David and Susan, in the form of air, blew through the academy’s gates and doors before reforming.

  “That was a close one,” said David jokingly.

  “Yeah, can you imagine what would have happened if the gatekeeper got us?” said Susan.

  David pictured the awkward and uncomfortable scene in his head of a very grumpy-looking man staring down on both him and Susan while bombarding them with questions about what they were doing outside the academy so late at night together. On top of that, he also imagined how the headmaster would take the news when he found out, knowing he would most likely not expel them but would find a creative way to punish them, or worse, he might tell Flani what to do. David then gulped, picturing just what kind of inhumane forms of torture that fiery woman who could be mistaken for a demon would inflict upon them if she got upset.

  “David, earth to David,” Susan spoke while snapping her fingers in front of him to get him out of his fear-driven trance.

  “Huh,” David spoke, seemingly coming out of his trance.

  “Great, you’re back. Mind walking me to my room?” asked Susan.

  “Wait, what?” said David, a bit flustered by Susan’s request, with a small blush forming on the sides of his cheeks.

  “Walk me to my room; I believe I was clear with my words,” said Susan.

  “Er… “Are you sure about that, Susan? I mean, what if someone spots us together so late at night?” David spoke while trying to hide his blushing face.

  “Come on, the entire academy is asleep; only a nocturnal madman would be awake at this hour,” said Susan.

  “You do realize that we are awake at this hour, right?” said David, earning a playful punch on his shoulder.

  “You knew what I meant,” said Susan before grabbing hold of his arm.

  “Now come on,” said Susan before proceeding to drag the boy, who seemed to have no say in the matter, through the quiet empty halls of the academy.

  It was a pleasant walk, and even though the fear of being caught didn’t allow David to admit it, he did like walking with Susan, as he enjoyed Susan’s warm presence around. But alas, all good things have to come to an end, so too did the pleasant time David shared with Susan that night.

  David looked at Susan’s room down the hall, letting out a small sigh before turning to the girl by his side and saying, “Looks like we’re here.”

  “Yeah,” Susan said before letting out a tired yawn.

  “I should probably go get some sleep; we’ve got a big day tomorrow,” said Susan before walking to the door and opening it.

  David felt his heart sink slightly as he watched Susan about to walk in through the door, knowing that once she did that, he wouldn’t be able to see that beautiful smile on her face until the sun rose the next day. He then recalled something he wanted to tell her but never really had the chance to.

  “Hey Susan,” David spoke, stopping her as she was about to enter the room.

  Susan then turned to him, awaiting what he was about to say.

  David then stared longingly into her eyes before saying, “T-thanks for everything.”

  Susan, upon hearing what David said, flashed a warm smile on her face before saying, “Good night.”

  Susan then entered her room before closing the door gently, leaving David standing alone at the other side of the door. David stood there motionless for a few moments, with the only thoughts existing in his mind being of Susan and the warm smile she gave before she went into her room. David eventually regained his senses and, realizing that he had to leave before someone caught him standing there, was about to leave, but before he did, he took one final glance at the door before whispering softly, “Good night, Susan.”

  David then turned to air and blew away, not wanting to be caught still awake so late at night. David, in his air, blew through the academy’s halls, making his way to the room, but then he heard something.

  David then, out of curiosity, reverted back to his normal form before making his way to where the sound was coming from. As he roamed through the hall, following the echoes of the strange sound, he reached the training room, the source of the strange sounds. David then looked at the small gap in between the training room doors, noticing light escaping from it. David then sensed through the earth in the ground underneath his feet that there was someone in the training room but could not make out who it was or what they were doing inside.

  “Who on earth could be up so late at night?” David asked himself, wondering who was in the training room when it was so late and what they were up to.

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  David pondered to himself for a moment, wondering if he should go and report it to the headmaster, only to immediately realize that if he did so, he would have to explain why he himself was up so late, which would most likely lead to him being scolded by him or sternly punished by Flani, with the latter greatly frightening him. David, after a moment of pondering and weighing his options, decided that it would be best if he found out who it was for himself first before considering whether or not to report it.

  David slowly opened up the door slightly, being careful not to make a sound to alarm whoever was in the training room, and then he peeped into the room. David's eyes then widened with shock upon seeing who was in the training room. It was none other than the hotheaded student of the Dragon Academy, the very same fierce, fiery monster that once tried to roast him alive in the cafeteria over something so trivial. Steven, the most unfriendly, temperamental, and just plain rude student of the academy, was wielding a bow and arrow while trying to fire a decent shot at a few training dummies.

  David was seriously taken aback by the sight he witnessed from the other side of the training room doors, realizing from the sweat dripping down from his face, the look of anger and frustration he wore, and the fact that only a few arrows seemed to have hit their designated target dummy while the others were littered about on the floor, he had been at it for quite a while.

