission to master it, so that gives you a week."
"I'll have it mastered in three days." The red dragoness boasted.
"Oh yeah, well I'll have it mastered in two." The gray dragon countered.
"For that you better get training." Xander chuckled. "Class is dismissed until next week, so go.
Both the red dragoness and the gray dragon quickly dashed out of the room. The orange dragoness followed, but at a much slower pace.
"Well Malefor, I'll see you in a week." Xander chuckled. "Hopefully I won't lose an entire class when I get back." He mumbled, leaving the room.
As soon as Xander was out of sight Malefor dashed out of the room. He ran down the halls taking several turns as he headed for the wind dragon class room. The fifteen year old wind dragons were just getting out of class and he was hopping Airovia would still be there. Malefor turned a corner and smacked into something big and white.
"Hey, watch where you're going." Growled the familiar voice of Perma.
"Sorry Perma." Malefor apologized. He looked up at Perma and saw that she looked anxious.
"For once I'm glad to see you Cyst." Perma grumbled. "Where's Xander?"
"Last time I saw him he just left class." Malefor reported. "Why, is something wrong?"
"I can't believe I'm confiding in you." Perma sighed. "Okay, I don't want Xander to go on his mission."
"What is his mission" Malefor asked.
"You've heard about the bandits that have been attacking the trade route, right?" Perma asked.
"Yeah, of course I have." Malefor said. The bandit attacks were pretty common. A caravan of traveling merchants would be going along a route that would lead to other cities and on occasion the merchants would be attacked by bandits. Usually they didn't take much, but recently they have been attacking more often taking everything the caravans had.
"Well your father asked him to accompany a group of caravans, and to stop the bandits if they happen to show up." Perma explained.
"So, what's the problem with that?" Malefor asked.
"The problem is that the bandits are three ice dragons." Perma growled.
"So what, Xander's really strong. Don't you have any faith in his abilities?" Malefor asked.
"Of course I have faith in my own mate's abilities." Perma growled. "But if you were in a three-on-one fight do you think you'd come out unharmed?"
"I see your point." Malefor conceded. "But those caravans need his help, and Xander's got a big heart. Do you really think you can change his mind?"
"I have to try." Perma sighed. She began to walk in the direction Malefor had come from. She looked back at Malefor. "Not a word of this to anyone, or else."
"Your secret's safe with me." Malefor promised.
"It better be." Perma muttered. "Oh, and don't be late for class; I'm gonna need something to take my anger out on."
Malefor decided to ignore her last comment and instead continued on his way to the wind dragon class room. When he got there he saw four teenage dragons leaving the room, none of which were Airovia. She must still be inside. Malefor thought. He approached the door and heard Airovia talking with Philos. Malefor stopped and decided to listen to what they were saying.
"So you know where to go right?" Philos asked.
"You already know I don't." Airovia groaned.
"Maybe you should have studied harder." Philos chuckled.
"Isn't it your job to prepare me for this?" Airovia asked.
"And I have prepared you. Now it's your job to take care of yourself." Philos said.
"Well since I had such a great teacher, I don't see how I could fail." Airovia said.
"So when do you leave?" Philos asked.
Leave? What is he talking about? Malefor wondered.
"I was gonna leave tonight so I wouldn't have to deal with the good-byes." Airovia replied. "I was only going to tell Malefor so he wouldn't worry."
"Telling him will probably make him worry more you know." Philos warned.
"Maybe, but I also want to find out if he'll try to stop me." Airovia sighed. "I know it's selfish of me, but I want to find out if there really might be something between us."
"And if there isn't" Philos asked.
"Then I'll just have to find someone else." Airovia sighed. "Either way I might never see him again."
"Oh I'm sure you'll come back." Philos assured. "But it's up to you on when you do."
"I guess this is good-bye then." Airovia said.
"Fare well." Philos said.
Before Malefor could hide Airovia stepped out of the room. "Oh Malefor, just the dragon I was looking for." She said smiling.
"Uh…hi Airovia." Malefor said reluctantly giving a weak smile.
"There's something really important I need to talk to you about." Airovia said.
"Yeah I can't talk right now; I've got a lot of training to do." Malefor said turning around.
"We might not have time to talk later." Airovia said seriously.
"We'll make time, I promise." Malefor said just before he dashed off down the hall. He ran into the main hall and right out the front doors.
Outside Malefor stopped. I can't believe she's leaving. He thought.
"Hey Firefly, why so sad?" Malefor looked around and found Moon sitting right next to him.
"How can you always sneak up on me like that?" Malefor asked startled by her sudden appearance.
"I asked a question first." Moon said.
"Did you know Airovia is leaving?" Malefor asked deciding Moon wasn't going to reveal her secrets.
"I've known for about a month now." Moon said sounding bored.
"Why is she leaving?" Malefor asked.
"I never asked." Moon said. "If you really want to know, why don't you ask her?"
"I haven't seen her since I found out." Malefor lied.
"Well stick around; she should be out any minute." Moon offered.
"I can't, I'm really busy today." Malefor said. He tried to walk away but felt something tug at his tail. He didn't have to look back to tell that it was Moon's tail. "Let go."
"Running from this is only going to make it worse for the both of you." Moon warned.
"I'm not running." Malefor growled defensively. "Besides what does it matter to you?"
"It doesn't." Moon said releasing Malefor's tail. "Just remember, guilt eats away at the kind of heart and your heart's as kind as they come."
Surprised by Moon's serious tone, Malefor turned around, but Moon was gone. Where's she go? He wondered. He looked around but could find no trace of her.
Suddenly the temple doors began to open. Malefor, not wanting to have to deal with Airovia, ran as fast as he could out of the courtyard and all the way home.
Malefor spent the entire rest of the day practicing his powers. He never even went to ice class, too afraid that Airovia would try to ambush him there. He was hoping if he never said good-bye she'd never leave. He knew it was childish but he didn't want to lose his closest friend. But that night, when Philos got home, he found out that she left anyways.
Not feeling hungry, Malefor decided to go to bed without dinner. When he opened the door to his room he was surprised to find Moon sitting on his bed. What are you doing here?" He asked her.
"What else; I'm here to dragonnap you." She smiled.