Messenger

Thankfully, there was not much to clean up from after the attack, though some of the students were a bit shaken. Headmaster Hugo told them to continue the festival to try and get their minds off of it while he, Flannery, and Adrion and his gang spoke with the elven knight. The knight now resided in the Infirmary while some of the nymph doctors patched up his wounds using their nature magic when Hugo and the others came to see him.

The knight, who introduced himself as Shado, noticed their approach and nodded in greeting. "Thank you. My dragon and I might have died if you hadn't intervened."

"Our pleasure" Kai'sair replied, "Though if I may ask, what's a knight from Dragonsfold doing all the way out here?"

"More importantly" Adrion added, "Why were you attacked?"

"I can answer both questions at once." Shado replied, "I was sent here with an important message. I didn't realize just how important it was until the Jabberwockies attacked. Whatever it is, they didn't want it reaching its destination."

"May we see it?" Hugo asked. Shado handed a small envelope to the Headmaster, who looked at the name on the front and then handed it to Kai'sair, saying, "It's for you."

Curious, Kai'sair opened the letter and read it over. "It's from my sister, Luna."

Hope lit up. "You have a sister?"

Kai'sair took no notice as he continued, "She says I need to come back to the Academy. Something big has come up and she needs our help. There's also this little P.S. at the bottom.

"What's it say?" River asked.

"It says, 'This summons is on my authority. Find me and my sister.' Someone named Immael. There's a symbol of a griffin next to the name."

"Is Immael someone from the Dragonsfold?" Adrion asked.

Kai'sair shrugged, "Not that I know of. He might be a newer trainer. Let's just hope he's not as narrowminded as the headmistress there."

Adrion noticed that Kai'sair's mood seemed tense, as if he didn't like even mentioning the headmistress. He decided to keep that in mind for later.

Flannery then asked, "But why would Jabberwockies attack someone who's carrying a simple invitation letter."

"Maybe that's what the Luna wants us to think it is" Kai'sair said, "She likes puzzles sometimes. Then again, she's never hidden something too important."

"Maybe it's this Immael guy?" Hope suggested.

"Could be" Kai'sair replied. He then sighed, "So, I guess I'm going back."

"Not without us you aren't" Adrion said, "we're a team now. We stay together."

"He's right" River added, "Where you go, we all go."

"But the letter asked for me." Kai'sair argued.

River then spoke up. "It only said it wanted you. It didn't say anything about the rest of us coming."

Kai'sair knew she was right and thought for a moment. Then, he said, "Well, I guess there's no stopping you anyways."

Hope pumped her fist. "I smell a quest coming on!!"

Paletar sniffed the air and shook his head. "No, that's Kai'sair sweating."

"Hey!" the knight protested, earning a giggle from Hope.

Adrion nodded, "It looks like it. We can start packing tonight."

"Whatever you need, just tell me." Hugo said. Adrion thought for a moment. "Well, I do think we might need some help aside from my team."

Hugo raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Oh? And who would that be?"

Adrion leaned over and whispered in Hugo's ear, causing the Headmaster to smirk when Adrion pulled away.

"Very well. I'll let you tell them yourself."

Adrion nodded, then turned to the others. "The rest of you should pack. I'll handle the new recruits."

Hope playfully saluted before turning away, River following behind her with a nod.

Kai'sair gave Adrion a quizzical look. "You sure we need whoever it is you're thinking of?"

"Trust me" Adrion replied, "I feel like we may need their skills for what coming, considering where it is we're going. Dragonsfold is past the Svartalf Mountains, right?"

"Yeah" Kai'sair said.

"Then it's a good thing one of them is a Night Elf."

Kai'sair realized who the wizard was thinking of, then, nodding in understanding, turned to leave the building, leaving Adrion with the sense that, try as he might, he might not be fully prepared for what they were about to face.

…

Early the next morning, Adrion and Rhogar waited outside the gates for the other members of their party.

"What's taking them so long?" Rhogar asked.

"I don't know." Adrion replied, "It isn't like Kai'sair to be late. Or River for that matter."

Just then, the ground rumbled as a Stone Drake and his half-dragon rider popped out of the ground next to them.

"Sorry we're late" Draco said, "Baltroc here is impossible to wake up this time of day."

Baltroc simply snorted at the comment.

"You see the others at all?" Adrion asked.

"Elm should be here any second, and I did see that elf knight before Baltroc went underground."

As if on cue, both Gerdia and Shado's Ice dragon flew down, their passengers appearing geared up and ready. River was also riding with Elm, though she dismounted when Gerdia landed.

"How are you feeling, Shado?" Rhogar asked.

"Better, thanks to you" Shado replied, "Same goes for Blizz here."

The Ice dragon nodded in agreement. "Thankfully, my memory wasn't damaged, so we should be able to get you into Dragonsfold safely."

"You forgot about us." Said another voice as Paletar, carrying Hope and Kai'sair, swooped down, landing next to Blizz.

"Is this everyone?" Kai'sair asked.

Adrion looked around; it certainly looked like he had everyone.

"I think we're good." He replied. Then, he extended a hand to River. "Need a ride?"

"Gladly." River replied, taking his hand as he hoisted her up behind him on Rhogar's back.

Hope eyed the two suspiciously, then made eye contact with Elm; there was definitely something going on between those two.

"Well then," Adrion began, "Now that we're all here, Shado, Kai'sair, you two lead on to Dragonsfold."

Shado nodded and spurred Blizz to take off, Paletar following close behind. Once they had taken off, Adrion turned to the others.

"You think you can keep up, Baltroc?" he asked.

Baltroc snorted, "I move faster underground than you think. Plus, I can sense you guys, so don't even worry about us getting lost."

Adrion nodded, than looked ahead.

"Hiyah!" he shouted, and Rhogar flapped his wings and shot into the sky, Gerdia following close behind.

Suddenly, Adrion felt River's arms shoot around his waist as she pressed her body close to his, making his face heat up and blush.

Despite this, he was able to manage a chuckle. "I forgot you didn't like flying."

"I'll be fine" River said, "Just don't go crazy!"

Adrion laughed, "Yes ma'am."

"Relax" Rhogar said as he leveled out, "Now that we're in the skies, it's smooth flying from here."

"Thank you…" River whispered, causing Adrion and Rhogar to chuckle even more as the dragons flew off to the northeast and to Dragonsfold.

…

This same image is shown in a crystal ball of sorts. The ball lies on a podium in a dark, circular chamber, the columns a mixture of obsidian spikes and bone. A throne is seen at one end.

Standing around the ball and gazing into it are three armored half-dragons that appear as if they had been turned to pure darkness: the Shadow Drakes.

"Sssso." the winged drake hissed, "the new Guardians are on their way to Dragonsfold. This might be a problem."

"Indeed" hissed the second, a female half-dragon with a tail, "If they stop what's coming…"

"Let them try" boomed a third voice, and the three drakes turned to the throne and its occupant, a figure concealed by black armor with a glow to it, as if it had been forged from a mixture of black steel and molten lava. His helmet bears the visage of a fanged skull.

The Dark Necromancer, Negramor.

Negramor stared into the ball and evilly chuckled. "Even if they do restore the academy, the force I have sent is far too great, even for someone like him."

Raising his hand, he clenched his fist and challenged, "So, Guardains, let's see just how resilient you really are."