  David continued watching from the slightly opened door, seeing the fierce look of determination in Steven's eyes as he held on to the bow, ignoring his trembling hands and fingers that ached with pain due to his continuous practice of the way of the bow, and firing only to narrowly hit the dummy before grunting in frustration. David, while watching Steven, couldn’t help but wonder to himself why Steven was training with a bow and arrow so late at night, but that was a question he didn’t need to think too long to figure out the answer. Recalling how, just a few mere days ago, Steven had lost his parents to the dark dragon warriors, being Susan's twin sibling after all. David couldn’t help but let his face sink down in sadness as he continued to watch Steven train, as he and Steven may have never really gotten along, but he was still a good person and someone he appreciated and admired a bit, not just because he was Susan’s brother but because he was also brave, albeit extremely temperamental and reckless as well, with a sweet heart hidden behind all that anger. Steven was the kind of person that would do anything for those he cared about; that was proven by the fact that he was willing to face an army of dark dragon warriors to save David, someone that he had made abundantly clear that he hated with all his guts and had even attempted to reduce to ashes at one point, all because of his sister, Susan. And now, he was probably training, wielding a bow and arrow because it was the same weapon his father used, wanting to get stronger to protect the one person in the entire academy he actually cared about.

  David couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh, feeling a wave of guilt and shame wash over him, despite replaying Susan’s comforting and consoling words in an endless loop in his mind, trying desperately to reassure him that what happened all those days away was not his fault. It wouldn’t change that fact that the Golden Dragon General is dead, the dark dragon warriors are still out there plotting something with him being the key to what that is, and the darkness that lies inside of him is waiting for the perfect moment to come out and… David’s mind was then filled with the gruesome and horrific images of the rubble of a familiar orphanage and the piles upon piles of dead bodies of children that lay underneath it, bodies to be put to rest and buried underneath the rubble by him. He could still hear the haunting whispers of his deep and rough voice speaking softly in his ear, saying one thing: “I’m sorry.”

  David was abruptly brought back from his train of thought by his sense alerting him of something dangerous coming straight for him. He then instinctively turned to air, allowing a single arrow to fly through the small gap in the door he was peeping through, move through his body, and hit the wall behind him.

  David, in his air form, was thankful to his sharp senses for alerting him on time; otherwise that arrow might have taken his head. The training room doors open wide, and then Steven steps out. Spot the arrow lying on the ground next to the wall it hit before looking around, seemingly searching for something or someone. Steven stopped and faced a particular direction, glaring there with an intense and frightening gaze. David, even though he was in his air, spread around everywhere in that particular area, having eyes in that form and simply perceiving everything through the surrounding air, could have sworn that Steven was looking directly at him with a blood-curdling glare, almost as though he was warning, no, threatening him with his ice-cold gaze, causing a chill to run through David's spine, a sensation David was not even sure how he felt in his current airy state.

  Steven then went back into the room, seemingly having gotten his point across to whomever it was that was spying on him, closing the doors shut behind him before resuming his training. Once Steven was gone and the room doors were shut, David reverted back to his normal form, letting out a deep sigh of relief. David had faced many things during the past few days, from elemental beasts to finding out the truth of his identity as the son of the golden dragon warrior to having to face the dark dragon warriors and the Dark Dragon Lord himself, but having to witness such an intense glare from Steven, who looked as though he was ready to roast him to the point that even his ashes would be incinerated, had to be by far the scariest experience he had had so far.

  David, after that, decided to make it back to his room without reporting the matter, partly due to the immense fear he had over how furious Steven would react if he did so, but mostly because he didn’t want to stop him, understanding why he was doing what he did, besides… With images flashing in his mind of the painful events that happened days ago and how Akiri, Flora, Susan, and Steven almost lost their lives trying to save David, he let out a deep sigh, knowing it would be better if Steven got strong to at least be able to protect Susan during moments when he couldn’t or…was the danger.

  David then made his way back to his room, a single lone room that stood at the very edge of the hallway, away from the other elemental schools. The headmaster thought it would be best if David stayed in a room specially allocated to him, with the reason being that he was the son of the Golden Dragon Warrior, but that was only partly true. After all, the headmaster witnessed, along with the other teachers and staff of the academy that stayed behind during the dark dragon warriors’ attack, what he was truly capable of, and it frightened them. And even though they wouldn’t admit it to his face, he could see it in their eyes; they were scared of him and what could happen when he was backed into a corner. And David couldn’t really blame them; after all, he had witnessed it himself, in all its bloody majesty, what happens when the beast in the dark cell with him gets out.